Photo of the Day: Woman Scorned

Sean over at Nashville 21 has his photo of the day; here's mine. :)




















(Can't you hear "The Imperial March" from Star Wars in the background?)

Pelosi Doesn't Help Bailout Situation

Congressional Republicans attribute Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech as helping bring about the defeat of the bailout bill. I wonder why...



Where is the bipartisanship? Where's the cooperation? Where's the change? Sounds like the same pattern of Democratic short-sightedness and refusal to accept responsibility for their part in this mess. Rather than being a leader in the effort to pass what had been promoted as bipartisan legislation, Nancy Pelosi decides to go on a blame-Bush rant against the Republicans for the financial crisis. What better way to seek cooperation from the other side of the aisle than to attack them, especially when you could not bring 95 votes from her own party. Wonderful piece of leadership, Madame Speaker.

Running on Autopilot: Joe Biden's Re-election Campaign

Joe Biden is having a good time campaigning for change in Washington, misstating facts, and committing gaffes. But did you know is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, too?

So what's he doing all over the rest of the country--and not campaigning in the state he represents? Oh, yes: he's running as the experienced half of the Obama ticket.

Obviously Biden is not worried about losing his Senate seat. All he has to do is make sure his name is on all the ballots in Delaware come November 4. He can be on the Left Coast shaking hands and kissing babies while running for vice-president without losing any sleep over it. It's safe and secure, thanks to the hypnotized electorate.

(Biden does have a challenger, Republican Christine O'Donnell, a former journalist and political commentator.)

Delaware Democrats don't seem to worry much about Republican challengers in their elections. It's sad that a state is so one-sided that its voters--without question--pick the candidate who has a (D) beside his name. (There are counties like that in Tennessee, particularly the one where I live.) Biden has held the seat since 1972--thirty-six years! It's equavilent to a mini monarchy. A very good argument for term limits, I think.

It always amazes me when someone in power takes for granted his political office and that it will be there when--and if--he ever needs it. Wouldn't we all like that kind of job security? If this whole Obama/Biden thing doesn't work out, Biden can go back to his day job in the Senate and not miss a beat. So can Obama, and yes, even John McCain.

(Side note: All four candidates already hold elected office, so one wonders who's minding the store while they're gone? The rallies, speeches, press conferences, and interviews on the campaign trail must zap one's energy; does it leave any time to actually legistlate or govern in their off-time?)

But McCain, Palin, and Obama aren't running for re-election at the same time; Biden is. Has he even bothered to campaign in his home state since he accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination? I can't say for sure, but after searching state newspapers, I've not seen anything to suggest he has.

People of Delaware, is this really the kind of person you want representing your interests? Is he really committed to the job, or just taking for granted that you will re-elect him for the sixth time? It would be wonderful if voters there would show Joe Biden whose office it really is. But I won't hold my breath--or leave the country.

Democrats in Denial: Financial Crisis Began with Clinton

Democrats have a short attention span, especially when it comes to confessing their political sins and owning up to their blunders.

Conveniently, it never goes beyond George W. Bush's presidency. Everything bad has happened in the past seven-and-a-half years; anything good came about during the Clinton administration. It's pointless for them to look past 1993 because their party has such a terrible record at picking their presidential candidates the past 40 years: John Kerry, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey. Their one "success" was Jimmy Carter, a one-term disaster who is considered below average among the presidents by scholars and historians and continues to be a national embarrassment as an "elder statesman." I suppose you can't blame Democrats for trying to be forward thinkers rather than look back at their track record of failures.

The current financial crisis is a good example, particularly the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac institutions. When it comes to the blame game, Democrats love to play as long as they don't have to look beyond the Bush administration. When Tennessee Conservative Watch looked back at where it all began, they found a New York Times article dated September 30, 1999 BB (Before Bush) in which the Clinton administration advocated the ease of credit requirements for home mortgages to people with "generally not good enough" credit. Granted, this was not one lone smoking gun in this mess, but it was certainly a contributing factor.

"Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits."

Fast forward nine years later and Bill Clinton rejects the insinuation by President Bush in his televised address on Wednesday that the economic problems developed "[f]or more than a decade." Yet he does concede in Clintonesque style that he could be partially to blame:

[Clinton] also acknowledged that there was possible danger in his administration’s policy of pressing Fannie Mae, the mortgage company, to lower its credit standards for lower- and middle-income families seeking homes.

“I think, through the lens of this, it looks like that was true,” Clinton said. “But let's go back to where we were at the time. At the time, they had lots of money, were making lots of money, and I thought too much of the money was being given out in value to the shareholders and compensation to the executives. And, at the time, we had a balanced budget and a surplus and a rapidly growing economy in other areas.”

Regardless whether there was a balanced budget and a surplus at the time or not, pushing banks and financial institutions to accept risky mortgages is just bad business.

Do the Democrats acknowledge any blame at all--even a smidge? Of course not. And the Liberal Media accepts it as gospel and goes on blaming President Bush. At least Fox News has the gumption to show Congressional Democrats for what they really are and show that John McCain has been an advocate for regulatory reform.

Republican Influence in Stolen Election is a Joke

A.C. Kleinheider at Post Politics has a great post about an email distributed to the seven Republican senators who will host a fundraiser for Senator Rosalind Kurita on October 1. It was written by Elizabeth Klein, treasurer for Tim Barnes' senate campaign who happens to be a Republican. The post also dissects the Democrat's argument that Republicans in higher than usual numbers voted in the Democratic primary for Senate District 22 and makes the point that some may have actually supported Barnes rather than Senator Kurita.

“It’s not that we didn’t want Republicans voting in the primary,” Klein told Kleinheider. “We just didn’t want, and state law is against, the Republican Party interfering actively in the primary, telling people who to vote for. We wanted people to vote their conscience.”

Tim Barnes admits that Republican friends voted for him in the Democratic primary, yet he describes Republican support for Senator Kurita as a "concerted effort by [Republican] party leaders" to lobby votes for her. Mr. Barnes certainly wouldn't deny anyone that can legally do so the right to vote, would he? Mr. Barnes, there was no Republican candidate for state senate on the ballot. Who else could a Republican in Montgomery, Cheatham, and Houston counties vote for except yourself or Kurita?

