Category: Election 2008

The latest from BlogoGate

The Dems say they will keep Burris from the floor, so says CNN:

Senate Democratic leaders think Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, will likely show up on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the opening day of Congress, according to a Democratic aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans.

They have prepared a contingency plan in case he does, the aide added.

Burris will not be allowed on the Senate floor, according to this aide and a Senate Democratic leadership aide.

The aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans said if Burris tries to enter the Senate chamber, the Senate doorkeeper will stop Burris. If Burris were to persist, either trying to force his way onto the Senate floor or refusing to leave and causing a scene, U.S. Capitol Police would stop him, said the aide.

“They (police) probably won’t arrest him” but they would call the sergeant-at-arms,” the aide said.

When asked about what would happen if he shows up and tries to be seated, Burris told the Chicago Tribune that he’s, “not going to create a scene in Washington.” He added, “We hope it’s negotiated out prior to my going to Washington.”

Burris told CNN that, “We’re certainly going to make contacts with the leadership to let them know that the governor of Illinois has made a legal appointment. And that I am currently the junior senator for the State of Illinois. And we’re hoping and praying that, you know, they will see the reason in appointing me as a very qualified, capable, able and ready-to-serve individual.”

Yeah, Right. They don’t want to make a scene. You believe that and I got land to sell you in Texas, cheap! That’s what race-baiting Democrats do, make a scene. Because we all know, it’s all about “struggle” for them. (whatever that is….)

Way I see it, the so-called “struggle” ended when America elected that…. THING for President. So, Al Sharpton and his ilk should be out of a job.

So, this should be quite interesting to watch.

Update: Video (via Breit Bart)

Update 2: Even Pat Buchanan is thinking along the same lines: (H/T WND)

Here we have an African-American elder statesman of the Democratic Party, an honorable and distinguished man, appointed by the governor according to law and the Constitution, to fill a Senate seat. There has been no hint of illegal consideration asked or given by either the governor or Burris.

Yet Harry Reid, who presides over a Democratic caucus of some 60 senators, with not a single black member, is going to refuse this black man a seat to which the law entitles him?

One hopes Burris will stay firm and march up to that Senate, and, if nothing else, expose the hypocrisy.

Our president-elect is from a party that champions busing to integrate public schools but bypasses D.C. public schools to send his girls to exclusive private schools in far northwest Washington.

We have a Democratic Senate that champions affirmative action. Yet not one white Democratic senator, in a caucus that has not a single black member, has ever volunteered to step down and let the governor of their state replace him or her with an African-American.

Not one. That would be liberals leading by example, not exhortation.

If Democrats believe our institutions of power should look like America, why don’t they make their Senate caucus look like America? Why do not a dozen Democrat senators resign, to be replaced by 12 appointed black Democrats, giving one-fifth of all Democratic Senate seats to a minority that gave Barack 97 percent of its vote and Barack and Joe Biden one-fourth of all the votes they received?

Why does not Gov. Paterson follow Gov. Blagojevich’s lead and name an African-American of Burris’ stature to the U.S. Senate?

Fellas, let’s start practicing what we preach here.

There are times when I totally disagree with Pat, but he’s dead right here. If the Democrats have any sense, they will approve this guy. Pat says in this article that this Governor has not been convicted, and yet the Democrats are acting like the Governor is in Prison! Something stinks, and it’s not my body. 😀

Update 3: To expand this even further; what you are seeing here is two wings of the Democratic Party clashing. The Honorable Part of the Party that seeks to be above any sort of scandal, bumping up against the Identity Politics wing of the Democratic Party.  It’s more than just “Racism” or whites vs blacks, it’s two independent Political ideologies under the same tent. It’s quite the thing to watch.

Others: Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Chicago Boyz, Althouse, PoliPundit.com and Viking Pundit (Via Memeornadum)

Harpy White Bitch Sues New York Times

Wonderful. As if the gray lady did not have enough trouble. Some Ann Coulter wanna-be is filing a lawsuit for getting smeared by the New York Times:

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Tuesday, alleges the article falsely communicated that Iseman and McCain had an illicit “romantic” relationship in 1999 when he was chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and she was a lobbyist representing clients before Congress.

The suit also names the executive editor of the Times, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters who wrote the story as defendants.

William Keller, the paper’s executive editor, did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment on the suit.

The New York Times has responded:

“We fully stand behind the article.  We continue to believe it to be true and accurate, and that we will prevail. As we said at the time, it was an important piece that raised questions about a presidential contender and the perception that he had been engaged in conflicts of interest.”

