A Boston Tea Party …(Halloween Costume)

I purposely watched the weekend news shows to see how they treated the special prosecutor news conference held on Friday. Fitzgerald had announced that the indictment had nothing to do with the war but rather the perjury of testimony in front of the grand jury by Mr. Libby. Fitzgerald said there was no outing of a CIA agent, which was the reason the special prosecutor was named. How would the news media react?

I watched three shows over the weekend. On Friday night “Hardball” with Chris Mathews was the first to come on the television. I was anxious to see the spin Chris would put on the outcome of the case after being near orgasmic the entire week over the possibility of the indictment of Karl Rove and this case showing a false pretense for war. Chris went with the spin of how serious this was for the White House and did not nothing illegal was found in the outing of a CIA agent. That subject was brought up finally by a guest, Pat Buchanan, in the forty second minute of the show. “Hardball” was followed at the top of the hour by “The O’Reilly Factor” on FOXNEWS. O’Reilly took a whole two minutes at the beginning of his show to divulge the truth about the entire case and indictment. Sunday morning my attention turned to “Meet The Press”. Tim Russert and his panel followed much the same storyline that Mathews had the Friday night before. It was not until William Safire finally spoke thirty-six minutes into the program that the spin became factual.

While I believe the indictment of “Scooter” Libby is a very serious offense and if found guilty he needs to be punished, I will say the some in the media deliberately failed to report the real story. They put a Halloween costume on what the prosecutor found in order to continue their misrepresentation of this administration. The only difference between Libby and Joe Wilson is that Wilson did not purge himself in front of a grand jury. Wilson is known to have lied and soon we will find out if Libby is guilty of it. My hunch is that for as long as Bush is President some in the media will also keep the truth from the American public.

Guaranteed Winning!

A Boston Tea Party …(Game On)

All real conservatives are rejoicing today. The Harriet Miers nomination is over. There should be no gloating but it is a time of excitement. Give the President credit for reading the writing on the wall and acting. He took the lesser of two evils and decided to take the hit now rather than face a larger degree of embarrassment when she went before the senate during hearings next month. He is taking a mulligan and we now begin the nomination process anew.

Make no mistake about it; there is a political hit for the mistake of this nomination. Only the President’s “yes” men would deny it. The short-term will have Democrats screaming the President has given in to the far right fringe. Had he nominated the type of candidate he was expected to nominate he would never have been in this situation. It is the President and his staff who screwed up not Harriet Miers. We are now back to where we should have been.

The debate or fight (call it what you want) for the direction of the country’s judicial philosophy is what us conservatives want. It is all about how one believes the constitution should be interpreted. It is this interpretation that will decide whether Roe v Wade is proper law. It is whether one believes the constitution is a strict document and not one that moves with the times. It is an interpretation that does not allow for judicial rulings of foreign countries to help decide law. Conservatives want this hearing, this nominee, this point in time to show the stark contrast between us and the left.

It is because of the seriousness of what is at stake that we demand the best candidate possible. Every Supreme Court ruling has ramifications throughout the land. We need experts who can write arguments that take the country back to where it was intended to be. The Presidents next nominee does not have to be a woman but rather the best strict constitutionalist available. If that candidate is Priscilla Owen or Janice Rogers Brown then so be it.

The conservative cause remained faithful to its beliefs throughout the Miers mistake. The conservative cause remained faithful to its beliefs regardless of who the President was. The conservative cause will show it fully supports this President when he leads in a manner he was elected to do as he has in the war with Iraq. The conservative cause will remain a powerful force in this country long after this President is gone.

Democrats are now going to realize how mainstream the conservative cause really is. Let’s get ready to rumble because it is “game on”. There is no better way to demonstrate how far to the left the likes of Kennedy and Shumer are than to bring a confident, strong and qualified nominee before them. The next candidate should not be a “stealth nominee”. We conservatives want this fight all out in the open for everyone to see. What better way to show your cause is just then to win in a public forum. After conservatives win this fight to rein in the judiciary I only hope we turn those same forces towards fiscal responsibility. I am getting ahead of myself, as Red Pollard said in the movie "Seabiscuit, “Brick by brick my citizens brick by brick.”

