Happy New Year!
Well, 2008 was quite a year. Not a good year for political conservatives and business. But despite the so typical gloom-and-doom of being spewed by liberals who need to paint as dark a picture as they possibly can, this is not the end of the world nor is it the end of the United States.
Rest assured 2009 will not be the Year of Obama but instead, it will be the Year of Blaming Bush. Everything the Dems have screwed up over the past two years will be blamed on our soon-to-be former president. Obama will fall back on the 1992 Clinton excuse of "things are worse than the Republicans told me."
The good news is, January 20, 2009, is the beginning of victory in 2012 for conservatives. We must begin preparing now, taking notes, jotting down names, and getting ready to expose stupidity.
About the economy, the media is twisting the truth to support their own agenda (big surprise, huh?). Many of the companies that are hurting or failing are doing so due to poor management. Yes, the economy has slowed but those who are strong and are managed properly will remain through this. A bowel movement is needed every now and then to get rid of the waste. So get your reading material and be patient.
Most of all, don't let the doomsayers get you down. If our founding fathers had listened to them we would still be under English rule.
Church Of England Puts Faith In Al Gore
Church Commissioners for the Church of England have confidently placed their investment faith in the all knowing, almighty, AlGore. His excellency the Goracle's, Generation Investment Management firm is the recipient of the church's largesse to the tune of £150 million. The Commissioners view the outlay of cash and Treasury Bills as an investment in what First Church Estates Commissioner, Andreas Whittam Smith describes as an environmentally sustainable global equities mandate. Mr. Gore's boutique management firm invests in companies that follow a socially responsible business model.
I wonder how many carbon credits the £150 million will buy them? This outlay of cash and Treasuries should make their horseships feel good about their sinful and wayward conspicous consumption. Why, it's the modern day equivilent of buying Indulgences!
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!
In a related development across the pond, Environmental Minister and U.K. Member of Parliment Sammy Wilson says that anthroprogenic global warming is a hoax. The M.P. from East Antrim says the billions spent trying to fight a phantom menace like global warming could be better used fighting real problems like poverty and famine.
I think in 20 years’ time we will look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on earth were we ever conned into spending the billions of pounds which are going into this without any kind of rigorous examination of the background, the science, the implications of it all. Because there is now a degree of hysteria about it, fairly unformed hysteria I’ve got to say as well.
I mean I get it in the Assembly all the time and most of the people who shout about climate change have not read one article about climate change, not read one book about climate change, if you asked them to explain how they believe there’s a connection between CO2 emission and the effects which they claim there’s going to be, if you ask them to explain the thought process or the modelling that is required and the assumptions behind that and how tenuous all the connections are, they wouldn’t have a clue.
Buy this man a Guinness! Two rounds I say! I'm glad to see our cousins in the British Isles wise up to the Global Warming Hoax. If the Goracle and his familiars really want to do something constructive to stop the spread of harmful cO2 emissions, they can start by shuting their pie holes.
With more green investments Mr. Gore may be able to get another houseboat like this one which he named "Bio-Solar One". The boat located at Center Hill Lake is equipped with solar panels and can use ethanol fuel.
Too bad the Marina doesn't sell ethanol fuel and Mr. Gore has no idea where he can buy it at the lake. So much for B.S. One.
Israel Hits Hamas Gaza HQ
While pressing the French to sponsor a "humanitarian truce" of 48 hours to allow for the free flow of such "humanitarian" necessities as baby bottles, aspirin, band aids, guitar picks and Katyushas the first item on Hamas' busy schedule today was to have its headquarters blown up by the IAF. Israel rejected the French proposal saying that it lacked any mechanism to stop the flow of rockets into the Gaza strip. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, It is not realistic to expect Israel to cease fire unilaterally with no mechanism to enforce the cessation of shooting and terror from Hamas.
While Israel has been careful to target Hamas military and communications infrastructure, Hamas has been intent on targeting Israeli civilians and places such as homes, apartments, restaurants, schools and hospitals. What further proof does the world need of Hamas' goal to destroy the entire Jewish race? All of the protesters who have demonstrated in behalf of Hamas against Israeli "aggression" while saying nothing, not one peep, about the 10,500 rockets that have routinely been fired at southern Israel by the murderous thugs gathered in Gaza are contemptible lower-than-dirt fools.
While Israel has been careful to target Hamas military and communications infrastructure, Hamas has been intent on targeting Israeli civilians and places such as homes, apartments, restaurants, schools and hospitals. What further proof does the world need of Hamas' goal to destroy the entire Jewish race? All of the protesters who have demonstrated in behalf of Hamas against Israeli "aggression" while saying nothing, not one peep, about the 10,500 rockets that have routinely been fired at southern Israel by the murderous thugs gathered in Gaza are contemptible lower-than-dirt fools.
Palestinian Girl Places Cause Of War Where It Belongs; With Hamas
Five of this young girl's sisters died when Hamas set up a base of operations in a mosque located next to the girl's home. When the Hamas base was destroyed by the IDF the girls home was obliterated and her family decimated. This tragedy never would have occured had Hamas not begun firing into Israel while using civilian and religious structures as shields.
A Last Name I Would Drop
Yahoo!'s story about the 5 largest drops in wealth around the world brought in this gem;
3. Anurag Dikshit
March net worth: $1.6 billion Current net worth: $1 billion
Dikshit designed the software for PartyGaming's successful PartyPoker game, which allowed live gambling over the Web. He left the company and sold a chunk of shares in 2006, the year the U.S. government banned gaming. He recently pleaded guilty to violating U.S. gaming laws and agreed to forfeit $300 million. He could face up to two years in jail but apparently won't be sentenced until 2010. He has already paid $100 million of his fine and will pay the rest in two installments next year.
Merry Christmas From RSC
Christmas is, without a doubt, the most wonderful time of the year. For those of you who may not celebrate Christmas I hope that you have other times during the year when you can spend time with your family and reflect on all of the things you have to be thankful for.I am truly thankful for my wife and children who I love more than anything on this Earth. I am thankful that my family is financially sound and that we never want for any necessity. I am thankful for a wonderful extended family. Most of all, I am thankful for a God who loved me enough to give His own life so that I might have the opportunity to escape the future that I truly deserve. I fail to live up to what I should be every day but He is full of mercy and grace.
I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Always remember that Christmas is not about gifts, Santa, or even family. It is about Jesus Christ who was born into this world so that we might have life.
Merry Christmas.
My Crusade Against Global Warming
There are a lot of important, legitimate issues that Americans are facing. Besides the hundreds of issues we face on a personal level, there are social and political issues we face on a national level. National security, foreign policy, abortion, unemployment, taxes, regulation, pollution, trade, and a host of other issues that would take too much time and space to list here.Almost everyone has a "pet" issue they have taken up and mine is global warming. While I did not pursue a science degree I have always loved it. As a senior in high school I received the award for Best Chemistry Student and I worked as a chemistry lab assistant in college.
Doomsayers have existed throughout history and the global warming freaks are no different. I won't bore you with an unabridged list of hysterical predictions about imminent disasters but I must name a few. The first few that have a date of 1970 were related to the first Earth Day.
- By 1985, air pollution was predicted to block out 1/2 of sunlight. - Life magazine, 1970
- An ice age was predicted due to "dust, cloud cover, and water vapor." - Newsweek magazine, 1970
- Temperatures were expected to drop by 11 degrees from 1970 to 2000 which would be twice the amount needed to cause an ice age. - Ecologist Kenneth Watt, 1970
- "Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." - Harvard Biologist George Wald, 1970
- By the year 2000...the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America and Australia, will be in famine." - Professor Peter Gunter, 1970
- The comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann was predicted to strike Earth on May 25, 2006, and cause widespread devastation. - Eric Julien
- Other predicted causes of Earth's demise which have not happened are solar flares, asteroid strike, worldwide drought, overpopulation, flooding, leaving orbit of the sun, a virus, deforestation, and many more.
The models used for global warming are full of bad science. Even if it was good science, you cannot predict a long-term cycle like global warming using limited, short-term data. Here's an mathematical analogy.
Let's talk about distance and angles. If I point a laser light at a 6" by 6" target that is 12" away, I can easily hit the target. I can even pivot the light several degrees in any direction and still hit the target. Now I move the target away from me to a distance of 20 feet. What happens if I pivot the light the same amount as before? At times it will be off the target. If I move the target to 100 feet away even minimal movement puts the light off the target. Imagine the target was one million miles away (assuming I could see that far). What would happen if I pivoted the light by just 1 degree? The light would be 17,455 miles from the target.
That, my friends, is what the global warming alarmists are trying to hide. They want you to think they can take a few years worth of data and extrapolate it over the next 10, 20, or 50 years. Sorry, but the Earth has been here longer than a few years and we don't have data far enough back to extrapolate anything.
The only scientifically provable fact that is relevant is that the Earth cools and warms in cycles. It occurred before man was on this planet and it will continue as if we weren't even here. Just a few days ago a CNN meteorologist stated this on Lou Dobbs:
To think that we could affect weather all that much is, is, pretty arrogant. Mother Nature is so big. The world is so big. The oceans are so big...We have a hundred years worth of data, not millions of years that the world's been around.Then another guest, Jay Lehr, Science Director for the Heartland Institute, says this:
If we go back to The Revolutionary War 300 years ago, it was very, very cold. We've been warming out of that cold spell from The Revolutionary War period and now we're back into a cooling cycle. The last 10 years have been quite cool and right now I think we're going into cooling rather than warming...All we can do it adapt. It is the sun that does it, not man.31,072 scientists in the U.S. alone reject the theory of man-made global warming. This is far from a consensus.
Science 1, Environmentalists 0.
Hiatus
I won't be posting notes on any wines for a while, at least until sometime after New Year's. Have a great holiday season.
Joe The Plummer Snooper Resigns Ohio Post
Michelle Malkin reports that Ohio government snooper Helen Jones-Kelley resigned her post after two of her fellow travelers, Doug Thompson, the deputy director of child support and Fred Williams, assistant agency director who also resigned over the flap caused by their unauthorized investigation of Joe Wurzelbacher's (Joe the Plummer's) tax records and potential child-support payment. The digging into Wurzelbacher's records began shortly after his taped impromptu interview with then candidate Barack Obama went viral and threated to upset the One's road to the White House.