Roger L. Simon says this could spell trouble:

I have no direct knowledge of the case or of Iseman, but if I were the Times, I would be afraid. I would be very afraid. They have a lot more to lose than the 27 million bucks in the suit. Their reputation is already tarnished and their bottom line diminishing. If Iseman can prove her case to the public’s satisfaction, it will constitute yet more bruising and a serious humiliation for the sometime “newspaper of record”.  Those who have been accusing them of being nothing more than a scandal sheet – and a biased one at that, unlike the National Enquirer –  will be vindicated.  Indeed, if Ms. Iseman wins her case, the Times’ editors and publisher will be revealed to have been simultaneously boneheaded and despicable – an ugly combination indeed.

I just wonder, if she happens to win and takes over ownership of the paper, whom will she make the Editor? Ann Coulter? 🙄

Way I see it, if she wasn’t bobbing the knob. Then honestly, what is the problem?

Can you say, cashing in? I knew you could! 😀

(Via Memeornadum)

Already?: The Party's over for Obama and the far left

Seriously. That was the first thing out of my mouth.

Already?

In other parts of the country one would say, “That Quick?”

Seems that way, because Richard Cohen has basically said of Obama, that the Party; with him and his lesbian sister, was over.

Quotable Quotes:

Not that he was planning to attend, but Barack Obama should know that my sister’s inauguration night party — the one for which she was preparing Obama Punch — has been canceled. The notice went out over the weekend, by e-mail and word of mouth, that Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation had simply ruined the party. Warren is anti-gay, and my sister, not to put too fine a point on it, is not. She’s gay.

She is — or was — a committed Obama supporter. On the weekend before the presidential election, my sister and my mother drove from the Boston area, where they both live, to Obama’s New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester. There my mother made 76 phone calls for Obama, which is not bad for someone who is 96, and gives you an idea of the level of commitment to Obama in certain precincts of my family.

I should say right off that my mother feels less strongly about Warren than my sister does. But I should add immediately that my sister feels very strongly, indeed. She’s been in a relationship with another woman, the quite wonderful Nancy, for 19 years, and she resents the fact that Warren has likened same-sex marriage to incest, pederasty and polygamy.

Let me just say right here. What you are seeing, is a major let down by the far left. Many on the far left saw Barack Obama is some sort of Liberal Messiah that would make the world all better again, if he were elected. It had to do with much of his election stump speech, which was filled with bombast and platitudes. In reality, Barack Obama is nothing more than just another Chicago liberal politician who will say and do almost anything to get elected to the office in which he is running for.

Of Obama’s Preacher Problems, Cohen Adds:

The conventional thing to say is that Obama has a preacher problem — first the volcanic Jeremiah Wright and now the transparently anti-gay Warren. But the real problem has nothing to do with ministers and everything to do with Obama’s inability or unwillingness to be a moral leader. Sooner or later, he just might have to stand for something.

This was apparent to me almost a year ago when I reported that Obama’s church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, had given a major award to Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam. The award was presented in Wright’s name and featured in a cover story in the church’s magazine, Trumpet. When I asked the Obama campaign about this, I was told that Obama himself did not agree with Farrakhan. What a relief!

And what a joke. I never for a moment thought Obama viewed Farrakhan any differently from the way I do. But I also thought that as a U.S. senator, as a presidential candidate or even as a mere citizen, he had an obligation to denounce the award — maybe quit the church. Do something! He did nothing.

Wow! Isn’t that what Republicans and Independent Conservatives were saying, um, for the last 2 years about Obama, but were derided as racists? Man, talking about turning on your own! 😮

I knew this was coming, I just knew it. The Democratic Party elected someone based upon popularity and it is now coming back to haunt them. I said this way back in the primary, when I was still running this blog over on the old site on Blogger, that Obama was being set up as some sort of “Perfect Liberal” and that the Democrats were setting themselves up for a let down.

Somewhere today, John Edwards and the rest of the Democrats are smiling. Because they are seeing what I am seeing and thinking, “That’s what those assholes get for electing him!” Anytime you elected someone based upon popularity or in Bambi’s case, skin color; it almost always comes back to haunt you, and right now it is.

Something tells me, that this is going to be an interesting four years to come. I predict that by the time Obama’s four years are up, he will be the most hated President among the far left, ever.

