Monday, April 30, 2012

What I Have Said Before

http://davesaunders.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/nascar/
 http://fairtopartlymoderate.blogspot.com/2011/05/book-review-blue-dixie.html
 http://fairtopartlymoderate.blogspot.com/2012/03/look-at-how-far-they-have-come.html
 http://fairtopartlymoderate.blogspot.com/2012/03/so-goes-tennessee-so-goes-country.html


I have long said that the south is a valuable commodity in national politics despite what the Electoral College and nation pundits say. The south itself have been the hardest hit in the Great Recession and represents modern industrialization gone to the birds.   That aside Romney faces two nearly insurmountable battles in the South

First, what Mudcat is saying is true.  If southerners do not like something, then it is probly not worth liking.  Romney cannot get the rural vote no matter what he does.  He is not well liked here, and what he stands for does not resonate with Southerners.  Plus there is no one in the VP stakes that will come close to the rural vote much less beating the creditablity Vice President Biden has earned over the past five or so years. By the way the only group smaller that real candidates that could win Romney the rural vote is the group that wants to be Romney's VP anyway.  The lack of a viable VP candidate is but the first one Romney's many problems here in rural land

A factor that Mr. Saunders forgets, and may reasonably not mention in a national interview is the dark horse in the race..the white elephant that may well leave a terd in the punch bowl at the failed Republican victory party.  Who is this masked marauder that poses a real threat to the Republican base?  Who is this threat to all things holy in the last Republican bastion?  Representative Virgil Goode of Virginia.  Goode can play the Guns, God, Gays ballad all day long, and plans to do so.  Goode won't take Virginia (or any other states for that matter) but I would bet Mudcat a meal at Texas Tavern he will put a dent in the Republican vote.  Virginia was a battleground state in the truest sense in 2008.  The Commonwealth put a Democrats in the Senate and House, but went to Obama.  (Bi-partisan or Bi-polar..you be the judge) Any slice out of the razor thin majority Republican hope they have in Virginia is a death keel.  Goode is just such a slice.

Romney has an uphill battle no matter what Republicans think.  The south and those who care about the three G's don't like Romney and why should they.  He isn't one of them, and he certainlly doesn't know how to deal with them. That fact alone is not going to be repaired by a strong VP candidate (even though that has happened with OB




Friday, April 27, 2012

When You Step In It, You Have To Clean It Up...And It's Obvious That You Have

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/307974


http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/feb/29/house-will-not-take-up-ultrasound-abortion-bill-to-ar-1729686/


Politicians and public figures will at one point of another end up on the wrong side of an issue.  It happens, and is part of the deal.  That does not keep the rest of us from watching as they try to spin things, and weave a web to cover their tracks.  Thankfully we have people who pay enough attention to notice the little things they try to do.  It would be easier if they simply admit they were wrong, and move on. It causes less bad press, and end the end makes you look better in the long run.  As easy (and commendable) as it may be, it would eliminate all the fun for the rest of us. The following are but two recent examples of public figures covering their tracks post-scandle.


Embattled Franklin County (VA) Public School Superintendent Charlie Lackey had a private school bard meeting called on his behalf on Thursday over the recent investigation into his spending on the school board credit card.  The facts and figures in the article linked above are great for showing just how guilty Lackey is.  Before any of the three investigations, Lackey spent money like it was not his..because it really was not his.  A doughnut here, a airline ticket there, using the county's car everywhere added up, but Lackey did not mind.  Now, Lackey is posing a model spend-thrift who has nothing but the system's welfare in mind.  His actions make it painfully obvious that he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  So now, rather than having a Superintendent lauded for being honest in the face of scandal, Franklin County is faced with bad press, a faking leader, and a budget that is in the pits


Our second example comes from the hallowed grounds of Richmond via the sanctified landscapes of Lynchburg.  State Delegate Kathy J. Byron has been in the news of late for her controversial bill that would require all Virginians seeking an abortion to see an ultrasound image of the child about to be aborted.  Byron has since lessened her stance on the matter but not before having caused a good deal of bad press for herself.  Media outlets ranging from the Richmond Times-Dispatch to Jon Stewart have commented on Byron's blatant misunderstanding of a woman's rights, so now the spin starts.  Recently Byron sent out letters to all students who made the Honor Roll at their schools within a 100 mile radius.  Students received letters from as far away as Roanoke and Richmond.  This is a massive mailing list considering Delegate Bryon's district is limited to Campbell and Bedford Counties (both in Virginia).  Seems to me that these form letters had less to do with congratulating the recipient for making the Honor Roll, and more about appearing to be involved in the education of the Commonwealth's youth.  


