Here’s the odd stat of the day:
Republicans are much happier than Democrats. In fact, they’re even happier than those people who don’t carry the burden of any party affiliation at all, who oddly enough, are the least very happy. This leads me to wonder. Pew doesn’t analyze this data too much, they just spit it out. But, I am curious, do very happy people tend to become Republican or does becoming Republican make one become very happy? Now, some people are just born very happy. And, some people are pretty much born Republican. In that case, there’s not a lot of psychoanalysis necessary. They just keep on keeping on being what they are, very happy and Republican. This leads to the group I’m wondering about, those that are not necessarily born very happy or born Republican. In that case, do they have a sudden epiphany that if they switch to Republican they become very happy? I don’t know. Pew’s a tease. Seems to me that if the country’s so polarized and 70% of Democrats are not very happy, they’d have the sense to do what’s necessary to become very happy.
I kinda like this one. Russ Feingold has got the art of debate down to a T. Here’s whatcha do:
- Present your argument. If it appears someone is going to counter your argument or debate your point:
- Leave quickly.
You’ll win every time that way.
- Technorati Russ Feingold
Nuff said.
- Technorati Debbie Stabenow, Idiot of the Day
What Condi is expecting is for the UN to grow a body part after it’s fully
matured. Second, "very strong messages" don’t cut it with Iran at this
point. They have openly defied all "very strong messages" to this point
and I’m quite sure they’re about as concerned with the Security Council as I am
at this point. The Security Council pretty much rendered itself useless
over Iraq. Fifteen years of "very
strong messages" to Iraq didn’t amount to squat. What did resolve the
issue was bombs and missiles doled out pretty much exclusively by the US.
I for one don’t think the world can put this issue off for a decade and hope
they can keep an eye on Iran. It’s going to take a lot more than "very
strong messages" to change Iran’s mind. I don’t think the UN has the spine
to do it.
- Technorati Iran, United Nations
14
Mar
Sen. Russell Feingold’s effort to censure President Bush is headed for the Senate Judiciary Committee, advancing a contentious debate over whether the president deserves a formal rebuke for his secret wiretapping program.
"I look forward to a full hearing, debate and vote in committee on this important matter," Feingold, D-Wis., said in a statement. "If the committee fails to consider the resolution expeditiously, I will ask that there be a vote in the full Senate."
I’m not sure what Feingold expected from there, but Bill Frist honored his request and presented it to the Senate for a vote:
A short, but sharp partisan skirmish broke out on the Senate floor Monday when Majority Leader Bill Frist tried to schedule a vote for Monday night or Tuesday on Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold€™s resolution to censure President Bush.
This in turn greatly upset Harry Reid. Now, you gotta understand, Harry Reid is the leader of the DEMOCRAT party, of which, Russ Feingold is supposedly a member of. Now, why do you suppose Harry Reid would be so upset about Bill Frist scheduling a vote on a bill by one of Reid’s party members?
In the end, the Democrats killed the Democrat effort to censure Bush. I’d love to be a fly on the wall the next time Feingold and Reid have a strategy session.
- Technorati partisan politics, Russ Feingold, Harry Reid, Bill Frist, censure Bush
In wake of DPW withdrawing from the ports deal amid a basically unanimous political backlash against the deal, a lot of people are once again speculating Bush got himself in more political hot water because he made a strong-armed decision that no one else supports. I personally have supported this deal based on my lack of knowledge that I HOPE some legislators have that I don’t, and, because if we are going to fight an international war on terror, we need to reward those that help us in that fight. This would have sent a huge signal to the Middle East that helping us DOES have rewards.
And you know what, looks like I’m not alone in that thinking:
I mean, so far, that’s not even close. And what’s more important to me, that’s not even remotely close to the message we’ve been getting from ALL major media. Including Fox as well.
Now, Ann Coulter I think it has noted that they think a little different in Dubai. That they respect a strong decision and power. That, because they were told "no" sternly, they’ll respect the US just the same. And, because of that, nixing this deal would not have the ramifications people like me feel it will.
Let’s hope she’s right. However, having the President say "yes", and his senate say "no", and the media say "no", but the people say "yes", just doesn’t strike me as the display of power Ann Coulter is suggesting has occurred.
