Semper Fidelis

Some People Spend An Entire Lifetime Wondering If They Made A Difference,
The Marines Don't Have That Problem.

President Ronald Reagan - 1985

Moonbat Mania

Just look at this knucklehead. LOOK AT HER!!!

One reason: Libertarians

Or GOP movement away from them, if you wish.

Gateway Pundit: Libertarians Help Democrats Take Control of Senate

A few thoughts on the election

From the master of conservative writing.

We have to accept the fact that the conservatives we sent to Congress in 1994 became the bloated, earmarking, tone-deaf toads of 2006. They thought they could do whatever they wanted, regardless of what their constituents think, and now they have been reminded of just who is working for whom. Remedying that sense of isolation and disconnect and unchecked power is why we have elections in the first place, and as to the consequences of it, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

I'm writing each and every one of my congresscritters today to let them know one very simple fact: Republicans did not lose the way they did because they held on to their conservative ideals. They lost because the Republicans acted like the Dimocrats, and alienated the very people who voted for them in the first place. Via Instapundit:

Over in Tim Blair's comment section, a guy named Dave S. said this:

"The Republicans lost and the Democrats won for the same reason -- they distanced themselves from their base. "

That's the sentence of the year, in my opinion.

We need to let the Republicans know that if they expect to win in 2008, they must return to the conservative principals they supposedly supported during the election years. Which means no more Denny Hastert protecting corrupt congresscritters. No more waffling on border security. No more "Well, mebbe we'll keep the tax cuts, but we'll vote on that later" bullshit. No more pork barrel politics that both sides of the political sphere practiced in recent years. Let's face the truth: Many of the Republicans in Congress were the very picture of what conservatives vote against, and it cost them. We have a chance to tell the Republicans exactly what they need to do in order to win elections, and I'm willing to bet that they'll be much more disposed to listen right now.

Yes, losing sucks. But rather than scream and yell and cry about it, we need to ensure that it doesn't happen again in 2008. Let's get cracking!

Perhaps I can add my thoughts to TVE's post below. Yes, the media controlled the debate. What did you expect? The MSM has been carrying the Dimocrats for years now. Without the biased reported from ABCCBSNBCCNNMSNBC, the Dimocrats wouldn't be capable of sniffing any seats in Congress. But what did the Republicans do when faced with this challenge? They just sat back and let it continue. The heavy lifting in the war of ideas wasn't done by any elected Republican, it was done by blogs, or talk radio, or other alternative media. It was very few and far between that an elected Republican came out and laid out THEIR thoughts. As the Dimocrats slung mud and crap everywhere they could, the Republicans did...... nothing. It wasn't until President Bush came out on the election trail and started asking "What plan, exactly, DO the Dimocrats have?" that people started to wake up and ask the same thing. What do you think would have happened if some Representative stood up a few months ago and asked that question? If the Dimocrats had been taken to task? "So, Ms. Pelosi, you have been criticizing the President for a while now. In plain words, what alternative plan do you have?"

The Dimocrats didn't have any plan they wanted regular Americans to know about, but nobody pushed that point until a few weeks before the election. That was a major foul-up, plain and simple.

So what's next? We lost some good people, plain and simple. But we also lost some dead weight. This isn't the end, so long as we work towards the next election. Let's clear out the trash in the next PRIMARIES, not general elections. And let's get the Republican party back to where they were in 1994, not 2006.

