Red Mass Group - Recommended Diaries

Obama to Accept nomination on Stage Resembling Ancient Temple

EaBo Clipper — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:30:36 GMT

Don't know if you saw this on Drudge but here is an aerial view of the Obama set for tomorrow night.

And we are the ones pushing the Obama is the messiah meme. It's all in our heads. I've got one question, how many lictors will be carrying fasces signaling imperium?

Updated picture after the jump

Beatty: Obama Not Ready to Lead, and John Kerry Never Has

EaBo Clipper — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:23:39 GMT

From a MassGOP Press Release:

US Senate Candidate Jeff Beatty said, "America can't afford to have Barack Obama and John Kerry bringing their remakes of the same, tired failed liberal policies of the past to Washington at a time when so much is at stake. Barack Obama is not ready to lead and John Kerry never has."
Beatty added,"As a U.S. senator, I'll draw on my experience as a business executive to develop and support comprehensive National Economic policies that pass the "common sense" test and I will use my leadership experience as a former FBI Special Agent, CIA counter-terrorism officer and member of the Army's elite Delta Force to pursue National Security policies that will truly secure America's future at home and abroad. We don't need a weaker America with Barack Obama and John Kerry, we need a stronger America with John McCain and Jeff Beatty."

The Texas Ballot Might Look Like This: [ ] Bob Barr.

Patrick — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:12:49 GMT

Word is spreading around the blogosphere that Obama and McCain have both failed to meet a deadline for appearing on the Texas ballot. The only candidate to meet the deadline was Bob Barr.

"Unless the state of Texas violates their own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot," says Russell Verney, campaign manager for the Barr Campaign and the former campaign manager for Ross Perot. "Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines."

The PoliTex.com blog says it is too good to be true.

Ah, but it was not to be. Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Ashley Burton said that upon further checking, "Both parties filed before the deadline. We expect their amended filings after both parties finish their nominating process at the conventions." Texas law, changed in 2005, requires that the parties submit their candidates names 70 days before the election. Problem is, neither party has gotten through their nominating process. The Texas Republican Party listed John McCain and "running mate" as their candidates, with an amended certification after the GOP convention in St. Paul. Obama and Biden will be certified after the Democratic Convention.

How would a judge rule if the law wasn't written to take into account late nominating conventions? Hopefully the Barr campaign pursues this. It would be nice to see the major parties run afoul of ballot access laws.

Obama in Never-Before-Aired Nightline Interview from 2004 Disses 'Cut and Run' Proposals from Iraq

Cool Cal — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:16:48 GMT

A very interesting story on tonight's Nightline.

It was a very different time, the Iraq war was just over a year old, and then-State Sen. Barack Obama was in a very different place.
In 2004, former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel interviewed the keynote speaker of the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
It never aired, though it will air tonight.

What did Obama have to say about cutting and running in Iraq in 2004?

Obama continued, "All of us assume that when we make that commitment, that we have to finish the job, we owe it not only to the troops who sacrificed their lives, but also the Iraqi people.

Be sure to read the whole thing. Koppel owns Obama.

New McCain Ad: Obama Dangerously Unprepared To Be President

Rick — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:48:11 GMT

"Don't tell me words don't matter..." Barack Obama 2/16/2008

I guess they only matter when you have to defend them

Moonbat Mob Attacks Michelle Malkin

Rick — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:21:40 GMT

What if they held a riot and no one came? By Michelle Malkin

DENVER -- Never was so much hype created by so few to simulate the appearance of so many.
The hard-core left vowed to turn out 50,000 protesters for the Democratic National Convention this week. They pledged to "Re-create '68" and cause the kind of tear-gas-infused revolutionary havoc that marked the DNC in Chicago four decades ago. Police prepared for the worst riots. Media from around the world anticipated the best pictures.
But when rhetorical push came to real-life shove, the nostalgic, Marx-adoring organizers of Re-create '68 seem to have mustered no more than, oh, 68 bodies. Their presence here is dwarfed by the massive show of police, press and camera-toting looky-loos. You can't take a picture without someone else taking pictures of everyone else taking pictures of not much else getting in your frame.
The chaos-inducers' mouths were a mile wide. Their crowds have been an inch deep. What's left of the leftover '60s movement is all sizzle and no steak. Or veggie burger. Deep-fried tofu. Whatever...
Finally, in a sorry attempt to re-create Abbie Hoffman's satirical stunt aimed at levitating the Pentagon, a dozen Re-create '68 stragglers dressed up like the cast of "Harry Potter," wielded magic wands and joined hands to float the Denver Mint. The Mint stayed firmly on the ground. To salvage the abysmal turnout, an unhinged contingent of 9/11 conspiracy theorists started barking at me. One buffoon shouted, "Kill Michelle Malkin," while the levitation experts chanted, "Peace and Justice!" and a wizard paraded around in his "Arrest Bush" T-shirt with Che Guevara promoters tossing fake quarters in the air.
To paraphrase a favorite left-wing bumper sticker slogan, discombobulation is the highest form of patriotism. Blame bankrupt ideology, not the altitude.

