Sunday, January 11, 2015

While reading the comments on a NYT's article on the reaction of the shooting at Charlie Hebdo (French Premier Declares ‘War’ on Radical Islam as Paris Girds for Rally) I came across the following:
Is this attack anything new? We have had attacks throughout the world and spent 100's of billions on counter terrorism. What more could we possibly do and still not be a total surveillance state (which we are close to already) ? This applies to France and other European nations also. It's not like it is something new that hasn't been dealt with before.
The sad thing is this fool actually thinks there is nothing much more we could do. We obviously can do a lot more.
What more could we do? A lot. How about doing what we can to not buy oil from the middle east - that means drilling here as well as promoting renewables. We can also secure our borders and pay closer attention to who is entering our country. We can also deport imams (and their supporters) who reject the principles espoused in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (like say - the First Amendment). There's lots we can do. But you're too afraid to stand up for yourself.
Let's see if my comments get published.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy

More racism and divisiveness from the Democrats and the Left. Why is it that the NAACP doesn't cheer Tim Scott and Allen West? Because they are not progressives. Truly the NAACP would be better named the NAASCP ( National Association for the Advancement of Socialist Colored People) for they care more about the Church of Big Government than they do about individual rights.
A prominent NAACP official recognized Martin Luther King Day by labeling black senator Tim Scott a puppet for the Republican party. “A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” said Reverend William Barber II, the president of North Carolina’s NAACP chapter.
Who is Tim Scott's puppet master? Maybe the person who appointed him? Let's see who that is - oh yeah. Nikki Haley. I guess now children of South Asian immigrants are the puppet masters of the Republican Party. /sarc

You know. It won't be long before this deck of cards collapse upon itself. (Which is why the left is so adamant about stopping the Tim Scotts, Allen Wests and Mia Loves of the world.) We're not there yet but as more and more Black and Latino and Asian Republicans are elected the argument will sound more and more hollow until .... whooosh ... there it goes. While winning elections is far far better - even nominating black and latino candidates is important. It exposes the lie.

Let's see where we're at now:

Governors
Nikki Haley (SC)
Bobby Jindal (LA)
Susana Martinez (NM)
Brian Sandoval (NV)

Senators
Marco Rubio (FL)
Ted Cruz (TX)

Congressmen
Mario Diaz-Balart (Fl)
Devin Nunes (CA)
Bill Flores (TX)
Jaime Herrera (WA)
Raúl Labrador (ID)
Doug LaMalfa (CA)
Ron DeSantis (FA)

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Pantene Madworld Ad - Double Standards

What a great, great ad. Love it.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Mia Love Rises

I was so disappointed that Mia Love lost in 2012. But now, with Matheson retiring it looks as if Mia's second attempt has a good chance of succeeding. Just checked out the Huff Po's 2012 comments on her loss. How sad and pathetic and doctrinaire these people are:

Republicans didn't want to vote for her because she was black and a woman and democrats wouldn't vote for her because she was republican. She was screwed from the beginning. I'm surprised she had such high hopes for herself. Bye Bye Love!
27 NOV 2012 1:12 AM
...
Though I admit it's a shame she, as a minority, associates with such a xenophobic movement.
22 NOV 2012 9:55 AM
and my favorite ignorant progressive statement:
I will never understand black tea partyers ,,,,,they will always be a N with the white teaers
21 NOV 2012 8:51 PM
here's another good one:
She is not a tea partier. They supported her over the other guy because he was a dem. It doesn't mean that she has an american flag jumpsuit & hangs out with palin
22 NOV 2012 8:36 AM

Monday, December 16, 2013

Media trying to spin 2012 as a Significant Victory for Democrats

From the NYT:
Mr. Dold is seeking a political resurrection in next November’s election, after just one term on Capitol Hill. After riding the Tea Party wave to Washington in 2010, he was swept out of office by the Obama tsunami in Illinois in 2012.

