I almost showed up at this Town Hall protest in Reston, Virginia. I decided not to. This display is amazing.
Cheeks: “I’ll charge you with whatever I want to charge you with.”
Protester: “So you make the law too?”
Cheeks: “Put the picture down please.”
Protester: “This is America – This used to be America!”
Cheeks: “It ain’t no more, okay?”
Protester: “I know! That’s the point of the picture!”
Where do we live again? This used to be America. The protester gets a “because I said so” explanation, and the cop walks away. If anyone can identify the protester, I’d love to know who it is – email me.
“It ain’t no more.” We aren’t America anymore. We are not the same country that we were, and this officer seems content with that. Either he hates America or… well, I don’t know what the other option is. This has nothing to do with signs. The sign itself is a little dumb… but that is not the point. The point is that there were no legal grounds for Cheeks to make him remove the sign, and Cheeks was clear that he was willing to make one up. The protester was threatened with a trespassing charge – which I would have LOVED to see Cheeks try to defend.
Constitutional? My thoughts are no. Allah Pundit debates.
So I’m sure you’ve noticed that things have been light around here lately. I apologize for the lack of content. That, however is changing. I’m going to give you a little recap of the past month.
Let me start by relaying a story from Thursday, because it’s a pretty awesome illustration of where my brain has been. I show up at a friend’s house for a “goodbye” lunch of sorts. My Nissan is about half loaded at this point, and I’d stopped to pick up food on the way. I hop out of the car, and in my haste, forget to pull up the parking brake. I’ve driven a manual for years, and never forgotten – it’s second nature. But alas. The car stars rolling backward down the hill.
I managed to drop my Blackberry and lunch on the street and try to open the car door to get in. The remote wouldn’t work – the door was stuck shut. So, in an effort to display my superhuman strength, I get behind the car and try to stop it. I cuss loudly when I realize that it was about ready to run me over and jump out of the way to watch helplessly as my rogue vehicle mows over the neighbor’s mailbox and my Blackberry, and parks on the lawn. It was glorious. But lunch was unscathed and I have a new phone, and all is well with the world. Well, my small and narcissistic world, anyway.
My vehicle and I did, however, make it up to the metro DC area yesterday, with my life in the backseat – packed from floor to ceiling to a point that is unsafe and probably not legal.
So, I’m here now. Semi-permanently I reckon. I literally hit a wall on my way back from Staten Island this month (a concrete one.. at 70 mph. Yes, I’m fine, God is good) and quit my job and accepted a new one with the Leadership Institute. I’m homeless. I’m excited. I’m a little weirded out that I managed to leave my life and start over all in the span of a few weeks. A lot of people have offered condolences on the DC move. And they can kiss my butt. It’s a gorgeous city and despite (maybe because of!) everything going on with our government, I’m thrilled to be here. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work from the “inside” so to speak, and to be able to kick liberal butt full time.
So there we have it. Thanks so much for putting up with me, and I’m glad to be back! Stay tuned for some vlogs, more writing, and a resumed Raisin’ Hale. Missed all of you, and hope to hear from you soon!
Also catch Tabitha on rfcradio.com ( Radio for Conservatives ) at 10:00 pm eastern every Tuesday and Thursday night. Enter the chat room, listen to the show, and have a blast!
Liberal got all flustered with Glenn Beck for accusing Obama of being a racist. I don’t know about “racist”, since I am not in his head, but he is most definitely a racial opportunist, and Beck said what many are thinking. Being not-white doesn’t eliminate your capacity for racism. The president has been all too willing to play the race card at every given opportunity, even when it’s entirely irrelevant (*cough*LYNNSWEET*cough*)
This piece was brought to my attention this morning, and I’ll admit, I laughed out loud.
Conservatives’ faith in the free market must be dropping substantially today, as right-wing Fox News host Glenn Beck’s TV show has lost too many sponsors to count, including eight today. Some of the sponsors opting not to support Beck’s wingnuttery include Geico, CVS, Best Buy, Progressive, ConAgra, Wal-Mart, RadioShack, Procter and Gamble, SC Johnson and Sargento.
Right. Because one person said something controversial and is dealing with the consequences, our faith in the free market is crumbling. Boo hoo. Sorry, Alexa Dobson, this is far from earth shattering. Beck will be just fine, believe me. He’s not exactly hurting. In case you weren’t aware, it feeds ratings. Remember when Rush’s numbers jumped by 10 million after Obama started whining and picking fights?
