“If the Republican Party really wanted to hold on to the White House in 2009, it's pretty clear what it would do. It would grit its teeth, swallow its doubts and nominate a ticket of John McCain for president and Mike Huckabee for vice president -- and president-in-waiting.”
UPDATE: Drudge doesn't have a link yet, but he is reporting this:
SOURCE: New Hampshire UNION LEADER Endorsing McCain tomorrow... Developing...
Could McCain be the comeback kid? I get all tingly just thinking about it.
Seriously, McCain needs a big time speech on immigration reform. One where he assures us that border control will be a high priority, along with strict enforcement of laws on the books.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Here's an idea....
Rudy's scandals. This is just the beginning
A report posted on Politico.com Wednesday said that at the time when Giuliani was beginning an extramarital relationship with Judith Nathan, who eventually became his third wife, he billed obscure city agencies thousands of dollars for his police security detail covering trips to visit Nathan.
But Giuliani insists that everything was done in the open, “honestly, honorably, above board.”
At the link Giuliani sits down with Kati Couric to discuss the issue. First let me ask, is anyone else bothered by that first sentence? I mean when a story about a Presidential candidate begins with an "extramarital relationship" and that's not even the scandal, you have to wonder what so many Republicans are thinking supporting this man.
Katie asks Rudy if this story, which broke right before the last debate, threw him a bit during the debate. But the important part of this interview is the last sentence:
Couric: Did it throw you at all during the debate?
Giuliani: No, I don’t think so; go look at the debate.
Couric: Well some have said they didn’t think it was your best debate.
Giuliani: I think it was a good debate. I think I did a really good job.
Couric: You didn’t really answer the question. You think it won’t matter in terms of the election itself - this story?
Giuliani: Of course not. I mean there’ll be 100 more stories … and we’ll see.
And that is the problem my friends, there will be 100 more "stories." Even Rudy knows that.
The embryonic stem cell debate is over?
That's what Charles Krauthammer says:
A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka) announced one of the great scientific breakthroughs since the discovery of DNA: an embryo-free way to produce genetically matched stem cells.
Even a scientist who cares not a whit about the morality of embryo destruction will adopt this technique because it is so simple and powerful. The embryonic stem cell debate is over.
Which allows a bit of reflection on the storm that has raged ever since the August 2001 announcement of President Bush's stem cell policy. The verdict is clear: Rarely has a president -- so vilified for a moral stance -- been so thoroughly vindicated.
More:
History will look at Bush's 2001 speech and be surprised how balanced and measured it was, how much respect it gave to the other side. Read it.
And finally:
That Holy Grail has now been achieved. Largely because of the genius of Thomson and Yamanaka. And also because of the astonishing good fortune that nature requires only four injected genes to turn an ordinary adult skin cell into a magical stem cell that can become bone or brain or heart or liver.
But for one more reason as well. Because the moral disquiet that James Thomson always felt -- and that George Bush forced the country to confront -- helped lead him and others to find some ethically neutral way to produce stem cells. Providence then saw to it that the technique be so elegant and beautiful that scientific reasons alone will now incline even the most willful researchers to leave the human embryo alone.
The Helen Thomas Show
In case you missed this White House briefing: (Q is Helen Thomas)
Q Why should we depend on him?
MS. PERINO: Because he is the commander on the ground, Helen. He's the one who is making sure that the situation is moving —
Q You mean how many more people we kill?
MS. PERINO: Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a — it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive.
Q Do you know how many we have since the start of this war?
MS. PERINO: How many — we are going after the enemy, Helen. To the extent that any innocent Iraqis have been killed, we have expressed regret for it.
Q Oh, regret. It doesn't bring back a life.
MS. PERINO: Helen, we are in a war zone, and our military works extremely hard to make sure that everyone has the opportunity for liberty and freedom and democracy, and that is exactly what they are doing.
I'm going to move on.
The latest poll from New Hampshire
via Powerline.
I just have this feeling that a different candidate is going to be winning a different state for the first four states. It wouldn't surprise me if Huckabee won Iowa, Romney or McCain won New Hampshire and Rudy wins Florida. Crazy. It will be interesting to watch.
In other hopeful news, Obama moves into first in Iowa.
Friday, November 30, 2007
"Workers Held Hostage At Clinton Office In N.H."
