Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Lieberman May Get 'Slap on the Wrist' |
|
Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
4:52 PM |
Roll Call reports:
"When Senate Democrats meet Tuesday to decide Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (ID-Conn.) fate, leaders are expected to propose that he keep his gavel at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but lose his Environment and Public Works subcommittee chairmanship."
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
"The 10 Big Lies About America" by Michael Medved |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
4:44 PM |
My friend and radio colleague Michael Medved has a new book out, The 10 Big Lies About America, which is a great tonic for political junkies undergoing post-election withdrawals. The book is already at 591 at Amazon.com and doesn't even officially publish until tomorrow. Order a couple today and remind the MSM that the conservative audience remains large and engaged.
Michael joins me in hour two today to discuss the book and other subjects including a post-mortem on the campaign.
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Ayers Targets Media |
|
Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at
4:41 PM |
Domestic terrorist William Ayers spoke about his “brush with celebrity" and bashed the media's discussion of his relationship with President-elect Barack Obama in speech to Georgetown Law School Students Monday afternoon.
"I can't watch the crap," Ayers said of the media's attention to his friendship with Obama. "And I certainly can't watch anything about myself."
He said most of his opposition was comprised "mostly of middle-aged men who are ventilating on their computer in their mother's basements who are sweating profusely" and told students, "if you ingest way too much Fox News you are going to be confused by a lot of things."
Ayers called former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's charge Obama "palled around with terrorists" a "lie on every level."
"I am a little bit stunned that the grown-up media didn't put an end to [it] and that was the guilt by association," he said. "It doesn't matter who you talk to."
Ayers denied ever committing any terrorist acts to the law students. "Not only did I never kill or injure another person, but the Weather Underground in its six years did not injure or kill another person." He said he did things that were "certainly illegal, but to call it terrorism stretches the door to mean anything you don't approve of."
He expressed no remorse for his group's illegal actions. "I don't think anyone was brilliant and I don't think anyone was horrible. Each one did what they did."
Ayers freely spoke on a variety of current events, saying it was time to "get rid of the insane metaphor of the war on terror" to close Guantanamo Bay and to "fight for gay rights in California and everywhere else."
At one point he encouraged the audience to clap to celebrate Obama's election, calling his November 4 acceptance speech "an extraordinary event" that was "not only unforgettable, but inevitable." He described the feeling in Grant Park on Election Night as "overwhelming joy and a large dose of relief."
During the question and answer session of the event a student who identified himself as someone pursuing a career in the military asked Ayers "Do you wish harm on me? Do you wish to kill me?" The student, named Luke, told Ayers it was a "disgrace" he was allowed to speak on campus.
"It's not a sad comment on the university to allow me to speak here," Ayers answered. "You cannot move forward as a society unless you engage in a dialogue with people you disagree with...you have to be willing to accept there are a range of opinions across the board." Ayers said it would be a "disaster" for the university to sanction student groups from allowing him on campus.
(The event was hosted by Georgetown Law National Lawyers Guild as a part a “progressive speaker series.” A National Lawyers Guild organizer introduced Ayers as a person who has “maintained his commitment to social justice in different ways, in different contexts.”)
Ayers was booked by the organization to discuss his forthcoming book “Race Course Against White Supremacy” authored with his wife Bernadine Dohrn, whom he described as "cute" for visiting with convicted inmates for previous research.
Security was high at the event, with police guarding all exits. Roughly 80 people attended. Two male students, Austin Tice and John Masslon, stood in the back of the room with their backs turned to Ayers in silent protest of the speech. The men were among several members of the audience who were angered Ayers was speaking on campus.
Ayers opened his discussion by talking about the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Ayers said he was disturbed by the media hysteria celebrating his court-ordered execution. “There was something about it that was sickening to me, there was something about the glee….what were we being happy about?" This, he said, is part of what inspired him to begin opposing capital punishment.
Ayers called for a more "balanced view of justice." "Everyone of us is a full human being deserving of our respect and our rights," said the man who helped plan the bombings of several federal buildings. This is the second major appearance Ayers has granted, breaking his silence since Barack Obama was elected president. In a reissued edition of his tome, “Fugitive Days” Ayers describes the President-elect as a “family friend.” Last Friday, Ayers granted an interview to Good Morning America to discuss his reissued book Ayers is also scheduled to attend a book signing at a liberal Washington bookstore and bar, Busboys & Poets, Monday evening.
