Under the Fedora: CPAC etc.

Well CPAC has come and gone but the GOP seems to have learned little.  Monday the talk is all re-branding and tweaking things to that suddenly the MSM will decide that the Republican Party is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Earth to GOP, your problem isn’t branding it’s principles.  Look at the last few weeks.

At CPAC there were 10,000+ conservative activists ready to fight, all they need is somebody willing to step up.

The poured in to hear Marco Rubio talk about the future and take the attacks of the left in stride, he turned the democrats watery attacks into a flood of fundraising dollars and a packed hall.

Rand Paul stood on principles, he bluntly (and concisely) pointed out the principles of limiting the power of government and defended the constitutional amendments from the 1^st the 2^nd the 4^th and the 10^th.

And Ted Cruz in a speech where he eschewed the Teleprompter walked before the podium and about the stage to tell a cheering audience when it came to drones. And the government asking:  Don’t you trust us?:

The answer is exactly that.  No we don’t trust you and we don’t trust the next guy or the next guy or the next guy whether he’s a democrat or a republican.”

Rand Paul stood up and fought, things happened.

Ted Cruz stood up and fought things happened.

Marco Rubio stood up and fought, things happened.

One you start leading, people will follow, the trick is to be willing to lead.

Speaking of leading ReincePriebus might be doing well on the fundraising side but his gigantic document on “rebranding” the GOP had a glaring omission:

For the RNC to produce a 100-page report and not have a single mention of the need to interact with and support the conservative blogosphere tells me that the RNC simply has rearranged the deck chairs on the HMS Consultant.

We may not be all that, but it’s clear that the RNC doesn’t want us to be any part of that.

Meanwhile look who showed up at Blogbash…

http://youtu.be/ZuPeSwodPM0

Perhaps that why Ted Cruz is winning and other aren’t

Note to the GOP listen to Ted Cruz and these people and you will win, fail to do so and you will not only lose, but you will DESERVE to lose

Speaking of CPAC there were a lot of interesting people there  Writers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ_5NEdKBnM&feature=share&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg

Bloggers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZa7dzkE6jA&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg&index=60

Advocates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1kLe5v8RKg&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg&index=64

Pols

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfD77l3pWP0&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg&index=69

And regular people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzPgMcnN9R8&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg&index=31

Not to mention folks with Cannoli recipes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgSqky9FjrY&list=UUUyJFF5-wFA6w5RMpVf6Bvg&index=33

All the video in the world won't change the fact that you can't understand CPAC without seeing it close up.

-----------------------

The WBC has also come and gone and the Dominican Team went a perfect 8-0 to win it all.  One can look at that killer roster but it was a pitching staff with an ERA of under 2 for the entire 8 games that really made the difference.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

I suspect the Red Sox will not have an 8 game winning streak in 2013, but you never know.

Two weeks away from the series 7 of Dr. Who. I really don’t like this short half season stuff nor do I think they should only have a single episode for the 50^th anniversary (monthly repeat specials not withstanding.  I think they should include as many past doctors as they can in the season and make that anniversary the entire theme.

But it’s easy for me to say,

Is it just me or does the Big Bang Theory get funnier every year?  The character growth has not retarded the show one bit in fact the interaction between Howard & his wife has really added a great dimension to the show.

I really hope they don’t play the “Make Raj gay card”.  Nothing says I’m not edgy more than giving into a social convention in that way.

Speaking of social conventions we have a new Pope and the left is trying to wrap their heads around Francis I, particularly after his initial mass

When he talks about Joseph “receptive to God’s plan and not his own” it is a direct challenge to those who worship the world. That the day after Hillery Clinton changes with the wind on “gay marriage” and Memeorandumtrumpets the latest support for it in the polls its chief opponent in the entire world takes the world stage talking about God’s plan which directly contradicts all the media loves.

