WSJ: "Lawyers who supervise voting rights are Obama donors"

The Wall Street Journal has serious questions about the validity of those who are supposed to oversee fairness in voting to prevent voter fraud. In Monday's editorial they seemed to think the fox was guarding the hen house when it came to guarding against voter fraud.

The WSJ wrote:

If voter fraud would ever be ripe for investigation, this would seem to be the year with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn) having been caught filing thousands of bogus voter registrations in at least 14 states. Acorn's history of deceit and the national sweep of today's scandal demand a federal probe. Safeguarding the integrity of the vote is every bit as important as protecting access to the polls, yet Democrats want Justice to pay attention only to the latter.

Is voter fraud being ignored this year for political reasons? The WJS continued:

It doesn't help Justice's credibility that attorneys charged with supervising voting issues are avowed Barack Obama supporters. According to Federal Election Commission data, James Walsh, an attorney in the Civil Rights Division, has donated at least $300 to Mr. Obama. His boss, Mark Kappelhoff, has given $2,250 -- nearly the maximum. John Russ, also in Civil Rights, gave at least $600 to Mr. Obama.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to make these attorneys available to us, though she didn't deny that the contributions were made. She noted that the Hatch Act does not forbid federal employees from donating to candidates, and that Justice's internal "standards for recusal" on prosecutions depend on any "given situation." Apparently so.

Ending with examples of past voter fraud, the WSJ concluded:

Vote fraud is real and can affect elections. In 2001, the Palm Beach Post reported that more than 5,600 people who voted in Florida in the 2000 Presidential election had names and data that perfectly matched a statewide list of suspected felons who were barred from voting. Florida was decided by about 500 votes.

In 2003, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the result of a mayor's race because of absentee ballot fraud -- a case that led to a stricter Indiana ID law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2005 Tennessee state Senate race was voided after evidence of voting by felons, nonresidents and the deceased. A Washington State Superior Court judge found that the state's 2004 gubernatorial race, which Democrat Christine Gregoire won by 133 votes, had included at least 1,678 illegal votes.

Voter access does need to be protected, but Democrats are using that principle as a political weapon, suggesting that any serious look at fraud is intended to "disenfranchise" voters. This is a naked attempt to protect their friends at Acorn, who have been registering thousands of phony voters. Congress put the voter fraud statutes on the books, and Justice is obliged to enforce them.

I find this a disturbing situation after going through the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004.

McCain-Palin 2008

AG says Fairfax County military ballots must be counted

They are our men and women in uniform, the ones who keep us safe from terrorism ... and they have been at risk of being disenfranchised in this election season.

With at least 100 military votes at stake in Fairfax County, Virginia's Attorney General Bob McDonnell today released a formal opinion saying federal military absentee ballots must be counted for the Presidential election.

In a press release today, the AG's office explained, "The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is most commonly used by members of the military who are stationed overseas and have not received a state absentee ballot. It is a means by which service members can be guaranteed a vote in federal elections."

The legal opinion read:

“It is…... my opinion that the applicable provision of Virginia law, § 24.2-702.1(B), interpreted to require an overseas military voter submitting only a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot to include the printed name and address of the person who signs the witness statement is preempted by the provisions of the (federal) Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

Finally, it is my opinion that general registrars may not reject a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot submitted by overseas military voters for the November 4, 2008 federal election that does not include a printed name and address for the person who signs the witness statement…...”

It is shaping up to be another legal wrangling season across the nation reminiscent of 2000 and 2004.

Obama: "... put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig"

ABC News, Hot Air, and Drudge Report, and other sources are reporting Barack Obama's Lebanon, VA, speech today and his comment about pigs and lipstick.

"That's not change," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said of what Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is offering.

"You know, you can put lipstick on a pig," Obama said, "but it's still a pig."

The crowd rose and applauded, some of them no doubt thinking he may have been alluding to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's ad lib during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech last week, "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Well, now.

H/T GOP RN

John McCain-Sarah Palin 2008

Proof of media bias against GOP

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are so biased against the GOP that they have been removed from political coverage at MSNBC:

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left.

Hmmm ... Republican voters booing the biased mainstream press in Wisconsin ... and now removal of these two gentlemen ... could there be a revolution beginning in America?

Kay Bailey Hutchison?

Yankee Phil has picked up on the rumors making the rounds about the possibility of Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's name being in the mix of possible GOP Vice Presidential nominees. A friend first floated her name by me recently ... I had not even thought of her. Not a bad choice ... I like her ... as well as Eric Cantor....

