Reparations? You must be joking..!

Today I saw an African-American man wearing a sweatshirt with a complicated logo on it that talked about "Reparations".

"Reparations" is a term that refers to the fact that many Americans of African descent feel they are entitled to some type of payment for suffering their ancestors endured during slavery.

My first thought when I saw it? "You must be joking.."

The immediate problem with reparations is that it is a lunatic liberal idea that can never work.

The people who enforced slavery are all dead. The people who suffered and endured being slaves are also all dead. There is no point in bringing this subject matter up.

Of course, there are those who would say that America owes a big debt to each descendant of slavery.

I disagree. Who would pay these "reparations"? Taxpayers.

I, myself, am of European descent, primarily Italian and German.

My ancestors all came to America in the 1880s. After the Civil War and slavery had ended.

My family never saw a single penny of benefit from slavery.

So, why should I have to pay financial rewards to people who were never slaves?

The idea is ludicrous.

Besides... Barack Obama and the Democrats have already created a scam for African Americans to get money out of the government. It is called "Pigford", and all you have to do is claim you were a black farmer who faced discrimination from the USDA...and you can get $50,000 from the US Government.

Even the wildly liberal Washington Times knows that it is all a scam.

But don't worry. Michele Bachmann is on the case....

If the government can't handle Pigford, what do you think would happen with reparations ?

More poor decisions from Obama

I'd like everyone to take a long, hard look at this photo.

Barack Obama shaking hands with Muammar Gaddafi.

The same Gaddafi who was involved in blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 in December of 1988, killing 270 people, a majority of them being Americans.

I don't know how the people who voted for Obama can live with themselves.

The facts of the Pan Am Flight 103 have been known for two decades.

This photo is a real slap in the face to the families of those victims.

That is why, as President of The United States of America, you need better handlers who know about the world and know better than to allow you to casually greet a madman, and murderer of American citizens.

But then again, we have all come to have lowered expectations of a man who, even though he is Commander-in-Chief of our military, doesn't have anyone on his staff talented enough, or with enough military experience, to know the pronunciation of the word "corpsman".

The 50 Most Dangerous Liberals in America

As I was attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C., I noticed some publishing companies giving out free magazines, books, tapes, DVDs, etc... in order to boost their media presence. One of the magazines I grabbed was an issue of Townhall magazine with the cover pictured above.

This cover was, of course, like catnip to me. I grabbed a copy and stuffed it in my bag.

I think it is important for the public to know who these people are and what exactly their insidious agenda is for the rest of America.

I will occasionally be giving each person on this list a full blog post because - yes - they are that dangerous to Americas future.

Just to be clear, I don't agree with Townhall's rankings. I agree somewhat, but I feel that people like Michelle Obama and Jon Stewart are annoying, but not that dangerous that they should even make this list.

I would move Kagan, Sotomayor, and Ginsberg way up in the rankings because of their potential, through judicial activism, to ruin this country. I would move Barney Frank up into the top 10, because his never-ending support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has helped to create what amounts to a worldwide depression right now. I would move Barack Obama up to #1 on the list. George Soros is definitely bad news, but he can't launch 100 cruise missiles overnight into any country he desires.

Today I will just give the basic breakdown from Townhall... in ascending order.

#50 OLIVER STONE
Movie Director and Screenwriter

#49 BILL MAHER
Comedian; Host of “Real Time With Bill Maher” on HBO

#48 THOMAS FRIEDMAN
Columnist for the New York Times

#47 AL SHARPTON
Founder of the National Action Network

#46 BILL AYERS
Co-founder and Former Leader of Weather Underground Terrorist Group; Education Professor at the University of Chicago, Illinois.

#45 ANNIE LEONARD
Author and Host of “The Story of Stuff”

#44 RACHEL MADDOW
Host of "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC

#43 DICK DURBIN
U.S. Senate Majority Whip from Illinois

#42 SONIA SOTOMAYOR
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

#41 DAVID BROCK
CEO of Media Matters

#40 MARKOS MOULITSAS
Founder and Publisher of Daily Kos

#39 ELENA KAGAN
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

#38 HOWARD DEAN
Liberal Democratic Pundit; Former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

#37 OPRAH WINFREY
Television Host and Media Mogul

#36 JANET MURGUIA
President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza

#35 HAROLD KOH
Legal Adviser for the U.S. State Department

#34 NANCY PELOSI
U.S. House Democratic Minority Leader from California; Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

#33 PETER SINGER
Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University

#32 PAUL KRUGMAN
Economist and Columnist for the New York Times

#31 BARNEY FRANK
U.S. Democratic Representative from Massachusetts

#30 AL GORE
Former Vice President; Environmental Activist

#29 HENRY WAXMAN
U.S. Democratic Representative from California

#28 JON STEWART
Host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show"

#27 JIM WALLIS
President and CEO of Sojourners

#26 STEPHEN BREYER
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

#25 NIHAD AWAD
Co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

#24 HARRY REID
U.S. Senate Democratic Majority Leader from Nevada

#23 JANET NAPOLITANO
Secretary of Homeland Security

#22 ARNE DUNCAN
Secretary of Education

#21 RUTH BADER GINSBERG
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

#20 BILL KELLER
Executive Editor of the New York Times

#19 DAVID AXELROD
Senior Advisor to President Obama

#18 SUSAN HERMAN
President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

#17 CHUCK SCHUMER
U.S. Democratic Senator from New York

#16 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
Co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post.

