I Love Ann Coulter Even When She Is Wrong

Ann Coulter is wrong about Newt Gingrich. She is wrong about Mitt Romney. She is wrong about President Obama. Since the election race began, Ann Coulter has been wrong about near everything having to do with the GOP race in 2012. Yet, she’s still smarter than near everyone out there. I love Ann Coulter, even when she’s wrong.

Gingrich won the South Carolina primary by 13% over Romney. In vote total, that is 75,874 more votes for Gingrich. In context, Gingrich beat Romney by a vote total only 2000 less than Rep. Ron Paul got overall. On FOX and Friends on Sunday, Coulter responded to the victory by Gingrich in the South Carolina by admonishing the voters:

Apparently, South Carolinians would rather have the emotional satisfaction of a snotty remark toward the president than to beat Obama in the fall…We saw it in the debates when Gingrich would say things that didn’t really make sense. That is what you usually associate with Democrats, which I described in my last book, ‘Demonic,’ how mobs behave.

Coulter commenting negatively on snotty remarks is like Bill Maher commenting negatively on snotty remarks. The bigger, more accurate story is that Gingrich’s remarks were not snotty, they were accurate. South Carolina agreed that it was wrong of CNN’s John King to start a debate with so-called scandal described by Gingrich’s ex-wife Marianne Gingrich. The applause that Gingrich got Thursday night in Charleston is about a disgust for sensationalism over content. In exit polling, women voted overwhelmingly for Gingrich. If that trend follows in Florida, then it can be clearly said that female primary voters don’t care about Gingrich’s bedroom.

Coulter is wrong about the idea of electability. Legal Insurrection made this point about Coulter’s thoughts just last year emphasis mine)

In February 2011 she told us at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) that Romney was a certain loser against Obama, now she tells us he will win. Her excuse was that she was“sick” at CPAC. She also played the birther card on the Tea Party in making the case for Romney. Inexcusable and unforgivable. Coulter’s endorsement of Romney does not a case for Romney make.

The idea of Romney electability of Obama is a myth. It is pushed by Romney supporters with tremendous passion and desire for it to be truth, but it is not. Proof shows just the opposite, as Romney lost in Iowa and South Carolina. The “inevitable” front runner is 1 for 3. Good in baseball, less good in politics. On my radio show, and in interviews across the country, I have stated that Obama can’t win re-election. Any of the men on stage right now will win over Obama.

In South Carolina, both Sen. Rick Santorum and political analyst Dick Morris made sure to stop by the Blogger Bash after their back to back appearances on Hannity Friday night. In front of a gathering of bloggers and radio hosts, Morris made the same point; Obama won’t we re-election. He went so far as to say that Republicans will win 40 states in the general election with any candidate (sans Rep. Ron Paul.)

Coulter might still be feeling scorned by her one true love, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who decided not to run for President. While questions about his conservatism persist, people love Christie’s tone, mannerisms, and attitude. They love that he’s no nonsense, that he takes on all comers. They salivate for those videos where people try to challenge him. They watch them in their entirety…waiting eagerly for the eventual smack down. Then, they cheer wildly, and share the videos on Twitter and Facebook and G+, in emails and at computer work stations. People like honesty, and respond to those who act firmly in the face of usually unanswered leftist assaults.

Coulter followed Christie in backing Romney. Romney, however, has none of these qualities. He has responded to one questioner on the concept of Capitalism with some aplomb. Otherwise, he comes off as quasi-hysterical. When he took on Gov. Rick Perry (in a conversation about hiring illegals) about who had the right to speak at the moment, his voice was not that of a man in control, but rather a scorned child who wanted her oompa-loompa now! When on FOX with Bret Baier, he called the interview absurd. Just take a look at him answering questions about when he will release his tax returns. He mumbles, he bumbles, he takes offense. Only when trounced by Gingrich does he set a firm date for their release.

