Really?

Take a good, long, look at this ballot and tell me how it is possibly not a vote for Norm Coleman in the Minnesota State Senate race. There's no way. Its not possible for a human being to make this mark in the oval beside Norm Coleman's name without the intention of voting for him. No decent human being could argue otherwise. I know, we are talking about Al Franken here, but he must have some basic (albeit hidden) shred of humanity somewhere within him.

What possible scenarios could explain this ballot's existence in a supposedly good, decent, and well ordered universe if it is not a vote for Norm Coleman? Did the voter have a seizure as he entered the voting booth, pen in hand, yet somehow managed to accidentally submit his ballot to the machine as the poll monitors frantically tried to stop him from swallowing his tongue? Is he a slightly mentally handicapped, schizophrenic, paranoid, psychotic who believes Norm Coleman has been reading his mail, stealing his newspaper, and sodomizing his dog, who upon seeing Norm Coleman's name, shrieked something about the Carlyle Group and the most recent Indiana Jones film as he frantically scribbled x's next to Coleman's name in an effort to emphasize his distaste for the incumbent? Did the voter, being legally retarded, think he was voting for Coleman to be kicked off Survivor?

I suppose no one can really know what this man, woman, or dead ACORN registeree was thinking when they made a mark in the oval next to Norm Coleman's name, but I think the safest assumption would be that they were voting for Coleman. But that's only if we're coming from a position of "ethics" and "faith in Democracy". In a spirit of bipartisanship, I think we should look at it from the Franken campaign's point of view. Put yourself in their shoes. What may seem imbecilic at best to the rest of us makes perfect sense if you're trying to steal an election.

Reagan's Response to David Brooks

Let Them Go Their Way

Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA)

March 1, 1975

Since our last meeting we have been through a disastrous election. It is easy for us to be discouraged, as pundits hail that election as a repudiation of our philosophy and even as a mandate of some kind or other. But the significance of the election was not registered by those who voted, but by those who stayed home. If there was anything like a mandate it will be found among almost two-thirds of the citizens who refused to participate.

Bitter as it is to accept the results of the November election, we should have reason for some optimism. For many years now we have preached “the gospel,” in opposition to the philosophy of so-called liberalism which was, in truth, a call to collectivism.

Now, it is possible we have been persuasive to a greater degree than we had ever realized. Few, if any, Democratic party candidates in the last election ran as liberals. Listening to them I had the eerie feeling we were hearing reruns of Goldwater speeches. I even thought I heard a few of my own.

Bureaucracy was assailed and fiscal responsibility hailed. Even George McGovern donned sackcloth and ashes and did penance for the good people of South Dakota.

But let’s not be so naive as to think we are witnessing a mass conversion to the principles of conservatism. Once sworn into office, the victors reverted to type. In their view, apparently, the ends justified the means.

The “Young Turks” had campaigned against “evil politicians.” They turned against committee chairmen of their own party, displaying a taste and talent as cutthroat power politicians quite in contrast to their campaign rhetoric and idealism. Still, we must not forget that they molded their campaigning to fit what even they recognized was the mood of the majority.

And we must see to it that the people are reminded of this as they now pursue their ideological goals—and pursue them they will. . .

I don‘t know about you, but I am impatient with those Republicans who after the last election rushed into print saying, “We must broaden the base of our party”—when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents.

The rest

God Must Have A Sense Of Humor

i⋅ro⋅ny [ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-]
–noun, plural -nies.
1: Indianapolis - Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker. . .

Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail . . .

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them. . .

Missouri Backs the Other Guy Against the Communist

I have to say, nothing makes me more proud to be a Missourian right now than the fact that we didn't drink the kool aid. I could care less that we've lost our "bellwether" status. We've gained a "rational" status. My only issue is in the coming War Between the States, Missouri will be allied with Kansas. Damned redlegs!

Our Way Forward

So here we are. First I'd like to apologize to the rest of the world. You may not realize this or you may not want to admit it, but the American electorate just screwed you over, big time. Secondly, all you young "first time voters". As you get older, many of you will realize what you have done. Just know right now that I have no sympathy for you. If I can figure it out this young, so can you. Instead you selfishly voted in droves for the hip, trendy pick because as much as you think you are "sticking it to the man", all you are doing is falling into lockstep with the rest of the misguided misanthropes that make up these fascist organizations we call college campuses, who can't seem to understand that they're not being individualistic by voting the same way everyone else on campus is voting no matter how many piercings they have. Congratulations, you just screwed over the country you're set to inherit. Someday maybe you'll understand that adults don't whine about the costs of student loans and vote a socialist into power. Adults understand that you pay for what you get and act accordingly (they get a job).

