Content by Flagstaff
Posted at 6:12pm on Jul. 9, 2008 Charles Krauthammer is Finally Wrong About Something
By Flagstaff
On the Fox News Special Report yesterday afternoon, speaking about gasoline independence, Charles Krauthammer said,
...I would give the Democrats, liberals, a bone on this. One Senator has proposed a reduction in the speed limit. I would be in favor of that. It'll save about 60 cents a gallon in driving at high speeds; it can be almost a dollar a gallon. It'll have a significant impact on reduction of consumption, and it'll have a minor impact on convenience. It's worth it. It's a crisis and we ought to do everything. If Republicans and Democrats give each other what the other wants we could really have a plan.
(my emphasis added)
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Posted at 5:18pm on Jul. 6, 2008 The Insincere Flip-Flop
By Flagstaff
I have been asking myself just what it is that makes us call some position shifts "flip-flops" while others are not so disrespected. Most of it is because "they flip-flop" while "we reconsider." But it's really more than that. And when the subject comes up, we want to convince the uncommitted that "our guy's" recent change of mind is because he's thoughtful, he’s had new insight into the issue, and now he's got it right. It wasn't just a pander to some political group he'd like to add to his base.
To do this takes a couple of steps.
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Posted at 5:30pm on Jun. 30, 2008 "They're God's Children."--John McCain
By Flagstaff
John McCain made a statement today, again trying to formulate a coherent position on the illegal immigration problem. It still doesn't wash.
He is still looking at it in terms of "they're God's children," instead of "a tidal wave of illegal immigration from a single third-world country will wreck our economy while it devastates our society and culture."
Mr. McCain needs to look at the economic side of the equation in addition to its human welfare and even its law-enforcement and ethical aspects.
Posted in Immigration — Comments (68) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:03pm on Jun. 19, 2008 Atlantic Yards: A Chance to Mitigate "Kelo"? [Updated]
By Flagstaff
The Atlantic Yards case in Brooklyn could be a chance for the Supreme Court to mitigate Kelo, or it could be just another brick in the wall separating the Constitution from the People it is supposed to protect.
Private individual homeowners are being evicted to allow a rich private developer to build high-tax, high-rise apartments, high- and low-priced housing, etc.
We shall see if the Supremes find some distiction between this case and Kelo, or if they grant the original homeowners a part of the profits (that would be a way to make it more fair), or if they just discard them as a minor inconvenience as they did Susette Kelo, et al.
Find more below.
UPDATE
The Court sniffed and looked away.
From Fox Business News:
In declining to hear the case, the Supreme Court affirmed the State of New York's right to use eminent domain relating to Atlantic Yards. Today's development follows prior defeats for project opponents on the use of eminent domain at both the District Court and Court of Appeals levels.
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Posted at 7:55pm on Jun. 2, 2008 Nancy Pelosi and the Friendly Press
By Flagstaff
From News Busters today, I gleaned this bit of information:
In an 80-minute interview with the MSM last Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a peculiar statement that wasn't reported by anybody at the meeting.
Whatever the military success and progress that may have been made, the surge didn't accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians -- they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities -- the Iranians.
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Posted at 3:48am on May 25, 2008 A Different Perspective On a Third Party
By Flagstaff
Frequently, the idea of a third party bid for the Presidency is run up the flagpole. If it gets any attention at all, it’s of the kind that says, “Get that thing down. It’s just going to divide our votes and hand victory to the Democrats.” The Democrats think the same thing about the Ralph Nader forays into politics, but don’t seem inclined to admit it, probably because he’s unlikely to get enough votes to matter this time around.
As I tend to do when I’m driving, I turned the thing around in my head a time or two last week. Here’s what fell out when I stopped:
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Posted at 6:35pm on May 10, 2008 The Unspoken Problem with the McCain Presidency
By Flagstaff
It isn’t just the issues on which John McCain is off the Conservative reservation that generate angst among the other members of the tribe.
After all, he is undoubtedly better on all those issues than his opponent will be.
The Problem is that the Republican Party will certainly accept every vote for McCain as support for all those mistaken positions—illegal immigration, Guantanamo Bay internment, interrogation of prisoners, “reaching across the aisle.” And McCain himself has given no indication that he won’t come to the same conclusion.
That’s why we have such anxiety as we reluctantly acknowledge the necessity to support McCain this year. And there's no reason to believe that the anxiety will go away.
Posted in Elections — Comments (42) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:58pm on Mar. 19, 2008 Super Delegates? Rubber-Stamp Delegates!
By Flagstaff
In his story, "New Lefty Polls:...," Mark Kilmer includes this quote of Doug Wilder from Face the Nation:
"If the majority of the American people" voting in the Democratic primaries and caucuses back either Obama or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "and if the superdelegates intervene to get in the way of it and say, 'Oh no, we're going to determine what's best,' there will be chaos at the convention," Wilder said.
Wilder may be exactly right, but it's the unavoidable result of creating the Unelected Delegates in the first place without considering the Law of Unintended Consequences. It's also typical of a party that thrives on "feelings" rather than reality.
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Posted at 2:48am on Mar. 13, 2008 Was Geraldine Ferraro Correct, Politically?
By Flagstaff
March 11, 2008 7:30 AM
Clinton campaign finance committee member, former vice presidential candidate, and former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-NY, told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Ca., that, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position...."--ABCNews.com
If my title meant, "politically correct," the answer is "Of course not." But If it meant simply "correct about the politics," the answer might be different.
More below
Posted in Breaking News — Comments (80) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 3:33am on Mar. 3, 2008 Maybe There is Hope for Us Yet
By Flagstaff
I thought you might like to know--
We were at the Heard Museum in Phoenix on Saturday for their 50th Annual Indian Fair and Market. There are about 500 exhibitor artists, so it's a big thing, as you may know. I was talking to an artist friend at his booth at about 10 o'clock. Lots of people were milling around, looking at the art and shopping.
They also had performances by Indian dance groups in the outdoor amphitheater. Anyway, the first performers must have been ready to start, although from where we happened to be they weren't visible. To initiate the festivities, someone began an a cappella rendition of The Star Spangled Banner over the PA system.
As he began, I said a few more words, then I turned to listen to the singer. At the same time, my friend, who had been sitting, stood up. We simply stood and listened. So did some other people. As the anthem continued, I noticed that more and more people stopped their activities and turned as we did to face the area where the music was coming from. Not everybody, of course. We weren't technically in the area of the singer, he wasn't very loud, and we couldn't even see the flag, which I assume was being raised. But by the time he finished singing, there were very few people doing anything but standing to honor our flag and our country. Then, we all went about our business.
It was just a few quiet moments, but it was pretty nice to see that we haven't all forgotten what we were taught in kindergarten.