The Savage Republican

You can tell election season is gearing up Pt 2

Governor Pawlenty opened his statement with great praise for our troops. He spent this morning in Northfield at a National Guard return ceremony. He said that we live in the freest society because of our troops....we are a blessed people.

He said that we tend to lose sight of the big picture in the day to day headaches of life. Society is changing rapidly and that puts pressure on the economy. We need to be forward thinking enough to anticipate changes. The "legacy" institutions and practices that can't change are "dead". Government is one of those "legacy" institutions - it has no competition...customers have no choices and that needs to change!

He touched on the controversy surrounding his immigration policy by stating that legal and orderly immigration is "necessary" but we need to control illegal immigration as it is a burden to the system. He spoke of people going through the medical, legal, criminal justice and education systems with multiple id's and that was costing the taxpayers.

He touched on the "Q-Comp" proposal saying that while on average our education system is good, the "below average" pockets need to be brought up to snuff. The current 40-year old platform "needs to be fixed" and that pay for performance will fix that along with the proposal to mandate that 70% of all school district spending needs to be "in the classroom" spending.

He said that we can not compete with a "broken" health care system that every year eats more and more of the state budget. At current increases, health care will consume the entire budget in 15 years. Simply raising taxes to meet the growth of health care is not going to work. We must fix the system.

Performance pay needs to apply to legislators (ed - woo hoo). The legislatures job is to get to get all work done without going into special session. The governor proposes that if the legislature can not get it's job done in time, then they don't get paid overtime! He would also like to see a form of initiative referendum put on the books. That way if things don't get done in the legislature in a timely manner (marriage amendment???? stadiums????) then the people of Minnesota would have the opportunity to vote on it!

He closed with this - we can not have real security without prosperity. Government can mandate or pretend to make guarantees, but it will eventually fall without prosperity. Government can not provide prosperity - only businesses can. We need to make sure that our businesses can compete. The problem is not tax revenues - we have plenty of that - the problem is that we are not wise in our choices.

After he spoke, the Governor talked to various members of the audience, including yours truly. I had the opportunity to ask the Governor a couple of questions about issues that I know are "hot" with my right leaning friends and family.

I asked the Governor specificially about the cigarette "fee" that went into effect last August. He answered that it was a necessary compromise. He was given a choice between raising taxes across the board or raising this cigarette "fee". I followed up asking why we didn't call it what it was - a TAX? He responded that under the classic defination, this is a "user fee". It only effects a small sub-set of the population and it is on a voluntary activity. Also we were held by the settlement of the tobacco lawsuit (thank you Mike Hatch). Raising taxes on cigarettes would put the state in violation of the settlement. However, a user fee is legally not a tax so....

He then laid it out....if you want to push a more conservative agenda, we need to get more Republicans in the House and Senate! We can not persue an agressive agenda with a 50/50 split in the Senate. I asked what those of us who live in an area that is considered to be relatively safe can do to get more conservatives elected and he said that we needed to get out and help candidates door knock and write letters and emails and make calls.

Well, I know a couple of candidates in a very blue district that needs some help. I think I'll call my friends in SD63 and see if they need some help.

You can tell election season is gearing up Pt 1

When I got home from listening to Coleen Rowley speak to the SD 35 DFL, I found an email in my inbox from Mike Beard, the current 35A Representative in St. Paul. It was an invitation to hear Governor Pawlenty speak today. So I packed up my trusty notepad and treked to Shakopee to the the Governor.

Mike opened with a few remarks, thanking the audience for coming on a sunny Saturday afternoon. He reminded the audience that 4 years ago, the state of Minnesota had a $4+ million dollar deficit and that the Governor and the Legislature fixed that without raising taxes. He mentioned that the state seems to run a 10 year cycle of deficits and if that is the case we could be looking at another deficit in 2010. We need to break that cycle, which is the Governor's (and Republican leaderships) goal. He said that with great co-workers like Mark Buesgens and the Governor, the state had the potential to set the pace to break that cycle.

