Vermont Senate Seat In Play For GOP?

John Gizzi of Human Events thinks so. The candidate in question could be Republican Governor Jim Douglas:

A former secretary of state and state treasurer, moderate-to-conservative Douglas drew a strong 45% of the vote in 1992 as the Republican nominee against Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. Narrowly elected governor in '02 and re-elected handily last fall, Douglas had previously announced he would not oppose the more liberal Jeffords, a longtime family friend. But with the 70-year-old senator calling it quits, Douglas may now make the race for the seat he reportedly has long eyed.

But what of the Democrats? Socialist Congressman Bernie Sanders has already thrown his hat into the ring. This makes the situation interesting for the Democrats, as BullDogPundit explains:

Granted it is likely Sanders will probably win in the loopy land of Ben and Jerry, but we are VERY interested to see if the DNC, headed by fellow Vermont leftist Howard Dean, throws its support behind a self avowed socialist. If they do, it will be like manna from heaven for the GOP who can make hay of the DNC's support of Sanders. Such support by the DNC could be an awfully big albatross around the neck of any Democrat running in a "red" area of the country (think Kent Conrad, Bill Nelson and Ben Nelson)

However one thing support of Sanders by the DNC would do is bring some honesty to politics. Most Democrats serving in Congress today and running the party are basically Socialists anyway - at least now they can come out of the closet.

Either way, it should be fun to watch. Either the Senate gets another Republican or the Democrats get another embarrassment. It's a win-win.

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If Bolton Goes Down, Here's How to Make the Dems Pay...

James Taranto's Best of the Web today has some thoughts on the current John Bolton situation:

The Bolton nomination is far from dead; neither Voinovich nor ny other Republican has announced an intention to oppose his confirmation. The Republicans could end up sticking together, as they did when Democrats tried similar tactics to block the first President Bush's appointments of John Tower to the Pentagon and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Only one GOP senator ended up voting against Tower and two against Thomas.

And if by chance Bolton is rejected or withdraws because he has had enough? Plan B:

President Bush's aim should be to make the Dems' victory as Pyrrhic as possible. That is, he should eschew any temptation to conciliation and instead nominate someone as brassy as Bolton. We've got just the candidate: Rudy Giuliani.

Boy that would piss them off. And being as popular as Rudy is, they wouldn't dare say "boo" about it.

Hat Tip: RealClearPolitics

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What kind of "American English" do you speak...

Yeah, I know these "what kind of _______ are you" quizzes are starting to get out of hand, but what the hell:

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% Yankee

35% General American English

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

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It's Official: Connecticut Recognizes "Civil Unions"...

A/P reports that CT Governor Jodi Rell has signed the civil unions legislation about an hour after the State Senate approved the final version of the bill.

"The vote we cast today will reverberate around the country and it will send a wave of hope to many people, to thousands of people across the country," said Sen. Andrew McDonald, who is gay.

McDonald is not speaking metaphorically here. He and other proponents of gay marriage see this as an incremental step toward their ultimate goal of same sex marriage as the legal and cultural equivalent of traditional heterosexual marriage - in all fifty States. No doubt the first lawsuits are being prepared as I write this to bring to the courts the question of whether or not the marriage clause that is part of this law is constitutional. Expect an attempt by the judiciary to rule that this provision be struck down, a la Massachusetts.

The "marriage protection" clause was put in to clarify that this bill is in no way to be construed as a recognition of gay marriage.

"I have said all along that I believe in no discrimination of any kind and I think that this bill accomplishes that, while at the same time preserving the traditional language that a marriage is between a man and a woman," Rell said.

Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts. I think she may have even convinced herself that the language in question will hold. I posted on this bill last week, when it was approaching approval. And Ed Morrissey over at Captain's Quarters actually praised the CT Legislature for "getting it right" on this issue. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Captain Ed, but I completely disagree.

Anne Stanback, executive director of Love Makes a Family, said her group would probably begin talking to lawmakers about gay marriage - though she acknowledged it's not likely the issue will be taken up next session.

"As important as the rights are, this is not yet equality," she said.

With that quote Ms. Stanback has betrayed her groups true agenda - and it's not about death benefits or filing joint tax returns. But she won't need to bother talking to lawmakers, because the lawyers are about to do the talking for her.

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"Jumping" Jim Jeffords not seeking re-election...

