Popularity: 89% [?]

My blog is turning into the Jimmie Bise show, and frankly, I’m ok with that.

I sang his praises yesterday, and want to do so again. You’ve got to read this quote from his most recent podcast:

And look, let’s fact it. It’s not right that insurance companies right now have control of your health care. That doesn’t mean that we should put the control of your health care in the hands of the government. Insurance companies–at least you know what their motivation is. Insurance companies’ motivation is to make money. You know where they’re headed. What’s the government’s motivation to get better? What’s the govt.’s motivation to improve? There’s no motivation to improve. If the government had a motivation to improve, then social security would be earning you more than 3% a year. If the government had a motivation to improve, then soldiers at the Walter Reed Army medical center wouldn’t have had mold and mildew walls in their rooms. If the government had a motivation to improve your local department of motor vehicles wouldn’t be the pluperfect hell it is now. Government has no incentive to improve. What are they gonna do? What are you gonna do to ‘em? Once they have your health care, it’s done, bud. You’re done. And that’s what we have to avoid at all costs.

Learn more about the most recent episode of The Delivery or download it now via iTunes.

Popularity: 87% [?]

Jimmie Bise, proprietor of The Sundries Shack, has reemerged on the scene without any fanfare–exactly the kind of classy return that I’d expect from one of my favorite bloggers.

His writing is great and his podcast might even be better. Show his blog some love this week, by linking to one of his posts, downloading his podcast, or otherwise taking action to welcome him back and encourage him to continue. When he has the time to do research, he proves himself an invaluable asset to both the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

If you’re looking to advertise on a blog, to hire a writer, or just something new to read, look no further: The Sundries Shack is back.

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Matthew Warner of Fallible Blogma recently organized Catholic Speaker Month, calling on bloggers to post information about the top 100 or so Catholic speakers, as determined by him and his readers. I volunteered to sing the praises of Kathryn Jean Lopez–and I hope I can do her justice.

Kathryn Jean Lopez has long served as an inspiration to me because she successfully balances two hats in her writing career: politics and religion. Sure, Lopez is the editor of National Review Online and contributors almost hourly to The Corner blog on the site, but she also makes time to frequently craft columns for nonpolitical Catholic newspapers, magazines and websites. Looking for two recent examples of her work that cover her spectrum? Read “What do women want?” and “Setting a new standard for Catholic colleges” for a quick sampling.

I first became a fan of “K-Lo,” as she’s known among her fellow bloggers at National Review Online, while I was an intern at Townhall.com. In my circles, Lopez was a bit of a celebrity, which is to say, she was smart and reasonable. It’s a bit like Intel, really. Our celebrities are not like your celebrities.

Continue reading…

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Great deal on ‘Persecution of Palin: How the Elite Media…’ by Weekly Standard’s Matthew Continetti! http://bit.ly/1rDWgB (via @mkhammer)

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Back when I re-launched my blog, I had visions of grandeur for a category on my blog called “On the Board,” but I’m sad to admit that I’ve done a terrible job following through. But no more. I’m committing to at least one post a week that puts something “on the board” or analyzes something that used to be “on the board.”

Let me back up.

The expression comes from an ESPN podcast and refers to the predictions that two guys make about sports. When they make predictions, they say, “Put it on the board!” to make it official. The Board, then, is the online record of their fantasy bets.

A friend of mine – a fan of the podcast – started using this expression to refer to the things in and around DC that he wanted to do. It doesn’t make sense because there was clearly no bet involved, and that element is pretty critical to the ESPN idea, but nevertheless, the phrase stuck. New museum opening up? Put it on the board! Restaurant week? Put it on the board! You get the idea.

How does this get back to me? Well, the way I see it, I’m not going to live in DC forever. There’s things about this town that drive me bananas and are driving me away from living in DC and/or the suburbs. But there area things I love, too. I love the history. I love the arts. I love that, for better or worse, there are so many things that I can do and see here that I can’t see and do anywhere else. Not to mention, so much of it is free!

I don’t want to ever move away and regret not trying attending that gallery opening, lecture, museum event or performance. So there you have the story of “on the board” and my intentions to track my non-political experiences around town.

A note: The Real Board online claims that the saying “put it on the board!” is almost trademarked. Hope that doesn’t create any problems, ha.

Another note: I’m also a fan of the UPS board.

Popularity: 97% [?]

Just sayin’.

Check out this Google ad that appeared in my Gmail tonight, just after 10pm, from the candidate who lost to Ken Cuccinelli:

Now, I’m new to the world of political web advertising, but it doesn’t take a professional to ask this question: Why is this guy running (read: paying for) Google ads to run at 10pm local time on election night? Maybe he should have put that money into advertising sooner–try, before the polls closed.

Regardless, congratulations to all the candidates who won this evening, particularly to Bob McDonnell, Ken Cuccinelli, and Chris Christie!

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I’m feeling extremely confident about Republican victories in Virginia and we might just pull through in New Jersey, too. All that’s left is for folks to vote – so please, if your state or district has elections today, do your duty – and to pray. Pray for the candidates and their families, regardless of the outcomes today, in thanksgiving that they stepped forward to be public servants and to strengthen our future leaders and the people who support them. Pray too for all the people of this great country, that we may choose our leaders wisely and have the strengthen to follow our consciences.

Popularity: 97% [?]