Trounced, it must be said, by a man who takes on all comers, who is will to take on the media, who isn’t afraid of a heckler. Trounced by a man who has people salivating over his debate performances. They watch them in their entirety…waiting eagerly for the eventual smackdown. Then, they cheer wildly. It’s not that they agree with Gingrich on everything, or agree with every political or personal decision he has ever made. They like someone who fights to win. They like Christie. They like Gingrich. They LOVE Ann Coulter! They would like Romney if he did the same. So far, he doesn’t.

Ann Coulter will continue to dominate big think, and will continue to do us proud when it comes to taking on nonsensical leftist talking points. She will eviscerate those who haven’t done their research. She will do it with a smile, with a historical understand about America, its culture and its values. When she does, we will watch and cheer wildly.

I love this woman. She’s just wrong about the 2012 race.

Government Pays Big, Because You Deserve It

As reported by USA Today, via The Transom, all types of federal employees – from scientists to custodial staff – have had huge increases in pay over the past five years. As expected, this has made working for the government the “right” decision for recent college graduates:

A 20- to 24-year-old auto mechanic started at an average of $46,427 this year, up from $36,750 five years ago. The government hires about 400 full-time auto mechanics a year….A 30- to 34-year-old lawyer started at an average of $101,045 this year, up from $79,177 five years ago. The government hires about 2,500 lawyers a year. And a mechanical engineer, age 25 to 29, started at $63,675, up from $51,746 in 2006. The government hires about 600 mechanical engineers a year.

On a percentage basis, the average starting wage for a government lawyer is up 27% over five years. A government mechanic? Up 26%. Mechanical engineer? Up 23%. USA Today gives a very interesting rational for the massive increases in government pay; it’s how the job is now classified: (emphasis mine)

The government is classifying more new hires — secretaries, mail clerks, chaplains, laundry workers, electrical engineers and wildlife biologists — as taking more demanding versions of their jobs and deserving more pay.

It is illogical and immoral to assume that a laundry worker or a mail clerk has taken a more “demanding version” of a job in the public sector than those in the private sector. It is illogical because if one believes in equal work for equal pay, then an open market should create a prevailing wage for that job. Certainly, there may be outliers, but the mid-line should have consistency. It is immoral to think that because someone works for the government, that their job will be more demanding. It is immoral to say that because of this lie, that the worker deserves more pay. No one deserves more pay; they eitherearn more, or they create more value…value that someone will pay for.

Situations like this remind me of my father, who for the majority of my years on planet Earth has been asking a very simple question that focuses on the inevitableness of the big government thesis. He asks the following:

A society has 100 people in it. 50 people work at the hospital, and 50 people are patients in the hospital. Who pays the electric bill in the second week?

My father has asked this question at family gatherings, at talks over coffee and cake, at wedding receptions and at all manner of business meetings where the conversation wandered. People of the political “right” are stunned by its simplicity, and understand near immediately his point. People of the political “left” are simply stunned. They stare at my father as if he was missing his nose; a sense of incredulity and sheer hatred. Then they dismiss him, telling him he is ridiculous.

They never have an answer for the question; that if a society is either being paid by government or taking of government services, and no one is creating the wealth that is required to run those services, then that society is doomed (they can’t pay the electric bill in the second week!)

What is truly ridiculous is the federal government engaging the conversation that their employees are more deserving than private sector employees. What is ridiculous is the leftist mind-set that government can satisfy the needs of man by giving man all of their needs, and the willful ignorance of those who believe in government supremacy; that through government all is possible, and that government jobs create value.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal government employs over 2 million people, and is the largest employer in the US. Though mass retirement was expected before the economic downturn, the majority of government workers are holding on to their jobs, with the quit rate falling 29% since 2007. As reported, “Workers are 13 times more likely to die of natural causes than get laid off from the federal government.” The amount of people making over $100,000 per year has advanced from 12% in 2006 to 22% in 2011.

Margaret Thatcher famously quipped that Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money. Said another way, it works until you have to pay the electric bill. Which is, to say, it doesn’t.

