Lessons Learned, Gustav Vs Katrina

With hurricane Gustav bearing down on our Gulf coast the lessons learned from Katrina are evident, Gov.s Barbour, Crist, Jindal, Riley and Perry are prepared and ordered mandatory evacuation well ahead of the storm. Heck even Ray Nagin learned and is doing everything he can to clear New Orleans of residents and is using all means at his disposal. From what I have seen approximately 95% of the coastal regions have been evacuated in a very orderly manner and the National Guard is in place and ready to roll. This has the makings of another monster storm and I am praying it will lose some steam before it makes landfall.

John McCain has put a damper on the GOP convention and may use it as a major call for action to help, Country over party as the saying goes. That is diametrically opposed to Michael Moore and Dan Fowler's gloating over this potential disaster as being good for the Democrats, hardly, it was Democrat Gov. Kathleen Blanco that blew it in Louisiana during Katrina. Her successor Bobby Jindal has the state as ready as it could be and is demonstrating what real leadership is all about as is John McCain, Haley Barbour, Bob Riley, Charlie Crist and Rick Perry, Republicans lead, Democrats whine and bloviate.

Of course the obfuscators on the left will blame this on anthropogenic global warming and by extension George Bush but this is not an unusually hot year, pretty average actually if not cooler. Yes hurricane damage has increased in recent years but that has less to do with storm intensity than the fact that there is far more high dollar coastal development than in the past. I am a proponent of limiting coastal development, I hate beach front hotels, and for a two mile barrier. I grew up in Alabama and have spent many happy days on the Florida panhandle so I know what development has done to the region. and I do not like it. I remember miles of dunes that no longer exist replaced by hotels with waves lapping at the doorstep. I don't recognize it anymore.

Anyway my prayers are going out to those in affected areas.

What Is It About Sarah Palin?

Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words.

With her ascension to the forefront of American politics Gov. Sarah Palin has astounded the beltway elites and thrilled the GOP base. Why is that? I could sum that up in one word, authenticity, she has lived a real life in the world outside of elite institutions and made her way on the merits of her own abilities and not her connections or her familial ties. She does not come across as elite or aloof with an air of entitlement or victimology but rather as a well grounded, hard working all American gal or as Mark Steyn put it hyper American.

First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, "all-American", but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin' Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracy.

I was talking to my mom, the best judge of personal character I know and a genuine southern country girl, last night about her and she was very impressed by Sarah's announcement speech. She had not heard of Gov. Palin until then and was struck by how genuine she seemed and wanted to know more about her so I filled her in as well as I could. Mom knows she can't trust the MSM and like me voted for Mitt Romney in the primaries, wasn't real high on McCain but knew Obama is not to be trusted. The thing is Gov. Palin can connect with everyday Joe Sixpack and his wife like ordinary politicians are rarely able to do, she has been there, done that and continues to do it. She is the working mom next door that happens to be a politician not the politician that happens to be a mom. She embodies the heartland values that make America so great not the elitist attitudes of the Ivy League or beltway insiders that think they know best and lost touch with the heartland many moons ago. There is no enigma about who she is or any airs of superiority, nothing fake or put on about her just a straight shooter in more ways than one. All those bitter small town living, gun toting, Bible reading Americans that Obama and his big city gun hating elites look down upon are simply going to fall in love with her.

Sidenote: It looks like McCain hit a real nerve as the fever swamps of the nutroots are hitting new highs for nastiness which will of course turn off more folks that it turns on. They can't stand the fact that those of us on the right are actually smarter than their enlightened pettiness.

The Maverick And The Baracuda vs The Whiner And The Bloviator

With the selection of Sarah 'Baracuda' Palin as his wingman the savvy old fighter pilot shows he is ready to fight the war against graft and corruption in government. Yes Baracuda was her nickname for her aggresive style of play as star point guard for her State Champion basketball team. I have seen several commenters from Alaska say the political landscape up there is littered with the bodies of people, metaphorically speaking, that got in her way to eliminating corruption in the Alaska machine. This is a woman that expects results and if you don't deliver she finds someone who will, she is a doer not a talker. The more I find out about her the more impressed I have become in her short time in politics she has accomplished more to clean up Alaska politics than Obama did in Illinois. He talks a good game, she actually fights to get the reform done as does McCain.

She has more practical experience dealing with foreign governments than Obama or Biden after her work with Canada on a natural gas pipeline and she got all the details hammered out and passed. Alaska is also only some fifty miles from our cold war adversary Russia and hosts our largest Aegis missile defense system. I have no doubt that Gov. Palin has the steel to carry that nuclear football should the need arise and she will be a quick study on other aspects of foreign policy. Behind that pretty face lies the fighting spirit of the American frontier woman, tough as nails with a heart of gold and unafraid to work hard, commercial fishing in Alaska is hard and dangerous, for the right reasons.

Yep the old Maverick has gotten inside Obama's OODA loop with this choice and managed to shoot off Obama's stabalizers in the process. OODA stands for observe, orient, decide, act and was developed by Maj. John Boyd, a topgun fighter pilot during the Korean war, as a way to get inside the thought envelope of the opponent in a dog fight and has been taught ever since to our war pilots. For more on this don't miss this great essay by Charlie Martin and do read the very informative comments that follow.

There are two military concepts here that explain the (absolutely spectacular) choice of Governor Sarah Palin. Both of them are important to the training of a fighter pilot, and while one of them wasn't formulated until after McCain's flying career was over, it was an observation based on what fighter pilots had to know.

One of them is the "envelope" -- which is to say the parameters within which a fighter airplane must operate. The envelope can be seen as a sort of egg-shape, based on how quickly a plane can turn and maneuver. If your plane as a "tighter envelope" than another plane, the pilot has the advantage in a dogfight: you can turn inside the other plane, which means you can get into the perfect firing position, behind the opponent.

More important is the "OODA loop" -- which is the envelope for the pilot's thought process. How quickly can the pilot observe the situation, orient within the situation, decide, and act. If the pilot's OODA loop time is shorter, the pilot can overcome the slower.

At this point, we're seeing that McCain is completely within the Obama campaign's OODA loop -- they are out-thinking them and out-acting them -- and very problably the McCain campaign has a tighter envelope than the Obama campaign, as well.

I have zero doubt that Gov. Palin is the perfect wingman for the Maverick and am sure she is already inside Biden's loop on many issues especially the energy issue. Sarah Palin along with Jeb Hensarling, John Campbell, Bobby Jindal, Jim Demint, Tom Colburn, Michelle Bachman and quite a few others are the new face of the GOP and a very refreshing one at that. I like that direction and the announcement of Sarah Palin excites me as much or more than Mitt's campaign did and long time readers know I worked hard for Mitt.
This is a campaign now of talkers with no record of reform and a background of corruption, Obama/Biden vs doers with a real record of reform fighting corruption, McCain/Palin.

The King is in the Field!

The shofar blast after prayers tomorrow will herald the opening of the heavenly gates of mercy. The sharp call of the shofar arouses us to put away whatever things have been distracting us from HaShem and to return to Him. We are awakened to rise from our spiritual slumber. We begin the 40 day period of soul-searching and self-improvement which culminates in Yom Kippur. During these yamim noraim we must take an honest look at our conduct in the past year, examine our failings and seek to raise ourselves up.

During the yamim hanoraim, the King is in the field. During the rest of the year, the King sits in His palace and only His servants, ministers and courtiers have access to the inner sanctum. It is extremely difficult to get an audience with the King. But with the blast of the shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul, the King will leave His palace to sit in the field. During this time, all of the King's subjects can go before Him, petition to Him, speak to Him and have their requests granted. Here's how Chassidic master Rebbe Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), describes the month of Elul - the month that precedes the divine coronation on Rosh Hashanah:

"It is like a king who, before he enters the city, the people of the city go out to greet him in the field. There, everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him; he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all. And when he goes to the city, they follow him there. Later, however, after he enters his royal palace, none can enter into his presence except by appointment, and only special people and select individuals. So, too, by analogy, the month of Elul is when we meet G-d in the field..."

