Saturday, October 25, 2008

Obama Will Be In Podium Territory Oct. 28th...

Meanwhile I will be at work earning a salary, saving as much money as possible in case the The Royal Socialist does get elected and raises my taxes.

I could get out of work and go join the protesters, but the man is simply not worthy of my time.

UPDATE

Cobalt6 is preparing to explode with near-orgasmic ecstacy, which means I may go just to see their collective heads pop off their shoulders with joy and rapture.

Strategic Vision Gets Death Threats from Obama Supporters

Who are the fearmongers again?

Go read the text of some of these threats here.

Info on "Joe The Plumber" Dug Up on Gov't Computers

This may have been illegal.

Developing...

Friday, October 24, 2008

Krauthammer Makes The Case for McCain

One of America's greatest political columnists ever tells us why he's endorsing John McCain for President.

OK, This I Can't Condone...

I posted yesterday about attacks on McCain supporters, and I included a story about a McCain volunteer who was mugged, then assaulted for having a McCain sticker on her car.

Turns out she made it up.

This does not invalidate the other examples of Obama supporters, but it does put McCain supporters in a bad light...and it is stories like this that feeds the media's slant that McCain supporters are all crazy, rabid bigots.

Stupid people like this are not helping the cause, and this woman is stupid...plain and simple.

And apologies to Doug Mataconis from Below The Beltway, who sniffed this one out last night on another blog (I can't remember where) and I fired back at him because I believed the initial story (which hey, with the other examples I provided, it becomes much less of a stretch to believe it).

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Is Murtha Toast?

Latest Dane and Associates poll has him down 13 points in his district to his Republican opponent (and Podium-endorsed candidate), Lt. Colonel Bill Russell. This isn't even CLOSE to the margin of error, as Russell is up 48-35 over the entrenched Democratic Party incumbent and resident loudmouth whackjob.

I know, it's not common of me to say such names about those who sit an opposition of me...but in John Murtha's case, I can't help myself, because he's earned it.

It's Amazing

Obama supporters do such things as...

- A 12-year-old girl is called a racist because she's white and was wearing a McCain/Palin shirt.
- A McCain supporter is physically attacked in New York City.
- Sandra "My Career Was in the Toilet for 15 Years" Bernhardt suggests Sarah Palin should be gang-banged by blacks in Harlem.
- The manager of the Seminole County GOP Headquarters has his home shot up after putting up McCain signs in his yard.
- Two men are arrested for setting fire to McCain signs.
- A McCain supporter is mugged, then beaten and has a "B" carved into her face when the assailant discovers a McCain bumper sticker on her car.

...and yet, Republicans are the ones labeled as a angry, hatemongering mob.
UPDATE
In a distrubing turn of events, the woman who was mugged and had the "B" carved into her face made it all up.

Dead Heat

This is from the most accurate poll of the 2004 election...


Definition of Dead Heat...
Obama's Momentum is "Dead"
McCain's Momentum has "Heat"

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

1+1+1+1+...When Does It Finally Get Added Together?

You know, all politicians have skeletons in their closet. It's natural, because they are human. However, how many skeletons can be piled up in that closet before the lock breaks and the door bursts wide open?

For instance, let's look at some of Senator Obama's past and present associations...

- Bill Ayers: Obama claims to have known nothing about Ayers's ideology, and attempts to put Ayers ideology as something of the past. However, Ayers still holds this ideology, as he has expressed in many interviews. Ayers claims to be a semi-Anarchist and a semi-Marxist. That would be fine, if it wasn't for the fact that Ayers found Obama to be such a fit candidate as to hold fundraisers for him and kick off his first political campaign from his own house. Why would Ayers do that if he didn't think Obama lined up with at least some of his core beliefs?

By the way...Bill Ayers was a community organizer, too.

- Tony Rezko: Not as big of an issue, but the guy is shady as hell, and we know he gave Obama a sweetheart land deal and donated to his campaign. Was Obama cashing in for favors done?

- Rev. Jeremiah Wright: Honestly, we are supposed to believe that a man that Obama claimed was his spiritual advisor, was his pastor for 20 years, and even served a role on Obama's campaign had anti-American views...and Obama never knew of them? C'mon, now...let's get serious. I would've bought the idea that Obama knew of the ideas, but did not subscribe to them...but to say he never heard Wright preach about them or even espouse them in private conversations? You're kidding me.

- Franklin Raines: Former CEO of Fannie Mae, top donor to Obama, and someone who has had Obama's ear when it comes to economic and housing matters. While there is no official connection, or anything deep, he has given Obama money and advice. This from a man who made a fortune as the head of Fannie Mae, and immediately resigned when Fannie Mae was being investigated for accounting irregularities.