Mark spoke next. He thanked our hosts (Randy and Curt Sampson from Canterbury Park) and mentioned that Racino would be back on the table in this session. He said that the House is trying to hold to tru conservative values (some anti-gambling proponents would argue that statement). He reminded the audience of a time when the minority party (the Republicans) pushed the majority party (the DFL) to return the budget surplus to the taxpayers and they said "NO" - not one dollar! Minnesota was then the second or third most taxed state in the nation and now we are are out of the top 10 (only if you don't go by the per capita rankings). Minnesota then had the most lenient abortion standards in the country - which is no longer the case. Minnesota also had no conceal carry legislation even pending - now it is law. All in all, there has been progress thanks to Governor Pawlenty's leadership.

I will cover the Governor's remarks in the next post.

Some final notes on Coleen's speech

Some final notes on last nights speech. Coleen's came across as stiff and forced when she was speaking from her prepared remarks or when she was speaking on a subject that she was not comfortable but she was quite eloquent when speaking extemporaneously on a subject that she was well versed in. You can tell that she is an intelligent woman. However, she said some things that seemed to make sense to our hosts, but confused me greatly. Things like, we need to get voters to "vote in their enlightened self interests".

She also mentioned a few other random things that I feel need addressing:

The Republicans have a very insideous way of instilling fear in the populace. This coming from the woman who agreed with the audience member who refered to Dick Cheney as the "Prince of Darkness" and nodded in agreement when another audience member stated "Karl Rove lies" and who said that "our democracy is at stake" in this election. Both sides use their "fear tactics" that they know works for the base. That is the way politics is done!

The 2 or 3 polarizing issues (abortion and marriage) are "wearing thin". Coleen came to this "conclusion" door-knocking in one city this fall. I think she might want to take a little bit bigger polling sample before making such declarations. There are many "pockets" of thought and I know that there are several such pockets in the 2nd District where those issues are KING!

Media leaks saved my job at the FBI. Given what media leaks have done recently, that is a truly frightening statement. It is also, dare I say it, either a bit selfish or it is weak national security policy. If the leaks were ok across the board, why have classified information? Why have national security? If it was ok in her situation and not in the others...

There is "monumental arrogance" in the Republican Party. This coming out of a representative of the party that consistently tells us that they "know better" than we do is laughable!

The Republicans "own" the media - including the NY Times. Yeah right - that is why the NY Times is running stories like this. Along with all of the anti-administration leaks out of the CIA. Sure they "own" the media guys.....and I have a bridge to sell you cheap!

The good news from last night

I saved the best for almost last dear readers. Here is the good news that Coleen Rowley brought to the SD35 DFL last night.

Three of the questions that were asked last night had a similar theme. That theme was "what is the DNC/DFL doing to win this thing?" Specifically she was asked 1)What issues do you want to bring to the table in this election?, 2) What are DFL hopefuls doing to find a uniform message and stick to it? and 3) Is there a "top down" message from the DNC that we need to be utilizing?

The answer (in revers order) is 3)NO, 2)we have solutions but the information is not being released (HUH?) and 1) Ethics.

I already discussed the ethics issue here so I will skip that and go right into 2 and 3.

We have solutions, but we are not going to divulge them to the people. Sound familiar? We have heard this before out of the Democratic House and Senate leadership. What are they afraid of? Why won't they tell the American people what they stand for? Are they afraid that they will be roundly rejected - again?

No top down message tells you all you need to know. The DNC has cut their candidates loose with little ideological support and telling them "good luck". Meanwhile, they are complaining about the "Republican marching orders" that Karl Rove is giving Republican candidates. What the DNC (and the DFL) percieve to be marching orders is actually a very co-ordinated and organized and successful campaign strategy. And they wonder why they are losing.....

Channeling John Kerry

Coleen Rowley did a great job "channeling" John Kerry last night. The biggest effort came when she spoke about the execution of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). She re-iterated the DNC charge that the President has no plan to "win the peace" (gack). So I guess that this is "no plan"? She spent several minutes waxing eloquently about the "natural, inherent accountability" of the criminal justice system and how it would be the "best place" to execute the GWOT! Yeah they did such a great job of it before 9/11....let's do it again Coleen!

