Degree of Madness

William F. Buckley, R.I.P.

William F. Buckley died yesterday, he was 82.  President Bush pays tribute:

America has lost one of its finest writers and thinkers. Bill Buckley was one of the great founders of the modern conservative movement. He brought conservative thought into the political mainstream, and helped lay the intellectual foundation for America's victory in the Cold War and for the conservative movement that continues to this day. He will be remembered for his principled thought and beautiful writing — as well as his personal warmth, wit, and generous spirit.  His legacy lives on in the ideas he championed and in the magazine he founded — National Review.

Laura and I send our prayers to Chris Buckley, the Buckley family, and all who loved this good man.

I never met Mr. Buckley, but I did, and do, love him.  I so wish I could write a tribute worthy of such a giant of conservatism but I can't.  As an e-mailer to The Corner stated, I am saddened by the passing of William F. Buckley, but our loss is Heaven's gain, and I'm sure the Good Lord told his angels to "Bring me a dictionary, Buckley's coming."  A dictionary sure does come in handy when reading the beautiful, thoughtful, inspiring words of William F. Buckley.

I will let Senator John Cornyn words speak for me:

“William F. Buckley was the intellectual inspiration for the modern conservative movement. For more than a half-century, he prodded, and questioned, and amused and inspired millions. His work served to lift up countless Americans. His influence on both policy and history is almost immeasurable. America is safer, stronger and freer thanks to his life.

“Mr. Buckley has been honored by President Reagan and countless others for his contributions, and justifiably so. He was the embodiment of “morning in America,” the optimistic conviction that our values are enduring and our best years are still ahead. His role in the development of conservative thought was unique, and he can never be replaced.”

God Bless William F. Buckley, Jr.  R.I.P.

Ralph Nader is running for President...Again

Hooray...

Ralph Nader said Sunday he will run for president as a third-party candidate, criticizing the top White House contenders as too close to big business and pledging to repeat a bid that will “shift the power from the few to the many.”

Hillary Clinton called Nader's announcement unfortunate:

Clinton was unaware, until questioned about by reporters, that Nader had announced Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had decided to enter the 2008 race, and was clearly surprised at the news.

“Well that’s really unfortunate. I remember when he did this before. It did not turn out very well for anybody, most especially our country,” she said. “This time I hope it doesn’t hurt anybody. I hope it’s kind of a passing fancy that people don’t take too seriously.”

Didn't turn out well for "anybody"?  Speak for yourself, Hillary.  Anything Hillary thinks is unfortunate has to be a good thing.  Barack Obama weighed in on Nader's announcement:

"Anybody has the right to run for president if they file sufficient papers," Mr. Obama responded. "The job of the Democratic Party is to be so compelling that a few percentage of the vote going to another candidate is not going to make any difference."

[...]

Mr. Nader has reserved harsh words for both Mr. Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in recent weeks, and is expected to announce he will run again in an appearance today on NBC's "Meet the Press," the same forum where he announced his 2004 effort.Asked about Mr. Nader's criticism, Mr. Obama paused, then added:

"Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work.

In January Nader had this to say about Obama:

"His record in the Senate is pretty mediocre," Nader said. "His most distinctive characteristic is the extent to which he censors himself. He hasn't performed as a really progressive first-term senator would."

His "self-censorship," Nader said, "is a reflection of character."

Hard to argue that, but thank God for small favors. 

Captain Ed:

How much impact will Nader have this time? Probably none at all. Unless Hillary Clinton pulls off a miracle, the Naderites of 2000 have aligned themselves enthusiastically with Barack Obama. Having Nader attack him from the Left won't hurt Obama's prospects in the middle, where he needs to draw more heavily than John McCain.

Michael Bloomberg could be a fly in Obama's anointment, though:

The bigger worry for Obama is Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire mayor of New York City ay still launch a vanity run for the White House, and he would challenge both McCain and Obama for the center. However, given Bloomberg's nanny-state tendencies, he will likely draw far more support from Obama than from McCain. If both Nader and Bloomberg enter the race, Obama could get squeezed from both sides.

If nothing else, Nader's presence will provide a few laughs as he gets reviled for blocking Obama's path to victory, even if it's just a small roadbump.

Works for me.

Obama the "talking crop circle"

Thanks to Lucianne for this morning's coffee spewer:

Is Obama a modern day Piltdown Man? Cardiff Giant? A talking crop circle? A concerned columnist is just asking.

