Blogs For Victory

From NPR:

It’s not clear what if anything the attack on a New York City cab driver, a Muslim and Bangladeshi immigrant allegedly by a white 21-year old college student from upstate New York, had to do with the controversy over the proposed Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan.

But some observers have feared from the start of the superheated debate over the proposed Islamic center which would contain a mosque only a few blocks from Ground that hostility toward the project could lead to violence…

You have to get down to the bottom of the report to find out the guy was drunk – you know, loud mouthed drunk gets in brawl. Gee, that never happened before – must be the Ground Zero mosque opponents who caused it! We must shut down debate and become politically correct slaves in order to prevent drunk idiots from attacking Moslem cabbies!

Sorry, liberals, this ain’t gonna fly.

From Daily Finance:

Your next shopping trip may not be as convenient as it used to be. The second quarter earnings season brought news from several major retailers that they will be shutting down stores. Both Saks and Abercrombie & Fitch said they were closing stores in several parts of the country. Meanwhile, other stores like the struggling Blockbuster video rental chain, continue to slash stores by the dozens. American Apparel, which is close to defaulting on its loans, just may be next.

Consumers just aren’t shopping the way they used to. Even Wal-Mart Stores, which typically fares well during tough economic times, is worried. “The slow economic recovery will continue to affect our customers, and we expect they will remain cautious about spending,” said president and CEO Mike Duke in a statement that was released during the company’s second quarter earnings report….

Not exactly the sort of news one wants to hear 3 months in front of the big shopping season – anyone want to take bets on whether this Christmas will be a financial bust? Might be we’ll have to get back to treating Christmas as, well, Christmas…all that God and hope for the world stuff we’ve put in the backseat in favor of new toys.

If you go to the linked article, you’ll see that this is not juts a few stores – Blockbuster is on path to close about 500 stores, while Abercrombie and Fitch will close about 100. How many people work in each store? 20? I don’t know – never really worked retail so I don’t know staffing levels…but its going to be a lot of people, and it is a sign of the continued contraction of the economy. And less retail outfits means lower levels of stock – less orders for factories; this is both a sign of how bad things are and a signal of how bad they might become.

As I’ve said, only a complete re-working of our economy towards wealth creation will get us out of this – people aren’t going to be able to fuel growth by putting it on the credit card, national or personal.

HAT TIP: Mish’s

The Tea Party Movement is planning nationwide public readings of the Constitution, Saturday, September 18th. Here are the details from WeReadTheConstitution.com

WeReadTheConstitution.com was formed in order to promote the reading of the Constitution in its entirety by as many Americans as possible. The Tea Party movement has stimulated a widespread interest in our founding documents, principles and ideals. We’re organizing a nationwide series of local events celebrating the United States Constitution on September 18, 2010. Across the United States ordinary citizens will be hosting or attending local gatherings at public places and backyard barbecues where they will read aloud the entire text of the United States Constitution. It is a profoundly moving exercise that will take less than one hour.

This is a good idea. I hope that Democrats will be forced to hear the words of the Constitution. Lord knows they need to finally read it.

Lost in all the hub-bub of Tuesday’s primary elections was this – from American Papist:

Yesterday Alaskans voted to approve “Ballot Measure 2″ which requires that parents in Alaska be notified before their teen age 17-or-younger daughter has an abortion. Alaskans passed this pro-life initiative 55-44, though the Anchorage Daily News didn’t even bother to mention the final figures in their coverage.

Let’s get this straight – Planned Parenthood opposes the idea that girls under 18 should have to inform their parents they intend to get an abortion, despite the medical risks associated with abortion, despite the fact that most every other non-emergency procedure already requires parental notification if the patient is a minor, and despite the fact that a majority of Americans support parental notification laws.

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU funneled $800,000 into its campaign to stop Measure 2, five times as much as supporters (the Knights of Columbus was the biggest financial supporter of the measure)…

And that is pretty much it – an insane position is taken by the extremists of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. They spend bags of money trying to sucker people in to backing insanity – and they are turned back at the polls by the common sense of the people. Even if you are pro-choice, I can’t imagine why anyone would deny parental notification for abortion – its just common sense. And thus the left hates it.

Issues such as abortion have taken a back seat to the very understandable concerns Americans have over the economy – but we must never let up for a minute in advancing the cause of life. If we don’t have a right to life, then we don’t have any rights at all. This is the fight for the future of our nation – whether we are rich or poor or what have you, if we aren’t a pro-life nation, then we aren’t a nation worthy of our Founders.

Yet another once-safe Democrat seat in peril:

New polling in the California senate race has moved that race to Toss-Up status from Leans Democratic in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Rankings. In the latest polling conducted on Tuesday Night Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer are virtually tied…

Barbara “Ma’am” Boxer is an entrenched member of the Ruling Class – and is a perfect example of same. Arrogant, out of touch and hopelessly ultra-liberal in outlook, her contempt for common sense is matched only for her disdain for the views of the people. Beating her would be the ultimate signal – even more so than beating Harry Reid – that new times are coming to America.