The whole argument that Republican influence led to an "incurably uncertain" election and justified handing over the Democratic nomination to Mr. Barnes is ridiculous. Pete Kotz over at the Nashville Scene suggests Tennessee Democrats try something a little more original. I hope Senator Kurita's lawsuit is successful and Mr. Barnes and the Democratic party find themselves trying to organzie their own write-in campaign in a major hurry.

Rosalind Kurita Takes Democrats to Court

Senator Rosalind Kurita has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville to reinstate her name on the November 4 ballot as the rightful Democratic candidate for Senate District 22. The suit lists as defendants the Tennessee Democratic Party; every member of the Tennessee Democratic Party's executive committee that overturned the primary election; the candidate who benefited from it, Tim Barnes; Robert E. Cooper Jr., Tennessee attorney general; Secretary of State Riley Darnell; Brook K. Thompson, state coordinator of elections; and the election commission administrators for Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties. Click here for the complete document.

The lawsuit claims that state law TCA 2-17-104 is unconstitutional and "violates the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment." It also asserts there are no provisions specified in the Tennessee Code to settle a disputed election. Because due process was not given to Senator Kurita, the decision of the committee should be overturned and either her name be placed on the November ballot as the Democratic candidate or a special election be held to determine the nominee.

The Tennessee Democratic Party's official response to the lawsuit is laughable:

“We’re disappointed that Sen. Kurita is trying to throw a legal wrench into a political primary process that was conducted under a state law approved by former Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn,” said Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

“On the other hand,” Sasser added, “we’re glad that Sen. Kurita appears to be acknowledging that she is, in fact, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s hand-picked candidate in the Tennessee Democratic primary."

"Hand-picked" is a description Democrats would be wise to avoid in this particular election, especially since that is in fact how their anointed candidate, Barnes, was chosen.

The press release continues:

“It’s now abundantly clear that Sen. Kurita has been receiving considerable aid and comfort, both financial and legal in nature, from national Republicans who are bent on interfering in the Tennessee Democratic primary,” Sasser said. “We’re calling on Lt. Gov. Ramsey to get out of the Democratic primary process and put a stop to this legal monkeying by the national Republican Party.”

Memo to Gray Sasser: the Democratic primary is over. There's no primary "to get out of" anymore. The general election is on November 4; contrary to what you think, Republicans can--and will--vote in this election and they can--and should--vote for Senator Kurita.

It's true that Republican leaders support Senator Kurita and she has accepted their assistance in political and fundraising support. One of her lawyers is even a Republican, as blogger Sean Braisted points out. Can you blame her after the way her own party treated her? Who in their right mind would want to be part of a political party that takes away your rightful nomination and gives it to the man you beat?

Meanwhile voters continue to give their opinions both for and against the stolen election in the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle.

The Tennessee Democratic Party disputes Senator Kurita's claim that she did not know about the rules of the executive committee hearing on September 13 until the morning of the hearing. In his "Pith in the Wind" blog at the Nashville Scene, Jeff Wood writes:

[Tennessee Democratic P]arty spokesman Wade Munday tells Pith that's not the way it went down. “There were all the rules that she agreed to through counsel prior to the meeting that Saturday. The terms were agreed upon prior to the meeting.” Munday adds:

“The executive committee acted in its rightful capacity as the state primary board. All the actions taken were conducted in the open and in accordance with state law established in 1972."

I wrote Mr. Munday myself and asked which state law he was referring to and he kindly sent me the details:
___

2-13-102. Creation of state primary boards.

(a) Each political party shall have a state executive committee which shall be the state primary board for the party.

(b) The state primary board shall perform the duties and exercise the powers required by this title for its party.

(c) The state primary board of each statewide political party created by this section is the immediate successor to the state board of primary election commissioners of each party. Wherever in the Tennessee Code the state board of primary election commissioners of a political party is referred to, “state primary board” shall be substituted.

[Acts 1972, ch. 740, §§ 1, 8; T.C.A., § 2-1303.]
___

It seems to me the Tennessee Democratic Party considers the state executive committee (which is also the state primary board) to be the final authority for choosing their candidate. If this is the case, why should tax dollars and voters' time be wasted on a primary whose result can be overturned on the whim of a political party? Obviously there's no need for one if Democrats have a preference between one or more candidates and will give it to the one they want anyway. (In this case, there was no hiding the fact that Democratic bosses did not want Rosalind Kurita back in the state senate.)

Meanwhile, Senator Kurita will continue her write-in campaign and announced that she will open campaign offices in Clarksville and Ashland City tomorrow and one in Erin soon.

Obama Has Forgotten His Day Job

While he's all wrapped up in trying to become president of the United States, Barack Obama has forgotten that he has a day job. You know, that pesky office he won two years ago and used as a stepping stone to presidential consideration: U.S. Senator from Illinois. Yeah, that job.

John McCain has the same job as a U.S. senator representing Arizona. The nation is in a severe financial crisis and something has to be done to avert potential economic disaster. It's a time like no other in the midst of a presidential election. The Republican nominee has chosen to set aside his aspirations and report back to work in Washington. That's where he should be, representing the interests of Arizona and its citizens. He has suspended his campaign and asked that the first presidential debate on Friday be postponed. It would allow both candidates to concentrate on the more important debate in Washington rather than prepping for the one in Oxford, Mississippi.

“I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself,” McCain said today. “It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

Serving the public good above self-interest is genuine change. It's the responsible choice. But Obama, the self-labeled "agent of change," would rather keep running for president instead of serving his constituents and taking part in what's going on in Washington. That would mean getting off the campaign trail. Being one of 100 senators instead of the lone Democrat in the political spotlight. No speeches, no rallies, no attack ads. Pulling up his sleeves and getting down to business instead of just talking a good game as he's done the past two years. Actually doing what he was elected to do by the people of Illinois in 2006.

Both McCain and Obama should be part of the discussion instead of talking about it to win points on the campaign trail. It's what they were elected to do, contrary to what the Democrats in Congress might think. Chuck Schumer says what McCain is proposing is just "a political stunt." Their presence would be a distratction, they claim. But they weren't elected by voters in Arizona and Illinois to run for president: it's their job to be in the middle of the discussion and debate. They're supposed to be there.

Senator McCain, contrary to what Obama and his surrogates believe, does get it. Obama obviously doesn't. McCain knows where he belongs and who he serves. The Liberal Messiah would like nothing better than to be standing alone in Oxford, basking in his political glory but neglecting his constituents.

