by Art Lindsey III

Just when you think it’s safe to read the news, people are already talking about the 2012 presidential campaign. Not that this is really news in itself, because as we all know, the 2008 campaign seemed to start about 16 years too early, and by the time we got to the ballot boxes, it’s safe to assume that a lot of us felt like we had just gone the distance with Rocky Balboa.

Now, of course we all know about Mitt, Huck, Pawlenty, and possibly Newt. That crew comes with the territory. However, it seems that some people may have really lost their minds. How, you might ask?

Well, from the looks of things, it would appear that former Vice President Dick Cheney has been christened as the GOP’s last great hope, or some such thing. Sure. Why doesn’t somebody stop the world so the sane people can get off now, Okay?

It started off as nothing more than a flippant “Cheney 2012” comment made by his daughter Liz on Fox News a few weeks ago, and for some reason there was another outbreak of speculation over the weekend.

While one must concede that anything is possible, (look who’s in charge now) an honest broker must admit that such a scenario is highly unlikely.

It’s not that Cheney doesn’t have the “street cred” with conservative voters. He does. He has decades of service under his belt, and during his tenure as Vice President, he was far more articulate and concise than his boss ever was, and who can forget the even-tempered lashing he gave to Senator John Edwards in the 2004 Vice Presidential Debate? If you combine all of these things with his current spate of TV appearances where he has been substantively critical of the Obama Administration, Cheney would indeed make a fine GOP candidate in 2012.

However, there is just one tiny little problem with all of this:

Dick Cheney has made it quite clear that he has no aspirations for further office.

While it is certainly true that politicians often change their minds, and are known to lie like rugs on occasion, a presidential run for Dick Cheney in 2012 is hard to imagine.

In all honesty, why would he want to? The media has painted such a horrible picture of the man, how could he possibly get elected? We all know how disconnected a large portion of the electorate is. How could he possibly overcome the mountain of bad press that has been piled onto him over the years? He really can’t, regardless of his qualifications. Nothing short of a national educational miracle could undo the perception of Dick Cheney. It’s a pretty safe bet that a 68 year old man who has survived four heart attacks knows that, too. He doesn’t need the aggravation.

All of this speculation is obviously well intended, but it’s really nothing more than a waste of time. Again, Vice President Cheney would be a solid candidate on his merits, but the press has made him un-electable. More than that, if he really was the GOP’s and conservatism’s only hope, why didn’t a “Draft Cheney” movement begin before now? This is too little, too late.

Oh, the perils of a of a crappy news week.

We now return you to the Tiger Woods Channel.

So, here we are on the verge of a national health care system. It’s the subject that has dominated the news cycle and been at the heart of nearly every political debate in America since Barack Obama decided to make it the centerpiece of his 2008 presidential campaign.

We’ve been preoccupied with the indications of rationing, not to mention the unsustainable budgetary numbers of it all. Honestly, with all this data being thrown about, one can be certain that it’s nearly impossible for everyday Americans to even begin to take the time to grasp it all.

However, that notwithstanding, from what Americans have been able to grasp just enough of what’s going on as congress attempts to slip this under our collective noses, and the consensus seems to be pretty clear:

Americans do not want socialized medicine.

Now, there is no point in going on and on at this point about congress not listening to us or some such thing. There is no lesson to be learned there, as it is fairly obvious at this point. Truth be told, we should be pointing the finger at ourselves.

Think back to the 2006 midterms, where the rallying cry across the conservative voting landscape was, “Throw the Republicans out! Teach them a lesson!”

Of course, considering how much of the GOP had softened on conservative principles, it is understandable how this sentiment could take hold. Every day, it seemed as though another conservative luminary just couldn’t wait to bash the GOP, deservedly or not, and say what a boon it would be for the party and the conservative movement if the Republicans lost in November of 2006.

