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Sunday, October 31, 20042004 Presidential Election Prediction Bush 290, Kerry 248 Since I more than likely will not have an opportunity to post my thoughts as soon as I would like, I figured I would post my 2004 predictions today.
Bush will win the election with 290 electoral votes, carrying Ohio, Iowa, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, and Hawaii. Kerry will win Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Michigan, and New Jersey. If there was a way I could put Pennsylvania in the toss up category, I would. Bush has a fighting chance to win Pennsylvania, and in the last few days I seriously believe he can pull it off. I believe (and of course, this is with 48 hours for someone to prove me wrong) this election will be determined very, very early on. If Pennsylvania goes Bush, the election is over. If Pennsylvania does not vote for Bush, then either Ohio or Florida must drop into the blue column for Kerry to win - neither of which I see happening. Virginia will remain solidly behind the president with a 5-6% margin of victory. I also predict that LP candidate Michael Badnarik will outperform Nader and the Greens in when the election is said and done. To do your own predictions, just go to the following websites and come to your own conclusions. Real Clear Politics Composite Polling Data NewsHour "Politics 101 Electoral College Map" Have fun! Vote Republican! Saturday, October 30, 2004Working very hard today and leading up to Tuesday, so the blogging will be light. I will post my predictions for Election Day before all is said and done, but for the meantime we have plenty of work to do. Be sure to start riling up your friends and family to vote for President Bush! Thursday, October 28, 2004Democratic "Kleenex Commandos" at it again Whining about sign theft, then stealing GOP signs  You have to love it when the Democrats decry "sign theft" on behalf of Republicans, then proceed to legitimize their own activities in the FLS:Then one recent morning, as I was driving home along State Route 3, I saw a slew of Bush-Cheney signs blanketing the right of way and median strip from the Interstate 95 exit to my turn on State Route 621. These signs are trashy, and it's illegal to post them on highway rights of way.Most people already know that the Republicans put up 1500 signs in the area over the weekend, only to have Democrats tear them down and replace them with Kerry/Edwards signs over the week. Signs are legal on the state right of way if they are three feet from the road. Stealing signs, however, is a Class 1 misdemeanor and punishable with a $500 fine. It is very clear to most that the Democrats have decided to engage in petty theft. That's fine - everyone else saw the Bush signs this weekend disappear only to be replaced with Kerry signs. I've received more phone calls and e-mails than I can count from upset Republicans. One gentleman even had his mailbox covered with a Kerry sticker and his sign ripped up in his yard. I am simply not going to lower myself to this behavior. Period. Steal signs guys - we all know who does it, and undecideds know as well. Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms Russian Special Forces to the rescue! Gee, who woulda thought? Wednesday, October 27, 2004XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED OCT 27, 2004 12:42:01 ET XXXXX ABCNEWS HOLDS TERROR WARNING TAPE **Exclusive** In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. 'The streets will run with blood,' and 'America will mourn in silence' because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda. ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election. The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT. Read on. Tuesday, October 26, 2004Local presidential debate turns ugly More fallout from the Kenney-Connolly Debate Not exactly Lincoln-Douglas in size and scope, but area Dems are still taking heat from their behavior at the Bush-Kerry debate two weeks ago. Katy Sears explains it all: I was at a debate between a delegate to the Democratic National Convention (Thomas Connally) and the chairman of the Fredericksburg Republican Committee (Shaun Kenney). It was being held at the downtown library.About half of the Democrats in the crowd became quite ugly during the debate, while the other half respectfully listened to the debate and preserved decorum. What's more, Sara Wirtala's scathing criticism of the rabblerousers has already gained the status of legend: "Excuse me, sir, but I am 18 years old and even I have more respect than you do right now!"Awesome. There's about twelve sets of parents at Fredericksburg Christian Academy that should be very proud of their sons and daughters right now. I know I sure am. Monday, October 25, 2004Americans Won't Vote For Kerry Because You're Stupid. Liberal Democrats already preparing for massive Nov. 2nd loss You gotta love it when liberal arrogance rears it's ugly head. Of course, you have to love it even more when it does so in a defeatist fashion six days before the election: Granted, there are certain subsections of the American polity that have substantially benefited from this presidency. Millionaires and charismatic Christians have accrued either material or spiritual fortification from Bush's administration.See that folks? If Bush wins, it's only because you were too stupid to accept the spoonfed candidate of the liberal elites. I love it. Everyone in America should read this article before they vote. Elizabeth Edwards: No riots if we win... Mrs. Edwards in an exchange with a supporter I mentioned my fear for this, that no matter what the election results there would be rioting afterwards. Of course, sensible Democrats and Republicans dismissed the idea. But it gives one pause when the wife of the Democratic VP nominee entertains that very idea: Supporter: I'm just worried there's going to be riots afterwards.Now this could be just an idle exchange, but you can't help but be unsettled at the idea. Sunday, October 24, 2004A relaxing Sunday at home for a change. Spent the day with my boys recovering my voice, which currently sounds like the end result of a three-pack-a-day habit. Hopefully a good night's rest will bring it back on Monday, but we'll see. In other news, folks at the Bush Campaign are talking October surprise for this Monday's Washington Times. Drudge may break it this evening, but the buzz is that it has something to do with Kerry's discharge from the Navy. Stay tuned? Possibly. Hand this one to the internet whiz kids running the BlogsforBush site. Someone caught the drift regarding blogging and the impact of the