October 19, 2008
Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution opined that Republicans cling to three wrong-headed ideas that addle their thinking, which are:
(1) the assertion that Saddam Hussein represented a threat to the United States,
(2) that affirmative action in lending led to the mortgage crisis and
(3) that voter fraud is a serious problem in modern elections.
That's right, Ms. Tucker. I am a Bitter Clinger.
I believe that when S. Hussein controls the flow of two million barrels of oil per day and has designs on invading other countries and hijacking ten million more, he is a threat to the USA and to the world. He has to be stopped - by war if needed. And if the warring powers somehow decide to spare his head, he has an obligation to that cease-fire. But Hussein decided to violate that obligation, and it cost him his crown, his family, his fortune, and his head.
I believe the New York Times article from September 30, 1999, outlining the steps Fannie Mae is taking to provide subprime lending to previously underqualified borrowers, 18 percent of whom happened to be black, is roughly accurate.
I believe that when people show up to the polls without any sort of identification, they should not be permitted to cast a vote.
Not only do I believe these things, but I feel that I am entitled to cast aspersions on my fellow Americans who are in the dissent.
I think there is something seriously wrong with a person who does not support the war efforts of his own country when many thousands of his fellow countrymen risk life and limb. To attack the troops verbally; to say that they as a class are engaged in war crimes; to mock them or protest their families at funerals; to encourage men to desert, or to aid them in desertion, or to praise the men who have deserted as though they are heroes; these are the marks of the traitor.
I think that a loan must be made on good faith, and central to that assumption is the demonstrated ability of the borrower to pay back that which he borrows. When the government secures the loans, it becomes the patsy and the fall guy and so do we. When the Congress (notably Reps. Frank, Dodd, et. al.) pressures Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to relax their lending policies, it costs us the taxpayers money. This crisis has been brewing for a long time and the timing of recent collapses should be called into question with regard to the elections.
It's bad enough that the poll tax, which was fairly good at weeding out voter fraud, was eliminated because it was "disenfranchising." There's something wrong when you have to show a membership card to go to Sam's Club, but not at Uncle Sam's Club. The fate of the nation hangs in the balance, and should we encourage people to drive from polling place to polling place and cast their Mickey-Mouse and Donald-Duck votes? No way!
It boils down to honesty, Ms. Tucker, and if you bend the rules until they break, there are no rules. Anarchy has a high price - foreign wars, economic troubles, and fixed elections. Time to pay up.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Why Obama Will Lose
When Howard Wolfson analyzes the ruins of the McCain train wreck, it should be noted that the train has not in fact, crashed... yet.
Wolfson would love to be the biographer of the failed opposition, and in three weeks he will have that privilege, because in fact, he has attacked both McCain and Obama, and one of them will lose on November 4. (As a Hillarian, Wolfson considers both of these men the opposition.)
But Wolfson neglects the possibility that Obama could still lose this race, just as he kept losing big-state primaries this spring. Here are the reasons Obama will lose on November 4:
10) Iran, Iraq, Israel, and al-Qaeda
Barack Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge, and the strange comment about Iran being a "tiny country" that doesn't present a threat to us should have awakened public caution about the Big O. Obama's back-door negotiations with the government of Iraq should make us all shudder, his stated commitment to Israel is not believable, and Iran's fast-track pursuit of nuclear weapons make it the centerpiece of trouble for the next several years. If al-Qaeda should strike, if Israel should pre-emptively strike Iran, or if there are other statements by Obama that departure should predate victory in Iraq, the election could yet hang in the balance.
9) The Money Trail
It's late in the campaign - probably too late; but there is still time for someone to put out the word that the most expensive campaign in American political history is laced with foreign and improperly-disclosed cash, possibly more than $200 million of it. While McCain has published his donor list online, large and small, Obama has not told the public about numerous small donations that have been raised through PayPal and other online sources. If the amount is less than $200, he doesn't legally have to; but this is a loophole the campaign has driven a train through. Other limits, such as the $2300 and $4600 personal contribution limits, have not been handled correctly. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been involved in rooting through some of this, but not much, and not out loud. Someone should draw some attention to the irregularities.