Fellow Senators Support Rosalind Kurita

Seven Republican colleagues of Tennessee state senator Rosalind Kurita will host a fundraiser for her write-in campaign for Senate District 22 in Nashville on October 1. Randy McNally of Oak Ridge; Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro; Steve Southerland of Morristown; Tim Burchett of Knoxville; Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet; Jamie Woodson of Knoxville; and Rusty Crowe of Johnson City offered to host the $500-per-person event and Kurita accepted.

"You can just genuinely say that I got a raw deal, and they just want to reach out and help me," she told the Tennessean. "It's not about one party, it's about the process."

I'm glad Republicans are helping Senator Kurita fight back against the state Democratic bosses. We may not completely agree with everything she believes (her pro-abortion stance is one I have a problem with), but it was wrong what the Tennessee Democratic Party did to her and the primary election. It sets a dangerous precedent when a political party can disregard the votes of the American people simply because they don't like the outcome. Even the Memphis Commercial Appeal agrees. (One Clarksville voter believes what the Democrats did will backfire on them in November.)

Mark Brown, spokesman for the senate Democratic caucus, smugly retorted: "We're not surprised that Republican senators are holding a fundraiser for Ron Ramsey's hand-picked candidate." We're surprised a Democrat has the audacity to call Rosalind Kurita a "hand-picked candidate" when Tim Barnes is nothing but a hand-picked candidate!

Left Coast Media Better Behave in Oxford

The Memphis Commercial Appeal has provided the Left Coast Media with a handy guide to proper behavior and what to expect when they arrive in Oxford, Mississippi for the first presidential debate on Friday. Liberals and uppity media types can be very rude and condescending as we saw from yesterday's post on the Left Coast columnist who visited Wasilla, Alaska. That kind of behavior won't be tolerated in the South, fellas.

Where in Memphis is Larry Miller?

David Vinciarelli, an independent candidate for Tennessee House District 88 (which includes North Memphis, Frayser, and parts of Bartlett), has filed a lawsuit against his Democratic opponent and incumbent Larry Miller. He claims that Miller no longer lives in the district he represents and should be disqualified from the race.

The 16-year state representative gives his residence as 784 Ayers on his voter registration card, yet his driver's license, motor vehicle registration, and campaign finance report shows his home to be 1778 Overton Park, which is in District 89. The Ayers residence, a brick duplex with windows boarded up and valued at $38,000, isn't even owned by Miller; the Overton Park home, a two-story residence bought four years ago and valued at $280,000, is owned by him. His "neighbors" on Ayers weren't even aware that their state representative lived there. "No I never heard of that til you said something," one neighbor told a Memphis station WREG TV reporter. He did make a trip through the neighborhood telling constituents that he planned to put a campaign office at the duplex, but only after the lawsuit came about.

Rep. Miller won't talk about the lawsuit to the Memphis media but tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal "there's complexity there" in the residency question. He claims the lawsuit is politically motivated. Vinciarelli believes it's simply a matter of telling the truth. "The law says you have to live in your district that you're representing," he told the Commercial Appeal. "He's basically fooling his constituents."

Residency can be a sticky issue, most recently brought up in 2005 when another Memphis Democrat, scandalous former state senator John Ford, claimed two residences, neither one being in his district! The senate responded by passing legislation that prohibited representatives from claiming a business location as a residence. An attorney with the Tennessee Attorney General's office believes the point is moot until Election Day, when a candidate must officially live in the district.

If there is no specific criteria given that a candidate for public office must live a certain amount of time at their listed residence, there certainly should be. It would seem like common sense, but then again when has politics made sense?

Left Coast Liberal Visits Wasilla

Steve Lopez with the Los Angeles Times decided to trek up north from his cozy liberal base in California to Alaska for a condescending, nose-in-the-air travelogue to introduce his readers to Wasilla, hometown of Sarah Palin. A reader knows exactly what kind of treatment this journey will receive just from the photo caption without getting to the column itself:

"Fast-food joints, a gun store and strip malls -- they call this 'downtown'? Wasilla's sprawling, poorly planned developments are almost as scary as its former mayor's doctrine of Palin-tology."

Ah, we have a clever play on words from the esteemed Mr. Lopez: "Palin-tology." How original.

The accompanying video couldn't be better if an Obama operative had put it together. Lopez marvels at the snow capped mountain ranges on the way and expects to see "something magnificant, a quaint little mountain village" when he arrives in Wasilla. A moose crosses the road a few cars ahead of him. "Maybe it was a sign that I wasn't welcome in Palin country and should go back home to California," he writes. Yup, that's what it was, Stevie. Moose don't like Left Coast Libs.

Lopez drives through Wasilla and tries to find downtown. When he stops and asks where Main Street is, a resident points to the road in front of him. Obviously, he is disappointed at how Wasilla is laid out. "I expected better, Sarah. I really did," he smugly writes. He makes fun of the citizens he interviews, except for one person he found that writes a blog against her. When he criticizes the town's layout and a local businesswoman agrees, he adds: "You know, what you need maybe is a couple of good community organizers."

"All I've seen are strip malls, big box stores, chain restaurants, and gigantic churches," he says on the video. "I guess that's it. That's Wasilla."

Lopez's conclusion about his trip sounds like an Obama ad: "Here's what you need to ask yourself: Do you really want someone in the White House who's been responsible for worse urban planning than we have in Los Angeles? Think about it." But have you ever seen Chicago, Mr. Lopez?

The good citizens of Wasilla are dealing with this kind of "investigative journalism" crap from the liberal media who prowl about town looking for anything to pick apart or negative to say about Gov. Palin and Wasilla. I hope the Times got their money's worth from the trip.

Twenty-Five Electoral Votes Down, 245 To Go

Barack Obama has conceded 25 electoral votes to John McCain and Sarah Palin. At least that's the impression he's giving by shutting down his campaign offices in North Dakota, Alaska, Georgia, and Idaho and moving staffers to battleground states like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Hey, we'll take 'em!

Getting Around the 22nd Amendment? Please.

A liberal will grasp at anything to try and make a point and this post is a perfect example. The title is: "How Bush and Cheney Are Getting Around the 22nd Amendment."

The 22nd Amendment states that "[n]o person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." This amendment was introduced to set down in writing what had been a tradition since George Washington that presidents should serve only two terms. Of course it was a Democrat, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who broke the precedent and necessitated an actual constitutional amendment to prevent it from ever happening again. America didn't need a monarchy, much less a Democratic one.

