McKinney Protects Bush Photo-Op Location in Congress

Drudge has up a link to WXIA-11 Atlanta, that is breaking the US Rep Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), assault on a Capital police officer story (here):

According to sources on Capitol Hill, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) punched a Capitol police officer on Wednesday afternoon after he mistakenly pursued her for failing to pass through a metal detector......................

The officer called out, “Ma’am, Ma’am,” and walked after her in an attempt to stop her. When he caught McKinney, he grabbed her by the arm. Witnesses say McKinney pulled her arm away, and with her cell phone in hand, punched the officer in the chest. McKinney’s office has not responded to requests for comment.

Rumor has it that McKinney confused the Capital police officer with a fellow Rep who was trying to weasel in on her favorite spot on the aisle in Congress and McKinney's emotions simply took over to protect her turf and the great photo-op location to have her picture taken with President Bush. McKinney wrongly thought that the President was addressing Congress today.......................

McKinney does her best impression of a kid hanging over the left field wall at a baseball field attempting to catch a home run ball when it comes to getting her picture taken with President Bush every time the opportunity presents itself. Of course that is sacred ground for Ms. McKinney and she is going to fight for it obviously........................

_______________ Update 10:40PM ___________

McKinney responds per WXIA-11:

"Earlier today I had an unfortunate confrontation with a Capitol Hill Police Officer. It is traditional protocol that Capitol Hill Police Officers secure 535 Members of Congress, including 100 Senators. It is the expectation of most Members of Congress that Capitol Hill Police officers know who they are. I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents. Unfortunately, the Police Officer did not recognize me as a Member of Congress and a confrontation ensued. I did not have on my Congressional pin but showed the Police Officer my Congressional ID.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, that of thousands of others, and I appreciate the work that they do. I deeply regret that the incident occurred. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now."........................

I'm disappointed that she did not explain that it was all about the Congressional aisle turf, the supreme "Bush Photo-Op Location" and that was the reason that she attacked, punched and assaulted a Capital police officer.......................Oh Well, we will see the rest of the story via the court reports...................

_________Update 3/30________________

Via Wizbang:

On a radio morning show on WSB Thursday, one caller called her "the state joke."

McKinney is the state joke of Georgia and it's a peach of a joke unless your a McKinney fan and a Dem...........

_________Update 3/31________________

Per WSBTV-Atlanta:

Capitol Hill police plan to issue an arrest warrant today for Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.). The warrant is related to the incident Wednesday when McKinney allegedly slapped a Capitol Hill police officer.

Charges could range from assault on a police officer, which is a felony carrying a possible five year prison term, to simple assault, which is a misdeamenor.

McKinney it would appear is about face charges for the crime that see committed. Question now is, will it be a felony or misdeamenor..................

___________Update____________________

I missed this from WSBTV-Atlanta yesterday, Mckinney's Offical Statement.

Per her offical statement Mckinney is blaming the Capital Police for her assualt on them because she is black, a woman, and changes hair styles frequently, per McKinney:

Capitol Hill Police are required to recognize, greet, and distinguish Members of Congress as a part of their official role and responsibilities. In fact, according to the US Capitol Police, their mission is to protect and support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities. The US Capitol Police mission statement makes no distinction about selective application of its mission depending upon whether a Member of Congress is black, woman, or has a new hairstyle.

I'm Ready to Pay More for Legal Immigration

I'd consider myself a "huge" proponent of immigration. Most all of us arrived via that migration process at one point in our ancestry timeline and it's what has built this country and what makes this country great. People from all over the world coming to America to seek a better life and on that journey they become part of the stew that makes America what it is, and what a great stew. That said leading into the weekend "Immigration Protests" I was slightly on the side of a more favorable immigration bill. That all changed when I saw hundreds or thousands of people "many by most accounts" being illegal allies.

There is just something inherently wrong when thousands of people here illegally are openly protesting the law they broke. Saying in essence, "yes we got here by breaking the law and we demand rights"? They lost me, lost me totally and I'm now strongly for much tougher immigration enforcement. If you want to come to America or stay in America if your here already illegally, you have to follow the rules. If you don't, then you must leave.

I understand and actually agree that immigration provides favorable labor for immigrants who work low paying jobs on the trip up the ladder. The jobs are good jobs for them that are much more financially rewarding than jobs back home. As they move up to better paying jobs new immigrants replace them and the cycle continues. It has worked that way for English, Irish, German, Italian, Scandinavian, Polish, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Cuban, South American, Vietnamese, Mexican, and all others that way since we became a country. It provides steps to the American Dream while also providing reasonable labor for the services rendered and helps keep America competitive. It servers both the immigrants and the countries needs well. That's fine and good and I understand it all. That said they lost me this past weekend................................

I think David Francis of The Christian Science Monitor got it right when he included the following in his article THIS:

In rich nations, no program of guest or temporary workers has ever led to such workers going home after their time was up. To think they will is "just silly," Camarota says. In Germany, most Turkish "guest" workers have remained. The same is true of South Asians in Britain and North Africans in France.

