Beanie Babies and an Intellectual Field Sobriety Test

A few years ago, our Teaching Minister was at a McDonald's when they had a first offering of a certain mini Beanie Baby. He watched as children and some adults descended on the bin like a piranha feeding frenzy. As he watched, he thought "There's a sermon topic here..." I read an article by local left wing screed artist Nick Coleman at Pravda on the Mississippi. From the column lead in, about the proposal for a Twins Stadium built at public expense, I thought that I'd probably agree with him (www.startribune.com/stories/357/5449231.html ). I went to the article and for most the article, I did. I do not oppose a Twins Stadium. Not at all. I do vehemently oppose public financing for a Twins Stadium.
Mr. Coleman talks about public money going to subsidize a privately owned concern, owned by a billionaire who employs millionaires. So far, so good. But, at the eighth paragraph, good ol' Nick shows how he is absolutely incapable of walking an intellectual straight line. He screams that this forcible taking of money from the citizens of Hennepin County benefits the rich but screws the poor. That all this money could go to pay for early childhood education for all at risk kids in the county. And he never mentions that taking this money screws the taxpayers. He ignores all the facts and studies that paying for public education does not get anyone an education. He says that welfare for billionaires is bad, but ineffective welfare is OK if it sounds like it's for a good purpose. That the forcible extraction of someone's hard earned money for a well intentioned, but perfectly useless and therefore dangerous program to the development of children is OK. And so this is a program where the taxpayer really gets screwed! If government education were a product sold on the open market, school boards, Superintendents and the like would be indicted for fraud and deceptive practices. And rightfully so.
And about a minute later, I went to Drudge ( www.drudgereport.com/ ) to look at Joseph Sobran's column. He had posted a column that he'd written just after the Clintonistas sued Microsoft for giving something away. He talked about monopolies. I had some questions during this time to my socialist friend. I told him, if I gathered correctly from his statements about Bill Gates, that Big Software-BAD, Big Oil-BAD,Big Pharmaceuticals-BAD, Big Education---GOOD, Big Regulations-Good, Big Government-Good,no BETTER tending toward BEST. And my friend saw absolutely no intellectual inconsistency in his stance at all. And that the fact that this lawsuit started the avalanche in tech stocks that resulted in the citizens of the United States losing over $2,000,000,000,000 (that's trillions kids) in value. And he thought nothing of it. No connection at all.
And the connection between the two: the coercive force of government. And this while I'm listening to Dr. Walter E. Williams talking about the forceful taking the property of one person and giving it to one that it doesn't belong. Most people would call that theft. The law calls it theft. If I were to go to someone and put a gun to their brainstem and force them to give me $50 and I were to go downtown and give a homeless person that $50, or buy him a meal and a coat with that $50, most people would recognize that as armed robbery nonetheless. Theft. Illegal theft. And yet, the Congress of the United States, through their agents the IRS, takes that same $50 from that same person and gives it to a homeless person. And most Americans see absolutely no problem with the last example. They see one as wrong and the other as perfectly OK. One is illegal theft. The other is legal theft. But both are the taking of someone else's property by force. And just because it's legal doesn't make it right. It was legal to take the property of Jews in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. And then round them up and kill them. It was legal to own slaves 150 years ago in America. Legal doesn't mean moral.
Anyhow, here is the Sobran column titled "Bill Gates, Robber Baron". It's good. And always timely.

www.sobran.com/columns/2005/050526.shtml   

I Need Someone to 'splain This To Me...

I am pro life. I'd like to think that I'm rational. I can entertain an opposite point of view while not agreeing with it (Ask Rep. Mark Buesgens about this).
That being said, am I the only one that sees no small discrepancy in the law in this story http://tinyurl.com/94eqf ?