Later in the evening, while discussing election strategy (more on this in another post) Doug Zila - who is running for the State House 35A seat - (more on him later) said that he heard Senator Kerry speaking on the radio on what the Dems need to do in order to succeed this year. He said that Senator said "less is more" when it came to the message. That they needed to remember that the electorate had a "short attention span". I have a better idea Mr. Zila (and Sen. Kerry) tell us what you are for! Tell us what you support and why!!!! It is not that the electorate has a "short attention span" it is that we have heard (ad naseum) your litany of complaints and we are tired of hearing it. Maybe if you came up with a solution or two, you might get someone's attention!

I know that I am not the first (and probably far from the last) to say this but it's true...you can't beat something with nothing. It is your dearth of ideas, not the lack of voice that has kept you from winning elections.

Coleen on "Ethics"

I found it ironic (after the photoshopping fiasco) that Coleen would make ethics an integral part of her speech last night.

She mentioned that she was at the Naval Academy recently (I swear she spends more time out of the district than she does in the district) and that she was "impressed" with their dedication to accountability. She then went on to say that the Bush Administration lacked that accountability and that people who made mistakes are still working in the administration making mistakes (guess she forgot that Michael Brown - for one - is no longer with the adminstration).

Of course, you knew she would bring up "the horrible corruption" surrounding the Abramoff connection - which is hysterical considering the story that came out today about how Senate Minority Leader Reid worked (much harder than previously revealed) on behalf of Abramoff clients. Coleen - ever heard the old adage about people in glass houses throwing stones?

While speaking about "accountability" she threw out the following quote "Bank robbers go back to the same places if they can get away with it". She threw that bon mot out in reference to how the Republicans keep going back to the national security issue.

She said that the Dems need to expose the lack of ethics in DC. On that we may agree, Coleen, but be careful what you wish for. It may come back to bite you in the rear if you are not careful.

Comments from the Audience

One of the "highlights" from last nights visit with Coleen Rowley.

One of her supporters can into the meeting late (we had a bit of snow to deal with last night) highly agitated. During the Q&A session she commented on the reason for her agitation. The Shakopee Valley News came out and there were two letters (free registration required) to the editor "attacking" Coleen in the paper. The letters dealt with the this issue. I read both letters before writing this to make certain that they were not "attacks" and that leads to this....

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAKING A CANDIDATE TO TASK OVER ISSUES VS ATTACK ADS

If a candidate runs for office based on an embelished war record, and someone who served in the same unit calls the candidate on the embelishment....that is not an attack that is taking the candidate to task on an issues (the candidates integrity).

If a story is run about a candidate that is built around forged documents, that is an attack!

If you or your campaign photoshops your opponents picture into a Nazi uniform (especially if said opponent is a retired Marine, that is an attack.

If your opponent (or his/her supporters) submit letters to the editor that you to task for running photoshopped pictures of said opponent on your website - that is not an attack. That is taking issue with your decision making skills.

It's that simple folks.

Coleen Rowley in SD35

This evening, Coleen Rowley spoke to the SD35 DFL party. Since their news release said that this was open to the public, I trundled the Little Logician off to basketball practice and then I went to the Prior Lake Library to hear the candidate for myself. I took lots and lots of notes, so this will be the first of several posts on Ms. Rowley's visit to SD35.

Coleen was introduced by the SD35 Chair who spoke glowingly of her "law enforcement credentials" and how that would be such an asset to Congress - yeah like Congress really needs another lawyer! Coleen then opened with a "good news/bad news" joke - "the good news is President Bush is finally listening to us...the bad news is it is via the NSA surveillance program". This was not the last time she would bring up NSA.....

Coleen then went on to ask how many had watch the "excruciating" State of the Union address last week. Not many in the room had (surprise surprise) so Coleen went on to give her take on the speech. She talked about how one side of the room kept jumping up and down and how she was "certain" that Representative Kline was one the ones doing the jumping but that the camera did not pan to him (I believe that the congressman was out of DC at the time, but I am waiting for verification of that). She then went on to talk about how, in spite of the promises of increased funding for alternative energy and education, the administration announced "the very next day" massive budget cuts for both. She also mention that the only place to "win" in the budget was the Pentagon, conveniently forgetting that in the new Budget Social spending dwarfed Pentagon spending....why let the facts get in the way of a little stump speech I guess...