(WBZ) ROCHESTER, N.H. A man is holding at least two people hostage at the presidential campaign office for Sen. Hillary Clinton in Rochester, New Hampshire. A woman was released just a short time ago.
WBZ has learned he walked into the office with some sort of device strapped to him, claiming it was a bomb.
State Police said the man released a mother and a child from the office, but is holding others.
A young woman carrying an infant ran into a nearby store in tears, saying she had been in the campaign office when a man walked in, opened his coat and showed them a what looked like a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape. She said the man let her and her child go.
There are reports from the scene that the hostage taker is demanding to speak with Senator Clinton.
They have evacuated Edwards and Obama's offices as well since they are nearby.
Hillary is not there, she is in Washington. Her campaign is keeping an eye on the situation.
Crazy people in this world. Let's send up some prayers for those in the office.
The Amazing Race of Mike Huckabee
Check out this latest Iowa poll:
The average of all the polls have Romney at 26.8. It has Huckabee at 24.2. And Giuliani at 12.8.
Considering how much money Romney has poured into Iowa, this is astonishing.
How is this happening? It's pretty simple really. When it comes to his Christianity, Huckabee is the real deal. Naturally being a minister helps, but Huckabee is not afraid to talk the language of faith. As he did here in the YouTube debate:
Sure. I believe the Bible is exactly what it is. It's the word of revelation to us from God himself.
And the fact is that when people ask do we believe all of it, you either believe it or you don't believe it. But in the greater sense, I think what the question tried to make us feel like was that, well, if you believe the part that says "Go and pluck out your eye," well, none of us believe that we ought to go pluck out our eye. That obviously is allegorical.
But the Bible has some messages that nobody really can confuse and really not left up to interpretation. "Love your neighbor as yourself."
And 'as much as you've done it to the least of these brethren, you've done it unto Me.' Until we get those simple, real easy things right, I'm not sure we ought to spend a whole lot of time fighting over the other parts that are a little bit complicated.
And as the only person here on the stage with a theology degree, there are parts of it I don't fully comprehend and understand, because the Bible is a revelation of an infinite God, and no finite person is ever going to fully understand it. If they do, their god is too small.
Compared to Romney's uncomfortable answer and Giuliani's convoluted answer, Huckabee's answer was flawless. It was exactly what most of us Christians believe.
While we don't want a theocracy by any stretch of the imagination, we do want a President of faith. Mainly because we who are Christians understand how important that is in our own lives. We understand how it guides us to be moral and good. It stengthens us when we are weak. It comforts us when we are in despair. It teaches us love, honesty, compassion, and forgiveness. We know all these things would help a President who needs these qualities to lead this country.
For example, if Nixon or Clinton had leaned on faith, they may not have committed the immoral acts they did during their Presidency. If we are a prayerful person we tend to avoid lying and cheating. So you can see why Christians would want a Christian in the White House. Not to impose our beliefs, but to live our beliefs.
Huckabee seems to be taking away Christian support from Romney in Iowa. I think the more independent minded will split between Giuliani and McCain.
If Huckabee wins Iowa, and that is a possibility now, then this will be the most interesting primary in recent history.
It will be an amazing race.
Imagine This
Imagine if the Democratic YouTube debate had had a planted Republican conservative questioner. Peggy Noonan paints us a picture.
I will never forget that breathtaking moment when, in the CNN/YouTube debate earlier this fall, the woman from Ohio held up a picture and said, "Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mr. Edwards, this is a human fetus. Given a few more months, it will be a baby you could hold in your arms. You all say you're 'for the children.' I would ask you to look America in the eye and tell us how you can support laws to end this life. Thank you."
They were momentarily nonplussed, then awkwardly struggled to answer, to regain lost high ground. One of them, John Edwards I think, finally criticizing the woman for being "manipulative," using "hot images" and indulging in "the politics of personal destruction." The woman then stood in the audience for her follow up. "I beg your pardon, but the literal politics of personal destruction--of destroying a person--is what you stand for."
Imagine the Democrat candidate's faces! No one ever confronts them this way on what is a serious issue in today's world. How can we stand for children if we allow them to be destroyed at a rate of 4000 a day? They support laws that takes the lives of our most precious gift, our children and no one in the media ever calls them on it. Ever.
Maybe it's time someone did.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Hillary polled Streisand's support first
That's right. They polled Democratic voters to see if Streisand's support would help. Polling said yes.
