Erick Erickson's Blog, page 216

Morning Briefing for October 19, 2010

RedState Morning Briefing

For October 18, 2010

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

1. Rape and Ken Buck's Record

2. Left-Wing Blogger Starts a Fight at a Joe Miller Rally

3. Dallas Morning News Makes Case for Rick Perry While Endorsing Bill White for Texas Governor

4. Democrats Need to Heed the Wisdom of Darrell K. Royal

5. Merkel: Multiculturalism Doesn't Work

6. Democrats Think Jack Conway's Desperation Has Grown "Very Dangerous"

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1. Rape and Ken Buck's Record

The left never ceases to amaze me in their willingness to use people to tar and feather their opposition through half-truths and lies. In much the same way the NAACP used the murder of James Byrd to attack George Bush with a series of lies, the left is doing the same with a rape victim in Colorado against Ken Buck.

The Colorado Springs Gazette covers this pretty extensively and shows just how disgusting it is.

The case stems from an alleged date rape and Buck's decision to not prosecute the case. Buck, in explaining why to the victim, said that the jury would more likely than not let the guy off because of evidence the defense had. He sent the case to another District Attorney to review and that District Attorney agreed with Buck.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Left-Wing Blogger Starts a Fight at a Joe Miller Rally

The media is buzzing today about an altercation that happened at the Joe Miller rally in Alaska.

A left-wing blogger, Tony Hopfinger, tried to corner Joe Miller as Miller was departing. He kept shoving people to get to Miller and it did not go over well. The left tried to blow this up, as did Murkowski, but now several eye witness reports are coming out, along with Hopfinger's confession that he started it, and the story is going no where. Or at least it shouldn't.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Dallas Morning News Makes Case for Rick Perry While Endorsing Bill White for Texas Governor

Governor Rick Perry knows - and is not afraid to say - that Texas has been successful in the current economic downturn because it limits the size of its government, keeps taxes low and has created a freedom-oriented environment that attracts business and workers. The result is not surprising - Texas leads the nation in job creation - having created 119,000 jobs between August 2009 and August 2010 as compared with just 214,000 job throughout the nation. Meanwhile, over 1000 people are moving to Texas every day.

Perhaps more importantly, the Governor (along with Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott) has made crystal clear that the ways of Washington are not the way to a prosperous future and Texas is prepared to tell Washington to get out of the way - in the form of rejecting federal funds with strings attached, litigation against intrusive federal legislation and otherwise.

For this, the Dallas Morning News rails against Governor Perry for his "swagger," and has put its weight (for whatever that is worth) behind Democrat challenger Bill White in the form of an editorial endorsement bristling with hostility to the current Governor.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Democrats Need to Heed the Wisdom of Darrell K. Royal

It was Darrell K. Royal who originally said, "When you get to the end zone, act like you've been there before"

In the past few weeks we've seen Charlie Crist attack Marco Rubio for not being Hispanic enough. Serously.

Earl Perlmutter refused to shake hands with his opponent in Colorado.

Jim Marshall in Georgia had an oppo researcher obtain the divorce records of his opponent's parents.

Jack Conway attacked Rand Paul's faith.

A left-wing blogger invaded a Joe Miller rally in Alaska and assaulted attendees.

Alan Grayson selectively edited a speech by Daniel Webster to make it look like Webster said something he did not.

Barack Obama himself went out bashing his own side for not getting out the vote.

Joe Biden accused the Democrats of whining.

The Democrats are on the cusp of a very bad defeat. They need to start acting like they've been there before. They have — 1994.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Merkel: Multiculturalism Doesn't Work

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has just broken one of Europe's greatest taboos. But the truth may prove more dangerous than the lies that preceded it.

Europe has a decidedly love-hate relationship with racial, cultural and religious pluralism. On the one hand, Europeans have no choice but to deal - more than do Americans - with a continent with a multiplicity of languages, they love to lecture 'simplistic' Americans about tolerance, and moreso than in the U.S., there's a powerful taboo among the governing elite against even talking about cultural or social issues of any kind, let alone subjecting them to free public debate. On the other hand, there's thousands of years of history of racial, ethnic and religious animosities tearing the continent apart and leading to many of human history's worst atrocities. And with regard to specific case of Europe's relationship with the Islamic world, think location, location, location: even places we think of as far distant lands - Algeria, Libya, Syria - are geographically right on Europe's doorstep, and familiarity in Europe has often bred contempt, and worse. It was Europe that was invaded by Muslim imperialists pretty much continuously from the 700s (when Charles Martel stopped the Muslim advance into France at Poitiers) to the 1600s (when the Turks were stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1683); Spain spent 700 years under Islamic rule, parts of the Balkans even longer. It was also Europeans who launched the Crusades, beginning some 300 years after Poitiers. European nationalism is not the conservative, free-market, liberty-oriented variety we have in the United States, and really never has been; it tends to be statist, befitting its feudal origins, and in recent centuries it has lost the restraining or at least balancing force of Christianity, as the continent has become less Christian.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Democrats Think Jack Conway's Desperation Has Grown "Very Dangerous"

