It’s a joy watching the media scramble and dig around for anything to dismiss Palin. Now her hairstyle is “old” and reflects her though process(!). Nothing against this woman is taking hold.
I was wondering the cost of the flights out to evacuate. What will the bill end up being for this evacuation? So, let’s encourage everyone to return to a city below sea level. We tax payers should pick up the tab every time evacuation is needed. We need the chocolate city? Can’t a jazz mecca, sin city, be built inland?
I am not here to dismiss or disparage Palin, far from it. I think she is a clever pick by McCain and a formidable candidate who brings some voters to the ticket. However, she does come with baggage which could peal away votes, possibly enough to cause McCain/Palin to lose in November. As I mentioned yesterday, she believes that intelligent design/creationism should be taught alongside evolution in High School classrooms. She is also against abortions except when the life of the mother is at risk. Even in the case of rape and incest. This could be a problem because most voters are pro choice, especially in cases involvind rape or incest.
Izzie, It’s funny, the objections you keep bringing up about Palin are the same issues that are going to energize voters on the right who were unenthusiastic at the least about McCain.
The Chron strikes again–or more accurately misses again. The caption under the pic of the Baton Rouge couple’s flooded back yard and near miss from having the home flooded lists them as living in Baton Rogue.
Guess all the copy editors have been let go, and computer spell check isn’t that smart.
Drudge has an interesting story about Oprah and Palin…do you think she should go on the show? I think absolutely NOT. We have already seen how other women have treated the Governor, and no one can imagine - given that Oprah has a clear favorite in this race - that Palin would get a fair shake. Palin will look more “presidential/VP-ish” by NOT going on the show until after the election.
you are correct sir. The base of the Republican party is definately energized. And some other voters will come to the McCain/Palin ticket for various reasons. However, take it all around(as Mark Twain would say), will her charm and his experience be enough to win? I’m not so sure.
LMAO - they can register for aid by applying online or via telephone. I wonder if FEMA will cover those costs too?
Also, I heard that they will reimburse you the full amount of your cigarettes, booze, and drugs if those stashes were affected by Gustav. Oh, baby formula too.
I also saw the comment about how out-of-date her hairstyle is.
I am one of those women who doesn’t care about the current fashion. If it looks good, then wear it! Being a slave to fashion demeans a woman, IMHO. If someone is constantly worried about what everybody else is wearing/doing, or what everybody else thinks he/she should wear/do, then that person probably is not “her own person”.
I think her hair was fine. If she was wearing a mohawk, I might worry. It was feminine yet professional.
The MSM is just looking for any little thing to nitpick, because they are worried, worried, worried. It makes the MSM look petty and incompetent. Except to other liberals, because they are clinging to any negative thing about Palin like a drowning man clings to a life preserver.
The chron is reporting that unemployment is 6.1% (employment must be 93.9%) and that is the highest in 5 years. I don’t have time to look this stuff up, but saying the highest in 5 years is not the same as saying the highest in 15 years or 10 years. This must mean unemployment was higher during the “democratic” rule of Clinton/Gore.
Seems like someone should be saying that yes unemployment is getting higher due to the higher cost of fuel squeezing companies (a direct fault of the Democrats), but unemployment is still lower since Bush took over.
Conventional thinking is wrong. McCain should not let Obama bully him into running away from Bush.
Reply to No. 4: You are always going to have some nitpicking from people who are looking for any excuse not to vote for a particular candidate. Since no one is ever going to get all that they want, they have to look at the overall picture. Ultimately, I think you have to look at the possiblity of the next President chosing Supreme Court justices which are life time appointments which could affect you forever. There is a side of me that wants “BO” to win so that people can see how bad the Dimwits really are, screw up our “super power” status and hopefully end affirmative action but I know the damage he could do would be worse because you and I cannot possibly pay for all that he wants.
It is an interesting question. Should Palin go on Oprah ? I have mixed thoughts about it. Oprah would have to be very careful how she handled Palin since she has come under heavy fire for her recent partisanship regarding Obama. She might go out of her way to be accomodating of Palin in order not to offend the substantial support for Palin among her viewers. Oprah is first and foremost an extraordinarily shrewd businesswoman. But, then again, you may be right that it would be a mistake.
You are right. Some people are going to nitpick and look for any excuse not to vote for a particular candidate. Indeed many left leaners are so disgusted with the current administration that they would vote for anyone(Nadar, Barr, Paul, McKinney), other than a Republican. And your right again when you say that folks will look at the overall picture, especially this year with an energized electorate. You’ve nailed it when you say that the next president will chose two or three( or four…uh oh) justices. If Gov Palin is ever interviewed by the MSM, look for this to be front and center. Roe v Wade could be the tipping point in this election.
One more point. You and I cannot possibly pay for the debt we have now.
izquierdo on September 5th, 2008 at 7:17 am carbon credit
I am not here to dismiss or disparage Palin, far from it. I think she is a clever pick by McCain and a formidable candidate who brings some voters to the ticket. However, she does come with baggage which could peal away votes, possibly enough to cause McCain/Palin to lose in November. As I mentioned yesterday, she believes that intelligent design/creationism should be taught alongside evolution in High School classrooms. She is also against abortions except when the life of the mother is at risk. Even in the case of rape and incest. This could be a problem because most voters are pro choice, especially in cases involvind rape or incest.
Here’s your problem:
I just figured this out yesterday, so it’s probably going to find it’s way into the media at some point. It’s a relatively simple concept. It goes like this:
The only way to abslutely guarantee that a woman gets elected President is to have two women running for the office, one from each Party.
The best way to do that is to defeat Barack Obama and put Sarah Palin in as McCain’s VP.
It’s a lead pipe cinch that 2012 will be a race between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.
Done that way, we are guaranteed to have a woman President by 2013.
I think the number of women who figure that out will more than offset the number of voters who put “Intelligent Design” at the top of thier issues list—all five of them.
And if Abortion was the cincher, neither Bush would have ever been elected.
I also think that there’s a lot of Moms out ther that are getting pretty dam tired of “Womens Rights” being held hstage to “Abortion Rights.” I think that they are more concerend about waht affects the chidlren they have, and not the ones other people dont want.
So, did anybody besides me watch the McCain speech last nite? Other than the fact that he was silent on immigration (disappointing) it was a pretty good speech.
Still too much big government in there:
For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we’ll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.
but he acknowledged that the Republicans have broken faith with the voters
We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles. We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.
and he got a REALLY nice dig at Obama:
I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need.
I believe that most voters (other than the rabid atheists and the Flying Spaghetti Monster crowd over at fark.com) don’t consider the VP’s stance on Intelligent Design all that relevant, given the times and the REAL issues we face.
Anyone catch McCain’s reference that migrant workers are Americans in his speech last night? At least he mentioned them in the same sentence as everyone else when he said “…we are all Americans”
I think instead of handing out money, FEMA should hand out advice. Too bad Sam Kinison is not with us, he would have been a good spokesman (if anyone remembers his “you live in a desert” bit”)
“You live 8 feet below sea level, next to a large body of water. Your city is a favorite target for hurricanes. Most of your southern land mass is a marsh. You need to move.”
jimb on September 5th, 2008 at 8:44 am I believe that most voters (other than the rabid atheists and the Flying Spaghetti Monster crowd over at fark.com) don’t consider the VP’s stance on Intelligent Design all that relevant, given the times and the REAL issues we face.
I do appreciate all the comments that Izzy is giving us over here to demoralize help us.
McCain’s speech was good, but not great. He was better than expected.
Had a great finish, though—the last 90 seconds were great.
This is a race between Srah Palin and Barack Obama now. the bad news for Barack is that Palin is right where he was 19 months ago.
And he got beat up by a girl the other night.
Beleive it or not, that’s ging to matter. You can’t look strong and decisive if a 140 pound mother of 5 keeps getting in jabs and hooks on you.
