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Archive for September, 2010

Dan Maes and Tom Tancredo

30 Sep

Here in Colorado, our Governor’s race is a mess for conservatives.

A short history:

The three candidates for Colorado's Governor: John Hickenlooper, Dan Maes, Tom Tancredo.

The three candidates for Colorado's Governor: John Hickenlooper, Dan Maes, Tom Tancredo.

John Hickenlooper, Denver’s mayor, had no competition for the Democrat nomination. McIinnis and Maes were the top two Republicans, both had issues. Maes appeared to have credibility issues and McGinnis was being accused of plagiarism. Tom Tancredo pulled his endorsement of McGinnis before the Republican primary, and said that if McIinnis and Maes didn’t drop out, he would enter the race independently.
With Tom joining the attacks on McInnis, he lost the primary to Maes. Maes won on the benefit of not being accused of plagiarism.

Tom Tancredo switched political party affiliation and is now on the ballot as the Constitution Party candidate. The conservative vote has split. It seemed that in the year of the conservative, we were handing the Governor’s office to the most liberal candidate.

The policies of Tancredo and Maes would be very similar, focusing on a constitutional perspective validating the primacy of the individual, instead of the primacy of the government. While Hickenlooper would raise taxes, Tancredo and Maes are expected to maintain or cut taxes. Across the board, the principles and policies of the conservatives are similar.

What’s happened to date:

When Tancredo entered the race, he had only support of 9% of Colorado’s voters. Maes could conceivably compete with Hickenlooper, but only if Tancredo dropped out.
Tancredo has consistently gained support while Maes has lost support. During the month of September, Tancredo moved up to 34% support of Colorado voters, only 10 points behind Hickenlooper. Maes has dropped to only 15% support. Tancredo’s support has come from those who were formerly supporters of Maes, Hickenlooper, and undecided voters.

Arguments that used to be against Tancredo are now against Maes:

Arguments from local Maes supporters as well as national figures like Michael Medved have essentially been the following:

Politicians with the winning touch almost always shun fringe parties because chances of success are so small. The most admired American leaders take their place in an honorable pragmatic tradition, counting practical results as more important than showy gestures.

The basic idea is that running would only ever accrue him a few percent vote that would take away votes only from the Republican with an impractical bid that could never compete with the liberal Democrat. Tancredo staying in the race could only ever defeat Maes and ensure a Hickenlooper victory.

BUT today, Tancredo is within 10 points of Hickenlooper, and has more than double the support Maes has. These very arguments that used to be against Tancredo are now arguments against Maes.

It is Maes who can only muster a small percentage of support.
He has become the incredible shrinking candidate while Tancredo is building support at an extremely rapid pace.

It is Maes whose only effect now can be electing the Democrat by taking away support from the 2nd most popular candidate.
Tancredo needs about 10% of Coloradans to change to vote for him for the win. Maes would need about 30% of Coloradans to change their support for him to win.

It is Maes who is staying n when the chances of success are so small.
The trends show that Maes will continue to lose support and will enter election day with under 10% of votes from Coloradans.

What this means for you, me, and Maes.

I recognize that some people will vote for Maes because he’s got an R behind his name. If this is you, you are simply not a conservative, but a member of a political party, who will do what you’re told. These sorts of people are called RINOs, “Republican in Name Only,” who will vote for Republicans no matter what.

Others will vote for Maes because they’re mad at Tancredo for messing up the Republican primary. I don’t like what he did either. But we aren’t voting on what Tancredo did, we are voting for what direction the Colorado Governor’s office moves in.

Unless there’s a tremendous upset and Maes is neck-and-neck with Hickenlooper by voting day, any votes for Maes will have the effect of voting for Hickenlooper.

As a conservative, I want my vote to be effective for bringing about change in the right direction – constitutional values, individual rights, smaller government. Your vote for a candidate who cannot win is a vote against all of these conservative values.

Whatever your personal feelings, whatever your party affiliation, a vote for Dan Maes isn’t a vote against Hickenlooper or a vote against Tancredo. A vote for Dan Maes is a vote against conservative values in the governor’s office. The only way we have to pursue conservative values in the governor’s office this term is to value conservatism over Republicanism, over our annoyance with Tom messing up our primary, over our desire to hold a grudge.

