Earl Henry Sholley – his website.

Now, Sholley probably has one of the hardest tasks imaginable – getting rid of a corrupt, entrenched Democrat in a very Democratic district. He’ll need a lot of help. So, what are you waiting for? Help out.

Victor Davis Hanson goes down the list of modern “culture” and why he’s no longer interested – and concludes, in part:

…As I have dropped out of contemporary American culture and retreated inside some sort of 1950s time-warp, in a strange fashion of compensation for non-participation , I have tried to remain more engaged than ever in the country’s political and military crises, which are acute and growing. One’s distancing from the popular culture of movies, TV, newspapers, and establishment culture makes one perhaps wish to overcompensate in other directions, from the trivial to the important.

Lately more than ever I try to obey the speed limit, overpay my taxes, pay more estimates and withholding than I need, pay all the property taxes at once, pick up trash I see on the sidewalk, try to be overly polite to strangers in line, always stop on the freeway when I see an elderly person or single woman with a flat, leave 20% tips, let cars cut me off in the parking lot (not in my youth, not for a second), and patronize as many of Selma’s small businesses as I can (from the hardware store to insurance to cars). I don’t necessarily do that out of any sense of personal ethics, but rather because in these increasingly crass and lawless times, we all have to try something, even symbolically, to restore some common thread to the frayed veneer of American civilization, to balance the rips from a Letterman attack on Palin’s 14-year-old daughter or a Serena Williams’s threat to a line judge, or the President’s communication director’s praise of Mao, civilization’s most lethal mass murderer, or all of what I described above.

I don’t fathom the attraction of a Kanye West (I know that name after his outburst), a David Letterman, Van Jones, Michael Moore (all parasitic on the very culture they mock), or the New York Review of Books or People Magazine (they seem about the same in their world view). So goodbye to all that…

Yeah, I’m like that, too. It started for me, in a serious way, when I returned to Christianity. As I go through the grocery store check out and see the tabloid headlines about celebrity scandal, I often haven’t the foggiest notion of who’s on the front page. I do still watch my Chargers, but after the way the NFL has treated Rush, I’m a lot less enthused than I used to be – meanwhile, baseball and basketball are not on my agenda. As for popular music – I’ve gone way past retreating to the music of my youth: often its Mozart or Bach on the CD player, and thank God for their talents! Movies are usually horrible, in my view: either too much sex or too much violence or too much phony, liberal preaching.

Additionally, I do find myself not speeding, giving larger tips, being more willing to help and be patient…and as I read that from Hanson, I guess I got the same feeling he did when he was thinking it over: aren’t there more and more like this, all the time? Have any of you withdrawn from our nauseating culture and re-connected with civilization? To me, a lie has become a horror, the merest hint of marital infidelity a hideous crime, the smallest malfeasance cause for grave soul-searching, the least manifestation of impatience with others a monstrous cruelty. Why on earth would anyone do such things? I can’t watch people destroy themselves and giggle about it – I’m sure they giggled in Rome about how the gladiators died, or about the latest scandal out of the Imperial Palace…people sick in their souls, degraded by a depraved culture.

Life is too serious for anyone to pay attention to pop-culture. Life is also too fun to be bogged down in the voyeurism and scandal-mongering which is the grist for our pop-culture mill. So, yes, indeed – goodbye to all that.

Video of Karl Rove on Obama and his “Enemies List” and Chicago style politics.

Its a really bad Administration we’ve got here, boys and girls…all that is missing is the paranoia, and that is lurking just below the surface.

Interesting, to say the least:

White House military and defense advisers will meet again this and next week to discuss a proposed troop increase for Afghanistan, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday…

…”We would love the luxury of this debate to be reduced down to just one question — additional troops, 40,000,” Emanuel told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “This is a much more complex decision.”

“The question, though… does not come [down to] how many troops you send, but do you have a credible Afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services that the Afghan people need?” the chief of staff added. (emphasis added)

The issue here being the very credible stories of voter fraud in the recent Afghan Presidential election. What Emanuel is saying – or, at least, what he’s running up the flag pole – is the concept that while Obama would like very much to provide the requested military reinforcements, since there is questions about the government’s legitimacy, we simply can’t do it though we’ll continue to work with Afghan leaders to bring about a peaceful resolution and let no one think this means we’re giving up on al Qaeda as the full power of American law enforcement will be mobilized to bring them to justice, if we can get an indictment… Its a soft scuttle – a pretense that our hands are tied and we’re doing as much as we can, and its too bad that the Taliban are back in Kabul. If this goes through, I’ll expect that the CIA will suddenly decide that bin Laden died in the Tora Bora in 2001, thus getting Obama off the hook for that, too.