Blogger Sharon Cobb contends that the Bush administration has "been masterful at shredding the United States Constitution" and President Bush is "now getting around the 22nd amendment" to continue his masterful shredding of our nation's sacred document. So how will he do it, you ask?

Why, with a John McCain and Sarah Palin administration of course! What an original concept. What an ingenious scheme! A dastardly plot that will no doubt circumvent the 22nd Amendment and destroy the nation's moral fabric already frayed by Bill Clinton and Company. It's foolproof!

Except the Democrats already tried it. Don't you remember Al Bore's failed run for the presidency eight years ago? Wasn't that just the Democrat's attempt at a third Clinton administration? Or even worse, in 1980, Jimmy Carter tried for a second Carter administration! Now that would have been a disaster for our country.

With her premise explained (I suppose), the rest of Ms. Cobb's argument disintegrates into an attack on Sarah Palin ("McCain/Palin aren't even in office, and yet Palin is already acting just like Cheney...Palin is already above the law!") because she and her husband Todd won't cooperate with what has become a partisan Democratic witch hunt in Alaska over the so-called "Troopergate."

It's the post's conclusion that reveals, unfortunately, the real reason for her argument. It boils down to the fact that Ms. Cobb has transferred her anger at being subpoenaed in her own divorce case to what the Palins are experiencing with the so-called Troopergate. The inquiry has been transformed by Alaska state senator Hollis French from a bi-partisan investigation into a political vendetta with Hollis promising an "October surprise" before it even began. I'm sincerely sorry about Ms. Cobb's divorce, but to use it as motivation for a political attack is weak at best.

Tim Barnes "Looking to the Future" and Wanting Voters to Forget His Stolen Election

Tim Barnes is a forward-thinking Democrat: he wants voters of Tennessee Senate District 22 "looking to the future" and not at how he got his party's nomination for state senator.

Of course he wouldn't say it in so many words, but it's certainly what he's thinking. Look past the fact that he lost the Democratic primary to incumbent Rosalind Kurita; chose not to seek a recount but to protest to the Tennessee Democratic Party's Executive Committee; and sought to throw out the votes and void the outcome. Look past the fact that he nominated himself to fill the vacancy rather than recuse himself from the process and sees no reason to be ashamed of the way he got it. "I'd be honored to receive the nomination in this way," he said beforehand. Look past all that and you have the handpicked nominee of 65 Democrats who met at a Clarksville hotel rather than 8,935 voters who took the time to go to the polls. Of course he would rather "talk about things I can do to help the people of the 22nd Senate District," as he said at a press conference on Friday.

Barnes admitted there could have been a second primary held, "but there was not time to have another primary," he claimed. "The only other option was to have this process...After that process I was overwhelmingly named the nominee."

Responding to her opponent's desire to move forward, Rosalind Kurita told the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: "I'm sure that Mr. Barnes would like to change the subject. The subject is that in America, we don't steal elections."

Tennessee Democrats Show Their True Colors

It's a fact that's true not only in the presidential election but in Tennessee politics as well: Democrats will do anything to gain or retain power. They will turn on their own members if they dare to cross party lines and work with the other side--like Rosalind Kurita--while claiming to be a party of "change" that wants bipartisanship and cooperation.

Tim Barnes is proud of his stolen election and is basking in the glory of his party's political thievery. He's living in a fantasy world where there is nothing out of the ordinary about his coronation and he acts like the candidate who won the election that wasn't bogus. Choosing to disregard his own actions (which included voting for himself at the so-called "nominating convention"), he told The Tennessean: "At some point I think she'll probably accept that she's going to have to take responsibility for her own actions."

What it came down to was Republicans who had no candidate to support in Senate District 22 voted for Kurita instead of Barnes. There's no law in Tennessee against crossing party lines and voting in the other party's primary. Democrats are hypocrites if they think they're above doing such a thing in a Republican primary. State Democratic leaders didn't want Rosalind Kurita back in the state senate, so they came up with the excuse of an "incurably uncertain" election to overturn the will of some 9,000 voters.

Barnes' supporters were only too happy to belittle Senator Kurita's supporters in attendance after his coronation. According to The Tennessean:

Shortly after Democratic executives nominated Tim Barnes for the 22nd District state Senate seat, one woman stood outside the Riverview Inn with her mouth duct-taped shut.

Her shirt read, "You silenced 9,000 votes."

A Barnes supporter offered the woman a Tim Barnes sticker to put over her mouth, then placed it over his own mouth and stood next to her, seemingly mocking her, before walking away.

The Barnes supporter is a perfect example of the Tennessee Democratic Party: arrogant, belittling, mocking. They will turn on you in a heartbeat if you don't think like they do and support who they want you to support. They have this unreasonable lock on the hearts and minds of some Tennesseans that because someone's granddaddy was a Democrat, they have to be one too. And the Tennessee Democratic Party knows it and they take advantage of it in every election.

Rosalind Kurita will fight this injustice at the ballot box through a write-in campaign as an independent candidate while exploring her legal options in court. "This is America--you just don't steal an election, and that's why I'm doing a write-in candidacy," she told the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle.

I encourage Republican and independent voters in Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties as well as any Democrat who respects the democratic election process and truly believes every vote counts to make the extra effort and write in Mrs. Kurita's name for state senate on November 4. Show the Tennessee Democratic Party that they cannot control our country's political system for their own power grab.

UPDATE: It didn't take Phil Bredesen long to fall into line with other state Democratic leaders in their support for illegitimate candidate Tim Barnes. They're hosting a $500-per-person fundraiser on his behalf in Clarksville September 29. I hope Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and other state Republican leaders and independent-minded Democrats unwilling to be led like sheep by the Democratic bosses will do their part to support Sen. Kurita and help her fight for her seat.

Tennessee Democrats Oust Rosalind Kurita, Overrule Voters of Senate District 22

Tonight, the Tennessee Democratic Party officially overruled the voters of State Senate District 22 (Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties) who elected incumbent Rosalind Kurita and handed the nomination to the loser, Tim Barnes. Members of the three county executive committees voted 61-4 to overturn the election results in retaliation for Kurita crossing party lines to oust John Wilder, longtime Democratic senator, as speaker and lieutenant governor last year.

The Democratic leaders were pleased with themselves as they hooped and hollered at the outcome. Democracy had died at the hands of the Tennessee Democratic Party. One Barnes supporter was quoted by The Tennessean that "never have I seen a process work so well as today."

