Politics=War in Action

"Democracy in Action" is how the Left typify it!

When the politics=war crowd gets into Government they could silence the opposition, either by morally condemning them on trumped up charges as we have seen played out over the last few days (see "From Political Correctness to One Party Rule"), or -

they could unleash one of their political action attack dogs, as is the case today:

Move On: "Not One"

"Not a single Republican voted for President Obama's economic recovery plan in the House. If that happens in the Senate, Obama's plan won't pass. We've got a new TV ad to win over swing-vote Republican senators. Can you chip in?"

Why not ask George SoroS for a hand-out? Or is this supposed to pass for 'grassroots in action'? Swarming, nudging ... where the Left has a presence some form of coercion is usually not very far of.

Stimulus - recovery plan? The video has the gall to call for supporting "the Obama recovery plan for 3 million jobs, not the failed policies of the past ..." yada yada yada - ~~~~~~~ (these represent sound-waves, the definition of postmodern 'communications').

No, let's recover as slow as possible and credit the politicians by revamping the failed policies of the far, far past! [sarc off]

Only in countries without private ownership (i.e. in totalitarian states) can the Government 'create' jobs, rather like Corporal Hitler's and the Communists' hundred percent employment rate! (In the 1934 National Socialist economy of Germany 52,000 men were required to work on civil engineering projects alone, while some 100,000 were employed in supplying their building material.)

In liberal democracies it's a demonstrable fallacy that is re-enacted every time some Government has wrecked the economy by 'regulating' it. In this particular case banks were compelled by law to peddle subprime mortgages.

The Keynesian game is a parlor trick played by politicians on the people they claim to represent! The truth is, there is nothing the state can do to counter the fix except letting the market's self-regulating mechanism do its job; and the more they interfere with that process, the longer recovery takes.

But admitting that would prove that capitalism isn't the villain of the piece, but the hero. And it would unmask the Leftist game for what it is: a war on reality! So Keynesianism allows them to shine, a show-case for the policies that saved the country - despite, rather than because of it.

• Fixing the Economy, the Really, Really Hard Way
  

• Pierre Lemieux: "The Brave New World of Stimulus"

• Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: "Stop Blaming Capitalism for Government Failures", by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

• Wall Street Journal: "'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years"

Back to party politics, the other war. The loyal opposition has finally decided a counter-offensive is in order. Conservatives are slowly catching on to the Left's Alinsky tactics.

Although full comprehension of the Postmodern anti rulebook is hard to accomplish, simply because it is so antithetical to anything we know, the TCOT Action Projects' "Launch Operation MOVE OVER MoveON.org" makes an excellent start.

Beginning Monday we will call 5 Rep Senators targeted by MoveOn.org and confirm their opposition to the Pork Laden Spoils Spending Bill

We will also call a few wavering Democrats

Blog action also detailed

Radio Show Call In action detailed

Saturday January 31, 2009 8 PM CST

CALL IN NUMBER

(219) 509-8333

Access code 134848 #

We encourage American freemarket supporters to sign up with TCOT Action Projects, RootsHQ and DontGo. These grassroots projects aim at remedying some of the hiatus Conservatism had in IT based activism. They make a flying start with countering the worst end-justifies-the-means assaults by the statists.

We'd like to call on Europeans to sign up with "Roots! We the Peoples of Europe", either on Facebook or on Ning. Roots! are planning to develop similar action programs to claim back Europe from the Hegelian statists for its peoples, as it should have been!

Update:

Just released film material by Free Wagon Films shows that the much admired "New Deal" FDR Administration was over its eye-balls infiltrated by communist subvertors, which may be the reason President Obama is (subconsciously) attracted to its policies. The series "The Subversion Factor" deals with the entire range of moles throughout the last century. Part 2 explains the matter in general, while part 3 specifically deals with the FDR years.