As I just said, I can understand that line of thinking. I’m just as much for true conservatism in the Republican Party as anybody else, but in every conversation I ever had on the notion of the GOP losing its majority in ’06, I kept coming back to one simple mantra:

You can’t teach a “lesson” to career politicians. These people are like cats. They always land on their feet. If you boot them out, they’ll find a cushy analyst job on a cable network or go on a book or speaking tour, where they can make even more money than they already do.

So, knowing that we had a Democrat Party that is as close to socialist as America has, or is likely to ever see, it was clear to this conservative that while it sure sounded good to spend election day smacking around Republicans, we would be the ones who would pay a very steep price for the lesson that we intended to teach.

As we all know, voters got what they wished for, and the GOP lost by sizeable margins, and as I had feared, our economy, our healthcare system, and our defense efforts are now on death’s doorstep. Meanwhile, despite what we want, politicians from both parties continue to ignore us, and charge on with their own agendas.

The American electorate needs to learn that elections matter. It needs to turn off American Idol pay attention, and say informed. This is what happens when it doesn’t.

If anything, our last two elections should teach a lesson to the American people. Politicians will always be politicians. They’ll look out for themselves before they ever look out for any of us. The only defense we have is to do our best to educate ourselves, and hopefully pick the ones best suited for upholding our ideas and traditions. In order to do that, we must remain engaged at all costs.

Maybe it will be better in the long run for the conservative movement when this is all said and done. Many of us, me included, certainly hope that it is. But, with a government apparatus that is moving America away from its founding principles faster than any time in history, the burden American electorate unwittingly placed on itself may prove to be too much to bear, and the “lesson” that some thought they were so wisely teaching may be nothing more than a prime example of “Too little, too late”.

Let’s hope not.

We all told you so, GOP.

Republicans are conservatives and classical liberals. Despite his strong security stance, real conservatives have been very sore with GW Bush for the past 6 years or so, given his government bloat. Conservatives do not like spending money willy-nilly and getting taxed to death. While Bush has been decent with taxes, he has certainly been wild with spending.

John McCain was never meant to be the Republican candidate. McCain is big government. Conservatives do not agree with him at all, and that disagreement was evident last night. Even if you disregard the one-issue voters, like the pro-life or pro-marriage people, and focus only on the bulk of conservatives, we really did not want McCain. Hundreds of thousands of Republican voters talked about “holding their nose” to vote McCain. Even the addition of an uber-conservative like Sarah Palin was not enough to make the base give a damn.

At CPAC, the annual conservative conference in Washington, John McCain actually had to bus supporters in to negate the booing he would have otherwise received. Like children we were admonished by David Keane, head of the American Conservative Union, to behave ourselves and be polite to Senator McCain. And to have been there when the last real conservative - Mitt Romney - dropped out of the race that same day, we knew it was over.

Most of us expected a Hillary presidency. Instead the world turned upside down, and the people chose a socialist anarchist with a dodgy past and hateful streak (yes, hateful: wife not proud of her country, preacher hates America - what other kind of mindset could he have?). Joe the Plumber will be collecting welfare of going off to live in the valley with John Galt.

Next time, when the base speaks, GOP, try listening. CPAC is where the money comes from. CPAC is where the action and the GOTV comes from. CPAC is where the conservative “community organizers” can be found. Flipping us the bird was a bad move. We have spoken.

I am a staunch conservative, with no patience for liberals and Democrats.

BUT

Whatever my feelings, and whatever yours, we have just borne witness to a piece of American history. Americans have elected their first black president to lead them.

Historic eras in America are all important, but the big ones are few in number: Independence from England, the slavery era, the end of the slavery era, women’s suffrage, the black vote, and the various wars. Those are the biggies. And now, a black president.

What would Abe Lincoln say today? Paging Frederick Douglass for a quote.

Let’s take a moment to put things into perspective. Tomorrow America will have headlines screaming about a new president. It will be someone that half the voting population does not like.

Whatever happens, the office of the presidency still deserves respect. For the past eight years we have heard the president and his entire family be so maligned, it’s a wonder they’ve had the strength to stand it.

