MASON CONSERVATIVE

Shannon: The Candidate That Can't Shoot Straight

It seems Steve Shannon's aimless and anemic campaign for attorney general continues to get mired down in low energy and blantant lies that aren't even clever.  They are lies that anyone who draws breath knows are lies.  Anyways, this new one comes from Shannon's supposed backyard, the Commonwealth's Attorney Service Council.  Shannon now claims he supports the special session to fix the Melendez-Diaz aftermath (previously derided as a "political stunt" before he was bitch-slapped by his own governor), and said Cuccinelli had previously not supported a bill to hire more lab techs.  Another lie.  But maybe poor Smilin' Steve  is thinking about some House bill that Ken didn't vote on because, you know, he serves in the Senate.  It happens, Steve.  It happens.  

Do you want to know how bad Steve Shannon is as a candidate?  Only a Democrat this bad could allow Ken Cuccinelli to put out a statement like this and it be the truth.

Senator Cuccinelli stated: "After initially calling my proposal a 'political stunt,' it is good to see that my opponent has reversed course and endorsed the proposal that I and Governor Tim Kaine bipartisanly agreed would be the best way to proceed in addressing the Melendez issue. It's too bad that he didn't show the leadership to initially stand with me and call for a special session.

Steve Shannon:  So Bad Ken Cuccinelli and Tim Kaine Agree!

This Is Hilarious

This Politico article about Democratic congressmen going home to angry constituents and they don't seem to understand the legitimate outrage.  Instead, they see them as unruly protesters that don't allow real dialogue.  Its a sign of good things for Republicans, because these congressmen aren't listening to this, they are shrugging it off.  Its a classic example of politicians putting the ideology of their president over the wishes of their voters.  Look at this choice quote from New York Rep. Tim Bishop.

“I had felt they would be pointless,” Rep.Tim Bishop(D-N.Y.) told POLITICO, referring to his recent decision to temporarily suspend the events in his Long Island district. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”

So "unruly mob" today stands for pissed off constituents not liking where the country is going and trying to hold their representatives accountable.  A congressman's job isn't to do the bidding of the Speaker, the majority leader, or the president.  They are there to represent their constituents, not talk down to them.  Last time I checked, the House was the people's house, not the president's.  The good news is hell's coming in 2010, the voters who work hard every day only to see their tax money thrown down the drain in car-for-clunkers schemes, trillions in "stimulus," and whatever else is being spent that does nothing to help anyone.  

NRO Exposes Deeds

NRO's Jim Geraghty opens for all the contradictions of Creigh Deeds, his lack of depth and his use of partisan politics all the while pretending to be above it.  its a good read.  Here's a few quick snippets:

On non-partisan redistricting:

Yet Deeds owes his first election to public office, in 1991, to blatantly partisan redistricting — “brutal,” in the words of the Post — that paired 14 Republican incumbents against each other and one Republican against an independent incumbent. Then there was four-term Republican delegate Emmett Hanger, who found after redistricting that “just a handful of precincts” were left from his old district — grafted onto heavily Democratic areas, some of which were several hours away.

“It was definitely gerrymandered to create an opportunity for Creigh,” says Hanger, now a state senator. “He was then Commonwealth’s Attorney, letting it be known he would like to be governor someday.” Hanger says he bears Deeds no ill will, as the defeat gave him time to spend with his family, rejuvenated his business, and eventually led to his election to the state senate. But he notices that bipartisan redistricting only “became a part of [Deeds’s] agenda when Republicans exercised gerrymandering in 2001.” In fact, there seems to be a proportional relationship between Deeds’s interest in bipartisan redistricting and Republicans’ power in the state.

On ethics . . . and this is a charge that needs to be brought in because as hard as Deeds tries to play the aw-shucks Huckleberry Hound of Virginia politics, he's not.  He clearly tried to change the rules to help himself politically and financially.  And it doesn't matter how small the lobbying operation was, when your a public servant you owe it to obey the rules like everyone else.  This was the infamous "my political journey" mea culpa he gave.

