(NECN/ABC) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, attending the Alfalfa Club dinner -- a dinner also attended by President Obama. It is an exclusive gathering of the capital's political and media establishment.
Palin's goal in Washington is said to be gaining support for improvements to Alaska's infrastructure through the President's proposed economic stimulus bill.
On Tuesday, Palin launched a political action committee to help support candidates for federal and state offices. The committee is called SarahPac.
Aides said Palin will limit her political activity until the Alaska legislative session ends in April.
I AM DISMAYED THAT LEGISLATION HAS AGAIN BEEN INTRODUCED in Congress to prohibit forever oil and gas development in the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America -- the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska.
Let's not forget: Only six months ago, oil was selling for nearly $150 per barrel, while Americans were paying $4 a gallon and more for gasoline. And today, there is potential for prices to rebound as OPEC asserts its market power and as Russia disrupts needed natural gas to Europe for the second time in three years.
As I traveled throughout the country campaigning for vice president, I was glad to hear politicians, including Barack Obama, promise that "everything was on the table" to address America's great challenges. I also found that when Americans were apprised of the facts, most people became supporters of responsible oil and gas drilling in Alaska. So, I want to remind our national leaders of this promise and make the case against this legislation:
•Oil fromANWR represents a huge, secure domestic supply that could help satisfy U.S. demand for more than 25 years.
•ANWR sits within a 20 million-acre refuge (the size of South Carolina), but thanks to advanced technology like directional drilling, the aggregated drilling footprint would be less than 2,000 acres (about one-quarter the size of Dulles Airport). This is like laying a 2-by-3-foot welcome mat on a basketball court.
•Energy development is quite compatible with the protection of our wildlife and their habitat. For example, North Slope caribou herds have grown and remained healthy throughout more than three decades of oil development. Most of the year, our coastal plain is frozen solid and thus characterized by low biological productivity.
•ANWRdevelopment would create hundreds of thousands of good American jobs, positively affecting every state by providing a safe energy supply and generating demand for goods and services.
The book's central idea is to name and blame a long list of specific individuals for making the United States a "far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place." Goldberg's book denounces people, mostly celebrities, politicians and newscasters and takes umbrage at high-profile incidents like Janet Jackson exposing herself "in front of one-fifth of all the kids in America under age eleven" during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show (p. vi). It decries as "Hollywood blowhards" actors who call American politicians "Nazis" while praising "dictators like Fidel Castro" (pp. vii-ix). Goldberg's chapter for Courtney Love is simply the word, "ho."
The book takes aim at "liberals [who are] snooty, snobby know-it-alls, who have gotten angrier and angrier in recent years and who think they're not only smarter, but also better, than everyone else, especially everyone else who lives in a 'red state' - a population they see as hopelessly dumb and pathetically religious" (p. x).
It's time to pray for global warming, says Flint Journal columnist John Tomlinson
by John Tomlinson Flint Journal Columnist Monday January 19, 2009, 4:20 AM Flint Journal's John TomlinsonRead more by him
If you're wondering why North America is starting to resemble nuclear winter, then you missed the news. At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"
I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he's right. The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.
In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don't worry, we're safe now, that was the nineties.Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan's Institute of Science and Technology said this: "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other ... every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so."
Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing?
This is where the looney left gets lost. Their mantra is atmospheric CO2 levels are escalating and this is unquestionably causing earth's temperature rise. But ask yourself -- if global temperatures are experiencing the biggest sustained drop in decades, while CO2 levels continue to rise -- how can it be true?
By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive) January 17, 2009 - 10:24 ET
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow bashed competitor Fox News at a Television Critics Association gathering Thursday before she told a small group of reporters she's "never seen a show on Fox at any time ever.”
by Janet Crain The proud NBC peacock is missing a few feathers and looking quite bedraggled these days. One wonders how much lower they will stink sink.
MSNBC is a 24-hour cable news channel based in the United States and available in both the US and Canada. Its name is a combination of "MSN" and "NBC".
