Give some credit to environmentalists: they don’t just tell us that we are killing the Earth they do frequently have “environmentally sound” boatloads of solutions which we can employ to “save the Earth”. Of course, many of those solutions come down to reversing the industrial revolution and all of us going back to living in caves, but they do have some other ideas, too. Take biofuels. Touted as being far more environmentally friendly than gasoline biofuels have been mandated to be incorporated into the fuel mix of many Western nations including those in the EU, Canada and US. But now comes this story from the EU and all of a sudden we have the makings of another enviro-boondoggle:

BRUSSELS:Signaling a major retrenchment, European Union legislators on Monday proposed ratcheting back an ambitious target to raise Europe’s use of biofuels.

At the same time, a new report for the British government cast fresh doubt on using fuels from crops in the fight against climate change. Read the rest of this entry »

Next Sunday’s New York Times Magazine has a cover story on the Big Man of radio, the Left’s bête noire and conservatism’s leading man, Rush Limbaugh. The piece is surprisingly even-handed, even nice and consists in large part of a long interview with Rush done in February of this year. The major piece of news to emerge from it is the revelation of Rush’s new contract that will keep him on the air until 2016 for an unprecedented and breathtaking amount that is estimated to be near $400 million dollars…not counting the 9 figure signing bonus. Figured annually it is an amount larger than the per annum pay of Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer combined.

The Left, never a group to disappoint is livid, rallying a kind hysteria usually reserved for GWB.
On the Huffington Post, “researcher”, showing the kind patriotism Barack Obama tells us the Left is all about says, Read the rest of this entry »

He’s tanned, rested and ready to be President and is too damn tough to sit around and be a target for the vicious and infamous Republican smear machine. Barack Obama is fighting back against the great Right-Wing Conspiracy. Because he’s at the cutting edge of, well everything, he already has a website up (called fighthesmears.com What did you think it would be called?) and is fightin’ back for Truth, Justice and the Leftist way!

Listen to Barack Obama lately and you might get the impression that the little scenario above bears some relation to reality, that the Republicans, as in every election are getting ready to dump truckloads of sludge over our shiny new hero. The only problem with this scenario is, in truth if Obama is looking to find a smear merchant his best bet would be to look in the mirror, rather than under his bed for Republicans bearing mud. Read the rest of this entry »

Hat tip to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air

John McCain is a stubborn man and it is a character trait that has held him in good stead. As a prisoner in Vietnam his stubbornness in not giving up and giving in to the five year long ordeal of his imprisonment certainly played a large part in keeping him alive. And stubbornness can be a good quality in a politician, too. God knows Ronald Reagan was stubborn, often proudly saying that one of his political strategies was to get most of what he wanted from the Democrats in one battle, letting them save face with a partial win…and then going back and getting the rest of what he wanted later.

But stubbornness can be a character flaw, too. It can make you blind to the arguments of others. This can be especially problematic when you’re wrong and they’re right. It can make you arrogant and can alienate people who should be your allies. Which brings us to McCain and conservatives, his base without whom he can’t win this election. You see, the problem is McCain really doesn’t like us. To a large degree he’s bought into the moonbat caricature of conservatives, thinking we’re bigots and yahoos who lack hearts. But he’s figured out a way to deal with us. He’s going to throw us some red meat during the campaign; he’ll give us some lip service when he has to and once he placates us enough that we vote him into office, he’s stubbornly going to go right back to what he wants to do. You can do that sort of thing and keep a clear conscience when you’re doing it to people you don’t respect, I guess. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it, McCain giving a speech with a teleprompter is not a pretty site. It is hard to believe a guy that has been in politics this long hasn’t mastered it yet, but it is what it is. Obama, of course, is the master speechifier.

But McCain is the master at town hall events. He takes all questions, from anyone, and answers them all. Sometimes he fights and argues with the person, sometimes they agree, but that is his format.

Obama says quite clearly, he will debate McCain, “Anywhere and Anytime.” Read the rest of this entry »

Obama’s big argument against drilling is that it will take 10 years to see any oil. Go to about 1:40 and he flat out says it.

As if anything that would take that long is automatically out of the question, because . . . I guess, . . . we are too . . . impatient? By that rationale, nobody should bother to go to high school or college if you want a decent job. That’ll take at least 8 years and will cost a hell of a lot of money. Read the rest of this entry »

The U.N.’s chief nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El Baradei (not exactly a guy in the tank for Bush), in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, said, quite explicitly, that Iran will be able to produce a nuclear weapon in six months to a year. Via lgf. Read the rest of this entry »

Uh-oh. Obama’s fringe-left credentials are really starting to show. When his good buddies in the MSM start liking John McCain’s ideas, something is really wrong. From a Washington Post editorial.

But if it is acceptable to drill in the Caspian Sea and in developing countries such as Nigeria, where environmental concerns are equally important, it’s hard to explain why the United States should rule out careful, environmentally sound drilling off its own coasts.

