op ed review 9/19

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

Establishment Washington got yet another whipping as "the unelectable" Christine O'Donnell -- supported by Sarah Palin and the Tea Parties -- rallied to convincingly beat RINO Mike Castle in Delaware's Republican primary for Senate. “Castle, we were told by the powers that be, was the only electable Republican -- and his loss is already being mourned by ‘Beltway conservatives’…”

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/delaware_crosses_the_washingto.html

In a clear sign of the grassroots pressure on Republican leaders, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn on Wed. put out a statement embracing O'Donnell -- a dramatic contrast with his group's curt response the night before -- and writing her a big check. “It's a remarkable reversal, and a vivid illustration that the base is in charge and has the leadership running scared.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0910/Cornyn_embraces_ODonnell.html

The victory of O’Donnell is the fourth defeat for the so-called “establishment” Republican candidates in a primary this year — preceded by Rand Paul in Kentucky, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and Joe Miller in Alaska. That’s the East Coast, a border state, the Southwest, and way the hell and gone — an unmistakable demonstration that the Republican Party is reconstituting itself in an unprecedented fashion.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/357216

Sen. Jim DeMint dismissed worries by some of his fellow Republicans that tea party-backed politicians like O'Donnell are too conservative to win in November. "You can't change Washington unless you change people who are here," he said. "People are ready to throw out the bums."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/ap/demint-says-tea-party-candidates-like-delawares-odonnell-can-win-in-november-103040299.html#ixzz0zidfXwnX

“Rush Limbaugh added an interesting footnote to our disagreement with Mark Levin on the Delaware..primary contest. We thought that Rep. Mike Castle was the preferable candidate under William Buckley's rule of thumb that conservatives ought to support the rightwardmost VIABLE candidate in a given race. Levin supported Christine O'Donnell as the rightwardmost candidate in the race. Yesterday Rush expressed his disagreement with the Buckley rule and suspended it in favor of the Limbaugh Rule: "In an election year when voters are fed up with liberalism, you vote for the most conservative Republican in the primary -- period."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/09/027230.php

On Wednesday, Mitt Romney’s PAC endorsed O’Donnell. It also is sending her campaign a maximum $5,000 contribution.

http://www.freestrongamerica.com/%3E

The O’Donnell campaign has raised $1M in 24 hours since the primary.

http://christine2010.com/

Gallup has released a new poll asking respondents to assess the major accomplishments of Congress in the last two years. The pollsters found majority opposition to almost everything.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/The-public-hates-almost-everything-Congress-has-done-102761814.html

Only 34 percent of registered voters say their own member of Congress deserves re-election.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20016599-503544.html

Republican candidate Marco Rubio has opened a clear lead in a Florida Senate race, becoming the latest Tea Party favorite to benefit from voter anger at Washington.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68E55P20100915

Republican Chris Dudley is widening the gap over his Democratic opponent, John Kitzhaber, in the race for Oregon’s governor.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/103002074.html

Businessman Ron Johnson now holds a seven-point lead over incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/wisconsin/election_2010_wisconsin_senate

The anomaly is Washington State, where Sen. Patty Murray’s attack ads are taking their toll. A new Elway Poll has Murray back up 50-41% over Republican challenger Dino Rossi. What’s the matter with Washington?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2012888259_new_elway_poll_has_murray_with.html?syndication=rss

On the heels of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's announcement that he wants to put up an immigration reform measure up for a vote next week, his Republican opponent Sharron Angle is out with a new ad calling Reid "the best friend an illegal alien ever had."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20016503-503544.html

Sen. Reid rolled up to the Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada last week in a fleet of giant SUVs.

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php?blogid=667#ixzz0zYbAbThR

The Obama administration has begun implementing a backdoor amnesty through selective enforcement of U.S. immigration law. A leaked internal memorandum entitled “Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform” revealed a series of “deferred action” plans to sidestep legislative requirements.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=38968

President Obama is preparing to attend a United Nations summit next week to endorse “innovative finance mechanisms”—global taxes—to drain even more wealth out of the U.S. economy.

