Compassionate Conservatives: Putting Their Money Where Their Mouths Are

I've had an ongoing debate with so-called moderate/independents (post-partisans, if you will. and I know Morgan will) about supposed conservative hypocrisy. They bought into the pro-abortion talking points about conservatives which allege that social conservatives only care about babies until they are born, and then, well, who cares. I have argued, w/o getting much headway, that this is a grossly inaccurate characterization.

A new book by economist Arthur C. Brooks provides the empirical evidence to back up my arguments. Thank you Mr. Brooks. According to one write-up/review of Brooks' forthcoming book:

The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.

Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.

[...]

liberals give less than conservatives in every way imaginable, including volunteer hours and donated blood.

Finally, evidence for something I and others have known intuitively for some time.

Anytime you read something like this: Christians are hypocrites, etc. You should exercise a little skepticism. There is a hostility towards religious persons and especially Christians among elements of the political left, secularists, and in higher education.

Alternatively, the title of this post could have read:

Compassionate Conservatives: As Charitable With Their Own Money As Secular Democrats Are With Other People's

Hopefully this will quiet the critics who say that conservatives hypocritically only care about the unborn, etc., etc, whatever.

And, lest you think this is some conservative screed, consider this quote from a Harvard professor:

Harvey Mansfield, professor of government at Harvard University and 2004 recipient of the National Humanities Medal, does not know Brooks personally but has read the book.

"His main finding is quite startling, that the people who talk the most about caring actually fork over the least," he said. "But beyond this finding I thought his analysis was extremely good, especially for an economist. He thinks very well about the reason for this and reflects about politics and morals in a way most economists do their best to avoid."

For more information, take a look at these findings on charitable giving.

(h/t M. Lybbert, Greg Mankiw)


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Matt Hasselbeck On The Seahawks 0-2 Start

Per the Seattle PI's Gerry Spratt:

"I apologize to all the people who own me on their fantasy teams," he said. "They can put me on the bench for a little while. But I'm going to get it turned around."

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Switftboating Palin

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McCain vs. Obama On The Economic Crisis

John McCain has an opportunity to play 'Ronald Reagan's optimism' to Barack Obama's 'Jimmy Carter-malaise.'

The latest shoes to drop on Wall Street are Lehman Bros.'s bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch's sale to Bank of America. These events and others led to a 500 point drop in the stock market.

Fine. These things are bad and people are worried. Call it a crisis, if you like. But despite what Barack Obama, Guitar Hero* says, it is not the worst since the Great Depression. Lets take this news with a huge grain of salt. Today's drop represented a loss on the order of 4%. In 1987, when Obama was organizing communities, the stock market dropped 22%. The least we can say is that Obama is bad at math. The worst? That he is exploiting people's populist fears.

Wherever you fall on that debate, Obama and McCain are striking two different chords:

Obama: Economy in crisis, let me solve the problem with a massive increase of regulation & expansion of government. (forget, of course, Obama's passive-aggressive refusal to reform Fannie & Freddy that in part led to the current crisis)

McCain: Economy in crisis, people are hurting, but the fundamentals remain strong--American ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, & work ethic; the basic, underlying strength of a market economy in a democratic society.

McCain needs to follow this up by assuring Americans that he will approach any economic problem with them--the American people (Country First!)--in mind. It's important that he makes them understand that he understands the "pain" felt by Americans from Chicago to Phoenix.

At the same time that he feels their pain, he can strike the Ronald Reagan note and express a comprehensive and optimistic view of the future--a future of peace and prosperity, untainted by the expansion of the Nanny State. This is a vision he can contrast with Obama's economic fearmongering, doom & gloom, and doubt of the American economy.

(Do click the link, it's funny)

*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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Obama's 50-State Strategy: Good Luck With That

Open fighting among the nutroots, state Democratic leaders, and the media (but I repeat myself) over Obama's "game changing" campaign that was supposed to re-write the map. His campaign of clever twentysomethinghipsters is taking flak from long-time Democratic strategists for wasting money in places where it was never going to do any good (read: help him win in November). Per the Daily Telegraph:

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that senators, governors and union leaders who have experience of winning hard-fought races in swing states have been bombarding Obamas campaign headquarters with telephone calls offering advice. But many of those calls have not been returned.

A senior Democratic strategist, who has played a prominent role in two presidential campaigns, told The Sunday Telegraph: "These guys are on the verge of blowing the greatest gimme in the history of American politics. They're the most arrogant bunch I've ever seen. They won't accept that they are losing and they won't listen."

Ah, schadenfreude, I've missed you.


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Obama: Stonewalling Progress In Iraq

UPDATE 9:28pm MDT: What does it take to get the media to look in to this stuff? In the last few days, the conservative net has been up in arms over campaign donations received by Obama from Fannie/Freddy, with no movement from the press.

What about Obama's illegal negotiations and interference in Iraq? Where has the MSM been on that one? It seems Obama's arrogance and presumtuousness knows no bounds--which, you know, keeps him right in line with the rest of his campaign.

When we talk about bias over at NewsBusters, this is one of the types of bias we refer to. It's tough to nail down exactly, but it goes something like this: the media attacks McCain/Palin, but ignores anything Obama related. Until (see the link) McCain calls attention to it. Of course, they then go after McCain for "attack" Obama when all he's doing is the job the MSM should have done in the first place.

So reports Amir Taheri in his latest piece in the New York Post.

While campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

[...]

Though Obama claims the US presence is "illegal," he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.

What will Obama's withdrawal-no-matter-what-the-cost-or-situation-on-the-ground supporters say? What will Obama's few supporters in the military say? What would all of them say if, instead, McCain had tried to intervene in military matters and Iraqi negotiations?

If you're expecting honesty from these folks or an evenhanded response, don't hold your breath.

(h/t DrewM @ Ace)

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Sarah Palin Is A Seahawks Fan

Seth Kolloen seems to confirm that Sarah and her husband, Todd, are members of The Seahawkers--the Seahawks fan club in the state of Alaska.

Unfortunately, that fact doesn't make 0-2 look any better.

Never fear, Seahawkers & other Seahawks fans. The Hawks fundamentals are solid: good coaching, a solid offensive line, good QB in his prime, Top 5 defense, etc. Once they get a little stability at WR, they'll be back to their winning ways.


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How McCain Should Respond To Obama's 'More Of The Same'

I'll write this as if it were a question posed to McCain at a debate. This is how I think he should respond:

Bob Schieffer: How do you respond to the Obama campaign's accusations that electing John McCain as President is akin to giving Bush/Cheney 4 more years in the White House?

John McCain: You know, Bob, I'm glad you asked that question. I have a few things to say about it. First off, in one important way, they're right. Unlike my opponent, who wanted to retreat, I sided with President Bush on The Surge when it was very unpopular to do so. I trusted General Petraeus and our leaders to get the job done. And they did. And now we have a peaceful Iraq--an Iraq that I think will become a strong ally of the U.S. in the Middle East.

That's where President Bush and I agree. But as far as 'more of the same,' I think the American people know better. They know I have a long record of going against my party when I think it's good for my country. Take Campaign Finance Reform, for example. I partnered with Senator Feingold (a Barack Obama supporter, by the way) to create legislation that tried to get the corrupting influence of money out of politics. This didn't make me very popular in the Republican party. But I did it because I thought it was good for America.

