CFG Press Release

Here's a short post at the CFG website. In short, it mentions the GOP "alternative" budget. Pay special attention to numbers two and three in the bullet list. A hard freeze on non-defense 'discretionary' spending has long been warranted. Actual reduction in these areas would be preferable, but a freeze would be desirable at this point. Mandatory spending is also a huge "cookie monster" in need of massive cut backs.Senator Coburn has been the lone voice of reason in a Congress that has seen the passage of the massive "No Child Left Behind" program. I prefer to call this "No Bureaucrat Left Behind" as the greatest achievment this program has seen is the increase of federal oversight of an issue that is better left in the control of states and local government. In this light, I renew my call for the abolishment of the Department of Education.

A personal favor

Please vote in the Good Sense precinct in the Pajama Media Presidential Straw Poll as shown on the sidebar. It will only take you a second, and it gives you the option of voting for GOP candidates AND Democrats.

ODBA Archived Posts

As promised, I am continuing with my little pet project of rouding up posts from the past from ODBA members. This time I am blogging about the Right Wing Liberal and posts that I consider to be noteworthy and important to the debate in the Virginia Blogosphere. On to the posts.

From December of 2006, Iraq: Bush Didn't Lie After All , outlines the argument for WMD in Iraq and why inspectors and forces didn't find evidence of them during the immediate aftermath of the regime change. This post is a must read for all conservatives and those who desire to hear the truth.

From February, Why we cannot abandon the Iraqi people, is a strong and effective post for not abdicating our responsibilities to Iraq and its people. Again, a must read post. I'm impressed with the breadth and depth of the analysis included in these posts.

And I'll include a series of posts that D.J. has entitled, Jim Webb's Foot-In-Mouth Disease. I'll include three posts that are indicative of the quality of this series and that really illustrate the depth of incompentence of our junior Senator. I point to Exhibit One, Exhibit Seven and Exhibit Eleven.

These posts are just a few examples of the talent within the ODBA. I will say that I am looking forward to more quality posts from the Right Wing Liberal. Next time I will be looking at SWAC Girl's offerings.

Make your best arguments

UPDATE: Please note that I have deleted a comment from this string. I have done so because its author had nothing substantive to contribute to what I had hoped would be a constructive exercise. For this post only, I reserve the right to delete comments which are hateful, contain no substantive arguments for a candidate, or contain only statements of facts that are public knowledge. I want this to be something constructive for all involved.


*I have been thinking that I may have prematurely jumped the gun as to a candidate to support for 2008. I like Governor Romney's business experience and his fiscal policy. I especially like his call for the repeal of McCain-Feingold. However, I need to reevaluate his positions on the fundamental issues such as abortion and pro-family marriage.

So, in that vein, I call on those members of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance who support candidates other than Romney to comment and make your best arguments in favor of your candidate. This will be added to personal research to help me make the BEST decision. This process will take some time, but I'm not willing to compromise my beliefs to vote for a so-called frontrunner.*

*Original Post*

VBC-03.26.07

I'll be brief. After a hectic race weekend in the Tri Cities area, things are returning to normal here in my town. If I miss a submission, please leave an email at charlie.fugate@gmail.com. On to the VBC:


Rick Sincere presents Radicals for Capitalism ... Gotta Say It! posted at Rick Sincere News and Thoughts.

Ward Smythe presents Why is the party of tolerance so intolerant? AND Democrat(ick) lead Congress throws pork at radical Islam posted at The Ward View.

Leslie Carbone presents Wish I'd Said That posted at Leslie Carbone.

Doug Jones presents Another "Stand By Your Man" Moment for Democrat[ics] posted at Madison Thacker.

Ron presents Environmental Illness posted at Isophorone.

Wise Girl presents Kilos Favorite things posted at Spark It Up!!!.

Carl Kilo presents The Great Divide posted at Spark It Up!!!.

Kat presents Love gifts posted at CatHouse Chat.

I'm Not Emeril presents The Harmans Of Clear Fork posted at Alton.

badrose presents Springtime in the Commonwealth posted at badrose.

Vivian J. Paige presents Withholding by pass-thru entities posted at Vivian J. Paige.

dadministrator presents Gateway to Loudoun Editorials posted at Gateway to Loudoun County.

The Educational Tour Marm presents The Baptism of Pocahontas: Capitol Offense - Get it Right! posted at The Educational Tour Marm.

Thanks to those who have submitted posts for this week's Virginia Blog Carnival. If I have missed a submission, please feel free to email at the above address, charlie.fugate@gmail.com with the Permalink, your blog's name, the name you want to submit under and the title of the post.

