• Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2008-11-30

    • First, let’s go back to the principle of saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

      Second, our loyalties need to be to ideas, not to individuals.

      Finally, we need to look toward the states for answers, rather than toward Washington.

      +++++++
      Add some technology and you have it. Gotta rebuild the brand as #1

    • Republicans will soon be ushered out of power after controlling Congress, the White House, or both for 14 years. Here's a further chilling thought: Since 1896, with only one exception, when a party has taken over the White House, it has held it for at least eight years. The exception is the Jimmy Carter Democrats, retired after a single term in 1981. And it would be churlish to hope that Barack Obama will recapitulate the ineptitude and foolishness of the Nobel laureate from Plains.

      So it could be eight years on the outside of the White House looking in for the GOP. It certainly looks like at least four years out of power in Congress as well, given the sizable Democratic margins. And the fact that Republicans will be blamed for an economy in free fall, and won't get the credit they deserve for successes in Iraq and the broader war on terror, hardly helps the GOP's prospects for a quick comeback.
      Can Bush do anything in his last weeks to change this dynamic?
      +++++
      No, just go!

    • Never again should our EDs [executive directors] run our political campaigns! Next time, let’s engage our community’s nonprofit leaders as grass roots leaders, mobilizing their membership, staff and constituencies, and NOT as professional political campaign operatives….

      Believe me, the skill-set of a nonprofit executive is NOT the same as that required to run a political campaign. We need to hire the best, toughest political campaign consultant and let them go, not constrain them with a web of bureaucracy: No on 8 had a big committee of 93, then a smaller committee of 25 and, finally, an “executive committee” of seven representatives of nonprofit groups. The tragedy is that this unwieldy structure precluded BOTH a topflight political campaign and a powerful grassroots campaign…
      +++++++
      Then, there is the issue of secular non-profits involving themselves in politics and then afterwards attacking organized religion. Hummmmmmm

    • The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Mr. Rangel helped preserve a valuable tax loophole for an oil and gas drilling company while the company's chief executive, Eugene M. Isenberg, was pledging $1 million to the Charles B. Rangel School of Public Service at City College of New York. Mr. Rangel insists that the mutual favors were entirely coincidental. And quite a coincidence it seems to have been. On Feb. 12, 2007, the Times reported, the day the tax legislation was being considered in his committee, Mr. Rangel met in New York City with Mr. Isenberg to discuss the businessman's support of the Rangel School. Then Mr. Isenberg escorted Mr. Rangel across the room to his lobbyist, Kenneth J. Kies, who wanted to make sure Mr. Rangel would not close the loophole.
      +++++++
      Old school politics. Come on….what else is new?
  • Gay Marriage

    More Victims of a Proposition 8 Blacklist – This Time Texas Style

    Yes on prop 8 400

    Flap asked the question: Who will be the next victim(s)?

    And, we have an answer via M/M.

    Proposition 8 attracted tens of millions of dollars on both sides of the gay marriage issue from out-of-state contributors who see California as a trendsetter for the rest of the nation.

    According to figures from the California Secretary of State’s Office — which requires campaign donors to list their place of residence, their employer and their occupations — more than 750 Texans donated tens of thousands of dollars on either side of the campaign. One of the biggest Texas donations was $50,000 to a Yes on 8 group that apparently came from the president of a Midland oil company.

    About 115 Austinites gave about $180,000 — most in increments of $100 — to fund both sides of the campaign. About 20 of the Austin contributors supported the gay marriage ban; the rest opposed it. Computer giant Apple Inc. is listed as the biggest donor from Austin, with a $100,000 donation in opposition to the measure.

    Some gay rights activists say any business that supported Proposition 8 should be boycotted.

    “We strongly believe that one of the best ways for the gay community to be heard is by speaking with our wallets,” said Austin resident Warren Clark, whose warrenandderrick.com Web site published the “blacklist” of Yes on 8 donors.

