Sweetie

by George Dienhart

What would happen if McCain called a member of the press corps “Sweetie”? All Hell would break lose. For Obama, it’s just another day at the office.

The reporter from Michigan attempts to ask a question to Obama about assisting automakers.

"Hold on one second there, sweetie," he says.

The reporter ends her report with this: "This sweetie never did get an answer to that question."

Video (Fox News)

Follow up on "The Change You Deserve"

by George Dienhart

Recently I wrote a piece on a new RNC strategy called “Does the RNC finally get it?” I also promised to follow up after the details were released, via a handy memo from the RNC- here it is:

Americans are less than six months from an historic election. And once again, this election will be about change.

House Democrats said they represented change in 2006. They promised a “new direction for America,” a “commonsense plan” to “lower gas prices” and “tax cuts for the middle class.”

Promises made, promises broken. Democrats in control of Congress passed the largest tax increase in American history, burdening the middle class with higher taxes to bankroll hundreds of billions in new Washington spending. Costs of living have skyrocketed. Americans are now paying a Pelosi premium at the gas pump, with prices $1.30 higher than when the Speaker was sworn-in last year. Home values have fallen, and the economy has slowed dramatically.

This is not the change Democrats promised America. In fact, the Democrats’ record is a betrayal of trust, a failure to learn from the mistakes both parties made in the past. No wonder congressional approval ratings are at all-time lows and cynicism in politics has never been more pervasive.

This has to change. It must change.

Seventeen months ago, House Republicans embarked on a new journey, seeking to revive the common-sense conservative principles that built our historic majority. In that time, we have worked together tirelessly to turn those ideals into a blueprint of real solutions for the American people. That process has culminated in a positive agenda of reform that delivers the change the American people are crying out for:

· Health Care. Affordable, high-quality health care for every American by giving families greater choice and control, not through a massive expansion of government health care controlled by bureaucrats;

· Economy. A stronger economy by stopping the largest tax increase in American history, cutting wasteful Washington spending, balancing the budget by 2012, passing serious entitlement reform and strengthening our housing sector.

· Energy. An energy policy that increases the supply of American-made energy – making us more energy independent, helping bring down gasoline and diesel prices, and creating jobs here at home; and

· Security. Security from threats our families face both at home and abroad by securing our borders once and for all, taking on the rising criminal threats in our communities and giving terrorists plotting new attacks no place to hide.

This week, House Republican leaders will brief the Conference on our plan, our solutions and our message. It is the result of many months of work by Republicans, including the "Reasons to Believe" working groups established by Leader Boehner; Chairman McCotter and the House Republican Policy Committee; Conference Vice Chair Kay Granger's WIN project; our ranking members, our rank-and-file members and our party's presidential nominee, Senator John McCain.

It starts with this: Washington is broken, the American people want it fixed, and Democrats in Washington have proven unable or unwilling to get the job done. Republicans will.

Americans have seen first-hand the change Democrats are making, and it is moving America in the wrong direction. To the American people, we say that Republicans will deliver “the change you deserve.”

One product of our larger effort will be announced to the American people on Wednesday, when Vice Chair Granger unveils our “American Families Agenda.” This blueprint speaks to the specific challenges American families face in the 21st century and backs it up with legislation sponsored by House Republicans.

And starting the week of May 19 in advance of Memorial Day, Republicans will announce an energy agenda, followed by subsequent plans on the economy, security and health care policy.

Through our “Change You Deserve” message and through our “American Families Agenda,” House Republicans will continue our efforts to speak directly to an American public looking for leaders who will offer real solutions for the challenges they confront every day.

Together, we can deliver for American families the change they really deserve. You will learn more about it this week

The economy bullet point is a keeper- the RNC really needs to focus on that.

Energy- too vague. More details are needed. They also better be talking to the McCain camp- they may not be in synch here. I think we are headed toward a confrontation over ANWR.

Security- this is also vague, but it has to be. Just say “We will win the damn war!”

Health Care – Again waiting on details- the RNC really needs to provide vision on this, or our taxes will skyrocket under Obamacare.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this story.

Quote of the day- Robert Gates

Via the economist

“[I]t is hard to conceive of any country confronting the United States directly in conventional terms—ship to ship, fighter to fighter, tank to tank—for some time to come. The record of the past quarter century is clear: the Soviets in Afghanistan; the Israelis in Lebanon; the United States in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Smaller, irregular forces—insurgents, guerrillas, terrorists—will find ways, as they always have, to frustrate and neutralize the advantages of larger, regular militaries. And even nation-states will try to exploit our perceived vulnerabilities in an asymmetric way, rather than play to our inherent strengths.

