An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 23 January 2008
Ann on McFeingold
‘Straight Talk’ Express Takes Scenic Route to Truth
John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth. Like McCain, pollsters assured us that Dole was the most “electable” Republican. Unlike McCain, Dole didn’t lie all the time while claiming to engage in Straight Talk.
Of course, I might lie constantly too, if I were seeking the Republican presidential nomination after enthusiastically promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, Social Security credit for illegal aliens, criminal trials for terrorists, stem-cell research on human embryos, crackpot global warming legislation and free speech-crushing campaign-finance laws.
I might lie too, if I had opposed the Bush tax cuts, a marriage amendment to the Constitution, waterboarding terrorists and drilling in Alaska.
And I might lie if I had called the ads of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth “dishonest and dishonorable.”
McCain angrily denounces the suggestion that his “comprehensive immigration reform” constituted “amnesty” — on the ludicrous grounds that it included a small fine. Even the guy who graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy didn’t fall for this a few years ago.
In 2003, McCain told The Tucson Citizen that “amnesty has to be an important part” of any immigration reform. He also rolled out the old chestnut about America’s need for illegals, who do “jobs that American workers simply won’t do.”
Good Company, Good Food
Miss Toni, of Bear Creek Ledger fame, invited me to come to a RW meeting waaaaay over there, close to Nashville. So, I went. 
 Quite an impressive group of ladies, I must say.
The speaker was Bill Hobbs, who, it turns out, is also the current communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party.
Obviously, the talk was about upcoming Tennessee elections, and how increasing local conservative office holders is important to the national scene.
I learned quite a bit, and I thank Toni for the invite, and the ladies for their gracious hospitality.
These “People” Are Evil!
Kansas Baptist Church Intends to Picket Heath Ledger’s Funeral Because He Played Gay Character
A radical Baptist church in Kansas known for picketing the funerals of soldiers who perished in Iraq said it intends to protest Heath Ledger’s memorial service with signs claiming the actor died and is in Hell because he played a gay character in “Brokeback Mountain.â€
Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka said that she and other members will picket Ledger’s United States memorial services, not those held in his native Australia.
“You cannot live in defiance of God,†she said. “He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it’s OK to be gay.â€
It was a movie you scum sucking slime ball! It wasn’t a movie I had any desire to see, but it was a movie….a pretend, make believe, time wasting (as most are these days) movie.
Big H/T: Commenter Sean.
Just a Peek
Morning Coffee 01/23/08
Seeking to boost Senator Hillary Clinton’s primary chances in Massachusetts, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi yesterday criticized what he called Senator Barack Obama’s lack of experience and drew an unflattering parallel to Governor Deval Patrick.
And the Shrilldebeast has lots of experience? She got elected on her husband’s coattails, and I’ve yet to see where she has actually DONE anything, besides run for POTUS. NEITHER one of them has the experience.
Mubarak: Palestinians were allowed into Egypt on my orders
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he had ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt because they were starving.
On Wednesday, Palestinian gunmen blew holes in the wall, and tens of thousands of Gazans trapped in the Strip by a tight blockade poured into Egypt to buy food, fuel and other supplies that have become scarce.
While I don’t want to see people starving, but these folks had a quite a bit of warning. Wouldn’t it have been prudent to prepare? And I’ll ask the question….again….don’t the Palestinians actually grow any food? Have any farms at all?
Spitzer’s Budget Triggers Backlash
The most scathing response came from the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan, who said he considered the governor’s decision to omit a $1,000-a-student private and parochial school tuition tax deduction a breach of trust.
In October, Mr. Spitzer had assured religious groups that the deduction — which was blocked by the Assembly a year ago — would return in his second budget.
“Our respective faiths instruct that commitments are to be taken very seriously,” the cardinal wrote in a January 11 letter to the governor, co-signed by several Jewish leaders. “You can imagine our great concern when we learned of the possibility you would not be fulfilling your commitment to include the deduction in your Executive Budget.”
Someone should probably clue the Cardinal. Politicians very rarely keep their word about anything!
Edwards works to stay relevant
John Edwards’ frustration finally boiled over at the Democratic presidential debate Monday night after being repeatedly overshadowed by his two rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
“Are there three people in this debate — not two?” Edwards asked at one point
Was he ever relevant? Sorry Johnny, the MSM have decided you ain’t the ‘IT’!
Another Turbulent Day? Stocks Fall Sharply Again; Dow Loses 200
As of 9:33 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 202.82 points, or 1.67% to 11777.80, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 25.34 points, or 1.93% to 1285.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 56.60, or 2.47%, to 2235.67. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 dropped 19.55, or 2.07%, to 927.08.
The most surprising part of today’s early sell-off is that Wall Street got what it wanted most yesterday: an aggressive 0.75% interest rate slash from the Federal Reserve. That rate cut eased some fears and helped the market avoid enormous losses some had predicted.
However, today’s performance shows that a rate cut won’t solve all of the economy’s problems, including the credit crunch, housing slump and poor earnings.
If they’d leave it alone, it would work itself out. But no, everybody wants a quick fix. Wall Street welfare recipients! sigh…
Musharraf: Pakistan Isn’t Hunting Usama
Pervez Musharraf says he still gets the question a lot: When will Usama bin Laden and his top deputy be caught? The Pakistani president insists it’s more important for his 100,000 troops on the Afghan border to root out the Taliban than search for Al Qaeda leaders.
That bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are still at large “doesn’t mean much,” the former general said Tuesday on the second day of a swing through Europe. He suggested they are far less a threat to his regime than Taliban-linked militants entrenched in Pakistan’s west.
Normally, if you cut off the head, the snake will die. With al-Qaeda, it’s a hydra, so it would take more action for Pakistan, than they seem to be willing to exert.
On Super Tuesday Tennessee will be lost in crowd
Picture the presidential primary race as a posse in an old Western: The pack thunders along, splits up to follow different tracks and converges again on the main trail. Some get ambushed and head home to nurse their wounds.
The winnowed-down presidential posse has raced South. A side trail may bring candidates to Tennessee, but don’t expect to mingle with Mitt, Rudy, John, Hillary or Barack down at the coffee shop.
Instead, we’ll get TV ads and maybe candidates flying in for quick rallies. No time for the diner campaigning of Iowa and New Hampshire: Tennessee votes with 23 other states with primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, Super Tuesday. After Florida next Tuesday, it’s all a blur until the nominees are known.
The only candidate ad I’ve seen on the idjit box is from B. Hussein. Repeatedly. Guess they don’t think we’re important enough. Pfft!
A Milwaukee School Board committee took a second swing Tuesday at whether to cooperate with a plan to deal with the school district’s failure to meet standards set by federal education law, and this time said OK.
But the OK came with strong criticism of the federal law, known as No Child Left Behind, and a call for MPS to get involved in legal action nationally challenging the law and the amount of money given to schools under the law.
The action appeared to resolve, at least for the moment, a confrontation between MPS and the state Department of Public Instruction that MPS officials had warned could mean the loss of $30 million in federal aid in the next year.
Board member Jennifer Morales, who said last week that MPS should stop cooperating with the federal law, repeated her criticism, but this time did not win any other board members to her side in a 4 to 1 vote to approve three jobs required by a plan to deal with MPS’ failings in the eyes of the law.
Ya know, this makes it sound like the broad doesn’t want the world to know MPS sucks. Too late! We already know.
