Now go here.

I have come down off the mountain today for one reason and one reason only:

To make sure you read this.

It is the one and only thing you need to read today and it pleases me greatly a friend wrote it. Someone needed to write it. Someone needed to say it.

Sometimes, when it comes to an issue like abortion, people slip up and say what they mean. It’s seldom a point deemed appropriate for public discussion, but on occasion someone will point out that a hugely disproportionate number of abortions are executed upon black and Hispanic children. Occasionally, a pro-life person will even go so far as to wonder whether, for many supporters of legalized abortions, this fact is a feature of the system, not a bug. Supporters of legalized abortion at this point, offended by the idea, will typically recoil in horror at the suggestion, insisting that no responsible supporter of legalized abortion feels that way. Most abortion proponents will then insist that the disproportionate numbers of minority abortions is an unintended (and surely undesirable!) consequence of this nonetheless important social policy.

Thankfully, we have people like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg around to remind us what an insidious lie this is, as she does in this weekend’s New York Times.

The money quote from Ginsburg’s own monstrous mouth? This: “Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion.”

In today’s episode, Barack Obama admits that the ousted President of Honduras “has strongly opposed American policies,” but should be reinstalled as President despite the democratic institutions of Honduras ousting him pursuant to the terms of the Honduran constitution.

Why?

Because he was democratically elected.

Nevermind that Zelaya wants to stay President via undemocratic means. Don’t look behind that curtain.

This is foreign policy by farce.

“America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not. “

How exactly is this consistent with Iran? Oh wait, he’s fine with the nutcase there too who rigged the election to stay in power.

Let’s add superficial to farcical and we have Obama’s foreign policy operation. And you know, let me be honest with you, I can’t imagine even Hillary Clinton going along with all of this by choice.

Praise Mitt Romney. Three years ago, the former Massachusetts Governor had the inadvertent good sense to create the “universal” health-care program that the White House and Congress now want to inflict on the entire country. It is proving to be instructive, as Mr. Romney’s foresight previews what President Obama, Max Baucus, Ted Kennedy and Pete Stark are cooking up for everyone else.

— Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2009

According to eyewitness sources, under the apparently blind eye of the global media, the two leaders had lengthy conversations. The media covered the friendly photo of the initial handshake between the two leaders, then made much ado about an apparently-impertinent Chavez handing Obama a book in Spanish by Eduardo Galleano.

What has not been reported is that Obama, leaving his advisers behind, held lengthy private conversations with Chavez where only an interpreter was present.

We have a South American marxist oriented dictator who funds paramilitary groups and drug cartels intent on undermining democratic, capitalist leaning governments in the western hemisphere having private friendly conversations with the American President, and no one seems concerned?!

To remind you, Barack Obama was/is a member of the New Party, a known communist oriented organization that, to get their political endorsement back in the 90’s, Obama had to pledge allegiance to them.

Now, as President, Barack Obama is undermining the democratic government of Honduras, a long time American ally, and doing nothing to help Columbia fend off the drug cartels being funded by Chavez.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re so busy watching Barack Obama destroy American capitalism in his domestic policy, we’ve failed to pay attention that he is also destroying our long time foreign policy ideals too.

A former soldier pulled his own teeth out with a pair of pliers because he could not find a dentist to take on NHS patients.

Iraq War veteran Ian Boynton could not afford to go private for treatment so instead took the drastic action to remove 13 of his teeth that were giving him severe pain.

The 42-year-old, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, had not had his teeth looked at since seeing the army dentist in 2003. He had not been registered with a dentist of his own since 2001.

The British and Canadian healthcare systems are used as ideals by leftists who want a public option for healthcare services. They say, and Barack Obama says, he will not make you give up your private plan. But we know that the public option will make the private options so expensive, they’ll collapse. Additionally, we know that some employers will shut down their private plans to save money.

Either way, pretty soon we’ll be doing surgery on ourselves. Pity the man who performs his own vasectomy.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Nonetheless, here are more thoughts.

1. Sarah Palin resigned, I think, to spare her family from more attacks. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Sarah Palin is doing this just days after a very nasty Vanity Fair article where folks like Nicolle Wallace and, according to Bill Kristol, McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt (though I’m told Schmidt is not involved), savaged her.

