I received this email this morning:
Hey,
Thought you might be interested in knowing (and letting others know through your blog or otherwise) about a Texas Freedom Network speaker event featuring Chris Mooney, the author of The Republican War on Science. You can find more information about TFN and the event at http://www.tfn.org/faithandfreedom/houston/.
The event will be held in Houston at Rice University on June 22 and will be free to the public.
Thanks in advance for your help!
William O. Pate II
Legislative Research Fellow
Texas Freedom Network
So, I did some quick research to figure what this was all about. If you go to TFN’s site promoting the event, it says this:
Mooney’s evening lecture will expose the religious rights dangerous War on Science. Come hear how you can help counter attacks against stem cell research, evolution and sex education. This event is free and open to the public.
Well, I got a serious problem with this opening statement. Primarily, I am Republican and I am not a member of the religious right. Is he attacking Republicans in general, or just members of the religious right? Does he assume there are no Democrats that are members of the religious right that voted for a Republican president that had already "declared war on science"? Does he assume that when Bush leaves office things will magically change if a Democrat is elected? And, bottom line, does he expect me to ignore the fact that the preceding Democrat President refused to fund stem cell research and the ensuing Republican President HAS funded stem cell research? He just didn’t fund it to the level that satisfied people. But, federally funded stem cell research will go down in history as being originally funded by a Republican. Hard fact for Mooney to get past. Man’s voyage to Mars? Republican. Man landed on the Moon under a Republican. Hubble Space Telescope? Funded by, launched, and repaired, Republican. What profound science breakthroughs originated from 1993-2001? In essence, from where I see things, there is nothing to support the assumption that Republicans are waging a war on science exclusively. If anything, Republicans have been more generous.
Now, the struggle between science and the religious right goes back a long way, doesn’t it? Galileo had a real problem with "the religious right". He came up with this concept that the Earth revolved around the Sun. The "religious right" disagreed, saying the scriptures indicated Earth was stationary and the Heavens revolved around the Earth. In 1969 Man landed on the Moon. By 1990 Man had visited several planets with satellites. In 1992, the Catholic Church admitted the Earth revolved around the Sun. So, for Chris Mooney to lead us to believe the struggle between religion and science is a new thing is totally and completely bogus.
I think Chris Mooney is just another political hack spinning politically biased rhetoric the way he wants it, and trying to cash in on that rhetoric. That’s all. I hate rhetoric. And, I don’t agree with using public property to support political rhetoric.
But, his seminar is free. If you want to discuss his opinions with him, he’ll be at Rice University in June 22.
Tell ‘em Moon sent ya.
Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers pull the hair of ruling Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Wang Shu-hui after she attempted to eat a proposal on opening direct transport links with China in Taipei on Tuesday, May 30 2006.
OK. What I found curious is the one guy is smiling while pulling her hair. Let me tell ya folks, that guy’s NOT to be trusted. And for that matter, I don’t think Wang Shu-hui has any future in banking.
Michael Steele is running for the US Senate in Maryland. He’s Republican. And, he’s black. That’s not a typically good thing to be seeking political office in Maryland. They tend to elect white Democrats historically. However, what ANY candidate of any race, party affiliation, gender, or any potential victim of bias hopes for is to be taken seriously by the opposition. Namely, you DREAM of something like this being exposed:
“Can turn Steele into a typical Republican“. In other words, an average white Republican. Don’t fret it Michael, from what I’ve read on this guy, he’s not average by any stretch of the imagination. My feeling so far is the Democrats in Maryland definitely have something to be worried about. If it’s not scary enough that he’s a very popular state-wide elected black Republican, he has a blog AND podcasts too. I’ll be watching this race. My only hope is Steele doesn’t over-react to the “typical Republican” comment and go too far proving he’s black enough to represent the minority ( read alienating the majority ). So far he’s been successful not having to. What he’s doing now he just needs to keep doing. He’s that good.
No sooner than I post this, I get this link:
Thats how the Lt. Governor of Maryland and the GOPs Great Black Hope plans to gin up turnout this fall – bashing gay Americans. He announced that he would be a different kind of Republican, but its the same old swill in a slightly darker casing.
