Byron York - When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings

Unlike the Obama speech, in 1991 most of the controversy came after, not before, the president's school appearance. The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit. "The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," the Post reported.

With the Post article in hand, Democrats pounced. "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. "And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'"

Continue reading: Byron York - When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings

Me: Just thought it was interesting reading...

Specter, the Poster Child for Term Limits

Yesterday I wrote a quick bit about Arlen Specter's defection after hearing a short bit on the radio stating he'd switched. I hadn't heard his words regarding the move when I wrote it.

Guess he answered all my questions: it's nothing but political survival.

After a lifetime as claiming to be a Republican he's willing to say to heck with principles, I want to stay in power so I'm turning my back on whatever I told you I believed in? He says flat out that he's switching parties simply because he couldn't win as a Republican.

He is the poster child for term limits. The egos get so darned big, they get so entrenched in power and games, that they forget why they're there. They forget about principles.

Someone pointed out to me yesterday that Lieberman switched when the going got tough. Yep, he did. But he moved to a tougher position as an Independent. Being an Independent gives you the flexibility of voting left or right. He made the switch for the same reasons basically that Specter did, but he didn't trash his party, he continued to claim it. He just picked a neutral ticket and openly said he was still a Democrat.

Specter left for the left. He made a deal with his political devil, sold his soul, just to stay in office. Why? Because he thinks he is that important?

Years back when I first went into management, one of my bosses told me something that has stuck with me through the years. He said that at the point someone thought they were indispensable, they WERE indispensable.

Specter made a choice that shows he thinks he's indispensable.

He's not and I hope he learns that lesson the hard way, by losing.

County Redistricting 101

We’ve learned that one of our county Commissioners is following the steps in the little known top-secret manual, “Simple Ways to Take Care of Political Opponents” as he stealthily works to eliminate potential political opponents for he and his buds on the Board… Shhhh, don’t tell anyone that we found a copy of the manual… Here are a few pointers from the first chapter, “Redistricting 101”:

First, find out where all your potential opponents live.

Second, draw a map putting all of your potential opponents in someone else’s district.
Note: If you’d like to curry favors and goodwill from your political allies, try to take care of their potential opponents, too! Remember, you need to keep your allies happy! It’s in YOUR best interest also as you definitely don’t want to have any of your potential opponents win any seat… your goal is to attempt to shut them down completely! To do it right, be sure to put your potential opponents in the district of someone you don’t like and /or put them in the district of someone none of them would want to run against.

Third, try to find a way to make it look like it’s something you’re doing for the “good of the people.” If you can’t figure out a way to do that, then make it look like you’re being pushed by outside forces to do the redistricting. You already have a devious nature or you wouldn’t be reading this manual, thus it’s not necessary for us to provide numerous ideas for cloaking your true intentions.

Fourth, if at all possible, do a sneaky-pete and try to slip it through without a public hearing. If caught, pull a “huh-duh, didn’t know that we had to”. Then, instead of doing the public hearing at a time when the public can actually have some input, stick it in a meeting during a weekday when everyone is working.

Unfortunately, he must have stopped reading before he read the last chapter, “Avoiding Pitfalls”. There are too many pitfalls in the chapter to begin to cover in this short blog, but we’ll touch on two that pertain directly to the issue at hand.

Before you can redistrict those potential opponents out of your life, you have to be absolutely sure they aren’t planning to move any time in the near future. No one, but no one, will believe you if you try to change the map a second time.

Second, the manual states over and over, chapter after chapter (but it’s emphasized in Avoiding Pitfalls) that you cannot ever, ever tell anyone what you’re doing. Anyone. You’d be surprised at how people like to share secrets, even when you’re just doing something to try and help them out.