Category: Politics

Herman Cain: He’s In It To Win It

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Late Tuesday night, I had about 45 minutes of frustrated confusion when California writer Jim Henson sent a couple of Twitter messages to Shane Vander Hart and me:

My reaction to that — knowing that such a rumor could have no basis in fact — was something like, “WTF?” To which Henson replied:

Well, you can’t just say stuff like that without any backup, so I asked Henson to send me a link to the article he was talking about. Meanwhile, I started furiously Googling and failed to turn up any such thing. Finally, Henson found the article — an unsourced item by “Race 4 2012” blogger Matt Coulter:

So my prediction? Herman Cain will stay in until the day after the Ames Straw Poll, then drop out and endorse Mitt Romney. . . .

What Coulter was reacting to was (a) the fact that Cain canceled a planned appearance this week on “The Colbert Report”; and (b) a report that Cain had canceled a scheduled Aug. 6 event in Iowa. As to (a) there was a scheduling conflict and as to (b) it ain’t exactly so.

This morning I called Cain spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael, who explained that the “canceled” Iowa event had never been on the schedule at campaign headquarters. One of Cain’s local supporters had wanted to have the candidate at that event, but Cain had already made plans to be somewhere else on Aug. 6, and so it was reported as “canceled” even though it had never been officially scheduled.

Ellen Carmichael was kind of miffed that Matt Coulter (or anyone else) would write something like that without calling her first. She is super-easy to reach — (678) 601-2772 or e-mail [email protected] — if any reporter or blogger has questions about the campaign.

So before anybody else goes writing something nutty like that again, please call Ellen first. Continue reading Herman Cain: He’s In It To Win It →

A. Second Only to the Bible

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Q. Is Seize Freedom by Thaddeus McCotter the greatest book in all human history?

I don’t want to say which one of our commenters has spent several days harassing encouraging me to say a good word for Rep. McCotter’s book. Nor is it my inclination to disclose the vast wealth boundless gratitude that I’ve been promised in return for saying such a good word.

All I’ve got to say is this: Go buy Seize Freedom: American Truths and Renewal in a Chaotic Age — with a foreword by Greg Gutfeld — and commit every word to memory, as if your life depended on it.

Seize Freedom — or else!

UPDATE: Sissy Willis said Seize Freedom isn’t available on Kindle.

OH, HELL, YES IT IS!

A One-Way Ticket to Des Moines …

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. . . would cost $249 if I booked today for an Aug. 3 departure from Reagan National in D.C.

You may ask, “Why Iowa? Why Aug. 3? Why a one-way ticket?” Here’s the story at The American Spectator:

Atlanta businessman Herman Cain will begin a nine-day bus tour of Iowa next week, leading up to the Aug. 11 Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News and the Aug. 13 Ames Straw Poll. . . .

The “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour kicks off Aug. 4 in Des Moines. I’m thinking of booking a one-way flight because it’s my first trip to Iowa and, while I’ll be following Cain’s bus tour across the Hawkeye State, I also want to catch up with as many of the other candidates as I can before the straw poll.

My general idea is to get a solid on-the-ground perspective of the political landscape in Iowa, to talk to organizers, activists and operatives, developing sources so that all I have to do — as we move ahead toward the February 2012 GOP caucuses — is make a few phone calls to get the straight lowdown. Continue reading A One-Way Ticket to Des Moines … →

What Happened to ‘No Drama Obama’?

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Turned the TV on this afternoon to try to get some news about the Oslo terrorism attacks and instead, I get a hectoring and angry President Obama.

It appears that House Speaker John Boehner has found his spine and isn’t going to be bullied into raising taxes, and this has driven the president into paroxyms of inchoate rage.

To quote Don Surber: “Washington has more Drama Queens than a Barney Frank luau on Fire Island.” And Obama’s the biggest queen of them all.

No more interrupting the actual news with your selfish hissy fits, Mr. President. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires Congress to ask “how high” when you say “jump.”

Get off my TV!

UPDATE: Linked by That Mr. G Guy — thanks! — and at The American Spectator, Quin Hillyer summarizes it in six words:

Obama’s Goal — a Crisis — Comes Nearer

It’s irresponsible as hell and, I agree with the commenter who said that was the “least presidential presidential press conference I’ve ever seen.”

Linked by Don Surber — thanks! — and by Aleister at American Glob, who has video of both Obama’s temper tantrum and Boehner’s response.