(Likkutei Torah, Re'ei 32b; see also Likkutei Sichot, vol II p. 632 ff.)

The astrological sign of Elul is Virgo, the Virgin. Elul is an acronym for Ani leDodi ve'Dodi Li', I am for my Beloved as my Beloved is to me. In this month, we are reunited with our Beloved, HaShem. He is accessible to every single one of us. The gates of mercy are opened and HaShem has compassion on each one of us. Whatever sins have cut us off from Him throughout the year are forgotten and we once again become pure and sinless.

We add Psalm 27 to the end of our morning and evening services.

1. By David. The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life-whom shall I dread? 2. When evildoers approached me to devour my flesh, my oppressors and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 3. If an army were to beleaguer me, my heart would not fear; if war were to arise against me, in this I trust 1 4. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I seek: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of the Lord, and to visit His Sanctuary. 5. For He will hide me in His tabernacle on a day of adversity; He will conceal me in the hidden places of His tent; He will lift me upon a rock. 6. And then my head will be raised above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of jubilation; I will sing and chant to the Lord. 7. Lord, hear my voice as I call; be gracious to me and answer me. 8. In Your behalf my heart says, "Seek My countenance"; Your countenance, Lord, I seek. 9. Do not conceal Your countenance from me; do not cast aside Your servant in wrath. You have been my help; do not abandon me nor forsake me, God of my deliverance. 10. Though my father and mother have forsaken me, the Lord has taken me in. 11. Lord, teach me Your way and lead me in the path of righteousness, because of my watchful enemies. 12. Do not give me over to the will of my oppressors, for there have risen against me false witnesses, and they speak evil. 13. [They would have crushed me] had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14. Hope in the Lord, be strong and let your heart be valiant, and hope in the Lord.

Ketivah v'chatima tovah. May we all be written and inscribed in the Book of Life.

Cross-posted from the For Zion's Sake

Sarah Palin On Energy Production

She gets it perfectly and note how smooth and versed she is on the topic. She knocks Joe Biden and Bush in this interview. There is far more to this amazing woman than a pretty face. Allahpundit edited it down some for this clip but the whole interview can be seen here and worth viewing in its entirety.

This is why I have been high on her since she edged onto the scene a few months ago and why she'll be an excellent VP. I have not seen the GOP base this fired up in a long time, McCain raised 4.5 million dollars yesterday after the announcement of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

YES YES YES

John McCain has tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his VP, outstanding pick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update: She gave an excellent speech and had the crowd going wild with chants of USA. I am sure she will wow America as well. I know the conservative blogosphere is dancing in the aisles and I had a huge lump in my throat while watching. This is not a boring pick at all and definitely will shake up this race in a good way like no other pick could have. She is a tough smart reform minded conservative all American girl that embodies the spirit of America. The heartland will love her as they get to know her because she is like them in so many ways. She will be able to unite and excite the base while bringing in many independents as well as disgruntled Hillary supporters.

Dennis Prager is calling her the American Maggie Thatcher and says this is the most excited he has been since Reagan's nomination. I understand Rush is thrilled and Laura Ingraham was positively ecstatic this morning. It is a new day America !

More video of Sarah Palin, I really like this pick, she is shown here shooting an M-16, cool.

Obama's Big Speech: Updated

Amanda Carpenter has some excerpts posted and it looks long on fluff, short on substance with more than a few half truths and outright lies thrown in like most of the other Democrats speeches this week. They love to rail against the "failed policies" of the Bush administration that have liberated two countries from tyrannical rule while keeping us safe here at home and seen a worldwide reduction in terrorist actions in general. Our economy has continued to grow after Bush's taxcuts pulled us out of the Clinton recession brought on by the dotcom bubble bust, unemployment is lower than the Clinton years and incomes have risen while the poverty rate has fallen despite the war and major weather disasters. The Democrats whine about how hard it is to live in America but the only areas that are struggling like Michigan are run by Democrats and the reason companies leave America or change states is the taxation and regulation imposed by Democrats.
The mortgage crisis was also caused by the Democrats forcing lenders to give loans to people that did not qualify by banning redlining. The energy problems are also a result of Democrat opposition to drilling for oil, expanding refinery capacity, and nuclear power, ANWR would be producing oil and natural gas today if Bill Clinton had not vetoed it ten years ago. The cost of energy to power our vehicles, homes and businesses is responsible for all the inflationary pressure the economy is experiencing now and is not a result of Bush policies but of Democrat opposition to. Obama and more Democrats is not the answer to keep America strong, it is a recipe for economic disaster and a far weaker America. Don't let their lies and smoke and mirrors charade fool you.

Update: The folks at Contentions, keep scrolling down as it is several pages worth, say this was the nastiest speech they have ever heard for an acceptance speech and the angry was more evident than the positive. That is not good for Obama and his message of positive change, hah.
Update: I feel even better when the folks over at the Corner agree with me or me with them. VDH nails it, but read their whole coverage.

John McCain Has More Class Than Entire Democrat Party Combined

Yes indeed Obama's nomination is a historic first for America and he is accepting it on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The McCain team will air this ad before and after Obama's big speech tonight, smart move.

I agree that Obama is to be congratulated for this achievement.

Penn And Teller On World Peace

I love these guys so I will let them speak for themselves er Penn that is.
Via LGF with a language warning of course since the show is called BS afterall.

This definitely one of their best episodes of BS TV.

They get it so if you don't have a half hour now to watch come back and watch when you do, it is worth it.

Chain Of Fools

I can't believe that is the song the DNC chose to lead up to Bill Clinton's address to the Convention, a chain of fools for sure appearing on that stage. The idiot introducing him told about six lies in just a few sentences. Bill Clinton's reign ended in recession, had a higher unemployment rate than under Bush and his policies led directly to 9/11 because of his fechlessness in dealing with multiple terrorist strikes on US interests. What a maroon. We had a budget surplus thanks to the Republican controlled Congress led by Newt Gingrich and not from anything Bill Clinton did. The facts simply do not fit their narrative so they obfuscate and spin lies to deceive and dishearten folks.
Bill has told several lies in his opening statement as well, he said poverty has gone up when it has gone down, food prices have gone up because he vetoed drilling in ANWR and on the OCS and the Democrats in charge now refuse to budge on an actual real energy policy. He will get nailed on them very quickly in the new media envirenment of today without the MSM to control the narrative.
I can't watch this bullshit express anymore and that is what this whole sham has been from the start as the old saying goes: if you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with bullshit. That folks is the Democrat Party in a paddy, a stinky one at that.

I am Barack, I Am Hubris

Barack Obama has been receiving substantial mocking for his arrogance and celebrity personna. He has chosen to give his acceptance speech rock concert at the home of the Denver Broncos from a stage resembling a Greco-Roman temple. I guess the home of the Nuggets was not big enough to contain his ego. He will arrive on stage from between the columns to much smoke and fireworks to a pulpit that will arise from the stage where he will pontificate to the rest of us mere mortals.
Here is a look at the setting and a view behind the scenes.

He does not seem to realize that all of this messiah imagery is hurting him more than it helps him and he seems to have bought into his and his sycophantic worshipper's rhetoric about him being some kind of omnipotent saviour. I am sure he will deliver a very good speech since that is his forte and I am sure the MSM will hail it as the finest speech in American political history. Will he deliver red meat and flesh out some policy or will it be the sweet fluffy substanceless cotton candy his stump speeches have offered to date?
Recent polls show he has so far gotten a negative bounce since the flubbed announcement of Joe Biden as his running mate and the start of the Convention. From what I have gathered Hillary's speech last night did little to unify the party and may have left many wondering if they had made the right choice in elevating Obama as the nominee. The only reason she gave for voting for Obama is that he is in the same party as she and Bill are, not exactly a ringing endorsement and now he must close the sale. I am now starting to believe that he won't be able to as he turns off more and more of those bitter folks that cling to guns and religion in middle America. Yes I have hope at last and that is change I can believe in.

