Stories by Leon H Wolf
Posted at 8:48pm on Oct. 4, 2005 Let Us Condense
By Leon H Wolf
Countless pixels have been used over the past two days here at RedState over Harriet Miers. The arguments have been wide and scattered, and I sense in the comments a general lack of focus.
Hence, here we have a thread that will attempt to boil down what the issues are. Have fun discussing.
P. S. The traffic over the past two days has been nothing short of breathtaking. We've had an absolute onslaught of new readers, and for that we are thankful. We would ask, however, that you take a moment to read the posting rules and site mission links before posting. Thanks.
Posted in The Courts — Comments (223)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:45pm on Oct. 3, 2005 Pass the Flavor-Aid
By Leon H Wolf
In case you haven't noticed, the overall feeling on the site is one of deep disappointment in this nominee. We all have our own reasons, and I think mine is separate and distinct enough to merit a completely different post, as I've not seen it addressed on the front page yet.
More below the fold:
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Posted at 1:52pm on Oct. 2, 2005 Sunday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
The Colts lose their first game today. You heard it here first.
Posted in Elections — Comments (22)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:05pm on Sep. 30, 2005 Fiscal Conservatives Flexing their Muscle
By Leon H Wolf
Surprisingly, one of the most welcome and unexpected side effects of the lamentable destruction wrought by Katrina has been a resurgence of fiscal conservatism within the Republican party. When the President went on television to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in relief for New Orleans, the fiscal conservatives in Congress who had been politely biting their tongues for years finally seemed to reach the breaking point.
We'll pay for New Orleans, they said. However, we're going to cut this money from somewhere else to pay for it. And thus Operation Offset was born. The leaders of the RSC faced some initial pushback from party leadership, it is clear that with the aid of the activists, and spurred on by the blogosphere, the fiscal conservatives in the party have turned the tide in this battle.
Today, the Washington Times explains how the FisCons are also asserting control over how the Katrina money will be spent:
Posted in Republicans — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:55pm on Sep. 29, 2005 John Roberts Confirmed as Chief Justice
By Leon H Wolf
CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate voted 78 to 22 to confirm Judge John Roberts as the nation's 17th chief justice Thursday.
All 55 Republican senators voted for Roberts. 22 Democrats and one independent senator also voted for the nominee, while 22 Democratic senators voted against him.
Senate approval capped a two-month process surprisingly free of the partisan rancor widely expected when President Bush nominated Roberts in July.
It's only fair to note that Addison wins the contest.
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Posted at 1:31am on Sep. 28, 2005 Haley Barbour's Star on the Rise
By Leon H Wolf
Despite being somewhat overshadowed by SCOTUS confirmation scuffles and post-hurricane finger-pointing, a very smart political operative has quietly been proving himself effective at the business of running a government, and establishing himself as the most credible candidate for 2008 that I've seen so far.
I'm talking, of course, about Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. More below the fold:
Posted in Republicans — Comments (28)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:06am on Sep. 27, 2005 Victory at All Costs
By Leon H Wolf
Anybody who reads my material on a regular basis knows that I'm in to politics almost exclusively for one reason, and one reason alone, and that reason is not the Iraq War. In fact, under normal circumstances, this war would fall probably third or fourth on the list of my priorities.
The protest this weekend convinced me that my priorities need adjusting. As I watched the most anti-American elements of society rub shoulders this weekend, given legitimacy and free press through their attachment to a growing anti-war sentiment in this country to a fully complicit American Left that is seeking to capitalize on that growing anti-war sentiment, I came to realize that these people are not in this fight for the war. They are in it for political victory.
And it further led me to consider that much of the moral repugnance writ legal ushered in during the 70s did not occur in a vacuum, but rather was washed in on a wave of euphoric success by an almost identical crowd of misbegotten America haters, flush with the thrill of their victory over the "establishment" in Vietnam.
Their victory, in reality, was a victory over America. If there is anything we should have learned from the Vietnam Era, if there is anything George McGovern has to teach us, it is that our most dangerous enemy will not seek to defeat us with military force, it will seek to defeat us by demoralizing us. And its base of operations isn't in the mountains of Afghanistan, it's right here in our own country.
And if their success is not to repeat itself, we must not allow them to succeed again. They must be defeated at all costs. Their message must be discredited. They must be pushed back into the margins of history, having failed to accomplish anything more significant than getting Cindy Sheehan's picture on the Drudge Report. If we allow them to succeed by failing in Iraq, we provide a vital foothold to a fifth column whose end is the destruction of this country through increments of moral decay.
This must never happen, no matter the cost.
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Posted at 2:59pm on Sep. 25, 2005 Sunday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
Because we're all watching football.
Posted in Elections — Comments (31)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 3:02pm on Sep. 23, 2005 Frist: Time to Step Down
By Leon H Wolf
An astute observer might have noticed some time ago that we're not the biggest fans of Bill Frist, generally speaking, here at RedState.org. As a majority leader, I have long been of the opinion that he is ineffective, and he has certainly shown a willingness as an individual Senator to stab both social and fiscal conservatives. There are no other constituencies of the Republican party left to fail.
Unless, of course, you want to examine the fact that he is failing his own constituents in Tennessee by leaving the fight for the 118th Air Lift Wing entirely to Democrat governor Phil Bredesen. Oh yeah, he's also mired in personal scandal that is likely to get much worse before it gets better.
The situation is clear. Bill Frist cannot at this current time act effectively as Senate Majority Leader for the Republican Party, and should step aside from his position immediately.
A brief review of Frist failures below the fold:
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Posted at 2:27am on Sep. 22, 2005 Rita Closes In
By Leon H Wolf
This is gonna get nasty. From CNN:
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- As more than 1 million people scurried to get out of the way of Hurricane Rita, the Category 5 hurricane grew more turbulent, becoming the third most intense storm in history, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday night.
Officials said the barometric pressure near the eye of the storm was 897 millibars, a lower reading than Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast August 29.
As of this moment, Galveston, TX is in the direct path of the hurricane, which is bad, bad news given the structural instability of the land upon which Galveston sits (among other factors). Also in the path for a beating: Houston and potentially Dallas. In other words, the areas where most of the New Orleans evacuees are currently staying.
Oh, and if the system happens to dump more than three inches of rain on New Orleans as it passes through the gulf, the levees may breach again. Our prayers are with everyone in the gulf coast at this moment, and all whose lives have been and will be disrupted by these hurricans.
Consider this an open thread for updates/other Rita info.