Single Moms And Crime In The Nation's Capital.

From The Washington Examiner:

The section of D.C. across the Anacostia River is home to the biggest percentage of single-parent households, with 65 percent of family households run by women and 9 percent run by men. The remaining one-quarter of the roughly 32,000 family households are run by married couples, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2010/12/dc-home-most-single-parent-households#ixzz19Q5qNtxX

The "area across the Anacostia River" is the 6th and 7th Police Districts in DC. Look at the homicide rate in those areas compared to the rest of the city:

2009:
7th District: 42
6th District: 33
Citywide: 143
http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,543315.asp

So that area was the scene for over half of the city's murders despite having well less than half of the city's population. Where were the other half committed?

Other areas in which more than half of families are run by single parents include the remainder of Southeast D.C. and most of Northeast D.C.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2010/12/dc-home-most-single-parent-households#ixzz19QAXSSi6

Those areas are the 1st, 4th and 5th Police Districts. Let us look at their homicide rates:

2009:
1st District: 9
4th District: 17
5th District: 25
http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,545926,mpdcNav_GID,1538.asp

All together the homicide totals for the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Police Districts for 2009 were 126.

126 of the 143 total were committed in the land of the single mom.

The other two areas, (which according to the Washington Examiner article do not have a majority single-parent households) only saw 17 of the 143 total murders.


Off-topic but "of-note:"

Notably, the 3rd District is "Downtown DC" which is not very residential and so it can likely be assumed that a substantial number of the murders there were committed by "non-residents."

The 2nd District contains a lot of the yuppies and gentrification that people like DC Mayor-Elect Vince Gray love to vilify. No murders were committed in the 2nd District in 2009. None.

Heard It Through The GRAPEVINE:

Rep. Mike Pence has officially begun shopping around and making offers to consulting firms and possibly staff for a run at higher office in 2012.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Interesting Thoughts On Lincoln...

...From The Flyover Libertarian. I am not certain that the comparison is sound, but provoking none-the-less:

...Slobodan Milošević killed 130,000 people to preserve the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and he was arrested as a war criminal, dying in jail.

Yet, Abraham Lincoln killed 600,000 people to preserve the territorial integrity of the United States, but a Greek temple was built in his honor and his portrait was placed on America's most common coin. http://flyoverlibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/american-tyrant.html

Let Me Get This Straight, Again...

So they are calling for him to resign because he gave accurate advice for people traveling to an extremely Muslim country?  If they are mad, they should be mad at Qatar. Qatar made the law. But of course liberal gay rights activists can't be made at "the religion of peace."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/dec/14/fifa-boss-gay-fans-no-sex 

 

 

 

1997 All Over Again?

Republican leaders have been quick to say they will try to avoid the mistakes of 1994/1995. Maybe that is because they think it is 1997. Eric Cantor is throwing a "Festivus" fundraiser this month that would have been avant guarde back then:

Politicians never fail to come up with creative ways to host fundraisers,
and Rep. Eric Cantor is no exception. The Virginia Republican is taking a move from the “Seinfeld” playbook and hosting a “Festivus Reception” this Wednesday at Washington, D.C.’s Ceiba restaurant. http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1012/cantor_hosts_festivus_fundraiser.html

Let Me Get This Straight...

This man:

Needs this guy:

To protect him from this guy?:

More Rules! More Regulations!

What A Game...

What We Need.

We need more service-minded people, more students should join the Peace Corps, we need more social workers, more volunteers, more soldiers, more public servants.

We need more people who want to help others and are not just interested in making a buck.

Forbes #42: Steve Jobs
http://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-jobs

IPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/nyregion/31owen.html

Quasi-Conspiracy Theory Of The Day.

The word bureaucracy is tough to spell. It is French in origin and runs against the grain of English spelling patterns. However, most automatic spell checkers do not offer “bureaucracy” as an alternative to miss-spelled versions of the word.

For instance, in Microsoft Word, “bureacracy” did return bureaucracy as a suggested fix, but “burocracy” and “beauracracy” did not.

In a pinch, or in a hurry, many users of programs like Microsoft Word or WordPress or Blogger.Com may just skip using the word when they realize they have miss-spelled it but can not get a good suggestion to fix it. (Obviously this is indicative of an ever increasing culture of lazy, but that is a different discussion for a different day.)

The term bureaucracy is also very rarely used in anything but a negative way. (The exception being history students writing about the actual, original French bureaucracy.) Usually the word is used to criticize big government. Are the liberals at Google and Microsoft trying to censor us?

This Is Why You Can't Have Everyone In A Debate.

See Some Similarities?

Compare:



with:

Smackdown: Wrestling CEO Shines In Debate.

One of the best moments of the 2010 election cycle thus far came in the Conneticut Senate debate.

Democrat Dick Blumenthal was spouting out non-sense liberal economic talking-points all night. With a straight face he said government needed to "protect" workers and jobs from big businesses that would "ship them overseas." Republican Linda McMahon, CEO of the WWE wrestling empire, calls him out on it.

