Donna Brazile's Bile Demonizes the GOP

Several years ago, after Blue Dog Democrat Congressman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th) was critically shot by a lunatic leftist gunman, Democrats tried to shift the blame to Republicans by claiming that the GOP was fostering a lack of civility.  To that end, Donna Brazile penned a piece with a putative prayer:

[L]et us pray that our political leaders restore respect and civility in their political discourse, and beseech them to forgo the temptation to turn our plea to shun rancor into rancor. 

Noble sentiments.   But to echo a sentiment from the Democrat hustings in 2008: "Be the change you are looking for in the world."  Based upon Donna Brazile's base instincts displayed during this campaign cycle, civility is for suckers and/or the Tea Party.

Donna Brazile has a prominent progressive political pedigree, having being Press Secretary for Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Campaign Manager for Al Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign and is Vice Chairman of the Democrat National Committee. So Brazile is a go to surrogate for Democrats, and often graces the sets of ABCNews and CNN.

This campaign cycle Brazile has gone off the rails in vitriol and vituperousness, especially in social media. Campaign operatives can be expected to figuratively demonize their opponents before an election but suggesting that the gates of Hell be locked lacks subtlety and civility. So much for her little prayer after Gabby Giffords was gunned down.

Donna Brazile bridled at being called a radical for being a liberal who makes controversial statements.




 So to play the no labels parlor game, let us consider Brazile's  two egregious Twitter comments in context and flesh them out.

Prior to the midterm elections in which President Obama is not on the ballot but Democrat Congressmen and Senators need voter approval, Donna Brazile lashes out at politicians who do not support POTUS.  Brazile suggests that those who do not let Mr. Obama dictate policy for the next two years are demonic.

This inflamatory rhetoric is intended to stoke up the liberal base to get them to the polls.  But Brazile's bluster also shows an arrogance of power, insisting that the Chief Executive ought to always have his way in the District of Calamity.  Furthermore, the strident language reveals a contemptuous countenance which does not show signs of civility or cooperative governance.

Brazile's social media rants have taken off her mask.   Now informed voters can go to the polls and vote their consciences. 

Michelle Obama on Trick or Treating

Homer Simpson on Failure

Henry Miller on Destination

Is Obama Just Joking About Early Voting?

During a campaign swing in Wisconsin, President Barack Obama urged those assembled (before they left early) to go out and vote early. Mr. Obama made a slight slip of the tongue which he tried to convert to a bon mot by doing a variation of the "vote early, vote often" saw.

 

While this was probably an innocent slip of the tongue, it is worth considering the underlying message.  

Our Dear Leader, who hails from Chicago blithely brings to mind the Windy City's crooked reputation about stealing elections. Mr. Obama  claims that he was "just messing" with Chicago as that was a long time ago.  Try telling that to Jim Moynihan,  who exercised his Early Voting option in Cook County, Illinois.  However, Moynihan found that the touch screen voting machine registered all of his Republican voting choices (including for his own race) to the Democrat candidate.  The election official insisted that this was just a simple calibration error.  Moynihan cautions conscientious voters to check your ballot before submitting it. 

Lest anyone believe that the errant voting machine was just another isolated incident, consider that calibration errors also occurred in Maryland (another solidly blue state). Curiouser and curiouser. 

Donna Brazile in full campaign season fever pitch, denies in her colorful  social media quip that one can not prove voter fraud.

But in North Carolina, where Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) nis in serious electoral trouble against Republican challenger North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-NC State 98), President Obama's ukase of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is creating voter fraud concerns.  There are 145 "Dreamers" who are have been found on the voter rolls in the Tar Heel State. And the Winston Salem Journal reports that there may be many more ineligible voters on the rolls. 

Another way that illicit exercise of franchise is exposed is through jury excuses.  There were scores of instances in Florida in which potential jurors were excused because they were not U.S. Citizens, yet they still managed to vote.

In Colorado, Project Veritas' James O'Keefe has shown that the new mail-in voting for elections makes voter fraud easy and seems condoned by liberal Get Out The Vote organizers to increase turnout for "their side".  As Meredith Hicks of Work for Progress put it:  “That is not even like lying or something, if someone throws out a ballot, like if you want to fill it out you should do it.”  

Alas, Election Fraud is not limited to one side.  Senator Thad Cochran's (R-MS) victory in the 2014 GOP Primary and Run-Off seem suspect, as extremely late reporting from a couple of populous counties miraculously put the seven term incumbent over the top. 

