Why is it Liberals never have to live by their own values? You’d think if a particular behavior on the Right is bad, it would be bad if Liberals do it, too. But you’d be wrong. They destroy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but blame Bush and Co for the Housing Crisis. They steal our money via taxes but pillory corporations for making a profit.  And they call people racist for doing what they do with no shame at all.

Three months ago I wrote about a story here in Tennessee. During the election, to highlight Barack Obama’s constant position changing, two entrepeneurs cooked up “Obama Waffles”, selling the mix in boxes featuring caricatures of Obama. Liberals predictably called it racist and even got the pair tossed out of a national event by complaining to reporters who provided the equally predicatable bad press.

Recently, Liberals again charged Republicans with racism for passing around a parody of a Democrat calling Barack Obama “The Magic Negro”. How ironic the original comment, when printed in the LA Times as uttered by a Democrat, was not racist. But when Republicans make fun of them, using their own words, it’s not the guy who made the original comments who is racist. Oh, no - it’s the evil GOP.

The guy pushing the matter is a Liberal over at AOL, Tommy Christopher, and he decided to take on, of all people, Erick Erickson at RedState. Tommy is white but knows all about racism.  Except the part where some black people aren’t offended at all - except possibly at the Democrat who actually uttered the phrase to begin with.  I’ll make Tommy the same deal I made the Obama Waffle detractors. Either be consistent and call out Gary Trudeau and others for their treatment of Black Republicans and Conservatives or shut up. If you can’t apply your outrage equally, you reveal yourself as a hypocrite and partisan shill. Sadly, you’re probably not even aware of the existence of such racism on your side.

Or, we can all agree that parody, satire and caricature have their place and that’s all it is and go on about our business. You get to choose, Tommy. Racism or parody? But it must apply equally and you must call your boys on it, loud and long and first! Until then, please shut the heck up! Your faux self-righteousness is keeping the adults from their work.

I’m not holding my breath. My opinion of the Left is that they would look at the work of their side and proclaim it an excellent use of parody and caricature and be proud of it while continuing to denigrate the Right for their racism. That such behavior would be considered hypocrisy or racism is unfathomable to them. Minds that small seldom have room for more than a thought or two at the same time.

Blue Collar Muse

Despite serious problems with the position, there remain people for whom it is true Evangelicals and other “Christians” cost the GOP the election in 2008.  The question must be asked why, when no data supports such an opinion, do people continue to hold it?  To be sure, some dislike that Christians believe in Creation and not Evolution and that homosexuality should be sinful and not celebrated.  But where is the political division in such views? 

If Christians hurt the GOP this cycle, then in prior elections: A) the GOP was primarily a haven for FisCons who are now being driven out by SoCons and their issues; B) key issues were more secular than religious or values based, and ; C) revulsion for Christians arose, basically overnight and with no warning, driving FisCon swing voters out of the GOP.  Let’s consider these points.

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Some things just have to be seen to be believed! Just when you thought the dilution of the Christmas season couldn’t get any worse, there’s this.

I just opened my email and found this email from the President-Elect.

SUBJECT:Your Obama Holiday Mug

Ken –

This holiday season, celebrate the historic accomplishment of our movement for change. Treat yourself or a loved one to a limited edition Obama coffee mug.

Make a donation of $15 or more right now and get an official Obama mug to mark an amazing year:

Celebrate our historic accomplishment

Items purchased by December 15th are guaranteed to be delivered before December 25th.

When you make your donation, you’ll be supporting the Democratic National Committee. The resources they invested in the 50-state organizing strategy made this movement possible — help us build for future victories together.

Share this amazing moment with your friends and family. Thanks to supporters like you, we all have the opportunity to bring real change to America.

Get your holiday Obama mug today:

But when you click through the link to see the mug, this is the picture:

Excuse me? What holiday are we celebrating with this? I guess we’re in for more change - evidently we’re changing from Christmas to Obamamas …

Blue

What should the President do if he finds himself in the midst of wrapping up a war that has claimed the lives of many and divided a country; presiding over an Economy that has generally prospered despite the war and finds himself at odds with international partners because of the war?

If you are Abraham Lincoln you issue a proclamation of Thanksgiving. Let me be clear. You issue a proclamation of Thanksgiving not merely for the blessings you enjoy, but you pointedly name and offer homage to the Source of that blessing, “… The Most High God … our beneficent Father …” Whose ” … Almighty hand … works in human history to accomplish … the Divine purposes ….” If you are Abraham Lincoln you gratefully acknowledge God’s gifts while beseeching Him for His mercy for “… our sins … [and] … for our national perversenenss and disobedience ….”

But of course, as is widely recognized by many of today’s Republican intelligentsia, such public displays of religion and Christianity should be returned to the privacy of one’s heart where they speak to no one; they should be avoided because of the damage such expressions of faith do to the Party’s efforts to be about The People’s business; they cannot help but push thinking and rational people away from the Party and towards the other side which has sensibly removed God from every last public place. A Party and a President who does such a thing deserves to be in the minority and will be seen by history as presiding over the destruction of the Party and its principles.

For the rest of Lincoln’s proclamation which, as some historians have discovered, contributed to the healing of a nation; the unifying of a nation and the ascending of a Party to power and prominence, read on. Or you can just go back to your Turkey and dressing and shake your head at those Right Wing Religious nuts and their silly ideas about human dignity and worth, the nature of man, the struggle between Good and Evil and other interesting but irrelevant things …

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony wherof I have herunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Thank you to Bobbie Patray of the Tennessee Eagle Forum for reminding me of all of this, and …

From my family to yours,

A Blessed and Joyous Thanksgiving …

Blue Collar Muse

For millions of Americans, the results on November 4th were sad but not surprising. They signaled the failure of an ideology which held power for years, promised much and delivered little.

