Election 2014: Final Predictions

by JASmius



Years shrank to months, months shrank to weeks, weeks shrank to days, and now days have shrunk to hours.  Tomorrow, believe it or not, is Election Day.  Which is mildly surprising, because I wasn't entirely convinced that Barack Obama would permit THIS election to take place; I'm entirely convinced that he won't allow the 2016 election, but that's a post for another day a couple of years from now, presuming that I still have access to the Internet and this blog still exists.

I'm making no specific picks on House races because they aren't necessary.  Republicans are going to retain the House, maybe pick up a few more seats, and as such I didn't want to go to the trouble of reconstructing the House election spreadsheet I compiled in 2010 that somehow got lost or deleted.  Besides, if the GOP does lose the House tomorrow, the Senate and gubernatorial races won't matter, either.

Yes, gentlebeings, as a bonus I'm throwing in my picks for State governor races as well - particularly one in the upper Midwest.

So here we go....

(Incumbents in bold; methodology averages all polls in final week of campaign, allocates 1/3 of undecided votes to incumbent and 2/3 to challenger, or splits undecideds 50/50 in open seat races, and includes a 1% voter fraud factor in favor of the Democrat candidates; elections stolen by voter fraud indicated in red.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. SENATE RACES

GOP Holds

ALABAMA - Jeff Sessions (R), unopposed
IDAHO - James Risch (R) 63.0%, Nels Mitchell (D) 37.0%

KENTUCKY:  Mitch McConnell (R) 51.2%, Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) 48.8%

MAINE:  Susan Collins (R) 60.5%, Shenna Bellows (D) 39.5%
MISSISSIPPI:  Thad Cochran (R) 56.3%, Travis Childers (D) 43.7%
NEBRASKA:  Ben Sasse (R) 61.7%, David Domina (D) 38.3%
OKLAHOMA:  James Inhofe (R) 65.2%, Matt Silverstein (D) 34.8%

SOUTH CAROLINA:  Lindsey Graham (R) 50.5%, Brad Hutto (D) 37.6%, Thomas Ravenel (R) 11.9%

TENNESSEE:  Lamar Alexander (R) 58.0%, Gordon Ball (D) 42.0%
TEXAS:  John Cornyn (R) 59.3%, David Alameel (D) 40.7%
WYOMING:  Mike Enzi (R) 68.0%, Charlie Hardy (D) 32.0%


GOP Pickups

ALASKA:  Dan Sullivan (R) 50.7%, Mark Begich (D) 49.3%
ARKANSAS: Tom Cotton (R) 55.3%, Mark Pryor (D) 44.7%
COLORADO: Cory Gardner (R) 51.8%, Mark Udall (D) 48.2%
MONTANA:  Steve Daines (R) 58.6%, Amanda Curtis (D) 41.4%
NORTH CAROLINA:  Thom Tillis (R) 50.3%, Kay Hagen (D) 49.7%,

SOUTH DAKOTA:  Mike Rounds (R) 45.3%, Rick Weiland (D) 36.3%, Larry Pressler (RINO) 18.4%

WEST VIRGINIA:  Shelly Moore Capito (R) 61.2%, Natalie Tennant (D) 38.8%


Run-Offs

GEORGIA:  David Perdue (R) 49.2%, Michelle Nunn (D) 47.8%, Amanda Swafford (L) 2.9%

LOUISIANA:  Mary Landrieu (D) 45.6%, Bill Cassidy (R) 40.5%, Rob Maness (R) 14.0%


Democrat Pickups

KANSAS: Greg Orman ("Independent") 54.2%, Pat Roberts (R) 45.8%


Democrat Holds

DELAWARE:  Chris Coons (D) 58.3%, Kevin Wade (R) 41.7%
HAWAII:  Brian Schatz (D) 68.2%, Cam Cavasso (R) 31.8%

ILLINOIS:  Ali Dickbar al-Durbini (D) 54.3%, Jim Oberweis (R) 45.7%

IOWA:  Bruce Braley (D) 50.1%, Joni Ernst (R) 49.9%
MASSACHUSETTS:  Ed Markey (D) 58.0%, Brian Herr (R) 42%
MICHIGAN:  Gary Peters (D) 59.0%, Terri Lynn Land (R) 41.0%
MINNESOTA:  Al Franken (D) 54.2%, Mike McFadden (R) 45.8%

NEW HAMPSHIRE:  Jeanne Shaheen (D) 50.7%, Scott Brown (R) 49.3%

NEW JERSEY:  Corey Booker (D) 57.0%, Jeff Bell (R) 43.0%
NEW MEXICO:  Tom Udall (D) 55.2%, Allen Weh (R) 44.8%
OREGON: Jeff Merkley (D) 57.1%, Monica Wehby (R) 42.9%
RHODE ISLAND:  Jack Reed (D) 71.0%, Mark Zaccaria (R) 29.0%
VIRGINIA:  Mark Warner (D) 53.9%, Ed Gillespie (R) 46.1%

Preliminary scoreboard for 114th United States Senate (pending recount election results)

REPUBLICAN 50
DEMOCRAT    48

David Perdue and Bill Cassidy will be small favorites in the Georgia and Louisiana runoffs, respectively, so the chances are moderately good that the GOP will begin January 9th with a 52-48 majority in the upper chamber.  Though let us not forget Mary Landrieu's uncanny ability to come back from lackluster performances on Election Day to sweep away her GOP challengers in the subsequent runoffs, and that Georgia's runoff is on January 6th, for some sadistic reason, meaning that if Senator Landrieu succeeds in pulling another corrupt rabbit out of her proverbial hat, control of the Senate will rest upon the outcome of that Perdue-Nunn showdown.  And if that canvass ends up in a photo-finish and months of recounts and re-recounts and re-re-recounts?  And don't forget that the longer the counting goes on, the more likely the Democrat will "win".  A factor that will already have cost Republicans Iowa and New Hampshire.

I can't help also pointing out that the Chris Coons seat would already be "red" if Delaware Tea Partiers hadn't screwed Mike Castle and shoved the abominable Christine O'Donnell down Republican throats back in 2010, eliminating the afore-depicted cliffhanger scenario.  Or that "recounts" could save Kay Hagen in North Carolina as well.  But I had to settle on some voter fraud factor, and it turned out in my numbers not to pull her bacon out of the fire.  Call it a ray of unintentional optimism.

And now, those aforepromised gubernatorial forecasts....