The Obama Brownshirts

Barack Obama does not want the American people to know about his decades long association with Weather Underground murderers and bombers Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. They have written two letters to the Dept of Justice demanding an investigation into the American Issues Project the group that put out this ad connecting Obama and Ayers. They are also harrassing TV stations that air it, just a peak into what an Obama administration would be like.

Michelle Malkin has much more info on this including AIP's replies plus lots on Obama's ties to the notorious voter fraud outfit ACORN. Don't criticize the Obama or you will get harrassed, censored and threatened with law suits, change you can believe in.

In other Ayers related news the UIC Library finally allowed access to the files on the Annenburg Challenge and Stanley Kurtz is there and digging in with relish. Obama's "lost years" are being uncovered and none of it looks very good for the candidate of hope and change, ahh the web of the Chicago corruption machine is very sticky indeed. I tell you what, for a man that has written two autobiographies before he was forty he sure has a very dark and mysterious past with many very disturbing friends and mentors. Geraldine Ferraro was right when she said if he were a white guy he never would have gotten this far and now that people are starting to see through his empty high falutin rhetoric he is sinking in the polls. May the SS Obama continue to sink as the grizzled old fighter pilot continues to fly.

Hillarity And Chaos In Denver

Yesterday the moonbats planned to levitate the US Mint in Denver and shake all the money out of it to redistribute to the masses to buy more pot with since they are too busy protesting capitalism to actually work for a living. Well of course they failed and Steve Green was there reporting for Pajamas Media in what started out as a lighthearted look at the moonbats efforts until Michelle Malkin showed up and conspiracy nutjob asshat Alex Jones went bezerk. Via Gateway Pundit who was there also.

Alex Jones is a radio talker on the fringe left that never met a kooky conspiracy he didn't like and is a major player in the 9/11 troofer movement.

Jason Mattera of the Young Americans Foundation is also busy running around Denver doing undercover interviews with the hordes of moonbats for Hot Air TV and has several videos posted already that are definately snort worthy and very revealing at how small and closed their minds are.

The great protest photojornalist Zombie has also teamed up with Little Green Footballs and Pajamas Media and has several posts up as well with great pictures of all the communist banners. She also got caught up in the mini riot last night and from her reporting the Denver police are on top of the situation and determined to not let the anarchists trash their city. Keep an eye on LGF for continued updates on the festivities.

This is the Democrats base, a bunch of clowns, and their elected leaders are just as messed up in the head with Nancy Pelosi as their Queen. The Democrat Party has been taken over by the loony left and it is starting to show just how loony they are. I mean levitating the US Mint, good grief.

Obama Using Free Concert Trick Again

Obama used a free concert by popular bands to draw large numbers in Seattle and Berlin before and he intends to use the same tactic in Denver with Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen bookending his historic speech at Mile High Stadium. This is a total gimmick and one that won't work much longer. If Obama is such a star in his own right then why does he need bands to boost his attendance? I am not a fan of JBJ or BS, both washed out rockers from the 70s and 80s and it shows just how washed out the Obama campaign has become. The celebrity needs celebrity to promote his celebrity, how fitting for the empty suit candidate with zero credentials.

Third Major Obama Mistake In A Week

The first was to bring up houses which opened the door for McCain to bring up Tony Rezko. The second was for Obama to name Senator bumple mouth Biden as his VP over Hillary. The third is to bring up Ayers in this incredibly stupid ad. The announcer asks why McCain is talking about the sixties and what Bill Ayers as a radical was doing blowing up things. It says that Barack has denounced those acts but fails to mention that Barack worked closely with the unrepentant terrorists in the much nearer past. First team McCain did not put out the Ayers ad an independent group did and his team has not mentioned Ayers much at all but this gives them the opening they needed to make a major issue of their association.
The ad then goes on to make a couple typical leftwing talking points about the war and corporate tax rates. I am sure McCain doesn't "want" to spend ten billion a month in Iraq but knows we need to in able to assure success there. Obama accuses McCain of wanting to lower taxes on corporations that send jobs over seas, the reason they send those jobs over seas is because we have the second highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world and an overburdening regulatory regime. If you want to create jobs and keep them here lowering or removing the taxation on capital gains and job creating corporations is the best way to do it. A simple look at how jobs shift around the US is an example, California and New York tax the hell out of businesses and they are leaving for states that don't like Nevada or the south east. The fastest growing states have low tax rates and the ones losing population and business have the highest rates. I swear the Democrats are absolute idiots when it comes to economics.
I worked with a liberal a while back that loved to rail on and on about those evil corporations and how they should be taxed into oblivion. I pointed out to him that he worked for a corporation and asked where all those folks would then work if their companies closed up or moved. He sat in mute silence as I explained basic economics to him. I asked where he would get any of the things he enjoys and he had no answer, most moonbats don't have an answer. He quit smoking because he didn't want to give money to big tobacco so I asked if he wanted to give up the cellphone that stuck out of his ear since paying the bill supported big telecom, you should have seen that glare and heard the lame excuses. The guy hated me so much it got him fired, hah.
The next time you hear a liberal whining about big corporations ask them if they are willing to live in a mud hut with dirt floors as a subsistance farmer without all the comforts a modern corporate world brings, no internet, no cellphones, no TV, no energy, no refrigerators, washers or dryers, no cars, or even medical care. I bet you will get a very surprised look and a dumb answer if any. Yep, I am a proud greedy capitalist pig, er goat, out to make a profit so I can pay my bills, have a bit to eat and drink and possibly enjoy life and the Democrats want to make that harder to do.
Any vote for any Democrat is a vote for higher taxes, oppressive regulation and a massive blow to our economy and you can't take that to the bank but you can send it to the kleptocrats in DC.

There Goes The Moonbat Vote

This will tick off moonbats even more than Joe Biden voting for the war, he is also an architect of the war on drugs and the RAVE act aimed at shutting down the massive techno parties because of the drug use at them. That will come as news to all the young groupies in Obama's flock gathering in Denver. Dan Riehl has more on Biden and his war on drugs.

The Drug War is Biden’s pet issue, one he pays close attention to. Senator Biden was one of the original drafters of the legislation that created the Office of National Drug Control Policy, an anti-drug office of the White House.

The Rave Act has the force to stop licensed and law-abiding business owners from hosting events out of fear of massive fines and prison sentences. Shortly after the act became law, a federal agent in Montana used it to shut down a benefit to raise money for Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The DEA agent told managers of the Eagle Lodge in Billings, Montana that the Lodge could be fined $250,000 if anyone smoked marijuana during a planned benefit to raise money for a campaign to pass a medical marijuana law in Montana. The Eagle Lodge canceled the event.

I've seen rumors that the Denver police are to overlook smoking pot in public this week, I guess they figure the protestors are all stoned out of their minds they will just sit in the park and beat on bongos. They are probably more worried about overflowing the jail and court system.
Meanwhile Jasom Matera of YAF and Hot Air TV has gone undercover on the streets of Denver and there are several other conservative bloggers roaming around incognito. They need to stay unknown for their safety since a FOX reporter has already come under assault by raving moonbats. Something those dimwits don't seem to understand is that acting like obnoxious idiots does little to help their cause and instead turns people off.

Team McCain Was Ready

They had this ad up first thing this morning after Obama's dark of night VP announcement.

