Martin A. Knight's blog
Posted at 8:44pm on May 21, 2008 RE: If Anyone Wants To Know Why Good People Don't Go Into Public Service . . .
By Martin A. Knight
This is with regard to Pej's timely RedHot about Hans von Spakovsky's recent experience since he was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Bush. He withdrew his nomination after two years of waiting last week.
The reason why good people of Conservative bent do not go into public service is because of elected Republican cowardice and stupidity. They know when the time comes when they would have to face the character assassination campaigns the Democrats and their friends in the media would mount against them, Republicans would do absolutely nothing to help/defend them.
Posted in Archived | borking | Democrat smear campaigns | GOP | masochists | spakovsky — Comments (35) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:52pm on May 10, 2008 The McCain Campaign & Media Bias: A Hopeful Sign.
By Martin A. Knight
Mark Salter's double barrel response to Senator Obama's oh-so-subtle shot at John McCain's age (very nicely brought to our attention by Soren here) is interesting for another thing - it brought up the behavior of Barack Obama's most important supporting demographic.
Senator Obama is hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.
Senator Obama has good reason to think this plan will succeed, as serious journalists have written of the need for 'de-tox' to cure 'swooning' over Senator Obama, and others have admitted to losing their objectivity while with him on the campaign trail ...
Maybe I'm reading too much into this and this would be the last time and therefore insignificant - but if I'm not mistaken, I believe this is the first time any Republican Presidential candidate in recent history has even just made mention of the Press clearly favoring one (the Democrat) candidate and slanting the coverage just so to get him over the finish line.
The media's infatuation with Obama is remarkably blatant - in many cases, e.g. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, it's practically R-rated - and it's just about noticeable by the mushy middle both teams need to win.
If Salter's press release can be taken as indicative of a future course of action, the McCain campaign may just have found a way to solidify his standing with the conservative base and also make it more likely that he will get elected this fall.
If McCain, until recently liberal journalism's favorite Republican, decides to, and then successfully makes the conduct of the media an issue in this election, the potential fallout of it could be very ... interesting. In a good way.
Posted in Archived | McCain | Media Bias | Obama | swooning press — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:51am on May 7, 2008 On Party Unity
By Martin A. Knight
This started out as comment in reply to a comment by BigGator5 (unfortunately operating under the misimpression that the diary I posted yesterday was about John McCain) in response to me. It just got too long. Anyway, BigGator5 asks;
"Why are you arguing against party unity?"
My response to that is that I actually am asking for party unity.
Unity that does not end when Election Day is over and done with. We want some more of that Unity on the floors of Congress, in the State Legislatures and in the Governor's Mansions when its time to vote 'aye' or 'nay.' We want some more of that Unity when it comes to policy, when it comes to the tough votes on Capitol Hill, in Lansing, Harrisburg, Richmond, Olympia, Austin, Bismarck, Trenton, etc.
Posted in Bill Weld | moderates | Reagan | Republicans | Rockefeller | Rudy Giuliani — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:42pm on May 6, 2008 RE: Conservatives vs Moderates [now closed]
By Martin A. Knight
So, you've all had your fun. You've gotten to vent about moderates. I hope you feel better. Now we have to work together to, you know, try to build a coalition to win. Unless you are happy being in the minority. If so, go on about your business. But as for me and RedState, we aim to win. And that takes more than a merry few. So be happy soldiers in the fight, but just remember the fight is with the left.
Posted in Archived | GOP | moderates — Comments (252) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 5:20pm on Apr. 28, 2008 RE: NC GOP Ad - McCain Was Wrong. Very Wrong.
By Martin A. Knight
I don't like having to write this because John McCain still has my vote.
But just because John McCain is our nominee does not mean that he is above error or that we should not make noise about it when he does something so thoroughly bone-headed as to hand the Democratic Party and their media arm the perfect cover (himself) to recast any further mention of Obama's entirely voluntary 20 year association with a hate-mongering conspiracy-theory-promoting joke of a "pastor" as a "racist" attack.
As it is, the Democrats' National Party Organ was only too eager to go along with it. It's now on the way to being part of this election's narrative; 2008's very own "Willie Horton" moment, a contrived episode the Left would cite forever as Republicans winning based on "hate".
The assertion that Mr. Obama is "just too extreme for North Carolina" is a clear bid to stir bigotry in a Southern state ...
Of course, it goes without saying that for the elitist latte-sipping blistering idiots that comprise most of the nation's editorial boards, whites, especially Southern whites, will always and forever be just a hair's breadth away from donning sheets, burning crosses and going on lynching parties in black neighborhoods - all they need is just to see a black man on their television screens.