The Terrible Legislative Catastrophe No One Will Remember in November 2012

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For weeks we’ve endured non-stop sturm und drang about the debt-ceiling crisis, and the tightrope negotations between President Obama and Republican leaders in Congress:

President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner rushed Thursday to strike agreement on a far-reaching plan to reduce the national debt but faced a revolt from Democrats furious that the accord appeared to include no immediate provision to raise taxes.
With 12 days left until the Treasury begins to run short of cash, Obama and Boehner (R-Ohio) were still pursuing the most ambitious plan to restrain the national debt in at least 20 years. Talks focused on sharp cuts in agency spending and politically painful changes to cherished health and retirement programs aimed at saving roughly $3 trillion over the next decade. . . .

Maybe my hunch is wrong, but isn’t it possible that all this is being waaaayy over-dramatized?

Here’s what I mean: The great Clinton-Gingrich budget showdown occurred in December-January of 1995-96, a mere 10 months before Bill Clinton faced re-election. By contrast, the current debt-ceiling battle is being fought 15 months ahead of the next election, during the summer, when millions of Americans are on vacation and ignoring the news. (Except, of course, the genuinely important stories about teen starlets and such.) Therefore, it seems to me, the current debate — and whatever godawful “bipartisan compromise” legislation brings it to a conclusion — is less likely to affect the next election campaign than was true of the 1995-96 showdown.

Something else: When Americans went to vote in November 1996, the economy was already clearly in recovery — the dot-com boom was beginning — and Clinton’s evident willingness to compromise on welfare reform stood him in good stead for re-election.

Now? Nothing I’ve seen suggests we’re anywhere near ending the Obama recession, and some indicators — e.g., “strategic default” in Greece — suggest the economy could actually be worse in November 2012 than it is now. And Obama’s poll numbers lead me to believe more Americans are seeing him as the problem than as the solution.

Of course, I could be wrong. But the Democrats who see this debt-ceiling battle as a predictable re-run of the 1995-96 budget showdown, with Obama replicating Clinton’s re-election triumph, may ultimately prove to be a lot more wrong than I am.


Pregnancy Is Not a Disease and Contraception Is Not ‘Health Care’

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Why, therefore, does Obama want to make insurance coverage for birth control mandatory?

Virtually all health insurance plans could soon be required to offer female patients free coverage of prescription birth control, breast-pump rentals, counseling for domestic violence, and annual wellness exams and HIV tests as a result of recommendations released Tuesday by an independent advisory panel of health experts.
The health-care law adopted last year directed the Obama administration to draw up a list of preventive services for women that all new health plans must cover without deductibles or co-payments. While the guidelines suggested Tuesday by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine are not binding, the panel conducted its year-long review at the request of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Maybe Mr. “Catholics for Obama” Douglas Kmiec can explain this to the idiots he duped in 2008. Meanwhile, this looks likes a good occasion to mention ForRepeal.com:

Learn more about this activist movement sponsored by the Conservative Action Fund.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Is ‘Vile … Despicable … Coward,’ Says Allen West

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About time someone said it:

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz
Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!
I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.
You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!
Steadfast and Loyal
Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

The Lonely Conservative has video of the obnoxious speech in which Debbie Wasserman-Schultz violated decorum by speaking ill of a member not present:

UPDATE: And in a column at Red County, Rep. West says: “I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.”

UPDATE II: Dave C. at Point of a Gun reminds us that Wasserman-Schultz campaigned against West last year.

UPDATE III: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power — thanks!

RE-ELECT ALLEN WEST
Because It’s About Time Somebody
Told the Truth About Democrats!

GOP Dept. of Media Relations

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Doug Ross of ABC News gets roughed up by Michele Bachmann’s security:

Ross dashed after Bachmann, repeatedly asking whether she had ever missed a House vote due to a migraine. She ignored him. Ross pursued her into a parking area behind the stage. Her aides grew alarmed. When Ross made a beeline for the white SUV waiting to carry Bachmann away, two Bachmann men pounced on him, grabbing and pushing him multiple times with what looked to me like unusual force. In fact, I have never seen a reporter treated so roughly at a campaign event, especially not a presidential one.

Not since Dede Scozzafava called the cops on John McCormack of the Weekly Standard has any Republican campaign so badly mishandled the press.

Sometimes I’ve offered advice to Republicans on how to deal with the press, but they always ignore me and instead pay big money for advice from “media strategists” who’ve never worked a day in a newsroom.

I try not to think about that. It gives me headaches.

UPDATE: Old Line Elephant responds to the “incapacitated by migraines” story, noting that Bachmann doesn’t seem to have missed a lot of votes. Bachmann issues a statement noting that millions of other Americans also suffer from migraine headaches.

UPDATE II: The New York Times has an excellent source:

“She would not in any respect meet the definition for not having capacity in one of these episodes,” Dr. Lucas Bachmann, the candidate’s son and a medical resident at the University of Connecticut, said in a telephone interview. “She is probably not going to run a mile, but in terms of being able to engage, she can comprehend and assess information — without a doubt.”

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