Panic button.

Despite this raft of bad news, Democrats are not doomed to return to the wilderness. The question is whether the party is prepared to listen carefully to what the American public is saying. Voters are not re-embracing conservative ideology, nor are they falling back in love with the Republican brand. If anything, the Democrats' salvation may lie in the fact that Republicans seem even more hell-bent on allowing their radical wing to drag the party away from the center.

All that is required for the Democratic Party to recover its political footing is to acknowledge that the agenda of the party's most liberal supporters has not won the support of a majority of Americans -- and, based on that recognition, to steer a more moderate course on the key issues of the day, from health care to the economy to the environment to Afghanistan.

For liberals to accept that inescapable reality is not to concede permanent defeat. Rather, let them take it as a sign that they must continue the hard work of slowly and steadily persuading their fellow citizens to embrace their perspective. In the meantime, liberals -- and, indeed, all of us -- should have the humility to recognize that there is no monopoly on good ideas, as well as the long-term perspective to know that intraparty warfare will only relegate the Democrats to minority status, which would be disastrous for the very constituents they seek to represent.

The party's moment of choosing is drawing close. While it may be too late to avoid some losses in 2010, it is not too late to avoid the kind of rout that redraws the political map. The leaders of the Democratic Party need to move back toward the center -- and in doing so, set the stage for the many years' worth of leadership necessary to produce the sort of pragmatic change the American people actually want.

What an odd notion -- secure the consent of the citizenry on your agenda before enacting it, so that you have some sort of, let us say, "consent of the governed," rather than forcing it upon them simply because you have the raw political power to do so.

Interesting idea. Would make for a good political experiment to found a whole country on principles like that. I wonder what such a revolutionary country might look like.

Posted by: Ace at 05:50 PM | Comments (165)
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Merry Christmas all. Hey I wasn't supposed to be here at all but alas my flights were canceled due to snow in Dallas. So I guess it'll be Xmas eve reindeer games here at ONT central.

What English Sounds Like to Foreigners
Back in 1972 Italian singer Adriano Celentano wrote a gibberish song that was supposed to sound like English. It was a hit and a classic example of pre-Disco.

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:50 PM | Comments (580)
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OK I know this dude's 15 minutes are over but he does a good job here. Enjoy morans and have a happy Christmas.

Posted by: Open Blog at 03:16 PM | Comments (150)
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Comment:

That "Singing House" has a purty mouth.

Posted by: Andy Sullivan's Residence

Fake or real? Here's the answer.

Here's a bunch of stuff at The New Editor:

Chris Matthews greeted Parker Griffith's party-switching by calling the GOP "The Party of the Confederacy" and shrieking that all the GOP had was "Dixiecrats" like Parker. Hey, you know how much Matthews likes those who switch parties or otherwise thwart their parties; so I'm as shocked as you are to see this unanticipated venom. Old, by now, but since no one actually watches Chris Matthews (well, those 58,000), this is pretty much your only chance.

Victor Davis Hanson writes (full article linked at TNE):

Asking why would Obama & Co. be so self-destructive to push through an array of proposals that have no more than 45% of the public?s support is like asking whether the English Prof who teaches incomprehensible Foucauldian theory worries whether he has only 2 students, or whether the well-off union boss is all that upset that membership has sunk to 30% of the workforce, or multimillion-dollar-earning Sarah Palin-interviewing Katie Couric is worried about her sinking ratings, or whether the New York Times columnists are upset that their mother paper is broke with subscription and readership down, and laying off thousands of blue-collar employees.

Matt Welch of Reason looks at Obama's claims on his health care plan and decides "You lie!"

And this is so surprising I'm not at all sure I believe it: US Manufacturing is generally robust (despite the recession), and not, in fact, dying or almost dead?

Posted by: Ace at 11:49 AM | Comments (89)
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It's a Christmas miracle!

The sincerity of it is enough to choke a team of oxen.

Jimmy Carter's Christmas Message of Peace to the Jews

My grandson will be extremely polite about calling you racist murderers. Sincerest wishes for whatever upcoming holiday your vile gutter-religion celebrates next.

