Even here at Townhall, the debate was all about Rudy, Mitt and McCain (he's still in it?). But the ever more popular Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and political consultant, using measuring methods on a group of voters watching the debate, has a different result. Mike Allen of the Politico writes:

Huckabee deserves to be higher than the MSM want's to rate him. I believe he's as credible a candidate as any of the top three, and certainly more so than McCain. And, apparently, so do a lot of you.

My answer to that question, Mike, is yes.

Heard of the State Children's Health Insurance Program? It's part of the Democratic plan to implement government financed health care, and is being supported by 18 House Republicans after passing the Senate. The issue here isn't the Plan itself, it's the fact that the GOP is now becoming a tax raising party. Bob Novak opines:

the Republican Party has wandered on tax policy. (Sen. Richard Burr, a first-term conservative Republican from North Carolina and principal sponsor of 2548) told me his balancing of tax increases with refundable tax credits is "a matter of tax equity," adding that he worries about "this unequal tax system." If "equity" were the overriding concern, there would have been no Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush tax cuts, and Democrats would have won economic debates of the last three decades.

This is the second initiative at raising your taxes in a matter of days. The Democratic bill that raises taxes on the Energy Producers, will never be paid by the Energy Producers. You don't think they'll just take it out of their profits do you? Breaking news alert (these are big in Cincinnati local TV): You and I are going to pay the tax increases with higher consumer costs. SURPRISE!  But the GOP is not helping us here either, they're caving and finding a way to join in.

This is the establishment Republicanism that conservatives are fighting against. We don't need these kinds of politicians in office. Remember in 2008.

Last night, Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron's record for home runs in MLB. The two men couldn't be more different. But that's okay, I've never tried to hold athletes up to some kind of hero/role model status. But for me, baseball is special. Probably because of my age. But it is. And it represents a continuum that stretches back through the ages, and still connects me with the days I was a boy, and my father was alive. And that's why it's important to me that at least one facet of our culture have integrity. That's why (I don't say this out loud around here much) Pete Rose should never get into the hall of fame.

But even more hallowed than entrance to the HOF, is the record book. And Hank Aaron's record will not be broken fairly. Just that simple. Talk all day long, and you will not convince me Barry Bonds did not do steroids. He was half the man in his early years, and players don't get better and stronger when they get older. Too much smoke from this mess. Look at what the AP said about the commissioner's reaction to Bond's tying the record:

High above the field in a private box, baseball commissioner Bud Selig was a reluctant witness to history. Choosing to overlook the steroid allegations that have dogged the San Francisco slugger, Selig watched Bonds tie Hank Aaron's home run record—his mouth agape, hands stuffed in pockets and nary a cheer on his lips

Only in modern day America does the popular culture embrace cheating as an accepted path to success. Just watch any episode of Survivor. And the masters of modern day cheating are none other than. "tah daaaah", Democratic Liberals. After more thorough reading about what transpired on the House floor Thursday night, it becomes more clearer than ever, the Democrats will cheat to win. Let's start working now to protect the military vote, for they will surely attempt to disenfranchise our bravest.

I won't be surprised to see Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton demanding that Barry be recognized as the greatest. I'm sure his doubters will be seen as angry white xenophobic racist knuckle dragging right wing extremists. Nothing new there. But maybe even the race baiters can see a losing cause and will keep away.
As far as Barry Bonds is concerned, in my heart, he'll always be nothing more than an *

Yesterday I wondered aloud how the Mainstream Media would spin the blatant cheating (caught on video) of the Democrats in the House. Today I got my answer. It's the GOP's fault, of course. Seems Republicans are angry partisans (sore losers). Here comes the New York Times, leading the charge of the Liberal Brigade.
So refusing to go along with a tax and spend anti American agenda is obstructionist.

