Tuesday's links and comments

A lot of stuff going on. Here are several links with brief commentary.

Yesterday, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) announced he was forming an exploratory committee for a presidential run. I wish him luck. Political junkies know Hunter to be a smart, well-informed congressman with a good grasp of military issues and foreign affairs. However, no one else knows him. If I asked 100 people at random if they recognize his name I'd have less than 5 correct answers.

Here is Thomas Sowell's latest column. He hits on two subjects. He correctly points out that the excitement over a potential Barack Obama presidential run is extremely premature and he discusses the nightmare of a Speaker of the House named Pelosi.

If you're in the mood for a history lesson, Michael Barone has an informative look back on the history of sixth-year-of-the-presidency off-year elections. Have big gains for the out party been a harbinger of future voting patterns? His definitive answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. Whenever I hear someone using the past to predict the future I'm reminded of the disclaimer used by mutual funds: "Past performance is not guarantee of future results."

How do Democrats respond to the truth about their intentions? Here is one example:

Rep. Charles Rangel yesterday blasted Dick Cheney as a "son of a bitch" after the vice president said the Harlem lawmaker would raise taxes and destroy the economy if Democrats take control of the House.

Apparently, liberals don't have a monopoly on bad manners.

Barbra Streisand's politics didn't find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand.

Streisand is misinformed on nearly all her political views and is sophomoric in her attempt at humor. Regardless of that there is no valid excuse for throwing a beverage at her or interrupting her concert. People paid good money for the show and they should be able to enjoy the show without interruption.

Here is a story which could have only come from Arkansas.

Man Tries to Use Fake $100 Clinton Bill

The article does not say how many times he was successful before he was caught.

In recent national elections, the political experts in the media have cherry picked a demographic that they believe control the keys to the political kingdom. Whether hyping "soccer moms," Nascar dads," "security moms," or some other group that is mistakenly believed to be THE important voting block to be courted they err in assuming these groups vote together in lockstep. This election cycle the Sunday newspaper magazine USA Weekend decided to cover all the bases by picking 7 keys groups. The analysis is simplistic and clearly tilts to the left. With each group they describe the group and then say where that group matters. For example group number 5 is Midwesterners and the authors decide midwesterners will decide the statewide races in Ohio. No kidding, you mean Ohio's elections won't be decided by the folks living on the coasts.

Who are the Iraq War Veterans for Progress?

In life we are often judged by the company we keep. In no arena is that adage more true than in politics.

There is a misnamed political action committee (PAC) titled Iraq War Veterans for Progress. Turns out this group is not concerned with progress as their name would suggest. Rather their goal, if you read their website, is an immediate exit and failure in Iraq. I don't know about you, but I don't consider leaving Iraq before the new government is prepared to defend itself to be progress. Among their stated objectives is that we should: Renounce the practice of preemptive war. That sort of mentality was fine in our grandparents day. With the destructive nature of the type of weapons available in this age we no longer have the option of declaring we will sit back and wait to be struck before taking action. After 9/11, President Bush correctly surmised that terrorists and the nations who harbor them or support them financially or otherwise can not be dealt with in the same old way.

The home page of this organization has an audio clip of an interview with a former Navy Corpsman named Charlie Anderson who deployed to Iraq with the Marines. As part of the interview the former Sailor described how he came to oppose winning and said he saw starving children which showed him the impact of sanctions. I'm not sure if he understands this but a main argument of his anti-war buddies is we should have given sanctions a chance (as if the previous 12 years of sanctions were working). Additionally, Anderson made a bogus claim that over 35% of Iraq veterans have mental problems. The funniest part of his interview was his complaint that the Veterans Administration is bureaucratic. No kidding, a government agency is bureaucratic. Who would've guessed. And this guy complaining about bureaucracy is supporting the party in favor of nationalized health care. Go figure. Feel free to listen to the entire interview. However, I don't recommend it unless you're having trouble sleeping.

Needless to say, the host of inaccurate statements and misguided policy positions espoused by "Iraq War Veterans for Progress" are reason enough to vote against any candidates they endorse. However, as bad as their positions are on the issue of national defense, the leadership of this group gives even more cause for concern. In the middle of their list of advisers is Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg, for those too young to remember the Vietnam War, committed treason during that war. Further down the list, you find two left wing extremist congresswomen listed as the Honorary Advisory Board, Rep. Lynn Woosley (D-CA) (known for giving a pass to the last SOTU to Cindy Sheehan) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) (the only one in congress goofy enough to not only oppose the Iraq War but actually oppose invading Afghanistan after the 9-11 attacks).

Why am I taking my time to post about a radical left wing organization that most sane people would normally ignore? Because among the five candidates which are endorsed by Iraq War Veterans for Progress are two people running for office in Ohio passing themselves off as moderates. This group chose to endorse senate candidate Sherrod Brown and 2nd congressional district candidate Dr. Victoria Wuslin.

Before next Tuesday voters need to decide for themselves why an extreme left wing organization would endorse supposedly moderate candidates. If voters are honest with themselves they will admit these candidates are not the moderate Democrats they would like you to believe.

Separately, I'd ask that you weigh the relative merit of the opinion of a few veterans who are opposed to the war against the strongly held belief of most veterans who feel that abandoning the mission before completion would mean those who died in this cause will have died in vain.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: In my haste to post this item, I failed to clarify the relationship between Iraq Veterans for Progress (IVFP) with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). My initial links were to the website of IVFP which specifically endorsed Brown and Wulsin. IVFP does not openly call for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. However, IVAW which is more transparent about wanting to abandon the mission in Iraq appears to be closely related to IVFP. These organizations seem to have considerable cross membership. Tim Goodrich is the Executive Director of IVFP as well as being a founder of the IVAW. Charles Anderson from the monotone audio tape discussed above is a member of both organizations, works for the Brown for Senate campaign, and is a regular poster at the far left blog Huffington Post.

