Smart move by David Barton

I wrote about this before and it appears that David Barton has conceded to reality.

Controversial Evangelical author David Barton just announced that he won’t challenge Senator John Cornyn in the 2014 Texas Senate primary. On Glenn Beck’s radio show this morning, he told Beck’s listeners that, though the primary is “winnable,” the timing isn’t right for him.
“What can I do to talk you into this?” asked Beck, disappointed.
Texas tea-party activists had been hankering for Cornyn to get a primary challenger ever since he removed his name from Mike Lee’s letter urging his Senate colleagues to refuse to support a CR that funded the Affordable Care Act. But finding a candidate with the requisite name recognition, connections, and willingness was a tall order. Enter Barton, former vice chairman of the Texas Republican party, who’s well-connected in the Evangelical movement and has deep ties with the Texas conservative grassroots. Barton is a lightning rod for controversy: The publisher of his most recent book, The Jefferson Lies, pulled it because of concerns over numerous factual inaccuracies. (Beck wrote the foreword for that work and has promised to continue publishing it.)
Barton told Beck’s listeners that he had done polling to investigate his odds in the race, and believed it would have been easy for him to raise the first $3 to 4 million.
“Has Louie ruled it out?” Beck asked, hoping Representative Louie Gohmert would challenge the senator. The Texas congressman did reject the idea in July, and it’s ultimately unlikely Cornyn will get a competitive primary challenger.

I believe this to be a very smart move by David Barton. Because quite frankly, Barton would be a lightening rod for the left to attack the GOP as an extremist party. Furthermore, it would cost the GOP a important seat in the Senate. The plain truth is that while Barton might have some noble intentions; he is simply unelectable and his campaign would be unwinnable.

It simply boils down to credibility and Barton has a credibility problem; his book was pulled because of issues with accuracy. Those sort of things are not exactly a feather in ones cap, when it comes to politics. Either way, I am glad to see that Barton did not try and run; because in his case, the Republican Party simply did not need someone of his ilk trying to run for office.

John McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016

Here’s the audio:

The Story:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that he is considering running for another term in 2016, when he would be 80 years old.
“I’m seriously thinking about maybe giving another opportunity for you to vote for or against me in a few years from now,” McCain said on KFYI-AM in Phoenix. “I’m seriously giving that a lot of thought.”
Asked by host Barry Young to clarify if he was saying he might run again, McCain said: “That would not be wrong.”
The New York Times’s Mark Leibovich, who is in Arizona following McCain, first tweeted the news.
McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, is in his fifth term. He has never taken less than 56 percent of the vote and easily dispatched a primary challenge in 2010 from former congressman J.D. Hayworth.
If he runs again, McCain will likely find himself targeted by tea party groups.
via McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016.

I really do not know much about Arizona politics and so, I cannot comment on whether John McCain would win or not in a primary. So, I will refrain from commenting on that one. However, I do believe that this might be an indication of the panic of the Republican Party establishment towards the Tea Party House members like Ted Cruz. As it is right now, we have the chamber of commerce and business groups wanting them out. This might be an extension of that.

As Ron Paul pointed out, when it came to America’s occupation of foreign lands; there is a simple thing called “Blowback.” Which is a negative reaction to someone’s actions. In this case here; the Tea Party House members overreached and had a horrible strategic plan. Ted Cruz, and House members shut down the Government. However, they did not have a plan; and they played the wrong game. Which, of course, put the establishment Republicans in a dire panic; not to mention the rest of the House.

So, now, you have establishment moderate Republican types, like John McCain; who put in a good lifetime of service and was ready to call it a good run and shuffle off to retirement —- actually rethinking that a bit, and wondering if he should stick around least the Tea Party crazies try and strike again.

This is why, if you are going to try and play a political game like the one Ted Cruz did; you need to have a real game plan in place and it is quite obvious to this writer and many others; that Ted Cruz simply did not have that sort of a game plan in place. It was massive overreach and screw up on his part. Furthermore, it very much could have hurt his standing for the 2016 election.