To some, the failure was due to problems inherent in Free Markets, Capitalism, Limited Government, Social Conservatism and the rest of the foundations of Conservative thought. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Barack Obama’s message was electing John McCain meant “4 more years” of George Bush. He was right. Unsaid was that electing him would be worse! Apart from the War on Terror and SCOTUS picks, what Bush accomplishments would Obama have problems with?

Bush has grown Government with a GOP controlled Congress for 6 of his 8 years. Obama is unhappy about that? Congress passed the Medicaid spending increase. Obama is unhappy about that? Congress passed Kennedy’s Education Bill. Obama is unhappy about that? Social Security Privatization failed. Obama is unhappy about that? Immigration? The Bailout? Obama is even talking about Welfare disguised as Tax Cuts for heaven’s sake! One could go on and on.

On too many issues and at too many levels, Conservative principles did not fail, Conservative principles failed to be upheld!

There were bright spots. The defeats of Harriet Meiers’ nomination, the Immigration Reform bill and the Dubai Port Deal come to mind. Common to these successes was the grassroots involvement of everyday Americans refusing to allow Government to take the nation in the wrong direction. We did it then, we can do it again.

This morning, the #dontgo Movement gives us that opportunity! #dontgo was founded by Eric Odom and Allen Fuller on a Friday in August when Nancy Pelosi and Democrats turned off the lights in the People’s House and went home. Big Government and Democrats didn’t have time for you. But many GOP House members believed different! They stayed and told Democrats, “Don’t Go! Come back and finish the People’s business!” With no cameras or microphones, those voices went basically unheard.

Until Odom and Fuller put up a Twitter hashtag - #dontgo. The word started trickling out. Until Odom and Fuller put up a website #dontgomovement.com so cellphone video, pictures and blog posts could get out. Until the MSM picked up what grassroots, New Media activists were doing and for the next month, the message “Don’t Go!” followed Nancy Pelosi from book signing to book signing! Better, tens of thousands of people rallied to one of the most successful grassroots efforts on the Right in years.

That was 2 months ago. While the issue birthing #dontgo is no longer a rally point, people are still looking for a voice to speak to Big Government to foster change! Good news. Odom and #dontgo didn’t stop working and growing when the microphones moved on to the next issue. This morning brings us this:

“Center Right Movement Heats up the Internet”
Conservative Bloggers See Netroots As Key To Advancing Policy

On Monday, November 10th www.dontgomovement.com will host an e-launch party to celebrate its fully-functional website and new online radio show devoted to advancing conservative netroots activism.

#dontgo originally began as a simple internet tag that the founders would put on their blog posts while tracking the energy debate by the US Congress on August 1st, quickly it became used by hundreds of activists including members of Congress not just to track the energy bill, but to energize and push conservative values. Soon thereafter the site was created and to date has 30,000 opt-in email subscribers.

The #dontgo Revolution takes web-based strategies and tactics that Democrats used in the last election cycle to advance conservative views and values. The mission is to develop a fifty state strategy of blogs and internet social networks that would get more conservatives active in their communities leading into the 2010 elections.

Communications Director Juliana Johnson states, “As we witnessed in the 2008 elections web-based strategies are imperative. Conservatives have time and time again failed to use the internet to attract voters and get more people active. We hope that with the launch of this website we will be able to effectively wage the battle of ideas with the left in cyberspace.”

Monday’s radio show (online) will air at 5pm CST. In order to listen please go to www.dontgomovement.com and on the right there is a button “listen to #dontgo radio”.

CONTACT: Juliana Johnson, Director of Communications
(312) 575-9500 (office)
(847) 691-9278 (cell)
julianatjohnson@gmail.com

If you’re a an eActivist - a blogger, vlogger, podcaster, internet radio host or wiki editor - head to dontgomovement.com and sign up. If you’re a traditional activist - a door knocker, phone caller, envelope stuffer, poll watcher or election day driver - head to dontgomovement.com and get involved. You’ll be building the state-by-state, city-by-city, block-by-block structure needed to rein in Liberals regardless of Party. And you’ll enable the election of politicians who won’t just campaign to the Right, they’ll govern that way, too!

This is not just a hope! We’ve seen people work together, they can bring real change. Your passion has moved you in the past. #dontgo gives that passion an effective outlet. Come join us!

Blue Collar Muse

They are also uneducated, out of step with the rest of the country, to be pitied, isolated, suffering in the area of “jobs, education and development”, ideologically aligned with the old Confederacy, at odds with the values of the rest of the country, and are getting what they deserve because they won’t “… get with the right program.” Hat tip to Dan Cleary for making sure I was aware of this.

Or you could ask Dwight Lewis at The Tennessean. Lewis learned all this in a phone interview with “… David A. Bositis, senior political analyst for the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies …” He felt it true and significant enough to share it with all of us. The Tennessean evidently agreed with him. Why publish his lunacy otherwise?

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is a misleading name for the group. Per Lewis, the politics and economy the JCPES finds worthy of studying are those “… of concern to African-Americans and other people of color …” The picture at their site includes pictures of Asians and Hispanics. However, reading through the headlines on their site, the only people of color mentioned are either Blacks or African Americans. There is one vague reference to “America’s minorities.”

This is the environment in which Bositis’ claims must be evaluated. And what is Bositis’ basis for making such outrageous claims? It’s his analysis of who voted for John McCain and who voted for Barack Obama. He has lots of high sounding analysis. I’ll save you some time. Anyone who voted for John McCain is all of those things in the opening paragraph. Anyone who voted for Barack Obama is not.