Things must be really bad for Jack Conway. He's gone on offense against Rand Paul with attacks that (a) reach back to college days and (b) are filled with lies.

When asked about it over the weekend, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill called Conway's tactics "very dangerous."

Conway is directly attacking Rand Paul's faith. It's not only very dangerous, it is also disgusting. As Senator McCaskill notes, "Candidates who are at behind at the end reach and sometimes they overreach."

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Left-Wing Blogger Starts a Fight at a Joe Miller Rally

The media is buzzing today about an altercation that happened at the Joe Miller rally in Alaska.

A left-wing blogger, Tony Hopfinger, tried to corner Joe Miller as Miller was departing. He kept shoving people to get to Miller and it did not go over well. The left tried to blow this up, as did Murkowski, but now several eye witness reports are coming out, along with Hopfinger's confession that he started it, and the story is going no where.

Red County had an eye witness at the event who provides a first hand account of what happened.

There comes a point to where a person passes the point of getting answers to then becoming a person who is harassing an individual. And Tony Hopfinger crossed the line when it was clear Miller changed his direction because of Hopfinger engaging Miller's security detail in what started off as a shoving match.

What I also found interesting was the set-up that took place between blogger Jesse Griffin, who when leaving was asking where Tony was. Notably, Griffin was with the individual who asked the question on why Miller was a Welfare Queen.

And leave it to political hacks like Andrew Halcro to say Miller ordered the arrest when Miller wasn't even there when the security team detained Hopfinger.

Like I said before, there comes a time when the press cross the line on getting questions answered and Tony Hopfinger crossed the line by pushing back and trying to hide behind the First Amendment.

The lefty blogger is claiming he felt threatened. If so, why the heck did he start the shoving match?

Who Can Help Pat Toomey?

Having driven Arlen Specter out of the party and now on the verge of winning Pennsylvania, we owe a great deal to Pat Toomey.

Can any of you help? Toomey needs boots on the ground in Pennsylvania. With 15 days before the election, the more the merrier.

If you are interested in heading to Pennsylvania to help Pat Toomey, email RedState@toomeyforsenate.com. They'll have somebody monitoring the address, specially set up for RedState readers who want to volunteer.

If you want to do something to help the man who beat Arlen Specter out of the party and is set to move Pennsylvania right, but you can't be on the ground, send Pat Toomey some money.

Quite frankly, we haven't done enough around here for Pat Toomey. Anything we can do to help him we should.

Democrats Need to Heed the Wisdom of Darrell K. Royal

It was Darrell K. Royal who originally said, "When you get to the end zone, act like you've been there before"

In the past few weeks we've seen Charlie Crist attack Marco Rubio for not being Hispanic enough. Serously.

Earl Perlmutter refused to shake hands with his opponent in Colorado.

Jim Marshall in Georgia had an oppo researcher obtain the divorce records of his opponent's parents.

Jack Conway attacked Rand Paul's faith.

A left-wing blogger invaded a Joe Miller rally in Alaska and assaulted attendees.

Alan Grayson selectively edited a speech by Daniel Webster to make it look like Webster said something he did not.

Barack Obama himself went out bashing his own side for not getting out the vote.

Joe Biden accused the Democrats of whining.

The Democrats are on the cusp of a very bad defeat. They need to start acting like they've been there before. They have — 1994.

This sore loser stuff is doing them no favors at all. But it is delightful to watch. I can't wait for the post-election blame game. Nancy Pelosi may have to take up residence in an undisclosed location.

Democrats Think Jack Conway's Desperation Has Grown "Very Dangerous"

Things must be really bad for Jack Conway. He's gone on offense against Rand Paul with attacks that (a) reach back to college days and (b) are filled with lies.

When asked about it over the weekend, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill called Conway's tactics "very dangerous."

Conway is directly attacking Rand Paul's faith. It's not only very dangerous, it is also disgusting. As Senator McCaskill notes, "Candidates who are at behind at the end reach and sometimes they overreach."

