The Savage Republican

A Kennedy to be proud of!

Summertime in Minnesota means one thing.....community festivals. I had the opportunity to walk in the Prior Lake Lakefront Days parade with Congresman Mark Kennedy. Congressman Kennedy is running for the soon to be vacated Senatorial seat held by Senator Mark Dayton. I wanted to post a couple of quick thoughts on the parade in general and Congressman Kennedy in particular.

The thing that struck me the most was the representation of the Republican candidates for office. Now Scott County is very red. As Savage Republican and Amendment X are wont to remark "there are no elected Democratic representatives in Scott County until you get to the US Senate (Mark Dayton)". However every single Republican candidate that was running for office was at the parade today and (with the exception of the incumbent state house and senate holders) all had their own unit in the parade. The DFL, meanwhile, had one shared unit and none of the candidates bothered to show up for the parade (as far as I saw). I had the opportunity to speak with all the Republican candidates except Pat Anderson (incumbent state auditor). All were excited to be there and thankful that our triple digit heat from last week had finally broken. It was a beautiful day for a parade!

As far as Congressman Kennedy goes, for a brief 2 years, Congressman Kennedy represented Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District so this is familiar territory for him. Because this is parade season, the Congressman arrived to our location (it was his second appearance of the day) just a few minutes before our unit was set to step off and just in time to walk right in front of the DFL float as they stepped off. There was a little good natured kidding between the two as the Congressman cordially greeted the amassed DFLers.

Once we got going, the Congressman was a whirlwind of motion. He crossed back and forth across the street constantly, shaking hands with young and old alike. This is what he does best. The comments from the crowd were nothing but supportive (which surprised Mrs. Kennedy who confided in me that there had been times when the Klobuchar supporters were less than polite in their greetings of the Congressman). Comments ran the gamut..."we're pulling for you!" to "we'll win this". This was, no doubt a friendly crowd, but that didn't stop the Congressman from reaching out to those who were not shy about showing who had their vote (there were a few Klobuchar lawn signs and stickers in the crowd). When you say that he is "running" for office, you can take that literally. Even though the parade itself moved very slowly at times, you could not keep up with Congressman Kennedy.

All in all, it was a fun experience and one that I hope to get again.

Oh and for those of you who are looking for pictures - they are coming. I am a 35mm girl. I know this is the digital era, but I am more comfortable with my good old trusty Pentax camera. As soon as I get the prints back from the developer (tomorrow probably) I will post pictures of the parade.

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

Senator Al Franken?

For those of you who are looking beyond 2006 to the 2008 races, this story is for you.

"Oh boy, it appears that the great comedic genius of our times, the Saturday Night Live veteran, the sophomoric muse of the left, Al Franken, the guiding power behind the faltering Air America, is testing the waters for a run for the US Senate after moving his unique radio show to Minneapolis from the Big Apple, where wags said, his unique brand of humor was losing some steam with the loss of WLIB-AM, the erstwhile flagship station. "

The article itself is a humous look at what has the potential to be THE Senatorial race of the 2008 campaign season.

"But will the folks in the North Star State buy into the off color one liners, the outright fiction, obscene jokes, threats to kill the President, that Donald Rumsfeld "ought to be tortured," and that Rush Limbaugh has been accused of "being a Nazi," which Air America and Mr. Franken's hand picked crew of disc jockeys, like the irrepressible Randi Rhodes and Rachel Maddow, have pumped into a reluctant troposphere, groaning under the weight of their worthless truck?

Can the farmers, small business people, common folk, people who still read books and possess critical thinking, patriots of all ages who still value America and her ideals, take a pass on Mr. Franken's all too visible foibles and forget this highly troubled past with the radio dial? "

Please go read the whole thing. This is what we have to look forward to in two short years!

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

The trouble with the Democratic Party in 1000 words or less

This is going to be tough but I think it can be done. I consider myself to be a JFK/Zell Miller Democrat. The problem is, there is no room for me in today's Democratic Party. The party of inclusion has suddenly become a party of hatred, of "purity tests" for candidates (witness what is being done to Senator Joe Lieberman), devoid of ideas and driven soley by a desire to punish the President.

You may think that I am exhaggerating, sadly I wish I was. Take (for example) this story out of the USA Today.

"Pelosi said, Democrats hatched a plan shortly after President Bush won re-election in 2004 to wage a campaign to bring down Republicans. They asked a group of marketers: "If you are No. 2 and want to be No. 1, what do you do?" Pelosi said the marketers told Democrats that they "could not overtake the leader by just saying you have a good product. You have to pull them down first." And to do that, Democrats had to keep the focus on Bush and the Republicans who control Congress." (emphasis added)

Or this out of the Washington Post:

"After years of struggling to define their own approach to post-Sept. 11 foreign policy, Democrats seem finally to have hit on one. It's called pandering. In those rare cases when George W. Bush shows genuine sensitivity to America's allies and propounds a broader, more enlightened view of the national interest, Democrats will make him pay. It's jingoism with a liberal face."

