17
Aug
A lot has been made of the anti-incumbency “trend” gripping the US right now. IMO, this is just wishful thinking by hard-core Democrats that would justify the fact that their party really has no agenda other than whining about Bush. So far, the tally’s looking pretty ugly for that argument. The ultimate flame-out in my opinion was not Joe Lieberman, but Cynthia McKinney. For people running and losing, those two stick out the most I think. The season’s not over tho I will admit. However, for those Democrats that are pushing for a huge anti-incumbency wave to sweep the nation, dig this:
What really surprises me about this poll is it’s not even close. Joe is whipping Ned 49-38 right now. That’s not a race, that’s a beating.
Now, best I recall, Joe IS the incumbent. That means so far, one Republican has gotten beat, and one Democrat. In the Senate, this is supposed to be the year Democrats regain control ( off-season lame-duck election ), however, it looks like the real winner this year might be the Independents. Which, in the political real world, is a huge win for the Republicans.
17
Aug
While Hollywood has worked hard the last few years or so trying to convince the rest of the USA that they are absolutely clueless trying live without a script, a hand full have restored my faith that maybe, just maybe, some people in Hollywood do have a clue. Namely, this:
We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.
We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. What is surprising to me is who said it:
Along with:
- Michael Douglas
- Dennis Hopper
- Sylvester Stallone
- Bruce Willis
- Danny De Vito
- Don Johnson
- James Woods
- Kelly Preston
- Patricia Heaton
- William Hurt.
- Ridley Scott
- Tony Scott
- Michael Mann
- Dick Donner
- Sam Raimi
- Sumner Redstone
- Haim Saban
There’s a bunch more on the list that media is summarily omitting, if anyone has the entire list, I’d sure like to have it. To me, those people are just as important as the people media felt like listing and I’d like to list them all.
This is very cool. It had gotten so bad I almost hated spending money on Hollywood productions any more. Now, I feel just a tad bit better about it.
Thanks to Independent Sources for giving me a reason to finally post a pic of Nicole Kidman.
16
Aug
Per Powerline:
Kathryn Lopez says Russ Feingold, not Hillary Clinton, is the favorite to win the Democrats’ 2008 Presidential nomination. He’s "Howard Dean without the delicate psyche," as she quotes one consultant…
And they’re not kidding us either. Per Lopez’s page at Townhall:
Move over, Hillary: Russ Feingold is going to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008.
For far too long the assumption has been that the former first lady would be the Dems’ obvious pick. The storyline had dynastic flair, plus the sexy-milestone first-woman-president aspect. It had the wronged-woman-coming-out-on-top Style-section and glossy-headline opportunities. The idea launched many a Clinton-hater (hey, nothing wrong with that, I’m a card-carrier) book. It was scary while it lasted. But the moment’s gone.
Enter Sen. Russell Feingold, three-term Democrat from Wisconsin.
He’s positioned himself as the antiwar alternative……
Then she gets even wackier……
The Kos Kids are the Democratic constituency. Again, if you’re a Democrat and you want your party back, you might pay attention.
John Kerry listened to Howard Dean and the Kos Kids. The problem is not that the Democrats have gone sort-of left, the problem is the leadership has gone WAY left while the constituency in most of the country has remained moderate. The problem is not that Democrats should be expected to listen to a few radical leftists, and continue to lose at the polls ( see Cynthia McKinney ), the problem is the Kos Kids and Howard Dean are not the consituency, they’re just ignoring it and listening to themselves.
Why, pray tell, does Kathryn think Republicans are consistently winning in pre-dominantly Democrat states?
Now, let me return to laughing hysterically at Lopez some more! While I am, let’s test her theory:
I have decided to post a challenge to the entire Middle East. Although right now Lebanon is the hot spot, it just seems to meander all over the Middle East wherever the radicals feel like taking it. Five years ago it was the US, a couple of years ago it was Spain, most recently it’s been Israel, Britain was apparently next on the list ( or maybe upper Michigan ), but it just floats around the world with reckless abandon.
IMO, it’s because they’ve only had one interpretation of the ultimate reward of dieing in their imaginary holy war. That being of course, the reward of seventy-two babes who have never learned how to have sex, or apparently never wanted to. Now, stay with me here for a second. Since I actually have read some of the Koran, and I can not find anywhere in there where it states that if you die killing innocent people you will receive this reward, I am making this challenge not so much for the thousands upon thousand of innocents who have died as the result of this misconstrued imaginary war, but for the eternal life of the people who are mistakenly killing children all over the planet because they apparently can not get laid and therefore seek babes in the afterlife similarly experienced. Since that reward is actually not in the Koran, why not tweak it a little and see who can go the longest without killing innocent people? If you make it your entire life without killing a single person, you’ll be rewarded with said inexperienced dead babes in the afterlife.
