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Will Maine say 'ayuh' to Ron Paul?

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:33:51 PST

Maine announces the winner of its rather lengthly precinct caucus process today.

This could be Ron Paul's best shot at avoiding a shutout in this year's GOP primaries and caucuses.

If so, as Maine goes, "NO!" goes the nation.

HT: Drudge

The world needs America

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:23:40 PST

Even leaving considerations of national and world security aside, Ron Paul's foreign policy would be a disaster, not only for America, but for the world- and especially for free enterprise and freedom generally..

Anybody with doubts about that should read this article.

HT: Drudge

Crashing Blackhawks seek some trade deadline Febreze

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:16:40 PST

The Blackhawks- having lead the division for most of the year, the conference for much of it, and the league for quite a bit of it- have sort of crashed and burned of late. In fact, they've lost seven in a row, and tumbled to fourth in the division. It's not too late to get back on track, but Corey Crawford- who is running out of time to have his poor play explained away by that groin injury earlier in the year- has pretty much stunk up the goal crease. And after a brief hot streak, backup Ray Emery hasn't been much better.

Terrible defense is one reason, and I doubt that the Hawks will be able to do much about that this season. But with the trade deadline coming up on February 27, there are several top notch goalies who could possibly be had for a price the Hawks (who have no particular salary cap problem at the moment) could probably manage.

Cam Ward of the Hurricanes, Ryan Miller (yes, that Ryan Miller!)of the Sabres, Miikka Kiprusoff of the Flames, Evgeni Nabokov of the Isles, and Nikolai Khabibulin of the Oilers could all be available for the right price. I would shy away from the Bulin Wall, though. Nabokov might be the best bet, having a relatively low salary and being a free agent at the end of the year. And who knows? Maybe the right price might even bring Antti Niemi home. He should never have been allowed to leave, of course. But hindsight is 20-20.

Most of these guys would make the defense look a lot better. Of course, a trade for a decent defenseman couldn't hurt, either. And as good as the Hawks are at scoring, they've even been hurting there of late.

Let's see what Stan Bowman can pull off. Especially as well as the Good Guys did for most of the first half, it's too early to give up on them. Maybe we can still raise that second Cup in three years.

Santorum displaces Gingrich as main challenger to Mitt

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:28:32 PST

Ok. I knew the Democrats in Minnesota were crazy. But who would have thought that the Republicans in our northern neighbor state were zanier than they are here in Iowa?

While to say that I have doubts about his electability would be to put it mildly, I have always rather liked Rick Santorum. He's bright, he's articulate, he shares (no, embodies, to a great extent) my concerns about social issues (even though his rhetoric on those issues needs some polishing), and I was saddened by his defeat six years ago in his race for re-election to the Senate (even though I've always been a fan of the Casey clan, a gaggle of that endangered species the pro-life Democrat). No, it's not Santorum's expected victory in Minnesota and unexpected victories in Colorado and Missouri that have me shaking my head. It's that somehow Crazy Ron finished ahead of Mitt Romney in Minnesota!

Continuing his pattern of bizarrely optimistic post-defeat rhetoric, Paul characterized his performance in Minnesota as "a strong second-place finish," and added that "it's going to continue." Paul lost by 18 points.

Not to get excited, Jeff. I heard a joke last night on TV about how Mitt Romney has Secret Service protection, while Paul is accompanied by a mall cop. That still sums things up where the confused congressman from Mars who thinks he is living in 1789 is concerned. Paul is still a non-player, a protest candidate, a distraction who has no chance of winning the nomination and whose only impact on the race may be to win enough delegates to make the Republican party look silly on national TV when the convention rolls around. But he'd better hurry if he's even going to pull that off.

Romney still has 115 delegates to 38 for Gingrich (who might as well throw in the towel at this point), 34 for Santorum, and 20 for Paul. True, the race still has a long way to go; 1,144 delegates are needed to win the nomination. But it's hard to see anybody but Romney - and maybe Santorum, but still probably not- getting anything close to that number. And it's hard to see a path for Paul to finish higher than third (if Gingrich drops out) in a three-man race.

Color 2012 anothre meaningless existential gesture for the followers of the bizarre gentleman from Utopia Planita, by way of Texas. And color the GOP contest a two-man race between Romney and Santorum- though Gingrich, like Lóegaire Buadach of the Ulster myth (who accidentally brained himself on the door frame while rushing outside to do battle), may fight ferociously on anyway, not having noticed that he is dead.

Federal appeals court voids Proposition 8; same-sex "marriage" issue to SCOTUS

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:10 PST

A Federal Court of Appeals has ruled 2-to-1 that California's Proposition 8, outlawing gay "marriage," is unconstitutional.

