Category Archives: Republicans

Women Go For Government Giganticism

Democrats, Elections, Gender, Liberty, Republicans

No thinking person equates the GOP with liberty. That debate has been settled among liberty loving people. The Republican and Democrat Parties are both “partners in government giganticism.” However, in as much as voters mistake the Republican Party with smaller government—a vote for or against the GOP is a good proxy for statism. (No, Mark Levin did not invent the statism term; Ludwig von Mises did, and libertarians have used it forever).

What the “silly sex’s” political proclivities mean for freedom lovers is that Republicans will seek to become even more like Democrats, if at all possible. The convergence will be almost complete. Fittingly, National Journal is rejoicing in women’s statism.

Why “Republicans are nervously watching the gender gap widen as Democrats press their advantage with female voters”:

The “gender gap”—the difference between Republicans’ usual margin of victory among men and Democrats’ usual margin of victory among women—is nothing new. It has been evident for years in almost every election up and down the ballot. But a National Journal analysis of public polls, and interviews with strategists from both parties, suggests that the gap has ballooned to historic proportions across 2014’s battleground states. Democrats are running campaigns designed to press an advantage among women that is helping the party compete in a number of races despite an unfriendly political climate and steep GOP advantages among men. Meanwhile, Republicans are searching for issues to combat the trend with female voters.

“I think the gender gaps are growing compared to past election cycles,” said Matt Canter, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s deputy executive director. “We’ll see how that turns out, but that’s certainly what the public and internal polling shows, in every race across the board.”

It’s a trend several Republicans privately admitted they are watching nervously …

MORE.

Who Is Choreographing Mrs. Palin?

Energy, Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Republicans, Sarah Palin

“Truth is an endangered species at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Sarah Palin to an audience at the Values Voter Summit. Mrs. Palin’s mixed metaphor (truth/species) is by far more offensive than forgetting where the seat of power is situated; who cares that the American monarch sits in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

The White House is hardly the people’s house. It’s the people’s burden.

Barely A Blog contributor Myron Pauli was right all along about Sarah Palin being political “cotton candy.” She’s a great personality as an Alaskan, a mom, a hunter, runner, oil and gas ace (expertise she has never “tapped”). For the rest, her life has taken on a reality-show flavor. And the spontaneous ability to connect with an audience has been replaced with a weird, disjointed quality.

Who on earth is choreographing poor Mrs. Palin’s public appearances? She has obviously been told to modulate her voice almost like a preacher, lending it the cadence of a crazy person’s voice.

The there’s the governor’s propensity for rambling, run-off sentences, peppered with grating gerunds. Pearls of wisdom are often lost in the prolix. (One kinda cute line in Palin’s odd address to the Values Voter Summit: “Barack’s bombs are The Bomb.”)

And please don’t attack me for Palin’s devolution. Starting with “Sensational Sarah,” I’ve written oodles in praise of the original Palin persona, recommending that she “fashion herself as an expert, not as a generalist. On energy and environmental issues Palin is indeed an ace. When it comes to the ins-and-outs of the oil and gas industry—ownership, extraction, contracts and leases—Sarah Palin is as sharp as a tack. On both the philosophical and pragmatic levels, she grasps the urgent need to commercialize America’s abundant resources.”

UPDATED: LPAC, Just Another Political PAC (Rand’s Grubby ‘Gold Rush’)

Ethics, libertarianism, Politics, Republicans, Ron Paul

If you don’t already know—I certainly didn’t—LPAC is short for Liberty Political Action Conference. It features a lineup of libertarian politicians, operatives and assorted establishmentarians. LPAC is sponsored by the governmentalized likes of Charles Koch, Reason, RandPac, Campaign for Liberty, etc.

To the extent that libertarianism becomes more mainstream; the “lucky” few to make it into the political inner sanctum always make sure to bar contrarians and competitors from their positions of influence.

Very rarely will outsiders be invited to join. At most, a daring game of musical chairs may take place, and equilibrium in opinion sought and maintained. Rehashed over-and-over again are the old, agreed-upon, safe topics: “having fun,” “Millennials,” freedom to eat, freedom to speak, civil liberties, telling the good presidents from the bad, why statism is bad.

And lots of product is flogged. You may also get to schmooze with the Pauls.

Some revolution.

UPDATE (9/23): Rand’s ‘Gold Rush. As if to confirm the grubby reality of politics, Rand Paul announces the opening of an office in Silicon Valley:

… While techies are considered a liberal bunch, some tech executives are joining the Republican cause. Paul counts Peter Thiel, the billionaire cofounder of PayPal, among his friends. And the tech sector donated more than $1.4 million to Paul’s father Ron during his unsuccessful presidential bids in 2008 and 2012.
Sure, the optics may look bad to some—a Kentucky senator opening an office seems like an almost extravagant show of political ambition. But opening a Silicon Valley office also offers Paul a distinct advantage: It makes him look young, hip, and serious about working with job creators. In that way, Paul is hardly the only conservative force trying to forge relationships in Silicon Valley. …

MORE.

A Diet Of D’Souza’s Rah-Rah

Democrats, Education, History, Neoconservatism, Republicans

How much do Republicans love freedom? Not very much. Or at least as much as Democrats, which is not at all. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

A Florida state senator plans to introduce a bill that would make Dinesh D’Souza’s docudrama, America, required viewing for most teenagers in the state, The Hollywood Reporter learned on Friday.
Republican Alan Hays said he’ll introduce in November his one-page bill that simply states that students in the 1,700 Florida public high schools and middle schools are to be shown the film unless their parents object.

In a free market in education, politicians and their preferred propaganda would have no sway on curricula. In case my statement is ambiguous, yes, this means no educational vouchers and charter schools. These are a species of the publicly funded system.

The centralization of education has allowed public “intellectuals” and “experts” to mold and manacle young minds. Start a conversation with almost anyone on the street. Provided he speaks English, you’ll hear within a whisker the same opinions repeated on capitalism (plain evil or a necessary evil), the environment (near destruction) and racism (rife). This uniformity of opinion is almost scarier than its uninformed nature. (From “NEEDED: A LEAVE THE CHILDREN BEHIND ACT!”)

As to substance of “America: Imagine a World Without Her,” read “D’Souza’s America” by Jack Kerwick. Added comments later.