In the most ridiculous statement of them all, this same Barnes supporter had the gall to add:

"I really think there shouldn't be any sour grapes. I think she should come on board as a private citizen and support this ticket because that's what this is all about if she's the Democrat she claims to be."

Following this logic, if someone breaks into your home and steals from you--something that is rightfully yours--"there shouldn't be any sour grapes." You should even help load what was stolen onto the thief's truck and support what he did to you "because that's what this is all about." Just smile and let it happen.

If that's what it's all about to be a Democrat, a lot of them should be ashamed of themselves at this injustice toward the winner, Rosalind Kurita. I hope she does well in the general election and the voters of District 22 see the Democrats for what they really are.

Hillary Won't Share Spotlight with Sarah Palin

Hillary Clinton obviously likes the spotlight on herself and wasn't about to share it with Sarah Palin.

The defeated Democratic presidential candidate canceled her appearance at a rally outside the United Nations on September 22. It is being organized by several Jewish organizations to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressing the UN. It seems they neglected to tell Hillary that Gov. Palin had also been invited to the rally, which infuriated her handlers and led to her refusal to attend. It "was never billed to us as a partisan political event," said Philippe Reines on her behalf. "Sen. Clinton will therefore not be attending."

It's interesting that it was Gov. Palin's appearance--and not Hillary's--that suddenly made it a "partisan political event." Doesn't her inclusion actually keep it from being one?

Blogger Ben Smith reports that the event organizers may now be under pressure from the Obama campaign to "disinvite" Gov. Palin. Oh yeah, now it will definitely be non-partisan. McCain/Pain spokesman Tracey Schmitt responded:

"Governor Palin believes that the danger of a nuclear Iran is greater than party or politics. She hopes that all parties can rally together in opposition to this grave threat."

Tennessee Democrats Steal Election from Rosalind Kurita

As I stated in Monday's post on Sarah Palin, for a political party that preaches inclusiveness, Democrats can be a hateful bunch. Now one of their own, Rosalind Kurita, knows how it feels to have a vindictive Tennessee Democratic Party out to get her.

The two-term state senator represents District 22 comprised of Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties. She was re-elected to a third term on August 7, fighting off a challenge from within her own party by Clarksville attorney Tim Barnes with a meager 19-vote advantage. There is no Republican candidate, so the winner got the seat. A victory is a victory no matter the margin. At least that's how democracy used to work before the Democrats ruled otherwise.

On September 13, the state Democratic Executive Committee decreed that voters in District 22 shouldn't decide which Democrat would represent them and voided the election. This was done despite the fact that the election had been certified by the county election commissions and the Tennessee secretary of state and was official. The party of "every vote counts" certainly doesn't think so when things don't work out the way they like. Executive committee members from Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties will meet today to decide which Democrat they prefer as Gov. Phil Bredesen, supposedly the leader of the state party, stands off to the side and lets it happen.

(It's interesting that Democrats didn't question the election of Ophelia Ford a few years ago, which was ripe with voting irregularities and dead voters.)

The reason state Democrats are hijacking a certified election is because Kurita committed the unpardonable sin: she crossed party lines and helped vote out a politician who had been speaker and lieutenant governor for far too long, John Wilder, giving Republicans control of the speaker's podium for the first time since Reconstruction.

"I voted my conscience, and that's more important than party line," Kurita explained. "We're individuals up here." Tennessee Democrats hate that sort of thing. She was rewarded by new speaker Ron Ramsey with the position of speaker pro tempore (one her fellow Democrats never gave her), making her the highest ranking woman in state government. Whether by design or circumstance, she faced no Republican opposition for re-election. Despite their rhetoric that Republicans and Democrats should reach across party lines and cooperate, that's not what Democrats really want. What they want is to maintain their stranglehold on the General Assembly and continue their good ol' boy way of doing things in Nashville without Republicans standing in their way.

State Democratic leaders turned their back on Rosalind Kurita after twelve years of service in the senate and promoted the candidacy of Tim Barnes in the August primary to get back at her. When the result wasn't to their liking, they claimed voting irregularities and blamed Republicans for encouraging their members to vote for Kurita. (Like Democrats have never done it in Republican primaries. What hypocrisy!)

Now Democrats will chose a Democrat they like. Tim Barnes will take it any way he can get it. "I'd be honored to receive the nomination in this way," he unabashedly told the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle yesterday. Nothing like having a political office dropped in your lap, I suppose. He has shaken enough hands and slapped enough backs among members of the three county executive committees to feel good about his chances. He will likely be "honored" with a free pass to Nashville even though he lost the election.

Needless to say, state Democratic leaders have shot themselves in the foot with this debacle and liberal bloggers across the state such as Left Wing Cracker, Sharon Cobb, and Newscoma are letting them have it. "What the Democratic Party of Tennessee did to Kurita was very undemocratic," wrote Sharon Cobb, speaking for most of her fellow liberal bloggers. It's refreshing--and fun--to see Democrats coming out against their own party.

Kurita will fight for her senate seat as a write-in candidate in the November election apparently as an independent. "My people in my counties deserve to be able to elect their own senator," she said. "The fact is, they elected me, and I'm not going to quit on them...I am going to fight this. I'm not going to let this election be stolen." Good for her. Tim Barnes or whoever is picked tonight shouldn't get a free ride just because the Democratic Party chooses to override the will of the people and change the outcome of an election. "When somebody steals an election," added Kurita, "they're capable of anything."

P.S.: On a related note, liberal blogger Silence Isn't Golden writes a fitting eulogy for the Tennessee Democratic Party and their future. Let's hope he is indeed a soothsayer in this case. Tennessee has been in the grip of the Democratic Good Ol' Boys far too long. Start with Jimmy Naifeh and let's work our way down.

Dear Mr. Obama

I had heard about this video and listened to it on one of the talk radio shows, either Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, last week. It's a very moving statement by a veteran of the Iraq War who sacrificed himself for freedom and for his country. He calls Obama out for putting down the war and essentially putting down our soldiers and he supports John McCain. (It's not a McCain political ad.) Thank you very much for your service, sir, and for reminding us why we fight.

"I Hate Sarah Palin"

For a political party that loves to toot its horn of inclusiveness, Democrats sure are a hateful bunch.

