Palin’s Progress

August 31, 2008 by 2 Comments

If Sarah Palin is all she seems to be and doesn’t have any skeletons in her closet, she fits the bill for what I want in a public servant.
What seems best about her is that her values, her sense of responsibility to her family, and her commitment to her convictions– rather than some driving ambition for lust and power– have brought her to this place, standing next to John McCain as the candidate for Vice President of the United States.
Her progress from PTA to city council to mayor to governor indicates to me that her “political ambitions” are about digging her heels in, seeing what can be achieved and changed, and digging her heels in again only to realize how much more could be accomplished in a higher governmental position— and taking the next step necessary for that to happen.
To me Palin’s disingenuously simple story indicates good character. To me, it is also a plus she is a woman. She seems to have at least one conviction, her commitment to life, that belongs to the realm of women and specifically motherhood.
Call me crazy, but in general I find myself uneasy with many female officials who seem to have rejected or jettisoned the traditional role of motherhood –or at least nurturing– in order to compete in a man’s world, where they acquire some of the least attractive qualities of men and often seem at odds with themselves. In other words, many women entering politics seem to abandon an innate, deeply significant, and irreplaceable part of who they are. Unlike them, Palin seems to have come into the arena in a quite natural and understandable progression BECAUSE she is a woman. Unlike the average woman in public office, Palin’s participation does not seem to be in conflict with her gender. How refreshing!
It will take some time to get to know who Sarah Palin is and to check into her record and see if it holds up under scrutiny. But for now I am extremely optimistic about her character and what she will be able to accomplish.For example, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Palin could provide the inspiration whereby some day the adjective “pro-life” becomes unnecessary to describe the noun “woman”?
Meanwhile it is just so much fun to see the bummed-out look on Obama’s face and watch the MSNBC “journalists” squirming and choking over what to say… In a couple of descriptions of Palin, the first words out of their mouths were “Lifetime member of the NRA.”
HORRORS!
What is this world coming to?
(And no degree from Harvard either!)

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Picking (or picking on) Palin

August 29, 2008 by 9 Comments

As a voter who had worked for and hoped for a different Republican Presidential candidate- even VP candidate, the selection by McCain of Sarah Palin was both a disappointment and a relief. Mike Huckabee was not selected but neither was Romney and a few other less than desirable people. The wait for the announcement seemed like forever but we have it now.

My take on the VP pick: I am just one voter but I loved her speech. Plain and simple. It inspired me and motivated me to keep on keeping on. In one speech she won my heart.

But, already, the pundits and others are coming out swinging. Just now I heard a Democrat spokeswoman say she is “very sorry” for Palin as she is paraded out into campaigning where she is not ready to be in the big leagues.

Next up was a man who wanted us to know that Palin has an “extreme record of pro life”.

Add all of this to the stats out that Palin was a mayor of a small town… have heard from 6,000 to 9,000 people.

I am getting the picture: it is not okay to have a VP who is pro life, governed a small town, and is a woman.

The Democrats are barking up a dead tree if they think it will scare a lot of voters that someone is extreme because they are pro life, worked to make a small town a better place to live, and think that because someone has not worked in D.C. makes them any less of a woman.

Barely a few hours from the announcement the Picking on Palin has started and I am sure that more will follow. This is politics but from what I heard from Palin during her speech, I say she is ready for the big leagues. I trust her to use her best judgement and to have character. These traits may not matter to everyone but they matter to me.

Go for it Sarah Palin. My vote is now yours.

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Censorship in Denver

August 28, 2008 by 2 Comments

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press seem to be dead in Denver, Colorado these days. During the Democratic National Convention protestors and demonstrators are confined to a hard to find cage. Some of these protestors have made remarks that they feel like political prisoners in Denver. This “Freedom Cage” is even surrounded by armed police officers making it appear more like a prisoner of war camp than a peaceful demonstration. Just check out some of the video footage from the area to see what I am talking about.

