Saturday, December 12, 2009

Err, Uhh, Umm...You! You! You've Gotta Run!

Apparently, the Democrats were pressured into finding someone by pro-Obama activists to take on Jeff McWaters in the 8th District special election. The choice is Bill Fleming, a business owner.

Fleming stated "This is last minute on a shoe string, but there are volunteers here who feel there should be a choice".

Ya think? The election is Jan. 12th. This will hurt the chances for Dave Marsden in the 37th District against Steve Hunt to replace AG-elect Ken Cuccinelli, as that race seems to be a toss-up at this point. Instead of putting their eggs in a potential gain in the State Senate, they're going to have to divert resources, funding, and manpower into a no-win situation.

(h/t Bearing Drift)

More Bad News for the Gagne Family

First, an Altzheimer's-stricken Verne Gagne kills a fellow nursing home resident (he threw the man down and placed him in a boston crab...obviously an episode of his Altzheimer's), now his granddaughter Gail is accused of having a sexual relationship with a student at the high school where she was a teacher.

Old-school wrestling fans know the Gagne family. Verne Gagne was an olympic wrestler who co-founded and ran the American Wrestling Association (AWA) until it folded in 1991 (AWA Championship Wrestling episodes used to run on ESPN in the 80's, reruns are shown often on ESPN Classic). The AWA was one of the big 3 promotions during the 80's (along with the WWF and the NWA/WCW). Verne's son Greg was also a professional wrestler as well as a road agent for WCW and the WWE. Gail Gagne, who is the accused teacher, is Greg's daughter.

However, the young man whom Gail Gagne was having a relationship with was 16. Now, it is inappropriate for a teacher and a student to have a sexual relationship...but at the same time, I can't help but contemplate "was he really a 'victim', as they claim he is"? If a young, attractive teacher came on to me when I was 16, it would've been definitely inappropriate, but I wouldn't have considered myself a "victim".

I don't know. Knowing that I knew as much as I did when I was 16, I find it very hard to believe that this young man is a "victim".

Tea Partiers and Christian/Social Conservatives...Not the Same Thing

I love how some on the left automatically consider them the same thing.

Tea Partiers are more economically/fiscally conservative types. The Tea Party movement has really nothing to do with social conservatism. At it's core, it's really more of a semi-libertarian sentiment in the sense that social issues are not part of the issue (as they shouldn't be). It is a call for a reduction in government intervention in our pockets and in our lives.

Social and Christian conservatives have more of a social issue agenda. They are against gay marriage, abortion, sex education beyond abstinence, etc..., which require government intervention in many ways. While many do agree with the Tea Party movement's goals of limited government, they do favor some government intervention that many others in the Tea Party movement may not.

You can't lump them in as being the same. Social conservatives had a hero in George Bush, who was no patron saint of small-government conservatives. The Tea Party movement, in and of itself, has nothing to do with social issues. It is a "reduce government" movement.

Where the two overlap (in a Venn Diagram sense) is to put an end to rampant government spending, kowtowing to other nations for no reason other than "image", increases in regulation, and enviro-socialist policies. However, many in the Tea Party movement are not social or christian conservatives. They are people who simply believe that government has gone out of control with power and spending.

You Know, I Have an Idea for the Gitmo Detainees...

I think I know what to do with the many terrorists and suspected terrorists we have detained at Guantanamo Bay, since we have to do something with them. It may not be such a bad idea to put them in our prisons.

Before you spit coffee on your screen and attempt to virtually hurl your mug at me, allow me to explain.

See, some of the most anti-terrorist people are biker gang members. We have a decent population of them in our prisons. I say we should place these terrorists in a wing of the prisons with the bikers, and see if they "get along". In fact, shortly after they get placed there, maybe we should have the guards go on a lunch break so the bikers and terrorists can "get to know each other". I think the bikers would definitely enjoy having some "quality time" with the terrorists, don't you?

I'm so evil sometimes ;)

Friday, December 11, 2009

Green: The New Red

Socialism changed it's colors from red to green, as in Environmentalism has become the new socialism. Charles Krauthammer, as only he can do, puts it into perfect perspective.

