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Monday, July 06, 2009

July 4 Tea Parties

Posted by: Chris Regal at 12:37 PM

Just for confirmation: we are not the media who refuses to cover the tea parties!

Here are some stories from the blogging community:

Bob's My Uncle went in Dallas.

Doug Edelman uses this as a call to action among Conservatives.

American Sweetheart spent her Fourth at the Pittsburgh Tea Party (with pictures!).

Catmman braved the scorching heat to stand up in San Antonio.

Any other attendees from around the country? Post on this thread!

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Monday, July 06, 2009

McNamara Dies

Posted by: Jillian Bandes at 12:24 PM

Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara died of unspecified causes at the age of 93. Widely known as the architect of the Vietnam War, McNamara was vilified by critics for his decisions, and reportedly spent his remaining years in agony over the war.

The Baltimore Sun, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Esquire have worthwhile reads.

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Monday, July 06, 2009

The MSM's Tax Naifs

Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 12:20 PM

The LA Times' Chris Erskine wrote a column about a tea party in suburban Los Angeles over the weekend. Along with all the condescendingly folksy "color commentary" about the "characters" attending, Erskine managed perfectly to crystallize the naive (or ignorant) MSM attitude to tax increases:

In such a climate, it strikes me as . . . well, almost un-American to be griping so vehemently about helping those less fortunate. Were this a war, we'd all dig a little deeper to buy guns and battleships.

Well, we're in a war, and we've got to dig a little deeper to provide jobs and economic band-aids. We will. When pressed, we are a pretty amazing country.

Erskine makes a number of assumptions that are troublingly uninformed.

First, America is the most generous country on earth, as our record of private charitable giving demonstrates. What's more, the type of people protesting at the tea parties are more likely to be donating than Erskine's liberal buddies, who apparently consider taxes something akin to a holy offering.

None of the tax protests have anything to do with opposition to "helping those less fortunate" (although, in fairness, when did it become "un-American" to object to having the fruits of one's own labor coercively taken by the state, simply because other people were deemed to "need" what you had earned?). Rather, the tea parties have arisen because of the government's wasteful spending. Perhaps Erskine should look into the panoply of benefits that allow our state representatives (and state workers) to live in a way that those in the private sector cannot -- and their air of entitlement to them.

Second, in a "war," people are providing for the common defense. Here in California, the productive are taxed without mercy -- and yet the schools underperform, the hospitals and prisons are overcrowded, and the roads are a mess. Unless you are part of a union, a politician, or in need of public assistance, there isn't a whole lot to like about the way the state is run. You pay, and pay, and pay -- and see nothing for it. In a war, people in the rest of the country would object -- and rightly so -- for being taxed to eternity to defend, say, only the northeast.

Third, as even those like Erskine should be learning from the Obama "stimulus" debacle, jobs are not "provided" by taxing the people who create them. Jobs are created when the job-creators are freed from the nightmarish over-regulation and confiscatory taxation that has made California a terrible climate for "business" -- yes, the same "business" that creates jobs.

Finally, Erskine assumes that everyone who is protesting over-taxation is simply doing so to be selfishly "un-American." Has it ever occurred to him that for some, a tax bill that forever spirals upward can spell economic disaster? How is it someone putting out a hand for public assistance should be the object of respect and compassion, while those who are simply trying to maintain their economic equilibrium and independence should be condemned as unpatriotic?

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Carville to Consult for Karzai's Rival

Posted by: Olivia Offner at 9:41 AM

James Carville, a Democratic strategist who ran Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, is advising Afghan president Hamid Karzai's challenger, former Afghan finance minister Ashraf Ghani. Ghani received a PhD from Columbia University and worked at the World Bank.

Carville says he did not discuss the Afghan elections with former president Clinton or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and that his role as adviser to Ghani should not be read as U.S. approval for a new Afghan leader. Carville, who has worked on campaigns in 18 countries, said:

I don’t think anybody would veto me doing this. I’ve worked in Israel when Bill Clinton was president. It’s what I do.

Read more here.

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Myths About Obamacare

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 9:40 AM

Quite often, the stuff sent out by the RNC isn't always helpful. But today, they've put together a very good email, which lists various news items clearly debunking different promises made by President Obama regarding his healthcare plan ...

- "You can keep your plan. "You can keep your doctor." Busted by the AP.

- "Costs won't rise." But will be paid for by plenty of taxes according to the AP.

- "The plan will not add to the deficit." But CBO says plans would worsen budget outlook.

- "The 'public option' will provide competition." Even the Chicago Tribune editorial board knows better.

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Rep. King: Stop the Jackson Coverage!

Posted by: Olivia Offner at 9:21 AM

Over Fourth of July weekend, Congressman Peter King (R-NY) recorded a video calling on the media to stop covering "some pervert like Michael Jackson" and focus instead on real American heroes.
King acknowledged that Jackson was a good singer and dancer, but said:

Bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild in the same room as Michael Jackson?

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Ambinder on Palin

Posted by: Jillian Bandes at 8:28 AM

Assuming there is no scandal shoe about to drop, to understand what Gov. Sarah Palin is doing, we ought to begin by taking her at her word. I readily admit that her statement today wasn't terribly clear, which is quite telling itself: she doesn't quite know why she is doing what she's doing, ALL CAPS notwithstanding. She can't explain it to herself, and so she certainly can't explain it to others. But it's not that complicated to get the gist: she's "not retreating," she's advancing. Palin, in Alaska, is a sitting duck for the people and forces she believes are ruining the country. She can't fight back -- she can't protect her family, her values, her worldview -- while she's governor. At the same time, her desire, perhaps conscious, perhaps not, to get into the mix -- to be invited to the fancy Washington dinners, to be courted by these very forces -- is irresistably pulling her towards the very fight she seeks.

