By: toothpick (Diary)  |  February 11th at 08:30 PM  | 

From the diaries… Insurance (n): financial protection against loss or harm: an arrangement by which a company gives customers financial protection against loss or harm such as theft or illness in return for payment premium. So, the Obama administration has just announced that all employers will henceforth pay for birth control medications and abortifacients. Setting aside the (substantial) conscience issues that many religiously-motivated employers have with | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  January 7th at 05:06 AM  | 

Is there not one ethical, courageous Democrat? The Obama administration’s actions in the recent past have by any measure set new records for cynicism and hypocrisy. Obama the Senator (c. 2006) and Obama the Presidential candidate (c. 2007-2008) repeatedly espoused positions that Obama the President (c. 2009-2012) has not only declined to endorse but dramatically repudiated. Pre-election Obama was going to reset international relations (oops), | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  December 21st at 07:52 PM  | 

I’m not a fan of “litmus-tests” or “deal-breakers” when choosing my favorite candidate for president. For example: “Candidate X voted YES on legislation Y. That’s a deal-breaker for me, so I’m not supporting Mr. X.” Frankly, such hard-line pronouncements are generally unrealistic. They fail to account for the fact that no candidate is perfect. Every candidate with any meaningful history is likely to have done | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  November 3rd at 05:14 PM  | 

Not since Sarah Palin’s decision to NOT enter the 2012 Presidential race has a topic received so much dawn-to-dusk coverage on redstate’s front page. I just counted: 13 of the past 19 front-page entries are about Cain and the allegations of sexual harassment, over a roughly 24-hour period. Each one is breathlessly reporting some trivial development, or some politico’s comments on the latest trivial development. | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  August 3rd at 01:09 AM  | 

After a bruising and intensely public battle over the debt ceiling, many in the Progressive Left are publicly declaring disappointment in the result, asserting that the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party (“extremists” and “terrorists”) drove the terms of the debate and ensuing outcome. Of course, this is not a universally-held assessment. Ann Barnhardt (http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/08/we_the_stupid.html), Francis Cianfrocca (http://www.redstate.com/blackhedd/2011/08/01/obama-is-the-big-winner-in-the-debt-ceiling-debate/),  and others have eloquently argued the opposite | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  July 15th at 06:45 PM  | 

I’m sure Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell have received plenty of advice in the recent past, but I’m going to dare to offer some of my own.  Here is an imaginary speech which I am imagining they could deliver to shore up their negotiating position. Mr. President, the Republican Party has gone on record with its proposal. It’s called the Ryan Plan. It’s been | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  April 5th at 12:31 AM  | 

It may be hard to remember, but we have tens of thousands of troops in Aghanistan ostensibly because we are at war with Islamic fundamentalists. Let me repeat: we are at war. One of the characteristics of war is that you use all necessary force to achieve your objectives, up to and including killing the folks who are working against those objectives. In war, you | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  March 29th at 07:33 PM  | 

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) is holding hearings in the US Senate Judiciary committee to highlight the imagined threat of “Muslim intolerance.” No, it’s not intolerance BY Muslims, which I guess by now is so commonplace we don’t need to waste congressional time discussing the phenomenon. It’s actually intolerance OF Muslims, which is so widespread that hate crimes against Jews are only 8 times more frequent | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  February 27th at 05:34 PM  | 

The flight of the Wisconsin Democrats has been hailed by movement conservatives as a clear victory for our side. Their flight, you might claim, is an admission of defeat. You may be among those who assert confidently that eventually, the “fleebaggers” will return, tails tucked between their legs, and accept their defeat. And, you could think it reasonable to assume that the victory, once in-hand, will | Read More »

By: toothpick (Diary)  |  February 22nd at 08:39 PM  | 

Democrats understand the concept of “By Any Means Necessary.” They use it persistently and consistently. I think we are about to find out if Republicans have the stomach to return the favor. I understand the quorum requirement is less stringent for non-budgetary matters, and the Republicans can take them up without the Dems.. I suggest the Wisconsin state legislature take up some non-budgetary topics now, | Read More »