But, Bob, there's a more recent example that, I think, shows the difference between me and Senator Obama. You see, not a lot of people know this, but Senator Obama has voted with this do-nothing, Democrat-controlled Congress 97% of the time. And I'll give you an example: Back in 2006, when all of this stuff came out about about the corruption in Congress, I reached out to Democrats and Barack Obama in particular to try and create bi-partisan legislation that would get rid of that corruption. Senator Obama gave me his personal assurance that he would support that bill. But when it came down to it, he went back on his word--just like he did about accepting public funding of his campaign--and went the Democratic, partisan route.

Bob, the American people know; based on my long record of service to this country; that I will always do what I think is best for America; regardless of who is on my side; whether it's a democratic Senator, like Russ Feingold or President Bush.


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538, Sonk, Evergreen, &c.

UPDATE 14 Sept. 12:30am MDT:

Dear Mark, Diana, Amanda, Kaitlyn, Trinh, & other miscellany UCLA-related friends:

59-0, I rest my case.

Love

Jake

It's Saturday and it's game day for BYU. This week the Cougars are playing another Pac-10 team--this time, UCLA, for the 3rd time in just over a year. As I'll be attending the game and entertaining a visiting fan, blogging will be light this weekend. That said, take a look at a couple of things:

- While at the RNC, I reconnected with an old BYU friend who wrote about her experience shepherding Republican big-wigs in their interactions with the press. Check it out here.

- One point on the Palin's interview w/ Charlie Gibson: If you think she revealed her ignorance of foreign policy w/ re: to her question about the specific application of the Bush Doctrine, then you know less about foreign policy than, well, Sarah Palin. See, specifically, Charles Krauthammer's column about the origin and development of this idea of the Bush Doctrine.

- Great, redemptive news out of 538 for the Evergreen State: McCain is within 2 points (2 points!) of Obama in Washington. All the other numbers look pretty good for McCain, too.

- For those of you who care about such things, the Palgrave Econoblog has a mostly unscientific listing of the Top 50 Economics Blogs. Notably missing is Greg Mankiw. FWIW, I read Mankiw more than all the rest combined.

- Part of me feels bad for Democrats (but not that bad). They reached their popular-appeal-peak months and months ahead of the actual election.

- Revisiting Fannie/Freddie: The Candidate of Change is going to have to answer why he would allow no change or reform of the GSEs. See Decker's post on this at Pendulum Politics.

- Obama & Dems generally have announced time and time again that things will be different this election--that they won't allow themselves to be Swift-boated--you know, sunk by the truth. This is how they hit back (ad link).

When they decided to make fun of McCain's alleged distaste for using computers, did they think that maybe the reason he doesn't use them was because his injuries, suffered while serving his country, made it painful/impossible?

The Obama campaign's get-tough strategy can be summed up thusly: Make Fun of Veterans' Disabilities.

Let's play my fav. game, compare 'n contrast:

Drawbacks on selecting one candidate vs. the other:

McCain doesn't like to write emails/use computers because of the pain and disability resulting from being tortured by the North Vietnamese. He's, like, sooo out of touch with Obama's twentysomethings. How can he be our President?

Senators Obama, Dodd, & Clinton (among others) resisted reform and regulation of Fannie & Freddy, which is partially to blame for the current housing crisis. "Why did they do this," you ask?

Campaign donations. Not just any donations, but donations you can believe in (joke explanation for the stupid and humorless: you know, because the check didn't bounce).


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Iraq Veteran For McCain

Presented w/o commentary:

(h/t Scott L.)

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World To Obama: We Want You

GlobeScan just concluded another one of those polls that do nothing for the Democratic candidate. In fact, it's gotten to the point where I think they do these polls--the ones where they ask the world which candidate they want for POTUS--to hurt Obama's chances of winning the White House. The reason? Most Americans could not care less who the world thinks we should elect.

Of course, all of this should be taken with a huge grain of salt. A similarly idiotic poll of the world found that only 46% believed that al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11, while 15% (the 'truthers') blamed the U.S. government, 7% (anti-Semites) blamed Israel, and 7% blamed some other groups.

Those of you in the room for whom fickle world opinion of your next leader plays a large role in determining your vote, please raise your hand.

Everyone else, take a good look around. These are the people who sew Canadian flags on their backpacks when they travel abroad because they don't want people to think they're American.

That's patriotism, folks.


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Clarence Thomas On Racial Preference

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know how much I admire Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. I read his memoir, My Grandfather's Son, in 2 days. I believe I wrote about it here and about Thomas most recently, here.

When Clarence Thomas holds forth on anything, I pay attention. Partly, because he is smart and wise and partly because he so rarely opines on anything not related to a formal Supreme Court written opinion. This gives added emphasis to everything he says. Especially this:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.

Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action "has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking."

A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, "Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we're going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes."

Thomas, 60, has voted on the court to outlaw the use of race in college admissions and in determining which public schools students will attend. He wrote with evident resentment in his autobiography "My Grandfather's Son" that he felt he was allowed to attend Yale Law School in the 1970s because of his race and took a tough course load to prove he was as able as his white classmates.

I think here he's referring to what President Bush called "the soft bigotry of low expectations."


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Barack Obama: Stonewalling Important Change

Fannie and Freddy didn't get to where they are without a little help from enablers in Congress--especially in the Senate. And these enablers didn't go un-rewarded. Greg Mankiw outs the biggest recipients of donations from Fannie & Freddy. The biggest beneficiaries might surprise you. Or maybe not.

Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008

1. Dodd, Christopher J, D-CT
2. Kerry, John, D-MA
3. Obama, Barack, D-IL
4. Clinton, Hillary, D-NY

This is exactly the type of political corruption Obama rails against time and again. But when it came to actually doing something, he looked the other way in favor of campaign donations. This is the politics he learned in Chicago.

Senator Obama reaped the rewards of stonewalling reform that would have averted the bailout, will he now reap the political punishment? Obama's co-conspiracy to look the other way helped cause the housing crisis he now blames on President Bush.

Talk about lipstick on a pig; in Barack Obama, the old, corrupt politics are made new. Or, at least, given a fresh coat of paint.

(h/t RD @ Pendulum Politics)


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NewsBusters, Iowahawk, &c.

Just posted my latest piece at NewsBusters. In it, I look at a new web-service--SpinSpotter--which claims to be able to detect spin and bias in the media. Hopefully it can live up to its promise.

SpinSpotter: Exposing Media Bias or Reinforcing It?

And in other news, Iowahawk listed his latest bit of satire. This time he extols the many virtues of pigs. Enjoy!

Pigs are intelligent! Say what you what you will about pig noises and eating habits, one thing is certain: pigs are smart. In fact, scientists estimate that on average pigs have three times the intelligence of the pit bull, and this is why the hog shed is often referred to as "Harvard of the barnyard." Despite their undeniably superior mental powers, pigs somehow still trail dogs in popularity, which can only be attributed to America's pernicious anti-intellectualism.

Regarding lipstickgate: Obambi backers, do you think your guy is the smartest candidate for POTUS in the history of candidates for that office, or don't you? If he's so smart, do you really think he's not going to get the verbal association of "bulldog w/ lipstick" and "lipstick on a pig?"

Like I said yesterday, I don't care, really, that he resorts to personal attacks. Why shouldn't he? His followers (correction: supporters) at DU, dKos, & HuffPo all do it when they get beat, it's only fair he get to do so too.

