The Real Party of Diversity

Louisiana's Governor-Elect Piyush "Bobby" Jindal

Here's yet another disingenuous political commentary disguised as news story from the New York Times. Bobby Jindal's election as Louisiana Governor does not bode well for Democrats in the coming election and the media elites, epitomized by the Gray "Lady," are worried. Hence the drive-by report that follows.

Indian-American Wins Vote to Be Louisiana’s Governor

By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: October 21, 2007
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 20 —
Bobby Jindal, a conservative Republican congressman from the New Orleans suburbs and the son of immigrants from India, was elected Louisiana’s governor Saturday, inheriting a state that was suffering well before Hurricane Katrina left lingering scars two years ago.

Nossiter tips his hand right on the first paragraph by assuming that Jindal's election is not a direct result of the incompetent blue state response to Katrina. Louisiana was "suffering well before Hurricane Katrina" because it had been rule by Democrats for too long "well before" Katrina.

Mr. Jindal, 36, defeated three main challengers in an open primary, becoming this state’s first nonwhite governor since a Reconstruction-era figure briefly held the office 130 years ago.

With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Jindal received 53 percent, above the 50 percent-plus-one threshold needed to avoid a runoff in November. He will be the nation’s first Indian-American governor when he takes office in January.

Mr. Jindal’s victory over a state Democratic party weakened by perceptions of post-hurricane incompetence and corruption was expected, as he has had an overwhelming lead in polls for months. The incumbent, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, hurt by stumbles after Hurricane Katrina, did not seek re-election.

The NY Times again tries to downplay Jindal's overwhelming victory against eleven opponents. ELEVEN! Nossiter argues that the Louisiana Democratic Party was "weakened by perceptions of post-hurricane incompetence and corruption." Perceptions? Did the electorate perceive that Democrats are corrupt only because the Feds found $90,000 of tagged bribery money in New Orlean's Democratic Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson's freezer? Did the electorate perceive that Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco failed to respond to Katrina in a timely manner because she assumed that a federal government agency should do her job?


Why does Nossiter think Governor Kathleen Blanco decided not to run for reelection? She wouldn't have had a chance in Hades, that's why. Blanco knew she was being held responsible for the disastrous handling of Katrina and its aftermath. Placing the blame on President Bush and FEMA wasn't going to work and she knew it. And will someone please tell me how come Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson (D-LA) is still in Congress? Wasn't Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi going to "clean house" and fight the "culture of corruption" she said had taken hold of Washington while Republicans were in power? Clean your own house first, Madam Speaker!

The ascendancy of the Brown- and Oxford-educated Mr. Jindal, an unabashed policy wonk who has produced a stream of multipoint plans, is likely to be regarded as a racial breakthrough of sorts in this once-segregated state. Still, it is one with qualifiers attached.

Someone please tell Mr. Nossiter and his bosses over at the NY Times that Jindal's election IS a racial breakthrough! Not a racial breakthrough "of sorts." No "qualifiers" are necessary. Just because Louisiana's governor-elect Jindal is an Indian-American who is not a Democrat, it doesn't take anything away from the fact that it is a notable election in racial terms. Downplaying its significance because Jindal is a Republican is downright despicable. I am always amused about how selective liberals are regarding the importance of race.

For one thing, he is by now a familiar figure in Louisiana, having made a strong run for the governorship in 2003, though losing to Ms. Blanco. Before that he had held a series of high-profile administrative jobs, including state health secretary at the age of 24, when he earned a reputation for efficiency — critics said cold-bloodedness — for slashing a bloated budget, cutting jobs and lowering reimbursements to doctors.

So now we know one of the reasons why Mr. Nossiter downplays governor-elect Jindal's accomplishment so quickly. Jindal, America's youngest governor and the first non-White to hold Louisiana's governorship since Reconstruction, is a competent fiscal conservative. And a minority! And a Republican! Horror of liberal horrors!

For another, he did not have the support of a majority of the state’s blacks, about a third of the population, who vote Democratic.

Of all Mr. Nossiter's sour grapes arguments, this is the most disturbing to me as a Black voter. If Jindal earned 53% of the vote running against eleven opponents, did he ever really need the African-American vote? Relying on the Black vote was a failed strategy for Democrats here. Perhaps African-American voters "perceived" the Democratic candidate as the heir of his party's incompetence and corruption and decided to vote for Jindal instead.

Maybe Lousiana Black voters have finally figured out that even though they have voted Democratic for perhaps generations, their communities still have nothing to show for it. Maybe African-Americans are tired of being condenscended to by millionaire White liberal politicians who would have no dealings with them if it were not for a perception that said politicians need the Black vote in order to amass power for themselves.


Mr. Nossiter's points out a few other of Lousiana's governor-elect's sins according to liberal dogma. Jindal is a pro-life born-again Catholic who is not ashamed of his religious faith, believes that "intelligent design" should be taught in public schools as an alternative to evolution, and wants to repeal hate-crime laws.

How could Louisiana voters elect such a "regressive" (i.e., not a condescending, self-important flaming White liberal) to lead the state as its Chief Executive? If liberals over at the NY Times and elsewhere can't figure it out, Republican chances to keep the White House and retake Congress in 2008 look extremely good.

Hillary, the Money Bunny

An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton

The candidate's unparalleled fundraising success relies largely on the least-affluent residents of New York's Chinatown -- some of whom can't be tracked down.