A Boston Tea Party …(A Bridge To Somewhere)

The bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska costing $152 million remains in existence. The bridge connecting 5,000 people to an island of 50 people was kept in a bill the senate passed by a margin of 85 to 15. Senator Tom Coburn, one of maybe 5 Republican Senators with an ounce of fiscal conservatism, argued to limit spending with removal of this bridge from the bill. Alaskan Republican Senator Ted Stevens responded by saying he would resign if the bridge were removed from the spending bill.

Remember when Democrats would try to scare voters during campaigns that Republicans were going to shrink the size of government. Democrats would warn potential voters their programs of support were going to be eliminated by the evil Republican Party. I guess that argument is down the tubes. Any potential new Republican candidate for the 2008 election will be laughed at when running on the ideal of smaller government. While his/her will for it may be valid, it is the Republican leadership who will make living up to those promises impossible.

Yesterday the President gave a speech on fiscal responsibility. He said the shrinking the deficit is still possible. Is it? Will he lead? Does he have the leadership to convince his own party to come to their fiscal senses? Will he veto a spending bill? The “Bridge to Nowhere” is now a “Bridge to Somewhere”. I only hope a small select few of fiscally responsible Republican members of the House of Representatives will eliminate such blatant pork in conference hearings but all bets are off.

A Boston Tea Party ...(Reality Of The Nomination)

“D’” day for the Harriet Miers nomination is November 7th. This is the day she is supposed to begin senate hearings detailing her immense qualifications for the job of Supreme Court justice. She has begun preparing for her oral exam by meeting with senators and providing answers to a written questionnaire on her views of judicial rulings. To date neither one on one conversations with senators from both parties nor her answers to the questionnaire have been overly impressive.

There seems to be very little for supporters of this nomination to rally around. While the president remains steadfast in his support for Miers, those who must provide background on her have failed to present anything substantial that would change any view of those who oppose this nomination. It is fairly obvious Republican senators do not favor her nomination and are hearing it from their constituents. They only have kept quiet because of pressure from the White House.

When the hearings begin all cards will be on the table. If you do any research at all you will find the odds are Harriet Miers quite possibly could be run over during her time in front of the Judiciary committee. Her lack of knowledge on pertinent issues facing today’s Supreme Court will become very evident. If this were to happen, I wonder what would be worse for the president. Would he be more embarrassed by a nominee who doesn’t make it out of committee or a nomination he revokes before hearing begin? Each will have its political cost. Unless Ms. Miers shocks all those who are paying attention and somehow figures out how to brilliantly answer the questions she will be facing, this president will be embarrassed. Instead of carrying the torch for conservatives who wanted this judicial fight his nomination will add to his troubles. When nominating her the President said she was the most qualified candidate. As we near November 7th there can be no one who takes this issue seriously who agrees with that.

I suggest he follow Charles Krauthammer’s advice and use the senate’s asking for the turning over of private White House papers as a way out. The political cost would be minimal and a stronger candidate would emerge. It is my hope Republican Senators are honestly letting the White House know the reality of the nomination. A reality us true conservatives saw from the beginning. This was the wrong person for the job.

Cry Of The Loon ...(Barnum & Bailey)

Yesterday Ed Schultz announced his show was not going to be heard on Armed Forces Radio anytime soon. I apologize for ever making the statement that government can never do anything right. I guess I will have to qualify that statement from now on. Except for the military, government cannot do anything right.

Ed seemed slightly hurt and embarrassed as he nervously giggled and was left to wonder as to why he had been fired before his first day. He stated how strongly he was for veteran benefits. This is his favorite pro military mantra. Believing that if one is pro benefit then one is automatically pro military. Credit must be given to the pentagon for digging a bit deeper into the modus operandi of the Ed Schutlz show. Ed said it himself yesterday by remarking, “I am a talk show host, I don’t have to be factual like a reporter does.” The pentagon must have realized there was no benefit in putting a mouthpiece on that is willing to say anything at any time regardless of merit. Ed’s show operates in a similar manner to a Louis Farrakhan rally. Like Farrakhan he uses hit and run tactics often threatening to take on any righty talk show host while admitting he will do so only if he gets something free out of it. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing but only useful when those who speak are not fools.

