Archive for August 2, 2010

How’s that “Republicans are the party of the Rich!” Meme working out?

Posted: August 2, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Two stories that hit the nail on the head here. First Charles Lane in Slate on the new $41,000 Volt:

And that’s my problem with the Obama administration’s energy policy, or at least with his lavish subsidies for the Volt, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf (likely sticker price $33,000), and Tesla’s $100,000 all-electric Roadster: Where does the federal government get off spending the average person’s tax dollars to help better-off-than-average Americans buy expensive new cars?

The newest car in my driveway is 10 years old. The local one man garage I use is overwhelmed by business because people can’t afford new cars. How much less a $41k model. I wonder who is going to by that Volt? Lane answers:

How rarefied is the electric-car demographic? When Deloitte Consulting interviewed industry experts and 2,000 potential buyers, it found that from now until 2020, only “young, very high income individuals”—those from households making more than $200,000 a year—would even be interested in plug-in hybrids or all-electric cars. This “small number” of people will provide “nowhere near the volume needed for mass adoption.” They will be concentrated in Southern California, where weather, state regulations, and infrastructure are all favorable to electric vehicles—”adoption is already being popularized by high-profile celebrities.”

Yeah that’s the Tip O’Neill demographic isn’t it? Speaking of Tip today in the Boston Globe:

DEMOCRAT JOHN Kerry sets sail in a $7 million yacht built in New Zealand. Republican Scott Brown hits the campaign trail in a GMC pickup truck with 200,000 miles on it.

From Newport, R.I., where Kerry’s “Isabel’’ was berthed before heading to Nantucket, to Rhinebeck, N.Y., where Chelsea Clinton was married in a mansion modeled after Versailles, today’s Democrats are looking more like Louis XVI than Tip O’Neill.

It is the Boston Globe and Vennochi goes on to bash the GOP as phonies, but I didn’t see a lot of rich people at the tea party in Boston in April did you, Joan or did you skip that gathering of the Hoi Polloi?

The republicans have (and lets be fair, it has been partly by default) become the party of small business, you know the guys who actually those regular joes that the democrats used to love so much. On occasion I still hear old Roosevelt Democrats call Republicans the party of the rich, and the democrats the party of the working man. If they still believe that it’s only because they just haven’t been paying attention.

Update: Slashdot (via Glenn) includes the Lane Story and a revolt takes place in comments.

If professor Bambridge is embarassed to be a conservative these days…

Posted: August 2, 2010 by datechguy in elections, opinion/news, tea parties
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…I guess we will have to win without him, won’t we?

Let’s examine his points in reverse order:

#10 He doesn’t like the voices of conservatism these days. He forgets that during those wonderful days of Buckley and Goldwater the democrats ruled. Firing line was on 35 years, 31 of them were years of Democratic house control, During Goldwater’s 30 years it was even less. Reagan never had a house majority. Liberals always respect conservatives as long as we lose. Even better when we lose gracefully

#9 Can you define what is a Nativist? Does being against Illegal immigration make one a “nativist” Is that something like Andrew Sullivan’s “Christianist” term?

#8 As for birthers I’ve hit them myself but also pointed out that the Administration loves them because it is to their advantage for them to exist. This is a very tiny fringe of the conservative movement and his inclusion of it elevates it to liberal advantage.

#7 Excuse me? Didn’t this president stress Afghanistan all during the campaign? I seem to recall him attacking the war in Iraq and elevating Afghanistan over and over again. The General who was in charge was his general, the decision to replace the general was his decision and the latest surge is his surge (and when Petraeus wins this war it will be his success and he will deserve it). Yes Bush went in first, yes Bush focused more (correctly) on Iraq but right now this war is our current president’s responsibility.

#6 Anti-science? I’m sorry but did you come out of a coma and miss the entire climategate scandal? I suggest you google “Hide the decline” or “global warming e-mails“. Let’s put it another way, other than not believing in the Global Warming Climate Change where else do we see conservatives as anti science? Oh and check this link from Glen yesterday.

#5 Yeah that horrible tea party that drew 10k in Boston in April and has energized voters. The Polls are close in NV and the Prof might have already given up but I wouldn’t be so ready to haul up the white flag. If we only listened to the MSM and the RNC about the tea parties a year ago what would conservative prospects be right now?

#4 This one is a good point. The GOP did fail to restrain spending but that is due to their unwillingness to act “conservative” Ironically it’s those tea party voters that you disrespect so that are holding republican feet to the fire and will desert those same republicans if they after winning congress decide to go back to their spending ways. (Although I would add the caveat that the war spending was and is justified, I actually think that some of the spending was to buy votes on the war from dems but that is strictly my opinion).

#3 I didn’t see the column in question am reading it now…You’ve got to be kidding. That column has gotten your knickers in a twist? It’s not much of a column but if that column is your number #3 reason to be embarrassed to be a conservative then you need a Valium quick! Update: And how many people voting conservative have even heard of these guys? Do you think the conservative movement hangs on their words? If you think so you need to get out more.

#2 You are correct that Tancredo is wrong. I wrote a post called: Let’s not get carried away making that same point. Am I embarrassed by Tancredo being wrong? Not really, so he’s wrong big deal. If the conservative movement was pushing for impeachment and running on that platform that would be a different story. But this is a mountain out of a molehill

#1 Let’s be blunt here. It is #1 that drives all the others for you. Palin Derangement Syndrome. How embarrassed must you have been that Palin almost managed to win the 2008 election for John McCain until he went along with the bailouts. How horrible that she has brought the Hoi Polloi into the political process. How terrible that she draws huge crowds and raises money hand over fist for conservatives. How horrible that she started as a mayor and rose through the ranks to a governorship, succeeded as a governor and has managed to do this without an elite university degree or the backing of the eastern elites and the inside the beltway crowd? I’m old enough to remember the elites hitting Ronald Reagan the same way.

Put it another way, what American has been more successful in the last 2 years in advancing both their personal fortunes and the fortunes of their worldview? Who has done more to advance conservatism that Sarah Palin? Who other than Rush kept fighting when the rest of the GOP wanted to run? Who had a better and more impressive record going into the 2008 election? Palin or our current president?

You want to hate Palin, you are welcome to do so. You want to be embarrassed by Palin? Feel free. You want to get a few extra hits and a popular memeorandum thread? Go wild, but don’t beat your breast about being embarrassed to be conservative these days. You sound like Braxton Bragg after Chickamauga unwilling to follow up the victory.

As I said at the start, if we have to win without you we’ll manage, but I’d just as soon win with you, because once we do win, we will need people to help keep the new congress honest on spending and you can be an important part of that.

Oh and Prof I’m not embarrassed by you from what I hear and have read in the past you are an OK guy, you just happen to be wrong today.

Update: left out the phrase “climate change” and added to point 3

Update 2: Professor Jacobson farts in their general direction.

Two dodges

Posted: August 2, 2010 by datechguy in elections, opinion/news
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This is the story of two attempts to dodge trouble. Both are based on fear but one is informed and one is not.

firstly The RNC as CNN and memeorandum report with glee:

The Republican National Committee has cancelled a fundraiser with conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who is under fire for promoting an edited video that falsely portrays former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod as having boasted about discriminating against a white farmer looking for her assistance.

Again we see the difference between the word “edited” implying the words were not said, and “excerpted” indicating context or lack thereof.

The RNC forgets that the Tea Party movement and voter anger is driving the Republican numbers, their fear of the MSM is not going to help here. If we had taken the RNC’s way we would not be heading to the majority in under 100 days. Brietbart is Sherman or Sheridan and the RNC is McClellan. It is a small thing but its a mistake.

Watch this thread fill up from blogs on the left.

The second dodge is more significant:

The president is heading to Atlanta today. I was in that neck of the woods a few months ago. It is supposed to be a place where the president is popular. For example the 4th District where Liz Carter is facing Hank Johnson, the president polled incredible numbers in 2008. So naturally democrats will welcome him with open arms…or not:

President Obama makes his first Atlanta appearance since his inauguration.

The President will fly into town Monday morning.

If you think this will be a time for Democrats running for office to rally around the chief executive- -you probably haven’t been following the campaigns this summer.

The headline Democrats Scatter Monday as Obama comes to town.

There is no memeorandum thread that I see.

Now I suspect that this is a story that will be repeated all over the nation, like the Breitbart dodge it is out of fear, unlike the Breitbart dodge it is an informed fear. We all remember how much the presidential trip on January 17th helped Senator Martha Coakley win her seat in congress don’t we?

Liz Carter is a great candidate and a hard worker but almost as important to her efforts to win that seat has been president Obama’s efforts to transform America into a land where the middle class is dying.

This will be a fun election season for conservatives.

Oh and watch the media play up the first and ignore the 2nd.

Update: Rush covered the Atlanta story in his first segment. Will it make the memeorandum cut now?

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