Deep Throat Spoke...And Millions Died

Seems to be much joyful reminiscing and reliving the good old days when the radical and hate filled lefties and their allies in the Main Stream Media finally extracted their revenge and got their pound of flesh from Richard Nixon after 30 years. They laid in wait for three decades after he exposed their darling Alger Hiss. However, there is yet another law that the lefty pukes ignore. The law of unintended consequences (www.econlib.org/library/Enc/UnintendedConsequences.html ) is something that the lack of logic loose cannon loonies of the left never put into any equation that they compute. But, in their outcome based world, why would they or why should they care?
It's the intention that counts...or the revenge.
As Deep Throat comes to the surface (like a dead fish breaks through pond scum) Peggy Noonan explains it very well www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006763 .
The Treaty of Paris (Paris Peace Accords) that ended direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam also provided that if the North Vietnamese invaded the South, the U.S. would re-engage and directly support the South Vietnamese.
The North invaded. Ted (Water Safety Instructor of the Year 1969) Kennedy and the hyenas in his clique, seeing that they had President Nixon on the ropes, betrayed an ally and a people and did not authorize the support of the South. Yup, Teddy was on a roll- doing to the South Vietnamese exactly what he did to Mary Jo Kopechne.
Rush Limbaugh pointed out the hypocrisy of the left...AGAIN, with their extolling a disgruntled government employee (Deep Throat Felt) for being a whistleblower and demonizing Gary Aldrich for being a whistleblower. The differences? Deep Throat kept his identity secret. He hid.And he attacked a Republican. Gary Aldrich's name was out there for all the world to see. Oh, and the most unexcusable of all, he exposed the rock star of the left, Bill Clinton. (Oops. Maybe exposed isn't the right term. Sorry.)
The lefties are like the Bourbons: They never learn and they never forget.
Political revenge from the left on one man is easily worth the lives of millions, including hundreds of thousands of children . Just ask the lefties.
Nah, don't waste your time.
Peggy Noonan got it right. Read her article.

I'm trying to find the transcript of an interview yesterday between Michael Reagan and G. Gordon Liddy. Things you never heard about John Dean. And should.

The Most Successful Political Party in America

I usually describe myself politically as a conservative with libertarian leanings. I agree with Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily www.worldnetdaily.com/ that I'm not conserving anything. That implies a defensive posture, hanging on to what's left.
I want my liberty back!
The Libertarian Party has pretty much marginalized itself. They are purists and compromise does not exist in the ranks. Though I agree with much of what they represent, they don't live in the real world of politics.
I went to Captains Quarters www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ and he linked to a site which bills itself as The New Libertarian (or Neolibertarians). They go on to define themselves with a new magazine www.qando.net/articles/tnlv1i1.pdf (I'm going to let you do all the linking here).
The magazine defines a paleo and neo libertarian quite nicely.
And they go on to quote Milton Friedman in telling which political party he believes is the most successful of the 20th Century. His choice? The Socialist Party of 1928. By 1980,nearly every economic plank in the 1928 Socialist Party Platform had been passed by the Unted States Congress (re-read the link "If You Stop Their Touchdowns..." tinyurl.com/9bb8h ) .
Good going boys and girls of the Congress.
And BTW, here is the first thing that nearly all (save one, Ron Paul, R-TX) Congressmen and Congresswomen break:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
They immediately throw out this oath of office and conduct themselves and the business of the nation as a democracy, not the constitutional republic that they just took an oath to uphold ( www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htm )

June 11th - Change will come to Minnesota

It looks like the Savage Republican's are not the only ones upset with the direction and leadership of the Republican Party (See one of our early posts on the subject here)
When we starting seriously discussing a need for a change back in March, we hoped to find someone to run against the current chair (The Fourth Rules of Savage Politics: It is easy to be against something, a Savage Republican must find or offer an alternative)
By the time we were ready (and had the votes) to get something done at convention at least one alternative appeared.
Various reports have seen the race as either too close to call or leaning towards Ron (based on his polling).
Well in the past few days, a number of events have come together and momentum seems to be building against Ron.