John McCain for President 2008

Richmond T-D announces 2008 convention team of reporters

Today's Richmond Times-Dispatch (page A6 hard copy) has a photo and announcement of their 2008 convention team of reporters who will be attending and covering both conventions.

Tyler Whitley has been covering politics since 1980 and is a mainstay political reporter for the T-D.

Olympia Meola has covered local and state government in Virginia with audio and video reports.

Dean Hoffmeyer has covered Virginia-based military units in Cuba and Iraq. He is a multimedia journalist (photos and video).

Hope to see these folks while in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

It's 3 a.m. ... did you answer your phone? It's not Hillary

“Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee.”

The text message went out at 3:00 a.m. while most Americans were sleeping, followed by an email confirming what had been leaked hours earlier by the media.

With speculation that Virginia's Democrat Governor Tim Kaine was one of the finalists for VP, the Obama campaign made plans to release the final choice through text messages.

Did he slam the older half of the population who have no idea what a text message is? Could this hurt him down the road? Yes, we are in the new media age ... electronic gadgets are the rage ... but a large segment of voters, many who are Roosevelt Democrats, have never felt comfortable with computers and know nothing about texting.

Irregardless, should the campaign have stood by their original decision to release the name on Friday? After postponing it for 24 hours, the press figured it out and released it themselves, deflating the campaign's plans.

And so the 3 a.m. announcement was made.

Zzzzzz....

"Secret Life of Senator Infanticide" from American Power Blog

Donald Douglas over at the American Power Blog in the California political blogosphere has written a great piece about Barack Obama's lack of truthfulness and his sidestepping questions. These issues are beginning to seep to the surface as the campaign season continues and as he is asked the harder questions by conservatives. Not the media, mind you -- but conservatives ... radio talk show hosts, Fox News, and others who want to pin down the truth.

In Secret Life of Senator Infanticide, Donald writes:

What's become clear this week is that Barack Obama is an inveterate liar. He's not told the truth about his past positions on abortion (his "life lies," in David Freddosso's words), and he's also not been forthcoming on his ties to fugitive terrorist William Ayers and his leadership of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

But that's not all!

We've learned today that Obama published a brief research note in the Harvard Law Review which outlined his early pro-choice jurisprudence. What's most striking about this is not so much Obama's views, but that he's specifically claimed not to have authored any research during his law school tenure at Harvard University. As Ann Althouse rightly notes:

What is odd is that up until now, we'd been led to think that Obama, despite his stature as president of the Harvard Law Review, had never written anything. Once Politico tracked down the article, the campaign acknowledged that Obama had written it. But why the urge to suppress it? Obama took knocks for his supposed failure to produce any legal scholarship. It seems that abortion is just not something he wants to have to talk about.

Absolutely, and as we're seeing, it's not just abortion: From Trinity United Lutheran Church to the Richard J. Daley Library at University of Illinois at Chicago to the pattern of secrecy surrounding every move of his presidential campaign, Barack Obama is engaged in a deep program of deception, dishonesty, obfuscation, and prevarication.

What's shameful is the media's protective cocoon that's enabled this perfidy. As Michael Barone asks, "Why Won't the Mainstream Media Question the Obama Narrative?"

The answer? "Obama's Secret Weapon: The Media."

Be sure to read the entire post over at the American Power Blog.

John McCain for President 2008

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com

Anti-Obama book flies off bookshelves

A just-released book critical of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, “The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate,” is selling fast and has already shot into the top 20 on Amazon.com’s list of best-sellers.

NewsMax continues as they report more:

According to the AP, the just released "The Case Against Barack Obama" is one of the first books to counter the the narrative of Obama's life, one he has created himself with two bestselling books, including "Audacity of Hope."

Written by David Fredosso, a reporter for National Review Online, “The Case Against Barack Obama" is officially published by Regnery Publishing, Inc.

Regnery had published "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" — the book that helped defeat John Kerry in 2004.

But initial demand for "The Case Against Barack Obama" appears even stronger, as Regnery has rushed 300,000 copies of the hardcover to meet demand.

“There’s a pent-up demand from people on the right side of the aisle who feel that the mainstream media is effusively covering Barack Obama and not critically covering him,” Marji Ross, president and publisher of Regnery Publishing, told the AP.

Doing the legwork that the mainstream media has neglected, applying a critical eye while the media swoons before the Obama-messiah, and posing the hard questions that Obama needs to answer, Freddoso reveals a politician as calculating as any other.