#15 TIMOTHY GEITHNER
Secretary of the Treasury

#14 ANDY STERN
Former President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

#13 JOHN HOLDREN
White House Science Czar

#12 RICHARD TRUMKA
President of the AFL-CIO

#11 PETER LEWIS
Businessman and Billionaire Liberal Financier; Chairman of Progressive Insurance

#10 MICHELLE OBAMA
First Lady of the United States

#9 DONALD BERWICK
Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

#8 JOHN PODESTA
President and CEO of the Center for American Progress

#7 KATHLEEN SEBELIUS
Secretary of Health and Human Services

#6 LISA JACKSON
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

#5 CECILE RICHARDS
President of Planned Parenthood and Planned Parenthood Action Fund

#4 CASS SUNSTEIN
White House Regulation Czar

#3 BARACK OBAMA
President of the United States

#2 ERIC HOLDER
Attorney General of the United States

#1 GEORGE SOROS
Businessman and Billionaire Liberal Financier; Founder and Chairman of Open Society Foundations.

Schwarzenegger: Morally Bankrupt

I'll start this blog post with one very simple and direct fact: I did not vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger to be Governor of California. I have never have voted for him, and I never will.

There are several reasons for this.

The primary one being that Arnold is always about Arnold. I don't think he particularly gives a damn about anyone or anything else. Sure, he was a big movie star, but what had he done to ever indicate he could work in a job as complicated as State politics? I saw nothing in his background to indicate that he had the common sense or ability to run the State of California. Unfortunately, I was right about that.

There was also this video of him smoking a joint a few decades ago, indicating his willingness to violate California law (at the time). Never a good sign.

Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver, an ultra-liberal from the Kennedy family. This shows you that his "Conservatism" never existed and was always a bunch of baloney. When your politics don't enter into your personal life, you are most likely a big hypocrite and a phony. If you marry an Obama voter, you should be ashamed to show up at GOP events. Shriver, like most liberals/dictators/phonies, also shows a remarkable willingness to break the law whenever it suits her own needs.

For all his foibles and weaknesses, the thing that bothered me the most about Schwarzenegger was that I considered him to be morally bankrupt.

Back in the 1960's, Schwarzenegger had joined the Austrian military and learned how to drive a tank. One year of military service was compulsory for young males in Austria at the time. In countries with small populations, this is still a fairly common practice.

When joining the Austrian Army, Schwarzenegger swore an oath to defend Austria. He pledged his loyalty to his native country of Austria. Then, years later, he decided to abandon this oath and his home country and become a citizen in The United States of America.

The problem with this is that when you swear an oath of loyalty, it is supposed to mean something.

Schwarzenegger defenders can never fully talk their way out of this one. Either he was lying when he took the oath, or he just decided to break that promise in search of better things in life for himself.

In the 1980's I took the an oath when I joined the US Army, and it is still active for me. I swore to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic. (And there are plenty of enemies around to be defending against.)

This disloyalty to his own country and his own people was the most disturbing thing about Schwarzenegger to me. A person who violates an oath for his own selfish self-interests should not be elected to public office. It shows a lack of moral clarity. A moral bankruptcy, as it were.

Maybe Arnold should look into joining this organization.... Oathkeepers. They are all about keeping those promises to their country. He could learn some valuable lessons about integrity.

Bachmann electrifies crowds in Iowa

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the newest entrant into the 2012 Presidential race, was stirring up crowds in Iowa yesterday with her fierce wit and charming common sense.

Bachmann targeted President Obama and said she wanted "a waiver" from the last two years of his leadership.

She also ridiculed government interference by stating loudly and proudly that "Iowans can be trusted with the choice of their own lightbulbs!" It was a comment that got the crowd fired up.

Bachmann was speaking at an event held by Iowa Congressman Steve King, the Conservative Principles PAC.

Instead of trying to give a recap of the event, I'm going to try to find the video and list it here.

Bachmann praises Iowans for their rejection of gay marriage

Addressing a crowd of home-schooling advocates in Des Moines yesterday, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann applauded Iowans and their efforts to reject the concept of gay marriage.

Repeatedly referring to activist judges as "our black robed masters", Bachmann went on to praise Iowans for the way they handled the gay marriage controversy in their state.

"If you have judges who thwart the will of the people, you send them packing. Thank you Iowa, for what you have done to uphold the Constitution," Bachmann said in front of a crowd of thousands in Des Moines.

Supreme Court Justices Marsha Ternus, David Baker, and Michael Streit were all thrown out of office in November by angry voters after these activist judges decided to create religious theology and declare that gay marriage now existed in Iowa. Iowa voters told them otherwise.

Bachmann, a new entrant into the 2012 Presidential race, continued to play to her base in Iowa. She reminded voters that she was a "7th generation Iowan" and that she supported the evangelicals and their desires to home school their children.

Bachmann is slowly becoming a force in Iowa. If Mike Huckabee doesn't run for president, Bachmann has a very good chance in the Iowa Caucus. The Caucus takes place on February 6, 2012.

