Great Article by Mark America!!!
Do You Fear Obama?
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
National Review's Demise
This is a great article I missed back in December that talks about the end of one of my all time favorite magazines.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/23/inside-game/
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/23/inside-game/
Monday, April 2, 2012
Conservatives with Newt: November 7, 2012: Time for a Conservative Party
Conservatives with Newt: November 7, 2012: Time for a Conservative Party: If the 2012 GOP presidential primaries were a football game, the halftime show would have just ended. Yet the Republican Party establishment...
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Good weapon advice
James,
its time for like minded people to take off the blinders and use logic and intelligence in their planning. Firearms will play a major part in survival of our people and nation.
This role will be larger than anyone cares to admit. Because of this reliance, our weapons will need to be the most dependable guns we can acquire.
My experience goes through 30+ years of gunsmithing, military service during the Reagan years, and contractor with a notorious private security firm in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During these years, I have learned a lot about the serviceability of weapons in the field.
The most distressing news I have to share with your readers is the AR/M4 type weapons are too maintenance reliant compared to other available weapons. Yes they are accurate,easy to carry and easy to use. But they are weak. If the stock tube(receiver extension) is damaged in any way, the weapon is rendered useless.
The following list of weapons are ones that I have seen time and again stand up to excess abuse and still perform under battlefield condition. (Please keep in mind only some of these weapons are available to civilians.):
Remington 870
Remington 24
Glock 17 and 19
M240 series
SIG 500 series
AK type weapons
Croatian made sidearms (Springfield XD series)
Browning Hi-Power
G36 series rifles
SIG pistols - P226,228,229
M203
M2 .50 caliber
The following list are weapons which I have seen fail numerous time under battlefield conditions:
M16A1, M16A2, M4
SR25 (Stoner AR-10)
MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher
M60 LMG
M9 Beretta
With all of this in mind, its time for people to realize that unless they are a trained gunsmith and have excess parts available, then they will be out of luck when stuff hits the fan.
For those civilians who can accept advice, buy either a Glock or an XD, a Remington 870, a Remington 700,and a good quality AK. And of course buy plenty of magazines and ammunition for them. You won't be disappointed. Learn how to use them and take care of them. Not enough can be said for the need for proper maintenance. Take care of them and they will work when you need them. - Casey B.
its time for like minded people to take off the blinders and use logic and intelligence in their planning. Firearms will play a major part in survival of our people and nation.
This role will be larger than anyone cares to admit. Because of this reliance, our weapons will need to be the most dependable guns we can acquire.
My experience goes through 30+ years of gunsmithing, military service during the Reagan years, and contractor with a notorious private security firm in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During these years, I have learned a lot about the serviceability of weapons in the field.
The most distressing news I have to share with your readers is the AR/M4 type weapons are too maintenance reliant compared to other available weapons. Yes they are accurate,easy to carry and easy to use. But they are weak. If the stock tube(receiver extension) is damaged in any way, the weapon is rendered useless.
The following list of weapons are ones that I have seen time and again stand up to excess abuse and still perform under battlefield condition. (Please keep in mind only some of these weapons are available to civilians.):
Remington 870
Remington 24
Glock 17 and 19
M240 series
SIG 500 series
AK type weapons
Croatian made sidearms (Springfield XD series)
Browning Hi-Power
G36 series rifles
SIG pistols - P226,228,229
M203
M2 .50 caliber
The following list are weapons which I have seen fail numerous time under battlefield conditions:
M16A1, M16A2, M4
SR25 (Stoner AR-10)
MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher
M60 LMG
M9 Beretta
With all of this in mind, its time for people to realize that unless they are a trained gunsmith and have excess parts available, then they will be out of luck when stuff hits the fan.
For those civilians who can accept advice, buy either a Glock or an XD, a Remington 870, a Remington 700,and a good quality AK. And of course buy plenty of magazines and ammunition for them. You won't be disappointed. Learn how to use them and take care of them. Not enough can be said for the need for proper maintenance. Take care of them and they will work when you need them. - Casey B.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Our Debt Problem Explained
This is a great explanation of America's debt problem, and what it's future looks like.
http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2012/03/21/your-wednesday-morning-dose-of-doom-and-gloom/
http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2012/03/21/your-wednesday-morning-dose-of-doom-and-gloom/
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Conservatives with Newt: Newt: ‘Having an Etch-A-Sketch as your campaign mo...
Conservatives with Newt: Newt: ‘Having an Etch-A-Sketch as your campaign mo...: That didn't take long. At a town hall event in Lake Charles, Louisiana this afternoon, Newt Gingrich produced a new campaign prop : ElectA...
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Psychological Side of a Defensive Shooting Incident, by B.D.M.
I have been reading (deleted) now for about 2 years and enjoy the information provided in the articles. I have often wondered what if anything I could contribute to the site. After reading “After the Shooting” by Tupreco, which emphasized the legal aspect of a shooting, I thought this article would be a good follow up concentrating on the psychological side of it.
My background: I have been a police officer for 8 years and was involved in a shooing in February of 2008. You can watch the dash cam view of it here on YouTube.
Basically, I stopped a car for a defective tail lamp. The driver stopped initially but then pulled away and turned down a dead end road. Just before the car came to a stop the suspect exited and started shooting. Thank god he slipped at first. One round hit the bottom of my radiator three feet directly underneath where I was seated. There was an initial exchange when I exited my squad and then a second when he circled around the house he ran behind and a third when he came down the driveway closer toward me right by the front of the house. He was hit twice (unknown to me at the time) and was later captured about a half a block away. He was hit once in the shoulder and once in the other arm breaking his humerus bone in two places. Even though he was hit he still managed to climb over a chain link fence. At the trail a jury of “peers” from my community decided that despite the clear video evidence and they fact he shot at me at least 6 times, they convicted him only of the lesser charge of "recklessly endangering" safety. His defense was that he had a bad day and snapped. He didn’t deny anything really. He got sentenced to seven years for basically trying to kill me and five years for being a felon in possession of a stolen gun. I have researched shootings on my own and been to several tactical classes and read numerous books and articles. Dave Grossman has some great works on the psychological side of shootings/killing.
Commonly believed concepts of shootings: You will have audio exclusion, tunnel vision, not be able to use small motor skills, a perception of slow motion, you will feel regretful, have memory lapses, revert to your training, will not use your sights, it will probably be 3-5 shots and a few seconds in duration.
Reference audio exclusion, tunnel vision and slow motion. I can’t say that I really experienced any of them. My ears rang for days and my Glock was very loud on that zero degree night. While I was certainly focused on the target I didn’t feel like I was looking through a tunnel. While I felt in the “zone” time didn’t seem any slower or faster. Just be aware you may or may not experience these effects. Each person is different and there is no way to predict your experience.
Memory lapses. A few hours after the shooting I had a verbal interview with a detective and did a scene walk through. While initially I felt completely justified I later doubted myself. Did I really see him point a gun at me or just a muzzle flash? It was so dark out. There were casings in between my squad and the car I moved to for cover. I didn’t remember shooting on the move but there was the evidence. Was my backstop clear? Some rounds hit the house. I prayed that no one inside was hurt. How many rounds did I shoot? I don’t remember but I knew I had 6 left. When traumatic event like a shooting occurs your brain is flooded with chemicals. Some state it takes up to 72 hours for them to clear out. Until they do your brain will not be functioning normal. Your interview if possible should be put off until that time frame is over. An intense cardio workout will help clear those chemicals out of your system quicker. You will not be able to clearly recall everything. This is normal.
Small motor skills: First off, I will say that I believe in using gross motor movements and keeping manipulations as simple as possible. I did use my slide release which most consider to be small motor skill during my shooting. I think this proves that they can be done with enough training. I now changed my training to the overhand slide grasp.
The shooting will be few rounds and quick: While most shootings will be, mine was a good example where it was not. I don’t believe that if you get in a shooting you will ever wish you had a smaller gun with fewer rounds. I do believe that it is likely you may wish you had a larger gun with more rounds.
You will revert to your training: ABSOLUTLEY. The first probably thirty seconds of my shooting I was on complete autopilot. I moved out of my squad, which was where he expected me, and took a better position behind another parked vehicle. I preformed a tactical reload once I moved to the car. My breathing was controlled. I was using radio codes and trying to update other units. I did all of this without ever consciously thinking about it. Train, train, train and induce stress.
You will not use your sights: I don’t recall seeing them at all for most of the event. Toward the end when he moved close in to me I remember a voice saying, “if you don’t calm down and aim, this will end bad for you”. Toward the end I remember lining up the sights and that is probably when I hit him. BTW our department didn’t allow us to have night sights at the time.
You will feel regretful: The media likes to portray the shaken, disheveled, citizen who is distraught over shooting/killing the usually well intentioned suspect who made a bad choice. If you do feel that way that’s fine. But you may very likely not. This person just tried to seriously harm or kill you or another person. You survived they didn’t. That is an intense experience. You should feel good about it. You won. You triumphed during an extremely intense situation. Many of us train and never know how we will actually perform when something real happens. Be proud of yourself, you performed and did what you had to. You may be angry. I was. That was my strongest emotion at the time. I was furious. Here I am trying to do my job and was probably just going to give him a warning and he tries to kill me. Any blame should be on the suspect. It was his choice to commit a crime, arm himself illegally and not listen to orders. If one goes to the zoo and jump into the lions den he shouldn’t mad at the lion when he gets bit. That’s his fault.
Emotional considerations after the shooting. Talk it out. Certainly not to the media but to people you trust and may have legal privilege with. Clergy, attorney. spouse. You will need to talk about it to let it process. Your sleep with be effected. Those chemicals are pumping through you and you are amp-ed up. Don’t consume alcohol. Use calming techniques and stay out of stressful environments. Use routine to help feel at ease. A common experience I had and is often reported is what I'll call the movie reel effect. The event kept replaying in my head. It felt like I was watching a movie replay over and over. This is normal and will diminish with time. Anxiety will occur. Our brain is an amazing organ. When you touch a hot stove it stores a message not to do that again. It is a protection mechanism when a negative result occurs. After my shooting my first probably 20 traffic stops were filled with anxiety. You will likely experience a similar response when you attempt to do something similar to what triggered your incident. Examples of this could be walking from the store to your car, waking up to a crash in the night, going to the ATM. Try to calm yourself and realize this is normal.
Monday morning quarterbacks. This can come from several sources. Friends, media, pundits, co-workers. Few people can say they know what fighting for your life feels like. Few will take the time to read all of the details. But many will say you should have done A then B. They will say that they could have done it so much better hitting moving head shots at 50 yards with a pistol etc. This can be hard to swallow. Here you did what you could and everyone seems to think they could do better. I got ridiculed for shooting 40 rounds. I was told I should be re-trained and was just spraying and praying. Neither one is the case and most of them probably would have soiled themselves. After trying to explain the facts of case to people including: the distance involved, actively taking rounds, low visibility at night, the cover the suspect used etc. I learned it didn’t matter. My advise it to not read any forums, papers or listen to radio or anything after your shooting. It will only anger you. If you'd like review some of your tactics seek other professionals who have been in shootings.
If you think you need professional counseling, then get it. It is nothing to be ashamed about. If you broke your ankle you would seek a doctor. This is no different.
I hope this will give others a little insight toward a subject that is not often discussed and prepare you mentally for what to expect.
H/T http://www.survivalblog.com/
My background: I have been a police officer for 8 years and was involved in a shooing in February of 2008. You can watch the dash cam view of it here on YouTube.