>> Then again, maybe Steele ought to go over to Iraq.
Predictable, on cue, and as directed. Since the Democrats can’t play the race card, they’ll play everything else. When you see crap like this, you KNOW they are scared. Bob Novak predicted a smear campaign, he’s right.
30
May
Every now and then I get something of value on the internet. In a discusssion about the federal military funeral protest ban, Eugene Volokh asks for a reasonable way of alerting AP about errors in its stories. A commenter immediately replied with:
http://www.ap.org/pages/about/faq.html#1
What a valuable tool. Maybe when AP realizes more people read the internet than New York Times then they’ll start making sure the little local papers get their stories right.
I’m gonna stick that link on the sidebar, it is THAT valuable.
National Review Online created a Top 50 conservative pop songs of all time. Here’s a summary of the list:
- Wont Get Fooled Again, by The Who
- Taxman, by The Beatles
- Sympathy for the Devil, by The Rolling Stones
- Sweet Home Alabama, by Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Wouldnt It Be Nice, by The Beach Boys
- Gloria, by U2.
- Revolution, by The Beatles.
- Bodies, by The Sex Pistols.
- Dont Tread on Me, by Metallica.
- 20th Century Man, by The Kinks.
- The Trees, by Rush.
- Neighborhood Bully, by Bob Dylan
- My City Was Gone, by The Pretenders
- Right Here, Right Now, by Jesus Jones
- I Fought the Law, by The Crickets.
- Get Over It, by The Eagles.
- Stay Together for the Kids,
- Cult of Personality, by Living Colour.
- Kicks, by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
- Rock the Casbah, by The Clash.
- Heroes, by David Bowie.
- Red Barchetta, by Rush.
- Brick, by Ben Folds Five.
- Der Kommissar, by After the Fire.
- The Battle of Evermore, by Led Zeppelin.
- Capitalism, by Oingo Boingo.
- “Obvious Song, by Joe Jackson.
- “Janies Got a Gun, by Aerosmith.
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Iron Maiden.
- You Cant Be Too Strong, by Graham Parker
- Small Town, by John Mellencamp.
- Keep Your Hands to Yourself, by The Georgia Satellites.
- You Cant Always Get What You Want, by The Rolling Stones.
- Godzilla, by Blue Oyster Cult.
- Wholl Stop the Rain, by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Government Cheese, by The Rainmakers.
- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, by The Band.
- I Cant Drive 55, by Sammy Hagar.
- Property Line, by The Marshall Tucker Band.
- Wake Up Little Susie, by The Everly Brothers.
- The Icicle Melts, by The Cranberries.
- Everybodys a Victim, by The Proclaimers.
- Wonderful, by Everclear.
- Two Sisters, by The Kinks.
- Taxman, Mr. Thief, by Cheap Trick.
- Wind of Change, by The Scorpions.
- One, by Creed.
- Why Dont You Get a Job, by The Offspring.
- Abortion, by Kid Rock.
- Stand By Your Man, by Tammy Wynette.