And do I smell the faint odor of approval of nuclear power?

But all this talk of drilling, squeezing oil out of shale, as Mr. Bush proposed, and pushing for more nuclear power is a welcome widening of a larger and necessary discussion.

This is the kitchen table issue this year, and if Obama has the Post backing the other guy’s proposals, he may be starting to circle the drain already.

Also find Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room

Maybe the cheeseball Great Seal of Barack was an attempt to boost fundraising, because Obama barely beat the lowly John McCain in the May numbers.

Obama had his weakest fundraising month of the year, collecting $22 million and ending the month with $43 million cash on hand and $304,000 in debts. But $10 million of his available cash can only be spent in the fall after the party national conventions, leaving $33 million for the summer months. Obama’s decision to bypass the general election’s public finance system allows him to use left over primary money in the fall campaign.

Republican John McCain, who secured his party’s nomination in March, raised $21 million in May and had $31.6 million in the bank. The figures place him virtually on same financial footing as Obama — a level of parity that would have been unimaginable just a few months ago.

The RNC has also been saving its pennies and is crushing the DNC. Read the rest of this entry »

Big Fred doing the Big Job. Love it. From Human Events.

In a McCain administration, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson would play a dominant role in selecting Supreme Court nominees and other judicial appointments, sources close to the McCain campaign and to Thompson tell us.

And why is Fred suddenly everywhere? These sources say that the agreement between McCain and Thompson is behind Thompson’s resurgence in the national media in recent weeks. In a McCain campaign conference call with reporters yesterday on last week’s Supreme Court decision on terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thompson — without claiming such status — played the role of a prominent McCain adviser.

McCain will lock down a lot of conservatives with this one, yours truly included. Fred knows exactly what he is doing in this area and, as long as McCain follows his advice, there will be no Harriet Miers, David Souters, or Anthony Kennedys coming out of a McCain administration.

Viva Fred!

Also find Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room

Turns out McCain’s offshore drilling proposal is a big winner, at least in Florida.

First, voters believe more drilling will reduce the price of gas (that’s because they are not all retarded and know about the law of supply and demand – unlike some liberal Democrat nominees we know). On this issue, McCain is killing Obama. From Rasmussen:

Rasmussen Reports conducted a special Florida survey to measure the immediate impact of the offshore drilling issue on the Presidential race. As one part of the survey, respondents were told that McCain favored offshore drilling and said it would bring down the price of gas and oil. They were also told that Barack Obama opposed offshore drilling and said it would not bring down the price of gas and oil. After hearing the views of both McCain and Obama, most Florida voters agreed with McCain–61% said it was likely that offshore drilling would reduce gas prices. Only 34% disagreed and said that offshore drilling would not accomplish that goal.

The best part is that McCain gets three points for the drilling proposal alone. Read the rest of this entry »

This would make his dad proud. The New York Times does a piece on how much of a wuss Obama is and they think they are doing him a favor. Sometimes you have to get on your knees and be thankful that the Left says stuff for which the Right would be crucified, and then the Right gets to beat them over the head with it and thank them for the pull quotes.

From a New York Times Op-Ed, via the inimitable Moe Lane at RedState, 2008 is the election of the Girlie-Man v. John Wayne. Read the rest of this entry »

So much for the 50 State Strategy, announced just one week ago. The Obama camp spins this as outlining several different paths to victory, but it sure looks like they are already on Plan B.

In a private pitch late last week to donors and former supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe outlined several alternatives to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of recent elections.

At a fundraiser held at a Washington brewery Friday, Plouffe told a largely young crowd that the electoral map would be fundamentally different from the one in 2004. Wins in Ohio and Florida would guarantee Obama the presidency if he holds onto the states won by Democrat John Kerry, Plouffe said, but those two battlegrounds aren’t required for victory.

Florida, which has 27 electoral votes this year, gave the presidency to George W. Bush in the disputed election of 2000. Ohio, with its 20 electoral votes, ensured Bush of re-election in 2004 in his race against Kerry. Neither state was hospitable to Obama this year. Clinton handily won in Ohio and she prevailed in Florida although the national party had punished the state and the candidates didn’t campaign there.

Have the bitter clingers in Ohio and the Israel-loving Jews in Florida found something to dislike about Obama? Read the rest of this entry »

Atta boy Johnny, you may just pull this thing off after all. McCain has previously said he supports individual states’ decisions to drill. See video here. Though he still opposes drilling in ANWR, he has followed the advice to make gas price reduction his issue. Today he came out with a great proposal.

As John McCain rolls out his energy policy this week, he called for a lifting of the federal moratorium preventing states from exploring for oil off of their coasts. “They have to be lifted so that states can make those decisions,” McCain said. “I’m not dictating to the states that they drill or they engage in oil exploration, I am saying that the moratoria should be lifted so that they have the opportunity to do so. By the way, I would also like to see perhaps additional incentives…in the form of tangible financial rewards if the states decide to lift those moratoria.” Read the rest of this entry »