Basically, I stopped a car for a defective tail lamp. The driver stopped initially but then pulled away and turned down a dead end road. Just before the car came to a stop the suspect exited and started shooting. Thank god he slipped at first. One round hit the bottom of my radiator three feet directly underneath where I was seated. There was an initial exchange when I exited my squad and then a second when he circled around the house he ran behind and a third when he came down the driveway closer toward me right by the front of the house. He was hit twice (unknown to me at the time) and was later captured about a half a block away. He was hit once in the shoulder and once in the other arm breaking his humerus bone in two places. Even though he was hit he still managed to climb over a chain link fence. At the trail a jury of “peers” from my community decided that despite the clear video evidence and they fact he shot at me at least 6 times, they convicted him only of the lesser charge of "recklessly endangering" safety. His defense was that he had a bad day and snapped. He didn’t deny anything really. He got sentenced to seven years for basically trying to kill me and five years for being a felon in possession of a stolen gun. I have researched shootings on my own and been to several tactical classes and read numerous books and articles. Dave Grossman has some great works on the psychological side of shootings/killing.
Commonly believed concepts of shootings: You will have audio exclusion, tunnel vision, not be able to use small motor skills, a perception of slow motion, you will feel regretful, have memory lapses, revert to your training, will not use your sights, it will probably be 3-5 shots and a few seconds in duration.
Reference audio exclusion, tunnel vision and slow motion. I can’t say that I really experienced any of them. My ears rang for days and my Glock was very loud on that zero degree night. While I was certainly focused on the target I didn’t feel like I was looking through a tunnel. While I felt in the “zone” time didn’t seem any slower or faster. Just be aware you may or may not experience these effects. Each person is different and there is no way to predict your experience.
Memory lapses. A few hours after the shooting I had a verbal interview with a detective and did a scene walk through. While initially I felt completely justified I later doubted myself. Did I really see him point a gun at me or just a muzzle flash? It was so dark out. There were casings in between my squad and the car I moved to for cover. I didn’t remember shooting on the move but there was the evidence. Was my backstop clear? Some rounds hit the house. I prayed that no one inside was hurt. How many rounds did I shoot? I don’t remember but I knew I had 6 left. When traumatic event like a shooting occurs your brain is flooded with chemicals. Some state it takes up to 72 hours for them to clear out. Until they do your brain will not be functioning normal. Your interview if possible should be put off until that time frame is over. An intense cardio workout will help clear those chemicals out of your system quicker. You will not be able to clearly recall everything. This is normal.
Small motor skills: First off, I will say that I believe in using gross motor movements and keeping manipulations as simple as possible. I did use my slide release which most consider to be small motor skill during my shooting. I think this proves that they can be done with enough training. I now changed my training to the overhand slide grasp.
The shooting will be few rounds and quick: While most shootings will be, mine was a good example where it was not. I don’t believe that if you get in a shooting you will ever wish you had a smaller gun with fewer rounds. I do believe that it is likely you may wish you had a larger gun with more rounds.
You will revert to your training: ABSOLUTLEY. The first probably thirty seconds of my shooting I was on complete autopilot. I moved out of my squad, which was where he expected me, and took a better position behind another parked vehicle. I preformed a tactical reload once I moved to the car. My breathing was controlled. I was using radio codes and trying to update other units. I did all of this without ever consciously thinking about it. Train, train, train and induce stress.
You will not use your sights: I don’t recall seeing them at all for most of the event. Toward the end when he moved close in to me I remember a voice saying, “if you don’t calm down and aim, this will end bad for you”. Toward the end I remember lining up the sights and that is probably when I hit him. BTW our department didn’t allow us to have night sights at the time.
You will feel regretful: The media likes to portray the shaken, disheveled, citizen who is distraught over shooting/killing the usually well intentioned suspect who made a bad choice. If you do feel that way that’s fine. But you may very likely not. This person just tried to seriously harm or kill you or another person. You survived they didn’t. That is an intense experience. You should feel good about it. You won. You triumphed during an extremely intense situation. Many of us train and never know how we will actually perform when something real happens. Be proud of yourself, you performed and did what you had to. You may be angry. I was. That was my strongest emotion at the time. I was furious. Here I am trying to do my job and was probably just going to give him a warning and he tries to kill me. Any blame should be on the suspect. It was his choice to commit a crime, arm himself illegally and not listen to orders. If one goes to the zoo and jump into the lions den he shouldn’t mad at the lion when he gets bit. That’s his fault.
Emotional considerations after the shooting. Talk it out. Certainly not to the media but to people you trust and may have legal privilege with. Clergy, attorney. spouse. You will need to talk about it to let it process. Your sleep with be effected. Those chemicals are pumping through you and you are amp-ed up. Don’t consume alcohol. Use calming techniques and stay out of stressful environments. Use routine to help feel at ease. A common experience I had and is often reported is what I'll call the movie reel effect. The event kept replaying in my head. It felt like I was watching a movie replay over and over. This is normal and will diminish with time. Anxiety will occur. Our brain is an amazing organ. When you touch a hot stove it stores a message not to do that again. It is a protection mechanism when a negative result occurs. After my shooting my first probably 20 traffic stops were filled with anxiety. You will likely experience a similar response when you attempt to do something similar to what triggered your incident. Examples of this could be walking from the store to your car, waking up to a crash in the night, going to the ATM. Try to calm yourself and realize this is normal.
Monday morning quarterbacks. This can come from several sources. Friends, media, pundits, co-workers. Few people can say they know what fighting for your life feels like. Few will take the time to read all of the details. But many will say you should have done A then B. They will say that they could have done it so much better hitting moving head shots at 50 yards with a pistol etc. This can be hard to swallow. Here you did what you could and everyone seems to think they could do better. I got ridiculed for shooting 40 rounds. I was told I should be re-trained and was just spraying and praying. Neither one is the case and most of them probably would have soiled themselves. After trying to explain the facts of case to people including: the distance involved, actively taking rounds, low visibility at night, the cover the suspect used etc. I learned it didn’t matter. My advise it to not read any forums, papers or listen to radio or anything after your shooting. It will only anger you. If you'd like review some of your tactics seek other professionals who have been in shootings.
If you think you need professional counseling, then get it. It is nothing to be ashamed about. If you broke your ankle you would seek a doctor. This is no different.
I hope this will give others a little insight toward a subject that is not often discussed and prepare you mentally for what to expect.
H/T http://www.survivalblog.com/
Great Video!! Helmet cam on a soldier in a fire fight in Afghanistan!! Make sure you know how to perform SPORTS on a SAW!!!
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1519131160001/
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1519131160001/
Newt Soldiers On!!!!!
Good old Newt is not letting the media or anyone else get him down!!
The fact is, we do need a real conservative in this race, not just a big government former senator, or a liberal who is playing conservative to get big money donations, and Establishment support.
The longer Newt stays in, the more he forces these guys to make promises they don't want to be making. He forces them to stick up for principles that they would rather be ignoring.
And more than anything, he is pushing it all the way to the convention, where after the first ballot is taken, if no one wins then it is up in the air, and anything can happen!!
So Go Newt!!! Never give up!!
The fact is, we do need a real conservative in this race, not just a big government former senator, or a liberal who is playing conservative to get big money donations, and Establishment support.
The longer Newt stays in, the more he forces these guys to make promises they don't want to be making. He forces them to stick up for principles that they would rather be ignoring.
And more than anything, he is pushing it all the way to the convention, where after the first ballot is taken, if no one wins then it is up in the air, and anything can happen!!
So Go Newt!!! Never give up!!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Last Gasp
It is really looking like this Tuesday may be the last gasp for Gingrich. I am pretty bummed out about that, because he is the guy who has the best plans for fixing our country, and the best record of experience of actually doing it.
I am seriously opposed to a Romney candidacy. There is no way I am going to spend 4 months let alone 4 years defending that hypocrtical RINO. He would be the worst thing to happen to the Republican party since Nixon.
So if Newt drops out, it looks like I will be going to Santorum. He lacks political skill, his instincts are weak, and his communication skills are sad, but at least he has some good principles, and would do justice to the people who support him. Too bad he can't be Newt's VP!!!
I am seriously opposed to a Romney candidacy. There is no way I am going to spend 4 months let alone 4 years defending that hypocrtical RINO. He would be the worst thing to happen to the Republican party since Nixon.
So if Newt drops out, it looks like I will be going to Santorum. He lacks political skill, his instincts are weak, and his communication skills are sad, but at least he has some good principles, and would do justice to the people who support him. Too bad he can't be Newt's VP!!!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Mitt Romney Explained
Why Romney has failed to capture the hearts of conservatives nationwide.
http://www.redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2012/03/05/mitt-romney-the-unconvincing-convert/
http://www.redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2012/03/05/mitt-romney-the-unconvincing-convert/
Thursday, March 1, 2012
'Super Tuesday'
Thomas Sowell speaks about Super Tuesday, and the choice coming up for conservatives, as well as Newt.
'Super Tuesday'
'Super Tuesday'
In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
R.I.P. Andrew Breitbart. He was a true example of what kind of courage we should all try to accomplish.
In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sarah Palin Speaks out about Energy on Facebook
Obama’s Anti-American Energy Policies Invite the Next Crisis
by Sarah Palin on Friday, February 24, 2012 at 11:36am ·
President Obama doesn’t have an energy plan. He has an energy speech that he continues to give regardless of the facts or his obvious failures. He likes to take credit for actions initiated by the last administration (without telling you that he’s reversed or stymied many of those successes).
We should not be surprised by his detached attitude about America’s pain at the pump. He’s not interested in lowering the price of gas because exorbitantly high gas prices are one of his campaign promises. In September 2008, candidate Obama’s Energy Secretary in-waiting said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” That’s one campaign promise they’re working hard to fulfill!
President Obama notes that instability in the Middle East causes short-term spikes in the price of oil. But that is precisely why we should take every opportunity to drill here and drill now to lessen our dependence on these dangerous foreign regimes. President Obama’s lack of action simply invites the next oil crisis. It’s as if the White House is purposefully making us more dependent on foreign countries – from running up an unsustainable debt that must be financed by foreign debtors, to constantly apologizing and walking on eggshells around dictators who control oil supplies.
When it comes to our energy security, the only thing holding us back is the lack of political will. We have the resources, the ingenuity, and the manpower. And we need the jobs! Any economic recovery will be hampered by these rising gas prices. And I guarantee the rising prices will only get worse and will halt job growth further.
We must never forget that energy development, job creation, and national security are inextricably linked. Access to affordable and secure energy is the key to economic growth, which is the key to job growth. Securing a stable domestic supply of energy will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous America – an America that’s not subject to the whims of dictators who can cut off energy supplies or shut down the Strait of Hormuz to exports passing through.
President Obama repeatedly claims that there is no “silver bullet” to lower gas prices. But, in fact, we do have proof that the promise of future drilling does lead to immediate price relief as oil producers plan to expand their production.
So what are Obama’s solutions? As luck would have it, they coincide with subsidizing his friends and campaign donors. What a fortuitous coincidence in an election year! While you’re paying $5-a-gallon for gas, President Obama has been picking “winners” and “losers” in the free market. He’s decided that conventional resource development that produces the fuel we use to drive our cars and power our economy are “losers.” His “winners” are the bankrupt green energy companies that his campaign donors invest in. Unfortunately his real “losers” are the American public who are once again hit with massive gas prices (at least those who can’t afford luxury electric cars like the Obama-subsidized Volt that gets 40 miles per battery charge, or like the Obama-subsidized Tesla that turns into a “brick” when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair.)
What are the real solutions? Well, whether you support Newt in 2012 or not, he makes a lot of sense in this video, which is why President Obama targeted it for mockery yesterday. Newt is right that we need to “stop bowing and start drilling.” And not only can’t a gun rack fit in a Volt, but the government will take away our pick-up trucks when they pry the steering wheel “from our cold, dead hands.” Newt explains in this video some commonsense, pro-American solutions to the problems President Obama causes with his terrifyingly naïve assault on U.S. energy production.
With just the stroke of a pen, President Obama could lead us in the direction of real energy security and reduce our oil imports threatened by Iran’s threats to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Here are just a few commonsense measures we can do right now, and most of them don’t require any new legislation or regulations:
Open Alaska to drilling. Billions and billions of barrels of U.S. crude (and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean natural gas) sit untapped up here in the far north, my friends. We have the TAPS pipeline and infrastructure; we invite the development! Open ANWR. Think of how much safer and secure we would be if we had done this decades ago.
