Erick Erickson's Blog, page 192

Congratulations Reince Priebus

He's not the guy a lot of tea party activists wanted nationwide, but I've been inundated with calls from ardent defenders of his this past week from Wisconsin who say he was a significant player in the profound turn around up there.

That so many have called this week to support him — people who are authentically and unquestionably grassroots — is encouraging.

Congratulations to Reince Priebus, the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

He has his work cut out for him on fundraising and rebuilding the 72 hour task force. It is time to let the healing begin and the fight for 2012 go forward.

I wish Reince Priebus well, look forward to learning how to say his name, and am excited to work with him.

At this time in 2009, Michael Steele and I attended a party where he shouted out, "Erick Erickson, how you like me now?" It's time to move on.

Welcome, Chairman Priebus. For you grassroots folks, you can feel reassured giving money to the RNC now.

Cruz or Williams in Texas

The rumor is that, as we all expected David Dewhurst, who is more like DewCrist, is going to be running for Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat. Senator Hutchison has said she is not going to run again.

DewCrist has the money and is the man to beat. We must beat him.

In a state with no income tax, DewCrist is on record supporting an income tax. He's not as good as we can do.

There are two, however, who will make conservatives happy:

Ted Cruz and Michael Williams.

Williams is more charismatic and dynamic than Ted Cruz, who has never run for statewide office before. Ted Cruz is, however, a bit more to the right than Williams.

They would both be stellar candidates, but only one of them can win. And here's the catch — if they fight it out, DewCrist will win. That is unacceptable.

I will go with either Williams or Cruz. But I think we should see how much money they can raise before I or you decide. Money is going to be a necessary component in this fight against DewCrist. In a state like Texas, all the grassroots support in the world will not get you very far if you don't have the money to mobilize them and increase your name ID.

Whether it is Williams or Cruz, we win. But only if we rally and not divide between the two, letting Dewcrist win.

Morning Briefing for January 14, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For January 14, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. The RNC Race and the Truce on Truces

2. Gun Control and the Tucson Shootings

3. Dupnik Refudiated in President's Speech

4. Coats for Kids fires guy for agreeing with Obama?

5. On the Oil Spill Commission Report

———————————————————————-

1. The RNC Race and the Truce on Truces

Erick wrote a post earlier this week about the race for RNC chair titled, "Are RNC Committeemen Even Listening?"

As the head of the Susan B. Anthony List, a 285,000 member non-partisan pro-life group, I've asked myself a similar question – Is the Republican Party listening to the grassroots on Life?

This question was prompted in my mind (and in many others) by those within the party who have called for a "truce" on social issues – a call to ignore the million babies killed each year, many aborted using our tax dollars — while more "pressing" issues are dealt with.

So when I was asked to represent social conservatives during last week's debate for RNC Chair, I very willingly said yes so I could get the lingering question in my head answered.

In front of a packed room of activists, voting RNC members, media, and many more watching on C-SPAN, I questioned the candidates on Life and Marriage.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Gun Control and the Tucson Shootings

As we've witnessed over the past five days the left has pulled out all the stops to gain political advantage from the tragic shootings in Tucson.

We've endured the spectacle of the leftist punditocracy shrilly blaming opinions opposed to the Obama Administration for the actions of an obviously schizophrenic young man who has been described by his friends as a left wing doper who was disengaged from current politics. We've seen the addled superannuated "sheriff" lash out, blaming everyone in sight except his own department which had numerous contacts with the shooter in the past few years did bupkis, in fact they did less than bupkis.

Having failed to hang direct responsibility about our neck — an action very accurately described by Sarah Palin as "blood libel" — they moved on to Phase II which is "everyone needs to watch what they say… especially you wingnuts who are violent and since the left doesn't say violent stuff so we're okay." This, too, has wilted under even the cursory scrutiny it was given by the press. Over the past decade the calls for the assassination of President Bush, the trashing of ROTC offices, the incitement of troops to mutiny, the daily scurrilous calls for violence by websites like DailyKos and by the now happily defunct Air America were part and parcel of what passes for speech on the left. That nothing happened is due more to the lack of manliness (with the exception of Amanda Marcotte) and ambition on the part of the left than any reticence to actually engage in violent acts.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Dupnik Refudiated in President's Speech

Jonathan Martin at Politco has an article out today that puts it's attention on Sarah Palin again. This time it is for not being as totally awesome as President Obama who gave a stirring and emotional speech at the otherwise unfortunately inappropriate memorial service.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Coats for Kids fires guy for agreeing with Obama?

