Almost to a man, both the 58's and the non-political offenders were hardworking family people capable of manifesting valor only in lawful ways, on the orders of and the approval of the higher-ups. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One of your choices here in the Old North State for Court of Appeals judge responded to the Free Enterprise Foundation's following question:
Of the judges currently serving on the United States Supreme Court, whose judicial philosophy most closely reflects your own?
His answer was:
Sotomayor.
The same Sotomayor whose Supreme Court judicial body of work to this point is still best described as "scant". The same Sotomayor who ruled against fire-fighters who passed a standardized aptitude test for advancement but were denied advancement based on their skin-color. The same Sotomayor who contends her heritage and gender counts more to qualify her than does her comprehension of the US Constitution.
This candidate also says he thinks NC taxes on businesses are "about right", and among his business experiences writes "Yogurt Shop."
Run screaming.
But he's not any worse in my book than Tim Spear, down in the 2nd District (around Dare County). BigGovernment.com reports on the ad from Spear that features a photo of soldiers, and with the caption: "In combat, you always want another soldier covering your back."
The soldiers in the ad's photo are German.
The ad also states that "In North Carolina, one legislator is covering our soldiers' backs."
The ad could have said, "...covering our American soldiers' backs", but does not. In fact, nowhere in the ad will you find the word "America" or "American."
When I say "our soldiers," I'm referring to American soldiers. I'm convinced Spear's "our" means a far different group of guys.
Spear is running for re-relection to the state House, and his opponent is Bob Steinberg. Take out the trash.
Okay, dammit, I'll do another Cavewoman poll. I know how you like that kind of diversion.
It'll take some putting together, so consider some items to help with strengthening your resolve whilest I work on it. Plus, diversion is right now the last thing you need. Eyes on the prize, kiddies...less than a week to go.
From Shenendoah/John Galt FLA, via Western Rifle Shooters, a reminder that your vote is important, maybe vital, but not necessarily the last important function that will be required of you this year regarding your country's future. Only the most naiive chess-player looks at a devastatingly bad move (like potentially losing control of the House and Senate) and doesn't consider the possibility of a fork by their opponent.
Even if the candidate you like wins, it won't be enough if you and I allow him to be seduced by the power and perks of his shiny new office.
Paraphrasing something Bubba said recently, we aren't sending you (congressperson, senator) up there to make friends or find common ground. If you don't immediately start fixing fuckups, and righting wrongs, you'll be held accountable in a most ungentle fashion.
And speaking of accountability, now is not the time to take anything for granted. Suppose you went to your polling place and voted straight ticket, but the machine reversed your selection, recording votes for the opposite party. Yep, I could be talking about a faraway land like Chicago or New York or Los Angeles. But I'm not. The New Bern (NC) Sun Journal reports on this happening in Craven County...just down the road a piece. Isolated incident? I seriously doubt it.
Suggestion: make sure you have your camera-phone with you when you go to the polls, and record any malfeasance or irregularities.
I once heard someone trot out Bernie Madoff as an example of a modern-day John Galt, supposedly because Madoff functioned only to satisfy himself. The only similarity is with self-preservation being the ultimate motivation, which is not evil in and of itself. The important distinction is that Madoff profited from cheating others out of what they'd earned, and the comparison is an affront (or should be) to anyone who understands the difference between earning and stealing.
The difference is paralleled by the not-too-subtle difference between Capitalism and Cronyism. Madoff's schemes bear more similarity with Obamacare, union bailouts, and influence peddling than anything the novel's John Galt (or today's John Galts) ever did. Capitalism is the exchange of value for value, and is only perverted by the inclusion of outside influence or presumed obligation.
And those on the left, those who would enslave you to their service under concepts like "common good", submit their own poster-children like Madoff as red herrings to divert your attention from their own schemes. Don't get fooled.
To paraphrase, I love my life as it is God's gift to me, not as if God lent it to me to hold in trust for your benefit.