In October 2006, Deeds joined Hirschler Fleischer P.C., a Richmond-based law firm with a small lobbying presence. Shortly thereafter, the Virginia State Bar’s standing committee on legal ethics erased a 50-year-old rule that prohibited state legislators from working alongside lobbyists at law firms. At the time, the Washington Post explained that “without the proposed change, Deeds would be violating state ethics rules.” This was a generous way of saying that he either had already violated or was about to violate those rules, and he wanted the restrictions to be loosened and the committee to grandfather in his employment. Deeds later denied that he had pressured the state bar to change the rule, but conceded that if it hadn’t done so, he would have had to quit the firm. Deeds assured the public, “If I thought I were doing anything unethical, I would step away from it.” In fact, Deeds did step away from that firm in June 2007, moving to another firm that didn’t employ lobbyists.

In this year’s Democratic primary, Deeds criticized one of his rivals, former delegate Brian Moran, for taking money from “tainted” defense contractors, even though Deeds himself had sought donations from those same contractors just four days earlier. When pressed, Deeds “clarified” his accusation: The taint on Moran, he said, came from the defense contractors’ ties to his brother, the controversy-attracting U.S. congressman Jim Moran. (Jim Moran, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, had steered earmarks to clients of the lobbying firm PMA Group, a major donor. The FBI is now investigating PMA Group.) “I don’t have a brother in Congress,” Deeds said, “and I guess that’s just sour grapes on my part but I don’t think it’s an unfair criticism.” In other words, the companies’ donations to Moran were tainted, but donations to Deeds would have been clean.

So yeah.  Creigh Deeds as our next governor is a troublesome idea.  Luckily it seems that Bob McDonnell is really taking control of this campaign, really controlling the deabte and getting issues out on his terms.  So I feel guardedly good right now.  

Cuccinelli Smacks Down Shannon (again!)

From the newest Compass . . .

I got an interesting call from a reporter today, asking me to comment on the new SurveyUSA poll out that has us up 53%-42%, with 6% undecided (for the quick mathematicians, presumably there's an extra point in the rounding...).
Here is the poll: SurveyUSA Poll, and obviously it's nice to be up.  But we're running like we're 10 points behind.But back to the reporter... he said he had spoken to my opponent at a Kiwanis Club where my opponent made an appearance today.  "Oh really," I asked, "and what did he talk about?"
The reply?  "Mostly biographical stuff.  Not too much back and forth on issues."Moral of the story?  The way to get behind 11 points by midsummer is to continuously and purposely NOT engage voters on issues that are important to them and to Virginia.That includes continuously ducking debates.

Instead, my opponent has come out with silly - and contrived - attacks that have no relationship to the AG's race.  I guess I should hope they keep it up, but it just seems such a waste to have an election where one side hardly ever shows up...

Daaaaaaaaamn.  You know he's right, the Shannon strategy thus far has been to say nothing, do nothing, and then try to tie Cuccinelli to every isolated cook and crazy person they can find.  But they aren't making a case as to why Shannon should be AG, and in the one exchange of law Ken came out the winner (special session for Melendez-Diaz).  Steve Shannon wants nothing to do with Ken Cuccinelli in a debate because he knows he will be eaten alive.  And if Shannon can't handle simple debates, how can he be expected to lead the states law firm in major cases that cover the entire spectrum of the law?

GOP Ticket Crushing Right Now

Its a long time before we get to the election in November, but not that long.  And a new poll out by SurveyUSA has all three GOP candidates - a best ticket ever assembled by the GOP -  is doing very well right now as we enter the full campaign season.  All three are not sitting on their laurels, and are working very hard.  McDonnell and Bolling are effectively pushing the jobs platform and Cuccinelli is running circles around Shannon when it comes to arguing about how law and law enforcement.  They aren't getting bogged down in silly distractions, there are no maccac moments, and clearly the all understand that we live in a different Virginia than in 1997 when we last won everything.  All are talking about pocket book issues, about the dangers of the federal government taking over health care, about the dangers of the looming war on right-to-work, among other things.