- Filed in Articles in "Rules for the Right" -

The New Playbook: Rules for the Right

The post "Three things the Obamedia will do to depress Republican turnout and help Obama" addressed to Republicans, which is up on PUMA blog Hillbuzz, makes one thing stand out as mole on a lily white bosom: that Republicans are playing by a very antiquated rule book.

Here's a News Flash for the defenders of civilized society: there's a war on, y'know!

Here's the thing in military terms. The rules of engagement are dictated by pragmatism: whatever is expedient to the cause - no restrictions - rules. The officer corps consists of agenda driven, Democrat campaign strategists David Axelrod, Dick Morris and Paul Begala et al, the MSM are their foot soldiers. We'll get back to you as soon as we've flushed out the hidden Secretaries of War. While neocons were celebrating the end of history, the opposition unilaterally connived to no longer play by the Geneva convention.

Or let's try explain that in sports terms. Say you are a member of a sports team. All members but you received a letter with recent changes in the rulebook. The next time you enter the field, things will seem strangely different. You'll catch up and get the picture eventually (or not), but right now we are in a defining presidential election in which one party no longer plays by the old rules.

Either Republicans adopt some of the street wise Alinsky Rules for Radicals as championed by the Dems, or think up some winning strategies of their own, fast and furious. Here we advocate the latter, foregoing the unedifying gutter ethics as advocated by the radical Left.

- Caption: the OODA LOOP, of which the Palin VP choice was an example - fighter pilot John McCain must be well versed -

Republicans are always on the defensive, which makes sense for a conservative party. But that means that the forces of 'progress' and 'change' will always have the advantage of the attack. Remember, offense is the best defense.

This has been the frame of reference for donkeys years. The opposition has accumulated loads of strategies and tactics to play a winning game. In fact, they are always on the advance, while conservatives have steadily been losing ground. We may even have reached tipping point in an Obama tenure, when the latitude to recover any lost ground, may be forever forfeited.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union Republicans and conservatives (neo conservatives to a much lesser extent) have taken their eyes off the ball, falling for the oldest trick in the book yet, the assumption that the opponent thinks like them, and therefore must have conceded defeat. Per Fukuyama, it was game, set and match - or was it?

But the forces of change neither sleep, nor will they ever acknowledge that their ideology is based on a fallacy. That has been the whole point of the subjectivist campaign over the last two centuries: "If reason makes no sense to your argument as reality clearly shows otherwise, attack reason as pernicious and superficial, and persuade the world that reality doesn't exist."

The beast no longer presents itself by the old Socialist epithets; these have no meaning to younger voters anyway (the commie memes would have been useful, given that they pierce the romanticist PR bubble). Today's neotot guise is that of the Postmodern politician, fuzzy, bordering the anti statesman. Passion driven, but undefined messages of 'hope' and 'change' have taken the place of objective definitions.

They project the image of a slight lean towards a few carefully targeted collective measures, and seem vaguely sympathetic to larger governments, that befit "the demands and requirements of a fast globalizing world" ... all for the greater good, of course.

The approach to working the masses is charged with high emotion; fact, truth and reality are putty, pliable as the aim requires. The message is that times truly have changed, that old laws have become obsolete, that man has evolved into a new being with a superior morality who is no longer in need of the crude logic of shopkeepers. Truth is, that metaphysical laws do not change, only man-made creations do.

And so they play at impressions, perceptions, building false image constructs (e.g. the bitter, angry McCain or the haute couture addicted Palin), catching emotions before they're filtered and exposed to the harsh reality of reason.

This trick is even easier to pull on impressionable young people whose minds are open to suggestion (see also "The Comprehensive Guide to Youth for Obama"). It is very old playbook harking back to old Europe during the interbellum, when Mussolini and Corporal Hitler were playing the masses with false dichotomies, vacuous sound bites and the overwhelming demagogy of passion with an appeal to the will of the people.

The Left - by their innate philosophy of coercion that gives them a free pass to manipulate people's minds - have harnessed a host of psychological strategies to their battle wagon.

