So "Kos" and Harold Ford, Jr. are going on Meet The Press to debate the future of the Democratic Party. I'm just wondering how much of this is going to involve attracting voters for positive causes, i.e. courting moderates and conservatives...as opposed to simply defeating and degrading those dastardly Republicans by talking about how evil they are.
Seriously, I want know how they plan to court the swing vote (and maybe even some conservatives) in 2008? I mean, is it going to be a continuation of the "Republicans are corrupt, warmongering, hatemongering, evil evil evil!" banter that we hear from the liberal blogs? Or, are we going to hear a positive, dare I say enticing, agenda for the future? For the past several years, all I've seen is the former, and very little of the latter...which has been like gasoline on the fire of divisive politics. If the Democrats want to become this "big tent" party, as they have claimed to be...they need to turn their political tact in the opposite direction.
Then again, given their track records, I'm not sure that either of these men would be the ones to do it.
(h/t Blue NoVa)
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
FDT to Announce on Sept. 5th?
(h/t Virginia Virtucon)
That's what Tim Russert is saying. I don't know what his sources are, but that's encouraging news.
Makes sense...the "school day" schedule will be back in full swing, more people will be sitting down to watch the evening news after dinner, and just at the beginning of pre-primary season...Fred Thompson's name, face, and voice will be all over the evening news and on the cable news networks, as well.
I don't know if this is the logic behind such a date, but it makes sense to me.
That's what Tim Russert is saying. I don't know what his sources are, but that's encouraging news.
Makes sense...the "school day" schedule will be back in full swing, more people will be sitting down to watch the evening news after dinner, and just at the beginning of pre-primary season...Fred Thompson's name, face, and voice will be all over the evening news and on the cable news networks, as well.
I don't know if this is the logic behind such a date, but it makes sense to me.
Here's an Interesting Step Against Illegal Immigration
Culpeper County has made English the county's official language. They also passed a resolution to join other counties in assisting the General Assembly in combating the illegal immigration problem.
In fact, in yesterday's Board of Supervisor's meeting, both measures passed with a unanimous vote, and there was no dissent from any board member.
The reason why the county passed such a resolution is because they believe that it is not the county's duty to provide translations for people...which is true. English is the language of this nation. We should provide ample opportunity to teach legal immigrants the language, but to spend that kind of money on paying translators and creating duplicate documents for each language is a bit wasteful, when it could go towards expanding programs to teach immigrants to speak the language of the land.
In fact, in yesterday's Board of Supervisor's meeting, both measures passed with a unanimous vote, and there was no dissent from any board member.
The reason why the county passed such a resolution is because they believe that it is not the county's duty to provide translations for people...which is true. English is the language of this nation. We should provide ample opportunity to teach legal immigrants the language, but to spend that kind of money on paying translators and creating duplicate documents for each language is a bit wasteful, when it could go towards expanding programs to teach immigrants to speak the language of the land.
Here's a Question For You...
cvillelaw at Democratic Central reminds us that, on this day in 1990, Iraq announced it's intentions to annex Kuwait...which led to the Gulf War. Later in his post, cvillelaw gives a brief synopsis of the war (which we all know how it went), but he states that by the time we decided to go to war, we had a troop buildup of over 500,000 ready to go.
My question is this...since we disposed of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, have we ever had 500,000+ troops fighting in Iraq?
As far as I've seen, it seems we've kept that number under 200,000. Now, I'm not making calls to escalate the troop number, but why did we use 500,000 troops stop an invasion...and only 200,000 or less to start one? I know we had troops on the ground in Afghanistan at the time the Iraq War started, but since the Iraq War itself ended (and this turned into an occupation), why have we been over there with such a smaller force if there is so much ground that needs to be covered to stop the insurgents?
Of course, my numbers could be wrong, so if they are I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction over this.
My question is this...since we disposed of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, have we ever had 500,000+ troops fighting in Iraq?
