Blogs For Victory

Democrats didn’t give President Bush an ounce of credit for the more than 8.3 million jobs created since August 2003, but are now jumping to blame him for the no-so-great jobs report that came out today, which said that while the unemployment rate went down to 4.8%, payroll employment declined by 63,000 jobs last month. The news is by no means good, but not nearly as bad as Democrats are making it out to be. For starters, the unemployment rate is still historically low. In fact, because it is as low as it is, naturally, economic growth is going to slow down. Even as we were in the middle of a record 52 consecutive months of job growth (thanks to Bush’s economic policies) Democrats bashed the economy like we were in the middle of another Great Depression.

What this report should tell the Democrats is that we need more economic stimulus… which would include making the Bush tax cuts permanent and cutting spending… Unfortunately, congressional Democrats are proposing the exact opposite, a $683 billion tax increase and an increase in wasteful spending.

In response to the jobs report, Barack Obama attempted to turn the news into campaign fodder by saying Americans “can’t afford John McCain’s promise of four more years of the very same failed Bush economic policies that have failed us for the last eight, and they can’t afford another politician who promises solutions but won’t change the divisive, lobbyist-driven politics in Washington.”

I’m sorry Barack, but more than 8.3 million new jobs, a record 52 consecutive months of job growth, and historically low unemployment are not the results of a failed economic policy… they’re the results of commonsense economic policies that have been proven to work.

UPDATE: The Heritage Foundation urges Congress not to increase taxes, extend unemployment insurance, or restrict trade. They also note the following:

The economy is clearly weakening. Private-sector employment has fallen for the past three months, driven by job losses in the construction and manufacturing sectors. However, wages have grown at a strong pace, and the unemployment rate is still historically low. The economy is clearly sluggish, but America is hardly in an economic emergency.

Feel free to talk about what you’d like.

And be sure to check out Blogs For John McCain’s Victory…

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Here’s you chance, Diana, et al…have at it…bring up anything you want.

According to Bob Novak, “a showdown in Denver may be unavoidable.”

Such a showdown would reveal the consequences of eight years of Democratic procedural decisions that made no sense save for the premise that Hillary Clinton, as she expected, would be handed the nomination on Super Tuesday. That the convention will be held unusually late raises the prospect of not knowing the identity of the Democratic nominee until shortly before Labor Day. The decision to deprive Michigan and Florida of delegates because their primaries were scheduled too early cannot stand in a contested convention. That Hillary Clinton’s candidacy still lives forces Democrats to cope with their mistakes.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Charles Hurt: Only Gore Can Stop A Meltdown.

I don’t see it happening, but Hillary probably sees political advantage in keeping it open as a possibility.

Interestingly enough, Obama says it’s premature to talk about a joint ticket… Of course, as the one leading in delegates right now, and the essential front runner, he doesn’t need to use the joint ticket as a gimmick to help his campaign the way Hillary does.

The Chicago Tribune has an excellent piece explaining how both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s rhetoric against NAFTA is just plain wrong.

Barack Obama, the most liberal member of the Senate, allegedly “hopes” to appoint Republicans to his cabinet, if God forbid, he won the presidency. We shouldn’t be surprised at these claims… Anyone running for president will tout any efforts they’ve made in their career of reaching out across the aisle. Even the divisive Hillary Clinton has touted her past efforts working with a select few Republicans.

This sounds more like a story that should be coming out during the general election, but obviously Camp Obama, recognizing John McCain’s broad support that includes Republicans, Independents and Democrats, he sees the need to increase his support among independent voters now.

But, the thing is, I remember a while back Barack Obama making another one of his empty promises about not appointing only “yes-men” into his own inner circle. It’s probably safe rhetoric for him, since his supporters will naturally recognize those words as campaign rhetoric meant to broaden his appeal. And what could Hillary Clinton possibly say to make it hurt Obama, the same man who generates thunderous applause for blowing his nose.

Still, it’s hard to take anything Obama says seriously. We know his rhetoric on NAFTA is merely rhetoric that cannot be taken seriously, are we supposed to believe that Barack Obama, who is even more liberal than Hillary Clinton, would seriously pick Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) as his running mate? Hagel may oppose the Iraq war, but he’s otherwise very socially conservative. Would the pro-partial-birth abortion Barack Obama really pick Hagel for anything? Would Hagel even consider it?