Overall, the kinds of capabilities we will most likely need in the years ahead will often resemble the kinds of capabilities we need today....

I believe that any major weapons program, in order to remain viable, will have to show some utility and relevance to the kind of irregular campaigns that, as I mentioned, are most likely to engage America’s military in the coming decades.”

Obama continues to struggle in key demos

by George Dienhart

From the Wall Street Journal’s Karl Rove :

"Democrats shouldn't be complacent after Tuesday. Their problems start with Mr. Obama's 41-point loss to Hillary Clinton in West Virginia. Mr. Obama lost the primary because the rejection of him by blue-collar voters is hardening. The last Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the Mountain State was Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Barely half of Mrs. Clinton's supporters in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia say they're ready to support Mr. Obama against Mr. McCain today. Without solid support from these voters, Mr. Obama will be in trouble in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Wisconsin and other battlegrounds. So far, Mr. Obama owes his success to elites captivated by his personality. But in the general election, most folks will care more about a candidate's philosophy and stand on the issues. And what's considered mainstream values in a general election is different than in a primary. Mr. Obama knows this, which is why he peppered his North Carolina primary night speech with culturally conservative language. And it is also why he is reaching out to Jewish voters”

You can hate Karl Rove if you want but his political sense is uncanny. This has to be circulating around Camp Obama this morning.

McCain outlines his strategy

by George Dienhart

McCain had this to say about the war yesterday:

"[W]hat I want to do today is take a little time to describe what I would hope to have achieved at the end of my first term as President. ... By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.'

Notice, he did not say the war would last a hundred years.

The speech will be followed up with a web ad today-

"The year, two thousand thirteen. The Middle East, stabilized. Nuclear terror threat, reduced. Border security, strengthened. Energy independence, advanced. Wasteful spending, reformed. Health care choice, delivered. Economic confidence, restored. The year, two thousand thirteen. The President, John McCain. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message."

Sounds like a plan.

Obama Offended by Bush remarks

by George Dienhart

Evidently Obama was offended by a remark made by President Bush while addressing the Knesset. The President’s statement:

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Obama countered with:

“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. ... George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists and the President's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.'

The President’s staff clarified:

CBS News quotes a White House spokesperson as saying that this is not a specific reference to Obama, since there are "at least 10 Democrats" who have taken the same position. And the passage could be a reference to Europeans or others.

What does this mean? Does Obama have a guilty conscious? The left has predictably gone off the deep end- wrongly accusing the president of calling Obama a Nazi. Typical.

 

Disaster Looming?

By George Dienhart

The Politico also reports the GOP may have a 70-seat deficit in the house next year. Democrats are calling this the death of the GOP, and reveling at the passing. As is often the case, the reality is somewhat different that the gleeful liberals believe. A 70 seat deficit for the GOP would be a major setback (for both the GOP and the nation), but it would be far from a deathblow. You have to go back to the 75^th Congress (1937-1939) to find the largest ever deficit. It stood at 333 Democrats to a scant 89 Republicans. That is an advantage of 244, for the Democrats. That massive advantage did not kill the GOP. It is worth noting that this era brought massive expenditures and depression upon the United States. Coincidence?

I am sorry to inform the left that this is not the end of the GOP. It is just an opportunity to rebuild around John McCain. That process must start now, and unfortunately, it will start with bare coffers. This has been a bad year for fundraising. No one reason can be named the cause. It is a combination of successful Democratic media buys and the current “Rock Star” status of Barack Obama. There is evidence that this has already started to even out. The RNC has out raised the DNC this cycle, $95 million to $56 million. That is a good start.

The Wall Street Journal also picked up on what it is calling "The Republican Panic". They believe Republican legislators may jump ship and start voting with the Democrats to save their own skin. The Journal wisely points out that the better strategy is to come up with their own winning strategy. “The better strategy is to offer a reform agenda of their own, especially one that begins to speak to the economic anxieties of the middle class. This includes doing some homework on health care for a change, instead of ceding that field to the Democrats”

Let us hope someone at the RNC is listening…

Obama soft on Crime?

by George Dienhart

The Politico’s Heidi Przybyla on a possible RNC strategy:

 'It worked in 1988; it will be tried again in 2008. With Illinois Senator Barack Obama almost certain to be the Democratic nominee, Republican groups are focusing on his vulnerabilities. They are highlighting some of his positions during his eight years in the Illinois state legislature, from opposing extending the death penalty for gang members to supporting the 'decriminalization' of marijuana and refusing to back restrictions on porn shops.'