It is clear that Hillary will be polling her way to the Presidency just as her husband polled his way to popularity during his tenure as President.
You just have to love their dedication to their beliefs and values. If it polls well, they are for it. If it doesn't, then they are not.
Good grief.
Preach it brother!
Jason Whitlock at FoxSports asks how long will black men allow the culture of death among them? Whose to blame? The same people who can solve it, themselves.
Excellent.
via LST
More evidence that Bill Clinton lied
It feels like old times, doesn't it?
A former senior aide to then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice disputed Bill Clinton's statement this week that he "opposed Iraq from the beginning," saying that the former president was privately briefed by top White House officials about war planning in 2003 and that he told them he supported the invasion.
More:
Hillary Mann Leverett, at the time the White House director of Persian Gulf affairs, said that Rice and Elliott Abrams, then National Security Council senior director for Near East and North African affairs, met with Clinton several times in the months before the March 2003 invasion to answer any questions he might have. She said she was "shocked" and "astonished" by Clinton's remarks this week, made to voters in Iowa, because she has distinct memories of Abrams "coming back from those meetings literally glowing and boasting that 'we have Clinton's support.' "
The slow demise of the New York Times
The information age allowed people to read and hear different sides to every story, not just the liberal spin The New York Times wanted us to read.
Maybe they should try some real journalistic integrity by allowing both sides of an issue or story and maybe they won't have to keep laying people off.
Just a taste of what's to come....
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Rudy's Ties to a Terror Sheikh
Giuliani's business contracts tie him to the man who let 9/11's mastermind escape the FBI
It's a hit piece against Rudy at the Village Voice, but this is what we will face if we nominate Rudy.
Not good. Not good at all.
The Republican Debate
It was a pretty entertaining and informative debate as far as these things go. I suppose the big story is all the plants from other Democratic campaigns asking questions.
I think all the candidates did well. Huckabee was the funniest. Rudy was the most combative. McCain slapped Ron Paul around pretty good, which was enjoyable. Mitt held his own. Fred was ok, which is his problem. He can't get beyond being ok.
The YouTube questions turned out pretty well. Although I might suggest to future questioners that you might want to wear something other than a t-shirt to ask a question on national TV.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
He was for it before he was against it...
I wonder how many times we are going to be able to use that line? Heh.
Bill Clinton told a crowd in Iowa on Tuesday that he opposed the Iraq war from the start and criticized Bush for cutting taxes even as he paid for the war.
“Even though I approved Afghanistan and opposed Iraq – from the beginning – I still resent that I was not asked or given the opportunity to support the soldiers.”
But Mark Halperin of Time cited two 2003 quotes which seem to show Pres. Clinton to be lying. (I'm shocked, aren't you?)
April 14, 2003: “In his first speech in Minnesota since leaving office, former President Bill Clinton on Sunday praised President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq. But he criticized Bush’s domestic priorities…” Minneapolis Star Tribune
May 13, 2003: “Former President Bill Clinton accused President Bush of spending more time fighting the war on terrorism than on domestic issues. ’I supported the president when he asked for authority to stand up against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but we can’t be forever strong abroad if we don’t keep getting better at home.”
As you can see in this 2004 interview Clinton makes it clear he did support the war: (emphasis mine)
Noting that Bush had to be "reeling" in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Clinton said Bush's first priority was to keep al Qaeda and other terrorist networks from obtaining "chemical and biological weapons or small amounts of fissile material."
"That's why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for," Clinton said in reference to Iraq and the fact that U.N. weapons inspectors left the country in 1998.
Obama threw another punch:
ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., scoffed Wednesday at former President Bill Clinton's recent claim that he opposed the Iraq war from the very beginning.
"Well if he did," Obama said on a conference call with reporters, "I don't think most of us have heard about it."
"My understanding is that Senator Clinton and him were talking frequently. So you'll have to talk to them about whether they discussed this issued at all," he said.
I just LOVE the reference to them talking frequently. Maybe Obama does have what it takes to beat this woman.
This does seem to be a strange mistake for Bill Clinton to make though.
The difference between CNN and Fox News
A former CNN golden boy, Bill Hemmer discusses the difference at the New York Observer:
“People ask me all the time what the difference is between CNN and Fox,” said Mr. Hemmer. “It’s day and night. We’re a business. Viewers count. Ratings count. The store has got to stay open. We need customers.”
