Liberal Logic- KSM's Trial Moving to Virgina?

Eric Holder's Justice Department is trying to decide where to move the trial of KSM and his cronies to.  The options are actually limited.  The trial will need to be held near the scence of the crimes.  New York City, Arlington, Virginia and Shanksville, PA are the options. 

It looks like New York City is out (as it should be), so leaves really only leaves Virginia.  There are two federal courthouses in the area.  One of these courthouses was used to try Zacarias Moussaoui.  This particular courthouse is in Alexandria, Virginia.  So let's take a look at this courthouse. 

Here are pictures of what is around this courthouse:

This a condo building.  I am not sure exactly how many units are this building, but I would say 200 to 300 judging by the size of it.  I have a friend who lives in this building.  Another person who lives here (or least used to), is the former captain of the USS Cole.  I think that he won't be too happy to have al Qaeda this close to his home. 

Less than one mile (6/10 to be exact) is King Street metro station.  This station also has Amtrak trains as well.  Now, if you look at the attached map to this station you will see that it is two short stops to Ronald Reagan Airport and five or six stops to the scene of the crime, The Pentagon. 

These are office buildings and a hotel.  There is also the US Patent & Trade Building within blocks of this courthouse.  During the day, this is an extremely busy area.  People going about their lives.  Is this really better than blocks away from ground zero?  Now, maybe I am baised as I live less than 20 miles from here, but I didn't like it when it was in lower Manahatten either. 

Image Matters - Recession Over?

Michelle Obama's dress for the State of the Union Address cost just under $8,000. I can only imagine what she spent on her shoes. She seems to like the expensive ones. She was seen wearing a $700 pair on her $4,000/day Hawaiian vacation.



Personally, I could care less how much money she spends on her clothes. The issue is the image that it gives. The President talked about how the recession is over; in technical terms it is. But, in technical terms it didn't start until much later than was being reported. There are very specific things that have to happen before we are considered to be in a recession and when we get out of them. The problem with those indicators is the fact that unemployment is not one of them; as it is a lagging indicator.


More than 3,000,000 Americans are out of work. That number does not include the people who have given up, who are under-employed, nor does it count the people who have taken pay cuts. People are still in danger of losing their homes, nor has our retirement accounts gotten back to where they were before the recession hit.

If you want to stand up in front of the nation and talk about how you feel the pain of the middle class, you may want to re-think having your wife in a dress that costs double what many people make in a month or two. Image does matter, Mr. President. 

Funniest Line of the Day

President Obama today speaking at the GOP retreat:
"I am not an ideologue, I'm not." 

Clearly, you are delusional if you believe this. 

Tebow, Palin, and The National Organization for Woman

The rhetoric regarding the Tebow commercial is heating up yet again.  Sarah Palin released a statement on her facebook page praising CBS's decision to run the ad, and saying that the women's group should realize that choosing life is indeed a choice.  NOW has released a statement of their own. 



“The goal of the Focus on the Family ad is not to empower women. It's to create a climate in which Roe v. Wade can be overturned,” O’Neill said. “There are always going to be women who need abortions. In this country, one in three women will have an abortion.”

Are they saying that one in three women NEEDS to have an abortion? There is a difference between women who, let's say, have a life threatening medical condition during their pregnancy and may have to make that heart wrenching choice and someone who didn't use protection. One in three women is an astounding number.




I have a conflicted view on abortion, but one thing that I am not conflicted about is a woman who is simply making the "choice" that it isn't convenient. There are women who don't protect themselves the way that they should if they are going to be having sex and are not prepared to become a parent. Having sex is a choice. Taking responsibility for that choice is something that organizations like NOW should be addressing.


Being a woman who has severe medical problems that have caused infertility issues, it strikes a chord in me that NOW is saying that woman should have the right to be as casual about something as sacred as a baby. The numbers of women (and men) who cannot have children of their own is very high. Many of these people simply cannot afford the astronomical costs of having IVF. White couples in this country have a very difficult time trying to adopt. The system that is currently in place can be very daunting for people of limited income. Now, if you have a good income or are a person of color, the process becomes relatively easy, or at least easier. 

Why is it that organizations such as NOW and Planned Parenthood don't help women put their child up for adoption? The child will end up in a family that will be so grateful to have the opportunity of being a mom and a dad.


I am willing to say that there are times that women feel that they have no other choice but to end a pregnancy; incest, rape, chance of death that would leave other children behind, and the baby having such severe medical problems that it won't survive. That being said, those woman should feel that having the child in those circumstances is indeed their choice and not be put down for making it. But, for NOW to come out and say that one out of three woman will have an abortion and try to make that seem like it is OK, should not be considered acceptable to anyone. That statistic, if true, is very alarming. That is saying that women are not only irresponsible when it comes to birth control, it is also saying that they are selfish. They also need to address the rights of the men who are the fathers of these children. They have rights too.

