Free Republic

The amazing thing is the many of us conservatives fall for the DU tricks. Best example is Dubai Ports. Clearly the facts, logic and conservative principles were with Bush on that one.

The DU totally snookered Sean Hannity, including bogus callers to his 3 hour rant, and so totally snookered so many of us that Bush did a cut-and-run on that one.

Another one is the pro-immigration protests which were started by a very pro-American Pulido (A brother of the leader of the same state's Minutemen ?) But then the anti-immigration noise created such a backlash that ANSWR was able to HIJACK a movement that they had not created, thanks to the stupid tactics of the anti-immigrant activists.

If Bush and his admin listen to people like Tony Snow, Bush can make a comeback. Bush needs to play offense and keep the Dems on defense. Just as he took the war to Iraq rather than play defense in America, Bush needs to take the political struggle to the Dems' turf and threaen their base... eg Blacks on certain issues, Union members on certain issues, etc.

His brain damage, I believe, started about 50 years ago.

The headline is misleading. The Hispanic birthrate has always been high. The only difference is that there are now more of them birthing here that previously did it in the old country.

Most interesting is the Spanish Language press stories on FANTASMA... the ghost towns of Mexico where the population has declined from 20,000 to 1,000. The homes, stores, everything is now vacant. Only a few feel "left behind".

Is that any different than a FReeper suspended for expressing disgruntlement at Bush for spending too much of her money? or not supporting her on immigration?

(I support Bush on immigration. I oppose big government on the border just as I oppose big government in prescription drugs and NCLB)

I never had action figures of any type, nor was I aware of their existence until sometime after college. Maybe I'm too old. I worked my dad's wholesale toy business while in high school. Model cars, model airplanes, that model cement that made you feel good were big sellers. Bats, balls, gloves of all types were big sellers. Silly putty and hoola hoops had their fads. Coloring books and Little Golden books were big. Erector sets, TinkerToys, SkylineBricks were big.

Barbie like dolls and clothing, doll houses for them were big.

But in those days there were no action figures in the toy warehouse.

See Feminization of Americans and Immigration - The LINK

ping

Please comment. Is my experience with so many highly skilled and unskilled people different from the norm?

Lack of objectivity about posters reflects on lack of objectivity on the substance of the argument.

As one who has followed crash statistics for 37+ years it is very clear that alcohol is an evil in our society. It is also clear that the attempts to fight that evil have abridged our constitutional rights just as the attempts to fight the evil of terrorism have abridged our rights.

When is it worth the tradeoff? Most of us accept a certain amount of censorship eg loose lips sink ships. But are road checks unreasonable search and seizure? Is jury tampering worth it?

Consider alcohol is the #1 factor in
traffic deaths, traffic injuries
boating, skiing, ATV and all recreational equipment activities
hunting injuries and errors
accidents to adults in the home
domestic violence, assault and battery
disorderly conduct

Also clearly the enforcement of DUI laws does influence behavior. Check the statistics state by state, city by city as they adopt a stricter DUI law, or adopt a stricter enforcement of it. Drunks will intentionally drive around a suburb known to enforce DUI rather than go through it and risk a ticket. Thus drunks have more crashes in the bypass suburb that does not enforce DUI.

Now as a yardstick, compare that to seat belts. Unlike DUI enforcement that can be shown to have prevent many crashes, Seat belts have not prevented a single crash. When a crash has occurred, they have saved a few lives and prevented a few lives from being saved.

Recently rush hour traffic was stopped on the RR tracks in Elmwood Park, IL. The cars had no where to go. When the train came bearing down on them, the people in those cars could not undo their seatbelts fast enough and died. There are numerous anecdotal incidents on both sides.

Statistically it is a wash for seat belts. But statistically DUI enforcement is extremely effective. The problem with MADD is that they get our taxmoney to lobby our lawmakers and executive and judicial branches for both DUI and seatbelt enforcement. They are now in it for the money. It is now all about grantsmanship. They don't really care about either the lives saved, or the lives and civil liberties lost. All you have to do is try to pull their taxpayer funded grants and you'll see what they now care about.

Bill, interesting and I agree with much in concept. But I find Poe and Wegman to be lightweights, both as candidates and in ability if elected. They'd be arguments for eliminating the office of Lt Gov which I favor, and Comptroller too.

Kathuria still needs to learn a lot about how to be a candidate and campaign. He is still too much the geek/nerd.

I don't think you grasp the corruption issue. Oberweiss, Cox, Jack Ryan, Rauschenberger and others have a long history of anti-corruption. They didn't just take that position recently.

Brady is vulnerable, not only for his position... but especially for the way he talks about it. Replay the Tom Roeser and Teri O'Brien programs. Brady blasted Blago for being corrupt. Roeser asked Brady about Kjellander. Brady went out of his way to praise, not only the person, but also the activities of Kj. Then Brady gratuitously attacked Blago's corruption specifically in the bonding process with other corrupt insiders. That is just plain stupid. Brady could have used the example of Blago and the garbage dump of Dick Mell's family. Brady could have used many other examples of corruption unrelated to bonds. But by using the example of bonds, Brady dimonstrated (yes dim) that he doesn't grasp the issue.

