Politics Archive

Instapundit cites a New York Times article on a serious allegation against congresscritter Charlie Rangel.

I note that Rangel's party affiliation isn't directly mentioned in the NYT article, though there's a passing reference to "fellow Democrats" in the sixth paragraph.

Sure, sure, those of us "in the know," politically, are well aware of Rangel's party affiliation, but when a majority or those polled after the November election believed, contrary to fact, that Republicans controlled Congress, I think it's reasonable to believe that a similar majority isn't going to know upon which side of the aisle Rangel sits.

A few things about the Blagojevich matter crossed my mind while I was doing my household chores this afternoon.

Does this face say anything to you other than "mobbed-up scumbag"?

I say that, of course, with no intention of insulting actual bags full of scum*, what with them working hard every day serving the useful purpose to society of containing scum for easy disposal.

Which, incidentally, is an apt description of the place where Blagojevich will be spending the next 20-years-to-life.

The soon-to-be-ex-Governor was in the news yesterday, trying to strong-arm Bank of America (which today gave in, somewhat.) This seems to me to be a small example of what got the economy into the mess it's in: Big Government mandating to businesses that they behave in ways that do not make good business sense, pretty much forcing the business to lose (or give away) money.

See also: CRA.

This is the political culture into which Barack Obama deliberately insinuated himself.

This is not a good thing to happen to a President-elect.

At least with Bill Clinton, we waited a few years before any of his cronies were imprisoned.

Illinois, Illinois, Illinois... we're going to have to revoke your statehood if you can't come up with anything better than this.

I think the last truly Great And Good Thing to happen in Illinois was the Great Hippie Beat-Down of 1968...

... although, Mayor Jane Byrne^† was somewhat entertaining, for those of us who lived near Chicago in the early '80s. Cabrini Green!

... and I did date a wonderful girl while I was in college there.

OK, that wasn't so good for the country as a whole. But it was pretty good for me, while it lasted.

*sigh*

* Yes, I know. Dennis Miller. I don't think he'd mind me borrowing that turn of phrase.

^† With whom I happen to share a birthday.

A corrupt politician? In Illinois?

Illinois?

Say it isn't so.

I think I need a "Snark" category.

There is much chatter the past week or so about the run on gun stores — people buying up weapons and ammunition which is thought likely to be banned or made prohibitively expensive under an Obama administration.

The website for Classic Arms — one of my favorite purveyors of fine shootin' iron — tells the tale (I've cleaned up the HTML for readability) :

Let me give you some perspective. In the third quarter of this year, (July thru October) we sold the following:

7.62x39 ammo	361 cases
AK 30 rd mags	783
AK rifles (all types )	243

By comparison, in the 10 days since the election we have sold

7.62x39 ammo	1218 cases
AK 30 rd mags	3855
AK rifles (all types )	572

That is in addition to the AR rifles, Golani rifles, Tantals, and other firearms that have also sold like wildfire. Some of our larger dealer customers have been attempting to place orders for hundreds of firearms with us when we only had dozens in stock.

The traffic on the one and only "shooters" email list to which I am subscribed — a list populated by extremely intelligent/competent technical guys — is all about people stocking up while they can.

I happen to believe that the fears of these people are correct, that the incoming administration will in fact do everything in their power to make firearm ownership as burdensome as possible, and will restrict as much commerce in firearms as they can.

So here I am with a seemingly perfect reason to acquire more shootin' iron... but I have no need.

I'm maxed out. I'm over my limit of what, for health reasons, I can now put to use regularly at the range.

I already own ugly black plastic firearms that, for purely cosmetic reasons, are likely to be banned by this Congress and the new administration.*

Indeed, I've been considering selling off some of my small collection, simply because I can't make use of it any longer.

Sure, I could try stocking up on ammunition and high-capacity magazines before they're made either illegal or prohibitively expensive... but I already have plenty, and again, because of my new disability, I won't likely use it all in the foreseeable future.

I have a bad feeling that what more of us should really be stocking up on is cash.

And maybe canned food and bottled water.

* I have absolutely no confidence in the ability of the GOP portion of the Senate to maintain a filibuster. Not with useless tools like Snow or Specter there. I even doubt the willingness of the leadership to attempt a filibuster; a bunch of spineless weasels, most of them.

Subtitled "Joe Explains It All":

It is not your money.

Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Republican of Michigan, inadvertently explaining why the GOP lost big in 2006 and 2008.

It's time, I would say, for a RINO hunt.