Reply to No.18: I have always said that HELLary wants back into the White House in the worst of ways and that is why “BO” cannot win. The trick is to sabotage “BO” without looking like you had a hand in it. If it appears HELLary and Bill did “BO” in then she is not a sure thing for 2012. You also have to remember that those White House papers she kept from coming out during the primaries will definitely be out by 2012. And you are also assuming that McCain only runs for one term so that Palin can run in 2012. Nice theory but a lot of things have to happen.
One other comment on Sarah Baraacuda vs Baracky Obammy:
Not only can you not look stong and decisive if your getting beat up by a girl, but you can’t look like the Compassionate Savior of The Human Race if you’re beating up on a mother of five.
The last six days have proven that.
If Baracky had any kind of a record to stand on, it would’t be much of a problem.
But he doesn’t.
So it is.
And when in the cornbread hell are those sexist pigs over there going to figure out that alska has a Governor and Sarah Plain is it?
They are either intentionally misrepresenting her or they are as dumb as a box of hammers.
And why can’t he control his supporters?
He’s going to “Unite Us” with all those dirty rotten scumbags supporting him?
Gimme a break.
Put people like that in charge and we’re going to be more divided than ever.
Reply to No.18: I have always said that HELLary wants back into the White House in the worst of ways and that is why “BO” cannot win. The trick is to sabotage “BO” without looking like you had a hand in it. If it appears HELLary and Bill did “BO” in then she is not a sure thing for 2012. You also have to remember that those White House papers she kept from coming out during the primaries will definitely be out by 2012. And you are also assuming that McCain only runs for one term so that Palin can run in 2012. Nice theory but a lot of things have to happen.
You could be right.
But I figure that of McCain/Palin gets elected, the Hillary is a lead pipe cinch for the Democrats.
And because of that, I figure that McCain will step aside and Palin will run.
Because he’d likely lose to Hillary.
McCain would have lost this time, even if Hillary was VP, but Baracky calls women “sweetie” and tells her supporters to “get over it.”
Reply to No. 29: The only sure block of votes “BO” has is the black vote. Wait until the campaign gets down to earnest and we have a few debates. People will see “BO” as the “empty suit” that he is. If HELLary was the “sure thing” for 2008 like everybody thought, then she can’t be the sure thing for 2012. A lot can happen over the next four years but it looks like Palin broke the glass ceiling that HELLary chipped.
“You live 8 feet below sea level, next to a large body of water. Your city is a favorite target for hurricanes. Most of your southern land mass is a marsh. You need to move.”
But here is the problem, NO would not have been hit as hard by Katrina or Gustav if the swamp land to the south was not being drained for development. Those lands served a purpose, they formed a natural buffer against storm surge and also an area for Mississippi river to over flow into. However the Port of New Orleans and the government of LA got the Army Corp of Engineers to build the river bypass that now directly connects the Port of NO to the Gulf, therefore a direct path for storm surge and flooding from the Mississippi to come right back into the city.
All to line the pockets of corrupt Democrat politicians.
“I am not happy that someone is dead,” Kellie Hoehn said. “But I am glad that my family is alive.”
Police said Pierson was shot in the left arm and the bullet pierced his diaphragm and other organs but his condition was improving. He will face charges of burglary of habitation with intent to commit another felony, police said.
Investigators say the couple were just defending their family and probably won’t be charged.
Bravo to the parents and the police for not charging them
#30, Pass the Parmesan please, but neither the republicans or dems are getting this atheists vote.
Here’s the Ted Baxter of Fox News (Bill O’Reilly) interviewing Richard Dawkins and making a fool of himself. He also states the Pascal wager as justification for his beliefs, proving that he’s an ignorant insincere Christian.
#19 - I did watch all of the speech. I really thought the audience did McCain a disfavor by interrupting so much w/ ill-timed ovations at the beginning (many times they weren’t even “applause lines”)…it kept him from maintaining what little tempo he had…it didn;t seem like they had control of the crowd/mob.
I always thought black bears were hard-core Libertarians or so I heard from a donkey the other day. But it looks as if they’ve been co-opted by the fascist police state. Now we have black bears running around with no-knock warrants:
PANGUITCH, Utah — One Utah community is cheering a special bear — but don’t call him Smokey.
Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away.
“This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded,” said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins. “If I can find this bear I’m going to deputize him.”
Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the Garfield County camp on Tuesday.
Perkins said the operation on Boulder Mountain included 4,000 “starter” sacks of pot and 888 young plants.
“This particular bear apparently was not going to give up and basically chased these marijuana farmers away,” Perkins said. “Our county is so tough on drugs that even the wildlife are getting in on the action.”
Something that was not obvious to television viewers was there were anti-war and Code Pink hecklers in the crowd and when they began to shout, the crowd would drown them out by shouting “USA”. It did have an effect on the speech, but that was why they interrupted McCain when they did.
I understand your feelings there. I guess I’m going down the “what will cause my country the least harm” road with my current political strategy. Now, if we could just hold the Republican’s feet to the fire when it comes to fiscal responsibility, maybe we’d have something. And yes, I remember that Bush the first said that atheists aren’t real Americans.
That is not exactly raising the bar too high. I think Senator McCain is far better at “off the cuff” speaking, but only as long as he keeps his temper in check.
To be fair…Senator Biden has the exact same problem, except he doesn’t need to be ticked-off to put his foot in his mouth.
I think Senator Obama and Governor Palin are excellent at delivering prepared speeches. Senator Obama appears uncomfortable to me when he is not being scripted, but that could change with time. It did for Harry Truman in 1948. Truman began as a fairly bad public speaker, but really improved during the election of 1948.
I am waiting to see how Governor Palin does once she has to swim with the sharks without the benefit of a script or handlers. Sharks being the operative term for the media.
Speech delivery is important for one reason! The President has to be his own salesman. He has to pitch his policies to the American People and the Congress. Reagan was a master because he could “sell” his policies in a forceful and simple manner. Opponents would cave-in because they were afraid Reagan could (and did at times) turn the voters against them.
You can be 100% right and have all the facts on your side, but still fail miserably if you cannot convince the folks you are pitching of your point. I have seen it happen too many times. This is GWB’s basic weakness and it is curious why he did not work with coaches to improve his delivery over his eight years in office.
I think Senator McCain’s speech was too long by about 20 minutes. Personally, I think he would have done better if he had walked out there with a 3X5 card of his main points and spoken in the style that best serves him. Off the Cuff, from the heart, and straight into the eyes.
#37 That was funny, Texpat. Actually using trained bears instead of police for drug raids has some advantages. For example, unlike the tax payer funded drug warriors, the bears could be funded entirely by asset forfeiture — by seizing the contents of peoples pantries and refrigerators.
Another advantage is that the bears are less likely to kill peoples dogs.
I watched the speech last night on CBS. They showed the anti-war guy with his shirt and big sign. How do those people get in there anyway? Doesn’t everyone have to have some type of ID to get in. Just curious as to the procedure. Anyone know?
During Sarah Palins Speech the Telepromter failed to work properly. Sarah was able to continue the speech because she believed in what she was talking about.
I would love to hear Barrack Obama finish a speech where his telepromter fails half way through the speech. My guess is we would get 30 minutes of Uh, uh uh,…
#46 You can be a credentialed delegate without supporting every issue that the party/candidate does. There were more than a few Ron Paul delegates there.
It’s funny how Paul got many more votes and support than Rudy G, did but wasn’t allowed to speak. “Big Tent” my foot.
I think I might have seen our little friend, antifascist.
I just saw a scruffy little dude in a dark blue hoodie sweatshirt with “antifascist” in red letters across the front. Only thing is, I’m in the airport in Copenhagen. Aunti-fascist, are you here?
Did she recite her speech at the Republican National Convention from memory after the teleprompter broke?