ALABAMA: Robert Bentley (R) 66.0%, Parker Griffith (D) 34.0%

ALASKA:  Bill Walker (D) 54.3%, Sean Parnell (R) 45.7% (Dem pickup)

ARIZONA:  Doug Ducey (R) 52.8%, Fred DuVal (D) 47.2% (GOP hold)

ARKANSAS: Asa Hutchinson (R) 54.1%, Mike Ross (D) 45.9% (GOP pickup)

CALIFORNIA:  Jerry Brown (D) 59.1%, Neel Kashkari (R) 40.9%

COLORADO: Bob Beauprez (R) 50.4%, John Hickenlooper (D) 49.6% (GOP pickup)

CONNECTICUT: Daniel Malloy (D) 47.0%, Tom Foley (R) 46.2%, Joe Visconti (TP) 6.8%

FLORIDA:  Charlie Crist (D) 48.8%, Rick Scott (R) 43.6%, Adrian Wyllie (L) 7.6% (Dem pickup)

GEORGIA: Nathan Deal (R) 48.6%, Jason Carter (D) 47.6%, Andrew Hunt (L) 3.8% (Runoff)

HAWAII:  David Ige (D) 54.4%, Duke Aiona (R) 35.0%, Mufi Hannemann (I) 10.6% (Dem hold)

IDAHO: Butch Otter (R) 52.7%, A.J. Balukoff (D) 47.3%
ILLINOIS: Pat Quinn (D) 50.3%, Bruce Rauner (R) 49.7%
IOWA: Terry Branstad (R) 57.0%, Jack Hatch (D) 43.0%

KANSAS:  Paul Davis (D) 54.5%, Sam Brownback (R) 45.6% (Dem pickup)

MAINE:  Mike Michaud (D) 45.8%, Paul LePage (R) 42.8%, Eliot Cutler (D) 11.4% (Dem pickup)

MARYLAND:  Anthony Brown (D) 52.9%, Larry Hogan (R) 47.1% (Dem hold)

MASSACHUSETTS:  Charlie Baker (R) 51.1%, Martha Coakley (D) 48.9% (GOP pickup)

MINNESOTA:  Mark Dayton (D) 52.4%, Jeff Johnson (R) 47.6%

NEBRASKA: Pete Ricketts (R) 60.1%, Chuck Hassebrook (D) 39.9% (GOP hold)

NEVADA: Brian Sandoval (R) 58.3%, Robert Goodman (D) 41.7%

NEW HAMPSHIRE:  Maggie Hassan (D) 51.7%, Walt Havenstein (R) 48.3%

NEW MEXICO: Susana Martinez (R) 54.0%, Gary King (D) 46.0%
NEW YORK:  Andrew Cuomo (D) 60.7%, Rob Astorino (R) 39.3%
OHIO:  John Kasich (R) 57.8%, Ed FitzGerald (D) 42.2%
OREGON: John Kitzhaber (D) 52.8%, Dennis Richardson (R) 47.2%

RHODE ISLAND:  Gina Raimondo (D) 44.7%, Allan Fung (R) 41.5%, Robert Healey (H) 13.8% (Dem hold)

PENNSLYLVANIA:  Tom Wolf (D) 57.9%, Tom Corbett (R) 42.1% (Dem pickup)

SOUTH CAROLINA:  Nikki Haley (R) 55.3%, Vincent Sheheen (D) 44.7%

SOUTH DAKOTA: Dennis Daugaard (R) 62.2%, Susan Wismer (D) 37.8%

TENNESSEE:  Bill Haslam (R) 61.0%, Charlie Brown (D) 39% ("Just wait 'till next year!")

TEXAS: Greg Abbott (R) 59.7%, Wendy Davis (D) 40.3% (GOP hold)
VERMONT: Peter Shumlin (D) 54.0%, Scott Milne (R) 46.0%

WISCONSIN:  Mary Burke (D) 51.1%, Scott Walker (R) 48.9% (Dem pickup)

WYOMING:  Matt Mead (R) 60.0%, Pete Gosar (D) 40.0%

To tally it all up, the Republicans will pick up three governor's mansions (Arkansas, Colorado, and Massachusetts) while the Democrats will gain six (Alaska, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).  In terms of overall numbers, the GOP will still hold a slight majority - twenty-six out of fifty - of State governorships, but in terms of impact, the Democrats will have cleaned up.

Of the trio of GOP gains, only Colorado is at all consequential, and that in the sense of trying to turn that State "red" again (which Cory Gardner's Senate win will reinforce).  But the Donks will get back Florida ("Sorry Charlie's" revenge) and Pennsylvania (the 2010 "red tide" going back out again), two heavyweight swing states.  And then the ultimate vengeful triumph: Finally toppling Tea Party superstar Scott Walker, the greatest threat the Republicans had to finally wrest back the White House in 2016 and start rolling back the preceding decade of Obamunism.  With Governor Walker gone, the GOP is relegated to slim presidential pickings - Tea Party pretenders like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, or RINOs like Mick Huckabee, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.  It might well give serious impetus to a third Mitt Romney run.  Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren will be waiting as Barack Obama's heir apparent, and if the Dems decide they need political executive cred, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and retiring Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe (aka Bill Clinton with his fly zipped) will be on hot-standby.

The One might not have to cancel the 2016 election after all.  Though I still think he will.

Reggie Wayne Reaction to Star Spangled Banner: Tears

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Though I am a football fan, my schedule doesn't allow me to watch much television, so I have been missing an awful lot of games.  I enjoy sports, but I have my priorities.

Tonight, while working on materials for the Constitution seminars I will be offering after the New Year, I had ESPN's Monday Night Football on the tube.  As I always do, when the National Anthem began, I rose from my chair, and saluted the flag in my office until the end of the song.

The rendition launching tonight's game was a beautiful version by trumpeter Chris Botti.  As they moved the camera around the players, I so happened to look away from my flag for a moment to see Reggie Wayne, famed receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, dropping tears.  I don't know what Wayne's political convictions are, but anyone who shows emotion during the Star Spangled Banner, is someone who gets my attention.

As an American patriot, there are times when I do the same.  When you listen to the words of the song, and you realize the sacrifices made by so many in history to ensure we are indeed a nation of free people, the song can strum the emotions.

Does the tears reveal that Reggie Wayne is a little more conservative than most faces you see on the television screen?  Perhaps.  It doesn't matter, really, though I am likely to think he might have a conservative bone or two in his body.  But anytime someone shows appreciation, and love, for this country and her flag, as he was, it is definitely a good thing.  Unfortunately, such patriotism is also becoming a rare thing.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Constitution Quest Game Extends "Doug" Discount

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What a great idea for a Christmas present.  Order now to beat the crowds, and combine the game with Doug's books, and you have an ideal combination present for your patriotic friends and family on Christmas.

Constitution Quest not only presents a fun opportunity to learn the Constitution while enjoying the game with family or friends, but it is an attractive game filled with incredible artwork, and quality materials. . . All Made In The U.S.A.!

