I am aware that most will think I am nuts, but I can’t help myself; I do not feel the outrage.

If our national Security has been put at risk because it is now public knowledge that our State Department is comprised of a bunch of scumbags then I guess our National Security was already at risk – telling us what we already knew can’t possibly make anything any worse than it already was.

If our country is looked at with greater international disdain because it is now public knowledge that our President (the leader of the formerly-known-as most powerful nation on earth) is a moron having no business attending a UN session in the cheap seats let alone being allowed to actually open his mouth into a microphone in front of everyone there, then we had already sunk well below the prestige-poverty line the day he was sworn in.

If we’re only now getting mad over the idea that our enemies’ neighbors have been trying to get us to do their dirty work for them because they have no collective testicular fortitude for cleaning up the mess they played a dramatically large role in helping to make in the first place, then how mad can we really even be at this juncture?

If we want a culture in which whistleblowers should not only be made to feel secure in turning the bright light on truth, but encouraged to do so for the greater good of all humanity… then why do we now want to string up and make an example of what should be, by all rights, the poster child of truth and light?

For all the outrage about all the secrets this Assange fellow has brought to light, where is the outrage about what his light has shown to us? This story should be about what he’s told us…not how upset we all are supposed to be about the fact that he did…even though the latter will be his ultimate cause of death (literally OR figuratively, depending on whether Hillary gets to him before Holder does).

Is it because the worst of the scum…that swill which is so foul and so despicable that it can’t be allowed to bubble all the way up to the surface of the festering and oozing swamp filled with what we call politicians and sovereign leaders… is expected to be this nefarious and this disgusting and this repulsive and this repugnant, and therefore must remain immune from having to face their own crimes and iniquities? And not be held accountable for them?

Probably.

Problem is, I don’t give a rat’s patooty. In fact, I’m almost encouraged by the news of all these scumbags and all these morons and all these governmentally-subsidized criminals and miscreants being exposed to the light like the kitchen full of cockroaches they are.

Almost.

My greatest fear is NOT, actually, what these little morsels of information are going to do to our security or our image or the shortening of certain careers (God willing). What worries me most is how much harder the survivors will work to better hide the festering and oozing sores that they are on our national and international complexions.

It worries me a lot.

There are plenty of historical renditions about what this holiday is intended to represent; good people suffering terribly bad times who, after surviving the worst of conditions and beating the worst of odds, found themselves celebrating their salvation by indulging in the bounty reaped from the seeds their earlier labor had sown. Some died, some lived, new souls were born and God’s mercy was bestowed upon those who lived on by His good grace. And the infant “America” was allowed to continue to grow and prosper.

This notion of “giving thanks” brings with it a wide and varied interpretation; those of us with an abiding faith believe it is a way to remember our Creator and to share with others (and remind ourselves of) the wonderment of what His presence in our lives is meant to bring. To others, it might be good enough to consider this day as one in which we simply revel in the joy and happiness our extended families bring to our lives (even the relatives we hardly abide throughout the balance of the year).

In the past year we have lost far too many loved ones while also enjoying not nearly enough additions to our respective families…really now, is there such a thing as too many cute and cuddly newborns?

We have discovered new friendships, strengthened old ones, found new loves, and entered in to the wobbly world of wedded bliss. And through it all, we have been blessed with God’s grace and His mercy on those of us so terribly in need of His presence in our lives.

We, each of us, have our own reasons for which we’d like to give thanks.

I give thanks for God’s grace in bringing two sisters into my life without whom I would not be the person I am today, and without whom I might still not see the beauty and wonder God’s mercy is meant to bring to all His children. I give thanks for His having seen one of them through a terribly difficult and potentially life-threatening medical problem so that she might continue to fuss over me and keep me on the straight and narrow path. I give thanks that He sees to it that my other sister watches over us both, that we might stay enough out of trouble so as to prevent her from having to apologize for our mischievous ways while unconditionally loving us both all the same.

And I give thanks for my loved ones, here and departed… they have enriched my life and the lives around me that they touched along the way. Without them, I would not be “me.”

I wonder…besides the easy stuff like good jobs and healthy kids and tables full of food today…what do any of YOU give thanks for?

God’s mercy keeps those we love and care about safe, and His grace brings to us the greater gifts for which we have little real knowledge we even need in our lives. For these things, this year, I give my thanks…and my hope that you each find mercy and grace in your own lives today and in the times ahead.

Simple words, straight-forward system of checks and balances, and the means by which each of us could live our lives in a safe, organized, and just manner. Yet, here we are today facing an election like no other in recent memory. More Americans are more angry at their Political Heroes than they have been in a very long time - even (I dare say) more angry than they were at George W. Bush and the GOP such a relatively short time ago.

We are out of work. We are living on food stamps and unemployment. We are seeing our dwindling dollars being spent on bailouts and regulations and Federal intervention into every nook and cranny of the private sector. And, we are getting increasingly vocal about these things at the very same time that our elected officials – from both parties – are losing their collective sense of hearing. We are at war, today, with the very people we sent to Washington to do our bidding. They have chosen to squander our good faith, and turn their backs on the very people for whom they should be on their knees in gratitude for the job so many of us do not have.