Two partnerships with the name MSNBC were founded in 1996 by Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit, which is now NBC Universal. Although Microsoft and NBC shared operations of MSNBC cable at its founding, it was announced on December 23, 2005, that NBC Universal would purchase a majority stake in the television network, which left Microsoft with 18%. The two companies remain 50-50 partners in msnbc.com. MSNBC, like sister channel CNBC, shares the NBC logo of a rainbowpeacock.
Critics and some observers of the network say that MSNBC has become increasingly politically liberal compared to other networks, particularly in its prime-time lineup.[5][6][7]
In June 2006, Don Kaplan of the New York Post (owned by News Corporation, which also owns Fox News Channel) wrote a column titled "Do We Need MSNBC?" Addressing MSNBC'S low ratings, Kaplan quoted CNN co-founder Reese Schoenfeld, who said that "[e]verybody compares MSNBC to Fox and CNN — when its real competition is Headline News". Schoenfeld pointed out that the ratings for MSNBC and Headline News are roughly the same, about 300,000 viewers on average and that "by comparison, Fox and CNN regularly average three or four times as many viewers." In the column Kaplan remarked that "the running joke in TV news is Fox and CNN are news channels with websites, but MSNBC is a website with a cable channel".[47]
Don Imus controversy
In early April 2007, shock jockDon Imus, whose radio show Imus in the Morning was simulcast on MSNBC, made comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The comments sparked outrage, as many individuals considered the comments to be both racist and sexist. After an initial two-week suspension of Imus' program, MSNBC canceled the simulcast as sponsors started withdrawing their advertisements from the show. Imus, as well as NBC News, apologized to the Rutgers Basketball team for the remarks.[67]
Yet MSNBC sees fit for Morris Reid to go on a Palin-bashing rant, during which MSNBC Host Norah O’Donnell laughed hysterically at the expense of a standing U.S. Governor. JC
Pat Quinn (R), former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, takes the oath of office of Governor given by Appellate Judge Anne Burke (L) while son Pat Quinn IV looks on during a swearing-in ceremony in the House chambers at the state capitol in Springfield, Illinois Jan. 29, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
CHICAGO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Only one hour after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached out of office Thursday afternoon, the Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn took the public oath of office in Illinois state house of representative chamber.
In his first news conference as governor, Quinn compared his situation coming into office to that of Gerald Ford following Richard Nixon after Nixon resigned in 1974.
"(Ford) pointed out that he was not elected by the ballots of the people, so he asked the people of America to confirm his office by their prayers, and I have the same request for the people of Illinois," Quinn said.
He warned that aside from sweeping economic problems, the state is facing "an integrity crisis." He called upon the people of Illinois to make the sacrifices necessary to address the serious challenges before them.
He indicated that all appointed government officials and employees will be under review in his administration.
MSNBC’s O’Donnell: Sarah Palin Called Obama a Terrorist By Kyle Drennen (BioArchive)January 29, 2009 - 17:48 ET
During the 3PM hour on MSNBC, anchor Norah O’Donnell derided Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for attending the annual Alfalfa dinner in Washington, D.C., declaring: "Sarah Palin is coming to D.C. she ran as a maverick this whole campaign, wanted nothing to do with people in Washington, the anti-establishment candidate, and now she's coming to the most exclusive dinner in Washington, to hobnob with perhaps the president, ambassadors, senators, all the people she derided during the campaign. What's up with that?"
O’Donnell spoke with Republican strategist John Feehery and Democratic strategist Morris Reid and played a clip of Palin explaining why she was attending the dinner: "Alfalfa dinner, yes. In fact, that's because President Obama is scheduled to be there. And how often will I have an opportunity to have dinner with the president. I will take up that offer to do so, yeah."
O’Donnell then turned to Reid and asked: "Didn't she call him a terrorist on the campaign trail?" O’Donnell was referring to Palin’s comment that Obama was "paling around with terrorists," like his long-time Chicago associate and former domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers.