    “Blacklisted” by the gay rights Web site are Austin attorneys and tech companies, investment fund managers and doctors, real estate developers and even the Los Angeles Dodgers. Former Dodgers infielder and Austin resident Jeff Kent gave $15,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign.

    “It’s a shame,” said Austin real estate developer Michael Knepp when a reporter told him he was on the list for his $10,000 donation to the Yes on 8 campaign.

    “Everyone has a responsibility to support the issues they feel strongly about,” Knepp said. “If someone else was offended by that, I apologize, but we just feel very strongly about how (gay marriage) could affect our society – so we made a donation.”

    For Austin attorney Roger Hepworth, who gave about $10,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign, the backlash first came in the form of what he called a “hateful” e-mail to him and other employees of his firm, Henslee Schwartz.

    “It started with ‘Shame on you Roger Hepworth’ and got worse from there,” he said.

    The firm also is on the “anti-gay blacklist” created by Clark.

    “I think irresponsible for them to smear an entire law firm that had no knowledge of any donation I made,” Hepworth said. “It’s unfair to target a company for something a person has done.”

    No. 1 on the group’s anti-gay “blacklist” — errantly enough — is Dell Computer Inc. That’s because the biggest Austin-area donor to the Yes on 8 campaign was apparently Spencer Wheelright, a Dell marketing employee who gave $25,200 to support the gay marriage ban, according to records from the California Secretary of State’s office.

    Dell had nothing to do with the donation and, in fact, the company has an internal rule prohibiting it from taking a position or making a donation regarding any state or local ballot initiatives, said company spokesman Bryant Hilton.

    Dell usually gets good marks from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups. It is a supporter of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign as well as other national and local gay organizations.

    “This was an employee who made a personal donation and employers are listed because of California’s reporting laws,” Hilton said. “But this doesn’t reflect the company’s position at all.”

    Wheelright did not return a reporter’s e-mail seeking comment. He couldn’t be reached otherwise.

    Exit Question:

    As the gay marriage boycott continues will homosexual activists whose Human Rights Campaign receives hundred of thousands of dollars in corporate contributions to buy their goodwill (and who, by the way, contributed to the No on Proposition 8 campaign) insist that corporations and companies terminate (FIRE) those managers/officers/employees? Or face their continued WRATH?

    Is the gay, the new Thought Police of NEWSPEAK?


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  • Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2008-11-29

    • There are legitimate questions to be raised about the advertising campaign, but two points are central here: First, the lack of early fund-raising success had a detrimental effect on the ability to set the tone for the campaign and combat the opposition’s early ads. Second, ads that focus on what is deemed important to one group tend to have adverse or unintended effects on other groups. The ads were targeted — based on extensive research — to persuadable “undecideds,” and this ultimately was where the election would be won or lost.
      (tags: gaymarriage)
    • "They almost certainly have not violated their tax exemption," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the leading advocacy organization on the issue. "While the tax code has a zero tolerance for endorsements of candidates, the tax code gives wide latitude for churches to engage in discussions of policy matters and moral questions, including when posed as initiatives."

      Generally speaking, churches, schools, and nonprofits that are 501c(3) organizations are prohibited from spending more than 20 percent of their budgets on political activities, Lynn said, noting that his organization is held to the same standard.

      The 20 percent threshold means that the Catholic or Mormon churches, whose organizations span the globe, would have had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars – if not billions – to violate their tax-exempt status.
      ++++++
      No violation here.

    • California legislators are allowed to own businesses or hold other outside jobs, and 30 report doing so.
      ++++++++
      With term limits they need to hold onto gainful employment. Sheesh….
    • A new poll released Wednesday finds not enough Pennsylvania voters know who Chris Matthews is, and that he would be at a distinct disadvantage in a race against incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

      Matthews, best known as host of the MSNBC political commentary show "Hardball" has not officially announced he is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against five-term Republican Specter. But he might find such a matchup tough going, according to the results of a Quinnipiac University poll.

