WhiteHorseMusings

A Political Coup in Pegram TN USA?

2009-04-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

On March 31, 2009, the duly elected mayor of Pegram TN, Terri Ray, was stripped of her duties as mayor after the Vice-Mayor Rick Roark declared her "unable to discharge (her) duties." The other alderman voted to endorse this illegitimate and illegal seizure of power. This was done after Mayor Ray "discharged her duties" by terminating the employment of the Town Recorder and a public works employee, in accordance with the town charter, state law, and after 6 months of attempting to get these employees to correctly perform their jobs.

Mayor Ray had been the Town Recorder under 3 previous mayors and elected alderman twice. She was elected mayor on a simple platform to bring fiscal accountability for the spending of taxpayer dollars, the town into adherence with applicable laws, and make town hall a pleasant place all citizens could come to for information and assistance. The terminated employees would not conform to these common-sense requirements.

What is strange is that Vice-Mayor Roark and Alderman Carol Crook were elected in the same election, on the same platform. Alderman Eugene Evans had been a voice for accountability, and Alderman Daniel DuBois was appointed to fulfill the same aims. Not only were these campaign promises; also they are the duty of the Mayor & Aldermen.

Mayor Ray had met with stiff resistance to bringing these common-sense changes to the town, much of this from the Town Recorder. "We've always done it this way" was the most often retort, followed closely by charges of "micromanaging." Some former and current town officials told her to trust the staff and not provide any oversight or control to how the taxpayer's money was spent. The other aldermen had proposed ordinances to take away the mayor's duty of oversight, in order to keep the spending of taxpayer money out of view. These aldermen, led by Vice-Mayor Roark, seem to have forgotten why they were elected and who they represent. It's evident they believe they represent the entrenched bureaucracy and the building of town hall - not the citizens. The lure of personal power appears to have been too great.

This move is a political coup, something we would expect to hear about on the news, happeing in a far-off country - not in the USA. These moves are not legal - the law regarding this is crystal clear, as is the will of the voters. For full disclosure, Mayor Ray is my wife. I am assisting her with this fight to restore good government to our small town and end this illegal coup. We have retained an attorney, not something we had budgeted. We have also been in contact with other legal and governmental entities to right this egregious wrong. By the research of our attorney and others, this has not happened in the USA in modern times. This type of political skullduggery can not and will not stand. I am including links to stories from the press regarding this situation.

Pegram Mayor Stripped of Duties
Pegram Mayor Voted Out
Pegram Mayor Ousted from Office

This is the copy of the town charter, clearly detailing the legality of her duties.

Kent Williams Turns

2009-01-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

With a 50-49 majority, all it takes is for one to turn. For the Tennessee Republicans, the turncoat was Kent Williams. Elected in 2006, he cut a deal with the Democrats in Nashville to install him as House Speaker. It's pretty obvious to me that he will be a figurehead leader, taking his orders from Naifeh & company. I'd imagine he thinks himself pretty slick, as he did vote for himself - though the other 49 votes were all Democrats. A quick search on his name shows that he is a Democrat at heart - as seen here & here.

A similar thing happened in the State Senate, with another Williams - Mike Williams, in 2005. My advice to the Republicans is to keep on pushing for what is right, & if one of the conservative Democrats sees the writing on the wall, welcome him or her to change parties.

Aaron Shock, Generation Y Conservative Republican Success Story

2008-12-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Meinecke has a great piece in Human Events on Aaron Shock.

He’s from Illinois, young, smart and has a natural talent for relating to voters. And no, he’s not Barack Obama: he’s Aaron Schock, the newly elected U.S. representative for Illinois’ 18th district. Even Biden would like him -- he’s young, clean, and articulate, and at 27, will bring a Generation Y voice to Congress in January.

In four campaigns (school board, state legislature twice, and now U.S. representative), he’s never run a negative ad. Instead, he talks about what he wants to do. He has taken his message into an urban district, even to the pulpits of his constituents’ churches. And when the mud starts slinging in Shock’s direction, he always has a clean and clear response...

“She’s a Democrat in a Democrat district, and she’ll be there as long as she wants,” Schock said people told him. He ran against her anyway, and he won.

He’s done all this, unlike the Kennedys, without wealth or the backing of a political family.