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obama-endorses-global-taxes-on-eve-of-u-n-summit/

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, the highest number in the half-century that the government has kept such statistics.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/16/AR2010091602698_pf.html

Your tax dollars at work: Feds spent $800,000 of economic stimulus funds on an “African Genital-Washing Program”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/75198

Closer to home, you might be surprised to hear King County residents still owe $82M on the Kingdome, demolished over ten years ago.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/Seattle-King-County-Kingdome-102679614.html

______________________________________________________________________________________

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN

No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’

By Arnold Ahlert 9/17

I don't know which is more amusing: Democrats assuming that any candidate with Tea Party backing is certifiable, or Republicans upset with the idea that RINOs are slowly becoming an endangered species within their own party. One thing is certain: the movement both sides are trying to discredit is revealing what's really in play come November. Ordinary Americans, the very same folks who engender the bipartisan contempt of Beltway insiders, have decided that one of the oldest pieces of conventional wisdom with respect to voting — as in "choosing the lesser of two evils" — doesn't cut it anymore.

With respect to the two parties, Democrats have far more to fear from the Tea Party movement than Republicans do. The movement, which is completely centered around the idea of limited government and reduced spending, is utterly at odds with a party dedicated to exactly the opposite.

Yet there is something far deeper at work here that makes it even worse for Obama and company. The motivation underlying the above-mentioned concepts is a fundamental belief that they represent a return to traditional Constitutional principles, and perhaps more importantly, American exceptionalism. It is the Tea party movement which envisions the greatness of America. It is the Democrat party and its presidential standard-bearer who have made it clear that calculating the plusses and minuses of two hundred and thirty four years of American history nets out on the negative side of the ledger. It is Democrats who consider America a hopelessly racist, bigoted and xenophobic nation in need of a thorough, progressive reboot.

That odious attitude alone, coupled with the imperious arrogance that has accompanied it for four years in Congress and two in the Oval Office, has millions of Americans seething. They get even angrier when that attitude is enshrined by a mainstream media cheering squad who are just as detestable — and just as detested.

The Republican establishment isn't much better. Only a guru-cum-establishment-hack such as Karl Rove could see the toppling of "reasonable" Mike Castle — so reasonable he's refused to back primary winner Christine O'Donnell — as bad for the party, because she may not win. Hey Karl, you know what's worse for the party? Running a tiresome RINO like John McCain for president and giving the electorate the worst "lessor of two evils" choice in modern American history. Perhaps some day you and the other clueless types who attached the word "compassionate" to conservative, may figure out you ran the Republican brand into the ground with such duplicitous nonsense. George W. Bush was barely a conservative. John McCain wasn't even close.

The electorate noticed, and decided to go with the younger liberal in 2008 — topping off their refutation of tax-and-spend Republicans in 2006. Barack Obama and Democrats won? More like Republicans lost — big.

Now that Democrats have proved even more loathsome, many of you think you can go back to RINO business as usual. Fat chance.

The voters have had more than enough of the idea that there's not "dime's worth of difference" between the two parties. While the Beltway "intelligentsia" and the media chatterers are waxing philosophical about the "true meaning" of Tea Party-ism, Americans are struggling to survive. So they're looking for new faces.

Perhaps the most laughable aspect of the so-called wisdom regarding Tea Party candidates is the idea that some of them aren't perfect. Compared to whom? Harry Reid? Barbara Boxer? Charlie Crist?

Christine O'Donnell has skeletons in her closet? What do Charlie Rangel or Maxine Waters have in theirs?

Almost as laughable is the Democrats' and their media allies' contention that the Republican party is being hijacked by "radical elements." Again, compared to whom? The most radical leftist president in American history? How about the party which wants to legalize 20-30 million border-busters, tax the air we exhale, turn the best health care system in the world into a bureaucratic nightmare, or make people ashamed of wanting to get ahead?

