The Neocon Endorses McCain!

We are happy to extend our official endorsement to Senator John McCain. I find the hysterical reaction to McCain by some fellow conservatives distasteful. A true American war hero, pro-life and a real leader, not a slick pretender and fancy talker who has never done anything (like many of his critics from the Holy Church of "conservatisim"). To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt: It is the man in the arena who counts, not the yappers in the bleachers. Some of my fellow conservatives tend to confuse strong opinions with action, courage or achievment. Yes, McCain is imperfect, as all of us are, and I don't agree with all of his past efforts on immigration, campaign finance or the 'no vote' on the Bush tax cuts. But on balance he has a conservative voting record and is an attractive candidate with an unbeatable resume and a wide appeal in the general public, which is exactly what we need right now. Most importantly, he truly gets the threat of radical Islam and has the longest resume on National Security issues, which is this site's top concern. JOHN McCAIN FOR PRESIDENT!

Breaking: Schwarzenegger to Endorse McCain
Giuliani Endorses McCain
Conservative TX Gov. Perry Endorses John McCain

A quick note: I have a lot of respect for Mitt Romney who seems to be an articulate and attractive candidate. But I don't think that having Bay Buchanan as his spokesperson helps him, especially because most people associate her with her brother Pat who is not a Republican nor a conservative, but another one of those yappers in the bleachers.

The Neocon Likely to Endorse McCain

As readers of this blog know, months ago, I endorsed Giuliani for President recognizing him to be an imperfect candidate, but most allied with our Neocon principles. The readers of this blog also know that I had been a supporter and contributor of John McCain in the 2000 primary process.

My candidate, Giuliani, has not fared as well as many of us would have wished for a variety of reasons; the first of which was his horrible campaign strategy to skip all of the early contests. It is what it is. Given this reality following Florida, now is the time for Giuliani to drop out of the race and endorse John McCain, and I fully expect him to do so in the coming days. That means that I too will be transferring my support from Giuliani to John McCain and encourage others to do the same.

I understand that many of my fellow conservatives dislike John McCain. Now is the time to face reality, show maturity and work with the candidate to secure a future that does not include Hillary as President of the United States. Now is also the time for McCain to work ceaselessly to create the classic winning coalition of all Conservatives; economic, security and social Conservatives. All of which are crucial elements if victory in November is to be secured.

CBS to Kennedy: Wink, Wink, Nod, Nod...Do You Think Obama Will Be Assassinated?

What a creepy little series of questions...oh so gently phrased. CBS should be ashamed.

Don't Cry For Me....

When I see her:
I think of her:
Evita:
A Power-obsessed megalomaniac, ruthlessly riding her husbands coat-tails to power. Ring any bells?

Kennedy Endorses Obama...Oooops, wrong Video

h/t. SondraK

What the hell is wrong with Fox?

"Uh, is this enough cleavage, or do you think our viewers might need a little more?"
Every missing white woman, every perverted sex offender, every weird crime, every tabloid tidbit gets top billing. Good lord!

(Maybe it's photoshoped, I don't know. I do know that it represents an accurate editorial comment).

Clinton's Tribute to Sir Hillary

Bill Clinton is a Racist

Bill Clinton is, and always has been, an old-style Southern Democrat racist. A slick, sophisticated operator who knows how to manipulate the African-American community like a fiddle...for his own purposes. But every so often, usually when emotions are running high and a lot is at stake... for him of course...the real Bill Clinton then emerges. That was the case today when it became clear that Hillary will lose in South Carolina. Bill's reaction? and I kid you not: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

Message? Obama is just another Jesse Jackson (a Black agitator), running as "the Black candidate", not a "mainstream" candidate like Hillary. Jackson the "Black candidate" did not win the nomination, and either will Obama. Of course, true to style, Clinton packaged his dirty little race card in the form of a "compliment": "Jackson ran a good campaign and so did Obama." Really.

What a piece of work.

Romney Taken Out of Context: "I'm Not Concerned About the Voters"

The moment I heard the "I'm not concerned about the voters" quote during last nights Republican debate in Florida, I knew that somebody, somewhere, was already busy editing a video distorting those words. He never should have uttered those words because he should have known how political hacks and other creeps would use them.

Of course, Romney meant that he was not concerned that voters would know his campaign strategy; only that he is keeping his strategy close to the vest not to reveal it to his political opponents on the stage. In other words, it was a statement of respect for the voters which now can easily be edited into "I'm, not concerned about the voters", and played over and over again by creeps and liers. A textbook example of political sleeze. I support another candidate in this primary, but Romney deserves to be treated fairly.

Ron Paul "War Room": Black Helicopters Over America! I Saw One Today!

You could not make this stuff up! Ron Paul supporters have a reputation for being a little wacky but you never know how wacky until you read their posts on the Internet. At first, I thought this post was a joke until I realized that these folks are serious. Talk about falling right into the stereotype. Good lord! Can anyone say 'PARANOID CONSPIRACY NUTS'.

Ed Schultz: Clinton is a Lier

It's rare to hear a Liberal pundit tell the truth, but Liberal radio host Ed Schultz does it today on Hardball.

Hillary-Obama: The Gloves are Off!

Just finished watching the South Carolina Democrat debate on CNN. Finally, a real debate! Hillary accused Obama of working for slum lords and Obama accused Hillary of being a corporate lawyer for Wall-Mart.