Or, as Jim Treacher puts it:

I'm having second thoughts. I think he meant exactly what the crowd obviously thought he meant, because it fits a clear pattern of behavior.

Putting aside the astonishing smear campaign against Palin, which is definitely not grassroots, just look at some of Obama's past antics. In no particular order:

* What was the Obama camp's initial reaction to Palin's announcement?

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

Yeowtch! And her palmprints on the podium were still warm. (Quite a contrast to McCain's ad, less than 24 hours earlier, congratulating Obama on his achievement.) But then, later that same day, Obama walked it back:

"I think that... campaigns start getting these hair triggers and the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments," he said, according to the pool report, apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary.

So he's not the hostile, panicky jackass. It was his staff's fault. Yes We Can... Pass the Buck!
[...]

And he goes on from there to list numerous other examples.

Obama and his campaign are far too calculated and clever for this to have been unintentional.

Finally, for anyone who cares, or who also happens to be a fan of a sucktastic baseball team: What it's like to be a Mariner's fan.


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God Bless America: Remembering 9/11

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Camille Paglia Gets It

Camille Paglia supports Barack Obama, but even she had this to say about his "speech at the temple of Dionysus":

The over-the-top publicity stunt of a mega-stadium for Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention two weeks ago was a huge risk that worried me sick -- there were too many things that could go wrong, from bad weather to crowd control to technical glitches on the overblown set. [...] I was shocked and disappointed by how little there was about foreign policy, a major area where wavering voters have grave doubts about him. [...]

The part I want to focus on--emphasis added--is the part where she calls him "over-the-top." I like that for obvious reasons. But the more significant point is the one she makes about Sarah Palin. Again, her statements here carry extra significance because she is a genuine, bona fide, Barack Obama supporter.

Conservative though she may be, I felt that Palin represented an explosion of a brand new style of muscular American feminism. At her startling debut on that day, she was combining male and female qualities in ways that I have never seen before. And she was somehow able to seem simultaneously reassuringly traditional and gung-ho futurist. In terms of redefining the persona for female authority and leadership, Palin has made the biggest step forward in feminism since Madonna [...]

The headline of this post could have read, alternatively, Sarah Palin: Redefining Feminism.

Ps. Do click through and read the whole of Paglia's article. She's reasonable and readable.

UPDATE 11 Sept. 10:01pm MDT: American Thinker: Why Feminists Fear Strong Women.


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Lipstick On A Pig Or A Bulldog?

I get that the saying "putting lipstick on a pig" is a common phrase and all, that it means you can try to dress up something ugly and dirty, but it's still what it is. I get that. But it was too close to Palin's comments about 'a bulldog with lipstick' for him to be referring to anything else but the only person in the race who actually wears lipstick. The audience clearly got the reference and Obama is too smart not to understand the implication. It was intentional.

But here's the thing: I don't care that Obama called Palin a pig. This is a Presidential race and it's going to get ugly and there's going to be name calling. If Obama wants to risk being called a misogynist, more power to him. Per usual, I defer to Ace on how to respond.

- The truth is, Barack Obama, Guitar Hero*, is just another politician. You know how he likes to point out that John McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time? Well, The One voted with Democratic leadership 97% percent of the time. Post-partisan? He's not even bi-partisan.

The one thing Obama had anything to do with in his short time as the junior senator from Illinois was ethics reform. But given an opportunity to work with Republicans and, you know, be bi-partisan (with, of all people, John McCain), he opted to go with Harry Reid despite his personal assurances to McCain that he would compromise.

Add the politics of personal destruction to the list of ways in which Obama is just another politician:

*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.

**Anyone, anyone: (what's his name, oh yeah) "common" Joe Biden?

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Carol Fowler & Democrats' Obsession With Abortion

For the hardcore left of the Democratic party--the wing of the party that controls party ideology & messaging--a woman is only a woman & and a feminist if she is pro-abortion.

As I wrote last week in my convention coverage, this is why the leftists are attacking Palin so vociferously--she threatens their narrow definition of feminism & female identity.

This attitude is reflected in recent comments by the South Carolina Democratic party chair:

Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today, saying John McCain had chosen a running mate " whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”

The latest battle in the culture war has been joined.


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Sarah Palin Haiku

Bulldog with lipstick
America's hockey mom
Give 'em hell Sarah

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Governor Palin: Reformer, Woman-of-Action

From the Daily Telegraph's James Bennett:

As with most poor, distant places that suddenly receive great natural-resource wealth, the first generation of politicians were mesmerised by the magnificence of the crumbs falling from the table. Palin was the first of the next generation to realise that Alaska should have a place at that table.

Her first target was an absurd bureaucratic tangle that for 30 years had kept the state from exporting its gas to the other 48 states. She set an agenda that centred on three mutually supportive objectives: cleaning up state politics, building a new gas pipeline, and increasing the state's share of energy revenues.

This agenda, pursued throughout Palin's commission tenure, culminated in her run for governor in 2006. By this time, she had already begun rooting out corruption and making enemies, but also establishing her bona fides as a reformer.

With this base, she surprised many by steamrollering first the Republican incumbent governor, and second, the Democratic former governor, in the election.

Far from being a reprise of Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Palin was a clear-eyed politician who, from the day she took office, knew exactly what she had to do and whose toes she would step on to do it.

The surprise is not that she has been in office for such a short time but that she has succeeded in each of her objectives. She has exposed corruption; given the state a bigger share in Alaska's energy wealth; and negotiated a deal involving big corporate players, the US and Canadian governments, Canadian provincial governments, and native tribes - the result of which was a £13 billion deal to launch the pipeline and increase the amount of domestic energy available to consumers. This deal makes the charge of having "no international experience" particularly absurd.

In short, far from being a small-town mayor concerned with little more than traffic signs, she has been a major player in state politics for a decade, one who formulated an ambitious agenda and deftly implemented it against great odds.

(emphasis added)

In short, she has the resume Obama wishes he had.

(h/t Ace)


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Daily One Cosmos: On Marxism

Classic One Cosmos writing about Marx and his troubled relationship with history and economic reality:

the first thing that comes to mind is Marxism, which specifically developed in that gap between the premodern and modern world. It is fundamentally rooted in the myopic fallacy that things were getting worse for the average worker, when the reality was that, for the first time in 10,000 years, they were actually getting dramatically better.

In this regard, Marx was not just economically illiterate, but completely ahistorical, a malady that continues to afflict the left to this day. The free market will eventually solve most problems that leftist solutions will only perpetuate or aggravate. But the leftist relies upon people being riveted only on the now, which then requires some sort of radical solution to redeem the future.

For example, how many Americans realize that gasoline actually reached its peak price in the early 1960s if adjusted for inflation, while it reached its low point in 1998? For the demagogues of the left, it is vital that you not know that, just as it was vital to Marxists that people be unaware of the fact that for the average laborer, the 18th century was almost a straight upward line in terms of increasing affluence.

(h/t: M. Lybbert)


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Jonah Goldberg On Experience

I wrote about meeting Goldberg at the RNC last week.