You can follow the updates here and here.
Ed Morrissey writes more on Jones-Kelley's actions inspired by devotion for the One.
What did Jones-Kelley do? She tipped off Team Obama to potential donors for an Obama fundraiser at a Dayton school, and used her work e-mail to do it. She identified at least one other public official as a potential invitee, who did get an invitation and attended with the requisite $2,500 donation.
The revelation of partisan electoral activities by Jones-Kelley adds to the skepticism over her actions in investigating Wurzelbacher. Jones-Kelley had already abused her position to raise funds for Obama, and so her transition to trampling Wurzelbacher’s civil rights in order to help smear him after the presidential debate seems more consistent in that context.
You can follow the updates here and here.
Ed Morrissey writes more on Jones-Kelley's actions inspired by devotion for the One.
What did Jones-Kelley do? She tipped off Team Obama to potential donors for an Obama fundraiser at a Dayton school, and used her work e-mail to do it. She identified at least one other public official as a potential invitee, who did get an invitation and attended with the requisite $2,500 donation.
The revelation of partisan electoral activities by Jones-Kelley adds to the skepticism over her actions in investigating Wurzelbacher. Jones-Kelley had already abused her position to raise funds for Obama, and so her transition to trampling Wurzelbacher’s civil rights in order to help smear him after the presidential debate seems more consistent in that context.
Brrrrh - Global Warming Drops Record Snow and Sleet On Las Vegas
That darn global warming! -- You try carbon crediting it out, you try AlGore inspired bloviating it out, you try empty-headed Hollywood celebrity whining it out and you still get....Global Warming 'Round the Corner! -- Global Warming 'Round the Corner!
Las Vegas is getting pummeled by record amounts of snow and sleet dropping inches of the white stuff onto the desert gaming resort. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the latest storm is bringing three to six inches of of snow to the valley floors and up to 10 inches to the foothills above 2500 feet.
The sudden spate of wintry weather is closing highways in the Southern regions of the Silver state. Officials at Vegas' McCarran International Airport say they have no snow removal equipment to remove the wintry precipitation from aircraft trying to leave the city for sunnier climes, so travelers have a one-way ticket into the palm tree paradise in the Nevada desert.
The Review-Journal cites Transportation Department Spokesman Bob McKenzie's admonition to motorists to stay in Las Vegas for the duration of the storm if possible.
What happens in Vegas is definitely staying in Vegas for awhile.
Las Vegas is getting pummeled by record amounts of snow and sleet dropping inches of the white stuff onto the desert gaming resort. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the latest storm is bringing three to six inches of of snow to the valley floors and up to 10 inches to the foothills above 2500 feet.
The sudden spate of wintry weather is closing highways in the Southern regions of the Silver state. Officials at Vegas' McCarran International Airport say they have no snow removal equipment to remove the wintry precipitation from aircraft trying to leave the city for sunnier climes, so travelers have a one-way ticket into the palm tree paradise in the Nevada desert.
The Review-Journal cites Transportation Department Spokesman Bob McKenzie's admonition to motorists to stay in Las Vegas for the duration of the storm if possible.
What happens in Vegas is definitely staying in Vegas for awhile.
Bridges
In mid-July in the United States we crossed a psychological river. Here's why:
It became common to see $4.00 per gallon gasoline at the pumps. This is the river we crossed:
It is the Rubicon in Northern Italy. This is close to where Caesar crossed uttering "the die is cast." Republican Rome was about to die. The first hint that we had emotionally crossed was the "Drill Here, Drill Now" movement. This is a good thing. Energy self sufficiency is something we will need as a strategic necessity if we are to survive as some form of nation state. Sadly, some of that verve has ebbed as gas prices have done this:
It became common to see $4.00 per gallon gasoline at the pumps. This is the river we crossed:
It is the Rubicon in Northern Italy. This is close to where Caesar crossed uttering "the die is cast." Republican Rome was about to die. The first hint that we had emotionally crossed was the "Drill Here, Drill Now" movement. This is a good thing. Energy self sufficiency is something we will need as a strategic necessity if we are to survive as some form of nation state. Sadly, some of that verve has ebbed as gas prices have done this:
But the trauma of filling up an SUV for $100+ has not gone away. I submit it was the opening round of the fear that has gripped this economy. This was a defining cultural moment. A society built on consumerism and easy credit can not long stand. When Harry swiped his Discover card to buy the gas for the Jimmy at the Exxon station and got home to see Sally that night, a gnawing feeling was in his gut. They pulled out their credit card statements, their mortgage note and second mortgage (that they got the great rate on for the new deck and grill area!). They gathered up the car loans, insurance costs and pending school costs for Jimmy and Kelly, their iPodded kids. What they suddenly realized was that the mental math they had been using to convince themselves they were OK was wrong. They were living well beyond their means in their 3,800 square foot house in Burbia, USA. They saw this in the Washington Post:
Americans have been living in a financial wonderworld for at least the last twenty years. We have a generation that has grown up on the notion that if you get in trouble, you apply for another credit card. When I graduated from college in 1980, there were no credit cards available for young Naval Officers with a real job. My first credit card was an American Express that I applied for after I made Lieutenant Junior Grade. It came with the stern warning that balances were to be paid off "in full each month to establish your credit worthiness." My how far we have come! Up until a couple of months ago, I could keep shredders going 24/7 at the office and at home trying to destroy the credit card offers and I would barely keep up. Here's my contribution to the World Series Parade:
Now those offers are coming in slower than Obama's response to the Blago scandal.
To a great degree, large parts of our economy have been built on shaky ground. A consumer economy without a diverse jobs base (manufacturing, services, agriculture, etc.) can not long stand. I still believe that, other than the last 60 days, the lowest point of the Bush presidency is when he told us, in the wake of the economy buckling post 9/11, to go out and spend! We were/are at war and war requires sacrifice. But an economy built on consumer spending complicated by the securitization of all that debt has a round chambered and pointed at the middle of the forehead. When the notes of people who can't afford thier houses are packaged and sold to investors who expect an annuity-like return, there's gonna be catastrophic failure. There has been. And the worst is yet to come.
There are more shoes to drop. The multiplier effect of money being spent in the economy is taught in Econ 100 classes as standard fare. When I studied economics in the late '70's we were told that for every $1 spent, there was a $12 impact on the economy because of the "multiplier effect." That was long before the Gucci clad geniuses started increasing the multiplier through complex financial...err, "gadgets?" I spoke to a classmate of mine that was with Wachovia Securities just before the crash in mid-September. Candidly, and he's a reader of these posts, he sounded panicked. They were working through some of the tranches of bad paper. "There are more than 6,400 'strips' in some of these things, we have no idea what we are looking at," he said. A "strip" could be something like Harry's mortgage, Sally's car note, my Visa bill, a piece of permanent financing on an apartment complex in Meridian, Mississippi and God knows how many bad mortgages courtesy of Fannie and Freddie.
Well, the multiplier effect works in reverse too, but with very real and damaging consequences...here comes that shoe! At an Urban Land Institute meeting I recently attended, the outlook was as dreary as four days of Nashville gloom we are currently enduring. The best guesses point to a scenario that says after dismal Holiday sales, a number of retailers are going to go "four paws up." As stores go dark, strip-centers and malls can no longer service their debt due to the drop in rents. The financial institutions get hit again. And it gets worse...the growing job losses will soon have an impact on "good" mortgages too. This is especially true in a world where $2.8 trillion has been lost from the peak cumulative value of American housing...that's $2,800,000,000,000! Well, if your loan is $250,000 and your house is now worth $150,000...what do you do? Send the bank the keys and go start a new life. In other words, the "bottom" is probably 8-10 months away still.
And what will the marvelous "bail out" have accomplished? Honestly, not much. We will have nationalized a large part of our banking system...we have practically nationalized housing already; we the taxpayer will own Detroit...yippee! America, here's what's in your investment account now:
There's a better than 70% chance that we will be well on the way to nationalizing our healthcare system. All for our good. Melville was so right:
The bridges we will build to this new economy will be stronger because of the fire we will have passed through to get the will to do it.
To the green light...
Rumble on!
The average household debt is now $117,951. This breaks down to an average credit card debt of $8,565, vehicle and tuition loan debt of $14,414, home equity loan debt of $10,062 and mortgage debt of $84,911.
Americans have been living in a financial wonderworld for at least the last twenty years. We have a generation that has grown up on the notion that if you get in trouble, you apply for another credit card. When I graduated from college in 1980, there were no credit cards available for young Naval Officers with a real job. My first credit card was an American Express that I applied for after I made Lieutenant Junior Grade. It came with the stern warning that balances were to be paid off "in full each month to establish your credit worthiness." My how far we have come! Up until a couple of months ago, I could keep shredders going 24/7 at the office and at home trying to destroy the credit card offers and I would barely keep up. Here's my contribution to the World Series Parade:
Now those offers are coming in slower than Obama's response to the Blago scandal.To a great degree, large parts of our economy have been built on shaky ground. A consumer economy without a diverse jobs base (manufacturing, services, agriculture, etc.) can not long stand. I still believe that, other than the last 60 days, the lowest point of the Bush presidency is when he told us, in the wake of the economy buckling post 9/11, to go out and spend! We were/are at war and war requires sacrifice. But an economy built on consumer spending complicated by the securitization of all that debt has a round chambered and pointed at the middle of the forehead. When the notes of people who can't afford thier houses are packaged and sold to investors who expect an annuity-like return, there's gonna be catastrophic failure. There has been. And the worst is yet to come.
There are more shoes to drop. The multiplier effect of money being spent in the economy is taught in Econ 100 classes as standard fare. When I studied economics in the late '70's we were told that for every $1 spent, there was a $12 impact on the economy because of the "multiplier effect." That was long before the Gucci clad geniuses started increasing the multiplier through complex financial...err, "gadgets?" I spoke to a classmate of mine that was with Wachovia Securities just before the crash in mid-September. Candidly, and he's a reader of these posts, he sounded panicked. They were working through some of the tranches of bad paper. "There are more than 6,400 'strips' in some of these things, we have no idea what we are looking at," he said. A "strip" could be something like Harry's mortgage, Sally's car note, my Visa bill, a piece of permanent financing on an apartment complex in Meridian, Mississippi and God knows how many bad mortgages courtesy of Fannie and Freddie.