Today, We the People begin to take back our country. We will not win every battle today. We won’t see the end of this “war” for a long time to come…perhaps not even for a generation…but the beast has been awakened. The reckoning has begun, and it will not stop until the wills of the millions will be bent to once again by the hearts and minds of the thousands.

The Constitution at our backs, we move forward now and build the foundations for the next step. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue [fixed per request] is up next, and we go after it staring tomorrow.

Today is Christine O’Donnell’s big day. It’s Chris Coons’ big day. More importantly, it’s Delaware’s big day. The people of Delaware will finally have THEIR say, now that all the pundits and so-called experts and professional pragmatists have finally been made to sit down, shut up, and watch as the will of the people unfolds.

In Part I of my commentary regarding a recent conservation I had with Christine O’Donnell, I suggested that…despite what so-called “experts” think…Christine O’Donnell could win. I stand by that observation today.

I have, admittedly, struggled with how best to present Part II of our conversation, in large part because there are so many contradictions within and between the GOP and the Conservative movement(s)…and so many unanswered questions about how much any of these people truly means it when they stand up and speak out and demand a fundamental change in America… and a fundamental change in politics as usual. Frankly, I’m not so sure I believe them.

This election is a referendum on Barack Obama and his liberal/progressive agenda. It is a referendum on the tactics employed by his cohorts in the Democrat Party to enact it, despite resistance or outright refusal on the part of “we, the People” to tolerate them. This is a reckoning between the American people and those that mean to lead us…and it is a time in our nation’s history like no other in recent memory.

Christine O’Donnell, along with a very long list of others, has volunteered to move up to the front lines in this fight, and take on the Democrats and the Obama agenda – come what may – and all she (and a host of others) has been given in return is the turned back of some members of her own party. Arrogance, mockery, impunity and self-ascribed elitism are poor qualities among those who would go about rebuilding our once-big big tent. And, they are unbecoming of the people fighting to take back our country from people that are exhibiting all of the very same traits we are fighting against in this election.

O’Donnell’s thoughts on her race with Coons, and how she hopes her candidacy will be remembered – win or lose – below the fold.

Ronald Reagan once said “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Krauthammer, Castle, the Delaware GOP…and a lot of people that don’t even really have a dog in the Delaware fight save for helping to put a Republican in that seat as opposed to a Democrat for the sake of a majority in the next Senate…would do well to heed the Gipper’s words.

It is well-documented that Chris Coons has no qualms about running a budget into the ground; raise taxes, lavish his constituents with deficit spending, and destroy any budget he’s allowed to get his hands on. He’s made it clear that he plans to not only continue Obama’s agenda…but spend even more to help make it the success he’s been led to believe it could be if only we could tax a little more…spend a little more…and “entitle” a few more people to the Government teet. O’Donnell has consistently stood against these things.

My second question to Christine had to do with the recent CNN debate between her and Chris Coons. I wrote about that debate at Liberty.Com, and I pointed out to her (again admitting my bias in her favor) that it seemed pretty clear the moderators had frequently cut her off and reminded her opponent that he had time to rebut if he wanted to…almost as if they were helping him keep up. I’ve seen enough headlines to support that claim (and plenty to argue against it) but I offered her the opportunity to add whatever she felt she hadn’t had sufficient opportunity to say that night. The official question:

“Having been cut off so many times during the CNN debate, what do you want to say now that didn’t get said that night?”

Her response:

Look, the overall theme here about my opponent is that he says one thing on the campaign trail and does an entirely different thing when he’s in office. We can’t believe anything he says; he rails against spending, but votes for it whenever the issue comes up. His own record shows he has voted to increase taxes…he’s even on record as having accused low income families of taking advantage of the system somehow in these down times in our economy. He clearly doesn’t seem to care about what is happening to the people of Delaware and people all across America.

He said in the debate that his family business would NOT benefit from Cap & Trade, but clearly it will.

He can’t be trusted and he can’t be believed, and voters need to look at what he DOES…not what he SAYS.

As she said several times in our conversation, Coons has a horrible record and has openly suggested he will rubber stamp the Obama agenda. Reminding me that he is “Harry Reid’s pet” [cue chuckling and snickering] she went on to suggest that Government has overextended itself and become too burdensome…and that Coons is only going to vote to continue that trend. The choice between the two candidates here is perfectly clear.

My final question, suggested to me by my blogging brother in arms and dear friend and long-time colleague in this business, was intended to let Christine reflect a little and… as I told her in the lead up to the question… to give her a chance to pre-emptively speak on the matter before the pundits and the so-called experts would be given the opportunity (and camera/stage time) to put words in her mouth as has been done so often in this campaign. The question:

“We’re two weeks out now, and much has happened since last June. We’ll know soon enough what the will of Delawareans will be. Before then, and before anyone else can try to say it for you, how do you want your campaign remembered…REGARDLESS the final outcome.”

Look, we can win this race. The primary proved that. My opponent has a horrible record, he will rubber stamp the Reid/Obama agenda, and if my party would work as hard FOR this win as opposed to working so hard against it…we can get this done.