That said, we can't play the blame game for very long. We will have to rebuild the Republican Party and the Conservative movement, but we can't afford to neglect our role as opposition. It appears that the Democrats will fall short of the 60 Senate seats needed for a filibuster proof majority. The 40+ GOP Senators had better find a spine and find it fast. I don't buy the Obama as a pragmatist who will govern from the center line we've been fed from people on our own side. Barry will see this as a mandate and an opportunity to reshape this country in the progressive image. There will be at least two years where he will be able to pass whatever he wants if the GOP can't maintain unity against him in the Senate. I know that there are Olympia Snowe types in the Senate who can't wait to cooperate with the Democrat majority, and John McCain's concession speech didn't exactly fill me with hope last night. McCain needs to be nowhere near party leadership in the Senate. The moderates have had their chance this past election, and contrary to popular opinion, more times than not during the Bush administration. Its time for conservatives to rally around someone. We are facing the abyss. Will it be Mitch McConnell? I have my doubts, but we need a strong, steady voice in the Senate. Hopefully we'll be able to utilize moderate Democrat Senators from time to time. Otherwise our last line of defense is the courts.

It appears that the first legislative tasks come January will be the Employee Free Choice Act and the Fairness Doctrine. I don't think that either of these should hold up if brought to the current Supreme Court. However, how long will the court remain constituted as it currently is? Of the current basic conservative majority on the court, Chief Justice Roberts will be 54 in January, Justice Scalia will be 75 in March, Justice Kennedy will be 75 in July, Justice Thomas will be 61 in June, and Justice Alito will be 59 in April. No matter what you think of the Bush administration, part of his legacy will be the presence of Roberts and Alito on the court for the next 10-20 years. The question though, is Scalia and Kennedy. I don't care about the liberal members, if Obama replaces any of them it won't alter the balance of the Court. While Kennedy isn't a reliable conservative vote, he is infinitely better than anyone Obama would appoint. Remember, Obama would choose his justices based on their empathy for certain segments of society and has expressed regret that the courts haven't redistributed American wealth regardless of action by Congress. Scalia and Kennedy must remain on the bench for at least four more years. Even two years would put us in a much better situation as long as the GOP can make midterm gains in the Senate, but experience makes me wary of trusting the courage and resolve of Republican Senators, therefore I pray Scalia and Kennedy can hold out for a Republican administration. This is the most important fight over the next 2-4 years. The only way we may be able to stop Obama is over the Constitutionality of his Legislative agenda. I'm afraid though that there is little that we can do other than pray for the health and energy of the current majority.

What we can do is demand conservatism from the Republican Party. The moderates have had their shot and its been an unmitigated disaster. Its time to get back to our roots. Its time to demand conservative candidates and principles. Fiscal conservatism must be brought back, no more bailouts. Its time to rediscover the Libertarian wing of our party. Don't abandon capitalism. We can't become a "me too" liberal party. Don't run from social issues. California is on the verge of banning gay marriage. Barack Obama wants to reinstitute Federal funding for abortion. The GOP must make a stand in the House and Senate. These are winning issues for us. We must reestablish ourselves as the conservative alternative. The American public hasn't really had one in a while.

It is what it is. Obama has won. We have to deal with it. We have to weather the coming storm as best we can. Do not feel sorry for yourself. We took an awful candidate and tried our best to drag him across the finish line. It didn't work. Live and learn. We'll carry on. Obama didn't forever alter the balance of power in America. We are still a center-right country. Did you notice how many bans on gay marriage passed last night? If we just stand fast to our conservative principles, America will hand us the reigns again. We survived 4 terms of FDR. We survived the Great Society. We survived Jimmy Carter for goodness sakes. America and conservatism will survive Obama, but the Republican Party had better rediscover its convictions, and fast.

