Rangel Wants to Reinstate the Draft!

Just two years after attempting to scare young adults into voting for John Kerry by telling them that the Republicans wanted to reinstate the draft a leading Democrat intends to again try to draft young Americans in to the military. They made that charge two years ago despite the fact that the only active proponents of a military draft during this century have been Democrats and the fact that the military doesn't want a draft. Today the NY Times is reporting that incoming Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Charlie Rangel, a Democrat from New York City wants to reinstate draft enlistment. This is of course just a method intended to make DC a tougher place for the Defense Department. With friends like this our military doesn’t even need any foreign enemies.

Investors Look at Cubs

It has been rumored for some time now that the Chicago Cubs would be put up for sale by the pathetic Chicago Tribune which bought the Cubs in 1981 for $20.5 million (including Wrigley Field). The Tribune has been a disaster as a sports franchise owner. Just like the shifty rag they publish on a daily basis the Cubs have been beset by management incompetence and and incestuous relationships behind the scene. The Cubs also have had a knack for making some pretty lousy moves, like the time that they let Grg Maddux go to Atlanta over a few hundred-thousand dollars; he had already won his first Cy Young Award. This Sun Times article is about an investment group that hopes to buy the Cubs for up to $600 million. My initial reaction to this news is "oh great, a "hedge fund" may now own the Cubs."

Milton Friedman - Rest In Peace

The Nobel winning economist Milton Friedman has passed away at age 94. Mr. Friedman did much of his early work here in Chicago at the University of Chicago in the Hyde Park neighborhood before moving to Stanford University in 1977. Among Mr. Friedman’s accomplishments was to help with the birth of the financial futures markets at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Mr. Friedman is survived by Rose his wife of 68 years and a noted economist in her own right and their two children Janet and Dave. Mr. Friedman’s economic ideas have helped spur the incredible post WWII growth experienced by the free world that has lifted millions out of poverty. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the legacy and the life of Milton Friedman. Rest in Peace.

Big 3 to Bush “We Suck, Give Us Money!”

I am offended by this bit of nonsense. Executives from America’s Big 3 auto makers are going to the White House today to plea for “help” with their health care problems. I will not even buy their cars so I do not know why I should pay for their employees and their awful executive decisions. Those executives clearly are not my peers.

Happy Birthday to the US Marines

Happy 231st Birthday to the US Marines. See this article.

I Am Not Moving to Canada!

Unlike many liberal Democrats who threatened to move out of the country after the 2000, 2002 and the 2004 elections I do not plan on moving anywhere. Not Canada, not France and not Alabama!

This could be an historic moment for the Democratic Party if they choose to make it so. The Democratic Party has for some time appeared to be a party in which the unhinged left of our nation has been in ascendance; that is the major reason that I abandoned that party over two decades ago. I grew up in a solidly Democratic family in a Republican area, however with the first chance that I had to cast a ballot I voted for Ronald Reagan against that goofy President Carter. During the years before 1980 the nation witnessed a sort of systematic destruction of our defensive capabilities, both militarily and in regards to our intelligence agencies. The Church Committee of the mid-seventies literally emasculated the CIA and likely was the fountainhead of the CIA conspiracy theories of the past three decades. The laws and the mind set that emerged from the committee’s hearings were certainly one of the causes of our nation’s extensive intelligence problems even to this day. The Carter years also saw the introduction of the FISA Court that President Carter signed in to law only under the stipulation that he, as President would not be bound by its constricts if he believed that they infringed on his constitutional duties or powers. Some of this was in reaction to the political use of the FBI under the disgraceful J. Edgar Hoover.


Last summer I had the chance to discuss politics with my Congressman, Rahm Emanuel; during that conversation (see this post) we discussed the problems that the unhinged left could cause for the Democrats. He clearly understood those problems and voiced serious concerns about them. As it is now after the election I feel less constrained to discuss our largely private conversation. He was very animated while discussing the folks over at the Daily Kos, saying that they had never won anything; on that point he sounded like a conservative blogger. Because Mr. Emanuel worked so closely with the Clintons I had no problem bringing up that issue with him, after all the triangulation strategy also relies on the center and the right. I believed then, as I believe today that the nation is better off without one of our two political parties going off of the deep end. He understood my concerns and as I said, he was as animated as one could be as an office holder in a public place in an area populated by very liberal people. At the end of our conversation I wished him well in his attempt to bring the party towards the center. Clearly Mr. Emanuel’s strategy was to find candidates who appeared to be centrist; they also seemed to lean towards former servicepersons. He certainly was successful.