Hmmmmm: NSA Director Alexander Admits He Lied about Phone Surveillance Stopping 54 Terror Plots

Looks like the Obama administration is continuing with the same stuff that the Bush administration did.

Quote:

The head of the National Security Agency (NSA) admitted before a congressional committee this week that he lied back in June when he claimed the agency’s phone surveillance program had thwarted 54 terrorist “plots or events.”
NSA Director Keith Alexander gave out the erroneous number while the Obama administration was defending its domestic spying operations exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. He said surveillance data collected that led to 53 of those 54 plots had provided the initial tips to “unravel the threat stream.”
But Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Wednesday during a hearing on the continued oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that the administration was pushing incomplete or inaccurate statements about the bulk collection of phone records from communications providers.
“For example, we’ve heard over and over again that 54 terrorist plots have been thwarted by the use of (this program),” Leahy said. “That’s plainly wrong,” adding: “These weren’t all plots and they weren’t all thwarted.”
Alexander admitted that only 13 of the 54 cases were connected to the United States. He also told the committee that only one or two suspected plots were identified as a result of bulk phone record collection.
via Controversies – NSA Director Alexander Admits He Lied about Phone Surveillance Stopping 54 Terror Plots – AllGov – News.

New lies for old. There is no difference anymore. Hence why I am not voting Republican come 2016, unless something changes drastically on that side of the fence; and I know darned well I am not voting for a Democrat, ever again. 😡

Video: Republicans are turning on Ted Cruz

As I wrote on here before — twice, the Republican picked the wrong game to play here and now, they’re paying for it. Not to mention that the Republicans have been utter hypocrites on the entire Obamacare issue.

The Story:

A Republican congressman said Monday that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is largely responsible for the first government shutdown since 1996.
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that while he believes many individuals are at fault, including President Barack Obama, he said Cruz and others who bought into the quixotic campaign to defund the Affordable Care Act “took a lot of folks into the ditch.”
“But if I had to cast blame anywhere, I would say it was Sen. Cruz and those who insisted upon this tactic that we all knew was not going to succeed,” Dent said. “What he did essentially, Sen. Cruz, basically, he took a lot of folks into the ditch. Now that we’re in the ditch, you can’t get out of the ditch, the senator has no plan to get out of the ditch, those of us who do have a plan to get out of the ditch and will vote to get out of the ditch will then be criticized by those who put us in the ditch in the first place.”
Dent said that he will continue to urge House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to bring a “clean” continuing resolution — one that includes no language to undermine the health care law — to a vote.
via GOP Rep Blames Cruz For Shutdown: ‘He Took A Lot Of Folks Into The Ditch’ (VIDEO).

Excellent Reading: Jim Antle asks: “What’s Wrong With the Republican Right?”

This is some excellent reading here. I just wish more of the Republicans AND Tea Party types would read it and listen:

No longer will it suffice for Republican politicians to come to Washington and compile respectable, or even stellar, ratings from conservative groups. If federal spending is ever to be restrained as the baby boomers enter retirement, we will need politicians who are willing to employ unconventional methods in the fight.
Conservatives need rebels and boat-rockers, not conformists and time-servers. So I argued in my recent book on the political prospects for limited government. Sen. Ted Cruz would seem to fit the bill. The Texas Republican has been a one-man demolition crew, aiming his wrecking ball squarely at Capitol Hill’s customs and conventions.
But, surveying the scene in Washington, is Cruz an example of the old saying about being careful about what you wish for?
via What’s Wrong With the Republican Right? | The American Conservative.

