As you may have heard, in a 57-18 vote, Virginia GOP Chairman Jeff Frederick was recently ousted from his position. 

Removing a chairman in Virginia is no easy task -- in fact, it required a 3/4 vote of the State Central Committee to accomplish (the alternative method would have been a 2/3 vote at a state convention).  Simply put, it's not easy to get yourself fired from this position, and yet Frederick somehow did.

But it's not over yet.  Frederick is now vowing to run again at the upcoming Virginia state convention -- and is attempting to portray his removal as a liberal/insiders vs. conservative/outsider paradigm -- with Frederick cast the grassroots conservative outsider.

Regardless of where one stands on Frederick, it is clear to anyone paying attention that his larger problems are personal -- not ideological.  I am told he has ticked off nearly everyone in the state -- which explains how 3/4 of the State Central Committee would vote to remove him from office.

Still, there is a danger that his continued fight could cause grassroots conservatives to be even more turned-off by the GOP than they already are.  This is especially problematic considering Virginia will elect a Governor this year.

Virginia Republicans might be able to diminish this issue by nominating Sandy Liddy Bourne.  Bourne, of course, is a Virginia conservative activist, and the daughter of G. Gordon Liddy.  She has been mentioned as a possible candidate for this position, and I'm hearing good things about her from some Virginia conservatives on the ground...

As you know, I'm closely following the Big First District of Kansas, both because I have family in the first and this will be one of the hottest races in the nation...in fact, The Hill newspaper recently named it one of the top ten races in the country.

The race features several candidates, including conservative hero State Senator Tim Huelskamp and former Brownback staffer Rob Wasinger.

Huelskamp, solidly pro-life, was recently endorsed for Congress by Kansans for Life -- he is also the only candidate to have gone on record opposing Governor Kathleen Sebelius’ nomination to be HHS Secretary (read his op-ed in American Spectator). 

Wasinger hasn't taken a stance on Sebelius -- presumably because Sam Brownback is supporting Sebelius' nomination to become Secretery of Health and Human Services.

Wasinger, of course, enjoys the sort of perks you would expect a former Senate staffer to enjoy.  He was in DC for years, so he has made friends with a lot of DC powerbrokers and opinion leaders.

But being out of state has a downside, too.  Before being a staffer in DC, he was away at bording school in New England for several years.  So Wasinger hasn't lived in Kansas going on 15 years.  Perhaps this is why there appears to be an attempt to portray him as a "real Kansan".  One prominent blogger named Beldar even wrote this laughable post in praise of Wasinger the other day: 

"I received an email from a trusted blogospheric friend today directing me to a post on Redstate.com from a real Kansan..."

Excluse me ... a real Kansan ... This is an enteresting angle to take, considering Huelskamp (the other major candidate) has been a Kansas State Senator since 1997 and is a farmer in Fowler, KS.  My guess is Beldar doesn't live in Kansas.  Heck, I live in Texas -- but I at least Google things before writing about them. 

Over the years, Huelskamp has been recognized by a variety of Kansas conservative groups, including: Top Friend of the Taxpayer, Kansas Taxpayers Network; Daniel Award for Courageous Leadership, Kansans for Life; Taxpayer Champion, Americans For Prosperity-Kansas; career A rating, NRA; and Hero of the Taxpayer, Americans for Tax Reform.

In short, in the state of Kansas, Huelskamp is essentially a conservative rockstar.

Meanwhile, Wasinger essentially moved back to Kansas because he saw that a Congressional seat was opening up. 

A local Kansas newspaper actually describes the race this way:

"Too bad the 1st District congressional seat in Kansas doesn't come open more often. We might be able use this apparently coveted job as a way to increase population in western Kansas - the term "western" used loosely, of course, as it is in eastern Kansas."

If you think this race is hot now, consider this: The primary isn't until August of 2010.

As you may recall, I've been closely following the fight between RealDVD and Hollywood. 