Ever since Sarah Palin rose from relative obscurity to steal Barack Obama's presidential thunder, the Democrats and the Liberal Media have done everything they can to vilify her and make her out to be a selfish and neglectful mother, a Christian wacko, and a right-wing extremist. Obama's campaign may have a new policy that chooses to ignore her, but why do they have to attack her when the press does all their dirty work for them? Just do a Google search for Sarah Palin and you'll find them strewn across the Internet.

Case in point: Mary Mitchell, a columnist for Obama's hometown newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times. Looking at her columns, there's no question which side of the political spectrum her feelings fall. In her first column after Sen. McCain selected Gov. Palin as his running mate (entitled "It's Not Her Brains that Landed Palin on the Ticket"), Ms. Mitchell wasn't especially negative despite the headline. She wrote:

"I don't want to diminish her accomplishments. Any time a woman is able to balance the responsibilities of being a wife and the mother of five children, including an infant with Down syndrome, with running a state, that is an incredible feat." Further into the column, she added: "I really like Palin's spirit. Too bad she's gotten snared by the political game."

Since then, Palin's stature and popularity have grown. In a matter of weeks, poll results that favored the Democrats shifted in favor of the Republicans, deflecting attention away from Obama's coronation (complete with Greek temple backdrop). Liberals are scared; when they feel threatened, sensing they might once again lose the White House, they will lash out.

Mary Mitchell's initial column on Sarah Palin was a love letter compared to what spewed from her venomous pen yesterday. The misleading headline "Palin Should Be Laughingstock to All Feminists" should have been reduced to simply "I Hate Sarah Palin." The column itself has nothing at all to do with "feminism," but everything to do with her personal vendetta against Gov. Palin because she took the spotlight away from her man. The very first sentence sets the tone:

"Sarah Palin makes me sick. I hate that she was able to steal Barack Obama's mojo just by showing up wearing rimless glasses and a skirt."

Oh no! Obama had mojo, and Palin took it away from him! Simply put, Mary Mitchell is jealous of Sarah Palin and resentful of what she has done to her man, Barack Obama.

There's nothing fair, balanced, objective, or decent about Mitchell's article. She makes no attempt to resemble a journalist (maybe she's not one). She doesn't engage the reader in anything that resembles an intelligent or thoughtful discussion. Three times Mitchell writes that Palin "makes her sick." Three times she uses the word "hate" to describe her feelings toward her. Hate is a strong verb. When is the last time you read that a columnist hated someone they don't even know? One might disagree with another's political views, but to actually hate someone for them? That's going too far. Democrats may say they're ready for "change," but obviously their supporters aren't ready for that kind of change yet. Personal attacks work very well for them, thank you very much.

Mitchell's column is nothing but a personal rant, pure and simple, one more fitting on a extremist left-wing blog than on the pages of a prominent big-city newspaper.

The most revealing statement of the entire column, though, is Mitchell's candid admission: "Frankly, Sarah Palin scares me."

And that's why the liberals hate her.

That's the reason they and their media accomplices attack her and try to dig up anything controversial about her. That's why they judge and condemn her life, her family, her choices, her religious beliefs, her politics, and her public service.

They are all scared of her. They are scared of the unexpected dynamic that she has brought to the campaign, scared of her popularity, scared of the potential loss of independents and middle-class working mothers from their ranks. She has proven that an ambitious woman can be a wife and a mother, yet still accomplish great things and make a difference. She took her right to choose and chose to keep her fifth child, despite the prognosis of Down Syndrome and an uncertain future.

It's easy for conservatives to become discouraged from such an onslaught of negativity toward the Republican ticket. But remember there is a reason why, and Mary Mitchell put it so well: "Frankly, Sarah Palin scares me."

One More Reason to Support McCain/Palin

Here's another reason to support John McCain and Sarah Palin:

Susan Sarandon suggests that she may move to Italy or Canada if Obama doesn't win. Of course liberals are famous for such bold but empty declarations; we're still waiting for Alec Baldwin and Barbara Streisand to fulfill their promises eight years later.

(It looks like Alec's brother Stephen Baldwin has made a similar declaration if Obama wins. What's the point? Would anyone want to hinge their fate on the result of a presidential election? If your pick loses, it makes you look ridiculous--see Baldwin, Alec and Streisand, Barbara--if you don't keep your promise.)

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton SNL Parody

It was inevitable that Saturday Night Live would parody Gov. Sarah Palin, and the obvious choice to play her would be former SNL alumni Tina Fey. I have to admit Ms. Fey did a very good job imitating her accent and mannerisms and Hillary's tirade at the end can't be far from her true feelings. Now Sarah should be invited as a surprise guest for a future show, just like Obama.

Sarah Palin Books Update

I've learned a new term today: "crashed books". I couldn't find an official definition on Wikipedia or anywhere else, but this is how Publisher's Weekly describes the latest quick-to-press books on Gov. Sarah Palin. It seems "crashed books" are ones that are written and published quickly in response to a new trend, personality, or news event.

In addition to Epicenter Press' reprint of Sarah Palin's first biography Sarah and Zondervan's recent announcement of its own book Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader, Publisher's Weekly reports that Adams Media will publish 101 Things You--and John McCain--Didn't Know about Sarah Palin by Gregory Bergman. It will be available the first week of October. Based on the title, this one should please hateful Democrats and the Liberal Media alike. Mr. Gregory is the author of such masterpieces as The Little Book of Bathroom Philosophy: Daily Wisdom from the World's Greatest Thinkers and WTF?: How to Survive 101 of Life's Worst F*#!-ing Situations. Can't wait to read this one.

Never Forget: September 11, 2001

Everyone knows where they were that terrible day when they heard or saw what happened to the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The images are ones we can never forget; they are burned in our minds forever. Innocent lives were lost and families were shattered. We grieved as a nation and we came together for one of the few times in recent memory.

Today should be a reminder to our country that the enemy is the terrorists and not our fellow Americans, both Democrat and Republican. We disagree on many issues, but we should all agree on this point. We must have a strong military to combat those who want to do our nation harm and take our freedoms. We cannot have weakness and indecisiveness in our chief executive and our government leaders. We must have leaders with strong principles and unwavering morals who look to a higher authority rather than themselves for guidance. This is what the next presidential election is all about.

Never forget what they did to our nation.

Never forget what they did to our security and peace of mind.

Never forget what they did to our people.

Never forget what we need to do to keep what they did from ever happening again.

