Libertarian Voting Republican

The following is a reprint of a Kurt Bills note on the subject of sticking together in an election. I think it is one of the most well written statements on the issue I've ever seen and the Reagan quote at the end was new to me, and as many Reagan quotes, directly on point on this subject. 

In June 2009 Norm Coleman conceded his Senate race to comedian Al Franken.
He lost the race, after 6 months of recounts and legal battles, by 312 votes.
In December 2010, Tom Emmer conceded his race for Governor after a similar recount, losing by fewer than 9000 votes. 

Both races have something in common much more important than the fact that they ended after recounts: they ended with extremely liberal politicians taking power entirely due to the defection of Republicans to third-party candidates. In a very real way, Democrats didn’t win those elections as much as Republicans chose to lose them.

In my mind, that is shameful. Do any of the Republicans who voted for Dean Barkley or Tom Horner really believe our state and our country are better off with Al Franken and Mark Dayton as Senator and Governor? 

The reasons for some Republicans to defect from Coleman and Emmer are a mirror image of each other. Some Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with Coleman because he was not conservative enough for their taste; in Emmer’s case, others thought he was too conservative. 

They were looking for the “Goldilocks” candidate in the race, and voted for a third party candidate or stayed home. In the Emmer race, former Republican Tom Horner garnered over 250,000 votes, more than 25 times the margin by which Emmer lost. Not all those votes were disaffected Republicans, of course, but too many of them were.
The results are stark: Minnesota didn’t get a centrist, “goldilocks” Senator or Governor. They were saddled, instead, with two of the most liberal politicians in the country representing them in Washington and St Paul.Republicans who didn’t vote for their Republican candidates are responsible for the passage of Obamacare, a bill that would have been stopped had Norm Coleman been in the Senate.

I am not one to believe that we should abandon our principles and simply adopt the Party line. Many of you recall that I am the Republican Senate candidate today because I ran an insurgent campaign from outside the Party structure. 

I firmly believe it is our responsibility to fight within the Party to ensure it represents our principles. Ronald Reagan was an insurgent, and eventually won out against the Rockefeller Republicans after nearly two decades of work in the trenches.
During that time Reagan was both a loyal Republican and a principled warrior for his cause. 

That is what each of us needs to be today. Day in, day out each of us needs to work tirelessly to persuade other Republicans to our side when we disagree; and day in, day out we need to fight to defeat Democrats who are pushing policies which if left unchecked will bankrupt our country and undermine the constitutional foundations of our country. 

Ronald Reagan hit it on the nose when he declared: “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor.” 

That is why I am voting for a Republican straight ticket this Election Day…and why you should, 

Obama Celebrity Endorsers

Obama’s Celebrity Endorsers of 2009: Where Are They Now? | Power Line

Ah, remember 2008, Obamamania, Obasms ... oh well, it is looking a bit like BO and Jimmuh can maybe go off on a world apology tour together.

It is short and worth the watch ... makes you wonder about America, but since we DID elect BOTH Carter and Obama, we definitely SHOULD wonder!!

Remember George Zimmerman

One of the extreme dangers of a controlled or crony/paid press (eg. Public Media) is that they masquerade as a source of information, but really become just another political propaganda arm of the government interest, or in the case of the MSM in the US, the ruling elite ... public and private unions, lawyers, the legal system and the university/educational system.

So an open and shut self defense case in FL is trumped up to a racist murder by the racial / left political industry during an election year to provide a few weeks of cover for a failed president trying to be re-elected. George Zimmerman, a private citizen, Democrat himself a minority (hispanic) has his life destroyed so he can be forced to provide the left with a diversion. Then the story stops and we are told to move long.

"Dershowitz also mentions a suspicion I’ve harbored since the weird, circus-like press conference at which Corey announced the charges: they’re a political instrument designed to buy time for everyone to cool down, leading to a long trial that dismantles some of the hysteria built up around the Trayvon Martin case.  If true, the strategy is understandable… but utterly outrageous.  The United States does not do “show trials.”  The justice system is not a safety valve for releasing unhealthy levels of political tension.  Individual citizens are not pawns to be shoved around in media games by gun-control advocates, race hustlers, or opportunistic politicians.  The purpose of law enforcement is to protect the public, not appease certain segments of it."

But we see in the Zimmerman case, the US now IS the kind of nation where people become pawns of the political/legal/media system and are powerless to prevent it.