Tea Party Movement & What The Dems Still Don't Get

Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has revealed his new strategy for the 2010 election cycle:

“Given the pressure Republican candidates feel from the extreme right in their party, there is a critical — yet time-sensitive — opportunity for Democratic candidates,” the DSCC writes. “We have a finite window when Republicans candidates will feel susceptible to the extremists in their party. Given the urgent nature of this dynamic, we suggest an aggressive effort to get your opponents on the record.”


The tea party movement does contain far right conservatives, that can't be denied.  But, what they still are not getting is that it also contains independants and moderates from both parties.  The public is smart enough to understand that the government is spending us into oblivion.  Many of the people are showing up because they understand that the federal government is putting the next generation into financial jeopardy.  They are afraid that America will no longer be the "land of oppurtuntity", and the "American Dream" is becoming out of reach. 

The tea party movement is so much more than republicans thinking that democrats are bad.  What they actually are saying is that Washington has become so out of touch with the everyday person that they no longer understand their jobs, to uphold the constitution. 

At some point, the government has to realize that the government is supposed to be about the people of the United States, not about party.  Americans want to be free to make their own choices and live their lives as best they can.  We also want our children to have a better and easier life than we have had. 

The democrat's plan is paint everyone in the republican party as a "birther".  Sorry, Mr. Menendez, I am not a birther.  I will not allow you to paint me as one either.  Yes, they exist; but that is a small minority that is no different than the people who think that President Bush blew up the twin towers on 9/11.  With over 300 million people in this country you are always going to find fringes that believe in extremes. 

The tea party movement rallied around Scott Brown.  Senator Elect Brown is not a right winged extremist.  His record clearly shows that he is a moderate republican cut from the same cloth as Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.  Two people that your party is constantly trying to woo. 

You are making a big mistake Sen. Menendez because you are proving the point of the tea party movement.  That you simply just don't get it.  We want accountable, limited government.  Something that, based on your statement, you obviously cannot provide. 

The Case Against Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder must go. His record of the past year has been abysmal. One of the latest offenses is the information that came out of last week’s congressional hearings on the knickerbomber. He was questioned by the FBI for a whopping 50 minutes before justice stepped in and allowed him to lawyer up and shut up. I am sure that all the information he had was dumped in less than an hour. To make the situation even worse, justice never spoke to anyone in the department of homeland security, or the intelligence community. I guess he felt their expertise was not needed.



One of the defenses of this position is the shoe bomber Richard Reid. These two cases are not remotely the same. Richard Reid made his murderous attempt within months of 9/11. At that point in time, the US still did not have the apparatus in place to handle enemy combatants. This is no longer the case. The laws that are currently in place have passed the muster with the Supreme Court. We need to take advantage of the laws that we have at our disposal to maintain the security of this country.


Mr. Holder is always yapping that we are doing a much better job at prosecuting terrorists than has been done in the past, the justice department’s version of Bush bashing. The problem with this argument is the fact that he and his former cronies at Covington & Burling played a large part of why the delays happened. The firm represents 17 of the detainees at Gitmo, with the purposes of freeing the terrorists and slowing down the process. It is laughable that he is currently talking about speeding it up. The process is able to be speeded up due to the laws that were put into place during the Bush administration. It is a stunning conflict of interest that Holder is involved in.


The DOJ has recently relocated a career attorney in the civil rights division; Christopher Coates. Mr. Coates hardly a right winged ideologue; is a former staff attorney at the ACLU, a winner of Thurgood Marshall Decade Award from the NAACP. He was hired during the Clinton administration to work at justice. What was his sin? He pushed for The New Black Panther Party to be prosecuted for voter intimidation that occurred on Election Day of 2008. Mr. Coate’s record shows that he is man who stuck by the letter of the law and let the chips fall where they may. He has gone after people all over the spectrum in order to maintain that our elections remain free and all US citizens are allowed their constitutional right to vote. During his going away party he made the following statement:


“The division’s focus under Mr. Obama is at risk of enforcing the Voting Rights Act in a racially biased fashion and is turning a blind eye whenever incidents arise that indicate that minority persons have acted improperly in voting matters.”


During the incident on election day, two black poll watchers, who were working for the republican party where called race traitors by The NBPP, they felt so threatened that they asked for escorts back to their cars. Holder’s department has decided that this does not warrant any civil or criminal action.


The Justice Department has started rearing its ugly little head yet again in New Jersey. They will no longer be allowed to use a written exam to help them evaluate police officers that are up for promotions. The same civil rights division that refuses to prosecute the panthers has decided that the tests are discriminatory. From 2000 to 2008 89% of whites, 77% of Hispanics, and 73% of blacks have passed the exams. The department of labor uses a 4/5 rule. The rule states that as long as the numbers fall within these parameters there is no signs of bias. Yet, the department of justice has decided that they know better and are calling the test a racial inequality. The Supreme Court ruled on a very similar case just last fall in the favor of the fire fighters from New Haven, CT. The law states that as longs as the criteria used is not discriminatory and is job related, the tests can be used. The test in question is about traffic and criminal laws as well as state guidelines; clearly job related.


