Mecklenburg Declaration II needed against sinful Democrat Tar Heel taxers

By Mike DeVine, Legal Editor of The HinzSight Report and TMR

[Charlotte, N.C., located less that ten miles from the South Carolina birthplace of former President Andrew Jackson, is the county seat of Mecklenburg County (the birthplace of President James K. Polk) and DeVine aka gamecock's home for the past three years.]

A year before Thomas Jefferson wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence, a group of Mecklenburg's forefathers broke with England. May 20 marks the 233rd anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

Both 18th Century Declarations were precipitated by the unprovoked British attack on fellow colonists at Concord and Lexington, which followed a Tea Party in Boston Harbor due to taxation without representation.

Earlier in this 21st Century Mecklenburg County representatives refused to abide by a referendum of those they represented opposing a new tax to fund a light rail line that ended up costing the taxpayers many times more than the estimated cost.

This month, the North Carolina state Democratic Party elected government officials not only refused to reduce taxes on gasoline that are hurting lower income families and small businesses, but also now propose new taxes against the "sins" of tobacco and beer.

Meanwhile Charlotte-Douglass International Airport reels from skyrocketing jet fuel, and Tobacco state motorists near the border cross into the Palmetto State to save up to 20 cents per gallon on diesel and Ethyl.

The same Democratic party governor that seems to want more Tar Heels to move to South Carolina, also opposes drilling for oil off the coast.

I ask who is the greater sinner: Minimum wage workers whose after tax wages wouldn't cover their transportation costs back and forth to work and three McDonald's dollar menu meals a day for a family of one, much less a six pack of Budweiser and a pack of Winstons or Salems OR a political party that confiscates the means to pursue life, liberty and happiness in the tenth largest of these United States?

I say the latter.

Lower income families have to get to work and eat. Higher gasoline prices cause the price of food to rise. A great percentage of these people can't afford vacations. Increasingly they can't even afford the temporary pleasure of a beer and smoke.

I say that the Democratic Party is the party of the Let-them-eat-cake-gated-community-rich that has been at war against lower income families for at least 40 years.

In the 1960's, their welfare programs kicked the black man out the house and made Uncle Sam daddy as part of its insidious plan to create victim-dependants on them and their bureaucrats.

In the late 1970's through last week, they used a victimless Three-Mile Island and Exxon Valdez (see also snail darter, rat copulation environment) to: restrict expansion of areas within the United States to explore for oil, and prevent the building of more oil refineries and nuclear power plants.

The oil and nuclear power industries hire lots of non-college graduates at better pay that textiles plants.

Neither the Soviet Union, Usama bin Laden, Hugo Chavez nor the ruling Mullahs of Iran could have devised a better plan to weaken the United States than the one the liberal Democratic Party elected officials have implemented under the guises of environmentalism or their religion, The Al Gore Church of Man-Made Global Warming.

I propose a new Mecklenburg Declaration, but this time we preserve the original:

Q. Don't some people doubt that it happened or that it was created after the fact?

The controversy arose because the original documents and notes of the famous meeting were lost to a house fire in 1880. Still, there is vast evidence that the story is true and the MecDec existed.

In a letter dated June 30, 1775, North Carolina Royal Governor Josiah Martin wrote: "The Resolves of the Committee of Mecklenburg surpass all the horrid and treasonable publications that the inflammatory spirits of this Continent have yet produced."

MecDec deniers point to the fact that there is no original copy left. The original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation was also lost to a fire; do we deny that happened?

Subsequent events also support the event itself. May 20, 1775, is on the state flag and state seal. John Adams wrote on reading a copy of the MecDec: "The genuine sense of America at that moment was never expressed so well before, nor since."

The new DeVine-Gameock-One man with courage makes a majority-(see maverick)-Mecklenburg Declaration would:

1 - Demand that Republican N.C. Gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory promise to oppose any new "sin" taxes and seek to reduce state gasoline taxes to the average rate of our neighboring states in Georgia, South Carolina Tennessee and Virginia.

2 - Demand that McCrory agree that he would not oppose oil drilling off the coast of NC, nor the building of new nuclear power plants or oil refineries in the state.

3 - Demand the above from all candidates for public office in the state.

4 - Demand that the federal government eliminate taxes on gasoline.

5 - Demand and end to the War on Tobacco.

6 - Demand that John McCain visit ANWR and take pictures that compare to those of the Grand Canyon, and to them stand in front of those pictures and tell us how they are the same.

America faces a test of character, much of which was 30 years in the making and for which no short term solution is possible barring the "alternative fuel" (see alchemy) miracle the left thinks is just one government program away (see nationalization of oil and auto industries and the hydrogen car that GM and Ford are hiding behind a curtain?).

Meanwhile, as lower income families are increasingly desperate, democrats pour salt in the wounds with secular "sin" sermons, all while they seek to use the "sin money" to fund largess to make sure they keep their jobs.

(Governor Mike - let us let illegal aliens take college spots from NC citizens - Easley has a 10 foot commute from his bed to his desk while most of us non-governors have to drive an average of 12-14 miles to and fro, and don't tell me we should eat cake, I mean move closer to work, because we can't afford to move either you chumps!).

Fellow republicans, and especially fellow conservatives (esp of the fiscal kind), lend me your ears and brain (no hearts required! this is not a class envy argument):

It is no sin to make the point that our policies help lower and middle income families nor to point out that policies of the democrats hurt them and are morally bankrupt.

I do not propose Keynesian economics. I do not propose tax cuts only for the poor. No!

I propose proven result producing supply side economics sold as such with the added aside, if you will, that hey, these policies also help all these folks that the democrats pretend to champion!

Mecklenburg County declared Independence before John Adams hired Thomas Jefferson to do the same. Mecklenburg County's number one rooster crows now that it is dawn for McCrory and McCain.

The Mc's need to heed the MeckDec. North Carolina and America need you now.

Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
The HinzSight Report
The Minority Report
Race 4 2008
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson

Warning To Conservatives

Hillary and Obama are continuing to duke it out for the Democrat nomination which has created an advantage for John McCain going into the final Primary months and especially with the real probability that Hillary, though losing, will remain in the race until the Convention and force a fight that will leave the Democrats further wounded going into the final push for November.

This combined with the skeletons and lack of substance that are weighing heavily in support from likely voters in the General Election for Barack Obama, who most likely will be the Dem nominee, and John McCain is looking good for a November victory. In fact recent polling that covers a State by State break down on the Electoral vote has McCain with more that 310 Electors in a head to head with Obama which is well above the 270 needed to gain the Presidency.

With the prospects for the defeat of the Democrats for the Presidency looking very strong in November, why then is this post titled, "Warning To Conservatives ?" A fly has possibly fallen into the ointment in the past week that may very well become a temptation for many Conservatives which has the possibility of handing the Presidency to the Democrats if Conservatives yield to this temptation.

Bob Barr a Conservative former Congressman from Georgia has announced that he is running as the Libertarian candidate for the 2008 Presidential election. Barr left the GOP and the Congress in 2003 because of differences that he had with GOP spending habits. Differences that most Conservatives including myself have with the recent crop of GOP Legislators and also President Bush during his first term. Bush has improved some with the use of the VETO pen recently.

