Numbers.

A tale of two rallies at the Lincoln Memorial.

If This Is True, Then James O'Keefe Is An Douchebag.

I am A Tea Party, South Park Republican.  And there is no doubt James O'Keefe has done more than anyone to expose the hypocrisy and criminality of The Left / Mainstream Media in these last five years. He has gone after the truth where no one else would dare.

But this goes WAY beyond the pale. This wasn't about exposing abuse or fraud by the Democrats and their hangers on. This appears, from what the article indicates, to be a petty, personal vendetta.

Jim Letten is a friend of mine. He is, without a doubt, one of the finest and most honorable men I have had the pleasure to know. Know his wife and kids, too. And for O'Keefe to try to embroil them in his anger is not 'guerilla journalism'.  It is simply despicable. Despicable.

One correction, though, is necessary.  The article's insinuation that O'Keefe's ACORN videos were not accurate is bullshit.  They were no more "selectively edited" than a 60 Minutes expose video is "selectively edited".  Plus, O'Keefe released the full raw feed which backed the up his conclusion.  Ever see Morley Safer do that?

We Have Met The Enemy...

...And he is us. It's time we grew up and started paying our own bills, not looking for someone else to pay them.

We Didn't Start The Fire.

Nor, apparently, did Rick Santelli. Let The Yacht Club Boys tell it. In 1936:



Hattip: Small Dead Animals.

Waiting For Perry?

Since Chris Christie won't run, is Texas governor Rick Perry the next best hope for the GOP in 2012? Some say yes. Considering the parade of has-beens, ankle-biters, and wanna-bees the Republicans have put forward so far, I'm disposed to agree. I want ot see more, though, before I sport a Perry pin.

We're Too Good To Call You Racist, Ignorant, Rubes Names.

If you consider yourself a conservative, or believe in individual liberty, or believe government isn't the answer but the problem, The Episcopal Church (tm) hates you:

But here they are, the nutcases, parading in prime time as if they were a legitimate alternative in a deeply divided nation that is struggling with huge and vexing issues.

Thanks to Rupert Murdoch, they even have their own television network to legitimize streams of vitriol, conspiracy theories, fears, rages, and suspicion. In the brave new world of leveling-by-Internet, anybody can say anything and claim to be an authority.

Who's to say a website is packed with lies or useful information? For example, I followed the thread of a comment by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., criticizing Tea Party folks for threatening other people's free speech. By the time his original words had fanned out to two dozen right-wing websites, they had morphed into a preference for terrorists over Tea Partiers.

Here is the "comment" by Sen. Lautenberg to which the Rev. Ehrich apparently alludes. Listen to the linked video closely.

“They [Tea Party Republicans] don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution, but we’ll give it to them anyway.”

Two points here:

First, in 2006 Lautenberg voted to preserve habeas corpus, a constitutional right, for Guantanamo detainees. So yes, Rev. Ehrich, Sen. Lautenberg does believe Islamofascist terrorists, who are trying to kill us in the name of their God, are more deserving of the blessings of our Constitution than his fellow Americans, like myself, who disagree with his politics but want to kill no one.

Second, and more foundational to this whole national debate, is the Senator - as do most of The Left / Mainstream Media - seems to think our Rights come from government. Government "gives" them to us; and government can take them away. We conservatives and Tea Partiers - who the Rev. Ehrich implies are the "bigots who burn, shoot and shout" - believe as our Founders did: Our Rights are derived from our Creator (whoever or whatever we may believe that to be). They cannot be taken away (only repressed), and the whole reason our government exists is to secure those Rights. This is the core of the American experiment. This is also a point Rev. Ehrich misses entirely, or ignores because he believes, as does Sen. Lautenberg, in the Monarchist / Marxist notion that Rights come only from government.

"The American People Did Not Send Us Here To Fail."

Speaking truth to power. Somebody needs to chisel that over the over the front door of the US Capitol.

Just Following Orders.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-CNN) makes a point:

He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."

"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."

And Democrats spending money we don't have hand over fist is what, exactly? It sure as hell isn't sound fiscal policy. If I were Speaker Boehner, I'd label it "malfeasance".

A New National Anthem?

I could live with this.

The Tea Party Is Dead!...

...Long Live the Whiskey Party! :

Forget the Tea Party. What we need is a Whiskey Party. It’s going to take a stiff drink and stiffer spine to tackle our nation’s budget crisis. So far, we have few volunteers.

Indeed.

Considering the tin-ears of the Democrats and the political waffling from some the new GOP Congresscritters, I think it will take, ironically, a much stronger elixir than tea to get us fiscally sober.

Baton Rouge Whiskey Party is hereby formed!

Hattip: Instapunit.

Have You Now, Or Have You Ever Been, Critical Of A Government Official?

Because, in today's America it could get you a visit from your local sheriff and the FBI.

The Left / Mainstream Media like to remind us, back when they were fighting "The Establishment" in the 1960's, that the actions of the government toward them - police raids, FBI wiretapping, etc. - were tyrannical, antithetical to freedom and liberty, and jack-booted stomping all over the Constitution. But now that they are The Establishment, they've gone all Nixonian, drawn up enemies lists, and justified harassing the opposition on national security grounds. (I wonder, is the case of Mr. Bowler of Greene County, Missouri, an isolated incident? Hmmm... -ed.)