Build the Keystone Pipeline. President Obama doesn’t understand we live in a land woven with untold miles of pipe to carry safe energy supplies to protect and prosper America. Common sense dictates we need another one now to secure our energy future. It is key. It is the Keystone. If we’re worried about instability in the Middle East, it makes no sense to shun safe and reliable oil from Canada. Obviously, China understands this, and we should too.
Drill for natural gas. Natural gas is the future. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got lots of it. Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars – or ideally for both – natural gas can act as a clean “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available.
There are many more steps we need in order to establish a true energy plan to secure our future. But these three steps, plus increased resource development in the Lower 48 and reversing President Obama’s nonsensical, knee-jerk, anti-American energy shut down of off-shore developments would create hundreds of thousands of jobs as millions of barrels of oil every single day would flow under American control, and lessen our dependence on the Persian Gulf.
It’s time our country had a real energy plan that includes a genuine all-of-the-above approach that doesn’t ignore conventional resource development. We need the jobs, we need the energy, and we need the security.
- Sarah Palin
We should not be surprised by his detached attitude about America’s pain at the pump. He’s not interested in lowering the price of gas because exorbitantly high gas prices are one of his campaign promises. In September 2008, candidate Obama’s Energy Secretary in-waiting said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” That’s one campaign promise they’re working hard to fulfill!
President Obama notes that instability in the Middle East causes short-term spikes in the price of oil. But that is precisely why we should take every opportunity to drill here and drill now to lessen our dependence on these dangerous foreign regimes. President Obama’s lack of action simply invites the next oil crisis. It’s as if the White House is purposefully making us more dependent on foreign countries – from running up an unsustainable debt that must be financed by foreign debtors, to constantly apologizing and walking on eggshells around dictators who control oil supplies.
When it comes to our energy security, the only thing holding us back is the lack of political will. We have the resources, the ingenuity, and the manpower. And we need the jobs! Any economic recovery will be hampered by these rising gas prices. And I guarantee the rising prices will only get worse and will halt job growth further.
We must never forget that energy development, job creation, and national security are inextricably linked. Access to affordable and secure energy is the key to economic growth, which is the key to job growth. Securing a stable domestic supply of energy will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous America – an America that’s not subject to the whims of dictators who can cut off energy supplies or shut down the Strait of Hormuz to exports passing through.
President Obama repeatedly claims that there is no “silver bullet” to lower gas prices. But, in fact, we do have proof that the promise of future drilling does lead to immediate price relief as oil producers plan to expand their production.
So what are Obama’s solutions? As luck would have it, they coincide with subsidizing his friends and campaign donors. What a fortuitous coincidence in an election year! While you’re paying $5-a-gallon for gas, President Obama has been picking “winners” and “losers” in the free market. He’s decided that conventional resource development that produces the fuel we use to drive our cars and power our economy are “losers.” His “winners” are the bankrupt green energy companies that his campaign donors invest in. Unfortunately his real “losers” are the American public who are once again hit with massive gas prices (at least those who can’t afford luxury electric cars like the Obama-subsidized Volt that gets 40 miles per battery charge, or like the Obama-subsidized Tesla that turns into a “brick” when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair.)
What are the real solutions? Well, whether you support Newt in 2012 or not, he makes a lot of sense in this video, which is why President Obama targeted it for mockery yesterday. Newt is right that we need to “stop bowing and start drilling.” And not only can’t a gun rack fit in a Volt, but the government will take away our pick-up trucks when they pry the steering wheel “from our cold, dead hands.” Newt explains in this video some commonsense, pro-American solutions to the problems President Obama causes with his terrifyingly naïve assault on U.S. energy production.
With just the stroke of a pen, President Obama could lead us in the direction of real energy security and reduce our oil imports threatened by Iran’s threats to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Here are just a few commonsense measures we can do right now, and most of them don’t require any new legislation or regulations:
Open Alaska to drilling. Billions and billions of barrels of U.S. crude (and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean natural gas) sit untapped up here in the far north, my friends. We have the TAPS pipeline and infrastructure; we invite the development! Open ANWR. Think of how much safer and secure we would be if we had done this decades ago.
Build the Keystone Pipeline. President Obama doesn’t understand we live in a land woven with untold miles of pipe to carry safe energy supplies to protect and prosper America. Common sense dictates we need another one now to secure our energy future. It is key. It is the Keystone. If we’re worried about instability in the Middle East, it makes no sense to shun safe and reliable oil from Canada. Obviously, China understands this, and we should too.
Drill for natural gas. Natural gas is the future. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got lots of it. Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars – or ideally for both – natural gas can act as a clean “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available.
There are many more steps we need in order to establish a true energy plan to secure our future. But these three steps, plus increased resource development in the Lower 48 and reversing President Obama’s nonsensical, knee-jerk, anti-American energy shut down of off-shore developments would create hundreds of thousands of jobs as millions of barrels of oil every single day would flow under American control, and lessen our dependence on the Persian Gulf.
It’s time our country had a real energy plan that includes a genuine all-of-the-above approach that doesn’t ignore conventional resource development. We need the jobs, we need the energy, and we need the security.
- Sarah Palin
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Arizona GOP Debate
Great debate last night!!!
I think Romney is really starting to run on empty. His whole strategy was to act like he had the entire thing wrapped up from the beginning, and get as many people to go along with it as possible. That was why the two most important things he stressed about his candidacy from the start were "electable" and "inevitable". Well, now that we are several states into the process, we have discovered that he is indeed very "evitable". He has lost several important competitions, and most crucially, he has tried to maintain his position by carpet bombing his opposition. This has caused his strategy to backfire, since more and more of the people he would need in the general election are being driven away by his unscrupulous tactics and hollow principles. The longer this goes on, the more people will turn away from him. This leaves Newt and Santorum as the last two candidates, which is fitting since they are the only two conservatives in the GOP primary field.
I think Romney is really starting to run on empty. His whole strategy was to act like he had the entire thing wrapped up from the beginning, and get as many people to go along with it as possible. That was why the two most important things he stressed about his candidacy from the start were "electable" and "inevitable". Well, now that we are several states into the process, we have discovered that he is indeed very "evitable". He has lost several important competitions, and most crucially, he has tried to maintain his position by carpet bombing his opposition. This has caused his strategy to backfire, since more and more of the people he would need in the general election are being driven away by his unscrupulous tactics and hollow principles. The longer this goes on, the more people will turn away from him. This leaves Newt and Santorum as the last two candidates, which is fitting since they are the only two conservatives in the GOP primary field.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Robot Romney for President
Robot Romney for President: pToday, BuzzFeed released “25 Photos of Mitt Romney Looking Normal,” and — to my surprise — he actually looks normal! Along with the photo series, one of BuzzFeed’s political reporters wrote a column highlighting the Romney family’s social media prowess, wondering why the candidate can’t connect as well as his family members seem to (without [...]/p
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Obama approaches the key 50% mark
Our country was set up as a republic so that the majority could not vote away the property of the minority. Greedy Democrats are finally destroying that.
Obama approaches the key 50% mark
Obama approaches the key 50% mark
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Mike's America: Why Conservatives Don't Trust "Severely Conservati...
Mike's America: Why Conservatives Don't Trust "Severely Conservati...: There are just too many moderate skeletons in his closet! On February 28 Michigan holds it's primary. It was supposed to be a slam dunk fo...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Most Important Article so far about GOP Primaries!!!!
Evans: How Gingrich Wins the GOP Nomination
Monday, 13 Feb 2012 08:42 PM
While last week’s election results in Colorado Missouri and Minnesota are rightly seen as evidence of a voter message about Mitt Romney’s negative campaigning, the vote was also transformational, indeed, historic in a way not yet appreciated.
Besides disapproval of the millions Romney spent on “scorched earth” attack ads characterized by news organizations like The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as prodigiously mendacious, the results also had about them this remarkable fact: Never before had a GOP front runner lost so badly this far into the nomination process — let alone in three states and on the same day.
Indeed in Colorado, Romney was not only defeated by five points in a state he won with 60 percent of the vote four years ago, but this setback came at the hands of a candidate whom he had outspent by a margin of 40 to 1.
And while much of the media is suggesting Romney’s decline was unexpected, this historic show of weakness was actually previewed before his disastrous Tuesday on the prior weekend in Nevada — and in two different venues.
The first was the Republican caucuses. Following his clear victory in Florida, and having spent generously on advertising and organization in Nevada, which has a heavy Mormon population (26 percentof attendees), insiders expected Romney to comfortably exceed his 2008 totals there. Instead, Romney finished below his level of four years before, around 50 percent. (Another surprise was Newt Gingrich’s second place finish, as Ron Paul, who at one time was expected to win the state, trailed behind.)
But Romney’s decline was also previewed — indeed flatly predicted elsewhere in a conference room where Gingrich had for the first time gathered his national campaign staff — a staff made up of schedulers, communicators and organizers who had worked with him for years and knew him well. In addition, there was a second group of experienced campaign and polling veterans from prior presidential races that Gingrich had been steadily working into the mix since his rise in the polls before the Iowa caucuses.
At the hotel conference room five-day marathon meetings over which Gingrich presided, in between campaign stops at the Nevada caucuses, the discussions focused on national as well as state-by-state strategy intended to “reset” his campaign after the first round of caucuses and primaries.
The charts that soon covered the meeting room walls at the Las Vegas hotel showed encouraging electoral (and delegate) arithmetic as the race moved forward from winner-take-all contests to more proportional delegate contests.
Even with Romney’s heavy money advantage, the data showed Gingrich could and should accumulate delegates until Super Tuesday when the start of the southern primaries gave him an advantage. (In fact, the numbers showed that before Super Tuesday no candidate was likely to accumulate more than 200 delegates, a small portion of the 1140 needed for nomination.)
Other encouraging electoral numbers came with Florida election analysis that showed that Gingrich had increased the Republican vote in nearly every county he carried while Romney had had the opposite effect, a pattern that had been true in prior contests. Indeed, Fox News released last week a chart called by commentator Charles Krauthaummer “the Gingrich graphic” that showed that South Carolina — which Gingrich won handily — had a 22 percent increase in Republican voting while GOP balloting dropped off sharply in states won by other candidates.
Gingrich and his staffers were also encouraged by other recent developments. With the endorsements of Fred Thompson, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Michael Reagan, Todd Palin, and, yes, Chuck Norris — and with Sarah Palin saying nice things about Gingrich on national TV— they saw the populist versus elitist contrast they wanted with Romney who was settling for endorsements from old-line figures like Bob Dole, John McCain and Tom Delay.
The final picture of the next four weeks that emerged was one not of short spurts but steady and patient build, with neither the calendar nor the way delegates got apportioned lending themselves to a quick victory by any candidate. (Indeed, as it turned out, Romney needed an all out effort to just “win” Maine and even then had to struggle to beat Paul – confirming his own weakening campaign.)
So too, cable news channels were seen contributing for their own reasons to a long or drawn out contest; indeed sometimes making the race more contentious by weakening whoever was the current frontrunner.
Against this backdrop, Gingrich’s nationally televised election-night speech after the Florida primary at a well orchestrated event in Orlando played well and had optics like “46-States-To-Go” signs that grabbed camera shots and blunted Romneyite attempts to suggest Gingrich was leaving the race.
All of this played nicely into the three themes Gingrich outlined the first night of the conference when, with a black marker, he had made one of the “whiteboard” presentations his staff knew so well.
One theme was “the grand narrative” — the insurgency vs. the establishment motif that emphasized his own claim to bold change while Romney was portrayed as “a timid manager of the Obama decay” and seen as Obama’s perfectly acceptable alternative to the liberal elites, Wall Street money types and George Soros type billionaires.
