As you may know, I was a strong supporter of Mark Assini in his race for Congress in New York's 25th District.
It was always going to be an uphill battle...the incumbent, Louise Slaughter, is a 14 term member of Congress and a powerful member of the Democrat leadership in Washington (e.g., ranking member on the Rules Committee). Moreover, Mark was really left largely on his own by national, state, and local GOP leadership. No one really believed in Mark's chances except Mark, his family and some die-hard friends.
Well, as you know, Mark has brought the race down to the wire and beyond. The counting of absentee and affidavit ballots continues and the margin remains razor thin.
Mark may lose the final tally, but in my mind he is already a winner. Talk about fighting the good fight! Mark left nothing on the table in this one. He and his family should be proud.
I want to thank Mark for allowing me to have been a small part of the effort. He will be a role model for anyone who has a dream or goal and who seeks that dream or goal albeit against long odds and against the naysayers and notwithstanding whether he/she is likely to prevail. Mark knew what he wanted to do. He had a message and he found a way to convey that message to many, many voters. He did so with good humor, class, and competence.
Three days after the election, it is still being talked and written about. It was an extraordinary effort by an extraordinary guy.
Way to go Mark.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Can the GOP Make Tuesday Count?
The GOP won quite a victory on Tuesday. But will they use the fruits of that victory wisely?
That's the question Charles Krauthammer posed in this Washington Post column.
Krauthammer warns the GOP that "[Their win] was a negative judgment, not an endorsement of the GOP. The prize for winning is nothing but the opportunity for Republicans to show that they can govern — the opportunity to seize the national agenda".
He offered a plan to accomplish that. Here are some of the high points of the plan:
"It needs to be urgent, determined and relentless. Say, a bill a week for the first 10 weeks. Start with obvious measures with significant Democratic support, like the Keystone XL pipeline.
That's the question Charles Krauthammer posed in this Washington Post column.
Krauthammer warns the GOP that "[Their win] was a negative judgment, not an endorsement of the GOP. The prize for winning is nothing but the opportunity for Republicans to show that they can govern — the opportunity to seize the national agenda".
He offered a plan to accomplish that. Here are some of the high points of the plan:
"It needs to be urgent, determined and relentless. Say, a bill a week for the first 10 weeks. Start with obvious measures with significant Democratic support, like the Keystone XL pipeline.
Like fast-track trade negotiation authority that Harry Reid killed and that Obama, like all presidents, wants. Republicans should propose and pass it, thereby giving Obama a victory and demonstrating both bipartisanship and magnanimity (as well as economic good sense).
Then a simple, targeted bill to repatriate the $2 trillion of assets being held by U.S. corporations overseas, a bill to authorize and expedite the export of liquid natural gas and crude oil (the latter banned by an obsolete 1975 law) and a strong border security bill.
As for Obamacare, a symbolic abolition that Obama will immediately veto is less important than multiple rapid-fire measures to kill it with a thousand cuts. Repeal of the medical device tax. Repeal of the individual mandate. Repeal of the employer mandate. Repeal of the coverage mandate, thereby reinstating Obama’s broken promise that “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep it.” And repeal the federal bailout for insurers on the Obamacare exchanges".
Then a simple, targeted bill to repatriate the $2 trillion of assets being held by U.S. corporations overseas, a bill to authorize and expedite the export of liquid natural gas and crude oil (the latter banned by an obsolete 1975 law) and a strong border security bill.
As for Obamacare, a symbolic abolition that Obama will immediately veto is less important than multiple rapid-fire measures to kill it with a thousand cuts. Repeal of the medical device tax. Repeal of the individual mandate. Repeal of the employer mandate. Repeal of the coverage mandate, thereby reinstating Obama’s broken promise that “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep it.” And repeal the federal bailout for insurers on the Obamacare exchanges".
He also warns against taking the "impeachment bait" that he thinks Obama will wave before the GOP in the form of unilateral action on immigration.
Krauthammer is a doctor. I hope the GOP leadership is smart enough to follow his prescription.
Krauthammer is a doctor. I hope the GOP leadership is smart enough to follow his prescription.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Obama's Lying Eyes...and Lips...and...
As long-time readers will recall, Victor Davis Hanson is one of my favorite political historians and pundits. He is, like me, a conservative living in a blue state (for him, California).
He has previously lamented the fact that the President gets away with murder due to our docile press. In this NRO post, Hanson simply tells it like it is. Our President is a serial liar. Its not pleasant to use the term, but the facts are what they are.
Hanson lays out the parade of half-truths, mischaracterizations, obfuscations, and outright falsehoods that have been a hallmark of the Obama presidency.
I have to believe that if Barak Obama was a Republican, he would be reviled in the press. As a Democrat, his Praetorian Guard media has only grudgingly acknowledged his penchant for dissemblege.
Read Hanson's post and decide for yourself.
He has previously lamented the fact that the President gets away with murder due to our docile press. In this NRO post, Hanson simply tells it like it is. Our President is a serial liar. Its not pleasant to use the term, but the facts are what they are.
Hanson lays out the parade of half-truths, mischaracterizations, obfuscations, and outright falsehoods that have been a hallmark of the Obama presidency.
I have to believe that if Barak Obama was a Republican, he would be reviled in the press. As a Democrat, his Praetorian Guard media has only grudgingly acknowledged his penchant for dissemblege.
Read Hanson's post and decide for yourself.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Strategy? Obama Doesn't Even Have a Strategery.
John Hinderaker at PowerLine is one of my favorite political pundits. He's smart, conservative, and a lawyer to boot.
