Obama’s trying to campaign against a do-nothing Congress. But he doesn’t mind at all if the Senate does nothing. Even if it fails to pass a budget for, what, the fourth year in a row?… Originally posted here: Carney: White House Has Absolutely No Opinion On Whether Senate Should Do Its Job And Pass a Budget
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Carney: White House Has Absolutely No Opinion On Whether Senate Should Do Its Job And Pass a Budget
What is it with Salem Radio’s major hosts? Geez. You want to find out what the Romney campaign thinks, flip on Michael Medved or Hugh Hewitt or a number of the other Salem Radio hosts and you’ll find a host fully in line with Mitt Romney and fully out of step with the bulk of the conservative movement. In fact, it is striking to find Salem’s radio hosts so in the tank for Romney when the top radio shows in the country from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to Glenn Beck to Mark Levin to Neal Boortz to Laura Ingraham have all either stayed on the sidelines or gone largely against Romney. And if being out of step with the larger conservative movement on this issue weren’t enough, Michael Medved has decided to trot out the newest pro-Romney talking point with some serious condescension. You see, it is not Mitt Romney. It is you hicks, rubes, and idiots that are to blame. “Dammit, why won’t you like him??!!??” Medved comes close to asking. Mitt Romney has not changed. You people have! This follows an earlier Michael Medved lament where he threw out every straw man he could at both Rush Limbaugh and me in the name of defending his Massachusetts Moderate. Most interesting, in that earlier opinion piece Medved claimed the Republican Party had to abandon conservatism to win in 2012. This time around, Medved claims Romney actually is a conservative. It’s just conservatives have become radically conservative. He seems to be shifting positions as often as Mitt Romney. To paraphrase Bertolt Brecht’s “The Solution,” it seems a lot of Romney’s ardent supporters have viewed the base of the Republican Party and decided the base should be replaced with a new base rather than admit the their candidate is the problem. Many Romney backers, as indicative of Medved’s latest column, do seem to want another conservative base instead of the one that exists since the majority of the one that exists keeps rejecting their candidate of choice. To believe Michael Medved we must accept that Mitt Romney has not changed since 2008, but rather the party has changed. Except Romney has morphed on immigration (again), taxes (again), has scaled back his language on conservatism and is, in fact, running very much as John McCain did in 2008. We must also ignore the fact that more of the base was focused on Giuliani, McCain, Huckabee, and Thompson in 2008 than on Romney. Medved may have been consistently for Romney as a lot of Republican oriented opinion leaders have been, but the base never was. Romney supporters who claim Romney has been wholly vetted forget that in 2008 all eyes were on Giuliani till his collapse, shifted quickly to Fred Thompson, and then spent a good deal of time dealing with the unexpected rise of Huckabee. Romney is only just now being more fully vetted by conservative voters. A lot of the opinion leaders who supported Romney in 2008 and reject him now supported him in 2008 as a way to stop McCain and also did not expect the post 2008 Romney to revert to a brand of Massachusetts moderation. In fact, it is largely accepted that Mitt Romney is running from McCain’s play book this time while in 2008 he ran against and to the right of John McCain. That the base of the party sees it, resents it, and has redoubled their distrust in Romney because of it, Medved not only does not see it, but drips with condescension at the base because of his willful blinders. About the only thing we can learn from Michael Medved’s piece is that the Romney campaign serves up some powerful kool-aid. But hey, at least now Medved doesn’t think we should abandon conservatism in favor of moderation. No, now it is that Mitt Romney has always been conservative and the rest of us are just too radical now.