If a tough law is passed to limit illegals, any plan to send them home would not be enforced, Camarota predicts. Politically powerful business and religious groups would block such action. Making matters more difficult, illegals bear some 380,000 children a year. These babies become US citizens automatically.

The answer is not to simply grant amnesty to those here illegally. Regan did that in 1986 and here we are twenty years later starting all over on the same problem at the beginning. The answer is to have a legal process to get into America and once you do then you have a fast track to staying as a citizen. To think that illegals will not simply melt into the landscape as they have year after year is foolishness. We need the south border secured and the fence must go up. Only people who go through the legal process to get in, should get in, period.

I'm ok with paying $2 for tomatoes instead of $1, $5 for chicken at the grocery store instead of $4. I'm ok with paying $75 for dinner out with my wife instead of $65. I'm ok with paying $3,500 for a new roof instead of $3,000, if cheaper illegal labor is removed. See I don't value cheaper cost based on cheaper labor enough to think it's ok for that labor to be here illegally. I'm willing to pay higher prices to prevent people from being here illegally.

I'm very much in favor of immigration and what it provides the immigrants and the country. That said, illegal immigration cheapens the American dream and all Americans who immigrated to America the right way and legally. It also is an immigration cycle that starts with and is all about breaking the laws of America instead of obeying the law of the land and respecting it. A bad start and bad program I say............................

Immigration Policy & Immigration Polls

What do Americans think about the current "Immigration Issue"? Survey says per AP:

Most people in the United States think illegal immigration is a serious problem. A solid majority oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become legal workers or citizens.....................59 percent say they oppose allowing illegal immigrants to apply for legal, temporary-worker status..........More than six in 10, 62 percent, say they oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens....................Three-fourths say the United States is not doing enough along its borders to keep illegal immigrants out......................

Well the Senate is not moving in the same direction of the polls or the American people per the AP:

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for immigrants.........................

Should be an interesting 2006 election cycle I'd say and this will be an interesting issue.............................
__________ Update _________________________________________________________________

Thomas Sowell is not in favor of the Bush & Dem Senate deal:

Do American citizens go around carrying documents with them when they work or apply for work? Most Americans are undocumented workers but they are not illegal immigrants. There is a difference.

The Bush administration is pushing a program to legalize "guest workers." But what is a guest? Someone you have invited. People who force their way into your home without your permission are called gate crashers.

An endorsement of the deal per Mort Kondracke:

The most sensible proposal to me is the comprehensive bill sponsored by Sens. McCain and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), which involves enhanced border security, tighter controls on employment of illegal immigrants, a worker permit program and a system that allows many of the 12 million illegals now in the country to earn their way toward citizenship...............A useful add-on to the comprehensive approach will be introduced this week by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to speed up the process of moving legal green-card holders toward citizenship by offering them scholarships worth $500 to learn English and by shortening the qualification time for citizenship from five years to four for those who are fluent.

Interesting indeed................................

A Leprechaun Spotted in Mobile AL - Video

There has been a Leprechaun spotted in Mobile, Alabama. See the video here.

My goodness, a Leprechaun in a tree in Mobile, Alabama, a wee little guy out for everyone to see...........................

Jo Mannies Reports a Drunk Accident on Her Blog

Jo Mannies of the St. Louis Post Dispatch put this offering up on her Political Fix blog this evening, posted in it's entirety below (6:51 PM):

Loudon in auto accident during campaign swing
State Sen. John Loudon, R-Wildwood, was nursing a bump on his head Friday after a drunken driver hit his car while he was campaigning for state auditor Thursday night in Perryville, Mo.

Loudon was riding in a car owned and driven by David Welch, St. Louis County’s former GOP elections director. Loudon said they were in downtown Perryville at an intersection when “we were hit head-on.'’

Loudon said he suffered his head bump because he was looking down and typing on his Blackberry at the time.

The driver of the other car ran off, Loudon said.

After determining that Welch was OK, although shaken, Loudon said he walked the remaining block to the location of the GOP Lincoln Day event, where he was to speak.

Loudon said he felt particularly bad about the damage to Welch’s car, but he was grateful that neither of them suffered any serious injuries. “It could have been a lot worse,'’ he said.

My question and other's is how does Mannies know that the person who hit Loudon & Welch was "drunk"? In the post Mannies states that the drunken driver "ran off"..................So if he ran off how do you know he was drunk?

This instinctively seem like a strange post and story to me. If the driver was in fact drunk then provide the details. If the driver that hit Loudon & Welch was not apprehended why would it be reported that the person was drunk?

I think there maybe more to this post than we know currently. Stay tuned.................................

______________________________________________________________________________

Update: Mannies updated the post.................it now has the info needed to make sense and it just looks like an intoxicated woman hit them.............No story based on the missing info now part of the updated post...............................