On CNN the irony became more pronounced as Chris Cuomo brother of the Governor of NY who has been pushing Abortion even beyond the pale in the hopes of the nomination of the Democrat party in 2016 bluntly said there was nothing unorthodox in his message. CNN as soon as the Homily was done pivoted toward the Sex scandal but they couldn’t sustain the conversation in that direction as the Pope’s Homily pushed them in into a different direction.

This Pope’s humility and popularity is going to be a thorn in the media’s side and his weight with the common people will force the media to continue to highlight his every move.

Do not let this fool you.  The media will follow him, will report on him and quote him whenever it serves to advance their agenda while, as Judas did “look for an opportunity to hand him over“  Mark 14:11b

As I said the day he was elected the left will hate Francis the way Satan hats the church. 

Finally on  the subject of “immigration” Jeb Bush took a hit for suggesting that people who came illegally go back to the end of the line in terms of citizenship while being made legal to get on with their lives.

You would have thought he killed the Lindbergh baby he was roundly denounced for his words by the left but how could he NOT be.

For the left Amnesty is all about creating democrat voters, period.  To pretend otherwise is to fool yourself.

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Cool, Calm and Kibbe

While John Boehner was carrying water for POTUS on This Week, Fox News Sunday (3/17/13) was not to be outdone overseeing a grudge match between FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe and Steve LaTourette, a former congressman from Ohio who know heads up The Republican Mainstream Partnership. The latter would be more aptly name LaTourette Syndrome based on the constant twitch of his smarmy patronizing facial expressions and gesticulations as he disparaged Kibbe who maintained a Clint Eastwood level of cool throughout.

LaTourette Syndrome has permeated the crumbling GOP establishment leaving

conservatives cold and disinterested. I myself am having trouble not changing my party affiliation to independent just to make a point such was the bitter bite of LaTourette’s misogynist, racist message. This barnacle refers to Tea Party supported members of congress as “chuckleheads.

Literally pointing the finger, (not the same one I had up at that point) at a cool, calm and composed Kibbe, he curled his lip and said “They brought us Harry Reid as the majority leader,” citing media smeared conservatives such as Sharron Angle

Richard Mourdock as well as “I always forget her name, the witch in Delaware,” said Latourette, to which talking head turned chucklehead Chris Wallace giggled and chimed in; “Christine O’Donnell.

Grab a barf bag and watch the entire clip here:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2233321632001/republican-party-at-a-crossroad/?playlist_id=930909788001

Hey Charlie Christ, you forgot something on your way out the door, come pick up LaTourette and take Karl Rove with you. Both of  whom are ready to roll up the sleeves of their blue shirts and take their cues from the Democratic party and abandon principle for victory.

Prompted by Wallace, Rove tees off on Sarah on several points ostensibly to get back at her for a comment she made during her brilliant speech at CPAC. Trouble is, Palin never named Rove by name.

LaTourette syndrome continued to spread. “Everyone agrees legitimate rape was stupid, and if there is a child out of rape that is what G-d intended, “ said Wallace.  Gee Mr. “I’m not a journalist, I just play one on TV” Wallace, that might have been a good time to toss in some far more recent Democratic rape gaffs on the fair and balanced network.

Last point for Chris Wallace, if you are going to wag your finger in Mitt Romney’s face about his dogs’ accommodations where the dog didn’t die, don’t use phrases like “You’ve got a dog in this fight”, as you did when pivoting to Karl Rove on PACS and primaries. In the absence of the fair and balanced facts, feel free to rely on rhetoric but a “dog in the race” works equally well.

Your welcome. My bill is in the mail and I won’t hold my breath. For anything.

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Under the Fedora: Chavez

Hugo Chavez has died and some on the left are in mourning including some in congress like Jose Serrano

Hugo Chavez was a leader that understood the needs of the poor. He was committed to empowering the powerless. R.I.P. Mr. President.

People were expressing outrage, I don’t’ see why.  The left has supported totalitarians since Vietnam, they tried to hinder Reagan in central America and opposed his standing up to the soviets, they did all they could to protect Saddam, why should anyone be surprised that the Democrat left should support yet another dictator?