Despite Internet rumors that Palin delivered much of her speech in front of a faulty teleprompter, GOP officials have confirmed that the teleprompter worked flawlessly throughout Palin’s address.
Don’t get me wrong… I like Palin (she said RP was cool!) But I don’t like her enough to overcome my dislike of McCain.
If my math serves me correctly the lead is around 3.2 percentage points, that makes this race a toss up and to be honest a lot closer than I thought it would be at this point.
And where is shakey to brag about his prognostication????
It’s funny how Paul got many more votes and support than Rudy G, did but wasn’t allowed to speak. “Big Tent” my foot.
Paul also stayed in the race to the end. Rudy dropped out very early. The only reason there’s an “R” after Paul’s name is because when it was an “L” he couldn’t get elected (I know, I know. The evil “two-party duopoly”). If you come into the “Big Tent” and tell everyone you have no intention of helping them put on the soiree you shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t invite you to raise a toast.
52 - So the difference between Obama and McCain is basically the same size as the margin of error? I call that a dead heat. Hardly the blowout that Obama hoped for.
And the Republican convention ended just last nite.
#54 Hamous, The RNC’s treatment of Paul is funny, but not at all surprising. And you are correct that they conditioned an offer for him to address the convention on his endorsement of McCain, which as a conservative with integrity he naturally refuses to do.
The McCain campaign, acting through the RNC also refused to allow his immediate staff to accompany him to the convention floor unless he agreed to give them the names of all the delegates that support him. (I personally know of three from the Houston area.)
The McCain camp is also interested in gaining access to his massive database of email and snail mail addresses. Fat chance.
You are also correct in your classification of the two party duopoly as evil. However, as Squawkbox has pointed out in the past, it can and does effectively use its power to disadvantage third parties (and the voters that support them.)
It’s hard to have a truly representative republic when both parties are more like dictatorships. This is why the Campaign for Liberty is focused on changing the party from within.
It’s a strategy that may or may not work.
#57 Wagonburner, good point. I’ve wondered about that too.
Citing the left leaning “Slate” as your source with no backup does not change anything. Every story I can find outside the Johnaton Martin artical says the teleprompter was not funtioning as it should.
I would like to know just which “GOP officals” confirmed the story that the teleprompter worked flawlessly.
Back to the theme of open comments. Ya know, all those blue collar people in the rust belt are wondering, along with me, why we will foot the bill over and over to evacuate a city that is going to be ruined if a major hurricane strikes. It’s not like someone’s private beach house they choose to have, take the risk, and loose if a storm takes it. It’s our tax payer money paying for this and it’s expensive. The man/woman who works hard and pays taxes can’t afford to visit N.O. often, if ever. Yet they/we are expected to bail these folks out over and over. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Make N.O. a park.
If you want the story on the teleprompter, do a search for elections, Fox, news, Palin, Teleprompter. I’m having trouble with the website to copy the story into a link.
Hakeem Olajuwon enters the Basketball HOF this weekend good article about the best player in Rockets history and one of the best in Houston Sports History.
I just thought of an upside. Maybe people will get so tired of being in traffic for ours going and coming, they’ll realize they need to move. People were smart enough in the early 1900’s to raise Galveston. We build retainer dikes and in 20 years one will have been damaged badly enough it’s a do over. I don’t see the practicality.
This is from Redstate.com so take it with a grain of salt.
The Politico, which hasn’t exactly had a track record of accurate reporting, contradicts the broken teleprompter story.
But, MSNBC and Fox both report that there were problems with the teleprompter. They were, as I described them, that the teleprompter kept scrolling past Governor Palin’s stopping point during applause, forcing her to rely on notes and memory.
The McCain camp, last night, did tell me this happened during Rudy’s speech, but this morning is telling Fox News the teleprompter problems did not occur with Rudy’s speech, just Palin’s speech.
BTW, I’ve gotten one more clarification from the McCain campaign: by the end of the speech the problem had been resolved. But you can clearly see during the middle Palin looked at her text often.
Gov. Hubba-hubba is clearly a better off the cuff speaker than Obama, I’m only pointing out that the teleprompter “malfunctions” may have been exaggerated in the political interest of emphasizing her speaking ability.
But seriously, Dr. Paul chose to operate within the Republican Party. I understand you aren’t fond of rules but he knew the rules going in. And I reject the premise that the two party system, in and of itself, is evil. The alternatives are fascism (Russia) or near-anarchy (Great Britain). Entrenched ideologies can be overcome from within. While I’m not fond of his policies, Clinton yanked the Democratic party from bleating liberals and kept the Democrats in the White House for eight years. Barry Goldwater took on the Rockefeller Republicans and set the stage for Reagan. It remains to be seen but we could be seeing a similar realignment with the Palin pick.
I first saw the story of the faulty Teleprompter on MSNBC followed by Fox news. Neither has retracted their story. While some may want to claim Fox is bias to the right their is no doubt that MSNBC is left bias new organization.
Until better information comes out I am going to have to believe that an unidentified offical quoted by a far left writter in a liberal blog is trying to discredit the story with no actual facts.
I listened to McCain’s speech on the radio. Disruptions by Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War were overwhelmed by “USA, USA, USA” chants. The radio hosts described at least two people being dragged from the convention hall during his speech.
What I am curious about is how did the network and cable broadcasts show the disruptions? Did they pan away or did they give a lot of screen time and attention to the ruckus and the banners? Which networks did what?
#69 Hamous, what “rule” says every republican, particularly a congressman popular with the constituency that elects him has to march in lock step with the dictates of his state or national party leadership.
If such a “rule” exists, I submit that is a bad one.
Sarah Palin believed in what she was saying. That makes it a lot easier to give a speech when the script is unavailable.
I think Barracks speeches contain a lot of information written in to appease the particular audience he is speaking to and that the speechs change in accordance to the audience he is speaking to which accounts for his faultering when not reading from a telepromter.
particularly a congressman popular with a very small percentage of the constituency
That sir would be much more accurate.
And as regard to marching in lockstep, he not only does not march in lockstep, he doesn’t keep in step at all, and almost always goes in the opposite direction - well, 99% of the time.
But that’s his choice. He has every right to. And the party has every right to exclude him since his VOTING RECORD indicates he shares very few of the same goals.
Bob42, the “rule” is, the Republican Party has the right to invite whomever they want to speak at their convention. Simple.
antifascist - PBS showed the protesters, particularly the one wearing the “Iraq Veteran” shirt. I also saw several Code Pinkos escorted out of the Dem convention.
#77 Big, how is it that winning a congressional seat by a landslide margin can be classified as a “small percentage” of the constituency?
Congressmen are supposed to represent their districts, NOT their party. This is one of the differences between a representative republic and a dictatorial two party duopoly.
Bob, are you saying he was not allowed to go to the convention, or just complaining that he was not allowed to speak? How many other GOP congressional reps won in a landslide that also didn’t speak?
Ron Paul is free to speak to any group and any reporter at any time. Nobody has muzzled him or taken away any of his rights. However, he has no innate right to speak at the convention. It’s the GOP’s party and they can invite who they want on the dias. Same with the Dems or any other party. Did the Libertarians have their convention yet, and did they invite Ron Paul to speak to them? If so, did he?
#79 Can you comment on the Goldwater/Reagan revolution? If there was a “dictatorial two party duopoly” how did that happen? I think the problem is the overwhelming majority of voters did not like Ron Paul’s message despite his acolytes’ ability to raise impressive amounts of money. In this representative republic you must convince enough voters to get on board with your message. Money bombs don’t count.
Bob, this was a national convention. He ran for President. The constituency is ALL the voters who voted in the primaries, not just those from Paul’s district.
Now I can’t understand why Ron Paul did so poorly in the primaries. After all, all those computerized post debate polls indicated he should have won in a landslide. Could it be that Ron Paul’s supporters flooded those polls with false data (read bullshirt), and that they were less than ethical in presenting Paul’s popularity with the voting public nationwide?
