Gov. Palin Unhinges Leftist Loons

Leftist loons are working overtime trying to find something to smear Governor Sarah Palin on.

Their efforts rage from an investigation on the dismissal of an Alaskan state trooper. (You can leave now, folks. Nothing there.) They've jumped on her so-called "inexperience," which has backfired on Obama as he has even less experience and, he's running for president. One blog, the wacko Daily KOS, started a smear, that other leftist blogs jumped on, involving Palin's 16-year-old daughter Bristol. They are claiming that Palin's baby Trig is actually her daughter's. Not true, but some so-called news outlets have also carried the story. The responsible ones are stating that it is nothing but a smear by leftist Democrat bloggers.

They've also tried to say that Palin lied about her killing of the "bridge to nowhere." This is also bogus as I have dug up and posted quotes (elsewhere in this blog) from ABC News and from Townhall.com from their September 2007 articles confirming that Palin did indeed kill the bridge project.

As talk-show host Mike Gallagher put it:

Dems have plenty to worry about and it shouldn't have anything to do with the weather. They know that trying to come up with something -- anything -- to smear Gov. Palin is going to come up woefully short. Reading Maureen Dowd in the New York Times call her a governor of "an oversized igloo" today made me laugh out loud. I realize that being a governor pales in comparison to the credentials of a Chicago "community organizer", Ms. Dowd, but you really ought to try and hide your angst over McCain's brilliant choice.

They didn't stop at Palin. They've even rejoiced over the approach of Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast, hoping that it would remind people of Katrina and spoil the GOP National Convention in Minneapolis this week. Former DNC Chairman Don Fowler was recorded on a flight gleefully talking about Gustav hitting right at the start of the GOP convention, to which he later gave a lame apology.

Yes, the lunatics of the Democrat Left have become unglued over the fact that Governor Palin's selection has given John McCain a fighting chance to win this election in November. When they become unhinged, that's when they get hilarious.

As Mike Gallagher put it:

They're scared, all right. Big time.

They weren't through basking in the well-deserved praise of Sen. Obama's Denver Temple Mount speech before John McCain came along and popped their big balloon with a huge pin from Alaska.

And now, the only thing that could possibly stifle the momentum, they figure, would be a horrific hurricane.

They go from blaming George W. Bush for Katrina to hoping for another one that might diminish the GOP convention. Sad.

Sad indeed! (But hilarious.)

Gov. Sarah Palin: End of the Bridge to Nowhere

The liberal harpies are out trying to paint Gov. Sarah Palin as a liar on the subject of the so-called "bridge to nowhere." In her statement last Friday, Gov. Palin stated that she killed the bridge project.

Now, in the left-wing blogs and in some media outlets, it is being played that Palin was for the bridge before killing it. That's true. But the project turned out to be too costly and she decided against it.

ABC News wrote this story on September 21 of last year. It appears to support Palin's claim.

The End of the Bridge to Nowhere

September 21, 2007 1:43 PM

ABC News' John Cochran reports: The Bridge to Nowhere is gone. Not the victim of aging frames, bolts and joints. No, this bridge has collapsed, even before it was built, after an onslaught of angry editorials, furious anti-pork citizens groups, and caustic jokes on late night TV.

First, that name. It was not accurate. If built, the bridge would have gone somewhere. It would have replaced the ferry that takes residents of Ketchikan, Alaska (population 8,000) to the local airport on Gravina Island. In 2005, Congress approved $223 million for construction.

In Washington, groups such as Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens Against Government Waste, rallied their troops to try to block the money. They said the island was home to far more deer than people (50).

The bridge's main sponsor in the Senate, Alaska Republican Ted Stevens, was outraged by any attempt to prevent his state from getting federal funds. In 2004, with the help of Stevens, his state got special projects worth $645 million. That was $984 for every Alaskan. By contrast, Congress handed out less than $3 to every Texan. And a Texan was, and still is, the President.

But the barrage of publicity was too much for his fellow Republicans. Senator John McCain, R.-Ariz., cited the Bridge to Nowhere as a perfect example of wasteful spending. Senator Tom Coburn R-Okla., a longtime foe of pork spending, tried to shift the money to rebuild an interstate highway damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Senator Stevens grew even more outraged: "I don't kid people. If the Senate decides to discriminate against our state…I will resign." He did not resign.

An uneasy compromise was reached. Congress took away the money for the Gravina Island bridge and another Alaskan bridge which was almost as controversial. Instead, Congress gave the money to the state with the understanding that it was not required to use the funds specifically for bridges.

Friday, the state of Alaska officially sank the Bridge to Nowhere. Governor Sarah Palin, also a Republican, said "Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport." "But," she said, the bridge "is not the answer." Palin has told state transportation officials to look for the most "fiscally responsible" alternative.

A spokesman for Senator Stevens was not immediately available for comment.

On September 29, 2007, Patrick Ruffini wrote this at Townhall.com:

That's why Sarah Palin's crusade for clean, efficient government doesn't stop in Alaska. This week, it was Palin who singlehandedly killed the leading symbol of Republican spending excess in Washington: the Bridge to Nowhere.

The Bridge to Nowhere was actually a state project, to be built with funds earmarked by the state's powerful Congressman Don Young. Last week, Palin killed the $398 million bridge to Gravina Island (pop. 50), directing that the money be spent on more "fiscally responsible" projects.

This raises a big question: What pork-barrel projects earmarked for Illinois has Obama killed?

Mark Steyn on Governor Sarah Palin

Mark Steyn over at National Review Online wrote this interesting article on Governor Sarah Palin and Sen. Barack Obama.

The article reads in part:

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.

Second, it can't be in Senator Obama's interest for the punditocracy to spends its time arguing about whether the Republicans' vice-presidential pick is "even more" inexperienced than the Democrats' presidential one.

Third, real people don't define "experience" as appearing on unwatched Sunday-morning talk shows every week for 35 years and having been around long enough to have got both the War on Terror and the Cold War wrong. (On the first point, at the Gun Owners of New Hampshire dinner in the 2000 campaign, I remember Orrin Hatch telling me sadly that he was stunned to discover how few Granite State voters knew who he was.) Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are more or less the same age, but Governor Palin has run a state and a town and a commercial fishing operation, whereas (to reprise a famous line on the Rev Jackson) Senator Obama ain't run nothin' but his mouth. She's done the stuff he's merely a poseur about. Post-partisan? She took on her own party's corrupt political culture directly while Obama was sucking up to Wright and Ayers and being just another get-along Chicago machine pol (see his campaign's thuggish attempt to throttle Stanley Kurtz and Milt Rosenberg on WGN the other night).