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Huckabee Talks to Bloggers About New Book, Endorses Saltsman for RNC Chair |
|
Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
4:12 PM |
|
Today, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee held a conference call from New York to discuss his new book, "Do the Right Thing."
Regarding the coverage of his new book today, Huckabee said: "The reviewers took some of the more controversial parts" and reduced that down to "that's what the book is." He admitted the book was "by intent, provocative," and said it was important to "shoot straight."
He said he felt the TIME column was balanced, but that the Politico piece was less balanced. (And he referenced the fact that Politico included a response from Romney's campaign, but that Romney's campaign did not refute what he wrote in the book).
"This book is honest," he said, "I take you behind the scenes in the debates, and I take you behind the scenes with some of the conversations I had." He also said the book will answer questions such as, "why did certain alignments take place -- or why didn't certain alignments take place?"...
But Huckabee also pointed out that his book is not merely a recitation of the 2008 primary campaign. Instead, the the stories in the book are meant to serve as a background to provide a context for talking about the future of the conservative movement and the GOP.
He dismissed speculation that he might run in 2012, noting that at this point four years ago we were talking about "President George Allen," "President Bill Frist," and "President Fred Thompson" (on the call, he reiterated the notion that if Fred Thompson weren't in South Carolina, that he would have won the state -- and probably the nomination.)
Regarding the notion that social conservatives are a dying entity, he noted that some pundits were, "writing the obituary while the body is still breathing," and added that, "it was the cultural conservatives who kept John McCain as close in the race as he was." Huckabee also warned against becoming a Democrat Lite party, saying: "We didn't lose elections because we were pro-Life, we started losing elections when we acted like that didn't really matter."
When asked how he could be called a "fiscal liberal" by some, Huckabee responded: "... if they really listened to my views and looked at my record in Arkansas, they'd know I was a fiscal conservative..."
But he also noted that he was a governor who had to balance a budget. He said he didn't have the option the Federal government has, "which is to keep borrowing money."
Huckabee also used this opportunity to endorse his former campaign manager Chip Saltsman for RNC Chairman: "I saw his ability to operate a very frugal operation, which I think the RNC could use a lesson in." He also added that Chip would be very good at "using technology and trying to create a party of the future..."
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Crossing the "Cultural Line" |
|
Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
3:30 PM |
Howard Kurtz's column is a figurative effort to throw a glass of cold water on the press and cuff it across its collective face. As he notes in today's column, journalists "seem to have crossed a cultural line into mythmaking" when it comes to the lovestruck purple prose that passes for "coverage" of the new president.
Kurtz's admission that something is seriously amiss here is welcome -- and might have been even more timely before the election. Interestingly, Kurtz shares the same confidence of his colleagues (as I noted here yesterday) "Obama's days of walking on water won't last indefinitely."
And again, I'm not so sure. The press has a lot invested in Barack Obama -- including its own credibility. No doubt part of the rationale for cheering him on to victory was their own sense that it would be "good" for the country to have him win. And once journalists are willing to go there, then it's a pretty short step to concluding that, likewise, it's "good" for the country that he succeed, or "bad" if he fails -- and then adjusting their coverage accordingly.
Such determinations, of course, shouldn't be the press' domain. But it's far from clear that the press realizes that. Yesterday, WaPo ombudsman Deborah Howell rationalized liberal press bias with the explanation that "Journalism naturally draws liberals; we like to change the world. "
Strange. I didn't think reporters were supposed to be "changing the world" (isn't that what politicians and "community organizers" do?). I thought journalists were simply supposed to be reporting the news -- so that the citizens of this democratic republic could be deciding for themselves how best they can be governed.
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Lungren's Bid for Minority Leader Skimpy on Details |
|
Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at
1:31 PM |
Rep. Dan Lungren (R.-Calif.) wants his Republican colleagues to support several hours of open debate in an upcoming meeting to elect new GOP leadership, in which he is challenging Minority Leader John Boehner for his post.
Oddly enough, this appears to be the main thrust of his campaign.