More:
Mr. Hemmer took another sip of his coffee and launched into a story about flying to Louisiana with a lean four-person team to cover Hurricane Katrina on his first assignment for Fox. There, on the sweltering streets of Baton Rouge, he came face to face with a 15-member CNN crew, who were busy eating pizza.
Mr. Hemmer shook his head. A pizza party in a disaster zone? He said the story was telling of an organization that had grown plump and was no longer hungry. “At Fox we do more with less,” he said.
If you want to read some of the most snobby elitist comments about Bill, who they just assume is Republican and gay, check out the comment section.
via mediabistro
"God and Country"
The anti-war and anti-troop films of the Hollywood left have tanked. They wanted to portray our boys as murderers and rapists because that is how they see them. But it isn't how our nation sees them. We see them for the heros that they are.
A Soldier's Mind has the scoop on a new movie coming out Dec. 15th that we will all want to see, "God and Country."
I was recently contacted about a new movie that is in the works about our Troops and the fantastic humanitarian work that they do in other countries. Things we don’t hear about in the media. Things like handing out toys, clothing and candy to the children, providing medical care to the citizens of the country, rebuilding vital resources for cities and towns, and the list could go on and on. These types of things, that are accomplished on a daily basis by our Troops are ignored by the media, but one film producer/director hopes to change that. He hopes to highlight the long-standing tradition of humanitarian service, that our military has, in the soon to be released movie God And Country. The types of things highlighted in this movie, are the things that we’ve been telling our readers about, the accomplishments of our Troops, that help to enable the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan, to stand on their own and take charge of their country. The acts of kindness, go a long way in establishing a trusting relationship with the citizens and it’s a task that our Troops gladly tackle.
American troops have a long and noble tradition of humanitarian service. From handing out candy bars and care packages to street children, to offering medical and dental care to the poor, to building churches and orphanages in third world countries… these American men and women commit thousands of hours to the service of others around the world, without expectation of gratitude or praise. GOD AND COUNTRY examines these heroes and their missions, and reveals a side of the military rarely mentioned in the mainstream media.
Producer/Director Scott Mactavish is a former Hollywood insider and US Navy veteran, who left LA to make films that counterpunch the typical liberal media agenda.
GOD AND COUNTRY is a direct rebuttal to the films put out by Brian DePalma, Mark Cuban and the other Hollywood ‘elite’. The film is due to be released on December 15th. You can pre-purchase a copy of the movie, by going to the God And Country website.
Sweet.
Politically Correct? no si son españoles
This sign is from a Home Depot in Houston. Heaven forbid they should call them "Christmas Trees," but if you look at the Spanish version on the sign, it says "Arboles de Navidad”– “Nativity Trees." They don't have to be PC for Latinos? Interesting.
via LST
We Need Experience.
Ben Shapiro at Townhall makes an excellent point. This week Obama told us how Hillary's experience as First Lady in no way gives her the experience she needs to be President and Hillary snarks back that someone who was a just a state Senator 3 yrs ago shouldn't be talking.
Here's the difference between the Republican field and the Democratic field: The frontrunners in the Democratic Party argue over who is less experienced, while the frontrunners in the GOP argue over who is more experienced.
I have never stepped back and looked at the big picture here. This is very true. Hillary has 7 yrs in the Senate. That's it. Obama has spent 3 yrs in the Senate. John Edwards spent one term in the Senate. This hardly the kind of background we need for a President.
In contrast, Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City for eight years, reducing crime and making NYC livable again. He showed extreme leadership for the city through the worst crisis in its history on September 11 (as he always reminds us).
Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, balancing the budget, eliminating waste, providing healthcare insurance without raising taxes, and turning around the 2002 Olympics. Before that he was a highly successful businessman (I think it's important that a President understand running a business) He founded one of the nation's most successful venture capital and investment companies.
John McCain has represented Arizona as a Senator since 1986. He was a distinguished war hero receiving the Silver Star, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and a Distinguished Flying Cross.
Fred Thompson served nine years in the Senate, representing Tennessee. He has worked as a lobbyist and an actor. (Maybe he could "act" excited sometimes?)