Republicans dismissed Democratic claims of overall legislative success, pointing to dismal approval ratings for Congress as evidence that the public is unhappy with the new majority party’s performance. And Democrats have so far been unable to deliver on a chief demand of many party supporters — the beginning of withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Party supporters? DailyKos and the New York Times?
You think? I say the tone has changed. For the much worse. The New York Times, Daily Kos, Move.on, and the Democratic Party are all tied to defeat in Iraq. You will hear nothing but negative news, tales of legislative cheating, Democratic partisan hackery and character assassination of the US Military commanders until the next election. The new tone in Washington is being characterized in the comments of that brilliant stateswoman and mental giant from Michigan:
This can only be true if the "business of America" is enacting economically devastating spending bills, surrendering to the Islamic Jihadist Killers and creating a borderless Socialist States of America here for all to exploit.

Once again, here is the opportunity for the GOP to gain seats in both houses, if they will embrace conservatism and conservative candidates. Americans will vote GOP if we turn away from Liberals like George Voinovich, Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and John Warner. Who's leading this party?

The Democrats are feeling pressure, so much so, that they have resorted to actions that, true to form, reveal once again their true nature. They can feel destiny starting to slip in their hands. Byron York reports:

The Democrats are tied to defeat in Iraq. Anything less will be disaster for them. And, in the House, the GOP is fighting the Dems over illegal aliens. When a vote on legislation that would have denied federal money for the employment of illegal aliens,  in an agricultural bill that appeared to be passed by the GOP, the Democrats resorted to their trump card. THEY CHEATED.
In the Politico, Patrick O'Conner reports:

In a massive flare-up of partisan tensions, Republicans walked out on a House vote late Thursday night to protest what they believed to be Democratic maneuvers to reverse an unfavorable outcome for them.

This is the modern Progressive Democratic Party in full display. They're linked forever with defeat in Iraq, and fight tooth and nail to defend illegal aliens as the force of their future voter base, and are probably having secret meetings as we speak, to secure plans to suppress the military vote in 2008, as well as registering a multitude of felons and corpses as voters for their drive to conquer America, before the Jihadists do.

So it remains to be seen if the GOP will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Will they come to their senses and realize conservatism in the key to their success? Or will Republicanism of the Establishment throw away the opportunity that offers itself in this moment?

The all knowing Mainstream Media has been telling us for years now, Iraq is a lost cause. Leading the pack has been the New York Times. Imagine the conversation in the press room when the Grey Lady's opinion piece called "A War We Just Might Win" was published. Priceless. Of course the totally insane hard left of America is outraged, and demands we accept defeat, but as they say, the horse is out of the barn.

American deaths are down. The surge is working. There are problems, but so what, we knew there would be. And there will continue to be soldiers killed. Breaking news alert: after we leave Iraq, Americans will still continue to be killed by the Islamic Jihadist Killers. And Bush won't be around to blame. But they'll blame him anyways.

But the sleeping middle of America is starting to get a clue, even if very slowly. Debra Saunders writes:

a New York Times poll found that the number of Americans who think it was right for the United States to go to war in Iraq rose from 35 percent in May to percent 42 percent in mid-July...Americans have cause to be wary and distressed. They may tell pollsters that they are pessimistic, but that does not mean that they are prepared to lose.

So, as we've been saying all along, if Americans think they can win, they want to. This has been the trump card the Enemedia and the Democrats have been fearing all along, driving their relentless effort to depress the national will to fight. The situation on the ground in Iraq is changing, for the better, and hey, guess what, we can win, if we have the will and the stamina.

Will the GOP's Linda Chavez join Move.on and Kos in demanding a boycott of Australia? It could happen. Why? It seems the Australian government is taking the most incredible un progressive step of demanding new immigrants actually become Australians and adopt their culture as their own.  The Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports:

As well as sitting a citizenship test and signing a commitment to liberal democracy(?), intending citizens will need to show a desire to fit in before being accepted as new Australians. 

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said applicants would need to show a commitment to learning English and a commitment to the Australian way of life..... "This way of life is influenced by a history that includes the Judeo-Christian beliefs and traditions brought by British settlers,' he said.