The only way we have available to us to pursue conservative values in the office of the Colorado Governor this year is to vote Tancredo.

 
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No Ordinary Family

29 Sep

No Ordinary Family on AB

I just watched the premier of ABC’s No Ordinary Family on Hulu. I’ll be following this show hoping that subsequent episodes are as good as the premier. The show is very good for a few reasons.

1.This family has a good husband/father.

Michael Chiklis plays the father in No Ordinary Family

Michael Chiklis plays Jim Powell, father, in No Ordinary Family

Most television shows feature extremely lousy fathers.  Usually the father is lazy at work, unfaithful or barely faithful to his wife, and/or so stupid that the children are smarter than he. This is one symptom of a larger cultural assault on fatherhood and real masculinity that will require it’s own article to discuss. The No Ordinary Family father,  played by Michael Chiklis, who you’ll remember as Ben Grimm/The Thing (The rock guy) from The Fantastic Four movies, loves his wife and their two teenage kids. While he feels helpless to do so, he keeps trying to do what he can to strengthen relationships with his kids, and lead the way back to healthy and constructive relationships as the man of the house.

He tries to play catch with his kids for fun, and go on dates with his wife, though no other family members respond well. However, his teenage daughter (played by Kay Panabaker who has been in several made for TV movies and several tv series in limited roles) mentions mid-way through this first episode when talking to her mother that she usually talks to her dad about difficult situations. His son (played by Jimmy Bennet who played the young James T. Kirk in the most recent Star Trek movie) connects better with his father as well as the show makes clear the mother doesn’t spend any time with him either.

This father cares about his wife and his kids, and wants what’s best for them, which includes a strong relationship with their father.

2. It’s about a family trying to re-connect.

Julie Benz plays Stephanie Powell in No Ordinary Family

Julie Benz plays the mother, Stephanie Powell, in No Ordinary Family

The plot begins when the mother (played by Julie Benz from Buffy, Angel, Dexter and what looks like a bunch of horror movies) has to head to Brazil on a business research trip. Michale Chiklis’s character insists on changing the trip into a family vacation as a time to re-connect with each other. The one time on the trip he gets them all in one place is on a small plane which subsequently crashes and … but enough about tiptoeing around spoilers -as the previews show, they discover they have super powers. These new unknown and unexplored abilities bring the family together, forcing them to place family higher than work, Internet, and texting. They realize they need to be able to depend on each other more than anyone else, and by the end of the pilot, everyone wants what the dad has wanted – to re-connect as a family, and foster healthy relationships.

3. It’s true to life.

Jimmy Bennett plays the son, JJ Powell, in No Ordinary Family

Jimmy Bennett plays the son, JJ Powell, in No Ordinary Family

Given, parasites are more common to bring back from South America than super powers. In many ways, this episode was about normal life. The teens are talking twitter and texting.

The son struggles with schoolwork and the daughter struggles with insecurity. The mother is having to juggle work and family priorities and the father questions his confidence at his job. These are life’s real struggles.

The camera pauses on details like the mother noticing kids in another car making a mess of their snacks. A man stands on the shoulder looking under the hood of his car. Normally these details stand out because the writers had to put them in as clues to something later in the story. Here it seems to be because this is what life as a parent is like. These are the things that stand out in a normal super-sonic run – or drive – down the highway for all of us.

4. The family’s powers correspond to their struggles.

Kay Panabaker plays the daughter, Daphne Powell, in No Ordinary Family

Kay Panabaker plays the daughter, Daphne Powell, in No Ordinary Family

The father feels helpless in bringing his family together, he feels weak as a father and as an employee at the police station as a sketch artist. He is gifted with strength. He can catch bullets, hit hard, jump high, and fall off a tall building without getting hurt.

The mother feels like she can never catch up to everything she has to do as a mother and a career woman. She is gifted with speed, so she bypasses traffic and has time to spend with her kids and husband that have taken a lower priority than her job.

The daughter is self-conscious about what other people think about her, so she is gifted with the ability to read thoughts. One quick benefit is that she breaks up with her boyfriend when she finds out he isn’t following through on his repeated commitment to wait to have sex as she’s committed.

The son discovers his last, but his weakness is feeling dumb at school. Guess what he is gifted with?

It’s very heart-touching to see these years-long or life-long struggles start to be repaired though these new giftings.