You have Democrats running on a platform of Impeachment (as the picture below shows)

You have candidates running on how quickly we should withdraw from Iraq, you have candidates running on how quickly they can undo the tax cuts that have kept the economy from tanking in the aftermath of 9/11 (Amy Klobuchar, Patty Wetterling and Coleen Rowley come to mind). You have Democrats running solely on the platform "Republicans=Evil". While that kind of rhetoric may play well with the base, it is not a good way to win over 51% of the American population. While they will tell you what they are "for" (universal health care, raising the minimum wage and pulling out of Iraq) they don't talk about how they intend to pay for the health care or vote for the wage increase when it hits the floor and the certainly don't talk about the things that impact every day American life (rising crime rates and porous borders).

And that in a nutshell is what is wrong with today's Democratic Party. The party of JKF and Harry Truman has become the party of Howard Dean and George Soros! They seem to only care about regaining and retaining "power"and not what is best for America in the long run. Is that what "we the people want"? Well we have 92 days in which to figure that out.

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

Is the Star Tribune a mouth piece for the DFL?

You be the judge....

"In his second and most recent TV ad, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy portrays himself as a Republican congressman who "crosses party lines," who opposed President Bush on one of his signature initiatives and who has co-sponsored bills with more than half of the Democrats in Congress. Each detail in the ad is accurate. But overall, the claims create a false impression of Kennedy's record. His voting record shows that during his years in Congress, Kennedy has seldom disagreed with Bush or voted against the Republican Party line. During 2001-2005, Kennedy has voted along with the majority of Republicans on about 95 percent of all partisan votes, according to the "party unity" measure, as tracked by Congressional Quarterly (CQ), a nonpartisan publication that focuses on Congress. The party unity figures for 2006 aren't available yet."

As I said here, Coleen Rowley accused Congressman John Kline (in a recent fundraising piece) of voting with the Republican majority 98% of the time. Other Democratic challengers have made the same accusations about the Republican incumbents. Mike DeWine (R-OH), Tom DeLay (R-TX), Rick Santorum (R-PA) are all being "attacked" but their Democratic challengers for voting along party lines.

I am waiting for the Star Tribune's to note that Amy Klobuchar's political "hero" Mark Dayton who has a voted with NARAL 100% of the time! He also voted with Planned Parenthood 100% of the time! He has voted with Americans for Tax Reform 10% of the time. He has voted with NAACP 100% of the time. He has voted with Concerned Women for America 25% of the time. According to Project Vote Smart, Senator Mark Dayton has voted with Democrats a high percentage of the time. Well, Star Tribune - when are we going to see this story? (KvM posts that Mark Dayton's Party Unity ranking at 96%)

What I find to be most disengenuous about this accusation is that most thinking adults EXPECT Republicans to vote with Republicans and Democrats to vote for Democrats! DUH!!! That is a GIVEN. But the brain trust at the Democratic National Committee are so blinded by their hatred of the President that they will continue to run against him, even when he is not running.

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

The difference.....

I have to start with this fun little story. Peter Hutchinson, Independence Party candidate for Governor has released his transportation policy. If elected, Hutchinson proposes to:

Fine Drivers who cause accidents via distracted driving over and above the current system.
Ban the use of cell phones while you are driving.
Levy a $.10 a gallon tax on gasoline (above the current $.27 per gallon that the state currently charges).
Earmark 1/4 of 1 percent of the current 6.5% sales tax for roads
Build toll roads
Build more light rail/commuter rail/bus lines.

OK - where to start.....I guess at the top...

1) Fine distracted drivers - What Mr. Hutchinson proposes is that if an officer sees a half eaten burger or a tube of mascara or some other "proof" on distraction, you would be deemed to have been at fault (whether you were at faul to or not) and fined more. He saids the reason is to "...pay for the inconvenience caused to thousands of other motorists backed up behind accident sites..." Now I will be the first to admit that being stuck in a gapers back-up is no fun at all. However, if you are going to do that, why not fine all of the gapers that are causing the back up in the FIRST PLACE!

2) Ban the use of Cell phones when driving. I know all of us have seen the cell phone driver - weaving between lanes with no turn signal, driving 10 miles an hour slower than the posted speed limit, watching the guy in front (or beside) you take their eyes off of the road to fumble with the phone, but really....what's next, banning smoking while driving? Wait - this is Minnesota - forget I said that!!!!!