"One of the major goals of the Copenhagen climate summit is another NIEO shakedown: the transfer of hundreds of billions from the industrial West to the Third World to save the planet by, for example, planting green industries in the tristes tropiques.

Politically it’s an idea of genius, engaging at once every left-wing erogenous zone: rich man’s guilt, post-colonial guilt, environmental guilt."

Isn't that the truth. Krauthammer addresses the EPA's newest proclaimations of regulation jurisdiction (which I blogged about previously). To that, he says...

This naked assertion of vast executive power in the name of the environment is the perfect fulfillment of the prediction of Czech president (and economist) Vaclav Klaus that environmentalism is becoming the new socialism, i.e., the totemic ideal in the name of which government seizes the commanding heights of the economy and society.

Socialism having failed so spectacularly, the Left was adrift until it struck upon a brilliant gambit: metamorphosis from red to green. The cultural elites went straight from the memorial service for socialism to the altar of the environment. The objective is the same: highly centralized power given to the best and the brightest, the new class of experts, managers, and technocrats. This time, however, the alleged justification is not abolishing oppression and inequality, but saving the planet.

As on-point as it gets. Krauthammer continues...

Not everyone is pleased with the coming New Carbon-Free International Order. When the Obama administration signaled (in a gesture to Copenhagen) a U.S. commitment to major cuts in carbon emissions, Democratic senator Jim Webb wrote the president protesting that he lacks the authority to do so unilaterally. That requires congressional concurrence by legislation or treaty.

I don't normally agree with Jim Webb, but he is right here.

With the Senate blocking President Obama’s cap-and-trade carbon legislation, the EPA coup d’etat served as the administration’s loud response to Webb: The hell we can’t. With this EPA “endangerment” finding, we can do as we wish with carbon. Either the Senate passes cap-and-trade, or the EPA will impose even more draconian measures: all cap, no trade.

Forget for a moment the economic effects of severe carbon chastity. There’s the matter of constitutional decency. If you want to revolutionize society — as will drastic carbon regulation and taxation in an energy economy that is 85 percent carbon-based — you do it through Congress reflecting popular will. Not by administrative fiat of EPA bureaucrats.

Krauthammer has a suggestion for Congress to fix this mess from becoming too great to handle...

Congress should not just resist this executive overreaching, but trump it: Amend existing clean-air laws and restore their original intent by excluding CO2 from EPA control and reserving that power for Congress and future legislation.

Can't argue with logic, law, and common sense.

(h/t The Mason Conservative)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Controversial? Kelly is new Notre Dame Football Coach

Apparently, it's official now. Brian Kelly, currently head coach at the University of Cincinnati, is going to be the next head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

I mention this because there had been controversy within the higher-ups at Notre Dame over the fact that Kelly is apparently pro-choice, which is naturally a big deal considering this is the largest Catholic university in the country.

Personally, I don't see where a person's abortion beliefs determine how good of a football coach they are going to be, but I understand where the university might have had a place to take issue, since the Catholic church is so against abortion.

Congrats to Coach Kelly, he did a masterful job turning Cincinnati into a top-5 football team, let's see if he can return the Fighting Irish to glory, as well.

Count Me In...

To think, I was never a big fan of ol' Dubya, but I'd be one of the 44% that would prefer him to Obama right now.

Reid: Take the Weekend Off so I Can do Fundraising

Senate Majority Leader Harry "Weasel" Reid wants the Senate to "take the weekend off" because he sees no point in working through the weekend while debating the new health care bill.

The real reason...he has a $1000/plate fundraising dinner to attend on Saturday, the funds go towards his re-election campaign.

The Senate GOP has rejected this request, stating that they are ready to debate the health care bill as long as necessary and citing Reid's statement that the Senate would work through every weekend until the health care debate was done.

Unpack those bags, Harry, you've got work to do.

Oh, Here We Go...

I was waiting for something like this to come out...that Tiger's "shunning" of being black is why he doesn't have the black community lining up to defend him like they did with O.J., Barry Bonds, etc..., and that he wouldn't be in this position if he just said "I'm black" instead of his multiracial term, "cablinasian".

See, that's the problem. You should defend someone simply because you share a race with them. Also, Woods should not have to proclaim one of his races over another to garner the support of a race. Woods should stand alone and be judged for his actions.

