December 31, 2012

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Wishing all of you a happy new year and a wonderful and successful 2013.


December 30, 2012

Descent Trajectory 2013-2016

I've been game theory playing out some of the scenarios for the fiscal cliff negotiations and I could not come to any outcome where the negotiations were successful prior to hitting the cliff deadline.  What I was able to conclude, was that it's not a cliff.  If it truly were a cliff, there would not be negotiations, only action to halt it. If you were in a car headed towards a cliff, you would not be in a debate about whether to turn the steering wheel or hit the brakes.  So take as a given that a deal does not get reached - barring complete capitulation by the Republicans, which seems to be not entirely out of the question.  Indeed at this point even if enough Republicans were to side with Democrats, it's too late to stop the car going over the cliff Thelma and Louise style.

Succinct Summary of 2012

In short, 2012 sucked from a conservative perspective.  America re-elected the wrong guy.  If all you want to read is the headline, you can stop there.  But slightly less succinct is the following summary.

There were some horrible shootings in Connecticut and Colorado.   While this part is not news, liberal Democrats blamed the guns rather than the shooters. 

Republicans nominated a weak nominee in one Mitt Romney.  While this part was completely predictable, many conservatives thought on the strength of one VP selection, one conservative speech and one good debate soundly defeating Obama, he was suddenly a cinch to win the White House.

Not Mayans, it's Democrats' debt that flood America.
Despite massive unemployment and crushing new Obama-induced debt, President Obama won the White House, proving many polls correct and many polls wrong.  What happened to the polls?  Predictably Republicans were left scratching their heads.

Meanwhile Republicans maintained control of the Congress and Democrats kept the Senate.   America, foolishly voted for the status quo.  Foolishly? Yes, because...

Finally, the fiscal cliff on the Bush Tax rates and government spending cap and the sequester mandated cuts to the military and social programs looms with only days left to reach an agreement.  President Obama seems to be fine with the cliff diving.  He has tactical reasons to be okay with it.  Meanwhile Republicans will not come out of this looking good.  They look disorganized, they're still being unfairly portrayed as the party looking out for the rich rather than for everyone, and they are going to get caught seemingly reactive to new plans from the president.

Meanwhile in foreign affairs, the world became a much less safe place because president Nobel Peace Prize,  Captain Capitulate & Apologize just doesn't get it.  Everything else, from the Mayan Apocalypse to Whitney Houston is not that relevant. 


December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my readers and friends.and a belated Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish readers and friends.


December 21, 2012

Mayan Apocalypse Check-In

It's been a bit longer than I'd like since I've posted - I've been busy with family stuff and getting ready for Christmas.  But I thought it'd be worth checking in and letting you know that I'm still here and as far as this portion of the planet goes, the Mayan Apocalypse has not yet happened.

Not happening.
On the downside, my PVR is freezing up today, but hey, that's nothing to worry about unless I end up missing something worth recording.

Also, not happening.
Barring some global catastrophe in the next 11+ hours (or even fewer in the Eastern Hemisphere) I'll be back soon to talk about the real threat - the fiscal apocalypse better (but inaccurately) known as the fiscal cliff.

You might not get to see Emilio Estevez fighting a demonic clown truck, but you might see a significant, personal financial impact that you won't be happy with.  It will go beyond the fiscal budget.  It will mean giving up something tangible and personal.  And if you don't choose, as a nation something specific to cut back on, the choice will be made for you by elected representatives and it won't be pleasant.

Apologies for the tangent. Enjoy the rest of the Mayan Apocalypse.

December 17, 2012

Newtown tragedy leads liberals to jump the gun

It's saddening when there's a tragedy, particularly one involving children.  I have children and I cannot imagine a world where they are taken away, particularly by senseless violence.  My prayers and thoughts are with those victims' families in Newtown, Connecticut.

But progressives have, forgive the expression, jumped the gun in their response to this act of senseless violence by a disturbed individual.
CREDO, a progressive grassroots group, is organizing a march on the National Rifle Association's lobbying arm in Washington, D.C. Monday.

"After the shooter Adam Lanza, no one is more to blame for the massacre of 20 first graders and six women at the Sandy Hook Elementary School than the National Rifle Association," CREDO wrote on the Facebook page where the march is being organized. "To stop the senseless killing we must first stop the NRA."
Here's why they've jumped the gun:

(1) This tragedy requires a period of mourning not an immediate finger pointing crusade.

(2) No one is more to blame than the NRA?  REALLY? No one is more to blame than the guy who did the killing.  Claiming the NRA as the primary culprit is immoral, misleading and self-serving hyper-partisanship. 

(3)  They're planning a march on the NRA.  Again it's premature given the first two points but more importantly it is another example of the left's attempts to demonize opponents and divide the nation.  To do so using this tragedy as a reason is downright disgusting.

(4) It's not clear how far they want to take this effort, but it's not hard to imagine the absurd extent that they could take it.  Assault rifles have to go.  And then hand guns.  And then hunting rifles. And then archery equipment and knives.  And then any type of poison that could be used instead of a gun after guns are prohibited.  And then anything that could be used to manufacture poisons.  Where does it stop?

