Archive for May, 2011
New LSM Meme: “Weak GOP Field”
Last week, I alerted Hillbuzz readers to the first major Lamestream Media GOP meme of this election season (branding cucumber-and-mayo RINO GOP candidates as “serious” and real conservative and/or libertarian candidates with broad support and the ability to beat Obama as “unserious.”)
As the Lamestream Media’s approval ratings continue to hover in single digits (similar to personal injury attorneys, seeping poison ivy rashes, gastroenteritis and Congress itself), the meme just hasn’t caught on.
Their next attempt to manipulate the GOP primary process comes in the form of Meme #2:
“GOP Voters Unhappy With Weak GOP Field”
If they can get this meme to catch on, it will have at least four up-sides for the Lamestream Media and the Left (redundancy alert!):
- It dismisses the enthusiasm generated by Herman Cain; the massive grassroots support of Ron Paul; the fundraising prowess of Mittens Romney (hey, I don’t like it, but it’s real); and collectively demeans all declared GOP candidates
- It implies that if you support any of these candidates, you’re an idiot on the fringes, making it easier to turn you into an Eeyore.
- It encourages a never-ending string of candidates to enter the race for the GOP nomination, forcing an ever-larger list of similar candidates to compete for the same pool of campaign donations
- It increases the odds of violations of Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican” as candidates attempt to differentiate themselves and break away from the pack.
I’m not saying fewer candidates are better than more candidates. More excellent candidates are better than more RINO, milquetoast, cucumber-and-mayo candidates.
I’m just saying (again), don’t let the LSM set the terms of the debate. Don’t let the LSM tell you who is “serious” or “electable” or “popular.” Don’t become an Eeyore.
Sunday Open Thread: May 29, 2011
Who doesn’t love Schoolhouse Rock?
A fun and retro reminder of what millions of American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guard and other Patriots have fought and died for.
(UPDATED to include Coast Guard. Thanks for the reminder.)
Poll: 85% of Republican Voters Care More About Government Spending, The Economy and National Security Than Social Issues
H/T ImpeachObamaCampaign.com
Long-time Hillbuzz readers know that we are fighting a war against three enemies: Leftists, The Lamestream Media and Islamofascism. And by “we,” we mean Americans who love our country, work for a living, save for retirement, love the American Dream, respect the rule of law, and honor the Constitution’s limits on government power.
In most cases, The Lamestream Media and The Left are one and the same–98% of Washington Bureau reporters vote for Democrats. And to save our country, we must never forget that virtually all political reporting in America is agenda-driven.
Most members of the Washington Press Corp(se) sincerely believe (or strongly suspect) that all Conservatives are reactionary, raaaaacist, selfish, ignorant, buck-toothed, misogynistic, gullible, Pinto-up-on-cinderblocks, Bible-thumping bigots.
You must never, ever forget this when you’re reading news stories about Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Mittens Romney or T-Paw, or any other potential GOP or Tea Party candidate.
Case in point. This past week, the Gallup organization conducted a telephone poll of 971 randomly surveyed Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The results of this poll are available here.
Gallup asked participants to rate the issues that are most important to them. They are (in order):
- Government spending and power (36%)
- Business and the economy (31%)
- National defense and foreign policy (15%)
- Social issues (15%)
In other words, 85% of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents care more about everything and anything else than they care about social issues.
To put it another way, social issues are the #1 concern of only 15% of the likely Republican voters surveyed.
The poll also asked to rank GOP candidate preference by issue. So among that 15% social-issues-sliver of Americans, 23% favor Sarah Palin, versus the 18% who favor Mittens Romney.
I’m not a math wizard, but I think that means that less than 4% of Republicans favor Sarah Palin as their #1 choice for President thanks to her positions on social issues.
But you’ll note, that is not the headline of the article at Gallup.com (“Romney’s Appeal Spans the Issues, Palin Leads on Social Values.”) Nor is it the headline of most news stories generated by this poll.
I write headlines for a living. And here are just a few totally accurate headlines I could write based on the results of this Gallup poll.
Read these alternate headlines (all based on the exact same data) and pay attention to how they effect you emotionally. Then ask yourself why the Lamestream Media wouldn’t go with these headlines or write these stories.
- Poll: 85% of Republican Voters Care More About Government Spending, The Economy and National Security Than Social Issues (the headline I chose for this post)
- Non-Candidate Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney Tied Among Foreign Policy Voters
- Poll Confirms Tea Party Platform’s Appeals to GOP Voters
- Ron Paul #2 Choice Among Declared GOP Candidates
- Unknown GOP Candidate Herman Cain Within 3 Points of Mitt Romney Among Voters Concerned About Government Spending
- Herman Cain Beats Newt Gingrich on Foreign Policy, Say GOP Voters
- GOP Voters Favor Ron Paul Over Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty on Business and Economy
- Non-Candidate Sarah Palin Ranked #2 Among GOP Voters Surveyed
- Tim Pawlenty’s Support In Single Digits On All Issues Among GOP Voters
- Herman Cain Ranked #2 Behind Mitt Romney on Government and Deficits by GOP Voters
And yet the media (mark my words) is going to play up Mittens Romney’s “broad-based GOP support” and pigeonhole Sarah Palin as the choice of the rabid religious right. They likely won’t mention Herman Cain at all (except to call him an Uncle Tom) or Ron Paul (except to call him a cranky old man).
Why?
Because the media is 100% in the tank for Barack Hussein Obama, and will do anything to make sure he is re-elected. Anything.
And a proven winner of a strategy is to divide and conquer.