The second stressed what Gingrich saw as his edge in substantive policy proposals – reflected in eight policy books, some bestsellers, some not.
A third theme though was soon the subject of wall charts in the conference room, a theme that had its focus in what Gingrich’s team saw as Romney’s own efforts at making himself an “unacceptable” or “unelectable” candidate. On these charts Romney was a “baggage candidate” making him easy prey for the Obama billion-dollar attack machine.
Besides his record as a Massachusetts moderate and long list of prior liberal positions, the charts listed other Romney negatives like Bain Capital connections with its company layoffs and a massive case of Medicare fraud as well as personal finances that included blind trusts, Swiss bank accounts and a multimillionaire paying a 13 percent tax rate.
Also getting special attention was a Romney tendency that had dominated the news right after his Florida victory. Saying he did not care about “the very poor” (because they had a safety net) and showing his remarkable capacity for self -destructive gaffes, his “very poor” comment took its place with others like “I like to fire people” or he didn’t want to hire illegal aliens while running for office or his challenge to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet.
But a final aspect of Romney as “the baggage candidate” who would be easily handled by Obama in the general election went to an increasingly damaging perception about Romney personally. Stepping off the stage after the last Florida debate Gingrich had asked “How do you debate someone who won’t or can’t tell the truth?” By the next day the Gingrich campaign had out a new TV spot focusing on three blatant Romney falsehoods in the debate and documenting five in total.
In the staff’s view though, Gingrich’s question about Romney in the Florida as well as other debates was a variation on a question they saw as increasingly likely to erode the Romney candidacy: “Can the people elect a candidate to the presidency they know can’t or won’t tell the truth?”
The problem they saw in Romney was not so much momentary “lying” done out of weakness but an almost Pavlovian reflex. When publicly challenged or at a loss for an answer Romney seemed to show a deeply engrained habit of mendacity, one that to the Gingrich aides had its parallel in his campaign ads.
Finally though, the Gingrich team focused on Romney’s weakness in embracing the campaign strategy apparently recommended to him by his two top aides – or the “baggage handlers” as the Gingrich staffers called them — attack-ad maestro Stu Stevens and longtime opposition researcher and dirt digger Matt Roades.
In emphasizing “inevitability “ and “electability” as Romney’s raison d’etre for running, the Stevens-Roades duo had sought to replace the usual substantive or policy messaging with multimillion dollar attacks run by themselves or the pro-Romney Super Pac and designed to blow away any credible challenger.
Moreover, the Gingrich planners were certain that Republican voters would eventually realize that while successful in depressing Republican voter turnout in Florida and Nevada, this negative messaging strategy augured poorly for GOP success in November.
Even amidst a storm of negative attacks Obama would likely hold onto his core supporters. In order to win in November, then, Republicans had to get more, not fewer voters to the polls.
Gingrich, who had pledged not to criticize other Republicans or run such ads, had seen the Stevens-Roades onslaught take him from front-runner to a third place finish in Iowa.
However, Gingrich and his team had also seen the Romney model to depress turnout as a fatal strategic error. In choosing to secure the nomination not by means of policy positions aimed at energizing party conservatives but attack ads aimed at rivals and predicated on the politics of personal destruction, the Romneyites chose to run and temporarily profit from blatantly untrue TV spots, with one spot that Romney publicly defended drawing four “Pinocchio’s” from The Washington Post for false charges. (E.g. Gingrich was “fined” for ethics violations as Speaker.)
All this, Gingrich’s staff knew, had only reinforced Gingrich’s determination to strike at a threat he saw not just to his own candidacy but the integrity of the political process.
At first though these complaints by Gingrich about Romney’s unprecedented use of millions in false advertising put him right where the Romney forces thought they wanted him. They were soon accusing him of unseemly “flailing” or “anger” by a presidential candidate.
Joining in this effort were their media allies. Fox commentator and Wall Street Journal columnist Karl Rove – a former employer and political mentor of Roades – accused Gingrich of “whining.” Similarly, Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn (who has tweeted praise for Romney and Rick Santorum but criticism of Gingrich), wrote a gloating column about how after Florida Romney could “finish” off Gingrich.
For participants in the Gingrich meetings, however, the evidence was there in the lower turnout numbers that Romney’s attack strategy was turning off voters. Indeed, they believed that the details of polling confirmed that Gingrich’s larger message was beginning to get through, that if successful the Romney tactics of money and mendacity was a threat to the electoral process and could corrupt the greatest democratic system in the world for a generation.
Just this point Gingrich made in his evening press conference on the night of the Nevada caucuses. In a 22-minute session seen live by thousands of conservative voters in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota, a rested, feisty, even slightly amused Gingrich first hit Romney for his gaffe about “ the very poor” and his subsequent attempt to make up for it with a proposal for minimum wage indexing — a step that Gingrich assailed as hurting small businesses and setting back any hope of bringing down the minority youth unemployment rate.
But then Gingrich helped along the theme that his own team thought was beginning to emerge in the media narrative and the public mind, Romney’s negative attack mentality and his tendency to tell falsehoods in public debate.
While routinely criticized by political commentators, the biting news conference served an important purpose as the precursor to the upcoming delegate light primaries and caucuses. As one of the staff participants in the meetings, I told Newt that I thought he had hit just right the fissures in an already cracked Romney windshield and it would shatter within the week. And, it did.
However much it surprised others, some of us in the Gingrich meeting were not surprised to see voters use the blunt instrument of Rick Santorum’s underfunded candidacy to show what they actually thought of the Romney candidacy – a man with a great sense of entitlement but no sense of accountability. Moreover the vote also showed, especially in the Missouri primary, what happens when Romney is up against only one conservative challenger.
But if the Feb. 7 debacle for Romney represented an historic setback to a front runner it was also much more than that. Lost in the interpretation of the results is the old adage that in politics losing is winning. Thus, the likelihood is that with time, voters will reflect that Gingrich in taking the fire of $20 to $25 million in attack ads kept his cool, managed to win a resounding victory in South Carolina and, most of all, had the moral courage and rhetorical skill to warn the nation about Romney and his campaign.
In realizing that Gingrich successfully took on Romney and also trigged Ron Paul’s decline with a CNN Wolf Blitzer interview about the racially poisonous views expressed in the Texas Congressman’s newsletters, voters may begin to realize they have found the one candidate who could do the same to Obama in the fall.
In many ways it was reminiscent of Gingrich’s challenge to Democrats in 1994 – pundits' incredulity followed by ridicule followed by an unpredictable victory at the ballot box and the first Republican House majority in four decades.
But if Gingrich emerges with a moral authority from the race thus far, Gingrich’s “electability” is being helped in other ways. Besides a reputation as substantive and well versed in the issues – one he advanced last weekend at his CPAC speech with its emphasis on an economic plan that with its flat tax, zero capital gains tax and strong currency position has won the support of supply-siders like Reaganomics architect Arthur Laffer — media reports are noting that the traveling press not only finds Gingrich the most accessible and interesting of the candidates but the most likable.
And this finding is echoed in focus groups of voters run by Democratic pollster Peter Hart who said that while they were put off by Romney they found Gingrich the most likable candidate, reminding them of a favorite uncle or grandfather.
As a former Gingrich congressional intern who lived in his basement in 1979 and worked in his campaigns through the 80s during the lead-up to the GOP’s 1994 takeover of the House of Representatives, I know something about both Newt’s stick-to-it-tive-ness and his likability.
Faced in these days with skepticism, even scorn, from party elders who disliked his Contract With America and laughed at his hope of winning and keeping a House majority, Gingrich persevered and even (well, most of the time) cheerfully so.
That Gingrich inspires such loyalty and a 24\ 7 willingness to work for him among current staffers too comes as no surprise to those of us who have known him, a loyalty that was very much on display at the Super bowl Party Gingrich and his wife Callista held for the staff at the conclusions of the five-day strategy conference.
After emerging the day before from the bubble of a hotel meeting room, many of these staffers had been authentically surprised to see press reports saying that at his Nevada Saturday press conference their candidate was going to announce his withdrawal from the race. Indeed just before the press conference one staffer got Gingrich’s authorization to tell the media “Up in Boston they keep saying that it is over. And then it isn’t. Well, it isn’t going to be over until the Tampa convention. Or until Romney drops out. Whichever comes first.”
Much the same attitude was to come out at the end of the Super bowl party with the Giants victory. Because while Gingrich himself was pleased at having accurately picked the winner at his press conference, his staff was reacting to a comment by NBC commentator Cris Collingsworth who took note of news reports only eight weeks earlier saying Giants coach Tom Coughlin’s career was over in New York because he hadn’t delivered a winner.
The Gingrich staffers laughed out loud at this, seeing in Collingsworth’s comment an unmistakable parallel and bright augury for their own boss.
So with Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado last week shattering Romney’s only issue — inevitability, the Gingrich Super bowl partiers appear to have been right in their confidence. So too, the conclusions they reached in their Vegas conferences seem to be holding up.
First, that the early contests had clearly established what the Romney forces now openly admit, that the only competition they really fear is Gingrich who has a depth of operations and resources that Santorum, the other conservative candidate, cannot match.
Indeed, in Nevada, Gingrich proved that when deployed his ground operations could outperform the Paul army. Second, that while in the next two major races Romney’s ability to outspend by 5 to 1 in attack ads and drive down turnout will have real impact in Arizona and his other home state of Michigan , the approach of Super Tuesday -- with10 states and 437 delegates at stake – makes this less likely. With the key primary battlegrounds of Georgia (Gingrich’s home state), Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ohio and the key caucuses Alaska, Idaho, and North Dakota, Romney’s the negative attacks are likely to have the diminished impact they had in South Carolina.
Moreover, the Gingrich “dream team” endorsements of Gov. Norman Deal and Herman Cain in Georgia, Thompson in Tennessee, Watts in Oklahoma, Todd Palin in Alaska will be a factor.
Third and finally, the Gingrich planners projected that with only 396 delegates chosen in March, no clear frontrunner is likely to emerge until Texas (155 delegates on April 3) and there too the endorsement and help of Gov. Perry is to their advantage.
Yet for all of the arithmetic showing the race will go on and no single set of states could put the contest away — through Super Tuesday less than 800 delegates will be selected and many will be proportionally distributed — those of us who were part of Gingrich’s first-quarter huddle in Las Vegas also detected more ambiguous yet powerful forces at work.
And while one was certainly voters revulsion at negative campaigning (Romney’s negatives are by 17 percent among some voter groups) that perhaps others didn’t see coming, the other was a perception that whatever the early or mid season setbacks, Gingrich was now bringing to the nomination drive what Giants coach Tom Coughlin brought to the playoffs and Super bowl — a range of experience and a moral force that would prove dispositive.
In 1994, there was only one person who consistently believed Republicans could weather the storms and capture control of the Congress for the first time in four decades; in 2012, he is a candidate for President.
Randy Evans has known Newt Gingrich since 1976, chairing his congressional campaigns in 1988 and 1998 and chairing Gingrich private companies from 2004-2012. Evans also served as the outside counsel to the Speakers of the 104th-109th Congresses (Gingrich and Hastert).
Fellow Marines Rush to Rescue Arrested Tourist
This is an update to the story of the marine who was arrested for carrying having a gun in NYC.
Fellow Marines Rush to Rescue Arrested Tourist
Fellow Marines Rush to Rescue Arrested Tourist
‘Mr. America’ – Rap Music Video
White guys rapping about America's problems dressed as Founding Fathers.
This video is worth watching just for the scene where they do a drive by shooting with a musket!!!
Breitbart.tv » ‘Mr. America’ – Rap Music Video Sparks Controversy, Debate
This video is worth watching just for the scene where they do a drive by shooting with a musket!!!
Breitbart.tv » ‘Mr. America’ – Rap Music Video Sparks Controversy, Debate
Newt: National Review call for him to drop out is “silly”
As National Review continues down the road to irrelevancy, other sites are filling the gap, like Legal Insurrection and Redstate.