By Peter Nicholas and Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 19, 2007

NEW YORK -- Something remarkable happened at 44 Henry St., a grimy Chinatown tenement with peeling walls. It also happened nearby at a dimly lighted apartment building with trash bins clustered by the front door.

And again not too far away, at 88 E. Broadway beneath the Manhattan bridge, where vendors chatter in Mandarin and Fujianese as they hawk rubber sandals and bargain-basement clothes.

All three locations, along with scores of others scattered throughout some of the poorest Chinese neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, have been swept by an extraordinary impulse to shower money on one particular presidential candidate -- Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Dishwashers, waiters and others whose jobs and dilapidated home addresses seem to make them unpromising targets for political fundraisers are pouring $1,000 and $2,000 contributions into Clinton's campaign treasury. In April, a single fundraiser in an area long known for its gritty urban poverty yielded a whopping $380,000. When Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) ran for president in 2004, he received $24,000 from Chinatown.

At this point in the presidential campaign cycle, Clinton has raised more money than any candidate in history. Those dishwashers, waiters and street stall hawkers are part of the reason. And Clinton's success in gathering money from Chinatown's least-affluent residents stems from a two-pronged strategy: mutually beneficial alliances with powerful groups, and appeals to the hopes and dreams of people now consigned to the margins.

The LA Times story goes on to say that "neighborhood association leaders" "told" Clinton's Chinatown donors to give money to Hillary's campaign. Donors also say they felt "pressured" to give. Strong arm tactics aside, bribery is also part and parcel of Hillary's Chinese money strategy. Hillary has signaled she is for granting citizenship to illegal immigrants and "family reunification." Interestingly, the article states,

One-third of those donors could not be found using property, telephone or business records. Most have not registered to vote, according to public records.

And several dozen were described in financial reports as holding jobs -- including dishwasher, server or chef -- that would normally make it difficult to donate amounts ranging from $500 to the legal maximum of $2,300 per election.

And then concludes,

Like many who traveled this path, most of the Chinese reported as contributing to Clinton's campaign have never voted. Many speak little or no English. Some seem to lead such ephemeral lives that neighbors say they've never heard of them.

So, illegal Chinese immigrants who cannot be found and hold such menial and low paying jobs they could not possibly donate campaign money in the amounts reported, are a sign of political strength. The American "mainstream" media has gone to Hell.

Does anyone remember former Clinton scandals involving illegal Chinese contributions? Lippo Groug, Charlie Trie, John Huang Johnny Chung and, more recently, Norman Hsu ring a bell? Let's take a quick walk down memory lane, shall we?

According to Wikipedia, long time Clinton friend and fund-raiser Charlie Trie,

was convicted and sentenced to three years probation and four months home detention for violating federal campaign finance laws by making political contributions in someone else's name and by causing a false statement to be made to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

John Huang, another Clinton bag man, deserves to be remembered. Curiously, after two years of investigations into whether Huang's illegal money contributions during the 1996 presidential election campaign reached into the leadership of the Democratic Party or the Oval Office itself, then Attorney General Janet Reno offered to give Huang immunity if he flipped on Maria Hsia, of Buddhist temple fund raising infamy, a relatively minor player in the illegal contribution scam.

When asked if he was acting as an agent of the Chinese army, Huang cited his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. 2,000 times! Huang, a former Lippo Group executive and Clinton appointee to the U.S. Commerce Department, pleaded guilty to a felony violation of campaign finance laws. In 1999, he was sentenced to one year of probation, 500 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine and instructed to continue cooperating with federal investigators as a condition of his probation.


Please check for updates. There's a lot more dirt and corruption to remember. Johnny Chung, The Lippo Group, Chinese military campaign contributions to the Clinton-Gore 1996 reelection campaign and their influence during Clinton's second term and Hillary's ties to Norman Hsu.

Unhinged!

"You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

- Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif, losing it after the S-CHIP veto override vote went down in defeat.

I'm glad Congressional Republicans responded to this outrage immediately.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. Ð House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement regarding remarks made on the House floor by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) during the debate on the State ChildrenÕs Health Insurance Program (SCHIP):

"Our troops in Iraq are fighting against al-Qaeda and other radical jihadists hellbent on killing the people we are sent here to represent. Congressman StarkÕs statement dishonors not only the Commander-in-Chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of AmericaÕs armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security. Congressman Stark should retract his statement and apologize to the House, our Commander-in-Chief, and the families of our soldiers and commanders fighting terror overseas."

The sad thing is that Rep. Stark's view reflects what has increasingly becoming the "mainstream" view of the liberal Democratic Party.

And the Consolation Prize Goes To ...

Poor Al Gore. He lost the 2000 presidential election. Let's give him an Emmy. (Didn't America "Ugly Betty" Ferrera win one of those this year?)

Poor Al Gore. He lost the 2000 presidential election. Let's give him an Oscar. (Didn't actor Denzel Washington also win an Oscar?)

Poor Al Gore. He lost the 2000 presidential election. Let's give him a Nobel Peace Prize. (Didn't terrorist trendsetter Yassir Arafat also win a Nobel Peace Prize?)

Even runner-ups get goodies.

Why is anyone giddy over the fact that the hate-America-first, anti-capitalist, Bush derangement syndrome types both here and abroad are lavishing the pompous Al Loser Gore with such meaningless accolades?

Will the former VP run again? Liberals dissatisfied with Hillary's "centrism," meaning she is not far enough left of Josef Stalin for their taste, would love for Gore to jump into the presidential race. I would be very surprised if he did, though.