The McCain quick response team seems to be working really well, though I am sure they had this ready to roll with several others. McCain and Biden know each other very well from serving on the same committees over the years. I am sure they both have plenty of anecdotes to tell of their years together in the Senate. This is going to get fun.

Oh Boy! Obama OBiden

It's official they are going to talk us into submitting to the One, Joe Biden is Obama's pick for Veep. I guess the hope is that Biden's gaffes will help cover Obama's and that Biden's penchent for talking too much will make Obama seem quick and to the point. I don't see how putting a liberal north eastern career politician Washington insider old white guy on the ticket fits Obama's change image and a new kind of politics. Heck only a handful of Senators have been there longer than Joe Biden, is thirty six years enough to make him the ultimate insider, plus Joe Biden has had a long and cozy relationship with lobbyists that doesn't square well with Obama's message either. Obama pretty much threw his image under the bus with this pick and removed his main way of attacking McCain as a DC insider and a old white guy. Joe Biden is not a bad guy just a typical liberal Senator with a long history of saying stupid things because he tends to ramble. It also shines a light on Obama's main weaknesses foreign policy and experience as Biden is considered the dems foreign policy guru, he gets it right sometimes. He is a little more moderate than Barack but all the Senators are more moderate than the most liberal, Barack. Heh, this campaigns theme, the talkers vs. the doers, Obama and Biden long on words but short on action, McCain and Romney(my wish) short on words but long on accomplishment and service.
Looking around the blogosphere I see that conervatives are cheering and churning out Bidenisms. Hillary supporters are not placated and are actually quite peeved that Hillary was not at least given a courtesy call. I am sure the nutroots are going to freack out because Biden voted for the war and though he has been critical of strategy, and usually wrong, he has not been screaming get out now. The press of course thrilled with anything Obama does is happy and Biden loves to be on camera talking and talking, ever see him on C-Span, while Obama is a litttle secretive unless he has his teleprompter.
This is going to be a wild week at the DNCC in Denver with the Hillary supporters on the inside and all the assorted moonbats on the outside and there are plenty of conservative bloggers going to document it for us to capture what the MSM won't tell us or show us.

Raising Expectations

The McCain team put out a memo today saying they expect Obama to get as much as a fifteen point bump coming out of the Democrat Convention comparable to Clinton's in '92 but I wouldn't read too much into it. It's a smart campaign move to raise the expectations so if the opponent does not meet them they have a talking point.
I don't see a bounce that big in this day and age and Obama has tended to bounce more like a flat basketball than a surging political athlete. The difference in this year from the "92 elections is the coverage, in "92 it was still ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN if you had cable, conservative talk radio was still in its infancy, there was no internet so your news came from print and the big three still. I remember the '92 race well because it was the first time I followed it and voted, Perot fwiw.
The bias was not so evident back then because there was nothing to compare it to. Now I see back though it as I remember all the awful press Reagan got.
Today the information age has changed everything and the old models don't work anymore because the MSM no longer controls the flow of that information, the internet has changed everything. Fact checking is now instant, campaign statements take minutes to get out not days and internet video that didn't exist in '04, not to mention the blogosphere that has grown exponentially since then. This is truely the first information age election season.

Why McCain's Ads Are Effective

The McCain team has found a way to really get under Obama's skin by mocking his celebrity and the messianic imagery generated by his supporters. We have all seen all the pictures and posters of Obama staring up and into the distance with the halo image around his portrait. Its why these ads by McCain are effective and Obama has trouble trying to counter them.

Plus the independent videos on You Tube by Obama's fans are so over the top that they aren't very helpful in bringing Obama back down to earth. Obama himself by playing into this imagery has set the bar so extremely high for himself that any mistake becomes even more glaring and for a walking talking gaffe machine with a questionable background that's not good. Check this one out that Allahpundit found called American Prayer that has the Obamabots swooning.

Somehow I doubt most Americans will think of a far left radical with unrepentant America hating bombers, convicted slumlords and racist pastors in his background as an American Prayer. There is just something really creepy about the whole thing.

The Man On The Street Says Drill Here Drill Now

Who wants to argue with the man on the street? Very few people and he says drill here and now. My friend at the American Petroleum Institute sent me this video of her interviews on the street.

Yes, Jane, is my source at API and I am very happy to promote her work and theirs. We need energy to power our economy and that is the bottom line and not from some futuristic method not yet available, we need it now.

A Housing Problem, Obama Shouldn't Go There

It all started when McCain made a mistake of not knowing how many houses his wife owns, so what. The Obama camp thought they could they could make that an issue and try to paint McCain as an out of touch wealthy elitist so they ran a couple lame attack ads mocking him for not knowing she owns seven properties.



I believe a disabled relative lives in one of them plus Cindy is a wealthy very busy woman and it would make sense to have several places around the country. They have their main home in Sedona, I am sure they own John's residence in the DC area so that's three. If I had Cindy's money I would own a few homes myself so I don't fault them for that. The Dems sure don't fault Kennedy, Kerry, remember Theresa Heinz, or the slew of uber rich Hollywood liberals that keep their coffers flush.
They are swinging in the air now because Cindy McCain is highly involved in many philanthropic projects here and around the world and getting things done.
Just what has Obama done to even help his family? Just what good did all that money Annenburg Challenge and the Woods Fund get done? What about your housing deals to provide housing to the poor with Tony Rezko? How well did those work out for your constituents? Obama opened the door though so McCain will walk right through it. I am starting to wonder just what else is out there now that hasn't come out yet.

Finally An Obama And Ayers Ad

Its done by an independant group not associated with the McCain campaign but it is slick and well done and about time.

It is timely in that Ayers is back with alot of stink being raised about the Chicago Annenburg Challenge which Ayers founded and Obama ran and the records from that time being blocked from scrutiny. Thanks to the work done by NRO's Stanley Kurtz, and bloggers Tom Maguire and Steve Diamond we at least know some at least. The CAC was an effort to reform the broken education system in Chicago and had access to millions in public and private funds. It appears to have been a massive failure and since Barack was board chairman he was responsible for operations, where money was directed and for what projects were undertaken. This is the only leadership position Obama has ever held and so what happened and why with the CAC is a relevant and important part of Obama's resume but it is strangely not listed. The Woods Fund gets mentioned and should be examined more closely but the CAC is always skipped over, why?
Where did all that money go?
Why was there no improvement in the still horrible Chicago school system?
If this has been a success wouldn't Obama be bragging about it now?
Why does Obama never mention it at all?
If he has nothing to hide why doesn't he instruct the Library to relese the records?
Was this just a typical corrupt Chicago scheme to launder taxpayer and private donor funds to political allies and socialist causes?
The fact that this is in Chicago, has the Ayers family name all over it, Obama ran it and now the cover up makes this one stinky onion just waiting to be peeled.

The Case Against Barack Obama

That is the title of David Fredosso's new book about Barack Obama and the one I would recommend over Corsi's if you actually want to take the time to read about how corrupt and far left Obama is. David was just on Hugh Hewitt's radio show for a long form interview about his book and it sounds devestating to Obama. He, Stanley Kurtz and numerous others are finally doing what the infatuated ObaMSM won't do and taking a deeper look at what Kurtz has dubbed Obama's "Lost Years'". It is not a smear campaign, just a honest well documented look at a candidate for president's record. I am sure Hugh will have audio and and transcript posted soon.

I don't think Obama was expecting to win the primary against Hillary and that win is debatable among a huge swath of Hillary voters. I would hazard to guess he was aiming for her hip pocket and missed. The Democrat's Convention is going to be very boistrous for sure with all those PUMAs inside and all the moonbats outside. Its funny the PUMAs chose a secretive big cat as their moniker considering it stands for Peoples Unity My Ass, now Ass of course refers to the donkey relative referred to in the Bible. Hey the Democrats are the donkey party, it is their party mascot after all. I am thinking a real puma would consider an ass or donkey a tasty snack.

