Common Sense Political Thought

. . . we’ll be happy to give it to them!

Too much snow? Not in B.C.¹

Moguls skiers, due to compete this weekend, were taking the lack of it in stride yesterday.

VANCOUVER - Trucks and helicopters were still dumping snow onto Cypress Mountain yesterday to get the Olympic venues ready for the Games, which open Friday.

The first event scheduled is women’s moguls qualifying on Saturday, with the finals to be raced later that day.

“I’ve skied on rocks, I’ve skied on ice, I’ve skied in the rain. This is nothing,” World Cup champion Hannah Kearney said, ahead of her first pre-Olympic practice run. “It’s unfortunate for the beauty of the surrounding mountains . . . but I don’t think it is going to be a problem for us skiing.”

Only athletes and their coaches were allowed at training yesterday, when they were to get their first look at the conditions.

“For safety reasons and our desire not to have any of the course-preparation work impacted, we decided just to let on the people that are absolutely necessary for the training,” said Dave Cobb, executive vice president of the Vancouver organizing committee.

Well, here is the front page from today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, and all they’re talking about is the impending snow, how it’s going to break the snowfall record, and how local snow removal budgets have been strained.

Municipalities may need federal help after snow²

By Edward Colimore, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

With two major snowstorms in less than two months and a third on the way, municipalities are devouring snow-removal budgets and, without state or federal help, may be forced to cut services to cover winter’s costs.

New Jersey legislators are urging Gov. Christie to request emergency federal assistance to contribute to the municipal costs of plowing, sanding, salting, and overtime.

“This storm has already slammed our residents with heavy snow,” said Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester), one of the lawmakers calling for action.

“We don’t want to see them get slammed again with a property-tax increase when federal assistance may be available,” said Burzichelli, who is also mayor of Paulsboro.

In Philadelphia, the Dec. 19 snow cleanup cost $3.4 million, and the expense of last weekend’s storm - still being calculated - only added to budget burdens.

Communities in the Pennsylvania suburbs also were feeling the financial pinch. Some already have used up all of the money set aside for removal efforts.

[sigh!] Whenever costs are higher than anticipated, it’s always the feds who have to bail out people, companies, governments. How ’bout the cuts in other services option here?
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¹ - The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, 9 February 2010, p. E-7
² - The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, 9 February 2010, p. A-1

With the Obama Administration, sometimes the material just writes itself! From The Wall Street Journal:

Bush Was Right, Says Obama

‘We’re not handling any of these cases any different from the Bush administration.’

This weekend, Americans were treated to something new: Barack Obama defending his war policies by suggesting they merely continue his predecessor’s practices. The defense is illuminating, not least for its implicit recognition that George W. Bush has more credibility on fighting terrorists than does the sitting president.

Mr. Obama’s explanation came in an interview with Katie Couric just before the Super Bowl. Ms. Couric asked about trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York. After listing some of the difficulties, the president offered a startling defense for civilian trials:

“I think that the most important thing for the public to understand,” he told Ms. Couric, “is we’re not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11.” Mr. Obama went on to add that “190 folks”—folks presumably just like the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks—had been tried and convicted in civilian court during Mr. Bush’s tenure.

Leave aside, for just a moment, the substance. Far more arresting is that Mr. Obama now defends himself by invoking a man he has spent the past year blaming for al Qaeda’s growth. You know—all those Niebuhrian speeches about how America had gone “off course,” “shown arrogance and been dismissive,” and “made decisions based on fear rather than foresight,” thus handing al Qaeda a valuable recruiting tool.

More at the link.

Maybe the difference is that Senator Obama didn’t have any actual responsibility for the security of this nation, while President Bush did. Now that Senator Obama is President Obama, and he now does have that responsibility, he’s changing his tune.

Over the weekend the MD-DC area got 20 to 30 inches. Just being 2 miles into PA from MD, we got 24 inches. Now they are calling for 10 to 20 inches more Tuesday night into Wednesday.

(I added stimulus because snow removal creates jobs. 2010 election if it isn’t done right, politicians lose, And Hawai’i because I’d rather be there)

John Hitchcock noted this article from a site called Work in Progress, stating that the author had gotten the “vapors” because, surprisingly enough, some people actually like Sarah Palin.

There was an interesting juxtaposition on the Opinion page of today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, noting the same thing. Charles Krauthammer wrote:

Democrats vs. democracy¹

Liberals would rather believe the voters are stupid than actually listen to them.

‘I am not an ideologue,” President Obama protested to Republican House members recently. Perhaps, but he does have a tenacious commitment to a set of political convictions.

Compare his 2010 State of the Union to his first address to Congress, a year earlier. The consistency is remarkable. In 2009, after passing a $787 billion (now $862 billion) stimulus package, the largest spending bill in galactic history, he unveiled a manifesto for fundamentally restructuring the commanding heights of American society - health care, education, and energy.

A year later, after stunning Democratic setbacks in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, Obama gave a stay-the-course State of the Union address pledging not to walk away from health-care reform, seeking to turn college education into a federal entitlement, and asking again for cap-and-trade legislation. Plus another stimulus, this time renamed a “jobs bill.”