Newt: National Review call for him to drop out is “silly”
Newt: National Review call for him to drop out is “silly”
Monday, February 13, 2012
Snub nose Revolvers
I am starting to think a lot more about snub nosed .38 specials and .357 magnums.
They are the most common conceal carry pistols in America. Up until now, I had not been very interested in them because the .38 special cartridge is nothing special (pardon the pun), and neither has a decent round capacity. They only carry 5, or sometimes 6 rounds.
I have been more interested in pocket pistols like 9mm in Kel Tec, Ruger, Taurus etc. These have more common ammunition, higher round capacities, and are more fun to shoot.
I recently read about how if you are in hand to hand combat, and you need to press your gun against the aggressor to fire, that the slide on a pistol will depress, and malfunction, possibly firing 1 shot, but probably none at all.
The benefit of the snub nose revolver is that it is a solid frame, and so it doesn't have a slide, and in that situation, you could fire all 5 or 6 rounds.
I also like that they are generally cheap. It looks like they can be purchased new for around $300. I would probably want to save up and get one of the Ruger models for around $450 though. I like the model chambered in .357 magnum.
A member of the family recently bought the Smith and Wesson Bodyguard with the laser mounted on it. I am still waiting to hear back about the first trip to the range to see how it handles. Can't wait to give it a try myself!!!
I am a little bummed out that Taurus doesn't still make their model chambered in 9mm. I know that it is marginally less effective then .38 special, but at least then I could have commonality of rounds. If I do decide to get one of these pistols, then I will be opening up an entirely new line of ammunition that I will have to start stocking up on. And just to keep it versatile, I will probably get one of those .357 magnums just so I can shoot that round and the .38 special through it.
Gotta love buying new guns!!!!
They are the most common conceal carry pistols in America. Up until now, I had not been very interested in them because the .38 special cartridge is nothing special (pardon the pun), and neither has a decent round capacity. They only carry 5, or sometimes 6 rounds.
I have been more interested in pocket pistols like 9mm in Kel Tec, Ruger, Taurus etc. These have more common ammunition, higher round capacities, and are more fun to shoot.
I recently read about how if you are in hand to hand combat, and you need to press your gun against the aggressor to fire, that the slide on a pistol will depress, and malfunction, possibly firing 1 shot, but probably none at all.
The benefit of the snub nose revolver is that it is a solid frame, and so it doesn't have a slide, and in that situation, you could fire all 5 or 6 rounds.
I also like that they are generally cheap. It looks like they can be purchased new for around $300. I would probably want to save up and get one of the Ruger models for around $450 though. I like the model chambered in .357 magnum.
A member of the family recently bought the Smith and Wesson Bodyguard with the laser mounted on it. I am still waiting to hear back about the first trip to the range to see how it handles. Can't wait to give it a try myself!!!
I am a little bummed out that Taurus doesn't still make their model chambered in 9mm. I know that it is marginally less effective then .38 special, but at least then I could have commonality of rounds. If I do decide to get one of these pistols, then I will be opening up an entirely new line of ammunition that I will have to start stocking up on. And just to keep it versatile, I will probably get one of those .357 magnums just so I can shoot that round and the .38 special through it.
Gotta love buying new guns!!!!
CPAC 2012
CPAC was pretty exciting this year. I was able to watch Newt Gingrich and Andrew Breitbart speak live, and watched a few other speeches on rightscoop.
I thought it was pretty sad that Romney flubbed his speech so badly, and paid to pull off a win in the straw poll, and yet he still seemed to get some positive media attention out of it.
The real story was the speeches given by Newt, Allen West, and of course, Sarah Palin!!! Her speech was so awesome, I am tempted to download it, and watch it over and over again later this year when the campaign gets really depressing.
I really wish more people tried to be less jaded, and cynical. So many watch those speeches, and even if they believe what they hear, and get excited about what is possible, they convince themselves that it could never really happen, or that it would be too difficult, or they are too insignificant to play a part. Really what we need is every single person who believes in the difference between right and wrong to get as involved as they possibly can!!! It really is difficult to motivate people to get involved when you can't buy votes like the Democrats do.
Oh well, if it were easy, then everybody would be doing it!!!
I thought it was pretty sad that Romney flubbed his speech so badly, and paid to pull off a win in the straw poll, and yet he still seemed to get some positive media attention out of it.
The real story was the speeches given by Newt, Allen West, and of course, Sarah Palin!!! Her speech was so awesome, I am tempted to download it, and watch it over and over again later this year when the campaign gets really depressing.
I really wish more people tried to be less jaded, and cynical. So many watch those speeches, and even if they believe what they hear, and get excited about what is possible, they convince themselves that it could never really happen, or that it would be too difficult, or they are too insignificant to play a part. Really what we need is every single person who believes in the difference between right and wrong to get as involved as they possibly can!!! It really is difficult to motivate people to get involved when you can't buy votes like the Democrats do.
Oh well, if it were easy, then everybody would be doing it!!!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
CPAC extravaganza!!!!!!
Awesome speeches this year by Allen West, Marco Rubio, and best of all, Newt Gingrich!!!
Newt really knocked it out of the park this year. CPAC really is his home crowd so it is no suprise that he does so much better telling them what they all agree on then Romney trying so desperately to fit in that he brags about being a "severely conservative" governor.
The enthusiasm is out there, it really just seems like we need to get Romney out of the way so that either Newt or Rick can rally the base around them, and capitalize on all of Obama's failures.
Newt really knocked it out of the park this year. CPAC really is his home crowd so it is no suprise that he does so much better telling them what they all agree on then Romney trying so desperately to fit in that he brags about being a "severely conservative" governor.
The enthusiasm is out there, it really just seems like we need to get Romney out of the way so that either Newt or Rick can rally the base around them, and capitalize on all of Obama's failures.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Great Background on the Inspiration of the Gingrich Campaign
National Review allows a nugget of truth to slip thru their fog of Romney propoganda:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/290490/why-newt-fights-robert-costa
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/290490/why-newt-fights-robert-costa
Caucus Night - Mixed Blessings
I got the chance to speak at my caucus last night. I gave the speech for Newt Gingrich. Unfortunately my charisma didn't carry the night. Santorumm won big in Minnesota. I was still elected as the delegate from my precinct.
I am sad that Newt did so poorly here, especially right after he visited and gave such as exciting speech.
On the other hand I am happy that Romney was walloped so thoroughly!!!!
I am not opposed to Santorum, and if it was a race between him and Gingrich, I would view the race as a win/win.
I do think that Newt has better ideas, and a proven track record of significantly changing Washington at it's core, which is exactly what we need right now.
I am sad that Newt did so poorly here, especially right after he visited and gave such as exciting speech.
On the other hand I am happy that Romney was walloped so thoroughly!!!!
I am not opposed to Santorum, and if it was a race between him and Gingrich, I would view the race as a win/win.
I do think that Newt has better ideas, and a proven track record of significantly changing Washington at it's core, which is exactly what we need right now.
Interesting Tidbit
VOTE TOTALS thus far:
ROMNEY 1,182,886
GINGRICH 838,102
SANTORUM 568,723
PAUL 335,951
This is after the Santorum Hat trick where he won in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado.
ROMNEY 1,182,886
GINGRICH 838,102
SANTORUM 568,723
PAUL 335,951
This is after the Santorum Hat trick where he won in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado.
Jonah Goldberg Disgraced
For as long as I have loved Jonah Goldbergs work at National Review, it came as a serious dissapointment when he wrote that painful missive endorsing Romney. The American Spectator does a good job of putting this in perspective:
http://www.redstate.com/repair_man_jack/2012/02/08/vote-for-romney-because-he%e2%80%99ll-owe-us-seriously/
http://www.redstate.com/repair_man_jack/2012/02/08/vote-for-romney-because-he%e2%80%99ll-owe-us-seriously/
Truth, lies and Afghanistan - February 2012 - Armed Forces Journal - Military Strategy, Global Defense Strategy
It is about time we have someone speak honestly about what is going on in Afghanistan.
Truth, lies and Afghanistan - February 2012 - Armed Forces Journal - Military Strategy, Global Defense Strategy
This Lt. Col. will probably be punished, and will definitely be ruled out for any possible promotion, but he is the one who is truly living up to the Army values.
Truth, lies and Afghanistan - February 2012 - Armed Forces Journal - Military Strategy, Global Defense Strategy
This Lt. Col. will probably be punished, and will definitely be ruled out for any possible promotion, but he is the one who is truly living up to the Army values.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
My First Caucus!!
I am sitting in the auditorium of my local high school waiting for this to begin.
There are tons of Ron Paul groupies from the local university.
I have never been to a caucus before and this is an interesting experience.
All the people here seem really nice and decent.
Hopefully they all Root For Newt in Minnesota!!!!!!
There are tons of Ron Paul groupies from the local university.
I have never been to a caucus before and this is an interesting experience.
All the people here seem really nice and decent.
Hopefully they all Root For Newt in Minnesota!!!!!!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Caucus Night In Minnesota
Minnesota caucus night will be held on Tuesday February 7th.
I know mngop.com has one of those calculators that you just have to type in your address and they will tell you exactly where to go for your caucus.
It actually looks like right now MN might go for Santorum, but I am hoping Newt beats out Romney one way or the other.
I am actually volunteering to give the speech stumping for Newt at my local caucus. I am kind of excited about it. It has been a long time since I have been actively involved in a campaign. Should be fun!!
I know mngop.com has one of those calculators that you just have to type in your address and they will tell you exactly where to go for your caucus.
It actually looks like right now MN might go for Santorum, but I am hoping Newt beats out Romney one way or the other.
I am actually volunteering to give the speech stumping for Newt at my local caucus. I am kind of excited about it. It has been a long time since I have been actively involved in a campaign. Should be fun!!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Giants Win!!!!
Giants beat the Patriots in an exciting final quarter drive.
They start off the game with a lead, but the Patriots fulfill expectations by playing with ruthless efficiency on both offense and defense. The Pats take the lead, and immediately start to try to run the clock out.
The Giants come back in the last 3 minutes!!! Then there is the exciting final 57 seconds where the Giants defense does everything it takes to stuff Tom Brady!!!
The Giants really are "giant-killers" by knocking off the Evil Empire twice in four years!!!!
They start off the game with a lead, but the Patriots fulfill expectations by playing with ruthless efficiency on both offense and defense. The Pats take the lead, and immediately start to try to run the clock out.
The Giants come back in the last 3 minutes!!! Then there is the exciting final 57 seconds where the Giants defense does everything it takes to stuff Tom Brady!!!
The Giants really are "giant-killers" by knocking off the Evil Empire twice in four years!!!!
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!
It has finally arrived, and I can't wait!!!
My fiance has lined up what she calls a "10 course meal made up entirely of snack and junk foods for this special occasion".
My only regret is that I can't drink beer because I have an interview insanely early tommorow morning!!!
As Newt said - "Go Giants"!!!
They are the only ones left to defeat the Evil Empire (New England).
My fiance has lined up what she calls a "10 course meal made up entirely of snack and junk foods for this special occasion".
My only regret is that I can't drink beer because I have an interview insanely early tommorow morning!!!
As Newt said - "Go Giants"!!!
They are the only ones left to defeat the Evil Empire (New England).
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Learn From the Kulaks
This is a longer article, but it is a really good historical example of what happens when government tries to take from some to give to others.
The Revolt of the Kulaks Has Begun
The Revolt of the Kulaks Has Begun
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Relationship between Government and Business
Sen Jim DeMint has this cool video that explains what government does to business in such a simple way that even bitter, cynical liberals should be able to get it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5FMjJQAL014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5FMjJQAL014
Rush Takes Apart Mitt Romney's Ideas about Poor People
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/02/01/mitt_makes_himself_a_target_again
The important thing to remember here is that the whole media talking point is that Mitt was good and Newt was bad because we had to worry about NEWT saying things the wrong way!!!!