Reported on Boston.com:

Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, an independent who triggered one of the most dramatic upheavals in Senate history when he quit the GOP four years ago, announced Wednesday he would retire at the end of his term next year, citing his and his wife's health. Jeffords, 70, had been adamant in saying he would seek re-election, but he reversed himself in a short statement Wednesday. "After much thought and consultation with my family and staff, I have decided to close this chapter of my service to Vermont and not seek re-election in 2006," Jeffords said at a suburban Burlington hotel ballroom filled with current and former staff.

Apparently his wife Liz's health is also a concern. She is currently battling cancer.

Of course it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that it sucks to be him in the Senate right now, where the party he screwed over is in the majority and can keep him on the back-bench and make his life miserable. What's the point for Jeffords at this point? The Republicans aren't going to lose that majority anytime soon. And the only time Democrats even talk to him is when they want to use him - for nothing in return.

No, Jimbo took a gamble back in 2001. And ultimately he lost.

Hat Tip to Memeorandum who has a few blog links from both sides of the spectrum.

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Drinks all around for B16...

They're giving out free beer in Benedict XVI's old home town:

Germans in Pope Benedict XVI's home town were given free beer to celebrate their newly famous son.

Hubert Gschwendtner, Mayor of Marktl am Inn where Joseph Ratzinger was born, said: "It's unbelievable, I'm overjoyed." Mayor Gschwendtner promised free beer to everyone in the town.

Hundreds of locals in the small Bavarian town also flocked to the house where the new Pope was born, firing salutary shots with blank bullets into the air.

Mmmmmm. Beer.

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Even Better Quote of the Day...

From John Hawkins, on Andrew Sullivan's meltdown over the new Pope:

All this talk about "modernizing the church" seems to miss the point. Fads come and go, but the church endures in part because it changes glacially, if at all. The church is supposed to set a timeless standard, not respond to polling data or try to accommodate social trends. Show me a church that is determined to "change with the times" and I'll show you a church that is likely dying.

Well put.

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Quote of the Day...

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico (a Democrat who "gets it"):

"We just can't be negative. We can't just attack the president at every turn," he said. "We have got to stand for something."

Richardson was quoted in a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Monday. Unfortunately for his party, Democrats are too busy screaming about Bush to listen.

Hat Tip: On The Wire

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Gay Groups Up In Arms Over B16...

Honestly, I don't understand the shock and awe that homosexual-rights activists are expressing at the election of Cardinal Ratinzer as the new Pope. Everyone from Andrew Sullivan to groups like DignityUSA are freaking out as if all of a sudden the Catholic church is going to start rounding up gays and sending them to the work camps.

"The new Pope is seen as the principal author of the most virulently anti-gay, anti-GLBT rhetoric in the last papacy," said DignityUSA President Sam Sinnett.

Did they actually think the Cardinals assembled would choose a man who would turn away over a thousand years of tradition and pronounce that homosexuality and "transgenderism" is just fine with him? Like all of a sudden they are going to wake up one morning and say to themselves, "gee, maybe we should rethink this whole 'gay' thing"?

It's this kind of reaction that shows two things:
1) they are completely out of touch with not just the population of the U.S. but of the rest of the world (outside of Western Europe, that is) regarding its views on homosexuality - and are utterly unrealistic in their expectations, and
2) the "war room" mentality that these groups have in pursuing their agenda.

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Sam Donaldson: Network News Is Dead...

Drudge is linking to a story in the Broadcasting & Cable trade journal that quotes former ABC reporter Sam Donaldson admitting what Conservatives already know - that the age of Network News is dying a slow death as it's elderly audience also dies off.

Attending a breakfast panel Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters, Donaldson was brutally frank:

"God forbid, if someone shot the President, which network would you turn to? It will be cable, the Internet--something other than General Hospital being interrupted."

He and the other panelists also commented on bloggers:

[Bloggers] have had a generally positive impact on news because mainstream reporters are forced to better verify their information and pare opinions out of their work or face the wrath of scrutinizing critics.

So the future of the 6:30 news broadcast is pretty bleak. Now someone needs to tell my in-laws.

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My Personal South Park Character...

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Damn it to hell!!

Just when everyone was worried about the two spineless wonders Lincoln Chafee and Chuck Hagel, no one was keeping their eye on OH Senator (and pussy) George Voinovich who absolutely blindsided the GOP-controlled Foreign Relations Committee.

Voinovich asked for a recess, which will likely be for two to three weeks! This puts Bolton's future in limbo. What was Voinovich promised by the Democrats? What did my scumbag Senator Chris Dodd say to him when he pulled him aside and got him to fudge his jockey shorts?