1st, a poorly conceived letter was received from the current chairs of the house caucus. This was met by either a yawn or a quick rebuttal (see reprint here)

2nd, I came home to find a message from Ron Carey annoucing his candicy for chair - he stated "the time for a change leadership". While I know nothing about his positions, the fact that a current member of the executive committee calls for a change is a big deal indeed.

and then today -
Another letter, this one from not one but six current and former executive members saying that it was time for a change in leadership.

Now the big question is not if we will replace Ron, but who will replace him.
The State Central Meeting on June 11th will be fun indeed.

And what does this do for Hoplins bid for Vice Chair - Since he hooked his wagon to Ron, I would hope his bid is gone also.
He seems to suffer from the same problem as Ron - lack of connection to the grassroots.
While we often hear about how many people he has recruited, those of us who were in the trenches during the last election know how false those numbers were - when it came to help at the grassroots level.
He seemed more interested in getting numbers not worrying too much why they were joining or if they would turn out when needed.
For all the talk about the thousands of volunteers, When called upon all you saw from the College Republicans was Flip and Flop and two other recruits.
Things were so bad in CD2 that we actually had to divert campaign funds to hire a professional liaison to work with youth, since the CR was no where to be found.
There are many good CR chapters on our local campuses, but I think their success has more to do with those leaders and support from the Northern Alliance, then anything Hoplin could claim credit for. While he did do a good job of bringing attention to the College Republicans (and himself also), when it can time to deliver - nothing.

Stay tuned for more - The upcoming rules meeting should shed some light on what the Chair may be planning to do - will he read the writing and go quietly - or will he try and pull some last minute trick to try and hold onto his seat.

(Of course after seeing how well he did for the party late in 2004, not sure anyone need to worry)

7 in a day? Yah, not too bad for a... rookie!

This past weekend, I went to the Red Wing MN airport (that's located in Wisconsin) for the second time. It's a WWII aviation weekend. If you've ever heard a radial engine, you'll know what I'm talking about.
I'm a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society of Minnesota (8thmn.org/ ). These are the guys who were the air and ground crew for the B-17's, B-24's, C-47's. We also have guys from the 15th Air Force (Libya then Italy) and a contingent of Pacific pilots and aircrew. We also have Korean War vets, Vietnam and Gulf War I vets. And camp followers like me. They are the neatest group of men. Self effacing, down home guy next door. Who just all happen to be my heroes...and my friends.

We set up a PX at the airport and I go to help. This weekend one of our members (Larry) went to take part in the ongoing seminar of the different aspects of WWII and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Larry is a B-24 pilot with 35 completed combat missions. I went to the PX, chatted with the guys, and then went to find Larry to see if he needed anything. He didn't, but asked me to sit down. On the way to the airport, I had called another friend of mine who has a unique project. Jon is a professional videographer. He has also founded a 501(c) 3 called C.A.P.S. (Combat Aircrew Preservation Society www.combataircrew.net/ ). It's his task to get as many of their stories on tape as possible. He had heard that there were two German Luftwaffe pilots who were going to be at the seminar. So I told him I'd scout them out and give them his card in case he couldn't make the airshow. I came across a Screaming Eagle, Jim McNiece (101st Airborne) and noticed he was also a member of the 506th PIR, same as the Band of Brothers of Stephen Ambrose fame. So we started talking. Jumped on D-Day, Market Garden and was a Pathfinder in Bastogne. Jon had called me and let me know that he was on his way. I told him about the Screaming Eagle. John said he'd interview him. Jon arrived and we walked around to again try to find the Luftwaffe pilots. Unfortunately they had left. Jon came across a Marine pilot named Jim Swett. He read his bio. He was a combat pilot in the Pacific. Flew a F4U Corsair. Was a double Ace. Became an Ace his first combat mission. Shot down 7 Japanese Val bombers in a single day. Picked up a few DFC's (6-that's right, 6 Distinguished Flying Crosses). Oh, and he's a Medal of Honor winner. What impressed me the most? He is just like all those guys I have lunch with almost every Wednesday: unassuming, self-effacing, incredibly humble. They all talk about what they did like a job. A very exciting job, none-the-less, but something that had to be done.
And the other thing that impressed me about the first and so far only Medal of Honor winner I've ever met? He said he always wondered why he got the Medal of Honor for just doing his job! Self effacing and humble to the end.
As we were setting up the interview, and before I knew his background, I asked him what branch of the service he was in. He said Marines. I said "A jarhead to the end?" He said yes and asked me if I were a Marine. I said no. He replied "Too bad. You would have made an excellent Marine." For a man like me, that was a compliment of the highest order. I was so humbled to be so honored by a man like this.
I am always aware that when I have lunch with these guys on Wednesdays, and when I talk to and shake hands with men like Mr. Swett and Mr. McNiece, that I walk and keep company with giants and heroes. And they never see themselves as such.Ever!
And I am so honored and so humbled that men like these allow me to keep company with them