Fourth, Governor Palin has what the British Labour Party politician Denis Healy likes to call a "hinterland" - a life beyond politics. Whenever Senator Obama attempts anything non-political (such as bowling), he comes over like a visiting dignitary to a foreign country getting shanghaied into some impenetrable local folk ritual. Sarah Palin isn't just on the right side of the issues intellectually. She won't need the usual stage-managed "hunting" trip to reassure gun owners: she's lived the Second Amendment all her life. Likewise, on abortion, we're often told it's easy to be against it in principle but what if you were a woman facing a difficult birth or a handicapped child? Been there, done that.

Fifth, she complicates all the laziest Democrat pieties. Energy? Unlike Biden and Obama, she's been to ANWR and, like most Alaskans, supports drilling there.

Obama On Experience: Don't Go There!

The Obama campaign wasted no time to attack Gov. Sarah Palin's experience. This is one issue (among many others) that Obama should really want to avoid. This will open up the debate on his own lack of experience.

From Breitbart:

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

Burton also criticized Palin as a vice presidential pick for her support of oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness and her anti-abortion stance, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States.

"Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies. That's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," he said.

Let's take a quick comparison on Obama's and Palin's experience.

Before Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he was previously a state senator (Illinois) and "community organizer." He has only been in the U.S. Senate for two years, with most of his tenure being taken up by his presidential campaigning. Obama has no legislative accomplishments to speak of. Absolutely nothing!

Palin is pro-life, whereas Obama supported infanticide.

Palin, in contrast, was a city council member, Mayor of Wasilla and was elected Governor of Alaska in 2006. She is the only candidate on any ticket with chief executive experience. In her first year as governor of Alaska, Palin raised taxes on the oil industry, pushed through ethics legislation amid a burgeoning corruption investigation of Alaska lawmakers, bucked her party’s old guard and ordered her administration to seek fewer congressional earmarks after Alaska’s “bridge to nowhere” became a national symbol of pork-barrel spending. She enjoys an approval rating of 80% in Alaska for her work.

Additionally, as governor, Palin is commander-in-chief over the National Guard. Obama has no experience even remotely related to that.

I'd say she is much more qualified to be vice-president (or president) than is Barack Obama. The best advice Obama's advisors can give him when the question of experience comes up would be, "Don't go there!" He'd only be undermining his own case to be president.

Obama's Acceptance Speech: Long On Platitudes, Short On Substance

I didn't get to hear all of Obama's acceptance speech last night as he stood in front of his "Temple of Obama." I heard most of it on radio and saw about 10 minutes of it on television.

My reaction is this: Obama delivered his speech well as he had his trusty teleprompters to support him. But on substance, it was clearly lacking. He did all the obligatory attacks against McCain and Bush, but there was very little else.

In short, he bombed. He needed to do more.

Sarah Palin Is McCain's Running Mate!

Sarah Palin is McCain's running Mate! Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been chosen by Senator John McCain to be his vice-presidential choice. Palin is an excellent choice as she is a fiscal conservative and has been seen as a rising star in the GOP. She enjoys an 80% approval rating as governor.

Palin, as governor of Alaska, has had to deal with issues concerning Russia as Russia is in such close proximity to Alaska. She is also strong on energy and ethics issues, which is what we need.



The "long knives" of the Democrats are already unsheathed. They are screaming "no experience," but the funny thing is, she has more experience than Barack Obama and is the only chief executive in this campaign!

At a rally in Dayton, Ohio today, Palin gave a rousing speech that saluted Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton. She is not afraid to mix it up!

For a biography on Gov. Palin, go to: Sarah Palin

Obama As Apollo In Greek Temple Stage

The Messiah Barack Obama (a.k.a. The Chosen One) will descend from the heavens like Apollo on a thunderbolt to arrive at Invesco Field for his acceptance speech Thursday.

Not really, but Sen. Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night from a stage that resembles a Greek Temple. Some wags are already calling it "The Temple of Doom."

"Is this from the Onion?" quipped a McCain adviser.

The Onion is a satirical newspaper and the reference came after Reuters reported that Obama is planning an elaborate extravaganza complete with post-speech fireworks.

Some 80,000 Democrats will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.

The stage is similar to stages used for rock concerts and has been set up at the 50-yard-line of Invesco Field, the home of the Denver Broncos NFL team.

This has to be the most hilarious campaign in history. I wonder if they'll be wearing togas. Hail Caesar!

Obama Campaign's Stalinist Tactics

The New York Times wrote today:

DENVER — As Senator Obama’s campaign makes its argument for his candidacy before a national audience here this week, it is waging a separate, forceful campaign against a new conservative group running millions of dollars of ads linking him to the 1960s radical William Ayers Jr.

Lawyers for the campaign have asked the Justice Department to investigate the group — which is operating under rules governing non-profit corporations — calling on television stations to cease airing the spot, and, campaign officials said, planning to pressure advertisers on stations that refuse to do so. The ad is running in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

The Obama campaign wants the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the American Issues Project, who sponsored the ad. I don't believe that a political campaign tried to sic the DOJ on political opponents before. This has the smell of Stalinism in the old Soviet Union.

The campaign is also contacting television stations and is intimidating them to not run the ad. Threats?

These call to question on what actions a "President Obama" would do against political opponents if he is elected and has the reigns of power. Would he try to also jail his opponents? Food for thought.

Cardinal Egan Responds to Nancy Pelosi

Edward Cardinal Egan responds to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

STATEMENT OF HIS EMINENCE, EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN CONCERNING REMARKS MADE BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.

Edward Cardinal Egan

Archbishop of New York

August 26, 2008

Obama's Terrorst Friend Bill Ayres Targeted In Ad

A new ad is now being broadcast 150 times in battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan attacking Sen. Barack Obama's ties to Weather Underground terrorist William Ayres.