Unless of course those of us in "undesirable groups" ... white, male, christian, conservative, etc follow the "stay in your car strategy", or maybe better put "sit down and shut up" strategy. When the corruption of the system gets to a certain point, the siren call is to keep your head down and stay quiet and they will leave you alone. Unfortunately, as millions found out in the 20th century, that doesn't work. First they come for a few George Zimmermans ... eventually they come for you.

It’s difficult to see how any of that might convince a jury to hand down a “guilty” verdict to Murder Two charges.  How does that “stay in your car” principle work?  Do you have to stay in your car when you seeanyone acting suspiciously in your neighborhood, or do the age, sex, and racial background of the subject matter?  Does everyone have to stay in their cars, or only members of certain age, sex, and racial groups?

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Stop Stealing Dreams

Take the 20 min and watch this, it is critical to our future as a nation.

I agree with most of what he says, but it is much worse than he thinks. For all his brilliance, Seth seems to have an anti-industrialist bias. It is true that "industrialists" like compliant workers and consumers, but it is even MORE true that growing and potentially oppressive governments love them even more.

They want compliant and predictable voters so it seems like a "Democracy". What is more, the unions that support them want predictable and non-competitive jobs that they can sleepwalk through to a lucrative retirement, and are willing to provide millions in campaign contributions and vocal support to keep that gravy train running.

YES! We must get out of the 19th century in education, but we are not going to do it with the vested interests of teachers and government UNION employees + the existing university elite calling the shots!

Harvard and Yale will definitely agree that losing their status as "elite" is a VERY bad thing!!

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It's The World View Stupid

George W. Bush Haunts Mitt Romney - Bloomberg

The media succeeded in making W an unpopular president, ergo whatever principles he governed by are discredited. Being "unpopular" is equivalent to being wrong.

US savings rate is pitifully low (although less pitiful than it used to be), therefore saving money is "wrong/bad".

The doctor used approved medical procedures to treat the patient, but they died, therefore we ought to return to blood letting, it is "obviously" just as good.

Many countries around the globe moved to more market based competitive economic policies in the '80s and saw long term economic booms. Many backslid from those policies ... US, England, Ireland. Some didn't ... China, India, Brazil. The ones that backslid have fallen on hard economic times, the ones that stayed the course are largely still rolling. Therefore a market based competitive approach to economic activity is discredited??

If all the other kids jump over a cliff, are you going to follow them?? I guess in a liberal house, the answer to that question is "Sure, if everyone else thinks it is a good idea, it must be ... we believe in democracy!!"

Can Big Bird Leave the Government Nest??

Mark Steyn: Will Big Bird ever leave the government nest? | big, bird, mitt - Opinion - The Orange County Register

It's a bit wordy but it is great. Steyn may be Canadian, but he is good!

Good Jobs??

Obama’s Jobs Failure, In One Chart | Power Line

As a long time NPR listener, I know that whenever there is a "good jobs number" (lower unemployment, good number of jobs for a month/quarter, etc) ... well, at least during the Reagan years and the W years, the question was always "Are those good jobs ?? or low paying dead end jobs??"

Is the person "underemployed"? Meaning are they in a job that is below their skill level?

How about "disenchanted workers"?? Those folks that have gotten so sick of looking for work that they are just sitting it out??

Those are all good questions, but they are good questions no matter who is in the WH, and the ANSWERS are also important.

Unfortunately, for BO, the answer on especially the disenchanted front is terrible as the linked chart clearly shows.

Chris Matthews Missing Leg Shiver

Chris Matthews Freaks Out At Obama: "What Was He Doing?" | RealClearPolitics:


Wow, Matthews of "Obama sends a shiver up your leg" fame seems to think "the one" didn't do so well!

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MSM Sampling Reality on Libyan Ambassador?

Editorial: Shifting Libya attack story raises red flags:

Were this W in '04 vs BO in '12, the MSM drumbeat would be deafening --- "gross administration incompetence", "failed intelligence", etc ... the call for a scapegoat would be shrill. Give us a Sec State resignation!, give us a CIA director resignation!, SOMETHING! The admin clearly went with a story they thought would sell, and now it has unraveled ... raw meat for the MSM maw with a Republican in the WH.

I guess it is just a lot quieter when your guy is in the WH.

Three weeks after an attack in Libya killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, we now know that it did not spring from a spontaneous protest, spurred by an anti-Muslim video, as the Obama administration originally described it. In fact, every aspect of the early account — peddled most prominently by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice — has unraveled.

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Voter ID Is Expensive? Try Harriers

Chaos at the Pentagon? | Power Line

It is CHEAP if it gets enough fraud out of the system to take BO with it!

$200 million would cover a lot of ID, not to mention the two lives which are priceless.