G.O.P. Firebrands Tone Down Their Message and Run Again
It was very hard continuing to read the article after this line as the author lost all credibility with me - but part of his article is valid. It looks as if some Tea Party republicans are stressing "moderate" positions and affiliations versus simply a "throw the bums out" position. This is mocked as somewhat hypocritical and transparent.We all know that Democrats never moderate their positions to appeal to the middle and to "mask" their true intentions so it's quite legitimate to mock Republicans for doing something along this line.< /sarc >

Going back to the 2012 election - let's compare the "Obama tsunami" with the "Tea Party wave" of 2010. The 2012 elections were not a wave election - it was much more a status quo election. This is not to say that I was happy with the results. I wasn't. I was horrified with the results and disappointed that several favorites were defeated (primarily Allen West and Mia Love). Nonetheless, by my reckoning this was a draw with a slight edge, if any, going to Democrats.

There are several groups of races to evaluate. The Presidency, the US Senate, the US House of Representatives, Governorships and control of State Legislatures. There are other state races to look at as well but the above 5 groups are the easiest to research and provide enough data points to declare trends.

Obama was re-elected. The status quo remains.

US Senate: Went from 59-41 in 2008 to 53-47 in 2010 to 55-45.

US House of Representatives: Went from 257-179 in 2008 Democrat to 193-242 Republican in 2010 and 201-234 in 2012.

Governorships: Went from 29-21 Democrat in 2008 to 20-29-1 in 2010 to 21-29 in 2012.

State Legislatures: Went from 27-14 Democrat in 2008 to 15-27 in 2010 and 17-28 in 2012. (The remainder were split control.)

We see that the evil Republicans and the ultra-evil Tea Party made huge gains in 2010 over 2008 and then gave back some of those gains in 2012. All in all the status quo remained - meaning that the Republicans are starting to solidify their 2010 gains.

Two elections are not a trend. We can see by the following chart that things can change quickly. In 2006 people starting souring on the Republicans. Not only for Iraq but for the out-of-control spending in Washington. Democrats credit their gains to the country's rejection of Republican / anti-progressive rule. I agree with the assumption that the country rejected Republican politics but I disagree on the point that the nation is more amenable the progressive ideal.

It ought to be remembered that Blue-Dog Democrats ran to the right of the Republicans in 2006 and 2008 on tax and spend issues as well as social issues and most of the Democratic gains were these so-called Blue-Dog Democrats. Those gains were wiped out in 2010 with the passing of Obamacare, and I don't see these seats reverting to the Democrats anytime soon. The previous statement assumes that Republicans will do as they promise about limiting the scope of government. If they don't then there will be a lot of turn-over. Take a look at the following chart - without the Blue Dogs the Democrats are peaking below 217 in the House of Representatives. It will take a few more election cycles before we can know if this holds up.

Year Dem Rep Other
101st (1989–1991) 262 173 0
102nd (1991–1993) 267 167 1
103rd (1993–1995) 258 176 1
104th (1995–1997) 206 228 0
105th (1997–1999) 207 226 2
106th (1999–2001) 211 223 1
107th (2001–2003) 213 220 2
108th (2003–2005) 205 229 1
109th (2005–2007) 201 233 2
110th (2007–2009) 232 203 0
111th (2009–2011) 257 178 0
112th (2011–2013) 193 242 0
113th (2013–2015) 201 234 0


The Democrats for generations held a sizable advantage in the House of Representatives, rarely having less than 240 members. Republican control is a recent change. The Democrats crow about their success in the 2012 election, gaining 8 seats. And yet their total of 201 is less than they had after the 1994 elections and their lowest since 1948 (and before that the 1920s). The fact that the Republicans managed to hold on to so much of their gains in the 2012 Presidential elections shows that the Democrats may become the minority party as they are tied more and more to the narrow wing of the progressive base and the Republicans become the "Wide-Tent" with a variety of loosely held together coalitions.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Nice to see Jon Stewart taking things seriously

Still, I would like him (and others) to take Benghazi more seriously. I find the most egregious thing about Benghazi was blaming the video for the violence. At the time I was infuriated. I felt this was a "teachable" moment. I felt that we should have defended the First Amendment (the right of free speech) and not only should have defended it but we should have promoted it to the Arab world. Yes, I realize it would have fallen on deaf ears as, to many people, blasphemy always supersedes free speech.

Now we find out that the movie had nothing to do with it. The administration through the First Amendment under the bus for what?

Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Book of Islam

[Hat Tip: Legal Insurrection] Thank you Bill.