It remains to be seen whether or not the adults of the Democratic Party will show up next January; let’s face it, many Democrats have been downplaying the threats that we have faced for years. On the few occasions before 9/11 that I would discuss Islamic fundamentalism and related terror issues with my liberal friends they would often roundly and loudly abuse me as being some sort of racist, anti-Islamic, bigoted idiot (now there’s a mouthful). Some of those people never left that position, even on September 12 and some of them have returned close to that old position. I doubt that my experiences are isolated. I will not hold my breath waiting for my friends who are in denial to wake up; I don’t want to look like these guys.

Because of what I believe is the need for the Democratic Party to join the mainstream in more ways than running conservative Democratic candidates I would hope that they would elect Rahm Emanuel as Speaker of the House. He has shown that he can get a difficult job done. It does remain to be seen how well Mr. Emanuel, or anybody else could rein in the worst tendencies of the left wing not to mention how well he would get along with the Republicans but he seems better suited to those tasks than Ms. Pelosi.

Moonbat Ballots in Chicago

Well I was the 169th voter in my precinct (about the same as during the primaries) in Lincoln Park and I had to laugh about some of the “ballot initiatives”. One was to raise the minimum wage, something that our Democratic Governor has promised for a post-election legislative session; but it gives some people a chance to give themselves a raise (many local union contracts are a multiple of the minimum wage). That has to be the most bizarre initiative out there. I own the company that I run and although my employees are paid well over the minimum wage I might be tempted to close shop and move to a friendlier locale and simply trade for myself if Blago and his ilk tried to take control of my company. The other funny ballot initiative is the “Bug-Out” or “Cut and Run” initiative, to leave Iraq. I expect that both initiatives will pass in this state; meaning that my neighbors are not friendly to employers or to people in search for freedom in their own lands. The later point is interesting because the locals do not support any action that would curb the flow of illegal aliens into our city (ultimately undermining nonprofesional wages and the employers of those close to the minimum), nor will they support freedom in those potential workers’ home lands. This makes bus boys cheaper so the local Democrats can continue to dine out cheaply! Touché!

Mark Kirk for Illinois 10th

Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) is running against Democrat Seals in today’s congressional election. Mark was a top student in some of our nation’s top schools, after which he moved to London to work for a Member of Parliament. Upon returning from England Mark joined the US Navy where he still flies AWACS planes as an information officer. His opponent is a 35 year old former banker from Evanston. The Seals ads do nothing but point to the obvious, that he is not Mark Kirk. Well you can say that again! The Democrats of Chicago’s North Shore are angling to replace a man with qualifying experience with a guy who worked in a bank for ten years. Mr. Seals has spent the last year campaigning rather than working. This shows a real lack of seriousness on the part of the Democrats. Additionally one can assume that Mr. Seals is just another tool of the Chicago Democrats, and one would be correct. So if you want an empty suit who has no knowledge of our military at a time when the United States has been under attack from a new type of warfare by all means vote for the Democrat. After all, Seals was endorsed by al qaeda (as have all of the Democratic candidates). It seems that the best thing that Mr. Seals has going for him is his looks, a pretty shallow reason to vote for someone. If you want a centrist who actually understands both what is at stake and how to prosecute our defense you should vote for Mark Kirk.

Assuming That Voters Are Dolts Is Rarely A Good Strategy

This post was originally posted before the Illinois primaries on March 6, 2006.


A friend of mine is on the Kerry e-mail list and is kind enough to send me the latest nonsensical musings of America’s Most Unaccomplished Senator. How my friend, who undoubtedly is an NRA lifetime member, got on that list is unknown. So I knew that Mr. Kerry would be out trying to drum up funds for this class of Armed Services Veterans that the Democrats are running for congress. This has been a fairly big deal in the Chicago area due to the involvement of Senator Dick Durbin and my congressman, Rahm Emanuel. Here in the Chicago area they aim to take the seat of retiring Congressman Henry Hyde.