ESPN Cowherd Lifts Bloggers Work

There is a little tussle going on between bloggers and ESPN's Colin Cowherd over "plagiarism". Seems that Cowherd got an email of a post by bloggers at M-Zone that was a satire based post on Vince Young's Wonderlic Test. Cowherd used it with out crediting the M-Zone:

Yesterday, March 22nd, ESPN Radio hack, uh, host, Colin Cowherd, did one of our most popular bits on the air verbatim, the M Zone Wonderlic Test, without giving the M Zone any credit whatsoever............................

Cowherd responded to the plagiarism charge leveled by M Zone:

WE WERE SENT IT....WE HAD NO IDEA..BUT THE INCESSANT WHINING...MEANS I WON'T GIVE YOU CREDIT NOW..GET OVER IT
CC..........................

Interesting, seems that there maybe a lack of journalistic standard here. Bloggers are not journalist so their original material is fair game to lift would seem to be the message. Seems to me if a person publishes material on a blog and it's original content, if you use it and republish or use it then you should give credit. Refusing to give M Zone credit after they brought it to Cowherd's attention, is very bogus and well below the belt..................................Cowherd should bring the M Zone guys on the air and clear the thing up. That would fix it I'd say.............................

The M Zone spoof in question was pretty funny but they did cross the line in this FSU alum's mind when they went after Bobby. Here is their play on Saint Bobby:

8. If the world's largest sequoia tree is almost 3,000 years old and the earth's crust is 5 billion years old, how old is Bobby Bowden if he started coaching before either?

Well the winningist division I College Football Coach of All Time (359) Bobby Bowden is 76, and he is younger than the second winningist coach on that list (354) JoePa who is 79. I like JoePa and he and Bobby are the class of the industry regardless of their age. Last I checked, over the past 25 years FSU has two National Football Championships and Michigan has one split title (97' AP Michigan - Coaches Nebraska). The previous title for Michigan was 1948. Bobby was 18 years old and JoPa was 21 years old................................By the way, both and certainly Bobby look and act younger than "sour puss" Lloyed Carr..................Carr has that constant look like he drank a big gulp of vinegar................

I have a new addition to the M Zone Woderlic Test questions and not surprisingly it's a Michigan related question:

15) True or False, the stadium nickname the "Big House" gives the University of Michigan an advantage over it's opponents:

True: since "Big House" is an accepted term used for a prison, the University of Michigan players are not required to wear their ankle bracelets required by their sentencing and probation guidelines when at the Big House, therefore they have more maneuverability and less physical restrictions.

False: since the gates are open allowing free departure and there is no roof enclosing the structure, the terms of sentencing & probation apply and the Michigan players must wear their ankle bracelets while present at the Big House. No amount of NCAA violating Michigan booster cash is enough to get those conditions changed.

That said, I hope the guys at M Zone get the credit that Cowherd should give them.................................

Child Beaten Up At Baby Sitting Friends Instructions

Choose your babysitter carefully……………This is a disturbing story from Killeen Texas about a couple of really bad baby sitters and supposed friends, per the AP:

____________________________________________________________________________

A Fort Hood soldier and his wife have been accused of injury to a child for allegedly forcing their 3-year-old daughter to beat up an older boy as they videotaped it, Killeen police said………………………

The fight allegedly occurred Saturday while the couple babysat for the 5-year-old son of a friend, police said. When the boy's mother arrived to pick him up, she turned on the couple's video camera, which had previously been used to tape the children playing.

Police said the tape shows the soldier commanding his daughter to knock the victim down, kick him and hit him in the face. The girl follows her father's instructions as the boy cries and pleads for her to stop, police said.

__________________________________________________________________________________

It’s bad enough for an adult to instigate such a thing but it’s even more sinister when the child that was beaten-up was left in the care of these people and was the child of a “friend”…………….Sick………………….

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader's Lie Caught on Tape

Minnesota’s Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson (D) has been caught on tape in an outright lie, per the AP:


_______________________________________________________________________

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson was recorded assuring a group of pastors that several state Supreme Court justices had told him they would not legalize gay marriage…….
Speaking in January to a group of rural pastors, Johnson said he had spoken with at least three current or former Supreme Court justices, who told him the high court would never overturn the state's Defense of Marriage law. In other words, a state law banning same-sex marriage was safe, so why amend the constitution?................
Supreme Court Justice Russell Anderson, who called a news conference to deny that any justices spoke with Johnson about the issue. Anderson criticized the senator for "attacks on the integrity of court members and this institution."………………

_______________________________________________________________________
Johnson is admitting that what he told the group of pastors is not true but is using descriptions like “sanding off the truth” and “embellishing” not telling a lie.

Sorry Senator Johnson, but you told an outright lie and it was taped. The voters of Minnesota I’m sure will consider that going forward on whether your being straight with them on the Matters of State.

There is a web-site that has been established to track Johnson and his dealings with this issue: sandingoffthetruth.com
The Republican Party of Minnesota launched the web-site and state that Johnson has a “pattern of deception”……………………………..

