Savage Republican

I was just finishing up the last post listening to Channel 9’s morning news when they cut to a shot of Democratic Candidate Amy Klobuchar. Now the guys at KvM have long (and well) covered the lopsided treatment that the local media has given our Senatorial candidates, but I thought I would chime in on this interview.

Tom Butler drew the interviewing duty. He started off welcoming her to the show. Amy talked about her “house” that they just opened there at the fair for people to come get info on the campaign and invited all the viewers to come visit her.

Tom Butler then asked – you and your opponent differ on issues, why should people vote for you?

A- Klo answered “Mark Kennedy has been in Washington for 6 years – we need a change. Gas prices are up, helath care costs are up. We should be helping the middle class and not the wealthy like Paris Hilton” (maybe A-Klo should read my last post and look at her own donor base before she goes down that road)

Tom Butler asked what is your favorite fair food and thing to do.

A-Klo answered favorite food is cheese curds – favorite thing is Princess Kay and the ladies league when ladies knit sweaters from wool shorn from sheep at the fair and then they lead the sheep around in the sweaters they knitted.

Whoa – such biting questions (she snarks). Honestly, most politicians get softballs like this in fair interviews. Mark Kennedy will be on later this week we’ll see if that truism holds for him as well. I hope that the KvM boys make sure to cover that. Oh and AAA – be nice to the media!

Well we certainly couldn’t see THIS story coming, could we?

“One of the first tests for Washington’s new gay civil rights law has an intriguing twist: The complaint was filed by a heterosexual woman. The state’s discrimination watchdogs are investigating the case, which claims unmarried straight people should get the same domestic partner benefits as their gay and lesbian co-workers.”

I won’t say that “I” told you so, but a lot of well known conservative pundits DID tell you that this was going to happen!

Then there is this newsflash:

“Forty-five percent of Americans believe the news media in this country are too liberal, while only 14% say the news media are too conservative. These perceptions of liberal inclination have not changed over the last three years. A majority of Americans who describe their political views as conservative perceive liberal leanings in the media, while only about a third of self-described liberals perceive conservative leanings. “

This article says it all (when it comes to the Democrats understanding of basic economics):

“One of the most poignant moments in the presidential debates prior to the 2004 election occurred when Sen. John Kerry was pontificating about how he would halt the outsourcing of American jobs overseas.After outlining his approach—which predominantly consisted of giving incentives to American businesses to refrain from such nefarious behavior—Kerry was stopped cold by moderator Charles Gibson. To his everlasting credit, Gibson asked how Kerry could reasonably expect this to be effective when any incentives that could be offered would still pale by comparison to the amount companies would save by paying so much less per worker abroad than American workers would have to receive. To this, Kerry could only sheepishly reply that he never said he’d be able to stop all outsourcing.This exchange largely served to puncture Kerry’s balloon on an issue the Democrats had pinned high hopes on in seeking to derail President Bush’s re-election.This anecdote is highly relevant to numerous issues today in which even an elementary knowledge of economics is all that would be required to discern the folly of very dubious (albeit politically popular) proposals.” (emphasis added)

Lastly is this. Remember the cannard about the Republican Party being the party of the “rich”?

“In this analysis, we examined only those Fortune 100 companies that operated nonprofit charitable foundations that made grants to groups we identified as on either the political right or left. That reduced the number to 53 corporate foundations. (See page 20.) We examined the most recent tax- return filings for these foundations (IRS Form 990) and compiled the dollar values for grants and matching gifts to left-wing groups and right-wing groups.The results are the exact opposite of the common perception. The Fortune 100 foundations gave more money to the political left. In fact, the grant-making was lopsided: The political left received nearly $59 million, while the political right received only about $4 million, a ratio of 14.5 to 1. ” (emphasis again added)

Hmmmmm……that certainly gives one pause for thought, doesn’t it?