Now, once again National Review is pretending to be the conservative voice about something they’ve not thought out too well. First of all, the very nature of telling people what is “good conservative” stuff is by itself not being very conservative now is it? Secondly, just because a message ahs a conservative sentence in it does not make the message itself conservative. Godzilla being the perfect example. It’s not about being conservative at all, it’s about dealing with a monster. The one conservative line of the song doesn’t make it a conservative message. Some bands had several great conservative songs. Lynyrd Skynyrd and U2 being a couple off the top of my head. “Needle and Spoon” and “That Smell” by Lynryrd Skynyrd being VERY conservative songs in the days when being conservative wasn’t cool. And, I can NOT believe John J. Miller omitted THE most conservative rocker of all time, Ted Nugent. “Great White Buffalo” IMO is THE greatest conservative rock song of all time. Bar none. Think about it, what’s more conservative than the wild west before government? I mean true conservatism is all about limited government, is it not? And, I can NOT believe John J. Miller, representing NRO, supposedly representing conservatives, omitted The Talking Heads “Nothing But Flowers”. Here’s the lyrics:
Here we stand
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls
The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it’s nothing but flowersThere was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers
you got it, you got itWe caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner
we got it, we got itThere was a shopping mall
Now it’s all covered with flowers
you’ve got it, you’ve got itIf this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
you’ve got it, you’ve got itYears ago
I was an angry young man
I’d pretend
That I was a billboard
Standing tall
By the side of the road
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it’s only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it’s nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we’d start over
But I guess I was wrongOnce there were parking lots
Now it’s a peaceful oasis
you got it, you got itThis was a Pizza Hut
Now it’s all covered with daisies
you got it, you got itI miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens
you got it, you got itAnd as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
you got it, you got itI dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies
you got it, you got itWe used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries
you got it, you got itThis was a discount store,
Now it’s turned into a cornfield
you got it, you got itDon’t leave me stranded here
I can’t get used to this lifestyle
Ultimate political correctness, radical liberalism run amok. Perfect song. I don’t have to take one sentence and take it out of context, I can cite THE ENTIRE SONG. “Nothing But Flowers” would have to replace Metallica. These guys are the symbol of liberal abuses run amok in their attack on Napster and file sharing. Just because they tossed around a conservative sentence or two does NOT make them or their message conservative. And, just to slam-dunk how hypocritical NRO has become trying to tell us what conservatism is, they make sure Steve Jobs profits from their list. Steve Jobs, in case anyone recalls, advised John Kerry on how to be ultra-liberal. What’s even scarier to me is Michelle Malkin is encouraging conservatives to check it out and contribute to Steve Jobs so he can advise more ultra-liberals..
Bottom line, I don’t like NRO. They are the wrong type of “conservatives”. Lately, particularly with Buckley, they’ve turned mean-spirited and don’t mind attacking conservatives they deem not conservative in their own personal interpretation. Therefore, they’re the wrong people to be doing this list. And as usual, they’ve not fact checked it at all. Let’s leave the really bad music lists to VH1 and MTV.
The meeting with a handful of CBC members was called after Pelosi wrote the embattled lawmaker, who is at the center of a massive bribery scandal, a curt note requesting his immediate resignation from the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
Outraged that one of its members was being picked on even though he has not been charged with a crime, the Congressional Black Caucus had intended to issue a defiant statement against their leader but agreed after the meeting to pause, at least briefly, for reflection.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving peson than Nancy. However, to be fair, Nancy did call for Tom Delay’s resignation before he was even charged as well. So, she’s not just biased against members of the Black Caucus. Charlie Rangel and that bunch should be happy that she only pre-judged Jefferson’s guilt and didn’t issue an indictment that members of the CBC were living in a culture of corruption. I doubt anyone would have expected that. They are, after all, Democrats.
I am also finding it a bit humorous that Pelosi is attacking a black Democrat while Hastert is going after the FBI for busting a black Democrat. The irony is probably exclusive to me.
A while back I did a piece on Fred Phelps protesting military funerals. I came to the conclusion then that it was pretty ironic that states were impeding their freedom of speech and no one really cared. What they were doing was truly that despicable. Since that post, several states, including my own, passed laws banning protests at military funerals and still no one really cared. Now, Congress has passed a law banning these protests from federal cemeteries. And, I’ve still not seen any mass protests of our civil rights being eroded, in which they clearly are. What Fred Phelps has managed to do is amazing. He has actually found a way for apparently just about everyone to agree that sometimes our civil rights do need to be checked. For that reason alone, Fred Phelps and his minions have proven that they have truly got to be, without any question, the stupidest collection of people in the entire United States. They have lost their right to freedom of expression and everyone else is OK with that.
Including myself. These people really have nothing to say and therefore have no reason to be heard. It’s just a shame that it takes an act of Congress to shut them up. However, the alternative might have been a bullet, and I don’t think anyone’s OK with that. Our Constitution’s bottom line is we let our laws preserve peace instead of bullets. Even if they truly are better off dead.