Maybe Ted Kennedy and John McCain can catch a plane with LaRaza and CAIR to Sydney and rally the troops with an inspiring message from president Bush. I presume this would also mean no waving of Mexican Flags, or burning of  Australian flags.

Undoubtedly stung by reports in their "own" media that the Surge is working, the Islamic Fascist Killers have sent Nancy Pelosi and John Murtha out on a counterattack in an effort to erase any gains by the US military or the GOP in their battle against Muslim Extremists. Their determination to bring defeat to our nation will see another round of legislative and budgetary attempts at destroying our effort in Iraq. The Washington Times reports:

Mr. Murtha plans to offer three amendments to the fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill: One would set a 60-day timeline to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq (which will certainly help al Qaeda and the like in planning the Rwanda-ization of the country). A second Murtha amendment would implement the Pennsylvania Democrat's "slow-bleed" strategy for ensuring a U.S. military defeat by conditioning funds for the war upon the military meeting some unattainable standards for training and equipping the troops. Should the administrate violate the strictures in an effort to reinforce besieged American soldiers or prevent genocide, we have no doubt that if the Democrats are still in the majority that they will be holding oversight hearings and issuing subpoenas to U.S. military commanders and senior Pentagon officials, summoning them to testify about "why they broke the law" by sending these soldiers to the battlefield. Mr. Murtha's third amendment would close the Guantanamo Bay facility.

Where will Mr Murtha send all the terrorist killers he releases from Guantanamo? So far, he isn't saying. Nancy weighs in also:

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has made it clear that plans to use the $459.6 billion defense appropriations bill, which comes to the floor this week, to short-circuit the current military campaign against jihadists in Iraq and shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo).

So I ask Republican voters. Do you plan to elect congresspeople and a president to office that will reach across the aisle to help these people, or shall we try and elect conservatives who will defeat their plans to destroy our nation through recklessness, political naivete and ignorance?

Should the GOP continue to attempt reaching citizens through the mechanism of a Media biased towards the Republican Party's opponents? This debate is going on at Hugh Hewitts' blog, Heartland Patriot, The Way We Are, and numereous other blogs, and the issue boils down to this.

Can the GOP get a fair shake from the Mainstream Media?

My answer, NO.

Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman, Katie Couric....name any of them, and they show a record of being anti GOP. The Right cannot win engaging the Left or it's media organ. Add to that the Left's refusal to engage conservative voters by appearing on FOX News, then you have an unfair advantage.

Captains Quarters offered several compromise situations, such as letting the blog world supporting each respective party pick the questions. What did CNN have to say about that?

Allah says that CNN wouldn't believe that Republican bloggers would allow tough questions -- but even a cursory read around the blogosphere should be instructive to that point. We spend a lot of our effort ripping the existing candidates on various policies, and I don't think we'd see a lot of softballs, at least not in a primary debate.

I won't accept the premise that debating on a MSM outlet would be fair to the GOP. It's time they called out the MSM as an enemy, and drew a line in the sand. Shift the debate to the "fairness" of the Enemedia. That would be an interesting national conversation.

The Non-Ideologues and Conservatives In Name Only get after myself and others here at Townhall and across the web who find fault with the GOP. It seems we are disloyal. I won't argue that premise here and now. I will simply state that the Republican Party owes Alberto Gonzales an apology. I emailed & phoned my protests to Bill Frist with great gusto when it was announced he was intending to make Arlen Specter the head of the judiciary committee. Arlen Specter is a disgrace to the Republican party, a Liberal on the level of George Voinovich, yet much, much more dangerous.

And his involvement in the witch hunt for Gonzalez is disgusting. I don't know who's side he really is on, but it certainly is not mine. To make this matter clear, I'll point to a Powerline post analysis of the New York Times story, detailing how Gonzales is telling the truth. And it's killing them to say so.