Blogosphere when Dan Rather got exposed regarding the doctored letters. This is a fantastic ploy by the Bush/Cheney camp. Great hit - no matter what turns up, this is one for the playbooks. Saturday, October 23, 2004Received a phone call today at the Bush/Cheney headquarters. The caller was outraged that Rep. Jo Ann Davis was supporting President Bush, then invited me to perform an anatomically impossible act. Kind words from the far left. Which means we are doing our job. Bring it on fellas. Stolen Honor Care to watch it online? Click here. Friday, October 22, 2004Bush TV Ad Uses Wolves to Attack Kerry Weakness attracts those who are waiting to do America harm Check out the new Bush ad titled "Wolves" at the George W. Bush website. It seems to be getting a lot of flak from the Dems, but this is an effective and well done ad: Reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's Soviet 'Bear' ad that was credited with helping frame the 1984 race, Bush's commercial shows a dense forest from above and then sunlight-speckled trees from inside. Shadows move through the brush before animals are seen in the forest. Wolves rest on a hill, then stir and move forward.Part of the reason why the Dems are so offended is because, well. . . it's effective and it's true. They may scream bloody murder, but it pales in comparison to the Hitler ads proffered by MoveOn.org (5.1 megs). Campaign placards are targeted Sign thieves abound There are two things that I specifically hate (and that's a strong word, but appropriate) with regards to political campaigns. Demonization of the other candidate, and cheap, stupid political vandalism: 'The sign theft and all that, that's not a Democrat thing, that's not a Republican thing, that's just dumb people stealing signs, and it should stop,' Kenney said. 'If you want to help a candidate, stick a sign in your yard. Don't tear down somebody else's sign. But it has gotten worse.'I'd be upset too. A lot of people have asked me about today's article and how bad it really is. It's bad, but the real story is that Republicans in the area have tolerated sign theft for years. We expect our signs to be stolen. It is only recently that Democratic signs have been lifted or vandalized, and suddenly we have news. What gives? The political hack in me says this is yet again another case of bias. On the other hand, we've had to put up with this kind of activity for years as Republicans, and now that the Dems are starting to get a taste of the nastiness we have had to put up with, hopefully it will come to a swift end. Or at the very least, ameliorate the thievery somewhat. Of course, there's a bigger issue of people taking this stuff too seriously. Election Day we can be Democrats and Republicans, but on November 3rd we're all Americans again, and more importantly neighbors. I would like to think that most political activists on both sides of the aisle understand this, and that is why I am supremely confident that the sign theft is the work of thugs and morons. What a stupid thing to do. It's as I've said before: Sign theft is a despicable, stupid practice. Nothing makes me angrier than someone else stifling free speech, and that's precisely the way I see this issue. Strange Science Debunking the Myth of Global Warming? First Things has a great article in their November issue from Thomas Sieger Derr investigating some of the faulty reasoning used when making the argument that human beings are somehow causing global warming: The phrase "on record" doesn’t mean very much, since most records date from the latter part of the nineteenth century. Without accurate records there are still ways of discovering the temperatures of past centuries, and these methods do not confirm the theory of a steady rise. Reading tree rings helps (the rings are further apart when the temperature is warmer and the trees grow faster). Core samples from drilling in ice fields can yield even older data. Some historical reconstruction can help, too—for example, we know that the Norsemen settled Greenland (and named it "green") a millennium ago and grew crops there, in land which is today quite inhospitable to settlement, let alone to agriculture. Other evidence comes from coral growth, isotope data from sea floor sediment, and insects, all of which point to a very warm climate in medieval times. Abundant testimony tells us that the European climate then cooled dramatically from the thirteenth century until the eighteenth, when it began its slow rewarming.Quite a bit of quotation, but a worthwhile introduction. Read on. Thursday, October 21, 2004$399.76 That's how much the lady in front of me spent on junk Went to Wal-Mart, stood in line to buy some food and some cough medicine this evening. The lady in front of me had a cart full of stuff. Nothing important, not even a big dollar item. Just stuff - and spent $399.76. My total? $20.73. I couldn't help but wonder all the good $400 could do for a family in a month, and how much junk we actually buy in the course of a week. A month. A year. Impulse buying without purpose. I don't get it. Of course, this is coming from a fellow that buys every book he can read at Borders. But that's not junk in the real sense of it. Reading something improves one's mind (ideally). Buying junk just because it's payday is insane. Anyhow, rant over. Looking forward to tomorrow's FLS depicting us Republicans as bashing the poor, innocent Dems. I won't start in on the article quite yet - this is just an excerpt after all - but I'll have a lengthy discourse on sign thieves and such tomorrow, I'm sure. More on Stewart vs. Carlson Mea culpa, mea culpa. . . Now having seen the segment, Jon Stewart was making a rather valid point, and was blown off by Carlson and Begalia. Check out the Crossfire interview here. Wednesday, October 20, 2004NO COMMENT on the Teresa Heinz-Kerry's comments regarding First Lady Laura Bush save this: Heinz-Kerry did the right thing by apologizing to Laura Bush about her service, and I'm confident nothing was meant by her remarks. For a quick peek at today's crisis in politics, click here. Teresa's apology to the First Lady can be found here. Stewart vs. Carlson! Two go in! One comes out! I had a rather lengthy analysis of this event, but seeing as Tucker Carlson is beating poor Jon like a rented mule over this, I figure I'll let Stewart's exemplification of the spin he presumably hates so much talk for him. Tuesday, October 19, 2004Election Determines the Fate of a Nation Matthew Manweller's critique of the 2004 Election This is too good not to post in its entirety. And since I can't find a source for it, I will leave it here until I can properly attribute the source: In that this will be my last column before the presidential election, there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee. The topic is too serious, and the stakes are too high. This November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance. Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands. If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a spasm of frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House, the message to the world and ourselves will be two-fold. First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things. Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are. Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America. Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times 10. The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the homeland. It is said thatAmerica's W.W.II generation is its 'greatest generation'. But my greatest fear is that it will become known asAmerica's 'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living inAmerica' as 'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set of values and responsibilities. This November, my generation, which has been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve. I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century. Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers of the City on the Hill. Kerry Excommunicated? Vatican Undersecretary issues response 11 days after request It's not the substance, or even the surrounding cast of characters. Rather, it's the speed of which the response was given that amazes me. Of course, what does this really mean? Very little in the scheme of things. John Kerry presumably lives under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Sean O'Malley, and therefore the decision remains with the Archbishop. Interesting though. UPDATE: One of the things that I don't appreciate is when I am purposefully lied to in order to embellish the truth. Seems as if this letter was a private correspondence between Fr. Cole and Mr. Balestrieri, which means that it carries the weight of a Vatican theologian, but not that of the Vatican itself. In short, it's an opinion. Nothing more, and certainly not an excommunication. Monday, October 18, 2004Vatican official, Buttiglione condemn EU 'inquisition' "You can freely insult Catholics and nobody will tell you anything" Strong statements coming from EU Commissioner Rocco Buttiglione regarding the new anti-Catholicism in Europe: During a confirmation hearing last week, Mr Buttiglione said he regarded homosexuality a 'sin', and that marriage existed to allow women to have children and the protection of a male. On Friday Mr Buttiglione was reported as having said single mothers were not very good people. He later said he had been quoted out of context.Cardinal Martino, if you will recall, was the Vatican prelate so critical of the U.S. war to liberate Iraq, and also the prelate to reverse his criticism some months ago. Pimpin' the Pulpit "Every four years, the pulpit gets pimped." I'm not so sure how often the pulpit gets pimped, as much as it might be prostituted: However misappropriated the word "pimped" is, in the case of both modern and latter-day vernacular, the word is entirely appropriate for the cause of the pulpit.Good article, and not one that leaves President Bush unscathed. However, it is very critical of the Democratic abuse of the pulpit and black churches for political gain, and Senator Kerry in particular for returning to black churches when today's polls show a 15% drop in African-American support for the Democratic nominee since the 2000 election. Duelfer: 'A lot of material left Iraq and went to Syria' WMD made the trip to Syria? I took a lot of flak when I jumped the gun after the thrwarted chemical attack on Amman from Syrian al-Qaeda elements earlier this April. I made the claim then that this was conclusive evidence that Saddam's WMD program had made the trip to Syria and into the hands of al-Qaeda, especially after King Abdullah of Jordan publically renounced the idea that he believed the WMDs came from Syria. Now it seems as if Charles Duelfer, the man in charge of the Iraq Survey Group, not only is not ruling out the possibility of WMD transfers to Syria, but also confirms that large amounts of material went to Syria shortly before the March 2003 liberation: Duelfer, an adviser to the CIA, said at the Oct. 6 hearing that a large amount of material had been transferred by Iraq to Syria before the March 2003 war.My question is why the major networks aren't reporting this? I've said it once, I'll say it again. Iraq had WMD, and that WMD is in Syria. No question in my mind. Cell Phones and Polls Could cell phone only users be skewing the polling data? Undoubtedly so. The question on many skeptics' minds is whether or not those who use only cell phones will have different voting patterns this year than those who use traditional land line telephones.This is one of those 1932 Gallup issues. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Gallup conducted a poll in 1932 to determine who would win the election. The results came in overwhelmingly for Hoover. Alas, FDR carried the election. Why? Those who owned telephones at the time tended to be better off than those who did not. That demographic tends to vote Republican, and so naturally the results came back tipped towards Hoover. If you didn't own a phone, you weren't in Gallups polling universe. Now let's take the 18-30 demographic that uses cell phones as their only phone resource? Do you think they vote Republican or Democratic? Many political consultants agree, however, that since younger voters vote at a lower rate as it is, the wireless-only crowd should not significantly affect this year’s results.Perhaps so, but the article concedes that in 10-15 years it could be a problem. If turnout is high this November, it could provide that 1-2% boost for one particular candidate or another (and in the Republican case, I get the feeling that it would be the other). Pope Warns of "Threatening Shadows" Over Humanity Warnings come during the 26th anniversary of his pontificate Kicking off the Year of the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II used his 26th anniversary to issue a warning with regards to the state of humanity: 'The world needs light in the difficult search for a peace which appears distant, at the beginning of a millennium ravaged and humiliated by the violence of terrorism and war.'Money, materialism, fanaticism, power. . . there's the short list. Can anyone argue that these have not robbed primacy from our first principles of life, liberty, and property? Sunday, October 