Want Cheaper Oil? Support Speculation, Don’t Curtail It

Article from pajamasmedia go to link below.




http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/want-cheaper-oil-support-speculation-dont-curtail-it/

Wackos arrested for stupidity in Des moines

Anti-Capitalist, Anti-American totalists arrested in Des Moines, IA for trying to make citizens arrest of Carl Rove for war crimes. Go to link below for story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2537776420080725?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Misc

Please check out my website at www.ivoteted.com. Any links to the site would be appreciated and I will be glad to reciprocate. Any comments, suggestions or donations would also be appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

Ted

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the

Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the

Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ tol/comment/ columnists/ gerard_baker/ article4392846. ece

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RE: SunFocus

SunFocus was super kind to me. They put my name on the front page of Friday's paper with all of the other candidates names in the paper where you have to dig to find them! Don't you love free advertising! Then Bob Odden and Greg Sloat's articles are right there in the letter to the editor.

I suspect that Monday night at city hall will be packed. Go to the City Website, Monday's agenda and you can print out a copy of the ordinance. See pages 65-83. Pay attention to the North Metro Realtor's association comments pages 80-83. Very good perspective.

Donna Schmitt, Columbia Heights Candidate for City Council

http://www.ci.columbia-heights.mn.us/city_council/agenda_minutes.asp

Misc

Well, if you can trust a poll, then this means Minnesota is in play for McCain. I had expected the numbers to be more lopsided in favor of Obama. This being the case, a protest vote for Baldwin or Barr, or a write-in for Paul, will have to be carefully considered -- that is, if you consider Obama to be an abomination many times worse than McCain. Nothing comes easy these days. Doug Harrison New Hope

McCain Closes in on Obama in Most Recent Minnesota Poll

According to the most recent poll released by Quinnipiac University, John McCain trails Barack Obama 44% - 46%. This most recent snapshot shows the race narrowing significantly in the last month to within the margin of error, and of all the states polled, the shift in Minnesota was the most dramatic. Click here to read the Associated Press's story on the poll.

Click here for full poll results

While this poll is just one of many that will come out between now and the election, it's important that we try and build on the momentum we have here in Minnesota. To get involved, please email the Minnesota campaign at minnesota@johnmccain.com or call us at (651) 356-8251.

Best, Minnesota for John McCain HQ John McCain 2008 minnesota.johnmccain.com To "ALL" Concerned Republicans...we can help move us forward!!! Join hands, walk a mile together? If we're going to win big we need to be big hearted! "Parade Walking" is good exercise....PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF...and help Barb and Gregg. Why sit back and wonder ABOUT OUTCOMES...simply step up to the plate and and make some simple differences--become faithful friends with these CANDIDATES...AND MAKE THEM into "WINNERS" for all of our sakes!!! Where is our heart for change when the rubber meets the road? We could have hundreds of people walking with these guys...we must change our own schedules to change our own future!!! See map included from Carleton Crawford, chair of the 5th District! We're all volunteers...and we work,too, and have families. Bring the family!!! Let's pay attention to our candidate's needs, and invite anyone/someone to join us and go for the gold...retire KeithEllison, puhleeze! We agree about this....move into the future...help, now. / / / / Rae Hart Anderson / MN House District 50A GOP Chair / watersprings2000@yahoo.com / 651-329-8442 See MAP & message below! All GOP districts would benefit by replacing Keith with Barb....we have the right idea. HELP BARB WIN!!! Help Gregg WIN!!! I have received notice of 2 confirmed Republican campaign entries --- On Thu, 7/24/08, Carleton Crawford <carleton.crawford@att.net> wrote: From: Carleton Crawford <carleton.crawford@att.net> Subject: Crystal Frolics Parade--this Sunday--Barb Davis White and Gregg Prest To: "Carleton Crawford" <carleton.crawford@att.net> Date: Thursday, July 24, 2008, 9:27 PM

All, in the Crystal Frolics Parade this Sunday at noon. This is a well attended parade, and is usually a fun event (the route is about a mile). The Barb Davis White campaign is unit # 37 (see email below), and Gregg Prest—the endorsed candidate for HD 45A--is unit #29.

