In 2008, Barack Obama was a relatively unknown fringe candidate until he received a surprisingly good showing in the Iowa caucuses. From there, he used a glib tongue, a lot of funding, and a campaign light on specifics to catapult over a very strong Clinton candidacy.
The latest Iowa Caucus polls, although this contest is still an eternity away in political time, have Mitt Romney in the lead with Sarah Palin six points behind in second. Tied with her is Hermann Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who also once ran the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Cain, according to pollsters, came from almost nowhere to challenge Romney's lead. He has almost no name recognition, but is outpolling Newt Gingrich and other GOP stalwarts. Cain is running on an economic conservative platform and has attracted support from many Tea Party groups. He has a sound record in business, rescuing Godfather's Pizza from bankruptcy.
Cain's success shows just how fluid the contest for the Republican nomination is at this point. Winning that prize will come down to conservative credentials. Who can demonstrate the strongest commitment to fiscal sanity and real changes in government that will reduce our debt? That is the man or woman who will win the nomination of the Republican Party. Cain has shot himself into a contending position, now can he mobilize enough supporters and funds to sustain his momentum?
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Sarah Palin's Strategy
It's an interesting strategy. Sarah Palin is traveling across the country with her family by bus, seeing sights, speaking to people here and there, and not informing the media of her every move. CBS has rated this almost as disastrous a campaign blunder as killing someone. But is it?
First of all, despite the almost certain fact that she will be, Sarah Palin is still not an official candidate for anything. She is just another private citizen traveling by bus with her family. She has no obligation whatsoever to inform the media of her movements. Also, has the American news media gotten so lazy that they cannot track a bus across the United States?
What obligation does Palin have to the media? None. They cut her no breaks during and after her campaign. They single her out for insult and abuse above and beyond what many other candidates generally face. Like black conservatives, females who run for office as Republicans sometimes are seen as some sort of traitors. And, by all means, it is a sin for a female conservative to be the least bit physically attractive.
Interestingly enough, this could be a strategem. Sarah Palin visiting Gettysburg is not a national news story. Media outrage that she did not check with them every time she sipped at a Coke or went to the bathroom has become one. Palin has gotten coverage when she did not overtly seek it. And most Americans sympathize with people who do not want cameras following them everywhere.
Sarah Palin and her team are showing some serious savvy when it comes to media relations. It helps a lot that the media itself is so predictable. And she knows that she is in the drivers seat when it comes to them.
"I don’t think I owe anything to the mainstream media," Palin said on Fox. "I think that it would be a mistake for me to become some kind of conventional politician and doing things the way it’s always been done with the media, in terms of relationships with them.”
Good for you!
First of all, despite the almost certain fact that she will be, Sarah Palin is still not an official candidate for anything. She is just another private citizen traveling by bus with her family. She has no obligation whatsoever to inform the media of her movements. Also, has the American news media gotten so lazy that they cannot track a bus across the United States?
What obligation does Palin have to the media? None. They cut her no breaks during and after her campaign. They single her out for insult and abuse above and beyond what many other candidates generally face. Like black conservatives, females who run for office as Republicans sometimes are seen as some sort of traitors. And, by all means, it is a sin for a female conservative to be the least bit physically attractive.
Interestingly enough, this could be a strategem. Sarah Palin visiting Gettysburg is not a national news story. Media outrage that she did not check with them every time she sipped at a Coke or went to the bathroom has become one. Palin has gotten coverage when she did not overtly seek it. And most Americans sympathize with people who do not want cameras following them everywhere.
Sarah Palin and her team are showing some serious savvy when it comes to media relations. It helps a lot that the media itself is so predictable. And she knows that she is in the drivers seat when it comes to them.
"I don’t think I owe anything to the mainstream media," Palin said on Fox. "I think that it would be a mistake for me to become some kind of conventional politician and doing things the way it’s always been done with the media, in terms of relationships with them.”
Good for you!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
City Elections Are Important
It is city election season once again. Time to go forth and select the mayor and city council who will lead Keyser and other cities over the next couple of years.
We pay so much attention to state and national issues that we sometimes forget that county and city government are the closest to our daily lives. The questions they debate, such as whether or not to keep open, limit the hours of, or close entirely, the Keyser City Pool, affect many of us. Water, street, police, and other services are also vital to any of us living in town.
City elections need more participation than they have received in the past.
We pay so much attention to state and national issues that we sometimes forget that county and city government are the closest to our daily lives. The questions they debate, such as whether or not to keep open, limit the hours of, or close entirely, the Keyser City Pool, affect many of us. Water, street, police, and other services are also vital to any of us living in town.