Many Conservatives have expressed misgivings with John McCain as the GOP nominee. This writer is among those. I was not at all happy with his recent policy statements concerning Global Warming and using federal funding and legislation to , "attack, " the problem. These monies and legislative time can better be used to address our own energy problems by getting off of the liberal legislative agenda and drill for oil that we have in the ground right here at home and stop wasting time and money buying and importing what we have in abundance right here at home and can access easily, environmentally safe and fairly quickly access if Washington would get out of the way.

Additionally I am not satisfied with McCain's continuing stance on Illegal Aliens and Sanctuary Cities. He has finally understood that the people demand border security first but he still favors a, "comprehensive, " program that favors some form of amnesty. Other problems with McCain stem from his past dealings with Campaign Finance and, " The Gang Of 14, " just to name two.

The temptation for many Conservatives because of McCain's track record with more Moderate leanings and some Conservative stances would be to support a Conservative candidate like Bob Barr whose Conservative stances better fit with the majority of the Conservative beliefs, unlike McCain who is at best 70% Conservative.

The problem that this causes is the fact that as a Libertarian candidate he presents two very distinct obstacles to becoming President. First as a Libertarian he has no chance of winning. While a stronger candidate than the Libertarians have had in recent years he still cannot gain enough support to win the Presidency. Second as a Libertarian he will follow that parties war platform which is very much isolationist and anti-war including immediate pull out from Iraq.

Ron Paul's stance on the war and America's place in foreign affairs follows very closely to the Libertarian platform and Barr will be expected as their candidate to campaign as such. All of this can add up to Barr being the spoiler with Republicans and if Conservatives who are angered with McCain are not careful, Barr could receive enough support to put the Democrat nominee in the White House.

Once there, either Democrat candidate along with what will likely be a Democrat Congress with the possibility of a stronger majority than they have now will guarantee several things.

1. Some form of government sponsored mandatory health care will become the largest entitlement this Nation has ever seen.

2. Taxes will rise dramatically. The Bush tax cuts will disappear and Democrats without the threat of a Presidential VETO will raise taxes across the board to pay for their Socialist agenda.

3. Surrender and appeasement will become the policy concerning military affairs and the military itself will suffer massive cut backs with huge financial cuts which will leave the Nation vulnerable and our troops without the finest and most advanced weaponry in order to protect the Nation and themselves.

4. Massive government sponsored programs designed to create a greater if not a complete dependency of the people on the federal government will become common place as legislative initiatives.

5. The likelihood of one or two Supreme Court Justices retiring during the next Presidential term is very high. A Democrat President will nominate a Ginsburg thus taking the court far left of where it is now.

Many Conservatives believe that allowing Democrats in the White House with a Democrat Congress will be such a disaster that the President will be a lame duck after only two years and the GOP under Conservative leadership will become the Majority in 2010 with a Conservative President to follow in 2012.

With a Democrat President like Hillary or Obama and a Congress giving them their entire Socialist agenda, the damage that it will cause in even two years may not be able to be reversed. How many government programs once legislated and funded have ever dropped of the books ? NONE. Two years of total Democrat Socialist control will add massive programs and taxes that will be near impossible to reverse even with a Conservative President and Congress.

The damage to the military is not only a danger to this Country but will leave us far more vulnerable to another 9/11 type of attack. This time it could very well come in the form of a dirty or nuclear bomb with casualties in the tens of thousands or more. Why do you think that a terrorist group like Hamas endorses Barack Obama ? Because his military and foreign policy ideas work for the advantage of and appeasement to terrorists. His ideas mirror closely to those of Hillary's so either way it would be a disaster.

Ronald Reagan once said, "If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it." Reagan understood that political compromise for most of the pie was necessary without compromising principle and then following the example of our Founders and fighting for the rest that Conservatives believe in when the opportunity presents itself.

I am a Conservative first and then a Republican. But as a Conservative who has misgivings with McCain, I would rather fight him 30 - 40 % of the time than fight Hillary or Obama 100% of the time and watch my Country take the slippery path to Socialism under their leadership.

Yielding to the temptation of voting for Barr as a protest vote because of misgivings with McCain will result in a Socialist President and if this happens Conservatives will have no one to blame but themselves. The Socialist agenda and the danger is poses is real and much more pronounced with Hillary and Obama than it has been since the days of FDR and the New Deal which brought about Social Security and many other Socialist programs that we are still suffering through more than 70 years after FDR first introduced them.

The difference between FDR and either Democrat candidate is that they are openly pushing this agenda and do not have a Depression as a means of convincing the people to back it. What they will have is a Congress that will fall right in line and give Hillary or Obama every entitlement, tax increase or Socialist program they propose and we the people will be stuck with it for generations like we have been Social Security.

Though far from perfect John McCain it the only candidate who can prevent the majority of this from happening. He is strong on National Security and the military, backs Conservative Judges like Alito and Roberts, favors tax cuts and major tax reform, is against government sponsored health care and understands that appeasement to Iran, Syria and Islamic Fascism is dangerous to our people and our Nation.

Ken Taylor The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth

Single Issue Voters Will Decide November Presidential Election

The Us Versus Them Election

By David Hinz

The Presidential election in November will be decided by "Single-Issue" voters. Single issue voters -- those voters who are passionate about just one issue -- include 'Right to Life" and "Right to Choose" within the abortion debate, and Second Amendment concerns among hunters.

While each of these issues has played a part in past elections, it is a different Single Issue voter that will decide who takes the oath of office for President of the United States next January. That single issue is:

R versus D

That's right, the single most important issue in the November campaign will be whether the candidate has an R or a D after their name. Forget about the issues; the demographics; the race or sex. The next President of the United States will be elected by the party that turns out the most clones.

The American political landscape breaks down into roughly three groupings; The Democrat Base on the left, the Republican Base on the right, and the vacuous Center. The Democrat Base is unabashedly liberal -- unabashedly, except when it comes to labels. They prefer to be called Progressives or Moderates, but they are definitely liberals.

Liberals have fallen in love with the myth of Robin Hood. They seek to take from the rich and give to the poor. They see inequality of outcome, and look to government to rectify the situation. What they fail to remember in their zeal to level the playing field is that the original Robin Hood stole from the (rich) government, which was over-taxing the people, and gave to the people (who earned the money in the first place.) Liberals see the government as the answer. Conservatives see it as the problem.

The Republican Base is unabashedly conservative, and, for the most part, unafraid of being labeled as such. Large-C Conservatives believe in a strong national defense, a smaller, less intrusive federal government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility in government. At least Conservatives go to Washington with those beliefs, where, after a few years they become almost indistinguishable from Liberals.

And, in the middle, we have the Independents and moderates. They can be distinguished by...well, something. The most obvious characteristic of a moderate is that neither side can count on them when it is absolutely necessary.

Conventional wisdom is that the center is what will elect the President. Conventional wisdom, as usual, is wrong. The Presidential election will hinge on whether more conservatives ignore the name and vote for the R, or more liberals simply vote for the D.

Most years this would be translated as GOTV (Get out the vote), as eager and energetic partisans canvas for voters to go to the polls to put their candidate over the top. This election could be interesting in that respect, as a significant segment of both party's base is disenchanted with their nominee. GOTV might well take on the aspect this November of a scavenger hunt, as each party scours their precincts for Ds and Rs willing to hold their nose and vote the Party ticket.

