Content by Bookkeeper
Posted at 9:36am on Jul. 20, 2007 The New Adventures of Old Cold War
By Bookkeeper
There's a certain amount of comfort that comes from knowing where your enemy sits and how they are thinking.
The Washington Post has the story of a new manual for the teaching of Russian History as understood by the Kremlin. In a move that should surprise no one who's been following Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, educators in Russia are being treated to a "blast from the past"-type combination of revisionist history and cult of personality development, centered around everyone's favorite propagator of "Dictatorship of the Law", Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:00am on Jul. 17, 2007 Spin me a Poll...
By Bookkeeper
My regular treck to Drudge brought up this little gem. Apparently "None of the Above" is winning in the most recent AP-Ipsos poll on the GOP candidates. The AP then gleefully contrasts this with Hillary's comfortable double-digit lead over Barack Obama. Perplexed at how they reached such conclusions (thought not perplexed at all as to why they would report this faux-news), I decided to dig a little deeper...
Posted in 2008 — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:44am on Jul. 17, 2007 Everybody Plays, Everybody Loses
By Bookkeeper
I suppose Congress just isn't going to be happy until their approval ratings have achieved single digits.
Let me flog my own first: The Republicans are refusing to allow Democratic Anti-War legislation to come to a vote. This is exactly the same tactic they were howling about when the Democrats used it to block judicial nominees during the first six years of Bush's term. It reeks of hypocrisy and is pointless to boot: let the Congress pass legislation by slim, clearly partisan majorities (Pelosi's office had a press release calling House legislation bipartisan...because 4 Republicans voted for it). The President vetoes the bill and the Democrats fail because they'll never get a 2/3rd override in this lifetime. If a Democratic Congress wants to have a fight over who should manage the war, I think the President can win that fight. I flog the Dems below the fold...
Posted in Congress — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:09am on Jul. 3, 2007 Anger Management
By Bookkeeper
I confess that I am surprised today. I am not surprised that President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence. He commuted, as opposed to pardon, principally to leave Libby's legal options on appeal available to him. Expect to see a full pardon if his appeals are denied.
What does surprise me is the explosion of anger in reaction to this move. Why is anyone even surprised that Bush did this? It's not even an open secret that the administration gave no credit to anything the Wreck of the Patrick Fitzgerald was doing, so why sudden flashes of new Bush Hate? Did anyone honestly expect Bush to let Libby go to prison?
Posted in Archived — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:35pm on Feb. 8, 2007 Mercs with Mouths
By Bookkeeper
There's been some rather heated discussion in the past several days about an Washington Post.com editorial, which uses the word "Mercenary" to describe the American armed forces. Since that time, my comrades on the Right have lambasted the poor man, who really deserves our pity more than our scorn: he's writing a blog for the Washington Post. In contrast, I'll go so far as to say not only that he's not entirely wrong, but that a mercenary army is not a bad thing. More below...
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Posted at 3:38pm on Feb. 5, 2007 Liberty - The Heart of Conservative Political Ideology
By Bookkeeper
As a nation, we are pretty wrapped around the axle when it comes to Freedom. George Mason stomped and cried and wailed (well, in a more dignified colonial fashion) until we added lines to the Constitution about which Freedoms Congress was not to meddle with whatsoever and that any we didn't list weren't necessarily to be meddled with either. "Freedom" is one phrase you'll hear bandied about by politicians of all stripes and we even put up a "Statue of Liberty" in New York, though the fact that we received said gift from the French now smacks of irony.
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Posted at 10:40am on Jan. 31, 2007 Life: The Heart of Conservative Moral Principles
By Bookkeeper
(Part 1 of 3)
It's the very first "inalienable right" bequeathed to men by the Declaration of Independence. It is the basis upon which all other rights come, for no other right can exist without it. It's intrinsic value is, startlingly, debated and even spurned by many in modern media and science. Life is where it all begins and that's why it's at the heart of Conservatism's Moral Principles. In my next two blogs, I will talk about Liberty (Heart of Political Principles) and even the Pursuit of Happiness (Heart of Economic Principles) but, for right now, let's talk about life.
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Posted at 9:00am on Jan. 18, 2007 The Fairness Doctrine, or the "You're too stupid..." law
By Bookkeeper
It's not like I can really take Dennis Kucinich seriously. This is the same guy who tried the "American Idol" approach to finding a First Lady when he ran for President. But he's a Democrat and the Democrats are in power again. Kucinich and Bernie Saunders are talking up the Fairness Doctrine, which a Democratic Congress tried to pass twice into law after the FCC got rid of it as a regulation in 1987. Both times a Republican President killed it. More below...
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Posted at 11:42am on Jan. 12, 2007 Barbara and Condi - A moment to remember
By Bookkeeper
Yesterday, Condi Rice testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and got about as warm a reception as one could expect in front of a group of publicity hounds who think you're absolutely wrong and are ready to pounce. Chuck Hagel, never a friend of the administration, jumped right in on the bashing of the president, giving the grilling a nice, bipartisan feel. It's scapegoat week on Capital Hill and Condi was first on the platter. A bit of fury below the fold...
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Posted at 8:35am on Jan. 9, 2007 Socialism comes to Cali
By Bookkeeper
Well, it had to come out sooner or later. The Governator has moved forward to make California the 4th state in the Union to mandate health care coverage for everyone.
The program is described as "mirroring" a program in Massachusetts, that is set to cost that state about 1 billion dollars. In California, the bill is expected to be in the neighborhood of 12 billion. This is a state that has been plundering municipal budgets for years, running an additional 14 billion in deficitsin 2003, when the state already had 15 billion in debt. This is no longer government for all, it is a wealth redistribution scheme. The matter is made worse by the fact that the new health care plan extends those guaranteed benefits to illegal immigrants, representing a drain on Medi-Cal resources with no corresponding tax revenue. Read on...