Gore is about show, not accomplishment. He is having too much of a good time being loved to bother with the rough and tumble of politics. The truth of the matter is that Gore thought he was owed the U.S. presidency back in 2000. His daddy, a Senate Democrat who voted against the Civil Rights Act, had raised him to be president. Gore tried to steal the 2000 presidential election in Florida by demanding a vote recount of only the most heavily Democratic-leaning counties there and failed. Miserably.

Death, Taxes and Tim Walz

Angelique Sklavounos

Randy Demmer's press release below says it all.

Tim Walz Votes to Keep Death Tax Alive
Democrats continue to tax Americans from cradle to grave

Rochester — “I’m amazed that Tim Walz (MN-01) would vote for the “Death Tax”,” said Randy Demmer, Congressional Candidate for Minnesota 01. “His support of this onerous tax is in direct contrast to the interests of the families, business owners, and farmers he represents. By supporting Nancy Pelosi and voting the Democratic Party line, Walz in effect voted for a $1.35 trillion tax hike.

“Tim Walz’s vote is a serious blow to family owned businesses and farms and their ability to pass their livelihood on to future generations. In casting his vote, Walz showed he is more interested in growing government with increased taxes than he is in helping hard working families. Tim Walz is apparently so committed to raising taxes that he is literally following the American people to their graves,” said Demmer. “Walz is not the supporting the best interest of his constituents by voting to take money from their estates built up by a life time of hard work.”

The motion that Walz voted to kill was offered as part of the Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007 (House Roll Call 959). “Walz’s choice was simple. Instead of standing up and fighting for America ’s family businesses, he chose to continue his allegiance to the Democrat leadership by voting against a permanent repeal of the Death Tax.

“Tim Walz is showing that he is out of touch with his constituents by voting to raid the estates of hard-working taxpayers. Walz’s unwillingness to stand up for family-owned businesses and farms is an example of why we must defeat him in November 2008,” stated Demmer. “How much longer can we afford to let Walz and the Democrats raise our taxes and threaten the future of America ’s small businesses and farms?”

Contrary to his Hy-Vee persona, Congressman Tim Walz is a bona fide Pelosi Democrat. After voting to renew FISA drew the ire of the liberal base, Walz will behave like the good little liberal that his nutroot followers want him to be and vote the party line. Or else.

Ringing Endorsement

Castro's tip: Clinton-Obama the winning ticket
By Anthony Boadle
Tue Aug 28, 1:51 PM ET HAVANA

(Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election.

"The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate."
-- Cuban President for-what's-left-of-his-life in the Communist Party newspaper on Tuesday

In his rambling editorial, Castro also writes that Jimmy Carter is his favorite American president praises former president Bill Clinton for "rescuing" Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' Florida home in 2000.

Enough said.

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the most sanctimonious state senator of them all?"

Minnesota Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach has tendered her resignation as a result of her unilateral decision to withhold data about mesothelioma, a lethal form of lung cancer, among Iron Range miners for a year.



Commissioner Mandernach's action brought untold and needless pain to the victims of the disease as well as disrepute to the Minnesota Department of Health and she did the right thing by resigning. DFLers are not interested in the right thing, however.



In characteristic self-righteousness, Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) has reportedly said that "commissioners don't make decisions like this on their own" and that he has "always felt that the governor knew what was going on." Rep. Rukovina has produced no proof that Governor Tim Pawlenty conspired with Commissioner Mandernach to withhold crucial health data on mesothelioma cases, however.



In her latest feeble attempt to raise a negative profile, Senator Ann Lynch has released a statement expressing "relief " that Commissioner Mandernach has resigned her position. Like Rep. Rukovina, Sen. Lynch is quick to smear the Pawlenty administration without concrete proof of a wide conspiracy to conceal health information on mesothelioma cases.



In what has quickly become a trademark sanctimonious tone, Lynch expresses the contrived hope that "others" in the Pawlenty administration "will take a long look in the mirror to evaluate their own competency and leadership.”



I sure hope there's enough room in front of that mirror for Sen. Lynch to evaluate her own competency and leadership. It shouldn't take very long.

Cat Fight

"One of the things, the important aspects of this race is role modeling what good families should look like. And my view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House."
-- Michelle Obama at a recent Women for Obama event in Chicago.

I hear that the Obama campaign has categorically denied that Mrs. Obama's comment was a reference to Hillary Clinton. Right. Everyone knows Michelle was talking about Denis Kucinich.

Vultures Circling the Ruins of the I-35W Bridge

First, it was the media. Then it was the DFL. I suppose it was a matter of time before trial lawyers started to exploit the I-35W bridge collapse for personal gain.

Law firm petitions for access to I-35W bridge collapse site
8/14/2007 8:43:27 PM
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS -- A law firm asked a federal court to grant its experts immediate access to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse site so they can begin their own investigation into what could lead to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits.

The petition was filed in U.S. District Court here Monday by the law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben, which specializes in personal injury cases. In the petition, the firm said it's representing three people severely injured in the Aug. 1 collapse and the families of two people who died in the disaster. It did not identify the victims, and attorney James Schwebel declined to reveal them.

A hearing on the petition was scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in St. Paul. "We are in the very preliminary stage on this," Schwebel said. "We've been retained by several families. We've been contacted by many others. They're obviously wanting to make sure there is some accountability for whoever is culpable for this disaster, and we need to have experts to answer many of these questions for us."

