In Which I Feel Bad for Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Politico has a new e-book out today that has some priceless tidbits on, among other things, infighting among the Obama campaign team.  (More on the book later.)   One of the revelations, that the Washington Post has picked up on, is that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is increasingly viewed as a liability and ineffective spokesperson for Team O.    They allegedly reduced her TV presence when focus groups showed her faring badly in her appearances, and found other surrogates better able to sell Obama. (Don't really get this, because she shows up on my TV all the time). 

That hair!  Those hips!

Here's where I feel bad for her.  Yes, she is obnoxious, snarly and would benefit from some voice modulation lessons.  But she was hand-picked by Obama to lead the DNC.  Her style hasn't changed at all; they knew what they were getting.   She's expected to sell a product that is not terribly appealing.   One of the complaints on her in the WaPo article is 'struck too hard a partisan tone on the Sunday shows.'  She has always sounded like that!  If you're that unhappy with her, approach her and ask her to resign her position citing family or health reasons.  Don't trash her in a book or on the pages of the Post.   I've been hard on her, but this is O's mistake.  You can't blame her when presumably these are the qualities you were looking for in a DNC chair.

Education, NOT Indoctrination

This is, as I'm sure you know Bill Ayers. He's an alleged confidant of Barack Obama (some say he authored one of Obama's many autobiographies) and is currently a professor of education at the University of Illinois. In a previous life he was fond of pyrotechnics in the service of the anti-war left (you all know the story). He escaped lifetime incarceration on a technicality but in truth his father was a well connected member of the Chicago establishment and arranged a pass for Ayers and his equally radical nutcase of a wife Bernardine Dohrn (presumably so she could resume her career as a tenured law professor at Northwestern). Now most of us know about these two killers and their criminal past with the SDS and Weather Underground. And most of us are appalled they are walking the streets rather than enjoying the hospitality of a Federal SuperMax. But what is particularly galling is these two cowards are well paid, well respected members of academia. And that kind reader is the problem.

The American education establishment has failed us. It has failed to convey our values. It has failed to teach the benefits of liberal (lowercase) democratic capitalism. It has failed to teach civic responsibility. It has failed to teach that freedom is just and good. Instead it has taught a mish-mash of pseudoscience and moral relativism. It has taught a deconstruction of the standards of truth and replaced it with a skepticism of Western values and traditions. It has failed to pass along our Judeo-Christian ethic and has been openly hostile to religion. As a consequence of the academy's failures, it has created a void into which any demagogue, any cult, any hateful ideologue may step in and corrupt the minds of vulnerable and inexperienced young people. This situation is unacceptable.

Our next President must confront the American education establishment and demand a complete reformation from top to bottom. A monolithic, liberal/leftist faculty at any institution will no longer be tolerated. Academic hostility towards conservatives (or any political persuasion for that matter) will no longer be accepted. Indoctrination is not the goal, critical thinking is. I do not advocate a political litmus test for any teacher at any lever be it primary, secondary or higher education, but when just about any school just about anywhere has a faculty that self-describes at 90% liberal, there is clearly discrimination.

The benefits of a diversity of views in teaching are apparent and the lack thereof equally apparent. In the interest of fairness, in the interest of a well educated populous, in the interest of the republic itself the "education" of our youth has to change.                

Give this man some money!

Using the link on the right, help turn Pennsylvania Avenue into Mittman Road.  And make sure you check the block saying you know your esteemed referrer! 

Every little bit helps, folks. 

Creepy Presidential Worship Alert

This is just icky.  A commemorative boulder has been established in a Chicago neighborhood to mark the site of the Obamas' first kiss.  Local residents think it's a real draw, are convinced people will come visit the site and it will become a popular first date/wedding proposal location.    The boulder reads:

   "On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like chocolate."

Awww.  

IMMIGRATION (warnings and precautions): may cause alienation, disenfranchisement and/or loss of self-determination.

For thirty years now we've had de facto open borders. Legal, illegal, whatever; if you could get yourself to America you were in. 100 million immigrants have entered the United States of American since 1980. 100 MILLION! In 1980 we had a population of 226 million, today 314 million (at least officially: 10, 15, 20 million remain uncounted, nobody knows). NYC has 8 million people, 3 million are foreign born.

And who are these immigrants? Many came here for the same reasons as our ancestors; a better life, more opportunity, reward for hard work etc. But many came here to ride the gravy train. 70% of Guatemalans are on welfare, 60% of Mexicans. Go down the list and you'll find most Latin American immigrants are on some form of public subsistence or another. And I won't even get into healthcare, education, criminal-justice or the hundreds of other ways poor immigrants cost us dearly. Even those hard working laborers who pay their taxes and obey the law and otherwise costs us nothing, and God love them, even they send billions out of the country to prop up the MEXICAN economy, not ours!