It was not all that long ago that AG Holder made a speech that Americans are cowards when it comes to discussing race. It seems to me that Mr. Holder is not just a coward, but he is fanning the flames to increase the tension of race relations in this country. It is high time that people in the black community really listen to what this man is saying. It is acceptable for the NBPP party to intimate voters; it is acceptable to say that people of color are incapable of passing promotion exams on their own. That people of color need the government to take care of them, as many are incapable of doing it for themselves. 

Tim Tebow on Life - NOW on Anti-Choice - CBS With a Decision to Make

Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy and two time college championship winning football player, and his mom will appear in a 30 second commerical that is due to air on Super Bowl Sunday.  N.O.W. and many other woman's groups are urging CBS to pull the ad.  Tim Tebow's mother was given the advice to abort her pregnancy and instead decided to have her baby, which was her fifth child.  The ad is being done by Focus on the Family, a non profit group that advocates life, Christianity, and family.  The theme of the ad is to celebrate life, celebrate family. 

"An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jehmu Greene, president of the Women's Media Center.



If it is a day "to bring Americans together", wouldn't an ad about the importance of family be the perfect thing to show? 

"By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers," the letter said.

One thing that I would really like to know from organizations such as Now is, are you "anti-life'? 

All this woman is saying is that she chose life, and look what happened.  Her son grew up to be a star athlete who won two championships and the most conveted award in college football.  They will be talking about family.  The cornerstone of our society.  When is NOW going to realize that choosing life is indeed a choice. 

And, did you notice, he is hot, too. 

Obama's Biggest Fan? Ellie Light; How Wrong You Are

“A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, that healthcare legislation was proceeding without a bump, that Afghanistan had suddenly become a nice place to take your children we would have known we were being told lies. Back then, we recognized that the problems Barack Obama had inherited as president wouldn’t go away overnight.



During his campaign, Mr. Obama clearly said that an economy that took eight years to break couldn’t be fixed in a year, that Afghanistan was a graveyard of empires and would not be an easy venture for us. Candidate Obama didn’t feed us happy talk, which is we elected him. He never said America could solve its health care, economic and security problems without raising the deficit. Instead he talked of hard choices, of government taking painful and contentious first steps toward fixing problems that can’t be left for another day.


Right after Mr. Obama’s election, we seemed to grasp this. We understood that companies would be happy to squeeze more work out of frightened employees and would be slow to hire more. We understood that the banks that had extorted billions of dollars were lying when they said they share their recovery. We understood that a national consensus on health care would not come easily. Candidate Obama never claimed his proposed solutions would work flawlessly right out of the box, and we respected him for that.


Today, the president is being attacked as if he were a salesman who promised that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made such a promise. It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.”


So said Ellie Light; whoever Ellie Light is. This letter has appeared in papers all over the country, mainly in areas where President Obama won the vote. We know now, that Ellie Light is some sort of astro-turfing phony. The identity of who Ellie Light really is reaching a fever pitch across the blogosphere, some taking this incident very seriously others are just joining in on the fun.


I would like to take on the content of the letter though. Ellie is sadly mistaken if he/she believes that people didn’t vote for the president with the idea that he had a magic wand. That is exactly what they voted for, especially the young. Who can forget the interview with Peggy Joseph who said that Obama was going to pay her mortgage and put gas in her car? All she had to do was help him get elected. I would love for a news outlet to track her down and ask her who is paying for her gas now? 

Another Black Conservative discovered a great little letter written by Jill Dorson, a registered independent that regrets her vote. She had real issues with Sarah Palin, so she couldn’t vote for McCain. She was a small business owner at the time of her vote, but no more. The business fell under the weight of our bad economy.


As I have said in previous posts, I worked my butt off to try and stave off Obamanation. As such, I talked to people all over the country everyday for months. I got hung up on often, but many people would talk to me and tell me what they were looking for and why they were voting the way that they were. Obviously I spoke to more Obama voters than McCain voters.


The theme that kept coming up was that people were sick of the elected officials more worried about power than they were about working to make the lives of everyday Americans better. People wanted a responsible government.  People wanted real change. Hope & Change that is the theme that was pounded over and over again on the trail, that is what people voted for.

But, the far left voted for that magic wand, to turn the country over to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and her far left ilk. Bigger government that was going to take care of all our ills, a new era of fairness; after all, Obama was going to level the playing field. The big bad businesses were going to be put into their place. The little guy was going to finally get theirs. Whether they deserved it or not, whether they worked for it or not.