The Atlantic

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Tuesday Looks Like A Good Day to Find A Good Book

Posted by: Jonathan Garthwaite at 6:20 PM

Because if you turn on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, E!, BET....you'll get the Michael Jackson memorial Tuesday.

Townhall will not be live from the Jackson memorial. But we'll certainly be watching the networks for their expected over-coverage.

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Today's Washington Journal

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 5:07 PM

I was on C-SPAN's Washington Journal today with Alexander Heffner of Scoop44.com, discussing a wide variety of topics. Check it out here (segment starts at the 35 minute mark).

Matt Lewis blogger PoliticsDaily Townhall.com

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

An Amazing Lack of Grace

Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 3:16 PM

Perhaps the only thing more amazing than Sarah Palin's surprise announcement of her resignation was some of the responses to it.

The women in the elite media crowd got what they apparently wanted -- they forced a woman who was trying to "do it all" (i.e. raise a family and hold a demanding job) to admit that she couldn't, really, stand to pay the price that was being demanded of her (and her family). They got someone whose views, background and very being they despised to injure her chances ever to hold higher office -- the person who was, until Friday, perhaps the likeliest woman to hold the presidency in the next generation.

All that would seem like a pretty good day's work, wouldn't it? But it wasn't enough for Maureen Dowd and Gail Collins, who couldn't resist figuratively donning red dresses and spitting and dancing on the corpse of Sarah Palin's governorship.

What is wrong with these women? Does their hatred run that deep? What's missing in their own lives -- what kinds of "holes in the soul" do they have -- that they can respond to Palin's resignation with such venomous glee?

Just wondering.

But it sure isn't any surprise so many women want nothing to do with the "feminists" like Dowd and Collins. And what a waste to use writing talent and space on the NY Times op/ed page for such catty and cheap attacks.

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

God Bless America!!!

Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 3:14 PM

Happy birthday, America, and many more! How blessed we are to live in a country that came into being because of an idea -- and an ideal -- that all human beings deserved to be free.

Many brave men and women have given their lives for that idea, and that ideal. Ronald Reagan once offered a warning that's worth keeping in mind as we celebrate the 233 years since this glorious nation's founding:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Happy Independence Day -- and God bless America!

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

"Who could blame her?"

Posted by: Jillian Bandes at 10:58 AM

Dana Perino has some great insights on the Palin escape.

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

Anchorage Daily News Reporter: Palin Email "Cryptic"

Posted by: Jillian Bandes at 10:51 AM

Woke up to a cryptic e-mail this morning from Gov. Sarah Palin's office. All it says is she "will make an announcement at her Wasilla home this morning" at 11.

On Fourth of July weekend? From her home? Hmm.

My question: why did it have to be so cryptic? She's staying another month on guard -- so just wait until after the holiday, why don'tcha?

Maybe she thought that if she waited to make the announcement, she'd reconsider. Or maybe she wanted her July 4 weekend to relax without having to worry about throwing such a curve ball on Monday morning.

The bottom line is that no one knows why she did it - the timing, the reasoning, nothing.

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

Happy Independence Day!

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 10:15 AM

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

Romney Rising

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 9:53 AM

If Mitt Romney had convened a conclave to set about systematically destroying his potential presidential opponents, he could have done no better than this.

Moderate Utah governor Jon Huntsman was dispatched abroad by President Obama, Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affairs ended any ambitions they may have had -- and now, Sarah Palin's bizarre announcement that she is stepping down as governor of Alaska has -- in my mind, at least -- guaranteed that she cannot realistically win the GOP nomination in 2012 (though she may try).

Had anyone at such a meeting invented this scenario where Romney's opponents would self-destruct, they would have been laughed out of the room.

And while this GOP collapse may, at first blush, appear to be a bad thing for Republicans, it ironically may help Republicans prevent a nasty primary battle on the right, freeing up Romney to focus his energy on President Obama.

Of course, should the economy recover, Obama may well be unbeatable. But should the economy continue to slump, Romney would be uniquely suited to challenge Obama. After all, prior to becoming Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney ran Bane Capital -- a firm specializing in turning around failing companies.

Moreover, Romney is temperamentally suited to this task, as well. Whereas other Republicans are passionate, Romney (with a few exceptions) relies a bit more on a logical dispassionate approach to politics. In this regard, he is well suited to the times, and more stylistically like Obama than his other potential competitors.

Speaking of which, it seems, at this point, Romney really has to worry about only former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Regardless, neither Gingrich nor Huckabee will have the organization or fundraising prowess that Romney can put together. One can imagine Romney arising as the establishment candidate, and having to fend off Huckabee in states like Iowa and South Carolina in much the same way that George H.W. Bush dispatched of rivals such as Pat Robertson in 1988.

Conflicts arise when there is no clear leader, and this may be the opportunity for Romney to become the de facto leader of the GOP, sooner than anyone thought. It's still a long way off, but Mitt Romney couldn't have planned this any better had he tried ...