(Woops, I just noticed that I ended saving this as a draft, rather then posting. My Bad!)

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the great folks that came by to McCain Blogs, and made this little site go. It was much appreciated. We didn’t quite get what we wanted, and will have to put up with Barry for 4 years, but, look on the bright side, there is always 2010 for Congress, and we have Palin and Jindal as potential frontrunners for 2012.

I’m not a big feelings based guy (except for puppies, women, and a perfect 5 foot face on a warm day), so, again, a big thank you.

And thanks to Beth and Beth for inviting me to help out with McCain Blogs, I truly enjoyed it.

So, you can come visit us at our personal blogs and the others we post about our expectations of this election.

Beth: MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Blue Star Beth: Blue Star Chronicles and Right Pundits

Carol: The Median Sib

Me: Pirate’s Cove, Fantasy Football, Right Wing News on Sundays, and after the holidays, I am hoping to post at Right Pundits, as well.

Thanks again, folks, and see y’all in 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me, I’m waiting for the Outrage Of The Left to kick in

Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, his transition team said Thursday.

Breached may be a little bit over-the-top. It’s really not all that hard to look up a customers information. Certainly, they were accessed improperly.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the team was notified Wednesday by Verizon Wireless that it appears an employee improperly went through billing records for the phone, which Gibbs said Obama no longer uses.

Hmm, Verizon is sure to be the next wireless company on the Left-side hit list. Of course, they are already not particularly welcome, along with AT&T, because of the whole “domestic wiretapping” thang. Anyhow, the Left acts like seagulls, fly around, make a lot of noise, crap all over everything, but, then they quietly ignore their petitions and such and go get a new phone. Kinda like the way they deal with anthropogenic global warming, eh?

Anyhow, if that Verizon employee is treated like the employees at my company, he or she will be joining the unemployed. All he/she was doing was looking at records, can’t access email or voicemail, but, there are massive federal rules about this, not to mention company rules. They may want to consider transitioning into computer repair orange county

Will the left-o-scolds react? They sure didn’t care much about Palin’s email being hacked or Joe The Plumber having his records looked at improperly and probably illegally by people who work for the state of Ohio, among others. It's like the ty beanie babies rush that occured in the early to mid 90s.

I wonder if the ACLU will sue for mixing church and state? Hezbollah Marshals The Young Via Scout Troops

On a Bekaa Valley playing field gilded by late-afternoon sun, hundreds of young men wearing Boy Scout-style uniforms and kerchiefs stand rigidly at attention as a military band plays, its marchers bearing aloft the distinctive yellow banner of Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement.

They are adolescents — 17 or 18 years old — but they have the stern faces of adult men, lightly bearded, some of them with dark spots in the center of their foreheads from bowing down in prayer. Each of them wears a tiny picture of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shiite cleric who led the Iranian revolution, on his chest.

“You are our leader!” the boys chant in unison, as a Hezbollah official walks to a podium and addresses them with a Koranic invocation. “We are your men!”

This is the vanguard of Hezbollah’s youth movement, the Mahdi Scouts. Some of the graduates gathered at this ceremony will go on to join Hezbollah’s guerrilla army, fighting Israel in the hills of southern Lebanon. Others will work in the party’s bureaucracy. The rest will probably join the fast-growing and passionately loyal base of support that has made Hezbollah the most powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon.

Does this remind you of someone elses idea and followers?

So, I go and read the whole NY Times story a few times, which fawns on these tea drinking AK-47 carrying Mahdi Scouts, who are just oh-so-faithful, and ya know, I seem to be missing several issues. The writers fail to mention the inherent violence, the anti-semitism, the anti-Israel and pro-radical Islam fervor, and the fact that this is the next generation of Islamic terrorists.

Surrendie and his cousin Do! love this story, because it involves surrender of kids to public schools, creating the perfect Democrat voters!

More than twice as many Americans – 56 percent — know that Paula Abdul is a judge on “American Idol” as know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (21 percent) — a phrase President-elect Barack Obama used in his election-night victory speech.

The average American is nearly illiterate when it comes to basic principles of American history, government and economics, according to a new report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute – and politicians are even worse.

More than 2,000 people were administered a 33-question test this Spring on American history and our political and economic institutions. Of them, 71 percent — college and non-college educated alike – got a failing mark, ISI’s Josiah Bunting III said, presenting the study at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

“It can truly be said that we are suffering from an epidemic of civic ignorance,” Bunting said. “The extent of failure is pervasive, cutting across every segment of the American population.