2. Unfortunately, by resigning, I think the left and national media will be emboldened to ritualistically engage in the metaphorical gang raping of conservative politicians, particularly those who are female and have children. They’ll decide savaging Palin’s family drove her from office, so the sky’s the limit on the next conservative with kids.

3. I’m sad that so many people are mad at me for voicing my opinion that she’s done with elected politics. I have always supported Sarah Palin. I continue to support her. But that does not change what I think. We should not be invested in the politician or the personality, but the ideas.

4. I’ve had this running thought all day, perhaps because I was watching it on TV in HD for the first time, that this is kind of like Ben Kenobi letting Darth Vader strike him down. Palin is not going to run in 2012, but by doing this she can now become Barack Obama’s worst nightmare, and help rebuild the opposition to Obama. How? Because were she to remain a 2012 contender, she’d keep having stories by anonymous McCain campaign staffers and other 2012 contenders going after her and her family. Take that ambition off the table and it neutralizes a lot of that. So she can focus on candidates and ideas without an ulterior motive focused on 2012.

5. My friends on the right who are heaping the most scorn on Palin and saying things like “this proves she shouldn’t have been elected in the first place,” “if she can’t take the heat she should have never gotten in the kithchen,” etc. are also typically the ones who do not have small children.

6. Yes, yes. Jokes were made about Chelsea Clinton. How many allegedly credible media organizations pursued stories that she was not Hillary Clinton’s child? How many late night comics joked about her getting raped at a Yankee’s game? How many allegedly mainstream comics and pundits made mental retardation jokes about her? See e.g. the Huffington Post, which put up then took down a post by Erik Sean Nelson entitled “Palin Will Run In ‘12 On More Retardation Platform.”

7. People are so cynical. Immediately, several people I know concluded there must be a scandal. After all, that’s why politicians abruptly do stuff like this. How about her being tired of her family being smeared constantly and forced to pay huge legal bills to fight frivolous complaints? Maybe it is a scandal, but it’s sad that so many people default to that.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Sarah Palin has been the subject of vicious, vile attacks. Her family and key staff have all been driven to the verge of financial ruin by relentless legal attacks that are routinely thrown out, but still must be offended.

Her children are routinely attacked and turned into the butt of late night jokes by left wing comedians.

I’d want the target off my back and my kids’ backs too.

Sarah Palin will not be President in 2012. She will not run for President. She will not run for any elected office ever again.

The political pundits who are saying she couldn’t take the heat, so she got out of the kitchen, may have found a winning cliche to apply, but then no one has faced the heat Sarah Palin has been subjected to, largely at the hands of the political pundits now dragging out that cliche.

Of course, now she’ll be a great position to be a voice for the GOP, but with no further political ambitions, she’ll largely be able to mitigate attacks from opponents within the GOP.

UPDATE: To get a few people off the ledge and avoid some suicides around here, let me point out that this is my opinion of the situation given what we know.

I’m sure Sarah Palin is not done with politics, but I am equally sure she is done with elected politics. By removing all doubt that she is done with elected politics, she can be much more effective at helping other Republicans get into politics without overly ambitious potential 2012 rivals seeking to hurt her, her family, and those politicians she helps.

To pull out a favorite line of yesteryear, suck it up.

Ignoring the constitution, President Manuel Zelaya, a man less popular in Honduras than George Bush was when he left office in this country, ordered a “non-binding” referendum be put to the voters on extending his stay in office.

Glenn Garvin wrote in the Miami Herald, “After the Honduran supreme court ruled that only the country’s congress could call such an election, Zelaya ordered the army to help him stage it anyway. … When the head of the armed forces, acting on orders from the supreme court, refused, Zelaya fired him, then led a mob to break into a military base where the ballots were stored.”

The Honduran Supreme Court, congress, attorney general and members of Zelaya’s cabinet opposed his move as unconstitutional. The supreme court ordered the military to remove Zelaya from office. Honduras has no impeachment process as we know it.

. . . .