The comment is referring to a column by "Obama girl" Margery Eagan: When backing Barack feels like joining a cult.  Eagan is getting  a little nervous.  Actress Halle Berry wants to pick up paper cups for Obama, actor George Clooney wants to follow him "somewhere, anywhere", Obama supporter Susan Sarandon can't wait to find out what he stands for...

At campaign rallies people scream, cry, even faint as Obama calmly calls for the EMTs. When supporters pant en masse, “I love you!” (like The Beatles, circa 1964), Barack says, “I love you back” with that deliciously charming, almost cocky smile.

Oh - I’m nervous because it’s all gone to his head and he hasn’t even won yet.

If I were an Obama supporter that would make me a little nervous too:

I’m nervous because even his biggest fans can’t name Obama’s accomplishments, including Texas state Sen. Kirk Watson, an Obama-man who humiliated himself when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked him about five times to name something, anything, Obama’s done. Watson hemmed. Watson hawed. Watson gave up.

Maybe Lucianne can help Watson out here.  Next time anyone asks about Obama's accomplishments, he can just say he is the world's first, and only, talking crop circle.  Let's see John McCain top that.

Birmingham Mayor, Computers, and a Porn Star

Brett J. Blackledge and Joseph D. Bryant, writing for The Birmingham News:

A charity Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford created more than seven years ago to give every child a computer faces scrutiny from a donor and federal prosecutors over its use of more than $1 million in taxpayer money, including payments on personal credit card bills, expenses for "elaborate" trips and checks written to a star of gay-porn films.

The questions about Computer Help for Kids, created in 2000 to carry out Langford's first computer-for-every-child promise as Fairfield mayor, come as the Birmingham City Council considers an agreement allowing a new charity backed by Langford to distribute computers to students. John Katopodis, a close friend of Langford who is organizing the mayor's initiative, faces questions in a civil lawsuit and in federal subpoenas about how he managed Langford's first computer charity.

The civil lawsuit filed by HealthSouth Corp., which donated money and computers, questions why the first computer charity gave Langford money, paid for casino trips and handed out donated computers to friends and politicians.

It's for the children.

Documents filed in the Jefferson County lawsuit against Katopodis show nonprofit programs managing Langford's first computer charity paid:

$30,000 to Marc Anthony Donais, also known as Ryan Idol, a star in gay adult films.

$28,000 in cash to Katopodis through checks and automatic teller withdrawals, including withdrawals at casinos.

$12,000 a year in rent for office space to a group run by Katopodis, even though Katopodis was not charged rent for the building.

As much as $10,000 to Langford, which he said went to a private charity he controlled.

Thousands of dollars to pay personal credit cards, phone bills and expenses, including Jim Burke Auto, Triumph Auto, Highlands restaurant, and airfare and hotels "to various places such as British Columbia" - all expenses that the lawsuit states "likely did not benefit" the computer charity.

There seems to be a pattern here.  Fairfield Mayor Langford sets up a charity with John Katopodis, Birmingham Mayor Langford sets up a charity with John Katopodis.  And a funny thing happened in between, when Langford was on the Jefferson County Commission:

Langford's first computer charity received more than $1 million from Jefferson County and Birmingham since it was created in 2000, county and city finance records show. The county funding increased significantly after Langford was elected to the commission in 2002, more than doubling its share to $100,000 that year and later giving at least $150,000 annually until last year. Langford sent $80,000 from his county discretionary fund as commissioner, county records show.

Why do you need a charity to give computers to school children?  Can't the Board of Education do that?  Maybe Langford could explain why he felt the need to use a charity to distribute computers to city schools.  Then again maybe we already know the answer.

Michelle Obama, a little hunger for change makes her a proud American

Oh, and the fact that Obama is doing so well.

Sasha Issenberg asks the question:  So what did Michelle Obama think of the United States before her husband decided he wanted to run the place?

And the answer is:

“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country,” she told a Milwaukee crowd today, “and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”

Does she really mean that NOTHING we have done in the last 25 or so years (she is 44 years old) has made her proud to be an American?  That it took her husband running for President and a bunch of people hungry for change to make her proud of her country?

Any chance a reporter for the mainstream media will ask Mrs. Obama to explain this comment?

Video here.

