DarkStar Spouts Off

Crist "Crisis"

I don't know why I was surprised that Crist would try to run as an
independent for the Senate. I think people who are in the Senate are
more likely to be extremely competitive and not take losing well. So,
Crist playing a spoiler by going independent, makes sense, especially
if he could win by splitting the vote.This makes clear the concern
Republicans have with the Tea Party people and this makes clear why
Steele and the rest of the GOP elites (HAH!) are trying to co-opt the
Tea Party people.

Android Apps

I think I'm going to get an Android cell phone. What are the top 5 apps?

Who Is Pulling the Race Card?

Here is a quote from this article (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Obama_seeks_to_reconnectyoung_people_AfricanAmerins_Latinos_and_women_for_2010.html?showall):

Obama speaks with unusual demographic frankness about his coalition in his appeal to "young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 [to] stand together once again."

Here is my question. Is that pulling the race card or are conservative critics of Obama pulling the race card by saying he is pulling the race card because he didn't mention white voters. Can I point out the obvious? "Young people" and "women" are white and Asian people in this context because "African-American" and "Latinos" are specifically called out.

Kick The Can, Violate the Constitution

Congress-critters refused to handle immigration and illegal immigration so the state of Arizona did so.

Who cares if the solution violates the Constitution? Who cares if "certain people" may now have to carry identification at all times when they are out in public? "May I see your papers, please?" Who cares if Phoenix is now ranked number two in the world in the number of kidnappings? Who cares if Mexican gangs are crossing the border and killing American citizens? Who cares if Mexican gangs are crossing the boarder and fighting against American local law enforcement? (Read with extreme sarcasm).

Blame congress, not Arizona.

Comments R Me: 2nd Amendment Rallys

I wrote the following in response to this post by Cobb. I thought the post was about the response to the 2nd amendment rallies in Virginia and in Washington, D.C.

Are you tempted to draw inferences from the positions of the white hands in the photo?

If he's a cop and I know it?

No.

If he's not a cop or is a cop and I don't know it?

Hell. Yes.

Does race in that context matter?

Hell. No.

Wait, strike that...

If he's a cop and he has a gun, and it's holstered, no problem.

If he's a cop and it's out of the holster, yeah I'm close to pissing my pants because I may be on the business end of the chamber.

Again, my point is context and that's why I know you are being intellectually dishonest with this post.

I don't recall Black, or white people at a 2nd amendment rally with firearms showing, happening before. Black people at gun shows? Sure. White people at gun shows? Sure. I've been to gun shows. But a 2nd Amendment rally when no gun control is being discussed?

In fact, the fear mongering and fear of Obama and gun control started the moment his nomination was clear. When he won, it picked up. This is despite the FACT that gun control was not mentioned by Obama NOR the Democrats. Pelosi and Boxer both said it wasn't on the table.

Interesting....

So, now I read your post where you appear to mock people who have concern or are questioning the 2nd amendment rally because of "inference" yet you say nothing about those people at the rally and why they are there BECAUSE of "inference"....

Cobb stated I incorrectly inferred the point of the post. That's fine, but I think my points are still good. It boils down to this: why now?

Perception vs Reality

As I understand it, a poll showed that a higher majority of Tea Party people believe that Obama favors Black people over white people than the general population:

More than half say the policies of the administration favor the poor, and 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with 11 percent of the general public.

Yet Obama has said that he is not the President of Black America and there are people who say that Obama is NOT doing enough for Black Americans.

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members on Wednesday criticized the Obama administration for not doing enough to help African-Americans through the bleak economy.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are headed to the White House for a meeting on jobs Thursday, and they’ll have a few words to say about how President Barack Obama is doing his.

The 43-member caucus is fighting through one of the most difficult periods in its 39-year history, and some members and aides said they’re getting far too little support from the nation’s first black president — a man they once believed would be their strongest champion.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) told POLITICO that White House officials are “not listening” to black lawmakers.

And you wonder about the side eye?

Not Long For His Position with AEI

I wonder how long it will be before this guy resigns from his position at the American Enterprise Institute. This op-ed piece by Norman J. Ornstein ends with this:

Looking at the range of Obama domestic and foreign policies, and his agency and diplomatic appointments, my conclusion is clear: This president is a mainstream, pragmatic moderate, operating in the center of American politics; center-left, perhaps, but not left of center. The most radical president in American history? Does Newt Gingrich, a PhD in history, really believe that [expletive]?

I think the screams will be starting with the talk shows.

Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed the media is now talking up the "possible" need for cut in services or a raise in taxes? Of course that means the media is talking up raising taxes. Right now, the talk is VAT tax but more is in the works.

More later...

[ UPDATE ]

From Bernanke 4/7/2010:

That brings me to two interrelated economic challenges our nation faces: meeting the economic needs of an aging population and regaining fiscal sustainability. The U.S. population will change significantly in coming decades with the combined effect of the decline in fertility rates following the baby boom and increasing longevity. As our population ages, the ratio of working-age Americans to older Americans will fall, which could hold back the long-run prospects for living standards in our country. The aging of the population also will have a major impact on the federal budget, most dramatically on the Social Security and Medicare programs, particularly if the cost of health care continues to rise at its historical rate. Thus, we must begin now to prepare for this coming demographic transition.⁶

...