“People look at me and my age and say, “Oh, you know, [he] must …come from this political family. Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Schock said. “Nobody had ever run for office. My parents never said, “Hey, you should run someday for office.” When I decided to run for the school board at 19, they thought I was crazy...”

He comes battle-tested from an Illinois environment where conservatives could claim protection only as an endangered species. As a state representative, the Republican Schock’s demographic was an urban district where 20,000 of the 40,000 voters were on food stamps. 25 percent of his constituents were African American. He had to overcome $980,000 worth of attack TV commercials against him in his first state house race (it was the most expensive house race in state history). His re-election race set a new record. When he got to the state legislature, the good old boy network advised him to keep quiet if he wanted re-election -- in fact, they told him he shouldn’t vote like a Republican.

“I said, you know what, I’m 23 years old, I ran because I wanted to do what I think is right…I don’t need to be here, and if I lose, so be it, ” Schock said, and ended up voting twice against increase in minimum wage. “I have one of the most conservative voting records in the state house. I’ve got a 100 percent pro-life, pro-family, 100 percent with the second amendment. “

Aaron Schock will vote his conscience, and that may be lucky for conservatives.

Aaron Shock shows that conservatism can win in districts once thought impregnable to Republicans. He shows the power of someone who walks the conservative Republican talk. I hope he is representative of many of the future leaders of our party, & we elect many more who will vote their conscience - conservative Republican conscience.

Crossposted at Rebuild The Party.

Conservatism Without "Cliques"

2008-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Rebuild The Party.

We need to be conservative Republicans, not segregating ourselves into little High-School type cliques. We have the winning strategy for elections & governance:

Strong National Defense

Fiscal Responsibility

Limited Government

Conservative Social Values

Standing alone, these are winning issues. Together, they are almost invincible. We have the watershed victories of 1980 & 1994 as evidence of what happens when Republicans run as total conservatives, expousing all conservative principles in bold, unafraid colors. We also have the negative watershed elections of 2006 & 2008 which show that Republicans lose when the party does not hold fast to all planks in the conservative Republican platform. Far too many of our elected leaders abandoned fiscal responsibility - they spent money & acted exactly as the Democrats they replaced. They grew government outside of what was needed for national security. Because of that they lost control of congress & the White House.

IMHO, absolutely nothing in the conservative Republican platform needs to be watered down. This country is not Puritanical, however it's not left of center by any stretch. Economic & national security issues must be in the forefront, especially given they are the major concerns of the day. Conservative social values undergird everything else. We cannot legislate morality, however we can stand for what is right. Voters usually like those who stand for what is right.

Concluding, we must communicate respectfully, politely, but also firmly with our elected leaders the critical need to reclaim fiscal responsibility & limited government conservatism without watering down or fading the colors of any other part of the conservative Republican platform. We win as a party of all bold colors.

Michael Steele

2008-11-23T20:04:00.001-08:00

Michael Steele is "running" to be the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. To say we need new, bold, strong leadership is understating it. We have quite a fight ahead of us to keep as much of Obama's & the Democrat Congress' negative agenda from enactment, as well as position ourselves for the 2010 elections.

I have been an advocate for a strong reclamation of limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism, & from Martha Zoller's recent article in Human Events, Steele seems to get it.

Some Steele quotes from the article:

“We have over the course of the last seven or eight years ticked off a lot of people in this county. Not because we’re conservatives…but because we failed to speak to those issues -- because we failed to lead on these issues.”

He's speaking to the leaders of the Republicans in the Senate, House, & White House - & he's dead on correct.

“Over the past decade or so, conservatives seem to have lost their way. The disparity between our rhetoric and our actions has grown to the point that our credibility has snapped. People just don’t believe us.”

“We’ve become our own worst enemy,” said Steele. “We in fact as much as anyone else have become the party of big government. We lost our principles our credibility, we dishonored our nation. Frankly, we behaved like Democrats.”

Again, right on target. Republican leaders, far too many, abandoned limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism.

“Our best hope for a brighter future is in the empowerment of individuals and families; not in constraints imposed by a bloated bureaucracy. It is still morning in America because America is morning. My mother told me that. She knew that the freedoms may not reach her doorstep, but she had faith that it would reach mine…Don’t make excuses for what we believe in -- that time is over, let’s get busy.”

