Category: Harry Reid

Hmmm. Why Did Jeri Thompson Endorse Sue Lowden Today?

Posted on Comments

LAS VEGAS — Just settling in for an hour or two of reporting before I head out to Searchlight this afternoon (it’s 9:30 a.m. out here) and I saw this column by Jeri Thompson in The American Spectator:

In the Senate race to defeat Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid, we have several candidates who want the opportunity to challenge and defeat him. Each candidate has different skills and a particular constituency. But to defeat a sitting Senate Majority Leader will take someone with the “total package” — an experienced leader, who has run the political and public gauntlet, who can raise money on a national level and who can clearly communicate their principles. For Nevada, that person is Sue Lowden. . . .
While there are other Republican candidates in this race, I am convinced Sue is the only conservative Republican with the toughness and experience to go toe-to-toe with former boxer Harry Reid. Harry seems to be acknowledging that, because Sue is the only Republican who Reid is regularly attacking. . . .

And something weird at the end:

On the issue of life, the past week has made it clear to us what it means to be a “pro-life” Democrat. Sue has made it clear she knows where she stands and how she will legislate. She will be pro-life.

Weird, I say, because . . . well, is there a pro-choice Republican in this primary? Not that I know of. So why does Jeri feel the need to assert Lowden’s pro-life bona fides?

Maybe my initial impressions of this Nevada primary are screwy, but I thought Danny Tarkanian was the grassroots populist “outsider” candidate and Sue Lowden was the GOP Establishment candidate. So why is Jeri Thompson backing Lowden and making these pro-life rumbles? Then I checked Tark’s site and found this:

I believe life begins at conception and that we have a responsibility as human beings to protect that life if at all possible. That is why I oppose abortion, except where the mother’s life is threatened. I also oppose federal funding for abortions.

Ah, now I see. This could be trouble for Tarkanian. But wait a minute, what’s this story in the Las Vegas Sun?

In the Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, Danny Tarkanian has hit fellow candidate Sue Lowden — a casino owner worth an estimated $50 million and former chairwoman of the state Republican Party — with the socialist label.
In a recent automated telephone message, Tarkanian tells listeners his “latest message for freedom” — accusing Lowden of supporting the Wall Street bailout, which led to taxpayer money propping up the auto and insurance industries. “That’s not freedom. Let’s call it what it is: socialism,” Tarkanian says.

Oooooh. This is getting good . . .

UPDATE 1:35 p.m. ET: Just got off the phone with Lisa Graas, talking about contested GOP primaries this year. Couple of items at Memeorandum:

No plans to go to Utah on this trip, but I’ll be in Arizona on Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, I’ve got plans for some serious shoe-leather reporting this afternoon. Just keep hitting the tip-jar, folks.

Just Booked My Flight: Vegas, Baby!

Posted on Comments

“Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas. . . . Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only real cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas. … Just roll the roof back and screw it on, grease the face with white tanning butter and move out with the music at top volume, and at least a pint of ether.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

OK, the original plan had been to drive to Vegas, but that was before life got complicated and the weasels forced me to spend a whole week blogging about their sordid ObamaCare scam — about which, the less said, the better.

Among the unfortunate side effects of that disaster, however, was the catastrophic scrambling of my travel plans because I needed an extra day or two to finish up arrangements in Washington before leaving, and because the drive time from here to Nevada is 38 hours, the cross-country itinerary wouldn’t work out if I was going to be there to pick up Ali Akbar at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport for the trip to Searchlight to catch the start of the Tea Party Express III tour.

And if any of that makes sense to you, you need more drugs. That makes two of us, but don’t worry. Gonzo is a pre-existing condition and, thanks to Bart Stupak, now we can bill taxpayers for our heinous chemicals.

Never mind. Hit the tip jar, because I paid $528 for the cheapest possible round-trip to Vegas, leaving here Thursday afternoon and not returning until next Wednesday. Mrs. Other McCain is already mad enough without me getting stuck with that tab, even though I’ll be saving money by crashing on Steve Foley’s sofa in Vegas. Plus, I’ll have to pay $75 a day for a rental car so I can drive Ali to Searchlight, hang out a few hours, then turn around and drive back to Vegas in time for Ann Coulter’s appearance at the Henderson Pavillion.

After that day of insanity and whatever weirdness Foley gets me into Saturday night, then I’ve got to get up Sunday morning and drive 300 miles (20 cents per mile = $60) to meet the Tea Party Express in Phoenix, Arizona, where Barbara Espinosa of American Freedom blog has promised me face-time with J.D. Hayworth and Vernon Parker. So I’ll spend Sunday and Monday in Phoenix, drive another 300 miles back to Vegas on Tuesday morning, and do some more reporting on the campaign against Harry Reid before catching a red-eye back home with a 3-hour layover in Minneapolis.

