24thState

Vote Fraud Isn't Sexy, But It Is A Problem

John Fund reports on the problems in Washington State, where US Attorneys failed to go after vote fraud cases during the 2004 election, but did manage to catch Acorn workers submitting false registrations in 2006.

But the most interesting news came out of Seattle, where on Thursday local prosecutors indicted seven workers for Acorn, a union-backed activist group that last year registered more than 540,000 low-income and minority voters nationwide and deployed more than 4,000 get-out-the-vote workers. The Acorn defendants stand accused of submitting phony forms in what Secretary of State Sam Reed says is the "worst case of voter-registration fraud in the history" of the state.

Now, ACORN will say (like they did when their Kansas City workers were caught), that this was just some bad apples, but the truth is a large number of fraudulent voters are registered by organizations dedicated to electing Democrats, and thus the Democrats have a stake in making sure that these organizations continue polluting the voting system.

That's the point.  The US Attorney scandal, and the attacks on the White House and Karl Rove for voter suppression schemes, are warnings to Republicans.  If you try to stop vote fraud, we will call you racists and bring the full power of the government to bear on you.

If you want proof, wait until a Democrat wins the White House.  No more Democratic-supporting organizations will be prosecuted by a Clinton Justice Department.  We have that situation now - as Secretary of State Robin Carnahan uses the ruling of Clinton appointee Nanette Laughrey to claim there is no evidence of voter fraud in Missouri.

That Ms. Carnahan can say that with a straight face is all the evidence we need to know that Democrats aren't serious about vote fraud in the state of Missouri.

So what's the answer?  Early Voting, proposes Mayor Slay.  The good mayor can't understand why someone would oppose early voting.

Anything that makes it more likely to involve a greater number of voters in the electoral process is a good idea. The only group with a compelling interest in blocking early voting is the one that makes those last minute robo-calls reminding people to get to the polls the next day.

It's simple, Mr. Mayor.  Republicans don't trust Democratic politicians who want changes in the voting laws when they refuse to clean up the voter registration polls and allow photo ID at the polls.

I can't shop at Sam's without a photo ID, but I can vote?   We don't trust mail-in voting, early voting, or judges who keep the polls open in heavily Democratic districts just because the vote is close.  Do you need more information on why to opposed Robin Carnahan?  I have some blog posts for you if that's the case.

A Lesson About Free Health Insurance

Nothing in life comes free.  That's one of the lessons of healthcare, and while Democrats push the idea that only government can protect the uninsured, the reality for those of us who pay, and pay dearly, for our insurance is making its way across the national conscious.

Examples 1:  Guaranteeing healthcare bankrupts states:

New Jersey $58 billion dollar shortcare for promised "free" healthcare.

Example 2:  If they control your health insurance, they control you.

Indiana company begins fining workers for poor health choices.

While many employers have been using financial incentives to encourage participation in wellness programs, one company will begin charging employees more for their health insurance in 2009 if they allow health risks such as tobacco use, obesity or high cholesterol to go unchecked.

The company, Clarian Health, will fine workers $5 per paycheck to encourage a more healthy lifestyle.  Do you know what that means?  It means no more Twinkies Mister!

The reason given is a good one.  They are trying to contain rising health costs, and new regulations allow them to fine workers for poor choices.

Here's the rub.  If the government controls your health care, what do you think they are going to do to control costs?  They're going to tell you what you can and can't eat - when to exercise, what the proper weight is, when you can smoke, and anything else that a bureaucrat can think of that could possibly force you to act the way they want.

At least the workers for Clarian can take the $5 loss and say to heck with you.  If it's the government, and they threaten the loss of your insurance, or even withhold treatment, the scenario just got a little scarier.  After all - you can switch companies pretty easily.  Switching governments, not so much.

For those promising universal healthcare, keep in mind that the only way to enforce it is universal control.

George Patton On The War On Terror

Real Americans love a good fight.  The very idea of losing is hateful.