I'll admit, guns can make mass murder easier, but would have a gun ban prevented this tragedy or others?  Perhaps the form the tragedy took but not the evil intent.  Killers have used guns in countries where they are banned.  Mass murderers have used all sorts of instruments, even Tylenol and Kool Aid.

Knee-jerk reactions we've come to expect do not make the tragedy preventable.  They're designed to make those who believe certain things feel better about themselves in light of a horrific tragedy, that's all.

December 13, 2012

FAT: Defending the problem, is the problem.

This morning I was looking around Facebook and I came across what was meant to be a humorous picture that spawned a string of comments in response that were certainly not humorous in nature.  In fact they were a fairly serious discussion.  What it struck me as was a specific example of what is wrong with America.

You can probably guess what conversation the picture (below) started.


December 11, 2012

A Re-org is in Order

I've been both too busy and too tired to blog the way that the epic win of socialism in the United States this past November has demanded. As far too many people in the United States seem content to soak their realities in a political morphine as the country drifts into a coma.  The country more than ever needs people explaining the problem to those who have become addicted to the easy answers and the false ring of the claim that nothing is terribly wrong.  The country needs a wake-up call.

My voice should be one of the many harping on that message, but my day job - survival - keeps getting in the way.  Maybe I should just keep quietly going about my own efforts at bettering myself in hopes that as America and the rest of the Western world succumb to socialism, China, debt, decaying morality and increasingly bold and aggressive national adversaries, I can further my relative position as compared to those who wish to live off the government's phony largess.  When the time comes, a socialist government will need people who can do things as much as any capitalist government does.  But, that's not my motivation. 

December 9, 2012

Open letter to American liberals

America was forged as a nation out of a legitimate distrust of government.  The The English King was replaced with a government that deliberately was designed to impede its own ability to infringe upon the rights of its citizens and its states.  For many people, over two centuries that distrust of government has ceded ground to a distrust of business - particularly big business.  Perhaps that's because for so long the government has done such a great job of restraining itself because of the decentralized nature of its power structure.

Think about it.  The Constitution has limited the powers of the federal government to those enumerate powers not given to the states.  The rights of citizens and states are paramount.  Further, the government has spread the power out between three branches - executive, legislative and judiciary.  Each have powers distinct from each other, and the legislative branch is split further between the Congress and the Senate.  In order to prevent tampering with the Constitution, the ability to make Amendments requires a really high bar be cleared.

Yet over time the interpretation of the Constitution has been the workaround that has allowed the government to encroach on the liberties of the states and the people of America.  Maybe that doesn't matter to you because you are one of the people who believe that the government has needed to encroach upon the unfettered excess of business that might otherwise take advantage of uninformed, innocent consumers.  Business is inherently dangerous because it will do anything to make money, including breaking the law, cutting corners and being unfair to customers.

But is that a fair portrayal of business?  Businesses are comprised of people making decisions.  So what you believe then is that people are self-interested to the point of being a potential danger to society.  That's a highly debatable point, but let's grant it for now.  People make bad societal decisions out of self-interest.

But it begs a question.  The government, which is supposed to be the overseer of fairness is fundamentally comprised of what?  People.  Business is made up of people and government is made up of people too.  The same self-interested people.  The people in government are not a better breed of altruistic people than everyone else.  They are people too.  They may have different motivations but they are still flawed.

If you work in government, what does self-interest look like? Job security?  Power?  It's not that different than business.

So how is it that you believe that government is immune to the supposed evil that you ascribe to business?  In fact, because government has a much greater 'mass' than business, its capacity for anti-societal decision-making is even greater.  Stalin, Hitler, Idi Amin, and Pol Pot were not business moguls.  They were leaders of governments with overly centralized powers.  The United States has decentralized its decision-making power but the trend over its history has been to re-centralize its powers is undeniable.  Even without fully centralized powers some pretty autocratic decisions get made on a regular basis.

And the power to make gross errors in decisions is especially true when the power resides in those not spending their own money.  That's why you see $2000 toilet seats on the government balance sheet.  That`s true whether the decisions are made by an autocratic cabal with a tiny locus of power or by a vast faceless bureaucracy.  

No one would argue that government has no place in society, but you have granted by commission or omission of action far too much power to the government sector of society.  There is an imbalance.  The inevitable outcome of the trend towards centralized power is Julius Caesar, or Hitler or Stalin.    It`s time you reconsidered your motivation and your vote.

December 8, 2012

Saturday Learning Series - More Thatcher

Saturday Learning Series, continued from last week, on Margaret Thatcher. Here's episode 2.

Part 1.



Part 2.


Part 3.


To be continued.  Maybe....

December 7, 2012

Tracking The Unemployment Rate

Today the unemployment rate dipped to 7.7%, surprising people, modestly, with the slightly better than expected result.  There's danger for conservatives in tracking the unemployment rate too closely.  With such a high unemployment rate we expected Obama to lose the election - he didn't, defying the odds as far as unemployment is concerned.  

There other other reasons not to fixate on the unemployment rate.


December 4, 2012

Republican and conservatives paths must diverge

My ability to post of late continues to be seriously compromised by real life.  As I've mentioned before that is both fortunate and unfortunate.  Lately, it's been more unfortunate than fortunate but I have managed to distill some learnings down to a more consumable amount for readers - I just haven't put fingers to keyboard yet.