No word on the character of Barr, Baldwin and Nader voters. Words fail to describe how offensive Bositis’ words are, or should be, to every man or woman who supported a candidate OBO, “Other than Barack Obama.” Obviously, however, Lewis, Bositis and presumably some of their readers and supporters believe this tripe. I would point out the position of Lewis and Bositis are, on their face, far more racist and divisive than that of any of John McCain’s supporters of any color. Except, I must be wrong. It’s not possible for Blacks to be racist. Jesse Jackson himself told us so.

When people criticize me for declaring Barack Obama is not my President, I’ll take comfort in knowing that he is not mine, although he is Mr. Lewis’ President and he is Mr. Bositis’ President. To all you who want to claim Barack as your own, enjoy their company. Barack forged a coalition he greatly desired to get him elected. It contains a great many fine people who mistakenly believe in the untested, unproven promise of Barack. It also contains a great many craven, twisted racists such as Mr. Lewis and Mr. Bositis. Their bile and ignorance, passed off as lofty and intellectual analysis, is rubbish if for no other reason than it fails to address the rationale for McCain voters elsewhere. That such thinking might be indicative of the actual change and hope we’ll see as opposed the empty rhetoric Obama offered ought to terrify Americans.

Men like Lewis and Bositis are destroying Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of integration. They are callously dividing our nation along racial lines for purposes I cannot fathom. How any sane and educated individual in 2008 can believe, let alone put into print in what should be respectable publications, the notion that millions of Americans may legitimately be labled racist and backward based solely on the vote they cast is beyond outrageous.

I’ve read it in a score of places in the last 48 hours. I cannot help but repeat it here. It’s going to be a long 4 years …

Blue Collar Muse

Tuesday night, Barack Obama spoke to a waiting country and a wondering world. Found in his words are a myriad reasons to reject what he stands for. The election is over and Obama is President. Some say the healing must now begin and we must unite behind Barack. Obama himself appealed “…to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn — I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.”

I say, Obama will be the President; but he will never be my President. Obama wants what he is unwilling to give. To get the job, Obama divided us. Now on the job, he yearns for unity’s strength. But leopards don’t change their spots. As he ran, so will he govern. I will not be a party to that.

Obama’s speech text is here. The video is here. Please read it before reading my comments.

When Obama “wonders if the dream of our founders is alive”, I remember what those Founders wrote. They were “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Obama believes some men are more equal than others. When advocating for nonexisent rights or for granting more rights to some than to me, he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama says he wants to “… renew this nation’s promise … to restore prosperity … to reclaim the American Dream …”; when he speaks of “remaking this nation” I must ask, when was the promise broken and by whom; who stole our prosperity; who moved the American Dream out of reach of everyday Americans and who pulled down our nation that it needs to be remade? For a century, it has been the ideological allies of Barack Obama who have done so. When raising our taxes, curtailing our liberty, weakening the defense of our country and bankrupting our businesses and Economy - Obama will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama says his Presidency was launched in “the living rooms of Concord” and financed “by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give … to this cause” I marvel at his deception. When he enters the Oval Office it will complete a journey begun in the living room of William Ayers’ and which traveled a path financed by thousands of people Obama will not identify, many of whom are not even Americans. He will enter the office of the President, but not my President.

When Obama says “… the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime …” and references our military and families worried about tomorrow, I recoil in horror from the cavalier exploitation of those about whom he is ignorant. My son is in the military he will command and I have four more children at home to care for. When he sends my son into harm’s way but threatens not to support him while there; when he takes money for which I labor and which I need to support my family to give to families he decides need it more he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama calls for “a new spirit of patriotism”, I struggle to find something wrong with the old one. When Obama gives away our sovereignty and national interests to our enemies and those who would weaken us he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama calls for us to “look after not only ourselves, but each other” and to believe “that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers” I marvel at his hypocrisy. Under the old spirit of “service and responsibility” he would replace, Americans were the most generous and industrious people on earth. When Obama decides who it is I must sacrifice for and brings suffering to Main Street via higher taxes for the Wall Street Bailout he will be the President, but not my President.

Obama’s words are empty. His promise is hollow. His dreams are nightmares. To be my President, he must deny everything he confesses to believe in. He must repudiate his stated policies. He must realize the paradise he seeks is found in the principles and promises of others. As the President, he may invoke the imagery of Lincoln, King and Kennedy but his appeal to their memory defiles their legacy.

He says he will be my President. But he will not because he cannot. To expect me to believe otherwise insults me. And that, too, is something my President would not do.

Blue Collar Muse

While I’m unwilling to concede just yet that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States, it would be foolish to deny that possibility. Even if John McCain wins, the status of Conservatism in the GOP and politics generally is troubling at best.

Politicians and The People, with few exceptions, seem determined to abandon sound, proven truths for the warm, fuzzy rhetoric of the Economic and Social policies of “Hope!” and “Change!” It’s difficult to blame The People. They gave the GOP a shot at letting Conservative ideology work it’s magic on the country for years.  Turns out the Pols weren’t as Conservative as advertised.

The years after the Reagan era are defined by a GOP wanting more to breed and less to lead. GOP strategy was “What must we do to increase our power and get re-elected?” instead of “What must we do to serve the people and earn our re-election?”

The nominations of Bob Dole,  W and now John McCain coupled with the strategy of many GOP House and Senate candidates has reinforced that approach. A notable exception, AZ Representative John Shadegg, says even at the height of 1994’s Republican Revolution the GOP’s advice was his most important job wasn’t to represent his district or promote his constituents’ values; it was to get re-elected.

This approach has tainted Conservatism in the minds of the people. It has become identical to, or at least wed to the GOP.  Thus the sins of the Party become the sins of the Principled.  Even if Conservatives object, pointing out they never countenanced bad behavior by the GOP (The Bailout, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Reform) The People still see them as part of the problem and not the solution. How else to understand what happened to Rick Santorum, George Allen and others?