The fight essentially boils down to this:  RealDVD says if you "own" a DVD, you should be able to make a personal copy of it (like you can do with a cd or VHS tape).  Hollywood, sadly, has balked on this notion.

But a new survey today, released by the National Consumers League clearly demonstrates Americans are growing tired of not having the freedom to own the DVD's they own.  According to the survey: 

Nearly all (90 percent; 93 percent with kids in the house) say DVD owners should be able to copy a DVD to their computer in the same way that they save music from a CD.

More than half of respondents (55 percent) said that they are currently purchasing fewer DVDs than they did a year ago.

Four in ten (41 percent) said they expect to purchase fewer DVDs one year from now.

However, 41 percent said the ability to save a copy of their DVDs to their computer or laptop would make their DVD collections more valuable, and 40 percent said it might cause them to buy more DVDs.

Clearly, it would be wise for Hollywood to pay attention to the changing attitudes of American consumers.

 

Bill Ayers, the terrorist (funny how Wikipedia says "activist" instead), won't be speaking at Naperville (Illinois) North High School after all.

From the Naperville Sun:

"Naperville North High School won't let 1960s radical speak to students after outcry."

"After a weekend of hostile e-mails from area residents, Naperville Community Unit School District 203 rescinded its invitation to the 1960s radical to address students April 8 at Naperville North High School."

“Lots of people have concerns about him,” he said, referring to the community’s reaction. “I have heard from other districts that have had him speak. Some said it was a beneficial experience and some things I heard clearly bothered me.”

Wait, did he say that some thought "it was a beneficial experience?" EXCUSE ME, what? On teaching people how to bomb the Pentagon or how not to regret doing enough?

The paper added...

"District 203 Director of Communications Melea Smith said the district had received more than 125 e-mails over the weekend and the sentiment ran against Ayers’ coming to visit. “It’s a mixed bag,” Smith said. “The majority of people are angry.”

Let me get this straight, a majority is a "mixed bag?" If it were just a mixed bag, the school district wouldn't have pulled the plug -- this is just the AP's can try to justify the stupidity of allowing a terrorist to pal around with high school students.

Ever felt like you were dying to get off an airplane?  For some people, it's not just an expression.

After long plane rides, a condition called “economy-class syndrome” or “coach-class syndrome” can set in.  This occurs when passengers cannot move or extend their legs.  Combined with factors like low cabin pressure and dehydration, people can develop fatal blood clots.

But a story in today's USA Today caught my attention entitled Statin Crestor lowers risk of deep-vein clots without bleeding. It looks like they have finally found a way to combat this condition:

"Researchers have shown for the first time that a potent cholesterol-lowering drug, Crestor,  reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis, or "economy-class syndrome," caused by potentially lethal blood clots that start in the veins and migrate to the lungs,sometimes after long flights."

...If you're not interested in health care, this may seem like trivial news.  But keep in mind, about 100,000 people die from this condition each year...

Increasingly, as Barack Obama's policies continue to be a failure and sends the stock market plunging downward while moving America more and more towards socialism, there is a underlying motive on some to say any criticism is akin to racism. Actress Angie Harmon rightfully disagrees with this growing sentiment.

From FOX News:

"Here's my problem with this, I'm just going to come out and say it. If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist," said Harmon.

"But it has nothing to do with it, I don’t care what color he is. I’m just not crazy about what he's doing and I heard all about this, and he’s gonna do that and change and change, so okay … I'm still dressing for a recession over here buddy and we've got unemployment at an all-time high and that was his number one thing and that's the thing I really don't appreciate. If I'm going to disagree with my President, that doesn't make me a racist. If I was to disagree with W, that doesn't make me racist. It has nothing to do with it, it is ridiculous."