Well, the multiplier effect works in reverse too, but with very real and damaging consequences...here comes that shoe! At an Urban Land Institute meeting I recently attended, the outlook was as dreary as four days of Nashville gloom we are currently enduring. The best guesses point to a scenario that says after dismal Holiday sales, a number of retailers are going to go "four paws up." As stores go dark, strip-centers and malls can no longer service their debt due to the drop in rents. The financial institutions get hit again. And it gets worse...the growing job losses will soon have an impact on "good" mortgages too. This is especially true in a world where $2.8 trillion has been lost from the peak cumulative value of American housing...that's $2,800,000,000,000! Well, if your loan is $250,000 and your house is now worth $150,000...what do you do? Send the bank the keys and go start a new life. In other words, the "bottom" is probably 8-10 months away still.
And what will the marvelous "bail out" have accomplished? Honestly, not much. We will have nationalized a large part of our banking system...we have practically nationalized housing already; we the taxpayer will own Detroit...yippee! America, here's what's in your investment account now:
There's a better than 70% chance that we will be well on the way to nationalizing our healthcare system. All for our good. Melville was so right:
Power unanointed may come -But all shall not be lost. For as grim a picture as I have painted, I would still rather be here than say Rwanda, or Mexico, or China, Russia, India, France, Germany, England...OK, anyplace else. I am like Gatsby:
Dominion (unsought by the free)
And the Iron Dome,
Stronger for stress and strain,
Fling her huge shadow athwart the main;
But the Founders' dream shall flee.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—I see a revolution ahead. We are going to continue this experiment with socialism, the love affair with the Obamessiah will go on un-checked for a few months. But, as in times of struggle in our past, reality will come anew. We will try a revolutionary concept called "capitalism." Capitalism will be properly monitored, but not regulated to encourage political ends. We will be smarter about how we take care of our own job base and approach the world seeking equality along with fairness in our openness to trade. I expect that our entire tax system will be replaced. We will become more realistic. We may realize that we don't need the 3,800 square foot house for a family of four. The old 2,400 square foot ranch model from the 1950's might work just fine. We will keep our cars longer. A lot of us will pass on early retirement. But we will also vote those that got us into this mess out of office...Americans don't mind taking a little pain. They mind it a lot when they are taking all the pain while the criminals in Washington rack up nice pension plans and health benefits. Along the way we will rediscover the spirit that made us great. It is rugged self-reliant individualism. It's not diversity...it's not levelling the playing field to the lowest common denominator. This is not a sissy nation that needs to turn to Mama Government anytime there's a problem. We're doing it right now, but it will not work. It will fail and when it does, we will remember that we are a restless people and in the words of T.S. Eliot:
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
The bridges we will build to this new economy will be stronger because of the fire we will have passed through to get the will to do it.
To the green light...
Rumble on!
Why I'm Glad McCain Lost
No buildup. No prefaces. Let's get right to the point. John McCain's greatest strength is backstabbing. I don't know why we all didn't see it. He has always been very quick to imitate Norman Bates with the GOP. Then he reaches across the aisle to the Democrats. Maybe we were so anti-Obama that the spoonful of sugar (Sarah Palin) made the medicine (McCain) go down. H/T: Mary PoppinsIt is a blessing in disguise that this man did not win the election. What would this country be like with the Democrats running Congress and a Democrat running the Republican party?
If we don't make some congressional changes in 2010 and nominate a conservative in 2012 the GOP will be in imminent danger of extinction. I'm not so sure that would be a bad thing.
American Idol vs Liberalism
I have always been a very tolerant and patient person. I tend to trust people until they give me a reason not to. Sort of like "innocent until proven guilty."However, as I get older and more enlightened, I find myself being less tolerant and less patient when it comes to hate-filled, anti-American, liberal morons like Tim Graham at Newsweek. These holier-than-thou elites look down on anyone who isn't a "progressive thinker" like they are.
Graham spends his latest column criticizing President Bush, American Idol, and those of us in Red State territory. While I am sick and tired of hearing liberals Bush-bash, the most offensive comment was that American Idol is too American. Here is the comment:
Start with the title: in England, the show was called "Pop Idol"—but when it migrated here in 2002, it apparently needed an infusion of patriotism. So, much like freedom fries, "American Idol" was born. If that kind of rah-rah branding doesn't conjure thoughts of President Bush – go on, world, you know you idolize us – I don't know what does.Then Graham goes on to insult the Red State population with his liberal elitist venom.
You'll find defenders and detractors all over the country, but this is primarily a red-state show. That's the reason that Southern contestants win just about every season. Are the people fans vote for (and vote for, and vote for) great singers? Does it matter? What's important is that they're our singers, and we love 'em because they're unthreatening, God-fearing, desexualized kids with stars in their eyes. Whenever those elitist critics on the coasts trash "Idol" as mediocre, middlebrow entertainment, we rally to the show's defense, whether it deserves it or not.Look, I'm not defending Idol. Being a musician and songwriter I have watched it but I am not a big fan. Too much of it is scripted for the sake of ratings which is the real object of the show anyway. Better ratings, higher ad rates.
Finally, Graham takes a shot at "greedy" capitalism which he implies is part of what is wrong with America.
And no TV program shills as shamelessly as "Idol." The Ford ads, the Coke cups, the AT&T plugs – "Idol" is as cozy with big business as, well, as our president is.Liberal vomit at its finest. How dare he grow up in this wonderful country where he had the freedom and opportunity to become what he wanted to be and to prosper in a capitalistic system, then use that position to criticize that same country. The personification of liberalism.
H/T: NB
First 2012 GOP Presidential Straw Poll Results
Here are the results of our first 2012 GOP Presidential Straw Poll.
Bobby Jindal - 29.4%
Sarah Palin - 26.5%
Mike Huckabee - 20.6%
Newt Gingrich - 8.8%
Mitt Romney - 8.8%
Tim Pawlenty - 5.9%
Over the next four years we will run more polls and see how things are changing. Thank you for participating.
Bobby Jindal - 29.4%
Sarah Palin - 26.5%
Mike Huckabee - 20.6%
Newt Gingrich - 8.8%
Mitt Romney - 8.8%
Tim Pawlenty - 5.9%
Over the next four years we will run more polls and see how things are changing. Thank you for participating.
Chicago Corruption: I've Heard It All Now
Former Congressman Dan "Rosty" Rostenkowski made the following statement regarding Chicago/Washington corruption:During my career as a public official, I always tried to steer away from the minority of my colleagues who viewed public service as a potential commercial enterprise. They’ve always been there and can be found in state capitols and in Washington.
ROTFLOL!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I hurt myself from laughing.
The end of Scrabulous, Lexulous, and Wordscraper as we knew them
UPDATE: February 3, 2009 I have no information about Lexulous. I've given it up.
UPDATE January 2, 2009: Wordscraper on Facebook is now called Lexulous (renamed). The www.lexulous.com site seems to be down at the moment. I have no information about that. I checked out the board at Facebook and it is much improved over Wordscraper. It appears the customization feature is gone and the board is back to a close but not exact simulation of Scrabble. I wouldn't mind this one. No more of those ridiculous 4W and 4L squares, no more circles instead of squares, and back to the nice colors we liked with our old Scrabulous. This might be all right.
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The Agarwalla brothers have posted a message on the Lexulous web site explaining that, as a settlement in their lawsuit with Hasbro, we will no longer be able to have customized boards that resemble the Scrabble board. In addition, we will play with 8 letters instead of 7. Many players on Facebook have finally given up. My long-time partner and I are giving it up too, and reluctantly going to Hasbro's Scrabble on Facebook. It still is too colorful and lacks some features we had grown to like with our old Scrabulous. How stupid on both sides that they didn't just work something out and keep the half million users who loved the game. Disappointing, yes, but we'll move on.
Here's the message in full:
UPDATE January 2, 2009: Wordscraper on Facebook is now called Lexulous (renamed). The www.lexulous.com site seems to be down at the moment. I have no information about that. I checked out the board at Facebook and it is much improved over Wordscraper. It appears the customization feature is gone and the board is back to a close but not exact simulation of Scrabble. I wouldn't mind this one. No more of those ridiculous 4W and 4L squares, no more circles instead of squares, and back to the nice colors we liked with our old Scrabulous. This might be all right.
-----------------------------------
The Agarwalla brothers have posted a message on the Lexulous web site explaining that, as a settlement in their lawsuit with Hasbro, we will no longer be able to have customized boards that resemble the Scrabble board. In addition, we will play with 8 letters instead of 7. Many players on Facebook have finally given up. My long-time partner and I are giving it up too, and reluctantly going to Hasbro's Scrabble on Facebook. It still is too colorful and lacks some features we had grown to like with our old Scrabulous. How stupid on both sides that they didn't just work something out and keep the half million users who loved the game. Disappointing, yes, but we'll move on.
Here's the message in full:
KOLKATA, India - December 12th - RJ Softwares today announced that it has settled the litigation brought by Hasbro Inc., a Pawtucket, RI, USA, based company that owns the U.S. and Canadian rights to the SCRABBLE crossword game. The settlement resolves disputes concerning Scrabulous, previously offered by RJ Softwares, as well as Lexulous, and Wordscraper that are currently offered by RJ Softwares.
Pursuant to the settlement, RJ Softwares has agreed not to use the term Scrabulous and has made changes to the Lexulous and Wordscraper games (in the U.S. and Canada) to distinguish them from the SCRABBLE crossword game. Based on these modifications Hasbro has agreed to withdraw the litigation filed against RJ Softwares in federal court in New York in July of this year. As modified, the Wordscraper application will continue to be available on Facebook and Lexulous will be available on the Lexulous.com website.
The agreement provides people in the U.S. and Canada with a choice of different games and also avoids potentially lengthy and costly litigation's.