30 Tons of Occupied Social Justice

As reported by the LA Times, the remains of Occupy LA were hauled off to the city dump, by the city, at the taxpayers’ expense. The amount of trash? Approximately 30 tons:

Sanitation officials said Wednesday that they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment…Andrea Alarcon, president of the city Public Works board, said workers already have removed 25 tons of belongings from the City Hall park, all of it heading straight to a landfill

Sanitation crews also have vacuumed up about 3,000 gallons of water that had washed into a catch basin in recent days and are testing it for hazardous materials, she said.

As a headline, it’s enough to make one shake their head in disgust. For the intellectually honest, it’s enough to make one say—out loud!—”How in the world could anyone compare the Occupy movement to the Tea Party? The Tea Party would never leave a location looking like this!” But move past the headline, and a new, more accurate story (if, indeed, unintentional by the author) emerges:

The sheer volume of personal belongings left behind after the early morning Los Angeles Police Department raid has astonished city workers: books and CDs, luggage and boom boxes, mattresses and dining chairs, cellphones, electric razors, a small red guitar with its neck snapped –- all surrounded by dozens of collapsed and empty tents

First, it requires a deep understanding of how rich the United States is as a nation, and how incredibly wonderful that is. Yes, a wealthy nation is a blessing, and a tribute to our people, our culture and our values. The Occupiers call themselves part of the 99 percent, and portray themselves as the downtrodden, the left out, the left behind, the jobless, the poor. Yet, they left behind a treasure trove of CDs and cell phones and electric razors. ELECTRIC RAZORS! While one could (if being intellectually dishonest) rationalize the having of cell phones as a needed utility, and one could (again with the dishonesty) rationalize someone having a CD as a human need for music while discounting that it requires another piece of materialism to play said CD—both things, like the cell phone, being made by evil corporations—there is no way for even the intellectually dishonest to reason away an electric razor as anything but a “first world luxury.”

But bigger than the realization of the falsehood of the Occupy meme (that they are poor people with electric razors!) is that they left all of this behind. Why? Because they do not value things… because they did not work for them.

(Read the rest of the article on TownHall.com)

Justice Kagan Must Recuse Herself

The American Left has been railing about Justice Clarence Thomas. His wife, Ginni Thomas, is a Tea Party supporter, and the CEO of LibertyCentral.org – a 501(c)(4) that focuses on the value of liberty with “insistence on limited government.”

The Left believes that Justice Thomas would be unable to render an impartial decision on Obamacare, the Constitutionality of which will be determined by the Supreme Court when they hear oral arguments in March of 2012. The Left argues that because of Ginni Thomas’s work that Justice Thomas will be skewed in his decision making, and are demanding that he recuse himself.

Yet, they remain woefully silent on Justice Elena Kagan. Kagan was the Solicitor General under President Obama before being nominated to the high court. As Solicitor General, Kagan’s job was to argue cases in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the administration. If she was still there, she would be the one arguing for Obamacare in front of the court.

As CNSNews.com is reporting, Kagan “cheered” when the House (under then Speaker Nancy Pelosi) ramrodded the bill through. In an email to Laurence Tribe, a famed lawyer who was working in the Justice Department at the time, Kagan reportedly stated:

I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing

The full email exchange can be found here. Kagan’s need to recuse herself is, first and foremost, based in the rules of the Court itself:

According to 28 USC 455, a Supreme Court justice must recuse from “any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The law also says a justice must recuse anytime he has “expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy” while he “served in governmental employment.”

For Kagan to say that she has had no opinion on Obamacare while serving in a official capacity to craft and/or defend the legislation is simply a lie. Tribe, for his part, is doing a wonderful soft shoe in defending Kagan, stating to CNSNews.com that 28 USC 455 should not apply to Kagan. Tribe further claims that he and Kagan never spoke about Obamacare when she was the Solicitor General.

But forget the code, let’s talk morality. The argument against Justice Thomas is specious at best. The assumption that Justice Thomas can not render a competent decision, simply because his wife holds a certain job, is insulting, bordering on sickening. Those who claim this argument must then reconcile the cases of Representatives and Senators whose spouses (or children) are lobbyists in DC.