There are two local Democrats who have spent the last two years preparing the ground for a shot at Hydes’ seat. Last December Dick Durbin and Rahm Emanuel threw water on their parades by announcing that they had their own candidate. They had found a disabled Iraqi war veteran. Tammy Duckworth tragically lost her legs while piloting a helicopter in the skies over Iraq. It did not matter that Duckworth had no political experience, likely had spent little time in the area and in fact did not even live in the district at the time that she announced. One need not actually live in the district one represents, merely the state. It is however considered bad form to live outside of your congressional district and I think that she has since moved into the district. Let me say that as a military pilot she is likely a very competent person, unfortunately for Ms. Duckworth, the voters have no way of knowing that. She had only three months to campaign and it seems that she is spending more time out of state raising money than working the district.

If I were a Democrat in that district I would be livid at my party, and by extension, Ms. Duckworth. They insert some woman into the race who until recently had trouble articulating her political views, was not up on local issues, did not even live in the district and who will likely be completely beholden to Democratic money men and politicians. The Democrats believe that running a disabled war veteran against established locals is a winner. Look, as I said, what happened to Ms. Duckworth was a tragedy, but that doesn’t necessarily entitle her to a vote for a seat in the US Congress. She has raised more than 95% of her sizable war chest outside of the district and she has been having problems getting people to attend her events in the district. I do not even want to fathom the voter who does not assume that Ms. Duckworth will be generally beholden to those who would put her into congress. It is a very cynical political strategy and seems to assume that the electorate is composed of dolts.This entire episode strikes me as rather smarmy. The use of the disabled in such a blatant political manner is very unseemly and it speaks volumes about the current Democratic Party and its use of symbols to cover its current lack of substance. I can almost hear the conversation now:

Dem 1: “Yeh, up in Illinois, Hydes’ seat, we got Crane last time, how can we pick this one up?”

Dem 2 “I got a chick with no legs.”

Dem 3: “What the?”

Dem 2: “They were blown off in Iraq”

Dem 1: “Perfect.”

Dem 3: “At least that asshole Bush is good for something.”

Dem 2: “Here’s how I see it; screw the locals, we can get them to drop out of the primary. Throw them a few bones, state contracts or something. Then we “out-defense” the Republicans in the general with the big money advertising!”

Dem 1: “Brilliant!”

Dem 3: “Fantastic!”

John Kerry: “Touché! I’ll call my Band of Brothers!”

Dem 3: “Who the hell let him in here?”

Mr. Kerry’s involvement just adds to the smarminess of the entire affair. I will confess that two years ago I did not care to hear what either candidate did during the Vietnam War, nor did I care in the three previous elections when service or the lack thereof during Vietnam was an issue. I want to know what they plan to do today. Mr. Kerry’s use of Vietnam as one of his strongest campaign issues was ill advised in light of his post-war actions. As a member of the Naval Reserves, John Kerry went to Paris in order to attempt to negotiate some kind of “peace”. Not only does that show incredible pompousness but it was likely treasonous. Citizens can not negotiate for our country, unless of course, their name is Jesse Jackson.

Dr. Sanity, although far more fair-minded than your humble correspondent, wrote today that those Democratic military veterans should refuse the donations raised by John Kerry. Plus she has written a song for Mr. Kerry, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Kerry” that ends with these two memorable lines:“In the room Teresa comes and goesBuying Michaelangelos”Thank you, Dr. Sanity.

NY Times – Selling Out America One Paper at a Time

More classified material from the neo-jihadi Times. Just in time for the mid-term elections; what a shock. Loose Lips Kill Free People!

Kerry Insults Daley Family of Chicago

c CBS NEWS Chicago
Patrick Daley - US Army Airborne

Now he’s gone and done it. Monday night John Kerry let his mouth do the talking again when he stated that people who weren’t smart enough would wind up in the military. It is an interesting comment from a man who just two years ago was proud of his enlistment in the Navy. I would like to point out a man who just last year volunteered to go to Army Airborne School after graduating with honors from the University of Chicago Business School, his name is Patrick Daley and his father is the mayor of Chicago. I have met some of Patrick’s friends over the years and he is said to be an incredible guy.

Flying Debris previously commented on this issue here.
The Gateway Pundit has another thorough run-down of Kerry’s bizarre statements and non-apologies here and a review of President Bush’s response here.