RJ Softwares acknowledges the guidance and support provided by Rajiv Khaitan of Khaitan & Co., India as well as his Meritas colleague, Rose Auslander, of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, New York and their entire team of lawyers, in negotiating the litigation and settlement process for the firm.
About RJ Softwares
RJ Softwares develops high quality interactive online games that are fun to play! Founded in 2000 by St. Xavier's College commerce students Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, RJ Softwares' products engage a global audience. RJ Softwares is headquartered in Kolkata, India. For more information, visit www.rjs.in or, www.lexulous.com
Welcome To Chicago "Thug" Politics
Democrats own Chicago. The last time there was a Republican mayor was in the early 1930's. In Chicago, politicians and political favors are for sale. Political prostitution at its finest. There is a long list of politicians, organized crime bosses, union leaders, and powerful business owners who have bought and sold Chicago for longer than most of us have been alive.Daley, Capone, Marcy, Lorimer, LeFevour, Cooley, Mahoney, Giancana, Jones, Giannoulias, Rezko, and now Blagojevich. The list goes on and on.
Dare I say that environment plays a huge factor in the development of a person's character? This is the city where Barack Obama learned what politics is about and how it works. Some of the names above he is closely associated with.
It is unconscionable to believe that Obama grew up in this environment and did not learn the "tricks of the trade". Fundraising, strong arming, threatening, bribing, etc. We have brought Chicago politics to the White House with willing accomplices in Congress.
God help us all.
2007 "ZESTOS" (50% Garnacha, 50% Tempranillo) (Madrid, Spain)
This was a good buy in a gutsy, blue-collar red.
Eye: Dark ruby with purple highlights.
Nose: Earthy plum juice with a stony note.
Mouth: Chunky and ripe, with low-ish acidity and some tannin that was just north of soft. Full-bodied, with a slightly hot finish. Not complex at all, but a fair amount of flavor for the buck.
Score: 85.
Cellar or drink? Drink over the next 6-9 months.
Price/store: Was about $8 or $9 at Central Market.
Eye: Dark ruby with purple highlights.
Nose: Earthy plum juice with a stony note.
Mouth: Chunky and ripe, with low-ish acidity and some tannin that was just north of soft. Full-bodied, with a slightly hot finish. Not complex at all, but a fair amount of flavor for the buck.
Score: 85.
Cellar or drink? Drink over the next 6-9 months.
Price/store: Was about $8 or $9 at Central Market.
2006 Rodney Strong "Knotty Vines" ZINFANDEL (Sonoma County, Cal.)
A bargain Zin that's widely-available! Get some of this for weeknight dinners!
Eye: Dark, but not saturated, black, plummy ruby.Nose: Spot-on Zinfandel nose of spicy blackberry fruit, with subtle notes of resiny pine forest and minerals.
Mouth: Ripe, rich, and soft, with decent, though not great concentration. Excellent balance and ripe, mouth-filling fruit. A classic "spaghetti red."
Score: 88.
Cellar or drink? Drink over the next year as this is not built to age.
Price/store: I lost the receipt, but I vaguely recall getting this at Randall's on Weslayan for about $14.
2005 Mommessin Chateau de Pierreux BROUILLY (Beaujolais, France)
This was an atypical, though OK, Beaujolais, tending toward the big and tannic side, not the fruity and refreshing style.
Eye: Very dark ruby with violet highlights.
Nose: Intense nose of scorched earth and very primary, crunchy plummy fruit.Mouth: Full bodied and surprisingly tannic, this wine seems to need some time in bottle to soften a bit. Deep and tightly-wound core of black cherry/plummy fruit, with some alcoholic warmth in the finish.
Score: 83.
Cellar or drink? Hold for another year and then see if it's gotten any softer.
Price/store: $16 at Spec's on Smith.
Outrageous, Unethical Media Collusion - UPDATED
This is nothing new but has recently been brought to the forefront again through several news stories, the most recent being the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.Mainstream media outlets are ignoring Blagojevich's party affiliation just like they do every time a Democrat gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Blagojevich was caught by the FBI trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. As governor he has the sole responsibility to appoint the person who will replace Obama in the Senate.
However, when a Republican is even suspected of wrongdoing the party is plastered not just in articles but also in the headlines. This is a concerted effort to paint the Republican party as a corrupt party while Democrats are spotless and blameless. And it is working.
The media succeeded in duping the majority of the American people into believing Republicans were still in charge of Congress during this election.
They need to be held accountable. I am completely against government intervention or control of the media so it is up to us to do something about it.
UPDATE
Check out this story over at Newsbusters. Proof that I was right.
Media Arrogance And Condescension Once Again
Did you watch Barbara Walters' "interview" with Rush? It was quite different than most of the interviews she conducts. She was combative, arrogant, and condescending. What's with you Barbara? And that was much nicer than what happened on The View when the estrogen frenzy got going.Rush was smooth, undaunted, and on message. Barbara Walters was also on message. However, in her case, the message is that rich people are mean-spirited, want poor people to get poorer, and that all conservatives need a thorough character assassination.
This bit about Hillary Clinton aging is being repeatedly taken out of context. It was clearly a criticism of Hollywood and it's obsession with looks. But stupid people like Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg will always be stupid.
You can watch the interview over at Newsbusters.
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 6 (short-form notes)
Grandma and Nonno returned to Massachusetts today, so this is the last entry for wines from their visit. I'm going to need something to rehabilitate my liver after this visit, so many good and excellent wines did we drink. (I'm also going to need to return to my more frugal, usual fare!)
2005 Chateau de Saint Cosme GIGONDAS (Rhone, France) -- This was a ripe, youthful, and highly structured Rhone wine. Had lots of minerality and was quite tight initially, but opened to show a concentrated core of ripe cassis and raspberry extract. Pretty tannic throughout. If you have a cool cellar, keep this one another 3 years and then enjoy.
2004 Verget CHABLIS 1er CRU FOURCHAUME “Vieilles Vignes de Vaulorens” (Burgundy, France) -- this was excellent and drinking beautifully now. Ripe and complex, yet with bracing, well-integrated acidity. Featured a nose of toasty chicken broth, dry pear extract, lemons, and crushed stones. Very good concentration and length.
2006 Alto Moncayo “Veraton” (Campo de Borja, Spain) -- This was a new-styled and very concentrated Grenache. I loved the soft texture, the concentration, and the ripeness, but it was just a tad too oaky for me. The 2004 I previously reviewed was better (similar but less oaky), but this was excellent in its own way.
2005 Hubertushof LEIWENER KLOSTERGARTEN RIESLING EISWEIN (Mosel, Germany) -- A youthful but outstanding icewine, with great minerality, wonderfully ripe peachy fruit, and mouthwatering acidity. Very enjoyable now, this fragrant jailbait of a dessert wine could easily last and improve over the next 10 years or so in a cool dark cellar.
2005 Chateau de Saint Cosme GIGONDAS (Rhone, France) -- This was a ripe, youthful, and highly structured Rhone wine. Had lots of minerality and was quite tight initially, but opened to show a concentrated core of ripe cassis and raspberry extract. Pretty tannic throughout. If you have a cool cellar, keep this one another 3 years and then enjoy.
2004 Verget CHABLIS 1er CRU FOURCHAUME “Vieilles Vignes de Vaulorens” (Burgundy, France) -- this was excellent and drinking beautifully now. Ripe and complex, yet with bracing, well-integrated acidity. Featured a nose of toasty chicken broth, dry pear extract, lemons, and crushed stones. Very good concentration and length.
2006 Alto Moncayo “Veraton” (Campo de Borja, Spain) -- This was a new-styled and very concentrated Grenache. I loved the soft texture, the concentration, and the ripeness, but it was just a tad too oaky for me. The 2004 I previously reviewed was better (similar but less oaky), but this was excellent in its own way.
2005 Hubertushof LEIWENER KLOSTERGARTEN RIESLING EISWEIN (Mosel, Germany) -- A youthful but outstanding icewine, with great minerality, wonderfully ripe peachy fruit, and mouthwatering acidity. Very enjoyable now, this fragrant jailbait of a dessert wine could easily last and improve over the next 10 years or so in a cool dark cellar.
Chambliss Wins: Georgia Is Racist
I read a stupid comment the other day that Georgia's Democrats might not turn out to vote for Jim Martin because they are racist. I have to assume, since Jim Martin is white, that this somehow refers to Barack Obama.
I, for one, am beyond exhaustion from the left's constant cry of racism. If you didn't vote for Obama you are a racist. If you want to pay less taxes you are a racist. If you are a conservative you are a racist. If you homeschool your kids you are a racist. If you live below the Mason-Dixon line you are a racist. If you are white, you are a racist.
Listen. I AM NOT A RACIST!! I do not treat people differently because of the color of their skin. If I disagree with them it is not because of the color of their skin. It is because of the words they speak and their philosophies regarding freedom, government, and individual responsibility.
I do not feel guilty because some white people owned slaves 250 years ago. I wish it would not have happened but it did and I didn't have anything to do with it. I do not feel like I owe anyone anything for it.
So please keep your unfounded accusations to yourself.
I, for one, am beyond exhaustion from the left's constant cry of racism. If you didn't vote for Obama you are a racist. If you want to pay less taxes you are a racist. If you are a conservative you are a racist. If you homeschool your kids you are a racist. If you live below the Mason-Dixon line you are a racist. If you are white, you are a racist.
Listen. I AM NOT A RACIST!! I do not treat people differently because of the color of their skin. If I disagree with them it is not because of the color of their skin. It is because of the words they speak and their philosophies regarding freedom, government, and individual responsibility.
I do not feel guilty because some white people owned slaves 250 years ago. I wish it would not have happened but it did and I didn't have anything to do with it. I do not feel like I owe anyone anything for it.
So please keep your unfounded accusations to yourself.