One of the more salient learnings is that the paths for the GOP and for conservatives and/or libertarians must by nature of the respective needs, must diverge.  That is not to say that the strategic goals of both have diverged - far from it, regardless of how the current GOP braintrust is behaving.  Rather, working towards the same goals for America requires Republicans and conservative citizens take different paths, and cover different ground, to get to where things need to be for 2014 and 2016.

December 1, 2012

Saturday Learning Series - Thatcher

Forget Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher.  This documentary tells the story of her conservatism and success in a far better way.

Part 1.


Part 2.


Part 3.


Part 4.


Part 5.


Part 6.



To be continued.

November 27, 2012

Explainer

I'm still too busy to post but it's given me some time to think about some great posting ideas.  Meanwhile, here's an explainer for all the things you need to understand about why Republicans fared so poorly in the 2012 election.

For low information voters who have been swayed by the far left and the mainstream media, this is it:


November 25, 2012

The Walken Dead

I'm travelling yet again today but at least it's a same day turnaround.  In the meantime, here's some zombie humor for your Thanksgiving Weekend.

NOTE: Some language.

November 24, 2012

Instructive Links - oppression edition

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I've been travelling this week and unable to blog. There's so much to blog about but my energy level is still a bit low.  Fear not, there are well over 100 million blogs out there, and there are at least 80 or so blogs that frequently provide gold. I've got links to a few of them today.

Oppression is a bad thing.  Liberals live by it.  In their defense, many do so unknowingly. Covert oppression in the form of political correctness and groupthink, fostered by a same-songbook media - from the news to movies to other venues like public education - covert oppression exists all around us.  Overt oppression is harder to find in America, though it does exist, mostly at a governmental level.  Neither is good.


Here's some links to some good blog reading this weekend, with a focus on the perils of oppressive societies.

Saturday Learning Series - Crony Capitalism Corruption

From Mises TV, there's a great series of lectures, panels and talks from Mises University, several of which are great explanations or arguments around sound economic policy.

This video explains how crony capitalism corrupts the free market.  There's a truly important distinction between free market capitalism and the distortion of capitalism when crony capitalism perverts the free market into much of what we see happening today.  Such distorted capitalism holds no moral or operational superiority over socialism.  It is a flawed system that bends itself ever more towards either socialism or oligopoly - neither of which serve the general public in the way the Invisible Hand can.

November 20, 2012

Blog Update - Travelling

I'll be out West for work purposes for the rest of this week so blogging will likely experience an interruption.  I'll be back Saturday.  Maybe by then Hamas will have calmed down, enough fraudulent ballots will have been discovered to invalidate Obama's election victory and Obama will have approved the Keystone pipeline.

Then again, maybe not.

November 19, 2012

Chief Justice Roberts

A quick thought on Chief Justice Roberts, post election:  I wonder how he's feeling now about that decision to side with the liberals on the Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare as Constitutional.

Secondarily, how soon until conservatives turn on him as a complete sellout?  My guess is it'll happen as soon as some of those 2000+ pages of provisions start to kick in.

November 18, 2012

Gay Activist vs. Muslim Religious Freedom

This is where multiculturalism will lead America. Take a hint. Somewhere in Canada, a judge's head is going to explode trying to resolve this one.  Progressive liberalism run amok

Free Stuff vs. Self Discipline

Why government largess is bad in one picture.


November 17, 2012

Obama's Middle East Policy - Does It Exist?

With Israel using an Iron Dome to halt the rainfall of missiles into Tel Aviv, and Egypt seemingly set to step in on the side of Hamas, with Iran so close to nuclear capability, one has to wonder if president Obama not only slept through the 3 a.m. phone call, he may have slept through the entire foreign policy portion of his presidency.  Obama's Middle East policy does not exist, everything he's done so far has been static isolated, flat-footed reaction to events moving at a pace he can't cope with.

The real question isn't whether Obama has a Middle East policy, but rather whether he can develop one before events in the region get out of hand.  Actually, I'm being overly harsh; the president has stated some policy on the Middle East.  What's missing, is strategy.

Saturday Learning Series Mini Episode - Media

A quick episode from Reason TV on media manipulation.  This isn't something that's an eye-opener for conservatives but there are still some very interesting details in the video because of the perspective of Ryan Holiday.

November 15, 2012

Lesson 3 - Ignore some stuff

Having just said I'd wait on posting lessons learned from the Obama re-election and Romney loss, I'm back posting a lesson learned.  This one seems like further reflection probably won't alter it too much, so I figured I'd go ahead and share it now.

I haven't written about the David Petreaus scandal stuff despite the fact that there may be national implications to it. One of the reasons is that every issue does not not carry the same weight with the electorate. No matter how much the issue is pushed forward, the electorate may see it as unimportant or perhaps driven by hyper-partisan efforts.  In the bigger picture, it doesn't help the cause in a meaningful way.

Since it does not move the needle, it is not worth the effort they way some other issue that can move the national mood or really is worth the fight.

November 14, 2012

Premature conclusions

A post about why I'm not posting.  Sorta.

One of the advantages of being so busy with my day job is that I haven't been able to post my post-election thoughts.  It may be a good thing.  The reason that is an advantage is because there's a rush to judgement by winners and losers alike.  Some of those initial conclusions are heat-of-the-moment incorrect conclusions.  Taking time to reflect gives us time to really consider the validity of the conclusions.  