8) Several Major Scandals
The public has no idea who Tony Rezko is or what he is whispering to federal prosecutors. The public has no idea why ACORN is being investigated in 11 states, or deep connections to Obama going back over 15 years (or this year when the Obama campaign paid them almost $900,000.) Bill Ayers and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright know Obama very well, but the public doesn't know just how well. How does a Kenyan named Odinga have anything to do with Obama, and what happened when Jerome Corsi went to Kenya to publicize his anti-Obama book? Which New Englander is the biggest supporter of Iran in the U.S. Senate?
7) His Name Is Barack Hussein Obama (And He's Black)
Or, "he's half-white, 25 percent black, and 25 percent Arab," or some crazy concoction. The folks are always hearing something different; he's Muslim, he's Christian, he's an ex-Muslim, he praises Muslims, he's with the Black Separatists, he's not really a U.S. citizen, he was born in Kenya, he's supporting this radical Muslim (Odinga) over there, his brother George is in Kenya living on $1 a month, and so forth.
Seven years after 9/11, the folks are a little bit worried about a Muslim-named man seeking high office, tight-lipped about his own background, especially if he is a little bit uncertain about American themes like strong military, American work ethic, opportunity, ownership, and energy independence.
6) No Respect For The Common Man
In the Obamasphere, average white guys are abnormal cavemen types, chanting incoherently while offering sacrifices to their cloud gods and spending huge chunks of disposable income on firearms, hunting dogs, and taxidermy. Did Obama have much chance with the white male vote in the beginning? We don't know; but how badly can he do with this demographic and still win on November 4?
5) Blew Off Hillary
Obama did a bang-up job of clobbering Hillary Clinton by focusing early campaign dollars on states with caucuses. Hillary nearly caught up by winning big states and bribing superdelegates, but couldn't get Florida and Michigan seated; also the winner-take-all rule which would have won the contest clearly for Hillary was absent. Obama could have redeemed himself at great personal expense by bringing in Hillary as VP; failing to do this cost him votes in the Hillary faction.
4) Who The Heck Is Joe Biden?
Yes, Joe Biden has been sitting in the Senate since he was 30 - you have to be 30 to be a Senator. He's 65 now; what has he done, other than plagiarize speeches and be 180-degrees-wrong on almost every foreign policy for 35 years?
3) Hope & Change: Work With Crazies & Hope They Change
Obama's associations with ACORN, Ayers, Dorhn, Rezko, and Wright are long and deep; they are the foundation of his political and financial power. Up until now, the playbook has determined he should renounce the deed and not the person until the pressure builds, then throw them under the bus. It's getting mighty crowded under Obama's bus.
2) Obama Is A Marxist
What we do know about this guy is, he is hell-bent on taking money from the rich, regardless whether it helps the national bottom line or not. "Fairness," is all we get out of the guy. Fairness my butt. The only difference between Karl Marx and Obama is, Marx wasn't actually mad at rich people for being rich.
1) We Have No Idea Who This Guy Is
Obama has the lightest, thinnest resume on file in a century. The Presidential resume reassures the folks. We need to see who the guy is and develop a picture in our heads as to what he can do for the country. McCain has a big, thick resume that tells us he's a stable guy and he does what he says he'll do. Obama wrote two autobiographies and we still don't know who he is.
Wolfson would love to be the biographer of the failed opposition, and in three weeks he will have that privilege, because in fact, he has attacked both McCain and Obama, and one of them will lose on November 4. (As a Hillarian, Wolfson considers both of these men the opposition.)
But Wolfson neglects the possibility that Obama could still lose this race, just as he kept losing big-state primaries this spring. Here are the reasons Obama will lose on November 4:
10) Iran, Iraq, Israel, and al-Qaeda
Barack Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge, and the strange comment about Iran being a "tiny country" that doesn't present a threat to us should have awakened public caution about the Big O. Obama's back-door negotiations with the government of Iraq should make us all shudder, his stated commitment to Israel is not believable, and Iran's fast-track pursuit of nuclear weapons make it the centerpiece of trouble for the next several years. If al-Qaeda should strike, if Israel should pre-emptively strike Iran, or if there are other statements by Obama that departure should predate victory in Iraq, the election could yet hang in the balance.