Short version: Glen Busch was the Chicago director of the nonprofit Coats for Kids, right up to the point where he (on his own personal Facebook page, and on his own time) made the completely accurate and noncontroversial points that Tucson shooter Jared Loughney was not, in point of fact, a right-wing crazy; and that later evidence that Loughney has left-wing beliefs didn't prove anything about the situation, either. A day later, Coats for Kids national president Paul Darby (of Virginia: guess where he and his wife Cheryl's political contributions overwhelmingly went in previous election cycles?) fired Busch for it.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. On the Oil Spill Commission Report

As many of you know, your humble correspondent is a veteran of 32 years of service in the oil and gas industry, currently serving as the operations manager for a small Gulf of Mexico exploration and production company. This week, the President's Oil Spill Commission published its 380-page report on the BP blowout and spill on the Deepwater Horizon. I won't pretend to have read the thing, but there are a few recommendations and outcomes worth commenting upon.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Have You Heard Yet?

Almost done with the first week of the Erick Erickson Show. You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com. You can call in too at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

The President's Speech and Killing Sarah Palin

What was billed as a "memorial service" in Arizona last night was more of a pep-rally and celebration of life. It was complete with sloganeering, bumper stickers, and t-shirts.

It is what was needed.

What's more, Mr. Obama gave a stunning rebuke to his own base who've engaged in a horrific blame game all week.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Contrast that with what his supporters have been up to all week. It is disgusting. Let us also not forget that the President's own Democratic advisors were hoping he would seize on this moment as a way to polarize the country against the right and the tea party movement.

While many will say parts of his speech were campaign-ish, let's not forget that the President has failed miserably at every speech he has given as President. So a campaign style speech was the only way for him to deliver.

And I think he did as a President must do.

But can he himself, the man who implored Democratic voters to "punish our enemies" and only recently referred to Republicans as "hostage takers" live up to his own words?

This is, after all, a man who got his political start in the home of a terrorist who'd dedicated a book to Robert F. Kennedy's killer — a man who never repented but who Mr. Obama then gave grant money to.

Will the President live up to his own standard? Everyone can change. Everyone can repent. Let's hope this President will.

But there is much that still must be done and much the left must still learn.

Yesterday, Governor Sarah Palin delivered a video address on the mess in Arizona. For a week, the left has blamed Palin, not Loughner, for the shooting. Then they attacked her for not responding. Then they attacked her for her response and using the phrase "blood libel," a perfectly legitimately use of it given what she and the right have been subjected to this week.

But the left pounced.

All week long, the left has said Jared Loughner was persuaded to try to kill Congresswoman Giffords because of right-wing hate. We know that was not true. But here is what else I am sure of.

Out there somewhere is someone who would love to kill Governor Palin. God forbid they do it. But you and I both know there is some crazy MSNBC watcher and Media Matters reader who even now is dreaming of doing so.

And should they try, we can be equally sure of something else. The left will be divided into two camps: (1) bitch deserved it and (2) not my fault.

It is unfortunate. I hope it never happens. But you and I both know the reality in which we live.

Morning Briefing for January 13, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For January 13, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. The President's Speech and Killing Sarah Palin

2. Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone

3. Thoughtful, On-Target Palin Responds To Attacks; Left Loses Last Grip On Reality

4. Herman Cain announces presidential exploratory committee

5. Witness to Atrocity

———————————————————————-

1. The President's Speech and Killing Sarah Palin

What was billed as a "memorial service" in Arizona last night was more of a pep-rally and celebration of life. It was complete with sloganeering, bumper stickers, and t-shirts.

It is what was needed.

What's more, Mr. Obama gave a stunning rebuke to his own base who've engaged in a horrific blame game all week.

While many will say parts of his speech were campaign-ish, let's not forget that the President has failed miserably at every speech he has given as President. So a campaign style speech was the only way for him to deliver.

And I think he did as a President must do.

But can he himself, the man who implored Democratic voters to "punish our enemies" and only recently referred to Republicans as "hostage takers" live up to his own words?

This is, after all, a man who got his political start in the home of a terrorist who'd dedicated a book to Robert F. Kennedy's killer — a man who never repented but who Mr. Obama then gave grant money to.

Will the President live up to his own standard? Everyone can change. Everyone can repent. Let's hope this President will.

But there is much that still must be done and much the left must still learn.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone

Last night on John King USA I tried very hard to keep my blood from boiling. Cornell Belcher, a very good guy, tried to claim that the right's history of rhetoric is worse than the left's.

I'll meet you half way on that, just for the sake of argument, and say the left and right can at times be equally vile, but only for the sake of argument.

But really, maybe the right's history of rhetoric is greater if only because the left goes beyond rhetoric to outright violence.