That doesn’t fly as well in an internet age and Think Progress is doing it’s best to protect the left from itself when it comes to Hugo

Chavez’ policies harmed Venezuela’s poorest in other ways: the value of the Venezuelan currency dropped while prices soared, making it harder for people to buy basic necessities, and crime skyrocketed…

…Chavez also attacked Venezuela’s democratic political system. Human Rights Watch reported in 2012 that “the accumulation of power in the executive and the erosion of human rights protections have allowed the Chávez government to intimidate, censor, and prosecute critics and perceived opponents in a wide range of cases involving the judiciary, the media, and civil society.” Contra Serrano, Venezuela’s elections were not certified as “free and fair” by international monitors of late: Chavez had not allowed international election monitors to observe Venezuelan elections since 2006.

Alas poor Think Progress they didn’t think of shutting off comments on their post.  They don’t seem to share that opinion.

While the Think Progress crew is seems to miss the dictator there are signs that some other groups are moving in the right direction.  As you might have heard an attempt was made on Lars Hedegaard’s life over his cartoons hitting Islam, what you might now have heard is how the Islamic society of Copenhagen reacted:

When the news broke on Feb. 5 that Mr. Hedegaard had narrowly escaped an attack on his life, recalled Imran Shah of Copenhagen’s Islamic Society, “we knew that this was something people would try to blame on us. We knew we had to be in the forefront and make clear that political and religious violence is totally unacceptable.”

I’ve never been shy about hitting Radical Islam, conversely when you see Muslims do the right thing that needs to be highlighted and encouraged.  If we don’t’ support people willing to object to this kind of thing in the Muslim community the hard liners will roll right over them.

Meanwhile in the US being willing to speak against Radical Islam or it’s enablers will get you banned from CPAC

This year, I applied to speak and was ignored. I tried to get a room for an AFDI event, "The War on Free Speech," and was ignored. So, for the first time in five years, I won't be at CPAC. Last year Suhail Khan bragged out loud that he (and his other operatives) had successfully kept Robert Spencer and me from being invited to speak. He went so far as to warn people not to attend our events or read our books.

In fact you might not even be allowed to accept awards that you win:

But as time went by and no announcement was made of this victory, and the voting continued despite my having been told that it officially ended last Friday night and that I had won, and the promised links and other placement promised to the winning blog didn't materialize, I started to wonder. So I contacted the organizer who had written me telling me I won and asked him what was going on.

He told me that there was a slight problem: the Tea Party group, which co-sponsored this People's Choice Blog Award, didn't want to allow me to receive it at CPAC next week unless I promised not to criticize Grover Norquist and Suhail Khan as I accepted the award.

I told the organizer that I couldn't agree to that. He asked me if I had planned to talk about Grover and Suhail. I said no, I hadn't, but I had to now.

So that's that. The People's Choice Blog Award is now the Grover's Choice Blog Award. I will not be going to CPAC and will not be receiving this award.

Hugo Chavez might be dead but apparently his spirit lives on, I just didn’t think it would live on at CPAC.

Meanwhile while some try to deny the dangers of Radical Islam others are counting on it.

Mind you the Kimberlin crowd is not doing this because they object to some Muslims being critiqued as murderous barbarian bastards who would kill or threaten a person who objects to Islamic threats. They are doing this specifically because they BELIEVE Muslims to be murderous barbarian bastards who will threaten or harm those who critique them, in fact they’re counting on it!

And these guys don’t have the excuse of trying to please God

Just picked up the in the 2^nd Season of the 4^th Doctor Adventures at Mike’s Comics/Anne’s Book Stop of Worcester The Sands of life.

It’s a simply delightful episode the first of two parts, the second being released next month.  While a great pleasure it makes one sad.  How many great Doctor Romana #1 stories could we have had if Tom Baker had jumped on Board with Big Finish in 1999 rather than in 2011.