The same can not be said of Justice Kagan. These latest emails show that her interest in Obamacare was indeed personal, and professional. As The American Thinker pointed out in early November, a Congressional request from 49 House members for documents involving then-Solicitor General Kagan’s involvement with Obamacare was denied by the Justice Department. Without any legal merit the Justice Department decided not to comply, preventing further examination of Kagan’s involvement with Obamacare.

What does it say if Kagan does not recuse herself? If politics is placed above the law – and its rightful inspection and scrutiny – then of what value is the law? If ideology trumps morality, then of what value is the court itself, or the law, or the Republic?

What value indeed.

Though the year is not over, it’s been a very productive 2011.  We’ve exceeded the majority of our goals over the past year, and have learned of many areas that need improvement and opportunities that we are letting pass us by.  One of those is finding even more ways for us to talk to each other.  I’m correcting that now.

I hope you will take the time to “Like” the new page on Facebook, and be sure to listen to the radio show Monday – Friday at 6pm EST.  Thanks!

While Cain has stated that he would no longer address the issue, the latest charges from Bialek, flanked by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, have forced his hand, and forced this latest press conference. Here are my first thoughts:

Cain appears on camera with a lawyer, Lin Wood, who takes the podium first. If Herman Cain is trying to show America that he is taking these charges “head on,” he has started on the wrong foot, using a lawyer to protect him. Yes, private citizen Cain is more than entitled to lawyer up, and he is right to seek legal counsel. But this is a press conference to show America that Herman Cain can take on all comers, all “liars” as he has called them. Cain showed up with a human shield. In my view, not a position of strength. Wood has called on the American people to show Cain “fairness.” It is Cain’s job to tell us what happened, and show his strength.  Having your lawyer tell us to be fair is not strong.

Cain takes the podium, and makes mention that he will be reading from notes – something he never does. He also wants to make the strong point that he is taking his message directly to the American people, not through a third party. (This is not necessarily true, considering Wood just left the podium.)

Cain denies the allegation. He claims, clearly, that he did not recognize the woman, nor her name. He is emphatic about this.

The charges, and the accusations, I absolutely reject. They simply did not happen.

And, in a blink of an eye, he pivots into his stump speech.  He starts talking about how the American people are tired of politicians.  He continues that he – nor the American people – won’t allow politics to shake him.  He is also clear that he is not giving up his run for President.

I will not be deterred by false, anonymous, incorrect allegations.

Cain continues on this theme, stating that we can not allow dishonesty to “distract us.”  He also states how tough it has been over the past two weeks.  But, he is ready to do what is tough, and knows that “we will get through this.”

Cain is now discussing the Democrat machine in America.  Cain is going to have to explain this, considering that he has come out on several occasions saying that the Rick Perry camp made the initial leak to Politico, and has considered a lawsuit against Politico.

Cain also invoked his wife, saying that she saw the press conference of Bialek, and that she didn’t think her statement could be accurate.  He also says that his family should be left out of this, and the media should not go after his family. Cain talks about his reputation, and how it took 40 years to build – citing the work he has done with business and employees.

I will vigourosly defend my reputation.

He is now repeating his original statement, that he has “never acted inappropriately” and that what Bialek is suggesting is false.  Cain then opened up the conference to question, and, after the first question from a CBS reporter, states that he would take a lie detector test.  Remember that, because that may be the next big thing.  Will Cain take the test, or won’t he?  In my opinion, that was a huge mistake.

As for the press conference, he did not leave himself any wiggle room.  He has left himself no out of any kind if further charges – with substantiated proof – should come to light.  This entire press conference would have been much better if Cain hadn’t let the lawyer start, and I won’t back away from the fact that it showed weakness.

Cain was, throughout, cool, calm and collected.  As his supporters will say, “Presidential.”  However, what Cain has done is perhaps not what he hoped.  His desire (or so I presume) was to put this behind him, and to show that he is able to take on all comers.  While he clearly, and without any hysterics or over-the-top rhetoric denied the charges, he somewhat laid down the gauntlet – begging people (without necessarily saying so) to prove him wrong.  I’m reminded of Gary Hart….maybe that’s just me.