Ron Paul won his congressional seat the same way every time by telling the people what they want to hear but he has failed to live up to his promises. The thing is a larger portion of his district is of the uninformed masses than those that stay informed or he would be out of office.
#66 AW, Galveston’s recovery following the 1900 storm, particularly the raising of the east end and construction of the seawall are both fascinating subjects. It is little known that both projects were accomplished with very little federal funding, which did not play a major role until the seawall was extended to protect Ft. Crockett years later.
Some state money along with a substantial amount of funding from private interests who stood to benefit from Galveston’s continued existence was responsible for the massive construction effort.
Contrast that with today’s conventional “wisdom” that the federal government should have a massively wasteful bureaucracy known as FEMA. There is little incentive for the state of LA to act wisely in regard to protecting New Orleans, and even less for private interests to do so.
As long as we charter the feds with more responsibility that the states or private interests, we will continue to perpetuate a situation that steals money from people and spends it unwisely.
Does holding the opinion that an expansive and overly powerful federal government mean that I can’t be a republican?
No Bob42 you can be a Republican, if you want to be one. I think I like the title Conservative better than Republican for me. Aren’t you more of a libertarian?
Want to read about Obama’s ‘ Community Organization”? Michelle Malkin has a great piece. Scroll down past the video’s and read about Acorn and it’s troubles.
#81 Hamous, Goldwater was a republican with libertarian values. I suggest that Goldwater’s views are more similar to Ron Paul’s than to either of the three Bushes; G. Bush, GW Bush, and McBush.
Reagan stayed in the 1976 primary until the convention, and was invited to address the delegates prior to the Ford loss in the general election.
#85 AW, Yes, I’m a “small l” libertarian that supports the notion of a federal government with constitutionally limited powers, not the virtually unlimited amount of power both major parties tend to give it.
The democrats are a lost cause because of their fundamental belief in government involvement in nearly every aspect of citizens’ lives. I’m not sure about the republicans, but it’s clear that the party supports a large and intrusive federal government. There’s nothing conservative about that.
Speak to me, O Muse, of this resourceful man
who strides so boldly upon the golden shrine at Invescos,
Between Ionic plywood columns, to the kleig light altar.
Fair Obamacles, favored of the gods, ascends to Olympus
Amidst lusty tributes and the strumming lyres of Media;
Their mounted skyboxes echo with the singing of his name
While Olbermos and Mattheus in their greasy togas wrassle
For first honor of basking in their hero’s reflected glory.
Who is this man, so bronzed in countenance,
So skilled of TelePrompter, clean and articulate
whose ears like a stately urn’s protrude?
So now, daughter of Zeus, tell us his story.
And just the Cliff Notes if you don’t mind,
We don’t have all day.
I saw this today and was reminded of a recent comment from Texpat in which he remarked on jury nullification.
Friday marks the 338th anniversary of when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England’s Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors ignored what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.
By refusing to enforce what they knew was an unjust law, the Penn jurors served justice, and provided a basis for our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly. For refusing to find Penn guilty, the judge sent four of Penn’s jurors to prison. Their exoneration fixed forever the English and American doctrine that jurors have the responsibility to decide both matters of law and fact in any case before them. Individual jurors are the last line of defense for people who are prosecuted under bad laws by overzealous prosecutors and court officials.
The Founders intended that jurors would use their rights and responsibilities to judge the law and the facts in every trial, and do justice. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments were included in the Bill of Rights to guarantee that every person brought to trial has Juror Protection.
Gov. Sarah Palin was one of three sitting governors to sign on to an effort to support this concept.
I wonder if she was forced to change her views to comply with party dictates.
In a little town just the other side in Alaska
She was sitting there givin’ libs looks that made their knees chatter
Then she started walking their way
Intending on having her say
And they knew, yes they knew they should leave
When they heard her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
Libs started to whine
To her ears it was so disgusting
Inventing lies they couldn’t resist
Made her want to give their butts one good dusting
Then I heard the lib anchor say
“Vamoose, FOX is on the way”
Then they knew, yes they knew they should run
Then they heard her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
Then the cameras stopped
When they looked the convention was empty
Then I heard Sarah say
“Libs you know you’re in trouble plenty”
So they pooped in their pants cross the land
And from their pants their tinkle it ran
And as she walked away
To the libs I could hear her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
La la-la-la la-la
La la-la-la la-la
Ho ho la-la
La la la-la
But Sarah Palin doesn’t support my family. She probably would have back in the day, when we were made up of two working parents raising two kids in a dual-income household totaling around $70,000 per year. But that was before I came out of the closet and before my 17-year-old cousin (the victim of a brutal rape) made the painful decision to have an abortion. It was before I got kicked out of the Boy Scouts because they found out my father was a recovering alcoholic and an atheist — never mind that the churchgoing troop leader knocked back a six-pack a night and beat his wife — and long before grandma entertained a gentleman caller or three after the death of my grandpa.
That just screams “different” — anything but average — and as we’ve seen time and time again with the Republican Party, different equals change, and that just doesn’t fly.
I think the guy used every cliché in the book to describe his ‘family’.
#94 Big, I can offer this link, which was included in the one I previously posted. But since it’s to a .gov domain, I can’t vouch for it’s truthfulness.
The history of third parties in the US Presidential Elections should be sufficent to dissuade any sane person from running a Presidential Bid under that banner. Third parties are a best spoilers, although they do tap into an undercurrent that has been simmering for a long long time.
Most Americans ARE NOT PARTY MEMBERS! Yes we do have to “register” as one or the other during the primaries in schemes that have been devised by the two major parties to ensure their existance. I counter that most Americans really don’t care to really join either. Even here on this blog some are identifying themselves as Conservatives, Libertarians, or Independents (my personal favorate) rather than adopt the Republican moniker.
I wonder what would happen if primaries were open in every state? It would be nice to pick say the two best Republicans, Democrats, or Independents in the field.
I mean what would be the downside?
Neither Party adheres to their “Platform”. Platforms at the state and national level have become….well pointless. I used to remember there was a much drama in the convention on adopting a unified platform as there was in selecting a candidate. We should sue BOTH parties for false advertising. The folks that can Green Beans are held to a higher standard than the two parties. Turn out some tainted cans and they would get sued. Consider what either party is asking us to swallow. Hell…there is more truth telling going on at a used car lot, than at conventions of the two major parties.
Of course…the cottage industry of Political Flacks, Campaign Consultants, and other professional liars might find itself unemployed, but I am sure they could find gainful employment in advertising.
The deck is stacked against a third party candidate, but I would not mind seeing a credible candidate take on these two pox ridden aging streetwalkers and shake things up just a bit. I may not live long enough to see it, but I hope so.
Simple - there are examples in our history where one of the two major parties became inconsequential, was replaced by a “third” party, and was relegated to the dust bin of history. No reason to think it couldn’t happen again.
#99 Big, I’m just wondering if the party will permit her to be as vocally supportive of the concept as she was prior to being selected as McCain’s running mate.
#102 That’s a valid question. For me the real test will be the first pork-laden spending bill to arrive on McCain’s desk. Will he wield his veto pen? I think he will.
#97 Simple Simon, good post as usual. More often than not, major party conventions are little more than pep-rallies designed to invigorate their respective bases and lull them into turning out for the lesser of two evils, and coughing up additional cash to support same.
Hamous, Ron Paul is hated by the republican party leadership fundamentally because he refuses to go along with their big-government loving mistakes. But I hope you understand that this is no longer about the Ron Paul Revolution, which ended shortly after super Tuesday. It’s now about motivating and educating a formerly apathetic segment of voters to work within the structures of both parties. Again, I’m not sure if such a strategy will work, but think it’s better than the status quo, and it’s worth a try.
The republicans had their pep-rally. Whoop Whoop! Meanwhile, a real political convention was happening just across the river.
