The Savage Republican

Who is the "real" Democrat?

That is the question being asked in the Virginia race to run against Senator George Allen. However, the sentiments being raised in this Washington Post article might sound familiar to Minnesota voters.

"At the end of the day, when we were fighting in the trenches to defeat George Bush and George Allen in 2000, you weren't just voting for them, you were publicly endorsing them," Miller said to Webb.Webb, no shrinking violet, shot back, asking Miller: "Why did you donate money to [House Speaker] Dennis Hastert? I've never given money to a Republican in my life."

You could easily substitute Mark Kennedy for George Allen, James Webb for Amy Klobuchar and Harris Miller for Ford Bell! This race to the left is leaving a lot of centrist voters in both parties left with little choice. Many support the troops and the war, but don't support the NSA actions. Many support the economic goals of the GOP - smaller govenment and less taxes but are mildly pro-life. There are many variations...but the bottom line is this, party purity and strict die hard platform are not going to win you elections. The GOP has worked hard to diversify and seek out voters who have traditionally shunned them. Their outreach has worked! Retreating to the left is not going to win elections for the DFL.

It will be interesting to see where the delegates at this week-end's DFL convention go...will they move to the hard core left or will they take a step toward the center? We will know in a couple of days.

Cross posted at Ladies Logic.

Where, oh where is Coleen today?

According to this article in yesterdays USA Today (HT MDE) Coleen is campaigning in Golden Valley!

"GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Coleen Rowley is a national figure as a result of her memo about problems at the FBI before 9/11, such as superiors' refusals to authorize a search of would-be hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui's computer. But in her run for Congress, the retired FBI lawyer portrays herself as a suburban everywoman — stretched for money and a decent wardrobe.At a breakfast here sponsored by the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus, she attached a sticky note to the post-dated check she'd written to the group: Do not cash this contribution until next week. She left with a bag of stylish clothing loaned to her by a former corporate executive.Rowley's background gives weight to her contention that the government has made a series of mistakes since 9/11, from creating the unwieldy Department of Homeland Security to skirting laws in the name of fighting terrorism. "

It strikes me as ironic that Ms Rowley says that the government has "made a series of mistakes" in it's response to 9/11 and yet she still advocates that the FBI prosecute the global war on terror! Can we get a little consistency here Coleen?

"But Rep. John Kline, 58, a retired Marine colonel, won re-election by 16 percentage points in 2004. And Rowley, 51, makes no bones about her amateur status. "I'm practicing to get my answers short and focused," she told a toastmasters group.
Rowley can be rambling — but at one house party in St. Paul, her remarks were so brief that she did not discuss her signature issues of ethics and terrorism until two questioners prompted her. "

Coleen rambling???? I don't know if I would call it that....she can speak well, when she is speaking on a topic that she knows (as I posted here). However when you do get her off of that one topic, she does struggle.

"In March, her website showed Kline as Col. Klink, a Nazi character from the TV show Hogan's Heroes. She apologized, calling it "a little mistake" by a volunteer blogger. "

Coleen needs to learn that the candidate is ultimately responsible for the actions of their volunteers/staff.

"Her fans don't mind the learning curve. April Spas, a business consultant and former 3M executive, says she was moved to offer speaking advice and loans of clothing after hearing Rowley deliver a ragged speech in hand-me-downs. But she was also moved to tell friends, "You need to support Coleen Rowley, because she is the closest thing to a superhero that you'll ever have."

Superhero? Coleen???? Come on April - you have got to be kidding me! Coleen seems to be a nice enough person, but she is clueless about the issues that face our representatives in DC. You need to be more than "against the war"....you need to be able to address agriculture issues, border issues, transportation issues, immigration issues...get the drift?

THIS JUST IN - a little bird told me that Coleen with be on KFAN (local sports radio) on Monday from 4-6pm. This could be fun....expect a full report!

cross posted at Ladies Logic

Al Franken - in the news

Al Franken was on At Issue with Tom Hauser (KSTP TV) this morning, touting (among other things like his potential run for the Senate in 2008) his Midwest Values PAC. He talked about how he was using the PAC to promote "Midwest values". So being the rather curious blogger that I am, I went to Open Secrets and checked out their PAC page. I found it very curious that only one of the top 10 and 3 of the top 20 donors to the PAC are from the Midwest. The rest are from the East and West coasts. Some notable names....

