A Mere Pimple on the Trunk of the Elephant

Commentary in Townhall.com by Tony Blankley - Entitlement reform has become a leading issue in this year's Republican primaries. I don't mean the kind of entitlement reform associated with Medicare or Social Security. I'm referring to the Republican Party's establishment figures and their exaggerated sense of political entitlement. The most recent example is in Delaware, where despite being outspent 32 to 1, insurgent candidate Christine O'Donnell trumped nine-term GOP Congressman Michael Castle by 65 percent to 35 percent for the GOP Senate nomination. Castle, who has spent a lifetime as a political incumbent, responded to this humiliating loss with conduct unbecoming a gentleman. Instead of graciously acknowledging defeat and closing ranks with his party's nominee, Castle trashed her. Sniping from his website, Castle attacked O'Donnell as untrustworthy and unfit for office. By trying to ensure that O'Donnell loses the election, Castle undermines his own party's prospects for a Senate takeover in November. So strong is his sense of entitlement to the Senate nomination that Castle feels justified in being disloyal to the very party he has spent his adult life serving. Read more

A Mere Pimple on the Trunk of the Elephant

Kerry: Democrats’ woes stem from uninformed voters

From the Boston Herald.com - A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation. “We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday. Conservative political blogger William Jacobson, who writes Legal Insurrection, immediately pounced on Kerry’s comments, saying that attitude is why voters are looking to shake up Capitol Hill by electing upstart candidates such as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown. Read more

Kerry: Democrats’ woes stem from uninformed voters

Rep. Alan Grayson compares foe to Taliban

From the Politico.com - Florida Democrat Alan Grayson is portraying his challenger in a new ad as “Taliban Dan Webster” – a religious fundamentalist opposed to women's rights. The spot concludes, “Taliban Dan Webster: Hands off our body – and our laws.” Webster’s campaign did not respond to several requests for comment Sunday. Andy Sere, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in an e-mail message: "Equating a respected statesman like Dan Webster with the terrorists who killed thousands of Americans is beyond low, even for Alan Grayson." Read more

Rep. Alan Grayson compares foe to Taliban

Accelerating The March Toward One World Governance

From Personal Liberty Digest - by Bob Livingston - Congressional Democrats and the administration of President Barack Obama are actively working to subject the United States to the dictates of the United Nations and are accelerating the march toward One World Governance. Recent speeches and actions by administration officials, key Obama appointments and pending legislation all point toward this conclusion. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations — an organization whose members include former presidents and current and former cabinet members and CEOs of multinational corporations and which is actively working toward global governance — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the United Nations is the “single most important global institution.” “Now the U.N. remains the single most important global institution,” CNSNews.com reports Clinton told the CFR during a gathering in Washington, D.C. “We are constantly reminded of its value: The Security Council enacting sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Peacekeepers patrolling the streets of Monrovia and Port-au-Prince. Aid workers assisting flood victims in Pakistan and displaced people in Darfur. “And, most recently, the U.N. General Assembly establishing a new entity, U.N. Women, which will promote gender equality, expand opportunity for women and girls, and tackle the violence and discrimination they face.” What Clinton conveniently overlooks is the fact that U.N. is probably the most corrupt institution ever devised by man. It’s appointees in the U.N. hierarchy from around the globe enrich themselves and their cronies from programs supposedly designed to aid those in poverty or suffering under some man-made or natural disaster. Meanwhile, it rushes to the assistance of certain nationalities, classes or groups of people it favors while ignoring the plight of others. Read more

Accelerating The March Toward One World Governance

EDITORIAL: Iran talks tough, Obama just talks

Editorial by the Washington Times - When it comes to war fighting, the United States is second-rate and always has been, according to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "The United States has never entered a serious war, and has never been victorious," Iran's president said on Tuesday. Threatened strikes against Iran's outlaw nuclear program do not impress him, and if President Obama's speech Thursday at the United Nations is any indication, the mullahs have nothing to worry about. Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments came during a charmless offensive prior to his own remarks before the U.N. General Assembly. In a series of interviews and press gatherings, he said America had never experienced "real" war, "not in Vietnam, nor in Afghanistan, nor even World War II." While this seems nonsensical - especially considering that the Second World War was the most devastating war in human history and as "real" as it gets - Mr. Ahmadinejad's point may have been that these wars were waged almost completely abroad and didn't rage across the American homeland. Read more