We have Al Qaeda "on the run"?? Looks a lot like they have been INCREASING in strength the past 4 years!!

"Secret" Videos

Althouse: The secret video of Romney talking to donors.

Sometimes I wonder if even smart (and pretty actually) conservatives like Ann aren't a bit too isolated from the MSM onslaught to "get it".

On NPR and CNN today (and I'm sure MSNBC, NYT, etc), Mitt's comments are THE story. They are unashamedly presented as "he doesn't CARE about the 47%".  This is a feeding frenzy, they believe that coupled with their fantastical interpretation  about Mitt calling the reprehensible APOLOGY from the US Egyptian reprehensible -- which BTW, BO and Hillary did later in the day, they have a Romney campaign in "disarray", the election as good as lost.

Of course they may.  4 US dead including an Ambassador in Libya, which was the 2nd biggest positive of the BO foreign policy. oh, did you know he killed Bin Ladin? Personally I believe ... hand to hand. It was a wonderful thing ... but prior to the ambassador being dragged through the streets, his brilliant Libya strategy was very close.

Anyway, pay no attention to Libya. Pay no attention to the US being unable to do joint ops with Afghans lest they shoot us. Pay no attention to an economy that still sucks and a QEIII politically motivated money printing orgy. The fed used to be about pulling the punchbowl away, now they are pouring 190 proof grain alcohol in it right before an election.

No matter. Mitt criticized the media guy and we caught him telling the truth on camera. He is done!!

Oh, "Bitterly Clinging" in '08?? If you didn't do conservative media, you barely heard about it. NPR and CNN covered "the right wing / racist media trying to make something out of it" ... but it was a non-story.

Why would it be? BO is their guy.

Can Republicans Talk? - Thomas Sowell - Page 1

Can Republicans Talk? - Thomas Sowell - Page 1

Just read it. Republicans need to do A TON more work than they do to debunk the lies of the left. Sure, they will constantly be castigated for "repeating the same lies" ... the the MSM and Democrats which are the EXPERTS at doing just that, but the so what?

As Sowell says so well -- "The facts DON'T speak for themselves" !!!

Famous "Liberal" Pictures

Pictures That Change Elections? | Power Line

One can only hope.

Why is it that when a Republican is in the WH there is no end to the weeping and gnashing of teeth about "fascism",  "chilling constitutional rights abuses" and other sundry overblown concerns.

But when there is a "liberal" in the WH, the Jackbooted Thugs actually start showing up at people's homes.

Blood-let Till It Works!

Fed Pledges Action Until Economy Shows Gains - NYTimes.com:

Wow, this is GREAT news! I'm thinking, why would they ever stop??? I mean, if this works (and so far, it completely hasn't), then why not just keep doing it?

Hell, the economy can always be better, right? Just do it FOREVER!!

I mean, no way they would just do this for an attempted quick spiff prior the elections, right? I mean, that would be "political", and we know that the Fed is NOT a political.

So why is it important to let the opposition know of a data certain when we will be done with a military surge in troops, but it is important to tell the markets that we are "in it till it works"??

I guess I'm just not as brilliant as the BO administration!


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Criticize BO Foreign Policy Bad?

Update on the Murder of Ambassador Stevens | Power Line

Oh yea, I SURELY remember the MSM becoming enraged when W was criticized! ... and of course HIS policies where the same when initiated as 90% of the Democrats, voted on through both houses with wide margins, and agreed to by 80% of the US population going in!

Not that we ought focus on that, "Bush Lied!!".

BO OTOH went in alone (oh, wait, he had the FRENCH with him), no congress, no big public support -- he was COURAGEOUS! So it would be COMPLETELY WRONG to criticize him or for him to take responsibility!!

FURTHER UPDATE: This is just about beyond belief. We have a failed policy in the Middle East, an American embassy and consulate attacked by Islamic radicals in two countries whose regimes the Obama administration participated in overthrowing, a murdered ambassador–the first in 33 years–and the burning question in the media-formerly-known-as-meanstream is whether Mitt Romney was wrong to criticize the Obama administration’s response to the attacks.

Of course, reporters are entirely consistent. Remember when things weren’t going well in Iraq–weapons of mass destruction weren’t found, al Qaeda stimulated sectarian violence, military casualties were rising–how the media became enraged every time a Democrat criticized George W. Bush’s Iraq policies? Yeah, that’s what dominated the news back in 2005 and 2006–reporters saying to Democrats, how dare you try to politicize foreign policy? Don’t you know that politics stops at the water’s edge? That’s how I remember it!