You see Ellie; it wasn’t the people that didn’t realize that governing was hard, it was Obama himself who didn’t. The man who thought with a stroke of a pen that he could close Gitmo, a man who thought that by signing a huge “stimulus” bill that was really nothing more than a liberal pork buffet would somehow magically make our economic woes disappear. It was Obama who still believes that Sallie and Freddie had no hand in our current recession. A man who thinks that going oversees and calling America arrogant will suddenly cure the world’s divides. Life and governing is far more complicated than that.

Obama and Populism

A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite.






It would seem that the upcoming strategy of the President is to appeal to masses and join the populism bandwagon. This would be something that I would welcome, if he actually understood the bandwagon that many Americans are on. The administration, as well as high level member of his party have done very little to understand the tea party movement.



It started out in April of last year when the DHS released a report days before the Tax Day Tea Party saying that the type of people who were attending these rallies were a danger to American people. This report also mentioned newly returned war vets. Real slaps in the face to people that are returning from defending our country. Shortly after the tea parties started to pick up speed, the President then makes fun of people who are holding tea bags. The summer comes and people are attending town hall meetings; many for the first time in their lives, and the democrats are holding closed door meetings giving members lessons on how to handle the town halls.



The 9/12 March comes rolling around, and Baghdad Bob Gibbs says that he is unaware that the march is taking place. The amount of people that showed up is not really clear, but a safe estimate is about 750,000. All during this time the democrats, including the president, have yet to realize that not everyone attending these rallies were republicans.



Even after the losses in the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, the administration and the congress keep pushing ahead with the healthcare reform because they were unwilling to admit that the people were against the bills. The president still is hanging onto the fact that indeed people in the country are looking for reform; they just are not looking for a government takeover. Anyone that has been involved in the movement to "kill the bill" knows full well that members of the senate and congress simply turned off the fax machines and put the phones on dnd.



The administration and the senate move ahead with the bill against the will of the people. All the polls showed that the public was against the way it was being handled, yet that didn't stop them. They continued to make deals behind closed doors. It doesn't take a common sense to figure out that even the senators didn't think it was that great or they wouldn't be looking to get advantages that other states were not getting. We ended up with the cornhusker kickback, the second Louisiana Purchase, and the unions getting an exemption from taxes that everyone else was going to have to pay.



We move on to the very expensive Christmas vacation, one that many people in this country will never be able to afford. Nancy Pelosi is having fundraisers that cost $25,000 per person. Again, something that most people in this country could never afford. Even those "rich" republicans.



The president then goes to Boston and makes fun of a man's truck. This is a truck that wasn't bought for the purposes of a campaign. He had 210,000 miles on the truck. He tells the audience that "anyone can get a truck". I am sorry Mr. President, even in good times many people in this country can't afford a new truck. The really sad part is that I don't think that president even knew his story. Scott Brown has a very compelling life story, a single mother who had to go onto welfare for a short time to support her children, who taught him to work hard and pushed the merits of a good education.



The election of Scott Brown earlier this week doesn't seem to be the wakeup call that it should be. Senator Elect Brown won the union vote, the independent vote, and even got some democrats. This movement is not about party, it is about principle. The principle of responsible government. The principle of not taking away the prosperity of the next generation. The principle of listening to the will of the people.



We will see what themes he is going to hit upon during the State of the Union address. I doubt that he can pull off populism. He just doesn’t seem to get it.

AFL-CIO Admits to Sheep Membership

There is an interesting article on The Huffington Post. The premise of the article is that the reason Martha Coakley lost was due to lack of union support, more accurately, the democrats not utilizing the unions to their benefit.


"Data points provided independently to the Huffington Post show that union voters in Massachusetts were 15 percentage points more likely to vote for Attorney General Martha Coakley if they simply had been asked"

They need to be asked? "Coakley won union voters who had heard from their union by 10 points, while losing those who said they had not heard from their union by 5 points."

This is from data collected by the AFL-CIO. I am very surprised that they want to be so open about the fact that the members of these unions are just sheep who don't have minds of their own.

One must also question how they know so much about how their members voted. Are the people volunteering this information? It seems that after every election the unions have detailed data. This raises a very red flag for me. I personally don't have a problem telling someone who I am voting for, but I know plenty of people who do.

The article goes on to say that had Coakley's campaign reached out to the unions they would have mobilized for her. Didn't they know there was an election? It certainly got a great deal of coverage the last two weeks. I can only imagine how many commercials were on television during the last few weeks.

Spector "I am a Democrat, no I am a Republican, Wait I want to be democrat again" Wants to Know What Michele Bachmann Stands For

Arlen "I have no real principles" Specter was having a debate with Michele Bachmann on a Philadelphia radio station yesterday.  During which he asked Congresswoman Bachmann to explain what she stood for.  It seems to me, Sen. Specter, that is the last question you should be asking of anyone.  You have changed parties not once, but twice. 