Very true, it's the time to get to work. Let our leaders & representatives know in polite but crystal clear terms that it's time to reclaim limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism. As I say, it not only wins elections but also allows positive policies to be put into action for OUR country.

Obama's Attack on Talk Radio - Localism

2008-11-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

Jim Boulet, Jr.'s article in the American Thinker discusses the concept of localism as a means for attacking & watering down talk radio. It's no secret that, especially since 1994, Democrats have wanted to silence voices like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Laura Ingraham. Instead of blaming their own policies for the Republican takeover of the congress in 1994, they blame Limbaugh. The Fairness Doctrine is getting most of the attention, however Boulet lays out a very cogent message regarding another avenue of attack on free speech via "Alinsky jujitsu."

Needless to say, for those of us who believe the 1st amendment still means something, this is a wrong idea & non-starter. We must fight any implementation of the Fairness Doctrine, Localism, or any attempt to shut down free speech in our country.

WaPo's Top 10 Republicans - & my additions

2008-11-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post came out with their top 10 Republicans to watch. They've got a pretty decent list - they, though, leave out Sarah Palin & Mike Huckabee. Here is their top 10 in ascending order:

Steve Poinzer, possible Republican candidate for California Governor
Haley Barbour, current GOP Governor of Mississippi
Jon Huntsman Jr., current congressman from Utah
Eric Cantor, current congressman from Virginia
Mark Sanford, current governor of South Carolina
Bob McDonnel, current Virginia Attorney General
Mitch Daniels, current Indiana Governor
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts governor & presidential candidate
John Thune, current South Dakota Senator
Bobby Jindal, current governor of Louisiana

Call me a "homer," however I would add Marsha Blackburn to this list. She is a solid conservative congressman & on the policy committee. I would also add Bill Frist, who may choose to run for Governor of Tennessee.

I believe the WaPo & the rest of the media hope Sarah Palin will just go back to Alaska & not be heard from again. I don't think they'll get their wish. Huckabee is a conundrum for me, he's a great social conservative however I think he's more of a "big government" guy. He may find success on his Fox News show too much to leave.

Fred is Right - Time to Look Ahead

2008-11-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

Fred Thompson has a great piece on Townhall.com, focusing on the future. The time for licking wounds among conservatives & Republicans is over, it's time to get back to work for the next 2 years & beyond.

...But our gratitude for life and liberty should also serve as a reminder that what we were working so hard to achieve these past few years still very much hangs in the balance. And it is up to each of us to continue that fight. Our participation as citizens of the United States does not end once we’ve pulled the lever in the voting booth. That ballot is just the beginning...

But if the time I spent traveling around America the past 18 months has given me anything, it is hope. And it if has confirmed anything for me, it is this: America remains the greatest country in the history of the world, and our citizens who care about our nation’s founding values—freedom, free markets, respect for life and the rule of law—will not stop defending these values as much as some of our fellow citizens and leaders might wish they would...

We are going to have to use every tool we have—grassroots organizations, think tanks, magazines, talk radio, the Internet—while building new institutions to blunt the efforts of a left-wing establishment that appears willing to use uncertainty to impose an agenda that would never see the light of day in normal times...

We have the formula—a conservative formula—that has worked before and will surely work again. It is grounded in our first principles. It’s time we moved past the recriminations and seven stages of grief. It’s time to look ahead, to stay united and to defend the values that we know must endure if our nation is to do the same...

Fred is right, we do have the winning formula that even the Democrats recognize - that's why so many Democrats have ran to the right of their Republican opponents, many successfully. Now that the Democrats will have all the responsiblity & blame to go along with credit, these Democrats who ran right can be held accountable. We simply have to get to work & use the tools available, especially the internet. Information can be worldwide in a matter of seconds, & a call to action can be as well. It's time to go on the offensive positively with something to be for, not just against.

Bill Kristol Gets It!

2008-11-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Bill Kristol's recent editorial in the NYT is very good. I'll post the most salient excerpt here:

Republicans and conservatives today face a similar challenge to that of 1976. A hawkish foreign policy, social conservatism and middle-American populism aren’t the problems. Those elements, as embodied on the Republican ticket by John McCain and Sarah Palin, produced a respectable 46 percent of the national vote — in the midst of an economic meltdown, with the Bush administration flailing and House Republicans rebelling and the Republican ticket lacking any coherent economic message.