In response, Morris went on a Palin-bashing rant, during which O’Donnell laughed hysterically: "Well, I think she called him a terrorist among other things. But listen, the woman's hungry. She's got to eat, Norah. We got to feed the woman, don't we...You know, she lives in public housing, we got to feed her on the public doll. She got a bridge to nowhere. We love Sarah Palin on the Democratic side. We can't get enough of her...I think -- I don't think she knew -- I think she -- Norah, I think she thought it was just her, and Buckwheat, and Alfalfa, with the president at dinner. She's just clueless, it's ridiculous." Earlier in the segment, even Feehery took cheap shots at the Alaska governor: "You know, the big news is she didn't get $11 million for that book contract. I think that's the thing that people are really worried about. That's a lot of money for a book contract and she didn't get it. So that's good news."
Without a dissenting vote, the Illinois State Senate found Rod Blagojevich guilty of abuse of his office. He was the eighth governor in United States history to be removed, andthe first in 21 years.Read More:http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
Blagojevich Ousted by Illinois State Senate
By MALCOLM GAY and SUSAN SAULNY Published: January 29, 2009 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Senate Thursday convicted Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on a sprawling article of impeachment that charged him with abusing his power. The vote prompted the governor’s immediate and permanent ouster and ended nearly two months of political spectacle in which he sought unsuccessfully to salvage his reputation and career here and across the country.
Mr. Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat who rose from the ranks of Chicago ward politics on the strength of his charisma and family connections, is the first governor in the state’s history to be impeached. The senators voted 59 to 0 in favor of removing him after a four-day trial and about two hours of deliberation.
by Janet Crain President Obama is giving off mixed signals. First he criticizes the Chicago schools for closing for a "few snowflakes" then he heats up the Oval Office to a hothouse temperature suitable for growing orchids and his senior adviser, Axelrod, says he likes it that way because he is from Hawaii. So, I'm confused, how about you?
WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat. Newest White House Chef Knows the Obamas’ Tastes (January 29, 2009) “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”
by Janet Crain Planned Parenthood touts "drive by" abortion. In between the cleaners and the vet for pet shots, kill your baby and be on your way. CUT OFF TAX PAYER FUNDING!!!!!!! SBA List President, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) Call for De-Funding of Planned Parenthood, 'Wal-Mart of Big Abortion' Contact: Joy Yearout, Susan B. Anthony List, 703-875-3370
WASHINGTON, July 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- Yesterday Representatives Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) organized a special order on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to call for an end to federal taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. "The idea that Planned Parenthood cares one wit about reducing the 'need for abortion' is absurd," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "But even if this were a sincere claim on their part, they have failed miserably by their own measure. The number of abortions Planned Parenthood performs continually rises, this year reaching 290,000. It is past time to de-fund Planned Parenthood. It is time for a taxpayers' revolt."
Planned Parenthood is the nation's number one abortion provider, providing 290,000 abortions last year. Planned Parenthood provided nearly one in five abortions nationwide in 2005, the latest year nationwide abortion statistics are available. In her testimony on the House floor, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) referenced a recent Wall Street Journal investigation highlighting Planned Parenthood's recent appeal to the affluent in her congressional district. The article cited opening of "express centers in wealthy Minnesota suburbs" with the purposes of appealing to women who are "already doing their grocery shopping, picking up their Starbucks, living their daily lives." "They are big business. They are the Wal-Mart of big abortion," said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). "They are the big box retailer. It's time to end their tax exempt status. It's a fraud. It is time to stop the public financing of Planned Parenthood -- it is the right thing to do."
You just know there's going to be a movie about Hot Rod Blagojevich, Illinois'
beleaguered governor now under impeachment. Get a head start on picking the actor (or actress) to play his part. Personally, I think he would be great in the part!!!
Blagojevich Reverses Course to Give Closing Argument Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected to deliver a closing argument at his Senate impeachment trial Thursday.
FOXNews.com Thursday, January 29, 2009 Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to reverse course Thursday morning and deliver a closing statement at his impeachment trial, even after boycotting and ridiculing the proceedings earlier this week.