Summary

The show is fairly family friendly. The theme is about how to keep the family together and how to make it healthier, thought there is some bad language from both teenagers and the parents. There’s some violence as the father works at the police station and attempts to be a hero, so there’s some fighting and guns firing at him and others.

I liked the first episode and look forward to more. It’s positive. It’s about family. It’s true to life. It’s got a good father. I grow weary of shows about murder, even if there are some family relationships. I’m hoping that even if this show, with it’s potentially crime-fighting-family, ends up with lots of crimes, that it remains a show about family values.

Then again, this is on ABC, known as the most extreme network in pushing liberal values.

Here’s the preview:

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Can’t get those cutters open?

28 Sep

Can’t get your cutters open? Buy these cutters, advertised here as being able to cut open cutters.

Now, if I only had a camera to take pictures of my camera.

Posted from my BlackBerry.

 
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RNC Pledge To America

24 Sep
Republicans and the Pledge to America

Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

The Republicans have published a 21 page “Pledge to America“. I have only skimmed it so far, but some of the bullet points indicate a commitment to spurring economic growth by lowering taxes on the citizens and downsizing the government. This means that every business and every individual has more money, and the federal government spends less money.

Pelosi, Reid, and Obama are expected to announce the DNC response today: a 2,200 page document called “Hope for America” that no one has read, and we’ll find out what it contains after the Democrats are elected.

 
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Dr. Roger Starner Jones Muses On Crisis Culture : Fact.

17 Sep

emergency room doctor roger starner jonesWhen my cousin, a medical professional, shared this on Facebook, I assumed it was just an email forward telling a fictional story. It’s not.

Dr. Roger Starner Jones is an ER Doctor who works at UMMC and is currently selling this condo, featuring a central vacuum. Real guy. What he wrote below was published August 29th, 2009 and is currently making rounds on Facebook in a slightly modified version addressed to the President.

If he is correct, then the health care overhaul just made worse the problem that has caused the mess we’re currently in with health care. What do you think?

Dear Sirs:

During my last night’s shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B; tune for a ring tone.

Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.

She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer. And our President expects me to pay for this woman’s health care?

Our nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture – a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

A culture that thinks I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me.

Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow.

Starner Jones, MD
Jackson, MS

As a side note, I’m not the only one trying to find the source of this letter. The news paper that published this doesn’t have it archived on their website, but people are looking. 5 of the top 10 searches today are trying to find this story:

Clarion Ledger searches

 
 

Nancy Pelosi, Wicked Witch of the West: Why Party Trumps Person in Politics

13 Sep

We’ve often voted just for the individual politician that we like or agree with the most in elections. It’s usually a Republican because there’s some core issues of the Democrat party that are immoral (such as oppressing the poor through entitlement programs that keep them poor and oppressed, abortion, devaluing individuals by lessening individual rights) and Libertarians tend to be unqualified and silly ( with bios that sound like “I’m a kindergarten volunteer, I like the color pink, and I want to be governor and legalize pot!”)

But – at least in the legislative branch, and in a year like 2010, party trumps politics. Here’s the most creative ad campaign I’ve seen in a very long time:

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John Dennis is taking on Nancy Pelosi with this ad, and throughout his website. Americans aren’t too happy with Congress right now. With good reason. The parties switched control of the legislative branch in 2006, and everything went wrong. Unemployment increased, repeated bailouts and stimulus packages were written into law, anyone who dares disagree is slandered and maligned. The economy took a downturn when Pelosi took leadership of the legislative branch, and things continue to move the wrong direction now, 4 years later.

But John Dennis isn’t the only one taking on Pelosi. Every Republican congressman is. Pelosi is in control of every committee and the agenda of what comes to the floor for a vote and when – because the Democrat party has the majority. The same is true with Harry Reid in the Senate. If you vote for a moderate Democrat, it’s a vote for the extreme left-wing ideologues like Pelosi who will both control the legislative branch and ignore the moderate Democrat you vote for.

Isn’t the same true of Republicans? While the Democrats say they want to expand government and do so, the Republicans say they want a smaller government, but during Bush’s presidency, they grew government just like Democrats.

The difference is that Democrats screwed things up right away. The Republicans took a long time to ignore their own platform and increase government intrusion into your life. We need a new change – different from the Democrat ‘echo Obama’ strategy. We the voters need to get rid of the Democrat control of the legislature, and we then need to force the Republicans to stick to conservative principles, or vote them out in the primaries when they’re up for re-election.