Lunch with the 8th Air Force Historical Society of Minnesota is at legion Post 550 (NW corner of 94th and Lyndale in Bloomington, MN at 11:00. Lunch quality is always tenuous. Quality of the company is always excellent!) You're invited to come and have lunch in the company of giants and heroes.
Mr. Swett: www.acepilots.com/usmc_aces.html#Swett and www.tcpilots.org/bios/swett.html to cite a few.
Mr. McNiece: tinyurl.com/9gxs3

AND if you want a surprise, go to www.combataircrew.net/ and ask for the DVD or tape of Mr. Swett's interview to hear his thoughts about Greg "Pappy" Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron on the mission they both flew.

"We don't need you. We have your children."

Yesterday morning I was helping a good friend pour concrete for an egress window. Another mutual friend was there. A few years ago Bob asked me what he could do to get involved in politics. I gave him a few suggestions. He decided to work for The Maple River Education Project which is now EdWatch www.edwatch.org . I have gone to some of their presentations and have always been impressed. Yesterday Bob told me that EdWatch was having their year end wrap-up. I went. Now, what was interesting is that Bob and I were talking as my friend Greg was working the concrete. As he overheard Bob and me talk about government education in Minnesota, he commented "You guys are scaring me!" He was half joking as he and his wife homeschool their daughter, but there was truth in his comment as most children are government schooled.
Well, I went to the wrap up and supper. And what I heard come from these people as they reported what the government (even GWB!) has planned for children made my blood run cold.
Profiles of Learning is dead...so to speak. Son of Profiles of Learning is alive and well. And is pointed at infants to 4 year olds!
Mental health screening for 1 year olds. Drawing games for 3-4 year olds where there is an outline of a child and the kids are asked to fill in as many body parts as possible and are then asked if this is a drawing of a boy or girl...and why? Text books where all references to the Founding Documents are highly edited and all references to God are omitted. Early writings on and about the republic are twisted to make it sound as if the Constitution is a product of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment (which gave us socialism)!!! The Mayflower Compact (from the Pilgrims, who were Congregationalist, as am I, who also gave us the townhall meeting, among other things) is heavily edited to omit the dedication of the Pilgrims to God and the reason for their writing the Mayflower Compact (this editing of the early documents and comparing the edit to the originals comes from Mike Chapman. You can find a DVD of his presentation on the website www.edwatch.org . Very much worth the purchase!).
EdWatch is THE premiere watchdog group on government education in the nation! They are called upon as a resource from all over the country. They provide expert testimony and means to combat the wholesale true exploitation of children by government and the left.
They richly deserve to be supported. Make a donation. Make a purchase at their online store. Get involved with them or start an organization like theirs in your state.
This is something you can really do for the children.

It occurs to me that the evil of the left is like a vapor: it finds any crack and then seeps in to fill the room.

That being said, the reason for a group like EdWatch is because of the abandonment of the Constitution and the 10th Amendment. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that allows the Federal government to be involved in education. Nothing! Zip! Zero! Null and void! Empty set! This is what happens when we have an unrestrained government that operates as a democracy. And these fine people in EdWatch need to fight to keep the government away from our children. Rather than putting their energies into their families, they, and we, have to fight the government.
We have to fight the government to protect our rights. Does anybody, other than me and a select few, see anything wrong with that? Class? Class?
Welcome to the democracy!
Once again, two websites that you absolutely need to go read:
www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htm
and www.constitution.org/law/bastiat.htm .
Or for the last link go buy the book "The Law".