Gingrich for VP

EaBo Clipper — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:56:48 GMT

There I said it. I want John McCain to pick Newt Gingrich as his running mate. There is no-one on our side better qualified to go to intellectual battle with the Democrats than Newt. He would eat Joe Biden alive and spit him out. He is a brilliant thinker and politically savvy. Not that I have any sway with the McCain camp but I want Gingrich the time is now.

Bob Barr Polling Double Digits?

nomad943 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:29:57 GMT

Well, this news certainly comes to me as a surprise, especialy since the man has gotten absolutly zero press

http://www.seacoastonline.com/...

Will Obama Support Our Troops Success?

Rick — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:27:44 GMT

Senator Obama has repeatedly denied the success of the surge, credited anything but the surge for reductions in violence in Iraq, and attempted to doom it to failure before it was even fully implemented. Senator Obama in his own words:

“The surge is not working,” Obama’s old Iraq plan stated (on website). Daily News, 7/14/08 "We don't need more spin about how the surge is succeeding in doing what it was supposed to do which is to get the Iraqi's to stand up and take responsibility for their own future, so we can start sending ourtroops home." Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At a Town Hall, Rapid City, SD, 5/31/08

"I welcome the genuine reductions of violence that have taken place, although I would point out that much of that violence has been reduced because there was an agreement with tribes in Anbar province -- Sunni tribes -- who started to see, after the Democrats were elected in 2006, you know what, the Americans may be leaving soon, and we are going to be left very vulnerable to the Shi'as. We should start negotiating now. That's how you change behavior." Democratic Debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H, 1/5/08

“So, I think it is fair to say that the president has simply tried to gain another six months to continue on the same course that he's been on for several years now. It is a course that will not succeed.” Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate 9/13/07

"I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." MSNBC's "Response to the President's Speech On Iraq," 1/10/07

"The Problem -- The Surge: The goal of the surge was to create space for Iraq's political leaders to reach an agreement to end Iraq's civil war. At great cost, our troops have helped reduce violence in some areas of Iraq, but even those reductions do not get us below the unsustainable levels of violence of mid-2006. Moreover, Iraq's political leaders have made no progress in resolving the political differences at the heart of their civil war." Obama For America Website, Accessed 7/3/08

Senate Resolution 636

Resolved, That the Senate--

1. Commends and expresses its gratitude to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces for the service, sacrifices, and heroism that made the success of the troop surge in Iraq possible;

2. Commends and expresses its gratitude to General David H. Petraeus, General Raymond Odierno, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker for the distinguished wartime leadership that made the success of the troop surge in Iraq possible;

3. Recognizes the success of the troop surge in Iraq and its strategic significance in advancing the vital national interests of the United States in Iraq, the Middle East, and the world, in particular as a strategic victory in a central front of the war on terrorism; and

4. Recognizes that the hard-won gains achieved as a result of the troop surge in Iraq are significant but not yet permanent and that it is imperative that no action be taken that jeopardizes those gains or dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who made those gains possible.

Is Taxation Voluntary?

nomad943 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:10:35 GMT

A most impressive interview.

Huck Attacks Mitt on Marriage

Laurel — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:38:32 GMT

You know, I usually enjoy watching two prominent republicans sink their fangs into each other's throats. But I have to say that I think Huckabee is really off base on this one.

After the SJC passed down the Goodridge ruling, Romney very correctly followed the law and made sure not to directly stand in the way of the commencement of same-sex marriage. Rather, he took the more honorable, front door approach to protest and aided the efforts towards a constitutional amendment. Well now Huckabee has a thing or two to say about it.
From a recent CNS interview, "Online with Terry Jeffrey".

Huckabee: ... You know, it's interesting, the California decision as well as the Massachusetts decision, I don't think should ever have been implemented by the governors, Schwarzenegger and Romney. They were both decisions that the governors simply could have said the court has said that we have to do it, but let them enforce it. Because those were administrative decisions that had to put that in place and there was no mandate.

Jeffrey: Right, but Governor Romney actually went ahead and certified same-sex marriages without an act of his state legislature.