"We need to throw out the regular rules and have at least three hours devoted to debate about who the next leader should be," Lungren told right-leaning writers during an afternoon conference call.
The California congressman was reluctant to criticize Boehner on any particular issue, despite prodding from several questioners, only saying he believed the party needed better messaging on critical issues.
To prove this, Lungren relayed a story of Republican leadership adopting the slogan "Change You Deserve" earlier this spring despite the fact it was a patented slogan for Effexor, a prescription anti-depressant. "We couldn't change it because we had a press conference the next day," he said faulting GOP leadership for going through with an obviously tainted slogan. The Democrats promptly mocked the slogan, sneering that the GOP's "Change You Can Deserve" came with a myriad of side-effects, including "nausea because what they did to the economy makes people sick to their stomach."
Aside from that anecdote, Lungren offered few details how his leadership would be substantially different than Boehner's. It appers Lungren simply wants his colleagues to thoroughly examine the direction of the Republican party by discussing a bid he's unlikely to win. "Do I understand the odds against me, of course I do," he said. "Do I think it's worth doing? Yes."
"If we are afraid of debating amongst ourselves how can we have the gumption to go before the American people and say we are capable of leadership?" he said. "We have to challenge ourselves and we have to do it repeatedly and I think I could do a better job than John Boehner."
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Sen. DeMint: McCain Betrayed Republican Principles |
|
Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
11:27 AM |
From CNN.com:
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Friday became one of the first high-profile Republicans to publicly criticize John McCain following his electoral defeat, blaming the Arizona senator for betraying conservative principles in his quest for the White House.
... "McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
$73/Hour Bailout |
|
Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at
10:57 AM |
 Detroit hasn't been making cars people want to buy and was catering to Big Labor demands long before the mortgage crisis hit. It's no wonder why they aren't competitive anymore. (I say this as a Flint, Michigan native.)
Mark Perry of the wonderful Carpe Diem blog put together this chart showing the inflated wages the Big Three automakers pay over their competitors. Big Three union workers, with their gold-plated health care plans, make about $73 an hour in total compensation. And, now they're begging Washington for a bailout before they even think about negotiating with the UAW.
It's been said before, but it's worth repeating. GM and all the rest aren't car manufacturers anymore. They're health care providers who occasionally crank out a car down the assembly lines. It's unfair for them to shake down Washington for tax dollars to meet their unfunded liabilities. That means millions of American who can't afford health care themselves are going to be obligated to keep the $73 an hour union workers on their top-notch plans.
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2008 |
|
Al Franken Goes Home (to Fundraiser with Al Gore and George Soros...) |
|
Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
10:14 AM |
From an email sent out by the Franken campaign ...
From: Al Franken <aj@alfranken.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:45:34
Subject: As our recount starts, join me, Al Gore and George Soros, for dinner Thursday, Nov. 20th, NYC!
Friends,
We've all worked hard to win back Paul Wellstone's Senate seat in Minnesota. As the dust settles on a long, exciting campaign, my race is still too close to call. Out of 3 million ballots, the gap between Norm Coleman and me sits at just 206 votes -- that's seven one-thousandths of one percent!
With a margin that small, we're headed towards an automatic statewide hand recount of every ballot in every county starting next week. And because the decision in this race could come down to just a few votes, we are placing staff in each county to make sure every single vote is properly counted.
We need every resource we can muster to ensure that Minnesotans' voices are heard.
I need your help right away. If you have already maxed to my campaign or are federally maxed this cycle, you can still contribute legally to the Franken Recount Fund--anyone can give up to $12,300 to our recount effort and the election cycle limits don't apply.
I will be in New York City on Thursday, November 20th for a special reception and dinner with Vice President Al Gore at the home of George Soros. I hope you will join me at the event. If you can't make it, I hope you will contribute as much as you possibly can to help ensure a fair recount.
Thank you--I need your help now more than ever! Contribute at www.AlFranken.com/NYC or see invite below for more details.
See you there!
Al Franken
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your Blog Postings:
|
|
Last updated 38 Minutes 15 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 38 Minutes 35 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 1 Hours 40 Minutes 46 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 2 Hours 7 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 2 Hours 39 Minutes 22 Seconds Ago
|
|
|
|
| | |