Conservatives rejoice!! Bachmann: A 2012 run

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Conservative who is also a Tea Party activist, has been dropping subtle hints that she is eyeing a run for the White House in 2012.

This news brings great joy to a crowd of far-right voters who had been looking at the field of candidates for 2012 with distrust and disdain. Now there is finally a candidate to support.

Bachmann is a strong defender of the Constitution. She wants to repeal Obamacare.

She already has a campaign mantra where she holds up a sign and says " Obama took $105 Billion in the health care bill and we want it back..."

She also calls Obamacare a "Crime against Democracy".

Great stuff from her.

One group that might be unhappy about this news is the Sarah Palin supporters.

Michele Bachmann might steal some voters away from Sarah Palin in a GOP primary.

Michele Bachmann is much more Conservative than Sarah Palin.

Certain voters are going to like this news a lot.

Kevin James for Mayor? Not so fast....

Thump-thump-thump-thump.

What was that?

That was the sound of a lot of Los Angeles political activists jumping off the Kevin James bandwagon.

I never jumped on that bandwagon in the first place, so I saved myself some travel time.

In a surprising revelation, Patrick Range McDonald over at LA Weekly reports that Kevin James is gay.

The former Assistant U.S. Attorney and current KRLA radio show host had previously been seen as somewhat Conservative in his political views, but this news will not sit well with some voters. Like me.

Gay? I can handle that. I have two friends who are gay.

I don't approve of their lifestyle, but I don't condemn them for it.

I just accept them as who they are. It doesn't stop me from being their friend.

Hell, I even have some friends who voted for Obama...and I consider that a crime against humanity.

James being gay probably won't derail his campaign, but I don't think it particularly helps him, either.

What I find particularly offensive is that in the LA Weekly piece it states that James supports Gay marriage and worked against Prop 8. That is, indeed, troubling.

When I was working on the McCain campaign in 2008, I also spent some time and energy working on the Yes on 8 proposition. I even went to their website and endorsed it. So for James to say he supports these goals...well... I can't support him, then.

Does this make me a jerk? Mean spirited? Not really.

Like Obama, James has views and ideologies that I can never accept.

He is entitled to support these views and issues, but I will not.

The race for Mayor will be filled with liberals who cherish these types of ideas.

I don't. It is that simple.

My position on homosexuality is complicated.

Both the Bible and the Torah say that the punishment for homosexuality is death.

But nobody today runs around killing people just because they are gay. That would be crazy.

As a Conservative, you are always concerned about the rights of others. Technically, I think gays already have most rights given to them under the Constitution. There is no reason they shouldn't be able to transfer property, inherit things, share insurance programs, or visit a loved one in the hospital ...etc.

Gays in the military? I think "Don't ask, don't tell " is about the best compromise possible.

But gay marriage? That is a leap they cannot make.

In over 5,000 years of Judeo-Christian history, there has never been such a thing as gay marriage.

But now gays want to snap their fingers and say that this thing now, magically, exists.

What gays are saying is that they have the right to inflict a twisted ideology on others. An ideology that repulses and horrifies them because it betrays and perverts their very religious faith and beliefs.

Legitimate churches and religions do not allow gay marriages to be performed.

For a government to step in and demand that would be a horror show for those of faith.

If the scriptures and the religious organizations themselves say it can't happen, then gays have no right to step into the arena and try to create new doctrines and theologies.

Gays want to share life insurance programs? Go ahead. Be my guest.

Gays want to get married in my Catholic Church? Not a chance. Not going to happen.

One of my funniest memories of the 2008 campaign was about Prop 8.

It was late at night and some of us at the McCain headquarters on Motor Avenue were carpooling home.

We were on our way to dropping off a coworker who lived in West Hollywood.

Spotting an angry "No on 8" crowd at Santa Monica and Robertson, I asked my buddy to drive slowly past them.

I grabbed one of our yellow "Yes on 8" yard signs and held it out the window.

"Yes on 8! Yes on 8!" , I shouted at the crowd.

Jaws dropped. Silence. Then anger...

They didn't like my sign too much. An angry mob chased us down Santa Monica about 300 yards before we finally accelerated away from them. I got a good laugh out of it, but the guy who was driving was terrified of potential vandalism.

It was proof that when it comes to gays, their "open mindedness and tolerance" only work in one direction.

If your beliefs include the Bible, then they really can't stand you.

Odds for the 2012 Presidential Race

I like to be brutally honest about certain things. It saves me time and effort.

My opinions in handicapping the 2012 Presidential Race will not make certain people happy.

(I'm prepared for the rage of the Paulistas...)

But let's start with one simple fact.

There are only about ten people who can be the next President of the United States.

And we know who 7 or 8 of them are, already. But, there are a few we don't know.

And that is the exciting part. It is possible the next President may be someone we aren't even talking about right now. Barack Obama looked like a real longshot against Hillary Clinton in 2008. But good luck and fortune rolled his way.

History can be funny like that, sometimes.

The overall favorite in 2012 is the current President, Barack Obama.

With the bully pulpit and almost unlimited television exposure, he will be difficult to beat.

If the economy recovers, and things start getting better, he will be almost impossible to beat.