In some ways it fits though, Hillary reminds me of a cat and Obama, well I am not going there. Hmmmm, if Obama can't even unite his party how can he unite the nation?

Veepstakes

As my long time readers know I am a Mitt Romney supporter and would like to see him on the ticket for many reasons. I don't read much into all the prognostication streaming around the net but I know a pro-choice pick will hurt John McCain and the Democrats have a very thin bench leaving a tough choice, while the GOP has a surprisingly deep and strong one. Its actually quite amusing to see the names being floated for Obama's Veep versus those McCain has to choose from.

Getting Energy Policy Right, Not The Gang Of Ten

The Gang of Ten refers to a bipartisan group of the Senators, five Dems, five GOP, that have attempted to build a compromise energy bill that is long on taxes, regulation and subsidies and remarkably short on production. My friend at the American Petroleum Institute forwarded a letter to me sent from their CEO to the Gang of Ten and it mirrors many of the arguments I have made here. Its in PDF form so I can't copy and paste any of it so go read it. I agree with every word of it.
The House GOP is continuing their protest on the House floor for a vote on the American Energy Act, a do it all approach, while the Democrats take a vacation and their leader Nancy Pelosi jets around the country trying to sell her book. Americans are not going on vacation and are watching the price of everything go up thanks to the price of energy. The more American energy mantra is growing stronger by the day and has the Don't Drill Democrats(DDD) on their heels so be ready for lots of smoke, mirrors and spin as they try to get out of this political squeeze. They will offer limited new drilling areas in return for a windfall profit tax and even more regulations like those measures worked for Carter. In truth more domestic energy exploration will do more to increase government revenue than taxing the oil companies more by increasing the amount of jobs involved and keeping all that money in the US instead of sending it overseas. Plus it will reduce what the government has to spend to keep the Strategic Reserve filled, the military fueled and government buildings lit.
The Democrats clearly do not understand basic economics if they can't get that through their minds. Cheap plentiful energy means a healthy economy which also increases government revenue just as reducing taxes does. I hope the GOP doesn't roll over on this and capitulate to the Dems, this issue is resonating and the GOP has the upperhand at the moment and they better run with it and hard.
Sidenote: This has been the coolest summer I have experienced since moving to California, fewest hundred degree days. Heck it is mid August and my AC isn't on, no complaints.

Obama's Friend Bill Ayers Just Won't Go Away

With the Party Conventions upon us more and more folks are starting to pay attention to the elections and taking a close look at the candidates for the first time. The are beginning to see through the high flying rhetoric of a canned Obama speech and wondering just who this guy is. One way to do that is to see who he chose to associate with in his past for character, judgement and ideological leanings. Obama's list of friends and associates is long and not very flattering to the image of hope and change that Obama, his handlers and the MSM want us to believe.
Besides his insider ties to the corrupt Chicago political machine which he did nothing to clean up his ties to Bill Ayers have to be the most troubling and not just because Ayers bombed the Pentagon forty years ago.
Bill Ayers is now a Prof. of Education, he teaches aspiring teachers in lefty dogma that is more geared towards social engineering little lefty moonbats than teaching them anything important. Bill Ayers also sits on a national teachers group that helps set the public school agenda for the nation, ever wonder why your kid isn't learning anything, thank Bill Ayers. This is one scary man, he figured out how to work inside the system to enact his radical far left ideals, brainwash the children, note how vehemently the left opposes vouchers and school choice and anything that hurts the unions.
Obama worked with Ayers on education in Chicago as Board Chairman of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge which Ayers set up, they also served together on the board of the Woods Fund. Stanley Kurtz is trying to access the files from the CAC archived at the University of Illinois Chicago where Ayers is a Prof. and Obama lectured on law and race and is being blocked from them. David Fredosso has a great piece on Ayers and a much more credible book on Obama than Corsi's. City Journal had a couple great articles a while back on Ayers and education policy.
Just imagine an admitted anti American unrepentant terrorist bomber advising a sitting President on communist education policy.

Sidenote: I have had both public and private schooling so I know something about the glaring discrepancies between the two and that was thirty years ago plus my father taught at a private highschool, my mother worked in admin in the public school system and my sister has her degree in early childhood education.

Spitting on the Ashes

One of the most disgusting and absurd charges levelled against Israel is the charge of genocide. It is made particularly reprehensible by the term "Palestinian holocaust". The soldiers of the IDF are often slandered as "occupiers", "racists" and of course "Nazis". It is not uncommon to hear comparisons between Israel's defensive actions and the sadistic tortures of the Nazis. Unfortunately, in a world without a moral compass, any brutal act of anti-semitism can be legitimized.

The Holocaust was unique in the annals of human history. Never before had mass murder been perpetrated so methodically and bureaucratically, and on such a widespread scale. The Germans used state-of-the-art technology to exterminate the Jewish people. Trains ran like clockwork from as far north as Norway and as far south as Greece to transport Jews to their deaths in death camps in Poland. The murder of the Jews served no political purpose, was not to gain their property and was not to settle an old tribal feud. It was a goal, equal, if not more important than winning the war against the Allies. In the last days of the War, when Hitler was given the choice between diverting trains to send supplies to the front or shipping Jews to the gas chambers, he chose the latter, despite the harm that he did to German soldiers. Half of the world conspired to murder every single Jewish man, woman and child while the other looked on in silence, deaf to the plight of the suffocating and burning Jews. Jews were brutalized in every way imaginable, thrown into cattle cars, chocked in gas chambers, subjected to sadistic medical experiments and then burnt in the ovens and crematorium, turned into bars of soap or had their skin made into lampshades. There is no parallel between the Holocaust and any other episode of racism, massacre or genocide in all of history.

Taking a page write out of Goebbel's playbook, "Palestinians" and Arabs leaders now whine about a "Palestinian holocaust" (all the while plotting their own Final Solution to the Zionist Question). It is so evil as it turns the victims into the perpetrators. This strategy seeks to eliminate any sympathy the world still feels about its role in the Holocaust by pointing out that the Jews are no better, and besides, the same thing is happening to the "Palestinians". Israel turns in to the embodiment of evil, the state that emerged out of the Holocaust only to continue the Nazi legacy of hatred. This charge is so dangerous and hideous that it desecrates the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis by trivializing their suffering. Suddenly, everything is a Holocaust. When Israel shoots back at those who fire rockets from Gaza, this is a "Final Solution". When Israel stops weapon shipments into Gaza, it is a "concentration camp". Jews settling in Judea and Samaria is lebenspraum and IDF soldiers protecting them are SS officers. And when everything is a Holocaust, nothing is a Holocaust. The uniqueness of the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people is cheapened as Holocaust terminology become common place, and they are used against Jews by those who support Hitler's goals.

It has been claimed that Gaza is the new Warsaw Ghetto. According to the lies, Israel has forced millions of innocent "Palestinians" into the tiny area of Gaza, shut it off from the world, cut off food and water supplies and is essentially reinacting the Nazi liquidation policies. Only in a mad world can this comparison hold. When the Nazis stormed in to Poland, Jews compromised over a third of the population of Warsaw. In 1940, over 440 000 Jews were confined into an area that was 4.5% of the size of Warsaw and surrounded by high walls with guards. Jews were given 253 calories per day, 8% of what Germans were allotted. 300 000 Jews went from the train depot at Umshlagplatz to their deaths in the gas chambers of Treblinka and Belzec. Finally, on January 18, 1943, the 56 000 Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto decided to resist the Germans rather than go to their deaths. For over three months, these Jews held out. The final attack came on Passover 1943 when the Germans systematically burnt down the Ghetto, and any Jew they could find, liquidatting the Ghetto and blowing up the Great Synagogue on May 16, 1943. The situation in Gaza cannot even be equated. In 1967, Israel liberated Gaza from Egyptian occupation, in a defensive war in which it was attacked by 6 neighbouring countries. It brought with it increased living standards. Slowly, Jews began to return to Gaza and built new life where there was only squalor and destruction. In the summer of 2005, Israel decided to withdraw the 7 000 Jews living in Gaza and give the Arabs a chance at self-determination. Instead, they voted in a terrorist organization and began to rain rockets down on Israeli cities. Like any sane nation, Israel has cut off (mostly) weapons supplies and other non-essential goods going in to Gaza in the hopes of stopping the rockets. Some Palestinian civilians have been killed in collateral damage as Israel has tried to stop terrorists, yet this can be expected in war. Arab terrorism is not resistance but aimed at the destruction of Israel, at killing and maiming as many innocent Jews as possible. Since the creation of Israel, the Arabs have fought against it and tried to destroy it to no avail. There is no Israeli policy of extermination towards the Arabs and such a charge is as libelous as claiming that Jews use Christian babies' blood for the Passover matzot.