Lawmakers do not know what to expect. Blagojevich, who was on a media blitz in New York City while the trial in the Illinois Senate carried on, has asserted his innocence and rejected numerous calls for him to resign.
Blagojevich will not testify, which would have involved taking an oath and answering questions from the prosecutor and senators. Instead, he will deliver a closing statement.
"Like so many others, I'm going to be on pins and needles just waiting to see what he's going to be delivering us. It could be anything," said state Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest.
Al Gorebraved snow and ice storms to tell Congress, "We've arrived at a moment of decision," on manmade global warming/climate change today in Washington DC.
Deadly winter storm begins barrage in Northeast
By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Writer Patrick Walters, Associated Press Writer– 1 hr 6 mins ago
PHILADELPHIA – A destructive winter storm left more than a million customers in the dark before barreling into the Northeast on Wednesday, delaying flights and turning the morning rush into the morning slush as communities braced for the worst.
The storm has been blamed for at least 23 deaths and a glaze of ice and snow that caused widespread power failures from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. Authorities said it could be a week before some communities have electricity again.
Tree limbs encased in ice tumbled onto roads and crashed onto power lines in hard-hit Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma on Tuesday and overnight. In Arkansas — where ice was 3 inches thick in some places — people huddled next to portable heaters and wood-burning fires as utilities warned electricity may be out for a week or more.
David Stark had an adventurous trip on Interstate 71 to get to work in La Grange, in northern Kentucky.
"The roads look clear but you can't do over 40 mph," he said during a stop at a convenience store for gas and food. "There's a lot of black ice. I slipped and slid everywhere."
Since the storm began building on Monday, the weather had been blamed for at least six deaths in Texas, four in Arkansas, three in Virginia, five in Missouri, two each in Ohio and Oklahoma, and one in Indiana. Winter storm warnings were in effect from Texas to New England on Wednesday.
Power was being restored to thousands of residents of Oklahoma, which was spared the destruction caused by an ice storm that killed nearly 30 people and darkened a half-million homes and businesses for days about 13 months ago.
But next door in Arkansas, about 300,000 customers lacked power Wednesday morning. More than 470,000 were in the dark in Kentucky, where Pearl Schmidt's family endured a cold night without power at their Paintsville home.
"We bundled up together on a bed with four blankets. It's freezing," she said.
For some time I have thought about how no mention has been made about Barack Obama ever having a part-time job in High School or College or in fact ever doing any manual labor of any kind in his life.
For some reason, I just don't think such privileged characters can ever understand the people of America who do work. I admired Sarah Palin for working alongside her husband on their fishing boat in freezing temperatures. I admired her for being able to kill and clean a moose. I want someone like that in the White House. Someone with great intelligence and leadership who has lived in the real word.
Quite frankly, someone who is so exhausted from finishing college he has to take a six month vacation in Bali, Thailand is not inspiring to me. Oh, yes, he was finishing his book.
The hands we should admire are of the people whose blood sweat and tears built this country. Not the sissified hands of a man who in another time would be called a dandy.
Look at the hands of a real man:
From the Doris Ullman Collection "Appalachian Laborer Hands" at Berea College.
And where will Blagojevich and his sweet tempered bride be during the impeachment proceeding beginning tomorrow?
Why they are going to London to see the Queen or actually to New York, New York to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning, America” with Diane Sawyer and “The View” with Barbara Walters, as well as Monday evening’s “Larry King Live” on CNN. Lynn Sweet adds they will also appear on NBC’s Today Show (taped in Chicago) and FOX’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren/Fox and Friends.
A veritable “who’s who” of Obama staffers, surrogates and affiliates were among those served with subpoenas. Put simply, within one week of President Barack Obama’s administration taking office, it is already under significant legal scrutiny that will — at a minimum — take precious time away from dealing with the country’s monumental economic and foreign policy challenges.
And, once again, the mainstream media is AWOL, unwilling to report on this very newsworthy story.