Others: Commentary, Babalu Blog, Stop The ACLU, Macsmind and Riehl World View

On Rick Warren

Yes, I am awake. I was up 30 minutes before the alarm clock went off. Which I believe was amazing. To what extent I slept, I will know later. But I am awake and nursing a mug of coffee. 😀

Now about Rick Warren.  He’s about as traditional Christianity or “Religious Right” as I am Roman Catholic. (See my “About Me” page to see what I am….)

Me and Paul Proctor, (See Here, Here, Here, and Here)  and David Cloud all feel the same way; that Rick Warren is not a genuine representation of Christianity in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, warren scoffs at the idea of a traditional Christianity, in which the true Word of God is used; which is, in this writers opinion, The King James Bible, of course.  Instead, he prefers a non-judgmental, feel good, version of Christianity, that uses any version of the Bible that one wants, or as Warren says, “You can read.” and also, he mingles human philosophy and the Word of God. Something which is extremely ignorant and very dangerous.  He is in the ranks of Robert Schuller or as I like call him, Robert Schuller with a Hawaiian Shirt. 😉

So, in short, while Rick Warren might be the darling of the compromising Neo-Evangelical crowd, he is hardly what I could call a true believer; that is in the True Bible-Believing, Fundamentalist Christianity sense of the word.


Time's Person of the Year: Barack Obama

I cannot say that I am shocked or even surprised for that matter.

Now, I am sure that you are expecting me to say something rather nasty or even Ann Coulter’ish sounding about this.

Well, Surprise… 😀

I have absolutely no issue with Obama being named person of the year. I will explain to you why…

Barack Obama came out of nowhere and defeated the Clinton Machine. Because you and I both know, that knocking Hillary out of the captain’s chair is a feat in itself.  You see, unlike some of my fellow Conservatives, I saw what Obama was doing and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I didn’t agree with some of the tactics that some of his surrogates were using, and still do not; however, I did admire the grace that Obama showed, especially under pressure from some of his worst and fiercest critics.  One thing that I can say and any Conservative; of any stripe, would say, if they are being intellectually honest, that they never heard Obama make any sort of “Al Sharpton” sounding statement. I mean; yes, he did drop the occasional reminder that he was a black man. But there was never any of that, “I’m black and oppressed” nonsense that continually flows from the mouths of the race baiting ilk in New York.

Further, let it be known that it is not lost on me, that Obama has a far left progressive ideology. Although, I will say that judging from his cabinet selections so far, it may seem that Obama is going to try to run a White House from a centrist viewpoint and try and avoid some of the more far left politics of his campaign; much to the chagrin of those who are of that political mindset that voted for him.  Personally, I think at the very least or at the very worst; Obama may want to raise taxes to pay for some of the debt that this Nation has incurred at the hands of a quasi-Conservative President.  This could be more the case if both of the wars continue to drag on.  Not to mention that if every Business in America gets a poorly named “Bail out.”

From a libertarian conservative viewpoint I simply say this; this election was not Obama’s to necessarily win, it was John McCain’s to lose.  John McCain was having to follow and associate himself with a very unpopular President, who, in this writers opinion, was elected on the basis of pedigree. Further, John McCain just was not able to articulate Conservative positions without sounding like some old feeble grandfather who was telling a bedtime story. Not to mention, that the economy took a rather large nosedive in the middle of the election cycle. Adding to all this; McCain made some rather disastrous campaign decisions that in essence doomed his campaign to failure. I could sit here and list them all, but I believe anyone who has been following this election cycle as much as I have, knows what I am referring to.

So, in closing, this award, was one well deserved. I hope Obama enjoyes the romance with the media, because I have a sinking feeling it will not last forever.

The Obligatory Rahm Emanuel talked to Gov. Rod Blagojevich Posting

I say obligatory, because I think this story has got about the traction of a damned bald Goodyear tire in the winter. But I digress.

The sensational media rolls on, I suppose. One day in the tank, next minute throwing Obama in the tank.  🙄

Anyhow… here we go!  😀

The Chicago Tribune’s Political Blog, “The Swamp” Reports:

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Chicago Tribune has learned.

The revelation does not suggest Obama’s new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat. But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?

Blagojevich and John Harris, his former chief of staff, face federal charges in an alleged shakedown involving the vacant Senate seat, which Illinois law grants the governor sole authority to fill.

Obama said Thursday he had never spoken to Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy and was “confident that no representatives” of his had engaged in any dealmaking over the seat with the governor or his team. He also pledged Thursday that in the “next few days” he would explain what contacts his staff may have had with the governor’s office about the Senate vacancy.

