Archive for February, 2007

Class of the Conservative Movement

Posted by: Jason | February 28th, 2007 · 11:59 PM

It could well be that Newt Gingrich is the savior of conservatism in America.

I had a chance yesterday evening to sit down to a podcast sent live from The Cooper Union in New York City. I ask ALL of you reading this post to set aside some time later today to watch the link below. As Lincoln once began a great journey in his speech to the same hall, Gingrich has followed in his footsteps.

For 90 minutes of informative and civil dialogue, the former house speaker and ex-governor Mario Cuomo debated each other over a select group of issues. In the debate, both sides featured an admirable argument, but I want to focus my comments specifically on Gingrich.

There is no question that the former speaker is held in high intellectual regard amongst conservatives and liberals alike. He possesses not only a vast wealth of historical knowledge, but has a rare talent for cutting through empty rhetoric to reach solutions.

Whether the discussion was over the war in Iraq to the future of healthcare in the private sector, Gingrich continues to raise eyebrows in his ability to make sense.

This is a new Newt Gingrich. I don’t fall over backwards for politicians quite easily, but I have to say that from a personal standpoint, this is one conservative who is becoming excited about a possible candidacy for president later this year.

But I say that sparingly, because after witnessing the debate last evening, to talk about political campaigns almost seems demeaning and cheap. This isn’t just about elections anymore, this is a movement. Gingrich’s message has a feeling of renewal in conservatism.

I’m having a strange giddy feeling of wanting to go out and talk about Gingrich to people. I also found myself shaking my head later that night at a random political story about Washington, almost as if I were saying in my mind “how cheap and useless”, after seeing what politics could really be like.

What I saw in this debate, and what I have been seeing in his recent speeches and discussions, is a man that has a real grasp for just how much danger we all may be in as a nation, and a knowledge of how to fix it. This man understands the threat from Iran and North Korea, he understands the mistakes in Iraq and how to change them, he understands that alternative energy can be a profitable solution and not just some kooky left-wing idea. This is a very rational, mainstream-thinking, and dare I say… Reagan-esque man.

I have a message to Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain; get your study books out. For when Newt Gingrich enters the debate, and he will, you will find yourself up against perhaps the most articulate conservative living today. The stakes have officially been set higher, and the time of tag lines and campaign slogans is over. It is soon time for Newt Gingrich to lead the Republican Party to it’s next revolution.

Watch the debate

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Whoa… Obama Surges!

Posted by: Jason | · 3:53 PM

New Washington Post Poll out:

The Washington Post reports that Obama has gone from an anemic 17 percent of the vote among Democratic primary electorate to a more robust 24 percent, while the former First Lady dropped from 41 percent to 36 percent. (Edwards, going no place fast, was mired at 14 percent in third place). So the Post has Hillary’s lead cut in half from 24 percent to 12 percent.

More…

Pollster John Zogby finds a similar trend in a February 22-24 poll with Obama surging from 14 percent to 25 percent in two weeks during which time he has Hillary gaining only 4 points from 29 percent to 33 percent. Again, Edwards runs third at 12 percent.

Source

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Newt: Blockade Iran

Posted by: Jason | · 3:19 PM

Continuing with more Newt news, former house speaker Gingrich today suggested that America has the power but not the political will to face Iran.

Gingrich, in an interview on Bill Bennett’s Morning in America program, discussed the Bush Administration’s recent position change (flip flop) on diplomacy with Iran. Speaking specifically on the administration’s “friendly neighbor” talks, Newt suggested that “we have the military strength but lack the political will to confront the dangers of Iran”.

When asked about a military invasion, Gingrich excused the need for one but argued using the navy to financially squeeze Iran through a blockade of all shipping in and out of the country. Iran imports 60% of is refined gasoline.

Yet another “specific” solution from Newt Gingrich in a presidential race filled with empty rhetoric from the other candidates such as the Three Amigos.

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Gingrich - Cuomo Debate Tonight

Posted by: Jason | · 2:53 PM

Newt Gingrich will engage in a debate with former NY governor Mario Cuomo tonight. Sponsored by Cooper Union in New York City, this is the first in the “Lincoln at Cooper Union” series designed to engage in open dialogue and the free exchange of competing ideas.

The event will be web cast live from 6:30 to 8:30.

Web cast link

Newt discusses the dialogue

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(Cue Sarcasm) Romney Picks Up Key Endorsements

Posted by: Jason | · 11:32 AM

In further news with the Three Amigos today, Mitt Romney picked up some key endorsements in his bid for the White House:

Te’o Fuavai, AS
Lilly Nunez, CO
Betsy Werronen, DC
Diane Adams, IN
Joyce Lyons Terhes, MD
Doug Russell, MO
Randy Frederick, SD
Stephanie Chivers, TN

Oh… you’ve never heard of these folks either? Weird… I assumed everyone else knew every RNC member by state.

In all seriousness, throwing up a random list of RNC no-names as an endorsement story displays once again that the Romney campaign is in serious trouble. This demonstrates real desperation from the former governor in a campaign that is largely sagging in every way.

Press Release 

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Uncle Rudy

Posted by: Jason | · 11:15 AM

Most people think of terms like character, resolve, and management skill, when describing the assets that Rudy Giuliani might bring to the presidency. His bravery and poise during the 9/11 tragedy will be permanently etched into our minds forever. But I would like to add another term to this list, empty.