A vote for any Democrat, moderate or not is a vote for the Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid control of every law written in Washington.

 
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Religious Extremists, Part 2: Timothy McVeigh

09 Sep

Yesterday I began writing about religious extremism. The talking point popularized by Rosie O’Donnell on The View is that Christian extremists are just as dangerous to America as Muslim extremists. This doesn’t even pass the laugh test. Here’s how one filmmaker made this point, in An American Carol:

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There’s a few arguments used to bolster these false statements.

Claim: Timothy McVeigh was a Christian extremist/terrorist.
Timothy McVeigh was violent, but not a religious extremistThe thought pattern is: McVeigh was the Oklahoma City bomber, he was a Christian, therefore  that’s the equivalent to the  terrorists that crashed planes into the world trade towers on September 11th, 2001.

However, McVeigh described himself as a theist and declared “science is my religion.” That sounds much more like our atheist or agnostic friends than our Christian ones. Further, McVeigh did not commit violence or murder in the name of Christianity. He did not declare before or after that he was killing people for the advance of Christianity.

The effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are now fairly well known. If a soldier called for active duty overseas mentally snapped and started going on a shooting rampage, it would likely be blamed on PTSD, regardless of the religion of the person. If, however, they had been attempting to contact known violent leaders in a religion and shouted out before or during the violence that they were doing this for the advance of their religion, that’s a much better indicator that they’re killing in the name of their religion: Because they’re saying that they are.

That’s why the Fort Hood shooter was a religious terrorist, but McVeigh was not. McVeigh never even revealed what he actually believed, much less said that he was murdering because of that faith.

 

Religious Extremists, Part 1

08 Sep
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Since Rosie O’Donnell declared that Christian extremists were as dangerous as Muslim extremists, it seems to have become an official talking-point of American politics. I’ve heard media talking heads say that Christianity and Islam are the same: not all Muslims are terrorists, not all Christians proselytize.

Naturally, telling someone there’s a free gift of eternal salvation available to all is strikingly similar to blowing up yourself along with a bus load of people, or two trade towers. Why didn’t we see that before? In perspective, we can all now see that every Billy Graham event was as damaging to America as 9/11. Yet the American military doesn’t seem to be able to track down one old man in the mountains of North Carolina. I smell conspiracy. How did we not realize this when Graham called his events the most politically incorrect word: “Crusades!” Oh, the horror of extreme Christians!

George W. Bush promoted the idea that Islam is a religion of peace. What about that sneaky worldwide trend of violent extremists rising up within Islam? We’re told that every religion has extremists, but it is no reflection on the religion or the people who follow it. But especially Christians.

Today a Christian extremist is in the news again.

A small US church says it will defy international condemnation and go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary.

The top US commander in Afghanistan warned troops’ lives would be in danger if the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida went through with the plan.

Muslim countries, the US government and Nato have also hit out at the plan.

But organiser, Pastor Terry Jones said: “We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam.”

The US government, NATO, even General Petraeus have spoken against this man. Petraeus warned that the action could cause violence “not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world.”

The Huffington Post calls this “our own home-grown variety of dangerous extremism.”

The State Department calls him “un-American.”

I’m not arguing that this guy is correct – or that he’s incorrect – in what he’s doing. But I think it’s important that we get down to what is happening here. Like the conversations at Jim Taggart’s wedding reception, no one is willing to name what is going on here: Terrorism.

Muslims burn an effigy of Pastor Terry Jones who may burn a copy of the Koran

Crowds of Muslims in Afghanistan are chanting “Death to America,” and burned an effigy of the pastor – who as of yet, hasn’t done anything. The Obama administration has called on Americans to join these protests against this American pastor.

And yet, less than a year ago, there was a Bible burning that did not receive international or even presidential condemnation. What’s the difference? What’s the thought pattern in this case?

Everyone’s behavior should be modified out of fear of violence from a certain group of people.

Yet – isn’t that the very definition of terrorism? (Yes, it is: “the state of fear and submission produced by the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce.”)

Will this empower the enemies of America in Afghanistan? Perhaps. It already has, and nothing has happened.

