Fanfare for the Common Man

So much for bowing out gracefully...

2004-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post reports today that JFK is petitioning the Ohio courts to join the legal wrangling over recounts in Ohio.

The ketchup king joins a host of other prominent Ohio (and national) losers, including Cobb and Badnarik, which makes perfect sense, as in my view the DNC is likely going the way of the Libertarians, the Greens, and the dodo bird; which is to say that they may be funny in a Flinstones episode, but no one really takes them that seriously in the politcal arena anymore (no offense to the dodo).

The Greatest Denegration...

2004-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight is Tom Brokaw's last night as NBC's chief "news" anchor. After decades of pandering to the left and to WWII veterans, the 2nd most famous South Dakotan to end his career this year will step down.

My great-grandmother always told me that if you don't have anything nice to say, say it loudly and at inappropriate times; so farewell TB. At least you can always live in the knowledge that you're not Sam Donaldson.

Back to the future...

2004-11-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

What day is it? Because after reading the "news" this morning I could swear it was still October. A story is out today in the Chicago Tribune that warns the GOP of the "perils of overreaching." A senior correspondent broadcasts the sincere concerns of the Democratic Party that the Repubs might make the same mistakes that the left made for, oh let's say the bulk of the 20th Century, give or take.

"Moving swiftly to consolidate their control over government in the wake of their big election triumph, President Bush and Republican leaders in Congress are facing a different kind of threat--themselves.Political analysts warn that overly aggressive efforts to push a conservative agenda could leave Bush and his allies vulnerable to charges of political overreaching, and ultimately cause a voter backlash."

"Democrats hope that Bush and congressional Republicans overplay their hand so the Democrats will have a better chance of making a comeback in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Already Democrats are saying that Republicans are emphasizing an ideological rather than a middle-of-the-road approach to governing."

"Duffy said that if Bush succeeds in putting justices on the Supreme Court who vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion nationwide, "I think it would create a huge backlash."

"Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, said he fears that Bush will adopt regulations that weaken the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. The environment wasn't a big issue in the campaign, he said, and Bush easily could cause a backlash by easing environmental rules."

So, let's see...Bush and his legislator buddies might get cocky and overreach by imposing a conservative agenda; using ideology to govern, infringing on womens' rights, and weakening environmental legislation. So, what has he been doing for the last four years? If I remember correctly, since 2001 he's been accused of favoring the rights of the unborn over those of the living, forcing his religious ideology on the American people, trashing the environment, etc. That was the whole premise of the Kerry/Edwards campaign. The next thing you know, the Dems will forecast that he might infringe on civil rights, weaken the economy, and appoint all his oil buddies to the cabinet. As Lisa Simpson would say, " wow, you really can see into the...present."

The bottom line is, Bush is not changing for anybody. He has his values, his ideology, and his gut feelings. He utilizes those three facets of his inner being to make a lot of decisions. He has done that for the last four years. He won, he helped the GOP strengthen their majorities in the House and Senate, and the dems have been singing the same song the whole time. The Dems lose consistenly for the same reason that there are no New Kids on the Block cover bands: nobody wants to hear somebody new sing crap songs.

You won't have Ashcroft to kick around anymore...oh well, on to the next guy.

2004-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

I guess you couldn't call John Ashcroft a media darling by any stretch of the word; at least not in the msm. So we could assume that a grand cheer went up among the egghead left with his departure. Well, it did...but the honeymoon is just about over.

The liberals are already firing up the hatemonger machine and pointing it straight at AG designee Gonzales. The New Republic had this to say:

"Senate Democrats seem so relieved to be rid of Ashcroft that they have blinded themselves to the likelihood that Gonzales could be--well, worse. For one thing, there is reason to believe he will be just as conservative as Ashcroft. For another, his preference for keeping a low profile could very well make him more damaging to the justice system. . . . "

"More relevant is Gonzales's work in the White House, where he showed himself to be supremely loyal to Bush and to the conservative cause. Gonzales filled his office with former Scalia and Thomas clerks. He recommended the most conservative federal judgeship nominees of any recent administration. And he has been a willing accomplice in the administration's violation of civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. If, indeed, as some Republicans close to the White House suggest, Gonzales's attorney-general stint is intended to shore up his conservative credentials in advance of his nomination to the Supreme Court, this rightward tilt would likely become even more pronounced at Justice."