To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above. These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off--until the day they cannot be put off any more. But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth.

Paul Volcker on the VAT and energy tax (4/7/2010):

White House adviser Paul Volcker said the United States may need to consider raising taxes to control deficits.

He also said a European-style value-added tax could gain support. 

The former chairman of the Federal Reserve who is an outside adviser to President Barack Obama, said the value-added tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past, according to a Reuters report.

Volcker made the remarks at a New York Historical Society event Tuesday night. Volcker also suggested that a carbon or energy-related tax may become necessary to bring the budget back into check. 

Lemonade And Cookies

I don't care what the "amendment" to the proclamation "corrected."

RICHMOND -- After a barrage of nationwide criticism for excluding slavery from his Confederate History Month proclamation, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) on Wednesday conceded that it was "a major omission" and amended the document to acknowledge the state's complicated past.

A day earlier, McDonnell said he left out any reference to slavery in the original seven-paragraph proclamation because he wanted to include issues he thought were most "significant" to Virginia. He also said the document was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

The declaration called on Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."

However, Wednesday afternoon the governor issued a mea culpa for the document's exclusion of slavery. "The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Confederate History Month contained a major omission," McDonnell said in a statement. "The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed."

To Gov. McDonnell and the proclamation supporters:

I piss on your confederate flag and I defecate on the proclamation, "adjusted" or not.

That is the same state that wanted to adjust the education curriculum to replace "slaves" with "citizens".

Some black conservatives question tea party's inclusiveness

The title of this post came from the title of this article.

I must say this is a good exercise in media representation or misrepresentation. I'm going to pull out selected quotes:

A year ago Brandon Brice was one of the primary speakers at the tax day "tea party" rally in New York. The 27-year-old African American, who calls himself a hip-hop Republican, felt at home with the fairly diverse crowd of protesters, shouting into the microphone: "We tell the federal government that it does not tell us what to do!"

Today, Brice says he is worried about the movement.

"It's strayed away from the message of wasteful spending and Washington not listening to its constituents, and it's become more of this rally of hate," he said. "The tea party leaders should apologize on behalf of the irresponsible comments that were made, but they should also stand very firm on where we stood and where they stood in 2009."

...

Yet Lenny McAllister, a Republican commentator and author, said he has seen racism within the tea party and has confronted it -- approaching people with racially derogatory signs of President Obama and asking them to take the signs down. Like Brice, he said leaders of the movement must not ignore the issue.

"I feel like the tea party movement is at its core a good thing for America. It is a group of citizens that have not been previously involved," McAllister said. "The people are speaking up and becoming more educated on the issues, but you have fringe elements that are defining this good thing with their negative, hateful behavior."

McAllister, who has spoken at several tea party gatherings, said the movement is more diverse than news clips show. "There is this perception that these are all old, white racists and that's not the case," he said.

...

Jean Howard-Hill, a moderate Republican who leads the National Republican African American Caucus, wrote that she is "not sure what's in the cup of tea."

"Any movement which cannot openly denounce racism, calling it out as wrong troubles me," she wrote. "To attack President Obama on his policy is one thing, but to do so on his race or some hysterical pretext of socialism is yet another."

I selected these quotes, and not those from Black conservatives on "the opposite side", because I think it's important to see Black conservatives who are making an oppositional stand to other Black conservatives which is somewhat in line with what the media is presenting as the "mainstream Black opinion". By this I mean, some Black conservatives seeming to agree with "mainstream" Black opinion.

And, at least for The Washington Post, since when have so many self proclaimed Black conservatives been mentioned in one article?

Go Elsewhere For Health Care

Go elsewhere for health care?

MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care "elsewhere."

"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."

The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

As I've written a few times, I'm not a fan of the "health care" bill, but I think all of the people cheering what the doctor posted are foolish and not thinking.

Suppose a patient of the doctor doesn't do well under the doctor's care. Suppose the patient then sues the doctor saying the doctor was against the "health care' bill while they, the patient, supported the "health care" bill and they think the reason why their treatment didn't do well is because of their opposing political views?

Then what?

Comments R Me: Not Conservative [ Enough ]?

Here's what I wrote in the comments on a post by Baldilocks:

Can anyone tell me why they think [ Ken ] Blackwell is more conservative than Steele?

Is it that Steele doesn't want to toss moderates? Can a Texas style conservative win in Rhode Island?

Is it that he spoke fact when he said, right now, like it or not, to get an abortion is a choice?

Is it that Steele wants to go after the minority vote and that is some how distasteful? What about Blackwell boasting that he received 50% of the Black vote when he ran for mayor? Or what about Blackwell publicly stating that if the GOP wants to target the Black vote, why hasn't he received any calls on how to go about it, when he got 50% of the Black vote?

As far as Blacks and the GOP and the GOP's attitude towards Black voters, J.C. Watts made the same commentary as Steele. In fact, Watts selection as a Republican leader in the House was seen as an affirmative action selection by some in the House.