Nice apparently, Obama is pro-gang, pro-drugs and pro-porn…

 

Gore endorsement imminent?

by George Dienhart

Sen. Obama was heard to say the following yesterday, on his way to the Edwards endorsement shindig:

'I have spoken to Al Gore periodically over the last few months. I have talked to him mostly about policy and gotten guidance and got good ideas from him. And so I am not really pushing for an endorsement. I would love to have it,'

Obama was quoted while flying to the Edwards event- I wonder if he bought “Carbon Credits” to offset his flight?

A response to the Huffington Report story (The Presidency of Al Gore, 2001-2009)

by George Dienhart

The story is here. My timeline is the same as the original author. I think this way more probable than the outcome written by Norman MacAfee.

On January 20, 2001, Al Gore, the candidate who won the most votes, becomes the 43rd president of the United States. A constitutional crisis develops as the electoral college is ignored. Years later, historians refer to this event as the American coup of 2001.
Al Gore continues the same policies as the Clinton administration. The 9/11 events still occur as they did in our timeline.

Shortly after 9/11, Al Gore refuses to send Special Forces into Afghanistan to support the Northern Alliance. He states in an interview that he will not violate another nation’s sovereignty. Terrorists pour into Afghan training camps. A follow up to 9/11 is planned by Al Qaeda. Eventually Gore authorizes (CG-48) U.S.S. Yorktown to fire a cruise missile at Bin Laden’s last known location. The missile hit’s it’s target, but the Gore administration is embarrassed as Bin Laden is seen later that day in Damascus attending a conference for Palestinian Independence. Bin Laden is the keynote speaker and appologizes fo not paying enough attention to the “plight of his Muslim brothers”. During the speech, suicide bombers simultaneously attack 25 separate targets in Israel, killing over 600 people.

Republicans are squawking that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a threat to the safety of the country, that he has weapons of mass destruction. Gore asks the United Nations to send its weapons inspectors back into Iraq, and after six months of searching, they find none. 3 months after the inspectors leave, Iraq gasses 20,000 Kurds with the nerve agent sarin.

In 1998, as vice president, Gore proposed a NASA satellite, Triana, to provide, from a distance of 930,000 miles, a continuous view of the sunlit side of the earth. Triana would measure global warming by measuring how much sunlight is reflected and emitted from the earth and would monitor weather systems. Triana is built and launched in February 2003. In late 2004 it has no effect on the a massive Tsunami that wreaks havoc on a large swath of the Indian Ocean. Triana watches helplessly from orbit, as it is not designed to track Tsunami’s.

The president's favorite book, Stendahl's The Red and the Black, proves to be a huge embarrassment to the President as the average American associates the book's young hero as speaking about Gore when he states: "So there, this is what these rich people are like. First they humiliate you, then they think they can make it up to you by monkey business!"

Recognizing that nothing good can come from the continuing Israeli-Palestinian standoff, Gore sends Holbrooke and Vice President Joe Lieberman to broker a peace. Both men are killed in a Palestinian missile attack on their motorcade. Hillary Clinton is named Vice- President.

As vice president, Gore signed the Kyoto Accord on Climate Change in 1998, but there were not enough votes to ratify it in the Congress, and there still are not. President Gore, however, is able to implement most elements of the treaty by executive order. He begins a process of education about global warming and publishes a book on the subject. Businesses are forced to turn green, and massive lay offs occur. By the time the Kyoto Accords are fully enacted, unemployment stands at 16%. The economy slips deeper into recession. When taxes are raised yet again, some economists start to use the term depression with alarming frequency. Years later, it is noted that Global Warming was a myth, and the Great Millennial Depression started with the Kyoto.

In 2005, Katrina hits. As most of the response is at the state and local levels, the response is a disaster. Due to the ongoing depression, an additional 25,000 homeless families perish in Katrina.