Once again for the truly obtuse: the Tea Party isn't a political entity as much as it's a philosophical one. The great irony is that it's anti-establishment precisely because the political establishment, the one which ought to represent core American values and traditions, has prostituted itself beyond recognition. Perhaps some of the Tea Party-backed candidates will lose races that "moderate" Republicans might have won. So what. No re-alignment happens overnight. But better a future where there really are stark differences between the parties, one where voters are offered genuinely clear choices. Better a day when the "lesser of two evils" plays a minor role in American politics. Better a future where voters can pull a lever with one hand — -without being forced to hold their noses with the other.

http://jewishworldreview.com/0910/ahlert.php3

_______________________________________________________________________________

FROM OTHER COLUMNS

"Why has the left directed so much time and effort into demonizing ordinary Americans? Because the Tea Party's three primary planks -- limited government, fiscal responsibility and Constitutional fealty -- represent the greatest threat to liberalism since its flowering in the 1960s. A smaller, fiscally responsible government dedicated to a Constitution expressly designed to limit the power of the state is the death knell for those dedicated to the idea their worldview must be imposed on Americans by an ever-expanding state. The left's worst nightmare is an America comprised of largely self-sufficient, clear-thinking individuals left to their own devices."

-Arnold Ahlert

"While America's liberal elite have not reached the depths of tyrants such as Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Hitler, they share a common vision and, as such, differ only in degree but not kind. Both denounce free markets and voluntary exchange. They are for control and coercion by the state. They believe they have superior wisdom to the masses and they have been ordained to forcibly impose that wisdom on the rest of us. They, like any other tyrant, have what they see as good reasons for restricting the freedom of others."

-Walter E. Williams

"If you read this weekend's New York Times' hit job on would-be Speaker John Boehner and his 'lobbyist friends,' you might think, as the reporter clearly thinks, that John Boehner is cozier with lobbyists than most powerful politicians are. But did you know: · Nancy Pelosi has raised almost twice as much money from lobbyists this election as Boehner has? · At least 18 House Democrats have raised more lobbyist cash this election than Boehner has. · Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid have pocketed more lobbyist cash in the past 18 months than Boehner has raised in the past 6 elections, combined?"

-Timothy Carney

"As European socialism implodes, for some reason a new statist U.S. government wants to copy failure by taking over ever more of the economy and borrowing trillions more dollars to provide additional entitlements. As panicky old allies look for American protection, we talk of slashing our defense budget. In apologetic fashion, we spend more time appeasing confident enemies than buttressing worried friends."

-Victor Davis Hanson

_________________________________________________________________________________

LEFTIST WATCH

White House Office of Science and Technology Director John P. Holdren says he wants to “de-develop the United States.” to meet the “realities of ecology and the global resource situation”.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/75388

On September 11th, Michael Moore posted an article on his blog entitled “If the ‘Mosque’ Isn’t Built, This Is No Longer America.” It began with his assertion that he was opposed to the building of the Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero because he actually wants it built ON Ground Zero.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/michael-moore-build-mosque-right-on-ground-zero/

"[I]t's both instructive and discouraging to look at the state of America circa 1938 -- instructive because the nature of the recovery that followed refutes the arguments dominating today's public debate, discouraging because it's hard to see anything like the miracle of the 1940s happening again."

-New York Times columnist Paul Krugman

("What Krugman calls 'the miracle of the 1940s' is more commonly known as World War II, a ruinous conflict that cost some 60 million lives, including more than 400,000 American ones, and that entailed the near-extermination of Europe's Jewish population." -WSJ columnist James Taranto)

“Our state cannot and should not continue maintaining companies, productive entities, services and budgeted sectors with bloated payrolls (and) losses that hurt our economy. Job options will be increased and broadened with new forms of non-state employment, among them leasing land, cooperatives and self-employment, absorbing hundreds of thousands of workers in the coming years.” Did the Obama administration and our Democratically-controlled Congress suddenly come to their senses? Did Republicans finally come up with a concrete agenda for the upcoming November election? Did some Tea Party candidate burnish his conservative credentials? No, no, and no. Unbelievable as it may seem, the above statement was released by the official labor federation–of Cuba. The Communist regime has announced plans to “downsize” their public sector workforce by more than 500,000 employees, and then attempt to reemploy those workers into the private sector. And that’s just the beginning. Cuba announced that more than one million government jobs would eventually be cut, and that there will be fewer state-sector openings in the future.

http://frontpagemag.com/2010/09/16/cuba-disses-socialism/

“Cuba announced Monday it will shed five hundred thousand government bureaucrats and allow private businesses to start hiring. This is big news. We've just learned that the private sector is going to come back in America but it's going to take fifty years.