What gives, if in the process they create a semi Fascist, crypto totalitarian society? Or perhaps that is precisely that what they have in mind, so they can pronounce liberal democracy - a corollary of individual rights - obsolete as well. Utopia is always built on the ashes of collapsed empires.

The campaigner of today needs to formulate strategies to deflect the 'end justifies the means' assaults, which are typical of the essentially amoral, pragmatism driven campaigns. You can start by taking their own advice.

Study and read to shreds Hillbuzz' "Three things the Obamedia will do to depress Republican turnout and help Obama": resist the mantra of the media cyborgs, resistence is futile, give up the fight, the race is over; ignore the false siren calls of early landslides, be not impressed by pent up claims - "It’s all a head game, a fake out. All of this talk (...) is just garbage the Obamedia shovels to make you give up and sit home so Obama can win. (...) It really is as simple as that ...

Update: the conceptual framework has now been identified: rather than conventional war it's more like asymmetrical warfare, in which insurgents use all means possible to weaken and defeat the incumbents. Therefore, we should look at counter-insurgency models for a proper answer.




- Filed on Articles in "Rules for the Right" -

The Bother with the Bailout Bill

The text of the Bailout Bill in PDF format by Fox News.

World is shocked, shocked ... House Reps throw out corporate social security act!


Video archive material on hearings: Democrats blocking Republican calls for regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The video shows what no one wants to learn: the way to hell is paved with good intentions; but the effect of selfish capitalism means prosperity for all! Point being, a system that works, in tandem with the right philosophy based on the real reality (as opposed to a perceived, or wished one) takes courage - isn't for the meek or the feeble of spirit ...

Dr Sanity: "CAPITALISM IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL-- IF YOU HAVE ONE

Until we get that (Barack), engineering and regulating will lead to more failures, crisis and mayhem!

(For your own good and) for morality read fifty times "The Fable of the Bees:"

The Grumbling Hive: or, Knaves Turn'd Honest

A spacious Hive well stock'd with Bees,
That lived in Luxury and Ease;
And yet as fam'd for Laws and Arms,
As yielding large and early Swarms;
Was counted the great Nursery
Of Sciences and Industry.
No Bees had better Government,
More Fickleness, or less Content.
They were not Slaves to Tyranny,
Nor ruled by wild Democracy;
But Kings, that could not wrong, because
Their Power was circumscrib'd by Laws. >>>

Here's the best explanation yet.

But here's the thing:

Real Clear Politics: "In Times of Crisis, Trust Capitalism", by Joseph Calhoun

The US government (...) claim this intervention is urgently needed and if we don’t act, the consequences are dire. Dire, as in New Depression dire. Have these supposed experts on capitalism forgotten how it really works?(...) There is not a shortage of capital for well run financial companies. There is, however, a shortage of capital for companies that have acted irresponsibly with investor capital in the recent past. For some reason, our political leaders believe this is a failure of the market, but isn’t this what should be expected from rational investors? (...) The biggest bank failure in the history of the United States happened last Thursday night and by Friday morning, it was business as usual. (...) The taxpayers didn’t lose anything and depositors didn’t lose anything, only investors. That is how capitalism works in case everyone has forgotten. The “crisis” we face today is not a creation of the market. (...)

There has been much commentary recently about the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the creation and expansion of the sub-prime mortgage market which many believe to be the cause of this mess. That criticism is certainly warranted, but little attention has been paid to the real culprit – the Federal Reserve.

There has always been a stigma attached to borrowing directly from the Fed and for good reason. If a bank can’t get other banks to lend it money, that tells the market something about the condition of the bank in question. Last August, Bernanke convinced three large banks to borrow at the discount window in an effort to remove that stigma. When that didn’t work, he concocted a scheme to allow banks to borrow from the Fed in anonymity via a mechanism he called the Term Auction Facility. (...) Banks will not lend to each other because they don’t know which ones are really in trouble. The rise in inter-bank lending rates is a rational market response to a lack of information.

