Friday, November 13, 2009
Q: How Do you Ask for a Terrorist Attack?
A: Try 9-11 terrorists in a criminal court in New York City.
This is an inexcusably irresponsible move from the Obama Administration.
This is an inexcusably irresponsible move from the Obama Administration.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Owens Seated Before the Votes Are All In
Interesting story here. It turns out that the vote count in the NY-23 Special Election (the one that featured Democrat Owens, Conservative Hoffman, and a certain RINO) is much closer than thought on election night. There were some input errors that night that did not count Hoffman votes.
No, I am not going to rant about vote fraud, because I don’t think there is any here. This looks like simple human and/or technology error to me. However, I find it outrageous that Owens was seated as a member of the House before the votes were all in, counted, and canvassed.
Why the rush anyway? So he could vote to nationalize health care? Hmmmm?
It seems unlikely that a full counting of the ballots will change the NY-23 result. (But I would LOVE it if it did. Imagine the embarrassment of unseating Owens after he voted for Obamacare in a close vote. Wow.) Still, Owens should NOT have been seated until all the votes were counted and canvassed. The rush to seat him beforehand is beyond scandalous.
No, I am not going to rant about vote fraud, because I don’t think there is any here. This looks like simple human and/or technology error to me. However, I find it outrageous that Owens was seated as a member of the House before the votes were all in, counted, and canvassed.
Why the rush anyway? So he could vote to nationalize health care? Hmmmm?
It seems unlikely that a full counting of the ballots will change the NY-23 result. (But I would LOVE it if it did. Imagine the embarrassment of unseating Owens after he voted for Obamacare in a close vote. Wow.) Still, Owens should NOT have been seated until all the votes were counted and canvassed. The rush to seat him beforehand is beyond scandalous.
Labels: Doug Hoffman, politics, vote fraud
About Voter Enthusiasm/Anger
Amongst all the poll numbers thrown about, something you do not hear much about is the enthusiasm and/or anger potential voters have about their positions. This enthusiasm/anger is important because it affects the likelihood of them actually going out and voting their positions instead of just yakking. And, as any politico will tell you, voter turnout is always key, especially in off-year elections.
I have suspected that this enthusiasm/anger factor favors the Republicans for off-year 2010 congressional elections. For one thing, the tea party movement would not have the success it has had without a great undercurrent of both anger and enthusiasm out there. And I think the 2009 Virginia and New Jersey elections were affected by that anger/enthusiasm.
Now some other numbers are confirming my suspicions. From a Pew poll:
[V]oters who plan to support Republicans next year are more enthusiastic than those who plan to vote for a Democrat. Fully 58% of those who plan to vote for a Republican next year say they are very enthusiastic about voting, compared with 42% of those who plan to vote for a Democrat. More than half (56%) of independent voters who support a Republican in their district are very enthusiastic about voting; by contrast, just 32% of independents who plan to vote for a Democrat express high levels of enthusiasm.
Those numbers are *interesting* and do not look good for Democrats. However, Obama and friends are pushing the most offensive aspects of their Socialist agenda now and will surely soft pedal that by late summer as the election nears. (Won’t they?) So anger may wane some. And no one really knows what the economy will be like. That, as always, is a huge factor that will influence voter attitudes.
Nevertheless, the enthusiasm/anger factor, which is now favoring conservatives, is one to watch.
I have suspected that this enthusiasm/anger factor favors the Republicans for off-year 2010 congressional elections. For one thing, the tea party movement would not have the success it has had without a great undercurrent of both anger and enthusiasm out there. And I think the 2009 Virginia and New Jersey elections were affected by that anger/enthusiasm.
Now some other numbers are confirming my suspicions. From a Pew poll:
[V]oters who plan to support Republicans next year are more enthusiastic than those who plan to vote for a Democrat. Fully 58% of those who plan to vote for a Republican next year say they are very enthusiastic about voting, compared with 42% of those who plan to vote for a Democrat. More than half (56%) of independent voters who support a Republican in their district are very enthusiastic about voting; by contrast, just 32% of independents who plan to vote for a Democrat express high levels of enthusiasm.
Those numbers are *interesting* and do not look good for Democrats. However, Obama and friends are pushing the most offensive aspects of their Socialist agenda now and will surely soft pedal that by late summer as the election nears. (Won’t they?) So anger may wane some. And no one really knows what the economy will be like. That, as always, is a huge factor that will influence voter attitudes.
Nevertheless, the enthusiasm/anger factor, which is now favoring conservatives, is one to watch.
Labels: politics
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Perfect Man for the Job!
The word is that retired Bishop Wallis Ohl is in line to become the bishop of the faux Diocese of Ft. Worth in The Episcopal Church (opposed, of course, to the real diocese in the Anglican Church in North America).
Yes, that is the same Bishop Ohl who, as Bishop of Northwest Texas in 2005, drove the orthodox congregation of St. Nicholas’ Episcopal Midland out of their building they built and bought just four years earlier. . . .
. . . Which means he is the perfect man to be a bishop in Katharine Schori’s Episcopal Church!
Yes, that is the same Bishop Ohl who, as Bishop of Northwest Texas in 2005, drove the orthodox congregation of St. Nicholas’ Episcopal Midland out of their building they built and bought just four years earlier. . . .