-comedian Argus Hamilton

__________________________________________________________________________

ISLAM

A Seattle cartoonist has had to change her identity and disappear because of a fatwa issued against her this summer, following her infamous "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" cartoon.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-09-15/news/on-the-advice-of-the-fbi-cartoonist-molly-norris-disappears-from-view/

“The firestorm of controversy that surrounded the ultimately unrealized plans of an obscure Florida pastor to burn a few copies of the Qur’an was truly remarkable, without any analog in the modern world. If Terry Jones had announced an intention to put any other book in the world to the torch, no one would have taken any notice, much less threatened to set off a firestorm of righteous indignation. The fact that this one book, and only this book, could provoke such a ludicrously disproportionate reaction ought to tell us much more about the people who believe in that book than it does about the people who question its authenticity and authority.”

http://frontpagemag.com/2010/09/15/islams-burning-rage/

The Taliban are using pages torn from the Koran to package heroin sold on the streets by kids.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2010/sep/13/taliban-deface-koran-sell-heroin/

The Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker has updated from 72 to 2.5 million the number of virgins waiting for “martyrs” upon their arrival “in the Garden of Eden.” The speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the “palace” where the virgins are waiting can be entered “only by prophets, by the righteous, and by martyrs."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139614

“My organization… just released a video showing 6th graders from Wellesley, MA as they rise from prostrating themselves alongside Muslim men in a prayer to Allah while on a public school field trip to the largest mosque in the Northeast. Teachers did not intervene. Parents have not been told…..”

http://bigpeace.com/cjacobs/2010/09/16/school-trip-to-moderate-mosque-inside-video-captures-kids-bowing-to-allah/

The Texas State Board of Education will consider a resolution next week that would warn publishers not to push a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoint in world history textbooks.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/091510dntexeducation.28d07a4.html

_______________________________________________________________________________

BOOKS, FILES

"Bought and Paid For: The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street." by Charlie Gasparino.

http://www.amazon.com/Bought-Paid-Unholy-Alliance-Between/dp/1595230718/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1284766538&sr=8-1

________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVISM

Prominent conservatives from across the U.S. will meet Friday through Sunday in Washington, D.C. at an event that has grown to be the leading gathering for pro-family policies and other important issues facing the nation. He 2010 Values Voter Summit, explains that though many are concerned about the economy, other serious issues, like marriage and life, must be addressed.

http://www.valuesvotersummit.org/

A message at the website says the Freedom Summit Challenge, scheduled for Sept 25^th at Tacoma, has been cancelled.

http://thefreedomsummitchallenge.com/

This is your best chance ever to get rid of Patty Murray.

http://www.dinorossi.com/

________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLES

Now the tea party movement approaches a new hurdle: how to turn primary successes against establishment Republicans into general election victories against Democrats. Amy Kremer, chair of the Tea Party Express -- which gave O'Donnell key support in Delaware -- says that plan doesn't exist yet….. a month and a half away from the Nov. 2 deadline, that uncertainty could prove fatal to the political interests of fiscal responsibility and limited government that the Tea Party has been advocating for a year and a half. Reagan scholar and former political strategist Craig Shirley says that upending fellow Republicans and beating Democrats are two different challenges, and the Tea Party's experience lies primarily in the former.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/09/next_electoral.php

In reaction to the Christine O'Donnell win and the part that Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint played in it, veteran consultant Mark Murphy snarked that he too was a conservative -- but that he "could do the math." The point from Murphy was that conservatives like Palin and DeMint are not smart enough to do the math that a Mike Castle win in Delaware is really what conservatives needed. There have been three great elections for Republicans in modern history -- '80, '84 and '94 -- and all three were the result of a wave of conservatism. There have been five awful elections - '92, '96, '98, '06 and '08 -- and all the result of purposeful moderation…..Republicans do best when they go the most conservative. They can succeed somewhat if the Democrats let their liberalism show in the campaign. But when the waters are muddied, it is always a disaster for Republicans.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/do_the_30_year_math_the_consul.html

Even before Christine O’Donnell handily defeated Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) in an epic upset Tuesday night, the Tea Parties, all of them, had already won. No matter what happens in the midterm elections on Nov. 2, the Tea Party has moved the Democrats to the right and the Republicans even more so, and President Obama’s agenda is dead.