Furthermore, why pay those inter-bank rates when the Fed or ECB is offering easier terms? These opaque lending facilities are just part of the problem created by the Fed and Treasury. (...) Now markets are waiting on pins and needles as the politicians haggle over the details of the latest bailout attempt by the Fed and Treasury. This has introduced another roadblock to the re-capitalization and reorganization of the financial industry. Companies that are in need of capital are waiting to see if the plan will bail them out of their difficulties. If Hank Paulson is willing to pay an above market price for their bad loans, why should they dilute their equity now? (...) Why take Tony Soprano terms when Uncle Sam is willing to let the taxpayer take the hit for you?

(...) This plan short circuits the capitalist model which would allow the stronger, well-run institutions to gain market share and/or expand profit margins. The long-term effect will be to lower the overall return on capital in the financial services industry. The government apparently believes that the key to economic recovery is to allocate limited resources in an inefficient manner. Does that make sense? (...) The Fed is the one keeping the market from functioning. The Treasury does not need to enter the market for it to start functioning; the Fed needs to leave the market.

Paulson has said that the cause of the current problems is the housing deflation, but that ignores the elephant in the living room. The housing bubble, which was concentrated in a relatively small number of states, was caused by the reckless actions of the Greenspan Fed. The consequences of that bubble have been exacerbated by the Bernanke Fed. (...) We got into this mess because we tried to avoid the consequences of the Internet bubble. We will only make things worse by trying to avoid the consequences of the housing bubble. We are not on the verge of a new depression. (...)

Investors who made mistakes in these markets should be held responsible and those who navigated the Fed-distorted market should be rewarded for their wisdom and prudence. Enacting the Paulson plan will not allow that to happen and our economy will suffer for it in the long run.

The Japanese tried to prop up failed banks in the aftermath of the bursting of their twin bubbles and the result was 15 years of stagnation. Why are we emulating a strategy that is a demonstrable failure? A better alternative would be to allow capitalism to work as it should and stop the interventions of the Fed in the money market. Trust capitalism. It works. >>>

There have been interviews today with a few very experienced traders who went through all the financial crises in current history. They said the following: "Banks do not lend each other- have no trust, what they need are intermediaries, so-called clearing houses." This is apparently normal practice, but investment banks do not like it because they'll make less money in that way. He ended by saying that the turning point has probably been reached.

Another in The Netherlands pointed out that propping up Fortis Bank with a relatively vast amount has failed. Stocks plummeted 23,5% today in spite of it. He said that "this must run its course".

The above may be an indication that the rebellious House Republicans may be right, specifically considering the astronomic amount of money involved. Perhaps this shake out (or correction) must be allowed to run its course. Bailouts stand symbol for distrust in markets. Per above article here too, "Trust capitalism. It works."

- Filed on Articles in "The Economics and Monetary Dossier" -

The Twin Blessings of Denial and Projection: update

Over on Pajamas Patrick Poole posted a rather good analysis of the post Conventions landscape in America.

In "Obama’s Existential Crisis" he suggests what many a Republican has already concluded for himself: the McCain campaign is in far better shape than earlier predictions had it.

The Palin pick is just one measure of McCain's covert brilliance, which stands in stark contrast with the opponent's overall choice of company.

Better still, the McCain-Palin performance has exposed the Obamaland candidate not just as an pretentious empty suit in a faux classical setting. On the contrary, the emperor now appears to be wearing no clothes at all!

Judging by hostile commentary to the Poole article the Democrats are doing what the Left does best: denying reality.

"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?", goes one; "seriously, What the HELL are you talking about?", echos another.

The projection machine is working overtime: "The Republicans are running a tabloid election" is vying with "a widespread Banana Republic mentality" for evidence of delusion. It is in equal proportion to the slander they inflict on the opponents (here's one for the record, and while at it you can click down to The Nation's home page which is currently filled to the brim with articles of similar caliber, all 34 of them - things are really lookin'up).