Gee, how was that again?
The important thing to remember here is that the whole media talking point is that Mitt was good and Newt was bad because we had to worry about NEWT saying things the wrong way!!!!
Gee, how was that again?
Ann Coulter Humiliates Herself
Great article that lays out how low Ann has gone, and how sad her apostasies really are:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/coulters-shameful-defense-romneycare/354411
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/coulters-shameful-defense-romneycare/354411
The Decline and Fall of National Review
Let me start off by putting this in perspective:
I have been a fan of National Review for almost my entire adult life. I started reading them before my first tour in Iraq, and have had a subscription ever since.
One of my proudest moments as a young guy was when K-Lo posted one of my emails on the corner and talked about it.
Several of my favorite authors work there or contribute.
This magazine has been the foundation of my political exploration as an adult, and has helped to form my opinions, and guide my beliefs.
All this has made their current shilling for Romney all the more dissapointing and discouraging. I can't believe how far off the edge of credibility they have gone to support a man who doesn't deserve the support of the conservative movement. He is a figure of the status quo, and a moderate squish who will do nothing to reverse the horrible policies that have left our country gasping for 80 years.
Right now there should be an ongoing war on the Corner between his supporters and those critical of him. Instead, everything is being framed as how great he is, and how he could be even more awesome. They have allowed a handful of honest articles to come out, but instead of seriously debating them, they have buried and forgotten them.
This is not the magazine that I love.
They are loosing their credibility every day. It kills me to read them now. It's like a bad joke, and I am waiting for them to say "suprise!!" We never meant it!!
But in reality, it is just a fact that they have decided to trade the credibility they had for a little bit of influence among the powerful people in the Beltway.
This is a betrayal of the first order. I still hold out hope that more principled heads will emerge, but in reality I know that it is only a matter of time before they are just generic shills for whatever the Establishment wants them to say.
A sad day in the conservative movement.
I have been a fan of National Review for almost my entire adult life. I started reading them before my first tour in Iraq, and have had a subscription ever since.
One of my proudest moments as a young guy was when K-Lo posted one of my emails on the corner and talked about it.
Several of my favorite authors work there or contribute.
This magazine has been the foundation of my political exploration as an adult, and has helped to form my opinions, and guide my beliefs.
All this has made their current shilling for Romney all the more dissapointing and discouraging. I can't believe how far off the edge of credibility they have gone to support a man who doesn't deserve the support of the conservative movement. He is a figure of the status quo, and a moderate squish who will do nothing to reverse the horrible policies that have left our country gasping for 80 years.
Right now there should be an ongoing war on the Corner between his supporters and those critical of him. Instead, everything is being framed as how great he is, and how he could be even more awesome. They have allowed a handful of honest articles to come out, but instead of seriously debating them, they have buried and forgotten them.
This is not the magazine that I love.
They are loosing their credibility every day. It kills me to read them now. It's like a bad joke, and I am waiting for them to say "suprise!!" We never meant it!!
But in reality, it is just a fact that they have decided to trade the credibility they had for a little bit of influence among the powerful people in the Beltway.
This is a betrayal of the first order. I still hold out hope that more principled heads will emerge, but in reality I know that it is only a matter of time before they are just generic shills for whatever the Establishment wants them to say.
A sad day in the conservative movement.
Sarah Palin- Stalwart Warrior
I guess I haven't spent as much time as I should pointing out how great Sarah Palin has been.
It seemd funny to me at first how she wouldn't endorse Newt, but kept on coming on talking about him. I guess she knew what she was doing!!!
News and opinion shows keep on bringing her on, trying to nail her down on a definite endorsement, and she keeps on spreading the word, and fighting the battles with free air time and media that, if she had already endorsed, she would never be able to get.
She talks about each of the candidates, stressing conservative values, and building them up when they support good principles, and tears them down when they cave.
This is the kind of media savy, strong willed conservative influence that we need ALL our elected leaders, and talking heads to be able to perform.
This is the way to get the message out, and explain why our ideas are the best for our country, and all the people in it.
Sarah may not have run this time, and she may not have even endorsed yet, but I have to give her credit for being a better influence on this whole cycle then many of the other people I used to respect put together!!!
It seemd funny to me at first how she wouldn't endorse Newt, but kept on coming on talking about him. I guess she knew what she was doing!!!
News and opinion shows keep on bringing her on, trying to nail her down on a definite endorsement, and she keeps on spreading the word, and fighting the battles with free air time and media that, if she had already endorsed, she would never be able to get.
She talks about each of the candidates, stressing conservative values, and building them up when they support good principles, and tears them down when they cave.
This is the kind of media savy, strong willed conservative influence that we need ALL our elected leaders, and talking heads to be able to perform.
This is the way to get the message out, and explain why our ideas are the best for our country, and all the people in it.
Sarah may not have run this time, and she may not have even endorsed yet, but I have to give her credit for being a better influence on this whole cycle then many of the other people I used to respect put together!!!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
GOP unglued????
That last Shapiro article really has me thinking. The differences in the modern GOP party are really past the point of irrecconciable.
The base is dedicated to original values like limited government, individual responsibility, and bottom up government. Too many in the establishment have completely bought into the idea that they are a permenant aristocracy that is tasked with ruling us benevolently, but that they always know best.
Elections are supposed to disavow these folks of that kind of thinking. Unfortunately, they have devised all sorts of ways to game the system and drag base conservatives across the finish line kicking and screaming with some moderate fluky almost every time. Even in the situations where some legitimate principled person gets thru, they find ways to corrupt them, and get them to come on board as part of the ruling elite.
It's not even like they are the ruling party. The Democrats have been at the steering wheel for over 80 years, as evidenced by the constant growth of government. But in the largest, richest country in human history, apparently the GOP elites have decided that holding permenant 2nd place is high enough on the ladder.
The problem seems to be that they have gotten so used to getting whatever they want from their voters, that they have started taking them for granted. In 2006, and 2008 the voters stayed home, and the GOP openly blamed them for their own mistakes. In 2010, the voters started a movement of their own. GOP elites openly tried to sabotage it, and then in the circumstances that it succeeded, they took all the credit.
Now they are openly trying to force a single candidate down voters' throats, and more then a few are starting to realize that this is not the role of a real democracy. Every advantage is being rolled out for Mitt Romney, including many media sources that are normally considered trustworthy by base conservatives.
It is not making a difference. The open secret is that the base and the elite no longer share the same views.
They are not working towards the same goals. We can fight to get our own candidate through the GOP laid minefield and all the way to the general election where they will anklebite and nitpick him through the entire process.
But why should we? There is no law that says we have to play by their rules.
On the other hand, the electoral college is what it is, and without a Constitutional Ammendment, we will always have a two party system.
But there has been plenty of times in American history when political parties died.
Third party candidates are not the answer. They always benefit the opponent when one side splits it's vote. But I think we might be coming to a time when the GOP is getting ready to drastically change. The entrenched elements will hold onto their power and prestige for everyhing they are worth, because in amny cases, it is all they are worth. They are finding out that they are being forced to answer for their apostasies far more forcefully, and far more frequently. They are being questioned, and their credibility is running out.
The TEA party eruption is not something that is going to go away. The elites are hoping that they can suppress it long enough to get even more entrenched. But it is only a matter of time before they have to answer for what they have caused. And this election cycle has forced their transgressions out into the spotlight in a way that they truly hate. They are being held accountable, and they are trying to force us to give in to their "wisdom", so they can sweep this under the rug that much quicker.
The longer we can keep Newt in the game the better. It will shine the light on these elites that are horribly afraid of people finding out what they are doing. And if things worked out right, we might even make Newt President!!! Imagine these people quaking with fear at the idea of Newt (with a grudge) coming after them from the White House!!!
These issues are festering under the skin of the Republican Party, and it is only a matter of time before they come out.
The base is dedicated to original values like limited government, individual responsibility, and bottom up government. Too many in the establishment have completely bought into the idea that they are a permenant aristocracy that is tasked with ruling us benevolently, but that they always know best.
Elections are supposed to disavow these folks of that kind of thinking. Unfortunately, they have devised all sorts of ways to game the system and drag base conservatives across the finish line kicking and screaming with some moderate fluky almost every time. Even in the situations where some legitimate principled person gets thru, they find ways to corrupt them, and get them to come on board as part of the ruling elite.
It's not even like they are the ruling party. The Democrats have been at the steering wheel for over 80 years, as evidenced by the constant growth of government. But in the largest, richest country in human history, apparently the GOP elites have decided that holding permenant 2nd place is high enough on the ladder.
The problem seems to be that they have gotten so used to getting whatever they want from their voters, that they have started taking them for granted. In 2006, and 2008 the voters stayed home, and the GOP openly blamed them for their own mistakes. In 2010, the voters started a movement of their own. GOP elites openly tried to sabotage it, and then in the circumstances that it succeeded, they took all the credit.
Now they are openly trying to force a single candidate down voters' throats, and more then a few are starting to realize that this is not the role of a real democracy. Every advantage is being rolled out for Mitt Romney, including many media sources that are normally considered trustworthy by base conservatives.
It is not making a difference. The open secret is that the base and the elite no longer share the same views.
They are not working towards the same goals. We can fight to get our own candidate through the GOP laid minefield and all the way to the general election where they will anklebite and nitpick him through the entire process.
But why should we? There is no law that says we have to play by their rules.
On the other hand, the electoral college is what it is, and without a Constitutional Ammendment, we will always have a two party system.
But there has been plenty of times in American history when political parties died.
Third party candidates are not the answer. They always benefit the opponent when one side splits it's vote. But I think we might be coming to a time when the GOP is getting ready to drastically change. The entrenched elements will hold onto their power and prestige for everyhing they are worth, because in amny cases, it is all they are worth. They are finding out that they are being forced to answer for their apostasies far more forcefully, and far more frequently. They are being questioned, and their credibility is running out.
The TEA party eruption is not something that is going to go away. The elites are hoping that they can suppress it long enough to get even more entrenched. But it is only a matter of time before they have to answer for what they have caused. And this election cycle has forced their transgressions out into the spotlight in a way that they truly hate. They are being held accountable, and they are trying to force us to give in to their "wisdom", so they can sweep this under the rug that much quicker.
The longer we can keep Newt in the game the better. It will shine the light on these elites that are horribly afraid of people finding out what they are doing. And if things worked out right, we might even make Newt President!!! Imagine these people quaking with fear at the idea of Newt (with a grudge) coming after them from the White House!!!
These issues are festering under the skin of the Republican Party, and it is only a matter of time before they come out.
The Big Picture
Ben Shapiro does it again!! He uses a great historical perspective to illustrate the growing chasm in GOP ranks over the statist status quo.
http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2012/02/01/the_republican_party_becomes_the_whig_party
http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2012/02/01/the_republican_party_becomes_the_whig_party
miltonwolf.com
A cool quote I got from Milton Wolf's site:
Mitt Romney is Reaganesque like Michael Moore is athletic
and more, from his recent Washington Times article:
Mitt Romney is Reaganesque like Michael Moore is athletic
and more, from his recent Washington Times article:
We’ve reached a before-and-after moment in American politics: Republicans will no longer win elections without Tea Party support. So it’s simply stupefying, then, that the establishment would go to such lengths to demoralize their own lifeline.
Consider the simple math behind Republicans’ decidedly bad losses in 2006 and 2008. Their voters, conservatives in particular, simply didn’t show up. Then in 2010, they did. What changed? In 2012, in Iowa and New Hampshire, fresh off the heels of a multimillion-dollar establishment onslaught against Mr. Gingrich, GOP primary voter turnout had basically flat-lined from 2008, on pace to secure President Obama’s re-election. But in South Carolina, Mr. Gingrich masterminded a dramatic surge that was fueled by his bold and brave stand against the establishment. The result? Voter turnout shot up an astonishing 35 percent above 2008 levels as 155,000 new voters went to the polls to support Republicans.