Deal?
May not sound like a good plan, but nothing else is working, including the most recent UN cease-fire agreement.
( I wonder if that’s how Condi handled it? )
12
Aug
The UN passed a resolution last night calling for a cease fire between Lebanon and Israel, citing human atrocities on both sides of their border. It called upon the Middle East nations to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon. And, it called for a cessation of military aggression by Israel. And, it caleld for a deployment of up to 15,000 UN peacekeepers to secure the border.
What it did not do is recognize the fact that this is not a war between Lebanon and Israel, but rather a military reaction to terrorist acts by Hezbollah. When the UN acknowledges the fact that Lebanon is rotting from the inside out, maybe then we’ll have the permanent solution to the conflict I have witnessed my entire life. Lebanon is totally toothless in dealing with Hezbollah. The terms of the ceasefire do not address the issue Hezbollah has with Israel. Therefore, I see no reason whatsoever for Hezbollah to respect those terms and I see no way Lebanon can stop them. I have history to back me up on this feeling, there has been a UN sanctioned ceasefire already there for over a decade and Hezbollah has made no effort to respect it. Why should they now? They may go along with it for a little while if they’ve shot all the rockets they had. But, as soon as they can re-stock, they’ll be back.
The UN is useless. Until it recognizes that hatred needs to be dealt with the harshest terms immediately, they will keep going back to the same places and making the same mistakes.
In Kentucky, we have had to endure the longest, most nauseating "scandal" since, well, our last governor. In that case, the governor at that time was accused of giving state preferential treatment to his girlfriend. Nevermind the fact he was still married, it just wasn’t right. Although Patton was raked through the coals endlessly, no charges were ever filed.
Our latest scandal has the state attorney general, Greg Stumbo, accusing the governor of, get this, hiring people of his own party over those who voted against him. NO WAY! You say? YES WAY! That’s his crime. Stumbo made sure he got indicted over hiring people who helped him become governor. Today a judge came to the conclusion that he could not be tried in court while governor because he acted as governor. To that, Scott Crawford-Sutherland, who prosecuted the case, stated, "There is no state in this country that has extended the kind of immunity urged by the governor,"
I just wonder where Scott was living when Paul Patton was given a pass after being caught doing a lot worse? I mean, that’s not exactly ancient history. Has Stumbo/Crawford-Sutherland pursued those charges now that Patton’s out of office? Or, did they selectively offer immunity because Patton’s a Democrat as they are?
A lot of people, myself included, have felt this is a political witch hunt by Stumbo and his gang of thugs. For people like Scott Crawford-Sutherland to make that statement as his primary argument just proves it. He can’t be THAT naive. It must be something else.
Already people are speculating how the terrorist bust in London will help the Republicans this fall and affect the primaries occurring now. Here’s my less-than-two-cents worth:
- It will take some of the steam out of the anti-war candidates, but not much. I don’t think this is enough of an issue to base an entire race on. People will toss Lamont at me I know. However, if Lieberman had been more popular with his core voters in the first place, one issue wouldn’t have derailed him so easily.
- It will a complete non-factor by this fall. The national/international life span politically is about 30 days max. Other issues will come and go. Everyone already knows the core differences going into this fall between Republicans and Democrats. Terrorism successes will be downplayed by the Dems and trumpeted by the Republicans. And, there will be plenty to choose from.
Based on that, assuming there was a certain level of political timing tied to this bust doesn’t hold water with me. It would have been so much more effective in October or early November.
11
Aug
I like the sound of that actually.
Given Joe’s current unwanted public exposure in not being able to win his own state, not sure how realistic it is tho.
However, both are definitely out of the mainstream party members, which appeals to the average voter. And, a mixed ticket would make the opponents very uneasy to say the least.
Bottom line, I do like the sound of it.
The bigger bottom line would be how many other people like the sound of it? Wanna see?
10
Aug
The easy speculation to make here is in order for the speculators to make money, a successful attack would have been preferable. The fact itwas touted as “advanced stages of planning” means the airlines and governments did their job and stopped it with enough evidence to figure out who it was andconvict them. However, the perception is because they once again chose touse airplanes, the airline industry suffers financially as well as the oilspeculators. Now, $1 out of $75 isn’t going to mean a hill of beans at thepump for me or anyone else. I guess I’ll just have to live with the fact that the people who have been causing pain at the pump will have to suffer some pain of their own because my family is safer. I guess about 20 more of these stories between now and November will get that pesky high price of oil off the Republicans backs.
Or, a LOT of talk of government regulation of the oil industry thereby removing the speculators entirely from the picture is in order.