Always Back the Other Guy Against A Communist

This is it. Hopefully my fellow citizens don't force me to question my faith in Democracy today, but seriously, if we elect Obama, the electorate is too dumb to be free. There's nothing as tragic as a people willingly shackling themselves. If only Parliament knew that all they had to do was bribe the colonies with other people's money and we'd dance our way willingly into subjugation. We'd even call it "salvation". McCain may be an awful candidate, but he fits my general rule of thumb: Always back the other guy against a communist.

My Closing Argument

Barack Obama likes to frame this election as a turning point. A moment to "make history" in his words. He prognosticates that this is a crucial choice we're making that will determine the future of America. He's right. Tomorrow Americans will cast their vote to decide what kind of America they will live in. Will we be a free capitalist society that understands that with freedom comes risk, that we have a right to pursue happiness, but government should not attempt to guarantee it? Or will we accept the reassuring embrace of the State? Will we sacrifice freedom and leave our well being in the hands of a supposedly benevolent central government? Its a simple choice. Capitalism or socialism. Freedom or totalitarianism. Liberty or tyranny.

John McCain is not a perfect candidate. Many of his views ring with a populism that is little different than Obama's. I admittedly swore to myself long ago that I would never vote for the man. My sheer rage at the Republican Party in nominating him is difficult to express in words. I was determined to punish the GOP by withholding my vote this cycle. I believed John McCain would shatter the conservative base within the party and set the conservative movement back years. This is still true, though the Palin nomination has assuaged some of my fears. But while McCain may destroy the GOP as a conservative party, Obama will destroy America as a relatively conservative country. I feel I don't have the luxury this year of a vote on principle. Barack Obama is too dangerous. He is an admitted socialist and the damage he could do with a Democrat House and 60 friendly Senators is incalculable. A mere cursory examination of his past words and affiliations reveals Obama to be a radical leftist. He sees America as a guilty society who's "salvation" can only be achieved through collectivization and redistribution of wealth. His domestic policy is premised on the idea that the American system of capitalism is inherently unfair and must be remedied with an increasingly powerful and intrusive central government freed from the shackles of Constitutional limitations. His foreign policy is premised around the notion that America is the cause of the worlds problems, that we are too powerful and must submit to the wishes of the UN and the international community whose intentions are not compatible with America's best interests.

Its a shame that my case for John McCain is all about Barack Obama, but this election sadly is all about Barack Obama. McCain's involvement is only peripheral, at least for me. As Thomas Sowell put it, the only man who can get me to vote for John McCain is Barack Obama. It is unfortunate that the Republican Party has served up such an inept challenger to the closest thing to a marxist ever hoisted upon a presidential ticket. America should have a choice between two contrasting world views, if only we had nominated a clear, conservative voice. Barack Obama should be facing a 49 state landslide. Instead America faces a second "New Deal" from a man who has openly lamented the failure of the courts to impose socialism upon us. Just as I voted against John Kerry in 2004, I find myself voting not for John McCain, but against Barack Obama. 4 years of bloated Federal budgets and apparent wholesale abandonment of conservative principles have severely jaded me, but I know that I'm voting for the lesser of two evils. I know a McCain administration will enrage me on a regular basis, but an Obama administration will probably lead me to question my faith in humanity. I'd much rather regret McCain nominating another O'Conner than Obama nominating another Ginsberg.

So America will have to decide. Liberty or Statism. A Constitutional Republic or an almost theocratic socialism that hearkens back to the days of the Social Gospel with all the fascistic tendancies that come with it. While our current situation is immeasurably better than the Great Depression, Obama seeks to take us back to it, or at least back to the Depression mindset. So we will make a choice forced upon us on Tuesday: Freedom or insulation. The uncertainty of adult life, or the safety of childhood. The freedom to fail, or freedom from responsibility. Individuality or collectivization.

Everything within the State, nothing outside the State, as an Italian chap once put it. This is what we face Tuesday. So if you're a McCain supporter, go vote tomorrow. Don't be surprised when the media tries to discourage you and paints the early returns as precursors to a landslide. They're uneasy. Its not supposed to be this close. If you're an Obama supporter, I'd ask that just because you're afraid to be an adult, don't force the rest of us to be children. However, in the spirit of non partisanship, I wish you a pleasant day as you vote yourself a share of the National Treasury. Unless, that is, you work for ACORN, in which case I wish you a safe trip as you attempt to vote in every County in Ohio.