A politician caught on tape telling a lie is pretty damaging. When it’s the Majority Leader it’s equally damaging to their party. Getting caught in such a lie is pretty negative but could the audience have been any worse? A group of “rural pastors” and the politician himself is a pastor…………………I don’t know that it could be a much worse scenario……………………

Democrat Tent is Smaller No Room for Moderates

An interesting post by Gene Koprowski on the Netroots effect on elections and particularly on candidates running as democrats who are moderate. The Kos Kids got to work on a democrat who dared be moderate and who supported Bush. He won his general election in 2004 by a 59% so he was pretty solid with his constituents and was a popular choice. Then the hard left netroots got started:

He started to alienate national liberals, however, who started to fund and back a primary challenge against him, online.
Though he was a Democrat, he was a moderate one, and he received support from Republicans, hoping to rebuff the more liberal Democrats who wanted Cuellar out. When President Bush entered the House chamber for the State of the Union address earlier this year, he was pictured hugging Cuellar. That started a massive online movement to defeat Cuellar. Bloggers Markos "Kos" Moulitsas and Duncan "Atrios" Black led the campaign. Other bloggers joined in, and US$500,000 was raised to defeat Cueller.

In the March 7th primary, Cuellar won re-election, but with just 53 percent of the vote, not much of a margin for an incumbent politician. His opponent, Ciro Rodriguez, netted 41 percent of a vote, and another challenger grabbed six percent. Rodriguez was the pol whom Ceullar defeated, for the first time, in 2004 by just a handful of votes.

Kos and the hard left did not get Cueller's scalp but the near call was a moral victory for the hard left:

Kos, of "Daily Kos" fame, is gleeful about his newfound influence. "So we didn't kill off Cuellar," he wrote in a blog entry. "But we gave him a whooping where none was expected and made him sweat. That's the reason why Lieberman is sweating in Connecticut."

Liberal online bloggers are waging another "netroots" challenge against another centrist Democrat, Joe Lieberman, the former nominee for vice president of the U.S.

Expect more of this in the future -- hard core activists, from around the country, linked in virtual communities, like blogs or wikis, via the Web, banding together to try to take down leaders of temporal communities, far from where they reside. It's the ultimate in digital democratization.

Koprowski is dead on, and there is no room for a moderate let alone a conservative democrat in the democratic party any longer. It's a party bought by MoveOn and the tent only has seats for those who sit on the extreme left side of the smaller tent....................

On a related local STL level, this editoral by the Post Dispatch shows just how of touch that gang are:

Voters in the 2nd district, in Lincoln and western St. Charles counties, tend to be conservative and Republican. But the Republican cuts to social programs, particular Medicaid, are causing a backlash. Gov. Blunt is not campaigning for Mr. Rupp. "I just wanted to run on my own," Mr. Rupp explained.

In the special election, Democrat Wayne J. Henke's views, which more closely reflect the compassionate conservatism of the district, make him the clear choice.

As I stated, the editorial team at the Post Dispatch are asleep at the wheel as usual and blather on about things that they have no understanding about, No suprise there...................The democrat party has moved hard left and there is no room for a moderate let alone a compassionate conservative. Do those guys at the Post Dispatch really get paid for those editorials?

VP Cheney's Tour Rider Hotel Set-Up

The smoking gun has a post up that VP Dick Cheney's standard "tour" rider for hotel stays. There are a couple items that will have the left wing nuts howling but as usual there is nothing there. Here are a couple items that will have the moonbats circling fast and hard in their flight patterns to the tunes of a "hippy drum circle":

* All lights on and the temperature set at 68 degrees.

The left will pour over that and claim he is irresponsible for "wasting energy". It's a move to boost Halliburton profit don't you know........................

* All TV's tuned to FOX.

The he is blind because he won't listen to the liberal whackos that make up the product the MSM peddled will be screamed...............The post below that reveals the latest example of liberal bias in the MSM pretty much frames that debate and ends it.................

What I did find interesting is Cheney's newspaper selection: New York Times, USA Today, WSJ, and the Local Paper. Seems like a very balanced offering of news to me. Noticeably missing was the Washington Post. Can't make WaPo happy, sounds like a big snub for an MSM newspaper that thinks they hang the news on everything news in DC..........

Lets see who attempts to make news out of this no-news revelation.........

Political Bias of MSM Just Keeps Shining Through

Per Drudge, ABC news executive John Green, gets busted on his Bush Bias:

A top producer at ABC NEWS declared "Bush makes me sick" in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT. John Green, currently executive producer of the weekend edition of GOOD MORNING AMERICA, unloaded on the president in an ABC company email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.

Here is what Green said in his email: "If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time, I'm going to puke," Green complained.

Sounds like a real biased news executive to me. The astounding thing is not that he is biased but rather the defense that ABC threw in the wind in an attempt to cover the bias. An un-named friend of Green's at ABC had this to say:

"John feels so badly about this email. He is a straight shooter and great producer who is always fair. That said, he deeply regrets the sentiment expressed in the email and the embarrassment it causes ABC News."

Does ABC and this person really think the public is that stupid? We have item after item day after day that shows the liberal bias of the MSM. Then in a case like this where they are cold-busted they are still tossing that "we're liberal but we are fair" line..........................Please........................