Hero!

Journalism?

The New York Times printed an "op-chart" today. That is an "opinion chart." The subject: Health Care Reform. The author (illustrator?...designer?): A Yale professor. The chart is structured like a report card on various groups' actions and reactions to health care reform and of course Republicans receive an "F."

So the NYT has now taken to printing opinion-based report cards failing their political adversaries. Hard and professional journalism at its finest.

Thought For The Day.

After Bill Clinton's presidency, past personal scandals were no longer de-facto fatal to one's political ambitions. After Barack Obama's election, outragous past employment (community organizer) and affiliations (Rev. Wright) are seemingly not either.

If all of the accusations against Christine O'Donnell are true (which still remains to be seen), this may help explain why she still won the primary and can win the general.

On Delaware...

For those of you interested in the aftermath of the Delaware Senate primary, check out this tidbit about Rep. Mike Castle:
http://geoffonpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/more-on-why-mike-castle-lost/

As we have said before, this will be a good year for conservatives, but not moderate, milquetoast, afraid-to-be-a-real-Republican RINOs. And as the above link demonstrates, that is exactly what Castle is.

Big Government At Its Worst.

Even taking the officer’s story at face value, there was no need to discharge a firearm in this situation. Moreover, it is especially ironic that this happened in a city that consistently and blindly votes for increased government power.

Police fatally shoot dog at Adams Morgan festival.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/12/AR2010091203938.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Why Did Police Shoot a Dog in Adams Morgan?
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/09/13/why-did-police-shoot-a-dog-in-adams-morgan/

Obama’s Army: Defining Fitness Down.

The Army has started a new, less intense basic training program:

“The new fitness regime tries to deal with all these problems by incorporating more stretching, more exercises for the abdomen and lower back, instead of the traditional situps, and more agility and balance training.There are fewer situps, different kinds of push-ups and fewer long runs, which Army officials say are good for building strength and endurance but often lead to injuries. They also do not necessarily prepare soldiers for carrying heavy packs or sprinting short distances."

The big question remains: Was the motivation behind this actually the safety and proper preparation of soldiers or rather a grand social experiment to boost the recruitment and promotion of women?

Like A Hipster In A Che' Shirt...

From the New York Times:

“…bankers, hedge fund mangers and traders supported the Obama candidacy because he appealed to their egos. Mr. Obama was viewed as a member of the elite, an Ivy League graduate (Columbia, class of ’83, the same as Mr. Loeb), president of The Harvard Law Review — he was supposed to be just like them. President Obama was the “intelligent” choice, the same way they felt about themselves. They say that they knew he would seek higher taxes and tighter regulation; that was O.K. What they say they did not realize was that they were going to be painted as villains." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/business/31sorkin.html?ref=politics

Why Is This A Surprise?

Why would sharing be a problem? They have been free-riding off of the U.S. for years.

Britain and France are preparing to reveal unprecedented plans to share the use of their aircraft carriers in a controversial step to maintain military power in an era of cost cutting. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3118476/UK-and-France-tobr-share-aircraft-carriers.html

Nothing About This Is Unreasonable.

Nothing about Ron Paul’s assertion in the following article is wild or unreasonable. "Trust but verify" is common sense and was the mantra of President Reagan. It is too bad that Paul will likely not be taken seriously.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he plans to introduce legislation next year to force an audit of U.S. holdings of gold. Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve and U.S. monetary policy, said he believes it's "a possibility" that there might not actually be any gold in the vaults of Fort Knox or the New York Federal Reserve bank.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/116341-ron-paul-plans-bill-to-audit-us-gold-reserves

Newsflash: Liberals Prefer Moderate Republicans.

In answer to a question about his favorite joke, well known liberal writer Markos Moulitsas replied “I've got three: Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Ken Buck.”

Engle, Paul and Buck along with Joe Miller and to a lesser extent Marco Rubio and Mike Lee are not typical GOP Senate candidates. If elected (and it appears as if a majority of them, if not all of them, will be elected) they will likely not be typical GOP Senators. In short, they appear to be the type of proud conservative that is easily found in state legislatures, and is not uncommon in the House, but is rarely part of the United States Senate.

The left is maligning this group because they are afraid of them. The left understands what it will mean if there is a true conservative caucus inside the Senate instead of just the often loan voice of Jim DeMint. Accordingly, when fellow Republicans question the wisdom of nominating conservatives over “more electable” moderates, realize they have been had by the narrative of the scared left.

The Left Never Fails To Entertain.

Today, Politico featured a lifestyle interview with a top Nancy Pelosi aide, Stacy Kerr:

Kerr and her husband, C.R. Wooters, the director of member services for Rep. Chris Van Hollen, loved the Palisades so much that when they decided to move again two years ago they stayed in the area, deciding on a federal style home with navy shutters right near their first place.

OF COURSE, she is married to a guy with a different last name, who only goes by his initials. He sounds like a model of masculinity.

During the week, since they work long hours, there’s a lot of takeout consumed. “Most nights during the week this is where the takeout bag goes,” Kerr said, pointing to the countertop in their recently remodeled kitchen.