I've got a dozen half-finished posts that are parked waiting for completion.  But I wrote them quickly as the thoughts came to mind.  A bit of aging brings some opportunity to reflect on their validity.  That's not a bad thing.  The last election I waited months before I posted a series on what the McCain campaign did wrong.  The luxury of time,  provided greater opportunity to coalesce my thoughts into a sensible (at least I think so) coherent discussion.

Another advantage is that the thoughts don't get lost in the cacophony of post-election opinion.  There's so much opinion out there right now about what Republicans should be doing, or not doing, in light of Romney's loss.  Much of it might be absolutely correct, but it doesn't matter if the correct course gets lost in the noise.  

The conclusions will come, and hopefully be better for the wait.

November 12, 2012

Lesson 2: Crusaders vs. Mercenaries

Maybe it's a Brave New World we are living in, one where government encroachment on liberty will continue unabated, with ever-increasing speed. A few years ago I asked whether all roads led to socialism and whether a nanny state was inevitable. Throw crony capitalism and now the idea of co-opetition into the mix and the answer seems increasingly to be 'yes'. The previously unthinkable notion that big government and super-corporations would collude among themselves to ensure that they money flowed only where they wanted it to flow, seems now not only plausible but normal. Those who are crusaders for liberty and against socialism have an uphill climb to make

November 10, 2012

Saturday Learning Series Returns

The Saturday Learning Series was on hiatus for a few weeks leading up to the presidential election.  It will be making a full return next week.  In the meantime here's a documentary about the coming real financial crisis. Believe it or not, it's something to think about.  It might even scare you.

It's called Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis.

Obama isn't supposed to lead

He's supposed to represent the people of America.  Zo points out why he won.

November 9, 2012

Lesson 1: Compensating for an enthusiasm gap





One of the lessons to be learned from the re-election of president Obama is the fact that an uninspired vote counts as much as a vote from someone who would crawl across broken glass to cast a vote for their candidate. If the vote is cast, it counts, period.

That should come as no surprise. If this was a base turnout election, the Republican candidate relied on enthusiasm to drive voters to the polls. The enthusiasm was there. The problem for Republicans is that even though the Democrats enthusiasm curve may now have peaked at 'meh' rather than tingles up the leg, they still turned out.

November 8, 2012

Let's not panic

So there are conservatives ready to throw in the towel - in some quarters.  In order to win, the rationale goes, they need to promise more free stuff than the Democrats.  Or else, they weren't conservative enough in the election cycle.  Others have argued that it's over for conservatism.  The trending demographics - the browning of America as they've called it (not my words) - means that conservatism is on a slow downward trend.  Oh wait, that one is from liberals.  See how liberalism sneaks in on you?

There's a million prescriptions to cure the problem.  There's a million reasons to panic. Don't.  Let's not panic.  There's no need, and panic rarely ever leads to a good decision and a good outcome.

Before I get too far, let me just note that there's an important point below about John Boehner worth sticking around for.


November 7, 2012

WTF America? You just woke up with a national alcohol induced tattoo.

Face palm.
So many things to say, and nothing to say. One is tempted to say sayonara America, you've signed your own death warrant. But no. The country may be continuing on the wrong path but it hasn't reached the end of  that path just yet. Giving up now would be an act of both betrayal and cowardice.

There are things that can still be done and need to be done. The fiscal cliff did not fly away on a unicorn. Obamacare needs more exceptions (i.e. Everyone).

Republicans and conservatives and libertarians ALL need to re-think things. What went wrong? It needs to be answered. How do we de-hypnotize the electorate? Why didn't the GOP win the senate? What did Romney do wrong? What did the Tea Party do wrong? What should the GOP in Congress do now? And what about all the what-ifs - how close did we really come to sending Obama packing? What does this mean for the Supreme Court? So many questions that all boil down to one.

How do we save America from itself? Unfortunately a re-run of the soul searching from 2008 means that the last 4 years were mostly wasted time.

But I for one intend to re-tackle those hard questions one by one. The nickel-plated lining for me is that I will have plenty to write about for some time to come.

November 6, 2012

Obama T-0.

T minus zero on Obama's first term (less the lame duck portion).  If Republican and conservative prognostications hold, Obama is toast. But are they right?  Is this it for the failed Obama presidency or will the "dog-ate-my-homework" president get an extension?

Nothing is certain.  I've got butterflies in my stomach since the national polling has tightened over the last stretch and actually show Obama ahead in the RCP average.  The partisan skew of the polls doesn't matter - nerves are on edge.  I started this blog 4 years ago in response to the Obama win in 2008 (actually a little earlier, but the win prompted me to dedicate a lot of effort to it).  I've consciously been a conservative since 1980, when I was still a kid.  Seeing Obama win against a weak Republican opponent, though was an immediate alarm bell and spurred me into action.  It's not clear that I've made any difference at all.

The one certainty is that conservatives need to GO VOTE today.  

For so many on the right, the last four years have been a failure. Rush Limbaugh wanted Obama to fail.  He didn't fail get his policies in place, but he did fail the country. The only way conservatives can get America to course-correct is to vote.

I'll be on Twitter tonight commenting on what's happening.  See you there.