Only a lunatic would attempt to cram all this into six days. So hit the tip jar, because where else are you going to find a lunatic who’s also a professional journalist?

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72

Q & A With Ann Coulter: Vegas, Baby!

Posted on Comments

Ann Coulter will speak Saturday in Las Vegas at a Tea Party rally, and not only has she invited everybody to join her in Vegas, but she agreed to this exclusive e-mail interview with The Other McCain:

1. Is this event in Vegas your first Tea Party rally, or have you been quietly lurking in the crowds for months?

I’ve been at all of them. The reason you didn’t see me in the MSM coverage is that I’m an African-American.

2. Why do the major media keep trying to portray the Tea Party movement as a bunch of dangerous scary racists?

Oh it’s nothing against the tea partiers — they think all Americans are dangerous scary racists.

3. Speaking of dangerous scary racists, do you think Sen. Robert Byrd will rediscover his attachment to parliamentary principle and object to Nancy Pelosi’s constitutional end-run with the health care bill?

Yes, right after he remembers where he left the remote.

4. You’re going on a speaking tour of Canada — aren’t you afraid their human-rights commissars will declare you a thought-criminal?

I hope they send the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after me!

Don’t worry. They’re not sending Mounties, just the usual whiny liberals.

Thanks, for the interview Ann! See you Saturday in Vegas!

UPDATE: Just in case you thought I was joking about those Canadian human-rights commissars, check out this letter that
François Houle, University of Ottawa provost, sent to Coulter:

We have a great respect for freedom of expression in Canada, as well as on our campus, and view it as a fundamental freedom, as recognized by our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would, however, like to inform you, or perhaps remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or “free speech”) in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States.
I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here. You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression.
For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.

The only “indentifiable group” against which Coulter promotes hatred* is bloodthirsty jihadi terrorists, but I suppose she could always add “Canadian academic douchebags named François” to the list. As Rich Fader says in the comments:

Creepy. And not creepy in a “hey, baby, you and me, huh?” kind of way. Creepy in a “nice freedom of speech you have there, it’d be a shame if something happened to it” kind of way.

Kathy Shaidle has more at Five Feet of Fury.

(* – Well, perhaps not “hatred,” exactly. “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity” sounds more like missionary zeal to me. Your mileage may vary.)

UPDATE II: INSTALANCHE! Uh, actually, this is what we call a SecondHandaLanche, which is when someone who links you gets linked by Professor Glenn Reynolds. But we’ll take whatever we can get . . .

UPDATE III: Just booked my flight: Vegas, baby!

MORE BLOGGING:

Who Is Jon Scott Ashjian?

Posted on Comments

We know that he owes $200,000 in back taxes. We know that his “Tea Party” candidacy is Harry Reid’s only hope for re-election. There are many questions being asked in Nevada:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing Republican accusations that he’s behind the emergence of a third-party Tea Party candidate on the ballot who could divide conservative voters and help him win reelection this fall.
The charge against Jon Scott Ashjian is being led by his would-be GOP opponents, such as Danny Tarkanian, who accuses him of having weak tea party ties. “Nobody in the Tea Party knows who he is. He didn’t know any of the principles of the Tea Party,” Tarkanian told [CNN].
GOP primary field leader Sue Lowden, a former Nevada Republican Party chairman who calls herself a Tea Party voter, also questioned Ashjian’s tea party bona fides. “I don’t know who this person is. He’s never been involved with anything that I’m aware of in this state,” she told CNN.

Gee, it seems like the only person who’s not questioning Ashjian’s credibility is . . . Harry Reid.

However much we know about Ashjian, I don’t think we know enough yet. The Tea Party Express will be in Las Vegas March 27.

IYKWIMAITYD.

Weekend At Bernie’s Wasn’t The First Allusion To Come To Mind For Today’s Circus

Posted on Comments

by Smitty

Glenn McCoy has fun with it:

Weekend at Barry's
The Obama / Reid / Pelosi try-dumb-virate rides again

And then there was a related Tim Burton take-off, via Digg.

The most shocking bit came from visiting my magic URL, http://www.AllYourNewsAreOnCrack.com for a fortnight into the future, I see an odd article:

Unprecedented Move: President Obama Accepts Own Healthcare Bill In Signing Statement
by Sissypuss, the Bailout Kitty
In an historic move, President Obama today said “I won,” as he signed his own suggested bill into law. “Well, we could have gone to the mat with reconciliation,” mused Mr. Obama, “but I figured it would help the party out if I just sort of dove on the grenade. Those obstructionist Republicans are out to ruin everything. Once we just get all of this in place, I think that the people will come around to my way of thinking and re-elect Democrats in 2010, and me in 2012. And if it looks like the people are having trouble getting on board, well, we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure nothing unfortunate happens to their car, their health, their taxes, their internet, their housing , their food, you get the idea. Running this country is a tough, complex job, and it would really be much smoother if everyone was on the same team, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. Did I mention the vanilla pudding subsidy for favored bloggers?”