"But he would probably be pretty quiet about it. Unlike Ashcroft, who approached the job like a politician--making himself a public spokesman for the war on terrorism and touring the country last year in defense of the Patriot Act--Gonzales usually likes to lay low. His office went to great lengths these past four years to protect the White House from scrutiny. Most notably, he refused a request from the [General Accounting Office] to disclose who met with Vice President Cheney to offer input on the administration's energy policy. (By coincidence, Gonzales's old Houston law firm represented Enron.) He also drafted an executive order giving the president unprecedented power to withhold the records of past presidents and their aides. . . . "

Haliburton! Enron! Does the liberal battle cry ever change? The election is over folks. The American people have spoken, and they have made it quite clear that they either don't believe, or just DON'T PLAIN CARE about these alleged indiscretions involving Bush/Cheney's "backroom shenanigans" with big energy, etc. I wonder if newswriters on the left have a different Microsoft version of the digital thesaurus. Everytime they come up blank on an idea they just click a button and either Enron, Haliburton, tax cuts for the rich, or the like are placed neatly within the column. Now that's journalism!

But what's more plain to see here is the pure unwillingness of the left to concede that Bush might make a decent selection to his cabinet who isn't a liberal suck-butt. Somewhere out there, Dan Rather heard someone say "well, at least Gonzales isn't Ashcroft," and a great shiver went down his spine. What's this, dissention in the ranks? We can't have that...and off he went to dig up obscure executive orders, ties to Enron, conservative clerks, and whatever else might stir up the left.

I'm just glad to see us all working together as a nation again...

Sorry Sacks...

2004-11-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

I hesitate to give coverage to idiots, but as the saying goes, t'is the season...A group of morons have proven that the first amendment really does protect anyone...even the galactically stupid. A new waste of cyberspace has bubbled up from the dregs: www.sorryeverybody.com. The site features pictures of "Americans" who are apparently dissatisfied with the outcome of the most recent Presidential elections. These individuals are pictured holding up signs apologizing to the world for our choice of leader.

On a similar note, my hometown newspaper, The Staunton Newsleader, published a column from a local man who checked out the requirements to obtain Canadian citizenship. He was dismayed about the lengths to which one has to go to become an ex-patriot. So, in true liberal fashion, he gave up. In the words of the modern philosopher Homer (Simpson), "Nothing worth doing is worth trying." I think he successfully captured the mindset of the left.

Don't mess with Bill...

2004-11-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that, while liberal mouthpiece and HBO anti-sycophant Bill Maher is against sending our troops into harms way in the Middle East, he has no problem sending his own acquaintances into harms way here at home.

The Washington Post and most other MSM outlets are reporting that Maher's former love interest, and would-be fiance, CoCo Johnsen has filed suit against him for welching on a deal to marry her and buy her a house reportedly once the residence of former glam couple Bennifer. The suit also alleges that Maher became enraged and physically assaulted the former flight attendent at a party, causing back and neck injuries.

I guess Maher's purported support for a woman's right to control over her own body stops at the reproductive organs.

Let the call screening begin...

2004-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Perennial campaign loser Bob Shrum told a gaggle of newspeople yesterday that Kerry plans to use his as-of-late semi-popularity to continue to shape American policy. The Washington Post reports Shrum as saying:

"He will be active and vocal. He has one of the most powerful lists in the Democratic Party and one of the most powerful fundraising bases in the Democratic Party, and I think he intends to use it to speak out."

Ahem, if memory serves, the Dems are less than forgiving when it comes to a candidate losing their bid for the most powerful position in the world. Has anyone seen Al Gore lately? I may be wrong, but I think he called my house selling siding for Sears a few weeks ago (alliteration, baby!).