(Via Hot Air.)

I've been a Gingrich fan for a couple of decades now; I thought Steele would have made a good RNC chairman last time the post was vacant.

It's a pity we can't have both: It’s on: Gingrich versus Michael Steele for RNC chair.

Either would be an excellent choice to steer the GOP past the recent defeat and onwards to a future governing majority. Each would be smart to work with the other, whoever is chosen.

If only we'd had equally smart people running for president this past time around. It's one thing to have plans; it's something altogether different to have a guiding philosophy and to be able to articulate it.

This is what happens when Republicans allow Democrats and Independants a role in selecting their nominee. Open primaries never made sense to me, and this only confirms my negative opinion of them.

Not, of course, that any other particular Republican would necessarily have won... but any of them would have run a better campaign.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury."

Hence, Obama.

I figure the odds are 1 in 4 that Israel strikes Iran before the end of the year, while Bush is still Commander in Chief. They know they won't be able to count on any support from the new administration. If I were them, I'd be thinking of launching before the week is out.

No one can call the US a racist nation again. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are going to need to find honest work.

Yeah, right, who am I kidding.

I need to find a good hiding place for my rifles.

Obama has a lot of political debts to pay. Maybe he can use all those illegal offshore campaign contributions for that.

McCain ran on his character and record, both of which are clearly superior to Obama, but he never had a driving vision onto which people could latch.

This feels a lot like the Clinton/Gore win in 1992... which was followed, you'll recall, by the Republican congressional victories in 1994.

Palin/Jindal 2012!

I've voted.

I went to the polling place with a camera, just in case there was something there worth a snapshot. There wasn't.

Maybe that, in and of itself, is noteworthy.

My polling place — the local elementary school — was pretty quiet. No long lines, not a lot of vehicles in the parking lot.

My legs are a bit "off" today, and I wasn't at all keen on standing around for even five minutes, so despite the lack of crowds, I opted to use the curbside voting. I was assisted by a cute girl who looked like she was barely of voting age herself. The process took all of ten minutes.

I did not have to show an ID. That really pisses me off.

I voted for McCain, and I didn't even have to be roaring drunk to do so.

Now can we please stop with the phone calls and commercials?

I haven't seen one iota of polling here for the North Carolina Senate race between Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole and Democrat challenger Kay Hagen. All I see are the TV ads... over and over and over and over and over and over again... and I have no idea where the race stands as election day approaches.

Via Hot Air, here are two new ads, from the Dole campaign and from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. These could be devastating, here in North Carolina.

It matters with whom one associates.

Unless, of course, it is The One doing the associating, in which case it will be decided for you whether it matters or not.

... and falls completely off.

Wow.

OK, we've sort of known all along that Obama is as far to the left as any major politician in recent memory. Even farther left in his voting record than Bernie Sanders, the Socialist from Vermont. The record speaks for itself.

The man speaking for himself, though... this is damning:

Excerpt:

... the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change.

Whether he's talking about general redistributionism, or a more nuanced and narrowly-tailored race-based reparations scheme, doesn't matter. Redistributionism is fundamentally and essentially un-American.

The only thing surprising about this "October Surprise" is that someone was actually able to pry the recording loose. There are skeletons in Obama's closet, and the press is busy jamming a chair under that closet doorknob.

Sarah Palin:

I guess the looming crisis that most worries the Obama campaign right now is Joe Biden’s next speaking engagement.

Via The Corner at NRO

Just floating a random notion here. I've only had one cup of coffee so far, so maybe I'm not fully functional.... (Hey, give me a break. It's my day off, I slept late. So sue me.)

Biden said, "Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy...."

It occurred to me, in my pre-caffeinated condition, to wonder about that wording.

The cynic in me wonders if "generated" could equal "manufactured," as in a Canadian Bacon scenario, designed to boost support of an Obama presidency, particularly among those of us on the Right who stereotypically might be expected to toss aside partisan squabbles to support the nation's leadership in times of international crisis.

Would a foreign leader be willing to cooperate? I don't know. Sure, Obama has had a lot of support from overseas, but I think the real reason for that support is that a lot of people overseas would dearly love to see the U.S. weakened by an ineffectual president. They want us to be dragged down to their level — which is exactly what would result from the implementation of the Democrats' plans for America.

They envy America's greatness, are unwilling to emulate those qualities that made us great, and, like jackals around a lion, would love nothing more than for us to be brought low.

Maybe I should have another cup of coffee and something to eat.

Plus, the lathe beckons.