I came across this cartoon from Townhall. Being forthright is NOT a long suit of the MSM:

Now, if we had media that would be honest and forthright about the swindle called Social Security, Medicare bankrupting all of America, the failure of the War on Poverty, how CAFE standards kill people (aka SUV’s save lives!), alternative fuel subsidies are a total waste, etc…

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for?”-Browning

I recently received a press release for a Congressional candidate from Seattle . This candidate happens to be a friend of mine which is why I got the press release. In the release is below:

Beren: McDermott weak on terrorism and avoiding debate
Steve Beren for Congress (WA – 7th C.D.) www.berenforcongress.com

Britain has successfully broken up a terrorist plot to blow up planes flying to the United States. The uncovering of this plot drives home the fact that we are a nation at war with Islamic fascism. But Jim McDermott and the Democratic Party are weak on national security, with a pre-9/11 mentality. They don’t have a clue how to fight terrorism. McDermott opposes the terrorist wiretapping program and the Patriot Act – precisely the tools we need to continue successfully disrupting the enemy’s plans.

I am sick and tired of hearing Jim McDermott say this is a so-called war, that this is a so-called threat, that this is so-called terrorism, that it’s all hype.

The war is real, the threat of terrorism is real, the effort of Islamic fascists to acquire nuclear weapons is real, the attempt to destroy Israel. National defense, homeland security, protection of our ports, and disruption of the terrorists must remain priorities.

McDermott says there is no way we can win the war, and he says we should completely withdraw from Iraq before election day. Such a defeatist approach is not only wrong – it is dangerous. McDermott is entitled to his opinion, but he also needs to be held accountable. He should defend his views in an open forum, and that’s why I’ve challenged him to a series of debates. So far, he has tried to avoid my challenge.

But Jim McDermott and I WILL debate! I won’t let him be a debate dodger. He can cut and run – but he can’t hide!

Steve Beren for Congress (WA – 7th CD)
www.berenforcongress.com
(206) 240-1841
* Lower taxes and limited government
* Protect our ports and borders
* Victory in the war against terrorism
This communication paid for and authorized by Beren for Congress

Now, reading this it struck me that there has indeed been little debate so I did some digging. In the Klobuchar/Bell/Kennedy race, only Ford Bell and Mark Kennedy debated. Ms. Klobuchar declined to attend all debates. In the 7th CD, incumbent Collin Peterson was a no show at a debate that included a primary challenger to Peterson, the Republican candidate AND the Constitution Party Candidate. In the 2nd CD, Coleen Rowley has finally accepted (after many local attempts) an invitation to debate incumbent John Kline. The debates that she finally accepted were RADIO debates and not live in front of constituent debates! The same scene is playing out in Minnesota’s 6th CD as well. All over Minnesota (and apparently all over the country if my friend’s campaign is any indication) Democratic candidates for office are engaging in the same tactic that they are advocating for our troops – avoid engaging the enemy at ALL COSTS. It’s the same old cut and run that they advocate for our troops.

I would be very interested in hearing of any similar situations out there.

