Eliot Spitzer to Speak on Ethics at Harvard

Wow. I'm disappointed but I can't really say I'm surprised.

Mark it in your calendars - November 12th, disgraced former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, who quit his post as a result of his hypocritical involvement in with prostitution, is going to be speaking at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics.  Granted, he won't be speaking about ethics per se, but rather about what should be the rationale for government "participation" in the marketplace.  But the real question is whether a Governor, who made a name for himself aggressively exposing criminal activity,

As attorney general, Spitzer prosecuted cases relating to corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection. He most notably pursued cases against companies involved in computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation, predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders, fraud at American International Group, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also sued Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, claiming he had failed to fully inform the board of directors of his deferred compensation package, which exceeded $140 million.

and then was caught in a scandal himself is really the right person to be pontificating on anything at an educational Center for Ethics.  Secondly, why is a Center for Ethics talking about why the government should be involved in the marketplace?  Is it really a central discussion point on ethics, or just a way to spoon feed more dogma to an impressionable young population?  And even if that is a legitamate ethical discussion, where is the counterpoint to Spitzer, who undoubtedly will try to justify and rationalize government participation in the marketplace?

It all reflects poorly on Harvard.  Is Harvard in the business of teaching or indoctrinating?  This clearly is a glaring example of its seeming belief that it's main objective is the latter.  If I was paying for a tuition to Harvard for myself or my child, I'd be pretty angry over this waste of money and blatant disregard for education to serve the purpose of indoctrination.  Harvard degrees - will they still be worth the paper they are written on in 50 years, or will Harvard end up a subsidiary of MSNBC?

UPDATE:  On the same calendar, Robert Reich (Berkeley professor and formerly President Clinton's Labor Secretary) - April 5th, 2010 - "Everyday Corruption: How Intensifying Market Competition Leads to Abuses of Public Trust, and What Should Be Done".  Note the premise - market competition is inherently corrupting.  Note also that the pontification starts in the lecture title.  It's not 'what can be done' but 'what should be done'.

Get ready for the spin

Expect to see a few things this evening after the Republican/conservative sweep of the three high profile races in New Jersey, Virginia and NY23 (and yes, I'm feeling more confident about a sweep than just yesterday).

What you can expect to see, in various forms, is spin. The first form it will take is that turnout is low. Liberals will argue that because Obama was not on the ballot, the under-card candidate could not benefit from his magnificent presence on the ballot. There may be some truth in that, but it is one factor of many, and not the dominant one.

True, youth may have turned out in smaller numbers but if you look at the voting patterns of those who did turn out, I predict the numbers will be vastly different from 2008. And don't forget that President Obama personally stumped for ALL 3 Democrats in these races.

The first type of spin will be refutable - the numbers will point to a shift in attitudes of those who voted.  It's important to get those conservative vote totals high for that reason.  And it's important to be able to counter the anti-"anti-Obama" spin. It should be easy to accomplish that.

As a result, the spin itself will morph into another form. Already the White House is saying that the votes reflect the recession and not Obama personally. Never mind that it's now his recession. But the spin telegraphs the spin to come tonight. Expect the media to kick into high gear about the fact that the elections were about local issues and local conditions. NY23 has always been conservative. New Jersey was about Corzine and local corruption. Virginia, well maybe they're just racist or only Obama could overcome the conservative bent of the state. Forget all about all that talk we did about Virginia's demographics changing over the last decade or more. What we say now is accurate, for now.

While laughable, that's harder to refute without any meaningful exit polling or follow up surveying in the affected regions.  If I were the GOP I'd be all over some post-election surveying to see who voted, their party afiliation, how they voted and how they'd previously voted.  It will make for some great insight and likely also some great Republican and conserative talking points.

Lastly, the spin will likely change once again but only if it absolutely has to do so.  The last meme will be that while the vote was indeed a message to Democrats, it doesn't signal the need for a drastic change.  What it really means is a better effort at communicating with the American public.  Yes, continue to keep conservative and Republican lawmakers at bay, but at least make it look like you care. And it doesn't mean make it look to liberals like you care, it means make the conservatives think you care.  It will launch Democrats into campaign rhetoric mode at that point.  And the spin will be that the message is that people feel they aren't being heard - watch for more town halls but in a more controlled way.  The spin will become we were told, we listened, and we're listening now, so please continue to adore us...yeccchhhhh.

UPDATE:  I'd forgotten the other, cries of ballot-rigging spin by the left.  RedState has the story.

VOTE!

If you are in a district or state having an election today, VOTE!

Especially if you are a conservative worried about your country - your country needs you and needs your vote for the non-Democrat candidate in your race. A statement needs to be made today - all change is not good, and this change will be cripplingly bad.

Please vote.

Conservativer-Than-Thou Attitudes

Image from http://www.bigtimeconservativestore.com/default.asp

Newt Gingrich was being pilloried for his dogged support of Dede Scozzafava in the NY23 election.  She's not a conservative, in fact she's not really even a moderate.  She's a liberal.  Backing her was foolish.  But now Newt is being bashed for finally coming to the side of Doug Hoffman, Conservative Party candidate.  Yes, he came to the principles party late and may in fact be an univited guest to boot.  Yes, conservativism REALLY, REALLY matters and principles are paramount.  Yes, other conservatives of note, Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson notables among them, beat Newt to the punch and were right, right out of the gate.