Posted in ad | Archived | maverick | McCain | media hound | nc gop — Comments (34) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:52pm on Apr. 14, 2008 In Retrospect: The 3/5ths Clause of the Constitution
By Martin A. Knight
And Now For Something Completely Different ...
liberalrepublican's comment here on the Framers of the Constitution tsk-tsking their ignominy in "signing a document that says that recognizes and legitimizes slavery and counts a slave as 60% man ..." reminded me of an experience I had sometime in the not-so-distant past - especially after reading simpson316 say it's "far better than nothing."
My response to that is ... no. It would have been much better if slaves had not been counted at all.
I remember telling a black liberal friend I was having a friendly (Right V Left) argument with that I wish slaves had counted for far less than 3/5ths of a human being when the Constitution was written. I said that 0% actually would have been the ideal, but 20% would have been okay with me. The conversation got a little less friendly (I got called an "Uncle Tom") until I gave him a small history lesson ... and he ended up agreeing with me.
The 3/5ths Clause, ultimately, was a Good Thing. And if it had been the 1/5ths Clause, it would have been even better.
Of course, you need to think beyond the initial Outrage! at how one human being could be considered to be worth just 3/5ths of another human being to see what I (and GOPaisano) mean.
Not many people who huff and puff and level the accusing finger at the nation's founders about it seem to be aware that the Slave States' representatives at the Constitutional Convention were the ones demanding that slaves be counted as full persons, while the Free states' spokesmen were the ones demanding that they not be counted at all.
Posted in 0.60 clause | Archived | Constitution | History | Slavery — Comments (29) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:25pm on Apr. 5, 2008 Building A Permanent Republican Majority I
By Martin A. Knight
The GOP Rank & File, Not Governors Or Presidents, Should Pick The Party's Leadership.
Rumors have long had it that Karl Rove harbored the ambition of becoming the 21st Century's Mark Hanna, at least before the disaster years that were 2005 and 2006. For those who don't know, Mark Hanna ran William McKinley's campaign for the Presidency before being elected (by the Ohio State Legislature - this was before the 17th Amendment) to the United States Senate. He also served as the 14th Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Hanna is credited with having created the modern American political campaign system (which he deployed against William Jennings Bryan to great effect) and having played a key part in making the GOP the majority party of the United States for most of the following three decades afterwards.
Anyway, while Rove's dreams of leaving a similarly "Permanent" Republican Majority behind him when he left Washington DC may have crashed and burned, the question of whether or not it is possible to create an actual Permanent (i.e. lasting decades) Republican Majority and how to set about if it is possible, is interesting even if just as an academic exercise.
Let's say you had the opportunity to do just that. How would you set about building the Republican Party as it is now in 2008 into the nation's majority party that not only would last for decades on the top spot, but also have the strength and direction to actually effect meaningful positive change? Remember; a Party is not a football team - it is not enough to just win elections, there is the governing to be done after the euphoria of victory on election night and the hands have come off the Holy books when the oaths are taken at last - winning (however that is done) gets our people into office, but it is the governing ultimately that keeps us there.
Posted in Archived | permanent republican majority | rnc chair | state gop chair — Comments (121) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 5:51pm on Apr. 3, 2008 Rejiggering The Presidential Primary Schedule Just In Time For 2012
By Martin A. Knight
This story in the Washington Times about the RNC rejiggering the 2012 Primary schedule reminded me of one of the more interesting diaries, especially in terms of being forward looking and creative, that I've seen thus far this year; EPU's starter proposal diary to alter/fix the Primary system so that actual Republicans, those who are as close to a 100% certain of casting their votes for a Republican President on Election Day get to have (at the very least) the first word on who the nominee would be.
I actually wanted to write this up back then, but I didn't and I thought the entire subject had gone too stale to bring it back up, especially with the spectacle of our good friend Barry Henry O'Bama's recent travails. But since the higher-ups in the GOP (one of the few times the rank-and-file and the leadership are actually seeing eye to eye) have brought it up ...
Either way, long-term Redstater Saul Anuzis, who also happens to be the Chairman of the Michigan GOP, posted up a diary about this earlier this morning. Take a look and get to find out about the "Ohio Plan" (and the alternative "Delaware Plan") the RNC Rules Committee just recently voted out to be considered by the full Republican National Committee in August before the convention where we are going to coronate John McCain as the successor to President Bush.
Posted in Archived | primaries | republicans picking republicans — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:21pm on Mar. 20, 2008 A Pretty Speech. That's It, Really. Just A Pretty Speech.
By Martin A. Knight
I can accept a lot of things that are being said about Barry Henry O'Bama's latest big speech.
I can easily see and accept that it was beautifully written and excellently delivered as only a great public speaker like Barry can deliver a speech. I can certainly applaud the stagecraft behind the entire production (and painfully notice how little of it we have in the GOP). And I really do appreciate the O'Bama campaign's long standing recognition of the fact that forthrightly addressing threats as they come up is the best way to get past them - something George Allen and his advisers did not figure out until it was way too late.
Posted in Archived | Jeremiah Wright | Obama — Comments (23) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:05pm on Mar. 13, 2008 Pointing Out That Not Supporting Candidates In Hostile Territory Is NOT How To Build A Majority Party ...