Such talks of any bipartisan ticket shouldn’t be taken seriously, and neither should claims of bipartisan cabinets.. and certainly not from Barack Obama. I could see John McCain with a bipartisan cabinet before I could see Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton with one. Some have suggested that Joe Lieberman could even be McCain’s running mate, or even serve on his cabinet. I can’t see either happening, but Lieberman, who has already been thrown under the bus by his former party, would be far more likely to be John McCain’s VP or Secretary of Defense than Chuck Hagel would be likely to be Barack Obama’s VP or Secretary of Defense. But, again… both circumstances seem highly unlikely.

When your business is primarily in the murder of innocent children, this sort of thing comes naturally:

Los Angeles, Feb 28, 2008 (CNA).- The Advocate, a student magazine at UCLA, has released phone recordings of Planned Parenthood fundraising staffers approving of a donor who claimed he wanted his money to help “lower the number of black people.”

The magazine conducted a seven-state investigation to discover how Planned Parenthood fundraising centers would respond to a caller who expressed explicitly racist motives.

An actor posing as a racist donor called Planned Parenthood development centers asking that his donations be used to abort African-American babies to “lower the number of black people.” Each branch agreed to process the racially earmarked donation. None expressed concern about the racist motives for the donation, and some staffers encouraged the racist reasoning.

In a phone conversation with an Idaho Planned Parenthood office, the actor stated, “the less black kids out there, the better.” Director of Development Autumn Kersey called his position “understandable” and indicated she was excited to process his donation since she had never had a request “like this” before. An Ohio representative, Lisa Hutton, after hearing the donor’s racist explanation said that Planned Parenthood “will accept the money for whatever reason.”

The Editor-in-chief of The Advocate, UCLA sophomore Lila Rose, is leading a student campaign petitioning UCLA to end its ties with Planned Parenthood. Her campaign has won the support of Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rose’s previous work in The Advocate has been featured on The O’Reilly Factor and national radio. Rose said she is hopeful that regardless of their position on abortion, students can unite to combat Planned Parenthood’s racism both past and present.

UCLA senior Jose Manaiza, who was a 2007 nominee for the UCLA Student of the Year award and winner of the 2007 UCLA Chancellor’s Service Award, called upon his fellow African-American students and the entire UCLA student body to “commit to this new era of the Civil Rights Movement and fight any type of racism from Planned Parenthood.”

This is not at all surprising as Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, always thought of elective abortion as a way to limit the number of “inferior” people – especially black people. Not at all shocked to find that PP honors its founder by keeping up the racist end of abortion.

The fundamental problem with abortion is the errosion of humanity which goes along with it – in order to contemplate killing an unborn child, a person has to be substantially dehumanised (either by mental incapacity, addiction or societal pressure), but in order to argue that abortion either is or even may be a good thing, a person has to become all-out wicked…a person who not just lies, but who enjoys lying as a sport. Such moral degradation makes it easy to agree with someone who wants abortion for genocidal reasons – after all, with tens of millions already, why stand on ceremony?

The headline:

33 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Raid in Gaza

The actual story:

Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the tiny seaside territory in late 2005, but militants proceeded to fire rockets from the abandoned territory at Israeli communities.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, took control of Gaza by force from the rival Fatah in June.

Israeli government spokesman David Baker said Israel was ”compelled to continue to take these defensive measures” to protect more than 200,000 Israelis living under the threat of Palestinian rocket barrages.

Militants ”hide behind their own civilians, using them as human shields, while actively targeting Israeli population centers,” Baker said. ”They bear the responsibility for the results.”

The actual story is buried on page two of the report. The headline should read, for mere accuracy, Israelis Respond to Hamas Attacks – but that would be fair and accurate, and the MSM doesn’t allow that in reporting about Israel.

The story:

SAN ANTONIO — Senator John McCain got support on Wednesday from an important corner of evangelical Texas when the pastor of a San Antonio mega-church, Rev. John C. Hagee, endorsed Mr. McCain for president. Mr. Hagee, who argues that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive, biblically prophesized military strike against Iran that will lead to the second coming of Christ, praised Mr. McCain for his pro-Israel views.