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/018389.php

And yet if this is not enough, Mr Specter is engaged in the truly bizarre effort to "grade" the new Supreme Court judges. The Wall Street Journal Online states:

On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican announced his plans to "review" the confirmation hearing testimony of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to see how it matches their decisions on the bench. "There are things he has said, and I want to see how well he has complied with it," Senator Specter said of the Chief Justice, according to The Politico Web site.

They must be falling over at the American Bar Association. It's widely agreed that it would be unseemly and improper for a nominee to seek confirmation to the nation's highest Court by promising Senators how he or she would rule on a given issue on the bench. Yet Mr. Specter's statement suggests that he thinks he pocketed such promises from Justices Alito and Roberts, and he now wants to check to see if they've been kept.

Only a few years ago, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay floated the impeachment idea for judges who weren't on "good behavior," and the Democratic outrage was thunderous. Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor responded with a speech about the importance of judicial independence.

What is wrong with the GOP? This guy has got to go, he's damaged goods and a threat to our nation. Arlen Specter must be removed at the next possible opportunity. Let's hope conservatism really does have a resurgence in the GOP. Until they purge the party of Liberals and the appeasers who keep them in office, they're going to have an uphill battle getting the votes from the rest of America.

Lake Superior. A looooong drive to get there. Worth every second.

John Edwards is shouting out, "they want to shut me up". The Politco reports:

He warns, in the video segment posted by his campaign, that if we don't beat back these unnamed oligarchs, "They're going to control the media. They're going to control what's being said."

Once again, wearily, I sigh and wish the great sleeping moderate middle of America would wake up and smell the coffee. The Progressive Liberals want to control thought and actions of everybody. As reported in the AP:

MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America's Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the (FOX NEWS) network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos.

The groups have successfully pressured Democratic presidential candidates not to appear at any debate sponsored by Fox, and are also trying to get Home Depot Inc. to stop advertising there.

At least 5,000 people nationwide have signed up to compile logs on who is running commercials on Fox, Gilliam said. The groups want to first concentrate on businesses running local ads, as opposed to national commercials.

The entire mainstream media, with the exception of FOX NEWS, is blatantly biased towards Liberal Socialist views. But that's not enough. They want control over everything. Perhaps the Right needs to mount a counter campaign at last. No GOP debates on the MSM until there is "fairness" in their news coverage. Conservatives start taking back our culture, and demanding Liberal Bias be purged from Media.

Just what got all these moonbats in a twitter over Fox?

The groups seem particularly angry at Fox's Bill O'Reilly, who has done critical reports on left-wing bloggers. On July 16, O'Reilly said the DailyKos.com Web site is "hate of the worst order," and sent a reporter to question JetBlue Airways Corp. CEO Dave Barger about the airline's sponsorship of a gathering run by DailyKos.

O'Reilly is an opinion show, and he's entitled to his. I don't always agree with him or his manner, but it's a free market and I've got the choice to change the channel. It's time I started emailing and calling the Broadcast Networks and demanded they start informing the general public of exactly what message is being sent by DailyKos. Are you aware? Can you say, V-I-L-E-H-A-T-R-E-D?

It's not a wonderful day in the neighborhood when we all won't play nice in the sandbox. It is time for all Americans to be aware of exactly what message the far Left and DailyKos have for them.

Maybe the Republican Party can see the wisdom in that. After all, they supposedly are coming around to conservatism again. How about it guys, game on? Or will you just continue to sit and take it, as usual?

This modern world we live in is one filled with fears not unlike the 50's in America. Will we be attacked with nuclear weapons? The Bush administration has been battling with North Korea to curtail it's nuclear program, and of course, Iran makes statements daily of it's intention to use nuclear energy peacefully, and to wipe Israel off the map and burn the rest of it's enemies. The rationale is that America has no authority to decide who gets nukes and who doesn't. There is a good argument for non proliferation of existence ending weapons however.