Neither candidate, Brown or Wulsin needs to disavow the positions of groups that endorse them. However, failure to do so means people are free to draw their own conclusions.

Some late Friday links

The SOB Alliance has a new member: Connect the Dots. Stop by his site. He has a link to a cool song by the anti-Dixie Chick, Beccy Cole an Australian singer who unapologetically supports their troops serving in Iraq.

Does the Democrat party of 1864 match the Democrat party of 2006. Absolutely spot on. (h/t Curmudeonly and Skeptical)

I don't know whether to trust the polls and whether or not it is too late to change peoples minds but Sen. DeWine clearly trounced Rep. Sherrod Brown in today's debate. Here is a link to a video of the debate. Judge for yourself.

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers to win the sloppiest World Series I have ever witnessed. I lost count at 12 errors between the two teams and that doesn't include several plays which should have been made but weren't without errors being charged. Beyond the fielding errors there were several base runner blunders. Congratulations to the Cardinals who now have won the second most World Series championships with 10.

Why do some people wait to care about their kids until it is too late?

Earlier this week, in Cincinnati we had a situation where around 6 AM on a cold morning a man started his car to let it warm up. He went back in his house for a minute and then saw some crook was stealing his car. In a moment of anger or frustration at being robbed he got his gun and fired a couple shots at the car. One of the shots went through the side of the car and killed the criminal. Turns out this particular crook was very young for his chosen "profession." Quavale Finnell with 13 prior brushes with law enforcement under his belt was only 14 years old. Yesterday would have been his 15th birthday.

This morning's newspaper has an article quoting family members including his grandmother urging the local prosecutor to bring charges against the victim whose car was being stolen. To me it seems this family is pointing their finger in the wrong direction. This kid would be alive if his family had taught him to respect other people's property.

Footnote: I'm sure some will raise the issue of gun control, but part of the reason this kid is dead is because we have become so civilized the crook wrongly assumed there was no physical risk in stealing the car. If more people would carry guns and if potential crooks were aware that they had a greater chance of meeting a citizen capable of defending themselves we would have less crime.

Thursday's links and comments

Bob Novak updated his predictions for the upcoming House and Senate elections. He is still predicting a Dem takeover of the House but by a closer margin. Beyond his predictions he gives an explanation of why he feels Jim McTague's prediction in Barron's magazine is wrong.

The Hartford Courant looks at Harry Reid's Flubs.

Ann Coulter is at her best in her column titled "DEMS' FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUME: PATRIOT." She makes a point I wish I had. The pundits and politicians on the left who claim that Iraq is just distracting us from the "real war on terrorism" in Afghanistan are the same people who claimed we had no chance of victory in Afghanistan.

The beauty of Democrats' pretending to be hawks on Afghanistan is that most people can't remember what liberals said five minutes after they said it, much less five years later. In fact, during the brief five weeks it took American forces to take Kabul and send the Taliban scurrying, liberals were not the flag-waving patriots they would have us believe.

In October 2001, Sen. Joe Biden gave a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations saying that America's air war in Afghanistan made the United States look like "this high-tech bully that thinks from the air we can do whatever we want to do."

Four weeks before U.S. troops completely vanquished the Taliban, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, said on CNN's "Capital Gang" that the Taliban would not soon be toppled. He cited his experience with the Taliban, saying: "I think they can hold on for a while. They were very resilient."

Except for a few idiots, most politicians -- who have to run for election -- duly voted in favor of the war in Afghanistan and let their mouthpieces in the media bash it for them. (Remember: A lot of them voted for war in Iraq, too.) Democrats who would not have to face voters -- we call them "reporters" -- were calling Afghanistan a "quagmire" approximately six minutes after we invaded.

Is the Tide Turning in the 2006 Campaign? by Newt Gingrich. Remember the only poll that matters is the one taken for real on election day.

Seven Reasons Why Karl Rove Is Optimistic. Here is the seventh - he has to be optimistic.

7. This final reason is perhaps the most important. If Karl Rove evinces one shred of doubt about the fate of Republican congressional control, he’d be lucky if half of the volunteers who diligently show up to Republican victory centers across the country pack up and go home. Optimism breeds faith. And more importantly, optimism could mean the difference between losing 14 seats and losing 35. The base will pick up on signs of Bush’s pessimism, of Mehlman’s pessimism, of Rove’s pessimism.

Deroy Murdock has "A look at what happens if Democrats win Congress" and it isn't pretty.

Wednesday's notes & links

From U.S. News and World Report we get Michael Barone's predictions for the November elections. Bottom line: He expects a very slim Dem majority in the House of Representatives.

The New York Sun while acknowledging the various imperfections of the Republicans gives a thoughtful endorsement to them retaining control of the House and Senate.

Jay Ambrose of the Examiner sums up the choice for angry conservatives thusly:

OK, fine, go ahead and throw the bums out in two weeks. Send Republicans scurrying as you put Democrats in control of the Senate and House, but don’t then expect balanced budgets, an improved economy, more concern for the poor, greater security from terrorists or greater respect and care for precious rights the left has been trying to subvert for decades now.

Regardless of our dissatisfaction with Republicans on various issues we must remember that Democrats would be far worse.

Dr. Mary Davenport who is an obstetrician and gynecologist wrote in the American Thinker about Michael J. Fox' dishonest ads for Democrat candidates in several states.