The parade route begins at WelcomePark (47^th Ave N and Welcome Ave in Crystal ). Line-up begins at 11:00 am.

Thank you,

Carleton Crawford

612-384-0356

PS: As always the 5^th CD phone bank ( 1405 Lilac Ave N , Golden Valley ) will be open on Saturday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

---

Hello, I want to let you know about the Crystal Frolics Parade. It will be on Sunday the 27th and we need to be there by 11 am and the Parade will start at 12 and last about an hour. We are unit #37. Please go to the web site for complete address. Bring as many volunteers as you like. http://www.crystalfrolics.org/events.htm Thank you! Ly'Neys Hill Barb Davis White for Congress Fifth District

MISC.

Matthew Vandegrift~Update

Posted: 22 Jul 2008 05:45 PM CDT

(Eagles, visit the site and leave comment, the family of Matthew will be reading the post.)

Written by Katie O’Malley for Human Events.com

A Hero is Honored

07/22/2008

Matthew Vandegrift had the world by the tail. He graduated from high school near Austin, Texas in 1999 where he was an exceptional student and talented athlete. He graduated from Texas A&M a few years later, again with honors. He could have made the most difficult decision he faced the job interviews he would entertain or the new apartment he would find. He could have decided to work on his physical acuity to get himself in peak physical shape for the sheer joy of it, becoming lax when the work got too hard or his interest waned. Read the rest at Human Events.com

U.S. Marine Corps Public Affairs responds to “Generation Kill”

Posted: 22 Jul 2008 05:39 PM CDT

From: Acting Director, Division of Public Affairs,

Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps

The recent airing of the first episode of HBO’s “Generation Kill” has generated numerous inquiries regarding Marine Corps support of the series. The Marine Corps did not provide any official support to the filmmakers. The series is based on the book by the same title by Evan Wright, a former Rolling Stone magazine reporter who was embedded with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While there are certainly aspects of the film that are accurate, it is at its heart a commercial production. It’s raw and has elements that are very much out of synch with the core values our nation rightly expects of its Marines. Viewed as a whole, in my estimation, it does not accurately portray the honor and professionalism of our Corps of Marines.

Semper Fidelis,Major David Romley Director, Community Relations Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps

Letter to the Editor re: Residential Inspection BeforeSale (RIBS) ordinance,

From: Gregory K. Sloat <trumpet@minn.net>
Date: July 19, 2008 7:05:57 PM CDT
To: contact@nenorthnews.com
Subject: To the editor

It used to be that when government wanted to stick their noses into your business, or reach into your pocketbook, they were careful not to do so in an election year, because that wasn't a sufficient amount of time for the "short memory" of the average constituent to forget what had been done to them--how government had grown and become even MORE intrusive in their lives--and so, the politicians would wait until an "off" year, so that by the time of the next election cycle the citizenry had long forgotten how many more rights had been trampled upon, how much more government had grown, and how much more freedom had been lost. In short, incrementalism at its best.

Apparently, this is no longer a concern in Columbia Heights, as the City Council is planning on giving its "rubber stamp" approval to the Residential Inspection Before Sale (RIBS) ordinance, at it's next meeting at 7:00 p.m., on Monday, July 28th. This would require a resident of Columbia Heights to essentially get the "permission" of the city in order to sell their own property, their home. You will be required to pay a "fee" to the city to have an inspection, whereupon the city will determine what violations have occurred and what repairs must be made. The "fee" is currently estimated at between $150-175. Now, where can you get an honest, decent home inspection for THAT price? The going rate twenty years ago was approximately $300, so I would highly doubt the worth of the inspection from the city. The city isn't going to pass the complete fee along to the inspectors, either. They are going to take their OWN cut. What a nice racket. Merely pass a law that requires people to give you THEIR money, even though you did nothing for it, and have no right to it. I would also like to know the relationship between the city and the inspectors that it is already "interviewing," because it is counting on passage of the ordinance.