Obama, he argues, is a far-left Democrat who goes beyond "abortion rights" to supporting de facto infanticide, whose "new politics" amount to Chicago-style hardball overlain with lofty rhetoric, and who, from his positions of power, has helped his patrons.

Read more here.

"Both Ways Barack"

The Dems are writing things like this:

It's no wonder that Republicans are confused. With McCain's positions on every issue being all over the map, Republicans no longer know what to believe.

They should turn that pointing finger back on themselves ... "Both Ways Barack."

John McCain for President

Presidential debate dates

Mark you calendars for the presidential debates coming up this fall between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

* Friday, Sept. 26 - Oxford, Mississippi
* Tuesday, Oct. 7 - Nashville, Tennessee
* Wednesday, Oct. 15 - Long Island, NY

A vice presidential debate is scheduled to be on Thursday, Oct. 2.

Snake Oil for Sale!

Guest post by Jerome Walus
Augusta County, Virginia

Snake oil for sale! This is the elixir of life! It will cure any and all your ailments! I have traveled the world in search of miraculous cures and brought this elixir from the exotic forests of Indonesia where people use it to live 100 to 150 years while still retaining the looks of a 20 year old.

The elixir of life will grow back hair on bald scalps! It makes you feel young again! Apply to wrinkles and they magically disappear! I am the only one with this secret potion and if you act now I will throw in an extra bottle for the one low price of $19.95, but wait ...

I could go on and on and on. We have heard the pitch of false hope and promises before, and we hear it today on infomercials. This pitch of bait-and-hook has been around for as long as man has existed. We are now witnesses to a new, improved, modern medicine show and bait-and-hook is the major part of the act. This new snake oil salesman is selling himself as hope and change but who exactly is he and what changes will he make?

We know that he is a man who is a skilled lawyer. We know he is a polished orator. We know he dislikes free market and enterprise. We know he plans to financially punish employers with additional burdens. We also know he is a control freak. We know he once made his living from shaking down banks with lawsuits forcing bad housing loans to poorly informed people which in turn placed families in houses for which they could hardly make payments on even the interest.

Maybe he should be known as “Sub Prime Mortgage Man,” able to force banks to lend large amounts of money to those not ready for the mansion, those with a smaller house income, and those with little, no, or bad credit and thus set up people for failure or a federal bail out which only prolongs the failure.

We know he is planning to cut our wages through taxation. We know he plans to steal from the evil rich and give to the poor. (Side note: If you work, you are rich and evil.)

He plans to enact a third world government-run health care system where everyone will wait their turn and be told their condition is inoperable, not because it can’t be cured, but because someone younger bumps you out of line or you are not worth the cost of the treatment, similar to Canada.

We know that we already have a huge monetary burden taken from our gross pay for social security and we know there is no guarantee we will ever receive anything in return for our investment.

What makes anyone believe that our federal government, which misappropriates social security money, can manage health care?

I am convinced that every working person will have a payroll deduction from what is left of their current take-home pay to fund the free Government Health Care, and that the cost will be equal or greater to the deduction for FICA.

He says we do not need to increase the supply of fuel but, rather, that we Americans drive too much so he advocates a Federal tax on gasoline equal to that which the Europeans pay. He predicts it will push the price at the pump to well over $12 per gallon and will curtail our evil driving habits and, while he did not say it that way, that is the way it comes across.

We know he has a disdain for our armed services and does not have a rational conception of evil. He and Neville Chamberlain would be giving each other accolades and high-fives for getting tyrants' agreements (fingers crossed behind their backs) that Adolf wouldn't aggress further and try world conquest. And when Mahmoud gets nuclear capabilities, he won’t nuke Israel, Europe or the USA no matter how many times he proclaims it publicly.

In an earlier age these traveling show salesmen were known as flim-flam men and snake oil salesmen. A few years back they were known as shake-down artists and con men.

Today he is known as Obama -- and about that hope? He hopes you can afford him.

Why did Obama cancel his visit to wounded troops?

The debate continues after Barack Obama canceled a planned visit to wounded troops when it was disclosed he could not take cameras, reporters, and a platoon of campaign people in with him ... in other words, it would not be made into a campaign stop. As the leftie bloggers try to spin it into the President's fault and anyone else they can blame, the debate continues.

Check this out from ABC News:

I asked him to explain the controversy about his canceled trip to visit with wounded troops at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. … "So rather than go forward and potentially get caught up in what might have been considered a political controversy of some sort," Obama said, "what we decided was that we not make a visit and instead I would call some of the troops that were there. So that essentially would be the extent of the story."