I know you’ve all seen the photograph. Black and white. Taken in an instant on a place called Sulphur Island as the camera was swung around and the shutter clicked. Nothing amazing. The subjects were there because thievery was feared. And trophy hunting the norm. The real excitement had already happened and they were making sure there was no taking of souvenirs. The photographer was so unimpressed he nearly didn’t make the trip. As it was, he decided to take the climb. And clicked his shutter and in that unplanned instant took the most recognizable photograph of WWII. The second flag raising on Iwo Jima by five Marines and one Navy Corpsman.
Joe Rosenthal , the photographer of that immortal photograph, passed away on Saturday.
The first flag had gone up on the top of Mount Surabachi. All across the island and onboard ship Marines and sailors all shouted and whooped as the ships off the beach all blew their horns. This was the first flag raised on Japanese territory. And an astute officer sent a second group up to replace that flag as he knew some enterprising Marine was going to borrow it for a few decades to display in a modest setting somewhere back in the United States. The officer also wanted a larger flag to be more easily seen. So, the five Marines and the Navy Corpsman trudged up the mountain with the “replacement flag” as they called it. A flag that had been recovered from a ship sunk at Pearl Harbor. Joe Rosenthal had missed the first flag raising and didn’t see much worth in going on a long hike to perhaps photograph a non-event, but decided to go anyhow. And as those six men were preparing to raise a replacement flag, someone said “there it goes” and Joe Rosenthal ,in an instant , swung his camera in the general direction and made history for himself and six faceless men on an extinct volcano on an outpost of hell where three of those men would not live to get off the island.
The surviving three, who were taken out of combat, have now also passed away, the last being the Navy Corpsman, John “Doc” Bradley in 1994. I know as much about the second flag raising as I do because of a book written by Doc Bradley’s son called “Flags of Our Fathers” My brother bought the book for me after seeing both the original and replacement flag side by side in Washington, D.C. The book is worth the read.
But, not to end a downer note, there is one flag raiser still alive. His name is Chuck Lindberg. And he lives here in Minnesota. He is one of the original flag raisers.
Here is a picture of the original flag raising. Chuck Lindberg is just behind the man in the foreground with the M-1 carbine.

And here is a picture showing both flags in the same frame. The replacement has just been raised in the background.(all images from IwoJima.com )

And here is Joe Rosenthal’s uncropped picture:

And now, Mr. Rosenthal, like so many WWII veterans, has passed from living history to memory.

WOW – I didn’t think anyone would have the intestinal fortitude to print this headline.

” Multiculturalism is to blame for perverting young Muslims “

While the article itself does not say that, it does do an admirable job of putting to rest the myth that there is a “reason” for the hatred that the radicals have for “the West”.

“Islamic radicalism did not begin with Muslim grievances over Western foreign policy in Iraq or Afghanistan. It has deep roots, going back to the 13th-century reformer Ibn Taimiyya, through Wahhabism to modern ideologues such as Sayyid Qutb in Egypt or Maududi in Pakistan. “

The telling thing, that most people will miss, is this:

“Given the world view that has given rise to such grievances, there can never be sufficient appeasement, and new demands will continue to be made” (emphasis added)

That is the one thing that the left just will never get! No matter what we do it will never be enough for the Islamofascists. If you don’t believe me look at what happened to someone who had the audacity to question CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations).

“I went to the event because CAIR had advertised that it was open to the public, and regardless, it was held on a public sidewalk in front of a Federal building. I had every right to be there. It was clear that they had a message they wanted to express, and I hoped to get them to speak beyond their scripted press release comments…to get some straight answers about how they really feel about the violence and terrorism committed by Hezbollah that provoked the Israeli response.

I wasn’t there more than a couple of minutes when I began to interview a gentleman wearing a kafiyyeh that concealed everything but his eyes. I was asking him about his support for Hezbollah when Dr. Al-Akhras approached us and began telling everyone in the vicinity not to speak to me. I then asked him what his message and I kept rolling as he explained how they were there opposing terror. He was clearly agitated. It was when several of them were telling me about Israel bombing innocent civilians, and I responded by asking them about Hezbollah missiles being fired into Israel killing innocent civilians that Al-Akhras lunged at me and grabbed ahold of my camera as I was filming.

At 5’3” and 100 pounds, “ciaospirit” is not a physically intimidating figure. Yet she says Dr. Al-Akhras assaulted her a second time as she was filming him as he addressed the rally – again, all captured on a video she made available on her blog.”

One thing that Americans need to be made aware of is this:

“Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law.”

Read that again and let it sink in….30% of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia law than live in a free democratic society! But wait there is more:

“Forty-five percent say 9/11 was a conspiracy by the American and Israeli governments. (they must be the ones that watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann – ed) This figure is more than twice as high as those who say it was not a conspiracy. Tragically, almost one in four British Muslims believe that last year’s 7/7 attacks on London were justified because of British support for the U.S.-led war on terror.