Emanuel, who has long been close to both Blagojevich and Obama, has refused to respond to questions about any involvement he may have had with the Blagojevich camp over the Senate pick. A spokeswoman for Emanuel also declined to comment Friday.

One source confirmed that communications between Emanuel and the Blagojevich administration were captured on court-approved wiretaps.

Another source said that contact between the Obama camp and the governor’s administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris. The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.

Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be “acceptable” to Obama, the source said. On the list were Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Chicago, the source said. All are Democrats.

One thing that stands out in this article, is this right here:

The revelation does not suggest Obama’s new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat. But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?

However, to read some of the Republican/Conservative/Neo-Conservative Blogs, you would think that Obama offered to help finance the operation or something. Which I think is outright silly and blatantly asinine.  There’s no proof of that at all, and I am inclined to believe the President-Elect, if he says he had no contact with the man. Sorry, you cannot count me amongst the group of people who believe he’s some sort of undercover Muslim or anything of that nature, I don’t run with that crowd at all.  Most of that nonsense is of the Alex Jones flavor, and I deal with facts and reality, not conspiracy theories and lunacy. Oh, sure, I’ve written things on here, mostly in jest and trying to be snarky… and once, because I was pissed at the race baiting of the far lefty Liberals, during the election, but Obama is going to be the new President, and I’m fine with that. But I will write and speak out against what I feel to be wrong, and likewise, I will defend the man, when I feel that it is due.

Anyway, got way off track there! 😮

As for the current situation at hand here, my advice to the President-Elect is, dump Rahm Emanuel now.  Because as long as Emanuel is on the Obama team, the Conservative/Neo-Conservative/Republican talking heads and some of the more main stream media are going to continue to hound you over this. I know, it is a bit silly, but that is what the Conservatives do, they did it Bill Clinton, almost to the point of lunacy and as long as this guy is on your staff, you will have to contend with the questions, and with the insinuation that you are connected with this scandal.  In other words, Ann Coulter will have something to talk about for the next four years.  God knows, we have heard enough of that feckless bitch for the last eight years.

I hope that the President-Elect figures this out and gives Rahm Emanuel the ol’ Heave Ho and gets someone else in there. Otherwise, it will be a circular firing squad on this Blog for the next four years.

More Commentary Here

The Automotive Bailouts: The Other Side of the Story

I have been sitting here, trying to keep out of this. But I have sat and looked at the Republican and Neo–Conservative Spin on this Story and I’m sick of it. 😡

So, I am giving you, the other side of the story, from the horses mouth; without commentary from me.

I did not ask that you agree, I simply ask that you listen and hear this man out. Now I am almost sure, that the Blogs, that I have linked to, will remove my trackback, like the Neo-Con Fascists that they are. I mean, it is all about controlling the message with those guys.  🙄

Here we go:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Media Q & A:

Media Q & A Part 2:

Media Q & A Part 3:

There you have it. The other side of the story. You decide.

(Source UAW.ORG)

Guest Voice: Jack Hunter Says "Libertarian or Authoritarian: Which Way GOP?"

Video: (Via Taki’s Magazine)

Transcript: (via Charleston City Paper)

Amongst the many conversations from many quarters about who might lead the Republican Party, I keep hearing one name time and time again – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. As with Sarah Palin, I intended to keep an open mind about any possibilities in the hopes that a post – Bush presidency, post – McCain campaign GOP might produce leaders who learned the right lessons the last eight years, and yet it seems those singing Jindal’s praises the most are the same Republicans who still defend the indefensible Bush and who campaigned the hardest for the unconservative McCain.

So what’s so special about Jindal? While he’s conservative on gun rights, illegal immigration and social issues, none of this really sets Jindal apart from other Republican leaders. What does set the Louisiana governor apart is that he is a racial minority, and is even being called by some the “Republican Obama,” due to his youth and Indian ancestry. The neoconservatives have been keen on Jindal as well, which is never a good sign, and as with Joe Lieberman and now Hillary Clinton, neocons will support any candidate they see as sufficiently interventionist on foreign policy and who is comfortable with wartime government expansion. And sure enough, Jindal remains a steadfast supporter of the war in Iraq, probably wouldn’t mind invading Iran or sending troops to Georgia, and as a congressman he voted both to make the Patriot Act permanent and for the REAL ID act, an Orwellian scheme so intrusive that it was overwhelmingly opposed by South Carolina Republicans. Well, except Lindsey Graham.