Update: Iowahawk brings the funny.

And there's now a Palin video at Hot Air.

A "Joe" moment at a McCain rally:

"I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the U.S.A."

McCain-supporting construction worker Tito Munoz, as reported by Byron York at National Review Online. Great article — read the whole thing.

Instead of bringing the funny (as is his wont) Iowahawk brings the righteous anger:

Joe simply had the temerity to speak truth (or, if you prefer, an uninformed opinion) to power, for which the politico-media axis apparently determined that he must be humiliated, harassed, smashed, destroyed. The viciousness and glee with which they set about the task ought to concern anyone who still cares about citizen participation, and freedom of speech, and all that old crap they taught in Civics class before politics turned into Narrative Deathrace 3000, and Web 2.0 turned into Berlin 1932.0.

Godwin's Law! you say? If the jackboot fits, wear it.

Read the whole thing.

I'm one of the guys who keeps the internet running smoothly; I work nights and weekends so you can do your browsing, IMing and emailing any time you want. I'm at work now, in fact. As with plumbing, you don't notice what I do until something is broken. And no one ever calls me because everything is just fine, so thanks, great job.

I've never been to a cocktail party. I've worn tuxedos — rented — four times in my life: to weddings and proms.

I smoke too much and I drink coffee by the pot. I drive a bigdamn pickup truck. I try to spend my free time at the shooting range or in a garage full of power tools.

I have the remains of a sixpack of beer in the fridge, and bags of charcoal in the garage. I shop at Target. I'm a veteran, and proud of my country.

I'd rather have the press do its job, and our elected officials keep their noses out of my life and their hands off my wallet. And if I get the chance to ask a politician a question, I expect an answer, not an Inquisition.

I am Joe.

I'd really like someone to try to explain to me how, exactly,

I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, they've got a chance at success too. I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody. *

can be differentiated in any meaningful sense from

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.*

I don't think it can be.

The past few days, I've had a number of hits from search engines, people searching on "Robin Hood" and either "socialism" or "socialist" — the searches leading to this scribbling of mine from 2003: Robin Hood Was Not a Socialist. The important bits:

• Robin Hood did not steal from the rich to give to the poor.
• Robin Hood stole from the taxman to give back to the taxpayer.

I'll stand by that.

My brother flew to Cleveland today for a business meeting tomorrow.

I left him a message reminding him, while he's there, to register to vote.

Apparently, it's all the rage.

CY wonders who the biggest fools are.

The answer is "all of them."

McCain needs more like this — on TV, not just on the web.

Confederate Yankee:

If Bill Ayer's hands were any further up Barack Obama's backside, we'd have to change the Senator's name to Lambchop.

^(Bumped.)

CNN clearly isn't keeping a tight enough leash on all its staff. I'm not sure how they let this slip through the cracks and onto the airwaves:

Whoa.

Any bets on if/when CNN willl try to have it yanked?

Via Flopping Aces.

John McCain takes off the gloves:

My opponent's touchiness every time he's questioned about his record should only make us more concerned.

For a guy who's already authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book.

Today's campaign speech; video at Ace's.

. . . at Ace of Spades HQ.

The Anchoress: Why He’s Voting for McCain/Palin

Patterico: L.A. Times Distorts the Record on Responsibility for the Mortgage Crisis

Ed Morrissey, Hot Air: Israelis dispute pro-Obama video, plus (and it's about time) McCain blasts Obama, Democrats for Fannie Mae meltdown

Protein Wisdom: Obama and the Attempt to Destroy the Second Amendment

Cold Fury: Ayers America

IMAO: In My World: Guilt by Association

And some not-overtly-political stuff. . .

Castle Argghhh!: Like fingers of a hand: Four Soldiers, Sailor secure safe passage in Afghanistan

Hog on Ice: Finally, a Movie Where You're not the Villain

Lifehacker: DIY Skills You Know (and Don't)

Wizbang: The Knucklehead of the Day award

"Racist!" says the AP. "Up yours," says the McCain campaign:

Americans need to ask themselves if they’ve ever befriended an unrepentant terrorist, or had a convicted felon help them buy their house — because those aren’t smears, those are true facts about Barack Obama.

Tucker Bounds, McCain-Palin spokesman

OK, I lied when I said I'd watch some DVDs. Didn't get the opportunity. I did, however, catch some of the debate tonight during a slow period at work.

I think she beat Scowly McHairplugs Joe Biden like a rented red-haired bastard mule.