When asked, “Is Britain my country or their country?” only one in four say it is. Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law. According to the report, “Half of those who express a preference for living under Sharia law say that, given the choice, they would move to a country governed by those laws.”

Twenty-eight percent hope for the U.K. one day to become a fundamentalist Islamic state. This comports with last year’s Daily Telegraph newspaper survey that found one-third of British Muslims believe that Western society is decadent and immoral and that Muslims should seek to end it. ” (emphasis added)

Cross posted at Ladies Logic

My fellow blogger Lady Logician took me gently to task regarding my blog about the upcoming election and Republicans behaving badly…very badly. As a matter of fact, behaving like, well, Democrats.
Well, in rebuttal, I offer in evidence, the latest TV ad for Mark Kennedy (the man who would be the other REPUBLICAN senator from Minnesota). I saw it for the first time last night:
1. The first thing I saw in the ad that caught my attention was the label “BIG OIL” on a panel with rapidly increasing prices. My first thought on seeing “BIG OIL” was “oh, oh”.
2. Then another panel with the label “BIG OIL PROFITS $” with the comment that BIG OIL PROFITS $ are at an all time high…”OH,OH!”
3. Mark Kennedy’s plan? Suspend, not eliminate, suspend gas taxes. OK. But then-
4. Take away tax breaks for oil companies.
5.Put more money into alternative fuels like ethanol, hybrids and hydrogen.
And it was his plan. And he stated quite clearly he approved it!

Wow, Mark. Have you gotten a thank you note from Amy Klobuchar for running and paying for her Big Oil ad ?
Point by point:
1. The first thing I saw in the ad last night was the label “BIG OIL” on a panel with rapidly increasing prices. My first thought on seeing “BIG OIL” was “oh, oh”.- BIG OIL- give away right there. Left wing and Klobuchar talking point. Not private oil companies working to find more oil supplies. Nope. BIG OIL!
2. Then another panel with the label “BIG OIL PROFITS $” with the comment that BIG OIL PROFITS $ are at an all time high…”OH,OH!” Again, a great Klobuchar and lefty phrase. Not oil profits legitimately earned by a private company, but BIG OIL PROFITS.
3. Mark Kennedy’s plan? Suspend, not eliminate, suspend gas taxes. OK. But then- Suspend huh? That means that they’ll be back. That the government makes 600% more on a gallon of gas than the company that produces and sells it never enters into Marks Plan. No apology for BIG GOVERNMENT TAX GOUGING! And adding as much as a half dollar to the pump price. Not a peep or even a reference. Yup, another talking point from the Klobuchar campaign. And why not suspend, say, 50%, as a start, of all the onerous regulations that swallow up incentive, profits?
4. Take away tax breaks for oil companies. – In other words, raise taxes on oil companies. Tax profits. Tax them even more. Eliminate the incentive to find more oil. Not a word about eliminating draconian regulations that keep us from building more refineries, drilling in ANWR and the coastal regions. Nope. Don’t eliminate any of those. Just take more money from a private company- at their and their shareholders and add to our expense. Exactly what the left has been calling for and saying for years. Supported by the Klobuchar campaign.
5.Put more money into alternative fuels like ethanol, hybrids and hydrogen.-never mind that there is NO evidence that any of these work. Not in 30 years with ethanol. Disregarding that hybrids don’t work and consume more total energy. As a matter of fact, all the evidence of the effectiveness of alternative fuels shows that they are not effective or efficient. Another great Klobuchar election point.

Yup. A Republican acting and talking exactly like a DFL candidate.
So, what exactly are we supposed to do now?

P.S. Noticed a lot of “BIG OIL” in Mark’s ad. But never saw or heard the term “BIG GOVERNMENT”. And neither does Klobuchar’s site.

