Posted on 01/27/2008 12:44:28 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
If any recent day typifies life in this crazy modern world, it was probably this past Tuesday. World financial markets were in a meltdown and the Federal Reserve held an emergency meeting to cut the interest rate a massive three quarters of a point in an attempt to stave off a precipitous stock market drop.
President Bush was working with congressional leaders on an economic stimulus package to reduce the likelihood of a recession. Meanwhile the U.S. presidential campaign was in full swing with Hillary and Obama having just ripped each other to shreds at a debate, and Fred Thompson announced that he was dropping out of the race on the GOP side.
Overseas Condi Rice was working diplomatic circles in an attempt to put more pressure on Iran and its burgeoning nuclear program. The nation of Israel had just reduced fuel supplies flowing into Palestinian territory in response to rocket attacks against Israel. In turn, Palestinians breached a security wall separating Gaza and Egypt.
It was a normal day in America's newsrooms; then the story broke that Heath Ledger had died. I racked my brain ... who the heck was Heath Ledger? I shouldn't have worried about finding the answer, because for the rest of the afternoon and evening all the important news was swept from the airwaves of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC as we were flooded with wall to wall coverage of yet another celebrity tragedy.
Dave Ramsey and two other prominent financial gurus were scheduled to appear on Larry King for a full 40 minutes to discuss the rapidly worsening financial situation. Sorry, guys ... some Hollywood type was diddling around with drugs and took a dirt nap. CNN will have to reschedule you so that we can bring viewers mind numbing ramblings on the life and times of Heath Ledger.
I hate it for the guy. Ledger was in the prime of his life and his movie career was headed higher. However, what should have been a 30-second news piece turned into a media feeding frenzy with every network trying to create a new angle in order to drag the story out. Is this what we've come to?
Are Republicans really ready to nominate a 72-year-old U.S. senator who has more in common with Democrat John Edwards than Ronald Reagan? Or have we swallowed his marketing mantra of "straight talk"?
Who cares what Barack Hussein Obama believes in? Oprah endorsed him and that's enough for millions of Democrats. Shouldn't we want to understand Hillary Rodham Clinton's socialist dream for America? Nah, the only thing that matters is that she's a woman.
I can't even count how many times a talk show host on our radio station has taken a call from a supporter of Obama or Hillary and then asked the caller to name one policy their candidate espouses. Usually there's dead silence ... and then a rambling answer about how he or she believes their candidate cares about people.
The caller was yet another victim of modern marketing that appeals to how we feel instead of to the facts surrounding an election. The odds are pretty high that the person standing in line behind you at your polling place on Feb. 5th won't have a clue.
Every election we hear the media types pontificate about how pitiful voter turnout is. I've been guilty of it myself. However I've about come to the conclusion we would better off as a nation if we discouraged voting. Do away with motor voter. No more voter registration drives.
It's easy to see why only property owners were allowed to vote in some colonies in the early days of this land. The powers that be understood that those with a vested interest would pay attention and cast their votes accordingly to protect our capitalist way of life.
As evidenced by the new Donkephant economic stimulus plan, here's what we have. Today the majority of Americans are like spoiled children with parents who can't say no. If you'll stop crying then mommy will let you have one more cookie ... OK two more cookies ... all right three cookies, but that's it ... maybe. How else do you explain a stimulus plan that gives tax rebates to people who paid no taxes?
Let's see ... the U.S. dollar is sinking in value against foreign currencies because our government is running massive budget deficits. Additionally our trade deficit continues to skyrocket.
So Bush and the Democrat controlled congress want to take dollars we don't have and will have to borrow from the Chinese... then give the money to Americans so they can spend it buying more stuff made in China, thus increasing the budget and trade deficits. Wouldn't that make the dollar even weaker and our economy worse?
Financial markets don't like uncertainty. The failure of congressional Democrats to make the Bush tax cuts permanent is a contributing cause of our financial jitters. Instead of doling out Oreos, simply making the cuts permanent would increase confidence as businesses make long-range plans. Companies would invest in new projects and create jobs and we all would win without more government borrowing. The problem is that answer is too complicated for most folks ... so just slip us some Chips Ahoy. Heck, a chocolate IV would be nice. Hmmmm.