The implicit claim that research based on new embryos is “the most promising” is absurd, completely unsupported by the scientific literature, and an insult to voters, based as it is on the assumption that they are incapable of understanding the issue. Too stupid to tell the difference, is the elitist assumption underlying this campaign.

Flim-flam is a charitable description. Why would federally-funded research be more promising than state- and privately-funded research? And on what possible basis can the claim be made that embryonic stem cell research is more promising than adult stem cell research?

The plain fact is that embryonic stem cell research is proving to be a bust. There are currently 72 therapies showing human benefits using adult stem cells and zero using embryonic stem cells.

The mainstream media would never let you know that in addition to being morally reprehensible, embryonic stem cell research has yielded no benefits.

William F. Buckley looks at Nancy Pelosi and her comments on 60 Minutes the other night.

Front Page Magazine has an interesting interview today with Joseph C. Phillips. Phillips is the author of a new book titled "He talk like a white boy." The title comes from a comment from a classmate when he was younger because he raised his hand in class and responded to the teaching with proper English.

Tuesday's links and comments

Thomas Sowell compares the potential Dem takeover of the House of Representatives to the 1994 election where Republicans led by Newt Gingrich gained a majority by clearly laying out a plan of action called "Contract with America." He refers to the Dems lack of a plan as "Blank Check from America?"

The telling statement in this article's first sentence is what isn't said.

Control of the U.S. Senate may come down to who wins in Virginia and Tennessee

Notice that Ohio is written off and it is assumed that DeWine has already lost.

Something that jumped out to me today was how many of the senate incumbents in trouble are part of the infamous "Gang of 14."
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island trailing badly in polls
Mike DeWine of Ohio trailing in polls
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut already lost in the primary and forced to run as an independent. He is expected to win the general election.
To me the lessen to be learned here about playing the moderate card is those who try to please everyone end up pleasing no one.

Sunday night on the unpaid Democratic tv ad titled 60 Minutes Nancy Pelosi declared that impeaching the president was off the table in an attempt to fool gullible people. Byron York of National Review Online looks at likely House Judiciary Committee chairman John Coyners' past actions and comments and finds ample evidence that the Democrats will pursue impeachment if the voters screw up and elect 218 Democrats to the House of Representatives this November.

Lastly, to paraphrase our 38th president, our long regional nightmare is over.

Are most Democrat politicians unpatriotic?

During a recent interview, President Bush was pressed by George Stephanopoulos to admit he is calling Democrats unpatriotic. The president didn't take the bait but instead asserted that he is questioning their judgment not their patriotism. Here is the relevant part of the transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You've used some pretty tough rhetoric, though. You said this election's a choice between Republicans and Democrats who want to wave the white flag of surrender in the war on terror.

Can you name a Democrat who wants to wave the white flag of surrender?

BUSH: I can name a Democrat who said there ought to be a date certain from which to withdraw from Iraq, whether or not we've achieved a victory or not. And I…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that surrender?

BUSH: Yes, it is, if you pull the troops out before the job is done. Absolutely, George.

And if we were to — and if we were to leave before the job is done, in my judgment, the, you know, al Qaeda would find a safe haven from which to attack.

This is exactly what they said.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't think that's questioning their patriotism when you say that?

BUSH: No. I know it's not questioning their patriotism. I think it's questioning their judgment.

I understand and appreciate the fact that President Bush feels it would be unpresidential to openly call political opponents unpatriotic. I'll do it for him. It is the essence of unpatriotic activity to take action which aids an enemy during a time of war in order to gain political advantage. I won't attempt to list everything unpatriotic Democrats have done over the last several years. Too long a list. I will address the two biggest political acts which were clearly done out of a decision to put political gain above our nations security.

1. The endlessly repeated lie that "Bush lied to get us into war with Iraq." Every politician who uttered that line knew it was demonstratably false. All they had to do was consider their own comments from the lead up to war and remember the intelligence reports available to them before they voted to authorize military action. Beyond that, only an imbecile wouldn't understand that repeatedly and falsely accusing our president of lying to justify military action would hurt our nation's prestige.

2. The continuous exploitation of war casualties for political gain. How many times have you heard in the last week that this month was the deadliest month in Iraq in two years? Hmmmm, what was going on at this time two years ago? Oh yeah, it was the month before the last U.S. elections. It is clear to me that al Qaeda realizes how the Democrats and their media accomplices will exploit each casualty. The Democrats have sent the message consistently that their main goal is to exit Iraq regardless of the inevitable consequences. When al Qaeda gets the message that one political party will leave them alone and also gets the message that killing U.S. servicemen will help that party gain power what do you expect them to do? Snipers are not shooting our soldiers to gain a strategic edge. No, our military is being killed because al Qaeda believes our national will to win will be eroded and we will just abandon Iraq. To do so would be to declare that every life lost over there was in vain. Nothing could be more unpatriotic than to send our military into harms way and then when the going gets tough and we suffer casualties turn around and say "Oh, never mind."

N.Y. Senate Candidate John Spencer Denies Calling Opponent Hillary Clinton Ugly

No word on whether he also denied that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

Seriously, I sometimes wonder why there even is a Republican party in New York. It seems as though the Republican candidates in New York only exist to embarrass the party. Sen. Clinton's opponent in this race, John Spencer has even been quoted as saying he thinks Hillary Clinton would make a great president. That comment alone should be reason enough to ignore anything else he says. Heck, that comment could serve as probable cause for an urinalysis.

Nanny state bad idea of the day

Smoking bans are becoming all the rage. They have recently enacted one in Omaha, Nebraska. How are they planning to enforce this stupid law?

