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patricksemmens.com

2005-10-07T23:44:00.000-04:00

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New Blog

2005-05-11T03:18:00.000-04:00

I've just started a new blog about Eliot Spitzer.

Check it out!

Here's my intro post:

Welcome to Spitzer Watch

Eliot Spitzer is my Attorney General but he doesn't have my interests at heart.

Instead he has wasted state resources to advance his political career and to usurp the legislative process to create policy that would never be passed by normal legislative means. He accomplishes this by blackmailing companies and industries with the threat of lawsuits and by tactfully using the media to spread rumors that advance his agenda.

Now Eliot Spitzer is running for Governor without most potential voters knowing the truth of Attorney General Spitzer's hypocrisy.

This blog will be dedicated to exposing that hypocrisy.
Check back often.

Washington (Obvious) Post

2005-03-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

Howard Kurtz: Master of the Obvious

College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds

Diversity is what?

2005-03-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

Some of us at Colby have tried to challenge the dogmatic belief in "diversity" that consumes Colby and many other "elite" college campuses:

the debate club at Colby College in Waterville, Maine invited me to debate the role of "diversity" in higher education with, they hoped, the president of the College, William Adams... In all the debate club invited 13 members of the administration and the faculty to debate me. They all declined. President "Bro," who was given an open-ended invitation to set the date, said that he was too busy and needed more time to prepare than he had available. The other administrators, who in the words of one of the students, “make their living off of ‘diversity,’” just flat-out refused.

Now the Princeton Review has released part of its criteria for determining if a university is diverse or "monochromatic":

Diversity University	Monochromatic Institute
Lots of Race/Class Interaction	Little Race/Class Interaction
Diverse Student Population	Homogeneous Student Population
Students Ignore God on a Regular Basis	Students Pray on a Regular Basis
Gay Community Accepted	Alternative Lifestyles Not An Alternative

Now 1,2 and 4 make sense to me but "Students Ignore God on a Regular Basis" is diversity?

Seems to me that real diversity is some "Students Ignore God on a Regular Basis" while other "Students Pray on a Regular Basis". Or how about: Students have a wide range of religious beliefs?

Just another example of American Academia's fundamentalist belief in DIVERSITY

Crackdown? on Designated Drivers

2005-03-08T19:55:00.000-05:00

In possibly the most idiotic stance I've ever heard of the Waterville Police Chief and his Deputy have vowed to crack down on designated drivers:

The increase in alcohol-related incidents have prompted police to crack down on designated drivers by vowing to charge them with furnishing a place for minor to consume, according to both police Chief John E. Morris and Deputy Chief Joseph P. Massey...

Furnishing a place for minors to consume is a criminal offense misdemeanor, punishable by a minimum of $500 and possible jail time, according to police.

What justification did the police give for this stance?

"The number of alcohol-related cases associated with Colby students has been on the rise," Morris said Monday. "My fear is that we're heading toward a significant injury or death by students who are binge drinking. It appears that all of the police and Colby efforts in the area of education are failing."

I spoke personally with Waterville Mayor Paul LePage who implied that if the statements were true he strongly disagreed with them. Mayor LePage agreed that cracking down on designated drivers was no way to avoid what the Chief described as "a significant injury or death by students who are binge drinking".

This Police Chief is not one who has particularly progressive views on drinking policies. Later in the same article the police chief criticizes the much publicized new policy of Colby to allow students over 21 to have up to 2 drinks with dinner on selected Fridays:

Colby recently instituted a policy whereby students 21 and older may drink up to two glasses of wine or up to two beers on Friday nights in a special dining room near the main dining hall. School officials say the practice is an innovative approach designed to change the culture -- to normalize the behavior and take it out of the realm of binge drinking or risky behavior. The practice is counter to the "Just Say No" approach...

(Deputy Chief) Massey does not think allowing students to drink at dinner is the answer.

Hopefully the mayor will act to stop his out of control police chief from putting into effect this awful policy.

More on Speech Codes

2005-03-02T01:53:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting take on speech codes over at TCS where Douglas Kern says we need More Speech Codes!

Anti-Conservative Hate Speech

2005-03-01T17:16:00.000-05:00

The following email was sent out this past weekend on a campus wide email forum. The author, Mr. Chang said some awful personal remarks criticizing previous comments by Republican student Adam Marvin in this email:

Date: 26 February 2005 11:39
From: "Hangyul Chang" hchang@colby.edu
Subject: Mr. Marvin

Adam, there are a couple of things that I want to get off my chest, which "the greatest nation in the world" entitles me the right to do so. No the greatest nation in the world is the land of your mom's pussy, which I take a trip to every fucking weekend. Get the fucking didlo out of your ass and realize that 3.125673% of all Colby students give a flying fuck about what you have to say. Furthermore, 99.999999% of Colby students probably think your a fucking dumbass. You are the most arrogant piece of shit that I have heard of. In fact, the shit that comes out of my fucking ass has more humility than you do, you fucking little piece of republican garbage. Its little white, bigot, dipshits like yourself that fucking ruin this otherwise great nation of ours. You might ass well go to fucking Washington, make a pitstop the white house, pull a Monica and suck Bush's dick.

P.S- Younis, kep truckin and honestle, no 1 cares bout spellin erors

p.p.s-what's tastier, Apples or Oranges?

As FIRE points out on their site speechcodes.org Colby has a very restrictive speech code. While the concept of speech codes is something that troubles me greatly, I hope to see Colby enforce its speech code in this case as the only thing worse than a restrictive speech code is one that is only selectively enforced.

Kyoto

2005-02-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Kyoto goes into effect today...

Here's some reading:

1. Kyoto's Promise v. Climate Reality

2. Consequences of Kyoto

3. Kyoto: Do the Math

Rock the Vote Sells Out the Youth

2005-02-08T15:06:00.000-05:00

RTV has partnered with the AARP to oppose Social Security private accounts?

I complained about their "vote or get drafted" scare tactics back in October, but this new move is absurd.

Arguments against private accounts can be made but for those who won't retire until 2040 they are a no brainer. This just RTV-AARP coalition tells us what many already knew about Rock the Vote: It never was non-partisan.

What are they teaching the children?

2005-01-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

U.S. students say press freedoms go too far

One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.

Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32% say "too much," and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.

The survey of First Amendment rights was commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut. It also questioned 327 principals and 7,889 teachers.

The findings aren't surprising to Jack Dvorak, director of the High School Journalism Institute at Indiana University in Bloomington. "Even professional journalists are often unaware of a lot of the freedoms that might be associated with the First Amendment," he says.

If this is true we need to rethink how we teach the value of liberty in High School civics class.

I wasn't kidding...

2005-01-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

When I said light I meant it, but now I'm back stateside.

Here some items of interest:

1- Free for students (I already ordered mine):

Click the picture to get yours.

2- 60 or 70% doesn't really matter. The turnout was larger than that of our Presidential election!

3- Bush has done a terrible job of selling his Social Secutity reform. Here's what he needs to remind people:

-Social Security in its current form is a "pay as you go" Wealth Transfer not as many believe a pension-type savings plan.

When Social Security started there was 1 retiree to 16 workers and the Social Security tax was 2% with a cap at just $60. Currently it is down to 3 to 1 with a tax rate of 12.4%, and after the baby boomers retire it will be 2 to 1. This is not sustainable without a 50% increase on payroll taxes, the most regressive tax America has.

The Social Security Trustees report of 2003 stated that the financial shortfall that Social Security will have was already 10.5 trillion dollars (apporximantly our entire annual GDP) and that number will grow larger every year the current system remains in place.

En Francais

2005-01-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

I am in Dijon France for the month so the posting will be extremely light. Sorry but going to an internet cafe everyday and posting particularly when all the letters are in the wrong places just isn't possible.

So far I haven't noticed any glaring cases of Anti-Americanism. People look at me funny when I talk but that should be expected given my horrific accent!

Speaking of cross-cultural miscommunication, one friend told her host family that the tsunamis were "terrible". Unfortunatly in French "terrible" means terrific! But as they say... C'est la vie!

A Christmas Thought

2004-12-25T01:01:00.000-05:00

Being Christmas and all, this quote from P.J. O'Rourke's Parliament of Whores seemed appropriate (Buy it on Amazon for just 1 cent!):

On God and Santa Clause

"I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat.

God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged mate, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well-being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God's heavenly country club.

Santa Claus is another matter. He's cute. He's nonthreatening. He's always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without thought of a quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and he's famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus."

1 cent people!

Final Election Thoughts: The NY Times and 3rd Parties

2004-12-25T00:31:00.000-05:00

After the “Nader effect” on the 2000 Presidential election, where Ralph Nader won enough votes that he likely changed the outcome of the election, I would have hoped for better media coverage of 3rd parties during the 2004 election. I would be disappointed!

Ultimately, while there was more attention paid to Nader than before, this coverage was not a substantive look at any of Nader’s policies but instead consisted of reports about the polls and the possibility of Nader playing spoiler. Meanwhile the other third party candidates received relatively no media attention, even compared to what was received by Ralph Nader. (Odd given that 3 candidates were on more ballots than Nader.)

A search of the New York Times for the month before the election (10/2/04-11/2/04) revealed the following:

-Ralph Nader was mentioned in 72 articles (well over an average of two per day)
-Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik was mentioned in 2 articles,
-Green Party Candidate David Cobb received one mention
-Constitution Party Candidate Michael Petrouka was never mentioned (He was only mentioned once in the previous year on August 28, 2004)

The coverage of Nader and what little coverage the others recieved was of low quality: Only one article in the Voter guide mentioned any policy proposals. (The rest explored the spoiler possibilities or Nader's battles to get on ballots.)

The lack of attention given to Badnarik seemed to be the result of a blind spot for the national media. Badnarik was on the ballot in 48 states plus Washington, DC as compared to only 34 state ballots that Nader appeared on. In addition Badnarik received just over 400,000 votes as compared to Nader’s approximately 503,000. Given Badnarik’s receiving of 80% of the vote total that Nader received, the 36 to 1 ratio in New York Times coverage in favor of Ralph Nader is a failure on the part of the New York Times.

One day maybe the NY Times will take the lead and cover candidates who could inject new ideas into Washington!

Until then the best chance might be to include 3rd Party candidates in the Presidential debates.

Merry Christmas!

2004-12-24T14:33:00.000-05:00

or is it Happy Festivus?

And now a Christmas Carol Ayn Rand Style:

The ruggedly handsome and weirdly articulate Ebenezer Scrooge is a successful executive held back by the corrupt morality of a society that hates success and fails to understand the value of selfishness. So Scrooge explains that value in a 272-page soliloquy. Deep down, Scrooge's enemies know that he is right, but they resent him out of a sense of their own inferiority. Several hot sex scenes and unlikely monologues later, Scrooge triumphs over all adversity -- except a really mean review by Whittaker Chambers. Meanwhile, Tiny Tim croaks. Socialized medicine is to blame.

Hat tip: instapundit

Who said genocide can't be funny?

2004-12-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

While some, like fellow Colby blogger Mayflower Hill, go on and on and on and on about the "Genocide" in Sudan. Some people see a bit of humor in all the madness:

Nigeria Chosen To Host 2008 Genocides

ABUJA, NIGERIA—At a celebratory press conference Monday, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced that Nigeria's troubled but oil-rich city of Warri has been chosen to host the 2008 Genocides.

"Nigeria is excited for this chance to follow in the footsteps of Somalia, Rwanda, and Sudan," Obasanjo said. "Much work remains to be done, but all of the building blocks are in place. Nigeria has many contentious ethnic groups, a volatile economy, and a dependence on food imports. We are well on our way to making 2008 a genocidal year to remember in Nigeria!"

Obasanjo acknowledged that many people considered Nigeria, a relatively stable West African nation, an unlikely candidate to host the Genocides...

"Sudan was a fantastic host this year—the 2004 Genocides have really raised the bar," Radhiya said. "For 2008, many of us on the committee had our eyes on Tajikistan. The country's ongoing ethnic and religious strife made it a strong contender. But there was some concern that the conflict was as likely to simmer down as it was to boil over."