I look forward to your thoughts about the press conference in the comments.

USA Weekend Gives Liberal Celebs a Pass

Over the past month, the Los Angeles Times has started delivering the Sunday circulars to my doorstep, along with every other doorstep in the neighborhood.

While I’m not sure of an official reason, one could posit that subscriptions to the Time are so far down that they must meet their obligations to advertisers and get the glossy fliers out to a certain amount of people. Whatever the reason, along with the fliers for the big box stores was an edition of USA Weekend.  On top, it read Los Angeles Times | Times Select.

In it was the typical Hollywood news (‘Justified’ is being renewed!), some consumer report-type articles, and a big feature on kids being healthy and happy. Also mixed in were two stories of less than 500 words each. One was meant as an homage to leftist dogma, the other a flat-out lie.

First, the dogma showed up in a 150+ word article about actor Ian Somerhalder. The actor plays Damon on CW’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’ (before this, he played Boone on ‘Lost’). In the piece, they talk about him being a heartthrob, about how down home he is, as he comes from Louisiana. They even mention he was teased as a child. His football teammates at his Catholic high school dubbed him a “pretty boy” because of his career as a model. All of this set up showing Somerhalder as a regular guy to get to the hit, when he proclaims that he is an “environmentalist,” stating:

We humans are like cancers: We multiply and take, take, take. Now I want to give, give, give.

An article that was quick to point out his TV cred, as well as the near 1 million Twitter followers he has, is highlighting his environmentalism  - where he calls human beings “cancer.”  Is USA Weekend aware of how dangerous this kind of talk is?

The last person to talk of human beings this way was James Lee, also an avowed environmentalist, who tried to take hostages at the Discovery building in Silver Spring, MD.  Along with planting bombs on himself, and around the building, he had a list of demands for Discovery channel, which included:

The Discovery Channel and it’s affiliate channels MUST have daily television programs….where solutions to save the planet would be done…. Focus must be given on how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution. All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions.

“Parasitic human infants.”  ”Cancers.”  This is who USA Weekend wants our kids to look up to and follow on Twitter.

The second article focused around actor Kal Penn, who can be seen in the third installment of the Harold and Kumar films, ‘A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas’ starting Nov. 4th. Penn is also noted for leaving Hollywood during a stint on the popular Fox drama ‘House.’ Penn’s character was killed off (via suicide) so that the actor could go to work for the Obama administration in the Office of Public Engagement in 2009. In 2011, Penn was back in Hollywood making his third movie in the stoner comedy series. Asked about his return to filmmaking, Penn said:

It’s sort of like the yin and the yang. What I love about D.C. is the intellectual focus, and what I love about L.A. is the creative focus. It’s nice to be back and working the other part of your brain.

I don’t know Penn, but as an outsider looking in I don’t buy this response. Penn believed so much in Obama that he campaigned for him and gave up a starring role on one of the highest rated shows on TV at the time to work for him. Less than two years later, he returns to Hollywood to pick up his movie career.

What happened to serving the people? Or, more to the point, what happened to serving Obama? Or buying into the Obama thesis – that the private sector is bad? Was no thought given to the words of the First Lady, who chastised Americans for engaging the private sector, telling them to make less money working in the public sector for the good of their nation?

Penn’s return to Hollywood isn’t about being creative; it’s about the money. The creative side of the brain can be expanded anywhere. He could paint. He could write in a journal. He could be a mime on the weekends, entertaining crowds of people on the National Mall. But he chose to return to Hollywood to make a living.

There is nothing – NOTHING – wrong with that. But it’s the lack of honesty and transparency that makes the USA Weekend piece so off-putting. His choice to return to a million-dollar career was not mentioned, just his desire to return to “creativity.”

After these two articles, it’s no wonder the LA Times is dropping circulars on my doorstep each Sunday without me having to subscribe.