17, 2004The Joys of Pre-School ...and the tremendous illnesses they bring home to share with their parents. This is going to be a slow Sunday, and there's so much work to do. Friday, October 15, 2004Zogby: Bush 48, Kerry 44, Nader 1.1, Badnarik .7 Bush by 4 in Post-Debate Bounce This is significant for two reasons. First, it is the first time in my mind that Bush has taken a significant lead in a Zogby poll (and for those of you who know me, I am a big fan). Secondly, this is the first time I have seen a poll from any pollster that has included Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik among Nader and Green Party nominee David Cobb, who garnered a measly .1 of the poll. Still, numbers don't lie: Pollster John Zogby: “While Bush-- now at 48%-- had another good night continuing his upward trend, Kerry appears stuck at 44%. The good news for the President is that he has improved his performance among the small group of undecideds. Nearly a quarter now say that he deserves to be re-elected—up from 18% in our last poll." Electoral Vote Calculator Cool stuff at PBS. Who knew? We have office pools for Redskins games, Super Bowls, and whether or not someone is going to wear the same tie on Tuesday they wore on Monday. . . why not start an Electoral College bet? My bet? We'll I'm not saying until the closer to Election Day. But as of right now, I say Bush 278, Kerry 260 - with Pennsylvania going for Kerry, but Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, and West Virginia staying well within the fold. Iowa and Nevada go to Kerry, but it won't be enough. More in 18 days or so. . . Thursday, October 14, 2004Strike a bonanza for 12-year-old entrepreneur For just two Canadian dollars, you too can walk a picket line The great part about this is that the folks on the picket line don't seem to care too much. I suppose if a little kid is making some money off of some "scabs," then they deserve it. And what precisely is this 12-year old doing? Some employees stroll nonchalantly past the pickets, down Northwestern Avenue, cough up some cash, deke through Todd's yard, and, presto, they arrive at work on time.Now I don't know who Reg Alcock is, and I sure don't know what "deke" means, but I do know that somehow this guy has found a way to make a buck. Is there a free market lesson embedded here? I'm not saying, but I think we can figure that one out for ourselves. Wednesday, October 13, 2004
 Voting for Bush is like running in the Special Olympics
"Even if you win, you're still retarded" claim Tennessee Dems Is this necessary? Furthermore, I don't particularly appreciate the derogatory nature towards the mentally handicapped. I suppose the real question now is whether or not Tennessee Democrats are going to have the courage to call this what it is and denounce it immediately. I doubt it, but I wouldn't mind being pleasantly surprised. What's worse is that the authors couldn't even be original. There is an online poster with similar language, and it's not pretty or decorous. I'm sorry. I have a cousin with Down's Syndrome. This poster, it's inspiration,and the sick people who thought of it are not right. God forgive 'em. Hundreds of Reasons Why We Have No Business in Iraq Wrong war? Wrong place? Wrong time? Many anti-war peacemongers will attempt to vivisect the humanitarian nature of the liberation of Iraq from the issue of WMD. So when John Kerry tells the Iraqi people that their liberation was the "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time," I wonder what the families of the dead think of that cold assessment: Investigators have unearthed a mass grave in northern Iraq containing hundreds of bodies of women and children believed killed in the 1980s.Damn shame these lives aren't worth saving, John. What's worse is that for political expediency, anti-war Dems are willing to say the same. Now the predictable retort from the left is, "that's not the reason why we were led into war. We were duped!" A commentary that is almost inevitably followed by how stupid and ignorant President Bush is. Putting two and two together, if Bush is as stupid and ignorant as the peacemongers say he is, then what does that say about the mental capacity of our liberal friends that they were 'duped' by the president? Not much I'm afraid. Only the blind or the heartless can reasonably argue that we went into Iraq with the liberation of the Iraqi people as a distant second thought. In my mind, it joined the list of many grievances humanity had against Saddam Hussein. Weapons For Cash Program Not Disarming Radicals in Iraq FARK Headline: Weapons buybacks in Baghdad are like ones in D.C. You sell useless weapons to suckers, and they give you cash to buy more guns. What else needs to be said? Furthermore, sources close to the militia in Sadr City said some of the gunmen were handing over weapons that are not properly functioning or were considered surplus. In some cases they threw in one or two pieces in pristine condition to make the process look genuine.Way to resupply the bad guys! You'd think that folks back home would take the hint and not repeat the folly. All of this is in backdrop to similar efforts within the United States and Brazil. Interesting indeed that people simply seem to be using the money to buy better firearms, although I would love to see a study to that effect before convincing myself of a fairly obvious causal relationship. Tuesday, October 12, 2004Fellowship 9/11 What if Michael Moore had covered the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Heh heh heh. . . the best part is the "conspiracy" against Mordor and the "shaky connection" between Saurman and Sauron. Hilarious! "shaun kenney gop fredericksburg" In a general aside, someone is doing a lot of research on yours truly. Not that I mind - that's what this website is here for. Browse around fellas, and take your time. After all, there's a reason why this is here. Making opposition research that much easier; that's my goal. Dez666 . . .and then there were four. At last, the Kenney Brothers are all online: This site is a work in progress. As thing get done they shall slowly be added to the site. So until then, enjoy page by page.For the rest of the madhouse, check us out online. Shaun Kenney @ http://www.shaunkenney.com Jason Kenney @ http://www.jasonkenney.net Art Kenney @ http://artling.tripod.com Chris Kenney @ http://www.dez666.com Disturbing. However, let it be noted that the younger the Kenney Brother, the worse their HTML skills are (that's right Jay, respect the Bhudda style). U.S. Troops Support Bush 4 to 1 over Kerry Unscientific poll by Army Times cited The USA Today is reporting that