I recently rewatched Patton, the 1970 movie about one of the best fighting generals the US has ever had in uniform. 

A comedy writer, Mike Kaminski, has resurrected Patton, parodying the famous beginning of the movie to discuss the War on Terror.  This is a NSFW (Not Safe For Work) video, but if you've been sitting around wondering what happened to a tough and confident president who declared that countries are with us or against us, here's your shot of adrenaline for the morning.

Call me a warmonger, but I do believe that Americans would love a leader who stood up and echoed the sentiments of this speech.  The goal of warfare is not to die for your country, but to make the other guy die for his.  In the War on Terror, the goal is not to understand the enemy, but to root him out and kill him, wherever he hides.  Dictators should know that if they threaten this country, we will invade their country, smash their army, and end their lives.

Peace through Strength.  Thank you Mike Kaminski.  I think your parody is far too close to the truth to be comfortable.

hat tip:  Another Rovian Conspiracy

If You See Something, Keep Your Mouth Shut

I find it amazing this is an issue at all, but it seems the Senate Democrats have voted to strip language out of a bill providing immunity for citizens who report terrorist activity.

That's right.  The Senate Democrats believe that US citizens who report suspicious behavior about terrorist activities should be subject to civil prosecution from the terrorists.

In plain language - if I had seen Mohammed Atta acting strangely on 9/10, and my report led to his arrest - I could be sued as a private citizen by Atta for violating his civil rights.

That's no joke.   More information here, at Gateway Pundit, and a list of Senators who voted for and against (against is bad).

That list shows Claire McCaskill voted against the amendment.  I'll be seeking clarification from her office on why she would vote in that way.

A Rat Is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy?

It's often maintained by people on the right that absent God, human beings seek a new religion to give them purpose.  For some, the earth, and the environmental movement bring that fervor and ecstasy to little minds who need something to worship but have turned away from "religion."

Of course, once you do so, many of your fellow converts are going to be stuck repeating the mistakes that organized religion has made in the 5000 years of recorded history.

Like, using violence to attack non-believers.

Attacks by radical environmentalists are not new - those who read blogs know that this has been a serious problem in the Northwest and in California, from scientists who get acid thrown in their face to the torching of car dealership.  It seems the National Intelligence Estimate has come out and stated the obvious, which is to say domestic terrorism by environmental activists is an emerging threat.

Sam Page And His Porno Pals

I don't want this to be the anti-Howard Beale page, but the man just provides so much good fodder that it's difficult to ignore, especially when the brand of vitriol espoused by this anonymous blogger is so poorly researched.

Remember that screed about donations to Peter Kinder from Ann Michael, who Beale referred to as a "Porno Pal?" There's more to that story.  It turns out that there is a Mr. Roy Michael.  A Dr. Roy Michael, who has given to the campaign of, wait for it, Sam Page.

That's right folks, the same Sam Page running for Lieutenant Governor against Peter Kinder.  Beale has done it again, attempting to smear a Republican but hitting a Democrat in the process.  The man should start a new Missouri political site and name it the Boomerang Blog. 

Senate Democrats Defy UN Secretary General

Harry Reid is promising to keep the Senate in session all night until the Republicans authorize the complete withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

The UN Secretary General (thankfully no longer the hopelessly corrupt and entirely shameless Kofi Annan), asks that the US not pull troops out to quickly, to avoid humanitarian disaster.

So, as asked in the comments sections over at Captain's Quarters...

So the UN says that we shouldn't pull out immediately, while the Dems do everything they can to pull the troops out ASAP.

Does that mean the Dems fail the Kerry 'Global Test'?

It's a strange world where the UN General Secretary makes more sense than the US Senate Majority Leader.

It will be interesting to see if Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's comments make it into mainstream papers.  They are rather significant,  and if they were comments to yank the troops immediately, they'd be front page news. 