Perhaps Lackey and Bryon should coalesce and share notes, maybe they already have.  Either way they have shown just how guilty they really are by taking drastic measures to negate the wrong they have done.  Both should have simply stepped up, admitted defeat and moved forward.  By not doing so, they have shown a large deal on contempt towards the informed public (and anyone with an ounce of common sense for that matter), and in the long run hurt the organizations they represent.  Rather than being adults who have assumed the mantel of adulthood (and even more so the responsibility of public office) they have resorted to petty behavior that mirrors a four year old that gets caught.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Freemason, A Catholic And A Muslim Walk Into A Bar

A Freemason, a Catholic and a Muslim walk into a bar...Millard Filmore is the bartender and Glenn Beck is sitting at the other end

Rumor has it Glenn Beck has been airing a series of shows on his GBTV.com that deal with the conspiracy theories about President Obama and the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood.  While such theories do have some worth in my mind, for the most part I brush them aside for this simple fact.  We have seen this video before.
Millard Filmore Was Anti-Everybody
Exhibit A:  The Freemasons. 

Since the conception of this country, the Freemasons have been a part of the shaping and governing. The fraternity began to flourish nearly simultaneously with the American experiment, leading to rumors of a Masonic conspiracy.  Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams, and many of the signers of the Declaration and Constitution have all been alleged to have been Masons.  In truth, Washington, Franklin, Samuel Adams (not John), and 13 signers of the Declaration were Freemasons. The conspiracies grew and grew to the point that America's first third political party was the Anti-Masonic Party that ran Millard Filmore as their Presidential ccandidate.
The Anti-Masonic Party Was Outdone By The Anti-Anti-Masonic Party, Which Insistently Included Millard Filmore

Exhibit B: Catholics

Almost immediately after President Kennedy announced that he was running for President, many believed that it was an attempt at the U.S government by the Pope.  Many Americans refused to vote for Kennedy because they feared he would answer to Rome before he would the Constitution.  Much of this was residue left over from the nativist, anti-Catholic (officially embodied by the Know-Nothing Party) sentiments that picked up where the Anti-Masonic Party left off.  Interestingly enough Millard Filmore was in involved with the Anti-Catholic movement too.  Back to Kennedy: Kennedy suffered immensely from his Catholic association and it took adding Lyndon Johnson to the ticket in order to bring southerners around. (a decent idea for Mitt Romney). Catholics overwhelming voted for Kennedy, and those that did not did so because the felt he was either too liberal or simply not Catholic enough. 
There Is Irony In This If You Look
Do I fear (as Beck would have me) that President Obama has allowed and is apart of an infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into the highest ranks of the country? No, I do not. Do I think it might be a convenient tactic to keep him from a second term? Maybe.  Do I think we as Americans have a long history of fearing the worst so that we might only be half wrong? Absolutely.

Opps I Did It Again

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/us/obama-administration-helps-pay-for-nypd-muslim-surveillance-215570/

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/02/white-house-money-used-for-ny-surveillance-program/1#.T5a7PnkmWuI



I am glad I am not the only one who has noticed the hypocritical moves in the past few weeks on the Obama Administration in dealing with the electronic surveillance of Syria and Iran.  We are putting more pressure on our so called enemies to treat their people well, than we are putting on ourselves to treat our own people well.  This seems a bit absurd that we have a President that will tell one country not to do something, yet do the very same thing here in the United States.

This is not new, and we should not be surprised.  Presidents have long been the mode for American hypocrisy, but for some reason this stings worse than others.Why is that?  Is it because the nations being slapped on the wrist are Syria and Iran?  Could it be that those countries are still feeling the swells of the Arab spring rapping on their shores, and we as Americans have done very little to help push those tides in the favor of Democracy? (that was a very long question)  I think it is both and then some.


Part of it is because Americans had higher hopes for President Obama.  Many folks, especially young people, thought for some reason that President Obama was going to rise above that.  Knowing what I know about the government, I understood that a tight rope was to be walked by whom ever was elected in 2008. (I don't feel sorry for people who drank the Obama cool aide and are now not liking the taste) That does not keep me though from being critical of something if need be.  This is why I find these actions so hypocritical.  Not because it is President Obama, but because it is simply so hypocritical.




We should not be surprised with President Obama's actions in regards to Syria and Iran.  We certainly should not be critical of them.  There is a thin line that must be toed.  What we should be critical of is the fact that rights that should be extended here in the United States are not, and are being force (at some peril) on other countries.  Hypocrisy is distinctly American, like it our lump it.  It's what makes the United States the United States.  Still it does not make it easy to tolerate when it is happening to you