The ruling fairly summarizes the case for re-defining the most basic unit of human society in language which makes the radical- and frankly bizarre- nature of that argument clear:

Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted... Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”

Judge Randy Smith dissented from the decision, which seems clearly to embody the logical fallacy petitio principii, also known as "begging the question." As Judge Smith noted, it is by no means clear that Western society has reserved marriage for couples of the same gender solely to "lessen the status and dignity" of gays and lesbians. Gay marriages cannot produce offspring by natural means- one of the chief purposes for the establsihment of the institution of marriage- and numerous studies have established deficits in the adult behavior of children raised in the absence of parents of each gender (among them, a tendency for girls growing up in homes lacking a male parent to have difficulty forming satisfactory relationships with men as adults). Both the relative lack of value placed on monogamy among male homosexuals and the increasing rarity of "marriage" among them as time goes on in jurisdictions where it has become legal creates a question as to whether the demand for gay "marriage" in that population might not have more to do with promoting acceptance of homosexual behavior as a social norm than with righting an injustice. And there can be little doubt that, at a time when the institution of marriage is already under considerable stress, the extension of its boundaries to include an entire population for which it does not necessarily suggest monogamy would place a strain on the institution which it is very much in the interest of society to avoid.

There are, of course, other arguments to be raised against changing the institution of marriage which also contemplate things more worthy than making gays and lesbians miserable. But if one begins by dogmatically assuming that no such reasons can possibly exist, it is easy to see how one might arrive at the conclusion the appeals court has arrived at. Better, perhaps, to impartially examine the validity of that assumption before basing law on it!

In any event, supporters of Proposition 8 promise that the ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a decision will be rendered which will either legalize gay "marriage" nationally or establish the fallacy of the California court's "reasoning" once and for all. The latter will not, of course, prevent state courts from abusing their power by amending state constitutions by fiat in order to achieve social ends they consider desirable, but it will at least permit the citizens of the several states to insist on something more in keeping with what those constitutions themselves contemplated in establishing a judiciary.

HT: Drudge

Lutheran Satire takes on the Restorationist Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:04:21 PST

You know: that Churches (oh, excuse me... churches) of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the others groups who came out of the Campbellite movement.

Ex-fighter pilots: Reconsider cuts

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:06:57 PST

A group of retired fighter pilots have written to Congress warning that the administration's planned military cutbacks will come at a heavy cost: American fighter supremacy.

Here in Des Moines, the Air Force Reserve F-16 squadron which has been seen so often over the South Side since 9/11 will apparently be retired- as will the F-16 itself (right).

The F-16 is a standard fighter in the air forces of the free world, from Israel to Holland. It will be replaced in the near future by the F-35 joint strike fighter, but that is years away.

HT: Drudge

Tomorrow's winners figure to be Romney and Santorum

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:34:44 PST

Nevada results: Romney 50.1%, Gingrich 21.1%, Paul 18.8%, Santorum 10%.

Tomorrow Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri go to the polls. Gingrich is not on the ballot in Missouri; Santorum, as a result, will be the only credible "un-Romney" on the ballot, and is leading in the polls.The latest polls indicate that tomorrow may be a good day for the former Pennsylvania senator. The latest poll from Minnesota also puts him up on Romney,29-27. Gingrich is third, with 22%, and Paul trails, with 19%.

As you doubtless recall, after the "long count" here in Baja Minnesota early last month Santorum narrowly beat Romney. Were it not for Newt's stubbornness, I have to wonder whether Santorum's relative lack of baggage and popularity (well-earned, btw) among "Evangelicals" might not make him, in the long run, a more credible challenger to Romney from the right than Gingrich.

In fact, Santorum is running second to Romney in Colorado, although a distant second- 40 to 26- with Gingrich and Paul trailing the pack, with 18 and 12 per cent, respectively. After tomorrow, Santorum may be looking a whole lot better, and the Gingrich campaign a little peaked. And Romney will be even further ahead- though perhaps with a different prime challenger.

Nevada looks like Romney rout; Paul not a factor after all

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:03:27 PST

The Nevada Republican Caucuses are tomorrow, and the last two polls give Mitt Romney leads of 20% and 25% respectively over Newt Gingrich.

The expected strong showing by Rep. Ron Paul (R- Utopia Planitia) apparently isn't going to happen- though according to the last poll he has passed Rick Santorum and moved into third place, a mere 39% behind Romney.

It will be interesting to see how much longer Santorum will hold on.

Rasmussen, meanwhile, gives Romney a 15-point lead in the February 28 Michigan primary, and a 27-point lead in the Arizona primary the same day.

Survey USA, however, puts Gingrich ahead in the Georgia primary by 13%.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Komen gives in to Leftist pressure, re-funds Planned Parenthood

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:29:59 PST

The Susan G. Komen people have given in to pressure from the feminist Left and reversed their decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

A shame. Now neither I nor millions of others who agree with Susan B. Anthony about abortion will be able, in conscience, to support the Komen organization's important work.