However, Obamas lack of experience and poor decisions are heading this country into a dangerous area of staggering deficits, heavy job losses and over-reliance on foreign oil.

He just might end up being Jimmy Carter, part II.

I'm surprised that no big GOP names have announced against him yet.

THE GOP TOP 4: Romney, Huckabee, Palin, Paul

There is a clear distinction between the top 4 candidates for the Republicans and the others. These are candidates who have already run in a national race before, and are well known by the voters. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee actually won several contests in the 2008 Republican Presidential primaries, and if they choose to run, they will be the favorites in those states again. Congressman Ron Paul and his Paulistas will get him into the race, but much like in 2008, he will have a bunch of fourth and fifth place finishes, and he will not win the nomination.

All three of these men are tainted by the same stigma: They couldn't beat John McCain.

How could voters ever expect them to beat Barack Obama?

Romney is also damaged by the stink over "Romneycare", and I expect it to kill his chances. I think he will finish in the top 3 in the race, but I don't expect him to win. Huckabee actually has been expressing reservations about the cost of the 2012 campaign, and he has also mentioned how happy he is with his current set up at Fox right now. In a surprise move, I expect him to announce that he isn't going to run.

Sarah Palin is the most charismatic and instantly recognizable figure in the Republican Party right now.

However, she does have her critics, and it is historically difficult for a woman to achieve high elected office.

But Sarah Palin is fearless, and she will run for President and drive many contestants out of the race immediately. In fact, after the results in Iowa and New Hampshire, there will probably be less than five people left. Sarah will be one of them.

WAITING IN THE WINGS: Barbour, Bush, Christie, Daniels, Gingrich, Perry, Pawlenty

There is a long list of former and current Governors who are waiting to see what will happen in the next few months. Some of them will enter the race, some of them will come close, but drop out at the last minute.

Governors bring executive experience and also an established fundraising base to the contests.

Chris Christie of New Jersey seems to be a rising star in the party who believes in his chances to win the White House, but he also says he doesn't feel as if he's ready. Rick Perry of Texas is my personal favorite, and he has been Governor of Texas for 10 years, so I think, career-wise, there is nowhere else for him to go except to run for President. At CPAC, I met several big GOP players at the dinner where Mitch Daniels spoke, but they weren't talking about Daniels. They were talking about Jeb Bush. Smart, talented, a Spanish speaker, and a former Governor of Florida... they all wanted him to run. Some people are afraid that a third Bush would be an overdose for the American voting public. I don't. I think Bush is a legitimate threat to win it all if he runs.

THE LONGSHOTS: Bachmann, Bloomberg, De Mint, Johnson, Rubio, Santorum, Trump

I purposely didn't list people like Herman Cain, Jon Huntsmann, and John Bolton. While they might be interesting, you generally have to run for and win an elected office before running for President. They didn't, and as such, they have zero chance.

Bloomberg and Trump are businessmen who are threatening to spend their own fortunes running for President. However, I think they know that they probably wouldn't win, and that it would be a bad idea to waste that type of money. Trump won't run. He just likes the attention.

Johnson and Santorum are not good candidates. They won't beat all the people in front of them.

I love Michele Bachmann and Jim De Mint for their solid Conservatism, but in a crowded field, it will be difficult for them to get past the bigger, established names in this race.

Marco Rubio is a real wild card for 2012. Even though he has shown no interest in running, some pretty big names in Conservative circles have been urging him to run. If he does, he immediately jumps into the top 10.

In fact, Marco Rubio would help lock up Floridas electoral votes for the GOP.

That would be a serious blow to Barack Obamas chances.

ODDS ON BEING ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 2012

Barack Obama 6/5

Mitt Romney 3/1

Chris Christie 4/1

Mike Huckabee 5/1

Sarah Palin 7/1

Rick Perry 10/1

Jeb Bush 10/1

Marco Rubio 12/1

Tim Pawlenty 15/1

Ron Paul 15/1

Newt Gingrich 20/1

Haley Barbour 20/1

Mitch Daniels 30/1

Michele Bachmann 30/1

Jim De Mint 35/1

Others 50/1

Sarah meets Bibi

How awesome is this?

Two of my favorite leaders get together for Purim dinner.

Sarah Palin and her husband Todd were guests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. They had Purim dinner in the official residence of the Prime Minister in Jerusalem.

Sarah Palin reaffirmed her commitment to the people of Israel.

For someone who is not running for President, Sarah seems to be acting in a very Presidential manner.

Tim Pawlenty was not the top news story in Israel yesterday.

And I doubt he ever will be.

Sarah Palin arrives in Israel

Israelis were surprised when a strong, principled Christian leader from America arrived in the Holy Land.

While Egypt and Libya are in flames, Barack Obama announces his basketball tournament picks.

Sarah Palin arrives in Israel to reassure her friends that America supports them.

I'm starting to think more and more that Sarah Palin might be the candidate for us in 2012.

She hasn't even declared yet, but she is making the other potential candidates look weak in comparison already.

Abrahms wins, crushes Boyd

In one of the happier developments this weekend, Adam Abrahms won his election to become a Vice-Chair of the California Republican Party.

He crushed his opponent, former RPLAC chair Linda Boyd.