The New Media provides a valid option so we don't have to wade through the nauseating liberal veil used by the MSM in their coverage of the news. MSM organizations that refuse to address and correct the problem will continue their deep and fast downward market spiral. Denial of the issue will only speed things up...........................

Post Dispatch Gets Linked by Drudge Report

The St. Louis Post Dispatch got linked today by the "Biggest" news website Drudge. The link is to the story about a local AM DJ Dave Lenihan who got fired for an on-air racial slur directed at Secretary of State Condi Rice.

I visit Drudge pretty much every day and don't ever recall the Post's online website being linked. Their visitor numbers are going to go through the roof today I'm sure. That should provide the Post Dispatch with a live example of the power of the new media by way of the Drudge visitors and all the other links from other bloggers who saw the story on Drudge and then linked to the Post as well. The Post has a pretty decent initial offering on their blog section but like the rest of the paper it continues the left of center slat that defines the legacy offering that the Post produces in a paper format.

Hopefully as the Post is exposed to the fact that they are but a small wheel in the news options and sources for those in STL, the paper will work much harder to become a more balanced product and their coverage of political related news will improve.

Should be a record day for the Post's online site.....................

Yard Obsession Drives Man to Kill Teenager

I think every neighborhood has that person who is obsessed with their yard. You know the type of which I speak, they spend hours upon hours mowing, trimming, edging, and sometimes to get detailed precession, they even go to the extreme of using hand held scissors to trim grass to the “perfect” height. We have a couple of folks in our general neighborhood that come close to such “yard obsession”.

Gardening is a healthy hobby and everyone appreciates a nice and appealing yard. That said some people take the entire matter a little too seriously. Fox has an unbelievable story up about just such a person, and how his obsession over the yard drove him to kill. Per Fox:

A man who neighbors say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn was charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard…….

Larry Mugrage, whose family lived next door, was shot in the chest with a shotgun. The high school freshman was pronounced dead at a hospital………………………

Gardening ceases to be a healthy hobby obviously, when it causes someone to become so obsessed and so protective that they would shoot a kid for walking on the grass……….Sounds like it might be time for lots of interventions in lots of neighborhoods for those suffering from “yard obsession”…..

Chef In Charge of His Decision to Quit South Park?

Isaac Hayes has quit South Park reportedly over the cartoons lampooning of Scientology, which Hayes is a member of. However per Fox & Roger Friedman, someone maybe controlling Hayes' decision here:

Isaac Hayes did not quit "South Park." My sources say that someone quit it for him. I can tell you that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. At the time it was said that he was hospitalized and suffering from exhaustion.

If the church is having undo influence over Hayes' decision to leave the show while in the reported medical condition, it's not hard to see a very ripe and hilarious new episode coming soon from South Park. Maybe titled "Chef & His Chocolate Salty Balls get Abducted by Tom, John, and the Church"....................Funnier than fiction................

NYT Get's It Wrong Again on Abu Graib - A MSM Tradition

More news that you would think was accurate if you only got your news from the Post and the MSM via Capain Q:

The New York Times issued a correction today about their blockbuster story about the man they claimed was the subject of the infamous Abu Ghraib photo, wearing a poncho and connected to wires. The Times had reported that Ali Shalal Qaissi was the victim of American abuse and ran a lengthy profile about his efforts to ensure that Americans would no longer torture innocent Iraqis. Well, Qaissi isn't quite that innocent -- he lied about his identity as the man in the picture (see update)................

Wrong again, and again, and again, and again......Does not the whole story now have the taint of questions? This is the liberal MSM jumping out of their shoes for political reasons and saying the hell to facts. A factual void content is not news it is the state of the MSM however......................

Economy & Market - On Fire

In case you missed it this St. Patrick's day, the Dow ended up on a FIVE YEAR HIGH, per Fox:

Wall Street sees bulls as Dow Jones industrial average again ends at highest level since 2001

The economy is doing very well indeed.........................................................

2006 a Face-Off Between Two Failed Parties?

An interesting article from the LA Weekly and Marc Cooper, reporting on what Cooper calls “Fear and loathing set in among Republican foot soldiers”:

But listening carefully to the handful of serious pols present — those more interested in securing the current conservative majority than in mindlessly pandering to the paying guests — I heard a radically different message seeping out. A sense of fear and loathing seems to be creeping in among those Republicans who prefer to think in cool, strategic terms rather than in purely ideological ones. Maybe even a sense of foreboding that among the many lesser accomplishments of the Bush administration — creating the morass in Iraq, the racking up of record deficits, the mucking about in corruption scandals — we will soon be able to add one more Mission Accomplished: the definitive scuttling of the 1994 Gingrich Revolution. The overturning of Republican rule, and maybe as soon as this November.

Cooper was attending the annual David Horowitz hosted Restoration Weekend. He provides quotes from some of the speakers that I think have merit and that Republicans should spend some time considering. I don’t know if I agree that things are as dark as Cooper seems to retell at times in his article, but there are real issues out there for Republicans and dealing with them correctly will be critical.

