It’s too pat, the pieces fit too nicely together (an “explanation” for why she resigned) not to raise alarms with real journalists. So I think there is at least the possibility, that either someone in the Palin camp with an ax to grind with the media - or, less likely, Palin herself - whispered a few words to a birdie they were sure would get the word to people who would publish it.

We have even seen some of Gryphen’s fellow travellers advance the same idea. But you have to remember that these are the same people who claim that Sarah Palin is the stupidest woman to come along since Lot’s wife, and she is supported by a cast of characters of such incompetence that they can’t even manage to book her solidly for speaking events. How then, can she be so dang dumb and yet manage to outfox the best liberal minds in Alaska, the Gryphenistas never bother to explain. Go figure…

It’s not that we refuse to believe the former governor is capable of some adept political “strategery”– we’ve seen that demonstrated more than once in her political career. In this case, however, we believe that the anti-Palin hate bloggers roasted their own rear ends without any assistance from the Sarahcuda. It has more to do with a different kind of political animal entirely. For want of a better term, we call it the Wyle E. Coyote Effect.

Wyle E. Coyote was an icon of the cartoon generation before the stuff of Saturday morning television became so much more sophisticated than the easily understood characters that helped Warner Brothers domnate the genre for nearly five decades before toons lost all their appeal to our generation. The old WB catoons were basically morality plays hand-painted on celluloid with a memorable cast of characters, the most hapless of which was Wyle E.

The cunning coyote was driven by his own greed for a roadrunner appetizer and his hatred for the speedy little bird. Motivated in such a manner, poor Wyle E. was doomed to crash and burn from great altitude, get crushed under gigantic boulders and do himself in hundreds of other ways. And it was the number of ways the Warner Brothers creative people could dream up to foil Canis Latranis Hapless that kept us watching the critter’s cartoons. The roadrunner wasn’t Wyle E’s only nemesis - just the most familiar one. There was also the ever-vigilant sheepdog who pounded the poor brush wolf relentlessly for Wyle E.’s attempts to gorge on lamb chops. He occasionally even challenged Bugs Bunny, the brightest star in Warner’s Tooniverse, with less than satisfactory results for the poor ol’ howler.

Wyle E. Coyote was aided and abetted in his nefarious schemes by what appeared to be his lone worldly possession — an ACME catalog. In its pages he found all sorts of devices which he believed would give him the edge over his intended victims, but — alas — these marvelous machines more often than not failed him at the most inopportune moments, usually “wyle” he was suspended in the air thousands of feet above  that familiar canyon in which he was doomed to repeatedly crash and burn. The Brothers Warner never explained to us where Wyle E. got the cash to buy all of those ACME contraptions, nor did they bother to try to provide an explanation for exactly how he managed to survive so many crashes and burnings, but we could have cared less. We were just kids, and it was just a cartoon, after all. The expression Warner’s artists painted on the face of the character to show that he realized he had jumped the shark and was in for a 2,000 foot free fall was alone worth the price of admission, which admittedly was just a dime back then.

That’s right, — back in the day you could spend the whole of a Saturday morning watching a spellbinding serial, a Roy Rogers or Lone Ranger western, a really scary sci-fi or monster movie and a half-dozen or so cartoons for the princely sum of two nickels to rub together. Our parents loved that they could plant us in the movie theater and have half a day free from having to deal with our shenanigans. But they hated it when they had to park the car, march into the dark movie house and yank us out of our seats because we inevitably got so wrapped up in the experience that we forgot to watch the clock and meet them outside at the appointed hour.

Perhaps Mom and Dad would have gone a little easier on us had they realized that what was going on inside that theater was more than just mindless escapism. Kids all over were getting an education of sorts, and the cartoon was the unlikely teacher. We learned that Wyle E. Coyote had no one to blame for the unfortunate ends of his devious means but himself. And the lesson we kids took away from those toons had something to do with personal responsibility, although we couldn’t explain it as such at the time.  Lacking an adult’s vocabulary to explain the thoughts in our young minds, we nevertheless came to understand that a lust for exercising power over others in such a hateful manner as pursued by this particular critter could lead to no good end.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we can find all sorts of modern metaphors for the Palin attackers and the former governor, but none as fitting as the Wyle E. Coyote cartoons of yesteryear. To the Palin supporter, Sarah The Runner is the speedy bird, and Wyle E. represents the anti-Palin hate blogger. The significance of the fact that coyotes and wolves are canis cousins we will not delve into here, but there’s no denying that it helps the metaphor succeed. ACME is the federal government as run by the Democrat Party, and it is probably owned by a holding company under the control of George Soros. Barack Obama is the figurehead CEO, but Rahm Emanuel is the Chief Operating Officer and also responsible for strategy. The catalog is the state-run media, and the products found between its covers are the shiny objects — the less than reliable media stories — with which the keyboard coyotes hope to destroy speedy Sarah. That the twisted strategic anti-Palin plotting is doomed to fail is a given, but it doesn’t make each new  episode any less compelling to watch. It occurs to us that Acme as the feds provides an explanation of how Wyle E. can afford all of those shiny objects. The bill gets sent to the taxpayers!

Just like up on the screen, every time the pursuer appears to have his quarry cornered, he does himself in because of the flaws in his character. These flaws are defects he refuses to acknowledge.  In one memorable episode, Wyle E. even had the audacity to present himself as a genius. It said so right there on his business card. While you ponder what a cartoon coyote would be doing with a business card, we will admit that it was hard for us to hate the coyote the same way he hated the roadrunner. After all, Bill Clinton was fond of saying that doing the same thing over and over while expecting the results to change was a definition of insanity. So there’s the coyote’s cop out — the crazy in him made him do it. Besides, who can hate a character nutty enough to strap on a pair of rocket-powered genuine ACME roller skates and light the candle? Ya gotta love that.

Also writing for Pajamas Media, Eric Florack looks for support for Moran’s contention in “Liberal Bloggers Crash and Burn on Bogus Palin Divorce Rumor” — a title which helped us develop The Wyle E. Coyote Effect metaphor. On the insanity point we find some agreement:

It’s really enough to cause one to wonder a little about the sanity of Palin’s opposition. If Palin really is the idiot they keep making her out to be, why is it they feel they must make stuff up to generate attacks on her?

And let’s face it, the record of success of such attacks isn’t very good. Foul rumors gets quelled with lead-pipe certainty every single time. You would think that eventually they’d stop trying after so many failures. If she’s so much the idiot, what does it say about her attackers when they come away bloodied and broken after each attack attempt? Do you suppose it’s possible they’re desperate now and are tossing anything and everything at the wall hoping that something will eventually stick?

Hate will make people do strange and desperate things, and trust me, a fair amount of Palin’s attackers hate her.

See what we mean? How could we have been led to any other possible metaphor for the hate bloggers and their “Todd And Sarah Are Splitsville” fiasco? And if we’re a bit off our rockers to develop a cartoon metaphor to explain that such acts of vile hatred are doomed to fail, how insane does it make the crazy coyotes up in Alaska? Sadly, it’s much easier to believe that these vile cartoonish characters are completely out of their minds than to accept what a radio character from the heyday of the Warner toons was known to posit — “Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?” — and some awfully sick women as well.

