Chris Cillizza has an interesting column in the Washington Post today about the 10 Republicans to watch over the next few years. I’m sure that many will have issues with some he left off (hint: pit bulls and lipstick), but I think he does a good job rounding up the future of the party. Of course, there will always be those who rise to the fore rather quickly, but this is the current starting roster. Let the games begin.
Courtesy of The University Bookman.
Suggestions welcome (see comments).
Conservative blog: Sweetness & Light
Inside-the-Beltway blog: Politico’s “44″
Did you hear about the visiting professor of media studies who bragged on the Huffington Post about stealing McCain-Palin yard signs? Well, it looks as though the administration of St. Olaf College did not appreciate his brand of performance art, and actually pressured him to resign — which he has. At least, that’s his story. Given the current state of academia, this story (assuming it’s true) is just short of astonishing. I would have guessed that the sign-snatching would have clinched a tenure-track appointment for the fellow. (HT: Don Surber (also for my next post, above))
Fulminating and hand-wringing aside, it hasn’t been a stellar four years week for Conservatives. If you’re like me, you grit your teeth every time someone says the phrase “President Obama,” your gag reflex kicks in whenever Nancy Pelosi is on the TV, and the thought that countries like Cuba, Pakistan, and France are celebrating this moment is enough to give you a headache. Fear not, friends, Dr. Centinel may have a cure for you. (more…)
An apt description of what Megyn Kelly does to Obama spokesman Bill Burton in this video clip:
(h/t Newsbusters.org)
On Uncommon Knowledge — a new installment every day this week! The overall topic is Sowell’s distinction between the “constrained” and “unconstrained” views of human nature, especially as reflected in political activity. Especially if you haven’t read or heard Sowell on this topic before, you’re in for a treat.
The Obama Campaign has recently adopted a truly frightening tactic in Missouri. Obama’s campaign is assembling a group of sympathetic prosecutors and law enforcement agents to “target” anyone they think is lying or misleading the public about Obama and his positions. If this intimidation tactic didn’t smack of fascism by its very nature, the title of this group, The Barack Obama Truth Squad, should dispel any lingering doubts. You can watch a local news report about the group here.
The brazen nature of Obama’s ploy is amazing. There is only one reason why Obama would want to assemble a “Truth Squad” comprised solely of prosecutors and law enforcement agents: he wants to quash all dissent through naked intimidation. If all Obama wanted was volunteers to engage the public and challenge the assertions of the opposing candidate he could do so with anyone. But that is not what Obama wants. He wants people with a badge, gun, and/or the power to prosecute going after anyone that says something critical of of the Obamessiah. I find it amazing that liberals will go in to spasms of rage over supposed threats to civil liberties in The Patriot Act (a law designed to stop terrorists) yet have no problem with the “Truth Squad’s” attempt to crush political dissent.
At least the Governor of Missouri gets it. Read his statement here.
Talk about liberal fascism. Sieg Heil, Big Smile.
This is just thinking out loud again… One of the most interesting phenomena I’ve noticed during the Iraq Occupation has been the attitude of most liberals. Liberals are, like most modern conservatives, internationalists. They don’t oppose foreign military intervention per se. So why the ire over Iraq?
This isn’t a novel answer, I know, but I’ve come to conclude that it’s all about partisanship. You saw the same dynamic at work with the brief war in Kosovo during the Clinton Administration — many conservatives who would otherwise support the US exerting its power to stabilize Eastern Europe and end a humanitarian crisis suddenly started acting as if Clinton had gone off the reservation to play general. These same conservatives usually supported the Iraq War 100%.
Covering the period 1840-2008, courtesy of Voting America, a project of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond. You should, however, take the warning about long download times seriously.
It seems that Senator Biden knew Bob Casey, Jr. before he existed. (HT: Jonathan Adler at NRO).
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you….” (Jeremiah 1:5)
Just saw this on Lucieanne.com:
Barack Obama’s campaign responded sharply to a new McCain webad depicting Obama as a parody of a biblical prophet. “It’s downright sad that on a day when we learned that 51,000 Americans lost their jobs, a candidate for the presidency is spending all of his time and the powerful platform he has on these sorts of juvenile antics,” said spokesman Hari Sevugan. (Snip) The ad, released only on the Internet, is the latest in a series mocking the Democratic nominee.
C’mon, you don’t fight humor by sounding like the Church Chat Lady or Aunt Esther. You fight humor with humor. Here are some lines that I thought of on the way home from the gym today:
Rod Dreher has penned some good observations on the latest dust-up in the race contest for the presidency. You can read it here. I published these comments in the combox:
That’s the headline on Yahoo News. No comment.
This is a July 26 photo of me, my nephew Jordan Wiegand, and our pastor, Fr. Timothy Vaverek of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bellmead, Texas. This was taken following Jordan’s Confirmation and full reception into the Catholic Church. I was blessed to be his sponsor.
Jordan, a Navy veteran, is an engineering major and a student in Baylor’s Honors College. My wife, Frankie, and I are so proud of his accomplishments.