The Post continued:

"Several Democrats expressed skepticism about Kerry's plans, saying they believe the party needs a fresh face and must turn a corner. One well-known Democratic operative who worked with the Kerry campaign said opposition to Bush, not excitement about Kerry, was behind the senator's fundraising success. "If he thinks he's going to capitalize on that going forward, he's in for a surprise," said the operative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Another Democrat involved in Kerry's campaign strategy -- who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, in order to be more candid -- said: "I can't imagine people are going to say, 'It worked pretty well last time. This is what we need next time.' "

I actually feel sorry for J.F-ing.K . if he thinks that those folks are going to be around post-election-mortem. I can hear the answering machine at Soros' house--

Please leave a message after the beep: BEEEP--Uh, George...uh, I really thought you'd be home. I was just driving by and saw your car in the driveway. Ummm, like to talk about our next steps, so just, uhh, wow this is awkward, thought I saw a light on...really thought you'd be there. Ok, I'm rambling. Give me a call, k?

Sounds like a dumped ex-girlfriend, who doesn't know she's been dumped.

Turns out it was plain old youthful angst...

2004-11-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

In its seething urgency to find stories detailing the general populace's utter discontent with the re-election of George W. Bush, the main stream media rushed to print the story of the young man who reportedly killed himself as a result of the demise of the Democrats' bid to reclaim America.

The story goes that, after hearing of W's victory, the man went to Ground Zero and shot himself. Untrue says the New York Post as reported by Michelle Malkin.

I wonder if the big boys at the networks will report the truth as quickly as they blurted out the speculation...

The politics of fear...

2004-11-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

How many times have you heard the Dems spout that warning about the Republican platform? Republicans supposedly have cornered the market on fear-mongering political dominance. Well, in classic form, Maureen Dowd has attempted to get the left back in the game:

"W.'s presidency rushes backward, stifling possibilities, stirring intolerance, confusing church with state, blowing off the world, replacing science with religion, and facts with faith. We're entering another dark age, more creationist than cutting edge, more premodern than postmodern. Instead of leading America to an exciting new reality, the Bushies cocoon in a scary, paranoid, regressive reality. Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches."

"America has always had strains of isolationism, nativism, chauvinism, puritanism and religious fanaticism. But most of our leaders, even our devout presidents, have tried to keep these impulses under control. Not this crew. They don't call to our better angels; they summon our nasty devils."

If this isn't playing the fear card, I don't know what is. The problem is, she played it too late.

The Blue-Faced, Blue Blooded, Blue State Blues...

2004-11-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

The Los Angeles Times summed up the new mentality of the Democratic party fairly succinctly this week:

"Reeling from their party's loss in the presidential election, some key Democratic financiers and strategists say they have learned a clear lesson: Next time around, no Northeasterners need apply.

"The blue-state party needs a face from a red state if it is going to expand beyond its base on the two coasts and preserve its hold on the Upper Midwest, where its long-standing appeal to voters has become tenuous, these insiders say.

"Their voices -- if they become ascendant as the Democratic Party undertakes a round of soul-searching after Tuesday's losses by presidential nominee John F. Kerry and key Senate candidates -- could dampen prospects for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who has been frequently mentioned as a prominent White House contender in 2008.

"The concerns about the party's direction also could lift lesser-knowns such as Govs. Mark R. Warner of Virginia and Michael F. Easley of North Carolina, who are widely seen as effective communicators of a populist Democratic message in Republican-leaning states."

This is classic. Instead of looking at your platform and making some gut-checking decisions about whether your party's values line up with the electorate, just find a guy from a different zip code. If I was up for assisting the Dems in their futile search for the next great Bill Clinton, I'd have them steer clear of Mark Warner. Being from Virginia I can tell you that Warner is actually from that borderest of border states, a little known new colony known as Northern Virginia. Northern Virginia reflects the red state mentality like Killian's reflects the Irish brewing practices (ah, my very first beer reference).