Goldberg reiterates a point I've been hammering since Palin was announced as McCain's runningmate:

The more Obama has to explain why being a community organizer -- or a state legislator, or a one-term senator with few accomplishments under his belt -- is better preparation for the presidency than being a mayor or governor, the more he volunteers his own shortcomings when compared with McCain. Besides, on paper, Obama doesn't stand up very well against Palin. All of the mythic themes of Obama's political narrative -- the ethics reformer, the bipartisan, the new kind of politician -- all look like press-release material next to Palin's accomplishments. Obama voted the Democratic Party line more often (97%) than McCain voted in accord with President Bush (90%). In Washington, Obama's supposedly 'sweeping' ethics reform -- which forces congressmen to eat lobbyist-provided meals standing up instead of sitting down -- and his feckless reforms in Illinois make him look the Bambi to Palin's Godzilla.

Does anyone even care to talk about (what's his name again? oh, yeah) "common" Joe Biden? I don't.


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Kim Jong-il, Rot In Hell

- Fox News is reporting that Kim Jong-il, "dear leader," suffered a stroke in August. It's not a very Christian thing for me to say, but I hope this is the beginning of a short, painful period before he goes the way of all the earth and leaves his country susceptible to overtures of peace and democracy and sanity (get rid of the nukes!) from the West. Die painfully, die fast, KJ. And take Castro and Chavez with you. Ahmadinejad, too.

- Obama has a "comprehensive" strategy for bringing the war to a close. Not one that "tinkers around the edges." You know, a different one to the one that actually won the war. Apparently 8000 troops coming home is not enough.

Look, all you need to know about the war is that The Surge won it, McCain supported it and Obama did not. If we followed Obama's plan, we would have lost the war in Iraq and lost Iraq to al-Qaeda and Iran. End of story.

- The leftist nutroots are trying to make a Rev. Wright out of Gov. Palin's church in Wasilla. Unfortunately for the nutroots, the only controversial thing made up there was a bad joke about how Kerry voters might not make it to heaven. Of course, fouling up their narrative is the fact that the statement was made 2 years after Governor Palin left the church.

The lesson from the nutroots is clear: Never let the facts mess up your narrative.

Let's play "compare 'n contrast":

Rev. Wright: "Goddamn America!"
Gov. Palin's Pastor 2 Years After She Left the Church: "You know, people who vote for Kerry might not get into heaven. [laughter, because people understand that it's a joke]"

This replays itself in the story they're making up about her banning one of the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately for them, she was supposed to have banned it 2 years before it was even released.

Come on, Angry Left, you can do better.

The good news herre is that the American public is far smarter than the leftists of this country believe. In their mind, all they have to do is create controversey about Gov. Palin's past. They don't understand that it actually has to be a real controversey for it to have any legs. Like you, dear readers, they are able to play "compare 'n contrast" and see that what Governor Palin's pastor said after she left the church is in a different galaxy from the hatred spewed by Obama's close personal adviser--though apparently only spewed when Obama was not in attendance. (Americans also don't believe that bit of fiction).

Let me also point out one more bit of idiocy: James Taranto, one of my fav. columnists wrote about the damaging and distracting power of hate. You are seeing evidence of this in the way the Angry Left is treating Governor Palin.

The controversey they created in the wake of her nomination drove people by the millions to watch her speech and see for themselves. Calling her inexperienced caused people to play "compare 'n contrast" with Barack Obama and Sarah Palin--a #1 vs. #2 comparison Republicans will win every time. And now, by going after her church and her pastor--especially when they have nothing(!)--will only remind people of Obama's history with Wright.

This is stupid, stupid, stupid.

When McCain/Palin win in November, we'll all have to give the Angry Left a tip of the hat for their big assist. Thanks, leftist nutroots.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Daily One Cosmos

I read One Cosmos every day. You should too.

I want to emphasize that I am not trying to invoke Godwin's law in demonstrating the parallels between this and the Obamessiah hysteria, but parallels there are (not in the ends, but in the deeper structure of the infrarational mysticism). As we continue this series, I will be very curious to analyze the language and imagery of Obama's acceptance speech at his Nuremburg-like mass-hypnosis rally at Invesco Field before 75,000 adoring "fans" (which is the proper term, since this whole creepy exercise is "infra-poltical" and emotional, devoid of intellectual substance).

I just did a quick google search, and found this typical story, which says that "In a little more than a week, 75,000 lucky ticket-holders will head for Invesco Field, ready to usher in a new era of photos for their Facebook pages.... And eventually, upon the entrance of the Great Half-White Hope, they will be reduced to one giant goosebump.... But it won't just be the arrival of Barack Obama that will send chills down their spines. Obama, no doubt, will enter the stadium to the tune of some inspiring piece of pop music. Whose song will it be?.... Which song will electrify the crowd next Thursday?"

I don't know, WWLD? That is, what would Leni Riefenstahl recommend? A little Wagner? Interestingly, there is no question whatsoever that she was a gifted artist. But look at the mesmerizing effect Hitler had upon her will -- and she is hardly alone in this regard. Van Vrekhem relates story after story of how strong men -- generals, diplomats, artists, and journalists -- were reduced to Jello in his presence. He clearly transmitted a kind of supernatural power to which many individuals attested. Is there an "artist" in Hollywood, or a celebrity journalist, who hasn't fallen under Obama's spell? Yes, a few, but only a few. .

Prescient, no?

[emphasis added]
(h/t: M. Lybbert)


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Olbermann/Mathews Out, Iowahawk Rules

Does the lefty blogosphere having anything like Iowahawk? Check out his latest, which includes a short list of the many hats worn by community organizers:

• reach out and work with communities in various ways.
• liaison with, and for, community agencies for service within affected areas.
• fight to make a difference.
• raise awareness.
• deal with community issues.
• raise awareness in the community of how we are making differences about undealt-with issues .
• when necessary, refer inquiries to outreach coordinators.
• Help coordination agency administrators identify and address outreach opportunities.
• model timetables and conceptualize benchmarks.
• issue guidelines for poster contests and interpretive dance festivals.
• Gather voter registrations, win valuable prizes.

In other, awesomely awesome news, the mouthpieces of the angry left over at MSNBC, the repugnant Chris Mathews and venomous Keith Olbermann, are out as prime time news anchors. This just confirms what we have always known: These guys are blatantly partisan. They don't even try to appear impartial. Hopefully this is just the first step on their march into complete and total insignificance and their ouster from what used to be a respectable news outlet.

We've been covering their outrages at my day job, NewsBusters (surf on over and search their names to find a HUGE catalogue of their various offenses) and collectively believe this is a result of the backlash against their coverage of the McCain campaign and recently, Sarah Palin. That, and NBC would not doubt like to make a little money and, well, the angry left just isn't a big enough group to keep their ratings high for advertisers. See Fox News for a successful model of fairness and balance.

It was one of the great moments at the convention when, during Palin's speech, responding to her assertions of media bias, the conventioneers started chanting "N-B-C! N-B-C!," and pointing towards NBC's suite in the Xcel Center. Even the MSM responds, finally, when enough people pound away at their bias.

One small step for Americans, one giant leap for those of us outing bias in the mainstream media.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Palin, Shy Republicans, &c.

The post-convention, post-Sarah Palin rollout confirm what I predicted the day McCain named Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee: She is a game changer.

USA Today is showing a 10 point lead for McCain/Palin among likely voters.
Zogby has him up by 4.
And Gallup shows him up by 5.

