Who cares about global warming?

When does a creationist become an evolutionist? The answer is when it fits their argument. The current proclamation is that the reduction of the ice caps and its affects on polar bears due to global warming is natural! The impact of humans on the Earth, and the impact those affects have on nature is the natural way... Amazing. Keep that in mind for the next election - Creationists will accept Evolution before they accept Taxation or Government Control.

If we walk away from Afghanistan...

The quiet half of America doesn't want to be in Afghanistan. The president's quiet approach to considering our future there doesn't help.

Liberals should come out and boldly say that we should be in Afghanistan. We should be there to protect human rights, those of children and women, those of impoverished villagers. We should be there to improve the health and welfare of all Afghanis, to improve the security for those who will appreciate the stability.

What we did wrong in Iraq was to allow Republicans to get rich from government contracts. We can do right in Afghanistan creating jobs to improve infrastructure (water, sewer, power), hospitals, housing, factories to build machinery and work clothes and security personnel to protect those functions.

By all means, we should increase the number of American Troops to support these functions and to generally improve security and stability.

The President should hold a surprise press conference in Afghanistan to deliver this message. A grand plan to stabilize and revitalize that country. It's time to be bold and push the Liberal agenda in a country that needs it so much.

Grassroots Power

Last night on V, the aliens were concerned about "public opinion" because of its power to influence a larger group of people. Pollsters often look for movement in public opinion because the groundswell of changing moods can affect majority opinion. Why not the aliens?

I just looked up the term grassroots on Wikipedia, supposedly coined by a former Republican turned Progressive Party candidate Albert Beveridge. 

There was a story this morning linking Palin to the Tea Party. (Looking up some news reports apparently she attended one in Santa Barbara.) The Tea Party has vexed liberals by providing a media-hyped stage for Conservative agendas.

Grassroots campaigns seem more real to us. Jimmy Carter used it to his advantage as a Washington Outsider. Palin definitely is pushing it as a "rogue" Alaskan who claims everyone is out to get her including the Republican Party elite. This will be successful to a point, but as soon as Americans see her as a media manipulator, her success will fade. (After all, she left office to avoid prosecution and to make more money through speaking engagements and book deals.)

Grassroots movements eventually fail because they don't have insiders to cut deals - or they end up selling out in order to cut deals. They are the most successful when they can stay as outsiders, influencing those on the inside to change their agendas.

President Barack Obama has certainly made concessions to his populist agenda, and in doing so has been less effective overall. 

The key is to continually interact with grassroots movements even though there is no seeming political advantage in doing so. How many times has Obama visited the troops in Iraq or Afghanistan? How many times has he met with farmers or rural healthcare workers? Politically he doesn't need these people, but he does need these people to maintain popular opinion.

To use Beveridge's words, popular opinion grows "from the soil of people's hard necessities."

Carrie Prejean "Still Standing"

As I watched the Carrie Prejean interview on NBC Today Show, I was reminded of the great Conservative tactic of repeatedly asking questions to make a point - even if the premise of the question is distorted, exaggerated or false.

Don't you think that Conservative women are wrongly criticized in the press?

It is effective because the liberal intellectual has the tendency to want to stop and refute each question or point made. As the bewildered liberal attempts to refute the first question, the next question comes - rapid fire...

Take the question above. If you answer 'no', then Conservative responds, "So you think it is OK to unfairly portray Conservative women as [fill in your outlandish thought here]."

Luckily the technique works both ways and fairly simple to turn around.

1) Answer with an equally outlandish question.

Prejean: Don't you think that Conservative women are wrongly criticized in the press?
Liberal: Don't you think it was wrong for Conservatives to push Palin out of office?

2) Make a Universally accepted statement.

Prejean: Don't you think that Conservative women are wrongly criticized in the press?
Liberal: Fox News would never unfairly criticize Palin.

Or, you could respond like a politician:

Prejean: Don't you think that Conservative women are wrongly criticized in the press?
Politician: Women are just as capable as men in forming their own opinions.

As for Carrie Prejean, think of all the Conservative moms that made her the role model for their daughters, only to find out that she made a sex tape. Oops. But like all Conservatives, they'll just toss her aside and get a new spokesmodel.

Liberal Spending

Those tax and spend Liberals want to raise your taxes. Yes and for good reason.

Our infrastructure and school funding is largely based on the local tax base. When the tax base decreases due to job losses, foreclosures, and business cut-backs, then local, state or Federal funding has to subsidize the budget.

My suggestion for a simple print print and media commercial would put Uncle Sam against an aging bridge or roadway holding a sign that says, "Need work." The tagline is "Put America back to work."

Our Federal-funded projects need larger identification when they are complete. This road improved as a result of Federal Spending (in bold).

I will be the first to agree that there is waste in any government spending. However, I don't see a time when everyone from a given neighborhood writes a check to the elementary school - that will never happen. And in areas where neighborhoods have no money, then the city or county has to step in. And when there is no money in the county, the state. And when the state has issues... Yes they should tighten their belt first, but they need Federal funding.

It would be great if Enron had spent some of their ill-gotten money on basic services for Houston public schools. But they didn't. Unfortunately government assessment of taxes is necessary to ensure that money is collected and spent where needed.

From a look at the jobs report, we need to continue to spend more money. We have a lot more work to do.