The lack of economic message is a direct result of too many of the Republican leaders eschewing limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. They went "Washington" & paid for it by losing the majority in 2006 & further losses to a feckless Democrat-led congress in 2008. Reclaiming the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism will be key to not only reclaiming power but also putting in place good policy for our country.

On Abortion & Restoring the Conservative Republican Party - Bold Colors, not Pale Pastels

2008-11-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

Far too many of the pale pastel crowd want Republicans & conservatives to shut up about abortion. As I believe abortion is wrong, I believe "shutting up" about it to be wrong also.

Many people say they're pro-choice just so that the pro-abortion crowd will not shout them down. I believe that the right to life plank should always remain in the Republican platform. People want strong leaders with strong morals, & this plank has served the conservatives & Republicans well.

Going back to my soapbox, what the Republican party needs are conservative leaders who can reclaim the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. THIS is what has been missing, & has cost the Republicans in 06 & 08. It is horrible that Obama won the tax cut argument in this election - though he will not make good on his promise. We need leadership to emerge that will fix the stool & have all three legs - strong conservative moral & social views, strong national defense, & limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. This is the way we will not only win elections, but make a positive impact on our country for ourselves & future generations.

Work for what you believe in

2008-11-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

More lessons from the election.

First, and absolutely foremost, we can not allow anyone like John McCain to ever be our candidate ever again. Republicans win when they act like Republicans, not when they do some 'reaching across the aisle' nonsense. Oh, John McCain was popular with Democrats? How wonderful for him. When Democrats got a choice between voting for a Democrat and voting for their favorite Republican who sometimes acted like a Democrat, they chose the Democrat...

Senator McCain is a true American Hero & was a better choice than Obama. However, he was not the right candidate. He did not differentiate himself enough from Obama on key issues, with the financial crisis & bailout bill being the big "surprise" of the election. We needed a candidate who would have stood up against the bailout, the global warming cap & trade garbage, & illegal immigration - that candidate would have won.

Second, the world is not ending. It's also not magically better. Liberals are dumb, let them believe that Obama is going to bring some mythical change and hope to their lives. Good on them, they fall for this kind of thing often, it's more than a little sad...

In Biden's infamous "Obama will be tested" speech, he said Obama would make "unpopular decisions. I take this to mean that his supporters won't have their mortgages paid & they may be unhappy that he doesn't do everything all at once.

This leads me to number three: don't be like them. You know what I mean. Liberals acted like animals for the past 8 years and there's this feeling among Republicans that we must make the Obama presidency hellish on a day-to-day basis...

Good advice. We must oppose the bad things, things which will hurt our country. We can oppose them in a rational manner & not be like the coarse thugs on the left. That differentiates us positively, we can discuss & debate, disagree in a civil manner.

Finally, Republicans as a party have a lot of work to do for the next four years...The next four years have to be about focus and honing our message...

We have the winning message, we simply need to get back to it. Core conservatism, individual freedom and economic opportunity for all.

However many years of the Obama presidency there are, we will have much work to do. We must not shirk from the struggle. Too much is at stake for us, our children, & those generations to come.

Time to Stop Digging

2008-11-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

Marsha Blackburn has an excellent article at RealClearPolitics. Following are some excerpts:

The core lyric of my favorite country song is "When you're in a hole, stop diggin'." That also sums up the message voters have given Republicans.

Tuesday night, our party suffered a resounding electoral defeat. President-elect Obama and his congressional partners deserve our sincere congratulations on their victory. As the country catches its breath, the conservative movement must regroup and set upon a course to prevent November 4th from repeating itself in two years.

Traveling around the country in the closing days of this campaign I heard the same frustration from voters over and over. We in Washington are long on talk and promises, but short on action...

The time has come to return to our foundation; to the party of Lincoln that President-elect Obama rightly said was founded on the principles of self reliance, freedom, and national unity. Conservatives and Republicans must admit that our focus, message, and methods have erred. We grew content and reliant with Ronald Reagan's words, yet failed to exercise the energy required to preserve the freedom his revolution earned from one generation to the next.

Committed Republican leaders must reassert the relevance of our party to a generation of voters born after 1988. Rather than focus on "branding" our cause, let us simply pursue it. In that pursuit, we will rebuild trust and regain purpose...