Paul is not taking it laying down. He's hitting back.

Send Rand some money if you don't mind so he can fight back against Conway's sickening attacks.

Who is Norma Jean?

Some youthful videographers approached Congressman Lincoln Davis.

It was all well and good until they mentioned some woman's name — Norma Jean.

Then the Congressman fled and his Chief of Staff shoved the cameraman.

That all begs the question — who is Norman Jean? It isn't Mrs. Davis. That much we know.

Alex Sink Loves Felons

I am a diehard Karen Handel supporter for Governor of Georgia. I believe Nathan Deal won the nomination by lying about Handel's record. After Deal's nomination, we now see what appears to be insurmountable allegations of corruption, bad business deals, near bankruptcy, etc.

But all things being equal, I'll be voting for Nathan Deal while holding my nose because even with all his problems, he is still better than Roy Barnes.

So I get that many Republicans in Florida are having a hard time embracing Rick Scott as their nominee after a terrible, nasty primary with Bill McCollum. While Karen Handel went all in for Nathan Deal after he beat her, McCollum has not been man enough to do the same for Scott.

This will be the first election since the passage of the Voting Rights Act that the Democrats control the Department of Justice during redistricting. There will be numerous judicial and executive appointments to be made by the next Governor of Florida.

In the choice between Rick Scott and Alex Sink, there is no choice. We now know just how bad Alex Sink would be. During her tenure as Chief Financial Office of Florida, she routinely licensed felons to sell insurance if they contributed to her or the Democratic Party of Florida.

The [Palm Beach] Post obtained records Friday for 25 insurance agents with a broad variety of criminal convictions, including shoplifting, grand larceny, credit card fraud and passing bad checks among others. All were licensed by Sink's office in 2009.

Among those 25 were at least a dozen who received licenses in 2009 to represent American Medical and Life Insurance Co., which along with Aventura-based Cinergy Inc., was being investigated by Florida regulators earlier this year.

Many of those who Sink licensed were donors to her campaign or the Democratic Party in Florida. Think of the untold damage this woman could do in redistricting, appointing people to state jobs, awarding state contracts, etc.

Are you really going to continue holding the primary against Scott and risk Alex Sink as Governor? Really?

Morning Briefing for October 18, 2010

RedState Morning Briefing

For October 18, 2010

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

1. The Condescender-in-Chief

2. Enabling identity theft, the Organizing for America way!

3. Alex Sink Loves Felons

4. Meet the Fallujah Four.

5. The UAW: The Curse that Just Keeps on Giving

6. Barney Frank's Boyfriend heckles Sean Bielat.

7. Union Bosses Are Funneling Millions to Democrats to Keep Money Flowing To Them

8. Report: Hinchey Assaults Reporter

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1. The Condescender-in-Chief

Two years into the Obama presidency, and this kind of thing really shouldn't be a surprise.

Obama told the several dozen donors that he was offering them his "view from the Oval Office." He faulted the economic downturn for Americans' inability to "think clearly" and said the burden is on Democrats "to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling."

The President believes that we are not "thinking clearly," and that our attitudes and behavior stem from "fear and frustration".  It is one thing for Obama to think that, but it is yet another for the President of the United States to say it out loud - about his own nation's citizens.

But this is no surprise, is it?  This is the same man who accused those who disagreed with him of being hyper-religious, violent xenophobes:

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Yes, we remember that one well, don't we?

A quick Google search reveals the extent of Obama's condescension problem.  Article after article document his snooty, patronizing attitudes about those around him.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Enabling identity theft, the Organizing for America way!

The Democrats are handing out people's phone numbers to anybody who feels like phone banking for them. Specifically, they're handing out people's full names, city and state, gender, age, political affiliation, and phone number. Presumably, these would be people who contributed to either OfA or the Democrats generally - which means that these are people with credit cards. In other words, this is identity-theft softcore pr0n.

Safeguards? Ha!

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Alex Sink Loves Felons

I am a diehard Karen Handel supporter for Governor of Georgia. I believe Nathan Deal won the nomination by lying about Handel's record. After Deal's nomination, we now see what appears to be insurmountable allegations of corruption, bad business deals, near bankruptcy, etc.

But all things being equal, I'll be voting for Nathan Deal while holding my nose because even with all his problems, he is still better than Roy Barnes.

So I get that many Republicans in Florida are having a hard time embracing Rick Scott as their nominee after a terrible, nasty primary with Bill McCollum. While Karen Handel went all in for Nathan Deal after he beat her, McCollum has not been man enough to do the same for Scott.