I imagine that not everybody has a photographic recall of all those candidates' positions on all the various issues in preparation for the trip to the ballot box. Lord knows, I don't. Heck, I could donate 15 IQ points to the O!Bummer and still qualify for Mensa, but can't remember whether (and why) I liked Judge So-And-So.
Here's an idea you can use.
Go to your Board of Elections website for your county, and print off a sample ballot. Then, go to this website, compare the apples and oranges, and keep score on your sample ballot. Much easier than counting yard-signs or bumper-stickers on your way to work, and infinitely more responsible, no?
This process helped me sort through the choices for candidates for Court of Appeals, the following earning my endorsement and vote:
Bill Randall. He spoke at the RTC rally, and Bubba likes him...nuff said.
Greg Dority, maybe...running against Mel Watt. Watt apparently advocates violence against peaceful Tea Party attendees, since he hasn't denounced that violence perpetrated outside his offices (and presumably to his benefit). Or, by gosh, maybe Lon Cecil simply for his survey response to the question: Do you believe the US Congress should enact "Cap and Trade" legislation that would enable government agencies to cap the amount of emissions a company may produce or require that company to purchase credits if it exceeds the government-set emissions limitation?
Thanks to my friend Bubba, and from the Labor Union Report, here's what scares the hell ot of me.
We've already seen the willingness of the liberal left to fraudulently affect elections. According to the article linked, the power to subvert the electoral outcome lies with corrupt Secretaries of State (my bold is their italics).
"Here is a prediction: Across the country, there will be races that some candidates will lose even though poll numbers, right now, indicate otherwise.
As you read this, at present, you should know that there are only seemingly disconnected anecdotal dots that are starting to connect. However, if the dots do fully connect, we may not know until well after the November 2nd election if, in fact, America’s democratic election process will have become the victim of the biggest fraud in our nation’s history. What’s worse, with early voting beginning this week in many states, it may already be too late to do anything about it."
The article presents several facts (including ties to George Soros and SEIU) that are disconnected only by assumed coincidence.
The integrity of the voting process may well be the next-to-last hope for America. Absent any confidence regarding the final tally, what recourse shall remain for those who cherish Liberty? Even looking objectively at the possibilities, I don't think it'll be pretty.
I had a brief exchange the other day with a store manager who was benefitting from my devotion to capitalism (he was ringing up my purchase at his register). He said, "no matter who you're for, one thing we can still say in this country is that we'll have our election without having to worry about tanks in the street afterward."
In a world where the integrity of the ballot is indisputable and untarnished, I'd tend to agree with my friend the merchant. I wish I could rest that easily.
My favorite quote from this year is still Ann Coulter's:
There are a lot of bad Republicans. There are no good Democrats.
And this perfectly illustrates the value of the Tea Party. For Republicans, and particularly those conservative and Constitutionalist republicans, the Tea Party movement has proven to become a very effective vetting process for weeding out those RINOs, Republican In Name Only, and supplanting career politicians (otherwise valuable only for the big "R" after their name) with genuine leadership candidates. For Dems, I don't think there's a single candidate who's found a way to embrace the concepts of original intent, limited government, and American exceptionalism. So, the universal approach for the donkeys has been to demonize the Tea Party. You can't blame them, though. They know their policies are the impetus for the Tea Party brand of community organizing.
Newt may be a valid example of a bad Republican to many, because he can't be counted on to choose that which is right over that which is politically expedient. Nancy is perfectly representative of the all Democrats: government is the answer and private citizens organizing to take umbrage must be ostricized and belittled.
Don't get swept up in any wave to legitimize any potential Newt candidacy just because of this video (h/t Gateway Pundit), but he's right about the very basic difference in the two parties.
Early voting is now open in many places. If you're like many folks I know, and just can't vote for a Republican simply because an ancestor might "roll over in his grave," please do the rest of us the courtesy of recusing yourself from the process. I know how it is; I was once the same.
Thing is, though, there will be, in this election, very real consequences to your actions. Your efforts in 2008 have placed our country in the most perilous situation we've ever seen. A vote for a Democrat is a vote against America. Plain and simple.