And surprise, surprise...this busy, classy “career woman” does not cook. We can be sure that theirs is a marriage of equality, full of platonic mutual respect and long, challenging conversations.

Oh, you silly liberals.

Race In America.

For years now, the left has divisively used race and gender as wedge issues in campaigns and falsely cried “bigot!” as a cheap shot at political opponents. But over the past year (especially with the advent of the tea party movement, which just seems to drive many liberals off of the cliff of sanity) things have really heated up and such claims from the left have grown even more hyperbolic and bombastic.

Accordingly, conservatives appear to have a rapidly dwindling patience for and acceptance of these shenanigans. In the course of just a week this month, National Review Online lead with the following headlines:

“Race Card Payment Coming Due”
August 13, National Review Online

“Everyone a Bigot?”
August 12, National Review Online

“Black Murders Eight Whites; Media Blame Whites”
August 10, National Review Online

Tuesday Preview.

For some interesting thoughts on Tuesday's primary battles in Florida, check out: http://geoffonpolitics.wordpress.com

Politico Shows Its True Colors

Politico proclaimed this morning that Tuesday's primary election results were somehow "good news" for Democrats nationwide. They focused mainly on the Colorado Senate race.

In Colorado, moderate incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet stayed off a liberal challenger in his primary, while tea party backed conservative Ken Buck beat a moderate GOP establishment favorite in his.

Politico was quick to pick up the theme that conservatives and tea party backed candidates will not fair well in general elections, yet the polling says just the opposite: Buck fairs slightly better in general election polling than his vanquished RINO primary opponent did. In the last poll to include both GOP hopefuls against Bennet, Buck polled nearly 3 points better.

The take away point is this: What many in the media and on the left don't see is that despite whatever flaws or rough edges candidates like Ken Buck, Sharron Angle and Rand Paul have they are far less of a liability on election day than boring establishment moderates who will put their base to sleep instead of driving them to the polls. (Think John McCain.)

Furthermore, the Colorado results support our contention that this year is a conservative year and not an "anti-incumbent year" as many on the left have tried to spin it.

Who Knows Best?

Read the following two articles and take a moment to think about the real purpose of public health codes (…along with the criminal and civil penalties and other barriers to honest business that come along with them.)

Dying To Smoke In A Bar In Maryland: There’s always FedEx Field.

and:

Lemonade stands get reprieve: Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen apologizes for health inspection shutdown

Wouldn’t the civil system take care of public health enough on its own?

Only Rinos Can Bring About A Duck.

A recent worry among beltway Republicans has been that Democrats will be sore losers after November's midterm elections and ram through radical legislation in a lame duck session before the next congress starts in January. Politico covered the topic today:

As Congress heads home for August, Republicans and conservative activists have a new rallying cry to energize voters: Fear the Lame Duck! With dark warnings, GOP members of Congress and right-wing media figures are suggesting that the Democratic majority could usea post-election session of Congress to jam through tax increases, cap and trade, immigration reform and legislation making it easier for unions to organize workers. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40571.html#ixzz0vZxbmnX9

But remember, Republicans have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster anything. Any substantive bill during a lame duck session should be filibustered on principle alone. The liberal New England and Great Lake Republicans have no excuse not to go along with a filibuster under this circumstance. The Republican establishment needs to make it clear to Susan Collins, Olympia Snow and their ilk that they will be politico-non-grata if they allow a substantive bill to pass in the lame duck session.

Something Different.

Sometimes Democrats do get it right. It is rare that Rep. Barney Frank says something rationale or thoughtful, but his recent remarks on legislation to legalize online gambling are drastically better than those of his Republican counterparts:

“Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who leads the Financial Services Committee, has been the legislation’s champion.

“Some adults will spend their money foolishly, but it is not the purpose of the federal government to prevent them legally from doing it,” Mr. Frank said...

…Opponents, who only four years ago, when Congress was controlled by the Republicans, secured a law that banned the use of credit and debit cards to pay online casinos, said they were aghast. “People sometimes resort to drastic things when they are strapped for cash,” said Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, who called the new proposals “unfathomable.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/politics/29gamble.html

Sometimes Life And "The Onion" Are Too Close For Comfort.

Compare:

The Onion

with

Democrats in Congress.

An Important Point Of Legalese.

Ed Whelan at The National Review put it as good as anyone can, so we will not add much, but the subtle point covered in this article is an important one. The difference between thoughtful, conservative judicial restraint and devil-may-care liberal activism is noteworthy.

The article is also telling of how Senator Lindsey Graham is not a conservative.

Alvin Greene Talks About His "Friend" Who Has This Problem.

For our 100th post we will take a look at everyone's favorite Democrat from South Carolina. Senate Candidate Alvin Greene, who shocked the nation by winning a state wide primary without campaigning last month, made his first public speech yesterday. He took the time to talk about his "friend" who was having legal troubles:

"In the midst of talking about jobs and education, Greene suddenly departed and started talking about someone he knew who was having a legal problem.