Not to mention Sarah Jane Stores.

I don’t know if they will do any Lalla Ward stories, her being his ex wife it might be complicated.

BTW David Warner guests in The Sands of life, is there anything at ALL he isn’t good in?

I’ve been following the World Baseball Classic.  Three interesting stories thus far.

The Dutch Team.  Last time they shocked the world by eliminating the Dominican Republic this time they advanced at the expense of Korea.

Don’t’ think for one minute that performance last time didn’t help build up the team for this time around.

Brazil vs China:  Brazil blew two 8^th inning leads vs Japan and China but the Chinese game was incredible, in the 8^th inning Brazil walked five batters (three ties forcing in runs) hit one and give up the key bases loaded single that gave China a lead they would never surrender.

Did you know China has a General Secretary of Baseball.She stood behind the manager during the game.  She didn’t react when China took the lead but when they turned a 5-4-3 double play after Brazil put on the first man in the ninth she cheered like a person who didn’t have to go back to communist masters and tell them they qualified for 2016.

Italy is playing in Pool D.  If you are a non-baseball country it’s got to be the worst bracket to be fighting in, Mexico, Canada and the US.  Despite this Italy managed to beat Mexico in the first game 6-5 surviving a bases loaded 3-2 situation in the last of the ninth.

And THAT is why baseball is the best sport ever made.

See you all at CPAC next week

 



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“WE ARE ALL QUEBECERS”

“WE ARE ALL QUEBECERS”

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Under the Fedora: Christie, Woodward and McFarlane

I’m looking at the dust up between Chris Christie and CPAC and can’t help but remember the movie Witness for the Prosecution from 1957.

There was a speech by Marlene Dietrich’s character at the end of the trial that was the true climax of the movie.

(spoiler alert)

Mrs. Vole:  Remember when I came to see you, you said that no jury would believe an alibi given by a loving wife no matter shown she swore he was innocent.  That gave me the idea.

Sir Wilfred:  What Idea?

Mrs Vole:  The idea to not be a witness for my husband but for the prosecution.  That I should swear Leonard was guilty and would expose me as a vicious liar because only then would they believe Leonard was innocent.

When I look at CPAC not inviting Chris Christie I see the same dynamic. 

MSNBC not withstanding Christie is smart enough to know that the left is not going to lay off of him or paint him as anything other than a right-wing extremist. I suspect he figures with the president winning the state by that wide a spread and Obamacare being the signature achievement of this president (and I use the word achievement VERY loosely)this move takes at least one target off of his chest.

And when it comes down to it, there is nothing CPAC could do better for his re-election efforts than keeping him away.

By staying away nothing he says there can be use to call him a “right-winger” in a +18 Obama state. It also precludes a nasty confrontation with conservatives that could hurt him among a base where he can’t spare a single vote.

And Christie is playing it to the hilt.

“It’s not like I’m lacking for invitations to speak, both here or around the country, it’s not like I have a whole lot of openings in my schedule,” Christie said. He added, referencing the damage to his state wrought by Superstorm Sandy, “I can’t sweat the small stuff. I got a state to rebuild. I can’t sweat the small stuff.”

Every day this is in the news is a day of the MSM lionizing Christie.  That certainly can’t hurt because he know the national media will be turning on him as soon as it fits their purpose.  Every day that moment is delayed  helps him.

BTW CPAC has invited Dr. Ben Carson who gave that famous speech at the National Prayer breakfast this year.  Somehow that hasn’t captured the attention of the MSM.  I wonder why?

Incidentally the Original witness for the prosecution is one of the best films you will see.  Not only is it a spectacular courtroom drama but the chemistry between Charles Laughton & Elsa Lancasterreally makes the movie.  As they were Husband and wife it should not be much of a surprise.

Ironically the 58 year old Laughton was playing a lawyer recovering from a Heart Attack defending the 43 year old Tyrone Power, who would die of a heart attack within a year of the movie’s release.