Copies of the petition were served on the offices of the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, the Minneapolis city attorney and the state attorney general because federal, city and state and city agencies are involved in the collapse investigation. The U.S. attorney's office issued a statement calling the petition premature. "Efforts to recover the bodies of the victims are still under way and could be delayed or hampered by accommodating the law firm's request," the statement said. "Similar requests would be sure to follow. There will be ample time for a full investigation of the causes of the collapse after all the victims are accounted for."

Tic-toc

Well, it didn't take long for Minnesota liberals to exploit the I-35W bridge collapse for cheap political gain. The rescue effort got barely underway when the "progressive" blogosphere and other "mainstream" media outlets began to infer that the tragedy would not have happened had Minnesota raised the gas tax or if Governor Tim Pawlenty had not vetoed the DFL’s pork-laden transportation bill.

Instead of expressing sorrow and sympathy for the victims of the bridge collapse, liberal politicians wasted no time criticizing and blaming Republicans in general and Governor Pawlenty in particular for the tragic event. Never mind that the investigation on the real cause of the bridge collapse hadn't even begun in earnest. But why waste time waiting for the facts when liberals can start exploiting the tragedy and sowing the seeds of distrust and blame in the minds of potential voters early in the process? After all, the presidential and congressional elections are almost a year away.

The liberal blame game has gone all the way up to the nation's capital. According to The Politico, Harry Reid said that the I-35W bridge collapse was a "wake-up call" and that President Bush was "too distracted by the Iraq war and post-Sept. 11 national security needs to focus on the country’s water, sewer and transportation infrastructure." Shame on the President for keeping us safe from the same terrorists who slaughtered 3,000 Americans on 9/11.

The market place of ideas and issues has not been kind to liberals in the past. When cooler heads prevail and facts are laid out, liberalism loses. Always.At a time when Minnesotans should focus on alleviating the sorrow of victims’ families, the recovery and rebuilding efforts, as well as the real cause of the bridge collapse, liberals have chosen to posture and pontificate. Building support for a partisan agenda on the ruins of the I-35W bridge seems wrong to me.

Those Who Can't

It's hard to believe but true. The Rochester School District has hired Rep. Andy Welti (DFL-30B) as a temporary, part-time American Government and Economics teacher. That's on paper. In reality, Welti will be teaching Disingenuous Liberalism 101. You know, the kind that throws the words "bipartisan" and "moderate" around like they really believe or act on them.

A teacher in the Dover-Eyota School District, where Welti used to sub, told me that students complained that all Welti did during classes was talk about himself and about running for office. Fortunately, his assignment with the Rochester School District only lasts until the end of the fall semester. Still, he could do a lot of damage and spread a lot of misinformation during that time.

I wonder if Welti is going to talk about his legislative crown jewel, HF522, which criminalizes the possession of glass containers on the waters of the state.

Welti is an unfortunate validation of the saying, "Those who can't, teach."

Done In For

"I would."

- Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) during the Youtube debate when asked if he would meet, without precondition, with Cuban, North Korean, Syrian, Venezuelan and Iranian leaders during his first year in office.


This was a major gaffe on the part of Senator Obama and I doubt he will recover from it. Hillary pounced on his answer as if on cue. "I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes," Hillary said.

Back in February, while campaigning in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton's wife was whistling a different tune, however. "You don't refuse to talk to bad people. I think life is filled with uncomfortable situations where you have to deal with people you might not like. I'm sort of an expert on that. I have consistently urged the president to talk to Iran and talk to Syria. I think it's a sign of strength, not weakness." Obama couldn't agree more. Then and now.

Hillary is a sociopath. She has no credibility whatsoever on the issue of dealing with rogue nations. Heck, she has no credibility on foreign policy. Period!

By the way, didn't Hillary vote FOR the Iraq war?

Say It Ain't So, Dennis!

Kucinich: Edwards 'Trying to Rig an Election'

An angry Dennis Kucinich lashed out at John Edwards on Friday, saying his Democratic rival showed "a consistent lack of integrity" by suggesting fewer candidates should participate in presidential forums and then trying to explain his remark to reporters.

"This is a serious matter and I'm calling him on it," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in a telephone interview Friday. "Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."

Kucinich's comments came after Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were overheard Thursday discussing the possibility of limiting the number of participants in future presidential forums.

In an exchange captured on camera and open microphone by broadcasters after an NAACP forum in Detroit, Edwards approached Clinton onstage and whispered in her ear.

"We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group," Edwards said, and Clinton agreed.

"Our guys should talk," Clinton said, complaining the format had "trivialized" the discussion.

When asked about the incident, Clinton and Edwards gave conflicting accounts. Hillary "Our Guys Should Talk" Clinton, believe it or not, shirked responsibility. "I think [Edwards] has some ideas about what he'd like to do," she said as if she disagreed with Edwards. If that is the case, what should "their guys" talk about?

Edwards is not as good a liar as Hillary. Heck, no one is as good a liar as Hillary. Between $1,000 haircuts, Edwards said that he favors dividing the Democrats into two groups of four to facilitate more "serious discussion" so people would better see the contrast among the Democrat candidates. Right. I'm shocked, SHOCKED! that liberals Democrats would even think about rigging an election.

I never thought I would ever agree with Dennis Kucinich about anything, but he has a point when he says that Hillary and Edwards show a "consistent lack of integrity" in this matter. As a matter of fact, their lack of integrity is so consistent that it affects every other matter, personal as well as political.

