Quote of the Day

It’s hard to know whether it was the real John McCain who lost or whether the person Barack Obama defeated was a fake, created to motivate the narrow slice of the electorate mistakenly thought to be the Republican “base” (see Palin, “country first”, Joe the Plumber).

Obama might have won in any case, but the McCain campaign was an amateur affair, unable to settle on a consistent presentation of the candidate’s message or identity. At times (e.g., the proposal to cancel a debate, put the campaign on hold, and race theatrically back to Washington), he appeared foolish.

McCain started the campaign as an admired and independent-minded combination of war hero and experienced legislator, weighed down by the unpopularity of his party and the president. By the time the campaign was over, it was not George Bush but McCain himself who had been rejected.

A Post-Election Message from Bill Redpath, Libertarian Party's National Chairman

(H/T independentpoliticalreport.com)

As I recover from Election Day and my US Senate campaign that preceded it, it is time to take stock of where the Libertarian Party stands and what we accomplished in the election season just passed.

While I know that we are disappointed that more of our candidates did not win, and that the Barr/Root presidential ticket and our other candidates did not win as many votes as most of us thought they would get, there is much that we gained in 2008 and a lot to be proud of for the Libertarian Party.

First, I think Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root were outstanding candidates that represented the ideas of individual liberty in an exemplary manner.  There was not a single time that I saw them on television or looked at their Web sites where my reaction wasn’t, “Right on!”  They represented our message of individual liberty and responsibility in an outstanding fashion, and I want to thank them for that.  I also have personal knowledge of diligently the campaign staff worked—Russ Verney, Shane Cory, Mike Ferguson, Andrew Davis (on loan from LPHQ) and others.  Thank you for dedication to the effort in the face of many challenges that were outside the control of any of us.

Two of our candidates for office earned over 1,000,000 votes.  They were John Monds, who ran for Public Service Commission, District 1, in Georgia.  His was a two-way statewide race (even though he going to represent a particular district).  Also, William Bryan Strange polled a seven-digit number of votes for Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9, in Texas, in another two-way statewide election.

And, speaking of Georgia, our US Senate candidate in the Peach State, Allen Buckley, forced a nationally publicized runoff election between the two major party candidates.  Also, Brandon Givens, Public Service Commission, District 4 in Georgia, forced a runoff election for the major party candidates for that office.

We came out of the 2008 election with ballot access for the presidential ticket in 27 states—the same number as at the end of the 2004—and more than any other minor party.  However, one of those states that we gained was North Carolina, where Duke University professor Michael Munger earned nearly 3 percent of the vote for Governor, qualifying the Libertarian Party of North Carolina for the ballot for the next four years.  That alone will save the LP about $200,000 in ballot access expenses—not to mention that it will allow more LP candidates to run for office over that period.  We also achieved major party ballot status in Massachusetts, while we lost it in South Dakota.

Even though some people reregistered Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the presidential primaries, the number of voters registered LP nonetheless increased from 225,229 in February 2008 to 243,293 in October 2008.  (Those numbers are from the 23 states that allow voters to register Libertarian and that report those numbers.)

The sustaining membership (those giving at least $25 over the past year) of the LP also increased; it is up over 22 percent from this time last year.

There is indisputably much that was accomplished this year for which we can all be proud.

However, our victories in 2008 not withstanding, the work of the Libertarian Party never ends.  The battle for ballot access begins as soon as it ends, and we have no time to waste to keep the ball rolling.  With ballot access, we need to do as much as we can, as soon as we can—to get it done and to get it done as efficiently as possible.  Last minute fire drills greatly increase petitioning costs and risk not making the ballot at all.

How can you help with ballot access?  First, donate to the Libertarian Party. You can do this at https://www.lp.org/contribute, or mail your donation to the Libertarian Party at the address noted on the front page of this newspaper.  Your contribution of $25, $50, $100 or $1,000 will be used to begin the next cycle of ballot drives as absolutely soon as possible.

Also, please sign up for email announcements at LP.org to stay up to date on our ballot access projects.  Even if you cannot help fund our drives with a donation, we could use your volunteer help collecting signatures where these drives will occur.  Every volunteer signature means one less paid signature, and the savings add up.

Thank you for all your support of our candidates in 2008.  Because of your efforts, the candidates of the Libertarian Party received more than 13 million votes! This is a record for the Party, and it is all due to our wonderful donors, volunteers and candidates across the country.  I emphatically thank you all.

Sincerely,

William Redpath
National Chairman
Libertarian National Committee

A Video that every Conservative should watch!