The ad was produced by The American Issues Project, which is a 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation. The organizaton is permitted by law to air a political ad provided that the majority of its spending is nonpolitical. It cannot accept money from corporations and it must identify the donors that finance its ads in reports to the Federal Election Commission. A spokesman said the group has set aside money to carry out non-election related work to meet the legal requirements.

The ad states:

"Barack Obama is friends with Ayers, defending him as, quote, 'Respectable' and 'Mainstream,'" the group's ad states. "Obama's political career was launched in Ayers' home. And the two served together on a left-wing board. Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"

As a member of the Weather Underground, Bill Ayers bombed the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol and a New York City police headquarters. After 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times as saying "I don't regret setting bombs ... I feel we didn't do enough."

Ayers is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Obama live in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.

Obama served first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform group which was founded by Ayres. Ayers also hosted a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.

The lone financier of the anti-Obama ad, Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, was also one of the main funders of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who targeted Kerry. Simmons, a McCain fundraiser, contributed nearly $2.9 million to the American Issues Project, according to documents filed by the group with the Federal Election Commission.

The Obama campaign responded with an ad of its own and Obama operatives have contacted television statements to try to get them to not run the ad. Bob Bauer, Obama general counsel wrote a letter to the Justice Department and called on it to open “an investigation of the American Issues Project; its officers and directors; and its anonymous donors, whoever they may be.” Incredibly, the Obama ad does not dispute the facts in the American Issue Project's ad.

"It seems they protest a bit too much," American Issues Project spokesman Christian Pinkston said. "They're going all of these routes: through threats, intimation to try to thwart the First Amendment here because they don't have an argument on merit. This is a sad ploy to circumvent the First Amendment by a campaign who has no arguments with the merits of our ad. It’s the classic maneuver: If you can’t win on the merits, file a lawsuit."

This will also have the effect of drawing more attention to the Ayres issue, something that Obama doesn't want.

The American Issues Project is separate from the McCain campaign, but that didn't stop them from taking advantage of the controversy:

"The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama's judgment than any TV ad ever could," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver

Response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments on Sunday's Meet The Press:

ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE
A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH
IN NORTHERN COLORADO

To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:

Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate tend to take a hard line in talking about the "separation of Church and state." But their idea of separation often seems to work one way. In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a "political" issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.

Interviewed on Meet the Press August 24, Speaker Pelosi was asked when human life begins. She said the following:

"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."

Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue "for a long time," she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery's Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here's how Connery concludes his study:

"The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion."

Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder."

Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.

Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.

Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Archbishop of Denver

James D. Conley

Auxiliary Bishop of Denver

Sean Connery Launches Autobiography

Sean Connery, the silver screen's first and most famous James Bond, is launching his autobiography, Being A Scot in his hometown today.

The book looks at Connery's early life as a milkman in Edinburgh's Fountainbridge neighborhood, then delves into a wide-ranging look at Scottish culture including the work of poet Robert Burns, novelist Sir Walter Scott and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Connery has long been an activist for the independence of Scotland and refuses to live there until it achieves independence from the United Kingdom. He currently resides in the Bahamas.

Besides the James Bond features, Connery also starred in The Molly McGuires, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October and The Untouchables, which earned him an Academy Award for best supporting actor.

He also runs his own website: Sean Connery.com

Biden's Sons Sued For Alleged Hedge Fund Fraud

Now that Sen. Barack Obama chose Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running-mate, Biden's sons are now under close scrutiny and the media has unearthed this item:

A lawsuit is accusing the brother and son of the Delaware senator of defrauding a partner in their hedge fund, a New York-headquartered operation named Paradigm. His brother James, 59, and son Hunter, 38, have denied the allegation, and claim the ex-partner, Anthony Lotito, defrauded them because he lied about his experience working in the hedge fund industry.

For the complete story, go to: HedgeFund.net

Sen. Biden's hands aren't completely clean either. According to The American Thinker:

One area of concern is revealed by Biden's moniker 'The Senator from MBNA." MBNA is a large credit card company now owned by the Bank of America that was formerly domiciled in Biden's home state of Delaware. As a Senator, Biden advocated for the credit-card industry and received large donations from MBNA, in particular. He supported a bankruptcy bill that made it arduous for consumers to escape from their credit card debt by filing for bankruptcy.

Today's New York Times is reporting that the largesse of MBNA also extended to Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who was paid large sums ($100,000) every year from 2001 to 2005 as a "consultant" to MBNA. Hunter serves as a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington-as do many other family members of Congressmen.

The irony is palpable. Barack Obama has made protecting consumers from credit card companies-who he portrays as predatory -- a signature issue. In late 2007, Obama introduced his "Credit Card Safety Act" to help consumers evaluate credit card agreements.

It is funny how Obama railed against the "business-as-usual" of politics and business, then he picks a running-mate who appears to have some conflicts of interest and sons profiteering from "business-as-usual." Things are certain to get interesting.

Fred Crane, Brent Tarleton from "Gone With The Wind," Dies

Fred Crane - March 22, 1918—August 21, 2008

Gone With The Wind (1939) actor Fred Crane passed away in Atlanta, Georgia at age 90. He played Brent Tarleton in the opening scenes of the movie with George (Superman) Reeves as his twin brother Stuart. Crane and Reeves immediately hit it off and were good friends until Reeves's death in 1959.


Above, George Reeves and Fred Crane as the Tarleton Twins.

In later years, Crane was a classical music radio host and then opened a bed & breakfast in the Atlanta area called Tarleton Oaks.

Glass House Presents has posted a tribute page to Fred Crane. Please feel free to take a look.

Obama/Biden: Shooting Fish In A Barrel

Source: Foxnews.com

Sen. Barack Obama chose Deleware Senator Joseph Biden to be his running-mate. The talk shows expected this choice and are gleeful that Biden was chosen.

Biden has been in the U.S. Senate since 1972 and has a long track record that Republicans can dig up, including gaffes and a plagiarism incident that embarrassed the senator.

Last year, during the early Democratic debates, Biden said this about Obama:

“You were asked, ‘Is he ready?’” the moderator, ABC’s George Stephanopoulous, says to Biden. “You said, ‘I think he can be ready but right now, I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.’”

“I think that I stand by the statement,” Biden responds, with Obama standing to his right on the stage.