These people are not for a free, uninhibited exchange of ideas. They do not want to compete fairly for fear of losing. Back room deals and rigged games is how they function most effectively. The democratic process is a bother to the liberal elites, unless it serves their nefarious purposes.

Sheehan May Challenge Pelosi in Election
By ANGELA K. BROWN,AP
Posted: 2007-07-08 17:51:22

CRAWFORD, Texas (July 8) - Six weeks after announcing her departure from the peace movement, Cindy Sheehan said Sunday that she plans to run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unless she introduces articles of impeachment against President Bush in the next two weeks. Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush. That's when Sheehan and her supporters are to arrive in Washington, D.C., after a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting next week from the group's war protest site near Bush's Crawford ranch.

"Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership," Sheehan told The Associated Press. "We hired them to bring an end to the war. I'm not too far from San Francisco, so it wouldn't be too big of a move for me. I would give her a run for her money."

"Democrats and Americans?" It sounds like a Freudian slip to me. Is Cindy Sheehan inadvertently admitting that Democrats and Americans are not necessarily one and the same? Sure seems that way.

By the way, wasn't it less than two months ago that the War Mother announced she was going to stay away from the lights, cameras and microphones in order to spend more time with her family? Was she not hurt by the vicious attacks of the right as well as the left? Was she not turning her back on the anti-war movement "forever?" The awful, sad truth is that Cindy Sheehan's life has no meaning outside the anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-America movement. She will not find peace for as long as she chooses to engage hateful activities such as her caravan to Washington, D.C.

I hope, for her sake, that Mother Sheehan does not run against Pelosi. If she does, she will know what real hurt is.

America!

B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Broom)

"Grab your buckets, grab your brooms. We're going to have to do a clean sweep because there has been a culture of cronyism, corruption and incompetence."

-- Clean-as-the-wind-driven-snow New York Senator Hillary Clinton on the Bush administration.


Clinton Wants 'Clean Sweep' After Bush
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, AP
Posted: 2007-06-30 14:49:04

MIAMI (June 29) - "A clean sweep" is needed at the White House because President Bush has fostered "a culture of cronyism, corruption and incompetence," Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday.The Democratic presidential candidate told nearly 1,000 women at a fundraiser that she would have much work to do at the White House if she won election in 2008.

"After eight years of the Bush administration, we are going to be shocked by what we find," the New York senator and former first lady said. "Somebody said to me the other day if there was ever a time for a woman president it's now because we're going to have to do a lot of cleaning."

First off, I haven't heard anything this sexist (or stupid) in a long time. Women can fight alleged cronyism and corruption because they are good at cleaning? Would anyone else get away with saying something half as idiotic? Hillary will escape scrutiny over such a statement, of course. The media lack the guts to confront her.

Second, Hillary and Bill are the Queen and King of corruption and cronyism. Pardons for cash come readily to mind when I think of Clinton corruption. When it comes to cronyism, who can forget the firing of the White House Travel Office staff so Hillary could have her Arkansas people employed there?

The woman is a sociopath.

Miserable Failures: Public Confidence in Democratic Congress at 14%

Confidence in Congress Down in the Dumps
by Frank Newport

Congress is now nestled at the bottom of the list of Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions rankings, along with HMOs. Just 15% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in HMOs. By way of contrast, 69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military, which tops the list.

2007 Minnesota Legislature: More Said than Done

Rep. Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield) (left) and Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) (right) swing by the Olmsted County Republicans Central Committee Meeting for a brief legislative report after a Rochester Chamber of Commerce event.

"When everything was said and done, more was said than done." - MN House Republican Leader Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) on the 2007 Minnesota legislative session.

It was quite the treat to have Minnesota House Republican Leader Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) stop by the Olmsted County Republicans Central Committe Meeting tonight. Rep. Seifert reported on how out of touch with the reality of the session DFLers are. One of the legislators who dutifully voted for spending bill after spending bill but didn't vote for the tax bill to pay for them now claims to be a "fiscal conservative." That's liberal "logic" for you.

Rep. Demmer summarized the defeat of liberal abusive taxation aspirations in Minnesota by saying that, at the end of the day, "the tail wagged the dog." They may have taken over both the state house and senate but Governor Pawlenty and Republican legislators stopped DFLers in their tax-and -spend tracks.

The liberal spin machine is in full gear. They have spent the last five months in St. Paul trying to tax Minnesota into oblivion. Now Reps. Kim Norton, Andy Welti and Tina Liebling, as well as Sen. Ann Lynch, will pretend they spent the last few months trying to improve the lives of Minnesotans instead of implementing senseless legislation and abusive taxation.

DFLers want to make Minnesota a "better" place to live and work by taxing and legislating everything that lives and works. Yeah, that makes sense. To liberals.

Governor Veto

Yesterday's Rochester Post-Bulletin Pawlenty-bashing editorial, Pawlenty's veto hurts Rochester, families, was yet another half-baked liberal commentary disguised as political analysis. For a much fairer and more accurate examination of Governor Tim Pawlenty's courageous stand against abusive taxation, look no further than the following op-ed from today's Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Carla Nelson for forwarding it to me.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REVIEW OUTLOOK

Governor Veto
June 5, 2007; Page A22

If he's looking for tips on handling Nancy Pelosi, President Bushmight want to consult Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. The Republican Governor is using his veto power to good effect on policy and making himself more popular.