Once you have completed your first inspection and have received any repair orders, you will have to pay the city for any necessary permits to make these repairs, and then have another inspection to prove the work was completed before being issued a "Certificate for Sale" (permission) from the city, which will allow you to offer your home for sale. If the new inspection finds further repairs that are needed, the process will start all over. You have 90 days to complete the repairs. If you decide not to sell your home, you still must complete the repairs. If you pass, but your home takes longer than a year to sell (not unheard of, given the real estate market since the "balloon" burst), you will have to start the process all over, because the certificate (permission) is only good for one year. It doesn't matter that buyers can and do currently buy their own inspections, all the time.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the city is exempting themselves and the county from this ordinance?

This will abolish one's right to sell their home "as is." The city says you can still do so, you just have to escrow the funds for the repairs. Excuse me? Then it no longer is "as is!" I would like the city to show me where (ANYWHERE) in the United States Constitution it says that I must get the government's permission to sell MY private property. Oh, yes, we have laws about all sorts of things, and the fact that they violate the Constitution and are themselves, invalid and void, concerns our bureaucrats not in the least. That is why we need to start voting for candidates who WILL support and adhere to the Constitution, and why we should vote OUT of office, any who don't. The people of Columbia Heights have a great opportunity to start, at the July 28th City Council meeting. You can tell the council members that you will vote out of office any of them who support this money-grabbing, big-government, nanny-state scheme. Tell them we have a LONG memory, and we will ALSO vote out of office those council members who don't come up for re-election until the NEXT election cycle, too!

Gregory K. Sloat
Real Estate Broker
Columbia Heights

JOE BIDEN IS THE HERBERT HOOVER OF TODAY'S THE ENERGY CRISIS

	Christine O'Donnell for Senate
	Date:	Jul 18, 2008 2:36 AM
Subject:	JOE BIDEN IS THE HERBERT HOOVER OF TODAY'S THE ENERGY CRISIS
Body:	Earlier this week, the President lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling, and Senator Joe Biden could not wait to shoot it down and punish drivers everywhere. Seemingly ignorant of the pain of the average American, Biden launched into a longwinded conspiracy theory to explain away our country’s overwhelming support for offshore oil drilling. "I think this is a last-ditch effort to go out and rape the offshore continental shelf, so that they (presumably the oil companies) own it and are able to use it as leverage in the future, because they know if they don't get it in the last couple of months of this administration, they're not going to get it” said Biden. If that’s the case then the 67% of Americans who support offshore drilling must be in on the conspiracy too. Joe Biden would like us all to believe that offshore drilling is an environmental catastrophe, but the facts are that only 1% of the oil pollution in the sea is the result of oil drilling while 63% is the result of natural seepage on the ocean floor. Yet, we don’t hear Joe Biden condemning mother nature. China (one of the world’s worst polluters) will soon be drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida. As Chairman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one would think this might concern Joe Biden, but clearly he is only worried about Americans who use America’s ocean resources. Foreign governments from half way around the world can have at it. In addition to opposing offshore oil, Biden continues to oppose drilling in ANWAR and oil shale exploration in Wyoming and Utah, which would potentially yield 3 times the oil in Saudi Arabia. Ironically, Biden condemned offshore drilling as a “hoax” in the same speech in which he proposed throwing $50 billion in tax-payer dollars at a laundry list of highly speculative “renewable energy” projects that include everything but a hamster on a wheel. Currently 20% of America is powered by cheap, efficient nuclear energy. Rather than invest in building more nuclear plants, Biden urges for caution and more research as if nuclear power was science fiction. As every American loses more and more of their hard-earned paycheck at the gas pump, Joe Biden wholly ignores the real-life, immediate solutions available in favor of a hodgepodge of distant alternative energy experiments. In short, Senator Joe Biden’s plan can only be described as Hooveresque slap in the face to distressed Americans. This “let them eat cake” attitude toward millions of suffering Americans is indicative of just how out of touch career politicians like Joe Biden truly are. Not everyone can ride the Excella train to work like Joe Biden. Most Americans have to drive to work or we will lose our job. We have to pay $60 for a tank of gas or our children won’t get picked up from school. We don’t need to be patronized. We need solutions, now. A responsible energy policy must combine research into long-term renewable solutions such as hydrogen fuel and clean-coal technology with a realistic approach to relieving the current oil crisis and easing crippling gas prices. There is no question that America needs clean alternatives to oil for our long-term energy independence and a safe environment, but we must not allow America’s drivers to suffer needlessly when we have energy resources that are readily and abundantly available in the U.S. right now. As Senator, I will eschew the one-sided energy policy of Senator Biden in favor of an aggressive, well-rounded energy initiative that combines compassion for today’s consumer with a vision for the future.