While answering the question, Bachmann went into tax cuts for businesses and estate taxes, and keeping government from overreaching with unsustainable spending.  Bachmann and Specter started speaking over one another, and Arlen didn't take too kindly to this.

His response was "Act like a lady", which of course Bachmann shot back that she is a lady.  The back and forth debate continued and Spector once again told her that he was trying to treat her like a lady and she should act like one. 

Arlen, let me give you a piece of advice;

Don't question the motives of someone who is steadfast in her beliefs, you just look silly even trying. 

Conservative Girl Adventures - Smart Girl Nation

I will be doing some blogging for Smart Girl Nation from now on.  If you are not aware of Smart Girl Nation, it is an off-shoot of Smart Girl Politics. 

Co-Founders, Stacy and Terry, are working very hard to get Smart Girl Nation up and running.  The goal is turn into a place where conservatives can go for information on grassroots activites, conservative candidates, politcal news and commentary. 

You will be seeing changes throughout the year.  Come and join us.

Palin Hitting the Road & Making a Mistake

Sarah Palin has announced that she will be stumping for three candidates as a start up for the 2010 election season. She will be doing work for Michele Bachman; congresswoman from Minnesota, Rick Perry; Texas Governor, and her former running mate John McCain. Michele Bachman will not be dealing with a primary challenge, but both Perry and McCain will. Rick Perry will be going up against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Her statement is as follows:


Ride the Tide with Commonsense Candidates!




I want to again thank the good people of Massachusetts for propelling a commonsense, independent agenda forward! May the working man and woman feel empowered now more than ever to get involved in their government, and let's put this great country on the right track. The past year continues to offer the promise of commonsense government in so many areas. There are steps we can all take to get there, one of which is to support candidates who promise to fight FOR the people and AGAINST politics as usual. I'm excited to get out and help elect candidates who will bring those principles to our nation's towns, state houses, and directly to Washington D.C. We are already making plans to support the candidates our nation needs to make a difference and speak for everyday Americans. I look forward to helping Governors like Rick Perry in Texas, Representatives like Michele Bachmann in Minnesota, and heroes and statesmen like Senator John McCain. We will support these candidates and others so that they can continue to fight for our American values. The special election yesterday in Massachusetts was truly amazing. It is a clear indication of things to come and a demonstration of the momentum we all share in the fight for the values and policies that will get our country back to work. The commonsense conservative principles of liberty and fiscal responsibility are on the rise, and that's why I'm going out and campaigning as hard as I can to make a difference. I can't wait to join all of you in supporting these great candidates and many more over the coming months. In the meantime, visit the websites of Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and John McCain. And join us as we embark on America's journey to November!


Governor Palin is putting herself into a position that she is putting loyalty in front of principle. John McCain is not a commonsense conservative. He is a "when it suits me" conservative. I worked very hard to try and get the senator elected president. He has an amazing life story; he is a hero and a patriot; but not a conservative. He was the lesser of two evils.

The governor electrified the conservative base in fall of 2008. That I know as a fact as I saw it with my own eyes. I happened to be working the phone banks when the news leaked that she was going to be added to the ticket. The amount of volunteers doubled that weekend and money poured in. That happened because of her. There are many people who believe he chose Sarah only because he wanted a woman to try and lure the Hillary voters who felt betrayed. That may have played a part, but the real reason he picked her was that she is a true conservative. He needed to excite the base, and believe me, she did. Sarah had the added advantage of having a reputation of being a "maverick" who took on the establishment in the very entrenched Republican Party in Alaska; a quality that Senator McCain really admired. She is now putting that quality on the line.


Loyalty is admiral quality; one that many people today lack. But if we look back into recent history, we need to go no further than President Bush to see where blind loyalty gets you. President Bush stood by Donald Rumsfeld far longer than he should have. Rumsfeld's day being an effective leader had long since passed. Bush stood by him to his determent, keeping him on was part of the reason that the republicans got their clocks cleaned in midterm elections in 2006. Rumsfeld tried and failed to fight the Iraq war on the cheap. When it comes to war, you are all in; Go big or go home. It cannot be done halfway. The planning of the aftermath was done so poorly and the Bush presidency never recovered.


If the governor truly has the inclination to take a run at the presidency, she needs to prove that she will make the right choices for the right reasons.

Liberal Logic - Brian McGrory Editorial on Scott Brown's Win

BRIAN MCGRORY



Swept off our feet


By Brian McGrory, Globe Columnist
January 20, 2010






I’m going to need some Advil and a cold compress, please. I’m the Massachusetts Electorate, and I have what is bar none the absolute worst hangover of my entire voting life.

Seriously, I was so drunk on power, so caught up in the moment, so free of any of my usual inhibitions, I can’t remember what’s gone on these last two weeks. Think, Electorate, think. What did I do?