I want to put this country back in the hands of the people. There are people that have never voted before, and I think this candidacy has encouraged many of them to get out there and vote – to have their voices heard. My candidacy has helped inspire folks to do that, and to get more involved and be more active in their communities. I have engaged with people…connected with them…and I have helped to encourage them to believe their votes matter, and they can make a difference.

I have given a voice to the Constitution. My opponent once said that I was “limited” by the Constitution as if that was bad. I believe our Government has overextended itself and has become too burdensome and that was never what the founders had in mind. I believe in the Constitution, and I think during this campaign we have made that case to the people of Delaware. There are five freedoms guaranteed in the first amendment, and that my opponent can’t name any of them should send shivers up the voter’s spines.

I believe my campaign should be remembered as having been able to connect with the people of Delaware, to encourage them to engage in their own political process…and to get active and be involved within their communities. I think we have accomplished that, and I think we can win this race.

Christine O’Donnell should be the next US Senator from Delaware, specifically because she is not a politician, is not cynical and jaded like so much of the ruling class elites inside the Beltway, and most importantly because she is one of us. She just wants to get the country back on the right track. That she has endured such levels of bitterness and rancor, and kept smiling while staying focused on the people she means to lead, speaks volumes about her qualifications to be a US Senator. I, for one, have had enough of professional politicians…and so has a great many other every-day American citizens. O’Donnell (I pray) will be sticking a thumb in a lot of eyes come this time tomorrow…and I look forward to reveling in that…God willing.

[Crossposted]

A friend suggested tonight, in light of the story published anonymously (and in exceedingly poor taste) about a bawdy night with Christine O’Donnell (allegedly), that Democrats just can’t help themselves. I agree.

I’ll not offer the link here, in the name of good taste, but Google is your friend and it won’t be very difficult to find these allegations. More importantly, spend a little time reading beyond the original trainwreck itself; many many people are not impressed, and a dramatically large number of them are women.

To name a few:

Via The Daily Caller:
NOW defends Christine O’Donnell against Gawker’s “slut-shaming”

Via Michelle Malkin:
The Gawker smear machine: A refresher course

Via The Huffington Post:
O’Donnell’s “Hook-Up:” Gawker’s in the Wrong

Via POWIP:
Gawker’s Christine O’Donnell Hit Piece

Via JoshuaPundit:
The Democrats Create A New Low; ‘I Had a One-Night Stand With Christine O’Donnell’

There are more, but you get the idea. There’s something not being said though, that I can’t help but noticing and passing along here…this childishness (and blatant disregard for the very privacy they rail from the rooftops every day to defend) is going to have the reverse effect of that which was intended…and it is going to help guarantee the very thing they are high five-ing themselves right now thinking they have prevented; Christine O’Donnell is sure to win this election now, after today’s events.

Having been down by as many as 20 points or better, Rasmussen recently had O’Donnell somewhere within 11 points of Coons. More recently, an internal poll, published by the HillBuzz, suggests she might be as close as 5. Whatever the MoE is for the poll almost doesn’t even matter; Democrats are losing women in droves this cycle. Obama has even had to send the Missus out there to beg women not to leave him. Even worse for the Democrats…especially after today’s disaster…many of the women were planning to stay home out of anger, frustration, and an overall lack of enthusiasm…now, they’re going to come back to the polls with a vengeance-and it’s Liberal heads they’ll be coming after.

As the O’Donnell camp’s official response points out:

“From Secretary Clinton, to Governor Palin, to soon-to-be Governor Haley, Christine’s political opponents have been willing to engage in appalling and baseless attacks — all with the aim of distracting the press from covering the real issues in this race,” said O’Donnell spokesman Doug Sachletben.
[snip]
In its statement released Thursday night, her campaign also pointed out that the National Organization for Women condemned the piece. “NOW repudiates Gawker’s decision to run this piece. It operates as public sexual harassment,” said NOW president Terry O’Neill. “And like all sexual harassment, it targets not only O’Donnell, but all women contemplating stepping into the public sphere.”

While exactly right, this statement is missing the follow-on sentence: “Democrats have pretended to champion women’s issues for generations, and never have they shown more contempt for Women than they do here, tonight, with this offense against the whole of the gender and everything we’ve been fighting for our entire lives.”

O’Donnell has been bloodied and cleaved in this campaign over everything BUT what she stands for and what she means to do when she gets to Washington. This foolishness tonight only solidifies what some of us already knew; she’s a threat to them, and now that they realize they’re about to lose to her all the same, they’re getting desperate like the Frat freshmen a lot of us have always known them to be.

Trouble is, they’ve pee-ohed the wrong demographic.

[update: my comment at the offending site has been been blocked by the offending site's Admins. All I said was "thanks for giving O'Donnell the win", and suggested they might not have thought this one through all that well. Where's the harm in that? I was nice about it, and I didn't even swear!]

[Crossposted]

There is something about these 2010 elections that a lot of folks know, but more than a few of us don’t quite have the right words to wrap around. I have said elsewhere that we’re living in an American Reckoning… it’s down to that at this juncture. People from all walks of life are suffering, many of us are out of work altogether or, at the very least, underemployed and not making enough to make ends meet. We’ve all been lied to, Left or Right, and we’ve all demanded that something be done about the state of the American Collective.

We want change; not the now-outdated Hope and Change™ we bought into in ’08 mind you, but a new – real – change that allows us to exercise our rights and rely on our freedoms and our liberties to overcome our problems and get moving forward again. This year, as was the case with the Republicans in ’06, the American people are going to take out their frustrations on the party in power…in today’s reality… that’s going to be the Democrats.

We’ve learned how easily power in the wrong hands can corrupt otherwise good men of well-meaning intent. We’ve learned that checks and balances in American governance are the fundamental keys to our ability to live without tyranny. We’ve learned, as well, that unchecked power can turn people into near-enemies of the state, and that when called upon to do so, American citizens must stand up and say no. We can only do this through the ballot box, and these votes of ours are our only real bullets anymore that can be fired in the direction of those that would do harm to our Republic or any of her citizens. When our own people would take away that power from the ordinary citizen, anarchy or outright revolt can quite easily result.

Our 2010 elections are less than a week away. The money has, by and large, been donated and spent. The message, for the most part, has been distributed to “we, the People” and we await our opportunity to respond accordingly. There are troubled waters ahead, however, and Americans from all walks of life and across the entire political spectrum must pay very close attention to the election process and ensure that nowhere will vote theft or ballot inconsistencies or voter disenfranchisement or outright vote fraud be allowed to occur.

This is our country, OUR election process…our right and civic duty…and it is up to each of us to monitor this system (and the people trying to navigate it for their own personal gain) to ensure it is done as our Founders intended…and as our system(s) of justice was designed.

[crossposted]

He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, “we can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.”

In the new post-racial America, brought to us by Barack “don’t call me black or white, just call me American” Obama, we have been told our differences are behind us now…just because he exists and… just because he is black. Yet, day by day and speech by speech, this President has done more damage to race relations than any combination of Presidents since Lyndon Johnson…and he, at least, tried to make things better with a sincere heart.

Were anyone else to have been caught on tape making these sorts of remarks, they’d have already been fired and given a 2 million dollar job contract with the competition. Oh wait.

The lack of outrage should surprise no one here. We were told to vote for him… not because he was black but… because he brought with him hope and change and the promise of a color blind society. He has delivered on none of these, instead making race relations worse today than they were before he was elected. Since being sworn in we’ve been routinely told that any disagreements with his agenda HAD to be because he was… wait for it…

Black.

Some of us fall for that drivel, but most of us…and especially the folks pulling levers in voting booths all across America in a few days…know better. A great DEAL better.

Bridging the racial divide in this country will not come from highlighting our differences and throwing these in our faces so we can turn them against each other. And it will most certainly not come from throwing slurs at individual groups or races, or using *dated* ones to make jokes at the expense of others.

It will come from mutual respect and understanding, each of the other. This President has neither, and he is not qualified to lead any of us in the struggle to get there.

'stack consoles Peggy after she sups a Tea Party reality

During the early to middle Bush years we were like peas and carrots, Peggy and I. Mid to late years, and her anti-Iraq equivocation and left-lurches to the dark side? Not so much. Early Obama? Nope…not at all; she was chillin’ in Berkely, and I was driving around in circles on my red Snapper.

But now Peggy has boarded the Greyhound, and is heading back home. Together once again, in Greenbow, we shall be.

In her “Tea Party To The Rescue” piece, Peggy gives us two basic points to ponder. The first one suggests that Republicans, for reasons they still can’t see past themselves far enough to understand, have been selected – for now – by the Tea Party as the best alternative to a Political Party of its own. The second one makes clear that, despite Democrats’ unwillingness to admit as much, these 2010 midterm elections are NOT local, and have everything to do with Barack Obama himself:

It is not, broadly, about the strengths or weaknesses of various local candidates, about constituent services or seniority, although these elements will be at play in some outcomes, Barney Frank’s race likely being one. But it is significant that this year Mr. Frank is in the race of his life, and this week on TV he did not portray the finger-drumming smugness and impatience with your foolishness he usually displays on talk shows. He looked pale and mildly concussed, like someone who just found out that liberals die, too.

This election is about one man, Barack Obama, who fairly or not represents the following: the status quo, Washington, leftism, Nancy Pelosi, Fannie and Freddie, and deficits in trillions, not billions.

Everyone who votes is going to be pretty much voting yay or nay on all of that. And nothing can change that story line now.

Yes, Miss Peggy…a thousand times yes.

The one thing Noonan needs to give more thought to, as she comes back to the reservation, is her somewhat misguided notion that the Tea party is about George W. Bush. Where she rightly suggests that Bush went adrift in the sea of Conservative ideology…especially during his later years in office…she unfairly conflates that with the Tea Party message. While the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress might be an anti-Bush movement, the Tea Party clearly is not:

The tea party did something the Republican establishment was incapable of doing: It got the party out from under George W. Bush. The tea party rejected his administration’s spending, overreach and immigration proposals, among other items, and has become only too willing to say so. In doing this, the tea party allowed the Republican establishment itself to get out from under Mr. Bush: “We had to, boss, it was a political necessity!” They released the GOP establishment from its shame cringe.

Some of those over-reaches to which Noonan refers happened on Bush’s watch, to be sure, but they pale in comparison to those that have taken place in the time since he left town. This Tea Party business is not about “party”…it’s about what is right for the country despite whichever party happens to be in charge of it at any given time. And…it’s about taking BACK control of the place now that our Political Heroes have made such a mess of things…and making sure no one else gets elected that could ever do it again.

It’s ok though-I forgive her. She’s come a long way in a fairly short period of time. Enough R & R back in Greenbow with the rest of us pitchfork-totin’, bible-thumpin’, gun-clingin’ rubes and she’ll get her head right again.

[Crossposted]

We’ve heard it said often enough throughout this midterm campaign cycle; “elections have consequences” and “every vote counts.” I would add…”and no matter how piously they might try, experts and pundits aren’t always right.”

This is because, by and large, no one can truly predict how people will react (h/t Sussex County Angel) and what they might do under the right combination of outrage, angst, frustration, and the general malaise that inevitably sets in when Government actions result in the suffering of the people it was elected to represent. Just ask Mike Castle.

The 2010 campaign cycle has been about many things; jobs, deficits, debt, and the generally depressed economy that has resulted from poor decisions and dramatic over-reach by the Obama/Reid/Pelosi agenda in Washington. But this campaign cycle is about something else as well.

It is about a reckoning with the American people.

Back when she was Christine “WHO?” O’Donnell, I was honored to sit down for a few minutes with Christine and discuss her candidacy for US Senate. I had seen her original presser in which she referred to herself as a “Citizen Politician” and discussed with her last June just exactly what that meant. Fast forward now, almost 5 months later, to the new Christine “She Can’t Win” O’Donnell…and my second interview. This time, we had much more to discuss…and a great deal of fun discussing it.

This lady is the real deal folks, and – yes – she CAN win (like she did in the primary against the unbeatable Mike Castle) if only people on her own [redacted] team would start doing the work necessary to make sure of it…including money, boots on the ground, and continued engagement with her campaign and in the national dialog about what’s at stake for our country going forward.

What I like most about Christine O’Donnell is that she really is one of us.

Candidates from all across the country have stepped forward this year and said *ENOUGH* and the booming collective voice of America has stood up and demanded a fundamental change…and not the one promised by Barack Obama.

We were made a promise in our Constitution, and Obama and the Democrats have been breaking that promise at every turn. The promise to respect our freedoms and our liberties. The promise to defend them whenever and wherever they are being trampled upon…and the promise that would defer to the better judgement and collective will of “We, the People.” One such US Senate candidate is making this case in Delaware…Christine O’Donnell.

Christine “She’s Going To Win” O’Donnell™ proved the experts and the elitists wrong by defeating the shoo-in Mike Castle. Everyone said the General election would be his to lose against Coons, and yet here we are with Christine having taken him out by 6 points. STILL, everyone says she can’t win. STILL people aren’t paying attention to the voices of the folks that will actually cast those votes in Delaware on November 2, 2010. STILL people are more worried about protecting their preconceived notions than about helping the people of Delaware send the right people to Washington to clean up Obama’s mess…

When I spoke with Christine, the first question I asked was this:

Back in June when you were Christine “Who?” you and I talked about your use of the expression “Citizen Politician” and what that meant. You’re past the primary now, having taken Castle out, and have become Christine “She Can’t Win” heading into the General Election. What are your thoughts, given what you’ve been through in this campaign…including the fights you’ve had even within your OWN party…about that expression and how it has affected your candidacy?

She responded that “this country needs Citizen Politicians”. She added that the “idea resonates with voters because, for too many people, politics has become overwhelming.”

All across Delaware, folks have told me how much they support my candidacy but, when I thank them and ask them for their vote, a surprising number of people have told me that they don’t vote. When I ask why, many of them have said they are too nervous or uncomfortable at the polling places. I have encouraged them to try…to go to the polls and to ask for help. I believe I have helped to inspire every day people…people just like you and me…to go out and learn about the issues and make their voices heard in the election. I believe this has played a major role in our winning the primary and also had everything to do with the record voter turnout.

Some have pointed out that they would like to be more involved but they just aren’t sure how…or what they can do. I think being a “Citizen Politician” has helped inspire more people to get out there and become more active and help put Government back in the hands of the people.

Personally, this idea of every-day Americans being elected officials gives more people reason to believe they are being listened to, that their concerns will be addressed in Washington, and that they might truly be able to engage directly with their Representatives. This direct interaction between Politicians and the People is exactly what Christine O’Donnell believes is necessary for folks to get engaged and stay involved. I’m just an anonymous schlub out here in the internet world, and yet my conversation with Christine was as normal as any one of YOU would have with even your own next door neighbor. Would that we had more Politicians in Washington that could do this with us.

As Christine points out, “Delaware voters are hurting, their families are suffering, and people that were never involved in politics before WANT to be now, and are getting more confidence every day that they really can make a difference.” She genuinely believes her campaign and her “Citizen Politician” candidacy has been a major factor in that shift with the voters.

She went on to point out that there needs to be a balance in the national discussion too. The media, for its part, routinely twists what she says (and other candidates in other races across the country) and that places like ours…and Conservative blogs and websites in general… are out there to bring some balance to this discussion. She further suggests that all of us, in each of our communities, continue to engage in the comments sections, and to look for places where we can volunteer our time and energy these last two weeks and beyond to help get out the message and get out the vote.

I couldn’t agree more. In fact, we laughed as I pointed out that I was under no requirement to be neutral here…and that I had every intention of showing my bias whenever and wherever I could.

Next up…Part II: The race itself, the distinctions between the candidates, and reflections on the Christine O’Donnell campaign when all is said and done. And a surprise little anecdote that will be worth the wait.

[Crossposted]

The People of Delaware.

We’ve heard all the talk about bearded Marxists and witchcraft. We’ve seen all the headlines about masturbation and overdue school loans and abortion and raging far-left radical progressivism. What Delaware finally got to see tonight was the clear distinctions between these two candidates…on the issues that matter to Delawareans. Whoever supported Coons before tonight will continue to do so. Same with O’Donnell. What remains is which way the undecideds and Indys will go…and each candidate did an outstanding job of making their case.

Coons told Delawareans that he supports, by and large, the Obama agenda of tax the rich and spend like a drunk teenager with Mom and Dad’s credit card. O’Donnell told them that she only worries herself with what the People of Delaware want…not what the Republican party or the power brokers in DC want.

Coons unashamedly made his case for spending even MORE money where Obama’s agenda has come up short…O’Donnell made the case for abandoning those ideas for something…ANYTHING…that is more appropriately aligned with what we actually make rather than what the Federal Government thinks it can TAKE from citizens they deem wealthy enough to hand over their money to pay for these (and future) policy initiatives.

Delaware now knows what it’s being asked to decide: elect a big Government tax and spend Liberal or a constrained Government reduce or repeal Conservative…they will make their choice, and that decision will be honored respectfully (we hope) by both of these candidates. But there’s something else…

What Delaware ALSO got tonight, was the chance to see the Christine O’Donnell some of us around here already knew; sane, normal, fierce, stubborn, strong-willed, and determined to keep in the fight until the fight is done – despite the roadblocks that have been put in her way…especially the ones from within her own party. We also saw a Christine O’Donnell who is comfortable in her own skin.

This lady’s the real deal, regardless what some of you might have heard…and despite the “she can’t win” meme the experts keep pushing on us, I suggest folks consider the alternative to an O’Donnell victory and start thinking about how to make sure she actually does. There have been bigger underdogs in our history that have ultimately prevailed when they got the support they deserved…

Any candidate can win if they have the money and the boots on the ground. ANY candidate. At issue in Delaware, and all across the country, is whether we want to double down with the Obama agenda or ask for a new deck. O’Donnell is just one card in this game, but I like the odds.

What can I say, I always root for the underdog…it’s how I roll.

[Cross-Posted]

Today’s the day mateys. While the grownups are busy flyin’ back home from Austin, let’s have us a little fun.

Go get your name before we make ye walk the plank. Ye knows what to do after that ya miserable lot o’ scalliwags…open thread…yarrrrr.

There is no “I” in team. The primaries are done…some of us like how things turned out, some of us don’t. In the end, we’re here for one thing; to WIN.

We’re allowed to fight it out during the playoffs, bet for or against depending on our individual proclivities…but the Super Bowl has been set now, and it’s time to get in line behind the rogue’s gallery we’ve assembled. Gimme your hand and we’ll give you a leg up – it’s time to line up. If you don’t, we’ll be unhappy.

Any questions?

Consider this an “anything but the primary results” Open Thread…for example…Randy Moss isn’t pleased with his lack of a contract…discuss!

On the other hand, there’s an interesting phenomenon going on in NH…Ovide (as Erick pointed out earlier) is catching up. Magellan has him down 4 and PPP has him down 7. Not being reported much is that NH polled in the 40s as “undecided” until these latest polling rounds. Ayotte hasn’t “lost” voters, so a safe bet here is that the undecideds are committing now, and most of them are going to Ovide. I’m an amateur at this, so I’m prepared to be proven wrong.

This same poll goes on to suggest that John Stephen has the GOP nod for Governor all sewn up. But, interestingly, it indicates that about half of us do NOT consider ourselves Tea Partiers, half think we are “just about right” for how Conservative we think we are…and about half don’t give a rip about Sarah Palin one way or the other.

Poll results as they come in tonight can be found HERE for the Ayotte/LaMontagne showdown, HERE for the Guinta, Mahoney, Ashooh, Bearse, Bestani, Kohlhofer, Parent and Rondeau faceoff in NH-1 and the Bass, Guida, Horn, Reilly and Sonner fight for NH-2.

Can we all say a prayer there are no recounts anywhere…especially a couple states south of me? PLEASE? Amen.

PS-The NH Secretary of State elections website is here if you care.

I was intending to give a huge shout out to FreedomWorks, and especially to the inimitable Tabitha Hale (who was actually quite impressively successful at herding [like cats] 175 of some of the best bloggers in the country through a series of events collectively called “BlogCon”).

Ok, well I guess I just did…but more on the blogcon events and the march itself on another day…

Having said that, I must be honest – I was a little hesitant to put this piece out there today because of 9/11 and wishing I could see the whole of the day reserved for focusing on its memory and reflecting on what happened to the American collective on September 11, 2001. So, too, do I hope that we always honor the memory of those lives that were lost that day and in the days hence as we were put upon by Muslim terrorists to confront their hate and their radical ideology.

I chose not to wait, however, for the oddest of reasons. I’m sitting in a hotel bar typing just south of Washington DC on the eve of the first anniversary of the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington , sponsored in part by FreedomWorks (with whom I am spending the weekend learning how to blog better and share valuable time and beverage and sustenance with today’s blogging rockstars). As I was mentally preparing to join in the march on the Capitol, I looked outside to find a small group of people screaming at the top of their lungs at the Hotel entrance.

With the calls of “BOY – COTT” and “DON’T check IN…CHECK OUT” ricocheting off the front walls of the Hotel, I was reminded that they are FREE to do this protest against some perceived unfairness…every bit as much as I will be free to do so tomorrow…and how comforted we should all be that 9/11 did not cost us any of our freedoms.

While 9/11 might have cost us some of our National innocence, it also served the greater purpose of reminding America once again how precious a thing freedom is, and that there can be no greater cause worth dying for than to preserve it in honor of the names of those who have come before us every bit as much as in ensuring that it is preserved for future generations yet to come.

Freedom works because enough of us remain diligent that it remains so, despite the challenges to its fundamental principles.

I noticed, upon further investigation, that the numbers were on pace to be even worse in July (which they ultimately were) and that there was not one [expletive deleted in deference to the posting guidelines] mention of this anywhere in the major media outlets. I was angry, however unsurprised I might have been, but I determined that I would quietly watch…and “listen”… to the news to see if anyone else was paying attention over these past 5 short weeks. They were not.

Over 50 Soldiers have died since I started paying attention, and the only news story I’ve seen tells of the 7 Soldiers that died last weekend. A death here or 2 or 3 there don’t, apparently, qualify as news. Meanwhile, our metrosexual President (unable to talk to the American people or the families of our fallen heroes because he’s been just too busy riding his girl’s mountain bike adorned in that goofy looking helmet which keeps him safe on his harrowing ride along the treacherous streets of Martha’s Vineyard), seems completely indifferent to these numbers.

I wouldn’t want to talk to these families either, if I were him.

In 86 months the total number of casualties in Afghanistan was 630 under the Bush command. Under Obama’s weak, waffling, hand-wringing and navel-gazing command, in just 19 months, the US casualty count as of August 30, 2010 now surpasses Bush’s numbers, sitting now at a total of 632…and counting. How can this be?

We’ve had 4,763 strategy reviews. We’ve made kissy-face with our enemies. We’ve announced to them that we have a date-certain withdrawal plan if only they could just quiet themselves and wait us out. We’ve changed leadership on the ground, modified the ROE, incorporated the Rahm Emanuel-style approach to winning friends and influencing people there, and we’ve even begun indirect negotiations with our enemy to help facilitate their return to power once we tuck tail and run.

While our former President vacationed on his ranch, running chainsaws and wearing his man pants, he took time to visit Soldiers and the loved ones of the fallen wherever time allowed. He does so still. THIS President, beclowning himself at the Vineyard on our dime playing golf, either misunderstands his role as Commander-in-Chief during hostilities or he doesn’t care. George Bush, while winning (or trying to win) wars endured daily headlines about body counts. He endured countless calls for his resignation or, failing that, his impeachment. George Bush was a lot of things to a lot of people but he always cared about the Soldiers and their families…and he SHOWED it to them on a regular basis. He cared then, and he cares to this very day. Obama clearly does not.

The question now, with Obama’s complete lack of care or concern about the Soldiers or their families or their sacrifices, is when the calls will come from the left for his own resignation or his own impeachment. I’m fairly certain, like the chirping crickets in the headlines across America, I know the answer already.

It’s sad, really, and especially ironic that we find ourselves engaging in a national debate over Dr. King’s speech where a few thousand African Americans used their podium to rail against how far they still have to go to achieve King’s dream while a hundred times that many Americans cried out for going back to that place from whence King came as he pursued his dream; God.

The fact that Sharpton, like King, is a Reverand would lead most of us to expect invocations of God and our greater purpose in pursuing Him in our daily lives and our struggle for equality. King mentioned God four times in his I have a Dream speech, and Beck mentioned God twice in the first 5 minutes of his own “Restoring Honor” speech at the Lincoln Memorial…a few steps and 47 years away. Sharpton mentioned God not once in his own speech, choosing instead to refer to “us” and “them” and “we” and “they” on multiple occasions while simultaneously calling for unity:

Whichever of these two approaches one chooses to adopt, “Restoring Honor” or deepening the American divide because “the Dream has not been achieved” depends on one’s point of view. Move forward, inspired by hope that is derived from what has already been accomplished, or stand still…fists clenched…trapped by what hasn’t.

It is the best of worlds for those relentlessly enjoying posh vacations, or playing endless rounds of unaffordable golf at inaccessible (to most) country clubs, or keynoting speeches in the private homes of rich donors (scrambling Democrats at risk of losing their seats in Congress in tow, desperately hanging on to their coattails) while not being on any election ballots.