If you catch someone smoking in a non-smoking area in Omaha, Neb., call the police. The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is encouraging city residents to call 911 in the wake of the citywide ban on smoking that went into effect on Oct. 2.

Teresa Negron, sergeant in charge of public information of the OPD, explained that the department encourages observers of infractions to pick up the phone to report the infraction -- just like they would for any other crime they observe being committed. "Citizens or business owners that observe a violation to the smoking ban are urged to call 911 and report the violation," Negron told Cybercast News Service."

You can start the countdown to the first lawsuit against the city. Next time someone dies because they are too slow responding to an actual emergency because they are responding to an allegation of (gasp) smoking lawyers will be scrambling to litigate on the families behalf.

Wednesday's notes & links - 20 Days Until Mid-term Elections

All election coverage all the time (unless something else comes up I want to post about).
The last couple days there have been several articles sounding absolutely incredulous over President Bush or other Republicans still being positive about the upcoming elections. It is almost as if the "objective" journalists are angry that we aren't conceding defeat three weeks before the election.

From the Washington Times we get this article: Rove foresees GOP victory.

Television networks don't let politicians run those irritating ads for free which is why money on hand is such an important element of a campaign during the final days of a race. The reason I bring this up is this article that says DNC Chairman Howard Dean is having to take out a loan for ten million dollars to continue funding various races.

Elections have consequences. That last sentence was a mantra oft repeated by conservatives when defending the presidents prerogative to name conservative federal judges. Well, this election will also have consequences. Here is one of them.

“When I become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,” he said Thursday night in front of the Hudson River School paintings at the New-York Historical Society, “we will have power over the entire tax system, Social Security system, pension system, Medicare and all international trade.”

Our economy has roared back from the post dot-com recession despite a major terrorist attack on our soil, an extended war time period, and a natural disaster which nearly wiped out an entire region. What stimulated the economic growth we've experienced? The tax cuts (specifically the dividend tax cuts which encouraged economic development) left more money in the hands of the consumer, fueling a consumer driven recovery. Charlie Rangell running the Ways and Means Committee means an end to tax cuts and a return to tax increases which will inevitably lead to a recession.

If the Democrats were as confident as they claim they wouldn't be resorting to crap like this:

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig Denies Allegations of Same-Sex Affairs

Sen. Rick Santorum guest blogged at Captain's Quarters today. Rather than diluting his message by selectively cutting and pasting a portion I'll just encourage you to read his post. I'm a big supporter of Santorum mainly because he is unapologetic about being a conservative. He doesn't run away from his convictions or hide his beliefs.

Tuesday's links and comments

The always point on, Thomas Sowell has a column today titled "Can We Talk?" discussing the intolerance of the left towards conficting viewpoints.

Next time you're having a day think about this guy.

Pablo Picasso's "dream" painting has turned into a $139 million nightmare for Steve Wynn. Wynn accidentally poked a hole in Picasso's 74-year-old painting, "Le Reve," French for "The Dream." A day earlier, Wynn had finalized a record $139 million deal for the painting of Picasso's mistress.

The accident occurred as a gesturing Wynn, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that affects peripheral vision, struck the painting with his right elbow, leaving a hole the size of a silver dollar in the left forearm of Marie-Theresa Walter, Picasso's 21-year-old mistress.

What should have been a positive local event turned ugly. Cincinnati was rededicating the recently renovated Fountain Square. As part of the ceremony a poet was brought in to speak. The goof they picked to write a poem decided to include an attack against one of the candidates for governor.

"I am not a son of a bitch like Kenny Blackwell," Nikki Giovanni said near the end of her poem. "I will not use the color of my skin to cover the hatred in my heart. I am not a political whore jumping from bed to bed to see who will stroke my knee."

Disgusting. Whoever picked her to speak during what should have been a positive public event should be ashamed.

Dick Morris has a column today titled "There goes the GOP base — and probably both houses." I think he is jumping to conclusions by believing polls. National polls are not reliable in predicting local races. However, more than his belief in polls I think he is off base in his assessment that former Rep. Foley's actions will play a major role in this election.

The Foley scandal has wrought extraordinary damage to the Republican Party and appears to have had a particularly negative impact on the base.

Wrong. Some people may be outraged by Foley and angry at the incumbents, but that doesn't mean they are going to vote against their own incumbent. For example, I can name dozens of incumbent congressmen who I don't want to see reelected. That doesn't matter. I only get to vote for or against my incumbent congressman - Rep. John Boehner. Everyone else is in the same boat. People in Rep. Steny Hoyer's district or Rep. Nancy Pelosi's district may want Boehner gone, but they don't get to vote for or against him. Foley may end up affecting a couple races by a few percentage points, but that's all.

Why vote for Mike DeWine?

Some conservatives have decided it doesn't matter who wins so why bother voting. Whether it is dissatisfaction with votes on various issues (ANWR, immigration reform, etc), or concern about excessive government spending or anger over misbehavior of politicians from both parties some have declared a pox on both parties. While I understand the frustration, not voting doesn't make sense. Why should you vote for Mike DeWine (or the Republican running in your state)? There are several reasons. The most important reasons are judges, judges and justices.

Over the next 2 years President Bush will nominate people to fill dozens of federal judicial vacancies. Additionally, it isn't unreasonable to expect another opening or two on the Supreme Court. Democratic control of the Senate would mean decent and honorable judges like Chief Justice Roberts or Associate Justice Alito would have no chance of confirmation. The president would have to nominate moderate (ie: liberal) judges if he wants them confirmed by a Democratic senate.