Perfect As The Enemy Of The Good - A Dose of Reality

So Rs got thrashed for not being the conservatives they should have been? They never will be. Democrats have never been the leftists that leftists want them to be, but they are a far more loyal and forgiving group it seems. I've seen a lot of this type of excuse from Rs since Tuesday night. Mark my words, the narrative from here on out will be "Voters threw Republicans out because of the Iraq war". It will stick and no amount denial on our part will change that. That doesn't mean I think Republicans deserved to be thrown out because of the Iraq war. No way. People have unrealistic expectations of the Iraq war. They were constantly told that it was going poorly because Bush and Republicans couldn't make it better. Democrats were NEVER expected to step up and present an alternative vision that would meet their expectations of what constituted victory (which they defined as nothing short of absolute tranquility, Iraq without bloodshed), and if you think that is going to change, then you have forgotten the NUMBER ONE reason why conservatives have found themselves in the minority in congress and without representatives like Rick Santorum - the Media carries the water for the Democrat party. If you don't control the debate, you don't win in the realm of ideas. Period. How much time did we spend debating how poorly Republicans performed as conservatives? Constantly. How much time did we spend debating how poorly Democrats were performing as their radical left wing base expects them to? We didn't. Oh sure there was a brief mention of this dynamic when Lieberman lost his primary to Nutroot Lamont, but that was the extent of it. Were any of the following issues solely Republican - corruption, earmarks, pork, Abramoff, improper dialogue with minor congressional pages? Hell no. But they were the issues that got the lions share of attention and Republicans were the only ones that were hounded relentlessly on them. Remember hurricane Katrina and the resulting chatter in congress? All the blame laid where? Ever see the video of the levee breaking? Probably not. It had been leaking at the location where it broke prior to the onset of the storm. The water did not flow out over the top of the levee system. The people most directly responsible for the tragic flooding were the local authorities. The rescue effort, when compared to previous rescue efforts, was nothing short of incredible. Yet! Blame Bush. Blame Republicans. On this and a meriad of other issues smug imbiciles like those at National Review endulged the idiotic accusations of Democrats and postulated half-hearted half-assed defenses for those who best represented them in government when they weren't conceding points to the opposition that should never have been conceded in the first place. The economy roared, and Democrats brayed about the Great Depression. And when Democrats weren't lying their ass off and denying us our successes they were virtually silent on the issues that would keep them from ever being elected. Now, however. More Anti-gun legislation? It's coming. Limits on partial birth abortion and abortion on demand or required parental consent? Try "federal funding for abortion". Despite the success of the Michigan referendum against race based preferences, I think it's safe to add the cause of creating a color-blind society to the ash heap as well. Democrat victim groups rest assured - you will retain your legally enshrined priveledge status. Tax rates? Increased! The global war on terrorism? Defensive posture. Think France. And Iraq? Cambodia. You think you've seen bloodshed there to date? You've seen nothing yet! America will disengage from areas desperately in need of a potent democratic ally. Iran? HAW! Sharpening Hezbollah's scimitars and eyeballing Israel as I type. North Korea? Our wasted bribe money will flow their direction yet again! They should start thinking of ways to spend it. The budget deficits that have been shrinking? Democrats will show you (or remind you) what "spending like drunken sailors" truly looks like. And the whole time this is happening, the Democrat Main Stream Media will lavish them with praise and affection. Casualties in Iraq will evaporate from the headlines and evening news reports after congress forces our withdrawal from Iraq, as will worries about the health of the military. Lessons? Know what lesson Republicans will learn? Be like McCain. Be more like Democrats. They win. I realize I'm bucking conservative punditry conventional wisdom regarding the "why" of our 2006 election losses and what the prudent way forward should be, but when we're still getting our asses kicked and Republicans are acting more and more like Democrats all while blustering about how we need to rededicate ourselves to the principles of the Contract with America, ask yourself where expecting perfection from Republicans has gotten us. Ask yourself if Democrats are discussing earmarks, pork, budget deficits, spending restraint, or limited government and if WE are discussing those things why they aren't having an impact on Democrat fortunes. You want a way forward? Lead. Fight harder. Stop expecting a limited number of elected Republicans to take the lead on every issue and fight the opposition party, the news media, and the entertainment industry on their own. We can't let Democrats and their Media continue to set the subjects, focus, or tone of the national debate. If we do, our status as the minority in government will be permanent. And cut the introspective crap.

Pelosi’s America...

...is Europe.

Scary: the foreign policy implications.

What was it I posted yesterday night? Here:

BIG: Virginia LOST

HUGE: Missouri LOST

MEGAHUGE: Maryland LOST

LOOKING GOOD: Tennessee WON

WOULD BE HELPFUL: Montana LOST

I can't believe Missouri was lost.

Dems take the House

Get ready for two years of shrill screeching from Bela Pelosi and the other assorted anti-American communists in the Dimocrat Party.

The only good thing that can come from this is that the entire country can now see just how empty the Dimocrats are. No ideas. No plans, other than ramping up taxes, de-funding our military, surrendering the War on Terror, and attacking Republicans, and attempting to impliment their "progressive" agenda.

I don't know who I'm angry at more: The people who elected the Dimocrats, or the Republicans who screwed up so badly that they allowed the Dimocrats to make these gains. Let's hope this is a wake-up call for the Right. Hell, let's hope that this is a clue-by-four to the foreheads of every Republican in office.

And maybe next Primary season, we can effect some change to the Republican party.

The Big Ones

BIG: Virginia

HUGE: Missouri

MEGAHUGE: Maryland

LOOKING GOOD: Tennessee

WOULD BE HELPFUL: Montana

The hell with it

I'm going to bed. The last thing I feel like doing is waiting up for news that I can get tomorrow.

Keep yer fingers crossed, yall.

Dimocrats want to pull the troops out of Iraq

We all know this. It's common knowledge. The problem for the Dimocrats is that the troops themselves know that leaving Iraq is wrong.

Not only do they see "phased redeployment" as a potential disaster, they see an improvement in the situation in Iraq. One New Jersey officer recently returned to Iraq for the first time since 2003 and tells the Post that Iraq had made real progress. A self-proclaimed liberal, he said, "Pulling out now would be as bad or worse than going forward with no changes," and predicted an end to democratic self-government almost immediately.