Will this endanger American civilians in Muslim countries around the world? Possibly.

Is it foolish to tempt a bully that is threatening violence against you? Perhaps. And that’s why the bully stays the bully. That’s why the mob wins. That’s why terrorism works.

The government of the United States is one that will pay someone $15,000.00 to take and popularize photos of a crucifix in urine, that will ignore Bible burnings, yet speaks out against anyone who does not submit to at least some of the commands of Islam.

Regardless of Rosie’s talking point, anyone who argues that this guy is a dangerous Christian extremist is saying that only because of what Muslim extremists will do. Anyone who argues that he should stop because of potential violent Muslim reactions is saying there is a difference between Christian and Muslim extremists.

 

Miss Bush Yet?

02 Sep

George W. Bush: Miss Me Yet?

For almost 10 years, the DNC and their cronies in the leftist mainstream media have been villainizing George W. Bush.s

No doubt this has influenced people’s political perceptions – I once had someone tell me they blamed Bush for trouble they had finding a parking space. This also likely helped give Obama the presidency as he and others cast his opponent, John McCain as a 3rd term of Bush.

That Obama and the democrat’s politics of personal destruction have a strong influence on how the citizens of America and the wold perceive American politics. It’s nothing new – every strong opponent of the Democrats since Ronald Regan has been attacked as stupid and incompetent. Think about it – what comes to mind as the attacks on Bush, Gingrich, Quayle, Palin?

Obama and the DNC recognize the effectiveness. Two years into his presidency, Obama continues to blame every problem on his Republican predecessor. However, the excuse seems to be getting worn out.

Ohio went for Obama in 2008. A survey by liberal polling agency PPP was just released shows that now, as Obama is less of a mystery and we all know more about him, 52% of Ohioans wish that Bush was still in office, verses 40% who prefer Obama.

While Bush can’t run again for presidency, the poll is relevant because Obama’s incessant finger-pointing at Bush in his ongoing blame game that he plays with the rest of his party that leads both houses and the majority of media outlets.

The personal attacks, name-calling, and finger-pointing works for the Democrats. If they weren’t doing this, the numbers would be dramatically more in favor of Republicans. As it is, Republicans have a 10 point lead on a generic ballot per Gallup, another polling agency that leans left.

Is this an indication that the finger-pointing and personal attacks have stopped working? That’s now how the democrats will see things. They’ll believe that they aren’t blaming and attacking people enough. Expect the name-calling and “politics of personal destruction,” as the Clintons used to say, to escalate as we approach November and future elections.

 
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The Democrat’s Phony Diversity, Part 2

01 Sep
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I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Glenn Beck continues to be mocked by Democrats and their cronies in the media for the rally at the Lincoln Memorial where somewhere between 5 people and half-a-million people attended. He’s mocked because he made statements about reclaiming the civil rights movement. It’s as obvious as Obama’s Christian faith that Beck can’t say anything about civil rights, because he’s white.

This criticism flies in the face of Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech, given exactly 47 years before the rally. The Democrats continue to judge people based on the color of their skin, regardless of the content of their character.

In The Democrat’s Phony Diversity, Part 1, I wrote that:

The Democratic Party has been in the business of labeling and profiling people on the basis of a variety of demographics. They divide people by category and they have told everyone in every category that they must belong in the Democrat party or they are a Judas to their own kind….

You are welcome as long as you behave. Do what you are told to do. Believe what you are told to believe. Democrat politics trumps all religious belief. The party this takes over the place of your God. You lose the right to practice your own religion or to hold your own worldview.

There cannot be any real diversity because the worldview of the DNC conflicts with every religious system and traditional value system. The DNC must take priority over your faith, your worldview and your traditions. The only diversity allowed in the DNC is a facade without substance. It is as genuine as a fake city backdrop on a movie set. The appearance exists without substance.

News reports and blogs often fall prey to various logical fallacies, one of which is mere assertion: Just because I say this is true, that doesn’t make it fact. In this and subsequent posts in this series, I want to lay out a few examples of how this has been the case.

With the rally on the anniversary of MLK’s I Have a Dream speech, let’s start with the claim I’ve heard repeatedly that the Democrats voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act. Here’s a brief video that explains what actually happened:

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(In case you don’t have video, the Republicans voted 80% in favor of the bill, the Democrats about 60%)

 
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