Ed could not understand why Rush Limbaugh’s show would be o.k. for Armed Forces Radio, yet his is not. Comparing his show to Rush’s is like comparing the “Washington Post” to the “National Enquirer”. His show is where all conspiracy theories come to die. All rumor or innuendo is allowed on Big Eddy’s Barnum & Bailey circus. Certainly in this case our troops will be better off not hearing his freak show.

FEMA criteria

A Boston Tea Party …(Holding Them Accountable)

A few key quotes from George Will’s most recent “Newsweek” article:

“For a few conservatives, the accumulation of discontents may have begun building toward today’s critical mass in December 2001 with the No Child Left Behind Law, which intruded the federal government deeply into the state and local responsibility of education, grades K through 12. That intrusion has been accompanied by a 51 percent increase in the budget of the Education Department that conservatives once aspired to abolish.

“… browbeat enough conservatives to pass the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ- an entitlement with an unfunded liability larger than that of Social Security. The President’s only believable veto threat in nearly five years was made to deter an attempt to cut spending by trimming the drug entitlement.”

“Agriculture subsidies increased 40 percent while farm income was doubling.”

“The transportation bill’s cost, honestly calculated, exceeded the threshold that the president has said would trigger his first veto. The total cost of the bill - $286 billion – is more, in inflation-adjusted dollars, that the combined costs of the Marshall Plan and the interstate highway system.”

“The indictments of DeLay – although certainly political in terms of the prosecutor’s motive and probably unjust as a matter of law – are, considered solely in terms of their consequences, helpful to conservatives. DeLay, who neither knows nor cares any more about limited government than a camel knows or cares about calculus.”

“DeLay is exhibit A for the proposition that many Republicans have gone native in Washington.”

“Conservative members of the Republican Study Committee, charges that some Republicans think big government is good government if it’s our government.”

“Conservatives are not supposed to be cuddly, or even particularly nice. They are, however, supposed to be competent. And to know that scarcity – of money, virtue, wisdom, competence, everything – forces choices. Furthermore, they are supposed to have an unsentimental commitment to meritocracy and excellence.”

For those of you who think the Harriet Miers nomination was the first time President Bush and the Republican leadership had let down conservatives the answer is no. It was the watershed moment that opened the floodgates of criticism.

In this conservative’s eye it is surprising the uproar has taken so long. It takes more than lowering taxes to govern as a conservative. The voices of Will, Limbaugh, Kristol, and the like have spoken for many of us. The Republican leadership, Bush included, have long ago decided politics came before the cause. Their actions reflect what they believe is necessary for reelection in contrast to believing enough in their conservative principles to carry them to victory.

Real conservatives are demanding a return to the ideology they value. They no longer will be silenced due to loyalty. Loyalty has set the conservative agenda back years. To summarize George Will conservatives aren’t supposed to be nice, are able to make hard choices, and demand excellence. Bush and the leadership’s lack of legislating as expected has caused nervousness with the Miers nomination and justifiably so. I am thrilled the voices of conservatism are now holding them accountable. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long. Some of us have been doing it for a while.

A Boston Tea Party …(Take Their Medicine)

Most conservatives are very astute at pointing it out when someone is trying to have it both ways. They get regular practice doing so when debating a liberal. With the use of logic conservatives most often can poke holes through the many contradictory arguments of the left. We get so much practice with a liberal that pointing out hypocrisy becomes an art form. If you are going to point out when a conservative is wrong, you better bring your “A” game.

The White House is trying to take apart the conservative arguments against the nomination of Harriet Miers. How they are doing it is as laughable as any argument we see from the left. Because I am a conservative who hates hypocrisy, I must point out the weaknesses in the points trying to be made by the President’s political soldiers.