Jordan, the eldest son of my wife’s younger sister Lexi, is the second nephew for whom I served as a Confirmation sponsor. The first was Dean Beckwith, the eldest son of my younger brother Jim. Dean’s request that I be his sponsor for his May 13, 2007 Confirmation led to my April 29, 2007 public reception into the Catholic Church. (You can read about that here as well as in my forthcoming book, Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic). Here’s a photo of me, my wife, and our nephew Dean following his Confirmation last year:
“You Can Go Home Again” by Quin Hillyer.
“Individual Liberty and the Constitution” by Robert Bork, and the responses by Roger Pilon, Steve Calabresi, and Barry Friedman.
“Talking About Everything But What Matters” by Robert Samuelson.
“What onions teach us about oil prices” by Jon Birger.
Courtesy of George Weigel (from “God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church“):
Both democracy and the market unleash tremendous human energies; those energies must be disciplined and directed by virtues, if free politics and free economics are to lead to genuine human flourishing, rather than to exploitation and degradation.*
*p.48
Senator McCain has announced his support for offshore drilling. As I was driving home from my parents’ home this weekend, I noticed an SUV with the words “Start Drilling Now” written on the back windshield with shoe polish. I suspect that is a sentiment shared by many.
Senator - You advocate increasing taxes on oil companies. What would be the economic impact of your proposal on the various pension plans and individual investors who either purchased shares or have an interest in mutual funds who have purchased shares in these companies? What would be the cost of your proposal in terms of the loss of the value of the stock and/or a decrease in dividends? How is this going to lower gasoline prices? If the proposal doesn’t lower prices and it decreases the income/assets of many Americans, how is it going to help?
Dig this. (Hat tip to K-Lo.)
Apparently Sen. Obama believes that the amount we eat, the cars we drive, and the temperatures of our homes require international consensus.
At a rally in Roseburg, Oregon Sen. Obama said the following:
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”
So, the amount I eat, the temperature of my house, and the car I drive requires approval from other countries?
This guy is really starting to creep me out. (Hat tip to Yuval Levin at The Corner)
[Ed. This is a post from my "Alexham" archives over at RedState. I am reposting it here because I believe the overall message of the post needs to be restated before we gather together for the national convention in September.]
I can still remember the day after the 1994 midterm elections. It was an unusually sunny day in the Southland, and all seemed right with the world. After all of those years in the wilderness, the Republicans had finally taken control of the House, and soon thereafter, the Senate. We would do things differently, we promised. We were a different kind of political party. Unlike the Democrats, who only care for power for power’s sake, we sought power to make a profound difference in the lives of every-day Americans.
How different things look thirteen years later. Somewhere along the line, we lost our way. I think most Republicans instinctively know this, but have trouble articulating exactly when things began to unravel for our party. What we do know is that the Republican Party is at crossroads. We are a party in search of an identity, and the path we choose will have long-term ramifications not only for the GOP, but for these United States. (more…)
How many times have you heard some toad-licking agrarian socialist of the modern day refer to FOX News as “propaganda” or “biased” and then pirouette and insist that CNN or CBS News is a bastion of objectivity?
They’ve voted out one of the penumbra lovers Governor Doyle appointed to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and elected a judicial conservative.
Congrats, Justice Gableman!
One of the best political ads I’ve seen in a long time.
And yes, as you can tell from the button on SA’s sidebar, I am supporting Senator McCain for president now. I do so even though he and I have serious differences on issues that are extremely important to me (e.g., embryonic stem cell research). I’ll go into greater detail in the near future, but suffice it to say that my differences with Senator McCain are slight in comparison to those I have with Senators Clinton and Obama.
For those of you still checking SA on occasion, I thought I would let y’all know that I will be supporting Governor Mike Huckabee for president of the United States. Many of you have asked who I planned to back by way of email, so I thought I would post something here as well. My reason for doing so is all but obvious to long-time SA readers: Huckabee is, far and away, the most eloquent spokesperson for a “Culture of Life” in this race.
And for those of you who live in Georgia, please contact me if you’re interested in getting involved in the campaign. I will be serving on the executive committee of Georgians for Huckabee, as his chairman here in the Eighth Congressional District, and as the focus-group coordinator. Bottom line: If you want to be involved here in Georgia, I can get you plugged into the campaign fairly quickly.
I hope all of y’all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Update: I recently appeared on the local CBS affiliate to discuss Governor Huckabee’s candidacy, which you can view here.
Update II: Be sure to check out Governor Huckabee’s excellent issue statement on judges (drafted by yours truly).
That is the new title of my forthcoming book that will be published in 2007 by Cambridge University Press. It just appeared on Amazon.com here. According to the Leiter Law Rankings, Cambridge is one of the six leading academic presses. It is ranked number one by political scientists and is considered one of the top two publishers in philosophy. Because this book overlaps the fields of law, political science, and philosophy, I am deeply gratified with the forthcoming publication of this book.
I’m in Atlanta for Thanksgiving, preparing to eat as though I’ve been deprived of food for some time. While perusing today’s AJC, I noticed that former Ala. Chief Justice Roy Moore has an op-ed providing the reasons why the GOP lost in the recent elections. Enjoy.
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