Pat Toomey per Cooper:

Some of the darkest vibes were carried by Pat Toomey, a former Pennsylvania congressman………. Toomey had recently commissioned a poll in the 20 most vulnerable Republican congressional districts. And the results, he said, were alarming. By a margin of 62 percent to 29 percent, the respondents said the country was “on the wrong track.” The Democrats topped Republicans by a margin of 42 percent to 36 percent in overall favorability ratings. President Bush scored a rating of 40 percent favorable to 52 percent unfavorable. Congress fared worse, at 35 percent favorable to 45 percent unfavorable……………….. “We have to acknowledge we have a president who is not popular,” Toomey added. And this was said a few days before the new CBS poll placed Bush’s popularity at an all-time low of 34 percent. “We also have a war that is not popular, and there is also that whiff of corruption.”

A Toomey sponsored poll showing those results are not good, and because it is a Republican sponsored poll you can’t shrug the results off as resulting from a biased MSM.

John Andrews per Cooper:

“I feel the Republican Party in my state and nationally is a party that has lost its way. Colorado is purple and in danger of turning blue,” he said. “It could be the harbinger for a very stormy 2006.” And unless the party starts offering up a reason to vote Republican this fall, “It’s going to be a very grim year for us.”………….

Missouri’s own Lt. Governor Pete Kinder per Cooper:

Like some of the other analysts, he was mostly worried about a low Republican turnout this fall — something that pollsters call the “intensity gap.” Democrats may now be more motivated to vote than Republicans. Citing a growing concern over spending, special-interest earmarks on legislation, and the Abramoff-like corruption scandals, Kinder said, “The demoralization of the party is real. I hear it everywhere.”……………………..

Kinder went on and took Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo to task – hard:

Tancredo, who was one of the few elected officials to stand with the Minutemen, has repeatedly attacked Bush for proposing a guest-worker program and has opened up a visible rift inside the GOP………… But Kinder scoffed at Tancredo as someone “who will take us back to minority status by replicating nationally what happened in California,” referring to Pete Wilson’s ill-fated support for Proposition 187. “I’m warning you,” Kinder told the crowd, continuing his thrashing of Tancredo. “His tone is going to turn a lot of people off.”

Kinder made me proud by doing the following per Cooper:

“I want to make sure you get it right on Tancredo,” he told me. “So write this down as a direct quote from me: ‘Reaganism was sunny, optimistic, confident and forward-looking. Tancredo is angry and defensive. The difference couldn’t be clearer. If we go down that latter path, we lose.”………..

Kinder is the man……………….Here is what I think and you can directly quote me………Strong……

John Shadegg per Cooper:

“We’re literally whistling by the graveyard, facing the stiffest of headwinds,” Shadegg said, referring to the Abramoff scandal……………… “I believe these scandals are probably the end of the 1994 revolution,”………….. Congress does two things well: overreacting and doing nothing……….

Those two things do seem to be areas that Congress has historically performed best at, overreacting and doing squat……….

I also like this line by Cooper:

Other panels, on the future of the Democratic Party — including one I participated in as a speaker — found little to be optimistic about. The face-off in 2006 seems to be a confrontation between two failed parties, and the tension will be generated by seeing which one fails more. ……………..

It’s sad but I think Cooper’s observation has some real truth to it, and wise insight I think as to how the 2006 election is going to unfold. The Dems who stand for nothing, can’t lead and were kicked out of power 10 years ago, and the Republicans who year after year seem to have been in an evolution cycle that is giving them more and more of some traits of the party they replaced………………………….

I think the general sentiment of the average moderate voter is neither party is an appealing choice. It will come down to picking the best of the worst for many voters. Voter turn-out will probably be very low given many voters will be simply disgusted with politics in general. There probably has not been a better time in years for a qualified third party candidate to run considering the current sentiment of many voters from both parties to just “throw all the bums out”…………………….

Force Feeding Torture at GITMO

The drum beat from the left over torture claims has reached a new low in my opinion. Per the BBC:

More than 250 medical experts have signed a letter condemning the US for force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The experts, from seven nations, said physicians at the prison had to respect inmates' right to refuse treatment……..

But Dr Nicholl said that "horrible as it may sound" the doctor had to conform to the wishes of hunger strikers, even if it led to their deaths………………….

So add to the list of atrocities and torture at GITMO, force feeding people who are trying to kill themselves via hunger strikes……………………………How insane has this debate become…………………………………..

Reuters Photo Crops Their Politics - Retire Cheney Frame

Drudge has a post up where Reuters is busted hard on a Photo Crop.

Zero chance that the editor of the post did not realize and understand that they cropped the picture so that it showed "Retire" behind the picture of Cheney...............The MSM, the gift that keeps giving a biased and crappy product.....................................

Dubai Stops Port Deal

Dubai has pulled out of the Port Deal per the AP:

Bowing to ferocious opposition in Congress, a Dubai-owned company signaled surrender Thursday in its quest to take over operations at U.S. ports. "DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations ... to a United States entity," the firm's top executive, H. Edward Bilkey, said in an announcement that capped weeks of controversy...............