Obamaland is scrambling to pick up the fragments of their imploded campaign; but if the signs are not mistaken we had better prepare for another four years of fake hysterical rage, rage, rage and scurrilous invective, coupled with biased, wrathful, hateful, divisive, vitriolic, bigoted, intolerant and warmongering, racist and sexist slurs from the Orwellian Press from Hell, The True Race and all the other projection-ridden protagonists of the pathological Left. But it will be worth it.

- Cartoons by Glenn McCoy and Eric Allie.

- Updates:

Chesler Chronicles on PJM: "The Coming Civil War in America"

"Each of the Presidential candidates and those who support them are fighting for the soul of America. Each has a radically different world view; each inhabits a radically different culture. (...) McCain has said that he wants to work with everyone, “Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.” I am not sure that Obama has weighed in on this precise point as yet, but he has said that he would sit down and try to work with America’s enemies. In 2000, when President Bush won (others say “when Bush stole”) the election, the Democrats became enraged, some say “deranged.” That rage has grown. If McCain wins–I predict that the cultural wars will not only intensify but will turn into the beginnings of the next Civil War in America. What do you think will happen after one side wins and the other side loses?"

Read at all and comment yourself >>> >>>

Explorations: "Palin Rumors" - "Cripes, this has gotten ridiculous. Folks, look, let’s just run through a list here. (Updated.)"

He's keeping tally ... >>>

What few objective thinking people get, is that the Leftist onslaught isn't about truth and fact, but aims at manipulating perception in order to trigger passions and opinion based on feelings. Chesler's posting touches on this in commenting on the differences between the DNC and the RNC: the DNC was basically a political rock-festival. It's all about firing passion ... rather irresponsible in today's deranged climate, actually.

Elsewhere ... No Minister: "The Smearing of Sarah Palin"

(...) Over in Australia, Tim Blair notes how the Democrats need to smear Palin. Fairfax Obama supporter and executive Bruce Wolpe wrote of the gameplan: An Obama ally assessed what Palin means: “This is a turnout election and the right will now turn out. I still think this is Obama’s race to lose but he could lose it unless our folks turn up the energy … “Obama needs to help identify her over the weekend as a book burning fundamentalist with a secessionist husband, a wacky minister of her own and an appetite for pork barrelling. They need to marginalise her …” (...) >>>

Update: Denial is the opposite end of the subjectivist fallacy that thought creates reality (if you die overnight will the sun be rising tomorrow? no, say subjectivists). If thought creates reality, then 'not thinking' (denying) it, makes the unpleasant reality go away, or so the infered logic goes.

- Filed on Articles in "The McCain-Palin Ticket" and "The Political Pathology Pile" -

Notes around the RNC

"(...) The media (...) have joined in flogging the meme that the convention is now ruined and John McCain is in trouble (...)" The European MSM have it, that not only is the convention a wash-out, the campaign is lost, but also that John McCain's unvetted pick of Palin speaks volumes of his judgment capabilities: he would consider jilting her, if he could ...

- "I have to agree with Glenn Reynolds when he suggests that: "How they could have kept the Palin pregnancy out of the press: Leaked it, that John Edwards was the father." -

Convention site

WSJ: "The Beltway Boys"

(...) the high priests and priestesses of the media have marked her as an apostate. The Beltway class is in full-throated rebellion against a nondomesticated conservative who might pose a threat to their coronation of Barack Obama and the return of Camelot-on-the-Potomac. Here is a sampler of media comment on Governor Palin this week (...)

Take a close look at Governor Palin's record on ethics and energy in Alaska, and it becomes clear what this Beltway outburst is actually about. The irony is that while Senator Obama is running on change, his acceptance speech made explicit that he's promising only more power and money for Washington. Sarah Palin's history of taking on the career politicians of a corrupt Alaskan GOP machine -- her own party -- shows that she's the more authentic change agent. >>>

... and on the psychological level, brilliant Dr Sanity:

- THE LEFT'S FIRESTORM OF PROJECTION ABOUT PALIN (group projection and projective identification)

- SARAH, DEAR, WOULD YOU MAKE THE COFFEE FOR US BIG IMPORTANT DEMOCRATS? (on sexism, the socialist food chain, and an equivocation)

- DEMOCRATS, FEMINISTS, AND HYPOCRISY

Obama, Biden: "Children are off limits" (we leave that to our surrogates ...)

