What Bennett Doesn't "Get"

There's a reason Bob Bennett lost in Utah. He clearly misses what the TEA Party movement is about (not unlike the majority of pols and nearly every Lefty).

There's a profound lesson in this for the Tea Party movement.

Like those who voted for Carter because they were fed up with Nixon, the Tea Party is made up of people who are fed up with Washington profligacy. The combination of the Obama stimulus package, a bloated budget, stubbornly high unemployment and an expensive new health-care entitlement program has fueled their anger, convincing them that the federal government is out of touch and not listening. To a large extent, they're right.

Will they stand firmly on partisan sidelines continuing to shout slogans? Or will they reach across the aisle in the interest of the country? Will they offer constructive proposals to help solve our problems?

Yes, we are fed up with Washington profligacy. But it's more than that. Politicians on both sides seem only interested in expanding government and feathering their own nests. Much of this is because the majority of the electorate has failed to pay attention. We haven't been inspired by anyone since Reagan (I think we were inspired by "W", but that didn't work out so well. And is another post). We have discovered that we must inspire ourselves and we must drive those who represent us into doing our bidding.

It is also unlikely that "reaching across the aisle" is much of an option. The ideological gap is much too wide. For 50 years, it's been Republicans and Conservatives giving up ground. It is now to the point that the Left literally applauds the bashing of a U.S. state by a foreign leader. TEA Partiers will never embrace that. We are embarrassed by a leader who "apologizes" for the most free, most productive country on Earth.

The TEA Parties have a plan, not just slogans like....ooohhhh...maybe...."Yes, We Can". That's a good one. Or "Hope and Change" (as a good friend once told me, "Hope is not a strategy"). The plan is to drive economic Conservatism in our elected representatives and continue to be involved; run for office, work within the Party system, educate and inform others.

Bob Bennett is out because he missed the boat. There is much more at the link.

Yeah...That's About Right

Via FollowFreedom or you can go right to YouTube:

Yeah, right now, it appears to work this way.

Sunstien on "Voluntary"

From Creative Minority Report Via Dad29

I guess I shouldn't be shocked that Sunstein thinks this way. This is censorship in the guise of "seeking out other points of view". Why is it even necessary? If one wants to find opposing wies, aren't they easy enough to find? And, like many things Obama, it's "voluntary" unless you refuse. Kinda like, "you can keep your health insurance" and "if you make less than $250,000 you won't pay a dime of new taxes". Sunstein needs to resign....yesterday.

Is it January 2013 yet?

Anti-War Types and Other Lefties

The Beer: We are having a lunch of Buffalo Chicken Pizza and a nice Saison.

The Bicycle: Tough week to ride. 25 or more with the neighborhood boyyyyzzz tomorrow morning.

The VRWC: We were at Bayshore this morning and as we were leaving there was this older (my age, I suppose) couple with the usual 60's-hippie-turned-late-middle-age look holding anti-war posters and "stuff". Big Peace sign and the usual accoutrement. At that point, it occured to me that these folks believe they are speaking, "truth to power". I don't think they really understand. And like any good lefty, they would be unwilling to die for what they believe either way. Better Red than dead. Rather than take to the streets of Bangkok, Tehran or Tienanmen Square, they would cower in a safe place because, well....they might get hurt. Or worse. Death is the worst thing that can become them.

People who believe in something enough that they are willing to die for it are those who really speak "Truth to Power". Not some old hippies waving signs on a street corner in Glendale.

Chris Christie Channels Ronaldus Magnus

This is the best Conservative stuff since Reagan. Hit them back with the facts. Use the "Bully Pulpit". Time for a "Draft Christie" movement?

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

This Should Be No Problem, Then

According to this, questions such as these should be no problem:

"Ms. Kagan, are you a Lesbian?"

"Ms. Kagan, please cite the Constitutional authority for special rights to certain groups."

"Ms. Kagan, are you a Socialist?"

"Ms. Kagan, if the government has the ability to force one to purchase healthcare insurance under the 'Commerce Clause", what are the limits of government? In other words, can the government control all of you purchases?"

"Ms. Kagan, what is your Body Mass Index? Do you believe that the Administration's plans to monitor the BMI of every child in the country is Constitutional? Under what article?"

And she will truthfully answer all of these.

A Posthumous Award, I'm Sure

This can only end badly.

The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. The US military is quite good at it. Sometimes, the wrong target gets hit and innocents are killed. Nobody says war is pretty. To incentivize troops to use "restraint" will subject them to much greater dangers than they might otherwise face.

Second-guessing "boots on the ground" is absurd on it's face. War is, almost by definition, complete chaos.

"Let me be clear. We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves. Valuing restraint in a potentially dangerous situation is not the same thing as denying troops the right to employ lethal force when they determine that it is necessary."

Really? Tell that to the US Navy Seals who were recently acquitted. It never should have gotten that far. With a bunch of PC sissies running the show like this bonehead Sholtis, expect more of the same.

What have we come to?

"Immigration Rally" yeah...whatever

Two words...Joseph Stalin.

Honor Flights

Honor Flights

HONOR FLIGHT Network is our way of paying a small tribute to those who gave so much—a memorable, safe, and rewarding TOUR of HONOR!!!

I had the opportunity, along with several thousand others to welcome WWII veterans home after an Honor Flight trip to the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. A really great opportunity to honor those who gave more than I can imagine.







You get the idea. Let's not wait to honor today's veterans. (Phone video is not-so-good, though.)

Alien-Nation

H/T Dad29

I don't necessarily agree with Peggy Noonan's details, but the big picture is spot-on.

This is the heart of the matter:

We are at a remarkable moment. We have an open, 2,000-mile border to our south, and the entity with the power to enforce the law and impose safety and order will not do it. Wall Street collapsed, taking Main Street's money with it, and the government can't really figure out what to do about it because the government itself was deeply implicated in the crash, and both political parties are full of people whose political careers have been made possible by Wall Street contributions. Meanwhile we pass huge laws, bills so comprehensive, omnibus and transformative that no one knows what's in them and no one—literally, no one—knows how exactly they will be executed or interpreted. Citizens search for new laws online, pore over them at night, and come away knowing no more than they did before they typed "dot-gov."

Go read the rest. I believe it is the "common ground" Left and Right can (TEA) Party over.

More Conspiracy Theory? Or Less

Thanks to Jill for helping me take off the tin foil hat on the oil rig explosion.

Lesson learned and when she's right, she's right (even if she's Left).

;-)

Risk Management and Emergency Planning

Risk Management and Emergency Planning happen to be part of my job, so reading this headline made me a little suspicious right out of the box.

The plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, said repeatedly that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities."

Of course it is. That is how one plans. Always make the worst scenario the least likely. Risk is the mathematical product of two factors. One represents the likelihood (frequency) of the event occurring, the other represents the severity of the event. That is f x s =R. Keep the R as low as possible.

Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs, Miss.-based environmental lawyer and board member for the Gulf Restoration Network, said he doesn't see anything in the document suggesting BP addressed the kind of technology needed to control a spill at that depth of water.

I guarantee this guy is talking out of his ass. It is so unlikely as to be nearly impossible that a rig would get a permit to drill without addressing the worst-case scenario. Regardless of the likelihood of the event, one ALWAYS plans for the absolute worst case. Nuclear power plants do it, aircraft manufacturers do it, refineries and chemical plants do it. You get the picture. In addition, this guy, like the rest of us, has no clue what happened out there. And of the 11 who might, none survived. Wiygul is just setting the table for the billion-dollar lawsuit.