Phil Donahue (number one individual donor!)
Nora Ephron (of when Harry met Sally fame)
James Sinegal (CEO of Costco)
Larry & Laurie David (Movie producers and longtime DNC activists)
Harvey Weinstein
Loren Michaels (of SNL Fame)

All in all, Mr. Franken's PAC has taken in over $400,000! On the other side of the ledger, he has given out a total of $11,000 to candidates all over the country including:

Francine Busby (CA)
Tammy Duckworth (IL)
Nick Lampson (TX)
Lois Murphy (PA)
Coleen Rowley (MN)
Tim Walz (MN)
Sherrod Brown (OH)
Conrad Kent (OH)
Bernie Sanders (Socialist VT)

The candidates are all far left candidates and the donors are all far left as well. I found that all to be quite interesting indeed.

Where in the world is Coleen Rowley?

Call me crazy, but I was on Coleen Rowley's campaign website today, looking for information on the candidate that is challenging Congressman John Kline. I took a look at her News & Media page to see if maybe there was some interview out there that I just had not seen. What I saw was interesting indeed. On 5/31, she posted something on the Huffington Post (am I really that desperate for material???), on 5/26 she did an interview with Electric Politics (they are out of Bethesda MD for those who are interested). Then, of course there is the Star Tribune Op Ed that I blogged about here. There is a March TPT interview and then there is an article in the March issue of Mother Jones Magazine. The bottom line is, there is not a whole lot of Twin Cities exposure for Candidate Rowley.

While on her site, I did some digging around, just to try to get a feel for the campaign "philosophy". Apparently their canpaign philosophy is to hang out on highway bridges and to go to house parties for the candidate. I mean if that is what she thinks will work for her....

The Minnesota Senate Race Heats up

Gary and First Ringer both posted on this MSNBC profile of candidate Amy Klobuchar. Gary shows us that Ms. Klobuchar, who has already come out against Justices Roberts and Alito, will be perfectly happy to filibuster any judicial nominee that does not meet her standards, while Ringer notes their comments on the "Bell effect". I found a couple gems of my own that I thought were worth mention.

"Klobuchar is well within the liberal Democratic mainstream.

Her campaign has received financial backing from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s political action committee (PAC), the trial lawyers association, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s PAC, several labor unions, the Human Rights Campaign (the leading gay rights group), and Emily’s List, which champions Democratic women who support abortion rights."

Take a look at that list of support that Amy has - and yet as Ringer notes they call Ms. Klobuchar a "moderate" candidate (as opposed to the "far left" Ford Bell).

Then there is this quote:

“These guys told us that there were weapons of mass destruction — and there weren’t. They told us the mission was accomplished and it wasn’t,” Klobuchar told a Democratic Party picnic. "

Just who are "these guys", Ms. Klobuchar? You mean people like Madline Albright, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton? Is that perhaps who you are referring to, because you can not be honestly referring to the Bush Administration when (as I said here) the aforemention Democrats all said the same thing that President Bush did!

Couple this with the many instances of the Star Tribune doing their best to provide Ms. Klobuchar with "cover" and you can certainly see why the call the blog Kennedy versus the Machine. The media machine is certainly working overtime to try to make sure that the DFL holds on to "their" Senate seat.....

WMD's still in Iraq?

I was sent this story yesterday.

"These sites are highly suspected of containing the biological and chemical weapons the Bush Administration went to great lengths to reveal to the world prior to the commencement of hostilities in Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 19, 2003. We also know as a matter of fact that despite repeated requests, begging and pleading for the past three years – none of these sites have been properly investigated since discovery – NOT ONE. Not by the Iraq Survey Group led by both David Kay and Charles Duelfer nor any team of US DoD investigators. This intolerable situation continues to this very moment despite detailed briefings, extended and repeated contact between Dave Gaubatz and Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) and Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), and members of their staff."

The article goes on to say that the locations in question have not been guarded by coalition forces or ING forces and for all we know may have been raided by the insurgents. Truly frightening.