Steele is Dead Man Walking but the comments that Steele isn't "conservative enough" by implication is a lot of bunk.

So how "conservative" does a person have to be before they are acceptable as being "conservative"?

What is the dividing line?

When you have the division of "conservative" as being neo-conservative and paleo-conservative, that lets me know the definition of "conservative" by so-called conservatives is a bunch of baloney.

Dead Man Walking

Play the race card is one thing. But when your supporters stop sending your organization money because of scandals involving money under your watch, you are not long for the position.

Steele firing his aide for the scandal was seen for what it was; scapegoating. An RNC member resigning saying he's doing so because of the money mess, and that person was someone who voted for Steele, is more grease for the skids.

DEAD.
MAN.
WALKING!

McNabb Traded to Washington?!?!??!?!

How do you trade McNabb to D.C.?!?!?!?!?

The Philadelphia Eagles traded Pro Bowl QB Donovan McNabb to their NFC East rivals, the Washington Redskins, on Sunday. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan confirmed the deal to USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell.

The Redskins will surrender a second-round pick this year (No. 37) and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year, Fox Sports and NFL.com reported.

Trading him, I can see. But to WASHINGTON?!?!?!?!?!

[ UPDATE ]

As I expected, Michael Wilbon writes a great piece on the trade. He gets to the human factor and it's a must read.

McNabb, it seems to me, will benefit from the change in scenery. I was agitating for the Arizona Cardinals, McNabb's hometown team because he has a home there, to do this the moment Kurt Warner, 38, retired, but they instead settled for Derek Anderson. The Chicago Bears, McNabb's real hometown team, should have gotten McNabb last offseason instead of giving up the farm for interception machine Jay Cutler; it would have been so much smarter. McNabb, at 33, isn't a long-term solution, but these days the smart teams play to win now, which is why the Jets and Vikings took a shot with old man Brett Favre, 40. Look at the success Warner had with the Cardinals.

And I've hoped Campbell would leave the management-coaching dysfunction that undermined his career and find a professional situation. That could have happened with Shanahan now in charge. But Campbell, no matter how hurt he probably is now, should drop to his knees and feel his prayers have been answered. With McNabb and Rex Grossman here, the Redskins don't need Campbell anymore and couldn't possibly match an offer he got elsewhere.

This is a good piece, seriously.

This Is An Interesting Quote

From a Cal Thomas opinion piece:

As the country shifts demographically from a white majority, to majority minority, I ask why the GOP has done so poorly among minorities, especially African-Americans. Gingrich responds: "In part there are very few conservatives willing to campaign for their votes. Why didn't President (George W.) Bush go to the NAACP convention for eight consecutive years and say, 'We need your help in liberating people'? I went around the country with Al Sharpton, who actually says the right things, and the reaction on the right is, 'how can you be associated with Al Sharpton'?"

Gingrich recalled an African-American man who "walked up to him after church and said, 'I notice you and the Rev. Sharpton care about children.' He didn't notice me, We have to decide whether we are prepared to go into every neighborhood in America, every precinct, knock on every door and say, 'there is a better future than a bureaucratic-welfare state-socialist model that is secular and will destroy our country and destroy our children's future.' "

This is interesting on many levels. Let me list a few:

1. Sharpton and Gingrich toured cities talking about education alternatives for Black children. They don't agree on vouchers but they did agree on charters and accountability of the school system and parents.
2. I don't recall if it was Gingrich who made the offer to Sharpton to tour discussing education or the other way around. But in either case, it shows a pragmatic approach that I like and have been criticized for advocating. For example, Blacks who complain about the "Prison Industrial Complex" and how "Blacks don't bring drugs into the country," should be teaming with Libertarians to change the gun laws. However, I still think that the "Prison Industrial Complex" isn't an issue and wouldn't be an issue if Blacks who did crimes didn't do the crimes.
3. An "undisputed conservative" says part of the problem with the GOP is that they don't try to go for the Black vote.

There are more, but that's enough for now.

Comments R Me: On American Conservative

Responding to this post on Booker Rising, I wrote:

On U.S. conservative:  
 
Believing in American Exceptional-ism is not being a conservative. That's called being an American nationalist.  
 
Open and free market capitalism is not a conservative principal. Ben and Jerry founders are hard core liberals who believe in capitalism as does Oprah Winfrey. Open an free market capitalism lead to Castro. It also lead to the establishment of anti-monopoly laws in the U.S.  
 
Defend the interests and ideals of America is defending the Constitution. "By any means necessary" can sometimes go into ILLEGAL means, meaning contradicting the Constitution. That's not being a conservative. The end does not justify the means.  
 
Believing in America is not being a conservative. Believing in America is being a nationalist.  
 
Conservative is a political belief system that must be constrained by the laws of the land.
 
If you are a conservative, you should believe that government run schools should not exist. It doesn't matter if it's locally government run. The government should not be involved in education.  
 
Finally, what percentage of so-called conservative ideals must a person adhere to before they can be called a "real" conservative?

I finish up by writing, from what I can tell, most people who say they are a conservative, really have no clue to what all of that entails nor have they taken a hard look at if they fully live by and vote by those values.