      Specter leads Matthews among likely Republican voters by a margin of 72 percent to 9 percent. Overall, Specter leads 45 percent to 33 percent; among independent voters, Specter leads 45 percent to 27 percent.
      ++++++
      But, Specter will be 80 and has had cancer twice. Will he hang on?

    • Russia will complete Iran's first nuclear power plant in 2009, Itar-Tass news agency quoted the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation as saying on Thursday.

      The launch of the Bushehr plant's nuclear reactor has frequently been delayed. Russian and Iranian officials have given different dates for the start-up. Iran's foreign minister said last year the plant would launch in mid-2008.

      Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran. Russia has blamed previous delays on problems with receiving payment from Iran.
      ++++++++and, wanna bet some of the fuel is then diverted to Natanz and the enrichment centrifuges?

      (tags: russia iran)
    • Daily List of Conservative Twitterati
    • A couple days back I asked people following me at Twitter, where I maintain two accounts under hughhewitt and hhradio, who they were and why they wanted to receive my "tweets." The responses underscore the incredible variety of people and motives that have fueled Twitter's explosive growth.

      Many are simply looking for show updates –which guests are coming on, which allows for appointment listening or easy selection among podcasts.

      Many others want a different sort of communication, though, one that moves outside of the content of the radio program into ideas and experiences that don't make it onto air. Others are using the feeds to advance the online activism they find crucial to the future. Blogger DenverInTranslation.com bemoans that the GOP "is simply not connected."
      ++++++++
      Better late than never Hugh.

  • Audra Strickland,  Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Tony Strickland

    Audra and Tony Strickland Head to Sacramento as Hannah-Beth Jackson Concedes

    Audra-and-Tony-Strickland

    California Republican Assemblywoman Audra Strickland and her husband Tony, the former Assemblyman and newly elected California Republican State Senator, Camarillo, California September 2008, Photo by Flap

    The election is finally over and it sends both Audra and Tony Strickland back to Sacramento.

    Less than an eyelash short of an upset marathon victory. Hannah-Beth Jackson reluctantly conceded defeat in the race for the 19th state senate district seat, more than three weeks after Election Day.

    “We really thought we could win this,” Jackson told me as she took a break from fixing Thanksgiving dinner for 10. “But I’m going to try to stay involved. I really feel like I have something to offer.”

    The Democrat’s loss means that Republican Tony Strickland will be on hand in Sacramento next week to take the oath of office with other newly elected state lawmakers. In the Legislature, Strickland will join his wife, Audra, who represents Ventura County in the 37th Assembly district, in forming one of the Capitol’s new power couples.

    Flap watched  the Strickland campaign first hand and they left little to chance. Strickland was relentless in walking precincts, working the phones, burma-shaving the street corners, and running absentee ballot/GOTV operations.

    Congrats to Team Strickland for a hard fought campaign in a dramatically Democrat year.

    Previous:

    Tony Strickland Wins California State Senate Race Over Hannah-Beth Jackson


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  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day

    Day By Day by Chris Muir November 28, 2008 – Offerings of an Industry

    Day By Day 112808

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    This is why Barack Obama, and both political parties will be going outside the MSM to communicate directly with voters. Every Saturday President Obama will release his weekly radio address to You Tube with the concomitant GOP response. Who needs broadcast radio or the newspapers to spin the content?

    The print newspaper and magazine dominance of political thought and opinion is OVER.

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive


    Technorati Tags: ,

  • Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2008-11-28

    • Democratic candidate for the 19th District State seat, Hannah-Beth Jackson has conceded to her opponent Tony Strickland.

      In an statement emailed late Wednesday night Jackson's campaign thanked her supporters and commended Jackson's "courageous and gallant fight."

      After three weeks of watching the vote counts seesaw back and forth Jackson's campaign felt she would not be able to catch up to Strickland's 900 vote lead.

      Strickland is expected to be sworn in on Monday in Sacramento. Both Strickland and his wife Audra will hold seats in the state's legislature.