You can vote for a Republican or against a Democrat. Better yet, vote for the REPUBLICAN Republican, as vetted by Tea Party endorsement or vote against a Democrat. Or vote against an incumbent.
Personally, I'll take the paycheck and the right to earn it and keep it. Time to take out the trash, folks.
There'll always be folks who pretent to be something they aren't. Case in point: a recent commenter to an online article claimed to be a UNC fan who isn't disappointed the football team members cheated, but that they had gotten caught. I'm a Tar Heel fan. I hope all the cheaters get caught and receive stiff punishment, whether they be star players with questionable scruples, manipulable and manipulative fellow students, coaches with selective attention spans, and most importantly the scum-bag agents.
There's lots of commotion in the lamestream media these days about so-called "institutional control" among the athletic departments of major colleges. Carolina-hating Caulton Tudor wants Butch Davis fired and Bomani Jones (who?) writes for ESPN.com that "Davis' defense rings hollow." The thrust of their points? That the head coach should have known about (or knew, and covered up) improprieties committed by several of his players and one coach. Much of that rhetoric reminds me of the Nifong vs. Duke LaCrosse witch-hunt, so I say consider the source before subscribing any value to their perspectives.
Former assistant/co-head coach John Blake certainly appears to have been doing as many things wrong off the field as right on it, and someone that knows him as well as Butch Davis did or does admittedly could have given much more scrutiny to Blake's allegiances and behavior. But the student-athletes?
I remember when I was a just a high-school athlete, and hearing reports from former teammates who had gone on to the college level, of boosters palming C-notes to them in the post-game locker rooms. Perhaps the coaches charged with monitoring their behavior were intentionally looking the other way. Until a diligent coach got wise (or suspicious) and banned locker-room visitation, how easy was this practice? For what it's worth, I played a little college ball to and witnessed zero ethical or institutional misdeeds.
Knowing the current schemes by agents to recruit "runners", fellow students who earn a few bucks befriending and distributing gifts to athletes on behalf of those agents, how much "control" can anyone have regarding the kids. The best you could hope for in such situations is a player having the self-control and wherewithal to refuse something he hasn't earned. You can try teaching that, but it's a tough climb trying to mandate it.
I was thinking about making a list for preferred Presidential candidates, and will certainly be getting to that. But in the meantime, I stumbled across this video, this morning. I was already thinking about Chris Christie headlining my list.
Don't you feel so much better when you and someone you admire as much as Ann Coulter are in syncronized agreement?
My horse-club's Information Czar recently sent out a mass mailer to all the members reminding them to vote for a fellow member, Beth Jones, in the upcoming mid-term elections.
Okay, re-reading the note, I stand corrected that he only suggested "considering" voting for her, because she's "PRO Horse-Trail."
Well by gosh, if it comes down who is "pro horse trail" between two candidates who cherish Liberty above all else, who believe in and actively support the Tea Party movement, who are prepared to distance North Carolina from the federal government's unrelenting, intrusive power grab by way of Obamacare and offshore and nearshore oil drilling moratoriums and lawsuits against other states for doing a job that federal government won't, and who believes in gutting NC government in favor of privatization, then she should get that consideration. But all things ain't equal, it seems.
Jones is a former Caldwell County Democratic party Chairwoman, and endorsed by ACTBlue, "The online clearinghouse for Democratic action" who also endorses raving idiot Alan Grayson. Her campaign website lists the issues as: Economy/Jobs, Education, and Healthcare, the Dem party line that government involvement into those sectors is ever somehow beneficial.
Her Republican opponent, Warren Daniel, graduate of West Point and UNC Law School, says this on his website:
In 1787, our Founding Fathers gave us a Constitution that forever changed the relationship between man and government. They believed that each of us is born into freedom and that the proper role of government is to protect and secure the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are endowed by our Creator, not derived from the government. Protected by these Constitutional guarantees, America became the land of opportunity for millions of legal immigrants who came fleeing oppression and seeking the American dream.
With the recent passage of Obamacare, it is more evident than ever that “We The People” need to act now if we are going to make a difference. As we enter this 2010 election year, I pledge to you that, as your state senator, I will strive to return North Carolina to the principles of limited government and unlimited opportunity. I hope that you will join me so that together we can bring conservative government back to North Carolina, and preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.