Two great VP candidates for McCain to consider

I'm leaning towards JC Watts right now, but we have many conservative Republicans who would make great VP choices.  McCain is in an uphill battle to persuade conservatives he is deserving of our support in November.  Many of us are having a hard time mustering any support whatsoever, much less the enthusiastic support he will need to beat the Democratic nominee.  He cannot win with Independents, he must have Conservatives as well.  Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint are solid conservatives.  In this video they discuss the future of the conservative movement:

McCain would trounce Obama or Hillary in Alabama

So would Mike Huckabee according to a (Mobile) Press-Register/University of South Alabama poll:

Republicans have carried Alabama in every presidential election since 1980 and, if a new Press-Register/University of South Alabama poll is an accurate bellwether, that winning streak isn't about to end.

According to last week's telephone survey of 421 registered likely voters, Republican front-runner John McCain of Arizona would trounce either of the two top Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, in a general election match-up. All three are U.S. senators.

McCain's double-digit lead emerged even though poll respondents' biggest concern was the economy, an area not considered one of his strengths. The poll results also offered evidence that despite President Bush's slumping approval ratings, the GOP retains a tight grip on the region, at least in national races.

[...]

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, running a distant second to McCain nationally, would also beat Obama or Clinton in Alabama by virtually the same wide margin as the Arizona senator.

The article does not give the actual poll results, only that it's a double-digit lead.  I believe McCain's VP choice is critical for conservative voters.  In order to excite conservatives and get them (all of them) to the polls McCain needs to choose carefully.  A conservative southerner seemed like a good bet for McCain but assuming the Alabama poll is reflective of the south, maybe that's not necessary.  Dee at Conservatism With Heart posted her top five choices for VP:

So since I refuse to jump on the McCain bandwagon, my efforts are going to be put into persuading the McCain camp to pick a stellar conservative for VP. I truly think thats the only way he has a chance of getting many of our votes. There is nothing he can say or do to personally redeem himself with us but if he picks a great VP we could be persuaded to vote for him.

1) JC Watts
2) Michael Steele
3) Governor Mark Sanford
4) Senator Jim DeMint
5) Governor Haley Barbour

A pretty good list.  There is a lot of support for JC Watts, he was second in a VP poll at Right Wing News, with Fred Thompson placing first.  There is also a Draft JC Watts website.  Watts is a good friend of McCain but whether he would be offered, or would accept, the VP nod is anybody's guess. 

An article in today's Politico suggests  Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty might be the frontrunner for VP:

Even through the McCain campaign’s darkest days in 2007, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remained a steadfast ally to the Arizona senator in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

As a result, with John McCain as the clear GOP frontrunner and insider talk turning to speculation about his possible running mate, party insiders are now buzzing about the 47-year-old, second-term governor’s vice-presidential prospects.

Assuming McCain is solid in the south Pawlenty could help the ticket in some of the battleground states:

Vin Weber, a Minnesota congressman-turned-Washington-lobbyist who is one of Pawlenty’s biggest boosters, ticks off the list of appealing traits.

“First of all, his age is attractive,” Weber says, hinting at the nearly quarter-century difference between his fellow Minnesotan and the 71-year-old McCain. “Second, he’s from outside Washington. Third, he represents a battleground part of the country. And he has a nice balance of, on one hand being totally acceptable to conservative wing of the party, especially to social conservatives, but at the same time sharing a couple of key maverick strains of thought with McCain.”

I am in the same camp as Dee, it will be extremely hard for me to jump on board the McCain express.  Even so I'm pleased the state of Alabama, at least according to one poll, is still firmly in the Republican camp.  If I must support McCain as the lesser of two evils, I will probably do it.  I just hope his VP pick inspires more confidence than he does.

***Update 12:42 PM CT***

Macranger:  Pawlenty is a RINO:

Pawlenty is more a progressive cloaked in Republican clothes much like our own Charlie Crist, than the true conservative McCain must choose if he hopes to gain our support.

The record of Pawlenty’s RINOISM is well detailed, but for a few, he’s for Global Warming reform , along the lines of Al Gore. He supported the Democrat verision of SCHIP as well. In other words, he is the continuation of the “compassionate conservative” new Republicanism.

No thanks.  It’s NOT acceptable.

Captain Ed, who lives in Minnesota, is a bit more positive:

Pawlenty has some advantages for McCain. Geographically, he could help put Minnesota and Wisconsin in play, and perhaps firm up Iowa as well. If the GOP takes both Minnesota and Wisconsin from the Democrats, McCain could make up for a Pennsylvania or a couple of smaller states that could shift to the Democrats, especially if Obama runs. It could strengthen the GOP lock in the Midwest as well.