So whomever takes the throne in January, let’s all make an effort to stick to the policies when we complain. McCain, Obama, Biden and Palin are all human beings. Attack their actions if you must, but not them and their families.

This goes for both sides of the political spectrum, okay?

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Listen before you vote tomorrow!

This time tomorrow, half the electorate will have voted (I hope).

I admit to being worried - not in the short term, because we are fairly safe here at Castle Argghhh, but for the longer term, regardless of how the election goes. Honestly, I would love to see America finally put its sordid past behind it and elect a black president - just not this one. I worry for the liberty of Americans of all classes.

Chicago is in lockdown in case Obama loses - they expect riots. Ditto Detroit. What does that say about the country?

Yet at the same time, I really hope he does lose. Communism has no place in America - America has always staunchly defended itself from that tyranny, even when it previously infiltrated the highest levels of government. But do enough Americans today have the knowledge to continue to fight it? After all, the education system has been rife with commie sympathizers since the “Me First” generation took hold of the country in the 60’s and 70’s. Which means the past two generations of Americans have not been taught enough about the failures of socialism and communism around the world. They have only been taught the ideologies that the poor will be taken care of and everyone will live in harmony (cue John Lennon). Sorry, but if you are getting your education from the Beatles, there’s something wrong with the system.

I grew up at the beginning of the Reagan era. I remember the vitriol being spewed from the left. I also remember the vitriol spewed from the right during the looooong Clinton era. But I do not remember seeing the kind of violence and sheer hatred we are seeing today. What has happened?

Some crazy talk radio host on the left has called for the death of Joe the plumber. The death of an average American citizen who doesn’t want to give up his earned money to Obama. Apparently that’s all it takes to get you lynched in this New World Order. If you speak out against Obama, you must die. Holy shit!

The hatred of Sarah Palin and her family continues unabated with the Wonkette crowd screeching about how Trig Palin, the Down Syndrome infant, wishes he’d been aborted.

Little baby Trig must be so glad he wasn’t aborted for this, his first Halloween, because his parents dressed him up like a political party symbol to be carried around at snarling political events. Aww. Isn’t life just grand?

Trig Palin and his posse just happened to show up the the door of Brass Balls Radio co-producer Mike Williams on Halloween evening, and was a typical burbling gurgling happy baby being carried from house to house by his mom and his sister. For shame? I think not.

From the Wonkette comments:

Ugh. I hate that look people get on their face when they are happy to be holding a baby. It is all domestic and other disturbing things.

Initially they were going to have trig dress up as an aborted fetus

Wait, is Trig the baby with Down syndrome? … yuck.

Judging from the costume, the parents are the real retards.

I thought an unaborted mongoloid baby was the symbol of the Republican Party.

These are the people who will have control of America come January if the rest of you allow it to happen tomorrow. As much as I dislike invoking Godwin’s Law, I must. Hitler’s euthanasia program was developed to remove imperfection from the race. Cripples and the retarded were tossed out with the Jews and the gypsies like last week’s Brussels sprouts. Is this what America wants to become?

And as if the above weren’t enough, I need to remind you of this:

We are judged by the company we keep. And right now The Man Who Would Be King keeps company with the people quoted above at Wonkette, as well as domestic terrorists and anarchists. Stop and think before you pull the lever tomorrow America. You may be pulling the lever on your own destruction.

But i do approve this message.

Right here in my neck of the American woods, Kansas City:

Steve and Rachel Larman say a strange credit card charge appeared on their statement this month — a $2300 donation to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The Larman’s say they don’t want this to be about their political affiliation, but they say they’re not about to give the Obama campaign any help from their pocketbook.

They said they notified Chase, their credit card bank, to report the fraud.

“(They) said that they had seen-they were familiar with this,” said Steve Larman. “It was fraud, they believe through telemarketing but they were going to be doing some more investigations.”