And that's the jumping off point here for the media. Because suddenly the media wants to talk about changing the political tone in this country — a tone the media itself has helped contribute to with its selective sensationalizing of subjects.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Thoughtful, On-Target Palin Responds To Attacks; Left Loses Last Grip On Reality

I know, my use of the term on-target makes me a vitriolic, hateful rhetoric espouser in the eyes of some. It's not conducive to the "new tone" we are all supposed to embrace for some unfathomable and delusional reason. Of course, this new tone doesn't apply if one is speaking about Sarah Palin, who is apparently the cause of All Bad Things Ever, in perpetuity. Even here, we are on day three of no school due to snow. In South Carolina. Does Palin's evil reach have no bounds?!

The Left and the media, as always concentric circles on a Venn diagram, attempted for days to spin a false and odious narrative placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on Sarah Palin and everyone like her. Because, vitriol. Or something. Days of vile political opportunism, on the backs of the dead. Days of disgusting smears the likes of which I've never seen before in my lifetime. Days of giddily and gleefully exploiting deaths, including those of a federal judge and a nine year old child, all in an attempt to score political points and to silence and demonize those with whom they disagree.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Herman Cain announces presidential exploratory committee

It begins.

There has been a good bit of 'presidential' buzz about Herman Cain in the right online community, and in the conservative camp in general. He's not been shy about admitting that he's considering it. Now he's taking the next step. I had the privilege of speaking with him for a half-hour last night after he was done with his nationally syndicated talk show, and I am pleased to make the following announcement on RedState.

Herman Cain announced on FoxNews' Your World Cavuto that he is forming an exploratory committee to determine the feasability of a run for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

[Full disclosure: I work with Herman Cain at WSB Radio and have filled in for him on the radio. — Erick]

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Witness to Atrocity

Although it is a fact that we only dare to confront in the occasional dark night of our souls, this country has been teetering on the brink of moral illegitimacy for the last 38 years.

Yesterday, I was forcibly reminded of this when someone sent me this excerpt from the forthcoming book Unplanned, in which former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson explains her conversion from pro-choice activist to pro-life activist, as she watched an abortion being performed live on an ultrasound.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Another From the Mail Bag

From: davidgoehring@gmail.com

Subject: Go F**k Yourselves

Date: January 12, 2011 9:57:50 PM EST

To: contact@redstate.com

What a bunch of freaking weirdos. Good God, and you actually have the gall to call yourselves Christians? You're f**king fascists, and Jesus doesn't love you.

From the Mail Bag

The atheists and twinkie eaters at Media Matters, also known as the Westboro Baptist D.C. Branch, are enraged that I dared mention Jesus and the absence of discussing him in the debate over Arizona.

For a great taste of it, you should check my twitter feed. But having just received this, it gives you a good taste of the Godless:

From: Karl Schneider

Subject: F**k you

Date: January 12, 2011 6:10:05 PM EST

To: Erick-Woods Erickson

Reply-To: krs@valornet.com

and f**k your dead god on a stick.

The Blame Game and my Tirade

So Cornell Belcher, as I mentioned earlier, wanted to accuse the tea party movement and the right of being much more vitriolic than the left.

That kind of set me on a tirade. With great demand from many of you, CNN was kind enough to get the video into an embeddable file. Here now is my tirade:

Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone

Last night on John King USA I tried very hard to keep my blood from boiling. Cornell Belcher, a very good guy, tried to claim that the right's history of rhetoric is worse than the left's.

I'll meet you half way on that, just for the sake of argument, and say the left and right can at times be equally vile, but only for the sake of argument.

But really, maybe the right's history of rhetoric is greater if only because the left goes beyond rhetoric to outright violence.

And that's the jumping off point here for the media. Because suddenly the media wants to talk about changing the political tone in this country — a tone the media itself has helped contribute to with its selective sensationalizing of subjects.

When Kos gloated over the deaths of Americans in Fallujah, the media wasn't interested in changing the tone.

When groups showed up outside Karl Rove's house to protest, the media was not interested in changing the tone.

When SEIU protestors showed up on the front porch of a Bank of America Executive's house, the media was not interested in changing the tone.

When leftists attacked a military recruiting office, the media was not interested in changing the tone.

When arsonists burned down Sarah Palin's church, the media was not interested in changing the tone.

When rioters tried to burn down Seattle during a free trade summit, the media was not interested in changing the tone.

But when Jared Loughner, a mentally unstable Karl Marx reading registered independent whose friends described him as a leftist, guns down a Bush appointed federal judge and tries to take out a Congresswoman, suddenly the media is interested in changing the tone, but only because the tea party movement had something or other to do with something that didn't have anything to do with Jared Loughner.

Oh yeah, the tea party movement won in November. That's why we suddenly have to change the tone.