Here are the nunbers:

If the election for Virginia governor were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Bob McDonnell? or Democrat Creigh Deeds?

55%	McDonnell (R)
40%	Deeds (D)
5%	Undecided

Asked of 526 likely voters

Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.3%

Virginia will also elect a lieutenant governor. If the election for lieutenant governor were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Bill Bolling? or Democrat Jody Wagner?

54%	Bolling (R)
42%	Wagner (D)
4%	Undecided

Asked of 526 likely voters

Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.4%

Virginia will also elect an attorney general. If the election for attorney general were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Ken Cuccinelli? or Democrat Steve Shannon?

53%	Cuccinelli (R)
42%	Shannon (D)
6%	Undecided

And once again, I can't help but brag about how Cuccinelli is not the drag on the ticket many claimed he would be.  Instead, he's the hardworking compliment, holding down the right for McDonnell making sure this ticket will not have the conservative malaise we saw in 2008 with the squish McCain leading the ticket.  He also is not the fanatical firebreathing John Bircher many claimed he would be.  I think the Dems believe their own rhetoric here, as well as Steve Shannon.  They have been caught completely off-guard at how hard Cuccinelli campaigns, how well he does, and how he is able to connect with voters on every day issues using his conservative philosophy not simply to get the floors stomping, but to solve problems.  I'm telling you, the Dems have no idea who he really is and they are going to be paying for it.

But what I really want to see is if these numbers hold, how will it translate down-ballot.  We have fourteen delegate candidates alone in Fairfax county, and two big delegate races in Virignia Beach (Mathieson and Bouchard) that will decide where the House of D's goes.  In NOVA, look at the Hyland (open), McConville (open), Comstock (Vanderhei), LeMunyon (Caputo), and maybe Smith (Hull) as races where a strong top-ticket showing could pull them across the finish line.  I would love nothing more than to sweep all our statewide offices (dare I dream yet?) but I hope the McDonnell campaign understands the need to reach out to these delegate races that will make or break this.  They have started this, so I have faith.  

Michael Williams Soon To Be A US Senator?

Texas Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson announced that for her run for governor, she will resign her US Senate seat in order to take on Gov. Rick Perry.  Now naturally, I perfer Perry but Hutchinson isn't as bad as some might think, and she has vowed to vote against Obamacare and Sonia Sotomayor so thats good.  My hope is that Perry will nominate Texas Railroad Chairman Michael Williams.  I've blogged about him before and continue to be impressed, and black conservative with executive and statewide experience in a state as huge as Texas.  For a reminder, here's a video of Williams talking about pork.

The Sad End Of Jim Bunning

The guy was a baseball hall-of-famer, pitched no-hitters in both leagues, and was a seven time all-star.  He also happened to be one of the best conservatives in the Seante, and thats saying something.  The Senate is where conservatives got to become moderates.  And Bunning never betrayed his conservatism.  I understand that his time was now, and I understand that he ran a terrible race in 2004, but it is the circumstances surrounding his dismal by the Senate leadership that is so unsettling.  The minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is from the same state.  After Bunning cleared out last year because he knew all the money needed to go to McConnell, for the minority leader to shut the spigot off on Bunning like that was disgraceful.  Sorry, I know he might not have won, but he might have.  Anyways, a true conservative like Bunning deserved better treatment from his own senator and the leadership.  

Fedor To UFC, Finally?

The LA Times is reporting that the pound-for-pound king of MMA, 30-1 Russian heavyweight Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emlianenko will finally be joining the top MMA company in the world, the UFC.  Fedor and his management have been notoriously difficult with regards to previous negotiations with the UFC in the past, but with the demise of Pride in 2007 and Affliction last week there is nowhere else for Fedor to go to get the top fights he wants.  Apparently Dana White is holding a big press conference this friday to announce a couple of big pieces of news.  Along with Fedor, it looks like Tito Ortiz will be back, possibly as soon as September to fight Rich Franklin at UFC 103.  