Greene is currently facing an obscenity charge for allegedly showing pornography on a computer to a college coed.

Greene said he had a friend who should have qualified for a pre-trial diversion program but did not.

"That same guy's trial was supposed to be last week but it was put off," he said, before reverting back to talking about jobs and education.

Greene was supposed to be in court last week on the obscenity charge but the court date was continued." http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/SC-Mystery-Candidate-Alvin-Greene-Speaks-to-Hometown-Crowd-98715669.html

(Possibly) The Biggest Election This Year.

November promises to bring much excitement for political types, especially those with small-government and conservative leanings. However, the vote that could very well have the biggest and longest lasting impact on American society is a ballot proposal in California: Proposition 19.

Proposition 19 would legalize the possession of marijuana for adult, non-medicinal and recreational use and (…this is the big part) allow localities to regulate and tax marijuana. Cities such as Oakland have already made plans to license facilitates for the creation of everything from marijuana laced brownies to spa products.

If Proposition 19 passes it will force the federal government to adapt accordingly either by A) creatively tweaking their enforcement scheme and interpretation of the existing federal prohibition of marijuana to allow for California's newly legalized activities or B) ramping up enforcement and in doing so effectively negating the voters of California. We can not imagine what serious politician would actually choose option B), especially in this political climate. Neither the Obama throngs of 2008 nor the tea partiers are very likely to have much interest in devoting more resources to a federal war on marijuana.

American Politics At Its Best.

Below we watch Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee fail Geography 101. This goes to show that if you have the "right constituents," truly anyone can make it to Congress:



Seriously though, it is sad that Rep. Bob Etheridge's impolite and boneheaded, but essentially harmless confrontation with a student was considered a scandal (that may even bring down Mr. Etheridge), but there will likely be little or no negative fallout for Ms. Jackson Lee.

The “Other’ Big Races.

With high profile congressional battles topping the headlines this election cycle, there has been relatively little reporting on the long list of races for state executive offices.  Or more specifically, on the massive nationwide gubernatorial power shift that may occur in November. 

 

Currently, there are 24 Republican Governors and 26 Democrats.  According, to the latest numbers from Real Clear Politics, that could easily shift to as high as 36 Republicans and as a few as 13 Democrats this cycle.  Such a shift would dwarf the gains expected to be made by Republicans on Capitol Hill. 

Irony...

...is David Brooks and the New York Times trying to act as if they are objective observers to the matter at hand in this article.

LeBronomics.

Tax competition between the states has often been cited as a decision making factor for high paid professional athletes.  It appears this may be the case once again with LeBron James.  

 

 

No Sanctuary In Arizona.

The United States' lawsuit against the Arizona immigration law is based upon the concept of federal preemption: That certain matters such as immigration or foreign relations are inherently the domain of the federal government and not the states. While it is true that the Constitution grants the federal government certain powers related to immigration, it does not goes as far as to completely ban states from operating in this domain. The best cases-in-point are so called "sanctuary cities." Such cities generally operate under different standards regarding immigration than the federal government. Though the situation varies from city to city, the federal rules are generally not enforced or under-enforced by sanctuary city governments. The Obama Justice Department has done virtually nothing to stop this practice. By contract, the Arizona law now under attack simply bolsters the enforcement of existing federal rules.

Question Of The Day?

If Hillary Clinton had not accepted a post in Obama's Cabinet, would she now be considering a primary challenge given the President's sinking numbers?

Another Reason To Look Forward to Obamacare.

This CNN story about patients being exposed to infectious diseases at Veterans' hospitals deserves attention for two reasons.  First, as foreshadowing to government controlled healthcare.  Second, due to the absolutely poor quality of the article itself, which does not fully articulate how exactly anyone was put at risk.   The article merely describes an extra step of cleaning.  If something was skipped or left out of the cleaning process, CNN does not make that clear. 

 

 

An Interesting Horizon.

The next Senate should be like none other before.

We will talk about some of the more conservative and libertarian possible new comers in the future, but today we focus on the man who will most likely be the next Senator from Delaware: Mike Castle.

Castle is a Republican House Member and seems poised to fill Joe Biden's old seat. Up until now he had come across as a run-of-the-mill mid-Atlantic Republican. But then he became one of only two Republicans to cross party lines on the shameful and corrupt "Disclosure" campaign finance bill. Gaining a Senate seat anywhere, especially in Delaware, is a big win for the GOP. It is just too bad that Castle does not have more of a backbone.

One Thing Is Certain About The Bank Bill: Uncertainty.

"Empty Fritos bags and plastic Diet Coke bottles littered the room, along with reams of paper -- old amendments, new amendments, handwritten amendments, amendments to amendments."

-The Washington Post, June 25, 2010.

GraysonGate

As we previously wrote about back in April, there is something suspicious going on with the registered Florida "Tea Party" political party.  The political party was formed almost a year ago and at that time claimed it was planning on challenging big government, entrenched Republicans in the Florida legislature.  Instead, the first candidate fielded was a challenger to Democratic U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson.  Soon links between the Tea Party political party and Grayson started to emerge and many suspected that the real purpose of the Tea Party was to dilute conservative votes. 