She did not mention her opponent (Congressman Kline) often, but when she did she called him a "cheerleader" for the administration (this after she had commented about how they needed to deal with facts instead of delving into name calling...) and that he had voted against veterans benefits 11 times (it has already been proven that she is incorrect in the by the Congressman).

Back to the NSA surveillance...Coleen said that intelligence gathering was like trying to find a needle in a haystack and that the NSA surveillance had "added more hay" to the haystack. A few minutes later she said that she didn't see the courts "upholding" the NSA program, but she was contradicted by the SD35 chair (and her own words). The SD35 chair said that he had heard that the FISA court had already upheld similar surveillance - a ruling that Coleen admitted had been made. Coleen also repeated the DNC call for "Congressional oversight" of the NSA program, saying we didn't need "full" congressional oversight - just have a "few trusted" congressmen overseeing classified intelligence information. Excuse me Ms. Rowley - we already have that. Select "trusted" members of both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were aware of the NSA program. Unfortunately one of those "trusted members" went to Syria before the war and told the Syrian government all of our plans!

One of many laughs of the night came when Coleen asked is anyone in the group had heard the report that Scooter Libbey was "rolling over" on Vice President Cheney. That report cause one woman in the audience to shout "YES!!!! I KNEW IT!!!! I KNEW CHENEY WAS THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS....we just have to prove it." Yes ma'am you do have to prove it.

End part 1

Howling Howie on ABC This Morning

Howard Dean, speaking on Good Morning America, today accused President Bush of turning the US "into Iran".

In related news, Howard has not yet reacted to this news that Harry Reid did indeed take action for the Abramoff tribes that he got money from. Someone needs to send this information to Al Franken and remind Howie what he said on Fox News Sunday.

The DNC has a serious problem on their hands and they refuse to realize it.

Are we "overtaxed"?

One issue that is sure to get tempers flaring is taxes. The right says that we are "over-taxed" and the left says that we are "under-taxed", but what is the truth.

The Star Tribune published a report today that gives us an idea of where we stand here in Minnesota. In 2002, Minnesotans paid (per capita) $2631.65 in taxes to the state which ranks 3rd highest in the country. The US average is $1862.33. In 2004, Minnesotans paid (per capita) $2890.90 in taxes to the state (4th highest in the country). The highest in both surveys was Hawaii at $2769.77 and $3050.03! Now, remember this voters.....the DFL has said that they intend to make Minnesota the HIGHEST TAXED state in the union! So the next time you talk to someone who says they are "more than happy" to pay extra for all of this government spending, ask them do you really want to pay $3000+ per year in taxes to the state????? If so, how much is enough? Is there any such thing?

UPDATE: MDE reported from the DFL candidate debate today that Becky Loury said that Minnesotans "want" their taxes raised and that Kelly Doran said that he didn't care how much taxes were raised on Minnesota businesses! Read his report here.

Implosion

We've seen glimpses of it here in Minnesota. Patty Wetterling drops out of a Senate race that she can not win and drops back into the 6th CD race and draws the wrath of candidate El Tinklenberger and the DFL grass roots. Colleen Rowley, the DNC "chosen one" running in the 2nd CD (against Rep John Kline) stumbles so badly that State Senator Sharon Marko files to run against her in the primary. Amy Klobuchar is being dogged by Ford Bell for the DFL Senatorial endorsement amid cries of "queenmaking". We have 5 DFL candidates all fighting for the opportunity to run against Governor Pawlety and at least 2 are determined to take it to a primary fight.

Now the fractions are spreading nationwide. Sen Barbara Boxer is begging Mother Sheehan to not run against Senator Dianne Feinstein. House and Senate leadership is reeling and then comes this from the NY Times. You know things are bad when the DNC's main cheerleader is asking "what is wrong?"

"Democrats are heading into this year's elections in a position weaker than they had hoped for, party leaders say, stirring concern that they are letting pass an opportunity to exploit what they see as widespread Republican vulnerabilities.
In interviews, senior Democrats said they were optimistic about significant gains in Congressional elections this fall, calling this the best political environment they have faced since President Bush took office.
But Democrats described a growing sense that they had failed to take full advantage of the troubles that have plagued Mr. Bush and his party since the middle of last year, driving down the president's approval ratings, opening divisions among Republicans in Congress over policy and potentially putting control of the House and Senate into play in November."

