The Republican party hasn't changed nearly as much as the Democrats were. The Democrats bet the farm on slavery in the 1860s -- they wanted to protect it. They lost. So then they became the party of white power. Woodrow Wilson was incredibly racist for instance and undid many executive branch reforms brought in by Teddy Roosevelt and Taft. The KKK, the Jim Crowe laws, the seperate but equal schooling, seperate drinking fountains were all laws passed by Democrats over the objections of Republi...

A constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriage? Ack. For the record, I oppose gay marriage. But I'm pro civil-unions. But I am definitely not in favor of mucking around with the constitution in order to thwart gays trying to twist the definition of marriage to now fit them. The issue is fairly complex. We could probably get a majority of people who would favor gays having the right to civil unions. The problem is that civil unions don't provide any federal rights. Civil unions provide th...

Got this in email today... Subject: Social Security When Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised: 1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary. 2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program. 3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income tax each year. 4.) That the money ...

This article at the Telegraph (linked below) sums up many of my views on Moore.  Moore's writings and "documentaries" can be entertaining -- if you're already in the looney left wing camp or don't keep up with this stuff on a daily basis.  To the rest of us, it's just frustrating. In my view, Moore is little more than just some ranting left wing idealogue who has managed to get famous. There's a zillion conspriacy nuts just like him out there. It's like they've elected him king of t...

This is floating around emails on the net. I didn't write this. So to whomever wrote it, good job. Father-Daughter Talk A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes ...

Some people have complained that Bush doesn't have the right to make use of any 9/11 related images in his campaign commercials.  I disagree. But I also strongly believe that he needs to tread carefully as to not seem to be exploiting a national tragedy.  The reason I think he can and should bring up 9/11 is because it was the defining moment of is presidency. I remember thinking as the months passed after 9/11 how thankful I was that Bush had won and not Gore. I could imagine th...

In my Christmas letter I talked about liberal Democrats fleeing to Canada to escape "Jesus Land".  I've talked to some family members and friends who weren't familiar with this reference. So for those of them that visit my blog, here's what I was referring to: Shortly after the election a bunch of far left wing bloggers and journalists started claiming that the only reason why Bush won is because the "Jesus Freaks" came out in force to vote for Bush. And so in their view we ha...

I'm a conservative. I make no bones about it. I have plenty of liberal friends. Most of my "good" political discussions are with my friends who are liberal. I have a friend in New York who I talk to a few times a week and I respect his opinions immensely. He's also very liberal. There is a basic problem in our country right now, however. I look at the positions my liberal friends take, listen to them, and ultimately decide I don't agree with them. But I respect their right to an opinion.&nbs...

The press has been curiously reluctant to report my constant public support for the president's strategy in Iraq and his policies to fight terrorism. I have been involved in the war on terrorism for two decades, and in my view no world leader has better understood the stakes in this global war than President Bush. The president was right when he concluded that Saddam Hussein was a menace who needed to be removed from power. He understands that our enemies are not confined to Al Qaeda, and...

Tonight is the vice presidential debate. VP debates don't tend to make that much of a difference in the bigger scheme of things. Usually what happens is that people end up wishing the VPs were at the head of the ticket.  That was certainly the case last time when Cheney and Lieberman got along so well and had a good, spirited debate in which both showed a great deal of respect to one another. I think you will see something similar this year.  Cheney had the Halliburton anchor on ...

I'm trying to understand Kerry's various positions. He said at one time that Saddam and his WMDs were a threat that needed to be taken care of. Later he said that Saddam was a diversion from Afghanistan. Despite that, he voted for giving the President authorization to use force against Iraq. One wonders, if he thought Iraq was a diversion, why even give the President such authorization? He later said we're better off with Saddam gone but then in an interview months later says he would...

I highly recommend reading the text of Rudy Giuliani's speech. Very thought provoking and demonstrating that the mainstream Republicans were for going into Iraq for the same reasons most of us in the blogsphere supported going into Iraq.  And it wasn't WMDs.

So Kerry hasn't gotten much of a bounce from his convention.  Is that a surprise? How many people are undecided at this point anyway? I just don't see how Bush can win, however. Consider this: IF Bush gets the same % of the female vote and the % of the African American vote that he got last time, he'll lose by 5 million votes. Does anyone here seriously think that there's a chance in hell that Bush is going to improve his stance with women and blacks in this election?

I am what you would call an undecided voter.  But it's really more complicated than that since the choice for me isn't whether I would vote for Bush or Kerry but rather will I vote for Bush or not.  There is no way I'll vote for Kerry.  But that doesn't mean I'm willing to vote for Bush.  Unlike many neophyte ideologues, I don't imagine the end of the world coming simply because the "other guy" gets elected. Therefore, the side I tend to be more sympathetic to doesn't automat...

Peggy Noonan, one of my heroes, has an outstanding column in today's Wallstreet Journal about George W. Bush and how he has torn the Republican party asunder. It has always amazed me to see Bush haters trying to paint Bush as a "typical" Republican or "typical" conservative. He is neither. His out of control spending, his preference for loyalty over competency, his incompotent handling of Iraq, his left-of center views on federal education, immigration, and even welfare make him not a Repu...