 

The Orlando CBS affiliate recently blew the story wide open. It would appear that Grayson has enlisted the help of a few disgruntled conservative gadflies to do his bidding against the GOP.

 

However, there is more to this issue.  If Grayson is indeed involved, is this legal?  In the very least it would appear that he is spending money in support of his election without adhering to McCain-Feingold disclosure rules.  

 

 

 

White House Humor Underscores Their Own Incompetence.

Today a White House spokesperson joked that BP CEO Tony Hayward, who was seen yachting over the weekend, should "put a skimmer on that yacht and bring it down to the Gulf, we'd be happy to have his help." But there is one big problem: Obama's refusal (due to pressure from Big Labor) to suspend or waive the "Jones Act" would make it illegal for the British CEO's boat to work in the Gulf:

Five years ago, in the midst of another crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act, easing the way for foreign vessels to move in U.S. waters and between ports. The decision came with the administration under duress for its handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Today the Obama administration faces a different set of challenges with the Gulf oil spill cleanup. But unlike his predecessor, President Obama has declined to suspend the law, even temporarily.Obama's decision has turned into a public relations headache for an administration already reeling from its oversight of the oil spill. European allies, longtime opponents of the Jones Act, have asserted they were turned away when making offers of assistance. The State Department acknowledges it has had 21 aid offers from 17 countries. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/21/robert-bluey-gulf-spill-katrina-jones-act-waive-obama/

Question For The Night.

The White House has used "making those in the gulf whole again" as the theme in promoting attacks against BP, including the forced creation of a $20 billion escrow account.

Regardless of BP's culpability or your own feelings on the spill as a whole: Does anyone actually think that this fund will end up going to people in the gulf? Is there anyone who doesn't see this as a political ploy at best and precedent for future, similar revenue raisers at worst?

On The NRA And Campaign Finance

Recently, the NRA made a deal with the Dems to exempt themselves from the new campaign finance bill. As a result, the NRA agreed not to oppose the liberal bill. As it stands, this deal may fall through due to other pressures from the left, but the right has also revolted against the NRA's unprincipled stance. In years gone by such a move would have avoided scrutiny from rank and file Republicans. This year, it has not. This is a testament to the revival of true conservatism this year.

DC Candidate: "This City Owes You!"

This is an "interesting" perspective on the role of government:

North Korea V. Intellectual Property Rights

An interesting read from the Wall Street Journal about North Korea's illegal use of FIFA broadcasts and censorship of their own national team's games.

A Reason To Like The World Cup.

Over-the-top political correctness has stricken the U.K. in recent years even worse than it has the U.S.  One symptom has been an all out attack on English national pride.  Over there, it is apparently fine to celebrate the U.K. (the political state as a whole, comprised of England, Scotland, Whales and Northern Ireland) or even Great Britain (the island home to England, Scotland and Whales) but not England. 

 

In fact, the city of London reportedly spends up to a £100,000 on other national and group pride days, including St. Patrick's Day, but in recent years has tried to downplay St. George's Day.  The English national St. George's flag has become something of a controversial issue as well. 

 

Yet for the next month it will not be the U.K or Great Britain competing in South Africa, but rather it will be England.  And during this time, English pride will be at full force.  In fact, a recent article in the Fulham Chronicle featured a Member of Parliament coming to the support of a group of renters whose landlord had barred them from flying the St. George's flag during the World Cup.  This sort of story usually only comes out of the U.S. 

Biggest Race Today: Nevada.

Today is a super-Tuesday of sorts, and the most notable race of the day will be the Nevada Republican Senate primary. Arkansas also has a close Democratic Senate run-off, but the winner of that is very likely to lose in November. In California, Republicans still appear to have an outside chance in both the November Senate and Governor's race, but the primaries are growing ever uncompetitive.

It is only in Nevada that there is a close primary race today and the chance of a competitive race in November.

Politico describes the Nevada race as follows:

For most of the election cycle, the conventional wisdom has been that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is toast in November. His polling has been awful, it’s a tough year to run as a Democrat, and he just can’t seem to get any traction back home.

His saving grace, all along, has been the weakness of the GOP field. Now, as Reid has show some signs of life in the polls — he raised eyebrows recently simply by having a slight lead in some matchups — the prospect of former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle emerging as the GOP nominee is providing another burst of enthusiasm among his supporters.

Democrats see Angle, who has surged to the lead in recent polls, as fatally flawed — the weakest candidate in a GOP field that includes former state party Chairwoman Sue Lowden and businessman Danny Tarkanian and one whose views aren’t well-suited for a general election or for the onslaught of spending that Reid will release.