Generally speaking, to me at least, Obama comes across as an honest and decent person. I don't agree with virtually any policy position he holds, but compared to the corrupt Hillary Clinton, Obama is a model citizen of high integrity and decency. Hillary is oozing with classic Clinton-insincerity and sleaze. If I were a Dem, Obama would be my candidate, no question.

My fun at the Nevada Caucus

So I went to vote today at the Nevada Caucus. Until now, I had only voted in primaries, so this was my first experience voting at a real "caucus" and it was a different experience indeed. First, because everyone converges on the voting location at the same time (9:00 AM), parking was an issue. My Caucus location was at a high school, so when we finally found parking, we needed to locate the room that was to host my precinct; this was an ordeal because most people did not know the number of their precinct and were forced to crowd around a map on the wall at the entrance to the building, and then cross reference the precinct number with the room number, to be found on another poster on another wall. After that ordeal folks proceeded to their assigned rooms. Naturally, no-one was familiar with the building so everyone then spent the next 10 minuets walking around the hallways of this giant high-school looking for the right room number.

OK...you begin to get the picture. After finally finding the right room and presenting our identification, we all (about 40 of us) sat down and the process began. The Precinct Captain followed a set of written instructions. First, we filled out a card with suggestions for the State party to adopt at the upcoming convention. Then we held an "election" for seven delegates to the county convention. Seven of us (myself included) volunteered and were selected by unanimous consent.

Then it was time to get down to the meat of the matter. Supporters of each campaign were asked to speak on behalf of their candidate. Romney, McCain, Thompson, Huckabee and Giuliani had supporters who spoke eloquently for their candidate. Romney and Ron Paul were the only two campaigns that clearly had an organized effort to get people to the Caucus. Our room was stacked with wacky young Ron Paul supporters...I admired their passionate enthusiasm but...good lord! Anyway, the young Ron Paul supporter got up and told us how he was "blown away" by Paul's "awesome ideas" like returning to the gold standard and stopping the war against terror. A real eye-rolling moment.

Then ballots were handed out and everyone filled them out and returned them to the head table. I was asked to read the results out-loud. Romney received the most votes followed by Ron Paul, and the rest were divided up pretty much evenly among the other candidates. The results were tabulated, the ballots put in a sealed envelop and signed by two precinct member...and that was it. The entire process, from parking to driving off took a little over an hour.

My impression? Grass-roots, Smass-roots. The primary system is far better, and far less susceptible to manipulation than the Caucus system. I prefer the Primary system.

Iran seeks partners for construction of 19 reactors

And why shouldn't they? The US "National Intelligence Estimate" gave the holocaust denier a clean bill of health. What a joke.

Anyway, I was watching the Bush press conference from Jerusalem and was struck by the Presidents tortured interpretations and explanations of the US NIE report. I'm paraphrasing: "Even though my intelligence people completely contradicted themselves, as well as everything that I have been asserting about Iran over the past few years based on their assumptions, Iran is still a threat...sort of." How humiliating for our Commander in Chief to have his own intelligence community undermine his national security policy so publicly, that in a news conference on foreign soil he is forced to explain the unexplainable.

Iran speedboats 'threatened suicide attack on US' in Strait of Hormuz

It's only a matter of time. It's not if, but when. Iran has every interest in artificially spiking the price of oil, and what better way to to that than to maintain a constant sense of crisis and tension in the worlds most important shipping lane for oil?

The Neocon in Argentina

OK, I just got back from two weeks in Argentina, a country that I had never been to. The following is a quick summary: Buenos Aires is a large, hustling, bustling, highly condensed city of approximately 12 million people(including suburbs). I stayed in the heart of the city on Carlos Pellegrini Street, near the Obelisk (Image seen from the Hotel). There is great shopping along a gigantic promenade on Florida Street, a few blocks up from the Obelisk. The conversion rate is roughly 3 Pesos for a Dollar and prices in Argentina are still relatively inexpensive by Western standards. The subway system is surprisingly efficient and fairly easy to navigate. My favorite area was La Boca, the oldest neighborhood in the city. Colorful, a little raggedy with a charming tourist area that includes Tango street-dancing, cafes and shops of all sorts. The city is fast- paced and fascinating; dirtier than I expected, graffiti everywhere and more extreme poverty than I expected. The city has wonderful examples of old European colonial architecture. I highly recommend that you watch your wallet because it's no place for the naive. It feels a bit like Tel Aviv, Israel, or perhpas like a very large eastern European city if I was looking for an imperfect parallel; highly political, an emerging market with unlimited potential if only they could get their act together. Efficiency is not ingrained in the culture and standing in lines is something of a national past-time. In any event I give Buenos Aires a strong thumbs up for any persons seeking an authentic experience in a relatively safe country that has not yet been turned into Disneyland, like so many European cities. From Buenos Aires we traveled south to the Valdez Peninsula along the Patagonian coast to experience some of the wildlife. We traveled hundreds of miles on dirt roads to reach incredibly isolated colonies of Sea Lions, Elephant Seals and Magellanic Penguins, up close and personal in their natural habitat. There is no way to describe the strange feeling of walking among hundreds of thousands of Penguins (the largest colony outside of Antarctica) during the nesting season. From the Valdez Penensula, we traveled to the most southern areas of South America, basing ourselves in the little town of El Calafate. We spent the next few days on excursions to the massive Ice-fields of the southern Andean range. We explored the Spegazzini and Upsula glaciers, as well as the better known Porito Moreno glacier (in image). There is simply no way to describe the beauty of this place.

In short, I give Argentina a massive thumbs up as a destination location for any traveler with the slightest sense of adventure.