Some of our newcomers have ideological or cultural bones to pick with America. La Raza (spanish translation "The Race"...and they call me racist!) has famously said as part of their mission statement "For the race everything, outside the race nothing". In speeches La Raza leaders routinely call for "reconquista" or the reunification of parts of the American Southwest with Mexico (Alta California, Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico and Tejas, you stupid gringo). It appears they still aren't too keen on the Treaty of Guadalupe or the Gadsden Purchase (you might recall those from Mrs. Plumly's civics class). And with the help of our liberal friends these folks are voting! They have already turned several congressional races in California and Lord only knows how many down ticket or in other states. Our corrupt media refuses to report on such things.

But I don't want to just pick on hispanics, there are plenty of problems with other ethnic groups as well. There are East European gangs selling MDMA all across the country. There are Chinese "Triad" gangs running protection rackets. Vietnamese gangs are in New York City, Atlanta, all through the Gulf Coast and California. Haitian "Zoe Pounds", Jamaican "Shower Posse"; you name the ethnic group and I'll name you an organized crime component.

The facts are thus; millions of immigrants in our country today are poorly educated, much more likely to use social services, more likely to engage in criminal activity and have little commitment to assimilation. I don't deny many come here for the right reasons, but many are here because the pickings are just better than back home. These are not the people we want. We are not, or at least should not be a sanctuary nation. We cannot continue on this way.

Therefore I propose a twenty year moratorium on immigration both legal and illegal so we may digest the immigrants we have now. Possible exceptions may include those with extraordinary skills and family members of present immigrants as long as they meet certain criteria (sponsorship etc.). I propose strict enforcement of our immigration laws already on the books. I propose a clarification to the citizenship clause of the Constitution either by Congress or if need be amending the Constitution. I do not believe the founders intended to bestow citizenship on any and every person simply because they happened to be born on US soil. As a friend once said, "Just because a dog was born in a stable doesn't make him a horse".

If we do not address the issue of immigration we will lose our sovereignty, our God given right to self-determination and ultimately our country. In fact California may already be lost. We have an obligation to our citizens, OUR CITIZENS to defend and protect the Constitution and enforce the laws. If we do not control our borders we are not a country. We can no longer afford to be the "go to" nation for the world's overpopulation and social problems. Our next President must make this a priority or we are finished.

I've got nothing to say

It was just time for a new picture of Deb.

Unfit to Lead!

CNN, determined to keep their ratings in the cellar, brings us a hard-hitting piece of journalism that brings us the following breaking news:  Paul Ryan liked to wear turtlenecks in college.  OMG!  

Ryan in his college days.  Turtlenecks were in the wash that day.

 I find this encouraging...I guess reporters are now curious about candidates' college experiences.   I look forward to the investigative pieces on O's college years.   

A Fabulous Ad Writes Itself

Lookie here.  We have Erskine Bowles, former Clinton chief of staff and the 'Bowles' part of the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission.  The Democrat half.    In an appearance at UNC in the fall of 2011, he sings the praises of Paul Ryan...and describes the President's budget as not serious.   Watch this.  It provides great contrast between the two tickets, one as serious and earnest and the other as frivolous, and it'd make a fantastic ad.  (The Weekly Standard thinks so too.)

Separated at Birth?

Meathead, All in the Family, 1972




The Increasingly Angry David Axelrod, 2012





Legalize Dope, and Only Dopes Will Use It

It's time folks. The war on drugs is over, and we lost. There is only one society/country that I'm aware of that has ever eradicated widespread drug use once it became entrenched in the culture, and that was Communist China. Now if you advocate shooting drug dealers on sight without any of the rigmarole of due process and all that stuff, then let's have at it. But until such time as a sweetheart like Chou En-lai takes over America, I just don't see that approach working.

Need I go into the billions upon billions of dollars wasted in this futile attempt to control America's desire for drugs? Need I mention the consequences of enriching violent criminal gangs as a result of this ridiculous and pointless "war"?

But not only is this bad policy anyway you slice it, it's bad philosophically. Every individual has a right to do as they choose as long as they don't forcefully or fraudulently interfere with another's right to the same. If someone wants to throw their life away that is their choice, and if they're determined in their pursuit of death and degradation, there's not a helluva a lot you or the government can do about it. You cannot save someone from themselves.

I say legalize drugs, all drugs immediately at the federal level. Regulate them, tax them, but do not criminalize the sale or use of any drug. If the individual States wish to impose restrictions, penalties, prohibitions, rehabilitation; whatever, that's their business. But the D.E.A. is finished. The Feds need to get out of the drug business.