This much I’m starting to remember. Martha and I walked into the party and everything seemed to be going fine. She wasn’t talking much, but she never really does, and she wasn’t exactly pushing me to bare my soul, either. That’s what I’ve always liked about Martha: She’s a low-maintenance politician.

And now I’m vaguely recalling that stranger across the room, the one in the barn jacket who kept smiling at me and seemed to know my name. Martha vanished for a while, and - is it bad that I’m saying this? - I didn’t really care.

Suddenly, that tall, handsome man was standing at my side doing something that Martha rarely did - offering to pay for drinks, chatting me up, curious what was on my mind.

Every time I ever tried telling Martha about my day, my hopes, my dreams, she shushed me and said she was preparing a legal brief or watching “Law & Order.’’ And now there’s a stranger telling me he could change my entire world.

Scott! That was his name. Lived near the outlet stores. Talked a lot about being smarter with money. I know, not like Martha, who always had some expensive home renovation project up her sleeve.

And then, I remember that time itself seemed to stop. The mundanity of everyday events gave way to the exhilaration of my suddenly unpredictable existence. No more Martha taking me for granted. No more Martha calling all the shots. I was living the moment, immersed in the life I always wanted before caution overwhelmed desire.

We were on the dance floor, Scott and I, moving to the music, his hands all over my body politic. Everyone was watching, and I mean everyone - fellow partygoers, bartenders, passersby staring in the windows. Look at me, the Massachusetts Electorate, the bellwether of America!

I think I took my shirt off. I think I didn’t care. I remember something about Scott in a pair of Calvin Klein jockey shorts, but it may have been a picture he showed me from his wallet.

Out of nowhere, there were video cameras filming us from every angle. Analysts were describing the events. Scott’s important friends were texting and calling my cell. Get this: Curt Schilling, talking to a regular old Electorate like me.

Then, above the din and the music and the cheering, I distinctly heard someone ask, “How’s Martha going to feel about this?’’

And just like that, there she was, back at the bar, giving me that aloof prosecutorial look I knew all too well. I went back to her, sweaty and out of breath. Amazingly, she didn’t seem angry. She didn’t really show any emotion at all. She just pretended like nothing ever happened and tried to continue on.

Oh, but something did happen. I knew it, she knew it, and so did Scott, who was still beckoning from the other end of the bar, asking me to take a walk outside. And now it’s coming clear: I did.

He was talking nonstop, but I noticed he was repeating himself over and over again - 41st vote, and drawing boards, and being a “Scott Brown Republican.’’ He was starting to lose me until we were standing in front of a GMC pickup and he said, “This is my truck.’’

Oh, you bad boy. You bad, bad boy.

I remember catching my breath. I remember pulling a curtain shut. I remember having to make a really important choice.

I needed to send a message. I don’t know much about Scott, and I have no idea how long he’ll be in my life, but I do know that nobody will ever take me for granted again.






McGrory is a Globe columnist. His e-mail is mcgrory@globe.com.


© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

The Year of Hope & Change

It has been a year since President Obama took the oath of office. This was to be a historic presidency; not just in the terms of a black man achieving the highest office in the land, but the bringing in of “Hope & Change”.

As promised, one of the first deeds was to sign an order closing the prison at Gitmo; a task that Obama has found to be more difficult to accomplish than originally thought. The eventual plan announced was to move the detainees to a supermax prison in Illinois. Why this administration feels that simply moving them is a solution is beyond me.


We then move onto the stimulus package that promised to keep unemployment below 8%, while it now hovers at ten percent. The money is supposed to be tracked and recorded on a website that can be accessed by all Americans. The website itself was not only very expensive to set up and maintain and it is often filled with erroneous information, such as zip codes that don’t exist. In some cases, we have paid more than $250,000 per job. The Los Angeles Times reported that teacher positions that were never in danger of being lost were counted as saved jobs.


The President hammered home the point of how he was going to change the way business was done in Washington. A new era of transparency was going to descend upon Washington. What we have actually seen is tax evaders elevated to cabinet level positions; ironically enough in charge of the IRS. We have seen such nonsense as “ethics waiver”. A government employee is excused from ethical behavior, what a concept. Change I can believe in.

Healthcare reform was ramped up in a big way this year. The campaigner Senator Obama railed on Senator McCain’s plan of taxing “Cadillac plans” then supports the exact same position as president. Unless of course, if you are a card carrying union member; a favored constituency of the Democratic Party. Senator Obama promised us the healthcare debates on C-Span, not once but on eight different occasions. President Obama has made deals behind closed doors with the likes of union officials, big pharma, and others. The debate was then turned over to the far left of his party, who continued the closed door deals such as the “cornhusker kickback”, the “Second Louisiana Purchase” and other deals for Michigan, Vermont, and Connecticut. The promise of the most transparent administration in history has certainly gone by the wayside, arrogantly ignoring the dissatisfaction of the public.