- Jim Johnson: Another former CEO of Fannie Mae as well as Countrywide Financial who made millions on the backs of subprime mortgages, and bailed out of the business right before things went bad. This man, whose ethics are questionable for obvious reasons, was the one who was originally picked to lead the vetting process for Obama's VP pick (until the revelation that he received loans directly from his successor at Countrywide, Angelo Mozillo) and has been a top donor and fundraiser for Obama.

- ACORN: Obama says he never worked for ACORN...however, he's helped them shake down Citigroup in court as a lawyer for them. He claimed never to train any of their classes, but people within ACORN proudly admit that he did, until he told them to basically shut up. They've endorsed the man as a candidate. Their workers have committed verifiable voter fraud that competely favors the Democrats in this election (and gee, which party is Obama a member of?).

- The New Party: A group that attempted to practice electoral fusion and endorse socialist-type liberals for public office, and had a basic ideology that rivaled the Green Party in terms of very leftist economic and social theory. Heavily backed by ACORN, and information is now coming out that Obama was not just a candidate endorsed by The New Party, but that he was actively a member...courting voters to go for far-left and socialist candidates.

Now, I could go with one or two points as chinks in the armor...but after a while, the bones of these skeltons begin to pile up heavily. Throw in the fact that Obama, his campaign, nor the state of Hawaii cannot produce an original birth certificate, and other issues...and it begins to add up that this is a man who I cannot trust in the White House, let alone disagree with.

Meet The 6th Congressional District Candidates

Podium Headquarters is located in the 6th Congressional District, where (for the first time since 1998), Incumbent Bob Goodlatte faces a major party challenge in Democratic candidate Sam Rasoul, a self-proclaimed "Blue Dog" and small-business owner. Also running a fairly visible campaign is independent Janice Lee Allen. Without further ado, let's get to the candidates...

Bob Goodlatte
Goodlatte has never received less than 60% of the vote in any election since he won this seat back in 1992, and has only been faced with a serious campaign challenge 3 times during his 8 previous elections...each time, he received 60%, 67%, and 67%. However, he is also faced with the fact that the 6th Congressional District has received a small increase of Democratic voters in the Roanoke and Harrisonburg areas. Goodlatte's campaign has been free of negativity and has focused on a positive approach.

Goodlatte is generally a fiscal conservative who supports tax cuts for all income brackets. He also believes in a simplified tax code that would eventually eliminate income tax and most of the IRS and has encouraged debate on alternative tax programs, such as the FairTax or a flat tax. He is pro-business, with an emphasis on small businesses, and is pro-agricultural growth as well. Goodlatte also supports the War on Terror, and does not believe in a set timetable for withdrawing the troops in Iraq. He did not support the federal bailout bill.

He is a strong social conservative, with solidly anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage stances. He supports offshore and ANWR oil drilling, and supports a goal of 25% renewable energy by the year 2025 as part of the initiative to end American dependence on foreign oil. Goodlatte supports strong border enforcement to stem the flow of illegal immigration and the drug trade across the Mexican/American border, and also supports more efficient port security as well.

Sam Rasoul
Rasoul is a small business owner from Roanoke. He has run an energetic campaign in a district that is heavily Republican overall. He should get a bigger base of support than previous candidates from the increased number of Democrats and liberal-leaning independents in the area, as well as the coattails of Mark Warner, whom Rasoul has made every attempt to connect himself with. Rasoul has also managed to run a fairly positive campaign, much like his Republican counterpart.

Rasoul does fashion himself as a "blue dog", promoting fiscal responsibility. He believes in a flattened tax system that places no tax burden on individuals making less than $50,000 a year, and any individual making over $150,000 pays no more than 35%. Rasoul also has a pro-business stance, being a businessman himself, and supports earmark reform and eliminating pork-barrel spending. He also supports a phased withdrawal of Iraq beginning immediately, with a timetable for final withdrawal.

He supports alternative energy sources, but does not approve of any new exploration or drilling outside of the current federally-leased lands to oil and gas companies. Rasoul supports nationalized healthcare. Rasoul supports universal pre-K, but also believes in increased vocational training to provide alternatives to those who are not necessarily college material.

Janice Lee Allen
Allen is a conservative independent who has the distinction of being the only candidate who was born and raised completely within this district, as she is a native of Harrisonburg. Allen is a well-educated person who holds 4 Masters Degrees and a PhD. A former Urban Planner for Fairfax City, Fairfax County, and Rockingham County, Allen is running on a conservative pacifist/reformer platform with a populist bent to it.

She is against the Iraq War and supports a phased withdrawal of our troops on a specific timetable. She is a staunch advocate against No Child Left Behind, and believes in a revamping of public schools. Allen supports nationalized health care. She also supports a simplification of the tax code to allow possibilities such as the FairTax to eventually become the national tax system.