BTW, this blog title comes from a quote from a Nazi in Germany:a German citizen told the Nazi that the Nazis would never conquer the German people.

Outlaw socks as you can put a rock in them..

Yup. We knew it was coming: tinyurl.com/b8eh6 .
And next...looks that can kill.
Do it for the children.

It may indeed be the end for the Chairman...

I received the following e-mail today from one of my fellow central committee delegates...

Dear Fellow Republican,

I had to laugh when I read the letter I received today from Representatives Hoppe and Finstad in support of Eibensteiner’s re-election (paid for by Eibensteiner).

The piece said, “In the few months since we took over the campaign committee, we have been impressed with the level of cooperation and the commitment coming out of the Republican Party of Minnesota. On every level, from finances to communication to grassroots organizing, it is clear that the state party is ready to work with us and ready to win.”

Really? Hoppe and Finstad obviously didn’t attend Eibensteiner’s “Feedback Forum” on April 16th in Bloomington.

I did. And I listened to Eibensteiner harshly criticize and blame the Republican House Caucus for losing 13 seats. Eibensteiner said the party wasn’t remotely involved in the 2004 rep races because Speaker Sviggum and the house caucus assured him that everything was under control and not to worry.

Eibensteiner took no responsibility whatsoever for our losses and proceeded to specifically blame Speaker Sviggum, Majority Leader Eric Paulson, Representative Jeff Johnson and Gregg Peppin.

Surely, Speaker Sviggum turned Eibensteiner down for a letter of support.

Now, I don’t know much about Representatives Hoppe and Finstad other than neither one of them are State Central Delegates and Hoppe and Finstad have been vocal supporters of publicly-funded sports stadiums for millionaires.

Hoppe and Finstad should sit down with Eibensteiner and read our party’s platform instead of telling me who to vote for.

I have made up my own mind and it certainly isn’t Eibensteiner.

Now I did not attend the Chairman's feedback forum either, however, I was a member of a small group of people who met with both the Chairman and his challenger (Bill Pulkrabek). During the course of discussions with the Chairman we heard the same assignment of blame described above. The chairman is a venture capital fundraiser in his full time job and I wonder how that attitude (it wasn't my fault that the project failed it was Johnny's fault) would go over. I know that in my job, if I am project lead all successes and failures would fall at my feet. The Chairman has one job - get Republican candidates elected. When the Party succeeds, the Chairman is a hero and when Party fails the Chairman needs to be accountable. Chairman Eibensteiner needs to "own the problem" just like he owned the successes of 2000 and 2002. Blaming the House and Senate Caucus is not going to endear him to the people he needs to most - the grass roots activists.

The problem, Mr. Chairman, was a failure to communicate. I really don't care who started the problem, your job was to fix so that all of our hard work was focused into a successful effort. That is what project leaders do. You did not do that Mr. Chairman and now you must face your employers (the State Central Committee) and try to save your job.

So you're mad about the "Compromise"...

So you're mad that seven Republicans stabbed the Senate leadership in the back this week with their little compromise. So you say you really, really want to do something about this to show your displeasure about the compromise. Well there is something you can do.

I have heard a lot of people saying that they are no giving "one more dime" to the RNC senatorial campaign. I have heard people saying that they are no longer voting for candidates from either party - that they are withdrawing from the process. While those are certainly valid options however you are not hurting the party with that at all. They only ones hurt by that are the candidates that could bring about the necessary changes.