No, seriously. Sincerest. Wishes.

PS I'll dedicate my next book to all of the victims of your death-mongering, so there's a little something for ya as a peace-maker.

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (105)
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No, really. I mean, he really said that.

Do I believe he believes that?

Doesn't matter. He'll be gone in a year. He can believe whatever he likes.

"This is a happy day. (Senate Republican Leader) Mitch McConnell said on the floor that we're going to go home and hear our constituents rail against this bill. I don't believe that. I believe that the negativity that Leader McConnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked, and now when people learn what's actually in the bill—and all the good it does—it is going to become more and more popular because it is good for America, good for the American people, and a true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together," said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.

On the floor before the vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "We're going to hear an earful, but it's going to be an earful of wonderment and happiness that people waited for for a long time."

Hey, how about that Sue Lowden? Pretty easy on the eyes and a longtime conservative warrior. I don't know the full history -- I don't know Nevada politics -- but I'm told that she took over the party at it's lowest ebb and rebuilt it. Hard-working, and not afraid of partisan confrontation.

And she's also ten points ahead of Harry Reid in polls.

Just saying: Sue Lowden.

Sue Lowden

Unlike Harry Reid, she's not a delusional schizophrenic.

No bribes. No midnight bills. No Thorazine.

Isn't It Supposed to Work the Other Way 'Round? progressoverpeace seizes on this telling quote by Schumer:

I believe that the negativity that Leader McConnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked, and now when people learn what's actually in the bill—and all the good it does—it is going to become more and more popular...

Isn't the citizenry supposed to be afforded a fair chance to "learn what's actually in the bill" before their alleged representatives vote it into operation?

And -- let's face it, we are not just talking about citizens "learning what's actually in the bill." We are talking about Senators, including Schumer, finally taking the time to learn themselves what oddball provisions have been put into this crazy-quilt patchwork of bribes and sell-outs and taxes and death panels.

They cobbled this thing together with no game plan, and they did so in a furious rush. Something like 2700 pages and it's never actually been read, merely written at 1 a.m. by legislative staffers with no actual goal in mind except to get this one Senator on board this minute, and now this other Senator the next.

Schumer will not go on any interview shows where the host is so ungallant as to quiz him on what various sections of this Frankenstein's monster of naive destructiveness says. If he did, it would be clear by question three he has as little idea what this bill says as you or I do.

Posted by: Ace at 10:12 AM | Comments (148)
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Hey, did anyone get to this yet?

Ah, just kidding. At Hot Air they have some kind of timer or work it out with each other on these things.

Since I'm the lead guy here, it should be me implementing a system like that and coordinating this stuff.

But I'm not really a details sort of guy, as you may have noticed.

Posted by: Ace at 09:33 AM | Comments (94)
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UPDATE: Well crap. Apparently, he also mighta been killed by a reindeer. Or so I heard.

Original post tucked away: more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:08 AM | Comments (29)
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Many of you know about the cute little PR activity that the US military provides the children of the world every Christmas --- the NORAD Santa Tracker:

Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.

Well, I hope someone at NORAD is watching the real radars today:

Russia says it successfully tested a long-range SS-18 missile on Thursday.

The missile - called an RS-20 Voyevoda in Russia - was fired from Orenburg in central Russia and hit targets in Kamchatka, in the far east, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.

With the NATO designation "Satan," the SS-18 is the heaviest ICBM the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces have ever fielded, able to throw 10 nuclear warheads clear across the planet.

Below the fold is video of Satan showering American children with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicles Presents. Merry Christmas! more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:43 AM | Comments (136)
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Big blue patch of something on the radar out west, but if Central Texas has a white Christmas, I'll eat my hat.

Merry Christmas to all you morons, and to my co-blogging knuckledragging pals too. And while we're offering good wishes, remember those who serve, especially those deployed and away from their families and loved ones. They do what they can to make it feel a little like home every year, but it's just a little. Keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:03 AM | Comments (49)
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