9) The Money Trail
It's late in the campaign - probably too late; but there is still time for someone to put out the word that the most expensive campaign in American political history is laced with foreign and improperly-disclosed cash, possibly more than $200 million of it. While McCain has published his donor list online, large and small, Obama has not told the public about numerous small donations that have been raised through PayPal and other online sources. If the amount is less than $200, he doesn't legally have to; but this is a loophole the campaign has driven a train through. Other limits, such as the $2300 and $4600 personal contribution limits, have not been handled correctly. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been involved in rooting through some of this, but not much, and not out loud. Someone should draw some attention to the irregularities.
8) Several Major Scandals
The public has no idea who Tony Rezko is or what he is whispering to federal prosecutors. The public has no idea why ACORN is being investigated in 11 states, or deep connections to Obama going back over 15 years (or this year when the Obama campaign paid them almost $900,000.) Bill Ayers and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright know Obama very well, but the public doesn't know just how well. How does a Kenyan named Odinga have anything to do with Obama, and what happened when Jerome Corsi went to Kenya to publicize his anti-Obama book? Which New Englander is the biggest supporter of Iran in the U.S. Senate?
7) His Name Is Barack Hussein Obama (And He's Black)
Or, "he's half-white, 25 percent black, and 25 percent Arab," or some crazy concoction. The folks are always hearing something different; he's Muslim, he's Christian, he's an ex-Muslim, he praises Muslims, he's with the Black Separatists, he's not really a U.S. citizen, he was born in Kenya, he's supporting this radical Muslim (Odinga) over there, his brother George is in Kenya living on $1 a month, and so forth.
Seven years after 9/11, the folks are a little bit worried about a Muslim-named man seeking high office, tight-lipped about his own background, especially if he is a little bit uncertain about American themes like strong military, American work ethic, opportunity, ownership, and energy independence.
6) No Respect For The Common Man
In the Obamasphere, average white guys are abnormal cavemen types, chanting incoherently while offering sacrifices to their cloud gods and spending huge chunks of disposable income on firearms, hunting dogs, and taxidermy. Did Obama have much chance with the white male vote in the beginning? We don't know; but how badly can he do with this demographic and still win on November 4?
5) Blew Off Hillary
Obama did a bang-up job of clobbering Hillary Clinton by focusing early campaign dollars on states with caucuses. Hillary nearly caught up by winning big states and bribing superdelegates, but couldn't get Florida and Michigan seated; also the winner-take-all rule which would have won the contest clearly for Hillary was absent. Obama could have redeemed himself at great personal expense by bringing in Hillary as VP; failing to do this cost him votes in the Hillary faction.
4) Who The Heck Is Joe Biden?
Yes, Joe Biden has been sitting in the Senate since he was 30 - you have to be 30 to be a Senator. He's 65 now; what has he done, other than plagiarize speeches and be 180-degrees-wrong on almost every foreign policy for 35 years?
3) Hope & Change: Work With Crazies & Hope They Change
Obama's associations with ACORN, Ayers, Dorhn, Rezko, and Wright are long and deep; they are the foundation of his political and financial power. Up until now, the playbook has determined he should renounce the deed and not the person until the pressure builds, then throw them under the bus. It's getting mighty crowded under Obama's bus.
2) Obama Is A Marxist
What we do know about this guy is, he is hell-bent on taking money from the rich, regardless whether it helps the national bottom line or not. "Fairness," is all we get out of the guy. Fairness my butt. The only difference between Karl Marx and Obama is, Marx wasn't actually mad at rich people for being rich.
1) We Have No Idea Who This Guy Is
Obama has the lightest, thinnest resume on file in a century. The Presidential resume reassures the folks. We need to see who the guy is and develop a picture in our heads as to what he can do for the country. McCain has a big, thick resume that tells us he's a stable guy and he does what he says he'll do. Obama wrote two autobiographies and we still don't know who he is.
Why McCain Will Lose
When Howard Wolfson analyzes the ruins of the McCain train wreck, it should be noted that the train has not in fact, crashed... yet.
Wolfson would love to be the biographer of the failed opposition, and in three weeks he will have that privilege, because in fact, he has attacked both McCain and Obama, and one of them will lose on November 4. (As a Hillarian, Wolfson considers both of these men the opposition.)
