Flaps Blog Links for April 16, 2009
I told Michael Reagan it was the best political event I have ever attended. At least 5,000 and maybe 10,000 anti-tax grass roots advocates descended on our State Capitol West Steps today mid-day for three hours with one simple message: enough is enough! No more taxes! Jon Coupal of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers and Peter Foy of Americans for Prosperity were the key people that made this hugely successful rally happen near the lore of the liberal Democrats! Earlier, I joined with Reagan in his private meeting in the Capitol with the truest of our conservative true believers: Assemblymembers Miller, Logue, Duvall, Silva, Hagman, Conway, and Knight; and State Senator Jim Neilsen.
Mr Sarkozy is pouring cold water on President Obama’s efforts to recast American leadership on the world stage, depicting them as unoriginal, unsubstantial and overrated. Behind leaks and briefings from the Elysée Palace lies Mr Sarkozy’s irritation at the rock-star welcome that Europe gave Mr Obama on his Europan tour earlier this month. The American President’s call “to free the world of the menace of a nuclear nightmare” was hot air, Mr Sarkozy’s diplomatic staff told him in a report. “It was rhetoric – not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States,” they said. Most of Mr Obama’s proposals had already been made by the Bush administration and Washington was dragging its feet on disarmament and treaties against nuclear proliferation, the leaked report said.
But, why isn’t Foy in Ventura County today at the Ventura County Tea Party? Because he wants to run for California Governor and will vacate his Ventura county Supervisor seat.
Huckabee says Armey and his cohorts “never listened to what I was saying, but just spoke out to protect their pals who were funding their faces—there’s a word for people who get to paid to show love, but polite people don’t use it openly. I’ve found it amazing to watch the huffy puffy types who skinned me alive during the campaign jump out and support TARP, and then change their tune when Obama and the Dems proposed stimulus. Let the record note, that I opposed TARP—I called it the Congressional Relief Action Program from the beginning. I could say more, but have to go catch a plane!”
Last week was horrible here in Pittsburgh, so it’s nice to settle back into the warm embrace of sniping between Arlen Specter and Pat Toomey. The Arlen squad sent off this letter to Toomey today, regarding changes in his official bio. Besides being a nice catch, it’s likely a way of blunting Toomey’s criticisms of Specter editing a campaign ad after it was shown to be partially inaccurate.
I have my minor quibbles with the Tea Parties — I wish the movement could articulate a clearer agenda besides “don’t do this”, and I think the argument would be more persuasive coming from “ordinary American” small businessmen, instead of from quasi-politicians like Alan Keyes. But listening to Pete Dominick, afternoon host on XM POTUS yesterday, argue that the motivation for the event stemed mostly from racism and opposition to President Obama, I find the Tea Party critics even less serious or compelling. Up in New Jersey, GOP gubernatorial candidates Chris Christie, Steve Lonegan, Richard A. Merkt and Roger Baconwill attend the Morristown Tea Party. But I suspect many attendees would agree with my sense that the day ought to be about positions and policy, not candidates and personality.
Fox News isn’t the only media outlet extensively covering today’s anti-tax tea party protests: Huffington Post is also flooding the zone. “It is a perfect citizen journalist story,†Arianna Huffington told POLITICO, “because it’s something happening around the country at the same time where people who are involved with us in our citizen journalist project can report back.†There are roughly 760 tea parties planned throughout the country, and according to a Huffington Post spokesperson, more than 1,800 citizen journalists have signed up. Huffington said that they’ll abide by traditional rules in doing pen-and-pad reporting, taking photos, making short films, and using Twitter. Anyone who doesn’t follow the rules, she said, will no longer be part of the citizen journalism project.