Granted, the 538 guys' model suggests a convention bounce that eventually regresses back to the mean. But the game changer wasn't the convention, per se. It was a combination of naming Palin and Palin's speech. This has to be measured separately to the outreach effort that was McCain's speech on the last night of the convention. That speech, as I wrote previously, was not for the the people at the Xcel Center or the base, it was for the Independents who are concerned about Obama's experience and wonder how in the world he's going to pay for all of his proposed programs (high taxes). McCain's bio and his criticism of his own party appeals to those voters. The latest polls, in part, reflect that.

In my opinion, the most significant thing to come out of the Palin pick/Palin speech was the result it had among the conservative base. In 2004 Bush won with conservatives turning out in huge numbers and that's pretty much it. My biggest concern from the day McCain became the presumptive nominee was that those people would stay home.

Palin has solved that problem. In fact, she has solved it in an incredible way. According to 538 and Ace, Republican identification is at its highest levels since immediately following the Bush innauguration. In terms of party ID, Democrats have always led Republicans. That it is now 48-47 Dems vs. Reps is significant. Needless to say, the Republican base votes more reliably than the twenthysomething hipsters who derive their cool from the Obama campaign. I defy them to show up to vote in November. I don't think it will happen. By then, voting Obama, Guitar Hero.* will be passé.

- Watch this story to see if it has legs. Specifically, the high level of coordination between the Obama campaign and the angry leftwing nuts of his party. Palin was announced as the nominee and this group of crazies manufactured ridiculous lie after ridiculous lie about her.

Needless to say, their attacks didn't have the desired effect as they drove curious voters to watch Palin in record numbers when she spoke at the convention. The Obama campaign saw the backlash and put out the word to leave her alone. Now, reports Ace, the Kos Kids crazy reports are being deleted because, Ace thinks (and I think he's right) the Obama campaign realized their attacks were repulsive and counterproductive. If the Obama camp is giving marching orders to dKos, DU, and HuffPo, this is a problem--as in, an election rules problem.

- Last point: The debate that compares Dems #1 to Reps #2 is proving to be the coup I thought it would be. A given group will argue the merits of Mayor vs. Community Organizer & Governor vs. 19 Month Campaign For President and then, midway through, realize that they are talking about #1 vs. #2 and how bad this is for Democrats. It makes John McCain look like the wisened, experienced leader.

*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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Fannie/Freddie Fail

The inevitable finally happened. The Federal government seized Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. I'm not an expert on these sorts of things so I will make just one observation:

Despite what you may read elsewhere, this was not a failure of the free market.

The backing given these companies by the federal government guaranteed their debts thereby distorting the market. When an institution is not forced to account for risk, it makes very irresponsible decisions. In this instance, the risk-less decisions made by the two mortgage lenders distorted the whole market and set us up for the problems the market now faces.

The best solution would be for the government to take control of Fannie & Freddy and break them up and sell off the various parts. This may require putting them both into some sort of receivership.

As important as solving the problem is, it is also important that people keep their heads and not lose faith in the free market. This was another government failing, not a market failure.

UPDATE 2:17pm MDT: Greg Mankiw weighed in on the bailout and for the most part, reflects the perspective I gave above--though obviously, he writes it better:

The problem is far from over, as the future of these institutions and a large segment of the financial system is still to be determined. The worrisome part is that this future will be determined by a political system that both created the GSEs and failed to provide sufficient oversight, even when many economists suggested reform was needed. To believe that the Congress will do a good job of it would be the triumph of hope over experience.

This was a government problem, not a market problem.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Getting The Heck Out Of Dodge

UPDATE 10:13pm PDT: Well, I'm back on the West Coast and in Seattle for the BYU vs. UW football game. Feels good. I promised a couple of friends from the RNC that I would blog about them.

First off, thanks to Liz Mair, the eCommunications Director for helping me along the way for the last couple of months and then, again, at the convention. Couldn't have gotten there with out you, Liz.

Thanks also to Hayden Pruett, Special Press Media Credentialer extroardinaire. Let the record show that none of Hayden's credentials ended up in the hands of the obnoxious "pink ladies." They can hardly be called ladies, can they? Hayden, you're awesome.

- The take down, clean up started last night as soon as the balloons dropped from the ceiling of the Xcel Center. It was a massive operation putting everything together--especially the security arrangements and huge barrier enclosing a larger perimeter around the Xcel. As I left sometime after midnight and later, as I walked back around after leaving the Wrap Party, it seemed as though they were proceeding apace. From beginning to end, this was a well run, well organized operation.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Dateline: Xcel Center, RNC Final Day

UPDATE 5 Sept. 3:05am CDT: On Fox News just now, Karl Rove pointed out something that didn't necessarily surprise me, though it was something I did not know. In 2004, when you combine the money spent by the Kerry-Edwards campaign, the DNC and Democratic 527s and compare it to the same money raised by corresponding sources on the Republican side, Democrats outspent Republicans by $121 million.

UPDATE 5 Sept. 2:52am CDT: My wrap-up tonight focuses on McCain's speech. Going into this convention, many people--including me--wondered how McCain would broach the autobiographical topic. Unlike his memoir-loving opponent, McCain typically doesn't like to talk about himself. Yet, if he is to become President, it is imperative that people get to know him. So, how did he do it? How did he talk about his time as a POW? He talked about it in terms of a personal transformation. He described a young man--himself--as a person focused on self (despite the fact that he was serving his country). He described, in very humble terms, how being incapacitated and forced to rely on the benevolence of his fellow American POWs taught him about life and sacrifice and service. This was powerful. People were quiet. No doubt some shed tears (I think you could see this on TV). And I think we collectively said to ourselves: this man has experience.

- At one point, McCain attacked his own party. No doubt the left was gloating. And to be honest, the audience was taken aback. I didn't disagree with him and have often expressed my frustration with my party regarding their spendthrift and sometimes corrupt ways. I don't believe they have been materially different to Democrats on either of these fronts, it's just that Republicans are supposed to be the party of fiscal discipline and reform.

Of course, much, if not most, of this speech was directed not to the people in the Xcel Center, but to the wider American audience. And in that sense, I think it was successful. John McCain presented himself as a principled man who puts country before party and personal interests. And the great thing is, he can point to bill after bill in which he has acted in accordance with what he believed was best for the country. Obama cannot say the same because he has not authored any major legislation and when he did become involved in ethics reform, he rejected the opportunity to join McCain in a bipartisan effort, opting instead for a partisan bill.

UPDATE 8:19pm CDT: Feel free to join my colleagues and the rest of the NB community in a our live RNC chat.

UPDATE 7:58pm CDT: I wanted to take a step back, withdraw a bit from the immediate, emotional response to Palin's speech last night, and examine what it did, what it added, and why it worked so incredibly well. My analysis can be boiled down to two easy points:

1. She completely deconstructed Obama and the Obama campaign's liberal talking points in a humorous and easy-to-understand way. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."
   
2. She clearly articulated core, conservative principles in a way that appealed to listeners on an emotional and intellectual level. "They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America."
   

What is also impressive about this speech was her ability to go above and past the media gatekeepers in a way that probably has not been done since Ronald Reagan. As a result of the non-stop attacks by the nutroots and the Obama campaign and the MSM (but I repeat myself), 37 million Americans tuned in to see what this woman was about.

The attack dogs helped to give her a large audience and Sarah Palin took care of the rest.

UPDATE 7:54pm CDT: One Cosmos on his experience watching the Palin speech. I think I'll just go ahead and start referring to it as The Speech.