November 5, 2012

Is it nail biting time?

With less than 24 hours until the polls open, it's nail-biting time for conservatives.  Despite the knowledge that the polls are oversampling Democrats and our heads telling us that the left will be the ones in shock tomorrow night, we still can't bring ourselves to believe that Romney should win.  The left meanwhile is walking around in a self-deluded cloudy air of confidence that they have it in the bag.  Romney is toast.

Frankly, I'd rather be biting my nails than be that deluded.  I'm biting my nails (figuratively only) because I worry that on the right, maybe we are the ones who are deluded.  Maybe all those skewed polls are right.  That ultimately I think works in our favor for getting those on the fence intensity voters out for Romney.  Obama voters if they swallow that team Obama bravado may feel less a sense of urgency to vote.

While I think in my head, Romney should win big, my doubt is keeping me nervous.

Here are a few quick thoughts on possible outcomes from the election.

-if Romney wins the popular vote and Obama wins the electoral college, I WILL NOT demand a removal of the electoral college.  It was put in place for a reason by the founders and it's not about "electors" it's about the notion of the contests in 50 states having 50 meaningful races.

-if Obama loses we'll see everything from racism to Hurricane Sandy blamed.  It won't be Obama's fault in any way shape or form - according to the left.

-if Obama wins, a lot of people on the right will be tempted to give up and look for another country to be the champion of freedom and opportunity.  Don't.  No such beast exists.

-if Romney loses, conservative voters will have a lot of work to do, not least of which is figuring out a better way to select an electable candidate.  Reagans don't come along often, we can't wait for one to magically appear.  That's a recipe for more failure.

November 4, 2012

Voraciously reading the news

Over the weekend I've been reading everything I can find to see if I could find some sort of clue as to what the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election might be.  I've seen a lot but not enough to definitively say what to expect on election night.

Meanwhile I looked at my blog stats today and I noticed a run-up of readership that start about 6 months ago has continued - up to November 1st when there was a sudden, dramatic drop off in readership.  It's hard to explain.  I don't think I've said anything to offend my readership.  I can only conclude that given the proximity to the election either (1) readers of political content are focusing on the big sites right now (2) internet readership is down the last few days or (3) Google is skewing searches away from conservative websites, or at least mine.

I think it may be a combination of factors, but just like the election, chalk it up to something I can't quite figure out with certainty right now.

Arizona Senate: Jeff Flake

Arizona needs good representation.

November 3, 2012

Red Rocks - both a place, and a political truth

Saw this on Barracuda Brigade just now, and thought sharing it might help in some small way.  

And if it doesn't help Mitt Romney, it might help Kid Rock.

Red Rocks has hosted a lot of concerts over the years.  In political parlance, red does indeed rock.  Blue states can...well, never mind.

Conservatism is CALLING. Please share.

A great 7 minute inspirational video that should help drive you out to vote.  Share it with someone you know.

It's got some Reagan, some principled notions and a lot of factual summary of the Obama presidency.

Predicting the Election Outcome

This is really a weird year in terms of convergence of views on the outcome of the presidential election.  Polls are all over the place - from the differences between sample skews to the differences between the state polls and national polls, the lack of consistency points to a wide range of potential outcomes.  I've never looked at an election with as much optimism and trepidation at the same time.


Aspartame Endorsements

Over the last week or so, I've been posting a number of "endorsements" for Republican senate candidates in races that are polling as tight races.  I've put endorsements in quotes because I'm not sure that relaying their messages with a quick sentence or phrase added by me really is an endorsement.  It's more like spreading the word.  Their words, more precisely.  I've stated my reason for doing it in the past - it's not about pure conservatism, it's about a Republican senate.

The country is going to need a Republican senate to undo the damage of four years of president Obama and two years of an unfettered Pelosi-Reid onslaught on liberty and common sense.  I'm under no illusion that each of these so-called endorsements is for a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, in fact some are clearly RINOs, and not my cup of Tea.  For example back in 2010, I volunteered and did get out the vote calling for Scott Brown in Massachusetts even though he's pretty weakly conservative.  Since going on record as opposing Obamacare and promising to be the filibuster vote in the Senate, he's gone soft on a number of issues conservatives, myself included, aren't exactly thrilled about.

De-politicizing Hurricane Sandy

Twice I've posted about the political ramifications of Hurricane Sandy.  It makes sense, since this is a political blog.  Trying to look at it with a dispassionate eye is at times more difficult than others though.  

Of course there are political ramifications to a hurricane, whether it be so close to an election or not.  Ask George W. Bush about Katrina if you need convincing.  But the real impact of a hurricane is not political, it is on a personal level.  People can lose family, friends and property.  People can go without food, water and shelter as a result of a hurricane.  Hurricane Sandy has now caused over 100 deaths.  It has done considerable damage to cities like New York and disrupted life for probably millions of people.

Florida Senate: Connie Mack

Way better than Bill Nelson.

November 2, 2012

Massachusetts Senate: Scott Brown

Warren is the worst possible political class candidate of the entire cycle. She doesn't deserve to win anything.


November 1, 2012

Wisconsin Senate: Tommy Thompson

Because debt sucks.