And of course the picture:

Gotta love the Onion!

Discuss among yourselves...

2004-12-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

Still doing the final exams (2 down, 1 to go) but I've got some good reading for you...

1. Bjorn Lomborg pens an Op-Ed for the UK Guardian: Save the world, ignore global warming. Here's the key passage:

Global warming is real and caused by CO2. The trouble is that the climate models show we can do very little about the warming. Even if everyone (including the United States) did Kyoto and stuck to it throughout the century, the change would be almost immeasurable, postponing warming by just six years in 2100.

Likewise, the economic models tell us that the cost is substantial. The cost of Kyoto compliance is at least $150billion a year. For comparison, the UN estimates that half that amount could permanently solve the most pressing humanitarian problems in the world: it could buy clean drinking water, sanitation, basic health care and education to every single person in the world.

2. Eugene Volokh observes more feuding between Cato's Tom Palmer and the Mises crew at LewRockwell.com and Antiwar.com. Palmer restarted this ongoing battle within the libertarian "movement" with a post that started:

Something Is Rotting at the Periphery of the Libertarian Movement.....

What’s that terrible smell? It’s coming from a hatred of the United States that has become so strong that it has overpowered any lingering attachment to the ideas of liberty on which the United States was founded. Lewrockwell.com and antiwar.com are where the stench is strongest.

More Wine Sir?

2004-12-13T14:16:00.000-05:00

Blogging will be light for the next week as I take my finals. But for now...

The WSJ has this article about the recent Supreme Court Wine Case. Here's a nice quote:

Needless to say, the state liquor cartels aren't happy at the prospect of being cut out as middlemen in this lucrative business. But the arguments they muster are as weak as a white-wine spritzer. One is taxation; states may lose tax revenue if consumers can purchase wine over the Internet. Yes, that could happen, since Congress has enacted a moratorium on taxes on Internet sales across state lines. But why should wine be any different from every other product sold online?

You know the liquor lobbies are really desperate, however, when they argue that direct wine sales would make it easier for minors to obtain alcohol. Kids these days are precocious, but it's hard to imagine a teenager using dad's credit card to order $20 bottles of wine for a party a couple of weeks from now. In any event, measures already in place for blocking intra-state wine shipments to minors could easily be extended to interstate sales.

They do a nice job of pointing out the dangers of letting states regulate inter-state commerce:

If the Supreme Court lets states impose restrictions on wine sales, watch for curbs on other products sold online. A negative ruling could affect all Internet commerce in which a state can express a regulatory concern. Think automobiles or insurance or contact lenses.

Federal appeals courts in three circuits have struck down bans on direct shipment of wine; two others have upheld the ban. So now it's up to the Supremes to decide whether the Founders meant to exclude wine when they wrote the Commerce Clause requiring free trade among states.

Wine, Protectionism and the Commerce Clause

2004-12-11T17:14:00.000-05:00

Slate has a great article summing up the cases: Granholm v. Heald, No. 03-1116, Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association v. Heald, No. 03-1120 and Swedenburg v. Kelly, No. 03-1274 which the Supreme Court heard Tuesday:

Michigan and New York allow their respective in-state wineries to ship their wines directly to customers. Both states make it virtually impossible for out-of-state vineyards to do the same. So, that was the interesting part. The states justify their tough-on-wine stance by stating that wine is different from other products that properly move about freely in interstate commerce. And they find textual justification for this idea in the 21st Amendment, which provides that "The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited." The 21st Amendment effectively repealed Prohibition in 1933, and for a time the courts treated it as though it gave the states power to regulate any and all alcohol, for any and all reasons, unencumbered by the commerce clause or any other discernible legal doctrine.

The commerce clause, or more precisely today, the unwritten or "dormant" part of the commerce clause, is a fuzzy little doctrine that bars states from enacting protectionist, discriminatory measures against interstate commercial activity. That was the deadly boring part. Things liven up again when you understand that this case comes down to two weird constitutional doctrines duking it out for world dominance and that everything will turn on whether you read the 21st Amendment as more compelling than the commerce clause or less so.

The Fall 04 issue of Regulation Magazine has an article about a study which concludes:

At the heart of the debate is a simple question: Do state restrictions on direct interstate shipment stem from public welfare concerns or economic interests?Our study suggests economic interests in both the private and public sectors are the principal drivers of restrictions on direct interstate shipping of wine. Those results have immediate consequence for the legal battles raging across the country contesting the constitutionality of direct shipment laws. To the extent that public welfare interests are required by courts to justify states’ restrictions on interstate commerce, our results cast a shadow of doubt on public interest arguments in the instance of direct shipment of wine. They also raise questions about similar restrictions on direct interstate shipping of other alcohol products, particularly specialty microbrew beers that face similar distribution hurdles.

In otherwords, this is state-vs.-state protectionism, plain and simple. Hopefully when they announce their decision in July the Supreme Court will conclude the same.

Gay Marriage is Conservative...

2004-12-10T14:26:00.000-05:00

It seems Andrew Sullivan and others who argued that Gay Marriage was conservative were right...

Now that Gay Marriage is legal in Massachusetts unmarried gay couples are being kicked off "same-sex partner benefits" and given the choice:

1. Be treated like any non-married heterosexual (without non-married partners getting health and other benefits)

or

2. Make the commitment to one partner and tie the knot just like anyone else

But some "gay activists" don't like that choice. To them Sullivan says: "Stop whining".

Personally, I have debated at the Heritage Foundation against the Federal Marriage Amendment (Heritage represented the Pro side) and I still feel the most consistent and fair solution to this debate is one that has never really been discussed and is currently politically impossible:

The government needs to get out of the business of confering the status of marriage. Leave marriage to religious institutions and to lawyers who can create contracts between any two people. This would mean ending marriage benefits like joint tax returns but that problem could be solved with a FLAT TAX. I for one would like to see this idea discussed more in the marketplace of ideas.

Krugman's Social Security Flip-Flop

2004-12-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

Since his post-election hiatus former Enron advisor, NY Times Columnist and formerly respected economist Paul Krugman has been on a tear against Social Security Privatization with these two columns: Borrow, Speculate and Hope & Inventing a Crisis

Recently it has been shown that this represents a flip-flop in Krugman's position. During the Clinton Presidency Krugman realized the wisdom of private accounts...

In an article for the Boston Review he wrote:

"I like Freeman's idea of providing each individual with a trust fund when young rather than retirement benefits when old, but we had better realize that this is a significant change in the character of the social insurance system. Social Security is structured from the point of view of the recipients as if it were an ordinary retirement plan: what you get out depends on what you put in. So it does not look like a redistributionist scheme. In practice it has turned out to be strongly redistributionist, but only because of its Ponzi game aspect, in which each generation takes more out than it put in. Well, the Ponzi game will soon be over, thanks to changing demographics, so that the typical recipient henceforth will get only about as much as he or she put in (and today's young may well get less than they put in)."

In a October 20, 1996 New York Times book review he wrote (as edited by LFUB):

But aren't Social Security and Medicare basically pension funds, in whichworkers' contributions are invested to provide for their retirement?

Hardly. A private pension fund that planned to pay the benefits these programs promise would be accumulating huge reserves. In fact, the so-called "trustfunds" are making barely any provisions for the future.

.... the Federal Government... is in fact living utterly beyond its means. While the present generation of retirees is doing very nicely, the promises that are being made to those now working cannot be honored.

....to avert the crisis ahead.....slow the growth in benefit levels, gradually raise the retirement age, impose limits on expensive terminal medical care that prolongs life for only weeks or days and -- last but not least -- raise taxes moderately now, rather than massively later.

....Something is bound to give -- but what?

Will retired boomers -- who will have even more political clout than today's smallish population of retired voters -- be willing to accept a sharply reduced standard of living? That is hard to imagine.

Will younger voters be willing to accept huge increases in tax rates to support the boomers in the style they have been promised? That is equally hard to imagine.

Or will the Government try to square the circleby simply printing the money it needs, creating runaway inflation? Surely that is inconceivable. Yet one or more of these unthinkable things will happen, because something must.

So now it seems Krugman is a fan of the "Ponzi game" that is doomed to fail. But I guess when you become a bitter partisan hitman for the left- defending intellectually bankrupt ideas is just part of the territory.

The Blogoshpere Welcomes Lee

2004-12-08T18:12:00.000-05:00

Yet another Colby student, Lee Emmons, has has started his own blog:

Lee Emmons-On the Record

Lee is an "extreme moderate" (if that makes any sense, which it doesn't) and is the only member of the Colby Republicans to be seen campaigning for John Kerry outside the polling station on election day. Look for him as the newest member of the Colby Blog Connection on the sidebar.

Inside the Conservative Mind

2004-12-08T16:57:00.000-05:00

I wrote a column for this week's Colby Echo as part of a point-counterpoint section on inside the conservative/liberal mind. Here is an advanced copy for my readers:

Inside the Conservative Mind
by Patrick Semmens

In order to explain the decisive Republican victory of November 2nd it helps to look at who all these “conservative” Bush voters were. For conservatives there is no denying there are many tensions between the different voters in the Bush majority: cultural conservatives, libertarians, neoconservatives, and fiscal conservatives all tend to be lumped together despite their many differences. The Republican party has become a “big tent” party but by doing so it runs the risk that such ideological diversity can pull this new majority party apart.

To understand how so many varying groups are considered conservative we should examine the history of the word itself. Advocates of free-markets, limited government and equal protection under the law who reject collectivism, government bureaucracy and central planning used to be called liberals. (In almost every country but the United States they still are.)

In an ironic twist, here in American, the world’s first liberal democracy, the word “liberal” has been adopted by those who reject classical “liberalism”. With the word liberal distorted and meaning the opposite of its traditional meaning the real liberals have been forced under the banner of conservatism. As a de-facto conservative I remind myself that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

During the election, Bush was called a “radical conservative” by many of his detractors. To this I can only respond: I wish! True conservatives don’t participate in military adventurism by starting preemptive wars. True conservatives would never allow massive increases in the national deficit caused by the largest growth in entitlement spending of any President in the last half century. Conservatives don’t enact protectionist policies like steel tariffs. As a conservative I wonder if these are the costs of creating a majority party?

With so much distortion of the conservative cause I wonder why I accept the label conservative. In the end I feel it is because today’s conservatives are fundamentally more optimistic about people. We believe that given an even playing field, individual’s can succeed and that society will help those who need assistance without government involvement.

Another fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals is their view of equality. Conservatives see liberals as unhealthily obsessed with equality: if two people start a race and one wins this represents inequality to many liberals. They call for government action to prevent such inequality: tie weights to the faster runner or give the slower one a head start. Imagine the boring world where everyone is forced by the government into monotonous equality.

Equality for conservatives is about fair rules. Conservatives reject affirmative action that treats people of different races differently. We reject corporate welfare that gives corporations a governmentally endorsed advantage. We advocate a fairer tax code that treats people of different income levels the same and stops the richest Americans from exploiting tax loopholes that only those with personal accountants can utilize.

Ultimately for me being conservative is about having a healthy skepticism of government. As society advances and becomes more complex many liberals see more areas that need government involvement. Conservatives see government as a tool to protect people from those who use force against us, whether they are foreign invaders or fellow citizens who want to take our property or do us bodily harm. Additional government action infringes on our freedom.

Conservatives today have varying degrees of this skepticism. Neoconservatives want to promote liberty and the protection of rights through military action in foreign countries, but this puts strains on the liberties of those at home who have to pay for this military adventurism while exposing the contradictions of spreading liberty at the gunpoint.

Cultural conservatives want to use the government to protect themselves and their children from being forced to accept moral values that they disagree with. This very noble goal often comes too close to government censorship and leads to others having views forced upon them.

Fiscal conservatives want to minimize government regulation of what individuals do can or cannot do with their money and prevent government from forcibly taking people’s hard-earned money. However fiscal conservatism can come too close to crossing the line from the moral goal of creating a government that treats people fairly to asking for special privileges for business interests.

Libertarians, for which I consider myself, want to end government coercion over all area of citizens’ lives. While I see this as the most intellectually coherent type of conservatism (though I may be biased) it isn’t hard to imagine that getting elected as the politician who wants government to do no favors for its citizens can be difficult.