Worse still, the troops have worked hard to gain the trust of Iraqi civilians for over three years. They have created a network of relationships and intelligence links in the general population and alliances with tribal leaders. It took a long time for Iraqis to forget the betrayal of 1991, when the US failed to support a rebellion against Saddam Hussein after failing to march on Baghdad during the first Gulf War. A "phased redeployment" would abandon those same people all over again to the terrorists within and outside of Iraq.

None of them have any illusions that Iraq will suddenly and miraculously find peace. The soldiers and Marines on the ground believe it will take a long time and much hard work to bring a democratic Iraq to full viablity, at least completely. They tell the Post that the Kurdish region is only about four or five months away from full autonomy and self-sufficiency in terms of security (economically, they're farther ahead than that). Baghdad will be the toughest nut to crack, they all acknowledge, and that might take years of effort. However, all of them believe in the mission and see that the alternative consigns the Iraqis to tyranny and terrorism for decades or more.

The Dimocrats are craven cowards. They were wrong during Viet Nam. They are wrong now.

Got any printer paper?

Because this latest essay by Bill Whittle would be the perfect thing to print out and leave all around the election polls.

I can't excerpt any part of it, you just have to read the whole thing. Dammit, it's WHITTLE! You shouldn't even be reading me right now! You should have clicked on the link when you first saw who I was linking to!

GO, DAMMIT! GO!

I didn't know there are uberLeftists in Idaho

State Senator's sons accused of vandalizing memorial for Iraq war casualties

Polls, polls, polls

Polls everywhere, and not a brain cell in sight. Democrats lead! No, wait, Republicans lead! Wait again, Dems lead, but not by much! Oh crap, Republicans gaining! 37% of left-handed lesbian midget Eskimos say Bush is the Devil! 75% of all statistics are made up! Two out of every four people make up half the world's population!

Here's what I think: I think that all the polls showing Republicans gaining ground are flat out wrong. And do you want to know why? Because I don't think they lost that ground to begin with. I think the media has been pushing the Dimocrat's hopes, trying their best to stop Republicans from even going to the voting booths. And in case you've missed it lately, even the media themselves have been admitting their coverage of the election season hasn't been honest. And let's face it: The media today is flat out hostile to any conservative idea or candidate. They will go to any length to spread Dimocrat propaganda and downplay conservative or Republican gains. They are, in effect, in league with the terrorists that we're at war with.

So what better way to ensure your candidate's success than to downplay his opponent's chances? "Oh, Dimocrat so-and-so has an insurmountable lead. There's no reason to vote for his opponent."

I don't think the Republicans are surging back. I think that the media is just being more honest about the polls.

Huh!

I was reading a blog named "Huckleberries Online" when I saw a blog mentioned named CDADave.

Now, my name is Dave, and I'm from Coeur d'Alene, abbreviated "CdA".

There's two of me?

Another Card Essay

That needs to be read.

There is only one issue in this election that will matter five or ten years from now, and that's the War on Terror.

And the success of the War on Terror now teeters on the fulcrum of this election.

If control of the House passes into Democratic hands, there are enough withdraw-on-a-timetable Democrats in positions of prominence that it will not only seem to be a victory for our enemies, it will be one.

Unfortunately, the opposite is not the case -- if the Republican Party remains in control of both houses of Congress there is no guarantee that the outcome of the present war will be favorable for us or anyone else.

But at least there will be a chance.

I say this as a Democrat, for whom the Republican domination of government threatens many values that I hold to be important to America's role as a light among nations.

But there are no values that matter to me that will not be gravely endangered if we lose this war. And since the Democratic Party seems hellbent on losing it -- and in the most damaging possible way -- I have no choice but to advocate that my party be kept from getting its hands on the reins of national power, until it proves itself once again to be capable of recognizing our core national interests instead of its own temporary partisan advantages.

To all intents and purposes, when the Democratic Party jettisoned Joseph Lieberman over the issue of his support of this war, they kicked me out as well. The party of Harry Truman and Daniel Patrick Moynihan -- the party I joined back in the 1970s -- is dead. Of suicide.

You can read the rest on your own.

Hangings too good for 'im!

But we'll take what we can get, right?

Saddam Hussein, the iron-fisted dictator who ruled Iraq for nearly a quarter of a century, was found guilty of crimes against humanity Sunday and sentenced to death by hanging.

The so-called Butcher of Baghdad, who was president of Iraq from 1979 until he was deposed by Coalition forces in April 2003, was convicted of the 1982 killings of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail.

Hang him and let his corpse rot until the rope around his neck decays and snaps. And let our troops use his body as target practice.