One part that I really like in particular:

To be sure, in politics it sometimes pays to consider the long game. Barry Goldwater lost in a landslide in 1964, giving the Democrats the supermajorities they needed to usher in the Great Society. But in time, the GOP became Goldwater’s party to a far greater extent than Nelson Rockfeller’s.
Ronald Reagan lost the fight against the Panama Canal Treaty, just as he failed to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 or 1976. But Reagan’s subsequent victories are remembered long after most of those who had earlier beaten him were forgotten.
It would be premature to count Cruz out over a fiscal impasse that has yet to reach a decisive conclusion. But it might be worth asking a few hard questions.
Is the current confrontation likely to reverse or materially change the Affordable Care Act? Is it moving public opinion against Obamacare or against the Republicans? What is it accomplishing?
Perhaps if the answer is simply that it is raising Ted Cruz’s profile, it will still benefit conservatives over the long term. Since Goldwater and Reagan retired, the right has long lacked figures who can compete on more or less even terms with the Doles, Bushes, McCains, and Romneys of the world.
But it should not simply be assumed that this answer is good enough. Conservatives once fought Republicans whose “dime store New Deals” were only incrementally different from what the Democrats proposed.
Over time, they began to rely on things like American Conservative Union scores to assess lawmakers’ fidelity to principle. Groups like the Club for Growth emerged, challenging the business interests that had traditionally run the Republican Party for influence in the primaries.
Today it is no longer enough for most conservatives to have a Republican who will vote with them most of the time. Conservatives insist on politicians who will fight when it counts most. And they realize that some fights—Obamacare, the Wall Street bailout, the Gang of Eight immigration deal—matter more than tax breaks for hedge fund managers.
There is one more step in this evolution: evaluating whether conservatives are actually producing results. Too often, conservatives measure that by the volume of liberal outrage a Republican political figure inspires.

I believe that every last person that even remotely thinks about getting into politics of any sort; ought be tied to a chair and forced to read that part right there until he can recite it by memory!

I suggest you go read the rest of that one; it’s good. I don’t want to quote the entire thing here. We need more thinkers and less reactionaries in that party. Plus too, I said the same thing, when it comes to the long game. Jim Antle gets that; and that’s a good thing. 😀

Interesting Reading

I think everyone should go check out Erick Erickson’s piece called The Disconnect.

In it, Erick explains the huge disconnect between the GOP Establishment and the Conservative grassroots. It is a good read; and I am not saying this as a Paleo-Conservative laughing at the neoconservatives either. I found the article a very good read.

Check it out!

Ace has a rather good point

About the GOP:

But Cruz can’t drop the filibuster now because the go along, get along GOP would kill him for dropping it. Now they get to kill him for keeping it. Nice game they’ve got going on.
One thing we shouldn’t kid ourselves about is that if the House passed a clean CR and then included the delay plan in their budget ceiling bill it still wouldn’t have the votes in the Senate and we’d still be in the position of having to find them by having the House play chicken not with a government shutdown but with what would be called “defaulting” on the full faith and credit of the United States.
Given the level disingenuousness in the delay camp’s hits not on Obama or ObamaCare but the Devil known as Ted Cruz I’m seriously doubt they would do what they claimed. Right now it seems like one big shell game to avoid actually fighting against something they all claim to be against.
You know why Cruz is so popular? Because he’s actually fighting. Maybe it’s a losing fight, maybe it’s a fight to raise money (though let’s not pretend he’s the only one doing that) or to raise his popularity (the sight of professional politicians accusing anyone of self-aggrandizement is too precious) but at least he’s fighting.
Something I think we should all remember is that when the GOP had the House and the Senate before we never saw this kind of fight from the GOP. We saw a slightly less robust rush to bigger government than we did under the Democrats but we never saw Denny Hastret, Tom “There’s No Fat Left To Cut In The Federal Budget” Delay, Trent Lott and Bill Frist just muddle along without any energy or drive to bring the federal government under control. The professional Republican class wants to say, “hey we need more votes to do anything”, well a lot of us remember when you had more votes and not only did you not do anything, you made it worse. Remember “Pork Busters”? Yeah, we didn’t love you then and we don’t trust you now to do the right thing.
via Why It’s Called “The Stupid Party”: GOP Turns Fight Against The Horrors Of ObamaCare Into A Process Story.