Steve Cohen: Jesus and Obama Both "Community Organizers"

This is hilarious! Sad, stupid, but hilarious because of who said it.

I saw this video posted on Red State and couldn't believe the audacity of Steve Cohen, the liberal representative from Tennessee' s Ninth Congressional District campaigning for Barrack Obama on the floor of the House of Representatives this morning. He blatantly reduces our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to a "community organizer" on par with the Liberal Messiah just to score points with the Democratic Party.

Thus sayteth Stephen:

"I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, um, that the parties have differences, but if you want change, but if you want change, you want the Democratic party, uh, Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus who our, uh, minister prayed about, uh, Pontius Pilate was a governor."

Let me try to follow your misguided logic, Rep. Cohen: Because Pontius Pilate--the Roman authority in Jerusalem who essentially signed Jesus' death warrant--happened to be a governor, anyone who serves as a governor is a bad person? Pray tell, does this logic apply to the current Democratic governor of Tennessee, Phil Bredesen? Or is it just Republican governors, or could it be the one who happens to be running for vice-president of the United States? Obviously this was a bumbling attempt by Cohen to imitate a bumper sticker and be cute on the taxpayer's dime.

Here's the video. (Check out his hair!)



Well Memphis, this is what you get when you send "Ira" to Washington. (Here's the Commercial Appeal's report about it.)

UPDATE: Here's the Tennessee Republican Party's response to Cohen's comments and FoxNews reports on it. A blogger from the Nashville Post (and apparently a Cohen defender) prefers to deflect from the issue by asking:

Did Steve Cohen really compare Sarah Palin to the “killer” of Christ? Is that an accurate way to describe Pilate’s role in the death of Christ? Were there any others responsible? Could it be said that it was humanity at large who was responsible for Christ’s death?

Good grief. What a Clintonesque response.

Obama on Sarah Palin: "Pig" Comment Gaffe or Deliberate?

You have to admit that this presidential campaign is anything but boring. Every day there's a new revelation about someone or someone from one of the campaigns said something to offend the other. That's politics and it always has been. It's just that we're saturated nowadays with media--from television to talk radio to the Internet--that there's no getting away from it.

Case in point: During a speech yesterday, Barrack Obama continued his worn-out argument that John McCain's election would simply be a third term for President Bush. After rattling off a laundry list of policies he claimed McCain and Bush share, he added: "You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’ it’s still gonna stink after eight years."

Was this a deliberate move on Obama's part to fire back at Gov. Sarah Palin's convention joke that the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick? It's wasn't good judgment on his part, to be sure. But I must grudgingly give him the benefit of the doubt on this gaffe. Listening to the remark in context with what he said before and after, he seemed to be using "you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" as a common saying. The man may be a liberal, but he's not stupid enough to intentionally make such a degrading personal remark. At least I don't think so.

But it's the reaction of his supporters--especially those behind him--that raises the debate. They obviously perceived it to be a jab at Gov. Palin. Based on their facial expressions and their reactions, that's how they took it. The Associated Press reported that it drew "an outbreak of laughter, shouts and raucous applause from his audience, clearly drawing a connection to Palin's joke even if it's not what Obama meant." The video proves the point.



(To be fair, this clip does leave out what Obama said immediately after, which was: "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’ it’s still gonna stink after eight years.")

The remark may not have been deliberate, but it certainly had its effect, unintentional or not, and Obama should own up to it. His reaction? His campaign cites instances when Senator McCain used the expression in various speeches during his career. While it may be true that it's a commonly used expression, it's the context here that is important: how and when he used it during his speech. "Who has been talking about lipstick lately?" noted McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. "It was obvious. The crowd went crazy because of it."

The McCain/Palin campaign's response was a new ad entitled "Lipstick" and a call for Obama to apologize. Are they making more out of it than is necessary? Probably. Still, if he made the remark without thinking how it would be perceived, Obama should admit he didn't mean it that way and apologize for doing so. Unlikely to happen, of course.

John McCain and Sarah Palin Action Figures

Wow, there are a lot of creative entrepreneurs out there! Not only can the diehard John McCain and Sarah Palin supporters buy buttons, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and mousepads with their favorite images and slogans, but now their kids can play with action figures in their images (or close enough).

Herobuilders.com has created action figures for John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Barrack Obama (sorry, Joe Biden fans, there's not one for you). According to their website, the idea came about in 2002 when the owner sculpted a George W. Bush figure and showed it off on his office desk. So many people suggested that he could sell them online that he opened his own business and began producing ones of other political and entertainment personalities. They even make custom figures on demand. In addition to the figures, there are Pez dispensers and plush dolls, too.

The Sarah Palin figure comes in three different styles: executive (seen here), school girl, and super hero. The latter two are more revealing and not for the kids. McCain's action figure (right) is pretty buff for a 72-year-old! The figures are a little pricey starting at $27.95, but they would make great conversation pieces to spark debates with your liberal friends and co-workers.

Here's another custom made doll for the girls posted on eBay. This one is complete with a mirror, podium, pink cell phone and matching laptop, rifle, skirt fatigues, and hockey stick. Bids are already up to $86.00 with three days left!

UPDATE: The Sarah Palin Barbie-like doll on eBay sold for--get this--$158.50!

Own Sarah Palin's House

There's an auction posted on eBay for Todd and Sarah Palin's former home on Wasilla Lake in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. Built in 1984, it's where the Palins lived when Sarah served as mayor of Wasilla. It's "a serious collector's item," according to the seller, for a modest $969,000.00. The auction ends on Sept. 17. If anyone's interested in getting a jump-start on a Sarah Palin Museum, here's a good place to start!

UPDATE: The auction ended without any bidders.

The Original Mavericks

Here's the latest McCain/Palin campaign ad. I like it, especially the tough-looking photo of Gov. Palin near the beginning.

Changes at MSNBC

It looks like the increasingly left-pandering MSNBC will make a few changes to its election coverage. The Washington Post reports that the duo of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will be relegated back to their roles as commentators and not be at the news anchor desk for future political events, including election night coverage. Reportedly the change is the result of internal discussions and external criticism, especially of Olbermann's blatant liberal bias during the Republican National Convention.