It started with the talking point of elitism and has now turned to remarks of sexism, religion, and stance on abortion. I discussed elitism in an article entitled “Niche in the Market” which I wrote last week. For the White House to strongly point out that Miers is a born-again Christian smacks with contradiction. Conservatives do not want religion to be a litmus test for any judicial nominee. It is liberals who nearly faint when a Catholic is nominated. Conservatives believe in a constitutionalist regardless of what religion he or she may be. Hearing the White House tout Miers’s religion as a point of emphasis shows just how backed in a corner they really are. They are reduced to arguing like a Democrat.

The White House is also trying to comfort the discontented with the news that Miers is pro-life. While I am glad she is, it really doesn’t matter. John Kerry says he is pro-life but he votes for abortion. Because Harriet Miers is pro-life does not mean she would rule the same way on cases brought to the Supreme Court. Again the issue is whether or not she believes in judicial restraint or whether she reads things into the constitution that are not there. The problem is we have neither statements nor writings from Miers to give us an idea on the type of judge she would be. When the hearings took place for John Roberts the White House did not want his pro-life stance discussed. Now with Miers they are very anxious to tell us. Where is the logic in that?
When your argument in support of something is weak, you are most often left to contradict previous statements made. It is when such hypocrisy is cited that a conservative knew he had a liberal right where he wanted them. Each case the White House makes in favor of Harriet Miers reduces their stature. The conservatives of the microphone and the blogs have won this fight. The reaction of the White House tells us so and each new day brings further desperation from them. Rather than play point counterpoint the White House should take their medicine or risk further humiliation. Conservatives not only want to win an argument they often want to humiliate those they argue with. Just ask a liberal.

Ed's Fan Base

A Boston Tea Party …(Niche In The Market)

True red-blooded conservatives have been filling the air waves with outrage over the past week. The President’s nomination of Harriet Miers was the latest of an ever-growing series of defeats for many of us who firmly believe in true conservatism. The angst voiced on talk radio and blogs is not quieting down but instead is growing ever more vocal.

In order to discredit those true conservatives who oppose this nomination many voices that predictably follow in lock step with this President are using the term elitists. True conservative voices like Bill Kristol, George Will, Rush Limbaugh, David Frum, Charles Krauthammer, Laura Ingram, Bill Bennett, and Marc Levin are being called elitists for their unwillingness to “just trust the President’s choice”. A point needs to be made about these voices of conservatism. The arguments they have made against this nomination are the same arguments millions of other true conservatives are voicing. These voices of the right are only doing what those of us expect of them. Had they not voiced strong opposition to this nomination the true conservatives of every day America would no longer feel they were creditable.

There is nothing elitist about myself and other true conservatives who feel the President could have made a better choice. Those who stand behind the President only because they trust him fail the “cause”. The “cause” is bigger than any President. The “cause will last longer than any one single election cycle. The “cause” can be set back years by the failure to legislate in a true conservative manner. We who disagree with this choice realize the opportunity is now to finally change the direction of the far-reaching judiciary. The color, sex, and which law school are not what matters. We only wanted the best candidate for the job and do not understand why we didn’t get it. To call us elitist is a joke.

The word “grunt” fits much better than elitist. A “grunt” is willing to fight for the cause. A “grunt” does the dirty work. The names given above are doing “grunt type work.” They are giving a voice to the thoughts of us every day true red-blooded conservatists. I am curious if maybe we have tapped a new talk radio market. A true conservative could give hell to Democrats and non-conservative Republicans. What a perfect way to advance conservative policy. Blaming Democrats is easy but holding non-conservative Republicans responsible as well takes courage. We can tell because doing so in the last week will get you labeled. The angry callers to Bennett, Ingram, and Limbaugh illustrate a niche in the market is not being filled.