How do you spell h y p o c r i s y ?

Here are "Top 9 Reasons Obama Hasn’t Pulled Ahead", a recap of the campaign so far.

Palin, the woman the European Left (a tautology) love to hate (Times): "What Mrs Palin represents is mesmerising this side of the Atlantic for its very political incorrectness. So sick are we in Britain, with our centre left-centre right politicians of the centre, not one daring to have a view out of line with the very thin consensus that passes for acceptable opinion here, that we stand stunned by a woman who opposes abortion and shoots moose; who believes in creationism and drilling for oil in the Arctic wildlife refuge; who supports the aerial shooting of wolves and opposes same-sex marriage; who says to hell with the kids and just get back to work; who even campaigned against saving polar bears! Could you be less politically correct than suing the Federal Government to prevent it making polar bears an endangered species because the move would restrict oil drilling? Nothing like Mrs Palin has, could ever, be seen in the British political system. She turns liberals into conservatives and conservatives into feminists. Stand back, Mr Obama, a new character is storming the ratings. How Hillary Clinton, all safe lines and patronising empathy, must be hating it. How fast Michelle Obama must be recalibrating her soft little tales about baking cookies and enjoying The Brady Bunch. Mrs Palin would eat Carol Brady for breakfast, and still have space for some moose stew. Hell, yes. (...) They call it feminism, but the Republicans have done women a disservice. They have selected a female candidate who is a cartoon - the joker in the pack who will end up just a joke. >>>

This is great! Hat Tip Pamela at Atlas ... see the assaults of the new storm troopers in 360!

Minnesota Public Radio: "RNC protest in 360 degrees"

The McCain Campaign has taken the press to task for savagely trashing Sarah Palin. The reaction on CNN: "They do this as a strategy to deflect attention away from her lack of experience and McCain's poor judgment in picking her." Obamaland: "That's right, blame the messenger if you think this is about personalities instead of issues."

- Related: "The Pomo White House" (the other camp)

- Filed on Articles in "The McCain-Palin Ticket" -

Birthday Boy picks Tomboy

Presidential candidate John McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (born February 11, 1964) as VP.

She is the youngest person to hold this honor as well as the first woman to do so in the state's history.

Sarah's parents arrived in Alaska in 1964 to teach school in Skagway.

She earned her Journalism degree from the University of Idaho and worked in media and the utility industry before beginning her public service 14 years ago. (...) >>> (Conservapedia)

From 1992 to 1996, Ms. Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council her native Alaska town. In 1996, She challenged the incumbent mayor, in 1996 criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes. She ran for reelection against the former mayor in 1999, winning by an even larger margin. Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. On becoming Mayor she kept her preelection promises by taking a major cut in salary and reducing property taxes by 60%.

Under Governor Murkowski she was appointed Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the “lack of ethics” of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest. Following her resignation, she went the state Republican party’s chairman, Randy Ruedrich, a fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, accusing him of doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. Tireless in her efforts to root out corruption Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes. Both resigned as a result of her denunciations.

In spite of a lack of support by the party leadership, in spite of being vastly outspent by her Democrat opponent, she handily won the Governorship in 2006. True to her reputation as a reformer, true to her fighting spirit, she hit the ground running with a successful push for an ethics bill, she also attacked and shelved pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. In Governor Palin’s words, “Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on ‘federal dollars,’ as the state does today.” And so far she has kept her word, striving to reduce that dependency!

At the very outset of her administration, in efforts to reduce and cancel wasteful spending, Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit account) by the former governor’s administration. In 2007, the jet was sold for $2.7 million.