If you are really serious about changing the situation, then what you need to do is to find out when these particular Senators are up for re-election and find a primary challenger for that person! Three of the GOP "turncoats" (Chaffee, Snow and DeWine) are up for re-election in 2006. Two of the Democrats (Nelson and Byrd) are from "red states" - states that President Bush carried handily in the last election! Chaffee and Snow have declared primary challengers (Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey and State Representative Brian Duprey respectively) and Nelson and Byrd have declared opponents (former Attorney General Don Stenberg and Iraq war veteran and Judge Advocate General officer Hiram Lewis respectively). Put your time and money where your mouth is and help these candidates with their campaign. After all, no one figured John Thune stood a chance against Tom Daschle. However with a lot of help from some very unconventional sources (the blogosphere) he pulled off the biggest upset victory that we have seen in a long long time.

These five need to be the ones to bear the brunt of the wrath of the voters! Not the RNC Senatorial Committee! If you really want to help facilitate a change find a challenger and donate your time and money to him/her! Make sure that those who are responsible for this travesty feel the wrath of the voting public.

If you still want to express your displeasure to Senate "leadership", you can use this form to send your coments to Senator Frist or send you comments via fax at 202/228-1264..

If you stop their touchdowns and they only score field goals...they win,you lose!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44434

"From the same man who brought you..." or "Can't Find It in MY Copy!"

Yah...heard it yesterday so it must be true: the gang of 14 saved the republic! The compromise on the filibuster saved what the Founding Fathers put together. They can now confidently reply to Dr. Franklin that we..well, they, have preserved the republic. Whew!!! Glad that's been resolved.
But, I'm just an uneducated schlub. My masters in the Emerald City know what's best for me, so I appeal to them to tell me where in the Constitution Senator McCain (The Savior of the Republic, the Defender of the Constitution and Grand Upholder of His Oath of Office) precisely where in the Constitution he thinks the Senate can propose a Clean Sports Act?
tinyurl.com/8n8e3
From the same guy that brought you George Soros and 527's, who brought you 14 Senators that now control the Senate, we now have the Whizzinator Act!
Reminds me of an old 3M ad slogan; "What won't they think of next?"
Hugh Hewitt is right: McCain is a great American,a lousy senator and a terrrible Republican.
And I feel NO sympathy for Hewitt at all as he whines on and on about this travesty (read my column archived April 10th and titled
I Ain't A Clue Why We Have A Problem Here!)
And as for the Republic? Again I post tinyurl.com/9kzub


10:18 a.m.: This just in from Dr. Thomas Sowell tinyurl.com/dpqf9

At least one Republican sees this for what it is

Kennedy v. Machine has a statement from Mark Kennedy about the Republican Surrender.

“The so-called compromise does not end a fundamental injustice: For the first time in our nation’s 216-year history, judges are now being held to a 60 vote standard, not the simple majority intended by the Constitution.

Glad to see at least one Republican stand up. Always liked Mark as a person, if he can continue showing this kind of leadership, he has my vote for Senate.
Wonder if we can get him to move to AZ, he seems to do a good job of getting rid of liberals.

Republicans Top 11 List...

From Nihlist in Golf Pants: nihlist.blogspot.com/2005/05/top-11-things-republicans-get-in.html

Monday, May 23, 2005

Top 11 Things the Republicans Get in Exchange for Surrendering on Judges

11. Democrats agree not to compare Bush to Hitler except in extraordinary circumstances.
10. John McCain gets a better parking spot.
9. Democrats agree not to filibuster Lawrence Tribe should Bush appoint him Chief Justice.
8. Hillary will be allowed to choose only one in ten judges.
7. Harry Reid agrees to refer to Bill Frist as "my bitch" only in private.
6. Senator Byrd agrees not to burn a cross in Clarence Thomas’ yard.
5. Republicans get Herschel Walker for their Senate football team.
4. Bill Clinton agrees to set Lindsay Graham up with one of his interns.
3. Democrats will make a good faith effort to stop being a**holes.
2. Democrats agree to finance the Senate Republican Caucus production of “No, No, Nanette”.
1. Democratic caucus promises to refer to Mike DeWine as “Senator Sexy”.