Voinovich WAS on board, now he's off the reservation. It's time to have some committee assignments yanked away from this useless sack of...

BullDogPundit has some choice words for these gutless asshats.

Frist MUST GO! NOW!!!

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"South Park Conservatives" Author Q & A...

Human Events Outline has an interview with Brian Anderson, whose book South Park Conservatives is on its way to bookstores.

What is a "South Park Conservative"? According to Anderson:

A South Park conservative, as I use the term, is someone who isn't a traditional conservative, especially when it comes to popular culture and censorship, but who looks around at today's Left, with its anti-Americanism, its political correctness, and elitism, and says: "No way."

Based on the reviews I've been reading, I can't wait to read this. My local library has it on order and I'm the first one on the "hold" list when it comes in. After I read it, I'll post my own thoughts, but the Q & A article gives a good preview.

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Speaking of Star Wars, How "Jedi" Are You?

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Through The Eyes Of A Child (Reflections On "Star Wars")...

One month from today, the sixth – and final – installment of the “Star Wars” saga will be released. As we count down to a moment that will hopefully bring some much desired closure to the story, I wanted to take the opportunity to get some things off my chest about the franchise in general and this prequel trilogy in particular.

Not long after my tenth birthday, I remember going to the Merritt Theater on Main Street in Bridgeport, CT where I grew up and seeing the original Star Wars film - "A New Hope" - for the very first time. The lights dimmed. On the screen the old 20th Century Fox fanfare played, followed by the now immortal phrase “A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…” and then…BAM…the now familiar Star Wars logo popped up and shrank as if it had been shot out of a cannon at the rear of the theater. The opening scroll went up the screen and a story began.

It was, in fact, a story that was already somewhere in the middle of the telling. The words made little sense. A “period of Civil War”? “Rebel spies” and “secret plans” for the “ultimate weapon”? And come to think of it, exactly what was “their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire” anyway? We never did find out. But to a 10-year old kid, it was largely irrelevant. Only later, as I got a little older, did I even give any thought to the meaning of the opening scroll. I didn't care. The view of that giant Star Destroyer filling up the entire screen from overhead said it all. This was going to like no other movie anyone had every seen before.

Over two succeeding three-year intervals I waited for the next chapter of the story to arrive - the vastly superior “Empire Strikes Back” and the up and down “Return of the Jedi”. When it was all over, the feeling I had about those films is one that has never quite been duplicated. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy was pretty close. But being an adult who was already very familiar with the story, the comparison is very much apples v. oranges. A whole generation – mostly of boys – held that special feeling in their psyches that would never quite go away.

Now here’s where I start the criticism – not of the new films, but of all the incessant bitching and moaning of people – mostly men – my age who like to go around and trash the prequels as if they are some sort of abomination that bear no resemblance to the masterpieces that they remember. They constantly find fault and point out what they would have done differently. They all forgot that the special feeling that I just mentioned was as much of a result of their original perspective than anything inherently special qualities about the original movies themselves.

When these folks look at “The Phantom Menace” or “Attack of the Clones”, they no longer look at them through a child’s eyes and imagination. Young kids grew up to be cynical and jaded grown-ups. Nothing about these movies meets their standards. Even the titles are held up to ridicule. But I ask you honestly, is “Attack of the Clones” really any more corny a title than “The Empire Strikes Back”? Were the goofy antics of Jar-Jar Binks any sillier than the ridiculous comic relief offered by C-3PO? Perhaps a little, but the kids love it nonetheless.

People my age need to remember that the dialogue of “A New Hope” was almost laughably unbearable. You need look no further than hearing Han Solo respond to Princess Leia’s lament that the danger wasn’t over by saying “It is for me, sister” for an example. My God, how 1970’s is that? Look, I have many criticism’s about the prequels, but I get past them and let myself enjoy the movies with my son, who is now almost as old as I was when I first sat in that theater.

Neither of us can wait to see “Revenge of the Sith”. It will be darker and perhaps scarier than the others – maybe even a little disturbing. But when he and I are sitting in a theater a little more than a month from now, I will consider myself quite lucky that in addition to fulfilling my own desire (and sorrow) to see the final transformation of Anakin Skywalker into the iconic Darth Vader, I will get another chance to see and enjoy it they way that he will.

Through the eyes of a child.

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Rove Backs DeLay, Calls Critics "Desperate"...

The Washington Times reports that Sr. Presidential Strategist Karl Rove publicly expressed his support to the House Majority Leader who is currently under fire from political opponents.