No one is quoting Al Gore’s philosophers on Nov 11 2005, when Dhiren Barot succeeds in destroying the New York Stock Exchange, Chase Bank and Citicorp in New York, The Chicago Board of Trade in Chicago, and the Eurex in Frankfort. The Millennial Depression is now global.
Russia invades Georgia, claiming that they are harboiing Chechen terrorists. NATO and the United States do nothing.

Hugo Chavez invades Brazil war wages on for 10 years before Brazil regains it’s independence.
Gore enacts National Healthcare. Tens of thousands of doctors are forced out of business. Lines are long at “National Clinics” when the great flu epidemic of 2006 hits. 30,000 children and infants are dead because they died before the National Healthcare clinics could schedule an appointment.

The president invites to the White House the person who had the most influence on him, his high school art teacher. The same day Congressman Dennis Hastert file articles of Impeachment, accusing Gore of profiting illegally on a Carbon Credits scheme.

Over 20% of the United Staes now lives in poverty

The undamming of rivers, begun seriously under Clinton/Gore, continues. Energy shortages plague the areas that are no longer receiving hydro-electric power.

George Bush announces he will run for president in 2008- a nation rejoices.

Fire up the liberal hysteria...

by George Dienhart

Nothing gets liberals more worked up than the truth- especially during an election year. Today the president made a statement. One sentence that the left will be crying about throughout the election cycle.

He stated that electing a Democrat president might "eventually lead to another attack on the United States."

Exactly what part of this is untrue? Both Democrats want to cut and run. Both Democrats want to return to battling terrorist through law enforcement agencies. As demonstrated in the Clinton years, law enforcement agencies are ill equipped to lead this battle.

The president delivered this dose of truth yesterday during an interview with the Politico and Yahoo.  Liberals usually use this as fodder for “Republicans win elections through fear” stories. The truth is, if this tactic is used, it only works because Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. They can’t run far enough to the left, and the extreme left wants out of the war at any cost. Obama is pandering to this crowd, and will pull us out of Iraq. This drawdown will be devastating not just to the Iraq, but also to the United States. 9/11 was bad enough, we don’t need an even bigger event to remind us why winning in Iraq is important.

Today's law enforcement shoutout goes to...

by George Dienhart

The Roswell Police. Today they raided a home that was making 30k a day selling HGH, testosterone, and a knock off of Cialis. Way to go Roswell….

This is funny...

Found this over at Obi’s Sis…

A biker is riding by the zoo when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion’s cage.

Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage, and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain, the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution (local newspaper) reporter has seen the whole scene and, addressing the biker, says, ‘Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw a man do in my whole life.’

‘Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.’

‘Well, I’ll make sure this won’t go unnoticed. I’m a journalist from the AJC, you know, and tomorrow’s paper will have this on the first page. What motorcycle do you ride and what political affiliation do you have?’

“I ride a Harley Davidson and I am a Republican”

The journalist leaves.

The following morning the biker buys a copy of the AJC to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads on the first page:

“REPUBLICAN BIKER GANG MEMBER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH.”

Thanks for the laugh. Head on over for some more insights…

 

Look at who's ahead in the popular vote...

by George Dienhart

Popular Vote (w/FL & MI)

16,668,051

47.7%

16,671,990

47.7%

Clinton +3,939

+0.01%

 

Real Clear Politics has Hillary ahead in the popular vote. This is part of a dual strategy to convince delegates that she’s their gal. The other half of the strategy is reminding people that Obama has not been able to win in the states that Democrats absolutely have to win in order to win the presidency. To wit:

California	02/05		2,186,662	43.2%	2,608,184	51.5%				Clinton +421,522	+8.3%
New York	02/05		751,019	40.3%	1,068,496	57.4%				Clinton +317,477	+17.1%
Pennsylvania	04/22		1,046,822	45.4%	1,260,937	54.6%				Clinton +214,115	+9.2%

These states have provided large margins of victory for Hillary, and the super delegates must address this. If McCain takes 2 out of the three, he is almost guaranteed victory in November.

Someone is finally paying attention..

by George Dienhart

From the Wall Street Journal:

Wall Street Journal A1: "Recession? Not So Fast, Say Some: Despite Pain, Economists Begin Dialing Back Dire Forecasts": "[T]hough two main pillars of the economy, the labor market and consumer spending, have faltered, they have not collapsed as they did in past recessions. ... Job losses, meanwhile, have been less severe than they usually are in recessions. And many economists think the government's earliest estimate of first-quarter GDP growth - 0.6 percent - will be revised upward."

Repeat after me- there is no recession…