Tunnels
On some weird Internet sojourn not long ago I found myself on a site that chronicled closed down insane asylums. One of the links led me to the Danvers State Insane Asylum, a facility that was opened in 1878 and closed in 1992. It is just outside of Boston. There were two collections of photos that struck me. One was of some suitcases that were found in the attic after the facility had closed down. These had belonged to patients...neatly packed, like they were going on a trip. The other was a collection of photos of the tunnels that ran underground and connected all the buildings on the campus. Here's one:
Here's a photo of an odd sign:
So the tunnels were for the patients' use! I developed this image of these poor mad folk stumbling through the tunnels...it was something out of an Edgar Allen Poe story. Confirming my vision, there was this one:
"Ambition, succeed in anxious, jet blast, foot and door, dictionary..." Perhaps I should have begun this piece with "On a dark, stormy night as I ventured past the gates of the silent sentinel..." I was roused from this exploration by the sudden realization that this was all a metaphor for our Congress.
To wit, let me draw your attention to two bills that will NEVER see the light of day: HR 7264 and HR 7094. Both bills have been "Introduced" but it is what is inside those bills that make them deader than that Thanksgiving turkey I smoked last week. Let's take them one at a time.
HR 7264 would repeal the CRA - also known as the "Community Reinvestment Act of 1977." No biggie, right? Wrong! The CRA is at the epicenter of the current financial meltdown. The CRA, according to Investor's Business Daily, "coerces banks into making loans based on political correctness, and little else to people who can't afford them." Though this was originally passed in 1977, under our first black President, Bill Clinton, it was dramatically reinforced. Starting in 1994, the Clinton team of Cisneros, Reno, and Cuomo began a staunch anti-redlining campaign. As a result, minority homeownership rates rose sharply. Economist William T. Gavin, a vice president at the St. Louis Fed wrote in 2006:
This is from a press release by Fannie Mae...wait, it gets better:
Here's a photo of an odd sign:
So the tunnels were for the patients' use! I developed this image of these poor mad folk stumbling through the tunnels...it was something out of an Edgar Allen Poe story. Confirming my vision, there was this one:
"Ambition, succeed in anxious, jet blast, foot and door, dictionary..." Perhaps I should have begun this piece with "On a dark, stormy night as I ventured past the gates of the silent sentinel..." I was roused from this exploration by the sudden realization that this was all a metaphor for our Congress.To wit, let me draw your attention to two bills that will NEVER see the light of day: HR 7264 and HR 7094. Both bills have been "Introduced" but it is what is inside those bills that make them deader than that Thanksgiving turkey I smoked last week. Let's take them one at a time.
HR 7264 would repeal the CRA - also known as the "Community Reinvestment Act of 1977." No biggie, right? Wrong! The CRA is at the epicenter of the current financial meltdown. The CRA, according to Investor's Business Daily, "coerces banks into making loans based on political correctness, and little else to people who can't afford them." Though this was originally passed in 1977, under our first black President, Bill Clinton, it was dramatically reinforced. Starting in 1994, the Clinton team of Cisneros, Reno, and Cuomo began a staunch anti-redlining campaign. As a result, minority homeownership rates rose sharply. Economist William T. Gavin, a vice president at the St. Louis Fed wrote in 2006:
One of the stated goals of current and past administrations since the Great Depression has been to increase home ownership. After remaining relatively stable around 64 percent, the rate of home ownership has risen to 69 percent in the past decade. This uptrend has been driven by a sharp rise in the rate of home ownership among young, minority and low-income households. (Hat tip, Taki)This idea of giving away mortgages (aka subprime mortgages) is supported by the false assumption that real estate values will appreciate forever. When that ceases to be the case, or when other spending priorities overwhelm the purchasing power of the mortgage holder...can you say $4 per gallon gasoline?...thought you could, the defaults begin. With over $1 Trillion in subprime mortgages out there, there was going to be some hurt. Here's a headline from 2001:
Fannie Mae's Targeted Community Reinvestment Act Loan Volume Passes $10 Billion Mark; Expanded Purchasing Efforts Help Lenders Meet Both Market Needs and CRA Goals
This is from a press release by Fannie Mae...wait, it gets better:
Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE), the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages, today announced that its acquisition volume of specially-targeted Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans passed the $10 billion threshhold in the second quarter of 2001, reaching that milestone more than one and a half years ahead of schedule.
In the spring of 1999, Fannie Mae pledged to purchase at least $10 billion in CRA loans by the end of the year 2002.
The progress of Fannie Mae's CRA transactions volume was announced today by Jamie Gorelick, Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae, at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Secondary Mortgage Conference in Orlando, Florida.
"Our approach to our lenders is `CRA Your Way'," Gorelick said. "Fannie Mae will buy CRA loans from lenders' portfolios; we'll package them into securities; we'll purchase CRA mortgages at the point of origination; and we'll create customized CRA-targeted securities. This expanded approach has improved liquidity in the secondary market for CRA product, and has helped our lenders leverage even more CRA lending. Lenders now have the flexibility to use their own, customized loan products," Gorelick said.
Q: So Fannie Mae was buying up the CRA forced mortgages...and in 2001 they passed $10 BILLION? And why is Jamie Gorelick's name in there???? WTF?????
A: I see you are upset, sir, please put the weapon down.
That's right. Fannie bought up the CRA loans regardless of the type of loan product that had been created. So did Freddie. The Clinton administration pressured Fannie and Freddie to "socialize the risk and guarantee the profit from the subprime loans" (IBD, 12/1/08) and this in turn got Wall Street interested as these instruments were securitized, bundled up and re-sold. That is where HR7094 comes in.
HR 7094 states in it's opening paragraph that the purpose of the bill is:
To establish a term certain for the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to provide conditions for continued operation of such enterprises, and to provide for the wind down of such operations and the dissolution of such enterprises.
Wind up and dissolution. To borrow from Joseph Schumpeter, it is time for some "creative destruction." This is the process where capitalism heals itself. By allowing institutions that have become ineffective or downright destructive to die instead of being nursed along by the government, markets create demand for new products, services, jobs and growth.
But back to the tunnels. Congress, especially a Democrat controlled one, cannot see what they have done. Bringing these two bills to the floor where they can be openly discussed and debated will take us back in time to the beginning of our troubles...the Donks simply cannot afford to go there. Instead, they will keep wandering through the tunnels, scribbling incoherent statements on the wall and allowing a pliant press to cover it all up.
Einstein once said that "you can't solve problems with the same mind-set that got you into the problem in the first place." To bail out Fannie and Freddie without planning for their dissolution and to leave the CRA in place is to invite a repeat of the current disaster somewhere down the road. Put another way, it's no use in bailing out the row boat if you don't plug the leak first.
I don't advocate for action much in these posts, but I will in this instance. Go here - find your Congressman and send them a note demanding that HR 7264 and HR 7094 be brought to the floor and debated publicly immediately.
Don't expect immediate action...I have lobbied on the Hill in my past. Maybe that's why this seemed so familiar:
Rumble on!
Post note: Danvers has been "re-used" - it is now a luxury condo community called Avalon Danvers...call me superstitious, but I'm not sure I could live there...here's a pic:
So I'm A Sappy Guy
I watched Wall-E with my fiancee last night, and I have to say, it WAAAAAY surpassed both of our expectations.
I wanted to see the movie in the theaters because I had heard it was a good movie, and she didn't want to see it at all. We sat down to watch it and I was fully interested in it after about 5 minutes, and she was enthralled after about 30.
Long story short, the movie is visually and conceptually amazing, and a very good movie to watch with your significant other.
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 5 (short-form notes)
2006 Jean-Max Roger SANCERRE ROSÉ “Cuvée La Grange Dimière” (Loire, France) -- This Pinot Noir rose had a beautiful light salmon pink color, with a fresh nose of minerals, flowers, and strawberry/cherry. Refreshing and bone dry, with ripe fruit and excellent acidity.
2005 Domaine de la Noblaie CHINON “Les Chiens-Chiens” (Loire, France) -- Classic Loire Cabernet Franc nose and flavors: mineral and walnut oil, and herbal black cherry. Medium-full body and bone dry, stony black cherry skin flavors with underbrush and tomato notes.
2006 Razor’s Edge SHIRAZ (75%)-GRENACHE (25%) (McLaren Vale, Australia) -- Tastes like it’s got more Grenache than Shiraz, rather than the other way around, with great kirsch and spice aromas, medium full body, and ripe, sweet cherry/raspberry and earth flavors. Excellent buy at $13.99.
2005 Domaine de la Noblaie CHINON “Les Chiens-Chiens” (Loire, France) -- Classic Loire Cabernet Franc nose and flavors: mineral and walnut oil, and herbal black cherry. Medium-full body and bone dry, stony black cherry skin flavors with underbrush and tomato notes.
2006 Razor’s Edge SHIRAZ (75%)-GRENACHE (25%) (McLaren Vale, Australia) -- Tastes like it’s got more Grenache than Shiraz, rather than the other way around, with great kirsch and spice aromas, medium full body, and ripe, sweet cherry/raspberry and earth flavors. Excellent buy at $13.99.
Spies Like Us
The National Intelligence Council's "Global Trends 2025" is a report that jumbles the thoughts of all 17 of our intelligence agencies into a periodic piece that is pretty much worthless the day it is published. Here are the four central "findings" in the report just released: 
Now there is some truth in each of these points, but let's take them one at a time.
1) The whole international system will be revolutionized...Brazil, India, China and Russia bring new stakes. Fair enough. The hegemony of U.S. power will wane and these four rising superstars will gain equal footing with the United States. Let's start with GDP - here's 2005, which is the closest year for comparing:
USA: $ 12,416,510,000,000
China: $ 2,234,297,000,000
Brazil: $ 796,055,200,000
India: $ 805,713,800,000
Russia: $ 763,720,000,000
Those other four nations put together are about 1/3 of the US's GDP. On a per capita basis, the numbers are more stark:
USA: $39,319.40
Russia: $9,821.52 (Just ahead of Botswana)
Brazil: $7,967.52 (Three below Grenada)
China: $5,453.31 (Just above Swaziland)
India: $3,113. 10 (Just below Djibouti)
I point this out because inherent in growth will be the needs of the populace. The citizens of all these nations will place a lot of demands upon their governments in their ascension.