As far as I've seen, it seems we've kept that number under 200,000. Now, I'm not making calls to escalate the troop number, but why did we use 500,000 troops stop an invasion...and only 200,000 or less to start one? I know we had troops on the ground in Afghanistan at the time the Iraq War started, but since the Iraq War itself ended (and this turned into an occupation), why have we been over there with such a smaller force if there is so much ground that needs to be covered to stop the insurgents?
Of course, my numbers could be wrong, so if they are I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction over this.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Krehbiel Hits It On The Head
A recent post at Krehbiel's Commentary caught my eye...
"Regarding the recent surge in good news about the surge that I keep hearing about, how will we know it was the surge that worked and not simply the passage of time? The answer, I suspect, is that politicians and pundits will tell us so, which is not much of an answer. But if that will allow us to finally declare victory in the "war" that we decisively won over four years ago, I'm all for it. Except then we'll have to start the reconstruction phase all over again -- maybe this time we'll actually get to call it a reconstruction and things will go better."
I do agree, we won this war decisively long ago...it's been an occupation ever since. The problem is, the Iraqi government needs to step up to finish this reconstruction. That's the key aspect that needs a lot of focus if we're going to end this thing right.
"Regarding the recent surge in good news about the surge that I keep hearing about, how will we know it was the surge that worked and not simply the passage of time? The answer, I suspect, is that politicians and pundits will tell us so, which is not much of an answer. But if that will allow us to finally declare victory in the "war" that we decisively won over four years ago, I'm all for it. Except then we'll have to start the reconstruction phase all over again -- maybe this time we'll actually get to call it a reconstruction and things will go better."
I do agree, we won this war decisively long ago...it's been an occupation ever since. The problem is, the Iraqi government needs to step up to finish this reconstruction. That's the key aspect that needs a lot of focus if we're going to end this thing right.
The People's Champ?
According to an article in The Hill (courtesy of imwithfred.com), Fred Thompson may very well be that.
They delved into Fred Thompson's June fundraising numbers of $3.4 million from over 9,000 donors. Many saw this as a sign of a struggling campaign, but let's see where those funds came from.
- Over 7,500 donors made their contributions online
- 6,888 made donations of less than $200.00
This is an indication that the actual electorate, and not just big-money/special-interest donors, that are contributing to Thompson's campaign. Now, if you look further...
- No telephone support
- No direct mail
- Only 2 fundraising events during the whole month
- Only 18% of the fundraising money was actually spent in June
So really, it's been the internet and word-of-mouth (which is controlled more by the electorate than anything else) that has been driving the Thompson campaign. From what I understand, this money will be used as we ramp up into pre-primary season, which would give Thompson an edge when it comes to "cash-on-hand" if he continues to be wise with these campaign dollars he's receiving now.
Now, many more fundraising events were held during the month of July, so it will be interesting to see what kind of a difference those events will have on the fundraising numbers. However, I truly believe that this is one campaign that the people, above anything else, have been driving and will continue to drive as we plow our way through these slow, sweaty summer months and into the pre-primary season.
They delved into Fred Thompson's June fundraising numbers of $3.4 million from over 9,000 donors. Many saw this as a sign of a struggling campaign, but let's see where those funds came from.
- Over 7,500 donors made their contributions online
- 6,888 made donations of less than $200.00
This is an indication that the actual electorate, and not just big-money/special-interest donors, that are contributing to Thompson's campaign. Now, if you look further...
- No telephone support
- No direct mail
- Only 2 fundraising events during the whole month
- Only 18% of the fundraising money was actually spent in June
So really, it's been the internet and word-of-mouth (which is controlled more by the electorate than anything else) that has been driving the Thompson campaign. From what I understand, this money will be used as we ramp up into pre-primary season, which would give Thompson an edge when it comes to "cash-on-hand" if he continues to be wise with these campaign dollars he's receiving now.
Now, many more fundraising events were held during the month of July, so it will be interesting to see what kind of a difference those events will have on the fundraising numbers. However, I truly believe that this is one campaign that the people, above anything else, have been driving and will continue to drive as we plow our way through these slow, sweaty summer months and into the pre-primary season.
Beauchamp Recants
Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp has come under a lot of criticism for an article he wrote for The New Republic.