I'm not alone.

Oh, and Alan Colmes can go get bent. Dear lord, is there a more annoying person anywhere? Well, OK, the entirety of the MSNBC stable... but I never have to see them.

Dick Morris gives it to Colmes with both barrels:

Why do you insist on using segments with me to get reading practice on your talking points? Save that for a Republican.

[crosstalk]

Hey Alan, are you going to have me talk, or have another guest on? If you're going to have me on, you're going to listen to what I have to say. As far as I'm concerned, in the last debate I said that I thought Obama won, and this debate I think she won, and I don't think that that objectivity and fairness deserves your just spewing the talking points you've been handed.

[Colmes spews.]

You're incredible Alan, you're absolutely incredible. Is it that you can't think, or that you only know how to read those talking points? Unbelievable performance tonight, Mr. Colmes. Unbelievable.

[Hannity talks.]

[Palin's performance] was unbelievable, and anybody with a brain looking at it would conclude that... which does not include [Colmes] I might add.

Wonderful. Brought a smile to my face.

Update: here's a (crappy) video capture of the exchange. The fun begins at 40 seconds in, and cuts off before the end. Hot Air has the good video.

I mean, sure, it's important. A completely unvetted, infanticide-supporting gun-grabbing socialist from the corrupt Daley/Chicago political machine, with ties to unrepentant terrorists and anti-American racial hatemongers, is running for the presidency as the candidate of one of the major parties, with the full support of the media.

"Nothing to see here, move along" seems to be the mantra of the major media.

His opponent would do well to point all this out — loud, long and often — but he seems to me to be more interested in collegiality than in defeating the most hardcore leftist ticket ever to have a chance at the White House.

Ronnie, where are you when we really need you?

I think I'm gonna watch DVDs for the rest of the day.

We already know the media are in the tank for Obama. Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit:

A READER AT A MAJOR NEWSROOM EMAILS: "Off the record, every suspicion you have about MSM being in the tank for O is true. We have a team of 4 people going thru dumpsters in Alaska and 4 in arizona. Not a single one looking into Acorn, Ayers or Freddiemae. Editor refuses to publish anything that would jeopardize election for O, and betting you dollars to donuts same is true at NYT, others. People cheer when CNN or NBC run another Palin-mocking but raising any reasonable inquiry into obama is derided or flat out ignored. The fix is in, and its working." I asked permission to reprint without attribution and it was granted.

The abrogation of their responsibilities by the fourth estate does more than shock the sensibilities, it shatters any pretense they may have towards objectivity or even credibility.

Think back with me a few years. On the eve of the 2000 election, Fox News — the allegedly right-wing Fox News — broke the story of candidate Bush's 1976 DUI.

Would CNN or any of the broadcast networks do the same if Obama's transgressions were the story?

The answer is obviously a resounding "no."

On the plus side, that obviousness does lead those who are interested enough in the political news process to apply the appropriate skepticism. I stopped trusting most journalism a long time ago.

On the down side, most people aren't interested enough, and swallow whatever they're fed, even poison, if it comes with a spoonful of sugar.

(Via the Anchoress.)

The title of this post comes from a Tom Clancy novel, I think it was Clear and Present Danger. (I wish I knew where my copy was — I have all the Jack Ryan novels in hardback... somewhere.) The son of a spec-ops sergeant has an unwanted encounter with a journalist, and pointedly refuses to believe that said reporter will do what he promises he will do. That has stuck with me like very few passages from novels have.

I just wish I was sure which book it was. I guess now I have to re-read them all.

Way to go, San Fran Nan. Work non-stop for days to build a colaition to get your important legislation passed, to make the crap sandwich palatable, then open your mouth and drive a wedge between the different factions you counted on for support.

Nancy Pelosi, soooooper genius.

I'm not an idiot, but neither am I an economist. So I talked with my brother (the finance executive) today and we chatted about the current news from Wall Street and Washington.

I still don't understand it all, but I have a better idea about what's going on.

I sent him the link to this video:

(Video via Ace.)

It makes sense to me, but I'm more interested in what my brother the banker has to say about it.

Who needs the kamikaze media anymore? I mean, other than those on the Left who enjoy hitting the talk show and cocktail circuit, being fawned over, sucked up to, and adored.

The new media of the Internet seems to be doing a pretty good job of reportage and analysis — one need only recall this to be reminded of the power of the web.

The latest effort from one of my favorite sites, The Jawa Report, is the kind of reporting that the media can no longer be relied upon to perform — especially when Democrats are involved.