- JP

Bill Whittle has made a video in which he explains why the left, the media and Vichy Republicans joined in a de facto Axis of Elites to try to destroy Sarah Palin. This is must-see PJTV, and it’s made out of pure 100% awesome.

But it’s about much more than Sarah Palin. It’s about a political struggle the good guys won’t win unless they wake up, smell the Alinsky and stop taking prisoners.

Don’t just watch it. E-mail it to your political friends… and foes.

- JP

“Erickson and his team of 25 core contributors—a regular-folks crew that includes a construction worker and a stay-at-home dad—also pick candidates to back in key state-level races and use the site to raise money for them.”

After I pinched my arm a couple of times to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming, I accepted the offer. Well, to be perfectly honest, I jumped at the opportunity. For an unpublished writer with a conservative bent, the chance to have your diaries fronted on RedState is a pundit’s equivalent of winning the state lottery.

And what a bonanza it has been. It has been my privilege to have those core contributors as colleagues and friends. I have learned more about good writing from this gang of cohorts than 4 years of J-school and two decades in broadcast journalism were able to teach me. I have also learned some life lessons from these good people. I can’t begin to describe how much this unique band of brothers and one delightful sister genuinely care for each other. Any one of them who gets tripped up by one of life’s stumbling blocks sees a cricle of love and protection form around them as their colleages offer their good wishes, prayers and unqualified support. I’ve never felt such a sense of community in any similar situation I’ve encountered in my life. The camaraderie and good-natured lighter moments have also been a blessing to me. They have helped me keep my spirits up and have stiffened my resolve.  Anyway, “that’s what she said.”

I will miss being an Erickson cohort and a cohort of these other fine people. I will also miss the greater RedState community of members and commenters. For those of you who were moved to comment on something I wrote, whether it was in agreement or criticism, you have my thanks. Writers are like performers in that regard. We are quick to defend our words, but we would rather be on the receiving end of a barrage of rotten fruit than to be ignored. If I was able to make you think about something in a new way or caused you to review your thinking about a particular subject, then I did my job. You have certainly made me examine my own thinking in return, and I thank you for it. I will even miss crossing swords with my old nemisis Achance. We argued long and hard over Sarah Palin, but in our exchanges we found that we do share some interests, not the least of which are interesting automobiles and the joy one receives from driving the more interesting ones.

I’m moving on to new projects and alloting myself more much sorely needed personal time to deal with the challenges in my life. So it was with mixed feelings that I tendered my resignation as a regular FP contributor to Erick earlier this week. He wished me well, and that is what I wish for him and his cohorts — and that includes all of you.

God bless,

- JP

The Raptor is beyond impressive:

The F-22, which entered service three years ago, blends key technologies that formerly existed only separately on other aircraft - or not at all. Its stealthiness will make trigger-happy combatants shoot at birds. It has agility, air-to-air combat abilities and penetrability far beyond that of the F-15 Eagle which entered service 33 years ago. It cruises at Mach-plus speeds without using fuel-guzzling afterburners.

No other fighter on the planet can touch it. So what’s the problem?

The advanced fighter has plenty of issues, if you listen to its critics. They say the Raptor costs too much. The aircraft’s supporters say that argument is a straw man:

Originally the Air Force requested up to 762, but that was progressively cut to 648, 442, 339, then 277 before the current 203, of which 134 have been built.

A major criticism of the Raptor is the cost - about $339 million per aircraft. But much of this reflects a wisely added ground attack role and a sneaky but common ruse used to cut weapon procurements. Technology development costs are fixed. So each time an order is reduced, per-unit prices go up. Critics slashed the F-22 order, and then cited the “stunning” per-unit cost to slash away again.

This game has played out with one weapon system after another, helping explain why an initial plan for acquiring 132 B-2 Spirit bombers ended with a pitiful purchase of 21. But the current per-unit cost for each additional F-22 is around $136 million, according to the Air Force.

Even at $136 million, the F-22 is not cheap. Some have suggested building more of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters instead of Raptors, but the two aircraft were designed for different missions. The F-22 is an air superiority fighter, designed to replace the F-15. The F-35, on the other hand, was conceived as a multi-role fighter, and its mission depends on the version and branch of service :

USAF: F-35A air-to-ground strike aircraft, replacing F-16 and A-10, complementing F-22 (1763aircraft);

USMC: F-35B – STOVL strike fighter to replace F/A-18B/C and AV-8B (480 aircraft);

UK Royal Navy: F-35C – STOVL strike fighter to replace Sea Harriers (60 aircraft);

US Navy: F-35C – first-day-of-war strike fighter to replace F/A-18B/C and A-6, complementing the F/A-18E/F (480 aircraft)

Also, the F-35 suffers from its own version of sticker shock. According to a 2007 GAO report:

Total projected acquisition costs have increased by $31.6 billion since 2004. The program has confronted delays in several “key events,” including the start of the flight test program, delivery of the first production representative development aircraft and testing of critical mission systems.

The average cost per airplane, the report said, has risen from $82 million to almost $95 million. That figure is sharply at odds with the government projections, which ranges from $47 million to $60 million, depending on the variant.

Others have proposed that instead of producing more Raptors, we should simply keep flying the F-15. But that option is not without a downside:

If necessary, the Air Force says it will try to fill the F-22 shortage by keeping F-15s flying to 2025. It won’t work. Even eight years ago, “some foreign aircraft we’ve been able to test, our best pilots flying their airplanes [from other countries] beat our pilots flying our airplanes every time,” then-Air Force chief of staff Gen. John Jumper told Congress.

Two years earlier, the independent Federation of American Scientists (FAS) noted that the Russian Sukhoi Flanker Su-27, which entered service eight years after the Eagle, “leveled the playing field” with the F-15. Su-27s, both Russian-built and Chinese-pirated copies, are now in arsenals around the world.

Nor are enemy fighters our only worry. Russian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) have improved dramatically in recent years. The country’s S-300 system is “one of the most lethal, if not the most lethal, all-altitude area defense,” noted the International Strategy and Assessment Service, a Virginia-based think tank, three years ago. China also has the S-300 and the Russians announced in December they’ll soon sell units to Iran…

“Only the F-22 can survive in airspace defended by increasingly capable surface-to-air missiles,” declared Air Force Association President Mike Dunn in December.

Another criticism leveled at the Raptor is that it is too costly to maintain. The Washington Post, in an article highly critical of the F-22, reported:

The United States’ top fighter jet, the Lockheed Martin F-22, has recently required more than 30 hours of maintenance for every hour in the skies, pushing its hourly cost of flying to more than $44,000, a far higher figure than for the warplane it replaces, confidential Pentagon test results show.

The aircraft’s radar-absorbing metallic skin is the principal cause of its maintenance troubles, with unexpected shortcomings — such as vulnerability to rain and other abrasion — challenging Air Force and contractor technicians since the mid-1990s, according to Pentagon officials, internal documents and a former engineer.