This being a democracy, don’t Democrats see that clinging to this agenda will march them over a cliff? Don’t they understand Massachusetts?

Well, they understand it through a prism of two cherished axioms: The people are stupid, and Republicans are bad. Result? The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.

There’s much more at the link, but it’s basically a recitation of how the Democrats in general, and President Obama specifically, thought that the post 2008 election results were an aberration, and that the people who support conservatives and/or the Republican Party are somehow, well, just not very bright.

What caught my eye was this column, on the same page, by Steve Young, a former liberal talk-radio host and the author of “Great Failures of the Extremely Successful:”

The trouble with lefty radio²

Those of you who didn’t know the liberal talk-radio network Air America was actually broadcasting for the past six years shouldn’t start looking for it now. Last month, it filed for bankruptcy (again) and closed its mouths for good.

While liberal talk continues, listeners in many parts of the country can’t hear left-of-center voices without a good helping of Internet. Air America’s talkers had no foothold in the Delaware Valley other than a short, scattered stint on WHAT-AM (1340). Sure, there are some talented progressive talkers, but I challenge you to name one.

There have been assorted explanations for Air America’s failure. It “was undercapitalized and overmanaged,” said Jon Sinton, the network’s first president and COO. “New money came with strings. There was no stability in programming, and weak distribution made it tough to compete.”

Some attribute it to attitude. “Most of liberal talk has been angry and agenda-driven, not entertainment-driven,” said Andy Bloom, program director at WPHT-AM (1210), the broadcast home of conservative talk superstars. “Despite what most liberals think, the truth about Rush Limbaugh and the conservative talkers with large audiences is that they are entertainers first and conservatives second.”

All that may be, but the crux of liberal talk’s inability to match up to right-wing talk isn’t the business plan or the lack of a Limbaugh. It’s a failure to understand its audience.

Ahhh, but what was the failure to understand the audience? Why, it’s that our friends on the left are just too gosh-darned smart:

Before Limbaugh, talk radio was about wanting to know what you think. Today, it’s telling you what you should think. The liberal audience doesn’t work that way; reaching a consensus on the left is like herding cats.

Of course, conservatives and “dittoheads” are just mind-numbed robots, though at least Mr Young doesn’t come out and say that directly. Rather, he’s stating that our friends on the left are just too nuanced and intellectual for a liberal Limbaugh to have any success, and that the best that a liberal talker can do is to use satire.

Trouble is, the successful talkers on the left who do use satire are all doing so from one perspective: that their views and positions are simply settled truth, and those who disagree are just dolts. The Tea Partiers? Reduced to teabaggers — because that has an obscene connotation — but the fact that the Tea Partiers are complaining that we are taxed too much and spend too much is never really addressed, because our friends on the left so often seem to think that the argument is simply settled, and protesting What Should Be Done is a sign of mental laziness. The people who don’t believe we ought to be spending billions — if not trillions — to try to stop global warming are, for our friends on the left, failing to recognize “settled science,” and, with it, the settled questions of What Should Be Done.

Sometimes I wonder if this is why some of them seem so hostile to freedom of speech, at least freedom for speech in opposition to their particular beliefs.

Well, I’m sure that many of them will never understand how we evil Reichwing conservatives can possibly disagree with them, but, you know, that’s the funny thing about our democracy: sometimes, just when you think everyone simply must agree with you, the voters turn around and do something you just don’t expect, or like. It’s early yet, but I’m guessing that our friends on the left are going to get their feelings hurt come this November.
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Update @ 1735: Thanks to Donald Douglas, I found this article:

When somebody’s writing a book about modern-day conservatives, and titling that book “American Taliban…”

Over at DailyKos, Markos Moulitsas posts: “The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans.”

His lede:

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m putting the finishing touches on my new book, American Taliban, which catalogues the ways in which modern-day conservatives share the same agenda as radical Jihadists in the Islamic world. But I found myself making certain claims about Republicans that I didn’t know if they could be backed up. So I thought, “why don’t we ask them directly?” And so, this massive poll, by non-partisan independent pollster Research 2000 of over 2,000 self-identified Republicans, was born.

See, he started writing the book – title and premise already decided – and then went ahead and did some research. And that research – surprise! – confirmed what Kos already believed!

So we’re supposed to…what? Trust this poll? Really?

Believe it or not, the poll kinda makes Republicans look like idiots. Of course, if you hadn’t already arrived at that conclusion yourself, then this is your first-ever foray into good ‘ol American-style partisan political punditry. Welcome! And remember: polls suck, even when done by professional pollsters who cling to their neutrality like my youngest son to his stuffed dragon.

Via Memeorandum.

More: Ann Althouse calls it:

Wonderful anti-Republican PR results. They justify the fears people who are not Republicans have about the Republican Party.

UPDTATE - Kos’ Supposed ‘Non-Partisan’ Pollster a Barking Moonbat

UPDATE II - Did he just call me a demagogue?