Allen believes in increased federal investment into medical research and infrastructure improvement. She believes in increased anti-Global Warming investments and environmental protectionism. Allen also holds to the belief that America should remain a pacifist nation, and never consider war as an option to resolve foreign conflicts. She believes that reduced federal spending on the military will provide a smaller federal budget to go along with increased job and business growth spurred by tax cuts, which she believes will create economic growth.

Synopsis and Podium Opinion
First, I'm not much of a fan of Allen, to be honest. While she wants to cut the budget, I think she's cutting too much in one place to spend it somewhere else. This limits the effectiveness of her ability to reign in spending, as medical and scientific research are areas where pork can be stuffed left and right. Also, I'm not a big fan of war, but I think she takes too much of a pacifist approach, but that is my opinion.

I actually like Rasoul's tax plan, although the fact that everyone must file individually no matter their marital status does eliminate many tax breaks for everyone. Sam has some good policy initiatives, such as the increased vocational training for non-college bound students, but any enthusiasm I have for him is dampened heavily by his support for nationalized health care and narrow focus on how to achieve American energy independence.

I also differ with Congressman Goodlatte on some issues, mainly ones of a social nature, as I believe that abortion is solely a states rights issue, and there should NOT be a constitutional amendment defining marriage.

However, I am a man of pragmatic prioritizing, and Goodlatte's support for both increased drilling AND a goal for increased renewable energy, combined with his support for finishing the Iraq War with a victory (which we should achieve in the same amount of time as a timetable withdrawal at the current rate), this is why the Podium endorses Rep. Bob Goodlatte for Congress.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Democrat Rips Media, Dems for Blaming GOP for Housing Crisis

Orson Scott Card lays the truth out there about how the Democrats should be receiving the lion's share of the blame for the current economic crisis, and how the media is pretty much ignoring that fact.

Mind you, Orson Scott Card is a Democrat.

San Francisco Consideres Prostitution Legalization

Article at Breitbart.tv.

I've actually believed that prostitution should be legalized in the Rhode Island sense (legal behind closed doors, still bars "street walking"). The idea does appeal to my libertarian sensibilities on social issues, and if a woman feels it prudent to sell her body for sex, so be it.

I'm sure many social conservatives and proponents of the moral majority will attack this as part of the decline of Western Civilization...but then again, prostitution came long before Jesus, and it didn't cause the decline of Middle Eastern Civilization, did it?

However, I do not believe that this means the Government should provide special health benefits to these workers, either...of course, that's because I don't believe in Government-provided health care.

Virginia Virtucon: Obama's Internal Pennsylvania Polling Numbers Scare Libs

Virginia Virtucon has this info up that shows Obama's internal polling has him up only 2% in Pennsylvania. DailyKos is raving mad, with the person posting this saying that they need to "crush their spirits" (referring to Republicans).

Allow me to state that as someone who opposes most of what the Kos crowd stands for...I will never let them crush my spirits. They will only succeed in pissing me off, which only motivates me more to push for what I believe in.

As for the internal polling by Obama only putting him up 2%? It makes sense. See, having once lived in Pennsylvania (and it being one of my "homes away from home"), I know a little bit about the Pennsylvania political mentality. What many people don't realize is that this is a state that generally elects conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans...they pretty much buck the trends. Mark Warner would be insanely popular up there...Dennis Kucinich would not. Occasionally you get someone who doesn't fit the mold, but generally speaking, you don't get extremes on either side.

Not to mention, Obama, Biden, and other Democrats have pretty much done everything possible to alienate a very large swath of Keystone State voters...

- Obama's "bitter people who cling to guns and Bibles" statement was referring to PA voters.
- Joe Biden's "there will be no coal plants in Pennsylvania" statement...when Pennsylvania has a large coal mining population that belong to unions (who may sit this out, just like the West Virginia mining unions have pretty much sat out elections since 2000, when Gore alienated them).
- Rep. Murtha's statements about Western PA being "racist"...then saying they're not racist, just "rednecks".
- "Spread the wealth around" is not a phrase that resonates well with PA citizens as a whole, unless they're in Philadelphia.

Honestly, I'm surprised that so many people are surprised that Pennsylvania is this close, now that I think about it.

Pot, Meet Kettle

John Kerry, who is 64 years old, made a crack about how John McCain would answer the infamous "boxers or briefs" question.

"Then they asked McCain and McCain said, ‘Depends,'" Kerry said to lots of laughter from the crowd.

Rumors that the "crowd" was actually the crew from Cobalt6 have not been confirmed.