Bottom line: Party loyalty is more beneficial to the party than it is to the people. Do you disagree?
You need not question bob42’s link in #91. That is the Volokh Conspiracy legal blog website and the writer is Eugene Volokh, one of the most prominent and well-known libertarian/conservative law professors in the country. He is also more trustworthy than any “credible news source” I know of. I try to keep up over there everyday, but haven’t been lately.
It’s a joy watching the media scramble and dig around for anything to dismiss Palin. Now her hairstyle is “old” and reflects her though process(!). Nothing against this woman is taking hold.
For Pete’s sake, can’t people get insurance or something for storm evacuations?
I was wondering the cost of the flights out to evacuate. What will the bill end up being for this evacuation? So, let’s encourage everyone to return to a city below sea level. We tax payers should pick up the tab every time evacuation is needed. We need the chocolate city? Can’t a jazz mecca, sin city, be built inland?
carbon credit
I am not here to dismiss or disparage Palin, far from it. I think she is a clever pick by McCain and a formidable candidate who brings some voters to the ticket. However, she does come with baggage which could peal away votes, possibly enough to cause McCain/Palin to lose in November. As I mentioned yesterday, she believes that intelligent design/creationism should be taught alongside evolution in High School classrooms. She is also against abortions except when the life of the mother is at risk. Even in the case of rape and incest. This could be a problem because most voters are pro choice, especially in cases involvind rape or incest.
Izzie, It’s funny, the objections you keep bringing up about Palin are the same issues that are going to energize voters on the right who were unenthusiastic at the least about McCain.
The Chron strikes again–or more accurately misses again. The caption under the pic of the Baton Rouge couple’s flooded back yard and near miss from having the home flooded lists them as living in Baton Rogue.
Guess all the copy editors have been let go, and computer spell check isn’t that smart.
Drudge has an interesting story about Oprah and Palin…do you think she should go on the show? I think absolutely NOT. We have already seen how other women have treated the Governor, and no one can imagine - given that Oprah has a clear favorite in this race - that Palin would get a fair shake. Palin will look more “presidential/VP-ish” by NOT going on the show until after the election.
5 duhmoose
you are correct sir. The base of the Republican party is definately energized. And some other voters will come to the McCain/Palin ticket for various reasons. However, take it all around(as Mark Twain would say), will her charm and his experience be enough to win? I’m not so sure.
LMAO - they can register for aid by applying online or via telephone. I wonder if FEMA will cover those costs too?
Also, I heard that they will reimburse you the full amount of your cigarettes, booze, and drugs if those stashes were affected by Gustav. Oh, baby formula too.
You wonder why I shake my head™
I also saw the comment about how out-of-date her hairstyle is.
I am one of those women who doesn’t care about the current fashion. If it looks good, then wear it! Being a slave to fashion demeans a woman, IMHO. If someone is constantly worried about what everybody else is wearing/doing, or what everybody else thinks he/she should wear/do, then that person probably is not “her own person”.
I think her hair was fine. If she was wearing a mohawk, I might worry. It was feminine yet professional.
The MSM is just looking for any little thing to nitpick, because they are worried, worried, worried. It makes the MSM look petty and incompetent. Except to other liberals, because they are clinging to any negative thing about Palin like a drowning man clings to a life preserver.
Hey folks.
The chron is reporting that unemployment is 6.1% (employment must be 93.9%) and that is the highest in 5 years. I don’t have time to look this stuff up, but saying the highest in 5 years is not the same as saying the highest in 15 years or 10 years. This must mean unemployment was higher during the “democratic” rule of Clinton/Gore.
Seems like someone should be saying that yes unemployment is getting higher due to the higher cost of fuel squeezing companies (a direct fault of the Democrats), but unemployment is still lower since Bush took over.
Conventional thinking is wrong. McCain should not let Obama bully him into running away from Bush.
Reply to No. 4: You are always going to have some nitpicking from people who are looking for any excuse not to vote for a particular candidate. Since no one is ever going to get all that they want, they have to look at the overall picture. Ultimately, I think you have to look at the possiblity of the next President chosing Supreme Court justices which are life time appointments which could affect you forever. There is a side of me that wants “BO” to win so that people can see how bad the Dimwits really are, screw up our “super power” status and hopefully end affirmative action but I know the damage he could do would be worse because you and I cannot possibly pay for all that he wants.
#11 Greg
The unemployment rate is up because the Comical and other media have to keep laying off people!
#7 CivilWarBuff
It is an interesting question. Should Palin go on Oprah ? I have mixed thoughts about it. Oprah would have to be very careful how she handled Palin since she has come under heavy fire for her recent partisanship regarding Obama. She might go out of her way to be accomodating of Palin in order not to offend the substantial support for Palin among her viewers. Oprah is first and foremost an extraordinarily shrewd businesswoman. But, then again, you may be right that it would be a mistake.
#14 texpat
I don’t know if Oprah should be careful how she handles Palin. It may a vice versa situation.
I could see Palin coming out on stage to greet Oprah with a set of eyelashes.
12 Robert
You are right. Some people are going to nitpick and look for any excuse not to vote for a particular candidate. Indeed many left leaners are so disgusted with the current administration that they would vote for anyone(Nadar, Barr, Paul, McKinney), other than a Republican. And your right again when you say that folks will look at the overall picture, especially this year with an energized electorate. You’ve nailed it when you say that the next president will chose two or three( or four…uh oh) justices. If Gov Palin is ever interviewed by the MSM, look for this to be front and center. Roe v Wade could be the tipping point in this election.
One more point. You and I cannot possibly pay for the debt we have now.
CivilWarBuff #7
Maybe she Paulin could take on The View? A tag team match, or something..
Here’s your problem:
I just figured this out yesterday, so it’s probably going to find it’s way into the media at some point. It’s a relatively simple concept. It goes like this:
The only way to abslutely guarantee that a woman gets elected President is to have two women running for the office, one from each Party.
The best way to do that is to defeat Barack Obama and put Sarah Palin in as McCain’s VP.
It’s a lead pipe cinch that 2012 will be a race between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.
Done that way, we are guaranteed to have a woman President by 2013.
I think the number of women who figure that out will more than offset the number of voters who put “Intelligent Design” at the top of thier issues list—all five of them.
And if Abortion was the cincher, neither Bush would have ever been elected.
I also think that there’s a lot of Moms out ther that are getting pretty dam tired of “Womens Rights” being held hstage to “Abortion Rights.” I think that they are more concerend about waht affects the chidlren they have, and not the ones other people dont want.
So, did anybody besides me watch the McCain speech last nite? Other than the fact that he was silent on immigration (disappointing) it was a pretty good speech.
Still too much big government in there:
but he acknowledged that the Republicans have broken faith with the voters
and he got a REALLY nice dig at Obama:
I believe that most voters (other than the rabid atheists and the Flying Spaghetti Monster crowd over at fark.com) don’t consider the VP’s stance on Intelligent Design all that relevant, given the times and the REAL issues we face.
Anyone catch McCain’s reference that migrant workers are Americans in his speech last night? At least he mentioned them in the same sentence as everyone else when he said “…we are all Americans”
I think instead of handing out money, FEMA should hand out advice. Too bad Sam Kinison is not with us, he would have been a good spokesman (if anyone remembers his “you live in a desert” bit”)
“You live 8 feet below sea level, next to a large body of water. Your city is a favorite target for hurricanes. Most of your southern land mass is a marsh. You need to move.”
I do appreciate all the comments that Izzy is giving us over here to
demoralizehelp us.McCain’s speech was good, but not great. He was better than expected.
Had a great finish, though—the last 90 seconds were great.
This is a race between Srah Palin and Barack Obama now. the bad news for Barack is that Palin is right where he was 19 months ago.
And he got beat up by a girl the other night.
Beleive it or not, that’s ging to matter. You can’t look strong and decisive if a 140 pound mother of 5 keeps getting in jabs and hooks on you.