Do you think judges don't matter? Consider yesterday's travesty of justice. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl reduced the prison sentence of a lawyer who assisted a terrorist client from 30 years to 28 months. Last week, this same judge sentenced an Air Force captain to 17 and a half years in prison for smuggling drugs into the country. I'm not saying the drug smuggler should have gotten off easy, but common sense says a crook helping terrorists plan mass murder is at least as bad as a crook smuggling drugs. However, Judge Koeltl feels the one crook deserves 8 times the punishment. If you want more judges like Koeltl stay home in November and let Democrats like Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy and Dick Durbin run the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Monday's news and links

In today's Wall Street Journal, Kimberley Strassel tells the Tale of Two GOP's. In the article she compares the governors races in Ohio and Florida. In Ohio the Republican, Ken Blackwood is trailing in the polls by double digits and in Florida the Republican candidate, Charlie Crist leading by a similar margin. Her assessment (which I agree with) is Blackwell is running on a similar platform to Crist but is not succeeding because Gov. Taft (and Voinovich before him) did not live up to their campaign rhetoric.

It has taken far too long to send her away and the sentence is far too short, otherwise it is nice to see justice play out and this woman finally held accountable for aiding terrorists in planning attacks against our country.

Lynne Stewart was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison on a terrorism charge for helping a client who plotted to blow up New York City landmarks communicate with his followers, a sentence far less than 30 years prosecutors wanted. Stewart, 67, smiled as the judge announced he would send her to prison for less than 2 1/2 years. "If you send her to prison, she's going to die. It's as simple as that," defense lawyer Elizabeth Fink had told the judge before the sentence was pronounced.

Actually, she is going to die whether she is sent to prison or not. This sentence, while too short, sends a message to other lawyers that providing adequate representation to crooks or terrorists does not mean joining their team. On a related note, Don Surber take the AP to task for trying to paint a sympathetic picture of this convicted criminal.

Fred Barnes takes a look at the November elections in a column titled How Bad Will It Be? Obviously, he isn't all that optimistic.

There was an ugly brawl this weekend between the football players of Miami University and Florida International University. However, as bad as the behavior of those players was it paled in comparison to the commentary of the local announcer. Lamar Thomas was cheering on the fighting players as the brawl was taking place. Tim Chapman has a link to the YouTube video of Thomas' outrageous remarks.

Is the New York Times lying about Ohio?

After reading this story in the New York Times (you know, All the News that fits within their liberal viewpoint) that said that the GOP was pulling funding from Sen. DeWine's reelection campaign I was preparing to post here ripping the GOP two-fold. First, I am still peeved that the GOP spent money in the Rhode Island primary backing liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee over a more conservative challenger. Secondly and more importantly, I was angry at the thought that the GOP would write off Ohio so early. Yes, polls have consistently shown Rep. Sherrod Brown with a lead over DeWine. However, I have maintained that once voters get to know Brown's positions on issues and learn about his past voting record in congress he will be found to be unacceptable. Ohioan's are by nature good people with moderate to conservative leanings and the extremist positions held by Brown will not appeal to Ohio voters other than in the northeast part of the state (Cleveland to Youngstown). However, before I could get started on the post excoriating the GOP for abandoning the GOP I got an email from Patrick Ruffini of the Republican National Committee refuting the New York Times article and saying RNC spending in Ohio will continue at the present level.

Well that takes care of that, right? Wrong! Listening to talk radio here in Cincinnati (WLW 700) and every 15 or 20 minutes as they give a quick recap of the news they repeat the New York Times main point that the GOP has conceded the race for U.S. Senate from Ohio. As the old Winston Churchill quote goes, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." Even if five percent of Republicans say to themselves "why bother going out in the cold to vote if he doesn't have a chance," The New York Times will have accomplished its goal of suppressing turnout. The GOP needs to publicly rebuke the Times on this story and redouble their efforts in Ohio to disprove the claim that they have given up on our state.

Sunday's links and comments

Sometimes reporters miss what is really newsworthy. Take this headline:

Has the mayor's new girlfriend, who is only 20, been drinking?

The article focuses on the age difference between the mayor and his girlfriend and the question of whether the mayor's girlfriend is drinking underage. Someone could serve in our military at age 17 and be sent to a foreign country to defend our country and possibly be shot at and we don't think people can handle an alcoholic drink until they are 21? But the real story here is where the story originated. They are talking about San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom. If we are talking about a politician in San Francisco in a heterosexual relationship that is newsworthy. As if that isn't enough to get the mayor in trouble the article had an even more disturbing item near the end - his lady friend is registered to vote as a Republican.

Before entering the voters booth in November every Ohioan should see this video. (H/T BizzyBlogger posting on SOB Alliance)

Kerry Says He Deserves 2nd Chance in '08. He's right and I hope the Democrats listen to him and trot him out there again.

Lastly, let us remember to keep the people of Hawaii in our thoughts and prayers tonight as they deal with the after affects of a major earthquake.

Creating a master race - Korean style

This is truly sickening.

THE North Korean regime's obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors. The latest description of Kim Jong-il's policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.

Declining moral and ethical norms clearly lead to a slippery slope where nothing is off-limits if it meets a desired end result. There is a lesson in this for our country. In 1973 the Supreme Court decided that if a woman decided a child was inconvenient she could decide to end the childs life. Since then nearly 50 million children have been exterminated. That tells me that a significant segment of our population are on that slope or already past the point of knowing right from wrong.

A man we should remember

Our nations highest military honor, The Medal of Honor was created to recognize men such as this one and I hope he is so recognized.

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into a sniper hideout his unit had discovered. Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

God bless this man and the family he left behind.