Such losses make the Democrats’ job easier. Each defeated Conservative frees up time, energy and money to defeat those remaining. Squishy GOP members voted with Democrats enough to permit them to establish portions of their agenda and to regain solid Congressional majorities. Two things will follow: those who believe the Left can be reasoned with and appeased will be rudely awakened and the country will suffer. To date, only the second is happening.

GOP snubbing of Conservatives has produced much soul searching. The choices are stay in the GOP and work internally for change or leave to found or join a third party. I’m not advocating either choice. But enabling the status quo is not an option. We each must decide what the best use is of our time and talents. To decide, regardless of who wins the White House, a few things should be influential.

Christopher Arledge at Red County has written ‘The End of American Conservatism?’ and at The Minority Report, Civil Truth has penned ‘A Time for Choosing: Even Truer 44 Years Later’. They are as good a starting place as any for Conservatives asking where they go from here. I commend them to you. If you find, or if you have written, posts with similar themes, let me know and I’ll aggregate them here as a resource.

It is impossible to predict the consequences of next week’s election. It is, however, quite possible to predict what will happen if Conservatives do nothing. Surrender and chains being unacceptable options, regrouping and fighting on will have to do for now …

Blue Collar Muse

Sitting in airports most of yesterday, I got an earful of CNN’s coverage of Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama.

It effectively undercut two of the most damning truths about Obama. Particularly galling was the interview with Claire McCaskill. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, she gushed Obama must be the best choice since Powell, a military man, would never support someone unqualified to serve as CinC or who trafficked with terrorists. This despite the fact Powell’s endorsement included nothing addressing the validity of those two points. Even afterward, General Powell did not address with specificity his rationale for endorsing Obama.

By far, however, the most disappointing aspect of Powell’s endorsement was his contention that, despite his decision, he still considers himself a Republican. I do not know the General nor have I ever spoken to him. I believe he is a good man and his skilled service to our country as a military man is beyond exemplary. But I cannot accept his contention that he is a Republican. It is not because he endorsed the nominee from the other side. It is his stated reasons for doing so.

Over the last 8 years, three prominent Democrats endorsed the GOP nominee; Zell Miller, Democratic Senator from Georgia; Ed Koch, former Democratic Mayor of NYC and Joe Lieberman, former Democratic Senator from CT and 2000 Democratic VP nominee. When these Democrats endorsed the GOP nominee, they did so deliberately and with specificity. They did so while remaining Democrats. With the exception of Zell Miller, they did so while disagreeing with Republicans on almost every other point except the War on Terror. Concluding aggression against the US was the greatest threat to the nation and that Democrats could not or would not see that, these men broke with their party to support a GOP nominee. Miller’s endorsement followed in the well established DixieCrat tradition of Conservative southern Democrats. There was nothing that demanded these men be excluded from the Democratic Party.

There was a fair amount of criticism from the Left directed at these men for their decision. Like Powell, however, they maintained they were still Democrats while breaking with the party on the war. That break cost them. While Miller retired shortly after his endorsement, he was villified by Leftists. Lieberman was actively opposed by the Democratic Party in his bid for reelection to the Senate. These men remain Democrats in all things except for their endorsements. Ed Koch is supporting Obama and thinks Palin is scary. Joe Lieberman still caucuses with Democrats and votes with them on virtually all matters not related to the war. It is clear, whether or not you agree with their assessment of the war, that was the reason they supported the nominee from the GOP.

Colin Powell’s rationale isn’t even close to as specific. It’s filled with nebulous and meaningless platitudes. Obama brings a fresh set of eyes to the problem. Well, so does Sarah Palin. Obama is inclusive. This is simply laughable as there is literally zero evidence for that. If inclusiveness is the criteria by which we are to judge, McCain is the hands down winner. Powell is uncomfortable with the rhetoric coming out of the McCain camp regarding Obama’s association with terrorists, both foreign and domestic. Evidently he is OK with the rhetoric coming from the camps of terrorists, both foreign and domestic, that support the Illinois Senator.

In short, Powell’s objections to McCain aren’t policy based. They aren’t ideologically based. They seem to be based in personality. That is not to say personality has nothing to do with how to evaluate a candidate. But it ought to be last on the list and certainly not a basis for abandoning party policy and ideology. Unless, of course, your policy and ideology is more akin to the other guy’s than to the one you are generally associated with.

Colin Powell, when asked if he was still a Republican, responded that he was. With all respect to the General, I must disagree. There is little evidence from his speech that he is. His endorsement of Obama ignores that Obama is for bigger Government, higher Taxes, decreased personal Liberty, weaker national Defense and a host of other anti-GOP notions. Powell does not list a single issue or policy with which Obama is at odds with the GOP and which he considers paramount beyond all considerations for the safety and security of our nation. Instead, he gives a general and sweeping endorsement of the man and his policies which are unquestionably Left of center.

If you can explain to me how this is a Republican view, I’m willing to listen. But from here it sounds like a Democrat in GOP clothing standing up for what he believes in. I have no issue with the good General if he wants to hold Democratic views. I would appreciate, however, the intellectual honesty to admit the same and make the announcement that he cannot, in good conscience, remain in the GOP any longer and that he was endorsing the Democratic agenda.

That’s an endorsement I could respect.

Blue Collar Muse

Promoted by Erick. Yeah, yeah, this isn’t about what Blue Collar Muse is doing on the ground, but it is absolutely about what is happening on the ground right now. This is quite important stuff we all need to pay attention to.

Tuesday, my post ‘ACORN’s 15 State Strategy for Voter Fraud’ provoked a great deal of response across the Interwebz. I don’t believe it alone was responsible for the Left’s development of talking points but said points were clearly in evidence. Discussion at The Next Right was most brisk with Leftist memes posted in abundance.