And. She. Is. Good. At. That.
21 - Actually, he referred to the “Latina daughter of migrant workers”. An anchor baby, if you will.
sarge
you may be right. thanks for the (left handed) compliment….
Reply to No.18: I have always said that HELLary wants back into the White House in the worst of ways and that is why “BO” cannot win. The trick is to sabotage “BO” without looking like you had a hand in it. If it appears HELLary and Bill did “BO” in then she is not a sure thing for 2012. You also have to remember that those White House papers she kept from coming out during the primaries will definitely be out by 2012. And you are also assuming that McCain only runs for one term so that Palin can run in 2012. Nice theory but a lot of things have to happen.
One other comment on Sarah Baraacuda vs Baracky Obammy:
Not only can you not look stong and decisive if your getting beat up by a girl, but you can’t look like the Compassionate Savior of The Human Race if you’re beating up on a mother of five.
The last six days have proven that.
If Baracky had any kind of a record to stand on, it would’t be much of a problem.
But he doesn’t.
So it is.
And when in the cornbread hell are those sexist pigs over there going to figure out that alska has a Governor and Sarah Plain is it?
They are either intentionally misrepresenting her or they are as dumb as a box of hammers.
And why can’t he control his supporters?
He’s going to “Unite Us” with all those dirty rotten scumbags supporting him?
Gimme a break.
Put people like that in charge and we’re going to be more divided than ever.
I have a major problem with the current poll.
Where is the “All of the above” option? I DEMAND an “All of the above” option!!
By royal decree, dammit!
Barack wants to unite us all by joining all of our wallets together.
You could be right.
But I figure that of McCain/Palin gets elected, the Hillary is a lead pipe cinch for the Democrats.
And because of that, I figure that McCain will step aside and Palin will run.
Because he’d likely lose to Hillary.
McCain would have lost this time, even if Hillary was VP, but Baracky calls women “sweetie” and tells her supporters to “get over it.”
#22 sarge
Just for the record, this rabid atheist Flying Spahgetti Monster person intends to pull the lever for Palin.
(I just occured to me, you could make a nice joke out of that last phrase!)
Reply to No. 29: The only sure block of votes “BO” has is the black vote. Wait until the campaign gets down to earnest and we have a few debates. People will see “BO” as the “empty suit” that he is. If HELLary was the “sure thing” for 2008 like everybody thought, then she can’t be the sure thing for 2012. A lot can happen over the next four years but it looks like Palin broke the glass ceiling that HELLary chipped.
#21,
But here is the problem, NO would not have been hit as hard by Katrina or Gustav if the swamp land to the south was not being drained for development. Those lands served a purpose, they formed a natural buffer against storm surge and also an area for Mississippi river to over flow into. However the Port of New Orleans and the government of LA got the Army Corp of Engineers to build the river bypass that now directly connects the Port of NO to the Gulf, therefore a direct path for storm surge and flooding from the Mississippi to come right back into the city.
All to line the pockets of corrupt Democrat politicians.
#28, Tedtam you forgot one thing in your statement.
And take all the money and give it to others.
One more reason not to mess with Texas.
Bravo to the parents and the police for not charging them
#30, Pass the Parmesan please, but neither the republicans or dems are getting this atheists vote.
Here’s the Ted Baxter of Fox News (Bill O’Reilly) interviewing Richard Dawkins and making a fool of himself. He also states the Pascal wager as justification for his beliefs, proving that he’s an ignorant insincere Christian.
#19 - I did watch all of the speech. I really thought the audience did McCain a disfavor by interrupting so much w/ ill-timed ovations at the beginning (many times they weren’t even “applause lines”)…it kept him from maintaining what little tempo he had…it didn;t seem like they had control of the crowd/mob.
for bob42
I always thought black bears were hard-core Libertarians or so I heard from a donkey the other day. But it looks as if they’ve been co-opted by the fascist police state. Now we have black bears running around with no-knock warrants:
#36 CWB
Something that was not obvious to television viewers was there were anti-war and Code Pink hecklers in the crowd and when they began to shout, the crowd would drown them out by shouting “USA”. It did have an effect on the speech, but that was why they interrupted McCain when they did.
36 - One thing I can say I don’t like about political speeches is the (pause here for applause) breaks.
38 - I noticed that as well. And the media (I watched the speech on NBC) certainly picked out their share of those hecklers.
I will say this: McCain is no master orator, but he’s better by far than GWB when it comes to public speaking.
#35 bob42
I understand your feelings there. I guess I’m going down the “what will cause my country the least harm” road with my current political strategy. Now, if we could just hold the Republican’s feet to the fire when it comes to fiscal responsibility, maybe we’d have something. And yes, I remember that Bush the first said that atheists aren’t real Americans.
By the way, thanks for the O’Reilly link!
40, jimb
That is not exactly raising the bar too high. I think Senator McCain is far better at “off the cuff” speaking, but only as long as he keeps his temper in check.
To be fair…Senator Biden has the exact same problem, except he doesn’t need to be ticked-off to put his foot in his mouth.
I think Senator Obama and Governor Palin are excellent at delivering prepared speeches. Senator Obama appears uncomfortable to me when he is not being scripted, but that could change with time. It did for Harry Truman in 1948. Truman began as a fairly bad public speaker, but really improved during the election of 1948.
I am waiting to see how Governor Palin does once she has to swim with the sharks without the benefit of a script or handlers. Sharks being the operative term for the media.
Speech delivery is important for one reason! The President has to be his own salesman. He has to pitch his policies to the American People and the Congress. Reagan was a master because he could “sell” his policies in a forceful and simple manner. Opponents would cave-in because they were afraid Reagan could (and did at times) turn the voters against them.
You can be 100% right and have all the facts on your side, but still fail miserably if you cannot convince the folks you are pitching of your point. I have seen it happen too many times. This is GWB’s basic weakness and it is curious why he did not work with coaches to improve his delivery over his eight years in office.
I think Senator McCain’s speech was too long by about 20 minutes. Personally, I think he would have done better if he had walked out there with a 3X5 card of his main points and spoken in the style that best serves him. Off the Cuff, from the heart, and straight into the eyes.
Then again…..I could be wrong.
Simple
#37 That was funny, Texpat. Actually using trained bears instead of police for drug raids has some advantages. For example, unlike the tax payer funded drug warriors, the bears could be funded entirely by asset forfeiture — by seizing the contents of peoples pantries and refrigerators.
Another advantage is that the bears are less likely to kill peoples dogs.
#43
RICO the Bear
Only You Can Prevent Pot Fires !
#17 borderplex
Or a cage match.
I watched the speech last night on CBS. They showed the anti-war guy with his shirt and big sign. How do those people get in there anyway? Doesn’t everyone have to have some type of ID to get in. Just curious as to the procedure. Anyone know?
During Sarah Palins Speech the Telepromter failed to work properly. Sarah was able to continue the speech because she believed in what she was talking about.
I would love to hear Barrack Obama finish a speech where his telepromter fails half way through the speech. My guess is we would get 30 minutes of Uh, uh uh,…
#46 You can be a credentialed delegate without supporting every issue that the party/candidate does. There were more than a few Ron Paul delegates there.
It’s funny how Paul got many more votes and support than Rudy G, did but wasn’t allowed to speak. “Big Tent” my foot.
#46 I heard on talk radio the hecklers got in with MSNBC passes. Don’t know how true. Yes, people are supposed to have i.d.
I think I might have seen our little friend, antifascist.
I just saw a scruffy little dude in a dark blue hoodie sweatshirt with “antifascist” in red letters across the front. Only thing is, I’m in the airport in Copenhagen. Aunti-fascist, are you here?
Slate has a pretty good Palin FAQ. Among the Q&A:
Don’t get me wrong… I like Palin (she said RP was cool!) But I don’t like her enough to overcome my dislike of McCain.