Naturally, I watched it on MSDNC in order to see what the reaction would be over there. The first thing out of Olbermann's piehole was that the speech was snide and sarcastic. Ho! Can he really be so mentally ill that he cannot see a projection so transparent? Yes. He is a sick man. Truly psychospiritually toxic. That liberals find his toxins nourishing tells you all you need to know about them.

UPDATE 7:40pm CDT: In honor of Captain Morgan, the company sponsoring the press corps open bar, and providing me with my steady diet of Coke-Zero and chips & dip, I thought I'd post the comments of my friend Morgan.

The press bar, btw, is hopping--it is definitely the place to be (this side of the floor of the Xcel Center).

Morgan is a casual observer of politics who calls things like he sees 'em.

Here is what I find most surprising/amusing about the Palin pick. I am shocked at how much energy and emotion is being spent on discrediting her when she is the VP candidate as opposed to the Presidential candidate. Liberals seem to be really, really worked up about this. [...] Every time I hear or read somebody work themselves into a frenzy discussing her I am tempted to say "why so serious?"

UPDATE 7:04pm CDT: Last night I wrote in my wrap-up about why the left--the MSM, etc.--hates Sarah Palin. Johnathan Last lists a few more.

UPDATE 6:43pm CDT: Obama is going to be on O'Reilly tonight. I already wrote about the shady circumstances surrounding the Obama/Ailes/Fox News meeting earlier this summer. Obama is prepared to admit the success of the surge. Seriously? The Surge worked? Most galling is this comment:

"I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated," Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

There are at least two people who thought it would work. I'll give you a hint. One of them is the Republican nominee for President. The other one? He lives in a big White House.

UPDATE 6:15pm CDT: Pre-released excerpts from McCain's speech to be aired later tonight:

On running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:

"I’m very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country. But I can’t wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming."

On solving problems in Washington:

"The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom. It’s what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.

Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That’s how I will govern as President. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not."

On love of country:

"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s."

UPDATE 5:41pm CDT: Just posted my piece about the media's ongoing aversion to identifying the party association of scandal ridden Democrats--Democrats like Kwame Kilpatrick.

UPDATE 5:30pm CDT: Last night Sarah Palin attracted some 37.2 million viewers, 1.1 million off Obama's overhyped draw at Invesco last week. There's one detail missing from these numbers and I don't think it can be overstated: Palin's speech was only broadcast on 6 stations as compared to 10 for Obama. (h/t: RedState)

UPDATE 5:22pm CDT: RNC Night 4 Sched:

7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Speaker: Joe Watkins
- Speaker: U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.)
- Speaker: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Minn.)
- Speaker with Video: Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.)
- Speaker: Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter, USMC (Ret.)
- Speaker: U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.)
- Speaker: U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin (Okla.)
- Video: "World Stood Still"

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Speaker: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
- Video: "Vice Presidential Nominee Governor Sarah Palin"
- Speaker: Former Gov. Tom Ridge (Penn.)
- Video: "America’s Place in the World"
- Speaker: Mrs. Cindy McCain

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Video: "Senator John McCain"
- Speaker: Presidential Nominee John McCain

10 p.m. to Conclusion
- Floor Demonstration, Balloon Drop, McCain and Palin Families on Stage
- Introduction of Presiding Officer: U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio)
- Benediction: Pastor Dan Yeary
- Introduction of Delegate for Motion, Adoption and Adjournment: U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio)

UPDATE 4:09pm CDT: A friend writes:

The backdrop of RNC is just not as flashy as the DNC backdrop.

I don't think I could sum up the difference between the Republicans and Democrats better myself. What's better, the comment was not meant as a compliment.

UPDATE 4:05pm CDT: And today we talked to Mitch McConnell in an extended interview and Tom DeLay, briefly. We liked "the Hammer" because as soon as we told him we were with NewsBusters, he said, "oh, I love you guys." We love you too, Tom.

UPDATE 12:44pm CDT: Finally back at home in the Press Filing Center. Everybody here at the Xcel center is talking about The News from last night. No, not the fact that the speech was knocked-out-of-the-park good. The fact that Palin (and Rudy) had teleprompter issues forcing both of them to do their best from memory. And doing their best from memory is no mean feat. These speeches go through changes right up until the last moment.

Well done, Sarah and Rudy.

Main: I'm still at my hotel in Eagan and watching the coverage of Sarah Palin's speech from last night on the various cable news channels. After reviewing the text and footage of Governor Palin's speech, I agree with Byron York, the most devastating line was this one:

And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely.

There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain.

It's true. What can anyone say about this?

For me, the election can be summed up in one point: John McCain's decision to support and champion the surge, demonstrated clearly when he famously said, (and when saying it wasn't as popular as it is now), that he would rather lose an election, than lose the war. Joe Biden and Barack Obama have never taken similarly difficult & unpopular stands.

At the end of the day, when it matters most, I know I can count on John McCain to put country ahead of personal political gain.

Can anyone say--with any conviction--the same of Barack Obama?


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Dateline: Xcel Center, RNC Day 3

UPDATE 4 Sept. 2:00am CDT: It's late, but I promised several people I would get some stuff up about Palin's speech tonight. Apologies for taking so long.

The short story: she hit it out of the park.

Like everyone else pulling for this ticket, I was hoping for something good and worried she might not deliver. But this, this was even better than I think anyone anticipated. She hit Obama and Biden hard--as did everyone all night long--and she appealed to the base. Make no mistake about it: the Republican base loves Sarah Palin.

I watched from the same place I've watched all the speeches all week--straight away from the podium on the concourse. It's a better vantage point that the press seats and puts me right in the mix with all the delegates. Of course they were going to respond positively to her speech, but if it were bad or not awesome (as it was), they could have just clapped politely--like they've done for several other speeches. But they didn't.

The atmosphere was electric. People were laughing, some of the women were getting emotional, and they were pumping their fists in response to some of the more red meat jabs at Obama. It was the perfect mix of all of the above.

One of the things I gather was missed by the folks watching at home was some of the crowd response. When Governor Palin talked about the media's stupdendously biased coverage of the campaign, the crowd sponatenously started chanting "N-B-C!, N-B-C!" and pointing towards the MSNBC booth stage right and up from Governor Palin. It was great. There is no question but that everyone knows that MSNBC is in the tank for Obama. They have completely lost all credibility.

As we sat in McGovern's after the session was over, we watched the various news outlets talk about Palin's speech. It was too loud to hear the audio, but we could gather from body language what everyone thought about the speech. Their body language was also an indication about how well she did. CNN & MSNBC pundits all looked angry. They were wagging their fingers at the screen and lecturing about who knows what--how much they hate Palin, or whatever. This is how much they hate her and how much they fear here.

All of this brings me to my last point: We interviewed Newt Gingrich tonight and he was very insightful. The one point he made that stood out to me had to do with the left's definition of feminism. What started out as a movement to advance the cause of and champion women, has been hijacked by a very narrow section of society who have defined "true" feminism in a very narrow way. True feminists would be proud of any woman who is going where no woman has gone before--women like Sarah Palin. But the feminists of the left demand that a woman be in favor of killing babies in order to join their club. As Newt pointed out, Governor Palin is turning the women's lib understanding of feminism on its ear. She is changing the definition. More than that, she's changing the whole language. She is telling women everywhere that they can be good mothers and wives and they can still serve their communities and their countries. She is telling women that they can be socially conservative and still be for women and for advancing women's causes.