Kansas City is one of the areas that ACORN is having trouble keeping their illegal activities a secret. It is predominately black (cue the moonbats calling me all sorts of names - sticks and stones, mutherfuckers), not wealthy, and therefore primo hunting ground for the Obamanuats. It is also where this frightening video was produced.

The redistribution of wealth has commenced.

Man that was boring, wasn’t it? The old man kept calling us his “friends”, and JugEars was virtually unintelligible. I was Twittering it, which was kinda fun. Quote of the night went to some guy I’ve never heard of before:

carter69 #debate08- Drop Mccain in Iraq, Obama in Afgan both with guns. First to catch Bin Laden gets to be President. less than a minute ago

Not a bad bloody idea.

I made the terrible choice to use “my friends” as my cue in the Debate Drinking Game. My head is going to hurt tomorrow! If you email me, no capital letters, please.

Since the end of the debate, Beth has headed to bed to get her beauty sleep before her radio stint tomorrow (yeah, I know), Stacy has fallen off the Internet, so I’ve been flirting shamelessly with Hackbarth (a longtime tequila-swilling pal).

I’m off to take a couple of Advil and catch some zzzzz’s. Don’t wake me too early, and be sure there’s coffee when I get up. Oh, and a foot rub would not be the worst thing you could do. Beware of the Chihuahua at the end of the bed.

Not the John McCain that reaches across the aisle, or the one who wants to “work together” or the the one who would have been uproariously boo’d at CPAC back in February had he not bussed in his own teams of cheerleaders.

I mean, where is the John McCain that the conservatives so desperately need? Real conservatives - not RINOs. They need someone who is going to stand up and scream about the injustices of congress, and the Democrats, and the terrorists who manage and raise funds for his opponent’s campaign.

I read two great posts this morning. The first is from Right Truth:

Americans are tired of the fox guarding the hen house. Barney Frank is the cause of our situation and now he will be investigating what happened. Surely Senator McCain, you can see the irony in this. Americans, Republicans, Conservatives are pulling our hair out.

You need to come out swinging and expose the folks that are responsible for the financial situation, specifically Fannie and Freddie. Name names Mr. McCain.

You are supposed to be the candidate that will keep this country safe from terrorists. Are you aware that the “Federal Reserve extended an $85 billion loan to American International Group to be paid back as AIG sells off some business in the biggest government takeover so far in the ongoing credit crisis” and AIG is continuing to expand its Sharia finance business?

The main stream media is not only using Democrat talking points, they are using Arab talking points, thus spreading the Islamization of America. This leaves Republicans with the great responsibility of getting their own message out correctly. It’s up to you Sen. McCain. Step up and speak out. The MSM does not support you and neither does the Arab world. It is your opponent Barack Obama who received financing from the Palestinians. Name names Mr. McCain.

And the second is from Malkin:

Meanwhile, back in the real world, McCain continues to forbid his campaign from going after Obama for his longtime friendship and ideological partnership with Rev. Jeremiah Wright — and refuses to attack Obama on the Fannie/Freddie/CRA debacles because he fears being perceived as a racist.

Earth to McCain: They will see RAAAACISM in whatever you and Palin will say and do from now until Election Day.

Fight or get rolled.

Wake. Up.

Michelle’s commentors get it, spelling out their dissatisfaction in no uncertain terms.

On October 5th, 2008 at 1:01 pm, dj said:

Why is McCain trying to lose this thing? I have never seen someone display such bravery in battle, but display such cowardice as he is evidencing in this campaign. No fight at all, and it is infuriating that he is the only person that stands in the way of a Marxist overtaking this country.
Nice guys finish last, McCain. Exposing BO for who and what he really is is completely legitimate.

If Barack Obama is the new Jesus, does that make Oprah the new John the Baptist?

Update: Whoops, according to Rush Limbaugh, Joe Biden is John the Baptist. INP, I guess that means you’re right in the comments.

Canada has five weeks before they have to vote (again) in a federal election. Hoping to catch the wave of voter frenzy from South of the 49th, Stephen Harper requested the dissolution of Parliament this morning.