Seen over at Taki’s Magazine:

A very well done video, I might add.

Airforce one in 2009?

Do I dare go there? Why hell yes I dare! 😛

I got this via e-mail… It’s wrong as hell, but it’s funnyI think anyhow…

It’s going to be one funny 4 years. 😀 😛

Memo to Kathleen Parker: Please, Find something to do!

I am really unsure what this feckless woman’s problem is, but she really needs to find something else to do. Like maybe get a real job? Instead of sitting behind a keyboard and trashing everything that does not meet her quite flawed ideas, as to what the Republican Party really is about.

This little feckless wretch publishes in her latest the following:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Here’s the deal, ‘pubbies: Howard Dean was right.

It isn’t that culture doesn’t matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party — and conservatism with it — eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one’s heart where it belongs.

Religious conservatives become defensive at any suggestion that they’ve had something to do with the GOP’s erosion. And, though the recent Democratic sweep can be attributed in large part to a referendum on Bush and the failing economy, three long-term trends identified by Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz have been devastating to the Republican Party: increasing racial diversity, declining marriage rates and changes in religious beliefs.

Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can’t have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

With the exception of Miss Alaska, of course.

Even Sarah Palin has blamed Bush policies for the GOP loss. She’s not entirely wrong, but she’s also part of the problem. Her recent conjecture about whether to run for president in 2012 (does anyone really doubt she will?) speaks for itself:

“I’m like, okay, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is…. And if there is an open door in (20)12 or four years later, and if it’s something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I’ll plow through that door.”

Let’s do pray that God shows Alaska’s governor the door.

Meanwhile, it isn’t necessary to evict the Creator from the public square, surrender Judeo-Christian values or diminish the value of faith in America. Belief in something greater than oneself has much to recommend it, including most of the world’s architectural treasures, our universities and even our founding documents.

But, like it or not, we are a diverse nation, no longer predominantly white and Christian. The change Barack Obama promised has already occurred, which is why he won.

Among Jewish voters, 78 percent went for Obama. Sixty-six percent of under-30 voters did likewise. Forty-five percent of voters ages 18-29 are Democrats compared to just 26 percent Republican; in 2000, party affiliation was split almost evenly.

The young will get older, of course. Most eventually will marry, and some will become their parents. But nonwhites won’t get whiter. And the nonreligious won’t get religion through external conversion. It doesn’t work that way.

Given those facts, the future of the GOP looks dim and dimmer if it stays the present course. Either the Republican Party needs a new base — or the nation may need a new party.

Yeah, I published it all here, because I want to show just how ignorant this woman really is. This is coming from someone who is a advocate of Separation of Church and State! Okay, as much as I feel that the Church should not be meddling in the affairs of the State and such; I also know where the term Conservative originates and I also know where those Conservative values originate from, that would be the Holy Bible, which is the cornerstone of Christianity and the values it represents.

What Kathleen Parker is suggesting here is nothing less then Political treason, making the Republican Party into a Atheistic Party or in other words — Liberal-Lite or Democrat-Lite.  To do this to the Republican Party would be like taking a hacksaw to someones leg, and that person being awake to watch it! It would be a disaster; not to mention painful for that person! 😛  What the hell good are Conservative Values, if you do not have the very reason for those values active within the Party? Telling the Christian Community that their services are no longer needed, would be a death sentence for the Republican Party. Senator Barry Goldwater Sr.; As much as I respected him for his stance on that unconstitutional civil rights bill; tried to kick the Conservative Christians to the curb, during his run for President in 1964, you see what that got him, don’t you? It him sent back to the Senate!  This is why Ronald Reagan won way back there in 1980, because he saw what Barry Goldwater did, and purposed that he would not try and alienate any one part of the Conservative Movement. I have to give Reagan credit, it worked quite well.

I’ve told the story here on this blog many times, it was relayed by Goldwater’s niece, Cee Cee; Some reporter asked Goldwater what Jerry Falwell and his “moral majority” could for him. Goldwater replied, “I don’t know; but I know what I’d like to do to him.” The Reported asked what that was, and Goldwater replied in some quite explicit terms, “I’d like to put my foot up his behind!”; of course, I deleted some rather nastier words and substituted a few! However, I think you get my point! In other words, he wanted to keep the Conservative Christians at bay and in the World of Conservative Politics you just cannot do that. Especially in THIS day and age of Democrats trying to target everyone!