She canceled an 11-mile gravel road outside of Juneau to a mine. In June 2007, the new Governor signed into law the largest operating budget in Alaska’s history ($6.6 billion). She used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history and managed to reduce it to nearly $1.6 billion.

SOCIAL STANDS

Abortion - On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son - out of 5 children - he was born with Down Syndrome. Palin refused to let the results of prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. “I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection,” Palin said. “Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?” The sancity of life, in her view, far outweighs any considerations of false shame or personal convenience!

Gay Marriage - She opposes same-sex marriage, though she has gay friends and is receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination. Palin complied with a state Supreme Court order and signed them into law, though the previous administration had refused to do so. Palin’s sensitivity to her constituents was responsible for first veto used to block legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees. Her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska’s attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.

In short, while Sarah Palin is a staunch Conservative she has reached out and acted on behalf of groups that are traditionally outside the pale of Conservative politics. She has demonstrated no tolerance for wasteful projects. She fought against and reversed the cronyism inherent in the last administrBlogger: Politeia - Edit Post "Birthday Boy picks Tomboy"ation. Unanimously, she has been hailed as a reformer with unusual ethics in politics. She has indefatigably fought to clean up government and shown she will stand for no nonsense (...) >>> - Hat Tip: Chaim at "Freedom's Cost".

- Caption: Dr Sanity: "(...) "before she was on the national stage" and when no one was watching, Palin actually visited wounded American soldiers in Germany (hat tip: Ace)--something the Obamessiah somehow neglected to do when he was there" -

- PJM: "More to Sarah Palin Than Meets the Eye," by Rick Moran
- PJM: "It's Palin," (blegosphere reactions to the VP pick)
- McCain Campaign site, blog.
- NewsMax: "Palin Speaks to Newsmax About McCain, Abortion, Climate Change"

- Filed on Articles in "McCain-Palin Ticket" -

Save the World: Democrats for McCain (update)

Rumour emanating from Denver, Colorado has it that the Democratic Polit Bureau and their enforcers are upsetting the more democratically inclined Democrats.

Those who do not go home in shame with bruised body parts are uniting behind the Republican candidate, John McCain in the organization Not Ready 08.

It's okay, really ....!



Neo Neocon has an interesting analysis of another, considerable group of dissenters, the PUMAs.

PJ: "Why PUMAs Can’t Just ‘Get Over It"

Why, many ask, can’t the PUMAs get with the program and unite behind Obama? (...) The PUMAs perceive Obama as having played dirty. And not just in a generic way, but by using the twin evils of sexism and racism to his advantage. If these women had previously bought the idea that the Democratic Party is above that sort of thing, they’ve now experienced a profound shock—and that shock is a very a personal one. (...)

Many of these women have supported the struggle against sexism and racism for decades, and believed their party to be champions of both causes, which were seen as linked rather than opposed. And yet they now perceive themselves to be on the receiving end of sexism, while at the same time they stand accused of racism, and merely for preferring another contender over the African-American candidate Obama. The disillusionment they feel is no doubt profound, and it taps into something far more basic than the usual intra-party policy or personality spat.

All the while, much of the MSM and the Democratic Party is demanding that they be the ones to get over it and jump onto Obama’s bandwagon with alacrity. And this despite the fact that his efforts at rapprochement with them have been less than overwhelming. Not only was Hillary not given a courtesy VP vetting (...) it is somewhat puzzling that Obama has failed to take most of the fairly simple and basic steps that would have gone quite a way towards soothing the still-festering wounds (...)

But whatever the reasons that Obama has failed to reach out effectively to the PUMAs, it doesn’t speak well of his ability (correction: his claim) to have a special knack for bringing people together (...) Obama’s attitude towards Hillary supporters is the first real test in this campaign of his actual diplomacy, as opposed to his speeches about it. If so, he gets an F. >>>

- Filed on Articles in "The McCain-Palin Ticket" -

On This Day in 1963: Martin Luther's Dream Speech

- Hat Tip: "Atlas Shrugs" -

- Filed on Articles in "Americana" -