IMDB anyone?

After hearing Governor Tim Kaine (D-Va) give the response to the State of the Union speech, I kept getting flashbacks to Robert Redford's movie "The Candidate". Kaine kept saying that there was "a better way". That was the theme of Redford's fictional California Senate race in the movie.

Of course, will anyone remember that Redford's character had no experience in government, was primarily chosen because he was a charismatic face, and had no clue about what politics was like. Probably the best line in the film was after Redford wins the election (over an obviously conservative Orange County Republican) -- he says to his campaign manager: "So, what do we do now?" Clueless. Just like many in DC.

When in doubt, keep the cash

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) was elected as the "mom in tennis shoes" - an outsider who would make a difference in DC. Well, she sure has become the insider now. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

OLYMPIA -- Sen. Patty Murray said Friday that returning contributions from Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff would "taint" the tribes.

The state's senior senator, a Seattle Democrat, said there was nothing wrong with accepting more than $40,000 in campaign donations from out-of-state tribes represented by the disgraced lobbyist.

Abramoff's excesses have been halted, and Congress is considering myriad ethics reforms, she said. The donations, from 1999 to 2005, placed Murray second among Senate Democrats.

So let's protect those tribes that sent casino-generated money. How? By keeping those "tainted" greenbacks for ourselves. How considerate of her.

Hat tip to Wizbang.

Election up North

The Canadian government is up for election today. My prediction is 163 seats for the Conservative party. I'll go a bit further and predict that the NDP will end up as the official Opposition party, winning more seats than the Liberals. It's the end of the line for the Grits, who have seen scandal after scandal destroy their presumptive right to be the permanent governing party of Canada.

The big question is whether Harper can keep the right-wing of the Conservatives in line and demonstrate that there really wasn't anything to fear from electing the Tories. To prove that there was no "secret agenda". If he can show that he is a reasonable and capable leader, the Liberals may become the endangered species of Canadian loon.

Teddy's dead rabbit??

In some ways, it's great to have Teddy Kennedy around. He's a never ending source of amusement. His presence in the US Senate helps to show exactly what the moonbats are thinking, or not thinking, these days.

Fresh off another stellar performance (the Alito hearings), and his membership in the Owl Club, comes word that Teddy may have another skeleton in his closet. Though, unlike a skeleton, this one is alive. From the Boston Herald:

The National Enquirer splashes this week with a shocking story about Sen. Ted Kennedy’s secret love child with a Cape Cod woman whom the mag says he dated during his days as a swinging single.

According to the tabloid’s source, the boy, named Christopher, just celebrated his 21st birthday and is “mature enough to make his own choices about his background and biological father.”

A Kennedy family confidante told the Enquirer, “This is one of the biggest secrets in the Kennedy family and known to only a few people including Ted’s ex-wife, Joan.”

Now, it is the Enquirer, but they've got a pretty good track record lately. And unlike some other tabloid stories that I've noticed while standing in the supermarket checkout line, this one has that gut-feeling aura of being the truth.

Judge the story for yourself. Hat tip to Wizbang.

This explains a lot

Dafydd over at Big Lizards presents a "thought process" that's been running around in certain circles:

The Democratic version of the GWOT is actually just the WOT, because it is decidely not "global;" I'll call it the DemoWOT. On a nutshell, the DemoWOT understanding is that:

* We were attacked on 9/11 by a criminal organization named al-Qaeda;
* Al-Qaeda consists of a handful of people: bin Laden, Zawahiri, Mullah Omar, and just a few other associates;
* Our primary duty is to round up the masterminds of al-Qaeda, arrest them, and put them on trial;
* Because they're international "criminals," they must be tried by an international body: the International Court of Justice (World Court) at the Hague, Belgium's War Crimes Law, or the International Criminal Court (also at the Hague but distinct from the World Court);
* If found guilty, the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks should be imprisoned, perhaps for life, but not given the death penalty -- because that would "make us no better than they are;"
* Once they have been brought to justice,we can all go home, because the war on terrorism will be over.

We can party like it's (still) 1999!

To me, this explains a lot. Lots more good stuff....read it all HERE.

Another Justice Kennedy??

Another refreshingly honest moment, courtesy of the Boston Herald:

Meanwhile, Kennedy admitted to Hiller that he himself probably couldn’t pass Judiciary Committee muster.
“Probably not . . . probably not,” Kennedy said.

In some ways, it's a shame that Bill Clinton didn't nominate Teddy to serve on the SCOTUS. It would have be a real treat to see him on the receiving end of a withering examination of his life. Especially while under oath.

Teddy on clubs

From the Boston Herald website:

“I joined when I . . . 52 years ago, I was a member of the Owl Club, which was basically a fraternal organization.”

Never mind that this club discriminates against women.....it's was just a youthful act over 50 years ago. Do as I say, not as I do.

Asked by Hiller whether he is still a member, Kennedy said, “I’m not a member; I continue to pay about $100.”

I guess when you're a trust-fund baby, you don't really pay attention to where your money goes. I wonder if we could sneak a membership in the NRA past him?