Friday's various links and comments

Minnesota Army Reservist is charged with desertion. She says she is deserting because she thought she'd be assigned to do a job she wasn't trained to do. That is just false. She really decided to desert because she thought the worst punishment she faced was some brig time. Deserters during time of war should be lined up in front of a firing squad. That would impact the decision making process.

This announcement was very surprising.

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner had been touted to be the moderate "anti-Hillary" candidate in the 2008 Democratic presidential mix, but now his stunning exit has created an opening for another would-be Clinton-slayer: John Edwards. After raising $9 million and assembling a campaign team, Warner called it all off in Richmond yesterday, telling reporters he needed to spend more time with his family. "While politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge, at this point I want to have a real life," he said.

Out of the various Democrats considering running in 2008, Warner was the one I thought would make the strongest opponent. He is perceived as a moderate and I suppose next to Russ Feingold he is moderate. But his strongest attribute was zero legislative experience. Not serving in the legislature means he doesn't have years of votes to come back and haunt him. There is a reason we have only elected two sitting senators to the presidency in the past hundred and twenty years. Additionally, only one man has ever gone straight from serving in the House of Representatives to the presidency.

Donald Lambro has a column in Townhall.com today opining that this election will be about security and the economy. Republicans better hope he's right.

There is a saying from the mainstream press that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Along the same lines, according to the Dalai Lama one man's terror is another man's mischief.

The Dalai Lama said after meeting Pope Benedict on Friday that "a few mischievous Muslims" should not be allowed to give the Islamic faith a bad name.

While I don't think everyone of a particular faith should be judged by the actions of a few, this Lama dude loses credibility when he labels mass murder of innocent people as mischief. Mischief is when teenagers throw toilet paper into trees after a high school football game. Mischief is when a school kid shoves something into the water fountain so the next kid to get a drink gets a faceful of water. Cutting someones head off for refusing to convert to your religion is many things but mischief isn't the right word.

Thursday's links and comments

As someone who occasionally posts inflammatory comments about politicians and other fools I don't like the sound of this:

A South Florida jury has awarded a record $11.3 million in damages to a woman who was defamed by another woman on the Internet. Sue Scheff of Weston, Fla., sued Carey Bock of Mandeville, La., in December 2003 over the messages posted calling her a 'crook,' a 'con artist' and a 'fraud,' USA Today reported Wednesday.

Uh-oh, I'm sure I've used all of those pejoratives. Heck, I've probably used those exact words in describing Jesse Jackson.

To quote Matt of WMD, this must be Bush's fault.

Dow Up 96 to Close at Record 11,948

Actually, I'd blame the Bush tax cuts for the resurgent economy. Do the shorts scramble to cover tomorrow?

This is kind of funny.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said he may be the person the American public is looking for to run for president, but he will let the people decide whether he should. Dodd, 62, is gauging whether to make a run for president in 2008 and is on his second trip to New Hampshire in two months

I'd love to see a reporter ask Dodd about him and his buddy Ted Kennedy making waitress sandwiches.

Victor Davis Hanson examines some of the recent books about the war in Iraq and finds them lacking in credibility.

When people argue about dynasties in American politics most discuss the Bush's or the Kennedy's or historically the Roosevelt's or Adams'. In Tennessee the Ford's are the local political dynasty. With his brother running for a U.S. Senate seat, Jake Ford is running for Harold Ford's congressional seat and having to explain his assault of a crooked politician over a decade ago. Sadly the corrupt politician he assaulted was his father. Then again, if he fought any family member he was likely to be fighting a corrupt politician.

Speaking of corrupt politicians, Harry Reid is having some difficulty explaining how he made over a million dollars recently on land he supposedly sold three years ago.

I haven't blogged about football much this season, but I just noticed the Browns have as many victories as the defending Super Bowl champs.

Lastly, congratulations to Tom at BizzyBlog. Tom has tracked some issues that voters need to know about Ted Strickland before they enter the voting booth in November. Today, he was interviewed on the Bill Cunningham show on WLW 700 AM and presented the issues which are currently being ignored by the mainstream press.

Wednesday's notes & links

Here are a few links to laugh at or cry over.

I would attribute this to our growing reliance on computer spell checking. People no longer proof read, they just expect the computer to do it for them.

Ottawa County will pay about $40,000 to correct an embarrassing typo on its Nov. 7 election ballot: The "L" was left out of "public." A total of 170,000 ballots will have to be reprinted.

Something about this article made me think back to reading the book Animal Farm.

Wealth gap worries Communist elite

I guess some animals are more equal than others.

What is it with these lying authors hawking books on Oprah.

A woman who gained national notoriety for writing a book about being raped, then abandoning her newborn in a college trash been has been sentenced to prison for being the rapist in the case. Twyana Davis, 30, claimed in 1995 that she had been raped, appeared on television shows to tell her story.

But she also was harboring a secret: She wasn't raped. She was the rapist, Franklin County prosecutors said. Davis was sentenced Tuesday in Common Pleas Court to 10 to 25 years in prison on a charge of rape. She had confessed to having a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old cousin, leading to her unwanted pregnancy.

In November 1995, Davis left her daughter in a trash bin at Ohio Dominican College, where she was a student. The baby survived. Davis was caught and convicted of child endangering. She then wrote the book "Sacred Womb" and formed the group, Second Chance of Life, leading to appearances on Oprah and 20/20.

Here is a laugh, Rep. John Murtha is coming to Cincinnati to support Victoria Wulsin who is challenging Rep. Jean Schmidt. Whatever Murtha is selling he won't find many buyers in this part of the state.

In an article titled Carter's Amnesia, Investor's Business Daily addresses the former president's faulty memory.