No guys, the problem is not that you have failed to take advantage of "troubles" plaguing the President. Your problem is that these "failings" of the President's are not seen as failings (NSA surveillance for example) with the heartland. You try to claim innocence in the so-called "culture of corruption" when your ranking Senator is under investigation for taking the same kind of money you are hammering Republicans on.

"Democrats said they had not yet figured out how to counter the White House's long assault on their national security credentials. (ed - here's a hot tip guys - listening in on the bad guys conversation is GOOD national security and you are against it!) And they said their opportunities to break through to voters with a coherent message on domestic and foreign policy — should they settle on one (emphasis added) — were restricted by the lack of an established, nationally known leader to carry their message this fall. "

OUCH! Even the Times see the problem here.

"Some Democrats said they favored remaining largely on the sidelines while Republicans struggled under the glare of a corruption inquiry. And some said there was still time for the party to get its act together. But many others said the party needed to move quickly to offer a comprehensive governing agenda, even as they expressed concern about who could make the case. "

And while the leadership sits on the sidelines, smart leaders like Senator Obama (IL) and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen are left crying in the wilderness.

""We're selling our party short; you've got to stand for a lot more than just blasting the other side," said Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee. "The country is wide open to hear some alternatives, but I don't think it's wide open to all these criticisms. "

I said at the time that Howard Dean was the best thing to happen to the RNC and so far things are looking good. We can not let our guard down, but right now it looks like the DFL and the DNC are going to continue to implode. We need to be ready to take advantage of it when it happens.

Baby, it's chili in Minneapolis

I had the pleasure of attending the SD 63 Chili Dinner last night.

Mark Kennedy (R-CD6) who is running for the Republican endorsement for Senator started the evening off with a red meat speech that got the crowd whipped up. He talked about the Presidential Line Item Veto bill (which he has sponsored in the House) and how we needed a few more "regular" guys (CPAs for example which Mark is by vocation) in the Senate and a few less lawyers. In keeping with the theme of the evening (Media Bias) he talked about all of the accomplishements that he has had in the House that do not get reported in Prairie Pravda. I've heard Mark on the stump before and while this was not his most rousing stump speech it was an appropriate start for the evening.

The guests of honor were the candidates - Vern Wilcox, David Alvarado and Ed Field. Ed's speech was highly entertaining. He did a thorough job of researching his opponent's voting record and used it to show where the two of the were different. Vern has the enjoyable track record of never loosing an election so the races will bear following.

The highlight of the evening (for me) were the featured speakers...the MOBs own Jerry Plagge (SD63 blog), Andy Aplikowski (AAA from Residual Forces and KennedyVMachine) and Mitch Berg (Shot in the Dark). Now I met Jerry and Andy before, but this was the first opportunity I had to meet Mitch, a blogger that I admire very much. It was interesting to hear what motivated Jerry and Andy to blogging (my story is similar to Andy's - I got tired of submitting letters to the Strib that were never printed). Mitch was his usual shy, reticent self. If you have never listened to the Northern Alliance Radio program on AM1280 The Patriot you don't know what you are missing. Mitch regaled the crowd with stories of how the blogosphere has already changed the course of history (the death of a thousand cuts inflicted on Mary Mapes/Dan Rather over their fake Texas ANG documents). He kept refering back to the fact that blogging is bringing the information back to the "regular schmucks". While not all bloggers are "regular schmucks" (I'm thinking the Powerline guys here) I understand what he means. Blogging gives average people with particular expertise to be able to add their expertise to a situation. It bypasses the vaunted "gatekeepers" of the mainstream media (or the downstream media as Andy called them) to get the other side of the story out!

Last (but certainly not least) to speak was Col. Joe Repya. For those that don't know Col. Repya's story, on 9/11 he was a retired military officer, on 9/12 he re-enlisted! He is back (temporarily) from Iraq and he spoke to us about what the press is not covering in the Iraq story. He told us about all of the successes that are happening every day and that we can not judge what is happening by what the press is reporting, because most of them are not even leaving the safety of the Green Zone. He spoke glowingly of ABC camerman Doug Vogt who was recently injured in Iraq as one of the few who got out to try to tell the soldiers stories and the good news in Iraq.