American soldiers support Bush over Kerry by margin of 4 to 1. USA Today was very quick to reiterate that the poll was conducted by the Army Times (owned by USA Today publisher Gannett), but that the poll's methodology was suspect as well: Army Times Publishing sent e-mails to more than 31,000 subscribers and received 4,165 responses on a secure Web site. The publisher cautioned that the results are not a scientific poll. Its readers are older, higher in rank and more career-oriented than the military as a whole.You have to hand it to a newspaper when they reveal their own methodology as suspect in a poll. All this having been said, the poll does indeed reflect the sentiment in the military regarding Senator Kerry and his liberal anti-war past. "You can't dismiss" the results, said Peter Feaver, a Duke University political scientist who for years has studied the political leanings of the U.S. military. Feaver said it's unlikely that Bush will receive 70% of votes cast by military personnel. But the results suggest it will be difficult for Kerry to make substantial gains among a group that has strongly supported Republican presidential candidates in the post-Vietnam era.Even if the margin of error were substantial, these numbers are indeed hard to ignore. Sunday, October 10, 2004Washington Post: Bush 51%, Kerry 46% Numbers reflect that of Rasmussen poll; first time a candidate has broken 50% WOW. Despite the spinning by the pundits on the left, President Bush recieved a 4-point bounce from Friday's debates, up to 51% in the Washington Post poll. The only thing that makes this a statement is that Rasmussen also reported the same - that Bush is polling better than 50%, which means undecideds are tuning in and deciding without the input of the pundits and talking heads filtering the debates on their behalf. Big numbers tonight. What's more, the RealClearPolitics.com composite shows Bush up by 2.2% nationwide. Jacques Derrida dies at 74 Author of Deconstructionist Philosophy French philosopher Jacques Derrida died yesterday at the age of 74: Jacques Derrida, 74, originator of the diabolically difficult school of philosophy known as deconstructionism, died Oct. 9, the office of French President Jacques Chirac announced. French media reports said that the cause was pancreatic cancer and that he died at a Paris hospital.Now I have a problem with this, mostly because I don't believe deconstructionist philosophy to be all that difficult to understand. I disagree with the criticism of the article regarding the so-called complexities of deconstructionism, not to mention the presentation of the opposing sides: Supporters said this insight into the layered meanings and incompleteness of language subverts reason and rationality, stripping centuries of assumptions from words and allowing fresh ideas to emerge.Take the color blue; think of the exact shade you are thinking of at this given moment. Now you, while reading this, could be thinking of a royal blue. Someone else who read this moments before could be thinking of peacock blue, while another could think navy blue. The question is, what did *I* mean when I said "blue"? Deconstructionism offers one the ability to escape our inferences on the matter and focus (somewhat, I know this is generalizing) on what linguistic value the author placed on the word "blue". Now a common criticism is that there are two people interpreting the language at hand - the author and the reader. Who gets to determine what is truly meant? Most issues get resolved by the intellectual integrity of the reader, but much can be resolved by linguistic precision on the part of the author. Unfortunately, with any portion of text being read, there is an instance of transmission, and within that transmission there is quite literally a process of translation. That is where the truth or meaning of an expression is lost (or gained, but imperfectly). The variance of values or definitions within a word is a concept known as polysemy, or that it has many (and contrary to the link, not always similar) definitions. Those varying definitions can radically change what the author is trying to transmit to the reader, and often do. So is the philosophy of Derrida difficult to understand? Not if you understand two basic concepts; (1) that words mean things, and (2) words mean different things to different people. What does this do to truth? In my mind, absolutely nothing. It does shore up a basic premise that there are consistent problems with the transmission of truth between imperfect human beings. Sounds fair? To me it does. For more information on the philosophy of Derrida, click here. Bigley Beheaded Link below goes to video of Bigley statement and beheading. Article here. I'm sorry, but I will never plead for my life in this manner. It's dishonorable, and it gives the terrorists exactly what they want - a man pleading for his life that they will simply kill anyway. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome, but once again this is why we do not negotiate with terrorists. Saturday, October 09, 2004Good to be in DC JibJab strikes again! Two Strikes Why Democrats need to be concerned about John Kerry's debate performance A good friend of mine forwarded this letter from a cousin of hers. She asked me to respond, so I took the time to do so, got rolling, and well. . . spent a lovely Saturday afternoon tapping at the keyboard. No worries though, it's not a bad analysis. The letter, her request, and my response are as follows: Message below is from one of my cousins who lives in Maryland. Since you are so great with words will you read this and help me send him a reply mail to counter what he said?Geez! Where to start?! Once again, he (like so many radical liberals) falls into the error of demonizing their opponents. Bush is not the antichrist. Sadly, most liberals can't see the forest for the trees and focus on the issues that affect the nation. Terrorism, Iraq, the economy, homeland security, education, health care - the radical liberals talk all the time about how Bush hasn't done enough, but never once ask the question "what have liberals done, and what do we intend to do differently?" The real questions Democrats should be answering is what John Kerry intends to do differently: * How does Kerry intend to expand economic prosperity better than President Bush, under whose adminstration we enjoyed GDP as high as 8.4%? * How does Kerry - a man who voted against every major weapons sytem we are using to fight the war on terror - intend to prosecute the fight against terrorism in a manner that encourages our allies and strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies? * How