. . . Which means he is the perfect man to be a bishop in Katharine Schori’s Episcopal Church!
Labels: Ft. Worth, Ohl, The Episcopal Church
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Gulag Obama: Prison for Obamacare Dissidents
Many of you are already aware of this, but I have not yet mentioned it here. And it should not only be mentioned but opposed with all the strength we can muster. The House Obamacare bill passed Saturday night, with the approval of my congressman Solobama Ortiz, has prison for those who refuse to submit.
Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
To their credit, even some Lefties are appalled at this provision.
Democrats, your jackboots are showing.
Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
To their credit, even some Lefties are appalled at this provision.
Democrats, your jackboots are showing.
Labels: Democrats, freedom, Obama, Obamacare
Monday, November 09, 2009
God and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Today, Germany and the World (except for Obama and some other Leftists) celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
The anniversary connects with me because it reminds me of a way God very personally demonstrated his sovereignty.
Just over 20 years ago, a news story about East Germany (I don’t remember the details.) so provoked me that in anger, I prayed that God would remove “that Communist fossil” East German leader Erich Honecker from power.
Only a few months later, not only was he removed from power, but the Berlin Wall fell.
Now, of course, God did not say, “Oh my, Mark has prayed. I must do his bidding.” Just the opposite. God showed the arm of His sovereignty and answered the prayers and yearnings of millions beyond what they hoped or imagined, certainly far beyond what I hoped or imagined. The Iron Curtain fell, and that peaceably for the most part. Not longer afterward, the Cold War ended with the Fall of the Soviet Union, again with hardly a shot fired.
Younger readers may not understand how remarkable that was. So a little perspective. In the late 80’s, I was already well past 25, and the Cold War and the Iron Curtain was all I knew. These evils preceded me and I expected they would continue my whole live and beyond. And if I did see them end, it would surely be with violence. Communists did not care what “the people” really thought. They would hold on to power until it was ripped out of their cold dead hands by either internal revolution or by war, or so I thought. Nuclear war was still far more thinkable than the peaceful fall of Communism in Europe. In fact, the 80’s saw not a little Nuclear War scare. See the movie The Day After for one symptom (and cause) of that. I, myself, gave a lot of thought to what I would do if a nuclear strike seemed likely. On the other hand, it did not even occur to me that the people behind the Iron Curtain would see freedom and that peaceably.
So I practically had to pinch myself when the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the other events of 1989 occurred. I still consider these a wonderful act of God. And I still get a bit emotional thinking back on it.
The Lord is indeed Lord. He is sovereign. Thanks be to God!
The anniversary connects with me because it reminds me of a way God very personally demonstrated his sovereignty.
Just over 20 years ago, a news story about East Germany (I don’t remember the details.) so provoked me that in anger, I prayed that God would remove “that Communist fossil” East German leader Erich Honecker from power.
Only a few months later, not only was he removed from power, but the Berlin Wall fell.
Now, of course, God did not say, “Oh my, Mark has prayed. I must do his bidding.” Just the opposite. God showed the arm of His sovereignty and answered the prayers and yearnings of millions beyond what they hoped or imagined, certainly far beyond what I hoped or imagined. The Iron Curtain fell, and that peaceably for the most part. Not longer afterward, the Cold War ended with the Fall of the Soviet Union, again with hardly a shot fired.
Younger readers may not understand how remarkable that was. So a little perspective. In the late 80’s, I was already well past 25, and the Cold War and the Iron Curtain was all I knew. These evils preceded me and I expected they would continue my whole live and beyond. And if I did see them end, it would surely be with violence. Communists did not care what “the people” really thought. They would hold on to power until it was ripped out of their cold dead hands by either internal revolution or by war, or so I thought. Nuclear war was still far more thinkable than the peaceful fall of Communism in Europe. In fact, the 80’s saw not a little Nuclear War scare. See the movie The Day After for one symptom (and cause) of that. I, myself, gave a lot of thought to what I would do if a nuclear strike seemed likely. On the other hand, it did not even occur to me that the people behind the Iron Curtain would see freedom and that peaceably.
So I practically had to pinch myself when the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the other events of 1989 occurred. I still consider these a wonderful act of God. And I still get a bit emotional thinking back on it.
The Lord is indeed Lord. He is sovereign. Thanks be to God!
Benny Hill Stamp Rejected by Royal Mail
It is with regret that I pass on the sad news that the Royal Mail has rejected a Benny Hill stamp.
Newly released minutes from a Royal Mail committee meeting show that political correctness won the day when it came to selecting images to represent ITV comedy. "Benny Hill has been included in previous presentations but concerns were raised by our public relations team as it was in direct opposition to company's policies on harassment in the workplace," the minutes stated.
Mark Steyn is also concerned:
Hmm. Hope this won't derail the USPS Clinton commemorative.
Newly released minutes from a Royal Mail committee meeting show that political correctness won the day when it came to selecting images to represent ITV comedy. "Benny Hill has been included in previous presentations but concerns were raised by our public relations team as it was in direct opposition to company's policies on harassment in the workplace," the minutes stated.
Mark Steyn is also concerned:
Hmm. Hope this won't derail the USPS Clinton commemorative.