As for Fedor, this is the only move that makes sense for his career.  He is 30-1, and really should be 31-0 because his only loss was due to a cut.  He's beaten everybody in Pride, as well as former UFC champs Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.  If Fedor is signed, the only question is who does he fight first, Brock Lesnar or Randy Couture?  Fedor has been Couture's white whale for a long time, and perhaps that is the only thing left for Randy to do after his next fight with Minotauro in August.  White has said previous that the winner of the Shane Carwin-Cain Velasquez matchup gets the next shot at Brock Lesnar.  But that would mean nothing.

My guess is that Lesnar-Fedor headlines UFC 104 in Los Angeles in October.

Can You Believe CNN Showed This?

"I supported him.  I voted for him.  I will not again."

-Kelly King, Cambridge Police Department and African-American women.

The emperor has no clothes on.

5 Freedoms Lost

This article from Fortune is stunning in how frank it is, and the fact that CNN has anything to do with it.  First of all, the fact that when discussing a health care bill there is even one freedom lost is frightening.  Secondly, what we are learning is President Obama is so committed to an idea, even an ideology, that he has forsaken even reading what Congress is putting forth.  They are selling a message, a promise, and refuse to budge from the script even when their own rhetoric is being turned into lies by the monstrosity that Congress is creating for him.  The most glaring example of this is what Obama says about our existing plan.  First of all, as a rule, when the government enters any private industry there is no longer any inherent fairness.  There are a lot of reasons, but most basic of those is that the government makes the rules, they make the regulation, and they levy the taxes.  There is no fairness there, and there is no mechanism above the federal government to regulate them.  And if Obama insists on taxing health care companies directly, of whom he's already declared that he doesn't like how much money they make in profits-never-mind is none of the business of the president what a private company makes-who do you think will end up paying the difference?  The folks who have that insurance company, thus driving people too the government.  Insidious.  But everyone must read this article in full because the author is doing what nearly every member of Congress has not - actually read it.

1. Freedom to chose your own plan
2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs
3. Freedom to chose high-deductible coverage 
4. Freedom to keep your existing plan
5. Freedom to choose your doctors

So far I have yet to hear a real defense of this bill, other than the usual Obama-led Democrat cant about poor people going without care and other tear-jerking examples of how America is bad . . . the usual from Barack Nifong.  But not one proponent of the plan can explain how to pay for it, or how to answer charges like those in this article - hardly a bastion of right-wingerism.    This is someone who has actually read the bill, and understand what will happen . . . and that will mean government-run health care.  And that means health care by rationing and health care by pencil pushers rather than doctors.  Rush Limbaugh pointed out something that was lost in the Gates controversy at Obama's press conference was the hatred the president has for profits the health care companies make, and a hostility to doctors that make money -  exhibited by the example of pediatricians that do invasive tonsillectomies to make money, never mind that a pediatrician does not actually do surgery, a surgeon does.  Or that the reason doctors add extra tests or maybe do a procedure like this because they are afraid of being sued out of practice.  

I understand, and share, the outrage that so many Americans don't have health insurance.  Really, I do.  I know what its like not to have health insurance.  I know what its like to make so little that you decide not take insurance so you can take more pay home.  But this?  This is not the answer.  Replacing our current system with one that has proven to fail in both Great Britain and Canada - countries plagued by people who have to wait months to see a doctor or to get surgery.  The problem is Barack Obama appeals to all our laziness, to not worry about anything and let the government do it.  Come on, its easier that way right?  The problems of government power, states being bulldozed, or the fact that it will bankrupt a country already bankrupted once by trillions of dollars in "stimulus" that either hasn't work or hasn't even been used yet.  

I have no say in this, my congressman is Jim Moran.  It won't matter, but I encourage all those the districts of Connolly, Nye, and Periello to pressure them to make the right decision.  Because what this is really about is government power, it Barack Obama transforming American into a country dependent on him alone; neutering the states, the Congress, and the courts.  And there is no more basic need than health care, and none more personal.  Your health an wellness is no property of the government, but that of you, your family, and a doctor you trust because you know him - not because Barack Obama told you to see him.  If we put health care in the hands of the government, we lose a large part of our liberty.  

This must die.