So That's What He Means

Finally, we know what Obama means by "change". Obama's own words from a Chicago Public radio interview in 2001:

"But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution. . . (The Constitution) Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted. . . one of the. . .tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change."

Glad we cleared that up eight days before the election. Thank goodness there's still time for the media to apologize to everyone they labeled as "right wing lunatics" for conjecturing that Senator Obama may be a marxist. I'm sure all the big news organizations will lead with this revelation tonight.

Also, should (God forbid) Barry win the election, can we have him hooked up to a lie detector on inauguration day when he swears to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution of the United States?

I Have a Bit of a Problem With the Way the News Is Covered

Via a new favorite Patterico:

"When I first met Barack Obama, he was giving a standard, innocuous little talk in the livingroom of those two legends-in-their-own-minds, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. They were launching him--introducing him to the Hyde Park community as the best thing since sliced bread. His "bright eyes and easy smile" struck me as contrived and calculated--maybe because I was supporting another candidate. Since then, I've never heard him say anything new or earthshaking, or support anything that would require the courage of his convictions. I only voted for him in this last race--because his opponent was a pinhead. And I've been mostly alone in my views. But maybe that's changing."

This post has since been removed, I wonder why?

I hold the media solely responsible for the ascendancy of Barack Obama. I've always had a mild disdain and aloof contempt for the likes of CBS, NBC, the New York Times, etc., but it has never developed into vitriol. I viewed these DNC mouthpieces from the perspective of an enlightened one. How could they hurt me? I bear the knowledge of the truth, what this country was, what it is, what it should be. I was firm in my principles and therefore confident that none of the trite rubbish they publish could affect me. I never imagined they could raise up a marxist like Barack Obama purely by their own machinations, while at the same time hiding his true identity. My naivete is gone, and along with it my detached amusement. All I feel now is complete, utter, hatred. I hate their smug condescension to the average American. I hate their pretense of objectivity. I hate their bold faced complacency in the collectivization of America. I hate their brazen distortion and suppression of facts. I hate their misrepresentation of opinion as fact. I wholeheartedly despise their gilded facade of professionalism. I take an unhealthy joy in every drop in ratings or circulation they endure. I just, unrepentantly, hate them.

I don't hate Barack Obama. I dislike him, and I despise his conscience misrepresentation of himself, but I don't hate the man. (FYI, I do and always have hated John McCain) I lay this all at the feet of the main stream media. Its one thing to be admittedly leftist. I don't begrudge anyone their opinion, but when you portray yourself as the objective arbiter of facts as you shoehorn a borderline trotskyite into the office of the Presidency while burying his true nature behind fluff pieces and pictures of him playing basketball, you aid and abet in the destruction of America as it was founded. That I cannot forgive. If Barack Obama is elected by an electorate with the understanding that he is a moderate, I shall become a swirling ball of seething hatred and vile repugnance. I pray it doesn't affect my objectivity, but I don't think I can supress this creeping revulsion that is wrapping itself around my soul. I fear that I won't be able to step away from the brink when socialism comes to America in an empty suit. Instead I'll willingly take the plunge into a deep, blood red, sea of frothing abhorrence. I'll be here blogging if you'd like to come along for the ride.

Shame on Lewis Diuguid

Barack Obama is a socialist, plain and simple. He believes in a planned economy, an extremely progressive tax code, and he wants to allow the central government to intrude in almost every facet of our lives. (except if a doctor wants to kill a newborn, government's not allowed to intervene there) Obama has said this himself with his words and political platform. Socialism is socialism.

Unless that is, you're on the left and "socialist" is one of those nasty labels (like "liberal" last election) that reveals a leftist identity that you've been trying to hide from the public. So the world must be removed from public discussion. It must be twisted to mean something very foreign from its actual definition. How can we do that? Lewis Diuguid of the Kansas City Star knows how. Not satisfied with his last name merely being a palindrome, he has decided to make it synonymous with the slow death of intellectual freedom:

"The 'socialist' label that Sen. John McCain and his GOP presidential running mate Sarah Palin are trying to attach to Sen. Barack Obama actually has long and very ugly historical roots.

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, used the term liberally to describe African Americans who spent their lives fighting for equality."