Yes Newt deserves to take lumps over this.  His loyalties were clearly to the GOP and not conservative values.  The problem is not Newt's - the problem is that no one should have to decide between the GOP and conservatism because they are supposed to be the same thing.

But reality tends to get in the way of such pristine conditions.  When people talk about Big Tent conservatism they often forget that the tent is supposed to include actual conservatives and not just be awash in moderates.  Such has become the predicament of the GOP - too many moderates, not enough conservatives.  How did reality get in the way of the GOP being conservative?  A conservative in New York is not the same as a conservative in Texas.  A conservative in New York has to be more moderate in many districts to stand a chance to win at all.  Too many puritans want them expunged from the party or the GOP expunged from conservatism.  It's a recipe for defeat.

The real trick is to ensure that conservatives are the first choice for representatives in any district.  The only exceptions should be cases where straight ticket conservatives don't stand a chance to win.  And then, the level of conservatism should be bent as little as possible without betraying the overall integrity of conservative values. The trick is finding that point.  The GOP has lost sight of that focal point by being too out of touch with the grassroots.  The fault is not Newt's.  The fault lies in conservatives, outside of politics, not providing the unrelenting drumbeat of conservatism the way liberals do.  There are exceptions - Limbaugh, and Fox News (to a lesser extent) obvious among them.  Where's our CBS-NBC-ABC-CNN-MSNBC-NYT machine?  Stop asking and do something about it.  Rupert Murdoch will not be around forever. Where are his conservative immitators?  That's where conservativism is lacking.  From a conservative drumbeat will come conservative singers (candidates).

What the puritans must realize (and I'm extremely conservative myself, but I'm also a realist), is that in order to win, some concessions in some districts are unfortunately necessary.  But you have to walk before you can run.  The Hoffman example shows that the grassroots can get a conservative to win (I hope).  That energy shouldn't be turned on lesser conservative conservatives.  A conservativer-than-thou attitude doesn't help.

Small victories can compile and a slightly more conservative voice rather than a slightly more liberal voice is a good thing.  The left, until Obama, has been willing to take the long road to victory.  It's been what, 70 years of growing welfare statism?  No wonder the left thought they were close enough to take the final 'great leap forward'.  Conservatives often want to do everything at once.  It's great for the primaries - every possible true conservative should win in the primaries.  But as disgusted as I would be by having to vote for Scozzafava, I would have to look long and hard before sitting out and letting a Democrat win.  It's not out of the question, but the decision shouldn't be a flippant one.  Weak GOP candidates are better than hardcore liberals.  Socialism will not be defeated in our lifetime.  Frustratingly, patience is a virtue.  And it's a virtue that more grassroots conservatives would be advised to practice.

Newt's nose has been rubbed in his bad decision.  Scozzafava is gone.  Hoffman might win.  A signal very well could be sent tomorrow. Savor it.  Be energized by it, and use it to promote your local conservative option for candidacy in any primary race.  But do consider holding your nose and voting GOP in 2010 if you have to do so, because another 2 years of unfettered Obama-ism, is a recipe for a national disaster. On that, I'm sure 99% of conservatives (even the moderate ones) can agree.  And in a nod to the true conservatives reading this - if you can't agree on the damage done to America Obama-ism, then maybe you really do deserve to be removed from the conserative sphere.

Grassroots goes electoral: T-1 and counting

Tomorrow the grassroots conservative movement that was awakened by the radical policies of the current radical liberal Obama regime, will taste it's first bit of REAL victory since last November. The victories of awakening Democrats and RINO Republicans via Tea Parties and boisterous town hall meetings have been fine, but that have translated to 0 electoral difference. Tomorrow will change that.  It's T-1 days to the next, albeit finite set of elections.

What is going to happen?

The GOP should win in Virginia handily, with Creigh Deeds becoming the new Governor.  But for goodness sake, don't listen to prognosticators and stay home!  That's how surprises occur.  Furthermore, a win of 69% to 31% is more of a statement than a win of 59% to 41%.  Every point counts because Virginia is a statement to the Democrats that the country is not happy with the over-the-top liberalism coming out of Washington these days.  President Obama carried Virginia in 2008.  Virginia needs to take some bold steps back towards being a red state, to force Washington to take note.

New Jersey is a tougher one but it certainly looks like Democrat Governor Jon Corzine is up against it.  Late polls show momentum shifting back towards his Republican opponent Chris Christie.  Late polling (note  - without sample sizing information as far as I have seen) have shown momentum headed back to the GOP candidate.  A GOP win would be a huge statement to the House Democrats that people are unhappy.  Blue Dog Democrats would take note.