Boyd might finally be finished in party politics.

Glad to see that the end run around the rules attempted by Boyd didn't work.

Napolitano: "They are shredding the Constitution"

Judge Andrew Napolitiano pretty much lays the cards on the table.

The reason our country is in so much trouble is too much government.

They are shredding the Constitution and operating in a lawless, rogue manner.

If the Federal Reserve keeps printing fantasy money, it will collapse our nation and the world economy.

God Bless Texas!!

I finally found the video I had been looking for.
Governor Rick Perry and his speech at CPAC. I was there.
A leader who understands the importance of minimizing government is just what we need right now.

Fierce defender of the 10th Amendment.
My choice for 2012.
Check out this video.

Adam Abrahms for Los Angeles Regional Vice Chair

This blog post is going up at the last minute, but I wanted to send a clear message to a bunch of my Conservative friends.

The California Republican Party is having its Spring Convention in Sacramento this weekend.

Besides the usual lectures, seminars, and Q&A sessions, there will also be an election of new State officers.

I am supporting Adam Abrahms in his campaign to be elected as Vice Chair of the State Party from the Los Angeles area. I don't know his specific ideologies, but I do know that he was a great help in getting some rival Young Republican groups to merge their forces. He is well respected in the party.

You can learn more at his website: www.AdamAbrahms.com

I also know that his opponent, Linda Boyd, has a variety of personal issues that have ended up causing personal friction and financial losses to the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.

To all my friends up there in Sacramento this weekend, vote for Abrahms.

Keep Linda Boyd away from the control surfaces whenever possible.

Jan Perry for Mayor? LOL!

Oh, this is rich. I can't even believe the comic material that is going to spring up from this announcement, but...

Jan Perry wants to be Mayor of Los Angeles in 2013.

Really? The Hamburglar?

I guess anyone can dream.

Perry might get a lot of votes from her Council District, but does she really think she could beat Wendy Greuel or Eric Garcetti? And that's if we don't include the megabucks candidate, Developer Rick Caruso.

Well, good luck to her... but I will do my best to remind voters of Perrys support of freedom-destroying Socialist legislation that banned fast food joints from operating in her District.

Jan Perry considers herself "The Decider".

And if you live in Council District 9, she has decided there will be "No burgers for you!!"

Mark Levin wants Marco Rubio to run for President

This is a brief clip of the radio show done by Conservative commentator Mark Levin. Levin is widely known in Conservative circles by his nickname, "The Great One", because of his clear, concise, and steadily Conservative analysis of current events and political trends. For my money, he is better than Rush Limbaugh and all the others because he takes risks. He warns listeners of bad Republicans and of other people who are straying from the path.

Levin asks Rubio why he doesn't enter the race for the White House. Rubio excuses himself by saying that his duties in the Senate are too important.

But when Mark Levin calls you a "superstar"... it is something you have to start considering.

Personally, I think Rubio would make a fantastic candidate. I loved watching Rubio come from nowhere and totally destroy Big RINO Governor Charlie Crist in the US Senate race in Florida.

He has the necessary star quality, but I think Rubio is probably going to wait to be asked to be on the ticket by whoever wins the GOP nomination. As a Vice-Presidential choice, he helps lock up Florida for the Republicans and he also draws large amounts of Latino voters to the polls across the country --- voters who will be excited to see an American (of Cuban heritage) being elected to one of the highest positions in America.

Why a Palin Presidency is possible

There are many geniuses out there in the political landscape that continue to harp on the fact that Sarah Palin is "unelectable" in the Presidential election of 2012. The mainstream media bangs the drum of Palin-hating just about as hard you could possibly hit it. Google "Sarah Palin" and "unelectable" and you get over 280,000 hits.

Like this one from The Atlantic.

Or this one from Chicago Now.

Or maybe this one. A vicious left hook from Politicus USA.

Sarah Palin seems to have realized the problem herself and has been addressing recent rallies by stating that "People said Reagan was unelectable in 1980." A good counter-measure by her.

Luckily, all this media speculation doesn't mean much.

In fact, they are all wrong.

Sarah Palin can be elected President of the United States if things break her way.

Current speculation means nothing.

Back in 2006, everyone was predicting the fight for the White House in 2008 would be Hillary Clinton against Rudy Giuliani. Whoops...

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

To be honest, Sarah Palin does have some strong negative factors working against her.

She has been ridiculed for not being "smart enough" or having had an elite college education.

Her foreign policy chops are seen as weak because she had never been issued a passport or even left the country up until just a couple of years ago. Her quitting her job as Governor of Alaska didn't sit right with many voters and political pundits.

The exaggerated characterizations of her by comedians, including "Saturday Night Live's" Tina Fey, have done serious damage to her reputation. In fact, many voters often quote Tina Feys lines of comedy dialogue as Sarah Palins word-for-word quotes... an unfortunate side-effect of that impersonation of her.

However, for the all the negatives hurled at Palin, the woman seems remarkably resilient.

There are several reasons why Sarah Palin can still be elected President of The United States in 2012.