I'm back

...thanks to some high powered medicines and some rest, I feel good as new. I'm not a sickly person by nature, but I was pretty sick this time. I have a few subjects I intend to post about, and of course the continuation of my "archived posts" project.

Illness

I have fallen ill with "walking pneumonia" as it is called. I will not be blogging for the next several days. I will continue with my "archived posts" project when I return.

Support General Pace

In another example of a fine American exercising his right to personal expression, General Peter Pace, USMC has gone on the record as stating he believes that homosexual acts are immoral. I wholeheartedly agree with General Pace.

The Joint Chiefs website has a comments form and I would like to encourage readers of Good Sense to visit this form and leave comments in support of General Pace. A highly decorated Marine and the first Marine to have served as either Vice-Chairman or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Pace should not have to apologize for his remarks.


DISCLAIMER: General Pace has not authorized this post, and knows nothing of it. This blog and its content is not affliated with the Joint Chiefs, the Defense Department or the United States Government. Any opinion contained in this post, is purely my own.

Best of the Best: ODBA Archived posts

As I mentioned in an email to some friends, the wealth of talent in the ODBA is amazing. The clear, concise and logical posts are an inspiration to a blogger who enjoys his time at the keyboard. It is with this in mind that I will undertake to round up posts that I believe are significant and noteworthy from archived posts. This will be an ongoing project and don't be surprised to receive an email from me asking a few questions regarding your posts.

In January of 2006, Kilo from Spark It Up shared a series of posts containing excellent analysis of MSM coverage of the Sago mine tragedy. These posts also offered insight into what the miners, their families, and yes, even the coal company went through those nights in January. There are three posts that I feel are noteworthy and include the links here.

The first is entitled, Faith and Religion in the Coal Mine at Sago. This is a powerful post. The ending is particularly poignant and I will quote here for your benefit:

Here in the coalfields faith and religion are top priority for so many. I cant explain the reason but it could be that Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."(Matthew 11:28-30)

Another post that is particularly interesting is this one that offers detailed opinion and analysis of the situation that cause the families so much grief... this one is entitled 12 Miners Dead, 1 in Critical Condition.

The final post that I found interesting from that tragic week is entitled Union. I would encourage all members of the ODBA to read (or re-read) these posts, comment at Kilo's blog and let him know how much we appreciate his insight.

The next post will look at The Right-Wing Liberal. This gentleman has unique insight into the international stage and our role in it. Look for this Round Up soon.

Congratulations

...to our very own SWAC Girl for winning the Patrick Henry Award presented by Lt. Governor Bill Bolling. See the post here. Very nice job and keep up the great work!!!

Another GOP candidate

UPDATE: I have to admit that while I agree with almost all of the posts at Evangelicals for Mitt, I have to draw issue with this particular post regarding the potential Presidential candidacy of Fred Dalton Thompson, former Senator from Tennessee. This post reaffirms (in my view) what I have mentioned in this post earlier. Governor Romney's camp will be the most concerned with a Thompson candidacy. I still support Governor Romney, in fact, I support him more now than I did before the "hubub" regarding Mr. Thompson. The post is well written, and well thought out and researched. However, I believe it to be folly to address an issue that isn't even an issue yet.It is my opinion, and mine alone, that Governor Romney's campaign and grassroots supporters continue to do exactly what they have been doing. Staying on message and staying on issue. Senator Thompson will do what he will do.



Ron Paul, Texas Congressman, has declared his intentions to seek the GOP nomination for the Presidency. Doug at Below The Beltway has a post on this here. Congressman Paul is one of the most distinct candidates officially in the race now. He doesn't have a snowball's chance of winning, but he does offer an alternative for those who are dissatisfied with the main candidates.

I've had the opportunity to meet Mr. Paul during my stay in Washington, DC. I have found him to be personable and principled. Again, as I've noted before, the GOP field is getting crowded and I look for a GOP candidate to do as Mr. Vilsack did. Although it will take much longer for this to happen.

It's obvious who I support. That said, there is only one other candidate who could make me rethink my support. That candidate is Fred Thompson. Should Thompson enter the race, it will shake things up among the top three candidates. Frankly, should this occur, Governor Romney will be the one who will suffer the most as some conservatives would flock to Thompson as an alternative to the GOP frontrunners.