With so many types of conservatives there is a flavor of conservatism for everyone. At the same time the various types of conservatism are often put into conflict with one another, but it is important to remember that all conservatives share the basic belief that it is best to empower individuals to act in their best interest. After all, who knows what is best for you better than yourself?

In conclusion, if you want to live in a country where the law treats everybody equally, but forced equality isn’t allowed to stifle individuality, give conservatism a try. You might just like it!

When the opinions editor approached me about writing this piece he said his inspiration had been this column by soon to retire NY Times columnist William Safire.

UN: Cynicism, hypocrisy, bigotry...

2004-12-06T01:57:00.000-05:00

Jeff Jacoby is a little down on the UN:

Cynicism, hypocrisy, bigotry -- these are the hallmarks of the modern UN.

He also gives a little recap of recent UN history:

Odds are the world won't much care about getting to the bottom of the latest UN scandal. UN scandals rarely provoke lasting outrage. There was no global uproar when the brutal regime in Libya was chosen to chair the UN's Human Rights Commission. Nothing happened to the UN after its troops allowed Serbs to slaughter 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the "safe haven" of Srebrenica. Sex scandals seem to erupt wherever the UN goes -- the latest involves charges of rape, child abuse, and prostitution by UN personnel in the Congo -- but they never cause heads to roll in Turtle Bay. Annan himself became secretary general despite his failure, when he headed the UN's peacekeeping operations, to pay attention to warnings of genocide in Rwanda.

That's why we need Havel.

New Blog to Watch

2004-12-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

I am very excited to hear that Gary Becker and Richard Posner will be blogging:

www.becker-posner-blog.com

Richard Posner's first post states the reasons they decided to begin blogging:

Blogging is a major new social, political, and economic phenomenon. It is a fresh and striking exemplification of Friedrich Hayek’s thesis that knowledge is widely distributed among people and that the challenge to society is to create mechanisms for pooling that knowledge. The powerful mechanism that was the focus of Hayek’s work, as as of economists generally, is the price system (the market). The newest mechanism is the “blogosphere.” There are 4 million blogs. The internet enables the instantaneous pooling (and hence correction, refinement, and amplification) of the ideas and opinions, facts and images, reportage and scholarship, generated by bloggers.

Initially they will be posting once a week on Mondays and hopefully more than that in the future. Be sure to check their first post out tomorrow.

Onion: Privatize Social Security

2004-12-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

It may be different from the plan I prefer but the Onion has a plan to allow individuals to make their retirement savings work for them:

For too long, Social Security has been managed by an elite group of government accountants and economists," said U.S. Sen. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a longtime advocate of Social Security reform and athletics-based gambling. "Why let your retirement money sit around in an account when you could double or triple it in a single year? Under the new plan, anyone with access to a sports page can control his financial destiny."

Added Ryan: "Assuming, of course, that Favre keeps a lid on those turnovers next season."

Many in Congress praised the bipartisan Social Security Athletic Wagering Commission for "developing a system with favorable odds" for America's taxpayers.

"The risk is greater, but so are the potential payouts," said commission member U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who has long argued that sporting organizations have higher standards of oversight, accountability, and strategic transparency than the federal government. "Why, a Boston-area resident who placed 2 percent of his lifetime earnings on the Patriots or the Red Sox this year would have tens of thousands of dollars in his retirement fund. That's a lot of squeeze, even after taxes."

2 Endorsements

2004-12-04T03:38:00.000-05:00

Here are two ways to save two formerly noble institutions:

Vaclav Havel for UN Secretary General

Bill Cosby for President of the NAACP

Left Wing Campuses...

2004-12-04T03:25:00.000-05:00

Don't think a college education tilts left?
(I've heard it said that "Colby put the liberal in Liberal Arts")

Read this, watch this and start one of these.

Libertarian Feud Watch

2004-12-03T03:45:00.000-05:00

Cato and Mises have gone at it in the past: see here and here for some past sparring. Particularly Tom Palmer and Hans-Hermann Hoppe have gone a few rounds.

So is Lew Rockwell trying to go after Cato for its Social Security Privatization Proposal with this post?

While the implication seems to be that a true libertatian position is that Social Security should not exist one must admit that introducing private property and ownership into retirement savings must be considered a good step.

Federalism anyone?

2004-12-02T01:54:00.000-05:00

It is good to see the guys at the Corner defending Federalism against those on the Right who seem to want to ignore States' Rights now that Republicans are in firm control of the White House and Congress.

Social Security Reform with Rush

2004-12-02T01:08:00.000-05:00

Guest host of the Rush Limbaugh program Walter Williams has a nice interview with Cato's Michael Tanner about Social Security reform. If you want a nice overview of Privatization of Social Security listen to this:

Tanner on Limbaugh [Real Player]

I'm Back!

2004-12-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

After an extended turkey break (that and a few papers) regular blogging will resume.

Tell all your friends to come on back!

Rather

2004-11-26T01:35:00.000-05:00

Light blogging due to Thanksgiving but...

with Rather leaving I felt the need to say:

I TOLD YOU SO!

A few items...

2004-11-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

1. The Daily News has an article about the hate being taught at Columbia.

2. David Brooks' newest article seems to imply that conservative Republicans are rebelling against Bush's big government Republicanism (and not soon enough).

3. Grumpy Bob Novak says the resolution of the Specter chairmanship flap is the best possible outcome for conservatives: Specter will have to give his full support to Bush nominees he cannot cross the aisle on Judicial nominations.

NY Times states the Obvious

2004-11-20T23:44:00.000-05:00

Republicans Outnumbered in Academia, Studies Find

Exclusive: US Ambassador, Former NSC Member Kent Wiedermann on Rice, Iraq and more...

2004-11-20T01:00:00.000-05:00

US Ambassador Kent Wiedermann, former member of the President Clinton's National Security Council was at Colby for a lecture sponsored by the Oak Institute yesterday. Most recently Wiedermann was the senior political advisor and State Department Liaison Officer to the headquarters of the Special Operations Command, with focus on the global war on terrorism. See his bio here. I was able to have lunch with him today and he made some interesting observations:

Speaking about the election in Afghanistan Ambasador Wiedermann seemed skeptical. Showing this skepticism, Wiedermann would only refer to the October 9th election after making "quotation marks" with his hands. He also thought we would be wise to remember that "Karzai [only] controls Kabul and a small surrounding region."

The ambassador expressed his doubts about the war in Iraq. He disagreed with the Neoconservative hope that Iraq would help win the War on Terror by serving as a magnet so that we can fight the Terrorists on their own terf. Instead he felt "Iraq was creating new terrorists."

When asked about soon to be Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, Ambassador Wiedermann criticized her as a "weak" National Security Advisor and questioned the fact she had no real diplomatic experience. Given his experience as a member of the National Security Council, he felt the primary job of the NSA was to sort out differences between the Department of Defense, the State Department and the intelligence agencies, before recommendations went to the President. In that role he felt Rice did not show the strength needed and Wiedermann felt this resulted in Secretary of State Powell's recommendations not getting the proper consideration. In the end he said he hoped that Rice would "step up to the plate" and be a strong Secretary of State.

Condi on Guns

2004-11-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Volokh Conspiracy notes that Condi is a "Second Amendment absolutist."

Could she be trying to establish her "Conservative Credentials" before a run at the Presidency?

NEP Head Mitofsky: Exit Polls show no sign of Voter Fraud

2004-11-17T16:58:00.000-05:00

This blog has learned that this afternoon at Colby College in Waterville, Maine Mitofsky International head Warren Mitofsky has stated on record that the National Exit Poll he conducted for the major media networks show no sign that Voter Fraud is the reason for the often criticized 1.9% error that the national exit poll produced.

This confirms a report made by Jim Rutenberg of the NY Times.

UPDATE: Mitofsky was at Colby for an event at the Goldfarb Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagment

UPDATE 2: Mayflower Hill has these details:

[Mitofsky stated] that the average deviation to Kerry in the completed version of the exit poll was +1.9%. This figure was arrived at by comparing and averaging, on a precint to precinct level, the exit poll data and the precinct vote returns. When asked if the full 1.9% deviation could be explained by non-response bias (Kerry voters being more likely to complete the exit poll than Bush voters), he said:

"It's my opinion, but I can't prove it."

He went on to say that it would be an impossible thing to "prove" categorically because there exist an infinite number of variables that could have a micro-impact on the exit poll which could combine for a statistically significant impact. These factors ranged from the weather to the distance from the polling place some of his poll takers were forced to stand. He is also trying to determine whether there is a statistically significan correlation between certain types of precincts and the non-response deviation. Again, right now he feels the most reasonable and logical explanation of the average 1.9% deviation for Kerry was non-response bias.

[He was able to rule out that] touch screen voting machines that don't leave any paper trail [were] being used to defraud the election. To prove this, he broke down precincts based on the type of voting machine that was used and compared the voting returns from those precincts with his own exit polls. None of the precincts with touch screen computers that don't leave paper trails, or any other type of machine for that matter, had vote returns that deviated from his exit poll numbers once the average 1.9% non-response bias was taken into account.

Pelosi's Hypocrisy

2004-11-17T16:32:00.000-05:00

Nancy Pelosi decided to criticize the decision of House Republicans to change the rules for stepping down from leadership positions if the leader is indicted for a crime:

If Republicans believe that an indicted member should be allowed to hold a top leadership position in the House of Representatives, their arrogance is astonishing," the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, said in a statement.

Unfortunately the Democratic House Ethical Rules wouldn't force Pelosi or anyother Democratic leader to step down if they were indicted. Oops!

Not to mention Pelosi has ethical issues of her own.

Democrats try to "Thomas" Condi Rice

2004-11-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

Democracy Project points out the many racist political cartoons that the left has created since it was announced the Rice would become Secretary of State.

Here's a thought: For Judicial nominees the processing of trying to halt nominees has been called "Borking"...

When they question a black nominee (particularly if they try to question their "authenticity") should we call it "Thomasing"?

The "Retarded" NY Times

2004-11-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

Tom Maguire states some obvious, yet apparently unfollowed advise for the NY Times:

I think we should demand that the Times editors be encouraged to read their own newspaper.

One of his readers is a little harsher on the Old Gray Lady:

I'm not sure if I have this straight: On Saturday, the NYTimes prints a story going after blogs for repeating conspiracy theories that have been debunked.

Then, on Sunday, the NYTimes prints an EDITORIAL latching on to those same debunked conspiracy theories.

Is that right? I'm asking because it just seems so utterly retarded that I can't believe even the NYTimes would do it.

Colby Leftist Idiocy

2004-11-13T09:23:00.000-05:00

Chris at Mayflower Hill has pictures of a "Funeral for America" held by some of those here at Colby who were upset with the results of the election.

A few days later it was discovered that they left the American flag outside half on the ground in the rain for 3 days.

Also check out the comments for a debate about Colby Professors and their Leftist Tendencies.

Colby & Beyond! on the Air

2004-11-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

Kevin and Gregg (both Colby Alums class of '91) at Pundit Review Radio have invited me on their show which can be heard on WBIX 1060 in Boston streamed live from WBIX.com. Here are the details:

Date: Saturday November 13th
Time: 12-1pm (I will be on around 12:35)

Listen live and call in with your comments at 877-711-1060

We'll talk about the blog, being a Conservative at a liberal college, the reaction of the Left on campus and more...

Be sure to tune in!

The Intolerant Campus Left and the Administrators Who Encourage Them

2004-11-10T17:17:00.000-05:00

FrontPage Magazine has coverage of an incident at San Francisco State University where College Republicans were attacked trying to recruit new members and the security guards just stood there:

[A]n angry mob of Palestinian students attacked the club’s table, as well as individual members of the Republican club who were handing out pro-Bush/Cheney campaign materials. According to Wray, campus police were nearby, but “just stood around watching and, instead of protecting the College Republican students from the mob that was pouring drinks on our table and materials, and even physically assaulting our members, only suggested that the campus Republicans leave rather than arrest those responsible for the violence.”