The makers of Constitution Quest have also been the only advertiser to be a part of the Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs family since the inaugural episode August 6, 2011, three years ago.  Their support of our efforts have been phenomenal, and I couldn't ask for a better supporter, advertiser, and a pair of wonderful friends.

Constitution Quest is my favorite game in my game closet.  A game played is a great time with the family.  The fun can be multiplied when you set it all up with teams in a tournament.  What a great gift of knowledge through a fun and well thought-out game.  Purchasing a Constitution Quest game for your loved ones is a no-brainer when it comes to Christmas.

Imagine the look on your family member's face, or the faces of your friends, when they open their present and see The Constitution Quest game behind the paper!

On top of that, you can get the game at a 20% discount by adding "Doug" in the discount coupon box of your order at the Constitution Quest website.  And while you are buying a game for your family and friends, get one for yourself, too!

But why stop there?

Now, imagine their faces when they see the Constitution Quest game, and sitting on top of the game are "25 Myths of the United States Constitution," and "The Basic Constitution: An Examination of the Principles and Philosophies of the United States Constitution" by Douglas V. Gibbs.

Now, that is the best Christmas present you can give for the patriotic conservatives in your life.

Conservative Gifts of the Constitution for Christmas.  Sounds like divine Providence.

What's Your Constitutional IQ? ®

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Hard Starboard Radio: The Eve Of Destruction

....but whose?  Predicting tomorrow's midterm election results with NRO's Henry Olson ("Hank, level the bloody plane!!") and JASmius, and a discussion of whether the GOP even has a future, and if you all want to be tiresomely optimistic, an attempt to envision it.

Prematurely celebrating a most pyrrhic victory at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific.

Democrat Campaign Mailer References Ku Klux Klan, Lynchings, Jim Crow

by JASmius



Don't attribute this to "desperation," my friends; it is simply who and what Democrats are.  Sharks swim, eat, poop, and make little sharks; Democrats wage anti-white racism.  They'd be doing it if they were ten points up in the polls or ten points down.  It's simply what they do:

Campaign materials aimed at getting out the black vote are featuring references to lynchings, Jim Crow-era signs, racial unrest — and, as of last weekend, the Ku Klux Klan.

Conservatives view the tactic with disgust. They argue that such race-baiting is condescending and assumes black voters are concerned solely with racism and not, for example, economic and foreign policy concerns.

“Democratic race-baiting is the ugly face of political desperation in 2014,” said a Sunday headline on the conservative website RedState.

On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland Democrat, “Senator, aren’t Democrats playing the race card and playing it from the bottom of the deck?”

Well sure, Chris.  But don't land on Senator Cardin with both feet (even though his campaign smeared a black Republican - former Lieutenant-Governor Michael Steele - as "Simple Sambo" to get him that Senate seat); as Darla Dawald reminds us, he, like all contemporary Dems, was instructed under LBJ's antebellum learning tree:

“I’ll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next two hundred years.” — Lyndon B. Johnson to two governors on Air Force One

“These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.” — LBJ

And yet it was Senator Barry Goldwater's scrupulously constitutional but politically disastrous vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that got all Republicans branded as "racists" for the ensuing half century.  And now we have the most "uppity Negro" of all time ruling the country with an iron fist and flogging us with that same propaganda whip.  We do live in "interesting" times, don't we?

The flier does not mention candidates. On its website, the group says that it was envisioned to “hold no ties to any particular political party and would be open to persons of all races with a vision for a ‘New South.’”

In Arkansas, a racially charged mailer shows photos from this year’s rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, and says, “Republicans are targeting our kids, silencing our voices and even trying to impeach our president.”

The Ferguson unrest was touched off by the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a police officer.

In Georgia, a mailer from the state Democratic Party shows photos of children from Ferguson holding signs that say, “Don’t Shoot,” and warns, “If you want to prevent another Ferguson … Vote.”

Most of the racially charged fliers, mailers and ads have cropped up in the past few weeks as Democrats’ hold on several tight Senate races appears to be slipping. The party is expected to lose a number of Senate seats, which could shift control to Republicans.

I neglected to mention one other reason why Democrats always "play the race card" - because it always works.  Or at least it always used to when it was used sparingly and strategically as the propaganda weapon of mass destruction that it was.  It's been beaten so completely to death after the past six years that it is semantically indistinguishable from a universal hand gesture....



....and more and more Americans are seeing the race card for precisely the extended middle finger it really is.  Even black Americans.

As Captain Kirk once counseled his "charming Negress" (a line from another Star Trek TOS episode - "The Savage Curtain" - for the record) of a communications officer, "Too much of anything, Lieutenant Uhura, even love, isn't necessarily a good thing."

A wise man, Captain Kirk.  Even if he was pasty white.

Morici: GOP Congress Must Defend Economic Freedom Against Obama's Tyranny

by JASmius



Didn't I just get through having this conversation with Larry Kudlow?:

With control of Congress, Republicans could push to lower taxes and repeal the Affordable Care Act, but President Obama has the veto. Instead, a new GOP majority could launch an all-out assault on federal abuses of regulatory powers to defend economic freedom and restore prosperity.

Why, yes I did.

Well, the economic history lesson was appreciated, Pete; not for our benefit, since we already knew all this, but for the constant influx of new listeners/readers/students, for and to whom the truth cannot be repeated too often or too loudly.

Concluding with this peroration:

A GOP Congress might not be able to roll back Obama's executive orders, but it could initiate a broadside of hearings to cast sunshine on these follies, and cut the budgets of the agencies prosecuting this tyranny.

Because there's nothing congressional Republicans do quite as ineffectively as "casting sunshine" on Democrat administrations via "broadsides" of hearings, and approach quite so trepidatiously cutting budgets in the face of Democrat/media demagoguery.

As I counseled Mr. Kudlow, so I will tell you, Mr. Morici: I agree with the sentiment, but strongly urge you to govern your expectations.  Because if you truly expect any of your recommendations to manifest in reality, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Fail 2014?

by JASmius

As badly as the campaign has gone for the Democrats this year, it could have been much, much worse. In this week's Great Eight, Ben tells us just how much worse.

Kudlow: GOP Win Will Launch Return To JFK-Reagan Economic Model

by JASmius



Not really, Larry.  More like it will launch all the House-passed supply-side-, growth-oriented legislation through the Senate (whatever the Democrats can't manage to filibuster, anyway) and all the way to Barack Obama's desk, where they'll all die instead.  A fact that The One will turn around on us and use to lay the groundwork for a winning Elizabeth Warren 2016 presidential candidacy, assuming that O decides to bow out after only two disastrous terms.  Especially if Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker goes down tomorrow, as that will leave no viable conservative candidates left on the GOP's presidential bench.