60 years after the Holocaust, as the survivors are dying out, many are beginning to forget its terrible legacy of anti-semitism and hatred. Anti-semitism has proven to be one of the most virulent forms of hatred on Earth and seems to change forms to suit every age. Once upon a time, Jews were christ-killers and enemies of G-d. In the modern era, Jews were said to be of an inferior race. Now, anti-semitism poses as anti-Zionism, with all the traditional stereotypes involved. Israel is said to control the world, to wield demonic power and is dehumanized constantly by its foes. Attacks and slander against it cannot go unchallenged. We cannot let our cries of 'Never Again' ring hollow. Hatred towards Israel and Zionism will not be tolerated. It is our duty to ensure that the Final Solution to the Zionist Question is never implemented by our peace-loving and tolerant Islamic neighbours.

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

What Happened Last Night

The Rick Warren Saddleback forum last night yielded some surprising results as I browsed around today, McCain cleared the high bar and Obama ran away. Heck even the moonbats admit Obama got shellacked last night and I saw a lot of conservative commenters say McCain finally had them convinced to support him.
Even better, the loonisphere is now claiming McCain cheated because he answered the questions in a clear way while Obama spun and added more reasons for having obamafuscation added to the dictionary. They simply don't know what to do, Hillary is grinning while trying to keep that closet door shut while John Edwards' just blew open and people are just starting to look behind the door with Obama's name on it.
Meanwhile McCain's Straight Talk Express gathers steam and Obama's bus ran out of gas stuck in a pile of gaffes and umm, ahh,,,,,,,,, bullshit, to coin Penn and Teller.

Ah, One Of My Favorite Things

PBS is looking at beer, and even better giving a boost to the many micro breweries around. They gave a good spot to Sierra Nevada, not my favorite but a good friend did all their artwork for them, its very good though. I prefer Mendocino Brewery's offerings especially their IPA but they are famous for their Red Hawk red ale, a rich hearty ale for sure.
There are several in Sacramento that are very, very good that service just their restaurants with very local distribution. I can say that they are always packed with happy people, hey good food, good beer, and good atmosphere, a winning proposition if you ask me.
There are also several great pubs stuck here and there in the Sacramento landscape that offer up a wide selection from abroad and I am eager taster. Maybe its because I am Scots-Irish that I prefer the beer styles of that side of the Channel but I rarely buy foreign beer anymore when I splurge on the good stuff with all the local made brands available to sample and most of them tilt to the Irish/British style. California stomped France in wine a while back, are we ready to take on the Isles for beer title now?
One of the fun aspects of micro brews is the naming creativity, Arrogant Bastard Ale and Moose Drool stand out, both very good, ABA being a robust IPA style ale and MD being a smooth nutty brown ale like Newcastle.

The Rick Warren Forum: Updated

I am not a fan of Rick Warren or his style of worxhip but he does have many fans so I guess its important for Obama and McCain to sit down with him for this forum.
Obama blew the first question about three wise people he looks to for guidance, he couldn't say Wright, Meeks, and Phleger now could he but we know better.
Obama is not sounding very articulate, more like a stammering fool.
Woops, abortion and marriage there will be plenty of soundbites to come out of this, Obama is spinning like a top.
Update: Stem cell research comes up, Obama is for embryonic research but is spinning hard.
He is now equivocating on how to confront evil, typical moonbat moral obtuseness.
Ack, he would not nominate a Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court or John Roberts. This is a major reason for conservatives to get behind McCain.
Update: Obama is not coming across very well in my opinion, he is talking too much with too much spin and equivocation, not good. It Is not new, most of it is typical liberal democrat boilerplate talking points and spin. Rick Warren is at least asking some fairly tough questions in a softball way.
Update: He really is not very good in this type of setting without his prepared remarks, though the crowd seems receptive.
Update: John McCain walks in and the crowd brings the roof down, far more cheers and applause than Obama got. John is very good in the long form interview setting , he doesn't stutter or spin and gets to his points quickly.
McCain on leadership hits it out of the park by citing Gen, David Petraeus, as one of them and Meg Whitman of E-Bay. McCain's sense of humor is showing and so is his humility and just listening on the radio McCain is blowing Obama away with the crowd and how he sounds on the radio. He is so much better in this type of setting than Obama and its definitely showing tonight and the audience is definitely loving McCain, lots of laughter and approving applause, far more than Obama.
McCain is doing great and having fun while making alot of great points. Since Warren is asking the same questions to both of them the contrast is excellent and the McCain team will get loads of soundbites out of this for comparison ads, the Obama team, not so much.
Update: Wow, McCain is getting a great reception the audience loves him. He hitting everything out of the park. There is no equivocating or spinning, this is the clear thinking straight talk we love.
Mcain would not have nominated a Souter, Ginsburg, Bryer or Stevens to the Court, homerun.
Update: McCain comes across like a serious adult while Obama more like stuttering talking points liberal. Obama got a polite response and McCain has the audience wrapped around his little finger with humor and gravitas. Yes John is very, very good in this format and is an example of why Obama won't face him in a series of townhalls, he cleaned Obama's clock tonight for sure. The three planned debates will be interesting for sure.
Update: I have to think this forum will have an affect on the Dem Conference as there has to be some serious buyers remorse going around, Hillary does far better in this type of setting and her supporters are not happy.
Update: Obama's camp can't be very happy right now no matter how hard they spin but all that spinning is just going to make them dizzy. This was a very informative forum that showed a very stark contrast between the two and it won't be good for Obama. Team McCain on the other hand is going to be celebrating with their add guys busy and flush with cash, plus radio talkers are flush with soundbite answers to the same questions. McCain scored big and Obama whiffed, this night went to McCain easily.
Now if he would just add Mitt Romney to the ticket we can win this. McCain even recently stated he will rethink his position on drilling in ANWR and will consult with Ak, Gov. Sarah Palin on the matter. Sarah will tell him to drill there drill now. The GOP would be wise to give her and Bobby Jindal prominent speaking roles at the convention.
After tonight I am feeling better about McCain's chances and expect the Dem covention to be chaos, you know things aren't right when the city of Denver has to ban the carrying of urine and feces Oh well. typical liberal democrat action, throw noxious garbage at the opposition, The next few weeks are going to be very interesting as my reading shows a much deeper rift and unease in the Democrat party than the Republican. Tonight showed us why.

New Independent Obama Video

Yes, this one is good, like fine wine she keeps getting better and better, so here is Miradena's latest creation with a hattip to my buddy Gayle. I am going to be featuring her videos here in the Barnyard because they are very well done and reflect my views.