To supporters of Jones, I say "whoa!" This Daniel guy sure sounds like more of a leader to me. In my thinking, the time for electing local numbnuts who can be counted on to fight for a locality's share of pork, or for his/her own nest-feathering career, is gone. Everything I read regarding Jones implies she's just another Hope It Changes corruptocrat with promises of unicorns and rainbows.
NC 44 isn't my district, but to my friends in that area, there are more-important things than "pro horse trail" and Warren Daniel has an obvious leg up when it comes to the concepts of leadership and Liberty. And be sure to check out his answers (and others!) to the questionnaire from the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation.
On a related note, check out this video (thanks to Hot Air via Legal Insurrection) that may serve to remind you what we're all up against this November.
Finally...just got off the phone with Daniel's office...he's in favor of horse trails.
UPDATE: Direct to my email inbox, Warren Daniel responds:
Thanks for your comments and support. We are horse owners too and enjoy riding... I have intended to join the association, and I know at least one of your members.
In today's Townhall.com, Ann Coulter eulogizes her late friend Joe Sobran as "the world's greatest writer." She listed some of the phrases and quips that influences her writing, and endeared Sobran to herself and so many others, including:
"Watching a death-match fight on Animal Planet once, Joe said he found himself instinctively rooting for the mammal over the reptile."
Honoring Coulter, Sobran, and the universal instinct to root for your own kind (or at least those warm-blooded over those not), allow me to direct your atttention to the sidebar wherein I list my own endorsements regarding the upcoming mid-term elections.
Please click the pictures for links to the candidates' websites.
More coming, as I find time to create the links...
Though I'd rather not drive any traffic to his ass-wipe reportage, or to his big Obama-loving rag of a McClatchey fish-wrap, the Charlotte Obscurer, if you want an example of biased, control-the-court-of-public-opinion drivel, look no further than today's column by Caulton Tudor. (Sorry, I was gonna link to it, but you'll have to look it up yourself...See the sports section and bring your own barf bag.)
Tudor suggests that Butch Davis should resign or be fired as "the single most necessary step in the rehabilitation process for the school and the football program."
Of course, to make that assertion, you'd have to already believe in Davis' culpability in the matter, and to believe somehow that completely skipping the rest of the NCAA investigation to jump straight into (self-) punishment phase has any merit whatsoever. Or you have to have personal reasons for wanting that to happen.
Tudor delivers his proposal as if it's somehow valient for Davis to fall on his sword, for the sake of the University's image, but you really have to read with mental earplugs to not hear the Anti-Carolina venom dripping on his keyboard.
Truly, does his body of work really suggest to anyone any measure of objectivity?
He seems to believe that if the players remain without eligibility and a coach has been dismissed, then all the coaches are hiding additional guilt, and by extension the University and all its students are also guilty, and every fan probably, too.
I never read his articles, because I know what I'll get if the subject comes near UNC: thinly veiled animosity. I only clicked that link today because of the egregious headline and the consideration of ridiculing it in this space.
And to a point, I generally say, who cares? Let the Pusspack and Blue-Pillow-Biting-Devils have their own propogandist, so long he can either keep to a reasonable level of bile-spewage or acknowledge his bias. For someone like him to presume the authority over someone else's career, though, is insulting to anyone with a modicum of objectivity. Where the hell does this guy get off? What right does he have to call for Butch Davis' job, anymore than he has calling for yours or mine?
What divine edict placed you ahead of the investigative process and distribution of punishment, sir? Mighty presumptuous of you Tudor, and mighty disgraceful. I think you should quit immediately.
Of course, I submit that most readers already fired you and your paper long ago.
I have the DVR'd Ryder Cup coverage going in the background this morning, and just heard Mike Tirico say, "It gets dark earlier here, due to the lack of sunlight."
Insight. That's why ESPN has Tirico anchoring the coverage. And it has very little to do with his fawning man-love for Tiger Woods.