This will be the first election since the passage of the Voting Rights Act that the Democrats control the Department of Justice during redistricting. There will be numerous judicial and executive appointments to be made by the next Governor of Florida.

In the choice between Rick Scott and Alex Sink, there is no choice. We now know just how bad Alex Sink would be. During her tenure as Chief Financial Office of Florida, she routinely licensed felons to sell insurance if they contributed to her or the Democratic Party of Florida.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Meet the Fallujah Four.

hese would be the four Democrats [Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA); Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA-30); Rep. Dennis Kuchinich (D, OH-10); and Rep. Raul Grijavla (D, AZ-07)] who provided letters of introduction and support to the pro-terrorist groups Code Pink/Global Exchange in 2004. Those groups used these letters to facilitate their delivery over a half a million dollars' worth of aid to terrorists in Fallujah actively fighting American troops; which is, by the way, treason by any reasonable interpretation of the US Constitution.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The UAW: The Curse that Just Keeps on Giving

The company formally known as General Motors (informally known as Government Motors) is preparing for an initial public stock offering (IPO). However, it appears the attractiveness of the "new" GM continues to be scarred by an old curse, the United Auto Workers.

While many Americans have already sworn off the buying of GM-made vehicles, investing in General Motors, alongside the United Auto Workers may be too much risk for investors to tolerate. This is especially the case as the auto industry gears up for negotiations next year.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Barney Frank's Boyfriend heckles Sean Bielat.

For those without video access, the video with this post shows Sean Bielat (Barney Frank's challenger in MA-04) being (badly) heckled by an onlooker.

Turns out that said heckler was Frank's boyfriend James Ready, who you might remember from the pot bust thing, or perhaps the yelling at ophthalmologists thing. Sean Bielat, of course, you know from the suddenly giving Barney Frank a real race for a change thing.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. Union Bosses Are Funneling Millions to Democrats to Keep Money Flowing To Them

Last year, for the first time ever, the number of public-sector union members exceeded private-sector union members. As it has been estimated (conservatively) that private-sector union members (most of them under the threat of losing their jobs) shell out $13-$15 billion annually in union dues, given the growth in public-sector unions, the union industry easily rakes in in excess of $26 billion or more per year in union dues alone. As a result, union bosses have a vested interest in electing politicians who will help them maintain or expand their revenues.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

8. Report: Hinchey Assaults Reporter

Congressman Maurice Hinchey is clearly stressed by polls showing his re-election campaign in serious trouble. How else to interpret his unhinged reaction when a reporter asked him about earmarks he secured which seem to have enriched him personally, Hinchey reportedly came unglued.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Real Rick Scott

As you know, I'm a fan of Rick Scott. I've known him for quite a while. I realize there is still ambivalence among a number of Bill McCollum supporters to support Rick, but I hope they will reconsider.

Please read this article that came out late yesterday profiling Rick Scott. It's in the Gulf Coast Business Review and really lays out everything you'd want to know about Rick.

Scott also had what was known as "no-jerk" rule in Columbia's corporate hiring. Before being hired as corporate counsel in 1991, Braun remembers having to interview with every vice president in the company to make sure he passed the "no-jerk" test. Street says that whenever Scott had a critical word for someone, the worst he would say was, "He's not a nice person." He didn't curse.

Another Scott trait: He was remarkably even-tempered. Says Pillari, now a health-care restructuring adviser in San Francisco with Alvarez & Marsal: "Rick was never irrational, always level headed, always positive. Says Street: "One time I asked him if he ever lost his temper, and he said, 'What benefit does that do me or anyone around me?'"

Seeing and communicating with Columbia-HCA's physician partners and employees was important to Scott. He sent weekly e-mails to the company's 285,000 staffers, and answered their e-mails as well. Pillari saw him as a motivator and inspiring to his associates. Adds Street: "Rick brings out the best in people if you see what he's trying to do. He made me see more resources and talents in myself than anyone, including my mom."

This man is the most qualified person in the race for Governor of Florida. I'd gladly vote for him if I lived there.

Sharron Angle Scores

Harry Reid did not exactly give a stellar debate performance in Nevada last night. At one point he was muttering about being unable to find his notes.

Along the way, Harry Reid was asked which Supreme Court Justice he admires and he California Attorney General Jerry Brown was unavailable for comment.

Then Sharron Angle went in for the kill. She asked how it was Harry Reid left Searchlight, NV a poor man and became one of the richest men in the Senate on a public servant's salary. That's a question we all want answered.