The Air Force Association responded to the Washington Post’s criticisms by issuing a rebuttal fact sheet:

Assertion: The airplane is proving very expensive to operate with a cost per flying hour far higher than for the warplane it replaces, the F-15.

Facts: USAF data shows that in 2008 the F-22 costs $44K per flying hour and the F-15 costs $30K per flying hour. But it is important to recognize the F-22 flight hour costs include base standup and other one-time costs associated with deploying a new weapon system. The F-15 is mature and does not have these same non-recurring costs. A more valid comparison is variable cost per flying hour, which for the F-22 in 2008 was $19K while for the F-15 was $17K.

Assertion: The aircraft’s radar-absorbing metallic skin is the principal cause of its maintenance troubles, with unexpected shortcomings.

Fact: Stealth is a breakthrough system capability and it requires regular maintenance, just like electronics or hydraulics. The skin of the F-22 is a part of the stealth capability and it requires routine maintenance. About one-third of the F-22’s current maintenance activity is associated with the stealth system, including the skin. It is important to recognize the F-22 currently meets or exceeds its maintenance requirements, and the operational capability of the F-22 is outstanding, in part due to its stealth system.

Assertion: The F-22 is vulnerable to rain and other elements due to its stealthy skin.

Facts: The F-22 is an all-weather fighter and rain is not an issue. The F-22 is currently based and operating in the harshest climates in the world ranging from the desert in Nevada and California, to extreme cold in Alaska, and rain/humidity in Florida, Okinawa and Guam. In all of these environments the F-22 has performed extremely well.

The Raptor’s supporters argue that 187 units of the aircraft are not enough:

Strategically, 187 F-22 Raptors simply isn’t an adequate number for a future war against China and/or Russia, and the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also made by Lockheed Martin, simply doesn’t have the Raptor’s air-to-air combat capability, so it can’t fulfill the same air-superiority role against the latest Russian fighters, let alone their Gen-5 fighters that are currently either under development or on the drawing board–and Russia likes to export their fighters. DefenseReview would therefore feel much more comfortable with a quiver of at least 1,000 Raptors–preferably half of them in two-seat “Super Raptor” form–for a war against the Dragon and/or the Bear. Both countries (China and Russia) are currently developing low-observable, supermaneuvarable 5th Generation fighter aircraft, and Russia’s latest 4th-Gen. Sukhoi and MiG aircraft currently being exported to other countries are arguably superior to our latest F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft in a number of aspects.

The plane’s critics answer that argument by saying that China is not likely to be a threat to the U.S. for some time to come, and Russian 4th Gen. fighters are overrated. If the Russians and the Chinese were not so willing and even eager to export their fighters, the threat argument would hold water. But the opposite has been the case. The problem is not that the Russians export their Su-27 (as the Su-30M), it’s who they are willing to sell it to. They have provided Venezuela with an admittedly few of the aircraft, but what’s to keep the Russians from letting Iran have them? There was a report in The Jerusalem Post in 2007 that just such a deal was in the works, but Sukhoi officials flatly denied it. Still, we don’t know what Putin might do depending on the situation.

But the Su-27 and Su-30 are not the future of the Russian Air Force. Sukhoi is developing its own fifth generation fighter to counter the F-22. The T-50 PAK FA is intended to replace the Su-27 and the MiG-29. Will they produce more than 187 of them? The Russian Air Force has 200 MiG29s and twice that many Su-27s in service,so the math is not hard to do to answer that question.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S. Senate, it’s not hard to understand why Chambliss and Dodd want more Raptors to be built. The Lockheed Martin plant where F-22s are assembled is located in Chambliss’ home state of Georgia, and the Pratt & Whitney facility which builds the Raptor’s engines is in Dodd’s Ohio. Chambliss and Georgia’s other Senator Johnny Isakson wrote an AJC op-ed in defense of the fighter. The Raptor program means jobs, of course, and in an economy that is shedding jobs like a Golden Retriever sheds fur in August, jobs are critical. It’s easy to understand their concern. It’s not just their states that will be affected if F-22 production is allowed to cease. Parts of the fighter are made in 40 of the nation’s states,.

But even some of the fighter’s defenders agree that is not a valid reason to continue producing the F-22. The fighter should be a weapons program, not a jobs program. The Heritage Foundation bases its argument for building more Raptors on what it calls “a growing air power fighter gap” and says the need for the advanced fighter is based strictly on the issue of defense:

Congress and the Pentagon should carefully examine the inherent capabilities and qualities of each model of fighter to verify that it can fulfill these requirements and defeat the technological challenges that may be posed by future challengers.

Congress must ensure that the U.S. military maintains both its technological edge and adequate numbers of aircraft to maintain U.S. air superiority well into the 21st century.

Meanwhile, the Congressional dogfight continues over the F-22:

“The House added $369 million for advanced procurement of 12 aircraft in FY2011. The Senate, last week, added $1.75 billion to buy seven aircraft, effectively providing all funding up front for the new aircraft, unlike the House, which leaves more budget wiggle room.”

President Obama has threatened to veto his own defense bill if it is presented to him with funding for any continuation of the Raptor program included. He has characterized any further spending on the program as “wasteful.” The way the president has thrown money away, he is perhaps not the best Washington figure to make that argument. But then neither is John McCain, who interrupted his presidential campaign to go to Capitol Hill to help save the Porkubus. Perhaps these two guys should just shut up and let Gates do the talking.

- JP

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- JP

As you can see from the attached photograph, this federal employee is in clear violation of Sec. 2635.101 of the Standards Of Ethical Conduct For Employees Of The Executive Branch, Subpart A, “General Provisions” - which states:

(8) Employees shall act impartially
and not give preferential treatment to
any private organization or individual.

Millions of people around the world witnessed this federal employee wearing clothing with visible manufacturer’s logos. I call your attention to his Majestic jacket prominently displaying a large Chicago White Sox logo (We can discuss his Asics shoes at a later date). He brandished this logo jacket while acting in his official capacity as President of the United States and official starter of Major League Baseball’s 2009 All Star Game, where he became the fourth U.S. president to ceremoniously throw the first pitch.

Not only was he well aware that there would be extensive national media coverage, the president also knew that international magazine Sports Illustrated was covering the event and Fox was televising it live.

This makes the president’s wearing of White Sox gear while representing the United States the equivalent of a walking billboard, providing benefits to the Chicago White Sox at the expense of all other teams in MLB.

It also raises the question of how this federal employee came into possession of the White Sox jacket. If it was a gift, has he claimed it as such?

How can any reasonable person not believe that won’t translate to some type of benefit for the Obamas in the future? Will the family receive free tickets to White Sox home games? We find this very troubling.

Although you are the official DNC blogger for Alaska, I’m sure you agree with us that the need for good ethics in government rises above mere party partisanship.

Therefore, in the same spirit which you filed an ethics complaint against your state’s governor for wearing a jacket which displayed the logo of a snowmobile manufacturer, we are most interested in learning when you intend to file your complaint with the U.S. Attorney General’s office against this clearly unethical federal employee.