If you look more closely at the background of each candidate it is clear that the Republicans have the field of experience we need. As Shapiro points out:
In a time of war, Americans want someone who has real ideas -- and someone who has done more than chat with President Clinton over breakfast, or deliver a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, or win personal injury suits. The more the Democrats attack each other over their inexperience, the more Republicans seem better qualified to fill the Oval Office.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Targeting the Ederly
It just occurred to me that Hillary's campaign is like watching a play. The entire thing is scripted.
Remember a couple of weeks ago in the Democratic debate where Hillary ended with a touching story about the elderly women she meets? She said that she has shaken hands with 95 year old women who tell her: “When I was born women were not able to vote. I want to live to see a woman in the White House.”
According to The New York Times, this charming story came from Ruth Smith, 87. (not 95?):
She drove 160 miles to Des Moines from Buffalo Center to attend Mrs. Clinton’s first rally in Iowa as a presidential candidate and went up to her afterward.
“I told her that my grandmother was the first person in town to vote, and my mother was the second,” said Mrs. Smith, who was born three months before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. “And I told her I was born before women could vote, and I want to live long enough to see a woman in the White House.”
Gee, that almost seems...scripted.
It gets worse:
In August, on the 87th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the campaign sent a letter from Mrs. Clinton thanking hundreds of female supporters who were born before ratification of the 19th Amendment. Mrs. Clinton’s weekly “Hillgram” e-mail newsletter is sometimes aimed at older women.
This reminds me of when I used to deliver Meals On Wheels. These elderly women were always getting phone calls and letters from solicitors wanting money from them. Scam after scam. I sat down with them and explained that if there wasn't a real stamp on the envelope, then it was just a mass mailing to thousands of people. It was the easiest way to explain it. I told them that if someone on the phone didn't pronounce their name right, then just hang up.
It's easy to take advantage of the elderly, it doesn't surprise me that Hillary would see them as her ace in the hole.
Obama Throws a Punch
And it's a good one:
"I think the fact of the matter is that Senator Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own, except for the stuff that didn't work out, in which case she says she has nothing to do with it," Obama said. "There is no doubt that Bill Clinton had faith in her and consulted with her on issues, in the same way that I would consult with Michelle if there were issues," Obama said. "On the other hand, I don't think Michelle would claim that she is the best qualified person to be a United States senator by virtue of me talking to her on occasion about the work I've done."
I'm so glad someone finally said this. Just keep saying it, Obama. Say it a hundred different ways, but keep saying it.
I think Oprah coming to Iowa for Obama is just too sweet. It takes away the star power from Bill. I love it! But if I were Oprah, I'd double check the plane engine, if you know what I mean......
Monday, November 26, 2007
The New McCain Ad
Good grief. Even Andrew Sullivan likes it.
See what I mean by McCain getting the moderate and even some of the left vote?
UPDATE: I'm not the only one saying this stuff you know.
Thank God!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton trails five top Republican presidential contenders in general election match-ups, a drop in support from this summer, according to a poll released on Monday.
Clinton, a New York senator who has been at the top of the Democratic pack in national polls in the 2008 race, trails Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee by three to five percentage points in the direct matches.
Homophobia or the breakdown of civility?
A gay guy "comes out" while playing Halo 3 online. He records the comments. They are disgusting and sick. No doubt about that. (Seriously NSFW or decent people)
It's clear to me that it's young men. Teenagers. I have been around teenagers for years. I was an assistant youth minister, a substitute teacher and have had 3 teens of my own. I was the only mom who visited the threads on my son's (unofficial)public high school message board. To say I was shocked by what I read would be an understatement.
What you hear on this audio is common. But not just against gays. There is no one that escapes the ranting and insults that teens find common talk today. Jews (the holocaust jokes would make you seriously ill) and women are the most maligned and degraded.
We have been raising what I call "The American Pie" generation that sees no boundary that cannot be crossed. TV and movies and the Internet have desensitized them to the point where they see everyone and everything as a target of a joke and nothing is sacred. They were raised on MTV, Dave Chapelle, and teen sex movies, what do we expect?
No, this isn't homophobia. It is just a small window into the sickness we have bred into the young. We should all take responsibility for allowing this to happen.
via Towelroad
Bush Welcomes Gore To The White House
Scrappleface says it was a "low carbon ceremony." Heh.
(2007-11-26) — President George Bush today demonstrated that he can be gracious to his defeated opponents by welcoming former presidential rival Al Gore to the White House with a low-carbon ceremony to celebrate Mr. Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize for publicizing man-made global warming.