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And then there is the story that just came out today where an ABC reporter (Asa Eslocker) was arrested for filming the entrance to a hotel in Denver where Democratic lawmakers were meeting with donors and lobbyists. This video is slightly disturbing. In it the police officer shoves the reporter into oncoming traffic after telling the reporter to leave. This forced the reporter to the other side of the street where he resumed the filming. Two hours later more police show up to place Eslocker under arrest based on a complaint filed by the hotel. The reporter attempts to ask questions, but the officer is having none of that. At one point you can hear another officer telling the cameraman to turn the camera off, but the brave cameraman keeps the video rolling getting it all on tape. You can view this video at the following link.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Conventions/story?id=5668622&page=1

With all this censorship and strong arm tactics going on during the Democratic National Convention is definitely cause for concern. Here we have a blatant attack on our country’s basic principles of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It most certainly leaves me wondering what is going to happen next. Perhaps Joseph Stalin will grace the Democratic stage.

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What Women Want

August 27, 2008 by 2 Comments

Yes, I have been a Republican all my life but found myself last night watching Hillary’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.  It’s not that I care anything about what happens on the liberal side of the coin (and if McCain picks a poor running mate, I will not care about that side of the coin as well) but I was more into figuring out the mentality of the Hillary supporters.  I will have to say she gave a good speech, perhaps more for herself than for Obama.  But it seems that her supporters who are so P.O.ed that they are going to vote for McCain tend to be from the female gender.  I really can’t figure out why, because Hillary did not run as a woman, she ran as a Clinton.

During the commentary after her speech, one supporter was saying how Hillary represented new steps in the women’s movement.  She represented all those women who were scorned, cast aside, past over, left for dead, la la la……….in favor of a male.  Newsflash everybody!!!  Hillary represents the people who try to get what they want just because of their last name.  She in fact, stalled the women’s movement by basically showing that you need a powerful husband to get somewhere if you are a woman.  That is why she ran as a Clinton and not as a woman.  When I looked at her I didn’t think, “Wow, I am so proud that a woman has come this far.”  I instead thought, “Wow, look what she can do just by being Bill Clinton’s wife.”  If relying on your husband’s name is advancing the women’s movement, then I need to look up the definition of the word “advancing”.  And Obama did not beat her because she was a woman.  Obama beat her because Hillary’s own party was hesitant to embrace another Clinton.  Why didn’t the superdelegates flock to her when they had the chance?  Also, Hillary’s big ego and minimal campaign organization didn’t help either.

In closing, I would also like to focus on a statement that Hillary kept coming back to in her speech.  Since I am pro-life, I have to bring this up.  She stated that her party stood for people who were invisible to the government.  That the government should also focus on “the least of these” instead of the select few.  Well, I see no one more invisible than the baby growing inside a mother’s body and the women’s right to choose is focusing on the select few instead of  “the least of these”.

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Mr. Plastic- I mean Willard Romney: he’s everywhere

August 27, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Seems like all I have to do is turn on a cable news station and there he is: Mr. Plastic himself.

The same smile, the same well trained way of side stepping any hard question. Ughhhh.

This A.M. on MSNBC Mika, Joe and Co. all but gushed over Willard. Numerous photos of a smiling Willard with a like-wise smiling John McCain were repeatedly flashed onto the screen. They have become fast friends.

Joe and Mika want Willard to come back to Morning Joe when he is the VP nominee. The program went on and on and on. Can I remember anything of importance that Willard had to say? NO. It was the frozen smile on the plastic face that was my visual take away. It was skirting the question as to if McCain would select a pro-choice VP candidate…. well, Willard just would not know the answer to that question….more frozen smiling.

If Romney’s fans aren’t pushing him enough towards the VP slot, then the media is doing all in their power to get Willard selected. I venture to say that the Democrats want him picked, as well.

I can’t hide my disgust with what is coming down the VP pipeline. I can only hope there will be many, many voters who will take a strong stand if Willard is McCain’s final pick. A majority Iowans did not want him in January and we do not want him now.

I don’t care how many homes he has, how much money he has in the bank to use to buy votes, I don’t care what religion he practices. I care that he will do anything for a vote. I care that he changes his mind at will. I do not trust him. And if selected as the VP nominee I will not trust John McCain, either.

Willard may now be everywhere, on TV, campaigning for McCain, making the news. There is one place I do not want him-I do not want a man like Willard Romney a “heartbeat” away from being President of the United States.

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CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin is tooooooo much!