Your attention to this matter is appreciated. Since you are only interested in good and ethical government, we are confident that you will do the right thing. After all, we are sure that you are a person of personal integrity and that you expect that same integrity from all of our elected officials, regardless of political party affiliation.

Yours for ethical government,

- JP

“By comparison, Romney’s PAC raised $1.4 million through the end of May, but then fundraising is pretty much Mitt’s full-time gig these days and he already has a polished team around him left over from the primaries. Let’s see what happens in the second half when he and Palin go toe-to-toe.”

Not only that, but as Meg Stapleton told Politico:

SarahPAC was actually ‘dark,’ meaning it took in no money, from a period in mid-April until early June as Palin focused on raising money for her legal-defense fund instead.

Most of the money the Palin PAC raised came from small donors:

“SarahPAC, reported strong support from small donors in its mid-year report.

SarahPAC reported $733,000 in total receipts through June 30, of which $420,000 was ‘unitemized’ or from donors who contributed $200 or less.”

In true Politico snarky fashion, writer John Bresnahan sniffs that SarahPac only made two contributions — $5,000 each to the reelection campaigns of Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. That should at least put to rest the speculation about Gov. Palin challenging her state’s senior senator in 2010.

SarahPAC spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton seems pleased with the political action committee’s performance:

“It was a great first half. Just to put it in perspective, we did it with one event and one e-mail from the governor back in February.”

At The Fix, Chris Cillizza itemizes the operating expenses incurred by the governor’s PAC:

“Palin’s largest expenditure went to ‘Edonation.com/Campaign Solutions’, the fundraising company run by Becki Donatelli and based in Alexandria, Virginia. Sarah PAC doled out roughly $106,000 to the firm for fundraising during the first six months of the year. Donatelli and Palin parted ways in late April.”

“Palin also paid several Sarah PAC staffers monthly stipends including former Republican National Committee finance director Timothy Crawford ($6,000/month), personal/political spokesman Meg Stapleton ($4,000/month) and PAC spokeswoman Pam Pryor ($6,000/month). Palin also made a series of $8,000 payments to IzzyLene Consulting, an Anchorage-based consulting firm.”

Cillizza’s verdict:

“Palin’s showing is… a sign that she can raise cash at the national level and that she will be a player in the 2010 midterm elections if she, as expected, chooses to involve herself in downballot races.”

“It is all the more impressive given the chaos that surrounded her operation — and herself — over the first half of 2009. If Palin can spend her time out of office organizing a serious national effort, these numbers suggest the financial support is out there to help her.”

The Fix also has a late report that Gov. Palin’s PAC is off to a good start in its fundraising for the next reporting period:

“Palin has collected at least $200,000 more for Sarah PAC since the reporting period closed at the end of last month, according to a source familiar with the numbers. Palin’s resignation — announced on July 3 — triggered a flood of donations to the PAC, the source added.”

USA Today’s On Politics blog notes:

“Among the donors: prominent Republican adviser Fred Malek, who gave nearly $3,700.”

A PDF copy of the FEC disclosure form filed by SarahPAC is here.

-JP

Pubic polling Top Gun Scott Rasmussen reports his latest findings:

Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of 10 key electoral issues, including, for the second straight month, the top issue of the economy. They’ve also narrowed the gap on the remaining two issues, the traditionally Democratic strong suits of health care and education.

Rasmussen’s survey found that for the second straight month, Republicans held their six-point lead over the Democrats on economic issues among all voters, only the second time in over two years of his polling that the GOP has had the advantage on economic matters. Especially worrisome for the Democrats has to be the metric that independents now trust Republicans more to handle the economy by a 46% to 32% margin. What’s behind the shift in trust from the ruling party to the opposition?

Last week’s report of 9.5 percent unemployment, the highest since 1983, raised doubts about the economy and the president’s handling of it. Consumer and investor confidence is now down to the lowest levels in three months. Just 39% now say President Obama is doing a good or an excellent job on the economy while 43% rate his performance as poor. Those are by far the weakest numbers yet for the president…

Most voters (52%) now trust Republicans more on the issue of taxes, also the highest level found in over two years. Only 36% trust Democrats more on taxes. A survey conducted at the end of June found that 39% of voters now expect their taxes to go up under Obama, the highest level of concern measured to date.

Republicans also continue to hold sway with voters on national security, a traditional GOP area of strength in public perception:

For the second straight month, voters put North Korea at the top of the list of biggest threats to U.S. national security.

It cannot have helped the Democrats that the Obama Administraton cut the defense budget for missile defense at a time when the North Koreans are developing both nuclear warheads and the delivery vehicles to carry them. All the while, they are improving the accuracy of their missiles.

The GOP holds a four-point lead on the issue of the War in Iraq, one where they were being clobbered by the Democrats prior to the November elections. Now it seems that shoe is on the other foot. Republicans also have a six-point advantage on the issue of immigration, are ahead by seven points on abortion, and has a one-point edge on government ethics and corruption.

Here are some other things which should cause the Democrats to lose sleep:

Also for the first time in over two years, Republicans lead Democrats on the issue of Social Security 42% to 37%. Democrats held a six-point lead on the issue last month, and the parties were tied in April.

Democrats have also seen their leads shrink on two of the party’s strong points, health care and education. The party holds a four-point lead on health care, down from 18 points in May. The Democrats’ advantage on the issue is the smallest found in over two years.

Voters are evenly divided when it comes to the health care reform plans being promoted by the president and Democrats in Congress.

On education, Democrats lead Republicans 41% to 38%, also the smallest margin in over two years. Democrats held a 15-point lead in May on the issue.

Rasmussen says fifty-four percent of all voters believe that Democrat in Congress holds more liberal views than they do, while only 36% believe the average Republican on the Hill is more conservative than they are. This does not bode well for the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections. Indeed, GOP candidates lead Democrats for the second week in a row on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Even Stevie Wonder can see the warning signs here, but don’t expect the Democrats to alter their suicidal course. Even putting the brakes on cannot prevent the inevitable train wreck, and the Dems have no intention of pulling that lever. The years they were out of power inside the Beltway only made them covet it more, and they just can’t help themselves from trying to implement the full liberal Monty Python. Even if they could, their radical leftist special interest groups would not let them.

What Republicans should take away from the trend shown by the Rasmussen polls in the six months since the Democrats took power is that they should hold a conservative line. The American people are increasingly becoming fed up with the Democrats’ abuse of power, and now is not the time to get week in the knees or the spine. The voters will give them another chance, but they still have to show Americans that the GOP has real solutions to offer and will not betray the principles that brought them into power when they themselves held the three most important houses in the nation’s capitol. Republicans must reassure voters that they have read Santayana’s famous warning and they will never again forget.

- JP

“On reflection” Frum has it all figured out. It’s all about the money:

“2009-2011 will be her peak years for speaking fees. If she runs for president in 2012, she’ll be obliged to cut back her paid speeches in the fall of 2011, and if she does not run, her speaking fees will dwindle away soon after.”