I agree that public officials - indeed, all Citizens - need protection from those who want to do them physical harm. And if someone is a credible threat under The Law, then yes, they should get a visit. But calling your elected representatives to account for their actions (or, inactions) and harming their chances at the polls by dissent, does not rise to that level. Instead, it is the Right of every Citizen (See Amendment, First) in a free society.

If dissent was patriotic in 1971 (Vietnam, Nixon), 1981 (Reagan, Cruise Missiles), 1991 (Gulf War), and 2001 (9/11, Afghanistan), it is still patriotic in 2011.

UPDATE: Related.

Abraham Lincoln: Selfish Racist Tea-Bagger.

Really:

“I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men's rights”

Hattip: Instapundt.

Journalism 101.

Well, it beats having to find those icky facts.

A Winning Game Plan.

Red State points out our best chance to take back this nation from The Left/Mainstream Media: It is time for Social Conservatives and Fiscal Conservatives to come together. I agree. Read it all.

Classical Values has more.

The Left/Mainstream Media, a consistent numerical minority in this nation, has defined us and divided us for far too long for their political advantage. And, we have let them. They have played our fears of each other against us, and turned that into a winning strategy to acquire power. Since they have no new ideas to offer (their true goal of 19th century European bureaucratic collectivism has been repeatedly rejected by most Americans), divide and conquer is the only strategy The Left/Mainstream Media have anymore. It is up to us to ally and take that away. Too much is at stake, since a bankrupt state will soon lose it's morals (see Wiemar, 1932...) and a state without morals will soon bankrupt itself (see California, 2010). Our uniting is their nightmare scenario, which is why they have gone after the Tea Party Movement so hard. They know if we FiCons and we SoCons do come together for more than a photo-op, their secular religion of socialism, progressivism, liberalism, "transformational change" is toast.

Reichstag Fire, Disastrous Floods. It's The Same.

Taking the "don't let a crisis go to waste" concept to it's inevitable, constitution-shredding conclusion, Venezuela's National Assembly gives socialist strongman Hugo Chavez the power to rule by decree for the next 18 months. And just before the new, recently elected anti-Chavez Assembly comes to office. Imagine that.

Obama is likely kicking himself for not thinking of this one.

Um, Does anyone know how to say "tea party" in Spanish?...

Making A Bottomless Purse Out Of A Sow's Ear.

My friend Christopher Johnson reminds us not to put away our Gadsden Flags just yet: The lame duck Pelosi/Reid Congress is trying to pass, at the last minute, a 2,000 page, nobody-has-read-it, budget. And, it is loaded with bring-home-the-other-guy's-bacon, who-gives-a-damn-many-of-us-won't-be-here-in-a-month-anyway, spending requests - those infamous ear-marks we hear about.

According to John McCain, there are 6,488 earmarks in this bill alone. And, according to this, 104 of those belong to 'Miss Louisiana Purchase', Senator Mary Landieu (D), and 48 belong to Louisiana's 'Mister Tea Party Conservative', Senator David Vitter (R?).

Which beings up an interesting point: How bad are our Bayou Congresscritters when it comes to bribing us with our own money; or, more accurately, bribing us with money from the Red Chinese?

Well, in order to keep the public informed and small children amused (or, is that the other way around? -ed.), here's how many times in FY 2011 our Louisiana delegation has tried to put their mark on the sow's ear:

(Note: Each 'page' represents 20 requests for an ear-mark, but the last page may not be full - so it's not a straight multiplication to get the number of requests. -ed.)

Senators:

Mary Landrieu (D): 36 pages.
Surprised? She sold her vote on Health Care for $300 million, for pity's sake. Hope she has a fallback job lined up for 2015.

David Vitter (R): 10 pages.
Eh tu, David?... Tea Partiers don't like being cheated on. We have long memories, and Internet connections. You better straighten up. Fast.


Representatives:

Steve Scalise (R-01): None.

Joseph Cao (R-02): 4 pages.
Considering his district, not really a surprise. But, it makes his post-election turn to the right seem pretty hollow. Expect a lot more requests from Democrat Cedric Richmond come January.

Charlie Melancon (D-03): 4 pages.
Like a good Democrat, Charlie was getting while the getting was good. Don't expect the same from Republican Jeff Landry in January.

John Fleming (R-04): None.

Rodney Alexander (R-05): None.

Bill Cassidy (R-06): None.

Charles Boustany (R-07): None.

Today's Required Reading.

Bill Whittle adds a new, 7th installment to his What We Believe series of video essays. Watch it all:



If you haven't seen them, the first six installments are here. Nice way to spend Black Friday.

Picture - A Thousand Words. Video - An Election.

Don Surber: Video Killed The Congressional Star. Indeed. And the score is...

Army Of Davids 3, People Who Forgot Who They Work For 0.

So far.

Hattip: Glenn Reynolds.

Refudiate This.

Hey, all you Lefty, NPR-listening, smarter-than-us-teabaggers folks - how many 'Word of the Year' words have you added to the English language?

'Downfall' - Post Election Edition.

Almost as good as the 'Downfall' iPhone 4 leak...



Hattip: Powerline.