What the Heck was I Thinking!?

Two fence-sitting RINO senators want to make sure they get some press during campaign season, regardless of the fact they aren’t running for office. 2 GOP senators urge new Iraq strategy - Yahoo! News.

"We need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous," Hagel said. "And we’re in the middle of it."

We’re right in the middle of it for more reasons than Iraq. It might surprise Sen. Hagel that we buy lots of oil from that region, we have very close relations with Israel, or that we have an interest in all the shipping that goes through the region.

The Minneapolis Examiner has an article about how cabbies at Minneapolis airport intend to handle their concern about prospective fares who have alcohol - a different colored light on the top of their cab.

I have a different suggestion. It’s what was stated by a person in the article:

"They’re really kind of imparting their religious views on the public," said Katie Patterson of McKinley, Texas.

"I can understand if somebody’s drunk; that’s a whole different issue. But to just bring in a closed container, maybe you should look for other work." A moment later, she added, "I’m glad I don’t have a bottle of wine with me."

They should look for other work, indeed! And the commission that oversees cab licensing in that area should look at the First Amendment to the US Constitution regarding the making of llaws respecting the establishment of religion. Where is that pesky ACLU when there’s a real constitutional issue?

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.com writes about all the reasons the GOP deserve, and are likely to lose come election day. Some of this sounds interesting from a "law professor" point of view. Much of it is material I doubt most voters will include in their calculus:

1. The Terri Schiavo affair - who? Yes, I know who she was and what the flap was about. I doubt that will surface in the minds of voters come election day.

2. Harriet Miers - Huh!? Oh, yeah that supreme court lady. Nope, not worth remembering when I pull the lever.

3. Dubia Ports deal? How does that hurt the Republicans? That they’re soft on homeland security? Come on, that’s too much of a stretch when compared to the attempted death of a thousand cuts the Dems have put on homeland security.

4. Immigration - This one might have some traction, but not for House candidates. They are the ones that stopped those idiot Senators from following the gang of 14 into never-never land. Social security for illegal aliens! Talk about a vote-buying scheme parading as good policy.

5. William Jefferson - Oh, not that Clinton boob, the frozen funds Congressman. Maybe trouble for Hastert, should be trouble for Jefferson and any Dem stupid enough to defend him, but nothing for a Republican Congressperson to fret about.

6. Folegate - This is the only one that is close enough to election day (October surprise, anyone?) to possibly have an impact. But I doubt it will cause anyone a problem except for Joe Negron, whose name can’t get on the ballot to replace him. Even this, issue won’t really sway a wide swath of voters across the country, if only because Dems will overplay the scandal issue (with a little help from their media friends).

I much prefer Hugh Hewitt’s Democrat Campaign Stategy FAQ over at Townhall.com

If the GOP loses control of one or both of the Houses of Congress, it will be the result of people seeing the incumbents (a majority of whom are Republicans) as too free-spending and too liberal in their policies, not any one of the specifics that Glenn Reynolds lists. Too far down into the tall grass I think.

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.com writes about recent articles and posts on the web describing how to create or where to buy disaster preparedness kits at home. I liked his last line the best:

"And, pulling together two big themes from today, reader Scott Cosman writes: "Perhaps folks are buying the disaster kits in preparation for the Democratic takeover of Congress." It all makes sense, now."

In an article that many bloggers have swarmed on, and for good reason, Meghan Daum writes in the underground (at least by subscription standards) newspaper, the LA Times, about the recent uncivil behavior of protesters at Columbia.

Reading the article, you’d think that she’s talking about some prank that kids played on a controversial speaker, kind of a pie-in-the-face sort of a thing. Then she gets the required "expert" on this kind of thing, Mark Rudd. The problems begin there - he was in hiding because of a failed bomb plot.

Or, as he puts it in his self-serving bio:

  "On March 6, 1970, a bomb exploded in a townhouse in Greenwich Village in New York City, killing three of Mark’s comrades.  The bomb was intended for a social dance at the army base at Fort Dix, N.J. "

What a sweetheart! Planning to blow up innocent people - draftees and their dates, girlfriends, or wives. 

His comments in the Daum article include this corker: 

 

"I’m not going to point a finger at these kids and say you’re a hoodlum fascist," he said. "I’m just going to wait and see what they do." In other words, it’s not Columbia’s president who has to get his hands around this. It’s young activists themselves.

I’ll bet he’d change his tune if they blew up something important to him. After all, he’s now part of the dreaded establishment!

 

(h/t’s to Michele Malkin, Paterico and Penraker