Marsha eloquently puts it into focus. The "we" of whom she speaks is the Republican leadership in Congress & in the White House. It is high time that conservatives reassert control of the Republican party.

The most accurate polls of 2008

2008-11-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

Thought it would be a good idea to save this for future reference. Here's the list:

1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**
1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)**
3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)
4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)
5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*

6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*
6T. ARG (10/25-27)*
8T. CNN (10/30-11/1)
8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)
10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)

11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)
12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)
13. FOX (11/1-2)
14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)
15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)

16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)
17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)
18. Marist College (11/3)
19. CBS (10/31-11/2)
20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)

21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)
22. CBS/Times (10/25-29)
23. Newsweek (10/22-23)

Thoughts on the election of 2008

2008-11-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

Obama won, the Republicans took over the Tennessee state house as well as the senate. Congressional Democrats added members.

Republicans now control the TN state legislature because they ran as conservatives.

McCain made a mistake that probably cost him the election when he voted for the bailout bill. If he had taken a very conservative stance against it, he very well may have pulled this out.

Another mistake was relying on public financing. He should have gotten out of that as soon as Obama did. The money allowed Obama to drown out McCain.

The Republican party as a whole will need to change the way we play the game with early voting. The majority of votes cast will likely from here on out be early. The timing of the financial crisis shows that the elections will be won & lost in September & October - waiting for a final election day push will not cut it any more. I heard where those who made up their minds in the last days before 4 Nov. went for McCain by 6%. It was, however, too late to make up for early voting. The deal will need to be sealed in September & October, before early voting.

We conservative Republicans have work to do. We would have work to do if McCan was elected, however the game has changed with Obama. IMHO, I believe the Democrats in Congress will succumb to the temptation for over-reaching. We need to lay the groundwork now for the elections of 2010 & then, in 2012, nominate a strong, articulate, unabashed conservative. They are out there.

Palin Hating?

2008-10-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Below is a partial response to a post on the Tennessean's political forum & my response to it. The original post is from a fellow I've conversed with regarding political issues for some time now &, while we don't agree on everything he's pretty level headed. For some reason, however, he displays a visceral dislike of Sarah Palin & what he believe she represents.

...But then something went horribly wrong and Powell, last Sunday, put his finger right on it. The party that had a guy at the front who appeared to have all the right moves, lurched hard to the right. Whitehorse, in another post, glowed that Palin is the new face of the Republican party. For the sake of the Grand Old Party I certainly hope not. Suddenly uneducation has become fashionable (in fact to be educated is to be derided as "elitest"). The conservative base denies all things science, particularly if they see an apparent contradiction to their bible. Rather than adopt the traditionally conservative position of live and let live, they now want government intrusion in personal areas such as casual drug use, abortion, sex, and marriage. (Except for the topics they sound like old style Democrats who wanted the govn't involved in everything) ...

What is uneducation? Palin is a college educated person & quite intelligent. Todd Palin is highly skilled in his profession. I am one of these Republicans, & see no one deriding education or calling educated people elitist because of their education. The elitists are those who do not use their education – they are the highly educated incompetents such as Obama. Tek, I suggest to see if there are scales on your eyes &/or to see where this information is coming from. Conservatives/Republicans like me value education immensely & want everyone who wants education to have the equal opportunity to work for it. The difference, I guess, is that with patricians like Powell, only education from certain places is acceptable & the person must adhere to certain orthodoxy to be accepted. These snobbish people look down on those in the skilled trades as uneducated rubes, whereas we conservative Republicans understand these people are not only educated, but they are able to utilize what they’ve learned to actually do something.

“The conservative base denies all things science.” Baloney is not a strong enough word. This is BS, completely. I think of sound wildlife management - the Obamas of the world likely do not know where the egg comes out of the chicken, much less what the relationship is between the whitetail deer & the bobwhite quail. Yet, we have Obama supporters who will fight like lobotomized howler monkey against sound wildlife management done by highly trained biologists. We deny manmade global warming because it has not been proved, & the evidence shows recent cooling. We agree on nuclear. The lie of scientific consensus & the attacks on scientists who disagree with scientific orthodoxy has been happening since there has been science. MMGW has become a cultish religion – something I thought you would eschew. Damn the heretics who do not bow down to the consensus – just like the heretics who would not bow down to the flat earth consensus were damned.