From what I hear second-hand about Bill Brady here in Bloomington-Normal I really fear that he will be the next George Lyan.

Of course you'll be at the TapRoot-ICRC Christmas Party this Sunday. It will be interesting to see the mood of the group there... and which candidates and "warlords" show up... and which work the room and which want to speak on mike. It's a party, not intended to have a formal agenda. The way things are done will have as great an impact as what is done or who does it at such an event.

Is it grounds for divorce if I am tortured into wearing the same shirt for two days?

What deep pockets can I sue for the emotional pain and suffering?

FTN's Jack, Lidia, Yvonne have been publicly supporting Obie. I assume Jack is kicking in $ either directly or "in kind". Their filings would show that. I'm not sure if the involvement right now is as individuals or as the PAC.

John Biver of the sister Renew organization was leaning to his close friend Rauschie. I'm not sure where John will now go. He just might stay uncommitted til January.

If Joe is a good campaign manager, he needs to find a way to teach (or have some specialist teach) Obie how to frame the issues and control the direction of a conversation.

Obie will be at the joint TapRoot-ICRC Christmas party this Sunday 2 - 5 pm. That will be an excellent time to check out the reality of the new ballgame. Will Brady and Gidwitz show at the Xmas party? If Gidwitz and Obie frame the corruption issue correctly, Brady will be toast. Brady is so much closer to the next George Lyan than to the next Peter Fitzgerald.

As I've expressed many times before, I'd like to see these candidates spend more money building the ground game and not just on TV, although that also is important.

EEE Smart to make tough decisions before the filing deadline in mid-December. Too often conservatives wait until it is too late to do anything about the situation. Timing is everything. The calendar dictates a rigid schedule of when you must do what (unless you're a Dem in NJ).

PF See TRG on Obie and 2A. He got mailings I didn't get.
Several times, eg on Teri O'Brien and Tom Roeser programs, Brady has said he opposes corruption by Blago and the Dems but will not oppose it by Republicans. Brady has specifically mention Blago's corruption in the placement of bonds and then has tried to protect Kjellander who is a central co-corrupter in Blago's corruption. The Dems can get away with a double standard. But Brady will soon discover that Republicans are held to a higher standard, both by non-Republicans ... and especially by the Peter Fitzgerald - PF Republicans.

Obie is now the conservative candidate, it would seem. Can he improve his campaign style and gain control of framing the issues?

Suppose that corruption and economic issues are the real issues in Illinois. (Taxes, spending, over regulation). Suppose that despite the bi-partisan past of Gidwitz, he is now for real on these issues. Although not a hard conservative, he certainly is no where as far left as Toopinka, nor even as far left of a Mark Kirk, who is to the right of Toopinka.

It's a new ballgame.

Who will be next? Will Brady or Oberweiss consolidate with each other? Or with Gidwitz or Topinka?

The corrupton wing of Brady's major support will push for him to back Topinka. Protecting their cash cow is #1 with them. If Brady doesn't drop out, they'll probably leave him for Topinka anyway.

Brady just does not have the gravitas or presence of a statewide candidate to go further. Just compare his frat-boy approach with the class act of Dan Rutherford in the adjacent St Senate District.

Immigration is an albatross for Oberweiss, mostly because Jim does a lousy job of handling his side of the issue. He is constantly on the defense. He needs to plat offense. So far he hasnt' been able to get there.

But Gidwitz will have to work hard to climb in the polls.

It's a new ball game.

Froehlich wins?
Gidwitz called for corrupt Kjellander to resign very early. He can thus get the support of the Froehlichs and Skoiens who think good government is the issue. Froehlich also thinks money is important. Paul and Gary could never support the Oberweis image of mean-spiritedness and anti-free markets in the primary. Brady and Topinka now vy for the support of the corrupt.

For me it is now a choice between Gidwitz and Oberweis since corruption is my #1 issue. Gidwitz will probably be as good (or at least as effective) as Oberweiss on taxes, spending, business regulation. So the question is social issues. Oberweiss is worse on immigration, flip flops on Life. It is unknown if either really cares about 2d amendment as they never mention it although they have nominal positions on it.

Of course, INTEL was founded by an immigrant, not a product of American schools.

Our schools are too busy teaching kids how to feel, and what to feel. They have no time for that dead white male process of facts, logic and thinking that produces people who won't confess their crimes of insensitivity.

The left has been known to brandish a wishbone, especially against terrorists.

You have alternatives. Pull out of public schools and take a few of your neighbors with you.

Another alternative is to copy the left in Chicago which has an "alternative school network". These are taxpayer funded private schools run by leftist political organizations. They are so private that a taxpayer funded Maoist Puerto Rican Independence Political Party school is separate from the Stalinist Puerto Rican Independence Political Party School, which is sepatate from the Totskyite Puerto Rican Independence School.

Another alternative used by the left is to start a "school within a school". These are special classes, special curriculum, special teachers that don't meet normal standards, all within the public school building.

Maybe our problem is we lack creativity.

Compromise?
Senate should win on ANWR. House should get some balls.
House should win on true cuts and not use those savings for such programs

How is a cut in the rate of increase savings?