Those subpoenaed:
Patricia Blagojevich, first lady
River Realty, her former employer
Friends of Blagojevich, the governor’s campaign committee
Citizens for Blagojevich, his former committee
Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign chairman
Michael Vondra, owner of asphalt and construction companies
Gerald Krozel, vice president of a concrete company
John Johnston, president of Balmoral Park racetrack
Fred Yang, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant
Garin Hart Yang Research Group, Yang’s firm
William Knapp, Washington, D.C.-based Blagojevich consultant
Squire, Knapp & Dunn, Knapp’s firm
Doug Sosnick, political consultant
Doug Ross adds: “Blago’s ‘Senate Candidate 3′, Jan Schakowsky, was not served with a subpoena, but will have some questions of her own to answer in the days to come.”
Up for bid are thee actual Red Naughty Monkey Heels owned/worn by Sarah Palin. I got the shoes from Aunt Sarah after mentioning that I liked them. They dont fit to well, so I decided to let someone else enjoy them. These are the exact heels that made headlines. If you search "Sarah Palin's Red Shoes" on a search engine, you will find multiple blogs, articles, and stories on these shoes. You could own a piece of history!!! The shoes are NOT autographed, but the buyer has the option of having them autographed!! I included pictures of the shoes, the autographed pictures, the Sharpie pen, and me and my aunt (just taken a couple days ago).
Not since the Elizabethan Age has so much dependance in portents and signs been relied upon by those who should know better. We are told that Martin Luther King Jr. prophesized a black president would be elected in 40 years and it came to pass. But a quick google search reveals it was Robert Kennedy who said this. An interviewer from BBC asked Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964 if he agreed with what Robert Kennedy had said. Martin Luther King Jr. says yes he does and, in fact this should occur in 25 to 40 years. Obviously it did not. It has actually been 45 years since this was said. And neither man was a prophet or else King would have avoided the Lorraine Motel, and Kennedy would have given up his political ambitions.
Then we hear that the crash and miraculous rescue of all persons aboard a jet on Friday before the Inaugruation is some sort of sign that Obama's presidency will be successful. I am sure the passengers did not appreciate the freezing dip in the Hudson to promote the coming bearer of hope and change. And then it really gets silly with sites like this who advise: "LET NOT YOUR OPINION CLOUD YOUR SPIRITUAL MIND"
These prophetic claims are being used to bolster the importance of Barack Obama's election as if he came to fulfill a prophecy.
Pretend for moment you are a writing teacher. One of your students routinely presents such pedestrian prose as this:
Moreover, such approaches can and have become thinly veiled excuses for cutting back on social programs, which are anathema to a conservative agenda.
Then in an essay he suddenly presents this type of prose:
Winter came and the city turned monochrome-black trees against gray sky above white earth. Night now fell in midafternoon, especially when the snowstorms rolled in, boundless prairie storms that set the sky close to the ground, the city lights reflected against the clouds.
What would be your first reaction? Does plagarism come to mind? Teachers can spot plagarism immediately.
The first example and the beautifully written example from Dreams from My Father, were supposedly both written by Barack Obama. Dreams from My Father was the book for which he received a $40,000 advance from Times Books, thus allowing him to drop out of the daily rat race to vacation in Bali, Indonesia with Michelle for 6 months to finish writing. The book that along with The Audacity of Hope are cited as proof of his genius.
Quote:
Obama's Book-Writing Sabbatical in Bali, Indonesia
From time to time I've referred to Obama's advance for Dreams From My Father, and stories indicating it was enough to allowed "him to set aside six months after he graduated to write."
The New York Times dug into this last month, and found a few more answers. The coverage prompted a call to him from Jane Dystel, a gravelly-voiced literary agent described by Peter Osnos, then the publisher of Times Books, as “a good journeyman with a hard edge.” The home page of her firm’s Web site currently features clients’ best sellers including “Lies at the Altar: The Truth About Great Marriages.” Ms. Dystel suggested Mr. Obama write a book proposal. Then she got him a contract with Poseidon Press, a now-defunct imprint of Simon & Schuster. When he missed his deadline, she got him another contract and a $40,000 advance from Times Books...
