Sounds like Patrick Kennedy's fateful tale . . .

This story from NJ--about the state Attorney General's improper intervention in a traffic stop, sounds an awful lot like Congressman Patrick Kennedy's preferential treatment in DC. Yikes.

I'm glad she (the NJ AG) has resigned, but I can't help but wonder if this relates to "issues" Liberals have with rule of law.

Magnanimous sign

I like the attitude of this sign:


You can purchase it and other nice signs at VictoryStore.com, if you want.

"Hang up and drive"

An interesting study about what we all observe (that is, unless we're continually distracted from such observations because we're talking on a mobile phone) while driving: talking on a cell phone while driving affects our driving. It doesn't matter that it is hands free. From my time as a prosecutor, I learned that we test for impairment by giving suspects "divided attention tasks" because driving epitomizes multi-tasking and "substances" impair our ability to do it. Involvement in highly-engaging conversation compounds the challenge of driving/reacting-while-driving.

Now; if I could only discipline myself not to use my mobile phone while driving, I could get a "hang up and drive" bumper sticker.

(ma)Caca is right . . .

I feel sorry for Sen. George Allen (R-VA). He is running for re-election and I think he has a lot of potential as a presidential candidate . . . I've always thought he had "Charisma" which has become nigh unto essential on the national level.

But he is in the news today because of an off-handed remark that is being twisted to appear nativist or racist or just plain ol' mean-spirited.

He is being trailed at every campaign appearance--even to the boondockish towns and hamlets of the state, by an operative for his opponent. The operative happens to be dark-complected as he has Indian heritage, and Allen pointed him out at a rally with comments that are being spun as nativist (and I have to admit, out of context they sound that way). You need to read the whole article, but you know being trailed and constantly recorded would get annoying. And of course a freak dressing operative would acquire a nickname in the campaign. And you know it would be hard not to mock a lone operative for "crashing" every event you hosted . . . and you still have to control your tongue in a campaign. I think this is the downside of the folksy charm and swagger that generally accompanies "Charisma."

Here's a good report about it . . . be sure and read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Here's actual footage of the alleged racial/nativist/mean statement by Sen. George Allen. It is even more obvious after watching it that Allen is calling out the campaign tracker's boss for being out of touch with real Virginians. The tracker is following them around; they're going all over Virginia; places that Allen's opponent won't go; his opponent is from inside the Beltway and is currently at a fundraiser in Hollywood; the tracker should show the tapes to his boss to let him know what real Virginia is like, etc. Watch it yourself. What a non-scandal.

Blogging for JIM Bryson

Some of you may know, but I am a contributor over at JIM Bryson for Governor (the unofficial blog). We've undergone a bit of a redesign and it is heating up as more attention shifts to the governor's race. Jim rose to be the go-to Conservative leader while only a freshman in the state senate. He is a successful businessman (though he didn't hit the jackpot like Businessman Bredesen . . .) and someone with red-state values . . . qualities we'll want if and when the economy is faltering.

Check out the blog for timely news and analysis regarding the Tennessee governor's race.

"Talking issues"

One of the things that get's tiring during election season is candidates complaining about their opponents' purported unwillingness to "talk about issues." (see below).

Well, over at Jim Bryson's official website they're offering podcasts of Jim discussing various issues in on-the-record interviews with the Media.

If you are tired of 30-second airpuf TV ads, these are tasty and nutritious treats.

Democrat party's "self-image problem"

E.J. Dionne asserts in this op/ed that the Democrats have a self-image problem and will be unable to build a "durable majority" until they find a solution.

I disagree. The problem with the Democrat Party is that it is a coalition of narrow special interest groups with scant overlapping interests. Thankfully for them, Bush-hatred has provided somewhat of a common cause these past six years (of course, they've also had the "it sucks to be out of power" cause for a bit longer). But a party which pieces together a coalition whose members' only common objective is keeping/obtaining power is fragile; and the "coalition" will tend to fade from view in all but Presidential elections or campaigns with rock-star candidates (as Dionne asserts happens to Dems).

A Foreign Policy Rorschach Test

I was thinking the other day of the current fighting going on in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah and it occurred to me that this "conflict" is a sort of microcosm of Civilization's conflict with Islamofascism. Accordingly, I believe that an informed person's view of the situation might serve as a sort of foreign policy Rorschach test.

Bill Bennett has has written an op/ed along those lines. Key quote:

Let Kofi Annan condemn Israel. Let ex-State Department officials wring their hands. Let the Security Council issue its condemnations if it must. But at the end of the diplomatic doublespeak and the denunciations of editorial writers here and abroad, let the countries on the frontlines, fighting for their existence, act like any normal country would under attack and save themselves. In so doing, they will save those who also strive to be normal, democratic, and free.

Harold Ford, Jr.,other Dems, changing their tune

Interesting to see that Ford, Jr. was double-talking about the scuttled terrorist attacks in Britain; he appears to be trying to get out in front of this issue:
"Lets figure out how the Brits foiled the attack, what tools prime minister Blair has that President Bush has not had. And let Congress immediately give those to our president. . . . "

Wow, he wants to give more "tools" to Dubya--that's news to all of his [Ford Jr.'s] "netroot" supporters. But I also hear the Schumers and Feingolds are hunky-dorey with giving the President more authority "just as long as it is consistent with the Constitution." Well, of course we won't agree to that, senators.