And, yeah, Bush didn’t communicate why this deal was good to the people before the firestorm erupted. However, he was probably thinking like I am that this was no big deal in the first place. And, I personally still feel this way. Hopefully the debate put more focus on port security. If it did, then maybe something good will come from it. However, what I think people will realize if that focus does occur is that this whole flap over DPW was a misguided Islamophobic knee-jerk reaction coordinated by Democrats and media and the Republicans fell for it hook line and sinker, probably because they have the same issues.
Folks, isolationism gave us WWI AND WWII. And "economic nationalism" is just another word for isolationism. If we are going to drag the Middle East out of the dark ages, we’re going to have to engage them, sometimes on their terms. Just buying their oil ain’t going to cut it much longer because Asia will be buying more if they’re not already. If we want an open dialogue, we’re going to have to put our actions where our mouths are. Telling Dubai we expect them to help us in the war on terror and then telling them we don’t trust them enough to do business with them ain’t the action our mouths are selling. And, contrary to Ann, I don’t think the message we sent was the message she thinks they got.
- Technorati port security, DPW, Ann Coulter, economic nationalism, isolationism
I received this from an un-named high-ranking government official, therefore it has to be true:
In an attempt to thwart the spread of the bird flu, President George W. Bush has ordered the bombing of the Canary Islands.
You heard it here first!
- Technorati avian flu, President Bush, Canary Islands
10
Mar
Now, ya gotta understand, comparing Bush’s speech to Hitler was not the only bizarre thing Bennish did. He basically blamed the US for the creation of Israel as a means of having a military foothold in the Middle East among other bizarre statements. This is what the kids of Denver are being taught as "social studies". How are they to know that, according to Bennish, this is purely hypothetical and not the history he’s supposed to be teaching?
Regardless of the ACLU threatened lawsuit, the kids are the #1 issue here. They are the ones getting screwed by being taught it’s OK to say anything regardless of your position. It doesn’t even have to be right.
Whatever happened to readin’, writin, and rithmatic? What was so wrong with the education Einstein got?
Bennish is a jerk. All he’s teaching his kids is it’s OK to be a jerk. What he’s not doing is preparing them for the realities of life.
Bad move Cherry Creek School District. Very bad move. He abused his position and should have paid the consequences for it. The kids you guys were charged with protecting are the victims here.
-
Thanks to Stop The ACLU for the heads up.
-
Technorati Jay Bennish
A lot has been made of the border situation with Mexico. Depending on who you ask, the most important issues are:
- The borders are too porous and allow drugs and other contraband into the US.
- The borders are too tight and cause undo hardship to illegals trying to enter the US.
- There are too many illegals here already.
- There are not enough illegals here to fill the jobs lazy Americans won’t do themselves.
People are criticizing HB 4312 because it encourages isolationism. People are criticizing Bush because he hasn’t built a wall. In other words, the issue is a muddled mess and is apparently being protested on every single angle and issue.
Here’s an argument that I haven’t seen: Build the wall for humanitarian reasons.
- There is a war going on at the Mexican border and innocent US citizens are dying.
- Immigrants are dying trying to get into the US illegally. Building a wall will put a stop to that.
- I truly think a lot of illegals COULD be in the US legally if a proper filter system were in place that didn’t put a burden on those trying to get into the US legally. Regardless of the rhetoric, the US does need a certain amount of people willing to work for less.
Anyone want to jump on my bandwagon?
8
Mar
The Associated Press just seems so hell bent on opposing anything Republican that I think they don’t even double check their own writing so long as it’s biased AGAINST Bush. Here’s today’s example:
Law enforcement officials get to keep their antiterror tools, but with some new curbs, under the USA Patriot Act renewal passed by the House in a cliffhanger vote.
The 280-138 vote…..
OK, how many people think 280-138 is a "cliffhanger"?
Now, there IS a technicality that AP was quick to note in order for it to be a "cliffhanger". This was a vote to pass the bill on an expedited basis. If the vote had not passed 2 to 1, it would have gone back into discussion until cloture. In other words, it would have just taken a little longer to pass under normal circumstances. In simplest terms, it was a non-issue.
280-138 is a route. It’s a blowout. It’s a romp. What it most definitely is not, is a "cliffhanger".
Bad AP, very bad.
Bottom line, The Patriot Act passed mostly intact. That disappoints a LOT of people I’m sure, AP obviously.
- Technorati Associated Press, media bias, The Patriot Act