If McCain loses, there are several watertight rationales:
10) Obama Played Him Like A Chump On Financing
John McCain has no business receiving public financing for the campaign. TV advertising costs big money and Republicans have a lot of it. Unfortunately, Barack Obama pledged public financing and didn't keep his pledge. More unfortunately, McCain pledged public financing and he kept his pledge. Now, Obama leads McCain in TV spending by 3-1. You'd think that McCain would have learned how to operate in the wake of McCain-Feingold, but McCain dropped the ball on getting money for his campaign.
9) Wouldn't Cry Foul
Instead of cocaine, Obama is now addicted to power and he keeps hitting foul balls (ACORN, shady overseas contributions, whackjob associations, Soros, Rezko, and total lies in the paid media and the friendly media.) McCain could have aggressively confronted Obama but he did not.
8) The Lame Campaign
McCain's ratcheted tenor sucks, especially compared to Obama's smooth bass. The "Straight Talk Express?" Oh, give me a break. That woman narrator on the TV ads sounds stilted. The stump speech is boring. Until Sarah Palin was chosen for VP, America was asleep, and we're starting to nod off again. When people get excited about the candidate and think the candidate will win, they start giving. Right now McCain is the underdog, which is where he has been during most of the time he has been running for President.
7) Equivalences And Smear Wars
When McCain started to say ACORN, Obama's folks pointed to the 2006 photo of an ACORN event McCain attended. When Palin mentioned Rezko, Obamatites reached back to the 1980s and found the Keating Five. When conservatives mention the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obamatites link McCain to John Hagee. The O-B-C-Y-A campaign has always come up with a way to equivocate Obama's mountains of shame with McCain's molehills - in between bombing
McCain with the "smear campaign" charge.
6) He Didn't Treat It Like A Race
I've seen John McCain in a number of venues but the McCain that annoys me the most is the one who is too busy complimenting Obama to attack him. McCain believes in a principled debate, and maybe he has a background of principled opponents. The Viet Cong were not principled and neither is Obama. McCain should always lash out at this enemy with every limb.
5) Legislative Failures
McCain "suspended" his campaign to attend to the bailout bill, and didn't get any boost in so doing because he didn't sell the idea that the original bill was crap and the revised bill had the protections we needed. He didn't even sell the notion that the Democrats created the housing crisis in the beginning. Another thing that really gets my goat is, much of the really lousy legislation of the last 20 years has the name "McCain" on it at the top. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and McCain-Lieberman are all bad pieces of work, and two of those lemons are law now.
4) Republicans Aren't "Mavericks"
When you get right down to it, Republicans are the establishment in this country and not the anti-establishment. Democrats riot, rumble, and rage. Republicans have to go to work. We don't want to go across the aisle. We want to win. We don't want hope and change. We want low taxes and less government. For many years, Republicans have seen McCain loved by the popular prints as the moderate Republican defector.
3) Just Plain Too Old
Reagan wasn't balding, wasn't graying, and was still riding horses and chopping wood as he sought the Presidency. John McCain is an old man who looks and acts his age, and the statistical odds do not favor eight (or four) years in the Oval Office. McCain's good shot at the Presidency was in 1996 or 2000, not now.
2) Didn't Want It Enough
Obama is aggressive, assertive, and vulnerable. McCain didn't effectively rebut Obama's charges of "third Bush term" or "tax cuts for wealthy," and they stuck. Obama is very vulnerable in 2008 because politically, he's just a kid. No governorship, no leadership, just a sound follower to the most left-wing elements in a party headed by no-goodniks and 1960s hippies. For McCain, life goes on after November 4 and it's "business as usual" on November 5. At least Bob Dole wanted it enough to quit the Senate when he was the Majority Leader.
1) Not Conservative Enough
John McCain believes in the sanctity of human life, and this is a fine thing. Other than that, McCain has been dragged kicking and screaming away from the open-borders position; he didn't support the Bush tax plan; and although he did choose a conservative VP, rumors that he would pick a left-winger like Lieberman had weight because, well, we all wondered that he just might. Bob Dole was not a conservative but tried to play one for six months, and never really pulled off the trick; ditto McCain.