I don’t normally delve into the depths of the fever swamp, but a friend sent me this and I just had to look. Now the diarist in question is of interest to me and it was interesting to see his side of the story but what was really amusing were the comments of the Kidz.

“You’re already news, since he’s personally attacked you twice. Also talk to a lawyer. If he sent a mass mailing to the whole district attacking you personally, that’s libel and slander and you have grounds for a lawsuit. So talk to a lawyer and to the local paper.”

Said one commenter. Another chimed in with this:

“and call a press conference to announce you’re suing the bastard. You’re NOT a public person, and this is damaging in so many ways it’s not funny. Call the ACLU too, while you’re at it. And the FEC, to find out what money (and whose time) was used to create that flyer. He might be in violation of some FEC regs. But I’d definitely call a lawyer right now. John Edwards might not be too busy… ;-)”

There was lots of advise to “sue the b*stard” and that led a self professed lawyer to chime in with this.

“I would advise Bailey not to bother any attorneys with this garbage, and to quit “helping” congressional candidates. “

That led to an accusation of the poster being a troll. Her response is classic!

“I am attempting to point out that the people here talking about defamation claims don’t know what they are talking about. What Kline says is a slight exaggeration at best — it is essentially true. And its not actionable. If this guy sued,he would end up paying John Kline money. Although the diarist is not a public figure, he is working for a public figure and the allegations relate to his work on Rowley’s behalf. This is political speech, and as such, the most first amendment protection is afforded to it, making it is very difficult to prove up a defamation claim.
If a staffer for a Republican congressional candidate had his own political website with controvertial positions, people on DailyKos would be all over it. The diarist screwed up bigtime, and writing a diary about it is even more of a disservice to Rowley. If he really wanted to help her out, he would delete this diary and shut up” (emphasis added)

Common sense out of a Kos commenter. Whoa – whodathunkit….but wait – there is even more common sense out of the poster in question.

“What frustrates me is the reaction to this. Republicans are dirty cheaters? Tell me something I don’t know. Four years ago, Minnesota Republicans spun Paul Wellstone’s funeral into electoral victory. They are going to keep doing it, especially if we keep making it easy for them.
Instead of talking about suing them or exposing Kline for this we should work on not giving the Republicans easy material to work with. Maybe some self-reflection instead of cheerleading. Despite all the bitching here, if you read the linked article about this with any objectivity, its Rowley who looks bad. Time to stop pretending everything is ok when its not.
Rowley needs to:
1) issue a statement explaining that this guy was not with the campaign when he went to Kline’s office, and that the content on the website was not authorized by the campaign.
2) Sh__can him. “(not a direct quote – Kos may allow that kind of language on his site, but I don’t!)

What was the reaction of the Kidz to such advice….when they couldn’t “shout” the poster down, they ignored her. Keep on ignoring the views that don’t agree with you Kidz and you will continue to loose elections! It’s your choice… It makes no difference to me whether you pay attention to the common sense advise of a lawyer who knows better or not. Go ahead, distract yourself with a frivolous lawsuit and while you are off doing that, the Kline campaign will continue to do the work that needs to be done in order to win the election.

My friend Amendment X asked (rather rhetorically) how the NEA would respond to a headline in the Red Star that laments about how Americans know little about the US. I think I know the reason why our children aren’t learning about silly little things like “how many houses of Congress does the US have?” and “how many Congressmen from your state?” It is because the NEA are teaching “more important things” like acceptance of gays as “normal” and promoting atheism and Islam over the religion of the parents choosing. I have told (many times) the story of a “Diversity Day” program that was held at the Junior Logicians school 6 years ago. Speakers to the kiddies included an Islamic Imam and a Native American Holy man. No Christian pastor, no Jewish holy man…..just Native American and Islam. When the Logical Husband inquired as to why the school was promoting a religion – a clear violation of the “separation of church and state” the Imam was “uninvited”! Apparently they didn’t think that Native American religion counted as a religion – I don’t know…..