Now Roberto Micheletti, a member of Zelaya’s own political party, is president of Honduras. Despite protests from Zelaya’s supporters, the nation’s trade unions, business groups, Catholic Church, and most citizens supported Zelaya’s ouster — no one wanted a tyrant, let alone one propped up by drug lords and marxist thugs like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

Nonetheless, Barack Obama declared the Honduran government’s actions a coup — never mind the government was preserving its democracy instead of overthrowing it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all.” She called on Hondurans to uphold their constitutional processes, the very thing they were doing by ousting Zelaya.

On June 4, Barack Obama said from Egypt, “No system of government can or should be imposed on one nation by any other.” Two weeks ago, regarding the popular uprising in Iran, he said, “How that plays out over the next several days and several weeks is something ultimately for the Iranian people to decide.” As with his campaign promises, our president quickly forgets his own words.

For perspective, Obama more quickly condemned President Zelaya’s ouster by a democratic government than he condemned Iran for gunning down its citizens who had taken to the streets to demand freedom. Obama needed public pressure to even discuss Iran. Sadly, our president needs public pressure to align his moral compass toward freedom.

You can read the whole thing here.

The only sad thing is that the paper took out my Jimmy Carter crack. One of the sentences in the column is:

Presidents in Latin American countries, like herpes, have a habit of never going away.

Originally, it noted that “like herpes and Jimmy Carter” Latin American presidents have a habit of not going away.

There are 6,000 precinct captain positions for the Republican Party in Maricopa County. Of those, only 2,000 or filled. In other words, one-third of the precinct captain positions are filled. More bluntly, three-tenths of one percent of the registered Republicans in Maricopa County, AZ are actively engaged in their party.

Back in February, 200 people showed up at a tea party protest in Maricopa County. Assume, if you will, that half are not actively involved in the local Republican Party. That makes 100 people who were so hacked off at out of control government that they showed up at noon on a weekday to protest.

If those 100 people each became a precinct captain, they would have enough impact to make significant changes in the Maricopa County Republican Party. Why? Because of the 2000 named captains, not all are actively engaged. And of those who are, not all can show up at a meeting because of schedule conflicts.

If the 100 stand strong, they can approve the larger leadership of Maricopa County.

Just 100 people.

Yes, let’s remember that 300 Spartans held off the Persian Army. Small numbers compared to the thousands of well armed Persians (sorry, Pej).

Small numbers working well together can be powerful numbers. It just takes some dedication.

Because of ballot access laws in the several states, it is virtually impossible to organize and operate a third party. Look at the Libertarians. They have been around for years and have zero nationally elected politicians and very, very few at the local level. Same with the Greens. And remember 1992? The Reform Party stormed onto the scene only to rain out.

If we are to fundamentally change this country, we will do so through the existing party apparatus. And it is damn easy if you work at it with some friends.

Think about the numbers. Take, as another example, Bibb County, Georgia, where I live. If you show up at a precinct meeting, you are probably going to become precinct captain because no one shows up. Then you have a good chance of becoming Area Captain because, again, few show up.

If you do it with your friends, pretty soon you are bringing your delegates to the county convention and picking your county chairman who then gets to have a say at the state level. Better yet, if you coordinate with like minded members of the RedState Army in other parts of your state, pretty soon you’ll control your state party.

Then you have real power.

Ever hear of the “Butterfly effect“? To quote wikipedia, “Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.” You know it better as a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan causes a storm in California.

Put in more relevant context — you showing up at your county Republican Party meeting causes a wholesale, long term readjustment in the Republican Party.

Friends, we can’t spend all day on RedState bitching and moaning about the state of our country and the state of the GOP. You don’t have to invest your money, just your time and talent.

We need a lot less preaching and a whole lot more doing. The power of small numbers of people willing to show up at a political party meeting gets amplified over time. If you are willing, you and your like minded friends can take over and change the Republican Party.

At the RedState Gathering on August 1st, we’re going to spend an hour talking about this topic and how to take our online activities offline to make a real difference.

Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market.

The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.

Unemployment is projected to keep rising for the rest of the year just as the income boost from the stimulus package fades, undermining prospects for a sustained rebound in household purchases, analysts said. As companies from General Motors Corp. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. cut costs, the lack of jobs will limit any recovery.