Support our troops links

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hit the link to help.

Hannity's Top 10 Items for Victory

1) To be the Candidate of National security:
a) Victory in Iraq
b) Fully support NSA, Patriot act, tough interrogations, keeping Gitmo open
c) A Candidate that pledges to NOT demean our military while they are fighting for their Country. eg Harry Reid: "the surge has failed", "the war is lost"
d) Candidate that promises to ensure that our veterans can live out their lives in dignity.

2) The Candidate who pledges to oppose Appeasement:
a) The Candidate will oppose any and all efforts to negotiate with dictators of the world in places like Iran, Syria, N.Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela without "pre-conditions"

3) The Candidate Pledges to support Tax CUTS, and fiscal responsibility:
a) The American people are NOT under taxed, Government Spends too much
b) The Candidate who Pledges to ELIMINATE and VOTE AGAINST ALL Earmarks
c) The Candidate pledges to BALANCE the budget

4) The Candidate Pledges to be a supporter of "Energy Independence"
a) supports Immediate drilling in Anwar and the 48 states
b) Building new refineries
c) Begin building and using Nuclear Facilities
d) expand coal mining
e) realistic steward of the environment
While simultaneously working with private industry to develop the new energy technologies for the future, with the goal being that America becomes completely energy independent within the next 15 years.

5) The Candidate pledges to secure our borders completely within 12 months:
a) build all necessary fences
b) use all available technology to help and support agents at the border
c) train and hire agents as needed

6) Healthcare:
The Candidate will look for Free-Market solutions to the problems facing the Healthcare industry, and will vigorously oppose any efforts to "nationalize healthcare".
a) The Candidate will fight for Individual health savings accounts, that includes "catastrophic insurance" for every American, so people can control their own healthcare choices.

7) Education:
a) The Candidate pledges to "save" American children from the failing educational system
b) The Candidate will fight to break the unholy alliance of the Democratic party and teachers unions, which at best has institutionalized mediocrity, and has failed children across the country
c) fight for "CHOICE" in education and let parents decide
d) fight for vouchers for parents

8) Social Security and Medicare:
a) The Candidate will "save" social security and medicare from bankruptcy.
b) Options will include "private retirement" funds so people can "control" their own destiny.

9) Judges
a) The Candidate vows to support ONLY judges who recognize that their job is to interpret the Constitution, and NOT legislate from the bench.

10) American Dream:
The Candidate accepts as their duty and responsibility to educate, inform, and remind people that with the blessings of Freedom comes a Great responsibility. That Government's primary goal is to preserve, protect and defend our God given gift of freedom.

That Government's do not have the ability to solve all of our problems, and to take away all of our fears and concerns. We need their pledge that we will be the candidate that promotes Individual liberty, Capitalism, a strong national defense and will support policies that encourage such...

It is our fundamental belief that limited Government, and Greater individual responsibility will insure the continued prosperity and success for future generations.

We the people who believe in the words of Ronald Reagan, that we are "the best last hope for man on this earth," "a shining city on a hill," and that our best days are before us if our Government will simply trust the American people.