Say after me Governor "It's 'the SENATE', not' the Legislature' "

I clicked on the Doug Grove column today http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/5419388.html with the title "Two Problems" and went on to say in the title descriptor that both problems were of the Governors making. I immediately knew what the column was about: not enough taxes or the wealthy weren't being taxed enough, or there were too few programs.
There in the article was a quote from party switcher, Minnesota's answer to Jumpin' Jim Jeffords, Sheila Kiscaden-I-Rochester . As I read through the article, Grow always referred to proposals from the left wing controlled Senate. And every time the Governor replies, he refers to "the legislature". This is one of the reasons the Republicans lost 13 House seats last year.
The gridlock in 2004 was all in the Senate. The House was finished with it's business about a month before the end of the legislative session. The Senate was mucked up because of the radical left wing Metrocrats that controlled all the Senate Committees. And when the Governor was out campaigning, every single time he referred to the gridlock, he always referred to "the Legislature". Never "the Senate" where the gridlock was occurring.
And as the Senate wasn't up for election, who did the electorate vent their anger on? Yup, the House. Oh, and it didn't help at all that Tim went on a "we need to expand gambling" tour six weeks before the 2004 election (good golly, where do you think ALL that Mystic Lake 527 money went? Republican 527's? And as all that money went to get out the left wing vote, I doubt very much that those people who voted for left wing House representatives pulled the lever for George Bush. And Bush lost by 5%).
And now, with all the listed proposals for taxes, higher taxes, more inefficient, ineffective programs all coming from far left wing Senators, he STILL refers to the Legislature! And of course, the extreme left wing Senators, and of course Doug Grow also refer to the left wing Senate as "the Legislature" or "legislators".
Tim, you ain't going to ever get to Washington D.C. by cutting the legs from under your party.
SENATE, not legislature Governor.SENATE!!!

RINOs Sells out the Constitution - Again

John McCain continues his attack on the Constitution in order to keep his membership at the NY Press Club.
I just saw the Press conference where they made a great compromise - The Democrats promise they will not filibuster any candidate but those that are extreme (Uh - Didn't they say all of bush nominees are extreme) and in return, John McCain throws two of the judges under the bus (Saad and Myers I think) and takes away the Senates duty to vote on the judges.
So why would the Democrats agree to this - because they were going to lose the vote so they have everything to gain: keep the ability to not do their constitutional duty and filibuster judges and get rid of two judges, and nothing to lose - the judges they agree to appoint would have been appointed anyway.
What do the Republicans Gain, nothing!
What do the RINO gain - Lots of media reports about how wonderful they are.

Ahh - It's worse then I though, just read the details.
Check Out Post on:
Michelle Maklin Captain Quarters
The Democrats agree to not filibuster unless the candidate is extreme (In their opinion).
The Republican agree to not change the rules this congress. No wiggle room - No unless the candidates are unfairly filibuster - just "We will not change the rule in the 109th Congress"

I think it is time to make sure that at least some of these folks don't get a chance to make this same kind of deal in the next Congress.


I plan to support anyone who will run against these cowards!
I have lost more of my Constitutional Rights to John McCain then to John Kerry -
It is time to stop!


John McCain - Az
Mark DeWine - Oh - 2006 Dem Candidate looks like Ted Strickland
Snowe - ME
Warner - VA
Graham - SC
Collins - ME
Chafee - RI - 2006 Dem Candidates Matt Brown or Sheldon Whitehouse

Not One Dime more to RNC Senate,
See also KennedyvMachine

More to come....

One note that is very telling of these folks, as I went to their web sites to see when they were up for re-election, I went and saw their press releases.
Page after Page of how much money they got for their state - so if they are not social conservatives and they are not fiscal conservatives, what does the R by them stand for?

They really think that we are that dumb....

The nanny staters are at it again. This http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/5415743.html reports on legislation introduced by the honorable Senator from the great state of Iowa (Tom Harkin). This legislation would force the FCC (who has nothing better to do btw) to police how companies advertise "to children". It seems that Senator Harkin fears that parents are so dumb and so incapable that their children will not be able to know if they should listen to Shrek "telling" them to eat sugary candy or listen to Mom or Dad telling them to eat healthy foods.