The McCain Campaign has already pounced on this as they have already released an ad using the above (in a video clip) and this comment Biden made on The Daily Show from 2005:

“I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off.”

So much for Obama's change! This'll be like shooting fish in a barrel.

The Obama Gaffe Machine

The Obama Gaffe Machine continues to roll right along.

Here's what Obama said yesterday about China:

Everybody's watching what's going on in Beijing right now with the Olympics , Think about the amount of money that China has spent on infrastructure. Their ports, their train systems, their airports are vastly the superior to us now, which means if you are a corporation deciding where to do business you're starting to think, "Beijing looks like a pretty good option."

And, Lorie Byrd brings us more Obama gaffes:

Last May, he claimed that Kansas tornadoes killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.

· Earlier this month in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

· Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.” Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965.

To see Byrd's full article, here's the link:
The Case Against Barack Obama - In His Own Words

Of course, as he's the media darling, Obama gets a pass. Dan Quayle should've been so lucky!

Obama Helpless Without Teleprompter

I found this little tidbit from The American Spectator:

SCREEN SAVORER

According to several Democrat political consultants presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama spent part of his Hawaiian vacation working on weaning himself from a heavy dependence on teleprompters. Even in what are staged as "town hall" events for Obama, remarks are scripted or formatted into bullet points that scroll on teleprompter screens. Obama has had several embarrassing events where the teleprompter either malfunctioned or the screens were not fully visible.

"He just locks down and can't get the words out," says one political consultant. "For such a fine speaker, it's really quite remarkable that he's had issues."

Obama's troubles with unscripted moments contributed to his campaign's refusal to participate in town hall format debates or discussions with Sen. John McCain, who feels much more comfortable in the unscripted moments.

Without a script and a teleprompter, Obama is nothing but an empty suit.

Media Bias Gave Obama The Nomination

The Media Research Center, after an exhaustive eight-year study of the Big Three networks, found that Barack Obama was the beneficiary of favorable media bias that will lead to his nomination at the Democratic National Convention. Obama received much more favorable media attention than did Hillary Clinton.

Newsmax.com has an article on the MRC study and their findings:

Media Bias Gave Obama The Nomination

Democrats getting desperate!

The Democrats are getting desperate! The Obama campaign has unveiled a new ad on John McCain's "gaffe" on how many homes he has. He said he didn't know, but the Dems pointed out that it's seven.

Chances are, they are mainly owned by Mrs. McCain.

However, it is a sign of desperation on the Obama campaign's part they they have to stoop to this level and it also opens up the issue of sweetheart deals that Obama and other Democrats obtained from Countrywide and convicted felon Tony Rezko. Talk about leading with your jaw! A sweetheart deal is one in which a politician gets a deal that is not available to the ordinary person, presumably for political favors.

From the Chicago Sun-Times from November 5, 2006:

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama expressed regret late Friday for his 2005 land purchase from now-indicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko in a deal that enlarged the senator's yard.

"I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it," Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times in an exclusive and revealing question-and-answer exchange about the transaction.

In June 2005, Obama and Rezko purchased adjoining parcels in Kenwood. The state's junior senator paid $1.65 million for a Georgian revival mansion, while Rezko paid $625,000 for the adjacent, undeveloped lot. Both closed on their properties on the same day.

From Politico.com:

It was the terms of loans to two Senators—Democrats Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota—that set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill after Portfolio.com reported last month that they had received discounts on two loans each as part of a program the mortgage-lending giant maintained for powerful borrowers. The most recent issue of Condé Nast Portfolio reports how the Countrywide practice extended beyond Dodd and Conrad, involving congressmen, judges, and journalists, all in an attempt by Countrywide to curry favor.

It is also hypocritical as John Kerry (through his wife), the 2004 Democratic nominee, has a number of homes and let's not forget the Kennedy fortune.

Reuters/Zogby Poll Puts McCain Ahead

In a dramatic turnaround, Sen. John McCain now leads Sen. Barack Obama by five percentage points according to the latest Reuters/Zogby Poll.

According to an article that appeared today at Newsmax.com:

McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.

McCain also has the lead among those polled on who best can handle the economy:

McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy — an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.

No wonder that Obama and the Democrats are now becoming more shrill. It is a sure sign that The Messiah is not wearing well with the public and the Democrats are panicking.

White House Ghost?

Back during the Truman Administration, the White House underwent an extensive renovation.  The executive mansion was gutted during this work.  While the White House was being renovated, the Trumans lived in Blair House, located across the street.  It was during that period that an assassination attempt was made against Truman.

Last night, Joshua P. Warren was on Coast-To-Coast AM with George Noory and mentioned a photo of the White House interior with a photo of an apparent ghost.

According to Warren, "A few years ago, Bob Martin was reading David McCullough's book Truman, and a photo of construction in the White House caught his eye. It was taken during remodeling around 1950 by National Parks Service photographer Abbie Rowe. The apparent apparition is clear and startling. Compared to the other men in the photo, its size scale is accurate. And if this were due to some motion or long exposure effect, the rest of the photo should be affected, as well."

 

Here is the photo (click on for full view):



Here is a closer look at what appears to be a ghost (click on for full view):



And here is a blow-up of the apparition:



Interesting, eh? What do you think?

Revoke The 2014 Olympic Games From Russia!

The 2014 Olympic Winter Games are set to take place in Russia in Sochi, a location about 20 miles from the Russia/Georgia border.

Since Russia decided to invade Georgia several days ago, a drive is now underway to have those games revoked from Russia. An on-line petition is available to those of you who wish to punish Russia for its actions. This will move the 2014 games out of Russia to another country, rather than punish the athletes through a boycott (as in 1980).

To sign the petition, go to Revoke The Games

Revoke The 2014 Olympic Games From Russia!

Obama Implies That America Asked For 9/11

Senator Barack Obama's answer to Rick Warren's question on evil shows that he is unqualified and unfit to be President of the United States.

His answer is typical of the left wing who have blamed America first for the ills in world. This implies that America asked for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and at the Pentagon which took 3,000 innocent lives. This also goes along with Obama's Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comment, "America's chickens are coming home to roost!"

Here's the transcript:

Warren to Obama- Does evil exist, and if so, do we ignore it, do we negotiate with it, do we contain it, or do we defeat it?