Can each of these field militaries that could pose regional problems for the United States? Absolutely. Fortunately, Brazil and India seem to get along pretty well with the US. Russia has been reduced to being a pain in the arse...float some old cruiser down to Venezuela and call that "projection of power?" I remember hunting submarines in the "Box" off Bermuda when the Soviets were a serious contender. Russia, now? Mmmm, not so much. China is aggressively pursuing a blue water navy, but are years away from being able to project conventional power.
2. The transfer of wealth from west to east will continue. Now how long did these cats have to think about this one? As long as we are unwilling to pursue our own energy sources and do it as a matter of national security, it doesn't take a rocket science to figure this one out. BUT, there are limits. In the "tip of the iceberg" category, Yemen will be out of oil by 2012. The consequences of that are dramatic enough with piracy becoming so common in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but they are also indicators of what will eventually happen throughout the Middle East...some oil experts believe even mighty oily Saudi Arabia has reached peak production. The point being, the transfer of wealth, though huge enough when oil is at $140 per barrel, let alone $65, but it will begin to slow and reverse course over the next twenty five years, not continue. If we wanted to be adults about our energy policy and not "hope for change" to come from some green revolution, we would put all hands on deck and build nuclear power plants, coal gasification facilities and drill for our own oil.
3.) Thomas Malthus redux. This Malthusian vision of 1.5 billion more people eating the crops like hordes of locusts probably will not materialize. First - Russia, like most of Europe and Japan are headed for demographic meltdowns with death rates surpassing population replacement birth rates. Second, with economic growth, population rates slow and level off. There is evidence that China has already begun that process. The population growth rate of the United States at .88% is ahead of China's .63%.
4) The Middle East will continue to be a hell hole. Again, which group of Einsteins thought this one up? See #2 above.
NOW, what was not said and what should have been included in this are some key intelligence observations made from my living room in Tennessee:
1. The single greatest threat to world stability for the foreseeable future will be radical Islam. Muslims pose a demographic threat to Europe, Russia, China and India (as we have just graphically seen these past few days). To continue to coddle these vicious bastards and not go to the sources - Saudi Arabia and Iran - will keep bloodshed around the world at an unacceptable level.
2. The nation that poses the single greatest threat to world stability is the Radical Islamic Republic of Iran. The thought that they could be anywhere near a nuclear weapon is beyond the pale. If you've never heard of an EMP, you should read this.
3. If we don't pursue energy independence in the United States, we will find ourselves continuously exposed to the whims of radical Islamists, Gulf of Aden pirates and a whole lot of hurt. I am all in favor of the clean, green technologies and believe that they should be developed alongside of the primitive ones that we know work - nuclear, oil, coal. But regardless, let's break the bonds that chain us to a region that will continue to be a wreck.
4. The United States will increasingly find ourselves with fewer friends. Europe is a demographic basket case...here's a little sampling from Pew Research:
Rumble on!
- The whole international system—as constructed following WWII—will be revolutionized. Not only will new players—Brazil, Russia, India and China— have a seat at the international high table, they will bring new stakes and rules of the game.
- The unprecedented transfer of wealth roughly from West to East now under way will continue for the foreseeable future.
- Unprecedented economic growth, coupled with 1.5 billion more people, will put pressure on resources—particularly energy, food, and water—raising the specter of scarcities emerging as demand outstrips supply.
- The potential for conflict will increase owing partly to political turbulence in parts of the greater Middle East.
Now there is some truth in each of these points, but let's take them one at a time.
1) The whole international system will be revolutionized...Brazil, India, China and Russia bring new stakes. Fair enough. The hegemony of U.S. power will wane and these four rising superstars will gain equal footing with the United States. Let's start with GDP - here's 2005, which is the closest year for comparing:
USA: $ 12,416,510,000,000
China: $ 2,234,297,000,000
Brazil: $ 796,055,200,000
India: $ 805,713,800,000
Russia: $ 763,720,000,000
Those other four nations put together are about 1/3 of the US's GDP. On a per capita basis, the numbers are more stark:
USA: $39,319.40
Russia: $9,821.52 (Just ahead of Botswana)
Brazil: $7,967.52 (Three below Grenada)
China: $5,453.31 (Just above Swaziland)
India: $3,113. 10 (Just below Djibouti)
I point this out because inherent in growth will be the needs of the populace. The citizens of all these nations will place a lot of demands upon their governments in their ascension.
Can each of these field militaries that could pose regional problems for the United States? Absolutely. Fortunately, Brazil and India seem to get along pretty well with the US. Russia has been reduced to being a pain in the arse...float some old cruiser down to Venezuela and call that "projection of power?" I remember hunting submarines in the "Box" off Bermuda when the Soviets were a serious contender. Russia, now? Mmmm, not so much. China is aggressively pursuing a blue water navy, but are years away from being able to project conventional power.
2. The transfer of wealth from west to east will continue. Now how long did these cats have to think about this one? As long as we are unwilling to pursue our own energy sources and do it as a matter of national security, it doesn't take a rocket science to figure this one out. BUT, there are limits. In the "tip of the iceberg" category, Yemen will be out of oil by 2012. The consequences of that are dramatic enough with piracy becoming so common in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but they are also indicators of what will eventually happen throughout the Middle East...some oil experts believe even mighty oily Saudi Arabia has reached peak production. The point being, the transfer of wealth, though huge enough when oil is at $140 per barrel, let alone $65, but it will begin to slow and reverse course over the next twenty five years, not continue. If we wanted to be adults about our energy policy and not "hope for change" to come from some green revolution, we would put all hands on deck and build nuclear power plants, coal gasification facilities and drill for our own oil.
3.) Thomas Malthus redux. This Malthusian vision of 1.5 billion more people eating the crops like hordes of locusts probably will not materialize. First - Russia, like most of Europe and Japan are headed for demographic meltdowns with death rates surpassing population replacement birth rates. Second, with economic growth, population rates slow and level off. There is evidence that China has already begun that process. The population growth rate of the United States at .88% is ahead of China's .63%.
4) The Middle East will continue to be a hell hole. Again, which group of Einsteins thought this one up? See #2 above.
NOW, what was not said and what should have been included in this are some key intelligence observations made from my living room in Tennessee:
1. The single greatest threat to world stability for the foreseeable future will be radical Islam. Muslims pose a demographic threat to Europe, Russia, China and India (as we have just graphically seen these past few days). To continue to coddle these vicious bastards and not go to the sources - Saudi Arabia and Iran - will keep bloodshed around the world at an unacceptable level.
2. The nation that poses the single greatest threat to world stability is the Radical Islamic Republic of Iran. The thought that they could be anywhere near a nuclear weapon is beyond the pale. If you've never heard of an EMP, you should read this.
3. If we don't pursue energy independence in the United States, we will find ourselves continuously exposed to the whims of radical Islamists, Gulf of Aden pirates and a whole lot of hurt. I am all in favor of the clean, green technologies and believe that they should be developed alongside of the primitive ones that we know work - nuclear, oil, coal. But regardless, let's break the bonds that chain us to a region that will continue to be a wreck.
4. The United States will increasingly find ourselves with fewer friends. Europe is a demographic basket case...here's a little sampling from Pew Research:
Islam is already the fastest-growing religion in Europe. Driven by immigration and high birthrates, the number of Muslims on the continent has tripled in the last 30 years. Most demographers forecast a similar or even higher rate of growth in the coming decades.The social impact of this growing population is magnified by a low birthrate among native Europeans. After a post-World War II baby boom, birthrates in Europe have dropped to an average of 1.45 children per couple, far below the 2.1 needed to keep population growth at replacement levels. The continent that gave the rest of the world tens of millions of immigrants and Thomas Malthaus' dire predictions of overpopulation is now faced with a shrinking populace.
Amid these demographic shifts lies a host of social challenges. While many European Muslims have become successful in their new homes, many others do not speak their host country's language well, if at all, and are often jobless and poor. Moreover, segregation, whether by choice or necessity, is common, with large numbers of Muslims living in ghettos where the crime and poverty rates are high.
My guess (hope) is that England will come to it's senses and avert the demographic nightmare that will probably play out on the continent. If so,we can count them to be alongside. Ditto the other English speaking nations - Australia, India and a reluctant New Zealand. Japan's power will wane (negative population growth), but she will remain alongside too. Brazil and Columbia offer hope for us in South America. The rest of the world? Not good.
5. The United States will either stem the tide of Mexican illegal immigration or risk the balkanization of our country with large sections of the Southwest and California more concerned about Mexico than the United States.
Despite the election of Obama, I still have an unshakable faith in the goodness of America, and a firm belief that we will remain the "city on the hill," that will help lead the world away from tyranny. We have succeeded in destroying fascist tyranny. Communist tyranny, with the exception of kooks like Hugo Chavez, is on the run. Next up, Islamic tyranny...I believe that we will prevail, but this will be the longest fight yet. There are no clear battle lines and often the enemy is among us. But if we remian true to ourselves and the founding principles of our nation, we will prevail.
Besides, only in America can we produce comedy like this:
Rumble on!
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 4 (Thanksgiving Dinner) (short-form notes)
2004 Rosenblum Santa Barbara County SYRAH “Appellation Series” -- A good buy in the usually overpriced California Syrah market, this $15 bottle had dense color, full body, and lush texture, and deep-toned roasted meat, graphite, and blackberry scents.
2002 Domaine Francois Lamarche GRANDS ECHEZEAUX (Burgundy) -- This was good, but a disappointment for its pedigree. Very lean, tart cherry and minerals flavors emerged only after long decanting, and it lacked the depth and complexity I expected from this Grand Cru vineyard. If I had tasted it blind, I would have probably guessed it was a regular village bottling from Fixin or Monthelie (due to the lean, hard style). For my money, I’ll take an Oregon Pinot Noir over Burgundy 9 times out of 10. Should have bought a lottery ticket instead. I’ll remember to give thanks next Turkey Day not to have dropped a C-note on another disappointing burgundy.
2002 Domaine Francois Lamarche GRANDS ECHEZEAUX (Burgundy) -- This was good, but a disappointment for its pedigree. Very lean, tart cherry and minerals flavors emerged only after long decanting, and it lacked the depth and complexity I expected from this Grand Cru vineyard. If I had tasted it blind, I would have probably guessed it was a regular village bottling from Fixin or Monthelie (due to the lean, hard style). For my money, I’ll take an Oregon Pinot Noir over Burgundy 9 times out of 10. Should have bought a lottery ticket instead. I’ll remember to give thanks next Turkey Day not to have dropped a C-note on another disappointing burgundy.