May 26, 2006 update – I am going to run the very real risk of plagiarizing a lawyer. Only because it is the PERFECT answer to what is going on and why it can go on. Here’s Eugene Volokh’s take on the legislation:
Now, the reason I say it’s the perfect answer is because it makes perfect sense to me.
They may be in accord, but IMO they are wrong and the general public’s not going to buy their argument that they are above the law. Now, I think very strict guidelines need to be enforced on how these raids are conducted, but those laws apply to anyone. Mainly, the FBI can only seize evidence related only to the perceived crime committed. And, I’m not terribly sure on this part, but I would assume the warrant has to be signed by a federal judge. Lawyers are already starting to decipher the legalities of the event, but so far the ones I read feel this was a legal raid. The bottom line IMO, is that if those particular legislators push this button too hard, it will bite them. There are ways to deal with what’s happened without making it a public issue. I think that’s the direction Hastert et al should be taking. It just smells bad when you protest loudly when an obvious criminal has been busted. It really does.
24
May
The Tax Foundation recently released their tax rates per state for 2006. This is how it panned out with it’s political results from 2004:
| Local and State Taxes Per Capita, by State 2006 | |
| State | State & Local Taxes, Per Capita |
| D.C. | $8,092 |
| Connecticut | $6,018 |
| New York | $5,734 |
| New Jersey | $5,234 |
| Massachusetts | $5,047 |
| Maryland | $4,996 |
| Minnesota | $4,930 |
| Maine | $4,719 |
| Rhode Island | $4,629 |
| Hawaii | $4,496 |
| California | $4,451 |
| Illinois | $4,335 |
| Washington | $4,334 |
| Ohio | $4,332 |
| Nebraska | $4,294 |
| Wisconsin | $4,289 |
| Wyoming | $4,120 |
| Vermont | $4,118 |
| Colorado | $4,098 |
| U.S. Average | $4,072 |
| Pennsylvania | $4,057 |
| Virginia | $4,056 |
| Michigan | $3,965 |
| Kansas | $3,885 |
| Indiana | $3,796 |
| Nevada | $3,758 |
| Iowa | $3,709 |
| Florida | $3,566 |
| Georgia | $3,564 |
| North Carolina | $3,526 |
| Missouri | $3,509 |
| Oregon | $3,492 |
| Louisiana | $3,463 |
| Delaware | $3,426 |
| North Dakota | $3,421 |
| Kentucky | $3,383 |
| Texas | $3,368 |
| Arizona | $3,350 |
| Utah | $3,261 |
| South Carolina | $3,213 |
| West Virginia | $3,212 |
| South Dakota | $3,177 |
| Idaho | $3,159 |
| New Hampshire | $3,136 |
| Oklahoma | $3,129 |
| Montana | $3,108 |
| Arkansas | $3,088 |
| New Mexico | $3,031 |
| Tennessee | $2,979 |
| Mississippi | $2,924 |
| Alabama | $2,881 |
| Alaska | $2,598 |
| Source: Tax Foundation. | |
Make of it what you want. I think the trend is obvious though.
William Jefferson is just tickled pink that some lawmakers are distracting his actions by crying foul over the FBI searching Jefferson’s office. I’m no lawyer, I don’t even play one on tv, so I read a lawyer’s take on it. Particularly, I read Orin Kerr’s take on it.
Orin does not come to a definitive conclusion, and defers to any “Speech and Debate Clause experts”. To which he’s already gotten some very insightful responses. Some kind of over my head. But, my gut feeling is no legislator is ABOVE the law. Especially when it’s not in the duty of legislating. The FBI did not interfere with Jefferson’s ability to vote, so that Pat Kennedy thing is not an issue. It may not have happened before, but that’s no justification for it not to happen. There was clear evidence that Jefferson had committed a crime using his position. There is no reason to assume that he did not facilitate that crime during the course of doing his job. Needless to say, his job has a lot to do with where he does it.
The only question I have is what does the FBI do if it stumbles across information that is classified during this search?