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/ab-stoddard/119061-tea-partys-already-won

Poor Michelle Obama. Five star hotels, tax-payer funded drivers and security, top shelf food and clothing, a personal staff of about 30 at her beck and call, intimate White House concerts from Paul McCartney, and a personal chef. Boy, the burdens of being first lady are such a drag. A new book alleges that Michelle Obama once said, “It’s hell. I can’t stand it,” when asked about her job according to the first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. So what does material-girl Michelle want? Better chefs? More trips to Europe? Maybe she needs another vacation.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/09/17/andrea-tantaros-michelle-obama-carla-bruni-sarkozy-white-house-lady-hell-job/

A light bulb factory closes in Virginia as mandated fluorescents are made in China. It's now a crime to make or ship for sale 75-watt incandescent bulbs in the European Union. Welcome to green hell.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/546913/201009101839/Thomas-Edison-Youre-Under-Arrest.htm

In 2004, 76 Democrats actually asked President Bush not to manage Fannie Mae responsibly. There are smoking guns and then there are smoking bazookas. The June 28, 2004, letter from Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and dozens of other House Democrats to President Bush, posted by Moe Lane on Redstate.com last week, forever squashes Democratic claims about the mortgage crisis not being their fault.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/547134/201009131900/The-Democrats-Fannie-Is-Showing.htm

Imagine one morning you wake up, and find you’ve been forced to join the United Auto Workers against your will because of a special deal your Democratic governor cut to reward the union for its political activity. That’s the reality for thousands of Michigan day care providers. Some of them are suing. “I thought it was a joke,” said [Peggy] Mashke, 50, of northern Michigan’s Ogemaw County. “I work out of my home. I’m not an auto worker. How can I become a member of the UAW? I didn’t get it.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/michigan-youre-in-the-union-now-like-it-or-not-102850584.html

The American Civil Liberties Union has discovered the right to life. Seriously. But it’s not what you think.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1165472

_________________________________________________________________________________

NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

The Hoover Institution at Stanford has a great video series called Uncommon Knowledge. Interviews with such figures as Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, Victor Davis Hansen, Mark Steyn, etc.

http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uncommon-knowledge

Here’s the brilliant Dr. Sowell talking about his latest book, “Dismantling America”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SDLBqIubCs

The Forgotten Man: An Artist’s Rendition of What Obama Has Done. McNaughton explains what’s behind it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGlBHyVeYU

Here’s the picture, mouse-over each president to learn more.

http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/?artpiece_id=379#

The Alliance for Retirement Prosperity Association offers its members the only true alternative to AARP—demonstrable political clout and unbeatable membership benefits. Unlike AARP, the Alliance reflects original American values and principles and takes no money from the federal government, thus we owe no political debt to any politician.

http://wethealliance.com/

Hero dogs of 9/11:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91GQRX3YdY

The Patty Murray Misery Index

http://www.murraymiseryindex.com/?gclid=CML-pO2rgqQCFQUiawodiBmvIg

Disturbing map:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/246243/disturbing-map-daniel-foster

Join the Refudiation:

http://www.weeklystandardstore.com/

Everyday you hear about political information being tweeted by influential politicians...now you can find them all in one place. It's all right here on Politics Tweet!

http://politicstweet.com/

This site claims to have voter profiles in each state. See if they have one on you.

http://www.voterfactory.com/default.html

__________________________________________________________________________________

LATE NITE

Jay Leno: According to government auditors, the stimulus money is being held up because there aren't enough government workers to oversee the spending. So follow me, in other words, government workers who aren't there are needed to spend money we don't have to create jobs that don't exist.

__________________________________________________________________________________

WISE WORDS

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."

-Milton Friedman

“What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not but that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed? What farmer or manufacturer will lay himself out for the encouragement given to any particular cultivation or establishment, when he can have no assurance that his preparatory labors and advances will not render him a victim to an inconstant government?”

-James Madison, Federalist 62