"Shrek says yes, Mom says no," the Iowa Democrat said in an interview. "Dad says fruit, Shrek says candy. ... " Perhaps, Senator Harkin needs to meet my 12 year old, for my 12 year old has an insight into this issue that the Senator appearantly does not have and I will gladly share with the Senator if he asked. What is that insight, you ask? Simple - Senator Harkin, Shrek is NOT A REAL PERSON and Mom and Dad are! Maybe when the Senator grows up he will figure that out and realize that this legislation is a waste of taxpayer time and money.

Is the end really near for King Ron?

It's a rainy, dreary Saturday afternoon in Minnesota. With nothing better to do, I decided to do a little on line reading. I stumbled across this and immediately thought of my friend Savage Republican. From http://thefirstringblog.blogspot.com/.

This paragraph caught my eye (emphasis mine)....

By comparison, the GOP Chair for Party Chair between incumbent Ron Eibensteiner and Bill Pulkrabek is deathly quiet. Both sides are calling delegates and alternates for the GOP’s June Central Committee convention and lining up support. Pulkrabek continues to attack Eibensteiner’s leadership, releasing another letter suggesting the party’s fundraising has seriously dipped and needs to rebound. With Eibensteiner’s venture capital background, the fundraising issue is perceived as his strongest and Pulkrabek’s weakest. Whether this new line of attack does anything for Pulkrabek’s chances may be a moot point according to multiple sources close to the Eibensteiner campaign who are quoting internal polling numbers showing the current Chair with a large delegate lead. The Eibensteiner camp concedes a fair number of delegates remain uncommitted, but supposedly not by a margin that could significantly close the gap for Pulkrabek. How accurate the Eibensteiner camp’s assessment is will be known in a few weeks.

Given the conversations that I have had with the rank and file in the state Republican Party, Chairman Eibensteiner is not the most popular chairman. I find it a little hard to believe the Chairman's numbers, but if they are correct, he will have one last term to hopefully undo some of the damage done (to the State Party) in the last election cycle. However, if (as First Ringer hints) the Chair's numbers are not all that accurate...Hmmmmm - June 11ths Central Committee meeting should be wildly entertaining.

Well maybe I'm not the only one who noticed...

It appears that someone in the press also noticed the difference, between Jews, Christians and Muslims, in their reaction to the news that someone has "defiled" their holy sites/texts (see my post entitled "Outrage" from May 17). Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe - no less - picked up on the theme and expanded the discussion in his article here http://tinyurl.com/agumq

The paragraph that struck me the most was this:

Christians, Jews, and Buddhists don't lash out in homicidal rage when their religion is insulted. They don't call for holy war and riot in the streets. It would be unthinkable for a mainstream priest, rabbi, or lama to demand that a blasphemer be slain. But when Reuters reported what Mohammad Hanif, the imam of a Muslim seminary in Pakistan, said about the alleged Koran-flushers -- ''They should be hung. They should be killed in public so that no one can dare to insult Islam and its sacred symbols" -- was any reader surprised?

Well finally - someone gets it!

The End is near for King Ron!

Looks like the grassroots are finally going to rise up in MN and take back our party.
Here is an interesting link to what happened at the CD 4/5 convention.
The part that got my interest,

The interesting thing for me as an observer is the acute blame the party at this grassroots level accords to the State functionaries. Ron Eibensteiner is State Chairman and he is not appreciated in his role. Blame for disappointing losses last November to the DFL are not shrugged off as a reality of city political life, but are attributed to a disconnected leadership. Mr. Eibensteiner was in attendance, as were his opponents. They all gave speeches during the proceedings, asking for support when that office goes up for election this summer, I believe. Ron has very, very little support at this level and I do not see much chance that he will be reelected as State Chair. From where I sit it looks like the new Chair will be Bill Pulkrabek. He knows which side the toast is buttered on and talked an emphasis on grassroots politics.

I will lay out in the next few weeks my case for change and why Ron should not be chair.
But I think there is a statewide trend for change.
Stay tuned.