Happy Thanksgiving
I would like to wish all RSC readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Take some time today to think about the things you have to be thankful for.
I am thankful for a God who takes a personal interest in my life and wants the best for me. I am thankful for my family who I love with all of my heart. I am thankful for the greatest country on Earth where there is unequaled opportunity for even the most disadvantaged to become successful. I am thankful that Democrats control the White House and Congress with a virtually unstoppable majority because that means in four years we'll be back. I am thankful for true conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Mike Pense, Jim Inhofe, and others who understand that conservatism will prevail if we just put forth the effort.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for a God who takes a personal interest in my life and wants the best for me. I am thankful for my family who I love with all of my heart. I am thankful for the greatest country on Earth where there is unequaled opportunity for even the most disadvantaged to become successful. I am thankful that Democrats control the White House and Congress with a virtually unstoppable majority because that means in four years we'll be back. I am thankful for true conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Mike Pense, Jim Inhofe, and others who understand that conservatism will prevail if we just put forth the effort.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Al Qaeda Goal To Cripple Amtrak Northeast Corridor
The FBI warned that Al Qaeda terrorists aim to cripple the Northeast Corridor with an attack on Penn Central and Grand Central Stations in New York as the centerpiece of their assault on the nation's most important subway and rail system. In response to the threat uniformed officers of the NYPD counter terrorism squad as well as Amtrak security armed with M-16's were in force in response to "unconfirmed but credible" reports the reported terrorist threat.
Terror in Mumbai
Awful news from India today. Using AK-47s and grenades terrorists calling themselves the Deccan Mujahideen, a previously unknown group sought foreign tourists particularly British and American citizens as hostages and targets for their attacks.
Homeschoolers Under Attack
I have absolutely no faith in the American public school system. That is not a criticism of parents who send their children to public schools because many have no other option.Just like our government is now controlled by liberals, so is our public education system. That is why the United States is nowhere near the top in test scores. We are truly dumbing down our country.
Some parents see the seriousness of this issue and choose to homeschool or to send their children to private school. I commend those parents who are able to do this.
This drives liberals absolutely crazy! They can't control private schools and homeschoolers. Children in these situations are typically taught from a conservative perspective and they are a threat to the liberal agenda that is being crammed down the throats of public school students.
Liberals have tried various methods to get control of homeschoolers. They have attempted to require teaching parents to have a bachelor's degree in education. They force homeschoolers to take tests that are concocted by the liberal public education system. They have consistently tried to intimidate homeschoolers by conducting random visits by liberal social workers who were educated in the liberal public school system. These people think they have unlimited power and can do anything they want - including trampling on the U.S. Constitution.
I warn you. If you have hypertension or are easily stressed, do not follow the link below. Reading these stories shows you how far we have fallen as a country. If a social worker had done these things even as little as 50 years ago, they would have been physically thrown off the property.
Homeschooler Nightmares
H/T: NB
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 3 (short-form notes)
2006 Chateau Calabre MONTRAVEL (Blanc) (France) -- This 50% Sauvignon Blanc/40% Semillon/10% Muscadelle blend from the fringes of the Bordeaux region was light, very soft, and featured refreshing bitter grapefruit and mineral flavors.
2004 Castello di Bossi CHIANTI CLASSICO (Tuscany, Italy) -- Old school. This Chianti sported classic old school aromas of earth, leather, and brandy-macerated cherries, and was lean and food-friendly.
2002 Domaine Martin Schaetzel RIESLING GRAND CRU RANGEN (Alsace, France) -- ZOWIE! What a wine! Unfathomably rich, yet refreshing at the same time. Nose of apricots, honey, Earl Grey tea, and minerals. Broad, intense, and long in the mouth. This wasn’t totally dry, but was still a great pairing with pecan-wood grilled flounder and shrimp. From a biodynamic producer who flies under the radar of most wine geeks.
2004 Castello di Bossi CHIANTI CLASSICO (Tuscany, Italy) -- Old school. This Chianti sported classic old school aromas of earth, leather, and brandy-macerated cherries, and was lean and food-friendly.
2002 Domaine Martin Schaetzel RIESLING GRAND CRU RANGEN (Alsace, France) -- ZOWIE! What a wine! Unfathomably rich, yet refreshing at the same time. Nose of apricots, honey, Earl Grey tea, and minerals. Broad, intense, and long in the mouth. This wasn’t totally dry, but was still a great pairing with pecan-wood grilled flounder and shrimp. From a biodynamic producer who flies under the radar of most wine geeks.
MSNBC: Shameless. Classless. Clueless.
Obama did not need his own channel on Dish Network. He already had (and has) MSNBC (Mostly Stupid National Barack Channel).A few years ago I had a little respect for Chris Matthews. Even when some conservative talk radio hosts were saying he was a liberal. Well, I was wrong. I have gone from some respect to no respect to disrespect of Hardball and Chris Matthews. He's on the same level as Keith Ogremann.
Hardball cannot be happy with the fact that Obama has won and will soon be crowned king. They are making sure they get final pot shots in at George W. Bush before he leaves office. There is nothing journalistic about what they are doing. It is nothing more than petty, angry, liberal hatred. (Yes, I know Chris Matthews wasn't hosting but tell me he isn't in love with Obama.)
I really wish you people would grow up and stop acting like a bunch of teenage gangstas.
H/T: NB
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 2 (short-form notes)
1998 Marcarini BAROLO “Brunate” (Piemonte, Italy) -- Seemingly lean and devoid of fruit at first, after a couple of hours of breathing in a decanter, this Barolo opened up and show classic Nebbiolo scents of dried cherries, leather, and minerals. On the palate, this wine showed a more feminine style (almost Barbaresco-ish) than I expected. Very nice and could even last a couple more years.
2001 Guilhem Durand SYRAH “Vieilles Vignes” (Southern France) -- This cheap red had been tucked away in my wine closet for several years. I had been afraid to open it because I thought it was in a state of advanced decrepitude, but figured “what the heck” and popped and decanted it. What a surprise! The color was still youthful, and the wine was full, ripe, and complex, with big scents of dried cassis, eucalyptus, and minerally, wet earth. Tannin has all dropped away , leaving a soft, long finish.
2006 Martin Schaetzel PINOT BLANC “Vieillles Vignes” (Alsace, France) -- Ripe, soft, simple, and peachy.
2006 Mollydooker SHIRAZ “The Boxer” (South Australia) -- A tremendously rich, mouth-coating wine. Loads of flavor, with minerally-graphite and cassis extract flavors predominating.
2005 Turley ZINFANDEL “Ueberroth Vineyard” (Paso Robles, Cal.) -- Intense in every sense of the word: intense boysenberry fruit, intense rock-dust minerality, intense body, and intense acidity. Great with mesquite/pecan wood grilled porterhouses.
2001 Guilhem Durand SYRAH “Vieilles Vignes” (Southern France) -- This cheap red had been tucked away in my wine closet for several years. I had been afraid to open it because I thought it was in a state of advanced decrepitude, but figured “what the heck” and popped and decanted it. What a surprise! The color was still youthful, and the wine was full, ripe, and complex, with big scents of dried cassis, eucalyptus, and minerally, wet earth. Tannin has all dropped away , leaving a soft, long finish.
2006 Martin Schaetzel PINOT BLANC “Vieillles Vignes” (Alsace, France) -- Ripe, soft, simple, and peachy.
2006 Mollydooker SHIRAZ “The Boxer” (South Australia) -- A tremendously rich, mouth-coating wine. Loads of flavor, with minerally-graphite and cassis extract flavors predominating.
2005 Turley ZINFANDEL “Ueberroth Vineyard” (Paso Robles, Cal.) -- Intense in every sense of the word: intense boysenberry fruit, intense rock-dust minerality, intense body, and intense acidity. Great with mesquite/pecan wood grilled porterhouses.
Let's Talk Turkey
It seems that big city media people are completely clueless about how the rest of the country works. They wake up every day in their 800 square foot studio apartment, make a cup of cappuccino, stroll down the sidewalk then up to their office on the 47th floor while eating a bagel, sit down at their desk and make absolutely no contribution to this country. However, this is a free country and if that is what makes them happy, then so be it.What I have a problem with is their view of the rest of the country. The have the audacity to criticize those who bust their tails every day to make sure those "holier than thou" media types have food, fuel, wood, paper, and more. They call them hay seed hicks, mouth breathers, and knuckle draggers. They look down on those who dare to vote for anyone other than a liberal like Obama.
These media types have no clue. If you asked the media where turkeys come from, I would almost best the majority of them would say "the supermarket." And where did all of those feathers go? Did they just fall off? Did the turkey take a shower before it walked to the supermarket so it would be clean when you bought it?
The reaction by the media to Sarah Palin's turkey video reinforces the fact that they are way out of touch with regular Americans. And these are the people who tell us what we should believe and how we should vote. MSNBC was particularly bad. They were posting their own snide remarks on the screen during the video calling Sarah Palin "oblivious".
Listen you morons! She wasn't oblivious. She understands how turkey farming works, something you apparently haven't a clue about. Just go home and eat your veggie burger! You people make me sick!
Wines from Grandma and Nonno’s visit -- Part 1 (short-form notes)
Mom and Dad are visiting from Massachusetts, so I'm not going to have time to do the full version of the tasting notes, if experience is any guiide. So here are the Reader's Digest notes of the first batch:
2004 Verget VIRÉ -CLESSÉ “Vieilles Vignes de Roally” (Burgundy, France) -- a terrifically rich, dry, ripe, minmerally Maconnais Chardonnay with poire William and melon-scented fruit. Loaded with character, and soft as a summer breeze. Great.
2006 Luzon (Jumila, Spain) -- a great value ($8 and change) in a Monastrell/Syrah . Ripe, rich, full, balanced.
2001 Guigal CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE (Rhone Valley, France) -- At its peak, this was a very elegantly-textured wine, with classic Provencal scents of smoky herbs from the garrigue, and iron-y cassis/blackberry fruit.