On face value I understand the concerns over the Port Deal, but I think it's wrong. UAE is a good ally in the Middle East and the US would control all security over ports just like it does now. Telling a strong ally that they are not worthy to own a company because they are Arabs is wrong and racist I say. The 2006 election drove this deal and I understand that, but it does not make it right..........................................It is wrong...............

This decision will hurt us in the region and in the GWOT. Here is the early reaction from the UAE:

Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports...................A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal. “They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said..............

I don't blame them and I'd do the same thing.....................................This is a very bad move by both parties and our country.....................We need to be making allies in the region, not insulting those we have..............

I think this could be a major factor in the 2006 election but I'm not sure exactly how it will play out. Conventional wisdom would say that those who opposed the deal will be viewed favorably on defense. I'm not so sure about that. I think it might well be that they will be ultimately viewed as very short sighted when it comes to comprehension and understanding the complexity of the GWOT, and the damage that this will end up doing.....................I don't know if I have ever seen a whore-out by both parties over public opinion like we have seen on the Port Deal................

Air America Going Off the Air in New York?

As the Sinatra song went: if I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere………………Well it looks like a slightly different version for Air America per the NY Post:

AIR America is close to losing its New York flagship station - knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on their second anniversary………………….Air America's options for a new home are not promising. All of the city's other strong-signal stations are spoken for, leaving only weak-signal "fringe" stations that do not cover the entire city and suburbs.

If Air America can’t make it in New York City, then I seriously doubt that they have a viable product and can make it anywhere……………………………………….

Gitmo is Club Med Compared to Home - Say Detainees

Terrorist say Gitmo is better than home, full residency on the American homeland would be better, per the AP:

Fearing militants or even their own governments, some prisoners at Guantanamo Bay from China, Saudi Arabia and other nations do not want to go home, according to transcripts of hearings at the U.S. prison in Cuba.......................

Club Gitmo is looking pretty good now that we are getting all the details..........................Not what those wanting to discredit Gitmo wanted but those are the facts coming out.........................Would you rather be in Club Gitmo or China:

"If I am sent back to China, they will torture me really bad," said the man, whose name did not appear in the transcript. "They will use dogs. They will pull out my nails." ........................................Two of the Uighurs are appealing a federal judge's rejection of their request to be released in the United States, where a family in the Washington suburbs has offered to take them in..............................

Huh, no nails being pulled off or dogs biting like the MSM has promoted.....................MSM call your office we have a "Really Big Credibility Problem".............no it's worse that it was before, trust me, call now and take the hunter orange off...........................................

Duke vs. North Carolina - That's College Basketball Baby.......

I'm watching the Duke vs. UNC game this evening. Duke is still #1 (temporarily right now) because my FSU Noles took them out this past week. UNC is #15, and has a young but very talented team (looking scary though - might have a bracket runner). As much as I enjoy beating the snot out of Duke & UNC year in and year out in football, I hate getting a win here and there in basketball against them while losing most. That said, there is no better game and match-up to show case what college basketball is all about than Duke vs. UNC. It is year in and year out the Super Bowl of College Basketball.

I know the folks at Kentucky, UCLA, Indiana, UConn, Louisville, & Arizona will take exception to not being part of the "magic match-up" but purist who are objective will agree with me. If I had to take someone from another country who did not understand the phenomenon that takes over this country each March, making non-betters fill out a bet bracket and gives us "March Madness", I'd take them to a Duke vs. UNC game, and say: get it? I think they would say "yes".....................................

If you have a doubt watch the instant classic that just ended at 10:11 CST this evening with UNC winning @ Duke: 83-76............That's what College Basketball is all about...........................................

---------------Update 3/4-----------------------------------

To totally prove but also put a scare in you on my point see this blog RainbowChicken:

As a further bit of information, I come from a place where college basketball is practically a religion - North Carolina. There are four Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schools in NC: UNC, Wake Forest, NC State & Dook... I mean Duke, & the ACC always has lots of teams in the top 25. To give you an idea of just *how* nuts it is where I'm from, in 9th grade, we had to memorize all the coaches of the ACC basketball teams.

Well Rainbow Chicken, it's probably not a good idea to require kids to memorize all the coaches of the ACC from a grading perspective..............sounds like we need a law for separation of ACC Basketball Religion and the government of the State of North Carolina................

IL Governor & Dem Machine Becoming Damaged Goods After Latest Political Stumble

Things continue to go badly for IL Governor (Dem) Rob Blagojevich and the IL Dem Machine. He recently appointed an official of the Nation of Islam to the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes. Shortly after arriving Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad an official with the Nation of Islam invited fellow commission members to a speech given my Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan this past Sunday. Per the AP:

Blagojevich appointed Muhammad to the commission in August, but she drew no public attention until she invited other commissioners to a Farrakhan speech last month. Some commissioners began complaining of her presence on the panel, and the criticism increased after Farrakhan's speech Sunday included references to "Hollywood Jews" promoting homosexuality and "other filth.". The Democratic governor, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, said he did not realize he had appointed a Nation of Islam official until learning about it from news reports.......................