Last month the Democrats who run the Legislature in St. Paul pushed through a big tax and spending increase in their $35 billion state budget. Last week Mr. Pawlenty responded by vetoing all six of the spending and tax bills the Democrats sent him. The usual media and interest group suspects are upset, but Mr. Pawlenty is rallying his own supporters and making himself a defender of the taxpaying middle class.

In Minnesota, as in many other states last November, Democrats picked up big majorities in both the state House and Senate. First on the Democratic wish list was a budget plan of the kind now being promoted by the party's Presidential candidates: Offer a few tax savings to the middle class but whack "the rich" with a huge tax hike, and use the revenue windfall to finance teacher pay raises, "universal health care," $200 million in subsidies for the Mall of America, and even a pay raise for legislators. The Democratic plan would have raised the state's top marginal income tax rate to 9.7% from 7.85%. That's right up there with California, New York and New Jersey in the top five of confiscatory taxation states.

Democrats also proposed a gas tax hike, a new real estate tax, and a tax on cell phones. In all, Democrats wanted to raise some $5 billion in income taxes, and new taxes on gas, beer, real estate transactions, cell phones and even a strange new death tax: a tripling of taxes on hearses. These would have raised taxes by about $2,000 for every income tax filer in the state. The Minnesota League of Taxpayers parodied the budget plan as here a tax, there a tax, everywhere a tax, tax.

Every Republican in the House voted to sustain Mr. Pawlenty's veto, and the state GOP, which fractured last year, is unifying around the fiscal debate. "We ran the table on the Democrats," says Mike Wigley, the chairman of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. "We got no new taxes, no bonding bill for the first time in a decade, and a budget lower than what the Governor proposed at the start of the year."

Mr. Pawlenty is under pressure from Democrats to negotiate a new budget, but he holds the political high ground. One reason Congressional Republicans were run out of their majority was because they lost their "brand" identity as conservative fiscal stewards. Mr. Pawlenty narrowly survived re-election in that dreadful Republican year. Now he's shrewdly expending political capital to good effect to beat back Democratic tax-and-spend policies that could damage Minnesota for years to come.

Are Republicans in Washington paying attention?

The Real Culture of Corruption

Rep. William Jefferson Indicted on 16 Counts
NewsMax.com Wires
Monday, June 4, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long-running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.

The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., Monday is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years, according to a Justice Department official who has seen the document. Among the charges listed in the indictment, said the official, are racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

Jefferson is accused of soliciting bribes for himself and his family, and also for bribing a Nigerian official. Almost two years ago, in August 2005, investigators raided Jefferson's home in Louisiana and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer.

No word yet on whether DEMOCRAT Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will demand DEMOCRAT Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson's resignation.

Shameless

“We don’t want to send a signal to insurgents, to the terrorists, that we are going to be out of here at some, you know, date certain."

--Junior Senator from NY and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on "Meet the Press" in 2005, a mere two years ago.

If you haven't done so yet, read today's NY Times' "Hillary’s War" by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. It is a long article but well worth the time. It presents a chronology of Hillary's cynical, self-serving and calculating positions and votes on the Iraq War.

But wait, there's more ...

We Are All in It Together, Clinton Says

Tuesday May 29, 4:41 pm ET

By Holly Ramer, Associated Press Writer

Clinton: Shared Prosperity Should Replace 'On Your Own' Society

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it's time to replace an "on your own" society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an ownership society really is an "on your own" society that has widened the gap between rich and poor. "I prefer a 'we're all in it together' society," she said. "I believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none."

That means pairing growth with fairness, she said, to ensure that the middle-class succeeds in the global economy, not just corporate CEOs. "There is no greater force for economic growth than free markets. But markets work best with rules that promote our values, protect our workers and give all people a chance to succeed," she said. "Fairness doesn't just happen. It requires the right government policies."

By "shared responsibility," Hillary means "collectivism." It has been tried. It has failed. Miserably and repeatedly.

In her desperate attempts to out-Obama Obama, Hillary is veering ever so drastically to the left.

The promise of America is opportunity not a determined outcome. There are no guarantees in a free market. That's why they are "free." The moment government intervenes with the "right" policies, as Hillary suggests, free markets go out the window.

Government policies to "ensure" fairness become arbitrary the moment they are enacted. The liberal version of fairness is nothing but an environment where mediocrity is the norm and the lowest common denominator is the true rule.

Bottoms Up!

By the way, some in the DFL seem to have taken their beating very hard. This from the AP wire tonight:

Minn. Senate president arrested on DWI charge 5/22/2007 11:27:05 PM Associated Press

ST. PAUL -- James Metzen, the president of the Minnesota Senate, faces drunken driving charges from his arrest early Tuesday in South St. Paul just hours after he gaveled the 2007 session to a close.

South St. Paul Police Chief Michael Messerich said Metzen was stopped in his sport-utility vehicle just past 2 a.m. after an officer observed him weaving in his lane. The stop occurred less than a mile from his house. He was given a field sobriety test and was arrested.

His blood-alcohol concentration was 0.15 percent, almost twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He faces two misdemeanor charges, including fourth-degree driving while impaired. The case was referred to the city attorney for formal charges.

HERO!

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made the first stop of his victory lap around the state over the DFL's liberal arrogance and tax-mania in Rochester this morning. Wow!