Just one of George’s favorite songs:

He was the child of George Childs and Barbara Jane Noonan. Born in Massachusetts, he took this as an omen that he was to be patriot and a defender of the spirit of 1776. This is, perhaps, what made him a life long rebel and a problem for both of his parents.

An engaging personality, a rapier-like intellect and a determination to have his way with every problem often led to stunning success, but more often led to a compounding of problems until they became overwhelming. George was the archetype of the black sheep of the family. But for all the trouble which followed and surrounded him, he could also bring gifts beyond price to those who knew him.

As his mother pointed out shortly before her own death in 2003, without “Georgie” in our lives, we would have had fewer adventures, and learned far less of the world and what was in it. The world, when George was leading the way, was an enchanted fairy tale – even though such tales often led to an ogre or other peril, they also led to magic castles, and dreams to astound. It was, after all, George who introduced me to that great consolation of my life, The Lord of the Rings – and he who built ever more incredible stories upon even that sublime foundation.

George had his own demons and could not shake them. In the end, they played a role in leading him to the path upon which he found his end – but his end was, nevertheless, brought about by a man who decided that George’s life was not worth anything. It was a savage, brutal attack which ended the life of our brother. The prayers of our family, now that our brother has gone, will be for the salvation of this man of wicked deed, yet still capable of salvation.

George is survived by his daughter, two grand-children (one just three weeks old – a lovely, little girl who has her grand-father’s chin), two sisters and three brothers. We here in the Noonan family thank all of you for your prayers during this time and wish all the best in the world for you.

From US News:

One of Washington’s principal supporters of the Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections. The number and intensity have reached such heights that the organization is leaving its downtown location near the FBI and moving to a high-security building near the U.S. Capitol.

“FreedomWorks and Dick Armey receive dozens of threatening and harassing calls and E-mails each day. Many imply violence and use of weapons,” spokesman Adam Brandon tells Whispers. “As we get closer to the election we expect the harassment to increase.”…

Keep it classy, liberals.

Just the violent acting-out of liberals who are watching their world crumble – the victory of 2008 is turning to ashes in their mouths.

Next time, liberals, try to be honest – campaign on what you really want to do; then, if you manage to win, you won’t get this sort of populist backlash. Lies can work – but only for a while, and once they’re found out, people get very, very angry.

So says Morgan Stanley over at Bloomberg:

Investors will face defaults on government bonds given the burden of aging populations and the difficulty of securing more tax revenue, according to Morgan Stanley.

“Governments will impose a loss on some of their stakeholders,” Arnaud Mares, an executive director at Morgan Stanley in London, wrote in a research report today. “The question is not whether they will renege on their promises, but rather upon which of their promises they will renege, and what form this default will take.” The sovereign-debt crisis is global “and it is not over,” the report said…

Mr. Mares is correct – this, though, is just Establishment types playing catch up with the real world. That noted financial expert, Mark Noonan, talked up this very issue here, here, here and here.

The only thing we have control over is whether or not we’ll prevent this from happening here. We still have a (rapidly shrinking) window of opportunity to get our own fiscal house in order. If we balance the budget and institute policies which will encourage wealth creation, we can weather the storm. It will still be hard – don’t get me wrong; there is no easy fix…no easy way out of this. But we can prevent, I believe, the worst-case scenario of an American default. But only if we act swiftly – and that, my fellow Americans, will require a lot of new people in DC.

Thus spoke the Duc de La Rouchefoucauld-Liancourt to Louis XVI when the king said that storming of the Bastille was a revolt – a Ruling Class which didn’t understand the depths of the crisis. I believe our own Ruling Class is similarly out to lunch on what is happening. Event after event in 2010 has indicated a brewing revolution in American political affairs and yet the people in charge continue on as if they’re going to weather the storm. As if, that is, we’ll vent a little bit and then let them get back to normal. Ain’t gonna happen.

Right now, a political unknown is leading in the vote count (PDF) in the Alaska GOP Senate primary. My bet is that Joe Miller pulls it off – but even if he ends up not quite making it, the fact that he’s got this far is a harbinger of things to come. He’s an unknown who had only two things going for him, TEA Party and Sarah Palin support.

Yesterday, I couldn’t watch or read much news as I was on the road – but I did hear some TV talking head opine that Murkowski’s expected big win shows that Palin Power is fading. Yeah, right – Palin Power isn’t derived from Sarah Palin, but from the people who admire her as a gutsy spokeswoman for average folks…until those folks are happy, Palin Power will be phenomenal – as will be the influence of the TEA Party.

If Senator Murkowski loses, she’ll be the third sitting Senator in 2010 to be ousted in a primary. I cannot recall this ever happening – it may never have happened ever before. But if it has happened before, I bet that it’ll be found as precursor to massive changes in the political system. Incumbent Senators are simply not rejected in the primary in any common political climate.

The only thing which can be expected now is that the results will surprise everyone in November. People who were supposed to win in a walk over will lose while some who looked in danger will triumph. Democrats, being the party in power will bear the brunt of the voter’s anger, but don’t be surprised if a few entrenched GOPers fall before the wrath of the people…as some already have. It is the Ruling Class which is being rejected – from coast to coast and border to border, the winds of change are blowing to hurricane force.