Notice that Frum has nothing to say about about how much money bogus, politically-motivated “ethics” complaints are costing Alaska’s taxpayers, nor does he even mention the legal debts the complaints have imposed on Gov. Palin’s family. He tries to make it seem that the Palin resignation is some sort of coldly calculated  personal enrichment scheme by the governor. Frum also ignores the fact that Sarah Palin’s book contract will provide her with sufficient income that she won’t even need the speakers’ fees which he says motivate her.

Frum also has another imagined reason for Gov. Palin’s resignation:

“Palin has visibly lost interest in the governor’s job and she’s fed up with criticism.”

Visibly? Frum doesn’t understand that it’s not that Sarah Palin has lost interest in the governor’s job, it’s that the ethics complaints are preventing her from doing it in an efficient manner. He must have missed the part where she mentioned that eighty percent of her time and that of her staff is tied up in dealing with the complaints and the numerous FOI requests her political opponents keep piling up on the state of Alaska. But its easy to see how he missed it:

He.Does.Not.Listen.

I’ve noticed this about Frum and other Vichy Republicans (VRs). They are so focused on filibustering that they do not listen. Like a government burdened with frivolous complaints and FOI requests, Frum’s mind is so burdened with keeping up his non-stop rant that it cannot process input. This VR trait is a behavior which we have all seen in liberals when they are debating an issue. There’s no give and take on their part. They try to talk louder and longer than their opponents so they can get all of their talking points in.

To illustrate the point that the VRs have more in common with liberal Democrats than with conservative Republicans, listen to the exchange between Frum and Mark Levin here and here from Mark’s show after Frum had viciously attacked Rush Limbaugh:

Frum:

“We need to have a more relevant approach to economic issues that understand that it is health care that is crushing the incomes of middle income Americans. We need a new approach to the environment that accepts the legitimacy of… (Ten seconds) We need a softer line on social issues and an emphasis on competent, intelligent and fairer issues.”

Levin:

“Basically, we have to surrender our principals. I get it.”

Notice how Levin throws Frum off his game with a few well-placed points. It’s like a cat playing with an insect.

So it’s not only positions on issues that VRs share with the Left, it is tactics also. Like liberals do, Frum uses the ad hominem rather than the philosophical argument. Like some sideshow phony mind reader, he pretends to know the motivation of those he attacks. This is another liberal trait. They always think they know the inner thoughts and motivations of those they attack. Who knew that tinfoil hats had clairvoyant properties? Like a hungry flea, he bites at his target and is as annoying as a fly that won’t stop buzzing around your head until you swat it. Conservatives should be able to see that like liberals, Frum and his VR ilk are more foe than friend.

- JP

So what will she be doing after July 26?

Only one specific event has been announced so far that will have Gov. Palin’s participation. According to the Simi Valley Republican Women Federation (SVWF), Sarah Palin will be at the Ronald Reagan Library as the guest of honor for their 50th Anniversary. That celebration is on the calendar for Saturday, August 8, at 5:30 PM. Tickets for non-members are $150. If you want to attend, the Club needs your reply with payment by July 20. There can be no more powerful symbolism to Republicans than Gov. Palin launching the national phase of her career of public service at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library.

She will have a long national book tour to keep her busy next spring, and it will coincide with the 2010 mid-term campaign. Between the Reagan library and the book bus, the calendar will have to be filled out. Not that there is any shortage of demand for Gov. Palin to make appearances. Just after the November election there were 800 invitations sent to the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate asking for her presence at one event or another. That number has increased to what SarahPAC’s Pam Pryor said back in April was “thousands of requests” for Palin appearances across the country. With the recent announcement of the governor’s impending resignation, expect a surge in the number of invitations.

Governor Rick Perry told The Associated Press Wednesday that Gov. Palin is “committed to campaigning” in Texas for him as he seeks re-election. Perry said that he welcomes support of his fellow governor, who endorsed him in February. The Texas governor just last month was bragging on the endorsement, saying “If there’s a bigger endorsement in the Republican universe, I don’t know who it is than Sarah.”

There will be other Republicans who will want Sarah Palin to campaign for them. RNC Chairman Michael Steele said Monday:

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to have Sarah Palin freed up now to engage across the country to help, you know, reorient the party and grow it. She said she now wants to be able to contribute in a different way, and as RNC chairman, I absolutely welcome it.”

Beyond campaigning for them, many GOP hopefuls will also welcome an endorsement from Gov. Palin, not to mention a donation. Like most political junkies, they will no doubt be eager to hear how much money SarahPAC has raised when it makes its disclosure at the end of the month, coincidentally just days after her resignation is made official.

Update: Big Hollywood’s Chris Stigall:

“So just how does a Republican candidate whip up a base of support when voters are angry or suspicious of their voting history? Enter the most powerful motivator and fundraiser in all of Republican politics today.”

“Name a Republican today who could draw a larger crowd, and encourage more checks to be cut to a political candidate than Alaska’s governor.”

[...]

“I’ll bet my house that the weekend voice mailbox of Governor Palin was full of begging, pleading Republican Senate, House, and gubernatorial candidates humbly requesting this “erratic, irrelevant, lightweight” to come stand at their side during their upcoming picnic/potluck/town hall/ cocktail fundraiser.”

- JP

The Palins’ commercial fishing business requires them to be on the water at the peak of the salmon run, which occurs each year around the 4th of July. The media hacks were clearly out of their element, one reporter describing the experience of being with real people while they are doing real work as “surreal.” From the safe cocoon of the New York studio, Diane Sawyer thanked ABC correspondent Kate Snow in Alaska, “Thanks so much for going up next to the fish,” to get the interview. During the interview, Snow pointed out to Palin: “You have some fish guts on you.” Yes, Kate, that tends to happen to people who work on commercial fishing boats. Flyover country is an alien planet, and those of us who live in it are extraterrestrials to the chattering class. They are still looking for their first clue and not even getting warm.

Video of the Mitchell interview is here, CNN here and ABC here. Write-ups of more interviews by Fox News here, TIME magazine here and the Anchorage Daily News here.

Update 1: Via e-mail from Jim Trotter, another example of how out of touch the chatterati are, from today’s round of Palin interviews:

From the TIME Article - the set up the reporter uses to describe the scene:

“The other is a smoke shack for fish. Their catch of the day is hanging from a clothing line strung from the shack to a tree. The driveway is littered with boots, gray-and-red-tipped fishing socks, waders, scooters, tricycles and a green yoga ball with bunny ears for kids to bounce on.”

Green Yoga Ball? How out of touch with America is this reporter that they have never seen this particular toy before? Are you kidding me? And how does an editor miss this?

This reporter has never seen a Hippity-Hop… that is too much!

Update 2: From FRee Repulic:

“Many commentator’s on Sarah Palin’s remark that ‘politically speaking — if I die, I die. So be it’ would not recognize the allusion or context of  ‘And if not’ – neither its use at Dunkirk nor its Biblical reference.