It’s just more of the same, only attacking it from a different angle: you shouldn’t pay any attention at all to conservatives, ’cause they’re just a half-step removed from the Taliban, doncha know? While the Jawa Report noted just how “non-partisan” Mr Moulitsas’ pollster was, it only takes a couple of minutes to look at the poll results, as published on the Lost Kos, to see how ridiculous they are:

I must admit, however, that I expected fewer Republicans to back sex ed. Another big surprise:

WOMEN

Are marrigiages equal partnerships, or are men the leaders of their households?

Men 13
Equal 76
Not Sure 11

Should women work outside the home?

Yes 86
No 4
Not Sure 10

Phyllis Schlafly is crying. That looks a lot more enlightened than I expected, likely because the economic reality is that few people can get away with single-income homes. But whatever the reason, on this front, there’s progress. But that’s where the progress ends:

Should contraceptive use be outlawed?

Yes 31
No 56
Not Sure 13

Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?

Yes 34
No 48
Not Sure 18

Do you consider abortion to be murder?

Yes 76
No 8
Not Sure 16

Over a third of Republicans believe the birth control pill is abortion, which explains why nearly a third of them want contraceptive use outlawed. This is so wingnutty, it’s hardly believable. But it’s true, just a bare majority oppose outlawing contraceptives.

What we didn’t ask was whether the 76 percent who consider abortion to be murder would advocate executions for women who have them. Since 91 percent of respondents support the death penalty.

One last question:

Do you believe that the only way for an individual to go to heaven is though Jesus Christ, or can one make it to heaven through another faith?

Christ 67
Other 15
Not Sure 18

Two-thirds of Republicans assume anyone that is not a Christian is going to hell. It certainly makes it easier for them to dehumanize their enemies, either real or perceived.

Sorry, but a seventh grader could figure out that a supposedly scientific sample which held that women were equal partners in marriage, 76% to 13%, is simply not going to come up with a result that 31% want contraception outlawed, with another 13% unsure; a truly scientific study isn’t going to come up with the answer that only 4% of Republican respondents think women shouldn’t (be allowed to?) work outside the home, and that a third of them think artificial contraception should be outlawed. And if these “self-identified Republicans” are so opposed to artificial contraception, why aren’t we Republicans simply out-breeding the liberals by a huge margin?

The answer is simple: we’re not, because the “scientific sample” is wholly bogus.

You find this kind of propaganda all over the left blogosphere. Our good friend Amanda Marcotte, in her book It’s a Jungle Out There, tried to portray us wicked Reichwing conservatives as radically opposed to birth control, yet the only group she could document in her book was one called Quiverfull. Currently several thousand Christians worldwide identify with this movement. Several thousand worldwide? Yeah, now that’s a real movement! (Even considering that, I was unable to find, in an admittedly quick look at Quiverfull’s website, anything which said that contraception should be outlawed.)

My question is: do some of these people on the left really believe the stuff that they write, or do they know that it’s bovine feces?

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¹ - The Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, 8 February 2010, p. A-11
² - The Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, 8 February 2010, p. A-11

Everyone has their secret recipes for heavenly food. And everyone likes heavenly food. I’ve given a couple recipes (one that’s so easy a child (with adult supervision) can make it). So now’s your chance to give out your carefully guarded secret recipes to heaven on a plate (or in a bowl).

Are you a drunk? Do you own a gun? Did you drop out of school? Then, obviously you’re a Palin fan. Don’t take my word for it. Just listen to this leftist elitist pig:

The first question that comes to mind is how many empties of moonshine does one have to return to accumulate $1,100?
I wasn’t even aware they had recycling projects in the banjo-pickin’, cousin-marryin’, less learnin’-more earnin’ areas of the country from which Mrs. Palin supporters hail.
While I suppose we should all take comfort the $1,100 spent on the conference admission will reduce attendees’ ammo budget for the next few months, liberals are not the only ones who should be terrified by the idea of President Palin. All bipeds without feathers should be terrified of the notion of that arrogant know-nothing with access to the nuclear codes.
Nothing would ensure the reelection of President Obama than running against Mrs. Palin as the GOP candidate which is why it will never happen. But we can dream…

As Rick at Wizbang points out:

Let’s ignore the fact that Robert can’t seem to correctly reference the story he cites as to the convention’s admission price (it was $349 and not $1,100). Let’s instead hope that he and other liberals continue to make light not only of Palin’s abilities but of those who find her striking a chord.

It will make this November (and November in 2012) that much sweeter.

Keep pushing that idiotic elitist meme, leftists. Please, keep pushing that meme. Nothing works so well as to tell half the nation “I are smart and you is dumb.” I mean, to paint whole swaths of the country as incestuous? To claim whole regions reject recycling? To full-on hate the Second Amendment like that? If that’s your winning hand, play it for all it’s worth.

But if I had a hand like that, I’d call it a foot. Just sayin’.
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Cross Posted on Truth Before Dishonor

. . . and picked up SPC Pico from drill this afternoon. She’s now a Specialist, E-4. She was hoping for Corporal, but her detachment doesn’t have a billet for a Corporal.

And PVT Pico, who also had Reserve drill this morning — even though she hasn’t been to Basic Combat Training yet — was told that she should be promoted to PV2 (E-2) in April.

And after about 400 miles of driving today, I’m ready to hit the sack.

Clearing out a little bit of snow.