VIDEO: Scott Brown Reponds to Coakley Attack Ad

Posted on Comments

Notice how the Republican candidate, standing in his kitchen, depicts the Democrat as part of the “political machine.” In other words, she’s the Establishment, the status quo, and Brown is the embattled underdog taking on The System. And her use of negative ads only reinforces that perception, which is ultimately Brown’s best message.

The perception of Martha Coakley as an Establishment candidate, meanwhile, is reinforced by Tim Carney’s revelation that “an army of lobbyists for drug companies, health insurance companies, and hospitals” are raising money for the Democrat. (Hat-tip: Michelle Malkin.)

BTW, Coakley’s attack ad misspells Massachusetts. Heh.

Allen West on Harry Reid: A Black Republican on ‘Negro Talk’

Posted on Comments

The war-hero Florida congressional candidate speaks out:

The revelation of Senator Harry Reid’s comments referencing “negro talk” is just indicative of the true sentiment elitist liberals, and indeed the Democratic party, have toward black Americans. . . .
One can only imagine the insanity and media outrage if Reid’s quote had come from a member of the Republican party. . . . Actually, if President Obama had any courage he would demand Reid step down as Senate Majority Leader, and discontinue any support for his Senate reelection… notice I said “if.” I am quite sure the Soros money which elevated Obama to the position of President has bought his servitude.
Why am I running for US Congress as a Republican? Simple. I would rather stand proudly and be called “an Uncle Tom and a sellout” than lose my self-esteem and be considered an inferior by liberals. . . .

Read the whole thing. I’m very grateful for Lt. Col. West’s expression of a basic truth: Liberalism’s stance toward blacks — as toward women, Hispanics, gays, “workers” and other token victim-group members of the Democratic coalition — is one of patronizing condescension, telling these people that they are incapable of pursuing success as individuals, but are in permanent need of government assistance as groups.

Necessary to that worldview is the belief that there is a conspiratorial oppressor (e.g., “Corporate America,” the Religious Right, the patriarchy, etc.) against whom liberals will lead the crusade to secure the natural condition of equality that the oppressors allegedly prevent.

It simply isn’t so. This perverse Us-Against-Them attitude, based on a false mythology of perpetual victimhood and oppression, is a fiction that falls to pieces the minute you begin to examine it in any critical fact-based manner. Are the problems of black Americans (or gays, or women, etc.) in the 21st century really all the fault of demonized oppressors? Or is the liberal victimhood ideology just a sort of conspiracy theory, akin to the blame-the-Jews propaganda of anti-Semites?

A revolution in worldview is possible — to anyone, of any race, sex or condition — merely by pursuing opportunity and finding occasions for gratitude, rather than negatively seeking out causes for grievance and grumbling. You may never become rich or powerful, but your life will be more positive, pleasant and productive once you realize that there’s no point blaming someone else for your problems. Everybody has problems, and most of our problems are ultimately self-inflicted.

As a society, once we accept the fallen nature and imperfectibility of mankind, we realize that there is neither any Golden Age in the past toward which we may return, nor is it possible to legislate our way to a future Utopia of perfect equality.

Allen West is clearly a man who has contemplated these truths, who asks of life no more than he can rightly obtain by his own effort, and who urges others to pursue the same path of honor and wisdom.

GO WEST!

UPDATE: Just announced via Twitter, Allen West will appear Tuesday on Neil Cavuto’s Fox Business program at 6 p.m. ET.

Was Harry Reid Wrong?

Posted on Comments

This “light-skinned . . . no Negro dialect” controversy raged while I was on the road yesterday. Somebody told me it about Reid’s remark while I was at a Tea Party event in Altadena, Calif., from which I went straight to the airport for the long flight home. Excuse me, therefore, for being late to the Reid roast.

Of course, conservatives are generally denouncing the hypocrisy and double-standards involved here, asking, “What if a Republican had said what Harry Reid said?” Fair enough. On the other hand, Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post has a point:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acted like an idiot.
Also, he was right.
It’s a measure of the suffocating culture of political correctness that it feels risky to say that. It’s a measure of the insulting how-dumb-do-they-think-we-are culture of incessant partisanship that Republicans leapt on Reid’s remarks as racist.

A good start, except that Marcus goes on to say:

For anyone in public life to use the word “Negro” in 2008 is beyond stupid. What was once polite has become demeaning.

Really? Merely to use “negro” is demeaning? OK, so what about “colored,” as in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People?

You can’t oppose political correctness while simultaneously enforcing political correctness Continue reading Was Harry Reid Wrong? →