But it will, nevertheless, still constitute progress.  Technically.  Of a sort.  Just not anywhere close to where you're evidently expecting:

Election Day will produce a new Republican Congress, or so the latest polls tell us.

If so, the huge losses for the Obama Democrats — both in 2010 and this year — will have come in large measure from the economic failures of a party that has moved radically left over the past twenty years.

What about 2012, Larry?  Barack Obama re-elected, Dems pick up two Senate seats and ten or so House seats.  An endorsement of Obamanomics, ObamaCare, six trillion dollars of debt, his multiple anti-capitalist jihads, among other things.  You can't play up 2010 and 2014 as being driven by the Dems' "economic failures" (which they consider to be economic successes because of which party was further empowered by them) and gloss over the election in-between that endorsed each and every one of them.

Hillary Clinton just argued that corporations and businesses don’t create jobs, and that a higher minimum wage and other government actions do. It showcases just how far the Democrats have moved left since her husband, working with a Republican Congress, launched pro-growth supply-side policies like free trade, welfare reform, lower investment tax rates, limited spending, and a strong dollar.

"Her husband" didn't "work with a Republican Congress," Larry.  Bill Clinton worked with a Democrat Congress in his first biennium to do everything Barack Obama did with his; Mr. Bill simply didn't succeed like Red Barry did, and after his party's 1994 blowout, he forgot about the Marxist-Alinskyist cause and wandered off to diddle interns and let Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole and Trent Lott run the country for the ensuing six years, and glommed all the credit for the "pro-growth supply-side policies like free trade, welfare reform, lower investment tax rates, limited spending, and a strong dollar" that they, and not Sick Willie, "launched".

The Democrats, in other words, haven't "moved left" since 1992; they were always on the extreme left.  The only thing that's changed about them is that the Clintonoids kept that radicalism cloaked, while the Obamunists have gone out of their way to flaunt it.  The fact that The One did so and still got re-elected indicates just how far the American electorate has moved left over the past couple of decades.

Unfortunately, the free-market model has largely been discarded in recent years — not only in the U.S., but around the world — as Keynesian spending, over-regulating, tax-the-rich redistribution, and berserk money have come into vogue.

It’s all wrong. The poor results show it.

Even though "We, The People" keep voting for it.

A Republican victory on Tuesday won’t change this.

Don't say that within Tea Party earshot, Larry, or none of them will show up tomorrow.

But the GOP can make an early start on free-market energy reforms....

Veto.

....lower corporate tax rates....

Veto.

....holding back the regulatory tide....

Veto.

....and knocking down some Obamacare tax hikes.

Veto.

Republicans can also continue the war on overspending.

And the GOP Senate and House will cave and give King Hussein whatever spending he wants and more.  I think you underestimate just how liberating losing the Senate will be for Barack Hussein Obama, Larry.  You've got to stop thinking of this man as a conventional American president.  America isn't the only thing he's "fundamentally transformed".  He is no "lame duck," not by a long shot, and almost the entirety of the Right is going to be shocked and outraged (yet again) at how much they've mis-pegged and underestimated him.

This is, of course, not to say that a GOP Congress shouldn't make the ol' college try:

If nothing else, a new Republican Congress must message clearly that the U.S. will stop the recent leftward economic lurch. It’s not hard to pinpoint what’s gone wrong, propose positive solutions, and argue that the economic ship can be righted fast.

Indeed.  I completely agree.  Just remember that "messaging" isn't the GOP's strongest suit.  That this economic ship, rusting on the bottom of the economic "ocean," like the Titanic, cannot be righted "fast," particularly with Barack Obama and substantial Donk minorities fighting a scorched earth rear-guard action.  Or, more likely, Barack Obama ruling entirely by decree and revealing Congress to be the powerless, ceremonial rump body to which he's reduced it.  And, finally, that the Dems are far more likely to turn that pro-capitalist messaging against us in 2016 and sweep Elizabeth Warren in as The One's designated successor (assuming he voluntarily departs).

But at least we can go down with the truth.  A cold comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

Inland Empire California Voter Guide

By Douglas V. Gibbs

We vote tomorrow.  Have you done your homework?  How much do you know about the candidates?  How much research have you done on the judicial candidates?

Not to worry.  Your local Voter Guide is available.

Visit: Constitution Association Voter Guide: 2014 California Election

Joshua Earnest, The Obamunist Joseph Goebbels

by JASmius

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Republicans are blocking the president's "non-partisan" agenda to "help the middle class".

Stick a comma after "agenda" and that would actually be a semi-accurate statement.

 He said Obama's agenda in the past six years has included issues like equal pay for women in the workplace [which they already receive, or better, a fact that would be more obvious if some women didn't keep leaving the workplace to get married and have children <hint, hint>], reducing the cost of higher education [which might be possible if government would stop exorbitantly subsidizing it], and investing in [spending on] infrastructure [i.e. all those "shovel-ready projects" that not only weren't shovel-ready but which O's greenstremist allies would never, EVER permit in the first place].

Remarkable, isn't it?  Here I sit, my career in ruins through no fault of my own save the hustle, loyalty, respect, and hard work I apparently foolishly "invested" in it, and this smarmy yIntagh gets paid 2.52 times as much as I ever did for my abused, underappreciated efforts to be a soulless bearer of serial false witness for a worthless sack of tyrannical pus.

Robert Gibbs was a haggard buffoon, Jay Carney Doogie Howser's evil twin, but Josh Earnest looks like a character straight out of Mad Men, only with far less character and personal integrity.  Which makes it odd that I feel the same urge to stand on each and every one of their freshly-scrubbed faces, if only to keep their mouths shut at the same time.

NFL Week 9 Predictions

by JASmius



LAST WEEK STRAIGHT UP: 9-6
LAST WEEK vs. SPREAD: 8-7

SEASON STRAIGHT UP: 77-43-1
SEASON vs. SPREAD: 57-64

All you have to do to stop the Dallas Cowboys is deliver a stiff knee drop to the small of Tony Romo's back?  Wow, why couldn't Pete Carroll have thought of that?  The last few weeks might have unfolded very differently.

Of course, if you can't even get within half the field of Tony Romo in the first place, you'd need awfully knobby knees to carry out this strategy.

But, credit where credit is due: against Carolina, the Champs' special teams tightened up their coverage to its former suffocating level (at least for a week, anyway), and the Legion of Boom (a reference to the entire 'hawks defense, not just the decidedly mortal secondary) finally rediscovered a pass rush once Bruce Irvin was moved from outside linebacker back to defensive end, providing both fresh blood, taking the pressure off of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, and allowing the latter to rush more from the inside, shoving the line right back into Cam Newton's face.  They bagged the first three sack day since the opener against the Packers, which is fortunate, because my Jumbo Jack deficiency was growing critical.