Sore winners, 'sorer' losers

Remember back in 2008 and early 2009 when the Obama euphoria hadn't cooled? Progressives and liberals were all giddy with hope and change. As were those only slightly engaged in politics and were caught up in the hype.  They won, they believed the world was their (free) oyster.

That euphoria, that tingle down the leg, didn't really last very long. Sure, the left was still in love with Obama but you could see mean-spiritedness creeping back in to the way they interacted with their political opponents. They won, but they were angry - perhaps because they had been forced to endure 8 years of Bush, or maybe they are just angry people. You could see it in the "I won" comment from the president when he wanted them to sit in the back seat and shut-up. Republicans were along for the recovery ride and had no say. You could see the utter lack of attempts at bi-partisanship from the president and Democrats in Congress and the Senate on every issue from 209 through 2010. Afterwards you could see they engaged the GOP in Congress only because they were forced to do so. And when they did it, they did it with shrill ads about Paul Ryan pushing grandma off the cliff.

Connecticut Senate: Linda McMahon

Because she knows how to fight. Connecticut

October 31, 2012

Uh oh.

Uh oh.  Voting machines in Ohio swapping out Romney votes for Obama votes? Diebold panic from the left in 3...2...1...0...-1....-2...-3....-4...

Uh oh.  Democrat senator sex scandal coming in 3...2...1...

Uh oh.  Bad jobs report coming in 3...2...1...

Uh oh.  Bloomberg seems to think he's King of  New York

Virginia Senate: George Allen

Kaine is not good for Virginia.

Maine Senate: Charlie Summers

Angus King sounds like he should be wearing shorts and a beanie and playing Back In Black guitar riffs. Just saying.

Pennsylvania Senate: Tom Smith

Job creator.

Ohio Senate: Josh Mandel

Sherrod Brown - bad for Ohio.

October 30, 2012

Nevada Senate: Dean Heller

Because Berkley just won't do.

America needs a Republican senate

For those Libertarians among us who think the GOP is just a lighter shade of bad than the Democrats let me re-phrase it.  American needs a far less progressive-liberal-enabling senate.  I'll be posting some modest efforts at support for various GOP senate nominees over the next few days.  Not all of them are stellar conservatives, and I don't endorse all of them with equal fervor.  But in the bigger picture, their elections are important.

Republicans need to prove themselves to be fiscally minded.  Democrats will not do it.  The GOP needs a chance to convince people that they mean what they are saying on taxes, debt, health care etc.  And America needs to take a chance on the party and given them the opportunity to show people that they mean what they are saying.  That's because America needs a lifeline right now.

The alternative is to enable more taxation, more debt, more regulation and to put a final stranglehold on the American innovative spirit.

This is important.  This is critical. 

North Dakota senate: Rick Berg

North Dakota, this is why Rick Berg is running:

More politicizing Hurricane Sandy

Elections can wait...
Yesterday I postulated that the impact of Hurricane Sandy would be used as an excuse for Obama's impending loss in the 2012 election (after the fact). I neglected to consider that liberals would try to use the storm as a time out on the election clock countdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) - One week before a close election, superstorm Sandy has confounded the presidential race, halted early voting in many areas and led some to ponder whether the election might even be postponed.

It could take days to restore electricity to more than 8 million homes and businesses that lost power when the storm pummeled the East Coast. That means it's possible power could still be out in parts of some states on Election Day next Tuesday - a major problem for precincts that rely on electronic voting machines.

But as the storm breached the coast, even some of those intimately involved in the election seemed in the dark about what options are available to cope with the storm. Asked Monday whether President Barack Obama had the power to reschedule the election, White House press secretary Jay Carney said he wasn't sure.
Not sure? The real storm is going to be a GOP tsunami on election day, and trying to postpone it for voters to 'come to their senses' and return to Obama, is an act of desperation.  A few facts - the storm has had a major impact in a relative small geographic portion of the country.  New York and New Jersey are locks for Obama already, as is most of New England.  The impact in a swing state like Ohio is not enough to justify making special considerations there.  In other words, the impact on the outcome of the election is negligible unless a lengthy delay could actually help Obama.  It's the equivalent of a do-over but before the fact.

One last consideration for liberals to ponder.  If this was 2008 and Bush were president and his press secretary Dana Perino said that she didn't know whether Bush had the power to reschedule an election you would be screaming Martial Law and bloody murder over it.

There is ZERO justification for delaying the election.  Disenfranchising voters is peanuts compared to moving the goal posts or changing the rules right before the end of the game.  That's pure manipulation.

October 29, 2012

Politicizing Sandy

There has been some discussion today about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the election. I actually have to give president Obama credit for saying he was worried about people being impacted and that the election would sort itself out.  But pundits have talked about it impacting early voter turnout.  That's not the real issue.  The election is a week away.  Those who were going to vote early can still vote on election day even if it is an inconvenience for them. If high turnout helps Obama, and some of those people who would turn out for Obama need to vote early, then there is some sort of problem for the Obama campaign.

October 28, 2012

Obama Camp Goes Squirrelly UPDATE: More Kids


Less than ten days from the election the Obama camp has gone squirrelly over the battle for the white House, and it may bode ill for post-election litigation from a beaten Obama camp.