Least you forget, a reminder of WHO thought that there were WMD's in Iraq, prior to our invasion in 2003...

Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, February 1998: "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."

Clinton National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, February 1998: "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has 10 times since 1983."

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, October 2003: "When [former President Bill] Clinton was here recently he told me was absolutely convinced, given his years in the White House and the access to privileged information which he had, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction until the end of the Saddam regime."

French President Jacques Chirac, February 2003: "There is a problem -- the probable possession of weapons of mass destruction by an uncontrollable country, Iraq. The international community is right . . . in having decided Iraq should be disarmed."

President Bill Clinton, December 1998: "Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them, not once, but repeatedly -- unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war, not only against soldiers, but against civilians; firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. Not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. . . . I have no doubt today that, left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again. . . . "

Clinton, July 2003: " . . . [I]t is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and chemical weapons. We might have destroyed them in '98. We tried to, but we sure as heck didn't know it because we never got to go back there."

Gen. Wesley Clark, September 2002, testimony before the House Armed Services Committee: "There's no question that Saddam Hussein is a threat. . . . Yes, he has chemical and biological weapons. . . . He is, as far as we know, actively pursuing nuclear capabilities, though he doesn't have nuclear warheads yet. If he were to acquire nuclear weapons, I think our friends in the region would face greatly increased risks, as would we."

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean [D], September 2002: "There's no question that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the United States and to our allies."

Dean, February 2003: "I agree with President Bush -- he has said that Saddam Hussein is evil. And he is. [Hussein] is a vicious dictator and a documented deceiver. He has invaded his neighbors, used chemical arms, and failed to account for all the chemical and biological weapons he had before the Gulf War. He has murdered dissidents and refused to comply with his obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions. And he has tried to build a nuclear bomb. Anyone who believes in the importance of limiting the spread of weapons of mass killing, the value of democracy and the centrality of human rights must agree that Saddam Hussein is a menace. The world would be a better place if he were in a different place other than the seat of power in Baghdad or any other country."

Dean, March 2003: "[Iraq] is automatically an imminent threat to the countries that surround it because of the possession of these weapons."

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and others, in a letter to President Bush, December 2001: "There is no doubt that . . . Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. . . . In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., December 1998: "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."

Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., ranking minority Intelligence Committee member, October 2002: "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years."

Now do we really want to say that there was nothing there?

To those who think that the insurgents are "freedom fighters"

and that they are equal to our troops...I think this might change your mind....

"Iraqi police in Baghdad have found the bodies of 43 people most of them showing signs that they had been tortured before being shot. The grisly discoveries were made over the last 24 hours in Baghdad's eastern Baladiyat and Sadir City districts. In ongoing violence in the country gunmen on Wednesday morning shot and killed Nabi Ismail Mosque's main preacher, Sheik Falah al-Nummi at the Sunni cleric's home in Huseiniyah, north of the Iraqi capital. Also in Huseiniyah a carbomb blast on Tuesday night killed 22 people and wounded another 58. "

How is this, where people are tortured before being shot equal to what happened in Haditha? Where is the international outrage over this?

"Police also found eight severed heads north of Baghdad with a note indicating they were killed in retaliation for the slaying of four Shiite doctors, while a Russian diplomat was shot to death and four colleagues were abducted in the capital."

Can someone please explain to me why this is more acceptable than what our troops in Haditha did? I surely don't understand it at all.

Don't misunderstand me...if the allegations about Haditha are true (and it sounds like they are) then what happened in Haditha is equally reprehensible but I will never understand those who call our troops evil murderers and those that torture and behead and bomb innocents are excused of their atrocities!

Marriage troubles....

The DFL keeps telling us that a Marriage Amendment is not necessary. The DNC says the same, but is that really the case?

Case in point - this Dateline interview of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau that aired last Friday night. For those of you who do not remember, Ms. Letourneau is the 6th Grade teacher who went to jail for raping Fualaau when he was 13! Ms. Letourneau violated a no contact order from the judge and sent messages to her victim while she was still in jail! Rather than tell the story of a sexual predator who got pregnant by her victim and why she engaged in such deviant behavior, Dateline glorifies their "marriage" and talks about their plans to try to have more children and her desire to get back into teaching!!!!