Harold Fraud, Jr. sounds a lot like Ed Bryant . . .

I just learned from a Chattanooga Times Free Press pipe bomb . . . er, editorial that Bob Corker's primary spending was as bad as Ford, Jr.'s (laughable) and that Harold Ford, Jr. believes we should really, really try hard to find an energy breakthrough:

In Congress, Rep. Ford has consistently supported legislation to reduce the U.S. addiction to oil, and he sees the opportunity before us. "We need to go back to the kind of big ideas and bold thinking that made this country great," he says, "We need to create this generation’s moon shot by becoming energy self-sufficient by 2025."

This reminds me an awful lot of Ed Bryant's frequent proposal during the GOP primary (which the CTFP thinks was a cakewalk akin to the primary of the Democrat Party). From a weeks old Commercial Appeal story:

Saying he believes oil prices will continue to rise, Bryant also renewed his call for a project -- as strong he said as World War II's Manhattan Project and President Kennedy's push for a moon landing -- that would "commit America to developing and (mass-)producing alternative-fuel vehicles in five years."

I knew that Ford, Jr. was going to try and sound like a Conservative during this campaign but an impersonation of Ed Bryant is a surprise.

I wonder if he can do a good W.C. Fields?


I can't find the actual op/ed online, but Ford, Jr. has it at his website . . . hey, it may have originated over there from the way it reads.

Uh oh, did Bushitler violate British Islamofascists' rights?

Kudos to American intelligence for their part in foiling the most recent terrorist scheme.

UPDATE: As Rich Lowry states in this NRO op/ed, the Left routinely ignores the implications of their efforts to impugn this administration's every effort to wage the war on Islamofascism.

That Karl Rove is busy, busy, busy . . .

Even while the President is on vacation, that evil Karl Rove appears to have been busy strategizing about how to scare Americans into a "unitary executive"!!! Or, at least that's what Dems are thinking today . . .

Despicable "parents"

This report of a family using children to steal jewelry reminds me of the Irish/gypsy woman caught on a video surveillance camera a couple years ago slugging her "mule" daughter after a mother-daughter shoplifting outing. Remember that case? Despicable people.

Black GOP candidates a "novelty"?

In an attempt to illustrate the persistent American racial divide, Stuart Rothenberg, the author of this online article pulls the hackneyed stereotype off the shelf . . . "Legitimate Black Republican" is an oxymoron. Here's the main quote:

Strong black GOP candidates remain something of a novelty, and national Republican strategists are thrilled when they can find an appealing black to run for a high-profile office.

That assertion was only a paragraph after stating that nationally there were four Republicans (three of whom had the GOP nomination) vying for statewide office who happened to be black.

You know what is truly a novelty? A Democrat candidate for a statewide office; but I guess that didn't fit with the article's thesis.

Here's another post about a racism-mongering article.

Republicans "soft[ening] on crime"?

Zack McMillin in today's Commercial Appeal is incredulous that Republican candidates for Memphis DA and sheriff (both of whom won convincingly last Thursday) spoke during their campaigns about "root causes" of crime and seeking "comprehensive" answers to soaring crime rates.

This is where the Left misses the boat on Conservatism (particularly so-called Social Conservatism) . . . I have a very comprehensive view of crime issues, but I believe (as do a majority of Americans--these two Conservative candidates won by 62% and 63%, respectively) that most Liberal "solutions" actually exacerbate the problems. I don't think that poverty leads someone to crime; I don't think that amoral education is the key to eradicating poverty or crime; I don't believe that gov't policy of punishing success (through confiscatory tax policy) and subsidizing irresponsibility will encourage responsibility; and on and on and on.

Don't you wish the Left would stop legislating it's failed morality?

"History" in the making . . . certainly for the Dems

In today's Tennessean Dwight Lewis opines on the "history" in the making in Tennessee's U.S. Senate race. Ironically, I learned from a Democrat acquaintance who attended the rally that the "1500" folks who paid $150 to stand on the asphalt parking lot in the August afternoon heat didn't even have water available to them. So much for "the little guy."

And it should probably be noted that an african-american U.S. Senate candidate is more of an oddity in the Democrat Party than in the Republican Party. For too many decades, the Democrat Party has done more talking than delivering on promises of helping blacks in this country.

Unfortunately, like Clinton's and the Democrat Party's talk about advancing race relations, Ford, Jr. is more about appearances than realities.

Darwinism Dogmatists

And I thought we non-Darwinists were supposed to be the dogmatic and disingenuous ones . . . David Klinghoffer writes about dishonest Darwinists and their state-by-state politically correct blitzkrieg.

Jonah Goldberg steps on some steel-toed boots

Here's an insightful op/ed about farm subsidies in America.

Great comic about stem cell research (and abortion, sort of)

Check this out, from Glenn McCoy at TownHall.com:

Legal costs we all share

John Stossel rocks. Here's another of his instant classic columns on the cost of trial lawyers gone wild.