Will It Be Conscience or Compromise For Black Americans?

By Rose Pedenko and Tanya Simon

In a parade in Germany recently, the worldwide audience was treated to effigies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, where Obama was biting the New York senator on, shall we say, her derriere.

This was proof that the graphic and embarrassing divisiveness roiling within the Democratic Party is being mocked internationally through a prism the Democrats themselves have cut with very precise angles.

Case in Point: The capricious statement by someone in the Clinton camp that white people support her was altogether unnecessary and far more revealing than intended. Equally uncalled for was a parry from Obama’s camp, that Obama gained more than 90% of the black vote in the Indiana Primary.

It is Barack Obama who has enslaved himself to the party that never had his best interests at heart. The elitism displayed by Senator Obama before a group of wealthy San Francisco donors begs the question, is he really an elitist, or a wannabe? Neither is desirable for national leadership.

Recently, in an exchange between Donna (party of the white boys) Brazile and influential Democratic consultant, Paul Begala, Mr. Begala stated that “…the only way to win this in my party (we’re not the monochromatic Republican Party)…is to stitch together white folks, and African-Americans and Latinos and Asians....”

Was Mr. Begala suggesting that a stitch in time saves nine black votes? And wasn’t it the party of the Thought Police that initially created this horrid division between Americans in the first place when they insisted on thrusting a hyphen (-) between our past and our present?
No longer are we simply and proudly Americans; we are hyphenated racial designations.

But we digress.

For both candidates’ representatives to make such statements reveals they have a Toulouse Lautrec outlook of the intelligence of the American voters. Each camp has sunk to a “coloring” contest: Whose black or white voter count is bigger?

Black Democrats, whether inside or outside the political bullring (and we do mean bull), do not take into account that the majority of modern-day defining moments for black American men and women were the result of the numerous appointments to high office made by George W. Bush. But the response by Democrats to those appointments was, and continues to be, mean-spirited and a slur to those Americans, as well as to our blind-to-color President.

Dr. Condoleeza Rice, the most powerful female in the political arena today, has been smeared a servile black Aunt Jemima.

Also, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer referred to former Maryland Attorney General Michael Steele as slavishly supporting the Republican Party. And lest anyone forget, has-been celebrity Harry Belafonte called General, and then Secretary of State, Colin Powell George Bush’s house slave.

Democrats’ defense of their own bigotry has been open-ended and shameless. At the same time, the liberal mainstream media have aided them by diverting attention away from their chauvinism with hyped propaganda against the Republican Party. This collusion has been going on for no less than three decades, and with such intensity that black children and young black adults, then and today, accepted these cants as truth and fact.

This narrow-mindedness has grown out of control from grade school all the way up to university. It has been aided through persistent inculcation by liberal pedagogues teaching that Democrats are the party of the disadvantaged. Children have been fed falsehoods for so long they only see hopelessness in their future. This surely has contributed to the unstoppable rise in the number of high school drop-outs.

Young persons’ sense of pride through achievement has been shifted and stifled so that their heroes are rap artists and athletes aided by the liberal media heaping praise on them with kudos and awards. This is what they now aspire to become.

Conversely, we watch silently while many young black Americans, as well as ill-informed young white liberals, sing the praises of black heroes such as Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver, either not realizing or acknowledging that they were Republicans. How many of these kids know it was a black Republican that conceived the idea of Black History Month?

Now would be a good moment to remind Michelle Obama that it was a Republican woman, Ida B. Wells, who helped found the National Association of Colored Women, and who worked with her white Republican counterparts to establish the NAACP in 1909. Mrs. Obama should be further reminded that it was Democrats that blocked the Welfare Reform Bill which has since served to reduce the welfare rolls by 60 percent next time she goes on an empathetic tirade about her working class roots.

Were all Republicans steadfast and uncompromising with respect to civil rights? The short answer is no. There are bad apples in every cart, barrel, and Congressional district. It is the job of the People to root them out and cast them aside with the power of our vote. The foundation and ideals of true Republicanism has never changed; it has been misrepresented to suit the agenda of the left.

We bring these points up now – again – because it is time black Americans (specifically those who make an effort to vote their conscience, who care about the future of their children and the country where we all live in uninterrupted freedom) to take a very long hard look at the Democratic party they have chosen to be associated with for the last 30+ years.

The father of Black History, Carter G. Woodson, said, “Switch parties if you are not being represented.”

That said, it is time black Americans invested serious consideration towards re-registering with the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln and of Dr. Martin Luther King, which has sacrificed so many and so much to ensure their freedom and our country’s ongoing security.

http://www.lowdowncentral.com/feature-article/2008/5/12/will-it-be-conscience-or-compromise-for-black-americans.html

The 2008 Hatfields vs. McCoys Primaries

Irrelevant Feud or Determinative Uncivil War?

By
Mike DeVine, Legal Editor

The battle between The Clintons and The Obamas for the Democratic Party presidential nomination rages this week on the battlegrounds of the famous feud between The Hatfields (mostly of West Virginia) and McCoys (mostly of Kentucky).

The latter raged for 13 years from 1878-1891 and affected the course of American history not a whit. No one remembers who won it.

The former, now in its fifth month, finds the junior senator from Illinois and the world’s angriest millionaire spouse: ahead in delegates, declared the nominee by a fawning liberal press after conquering North Carolina, but without the required number of delegates to actually be what the press reports him to be.

Clinton supporter Paul “The Forehead” Begala describes Obama’s coalition of supporters as eggheads and African-Americans, whose numbers in the general election would allow only for a symbolic “Dukakis” strategy campaign that could only hope to carry up to ten states and certain defeat at the hands of Republican nominee, John “The Maverick” McCain.

But the real mavericks of 2008 will be the so-called Democratic “super delegates” who hold the balance of power to put either Obama or the junior senator for New York over the top to wrest the mantle last shorn by John Kerry (who fought in Vietnam).

History shows that neither of the bitter warring factions in the family feud were historical mavericks, but their home states were critical in bit more consequential feud known as The War between the States less than a score earlier.

West Virginia exists due to backcountry mavericks that refused to follow (East) Virginia’s decision to follow South Carolina’s lead in seceding from the Union. Kentucky also refused to secede.

History records both chose the winning side in that “Civil” war.

Bill Clinton has been leading the uncivil war in this week’s battlegrounds, hoping to convince the supermen and women that Obama is November kryptonite for the donkey.

NO DEMOCRAT HAS BEEN ELECTED PRESIDENT SINCE 1916 WITHOUT WINNING THE MOUNTAIN STATE!

One poll shows his wife with a 40 point lead over the man with the 20-years in a hate America, black separatist church, pew-parked butt who thinks blue collar whites vote for Hillary due to bitterness over the economy that causes them to “cling” to “antipathy to people that aren’t like them.” (God and guns got more publicity. Gamecock demands equal time for the bigotry charge.)

Most people read Barack’s above “bitterness” comment as deeming people “not like them” to refer to skin color. But let’s give the “Uniter” the benefit of the doubt and consider that he may have meant people that aren’t pompous elitists that indulge bigot pastors and unrepentant terrorist pals.


Feels Right.