Vice President Joe Biden has been fulfilling his role as election attack dogs by scaring voters about the Tea Party to gin up liberal turnout.  For those who may feel discouraged by the last minute besmirching and the specter of election fraud--let not your hearts be troubled.  Remember what Hugh Hewitt wisely wrote:  If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat.

Joe Biden on the Tea Party

 

 Well, at least when Vice President Biden was on the 2014 Midterm elections hustings, he isn't accusing Tea Party types of being terrorists like he did three years ago.


    

Bob Marley on Life

Democrat Strategist: "Obama Has Repeatedly Stepped In It"

Billy Graham on Religious Freedom

Alexander Hamilton on Religion

Coco Chanel on Fashion

Gilda Radner on Fashion

Jesse Jackson on Parenting

Peggy Noonan on Speeches

Bill Clinton on Barack Obama

Dr. Alveda King on Moral Bankruptcy

Ben Franklin on the Constitution

Thomas Sowell on Politics

Rosalind Russell on Life

Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz on Life

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn's Populist Push for Re-election

Mark Pryor on the Middle Class

 Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) is engaged in a tough fight to retain his Senate seat against freshman Congressman  Tom Cotton (R-AR 4th).   Pryor is a two term incumbent who was also the scion of former Arkansan Governor and US Senator David Pryor (D-AR).

 Politically, Arkansas skews conservative as it voted 60% for Republicans in the 2012 Presidential race.  So the Democrat can not just make a party appeal to Democrats and expect to be victorious.  In fact, Senator Pryor is one of the vulnerable Democrats who will do anything to separate their campaigns from the Obama White House, even though Senator Pryor has voted with President Obama 95% of the time.

 Thus it is key for Senator Pryor to re-connect with Arkansan voters.  But Senator Pryor's musing about the "middle class" during a recent debate did not work to that end.
 


 Arkansas is 49th in the nation in median home-income between 2009-2011 averaging $39,806.   So it must have been a surprise for Razorback voters to hear them associated with a middle class earning $150,000 to $200,000.  

Mark Twain on Genius

F.A. Hayek on Wisdom

James Carville on Truth

Post Scriptus 10/14/2014 -  A reader from the other end of the political spectrum pointed to Snopes in order to substantiate that  nope Carville never said that.  While that may be true, it might not be necessarily so.  

James Carville has had a career being Bill Clinton's top political strategist in the 1992 Presidential campaign (pitted against his future wife Mary Matlin, depicted in the caricature on the back of the jackass donkey).  He also has gained notoriety being the outrageous "Ragin' Cajun" political commentator for CNN and Fox News.  Furthermore, Carville and Matlin have acted as themselves on the HBO television "K Street" series(2003) which blended the headlines of the day with improvised acting about lobbying in the District of Calamity.  

Thus between Carville's braggadocio and his blending of roles, it is easy to understand why so many people readily accept the Ragin' Cajun's purported quote about truth. 

It adds a whole new layer to Carville's quote about truth. 

Chuckles for Columbus Day

Umberto Eco on Discovery

Pat Caddell on the Stupid Party

Dr. Ben Carson on America as a Judeo-Christian Nation

Michelle Obama on Changes

h/t: Steve Breen

President Ebola?

Who to believe?

• a medical organization which recently exposed 84 workers to a live Anthrax bacteria and 
• lost  track of vials of smallpox  for 40 years

or 

• a leader who believes that he is smarter than all of his aides, 
• one who predicted that it was "unlikely" that Ebola would come to American shores  and
• who offers unconcerned advice which seems contrary to the scientific consensus. 

h/t: Glenn McCoy

Will Rogers on Forgiveness

Edward Teller on Science

Marilyn vos Savant on Wisdom

Greg Gutfeld on Government

Hildabeast Loose in Le Jardin du Roi?

  In Edward Klein's book "Blood Feud" (2014), Hillary Clinton supposedly let loose on her former boss  President Barack Obama.  When the former First Lady, Senator from New York and Obama Secretary of State got together with some old college friends in March 2013 at a the Le Jardin du Roi French bistro in Westchester, New York,  Hillary verbally went on the prowl.

 Klein claims that between sips of wine, Mrs. Clinton lit into Obama with a passion that surprised them all.  Her earthy assessments of the Obama Administration seem to be particularly pertinent a year and a half later, with ISIS, Ebola and the IRS impeaching Mr. Obama's judgment and actions.

 Many low information voters are impressed by Hillary Clinton's credentials thinking that she is perfectly (pant) suited to become President.  However, when such supporters are challenged what policies or successes can be assessed to the so called smartest person in the world, they are left stammering.