In this PowerLine Post, Hinderaker outlines the true depths of the failure of the President and his administration as it relates to ISIS. The Obama Administration's foreign policy is a joke and his key advisors, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are not ready for prime time.
The press gives some signs of waking to the disaster that is in the offing, but I fear that two more years of Obama's bumbling will lead to an ever increasing risk of a deadly terrorist attack on our shores.
No expects the President to have all the answers, but he could at least give the appearance of a man trying to find them. His obvious disdain for the military and for any kind of diplomatic confrontation, has kept him from dealing with multiple threats to our interests.
Somewhere Jimmy Carter must be smiling, because President Obama has relieved him of the title of "worst President ever". Meanwhile George W. Bush and his stategery for the terrorists is looking pretty good.
UPDATE:
Here's more by Hinderaker on the need to deal with these terror groups immediately and decisively...while we still can!
In this PowerLine Post, Hinderaker outlines the true depths of the failure of the President and his administration as it relates to ISIS. The Obama Administration's foreign policy is a joke and his key advisors, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are not ready for prime time.
The press gives some signs of waking to the disaster that is in the offing, but I fear that two more years of Obama's bumbling will lead to an ever increasing risk of a deadly terrorist attack on our shores.
No expects the President to have all the answers, but he could at least give the appearance of a man trying to find them. His obvious disdain for the military and for any kind of diplomatic confrontation, has kept him from dealing with multiple threats to our interests.
Somewhere Jimmy Carter must be smiling, because President Obama has relieved him of the title of "worst President ever". Meanwhile George W. Bush and his stategery for the terrorists is looking pretty good.
UPDATE:
Here's more by Hinderaker on the need to deal with these terror groups immediately and decisively...while we still can!
"C" is for Cookie...Not!
This ridiculous story is evidence that the nanny state mentality has really taken over, and to an extreme degree.
Early episodes of Sesame Street have been compiled and made available for sale. They apparently come with warning labels because much of the content is "unsuitable for preschoolers". The biggest offenders...Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.
Good lord, if today's child rearing "experts" truly believe that the original Sesame Street is bad for kids, I fear for the future!
Early episodes of Sesame Street have been compiled and made available for sale. They apparently come with warning labels because much of the content is "unsuitable for preschoolers". The biggest offenders...Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.
Good lord, if today's child rearing "experts" truly believe that the original Sesame Street is bad for kids, I fear for the future!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Where There Is Life, There Is Hope
I noted some time ago that my blogging was way down, at least in part, because I had become pessimistic about the future of our country and society. Almost everything I read seems to point to the relentless erosion of the ideals which I believe made America a great country. I think that debilitated me from blogging; concluding it is apparently a pointless exercise.
Thus, I was happy to run across this post by Michael Barone. Mr. Barone is a smart Conservative who I often read and almost always agree with. His article in National Review Online, pointed out that many times in the past, the doomsayers predicted the end of the world as we knew it. Yet, somehow, those predictions fell far short.
Barone ascribes it to the ingenuity and drive of the American people. He concluded by saying that betting against America has always been an error.
My continuing to blog may well be pointless, but it gives me something to do when my wife is not home. If nothing else, it is a way to share positive notes, like Barone's piece. Those of us who sometimes despair about the future of the nation, need the periodic reassurance.
Thanks, Michael.
Thus, I was happy to run across this post by Michael Barone. Mr. Barone is a smart Conservative who I often read and almost always agree with. His article in National Review Online, pointed out that many times in the past, the doomsayers predicted the end of the world as we knew it. Yet, somehow, those predictions fell far short.
Barone ascribes it to the ingenuity and drive of the American people. He concluded by saying that betting against America has always been an error.
My continuing to blog may well be pointless, but it gives me something to do when my wife is not home. If nothing else, it is a way to share positive notes, like Barone's piece. Those of us who sometimes despair about the future of the nation, need the periodic reassurance.
Thanks, Michael.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Partisanship and Tyranny
The indictment and arrest of the "LDC 4" was our latest public demonstration of the extent of partisanship and tyranny which now infects our public world.
I make no claim about the guilt or innocence of any of the four men arrested on Wednesday. I only know that the "perp walk" was not SOP, but clearly intended for public consumption. If we had any doubt, the "off the record" note to local media, informing them of the when and where of the perp walk, should have removed it.
Attorney General Schneiderman cares only about self-promotion and partisan back-scratching. The charges against Bob Weisner were as vague and difficult to understand, as any I have ever seen. Again, it leaves one to wonder if the real reason behind the charges is to damage Weisner's wife, Maggie Brooks.
Whether or not any of these men is guilty, the perp walk was a disgrace. No citizen should be publicly humiliated by a government official, for what can only be political advantage. What happened to these men's right to a presumption of innocence? Who gave Schneiderman the right to act like the Sheriff of Nottingham?
Maybe he should read the Magna Carta or the US Constitution.
I make no claim about the guilt or innocence of any of the four men arrested on Wednesday. I only know that the "perp walk" was not SOP, but clearly intended for public consumption. If we had any doubt, the "off the record" note to local media, informing them of the when and where of the perp walk, should have removed it.
Attorney General Schneiderman cares only about self-promotion and partisan back-scratching. The charges against Bob Weisner were as vague and difficult to understand, as any I have ever seen. Again, it leaves one to wonder if the real reason behind the charges is to damage Weisner's wife, Maggie Brooks.
Whether or not any of these men is guilty, the perp walk was a disgrace. No citizen should be publicly humiliated by a government official, for what can only be political advantage. What happened to these men's right to a presumption of innocence? Who gave Schneiderman the right to act like the Sheriff of Nottingham?
Maybe he should read the Magna Carta or the US Constitution.
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