But all this soul searching has been benificial in at least one respect. At least the Dems now have a good reason for jilting Hillary in 2008. Instead of wrong message, wrong place, wrong time; they'll simply have to say "wrong lattitude."

Where's the love?

2004-11-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Remember Monday morning when the left was extending the olive branch of American idealism to us poor, dim-witted, backwater hillbillies? Well, it's post-election and the love affair is over. They've now decided that we deserve exactly what we get. The all knowing Janet Sullivan, of Salon fame, wrote the following in an apocalyptic tirade about how its all our fault:

"By the time I had gone to bed, the chorus of pundits had fixed on a single tune, as they always do, and remarkably quickly, too. (Do they watch one another's feeds in the green room?) They had dusted off the old theme that the Democrats need to "reach out" more to the "heartland." Reach out? How, exactly? Forget that these folks blindly ignored all objective reality -- and their own best economic and national-security interests -- and voted for Bush.

"Reach out" to these voters? Yeah. Then boil your hand till it's sterilized."

She goes on to distort and disparage the position and character of every recently elected Republican. Whatever happened to love, peace, and understanding? So much for bringing the country together...

God Bless the Left...

2004-11-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

Now I don't consider myself a religious man. Can't really remember the last time I was in a church for something other than a wedding. This enables me to view religion as part of the political sphere of influence; something the left continually refuses to do, and thus continues to suffer as a result. They've now moved from dismissive to insulting.

The "very devout" Nancy Pelosi, the soon to be former House Democratic leader, was quoted by CNN as rambling on in the following manner:

"The Republicans did not have an election about jobs, health care, education, environment, national security. They had an election about wedge issues in our country, and you know what they are," she said.

"They exploited the loveliness of the American people, the devoutness of people of faith for a political end."

It is a rarity to see someone able to compliment and insult such a broad group of people in the same conversation. She "justified" her remarks on CNN's morning blather program by saying that Bush campaigned inappropriately by going to churches and discussing abortion. As we all know abortion should only be discussed in a government setting. It has no place in moral realms such as America's churches. Just as morality should not influence voting.

Some folks interviewed by The Washington Post see it a little differently. The Cary's are a devout protestant family from battleground state Ohio, or as my father-in-law calls it, "God's country," who have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations over the past 3 1/2 years.

"On Sept. 10, 2001, Cary was earning about $55,000 a year. On Sept. 12, the decline began. No one was flying. No one was renting cars. Down went the commissions Cary gets when customers sign up for insurance coverage. "Maybe $35,000," he says of what he earns now, and that includes income from a second job he took a year ago, delivering pizzas on Friday and Saturday nights.

Forty hours a week at the car-rental counter, 12 hours a week running pizzas, the pinch of gasoline at $2 a gallon, savings drained, the realization that he and Tara are "kind of the working poor" -- and still it was moral concerns, rather than economic ones, that guided both of them on Election Day.

"I don't blame President Bush for anything that's happened with my income," Cary says. Rather, he looks at Bush as someone who believes in "personal responsibility," which Cary believes in as well. Don't complain. Solve. "There are jobs out there," he says, and as tired as he might be on Saturday night as he drives the streets of northern Ohio, he can use that time to listen to worship tapes, to think, to pray and to remind himself of what the priorities of a good life should be.

"Jobs will come and go. But your character -- you have to hang on to that," he says. "It's what you're defined by."

Ms. Pelosi would have you believe that the President has blurred the line between Church and State so much that this poor misguided soul is lost and confused; brainwashed by a slick oil tycoon. She'd also tell us that his views don't count on the American political landscape. Maybe that's why she'll have a few less colleagues on her side of the aisle come January. And why Kerry will still be washing up in the men's room at the Russell Building instead of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Dems eat their young...

2004-11-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

So its Thursday, and the Dems need somebody to blame for this incredible disaster...Let's see, only Conservatives pick on minorities, so it wasn't the African Americans or Hispanics that let you down...John Edwards has Max Factor on retainer, so that should seal up the women voters...Who is the most vulnerable here...I know, let's blame it on the youth! Those lazy bastards...sleeping in, watching MTV, TRL was on when the polls were about to close, and who could stand to miss Carson Daly? Not me!