The short version? ACORN is the victim, not the criminal, so it can’t be involved in vote fraud! ACORN has never been convicted of vote fraud so it can’t be involved! ACORN reported its own fraudulent registrations so it can’t be involved! ACORN cooperated with the investigations so it can’t be involved! Real vote fraud only happens while casting a vote at the polls so ACORN can’t be involved. Statements to the contrary are based on isolated incidents so ACORN can’t be involved! ACORN isn’t responsible for the actions of a few bad eggs who make them look bad so it can’t be involved. It’s the start of a multi-state victim strategy.

Of course this only works if the protests are legitimate. Let’s take a look. . .

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Much has been made of the Democrats 50 state strategy to win the election.  Who knew there was a fall back 15 state strategy to steal it if they couldn’t win it?

Americans who haven’t heard about ACORN and voter fraud haven’t been paying attention. Some have been hearing about it for years. Others are just now hearing after waking up to find elections upon us once again. Seems like every couple of years there’s an election and whenever there is, there’s talk about people trying to steal it.

This year is no different. But for the first time, the fraud seems massive and everywhere.  And most all the fingers are pointing at ACORN.  They are political activists, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. According to Wikipedia, ACORN ” … is a community-based organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, health care and other social issues.” Wikipedia has frozen further edits to ACORN’s page because people can’t agree; according to others, ACORN is a Liberal group committed to electing Democrats by any means possible, legal and illegal.

Prior to 2008, while ACORN was a player in terms of voter fraud, there wasn’t much to report.  My first memory is South Dakota from 2002. This year ACORN is under scrutiny in over a fourth of America’s 50 states.

According to the New York Post and numerous other sources, 15 states are looking into ACORN for possible voter fraud. There’s just one problem, I can’t find 15 from this election cycle.  I can only find 13!  I looked but no one reporting the 15 state figure backed it up.  A bit of light was shed when I found a comment making the tally 15 “since 2004″.  Not quite the felonious total first reported, but why quibble over a couple of states.  A count of 13 still means in 2/3 of the states in which ACORN ran registration drives this cycle, there were problems.  If anyone knows the other two states, let me know and I’ll issue an update.  If problems turn up in any of other states, let me know as well.

The 13 instances noted below are all from this election cycle.  All but the Washington case are from 2008.

Connecticut - falsifying/forging voter registration cards;

Florida - falsifying voter registration;

Indiana - falsifying/forging voter registration cards;

Michigan - dozens of fraudulent forms;

Missouri - falsifying voter registration applications;

Nevada - fraudulent registrations including two for Tony Romo and Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys;

New Mexico - hiring felons to work on registration drives;

North Carolina - fraudulent registrations submitted;

Ohio -  one man ACORN registered to vote over 70 times;

Pennsylvania - $2k reward offered for ACORN temp charged with perjury, identity theft and vote fraud;

Texas - 40% of 27K registrations from Houston rejected;

Washington - worst case of registration fraud in state history;

Wisconsin - hiring felons as “special registration deputies” and falsifying registration forms.

The links above are just one link to the state’s story.  In several instances there are multiple reports on the same case and in a few instances, there are multiple cases of fraud in a single state.  The point is, this isn’t made up.  ACORN’s standard response seems to be the “We can’t be made to pay for what others do!” defense.  But they don’t seem to mind if we pay in their place.

With the news out the Obama campaign hired ACORN, paying them $800k for voter registration it seems likely the heat is not going to do anything but increase.  Stay tuned and stay informed.  Alert and knowledgeable citizens outflank 15 state strategies every time!

Blue Collar Muse

I don’t remember first hearing the term “9/11 Conservatives” to describe those with post 9/11 epiphanies. Realizing Liberal degradation of the US was destroying it in people’s minds, 9/11 Conservatives abandoned the Left in droves. I do remember I didn’t need the term explained to me. Its meaning was instantly grasped. The concept has been applied to different specifics over the years but it’s still clear. A big enough event can break through indifference, and even opposition, forcing us to deal with it and its consequences. Given that, perhaps it’s possible to learn something from attacks on other American institutions.

Free Market Capitalism is clearly under attack in the wake of recent financial woes. Listening to Democrats, and more than a few Republicans, Capitalism and Free Markets produced those problems. They were so bad, Government had to put Socialist bandages on Capitalist wounds. The Truth is otherwise. An objective evaluation show Government Market meddling and Watergate style Government cover-ups behind the current financial ravaging. The same is true of the subsequent bailout.

People are not as stupid as the Left needs them to be. Citizens will see Big Government, not Free Markets, caused the problem. They’ll understand the Government’s solution, as in 1929, made the situation far worse than it would have been had it let the Market work. They’ll recognize a prime Government weakness is needing to be seen doing something, even something bad! And they’ll realize one can’t eliminate Bear Markets if one also wants Bull Markets. Uninterrupted growth is unrealistic. There will be Market corrections and they are healthy. Public understanding of Governmental responsibility for the problem as evidenced by the bailout, the Community Reinvestment Act and more will ultimately push more people towards fiscal conservatism than towards centrally planned Socialism. Call them CRA FisCons.

Equally large is the assault on the sanctity of the voting process. We have peaceful transitions of power due to public confidence in the electoral process. While there have been many charges of vote fraud over the years, in the last decade, Democrats have stepped up efforts to destroy confidence in the system in order to acquire legislative power. In 2000 Al Gore retracted his concession, forcing the Florida recount nightmare on the country. Eight years later I still see “Bush was selected, not elected!” bumper stickers. The Left refused to accept a certified vote because it showed them losing. This obsession fueled efforts to ensure it never happens again, even if they need to cheat.