DFLers overreached and Governor Pawlenty slapped their grubby hands. He stared them down and they cowered. So much for their self-proclaimed mandate after a lopsided election victory last November.

Here's a synopsis of the DFL's humiliating defeat during the 2007 legislative term as per Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey:

• Over $5 billion in new job-killing tax increases: defeated!


• Proposals to hike the gasoline tax by up to 48 cents over 10 years: flushed down the toilet!


• Proposal to give us the highest marginal income tax rate in the nation: dumped!


• Increases in the state sales tax, vehicle tax and many more: zapped!


• The "Dream Act," a bill that would have provided in-state education benefits for illegal immigrants: up in flames!


• Domestic partner benefits: kaputz!


• Deviant sex ed curricula for Minnesota schools: fuggedaboutit!!!!!

DFLers had hoped to grow government to unprecedented levels in Minnesota. Instead they were beaten back. BADLY!

They won't be licking their wounds for long, though. Watch them as they report back to their districts. You will hear the same song from all of them:

• They tried to be bipartisan
• They "compromised," but the governor wouldn't
• Roadways are going to collapse under our tires
• Minnesota children will die slow, agonizing deaths without more government
• Loons will migrate to Canada in protest over Tim Pawlenty's vetoes

Go to townhall meetings this summer. Wherever they show up to "report" on the goings on in St. Paul during the last four months, be there to express your continued opposition to abusive taxation and absurd legislation. Remember: they will try again next year. They NEVER learn.

Don't let DFL legislators get away with mischaracterizing their intention to tax the pants off Minnesotans when they started the 2007 legislative session or miscasting their shameful defeat when it came to a merciful end on Tuesday morning.

Funny

"Congress is spending money like John Edwards at a beauty shop."

-- Former Arkansas Governor and presidential contender Mike Huckabee on tonight's GOP candidates' debate.

Vive la France

"The Democratic Party is now officially the only organization on Earth that does not take the threat of Islamic fascism seriously. Between the Democrats and the media, America has gone from its usual position as the world's last hope to radical Islam's last hope."

-- Ann Coulter

Read Ann's latest column here.

Homegrown Jihad

Here's yet another reason why Democrats can't be trusted with America's national security.

6 men charged in plot to attack Fort Dix

FORT DIX, N.J. - Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested and accused Tuesday of plotting to attack Fort Dix and slaughter scores of U.S. soldiers — a scheme the FBI says was foiled when the men asked a store clerk to copy a video of them firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad.

The defendants, all men in their 20s from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East, include a pizza deliveryman suspected of using his job to scout out the military base.Their goal was "to kill as many American soldiers as possible" with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prosecutors said.

"Today we dodged a bullet. In fact, when you look at the type of weapons that this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets," said FBI agent J.P. Weis. "We had a group that was forming a platoon to take on an army. They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance. They had maps. And they were in the process of buying weapons. Luckily, we were able to stop that."

Authorities said there was no direct evidence connecting the men to any international terror organizations such as al-Qaida. But several of them said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," according to court papers.

Investigators said they infiltrated the group with two informants well over a year ago and bided their time while they secretly recorded the defendants, four of whom lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb about 20 miles from Fort Dix.

"This is what law enforcement is supposed to do in the post-9/11 era — stay one step ahead of those who are attempting to cause harm to innocent American citizens," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said.

Weis saluted the unidentified New Jersey store clerk who noticed the suspicious video as the "unsung hero" of the case. "That's why we're here today — because of the courage and heroism of that individual," the FBI agent said.

In addition to plotting the attack on Fort Dix, the defendants spoke of assaulting a Navy installation in Philadelphia during the annual Army-Navy football game and conducted surveillance at other military installations in the region, prosecutors said.

One defendant, Eljvir Duka, was recorded as saying: "In the end, when it comes to defending your religion, when someone ... attacks your religion, your way of life, then you go jihad."

The six were arrested Monday night trying to buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other weapons from an FBI informant, authorities said.

They appeared in federal court Tuesday in Camden and were ordered held without bail for a hearing Friday. Five were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel; the sixth was charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigrants in obtaining weapons.

Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came from Turkey, authorities said. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.

One defendant, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons to kill at least 100 soldiers, according to court documents.

"My intent is to hit a heavy concentration of soldiers," he was quoted as saying. "You hit four, five or six Humvees and light the whole place (up) and retreat completely without any losses."

"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away," another defendant, Serdar Tatar, was alleged to have said. "Or I die, it doesn't matter. I'm doing it in the name of Allah."

The men trained by playing paintball in the woods in New Jersey and taking target practice at a firing range in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, where they had rented a house, authorities said.

They often watched terror training videos, clips featuring Osama bin Laden, a tape containing the last will and testament of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and tapes of armed attacks on U.S. military personnel, erupting in laughter when one plotter noted that a Marine's arm was blown off in an ambush, authorities said.

More >>>>

Radical Islamic terrorism is a serious matter. Following their shameful Retreat and Defeat "funding" bill, which the President corageously vetoed, Democrats proceeded to eliminate the phrase "war on terror" from their cowardly lexicon.

Islamic terrorists are on American soil. They are planning, training and waiting. America needs leaders who understand the threat and take Islamic terrorism seriously, a fact which automatically disqualifies Democrats from holding positions of power that require protecting the American people from harm.