October 27, 2012

Hating Breitbart - The Trailer

Here's the promotional trailer for the upcoming film about the conservative crusader, who did so much for conservatism before his untimely early death this year.  The trailer is great, but there's an even better promo clip here.

October 25, 2012

Romney Blowout or Obama Squeaker (or blowout)?

With less than two weeks until the presidential election, some of my less political friends who are aware of my blog have been asking me "So who is going to win this thing?"  My educated guess is still - anything can happen, and I think there's a sound basis for saying that.

I do see some likely scenarios as the most probable ones, but let me first dissect why I think it's anyone's ball game before pontificating on who will win.

I can guarantee though, that someone will win.

October 24, 2012

Obama spin on Benghazi collapses


President Obama knew that Benghazi was a terror attack.  He wants to claim he said so right away.  But he let an unsustainable story continue to float through the news cycles in hopes that they could spin the attacks as not terror, and by doing so he is exposing himself as having played politics with the events all along.

October 23, 2012

Another SNL alumni turns on Obama

 Rob Schneider, committed liberal, will not support the president.  When you are a liberal Democrat and you start losing self proclaimed liberal Hollywood/NYC voters, you are in big, BIG trouble.  Especially when you lose them for this reason:


Dennis Miller was a trend setter, Victoria Jackson is also a conservative, and more recently Jon Lovitz unloaded on Obama (warning - language).  Now Rob Schneider (aka Deuce Bigalow). The leaks in the not-so-good ship Obama are starting to multiply. It could get really bad for the president really fast.

Chris Matthews, Intellectual Coward

Forget last night's debate.  The mainstream media is trying to spin it as a devastating Obama win and they can't get away with that any more.  People can see for themselves.  Even if they missed the entire debate, there are places online to see it in it's entirety.  The president came across as petty and mean-spirited.  He came across as having a suddenly new position on sequestration that even his own camp had to backtrack on afterwards.  In other words, the debate was at best for Obama a draw - not even a win on points.  In the big picture the debates helped Romney far more than Obama.  So forget last night's debate, let's focus a little bit on some of the untenable positions the media - in this case Chris Matthews - put themselves in, in defense of this president.

Post debate, Chris Matthews once again made the immediate leap to racism.  Why?  It's not because of the president, it's because of intellectual cowardice.


October 22, 2012

The final presidential debate

The final presidential debate goes tonight.  The topic is foreign policy.  This is supposed to be an Obama stronghold and months ago they were probably thrilled that this topic would be the closer of the debates.  But now I'm sure they are a bit worried.  The over under on Obama mentioning getting Bin Laden is about 11, because really, that's all they've got.  He may also try to spin the Arab Spring as one of his successes.  Reality however, flies in the face of his supposed strength.

The quick skinny on a number of foreign affairs.

October 21, 2012

The Obama Plan

As the Mitt Romney campaign points out, here are 5 reasons America can't afford 4 more years of Obama's 'plan'.

October 18, 2012

Newsweak

 Newsweak, or rather Newsweek, is shutting down it's print division.  Green activists should be pleased by the 13 trees they just saved.

We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue.


Meanwhile, Newsweek will expand its rapidly growing tablet and online presence, as well as its successful global partnerships and events business.


Newsweek Global, as the all-digital publication will be named, will be a single, worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context. Newsweek Global will be supported by paid subscription and will be available through e-readers for both tablet and the Web, with select content available on The Daily Beast.

Another liberal rag bites the dust.  True, the transition from print to online is a worldwide phenomenon, and the effort makes sound business sense.  But what have made even more business sense was, and is, for the magazine to stop being a shill for the memes of the left and try to have some truly balanced opinions and coverage.  By shutting out a possible 50% (plus) of your readership by pushing your agenda ahead of your subscriptions, you are not following a sound business model.


Fairness was never a concern, opinion came to dominate everything and ultimately it cost the magazine the magazine.  Candy Crowley should take a lesson from Newsweek on putting agenda before journalism being an impartial moderator. 

October 17, 2012

Debate #2 - Moderator takes center stage

Last night's second presidential debate probably helped Obama a little bit.  Was it enough to change the Mitt Romney momentum?  Not likely enough to reverse it, but maybe enough to slow or halt Romney's ascent.  But Romney did well as well.  He didn't put the election away, but he didn't hurt himself.  It was about as close to a draw as a debate could be, especially since both participants were pretty lively.

Wait, did I say both participants?  I forgot about the Candy Crowley favoritism.  She was lively too.  Obama got far fewer interruptions than Romney and 3 more minutes of talk time.   And then there was this:


Is that what passes for a moderator?  She hopped in and offered observations on behalf of the president and then had to backtrack by mentioning Romney was fundamentally right, but chose the wrong word.

Here's the list of issues with that:

(1) Defending what Obama said is Obama's job, NOT hers.  If Obama wasn't going to do it, she should have let it stand.

(2) Her self-correction that Romney was fundamentally right was far less audible, and she did not balance it out properly.  Since she interjected herself, she should have had a proper exit strategy that included some level of clearing up the issue cleanly and clearly.

(3) She say Romney chose the wrong word.  Is this a Grade 6 grammar class? Is it her responsibility to superimpose her opinion on that point?  No.  That's not a moderator, that's a pundit.