After the Farrakhan hate speech, four members of the commission have resigned in protest per the AP:

Four Jewish members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes resigned this week rather than serve alongside an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for his disparaging remarks about Jews, whites and gays.

This the latest serious misstep for the IL Governor in high profile matters. Early last month Blagojevich appeared on the Daily Show with John Stewart and had not idea what the show was all about and a comedy. Things went badly for Blagojevich on the show and it has people in both parties shacking their head:

People on both sides of the question are shaking their heads over the Blagojevich administration's failure to anticipate the problem. Some likened it to Blagojevich's statement last month that he had no idea "The Daily Show" was a comedy when he sat down for an interview that ended up mocking him.

The resolution status on this matter and Blogojevich’s response as to whether Muhammad should resign as most are calling for, per the AP:

But he did say Muhammad should stay on the commission so long as she supports its goals of fighting discrimination. “I strongly disagree with the things Minister Farrakhan said. They’re wrong and hateful and they’re harmful,” Blagojevich said. “I also oppose guilt by association. Ms. Muhammad didn’t say those things.”………..

Governor, hint-hint, this is not the Daily Show with John Stewart, it’s the real world. Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad is an official of the Nation of Islam. As an official she is a supporter of everything that Farrakhan states unless she publicly denounces it. Even so she is still an official which is still very concerning even if she publicly denounces the statements……..

Early this week a member of the IL Dem Machine Barack Obama Senator D-IL came to STL for a Claire McCaskill fundraiser, and joked about changing Missouri's red state status to a blue one matching IL, per Jo Mannies of the Post Dispatch:

“Missouri is tough state,'’ Obama said, adding with a chuckle, “Illinois used to be that way too, but we fixed it.”

Yes sir, it sure looks like they have fixed things up well over in Illinois Senator, but I doubt that type of fixing will play too well in Missouri or many other states..............Claire McCaskill would probably be wise to distance herself from the Illinois Democrat Machine and be much more selective in who she has raising money on her behalf and promoting her candidacy..............................

Air America Cleared for a Crash Ending?

Business 101: A product has to be appealing to sell....................

Via Radio Equalizer the story of a failed product, Air America

Air America is failing and is headed out of business................................No surprise.........

Chinese Baseball Team Coached by Americans in WBC

I just surfed over and saw the World Baseball Classic and the Korean team is pounding the Chinese team 7-0 in the sixth. The strange thing is that the Chinese are being coached by Americans. Per Ashahi:

The only guys connected to this team with any kind of major-league pedigree are American manager Jimmy Lefebvre and pitching coach Bruce Hurst. Needless to say, China is a definite long shot to advance beyond the Pool A games in Tokyo......................

The team has been culled from the best players in the six-team China Baseball League that plays 30 regular-season games on weekends only, a far cry from the 162-game MLB season.............................

Lefebvre coached in Japan which is where the WBC is being played tonight:

Lefebvre, a former National League Rookie of the Year who played four seasons in Japan with the Lotte Orions in the 1970s before going on to manage the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, has been in China with Hurst for the past three years to prepare the Chinese team for the 2008 Olympic Games, which they will host....................

Does anyone else find it a bit strange that China has mercenary American coach?

Ruth Ginsburg Sleeping Through It

Unless Ruth Bader Ginsburg suffers from narcolepsy and is getting treatment for that, sounds like she should retire per World Net Daily:

According to the Associated Press, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg snoozed during oral arguments today over political redistricting in Texas. The subject matter was extremely technical," notes AP writer Gina Holland, "and near the end of the argument Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozed in her chair...........

From discredited and fool reporter Dana Milbanks (not reported to be dressed in hunter orange):

At first, she appeared to be reading something in her lap. But after a while, it became clear: Ginsburg was napping on the bench. By Bloomberg News's reckoning -- not denied by a court spokeswoman -- Ginsburg's snooze lasted a quarter of an hour.................

Time to retire Justice Ginsburg..............When you sleep through hearings it is apparent that you do not have the ability to perform your function as required.........

Clinton Go-To UAE Advisor on Port Deal

The Financial Times is reporting HERE that Bill Clinton is helping the UAE navigate the storm on the port deal:

Bill Clinton, former US president, advised top officials from Dubai two weeks ago on how to address growing US concerns over the acquisition of five US container terminals by DP World. It came even as his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, was leading efforts to derail the deal. Mr Clinton, who this week called the United Arab Emirates a “good ally to America”, advised Dubai’s leaders to propose a 45-day delay to allow for an intensive investigation of the acquisition, according to his spokesman.

Former President Clinton has deep roots with Dubai:
Mr Clinton’s contact with Dubai on the issue underscores the relationship he has developed with the United Arab Emirates since leaving office. In 2002, he was paid $300,000 (€252,000) to address a summit in Dubai.

So, Clinton is the go to guy to save the UAE Dubai Port deal from a consultant perspective while stuffing lots of cash in his pockets and his wife is leading the charge against the deal.....................Can you say MAJOR CONFLICT brewing..............