Soldier's Angels Could Use Some Help

Post from Blackfive

Posted By Laughing_Wolf

Right now, Soldier's Angels is:

• Helping people deal with events in Afghanistan
• Helping with Run for the Fallen
• Helping the families of Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty
• Provided flights to some special people for a special event when another organization fell through
• Providing more flights and other support to families of the fallen for an event this weekend
• Doing a special MWR event for wounded that will get them out of the hospital for a while
• Continuing their work at WRAMC, Bethesda, BAMC, and elsewhere
• Continuing to support the troops worldwide

Things are tight, and there is much to be done. What hurts a lot right now is that because of the recent unpleasantness, they are reluctant to turn to the milblogs for help. I think it is time we show Soldier's Angels, and through them the troops, that we do indeed still care. They need donations of all types: mileage, gift cards, gifts, cash, and more. So, please, do what you can for them.

LW

July 18, 2008 • Permalink • Comments (8) • TrackBack (0)
Categories and Tags: Caring For The Defenders

press release #8

The Campaign Committee for Constitutional Republicans is proud to announce another Town Hall meeting for our candidate Tim Utz. The event at the Star Bar, corner of Central and 40^th Avenue North East, starts at 7:00 PM August 20^th 2008. Tim is speaking on constitutional government, personal liberty, and state government accountable to “We the People”. Press is invited and interviews welcome. Please direct inquiries to the campaign manager Nick Quade at 651-786-9035, nickquade007@yahoo.com or events planner John Paulson at 763-226-3633, johnplsn@yahoo.com.

Campaign Committee

Sun Focus Letters to the Editor

SunFocus has posted their rules for Letters to the Editor during this campaign season. They will only print a letter from someone once every 4 weeks. I need people willing to write a letter to the editor endorsing me. The next deadline is Thursday. Is anyone willing to write a letter? Check with Rhonda McDonald to make sure we need someone, we want to make sure the letters get spaced out so my name stays out there. Thanks!

That also means I can't write another letter for 3 weeks. But the next Focus should have my interview that I gave to one of the journalists and that should help.

Those helping with my campaign: we are having a brief meeting at 6:00 p.m. Monday at the Fridley Covenant Church, 63rd and University. The BPOU meeting is also going to be there but at 7:00. After this week, we will probably meet every other week to make sure we are on track. Think about what day will work best. We can start meeting at my house, it will be cheaper than Sarna's.

Marlaine Szurek gave me some suggestions for the brochure-she said less information, more bullet points and be very brief. She said overall it was good but it was too wordy. People need to be able to get the idea within a few minutes. So I am going to work on trimming that down this weekend.

Jeff, if you could join us at 6:00 and bring the information about the website for Rhonda & Rich, I would appreciate that. Rhonda wants the website up and running, soon! Before I get the final version of the brochure printed,I would like to add the website address. I also have some more money to turn in for the campaign! Yeah!

Donna

P.S. I am going around to the neighbors this weekend with what brochure I do have.

Appeals Court Upholds Arresting Illegal Immigrants Using Human Smuggling Statute

Posted by Rachel Alexander
July 17, 2008 at 5:51 pm

>> Printer-Friendly Version

Just a day after the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced that it had prosecuted 750 illegal immigrants so far under the state's human smuggling statute, the AZ Court of Appeals upheld the interpretation of law permitting them to do so.

Illegal immigrants can be arrested for hiring smugglers -- legally considered conspiring to smuggle themselves into the country.

The judge found that Arizona's law was not preempted by federal law, since it was not trying to regulate immigration, and said that if the law wasn't meant to apply to smugglees, then the legislature could have revised it but didn't. This is one of the more novel ways local government has gotten around the federal government's failure to pass workable immigration laws. Read more here.

Posted in Politics, Current Events | Send comments to The Loft | Recommend to Friend

The Way To Box In Barack On Iraq

By Dick Morris
July 18, 2008

Editor's Note: This column was written with Eileen McGann.

---

The shadow of the Iraq War still hovers over the 2008 presidential race. Indeed, though it's the issue that made Barack Obama (giving him his running room to Hillary Clinton's left), it may now become his chief vulnerability.

Weak on national-security issues, untried, inexperienced and (perhaps) naive, Obama can find the Iraq issue hard to handle - if John McCain plays it right.

Obama has long since won the issue of Iraq-past - opposing the war before anyone and voting continuously and solidly against it when others waffled.