I know how you feel, I had a stroke the first time I read this as well. So now we on the bigoted, race baiting, right aren't allowed to call advocates of wealth redistribution "socialists" if they happen to be half black. Diuguid goes on:

"Those freedom fighters included the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who led the Civil Rights Movement; W.E.B. Du Bois, who in 1909 helped found the NAACP which is still the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. . ."

Anyone familiar with my blog will know that I believe Barack Obama will be the the most socialist President we've had since the Great Society. In other words, he'll be on par with LBJ and FDR -- two white guys. Unfortunately, socialism doesn't discriminate. Its been advocated by every race on planet Earth and as an ideology, its responsible for the deaths of Europeans, Africans, Asians, South Americans, Arabs, and just about any other race you can think of.

Now, if you want a term that actually has come to be associated with black people, you have one in "civil rights". The NAACP is not the oldest civil rights organization in the United States. As a commenter points out, the National Rifle Association outdates it. The NAACP was founded in 1905. The NRA was founded in 1871.

As for the NAACP, it was cofounded by Mary White Ovington, a member of the Socialist Party. I criticize the NAACP not because it is a black organization, but because it promotes socialism like other leftist organizations such as the ACLU, and NOW. If a black person or organization is socialist, its not racist to call them such.

"McCain and Palin have simply reached back in history to use an old code word for black. It set whites apart from those deemed unAmerican and those who could not be trusted during the communism scare.

Shame on McCain and Palin."

Now its time to take a journey to cliche land. This tactic is Orwellian in its suppression of free discussion. In newspeak, the term "free" couldn't describe political freedom because the concept no longer existed. You could freely use the word because half its meaning had been torn away. The previous sentence would be impossible. Unfortunately the concept of socialism does still exist, but the word will lose its meaning if people like Diugiud have their way. The easiest way to stifle discussion is to literally take away words. "Liberal" no longer means liberal, "socialism" no longer means socialism, "marxism" no longer means marxism. If one is no longer allowed to use terms to describe someone's ideology, one is extremely handicapped when trying to defeat that person in the marketplace of ideas.

Shame on Lewis Diuguid. Barack Obama is a socialist.

All We Really Need to Know

France chooses Obama over McCain 64%-4%. So Obama has the support of a stagnant, socialist State with a 35 hour work week, rampant unemployment, an openly rebellious and violent muslim population, and who hasn't won a military conflict by itself since the turn of the century. I wonder why they like Barry so much?

Why Labels Are Important

Barack Obama appears to be poised to win the office of the Presidency with a socialist platform. How did this happen? The United States of America smashed socialism decades ago, at home and abroad. Why then, are we now embracing it? I think the answer is that we're not embracing it. We're embracing a candidate, Barack Obama. I don't believe that most Americans are aware of Barry's radicalism. America is a center-right country. Barry knows this and has adjusted his rhetoric accordingly. He says he'll give 95% of Americans a tax cut. Sounds pretty conservative doesn't it? Except that 95% of Americans don't pay taxes. Giving a "tax credit" to those who don't pay taxes is socialism, welfare, redistribution of wealth, whatever you prefer to call it, except until recently, no one (at least no one connected to the McCain campaign) has called it that. Only during the final month of the campaign does McCain take off the gloves and attempt to warn the American people:

"Barack Obama's tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington," McCain said in a radio address.

Way to go, but where was this in June? Obama isn't anything fresh or new. He's running on over a centruy of failed policy that is responsible for untold misery and stagnation. He embodies a radical leftism many in America thought we'd defeated and left for dead in the seventies. This should have been a simple exercise for the McCain campaign, the Obama camp is seemingly run by William Jennings Bryan and the reanimated corpse of Friedrich Nietzsche. These ideas and ideologies were long ago discredited. However, McCain has waited until almost the last minute to point this out. If he loses, he can only blame himself.

Was He Waiting for Schieffer to do It?

If Barry Obama is elected on November 4th, he will be the most radical, left wing President in American history. This will happen without the opposition candidate pointing this out to the American electorate. Think all those "undecided independents" would be leaning toward Obama after last night's debate if McCain had detailed how he was a socialist? Johnny is so used to attacking Republicans and conservatives, that he looks lost when dealing with someone truly deserving of his ire: a left wing socialist.