Kudos to Loren Klassen and Rob Hewitt (Mitch said it was good to work with a Hewitt that did not "suck all of the air out of the room" in an obvious good natured dig at AM1280 weekday host Hugh Hewitt) and the rest of the SD63 Executive Committee. It was a well run, highly entertaining. Good luck with your races. I will be following them closely on Jerry's blog!

A celebration of...bile and vitriol

Matt Drudge is reporting that fig trees bear figs and leopards don't change their spots.
At the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the hatemongers on the left couldn't even muster enough restraint to show only respect to Mrs. King and the event.They let their temper and sourness flow from their pores and mouths and blasted President Bush.
And these men call themselves Christians. One is even a Pastor. The other a Noble Peace Prize winner and former President.

A terribly dangerous "Where's Waldo"

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters reminds me of a lingering problem that bodes ill for all of us, right and left. And we on the right get it. The dangerous hate filled dolts on the left don't.
All the left wing heroes of the Clinton era all talked about Saddam's WMD. Officials and diplomats around the world repeated how Saddam must destroy his WMD's. Resolution after resolution came out of the UN. Even Saddam admitted that he had WMD. The liars on the left seemingly can't read as we did NOT go into Iraq to find WMD's but because Saddam had not proven that he had destroyed his WMD's. A very important point of departure from the left wing diatribes about no WMD's and why we went to Iraq.
I had a conversation with Congressman John Kline before Christmas. One of the people around us asked about WMD and GWB going to Iraq and the War on Terror. Congressman Kline said that the President regrets using the term war on terror. He went to talk about the WMD's. I mentioned two grossly under reported stories or conveniently ignored by the left. That makes them guilty of willful ignorance which is inexcusable!
1. David Kay in his report to Congress said that they had found no WMD's. The left reported his testimony just up to that point. What he said next was critically important. He stated that what he and his team found was much worse than they had thought going in. That entire country of Iraq was basically a Home Depot for terrorists the world over. It was an open market for nearly every weapon imaginable. And that in fact Mr. Kay did believe that Iraq had WMD's .
2. About two years ago, there was a convoy that was stopped on it's way to Amman, Jordan coming from Syria. In the convoy were discovered chemical weapons. If they had been used, it's estimated that up to 80,000 people would have died (depending on weather conditions at the time). Now, the intelligence community agrees that Syria has a WMD program of chemical and biological weapons. But thay also agree that the Syrian program could not produce that quality of material in the quantity found. And so the real question then is: Where did the material come from if not from Syria?

And so, these people on the left, so filled with bile and rage at GWB, refuse to ask the resultant hard question:Ok, if WMD's have not been found in Iraq,well then,where are they? Where did they go? Who had them after Saddam? Who has them now? How do we find them?
But, no. These "deeply concerned people" keep beating the same, old "this is the way I want to see the world" drum. These people are so filled with hate and loathing for GWB, America, the Constitution that they are willing to risk us all with their opinions and outlook.
Yup, and Hugh Hewitt keeps playing the Samuel L. Jackson quote from Die Hard III "I don't like you because you're going to get me killed!"
And when hate, rage and vitriol replace any shred of reason, we are in even more danger from the left...if that were possible.

Dubious Company

All of my friends know that I am a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, what with growing up in Chicago and all. Mr. Logician is a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, having grown up in the Steel City. All through the play-offs, we were actually hoping to have a Chicago/Pittsburgh Super Bowl, but if we had to fall short of that, we really wanted to see Jerome Bettis end his storied career in the city where it started. So seeing him come into town and getting the Key to the City, was no big surprise. What was surprising was this:

“Bettis was told the honor had once been bestowed upon Saddam Hussein in 1980.”

Saddam Hussein given the keys to a city??? For what? Single handedly surpassing the annual murder rate for the city?

Congratulations to Coach Cower, Jerome Bettis and the rest of the Steelers organization. Let’s see you back there again in 2007.