Rand Paul Promises to Introduce Downsize DC Agenda

This the stuff I want to hear! Time to break out the old endorsement panel for the son of liberty's best friend.

The agenda includes...

The Read The Bills Act (make Congress read the bills before they debate and vote)
The One Subject At a Time Act (keep all amendments germane to the bills)
The Write the Laws Act (make Congress write the laws, instead of allowing unelected bureaucrats to do so)

Also, Rand Paul promised to co-sponsor the Enumerated Powers Act (force federal government to obey the 9th and 10th Amendments), and reintroduce the Fiscal Responsibility Act (cut Congressional pay each year we run a budget deficit, cuts grow larger in consecutive deficit years).

C'mon Dems, When Does Enough Become Enough?

Congressional Democrats to raise debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion in 2010.

You know, all the progressive taxation in the world wouldn't corral the debt load that your crew of power-tripping leftists are leading us into. Even if we were to cease military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, next year's budget would have deficit at around $1.3 trillion (and that is a conservative estimate).

Yes, Bush got this ball rolling (which is why I don't label him a conservative, at least not in a fiscal sense), but the Dems are turning a steep hill into Mount Everest at this point.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Cooch Wrong on Assessment of Deeds

Apparently, AG-elect Ken Cuccinelli thinks that Creigh Deeds would have won if he had moved farther to the left in his stances during the campaign. Either Cooch is trying to throw the Dems off by giving them intentionally bad advice, or he really doesn't know Virginia as well as he thinks he does.

See, the past two governors of this state have campaigned and won on being centrist as Democrats can get. Very "third way", blue dog images. Virginia is, much to the chagrin of "progressives", not nearly as "blue" as they would like to think it is. It's a reddish-purple.

Deeds, IMO, ran to the left of his pre-election image. If he was trying to run as a centrist, he would've used his more conservative views in his campaigning. Instead, he focused on wedge issues like McDonnell's social issues (which were never an issue with him as a legislator, anyway) and touted run-of-the-mill Democratic Party stances such as more progressive taxation and the like (even though he didn't come right out and say it). He did try to carry on the "Warner-Kaine Tradition", as they like to call it, and focusing on that would have HELPED him with independents, which would have given him a much better edge.

However, with the tide turning against the Democratic Party both on a statewide and national level, I don't think any Democratic Party candidate would have had a chance. Even the mighty fundraiser himself, Terry McAuliffe, wouldn't have had much of a chance...McDonnell fundraising resources that he would've been able to tap into on a national level to match McAuliffe. The national GOP was ready to push hard for McDonnell if he needed it.

(h/t Blue Virginia)

The Podium on FTL...

I called into Free Talk Live last night about the EPA declaration regarding CO2 emissions that I posted about yesterday. I figured it was a topic that would greatly suit the tone of the show (very libertarian radio show, it is on Monday-Saturday from 7-10 on 790 AM here in the Valley).

Click here for the archive of the show (I got on towards the end of hour 2) and hear my not-so-pretty voice.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

EPA = Totalitarians

James Young makes an excellent point about the latest declaration from our friendly neighborhood socialists over at the EPA.

Apparently, now CO2 is a pollutant that the EPA can regulate. Of course, without CO2, plants die, which then means people die. Also, all animals give off CO2 naturally. Does this mean that the EPA can regulate how much we breathe, how many kids we have, or how long we live?

Honestly, that kind of declaration removes the limits and restrictions of a democracy. Hopefully, this will be challenged and struck down.

Is Kaine Insane in the Brain?

Tim Kaine claims he would have easily been reelected if he would have been able to run in November. While Kaine has had his moments of popularity in this state, he's been on a downward slide since his handling of the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Kaine failed to live up to the promises he made to the left of the Democratic Party, and found ways to draw the ire of the state GOP. He squandered the budget and failed to get anything substantial moving on transportation. He would not have been able to rally the independents like he did in 2005, as they had grown disenchanted with both him and the Democrats.

Would Kaine have lost by the same margin as Deeds? Probably not, as he had name recognition. However, Kaine would have lost by 6-8 percent. I'm pretty sure of that. Timmy's got an awful high opinion of himself to make such a bold statement.