does Kerry intend to keep our allies when he insults and degrades the contributions of our Iraqi and Afghani allies? * How does Kerry intend to pay for his health care programs? And who will small businesses pass the cost onto? * What is Kerry's exit strategy for Iraq? Afghanistan? * How will Kerry resolve the nuclear ambitions of Iran? Will he use the same pre-emptive force that he criticized Bush for using? Or will he flip-flop to the previous position where he supported the president's decision to remove Saddam and supported pre-emptive force? * How will Kerry resolve the nuclear ambitions of North Korea? Why are bilateral talks which alienate our allies better than multilateral talks which include our allies and increase pressure on the Communist regime? * Why is Iraq the "wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time?" What message does this send to our troops? Their families? Our allies? The Iraqi people? The terrorists? We have to get out of the mindset that everything that President Bush touches is somehow tainted as evil and bad. It's demonization and poor rhetoric, pure and simple. President Bush has done a number of great things for the prestige and position of America in the modern world. Keep these questions in mind for anyone who is vehemently critical of the president. * Can anyone responsibly say that President Bush was not decisive after 9/11? * Can anyone honestly say that the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq was anything but a positive good? * Can anyone honestly blame the 2000 recession (which began under Clinton) on current economic policies? If not (and logically, one cannot), then why is it appropriate to blame Bush for a recession that occured under President Clinton's watch? * Can anyone honestly point to the contributions of Poland, Italy, Britain, Australia, and the 26 other nations and say that our prestige in the world has suffered? * Can anyone point towards the capitulation of Libya's WMD program and say it was not a direct result of American intervention in Iraq? Syria's compliance? Saudi Arabia's compliance? Jordan's compliance? The cessitation of suicide bombings in Israel thanks to the removal of their #1 financier, Saddam Hussein? * Even in Iran, the nations we supposedly alienated - France, Germany, and Russia - are all following the lead of the United States in order to get Iran to disarm. * In North Korea, can anyone honestly say - for all of Kerry's protestations about involving allies in a "global test" - that *bi*lateral talks are preferable to the *multi*lateral talks engineered by President Bush? Extracting the demonization out from the argument, does John Kerry have the answers to these issues? If not, then is it any small wonder why polls reflect that President Bush is trusted while John Kerry is not? Democrats have to ask themselves these very vital questions in an honest and concrete manner that does not constantly refer to the faults of the current president. In short, radical liberals need to have a plan that is palatable to the American people. To date, they have one-liners and quotes from previous speeches of Kerry that sound good on paper, but share little substantive quality. Backbenching is easy; leadership is tough. So while it is easy to fall into the trap of criticizing the president, President Bush has displayed precisely the kind of leadership America needed after 9/11. Simple as that. Anti-Bush sentiment - no matter how strong - simply will not provide the alternative to Bush's leadership in a post 9/11 world. America has give Kerry two chances in the debates to provide those answers, and twice he has failed. After Wednesday's debate, I hope your cousin will have the chance to see which of these questions Kerry legitimately answers without slandering the President. If Kerry can do that, hats off to him. If not, then I sincerely hope your cousin (and anyone else) would consider President Bush in a better light. Friday, October 08, 2004Debunking the Report "Let's assume he didn't have them. So what?" David Limbaugh makes an excellent point regarding the new report out concerning Saddam Hussein's obsession with Iran, and slams the idea that economic sanctions were getting the job done: In the vice-presidential debate Tuesday night, John Edwards said that President Bush erred in not giving the sanctions more time to work. Oh? Perhaps he didn't read the ISG report they are gleefully touting. As Tony Blair said, 'Just as I have had to accept that the evidence now is that there were not stockpiles of actual weapons ready to be deployed, I hope others have the honesty to accept that the report also shows that sanctions weren't working .'Makes sense to me. Playing hide and seek with WMD was not the goal or objective of sanctions. The burden of proof was on Saddam folks. . . Thursday, October 07, 2004Is John Kerry a CINO? Catholics In Name Only vs. Dignitatis Vitae Catholics For those who keep their fingers on the pulse of the Catholic vote, this is a great perspective from the perspective of more orthodox Catholics concerning John Kerry's lack of fidelity to Catholic teaching on abortion: Is this Catholicism? Doesn't sound like it, but these mixed messages are apparently common at Sen. Kerry's home church, the very liberal Paulist Center in Boston. Jonathan Last of The Weekly Standard attended a Center service and observed a reciting of an edited version of the Nicene Creed, with the section on believing in only 'one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,' dropped out.Excellent point, and why I continually emphasize that the Second Vatican Council has not been realized yet. Wednesday, October 06, 2004Baghdad Wants to Host World Cup Possible opportunity in 2014? With suicide bombings, kidnappings and fighting in the streets, you would think Iraqis have enough to worry about. But sports officials in the troubled country are discussing a bid to host football's World Cup - and they are asking England for advice about how to go about it.Sounds like a good idea to me! Fredericksburg Christian TARS To the Rescue! Held a Bush/Kerry debate at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library tonight. About 15 Teenage Republicans from Fredericskburg Christian Academy held the line and held off the jeers of about 30 rather unruly Kerry supporters. To be quite fair, it was about half of the Kerry supporters that were uncharitable (and that is being very kind). The moderators and the sponsors were very gracious, but if not for the TARS of Fredericksburg Christian it could have gotten ugly. Best part of the night was the scolding of one Kerry supporter by the Fredericksburg