Former President Carter claims his brilliant peacemaking had it all solved in North Korea until George W. Bush's warmongering ruined it. He's forgetting a decade's worth of communist cheating.

He needs to go back to building homes because every time he talks about foreign affairs he reminds people what a lousy president he was and what a petty bitter old man he has become.

Inflation baseball style

Two hundred million dollars doesn't buy much now a days.

Yankees complete collapse, knocked out of playoffs

Tomorrow all the New York newspapers will attempt to assign blame for the teams failure to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Any that fail to credit the Tigers for playing better baseball will be off the mark. Sometimes in a short series that is all there is to it.

Saturday links and comments

Here is a feel good local story.

Local boy wins $20G on 'Jeopardy!'

I'm not a fan of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's politics, but this article detailing her family's political background is fairly interesting. Since she uses her married name and now hails from California, people may not realize she is the daughter of the flamboyant longtime Baltimore mayor, Tommy D'Alessandro. Mind you, flamboyant in Baltimore in the 1950's did not mean the same thing as flamboyant in San Francisco today.

Sometimes when a politician has such a commanding lead in the polls that they feel they can not lose they get confident enough to say the truth about their intentions if elected. Here is an example:

Spitzer Vows to Push for Gay Marriage

Spitzer entire campaign is based on the reputation he made going after alleged corporate shenanigans. I say alleged since instead of prosecuting cases he mainly leveraged the charges into donations from the offending company. Even in as liberal a state as New York, declaring that he will push gay marriage will cost him votes. He won't lose enough votes to lose the election but he will win by a much closer margin than expected. People think it is just right wingers who believe marriage is between a man and a woman. However, the facts don't bear that out. Oregon soundly rejected gay marriage in 2004 on the same night they voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry for president.

A couple days ago I conceded that the Republicans have probably lost the House seat formerly held by Mark Foley. Here is an article that indicates I may have been a little premature in giving up on that district.

Buck O'Neill - Rest in Peace

ESPN just mentioned that former Negro League baseball star Buck O'Neill passed away today. I first got to know Buck from his work on the Ken Burns documentary about baseball over the decades. In recent years I've seen him interviewed many times about the old Negro leagues and about baseball in Kansas City. He was always the consummate ambassador for the sport of baseball. The man lived 94 years and I'm sure life gave him many reasons to be angry or bitter. Last year the Hall of Fame veterans committee elected 17 individuals from the old Negro Leagues and Buck O'Neill fell one vote short of election. Did he exhibit and animosity about that oversight? No, in fact he gave a great speech acknowledging those who were selected for enshrinement.

I never saw O'Neill play baseball. I don't know if he was any better than some of the players already enshrined in Cooperstown. I do think his overall contributions to the game should be recognized and remembered. I do know that electing him this January would be a day late and a dollar short. If he is elected on the next go around it will be assumed to be a sympathy vote. Buck never asked for sympathy and would be insulted if he was elected for any reason except being deserving.

My last thoughts are he always struck me as one heck of a guy. Even in his 90's, when he discussed his golfing he sounded proud. The smile on his face when he mentioned that he scored a hole in one made me want to go play golf.

A good man who lived a good life. My prayers go out to his family.

Friday's news and links

Ben Stein has the best column I've read in quite a while.

Howie Carr is concerned how ultra-liberal Deval Patrick would wield the power to issue pardons or grant commutations to violent criminals.

If Deval Patrick is elected governor, he can basically cut loose or at least reduce the sentence of any murderer or rapist he damn well pleases. ...... The modern record for most murder commutations in a single term belongs to Dukakis, with 44. Can Deval beat it? You bet he can - he’s “no ordinary leader.”

Rep. Katherine Harris is questioning her opponent's faith by saying he "votes completely contrary" to Christian principles. Normally, I dislike politicians doing the religious one-up-manship game. Problem is many politicians pander to get votes on election day but don't live their faith once elected. Harris' opponent for the Florida senate race appears to fit that mold.

Nelson is a non-denominational Christian who was baptized Baptist. He grew up attending Baptist and Episcopal churches and joined First Presbyterian Church after moving to Orlando. He has served as chairman and vice chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast and, when in Washington, D.C., attends weekly prayer breakfasts with other elected officials. Nelson issued a statement this week, saying, "My faith is the essence of my being.

That is all well and good, but if you work to keep abortion legal after being elected then don't talk to me about your faith. Don't get me wrong, Rep. Harris is pretty goofy at times and has her flaws. However, as with most elections you are not choosing between perfect and imperfect. No, you're choosing between the lesser of two evils as the saying goes. In any election, the politician that believes killing children is bad is less evil than the politician who thinks it's no big deal.

Thursday's links and comments

With the political season entering the last month before the election there are a number of articles discussing various facets of the senate, house and gubernatorial races.

All week the media has concentrated on the weird emails and instant messages of former Representative Foley and built a case that his problems will turn the tide for Democrats in November. My own opinion is at most the Foley mess will cost the GOP one congressional seat - the one he just resigned. And even that is not a given. Here are a few articles on the political fall out of Foley's misbehavior:
In an article The Corner of National Review Online titled 20/20 Hindsight, Andy McCarthy says it is a mistake to castigate Speaker Hastert for not overreacting to the original emails which were rather innocuous. I'm not a big fan of Hastert's, but I agree with McCarthy.

The Washington Prowler column of the American Spectator discusses the dangers to the Democrats of overplaying their hand on this situation.

Ann Coulter nails the hypocrisy of the Democrats in her weekly column. Here is a taste:

But now, the same Democrats who are incensed that Bush's National Security Agency was listening in on al-Qaida phone calls are incensed that Republicans were not reading a gay congressman's instant messages.