Wolfson would love to be the biographer of the failed opposition, and in three weeks he will have that privilege, because in fact, he has attacked both McCain and Obama, and one of them will lose on November 4. (As a Hillarian, Wolfson considers both of these men the opposition.)
If McCain loses, there are several watertight rationales:
10) Obama Played Him Like A Chump On Financing
John McCain has no business receiving public financing for the campaign. TV advertising costs big money and Republicans have a lot of it. Unfortunately, Barack Obama pledged public financing and didn't keep his pledge. More unfortunately, McCain pledged public financing and he kept his pledge. Now, Obama leads McCain in TV spending by 3-1. You'd think that McCain would have learned how to operate in the wake of McCain-Feingold, but McCain dropped the ball on getting money for his campaign.
9) Wouldn't Cry Foul
Instead of cocaine, Obama is now addicted to power and he keeps hitting foul balls (ACORN, shady overseas contributions, whackjob associations, Soros, Rezko, and total lies in the paid media and the friendly media.) McCain could have aggressively confronted Obama but he did not.
8) The Lame Campaign
McCain's ratcheted tenor sucks, especially compared to Obama's smooth bass. The "Straight Talk Express?" Oh, give me a break. That woman narrator on the TV ads sounds stilted. The stump speech is boring. Until Sarah Palin was chosen for VP, America was asleep, and we're starting to nod off again. When people get excited about the candidate and think the candidate will win, they start giving. Right now McCain is the underdog, which is where he has been during most of the time he has been running for President.
7) Equivalences And Smear Wars
When McCain started to say ACORN, Obama's folks pointed to the 2006 photo of an ACORN event McCain attended. When Palin mentioned Rezko, Obamatites reached back to the 1980s and found the Keating Five. When conservatives mention the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obamatites link McCain to John Hagee. The O-B-C-Y-A campaign has always come up with a way to equivocate Obama's mountains of shame with McCain's molehills - in between bombing
McCain with the "smear campaign" charge.
6) He Didn't Treat It Like A Race
I've seen John McCain in a number of venues but the McCain that annoys me the most is the one who is too busy complimenting Obama to attack him. McCain believes in a principled debate, and maybe he has a background of principled opponents. The Viet Cong were not principled and neither is Obama. McCain should always lash out at this enemy with every limb.
5) Legislative Failures
McCain "suspended" his campaign to attend to the bailout bill, and didn't get any boost in so doing because he didn't sell the idea that the original bill was crap and the revised bill had the protections we needed. He didn't even sell the notion that the Democrats created the housing crisis in the beginning. Another thing that really gets my goat is, much of the really lousy legislation of the last 20 years has the name "McCain" on it at the top. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and McCain-Lieberman are all bad pieces of work, and two of those lemons are law now.
4) Republicans Aren't "Mavericks"
When you get right down to it, Republicans are the establishment in this country and not the anti-establishment. Democrats riot, rumble, and rage. Republicans have to go to work. We don't want to go across the aisle. We want to win. We don't want hope and change. We want low taxes and less government. For many years, Republicans have seen McCain loved by the popular prints as the moderate Republican defector.
3) Just Plain Too Old
Reagan wasn't balding, wasn't graying, and was still riding horses and chopping wood as he sought the Presidency. John McCain is an old man who looks and acts his age, and the statistical odds do not favor eight (or four) years in the Oval Office. McCain's good shot at the Presidency was in 1996 or 2000, not now.
2) Didn't Want It Enough
Obama is aggressive, assertive, and vulnerable. McCain didn't effectively rebut Obama's charges of "third Bush term" or "tax cuts for wealthy," and they stuck. Obama is very vulnerable in 2008 because politically, he's just a kid. No governorship, no leadership, just a sound follower to the most left-wing elements in a party headed by no-goodniks and 1960s hippies. For McCain, life goes on after November 4 and it's "business as usual" on November 5. At least Bob Dole wanted it enough to quit the Senate when he was the Majority Leader.