1. Sarah Palin is the only "rock star" in the GOP field.

Indeed, Palin is such a big draw that most places can't handle her crowd-drawing capacity. She was a big embarrassment for the McCain campaign in 2008 -- because she regularly outdrew McCain crowds when she was campaigning without him. They changed that policy immediately in deference to the power of her charisma. Mitch Daniels or Rick Santorum would probably have to get themselves arrested in order to surpass Sarah in the headlines for even a few days. In fact, Sarah has such a hold on the media that she creates her own specific gravity. Every other potential GOP candidate has to be weighed against her. Can they even get any attention when a mesmerized and antagonistic media refuses to focus their attention on anyone else?

2. Sarah Palin has a built-in "core" constituency that will help her win primaries.

How many people are going to get excited about volunteering to go hike through snowy conditions in Iowa and New Hampshire in January and February of 2012? Does the thought of Tim Pawlenty get your heart racing? Yeah.... me neither.

Some of those people volunteering to trudge through the Iowa snow will be the Right-To-Life organizations. For them, no other candidate will do. Sarah Palin, to them, walks on water. In a confusing world where it is sometimes difficult to differentiate your friends from your enemies, it can be even harder to identify the true intentions of the professional shape-shifting politician. For the Right-To-Life organizations, Sarah Palin represents clarity and truth. She doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk.

With their support, Sarah eliminates most of the other candidates from the discussion.

If and when Sarah declares as a candidate, many others will drop out or decline to run.

Sarah is also popular with members of the military, and pro-gun organizations.

She only needs to get about 35-40% of the vote to win the first two primaries.

If she does that, it's over early.

3. Sarah Palin is the only candidate "acting" Presidential right now.

Sarahs powerful media presence has given her the unprecedented ability to launch blistering attacks on the failed policies of Barack Obama. In fact, her Facebook posts and Twitter "tweets" often become media stories on their own. No other candidate is doing, or can do, this. While Sarah is out there running laps around the other candidates and going full throttle against Barack Obama, some other candidates are waiting in the locker room hoping she gets into a big messy (political) car wreck on the way to the nomination. And yes, I'm talking about Mitt Romney...

4. Palin has an "everyman" quality to her that appeals to voters.

In the 2012 election, if Sarah Palin is fortunate enough to be the GOP nominee, she will be able to show a shocking level of difference between her ability to empathize with the common man as opposed to Barack Obama. Sarah likes to go hunting. She enjoyed watching her daughter dance and voted for her on "Dancing With The Stars". Sarah can laugh at herself about writing crib notes on her hand. Even though the voting public has a negative impression of her, they might soften that stance with time. I know that Republican voters who don't support her in the primaries will most likely support her in the general election.

5. Barack Obama is facing an ugly election situation in 2012.

The Republican avalanche in 2010 sent a message that Americans opposed Obamas policies and spending habits. The outlook for 2012 does not look any better. An economy crippled by unemployment will not reward Obama for his failed "stimulus" program, most of which was just cleverly disguised embezzlement.

If gas prices go over $5 a gallon, Obama will be sunk. He halted drilling in the Gulf, helping to create the current crisis.

Suddenly, voters might take a second look at the charming lady who promises to lower gas prices by drilling for oil anywhere and everywhere we can find it.

I've lost all faith in Houston

It is very disturbing to watch video like this. A dingbat Congresswoman named Sheila Jackson Lee.... who has no business even setting foot in Congress... is allowed to waste talented peoples time with her utter nonsense. Remember, this is a woman who is so stupid she doesn't realize that the country of Vietnam is no longer two separate countries. She also has an established reputation for being a complete jackass.

In this video above, she's waving the Constitution around likes she understands it. It's comical, coming from a Constitution-shredding Socialist like her.
(I'd like to ask her where it says the Government can force me to buy Health care. I missed that section.)

It makes me lose faith in the voters of her section of Houston. It is unimaginable to me that her voters can be so dumb as to send someone this incompetent to the most powerful legislative body in the world.

My favorite video right now

I'm a total freakin' Rock Star from Mars. Winning!
Come on bro, I got Tiger Blood. Winning!

Thinking about Japan

Last night before I went to bed I caught some of the horrific footage on CNN of the tsunami sweeping across the coast of Japan. When they said the earthquake had been an 8.8, I thought to myself... Is that even possible? I lived in the Valley during the Northridge quake in 1994 - that was a 6.8 - and it seems impossible that an earthquake could be thousands of times more powerful than that one. But the images on the news tell me it must be true.

Ironically enough, it had been an earthquake that caused me to go live in Japan in 1994. I had been living in the San Fernando Valley near the Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys border when the Northridge quake hit in January of 1994. I got bounced around quite a bit, and the Valley took some mighty hard hits. But I was lucky. Some people got killed in that earthquake. I was living on the second floor of an apartment building and had minimal damage for the shaking I experienced. But I do remember being amazed that I had items shoot out of my refrigerator from the force of the shaking and go sailing across my living room.

Business and commerce were really messed up after that. Thousands of people moved away in fear....even though most of them eventually moved back. Things got so tough economically that I decided I needed a break. I contacted some people I knew in Asia and spent a good part of 1994 living in Osaka, Japan and Seoul, Korea.

I taught English in both places. In Japan I lived in Osaka, in a newly developed neighborhood near the World Trade Center buildings. I have so many great memories of Japan....