This is certainly a start, but why stop there? Andrea Mitchell is just as guilty of taking the Democratic side of any interview or discussion while working as a news anchor on MSNBC. It's true the job of a journalist is to ask the tough questions. But if you're consistently throwing hardballs to one side (i.e. Republicans) and softballs to the other (i.e. Democrats), where's the objectivity? Andrea makes a good Democratic commentator, but a poor choice for a news anchor.

John McCain Coming to Nashville

It's not official yet, but John McCain reportedly could be heading to Nashville for a "debate watch party and rally" Oct. 7 at Riverfront Park. The town hall style presidential debate between John McCain and Barrack Obama will be held at Nashville's Belmont University that night. The Tennessean reports that an event production company has applied for a permit to use Riverfront Park for Oct. 6 and 7.

No Heart for "Barracuda"

When she was a star basketball player for Wasilla High School in Alaska, Sarah Palin earned the nickname "Barracuda" for her drive and competitiveness on the court. Naturally, when the folks with the Republican National Convention needed a theme song of sorts for their vice-presidential candidate, Heart's 1977 hit single "Barracuda" came to mind. It pounded through the speakers as the Republican faithful celebrated and added a great touch to the event.

Apparently, they didn't ask permission to use the song from the music group and they aren't fans of the Republican Party. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson were upset at the use of "Barracuda" and sent a cease and desist order to the Republican Party. Here's their official statement:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

How petty and ridiculous can you be. If they were smart, they would ask for royalties and let the McCain/Palin campaign revive a 31-year-old song that hasn't seen the light of day in ages. Maybe the Wilson sisters would earn a little money for doing absolutely nothing. But they have to act like they're offended just like any good liberal would and make a big deal out of it. Really petty, ladies. And I used to like your songs, too.

Sarah Palin Biography

It's inevitable that when someone bursts onto the national stage, whether they are an athlete or a politician, someone has to write a biography about them, and quickly, to satisfy the demand for people who want to know more about them. Such is the case for the new darling of the Republican Party, Sarah Palin.

Ironically, last night I searched Amazon to see if a book had already been written or was in the works. There was only one, a 159-page hardcover written by Kaylene Johnson and published last April. Expect Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down to be revised and published as a paperback very soon.

Today, another Palin bio was announced by Christian publisher Zondervan Books. Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader, written by Joe Hilley, will be released on October 10.

(Update: Epicenter Press, an Alaska-based publisher of Sarah, has already gone to press with 40,000 copies to meet the demand for the only Palin bio available. The run for the initial hardback edition was only 7,000 copies. Author Kaylene Johnson is also in demand.)

Let the Game Begin

The 2008 presidential election is officially underway. The candidates and their running mates have been nominated by their respective parties, the balloons have deflated, and McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden are hitting the campaign trail for the next two months.

Admittedly, John McCain's acceptance speech didn't come close to that of Sarah Palin the night before. But she was a hard act for anyone to follow. What he lacked in eloquence, he made up for in confidence and determination. He acknowledged President Bush without actually naming him, thanking him for his vigilance in defending our country from another terrorist attack. The nature of this election year has forced the Republican nominee to distance himself from the two-term party leader, but it was fitting that McCain at least gave credit where it was due, much to the chagrin of the liberal media.

He gave Barrack Obama more credit than I would've expected, telling him that he had McCain's "respect and admiration" and "[d]espite our differences, more unites us than divides us." McCain was much more magnanimous than Obama could ever be to an opponent. Of course the CodePink wackos camped outside the convention hall had to interrupt his speech early on. (By the way, where did Chris Matthews and his MSNBC cohorts stage their post-convention shows? In the convention hall like all the other networks? Of course not! They had to pander to their liberal and anti-war audience outside who cheered Matthews' every word.)

McCain shared his vision for America and reputed Obama's claims that he "didn't get it" regarding the plight of many Americans in today's economy. Rather than focus simply on the way his speech was delivered, read the text for yourself.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell Gets Buried

There was a bit of poetic justice last night during the post-speech celebration at the RNC. NBC/MSNBC Republican critic and leading Obama lover Andrea Mitchell was attacked and engulfed by a mass of red, white, and blue balloons as she tried to report from the convention floor. Very funny!

A Worried Feminist

The blogger at Tennessee Guerrilla Women seems worried about the ramifications of Gov. Sara Palin on the Republican ticket:

Republicans are seriously energized, or palinized, and I fear many Republican and Independent women will soon discover an urgent compulsion to vote. Women may well bring us another nightmare Republican regime. Women are beginning to be viewed as a scary potential voting bloc. Isn't it amazing how much respect voting blocs get? You should have picked Hillary, Barack.

It would be terrible--for the Democratic Party--if conservative and open-minded women discovered "an urgent compulsion to vote." Shouldn't feminists support women in public office, particularly one aspiring for the second-highest office in America? Oh, that's right--they only support ones who promote their leftist agenda! That's right! Silly me.

Click here for the complete entry (dated Thursday, September 4).

Sarah Palin: The Right Choice

I admit I was skeptical and none too excited about supporting John McCain. In fact, my preferences were Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee (whom I voted for in the Tennessee primary). McCain was certainly qualified to be president; he just wasn't conservative enough for my taste. Being a loyal Republican, I wasn't about to vote for Obama, but it would have been a "lesser of two evils" pick on my part.

McCain's bold choice of social conservative Sarah Palin as his running mate, however, energized my support for the ticket. It has added excitement, youth, and even a bit of spunk to his stagnant campaign. The fact that he fooled all the political experts with his pick and trumped the Democrats with the second female vice-presidential candidate (but first Republican) in American history didn't hurt either.

Like everyone else in the country, I had no idea who Sarah Palin was, much less that she was the governor of Alaska. I'm not a hunter myself, but I was impressed when I read on Wikipedia that she hunted moose and ate moose burgers! Her first speech as McCain's pick last week showed that she is confident and not intimidated by the national spotlight. Her speech last night reassured her party that she will not wilt under the glare and that she can give as well as she gets from the liberals. She's a hockey mom and bulldog all rolled into one. (A great line by the way!)

Gov. Palin is as far an outsider from Washington D.C. as you can get. She has experience--albeit limited--as an executive both at the local and state level. She will have to prove herself in the eyes of independent voters and some Republicans over the coming months that she is competent to be vice-president. Yet she already has more executive experience than her opponents, Obama and Joe Biden! She's nobody's push-over and now they know it won't be as easy to tear her down as they thought--but they and the media will certainly do their best.

Save a Moose: Vote McCain/Palin!