Battles in Kentucky and West Virginia were crucial from 1860-1865. Whether this week’s 2008 battles will be looked back upon as the last gasps of an irrelevant feud or the decisive moment of the uncivil war could depend on Hillary’s margin of victory. A huge rout could convince enough delegates that Obama cannot win over the voters he described as bigoted, gun-toting clingers to God in their bitterness.

History makes the Hatfields and McCoys footnotes in American lore, but for the participants it was life and death.

It is likely that either The Clintons or The Obamas will not survive the wounds inflicted on this blood-stained soil to do battle in November, and it is also quite possible that even the survivor will lose too much blood to get control of the nukes in January.

Fighters from the backwoods country helped General Andrew Jackson win the 1814 Battle of New Orleans, and thus preserve the Revolution from a revenge seeking British Empire that had already sacked this nation’s capitol, just as warriors from these border states enabled the first Republican President to preserve the Union in 1865. Old Hickory, the hero of the War of the 1812, went on to be the first Democrat President of the World’s oldest political party.

Ironically, many republicans, and especially conservatives, are looking to the wife of the first Arkansan president, Mountaineers and Blue Grass trodders to save the Union again from an Obamanation!

[Concept and title inspired by Dali Llama]

Are Republicans Asleep ?

Hillary refuses to die away. Obama's inexperience and controversy continues to make headlines. The DNC is in a shambles trying to pick up the pieces while the candidates keep the heat on. Donations are beginning to dry up for candidates down the political line in tough races against strong GOP contenders.

So where in the world is the GOP while Democrats continue to implode ? In a political climate where Republican candidates have an opportunity to dominate headlines in a positive way the GOP is frustratingly quiet. Even in the Congress where Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have taken a second seat to the heat for the Presidential nomination, Republicans who should be forcing issues and bills before a weak Congress are sitting back and doing NOTHING!

Even if GOP Representatives have no chance of getting legislation passed in the Pelosi/Reid Congress every GOP Representative and Senator should be hitting the airways and the floors of both Chambers of the Capitol pushing the Conservative/GOP agenda showing voters exactly WHO is to blame for the debacle that is taking place in Washington yet the GOP remains SILENT!

John McCain is riding the tide of Democrat implosion and because of the situation between Obama and Hillary he does not have to do anything except sit back and allow the Democrats to continue to shoot themselves in the foot. But at least he is making his presence known and talking about policy as well as challenging both Democrat candidates especially Obama who will be their nominee.There are more GOP Senate seats up for grabs this year then Democrat and of course every House seat is on the ballot and the GOP has a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the shambles in the Democrat Party and they are doing NOTHING!

The Democrats are in such a mess now that reports surfaced last week that candidates who are running for hotly contested House seats are writing the DNC asking Howard Dean and company to end the strife for the Presidential nomination because donations are drying up and Democrat supporters are expressing their dissatisfaction with the top candidates and the party by NOT giving.

The GOP is allowing an opportunity to take advantage of the Democrat chaos slip right through their fingers and for this Conservative Republican it is frustrating to the point of anger at the weakness of the party and its leadership.

Even though Republican Representatives have little chance of getting legislation passed under the Pelosi/Reid Congress during an election year they can at least hit the floor of Congress and the media with the GOP agenda and show voters how Democrats are stalling on issues like funding the border fence which was passed and funded in 2006 by the GOP Majority Congress with the Democrats taking away that funding shortly after taking control.

With gas prices as they are now the GOP has an opportunity to expose the truth about years of liberal environmental policy that has brought us to $4.00 a gallon gas. Force the issue by demanding drilling in Anwar, as well as the new vein of oil found in Montana recently that can be exploited immediately and oil pulled from already existing wells only requiring horizontal drilling but being fought tooth and nail by liberal environmentalists backed by Democrats.

The battlefield in Iraq is continuing to be a success that Democrats and the media are avoiding BECAUSE of its success yet Republicans are keeping quiet and NOT telling the Nation the good news out of Iraq. Surrendering the media battle of the success by remaining quiet in an election year that Democrats had planned to exploit as a failure as little as six months ago.

General Petraeus and our tremendous men and women in uniform have hushed Democrats and the critics with success yet the GOP remains quiet when they should be shouting from the roof tops with, "I told you so!"

The havoc that is taking place for the Democrat nomination is giving the GOP an opportunity to push and gain seats in both Chambers of Congress as dissatisfaction with the DNC and the war between the top candidates continues. The Democrat disgust is strong enough that supporters of both candidates in large numbers are expressing that if their candidate does not get the nomination they will either sit at home or vote for John McCain in November.

And the GOP does NOTHING. House and Senate candidates running for election and/or re-election must NOW make their presence known to take advantage of the chaos and weakness with Democrats. Their is a real chance for gains in both the House and the Senate but not if the GOP continues to refuse to exploit the problems that are riping the Democrats apart.

Republicans have a bad habit of not exploiting an advantage when is is placed right before them and this year is following in that same trend. You can bet that if this same chaos was taking place in the Republican Party, Democrats would be playing it to the hilt. In 2006 they took advantage of anger toward the GOP Majority in Congress and turned that tide of disappointment into victory and took back the Majority status in both the House and Senate.

While Republicans most likely cannot retake that Majority this year there is a possibility of strong gains if they will but capitalize on the Democrat debacle but they are choosing to just sit back and watch it happen asleep at the political wheel.

While the Democrat chaos looks to be shaping a victory for John McCain in November and retaining the White House for the GOP this sit back and watch attitude that Republicans are taking with the Democrat implosion is an opportunity wasted and an advantage thrown away. WAKE UP GOP!!!

Ken Taylor The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth

John McCain Does Not "Deserve" To Be President

By David Hinz

Because he spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese Prison, tortured on an almost daily basis, John McCain deserves to be honored by the people of a grateful nation.

When offered an early release, because his father and grandfather were both high ranking Admirals, he refused. He knew that his early release would be used as a propaganda tool by our enemies, and so refused to be released before others who had been in captivity longer than he.

This act of courage alone warrants high praise and honors, to a man who still bears the scars and disfigurement inflicted by his brutal captors.

John McCain deserves to be honored for his many years of service to his country as a member of Congress. The people of Arizona, by dint of the election process, have seen fit to return him to Congress, by huge majorities, believing that he, better than anyone else, represents their state's interests in that body.

As a member of Congress he has passionately fought for those issues on which he is most deeply concerned; sometimes angering and engendering passions on both sides of the aisle.

As a Presidential Candidate, John McCain deserves his Party's nomination. Through a spirited primary season, he has defeated all challengers. His campaign appeared at one time to be stalled, and he was written off as dead as a candidate.

Instead of rolling over and giving up, he was able to garner support from moderates and independents in early states, accumulating momentum and delegates. In what has often become a bitter and sometimes ugly brawl among supporters of various candidates, he has steadfastly maintained a positive campaign, determined to discuss issues and not personalities.

And there is the issue. Based upon issues, John McCain does not deserve to be President. He must earn that position. No candidate, of either Party automatically deserved to become President, because they are next in line, or it is their Party's turn. No candidate of either Party deserves to become President, simply because the other Party is fielding a candidate who is unacceptable. The Presidency needs to be earned, based upon the merits of that candidate.

As a "maverick" John McCain has garnered the enmity of much of the Conservative Republican base with such issues as McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and his new-found fealty to Manmade Global Warming. Members of that base hope he has seen the errors of those ways, and that he will change his mind as to the advisability of those issues.

