A Few Steps Closer...

I was reading a Washington Post article about how Fred Thompson would shake up the GOP nomination race (no, really???), and I believe it to be true. In fact, the crowd will thin out quickly behind him once he gets going. Gilmore, Tommy Thompson, Tancredo, Sam Brownback..these guys won't last too much longer, which will help narrow things down come the fall campaign season and the winter primaries.

Thompson has already told "Law and Order" producers that he will not return to the show this fall. Although he didn't give political reasons, I think it's pretty obvious why.

I also like what was said in a column posted today at The Conservative Voice by Robert D. Novak. Especially the quote below, which really sits true with many of my beliefs.

"...he deplores ethical abuses, profligate spending and incompetent management of the Iraq war. He becomes incandescent when considering abysmal CIA and Justice Department performance under the Bush administration."

As for the conservatives that question Thompson's support for McCain-Feingold...

"His one deviation from the conservative line has been support for the McCain-Feingold campaign reform, much of which he now considers overtaken by current fundraising practices and perhaps irrelevant."

I think that pretty much answers that. Otherwise, he's a populist-leaning moderate conservative, not too unlike myself.

Some people ask me "why Thompson, why are you so behind this guy". Simply put, between his political stances, the way he carries himself, and the way he communicates...it makes me believe in the man. I've supported many candidates, I've liked many candidates, but few politicians make me believe in them.

For a candidate to not only have strong position stances, but to make you truly believe that he is the right man for the job...that's a rare find.

A Potpourri of News and Notes...

---> Protests continue in Venezuela over Hugo Chavez's continued attempt to consolidate a socialist dictatorship in the country. It's good to see that it's the youth of the nation that are leading these protests against the government takeover, and that they embrace the values of freedom and democracy.

Just like the youth that supported Nicolas Sarkozy in France, people around the world are tired of the anti-Bush and anti-American sentiments of their leaders. Democrats be warned, the global tide is turning against what would be considered "favorable conditions" for you.

---> The American Al-Qaeda member indicted on charges of treason has issued a statement saying that Al-Qaeda will launch attacks worse than 9/11 and Virginia Tech. Of course, this guy is hiding out in Egypt saying this.

We've heard this song and dance before from Bin Laden himself. Needless to say, if Al-Qaeda wants to harm their cause permanently, attacking the U.S. would be the way to go. To resurrect the fervor and need for vengeance that we as a nation felt on 9/11 and the months that followed would be a BAD move for Al-Qaeda.

---> Nicolas Sarkozy wants to eliminate the 35-hour limit on the French work week, as unemployment is about 8 percent, and the economical growth rate is 2 percent. With the lengthened work week, Sarkozy also wants businesses and industries to start paying overtime to those who work it...something that does not happen in France. However, the longer lunch break, a long tradition in French society, is expected to remain untouched, along with a few other traditions of French society.

Good, I like this guy a lot. He wants to improve American-French relations, he wants French workers to be more productive, but still keep some of the social traditions of the nation. Kudos to him. His approval numbers are at 65%, the highest for any president at the beginning of their term in France. Here's some food for thought...not including national holidays and weekends, French workers get 48 days off per year. Many workers believe this does hinder productivity (you think?).

---> Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villagairosa officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for the 2008 presidential race. Villagairosa is a very powerful figure in California politics, and has the ear of millions of hispanic voters. This is a key endorsement for the Clinton campaign.

I really like Villagairosa as a role model for what hispanics (and other minorities) can do in this nation without having been fed a silver spoon, and he's been good for L.A.'s image. However, I just don't like the man's politics...this would be a reason why. At least he's not endorsing John Edwards (ugh)

---> Barack Obama outlined his healthcare plan for America yesterday. While he didn't go into details (not surprisingly), the plan is apparently not going to be a universal healthcare program, but it will expand the government's regulation of insurers, expand the number of people insured by private companies, and increase funds to assist with the payment of costly medical procedures.

Well, I can live with that much better than the Clinton and Edwards versions of "BlueCross BlueBureacracy", which is pretty much universal health care, bogged down even more by heavy government involvement. Either way, it's too much government...but at least Obama sounds somewhat sensible about his approach to this.

---> A man with a rare, potentially deadly strain of TB flew on two trans-Atlantic flights, and could have possibly exposed over 100 people to this. He is now quarantined at a hospital in Atlanta. Authorities in both the U.S. and foreign nations are now attempting to track down those who may have been potentially exposed.

This guy KNEW he was infected, and KNEW he could spread this disease. That's what blows my mind about this whole thing. Hopefully, this doesn't get too out-of-hand.

Ward Churchill, Your 15 Minutes Are Up

Ward Churchill, extreme leftist extraordinaire and professor at the University of Colorado is on the verge of being fired. Now, Churchill and his extremist apologists act like this is an attempt to abridge his free speech. Let's remember, Churchill is the person who called the victims of 9/11 "little Eichmanns".

However, the president of the university is requesting that the Board of Regents fire Churchill. His reasons are due to "serious research misconduct". In fact, Churchill has blatantly plagiarized the work of others, intentionally falsified research, and had ghost-written articles that he had used as supporting opinions of his viewpoints.

Thankfully, many on the web are noting the clear and present facts about Churchill's impending fate.

And Rightly So! puts it well, stating that this whole issue wasn't and isn't about free speech. It's about a really shoddy professor who couldn't find research to back up his extremist statements...so he made it up.