By way of explanation, a FReeper posted this from a Chuck Colson commentary:

One of the most dramatic moments of the Second World War occurred when the British army was helplessly stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk. It turned out to be one of England’s finest hours-and, oddly enough, a telling illustration of the urgent need for Christian apologetics in our day. The time was June 1940 and the place was Dunkirk. The British Expeditionary Force, sent to stem the Nazi advance into Belgium and France, had been pushed steadily back to the sea. A pall fell over England. Hitler’s armies were poised to destroy the cornered Allied army. As the British people waited anxiously, a three-word message was transmitted from the besieged army at Dunkirk: “And if not.” The British recognized instantly what the message meant: “Even if we are not rescued from Hitler’s army, we will stand strong and unbowed.” “And if not” was found in the Book of Daniel, where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego defied Nebuchadnezzar, putting their trust in God The message galvanized the British people. Thousands of boats set out across the Channel in a gallant bid to rescue their army. And they succeeded.

But that was England, a believing nation that no longer exists. In its place we have the U.K., a tiny island lost in the wilderness of secularism. Palin supporters see the resignation as her Dunkirk. Stranded in the governor’s office, she is effecting her own rescue. But they have no doubt that she will amass a much larger fighting force and hit the beaches at a time which is to her advantage.

The governor had probably looked to the example of Esther (4:16) for courage in making her decision to resign, or perhaps Ruth or Daniel or all three. But her biblical reference went right over the heads of the media types, which should come as no surprise. Our once fiercely independent Fourth Estate, like that tiny island, has lost its way.

- JP

Strangely, neither of these commentators, nor anybody else for that matter, accused, say, Govs. Kathleen Sibelius of Kansas or Janet Napolitano of Arizona of “abandoning their posts” when they resigned to take cabinet jobs in the Obama administration. Nobody accused Rahm Emanuel of dissing his Chicagoland voters when he quit Congress weeks after winning reelection in November to become White House chief of staff. That these elected officials took other jobs in public service is meaningless; they all ran for full terms and decided that they wanted to do something else, so they went ahead and did something else. That’s fine, and so is Palin quitting for whatever reason she chose to quit. Being elected is not a prison sentence; just ask Barack Obama, who didn’t let his promise to Illinois voters that he would serve out a full term impede him from running for office; same with Hillary Clinton, for that matter.

Podhoretz adds that Sarah Palin’s toughest task now is not to study the issues, which he believes she could master in a few months’ time. She needs, he says, to “achieve an image of stability in her private life.” Podhoretz blames Gov. Palin’s children for what he seems to think is her Achille’s heel. Perhaps he would prefer that they become paragons of stability like the Kennedy kids, with all their reported problems with drinking, drugs, rape charges and the like.

William Kristol further deflates the meme:

“Why is it more admirable to run for national office while a sitting governor (or senator), spending a fair amount of time out of your state (or away from Congress), necessarily neglecting or delegating some of your duties — than to turn the office over to your constitutional successor so your constituents have someone working full time on their behalf?”

Why indeed.

Update: James Antle reminds us that “Mitt Quit Too.”

- JP

See letter from my attorney on baseless allegations of past 24hrs @ http://tinyurl.com/l4ct5n(excerpt)

The Palin-hating left has been salivating this weekend over lies that began at an Alaska ankle biter website, percolated up to the national nutroots and got mentioned on several major liberal media outlets.

At Conservatives 4 Palin, Mel traces the genesis of the rumors through the land of the loonies. Start at the bottom of the post and read up.

In a telephone interview with Josh Meyer of the LA Times, an FBI spokesman in Alaska dismissed the leftist lies that an FBI investigation of Sarah Palin on public corruption charges was the reason she will resign:

“There is absolutely no truth to those rumors, that we’re investigating her or getting ready to indict her,” Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. “It’s just not true.”

Gonzalez added that there was “no wiggle room” in his comments that could exclude any kind of probe.

The letter (full text here) from Gov. Palin’s lawyer calls out the Palin-hating bloggers and major media outlets by name:

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1. These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.

Although the letter is being mocked by hateful leftists such as the Kos Kidz as mere saber rattling, it serves a purpose. Sarah Plain is putting the nutroots and the liberal media on notice. Unlike former President George W. Bush, who suffered such attacks in silence and allowed the left to define him, she will stand up for herself and her family, and in so doing she is defining herself as a fighter who stands up for what matters to her.

This is one of the reasons Gov. Palin is resigning her state office. With the burden of office put in Sean Parnell’s hands to carry out the Palin agenda in Alaska, she will soon have the time to devote to such a battle. And, with the income from her book deal and possible speaking fees she will be able to earn once free of the demands of the governor’s office, she will be guaranteed to have the resources fighting such a battle requires. But above all, modern warfare demands that the warrior must be mobile. Unencumbered by local demand that Alaska’s governor must be tethered to the state, Sarah Palin, as a former governor, will be free to maneuver.

- JP

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, claiming she had been talking to people “very close” to Gov. Palin, reported:

“I have been told that she has told her supporters she is out of politics, period. She is fed up with politics. She doesn’t like her life. She feels that she needs to raise her family. She’s sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capitol, and she really does not want to run for higher office. This is not the case where she’s stepping down in order to clear the way for a presidential run. In fact she has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012.”

Sounds very cut and dried.

But wait just a sec. MSNBC’s Howard Fineman says he’s sure that Sarah Palin is running for president. How does he know this?

“I have covered politics for a long time. I can tell when someone is running for president. Sarah Palin is running for president.”

Politico’s Jonathan Martin, working on something more than just knowing a presidential candidate when he sees one, talked to a “close friend” of the governor who says Palin plans to stay “extremely visible” and will seriously consider a 2012 run for president, but has not yet decided:

Friends say Palin plans to spend time writing her book, which is due this fall, then promote it heavily when it comes out in spring 2010.

Palin is by far the Republican Party’s biggest draw for fund-raisers and conservative events, and the friends say she plans to spend a lot of time traveling in “the lower 48″ states, as Alaskans call the continental U.S.

Those friends say she plans to give a series of paid speeches, and will also make free GOP appearances, raising money for the party and for issues. She also plans to help other candidates, collecting political IOUs for herself.

And she’ll be very busy as a mother of five, which friends say is her top priority.

At the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza has sources “familiar with her decision.” He has posted they say Palin is leaving the governors’ mansion to free herself “to build a national political team and travel the country in support of an expected 2012 presidential bid.”

Which pundit is closest to the truth? I don’t honestly know. That’s just it. No one knows. They may all be wrong. But that hasn’t stopped them from acting like they know.

And speaking of acting, people are throwing fits left and right. On the left the anti-Palinists are mocking and taunting the Palinists. Some of the more cultish Palinists find their undergarmets much more twisted than some more thoughtful conservative observers who are angrily denouncing the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate for “letting us down” after “we defended her.” As if she didn’t deserve defending regardless of her future political intentions. The same political opponents are denouncing her for quitting her job that were trying to see that she doesn’t keep it. That would be the hypocrite wing of the Democrat Party.

From the governor’s Blackberry to our screens via Twitter:

“We’ll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election… this is in Alaska’s best interest, my family’s happy… it is good, stay tuned”

While anger is a stage that is known to follow shock, it might be judicious to keep our condemnation to ourselves until after we see what else Sarah Palin has to say on the matter.