Our Energy Future

That is the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant that now sits dormant just south of Sacramento with the Crystal Range, Tahoe, in the background and those are grapevines growing in the foreground. This is our electricity energy future folks, it is the cleanest and most efficient source there is and with French, yes French, recycling technology ten years of reliable energy boils down to a cup's worth of waste.
I am personnally not a fan of wind or hydrodynamic energy production, wind farms are ugly and unreliable and we we have dammed every river we can. I am a sportsman and conservationist that despises pollution whose license fees pay for much of the conservation. The way I see it is a healthy environment means more healthy game to eat.
I would rather see our coal being turned into an alternative to diesel fuel than being burned to produce electricity like South Africa is doing and has been for years, natural gas should also go to transportation and nuclear power is the answer for electricity.

Corn Is For Food Not Fuel

Great video from Reason TV and the WSJ that repeats many of my objections to ethanol as an alternative fuel to gasoline, now I am interested in non-food based biofuels as a supplement to our energy supplies but they will never be able to replace petroleum completely.

I like the point made that if ethanol really was a viable alternative it wouldn't need government subsidies of taxpayer dollars to survive. There are quite a few very good points made so take the time to watch it.

Mr Olympian Michael Phelps

He has won more gold medals than anyone in the history of the modern Olympics in one of the most physically demanding sports of them all, swimming, and shattering world records along the way. I found this interesting post in RCP's user submitted columns section, great place BTW, about Mike's attention deficit disorder and hyper-activity. I can relate to a degree and I agree with Old Neocon that kids like that just need to be turned loose and not drugged to control them.
My mom got it right when a teacher complained that I was inattentive and disruptive, I would get up and go to the window or elsewhere of my desire. My mom's reply, "he's bored, challenge him", so they did.
My neighbor friend , all my other friends and I had ADD by today's standard, we were kids living life to its fullest, good and bad. The point is that ADD kids need a focus, a challenge, something to work for and in return you might get a Michael Phelps, a Mozart or Barishnikov. I know the harder I worked at sports and training the better I did in class because my mind was less likely to drift to what I would rather be doing.
Don't give them drugs, challenge and steer them but please don't drug them.

McCain On The Russo-Georgian Conflict

John McCain demonstrated his understanding and deep knowledge of the region in this speech. He has visited many times and knows Georgian President Saakashvili well and has spoken to him personally several times since the conflict began. I think this is the kind of gravitas that Americans want in their President and McCain has certainly shown it here.

The transcript is here for those still stuck with dial up service.
Meanwhile Obama vacations in Hawaii and at first offered a mushy call for calm and later moved closer to McCain's position of Russia get out of Georgia. But we all know that Obama has serious ties to and sympathies for Marxist communism along with a dislike for democracy as demonstrated by his tactics to keep opponents of the ballots in Illinois and now with his strongarmed tactics used on Clinton supporters at the DNCC.
I may have strong disagreements with McCain in a couple areas but I have even stronger disagreements with Obama in all areas. McCain gets It and Obama clearly doesn't.

Energy Freedom Day, October 1, 2008

Two of the GOP's best Sen. Jim Demint and Rep. Jeb Hensarling have launched a new website, Energy Freedom Day, while the GOP Representatives continue their revolt on the House floor for a do it all plan. With a strong majority of Americans clamoring for more domestic production even Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi is starting to cave and indicated to Larry King last night that she will allow a vote. I imagine her caucus is getting an earful from their constituents.

Here is a little nugget to chew on about California's coast where production could be brought online in as little as a year. There are more than 2,000 mapped natural seepage points that leak hundreds of barrels of oil into our coastal waters every day, in other words we know where to go get it without looking very hard. I would think the environuts would want us to pump out that oil so it doesn't kill sea birds and otters but that would make too much sense. The modern oil production is not the same as that of the past when spills were frequent from offshore rigs and now represent only 1% of coastal oil pollution compared to 64% from natural seepage the rest comes from boats and tanker spills. Oil from over seas has to be transported by super tanker and the more we can reduce that demand the less risk of a spill and thus better for the environment in a meaningful way unlike the myth of carbon pollution in the air.
Obama recently called conservatives ignorant for mocking his tire inflation gambit but he is a big supporter of ethanol blends that reduces mileage by about the same amount as having properly inflated tires and tuned engines increases it. So who is the ignorant one here? It appears to be Obama and the rest of the Democrats.

Blue State, Nanny State, California A Foretaste Of An Obama Administration

I live in one of the few conservative districts in California, a small community in the north central valley, so I am fairly well shielded from some of the nutty nonsense that goes on in the liberal enclaves in the Bay Area and LA Metro. Still California is a perfect example of what happens when Democrats are in control of the State Assembly and State Senate and most city councils, over spending on stupid programs, fix that with more taxes, and nanny state regulations banning everything they deem bad for us or the environment. Heck even the Brits are making fun of us now in this Times Online piece.

The outdoor smoking ban of which John Lutz ran foul is just one example of a frenzy of puritanical edicts from California's politicians that in the past few weeks has outlawed trans fat in all restaurant food, prevented LA supermarkets from handing out plastic bags, and put a halt to fast-food joints opening in the suburb formerly known as South Central. Other recent bans -and attempted bans - have challenged such monumental threats to human wellbeing as helium balloons, camp fires, circuses, swearing, texting while stopped at traffic lights, anything made from a dead kangaroo, dogs sitting on drivers' laps, homeschooling, rodeos, unordered tapwater in diners, spanking, nude beaches, and (this is true) the use of sexually-discriminating terms such as “Mom” and “Dad” in school classrooms.

Chris Ayres prefaced this column by asking if this is a foretaste of what an Obama administration would be like. I guarantee you it would be with San Francisco Nanny Pelosi still in control of the House after all she's busy trying to save the planet from mythical anthropogenic global warming.
A vote for any Democrat is a vote for massive tax increases, over regulation of industry and a further loss of freedom, jobs, industry and production in America.

65% Of Americans Say Drill Here, Drill Now

The latest Rasmussen poll reports that a solid majority of Americans want us to tap our domestic sources of oil and want us to build more nuclear power plants. Clearly Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are thwarting the will of the people who like the do it all approach being pushed by the GOP in the American Energy Act and is being blocked from even coming up for a vote in Congress by the Democrat's leaders. The only place Democrats want to drill is into the pocketbooks of America's families and small businesses but now that their anti-energy policies are starting to hurt even the government sectors like police, fire departments and schools people are taking note. The high cost of fuel takes a bite out of every budget and has a ripple effect through the entire economy slowing or even stalling growth as the stagflation of the Carter years proved beyond doubt. So what do the Democrats want to do? The exact same tried and failed policies of the Carter years like windfall profit taxes.
Yeah I know oil companies made record profits recently but they also paid record taxes, $3 in taxes to every $1 in profits so do we get to tax the government for windfall profits? That does not include the taxes we pay on every gallon of gas we buy that here in California is about .54$, .18$ federal and .36$ state, while the oil companies make between 8-10% and the station makes about 1%. I asked my local station owner which he made more money from, beer or gas sales, and he was quick to reply that beer was what kept him in business. He added that gas sales just helped bring people into the store and that is why so many of the cheaper gas stations also have a minimart as a way to make money. So who is doing the gouging? It looks like the government to me and not the oil companies.

The Golan was already RETURNED!!

Ehud Olmert, in his delusional fantasy world in which he is not much more popular than mosquitoes and ear infections, still entertains the idea of relinquishing Israeli control over the Golan Heights and giving it to Syria. Surrendering the Golan Heights would be a step towards peace with Syria and as we all know, the concept of "land for peace" has worked brilliantly whenever Israel has applied it. I recently took a 4 day tour through the Golan and would like to share some reasons why giving up this valuable piece of land would be suicide for Israel.