Ask Democrats if the GOP engages in vote fraud and twenty minutes later you might get a word in to ask for evidence. There is, no doubt, evidence of GOP vote fraud available if one looks hard enough. But the truth is the GOP behaves better than Dems in respecting the sanctity of the process. John Ashcroft didn’t demand the special election to which he was entitled following his loss to a dead man in 2000. In 2002, John Thune refused a recount to which he was entitled by South Dakota’s Constitution despite significant evidence of vote fraud by Democrats.

Ask Democrats about New Jersey illegally putting Frank Lautenberg on the ballot in 2002. Ask them about ACORN being investigated and charged with vote fraud across the country. Ask them about ACORN execs fired, resigned in disgraced or fined for vote fraud. And if you ask why Democrats continue to support such a tainted and disgraced organization, you’ll get non-answers delivered with a straight face.

Reliance on and allegiance to ACORN will ultimately cost them. The Democratic Party and individual Democrats should denounce ACORN. They should demand investigations to produce confidence in the process. They should vote to end public funding accounting for 40% of ACORN’s budget and advise private donors putting up the other 60% to cut ACORN off. Democrats should call for trials and harsh sentences for those convicted of manipulating the voting process to disenfranchise others. But they don’t and they won’t. ACORN is doing exactly what Democrats want them to do. They want distrust of the process in the public mind.

Once again, Americans are not that stupid. The Left cannot spin ACORN as part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or even the Right in general. ACORN is clearly both intentionally engaged in vote fraud and an obvious Democratic tool. As Americans grasp this truth, look for ACORN Republicans to make themselves known.

Finally, it never ceases to amaze how Democrats spin relationships. GWB was in the oil business so he must be a shill for Big Oil. Dick Cheney served on Haliburton’s board so the GOP must be funneling no-bid contracts their way. Yes, some Government decisions benefit Big Oil. Yes, Haliburton gets some Government contracts. But are these events in the natural course of business or is the GOP linked to them in nefarious ways? No evidence exists that it is anything other than the simple natural course of things.

Democratic relationships and connections are, however, demonstrably contaminated. Bill Clinton had more than a little baggage heading into the White House. There were bimbo eruptions; Whitewater and his wife’s part time day-trading job; questions about misuse and abuse of state troopers under his authority and more. This was all known before Clinton was elected. It either didn’t matter to Democrats or it didn’t get enough press to make a difference before election day. After the election, even more misdeeds came to light and it got worse. 16 years later, it’s happening again.

Well before election day, Barack Obama’s association with terrorists, foreign and domestic, is being revealed more clearly. Obama’s connection to ACORN and its crimes is being reported more widely. His support for Socialist regulation is becoming more widely known. The questions about Obama have been answered. He’s a known quantity. If demonstrable past performance is an indicator, Barack Obama will damage this country in ways my worst nightmares can’t foresee. Fraternizing with our enemies, championing destructive economic plans and ignoring illegal acts for personal benefit combine to make Barack Obama more than dagerous to our country. He could destroy it altogether.

Obama dismisses these truths. He even paints them as positive. I’m not in bed with terrorists! But what’s wrong with talking to people? I didn’t push ACORN’s radical agenda, I was a community organizer trying to involve more people in the political process! I’m not a Socialist! But shouldn’t everyone be able to own in a house? Can’t a nation as great as America make that happen?

For Bill Clinton to be right, scores of people had to be branded as liars. Democrats took up that challenge. For Barack Obama to be the President Democrats claim he’ll be, thousands must deny they saw what they saw and heard what they heard during the campaign. Thousands more must suffer from Obama policies as disastrous tomorrow as they were in a thousand yesterdays. No matter, Democrats still rally behind him.

However, sooner or later, just as 9/11 moved folks from Liberal to Conservative, the CRA will move folks from Socialism to Free Markets, ACORN will move folks from Democrats to Republicans. Like Jimmy Carter gave the country Ronald Reagan, an Obama presidency will illustrate the lie and curse that is Liberalism and reveal the Truth and the blessing, howevermuch discomfort it produces at times, that is Conservatism. The Left may argue things like Individual Liberty, Free Markets, Conservatism and the like aren’t perfect. I agree. But they are also far superior to any other option available.

Remember this when you step into that booth over the next few weeks. There’s no need to wait until 2012 to show you’ve made the move from Left to Right.

Blue Collar Muse

New technology overcomes old challenges. It also raises new ones. Nuclear plants generate the most electricity but have cleanup questions. The Internet has overcome and created challenges, too. Howard Dean used the internet to raise money at unheard of levels. Ken Timmerman reports Barack Obama’s campaign raised $427 million dollars, much of it coming via the internet.

Almost half of the $427 million came from donations of less than $200. Campaigns don’t have to identify donors until their aggregate giving exceeds $200. When giving was by check or cash, it was harder to cheat; cash deposits had to be accounted for and checks left paper trails. Credit card internet giving is the new way around the law.

Timmerman writes about an Obama donor, “Good Will”, who gave $17,375 in over 1,000 donations under $200, far exceeding the limit for individuals. The FEC has ordered the campaign to return the excess money, and they’ve started to. They’ve got thousands to go! Warner Todd Huston writes of testing the foreign donation firewalls of both Obama and McCain. Only one campaign had any checks on the process in place.

Complicating matters, current monitoring and regulating mechanisms are outpaced by technology. The FEC didn’t find “Good Will”. Activists did. Giving is at T1 speeds. Enforcement is stuck on dialup.

“While FEC practice is to do a post-election review of all presidential campaigns, given their sluggish metabolism, results can take three or four years,” said Ken Boehm, the chairman of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center.

If Presidential campaigns have these issues, what of lesser publicized and scrutinized down-ticket races?

Tennessee has a potential problem. According to the Democrats themselves, Jim Hawkins, a state Senate challenger raised $87,000 in the second quarter of 2008. , $22,725 of it came from ActBlue, a PAC exclusively supporting Democrats.