The response:

Yesterday, Senator John McCain said he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.” The Republican presidential hopeful also called Hagee “the staunchest leader of our Christian evangelical movement,” citing the minister’s pro-Israel stance.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed this today:

“There are plenty of staunch evangelical leaders who are pro-Israel, but are not anti-Catholic. John Hagee is not one of them. Indeed, for the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’

Hagee, to put it mildly, is an unpleasant fellow – I went over to McCain’s website to see if there was more on this, and so far I haven’t even found it mentioned. I hope that Senator McCain will address this issue – but I am also quite confident, due to McCain’s past actions vis a vis Catholicism, that he doesn’t in any way, shape or form agree with Hagee’s views of the Catholic Church. My bet is that McCain was aware of Hagee’s staunchly pro-Israel stance, and that is what McCain was thinking of in obtaining this endorsement.

In general terms, I never engage in a fight with my brothers and sisters in Christ – and even though I view Hagee as terribly wrong, I won’t even fight him on this. I’ll pray he’ll allow God to enlighten him on the truth of these matters, but I see no profit in fighting a fellow Christian – however erring – when the whole of religion is under attack in our nation. I understand, and respect, Mr. Donohue’s position and agree that such things need to be brought up, and condemned, but in my view there is a need, also, for a careful understanding of the real stakes in 2008; Hagee’s influence is relatively small, and no matter how destructive he might be, he won’t do nearly the damage that a President Obama or a President Hillary will do.

UPDATE: Given that our lefties are trying very hard to pick a fight between McCain and Catholics over this, I think it worthwhile to bring up Catholics for McCain; there are quite a lot of my fellow Catholics who are enthusiastic backers of John McCain and this is a much stronger indicator of McCain’s views about Catholicism than the fact that the anti-Catholic Hagee endorsed him.

UPDATE: John McCain responds to the firestorm:

Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee’s views, which I obviously do not.

I am hopeful that Catholics, Protestants and all people of faith who share my vision for the future of America will respond to our message of defending innocent life, traditional marriage, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society.

Of course, it would have been better if the endorsement had never happened – but it did happen, and one can’t undo the past; meanwhile, we don’t want to alienate those followers of Hagee who are sincere, if misguided, Christians who do want what is best for America and the world. This is the best way around it all – making lemonade out of the lemons, as it were.

Seems that a liberal can’t crawl enough before it:

ROME, FEB. 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Senator Barack Obama’s claim that it was a “mistake” to vote in favor of an attempt to save the life of Florida woman Terri Schiavo is a statement that “dismisses life,” said her brother.

Bobby Schindler, the executive director of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, told ZENIT today that the senator’s comment “dismisses life in favor of death.” Schindler is in Rome to participate in the Pontifical Academy for Life’s congress titled “Close By the Incurable Sick Person and the Dying: Scientific and Ethical Aspects.”

Schindler also received an award today on behalf of his parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, from the Italian Movement For Life and Science and the association Life Rome for the couple’s efforts to fight on behalf of their daughter’s life, whose death was induced by the court-ordered removal of her feeding tube in 2005…

…During a presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday with Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama said of his vote in favor of the attempt to save Schiavo’s life: “It was not something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped.

“And I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that that was a mistake. As a constitutional law professor I knew better. I think that’s an example of inaction, and sometimes that can be as costly as action.”

Given the number of times Obama has votes “present” or failed to vote at all, I can’t see where he think that “inaction” is a bad thing. For all of Obama’s rhetoric about hope all I can see in him now is the spindly, decayed finger of despair – a hideous malformation of hope, which has twisted itself into being the advocate of hopelessness – thus the utter degradation of modern liberalism.

Contrast this nauseating sell-out of basic human decency to John McCain’s views:

There is no greater nobility than to sacrifice for a great cause and no cause greater than protection of human dignity. Decency, human compassion, self-sacrifice and the defense of innocent life are at the core of John McCain’s value system and will be the guiding principles of a McCain Presidency.

If you are pro-life, there is only one person to vote for in November.