Christian students. Parents at FCA should be awful proud right now, especially when the invited speaker verbally called their children "liars" for being Bush supporters. Amazing. Much credit has to be given to the moderators at the Unitarian Christian Church. Given the unruly nature of the Kerry supporters, they did their utmost to maintain decorum - and it did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you very much! Town curbs prayers The crushing of religious sentiment continues Yet more fallout from the 4th Circuit Court decision, from those emboldened by the ACLU's attack on Reverend Turner: Attorney Mike Sharman called the town's position 'prior restraint' and an expression of 'hostility to Christianity.' Although the 4th Circuit includes Virginia, he said none of the cases cited in the town's memo is applicable in the commonwealth.Mr. Sharman is right. Thankfully, the Culpeper County Magisterial Association isn't giving in. A final decision will be handed down by the association this month. Tuesday, October 05, 2004Here I Blog, I Can Do No Other Bloggers, the Mainstream Media, and the paralells to the Reformation Buoyed by the ascendancy of a new information technology, a revolution against the mainstream media (MSM) is underway. What began as a modest effort to reform the excesses of the MSM evolves into a total rejection of the MSM's right to mediate and interpret the truth. Bewildered by its huge loss of prestige, and embarrassed by its increasingly obvious shortcomings, the MSM alternately dismisses the revolution and lashes out against it. Slowly but inevitably, a new understanding emerges. Lay people realize that they have both the ability and the duty to find the truth on their own, free from the biases of a corrupt and self-serving institution. As the unrivalled authority of the MSM has collapsed, the MSM must curb its excesses and return to its primitive purity -- or collapse under the weight of its arrogance.The notable appeal to latent anti-Catholicism aside, this isn't a bad comparison: The Protestant Reformation opened the door to an efflorescence of individualist thought and achievement, even as the Counter-Reformation made the Catholic Church a holier, more honest, and more Christian institution. Internet commentators may do the same to the MSM. But for now, expect more recriminations, more crusades against heresy, and more combat over control of the truth. Be not afraid! The e-blood of the cyber-martyrs is the seed of the future media church. Shots fired into Knox Bush/Cheney headquarters "If I have to sleep here now, that's what I'll do." Here are the fruits of idiocy: Volunteers and staffers at the campaign office say they have no clues as to who might have committed the crime. However, they add that the shooting makes them even more enthusiastic and energized about working for their candidates.1: You just motivated every Republican in Knoxville, 2: You made yourself look like a fanatic lunatic. I don't get it folks. This sort of thuggery has no place in politics, period. Monday, October 04, 2004Which will keep you drier, running through the rain or walking? The eternal question, young grasshopper. I impart the wisdom you seek. Air Force Researching Anti-Matter Weapons Scary... but pretty darn cool! Yes, the inner geek is impressed: During the Cold War, the Air Force funded numerous scientific studies of the basic physics of antimatter. With the knowledge gained, some Air Force insiders are beginning to think seriously about potential military uses -- for example, antimatter bombs small enough to hold in one's hand, and antimatter engines for 24/7 surveillance aircraft.Ban?! Awww... but "clean" nuclear weapons without the nasty fallout? Sounds like the Diet Coke of nuclear weaponry. . . or potentially a great source of energy? All or Nothing Councilman Turner and the ACLU I've received a number of kind comments regarding my op-ed castigating the ACLU for prohibiting Councilman Turner from mentioning Christ in his prayer before City Council meetings. Thank you all for your kind words, e-mails, and the like. I look forward to a genuine debate on the matter. Not surprisingly, the FLS opinion section added it's two cents to the discussion: Commenting on the question of whether Fredericksburg City Councilman Hashmel Turner should be able to say "Jesus Christ" at the end of his periodic invocations at council meetings, as part of an "open door" policy including representatives of various faith groups, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley cautioned: "The problem with inviting people in is deciding who or what's going to be considered a legitimate religion. If you have a religion of me and my seven cats, are you going to tell them they can't speak?"Religion - like so many other things - forms the character of our elected officials. If someone who believes in a religion of "me and my seven cats" gets elected to public office, then that person is free to express their religious beliefs before Council meetings. And why not? Elected officials should be just as free to express their beliefs as anyone else. No one should be asked the check their experiences, beliefs, philosophies, and yes even their religious sentiment at the courthouse door. Now there is a false argument at play regarding "opening the door to all faith groups." It would not be the case that every faith-based organization would be invited to pray before meetings. That's a bit unrealistic. However, among the seven representatives in the horseshoe, each one should be able to express their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) as a part of their prayer. I don't know if there are any Catholics on Fredericksburg City Council - I doubt it - but I would not be offended in the slightest if each and every one of them expressed their religious senitment in turn before Council meetings. And why should I take offense if they did? Again, it's the open society and the public square vs. the closing of the American mind. I disagree strongly that silence is the alternative, because that once again only promotes the antithesis of the public square. All faiths of those at the horseshoe should be able to be expressed without fear of reprisal from the government. That's the great thing about the Free Exercise Clause of the 1st Amendment. Silence only promotes the secular humanism we should ideally be trying to combat. Let Reverend Turner pray! Forget those tired 'old-party hacks'; Vote Libertarian Why waste a vote for the lunatic politics of the past? Why "waste a vote" on the two parties? For the simple reason that the Libertarian Party has no idea where or how it wants