1) Not Conservative Enough
John McCain believes in the sanctity of human life, and this is a fine thing. Other than that, McCain has been dragged kicking and screaming away from the open-borders position; he didn't support the Bush tax plan; and although he did choose a conservative VP, rumors that he would pick a left-winger like Lieberman had weight because, well, we all wondered that he just might. Bob Dole was not a conservative but tried to play one for six months, and never really pulled off the trick; ditto McCain.
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Blazing Truth Endorses McCain/Palin
To be sure, our endorsement of John McCain and Sarah Palin for President and Vice-President will not shock any of our regular readers, who have agonized along with us during the long primary season.
John McCain is an all-American hero. He is bright, witty at times, honest, and a man who can get things done. Plus, McCain is pro-life, and while other politicians claim to be against pork-barrel spending, McCain has a long record of opposing pork-barrel spending. We wish that McCain's conservative roots were not merely trained on abortion and earmarks.
The addition of Governor Palin to the ticket adds a rare bit of conservatism to a quiet, moderate, and mature campaign which is now sadly the only obstacle to the coming Obama Presidency.
At two and one-half weeks out, the Blazing Truth does not concede the Presidential election to Mr. Obama, but prospects for McCain/Palin and Republicans this season do not look rosy by any standards.
Mr. McCain requires an external force to negate the winds of Obamacity and drag him kicking and screaming to victory. Call it God, call it karma, or call it 527 groups, some other force must move the candidate to victory.
John McCain is an all-American hero. He is bright, witty at times, honest, and a man who can get things done. Plus, McCain is pro-life, and while other politicians claim to be against pork-barrel spending, McCain has a long record of opposing pork-barrel spending. We wish that McCain's conservative roots were not merely trained on abortion and earmarks.
The addition of Governor Palin to the ticket adds a rare bit of conservatism to a quiet, moderate, and mature campaign which is now sadly the only obstacle to the coming Obama Presidency.
At two and one-half weeks out, the Blazing Truth does not concede the Presidential election to Mr. Obama, but prospects for McCain/Palin and Republicans this season do not look rosy by any standards.
Mr. McCain requires an external force to negate the winds of Obamacity and drag him kicking and screaming to victory. Call it God, call it karma, or call it 527 groups, some other force must move the candidate to victory.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Don't Be Sorry...
October 12, 2008
RE: Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama, by Christopher Buckley
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservative-case-for-obama
THE BLAZING TRUTH RESPONDS:
My dear Mr. Buckley, I would hope that you as a learned man would accept a criticism from someone who has already been where you wish to go.
Election day is 3-1/2 weeks away, and your article calls to mind 1992, the year a challenger named Bill Clinton went up against George H. W. Bush and won. Like today's Republicans, Bush had lost his way. Never a social conservative, Bush broke his iron-clad no-new-taxes pledge and voters remembered it. The ever-so-short Bush recession was played up by Clinton as "the worst economy in 50 years," and there was a giant savings and loan debacle.
No longer would the public believe a tax pledge from Bush, and in the end this was the principal undoing of Bush in favor of the younger, hipper Bill Clinton.
The Clintons promised an ethical Administration; they delivered a nightmare. They promised a fix for Social Security; they didn't even offer one. They promised school reform and delivered nothing. It took so long to connect Osama bin Laden to the 1993 WTC bombing, Clinton refused to accept bin Laden as a prisoner because he didn't have a legal reason to hold bin Laden.
Selecting Mr. Clinton gave ground when ground should have been taken. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War because he wouldn't back down. Clinton lost round one of the War on Terror to Osama bin Laden because Clinton refused to fight. Reagan fostered democracy in Nicaragua; Clinton sent troops to a Muslim v. Christian conflict in Bosnia and backed the Muslims. Reagan reduced marginal federal income tax rates from 70 percent to 28 percent. Eight years of Clinton increased the marginal rate to 39.6 percent, flooded our Southwest with illegal aliens and increased our prison population by one million persons.
Eight years of Clinton cost us the current Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac crisis and the current North Korean standoff. Eight years of Clinton cost us a rededicated Saddam Hussein, the head of Osama bin Laden, and 9/11. Eight years of Clinton cost us a trillion dollars in new taxes. Eight years of Clinton cost us an Emmy for Al Gore and made him a superstar tree-hugger worth 100 million dollars.