Does anyone know if her sister is remarried?
A friendly reminder:
It’s been a week:
RCP Average 08/29 - 09/04 – Obama - 47.0 McCain - 43.8
margins of error range from 2 to 3.5% on the polls in the RCP Average
#52, Hamous,
If my math serves me correctly the lead is around 3.2 percentage points, that makes this race a toss up and to be honest a lot closer than I thought it would be at this point.
And where is shakey to brag about his prognostication????
Paul also stayed in the race to the end. Rudy dropped out very early. The only reason there’s an “R” after Paul’s name is because when it was an “L” he couldn’t get elected (I know, I know. The evil “two-party duopoly”). If you come into the “Big Tent” and tell everyone you have no intention of helping them put on the soiree you shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t invite you to raise a toast.
I’m just going to guess that at least 1/2 the population (men) aren’t looking at Sarah Palin’s hair.
Here is one if you did not see it
And think about the way we treat our returning military
#52 hamous
I wonder if the “Bradley effect” is factored in?
Hard to put much stock in anything cited after that opening.
52 - So the difference between Obama and McCain is basically the same size as the margin of error? I call that a dead heat. Hardly the blowout that Obama hoped for.
And the Republican convention ended just last nite.
#54 Hamous, The RNC’s treatment of Paul is funny, but not at all surprising. And you are correct that they conditioned an offer for him to address the convention on his endorsement of McCain, which as a conservative with integrity he naturally refuses to do.
The McCain campaign, acting through the RNC also refused to allow his immediate staff to accompany him to the convention floor unless he agreed to give them the names of all the delegates that support him. (I personally know of three from the Houston area.)
The McCain camp is also interested in gaining access to his massive database of email and snail mail addresses. Fat chance.
You are also correct in your classification of the two party duopoly as evil. However, as Squawkbox has pointed out in the past, it can and does effectively use its power to disadvantage third parties (and the voters that support them.)
It’s hard to have a truly representative republic when both parties are more like dictatorships. This is why the Campaign for Liberty is focused on changing the party from within.
It’s a strategy that may or may not work.
#57 Wagonburner, good point. I’ve wondered about that too.
Bob42
Citing the left leaning “Slate” as your source with no backup does not change anything. Every story I can find outside the Johnaton Martin artical says the teleprompter was not funtioning as it should.
I would like to know just which “GOP officals” confirmed the story that the teleprompter worked flawlessly.
Bob42, I thought we had covered this before about providing reliable, substantiated sources of information. You can do better than that.
Back to the theme of open comments. Ya know, all those blue collar people in the rust belt are wondering, along with me, why we will foot the bill over and over to evacuate a city that is going to be ruined if a major hurricane strikes. It’s not like someone’s private beach house they choose to have, take the risk, and loose if a storm takes it. It’s our tax payer money paying for this and it’s expensive. The man/woman who works hard and pays taxes can’t afford to visit N.O. often, if ever. Yet they/we are expected to bail these folks out over and over. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Make N.O. a park.
If you want the story on the teleprompter, do a search for elections, Fox, news, Palin, Teleprompter. I’m having trouble with the website to copy the story into a link.
Hakeem Olajuwon enters the Basketball HOF this weekend good article about the best player in Rockets history and one of the best in Houston Sports History.
Read this good article
Also question who would you put on the Mt Rushmore of Houston Sports figures.
I just thought of an upside. Maybe people will get so tired of being in traffic for ours going and coming, they’ll realize they need to move. People were smart enough in the early 1900’s to raise Galveston. We build retainer dikes and in 20 years one will have been damaged badly enough it’s a do over. I don’t see the practicality.
This is from Redstate.com so take it with a grain of salt.
Gov. Hubba-hubba is clearly a better off the cuff speaker than Obama, I’m only pointing out that the teleprompter “malfunctions” may have been exaggerated in the political interest of emphasizing her speaking ability.
#64, Big, here are a couple of links
Story #1
Story #2
Heh. He said “integrity”.
But seriously, Dr. Paul chose to operate within the Republican Party. I understand you aren’t fond of rules but he knew the rules going in. And I reject the premise that the two party system, in and of itself, is evil. The alternatives are fascism (Russia) or near-anarchy (Great Britain). Entrenched ideologies can be overcome from within. While I’m not fond of his policies, Clinton yanked the Democratic party from bleating liberals and kept the Democrats in the White House for eight years. Barry Goldwater took on the Rockefeller Republicans and set the stage for Reagan. It remains to be seen but we could be seeing a similar realignment with the Palin pick.
I first saw the story of the faulty Teleprompter on MSNBC followed by Fox news. Neither has retracted their story. While some may want to claim Fox is bias to the right their is no doubt that MSNBC is left bias new organization.
Until better information comes out I am going to have to believe that an unidentified offical quoted by a far left writter in a liberal blog is trying to discredit the story with no actual facts.
Go back and look at her speech anyway. I didn’t even see her look at a teleprompter or her notes. Anybody else notice the same thing?
Bob42, why do you insist on going to blogs with unidentified sources?
I listened to McCain’s speech on the radio. Disruptions by Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War were overwhelmed by “USA, USA, USA” chants. The radio hosts described at least two people being dragged from the convention hall during his speech.
What I am curious about is how did the network and cable broadcasts show the disruptions? Did they pan away or did they give a lot of screen time and attention to the ruckus and the banners? Which networks did what?
Anybody?
happy Friday
#69 Hamous, what “rule” says every republican, particularly a congressman popular with the constituency that elects him has to march in lock step with the dictates of his state or national party leadership.
If such a “rule” exists, I submit that is a bad one.
Sarah Palin believed in what she was saying. That makes it a lot easier to give a speech when the script is unavailable.
I think Barracks speeches contain a lot of information written in to appease the particular audience he is speaking to and that the speechs change in accordance to the audience he is speaking to which accounts for his faultering when not reading from a telepromter.
AF, also be interesting to find out who furnished them the tickets to get in.
Bob42, you should amend your remarks to say:
particularly a congressman popular with a very small percentage of the constituency
That sir would be much more accurate.
And as regard to marching in lockstep, he not only does not march in lockstep, he doesn’t keep in step at all, and almost always goes in the opposite direction - well, 99% of the time.
But that’s his choice. He has every right to. And the party has every right to exclude him since his VOTING RECORD indicates he shares very few of the same goals.
Bob42, the “rule” is, the Republican Party has the right to invite whomever they want to speak at their convention. Simple.
antifascist - PBS showed the protesters, particularly the one wearing the “Iraq Veteran” shirt. I also saw several Code Pinkos escorted out of the Dem convention.
#77 Big, how is it that winning a congressional seat by a landslide margin can be classified as a “small percentage” of the constituency?
Congressmen are supposed to represent their districts, NOT their party. This is one of the differences between a representative republic and a dictatorial two party duopoly.
Bob, are you saying he was not allowed to go to the convention, or just complaining that he was not allowed to speak? How many other GOP congressional reps won in a landslide that also didn’t speak?
Ron Paul is free to speak to any group and any reporter at any time. Nobody has muzzled him or taken away any of his rights. However, he has no innate right to speak at the convention. It’s the GOP’s party and they can invite who they want on the dias. Same with the Dems or any other party. Did the Libertarians have their convention yet, and did they invite Ron Paul to speak to them? If so, did he?
If not, why not?
#79 Can you comment on the Goldwater/Reagan revolution? If there was a “dictatorial two party duopoly” how did that happen? I think the problem is the overwhelming majority of voters did not like Ron Paul’s message despite his acolytes’ ability to raise impressive amounts of money. In this representative republic you must convince enough voters to get on board with your message. Money bombs don’t count.
Bob, this was a national convention. He ran for President. The constituency is ALL the voters who voted in the primaries, not just those from Paul’s district.