Rain, Ice, Snow...Who Knows?

We've gone from minor sleet, to an ice storm, to just a whole lot of rain in our forecast for Tuesday evening into Wednesday. Well, they are saying we'll get a tenth of an inch at the most. I'm happy there won't be much ice, as I'm not a fan of hour-long commutes in ice, especially since my commute is exclusively on I-81.

I-81 is notorious for accidents already, as evidenced by yesterday's fatal crash involving an SUV and an 18-wheeler (which I saw the aftermath...the impact caused an axle to rip off of the truck). So sad to hear, but unfortunately it seems to be a fairly common occurrence on I-81.

"Fistgate"

In what has to be the funniest use of the suffix "-gate" term ever used, we now have one of President Obama's czars (Safe School Czar Kevin Jennings) under fire for handing out "fisting kits" and offering such seminars as "Spit or Swallow: Is It Rude?" and fisting lessons to 14-21 year old kids.

Jennings was the head of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), and GLSEN themselves (when confronted about the topics) had their own concerns about these things and confronted Jennings about it...who promptly dismissed the concerns (and GLSEN did nothing about it).

Now, I knew what all that stuff was when I was 14, and I understand the context "better be safe than sorry" and "kids should be educated about protection". I personally favor a comprehensive sexual education that teaches protection, knowledge, AND abstinence (of course, I think parents should be more involved in that kind of education, as well...but that's just me). However, I'm pretty sure that this isn't the type of thing that parents of any ideological bent want being promoted to kids and young adults.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Redskins Take Saints to the Limit in OT Thriller

The Redskins had multiple 10-point leads, but couldn't put the still-undefeated Saints away. The final score was 33-30.

I thought Saints' coach Sean Payton's attempts to try and score a TD in OT when they had a guaranteed game-winning field goal was a bit unnecessary, as if he had to make a point with the Redskins having pushed the Saints to the brink of a loss.

Shawn Suisham blew a game-sealing 23 yard field goal late in the 4th quarter, which is the second time in 3 weeks he has done this (if you recall, he missed two potential game-winners in Dallas). This allowed the Saints to move the ball 80 yards in 33 seconds with no timeouts left. C'mon now, this is the New Orleans Saints, they're too good to give any breathing room to them.

However, considering how injury-riddled this team is, the Redskins looked phenomenal for most of the game. Jason Campbell (who I feel is unfairly criticized, considering he hasn't had much protection until lately) had a career day, picking apart the Saints secondary for 367 yards and 3 TDs. Vaunted young WR Devin Thomas finally had his breakout day, catching 7 passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs. The passing offense is finally coming together, and the RB-by-committee has given the team balance.

I almost feel that Jim Zorn may deserve one last chance if this sudden lift in performance continues through the rest of the season. Almost...

BCS Predictions

Well, despite the fact that they did not LOOK like they deserved it last night, I'm 100% sure it will be Texas facing Alabama for the national championship. Personally, I'd love to see TCU play Alabama, because I think they have an offense that would give the Crimson Tide some serious fits.

Brad Edwards at ESPN has the following BCS bowl predictions...

BCS Title Game: Texas vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinatti

Can't really argue with those, and there are some very interesting matchups there. Texas/Alabama should be a classic game. Oregon would romp over a vastly overrated Ohio State team. TCU/Boise State and Florida/Cincy would feature a LOAD of offense in both games. GT/Iowa would feature Tech's powerful running game going against Iowa's stingy D. These would be intriguing matchups...though I'd actually like to see TCU take on Florida. That's the only change I would make in those bowl matchups.

Nonetheless, to have 5 unbeaten teams at the end of the year is INSANE! At the same time, it goes to show that good talent is obtainable for lesser-known universities (see Cincy, Boise State, TCU). Things should be interesting post-New Years Day.

Sarah Palin at the Gridiron Club Dinner

If there is one thing I like about Sarah Palin, it is her use of tasteful, but pointed humor. She poked fun at the media, at Obama and Biden, and herself. Don't know what her ambitions are, politically, but (as Dennis Miller would say) I like the cut of her jib, here.