The Clinton years were a cipher and a retreat when an advance was sorely needed. As our military was taken apart to produce the savings promised by "reinventing government," Jamie Gorelick produced a "wall" that kept the CIA and FBI from sharing terrorist intelligence, and sensitive nuclear, satellite, and missile technology went to the Chinese.
Somewhere in the eight years, Hillary Clinton became enough of a New Yorker to represent them all in the United States Senate. The Supreme Court tipped left with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer. Marc Rich, Pincus Green, and many others received late-night absolutions while Clinton received late-night donations. Clinton actually met with Yasser Arafat.
Somewhere along the way, every school child learned that oral sex is not sex, lying under oath is OK sometimes, and a subpoena isn't worth squat if you can ignore it for two years and find the documents later in a box in your closet.
Mr. Clinton himself, sans Presidency, has developed assets of more than 100 million dollars and retains potentially many years to spread his infections to the public, and by infections I refer mostly to his political views.
My greatest foible as a voter, Mr. Buckley, was to cast a vote for William Jefferson (nee Blythe) Clinton under the guise of disciplinary action against Mr. Bush Senior. If I could recall that ballot, like a defective Pinto, and in so doing magically undo the damage done by Mr. Clinton's two dismal terms, I would gladly surrender my (meager) worldly possessions. But I cannot, and when you assign Mr. Obama to lead the nation and the world, you cannot undo the damage that shall be done.
One, or two terms of Mr. Obama will warp this country and the world; I doubt that any of us will recognize the country in 2017.
The Supreme Court will be forever altered? Or John Paul Stephens will still serve at 96, Ms. Ginsberg at 83, both Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy at 80, and two more justices into their late 70s -- statistically not one chance in two hundred. These are lifetime appointments.
The new President does not face an ongoing Independent Counsel, which was the only check of the Clinton appetites for money, power, and libido; appetites which were strong enough to require the public destruction of Kenneth Starr.
Mr. Obama's slim resume, dirty hands, and support for radical enemies in both church and state, foreign and domestic, should have shocked you away from him and I cannot grasp why this has not happened.
I can tell you that I appraised Mr. Clinton very badly. I thought that he, having already experienced the negative effects of a sex scandal and having learned from it, could not possibly risk the damage of a relapse, but I was wrong. I thought that he was much too smart to be duped by treaties without teeth and trust without verification, but I was wrong. I thought that he was a "new" Democrat who would work in bipartisan fashion, but I was wrong. I thought he cared about values or people, but I was wrong. The most remarkable abilities of Mr. Clinton were to say and do as he damned well pleased and get away with it; to assess the winning side and take it; to shift blame; and to destroy opponents by any means.
In a contest between Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, it is patently obvious who holds the stronger resume, who holds the values similar to yours and mine, whose friends are fiends, who will abuse appointments and pardons, who is extreme left and who is center-right, and this will not change.
Using the ballot box to discipline Mr. Bush who is not running is insane, and using it to castigate Mr. McCain for a few campaign mistakes is an empty gesture.
Mr. Buckley, I challenge you; do not do this thing, do not support this most liberal of liberals, and you shall not be sorry, neither to your Mum and Pup nor to your own mirrored face.
RE: Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama, by Christopher Buckley
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservative-case-for-obama
THE BLAZING TRUTH RESPONDS:
My dear Mr. Buckley, I would hope that you as a learned man would accept a criticism from someone who has already been where you wish to go.
Election day is 3-1/2 weeks away, and your article calls to mind 1992, the year a challenger named Bill Clinton went up against George H. W. Bush and won. Like today's Republicans, Bush had lost his way. Never a social conservative, Bush broke his iron-clad no-new-taxes pledge and voters remembered it. The ever-so-short Bush recession was played up by Clinton as "the worst economy in 50 years," and there was a giant savings and loan debacle.
No longer would the public believe a tax pledge from Bush, and in the end this was the principal undoing of Bush in favor of the younger, hipper Bill Clinton.
The Clintons promised an ethical Administration; they delivered a nightmare. They promised a fix for Social Security; they didn't even offer one. They promised school reform and delivered nothing. It took so long to connect Osama bin Laden to the 1993 WTC bombing, Clinton refused to accept bin Laden as a prisoner because he didn't have a legal reason to hold bin Laden.