If Angle indeed emerges as the winner, look for an immediate pivot to the general. And if it doesn’t happen quickly, Reid will be poised for one of the all-time political comebacks.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38238_Page2.html#ixzz0qG48JnoP

The Strasburg Bandwagon

Today's Politico features a front page story on new Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg.  As one may imagine, Politico is a political paper.  It does not have a sports section or regular coverage of sporting events, even ones in the DC area.  To our knowledge this is the first purely sports story to make the cover…ever.  This goes to show the buzz that the new pitcher is getting in the nation's capital.

 

Back In The Old 1990's

We stumbled across this CNN.com article from 1998 written in the wake of the Drudge Report’s breaking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The whole thing is a fascinating read in a time capsule sort of way, but the most ironic part has to be the following:

"The case for Drudge," he writes in TIME, "is that there ought to be a middle ground between the highest standards and none at all. And the Internet, which can be sort of halfway between a private conversation and formal publication, is a good place for that middle ground. The middle ground, of course, should be acknowledged as such ... People should understand that the information they get this way is middling quality -- better than what their neighbor heard at the dry cleaner's but not as good as The New York Times." http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/30/pandora.web/

Quick Thought Of The Day.

The basic, primary issue in the Blagojevich trial is not all that different than the Sestak scandal: Government officials using their power to trade jobs for political favors. So it is odd that Democrats had no qualms about demonizing Blago last year, but tried to downplay and excuse the Sestak situation before all the specifics were even known.

Another Tea Party Challenger Shows That This Is A Conservative Leaning Year.

In Alabama's 2nd District, Martha Roby had been a heavy, heavy establishment favorite when she was challenged from the right by tea party activist Rick Barber. She failed to avoid a runoff on Tuesday. See: http://tiny.cc/ntbrp

Well Played, Epic Alabama Edition.

We had planned on reviewing campaign ads on days following elections but this upcoming Tuesday's Alabama primary has produced such classic ads that we decided to jump the gun.

First, Tim James a Republican candidate for Governor with a straight shooting ad about English:



Next, Les Phillips, who is challenging conservative-Democrat-turned-Republican Congressman Parker Griffith in the GOP Primary, is not afraid to touch on racial issues:



And finally, the now famous Alabama Ag. Commissioner ad from Dale Peterson:

The Media At Its Classiest.

Back in January, David Shuster (then with MSNBC) wrote the following on his twitter account, directed at famed ACORN filmmaker James O’Keefe who was detained at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office:

a) you are not a journalist b) the truth is you intended to tap her phones c) it's a felony d) you will go to prison.

oh, and did I mention that your tweet will help prosecutors prove intent? Keep at it, young man. I'm enjoying this a lot.

This week things look a little different.

a) Shuster is no longer a journalist b) O’Keefe ended his legal woes by pleading out to a minor offense that had nothing to do with taping phones c) it was not a felony d) O’Keefe will not go to prison but will make more movies.

A Fun One To Watch.

California holds its Republican Senate Primary on June 8^th. The winner will take on Senator Barbara Boxer in the fall for what some analyst see as a potential fifty-first, majority-making seat for Republicans. The primary race is also notable for another reason: Some of the strangest poll numbers this cycle, with double digit swings in both directions.

Poll	Date	Sample	Fiorina (R)	Campbell (R)	DeVore (R)	Spread
PPP (D)	5/21 - 5/23	417 LV	41	21	16	Fiorina +20
SurveyUSA	5/21 - 5/23	612 LV	46	23	14	Fiorina +23
R2000/Daily Kos (D)	5/17 - 5/19	400 LV	22	37	14	Campbell +15
PPIC	5/9 - 5/16	411 LV	25	23	16	Fiorina +2
M4 Strategies (R)	5/12 - 5/16	600 LV	28	33	15	Campbell +5

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/ca/california_senate_republican_primary-1120.html

On The Sestak Scandal.

The Joe Sestak-White House scandal is worth following because it is destined to end in one of two dramatic ways:

1. If Sestak was offered a position in exchange for dropping out of the primary race, this would constitute tampering with an election, bribery and a number of other federal and state crimes. In this case, some one at the White House is in deep trouble. It could go very high up. With a Republican AG in office in both Pennsylvania and in Virginia (Sestak's DC metro residence), this could become a story-of-the-decade type deal.

2. If Sestak was not offered a position, or it was not linked to dropping out of the primary race, then Sestak repeatedly lied about serious accusations against the White House on the primary campaign trail. How could the White House continue to publicly support him for the remainder of the 2010 cycle with a straight face? Answer: They probably couldn't.

World Cup Countdown!

This year's World Cup promises to produce some political-correctness fueled white lies by the media concerning the host nation of South Africa. Things are actually pretty bad there. You can bet that you will not read anything like this in American papers. (H/T: Citizen Renegade)

Politics Vs. Policy.

We have been watching the Rand Paul/Rachel Maddow/Civil Rights Act drama unfold over the past week. For those who have not been paying attention: Paul accepted an interview with Rachel Maddow last Wednesday following his primary victory and was subsequently baited into a conversation about the 1964 Civil Rights Act (the law which outlaws racial discrimination in public places). Paul said that he thought the Act went outside of Congress’s constitutional authority by forbidding discrimination even in privately owned businesses. Basically, Paul argued that stopping the government from discriminating was a legitimate power of Congress, but that stopping private entities from doing so was not. Paul went on to make a comparison to gun rights: He argued that the government should never restrict gun possession, but that if a private business wants to forbid weapons on their property, then they should be allowed to do so.