Dare I suggest that the GOP has not been truly Conservative in years? Their addiction to spending and their foreign policy proves that.

UPDATED – A perfect example of how not to give the Republican Party a good image to the rest of the Country.

This is weapons grade stupidity:

The tornado damage near Oklahoma City is still being assessed and the death toll is expected to rise, but already Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he will insist that any federal disaster aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere.
CQ Roll Call reporter Jennifer Scholtes wrote for CQ.com Monday evening that Coburn said he would “absolutely” demand offsets for any federal aid that Congress provides.
Coburn added, Scholtes wrote, that it is too early to guess at a damage toll but that he knows for certain he will fight to make sure disaster funding that the federal government contributes is paid for. It’s a position he has taken repeatedly during his career when Congress debates emergency funding for disaster aid.
Scholtes points out that Coburn was one of 36 Republican senators who voted against disaster funding for Superstorm Sandy in January.
via Coburn Wants Tornado Disaster Aid to Be Offset | The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body.

There are no words. 😡 None that I choose to print, that is. 😡

Also too, This right here is seriously bad. Prayers for all involved. 🙁

Update: HotAir has some excellent video of the tornado that hit down in Oklahoma.

Update #2: American Glob has sad photos from the affected area.

Update #3: Two bloggers that have something to say about this and rightfully so, are The Reaction and Balloon Juice

Update # 4: This is now a huge Memeorandum thread.

Yeah, that’s all we need! A Cuban Joseph McCarthy!

Boy, the GOP sure is hell-bent on losing and I mean, badly in 2016 aren’t they?

Go read.

Freakin’ idiots deluxe. 🙄

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The FRC hollers and the GOP Jumps

Like idiots.

The Holler by the FRC:

In a letter representing tens of millions of supporters, we warned that it would be a “historic mistake” to “dismantle this coalition by marginalizing social conservatives.” The Republican Party has flourished, our groups’ write, “because it is truly a reflection–not of Washington, D.C.–but of the values of Americans across this great country.” And while the Republican platform (which FRC Action helped draft) is strongly and unapologetically pro-marriage, those values “have not prevented [the involvement of homosexuals] through GOProud or Log Cabin Republicans.” “It’s one thing to say the Party is open to all. It’s quite another to suggest that the Party should retreat in midstream from their own platform.”
[…]
Until the RNC and the other national Republican organizations grow a backbone and start defending core principles, don’t give them a dime of your hard-earned money. If you want to invest in the political process, and I encourage you to do so, give directly to candidates who reflect your values and organizations you trust–like FRC Action. At least then you can relax, knowing that your money will be spent advancing faith, family, and freedom!

The Jump by the GOP:

Los Angeles (CNN) – The Republican National Committee approved two resolutions Friday re-affirming the party’s position on marriage, a move designed to mollify social conservatives angry at GOP leaders who have suggested Republicans tone down their rhetoric in opposition of same -sex marriage in order to appeal to younger voters.
The resolutions were approved by a voice vote as a larger package of 12 resolutions including one honoring former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. There was no opposition to passing all 12 resolutions en bloc.
“Let me make crystal clear something I’ve said since January,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a speech before the vote on the resolutions. “While we have to do things differently, there’s one thing that can’t and won’t change: our principles. There are some that would like us to abandon them, but as long as I’m Chairman, we’ll stay true to them. Some would have us turn into Democrats-lite, but I refuse.”
While Priebus emphasized he would “never suggest we should waiver on our principles,” he also noted that he “won’t tell anyone they can’t be a part of this party.”

So much for the Republican Party letting the Social Conservatives walk. 🙄

I hope the Republican Party is prepared to lose the 2014 and 2016 elections; because that is what is going to happen.

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