Can you see this interview happening if the perp had been a man and the victim a 13 year old girl? Somehow I highly doubt it...

No need for a marriage amendment???? When you have the media redefining healthy relationships at every opportunity, it is needed now, more than ever!

Just whose culture of corruption is it?

Details have come to light this week that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had taken boxing tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission. Remember, Senator Reid has been very vocal in his criticism of the Republicans and their ethics issues. This falls on the heels of revelations of corruption regarding Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) ethics and the probe of Representative Alan Mollohan (D-WV) for ethics violations.

Make no mistake, there are unethical politicians on both sides of the aisle! The difference is that when a Republican is caught with ill-gotten gains in HIS possession, he resigns from his House seat ("Duke" Cunningham) or from his leadership position (Tom DeLay) whereas the Democrat not only holds his seat, he has his caucus demand that his leader not remove him from his committee under threat of running a candidate against her.

Now we have a candidate for Congress that is telling supporters that you "don't need papers to vote".

The bottom line is this, the only way to cure corruption in DC is to change the culture of DC. The best way to change the culture of DC is to vote for candidates that are willing to be held accountable by the voters. This coming election season, we do have a choice! We can vote for candidates who are beholden to lobbyists and PAC's or we can elect candidates that will answer to their constituents. It's up to you!

NORM!!!!!! - Day 2 reflections

Senator Coleman spoke to the assembled delegates Friday afternoon and boy was it a barn burner! You would have thought he was running this year.

He started off talking about the successes of the last 4 years - hundreds of millions of dollars in Democratic tax increases stopped, confirmation of Justices Roberts and Alito ("they will protect our rights - especially the rights of the most vulnerable...the unborn - rather than rely on foreign law"), surging economy...all of the high points.

He then went on to deliniate the differences between the Republicans in the Senate and the Democrats in the Senate...calling the Democrats the "party of cynics" and reminding them that harping does not get you votes - ideas do!

He talked about how many are concerned with the "political climate", but he reminded us that as Minnesotans we don't generally worry about the "climate" at least not until the temperature gets down to 20 below zero anyway...he then said that we should not worry about the political climate - that we should just get the job done!

Then he launched into the UN....saying that Kofi Annan had "no legitamacy" and that he needs to resign! His best applause lines were when he talked about UN reform - he even got 2 standing ovations and this was only a small portion of the speech!

He then went on to tout our slate of candidates - saying that he could not wait to have a Senator to work with, rather than one to "cancel out" and how he could not WAIT to see Michelle Bachman hit the House floor - getting loud cheers from the 6th District delegates!

Then he went on to talk about what he would like to see done to make our kids the smartest kids in the world, unshackle the job creators...he said that Americans didn't want bigger government, more taxes and God taken out of the pledge! He talked about the Democrats complain about the deficits, and yet they proposed $3 trillion in spending that did not make it through the Senate!

There were many great quotes in the speech but the ones that I thought were the best were these:

"Everything begins and ends with human dignity - even before birth!"
"This is not a war we started, but it is one that we must finish."
"Border control is the first principle of national security."

and finally - this from the closing...

"Let's look for freedoms agenda - at home and abroad!"

I can hardly wait until I can call that man "the distinguished senior Senator from the great state of Minnesota".

The video is not yet posted at Residual Forces, but Triple A assures me that he will get it posted and as soon as he does, I will be linking to it.

UPDATE AND BUMP! Triple A got the video posted late last night/early this morning here.

Amendment X for President...the response

My philosophy, absolutely yes. The philosopher, ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I'd love to find out who the lone voter was. Suspicions abound. But perhaps ignorance is bliss. But sharing the dias with Secretary Rice and Ric Santorum inflates my ego. Noticing Penn Jillette on that same platform rapidly brings me back to reality (I like their act, but watched as they once won $10,000 in a celebrity charity event. And their charity? The ACLU. Adios respect, comedy magicians).
I've been asked many times over the past two decades if I'd consider running for public office. My stock reply is "What may I have said in the last 5-10 minutes that would have led you to believe that I'd like to one: run for public office and/or, two: scrub my knuckles with a steel brush?"

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Friday, June 09, 2006