Elevating the Debate, Indeed

One of the best things about the Ryan pick is the fact that with such a wonky guy in the game, the debate should automatically be elevated.   Dana Milbank has opted to bring the elevator down to ground level with his first post-selection piece, writing about Ryan's...workout routine.  (Ryan's father, grandfather and great-grandfather all succumbed to heart disease in their 50s, so his daily P90X routines are smart for all kinds of reasons.)  Milbank, though, isn't giving Ryan credit for this, he's doing to get in the predictable shot:      

 It can only do us good as a nation to have as a role model such a fine physical specimen in high office. Hopefully, Ryan will inspire more Americans to get healthy. That's important, because if Ryan succeeds in ending Medicare, they won't be able to afford getting sick.

Thanks Dana - knew we could count on you.

Daddy's Out of Town and I Found the Keys to the Liquor Cabinet

I knew this day would come. Patience is a virtue I don't normally possess but I've been bidding my time, just waiting for the right moment to strike, the exact time to put the stamp of HAMMER on this rather cautious and dour blog.

So my day has finally arrived. While CW transverses the Transvaal in search of the ever elusive wildebeest, I shall start a new series entitled "Restoring the American Dream: A Post Apocalyptic Guide to Freedom, Capitalism and the Destruction of Statism". I will attempt to show the way back to an America of freedom, justice, prosperity and civic responsibility. I will, dear reader, show you the things we must do, the things we should do and the things that may not be so obvious but I think are necessary. I will do all this with not a thought for political correctness, prudence or deference as I owe you nothing but my honest thoughts and opinion.

So, while our esteemed colleague and leader is out on the Veld crapping in a slit-trench and getting eaten alive by Tsetse flies, let's have some fun.

Long, Gone, Daddy.....

Ok folks, I'm outta here.  Shutting down my part of the blog until the 20th or the 21st when I get back from Africa.  I leave it to my friends/co-bloggers to hold down the fort in my absence.

Great way to leave-- on the strength of the Ryan choice.  Let's hope the momentum keeps rolling!

Paul Ryan--An Excellent Choice

I am watching Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell introduce Mitt Romney and his Vice Presidential nominee, Paul Ryan. I think Mitt Romney has made an inspired choice, one I wasn't sure that he would make.  The choice has shaken the race up, it will raise the discourse (hopefully), but I'm not sure it is going to swing many votes in the direction of the ticket.  That's OK, because there won't have to be many swinging to make things happen.  If swinging votes had been the primary consideration, they should have picked Condi Rice.

The speech is now over--the choice was a good one.  Paul Ryan was superb in his approach, and hit all the right notes.

Here's why the choice of Ryan is important--currently, the President is trying to make the race about Romney--his time at Bain, his rich guy-ness, etc. He simply can't talk about issues and performance.  I hear all this talk about how Ryan's choice has the Dems "salivating" because of his leadership on issues such as the budget, debt, the economy and Medicare.  Bring it on.  IF they have the guts to turn this into an issues election, they will lose, badly.  Their only hope is to focus on tearing down Romney personally--and the pick of the Republican Party's number one idea man is going to make it far more difficult for them to pull off.

The other reason this is an inspired choice is this--the specificity many have been clamoring for can now begin to come forward...likely with water carried by Ryan.  No one understands what needs to be done better than Paul Ryan, and Romney has largely associated himself with Ryan's approach.

The choice of Paul Ryan was the choice of a man who is confident that he is going to win, and the choice of a man who is serious about governing seriously when that happens.  Condi Rice would have been the choice of a man concerned about being elected, and less so about how he will govern.  I'm onboard.  I hope you are too.

AFTERWARD:  I did not know that the USS WISCONSIN backdrop was going to be used for this announcement--I made some suggestions upward into the campaign that it might not be a good backdrop for what was going to be a "sequestration" defense spending speech. I could not have been more wrong on either account--it came off very well.

Mudge Forgot A Title, But Read Anyway!

I know CW has seemed like one of those panhandlers at most DC metro area intersections, always asking us for more money, but I thought you might like to see what a guy who is trying to take more of your money without even asking has to say about your decision to give to the Romney campaign.  Somehow reading this makes me want to give even more:

"Mudge -- The headlines are talking about how you and I got beat again by the other side in fundraising. Those headlines aren't going away. I will be outspent in this election. And we will not win the ad wars on TV and radio -- right now, the other side is outspending us on TV by at least 2-to-1 in most battleground states. And that's OK. But only if we're able to keep the spending gap close enough so that our investments in a truly grassroots campaign pay off. I believe in that model, and I'm betting that you do, too. It's moments like these that I need you to act on that belief. Can you make a donation of $3 or more today? https://donate.barackobama.com/ Thank you, Barack P.S. -- To say thanks for all you're doing for me and for this campaign, we're inviting a couple grassroots supporters -- and their guests -- to New York for a special event with some basketball greats. Even if you don't share my love for basketball, I'd love to meet you. If you're interested, make a donation here today, and you'll be automatically entered to join us. I may even challenge you to a quick shootaround." I'm pretty sure most analysts agree (even the left wingers) that Obama is outspending on the negative ads by almost two to one but why mince lies? Also, it's been a while since I played any basketball but I don't ever recall any occasion where any of my basketball buddies ever suggested we meet up for a "quick shootaround."  When I hear him say things like that, I can't help but think of CW's favorite picture of "Barack" on his bike. Yeah, he's so hip. Anyway, just so we can make Barak write even more of these pathetic notes to his dwindling base, may I suggest that you click on the "Romney for President" link at right to make a donation to a President who, just like every President before our illustrious incumbent, never associated with domestic terrorists, never abided by a preacher saying "God DAMN America," never denounced personal accomplishment, never made a world apology tour for his country and whose First Lady has ALWAYS been proud of her country.  Oh, and a President who actually knows what he's doing in the job. And remember to indicate that you know your referrer (CW).

A Word of Caution

With apparently little else to talk about (or maybe they're just tired with sore backs after carrying O for so long), the media is working themselves into a frenzy this week over VP speculation.  Will it be the safe, vanilla Portman or Pawlenty?  Will it be the energizing Rubio or Ryan?  Will it be the dark horse Christie or Jindal? 

Jeb Bush says Rubio.  Cheney says Portman.  The Wall Street Journal says Ryan.  The Conservative Wahoo (as much of a respected voice as those other ones!) says Condoleezza Rice. 

It's easy to get caught up into believing that one pick or another could spell doomsday or certain victory for Romney.  We all have our favorites, but we HAVE to remember something:  whoever is picked has fared well in the Romney campaign's internal polls.  Whoever is picked has been run by countless focus groups and came out looking good.  There are plenty of issues to have with this campaign thus far, but a VP choice that hasn't been thoroughly scrutinized and poll-tested won't be among them.   The selection will be a plus for the ticket even if it won't necessarily seem that way to us.

The Simple Truth of Charles Krauthammer

Dr. K nails it with this editorial in the Washington Post.  Romney needs to MAKE this ideological; he needs to run on Obama's poor performance--he needs to pound hard every day that the President's governing philosophy and ideology is behind what the media have called "gaffes".  Every single day.

So Close to $15K We Can Taste It!

Look to your right, folks.  $350 away from $15K....so close.  So close.  Won't you make your donation today?  Click this link and don't forget to check the block saying you know your referrer.

Big Fat Friday Free For All

Weight at start of diet (1 Aug):  192.0
Weight at last weigh in (3 Aug):  190.2

Weight today (10 Aug):  187.8

What's got you down, Bub?  Is even the pliant, mainstream media criticizing your ads?  A little pissed that you are the second fastest man on the planet and the second fastest man on your little island at the same time?  Share, people--get it off your chest!

Reading and Viewing for the Trip to Africa

I leave Saturday for a trip to South Africa; brother Tom and I will be on safari at the Zulu Nyala Game Lodge, a few hours from Durban.  We return on the 20th.

I've spent the last day or so loading up the iPad with reading and viewing splendors to pass the time.  I thought I'd share the list:

Books
1.  The Admirals:  Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and King--The Five Star AdmiralsWho Won the War at Sea--Walter R. Borneman.

2.  The Amateur:  Barack Obama in the White House--Edward Klein

3.  Barack Obama: The Story--David Maraniss
4.  The Real Romney--Kichael Kranish and Scott Helman
5.  Augustus:  The Life of Rome's First Emperor--Anthony Everitt
6.  Bailout:  An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street--Neil Barofsky
7.  Catherine The Great:  Portrait of a Woman--Robert K. Massie
8.  Nicholas and Alexandra--Robert K. Massie
9.  Peter The Great--Robert K. Massie
10.  Known and Unknown:  A Memoir--Donald Rumsfeld
11.  Ghost Train to the Eastern Star--Paul Theroux
12.  The Great Railway Bazaar--Paul Theroux
13.  The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean--Paul Theroux
14.  Riding the Iron Rooster--Paul Theroux

Courses
Colonial and Revolutionary America (Stanford University--24 lectures)
History of the International System (Stanford University--24 lectures)
Financial Markets (Yale--24 lectures)

Movies
The Lives of Others
An Education
Open Your Eyes
The Sea Inside
Broken Embrace
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Melancholia
Rapt
Pan's Labryinth
A Beautiful Life
Prague
Paris
The Scent of Green Papaya


I 'spose that should be enough to keep me busy.