Now, some realism here:
This is what
Exxon has been donated to candidates:
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$447,532 |
$52,782 |
$394,550 |
12% |
88% |
|
2004 |
$925,166 |
$102,582 |
$820,134 |
11% |
89% |
|
2002 |
$1,180,246 |
$108,950 |
$1,070,846 |
9% |
91% |
|
2000 |
$1,391,955 |
$144,550 |
$1,242,705 |
10% |
89% |
|
1998 |
$1,097,955 |
$139,850 |
$955,955 |
13% |
87% |
|
1996 |
$1,214,581 |
$126,939 |
$1,085,798 |
11% |
89% |
|
1994 |
$1,070,088 |
$186,728 |
$882,110 |
17% |
82% |
|
1992 |
$790,012 |
$154,741 |
$634,771 |
20% |
80% |
|
1990 |
$521,829 |
$126,175 |
$395,155 |
24% |
76% |
BP:
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$126,600 |
$36,150 |
$89,950 |
29% |
71% |
|
2004 |
$323,165 |
$126,559 |
$196,406 |
39% |
61% |
|
2002 |
$489,430 |
$148,800 |
$339,630 |
30% |
69% |
|
2000 |
$1,302,740 |
$395,481 |
$906,259 |
30% |
70% |
|
1998 |
$811,716 |
$191,350 |
$620,366 |
24% |
76% |
|
1996 |
$878,055 |
$188,800 |
$688,805 |
22% |
78% |
|
1994 |
$505,350 |
$130,000 |
$375,350 |
26% |
74% |
|
1992 |
$479,625 |
$137,551 |
$341,824 |
29% |
71% |
|
1990 |
$488,023 |
$122,950 |
$365,073 |
25% |
75% |
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$272,807 |
$55,382 |
$217,425 |
20% |
80% |
|
2004 |
$499,242 |
$86,511 |
$412,731 |
17% |
83% |
|
2002 |
$1,307,081 |
$328,481 |
$978,600 |
25% |
75% |
|
2000 |
$1,565,826 |
$423,872 |
$1,140,954 |
27% |
73% |
|
1998 |
$1,248,815 |
$326,142 |
$922,423 |
26% |
74% |
|
1996 |
$1,508,025 |
$284,489 |
$1,223,203 |
19% |
81% |
|
1994 |
$1,137,042 |
$368,249 |
$767,848 |
32% |
68% |
|
1992 |
$1,148,086 |
$333,364 |
$814,722 |
29% |
71% |
|
1990 |
$488,41 |
$135,650 |
$352,768 |
28% |
72% |
Ya think that’s a lot? That doesn’t even include contributions to 527′s. The political realities of candidates calling for regulation in mass are nil IMO. Some people are claiming there will be a mass anti-incumbency vote in November. What I see is neither of the above happening to any great extent. So, with that in mind, expect a few more terrorist/petroleum stories to push the price down. ( And, to remind us of how great we’re being protected. ) That’s all we can hope for in controlling the price of gas at the pump right now. I’m not sure the US is at the breaking point politically regarding the pain at the pump, but I bet we’re getting pretty close.
9
Aug
Yeah, I know this isn’t a Senate race, but I need to change that category along with everything else I’ve changed here. Oh, but hey, Cynthia McKinney is OUT! Thank you Atlanta! I had really begun to believe that something was amiss in one of my favorite cities of the world. Now that’s she’s lost the only two competitve races she’s had in the 21st century, maybe she’ll just show her true colors and join the New Black Panthers so she can take up assaulting cops, insulting Jews, and supporting terrorists full time.
Others’ takes:
- Expose the Left
- GOPandtheCity
- Sister Toldjah live blogged the entire results. I knew better and took a pain pill and redrew my blog. Off-year elections are always slow.
- As usual, MSNBC gets it all wrong, reporting an anti-incumbancy trend. It wasn’t an anti-incumbancy thing, it was a lurch to the left in Connecticut and a reaction to lurching to the left in Atlanta. Fall is not going to be about "incumbancy", it’s going to be about how far left the Democrats think they have to go to woo a moderate electorate. I think they’ll go too far if they keep listening to the ultra-left media. Bottom line why Lieberman lost, he ran an awful campaign and cut the legs out from under his own race a month ago.
But, the bottom line here is McKinney is O-U-T. She’s already blaming her loss on everthing other than the fact she’s looney as all get-out ( namely the voting machines that elected her in 2004 ).
The message IMO is very clear to the DNC and Howard Dean. However, I know they won’t get it.
And in case I forgot to mention, she didn’t lose, she got CREAMED! 59-41 loss for an incumbant is about as bad as it gets.