McCain-Feingold, or Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform, was designed to "take the money" out of politics. What it has instead done, is to camouflage that money behind a shell game of 527 organizations. Hundreds of millions of dollars are now funneled into these unaccountable interest groups, each dedicated to their own agenda, while the public has no awareness of where that groups funding is derived. A noble idea, derailed into political activism without accountability.

McCain-Kennedy, a bill pushed by the Bush Administration, would have provided for citizenship for tens of millions of illegal aliens already breaking American laws. Those lawbreakers would have offered a "cut in line" on the "path to citizenship" ahead of those immigrants willing to go through the legal process.

When the American people rose up in backlash against that legislation, Senator McCain offered hope that he has changed his mind, and now favors a "secure the border first" approach to the problem.

On the issue of Manmade Global Warming, Senator McCain has become a recent convert to the cause. In light of more recent research that points to the fact that the earth has not warmed since 1998, and the even more recent discovery of ocean currents that environmentalists now inform us will cause global cooling for the next decade or more, one would hope that the good senator would change his mind about implementing his Cap-and-Trade proposals, which many economists warn could destroy the American economy.

Senator McCain has demonstrated his dedication to smaller, less intrusive government in his opposition to the Bush Tax Cuts without corresponding cuts in spending. He has demonstrated his opposition to out-of-control government spending by refusing to partake in the "earmark" process of adding "pork barrel spending" measures to legislation. Most congress members use this process to buy votes back home, while bloating the Federal government spending.

Senator McCain has demonstrated his dedication to national defense through his support of the military throughout the war against Islamofascism. His belief in a change in policy in Iraq, put him in the forefront of the "Surge" strategy that now looks to have effectively changed the paradigm in that country, and could lead to reconciliation and peace for the people of Iraq.

On those two issues alone, Senator McCain might well earn the vote of Conservatives.

They were all social conservatives, not moderates

By
Mike DeVine, Legal Editor

Rush Limbaugh commented today on the fears of many elected Republicans, especially as recently voiced by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, that the GOP could be facing a landslide defeat in November. Rush says the fears are because no one in the party, from the top down, is championing the winning strategy of the past: conservatism. Rather, the party is trying to attract indies and dems without converting them to conservatism.

I was inspired to write this by a comment from Doc Holliday at Redstate.com, who said:

I do not think conservatism at its nature starts with "social conservatism", I think it starts with economic conservatism. If you boiled this group down to the one issue they can all agree on, it is "get the gov out of economics".

I agree that the kind of conservatism most conservatives mean when they refer to same is a variation of this basic concept, also frequently reduced to small government guaranteeing private property rights.

But in pondering Doc's comment and E Pluibus Unum's more extensive definitions incorporating the three-legged stool that William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan made famous, I conclude that one must begin any talk of economic conservatism with an environment in which it can function and flourish.

The many became one as social conservatives!

That environment would be what we call civilization itself.

I realize now since I came to Redstate over three years ago, when pressed to self identify most strongly with either the fiscal-cons, security-cons or social-cons, I always land with the social-cons.

Before I go further, let me stress that I have always been a war hawk. I was a Democrat from birth to 2000, and I was a JFK democrat. I loathed the limp-wristed weakness the new castrati democrats exuded and still exude to our enemies abroad. But I was a social liberal for most of those years for the same reason everyone is, but won't admit: I wanted to eat my cake and yet, still get to keep it, i.e. responsibility free, consequenceless sex.

I lived through the late 70's failed liberal policies as a teen, majored in economics in college, and saw Reagan's Milton Friedman-Arthur Laffer conservative economic policies work in spades. We are still in the Reagan recovery.

But I think the reason, when forced, despite my strong war hawkishness and economic background, that I self identify as a social conservative is that without it, none of the others are possible for very long.

I am happy to see that John McCain understands this better than many of his apologists here at Redstate that think the answer to GOP woes is to reach out to moderates.

A moderate has one basic meaning: social liberalism, i.e. pro choice on abortion, pro-special rights based on one's declared preferred sexual activities and banning any meaningful mention of God from the public square, especially including from the public schools, unless it is a secular, supposed values-free God that teaches of Susie having two mommies.

The GOP doesn't win trying to be Democrats.

And America loses.

Can we name a civilization that thrives and prospers by killing off its young or reducing marriage to sex instead of the basic unit that makes civilization of the young possible? No.

Civilization appeared precisely when one woman seduced one man to be hers exclusively.

The capitols of abortion in Russia and China face dire straits, as do the mini-capitols in Western Europe. Yes, even China. China has a great shortage of females due to selective abortion of females. Throughout history, nations with such shortages turned to war. If they turn to war with us, we will destroy them. But more acutely, China is about to face a grave obstacle to continued economic growth. They have an aging population, especially in the educated, inductrial areas.

And Europe and Russia? They are dying off.

The United States still produces enough babies to replace itself, but barely.

Let's get back to Doc's economic argument. Freedom is the secret to our success. The founders defined freedom as keeping the fruits of one's labor, i.e. private property.

But they also saw that our freedom would only work for a moral and religious people, i.e. this people and their reverence for judeo-christian values as seen by the Frenchman Alexis de Toucheville.

Benjamin Franklin and many of the Founders loved to quote William Penn: "[men] must be governed by God, or they will be ruled by tyrants."

Appeals to moderates are appeals to future rule by tyrants. The process has begun of course (see Big Government).

Yet, the dominant voice here at Redstate, despite McCain's appeal on the most basic of areas to social conservatives, i.e. originalist judges that would restore the free religious speech rights and local self government that caused social conservatives to get into politics on defense to begin with, seems to be that the GOP can only win by appealing to moderates.

Let's look back and see what we find among prior Presidents as the United States became the most powerful and blessed nation on earth.

Among them we find differing views on economics, oddly enough, but who among George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, FDR, HST, Ike, or JFK were social liberals?

None. They were all social conservatives.

We lost our way in the 60's and 70's and who was it that led the comeback of America and the GOP?

Social conservatives named Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich.

Civilization itself begins and ends with moral values. Only via the self restraint of same can freedom produce the bounty that defines America. A bounty that makes us rich enough to be stronger than those that would take what we have.

John McCain is appealing to social conservatives, not moderates, at least on this issue. Good.

Now, will Redstate's powers that be and other republicans join him, or will they work at cross-purposes with watered down moderate appeals, which reminds me of my God, who said in Revelation 3:16:

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

This gamecock will not be spued out of God's mouth.

[I plan on voting for John McCain for President despite his intention to address and legitimize the hate group, La Raza. Have not determined if this action by McCain is hot or cold or if it is bound to be spued as lukewarm, so I am keeping a safe distance.]

John McCain, Read This - Is Washington and Big Oil Burying This?

When I received an email from a friend of mine in Alabama, I was skeptical about it's contents, it was a cut and paste for a newspaper article claiming a Tifton, Georgia man had discovered a way to may $0.25 a gallon fuel.

So, I visited my local Yahoo search engine, and it appears the story is true, at least at face value.

It seems the only outlet to pick up the story was the WND.

Some snippets and a link to the article.