How bad was it?

• Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of government.
• Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S.
• 54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.

Politicians scored even lower.

Darryl DeMarzio, an assistant professor in the education department at the University of Scranton, told CNSNews.com that many politically correct college campuses no longer teach “history” classes, as most people remember.

“One of the purposes of a history course now is not the acquisition of historical knowledge, but it’s a vague skill like ‘thinking historically,’ or something like that,” DeMarzio said.

The culprit is that teachers are steeped in a philosophy called “constructivism.”

“That’s the idea that knowledge is not something that teachers possess and give to students or teach students,” DeMarzio tolld CNSNews.com. “Rather, knowledge is a process in which students construct meaning for themselves.

So what we are talking about is more feel good socialization education, rather then practical reality.

Allahu Ackbar!

BALAD, Iraq – Two Al Qaeda in Iraq and Islamic State of Iraq members wearing suicide vests self-detonated during an Iraqi Special Operations and Coalition forces operation Nov. 16.

The suspected terrorists died during an ISOF operation to disrupt AQI/ISI activities in the Diyala province.

Both of the assailants detonated their suicide vests approximately 100 meters from the ground force. “No one from ISOF or CF was hurt during this operation.

Not quite the same as ’sploding, but, still humorous. Anyone know how many virgins are left in Paradise?

In other Iraq news, the brave Coalition troops keep mopping up the jihadi’s, who would have, in collusion with Iran, been in control of Iraq had Obama and the other Defeatocrats had their way.

Let’s see: for the better part of the year since the end of August, the Raleigh area has had temperatures at or below normal, in some cases 5, 10, 15, even 20 degrees below average. The next 10 days look to be at or below the average. We actually had tiny snow showers the other day, and have a potential for that Friday morning. Brrrrrr!

• More Cold Air; Lake Effect Kicks In
• Unseasonably cold weather to continue, meteorologist says
• Arctic winds forecast for the weekend
• Angler Should Adjust To Cold Weather
• Blizzards and icy winds forecast for weekend as Arctic blast sweeps in from the north
• Wednesday is respite until cold weather returns
• Record lows recorded, but warmer temps for Thanksgiving
• Bundle Up, Manatee: More Cold Temps This Week
• Yes, those were snow flurries in Indianapolis, and the cold weather forecast continues
• Another cold blast with snow showers on the way

The problem is not in finding these stories, but knowing when to stop posting them.

Of course, the AGW Climahysterics will tell us this is “just weather.” Just remember that when they start down their Chicken Little paths over a few days of warm temps.

Oh, since I have the program up at the moment, the record high for Raleigh for November 20 is 79F. In 1942.

We know how upset things are after this loss! Let's take the time to remember some of our major sponsors such as office cleaning companies. Office cleaning companies have helped the progression of politics for years! Don't give that up anytime soon. McCain is also selling clothing that will help future politicians as well, there are currently various types of sweaters for sale. Such as polo sweater, and even womens polo shirts as well.

‘Memba this?

This was the commercial that Barry ran non-stop in many of the battleground states, of which mine was one. And, of course, those in the Obamanuts-O-Sphere called McCain McSame, and referred to a McCain win as Bush’s 3rd term. Sure seems like we are getting Clinton’s 3rd term now, eh?

Of the 47 appointees named so far to transition or staff posts, 31 have ties to the Clinton administration, including all but one member of the 12-person Transition Advisory Board.

And we are now looking at potentially Tom Daschle for Sec. of Health and Human Services (good thing his wife Linda isn’t a registered lobbyistfor the health care industry or anything), and let’s not forget the talk of Hillary for Sec. of State, and even Billy Jeff for Ambassador to the U.N. The Wall Street Journal has a thinly veiled editorial-on-the-politics-pages defending all this, but, the Change We Deserve sure seems to be Clinton’s 3rd term, and Just More Of The Same, eh?

In a long, long, godawful long post at Alternet, Jeremy Scahilltells us that this is pretty much Slick’s 3rd term. He forgets about all the other fun. Of course, with the maybe conspiracy theories about an Obama affair, his birth certificate, and his Selective Service registration out there, maybe there will be more Clintonista type fun. And let’s not forget Tony Rezko and his singing to the prosecutors. I wonder who Barry will bomb when he gets caught doing something unseemly?