Most media outlets have started engaging in pro-Obama “it’s not that bad” spin. But this is a harsh reality. Unemployment will keep going up. Wages will stagnate. The Obama stimulus plan is not working.

Sadly, we all knew that before the stimulus passed Congress. But it still passed and now we’ve added trillions of dollars to the deficit for nothing.

They actually get into the question of why Texas does not suck like California and Michigan. Awesome and true.

Check it out. And consider this an open thread.

Sure, both measures went on to pass, but we were able to make it difficult for the Democrats. And it is more and more important that we grow the ranks of the RedState Army as the healthcare fight picks up.

Below the fold, I’ve got the updated numbers by state. We have a total file of 15,554. We have enough information on 7,319 to target them by state. We’ve only added 1,000 people in the past few months without me aggressively pushing this.

Let’s get on the ball and see what we can do to increase the numbers.

We should be able to get up to 200 in Colorado. 300 should be easily doable in Illinois. Texas can get to 600.

Will you help? Get your friends to sign up here. Or you can use the form below.

Likewise, below the fold, I’ve got the state by state numbers. See how many people in your state are members and see if you can increase that number. We need your help.

Mary Bono Mack, unlike some of her Republican colleagues who voted for cap-and-trade ( see e.g. Dave Reichert), does not live in a district that would punish her for cap-and-trade opposition. She was perfectly safe to vote no.

That she did not means she should now be targeted.

Redemption? Vote against it should it come back from the Senate via Conference and actively oppose Obamacare.

Otherwise, we beat her and her husband at the polls.

Yes, you heard me. We can get at Mary Bono Mack in two ways — her district and that of her husband. He should feel the heat just as much as her.

In the Maloney case, Sotomayor’s ruling would allow the states to completely ban the possession of guns, a radical view that should scare the living daylights out of the NRA and its membership. After all, the Heller decision by the Supreme Court striking down the District of Columbia’s gun ban was decided by only one vote. In other words, the Court came within one vote of completely writing the Second Amendment out of the Constitution.

This matter is likely to come up before the Supreme Court in its very next term. The NRA is appealing the decision of the Seventh Circuit in NRA v. Chicago, a case over the City of Chicago’s restrictions on handguns. This case will decide whether the individual right to bear arms that the Supreme Court recognized in Heller as applying to the federal government in the District of Columbia also applies to the states through the incorporation doctrine of the Fourteenth Amendment. If this case is lost through a close vote on the Supreme Court, the constitutional gun rights of Americans will vanish in the foreseeable future – except in the District of Columbia.

The NRA exercises considerable influence in Washington. Even many Democrats (with the exception of Northeastern liberals) who normally disagree with Republicans on numerous issues support the Second Amendment and have proven so in many votes over the years. A good example of this is the vote in February over the District of Columbia bill that would give the district a voting representative in Congress. An amendment attached by Senator Ensign (R-NV) to protect the Second Amendment rights of district residents passed by a vote of 62 to 36, with 22 Democrats voting to approve the amendment. One of the most important reasons for the approval was the fact that the NRA made Congress aware that it was going to include the vote on that amendment in its annual scoring. There have also been two other pro-gun measures approved by the Senate recently – an amendment by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) to allow Amtrak passengers to carry guns in checked baggage and another amendment by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) to restore gun rights in national parks. Sixteen Democrats voted for all three amendments.

Fear of being scored as against guns in legislative votes by the National Rifle Association in its annual congressional rating is a key factor in the political considerations of many senators when they are deciding how to vote on gun bills. Yet aside from a few muddled statements, the NRA is sitting on the sidelines in the confirmation battle on Sotomayor, an anti-Second Amendment zealot. Prominently displayed on the NRA’s website is an announcement about its appeal of the Chicago case to the Supreme Court. But the only mention of Sotomayor’s nomination is a brief announcement that says the “NRA looks forward to a full and open review of Judge Sotomayor’s record on this issue.” Really?! What open review does the NRA want or need – her disdain for the Second Amendment could not be clearer.