While a great example of new tech making new opportunities, it raises new problems, too. Per Drew Rawlins, Executive Director of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, in Tennessee a PAC cannot give a Senate candidate over $15,000; half in the primary and half in the general. ActBlue is clearly over that limit.

But are they violating a law? The answer may come down to applying offline laws to online issues. As with applying 1st Amendment’s rights to traditional media and New Media, how do we apply campaign Finance law crafted for yesterday’s offline campaigns to today’s online efforts?

While agreeing ActBlue was a PAC, Rawlins said ActBlue wasn’t Hawkins’ donor; the 74 people giving to ActBlue to give to Hawkins were. ActBlue served as an “intermediary” under Tennessee law. Rawlins compared them to other “intermediaries” like PayPal or traditional bundlers and doesn’t believe ActBlue violated the law. Had ActBlue given Hawkins that much in undesignated funds, they’d have broken the law. Contributions designated to Hawkins are OK.

I’m not sure. I don’t suggest ActBlue willfully broke a law. I’m suggesting old laws may be insufficient to address ActBlue’s actions. I’m suggesting we address this now and suspend this sort of campaign donation until we decide.

I’m unsure about classifying ActBlue as an intermediary. Drew Rawlins observed anyone could be an intermediary because the money didn’t come from them, but the individual donors. Given that, I asked if churches and corporations could be intermediaries. Rawlins said “No;” churches and corporations were legally forbidden to make campaign donations. But PACs have legal restrictions, too. If churches or corporations can’t go beyond their legal restrictions, why can PACs?

I’m uncomfortable with ActBlue’s processes. Bundlers don’t hold donations, they pass them on right away. Checks are payable to specific entities. Cash isn’t deposited by a bundler who then cuts a check to the campaign. Even online money transfers via PayPal are immediate. The money goes from my account to the recipient’s. But donations made via ActBlue are often held by ActBlue before being disbursed. Where is that money in the meantime? If it stops in an ActBlue account, how is the final payment not from ActBlue? What would happen if an offline bundler were to operate like this?

It comes down to murky law. Campaigns are operating under the premise “It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission!” While perhaps valid for dealing with a child’s mistakes, it makes for dangerous election finance law. With what’s at stake, it seems just a matter of time before someone sues to resolve this. So why not look at it now and speak to it definitively and without the pressure of lawsuits?

I’m going to keep looking into this. I want to speak to Drew Rawlins again and a few more folks as well. In the meantime, what do you think? Is this real or no big deal? What arguments, for or against, am I missing? To help keep the election process clean, let’s deal with this now. It’ll bring us into the 21st century and keep us up to date, at least until the next idea comes along …

Blue Collar Muse

Now that our Representatives in DC are done abasing themselves before political logic at the altar of “Being seen doing something, no matter how destructive, is better than being seen doing nothing!”, let’s take a look at what just happened.

Stripped to essentials, you and I are being forced to buy something the current owners don’t want and which destroyed individuals and companies which owned even some of it. Government believes the magic pixie bailout dust which will ensure success is assuming responsibility for all of it.

Wall Street holds a bag full of bad mortgages. So bad, owning them has already destroyed companies with even a mix of good and bad ones. Government is going to buy just the bad ones! But Government has no money with which to purchase mortgages, good or bad, that doesn’t come from taxpayers. Your Government is buying, in your name and with your money, mortgages the mortgage experts know are bad, don’t want and wish they had never made.

“Unknown” is the best description for the prices taxpayers will pay for these mortgages. It is currently unclear how the value of the bad mortgages will be determined. Wall Street will want as much as possible to reduce their losses. Government has little incentive to realistically assess their value. This would seem to assure a good deal for Wall Street and a lousy deal for Main Street. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Peter R. Orszag, told Congress that in plain terms in a recent hearing. (Orszag’s comments appear between 22:30 to 23:00)

Government believes it will perform better than the Market. 337 legislators with nothing at stake but re-election feel better qualified to risk taxpayer’s money and future than the 200,000,000 taxpayers either opposed to or unsure of the plan. By what measure are they more qualified? By virtue of being able to ignore the people and impose their will on them. But being powerful doesn’t make one right.

Bailout opposition drops dramatically if one assumes Government is making a sound investment. Tell taxpayers they’ll get their money back when the homes they’re buying are re-sold and many more favor the deal. But will that actually happen? All we have are assurances on that point. Government doesn’t know it will work out well, they hope and assume it will.

There are some great ideas for Private Sector involvement. That few investors are clamoring to be let in on the action is telling. However, if profiting from bad mortgages was the sure thing Government needs it to be to garner public support, we wouldn’t need the Bailout. The Private Sector would be lined up to do it. That they’re not undermines the Government’s contention this is a low cost, no cost, or even profit making venture.

Interestingly, the Bailout isn’t about the Housing Market at all. It’s about the Credit Market. Holding bad mortgages is a threat to financial health. In today’s volatile market, even the hint of weakness spells disaster. No one knows how much in bad mortgages anyone else is holding so no one is extending credit. The borrower may be destroyed in mere hours by a loose word or a breeze on their house of cards. The Government solution is to buy up all the bad mortgages. Freed from worry about risk, lenders will begin extending credit again. This is exactly the solution the Market would have imposed had it been allowed to with some differences in implementation.

The Market would not make taxpayers responsible for the sins of others. It would have relaxed tension in the Credit Market by making those responsible for bad lending decisions endure the consequences. This would dump bad loans on the market at a low price for investors to see as good investments which they then begin buying. As the Market cleansed itself confidence between surviving lenders, demonstrating unquestionable financial soundness by virtue of their survival, would increase and the Credit Market would loosen. This is essentially identical to Government’s plan while taking a little longer. Government is underscoring the soundness of Market principles without being willing to permit Market processes.