And yet, today, the Bush administration is attempting to make an exception for India. The New York Times reports:

Three years after President Bush urged global rules to stop additional nations from making nuclear fuel, the White House will announce on Friday that it is carving out an exception for India, in a last-ditch effort to seal a civilian nuclear deal between the countries.....Mr. Bush could be setting a precedent that will undercut his nonproliferation initiative.

Or perhaps, India doesn't really need our help to acquire the means for nuclear technology. And perhaps engaging with them in this way will lead to stronger ties economically and security wise. This deal is being critcized by the Democrats. That says volumes to me. And it doesn't hurt to know this. The Asia Times noted:

India's importation of military hardware and software will reach $30 billion within the next five years, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said recently.

Smell a sale somewhere? Friends are good to have these days. Especially when they are trading partners too. This deal is filled with warnings though. How well will the US be able to navigate through the waters of picking and choosing who gets nukes? For example, the UPI reports:

Despite boasting Africa`s largest oil reserves, Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar`Adua thinks his country should be looking to other forms of power, including nuclear energy. The new Nigerian leader who came into office in late May has called for the country to 'develop the capacity to utilize nuclear power for power generation' in hopes of one day alleviating Nigeria`s chronic shortfalls in electricity production.

This is a lot to consider. We live in a very dangerous world.

Last week, we heard that the John Doe amendment was dead, killed by the Liberals who thought it was racist and gave unwarranted attention to the war on terror. Then Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, and this blog, among others,  asked you all to call the capital. Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi told the anti America cabal populated with people like Carl Levin, that they lost. The capital was flooded with phone calls, and the John Doe amendment, backed by Peter King and Joe Lieberman, is passing. In a statement, the Center for Security Policy noted:

The language will provide protection against the sorts of harassment lawsuits filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after several unidentified individuals reported six Muslim imams engaged in suspicious – and frightening – behavior prior to boarding a USAir flight in November 2006. CAIR has been identified as a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood and is an un-indicted co-conspirator in an alleged terrorism-financing plot.

And from Congressman Steve Pearce:

“I am pleased to see that the pressure we created lead Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the right decision about protecting alert Americans,” said Pearce. “The American people shouldn’t have to think twice about alerting security and law enforcement to potential terrorist attacks.”

Americans can now report suspicious behavior without fear of being sued by Islamic Jihadist Killers, and the Democratic Party. We won.

Feel free to criticize "our side" over any issue, because principles do matter, and actions speak louder than words. The amnesty bill, the 2nd amendment attack by OSHA, and now the John Doe amendments have been championed by people of principle, and they have prevailed.

Go ahead, you can feel good about America today. This one's on Peter King. As for tomorrow, where's the fence?

A straight faced and very serious question asked of me by a former co-worker in Michigan. Discussing politics, he reads the New York Times and Truth Out, he couldn't understand my problem with taking from the rich and giving to the poor, for starters. Well I'm won't go into the philosophies at this point or talk about Fredric Bastiat. I'll just point to another Liberal dream Socialist State. Great Britain. The Sun Online reports:

Drunken yobs are roaming towns and cities like ''an occupying army'', MPs claimed yesterday. But ministers have no idea whether the £3.4billion a year spent tackling yobs is effective. Anti-social behaviour is turning many places into no-go areas, with a small number of families causing ''misery and despair'' to their communities....The MPs also urged the Home Office to develop a national scheme for evaluating different approaches to anti-social behaviour.

Good example in a nutshell. Liberal Socialists solve problems by spending money, making study groups and wringing their hands trying to understand the criminals better. While the criminals laugh and continue to run amok. Like in Paris. Hmmm.....I wonder at the indentity of these "mobs".....dissaffected youth? Hmmmm......

Anyways, until the Brits start busting the noggins of criminals, nothing will change. Just like Paris. Just like New York. Oh...wait a minute, somebody fixed that. Go figure. Well there's always Bejing, wait, no.....