From the Weekly Standard blog...(h/t Michelle Malkin for the link)
"THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned from a military source close to the investigation that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp--author of the much-disputed 'Shock Troops' article in the New Republic's July 23 issue as well as two previous "Baghdad Diarist" columns--signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods--fabrications containing only 'a smidgen of truth,' in the words of our source.
Separately, we received this statement from Major Steven F. Lamb, the deputy Public Affairs Officer for Multi National Division-Baghdad:
According to the military source, Beauchamp's recantation was volunteered on the first day of the military's investigation. So as Beauchamp was in Iraq signing an affidavit denying the truth of his stories, the New Republic was publishing a statement from him on its website on July 26, in which Beauchamp said, 'I'm willing to stand by the entirety of my articles for the New Republic using my real name.'"
What a hypocrite, and a traitor to his own country. He recants these serious allegations after once standing proud behind his words that have been used as proof of how evil our military is. To all of the liberals that used this man's false words as a pedestal to stand upon and denounce our military, stand up and say "hey, this guy was wrong and he lied" as well.
If you didn't know, Beauchamp was the "Baghdad Diarist" who wrote under the pen name "Scott Thomas", and wrote several anti-war, anti-military, and anti-conservative blogs stating "facts" that have now turned out to be blatantly false. Of course, part of the reason why he was hired was because he was married to a staffer at The New Republic.
Some of the "facts" Beauchamp stated were that soldiers mocked disfigured women, ran over dogs with military vehicles for fun, and played with the skulls of dead Iraqi children...among others.
Now, I wonder how many other of these "writers" that have said such things will turn out to be liars, as well?
From the Weekly Standard blog...(h/t Michelle Malkin for the link)
"THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned from a military source close to the investigation that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp--author of the much-disputed 'Shock Troops' article in the New Republic's July 23 issue as well as two previous "Baghdad Diarist" columns--signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods--fabrications containing only 'a smidgen of truth,' in the words of our source.
Separately, we received this statement from Major Steven F. Lamb, the deputy Public Affairs Officer for Multi National Division-Baghdad:
An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by PVT
Beauchamp were found to be false. His platoon and company were interviewed and
no one could substantiate the claims.
According to the military source, Beauchamp's recantation was volunteered on the first day of the military's investigation. So as Beauchamp was in Iraq signing an affidavit denying the truth of his stories, the New Republic was publishing a statement from him on its website on July 26, in which Beauchamp said, 'I'm willing to stand by the entirety of my articles for the New Republic using my real name.'"
What a hypocrite, and a traitor to his own country. He recants these serious allegations after once standing proud behind his words that have been used as proof of how evil our military is. To all of the liberals that used this man's false words as a pedestal to stand upon and denounce our military, stand up and say "hey, this guy was wrong and he lied" as well.
If you didn't know, Beauchamp was the "Baghdad Diarist" who wrote under the pen name "Scott Thomas", and wrote several anti-war, anti-military, and anti-conservative blogs stating "facts" that have now turned out to be blatantly false. Of course, part of the reason why he was hired was because he was married to a staffer at The New Republic.
Some of the "facts" Beauchamp stated were that soldiers mocked disfigured women, ran over dogs with military vehicles for fun, and played with the skulls of dead Iraqi children...among others.
Now, I wonder how many other of these "writers" that have said such things will turn out to be liars, as well?
Falling Into Place
I must say, the new version of Fred Thompson's campaign site is mahhh-velous, and much more interactive and colorful. If you want to hear the man speak about his viewpoints, you can do so through this website...both in text and via streaming video.
All the pieces are falling into place (finally!), but this campaign really needs to be made official - pronto. To create that second wave of support, Fred needs to win over the undecideds by announcing his official candidacy.
It seems the excitement is picking up again amongst Fred Thompson supporters, which is an encouraging sign.
All the pieces are falling into place (finally!), but this campaign really needs to be made official - pronto. To create that second wave of support, Fred needs to win over the undecideds by announcing his official candidacy.
It seems the excitement is picking up again amongst Fred Thompson supporters, which is an encouraging sign.
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