By far the worst result of the Bailout is deeper Government intrusion into the Private Sector. The crisis was not a failure of the Market. The Market expects there will be downturns, corrections or cutbacks at times. No one likes them, but only certain forms of Government abandon responsible behavior to avoid them.

We used to have wise and responsible Government; limited and small, it taxed little and meddled less. That allowed a Free Market in a truly Private Sector to transform a wilderness into the world’s richest economy in mere decades. The inertia of that Economy carried us forward despite the low speed, high drag baggage of Woodrow Wilson’s Socialism, FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society.

But even that powerful engine is not immune to the braking action of constant friction. Today Government spends hundreds of billions monthly in unconstitutional entitlements. Crying that a minority will fail in their quest for success, it impedes the majority’s quest, ignorant that a single success does more than a single failure can wipe out. Left alone, we would provide far more for the least of us than the pittance Government doles out for votes. But that garners no power for Government.

Barack Obama and Democrats have already told us what they intend if elected. They plan even more Government regulation and control, weakening even further the economic engine that is Capitalism. They won’t be satisfied until the engine stops altogether.

I’m not convinced we’ve reached the point of no return in our rush to self destruction at the hands of Socialists and Central Planners. But neither am I convinced we have not. The bailout is a huge step in that direction. Granting Democrats control of all 3 branches of Government would be another. And I’m not sure Americans and the GOP is up to the challenge of stopping it. For now, work like it all depends on you and pray like it all depends on God. In the final tally, it does.

Blue Collar Muse

You’d think after Chuck Schumer’s ignorance was plastered all over the news for leaking his letter to the Office of Thrift Supervision and personally creating the run on IndyMac Bank that destroyed IndyMac in just 3 business days that Democrats would learn to keep their mouths shut.

You would think after reports on tight credit, volatile markets and rest of the panic and doom-and-gloom scenarios for which Democrats bill themselves as the saviors of the Country and the Economy, they might realize people pay attention to what they say, however ignorant it is.

You would think one of the biggest providers of stupid Senatorial sound bites, Harry “The War is Lost” Reid (D-NV), would have learned to keep his pie-hole closed when asked about things he has no knowledge of. You’d think so, but you’d be wrong.

Reid stated in a recent news conference that he had heard a major insurance company with a household name was on the verge of insolvency. Today, news is out that three different insurance companies fitting this description, “… a major insurance company — one with a name that everyone knows …” had major stock selloffs following comments by Harry Reid that can only be described as “Look at me, I’m important and have insider information!!!!”

The LA Times reports the following on Harry Reid’s foolish pronouncement,

But with investors already on high alert after the Federal Reserve’s rescue of insurance titan American International Group Inc. on Sept. 16, and with the credit crunch still making funding difficult for even the largest U.S. financial companies, Reid’s comments were the equivalent of pouring gasoline on a grease fire.

MetLife plunged $7.19, or 15%, to $40.96; Hartford dived $12.20, or 32%, to $25.91; and Prudential slid $7.15, or 11%, to $57.65.

And no one can blame short sellers, because all three of the stocks are covered by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s temporary ban on short sales of financial issues.

Investors are so skittish that even a reference to an industry, let alone a specific company is enough to trigger volatile trading. Harry Reid doesn’t understand that. That he later backtracked with these words,

A statement from his office said that Reid was “not personally aware of any particular company being on the verge of bankruptcy” and that “he has no special knowledge about nor has he talked to any insurance company officials.”

reveals his ignorance even further.

In the midst of a financial crisis, the Senate Majority leader repeats a rumor he heard and for which he admits he has absolutely no basis for believing. This fantasy, created and employed to make himself and his position more authoritative, results in a sell-off which majorly impacts 3 of the largest companies in the country, threatens the jobs and investments of perhaps millions of ordinary Americans. But we’re supposed to have faith and confidence in Senator Reid and the rest of his Democratic (and more than a few ignorant Republicans) associates in the Senate.

Harry Reid doesn’t understand even “throw-away” comments in this financial atmosphere can ignite firestorms. Yet he expects a $700 billion bailout, quickly cobbled together, haphazardly grafted onto unrelated legislation and then passed through a Democrat controlled Senate so Senators could look authoritative and responsive - this is safe? Reid and Company don’t understand how today’s minor words impact tomorrow’s Market. But their major overhauls of Constitutional strictures and Economic reality are going to be just fine? See for yourself how small a spark can set off such a huge fire in this 18 second video.

Democrats caused our current financial mess with ill-advised but well-intentioned legislation like “The Community Reinvestment Act”. Their bailout solution is just as well-intentioned and just as ill-advised. There is a reason the Founders put incredible limits on the scope and power of the Federal Government’s authority. Not the least of which is that the Government should not have the power to destroy a company or an Economy with a throw away comment in a press conference. Only the people intimately involved with that company should have that authority; those working there and who invest in it.

Someone please inform Democrats, in DC and all across the US, of this. It’s too bad Nancy Pelosi couldn’t turn off Harry Reid’s microphone and shut off the power to the media’s gear for this press conference like she did to her House colleagues a while back. Somebody needs to get control of out of control Democratic, self serving blathering before it does more than savage a company or three and wreak havoc on the citizen’s finances. Next time around, Democrats might find the right words to destroy the entire Economy.

Blue Collar Muse

One of the more memorable phrases from recent political history is “DOA”. A politician announced, during a recent session of Congress, there was no need to even bother sending the bill over for a vote because it was “DOA”, Dead on Arrival. The phrase immediately made its way into the modern political lexicon as even a cursory Google search reveals.

Congress generally knows when a bill is destined to fail due to internal opposition. For instance, the GOP understood on the front end that Democrats would abandon all pretense of constitutional integrity to prevent even a vote on several judicial nominees a few years ago. The President’s nominees were DOA. DOA legislation becomes more interesting, however, when the pr