May I suggest, Senator Kerry, that you stick to your daily Frankenstein impression if you want to be funny. Or maybe, you should spend some time thanking your good fortune that the only reason you're in office is because Paul Tsongas, a man of great respect and dignity, was stricken with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which allowed you to run for your current Senate seat.

Wealth Redistribution: Proof Americans Don't Want It

From a Gallup Poll in June...

When given a choice about how government should address the numerous
economic difficulties facing today's consumer, Americans overwhelmingly — by 84%
to 13% — prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic
conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking
steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans.

Americans' lack of support for redistributing wealth to fix the economy
spans political parties: Republicans (by 90% to 9%) prefer that the government
focus on improving the economy, as do independents (by 85% to 13%) and Democrats (by 77% to 19%).

That's a truly non-partisan agreement, in my opinion. That's why WHAT Obama said to Joe the Plumber is much more important than WHO Joe the Plumber is.

(h/t The Campaign Spot)

Dems Losing Favor With "Hannah Montana" Demographic?

In Nickelodeon's "Kid's Pick The President" poll, Obama edges out McCain 51%-49%. Over 2.2 million votes were cast. Not a bad showing considering the fact that you'd think Obama would pull very heavily from the youth, given that he IS the much younger candidate.

While some (*ahem* every liberal blog in the world) would trumpet this as a sign of a youth movement towards Democrats, it's not...in 2004, John Kerry was picked by kids over George W. Bush by a margin of 57%-43%. We all know how THAT turned out. ;)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

And for McCain's Potential Cabinet...

While McCain will also rely on a number of well-established figures...he hasn't run on a campaign of youth and a "new guard" like Obama has. However, there aren't many definite names out there right now. But, here's some of the rumored names...

- Secretary of State: Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut or Fmr. Dep Sec. of State and World Bank President Robert Zoellick,
- Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates (current Secretary of Defense), Fmr. Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman, or possibly former Dep. Secretary of Defense Richard Armitage (God, I hope not)
- Secretary of the Treasury: Robert Zoellick, Current Mayor Of New York City Michael Bloomberg, Fmr. Gov. of Massachussetts Mitt Romney, or CEO's John T. Chambers (Cisco Systems), Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), or Meg Whitman (eBay)

Just thought I'd throw that out there, for comparisons sake.

But it does seem that McCain is looking to mix stalwart politicians with some out-of-the-box cabinet candidates.

Obama's Rumored Cabinet..."Change" My @$$

Let's look at some of the rumored front-runners for Obama's cabinet, and see how much "change" will be coming to Washington D.C. with him if he wins...

- Vice-President: Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware (First elected to Congress in 1972)
- Secretary of State: Sen. John Kerry of Massachussetts (First elected to Congress in 1984)
- White House Chief of Staff: Fmr. Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota (First elected to Congress in 1978)
- Secretary of Defense: Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island (First elected to Congress in 1990)
- Attorney General: Fmr. Deputy A.G. Eric Holder (First employed by Justice Dept. in 1976)

Wow, now that's "change".

(h/t The Campaign Spot)

Serious Trouble Brewing for Obama's Presidential Hopes? UPDATED

The African Press International (yes, you've read that right) has some taped phone conversations between themselves and Michelle Obama. They have finally cleared the legal hurdles to release these tapes(knowing full well the Obama camp will take it this to court), and it will apparently be released soon.

What's on this tape? The inclination from API is some kind of admission that Obama might not be a natural-born citizen of the United States, making him ineligible to run for President. However, because the tape has not been released, and there is a lot of back and forth on the site, I'm not 100% sure.

Now, as much as people may cry "racism" at this kind of possible information, let's remember two things...

1) This is being released by African Press International, not National Review or Red State. There's no "vast right-wing conspiracy" here.

2) According to Article Two, Section One, Clause Five of the Constitution of the United States, the President of the United States MUST be a natural-born citizen.

Then again, it could all be much ado about nothing, we'll find out soon enough...

UPDATE

More info about this to be released at 4 pm Norwegian time...you do the math.

Dems Overplaying the Colin Powell Endorsement...

A lot of Democrats are trumpeting Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, signaling the defection of someone who was once favored highly by the GOP.

However, one thing we forget, the GOP fell out of love with Colin Powell when it was discovered that his political beliefs, outside of national defense, really lines up with the Democratic Party platform much more than the Republican platform, anyway. That is the biggest reason why support for him as a Presidential candidate waned very quickly each time he has been mentioned as a potential candidate...Republicans don't like his policies on most issues that don't deal with the military and and national defense.

This will not really attract any GOP voters or conservative independents to Obama, as Powell's scope of influence has shank considerably, especially with Republicans. Most of us already knew that Powell was more of a Democrat anyway, so what's the big deal?