Wray said the incident began when four Palestinian women from the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) on the S.F. State campus approached the CRs’ table and began a verbal tirade. “You and the Jews want to kill all the Muslims!” one screamed at Wray. “You and Ariel Sharon want to kill innocent Palestinian babies.” A larger crowd of male Arab students then joined in creating a threatening mob in front of the table.

“When one of the Republican students asked one of the women that if she hated America so much, why she didn’t leave, she screamed at him ‘I have some pride. I would strap a bomb on myself and blow myself up as a suicide bomber rather than call myself an American,’”according to Wray. He said the woman also ranted that terrorists are “freedom fighters.”

“One woman said she’d blow up the College Republicans on campus,” Wray continued. “They began throwing food at us and even tried to tip over our table.” The campus police did nothing. Instead of separating them from our table, they kept pulling me aside and asking if we were willing to leave.”

Freedom fighters...

Who does that remind me of?

Randy Barnett for Chief Justice

2004-11-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

Randy Barnett has announced he is out of the running for AG:

"I have no personal interest in the outcome as I won't be nominated for a confirmable position by the administration despite sage recommendations like these by Glenn [Reynolds] and Alex Knapp"

And that's probably good since he would make great replacement for Rehnquist as Chief Justice...

but what would Senator Specter say?

Judiciary Committee Chairman

2004-11-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

Not Specter!

As Fallujah Falls...

2004-11-09T17:45:00.000-05:00

We should remember that Michael Moore believes we are not killing the enemy but Patriots.

What an idiot!

Kos' Redemption?

2004-11-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

It has been well noted that left-wing megablogger Daily Kos did not help the 15 candidates he raised over $500,000 for.

Now maybe there is one election he can win...

Directly after the election he said "Howard Dean for DNC Chair"...

Now it looks like that could happen.

Will Kos be raising money for Dean? And would that help?

Web Items of Interest

2004-11-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

1. Secrecy in the IRS? No Way!

This is an interesting case involving the IRS Secrecy, Seperation of Church and State in the 1st Amendment and unfair taxation.

2. Let's hope so!

Glenn Reynolds' newest column is up on Tech Central Station. He offers these hopeful words for the power of blogs in the future:

Local blogs can often devote as many person-hours as local newspapers and television stations, and can pay close and continuing attention to subjects that the traditional local outlets gloss over or ignore. This is probably better for Republicans than for Democrats, since traditional media tends to lean pro-Democratic, but it's also probably better for challengers than for incumbents, since challengers face more barriers to getting their message out than do incumbents. Expect to see a lot more of this sort of thing in the next election cycle.

3. Grab your comb!

James Toranto's Best Hair of the Web Today

What the MSM doesn't tell you...

2004-11-08T13:40:00.000-05:00

Cathy Young writes a great Op-Ed: "Living with our divisions" in the Boston Globe this morning. Here is an excerpt with my highlights in bold for newsworthy facts you aren't likely to see in the NY Times:

Some of the reaction to the election results, both abroad and among American liberals, brings to mind an acerbic comment by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht: "The government has decided to dissolve the people, and to appoint another one." Many pundits and activists obviously feel that we ought to elect another populace, the current one being too stupid or too bigoted. " `Reach out' to these voters? Yeah. Then boil your hand till it's sterilized," a Kerry volunteer jeered in Salon.com.

The ugliness in this campaign has been not just between the candidates but between their supporters as well. To listen to some conservatives, Kerry voters are a bunch of latte-sipping, America-bashing, amoral elitists. Meanwhile, all too many supposedly tolerant liberals fear and despise Bush voters as a mob of dumb, racist, Bible-thumping rednecks.

As a libertarian conservative, I'm not particularly happy about the fact that people who want to use the law and public policy to promote their moral and religious values currently have so much power in the Republican Party. (Of course, liberals tend to be oblivious to the ways in which they are willing to use the law and public policy to foist their own version of morality on others.) But the caricature of Bush voters as ignorant religious fanatics is just that, a caricature.

The CNN exit poll found that only about 8 percent of the voters regard religious faith as the most important quality in a presidential candidate. (Not surprisingly, these voters went overwhelmingly for Bush.) While Bush voters are more likely to attend church regularly, 47 percent of occasional churchgoers and 36 percent of those who never attend religious services backed the President as well. As for educational levels, 52 percent of Americans with a college diploma voted for Bush. Even among those with at least some postgraduate education, Bush captured 44 percent of the vote.

President Bush has been accused of pursuing divisive policies. But let's face it, promoting crude stereotypes of slightly more than half the electorate is not exactly the way to promote understanding...

A final thought on the election results. Democracy is great; but in a divided culture democracy means that roughly half the people will live under a government they did not elect. That's one good reason to limit the federal government's intervention in our lives and to give more of the decision-making power to local governments, private institutions, and individuals.

This final point is exactly the point I made before the election:

Dirty, often contested elections with angry bitter losing minorities are inevitable as long as the power of the federal government is enormous and growing.

I say evangelical, you say bigot...

2004-11-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

Are these people for real?!?

Many people are noticing the similarities between the two maps below and implying that some how voting Republican is a bigoted endeavour. It is typical of the left... When you lose call the winners bigots!

Ha!

2004-11-06T17:43:00.000-05:00

Someone from the otherside of the Atlantic just emailed me this.

Kerry Spot: What now?

2004-11-06T17:27:00.000-05:00

I've enjoyed the Kerry Spot for the past few months. But what now?

He's just one loser Senator in a 45 member minority.

Maybe the it should be changed to The Hillary Spot or The Edwards Spot now that they are running for 2008.

Key Election Stats

2004-11-05T18:12:00.000-05:00

Andrew Ian Dodge has some interesting stats comparing Bush in 2000 vs. Bush in 2004:

Bush 2000/Bush 2004

African-Americans: 8%/11%
Whites: 54%/58%
Hispanic: 41%/44%
Married: 53%/56%
Not Married: 38%/40%
Union Members: 37%/40%
Gays: 25%/23%
Gun Owners: 61%/67%
Protestants: 63%/59%
Jewish: 19%/25%
Catholics: 45%/52%
Republicans: 91%/93%
Democrats: 10%/11%
Men: 51%/55%
Women: 43%/48%
18-29 year olds: 46%/45%
30-44 year olds: 49%/53%
45-59 year olds: 49%/51%
60+ 47%/54%

It is interesting to note that the only losses came in the 18-29 year old group (-1%), gays (-2%) and protestants (-4%)

The Future of the LP

2004-11-05T17:33:00.000-05:00

Badnarik didn't do much to give hope to those who want to see the Libertarian Party become a major player in national politics. He did set himself up to sell his book based on his Constitutional course.

Tim Cavanaugh has some thoughts on where LP should go from here and he debunks a few common ideas:

Libertarians need to stop talking about drug legalization/decriminalization. It turns off mainstream voters.

This conflates a lifestyle question with a legal question. It's true that in recent years, there has been a move away from the bluenosed I'm-opposed-to-the-drug-war-but-I-abhor-drugs pieties of the past (and not a minute too soon, if you ask me). But the core of the argument against the drug war remains that it is an essential assault on freedom, the government's primary mechanism for abridging the rights guaranteed in the First, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eight Amendments to the Constitution. If you think decriminalization is just about your right to get high, you have a feeble understanding of what your rights are.

More to the point, Badnarik did not particularly emphasize legalization on the campaign trail. As with his opposition to the Iraq war, he didn't conceal it, but his approach was always a wonkish constitutional play. Even his kooky driver's license stance was primarily derived from the Constitution.

The LP needs to stop paying attention to national elections and focus on getting candidates into smaller, nuts-and-bolts local offices.
I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything smaller or duller than the local school board. In my own town, LP candidate Starchild got slaughtered in his school board run, finishing second from last with 18,266 votes and 3.1 percent of the total. He even got walloped in this unofficial poll, despite my own effort to game the results. Starchild runs for something every year and is energetic about publishing arguments against local ballot measures, and he may be making some headway: My acquaintances, who tend to be middle-of-the-road SF lefties, no longer giggle when they see his name, and a few have noted that his arguments are pretty intelligent. But it's still pretty slim pickings, particularly in a city that treasures its phonybaloney self-image as a place where colorful, larger-than-life wacky characters can thrive.

The LP needs to stop running goofballs with names like "Starchild."
James P. Gray is a Judge of the Superior Court in Orange County. He served as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, as a criminal defense attorney, and as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps. He was running in the most predetermined race imaginable—Barbara Boxer's Senate re-confirmation—in which no individual Republican or Democrat had anything to lose by going third party. He got creamed, with 172,190 votes and 1.7 of the total. A few weeks ago, Judge Gray assured me that his campaign had Mendocino county "locked up." As it turns out he got 1,771 votes, 5.1 percent of the total, in California's pot-growing capital, despite having won the endorsements of the local sheriff and DA.

Still Bitter

2004-11-05T16:18:00.000-05:00

Just to give everyone an idea of what the left here at Colby is saying here are quotes from the all campus email forum:

1.
I say that heterosexuals have no right to decide this issue as well as men have no right what-so-ever to decide whether abortion should be illegal (very much the same as i had no right to vote)

I just can't stand these narrow minded preposterous pricks that should invest all their money (oh yeah i forgot ... there's not much money left in here) into a time machine and go back into Europe of 1618-1648 so they fight for their 'moral values', burn 'sinners' and hunt witches, because last time i checked, the document you all are so proud of started with "we the people of america ..." and not "we the people of america with impeccable moral values ... "

2.
ANALYSIS OF THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA:
(oh, and if you want to respond to this, please respond to me directly, not on the digest---i haven't been reading them with any regularity)

the foundations:
MA: bunch of religious fanatics who were persecuted (and thus persecuted anyone they considered to be a religious fanatic or heretical)
GA: bunch of prisoners who needed to pay back taxes
VA: bunch of people trying to get rich (many rich people trying to get richer)
PA: bunch of people seeking peace and the desire to pursue their own religion/way of life
(i don't remember the beginning of any of the other 13)

concerns of all founding fathers:
a. the ability to continue getting richer (life, liberty, property.....whoops, pursuit of happiness)

b. the ability for the state to not dictate what religion everyone has to be (MA probably wasn't too keen on this)
(This is what the separation of church and state is btw....something to prevent church from collecting takes and to prevent the bloody wars that had just swept through europe)

c. the ability of people to get along.....which translates to....MORALITY
(what most people forget is that most of the founding fathers were either deist or christian and did not hesitate to write those beliefs into the original documents)

d. the ability to not force a stupid person in power through hereditary(a problem of the aristocracy)

e. the ability to prevent the common people (who weren't educated, rich, etc) from getting power

Summary: America was founded to be a state revolutionary in the break from aristocracy and kingship, but conservative in that the goal was to make sure all rich-white-men-with-land could do what was best for them (i.e. liberty and justice for all). People who are happy with how things are generally don't really care who has the power as long as they feel secure that nothing will change .

Hmmm...

Election Reaction Rundown

2004-11-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

David Letterman style- here are 10 post election reactions you should check out:

1. Colby alum Pundit Review has a nice Top 10 list about the election result. Highlights include:

1. Knowing how miserable Michael Moore, Al Franken and George Soros are today makes me all warm inside. These nasty, vile haters were so over the top in their criticism of the President it is heartwarming to know that they were rejected by the public.

[and]

8. The GOP has no excuses in this second term. Things have to get done, and non-defense spending has to be restrained. They cannot continue to claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility if they continue to spend like, well, like Democrats. Bush should tackle the tough issues that cannot be done by a first term president for political reasons. Social security reform. Immigration reform. Tax reform. Just get it done GOP. You have an expanded majority and now is your time. No more excuses.

2. Todd Zywicki at Volokh Conspiracy notes:

LIBERTARIAN V. NADER:

According to the final tally, I see that the Libertarian Party candidate Michael Bednarik got almost as many votes nationwide as Nader. Curious that the media nonetheless covered Nader throughout the race, while ignoring Bednarik (for instance, on the Washington Post web site with the tally, you can link to background stories on Nader, but not Bednarik). Of course, the number was quite trivial for both, but the difference in attention garnered by each also-ran is striking.

