Thursday, June 26, 2008

A healthy attitude...

Chris Cannon's attitude is the type of thing I wish we had more of in DC.

Quite frankly, his defeat is a bad sign. He had a 96% ACU rating in 2007 - which is not exactly a failing grade - or at least it didn't use to be a failing grade. I guess now, the commissar wing of conservatism will go after you year after year until they get you.

They don't want principle. They want blind obedience.

That is not what conservatism is about.... or at least not what I thought conservatism was about.

I'm not leaving conservatism.... conservatism's leaving me.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Off the table...

Well, the Supreme Court has now decided that it, and not state legislatures, was fit to decide if a child rapist should get the death penalty.

Was the Louisiana law too broad? Arguably. But it had been rarely used in any case - they had no real grounds to determine whether or not that penalty was being misused.

The real losers, though, are voters. The Supreme Court has made its decision, for good or for ill, and it is very unlikely to be changed. If it is the wrong call, we the people have no viable recourse to change this or to hold those who have made that change accountable in any way, shape or form.

It makes you wonder just how much your vote matters, doesn't it?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A principled candidate loses...

It looks like Chris Cannon has been primaried out by the Tancredobots.

It's not a good thing, and not just because the commissar wing will be celebrating. The fact of the matter is that a principled Congressman has been booted out (albeit it took multiple attempts) because he just would not kowtow to people like Tom Tancredo and Michelle Malkin.

It looks like I will be going independent after this November.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A Fourth War in Europe?

America has fought three wars in Europe in the 20th Century - World Wars I and II, and the Cold War.

However, this article from The New Republic could explain the genesis of America's Fourth European War.

Key paragraph:
Is it likely that prosecutions will be brought overseas? Yes. It is reasonably likely. Sands's book contains an interview with an investigating magistrate in a European nation, which he describes as a NATO nation with a solidly pro-American orientation which supported U.S. engagement in Iraq with its own soldiers. The magistrate makes clear that he is already assembling a case, and is focused on American policymakers. I read these remarks and they seemed very familiar to me. In the past two years, I have spoken with two investigating magistrates in two different European nations, both pro-Iraq war NATO allies. Both were assembling war crimes charges against a small group of Bush administration officials. "You can rest assured that no charges will be brought before January 20, 2009," one told me. And after that? "It depends. We don't expect extradition. But if one of the targets lands on our territory or on the territory of one of our cooperating jurisdictions, then we'll be prepared to act."
I cannot imagine the United States sitting still in such an event, even in an Obama administration. Obama would be pushed into doing something, if for no other reason than his inaction would be seen as political retribution - and of a decidedly more cowardly form than actually doing the trials himself.

It would mean the destruction of the NATO alliance. I don't think Europe really wants to go there.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Another ally insulted...

It seems Mark Krikorian likes to make a big deal out of small things, and to take the most unreasonable position possible.

In this case, he's throwing a tantrum about DHS arranging visa-free entry for people from Bulgaria. Now, Bulgaria is a member of NATO - in other words, by any reasonable definition, it is an ally.

He acknowledges that, and then proceeds to minimize it.

I guess he thinks it is okay for Bulgarians to die alongside Americans in the global war on terror, but such willingness should not be taken into consideration when it comes to how we treat them should they want to visit the United States.

Krikorian lacks class.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Signs of a witch-hunt continue...

Today's Wall Street Journal has an editorial that should frighten any American who is concerned about the direction this country is headed.

Should Obama be elected, it is becoming increasingly likely that in order to sell retreat in the global war on terror, he will proceed to turn those who carried out a reasonably successful policy into criminals. He has to. There will be no other way to sell a return to the failed policy of treating terrorists like your garden-variety thugs.

Monday, June 16, 2008

He won't come out and say it...

...but Barack Obama seems to be admitting that perhaps things are not as rosy in his Presidential campaign.

Why? He's trying to sell people on winning the Presidency without Ohio and Florida.

That's a total of 47 electoral votes.

If Obama's having to go to a Plan B in two of the critical swing states of the last two Presidential elections, then he's got a problem.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Quick quiz...

OK, if you are the head of the Department of Homeland Security, what should be your first priority?

A. Tracking down and catching terrorists
B. Checking the paperwork of American businesses

We know where hard-liner Mark Krikorian answers that question when he goes after former POW and current Congressman Sam Johnson.

Now, why ignore the threat of terrorists and gangs like MS-13 to chase after people working the 40-hour-week just to send it on down the line?

Why would he send comparatively scare resoruces to chase businesses instead of deporting folks who had committed violent crimes?

Inquiring minds would like to know...

EDIT: And with this lack of common sense on Krikorian's part, is it any wonder that Lindsey Graham wins his primary by a 2-to-1 margin?

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Graham wins by a landslide...

The commissar wing's attack fails again. Lindsey Graham, a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, beat zampolit wing favorite Buddy Witherspoon by a 2-to-1 margin.

In other words, a silent supermajority of the GOP in a conservative stronghold was okay with a candidate who stood for comprehensive immigration reform.

It seems that the conservative alternate media (talk radio, National Review, etc.) is once again out of step with the GOP.

Monday, June 09, 2008

The coming witch-hunt...

It seems that now, we have Obama promising a witch-hunt.

As I said back in April, the man is a pyromaniac.

Unless, of course, it is just empty rhetoric.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

A solid double...

John McCain's speech last night was a solid double. Reading the transcript, McCain's strategy is very simple: Draw contrasts - and see if Obama starts squealing like a stuck pig.

I have my disagreements with John McCain, but I have no doubt he truly wants what is best for this country. Ultimately, that will be why he gets my vote.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Why Obama can't unify America...

Barack Obama has been painted as someone who can unify the country. However, reading a report from Eve Fairbanks on The Stump, one must have doubts about his ability to do so. Adding his latest priest problem, one can arguably wonder if it's just lip service.

Now, I know I complained about the Huckabee campaign's exploitation of anti-Mormon bias. But comparing Obama's church to Romney's church is like comparing apples and carrots.

You see, as Lowell Brown at Article 6 Blog points out, comments like those of Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright just don't happen over Mormon pulpits. And this is despite the fact that unlike African-Americans, Mormons were the subject of an extermination order. In my years of attending church, I only recall hearing my church leaders make one statement on an issue of the day - and that was to oppose the establishment of a state lottery in Virginia. Not even gay marriage drew that sort of comment - at least as far as I can recall.

And this is why Obama will not be able to unify. Because, fundamentally, to unify the country, he has to believe it's worth his effort. And to have sat in a church where "God damn America" was preached for twenty years, to have surrounded himself with people who believe that "America is the greatest sin against God" speaks volumes about how he views this country. It is fundamentally divisive.

Obama will only give us a more divided America. He may not have meant to, but his poor judgment of the character of those he chose to surround himself with twenty years ago will have that consequence.