Teddy on cars

"What the American people have seen is this incredible disparity in which those people that had cars and money got out, and those people that were impoverished drowned."
-Ted Kennedy on Hurricane Katrina

To which one might add:

"Ditto."
-Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquidick

Good words from Little Rock

After having Bill Clinton as governor, Arkansas needed to get back on track. It seems that he have in the case of Mike Huckabee, their current governor. He issued the following statement on Friday:

"I very much hope that our state's senators will vote to confirm Judge Alito since his views are far more consistent with both the Democrats and Republicans who elected them in Arkansas than the far left views of his chief critics like Ted Kennedy and Charles Schumer. What some of the partisan senators attempted to do to Judge Alito was disgraceful, and his composure and calm during the vicious but toothless attacks fired at him by the likes of Kennedy more than showed his qualification to be on the Supreme Court. It's a shame Teddy Kennedy didn't have to go through such scrutiny to be a United States Senator or there would be an open seat in Massachusetts right now."

I like the whole statement, but that last sentence took the words right out of my mouth.

Hat tips to Decision '08 and Mike Huckabee President 2008.

She gets no respect from me

From a post at RedState about today's Sunday morning talk shows:

On FTN, John McCain declared the FEC to be "corrupt" and suggested nuclear power as the way to rid ourselves of the Greenhouse gases we must first admit are a problem. Same show, Diane Feinstein said that Judge Alito was qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Qualified candidates should not be kept off the court, she added, simply because Senators disagree with them. She did mention that she will vote against Alito's confirmation because she's sick of the Rehnquist Court.

OK....explain this logic to me. 1) Alito is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. And 2) Qualified candidates shouldn't be denied confirmation just because you disagree with them. Thus 3), even so, I'm voting against him because of the "Rehnquist Court".

Correct me if I'm wrong but REHNQUIST IS DEAD. Part of the liberal mantra is to bring up the ghosts of conservatives past and make them the bogeymen to blame for all of America's ills. For a while, (and still an old reliable standby) it was Joseph McCarthy. Never mind that he was proven to be correct about Communist infiltration of the government (see the Venona files for documentation). Now it seems the focus will be to blame Rehnquist.

If anything, it should be more properly referred to as the "O'Connor Court", due to her fence-straddling approach to the law, and it's disproportionate influence on the decisions of the Supreme Court.

Anyhow, Feinstein demonstrates that it doesn't matter what the facts are - she'll still do whatever it takes to cater to her supporting interest groups. And in the process, she shows that she truly belongs on the Judiciary committee.....right alongside Kennedy, Schumer and Biden and their equally strong commitment to logic and principle.

An appeal worth joining

I came across this statement on The Truth Laid Bear. It sums up a lot of my own disgust with the system in Washington DC.

An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

I don't know how much good it will do. Deep inside, I have a part of me that believes that a groundswell of the American people can't be ignored by our elected representatives. And I'll do my part to point out the ones that do ignore the people.

Consequences

Well, the Law of Unintended Consequences hits again. The Twin Cities have been imposing smoking bans on businesses, including establishments serving adult beverages.(You can check out Craig Westover who has been following this story and the effects of this activism.)

Today, I came across this blog that shows how the effects of the "clean air" movement go far beyond individual health. A man selling Smokeeters (an air filtration system often found in bars and other smoking areas) lost his job because of the reduced demand for the machines. This left him unable to keep up with child support payments. He wasn't trying to be a deadbeat dad, having gone to the court for temporary relief due to losing his job. But the family court judge decided that the best thing to do was to toss him in jail for 90 days.

Now, this is just one side of the story, but it seems genuine. If anyone has contradictory information, please let me know. In any case, A) this judge is too full of herself, and B) governments should think out their actions before jumping in with more regulations to "do good". Read the story and see for yourself.

UPDATE: I heard from Craig Westover, and he puts some additional spin on the story:

There's more to the story. This person's business was killed by the
smoking ban -- no bar wanted to invest in air filtration equipment if there were going to be a smoking ban. However, the bench warrant was issued because he missed a court date.

Well, at least part of the original post turned out to be true, and I think the missed court date was probably due to financial difficulty, at least in part. Still, it doesn't change the fact that often there is definite economic damage done whenever government starts to stick its nose in to "do good".

The Kingfish would be proud

Well, it's nice to see that Louisiana is getting back to normal. There was a large New Year's Eve celebration, and plans are underway for Mardi Gras. Another sign that normality is returning to the Bayou State is news out of Baton Rouge regarding that true, decisive leader, Governor Kathleen Blanco.

Seems that Blanco has spent over half a million dollars for office renovations for her and her staff - AFTER hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Once again the politicians of Louisiana have made sure that THEY can always find some other sucker to pay for the finer things in life. In this case, that includes granite countertops and walnut paneling.

Will the good citizens of Louisiana remember this come election time? Hopefully some honest members of the Third and Fourth Estates will remind them.

Get the details at this Baton Rouge Newspaper site.

Learning not to be a soft touch

I have a friend who ran a tavern. Over the years, he was one of the biggest soft-touches I've ever met. If you didn't have money for a drink, he'd buy you one. Short of cash -- you got a $10 or $20 to tide you over. He would hire people to work for him who robbed him blind, but it was "helping them out". Guess what. He's now the one without a business, and in debt because of all of his "kindness". Turned out that people learned to use him. And being the good ol' liberal that he is, it was more important to do "good" -- and he felt good about doing that.

The same thing is happening in the Middle East. Take a read of this story on Captain's Quarters. Germany and Italy have become the "soft touches" in Europe. Hopefully they will learn faster than my friend did.

Happy 2006

Well, friends said why aren't you blogging. I told them I had better things to do with my time. When they said "What?", I realized that the time had come.

You'll never know what shows up here. Sometimes you'll laugh, sometimes cry. If you end up using some of your brain cells, then I've done my job. Hope you like it.