I took the Midosuji subway line to go to work in Central Osaka. I hit golf balls at their many convenient practice ranges. I went shopping for Onigiri at FamilyMart (their version of 7-11). I partied on the Dotonbori bridge (area pictured above). I bought cans of beer out of vending machines. I drank my favorite Japanese sports drink "Pocari Sweat". I hiked in the mountains and visited temples in Kyoto. I went to an American football game, played by Japanese university players, in a stadium in Kobe. I remember hitting my head on tops of doorways because most Japanese are under 6 feet tall. I remember getting my hair cut in a salon in Osaka and trying to give the girl a tip, but she wouldn't take it. Not part of their system there.

I was amazed at their low crime rate. Everyone left their bicycles unlocked. And nobody stole them. In fact, in Japan is it not uncommon for people to leave purses or cell phones behind by accident...yet if they come back hours later...their items are sitting there untouched. How noble is that?

The TV game shows in Japan are so wild, it is difficult to describe them. They have their own professional baseball league there, and their fans are passionate and devoted to their teams.

I even had a Japanese girlfriend at the time. A girl named "Chiho" who worked at the Sanwa Bank.

She couldn't speak English very much, but somehow we seemed to make things work.

I have many fond memories of my time in Japan and I have a great amount of respect for their people and their culture. I know they will recover, because they are actually used to this type of thing. They frequently suffer powerful earthquakes. This one will be extra tough because of the damage. But they will be back.

They are a resilient and hard working people.

After getting hit with two atomic bombs in World War 2, they rebuilt -- and within 30 years they had one of the most powerful economies in the world.

Andrew Klavan explains public unions

A lesson for those who are on the wrong side of the argument (like Joe Barrett)

On Wisconsin!

My home state has always been famous for progressive politics.

Unfortunately, usually liberal politics. However, this is about to change. Thanks to the incompetence of Barack Obama, the Wisconsin Statehouse has now gone Republican and we have a Republican Governor.

Seeing the colossal budget catastrophe created by decades of Socialist spending programs, the Governor decided that some programs were going to have to say goodbye.

Primarily among them are the corrupt public labor union contracts, which are bankrupting most of the states in America. I have always felt that public unions should be illegal, because 1) the government doesn't oppress its workers. And 2) the government workers never sit down and negotiate with their actual employer, the voting public. They use bribery with campaign money to get corrupt politicians to vote in all types of financial salary and benefit nonsense.

Unfortunately, we are past the point of no return here with this nonsense.

The math doesn't work. The contracts and benefits are unsustainable.

Walker is ready to fire massive numbers of teachers and other State workers.

Their unions have made them too expensive, and now obsolete.

$150,000 a year for a bus driver? Yeah...

Government workers don't create wealth, they siphon it off.

I'm happy Governor Scott Walker is drawing a line in the sand.

This is going to get ugly.

The Communists/Socialists are going to expose to the world who they really are.

If they don't get their government "gravy", there will be trouble.

Riots, fights, protests.

At a time when private sector workers are facing 10% unemployment due to the idiocy of Barack Obama (who halted all oil drilling in the gulf for months and gave us $5 a gallon gasoline), they aren't going to get a very sympathetic reception from the taxpayers.

Election over, city in ruins

Well, that went even worse than I had expected.

I had figured that most of the people I supported in this election were going to lose.

When you take on a corrupt city, and pay-to-play politics, you often end up the big loser.

The Breakdown

Council District 2

Augusto Bisanis loss was not unexpected. Paul Krekorian is backed up by the Democratic Party and all the labor unions. And he uses the dark arts. Augusto Bisani did better than he did last time, but he was still nowhere close to winning.

Council District 4

The victory by Tom La Bonge here was also not unexpected. La Bonge has thirty years experience in the district. Still, it makes me wonder what might have been if Frank Sheftel and I had both stayed in the race and cut more percentage points away from Tom. Also noticeable here is the poor showing by Stephen Box and the surprisingly good showing by Tomas O'Grady. I think Tomas was able to get a lot of non-traditional city voters to the polls. But even if he had made a runoff, it is difficult to see him beating La Bonge. Still, I'm kind of glad I stayed out of this one.

Council District 6

Insane, and cruel, that Tony Cardenas, with his 4,000 measly votes, gets to continue to commit crimes against taxpayers here in the City. I imagine that most of his voters were City employees who were just voting to protect their paychecks and pensions.

Council District 8

I actually wanted Bernard Parks to win here, just because his opponent was a total nut who didn't deserve the job. I'm still mad at Parks for double dipping with the pensions, though. I guess Soulvine writer Betty Pleasant doesn't know what she is talking about when it comes to Parks.

Council District 10

For me, this was by far the most shocking result in the election. Herb Wesson, who is of little value, totally dominated and destroyed his opponents here. Facing a large crowd of opponents, Wesson wiped them out with little effort. I figured it was going to be easy for his opponents to force a runoff. What the hell did they do in their campaigns? Run and hide under their bed? This makes no sense. They needed 500 signatures to get on the ballot. Three of them didn't get 500 votes total. A real waste of time by them.

Council District 12

Mitch Englander took the handoff from Greig Smith, as expected. Brad Smith made a reasonable showing, but the others should probably stop trying to run for office.