No, last week it was the offense's turn to drop the ball - literally, with two fumbles (one of them lost in the Panthers' red zone at the end of the third quarter, leading to a Panthers field goal drive that only Russell Wilson's late-game heroics prevented from being the game-winner), a pick that, as usual, wasn't RW3's fault, as what would have been a touchdown pass bobbled right through the ordinarily sure hands of Marshawn Lynch (who once again struggled to a very pedestrian 62 yards rushing), and an uncharacteristically bad pass to a wide-open receiver that would have gone for another score.  That's at least seventeen points that Seattle left off the scoreboard that would and should have made this game a three-touchdown laugher.

Yes, an ugly win is still a win.  But ugly wins foreshadow the sort of ugly losses that preceded this one-week reprieve, and which will resume after the next two home games' breather (Oakland and the New York Giants) if these systematic breakdowns aren't somehow arrested.

A 6-10 record, in other words, is a very realistic outcome for the erstwhile Lombardi trophy-holders.  I don't know that I would predict it now, but I can see predicting it later very easily.

[Straight up picks indicated by asterisk (*); picks against the spread in parentheses (x).]

Baltimore* (+1)
Pittsburgh

Denver*
New England (+3.5)

Jacksonville
Cincinnati* (-11.5)

N.Y. Jets
Kansas City* (-9.5)

Oakland
Seattle* (-15)

Philadelphia* (-2)
Houston

Arizona (+3.5)
Dallas*

St. Louis
San Francisco* (-9.5)

San Diego
Miami* (-1.5)

Tampa
Cleveland* (-6.5)

Washington
Minnesota* (-1.5)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indianapolis* (-3)
N.Y. Giants

Murrieta Power Players Guide 2014 Election Madness

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The City of Murrieta, the same city that saw its citizens rally together against the federal government to turn away buses full of diseased illegal aliens last July, has been the center of nasty politics during this election campaign, and for many years passed.  Murrieta is an oligarchy, ruled over by the iron fist of the City Manager, Rick Dudley, with a cadre of allies on the city council that is the epitome of a "Good Ol' Boys" network.  The campaigns have been vicious, with a WRCOG plant (Ruthanne Taylor-Berger) in the mix, a former mayor remaining in the race after being charged with a felony DUI injury accident (Alan Long), a longtime retired Air Force veteran that believes he is above the law (Rick Gibbs), a lawyer whose lack of common sense usually left people scratching their heads. . . that quit while the quittin' was good (Kelly Bennett), a candidate stalked by a crazy man who was issuing death threats (Jonathan Ingram) who has the business background to get Murrieta turned around, and a candidate so dedicated to making her city a better place that she has knocked on thousands of doors even after receiving a dog bite and stitches (Diana Serafin). . . and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

I sat in City Manager Rick Dudley's office back in 2010, discussing my candidacy in that campaign with the man, as well as whether or not Dudley is a Jeffersonian.  He claimed to be a champion of laissez faire, but the reality is Dudley is the exact opposite.  During that meeting, I learned that Murrieta's city manager is a control freak who believes it is government's business, especially a government that he is navigating, to be involved in your lives any way he wants it to be.  If he sees stack 'em and pack 'em housing as necessary, he'll do it, with or without the consent of the governed.  He has shown his irreverence towards property rights with the Calvary Chapel Murrieta case, and land grab in Los Alamos Hills.  Outside money is flowing into Murrieta's coffers, and his salary, and that is more important to him than whether or not a resident in the eastern edge of Murrieta can develop any part of their own land, or be able to sell it, while being saddled with environmentalist demands and value-killing conservation efforts rooted in the United Nations' concept of sustainable development.

Murrieta sits in the southwest corner of Riverside County, a conservative enclave in the State of California where the politicians are so liberal, the communists are even jealous because the California Democrats have made more ground in pushing the Marxist agenda than the Communists have been able to.  The City of Murrieta has always prided itself in being a bedroom community, a city with a fairly large population, yet a city holding on to its small-town attitude.  Some would say that Murrieta is an ideal place to raise a family.  Americana.  A city with a smallish downtown and a plentiful tidal wave of residences scattered all about.  Under the surface, however, where the politics reside, the true face of Murrieta gets pretty ugly.

The leadership of Murrieta has refused to allow the city to grow economically, with an ever-present hostility toward new business.  The Murrieta politicians have a history of rejecting common sense business plans, like when they lost a mall that wound up in neighboring Temecula, or how they have been extorting the owner of a prime piece of real estate that resulted in holding up the development of The Triangle (according to Andy Domenigoni), and how they have been refusing to make downtown attractive to visitors and the community, and how the power players in Murrieta have been refusing to build an attractive infrastructure to assist existing businesses, and attract new ones.

As the city continues its hostile strategies against businesses, the leadership of Murrieta has turned against the private homeowners, as well.  In cahoots with the Riverside Conservation Authority, and the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG), a number of properties have been blue lined for conservation reasons.  In the name of environmentalism, residents have had their property rights compromised, and the only way to change what has been going on is to change the leadership. . . hence, the reason this election is pivotal in determining the future of Murrieta.

If ever there was a prime example of elitists believing they know better than the citizenry, Murrieta's political leadership is it.  Yet, they want more.  Even with their well-documented history of a pattern of meddling and personal involvement by council members in many of the land use decisions in Murrieta, they want to stack on more shame regarding their position on property rights.

Ruthanne Taylor-Berger, who is a $190,000 a year bureaucrat on WRCOG, a central-planning agency that will have tremendous sway over the future of Murrieta, who also sits on the Murrieta planning commission appointed by the incumbents, is in the race to join the city council.  She is loved by the good ol' boys in Murrieta.  Dudley's lackey?  Perhaps.  An opportunity to complete the control big government outsiders have over Murrieta?  Absolutely.

The favoritism for the incumbents, and Ruthanne, has materialized in a number of ways during this election campaign, including code enforcement's heavy-handed tactics of pulling every campaign sign in Murrieta, even pulling signs from private property, so that Long, Gibbs, and Taylor-Berger could take advantage of all of the best sign locations that had previously been occupied by other candidate's signs.  Then, when the "other" candidates went to get their signs and banners, often a number of them would be missing, or in the case of Diana Serafin, one of her large banners was separated from the group of election signs, sitting on a desk in another part of the building.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise, setting aside any possible semblance of ethics, removed some of the most important facts regarding the sign fiasco from their reporting.  It turns out the Press Enterprise sanitizing the news about the Murrieta election fisticuffs is of no surprise, because the veteran reporters with the Riverside Press are long-time friends, and allies, with the "holier-than-thou" incumbents, and their allies.

