24thState

Iran Is The New Tiananmen

"We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

I understand that we as a nation can not saddle up and ride around the world ousting dictators.  The application of force is a serious issue that should be applied only when we truly have a legitimate national security interest (like most of us agreed in 2003).  What is going on in Iran could be a major turning point for the Muslim world.

Surely, President Obama could spare a few words.  Surely he can find a way to use his soaring rhetoric to inspire the people (and who could not be moved by the courage of the brave, brave Iranian women) of Iran to hold firm in their convictions.

Soviet dissidents speak to the power of Reagan's words in bringing down the Soviet Union.  They took strength knowing that a powerful leader on the other side of the Iron Curtain stood with them.  I pray President Obama is moved to use his gift of speaking to provide similar comfort to Iranian protestors.

It's the right thing to do.  It's the type of decision that George Bush could make easily.  The Muslim world is watching, and the actions President Obama takes in the next few days will matter more than all of his speeches.  Pray he does the right thing.

As for me - I stand with the people of Iran. 

What Does Robin Carnahan Know About ACORN?

Robin Carnahan is running for Senate in Missouri, and her shock troops on the ground in GOTV and voter registration will be ACORN and ACORN-affiliated groups.  Troubling stories and even convictions of vote registration fraud don't touch this Secretary of State, who like Mark Ritchie in Minnesota and Jennifer Brunner in Ohio,  was partially funded by the far left Secretary of State project, intended to put state offices in friendly progressive hands to control the results of any election irregularities.  This is not conspiracy talk - these are once again the publicly stated aims of these groups.

ACORN is in a world of trouble across the country, with everything from embezzlement to fraud to subprime mortgage to foreclosure tricks to public demonstrations against any who dare to question them.

Carnahan is counting on ACORN to help elect her.  What does she know of them, and at what point will the state's major newspapers ask questions of this organization and her ties to them?

Why should they be asking?  How about ACORN's own internal memos stating their purpose was the partisan ousting of Republicans, and the building of a voter/donor database using taxpayer funds that could then be used to work for Democratic candidates?  How about a training center in Kansas City, MO, where ACORN political operatives are trained and funded to build a long-term political infrastructure to impact state and national elections?

In November of 2004, Zach Pollett forwarded a political strategy document to Interested Parties on how to oust Republicans from control of Congress and target state legislatures to control the 2010 redistricting process.  The memo is nakedly partisan, and lays out a strategy that includes using taxpayer funds to build databases of voters on ballot issues, then converting those databases into political GOTV machines for Democrats in key states.  The memo involves the funding and training of political organizers to keep them employed in-between election years, covers ballot issues to be addressed, and even discusses how to merge political operatives with "non-partisan" issues.

"The strategy here is to build the long-term, targeted organizing and electoral capacity needed if we are to have a Congress with a progressive majority.  The redistricting process is key, since it is unlikely that there are enough competitive House districts to end right-wing control of the House of Representative before 2012."

In the 2008 election, an ACORN affiliate received $800,000 in a payment originally listed as staging, sound and lighting from the Obama campaign, that later was revealed to be money for GOTV.  Senator Carnahan has staff heavily involved with ACORN legislative activities, and the question comes to mind - does she have staff trained specifically by the Kansas City ACORN Training Center?  Can we expect Senator Carnahan to forward a list of maxed out donors to ACORN as was done in 2008 by the Obama campaign?  And if this happens, will the Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star spike the story prior to the election (as the NY Times has admitted doing in 2008)? 

We're finally hearing so much about the 2008 election - about the number of large donors that actually funded the Obama campaign (and not the small donations trumpeted by the campaign and the media), the use of donor lists forwarded to ACORN affiliates, and the paying of ACORN affiliates to do the work of the campaigns.  Carnahan is closely, closely linked to these groups in Missouri, hiring their staffers, closely coordinating with them in fake grassroots campaigns on Voter ID and electric power, and working in tandem with progressive groups and bloggers to hide the truth.

We cannot wait until 2011 to find out the truth. If Secretary of State Carnahan plans to use the services of ACORN, responsible reporters need to begin digging into just exactly what they are doing in the state of Missouri.

A good start.