In short, Sarah Palin is deconstructing the very carefully liberal-constructed understanding of feminism, so all can see it for the hateful, anti-human joke that it is. This is why the leftists in the blogosphere and the leftist dominated media are doing their worst to try and derail Sarah Palin.

But I've got news for the so-called progressives: It's not going to work. The rauccous chants of "N-B-C!" showed that Americans get it. They understand that what they're getting from the media about Governor Palin is not honest, hard-hitting journalism. It's a biased smear campaign of the worse sort. And there is beginning to be a backlash.

More tomorrow on Huckabee, Romney, Michael Williams, Newt, and others. So much good stuff to write about, so little time.

Thanks for reading.

UPDATE 7:13pm CDT: Michael Williams: "Life begins at conception!" Also, Peggy Noonan:

with conception something begins. What do you think it is? A car? A 1948 Buick?

UPDATE 7:02pm CDT: The video of the John Bolton interview is up.

UPDATE 6:09pm CDT: My editor, Matthew Sheffield, emailed a link to an article by Howard Kurtz, following up on Wolff's report of the Ailes/Murdoch/Obama meeting. It may have been innocuous, but it's really starting to look like Murdoch & Fox News were doing whatever they could to appease Obama so they're not shut out of a possible Obama presidency.

UPDATE 4:47pm CDT: Our interview with Howard Wolfson, former senior aide to Hillary Clinton and Fox News contributor is up. He's a good sport.

UPDATE 4:36pm CDT: President Bush last night:

Fellow citizens: If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain's resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the Angry Left never will.

UPDATE 4:21pm CDT: Just posted my long-time-coming Fox News/Roger Ailes/Rupert Murdoch/Barack Obama* piece over at NewsBusters. The story deals with Murdoch's conservative persona vs. desire to sell papers and ad time and Barack Obama's adversarial relationship with Fox News. Good stuff.

*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.

UPDATE 3:55pm CDT: Finally, I got to interview one of my heroes, former Ambassador John Bolton. We'd been looking for someone to weigh in on media and leftist criticism of Palin's foreign policy experience (or, in their narrative, lack thereof) and who better than John Bolton? He told us that he has spoken with Governor Palin numerous times about issues like trade and missile defense and that she is competent on these issues and more--and further, that her experience there and knowledge there at least matched Barack Obama's.

UPDATE 3:42pm CDT: Just finished talking to Cal Thomas, cool conservative, about Palin, etc. Like everyone else, he thinks media attacks on Palin's family are repulsive. He thinks MSNBC is a joke whose only story is: conservatives are evil; Bush is evil, end of story. Once you've seen it once, why go back? And, as he pointed out, their poor ratings bear him out--no one is going back to watch the same old thing except for the angry left.

UPDATE 2:25pm CDT: Hot Air has video of Fred Thompson's speech. Do yourself a favor; check it out.

UPDATE 1:47pm CDT: The RNC just announced the schedule of events/speakers for this evening:

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Speaker: GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele
- Speaker: Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)
- Speaker: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)
- Musical Performance: John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Cowboy Troy

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Speaker: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.)
- Speaker: Gov. Linda Lingle (Hawaii)
- Video: Sarah Palin
- Speaker: Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin

Main: A lot to report since last night's early morning post:

- One thing I neglected to touch on was Fred Thompson's speech. It was fantastic. Those of us who have been following this race and have an inordinate interest in politics are familiar with John McCain's story, but for the passively interest American just tuning into the race, Thompson's narrative was powerful and compelling. And few people can tell a story like Thompson. Ace has a pretty good take on all the speeches, but one line stood out for me from the speech:

John McCain: "Character you can believe in."

Doesn't this just sum up the difference between the Democrat and Republican parties? Democrats love nebulous change, with no specifics, because it's "new" and "different" and "exciting." It doesn't matter what it means, just that it's change. Nevermind that things are the way they are because across the centuries, by and large they've been proven to work.

One other stark difference, at the Dems convention, they chanted O-ba-ma!, O-ba-ma! At the RNC, they chant, U-S-A, U-S-A!

- This morning at our blogger brunch, we listened to Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. He seemed like a reasonable enough dude, though he maintained his company's support of "net neutrality." One blogger said, "so you are against the very system that allowed your company to grow the way it did?" Schmidt: "Yes." He sounded like all the other rich Democrats. Now that they've got theirs, they want to shut things down so no one else can.

What was interesting was that he raised the specter of China as a possible reason for net neutrality. Of course, those of us who don't want government regulation of the internet in the way suggested by net neutrality point at China as an example as well. We trust the market to allow for freer speech than the do-gooders in government.

- Frank Luntz, a focus group pollster for Fox News spoke briefly at the convention and reinforced what we already knew: Sarah Palin needs to hit a home run tonight. Though her pick reinforces McCain's maverick, outside-the-beltway narrative, and though more experienced than Obama, she probably isn't even the 10th most experienced Republican (possible) VP choice. That does not mean, however, that she isn't possibly the most capable or talented or give John McCain the best chance to win. I'm comfortable with the image of Republicans taking a bit of a gamble (though I don't think it is one) with their VP choice especially when compared with the outrageously huge gamble Democrats took with Barack Obama.

- Ran into Brit Hume on the way to the brunch and he agreed to give us an interview later. First impression: he's taller than I'd anticipated. Second impression: he looks like he could use some sleep. At this point--the midway point--we call could.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Dateline: Xcel Center, RNC Day 2

UPDATE 2:43am CDT: Last update before I sign off for the night. I watched this exchange--between Gingrich & an MSNBC reporter--from the concourse and thought, I wonder what they're talking about. My colleague at NewsBusters, Noel Sheppard found the video and it's fantastic. Click here, to see Noel's post. I repeat something I've written before. We are more than happy to have a dialogue about Palin and debate the relative merits of her experience versus Obama's.

It's important to understand that debating our #2 vs. their #1 concedes that Obama isn't even in McCain's orbit.

UPDATE 2:41am CDT: One other point I forgot to mention regarding our interview with Jon Voight. We asked him about other conservatives in Hollywood and if he had any advice to give to them or young conservatives. The long and short of his answer was similar to what I have observed in academia. If you want work, keep your mouth shut about your conservative politics. At this point in his career (though it has been known about Voight for some time), he can say what he wants because he doesn't really need the work and he is a big enough name that he can get work despite his politics. For younger actors/writers/directors, this is not the case.

UPDATE: 2:31am CDT: My days are divided by sleep periods rather than by calendar days. While waiting to interview Jon Voight, we joked around with Kevin Farley, the younger brother of one of my favorite comedians, the late Chris Farley. Seeing Kevin was, to use an overused word, surreal--not because I or anyone else was particularly impressed to meet Kevin (though he is a nice guy), but because he looks just like his brother. At first glance, I had to do a double take because I was sure I had seen a ghost.

UPDATE: 10:56pm CDT: The posts below now contain links to the video of our interviews with Mort Kondracke and Laura Ingraham.