Who is writing about Ruthanne Taylor-Berger's lifelong marriage to big government?  Has there been a single reporting agency willing to vet her, or her public statements?  This writer at Political Pistachio was hammered for jumping in on the story regarding former mayor Alan Long's felony DUI.  Where was everyone else?  Why is it a no-no to call it like it is as Long made his bed while in a drunken stupor?

The family of power players in Murrieta have a stranglehold on local politics, and nobody is willing to call the incestuous elitism for what it is.  The alliance of Alan Long, Rick Gibbs, and Ruthanne Taylor-Berger is dangerous for Murrieta, and sums up the insanity this city has been facing.  Even as the wheels begin falling off the cart, be it Mr. Long's DUI injury accident, Mr. Gibbs' ethics violations, or Taylor-Berger's "sustainable development" meddling in property rights, the elitists act as if nothing is going on.  Nothing to see here, move along.  Other than Political Pistachio, who has been pointing out that the lab results on Long's drunk-driving came back with a felony DUI charge attached?  What about the property damage or bodily injury he caused?  All four of the teenagers ended up in the hospital, but all the Murrieta regime was worried about was diluting the message to protect Alan Long's disappointing error in judgment.  In fact, the Murrieta power team has not only been hiding the facts as they surface, but they've literally been defending Mr. Long's DUI.

This is nothing new.  In the 2010 election war, during a debate at The Colony, when yours truly began quoting League of Cities data that included City Manager Rick Dudley's exorbitant salary, Rick Gibbs went into hysterics, ranting until the blood veins were popping out of his neck and his face was beet-red, accusing Douglas V. Gibbs of being dangerous, and Bob Kowell (who backed me) of causing this problem with the emergence of my campaign because Mr. Kowell was somehow "angry none of his candidates can every win an election, and because he has never made more than $60,000 a year."

Rick Gibbs revealed who he was then, and he is revealing who he is, now.  Rick believes he is above the law, he is somehow smarter than the average voter, and that he can do whatever he wants and if you dare come against him, you will meet his wrath.  Last July, as he saw things shaping up after the advent of the Murrieta Immigration Protests, Rick Gibbs posted on his Facebook page that he was expecting this city council race to become one of the nastiest ever.

Was it because he had an idea Andy Domenigoni would stand in front of the city council during a meeting and accuse Rick Gibbs and Alan Long of extortion?  Rick Gibbs has already shown us that he is willing to step beyond legal restraints to get what he wants, including his disregard for the FPCC rules by campaigning for Measure BB while sitting in his lofty city council chair.  Rick Gibbs has even shown that protecting the power structure is more important than the teenagers that Alan Long injured while under the influence of alcohol by surreptitiously ignoring the facts, the injured teens, and the fact that Long's stupid decision to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while drunk would be the starting point from which all of Dudley's and Rick Gibbs' empirical deeds would begin to unravel.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction.  The interplay among the powerful in the Murrieta soap opera makes any tale horror writers can write seem less horrifying.  The powerful Murrieta players have gained control of the sleepy little town in Southwest Riverside County, and have turned it into a nightmare.  They run around under the thin veneer of caring representatives, but the reality is as incredible as the counterfeit faces they wear for the people of Murrieta to see.

Which brings us all the way back to Alan Long.  Why did he resign his position on the Murrieta City Council, yet not drop out of the race?  What if he somehow pulled off a win in the election?

The Murrieta power regime has a plan.  Should Alan Long pull off a win, he will simply resign, leaving open the opportunity for the good ol' boys to appoint who they want in Long's empty chair, with or without the blessing of the voters. . . because they believe the citizens don't have a clue, and the power brokers in control of Murrieta know best.

The Murrieta elite are simply moving things around to protect their power, inwardly believing their power can never be taken from them.  Your voice does not matter to them.  They want to keep you from voting for someone like Jonathan Ingram, or Diana Serafin.  They want to keep you in the dark.

Alan Long committed a felony DUI injury accident, of which he could be facing up to nine years in prison for.  But that means nothing to these powerful players.  Retaining their power, position, and keeping Dudley's agenda in place, takes priority over the facts, and takes priority over decency.

And people thought congressional election battles get nasty.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Murrieta City Council Member Lashes Out At Private Citizen

Murrieta City Councilman Accused of Ethics Violations, and Extortion

Rick Gibbs: Alan Long "Innocent Until Proven Guilty"

City Council Campaign Includes Stalkers, Death Threats, and The Great Murrieta Sign Caper

Lab Results Are In: Former Murrieta Mayor Alan Long Charged with Felony DUI

Alan Long DUI Accident from Accident Victim's Perspective

Murrieta Mayor Alan Long Arrested for D.U.I., Injured Four Minors

Murrieta Mayor Resigns, but. . .

Losing the Right to Farm, Losing Property Rights

Murrieta Group won't stop in Quest for Property Rights

Murrieta: Calvary Chapel Sues Over Land Dispute

Forum: Land grabs place habitat over rights of humans

Murrieta: Calvary Chapel must get project denied in order to sell land

Murrieta: Landowners frustrated with conservation board, city leaders who refuse to meet

Marriage & Economics

by JASmius



Is it just coincidental that the moribund U.S. economy died in 2008 and has been stiffening ever since at the same time that biblical marriage has fallen to its lowest nadir yet?

I say nay (via Newsmax Insider):

Marriage rates in the United States have been declining for decades and the share of adults who have never wed is now at a record high.

In 2012, one in five Americans ages twenty-five and older, about forty-two million people, had never been married, according to a Pew Research Center analysis based on the most recent Census Bureau figures.

In 1960, just 9% of Americans in that age range had never been married.

Men are more likely than women to have never been married — 23% of men and 17% of women hadn't wed in 2012, compared to 10% of men and 8% of women in 1960.

"The dramatic rise in the share of never-married adults and the emerging gender gap are related to a variety of factors," Pew observed. "Adults are marrying later in life, and the shares of adults cohabiting and raising children outside of marriage have increased significantly."

Marriage has its....pleasant compensations, shall we say.  It also provides emotional satisfactions - "He/she picked me!  Forever!" - and stability.  For men it channel are base instincts - aggression, ambition, lust - in constructive directions, as our energies and appetites are absorbed in loving our wives, having kids, and providing for our families.  But it's the mutual commitment - making yourself part of something bigger - that lifts us out of our solipsism and selfishness and, by extension, elevates society as a whole.  Or, in other words, the same reason leftists tout totalitarian government.

