For my liberal friends:
What is the characteristic of “a thing” that requires the State enact that thing rather than make sure that thing simply occurs.
For example, the State should be concerned with feeding its people, yet the State doesn’t participate in feeding the people. However, the State should be concerned with educating its people AND the State feels IT has to do the educating.
Why?
Is she or isn’t she?
Is Sarah Palin gonna run for the highest office in the land or….is she just gonna keep media attention on herself?
There are some who say she’s just grabbin’ media attention in order to sell a book, in order to have fun or, perhaps, to get ready for some other electoral run. But what do you think?
Well, if ya have money to bet, here’s what that money will buy ya’:
The “smart money” says there is a 45% chance that she’ll run. Frankly, I think that’s high, but it does represent a fall from just yesterday and a massive fall since this past November.
But, what does Palin do to the field, running or not?
As we all know, she’s a Tea Party favorite, which I find a little ironic. She preaches the financial restraint that has come to define that segment of the population, but she’s also known for her loud social conservatism as well-a decidedly UN-Tea Party stance.
So, what does a Palin candidacy do?
As I mentioned, Sarah grabs the Tea Party vote. And within that “Tea Party” vote, she absolutely wraps up the most extreme faction. The more moderate of the conservative movement will give pause before supporting Palin. Not only for ideological reasons, but for practical ones as well; after all, can Palin beat Obama?
Romney will lose some of his base to Palin, but not the most important part. He’ll still keep the fiscal folks and those who stay away from the social conservatives. The candidate that’ll get hurt the most will be Herman Cane. He’s the only other candidate running that has the support of the Tea Party faithful Will he be able to differentiate himself fast enough and far enough to withstand a Palin run? I don’t think so. If Palin runs, Cane loses out.
However, with Sarah in the race, it allows the other candidates to use her as a foil. They’ll be able to contrast themselves to her in order to appeal to more conventional conservatives AND independents. As Palin calls for “Drill baby drill” the other candidates will be able to call for a “more reasonable and sensible approach”. As Palin calls for her extreme fiscal restraint, Romney and Pawlenty will be able to step back and again take a more centrist tone.
If Palin doesn’t run, it opens the race to be sure. And as I mentioned above, will massively benefit Herman Cane. As he raises his profile among the most conservative, he’ll see his numbers rise. He’ll preach the fiscal conservative message and it’ll be well received. He’ll speak that speak from the position of CEO and Federal Reserve board member. And without Palin, there won’t be the magnet for the social conservatives and they’ll clamor for an ear. Will it tempt one of the main line candidate to capitulate to the right? Will they resist that temptation? I suspect the voices will be too hard and someone will veer right.
It’s my hope that Palin will run, draw out the far right, let the other candidates more normally distinguish themselves and then bow out and play the role of King Maker.
And then run for Kyle’s seat.
Posted in Elections 2012, Politics: National
Tagged Herman Cane, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty
For a long long time I resonated with a “team” more than I resonated with a concept.
I mean, I grew up pullin’ for the Vikings, so, naturally, they are the coolest team in the whole world and the Packers just suck.
And the Cowboys [Drew Pearson—shiver]
And the Steelers
And the Falcons
I digress. Anyway, teams.
My dad liked Reagan, but not until later in life, much later, did I learn that dad was a democrat, and pretty hard core too. We would often argue and debate and each of us left the conversation seriously considering the voting tendencies of the milkman. I wonder how much of that was due to the fact that I grew up THINKING dad was a Republican?
Weird.
I’m pretty convinced that I’m a Christian because I grew up in a Christian family in a Christian town in a Christian nation. I think that’s pretty clear.
However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to try and back away a little bit and see things…twice. It’s an old Billy Joel song, “Things I didn’t know before I learned by doin’ twice….”
Anyway, its awareness, being able to see and focus and count the things going on around you. Sometime they happen so fat, ya miss ’em.
Try it: See if you can count —
See what I mean?
Posted in Fun, Politics: National, Raising Men
Tagged Cheeseheads, Dad, Democrat, Minnesota Vikings, Politics, Republican, Ronald Reagan
I haven’t posted this in awhile. How much does health insurance cost?
In my ZIP code, a 30 year old man with no wife or kids can get coverage for $66.05 a month.
Are the uninsured really uninsured because they CAN’T be insured or because they CHOSE not to be insured?
Posted in Health Care, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Health Insurance
It’s been a tough spring. We’ve seen storms ravage the south from Alabama to North Carolina. And just today, Missouri was hammered.
It’s an active storm season to be sure. But is this just weather or is it Global Warming:
…the jet stream forces in April were among the strongest ever recorded, possibly because of La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean. A La Niña pattern, which leads to cooler water conditions around the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, is associated with wetter and stormier conditions through the middle of the country as cooler air from Canada surges into warm moisture heading north — made warmer, many climate scientists say, by climate change.
Ahh yes…Climate Change – Global Warming – AGW! Of course!