A Boston Tea Party …(Off Repeat Mode)

We all have a favorite song or at a minimum a few songs that when we hear them make us sing t out loud. Pick one of those songs and imagine hearing it played 24 hours a day for a week straight. It would not take long for you to lose interest in that song. Same words, same melody, same beat over and over all the time, every time you turn the radio on. It would not take even the full week before you would turn the radio off and turn your attention to something else.

I describe this because it is very much like the past few years hearing President Bush give a speech on the war on terrorism. Every time he spoke it was the same old lines. Listening to the President had become so very predictable. I knew he was going to tell me it that war was hard work and that war was a long process and that terrorists were out to get us. Those words were inspiring and effective the first couple of times but like a favorite song the more it got played the less I wanted to hear it. I kept wondering if his speech writer was just that bad or did he only have one speech writer or did his handlers not have enough confidence in him to use different language in his speeches. I totally supported and continue to support the war effort but also I realized that this President was losing support just from his redundant speeches.

Today the President finally played a different song on the album of war. The first new words I had heard in more than a year. Words like “The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends and defiles a noble faith” and “They have been sheltered by authoritarian regimes: allies of convenience like Syria and Iran that share the goal of hurting America and moderate Muslim governments and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and America and on the Jews” and “In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we’re responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom, and once again, we will see freedom’s victory”. The words are as inspiring as they are different. Finally his handlers took him off repeat mode. Thank God and let’s hope it continues. Like new songs new words can have the power to motivate, to excite, to rally. Each new song has a chance to be a hit. Old speeches should only be brought out to reminisce about not to be continually repeated.

A Boston Tea Party …(But NOOOOOO!)

Remember when Republicans hoped to control both houses of Congress and the Presidency. It was five years ago. Republicans were anticipating a new conservative approach to government. They were going to show America just how much could be accomplished when you had the legislative and executive branches under Republican control. Remember when Republicans were going to reverse the damage created by the previous Democratic President.

In those five years the Republican majority has grown. Taxes have been lowered but are still too high. Defense spending has increased along with plenty of other domestic spending. Our Republican President has not vetoed a single bill. Any hint at diligent Republican conservatism by members of the party faithful can be laughed at. Another important issue for many conservatives was the realignment of the Supreme Court to a more traditional branch resembling what the framers of the constitution intended. It was obvious to everyone to accomplish this was not going to be easy but with Republicans controlling the nomination and the approval process, it was a fight that could finally be won.

Things seemed to be going so well with the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts last week. It was my hope that the President would nominate a candidate even more to the right of Roberts for the seat of Sandra Day O’Connor. I like many real conservatives wanted to bring the fight for the direction of this country to the attention of this entire nation. A fight is what I expected and a fight is what I thought we should give the Democrats. A knock down drag’em out battle royal that would leave no doubt between how Republicans and Democrats view the role of the judiciary.

Today our trusty leader decided to say “No Mas” to the brawl in the Senate. Whether he didn’t think he could win or didn’t want to put the nation through it we will never know. Today he nominated Harriet Miers, a nominee who there is little to base a conclusion on. The President and his normal lackeys are telling us not to worry. They say he knows her well and believes she will do right by him. I say there were plenty of other candidates who gave us plenty of evidence of how they would judge. There were even others who left no doubt this court would take a distinct turn to the right. With the Miers nomination we have no proof other than the President’s feeling. I remember his feeling about Putin and how well that has turned out.

I am even less confident in this decision after I heard Senate Minority leader Harry Reid was content with this nomination. I wanted someone that would give Harry Reid an upset stomach. Someone who would make whatever color he has left in his face disappear. As John Belushi used to say, “But NOOOOOO!” Our so called conservative President has left us frustrated due to the lack of any true record of where nominee Miers stands on many key issues. Harriet Miers has been quoted as saying that President Bush is the most brilliant person she has ever known. Well I don’t think this was a brilliant move. This move lacked the courage to stand in the arena and fight for those who had given you their support. Sometimes you have to show your base your willing to go to war for them regardless of how ugly the fight could get. This President has failed to do that with the budget and now with this nomination. She may think he is brilliant but I for one sure don't think he is a brilliant convervative.