Yet McCain is winning Iraq-present: A majority of Americans believe that the surge is working. Casualties are down so far that the pessimistic left has shifted its doom-and-gloom to Afghanistan.

But McCain's key opportunity is to exploit the issue of Iraq-future.

To start, he must ask Obama: "Why won't your troop withdrawal allow al Qaeda and Iran to move into the vacuum, taking over Iraq to use it as a base for terror against us and Israel?"

Obama will hem and haw, but McCain must keep at him - and force his opponent to confront the consequences.

How will Obama answer?

He can't shift his position on his signature issue much more - or he'd get an even worse rap for flip-flopping. So he'll start by stressing the ongoing troop presence that he'll allow in Iraq.

He has said (vaguely) that he'll permit sufficient troops to cover our pullout, protect our embassy and pursue al Qaeda terrorists. Now he'll try to sell the idea that his gradual withdrawal over 16 months and his ongoing troop commitment will hold al Qaeda and Iran at bay.

But who'll believe that? Experience has taught Americans to expect the worst about Iraq. They're inclined to agree that, if we pull out, al Qaeda will move in. It's also self-evident that Iranian influence will grow as ours' declines. (To the extent that we do believe it, Obama will alienate the left and drive voters to Ralph Nader.)

His next dodge will be to talk up diplomacy - that a dialogue with the mullahs can hold Iran at bay. But no negotiations are possible with al Qaeda - and Americans realize that talks with Iran will go nowhere unless we have the leverage of force. His reliance on diplomacy will come off as naive, reinforcing the impression that he's not ready for the job.

Eventually, he'll have to say he's prepared to go back into Iraq if the situation deteriorates. Voters will realize that a nominal troop presence and diplomacy won't do the job.

That's when McCain moves in for the kill: "So, isn't your rigid adherence to withdrawal inviting a third Iraq War?"

He can claim the mantle of the true peace candidate - saying that he'll stay in Iraq, keep control, build up the Iraqi army and keep US casualties down. Obama's pullout, he can warn, would mean an inevitable third Iraq war. Obama is stuck seeming either naive - or just as likely to get us into a war as President Bush was.

The success of the surge has created an ideal situation for McCain. What had been the chief Democratic argument against the Republicans can now be their best tool to destroy Obama.

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Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

The Real Party Of Special Interests

By Michael Reagan
July 18, 2008

Barack Obama is given to calling the GOP a party captive of hateful special interests.

It takes a lot of what my Jewish friends call "chutzpah" to suggest that unnamed special interests control the Republican Party when his own party is totally captive to the most wealthy and powerful special interests in the nation.

Obama and the national Democratic Party is owned lock, stock and barrel by the teachers' unions, the bosses of big labor, cash-heavy, tree-hugging environmental groups, and Planned Parenthood and its allies in the sleazy abortion industry.

And boy, do Obama and his fellow Democrats dance to their tunes! When they say "waltz," in a second he's out there on the political stage whirling obediently to their three-step beat.

In February 2008, Obama spoke to reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying, "Let's see if this [school voucher] experiment works, and then if it does, whatever my preconception, you do what's best for kids."

He danced a different waltz on Saturday, July 12, when he told the American Federation of Teachers (which, with the National Education Association, owns the Democratic Party) that like them he was opposed to vouchers, and when his campaign was asked about his newest stand on the issue, it released a statement saying, "Senator Obama has always been a critic of vouchers."

Oh?

Said Catholic League president Bill Donohue: "Guess Obama couldn't resist pandering to the teachers union. It's so easy to tell the media that keeping an open mind on school vouchers is the best way to go. But when cash counts -- and the American Federation of Teachers has plenty of it -- who cares about principle? Fact is, no amount of empirical evidence was ever going to change his mind."

Then there's the matter of the current crisis in oil prices. One patently obvious answer to the problem of relaxing our dependence on foreign oil supplies is to exploit the massive oceans of oil waiting patiently to be found here at home and in the waters offshore, and in Alaska.

It's just plain common sense that when you have enough oil beneath the surface in your own backyard to meet your needs just about forever you should start getting hold of it and stop paying tens of billions to foreign nations who have us by the short hairs.

