Kerry Insults U.S. Armed Forces

ABC News reports:

While stumping for local Democrats in California, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., addressed students at Pasadena City College and made a comment about education and the war in Iraq that lent itself to much controversy.

"You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he said.

...

"I believe Sen. Kerry owes an apology to many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigning in Indiana.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said, "It tells us what John Kerry himself and the Democratic Party think about the troops and the U.S. military."

...

A Democratic congressman told ABC News Tuesday, "I guess Kerry wasn't content blowing 2004, now he wants to blow 2006, too."

He's not trying to blow anything, he just accidentally said what establishment Democrats believe.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, 2006 Elections

Allen's Democrat Stalker Captured

WTOP reports:

Mike Stark, a liberal blogger and first-year University of Virginia law student, approached Allen at an event in Charlottesville, loudly asking, "Why did you spit at your first wife, George?" according to witnesses.

Three men, all wearing blue Allen lapel stickers, immediately grabbed Stark, dragged him backward and slung him to the carpet outside a hotel meeting room, according to video captured by WVIR-TV in Charlottesville.

...

In a Monday posting [his blog], he hinted that he would attempt to provoke Allen before the TV cameras.

As a confessed stalker, Mr. Stark should be carefully investigated before he fails the bar.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

The Non-Contract With America

From the Wall Street Journal:

A joke in Washington these days is that the only thing that can save the Republicans on Election Day is the Democrats. House Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi seems to get this joke, because with few exceptions she's kept her Members tight-lipped and unspecific: As New York Senator Chuck Schumer has put it, why take the focus off the GOP?

This is in notable contrast to 1994, when the Gingrich Republicans ended a 40-year Democratic House majority by laying out a 10-item agenda known as the Contract with America. What Democrats are campaigning on this year is a Non-Contract with America--mostly generalities about "helping the middle class" and "ending the corruption in Washington."

The article summarizes the main overlooked Democrat plans: tax increases, overregulation, and higher energy costs.

Technorati Tags: Congress, Democrats, 2006 Elections

"Just Say No"

Sellersburg, Indiana - 620 miles outside the Beltway

The Washington Times reports on a campaign rally:

Swooping into a Republican stronghold that on Election Day will be an early harbinger of whether Republicans hold control of Congress, [President George W.] Bush led the crowd in a chant that gave new meaning to an old Reagan-era slogan.

"The Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say no," the president said.

"When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what's the Democratic answer? Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, what's the Democrat answer?" Mr. Bush asked.

"Just say no!" the crowd shouted.

"So when the Democrats ask for your vote on Nov. 7, what are you going to say?"

"Just say no!" the audience replied.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, George Bush, 2006 Elections

Webb: Don't Read My Books

CNSNews reports: Jimmy "Towel-Head" Webb begins to admit his sickness:

In an interview on Washington Post Radio Friday morning, Jim Webb, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, said excerpts of his novels are "a little bit inappropriate" to be read on news radio.

"I don't know why you're reading that on WTOP," Webb told host Mark Plotkin. "I think it's a little bit inappropriate."

Plotkin was reading an excerpt from Webb's novel "Something to Die For," in which Webb describes a female stripper performing sexual acts with a banana.

...

Among the excerpts is a scene from the 2002 novel "Lost Soldiers," in which a man embraces his four-year-old son and places the boy's penis in his mouth.

Webb said the release of the excerpts was "a Karl Rove campaign tactic" and a "classic example of the way this campaign has worked. It's smear after smear."

Reading your own words back to you isn't smear, it's reporting.

The Post adds, deep in their mistitled article:

"Jim Webb right now is spending time defending himself, defending his honor against an attack that suggests he writes really salacious, disgusting things," said Mark Rozell, a professor of politics at George Mason University. "That can't be good at all."

...

Andrea Lafferty, the executive director of the Traditional Values Conference, issued a statement calling for Webb to withdraw and said she was personally "sickened" by what she read.