Obama: "Evil does exist. I mean we see evil all the time. We see evil in Darfur. We see evil, sadly on the streets of our cities. We see evil in parents who have viciously abused their children and I think it has to be confronted. It has to be confronted squarely and one of the things that I strongly believe is that, you know, we are not going to, as individuals, be able to erase evil from the world. That is God's task. But we can be soldiers in that process and we can confront it when we see it.

Now, the one thing that I think is very important is for us to have some humility in how we approach the issue of confronting evil. You know a lot of evil has been perpetrated based on the claim that we were trying to confront evil... In the name of good and I think one thing that's very important is having some humility in recognizing that. You know, just because we think our intentions are good doesn't mean that we're going to be doing good."

Warren to McCain- Does evil exist, and if so, do we ignore it, do we negotiate with it, do we contain it, or do we defeat it?

McCain: Defeat it.

Obama's answer was outrageous! Granted, America isn't perfect, but it certainly isn't evil. He made no mention of Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda. To him, we asked to be attacked by Islamic terrorists and what goes on in American streets is equally as "evil" as what's happening in Darfur. There's no comparison.

This is the "moral equivalency" crap that the liberal left has been pontificating for years. Is this the kind of convoluted, pansy equivocation you want in the White House?

McCain's & Obama's Joint Appearance

Associated Press photo.

The joint appearance of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama was an interesting two hours of policy discussion. I actually liked this format over the traditional "debate" format.

They appeared at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California Saturday night.

First, Obama took the stage and answered questions from "mega-pastor" Rick Warren that lasted an hour. McCain remained off-stage and wasn't able to hear Obama's answers. Then McCain came out, shook hands with Obama and posed for photos with Warren for a few minutes.

Obama's answer on abortion was considered by some pundits as a major gaffe. Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.” McCain simply stated that human rights begin at conception.

Obama's attack on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was ironic. He said that Thomas didn't have the "experience" and "not a strong jurist" or "legal thinker" that justified his appointment. Obama's own lack of experience has been a major, and valid, point of attack by his opponents.

McCain was more direct and decisive in his answers. Both candidates appeared relaxed and conversational, but as a former college speech class student, I felt McCain did better. When Obama answered Warren's questions, he directed his responses to the pastor, whereas McCain directed his attention and answers to the audience. In public speaking, this is considered much more effective and is rated highly by speech scorers. In trials, this technique is also used when witnesses direct their attention to the jury, rather than to the questioners. Both talked of their faith, but Obama was more comfortable in doing so than McCain.

I hope more joint meetings of this type are used in the future, it drew out the contrasts of both candidates effectively.

Warren is the author of "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold 25 million copies, is now reportedly the best-selling hardback book ever. Saddleback Church, which Warren founded in 1980 with one family, now has 22,000 people attending each week.

Howard Dean: GOP The "White Party"

Former presidential candidate and Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean injected race (again) into the campaign.

In a radio interview, Dean said, "If you look at folks of color, even women, they're more successful in the Democratic party than they are in the white, uh, excuse me, in the [laughs] Republican party."

That's interesting. I have been an active Republican for over 35 years and I have known Republicans of all kinds of ethnic groups: black, Native American, Latino, Asian and others. I have Spanish and Mexican blood ties.

This shows once again which political party has a fixation on race in this year's campaign. It certainly isn't the Republican Party.

This also shows once again that Howard Dean is an idiotic buffoon and he owes an apology and should resign from DNC chairmanship (but don't hold your breath).

McCain Must Pick A Conservative Veep

Sen. John McCain is in a quandry. For years he prided himself as a maverick Republican who has stepped on conservative toes and worked compromises with Democrats. Now his chickens have come home to roost.

Since he clinched the GOP nomination months ago, it is evident that conservatives are lukewarm to McCain as the GOP standard-bearer. Their enormous distaste of Barack Obama as a possible White House occupant has tempered their reluctance of supporting McCain. McCain is strong on national security and foreign policy issues in conservatives eyes, but he is weak on immigration and campaign finance.

In order to have conservatives enthusiastically support McCain with their dollars and campaign work, he needs to pick a vice-president candidate with solid conservative credentials.

Rumors are that McCain is seriously considering Sen. Joseph Lieberman as a running-mate. While Lieberman is a nice guy and is strong on national security and Islamic terrorist issues, he is still a liberal and an Independent Democrat. I like Lieberman for his courageous stands on the issues which fly in the face of the Democrat Party, but he will not help McCain's cause as a running-mate. He would still turn off conservatives. McCain needs to solidify his conservative base.

As the Salt Lake City Tribune wrote:

The answers will go a long way to determining whether McCain picks Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate. McCain has left the door open to picking a pro-choice veep candidate, and the pro-choice former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Lieberman are reportedly on his short list.
Selecting Ridge, who is at least a Republican, would be a more cautious choice, but also a foolish one. Whatever help he might give in Pennsylvania would be overwhelmed by the disappointment of the evangelical voters who have of late been rallying around McCain. Although Lieberman is more heterodox than Ridge, he makes more sense - if McCain is willing to follow through on the radical logic of his selection.
Despite being an independent, Lieberman still caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate and has a standard liberal voting record.

McCain has also mentioned that a pro-abortion Republican is a possible veep choice. That would also antagonize conservates. I am not a hard-core pro-lifer, but this would not boost McCain's esteem in my eyes.

McCain needs conservatives to be enthusiastic in their support. If McCain chooses Lieberman or a liberal Republican, the conservatives will sit this election out, despite Obama. The Republican Party and the country would be put in great danger in electing an inexperienced leftist in the White House. But distaste and fear of Obama will not be enough to elect McCain. He needs the conservatives behind him.

My preference for McCain's veep is Mitt Romney.

Pelosi Slams Hillary Backers and Lieberman

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with KGO Radio talk show host Ronn Owens in San Francisco, said that Hillary Clinton has been gracious to Obama but "I think some of her supporters have been less than gracious," she said. This is certain to infuriate Clinton's supporters. This is like throwing gasoline on a fire and it comes within weeks of the Democratic National Convention.

Despite taking in $52 million in June 2008 alone, presidential candidate Barack Obama received only $19,250 from major Hillary Clinton donors. Fewer than 3 percent of Clinton's top donors have given any money to the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Pelosi also slammed McCain supporter Sen. Joe Lieberman for comments he made against Obama while campaigning for Sen. John McCain. She says that Democrats may punish Lieberman by removing his committee chairmanships.