The Obama administration sweeps into town with his Chicago cronies in tow, and requests that the White House become more welcoming. In the past year, at least five different people have had unauthorized access to the President; a danger to our democracy. This is the business of every American.


A justice department that has continued the Bush administration’s trampling of our constitution. The Bush administration stepped outside the bounds on issues of national security. This administration has shown quite clearly their disdain for our laws against voter intimidation by dropping charges against The New Black Panther Party. On Election Day they clearly used tactics that were meant to intimidate voters, they went as far to call black republican poll watchers race traitors as they left the polling place. I don’t think the justice department would have looked as kindly on a white man wearing a sheet saying the same words. Senator Obama proudly displayed the endorsement of NBPP on his website during the run up to his election. The House of Representatives have been complicent in this effort as just last week they refused to move forward with an inquiry to further investigate why these charges were not pursued. Sadly this only one example of how the Holder justice department is either ignoring or just flat out changing the laws in the mane of racial equality. If a crime is swept under the rug due to color it is an insult to all Americans, regardless of color.


I will be remiss here if “fairness” is not broached. We have not seen much fairness if a union member gets a tax break that a non union member does not. There is no fairness in a tax code that is based on union membership. We don’t have fairness when an excessive tax is levied on bank employees but not an employee of General Motors. Lower level employees that worked in departments that had nothing to do with the financial mess will be forced to pay these excessive taxes just to have a populist boogey man.


We do not have fairness if Wall Street is forced to take all the blame for the financial crisis. The justice department has been investigating cases of fraud since the meltdown has happened. During this time 826 suspects have been charged; only two are connected to Wall Street. We do not hear about the role of such businesses as Countrywide Financial and the government entity Sallie and Freddie, as they have clear lines to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank among others.


The poll numbers have been dropping not only on Obama, but the democrats in general. The people elected a man who promised us transparency as well as “hope & change”. Well, it is transparent that the Hope & Change has been nothing but hype. Isn’t it ironic that his first year ends with Massachusetts sending a republican to the senate to fill the open seat left by the death of Ted Kennedy?

41 My New Favorite Number

'Nuff Said

Great Scott - Early Exit Polls

I have a few facebook friends who went to MA to help out with the elections today.  The early exit polls at the campaign headquarters are showing Brown up by 15.  While this is great, great news, the very excited vote early.  So we can't assume this will carry over for the entire day.  But it is a start!!

Mr. President is that all you got? Coakley, Obama, and Bush Bashing

Mighty Mouse Obama went up to Boston yesterday to help out the floundering Coakley campaign.  During his brief time there he went to his fall back position of Blame Bush.  Hasn't that gotten old yet, Mr. President?  I certainly think it has. 

The congress has been in democratic control since 2006 and you have been in office for almost a year.  It is time that you start taking responsibility for the decisions that you and your ilk have been making.  Is it President Bush's fault that the so-called healthcare reform is wildly unpopular?  Is is Bush's fault that you are going to double the national debt in one year?  Is it Bush's fault that your wasteful spending has not helped the economy?  Is it Bush's fault that people are sick of the bailout mentality?  Is it Bush's fault that Pelosi and Reed are writing bribery into legislation in order to pass the far left agenda?  I think not. 

Oh, and by the way - I don't think it was such a good idea to insult people who drive GM trucks........especially since we the tax payers own it. 

Palin Derangement Syndrome Has Gone Across the Pond

New Statesman, A far left magazine in the UK has caught Palin Derangement Syndrome. I didn't realize it was contagious.  The one thing that I have to give them, is that they say they are afraid of her.  That is more than the liberal elite in this country will admit to. 

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia - Kennedy Doesn't Even Know Coakley's Name

During the Sunday push to try and save the campaign of Martha Coakley, the dems were bringing in everyone under the sun.

After a rally Congressman Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Ted Kennedy, was answering questions from the press.  During the Bush bashing offensive, he didn't know her name.  He kept calling her Marcia. 

“If you think there’s magic out there and things can be turned around overnight, then you would vote for someone who could promise you that, like Scott Brown,” Kennedy said. “If you don’t, if you know that it takes eight years for George Bush and his cronies to put our country into this hole … then you know we have a lot of digging to do, but some work needs to be done and this president’s in the process of doing it and we need to get Marcia Coakley to help him to do that.”

Sadly, he said it on numerous occassions, so it will be hard to characterize it as a slip of the tongue. 

Hey, isn't he the one who drinks?  Maybe he had one too many before he showed up. 

Talk about Spin - Robert Gibbs on 2010 Election Cycle

“Look at what the President said today,” said Gibbs. “I think that's a lot of what 2010 is going to be about, to be honest with you. I think it's going -- you know, people are going to have to decide whether the people they have in Washington are on the side of protecting the big banks, whether they're on the side of protecting the big oil companies, whether they're on the side of protecting insurance companies, or whether they're on the people's side. I think what he laid out today is what you'll hear him talk a lot about.”