3) Levy an additional $.10 a gallon tax on fuel. Oh boy was his timing off on this announcement! The price of gas in Minesota spikes up $.20 to $3.19 per gallon and he announces that he wants a new gas tax. People are screaming about the price of gas already - can you imagine how bad it will be after he raises the gas tax?

4) Earmark 1/4 of the current sales tax to roads. The reasoning for this this is because the MN Department of Transportation "doesn't have the money" to build the roads needed in the state. The problem with that is, this last budget was set up based on a very large deficit. However, the budget bienium that is coming up this year the state has a budget SURPLUS! That is going to make a huge difference in how the state plans to spend money.

5) Build more toll roads - I grew up in the Chicago area with toll roads everywhere. The claim here is that toll roads will raise money to spend on rebuilding roads. The problem with that thought is that the roads will still be in a constant state of disrepair while people debate whose roads are in more dire need of repair!

6) Build more light rail/commuter rail/ bus lines. I grew up along the Chicago Northwestern Commuter rail line. I love commuter rail! I wish we had commuter rail in Minneapolis. HOWEVER.....that commuter rail line was built long before the inner and outer ring suburbs were built up. It is too late now, for the state to buy land to build rail lines. Commuter rail now is cost prohibitive and we have all seen what a boondoggle Governor Ventura's light rail has been.

Mr. Hutchinson says that he is proposing this because "There is nothing that frustrates the people of Minnesota more." than gridlock. I will absolutely concur with Mr. Hutchinson's statement, however to be blunt, this state does not know the MEANING of gridlock. Imagine (if you will) 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic...crawling along at 5 miles an hour because the lanes are all stopping for a toll booth. Imagine (if you will) having to add another 4 hours to your 9 hour work day because it takes you 2 hours to get to and from work - on commuter rail! Imagine having to plan to drive 3 hours to get from Blaine to Eden Prairie (because of toll booth back ups)! That is what Chicago drivers face day in and day out...and that is WITH commuter rail and tool booths and much wider roads than we have here! Commuter rail is not the only answer, toll booths are not the answer, carpooling is part of the answer but it is not the only answer. The main portion of the answer is responsible government that does not overspend it's budget. Yes that means that there are some months when the budget is tight and we can't spend what we want to, but that is life as an adult. Something the DFL (and Peter Hutchinson) need to remember.

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

What's wrong with Voter ID?

Recently, elections were held in Mexico....elections that were tight, highly partisan and (in the end) held up, by the US media, as an example of how the US should handle a tight election. There were no hanging chads, no pregnant or dimpled chads, no "provisional votes" to dispute - just counted votes. Why is it then that the Democrats fight, tooth and nail, one of the Mexican provisions that guarantees a fair election? VOTER ID.....Mexican voters have to show ID before they can vote, Iraqi voters have to show ID, many European voters have to show id - and yet the Democratic Party fights voter ID. The latest example is out of Missouri...

"Democratic officials from St. Louis and Kansas City sued the state Monday, trying to block a new Republican-backed law requiring voters to show photo identification from taking effect for the November election."

If the DFL (and their national handlers in the DNC) were really serious about making sure that our voting process was above reproach, they would embrace Voter ID, instead of fighting it. What are they afraid of? Are they afraid that if they can't cheat they can't win?????

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

Back in the Saddle again

Well I survived a week and a half of 4H and County Fair activities and got caught up at home and at work. Now is the time to start getting caught up on my blogging. I have lots of news and views saved up that I will start getting to today, including some thoughts on Peter Hutchinson's newly released transportation plan. Stay tuned...I have lots of goodies on hand.

Just for boys...

I was doing some research about the IDF and their main battle tank (MBT) the Merkava Mk 4 . Well, one thing lead to another and I came across a video I had first seen four years ago. It shows a test for a LOSAT (line of site anti-tank). It is a HVKE (high velocity kinetic energy) weapon. No explosives in other words.
It's just neat to watch over and over.
The LOSAT video.

Cynthia is no Mel

On Saturday, my radical socialist friend (who agrees with at least four out of the ten points on the Communist Manifesto, so I ask if he's 40% communist...) mentioned that another icon (no pun intended on his part) seems to have fallen with Mel Gibson and the details of his arrest for DUI. But, the media has taught me to wait for a bit until I start to form an opinion. I told my friend that all we on the right are doing is playing catch-up to the felons from the left.
I read Mel Gibson's apology. The very first thing I noticed was there was no "If I offended..." in his statement. Always remember, "If I offended..." or "to anyone I may have offended" is automatically a non-apology apology. Mel Gibson steps up, blames no one but himself, takes full responsibility for his actions.
Now, contrast his apology with the apology of Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). One of the best non-apology apologies I've read since Bill Clinton apologized for not fully informing us on the meaning of "is".

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Saturday, August 05, 2006