Many people keep wondering, “Why did Obama win?” Well, I will tell you, for the one hundredth time why he won. Barack Obama, when he first started, was running as a Liberal Democrat, he was doing the talking points of the far left. That all lasted until the primaries started and the Media started paying attention, he stuck with the hard left stuff until the Media REALLY started paying attention. That was when Obama’s campaign people said, “Okay you’ve got America’s attention, now it’s time to start talking to the REST of America!” That was when he started all the Hope and Change business….. and it you know what? It worked. Obama came off to the Reagan Democrats and the White middle class Independent average Joe voter as a sane, reasoned alternative to the fear-mongering and “supposed” racism of the far right. It had zero to do with John McCain, it had to do with the dummies running his campaign.

Because of THAT, we now have a Democratic Party President.

Others: Townhall.com, The Corner,, Stop The ACLUEunomia, Don Surber and The Other McCain and more via Memeorandum

Zo continues the resistance to the Democrats

He’s back with a new video! and a cool looking Website too! 😀 (Language Warning!)

Zo’s New Website

Even more on Bill Ayers

I am about sick and tired of blogging about this subject. But it appears that the Republicans were basically correct about Bill Ayers.

Go on over and read about it. I’m not quoting it here, because at this point, it is a non-issue.

Others yammering on about it: Jules Crittenden, Macsmind, Gateway Pundit, Whiskey Fire, www.redstate.com, Flopping Aces, Atlas Shrugs, Tim Blair, protein wisdom, Hot Air, Patterico’s Pontifications, Stop The ACLU, Doug Ross, Pajamas Media and Fausta’s Blog, Wake up America, Commentary, Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs

Memo to Michelle Malkin – Move on, please….

(H/T to HotAir.com)

I knew this was going to happen… I am again forced to criticize Michelle Malkin. (or say the stuff that Ed and Allah want to say, but will not, because they do not want to get fired!)

In this Video Michelle is carping about the way that the Sarah Palin was treated and because John McCain didn’t jump on the sofa like Tom Cruise and scream to the top his lungs, “The EVIL Liberal destroyed my changes of being President! and My former campaign staffers are trashing her now, shame shame shame!”

Here’s the nail scratching the chalk board video:

However, this is what I heard the whole time I watched it:

I think if women, Conservative or Liberal want to be taken seriously in Politics, at least by this writer; they need to act like adults and not crybabies when things really don’t go their way.

I mean Michelle criticizes the homosexuals over prop 8 and tells them to move on. So, why doesn’t she practice what she preaches?  🙄

Just sayin’

In defense of Ed Morrissey

It is not everyday that I agree with a Republican. In fact, there’s quite a bit that I disagree with Republicans on.

I have had disagreements with Ed Morrissey, him and I disagree on the whole “Right to life” idea. I think abortion is a Moral issue and the Government should not be used to make moral decisions. Ed disagrees and that’s his right. Could you imagine how boring America would be, if we all agreed on everything? Besides, Barry Goldwater agreed that one cannot legislate morality. This is why he was not elected President in 1964.

Well, today Mr. Morrissey posted one of the most level-headed entries on HotAir.com, that I’ve read in a good long time. Basically, Ed advised Republicans and Conservatives not to act like their Liberal counterparts. Not surprisingly, some Conservative Bloggers trashed Ed for his position.

So, because I happen to respect Ed quite a bit. I’m basically posting a defense for the guy.

I happen to think, as an ex-left of center Blogger, as a now Moderate Conservative, as a Moderate to Right-Libertarian; I happen to believe that Ed Morrissey is one of the most level-headed and more “in touch with Reality” Conservative Bloggers out there. More so than his own boss. I respect Michelle, don’t get me wrong; but there are times when she goes a bit overboard.  I do it too, I get caught up in my emotions and say stuff, that I later look at and go “ack!”. It happens.

Anyhow, I just happen to believe that if more Republicans were a bit more like Ed, (and perhaps me! *snicker*)  I think a bunch more Liberals would believe that we Conservatives were not the crazed, Gun clinging, Religion humping, Bitter crazy people that they believe that we are now.  (or is it…. Religion clinging and Gun Humping??? Hmmmm…)

So, Please, leave Ed alone… he’s making sense…and Considering the position that the Republican Party is in, this is a good thing. Because nothing is more of a buzz kill and that’s a crazy minority political party. 😉

Others: (Including those carving on poor ol’ Ed)

Political Punch, Raleigh News & Observer, www.redstate.com, Patterico’s Pontifications, Political Machine and protein wisdom