Last night's debate was McCain's perfect opportunity to paint Obama with a socialist brush. It wouldn't have been hard. The debate was centered on economics, McCain had every chance. He properly mentioned Obama's association with Ayers and ACORN, but he didn't tie it all together. Why did Ayers support Obama at the start of his political career? Because Obama is a radical socialist, in line with the views of the SDS and the Weathermen. Why did Obama work for ACORN? Because they actively promote socialism in America. These were softballs lobed to McCain that he didn't swing at. McCain did bring up Joe the Plumber and Obama's "spread the wealth" comment, but once again he didn't tie it together. He never used the "s" word. He never explained why Obama's comment was damaging, what it said about his ideological beliefs. I could be wrong, but I never heard him use the word "redistribution" when talking about Obama, he should have. He should have quoted Marx, that's essentially what Obama was doing: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." This is what "spread the wealth around" means. There is a dangerously high probability that we're going to elect a radical socialist to the office of the Presidency and no one in the McCain campaign or the Republican Party is warning the American people. Why the hell do we vote for them?

Com·mu·nism, noun - Spreading the wealth around.

Does anyone still not understand that Obama is a socialist? On Monday he told a tax burdened plumber that:

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too. . . My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody . . . I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

In case anybody didn't catch that, Barry is advocating redistribution of wealth. This is a fork in the road for America. Are we going to at least try and keep some semblance of a free market, or are we going to embark down the dark path of socialism and State power? Does anyone really envy Europe or Canada? There's a reason that America is the first power in the world, and its not socialism.

Now Barry, we all know that you do want to punish the rich for their success. That's the big draw of progessivism. You're courting the angry, jealous, and spiteful demographic who are envious of their neighbors, bitter at personal failures, and are indignant the success of others. Taxing the rich doesn't improve the lives of the lower and middle classes, at least not economically. Psychologically, some take pleasure in seeing the rich attacked and their assets seized. This is who Obama is targeting. Socialism never builds "everyone who is behind" up. It drags the successful down.

Unfortunatly, Obama isn't just playing at the baser emotions of some embittered Americans (not the "guns and God" kind), he's a true beleiver. He has been a radical leftist perhaps all his adult life. He wants wealth redistribution on a scale he dare not admit to America. He wants to rebuild America on a new foundation that the founders would find obsene. Let's make no bones about it, redistribution of wealth is State sponsered theft, period. The government has no right to take the property of one American by force and give it to another American who in no way earned it. I can think of no better definition of tyranny. This is why I'm going to drink myself into a stuper and vote for Senator McCain. I can't stand the man, but at least he's not a marxist.

Update: Kudos to the McCain campaign for calling a spade a spade:

"If Barack Obama's goal as President is to 'spread the wealth around,' perhaps his unconditional meetings with Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, and Kim Jong-Il aren't so crazy -- if nothing else they can advise an Obama administration on economic policy," McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a written statement to FOXNews.com. "In contrast, John McCain's goal as president will be to let the American people prosper unburdened by government and ever higher taxes."

One Day, We'll Wake Up, And We'll Be In Canada

Much can happen between now and November, but after watching the debate last night, I think the election has become Obama's to lose. Palin did her job slowing the Obama/Biden, but McCain needed to win last night in his favorite "town hall" format to make up ground. He didn't. He said some good things and Obama misrepresented his leftism as usual, but the biggest thing I came away with wasn't a good line or a blatent lie, it was that Obama looked young and McCain looked old. I'm a political junkie, if that's what I came away with, I can only imagine what the average American with a 30 second political attention span thinks.

Is conservatism pretty much dead now in American politics? There was time after time last night when McCain just accepted the liberal premise of the questions and suggested big government solutions. I believe if we had a genuine conservative running who could articulate our positions and challenge the assumptions of the questioners and public at large, we'd be winning this election. Instead we have McCain letting Barry get away with calling health care a "right". If we're going to let liberals make up new rights that defy the actual concept of the "natural right" that America is based upon, what's the point of conservatives continuing to call the Republican Party home? What if McCain wins? How much better than Obama will that actually be? Sure it will put off America's participation in the slow decline of the West for another decade, but after that? Its inevitable without a strong conservative party. We'd be there right now if not for the Reagan 80's. If McCain can't challenge Obama on an issue as fundamental as the nature of rights, can we trust him to challenge Pelosi and Reid? Can we trust the Republicans in Congress? They just helped pass a decidedly nonconservative government bailout.