By the time Mr. Obama landed at Times Books, he had a partial manuscript. He required minimal editing, said Henry Ferris, his editor, who is now a vice president and executive editor at William Morrow. He simply needed guidance in paring and shaping the sections already written and keeping the rest from becoming too long. The writing, Mr. Ferris said, “is very much his own.”
New York gun control supporters are urging Gov. David Paterson to pass over Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand when he selects the state’s next senator, because, they say, her support of gun rights puts her “well outside the mainstream of most New Yorkers.” But Gillibrand today proudly defended herself as a supporter of the Second Amendment, after noting the importance of hunting to her upstate New York district and her own family.“I come from a hunting family,” said Gillibrand, after noting that her mother shoots the Thanksgiving turkey almost every year.
Last fall, Gillibrand said, her mother “got a turkey” and “got a deer.” According to Gillibrand, her mother “was on her rifle team in college” and is “the best shot in our family.”“We appreciate hunting rights in our family,” Gillibrand said, declaring herself “very pro Second Amendment.”“In upstate New York, we have a very rich culture in hunting, and I think hunting rights are very important,” Gillibrand said.
But Gillibrand insisted that the rights of gun owners and hunters don’t have to displace efforts to combat gun violence and promote gun safety.“There’s a lot of room where both sides can agree,” she said. “Gun safety, keeping guns out of the hands of children (and) making sure our guns are the safest in the world are all things we can work together on.”“We also can work on making sure we have double the number of police force and making sure our public safety is first and foremost,” Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand’s comments came at an inaugural parade watch party in a downtown D.C. hotel room that was organized by the New York State Society. Paterson had stopped by the event just moments before.Gillibrand said she had bumped into the governor Monday night, at a state Democratic Party reception. During the brief meeting, Gillibrand said, she “wished him luck.”“I just wished him well,” Gillibrand said, adding that there was “no substantive discussion.”Gillibrand was interviewed for the job in mid-December; today, she said “that went well.”
But Gillibrand said she’s trying not to interject herself in the process.“It’s just an important decision for the governor, and I have complete faith he will choose what’s best for the state, with all the considerations he has,” Gillibrand said. “My view has been that I felt very strongly about respecting his process, letting him decide, and (letting him weigh) all the issues that are relevant to what he wants for our state andour state’s future.”by Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Hearst Washington bureauSource: TimesUnion __________________
by Janet Crain David Frum says the Republicans can regain lost power if they only become more like Democrats.
His first premise below is refuted by the fact that John McCain beat Obama 74 to 25 percent among white Texas college students. That is a huge margin in a huge state. Yes, demographics are changing, but you know what, Hispanics don't necessarily vote Democratic. Hispanics are conservative with strong family values. And most blacks reject the same sex marriage thing and many reject abortion. An article in the same issue; The Lone Star State Stays Red by Evan Smith explains why he does not see Texas turning blue or even purple despite the influx of newcomers to the urban areas.
POLITICS How the GOP Can Rise Again
There's no need to abandon basic Republican principles. Instead, just cool the scorched-earth rhetoric and focus on reclaiming the educated middle class. By David Frum NEWSWEEK Published Jan 17, 2009
A generation ago, the great majority of the most educated Americans voted Republican. The elder George Bush, for instance, defeated Michael Dukakis among college graduates by 25 points. But that advantage has been eroding, and last year Barack Obama became the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to win a majority of American voters with four years of higher education. This is no small bloc, especially within white America, where Republicans do best. Almost one third of white Americans hold a college degree, up from one fifth in 1990. Republicans cannot win without this growing group. To recover them, we need to do four things:
New York City television station WPIX is reporting tonight that the state's Democratic governor, David Paterson, has settled on Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand as the successor for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's now-vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Quoting unnamed sources, the station reported on its website moments ago (Hat Tip Don Surber) that the governor would make the announcement at noon Friday in Albany. He has reportedly invited the state's entire congressional delegation to attend then, but asked Gillibrand to arrive at 11.