It is the worst of worlds for everyone else.

I came across this campaign ad from Sean Mahoney’s (R Cand. NH-1) website and it got me to thinking about Charles Dickens [full disclosure: I've gone on record in support of Mahoney in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District]. I kept thinking back to Obama’s promise of this summer being the “Summer of Recovery”, as I considered Mahoney’s suggestion that ours has been more like a “Cruel Summer” instead:

I’m not seeing the downside to that, by the way, however much Obama and Biden insist on telling us we’ll be worse off than we are now.

At a time when reliable national polling indicates that just under 30% of Americans believe we are going in the right direction, the Vice President is suggesting the other 70% of us don’t know what we’re talking about:

Biden conceded that the economic recovery was not proceeding as fast as the administration had hoped, but claimed there was “no doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

Democrats might think we’re moving in the right direction, and 30% of “we, the People” might be interested in going along for that ride…but the rest of us out here living in the real world see things in a completely different light.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

This country is in a mess of the Democrats’ making, and while they might cling to their ‘epoch of belief’ the rest of us are suffering their ‘age of foolishness.’

Whatever might not be said in the days ahead, we owe these men and women a debt of gratitude we will never be able to fully repay. And yet this country needs to make every effort to try. For every Soldier you see…be they at the store, or in the airport, or climbing aboard a Greyhound bus…take a moment to shake their hand and say to them “thank you for your service”…it’s the very least any of us can do.

4,415 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Along the way, millions of Iraqis were freed from the bondage of a despicable tyrannical regime, terrorists were shown the resolve of the American people, and the Iraqi people were given a chance at a freedom that many countries, today, still do not enjoy.

To the returning heroes, I give thanks. To the families of the fallen I give my sincerest condolences and heartfelt appreciation for the sacrifice you have been asked to endure. To the Iraqi people I pray for your safety and security and your best fortunes in the days ahead, knowing the fight for your freedom is an enduring one.

To the American people, I pray you open your hearts and your arms wide, and welcome these brave men and women home, and give them the full mettle of your love and your support…and your understanding that they have sacrificed for you in ways you may never fully comprehend.

Welcome home, Soldiers, and may God bless you and your families and the United States of America.

Let us not forget that a Dictatorship’s Justice works to tip the scales in favor of those who already support it, those who can be “bought” to support it, and those with no other choice but to support it… and the hope and change it promises to bring to its citizens.

There is no shortage of countries, past or present, that can be studied in order to better understand the lengths to which Dictatorships will go, or the limitless reach of the enforcement arm of their regimes being used in order to achieve their objectives; overthrow the will of the people, marginalize any organized dissidence, crack down on (and orchestrate witch hunts against) anyone that successfully challenges and undermines the Central authority, or worse – file suit against whole “regions” and – take them to Courts they can manipulate to further their agenda.

Once the hold on (and reach of) power is established, and the dissidents silenced – by personal ruin or jail – the Dictatorship uses its Justice to shield perpetrators of voter intimidation at the polling places…and then…it manipulates the ballots themselves to ensure it never loses another election.

To further ensure control of the proletariat, the propaganda wing is charged with the task of controlling the narrative by mocking, marginalizing, and impugning dissident voices, and giving full sunshine and audience to all claims of impropriety on the part of the opposition and all calls for investigation into any who would dare speak out against the Central Authority and the whims of the Dictator himself.

Such may not be the state of affairs in America today, but just how impossible is it, really, for that to change?

A section of the back cover says this:

One simply cannot be the most powerful Politician in Nevada without either knowing where the corruption begins, or willfully turning a blind eye to its corrosive nature.

We can all certainly agree with that. But a closer inspection of what’s inside the book brings to light a sordid tale of Reid’s graft and corruption going back as far as the 70′s, as told in the book by former Campaign Manager Don Williams. Williams’ story connecting Reid to Mustang Ranch Owner Pimp Joe Conforte, including trash bags of cash and car trunks full of “extra” absentee ballots, has now hit the streets in an exclusive at Your Politics News:

In what was clearly a calculated political move intended to preempt what he expected would be a torrent of attacks on his own credibility, a former long-time campaign manager for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) conceded that he took a polygraph and planned to go public “sometime soon” with claims that his former boss took illegal cash from a brothel owner to fund his political campaign, YourPoliticsNews.com has learned.

The actual copy of the polygraph is HERE. The truth of the story, the questions of the timing of its release, and the fact that Reid’s alleged corruption charges here are 40 years old would stand up well as Reid and his handlers go about discrediting this story as it spreads. I’ll leave it to YOU to decide the minutiae of this matter.

I can’t let go 2 fundamental questions though:

1- Why do we need to send Reid back to Washington, on general principle, after the extent to which he has failed the American people and his constituents in Nevada…independent of the accuracy of these charges from Brown and Williams and others?

2- How can we be expected to believe there isn’t some truth to them, and if there is, isn’t it about time we really clean that swamp he and Pelosi promised they’d clean once they got the jobs? If the answer is yes, why not start with the swill of corruption that percolated to the top over the past several years, and get rid of Reid himself?