We need a seachange, no matter who wins this election. I feel that we've ceded back much of the ground we gained after Reagan's victory, and its our own fault. The conservative cause needs new, articulate, true believing, advocates. Neocons are valuable allies, but we've let them seize the Party, and the concept of economic libertarianism has suffered as a result. We can have thousands of bloggers and radio hosts advocating real conservatism, but until we get politicians actively promoting it to the public at large, we will continue to lose ground, even when we win.

Why I'll Vote For McCain (Drunk)

French President (supposed conservative, for France I guess) Nicolas Sarkozy:

"We want a new world to come out of this. . . We want to set up the basis for a capitalism of entrepreneurs, not speculators.''

By "capitalism" he means "heavy regulation of the private sector by an intrusive central government with little knowledge of economics or understanding of the 'invisible hand'", guided by "questionable --socialistic-- political motives"

McCain might (please God) balk at this new order the Europeans desire. Obama will embrace it, as well as the rest of their statist ideologies.

Damned Right I'm an Angry, White, Male!

Obama critic and author of "The Obama Nation" Jerome Corsi has been detained by authorities in Kenya:

"Corsi had promised a news conference today that would 'expose details of deep secret ties between U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency.'"

Hmm, combine this with the millions of dollars Obama is allegedly receiving from abroad, and you begin to wonder who is backing his meteoric rise to power. Personally it frightens me a bit that a man who would be the most liberal President since LBJ appears to have such foreign support. D0 we really know anything about this guy? He's a relative unknown with socialist, if not marxist leanings, who has unknown, possibly foreign, backers behind the scenes. Do the American People know this? Is anyone trying to tell them? Do we know the kind of "change" Obama represents? Good Lord! The Democrats nominate a collectivist with more backing abroad than in the States, and all the Republicans throw against him is John McCain?

If Obama is elected, the resulting 4-8 years of socialism wrought on America will be a black mark not only upon the Democrats, but upon the spineless Republicans who were too unprincipled and cowardly to oppose McCain and then speak out against Obama. Why should we vote for you? Even in the minority role, you won't speak out. The reason I'm even considering voting for your nominee is because the other side is rolling out a Maoist. Big changes (1976-80-esque) need to take place in the Republican Party. Even if we somehow redefeat socialism in America, this will be far too close. Remember when wackjob leftists lost in 40+ State landslides? Do today's idiot GOP leaders know how hard the Buckleys, and Hayeks, and Goldwaters, and Reagans struggled on the fringes of American politics to pull this country back from the collectivist abyss? Now we just give all those gains back? We let them create a financial crisis, we let them blame us for it, we let them declare it a new "Great Depression", and we not only let them decide we need "New Deal" type government intervention, we collude with them to do it?!

Its not until now that I understand what it was like for men like Hayek and Buckley, what its like to be a lone voice in the wilderness, "standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'"

What If The Moose Was Uppity?

"If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."

So says esteemed Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings. Now, I'll admit, I'm not much of a hunter, and I've never stripped a moose. I do however, know many hunters who I suppose could be described as "gun toting" and who certainly have stripped a deer at least. Contrary to Congressman Hastings' fears, I've never known any of them to harm a black person or a Jew, unless their descriptions of their hunting trips are completely eronious. I'm not sure how moose come into this, but I'm assuming that Congressman Hastings sees gun ownership as some sort of precursor to a racially motivated crime. I can assure the good Congressman that at least here in Missouri, there are many black men who tote guns and go hunting. And they, like their white counterparts, rarely if ever go on pogroms when they return.

Perhaps if Congressman Hastings is truly concerned about violent gun crimes, he should turn his attention elsewhere. It is a common misconception that most gun violence is motivated by the Alaskan moose hunting culture. In reality, most gun crimes are commited by blacks against other blacks in intercity urban areas. Many would be surprised that Sarah Palin and her moose feud have little if any significance to this problem. I would argue that much of this violence can be attributed to a violent ganster culture that has become a fixture of the urban black community. Perhaps Congressman Hastings believes Barry Obama can "organize" these communities into more productive pass time activities like say, moose hunting? (I kid, I kid)

In Florida, I would assume that aligators are responsible for the deaths of more blacks and Jews than Alaskan moose hunters. Regaldless Congressman, your fears, while honest mistakes, are batshit crazy. I think Governor Palin has bigger worries than organizing the next kristallnacht.