UPDATE: 10:45pm CDT: We just finished interviewing Jon Voight regarding his role in An American Carol, the right's response to endless parade of conservative-lampooning films. If you judge a person by the company or celebrities he keeps, John McCain comes out looking great. Compare and contrast Jon Voight with Kanye West. West's songs, though catchy, are full of hateful, racist lyrics. And Jon Voight is just awesome. Ditto Five for Fighting's Jon Ondrasik, who was with Jon Voight. (making them the h-less Jon's)

UPDATE: 8:48pm CDT: Just got back from interviewing Mort Kondracke of Fox's "Beltway Boys," Gary Bauer, former POTUS candidate, and Laura Ingraham. Mort is shorter than his fellow "Boy" Fred Barnes, but is just as congenial. Like just about everyone else, they took the time, even though they were in a hurry, to speak with us.

Laura Ingraham said "the media hates Sarah Palin because she's pro-life. End of story." I think there's a lot of truth to that.

Mort Kondracke played the role of media apologist at first, saying that it was important that they go hard after Palin because of the short period of time to "vet" her. After being asked, pointedly, if the media were treating Palin the way they had treated Obama--especially as it relates to Rezko, Ayers, Wright, etc.--Kondracke admitted that it was not equal treatment.

Gary Bauer's comments were on point and in touch with the religious wing of the Republican party. He pointed out the hypocrisy of the left in criticizing Palin for her daughter becoming a pregnant--something they usually treat as a non-issue. He noted the many christian-crisis centers across the centers designed to help young women in a similar situation. As he said, social conservatives embrace and aid those who make mistakes and need help.

UPDATE: 6:52pm CDT: ABC News and Politico separately reported that 'while the hurricane raged, Republicans partied.' This is an unfair and untrue characterization. It's true, the previously planned parties were still held, for the most part. But the partisan celebrations have been replaced by American fundraisers for those in the path of Hurricane Gustav. This has been my experience and after interviewing a number of delegates, it seems to be everyone's experience.

- Seated next to me in the Press Filing Center are a couple of leftist new media types. They are so smug and self satisfied. In hushed tones that aren't so hushed (you know, so everyone around them can hear but they "maintain decorum."), they talk about how things seem "dead" or "like an undertakers conference, " (har, har, har). Compare that take with the critique above, that holds that Republicans are partying too hard in light of the hurricane.

If you're a conservative in this country, you cannot win.

UPDATE: 5:19pm CDT: In early 2007, Jonah Goldberg participated in a debate at the Oxford Union about the following topic: "This House regrets the founding of The United States of America." It was a ridiculous proposition and fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. Today, I spoke with Goldberg about that debate, telling him that it was a source of some pride for us Americans who spent time in Oxbridge circles and frequently encountered just the sort of anti-American spirit reflected by that debate topic.

He was, like his colleagues, gracious, and said that were it not for the extreme left of the opposition, they might have lost, owing to the fact that the crowd was decidedly anti-American. Irony of ironies, the Communist was a no show. As Goldberg said, "this is a guy who has spent his life defending lost causes (Stalin, among others) you'd have thought he show up to the debate."

(audio here)

First, links to my latest NewsBusters posts:

How to Cover Pregnancy Controversies, MSM-Style
Hot Air TV: 'Instant Classic'
Another Fake 'Lifelong Republican' Exposed
Celebs for McCain: Yes, Virginia, There Are a Few
Pollster.com Finds 'House Effects,' Not Bias, to Blame for Volatile Polls

- Yesterday was a long day that seemed longer because of a late arrival the night before. Official RNC stuff was limited with the First Lady & Cindy McCain making a brief appearance and appealing for support of the Gulf Coast states--specifically Louisiana--as they deal with Gustav and the latest round of hurricanes.

- Interesting note: the 5 gulf coast state governor are all Republicans. And anyone who followed Katrina can't help but notice the stark contrast between the leadership provided by Bobby Jindal and his predecessor, the spectacularly incompetent Kathleen Blanco. Why didn't Kanye accuse Blanco of hating black people?

- At the National Review reception I spoke with Byron York, Rich Lowry, & Kathryn Jean Lopez. I didn't quite have time to talk to Jonah Goldberg or Mickey Kaus. To the man (and woman) they were all gracious and took the time to chat about politics and education. Special thanks to Ms. Lopez for the invitation. I am only sorry that my first NR party came after Bill Buckley's passing. I would like to have made his acquaintance.
(click the name for a link to their latest stuff)

- At the Lifetime women's party, I tried to get myself cast as the villainous male in the next Lifetime feature film. No dice.

- This morning I attended a blogger brunch hosted by RedState and Google. Fred Thompson was the featured speaker and like Michael Steele yesterday, he railed on the media coverage of this campaign in general, and the shameful Bristol Palin attacks in particular. Fred's a good one.

One interesting point about the co-hosting by RedState and Google: Google is notoriously liberal--they endorse the sort of web-censorship conservatives hate because it is always conservative stuff that gets lifted. So, for months leading up to the convention, no one wanted to partner with Google. This was money for the taking--to put on a party for conservatives, but no one wanted their money.

Just two weeks ahead of the convention, RedState decided they wanted to do a blogger brunch and reached out to the RNC. The RNC mentioned Google. Initially RedState said no, but after speaking with Google, concluded their (Google's) intentions to become more neutral, were honest. So there we were this morning and there we will be tomorrow. Hopefully Google follows through on stopping their censorship of conservatives.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Dateline: Xcel Center, RNC Day 1

A few &c. thoughts from the RNC:

- Michael Steele is sharp, really sharp. Watch for our NewsBusters interview with him to go up later this evening.

- Having never been to a convention before and lacking anything to compare it against, I am amazed by the energy and excitement among the delegates and other misc. participants.

- Everyone is talking about Sarah Palin and every comment I've heard so far is favorable. I've read skeptical reviews of her on the web, but you won't get any of that here at the convention. Granted, many of these delegates are her demographic, but still. It was important that McCain pick someone who would fire these people up because they are the ones who are going to organize the ground game in their home states.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Dateline: Eagan, MN

Turns out the Excel Center is in Eagan, MN, a suburb of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul. And this is where I'll be until Friday. This is my first convention and I'm not quite sure what to expect. With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on Louisiana, it looks like no one else knows what to expect either.

A few thoughts:

- My prayers and thoughts are with the residents--evacuated and not--in Louisiana. I hope the hurricane loses steam and causes as little damage as possible.

- It will be interesting to see, from a purely electoral perspective, what effect the hurricane has on the campaign. The RNC has already announced that convention activities will be curtailed. Some big names have already canceled. First impression: lack of a convention and opportunity to present John McCain's "Country First" message will hurt him. Second impression: what says "America First" better than putting the needs of Gulf States' residents before his party's convention? Of course, he has to be careful not to appear too opportunistic.

- Iowahawk: The Idiossey

- Debating who has more experience--Obama, Guitar Hero, or Palin--is a winning discussion for the McCain campaign. With any luck it will wake people to Obama's lack thereof. What better prepares a person to be President? 8 years as a mayor + 2 years as Governor OR nebulous community organizer (anyone care to try to explain this occupation in a way that gives it some heft? anyone? anyone?), sometime lecturer, part-time state legislature who mostly voted "present," US Senator who produced no major legislation but has spent most of the time campaigning for President.

What just boggles my mind is that people think that Obama's 18 months campaigning for the presidency was somehow a great prep course for the presidency.

Come on folks, if that were the case, Jesse Jackson would make a great POTUS.

And remember, this is a debate comparing Dems' ticket topper and Reps' undercard.


*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.