By Martin A. Knight
This comment on eabo-clipper's "Mr. Ogonowski Goes To Washington" diary is one of those bits of political conventional wisdom that I think, in the long run, turn out to be not so wise. A good thing I will say about it though, is that it gave me the impetus to diary something that's been on my mind for a while; getting back on offense.
Please, [NRSC Chairman, Senator John] Ensign ... no. The NRSC can't afford to dump money here. Ogonowski lost in the most conservative district of Massachusetts ...
With all due respect, I think this attitude needs to go.
Posted in Archived | expansion | hostile territory | ogonowski | Republicans — Comments (55) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:59am on Feb. 23, 2008 The "Jamil Hussein" Maneuver Rearing It's Ugly Head
By Martin A. Knight
Here's how it works;
Liberal reporter or politician makes a multi-part claim of some atrocity or some other happening that can be be laid at the feet of the nearest Republican e.g. a soldier who is a Private by the name of John reports that his platoon regularly wore children's skulls as headgear, used armored cars to saw dogs in half all the while being forced to go out on missions/patrols without ammunition thanks to profits for Halliburton!
Conservatives and Republicans question the story because it sounds (and is) incredible. Liberal reporter/politician produce a Private whose first name is John and who once came across a grave yard where he saw some bones. They then declare themselves "vindicated" and then attempt to blow past the fact that no other person in the Private's unit or command line can verify a single one of his claims.
Ace puts it in his own distinct style here.
More below ...
Posted in Archived | Beauchamp | jamil hussein | lies | Media Bias | Obama — Comments (30) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:04pm on Feb. 4, 2008 The Case of Richard Shelby & Ben Nighthorse Campbell: What If YouTube Existed In 1998?
By Martin A. Knight
In the aftermath of 1994, in fact the day after the Gingrich/Barbour led Republican Party's recapture of the House and Senate after forty years in the wilderness caused Peter Jennings to chide the American people for having a temper tantrum, an eight year veteran Democratic Senator announced his defection to the GOP. Richard Shelby had been a Democratic Congressman for eight years before he defeated Republican Senator Jeremiah Denton (the very first elected Republican Senator from the state of Alabama since Reconstruction) in the elections of 1986.
In contrast to the way the New York Times would greet the defection of James Jeffords from the GOP to the Democrats i.e. "A Profile in Courage" seven years later, the Gray/Blue (i.e. Democratic) Lady's title for the story of Shelby's move across the aisle was "A Profile in Opportunism."
In March of 1995, another long-term Democratic politician, also a Unites States Senator traveled Shelby's path to the other side of the aisle. Ben Nighthorse Campbell had served four years as a Democratic member of the Colorado General Assembly, six years as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and two and a quarter years as a Democratic Senator before becoming a Republican.
Posted in ben nighthorse campbell | flip-flops | Mitt Romney | Republicans | Republicans | richard shelby — Comments (22) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 3:08pm on Jan. 30, 2008 What Next For Romney - Repeating A Suggestion.
By Martin A. Knight
I like cbs' diary on the issue. Not even his most unfair and vituperative critics (or supporters) would find anything to fault him on if he backs out, extends his congratulations to McCain and begins the work of making sure that John McCain gets to the finish line ahead of HillObama in November.
Posted in Archived | peter pace | post-florida maneuvering | Romney | vice president — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:35pm on Jan. 30, 2008 X! Only X! Can Win In November! Pick X! Or We're Doooooomed ...!
By Martin A. Knight
I have never been well disposed (to say the least) towards "X!, only X!, and X alone! can win ...! Pick X! or we're dooooomed ...!" as an argument in favor of X being the GOP nominee. In fact, to be honest, it p*$$@s me off no end. I generally don't particularly care who "X" happens to be ... well, I'd like to say that I don't care who X happens to be, but I'll confess that I am somewhat more hostile towards those who make this argument where "X" just happens to be one particular crackpot of a Congressman from Texas.
Posted in Archived | Elections | pxawd | pxowd | self-fulfilling prophecies — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:05pm on Jan. 29, 2008 I *Will* Vote For John McCain - But I Will Be Under No Illusions About It
By Martin A. Knight
I will, without hesitation, pull the lever for John McCain if he happens to be the man whose name is at the top of the ticket. It's not even a close contest - he is head and shoulders above Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and it would be irresponsible to do otherwise with troops on the field.
However I am not going to lie to myself and say that I voted Republican for President; I would be perfectly aware that I had just voted "Bipartisan" as opposed to "Democrat". I'm not going to be deluded enough to think the McCain White House would be anything other than the high altar to compromise and accommodation - the "New Tone™" with a surfeit of testosterone.
Posted in 2008 Presidential Campaign | Archived | bipartisanship | McCain — Comments (46) / Email this page » / Read More »