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Michael Medved Wants A Different Conservative Base
Well, of course they’re going to smack me. The other day I looked into a post at National Review on Newt Gingrich by the estimable Elliot Abrams. In short, after reading the Gingrich Special Order cited by Abrams I found his post to be grossly misleading. And reporting what I found, so too did others who took a look at the same Special Order from start to finish. Mark Levin read it and agreed completely. He’s a Santorum fan… but he was incensed at the misrepresentation of Newt’s ties to the Reagan-era. He was there in the day, as was I. I heard from others as well, and not all Newt Gingrich people. Yes, Rush was so amazed he read a good bit of the piece on air, doubtless adding to the heat. Sean Hannity discussed, Mr. Levin was furious — and Mr. Hannity was more than kind to go on the Levin show moments before his own TV show to defend me. A personal and public thanks to all of them for
LYNDEN, Washington — You wouldn’t think getting a haircut could affect your opinion of a presidential candidate. Yet that’s what occurred to your humble but no longer quite so shaggy scribe last week. I went in for a trim and shampoo and came out with that silky fresh smell, and sympathy for Mitt Romney. No, this has nothing to do with his very Mormon hair. Romney is in pitched battle with Newt Gingrich and the terrain is populism. Gingrich’s people have dusted off Ted Kennedy’s old anti-Bain Capital campaign to paint Romney as a ruthless capitalist, itching to fire people to improve his bottom line. One alleged Romney misstatement came from his speech to the Nashua, New Hampshire Chamber of commerce. Romney said, “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” He was speaking of health insurance companies, not the butler, the maid, or the secretary. Critics pounced anyway, and the press didn’t do him any favors. The ABCNews.com non-parody headline reads , “Romney Likes ‘Being Able to Fire People.’” Romney was contrasting a free market in health insurance with one that is substantially controlled by the government. Being a businessman, he elaborated, “You know, if someone doesn’t give me a good service that I need, I want to say I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service for me.” This earnest, commonsensical point came to mind Sunday as I was driving a wee bit over the speed limit toward nearby Bellingham. It snowed in all of western Washington and the place I normally go to get my hair cut was closed due to weather the two times I had showed up during the week. The first time it was closed, I shrugged, hiked across the parking lot toward the McDonald’s to get some work done with the free wifi and fell pretty hard on the slick pavement. The second time, the snow was mostly melted, but Great Clips was still closed. So I came back Sunday, before 4, and found that it closes at 3. Three trips to get a haircut was too much trouble, so I took off. I found a salon in Bellingham that was still open, put my name in the queue, and read a book while I waited. The wait proved well worth it, for entertainment value alone. The twentysomething girl who cut my hair, who we’ll call Sherry, chatted as she buzzed and snipped away and fretted over my cowlicks. One of the many things Sherry told me was a story about an argument with her boyfriend. He doesn’t want to cut his own toenails and they end up fighting over who has to do it. “He says ‘Either you do it or they aren’t going to get clipped,’” she told me. “It’s ridiculous!” She thought about it for a few seconds and revised her remarks, “Then again, he gives me his paycheck, I clip his nails. Maybe it’s a fair trade.” When it was time to pay at the counter, Sherry tried to give me on a punch card, one that gives you a free cut after so many trips. Normally, I say no to such things because, odds are, it’ll get lost somewhere. But this time I said, what the heck. I had to go somewhere to get my hair cut, perhaps I’d come back here. She smiled and threw in the shampoo for free. Now, maybe I’ll go back and maybe I won’t. It was more of a drive than Great Clips, but it was also more amusing, the cut was good, the price was $1 north or south of the usual fee-for-haircut, and the salon was actually open in my hour of filamental need. That’s all the “good service” I was looking for. Great Clips, you’re fired.
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Fire Away
Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made waves when he skipped the White House ceremony yesterday honoring the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup champions. Thomas made the following statement to explain his absence: I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL. This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT Bruins President (and former Bruins legend) Cam Neely released a statement on behalf of the Bruins which said in part, “We are disappointed that Tim chose not to join us, and his views certainly do not reflect those of the Jacobs family or the Bruins organization.” The absence of Thomas was significant for two reasons. First, Thomas is no bit player. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy which is essentially the equivalent of being Stanley Cup MVP. Second, the NHL is largely populated by Canadians, Russians and Eastern Europeans and Scandinavians. In fact, of the 690 players currently on NHL rosters, only 162 were born in the United States. Despite the fact that 23 of the 30 NHL teams are based in the United States, only 23% of the players are American. The New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres have the most Americans on their roster with nine apiece while the Phoenix Coyotes , the Florida Panthers , and yes, the Bruins have only two Americans on each of their rosters. Tonight, the Bruins face the Washington Capitals (which is as much as any reason why the Bruins visited the White House yesterday) and they only have three Americans on their roster. Not surprisingly, Thomas is being criticized in some quarters and even been absurdly accused of hating our troops . Yet Red Sox principal owner John Henry along with former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein,