How cheap you ask? Well, I didn’t put that part in my article, but let me tell you I think he could probably make it for 25 cents a gallon — but the government would most likely never allow that. The reason he could make it that cheap is because the process is so simple and the materials are essentially free. All he requires is a big tank (think of a silo, maybe), a handful of this bacteria (well, I don’t know that the recipe calls for a handful) and some tree limbs, corns husks, or any of those other once-living things that we dispose of (called bio-mass). Mix the bacteria and the bio-mass together, stir around a little and out comes gas. That simple...

...Do you doubt that he can do it? Let me tell you, I believe he can do it. The U.S. defense department believes he can do it. On April 15, J.C. was invited by the defense department to speak at the World Wide Energy Conference held in Arlington, Virginia. He was up there talking alongside speakers from ExxonMobile and the National Science Foundation.

He must have given a good presentation, because shortly afterward my phone starting ringing. The first to call was Joe Kovacs with WorldNet Daily. He wrote an article headlined: National news media burying amazing oil breakthrough? The last one to call was Herman Cain. He is a news columnist, businessman, politician and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. He is also a substitute host on the Neal Boortz radio talk show. He called to say the story was HUGE and to ask for J.C.’s phone number. I think this thing is finally starting to pick up speed.

Here is the article in the Tifton Gazette.

World Net Daily Link

Lets make some phone calls, find out if this is true, and if it is, WHY aren't we hearing about this. I must ad this caveat, I am still skeptical.

The reporters name is Jana Cole and the phone number is 229-382-4321

More when I get off of the phone.

Americans Grow Despondent - With Good Reason

Americans are sullen, gloomy, despondent, morose [pick your favorite adjective] and with very good reason. April's polls show 81% of Americans believe we are headed in the wrong direction, and they are absolutely right. And their fears and anxieties are not based on our political direction, they go much deeper then that. Overwhelmingly, people do not believe any President or other government body can help this country "turn things around", and I say it's about time that they realized that fact. America was not made a country and people to emulate, by our politicians, but rather the people and industries that make up the basis of our real power.

Faced with the rapidly rising prices and the loss of personal wealth (reported to be in the trillions of dollars), everything else that is happening to America and the rest of the world is amplified significantly. For the first time since in more then 30 years, a large and significant number of Americans are faced with a diminished life style. There is no question, 10's of millions of Americans are facing a reduction in the quality of life they are accustomed to.

It is not just those facts, those personal things that are making Americans gloomy. They see a changing world in which past the accomplishments and the associated status of those accomplishments has been disrupted, and in many cases they sense America is not leading the way.

America itself is suffering a loss of status as a world leader in the eyes of many people around the world. Although this is a perception, brought on by biased reporting of a liberally slanted media, it is a reality to those that perceive it to be. Once looked upon with by people from other countries as the leader of everything imaginable, they now turn to dozens of other countries as being the best, the most, the biggest, the tallest, the brightest, in almost every category. We are just not what we once were, and we will not be for some time to come.

America no longer has the world's tallest building, the largest publicly traded company, the biggest oil refineries, the largest airliner is not built here any longer. We no longer have the worlds largest casino, the biggest movie industry, the largest ferris wheel and even this long time standing American icon has been usurped, the world's largest shopping mall.

While my list is somewhat arbitrary, it reflects the shift that has taken place in the world. A relatively short time ago, 10 years or so, we would have led in all of those categories. Many would argue that these things don't really matter; or do they? I think they do. The reflect several things, the most important of which is attitude.

Now I'll move on to things that seem to matter more to some, but no more important then those previously listed. Of the 25 companies poised to to become multi-national stars, none are in the United States, and only two are from China. The countries with majority of these emerging companies are Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan and South Korea. The rest of the world is growing at an enormous rate, 124 other economies grew more then 4% for the past two years.

These facts, at first glance, appear to be the basis of our perceived power, when in fact they not. We are still the world leader in many areas, most importantly our military, but also in money markets, human rights, the list is very long. America is still looked to by the worlds leaders and emulated by most of the worlds governments. The UK, Germany, France, Eastern Europe and even India have elected leaders that are far more Americanized then their predecessors. Could this emulation be the reason they are beginning to take on more of a leadership role in the world?

A shift in power is taking place, whether we like it or not, and we will no longer be considered the overall number one power in the world. It is this loss of American dominance of the world that is troubling most Americans, perhaps they only realize it unconsciously, but that feeling is real.

Our news outlets shout it out everyday, publishing lists of the best of this or that. The one that I find most striking, personally, is that only 2 of the worlds richest individuals are Americans. While we all think it's the worlds oil barons, it is not just them.

However, it's not all doom and gloom for America. We are a land of resilient people, smart people, and hard working people. When we get fed up with our slide into oblivion, we'll pull up our socks, roll up our sleeves and get back to what it is we do best, live well and prosper.

We will soon get fed up with do nothing politicians, rising oil prices, limiting factors from extremist groups, a starving world. We will once again take control of our destinies, and instead of demanding our government do something, we Americans will do it. We will do whatever it takes to make it happen. We will regain our prominence in wealth, technology, industry and supply. This country is built on those cornerstones, they are still there and they still hold us tall. We need a new house, and we will rebuild it from the ground up, upon those very same cornerstones laid down by our founding fathers.

No matter what you think, no matter how you feel, the election in November will have little to do with our return to world power, because it will take longer then any one President's term and it will be done by everyday Americans, not a politician.

Who Cares Who Wins

By Rose Pedenko

Sorting the good candidates from the bad is hard work few citizens are willing to undertake. Most prefer to remain blissfully ignorant hoping to remain unscathed while the country falls apart around them. These are the same people that expect you to share your emergency supplies after a natural disaster because they couldn’t be bothered to prepare themselves.

All politicians are alike!

What difference does it make if we vote or not?

Nothing ever changes anyway.

These are the frequently heard responses when you ask friends or acquaintances if they plan to vote. They do not follow politics closely, and sadly, this represents a majority of potential voters. There are those that say “I’m glad everyone doesn’t vote because it keeps stupid voters away from the polls.” That may no longer be a consolation to even the most cynical among us, as we witness both parties paint themselves into a corner that once again has us choosing between the proverbial lesser of two evils, or worse, not choosing at all.

How then do we educate ourselves to make wise leadership choices and exercise our most precious right to vote in a democracy?

We often form opinions from an assortment of unreliable sources: slanted print media, cable news that places more weight on celebrity than fact for ratings, or even well-meaning friends who load our email boxes with disparaging information about candidates. Generally it consists of misinformation, disinformation, innuendo or bad jokes. Even clever socio-political commentary of questionable attribution from Andy Rooney, George Carlin or Jay Leno – gets circulated across the internet from the politically semi-ignorant to the totally ignorant where the rhetoric exponentially takes on a life of its own. This quasi-factual information often denigrates current or former administrations, high profile politicians or their spouses, outspoken celebrities (okay they have a point about them) and now even our ministers.

Speculation and opinion by pundits, bloggers and Drudgenuts alike permeates the media: Will Republicans regain the majority in Congress, will Hillary beat Obama , is McCain too old to even beat up his mother, or will Bill Clinton be Co-President and/or First Philanderer. The list goes on and with each passing day, news clips, sound bites and electronic water cooler conversations (i.e., e-mail) spin like nobody’s business. You end up certain no one knows what they are talking about. Dick Morris can’t even stick to his Hillary will win the nomination theory from one day to the next.