to lead America. I love great opinion pieces such as this. A great letter to the editor in today's Free Lance-Star: Robotically, the proponents of state socialism have been battling back and forth on these letters pages, all claiming only their version of socialism has all the answers to solve America's problems.Now I've had this discussion amongst some of my political friends about how modern liberalism and modern conservativism are really two sides of the same political philosophy. This having been said, I was genuinely interested when Michael Badnarik, a pro-life libertarian, won his party's nomination. Sadly, the moment he won, he was approached by pro-abortion libertarians who effectively threw down the gauntlet. Badnarik wilted, and suddenly our pro-life libertarian became yet another apologist for special interests. The one problem that I have with the Libertarian Party is that they don't believe anything, and what they do believe hardly fulfills the requirements for the safe and effective operation of society. Consider for a moment Badnarik's position on the 2nd Amendment and his opposition to the war in Iraq. At the University of Virginia, Badnarik was asked whether or not his interpretation of the 2nd Amendment allowed for private individuals to own nuclear weapons. Badnarik's answer was that nuclear weapons, VX gas, and other such weapons provide a "clear and present danger" to society. Weapons such as firearms do not provide such a threat, and he went further to say that the only time society has a right to disarm an individual is when that person meets the test of providing a "clear and present danger," going so far as to provide a scenario where a neighbor was killing cats, beating his kids, and threatening his fellow neighbors. Now I didn't get the chance to ask this, but let's say that fellow lives in Baghdad. . . he beats and tortures his citizens, he may or may not have weapons of mass destruction, he has invaded his neighbors and threatened to do more of the same. Do you disarm him? To me, that is a fatal inconsistency, not to mention a flaw in libertarian thinking. In addition, just as American liberalism (which is anything but liberal) and American conservativism (Russell Kirk's approach to New Deal socialism that would mobilize America to defeat communism) are two sides of the same socialist coin, where is the consistency in libertarian thinking? Shall we side with the Ayn Rand objectivists (Randroids as they are euphemistically called), the anarchists, the classical liberals? I've written on the topic of libertarianism and the special thread of libertarian ethics that can be found within Catholic Scholasticism. Many others have as well, and I am of the very clear opinion that until the Libertarian Party begins to embrace some of the tenets of the scholastic era, it will never become a cohesive force in American politics. Is a Libertarian vote a waste of a vote? Clearly no, and especially not if they are close to garnering the 5% necessary to get federal funding (or even better, the 10% nationwide to be included in the national debates). But ah... would the Libertarian Party accept federal funds for political campaigning? The Libertarian Party needs to resolve itself on some of the more vital issues of our time. One cannot remain neutral on abortion. Can the LP stand up against it's pro-abortion wing and support life as an inalienable right? Or does it fall victim to precisely the same reduction of human beings as objects that makes socialism palatable? What about Just War Doctrine? Is all war bad, or are there times when the libertarian state must exercise its martial arm - even pre-emptively? To what degree should the government use it's influence on the economy to stem the tides of recessions and depressions? With regards to the Federal Reserve, how can we use only the gold standard as the benchmark for the American dollar, when history demonstrates that even gold has radically fluxed in price over the centuries (i.e. the 16th century Spanish conquest of Latin America). Too many questions that the LP disagrees on, and questions that deserve concrete answers; not a philosophic wave of the hand regarding how great it is for these opinions can co-exist within a party. They clearly and demonstrably cannot co-exist, because their answers radically divide the polity into opposing camps with clear differences in what they believe and value. In short, I empathize with Mr. Montoni about the state of government. But until the Libertarian Party clearly demonstrates that it has a clear path for American governance, it will never be a clear alternative to the two-party system. Sunday, October 03, 2004Kerry Violating the Rules of Debate? What did he pull from his pocket? A bit of controversy in the Blogosphere regarding what precisely Sen. John Kerry produced from his pocket during last Tuesday's debate: A top Kerry campaign source explained to the DRUDGE REPORT late Sunday how Bush supporters were once again trying to distract.Cheat sheet? Most likely. But what I found the most interesting was the exchange of words between President Bush and Senator Kerry on the podium: Bush: How are you doing?Odd. Saturday, October 02, 2004Newsweek Poll: Bush Lead Erased? Bush 47%, Kerry 45% Allow me to introduce people to the fine art of detecting BS With a solid majority of voters concluding that John Kerry outperformed George W. Bush in the first presidential debate on Thursday, the president's lead in the race for the White House has vanished, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll.No way. Not for a second guys. Get this. Kerry needed to walk away with a clear win Thursday night. He didn't. His own guys were calling it a "draw," which means Kerry lost. Bush's numbers went up slightly according to the LA Times and Rasmussen. Which debate was the liberal press watching? Or is it more likely they have a vested interest in pulling a rabbit out of the hat? I won't give either candidate points for intellectual substance, but gimme a break. . . Kerry lost badly. It only gets worse on Tuesday. . . Friday, October 01, 2004Turnout Tremendous at Spotsy GOP Debate Rally About 80-100 activists watched the presidential debates at Uncle Sam's Restaurant in Uptown Central Park. The consensus? Kerry got hammered bad. Kerry had to win this debate to stand a chance, and he floundered badly. What's more, the crowd at Uncle Sam's was terrific. We were riled up, applauding, cheering, and it was a great time. We do it again on the 8th and 13th if you're interested in joining us.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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