2005 Rene Barth RIESLING “Vignoble de Bennwihr” (Alsace, France) -- A classically austere style of Alsace Riesling: lots of pungent, stony minerality and lemon-lime fruit. Crisp and bone dry.
2005 Tenuta la Cipressaia CHIANTI COLLI FIORENTINI (Tuscany, Italy) -- A medium-bodied, tight but food-friendly Sangiovese, with crisp cherry mineral flavors and and some tannin in the finish.
2004 Verget VIRÉ -CLESSÉ “Vieilles Vignes de Roally” (Burgundy, France) -- a terrifically rich, dry, ripe, minmerally Maconnais Chardonnay with poire William and melon-scented fruit. Loaded with character, and soft as a summer breeze. Great.
2006 Luzon (Jumila, Spain) -- a great value ($8 and change) in a Monastrell/Syrah . Ripe, rich, full, balanced.
2001 Guigal CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE (Rhone Valley, France) -- At its peak, this was a very elegantly-textured wine, with classic Provencal scents of smoky herbs from the garrigue, and iron-y cassis/blackberry fruit.
2005 Rene Barth RIESLING “Vignoble de Bennwihr” (Alsace, France) -- A classically austere style of Alsace Riesling: lots of pungent, stony minerality and lemon-lime fruit. Crisp and bone dry.
2005 Tenuta la Cipressaia CHIANTI COLLI FIORENTINI (Tuscany, Italy) -- A medium-bodied, tight but food-friendly Sangiovese, with crisp cherry mineral flavors and and some tannin in the finish.
A Big Tent Revival
One of the big themes that is emerging early in the post-election circular firing squad that is the Republican Party of today is that social conservatives cost McCain the election and that they need to be drummed out of the party. If it wasn't for the Jesus-freaks, McCain would have won in a landslide, because they really creep the Independents out. It was all that Bible-thumping that "Youbetcha" Palin was doing that scared the electorate away. Strange how facts can get in the way...this from the First Amendment Center right here in little ol' Nashville:
Come again...did you just say 65%? Now I am not in favor of establishing a Christian nation. But I am a strong supporter of religion's role in the public forum and feel that much has been lost without it. I was over at another blogsite arguing a similar point. There is a tremendous misunderstanding that has made it into our common belief system. It is the notion that the first amendment guaranteed us "separation of church and state" AND that such separation means that church stuff is allowed nowhere near state stuff...ixnay, onay, don't go there! Well, as Sargeant Friday might say, "just the facts ma'am:"
1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion... they did not want a national church a la Church of England. Escaping from the clutches of a state run church once is enough for a lifetime, ask the refugees from the Taliban.
2. ...or prohibiting free exercise thereof... OK, that's the freedom of religion part.
3. ...or abridging the freedom of: speech, the press, right to assemble, right to petition the government. - nothing in here about the Church shall not be allowed anywhere near a government building.
So, the country-club-republicans (and their liberal allies) want us to believe that if it wasn't for fear of some Christian Christ Centric Clergyocracy McCain would have won. And, following that logic one step further, if ONLY he had gone more to the center, Republicans would not have experienced a rout. Well, what are the facts? This from a study over at American University:
Furthermore, Catholics, whose values line up with the Christian Right voted for Barry O 54% to 45%. Sadly, Catholics voted for the most pro-abortion candidate in history. Despite a terrific performance in the Saddleback forum, McCain simply did not energize Catholics enough to make them overcome the excitement around BHO. So let me sum up the election thusly (and I have already done so extensively in an earlier post):
1. Republicans lost because the Democrats had a far better candidate who ran as a CONSERVATIVE! (Tax cuts, hold people responsible, hope for America, yadda yadda yadda). Our guy ran as a moderate - err, I mean, "maverick."
2. They did NOT lose because the values held by the Christian right turned off a large percentage of the electorate. They lost because other than Sarah Palin and a brief show of hands at Saddleback, the campaign expressed NO VALUES. We didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings!
If we can get over the idea that Social Conservatives need to be thrown overboard, then we can get back to the notion that I advance which is this. The American people are hungry for religion and values to be part of the national discussion. They are sick and tired of having to say "Happy Holidays" to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. They are sick and tired of a culture that glorifies the most sinister forms of sex and violence. They are looking for a champion of good...you know, someone like this:
We have so expunged faith and values from the public schools and the public discourse that it is no surprise that we have CEO's that behave like they do...taking millions of dollars in parachutes as they exit the companies they have wrecked. There is no remorse if your only value is to "get rich." There is no responsibility if all you see is yourself. A culture of success will not long stand if it is devoid of responsibility and remorse and we are well down that path. If the Republicans want to truly turn the ship around, they need to become a party of opposition not accomodation. They need to understand that the American people are hungry for a leadership that braves the media waters of political correctness and shouts "Stop, enough is enough." We have sacrificed our future on the altar of diversity, but it is not too late. As they adjust to the new reality of a Democrat majority (and possible super-majority in the Senate), Republicans need to embrace the groups that they have run away from in this last election cycle and get back to work reaffirming our core conservative principles. Then a candidates can be fielded that offer a true choice to the electorate instead of the choice between hot water couched in syruppy rhetoric and lukewarm water couched in dry droll. After two years of the Obamots, the American people will be ready for true change...maybe the Republicans won't screw it up this time!
Rumble on!
Sixty-five percent of Americans believe that the nation's founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation and 55% believe that the Constitution establishes a Christian nation, according to the “State of the First Amendment 2007” national survey released Sept. 11 by the First Amendment Center.
Come again...did you just say 65%? Now I am not in favor of establishing a Christian nation. But I am a strong supporter of religion's role in the public forum and feel that much has been lost without it. I was over at another blogsite arguing a similar point. There is a tremendous misunderstanding that has made it into our common belief system. It is the notion that the first amendment guaranteed us "separation of church and state" AND that such separation means that church stuff is allowed nowhere near state stuff...ixnay, onay, don't go there! Well, as Sargeant Friday might say, "just the facts ma'am:"
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Anyone recognize that? Yes, you in the back..."the First Amendment?"...correctamundo! So what were our Founding Fathers saying? Break it down:
1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion... they did not want a national church a la Church of England. Escaping from the clutches of a state run church once is enough for a lifetime, ask the refugees from the Taliban.
2. ...or prohibiting free exercise thereof... OK, that's the freedom of religion part.
3. ...or abridging the freedom of: speech, the press, right to assemble, right to petition the government. - nothing in here about the Church shall not be allowed anywhere near a government building.
So, the country-club-republicans (and their liberal allies) want us to believe that if it wasn't for fear of some Christian Christ Centric Clergyocracy McCain would have won. And, following that logic one step further, if ONLY he had gone more to the center, Republicans would not have experienced a rout. Well, what are the facts? This from a study over at American University:
A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout. The percentage of eligible citizens voting Republican declined to 28.7 percent down 1.3 percentage points from 2004. Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 percentage points from 28.7 percent of eligibles to 31.3 percent.Consider this too - Obama was very clever not to offend the Christian Right. This from a pro-Hillary leftist site:
The big story here is the Christian right. While ostensibly, the Saddleback debate put McCain on top and no one showed up at Obama’s Values tour, it is clear to me that deals were made behind closed doors.
The anecdote about the Bush voter who stayed home because this time his pastor didn’t tell him to go is even more significant if one considers the passage of proposition 8 in California.
The Obama campaign allowed Obama’s voice to be used in robocalls saying Obama opposed gay marriage.
B0bots were not told to vote against it. They did vote for a proposition taking care of chickens. left the gays out - as price for the Christian right staying home.
During the primary, Bush’s spiritual adviser endorsed Obama. Said he told Bush about it and agreed. Bush in turn added: He (Obama) is a good man.
Look at the numbers again: PUMAs voting McCain might have overcame the - REAL - new voters.
The real difference in numbers is the nearly 6 million Bush voters whose ministers didn’t tell to go out and vote.
Furthermore, Catholics, whose values line up with the Christian Right voted for Barry O 54% to 45%. Sadly, Catholics voted for the most pro-abortion candidate in history. Despite a terrific performance in the Saddleback forum, McCain simply did not energize Catholics enough to make them overcome the excitement around BHO. So let me sum up the election thusly (and I have already done so extensively in an earlier post):
1. Republicans lost because the Democrats had a far better candidate who ran as a CONSERVATIVE! (Tax cuts, hold people responsible, hope for America, yadda yadda yadda). Our guy ran as a moderate - err, I mean, "maverick."
2. They did NOT lose because the values held by the Christian right turned off a large percentage of the electorate. They lost because other than Sarah Palin and a brief show of hands at Saddleback, the campaign expressed NO VALUES. We didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings!
If we can get over the idea that Social Conservatives need to be thrown overboard, then we can get back to the notion that I advance which is this. The American people are hungry for religion and values to be part of the national discussion. They are sick and tired of having to say "Happy Holidays" to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. They are sick and tired of a culture that glorifies the most sinister forms of sex and violence. They are looking for a champion of good...you know, someone like this:
We have so expunged faith and values from the public schools and the public discourse that it is no surprise that we have CEO's that behave like they do...taking millions of dollars in parachutes as they exit the companies they have wrecked. There is no remorse if your only value is to "get rich." There is no responsibility if all you see is yourself. A culture of success will not long stand if it is devoid of responsibility and remorse and we are well down that path. If the Republicans want to truly turn the ship around, they need to become a party of opposition not accomodation. They need to understand that the American people are hungry for a leadership that braves the media waters of political correctness and shouts "Stop, enough is enough." We have sacrificed our future on the altar of diversity, but it is not too late. As they adjust to the new reality of a Democrat majority (and possible super-majority in the Senate), Republicans need to embrace the groups that they have run away from in this last election cycle and get back to work reaffirming our core conservative principles. Then a candidates can be fielded that offer a true choice to the electorate instead of the choice between hot water couched in syruppy rhetoric and lukewarm water couched in dry droll. After two years of the Obamots, the American people will be ready for true change...maybe the Republicans won't screw it up this time!
Rumble on!
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