Celebrity Endorsement

Alright, I'm not a celebrity. Nevertheless, if you have a chance, why not check out Left Coast Rebel?

Sunday Linkaround

A few links to some interesting Sunday reads.  Firstly, a couple of links to a few reads related to papal political activism and the role of the church in American politics. Now that the left has a socialist president, suddenly it's all cool for there to be a tighter link between Church and State.

But really, how reasonable is that?

Pundit Press: If the pope really cared about the poor...

How does that relate to how America is governed? 

Political Pistachio: Is America founded on Christian principles? The Treaty of Tripoli analyzed.

On an unrelated and more light-hearted note or two:

Left Coast Rebel: The Notorious B.U.S.H. Also, Left Coast Resistance.

But back to the serious situations facing America.  Why Americans don't want yet another politician in the White House, courtesy of Fredd.

And how does Mean Ol' Meany see the current state of the nation?  Funny you should ask, he has an update for you.

And for those of you still unsure of who Donald Trump is as a political candidate.  Join the club with Teresamerica.

Why not get Proof?

Over the last several months I've been a lot busier than I'd like to be.  As a result my blogging has suffered a decline in frequency - here, but even more so over at Left Coast Rebel. I'm not the only one - there has been a dearth of posting over there. But the posts just keep on coming, thanks to the Herculean posting efforts of Mike, aka Proof Positive.

Thanks to him, the lights have been kept on at LCR.  He's opinionated, he's witty, and most often, he's right. So thanks for that Proof.  I'll try to step up my game as soon as I can.

Readers, check out Proof at LCR or at his own blog, Proof Positive.

Two views on the state of the GOP & conservatism

There's some good discussion from Unapologetic Prophet in the comments on my post over at Left Coast Rebel.  While we disagree (less than he probably imagines), it has been an engaging discussion that hopefully will continue.

Shout out to Left Coast Rebel

I haven't posted over at Left Coast Rebel in a while, something I hope to remedy in December once my vacation time starts.  But it's worth reading every day, I encourage you to check it out.

Non-interventionism vs. Cowboy diplomacy

Self interest.

Foreign relations can be a contentious issue on the right side of political thought. In a recent post on Left Coast Rebel, there was an interesting exchange of views on U.S. involvement in foreign affairs, brought on obviously because of the situation in Crimea. The two positions stem from two different world views; one of interventionism, the other often unfairly referred to as cowboy diplomacy.

In actuality three different conservative positions have been identified on foreign relations.

Rathbun (2008) compares three separate themes in conservative policies since the 1980s: conservatism, neoconservatism, and isolationism. These approaches are similar in that they all invoked the mantle of "realism" and pursued foreign policy goals designed to promote national interests. Conservatives, however, were the only group that was "realist" in the academic sense in that they defined the national interest narrowly, strove for balances of power internationally, viewed international relations as amoral, and especially valued sovereignty. By contrast, neoconservatives based their foreign policy on nationalism, and isolationists sought to minimize any involvement in foreign affairs and raise new barriers to immigration.[26] Former Republican Congressman Ron Paul favored a return to the non-interventionist policies of Thomas Jefferson and frequently opposed military intervention in countries like Iran and Iraq.

Each position has strengths and weaknesses, but which one is the right foreign policy strategy for the United States?

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.

Today's Tidbits

Some interesting stuff from around the web today(ish).  Without further preamble, let me launch right into it.

Quote of the week: William Teach at RWN summarizes the president's latest 'policy' speech succinctly  as more of the same old Obama pattern:

This was simply part of the Obama presidency pattern: When the going gets tough, Obama gives a speech. Which assigns Blame to everybody and anything but Obama. Throws a few well worn ideas that have already been shown to be losers out on the table telling Someone Else to actually do the hard work in implementing them while he runs off to yet another fundraiser.

 Solutions it would seem, are still above Obama's pay grade.

Henrick Kemp at the Enterprise Blog has an Electoral College pseudo-prediction (I'm not sure how convinced he is by his own numbers) of Romney 338 - Obama 200.  Wouldn't it be nice?

