Archive for September, 2007

Ron Paul Is Seriously Flawed As A Candidate

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, 3rd Party, 7 Questions, Ron Paul

Now before you start jumping on me and calling me names, please understand that the title is what one of his supporters is saying about him in a recent post, and I’m guessing a lot more of his faithful are having the same fear too.
From dmiessler.com:
First off, let me just say that I am a [...]

September 12th, 2007 | Permalink| 82 Comments »

MoveOn Needs To Move On

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Partisan Hacks

Good job left-wingers.
By questioning the messenger and trying to discredit him before he had even delivered the message, you actually gave him more credibility in the eyes of nearly everybody who doesn’t share your far left views…that being 75% of the electorate.
See, they don’t like name calling, and they trust the military to give them [...]

September 11th, 2007 | Permalink| No Comments »

Dollar Hits 15 Year Low

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Money, The World

Yes, the lowest since, well, a Bush was President.
From FT:The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as the greenback continued to suffer from the prospect of a cut in US interest rates.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve would move to lower interest rates at its meeting on September [...]

September 11th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Powell Talks

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, History, Immigration, Military, The War On Terrorism, War

And I’m listening…
On terrorism:“What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it’s terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. [...]

September 10th, 2007 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Hillary Gives Back Hsu’s Bundled Cash

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Hillary, Money

This is big because it basically intimates that the money those San Fran residents living in that shabby house gave Hill could very well be dirty.
From the AP:WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation [...]

September 10th, 2007 | Permalink| No Comments »

Moderation Takes a Holiday

By Pete Abel | Related entries in Religion, Science

I pride myself in the labels “Centrist” and “Moderate.”  But on some issues (one, in particular) I’m increasingly compelled to set those labels aside.
That issue, the one that consistently makes my blood boil, is embryonic stem-cell research or ESCR.  I’m for it.  All the way.  1,000 percent.  And I just can’t bring myself to tolerate [...]

September 8th, 2007 | Permalink| 12 Comments »

Noonan On Ron Paul’s Debate Peformance

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Debates, Republicans, Ron Paul

She’s starting to understand that something’s going on and Republicans should take note.
From Opinion Journal:
The debate was full of fireworks about Iraq, about its essentials–the rightness of the endeavor, and what should rightly be done now. From the libertarian Ron Paul a blunt argument against the war: We never should have gone in and we [...]

September 7th, 2007 | Permalink| 12 Comments »

Iraq Facts, Strategies & Opinions

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Iraq, The World, War

Kevin Drum points me to a piece in Slate that discusses the opinions of General Petraeus and Stephen Biddle, a military analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations and an advisor to Petraeus.
First, some facts about the surge…
The surge will be over in April 2008, when the U.S. Army and Marines run out of deployable [...]

September 7th, 2007 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Norman Hsu Captured In Colorado

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Law, Money

The question remains: why did he run?
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado late Thursday after he failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction.
FBI agents took Hsu into custody at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., said FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler.
Hsu [...]

September 7th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Is Iraq like Vietnam? Lessons learned.

By mw | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Foreign Policy, History, Iraq, War

There were indeed lessons to be learned from Vietnam. One George Bush heeded those lessons. One did not.

September 6th, 2007 | Permalink| 11 Comments »

Why Isn’t Ron Paul Taken More Seriously?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Media, Partisan Hacks, Ron Paul

This is a question I’ve been asking myself lately, especially after he won yet another post-debate poll yesterday.
Seriously, it’s puzzling as to why the public or pundits aren’t taking Paul more seriously. Is it because he doesn’t fit into the mold of what a “conservative” is supposed to be anymore? Is it because his [...]

September 6th, 2007 | Permalink| 61 Comments »

Homeland Security: Not Ready, Too Big

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Homeland Security, The War On Terrorism

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office just released its report about our Department of Homeland Security and the findings aren’t encouraging.
From Wash Post:
The GAO states that after the largest government merger in more than half a century, the DHS met fewer than half of its performance objectives, or 78 of 171 directives identified by President Bush, [...]

September 6th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Obama On The Experience Gap

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack

If there’s one thing about Hillary’s campaign that bugs me the most, it’s this intellectually dishonest “experience gap” nonsense. That’s why I pointed out a couple days ago that the experience gap between Hillary and Obama was a myth because Obama has been a legislator a lot longer than Hillary. He just hasn’t been [...]

September 6th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Hsu’s On The Run?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Law, Money

Apparently he didn’t show up for his court date, and that has lead to speculation (by me) that he’s going to head back to China where he should have gone in the early ’90s if he wanted to avoid jail time.
First from LA Times:
Hsu’s attorney, James Brosnahan, explained that he had lost contact with Hsu [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Disturbing the Hibernation of Uninformed Voters

By Pete Abel | Related entries in 2008 Election

While discussing the Presidential candidates and party debates with my peers, I find it incredibly frustrating to receive blank stares when I mention names like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, or confused looks when I talk about the Hillary-Obama tiff over dialogue with despots, or the three GOP contenders who claim they don’t believe in [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

1000 Words

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 1000 Words

A massive, communal spider web that thousands of spiders shared has been washed away…
It is a sad day for spider-lovers.
Most of the webs that made national news are gone in Lake Tawakoni State Park — washed and blown away by the storms that hit Hunt County on Friday.
But that didn’t stop visitors from flocking to [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Obama Gets The “O” Factor

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Hillary

Could Oprah siphon off enough female support to get Barack nominated?
From Wash Post:
Oprah Winfrey, the nation’s wealthiest African American and host of an afternoon television program, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in May. Now, she is in discussions with his advisers about playing a broader role in the campaign — possibly as a surrogate on [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Larry Craig Back In…Maybe?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, Sexuality

More weirdness from the Craig camp…
U.S. Sen. Larry Craig says he might reconsider his decision to resign if he clears his name in his arrest for disorderly conduct in a restroom sex scandal.
That’s why Craig chose his words carefully during his resignation speech Saturday in Boise, according to a voice mail message he mistakenly left [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Is Iraq like Vietnam? Dubious history.

By mw | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Congress, History, Iraq, Military, War

This is the second of three posts examining the question “Is Iraq like Vietnam?” In our last post we concluded this is the wrong question for Americans to ask about our involvement in Iraq now. In this post we look at the President’s historical reference in the speech at the Veterans of [...]

September 5th, 2007 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Did Bill Richardson Really Say This?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Iowa, Religion

“Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary.”
Really?
It struck some Iowans as odd too…
“That was a little weird,” said Sioux City resident Joe Shufro. “I don’t know what God had to do with choosing Iowa among other states. I found that a little [...]

September 4th, 2007 | Permalink| 7 Comments »