"Joe Lieberman has said things that are totally irresponsible when it comes to Barack Obama. Here we have a leader for the future, really a great leader for the future and one that comes along only every now and then, and they know it so they have to undermine him. And one of their best weapons, of course, is someone who is considered by some to be a Democrat," Pelosi said.

She is reticent about jeopardizing the Democrats' 51-49 majority in the Senate. But Pelosi warned that Lieberman's top spot on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee could be in jeopardy if Democrats gain seats in the Senate in November.

"The Democrats in the Senate are in a tough spot. They have 51 votes. Joe Lieberman organizes with them," Pelosi adds. "In 85 days or something, they will have five more Democrats. They won't need him to make the majority. And it will be interesting to see what the leadership in the Senate, the Democratic leadership in the Senate, does at that point in terms of Joe Lieberman's chairmanship of his committee."

It is funny that Pelosi is basically calling Lieberman "disloyal" to the Democratic Party when party leaders back-stabbed Lieberman by backing a candidate against him in 2006 in the Connecticut primary who beat Lieberman for the Democratic party senate nomination. Lieberman then ran as an independent and with the support of Republicans, he defeated the Democrat and Republican nominees. Lieberman caucuses with the Democrats.

It should be interesting to watch the Democratic National Convention at the end of this month.

Obama's "Global Poverty" Scam

Sen. Barack Obama currently has a socialist tax scam making its way in the U.S. Senate.

It is called the Global Poverty Act (S.2433). This act would force America to adopt the U.N.’s “Millennium Development Goals” as official U.S. policy. This means delegating (or outsourcing) to the United Nations all important decisions concerning the use of U.S. foreign aid dollars. Additionally, there would be a fee payable to the U.N. to play the “middleman” in our global war on poverty, which would be a tax of .7 percent of the U.S. Gross National Product. Obama and his radical liberal allies such as Senator Joseph Biden have co-signed onto a bill that would allow the U.N. to tax America (and Americans) an estimated $845 billion over the next 13 years.

S.2433 demands no accountability or reform from the poverty-stricken and frequently oppressive nations who are the recipients of our charitable generosity. United Nations Development Program is currently the “rich uncle” of terrorist states and rogue regimes by funneling millions to North Korea’s weapons programs and violating 95 U.S. export laws in the process.

The Global Poverty Act started in the U.S. House with 84 co-sponsors and quietly passed by a voice vote by Democrats and some well-meaning Republicans who had no idea what the bill contained. Obama has started an effort to ram the bill through the Senate with the help and support of socialist co-hort Sen. Joe Biden.

If passed, S.2433 will sacrifice our national sovereignty puts in motion the machinery that would allow the United Nations to tax Americans.

This is the biggest threat to our national sovereignty since the War of 1812. Contact your senator and congress member and tell them to vote against this socialistic fraud.

McCain Trounces Obama On Georgia Crisis

Talking heads of the media have generally given Sen. John McCain kudos on his statements on the Russian invasion of Georgia. There's a few left-wing pundits attacking McCain as being "too bellicose" in his comments.

However, McCain's experience in foreign policy paid dividends in his statements of placing the blame on Russia and calling for an alliance of democracies to deal with matters such as this where the UN is ineffective.

Obama's initial comments of having both sides "show restraint" and calls for a UN resolution showed his inexperience. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, an Obama supporter, also called for a UN resolution. Richardson was UN Ambassador under Bill Clinton and should have known better as Russia has veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

McCain and Obama have spoken directly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Obama called on Saturday and McCain called as recently as Tuesday, which he recounted to supporters at a town hall that afternoon: “I told him I know I speak for every American when I say to him today we are all Georgians.”

Adding to McCain's fortunes on his handling of this crisis, Mikhail Saakashvili quoted McCain's "we are all Georgians" in an address to the nation. Obama wasn't mentioned. McCain has been to Georgia several times and personally knows Saakashvili.

Adding to Obama's woes, some of his supporters have been making "moral equivalency" noises on Russia's invasion with the U.S. war in Iraq.

No matter how this crisis is resolved, the differences in handling by McCain and Obama will be a major issue during the general election campaign.

Russians Acting Like Russians

The invasion of Georgia by Russia shows once again that the Russians will always be Russians. Brute force instead of diplomacy is their typical method of dealing with other nations. There should be no surprise there.

Russia has been using the pretext of protecting its peacekeepers in a breakaway region and to "restore the status quo" in their invasion. Does indiscriminately bombing non-combatant territories and civilians in Georgia justify "restoring the status quo"? Hardly.

Senator John McCain called upon Russia "to immediately and unconditionally . . . withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory" and advocates tossing Russia out of the Group of Eight (G8). He also advocates organizing a league of democracies to act where the useless and impotent United Nations can't (or won't).

Barack Obama's, echoed by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, big idea for ending the violence in Georgia is to have the UN "pass a strong resolution getting the Russians to show some restraint." Apparently when Richardson was ambassador to the UN, he neglected to find out that Russia is a permanent member of UN Security Council with veto power. Obama should also know better. Nothing like speaking big and carrying a soft stick.

Liberals worried about moves to make Georgia a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). But as George Will pointed out, "NATO is scheduled to review the question of Georgia's membership in December. If Georgia were in NATO, would NATO now be at war with Russia? More likely, Russia would not be in Georgia."

The Russians may have discarded the Soviet Union, but they still have Soviet tendencies and the leaders can still be spelled with three letters: KGB.

The Edwards Affair: Criminality Involved?

The news that former presidential candidate John Edwards admitted that he lied about having an extra-marital affair was rightly met with generally universal condemnation. However, a writer for a Hollywood-oriented website takes a different view.

In Hollywood Today's online magazine, Jody Babydol Gibson writes,

We are not privy to the marital woes of John and Elizabeth Edwards; nor do we have access to the skeletons in their marital closet. It is no secret Elizabeth’s brave battle as a cancer survivor is enough of a cross to bare; but how do we know the way in which they chose to deal with it? It is not implausible to assume that her unfortunate health issues have left a very handsome young John Edwards without any intimacy or sexual outlet whatsoever.