Of course he did spell Badnarik's name wrong.

3. Wonkette noticed how excited Barbara Bush (twin) got during Cheney's acceptance speech.

4. Michael Totten (guest blogging at Instapundit) gives a summary of "Left-Wing Blogosphere" reactions to Bush's win including these from Kos and Andrew Sullivan?:

Daily Kos: [I]t's clear the Democratic Party as currently constituted is on its deathbed. It needs reforms, and it needs them now. Quite frankly, the status quo simply won't cut it. Howard Dean for DNC Chair.

Andrew Sullivan: George W. Bush is our president. He deserves a fresh start, a chance to prove himself again, and the constructive criticism of those of us who decided to back his opponent.

5. James Toranto at Best of the Web Today writes Kerry a Bye-Ku:

Served in Vietnam:
A grateful nation thanks him
And says, "That's enough"

6. Johan Goldberg at NRO's Corner notes that DNC Chair, Terry McAuliffe has been gone for over 2 days!

7. Bob Novak writes: "The devastation of Tuesday's returns cannot be minimized. The transformation of the ''Solid South'' from Democrat to Republican was completed."

8. Radley Balko asks: Exactly which of Bush's policies were examples of "extreme conservatism"?:

But I'm having a hard time figuring the lefty blogs' lament that though he's now talking bipartisanship, a Bush second term will be more of the same right-wing extremism, or extreme conservativsm.

What do they mean? Do they mean expansion of the regulatory state? The prescription drug benefit? Campaign finance reform? Huge subsidies to farmers? Increased funding for job training programs? Trade protections for favored labor groups? Futher federalizing education? Bigger budgets for the departments of Labor, Energy, and Education? Do they mean the PATRIOT Act, which all but one Democrat senator supported? Or the war in Iraq, which most Democrat leaders also supported? Extremism on the drug war? Medicinal marijuana? Didn't hear many Democrats speaking out there, either.

Exactly which Bush first term policies were overly conservative? I'd like to know, so I can hang on to at least a shred of optimism going into January.

9. Gene Healy says good or bad (mostly bad he thinks) blame the GOP:

The GOP has further consolidated its control over all three branches of government. By 2006, we'll have had six years of that situation (barring the Jeffords divided-senate hiccup). And we'll get to see exactly where limited, constitutional government fits in on the list of Republican priorities. My guess is, somewhere well behind marriage promotion and naming stuff after Ronald Reagan. But we'll see, won't we.

10. I predict Giuliani will be the next Attorney General. That is unless he takes over for Tom Ridge.

My Ashcroft Replacement Prediction

2004-11-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Rudy Giuliani is the logical choice.

As his bio states:

n 1981, Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Department of Justice. As Associate Attorney General, Giuliani supervised all of the US Attorney Offices' Federal law enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Corrections, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the US Marshals.

He also was a loyal and effective spokesman for the President during the campaign.

Will I be proven correct? Time will tell.

Mayflower Hill = A Big Loser

2004-11-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

That's what he said.

And with shameless self promotion like this can you blame him?

Ashcroft GONE

2004-11-04T02:26:00.000-05:00

Drudge reports that Ashcroft will resign in the next few days. If this is true, I (as a Bush Voter) cannot say that I am sorry to see him go.

Rather vs. Bloggers

2004-11-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

We all remember how bloggers exposed Rathergate.

Last night during election coverage Rather took this swipe at bloggers:

"The secretary of state in Ohio says, we're not going to have another Florida, we will count all of those votes no matter how long it takes. It might take as much as a week. We'll simply have to wait and see. Ed Bradley, you did before saying clearly advantage Bush in Ohio, very hard to put the figures together and see how John Kerry can win.

"That being the case, one would expect that the blogging machine, which the White House and Bush-Kerry [sic] campaign have used to such strong advantage for any number of purposes over their four years will start, if it hasn't started already, a campaign to say Kerry and Edwards for the good of the country need to concede."

CBS (Completely B.S.)

I voted Republican...

2004-11-03T22:02:00.000-05:00

So now maybe Republicans will start acting Republican:

Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.

Fellow Republicans, it is the cause of Republicanism to resist concentrations of power, private or public, which enforce such conformity and inflict such despotism. It is the cause of Republicanism to ensure that power remains in the hands of the people. And, so help us God, that is exactly what a Republican president will do with the help of a Republican Congress...

We Republicans see in our constitutional form of government the great framework which assures the orderly but dynamic fulfillment of the whole man, and we see the whole man as the great reason for instituting orderly government in the first place.

We see, in private property and in economy based upon and fostering private property, the one way to make government a durable ally of the whole man, rather than his determined enemy. We see in the sanctity of private property the only durable foundation for constitutional government in a free society. And beyond that, we see, in cherished diversity of ways, diversity of thoughts, of motives and accomplishments. We do not seek to lead anyone's life for him - we seek only to secure his rights and to guarantee him opportunity to strive, with government performing only those needed and constitutionally sanctioned tasks which cannot otherwise be performed.

From Barry Goldwater's 1964 Acceptance Speech

Will Hand Counting Matter?

2004-11-02T01:42:00.000-05:00

With all the talk of recounts and court challenges it is important to examine how votes are actually counted. Unlike much of the country Maine still relies heavily on handcounts

The Morning Sentinel Reports: Human hands still count paper ballots in 80 percent of Maine communities on election night.

And despite a national movement toward computerized voting machines, Maine officials want to tread lightly when it comes to changing what's worked.

In the event of a challenge in Maine the heavy reliance on handcounts could prove important.

Crossposted at: The Command Post

GOTV with Vandalism?

2004-11-02T01:20:00.000-05:00

Here at Colby College the GOTV effort is in a super-excited state. The socialist group League of Pissed Off Voters has taken to writing "Vote Kerry or Die" on people's doors, sometimes in permanent marker. Someone else has taken to placing "Bush Fear Factor" pamplets on everyone's door handles. There are numerous groups driving students to the polls (I expect to see both Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards vehicles driving supporters to the polls all day) and according to the town clerk, plus mailroom estimates about absentee ballots projections are that 95% of the eligable campus will be voting in this election.

If this is consistent with other College Campuses in Maine then they will Campus GOTV efforts will have a major effort here in Maine.

Colby on C-SPAN

2004-11-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

Today at both 9:00 am and 5:30 pm Daniel Flynn of Flynn Files and author of Intellectual Morons will be on C-SPAN 2's Book TV with the speech he gave at Colby College this past Wednesday.

As someone who attended I thought he made many good points. The fun is at the end of the speech during question and answer when some campus leftists argue that "the problem with marxism is that it has never been tried."

I know some of their programs go online, hopefully this one will too.

We have the bear!

2004-10-30T14:45:00.000-04:00

Is a Contested Election Inevitable?

2004-10-29T22:16:00.000-04:00

In one of my Government classes an unscientific poll of about 25 Government majors, said that two-thirds of the students didn't think we would have a winner to the election by November 3rd. And why would they...

-1000's of Lawyers are heading to the battleground states in anticipation of court challenges

-The DNC sent out a letter saying even if voter intimidation does not take place, claim that it did

-This election represents the most divided electorate in decades

But history tells us there is a more fundamental reason why now more than ever, the political parties are willing to DO ANYTHING to take power:

Control of the Federal Government means control over more of every Americans life than it ever did before.

We once had a government of limited powers, where control of Congress meant only limited regulation of interstate commerce, the power to declare war, ratify treaties and a few other clearly enumerated powers. Being President use to have similar constraints. It meant being the a sybolic head of state, being commander of the armed forces and serving as executive of bills passed by Congress in the limited areas that Congress was Constitutionally permitted to legislate over.

Congress used to be in session only a few months a year because there wasn't that much for them to do: the Constitutional limits prohibited them from creating bills that sent billions of dollars in pork to certain states and from intruding into area that the Constitution reserves as the realm of the States.

Look at Prohibition for an example of how much power the government now has over our lives:

It once took a Constitutional Amendment for the Federal Government to stop its citizens from using a substance. Now a majority of Congress can vote to ban any substance by only claiming the publics interest.

Given that having control of the Federal Government gives politicians so much power, is it really a suprise that they will do anything to have that power?

Democratic Pledges

2004-10-28T20:01:00.000-04:00

The democrats have been complaining about attendees to Bush-Cheney having to sign pledges.

However it seems the Democrats like the pledges too. Adam Marvin reports that the Colby Democrats were requiring people to pledge their vote:

They were offering students free rides to the polls. The catch? In order to get a ride, you had to sign a piece of paper that read, "I pledge to vote for Kerry/Edwards". In addition, the word pledge had been written over the word "promise", which had been crossed out.

In the Echo

2004-10-28T17:08:00.000-04:00

An article based on my posts on the Al Franken event appears in the Colby Echo. Here it is:

THE LOONY LEFT COMES TO COLBY by Patrick Semmens

John Kerry should already have this election in the bag. Our government is fighting a disastrous war in Iraq, running up monstrous deficits, we’ve lost jobs hundreds of thousands of jobs and the current administration is trying to write discrimination into our great Constitution. Despite all that Bush will likely win, and no small reason for that is the bitter partisans that are running the Democratic party.

The Kerry-Edwards event held last Saturday in Cotter Union is case and point. There, Al Franken decided to insult millions of Americans of faith and specifically the President’s faith, when he said "I don't buy this 'I pray to God and God tells me what to do" stuff. It's just an excuse for not doing the reading and for his laziness. 'I went to the father.' What a schmuck!"

Terry McAuliffe was scheduled to attend the rally but the audience was told 10 minutes into the event that his plane had been held up in DC and so the DNC Chairman would not be there. McAuliffe’s absence didn’t mean that there was a shortage of kool-aid drinking Kerry supporters.

In one telling moment 2nd District Democratic Congressman Mike Michaud started tell the audience about the Reservists who disobeyed orders in Iraq, but was interrupted when the audience cheered in support of the act of disobedience. Apparently for Democrats, the breakdown of discipline in our armed forces that is so vital to our national security is a good thing!

But Al Franken was clearly the highlight of the evening. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt 2 sizes too small for his gut and looked visibly annoyed when he had to stand up during the singing of the National Anthem.

After being introduced he rattled off the laughable Democratic talking points including saying: "Kerry's position on Iraq has been consistent." Besides that remark he dedicated so much time to insulting Republicans and President Bush that John Kerry was barely even mentioned.

Franken even went so far as to make this ridiculous claim about Republican scare tactics: “The buzz is any state that elects a Democratic Senator will get nuked.”

And what would a Franken speech be without a dig at Rush Limbaugh? Franken said "Rush Limbaugh says 75% of people earning minimum wage are teenagers in their first job... Rush Limbaugh got that 75% figure straight from his butt… [It went] from his butt, out his mouth, into the mic, into the ears of the ditto heads like those people out there (as he pointed to Bush supporters rallying outside)."

It isn’t surprising to see that Franken is doing his part to keep this election in the mud instead of about important issues in this election.

It is hard to say who was worse though Franken, a formerly funny SNL man turned bitter partisan hack, or the crowd which cheered for troops’ disobeying of orders and yelled “What about My Pet Goat!” when Franken claimed Bush doesn’t like to read?

One thing is for sure: The loony left is running the Democratic Party and they have a following here at Colby.

Kerry's Tax Rhetoric Lie

2004-10-27T06:26:00.000-04:00

As the election nears we need to remember some tax realities. Kerry can frequently be heard advocating “rolling back” the Bush tax cuts for the “rich.” The line goes something like this: “He gave away billions to the wealthiest Americans while he adocated sending jobs overseas, cutting overtime and killing puppies!” (OK, maybe he doesn't claim Bush killed puppies but he has come pretty close!) Similarly way back in July during the DNC convention Bill Clinton denounced the Bush tax cut saying “At first I thought I should send them a thank you note -- until I realized they were sending you the bill.” Common sense and fact expose just how ridiculous these statements are.

Washington politicians and media pundits have made “paying for tax cuts” part of everyday vocabulary. Talking about the “cost of tax cuts” is a sneaky way of justifying a tax-and-spend policy, but it rests on the false assumption that all money made in this country belongs to government. Under this dubious theory, every dollar earned belongs to the government until politicians decide we can have some back.

Under the “cost of tax cuts” way of thinking, Americans don’t actually earn the paycheck that supports their family; it is only through Washington’s charity that Americans put food their tables and roofs over their heads. Under this theory, the top marginal tax rate of 33% is actually a 67% government give back!

Even if you excuse Clinton’s concept that the fruits of one’s labors belongs to the government, tax cuts still don’t result in less money in the pockets of other Americans. Today, many who advocate for lower taxes suggest that we can afford tax cuts, or that the “costs” of tax cuts are worth the benefits. They point out the increased revenues that have resulted from the 4 major tax cuts of the past 40 years (Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton and Bush 43), and show how unbalanced the tax burden already is: According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the richest 1% of taxpayers currently pay 22.8% of federal taxes and the top 10% pay 52.7%.

Arguments about the economic stimulus that tax cuts provide and rebuttals to the idea that the rich don’t pay their share are important to the debate over taxes. However, any honest and open debate over tax policy must be based on the fact that money earned by an individual does not belong to the government but belongs to the person who labored for it. Taxation can only be fairly discussed after accepting the reality that taxes are the government forcibly taking money from millions of individuals who earned it.

Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution gives the government the power to tax its citizens. If Clinton or John Kerry want to increase taxes on the American people they need to convince us with facts that it is both necessary and beneficial. In avoiding honest debate by suggesting that lower taxes are a type of government handout and by using flowery language to imply that tax hikes are really “contributions” or “investments” they hide the otherwise weak arguments for increased taxes.

For those who advocate lower taxes it is important not to play this game. Arguing over whether America can or cannot afford tax cuts concedes half the argument before the debate begins. Every time Americans cash their paychecks they should not and do not thank the government for allowing them to keep some of their earnings. To claim that money made by ordinary citizens belongs to the government is to make Americans slaves to their government. It makes every American dependent on the government for even the most basic functions of everyday life.

As for Clinton’s statement that he “realized they were sending you the bill” he could not be further from the truth, but why not let him try and practice what he preaches. Clinton, Kerry or anybody else is free to make a real “contribution” to the IRS and send back their tax cut, but they should not ask everyone else to do so until he convinces the American public based on the facts, not misleading rhetoric.

Instapundit featuring me!

2004-10-27T06:12:00.000-04:00

Glenn Reynolds' newest commentary for Tech Central Station is up:
The Future of Blogs and the Blogosphere

It is an interesting read about where the blogfather himself sees the blogosphere going in the coming years, and he mentions my liveblogging at the Al Franken event.

It really is amazing when you think about it: A college student with a laptop and a wireless connection at an event like that can give people in countries halfway around the globe live coverage. 5 years ago that was a technical impossibility and we take it for granted. Pretty Cool!

The Cancer Factor?

2004-10-25T13:31:00.000-04:00

Given that Chief Justice Renquist was hospitalized with cancer we must examine what a possible retirement would mean for the Court.

James Swanson of Cato writes what would happen if a Justice retires while Bush is President:

The substantive attack will have six parts.

• Retirement Day Blitzkrieg-If the retiring justice is a Republican, and gives the White House advance, confidential notice of his or her intention to retire, as Chief Justice Warren Burger did in 1986, the president will have an opportunity to announce a retirement and a nomination on the same day. Within one hour of that nomination, a leading Democratic senator, probably Daschle, Kennedy, Leahy, or Schumer, will attack the nominee's character, integrity, or competence. (Recall Senator Kennedy's outburst within 45 minutes of President Reagan's nomination of Judge Bork: "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue policemen could break down citizen's doors in midnight raids, school children could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censured at the whim of government.") Sundry left wing "public interest" (actually, special interest) groups will join the chorus. The purpose of the first day blitzkrieg is to set the president and the nominee reeling on their heels and destroy the momentum of the nomination. The blitzkrieg aims to spin that night's TV coverage, and the next morning's newspaper stories.

• The Paper Blizzard-Within hours of the nomination, senators and special interest groups will inundate the press with letters, reports, memos and even small books that purport to expose the unfitness of the nominee. In many cases those scripts have already been written. For more than two years, Democrats have been doing "opposition research" as though preparing for a political campaign, to uncover damaging information on the 10 to 15 people rumored to be on the president's "short list" for the Court. The purpose of the paper blizzard is to turn public opinion against the nominee long before the Senate Judiciary Committee even convenes a hearing on the nomination.

• The Indictment-The paper blizzard will include some or all of the following accusations: The nominee is not "sensitive" to the rights of women, children, African-Americans and other racial minorities, the disabled, workers, unions, farmers, native Americans and others. The nominee is "out of the mainstream" of the American legal tradition; is too "right wing"; is even "radical." (Democrats perfected their use of those smear tactics against Judge Robert Bork, stooping so low as to suggest he might not believe in God. Apparently a godless conservative is even more dangerous than a god-fearing one.) With much hand-wringing, Democrats will cry crocodile tears, sighing "if only the president had nominated a moderate conservative, we would be delighted to confirm him or her." If the nominee does not have an extensive body of scholarly writings, Democrats will tar him as a "stealth" candidate who possesses hidden and alarming views. If, on the other hand, the nominee has written extensively, those writings will be denounced as "out of the mainstream." (Remember that phrase). If the nominee believes in a color blind society and equal treatment under the laws, and questions the constitutionality of race-conscious policies-called "affirmative action" by some-then of course the nominee is a "racist" who will want to "turn back the clock" on civil rights, overturn Brown v. Board of Education, repeal the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, and reintroduce slavery.

Beyond attacking the nominee personally, the paper blizzard will suggest that he or she represents a so-called "transformative" appointment who will upset the alleged delicate "balance" of the court. Some Democrats will seek cover by claiming that they have nothing against the nominee, he or she is just the wrong person at the wrong time for the best interests of the Court and the country.

• Rancorous Hearings-President Bush's first nominee to the Court should not expect a cordial reception from Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. They will attempt to grill the nominee for 3 to 6 days. They will ask hundreds of questions. Many hostile witnesses will be called. Special interest groups will haunt the hearing room and loiter in the halls, murmuring against the nominee and handing out attack literature.

• The Partisan Committee Vote-For the Democrats, the hearings are mainly for show and to posture before the cameras for their constituencies and the left-wing special interest groups. They will have already decided their vote before the hearing begins or the nominee speaks one word. Of course that vote is "no." Because Republicans are a majority on the committee, the nomination will be reported to the Senate favorably by a party line vote.

• The Senate Vote-Once the Judiciary Committee reports the nomination to the full Senate, Democrats opposing the nomination will continue to fight it on the floor by insisting on a lengthy debate. Then they will try to persuade their colleagues to vote against the nominee. Ultimately they will lose. The President's nominee will be confirmed because the Republican majority, plus a number of responsible Democrats, will vote to confirm him. If there is a vote, that is.

Along with their substantive attack on the nominee, Democrats will mount a procedural attack. That plan has two elements.

• Delay the Judiciary Committee Hearing-Upon making a nomination, the president will ask Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch to schedule hearings by early July with the goal of having a Senate floor vote by late July or early August. Democrats on the committee will vigorously oppose that goal and attempt to delay the hearing until September. They will bleat that there must be no "rush to judgment," and claim that they require months to "study" the nominee. Their ability to stall Judge Bork's hearings until September contributed to the nomination's defeat. Democrats and the special interest groups had all summer to mobilize their onslaught against Judge Bork. The White House failed to anticipate the viciousness of the assault and was taken off guard. Because the Republicans now control the committee, the Democrats will find it harder to stall the hearings.

• The Filibuster Trump Card-When all else fails to cow the president's nominee into withdrawing, when the Democrats have been unable to stall the Judiciary Committee hearing, when they can't stop the committee from reporting the nomination favorably to the full Senate, after they fail to turn mainstream America against the nominee, when they count heads and discover that a majority of senators, including many Democrats, intend to vote to confirm the president's nominee, look for the leaders of the opposition to play their favorite, anti-democratic, Democratic trump card-the filibuster. Democrats challenged the president on Miguel Estrada, and they believe they have found the president wanting. Although President Bush has called Estrada one of his most important appellate nominees, the White House has, for the past two years, been unable to confirm him. The Democrats' successful filibuster against Miguel Estrada, the first ever against a nominee to a U.S. Court of Appeals, has emboldened them to challenge President Bush when he makes his first nomination to the High Court. The Democrats have paid no price for their Estrada filibuster. Look for them to test the president again.

KERRY EDWARDS LIE

2004-10-24T15:38:00.000-04:00

An observant reader notes that the picture I used for Part 2 of my list of Heinzisms contains the message:

KERRY
EDWARDS
LIE

Coincidence?

See for yourself...

Franken Event Recap

2004-10-23T21:06:00.000-04:00

At a Kerry-Edwards event held today at Colby College in Waterville Maine, Al Franken decided to insult Americans of faith and specifically the President’s faith. He mocked Bush’s relationship with God by saying:

"I don't buy this 'I pray to God and God tells me what to do" stuff. It's just an excuse for not doing the reading and for his laziness. 'I went to the father.' What a schmuck!"

Terry McAuliffe was scheduled to attend the rally but the audience was told 10 minutes into the event that his plane had been held up in DC and so the DNC Chairman would not be there. McAuliffe’s absence didn’t mean that there was a shortage of cool-aid drinking Kerry supporters around.

In one telling moment Democratic Congressman Mike Michaud started tell the audience about the Reservists who disobeyed orders in Iraq, but was interrupted when the audience cheered in support of the act of disobedience: Apparently for Democrats, the breakdown of discipline in our armed forces that are so vital to our national security is a good thing!

But Al Franken was clearly the highlight of the evening. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt 2 sizes too small for his gut and looked visibly annoyed when he had to stand up during the singing of the National Anthem.

After being introduced he rattled off the laughable Democratic talking points including saying that "Kerry's position on Iraq has been consistent."

He then made a ridiculous claim about Republican scare tactics: “The buzz is any state that elects a Democratic Senator will get nuked.”

And what would a Franken speech be without a dig at Rush Limbaugh?

“"Rush Limbaugh says 75% of people earning minimum wage are teenagers in their first job... Rush Limbaugh got 75% figure straight from his butt... [It went] from his butt, out his mouth, into the mic, into the ears of the ditto heads like those people out there (points to the Bush people rallying outside)"

It is hard to say who was worse though Franken, a formerly funny SNL man turned bitter partisan hack, or the crowd which cheered for troops disobeying orders and yelled “What about My Pet Goat!” when Franken claimed Bush doesn’t like to read?

One thing is for sure. The loony left is running the Democratic Party and they seem to be there to stay.

The Rally Ends: No Closing Prayer

2004-10-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

Thank god this event is over. Given Franken's insult calling people who talk to god lazy...

"I don't buy this 'I pray to God and God tells me what to do" stuff. It's just an excuse for not doing the reading and for his laziness. 'I went to the father.' What a schmuck!"

... It isn't suprising that there was no closing prayer!

[UPDATE: For additional coverage of the Al Franken rally see Mayflower Hill]

The Franken gems continue

2004-10-23T16:59:00.000-04:00

Franken:

"The buzz is any state that elects a Democratic Senator will get nuked"

He suggests this response for Edwards to Cheney: "Maybe the reason we didn't meet the two times we saw each other is that I didn't want to be told to "Go Fuck Yourself!"

Then he says: "it is time to lead America for a New American Century!"

Was that an endorsement of Rumsfeld's The Project for a New American Century?

More Franken

2004-10-23T16:49:00.000-04:00

More Frankenquotes:

"Kerry's position on Iraq has been consistent"

"I went to Iraq last December, I'll go again this December... I was furious because the kids there are the age of the college kids in this room. Because they are getting killed for no reason."

"what are soldiers got after our President said 'bring it on' was death"

"This president isn't what we call: 'curious'. And he doesn't like to read." (A crowd member shouts "he likes to read MY PET GOAT!")

"I don't buy this 'I pray to God and God tells me what to do" stuff. Its just an excuse for not doing the reading and for his laziness. 'I went to the father.' What a schmuck!"

Franken Time

2004-10-23T16:36:00.000-04:00

A slobbish Franken speaks now:

"I invited some of the Bush supporters outside to debate me, but they wouldn't."

"A large majority of Republicans still believe there are WMDs in Iraq"

He does a Cheney impression: "there is no doubt that Saddam worked with Al-Qaeda"

"Are Bush supporters stupid? (Crowed says yes) Now wait a minute, not ALL Republicans are stupid."

And the money quote:

"Rush Limbaugh says 75% of people earning minimum wage are teenagers in their first job... Rush Limbaugh got 75% figure straight from his butt, out his mouth, into the mic, into the ears of the ditto heads like those people out there (points to the Bush people rallying outside)"

Cheering For Mutiny?

2004-10-23T16:32:00.000-04:00

The crowd just cheered when Michaud talked about Reservists refusing orders. Al Franken smiled.

I guess it is now patriotic to undermind the command and control structure of the US Armed Forces

Lunch bucket?

2004-10-23T16:24:00.000-04:00

Congressman Michaud just told a sad story about his lunch bucket. (Apparently it is 30 years old. Gross!)

Here are some of his quotes:

"Bush says outsourcing good"

"They [Republicans] want to so radically change the Supreme Court that the American People won't even recognize it!"

"We need to give George W Bush a Pinkslip!"

"I could not vote for $87 Billion before Halliburton gets another dime."

CBJ also has live coverage of this event.

Next Up: Congressman Michaud

2004-10-23T16:21:00.000-04:00

The 2nd district of Maine Congressman Mike Michaud is up next...

Boring not-Franken, not-McAuliffe people

2004-10-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

The Maine Democratic Party State Chair has said the usual...

Bush says outsourcing is good. Dubunked by factchek.org

"TERRY MCAULIFFE WILL NOT ATTEND" (plane delayed in DC)

Tom Andrews (former Maine Congressman)...
"Systematic deception"
"hypocrisy of No Child Left Behind"

"Jobs President only for China and Taiwan"

"We are going to Outsource GWB to Texas" <-doesn't outsourcing imply another country?

"25% of soldiers died because Bush failed to prepare properly... he should have been impeached"

Al Franken: Super Slob

2004-10-23T15:59:00.000-04:00
Live event coverage

Franken has arrived but he didn't dress up. Apparently old jeans, a T-shirt and a vest is an appropriate outfit.

Also I have never seen anyone look so upset about having to stand up for the national anthem.

developing...

Live McAuliffe-Franken Watch

2004-10-23T15:24:00.000-04:00
I am inside the event right now. Check back for up to the minute McAuliffe and Franken updates.

THK's Greatest Hits - part two/deux/dos/due/dois

2004-10-22T16:38:00.000-04:00
Thanks to links from Andrew Sullivan, Stephen Green, PoliPundit and many others, thousands have checked out my list of Heinzisms (As AS calls them).

At the same time it has become clear that there are a number of ones that I missed. So here's round 2!

September 27th, 2004
SCUMBAGS: In an interview with the New Yorker Teresa uses some choice words for those who criticize her:
In a television interview with a Pittsburgh anchorwoman, employed the word “scumbags” to describe some of her detractors.

September 22nd, 2004
THK on Terrorism: In a speech Teresa denies any Iraq-Terrorism connection:
"Iraq and terrorism had nothing to do with one another. Zero," said Teresa Heinz Kerry in a September 22 speech in Arizona.
Had she said 9/11 this could be a reasonable statement. But no connection? It has been clearly documented that Saddam paid the families of suicide bombers. Not to mention that now there are many terrorists in Iraq killing American soldiers everyday.

September 17, 2004
HURRICANE VICTIMS GO NUDE!: Addressing volunteers helping victims of Hurricane Ivan Teresa says:
``Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids,'’ Heinz Kerry said, raising some eyebrows. ``Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes.''
Let’s just say that didn’t make her handlers very happy:
``Let's just say that remark probably wasn't in her talking points,'' said one Democratic source close to the Kerry campaign.

September 9th, 2004
IDIOTS: Teresa insults critics of husbands health care plan:
Teresa Heinz Kerry said Wednesday that "only an idiot" would fail to support her husband's health care plan.

"Of course, there are idiots," Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, told the (Lancaster) Intelligencer Journal for Thursday's editions...

If Kerry is elected, Heinz Kerry predicted that opponents of his health care plan would be voted out of office. "Only an idiot wouldn't like this," she said.

1995
AFRICAN-AMERICAN: Teresa repeatedly calls herself “African-American” according to the Baltamore Sun:
First lady wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry sometimes describes herself as an "African American," even though she grew up amidst segregated privilege in colonial Mozambique.

"My roots are African," she told a reporter in 1995. "The birds I remember, the fruits I ate, the trees I climbed, they're African."

Throughout the 1990s, Heinz Kerry referred to herself as "African American," the Baltimore Sun revealed on Tuesday. And when her use of the term set off a firestorm of controversy in 1993, she defended the claim.
And even told her friends to do the same:
First lady wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry once insisted that her black friends think of her as African American and often refer to her in conversation using the term, a phrase almost universally employed by blacks in America to describe their race.

1994
FOREST GUMP: When Senator Santorum challenged her 1st husband she called him names:
She denounced Rick Santorum as "Forrest Gump with an attitude" when the conservative Republican ran for her more moderate first husband's seat.

1991
MY PILE: Teresa jokes about her fortune often calling it “my pile”:
She would also be the wealthiest, having inherited an estate reportedly worth $500 million in 1991 ("my pile," as she jokes) after her first husband, ketchup heir and Pennsylvania Republican Sen. John H. Heinz III, was killed in an airplane crash.
(My pile is a stack of ones with a $20 wrapped around the outside)

Franken-McAuliffe to Colby

2004-10-22T16:25:00.000-04:00
Earlier this week I intercepted the following email from the Colby Dems:
Hey All,
I hope you all had a relaxing fall break. Now that you are back,
you'd better be ready to hit the ground running. We've got two weeks
left to the election and lots to do. We'll do this in chronological
order.

[Edited to Reduce Boredom]

Ok, here's the big one that you've all been waiting for:
Saturday October 23rd:
Al Franken and Terry McAuliffe (head of the DNC) will be on campus
for a rally at 4 in Page Commons room. We will need lots of
volunteers. As some of you may know, this is the day of the Halloween
Extravaganza, also in Page. We need to clean up from that starting at
2:45 and set up and be ready to open the doors to the public at 3:30.
We also need to publicize the heck out of it, on campus and in town.
If you want to help with this, e-mail me asap.

That's it for now. I hope y'all are psyched and energized and ready to
go.
McAuliffe and Franken in one room. Should be a gold mine to expose leftist idiocy!

Check back late tomorrow to see what the loony left had to say.

Kerry's Teresa Problem

2004-10-21T17:24:00.000-04:00
Teresa Heinz Kerry has a bad case of verbal diarrhea.

I'm not a Kerry supporter, but for those who are it should be dreadfully clear that someone at the Kerry campaign needs to tell Teresa Heinz Kerry to just SHUT UP!

[UPDATE: Here are 7 more that I missed the first go-around]

Let's recap the many problems she has created for her husband:

October 20th, 2004
Laura Bush has never held a “real job”

In an apology later that day she says “"I had forgotten that Mrs. Bush had worked as a school teacher and librarian" but doesn’t mention raising children as a “real job” despite the fact that 45% of American mothers are “homemakers” at some point while raising their children.

October 14th, 2004
Teresa promotes the Kerry Health Care plan and reminisces about her experiences with the medicinal qualities of “gin-raisins”.

October 10th, 2004
At a speech Heinz says the war in Iraq is "because of our need and greed for oil".

September 23rd, 2004
Teresa Heinz told a reporter: "who cares about Arizona?" when asked about Kerry trailing in the polls there:

during an interview in Arizona, she did not like being told that her husband was down in the polls. "He's still down in Arizona," the interviewer said.

"Who cares?" she replied, "One state is not a whole state." (whole country maybe?)
Watch the video

August 2nd, 2004
At a rally for Kerry Heinz says Bush supporters: "Want 4 more years of Hell".

August 1st, 2004
"What's That?" asks Teresa Heinz before ordering a bowl of chili.

July 26th, 2004
Teresa tells a reporter to "shove it!" after he asks her what she meant by "un-American" in a statement she made:
"We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics."
After being questioned about the "un-American" statment Teresa said: "I didn't say that, I didn't say that." She later returned to tell the reporter: "You said something I didn't say. Now shove it."

July 24th, 2004
Teresa's Halliburton Connection: As Kerry bashed Vice-President Cheney about his Halliburton profits it is revealed by the Boston Herald that:
Teresa Heinz Kerry liked the Cheney-run Halliburton enough to buy and sell more than a $250,000 in company stock in 1996, netting a tidy profit of up to $15,000, records show.

     The Kerry family Halliburton investment is tucked in the Massachusetts senator's lengthy financial disclosure forms, reviewed by the Herald.

     The records, which limit disclosure only to broad ranges, show one of the Heinz family trusts bought between $250,001 and $500,000 of Halliburton stock on May 13, 1996 - while Cheney was its CEO.

     In one of many quick turnaround deals in the Heinz trusts, the Halliburton stock was sold less than two months later for a profit.

     The disclosure form reports Halliburton dividends of $1,001 to $2,500 and capital gains at the sale of between $5,001 and $15,000.

     Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said the senator himself has not personally or jointly with his wife owned any Halliburton stock, saying Heinz Kerry's ownership didn't benefit her husband.

July 2004
COOKIE GATE: After Teresa Heinz Kerry's cookie recipe bombs in the 2004 Presidential Cookie Cook-Off she denies that the recipe is really hers.

See this from a July 28th NY Times Article:
Ever since voters began telling Teresa Heinz Kerry that they didn't think much of the pumpkin spice cookie recipe her office had submitted to Family Circle's presidential cookie bake-off, an aide said, Mrs. Heinz Kerry, the wife of the about-to-be Democratic nominee, has been thinking how she could tell America the truth: the recipe isn't hers.
In an interview on National Public Radio that was broadcast yesterday, the cookies came up in conversation and in the direct, unvarnished style that people have come to expect, Mrs. Heinz Kerry said: "Somebody at my office gave that recipe out and, in fact, I think somebody really made it on purpose to give a nasty recipe. I never made pumpkin cookies; I don't like pumpkin spice cookies."

April 10, 2004
The Heinz Company, which made Teresa Heinz the fortune she now enjoys today, is revealed as a "Benedict Arnold" company. The New York Post (4/10/04) reveals:
"Heinz owns 79 factories and 57 of them are overseas, with 72 percent of the firm's 38,900 workers outside the United States. They're everywhere from Argentina to Zimbabwe, not to mention Canada, which has taken over some jobs from Buffalo."

Heinz acknowledges that its overseas workers are paid less but says its products are sold overseas for less."

Febuary 26, 2004
Walmart Hypocrisy: Teresa blasts Walmart while she owns more that $1 million in Walmart Stock:
"Another thing that drives me crazy, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, is WAL-MART," Mrs. Kerry told a group of Democratic women activists at a luncheon in St. Paul last Tuesday. "They destroy communities."

September 14, 2003
The Heinz Foundation on which Teresa sits on the board funds the Women's eNews which publishes an article about a womens praising of her husband's decision to die for Hizbullah:
Like many Shiite Muslim girls in southern Lebanon, Rima Naji was married early, at the tender age of 13. By 15 she had delivered her first child--a healthy boy--and by 19 her husband Sheikh Fadi Abboud was dead.

"He was martyred on the 10th of February 1995. He was 21 years old," she says. "Thank God he died according to the objectives of Hizbullah."

July 2nd, 2003
Teresa's ENRON Connection: Kenneth Lay (John Kerry & John Edwards' 2nd favorite villain) has many links to Teresas Heinz and the Heinz Foundation. The Washington Times reveals:
Kenneth Lay, has been longtime trustee of the environmental-minded Heinz Center founded by Mr. Kerry's gazillionaire wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry...
Also revealed in the article is a...
correspondence from the Heinz Center to Mr. Lay, including the plea: "Ken, we want you to chair the forum. You are by far the best candidate. Simply stated, your background, expertise and experience make you uniquely qualified [to run our] global-warming [initiative]."
Ken or Kenny Boy?

January 17th, 2003
In an interview with the Boston Herald Teresa calls for the creation of a Department of Wellness:
She predicted she would be an activist first lady, lobbying for a Department of Wellness that would stress preventive health.
This is interesting because Kerry called for a Department of Wellness in early September after the GOP Convention:
In response to a question from a woman about the health problems caused by mold and indoor air contamination—and her complaint, "There's not one agency in this government that has come forward" to deal with the problem—Kerry endorsed the creation of a new federal department. "What I want to do, what I'm determined to do, and it's in my health-care plan, is refocus America on something that can reduce the cost of health care significantly for all Americans, which is wellness and prevention," Kerry said. So far, so good. But then, "And I intend to have not just a Department of Health and Human Services, but a Department of Wellness."

1975
Teresa on Democrats:
"PUTRID!"
Teresa on strong Kerry supporter Senator Ted Kennedy:
"PERFECT BASTARD" & "Ted Kennedy I don't trust"
These quotes were from a 1976 book: "The Power Lovers: An Intimate Look at Politicians and Their Marriages".

My conclusion: It seems Teresa didn't think before she spoke even when she was a Republican.

Kerry hunts for Votes

2004-10-21T13:17:00.000-04:00

But Doug Giles notes that the photo opp. doesn't mirror reality:
Kerry is the biggest anti-gun-presidential-wannabe in our nation’s history. Period. Kerry has voted against gun owners 50-plus times in the U.S. Senate and he is Playmate of the Year for PETA and the Humane Society, two of the most rabid anti-hunting organizations in America. Don’t let Kerry’s shotgun-wielding photo ops or Edwards’s “We’re pro-gun” blather blind you from their past voting record and future designs.

Castro Falls!

2004-10-21T11:48:00.000-04:00

But the Cuban revolution suffers only a broken knee and arm. Aww shucks!

What the Stewart-Carlson Controversy Means

2004-10-20T14:09:00.000-04:00
You've read the crossfire transcript and you have watched the Jon Stewart-Tucker Carlson showdown. Now what does it mean?

Basically I agree with Radley Balko who says:
America's best satirist is now taking himself seriously.

You saw this coming. But that doesn't make it any less sad. First Maher. Then Miller. Now Stewart.

Fellas -- stick with your comparative advantage.
I should point out that Stewart has been on the decline since the election got real nasty in late July/ early August. As a (former) fan I saw Stewart morph from someone who made fun of the everyone with no regard for politics to someone at least as politically bitter as Bill Maher. It is sad to see.

More Scare Tactics

2004-10-19T15:27:00.000-04:00
As the election gets down and dirty the democratic game plan seems to be to scare people into voting for Kerry:

Vote for Kerry or you won't get Social Security!

Vote for Kerry or you will be Drafted!

Too bad on both issues these scare tactics are false: See my posts on Social Security and The Draft

Karl Rove and Black Voters

2004-10-19T13:20:00.000-04:00
Karl Rove has been focusing on black voters for years. Remember this powerpoint presentation? (See slides 20 &21)

Does this new poll mean that his strategy is starting to pay off?

Sullivan on Team America

2004-10-19T11:44:00.001-04:00
I didn't think Team America was all that great. Personally, I think 4 random Southpark episodes would likely be funnier.

Andrew Sullivan disagrees (strongly):
TEAM AMERICA - FUCK YEAH: Parker and Stone are now indisputably the comic geniuses of their generation. The point of the movie is not nihilism - it's sanity. Sanity against the moronic ra-ra pro-Americanism of many in the Bush camp, who seem blind to any empirical evidence, prudence, or skepticism in their attempt to protect us from Jihadist terror; and sanity against the moronic Sontagian left that fails to see any danger in the first place (except that from president Bush, of course). I doubt if Alec Baldwyn, or Arec Bardwyn as Kim Jong Il calls him, will ever recover from this brilliant skewering. Or the dumb-as-a-post Matt Damon. Or Hans Brix. The scene between the Swedish do-gooder and the little NoKo nutjob should be mandatory in every introductory class for international relations. I nearly bust a gut in the movie theater, to the consternation of the hairy one and a couple of companions. But then I'm a sucker for "r" and "l" jokes and I was brought up on "Thunderbirds." The song, "Everyone has AIDS," deserves to win an Oscar. And I say that as someone just a couple hundred T-cells away from AIDS. Fuck yeah.
Is it any wonder why Sullivan has one of the most popular blogs on the internet?!?

Maine Election Watch

2004-10-19T01:06:00.000-04:00
This blogger will be an election reporter for the Command Post here in Maine.

Here are my posts about the elections. Check back often as more are added...

Presidential Race
Badnarik Arrested
3rd party Media Coverage
Presidential Wives (in white)
Kerry Sutra
Kerry Draft Scare Tactic
Social Security
Kerry Hypocrisy Watch 1, 2, 3, 4-7, 8 and 9.
Nader on Eminent Domain
Nader on the Maine Ballot
Kerry Care
The Ketchup Election
JFK(erry) Man of the people
Kerry's Whopper Tax Hike
John Edwards v. John Ritter
Kerry's Convention Speech
Democrats, Socialists & Commies
Kerry: Man of the People
2 Americas
Why I would vote for Kerry

2nd Congressional District
Michaud-Hamel Debate Coverage

Crack is Wack!

2004-10-18T20:22:00.000-04:00

NAACP National Voter Fund pays man in CRACK for Registering New Voters
A Defiance County man has been arrested for allegedly filing more than 100 false voter registration forms in exchange for crack cocaine from a Toledo woman working on behalf of the NAACP’s voter registration drive.

Chad Staton, 22, of Stratton Ave., faces a fifth-degree felony charge of false registration after sheriff’s deputies said he filled out the registration forms by himself — using either fictitious names or addresses — and gave them to Georgianne Pitts, 41.

Toledo police searched Ms. Pitts’ home and discovered drug paraphernalia along with more voter registration forms. Police said that Ms. Pitts admitted to paying Mr. Staton in crack cocaine, in lieu of cash.

Ms. Pitts, working on behalf of the NAACP National Voter Fund, submitted the forms to the voter fund, which in turn submitted them to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
This Can't be good for the NAACP!

How the press covers Nader

2004-10-17T13:09:00.000-04:00
As I watch this Nader is on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.

I am amazed by the amount of coverage that Nader gets while Badnarik, Cobb and other 3rd party candidates get few or no mentions.

Badnarik is on the ballot in 48 states (far more than Nader) yet, as his website points out, CNN and CBS have NEVER mentioned Badnarik, while the other outlets have only mentioned Badnarik a few times:
CNN - 0 mentions (interesting, considering the LP convention was hosted in the same city as their headquarters, Atlanta GA)

FoxNews - 6 mentions (0 since July 20th) [2 entries have been redated to Oct 11, but are old]

MSNBC - 5 mentions

ABC News - says 24 mentions, only 5 shown

CBS News - 0 mentions
The Cobb/LaMarche Green Party candicacy is on 29 state ballots with others pending.

Everyone should challenge the media to cover these third party candidates.

Voter Disenfranchisement

2004-10-17T11:51:00.000-04:00
Much has been made of "bad ballots" from the 2000 election.

I thought George Will made a nice point today on This Week:

When someone goes into the booth and votes for the wrong candidate, or for both candidates they are not being disenfranchised.

You cannot become disenfranchised because of your own mistaken action.

Fellowship 9/11

2004-10-17T11:45:00.000-04:00

Also (yet more movie stuff) a nice parody of Fahrenheit 9/11 is Fellowship 9/11 which shows an uncanny Michael Moore look-alike trying to exposes "the truth" behind the war with Mordor.

This from the Fellowship 9/11 website
Fellowship 9/11 shows us a Middle Earth kept in constant fear by "Orc Alerts" and lulled into accepting a piece of legislation, the Patriot Scroll, that infringes on basic civil rights. It is in this atmosphere of confusion, suspicion and dread that Aragorn, backed by the secretive "Fellowship Group," makes his headlong rush towards war in Mordor - and Fellowship 9/11 takes us inside that war to tell the stories we haven't heard, illustrating the awful cost to soldiers and to orcs and to their families.
Interestingly the films website notes that the "first choice to play Michael Moore turned down the part because he was afraid of a liberal Hollywood backlash..."

[Hat tip Hit & Run]

FAHRENHYPE 9/11

2004-10-17T10:59:00.000-04:00
Since I'm on this film-blogging streak, I should say that I was very impressed by Fahrenhype 9/11, which I saw yesterday. While it could have easily (and devastatingly) just made Moore look like a foolish, bitter partisan, the film instead focuses on refuting the many claims that Moore tries to pass off as fact. It features Ron Silver, Zell Miller, Rudy Giuliani, Dick Morris, Ed Koch and Ann Coulter. I was particularly impressed that a film with Ann Coulter in it, could be so reasonable. (I have always compared Michael Moore to Ann Coulter. Both are zany extremist partisans, though only one of the two can pull off a mini-skirt.)

Don't Waste Time Reading Chomsky...

2004-10-17T09:56:00.000-04:00
Watch the Video!

Pirates and Emperors is a cartoon version of Chomsky's writings on foreign policy.

If you do waste your time reading Chomsky also read The Anti Chomsky Reader. (If you are on the Colby campus you can borrow my autographed copy.)

Colby and Beyond!

patricksemmens.com

New Blog

Washington (Obvious) Post

Diversity is what?

Crackdown? on Designated Drivers

More on Speech Codes

Anti-Conservative Hate Speech

Kyoto

Rock the Vote Sells Out the Youth

What are they teaching the children?

I wasn't kidding...

En Francais

A Christmas Thought

Final Election Thoughts: The NY Times and 3rd Parties

Merry Christmas!

Who said genocide can't be funny?

Discuss among yourselves...

More Wine Sir?

Wine, Protectionism and the Commerce Clause

Gay Marriage is Conservative...

Krugman's Social Security Flip-Flop

The Blogoshpere Welcomes Lee

Inside the Conservative Mind

UN: Cynicism, hypocrisy, bigotry...

New Blog to Watch

Onion: Privatize Social Security

2 Endorsements

Left Wing Campuses...

Libertarian Feud Watch

Federalism anyone?

Social Security Reform with Rush

I'm Back!

Rather

A few items...

NY Times states the Obvious

**Exclusive: US Ambassador, Former NSC Member Kent Wiedermann on Rice, Iraq and more...**

Condi on Guns

**NEP Head Mitofsky: Exit Polls show no sign of Voter Fraud**

Pelosi's Hypocrisy

Democrats try to "Thomas" Condi Rice

The "Retarded" NY Times

Colby Leftist Idiocy

Colby & Beyond! on the Air

The Intolerant Campus Left and the Administrators Who Encourage Them

Randy Barnett for Chief Justice

Judiciary Committee Chairman

As Fallujah Falls...

Kos' Redemption?

Web Items of Interest

What the MSM doesn't tell you...

I say evangelical, you say bigot...

Ha!

Kerry Spot: What now?

Key Election Stats

The Future of the LP

Still Bitter

Election Reaction Rundown

My Ashcroft Replacement Prediction

Mayflower Hill = A Big Loser

Ashcroft GONE

Rather vs. Bloggers

I voted Republican...

Will Hand Counting Matter?

GOTV with Vandalism?

Colby on C-SPAN

We have the bear!

Is a Contested Election Inevitable?

Democratic Pledges

In the Echo

Kerry's Tax Rhetoric Lie

Instapundit featuring me!

The Cancer Factor?

KERRY EDWARDS LIE

Franken Event Recap

The Rally Ends: No Closing Prayer

The Franken gems continue

More Franken

Franken Time

Cheering For Mutiny?

Exclusive: US Ambassador, Former NSC Member Kent Wiedermann on Rice, Iraq and more...

NEP Head Mitofsky: Exit Polls show no sign of Voter Fraud