Friedrich Hayek, Where Art Thou?

It seems likely that both candidates will miss the vote on the trillion dollar bailout plan that may be set for Friday. I understand Barry's reluctance. On one hand, this is the massive government intervention that liberal socialist types have wet dreams about. On the the other, Obama is trying to keep America in the dark about his radical socialist leanings.

McCain has no excuse. If he wants to keep saying that he was on the front lines of the Reagan Revolution, he needs to show up and vote against this bill. When Obama and the media rip him for it, educate the voters. Tell them why government intervention doesn't work. Tell them that these mismanged corporate behemoths created by Congress don't deserve the American tax payer's hard earned money. Tell them that Keynesian economics have been long ago discredited. Can't McCain understand that most of his newfound strength in the polls is due to the appeasment of conservatives with the Palin pick? I've been so happy with Governor Palin, that I almost forgot that John McCain isn't a conservative. Every time I grab McCain's olive branch, he whacks me in the face with the tree. I feel like an idiot teenage girl who knows her boyfriend is cheating on her, but stays with him anyway.

If I had any self esteem, I'd tell McCain to screw himself, but he keeps telling me I'm pretty.

I Wonder Why The Russians Would Want Obama?

According to a new poll by Worldpublicopinion.org:

"The survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations found majorities in only nine countries believe al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York. . . On average, 46 percent of those surveyed said al Qaeda was responsible, 15 percent said the U.S. government, 7 percent said Israel and 7 percent said some other perpetrator. One in four people said they did not know who was behind the attacks."

Yet according to some, like Jonathan Freedland at the Guardian, the United States must listen to the opinion of the world when electing our President:

"Polling in Germany, France, Britain and Russia shows that Obama would win by whopping majorities, with the pattern repeated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. If November 4 were a global ballot, Obama would win it handsomely. If the free world could choose its leader, it would be Barack Obama. . . "

Can we poll Americans to decide who runs Germany, France, Britain, etc.? The free world doesn't elect its leader. America is the leader of the free world because of the sheer force of its cultural, economic, and military might. We can elect whoever the hell we want to because we're the one's who bankroll the military that's allowed you create your little socialist utopias (hah!) over the past 70 years. You want a say in who runs the most dominant country on Earth? Fine. Make your country the most dominant on Earth. Wait, I forgot. You're already trying with the EU, but alas, its socialist, so you can't compete. Yet you want us to elect a leader who will implement your failed policies? I suppose it is easier to drag us down than to build yourselves up.

"If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush-Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.

Until now, anti-Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti-Bushism, opposition to this specific administration. But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves. For it will have been the American people, not the politicians, who will have passed up a once-in-a-generation chance for a fresh start - a fresh start the world is yearning for. . . "

Is this some sort of threat? What are you going to do? Dislike us more? I've been a dastardly Republican for these past 8 years, and I have to say your hatred/disgust/hysterics haven't bothered me all that much. I don't mind being despised by peacenik socialists, though it may bother my liberal countrymen who long for acceptance by the European elite. Boo f'ing hoo. Do you know how much I would love for America to renounce its role as leader of the free world? Do you know what a hassle it is? Do you know what its like to have the UN scold us while we bankroll them, even as they put 3rd world dictators who hate us on the Human Rights Committee? But who would take over our role? The Aussies are probably the only other country left with the balls to stand up to the thugs of the world, but unless/until they fill up that vast continent with people, they're not quite ready for primetime.

As much as I'd love for America to retire behind her borders and return to the isolationism George Washington preferred just so you'd finally realize what your economic situation is without the guarantee of American security, I know the world would go to hell in a handbasket labeled "Made in China", and Russia would eventually be knocking on Alaska's door from the Canadian side. So until your countries can grow up enough to take care of themselves Mr. Freedland, let's let the adults decide who leads (props up) the free world.

"If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us - and, make no mistake, we shall hear it."

Once again, what are you going to do? Pull your 3000 troops out of Iraq? You're already doing it. Are you going to stop supporting America in the Security Council? Shall we allow Iran to acquire nuclear missiles? Just because the most popular boy wasn't elected class President? I'm going to say this in the clearest possible way, and I hope you hear it: You're an imbecile.