Other men having been in a similar situation have actually received permission from their wives who understood the pain and loneliness of supporting a loved one without the love, and it is not unusual for an understanding wife who realizes the hardships involved to allow her husband the affair as long as its carried out in a discreet fashion keeping it far from their personal lives at home.

You know the saying- “don’t judge a man until you’ve walked in his shoes.”

Yes, you can say that about people in life in general, but the Edwards matter may go into regions that could be open to legal penalties.

Rielle Hunter was hired to produce videos for the Edwards campaign website. Her experience can be best decribed as "novice." How many novice videographers are hired at the healthy sum of $150,000? Was this amount really for videos or to keep quiet about the affair? If it was for the latter, then that is hush money and that is bribery, a felony. Also, if the money was for keeping quiet, and Andrew Young (a former Edwards aide and the confessed "father" of Hunter's baby) and Edwards are also working together to keep this arrangement under wraps, then that is conspiracy. Another felony.

If Edwards, Young and Hunter state to investigators that it was for video work, and evidence to the contrary is discovered, that can be construed as obstruction of justice. Another felony.

Then there's also the reported $15,000 a month payments Hunter and Young are receiving. According to Fox News:

Fred Baron, a Dallas lawyer and former campaign finance chairman for Edwards, secretly provided financial help to both Hunter and Young. He apparently paid with his own funds and has told other news outlets Edwards did not know about the arrangement.

Edwards said he learned of the payments through reporters and that he "had no knowledge" of the payouts outside of that.

The payments reportedly have been towering — $15,000 a month to Hunter, according to reports, plus other payments to Young.

Really? Why would someone pay Hunter and Young $15,000/month? Something's fishy in Texas, folks! One cannot accept Edward's denials of knowledge of this since he's already been caught in his web of lies. His interview on ABC Friday night was scripted (most likely by his attorneys).

Yes, it is one thing to say that one needs to walk in another man's shoes concerning his personal life, but when the affair reaches into possible criminal territory, that's a whole different ball of wax.

John Edwards Admits To Affair!

Ex-Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted to ABC News that he did have a sexual affair with Rielle Hunter.

ABC News reports:

John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extra-marital affair with a novice film-maker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 42-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.

Edwards also denied he was the father of Hunter's baby girl, Frances Quinn, although the one-time Democratic Presidential candidate said he has not taken a paternity test.

This puts a big crimp on the Democrats' plan to have Edwards address the Democratic National Convention later this month or be considered as a vice-presidential candidate on a ticket with Barack Obama.

As Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards is fighting for her life, her "faithful" husband is playing around. Nice guy.

The National Enquirer got another one right!

Five GOP Senators Sabotaging McCain

Source: Kimberly A. Strassel - Wall Street Journal

Five GOP senators are sabotaging Senator McCain's presidential campaign by forming a "Gang of Ten" to introduce an energy bill "compromise."

The five Republicans are Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson. Their proposed bill includes:

New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast -- putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska's oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.

The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil companies!

This amounts to a life-saver being tossed to Barack Obama's campaign and political sabotage against Sen. John McCain.

After Rush Limbaugh today got wind of this news, the angry calls have been flooding the switchboards of the five Republicans.

The weirdest part is that the energy/oil issue has been paying political dividends for Republicans as people are realizing that the Democrats and their environmental extremist allies have been blocking new oil drilling and new refineries for the past 30 years and are now the main stumbling blocks in getting lower oil prices and weaning us off of foreign oil.

Incredibly, this is going on in the Senate while House Republicans are still taking the floor of the darkened House chamber demanding that Congress be reconvened to debate and vote on an energy bill.

Signing on to the Democrats' energy no-drill and tax scheme is a horrible idea!

Go to the link at top of this post to read the full article.

G-FAN.com Has New Back Issue Index

G-FAN #82 (above) is just one of many G-FAN back issues listed in the new index feature.


Ever wondered what issue of G-FAN contains a particular article or interview that you need to reference? Have I got good news for you! G-FAN.com now has an index feature in which all a visitor has to do is click on the issue number and then be taken to a page that summarizes the issue, including article titles, interview subjects, and who the writer is.

Also, you can easily order that particular issue right there on the page with a "shopping cart" feature.

Go over to G-FAN.com and take a look at this new handy feature!

Brad Sherman Votes For High Gas Prices

I reside in the Congressional district of Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks. Sherman has consistantly voted against new oil refineries and against drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and offshore.

We are in dire need to increase our own domestic oil production to reduce the price of gasoline from the current $4.00+ per gallon. Sherman and the other no-drill Democrats voted last week to recess Congress for five weeks instead of debating and voting for an energy bill that would help to get the U.S. off foreign oil.

Even if oil drilling in ANWR and offshore were allowed, we need to also increase our refining capabilities to process it into gasoline. Again, Brad Sherman has voted against allowing new refineries. No new refineries have been built since the presidency of Gerald Ford.

It is the no-drill Democrats, including Sherman, and their environmental allies who have caused the current energy price crisis. If they are unwilling to work for increasing our domestic oil production, and lower prices at the gas pump, they should be voted out of office!

Here are key votes on oil and energy and Sherman's vote:

Voted YES on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (Jun 2008)
Voted YES on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
Voted YES on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
Voted YES on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)
Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)
Voted YES on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)
Voted NO on scheduling permitting for new oil refinieries. (Jun 2006)
Voted NO on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)
Voted NO on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy. (Jun 2004)
Voted NO on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov 2003)
Voted YES on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)
Voted YES on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. (Aug 2001)
Voted YES on starting implementation of Kyoto Protocol. (Jun 2000)
Preserve Alaska's ANWR instead of drilling it. (Feb 2001)
Establish greenhouse gas tradeable allowances. (Feb 2005)

If you agree that we should allow oil drilling in ANWR (in an area 1/6th the size of Dulles International Airport) and offshore, contact Rep. Sherman. His official website link is below:

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, CA

ALSO! Rep. Sherman is planning to hold a town hall meeting to discuss oil and other issues:

Participate in a Congressional Town Hall. Saturday, August 23rd from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. at Reseda High School

Congressman Brad Sherman will hold a “Town Hall” meeting on Saturday, August 23rd at 2:00p.m. Come join the discussion on the economy, housing and foreclosure crisis, gas prices, college and medical costs, Iraq, trade and many other domestic and foreign policy issues. You can also meet the Congressman’s constituent service staff and get help dealing with federal agencies. Parking is free and refreshments will be provided.

