A speech by Congressman Mike Pence, at Hillsdale College, on Monday, Sep. 20. I mentioned this in a post the other night, just from reading the text, how impressed I was with it.

He gets it going after introductions at 5:50.

On the office of the President of the United States of America:

"Its powers are vast, and consequential. Its requirements from the outset and by definition ...impossible for mortals to fulfill, without humility, and insistent attention to its purpose as set forth in the Constitution of the United States".

Truly worth a watch.

I'm not prepared to be a Pence guy in 2012, it's too early. I'm just listening, like I did years ago. Back then, as a young man, I was learning about what it all meant, this government, our history. What it meant, to govern a people, who as Madison said "ain't angels" (paraphrased, TJ, Stuff Jefferson Said, 3rd ed revised), and therefore this government had to at once govern men, and yet then constrain themselves.

But I like this speech. And I think he captures an awful lot about why we believe in this government, formed by men like Benjamin Frankin, who when asked the question "did you give us a Republic or a monarchy?" replied, "A Republic, if you can keep it." A Republic in which power is constrained, and intended to be balanced, checked. So that the will of the people who are governed prevails.

We are not subjects. We are citizens.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:46 PM | Comments (125)
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Stevie sez: Welcome to Friday nightÂ…

CAT v.6.1b: Cat Users Manual (with debugging guide). An excerpt:

“A new CAT should not exit the primary site facility. Full portability comes after extensive burn-in. Some users never let the CAT unit autoexit the site. The advantages are longer unit life and fewer bugs. Contact with pirate CAT units may lead to unplanned BATCH iteration. Contact with untested CATs may lead to virus infection. If allowed to exit, some CAT units may try to port across a street. Fatal errors may happen. These errors are never recoverable. Such situations are not covered by warranties. If you decide to let your CAT out, it should have a READ_ME.TXT file with a system address and URL.”

More stupidity below the fold... more...

Posted by: Genghis at 06:05 PM | Comments (832)
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And by "Democrats" I'm pretty sure I mean "union thugs."

At Hot Air, the punch that was thrown after; but I care less about that than the coordinated, planned laughing at nothing at all by Democratic thugs.

She handles it well. But even handling it well, the Democrats are keeping her from speaking, and they've got the subliminal effect of those animal giggles on the tape.

What was the moderator doing here? Not throwing people out, obviously.

Well, next time: We'll do worse.

How ya like them apples?

Just don't let these bastards speak at debates. Hoot, jeer, giggle, shout 'em down.

Posted by: Ace at 03:07 PM | Comments (876)
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This is a read between the lines sort of deal. The scandal concerns a road connecting Manchin's hometown with a highway-- so far, just typical pork for the hometown.

But...

Larry Puccio, ManchinÂ’s former chief of staff and current chair of the Democratic Party in West Virginia, also runs a real estate business in Fairmont. Sources believe Puccio could be part of the probe.

The governor says he cannot comment on the investigation and says he doesnÂ’t know if Puccio is a target.

“It’s a process,” Manchin says, referring to the investigation. “That’s all I can tell you; it’s a process.”

Money gets made in these situations, doesn't it? Some land suddenly gets more valuable? I've seen it in Westerns so I know it's true.

Posted by: Ace at 03:00 PM | Comments (46)
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You're taking out (hypothetically, if this is real, and you can prove it, and not just made-up) John Boehner? The John Boehner?

De facto leader of the Tea Party John Boener?

The straw that stirs the conservative cocktail John Boehner?

John Boehner, a man of such weapons-grade charisma that teenaged girls throw panties at him like he's Cheap Trick on their 1977 Japan tour?

That John Boehner? The man widely called the spiritual father of Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman even though he's far younger than either?

Whatever.

If he did have an affair -- then what? What? If he had an affair, then a 17% real unemployment rate is super-cool? Then we give up and go home because you took John "Captain Adrenaline" Boehner from us?

He probably didn't. But let's say he did: Who cares?

I'm not even sure the man would be majority leader. It's got the inside track on it, but then, he'll have like 50-70 Tea Party No More Business As Usual freshmen in his caucus, who aren't particularly impressed with him.

But all right, set your sights on John Boehner, because he's the safety-pin and duct tape keeping this crazy airplane aloft.

John Boehner For Speaker of the House

Or somebody else. It doesn't fuckin' matter, see?

more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:21 PM | Comments (622)
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I think CAC was more reserved with his prediction about a possible +8 in the Empire State.

But you know Dick Morris. He's swinging for the fences in his semi-predicitons.

On the House side, New York's role is no less crucial. The National Republican Congressional Committee, the body charged with running the GOP House campaign, lists seven New York seats as among the hundred it considers to be in play -- tied with Pennsylvania for the national lead.

The key races:

* Suffolk, where Randy Altschuler has a good chance to defeat Rep. Tim Bishop.