Selecting Mr. Clinton gave ground when ground should have been taken. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War because he wouldn't back down. Clinton lost round one of the War on Terror to Osama bin Laden because Clinton refused to fight. Reagan fostered democracy in Nicaragua; Clinton sent troops to a Muslim v. Christian conflict in Bosnia and backed the Muslims. Reagan reduced marginal federal income tax rates from 70 percent to 28 percent. Eight years of Clinton increased the marginal rate to 39.6 percent, flooded our Southwest with illegal aliens and increased our prison population by one million persons.
Eight years of Clinton cost us the current Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac crisis and the current North Korean standoff. Eight years of Clinton cost us a rededicated Saddam Hussein, the head of Osama bin Laden, and 9/11. Eight years of Clinton cost us a trillion dollars in new taxes. Eight years of Clinton cost us an Emmy for Al Gore and made him a superstar tree-hugger worth 100 million dollars.
The Clinton years were a cipher and a retreat when an advance was sorely needed. As our military was taken apart to produce the savings promised by "reinventing government," Jamie Gorelick produced a "wall" that kept the CIA and FBI from sharing terrorist intelligence, and sensitive nuclear, satellite, and missile technology went to the Chinese.
Somewhere in the eight years, Hillary Clinton became enough of a New Yorker to represent them all in the United States Senate. The Supreme Court tipped left with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer. Marc Rich, Pincus Green, and many others received late-night absolutions while Clinton received late-night donations. Clinton actually met with Yasser Arafat.
Somewhere along the way, every school child learned that oral sex is not sex, lying under oath is OK sometimes, and a subpoena isn't worth squat if you can ignore it for two years and find the documents later in a box in your closet.
Mr. Clinton himself, sans Presidency, has developed assets of more than 100 million dollars and retains potentially many years to spread his infections to the public, and by infections I refer mostly to his political views.
My greatest foible as a voter, Mr. Buckley, was to cast a vote for William Jefferson (nee Blythe) Clinton under the guise of disciplinary action against Mr. Bush Senior. If I could recall that ballot, like a defective Pinto, and in so doing magically undo the damage done by Mr. Clinton's two dismal terms, I would gladly surrender my (meager) worldly possessions. But I cannot, and when you assign Mr. Obama to lead the nation and the world, you cannot undo the damage that shall be done.
One, or two terms of Mr. Obama will warp this country and the world; I doubt that any of us will recognize the country in 2017.
The Supreme Court will be forever altered? Or John Paul Stephens will still serve at 96, Ms. Ginsberg at 83, both Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy at 80, and two more justices into their late 70s -- statistically not one chance in two hundred. These are lifetime appointments.
The new President does not face an ongoing Independent Counsel, which was the only check of the Clinton appetites for money, power, and libido; appetites which were strong enough to require the public destruction of Kenneth Starr.
Mr. Obama's slim resume, dirty hands, and support for radical enemies in both church and state, foreign and domestic, should have shocked you away from him and I cannot grasp why this has not happened.
I can tell you that I appraised Mr. Clinton very badly. I thought that he, having already experienced the negative effects of a sex scandal and having learned from it, could not possibly risk the damage of a relapse, but I was wrong. I thought that he was much too smart to be duped by treaties without teeth and trust without verification, but I was wrong. I thought that he was a "new" Democrat who would work in bipartisan fashion, but I was wrong. I thought he cared about values or people, but I was wrong. The most remarkable abilities of Mr. Clinton were to say and do as he damned well pleased and get away with it; to assess the winning side and take it; to shift blame; and to destroy opponents by any means.
In a contest between Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, it is patently obvious who holds the stronger resume, who holds the values similar to yours and mine, whose friends are fiends, who will abuse appointments and pardons, who is extreme left and who is center-right, and this will not change.
Using the ballot box to discipline Mr. Bush who is not running is insane, and using it to castigate Mr. McCain for a few campaign mistakes is an empty gesture.
Mr. Buckley, I challenge you; do not do this thing, do not support this most liberal of liberals, and you shall not be sorry, neither to your Mum and Pup nor to your own mirrored face.
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