City elections need more participation than they have received in the past.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Representative David McKinley (R-WV 1) to Oppose Raising the Debt Ceiling
Press Release
McKinley to Vote No on “Clean” Debt Ceiling Hike
Washington, D.C. – The House will vote this evening on President Obama’s request to raise the debt ceiling without any spending reforms attached to the bill. Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) will vote against this “clean” debt ceiling bill, citing the fiscal irresponsibility of continuing down the same reckless road Washington has been on for years.
“The president is asking Congress to vote for the status quo. Another debt ceiling increase with no spending cuts or reforms in exchange is the height of irresponsibility,” said McKinley. “No one wants to see this country default on its obligations, but I refuse to give this fiscally reckless president my vote to raise the debt ceiling unless he agrees to pair it with major structural restraints on Congress' ability to spend money.
“We are on an unsustainable path that will lead to a troubling future for our children and grandchildren and the time is now to get serious about our country’s financial future. We must enact major long-term spending reductions that put us on a path toward a balanced budget. Whether it is a balanced budget amendment, enforceable discretionary spending caps in the future or serious spending reductions now — or some combination thereof — we must demand reform. Fundamental reforms that right our fiscal ship are absolutely necessary to earn my vote on the debt limit.”
McKinley to Vote No on “Clean” Debt Ceiling Hike
Washington, D.C. – The House will vote this evening on President Obama’s request to raise the debt ceiling without any spending reforms attached to the bill. Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) will vote against this “clean” debt ceiling bill, citing the fiscal irresponsibility of continuing down the same reckless road Washington has been on for years.
“The president is asking Congress to vote for the status quo. Another debt ceiling increase with no spending cuts or reforms in exchange is the height of irresponsibility,” said McKinley. “No one wants to see this country default on its obligations, but I refuse to give this fiscally reckless president my vote to raise the debt ceiling unless he agrees to pair it with major structural restraints on Congress' ability to spend money.
“We are on an unsustainable path that will lead to a troubling future for our children and grandchildren and the time is now to get serious about our country’s financial future. We must enact major long-term spending reductions that put us on a path toward a balanced budget. Whether it is a balanced budget amendment, enforceable discretionary spending caps in the future or serious spending reductions now — or some combination thereof — we must demand reform. Fundamental reforms that right our fiscal ship are absolutely necessary to earn my vote on the debt limit.”
Rick Snuffer Speaks Out on Redistricting Outrage
COMMITTEE MIRRORS CONCERNS
Where's Tim??? (let's ask the Boss Hawgs and yellow dawgs ;>)
Beckley - A Raleigh County delegate says the recently appointed House redistricting committee is a prime example of the concerns many of his colleagues from both political parties share concerning the upcoming redistricting process of the West Virginia House of Delegates."There are good people on this committee; people I like and respect. But from the first selection to the first 'non-selection'; you can see the political bosses at work to draw up a government of the incumbents, by the incumbents, and for the incumbents; with no real input from the citizens of West Virginia. Not only is the key member from the minority party missing; but also those from the majority party who have
had the courage to publicly support the Single Member Districts which are being overwhelmingly supported by the West Virginia citizenry."Rick Snuffer goes on to explain while the appointment of House Majority Leader Brent Boggs to chair the committee is understandable and the right one; the omission of House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, who had requested to be on the committee, is a signal right from the beginning that no matter what public statements have been issued by House leadership, the political bosses are going to be the ones calling the shots with no concern for what West Virginians or any elected official who isn't marching lockstep with the political bosses desire."This is the first time in 40 years the Minority Leader hasn't been allowed a voice in the redistricting process. Where's Tim and why hasn't there been any public/media discussion and scrutiny over this omission? No matter what facade is put on the committee - any public statements issued, websites created, toll free numbers set up at the public expense, or even if they cave to pressure; reverse course and hold a token public hearing or two - if you look at the committee and who is on it and who isn't, it's very easy to foresee the result will be 'Monkey Business as usual' ," says Snuffer.
The first-term delegate is also quick to note while 2/3rds of West Virginia House districts are single member districts, only a little over 1/3 of districts represented on the redistricting committee represents SMDs."Add these factors up, with the absense of any vocal Democrat delegates who have advocated allowing WV citizens to be represented by 100 individually elected delegates, and it's fairly easy to see an incumbency protection plan in the making", Snuffer emphasizes. "Unless there is enough public outcry and media pressure to force leadership to ignore the wishes of their party bosses and put the interests of the state of West Virginia and her citizens first, we are going to see a narrowly focused and narrow minded redistricting plan forced through, barring anydirection from a court to do otherwise."Snuffer concludes, "This happened with the initial resistance to a primary for the special election for Governor and it's possible it could happen again; if an overwhelmingly, un-ignorable amount of voters let their thoughts be made known to the House leadership and committee members."