Phyllis Schlafly (a wonderfully logical lady) writes about the NEA agenda in a recent Townhall article.

“The NEA is determined to get control of children at the earliest possible age. One resolution calls for public school programs for children “from birth through age 8,” another calls for pre-kindergarten for “all 3- and 4-year-old children,” and still another demands “mandatory kindergarten with compulsory attendance.”
The anti-parent animus of the NEA is apparent in its insistence that the public schools be in the driver’s seat about the teaching of sex. Claiming that every child has the right to “freely available information and knowledge about sexuality,” the NEA demands the right to teach children about diversity of sexual orientation and gender identification, incest, and homophobia. “

That is the thing that frightens me the most. These people, who are with my child 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for 9 months want to tell me that they know my child better than I do???? I have already had more than a few discussions with teachers who have no interest in trying to figure out the Junior Logicians learning style, but want to brand him as uncooperative or unable to perform. We had a teacher this last year who took a kid who was in honors math (and who loved math) and in one year had him in remedial math and hating the subject. The teacher was astonished when we had the audacity to ask HIM what he did to change the equation.

Don’t get me wrong, we have had good teachers – teachers who looked to us as partners in the Junior Logicians education. That is as it should be. The NEA needs to remember that. They also need to remember that the TAXPAYERS are the ones who pay the teachers salaries and that it is not a good thing to “dis” the boss.

I have followed this story, like most folks, in the pages of the Star Tribune and the blog Minnesota Democrats Exposed. MDE first broke the story last week.

“Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., accused Democratic challenger Coleen Rowley Wednesday of using a “double-agent” to attempt to make an illegal campaign contribution and infiltrate his reelection campaign.”

Much has been said about the actions of both campaigns in this incident. The Congressman’s detractors complain about the timing of the allegations. The illegal campaign contribution was apparently made back in February – why did the Kline camp not make their complaint until August? According to a letter sent out by the campaign, they were going to let it slide but when Ms. Rowley’s supporters turned nasty (in letters to the editor and calls to local talk radio) they changed their minds. I suppose that could be the case, but…

I would like to focus on two things. First is this – the volunteer in question, David Bailey, said that his actions were purely innocent. I highly doubt that. The fact that any citizen that is interested in signing up for campaign literature can do so online. Any citizen that wants to get on the campaign mailing lists can do so online. In either case – NO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION IS NECESSARY! I am on several campaign mailing lists and I have yet to contribute to any of them. Then there is the fact that he went to the Congressman’s local office first (as opposed to the campaign office). There are strict federal laws against campaign business being done in an elected officials office – and for good reason! Since Mr. Bailey’s blatent attempt to trap an unwitting staffer into commiting a federal crime, the Rowley campaign has promoted him to a paid staff position. Something certainly seems fishy here.

Second is this:

“Our campaign has never sent anyone in there to do anything like that,” said Rowley campaign manager Terry Rogers. “

I don’t doubt this for a second. I imagine that Mr. Rogers is savvy enough to know that these kinds of actions are suicide for a campaign. However, the culture that has flourished within the Rowley campaign has been less than honorable. As I have recounted in other posts Ms. Rowley and her campaign has made it a campaign staple to distort and tell outright lies about Congressman Kline. Their clumsy attempts at distortion are easily disproven by tools such as Project Vote Smart – something that the campaign really should be looking at from time to time. Then there is the infamous “photo-shopping” incident, something that (again) is blamed on an uncontrolable volunteer. Obviously the volunteers believe that these actions are condoned, maybe even encouraged, by the campaign otherwise they would not do it.

For someone who has made the phrase “ethical decision making” a staple of her campaign, the Rowley campaign has been rife with less than ethical decisions. That is the thing that saddens me most. I love a good, well fought campaign and the Rowley camp has run neither. It seems to be the norm, right now, for Democratic candidates…