"Mr. Webb had total control over which words he wrote into his book," Lafferty wrote Friday. "He chose to write about the basest sexual acts rather than use the books as an opportunity to present something which was uplifting or illuminating."

Webb should follow ex-Congressman Mark Foley's example - drop out and check himself into rehab.

In the mean time, just remember, if Webb asks for a banana split, run away.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

What is Wrong with James Webb?

The Drudge Report has a shocking story on the writings of the Virginia Democrats' Senate candidate James/Jim/Jimmy "Towel-Head" Webb. The excerpts themselves are not appropriate for repetition here.

Besides graphic depictions of child molestation, another question is raised:

Webb’s novels disturbingly and consistently – indeed, almost uniformly – portray women as servile, subordinate, inept, incompetent, promiscuous, perverted, or some combination of these. In novel after novel, Webb assigns his female characters base, negative characteristics. In thousands of pages of fiction penned by Webb, there are few if any strong, admirable women or positive female role models.

Why does Jim Webb refuse to portray women in a respectful, positive light, whether in his non-fiction concerning their role in the military, or in his provocative novels? How can women trust him to represent their views in the Senate when chauvinistic attitudes and sexually exploitive references run throughout his fiction and non-fiction writings?

The timing suggests that nobody has actually made it through his books before, and that even the opposition research folks had a hard time.

Click here for the full story.

Click here for why the Washington Post will bury this story.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

The "Bush" Economic Expansion

The Washington Times reports:

When Americans enter the voting booth next month, they will do so at the beginning of the sixth year of the Bush economic expansion, which commenced in November 2001 following an eight-month recession. Over the past 60 years, there have been 10 U.S. economic expansions, which represent periods of sustained economic growth reflected in rising levels of gross domestic product (GDP), income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales. The current expansion is now the fourth longest since the end of World War II.

For a fairly detailed overview of the underreported economic expansion (or as Democrats put it, "economic collapse"), read the full article here.

Technorati Tags: Economics, 2006 Elections

Webb Calls Arabs "Towel-Heads"

Jimmy Webb, candidate for Senate from Virginia, recently used the racial epithet "towel-heads" to describe Arabs in an interview. He was quoted by the Washington Post, but on the third page of an article about rednecks.

Commonwealth Conservative reports on the story, because you aren't going to see this make a real headline. It's from someone currently describing himself as a Democrat after all.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Media, Virginia, 2006 Elections

Small Town Welcomes Wal-Mart

The Washington Times reports:

Kilmarnock, or "Kil-MAH-nick," is an hourlong drive from a Starbucks coffee shop, train station or taxis, and a 30-minute drive to a Wal-Mart.

But not for long.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to build a 155,000-square-foot "superstore," with grocery, bakery and deli departments, on 64 acres at the north end of this quiet Northern Neck community.

...

Supporters -- families, younger shoppers, the town government -- are rolling out the welcome mat for economic growth. They say they want quick access to basic goods that aren't easy to find in town, such as children's clothes, socks and shower curtains.

The prospect of actual competition is already improving local businesses:

A sporting goods store on Main Street, Sports Centre, is changing its focus to team sales, including uniforms and trophies. Up the street, Farm & Home Supply is pushing harder to please the customer and turning from from products Wal-Mart carries.

"We don't have the buying power that big boxes have," says William Pittman, manager of Farm & Home Supply.

Instead of trying to compete on price, a battle it knows it can't win, Farm & Home will rely on customer service, repairs and knowledge of its products, Mr. Pittman says.

Sports Centre has cleared out its supply of low-cost baseball mitts and now carries the high-priced mitts that Wal-Mart does not.

...

Some shoppers say Wal-Mart will bring needed competition to the Main Street retailers, many of which have a monopoly.

"The shops here have retooled their business to cater to the middle-to-upscale shopper," Mayor Curtis H. Smith says. "They're not after the ordinary citizens. I'll catch some criticism for that, but that's the truth."