This contrasts with the actions of the American Hunters & Shooters Association, a liberal organization founded in 2005 by Ray Schoenke, a former Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland. The AHSA masquerades as a gun rights organization and a counter to the NRA, even though Schoenke gave $5,000 to Handgun Control, Inc., a predecessor to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. AHSA endorsed Barack Obama last year and recently did the same for Sonia Sotomayor, saying that “gun owners have nothing to fear from Sotomayor.” There is no doubt that Patrick Leahy will wave this endorsement in front of other senators when Sotomayor’s nomination is being debated.

The only way that the NRA can counter this endorsement and have any effect on Sotomayor’s nomination is if it takes the one step that Democratic senators fear and respect – announcing that it will include the vote on her confirmation in its annual congressional scoring. Nothing could be more important to preserving gun rights than the NRA taking this action to prevent an anti-Second Amendment judge from gaining a seat on the Supreme Court. Yet the leadership of the NRA, particularly its political shop, does not want to do anything about this nomination because it fears the political consequences and the “damage” it might do to its relationship with the Administration and the majority party controlling Congress.

The NRA leadership has also shown an unwillingness to score votes they believe they will lose for fear that such a loss will make them appear weak. If they score the Sotomayor vote, they may not win now, but they are likely to shift some red state Democratic senators who otherwise have a free pass to vote for Sotomayor. Those who do vote for her would be forced to explain their weak NRA voting record to constituents at their next election, and so a temporary defeat could actually provide for a victory in the future by contributing to pro-gun pickups in the U.S. Senate.

Minority congressional staff in the Senate are privately complaining about the fact that the NRA is unwilling to take the steps necessary to fight this nomination. It is betraying its membership because it is afraid that it will lose the fight, as if that possibility means they should not even try. If the NRA only waged battles when it was sure of victory, there would not be any point to the organization. Its reluctance to act, in the same way that it refused to act against the nomination of the most anti-gun attorney general we have ever had, Eric Holder, should inflame its membership and inspire a revolt.

The members of the NRA should flood the Board of Directors and the officers of the organization with letters, emails, and telephone calls demanding that the NRA take action and come out loudly and vociferously against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. They should demand that the NRA announce very publicly that the vote on her confirmation will be included in its annual scoring of senators. If it remains MIA on this crucial vote, it will have lost its authority to speak for America’s gun owners. It will also have lost what should be its most important battle without ever having fired a shot. It will have forsaken its members most important interest – preserving their Second Amendment rights – to maintain its supposed “relationship” with an Administration that would act in a New York minute to banish our gun rights if it could get away with it, “relationship” be damned.

The Mason-Dixon Florida Poll, conducted last week among 625 registered voters, indicated 51 percent support for Crist — compared to 23 percent for Rubio. But that was largely a factor of Crist being far better known statewide than the former West Miami legislator.

What, that doesn’t sound good to you? Well, consider the relevant part:

Among Republicans who recognized both names, Crist’s lead was 33 percent to 31 percent. With an error margin of 6 percent, and 36 percent of GOP voters saying they are undecided, the figures were encouraging for Rubio.

“Half of the Republicans have never heard of Rubio but among the half that have, the race is essentially tied,” said Brad Coker, director of the Mason-Dixon poll. “If Rubio gets a little money and gets a little momentum going, it’s a dead heat.”

The Governor of Florida and Speaker of the Florida House, among those who know them, are essentially tied.

And the race is more than a year away — plus it will be a closed primary.

Tomorrow is the last day of our fund raising quarter. Please support our campaign for LESS TAXES, LESS GOVERNMENT, AND MORE FREEDOM.

Charlie Crist just signed a budget raising taxes on Floridians.

Charlie Crist supported and said he would vote for the Obama stimulus plan that expands the size of government, creating new agencies, new oversight, and new regulations.

As for Freedom, a man who wants to roll back efforts to end affirmative action, undo educational reforms that give Florida children greater access to the education of their choosing, and who supports the expansive spending policies of Barack Obama neither knows nor deserves freedom.

Stop the liar Charlie Crist.

The Wall Street Journal calls him the “Republican Barney Frank.”

Support Marco Rubio and support freedom.