Democrats Are the New Ethics Story

Blagojevich is just the tip of the iceberg.

• By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

A note to all those visitors who will soon flood Washington for the inauguration: Be careful of the “swamp.”

That would be the swamp Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to drain when she led her party to victory in 2006. The GOP had been rocked by scandal, and Mrs. Pelosi and Democrats won, in part, by promising to clean up the “culture of corruption” that pervaded Washington.

Instead, Democrats now have an image problem. The real issue isn’t so much Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Senate-seat auction, as it is the focus that his scandal has directed toward a wider assortment of Democratic troubles. This isn’t great timing for Barack Obama, who campaigned on cleaner government.

The Blagojevich drama is titillating enough, and local Democrats’ dithering over how to fill Mr. Obama’s seat guarantees it will remain a storyline longer than is comfortable. But the Illinois drama has also thrust new light on the ongoing ethical controversies of House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel. At the rate the House Ethics Committee is receiving complaints — over Mr. Rangel’s real-estate problems, tax problems, his privately sponsored trips to the Caribbean, and donations to his center in New York — this too will make headlines for a while.

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Conservatives frustrated with the endless stream of mindless liberal tripe coming out of Hollywood actually have a reason to go to the theater again:  David Zucker’s pro-American, unabashedly conservative film “An American Carol” hits the screen this weekend.  The trailer is available here:  http://www.myamericancarol.com/p/video/ac/viewVideo.  The only theater in the area that seems to be scheduled to show the movie this weekend is the Wehrenberg St. Clair 10 in Fairview Heights.  The official website has links to locate theaters and purchase tickets.  http://www.americancarol.com/  Obviously, I haven’t seen it yet, but looking at the stories and the trailer, the film seems like a testament to the greatness of America at a time when so many popular people are trying to convince us we don’t deserve to be great, and also to the courage of Zucker and his cast, who are clearly ”speaking truth to power” in bucking the Hollywood establishment.  It also looks like a lot of fun, as opposed to the mean-spirited comedies or the morose and brooding message films the liberals always make! 

This design was actually unveiled some time ago, but as usual, the folks at http://www.despair.com have nailed it. 

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is so afraid of the truth that he has gone beyond using his own lawyers and supporters to threaten anyone who dares to speak out against him (see e.g. Obama versus the NRA http://www.nrapvf.org/news/Read.aspx?ID=11588&T=1, Obama versus anyone who dares to interview author David Freddoso http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/09/obamas_dogs_of_war.html and Obama versus the American Issues Project http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-simmons23-2008aug23,0,2360525.story).  He is now enlisting law enforcement professionals in his campaign to silence critics.   http://www.kmov.com/video/index.html?nvid=285793&shu=1  The term “Thought Police” takes on an entirely new and extremely disturbing meaning when the real life law enforcers lend their names and authority to efforts to silence critics of the Chosen One.  It is a tragedy when people vested with the authority to enforce the law fairly and impartially instead choose to wield that considerable power to advance the political agenda of their party and their preferred candidate.  If St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCullough, St. Louis City Prosecutor Jennifer Joyce and Jefferson County Sheriff Glen Boyer don’t see the problem with using their names, their official titles and the inherent power of their offices to threaten to “take action” against anyone who dares to speak out against Barack Obama, then the voters of Missouri should hasten to remove that power from their hands before they do irreparable harm to the offices they hold.  Voters everywhere should take a long, hard look at Barack Obama and his history of shouting down opposition rather than answering his critics. 

In a rather stunning move Presidential Candidate Barack Obama decided that he’d rather spend time meeting with, and giving empty speeches to, random Europeans than American Military men and women wounded in combat.  http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D924E4KO0&show_article=1  His pathetic justification, that it would be “inappropriate” to meet with the military servicemen while on a trip funded by his campaign, rings pretty hollow as earlier in the day he gave a speech to a large number of non-American, non-voting individuals “…not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen, a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.” http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm  It says much more about Obama than he realizes that he chooses to spend his “campaign money” speaking as a private citizen to people who can’t vote for him, while refusing to spend any time with actual potential voters who put their lives on the line so he and his family can continue to live free and enjoy the prosperity and opportunity that is available to every American.  I agree it would be inappropriate to take the cameras and use the photos of a hospital visit for campaign purposes, the fact that Senator Obama can’t think of any other reason or any other way to visit a military hospital is just sad.  If this trip was designed to showcase Senator Obama’s fitness to serve as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, I think we can safely say “Mission Accomplished.”  He has adequately demonstrated that he is not up to the job, and probably never will be.

Yesterday on the Partisan Discourse blog, Mark Von Nida posted on the GI bill being considered in congress.   Mark said the current GI bill is inadequate and unfair and there has not been enough sacrifice on the part of the administration and the public for the war.  What could Madison county do to improve upon benefits for veterans?   Home purchase tax credit?   Tuition subsidy for job training in exchange for working in Madison county?  What else could or should  the county do?

St. Clair County Republican board member, Kyle McCarter, along with former Republican board member, Joe Behnken, are doing something about the runaway spending by local governments.   They have created a web site and organized meetings to inform people about the out of control spending, which means higher and higher taxes.  Below is a link to the site.  Great job!

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The local county board races will see seven contested races.   Chris Wangard from Troy, Steve Adler from godfrey, and Michelle Ruppert from Bethalto are current board members seeking election to another term.

Four Republican board candidates are running from county board in various parts of the county.

Chris Slusser Wood River, Roxana

Tim Thompson St. Jacob, Marine

Larry Rudder Granite City

Jacob Dean Edwardsville

More information will be forthcoming on all the board candidates in the future.   If any of these folks live in your area,  please give them some help. 

The Republican State convention will be held this summer.   The Republican party is looking for new ideas.  What do you think the party needs to do at the convention to enegize the party faithful?

Gas prices going up and up.   Utilities bills increasing at levels above inflation.   What can the Republican party do to help the United States become less reliant on foreign oil, while helping to conserve energy?