Residents can find antiques, upscale clothes, appliances, sports gear, books, office supplies, bicycles and pharmaceuticals on Main Street. But children's clothes, school supplies and products such as socks, towels, thread and crafts typically require a trip outside town.

And where do such shoppers go? Wal-Mart. There is one about 40 miles north, in Tappahannock, or 30 miles south, in Gloucester.

So the new store's biggest impact will probably be saving gas.

Technorati Tags: Virginia, Wal-Mart

Democrat Staffer Suspended in Leak Probe

The Washington Post reports:

The Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence suspended a mid-level Democratic staffer Tuesday based on a suspicion that he may have been connected to the leak of a [classified] intelligence report almost a month ago, according to Republican and Democratic congressional sources.

Technorati Tags: Congress, Democrats, Intelligence

Republican Takeover of Democrat Party Progresses

The Washington Post reports:

Paul Morrison, a career prosecutor who specializes in putting killers behind bars, has the bulletproof résumé and the rugged looks of a law-and-order Republican, which is what he was until last year. That was when he announced he would run for [Kansas] attorney general -- as a Democrat.

...In a state that voted nearly 2 to 1 for President Bush in 2004, nine former Republicans will be on the November ballot as Democrats. Among them is Mark Parkinson, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, who changed parties to run for lieutenant governor with the popular Democratic governor, Kathleen Sebelius.

...

"It's really more about them than it is about the party," Freeman said. "They obviously feel the Democratic Party is weak enough that, without any history in the party, they can be front-runners in the party."

Before the Democrats realize what's happened, Republicans will be running both parties. And Howard Dean will have paid for it:

The Democratic National Committee is spending money and sending staff to Kansas as part of Chairman Howard Dean's much-debated 50-state strategy of extending the party's influence in unlikely places. The DNC will not reveal its spending or the size of the staff, but a spokesman said the infusion permits a statewide organizing effort not possible before.

Meanwhile, the Times also reports on Democrats running away from Pelosi.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Republicans, 2006 Elections

Webb's False Attacks Condemned

The Washington Times notes:

Attack ads are one thing, but blatantly erroneous attack ads should be exposed for the political tricks they are. One such ad is Democrat James Webb's current "Steer" commercial alleging financial misdeeds by Sen. George Allen -- which Mr. Webb should promptly retract. The ad wrongly claims that Mr. Allen "tried to steer government contracts to a company that paid him in stock options," wrongly claims that Mr. Allen "hid those options for years" and wrongly claims that the options are worth $1.1 million. None of this is true.

First, the alleged "steering" of contracts -- it never happened. We're not sure what Mr. Webb's campaign is talking about here; nothing of the sort has ever even been alleged, except for this new ad...

Second, the alleged "hiding" -- this also never happened...

How could the Webb campaign think people wouldn't detect all this? They probably think voters are just too distracted by the flurry of charge-counterchange to understand and really care about the truth. Don't be fooled by such election-year tricksterism.

Webb can't run on the issues. He would have to take a position on them.

Read it all here.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

Umbrellas...

Thought of the Day:

It is amazing how many people you can see walking around under umbrellas when it isn't actually raining.

Technorati Tags: DC, Weather

Democrats Would Raise Taxes on Everyone

The Washington Times reports:

[T]he ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel, just about guaranteed tax increases if his party takes over the House after Nov. 7. Asked whether Democrats would consider raising taxes across the whole spectrum of income, Mr. Rangel said, "No question about it."

Some Republicans say Mr. Rangel and his party will soon regret those words.

"Republican tax cuts have removed lots of low-income Americans from the tax rolls, so is Charlie Rangel telling those low-income folks if he and the Democrats take over, they'll put those folks back on the tax rolls?" said American Conservative Union Chairman David A. Keene. "So is he saying his supposed constituency will get to pay taxes again?"

With Democrats still whining about the Republicans' across the board tax cuts and promising more and more wasteful federal spending, that's a fairly obvious "yes".