There are two schools of thought on the value of the internet in politics. Thanks to the punishing verisimilitude of YouTube videos and vigilant bloggers, career journalists and well-paid pundits’ feet are now being held to the fire. They need to be right to remain relevant and thus citizens can rely with increasing assurance that, like Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, they will not be ignored. On the other hand, too much information can give even the most ardent political junkies the jitters.

Of course not all candidates will resonate with voters, but this has been a particularly unusual year chock full of no-rhyme-or-reason choices. It was okay to eviscerate Mitt Romney for his faith when he had never previously injected religion into his politics, yet the left praises Barack Obama for his blind loyalty to Trinity Church and his pastor.

One recent glimmer of hope in sorting fair from far-out was the Democratic candidates’ rejection of the far left blogs in favor of Fox News interviews. Whether it was a strategic decision or an act of desperation matters not. I prefer to see it as light at the end of the political tunnel.

In a time when Americans spoke out in record numbers to stop the ill-conceived comprehensive immigration reform bill, we then chose one of its strongest proponents as the presumptive Republican nominee. Many of us conservatives are still reeling from that inconvenient turn of events.

Our President and elected representatives have spent our money like drunken Democrats on leave of their senses and now Senator McCain confirms, much to the vexation of fellow sitting Senators, it was spending, not the war in Iraq, that cost Republicans their control of Congress in 2006 . George Bush abandoned his base and reached out so far across the aisle with amnesty and a prescription drug program he seems completely baffled the Left still hates him. Perhaps Karl Rove forgot to remind him no man is an island. Never abandon your base. Voters, like the elephant that is our party symbol, never forget.

Political mavericks and rogues gambled with Republican principles and lost. We now have a wholly disillusioned citizenry in both parties ready to abandon their core principles just for the sake of change. Democrats will vote as if they live in some ethereal world where the “first black” or the “first woman” president is more important than what each brings to the White House table.

The truth, although not particularly palatable, is that we have the politicians we deserve. We need to care because millions of Americans have died to preserve our freedoms, and those freedoms will ultimately be ensured by an informed and proactive electorate.

http://www.lowdowncentral.com/feature-article/2008/5/5/who-cares-who-wins.html

Russert fails HinzSight test in Obama MTP lovechat

by Mike "gamecock" DeVine, Legal Editor (and all around good guy) for The HinzSight Report, the best Reagan conservative blog on Earth (Earth, a creation of God, not yo mama)

[UPDATE]

Tim Russert asked, maybe one tough question in the whole interview. Even Chris Wallace did better last week, and even his performance was lame. Most of the questions were the Oprah-type, how do you feel about this, what do you think about that, could you have done better variety.

This interview was more about Russert than Obama. Obama is toast and has been. Russert asked ZERO follow up questions of consequence. Never mentioned the Ayers terrorist or the fact that Wright was told to stay in the basement and pray when Obama announced his candidacy before the press last year.

Russert is no longer a credible journalist. He occasionally gets shamed in to asking a tough question of a democrat if he hears Rush shaming him into it. But its hit and miss. He and Chris Matthews are becoming one, and it appears Matthews genes are dominant.

[end update]

Tim Russert deservedly established a reputation for fair and objective examinations of politicians of both parties from the beginning of his installation as sole host of NBC's Meet the Press in 1991.

Before September 11, 2001, he was one of a very few major MSM reporter/anchors that was greatly respected by conservatives. He used to spend an hour each year around Thanksgiving interviewing Rush Limbaugh for many years and has even been a guest on the Talk Radio giant's show, sometimes for the purpose of promoting a book.

But, since 911, and especially since the Iraq War didn't produce a second Connecticut within the 13-week period given to sitcoms to produce ratings justifying renewal, Tim's reputation has deservedly suffered. He frequently tosses softballs to democrats and treats republicans like lepers. On many occasions he treats the far left's (see mainstream dem party) bushlied line as Known Fact.

Tim has let us down so much, that we no longer expect him to be fair or impressive.

So, tomorrow's scheduled hour long interview with Barack Obama is as much a test of Russert as Obama.

More so.

Obama has mostly gotten a pass. And when ABC's Charlie Gibson (the new Russert in fact) and even former Clintonite, George Stephanopolous, asked Obama tough questions the left deem out of bounds about his hate America pastor of 20 years and his terrorist neighbor that hosted his first campaign fundraiser, they were treated like republicans, i.e. as if they were racist, bigot homophobes.

Everyone knows that NBC is in the tank for Obama. (Just as they know CBS is incompetent, but, like ABC and CNN are near said tank.)

Look in the mirror Tim. We know you still listen to Rush since you met Limbaugh's dare to ask Hillary about NY state drivers' licenses for illegals and greatly disabled her campaign.

The question now is if you will meet David Hinz's challenge and ask Obama tough questions about his terrorist pal.

[Dave has been a the best writer on Redstate since gamecock discovered same three years ago and is the main reason I gave the site a second look.]

Tim, read and prepare. We will be watching you more so than Obama. Obama has already disqualified himself from getting the nukes. We aren't going to give a person that needs psychotherapy the nukes. He will soon get to re-join his 99 other colleagues as a full-time yea/nay voter in that low-skilled position answering to We the People.

But you, Tim, will still be regularly in our face after Election Day 2008.

Do you care if you are respected? Are you comfortable being seen as an incompetent bought and paid for elitist shill for eggheads?

If your answers are yes, and no, respectively, then air the hinzsight on Ayers and break the MSM's 40 year practice of giving respectability to 60's radicals and crazy black preachers and providing cover to the sell out of the Democrat party to anti-American kooks.

Read Tim, and call Ayers a terrorist (not just a "radical").

So, what we have emerging is a picture not of a tenuous relationship, but an ongoing relationship dating back more than 20 years. Strangely enough, that is also the timeline of Obama's tenure with the right Reverent Wright.

Ayres, a unrepentant terrorist, still harbors resentment toward the United States. Famously, on 9-11 he penned an Op-Ed in the New York Times in which he stated that he not only did not regret the terrorist bombings he participated in, but he only wished he had done more.

To close out this piece, and to better understand the longtime Obama friend and associate, we need a few words from Ayres himself. In 2006, Ayres traveled to Caracas, Venezuela to speak before the World Education Forum, and, of course Hugo Chavez. His speech provides us with insight into the man. The avowed Marxist. From that speech:

President Hugo Chavez, Vice-President Vicente Rangel, Ministers Moncada and Isturiz, invited guests,comrades. I’m honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. I bring greetings and support from your brothers and sisters throughout Northamerica. Welcome to the World Education Forum! Amamos la revolucion Bolivariana!

This is my fourth visit to Venezuela, each time at the invitation of my comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for justice. Luis has taught me a great deal about the Bolivarian Revolution and about the profound educational reforms underway here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chavez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution, and I’ve come to appreciate Luis as a major asset in both the Venezuelan and the international struggle—I look forward to seeing how he and all of you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane. Thank you, Luis, for everything you’ve done.

--snip--

I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice.

--snip--

Totalitarianism demands obedience and conformity, hierarchy, command and control. Royalty requires allegiance. Capitalism promotes racism and militarism – turning people into consumers, not citizens. Participatory democracy, by contrast, requires free people coming together voluntarily as equals who are capable of both self-realization and, at the same time, full participation in a shared political and economic life.