The people pulling out of sponsorship are pulling out for economic reasons. They’re keeping quiet, careful not to rock the boat… it’s business. These things happen, and the sponsors have every right to pull out to protect their image if they want to. This does NOT serve as a reflection on Beck’s opinions, but as a recognition that it’s controversial, and could taint their image. Their decision to pull out is a business move, not an ideological one. They have every right to do so, and Beck is a big boy. He can handle it. And those who want to protest the sponsors have every right to do so as well. It’s how our country works, and if you expect faith in the free market to be shattered because one political analyst pisses off some sponsors, you’re sadly mistaken.
It’s been an entertaining week in the world of epic media failures.
First up: CNN. Obviously, a hard core right winger bringing a photo of Obama as Hitler… right?
Except… she was not a Republican, conservative, libertarian, or otherwise right of center… she’s a LaRouche Democrat. LaRouche Democrats are basically cult members, and are by all accounts a far left fringe group. Google them if you’re interested… I learned of them not all that long ago and spent entirely too long researching… it’s like watching a train wreck. Their weekly brainwashings in the form of internet video are full of rage against the British Empire (yeah, I know, it doesn’t exist anymore… but why burst their bubble?) and worship of Lyndon LaRouche, who they hail as the most brilliant economist ever. However, they have a strong dislike for President Obama and refer to him as a “puppet of the British empire”, which explains their contempt, and why they would make a scene at a Town Hall.
CNN, however, felt no need to clarify this, and instead used it as a hit piece on those crazy right wingers who are obviously so filled with hatred. Which brings us to the gloriously doctored MS-NBC piece.
“A man at a pro-health care reform rally…wore a semiautomatic assault rifle on his shoulder and a pistol on his hip….there are questions about whether this has racial overtones….white people showing up with guns.”
Translation: Guns are RAAAACIST! The awesome part? They were talking about a black man. However, you wouldn’t know that from watching this video:
That’s right. They edited it to make sure that you could not tell the man toting guns was, in fact, not an angry white man looking to kill a black president. But that would be an inconvenient truth, no? It’s a lot harder to make a case that carrying guns is racially charged when the person exercising their 2nd Amendment rights is, well, not white.
And last but not least, the Socialist Joker posters that sprung up… not so much a right wing nut job either. That, I’ll concede, was a little less of a jump to make… however, it was a jump nonetheless and it backfired.
“I abstained from voting in November,” 20-year-old college student Firas Alkhateeb told the Los Angeles Times. “Living in Illinois, my vote means close to nothing as there was no chance Obama would not win the state.” Still, he added, had he voted, he would have thrown his ballot to Kucinich, famously a punching bag for right-wing types.
Moral of the story: Not all dissenters are white, and not all dissenters are conservative, but the media is working feverishly to make it seem like we’re all racist, angry, extremists with our fingers on the trigger. That teeny tiny minority of whackos that are keeping the black man down. I suppose it’s too much to expect honest reporting this day in age… but that doesn’t remove accountability.
President Obama had a call with Rabbis yesterday. It’s amazing what slips out of his mouth sometimes… From Politico.
A reader points out that President Obama’s call with the rabbis today — as recorded in Rabbi Jack Moline’s and otherclerics‘ Twitter feeds — freights health care reform with a great deal of religious meaning, and veers into the blend of policy and faith that outraged liberals in the last administration.
“We are God’s partners in matters of life and death,” Obama said, according to Moline (paging Sarah Palin…), quoting from the Rosh Hashanah prayer that says that in the holiday period, it is decided “who shall live and who shall die.”
The president ended the call by wishing the rabbis “shanah tovah,” or happy new year — in reference to the High Holidays a month from now.
So. From reading the comments, it seems that liberals are under the impression that “shanah tovah” is the phrase we took issue with. Actually… not so much. It’s more that “partnership with God” thing that gets under my skin.
“We are God’s partners in matters of life and death.” REALLY?! This matches the theme of the “Obamessiah” that many Americans can’t seem to shake. Remember the Evan Thomas quote from earlier this summer?
“I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God.”
No. He’s not “sort of God”. At all. He is a man. He is our President. He is in no way “partners” with God, let alone “sort of God”. It is not our job to control matters of life and death. I don’t care who you are. And for you lefties who will rail against me for the death penalty argument, I’m not for capital punishment either, so don’t get your panties in a twist. I don’t think it’s ever okay for us to decide when someone lives or dies – that power lies with God and God alone.
Summary: Using a Jewish greeting when speaking with Rabbis? Totally appropriate. Claiming we are “partners with God in matter of life and death”? Not so much. Saying as much make it seem like this sort of thing is up for negotiation. Last time I checked, God was the one in charge of this sort of thing.
Also catch Tabitha on rfcradio.com ( Radio for Conservatives ) at 10:00 pm eastern every Tuesday and Thursday night. Enter the chat room, listen to the show, and have a blast!