* In Westchester/Putnam, Dr. Nan Hayworth trails Rep. John Hall by only 44-42, according to a Sept. 12 poll by Public Policy Polling.

* Hudson Valley, where challenger Chris Gibson trails Rep. Scott Murphy by only 45-40, according to an Aug. 1 poll by the American Action Forum.

* In Plattsburgh/Watertown/the North Country, Republican Matt Doheny looks likely to succeed, assuming the Conservative Party nominee (who lost the GOP primary) doesn't split the vote.

* Central New York, including the Finger Lakes, Utica and Rome, where incumbent Mike Arcuri trails challenger Richard Hanna by 50-37 in a poll by the Democratic Benenson Strategy Group on Aug. 31.

* Syracuse, where Democratic incumbent Dan Maffei nurses a narrow 44-41 lead over Republican Ann Marie Buerkle, according to an Aug. 1 poll by the American Action Forum

* The Southern Tier (Olean, Hornell, Corning, Elmira and Canandaigua counties), the district of ex-Rep. Eric Massa, a Democrat who resigned amid scandal and charges that he was being marginalized by the House leadership for opposing ObamaCare. Republican Tom Reed leads Democrat Mathew Zeller by 44-30.

Add to that list possible GOP pickups by John Gomez against Democratic Rep. Steve Israel in Suffolk and George Phillips vs. Rep. Maurice Hinchey in the Newburgh/ Poughkeepsie/Binghamton district, and Republicans have nine possible House pickups in New York.

One note: That Plattsburgh race? Doug Hoffman is remaining in the race as a third-party spoiler with a good ballot line (the Conservative Party line).

I think that race is probably going to be lost. It's a fairly evenly-divided district, not the sort of place where you can lose 10-15% (or more) of your best-case vote share and win.

He's gone from hero to douchebag. He stood for election in a fair primary and lost; now he's playing sore loser, same as Liana Mulcahey and Charlie Crist and maybe even Mike Castle.

There are douchebags all over.

Below, CAC's "Best Case Scenario" map for the Northeast. Dark red, I think, represents solidly R districts; bright red are potential pickups (I think his guide is places where the R has a 20% or greater chance of winning.) more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:07 PM | Comments (89)
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His father's rightwing, Tea Partier killer, Palestinian extremist Sirhan Sirhan.

Kennedy fils is actually on the university's board of trustees, and voted to deny Ayers the honor.

"I am guided by my conscience and one which has been formed by a series of experiences, many of which have been shared with the people of our country and mark each of us in a profound way," Kennedy said.

He said he could not confer the title "to a man whose body of work includes a book dedicated in part to the man who murdered my father."

Kennedy was referring to a 1974 book co-authored by Ayers, "Prairie Fire," which was dedicated to a long list of people including Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan and "all political prisoners in the U.S."

...

A UIC professor said Friday she was "shocked" by the trustees' decision not to grant Ayers emeritus status.

So here we are: It is "shocking" to some that we deny an honor to a killer. And it's an act of odd, notable courage to speak out against conferring such honors on killers.

Posted by: Ace at 11:50 AM | Comments (138)
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I really should have dug in deeper to that CNN poll, as Allah did.

In even worse news for congressional Democrats, likely voters say they are considerably more likely to vote for a candidate the president opposes than one he supports. On the other hand, 50 percent of voters said they would be more likely to vote for a Tea Party-backed candidate while a third of Americans said Tea Party support would dissuade their vote for a candidate.

Wow.

And -- PJTV's Tea Party Tracking Poll (I hadn't heard of this before) says that the Tea Party enjoys 33% support... from black Americans, who I guess hate themselves and are totally racist and stuff.

Posted by: Ace at 11:27 AM | Comments (61)
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And also, eight states aren't bothering to keep their voter lists clean at all.

Thanks to Dr. Spank.

Posted by: Ace at 11:11 AM | Comments (111)
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Not even registered voters. Adults.

At the link, Joe "The Idiot" Biden guarantees that Democrats will hold the house.

Insert improbable guarantee that suggests Biden's guarantee is similarly improbable.

Primary Challenge to Obama: No, of course not, and two idiots like Olbermann and Michael Moore discussing it does not take it out of the realm of the utterly ridiculous.

No one can primary Obama because even if he (or, you know, she, and maybe I should capitalize that because we know what She we mean) won the primary, he (She) would be crushed in the general. You can't divide a party and piss off the Truest of True Believers -- and defy a New God -- and also thumb black voters in the eye and then win in the general. You can't. And any hypothetical primary challenger knows this. (Or... intuits it. Wink.)

That said, Obama could just decide not to run again for a second term. My silly little conversation-starter is looking more and more possible.

Posted by: Ace at 09:24 AM | Comments (313)
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