Harmon is also tired of the double-standard that exists in the media today, speaking out on the recent trip by Barack Obama to the west coast that cost the tax payer over $54,000 a mile to make an appearance on the Jay Leno show:

"I do think McCain would have done a better job, only because I think he has more experience. I also think if W or John McCain or Reagan would have gone and done a talk show, the backlash would have been so huge and in his face, and ‘What is our president doing? How unclassy!’ But Obama does it and no one says anything," Harmon said.

Harmon is also a fan of former VP candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

"I admire any kind of woman like her. My whole motto is to know what I stand for and know what I don't stand for and have the courage to live my life accordingly and she does exactly that. The fact that this woman has made the decisions she's made and literally lived her life according to that and takes heat for it is absolutely disgusting to me," she added. "People cannot look at this woman. I really think they're afraid of her and her morals, ethics and values and the fact that she hangs on them. Is she the most experienced person in the world? But she was running to be the Vice President, so we then put the most inexperienced person as the President. That didn't make any sense to me."

It's interesting to note that a Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a female politician and someone who was mentioned as a potential VP herself, has allowed a criticism of Palin on her campaign website as Matt Lewis mentioned today.

Harmon joines fellow conservatives in Hollywood like Gary Sinese and John Voight in their support of Republicans and opposition to Barack Obama.

Letter to the Editor from Svetozar (Steve) Pejovich, Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University. a well-published scholar with 20 entries into the Library of Congress Catalog.

President Obama’s first budget is not just about “spreading the wealth around”. It is tailored to change the very character of the United States economy along the lines of European social democracies, a close relative of socialism. The problem facing Obama and his advisors is that the United States does not have a tradition of European social democracy, nor have American intellectuals ever shared the fascination of Western European intellectuals with socialist doctrines. To overcome the American tradition of self-responsibility and self-determination, the President is arguing that (1) the current crisis has proved that American capitalism of the years gone by does not work, and that (2) federalized education, socialized medicine and government controlled energy policy are a must for economic growth. Those statements are at best misleading. The President is not telling us which system has done better than American capitalism and on what evidence? Moreover, he also ignores a simple bit of evidence: The United States has created the economic machine never seen in human history without socialized medicine, federalized education and government controlled energy policy. 

Barack Obama is not only President but apparently he is America's Chairman of the Board as he has forced GM Chairman Rick Wagoner to resign in advance of Monday's announcement on another Auto Industry bailout.

From Politico:

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner's departure.

The problem, here, though is why did the Obama Administration wait till AFTER the Sunday Talk Shows to leak the forced resignation? By doing this, BHO's exposure on the issue is minimized and thus avoids the heat it would have received on the rounds of TV talk. It allows the media, which doesn't need much of one, an opportunity to avoid giving this breach of power any more light than they would want to give it.

Politico adds...

The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Just one more step towards the Government being in complete control and removing all signs of what made America: rugged indvidulism and free markets.

Kansas Sen. Tim Huelskamp has caught the ire of Planned Parenthood because he is fighting for life.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal:

One of the largest providers of family planning services for northeast Kansans criticized Thursday a state Senate budget provision that jeopardizes federal funding for the organization.

Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said a budget amendment sponsored by Sen. Tim Huelskamp should be stricken from the final 2010 appropriations bill.

"This is a political and biased attack against Planned Parenthood and the thousands of Kansas families who rely on us for preventative health and education services," Brownlie said.

Huelskamp should be praised for his work in Kansas, and is currently the most conservative candidate Kansas' 1st Congressional District race.


Understand that Planned Parenthood makes money off of abortions and isn't ethical in their dealings with young women. Lila Rose (whom I interviewed on-air and wrote about on Townhall) has done excellent work with an organization entitled LiveAction.org exposing PP clinics around the country.

UPDATE: I've just learned that Huelsklamp's amendment was sadly dropped from the budget bill today. Unfortunately, for those that support protecting innocent human life, this is a blow. I'm told there is a smaller budget bill that will come up during veto session in April -- and the Huelskamp amendment will likely be reworked and added to that bill.  Stay tuned.