I’m in Washington this week, taking some politically centered classes. We totaled up the male to female ratio of the attendees: 5 to 1. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. I was also at RightOnline for a couple days, and the ratio was not much better. At Saturday’s opening remarks, Michelle Malkin and Rachel Campos-Duffy were the only female speakers, maintaining that 5:1 ratio there as well. As a general rule, politics is a man’s world, in which women, particularly on the right, sit back and roll with the punches. Why is this?
Well, there are a lot of theories. Mine is that conservative women are, for the most part, content to not be involved. One of my good friends has said to me before that most women would rather sit around and read about breast feeding and dirty diapers than be concerned with the country their children will be living in. Making your kids a priority? Absolutely! Does this not include actively participating in the country your children will grow up in?
There is no excuse for ignorance or apathy. Do you need to run for office? No. Not necessarily. But women currently hold just 17% of the House seats and less than 10% of the Senate. We’re entirely underrepresented.
I’d wager that this is one of the reasons for Sarah Palin’s success among right wingers. She motivated women on the right… the ones who don’t normally get off their butt. The moms who are too busy to get to their polling place, let alone volunteer at a phone bank or blog or be activists, were showing up. She got them excited. We saw families at the rallies. We saw women actually connect with a political candidate and want to engage for the first time. I was one of those women. Honestly, the momentum that she built is the reason Smart Girl Politics exists. In short, she made it okay for some of us to be a conservative. For that I’m grateful.
But where do we go from here? This is the danger of the cult of personality, which has always been my major issue with Palin. What happens when she goes away? If we center our movement on her, it will die when she drops out of the spotlight. She’s no longer an elected official. She’s a private citizen. An effective one, with a lot of potential and massive name recognition and fund raising capacity, but a private citizen nonetheless. Will women stay motivated? Will they stay engaged?
We NEED them to. Democrats believe that they own us, and in many ways they do. Women broke 56% to 43% for Barack Obama, where men only broke 49% to 48% for him. Feminists have been very effective. Conservative women are portrayed as self-loathing, close minded, backwards and irrelevant… and heaven forbid they remove “choice” from other women. FASCISTS! We’ve allowed them to frame the “choice” argument so completely that even those that would normally be pro-life are afraid to touch the subject for fear of stepping on the toes of other women.
One thing I think we forget is that the number of people in general that live and breathe politics like bloggers/activists/politicos do is incredibly small. Those of us on the front lines find it unfathomable that people don’t get as angry as we do about, say, health care. Or “insurance reform” as the White House says I should call it. The fact remains, those who are “independent” or “moderate” or any other ambiguous identification tend to vote liberal by default, especially those in the college/young professional demographic. They don’t much care about the specifics, they care about the general message.
Women in particular are emotional creatures. The left has no problem playing that emotional cord… mainly because it works. We respond to the cries of “hands off my body”, “help the homeless”, “choice”, and “let’s save the cute fuzzy trendy animal of the week”. Let’s face it, conservative pleas are generally more along the lines of “TAX CUTS! SMALL GOVERNMENT!” We’re just not going to get women all hot and bothered over issues like that. Guns tend to be emotional, but generally for those who are OPPOSED to them.
So how do we get women to care? We get more female candidates. Smart, conservative women who run for office garner attention. They give women someone to relate to. They saw in Sarah Palin a mother, a wife, and their best friend. She played on their heart strings. Was she perfect? No. But she elicited a response, simply because she was a woman running for office. That alone is powerful.
Ladies – we are the majority of the population. We’re smart. We’re capable. We’re entirely underrepresented in our government. By sitting back and allowing the left wing feminists to speak for us, we’re allowing women who really don’t even like being women define what we should be. Change that. Stop being apathetic.
UPDATE: Stay at home moms – you have one of the most important jobs in existence, and I’m not saying that you need to be “on the front lines”. I’m simply saying that it’s your duty to vote and know what’s going on. There’s no excuse for ignorance.
When President Bush called three of the most vile regimes on the planet an “axis of evil,” the left sneered. Real evil, apparently, is to be found in ordinary Americans.
So I’ll say it again: Harry Reid can bite me.
We really have gone to a strange place in progressive politics when the people who fill the “evil” spot in the left’s moral code are average American participating in our democracy the way Americans have done for centuries instead of child-torturingslavers and oppressive tyrants.
I’m tired of how the left will cozy right up to real evil like it’s Pooh Bear but freak out like Do Not Want Cat when you suggest that perhaps people can solve their own problems without their all-grasping hands at the controls. I suppose when you have a political philosophy that’s built around the idea that you are smarter and more caring than anyone else and that you should run their lives because of it, you have a lot more in common with petty tyrants than you do with the rest of us.