Let's run this past the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: The suspect sent an inappropriately friendly e-mail to a teenager -- oh also, we think he's gay. Can we spy on his instant messages? On a scale of 1 to 10, what are the odds that any court in the nation would have said: YOU BET! Put a tail on that guy -- and a credit check, too!

When Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee found unprotected e-mails from the Democrats about their plan to oppose Miguel Estrada's judicial nomination because he was Hispanic, Democrats erupted in rage that their e-mails were being read. The Republican staffer responsible was forced to resign.

Neil Brown, Executive Editor of the St. Petersburg Times defends the newspapers decision not to report the original emails last November.

The latest on the Foley mess is this item from the Drudge Report.

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal. According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.

Don't get me wrong Foley is a reprobate and the House of Representatives is better off without him. Having said that, something seemed odd about how and when this story came to light.
Here are some articles not related to Foley:

The Evans-Novak Political Report considers all the races in play and concludes the Republicans will retain control of both houses of congress.

Murtha accused of bribe cover-up. People forget that Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the ABSCAM bribery case. With him getting more prominent in the lose the war circles and seeking to a leadership role in the next Congress his past is getting a fresh look. Republican should fully fund Murtha's challenger.

Do you need a reason to vote in November? The Washington Times provides a major reason to vote this November - Charlie Rangel controlling the tax code.

If Democrats gain 15 seats in the House in the midterm congressional elections, New York Rep. Charlie Rangel will become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, making him the principal gatekeeper for tax legislation in Congress. In various interviews recently, Mr. Rangel has sent different messages. On Sept. 20, he told Bloomberg News that he "cannot think of one" of the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush that merits renewal.

All the talk that Sen George Allen is a racist based on apparently false accusations of comments made 35 years ago seems to be having little lasting affect.

VA-Sen: George Allen Opens Double-Digit Lead

One reason those accusations are not impacting Allen as intended is the people who know him best spoke up.

Local Black Clergy Plan Monthly Jaunts to Help Sen. Allen. Allen “is in a political war right now,” says Ellison, formerly the chief chaplain of the Richmond City Jail Chaplain Corps. “A lot of people think Allen is a racist. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. I’ve known George for 25 years. He’s always been supportive of me, and we’re going to support him.”

Tuesday's links and comments

Hypocrisy, Democrat Style is an article by Ben Stein looking at the false outrage of Democrats.

There are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in our country. Pretty soon there will be one less.

Victoria Sellers, daughter of the late actor Peter Sellers, was arrested Monday in Hollywood on immigration violations and will be deported to Britain, federal authorities said.

Here is some seriously bad news - Beer drinkers beware: 4 percent of U.S. hops crop burns!

Here is a group incapable of shame:

At a pivotal time in the abortion debate, Ms. magazine is releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled "We Had Abortions," accompanied by the names of thousands of women nationwide who signed a petition making that declaration.

Staying on the subject of abortion, here is an article about a woman who regrets the abortion she had and believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Making her comments more newsworthy is the fact that her uncle was Martin Luther King Jr. Her dream is every bit as important today as her uncle's dream was 40 some years ago.

2006 baseball regular season over :-(

Yesterday was the final day of the regular season in Major League Baseball. If opening day is the happiest day of the season (and it is) then for most fans the season ending is one of the saddest days. Eight teams are continuing their season in the playoffs hoping to advance to the World Series. The other 22 teams start the off season assessing what went wrong and deciding how to make sure they are one of the eight teams in next years playoffs. Some teams will decide their general manager made poor talent decisions and fire their GM. Other teams will decide their field manager failed to get the most out of the talent he was given to lead. Because there were so many managerial changes last year, I don't expect very many this year since teams will usually give a guy at least a couple years to turn a team around. Here are the managerial openings I expect to see in the next few days:
Giants: Felipe Alou has already said he is not coming back. Good decision. The Giants are old and not heading in the right direction.
Nationals: Frank Robinson is not returning. Congrats on a great career, enjoy your retirement.
Cubs: Dusty Baker is all but gone.
Marlins: It has been reported that Joe Girardi will be the casualty of a power struggle with the general manager. Many people claim Girardi won a lot more games than he should have with that team. I disagree. Girardi did well but the talent on that team was much better than the "experts" thought.

There could be one or two more, but I think the four listed above will be the only ones. I wanted to include Cleveland's Eric Wedge in the "about to be gone" group. Last years performance probably gives him enough protection from the axe.

As far as the 2007 Indians go, I'm optimistic (as always). This time there are valid reasons for my optimism. First the team finished strong winning their last four games and 8 of their last 10. Beyond that, no team in the American League is truly dominant. Detroit started the season great, but stumbled down the stretch. The Yankees had the best record in the league, but have a lot of question marks going into next season particularly on the pitching staff. The main reason to feel positive about next year is the core group of players. Offensively the team scored 870 runs, good for second most in the American League. The center fielder, Grady Sizemore, led the majors in extra base hits and hustles on every play. The designated hitter, Travis Hafner, led the AL in OPS and is considered one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball. The starting pitching is reasonably solid with quality pitchers in the minors set to compete for back of the rotation spots. Biggest area to shore up is infield defense. The Indians defense committed the second most errors in the AL with 118. Not to pick on Aaron Boone, but his departure will help considerably. Boone and Peralta combined to cover what appeared to be the least amount of range of any left side of an infield. Improve the defense and the pitchers will throw with more confidence.

Here is a little goofy trivia: With the Indians sweeping Tampa Bay to end the season, the Devils Rays became the first teams with a winning record at home and a road record below 25% in over 60 years. Who was the last team with that kind of disparity between home and road record?