Mad Hatter at Daily Whackjob states an obvious, but probably overlooked, truth about Churchill's 1st Amendment rights..."The first amendment guarantees that the GOVERNMENT will not restrict your speech. You restrict your own speech when you are employed, putting yourself under the control of your employer."

Personally, I think it's time for the Fake Native American himself to bow out gracefully, and take his act to the hippie communes outside of Boulder.

Live Blog with Ham Sandwich!!!

If you haven't heard, there will be a live blog with Ham Sandwich at Daily Whackjob tomorrow, May 31st. Mr. Sandwich is the write-in candidate for the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's office against incumbent Paul Ebert.

Leave your questions for Ham Sandwich here.

24th Senate District Just Got More Interesting

So the 24th District Democrats had a mass meeting last night to decide who would they would nominate to run against Libertarian candidate Arin Sime and the winner of the Republican primary (Hanger vs. Sayre).

But wait, wasn't Will Hvorat the only contender for the Democratic nomination?

Well, he was...until yesterday morning, when David Cox threw his name into the hat. Even though he had only been running for less than 24 hours, Cox won 28 of the 37 votes cast.

Cox, as some may remember, ran against Del. Ben Cline in the 24th House District in 2005, where he was subsequently thumped by Cline, who won by over 4,700 votes and garnered 62.4% of the vote compared to Cox's 37.5%

Cox is apparently an excellent fundraiser, having out-raised Cline in significant fashion, despite losing convincingly on election day. The Democrats probably prefer Cox's name recognition and fundraising abilities to face either Sayre or Hanger.

Of course, Democrats believe they will win because they believe that the Hanger/Sayre primary has created a split in the party. Unfortunately, I would think that most of the Republican voters who turn out for the primary will back either Republican candidate come election day. In a GOP district, that is the probably the most important factor to remember.

Celebrate Your Independence With This!

According to The Politico, Fred Thompson will announce his candidacy over the July 4th holiday.
He will also be expected to reveal that he has already raised several million dollars in campaign funds. He is also expected to announce the fact that his campaign is backed by insiders from the previous 3 Republican administrations.

So basically, he's got millions of dollars to start with, and insiders from Ronald Reagan's administration, as well as both Bush administrations, are already on board. Say what you want about George W. Bush, but he always had very good people on his campaigns.

Staffers go on the payroll in early June, a "testing-the-waters" committee begins June 4th, and yes...expect to see the "Red Pickup Truck" in Iowa and New Hampshire pretty soon.

Thompson had a conference call with about 100 potential donors yesterday, all of whom were urged to raise $50,000 a piece. Should this happen, that's another $5 million

Not to mention there is still a reported $25-30 million that should have been donated from apparent "usual sources" by this point in the primary campaigns that hasn't...which is suspected to have been "withheld" for a candidate like Thompson.

Liberals don't want Thompson to run, as he poses a completely different kind of threat to the Democratic candidates. He communicates well, and provides a clear presence of strong authority (which is augmented by his acting experience). He also has a background of purusing justice, even if it means going after Republicans (see his work during Watergate).

Fireworks, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Parades, Patriotism, and Fred Thompson. Should be a good Independence Day.

UPDATE!

Raising Kaine proves that liberals have nothing but really weak ad hominem attacks and articles from non-reputable leftist rags like New York Magazine to combat Thompson.

All the more reason to believe Thompson can and will win...they're SCARED!

ANOTHER UPDATE!!

According to Ward below, Politico got it wrong. No July 4th announcement. Well, that dampens my day a bit...but not my enthusiasm for the next President of the United States.

Fred Thompson - "Plutonic Warming"

I'm going to quote this in it's entirety, courtesy of the National Review (audio can be found here)...

"Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto.

NASA says the Martian South Pole's ice cap has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth. If so, I guess Jupiter's caught the same cold, because it's warming up too, like Pluto.

This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non-signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle.

Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets and moons in our SOLAR system have in common. Hmmmm. SOLAR system. Hmmmm. Solar? I wonder. Nah, I guess we shouldn't even be talking about this. The science is absolutely decided. There's a consensus.

Ask Galileo."

Now, before people get in a big huff about this, Thompson's point is simple...there is a lot of evidence that global warming trends are taking place elsewhere in our solar system, but the Al Gores of the world will tell you that NOBODY believes in this science...even though it is fact that these warming trends on other planets is absolutely happening.

As I said before, we need to have a lot of discussion and comparison of data before we can say that "there is a consensus" that global warming on Earth is humanity's fault and we are solely to blame for it. Too many scientists are finding other reasons for global warming, and we shouldn't deny them just because we'd rather stick our heads in the sand.

More Hasselbeck/O'Donnell Bantering...

So Rosie O'Donnell doesn't think she'll ever speak to Elisabeth Hasselbeck again. I'm still waiting to find out how Rosie can act like a victim, when she was a perpetual aggressor on the show.

Hasselbeck was the lone conservative on the show...as Behar/O'Donnell represented a hard-left viewpoint, and Barbara Walters pretty much let those 2 run the show as she sits and simply brings up topics. However, Rosie got hers for once as Hasselbeck dished out some truth, and Rosie couldn't handle it.

At least Hasselbeck has tried to mend broken fences. I'd say she's done a good job of simply being the "bigger person", and not attempting to "pile on" the situation. Rosie has also stated that she "loves all 3 of the girls" on The View...but wait, she doesn't think she'll ever speak to Hasselbeck...doesn't that mean, err, I'm confused.

Then again, Rosie leaving The View and future VP of Venezuela Cindy Sheehan leaving her soapbox in the same week isn't necessarily a bad thing.