Canadians will go to the polls Tuesday, Oct. 14, the day after Thanksgiving, to vote for a new federal government.

I really wish I could care. The theme in America is “change” for this 2008 election, and it’s bound to be historic, no matter who wins. In Canada, the theme is “same again”. Once more, three (four, if you count Bloc Quebecois) boring middle aged white guys will square off over who can do the least amount of damage to Canada. And once more, the public will grumble, bitch and ultimately ignore. Voter turnout in Canada is notoriously low.

I worked the last election, where I was VP of my local riding association. Sounds thrilling, huh? You would be wrong if you thought so. Most of my time was spent arguing with a candidate I could barely bring myself to vote for. The rest of it was spent getting paper cuts. I was “lucky” enough to co-host a fundraising party at some rich dude’s house in honor of our candidate - the wife had me enter by the servant’s entrance.

I like what the Conservative Party has done so far. They made a bunch of promises during the last campaign, and they managed to deliver a whole lot of them. Pretty good for a minority government that has only been in power a little over two years. America could learn a lesson or two! But if Canada expects any of the election frenzy taking place in the US to have any impact on the voters of Canada, they are sadly mistaken. Canadians lost their ability to be excited about anything a long time ago.

Jogging along this morning, I was passed by a Ford Explorer with MOMS 4 PALIN written on the back window. Huzzah.

Every girl-blogger out there is playing “Barracuda” in honor of Sarah Palin. So I thought it would be fair to play a little something for Obama. You know, a little something to sum up his great accomplishments. So Barry, this one’s for you!

Before long we will be hearing from liberals that anyone who doesn’t share their twisted views isn’t really a human.

It happens maybe twice a year.

Kathy thinks the pregnancy of Bristol Palin makes the Palin’s look low class. I know where she’s coming from. Kathy’s family background is very similar to mine. My family was rife with unplanned pregnancies. Some led to adoptions. Some led to tacky welfare families. None led to abortions (to my knowledge).

Like Kathy, my family wasn’t wealthy. They weren’t even middle class. They were poor. I think had they been of the middle and upper classes, they could have supported unplanned babies. It would have been a lot easier to have them enveloped into a tighter-knit family, as opposed to a squabbling one.

I would rather see Bristol Palin pregnant, about to be married to the father, than see a poor teen whose mom is already on welfare bringing another baby into the mix. Which was why so many of my aunties gave their babies up for adoption. In fact, as it turned out through a stroke of fate, so did my own mother. Somewhere out in the great big world, I have a half sister. My mother was broke as broke could be, working a factory job, and didn’t want to have her baby in that life. She saved that for later on, when she was married and settled. That was her choice. This is Bristol’s. At least she has a strong family and a few $$ behind her to help the young couple along. We should all be so lucky.

VPILF.com

John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate today. Heck, Beth was so excited she actually blogged about it! Some fast facts:

The Dems figured they would own today after the Obamanation’s speech at the Parthenon last night, but McCain scooped him by making this blockbuster announcement today.

Yet, the BS from the left has already started. The so-called party of feminism is asking if Palin will be able to adequately serve if she has a disabled child to look after. Uh, whut? I thought women could have it all? Basically, the FemDems are scared that the GOP were smart enough to pick a woman VP candidate instead of a racist old lying thug dog, like they did.

This is a good pick for McCain. She will help balance out his more liberal views, endearing him more to the hardcore conservative base who have been rather disinterested in the candidate of record.

A roundup from twitterpated bloggers:

Examiner.com has an article by Kathy Shaidle

LadyBlog has two posts (one by yours truly - by the way, have you joined Culture11 yet?)

Althouse has a good one

TownHall has an article on how Palin can scoop some of Hillary’s PUMA supporters

And did I mention she’s hot? Then again, she’s conservative, so she naturally would be.

The killer of Arkansas Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney may have known his victim; evidence has turned up that indicates a possible grudge over Gwatney’s automobile dealerships.