In order to squeak out another term, the media and the Obama Regime (redundancy alert!) must create divisions and infighting among voters who are concerned about the size of government, the economy and Islamofacism, because generic GOP candidates always win against generic Democrat candidates in polls on these issues.
And social issues are the executioner’s axe they will use to divide and conquer.
The media works hard every day to convince GOP candidates that they have to focus on social issues like gay marriage and abortion to win. The 2010 midterm Democrat electoral bloodbath proved that this is a Big Lie. The winning platform was the Tea Party platform of smaller, Constitutional government, low taxes and massive spending cuts.
According to these poll results, you also hand the 2012 election to Obama when you use social issues as a “purity test” and threaten to stay home on Election Day to “teach the GOP a lesson” unless the GOP candidate promises to outlaw abortion on January 21st, 2013 (which the president couldn’t do, even if he or she wanted to.)
The truth is that the libertarian vote–estimated to be approximately 14% of the electorate–is key to Republican victory is 2012. As Ronald Reagan said, “I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.”
In the 2012 election, the libertarian vote will be the swing vote. Not the evangelicals or social issue Republicans.
Keep that in mind as you read stories and watch news coverage of GOP candidates. The Government-Controlled Media is desperate to divide the Obama-defeating voting block that is made up of the GOP, libertarians, Independents, and the Tea Party.
You aid and abet the lamestream media in this quest when you consume news headlines and poll results without thinking or analyzing the motives of the news outlets that are producing them, and then forward these news stories, Eeyore-like, to your friends and family.
Never forget it! If you are a member of The American Resistance, the people writing most of the stories about GOP candidates believe you are a reactionary, raaaaacist, selfish, ignorant, buck-toothed, misogynistic, gullible, Pinto-up-on-cinderblocks, Bible-thumping bigot.
So why on God’s green Earth would you let them pick your candidate for you?
Saturday Open Thread: May 28, 2011
What are you doing this weekend? Who’s the Mainstream Media’s favorite new GOP frontrunner? What’s your favorite potato salad recipe?
The Moderators may not be around much this weekend, so if someone does something naughty, Eeyorish or trollesque, please click on the “Report” link under their comment to let us know.
Lt. Col. Allen West: Obama’s Libya War Illegal
In this wide-ranging C-SPAN interview, Lt. Col. Allen West (R-Florida, and a future President of the United States, if America should be so lucky) points out that Barack Hussein (not a Muslim) Obama is in violation of the War Powers Act, which requires the president to get the approval of Congress for any military operation that lasts more than 60 days. If Congress doesn’t give approval, the Act requires that the military operation stop immediately.
From an editorial in the Denver Post:
This choice is not merely a preference expressed by Congress in 1973. It’s the law of the land — a law clearly in accord with the U.S. Constitution, which bestows war-making powers on Congress, not the president.
And yet our military operations in Libya continue without any congressional authorization, in defiance of that mandate.
Moreover, Congress appears unwilling to confront the president over this neglect of the War Powers act. As The Washington Post reported Thursday, “Republican and Democratic leaders, who agree on little else, seem united in their desire to not say much about the War Powers Resolution.”
Friday Open Thread: May 27, 2011
I think it’s looking to be a quiet weekend at Buzzquarters. We probably won’t be posting a lot, and comment moderation will slow down. We love it when you read us (and love you more when you buy ads) but we hope you spend the weekend out in the sunlight!
We’d like to start the long weekend with a prayer for the families of the 500+ people who have died in tornadoes this spring.
And of course, we want to remind you what Memorial Day is all about: remembering those Americans in the military who have given their lives in defense of our Constitution and the American Dream.
So have fun, be safe, and thank a Veteran!
Sarah Palin’s Presidential Campaign Soft Launch
Today, Sarah Palin announced a bus tour called The One Nation Tour, organized as a “soft launch” to her Presidential campaign that will allow her to test fundraising, messaging and audience response to her candidacy without the expense or paperwork of forming an exploratory committee or subjecting her prematurely to onerous McCain-Feingold (irony alert) campaign financing and reporting laws “to educate and energize Americans about our nation’s founding principles, in order to promote the Fundamental Restoration of America.”
That sound you just heard was Chris Matthew’s head exploding.
The second sound was a semi-conscious Mittens Romney impacting the chintz upholstery on his fainting couch.
We can’t tell you what that smell is, but it’s coming from the “opposition research” trolls in the basement of the White House.
Palin’s rockstar-style tourbus, decked out with traditional American iconography such as the Constitution and the Liberty Bell, will kick off the tour in Washington, D.C. and continue throughout historic sites in New England.
Sarah Palin's One Nation Rockstar Tour Bus
The following message from Sarah was posted at SarahPac.com:
Restoring the Good in America!
by Sarah Palin
Our nation is at a critical turning point. As we look to the future, we are propelled by America’s past. It’s imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward. A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation’s historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures, which we’ll do in the coming weeks on our “One Nation” tour.
We’ll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead. I’ve said many times that America doesn’t need a “fundamental transformation,” instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America! So, together let’s prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.
We’ll celebrate the meaning of our nation’s blueprints, our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which are the threads that weave our past into the fabric necessary for the survival of American exceptionalism. Our founders declared “we were born the heirs of freedom”, and despite our difficulties and disagreements, we remain one nation under God in freedom, indivisible. Through visits to historical sites and patriotic events, we’ll share the importance of America’s foundation.
We encourage you to support the pro-America events we’ll be privileged to participate in during these coming weeks. Discover the ties that bind Americans, our history, our traditions, and the exceptional nature of our country!
And…discuss. Please talk amongst yourselves.