Now I can’t understand why Ron Paul did so poorly in the primaries. After all, all those computerized post debate polls indicated he should have won in a landslide. Could it be that Ron Paul’s supporters flooded those polls with false data (read bullshirt), and that they were less than ethical in presenting Paul’s popularity with the voting public nationwide?
#79
Ron Paul won his congressional seat the same way every time by telling the people what they want to hear but he has failed to live up to his promises. The thing is a larger portion of his district is of the uninformed masses than those that stay informed or he would be out of office.
#66 AW, Galveston’s recovery following the 1900 storm, particularly the raising of the east end and construction of the seawall are both fascinating subjects. It is little known that both projects were accomplished with very little federal funding, which did not play a major role until the seawall was extended to protect Ft. Crockett years later.
Some state money along with a substantial amount of funding from private interests who stood to benefit from Galveston’s continued existence was responsible for the massive construction effort.
Contrast that with today’s conventional “wisdom” that the federal government should have a massively wasteful bureaucracy known as FEMA. There is little incentive for the state of LA to act wisely in regard to protecting New Orleans, and even less for private interests to do so.
As long as we charter the feds with more responsibility that the states or private interests, we will continue to perpetuate a situation that steals money from people and spends it unwisely.
Does holding the opinion that an expansive and overly powerful federal government mean that I can’t be a republican?
No Bob42 you can be a Republican, if you want to be one. I think I like the title Conservative better than Republican for me. Aren’t you more of a libertarian?
Want to read about Obama’s ‘ Community Organization”? Michelle Malkin has a great piece. Scroll down past the video’s and read about Acorn and it’s troubles.
http://michellemalkin.com/
Picture a sonogram of an unborn baby boy at 19 weeks next to Obama. Then add the words: No Change, No Hope, No Mercy. Wanted Dead, even if born Alive.
#81 Hamous, Goldwater was a republican with libertarian values. I suggest that Goldwater’s views are more similar to Ron Paul’s than to either of the three Bushes; G. Bush, GW Bush, and McBush.
Reagan stayed in the 1976 primary until the convention, and was invited to address the delegates prior to the Ford loss in the general election.
#85 AW, Yes, I’m a “small l” libertarian that supports the notion of a federal government with constitutionally limited powers, not the virtually unlimited amount of power both major parties tend to give it.
The democrats are a lost cause because of their fundamental belief in government involvement in nearly every aspect of citizens’ lives. I’m not sure about the republicans, but it’s clear that the party supports a large and intrusive federal government. There’s nothing conservative about that.
Knowing the well read crowd that lurks within the blog known as LST. Here is something worthy of Homer, not the Simpson, the greek one.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/08/the-idiossey.html
Canuk, where’s the part about Mattheus tingling appendage?
I saw this today and was reminded of a recent comment from Texpat in which he remarked on jury nullification.
Gov. Sarah Palin was one of three sitting governors to sign on to an effort to support this concept.
I wonder if she was forced to change her views to comply with party dictates.
In a little town just the other side in Alaska
She was sitting there givin’ libs looks that made their knees chatter
Then she started walking their way
Intending on having her say
And they knew, yes they knew they should leave
When they heard her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
Libs started to whine
To her ears it was so disgusting
Inventing lies they couldn’t resist
Made her want to give their butts one good dusting
Then I heard the lib anchor say
“Vamoose, FOX is on the way”
Then they knew, yes they knew they should run
Then they heard her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
Then the cameras stopped
When they looked the convention was empty
Then I heard Sarah say
“Libs you know you’re in trouble plenty”
So they pooped in their pants cross the land
And from their pants their tinkle it ran
And as she walked away
To the libs I could hear her say, yeah
Come a little bit closer
You’re my kind of lib
So weak and so wrong
Come a little bit closer
I’ll kick you butt home
And it won’t take me long
La la-la-la la-la
La la-la-la la-la
Ho ho la-la
La la la-la
I guess we better give up. The freaks are against Palin.
Sarah Palin’s Average American Family Doesn’t Support Mine
I think the guy used every cliché in the book to describe his ‘family’.
Bob42, re your #91 - got a credible news source to support that story?
BigJ #93, well it appears Ross von Metzke is another homosexual advocate. Want to bet as to why he was really kicked out of the Boy Scouts?
#94 Big, I can offer this link, which was included in the one I previously posted. But since it’s to a .gov domain, I can’t vouch for it’s truthfulness.
bob and hamous,
The history of third parties in the US Presidential Elections should be sufficent to dissuade any sane person from running a Presidential Bid under that banner. Third parties are a best spoilers, although they do tap into an undercurrent that has been simmering for a long long time.
Most Americans ARE NOT PARTY MEMBERS! Yes we do have to “register” as one or the other during the primaries in schemes that have been devised by the two major parties to ensure their existance. I counter that most Americans really don’t care to really join either. Even here on this blog some are identifying themselves as Conservatives, Libertarians, or Independents (my personal favorate) rather than adopt the Republican moniker.
I wonder what would happen if primaries were open in every state? It would be nice to pick say the two best Republicans, Democrats, or Independents in the field.
I mean what would be the downside?
Neither Party adheres to their “Platform”. Platforms at the state and national level have become….well pointless. I used to remember there was a much drama in the convention on adopting a unified platform as there was in selecting a candidate. We should sue BOTH parties for false advertising. The folks that can Green Beans are held to a higher standard than the two parties. Turn out some tainted cans and they would get sued. Consider what either party is asking us to swallow. Hell…there is more truth telling going on at a used car lot, than at conventions of the two major parties.
Of course…the cottage industry of Political Flacks, Campaign Consultants, and other professional liars might find itself unemployed, but I am sure they could find gainful employment in advertising.
The deck is stacked against a third party candidate, but I would not mind seeing a credible candidate take on these two pox ridden aging streetwalkers and shake things up just a bit. I may not live long enough to see it, but I hope so.
Then again I could be wrong.
Simple
Bob42, maybe I missed your point. Were you saying that Gov. Palin was one of only 3 to support jury nullification?
Okay Bob42, I see that Palin did support jury nullification. Do you have some reason to believe she no longer does?
Simple - there are examples in our history where one of the two major parties became inconsequential, was replaced by a “third” party, and was relegated to the dust bin of history. No reason to think it couldn’t happen again.
Bull Moose Party didn’t last long, but they did elect one President. But I
don’t think Ron Paul is going to compare to Teddy Roosevelt.
#99 Big, I’m just wondering if the party will permit her to be as vocally supportive of the concept as she was prior to being selected as McCain’s running mate.
#102 That’s a valid question. For me the real test will be the first pork-laden spending bill to arrive on McCain’s desk. Will he wield his veto pen? I think he will.
#97 Simple Simon, good post as usual. More often than not, major party conventions are little more than pep-rallies designed to invigorate their respective bases and lull them into turning out for the lesser of two evils, and coughing up additional cash to support same.
Hamous, Ron Paul is hated by the republican party leadership fundamentally because he refuses to go along with their big-government loving mistakes. But I hope you understand that this is no longer about the Ron Paul Revolution, which ended shortly after super Tuesday. It’s now about motivating and educating a formerly apathetic segment of voters to work within the structures of both parties. Again, I’m not sure if such a strategy will work, but think it’s better than the status quo, and it’s worth a try.
The republicans had their pep-rally. Whoop Whoop! Meanwhile, a real political convention was happening just across the river.
Bottom line: Party loyalty is more beneficial to the party than it is to the people. Do you disagree?
#90 b45
Hey hey hey… Easy there big fella. This is (sort of) a family blog.
Big45Iron
You need not question bob42’s link in #91. That is the Volokh Conspiracy legal blog website and the writer is Eugene Volokh, one of the most prominent and well-known libertarian/conservative law professors in the country. He is also more trustworthy than any “credible news source” I know of. I try to keep up over there everyday, but haven’t been lately.
#95 B45I
I think it would be a relatively easy guess. Maybe they went camping and had community showers.