In Florida, the Republican empire is striking back. Somewhere, way beyond the soon-to-be-forgotten distractions of Cayman bank accounts and trumped-up ethics charges, is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Mr. Gingrich may be an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, as the former Alaska governor has said, but in truth, if you connect the dots between the ideals of the Reagan Revolution, Mr. Gingrich’s Republican Revolution and the Tea Party movement, you get a straight line. The GOP establishment is right to fear Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party, just as they once feared Ronald Reagan.
The American Thinker Articles: Mitt's Scorched Earth Win
Great article that is a bit of a time line, looking back and summarizing the GOP race to date:
Articles: Mitt's Scorched Earth Win
Articles: Mitt's Scorched Earth Win
Obama's War on Religion
Obama has decided that whole Constitution thing is just too much of a bummer. He is trying to see if he can directly violate it and get away with it.
He has passed legislation forcing church organizations to provide sterilization, contraceptives, and abortion pills to their employees even if it is direct violation of their religious beliefs.
This is downright abusive. There is no excuse for this and people should be marching in the streets.
It has gotten so politically acceptable in our country to attack Christians that way too many people just see this as par for the course. That is unacceptable. There needs to be a serious reaction to this, so that not only is this legislation tossed in the burn pit, but Obama is thoroughly discredited, and his already slim re-election chances are whittled down to nothing. Politicians need to know that it is political suicide to try to violate American's frredom of religion. The only way we can keep our freedoms is if we make sure that no one in our government would ever dare to touch it.
He has passed legislation forcing church organizations to provide sterilization, contraceptives, and abortion pills to their employees even if it is direct violation of their religious beliefs.
This is downright abusive. There is no excuse for this and people should be marching in the streets.
It has gotten so politically acceptable in our country to attack Christians that way too many people just see this as par for the course. That is unacceptable. There needs to be a serious reaction to this, so that not only is this legislation tossed in the burn pit, but Obama is thoroughly discredited, and his already slim re-election chances are whittled down to nothing. Politicians need to know that it is political suicide to try to violate American's frredom of religion. The only way we can keep our freedoms is if we make sure that no one in our government would ever dare to touch it.
Gingrich winning in Minnesota - Public Policy Polling
GO MINNESOTA!!!!!! Let's keep this up!!!!! NEWT NATION 2012!!!!!!
Gingrich winning in Minnesota - Public Policy Polling
Gingrich winning in Minnesota - Public Policy Polling
A Telling Post from Redstate
If the Obama administration were to construct the perfect candidate for the O to run against, they would assemble Mitt Romney from spare parts. He fits their caricature of the Republican party to a T.
Rich… privileged… top 1% of income… finance geek… Wall Street… out of touch… religious fanatic… scary cult… and the scary cult was openly racist right up ’till 1980 or so.
I don’t know if the myth of Romney’s electability started in the White House, but it might have, and they’re certainly doing nothing to discourage that ridiculous line of thinking.
Romney will be beaten worse than McCain. Our only hope is to nominate a conservative.
Rich… privileged… top 1% of income… finance geek… Wall Street… out of touch… religious fanatic… scary cult… and the scary cult was openly racist right up ’till 1980 or so.
I don’t know if the myth of Romney’s electability started in the White House, but it might have, and they’re certainly doing nothing to discourage that ridiculous line of thinking.
Romney will be beaten worse than McCain. Our only hope is to nominate a conservative.
Apathy will be the legacy of Romney’s carpet bombing
This is unfortunately the net result of what took place down in Florida. He explains how Romney will drive away voters, and burn out GOP credibility and leave us with a party nothing more then Democrat-lite.
Apathy will be the legacy of Romney’s carpet bombing
Apathy will be the legacy of Romney’s carpet bombing
Florida
Mitt Romney pulled off a win last night by getting overwhelming vote totals in heavily Democratic Broward and Dade Counties.
This came on the heels of his incredible ad blitz campaign where he out spent all the other candidates put together. His ads turned out to be about 90% negative, and heavily funded by Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and other bailout recipients.
He still doesn't have a message. Conservatives won't forget how despicable this was, and all the lies he told. He can't inspire people to vote for him, because he is running as the generic status quo candidate, and if he went into specifics, that could be used to pressure him into actually trying later. At this point, the only thing he can do is completely overwhelm his opponents with lies and distortions.
This becomes evident when you look at the polls. Every time Mitt wins, or comes close, voter turnout is way down. Any time people think Mitt has it wrapped up, most people stay home. He doesn't have any enthusiasm. People don't get enthusiastic or inspired by negative messages. On the other hand, when Newt won South Carolina, turnout was huge!!! People came out in droves to vote for a positive message about what America once was, and what it could once again be. This is the kind of voter action that is needed to win elections. This is the kind of message that is needed!!
Mitt is a weak candidate. His lack of core convictions, and lack of a message prevents people from getting behind him, and his negative attacks turns people off. He only won FL by having a 5 to 1 ad advantage. We all know that he will not have anything like that kind of advantage going up against Obama's $1 billion dollar campaign complete with complicit media drones. The GOP Establishment is leading us down the road to another 2008, 2006, 1996 etc. etc etc. The hope is that Obama has been such a spectacularly horrible president that the American people will just let Mitt president for awhile instead. This is a false hope. Obama has built his power on the Democratic legacy of buying votes and support thru government giveaways and crony capitalism. This hasn't changed, and these people won't back off. Mitt is trying to offer them more of the same. Why would they take that when they already have the guy they want?
This came on the heels of his incredible ad blitz campaign where he out spent all the other candidates put together. His ads turned out to be about 90% negative, and heavily funded by Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and other bailout recipients.
He still doesn't have a message. Conservatives won't forget how despicable this was, and all the lies he told. He can't inspire people to vote for him, because he is running as the generic status quo candidate, and if he went into specifics, that could be used to pressure him into actually trying later. At this point, the only thing he can do is completely overwhelm his opponents with lies and distortions.
This becomes evident when you look at the polls. Every time Mitt wins, or comes close, voter turnout is way down. Any time people think Mitt has it wrapped up, most people stay home. He doesn't have any enthusiasm. People don't get enthusiastic or inspired by negative messages. On the other hand, when Newt won South Carolina, turnout was huge!!! People came out in droves to vote for a positive message about what America once was, and what it could once again be. This is the kind of voter action that is needed to win elections. This is the kind of message that is needed!!
Mitt is a weak candidate. His lack of core convictions, and lack of a message prevents people from getting behind him, and his negative attacks turns people off. He only won FL by having a 5 to 1 ad advantage. We all know that he will not have anything like that kind of advantage going up against Obama's $1 billion dollar campaign complete with complicit media drones. The GOP Establishment is leading us down the road to another 2008, 2006, 1996 etc. etc etc. The hope is that Obama has been such a spectacularly horrible president that the American people will just let Mitt president for awhile instead. This is a false hope. Obama has built his power on the Democratic legacy of buying votes and support thru government giveaways and crony capitalism. This hasn't changed, and these people won't back off. Mitt is trying to offer them more of the same. Why would they take that when they already have the guy they want?
Conservative Fallout
Great summary of Mitt's role in the GOP Establishment's status quo.
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/01/romneys-cheap-and-empty-win
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/01/romneys-cheap-and-empty-win
The Next Day Fallout
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/01/31/florida%e2%80%99s-results-are-the-best-that-money-can-buy/?singlepage=true
Here is a good column summing up what Newt's loss in FL means.
Here is a good column summing up what Newt's loss in FL means.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Catholics take a Brave Stand Against Obama
The Catholic Church is fighting mad with the Obama Administration, and nearly every Catholic sitting in a pew this weekend heard the reasons why.
The Health and Human Services Department recently announced it will require all employers (with few exceptions) to provide health insurance to their employees which includes subsidized contraception, sterilization and coverage for abortion-inducing drugs.
This meant that religious institutions, like Catholic colleges and hospitals, or other Christian institutions would be compelled to violate their conscience by cooperating with that which they believe to be wrong. Currently many of these institutions purchase health-insurance plans which do not provide free coverage of these services.
To give an analogy, it would be like the government mandating that all delis, even Kosher delis, serve pork products and then justifying it by saying that protein is healthy, and many Jews who don't follow Kosher laws and many non-Jews go to those delis. The law wouldn't technically ban Jews from owning delis, but it would effectively ban their ability to run them according to their conscience.
Well, the Catholic Church isn't lying down and taking this.
In thousands of parishes this weekend, Catholic priests read a version of the following letter to their congregation denouncing this decision as an attack on their religious freedom. Each bishop personally sent the letter out, and so there were some local variations. Here's the one read in the Phoenix Archdiocese. Here's another from the Bishop of Trenton. What follows is from the Bishop of Marquette:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just been dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people —the Catholic population —and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies. In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply. We cannot—we will not —comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less. And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience,to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Obama Administration’s decision. Sincerely yours in Christ, +Alexander K. Sample Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample Bishop of Marquette
The Health and Human Services Department recently announced it will require all employers (with few exceptions) to provide health insurance to their employees which includes subsidized contraception, sterilization and coverage for abortion-inducing drugs.
This meant that religious institutions, like Catholic colleges and hospitals, or other Christian institutions would be compelled to violate their conscience by cooperating with that which they believe to be wrong. Currently many of these institutions purchase health-insurance plans which do not provide free coverage of these services.
To give an analogy, it would be like the government mandating that all delis, even Kosher delis, serve pork products and then justifying it by saying that protein is healthy, and many Jews who don't follow Kosher laws and many non-Jews go to those delis. The law wouldn't technically ban Jews from owning delis, but it would effectively ban their ability to run them according to their conscience.
Well, the Catholic Church isn't lying down and taking this.
In thousands of parishes this weekend, Catholic priests read a version of the following letter to their congregation denouncing this decision as an attack on their religious freedom. Each bishop personally sent the letter out, and so there were some local variations. Here's the one read in the Phoenix Archdiocese. Here's another from the Bishop of Trenton. What follows is from the Bishop of Marquette:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just been dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people —the Catholic population —and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies. In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply. We cannot—we will not —comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less. And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience,to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Obama Administration’s decision. Sincerely yours in Christ, +Alexander K. Sample Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample Bishop of Marquette
Mark Levin Speaks the truth about Romney
CHARACTER MATTERS AND ROMNEY'S WORRIES ME
by Mark Levin on Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 1:57pm
I am beginning to think that the nature and level of attacks being launched by Mitt Romney against Newt Gingrich, which he would surely use against any conservative threatening his nomination, are going to make it very difficult for Romney to unite the different factions of the GOP and the conservative movement behind his candidacy should he win the nomination. While I have said that I would vote for Rick Santorum, I am appalled at the "anything goes" assault on Gingrich. See here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/politics/the-calculations-that-led-romney-to-the-warpath.html?pagewanted=all?
Romney is not a conservative in the traditional sense, and he has a record of big-government Republicanism. Even many years after the success of the Reagan administration, he sought to distance himself from Reagan and the GOP, self-identifying as a progressive and independent. Thus, he resorts to spending multi-millions of dollars trashing his opponents, rather than providing thoughtful arguments on conservatism and constitutionalism. Lest we forget, it was Gingrich who was trying to run a positive campaign and who offered to debate Romney one-on-one, asking Romney to stop with the millions in unanswered ads attacking him. Romney declined. I have no doubt that Romney would do the same thing to Santorum if Santorum was rising in the polls, albeit on different issues.
I have said that Romney is in many ways Richard Nixon, and that Romney would not successfully lead efforts to repeal Obamacare but, in fact, would grow the federal government in many respects. Romney's advisor, former senator Norm Coleman, has now said as much. That is Romney's record. Despite having been a businessman, he was not a defender of free market capitalism while governor. Romneycare is, as Santorum pointed out, a top-down government health care system with an individual mandate that is breaking Massachusetts' treasury and destroying private health insurance. It is a disaster. Romney also backed cap-and-trade and TARP (as did Gingrich).