Take away that common value of commitment to a, and the, marriage bond, and society unravels.  Culture falls apart.  It should be no surprise that ever larger percentages of men have bailed on doing what's right; if a guy can get as much free tail as he can bugger, why bother putting in the patient effort to court a lady and win her over and persuade her to spend the rest of her life with you?  Particularly when five years from now she may decided to turn you in on a different model?

The result?  Plunging marriage rates, the institution itself falling into parody and disrepute, and its desiccated husk being picked up and violated by militant homosexuals who don't believe in it either but are using it as a weapon to eradicate what's left of evangelical Christianity.

But that's not all.  Note as well the concomitant rise of the welfare state over the past half century, which began its dismal march in lockstep with the infamous "sexual revolution".  Half a century later, here we sit, society in fractal, literal [BLEEP] chaos, and the economy as a whole is in the same IC ward right alongside traditional marriage:

The mood in America is decidedly pessimistic when it comes to personal finances, a new survey reveals.

Just 7% of Americans report that they are in "excellent" financial shape, according to the 2014 American Values Survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

In addition to those in excellent shape, 34% report that they are in "good" shape financially, while the majority report that they are in "poor" (20%) or "fair" (37%) condition financially.

The most commonly cited economic hardship Americans face in their daily lives is food insecurity — 36% of survey respondents say they or someone in their household had to reduce meals or cut back on food to save money over the past year.

Only 42% of Americans believe that the American Dream — if you work hard, you'll get ahead — still holds true today, while 48% say it once held true but does not anymore, and 7% say the American Dream never held true.

And nearly half of Americans, 49%, believe their generation is better off financially than their children's generation will be, the PRRI found.

Question: Why are that many Americans in such poor economic condition?  Many reasons, actually, but one prominent one is that few save anymore.  You know, the metaphorical piggy bank, socking dough away for the proverbial "rainy day".  Living "paycheck to paycheck" is a foolish proposition, because what happens when there are no more paychecks?  You're overextended; you're exposed.  You've lived beyond your means, and now the piper is coming to collect, and your "barns" are empty.

The Jewish patriarch Joseph said it well in Genesis 41:25-37:

Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.  The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.  It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;  and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.  So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.  Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.  Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.  Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.  Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard it.  Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

Joseph told Pharaoh to live within his means and save far a faminey day.  To think beyond the present.  To plan ahead.  Pharaoh listened.  And when the famine came, every other country starved, but Egyptians were sustained and able to help their neighbors.

Here's another question: Which is more likely to consider and plan for the future as opposed to only "living in the moment": the married man and woman or their single counterparts?  Rhetorical question, isn't it?  Not that the former are always steeped in prudence and frugality, but they have self-evident reasons and incentives to look beyond the now and the "stupid, hungry self," whereas single people have the diametric opposite incentives.  If you're not committed to anything except self-gratification, why bother "thinking about tomorrow"?  "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we (may) die".  And if we get in a jam, we can always tap Barack Obama's "stash," right?  And when that doesn't work out, well, it's all the fault of those evil rich Republicans, correct?

When you're married, you have "skin in the game"; when you're single, all you're concerned with is "skin".  And biblical marriage is being, for all intents and purposes has already been, discarded.

Two closing quotes to take with you into the long night ahead:

Due to a declining labor force participation among men, there are now only about sixty-five employed unmarried men per hundred unwed women.

Mrs. Hard Starboard and I had to wait a year beyond our originally intended wedding date to finally tie the not twenty-six years ago because....she was still in school and it took me that long to find a job.  Which is a roundabout way of saying that Obamanomics is adding to the disincentives already warring against biblical marriage.

And finally:

Recent Pew Research Center survey data show that Americans are divided over the role of marriage. Half of survey respondents believe society is just as well off if people have priorities other than marriage and children, while 46% say society is better off if people make marriage and children a priority.

But 67% of younger Americans, ages eighteen to twenty-nine, agree with the former assertion, while 55% of those ages fifty and older agree with the latter.

So if "no-fault divorce" and sham "open" marriages and militant homosexuality and all the other corrosive tactics of the Left don't succeed in finally murdering biblical marriage, generational neglect ultimately will.

And they'll take the forlorn, fragmented ashes of the U.S. economy right along with it.

Target: American Churches

By Douglas V. Gibbs

A large segment of the liberal left progressive democrats hates Christianity.  The gay agenda hates Christianity.  Islam hates Christianity.  Christianity is a target, because the followers of Christ dare to believe that Jesus Christ is God with us, come to Earth for our salvation from the sins we naturally gravitate towards because of our flawed human nature.  And because we believe as Christians that humanity is flawed and cannot save itself, and that when it comes to morality there are absolutes, the liberal left progressives hate us.

Morality establishes the existence of rights and wrongs, and since the desires and lusts of humanity normally fall within the range of sin, and leftists desire to justify humanity's sinful nature, and remove consequences for immoral activities and actions, they must eliminate any semblance of the idea that there is a right and wrong.  Recognizing good and evil, right and wrong, has become immoral in the eyes of the secularist progressives.  Christians believing that certain behaviors are immoral, or that certain activities are sinful, puts targets on Christians as being haters, bigots, and uncaring in the language of The Left.

The liberal left sees Christians as intellectually inferior, and they see themselves as morally superior. Their Golden Rule is do onto the Christians before they do onto you.  They see Christians as wanting to impose their religiosity on them, so they are using the law to force Christians into their mold, into their own religiosity of secularism.  The liberal left wants to use the force of law to silence their opposition, and force Christianity out of existence.

USA Today, After Muslim Shoots Up Canadian Capitol, Warns of Christian Extremism

City threatens to arrest ministers who refuse to perform same sex weddings

California Orders Churches to Fund Abortions, Or Else

Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate Christians

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

North Carolina Joins Illegal Alien Voter Fraud

By Douglas V. Gibbs

James O'Keefe has struck again.  Investigators went into North Carolina posing as illegal aliens.  They approached multiple campaigns, admitting they were not U.S. Citizens but that they still wanted to vote.

They were not turned away once!

A Video is worth a million words. 

Democrats have claimed Republicans are trying to suppress the vote by purging voter rolls of duplicate voters, and voters no longer in the area or dead.  In North Carolina, alone, according to Project Veritas, 10,000 immigrants who were DREAM Act beneficiaries were found on the voter rolls.

The multiple campaign workers caught in O'Keefe's video were too eager to assist non-US Citizens in voting.  One even gleefully told our undercover investigator, "Welcome aboard!"

Yet, Voter ID Laws are called racist.  Voter ID supporters are being told they are trying to suppress the vote.