Fair Questions

... save one in this post at EFM. I would take this post with a grain of salt since I'm a Mitt Romney supporter. However, I believe that asking any candidate to name the names of those he would appoint to the Supreme Court is, at worst, the height of unfairness and, at best, a loaded question. Not to mention that the very answer would destroy any semblance of independence the Court has left. The other questions the post mentions as being posed by the Idaho Values Alliance to Governor Romney are all fair and valid questions that should be answered in a forthright manner. Where candidates stand on particular issues is of supreme importance in an election.

I don't understand....

what negative imagery could be derived from this post at SWAC Girl's blog. The Gathering of Eagles at the Vietnam Wall is and was a wonderful idea, no matter where it originated. I post this in full support of SWAC Girl. I will borrow from her original post to illustrate my point:

"A Gathering of Eagles" will take place on Saturday, March 17, 2007, in
Washington, D.C. at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial -- "The Wall." Thousands are
planning to attend and surround The Wall to protect it from anti-war protesters
who threaten to vandalize it. Many thousands more would like to attend ... but
for one reason or another are unable to do so."

I freely admit that I do not have the complete story, but from the face of it, there are no derogatory remarks aimed toward our Vietnam Veterans. There are no negative remarks period. Keep up the wonderful work SWAC Girl!!!!!!

Honor the Fallen

I know this is long, and I'm not trying drive page views up, but if this doesn't touch your heart, nothing will.

You have to see this....

As big of a fan as I am of "Gone With The Wind", this is too funny to pass up. Ward has this post up at his blog and it's just TOO FUNNY!!! My compliments to you Ward. Keep up the great work!!!

Sometimes ya just gotta fight....

I'm one of the people who believes that you get more flies with honey than vinegar. However, that's not ALWAYS the case. There comes a time when you have to take the gloves off and take things out into the street. The past few months have illustrated this point to a tee.

1.) Mr. Maxwell's "outing" demonstrated that the liberals will stop at nothing to discredit conservatives, no matter how distasteful the tactics. I won't belabor the details, but a person exercised his right to expression and was hammered for it. I admit that I was wrong for not supporting this individual more forcefully.

2.) The ability of the Left to smear and to defame our candidates, our beliefs and our country has reached new lows. The above matter is just one example. The belief that our soldiers lives have been "wasted" in a war that has enabled a new democratically elected regime to emerge in Iraq is in poor taste. No life is wasted when a country is on the verge of a new dawn. Yes, there are problems in Iraq, but no one can seriously tell me that Iraq is worse off now than under Saddam Hussein. Dissent is great, but let's dissent with civility and respect for those who are serving our nation so ably.

3.) The ability of conservatives to answer these tactics with the truth has been muddled by corruption and power. We have failed as movement. However, we're not done yet. As I mentioned earlier in the title, sometimes ya just gotta fight...for your beliefs, for your reputation and for your country.

Will we just sit back and let the liberals hand us our lunch? I say no. It's time to take the gloves off, take it into the street and fight to win.


UPDATE: This post from Redstate.com illustrates my point.

Want some salt with that?

Kilo has an excellent post regarding humbleness. Great job Kilo. Keep it up!!!

My Take

We've all heard the blow up over the call from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama to give back money donated from David Geffen after Geffen TOLD THE TRUTH. Senator Clinton has learned from one of the best political operators in our generation. When the tide starts to roll against you, move your opponents off of their message. It worked in each election Bill Clinton won the Presidency. As an American, Mr. Geffen has the right to spend his money and speak (within reason) on whatever he wants. However, as a partisan, I would really enjoy watching Senators Clinton and Obama plow the field with each other politically.

The GOP field, while noticeably less overtly hostile, still has potential to get ugly should the candidates allow it. At this point, I should point out one thing, negative campaigning, even in a primary season, is beneficial when it is based on a candidate's record and is factual and truthful. That is the only way we'll ever know the truth about a position or issue we care about. I hope that the GOP will refuse to allow circumstances to compromise our core principles. Yes, I'm talking about John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Between the two, I find Mr. Giuliani to a be a bit more palatable (but not by much).

At any rate, poll watchers, pundits and bloggers should bear in mind that politics, at its core, is about freedom of expression and freedom of speech. With that freedom comes greater responsibility.

Governor Romney's First Ad

This is Mitt Romney's first ad to run in early primary states.

Apologies

Friends,

I apologize for the lack of posts on this blog for the past few weeks. I have had some personal matters that needed attention. Those are past. I am back. I will begin blogging again about politics in the next few days. Just take a minute to vote in the Pajamas Media Straw Poll that I have recently added to this blog.