It has to be Global Warming, right?
Well, maybe not.
I work in corporate America. The company I work at is huge; massive. I’m not a superstar. I’m not an over achiever. I’m a pretty low level manager in fact. But – BUT I know what makes a team tick.
I know what a good manager should say and what a bad manager does say.
In my years as a corporate denizen I’ve come to learn to fear the characteristics of a bad leader. And I’ve learned to identify those characteristics.
A good example of what I’m talking about is illustrated below. Each man was President when a sought after criminal was captured or shot:
First take the words of Dubya:
The success of yesterday’s mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq . The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate ’em.
And the compare them to the words of Obama:
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan . And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan .
I’m not sure you can sum up the effectiveness of a Presidency in so few words, but you can get a hint at the style of the man.
Go ahead – read it again.
You’ll begin to see the difference between a man comfortable in his role as leader and a man who isn’t sure; is running scared.
Obama wasn’t qualified when he won. And he isn’t qualified now.
And that’s my point.
Posted in Government, Politics: National, Raising Men
Tagged George Bush, Leadership, Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein
The middle class. The Great MC.
What is it, how is it defined? Is it growing? Shrinking? Is it, more importantly, being exploited by the rich and the powerful to enable their largess?
Is Obama right? Is it true, in fact, that the folks-the “Us”- are being used and manipulated in some grand game to keep the rich richer?
For me, the rhetoric needs substance; needs some form of validation. There has to be some means by which the idea has a backdrop to judge the truth. There has to be a definition of the middle class that we can use to see if, in fact, what is being said is true. Or not true. And for me, it comes down to two things:
So, let’s take a look:
Woe to the citizens of Philadelphia if you are acting within the constraints of the law AND the cops don’t like know that law. At least that’s the message from the cops when it comes to citizens excercising their right to carry a gun. In full sight. With a permit.
You see, it seems that cops in Philly are able to decide their own laws OR they don’t feel the need to know/abide by laws on the books.
Consider Mark Fiorino and his recent run in with the law:
Posted in Government, Liberty, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Gun, Mark Fiorino, Michael Dougherty, Open Carry, Pennsylvania, Police
Zuckerberg. Facebook. Obama. Taxes.
When you’re “cool with that” make sure you’re really REALLY cool with that.
Cause if you ain’t, life is a bitch!
California SB 242, proposed by Sen. Ellen Corbett, would force social networks like Facebook to allow parents access to their child’s account(s) and, more importantly, force all privacy settings to their maximum level by default. Parents can request that images or text be removed from any social network page “upon request … within 48 hours upon his or her request.”
Here’s the interesting part: any social network failing to perform these duties will get hit with a $10K fine per incident.
LOL. I mean; LMFAO!
10k a pop. Can you imagine what the folks at facebook.com are thinking as they read this news?
The details are incredible. The chance of fraud unreal.
I just hope that Facebook can learn a valuable lesson here.
When you deal in the gutter with Liberal Leftists, expect those Liberal Leftists to ACT like Liberal Leftists!
Facebook to allow parents access to their child’s account(s) and…request that images or text be removed from any social network page “upon request … within 48 hours upon his or her request.
10k
$10,000
10,000 clams
per “clam”.
Go ahead Zuck, tell me how “cool with that” you are now!
Posted in Fun, Government, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Abuse of Power, Barack Obama, California, Facebook, Leftist, Liberal, Mark Zuckerberg, Nanny State
To be sure, there’s a lot of work to be done. But the “state” is getting closer and closer each passing year.
We’re seeing courts rule that gay marriage is protected; is a civil right. To restrict the contract of marriage at a state or government level is simply not consistent with the role of that state. We wouldn’t expect governments to restrict marriage within the context of religion. Nor do we expect the state to restrict marriage on the basis of race.
It is with that in mind that I applaud the Navy in their decision:
The Navy will allow its chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages once the military’s ban on gay marriage is officially lifted this summer, according to a new memo written by Navy’s head chaplain, Rear Admiral Mark Tidd.
…
The memo reads: “Regarding the use of base facilities for same-sex marriages, legal counsel has concluded that generally speaking, base facility use is sexuality orientation neutral. If the base is located in a state where same-sex is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage.”
Awesome!
It’s about time.
And not only did the Navy get it right on the brush strokes, but they got some details down too:
Navy marriages on Navy bases typically involve Navy Chaplains, but the memo goes on to say the chaplains involvement is not mandatory and he or she could decline to participate if gay marriage is not “consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization.”
I firmly believe this decision is consistent with the idea of extending personal Liberty to all. Why in the world do we think the state ought restrict a legally binding contract enacted by two adult and consenting human beings? Liberty means Liberty. Even if, in fact, especially when, you may not agree with the application of such Liberty.
And for the religious conservative – Should the state forbid the marriages of atheists?
Posted in Liberty, Politics: National, Republicans Can Be Leftists Too
Tagged Conservative, Gay Marriage, Liberal, Navy