1) Do you currently have staff employed who have trained or worked with ACORN or ACORN affiliates?
2) What working relationship does the Secretary of State and her director of Communications, Laura Egerdal, have with ACORN in the state of Missouri.
3) Considering the number of fraudulent registrations for voters in Missouri, and the conviction of ACORN workers here and across the country, what guidlelines or restrictions will Carnahan issue?
4) Does the Secretary of State or the Carnahan for Senate campaign share information with ACORN or ACORN affiliates, and if so, what is the nature of that information?

The Importance Of Branding In Politics: Remarks At The CHLC

I've gone ahead and posted a transcript of my remarks at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference last week.  My focus was on the branding aspect of politics, which fit in nicely with the overall theme of conservative messaging.  The text is below the fold, but if you're curious what the average person is taught to think about Republicans, Zoe and Crowder do a bang up job with this video.  The only thing they missed was the caricature of all Southerners as fat racist rednecks frothing at the mouth and planning violence.  You can read the New York Times today if you'd like some of that.

Read the video, then check out the below the fold for my remarks.  They may shock you with their intelligence and lucidity.  

Video Representation Of The Chrysler Dealer Affair

Since the Supremes have decided to let the sale go through, the Chrysler deal is all but done.  Take a close look at what the Obama Auto Task Force has decided to do to all of us.

The United States Government has taken it upon itself to nationalize two of the biggest automakers with billions in loans and bailouts. Now they've decided to use the situation to reward the politically connected, and punish the unconnected. Using questionable bankruptcy laws that overturn centuries of contract law, the Auto Task Force has demanded the closure of 25% of Chrysler's dealerships.

Who is in charge of that decision? What are the criteria, and who stands to benefit?

Bloggers are digging into it -but the real stories will come from individual dealers.  The pictures and word are adapted from Doug Ross's blog, but the music comes from an angry place. 

Reporting From The CHLC

The Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference has been a rousing success.  Here's a partial list of the types of people that were here:

Norm Coleman: Great speech at the lunch on the value of the conservative message
David Limbaugh:  Red meat introduction
Wendy Wright: Concerned Women for America - got to sit next to her on the capstone panel
Jim Talent:  Headed a lecture on National Security
Phyllis Schlafly:  Capstone Seminar, describing the great things the Eagle Forum is doing.
Grover Norquist:  Great on panel on transparency, and in the capstone seminar
Matt Blunt:  Excellent appearance, reminded me why so many people elected him

And many more...

As far it goes for bloggers -

Pictures and reporting from Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit.  Reboot Congress is doing some excellent video interviewing - be sure to watch his site over the next few days.  Bill Hennessy and Dana Loesch wil be with me shortly for the social media training panel, and we'll be joined by Kristina Rasmussen of the Illinois Policy Institute, who has been writing up a storm at http://www.twitter.com/kmrasmussen. 

There's also the #chlc hashtag on twitter.

What Happens When We Get Clean Energy?

I have a thought problem for you.  I want to take off your blinders, and sit down next to me, and think about how laws are passed, and what it means when a politician says a program is paid for.

Exhibit One is SCHIP, an idea originally written into a law by a Republican Congress, and then demagogued by Democrats as not doing enough when it was up for renewal last year.  Bush vetoed the bill because $20 billion was added that shouldn't have been added, and at the time, $20 billion was a lot of money. 

One of the first things Obama signed was the new SCHIP act, put in front of him by the Democratic Congress with a payment plan based on the raising of taxes on tobacco.  In a very strange turn of events, smokers were going to pay for poor children (and adults) to have free healthcare.  Now, there's just one problem with that.

Smoking, as we all know, is evil, and smokers should stop.  But if they did stop, there wouldn't be any money for Timmy's crutches.  The government spends millions on smoking cessation programs, but if people actually quit smoking, we couldn't fund the program smoking taxes pay for.

Hmmm.  One would expect that the Democrats either don't really want you to stop smoking, or their plan was simply put a program in place, and if smoking doesn't pay for it, raise taxes somewhere else to cover the "gap."  Tricky, aren't they.  What starts out as a tax on bad, evil smokers, ends up as a tax on everyone.

What does this have to do with clean energy?  Everything.