August 27, 2008 by 1 Comment

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A day off from work is a day to pay closer attention to some bits and pieces from the news. A remark that Rush L. made about Jeffrey Toobin during his program today caught my attention. I have checked out the comments made by Toobin, Senior Legal Analyst for CNN. I will report and you can decide. Toobin graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and some bio I found on him says he is esteemed by experts on politics, media, and the law. So, keep in mind that Toobin is an educated, valued man in society where I am just a Conservative Crusader from Iowa.

Here goes:

Last night after Michelle Obama finished speaking Jeffrey Toobin made the following comments to Campbell Brown on CNN :

“…There is one big missing piece tonight I think, which is why the American people should throw the bums out. We haven’t heard one word about that. We have the most unpopular President in American history, and he’s barely mentioned tonight. I just think that is an extraordinary gap…”

Toobin went on to say that “Democrats have never shown, at least in recent history, that they are good at negative campaigning. Republicans are terrific at it, and Democrats have been lousy at it, and I don’t think they were any good at it tonight.”

Jeffrey, when is it okay for someone of your stature, education, and prestige to call the President of the United States a bum?

I find your statements offensive, rude, and out of line. Are you that desperate for more attention than the thousands of other reporters and senior analysts that you must spew such disparaging remarks about our president?

Actually, I do not think that the republicans are any worse than the democrats at negative campaigning. There is plenty of nastiness to go around.

I am not Harvard educated, but I know lack of character when I see it- and I did see a terrible lack of character when a certain democrat was in the White House doing all sorts of distasteful things and then lying about it.

Jeffrey Toobin- your anger and disdain for President Bush is just toooooooooooo much. This is America and you can and will have your opportunity to bash our President. I don’t have to like it.

You say that Republicans are “terrific” at negative campaigning.

I say you are terrific at showing your true heart and character.

To some of us common people you certainly are not esteemed. You are a reason to click the mute button whenever I see it is your turn to give your expert view.

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Gov. Rendell takes on the media, it’s our turn now

August 26, 2008 by 1 Comment

One of the tidbits of information that I found interesting about the Democratic Convention was a discussion on FOX News today about Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s appearance during a panel discussion with all three Sunday show moderators.

I have checked out what happened to prompt the FOX discussion about story selections, omissions and angles of media news and here is what I found.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0808/Rendell_Obama_coverage_was_embarrassing.html

In front of Tom Brokaw, George Stephanopoulous and Bob Schieffer, Rendell blasted MSNBC and called the network “the official network of the Obama campaign”. Rendell also said their coverage “was embarrassing.”

WOW!

The Politico blog article then says that PBS’s Judy Woodruff, who was the event moderator, finally said “Why don’t we let Governor Rendell sit down.” Woodruff’s direction to Rendell was met with applause from the group, which included Arianna Huffington and Chuck Todd.

Why am I not surprised that these high profile media types could not accept criticism, even when coming from a democrat!

When the tables were turned they just could not take it.

I wish someone in the audience would have had the guts to stand up and applaud Rendell.

While his comments were the result of what he believes to have been unfair media coverage towards Hillary Clinton, he was pointing out an important aspect of this 2008 election process. Bias in the media filters down to all the rest of us. It is an important topic and needs our time and attention.

Only when we as citizens and voters rise up with loud and forceful voices will the bias be on the front burner. The media cannot take the criticism and they continue to dish out their prejudice and bias. They persist because viewers have sat meekly back and did not take action. The bias is not going to improve if we don’t join together.

We may see bias in the context of which candidate we support or do not support. In Rendell’s case he was moved to make a stand in front of major network people because of his views about Clinton/Obama. My feelings about media bias relates to the Republican side of the election. The issue is what citizens (viewers) will do to call out the media and take a stand. The media influence is not going to diminish, in fact, if unchecked, it will only become worse.

Thanks, Ed Rendell. You took on the big guys and were basically told to sit down. Now it is time for the rest of us to stand up and be counted. We can send e-mails, write letters, switch to a different channel. We must do something. We want the news but not the prejudiced way it is presented to us 24/7.

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Gene Gessow’s Medicaid Fantasy

August 26, 2008 by 4 Comments

It would seem that some Iowa officials no longer remember the idea of personal responsibility. There is an article in today’s Des Moines Register that gave me the urge to vomit. The title of the article is “Let childless get Medicaid, leader exhorts”. I know that some of the liberals in our fair state will paint me as cruel, but I say no. No more handouts for people that do not want to take responsibility for their own actions. No more handouts for people that refuse to take care of themselves.