Security: Americans, Canadians and even Europeans, who all live in countries blessed with wide open spaces and great amounts of living room cannot fathom Israel's predicament. If Canada were to give up all of its territorial holdings West of Toronto, a person living in Montreal would barely be affected. They carelessly wave their hands and expect that Israel give up Judea, Samaria, the Golan, Jerusalem, etc. Let them eat cake. Everybody can live in Tel-Aviv. Little do they realize that in reality, Israel is so small that if it were to be dropped in the Great Lakes, the waters would barely rise a few centimeters. It is about the size of a frozen lake in Manitoba. There is simply no distance between Israel and its friendly neighbours. One can stand on a hill in Eilat and see clearly into Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In the Golan, every mountain overlooks Lebanon and Syria. Giving up this vital place would bring Syrian and Hizbullah guns even closer to Israel's heartland.

From atop Mount Hermon, one can see with a pair of binoculars directly into homes in Damascus. By retaining control over the Golan, Israel wields enormous deterrence power over Syria, a regime that is wholly unfriendly and that does not seek Israel's welfare. When Syria controlled the Golan, from '47 to '67, Syrian snipers would shoot Jewish farms and houses in the Galilee. Israel must learn from history and never allow such a situation to occur again. The Golan is crucial to Israel's security, to its military capacities and power of deterrence and to give it to the Syrians would be suicidal folly.

Demography: Ariel Sharon's argument in support of the Disengagement plan from Gaza was that 7 000 Jews cannot rule over a million Arabs. A similar claim is repeated with regards to Judea and Samaria, that it is majority Arab and it would therefore be wrong to retain control over it. Such a thing cannot be said about the Golan. The Golan is home to over 30 000 Jews, a few thousand Druze living in 5 northern villages, and absolutely no Arabs (did I mention that the Golan is one of my favourite places in Israel?). The Golan is firmly Jewish.

Economy: The Golan has a tropical climate and is perfectly suited for many types of fruits that cannot be grown in Israel's center, due to the occasional chills in the winter. It is full of blooming mango, banana and other exotic fruit orchards. A very significant portion of Israel's produce comes from the Golan. It has a booming industry and every city and town has signs offering tzimmers, lodges for rent, at cheap prices. Israeli tourists flock to the Golan, whose vegetation and weather is very different from the south of the country. Uprooting the Golan's 30 000 Jews and destroying the flourishing industry would be a great blow to Israel's economy, one that is certainly not worth a false "peace" with a country that has not launched a shot at Israel since '73.

History: All of the countries of the Middle-East were artificially carved up by the colonialist powers of Britain and France in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Syria was created out of several ethnic groups and French Mandatory rule ended in 1947. From 1947 until 1967, Syria ruled the Golan. Keep in mind that before 1947, there was no such country as Syria. For those who can do basic math, Syria's hold on the Golan lasted for 20 years. It has been over 40 years since Israel liberated the Golan, capturing it in a defensive war which Syria initiated. Seeing as Israel has controlled the Golan for twice as long as Syria, it seems rather ridiculous to speak of "giving the Golan back".

Of course, Israel's connection to the Golan goes back much longer than 40 years. After the Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Jewish center of life shifted to Yavne in the Galilee and then eventually into the Golan. Much of the Jerusalem Talmud was in fact written in the Jewish communities of the Golan. Over 22 ancient synagogues have been excavated in the Golan. Two thousand years ago, long before the Ishmaelites ever burst out of the Arabian peninsula, before a certain Muhammad had an epiphany in a cave, Jews were already praying towards Jerusalem, praying to be redeemed.

In 67 CE, the Romans, under the command of Vespasian, were brutally suppressing the Jewish revolt in Judea. They besieged the large Jewish fortress city of Gamla, in the Golan mountains, a city of 9 000, swelled with refugees from all over Judea. Afetr a lengthy siege, the Romans burst through the walls and slaughtered 4 000 of the defenders. In desperation, the 5 000 remaining inhabitants flung themselves into the deep ravine on the side of the city, committing suicide rather than fall into Roman hands. The deep commitment of those brave Jews not to fall into enemy hands and to preserve the freedom of Israel deeply inspires us.

Gamla will not fall again!

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Hilarious New McCain Web Ad Mocking Obama

Someone in McCain's camp is hitting on all cylinders and has found a great way to have some fun at Obama's expense with this great parody ad.

This ought to rile up the moonbats a bit and begin another search for hidden meanings and latent racism, after all it can't be Obama's utopian socialist policies and cult of personality that people object to so it has to be his race.

Sarah Connor Chronicals New Season

YES!!! The new season starts tonight of my favorite TV show in years, guns, hot chicks, robots, explosions and a very good story line so whats not to like.
Update: It looks like they are restarting with episode one so if you missed it earlier now is the chance to catch up.

McCain Scores A Direct Hit On Obama's No Energy Plan

The old fighter pilot mentality is starting to show in McCain and I say its about time. More and more folks are starting to realize that for all of Obama's flash and glitz there in nothing there beyond empty rhetoric full of populist socialist pablum and a rather thin resume` that tilts to the far left. They are also getting tired of him and the MSM trying to force him on them and very insulted by the implication that if they don't bow down and worship him then they are racists by default. Here is McCain's radio address for this week and its one of his best to date, enjoy.

Good morning, I'm John McCain. As you may know, the Democratic National Convention is just a couple of weeks away. It was four years ago, at the same gathering, that America heard a fine speech from an Illinois state senator named Barack Obama. He's done pretty well for himself since then. And the smart money in Denver is on another celebrated performance.

But even the most stirring speeches are easily forgotten when they're short on content. Taking in my opponent's performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall. In the way of running mates, Senator Obama should consider someone with a knack for brevity and directness, to balance the ticket.

In the meantime, let me take a stab at a plot summary of the Obama campaign: America is finally winning in Iraq, and he wants to forfeit. Government is too big, and he wants to grow it. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them. Congress spends too much, and he proposes more. We need more energy, and he's against producing it.

Energy in particular seems to confound Senator Obama, because if there is any problem that can't be solved by words alone it's America's need for secure and affordable energy supplies. So far, he's managed to come up with an energy plan that's so timid only OPEC and a few interest groups in his own party are happy with it. And this week, Senator Obama set about correcting that impression.

First there was his call for Americans to check their tires -- which is commonsense advice, but hardly has the makings of a national energy strategy. If we can't drill our way out of the problem, it seems even more unlikely that we can inflate our way out of it.

Next came Senator Obama's mention of offshore drilling -- formerly known in the Obama campaign as a "gimmick" and a "scheme." As more people notice that his answer to most every form of energy production is "no," my opponent tried to simulate a "yes." He pledges a vague willingness to possibly consider limited drilling as part of some hypothetical compromise at an undetermined date. Careful listeners are still waiting for an actual commitment to offshore drilling.

Apparently, Senator Obama was trying to get credit for changing his mind on drilling, without actually changing his position against drilling. This was the rare case of a politician actually hoping to be accused of a flip-flop. But even that would be giving Senator Obama's energy plan too much credit. As of today, he still has no plan to produce more oil by drilling offshore. And my opponent's most memorable flip-flop remains his frequent criticism of the Bush-Cheney energy policy, despite voting for the Bush-Cheney energy bill in 2005 -- a bill I opposed and voted against.

Finally, Senator Obama proposed to release oil from our nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. For those keeping track, this comes exactly a month after he said he was firmly against using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

A serious energy plan involves a lot more yes's than no's. And that is why I say yes to drilling, here and now. Yes to 45 more nuclear power plants to provide our country with electricity. Yes to clean coal technology, so that we can create jobs and use America's most abundant resource. Yes to renewable energy sources, so that we can shift away from petroleum over the long term. Yes to a break from the federal gasoline tax, so that our government helps you in a time of need instead of just adding to your costs. In short, yes to all of the above -- to a bold plan for achieving energy independence that starts today.

Regaining control over the cost and supply of energy in America will not be easy, and it won't happen quickly. But no challenge to our economy and security is more urgent. And you have my pledge that if I am president, we're going to get it done. Thanks for listening.