Our thoughts:

First, this was political amateur hour on Rand Paul’s part. He really messed up by both going on a national, liberal TV show and by playing it straight when he answered that question. Polls released right after the primary showed him with a huge lead over his Democratic opponent. He could probably have taken a Caribbean vacation for the next several months and rolled to victory. The one singular thing he can not afford to do is a have a series of foot-in-the-mouth, over intellectual gaffes like this. Even with a victory in November (which is still very likely), he will have marginalized himself among fellow Republicans. Politics is about more than just winning elections. You need friends to get things done once in office.

Second, from an intellectual and policy perspective everything that Paul said was absolutely correct. Paul, of course, was not at all supporting or condoning racism in any way. He was merely saying that the government should not dictate social conduct standards to private businesses. Or in simpler terms: “let jerks be jerks.” This hands-off approach to governing is exactly what more Republicans need to adopt.

Rand Paul has shown that he “gets” policy. Let us hope he gains a better understanding of politics very quickly.

Pac-Man 2010.

Google celebrates Pac-Man's 30th birthday with a playable Pac-Man game inside the Google logo on their homepage. It was a different world in 1980 when this game first came out and Ronald Reagan took the White House.

Well Played, A Series.

Today we launch a new series for the rest of 2010: Following each major primary election day we will analyze the results and examine the candidates' video ad campaigns. We will crown a winning ad and a runner-up based not only on quality but also how things turned out at the polls.

The runner-up for Tuesday, May 18 is "The Switch" from newly minted Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Nominee Joe Sestak:



And the win goes to..."Honor" from newly minted Kentucky Republican Senate Nominee Rand Paul.

But we need to give you some background on this ad. First, Paul's Republican primary opponent Trey Grayson launched a website called "RandPaulStrangeIdeas.Com." Then Grayson put out a series of poorly conceived web and TV ads, including the following, which seems to scoff at the mere thought of Paul being able to win:



Paul responded directly with our vote for the best of Tuesday's video ads. If we were an undecided Kentucky Republican, watching the juvenile and condescending video from Grayson combined with the following response (especially the last 10 seconds) would probably sway us into Paul's camp:

(Edit: The Paul "Honor" video was removed by his campaign following the election and does not seem to be available anywhere. In short, Paul spoke directly to Grayson and said that the previous ads were "a lie" and "dishonored" Grayson.)

More On "Anti-Incumbency."

Sean Trende over at Real Clear Politics published an article this morning entitled 2010: Anti-Incumbent, Anti-Liberal or Anti-Democrat? It goes along with our contention that 2010 is not simply an "anti-incumbent" year.

Trende accurately notes that "anti-incumbency" is the story line currently being pitched by the Democrats...just as Republicans did in 2006. He goes on:

Nevertheless, I don't think it is likely that this will be a generalized anti-incumbent election. The reason is pretty simple: We don't have "anti-incumbent" elections in this country. Stu Rothenberg noted in 2006 that the closest we've come in the past fifty years to a generalized anti-incumbent election was 1990, when six Democrats and nine Republicans lost in the general election, and in 1978, when 14 Democrats and five Republicans were defeated that November.

Finally, he concludes:

The historical record provides no support for 2010 being a generalized anti-incumbent year; the elections to date this cycle in major statewide races certainly don’t support this scenario either. The real question is whether moderate or conservative Democrats who oppose the Beltway Democratic agenda will be given cover from angry voters, or whether the electorate will thoroughly clean house this fall. That’s where the difference between a bad Democratic year and a debacle of historic proportions can be found.

An Interesting Mix.

There is a line of pop culture thought that says the Baby Boomers are a generation of narcissists and that Gen X is full of nihilist.

So what happens when you combine the two? What about those rare few born on the border, who embody aspects of both generations? Well, Bret Easton Ellis wrote a book on the topic.

Additionally, with a 1961 birth, the President falls into that transitional category. Which begs the question...Is Patrick Bateman that much different than Barack Obama?

Tuesday Preview.

Tuesday will be the biggest primary election day of the year thus far. Arkansas, Pennyslvania and Kentucky all have Senate primary contests:

In Arkansas, Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln will defend her seat against a leftist primary challenger, Bill Halter. Also in Arkansas, Republican Congressman John Boozman is set to finish off some light competition for his party’s Senate nomination. Lincoln's seat looks likes a likely turnover in favor of the Republicans in the fall, regardless of the results on Tuesday.

In Pennyslvania, Republican-turned-Democrat Senator Arlen Specter will defend his seat in a primary against Congressman Joe Sestak, who had planned to run for the seat before Specter’s party switch. Notably, Specter is the only Senator to have been endorsed by both President Bush and Obama (in different elections.) Former Congressman Pat Toomey is the lone Republican running for Specter's seat and he also had planned to challenge Specter (...in the Republican primary) before the party switch.

