Quote of the Day

“I’ve been throwing at him since he was 5 in father son games”

- Roger Clemens in reference to brushing his son Koby off the plate, following a home run he hit off of his Father.

Nothing like tough love eh?

1s Vs 5s Update

Rasmuessen Reports:

Bush Job Approval 43%

Strongly Approve 21%
Somewhat Approve 22%
Somewhat Disapprove 15%
Strongly Disapprove 41%

Its getting worse by the day by the day.

In searching for a reason not to support the DP World port takeover: Should we insist that any country we do business with make peace with Israel? Perhaps we should.

Dubai ports firm enforces Israel boycott

1s Vs 5s

Just as George W Bush was starting to close the gap between the number of people who strongly approve and disapprove of his performance, the gap has been blown wide open in the wake of the DP world port transfer controversy.

Today just 21% strongly approve, while 39% strongly disapprove of the President’s performance according to Rasmussen Reports.  What was even on Election Day 2004, and got as low as 9% recently, this gap between enthusiastic supporters and dissenters is now 18%.

This is extremely important in an election year.  While President Bush is not running for re-election, many of is fellow republicans are facing some very tough challengers when you look at each individual race they have to run in.

In a country where roughly half of all Americans are registered to vote, and half of those actually show up on Election Day, new voter registration and convincing those who don’t punch a party’s ticket automatically is key.  It’s a battle between what inside pollsters refer to as their 1s and 5s. I’ll explain. 1s are people who are with out a doubt voting for you and try to get as many people to join them.  2s are people who will most likely vote for you, but their minds can be changed, they aren’t going to change anyone else mind, and they vote at a smaller rate than 1s do. 3s are you true undecided independents, who generally don’t vote, and their votes are generally splitt. 4s and 5s are your opponent’s respective 2s and 1s.

In the past 3 election cycles, while the democrats 1s were the loudest and got the most press coverage, the republicans 1s possessed a greater ability to get out the vote.  

That clearly is not the case this time, and this advantage seven months before election day is so great that even Howard Dean might be able to screw it up.

At first, The Department of Homeland Security objected to the P&0/DP World ports deal… BUT

The department's early objections were settled later in the government's review of the $6.8 billion deal after Dubai-owned DP World agreed to a series of security restrictions.

A DP World executive said the company would agree to (additional)  security restrictions to win congressional support only if the same restrictions applied to all U.S. port operators.

Exactly!

I would LOVE to see members of the UAE government and DP world, in their robes and head dresses sit in front of a house committee and be accused of damaging national security because they would become the new owners of the port in question.  

AP

Dubai must be involved!

In regards to the failed Al-Qaeda suicide bombing of The Abqaiq oil processing facility:

"In Iraq they zeroed in on oil, and this appears to be a creeping process, since it is happening in Saudi Arabia," said Youssef Ibrahim, a Dubai-based political risk analyst with the Strategic Energy Investment Group.

All I know is that they better not being doing any risk analysis for The United States of America.  Think about it, they could purposely misguide into thinking a high risk energy venture is safe.  We better look into this.

Dubai Ports World

Today the United Arab Emirates decided to delay the transfer of port ownership and operations to the state owned company Dubai Ports World.  This comes after a whirl wind of press coverage that has turned the political landscape upside down.

Rasmussen Reports has found the following:

Just 17% of Americans approve of the port ownership transfer.

For the first time since 9/11 Democrats have a two point advantage over President Bush when it comes to national security, 43% to 41%.  At the present, this issue is a BIG winner for them.

The same poll though indicates that most people do not know much about how port ownership in this country works.  15% believe that the port in question is currently owned by a US company (it’s owned by P&O out of The UK) and 46% are not sure.

I have an open mind about this issue.   This transaction is nothing new in the world of globalization, and would not have made a single headline if it was sold to country that was non-Arab.  I want to list some facts that are helping me come to a conclusion.

1. 1/2 of all US ports are currently owned and operated by a foreign company.


2. The United Arab Emirates is a staunch ally in the war on terror.  What John Kerry referred to as “Window Dressing” in the 2004 Presidential election, the UAE provides among other things, access to their docks for ship repairs and permission to land on their air fields in conjunction with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.


3. The UAE has a very modern western style economy that out passes many countries in the world, including 6.7% GDP growth and a 2.7% unemployment rate.  While its main source of revenue is from oil sales, they have made a calculated move towards capitalism and to participate in the global economy.  Dubai Ports World is an example of that.


4. Along side its other moderate Arab neighbor Qatar, which hosts CENTCOM forward headquarters that was and continues to be critical in the Iraq War, is slowly moving towards democracy.  Currently the members of their legislature are appointed. President Khalifa announced in December of 2005 that elections would take place in early 2006 for 1/2 of those seats.

Now if we want to have an honest debate about globalization and whether US shipping ports should or should not be owned and operated by non-US firms, than I am open to that debate.

What I am against is holding one country to a different standard simply because of their location, culture and religion.

I am still reserving judgment, but in order for me to appose this deal, I would need to see actual proof that the port currently owned and operated by P&O out of the UK would present an increased national security risk if that port was owned and operate by Dubai Ports World.

The only thing I have seen is guilt by association.      

Has anyone noticed?

Has anyone noticed that Roe Vs Wade has a very good shot of being overturned?

S.D. House Approves Abortion Ban Bill

Now if this new South Dakota law, which bans all abortions unless the women’s life is in danger, is found to be constitutional, every state in the nation will then have the mandate and the ability to write their own abortion laws.  

The South Dakota Bill does not include an exception for rape.  In logical terms, if a legislature with a mandate from the people who elected them feel that if abortion is killing an unborn child when it is not rape, I don’t see how it is not killing an unborn child if rape in involved.

A very good point that is brought up about parental rights.  

If a rape victim becomes pregnant and bears a child, the rapist could have the same parental rights as the mother, said Krista Heeren- Graber, executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault.

"The idea the rapist could be in the child's life ... makes the woman very, very fearful. Sometimes they need to have choice," Heeren-Graber said.

It would make sense to include in the bill that if a women is raped and a baby is born as a result, the father would have all parental rights stripped away from him.  That’s if the rapist is ever let out of jail in the first place.

  

George Allen

My dad grew up across the street from this guy.

He has some very unpopular ideas in congress... Which is why I like him!

Sen. Allen Pushes 'Paycheck Penalty' for Congress

No black governors?

I guess you learn something new everyday...

Hopefully our nation will have three after after November...

and they will all be (gasp) Republicans!

Salena Zito, a political columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, notes that "to an extent, Democrats have been blindsided by this growth of black Republicans running for high-profile offices."

Could it possibly be that the right's formula for advancing minorities is FAR SUPERIOR to the left's? Here is a hint: Ken Blackwell, Lynn Swan and Michael Steele do not get promotion or elevated satus in the GOP because of the color of their skin.

Newsmax
Dick Morris
[read more...]

If only more democarts "got it"...

"We're selling our party short; you've got to stand for a lot more than just blasting the other side," said Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee. "The country is wide open to hear some alternatives, but I don't think it's wide open to all these criticisms. I am sitting here and getting all my e-mail about the things we are supposed to say about the president's speech, but it's extremely light on ideas."

- The New Tork Times

I'm going to guess that in December we are going to be hearing a lot about how the democrats "failed to get their message out". Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.