Council District 14

Another shocker, as the Martinez campaign spent a lot of money, but barely did better than some of the underfunded candidates. Huizar can now continue his crime spree at City Hall.

In summary, the Clean Sweep happened as planned ...the incumbents wiped everyone out.

Ron Kaye and the Clean Sweepers backed some people who did very poorly.

They wouldn't endorse Augusto Bisani in CD 2, but he did better than multiple people that Clean Sweep did endorse. Very strange.

City activists can now take a break and try to figure out how to do better in 2013.

There will at least be some big changes then, as several members are termed out and others will probably run for Mayor.

Election Day, March 8, 2011

Election Day. And I am prepared for the concept of massive disappointment.

I have been through elections before with my friends here in Los Angeles, including my getting beat badly in the 2009 Mayoral election and just slightly losing my Congressional primary by about 1,500 votes in 2010.

Losing sucks. It hurts.

And unfortunately some of my friends are going to be hurting tonight.

That is just the way it goes when you take on the corrupt power structure here in Los Angeles.

Even Rudy Martinez, who spent over $200,000 on his campaign, could still possibly lose to Jose Huizar.

But I am supporting Rudy today and wishing him the best.

I'm proud of all the candidates who took a stand and put their name on the ballot.

I'll be voting "No" on every charter amendment and proposition.

The knuckleheads in power have made many choices before. Most of them bad.

Help me keep their hands off of the control surfaces.

I'm proud to go and vote for my friends Joe Essavi and Manny Aldana.

I wish them luck tonight.

My vote in CD 4 is more troubling for me.

I am faced with the prospect of three big budget Socialists on the ballot.

I like Tomas O'Grady a lot on a personal level, but not so thrilled about his Green politics.

Stephen Box has irritated me in the past with his CicLAvia nonsense, but he also was on the right side with me in the battle over Measure B back in 2009.

As much as it bothers me, I have to cast a vote for one of them.

The Al Bundy of Los Angeles politics is part of the problem.

He is not the solution.

Jack Humphreville reminded me that I owe La Bonge some payback for putting Measure B on the ballot in 2009. I will vote against him and hope to end his political career tonight.

Election eve shenanigans from The Dark Lord

Disturbing news to report from the election campaign of Augusto Bisani.

Staffers who were hired to do telephone outreach have run into serious ethical questions when they contacted several pro-Krekorian voters.

Some of the Krekorian voters not only dismissed the callers for Bisani, but also laughed and claimed that they were holding a polling place in their house!!

This is exactly why you don't do things like that. An election should be held in a public place. A school, a library, maybe at a public university building. There should be unbiased members of the public as observers. Even supporters of rival candidates should be invited to make sure things are done legitimately.

How much do you want to bet that those ballot boxes that come from a private residence polling place go overwhelmingly in favor of Paul Krekorian??

This situation is unacceptable. It invites corruption and fraud.

Protect your freedom! Vote NO!

Tomorrow is Election Day.

In Los Angeles, that means another day of frustration and freedom-destroying Socialism.

Turnout will be abysmal...less than 15%. Most voters will be frog-marched into the polling places by the Unions, who want to protect what is "theirs".

Citizens of Los Angeles, your freedoms are at risk!'

Vote NO on every single Charter Amendment.

CD 2

Augusto Bisani

CD 4

Stephen Box/Tomas O'Grady - (both are better than La Bonge)

CD 6

David Barron. Help stop the Tony Cardenas crime spree.

CD 8

Ugh...do I have to say Bernard Parks? I guess so...

His opponent, propped up by unions, is a clueless lunatic unfit for office.

CD 10

Austin Dragon

CD 12

Doesn't matter. (Mitch Englander has $400,000 and is going to win anyway)

CD 14

Rudy Martinez.

Red Spot launches final airstrike on Huizar campaign

Mayor Sam blogger Red Spot (a.k.a. Scott Johnson) has done a terrific job this election season of doing everything he can to disrupt or destroy the City Council campaign of 14th District Council Member Jose Huizar.

Even though Johnson's typing, syntax, and spelling are sometimes garbled, the general message eventually gets out.

He hates Huizar and wants him to lose.

Fair enough. Hey, he's a blogger. Nobody said he had to be as fair and balanced as Fox News.

Tortured syntax aside...if there was a Nobel Prize for bloggers, Red Spot should receive it.

"CLARTS-gate"

Red Spot exposed how Huizar basically embezzled about $1 million dollars.

"List-gate"

The printing of Huizars enemies list forever put him in the same playing field as Richard Nixon.

Not a place you want to be when you are trying to get re-elected.

"Trujillo-gate"

Actually, Trujillo was just flat out dumb for sending such a goofy email. I think he was drunk, but who knows?

Actually, I have considered it might have all been a scam to divert attention from the first two scandals -- both of which were much more serious. The fact that he's still getting paid by Huizar is another Red Spot scoop.

Phony polling numbers.

Yeah, sure Jose Huizar is winning by 43%. Anybody want to lay some bets with me about that?

Red Spot exposed the actual push poll and its typical nonsense.

It was just what I said it was. Research done by someone for Huizar.

Fantasy-based numbers.

Huizar will be lucky to survive this election.

Red Spot, I salute you.