Where's Tim??? (let's ask the Boss Hawgs and yellow dawgs ;>)
Beckley - A Raleigh County delegate says the recently appointed House redistricting committee is a prime example of the concerns many of his colleagues from both political parties share concerning the upcoming redistricting process of the West Virginia House of Delegates."There are good people on this committee; people I like and respect. But from the first selection to the first 'non-selection'; you can see the political bosses at work to draw up a government of the incumbents, by the incumbents, and for the incumbents; with no real input from the citizens of West Virginia. Not only is the key member from the minority party missing; but also those from the majority party who have
had the courage to publicly support the Single Member Districts which are being overwhelmingly supported by the West Virginia citizenry."Rick Snuffer goes on to explain while the appointment of House Majority Leader Brent Boggs to chair the committee is understandable and the right one; the omission of House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, who had requested to be on the committee, is a signal right from the beginning that no matter what public statements have been issued by House leadership, the political bosses are going to be the ones calling the shots with no concern for what West Virginians or any elected official who isn't marching lockstep with the political bosses desire."This is the first time in 40 years the Minority Leader hasn't been allowed a voice in the redistricting process. Where's Tim and why hasn't there been any public/media discussion and scrutiny over this omission? No matter what facade is put on the committee - any public statements issued, websites created, toll free numbers set up at the public expense, or even if they cave to pressure; reverse course and hold a token public hearing or two - if you look at the committee and who is on it and who isn't, it's very easy to foresee the result will be 'Monkey Business as usual' ," says Snuffer.
The first-term delegate is also quick to note while 2/3rds of West Virginia House districts are single member districts, only a little over 1/3 of districts represented on the redistricting committee represents SMDs."Add these factors up, with the absense of any vocal Democrat delegates who have advocated allowing WV citizens to be represented by 100 individually elected delegates, and it's fairly easy to see an incumbency protection plan in the making", Snuffer emphasizes. "Unless there is enough public outcry and media pressure to force leadership to ignore the wishes of their party bosses and put the interests of the state of West Virginia and her citizens first, we are going to see a narrowly focused and narrow minded redistricting plan forced through, barring anydirection from a court to do otherwise."Snuffer concludes, "This happened with the initial resistance to a primary for the special election for Governor and it's possible it could happen again; if an overwhelmingly, un-ignorable amount of voters let their thoughts be made known to the House leadership and committee members."
Monday, May 30, 2011
President Reagan Remarks at Arlington, Memorial Day 1986
Remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia
May 26, 1986
Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember.
I was thinking this morning that across the country children and their parents will be going to the town parade and the young ones will sit on the sidewalks and wave their flags as the band goes by. Later, maybe, they'll have a cookout or a day at the beach. And that's good, because today is a day to be with the family and to remember.
Arlington, this place of so many memories, is a fitting place for some remembering. So many wonderful men and women rest here, men and women who led colorful, vivid, and passionate lives. There are the greats of the military: Bull Halsey and the Admirals Leahy, father and son; Black Jack Pershing; and the GI's general, Omar Bradley. Great men all, military men. But there are others here known for other things.
Here in Arlington rests a sharecropper's son who became a hero to a lonely people. Joe Louis came from nowhere, but he knew how to fight. And he galvanized a nation in the days after Pearl Harbor when he put on the uniform of his country and said, ``I know we'll win because we're on God's side.'' Audie Murphy is here, Audie Murphy of the wild, wild courage. For what else would you call it when a man bounds to the top of a disabled tank, stops an enemy advance, saves lives, and rallies his men, and all of it singlehandedly. When he radioed for artillery support and was asked how close the enemy was to his position, he said, "Wait a minute and I'll let you speak to them.'' [Laughter]
Michael Smith is here, and Dick Scobee, both of the space shuttle Challenger. Their courage wasn't wild, but thoughtful, the mature and measured courage of career professionals who took prudent risks for great reward -- in their case, to advance the sum total of knowledge in the world. They're only the latest to rest here; they join other great explorers with names like Grissom and Chaffee.
Oliver Wendell Holmes is here, the great jurist and fighter for the right. A poet searching for an image of true majesty could not rest until he seized on "Holmes dissenting in a sordid age.'' Young Holmes served in the Civil War. He might have been thinking of the crosses and stars of Arlington when he wrote: "At the grave of a hero we end, not with sorrow at the inevitable loss, but with the contagion of his courage; and with a kind of desperate joy we go back to the fight.''