Politically, Pawlenty comes across as a homey, nice-guy politician -- but he has real talent for infighting. Pawlenty handled the bridge collapse without a hint of panic, a contrast to the Chicken Little hysterics who immediately blamed a lack of maintenance and opposition to tax increases for the tragedy. The eventual cause -- a design defect amplified by actual maintenance on the bridge -- vindicated Pawlenty, as did polling which showed a clear majority of Minnesotans opposed to increased taxes. He has managed a state legislature dominated by his opponents expertly, showing his toughness under fire a number of times.

Pawlenty may not pass muster at a CPAC as a clear-cut conservative. Pawlenty shares McCain's enthusiasm for global-warming initiatives, although both prefer free-market solutions to government-imposed energy management. His political situation in Minnesota has forced him into a few compromises on spending and taxes, including a renege on a no-tax pledge and an increase in cigarette "fees" that angered the tax hawks here in Minnesota.

Overall, however, Pawlenty could be what the GOP needs -- a young two-term governor with no peccadilloes and a strong record of at least center-right governance, if not outright conservative achievements. He and Mark Sanford of South Carolina would probably be the two best candidates for running mates on the GOP bench. Even if a McCain/Pawlenty ticket didn't manage to win in 2008, Pawlenty would be well-positioned afterward for a run at Amy Klobuchar's Senate seat in 2012, or perhaps a shot at the top of the ticket in that year or in 2016.

I don't know... I think, for now at least, I'm pulling for JC.

Sir Charles Barkley calls conservatives "fake Christians"

Charles Barkley who now plans to run for Governor of Alabama in 2014 (he had previously said he might run in 2010) told CNN's Wolf Blitzer hearing the word "conservative" makes him sick to his stomach:

BARKLEY: Hey, I live in Arizona. I have got great respect for Senator McCain. Great respect. But I don’t like the way the Republicans are taking this country. Every time I hear the word "conservative," it makes me sick to my stomach, because they’re really just fake Christians, as I call them. That’s all they are. But I just — I’m going to vote Democratic no matter what.

Sir Charles, please stay in Arizona.  There are quite a few conservative fake Christians here in Alabama... think of your health, your poor stomach.

Needless to say Barkley is supporting Barack Obama.  All of a sudden Sir Charles doesn't mind being taxed to death:

Blitzer began the interview by asking Barkley why he's endorsed Barack Obama for president, especially since he was well-known in earlier days for lamenting how the Democrats raised his taxes. On Friday, Barkley said we was all for Obama's tax-hike schemes: "This country is divided by economics between the rich and the poor and I’m going to support him all the way to the wall."

Flip-flop.  I guess Charles has one qualification for political office. 

Barkley is a funny guy and I always enjoyed watching and listening to his rants and raves.  That is until he decided to mix it up in politics.  From time to time Barkley says something that makes sense but overall he's a lot like his preferred presidential candidate, more hot air than substance.  His comments on CNN prove beyond doubt Sir Charles has no business running for public office.  He's a self-centered jerk and the most die-hard Democrat in the state would have a hard time defending his outrageous statements. 

Get over yourself, Charles. 

What do goats and Obama supporters have in common?

Some of them are prone to Fainting.  Obama's stirring speeches about hope, change, peace, love and understanding , are having a curious effect on some of his adoring fans.  James Taranto, "We Shall Be Overcome", has the details:

"A woman standing in front of the stage appeared to faint as Obama spoke about Iraq," the Associated Press reported.

"Before the senator arrived, students were tossing around an inflatable cow above the crowd. Three people fainted in the midst of all the enthusiasm."  (reported WISN-TV)

"Barack Obama's first and only rally on election day came to a sudden and lengthy stop when a young woman in the Dartmouth College gym fainted, and was eventually rolled off on a gurney by emergency medical technicians," the Los Angeles Times reported.

"And when a woman appeared to faint in the standing-only VIP section in front of the podium, Obama paused his speech for over a minute as he directed the crowd to make way for an EMT team and tossed a bottle of water from the stage," reported the Yale Daily News.

"Climate change, the Iraq war and Obama tossing a bottle of water to a woman about to faint all received big cheers," MSNBC.com reported.

As Michelle said, pass the smelling salts...and the barf bag.  The creepy - and getting creepier - swooning Obama groupies are responding to his all rhetoric no substance campaign.   Empty heads gushing over an empty suit.

"I'm proud to know ya, Duke"