So is a candidate who combines multicultural appeal and Bush Republicanism a winning recipe for the GOP? In playing minority identity politics, the Republican Party will have proven itself no better than voters who pulled the lever for Obama simply because he was black. And in embracing another neoconservative, the Republican Party could further alienate voters who pulled the lever for Obama simply because he wasn’t Bush or a reasonable facsimile.

There is a better path. Instead of rallying behind a governor who really would amount to nothing more than an affirmative action hire, how about a governor whose limited government record would make even Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan blush? South Carolina’s Mark Sanford has long made plenty of enemies amongst Republicans by refusing to deliver politics as usual, and has been getting a lot of press as of late for much the same reason. As many Republicans join Democrats in pressing for more bailouts and begging for money, Sanford continues to chastise his own party for spending the money, will not take money for his own state and refuses to put further in debt, his own country. Unlike many Republicans, Sanford recognizes the failures of the last eight years, even recently dismissing Bush’s big government “compassionate conservatism” as a “disaster.” When asked what the Republican Party should stand for, Sanford repeatedly harkens back to the conservative bedrock principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility. “Our niche is maximizing individual liberty” said Sanford of his Republican Party. And the governor’s libertarian approach is undoubtedly what led him to oppose,  unlike Jindal, the implementation of the REAL ID Act.

The two roads that lie before the Republican Party are not the “more conservative vs. more moderate” choice that so many pundits seem obsessed with. For Beltway talking heads, when Republicans win they should become more moderate to stay in power and when they lose they must become more moderate to win elections. They always want “more moderate.” And they’re always wrong.

Obama won the election because he appealed to voters across political, party, generational and racial lines. The only Republican running for president this year who had a similar appeal to such a broad section of voters, and particularly the young voters who energized Obama’s campaign and were invisible in McCain’s, was Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The difference is whereas Obama appealed to so many based mostly on his race and charm, the white, uncharismatic and not-particularly eloquent Paul attracted a diverse base who were in love with his ideas.

As a matter of practical politics, the libertarian, small government conservatism of a Paul or Sanford promises to be a more winning strategy than the authoritarian, big government Republicanism of a Bush or Jindal. Reagan was not off-base when he once said “the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” And the GOP would do well to champion leaders who actually consider the massive costs of more wars, bigger government and less liberty, instead of another round of Republicans whose enthusiasm for more wars, bigger government and less liberty is always worth any cost.

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

Neo-Conservative Blogger Don Surber Talks out his Anal Orifice.

It never ceases to amaze me how these idiotic Neo-Conservatives seem to love to lie out their rather large anal orifices.

One of the Neo-Conservative Cheerleaders Don Surber posted a rather idiotic Blog posting tonight attacking MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann for supposedly not talking about the latest controversy in Chicago Ill.

And I quote:

Rod Blagojevich? What’s that?

I just flipped on MSNBC. Keith Olbermann had his worst persons in the world segment on. The winner was his competitor, Bill O’Reilly.

Apparently, Olberboy is so obsessed with O’Reilly — unrequited love — that Olberboy overlooked the biggest story of the day in compiling his list. The planet will survive — somehow.

When I tried to comment on his rather lame ass looking Blog. He deletes my comment and accuses me of leaving troll comments on his Blog:

REPLY: I reserve the right to erase troll comments. This is a blog, a diary of my thoughts. You don’t like it, start your own blog. But I notice it took you 12 minutes to defend him.

What’s a matter Donny Boy? You cannot handle a little chiding? Could it be the fact that you are spouting out your bazoo, when you do not know what it is that your are talking about?

State’s Evidence:

and

So, you see, not only was it the number 5 story, it was the number 4 story on Keith’s show. Now Don, I know that you will not approve this trackback, because of the little cowardly little Neo-Con that you are. After all, it is all about Controlling this message. You Zionist pigs are like that, I realize that. But can you at least get the story right? You really make yourself look like a total idiot when you pontificate before you really have the facts.

I’m not trying to defend Kieth, not at all, someone of his far lefty nonsense even makes me cringe. But you use a Blog to engage in intellectual dishonesty, you make the Conservative movement look horribly bad.

This is the difference between we Paleo-Conservatives and the Zionist Controlled Neo-Cons, at least, when we’re wrong, we admit it. The Neo-Con’s simply spin and Deny. Kind of like their Leaders, George W. Bush, Neil Podhoretz and Bill Kristol.

Quite frankly, No wonder the Republican Party lost this year.