King Shamus addresses his reluctant embrace of RINOs everywhere in a great read.

It’s time the conservative movement does the same thing. Let us come to grips with Romney’s faults, then figure out ways to ameliorate them after November. No matter how much we squint our eyes, read Ayn Rand novels and make wistful wishes on our Dick Cheney action figures, Mitt will never be Ronald Reagan. But if we politely and constantly encourage him to avoid candy ass moderation, he might be able to pull America out of the Euro-squish death spiral.

I agree whole-heartedly.  With Romney in the White House and a solid GOP majority in Congress and hopefully the Senate, Tea Party protests will not be ignored as they are by the current administration.  Romney, as he has demonstrated, is a sail - he's led by the prevailing wind.

Pajamas Media on the loss of wealth under Obama:

An Ol' Broad is going through some stuff that is keeping her from posting with which I can completely identify. Yet she still weighs in with some pithy commentary on everything from Eric Holder to China to Syria to Michelle Obama's dresses.

Over at Left Coast Rebel, where I post (not enough of late, admittedly), Right Klik is all over the media being all over a reporter who DARED to question the president's immigration policy.

A Cop's Watch also notices the media's attempt to resuscitate the president's chances of re-election by his attempt to woo back Latino voters.  He also notes he doesn't expect the trial balloon to fly.

The Last Tradition takes fellow Latinos to task for possibly falling for the Obama ruse of suddenly at this late day being all interested in the immigration issue again.

Obama wasn’t thinking about you or the Dream Act. He and the Democrats takes the Latino vote for granted figuring that you will always be there when they come around, around election type and either pull the race card or announce a TEMPOARY amnesty plan for some illegals. This is supposed to motivate the Latino community to jump up and say, “Look what Obama did for us!” They think that you’re stupid and not paying attention. If you want to support Obama then that’s your business. My only question to my fellow Latinos,

Where is your pride?

Finally, Capitalist Preservation has a funny poll about which actors should portray Obama and Biden in a movie.  Go vote for a laugh.

Invitation to Left Coast Rebel

Tim at Left Coast Rebel has invited me to cross-post my posts there.  I'm flattered, and looking forward to the opportunity.  It's especially surprising since I'm not on the Left Coast, and I'm not exactly sure how they are defining Rebel, but I don't consider myself one.  Moreover, I'm not even an American, though I truly wish I were.  I'm stuck in Canada with the 40' snow drifts, seal meat and igloos. Hopefully you don't take that view of Canada seriously.  

In fact right now there are a lot of good things about being in Canada. We have a conservative government.  Our debt to GDP ratio is roughly 35% compared to roughly 100% in the United States.  Our government is trying to cut debt and reduce taxes.  We're interesting in producing domestic oil. As a nation we seem to have, at least temporarily, learned from years of progressive liberalism and borderline socialism and unlike the United States, we're headed in the right direction.

Good Friday Reads

Some good reading/viewing today:

We the people has a chilling video on Muslim intolerance of British people, in Britain.

Left Coast Rebel notes a lot of the same points in response to Krugman's foolishness as I did.

Right Wing News has a piece on the left's continued use of the Alinsky tactic of dehumanization.

Pundit and Pundette wonder whether Ryan on a Romney ticket takes the edge off.

Rational Nation USA notes the Ryan endorsement of Romney is about pragmatism at the expense of principle.

Angry White Dude has a photo essay on the double standards of racism.

Chicks on the Right on the extent of the cancer of the entitlement mentality.

Common Cents happily note that since the 'scandal' Rush Limbaugh's ratings are up 10% to 60%.

Proof Positive - Skittles at a gun fight.

King Shamus thinks that it doesn't matter what the Supreme Court decides on Obamacare - liberals won't care.

Link love, in short form.

I'm on vacation this week, so chances are, I won't be posting much.  That doesn't means nobody will be.  Check out these great blogs.

King Shamus

An Ol' Broad's Ramblings

A Conservative Teacher

Common Cents

Diogenes Middle Finger

Innominatus

Just A Conservative Girl

Left Coast Rebel

Mean Ol Meany

Opinipundit

Enjoy.