The World That Works

Newt Gingrich, who has been spending his days working on policy issues for the country, has a video making the rounds showing a clear difference between the world that works (private enterprise), and the one that doesn't (government).

On just the issue of immigration, Gingrich points out that we can track millions of moving packages through UPS and FedEx, but identifying 12 million illegals is considered impossible.

We can use an ATM in a foreign country, and trust it to access our accounts, but the federal government can't tell when workers are using the same social security number 42 times.

An interesting approach, and one that has the advantage of being positive.  We should expect more out of government.  It's not good enough to throw up our hands and ask what we can do.

We can expect more.

Howard Beale Gets Another Chance To use Godwin's Law

Keith Ellison, the newly elected congressional representative from Minnesota, has decided that September 11th was just like the fire in the Reichstag that brought Hitler to power.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

Get it?  Hitler=Bush.  Hey - Howard Beale.  Here's another chance for you to use Godwin's law.  Should we assume you're going to write something at FiredUp Missouri about Ellison calling the president a Nazi?  Howard?

Well - it doesn't take much to recognize that Howard is that most laughable of caricatures - the partisan netroots blogger who likes to lob literary grenades at conservative causes and then hides when his stories explode all over his own party. 

That's not nearly as offensive as the scam he's trying to pull on Missouri voters.  Using Peter Kinder's support for Fred Thompson as his muse, Beale keeps pushing the discredited LA Times story that Thompson is a pro-choice lobbyist.  For the second time this week, he drops a nugget in the story trying to repeat the media attack on Thompson championed by connected left wing activists, in hopes that it can be used against Thompson when he wins the GOP primaries.

What's really sad, is that Beale conceivably supports the pro-choice position, and if Thompson were a pro-choice lobbyist, that should make him happy.  But Beale, who knows the truth, repeats the lie - not to build up Thompson, but in the hopes that a naive reporter, or one who no longer feels the need to pretend to be objective, picks up the story and publishes it in the state newspapers.

In other words, Beale is pushing attack stories to Missouri reporters in hopes the stories will depress Republican turnout.  A real class act you have over there, Jeanne Carnahan.  It's time to drain the cesspool. 

Continental Airlines: Protecting You From Toddlers

Continental Airlines turned a plane around because a toddler was talking too much. 

A mother and her son were booted off a plane after a flight attendant became upset when the 19-month-old kept saying "Bye, bye plane" as the aircraft prepared for liftoff.

Kate Penland and her son, Garren, thought they were finally homebound when they boarded a Continental ExpressJet flight from Houston to Atlanta after an 11-hour delay at Bush Intercontinental Airport last month.

If it were American Airlines, 14 Muslim men wandering up and down the aisle and congregating in the lavatory wouldn't make them turn the plane around.

It looks like a flight attendant overreacted.  But it underscores just how silly are aviation rules are.  Flight attendants can turn the plane around for tantrums, but not for blatant attempts to perform dry runs of hijackings.

If the baby were a Muslim, would CAIR decide to sue the airlines for discrimination?

So that's its not just a bitter rant, let me say something of substance.  The TSA, the Bush Administration and the Homeland Security Department treat US citizens as children.  We jump through silly hoops in airports to make us feel safer, all while real terrorists attempt dry runs on our planes, and try to intimidate US commercial carriers into avoiding using common sense for fear of getting sued.

The story is not that Continental turned the plane around.  That's a mistake.  The story is that the public sees this, and shakes their head, because it proves our fear that the government isn't trying to protect us.

One of the reasons that so many people mock the War on Terror is the lack of seriousness with which we approach security.  If a flight attendant can do this to a toddler, but a not a group of young, fit men acting suspicious, then we know that the purpose is not to keep us safe, but to give us the illusion of safety.

To all political candidates - treat us with respect.  We know when we're being talked down to - and it's why we hold most of you in such utter contempt.  You waste our time and make us less safe.

Even from babies with pacifiers.