Combined with a Conservative Party candidate win by Doug Hoffman in NY23 district special election, the Democrats would get the message loud and clear.  Whether they choose to listen is a different question.  One can hope that a sweep of those three would derail the radical, foolish health care changes being proposed, perhaps cap and trade as well.  The NY23 district has a solid Republican history but the current sellout GOP candidate bowed out and threw her support behind the Democrat instead of the conservative candidate.  It's no surprise to anyone except perhaps the RNC and Newt Gingrich.  Will it sway her supporters away from Hoffman? Some perhaps.  But Hoffman can win this.

The real message from a Hoffman win is not for the Democrats though, but rather the GOP to stop pandering to moderates and liberals by being more like Democrats.  Conservatism offers an alternative to liberalism.  It's needed.  Two left parties is not a democracy, and conservatism, if embraced and extolled, sells.  Or can sell, with the right sellers.  The message of a Conservative Party victory after a GOP implosion that resulted from backing a liberal horse in a conservative district should smarten up the RNC and the likes of Newt Gingrich, or at least get them to back off their position that conservatism can't win.  It can, and if supported properly, does.

None of these races change the balance of power anywhere in Washington D.C. (Congress, the Senate or the White House). But power is often directly a result of perception. A sweep of these three high profile races for conservatism, means that Congressional Representatives will have to take notice.  Even two of three can be viewed as a repudiation of Obama-ism.  At there very least it will also re-charge the batteries for the right. Will it happen?  It's hard to say.  I think 3/3 is possible and 2/3 is very probable for conservatives.  Virginia will go to the GOP, the other two are leaning GOP and very well should go as predicted to the GOP and Conservative Party respectively. Conservatives, will be in a better mood on Wednesday morning, but still have just as many hard battles to fight and win.

One Year of Nonsensible Shoes - A blog story

Today is the one year anniversary of this blog.  Happy anniversary to me.  I started Nonsensible Shoes back in November of 2008, after writing numerous emails for my friends, explaining, and to a lesser extent interpreting, the daily happenings of the 2008 U.S. Presidential primaries and general election.  It started out as more explaining but as it went along it became more of a warning of "don't believe the (Obama) hype".  It turned out I enjoyed the interpreting as much as, or more than explaining electoral college and super-delegate details.

Nonsensible Shoes has always been about politics, from a conservative viewpoint.  It will continue to be. However, I really started blogging without any goals beyond getting my points out there for people to consider.  What I hadn't considered myself, was that getting people to notice my ramblings, was a challenging proposition.  Once I got a few visits, I wanted more.  It turns out success, however small, is kind of addictive.

Half way through my first year of blogging I started getting some pretty good (for me) traffic.  In the late spring it fell off and I decided to try to set a goal for myself of getting 20,000 visits in my first year of blogging. I don't know if that was a good goal or not because before this year, I knew nothing of blogging.  After my first year, I can report that I fell just short of my goal, having had 19,695 visits.  However, in late December of last year I added a feed to my account and have had 3,992 views from that.  So I don't feel like I really failed to reach my goal, some of it just came in another form.

However, I still have a lot to learn about blogging; blog design optimization, blog marketing and monetizing a blog.  After one year my audience is no longer growing. In fact I've been so busy with my real job and family life the last few weeks, it's contracted some as a result of neglect of the regular blogging frequency.  In one year I have posted about 800 entries - few have been from the last two weeks.  That will return to normal over the next month or so (I hope). 

The other thing that excited me as an unrepentant capitalist, was that by throwing some Google Ads on my site, I was able to make money doing something I really enjoyed.  That was what opened my eyes to the possibility of eventually making a living doing something I love - talking politics and policy.  Granted I've made less than $40 in my first year.  But it hasn't phased me.  Like I said, I'm still fairly new at this.  I've had people tell me it takes three years to really see some kind of traction on a blog.

I'm inspired in particular by Ed Morrissey who blogged at Captain's Quarters and now Hot Air.  Mr. Morrissey apparently also had a regular full time job but managed to blog on the side and grew his audience over the course of a few years, to, at one point according to Wikipedia, 400,000 per day at the height of the Canadian Adscam scandal. Ed's tireless efforts, and quality writing have been inspirational.  John Hawkins at Right Wing News has also proven for me that effort and quality mean success.  His site has been for years one of my most frequented web visits.

Others have written or told me some of the obvious blogging tips that I'm sure everyone has heard.  Most importantly that quality content is the single biggest factor in succeeding in blogging.  It's in that light that I've set more goals for my next year of blogging.  They don't involve numbers for the most part, other than writing at least as many posts as I have in the past year.

My goals are more internalized - writing ever better quality posts (which means perhaps taking a course or studying methodologies of journalism), and learning more about smart marketing tactics, and web/blog design.  Hopefully by this time next year I will have achieved all of my specific goals and seen some seeds of success as a result.  Perhaps in the following year I can then start thinking about actual numbers again.  A successful blogging year would make a wonderful 2010, especially if it's combined with a conservative Congressional landslide next November.  Of course, just like my personal goal, a landslide will take a lot of hard work and dedication.  Hopefully some conservatives in the RNC and GOP are, one year out, thinking the very same way.