Live & let live – that’s fine, if it were practiced by both sides. There is very little in “drug use” (even casual) that does not affect far more than just the user. You seem to have forgotten that Palin indulged in legal pot in her younger days. I have seen no laws proposed from “mainstream Christian conservatives” which would draconically punish someone for the occasional toke. We’re not going to legalize all drugs for “casual” drug use & who in their right mind on any side can or would try to support that position? Abortion – what happened to live & let live? Abortion is an issue, like marriage, that is not a federal issue. A constitutional amendment should not be needed – neither should some activist legi-court create a law for either. As far as sexual activity, we are live & let live. Don’t, however, expect us to endorse & teach our kids it’s right if we don’t agree.

You’re getting some incredible misinformation on Sarah Palin – I don’t care if you like her or not, just get some unbiased information that is not from self-loathing Democrat chattel-women or misogynistic Democrat partisans.

For the Working Poor - Expand the Economic Pie

2008-10-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

What I'd want for the working poor is policy that makes it possible to rise above being the working poor. To do that, the economy must expand. Businesses across the spectrum must expand, & punishing them through increased confiscation of profits as the profits increase will contract the economy. If every penny over $250K is taxed at an increasingly higher rate, there is less & less incentive to expand & create more jobs & opportunity.

Taking someone else's money, having the government bureaucracy take a big cut & doling out the rest will not expand the economic pie.

The old Marx saying of "to each according to need from each according to ability" is a recipe for disaster because it punishes ability and success. When that is put into play, more & more become needy because needy is positively incentivized. That does not mean letting people starve or suffer; that means that needs are taken care of (doesn't have to be the pittance from the government) however economic expansion & job creation are incentivized for the long run.

Obama's economic policy would shrink the economy, incentivizing "being needy" & punishing economic expansion, business & job creation. McCains policy focused on expanding the economic pie for everyone is a much better fit for the Greatest Country on Earth.

They Don't Get It

2008-10-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

Thuggish Ignorance is on full display with the attacks on "Joe the Plumber. Instead of skillfully trying to change the subject, the Obama team is trying to destroy this man.

Joe did not go to Obama - Obama went to Joe. Obama went to Joe's house, doing a little door to door. Obama, I guess, forgot to get his handlers to visit these homes first.

Joe is a real person, much like most of us. He is a blue-collar guy who breaks a sweat & gets his hands dirty working. Continuing the attack on him, trying to destroy his life, is paramountly ignorant. This is not the 1990's, & Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton. Voters see this real person being attacked by the Obama campaign & lackeys in the Media, & know it could be them if they actually got to speak to Obama & exposed his scheme to redistribute EARNED wealth. Joe is definitely the everyday guy underdog, being attacked by a sleazy & greasy machine. What effect is has on the election, most people side with the underdog who finds himself attacked by sleaze.

Obama to Iraq - "Wait on Troop Withdrawal"

2008-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Barak Obama, we now know, tried to get the Iraqis to hold off on any strategic agreement regarding troop reductions, possible now that the surge has worked. He said they should wait until the new administration is in place. This was an attempt - perhaps unwitting - to undermine the negotiations with the current administration. McCain's campaign came out with a hard hitting response.

This is another blunder by Obama & his campaign. There is not a good answer for it. If he didn't realize what he was doing was wrong, how can he claim to be qualified in any way for the presidency? If he knew he was undermining the administration, so much the worse.

Sarah Palin

2008-09-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

What else is there left unsaid about the Republican VP nominee? I cannot remember such a concerted attack from the opposition for a VP candidate, so she must really give the Democrats cause for concern. I post frequently on the Tennessean's political forum, & the sheer number of Palin-hating posts is educational. It looks like PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) has exploded to even eclipse BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) in simple animus & vitriol.

The Wannabe Elitists "Snark" TCPR

2008-09-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Most of us in Middle Tennessee are familiar with the Nashville Scene, a weekly free publication. Politically, it's on the snobbish side of the left. Jeff Woods wrote a hit piece on Drew Johnson with the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, done in the condescending way the Scene's staff generally looks at those who do not share their elitist world-view. One may read it at the above link - if you want to. The TCPR has done a wonderful job exposing financial gaffes in the Bredesen administration, & it's funny to me that those at the Nashville Scene enjoy being the attack/lap dogs for the Democrat machine here in Tennessee.