"I'm sorry that the Democratic Party has been reduced to this kind of drivel," he said. "If you don't have ideas, if you're not articulating a vision for America, if you're doing nothing but obstructing as Dean and others in his party seem to be intent upon doing, I guess you're stuck doing this kind of thing."

While the President has said that DeLay is an "effective leader" with whom he looks forward to working with, he stopped short of expressing his explicit backing of the Majority Leader during this controversy, which he left for Rove to address on behalf of the White House.

Former GOP Majority Leader Trent Lott expressed his disappointment in what he sees as a lack of support for DeLay from the Bush Administration:

"I do think the White House needs to remember that people [who] fight hard for you as a candidate and for your issues as a president deserve your support," Mr. Lott said Sunday.

I have to agree with Lott here. I know the President likes to stay above the fray on political matters such as this - as the MS Senator is all too aware - but Republicans need unity at this time. And a vote of confidence from the top is sorely needed here.

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Dems still pushing postponement of Bolton vote...

Sen. Joe Biden is pushing for a further postponement of the Foreign Relations Committee vote on whether to send John Bolton's name to the full Senate for approval. Democrats smell blood in the water as NE Senator Chuck "I want to be President but nobody likes me" Hagel expressed a wishy-washy attitude toward Bolton on CNN this weekend.

Republicans have been wary of Sen. Lincoln Chafee but have managed to keep him in line. Now Democrats are trying to work on Hagel and make him the one vote that kills the Bolton nomination. IN Senator Richard Lugar is set to argue against the postponement.

This is the last hope for Senate Democrats as Bolton would almost certainly be approved if his nomination is forwarded for consideration. If the GOP leadership allows Hagel to screw them over on this one, Sen. Bill Frist must step down as Majority Leader because, to date, he has shown little or no leadership in that chamber!

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Air America: It sucks because it serves no purpose...

Ace of Spades is dead-on with his take on the lastest LA Times opinion piece profiling the ratings disaster that is Liberal "Air America":

"Right radio is an alternative to the MSM. What the f' is liberal radio an "alternative" to? Reality?"

Liberals just don't get it. And I love how they poo-poo the success of Conservative talk radio as appealing to a bunch of unsophisticated, knuckle-dragging, morons. Former Gov. Mario Cuomo, himself a "miserable failure" (to quote a certain former MO Congressman) on radio, puts it this way:

Conservatives "write their messages with crayons," he maintained. "We use fine-point quills."

Is it any wonder why the whole concept of a "Liberal" talk radio network flies in the face of common sense? But then, Liberals have never been known to grasp the concept of common sense.

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All Promise, No Action...

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Podhoretz: Dem Strategy is a Suicide Pact...

The NY Post's John Podhoretz writes today about the threat Democrats are making if Senate Republicans change Senate rules to allow simple majority votes on judicial nominations: the threat that they will "shut down" legislative business in Washington.

Minority Leader Harry Reid put it very frankly back in December: "If they, for whatever reason, decide to do this, it's not only wrong, they will rue the day they did it, because we will do whatever we can do to strike back. I know procedures around here. And I know that there will still be Senate business conducted. But I will, for lack of a better word, screw things up."

This threat is just about the only card Democrats have to play against the Republican action.

But if they actually follow through, they'll do themselves and their party great injury. Even though obstructionism is a vital weapon in a party's arsenal, it only works when it goes on below the radar.

He goes on to point out that Republicans tried this exact same approach ten years ago, to its ultimate failure.

They went into confrontation mode with President Bill Clinton by sending him budget bills they knew he wouldn't sign. When he vetoed the bills, the federal government was forced to shut down.

The GOP hoped the public would blame Clinton, since he had vetoed the bills. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, "We want the country to understand that the only way the government will close tomorrow is that President Clinton is determined to close it." That's not the way it went down. Because the GOP had provoked the showdown, it got blamed for the shutdown.

The entire business was a political calamity for Republicans. They appeared to be acting out of pique, keeping the government closed in order to force Clinton to bow to their wishes. And Clinton went after them for it, constantly saying he wanted the government to go back to work to serve the American people.

If Reid's Democrats effectively shut down the Senate, they will open themselves up to the same criticism that the GOP received back in 1995. They too will be crosswise of a president — in this case, George W. Bush, who will be able to play the same "get back to work" card that Clinton played.

It's time to call Sen. Reid's bluff. Constitutional Option now! Democrat political suicide later.

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