EDITORIAL: Iran talks tough, Obama just talks

China and Japan seriously on the outs

From the Washington Times - By Gillian Wong of the Associated Press - (photo by Rueters) Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday rejected China's repeated demand that Tokyo apologize and offer compensation for the arrest of a Chinese boat captain whose detention caused relations between the Asian neighbors to plunge to their lowest level in years. The diplomatic back-and-forth over the weekend demonstrated that nationalistic sentiments stirred up by the incident show few signs of dissipating. Tensions already have affected business ties between the nations' intertwined economies — the world's second- and third-largest. "I have no intention of accepting [the demand] at all," Mr. Kan said. "It is important for both sides to act with a broader point of view." Mr. Kan made the remarks after China reiterated its demand for an apology from Japan late Saturday, hours after Japanese authorities released the captain whose vessel collided with Japanese patrol boats near disputed islands this month. Several major newspapers in China on Sunday carried reports about Chinese calls for an apology and compensation on their front pages, some with photos of the returned boat captain being greeted by his wife and son. In Japan, opposition legislators lambasted the decision to release the captain as a sign that the government was caving into outside pressures. Read more

China and Japan seriously on the outs

Burns Strikes Again, Aggies Down Wyoming 2-1

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 26)-With two goals in the second half, the New Mexico State soccer team defeated Wyoming, 2-1, in its final non-conference match of the year. The Aggies improved to 6-2-2 while the Cowgirls fell to 6-6-0. 

With only 10 minutes left in regulation, sophomore forward/midfielder Crystal Burns gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead with a 30-yard strike. The goal was her sixth of the season, and she now has a team-high three game-winning goals in 2010.

“We played really well in the second half,” head coach Michael Needham said. “They (Wyoming) played pretty direct in the first 20 minutes, but after that we played the way we wanted.

“It was very important to get a win to take momentum into conference play. We finished how we wanted to going into conference on a positive note. After Friday night, the team came together and really competed, and it was nice to get a couple really good goals going into conference.”

The Aggies tied the match, 1-1, in the 63rd minute on sophomore midfielder/forward Lauren Cope’s first goal of the season. She blasted the ball into the top right corner of the net when Burns found her behind the defense.

At halftime, the Aggies trailed Wyoming, 1-0, after forward Carmen Blume scored for the Cowgirls in the 19th minute.

The Aggies open their second season in the WAC at Nevada, Friday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m., before they host Utah State, Sunday, Oct. 3 at noon in Las Cruces.

Burns Strikes Again, Aggies Down Wyoming 2-1

Murdoch: Building Blocks of Voting Fraud

Deroy Murdoch

What is the quietest spot in Washington, D.C.? The Rose Garden? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?Actually, it's the Justice Department's Voting Section. Justice's unit that allegedly fights disenfranchisement lately has been caught dozing while at least nine states too slowly deliver absentee ballots to overseas GIs. Too many military votes thus may go uncounted in November. In yet another outrage, the Voting Section is static while the rolls of at least 16 states evidently list ineligible voters, including non-residents, disqualified felons, and — yes, dead people. Justice's response? "ZZZZZZzzzzzz." Even worse, the big sleep at Justice seems totally deliberate. As former Voting Section prosecutor J. Christian Adams testified under oath July 6 before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, he attended a November 2009 meeting in which Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes discussed the federal law that requires that local officials purge illegitimate names from their voter rolls. Adams swore that Fernandes told Voting Section prosecutors: "We have no interest in enforcing this provision of the law. It has nothing to do with increasing turnout, and we are just not going to do it." So far, the Voting Section is living down to Fernandes' low expectations. If not willful disregard for federal statutes, only powerful sedatives could explain how federal prosecutors could rest comfortably through these simmering examples of voter-roll adulteration: Read more here:

Murdoch: Building Blocks of Voting Fraud

Martinez Featured in Wall Street Journal

Susana Martinez

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Today’s (Sept. 25) edition of the Wall Street Journal has a story about Hispanic Republican candidates in this November’s elections. It mentions Susana Martinez and her tough stand on immigration: “There is a stereotype that Hispanics must be in favor of different policies than I am expressing, and that’s not what I’m finding at all,” said New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez, who would be the country’s first elected female Hispanic governor. Ms. Martinez, a prosecutor, has aired television ads in which she stands at the border and promotes her record convicting criminals who sneaked in from Mexico. Read more here:

Martinez Featured in Wall Street Journal

Credit Union Bail Out

Two years after the peak of the financial crisis, the federal government swooped in to stabilize a crucial part of the credit-union sector battered by losses on subprime mortgages. Regulators announced Friday a rescue and revamping of the nation's wholesale credit union system, underpinned by a federal guarantee valued at $30 billion or more. Wholesale credit unions don't deal with the general public but provide essential back-office services to thousands of other credit unions across the U.S. The majority of retail credit unions are sound, but they will have to shoulder the losses through special assessments over the next decade. Read more here:

Credit Union Bail Out

Vigilante Justice in Mexico

Something worth digesting with your huevos con chorizo. Should we applaud or condemn the residents of Ascensión, Mexico, for trying to reclaim their rural town from organized criminals? Early last week, the frustrated residents of Ascensión, a small farming community known by the locals as La Chona, helped Mexican soldiers and federal police chase and capture a group of alleged young kidnappers. Ascensión is about 115 miles southwest of Juárez and 61 miles from Columbus, N.M. Read more here:

Vigilante Justice in Mexico

Hill - Good Guys (Government) Bad Guys (Business)

Austin Hill

I have this certain sound byte in my computer, and I use it frequently on my daily talk shows. The audio is over two years old -which means it might just as well be a half-century old, by contemporary electronic media standards – yet it is incredibly relevant today and will still be relevant in November. The sound was derived from a video report of former Senator Barack Obama, campaigning for the presidency back in August of 2008. Speaking before a stadium full of energized fans and supporters, our future President begins to talk about a subject that was “top of mind” for most Americans two summers ago – the fact that the cost of gasoline was, at that time, approaching five dollars a gallon. Read more here:

Hill - Good Guys (Government) Bad Guys (Business)

Mayfield Beats Sandia 35-6

From the Las Cruces Sun-News - Mayfield improved to 3-2 on the season with a 35-6 win over Sandia on Saturday at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque. Mayfield outgained Sandia 345-260. The Matadors (2-2) trailed 14-0 at halftime, but Sandia quarterback Jordan Ratliffe found Cole Liggins from 28 yards out to make it 14-6. Ratliffe was 4-of-11 through the air with a touchdown and he carried 21 times from 119 yards. The Trojans answered on their next possession on a 30-yard Kiefer Payne run on a fourth-and-2 play to make to 21-6 entering the fourth. Mayfield continued to pull away on their next possession on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Axten Franzoy to Christopher Trujillo with 7:54 to play. Franzoy rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown and he completed 7-of-12 for 120 yards and a score. Brandon Betancourt carried 17 times for 63 yards and a score and he added a TD pass. The Trojans led 14-0 at halftime after rushing for 172 yards in the first half. Mayfield had touchdowns runs from junior quarterback Axten Franzoy and running back Brandon Betancourt. Franzoy rushed for 104 yards in the first half. He led the Trojans on a 65-yard scoring drive to open the game, finding the endzone from 34 yards out. Read more here:

Mayfield Beats Sandia 35-6

David Corn - Pledge an Insult to Jefferson

David Corn

Are the House Republicans as paranoid as the most extreme Tea Partier? On Thursday, House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Land of No) and his crew released a campaign manifesto called A Pledge to America, which outlined what they would do, should they gain control of the House in the coming congressional elections. The preamble to this glossy, 45-page document -- which doles out the expected: tax cuts for the rich, downsizing government, repealing the health care bill -- purposefully echoes the Declaration of Independence, noting that "America is an idea . . . that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Read more here:

David Corn - Pledge an Insult to Jefferson