Source: Rep. Sherman's official website.

Obama's Oil Idiocy

In a speech in Lansing, Michigan today, Sen. Barack Obama said, "For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we must end the age of oil in our time." Michigan is in a recession, but he speaks before the Michigan Democrat politicians who got them into recession. And they applauded!

Just what does he think the U.S. economic engine runs on? This would normally be considered another Obama idiotic platitude, but he is the presumptive Democratic nominee. Is he trying to make the United States a third-rate power?

Obama says that if we drilled offshore and in ANWR, we would not see the oil for seven years from now. If that is the case (and many oil experts are dubious about this), it is a lot sooner than the so-called "alternative sources of energy" the Democrats been clamoring for. Those are decades away!

Obama also wants to tap into the Stategic Oil Reserves. The reserves were set aside for national emergencies. High gasoline prices hardly qualify as an emergency. This does not even begin to solve the problem.

Again, he complains that "the U.S. has 3% of the world's oil reserves, but uses 25% of the world's oil." Is the U.S. to be punished for this? He also complains that McCain's energy plan only offers "psychological relief." Obama doesn't even offer that!

Obama calls for a "windfall profits tax." This was last tried by Jimmy Carter and it was a disaster. Obama apparently wasn't old enough to remember that. But he goes even further, he wants those taxes to fund a $1,000 "rebate" to consumers. This is warmed-over McGovernism.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

"In other words, a windfall is nothing more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation."

If such a scheme should become law, it would be stealing from ordinary Americans with 401k plans whose investments include the oil industry.

Obama has never produced a thing in is career. Instead, he has been an obstacle to the produers of this country. Obama's speech is just another example of his idiocy.

When gasoline prices topped $4.00/gallon, Obama was unconcerned over the prices, he was just concerned that they "came too fast."

Voting against Obama isn't coming fast enough.

"The Case Against Barack Obama"

A new book, "The Case Against Barack Obama," will be released next week. It is published by the organization who brought you "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" in 2004.

This book may just tip the scales against Obama this coming November.

Dream Island Park: Lucky Dragon No. 5

Photo and text copyright 2008 by Armand Vaquer

Yume no Shima ('Dream Island'): Lucky Dragon No. 5

Located in Tokyo's industrial Koto ward bordering Tokyo Harbor, Yume no Shima Koen (Dream Island) “is a splash of freshness in a landscape of gargantuan blank-faced warehouses between which runs an endless convoy of trucks and vans.” It is located in the Koto ward.

Yume no Shima began life as a landfill and dumping ground of old boats, but was rescued from this fate in 1972 when it was decided to make it into a park. It is now a verdant space covered mainly with eucalyptus trees and enjoyed by strollers, sketchers, picnickers, sunbathers, and anyone else seeking refuge from the bustle. Between the Park – reached by a bridge – and the mainland is a yacht marina.

The Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall (Lucky Dragon No. 5), houses the fishing boat that was bombarded with lethal doses of radiation in 1954 when the US tested the hydrogen bomb ‘Bravo’ on Bikini Atoll, despite the ship being 60km outside the prohibited zone. Almost 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs, it destroyed the health of the crew, burning many of them horribly, and eventually sent several to an early grave. The ship is now a symbol of the anti-nuclear testing movement and was an inspiration for Godzilla. It is very impressively housed in an almost church-like structure and is accompanied by informative and often saddening displays. See G-FAN #80 for details of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 exhibit.

(The Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall is open 9.30am-4pm every day except Monday. Admission free. English pamphlet available for 100 yen.)

The Left Likes High Oil Prices

(Click on image to see an enlarged version.)

An interesting pattern has emerged in the current debate over offshore and ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Reserve) oil exploration and drilling proposals. The Democrat Left are fighting tooth-and-nail against any proposals to get this country off foreign oil. Why is that?

For one thing, environmental extremists have been advocating high prices so that people would drive less. They've gotten their wish on that. They've fought any expansion of existing or the building of new refineries. The last new refinery was built in 1976, during the Gerald Ford Administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Charles Schumer have been leading the no-drill Democrats in preventing the opening of offshore oil reserves and at ANWR. Pelosi refuses to even allow a debate or vote on the issue and the Democrats, by one vote, recessed the House for five weeks. President Bush may call the congress back to debate this issue.

The Left claims they want to develop alternative energy sources. That's all well and good, but those are decades away from fruition. Republicans argue that our economy can't handle the current oil prices without major damage. This is falling on deaf ears. Republicans argue that alternatives can still be recearched and developed, but we should increase our own oil supplies and refining capabilities in the meantime.

The Democrats always claim that they are the "party of compassion," but where's the compassion when the average American is financially strapped due to high gasoline prices and are having difficulty making ends meet? The Democrats claim that they are the champions for the poor, but these fuel prices hits especially hard on low income wage earners. Where's the "compassion" there?

I frequent many message boards and forums on the Internet, and the Leftist liberals on those venues are fighting just as hard as the Democrats in Washington, D.C. They come up with same bogus arguments and statistics to support their "no-drill" mantra.

This campaign will be determined on economic issues. It is also a referendum on Barack Obama. This should be a blow-out election year for the Democrats. But the cat was let out of the bag on who's responsible for high gas prices, and it isn't the oil companies or speculators. It is the no-drill Democrat Left who's responsible.

Last week, when the Democrats recessed congress, the GOP finally got the courage and righteous indignation to fight back. As C-Span is under contract to cover congress while people are speaking, Nancy Pelosi shut off the microphones and lights, but later relented. This received big airplay. It didn't make the Democrats look good.

I recall that when Pelosi was selected as Speaker of the House, she promised open debates and bi-partisan cooperation. Those never materialized. Her refusal to allow a debate and a vote shows that she's more interested in screwing the American people and her opponents. Small wonder recent polls show a 9% favorable rating for the do-nothing congress.

Don't be surprised if the Democrats lose big in November. It it does happen, the Democrats could only blame themselves. This is their election to lose and they seem to be on a course to do so. I say let them keep on fighting, they'll be tightening their own noose!