The day’s events began when the White House sent an ox cart to pick up Mr. Gore at his hotel, where he had arrived by S.U.V. motorcade last night following a charter jet flight to Washington D.C.
All lights had been extinguished at the White House, and the thermostats set to zero, in preparation for the former vice president’s arrival. The fireplaces were cool and devoid of logs. A Bush aide gave Mr. Gore a pair of official White House ear muffs, and guided him to the Oval Office, through the darkened hallways, with the help of a hand-cranked flashlight.
The president invited Mr. Gore to sit in his own chair, where Mr. Bush said, “You would have sat as you signed the Kyoto protocols.”
It goes on. But you get the idea.
In reality, Bush was his usual generous and kind self:
Bush personally invited Gore. The White House changed its original date to accommodate Gore. And then there was the private Bush-Gore meeting, too.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
Gore was respectful as well:
"He was very gracious in setting up the meeting and it was a very good and substantive conversation," Gore said. "And that's all I want to say about it."
Calling All New York Conservatives!
A Kos Diarist is calling all KosKids to protest Sean Hannity.
Hannity/Levin Book Signing Plans December 1st
by davefromqueens
Mon Nov 26, 2007 at 04:27:53 AM PST
I'm asking (admittedly selfishly) that thousands of leftists, progressives, centrists, liberals, and non right wing conservatives show up at Bookends (232 East Ridgewood Avenue) in Ridgewood, New Jersey (about 15 minutes from George Washington Bridge) on Saturday December 1st way before 1 p.m. for an opportunity to observe what the Republican Party's de facto main media propagandist Sean Hannity and his friends and audience are truly like. I am going by myself and perhaps a few other people will either accompany me directly or be there at my request. I'm not going as part of any known group so if other groups show up, they show up on their own volition.
I will go over the details and my "brilliant" plan for the day. And yes I know that every single word I typed here is being "broadcasted" back over to Heil Hannity Insanity and The Detestable One Mark Levin. No big deal. Sunlight is the one thing these cowards fear the most.
Read his rules. Too funny.
So, if you are conservative and live in the area, go by and give some support to Hannity and Levin. If sunlight is what conservatives fear most, (And I don't get that. I think promoting your beliefs pretty much puts them out there in the sunlight), then free speech is what people like davefromqueens fear most.
via NRO
Novak says Huckabee is a False Conservative
Is he?
Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist advocate of big government and a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans. Until now, they did not bother to expose the former governor of Arkansas as a false conservative because he seemed an underfunded, unknown nuisance candidate. Now that he has pulled even with Mitt Romney for the Iowa caucuses and might make more progress, the beleaguered Republican Party has a frightening problem.
More:
There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock. He was regarded by fellow Republican governors as a compulsive tax-and-spender. He increased the Arkansas tax burden 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes.
via NRO
The New York Times Declares a Victory for Bush?
I know. I couldn't believe it either:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 — Syria announced Sunday that it would attend the Middle East peace meeting beginning here Monday night, joining Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab League participants in a turnabout that represented a victory for the Bush administration.
Invested in Defeat?
The Boston Globe:
With the media at last paying attention to the progress in Iraq, shouldn't leading Democrats think about doing the same? Perhaps this would be a good time for Hillary Clinton to express regret for telling Petraeus that his recent progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief" - in effect, calling him a liar. Perhaps Senate majority leader Harry Reid should admit that he may have been wrong to declare so emphatically: "This war is lost, and the surge is not accomplishing anything."
All of the Democratic presidential candidates have been running on a platform of abandoning Iraq. At the recent debate in Las Vegas, they refused to relax their embrace of defeat even when asked about the striking evidence of improvement. They continued to insist that "the surge is not working" (Bill Richardson), that "the occupation is fueling the insurgency" (Dennis Kucinich), and that the "strategy is failed" and we must "get our troops out" (Barack Obama).
Blind opposition to war that seems lost is understandable. But can Democrats be so invested in defeat that they would abandon even a war that may be winnable? With developments in Iraq looking so hopeful, this is no time to cling to a counsel of despair.
Hillary yesterday:
"I think the American military, if you put enough forces anywhere, is going to score successes,” Clinton said. “That’s not really the question. The question is whether there is a military solution, engineered by the American military, for the problems in Iraq, and I don’t believe there is a military solution."
Sunday, November 25, 2007
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