One really ought to be able to support finding a cure for breast cancer without at the same time having to support the killing of the unborn. It's a shame that the Komen organization has chosen to make this impossible by continuing an alliance which has no logical connection to its own agenda, and in fact only shrinks the available base of potential support for it.

Clearly NOT about Pentecost

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:32:18 PST

Somebody ought to tell Ebeneezer "Lutheran" "Church" in San Francisco about this:

Hell of a parament. And given the current theological orientation of the ELCA, very fitting.

HT: Bad Vestments

Mitt Romney, Paul Krugman, and the politics of character assassination

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:50:51 PST

Mitt Romney has admitted the obvious- that he put his foot in his mouth the other day by using words to explain that his focus was on the plight of the middle class which could be taken out of context to imply that he didn't care about poor people.

Which has not, of course, stopped the Left from continuing to take them out of context. Paul Krugman's questionable opinions as to the efficacy of Romney's economic program for the poor do not constitute evidence that the likely Republican nominee is a heartless, uncaring Scrooge. Even if one accepts every one of Krugman's arguments at face value, they would prove only that Romney's economic prescriptions don't work, not that he's a lousy human being.

Krugman's article- and we will see far more like it in coming months- is a very fine example of the kind of demonization of the opposition which has divided our nation so badly as to threaten the very viability of our democracy. Shame on you, Mr. K.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Unemployment falls to three-year low at 8.3%. Sort of.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:33:12 PST

January's unemployment rate was 8.3%- the lowest in three years. Debate has promptly broken out as to whether we have turned a corner in our national recovery from the Great Recession, or whether the news is less heartening than it seems

A record 1.2 million Americans left the labor force in January. The percentage of Americans who are actually working has fallen to a 30-year low. The number of people not participating in the labor force has exploded at the same time the number of people who are has grown, and as a result the new unemployment figures paint a deceptively rosy picture. When people stop looking for work, unemployment figures go down just as if they had found it.

Both parties will doubtless spin these numbers for all they're worth. The bottom line, though, will be the amount of pain the American voter is in come November. You can't spin bills and debt away, unfortunately.

CNN business correspondent Rick Santelli explains what is wrong with January's statistics here.

HT: Drudge

Oh,please

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:09:00 PST

The morning after his victory in the Florida primary, Mitt Romney said the following:

"I said I'm not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net, but if it has holes in it, I will repair them. We will hear from the Democratic party the plight of the poor, and there's no question it's not good being poor, and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor. But my campaign is focused on middle-income Americans. My campaign — you can choose on where to focus. You can focus on the rich — that's not my focus. You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus. ...We have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether it has holes in it. We have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor..."

From this, the liberal media, the Democrats, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have dishonestly selected out the words, "I'm not concerned about the very poor," and reacted as if that was the substance of his comment, rather than the way in which the middle class has been neglected.

And Gingrich questions Romney's honesty?

As for the lefties... well, what you you expect? You'll be hearing this carefully-edited half sentence in ads this Fall (along with "Corporations are people, my friend" (out of the context of explaining that "corporations" represent the 401ks of ordinary citizens) over and over again.

But I doubt that anybody will address the substance of Romney's point. He's not saying that he'd neglect the very poor; he's saying that it's the middle class who have been left out in the cold, and that it's time that we address that fact.

HT: Drudge

Why it's so silly to say that one has "no creed but Christ"

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:28:31 PST

In this day of brain-dead modernism and post-modernism masquerading as tolerance and even "heart religion," here's a word worth heeding:

Komen breast cancer fund defunds Planned Parenthood

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:32:26 PST

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund has stopped funding Planned Parenthood over the latter's involvement with abortion.

Good.

Those who hold to the historic position of Christianity on this matter, as well as others who don't believe that it's possible to be a living member of species Homo sapiens without at the same time being a person, can now in conscience support the Comen Fund. Its worthy purpose has nothing to do with killing unborn children in the first place, and I, for one, rejoice that this obstacle to supporting it has been removed.

Meanwhile, as we get ready for Nevada...

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:12:05 PST

...here's a Jon Huntsman ad from New Hampshire I really wish had run here in Iowa:

323 to 215

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:39:19 PST

That will be the electoral vote margin by which President Obama is defeated for re-election if Gallup's annual state-by-state poll of POTUS's approval rating accurately predicts the outcome of November's election.

The map assumes that Mr. Obama will carry any state where he had a positive approval rating last year, and lose any state where his approval rating was negative. This, of course, will not necesarily happen, as witness George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. The critical factor will be whether Mr. Obama, like Mr. Bush, succeeds in making his opponent, rather than his own record, the issue.

HT: Drudge

Romney cruises in Florida; Paulistas have rare shot at relevance in Nevada

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:31:13 PST

Mitt Romney beat Newt Gingrich in Florida by not quite 15%, as it turned out. Newt will fight on. So will Rick Santorum, who has followed his narrow victory here in Iowa with three straight third place finishes.