Cartoon outrage outside the box

And it just keeps getting better:
Dennis Prager has quoted Andrew Sullivan noting that the stricture on depicting the prophet Mohammed is on Muslims,no one else. Prager quotes Sullivan saying that the Muslims outrage would be the same as Jews rioting because Gentiles are eating pork.
Sullivan's quote (and pay particular attention to the last sentence):
"Muslim leaders say the cartoons are not just offensive. They're blasphemy--the mother of all offenses. That's because Islam forbids any visual depiction of the Prophet, even benign ones. Should non-Muslims respect this taboo? I see no reason why. You can respect a religion without honoring its taboos. I eat pork, and I'm not an anti-Semite. As a Catholic, I don't expect atheists to genuflect before an altar. If violating a taboo is necessary to illustrate a political point, then the call is an easy one. Freedom means learning to deal with being offended."

Cartoon outrage

When I sign off from blogging, there is a scroll of blogs to see. One that scrolled by was Face of Muhammed . The blogger makes the point that 12 cartoons will spark outrage in the world-wide Muslim community. And the horrific deaths and mutilation and painful crippling of innocent men, women and children...not so much as a single sign.
And he makes great cultural points.
The left screams in support of these radical Islamists feelings and that people like me (an obvious Bible believing, God fearing, Christ loving, liberty loving, Constitution reading,gun carrying, ready to defend liberty and the innocents type) are obviously "insensitive" and need to be more open to the feelings of others. And these same "women's rights" dolts apologize for Islamists who behead women in public or kill a female relative if she is raped, or sometimes even flirts (called honor killings).
I remember the quote from a woman in Kabul, Afghanistan after the city was liberated in 2002. She said that she went outside and felt the warm sun on her face for the first time in years.
It was such a simple comment. And such a simple pleasure to which I had never even given a thought. Yet it was such a measure of freedom for her that that was what she marked as her liberation.
And lefties that practice such gross hypocrisy don't know true liberty when they see it.
And they don't know and don't care of the deep shame they bring on themselves.

Cartoon reality

A great snippet from Bill Bennett's morning show on AM1280 The Patriot : The Muslims are saying they will sever the heads and bomb anyone who depicts them in a cartoon as people who sever heads and bomb people.
OK.

This man wants to be a Senator???? Part 4

MDE points up to this interview in the Mac (Macalester College) Weekly. In it Al Franken showed (again) just what kind of a grasp on the facts that he has.

AF: I think that there are so many that are so important. Health care; the widening gap between the haves and have-nots; the government operating on behalf of special interests, not the public interest, and all that impacts everything. It impacts health care, impacts education, impacts environmental concerns, impacts energy policy. That’s why I’m so disappointed that Democrats aren’t using this Abramoff scandal to talk about ways to get money out of politics.

MW: About that, why would they if so many Democrats are connected to Abramoff?

AF: They aren’t. Why do you assume that? Why do you say that?

MW: Because [Sen.] Byron Dorgan from North Dakota was found to have connections with the Indian tribes and he was advocating on their behalf with Abramoff.

AF: Yeah, but they live in North Dakota.

MW: It was an Indian tribe from Massachusetts.

AF: An Indian tribe from Massachusetts gave to Dorgan? (emphasis mine)

Remember, this is the man that assures his listeners that he subscribes to an incontrovertable standard of truth because he Googles facts before announcing them on the air...

AF: Well connected doesn’t mean anything. Tell me if the Indian tribe from Massachusetts gave Dorgan money. (emphasis mine)

MW: I’m not certain. [The Mac Weekly later sent an article to Franken detailing Dorgan’s connection. See the editor’s note below.]

Sigh.......Then Al launches into a tirade against lobbyist paid trips...

MW: You know [Rep.] Michael Capuano [Democrat] of Massachusetts, a Congressman, recently got back from a privately funded trip to Brazil funded by what seems to be the sources you’ve been alluding to.

AF: And who paid for his trip?

MW: Well, it was interest groups that you’ve been alluding to.

AF: Can you tell me who? I’d like to know.