    • As a political matter, the problem for the Democrat is that both Santa Barbara and Ventura counties have nearly finished counting absentee and provisional ballots. A representative of the Ventura registrar told me that they have only about 100-200 ballots left; in Santa Barbara, Joe Holland's office plans to post one more update next week, but that also is expected to include a small number of ballots.

      No one was answering the phone at the Los Angeles registrar Wednesday, and, in any case, it would be difficult to know how many of that county's uncounted votes will be in the 19th district. But Republican Strickland has creamed Jackson in that very conservative part of the district, so whatever comes out of there will favor his chances.
      ++++++
      Tony Strickland wins SD-19

    • Twitter has fresh news every few seconds, on Mumbai, Bombay, #Mumbai, and @BreakingNewz.

      "Hospital update. Shots still being fired. Also Metro cinema next door," tweets mumbaiattack. "Blood needed at JJ hospital," adds aeropolowoman, supplying the numbers for the blood bank.

      A Google map of the attacks has already been set up. So has a shockingly-current Wikipedia page, which features a picture of one of the gun-toting attackers.

      The local bloggers at Metblogs Mumbai have new updates every couple of minutes. So do the folks at GroundReport. Dozens of videos have been uploaded to YouTube. But the most remarkable citizen journalism may be coming from "Vinu," who is posting a stream of harrowing post-attack pictures to Flickr.

    • Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named roughly 20 new gubernatorial appointments on Wednesday, including placing a top donor on the panel overseeing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

      Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles Republican who flirted with running for mayor, has donated more than $470,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his favored ballot committees since 2005. Schwarzenegger appointed Caruso to the unpaid position on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which is a property some in the Legislature have said should be put up for sale.

      Caruso is also a trustee for the University of Southern California, which plays its football games at the historic stadium.
      +++++++
      Caruso wimped out of a run against Antonio Villaraigosa but remains a LA City player after he leaves office.

    • An unconfirmed report out of India has the Indian Government urging Twitter users to not share specific on the scene information, and further that the Government may be trying to block Twitter in India, or is asking Twitter to block Mumbai related tweets.

      Twitter has become an international talking point today following its use by many on the scene witnesses in Mumbai after the multiple terrorist attacks there Wednesday evening local time.

      The interesting side of the report, read out on ABC Radio Melbourne at 3:10pm AEST (so no hard link, I just happened to be in the car at the time) is the notion that terrorists may be reading Twitter for intel; it’s not impossible, but notably someone in India thinks Twitter offers a bigger risk than traditional blogging or even heritage media.

      Mumbai has a strong Twitter community, which as shown by the logo in this post, even has its own regular Twitter meetups.

      (tags: twitter)
    • Senator Tom McClintock released the following informal statement to his supporters today. Senator McClintock will make a formal statement to the news media Monday December 1, at the Roseville Office, 1700 Eureka Road, Suite 170 at 2:00 p.m.

      "Butte County took a little longer to come in than we had expected, but it was worth the wait. The count is now complete with the possible exception of a handful of votes in El Dorado County and the election result stands at: McClintock 185,615 and Brown at 183,840.

      The lead of 1,775 votes is a margin of victory that puts us well outside the possibility of a recount changing the outcome. To put it in perspective, it is more than twice the margin by which I lost the race for State Controller in 2002.

      The numbers came in a little late to hold a press conference today but I expect to have a formal statement at our Congressional transition office in Roseville on Monday.

    • (tags: twitter)
    • After the passage of Prop 8 in California, homosexuals are still howling that they don’t have “equal rights.” Hopefully, the California Supreme Court will respect the equal rights of voters by affirming Prop 8 because the howls of homosexuals are false. The truth is every person in America already has equal marriage rights! We’re all playing by the same rules—we all have the same right to marry any non-related adult of the opposite sex. Those rules do not deny anyone “equal protection of the laws” because the qualifications to enter a marriage apply equally to everyone—every adult person has the same right to marry.
      (tags: gaymarriage)
  • Thanksgiving

    Happy Thanksgiving 2008

    Thanksgiving

    Happy Thanksgiving

    Flap is THANKFUL for……

    His God for having Created him….