So to all the folks who don't have a clue ... set your Tivo to record plenty of stuff this week to keep you entertained and then stay home on election day so you can catch up on the latest episodes of "American Awful" or 'Dancing With The Has Beens." To those who truly understand the issues we're facing ... I'll see you at the polls.
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Chuck Shiflett is a past chairman of the Bartow County Board of Education, former Communications Director of the Georgia Republican Party, and is co-owner of NewsTalk AM 1270 WYXC. Contact him at: Column@ChuckShiflett.com
Crist just endorsed McCrazy. That may be enough to swing the vote back to him.
I don’t think those kind of endorsements count for much among voters.
That etc includes members of the US military, (Active, reserve and NG) and military contractors. Military retirees. Social security recipients.
You sure you want to go there?
I thought Crist was quite popular in Fla? It would only have to swing a few %.
Yep, like welfare recipients and anybody else that gets a gub'mint check: teachers, firemen, cops, city employees, etc.
I think it would be good if city employees could not vote in municipal elections, teachers not vote on school board elections and any such elections where there is a close and narrow relationship of economic interest. On the other hand, teachers, mailmen, policemen, etc. have as much legitimate concern as the rest of us with matters of national security and moral issues such as abortion. Until there's a way to separate types of elections, I'm all for government employees voting,
Crist lost all credibility ....with just about every move he’s made.....His endorsement will have the same ‘liberal’ value as the Orlando Sentinel’s endorsement for McCain. ie, a minus value.
Originally of more concern to me was Schwartzkopf’s endorsement....but that simply proves to me Schwarzkopf is a life long Democrat.
He is fairly popular, but the thing about politicians is they are only popular when they are agreeing with you.
A single endorsement is not going to shift public opinion that much.
Instead, all of these endorsements from party leaders is cementing McCain as the establishment’s candidate and Washington’s candidate.
I think it helps Romney, plays into his campaign as an outsider who is going to fix a broken Washington, particularly all of the endorsements from the very Senators who are the problem.
This sets Romney up in the Ronald Reagan role going into Super Tuesday. If he was smart, he would actually campaign on McCain getting all the Washington establishment endorsements.
As a Fred supporter, I prefer that both D & R nominations go all the way to brokering at the Convention...as bad as our current R choices are, we may have a better candidate at that time, (a Fred like candidate)???
I don’t want McCrazy but I do want Mutt and Rooty to lose and go away.
Maybe the media's vote, but I don't think FL Republicans are too impressed. Crist was one of those "hold your nose" elections. He favors amnesty, and is toying with adopting Kalifornia environmental standards.
A good fit for McCain.
Jeb Bush could do some damage by endorsing someone other than McCain (there are quite a few of Jeb's cohorts working in the Romney campaign) but that might be seen as anti-shamnesty, so he says he'll remain "neutral."
If the GOP nomination goes all the way to the convention, then McCain will be the winner, and in all likelihood Huckabee will be his VP.
It works like this:
Only a straight out Romney win can stop McCain.
The RNC establishment has made its decision, and not surprisingly, it has chosen McCain. So that’s a free 100 delegates for him.
If Romney and McCain are still tied at under 1,191 delegates, then Huckabee will trade his delegates to McCain in exchange for the VP spot on the GOP ticket. And it will be settled.
Just pick whether we'll have to live with Hillary or Obama for the next 4 years, then the TV can get back to exploring the early life of a gay drug cowboy.
When George Washington ran for the Virginia House of Burgesses, he treated voters to drinks. (This was illegal but universally practiced.) The Washington campaign served 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons of rum punch, 38 gallons of wine, 46 gallons of beer, and 2 gallons of cider, no doubt hard, for a total of 164 gallons of alcohol. There were 396 voters. Washington won.
Alexis de Tocqueville
We have met the enemy and they are us.
Walt Kelly.
Who needs al Qaeda?
I already backed away from that further down thread... :O)
Good. Because I have heard some democrats, in all seriousness, propose that the military be barred from voting.
I think what he wanted to originally say was that folks who have a financial stake in the outcome shouldn’t be voting —but in truth, everyone always has a financial stake in the outcome.
I think the quote above is really good for discussing the drawbacks of 'mass democracy'. Anyone who reads the quote instantly knows that adding more people into any endeavor makes the result worse. Excellence is always in the minority. I think this explains the Electoral College really well and the Democrats insistence of high voter turnout.
Yes. It's going to be a long five years.
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