Obama CHOSE to Not Visit the Wounded Soldiers

2008-07-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Presumptive Democrat nominee Barak Obama had an opportunity to visit wounded US troops at Landstuhl in Germany, but chose not to do so.

He first said the visiting the troops would be disrespectful. That did not fly.

His campaign then said that the pentagon would not allow him to visit. That did not fly, because pentagon officials advised that Obama was welcome to visit - but he could not take his campaign staff & media entourage in with him. Obama could have visited the troops in his official capacity as a US Senator, but he (or someone not very bright on his campaign staff) made a choice to not visit.

Being somewhat versed in political campaigns, I know the details of things like this are usually handled by staff. Regardless of who made the blunders, Obama is the candidate. Not only did the campaign first make a dumb remark that the visit would not be respectful, after that the campaign told an untruth, trying to pass the blame onto the military officials at the pentagon. Thankfully, the pentagon officials set the record straight. Obama, his campaign, made a huge blunder by not visiting and made it worse by erroneously foisting blame on pentagon officals.

Think about what might have been. Obama could have visited the wounded troops as a Senator. The fawning media who are with him would have made sure that story came out & out big. Obama could have said something along the lines that "while it's a rule to not have media on such visits, it's also the right thing to do to show respect to our brave, wounded fighting men & women." Obama desparately needs blue collar & military affiliated voters, & this could have helped him immensely with these voters. However, his campaign really screwed up big-time.

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Firearms Clubs on College Campuses

2008-06-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Dwight Springthorpe learned how to shoot out of necessity. Growing up in rural North Carolina, his parents’ farm was plagued with coyotes. Springthorpe learned gun safety and marksmanship from his father. And, he says, he was pretty effective in keeping the coyotes off his family’s land.

Now a senior at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Springthorpe continues to shoot for sport as president of the Tar Heel Rifle and Pistol Club (THRPC). For college students to participate in a gun club – or even work on their own to start one – seems almost an anachronism, antithetical to the political correctness of the academic world.

But, as HUMAN EVENTS found, it’s a lot more common than most of the academic world would have us believe for one reason: students value their Second Amendment rights and are willing to work to protect them...

I think this is a great idea.

Checking for Moles?

2008-06-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

What’s going on inside the McCain campaign? Maybe I’ve read too much Conan Doyle and Le Carre. Maybe too much of my young professional life was spent in the company of people who built satellites to detect faint electronic signals in enemy lands. Nevertheless, there are too many faint signals coming out of McCain’s inner circle to ignore. And they do not bode well for the candidate.

McCain’s June 3 speech -- designed to rob Obama of some media attention -- might have been a good idea and it might not. But it was poorly-written, badly staged and obviously a text McCain wasn’t comfortable with. McCain’s themes were good, but the speech made him sound petty, almost as if he were a challenger competing against an incumbent Obama.

So some in McCain’s camp convinced him to grasp for media attention on Obama’s night, and then pushed him to make a speech that wasn’t right for him. And then?

These supposed “advisers” and “strategists” immediately leaked to the McCain-hostile press that the only problem was McCain, not the speech or how it was managed as a media event. All you need to know about these problem “insiders” is in the Politico piece by Jonathan Martin entitled, “McCain Bumbles Delivery.”

Martin refers to people among McCain’s “inner circle” who believe that the, “…the visual and stylistic contrast with Obama on Tuesday night was both plain to see and painful in the extreme.” He quotes one McCain adviser saying the contrast between McCain’s speaking skills and Obama’s was, “Not good,” and “It’s never going to be his strong suit, and it will always be Obama’s.” So McCain’s “inner circle” believes that a guy who’s spent decades in politics doesn’t know how to make a decent speech?

If that’s not bad enough Martin writes, “What most everybody inside and out of McCain’s campaign agreed upon was that the address was well-written,” and goes on to quote another (?) McCain aide saying, “It just wasn’t delivered the best…He has to get sharper on delivery.”

How much do you want to bet that the guys who wrote the speech or convinced McCain to give it (or both) are the same ones badmouthing him to Politico?