Vive la Différence

Sarkozy Elected President of France
Conservative Says Relations With U.S. Will Improve
By ANGELA CHARLTON
AP

PARIS (May 6) - Nicolas Sarkozy, a blunt and uncompromising pro-American conservative, was elected president of France Sunday with a mandate to chart a new course for an economically sluggish nation struggling to incorporate immigrants and their children.

Sarkozy defeated Socialist Segolene Royal by by 53.06 percent to 46.94 percent with 84 percent turnout, according to final results released early Monday. It was a decisive victory for Sarkozy's vision of freer markets and toughness on crime and immigration , over Royal's gentler plan for preserving cherished welfare protections, including a 35-hour work week that Sarkozy called "absurd." "The people of France have chosen change," Sarkozy told cheering supporters in a victory speech that sketched out a stronger global role for France and renewed partnership with the United States.

Today's French election results come as encouraging news for the conservative movement in the United States. The American media, notably The New York Times, drew not-so-subtle parallels between Socialist Segolene Royal's bid for the French presidency and junior New York Senator Hillary Clinton's own presidential ambitions here in the U.S.

During the French campaign, I saw several stories on Mlle Royal and her picture was published everywhere. Royal's then-rival and now president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy was painted with the liberal broad brush as a right-wing conservative. Royal's candidacy was hailed as a breakthrough for women and further evidence of French's progressive politics. It was not to be.

I somehow doubt that we will read any stories about how unwise it is to underestimate conservatives and misrepresent their agenda during an election season. Or features that cast doubt on the electorate's willingness to elect a socialist woman to the office of president.

Will the media ever learn that it is not their role to prop one candidate or party over another? I think you know the answer.

Hillary, beware! Your party's nomination, not to mention your election, is by no means guaranteed. Particularly now that Illinois Senator Barack Obama has been granted Secret Service protection.

Fair and Balanced

From the Drudge Report:

More people watched FOXNEWS TALKING about debate than the actual DEBATE!

FNC 2,023,000

MSNBC 1,762,000

CNN 599,000

Maybe it had somenthing to do with the fact that the Republican candidates' debate was broadcast on MSNBC, which very few people watch to beging with. For all the talk about the supposed conservative bent of FOX News, still more people watched FNC than MSNBC. In their vain struggle for relevancy, the Democratic candidates might want to rething their strategy of boycotting Rupert Murdoch's cable news network.

VETOED!

"The Democratic leaders know that many in Congress disagree with their approach and that there are not enough votes to override the veto. I recognize that many Democrats saw this bill as an opportunity to make a political statement about their opposition to the war. They sent their message, and now it is time to put politics behind us and support our troops with the funds they need."

- President George W. Bush, immediately after vetoing the Democrat-sponsored Iraq Defeat and Retreat Spending Bill

Way to go, Mr. President! It is impossible for Democrats to put politics behind them and support the troops, however. Theirs is a defeatist nature. The liberal "support" for the troops amounts to no more than disingenuous lip service. The withdrawal bill the president corageously vetoed is the moral equivalent of spitting on our troops, not supporting them.

Carbon Offset Scam

Industry caught in carbon ‘smokescreen’

By Fiona Harvey and Stephen Fidler in London
Published: April 25 2007 22:07 Last updated: April 25 2007 22:07

Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on “carbon credit” projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.

A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.

Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway. The growing political salience of environmental politics has sparked a “green gold rush”, which has seen a dramatic expansion in the number of businesses offering both companies and individuals the chance to go “carbon neutral”, offsetting their own energy use by buying carbon credits that cancel out their contribution to global warming.

The burgeoning regulated market for carbon credits is expected to more than double in size to about $68.2bn by 2010, with the unregulated voluntary sector rising to $4bn in the same period.

The FT investigation found:

■ Widespread instances of people and organisations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.

■ Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially.

■ Brokers providing services of questionable or no value.

■ A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits.

■ Companies and individuals being charged over the odds for the private purchase of European Union carbon permits that have plummeted in value because they do not result in emissions cuts.

Francis Sullivan, environment adviser at HSBC, the UK’s biggest bank that went carbon-neutral in 2005, said he found “serious credibility concerns” in the offsetting market after evaluating it for several months. “The police, the fraud squad and trading standards need to be looking into this. Otherwise people will lose faith in it,” he said. These concerns led the bank to ignore the market and fund its own carbon reduction projects directly.

Some companies are benefiting by asking “green” consumers to pay them for cleaning up their own pollution. For instance, DuPont, the chemicals company, invites consumers to pay $4 to eliminate a tonne of carbon dioxide from its plant in Kentucky that produces a potent greenhouse gas called HFC-23. But the equipment required to reduce such gases is relatively cheap.

DuPont refused to comment and declined to specify its earnings from the project, saying it was at too early a stage to discuss. The FT has also found examples of companies setting up as carbon offsetters without appearing to have a clear idea of how the markets operate. In response to FT inquiries about its sourcing of carbon credits, one company, carbonvoucher.com, said it had not taken payments for offsets.

Blue Source, a US offsetting company, invites consumers to offset carbon emissions by investing in enhanced oil recovery, which pumps carbon dioxide into depleted oil wells to bring up the remaining oil. However, Blue Source said that because of the high price of oil, this process was often profitable in itself, meaning operators were making extra revenues from selling “carbon credits” for burying the carbon. There is nothing illegal in these practices. However, some companies that are offsetting their emissions have avoided such projects because customers may find them controversial.

BP said it would not buy credits resulting from improvements in industrial efficiency or from most renewable energy projects in developed countries.