This sort of cowardly dodge is being seconded – most notably by Sen. John “I was in Cambodia” Kerry. Make no mistake about it, the Powers That Be in the Democrat leadership are looking for a way out of Afghanistan which doesn’t too badly damage their national security credentials. They might not be able to finesse this and end up forced to send the troops, but the preferred option does seem to be to get out – and get out far enough in advance of the 2012 elections that, hopefully, the American people will not care about it when voting time arrives.

The truth of the matter is that the Afghan government is horribly flawed – but we’re not there for the Afghan government, but for the people of Afghanistan, and the people of the world. Certainly, we must help the Afghan government overcome corruption and build a credible military force, but our moral responsibility is to the safety and liberty of the Afghan people, not to whomever happens to be running the show in Kabul. If we fail in this – if we use the excuse of government corruption to justify abandonment of the Afghan people – then we will have placed a mark of shame on our nation second only to that we acquired when we abandoned South Vietnam.

For crying out loud:

‘Green’ Customers Get Discounts at Berlin Brothel

One bordello, hoping to stave off falling demand in the economic crisis, has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door.

“It’s very difficult to find parking around here, and this option is better for our environment,” said Thomas Goetz, who owns the brothel Maison d’Envie, or House of Desire.

Local residents in Prenzlauer Berg – a part of former East Berlin now home to scores of trendy boutiques, restaurants and clubs – had staunchly supported the Green party in recent elections and have welcomed the bordello’s offer to emphasize the environment.

Ruthless exploitation of human beings for the gratification of rich men – good.

Not being “green” – bad.

We’re insane – we really are. A dying civilization – fortunately, it is the “post-Christian” civilization which is dying. Once its gone, we’ll argue with Islam over the remains of a dead Europe – and the parts we keep will once again be Christian…and so we won’t have stories about whore houses going “green”.

He’s running for governor out here in Nevada:

The son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has formally entered the Democratic race for Nevada governor, saying the state needs to diversify its economy and stop postponing difficult decisions.

Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid said Wednesday he doesn’t think his father will have a big effect on his campaign to become the state’s top executive. He says Nevadans ask him about issues, not his father.

He says Nevada has become too reliant on the gambling industry and needs a more diverse economy to pull out of the recession.

Which is true, and credit to Rory for seeing that – but with dear, old Dad having been in the Senate all this time, you’d think we’d have a bit of that economic diversity, already. Is Rory going to point out what his Dad failed to do, and how he’ll do it better? Or will the son claim that the father has done everything he can, but we’re still screwed? Either way, it doesn’t work out well for either Reid.

Outside of that, there is something distinctly un-American in all this – its one thing for a son to follow a father in to politics, quite another when father and son are attempting to obtain high office at the same time. If Harry wanted his son to be governor, he should have refused to seek re-election. I think, in the end, that having two Reid’s on the ballot will just help convince the voters of Nevada that we should have no Reids, in office.

UPDATE: Naturally, given he’s a Democrat, his platform conflicts with the State Constitution...when this is pointed out, Reid’s determination is to find a way around that august document…like father, like son…

Took a while:

Begun as a loosely affiliated groundswell of Constitution-waving protesters in tri-cornered hats, the Tea Party movement is now starting to rock the political establishment in key arenas.

The growing numbers of Americans coming out to the Tax Day Tea Party, the Fourth of July Tea Parties, and then the 9/12 Tea Party march on Washington are going back to their home districts and keeping up — even intensifying — the fight for smaller government and more transparency on spending and taxation.

In places like New York, Florida, California, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, local, state, congressional, and gubernatorial seats are suddenly being tugged to-and-fro by the new and unruly political force.

The upshot?

The street energy is welcome for an otherwise moribund Republican party looking for new moorings amid a tumultuous electorate.

The downside is that early examples shows that, in the short run, Tea Party-sponsored candidates could make it more difficult for Republicans as they — Ross Perot-like — split races as they target both “tax and spend” Democrats and those they like to call RINOs, or “Republicans-in-name-only.”