Gene Gessow, the director of the State of Iowa’s Medicaid program states that there are some low income Iowans that do not have health coverage. I realize that there may actually be some individuals who fall through the cracks; however, I contend that a large majority of uninsured Iowans are uninsured because they do not make insurance a priority. Instead they would rather have those cigarettes, or maybe that alcohol, oh and we cannot forget those drugs. I am not saying that all low income Iowans are that way, but a sizeable percentage is.I have been there in those low income jobs. I know what I am talking about. All too often low income Iowans pursues the creature comforts in life instead of the necessities. It isn’t because they can’t get insurance, it is because they choose not to get it.

Gessow is lobbying Iowa’s delegation to Congress to urge them to change the laws governing Medicaid so that states that choose to cover these people. Once again, I think that this is a bad idea that rewards individuals for making poor decisions. Instead what these people need is assistance to help them make the right decisions. They need help to accept the responsibility that has been bestowed on all of us.

Gessow’s interpretation of low income Iowans is even more ludicrous. Gessow opines that the Federal poverty level is not accurate. He believes that Iowa should cover individuals that make up to $41,600 for individuals and $56,000 for couples. No those numbers are not a typo. This is who he believes should be covered by Medicaid. This kind of reasoning is pure insanity. Let me give you a little idea of why I feel this way. My wife and I have a household income just shy of $40,000 per year. We have our rent payment, we have our car payment, and we have our utility bills. Even with these expenses we still have some of the best insurance in Iowa. This illustrates that Gessow has completely lost his mind. With officials like Gessow running our state, is it any wonder that Iowa’s spending has dramatically increased in the last few years.

Finally near the end of the article it states the annual pricetag of this asinine policy. $858 million in 2009. The State of Iowa is already in a budget crisis because out legislature has spent money like a drunken sailor. This situation bears watching. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in Washington and this idea will be trashed like it needs to be. But in the last few years I have lost confidence in Congress’ ability to think critically.

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In need of therapy

August 23, 2008 by 7 Comments

The frenzy for the announcement for Obama’s VP choice is reaching fever pitch. I won’t be getting a text message nor do I even care what happens with the democrats. The fun will be watching the Hillary supporters if she is not selected. Should make the convention worth tuning in on occasion.

McCain’s choice remains interesting to me and I think to many others. Just tonight new speculation it might be Huckabee.

If it is Huckabee, Rush, Hannity, Ingram, Kristol (to name a few) at the very least will need some kind of indigestion medication and at the most be in need of therapy.

Romney can go back to being his real self.

Some voters will need blood pressure medication. (Not me, I am already medicated!)

I will once again look forward to seeing Huckabee’s sense of humor shine out in interviews and debates.

The plot thickens.

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Where Have All The Critics Gone?

August 22, 2008 by 3 Comments

Where have all the critics gone? When the United States invaded Iraq to enforce the countless UN resolutions against Saddam Hussein’s despotic regime the critics came out of the woodwork. They denounced US intentions to enforce those resolutions. They railed against Bush over his comments on Iran. They attacked him over his policy with North Korea.

So just where are these critics now that a

resurgent Russia has not only invaded a sovereign country, but also threatened nuclear war with Poland. Do I need to remind people that Poland is a member of NATO and an ally of the US?

Where are these critics when Russia agrees to a cease fire, only to ignore the agreement? Huh where are these people?

I will tell you where these people are. They are sitting at home watching the news on tv while cheering the Russians on. Democratic politicians like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Tom Harkin do not give a rip about the US. The only thing that they care about is furthering their own political careers and lining their pockets with as much green as they can. These are the members of the “Blame America First” club. They are the ones that blame America for all the ills of the world. You see in their mind America is to blame for Russia’s invasion of Georgia. America is to blame for the threats that Russia launched against Poland. In their minds and in their hearts America is evil.

This lack of a response from the loons that occupy the hateful left has had me disturbed since Russia’s occupation of Georgia began. I thought, surely these people that so opposed our invasion of Iraq would speak out against Russia’s aggression. As the days went on I thought that the next day would bring about a chorus of denunciations of Russia’s brutality. But as each day passed without such a comment I began to realize that it was just wishful thinking on my part. It was through this that the left once again demonstrated that they really do hate America.

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