My great fear is, however, that he is the weakest candidate who can face Obama and will go into the general election with a fractured base, thanks to his own character flaws, which are now on display, and his tactics of personal destruction. Moreover, while Romney can swamp his Republican opponents by 3 to 1 or more in every state with his spending advantage, Barack Obama will be raising more and spending more to beat him in the general election, meaning Romney's financial advantage will be non-existent.
We better start paying a lot more attention to holding the House of Representatives and winning the Senate with a bunch of solid conservatives. I have spent a year on my radio show identifying and interviewing these candidates, and will continue to do so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/politics/the-calculations-that-led-romney-to-the-warpath.html?pagewanted=all?
Romney is not a conservative in the traditional sense, and he has a record of big-government Republicanism. Even many years after the success of the Reagan administration, he sought to distance himself from Reagan and the GOP, self-identifying as a progressive and independent. Thus, he resorts to spending multi-millions of dollars trashing his opponents, rather than providing thoughtful arguments on conservatism and constitutionalism. Lest we forget, it was Gingrich who was trying to run a positive campaign and who offered to debate Romney one-on-one, asking Romney to stop with the millions in unanswered ads attacking him. Romney declined. I have no doubt that Romney would do the same thing to Santorum if Santorum was rising in the polls, albeit on different issues.
I have said that Romney is in many ways Richard Nixon, and that Romney would not successfully lead efforts to repeal Obamacare but, in fact, would grow the federal government in many respects. Romney's advisor, former senator Norm Coleman, has now said as much. That is Romney's record. Despite having been a businessman, he was not a defender of free market capitalism while governor. Romneycare is, as Santorum pointed out, a top-down government health care system with an individual mandate that is breaking Massachusetts' treasury and destroying private health insurance. It is a disaster. Romney also backed cap-and-trade and TARP (as did Gingrich).
My great fear is, however, that he is the weakest candidate who can face Obama and will go into the general election with a fractured base, thanks to his own character flaws, which are now on display, and his tactics of personal destruction. Moreover, while Romney can swamp his Republican opponents by 3 to 1 or more in every state with his spending advantage, Barack Obama will be raising more and spending more to beat him in the general election, meaning Romney's financial advantage will be non-existent.
We better start paying a lot more attention to holding the House of Representatives and winning the Senate with a bunch of solid conservatives. I have spent a year on my radio show identifying and interviewing these candidates, and will continue to do so.
Cain, Thompson, and Michael Reagan
On the last day before the polls open in the FL primary, Newt is traveling the state with Herman Cain, Fred Thompson, and Ronald Reagan's son Michael. Should show the hypocrisy of the backstabbers who have been recently trying to pretend like Newt fought against Reagan while he was in office.
I hope that this strong endorsement by stalwart conservatives helps pull things in Newt's direction. Recent polls have shown him losing by 14-16 points, but last night they started tightening up. He is catching up now, and is only behind by 5-7 points. If he can keep this momentum going, the base of the party just might have a chance to show the GOP establishment who really pulls the leash in a democracy!!!
I hope that this strong endorsement by stalwart conservatives helps pull things in Newt's direction. Recent polls have shown him losing by 14-16 points, but last night they started tightening up. He is catching up now, and is only behind by 5-7 points. If he can keep this momentum going, the base of the party just might have a chance to show the GOP establishment who really pulls the leash in a democracy!!!
SuperBowl 2012 Countdown
It is official: The New England Patriots versus the New York Giants.
The Pats are the obvious favorites in that they have the longest record of most consistently winning in the league for the last few years. They won the SuperBowl twice last decade and went another time. 3 trips in 10 years is quite the feat for a pro team.
On the other hand, the only time they lost was to the Giants. Now the Giants have flashes of brilliance, and when they are on their game, they can be the best, but they also have moments where everything falls apart. It will be interesting to see if the Giants can twice defeat the Pats and solidify their ironic reputation as "giant-killers".
The Pats are the obvious favorites in that they have the longest record of most consistently winning in the league for the last few years. They won the SuperBowl twice last decade and went another time. 3 trips in 10 years is quite the feat for a pro team.
On the other hand, the only time they lost was to the Giants. Now the Giants have flashes of brilliance, and when they are on their game, they can be the best, but they also have moments where everything falls apart. It will be interesting to see if the Giants can twice defeat the Pats and solidify their ironic reputation as "giant-killers".
Romney the Flip Flopper
The reason so many conservatives are casting around, trying to find an alternative to Mitt Romney is his complete lack of any detectable principles.
His flip flops have been so frequent and so obviously self-serving that no one can count on him to stand for anything.
His only real driving force seems to be his ego driven ambition.
The best evidence of this came in the most recent debate, when confronted by how difficult it will be to turn back the signature transgression of our times Obamneycare, and he responded "its not worth getting angry over".
The base is angry. They need someone to stand up for whats right, and fight until we are successful. Someone who was instrumental in the origin of Obamneycare, and "is not angry about it" is not the champion we need.
His flip flops have been so frequent and so obviously self-serving that no one can count on him to stand for anything.
His only real driving force seems to be his ego driven ambition.
The best evidence of this came in the most recent debate, when confronted by how difficult it will be to turn back the signature transgression of our times Obamneycare, and he responded "its not worth getting angry over".
The base is angry. They need someone to stand up for whats right, and fight until we are successful. Someone who was instrumental in the origin of Obamneycare, and "is not angry about it" is not the champion we need.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Conservatives with Newt: Gingrich: Romney ‘was never part of conservatism ...
Conservatives with Newt: Gingrich: Romney ‘was never part of conservatism ...: video platform video management video solutions video player Video courtesy of ABC News - JP
Great interview by Newt!!! This is the kind of thing that lets people know what is really going on!!!
Great interview by Newt!!! This is the kind of thing that lets people know what is really going on!!!
Sarah Palin comes out swinging!!!!!
Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left
by Sarah Palin on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 4:57pm
We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.
We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this week’s tactics aren’t what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. I’ve seen it before – heck, I lived it before – but not in a GOP primary race.
I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008. The left seeks to single someone out and destroy his or her record and reputation and family using the media as a channel to dump handpicked and half-baked campaign opposition research on the public. The difference in 2008 was that I was largely unknown to the American public, so they had no way of differentiating between the lies and the truth. All of it came at them at once as “facts” about me. But Newt Gingrich is known to us – both the good and the bad.
We know that Newt fought in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Newt was among a handful of Republican Congressman who would regularly take to the House floor to defend Reagan at a time when conservatives didn’t have Fox News or talk radio or conservative blogs to give any balance to the liberal mainstream media. Newt actually came at Reagan’s administration “from the right” to remind Americans that freer markets and tougher national defense would win our future. But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan and isn’t conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you won’t stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this “anti-Reagan” claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didn’t want to go back to the Reagan days. You can’t change history. We know that Newt Gingrich brought the Reagan Revolution into the 1990s. We know it because none other than Nancy Reagan herself announced this when she presented Newt with an award, telling us, “The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.” As Rush and others pointed out, if Nancy Reagan had ever thought that Newt was in any way an opponent of her beloved husband, she would never have even appeared on a stage with him, let alone presented him with an award and said such kind things about him. Nor would Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, have chosen to endorse Newt in this primary race. There are no two greater keepers of the Reagan legacy than Nancy and Michael Reagan. What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque rewriting of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.
But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard’s choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans “bitterly clinging” to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the “wisdom” of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 who didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.
I spoke up before the South Carolina primary to urge voters there to keep this primary going because I have great concern about the GOP establishment trying to anoint a candidate without the blessing of the grassroots and all the needed energy and resources we as commonsense constitutional conservatives could bring to the general election in order to defeat President Obama. Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end. We need to vet this. Pundits in the Beltway are gleefully proclaiming that this primary race is over after Florida, despite 46 states still not having chimed in. Well, perhaps it’s possible that it will come to a speedy end in just four days; but with these questions left unanswered, it will not have come to a satisfactory conclusion. Without this necessary vetting process, the unanswered question of Governor Romney’s conservative bona fides and the unanswered and false attacks on Newt Gingrich will hang in the air to demoralize many in the electorate. The Tea Party grassroots will certainly feel disenfranchised and disenchanted with the perceived orchestrated outcome from self-proclaimed movers and shakers trying to sew this all up. And, trust me, during the general election, Governor Romney’s statements and record in the private sector will be relentlessly parsed over by the opposition in excruciating detail to frighten off swing voters. This is why we need a fair primary that is not prematurely cut short by the GOP establishment using Alinsky tactics to kneecap Governor Romney’s chief rival.
As I said in my speech in Iowa last September, the challenge of this election is not simply to replace President Obama. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though it’s becoming clearer that the old guard wants anything but that. That is why we should all be concerned by the tactics employed by the establishment this week. We will not save our country by becoming like the left. And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didn’t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they’re now using every available microscope and endoscope – along with rewriting history – in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party’s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?
- Sarah Palin
We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this week’s tactics aren’t what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. I’ve seen it before – heck, I lived it before – but not in a GOP primary race.
I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008. The left seeks to single someone out and destroy his or her record and reputation and family using the media as a channel to dump handpicked and half-baked campaign opposition research on the public. The difference in 2008 was that I was largely unknown to the American public, so they had no way of differentiating between the lies and the truth. All of it came at them at once as “facts” about me. But Newt Gingrich is known to us – both the good and the bad.
We know that Newt fought in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Newt was among a handful of Republican Congressman who would regularly take to the House floor to defend Reagan at a time when conservatives didn’t have Fox News or talk radio or conservative blogs to give any balance to the liberal mainstream media. Newt actually came at Reagan’s administration “from the right” to remind Americans that freer markets and tougher national defense would win our future. But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan and isn’t conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you won’t stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this “anti-Reagan” claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didn’t want to go back to the Reagan days. You can’t change history. We know that Newt Gingrich brought the Reagan Revolution into the 1990s. We know it because none other than Nancy Reagan herself announced this when she presented Newt with an award, telling us, “The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.” As Rush and others pointed out, if Nancy Reagan had ever thought that Newt was in any way an opponent of her beloved husband, she would never have even appeared on a stage with him, let alone presented him with an award and said such kind things about him. Nor would Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, have chosen to endorse Newt in this primary race. There are no two greater keepers of the Reagan legacy than Nancy and Michael Reagan. What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque rewriting of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.
But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard’s choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans “bitterly clinging” to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the “wisdom” of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 who didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.
I spoke up before the South Carolina primary to urge voters there to keep this primary going because I have great concern about the GOP establishment trying to anoint a candidate without the blessing of the grassroots and all the needed energy and resources we as commonsense constitutional conservatives could bring to the general election in order to defeat President Obama. Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end. We need to vet this. Pundits in the Beltway are gleefully proclaiming that this primary race is over after Florida, despite 46 states still not having chimed in. Well, perhaps it’s possible that it will come to a speedy end in just four days; but with these questions left unanswered, it will not have come to a satisfactory conclusion. Without this necessary vetting process, the unanswered question of Governor Romney’s conservative bona fides and the unanswered and false attacks on Newt Gingrich will hang in the air to demoralize many in the electorate. The Tea Party grassroots will certainly feel disenfranchised and disenchanted with the perceived orchestrated outcome from self-proclaimed movers and shakers trying to sew this all up. And, trust me, during the general election, Governor Romney’s statements and record in the private sector will be relentlessly parsed over by the opposition in excruciating detail to frighten off swing voters. This is why we need a fair primary that is not prematurely cut short by the GOP establishment using Alinsky tactics to kneecap Governor Romney’s chief rival.
As I said in my speech in Iowa last September, the challenge of this election is not simply to replace President Obama. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though it’s becoming clearer that the old guard wants anything but that. That is why we should all be concerned by the tactics employed by the establishment this week. We will not save our country by becoming like the left. And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didn’t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they’re now using every available microscope and endoscope – along with rewriting history – in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party’s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?
- Sarah Palin
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