All of these men were different, but they shared this in common: They loved America very much. There was nothing they wouldn't do for her. And they loved with the sureness of the young. It's hard not to think of the young in a place like this, for it's the young who do the fighting and dying when a peace fails and a war begins. Not far from here is the statue of the three servicemen -- the three fighting boys of Vietnam. It, too, has majesty and more. Perhaps you've seen it -- three rough boys walking together, looking ahead with a steady gaze. There's something wounded about them, a kind of resigned toughness. But there's an unexpected tenderness, too. At first you don't really notice, but then you see it. The three are touching each other, as if they're supporting each other, helping each other on.
I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall. And they're still helping each other on. They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam -- boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other. And they were special in another way: They chose to be faithful. They chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time. They chose to believe and answer the call of duty. They had the wild, wild courage of youth. They seized certainty from the heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something.
And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.
That, of course, is the lesson of this century, a lesson learned in the Sudetenland, in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia, in Cambodia. If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. That's the lesson of this century and, I think, of this day. And that's all I wanted to say. The rest of my contribution is to leave this great place to its peace, a peace it has earned.
Thank all of you, and God bless you, and have a day full of memories.
Note: The President spoke at 10:10 a.m. at the Memorial Amphitheater. Prior to his remarks, he placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
May 26, 1986
Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember.
I was thinking this morning that across the country children and their parents will be going to the town parade and the young ones will sit on the sidewalks and wave their flags as the band goes by. Later, maybe, they'll have a cookout or a day at the beach. And that's good, because today is a day to be with the family and to remember.
Arlington, this place of so many memories, is a fitting place for some remembering. So many wonderful men and women rest here, men and women who led colorful, vivid, and passionate lives. There are the greats of the military: Bull Halsey and the Admirals Leahy, father and son; Black Jack Pershing; and the GI's general, Omar Bradley. Great men all, military men. But there are others here known for other things.
Here in Arlington rests a sharecropper's son who became a hero to a lonely people. Joe Louis came from nowhere, but he knew how to fight. And he galvanized a nation in the days after Pearl Harbor when he put on the uniform of his country and said, ``I know we'll win because we're on God's side.'' Audie Murphy is here, Audie Murphy of the wild, wild courage. For what else would you call it when a man bounds to the top of a disabled tank, stops an enemy advance, saves lives, and rallies his men, and all of it singlehandedly. When he radioed for artillery support and was asked how close the enemy was to his position, he said, "Wait a minute and I'll let you speak to them.'' [Laughter]
Michael Smith is here, and Dick Scobee, both of the space shuttle Challenger. Their courage wasn't wild, but thoughtful, the mature and measured courage of career professionals who took prudent risks for great reward -- in their case, to advance the sum total of knowledge in the world. They're only the latest to rest here; they join other great explorers with names like Grissom and Chaffee.
Oliver Wendell Holmes is here, the great jurist and fighter for the right. A poet searching for an image of true majesty could not rest until he seized on "Holmes dissenting in a sordid age.'' Young Holmes served in the Civil War. He might have been thinking of the crosses and stars of Arlington when he wrote: "At the grave of a hero we end, not with sorrow at the inevitable loss, but with the contagion of his courage; and with a kind of desperate joy we go back to the fight.''
All of these men were different, but they shared this in common: They loved America very much. There was nothing they wouldn't do for her. And they loved with the sureness of the young. It's hard not to think of the young in a place like this, for it's the young who do the fighting and dying when a peace fails and a war begins. Not far from here is the statue of the three servicemen -- the three fighting boys of Vietnam. It, too, has majesty and more. Perhaps you've seen it -- three rough boys walking together, looking ahead with a steady gaze. There's something wounded about them, a kind of resigned toughness. But there's an unexpected tenderness, too. At first you don't really notice, but then you see it. The three are touching each other, as if they're supporting each other, helping each other on.
I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall. And they're still helping each other on. They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam -- boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other. And they were special in another way: They chose to be faithful. They chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time. They chose to believe and answer the call of duty. They had the wild, wild courage of youth. They seized certainty from the heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something.
And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.
That, of course, is the lesson of this century, a lesson learned in the Sudetenland, in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia, in Cambodia. If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. That's the lesson of this century and, I think, of this day. And that's all I wanted to say. The rest of my contribution is to leave this great place to its peace, a peace it has earned.
Thank all of you, and God bless you, and have a day full of memories.
Note: The President spoke at 10:10 a.m. at the Memorial Amphitheater. Prior to his remarks, he placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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