The biggest issue in that debate was Crowley.  Obama and Romney both did passable jobs from a debate and influencing perspective.  I don't think this changes much of anything, other than hopefully some people's perception of the media's vested interests and inability in the main to be impartial and serve as moderators.

October 16, 2012

Left Coast Rebel

Though I haven't posted there in a while, I do contribute to Left Coast Rebel.  It's a great blog with a number of contributors and it runs the gamut of political discourse - from conservative to libertarian. Okay, the gamut of right thinking political discourse.

Check it out.  I'll be posting both here and there more often in the not too distant future, hopefully.

October 15, 2012

Clinton to take a bullet for Obama

Breaking:  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is saying that the buck stops with her on the Benghazi fiasco.
"I take responsibility" for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN's Elise Labott soon after arriving in Lima, Peru for a visit. The interview, one of a series given to U.S. television networks Monday night, were the first she has given about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Clinton insisted President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not involved in security decisions, Clinton said.
Like getting Bin Laden?

October 14, 2012

Walking Dead Obama Ad

The season premier of The Walking Dead on AMC tonight is likely going to be a record setter in terms of AMC shows if not cable shows in general.  It would not seem unreasonable to run an ad during the episode. Indeed, president Obama ran an anti-Romney ad during the episode.  The ad questions whether you can trust Mitt Romney in the White House if you couldn't trust him during the presidential debate - where he cleaned Obama's clock.

The obvious irony that president Obama's chances of re-election are starting to resemble the walking dead, is not likely to be lost on a lot of viewers.  But what is most striking is that the president and his campaign seem even more desperate because of this move.  Running an ad that people are likely to not notice, despite the venue, because of the juxtaposition, doesn't radiate strength.  It comes across as a cry for attention.

It's made worse by the fact that the ad tries to peddle the fact that the only reason Mitt Romney won was because he was dishonest.  But if you recall the debate, Romney refuted Obama's claims not with one fact per claim, but often two or three.  He was prepared, e knew his stuff.  Obama claiming after the fact that Romney cheated seems quite desperate.  That's especially true in light of the fact that people know the debate they saw, and Obama lost, and the polling shows it.  

The president seems desperate, and that's certainly a sign of the walking dead.  If the president wants to turn things around, he has to win the next debate.  A well-placed ad that's weak on substance isn't going to do it.

Financial hardship and socialism

I've never really been well off. In fact, it's always been a struggle for me to stay in the middle class, though I pretty much have.  I've made a pretty good living over the last ten years, and played it safe enough not to have a crazy mortgage, when I could have gotten one.  Nevertheless, I've spent the last six years paying off credit card and financing debt, and I still have a ways to go.  As a result, I haven't had much disposable income for a long time, and I will admit it's been a hard struggle pretty much all of the way, and it will be for some time to come.


With all of that, you'd think I'd be a bit more progressive-liberal friendly.  'Somebody help me with my mortgage."  "The government should take money from somebody richer than me and give it to people like me."  But the thing is, despite the financial struggle, I'm not.

October 13, 2012

Saturday Learning Series - Healthcare Costs US vs Canada

From ReasonTV, a short primer on why US healthcare costs are higher than in Canada.  Plus,why it's a good thing.

October 12, 2012

Revisiting my pre-VP debate predictions

Just prior to the vice presidential debate I quickly threw out some high level predictions.  You can see the original predictions and some rationale behind them here.  How did I do?  Not too badly.


October 11, 2012

Biden: arrogant, smug, bit of a jerk

There are going to be many takes on the VP debate tonight.  Conservatives will agree Ryan won by remaining calm in the face of Biden's interruptions and those of the moderator as well (anyone have a count on moderator interruptions of Ryan vs. interruptions of Biden?).  Ryan stuck to his points and didn't blow it.  He came across well.  Liberals on the other hand will be excited by Biden's assertiveness.

But there's assertiveness and there's arrogant, smug jerky behavior:


Or this version if you prefer.  Biden at his smug, jerkiest:

Quick thoughts on tonight's VP debate

Just under an hour to go until Ryan versus Biden.  Here's what I expect.

Over/under on Biden gaffes: 1.  Why only one?  The Obama campaign is gun shy from getting stung by Romney on the opening debate.  You'd better believe they've coached the BFDs right out of Biden.  He knows he's not to wander off the script.  But this is Biden we are talking about here.  As much as he tries to stick to the script, under a Ryan counter-point there's a 50/50 chance he'll slip up and offer up some goofball gaffe.

Chance the mainstream media will declare a Biden victory: 45%.  They'll be looking for a reason for a Biden victory, any indication they can cling to, because they want to start the rebound meme. They're worried They can't do it if Biden reverts to form (see gaffes above). But they have an opening.  Biden doesn't need to be the conquering hero, they probably would prefer that Obama does that himself.

Chance Biden makes some outlandishly incorrect claim about Romney or Ryan: 95%.  Ryan, if prepared as much as Romney will be well equipped to refute it.

Chance Biden goes after Romney's flip-flopping: 99.9%.   

Chances the media fact checks every Ryan breath: 100%

Chances the media fact checks 10% of Biden's claims: 0.1%

Over/Under on Biden funny quips: 0.5 (about the same for Ryan)

Chance Ryan wins (excluding media spin): 99.999%

UPDATE:

Over/under on viewers - 23 million
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