Editor’s note: The Mac Weekly later sent Franken two newspaper articles.
One, published by the Associated Press in December, detailed Sen. Byron Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) connections to the Mashpee Tribe of Massachusetts and its donation of $11,500 to Dorgan through its representative Michael D. Smith, Abramoff’s partner who pleaded guilty this fall to charges of conspiring to bribe a congressional representative.

The article also revealed a fundraiser hosted for Dorgan by the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe in Abramoff’s arena skybox where Washington power players were commonly wined and dined.
The other article, published in January by The Boston Globe, detailed a trip by Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) to Brazil. The trip, worth $19,403, was funded by a non-profit business organization financed by the lobbyists and company representatives traveling with the congressman, the Globe reported.

Al, Al, Al....you know it's bad when a college newspaper has a better grasp on the facts on the issue than you do. Maybe the kid that interviewed you for the Mac Weekly should be the one running for Senate.

Always suspicious...planned spontaneous outrage

Got this interesting tidbit from my friend Captain Ed at Captains Quarters.
I'm always amazed at the reading of the details that put the lie to the Big Story.

Oh yah...THAT religion

Reflecting on what Lady Logician has been saying about cartoons, I recall that this is the religion that bills itself, and left wing calls "The Religion of Peace".
Obviously.

"Bill Clinton is WRONG!!!"-Star Tribune

Yup, Zippergate Willy is completey in error! When he said in his SOTU address in 1996 that "The era of big government is over" Prairie Pravda (PP) says that he's wrong! In todays homage to Uncle Joe Stalin PP says that the government needs to squeeze personal choice people like you and me. That it needs to force us to drive less, conserve more.That all those elites at 425 Portland Ave. S. know how to address any energy concern. That good ol' Unca Joe and Cousin Mao were right and state central planning works...or will work... this time...finally...they hope...in spite of decades and decades of proven central planning failures.
Well, kids, we are NOT addicted to oil! Oil is relatively cheap.And efficient. And effective for energy. At least in a comparitively free market. And all GWB is doing is throwing more money at wish list technologies that have not proved effective or efficient in over three decades...thirty years. And yet PP says that government is not too big and needs to be bigger and more intrusive.
Sorry Willy.
And SNAP TO GEORGE!!!!

Deja vu.

I was involved in a conversation on the "cartoon riots" when a gentleman in the group compared what is going on today with "die Reichskrystallnacht" of 1938. For those that don't know what Krystall Nacht was, here is a refresher. I was intrigued by his analogy so I went back and did a little reading of my own. That refresher, triggered memories of stories I was told when we lived in Germany (Mr. Logician was stationed there when we were first married). We lived and worked among many Germans who lived through WWII and they were quite willing to tell the inquisitive Americans their side of the story.

Reading the Wikipedia entry, I was struck with a sobering sense of deja vu. Under the pretense of an "offense" *(in this case the murder of a member of the Reich) rioters rampaged through-out Germany - destroying Jewish shops, homes, synagogues and cemetaries. Jews were beaten to death by the rioters. The attacks were intended to look spontaneous, but they were actually ochestrated by the Nazi government!

Fast forward almost 70 years to today. Under the pretense of an "offense" Muslim rioters rampage through the streets of Syria, Lebanon and European cities. Embassies are burned (Austrian, Danish and Norwegian), tourists kidnapped and a Roman Catholic church attacked. The attacks looked spontaneous, but where (as this author asks) "did they get all of those Danish flags to burn?" A question that he does not directly ask is "why did it take so long (remember these cartoons were initially published back in October) for these 'spontaneous' riots to happen?" Couple these incidents with statements released recently by the new President of Iran where he stated that the Holocaust never happened and that Israel has no right to exist with statements made by the Nazi Regime. Even current German Chancelor Merkle has made the connection.

Let's go back in time again to 1938. In the days following Krystall Nacht the world reacted in horror and outrage. Yet they did nothing. Krystall Nacht ushered in a new era of anti-Semetic activities from the German government. Will the Muslim governments in Syria and Lebanon follow suit (in the form of anti-Western behavior)? If they do, what will the world do? Will the world move in unison to stop this anti-social behavior or will they simply speak platitudes (as they did in WWI) and do nothing?

Have we learned nothing from our recent history? Or are we doomed to repeat it?

The Savage Republican

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Saturday, February 11, 2006