In Kentucky, doctor Rand Paul looks to finish off his upset of early establishment favorite Trey Grayson. Also in Kentucky, two Democrats are in a tight contest for the right to be in the Senate general election, which the Republicans seem certain to win.

But the most notable race on Tuesday is a "general-special-election" House race in Western Pennyslvania. There is a tight contest going to fill the seat vacated by the late John Murtha. Should the Democrats lose this deep-blue-union-country seat, it will be a sign of things to come this fall. If the Democrats can not hold Pennyslvania’s 12th District, very few places will be safe for them in November.

It Is Liberalism, Stupid.

In the past week, Republican Senator Bob Bennett of Utah and Democratic Representative Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, both of whom have served in Congress for decades, lost in their respective primaries. The prevailing media interpretation thus far has been that 2010 will be an "anti-incumbent" year. This is dead wrong.

Let us look at these two races.

In Utah:

What riled Utah Republicans against Bob Bennett? One complaint was that he sponsored a health-care bill with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden to eliminate the tax preference for employer-provided health insurance and subsidize premiums... ...More important, apparently, was Mr. Bennett's vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program in September 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703339304575240953424385446.html

In West Virginia:

It's unusual for Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.) to face opposition from a fellow Democrat. And the rare primary Mollohan is facing this year in the northern 1st district is atypical in that state Sen. Mike Oliverio is challenging him from the right and not the left.

Oliverio is running on a platform that focuses heavily on the need to reduce the large federal debt -- not exactly a burning issue in Democratic primaries. He opposed increasing the federal debt limit, criticized the 2009 stimulus law that Mollohan and nearly every other Democrat supported, and also has some problems with the new health care law. Oliverio also opposes abortion, gun control and a "cap and trade" system to limit greenhouse gas emissions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100330/pl_cq_politics/politics3634654

Both of these men lost to their right: Bennett largely because of his support for specific left leaning legislation and Mollohan because of an overall challenge from the right.

When moderate or liberal challengers start beating conservative incumbents, then we can call this an anti-incumbent year. Until then, this is a conservative year.

Unmanned Systems For An Unsafe World, Part Two.

Back in March we spotlighted a series of ads for unmanned military drones in the Capitol South Metro station. We could not really pin point it (perhaps it was somehow related to the uncanny valley) but there was something off-putting about the thought of unmanned killer drones. It turns out that unmanned fighting drones are not only being used by the military, but by the CIA as well. And the CIA has been authorized to kill American citizens with them:

The Obama administration’s decision to authorize the killing by the Central Intelligence Agency of a terrorism suspect who is an American citizen has set off a debate over the legal and political limits of drone missile strikes, a mainstay of the campaign against terrorism.

The notion that the government can, in effect, execute one of its own citizens far from a combat zone, with no judicial process and based on secret intelligence, makes some legal authorities deeply uneasy. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/14awlaki.html?hp

Legislative Update: Funny Does Not Always Equal Bad.

At first glance, the federal “Potty Parity Act” seems like the result of an out of control nanny-state at its worst. No doubt that is why Matt Drudge recently spotlighted it. The bill is designed to alleviate inequalities between the number of men’s and women’s restrooms. However, it only does so in federal buildings. For all of the ranting that this blog and fellow conservatives do about our over-reaching federal government, maintenance of their own buildings is perfectly within their purview.

This bill may have a funny name, but assuming it is based upon a true and existing problem, it is a proper and constitutional use of federal power. Given that many federal buildings were designed in time periods when only men worked, there is a good chance that this is a legitimate issue.

Surprise, Surprise.

Last summer, three American hikers with connections to the San Fransisco progressive movement were detained by Iranian guards after naively deciding to take a stroll along Iran's border with Iraqi-Kurdistan. The three are still currently being held in Iran.

While we do not support this seemingly baseless detention (even if the hikers are crunchy Mother Jones contributors), we could not help but laugh at the following line from a story about the three in this month's Outside Magazine:

"They were polite, no trouble; they didn't even ask to take a shower," said Muzafad Mohammed Zeli, the proprietor... http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/201005/iran-hikers-arrested-iraq-kurdistan-4.html

A Warning To Republicans.

We have written before about the need for Republicans to aggressively campaign, draw distinctions between themselves and Democrats, and show that they are a true alternative to Obama, Pelosi, Reid, et al.

Across the pond, the right-of-center Tories have ignored this advice and instead have taken a series of moderate, "third way" stances. It is now costing them. Despite strong anti-Labour sentiment in most polls, the Tories have possibly failed to secure their place in government:

After three days of hard bargaining with Nick Clegg, the obstacles in his path were being cleared one by one and negotiations with the Liberal Democrats appeared to be entering their final phase. But while Mr Cameron was looking the other way, Gordon Brown and Mr Clegg had made a secret agreement that could deny the Tory leader the ultimate prize. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7707890/How-David-Cameron-was-outflanked-as-he-prepared-to-enter-No-10.html