Huckabee: It should never have happened. It should never have happened. And while we want to blame the courts-

Jeffrey: Does that disqualify him as a vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party?

Huckabee: Well, you know, I've not probably been an advocate for him in that position. And, you know, I am going to let him defend himself. And I don't want to relive the primary. But I think that that was a very unfortunate position that he took in saying that, "Well, I can't do anything about it." Oh, yes you can.

Jeffrey: You hold him responsible for the same-sex marriages in Massachusetts?

Huckabee: Not singularly. I hold him responsible for implementing-

Jeffrey: He could have stopped it?

Huckabee: He could have stopped it, and should have stopped it.

Jeffrey: And if you were governor of Massachusetts you would not have gone ahead and-

Huckabee: I would not have done that.

Jeffrey: You would not have had the clerks and justices of the peace-

Huckabee: Absolutely not.

Jeffrey: Certify those marriages?

Huckabee: In my state, we passed an amendment to our constitution that declared marriage to be one man, one woman, by a 70-percent margin. I would have said that the people have a stronger right, if you will, than does one of three branches of government. And when you have a legislature, an executive branch, and the people, all lined up agreeing that marriage means man and woman, you can't have a court overturn the collective will of all those other bodies. That, again, it goes back to ninth grade civics. The courts aren't that powerful, never were intended to be.

Jeffrey: Governor Romney should have stood up to the Court and said, "No"?

Huckabee: He should've.

So what's Huckabee after with all this? After all, he's borrowed the rhetoric of MassResistance, the SPLC-certified hate group. Certainly MFI-VOM did not buy into this rhetoric.

The article containing the above transcript reminds the reader that:

In a 4-3 decision issued on Nov. 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in Massachusetts. The court gave the state legislature until May 17, 2004 to enact legislation to allow such marriages to take place.
In the intervening time, the Massachusetts legislature did not enact a law codifying same-sex marriages. Before the May 17, 2004 deadline, however, then-Gov. Romney directed that the words "bride" and "groom" on Massachusetts marriage applications be changed to "Party A" and "Party B."
Romney's chief legal counsel, Daniel Winslow, told justices of the peace in Massachusetts that they should carry out the decision of the court and perform same-sex marriages or resign.
"My message was: 'You took an oath, and you don't have to agree or disagree with the law, you took an oath to uphold the law. Your only job is to follow the law,'" Winslow told Pete Winn of CNSNews.com in January. "We'll leave it to the courts to litigate what the law is, but once the courts have ruled, if you've taken an oath under the constitution, you have to follow your oath."
[...]
In fact, after the court-ordered May 17, 2004 deadline, then-Gov. Romney himself-who opposes same-sex marriage--did not allow all same-sex marriages to go forward in Massachusetts. Citing a 1913 Massachusetts law that said the state should not carry out marriages of individuals from other states if those marriages would not be recognized in the individuals' home states, Romney told clerks in Massachusetts not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples from out of state.

I am on record as despising Romney for resuscitating the moribund 1913 anti-miscegenation law. However, he was within his rights to do so since it was still on the books and hadn't been ruled unconstitutional. If even I can see that, why won't Huckabee cut Romney a break here? Is he trying to undermine people's trust that Romeny isn't a pro-gay wolf in sheep's clothing? It seems pure vindictiveness on his part, because I can't imagine that he has any chance of being selected McCain's VP. So what other reason is there for this interview at this time?

h/t Chino Blanco

More bad news. Colorado slipping away!

Karl Marx — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:52:39 GMT

The word is that Barr is drawing votes away from McCain in this once Republican stronghold, the libertarians are straining the GOP coalition. Democraphic favor the Democrats. More liberals are moving into the state and there's a large immigrant population, a key to growing Dem majorities statewide and natinoally. (Has anyone heard from Tancredo lately?) Is Colorado ready for Obama? Apprently the GOP brand is so damaged the media takes glee in the little armies of Jim Leaches.

In Colorado, Democrat Betsy Markey, 52, is challenging three-term Republican Marilyn Musgrave, 59, in the congressional district that includes Larimer County, which hasn't elected a Democrat in 38 years.
Markey raised 40 percent more money last quarter than the Republican incumbent, drawing new supporters such as Steve Levinger, a lifelong Republican.
Levinger, 45, a hotel owner in Fort Collins, said he is disgusted by ``the mess'' his onetime party has ``gotten this country into.''
``I wouldn't vote for a Republican now if they were the last person on Earth,'' he said.

More here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...

We may all be staring into the wilderness.

3AM 2.0

EaBo Clipper — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:47:47 GMT

Whoever is running John McCain's ad shop deserves a raise. These web ads get better and better.