Whatever Happened To Your Favorite "Little Rascal"?

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Courses For Women Only...

Last month, I linked Weekend Pundit's proposed Two-Day Seminar For Men Only.

EvilWhiteGuy has put together his own list of classes for the fairer sex. Funny! My personal favorite:

"#4 Man Management: Discover How Minor Household Chores Can Wait Until After the Game."

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Slamming Voinovich...

Glenn Reynolds links to MoveAmericaForward.com. The organization's site showcases a radio ad going after OH Sen. Voinovich for his latest treachery. Brutal.

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Bush Not Backing Off Bolton...

FoxNews reports:

Delivering a speech on Social Security in Washington, D.C., Bush urged the Senate to confirm Bolton.

"John's distinguished career and service to our nation demonstrates that he is the right man at the right time for this important assignment," Bush said. "I urge the Senate to put aside politics and confirm John Bolton to the United Nations."

He is "a good man," Bush added in impromptu remarks that indicated the president was willing to fight for Bolton.

Good for W! I'm glad to see he is resolute on this one. Dems are going all out to try and do an "Anita Hill" on Bolton's character. Rich Lowry over at NRO's "The Corner" is already fisking this new allegation. Keep refreshing for updates.

The Pajamahadeen need to kick it into gear on this one to protect Bolton's reputation from the MSM.

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And so once again, the battle is joined...

Kathryn-Jean Lopez at NRO's The Corner reports that TX Sen. John Cornyn's office has comfirmed that the Senate Judiciary Committee has just voted 10-8 to submit (re-submit actually) to the full Senate the nomination of Judge Priscilla Owen for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth District.

So the show-down on Judicial Filibuster Reform (i.e. the "constitutional" option) looms large. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase the Democrats beating up on a girl.

Seriously, though. The time to fight this battle is now, not this summer when a Supreme Court Justice retires. It's time for the members of the Republican caucus in the Senate to put their balls on the table (John McCain's balls, as we all know, are currently out of play).

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Rupert Murdoch's UK Sun Endorses Blair...

In a clever parody of the papal enclave, the British tabloid The Sun (known for its Conservative bent) has announced that the red smoke from the chimney - indicating it endorses Tony Blair's Labour party for the May 5 parliamentary elections in the UK. (Drudge had the early scoop yesterday.)

"It's Tony Blair's final election and he deserves ONE LAST CHANCE to fulfill the great promises he keeps making, such as choice in schools and health care, tougher justice for criminals and proper control of illegal immigration.

Michael Howard has revived his party and proved himself to be a true fighter. But he has failed to spell out any radical vision for a better Britain.

His front bench are a bloodless bunch, and their plans for a Tory Britain are equally anaemic. They are better than Labour at the edges on social policy but their promises of smaller government carry little conviction."

The paper weighs the good and bad for Labour and finds the "good" to be ever-so-slightly in its favor. On the World Stage, Blair's political courage is noted:

"He deserves huge credit for his vision and boldness for leading this country into the successful partnership with America to clean up the Middle East. Democracy is breaking out everywhere, even if risks remain.

Remember, as our own election approaches, that eight million Iraqis have just been allowed a free vote for the first time in their lives.

While the leaders of other big nations shrank from the challenge, Blair risked all for what he believed in."

This was one of my main arguments when I made the case for Blair's re-election a couple of weeks ago.

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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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