Romney's victory should put to rest the notion that conservatives won't support him. As in New Hampshire, he convincingly carried that demographic- as well as all the others that matter.

Meanwhile, Paul's supporters are enraged because the media didn't give similar coverage to their man's victory in a straw poll in Tennessee. Paul- who does quite well in straw polls, but alone among the remaining contenders has yet to win an actual primary or caucus- got 7% of the vote in Florida, once again finishing last among the active candidates.

The Ronbots may have a rare post-Iowa chance to be somewhat relevant- and maybe even win one- when the candidate from Mars provides what will likely be the biggest challenge to Romney in Nevada Saturday. Romney beat Paul by 51% to 14% in Nevada's 2008 caucus; the large Mormon vote in Nevada figures to help the front-runner this year, too. But Paul's libertarian message resonates in the Silver State, and he could do very well there indeed.

For a change.

Obama gaffes again; media ignore it again

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:59:07 PST

Whenever George W. Bush or Dan Quayle or Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann misspeak, the network news, the talk show hosts, and the Left-leaning comedians are all over them like Tim Tebow on his knee.

Serial gaffer Joe Biden sometimes gets a passing notice from these folks when he misspeaks; after all, his foot is in his mouth so much that it would be kinda hard to ignore. But President Obama- he who visited 57 states during the 2008 campaign,

thinks Hawaii (where he was born) is in Asia,

and apparently doesn't know the difference between Great Britain and England- is no stranger to the verbal gaffe, either. Thing is, though, that those who are so anxious to ridicule Bush and Quayle and Palin and Bachmann manage somehow not to notice when The One trips over his tongue.

Within the past couple of days, POTUS overestimated the number of jobs created under his administration by 19 million,

and referred to the Republic of Georgia as "Russia-" in the presence of the Georgian president at a celebration of 30 years of Georgian independence from Russia.

Do any of these things mean that Mr. Obama is stupid? Of course not. No more than their slips mean that Mr. Bush, Mr. Quayle, Ms. Bachmann, or Ms. Palin are stupid.

But where The Messiah from Chicago is the one who is proving to be verbaly maladroit, the snarkmeisters in the media remain strangely silent.

HT: Drudge

Mitt's average lead over Newt now up to 12.5% in Florida polls

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:37:27 PST

The day before the Florida primary, Mitt's average lead over Newt is now up to 12.5%.

I'm a little more cautious. Right now I'd predict a Romney victory by maybe six to eight points- enough, as a practical matter, to spell the end of the road for Newt as a realistic candidate, and probably all but wrap it up for Mitt.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Study shows anti-Romney bias on network TV news

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:26:16 PST

A new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University reveals a profound bias against Mitt Romney by the networks- including Fox News.

Romney is the only major candidate in either party, it seems, for whom negative references outway positive ones.

Interesting. Tough to explain why Fox News should be that way, unless the writers there harbor some subconscious suspicion of Mitt based on his record of years ago. In the case of the other networks, it may just be a matter of firing most of their ammunition at the guy who's probably going to be their man Obama's opponent in the Fall- and the toughest Republican for him to beat.

HT: Drudge

Electoral reality check

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:34:51 PST

If you still have questions about the electability of the remaining GOP candidates, a new Gallup/USA Today poll should answer them.

Of course, the polls (as long as every other available indicator) has been giving the same answer for months and months now. But those determined not to be convinced by the evidence naturally are not.

HT: Drudge

Florida is breaking for Mitt

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:32:38 PST

Two new polls have Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich in Florida by eight and nine points, respectively.

With three days before the primary, the wheels seem to be falling off the former House speaker's campaign. Florida is followed by a series of primaries in which Romney will be heavily favored. For the second time this year, the Gingrich campaign has risen from the depths to the heights, only to fall back again into the depths.

Mitt seems to have turned things around by arguing that he's a self-made man who made his fortune through hard work and savvy investment, and refuses to apologize for it. Florida Republicans- briefly distracted by Newt's debating ability and all the attention given Romney's success in minimizing his income tax liability- are eating it up.

I'm going to revise my prediction. I think it will be Mitt by eight points. That seems to be the number most of the recent polls are clustering around.

HT: Drudge

The Florida polls are all over the place...

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Elart Waters...) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:34:38 PST

...and the consensus of the pundits seems to be that it's going to be close. But while the polls give varied results, the majority of them aren't all that close- or all that ambivalent: after trailing him earlier, in the wake of South Carolina, Romney seems to have caught Gingrich, and to be opening up a lead of sorts.

The winners of last night's final debate seem to have been Romney and Santorum. The loser: Gingrich.

My prediction: Romney by three to five points.

HT: Real Clear Politics