Funniest quote

“What this conversation is about is laughable if you ask people in America what they care about. They care about the economy, jobs, education, health care. They haven’t even proposed a clear-cut policy for homeowners facing foreclosures and seeking mortgage help. They don’t care about whether somebody who fills a particular box is from a prior administration,” he said

Um, when the candidate has run on a platform based almost solely on Change and Hope, changing Washington, moving forward, well, yeah, people might care. They might start wondering why they didn’t just vote for Hillary.

FoodHot Chocolate (well, we are having way below average temps this week) for thought: Christine Todd Whitman and Robert M. Bostock - Free the GOP: The Party Won’t Win Back the Middle as Long As It’s Hostage to Social Fundamentalists (Via Little Green Footballs)

Four years ago … our central thesis was simple: The Republican Party had been taken hostage by “social fundamentalists,” the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion, gay rights, those being dealt with by Sacramento Real Estate Agent and many others in our community, and stem cell research. Unless the GOP freed itself from their grip, we argued, it would so alienate itself from the broad center of the American electorate that it would become increasingly marginalized and find itself out of power.

At the time, this idea was roundly attacked by many who were convinced that holding on to the “base” at all costs was the way to go. A former speechwriter for President Bush, Matthew Scully, who went on to work for the McCain campaign this year, called the book “airy blather” and said its argument fell somewhere between “insufferable snobbery” and “complete cluelessness.” Gary Bauer suggested that the book sounded as if it came from a “Michael Moore radical.” National Review said its warnings were, “at best, counterintuitive,” and Ann Coulter said the book was “based on conventional wisdom that is now known to be false.” …

In seven of the nine states that switched this year from Republican to Democratic, Obama’s vote total exceeded the total won by President Bush four years ago. So even if McCain had equaled the president’s numbers from 2004 (and he did not), he still would have lost in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia (81 total electoral votes) — and lost the election. McCain didn’t lose those states because he failed to hold the base. He lost them because Obama broadened his base.

This is where I usually get into one of those long posts where I barely know when to stop (and get myself flayed), so I’ll try and be brief.

This is something that I have mentioned a few times over at Pirate’s Cove, as well as here at McCain Blogs and at Stop The ACLU. The two authors of the column call it social fundamentalists, which, quite frankly, is a bit insulting, even though I am not one. Me, I call it the moralists. In my political opinion, most moral issues do not belong as part of the core agenda of the GOP, particularly at the national level. These issue mostly should belong to individuals and to private groups. There is nothing wrong with having high morals, but the GOP as a party seems to be pushing these issues over the ones that were established per the Constitution: keeping the country running.

I guess, for me, it goes back to the fact that the Conservative movement is based on Classical Liberalism. There are 3 cores to the Democratic political model: the economic, the moral, and the political. In Classic Liberalism, the model states that government stays out of those cores as much as possible. The government that governs least governs best, but gets involved when necessary. Social Democracy is when government gets massively involved in economic issues. Classic Conservatism is when government gets involved highly in the moral core, and somewhat in the political core.

Personally, I rarely get involved in the main social focuses of the day. For instance, gay marriage. Personally, it is not a hot button issue for me. If I had to vote, I would probably vote against gay marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman. But, but, I see no reason to stop homosexuals from having civil ceremonies and being considered domestic partners. If 2 people love each other, who the hell am I to stop them? This is America. Freedom. And Prop 8 is the perfect example of how it should work. Private citizens and groups doing it, rather then the national GOP pushing it in Congress.

Now, let’s look at stem cell research. The big issue is embryonic stem cell research. Certainly, the backing of this research by Liberals is because of its implications to abortion on demand, another big moral issue, obviously. This is an issue that is a hot button one for me. I think it is despicable that the Left pushes ESC research simply for abortion issues, and, the GOP has opposed the research, mostly on moral lines. Should the GOP push legislation and block federal funding for ESC research on moral lines? Yes, to some degree. But, it is a loser method. Like with abortion, the Left has won the morality of the issue by using non-offensive language, such as “the march of progress” and “blocking potential cures.” They did this with abortion with terms we all know, such as “choice,” “reproductive rights,” and “a woman’s right to choose.” Funny how under Obama’s health plans, you will be forced to get a health care checkup, loosing your “choice,” but, I digress.