Once again they've missed the boat...according to MSNBC's Hardblogger it just ain't true:

"At least 20.9 million Americans under the age of 30 voted in 2004, an increase of 4.6 million over 2000,1 and the turnout rate among these voters rose from about 42.3% to 51.6%, a sharp rise of 9.3 percentage points, according to final national exit polls and an early tally of votes cast. Youth voter turnout was especially high in the contested battleground states. "This is phenomenal," said CIRCLE Director William A. Galston. "It represents the highest youth turnout in more than a decade, 4 percentage points higher than the previous peak year of 1992.""

What, higher than Clinton? Unbelievable...Is it possible the John Kerry just wasn't as electable as they thought he was? Or did Lurch just not appeal to the Colin Farrel crowd...

Wake up and smell the ketchup!

2004-11-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

Heard something disturbing on Rush today...he played a few soundbites from the President's press conference this morning (which, because of the annoying 9 to 5, I missed). A mainstream mediite posed the question (sic) "you spoke yesterday of bipartisan efforts, are you really serious about working across the aisle or are you going to pick off a few Deomcrats to make it look like bipartisanship." The President answered it correctly by the way, saying that he is less concerned about process than about results. But, it began to dawn on me that they (the left) still don't get it...you lost!

I'm not saying that to gloat or to be nasty, but to illustrate the idea that Americans sided with us. Our agenda was the winning one...why should we build bridges to force losing ideas through? If anything, the Dems should realize that their Constituency doesn't agree with many of their ideas, and thus they should initiate some bipartisan efforts to move the winning agenda along a little smoother.

Seeing Red

2004-11-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it's all over but the crying. When "JFK" woke up this morning, sat down at his Tiffany's breakfast table, and had his maritally-mandated breakfast of eggs and ketchup, he had to be asking himself one question: "Why did I marry this woman?" After answering his own question with the obvious response: "Oh yeah, the money," he probably glanced down at his electoral college map placemat, saw the sea of red across the South and Midwest, and asked the other obvious question: "Where did I go wrong? I pretended to hunt, I used incorrect grammar at all the appropriate junctures, I hired a Keanu Reaves look-alike as my sidekick; What happened?"

Here's my take on what happened. You can't put on camo garb over your Brooks Brothers undies and pretend to be from the hills. You actually have to listen to what the people are saying and form your platform that way (people being someone other than Michael Moore and James Carville). Just because you say stem cell research saves lives, doesn't make it true. How about some statistics? How about addressing some issues that affect people who live outside of metropolitain areas?

The Dems have been doing this for decades. They have written off the South and other rural areas because of the "guns, god, and gays" montage. Well, this time it bit them in the ass; big time. I have listened for the past 6 months to Bill Maher and other liberal suck butts tell me that a President should not be like everyone else; they should be exceptional. Guess what: America is an exceptional place, with exceptional leaders, and the Americans have spoken. The beauty of the old US of A is that you don't have to play croquet on Harvard yard to be exceptional. You don't have to be a slick, pretty-boy lawyer, or a Senator with a 20-year liberal record either. Heck, you can be a plain old C student with some great ideas and a down-to-earth persona, and that'd be just fine with us.

Opening Day--All opinions, half off!

2004-11-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to inauguration day for Fanfare for the Common Man, a diatribe of the right wing conspiracy to dominate American politics. Okay, that may be a bit of an overstatement, but if your looking for complimentary rhetoric about Michael Moore, nationalized health care, or embryonic stem cell research, you may want to change the channel. However, if you are a fan of rational, clear lines of thought (and guns, church, etc.) stay tuned.

By the way, is it me or has the task of right wing domination gotten much easier lately? With the likes of Tom "I am a DC resident" Daschle and John "the duck hunter" Kerry, the Dems appear to be going the way of the Whigs, the Reform Party, and Crystal Pepsi.

Y'all come back real soon.