The governor's office would not confirm or deny the report.
Gillibrand is a moderate Democrat, the 42-year-old mother of two young children who lives in Hudson, N.Y., and is in her second House term.
Most important, perhaps, for Paterson, Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-a-brand) gives him not only a female on his ticket in next year's statewide elections, when she must run to fill the remaining two years of Clinton's term; Gillibrand's also an upstater to balance the dominant downstate power of New Yorkers like himself and Clinton that arouses such traditional resentment in the north.
She's known as a Blue Dog Democrat, not always popular with liberals for her support of the National Rifle Assn. in her significantly rural 20th District, but said to be Clinton's favorite as her replacement.
"I am concerned, as I’m sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high-skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers. … I have nothing against white male construction workers. I’m just saying that there are a lot of other people who have needs as well. … Criteria can be set so that the money does go to others, the long term unemployed minorities, women, people who are not necessarily construction workers or high-skilled professionals."
Tom Brokaw's Revenge? Calls Out 'Bigots and Rednecks' on Obama Inauguration Day: 'Take This!' By Tim Graham January 20, 2009 - 18:31 ET Sitting in a Washington bar with the Morning Joe crew on MSNBC Tuesday morning, former NBC anchor grew emotional remembering the 1960s. "I get very emotional. It has been hard for me to walk through the streets. And I think that the day is going to be very emotional." Brokaw even grew bold enough to tell the "bigots and rednecks" he met in the Sixties "when we were evolving as a country" to suffer through the Obama inauguration: "Take this. You know?"
BROKAW: Comfortable in his own skin, to use that phrase, he had the self-confidence. It was not overbearing and could laugh at himself easily. He could hammer him and criticalof a quote. At one point he burst out laughing, I was in the middle of reading back one of these things. "Some people said nice things about me as well."
Listen, I just want to say one thing. Having been in the South in the '60s and Los Angeles, in Watts and northern urban areas, when we were evolving as a country, I'm thinking of all the bigots and rednecks and people I met along the way. I'm saying to them, "Take this." You know?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I like that thought. I think you might be right.
A few minutes earlier, Brokaw talked it over with Mike Barnicle and Gen. Colin Powell:
BROKAW, with a quavering voice: I get very emotional. It has been hard for me to walk through the streets. And I think that the day is going to be very emotional. I think that's good for the country. It’s a reminder again of who we are and our inherent strengths. And the inherent strengths are, is that this is an immigrant nation. We have come from all over the world to build this country and this society. And now we have the son of an immigrant as president, first generation. And the rule of law is the underpinning for it. And we’re always at our best when we are more than the sum of our parts.
Barnicle added: "There’s nothing wrong with crying about this country, is there?" Powell agreed: "I’ve been crying left and right for the last few weeks."
“I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.”
~~ Barack Obama, at a rally for State Senator Creigh Deeds, Tysons Corner, Virginia, August 6, 2009
"....all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Obama's Health Plan
...............You
2009 Town Hall Meetings
Democracy Break Down
Best Seller
"I happen to be a proponent of single-payer, universal health care coverage." Barack Obama 2003
DO YOU REALLY THINK HE'S CHANGED HIS MIND?
The President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and All Senators and Representatives should receive the same Health Plan they force on other Americans:
Sic 'em!!!
"We in America do not have government by the majority.
We have government by the majority who participate."
"Think as I think," said a man, "Or you are abominably wicked; You are a toad."
And after I had thought of it, I said, "I will, then, be a toad."
--Stephen Crane
Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted
Signs of the Time
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."
--French economist, statesman and author Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)
'There's no doubt that Lincoln held office during difficult times...But think of poor George Washington...He didn't have a previous administration to blame for his problems.'
I am an Anti-government Gunslinger, also known as a libertarian conservative. I believe in smaller government, states’ rights, gun rights, and that, as Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
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by Sarah PalinI AM DISMAYED THAT LEGISLATION HAS AGAIN BEEN INTRODUCED in Congress to prohibit forever oil and gas development in the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America -- the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska.