Tennesseefree.com

As of this writing, it’s looking more and more like a major hurricane will hit New Orleans for the second time in four years. I’ve already read a couple of sites speculating about the “delicious irony” of seeing a split-screen GOP convention, with hurricane-ravaged footage on one side of the screen. I’m sorry, but this isn’t the time to be scoring cheap political points. These are people’s lives and livelihoods we’re talking about here.

That’s not to say that I think we shouldn’t hold people responsible for their failings in Katrina, or anything of the sort. I just hope something happens so that it’s not so bad this time around, and if the worst does happen, I hope the response is worlds better this time than it was last time. I don’t care who it helps or hurts politically — that’s the least of my worries. The people of the Gulf Coast are all that matters right now. The petty politics can be sorted out later.

Cross-posted everywhere I can cross-post.

Just kidding. They have lost their minds.

This is really sad that people could lower themselves to this level.

There’s a showdown in the making it seems…the ‘effete, urbanesque, National Review Online-intelligentsia-blue-blooded near-liberal Rockefeller (R)epublicans’ who are playing the ‘credentialism’ game and have (at best) lukewarm support for Sarah Palin. There’s much attendant hand-wringing and harrumph!ing amongst some of those elitist small-’c’ conservatives at the NRO. It’s off-putting at best, and has the making of that Party fight we’ve itched to fight for, oh, a few terms now.

(photo: credit to Ace; who notes “Caribou Pic: the LA Times ran the photo “to scare the metrosexuals.”"

Versus those of us who are not so much Republican; we with the small (r) and the large ‘C’: (C)onservatives, the Reagan wing, and not neo-conservatives either. We of this group are awakened, now, because of McCain’s VP selection, Sarah Palin.

It’s time those elite blue-blood main-stream RINO Republicans are given a swift kick by the small ‘r’’s. By the big ‘C’onservatives.

This is the same sort of thing Ronald Reagan faced in 1982, when the Rockefeller sorts, worried, installed Bush Sr. as VP to keep Reagan under watch and thumb. We see how that played out…Reagan is a hero to those of us who appreciate a strong conservative politician; Bush, and later Bush the Weaker, not so much.

Sarah Palin I can see in place to keep conservative watch and check on John McCain. And, later, as one of the strong ‘C’onservatives we’ll need to lead the Republican party out of the wilderness. Even if we lose this election, Palin-Jindal or Jindal-Palin is our future.

Our only HOPE!

I have watched with interest, over the last few days, at the liberal female blogger reaction to McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. There are a lot of posts I could link to and break down, but this post by Newscoma, pretty much sums up the way most of them feel.

Newscoma titled her post “Girl Politics”, which is obviously similar to the term “identity politics”. Does the Palin choice fall into that category? Sure it does, but so did the Hillary candidacy and so does the Obama candidacy. So does just about all candidacies, for that matter. I mean, how many times were we reminded that John Kerry served in Vietnam, or that John McCain was a POW? Bill Clinton was not just a governor, but a southern governor. Joe Biden is being sold as one with working class roots and a native Pennsylvanian. Identity politics is just plain politics. Is it gimmicky? Sure. Does it appeal to something less than intellectual? No doubt about it. But it isn’t demagoguery, which does the same, but is much more sinister.

Newscoma, following the lead of many others, goes on in her post to discuss Palin’s lack of experience. But does a Barack Obama supporter really want to go there? Remember, the top of these tickets are still McCain and Obama. Also, is it really politically smart to make fun of the fact that she came from a small town? But back the subject of experience, I think the McCain campaign baited the Obama-ites into this line of attack. Sadly for them, they bit. In reality, Palin is the only one of the four candidates on the two major tickets, that has any executive experience whatsoever. She is the only one that has governed anything. She certainly has more experience than Barack Obama, who was a community organizer, then a state legislator, then a federal legislator for a short time. But I will go even further and say that she is also more experienced than either McCain or Biden. Serving twenty years in that cesspool known as the United States Senate does not compare to twenty days as a governor, as far as I’m concerned. Those 100 men and women are not executives. They are legislators. They don’t meet budgets or govern anything. The basically just spend money and run their mouths. Americans, for the most part, agree with me on this. This election is odd, in that for the first time since JFK (who barely won btw), we will elect a President with no executive experience. The Vice President will have some though.

Newscoma then goes on to suggest that it is only about her being a woman, and not even about her belief system. Right and wrong. Her gender does matter, but her belief system, her ideology is why she was chosen. McCain needed to choose a woman, but he did not need to choose somebody like Christie Whitman, a pro-abortion, liberal Republican. The Palin pick satisfies both the small government conservatives, and the social conservatives. She didn’t just come out of nowhere, you know. She has been talked about and sold for months by the right wing, the movement conservatives within the party.

Newscoma doesn’t exactly go there, but others have stated, very rightly, that McCain is not going to get many Hillary supporters with this pick. Well of course he isn’t going to get the true blue liberal woman voter, but he isn’t aiming for her anyway. This pick was about the undecided woman, the one that isn’t that interested in politics, but would have voted for Hillary if she had been nominated. If this choice results in only a two point swing of women voters, that will be huge. Remember, these elections are always close. A small swing in such a large voting bloc could make a huge difference in electors.

Finally, I am happy for the women who are excited about this choice. Having been shut out of the good ole boy network, and only allowed suffrage for 88 years, is it any wonder that a woman would be forced to take a nontraditional route to the White House? So I wish Governor Hottie Palin the best. You’ve come a long way baby.

On a side note, hats of to Egalia for remaining true to her misogyny watch, in spite of Palin’s Republicanism. She even defends Republican women.

Has anyone seen William?

Since the Palin announcement he has gone missing.

This was my reply to Otis Sanford, Memphis Commerical Appeal’s Editorial Editor:

Otis L. Sanford got it wrong in his Aug. 24 column about considering presidential candidates based on whom they will appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court (”It’s dubbed the ‘high court’ for good reason”).

His opinion is not far off from my fellow Republican friends. They cannot stand John McCain because he is not conservative, and they would never support Barack Obama because he is a liberal socialist. However, they say they will consider voting for McCain so he can appoint “conservative” judges to the bench. But will this be the case?

Republican Herbert Hoover appointed Charles Evans Hughes to the court. Chief Justice Hughes was assisted in supporting the vast expansion of federal power under Franklin Roosevelt by two fellow GOP-appointed justices — Harlan Fiske Stone (nominated by Calvin Coolidge) and Benjamin Cardozo (nominated by Hoover).

Republican Dwight Eisenhower nominated Earl Warren as chief justice and William Brennan, both liberal judges. Republican Richard Nixon appointed Harry Blackmun to the court. Republican Gerald Ford appointed Justice John Paul Stevens. Republican super-hero Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy. Republican George H.W. Bush nominated David Souter. Conservative judges? I think not.

Sanford quotes McCain as saying, “With all due respect, Justice (Ruth Bader) Ginsburg, Justice (Stephen) Breyer, Justice (David) Souter and Justice (John Paul) Stevens” were bad choices. I have news for my fellow GOP members: John McCain voted for Ginsburg and Breyer.

So if you are a Republican and only voting for McCain because of the courts — think again.

From Politico (h/t Insty)…BHO enlarges a hole in his top spokesman’s backside for his initial snarky attack on Sarah Palin.

Barack’s newest statement, from his own lips (made at a Pennsylvania biodiesel plant on Friday) called Sarah “an admirable person and…a compelling new voice.” Obama, speaking on his spokesman Bill Burton’s attack…“I think that, uh, you know, campaigns start getting these, uh, hair triggers and, uh, the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments,”

BHO must not have used a teleprompter for those remarks. There’s lots of verbal hesitations from BHO, if he’s on his own and unpracticed. Mirrors get quite the workout when Barry’s practicing for a speech, I’ll warrant. John Edwards would be so proud.

This isn’t the first time BHO’s staffers have been unceremoniously rolled under the bus. Politico has a synopsis of BHO’s history of spanking staffers for perceived slights; including some during the primary that HRC seized upon and used against him.

I’ll bet Bill Burton’s initial statement was the same sort of surprised flailing we’re seeing from most leftists when they’re faced with the reality of Sarah Palin.

John McCain finally did something (R)ight.

Don’t ask me how a little girl winds up in a bar. Ask the half-pitcher of Cuervo-enhanced margarita with the Gran Marnier embellishment(s) that somehow disappeared from my desktop (it’s Saturday, man! sheesh!)

And, blame Cowboy Blob for his caption/pshop contest. And Redstate, for theirs.

Because of the confluence!

“If the Messiah’s not the story anymore, then he’s not the Messiah.”

…experienced at Kate’s.

Hotair has the video. Michael Moore’s reasoning is that the media’s coverage of the Republican Convention may be overwhelmed by the devastation Gustav (hopefully, according to Moore) wracks on New Orleans.

I caught radio news yesterday that had that useless New Orleans Mayor Nagin proclaiming he was on top of the situation, this time. Instead of, you know, waiting for the Federal Government to bail his sorry ass out of trouble. He’s even calling for mandatory evacuations of the low-lying areas. Obviously a new concept for Mayor Nagin.

Probably because Governor Bobby Jindal isn’t putting up with his crap. I have a feeling Bobby would slap good ‘ole Ray in irons if he failed to do his job this time.

Today, Drudge has all-Gustav headlines…there’s no shelter in N.O. for those who won’t leave (the Superdome incident won’t happen again.) This time, only the stupid will stay behind.

Hopefully everyone will be OK, and the storm will cause little or no damage.

See, Michael, that’s not so hard to say. For a human, that is.

(This is just a supplemental post to Glen’s earlier offering.)

“Baracky’s America is the one where they savage Sarah Palin. I’m not comfortable with that.” — happyfeet, PW commenter

I’ve been gung-ho for Sarah Palin since Mid-March. Now that John McCain’s surprised me and correctly added her to the Republican ticket, it seems things are dramatically different for both parties. Republicans hit the ‘Reset’ button; Democrats had the wind knocked from their sails.

For those of us who are small ‘r’ Republicans and big ‘C’onservatives, there couldn’t be a better choice. Sarah brings both fiscal and moral conservatism to a ticket that most of us felt was sadly lacking both. And, Sarah brings Executive experience to this run for the Executive Branch (something no other presidential or VP candidate on either ticket can say). As a member of Feminists for Life, Sarah Palin opposes abortion on moral grounds. Good for her!

The Democrat-Leftist ticket has taken a body blow. Obama’s choice of Joe Biden is now an obvious mistake, as Hillary’s PUMA friends may look to Sarah Palin as a viable choice. Can they see past their leftist party line and give Sarah due consideration? Probably not, given that many radical feminists are diehard Democrat Party suckups. But, remember…most average voters aren’t so much strong left- and right-wing activists. There’s a lot of soccer moms and center-aisle voters who will take another gander at the choices in November. Many more who were lackluster in their support for McCain will now re-think their positions. Sarah, the Soccer mom? Sure, Sarah fits that bill. And, Sarah is a moose hunter. And an NRA member. And pro-drill here, drill now. So many positives.

Already, the Left is in a panic. KOS kids are even proclaiming that Sarah’s Downs-syndrome baby is not hers, but her daughter’s! Those sick leftists are at the vanguard of the coming attacks. Patrick Casey at The American Thinker has a post up entitled “Defending against the first attacks on Sarah Palin“. Obviously his post is directed at more intelligent sorts than your average KOS kid or Atrios bully. I’m sure most intelligent Democrats (pauses to laugh) would wish KOS and Atrios and those sorts would simply dry up and go away, but sorry, that’s your base! Live, and love with them. They are yours.

Read Jeff G.’s post at Protein Wisdom. And the comments. Because there’s a wealth of information there that you could spend days collecting. Plus, comments like these…

“PTAmom is the surprise. And Barry is trying to find his balls right now. If I were him, I’d ask M’chelle.” — Pablo

my favorite, and I think the thread winner…

“…the Democrats, by stressing identity politics for so long, are now hoist on their own retard.” –XBradTC

(Looky there…Sarah shares an “H” with Barack H. Obama)

I have to admit, like JP I was rather surprised when I got home this evening and found that nobody had posted on McCain’s brilliant pick of a running mate, Sarah Palin. As I said in this post just a couple of days ago, “Choosing a woman for the Republican ticket would be the equivalent of a home run. Choosing a female governor, or former governor would just about cover all bases. Can you say Sarah Palin?”

Of course Serr8d was the first to introduce Governor Palin to Tennesseefree.com readers, back on March 15. Back in June, when Bobby Jindal’s name was being thrown around, I wrote a post titled “Jindal? No McCain Should Choose Palin“.

So what does all of this mean? It means that McCain not only reads this blog, but listens to my advice, in spite of my dislike for him. Yes, Glen Dean is an unofficial adviser for the McCain campaign.

Palin was an excellent choice. In my opinion, nobody would have been better. I was still surprised to see her chosen though. The pick just made too much sense. I just couldn’t imagine these folks doing something that made sense.

For the first time in this campaign, I am actually excited about the Republican ticket. What a great day, and what cool timing. The idea of overshadowing Obama’s big speech was pretty brilliant.

What others are saying:

Music City Oracle- “Today, for the first time, I believe that the Republicans will win.”

David Oatney- “When I heard the news about John McCain’s Vice Presidential choice today, I really wanted to do a backflip-he hit a Grand Slam.”

Blue Collar Republican- “I like her.”

Bruce Barry- “It’s truly bizarrely absurd to hear McCainsters saturating the airwaves with praise for Sarah Palin as an ‘inspired choice’ two days after the McCain campaign produced an ad calling Obama “dangerously unprepared.’”

Tgirsch- “So after criticizing Obama’s inexperience, McCain picks someone with even less experience.”

Say Uncle- “The Obama camp is already dumb enough to point out her inexperience. Heh. That’ll play well.”

Tennessee Guerilla Women- “Wow. Just wow. You should have picked Hillary, Barack! Here’s to breaking this country’s shameful male monopoly on power.”

Phil Ayers- “Personally, I would have gone with Romney. Romney is a winner. He has won in business. He has done well in politics.”

The Munchkin Wrangler- “Sarah Palin on the ticket is a triple whammy: she’s young, female, and not a Washington insider.”

Tennessee Conservaliance- “He chose a running mate I can get excited about. I just wish I could say the same for him!”

Bear Creek Ledger- “I really like this woman, she’s smart, conservative, pro-drilling, pro-troops, a looker and a scrapper in the political arena.”

Aunt B- “The interesting thing to me, though, is that she doesn’t seem to be a political insider. And she seems to be kind of a bad-ass.”

Kay Brooks- “It’s Sarah Palin!!! THIS works for me! I’m feeling a good bit like “Take THAT Dems!” I’m very jazzed.”

Nathan Moore- “Pro-gun, pro-life, pro-energy. Lots of good stuff.”

Bill Hobbs- “Palin is a game-changing pick.”

Nathan of AFP- “Gov. Palin of Alaska actually seems to be a true, small government conservative.”

Mike of Enclave- “Who the hell is Sarah Palin and would America want her a failing McCain heartbeat away from the Presidency?”

Jim Antle of 4Pundits- “I disagree with McCain too much on foreign policy and distrust him too much on economics to actually vote for him, but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is an excellent, conservative choice.”

Progressive Nashville- “Can you smell the desperation?”

Ned Williams- “I think that Palin, known for her own brand of maverick-ness, and having demonstrated executive talent, is a great pick. Way to go, John.”

Carole Borges- “The very thought that many of Hillary’s supporters will vote for McCain just because he chose a human being with breasts is just plain insulting.”

Sean Braisted- “Why? Because she has ovaries. Oh, and she’s even younger than Barack Obama.”

Ol’ Broad- “I might be able to get excited about this young lady! She just might give McCain’s campaign the energy it REALLY needs!”

Bridgett- “She’s got idealism and the courage of her convictions. She’s a MILF, if people really vote on that sort of thing.”

Right Thinking- “In the end, Sarah Palin may add that final crack to the glass ceiling that Hillary couldn’t bring about.”

Preston of Six Meat Buffet- “Unlike race-baiting community-organizer B. Hussein Obama, Palin actually has a resume and a record on which to stand.”

John Norris Brown- “A staunch conservative, she should help soothe some conservative concerns with John McCain.“

Juan Williams, on Barack Obama. Serr8d on Baracky’s gun control-speak. Mike Florio demonstrates how leftist lawyers get confused when they leave their area of expertise.

John McCain: We can has media attention now?

I don’t have much to add, but I highly recommend this post from Jim Voorhies, and this post from Mack the Coyote. Apparently corn ethanol, in addition to lowering your vehicle’s gas mileage, is highly corrosive to small engines. I didn’t know that. Just about every gas station these days sells gas with a little bit of ethanol in it. Of course none would sell ethanol if it was not subsidized by the federal government.

I hate to add partisanship to this post, being that this is such a nonpartisan website, but there is one candidate that wants to continue the current policy of ethanol subsidies and one who doesn’t. Just saying.

I just got word from a source within the Democratic Party in Denver, that Barack Obama will enter Invesco Field tonight riding on a donkey in a white robe. Spectators are to be given palm branches and will all be shouting “Hosanna, Hosanna” as he makes his triumphal entry. Gosh this is exciting.

UPDATE: Cass was leaked something much different.

I agree with Kavon. That is one heck of an ad.

AC illustrates a point I have been making for quite a while.

 Click here for AP story.

Perhaps you are someone that really cares about the technical definition of a recession, something that never happened during the Bush presidency, unless you count the one he inherited.

Perhaps you are someone that judges the economy by real data, the same data used to say the economy was good during the nineties, data that all of the sudden became meaningless when a Republican was sworn in.

Yes folks, the data says the economy is good, not just GDP growth, but the unemployment rate, in spite of a recent up tick, has still remained pretty low by historical standards. To quote reality based economist Thomas Sowell, “There are countries in Europe that would love to have their unemployment rate fall to the 5.7 percent unemployment rate to which ours has risen. Yet those who seem to want us to imitate European economic and social policies never seem to want to consider the actual consequences of those policies.”

But the Democrats want us to think that the economy sucks. While telling us that the way to prosperity is to follow the same road followed by France, Great Britain, and Germany. In a sane world the Socialist Party of America the entire Democratic Party would be written off as a bunch of village idiots.

I heard this on Glen Beck’s radio show last week (Nashville doesn’t air the show live in it’s proper AM timeslot for some strange reason..a good thing, I suppose, because I could never catch it if it wasn’t delayed until 5:00 PM) on 1510 WLAC and sure enough, some wag has posted it on You Tube. Worth a listen, especially if you miss the old Soviet-style machinations.

Maybe The Good Thor will use it in a better documentary. This one isn’t very well produced, sorry..

OBAMA ANTHEM LYRICS

All hail the messiah
Obama, Obama
The path to the new socialist motherland
Our savior, our savior
Obama, Obama
The leader more famous than Lindsay Lohan
Bow down and praise the one
Give him your money and your guns
Give us a country
That makes your wife proud
Lord Barry heal the bitter ones
White and Clinging to faith and to guns
Hope for the change of the hope of the change!

I might just find a bit of admiration for Baracky and his crew, after all. Somewhere deep in that pit of narcissism, there’s a wicked humorist.

Kudos when they’re due.

Hey, remember back in February, when Serr8d used disingenuous graphs to try to argue that melting polar ice wasn’t a problem? And remember how I subsequently pointed out the flaws in his arguments, and noted that the late summer ice levels are what’s important? Well, lookie here:

The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., reported that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point since 1979 is 1.65 million square miles set last September.

With about three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could wind up breaking the previous record, scientists said.

Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But over the years, more of the ice is lost to the sea and with less of it recovered in winter. While ice reflects the sun’s heat, the open ocean absorbs more heat and the melting accelerates warming in other parts of the world.

…snip…

“We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point,” said center senior scientist Mark Serreze. “It’s tipping now. We’re seeing it happen now.”

Within a few years — “five to less than 10 years” — the Arctic could be free of sea ice in the summer, said NASA ice scientist Jay Zwally.

“It also means that climate warming is also coming larger and faster than the models are predicting and nobody’s really taken into account that change yet,” he said.

Other scientists, including James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York, agreed. Hansen in a Wednesday e-mail said the sea ice “is the best current example of a tipping point.”

Last year was an unusual year when wind currents and other weather conditions coincided with global warming to worsen sea ice melt, Serreze said. Scientists wondered if last year’s melt was an unusual event or the start of a new and disturbing trend.

This year’s results suggest the latter because the ice had recovered a bit more than usual thanks to a somewhat cooler winter, Serreze said. Then this month, when the melting rate usually slows, it sped up, he said.

Of course, these are people who study this sort of thing for a living, so what the hell do they know? Obviously, they’re just politically-motivated alarmist hacks…

Cross-posted at Lean Left.