Andrea Mitchell, for all we know, could have her story only half right. Gov. Palin may only be through with politics in Alaska. After some R&R time with her family, she may step back up onto the national stage and make that run for 2012. Or she may wait until 2016, when she will still be a relatively young — for a presidential candidate — 52 years of age.

We can speculate too, and it doesn’t cost a dime. Perhaps she will take a detour on the road to the White House to challenge Alaska’s Democrat junior Senator Mark Begich in 2014. Although not very likely, she could disrupt Don Young’s heart rhythm with an announcement that she will fight him for his House seat in 2010. Or she and Todd could buy a schooner, pack up the kids and sail around the world.

Here’s something we do know. Alaska is one of the worst possible places from which to run for the White House. Consider just the logistics for a minute. As a presidential candidate, almost all of her internal communications would have to be made electronically. She would also face the difficulty of recruiting campaign staff. Many of them would not want to relocate to Alaska. Most consultants wouldn’t even want to travel there. Those who would be willing would quickly tire of the expense and waste of spending hour after hour on airliners between Anchorage and Washington. We have already seen the difficulty the governor’s people in Alaska had trying to coordinate and communicate with her staff in the nation’s capitol.

Any presidential candidate with a PAC needs to campaign for candidates to pick up support, and she can’t do that as governor. The locals piss and moan every time she leaves the state unless it’s on official state business. In essence, if she has presidential ambitions, she’s a prisoner of the very state she loves so much and promotes at every available opportunity. While Sarah Palin has been tied to Alaska, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have been free to campaign for candidates and make other appearances which keep their profiles above the water line. With all the guns trained on her, they  have drawn little, if any, fire. Even Haley  Barbour and Mike Pence have appearances scheduled in Iowa. Don’t be surprised to see them show up in New Hampshire some time in the not too distant future.

News about Gov. Palin that comes out of the 49th state tends to be the bad, as the media is not very interested in disseminating the good. Her accomplishments tend to go unnoticed or quickly get pushed off of the screen in favor of the sensational. Recall her trip to Texas to conclude the deal which brought ExxonMobil into a cooperative agreement with TransCanada to get Gov. Palin’s pet pipeline project off the ground. She granted interviews to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and NBC’s Matt Lauer, but both were more interested in getting her to talk about David Letterman’s hot air than Alaska’s natural gas.

The media has been relentless in its crusade against her, with the exception of a few local radio talk show hosts. There’s a coalition of bloggers in AK that do nothing but attack her 24/7. Everything they write is picked up and regurgitated by the nutroots nationally - Kos, HuffPo, C&L, etc. Much of what the nutroots writes is picked up and regurgitated by a national media which rarely even bothers to try to check the facts.

There are other possibilites. Some in the hostile media are speculating that another running shoe is about to fall. They talk wistfully of impending scandal. Some less hostile observers wonder if, God forbid, there is some medical issue either with the governor herself or someone close to her. CNN’s Rick Sanchez has even questioned if she may be pregnant with her sixth child. Some have asked if there is some other impending crisis in Gov. Palin’s family that she may need to deal with. Others speculate that she just wants to take a time out, spend some time with her family, write her book and return to the political wars with her batteries recharged. Whatever her reason or reasons for resigning her governorship must be good ones. This is not a woman who likes to quit or has shown much propensity to do so in the past.

This speculation business is easy, but unfortunately, it’s accomplishes little. It will not stop until Sarah Palin makes it stop by telling us what she plans to do. I’m willing to give her time to do that. I will neither condemn her nor cry in my beer if she decides not to run for president. God knows she has given much and received little reward and much punishment for herself and her family. Gov. Palin saved the GOP and John McCain from an electoral blowout of McGovern proportions, and she made Saxby Chambliss’ return to the U.S. Senate a sure thing with a safety margin of 10 insurance points. She’s been fighting for missile defense, fiscal restraint and energy security, among other things. She’s defended young girls and women of all ages against misogynistic attacks by dirty men both young and old. And she has been a source of encouragement to women everywhere to be all that they can be, and not just in the U.S. Army.

Whatever we have given her, she has repaid with interest. Today, she asked us to trust her decision. Let’s give her that much at least, see what her intentions are and keep her and hers in our prayers.

Update: Is Gov. Palin simply following good advice? See Item #1.

- JP

WASILLA, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her home Friday morning.

The governor gave no reason why she will resign, but there has been much speculation that she intends to run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

Update: A tweet from the governor:

“We’ll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election… this is in Alaska’s best interest, my family’s happy… it is good, stay tuned”

- JP

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in “self-evident truths” and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.

A transcription of the complete text of the Declaration after the break.

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

Referencing Todd Purdum’s VF hit piece which has caused such a stir, Frum itemizes Purdum’s anti-Palin talking points from the VF smear job, and then he makes this eye-opening statement:

“If true, the leaks constitute an urgent warning and public service. I believe they are true.”

And there you have it. Vichy Republicans of Frum’s ilk prefer to believe liberal Democrat media hacks and anonymous leakers rather than thoughtful and honest GOP moderates such as Fred Malek. Admittedly, thoughtful and intellectually honest moderate Republicans like Malek are all too rare these days.

Here’s what Malek wrote about Purdum’s anonymous sources today:

“I am not sure who the unnamed Vanity Fair sources are, but without question they lack chivalry and have acted in a craven manner. They also lack the facts. I am ashamed of my former campaign colleagues, whoever they are.”

Of Purdum, Malek had this to say:

“The writer clearly had an unshakable point of view from the start and talked only to those who would criticize.”

About Gov. Palin, Malek wrote:

“I have known many political leaders over four decades including all Republican presidents and VPs. I have come to know Sarah Palin over the past year and can state unequivocally that she is smart, curious, hard working, charming, and effective. She also has something her detractors clearly lack – a sense of honor and loyalty.”

[...]

“I have seen Sarah up close with leading heavyweights, and have seen her hold her own and then some. At the dinner at my home referenced in the article, she engaged comfortably and deeply with people ranging from Alan Greenspan to Madeleine Albright to Mitch McConnell. She asked for a foreign policy discussion on her June 7 trip to Washington, and I saw her engage in an informed and spirited manner with Frank Carlucci.”

We know that Vichy Republicans dismiss out of hand any argument made by conservatives. But one thinks they would at least consider what Fred Malek says. After all, he is no right-wing idealogue. Far from it, Malek is a moderate. Frum, however, totally ignores Malek, who knows Gov. Palin and has watched her closely, yet he believes Purdum, a leftist who acts as a Democrat operative. And he believes Purdum’s hearsay  about what McCain staffers with a common agenda (saving their careers after running a presidential campaign into the ground) whispered into  Purdam’s ear.

And that’s why Vichy Republicans are such a threat to the party of Lincoln and Reagan. They trust liberal Democrats implicitly and refuse to entertain the ideas and advice of conservatives and even intellectually honest moderates. Ronald Reagan knew better than to trust liberals unconditionally. He dealt with them in the same manner he did with the Soviets,  i.e., “Trust, but verify.” Vichy Republicans want to turn the Grand Old Party into a virtual clone of the Democrat Party. The American people want real choices between the political parties, not between Democrat and Ersatz Democrat.