True, it’s not something that we hear about Rudy all that much. But it’s a word that I’m beginning to associate with his campaign speeches as of late. I’ll explain…

We all have that know-it-all uncle that sort of speaks to us in constant generalities. The kind of guy that says things like “I don’t trust that Bush… he’ll give all our money to Exxon”, while having absolutely zero details to back a claim this broad up. This uncle can do or solve anything, knows just about everyone, and when it comes to problems… “no problem!”.

I’m beginning to refer to Giuliani now as Uncle Rudy. Have you noticed his stump speeches lately? Constant statements like “healthcare… we should be able to fix that” and “optimism… you gotta have that if you want to lead”. But short of just giving us another Reagan code-word here, what really is this guy’s plan for healthcare, or Iraq, or taxes?

I worry about a guy that talks in generalities, because as a conservative who feels used by a Bush presidency that I hoped would have bombed Iran and created a flat-tax by now, I want to know exactly what I’m getting into with a candidate.

More >>>

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McCain in Birmingham

Posted by: Jason | · 10:47 AM

Presidential hopeful, and Steve Martin Three Amigo stand-in Senator John McCain sat down with The Birmingham News in his recent trip to Alabama. Normally I don’t have a fancy for these paper interviews of candidates but McCain gives a very “straight talk” discussion here.

Example:

Q. Why should one more American have to die in Iraq?

A. Because if we fail in Iraq, the consequences of failure will be, in my view, catastrophic and genocidal. I believe, unlike when we lost the Vietnam war, they didn’t want to follow us home. But, if we fail in Iraq they will follow us home.

Q, They being?

A. Al-Qaida. I think Al-Qaida will find a base in Iraq and use it as a base of operations against the United States and her allies, probably first in the region and eventually in our country. Also, I think you will see, if we fail, blood-letting of an incredibly high level between Sunni and Shia and other nations in the region will also be involved.

Link to the interview

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[Review] The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis by Alireza Jafarzadeh

Posted by: Ion | · 7:15 AM

The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis by Alireza Jafarzadeh (Palgrave Macmillan, 304 pages, market price: $16.47)

To put it simply, Alireza Jafarzadeh is the father of the Iran nuclear crisis. An easy thing to type, an enormity to grasp. If in the past four years you’ve personally experienced feelings of dread, anger, or revulsion at the diabolically determined efforts of the Iranian theocracy to develop a nuclear weapon, it’s only due to Jafarzadeh. He’s the ready reaver of our collective contentment.

For it was his arresting revelations in 2002 (as the then spokesmen for the Iranian dissident group NCRI), that Iran had developed two clandestine nuclear facilities in Arak and Natanz, that sent the IAEA scrambling and touched off the diplomatic maelstrom that presently engulfs the Persian plateau and animates our worst fears of a nuclear Jihad, with its grotesque corollary for the death of nations.

Jafarzadeh’s many subsequent revelations about the nature and extent of the Iranian nuclear program and its political intentions, using priceless covert operatives embedded on the ground in Iran, have frequently exceeded the most determined efforts of Western governments to penetrate the chador of secrecy that veils that malign theocracy.

Thus it was with considerable anticipation that many of us have been awaiting the publication of this book. I for one, have not been disappointed. The revelations and insights in this slim volume, are actually thick enough in their implications, to merit a review longer than the book itself. Since that’s beyond my scope sitting here over-caffeinated at Dunkin’ Donuts early in the morning, I’ll merely shoot for the least injustice of a summary I can.

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Cheney O.K.

Posted by: Ion | February 27th, 2007 · 4:12 PM

The vice president appears to be alright, after attempted assassination by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

link

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Mark Sanford: Create a Conservative Plan on Global Warming

Posted by: Jason | · 3:55 PM

In case you missed it, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford wrote a piece in the Washington Post the other day on the subject of global climate change. It’s title, A Conservative Conservationist? Why the Right Needs to Get Invested in the Search for Climate Change Solutions.

Why is this significant? Well… Mark Sanford is someone that PP has been following closely for years now. He has been a tremendous asset to the state of South Carolina and has set the tone as being the leading conservative governor in America.

Sanford makes an interesting argument in this piece. On the issue of climate change, he argues that “conservatives have remained largely absent from this debate, and by pulling back from the environmental battle they have conceded the high ground to those on the far left”. Sanford adds, on the issue of conservatives choosing to not participate in the debate on global warming, “I am a conservative conservationist who worries that sea levels and government intervention may end up rising together”.

The Sanford Plan in a nutshell…

1. Reframe the environmental argument by replacing the left’s scare tactics with conservative principles such as responsibility and stewardship.

2. Find ways to make environmental conservation an opportunity to expand economically.

3. Respond to climate change with innovation, not regulation. Encourage private research and implementation of environmental policies.

What I think the governor is trying to do is say that we are in this debate whether we want it or not. Conservatives can choose to ignore the debate and allow the left to dominate it, or we can jump in with our own proposals in favor of less government regulation and more private solutions.

Governor Mark Sanford is currently creating an advisory group that will study the effects of climate change on commerce, rather than just geography. Interesting idea.

Read Mark Sanford’s Column

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