There will be a few Democrats out there who catch on and realize that a pledge against taxes and for a balanced budget will bring them TEA Party support against any RINO who happens to garner a GOP nomination next year. There will be a lot more Republicans who figure this out. But there will be enough GOPers (and a vast number of Democrats) to remain clueless to make 2010 an interesting and impossible to predict year. I was figuring on a 30 seat GOP House gain – now, I haven’t a clue. Who knows whom the TEA Party will propel to the polls? I figure the GOP will still gain seats (more Democrats on the chopping block, mid-term of a new Presidency, economy shaky, etc), but my prediction now is an absurd 1 to 100…and 1 to 10 Senate Seats.

While some in the establishment wring their hands and worry that these TEA Partiers – who lack proper, professional, elite leadership – simply won’t know that they are not smart enough to influence politics, I’m delighted with it. It’ll be one heck of a rollicking, seat-of-the-pants political year…and we’ll be changed as a nation, after it.

Wonderful stuff:

The Rev. Al Sharpton is threatening to sue Rush Limbaugh for writing that the civil rights leader played a role in two New York race riots.

Limbaugh wrote that Sharpton played “a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot” and the “1995 Freddie’s Fashion Mart riot” in a Wall Street Journal column published Saturday. Sharpton called both allegations false.

That a race-baiting slanderer like Sharpton would dare accuse someone of slandering him is just to outrageous for words…but, it keeps the issue alive, keeps Sharpton in the public eye (and that helps the GOP immensely) and will just increase El Rushbo’s ratings…so, its all good.

Via the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman for Congress campaign.

Its a three-way race in NY-23 to fill the seat vacated by Obama’s Secretary of the Army. From Real Clear Politics, its Owens (D) at 33%, Scozzafava (R) at 26%, and Hoffman (C) at 23% – with the D and C both rising in the polls, the R dropping and 1 in 6 voters still undecided. Hoffman leads among Independents.

The Conservative Party was created in New York for the specific purpose of holding the GOP’s feet to the fire – nominate center/right candidates, or face a conservative Third Party which will siphon enough votes away to hand the seat to the Democrats. So, what is up with Scozzafava and why is she facing such a strong, Conservative challenger who seems certain, at the least, to deny her a seat in the House? As far as her positions on her website, all pretty good: for an individual right to bear arms, for making the Bush tax cuts permanent, against “cap and trade” – what gives?

She’s favors the fascist “card check” legislation and while talking a game of fiscal responsibility, she has often voted for bloated budgets and tax increases; additionally, she’s pro-choice, which ensures that social conservatives will never get enthused about her. It is just that much straying from center/right which has doomed her. Now, Hoffman may still pull off a win – the outgoing GOP House member won with 65% of the vote in 2008, which means that the current Democrat candidate is pulling no more than usual…all Hoffman has to do is get to 34% or so, and he wins. Given that his poll numbers have risen 7 points recently, this is not out of the question.

The lesson for the GOP is that even in a blue State like New York, the rank-and-file don’t want anyone who even might be a RINO (people have been unable to get Scozzafava to commit to running as a GOPer in 2010, supposing she wins next month). Rather than have a RINO, the folks would rather have a Democrat – heck, a centrist Democrat representing a GOP district might even be susceptible to GOP pressure, ya know? Meanwhile, even if we lose it, we can come right back a the Democrat in 2010, hitting him with Obama’s failures for all their worth. If we GOpers want to win, we have to run candidates who adhere to core GOP principles.

What does this mean? That you simply must pledge to low taxes, low spending, low regulation and State and local control – in other words, you must be a representative of the people, not the powerful. Some GOPers have figured it out – getting Scozzafava to sign the no-new-tax pledge, but it might be too little, too late for her. Its not the people screaming for Obamacare and massive borrowing – it is the elite; the powers-that-be. The GOP is supposed to be against this – and our GOP leadership had better wake up and smell the coffee.

• Weekly Recap (2009-10-10) http://bit.ly/349pIF #
• Obama Administration Secures More Oil Profits for Chavez, Islamists; Higher Prices for Poor Americans http://bit.ly/ayY6E #
• A Democrat Understands Afghanistan http://bit.ly/vK8jK #
• Sorry, Gore, But the Global Warming Debate Isn’t Over http://bit.ly/LzKOr #
• State Revenues Indicate Worsening Recession http://bit.ly/X6a5e #
• The TEA Party and the GOP http://bit.ly/LzWZm #
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Knockers http://bit.ly/SJx3g # Continue reading →