Conservatives

I've met Hugh Hewitt professionally only once. We were on a panel together what seems to be like eons ago talking about online communities. He strikes me as a pomo-conservative : the kind that may if not laugh out loud, at least chuckle about South Park while sipping on a Beaujolais from his wine cellar.

Which is why when I read this, I did indeed LOL :

Saturday, February 02, 2008
"Paid For By Obama For America"
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 2:49 PM
I heard a powerful Obama ad on K-Earth 101 while driving this morning. That's the '60s/'70s rock station. The pitch combined some fine Obama audio on change and the future with clips from the scores of newspaper endorsements the Illinois senator has racked up.

When you pull in $32 million in January, you can play in a variety of micro-markets.

If the GOP sends a 72-year into this race whose prime was from a different time at least two generations back to campaign solely on the need to win the current war, even his hero status won't help him against the tsunami that is building. Dole '96 will seem like an energized, cutting edge effort by comparison.

Perhaps there is some recognition of this in U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski's endorsement of Romney this morning. She can't be looking forward to a Senate GOP caucus reduced to a rump by an Obama-led blowout fueled by tens of millions that McCain cannot hope to match.

Republicans are not shitting their pants over the prospect of a christian conservative like Mike Huckabee winning the GOP nomination. Their shitting their pants because Chuck Norris gave his hearty endorsement to the Huck*.

Chuck Norris fact : He can lead a horse to water and make it drink.

Hence, the GOP is fucked.

Here's Willian Krystol over at The New York Times

The best answer came, not surprisingly, from the best Republican campaigner so far — Mike Huckabee. He began by calmly mentioning his and Obama’s contrasting views on issues from guns to life to same-sex marriage. This served to remind Republicans that these contrasts have been central to G.O.P. success over the last quarter-century, and to suggest that Huckabee could credibly and comfortably make the socially conservative case in an electorally advantageous way.

Huckabee went on to pay tribute to Obama for his ability “to touch at the core of something Americans want” in seeming to move beyond partisanship. And, he added, Senator Obama is “a likable person who has excited people about wanting to vote who have not voted in the past.” Huckabee was of course aware that in praising Obama he was recommending himself.

I was watching the debate at the home of a savvy, moderately conservative New Hampshire Republican. It was at this moment that he turned to me and said: “You know, I’ve been a huge skeptic about Huckabee. I’m still not voting for him Tuesday. But I’ve got to say — I like him. And I wonder — could he be our strongest nominee?”

Andrew Sullivan muses about a one-term McCain presidency with Huckabee as his sidekick and successor. Over at The Wall Street Journal Henry Olsen claims that Huckabee's win in Iowa is a turning point for the GOP and a time to ask themselves if they want to become a Christian Democratic party.

Well ... at least he is incredibly liberal (for a conservative) when it comes to immigration.

President Huckabee? I need some dramatic chipmunk to go with that :

What is up with these avant-guard artist-wanna be's and the socially aware who constantly complain about our government's lack of charity yet can't spare a dime for a homeless person?

I live pay check to pay check but I seldom turn down a request from someone who asks for money, unless I really just don't have it. But I see this happen all the time. On the subway especially. Commuters discussing the need for change suddenly turn into in-transit Helen Kellers if approached by the homeless. The argument that you don't want to give money because they'll spend it on alcohol or drugs fails miserably. You don't want to give money because you are just as tight-assed as our current administration. Even when you give money to a "proper"---and probably mismanaged---charity, there's no telling how that money will be allocated. I choose not to worry about how a homeless person uses the money. Whether you donate to a charity or give someone cash hand to hand, the money will probably not be used as it was intended, except in the rarest of cases. But the proper charity does give you a tax writer off. Oh, I get it!

Think about living on the streets. I imagine it consists of one goddamn nightmare of violence and pain after the next. Many of us claim to be close to it. So how can you refuse to give assistance, even if it is going to be used for a bit of hallucinogenic or Night Train fueled escape? Hell, take the time to buy someone some food, if it won't make you late for some Lower East Side Happy Hour.

We've been so busy all morning we have not been able to even write a quick note about these fantastic news :

Dick Cheney's next grandchild will have two mommies, to the horror of his conservative fans.
The White House says Cheney's openly gay daughter and top political adviser, Mary, is expecting a baby this spring with her lover of 15 years, Heather Poe.

"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival," the veep's office said in a statement.

The father's identity was not revealed.

The veep's daughter will have to remain an unwed mom: Cheney, 37, an AOL executive, and Poe, a 45-year-old former park ranger, live in Virginia, which just passed the kind of constitutional ban on same-sex marriages that the Bush administration has been pushing nationally.

"The irony is that the grandfather of this child is part of a party and an administration that has relentlessly attacked gay and lesbian families," said Jennifer Chrisler, head of Family Pride, an advocacy group for gay parents.

"So his own grandchild will not have the same legal protections other children enjoy. And Heather will have no legal relationship with the child. She can't make a hospital visit or even sign a school field trip form," Chrisler said.

So the Vice-President's daughter's partner, Heather Poe, can't legally take care of their child. She can't even adopt her daughter because, as long as there is one mom alive, that's what the Bible Beltway political muckrakers were able to pass as law in the state of Virginia.