 As President Obama's Presidency spirals out of control, Mrs. Clinton will conveniently continue to distance herself from the Obama White House.  Whether it is Hildabeast on the loose or left to her minions, expect some distance to be established between Hillary and the Obama Administration.

 

 The challenge is to expose what Hillary stands for rather than hiding behind her credentials or image of standing by her man after President Bill Clinton embarrassed her over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Louis Brandeis on Civil Liberties

W.C. Fields on Life

Barack Obama on the Midterm Elections

President Barack Obama traveled to Chicagoland to give an economic speech at Northwestern University in order to justify his fundraising appearance for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL).   The President used the speech to justify what he perceives as a rosy economic picture during the six years of the Obama Administration. Americans are supposed to believe this rhetoric even if they do not feel it in their daily lives through  their income and wages

Mr. Obama claimed that his speech at Northwestern was nonpolitical.  Yet the Campaigner-in-Chief uttered 28 words which many Democrats may come to regret.

That sort of reminder may sell well in a solidly blue state like Illinois, but vulnerable incumbent Senators like Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Kay Hagen (D-NC) cringe at reminding voters of that fact.

If Mr. Obama's policies were working so wonderfully, then incumbents up for re-election would clamor for appearances with President Obama.  Instead, those vulnerable candidates just want the benefits of fundraisers without appearing with "the Won".

Midterms are turnout elections, meaning that parties need to work to get their base out to the polls. Mr. Obama's favorability polling is in the low 40s.  Gallup reports that 65% of Likely Voters think that the US is on the wrong track.

Most voters ordinarily only pay attention to politics after Labor Day of an election year, which influences their opinions and motivates them to get to the ballot box.  At the 2014 Value Voters Summit, Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) joked about what was wrong with Washington.  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) cited concrete ways to turn America around by voting.  But what may motivate many likely conservative leaning and independent voters to crawl over broken glass and risk Ebola infection to vote is President Obama's personalization of the midterms as a referendum on his policies.

If the Republican National Committee were smart, they ought to use this clip to remind prospective midterm voters what their support for down ballot candidates really means.

George Costanza on Lies

Celebrating Failed Presidents?

  Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States,  celebrated his 90th birthday by going on a media campaign to redefine his legacy.  Carter's interview with MSNBC insisted that had he authorized robust military action, he would have won re-election.  Instead, Ronald Reagan beat the malaise from Plains Georgia.  On President Reagan's first inauguration day, Tehran released the 52 American hostages after 444 days of captivity. 

 Mr. Carter's self-serving quote failed to account for two factors as he celebrated his foreign policy strategerie (sic).  Firstly,  President Carter did attempt a military operation to free the hostages in April, 1980.  

Operation Eagle Claw was an abortive attempt by the US military to rescue the hostages.  As the eight US helicopters advanced to the Desert One staging area, only five were in operational conditions  (hindered by fine sand, hydraulic issues and a crack in the rotor blade).  The assault was called off, but one of the helicopters crashed into a transport aircraft full of jet fuel, which destroyed both aircraft and killed eight servicemen). 

 Although Operation Eagle Claw may not have been an apocalyptic military operation, it may have been propelled by politics.  President Carter was engaged in a tough battle for the Democrat Presidential Nomination with Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).  In fact, President Carter lost several key primary contests in April 1980 (Pennsylvania, Michigan and Vermont) and was seriously losing momentum. 

Although the failed rescue attempt did generate a lot of scorn for Carter, it also seemed to quash his political insurgency. After Operation Eagle, the rally around the flag instinct which Democrats of the day still had for the military cut Kennedy's mojo.    So Mr. Carters self righteous reminiscing about not using the powers of the Presidency to get re-elected is  questionable. 

 In addition, Mr. Carter intimates today that the hostage release was an answer to his prayers and in the end it all worked out.  While one should not dismiss the power of prayer, it seems more likely that  the Islamic Republic of Iran worrying about what "that crazy cowboy" Reagan  in the Oval Office would do.  Moreover, one should not discount the gesture from Tehran to be one last insult to the Peanut President. 


To celebrate President Carter's milestone birthday, President Barack Obama chose to celebrate himself on social media by posting a photo featuring the 39th and 44th Presidents together.   Of course, Mr. Obama has a history of using his image for branding when supposedly celebrating others, like his social media tribute to Neil Armstrong's death or Rosa Parks' passing. 


 Funny how failed President's celebrate themselves.  Some things never change, despite the rhetoric to the contrary. Some wags have wondered if Barack Obama is the second coming of Jimmy Carter.  

  

However, now Carter can take solace that he is no longer considered with worst President in modern American  history.

Tony Robbins on the Zeitgeist