Any five-year-old with enough sense to come in out of the rain would understand that given the vast supplies of oil available to us here at home it is just plain idiocy to keep ourselves utterly reliant on foreign sources of the stuff.

Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats don't see it that way. They're not allowed to. Their elitist lords and masters in the environmental movement won't permit it, and should they defy the tree huggers they'd lose all those lovely dollars the greenies keep shoveling into their coffers and those of their candidates running for re-election to Congress.

So they fall back on the old canard that even if we started drilling here it would take years for the United States to see any results, ignoring the fact that by telling all those Arab potentates and the Marxist dictator in Venezuela that the gravy train is going to come to a grinding halt in the near future, we're warning them that if they don't increase supply now we'll stop buying from them as soon as we can.

Republicans are demanding that the Democrat-controlled Congress approve drilling here at home now. The environmentalist lobby -- which hates automobiles and fossil fuels almost as much as they hate people -- owns Barack Obama and his Democratic Party, and they say "no drilling." Barack Obama and the Democratic Party obey.

Then there's big labor, which is running short on members whose compulsory dues they use to finance Democratic candidates. They want an end to secret balloting in certain labor elections, and Obama bends his knee and pledges to do big labor's bidding, and to heck with workers' rights.

Then there's the abortion industry. When they say killing the unborn is just dandy, Obama agrees. And the big bucks from the multi-billion dollar baby-killing industry flow into his coffers.

He knows who his bosses are.

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Mike Reagan, the elder son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Radio America Network. Look for Mike's newest book, "Twice Adopted" and other info at www.Reagan.com. E-mail comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

Quote of the week from cfif.org

Quote of the Week

Congressman Adam Putnam (R-FL), House Republican Conference Chairman, Regarding the Congressional Majority's Plan to Address the Energy Crisis:

"Last month, one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's fellow California Democrats said she would be 'all about socializing' and 'taking over' the oil companies. Just two weeks ago, another senior House Democrat said the 'government should own the refineries.' This week, one Capitol Hill Democrat declared the real Democrat energy strategy to be 'driving small cars and waiting for the wind.'

"Socializing, nationalizing and driving small cars. It's enough to make you think they attended the Hugo Chavez School of Capitalism."

Get more Notable Quotes.

Do you have a notable quote you'd like to share with the Center, e-mail it to info@cfif.org. Be sure to provide us the source of the quote.

Fw: SUPER SATURDAY Voter ID, July 19th, 9:00AM-6:00PM

Hello Delegates, Officers and Friends of 50A...

We're working on blogs and a website----Wes Wiggins may welcome your help. Chairs, please invite caucus attendees...we need 6 people from each precinct to work on three campaigns!!! two per candidate....we can do this and help the candidates.

Tim Utz has had a busy week...and a busy Thursday evening. Ask Tim.

Anyone interested in being on a standing committee or the temporary "constitution cmte" speak join us. It's at 7pm. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS PLEASE COME AT 6:30...THANKS. Bring a snack to share if you have time to pick one up...chips, water, cookies, pizza.....:) carrots???



Full Cmte meeting on Monday July 21 at 7 pm, Fridley Covenant Church...bring officers and delegates. One vote per precinct...BUT OUR CANDIDATES HAVE SPOKEN UP AND HAVE FILED....Donna Schmidt for City Council; Ted Landwehr for School Board; Tim Utz for MN House of Reps.

Please NOTE CARLETON'S MESSAGE and schedule two to four hours to help locate voters who resonate with our message. We are nearing another significant ELECTION! Rae!

FW: press release

Town Hall Meeting: Dick's Place July 24

The Tim Utz for House campaign, HD 50-A, is proud to announce a Town hall meeting Thursday July 24th 2008 and starts at 7:00 PM. The event being held at Dick’s Place at the corner of 7th street and 40th Avenue North East in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

Map: Dick's Place

Come meet Tim and listen his message of personal liberty and small limited government. If you attended the event or are going to attend please feel free to comment on it. For any inquires please contact us