According to "one senior Republican adviser":

...there are 42 million middle-class families with children, and if [the] tax cuts are allowed to expire or are repealed, each such taxpayer stands to lose 2,000 bucks out of his pocket...

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Taxes, 2006 Elections

Jimmy Webb Running for Senate in Taiwan?

The Washington Post reports on their favorite Republicrat trying to get past his embarrasing lack of knowledge about both Virginia and the U.S. Navy, by playing with maps:

Allen, who stumped Webb this summer during the first debate with a question about a port project on Craney Island in the Hampton Roads area, was left almost speechless Monday when Webb queried him about the Senkaku Islands off the coast of Taiwan. "I'll have to study it," a clearly baffled Allen said. Webb then lectured him about the island's strategic importance to Southeast Asia.

Webb seems to think that looking up some uninhabited islands on the other side of the world makes up for him (a former Navy secretary) not knowing about the Navy's largest refueling station.

It might work if he was running for office in Taiwan.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

One Quarter of DC Drivers Looking for a Parking Spot

In an article on mass transit for tourists, the Washington Times notes:

The Circulator is part of the transportation department's continuous effort to reduce congestion in downtown, about one-[fourth] of which consists of drivers circling the area while looking for parking spaces.

Maybe it's time for parking on the Mall.

Technorati Tags: DC, Transportation

Lawyer "Respectfully Demands" Censorship

From a lawyer somewhere in Oklahoma:

I respectfully demand that you cease any further efforts to identify our client with these alleged Ims and cease publishing such information...

What did the guy do? He figured out the name of one of the pages who exchanged IMs with ex-Rep. Foley. It's not classified information. It doesn't threaten national security. It's news. Stupid news, but news.

And how can you "respectfully demand" anything?

Click here for the details.

Technorati Tags: Lawyers, Media

Unemployment Down, Wages Up

The Washington Times reports:

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent last month, down from 4.7 in August, and average wages rose by 4 percent over the previous year -- the best performance for both measures in five years.

The monthly Labor Department report released yesterday revealed that 51,000 new jobs ... stronger than reported earlier for the previous year and a half.

Expect Democrats to call the report evidence of economic collapse.

Technorati Tag: Economics

Growing Economy Continues to Shrink Deficit

The AP reports:

The federal budget deficit estimate for the fiscal year just completed has dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continued to fuel impressive tax revenues.

The Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate is $10 billion below CBO predictions issued in August and well below a July White House prediction of $296 billion.

...when measured against the size of the economy, which is the comparison economists think is most important, the deficit picture looks even better.

At 1.9 percent of gross domestic product, the 2006 deficit registers far below those seen in the 1980s and early 1990s. The modern record of 6 percent of GDP came in 1983 and deficits greater than 4 percent in 1991 and 1992 drove Congress to embark on a 1993 deficit-cutting drive.

It would be interesting to know what amount of the higher tax receipts came from oft-maligned "big oil".

Technorati Tags: Bush, Economics

One Small Step for a Man

The BBC reports:

For nearly 40 years Neil Armstrong has been accused of fluffing his lines during his first steps on the Moon.

On tapes of the Moon landings, he appears to drop the "a" from the famous quote: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

But new analysis of the tapes has proved Mr Armstrong right after all.

...

Mr Armstrong says that he came up with the phrase in the hours between the touchdown of the lunar module and his first steps onto the Moon's surface.

But without the missing "a", the meaning of the quote is lost. In effect, the line means: "That's one small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind."

And He's Gone!

JBITB claims victory as Metro interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini accepts a previously floated offer to become D.C. city administrator.

This ends his incessant campaign to drop the "interim" from his title - a campaign marked by more bad ideas than I want to think about. D.C., he's all yours.

Now, let's hope they can find someone devoted to improving commutes, not making them worse.

Technorati Tags: DC Metro, Transportation