We should not forget the morality of the ESC issue, but, the political party should fight it on mostly non-moral grounds. For instance, ESC research has provided no cures, no medicines, and no treatments without massive issues, usually known as “teratomas.” Monster tumors. Adult stem cell research, and now placental stem cell research, have been providing cures, medicines, and treatments. I just posted one earlier. Which is why private industry is spending lots of money on them. If ESC was so great, they wouldn’t be whining to the feds for money. The GOP should block the use of federal money from emergency funds for the ESC research because it is a waste of money.

Abortion is, of course, the big issue. And one I personally rarely get involved in. I hate to say it, but, it is not one of my hot button issues, except in terms of late term abortions, which are, per the doctors that perform them, performed mostly because the mother decided very late that she doesn’t want the baby, and not for medical reasons, and the issue of parental notification. I could go on and on on these issues, but, for brevity, I won’t. Just consider, though: if a minor gets busted for, well, pretty much anything, the parents must be notified! But, here we have a massive life changing medical procedure, and in many states parents do not have to be notified. Just. Plain. Wrong. The GOP could certainly fight on legal grounds on these two issues, rather then moral grounds.

Abortion on demand has been turned into a privacy issue by those who support it. And, it is the Democrats number one all-encompassing issue, make no doubt about that. So, how does the GOP fight that? They mostly don’t, not as a Party. Again, let the individuals and private groups do it. They managed to get abortion on to several State ballots, and, if we stay true to our conservative roots, that is where it belongs. 9th and 10th Amendments. Limited government, particularly at the federal level. Certainly, the national party should fight if Democrats try to expand abortion on demand.

Certainly, many people will disagree with me. Hey, it’s America, that’s your right. My opinion is that the national Party, and even the State Party’s, should ease off the moral issues that have become so prominent, and focus more on our core ideals: limited government, continued low taxes, national security, individual rights and individualism, and a government that empowers and enables, not one that does it for you.

To wrap up (got a bit long winded), I should say I am no big fan of Whitman. Didn’t care for her when I was living in NJ, and still don’t. But, to me, she is making some sense. We shouldn’t expand our base by being a be all say all Party which stands for virtually everything, at least in rhetoric, like the Democrats. We should expand our voting base by being a Party of ideas, and holding our elected officials to those ideals.

Surprise!

Somali pirates struck again yesterday, seizing an Iranian cargo ship holding 30,000 tonnes of grain, as the world’s governments and navies pronounced themselves powerless against this new threat to global trade.

Admiral Michael Mullen, the US military chief, pronounced himself stunned by the pirates’ reach after their capture of the supertanker Sirius Star and its $100 million (£70 million) cargo. Commanders from the US Fifth Fleet and from Nato warships in the area said that they would not intervene to retake the vessel.

The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, the owner of the ship, condemned the hijacking as an “outrageous act” that required international action.

Here it comes

Pirates pulled the 333m supertanker yesterday to a mooring point off Harardhere, on the Somali coast. Farther north, Italian, Greek, Turkish, British, American and Russian frigates and warships were patrolling the Gulf of Aden under a UN mandate.

Operations undertaken by the coalition fleet are fraught with legal difficulties, ranging from restrictive rules of engagement to rights of habeas corpus, as the British Navy discovered when it detained eight pirates after a shootout last week. Yesterday the detainees were passed on to Kenya, where efforts to prosecute them will be closely watched for precedent.

Here’s an idea: screw the United Nations. Here’s a group that has no military of its own, with leaders who mostly come from countries with tiny worthless militaries, trying to dictate the use of military forces. Those countries with navies who want to be involved should just go and blockade the Somali ports, where the majority of these pirates are coming from, and stop all ships going out. Use those caught as target practice for live fire exercises. And, in the cases where ships are hijacked, let groups such as the Navy SEALS get their live fire, real world practice in.

BTW, there is also some surrender talk in the article regarding the thought that maybe they should just let the Islamic Court re-establish control of Somalia.

And said organ actually, you know, works!

Surgeons replaced the damaged windpipe of Claudia Castillo, a 30-year-old mother of two, with one created from stem cells grown in a laboratory at Bristol University.

Claudia experienced a traumatic experience with a business sign that says Go Detroit!. Because the new windpipe was made from cells taken from Ms Castillo’s own body, using a process called “tissue engineering”, she has not needed powerful drugs to prevent her body rejecting the organ.

Avoiding the use of these drugs means she will not be at an increased risk of cancer and other diseases unlike other transplant patients - another significant advance.

Five months after the operation was carried out she is now living normally and is able to look after her children again.

So, yet again, we see that it is research using stem cells other then from embros that is creating medical breakthroughs.