Frum’s timing was terrible. Rather than back off on the Palin attacks for a while, he instead showed his solidarity with those who are so desperately engaged in trying to destroy her. This comes at a time when many Americans have grown tired of the constant dissing of the governor, and also at a time when her favorability ratings among independents and even Democrats are on the rise.

So conservatives owe David Frum a debt of gratitude. He has demonstrated that Vichy Republicans have more in common with liberal Democrats than with center-right Republicans. Now we have a clear example to cite in the arguments we make in the battle for the heart and soul of the Reublican Party. Had it not been for Sarah Palin, who unhinges the Vichy Republicans as much as she does the liberal Democrats, Frum and others of his ilk might have kept their cool and not made this critical error.

Thank you, Mr. Frum. Keep up the good work.

- JP

MWAA spokeswoman Tara Hamilton tried to minimize the fallout that is already hitting the ground inside the Beltway:

“It was just a discussion. We’re not aware of anything specific.”

Why does the Left always preface its defense of the indefensible with “It was just…?” “It was just about sex.” “It was just talk.” “It was just a fetus.”

We all know the seething hatred liberals still harbor for Reagan, twenty years after he left the White House and five years after his death. This, despite the fact that he rebuilt our nation’s military, gave Americans reason to feel good about their country’s future again and helped to help free millions of Eastern Europeans from communist oppression, all after the misery of the Carter years.

Can they be so partisan and petty to want to rewrite history after an airport had already been renamed in our 40th president’s honor?

I know, I know. Rhetorical question.

- JP

“I might point out, as I told you, we walked in. Since the race is over, no one pays attention to me at all,” Biden joked in his delivered remarks. “So I’m — maybe you will walk outside with me or something later and say hello to me.”

It was good, self-depreciating humor, and everyone present had a chuckle. But Biden has a real problem in Pennsylvania that the governor might be able to help him with:

Only around 100 or so people have showed up so far to hear Biden talk at noon at Seneca High School off Route 8 in Wattsburg… The room looked so sparse that about 30 or so chairs were removed by volunteers to give the illusion of a full house. The effect didn’t exactly work.

Give Sarah Palin a call Joe. Perhaps she can lend a hand. Sarah knows how to draw a crowd.

- JP

But it is a strategically important country that is playing a growing role in global trade. Indeed, it is estimated that 5 percent of all international trade-and a much higher percentage of U.S. trade-goes through the Panama Canal. [Outgoing President] Torrijos has successfully promoted Panama as a tourist hotspot and commercial hub. It is an increasingly popular retirement destination for Americans; indeed, U.S. expatriates helped fuel the recent Panamanian housing boom.

Ricardo Martinelli will officially be sworn in as president of Panama today and will serve a five-year term. The occasion will mark Panama’s fourth peaceful presidential transition since the overthrow of Noriega in 1989. Martinelli, who was the candidate of the conservative Alliance for Change party, won a landslide victory of 59 percent to 36 percent over Hugo Chavez favorite Balbina Herrera in the May elections.

Martinelli is a confirmed capitalist in a region where the Castro brothers and Chavez have been actively trying to export their brand of Marxism. Panama’s president-elect has a degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas (Class of 1973) and earned an MBA from the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. He has experience in government and in the private sector. Martinelli served as Panama’s director of Social Security from 1994 to 1996, and from 1999 to early in 2003 was minister for canal affairs and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Authority. He is chairman of the board of a large chain of supermarkets, chairman of two other companies and sits on the boards of at least eight others.

In an interview with the Miami Herald in March, Martinelli said that his administration “would be a much more pro-American government” than one which would have existed under Herrera, whom he described as a dangerous ally of Chavez:

Asked for specific foreign policy changes that his government would bring about, Martinelli cited more vigorous efforts to get the U.S.-Panama free trade agreement passed by the U.S. Congress, more votes in line with U.S. foreign policy in the United Nations on issues such as Israel’s stand in the Middle Eastern conflict or human rights in Cuba, and closer relations with Colombia.

Martinelli has promised a foreign policy that would “maintain a relationship of mutual respect and friendship” with Cuba and Venezuela, but “not an ideological relation that could generate commitments that go against the interests of our country.” During the presidential campaign:

Martinelli attempted to portray himself as ideologically connected with Colombia’s Uribe and the Dominican Republic’s Fernandez. In an interview with AFP, Martinelli even promoted himself as the first of a wave of change in Latin America moving away from the “left.” While many analysts saw this election as helping the US-Panama relationship, it’s good to remember that Martinelli is center-right and much closer to the GOP in the US than to the current US president’s party. Martinelli also offered promises to remove Panama from the Central American parliament and consider changing diplomatic recognition to China, both moves would be shifts in Central America’s foreign policy worth watching.

Martinelli’s administration will be under considerable pressure to perform:

According to La Prensa, he will now have to face the challenge of keeping his campaign promises to solve the country’s crime, education, health, and public transport problems, and to cut poverty.

But the number one issue on the minds of Panamanians is the country’s economy, and voters will hold Martinelli to his campaign rhetoric:

La Prensa reminded its readers that one of Martinelli’s key campaign promises was to “revive the economy in the first 100 days of the administration.” He proposes to do this by creating jobs and signing a free trade agreement with the U.S.

The Panama Canal is important not only to Panama’s economy, but also to the global economy and that of the U.S. Martinelli’s prior experience as an effective manager of the canal should prove to be a valuable asset for efficient management of the waterway. Panama’s political stability depends on it. That is why much is expected of Martinelli, not only by his own countrymen, but by the rest of the world as well:

In a global economic environment characterized by recession and financial upheaval, Panama stands out as a relative bright spot. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean projects that Panama’s economy will expand by 4 percent in 2009 while the regional economy as a whole will contract by 0.3 percent. But 4 percent annual GDP growth represents a major drop from 9.2 percent growth in 2008 and 11.5 percent growth in 2007. In those years, Panama benefited from robust global trade and a massive housing boom. Its unemployment rate plummeted. Now international trade is shrinking rapidly and, as Jeremy Schwartz notes in the Austin-American Statesman, the Panamanian real-estate sector “might be heading for a sharp downturn.”

Panama’s new president will have other important issues to deal with. Inflation has driven up the nation’s cost of living sharply, and Martinelli will have to provide Panamanians with better public services in the form of health care and education than did his predecessor. And if all that were not enough, the country has recently experienced a spike in its crime rate.

While managing all of these things, Martinelli will need to keep a sharp eye on Chavez and the Castros, who will be working in the shadows to undermine his government. Misery loves company, and the dictators would like nothing better than to see a Marxist Panama which would use the canal as leverage against the U.S. and other Western nations. Given recent events in Honduras, Martinelli might have one more friend in the region than he had previously counted.

Still, Martinelli will have his work cut out for him. With an American president who seems to be more friendly to communist regimes than to traditional U.S. Central American allies, Panama’s new leader will have to provide exceptional leadership. We wish him well.

- JP