Nobody is promised tomorrow.  That’s why I’m such a big fan of the Sacrament of Confession.

--------------------------------------------------

Sequestration is coming and it’s bringing back memories of my youth to the days of Proposition 2 ½ in Massachusetts

After the measure was passed practically EVERY teacher at the High School was given a pink slip directly after the election. (One teacher generated a lot of laughs by asking the students “do you want to see my pink slip?” and when they said “yes” raising her skirt just enough to see her slip which was in fact pink). Today that would get you fired but in my day we had a sense of humor.

But then after all the worry the teachers were put through a strange thing happened:

Nothing!

The next year the teachers were still there, the school was still there and everything pretty much remained as it had been before. It put the lie to the hype.

The Sequestration argument is pretty much the same and the attacks on Bob Woodward hasn’t made this business any easier for the White House:

Bob Woodward said this evening on CNN that a "very senior person" at the White House warned him in an email that he would "regret doing this," the same day he has continued to slam President Barack Obama over the looming forced cuts known as the sequester.

CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that the network invited a White House official to debate Woodward on-air, but the White House declined.

This has gotten a lot of play but as American Globand Breitbart’s John Nolte put it the real story is the number of people attacking Woodward on the left.

If you want to know who is a member of the current version of Journolist this it’s a handy guide.

BTW Nolte is right, Sequestration is going to be blamed by this white house for every economic problem it has over the next two years.  It’s going to be their version of Global warming.

The sad this is it has overshadowed the idiotic release of illegal aliens in detention.  It will not make The White House’s case any stronger.

The Department of Homeland Security has started releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants held in local jails in anticipation of automatic budget cuts, in a move one Arizona sheriff called politically motivated -- and dangerous. 

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement released more than 500 detainees in his county alone over the weekend. A spokesman for Babeu told FoxNews.com that ICE officials have said they plan to release a total of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants.

It would be fun to see the White House suddenly decide to not enforce the gun laws under the same paradigm.

Some Doctor Who.  Saw the special on the 2^nd Doctor this week.  I thought it odd that while they had Frazier Hines and Wendy Padbuty as guests on the special they didn’t have Deborah Watling particularly since Tomb of the Cyberman was the first episode that featured her as a companion.

I’m also surprised they didn’t includePatrick Troughton’sson David Troughton who is active in the series, but that might wait till the next special on the 3^rd Doctor where he appeared as King Peladon.

The special was on at the same time as the Oscars which I totally ignored.  White uninterested I do find it amusing that so many people like Jane Fonda are so angry at Seth MacFarline for acting like….Seth MacFarline.

Anyone who has watched any episode of Family Guy or saw the movie Ted knew this was coming (particularly the musical numbers, MacFarline LOVES musicals).  The amount of racist, sexist and offensive humor directed against people is considerable.  If anybody thoughtMacFarline was going to change for the Oscars, they have a screw loose.

So I guess they’ll have to find new hosts for next year.  I hear Trey Parker and Matt Stone have the day free…

Spring training has started, nobody picking the Red Sox this year, but this is the time when hope springs eternal for Red Sox fans and even for Cubs fans.

One thing that is also coming up is the World Baseball Classic that starts this Friday.  A lot of people tend to ignore it but I think it’s a great thing for the game.  Including the already completed qualifying rounds teams from 28 nations (now paired down to 16) are competing for the title.

Japan has won both WBC’s so far,  andDaisuke Matsuzaka remains the only player to win a World Series, WBC and Japan Series.

Japan has a great chance to threepeat but I’d love to see a Netherlands vs Italy final.  That’s unlikely but I suspect the odds are better of Italy vs Netherlands in March then a Red Sox vsCubs in October.

Finally by the time you read this the Catholic Church will have no Pope.  To my knowledge this is the only time in history when the church and the people knew the exact day and hour when the Chair of St. Peter will be empty.

I suspect it won’t be the last.

Catch you next week

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