How delusional is this man?  This statement was made on the plane ride back to DC after the President went to try and save the senate race in one of the most liberal states in the country two days before the election. 
 
Mr. Gibbs, in case you have noticed, the people are figuring out who is on their side, and it isn't you and Pelosi. 
 
32% think the country is heading in the right direction
 
60% think that the president in 2013 will be from the GOP
 
58% think that congress is doing a poor job
 
52% are opposed further government involvement in the financial sector
 
50% expect the US to still be in a recession at the end of 2010
 
39% of the country strongly disapproves of President Obama's performance. 
 
President Obama's approval index is at -12
 
Republicans up by 9 on generic ballot
 
57% expect healthcare costs to rise due to the democrat reform bill
 
People who label themselves as a democrat has dropped by 6 points since November 2008

A Very Good Day in the Commonwealth - Our New Governor

Bob McDonnell ran a great campaign.  He not only stayed on message with important issues, he did it by remaining postive.  Gov McDonnell didn't allow the media to drag him into the gutter.  He ran a campaign that all republicans should follow.  Yesterday afternoon, the hardwork of the Virginia Republican Party paid off as he took his oath of office. 

A Little Comuppance Senator Nelson?

In case you have not heard Senator Ben Nelson, of the cornhusker kickback fame is having some problems back home during the holiday break. While trying to eat out with his family at a local pizza joint he was booed out of the restaurant earlier this week. While I don't think being out right rude is very nice, but he kind of deserves it. 

You lied Ben.............the people of your state don't like it. 

Martha Coakley - A Campaign That is Imploding

Martha Coakley's husband is a retired police officer.  During the campaign she was giving the impression that they supported her candidacy.  Well, not so much. 

The 212 member Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association voted to endorse State Senator Scott Brown for United States Senator in next Tuesday’s election against Attorney General Martha Coakley. CPSOA’s President released the following letter today:


All Members,


Members of our Association have inquired and requested that we endorse Scott Brown in the upcoming election against Martha Coakley. Ms. Coakley along with some of her campaign workers have talked publicly about how her husband is a retired Cambridge Police Officer, giving appearances that she is being endorsed by the Cambridge Police. This may be an innocent insinuation but most do take this as our giving her our support and endorsement. Yesterday, the CPPOA Executive Board voted to endorse State Senator Scott Brown in the upcoming election for US Senate. In an 11 to 2 vote, the Executive Board voted overwhelmingly in favor of the endorsement. We do not endorse anyone who advocates changes in the health care that take away any bargaining rights or increases our cost along with our contributions. Senator Brown does not support the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Bill and promises to be the 41st vote to ensure its defeat.


She also called Red Sox Great Curt Shilling a Yankee Fan. 
 
It seems like the pressure is really getting to her.  Yikes!!

Liberal Logic - Danny Glover, Haiti, and Copenhagen

So, does Danny Gover sort of agree with Pat Robertson?  Did God cause the earthquake because we didn't get a better deal at Copenhagen or was it simply Kharma? 

"What happened in Haiti could happen to anywhere in the Caribbean because all these island nations are in peril because of global warming," Glover said. "When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Oh, by the way, where is the outrage with what he has said?  I am waiting on a comment from Valerie Jarrett. 

Good ol' Huffington Post described it as "marginally less insenstive"  I guess that is a start. 

Superman Is Flying in to Save the Day - Obama to Campaign For Coakley

President Obama will be flying into MA to campaign for Martha Coakley's floundering campaign. 

I find a few things interesting about this:

1. Obama is willing to put himself out there when there is a good chance that Coakley is going to lose this race.  During the recent governor's campaign here in Virginia, the White House distanced itself from loser Creigh Deeds before the election. 

2. The White House released a statement saying that they were only asked today to make an appearance.  The Coakley campaign has said that it has been in touch with White House officials for days.  They need to get their stories straight. 

3. There are articles in Washington papers today, that is indeed signaling that the incomptence of the Coakley campaign staff is to blame, and it has nothing to do with the policies of the administration or the behavior of current congress. 

Happy 81st Birthday Dr. King - I Have A Dream

We still have a ways to go, but we have made progress in judging people by the content of character.  Every time I read this speech, I get goosebumps thinking about how much he sacrificed to make our world a better place.  I also wonder what he would think of where we are today. 

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.



Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.


But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.


In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."


But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.


We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.


It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.


But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.


The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.


We cannot walk alone.


And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.


We cannot turn back.


There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹


I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.


Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.


And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.


I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."


I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.


I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.


I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.


I have a dream today!


I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.


I have a dream today!


I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2


This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.


With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.


And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:


My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.


Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,


From every mountainside, let freedom ring!


And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.


And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.


Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.


Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.


Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.


Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.


But not only that:


Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.


Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.


Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.


From every mountainside, let freedom ring.


And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:


Free at last! Free at last!


Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!