Read the entire article and the comments below. To be continued....

McCain closes in on Obama in 4 battleground states

Republican John McCain has closed in on Democrat Barack Obama in four battleground states, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin show gains by John McCain.

Quinnipiac reported current and previous results:

Sen. McCain has picked up support in almost every group in every state, especially among independent voters and men voters. The Republican now leads Obama among independent voters in Michigan and Minnesota. Overall results show:

- Colorado: McCain is up by a nose 46 - 44 percent, compared to a 49 - 44 percent Obama lead June 26;
- Michigan: Obama tops McCain 46 - 42 percent, compared to a 48 - 42 percent lead last time;
- Minnesota: Obama edges ahead 46 - 44 percent, compared to a 54 - 37 percent Obama lead;
- Wisconsin: Obama leads McCain 50 - 39 percent, compared to 52 - 39 percent.

We are still in summer polls ... most Americans are not paying that much attention yet to the fall campaigns. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change over the next weeks but especially after the Republican Convention in September.

H/T GOP Rock

"He ventured forth to bring light to the world...."

Satire? Or what some believe?

Dems received thousands of $$$ in tax-free gasoline in Denver?

“The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention has used the city's gas pumps to fill up and apparently avoided paying state and federal fuel taxes. . . . Downs said the contract with the host committee started in March and that $9,700 in fuel and services had been purchased from the city so far."

The hypocrisy is amazing. Democrats, who are constantly calling for more taxes even in this time of high gasoline prices appear to have received thousands of dollars in tax-free gasoline while in Denver preparing for the August Democrat Convention, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

When the story got out, there were angry reactions from those in Denver government as well as nationwide. The Internal Revenue Service said non-profits were not exempt from paying state and federal taxes but they would not comment further to the press.

The RMN reported:

Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, said the city's arrangement with the DNC host committee was "appalling."

"I'm hoping this is not the first of many stories about how Colorado taxpayers are apparently subsidizing the Democratic convention," Wadhams said.

I am sure conservative bloggers in Colorado will be watching as preparations continue for the quickly-approaching Democrat Convention.

Let Freedom Ring Ad: "Both Ways Barack"

What do you get when a candidate agrees with both sides of an issue? Instead of a "flip-flopper," you end up with "Both Ways Barack."

The conservative group "Let Freedom Ring" has zeroed in on Obama's stand both for and against a variety of issues from gun control to the war in Iraq. The ad is currently playing locally in the Shenandoah Valley as well as on national media outlets such as MTV.

"Let Freedom Ring's" website described the ad:

The 30-second spot, now airing across several cable channels, including MTV, opens with a folksy-voiced narrator claiming, "People are saying that Senator Obama's recent changes of position have made him a flip-flopper." Newspaper headlines appear on the screen, stating, "Obama aide signals shift on Iraq troop withdrawal," "Shift on war hits Obama's liberal base, " "Obama's Enigma" and "Obama's Changes Raise Issue: Can You Believe Him?"

The question "Flip-Flopper?" flashes, and the narrator says, "He's not! Flip-floppers only hold one position at a time." An image of Obama pointing his finger is then transposed to the other side of the screen as the narrator adds, "Senator Obama is different: He holds two positions at the same time."

Using mirror images of Obama's head pointing in opposite directions, the ad then claims Obama has voted both for and against banning handguns, public campaign financing and withdrawing from Iraq. It cites sources including ABC News, the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. "He wants to have them all both ways," says the narrator. "He's 'Both Ways Barack' - worse than a flip-flopper!"

Flip-flopper? Or both-ways? It would be nice if the mainstream media put away their smelling salts and began to hold this candidate accountable.

H/T GOP Michelangelo

English? Spanish? What exactly was Obama suggesting?

"Now just why in the HELL do I have to press '1' for English?"

Jason over at the Augusta Water Cooler has a good post up in response to Barack Obama's campaign speech that suggested American students should speak Spanish as opposed to English as a national language.

My two French-speaking sisters would object to that ... one worked in Paris for several years and both have spent time in France studying the country and her people.

I took the Spanish language route myself in high school, mostly because I was told by a guidance counselor that it was the easier foreign language to learn, and I needed a foreign language credit.

Jason writes:

For Sen. Obama to suggest that our kids should speak Spanish as opposed to English (as our national language) IS beyond ridiculous. ... If you were a fence sitter on which candidate to back, then this may be the tipper for you.

Obama's comments have left people scratching their heads trying to figure out what this guy is talking about and where he intends to take this country if elected....