To wit: Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated "Grassroots" Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them.

Devastating.

The above, which explores a smear of Sarah Palin — likely orchestrated by players in the Obama campaign — is a long, thoughtful, tech-savvy and well-researched investigative piece the likes of which you won't find in the press. Even when the target is a conservative, the press doesn't do things this thoroughly.

Kudos to Rusty Shackleford for his fine work. Maybe someone will sit up and take notice. Someone like, perhaps, the FEC.

FLAMING SKULL UPDATE [with the obligatory language alert] : Devastating, indeed. Ace notes that the videos in question have already been pulled from YouTube, minutes after Rusty's post. Good thing copies were made.

I see that the main YouTube account in question has been closed, too. The guilty flee....

Via Hot Air: Joe Biden, on the campaign trail, decided to reach out to clingy gun owners in Virginia.

In an out-of-nowhere attempt to reassure a southwestern Virginia labor crowd about gun owners' rights, Biden — who regularly scores "F" ratings from the National Rifle Association — warned Obama that if "he tries to fool with my Beretta, he's got a problem."

"I guarantee you Barack Obama ain't taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey," Biden said Saturday at the United Mine Workers of America's annual fish fry in Castlewood, Virginia. "Don't buy that malarkey. They're going to start peddling that to you."

Oh, it sounds good. But then he gave the game away:

Biden told the crowd that he himself is a gun owner. "I got two," Biden said, "if he tries to fool with my Beretta, he's got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I'm not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break."

Emphasis mine.

Knowledgeable gun owners know that a Beretta over/under shotgun can cost upwards of $7,000. Not exactly the firearm of your average gun-and-religion-clinging working stiff. Heck, I'm now doing a fair amount better than average, and I can't afford one of those. I'll stick with my $450 Remington.

Beretta shotguns are very nice firearms indeed, but way out of the reach of the average shooter. You have to be either a competitive shotgunner (skeet, trap, etc.) or a very dedicated enthusiast to lay out the kind of money it takes to have one. I wouldn't pay $1500 for a shotgun... and that's the extreme low end of the price range for a new Beretta over/under.

So what Biden is saying here is that yes, he owns a shotgun. An expensive top-of-the-line shotgun. Useful for a narrow set of hunting situations and certain types of competition.

But the record shows that what he and his ilk don't have is any desire for you or me to have our affordable semiautomatic rifles with politically incorrect cosmetic features like pistol grips or bayonet lugs. Or useful features like high-capacity magazines.

For some reason, this reminds me of a quick bit of South Park, in which a wealthy celeb advises the pleb on how to live his life:

Man: Look man, I work fourteen hours a day at the saw mill. I just got off work and I need to relax.
Rob Reiner: Well when I relax I just go to my vacation house in Hawaii!
Man: I ain't got a vacation house in Hawaii!
Rob Reiner: Your vacation house in Mexico, then, whatever it is!

On elitism in politicians:

Harvard isn't the answer - Harvard's the problem.

People are flipping out over an interview Charlie Rangel (D-NY) gave:

The question was simple: Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?

The answer was astonishing.

"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.

Bear in mind here: though I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept, the fact is that I'm disabled.

The exact language of the question would have helped here; "You got to be kind to the disabled" doesn't answer the question "Why are they afraid?"

On the other hand, why would Rangel — an undeniably astute politician — even think to use the word "disabled" in an answer about Sarah Palin?

Of course, he then went on towards full foot/mouth insertion:

That's right. The chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee called Palin disabled — even when CBS 2 HD called him on it.

CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"

Rangel: "Yes."

CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"

Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live.

Rangel's criticism of Palin could have taken many forms, but here, he's just being incredibly stupid.

Stupidity is no excuse. Just ask Trent Lott.

So, rather than be outraged [major language alert] I'll just feel pity towards the stupid old man.

I noticed in the news today that Jamie Gorelick, of 9/11 Commission infamy, turns up again as a player in the Fannie Mae kerfuffle.

Which got me to thinking. . . a dangerous precedent, that, but it happens from time to time.

I can see the political campaign TV commercial now. . . .

The desperation of the Left is palpable: The latest Sarah Palin smear from the Left: teen molester.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be so filled with hate.

Glenn Reynolds:

A document so innocuous that, even though it comes from CBS, I doubt it was faked . . . .

At least, I think that's what the kids are saying these days.

First, but likely not the last.

Oh, stop whining.

Dreamy:

Four times.