    His Country for bestowing many blessings of liberty…

    His Family for the LOVE they share…

    His Health which allows him quality of life…..

    His Friends on and off line who share and bring much to Flap’s life…


    Technorati Tags:
  • Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Tony Strickland

    Tony Strickland Wins California State Senate Race Over Hannah-Beth Jackson

    +++++Update+++++

    From the Strickland campaign observers the count is OVER except for a few hundred votes in Los Angeles County.

    Tony Strickland is Senator-elect

    Flap had just updated the ballot count in the race for the California State Senate District 19 race and then received this e-mail from Ron Nehring, Chairman of the California Republican Party.

    Chairman's Report

    Dear Flap,
     
    I just got off the phone with California’s newest Republican State Senator, Tony Strickland.
     
    BRCThe last significant numbers in this closely contested Senate race just came in, and Tony is the winner in what is likely to be the most expensive State Senate contest in California history.  
     
    Tony’s victory is a major accomplishment for the Republican Party, and will have a major impact on the dynamics in the legislature.  As a solid tax-fighter, Tony’s leadership will further strengthen the forces for responsible, fiscally conservative governance in Sacramento.
     
    On behalf of the entire California Republican Party I want to extend our congratulations to Tony for his incredible perseverance in this campaign, his wife Assemblymember Audra Strickland, the entire Strickland campaign team, the monitoring team, the county Republican committees in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, and everyone else who contributed to this victory.
     
    Thank you for your leadership, and enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!
     
    All the best,
    BRC
    Ron Nehring
    CHAIRMAN, California Republican Party

    Perhaps the Strickland Campaign knows how many ballots remain to be counted in Ventura County or that the counting is OVER.

    Stay tuned for any further developments.


    Technorati Tags: ,

  • Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Tony Strickland

    Tony Strickland Lead Shrinks Again in California State Senate Race

    strickland-and-jackson

    Former California Assembly Members Tony Strickland and Hannah-Beth Jackson candidates for California State Senate District 19

    Los Angeles County, Ventura County and Santa Barbara Elections updated their vote totals today in the California State Senate District 19 race.

    According to Flap’s math Republican Tony Strickland continues to lead by 903 votes versus 1,164 votes Tuesday.

    The raw figures:

    Santa Barbara County:

    • Hannah-Beth Jackson: 73,708 [73,351] + 357 [#’s from Monday]; (72,693) (#’s from last Friday) + 658
    • Tony Strickland: 58,680 [58,497] + 183; (58,166) + 331

    Los Angeles County:

    • Hannah-Beth Jackson: 12,342 [12,193]  + 149 [#’s from Monday]; (12,083) + 110
    • Tony Strickland: 16,911 [16,660] + 251; (16,493) + 167

    Ventura County:

    • Hannah-Beth Jackson: 120,792 {119,780} {#’s from Tuesday} + 1,012 – 55%; [116,730 #’s from Monday] +3,050 – 52%  ; (115,477) + 1,253
    • Tony Strickland: 132,154 {131,331} + 823 – 45%; [128,507] + 2,824 – 48% ;  (126,922) + 1,585

    Los Angeles County again was kind to Tony Strickland while the provisional ballot count in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties punished his lead.

    Flap does not know whether there will be ANY further updates from Santa Barbara or Los Angeles County.

    With today’s update in Ventura County there remain around 3,000 provisional ballots to count there.

    If those Ventura County provisional ballots were to break  2 to 1 for Hannah- Beth Jackson, the race would be essentally tied, especially if she were to pick up a few votes in Santa Barbara County without an offset in Los Angeles County.

    So, what is Flap saying?

    The race remains close but everything has to break Jackson’s way for her to win or trigger a meritorious recount challenge. The recount may be coming forthwith, in any case.

    Flap agrees with Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star that it is unlikely that either of these candidates will take the oath of office on Monday when their term of office begins.

    Stay tuned as the deadline of December 2 (next Tuesday) approaches for each county to finish up their count and certify the election results.


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