It’s depressingly familiar. This is the same sort of problem that hurt Fred Thompson’s campaign badly, when purported “aides” and “advisers” were -- on the day of the Iowa caucus -- leaking the falsehood that Thompson would drop out and endorse McCain if Thompson didn’t win Iowa.

It might even be the same guy. At this point, the best addition to McCain’s team might be a cloned version of CIA mole-hunter James Jesus Angleton.

I've often wondered about these "insiders" and "advisors" who leak harmful information to the press or make harmful claims.

Kudlow on Obama's Economics

2008-04-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Why Not Blame Obama?

It's rather amusing watching the liberal media launch a full-scale attack on George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson, with General Tom Shales of the Washington Post leading the charge. ABC's Stephanopoulos and Gibson had the audacity to ask Obama some tough questions during the Democratic debate Tuesday night. Challenge Obama with well-informed questions on tax policy and politics? Wound the media favorite? How dare they?

The fallout is fascinating. With members of the mainstream liberal media lunging at each others throats, it's kind of like watching Hillary and Obama go at it.

But here's the deal: During the debate, Obama bungled his answers on tax policy, big time. Period. End of sentence. End of story. To my liberal friends in the media, all I can say is: Get over it. Your guy has a very poor grasp of basic economic principles.

First off, you don't raise taxes during a recession. That's a no-brainer. Second, doubling the capital-gains tax rate will affect Americans up and down the income ladder, not just rich hedge-fund managers. In addition, capital-gains tax cuts are self-financing, and they stimulate jobs and the economy. You want to raise budget revenues and spark economic growth? Cut the cap-gains tax rate. That's what history shows.

The Wall Street Journal's Steve Moore points out that in 2005, almost half of all tax returns reporting capital gains came from households with incomes under $50,000, while more than three-quarters came from households earning less than $100,000.

Obama also proposed uncapping the payroll tax, another blunder that will hit people up and down the income ladder. While Obama pledges tax hikes only for folks earning more that $200,000 a year, his tax hike on payrolls would actually slam middle-income earners. The cap on wages subject to the payroll tax is presently $102,000. By eliminating that cap Obama will be soaking veteran firemen, cops, teachers, and health-service workers, along with a variety of other occupations.

In fact, in America's largest cities, a firefighter married to a school teacher can earn close to $200,000 filing jointly. So not only will each spouse separately pay more for Social Security and health care under Obama's plan, together they'll also be slammed by Obama's cap-gains tax increase.

This is more than just a failure to understand the Laffer curve. It's another cultural misstep by Obama. I can't help but wonder if the senator knows any cops or firemen. His appeal is to well-educated latte liberals. That remark about middle-income folks having turned to God, faith, and guns because of economic setbacks? Not only was it ill-advised, it illustrates the wide cultural chasm that exists between the candidate and the rest of America.

In effect, Obama's economics are bad and his social circle is very limited. This is one of the many reasons why a quarter of the Hillary Democrats are telling pollsters they'll likely move to John McCain in the general election.

Obama's real agenda is far-liberal left. It's an ideology that places income redistribution above economic growth. That's his real message. And it's the same one that sunk Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry. Bill Clinton? He was a growth Democrat. So he won twice. But Obama is aligning himself with the Democratic losers. And that will make him a loser as well.

The Gallup poll taken after the Democratic debate reveals that Hillary's pit-bull routine may have worked. We'll learn more on that front come Tuesday when Pennsylvanians head to the voting booths. But that's a different issue. What I'm saying is that liberals need to quit blaming Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos for Obama's shortcomings. Instead, they need to blame Obama for failing to grasp how tax penalties on upward mobility will hurt the very people he thinks he's going to help.

Jack Kemp has effectively made the point that African American communities desperately need capital in order to create new businesses and jobs. Yet as Obama takes the capital out of capitalism, all those who are not rich will be hurt when the rich folks with capital have less of it -- after tax -- to invest in those new businesses and new jobs.

That's exactly why wealth-redistribution plans always backfire. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a surefire economic loser. So is putting government in charge of the economy, which is what Mr. Obama is proselytizing.

This marks the third mistake for the Illinois senator. Not only does he not understand economics; not only is he set apart from middle-class values and beliefs; he apparently hasn't read much history either.

Did someone say inexperience?

Not Like Skynard Did It

2008-03-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

The Leningrad Cowboys sing Sweet Home Alabama. The backup singers are the Russian Red Army Choir.