--snip--

Despite being under constant attack from within and from abroad, the Bolivarian revolution has made astonishing strides in a brief period: from the Mission Simoncito to the Mission Robinson to the Mission Ribas to the Mission Sucre, to the Bolivarian schools and the UBV, Venezuelans have shown the world that with full participation, full inclusion, and popular empowerment, the failings of capitalist schooling can be resisted and overcome. Venezuela is a beacon to the world in its accomplishment of eliminating illiteracy in record time, and engaging virtually the entire population in the ongoing project of education.

This is a man who hates America and all that it stands for. This is a man who has had a long and close association with Barack Obama for more than 20 years. William Ayres, Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration?

Read it all at The HinzSight Report, Tim:

William Ayres -- La educacion es revolucion!

Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
The HinzSight Report
The Minority Report
Race 4 2008
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson

Unelectable Democrats ?

Hillary lies about sniper fire in Bosnia. Obama hits the Jeremiah Wright iceberg foundering his campaign. Hillary rants about the death of an expectant mother BECAUSE of not having health care only to find out she did and was treated. Obama insults Small Town Americans about guns and religion.

The list goes on with Hillary's lies and excessive baggage and Obama's poor judgement concerning Wright, his inexperience and skeletons that keep showing up. The once thought unstoppable Obamamania has now become a series of questions as to whether the Senator from Illinois is even electable in November.

Hillary Clinton, whose massive amount of excessive baggage ranging from White Water and Travelgate during the Bubba White House years to her continuous lying on the campaign trail have raised her unelectability rating from maybe to considerable.

In fact there is an obvious Clinton weariness that is taking place in Democrat circles as Hillary is bouncing back because of the controversy that has been following Barack Obama and Super Delegates who once supported her are switching allegiance on a regular basis.For Obama, the once invincible Rock Star, many in the know and , "anonymous, " sources in Democrat circles are strongly questioning whether Obama can even BE elected if he gains the nomination and the head to head match up with John McCain in the Fall. Usually ,"anonymous," sources are party officials who don't mind telling the truth but want deniability by remaining anonymous.

In reality had Barack Obama been an open book, so to speak, from the beginning rather than using generalities and keeping who he is and what he believes under wraps for the last year, leaving most to wonder just who this guy was, the controversy over Jeremiah Wright might not have been as damaging to Obama. But because no one knew anything about him the Wright situation brought so many questions about his character, judgement and his ability to tell the truth that it dropped him from Rock Star to an almost has been.

Hillary Clinton has always been a questionable figure because of her past dealings but her campaign antics combined with a general tiring of the Clinton's in Democrat circles has brought into question her electability were she to gain the nomination in the Fall. This electability problem for both candidates may very well be why many of the Super Delegates have not made up their mind and in the case of Clinton weariness why some are jumping the Clinton Bandwagon for Obama even though Hillary has shown strength in the big States and if Florida is counted, (which is likely), a lead in the popular Primary voter count.

Of course all of this turmoil and controversy with Democrats has only benefited John McCain who is riding the tide of Democrat implosion without having to do much other than make an appearance here and there or make an occasional policy statement. Which is also good for the GOP come the final push for November.

Rasmussen and Zogby have McCain over Clinton by about 5 while over Obama by 9. This from a candidate who has been out of most headlines for several weeks and is riding a tide of opponent blunders. When the final push begins after the GOP Convention in September and the scrutiny becomes much more than it is now, McCain should find a comfortable lead over either Democrat wanna be.

McCain is very much an open book. His standing on issues is well known good, bad or indifferent. Any skeletons that he may have had have been scrutinized and set aside even before winning in the Primaries. Match this with his well known war record and McCain will have only the usual questions about his age, (which are easily overcome), to handle before November.

Clinton or Obama on the other hand will leave the Convention to the harsh scrutiny of a General Election and both will face far more questioning and demands then either have faced during the Primary Season. If they think they have had a tough road so far wait until September !

So once again Democrats face a decision over electability between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Whoever faces McCain in the Fall will carry with them a tremendous amount of baggage from the Primaries as well as further and much deeper digging because of the added attention that voters have as we approach a General Election.

At the Democrat Convention in August the electability factor against John McCain will weigh heavy with all voting delegates, Super as well as popular vote delegates. Fortunately for the GOP and unfortunately for the Democrats neither choice that Democrat delegates have offers much hope for November. I will end this post with as much sarcasm that I can muster by saying , "DARN WHAT A SHAME!!!!!"


Ken Taylor The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth

William Ayres -- La educacion es revolucion!

By David Hinz

When George Stephanopoulos asked Barack Obama about his relationship with former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayres at the Philadelphia Democrat Presidential Debate on April 16, Obama dismissed the question. He called it "gotcha politics." The exchange looked something like this:

STEPHANOPOULOS: And, Senator, if you get the nomination, you’ll have to beat back these distractions.

And I want to give Senator Clinton a chance to respond, but first a follow-up on this issue, general theme of patriotism, in your relationships. A gentleman named William Ayers. He was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He’s never apologized for that.

And, in fact, on 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times saying, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” An early organizing meeting for your State Senate campaign was held at his house and your campaign has said you are “friendly.”

Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won’t be a problem?

OBAMA: George, but this is an example of what I’m talking about. This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn’t make much sense, George….

So this kind of game in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, that somehow their ideas could be attributed to me, I think the American people are smarter than that. They’re not going to suggest somehow that that is reflective of my views, because it obviously isn’t.

So, according to Sen Obama, his relationship to Ayres is "flimsy." Just as his 20 year relationship with the Rev Wright belies his words of dismissal, so does his long-term relationship with Ayres. An examination of that relationship is in order.

In an earlier article, Obama Seems To Have Had An Ongoing Relationship With Terrorists, I point out the now widely reported connection between Obama and William Ayres in 1995, with the beginning of his political campaign for the Illinois Senate. In that article, I stated:

That 1995 meeting, in the home of Ayres and Dohrn was Obama's introduction to Chicago politics. Ayres, a known former domestic terrorist was a mover and shaker in Chicago politics, and it was known that if you wanted to make it, you went through him. State Senator Alice Palmer facilitated the introduction.

That article also delved into the Woods Fund, on which board of directors Obama and Ayres served together from 1999 until 2002. That was a philanthropic foundation that gave away thousands of dollars, including at least two grants to organizations with terrorist ties.

Then, there is the Annenberg Challenge. Created in 1995, The Annenberg Challenge, using a philanthropic gift of $500 million from Walter Annenberg, was designed to help improve Chicago's failing school system.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge worked to increase the ability of schools to better themselves by investing in the "on the ground" improvement efforts of networks - schools connected with an external partner organization. Simultaneously, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge contributed groundbreaking research to the field of education concerning how to improve schools. By offering support through professional development and technical assistance, teaching and learning improved, the quality and quantity of professional development increased, and the community became more knowledgeable and better equipped to create successful school reform.

William Ayres was one of the founders of the Annenberg Challenge. According to a piece done by Alexander Russo for the Thomas B Fordham Institute:

When three of Chicago's most prominent education reform leaders met for lunch at a Thai restaurant six years ago to discuss the just-announced $500 million Annenberg