The real reason Democrats is against Voter ID Laws and purging voter rolls of voters no longer eligible to vote in the area is because these protective actions guard against voter fraud that Democrats so sorely want to use because they know they can't win elections legally.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Constitution Association Monthly Meeting: Republic Review and Technology

Constitution Association meets tonight at Boston Billie's, 26850 Cherry Hills Blvd, Sun City, CA 92586 - Check-in at 5:00 pm, meeting begins at 5:30 pm.

Did you know the Republic Review Convention using a Grassroots effort by the people can be organized, administered, and launched using today's technology?

» Tonight at Boston Billie's in Menifee G.R. Mobley will present the final solution regarding convening a convention, using today's technological advances.
Constitution Association Monthly Meeting

Republic Review for Auditing the Federal Government

The way to turn this country around is through direct action by We the People. Tonight, G.R. Mobley will give a presentation regarding his three books from the "We the People" series. We have an opportunity to utilize a constitutionally sound strategy to restore the republic, and the Constitution Association can be a huge part in making it happen. Join us for dinner at Boston Billie's off the McCall exit in Menifee tonight for this tremendous presentation.

Check-in is at 5:00 pm, and the meeting will begin at 5:30, concluding at 7:00 pm. Free pocket constitutions will be handed out to all attendees. Doug's books, "25 Myths of the United States Constitution," and "The Basic Constitution" will be available for purchase, as well as Mr. Mobley's first two books, "We the People: Whose Constitution Is It Anyway?" and "We the People: Convening a Convention."

We also have a Hopey-Changey drawing, with tonight's giveaways including Doug's new book, a book by David Barton, and a David Michael Lynch video.

Join us at 5:00 pm. Learn more about the Constitution Association organization at ConstitutionAssociation.com.

Learn More About Douglas V. Gibbs HERE!

Constitution Radio Interviews Former Muslim Walid Shoebat

After opening the show with a statement regarding Ex-Murrieta Mayor Alan Long's felony DUI charge, Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs on KCAA 1050AM and KCAAradio.com welcomes guest Walid Shoebat, former Muslim, to discuss ISIS, the shooting in Canada, and the coming Jihad. . .

» Listen live Saturday at 2:00 pm Pacific - Join the conversation by calling into the show at 888-909-1050

After the Interview. . .

An Ex-CBS Anchor strikes back at the Liberal Media!
Former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson says the media is even more biased than you imagined. Her book, "Stonewalled," is this week's "Book of the Week."

Constitution Quest Discussion of the Week: Implied Powers - and remember, you have today and tomorrow to purchase your copy of Constitution Quest Game at 20% off!  Enter "Doug" in the discount code for the discount.  This offer goes away after this weekend!!!

As for the Constitution Quest Discussion of the Week: After a week of debating an idiot on Twitter regarding Implied Powers, it is time to set the record straight on the air during our weekly discussion about Constitutional Issues.

This week's Big Stories of the Week has been interesting. We begin with. . .

Big Stories of the Week, November 01, 2014

9. Virgin Galactic Crash, Burns, and Kills

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactics-spaceship-anomaly-testing-20141031-story.html#page=1

8. The Newest IRS Scandal

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/irs-seizing-bank-accounts-with-no-court.html

7. Democrats Target Political Speech

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/democrats-target-political-speech.html

6. Hillary Clinton’s Economic Lesson

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/hillary-clinton-on-economics.html

https://screen.yahoo.com/hillary-clinton-didn-t-mean-105509397.html

5. Islam in American School Lessons

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/founding-fathers-called-racists-by.html

http://news.yahoo.com/massachusetts-father-mad-just-because-public-school-teaches-161617637.html

4. Tahmooressi, U.S. Marine in Mexican Jail, is Coming Home

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/mexican-judge-releases-andrew.html

3. Election 2014, The Coming Battle

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/vote-harvest-for-november-election.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/expect-runoffs-recounts-before-senate.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/grading-neel-kashkari-for-california.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/maryland-illinois-voting-machines.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article3386681.html (Jeb Bush Moves into Position)

http://news.yahoo.com/north-dakota-argues-life-measure-intent-143100441--politics.html

2. Ebola’s Political Backlash

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/ebola-killed-democratic-party.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/democrats-panic-over-anti-obama-surge.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/kaci-hickox-nurse-whos-bringing-ebola.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/26/white-house-pressures-sta_n_6050392.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/26/ny-governor-admits-ebola-policy-could-be-unenforceable/

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/obama-eyes-bringing-foreign-ebola.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/10/ten-reasons-ebola-will-kill-us-all.html

1. Stonewalled

http://nypost.com/2014/10/25/former-cbs-reporter-explains-how-the-liberal-media-protects-obama/

U.N. Panel To Release "Conclusive" Climate Change Report

by JASmius

"Conclusive," they say.  Because every previous shrieking session of theirs has just been "preliminary," dontcha know:

The United Nations' expert panel on climate science on Saturday finished a report on global warming that the UN's environment agency said offers "conclusive evidence" that humans are altering the Earth's climate system.

The document, which combines the findings of three earlier reports, was adopted after all-night talks Saturday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and is scheduled to be released to the public on Sunday.

It's "conclusive," alright.  They've even put out an accompanying video.



I guess the UNICPCC does watch the Weather Channel after all.

American Daily Review discusses The Issues That Matter

American Daily Review: Drunken Felony DUI Murrieta Mayor Edition. . .

In addition to Alan Long's woes: The Space Tourism industry has met with a set-back, The IRS has found another way to show us that they believe they are above the law, Democrats are targeting Political Speech on the World Wide Web, Hillary Clinton says the private sector doesn't create jobs (OOOPS!!!), Islam has taken residence in our public school systems, The U.S. Marine in a Mexican Jail is coming home, Election 2014 is proving to be very interesting, Ebola is having an impact on political aspirations, Sheryl Attkinson says the media is more biased than you thought. . .

Tune in at Noon Pacific for JASmius and Douglas V. Gibbs as they deliver the best conservative commentary out there in podcast form - American Daily Review Radio

If You Can't Afford A House, Buy One Anyway!

by JASmius




And the feds will force the bank to give you your loan!  No matter how insanely horrendous a credit risk you are!  And when you default, the feds will force your fellow taxpayers to pick up the tab!  It's the Obamerikastani way!

One might even call it...."fundamentally transformative":

America needs more low-down-payment loans.

Like a hole in the head.

That seems to be the opinion of our government, anyway.

aka Of Barack Hussein Obama and the Democrat Party.

The government agencies that drive most of the housing market....

Feeling warmly and fuzzily reassured yet?

....are pushing for lower down-payment standards on mortgages, easing the 20% requirement that has become standard for much of the market.

The Center for American Progress approves....

Of course they do.  Because the problem with the Panic of 2008 was that there weren't enough bad mortgages floating around out there.

"We shouldn't obsess about down payments," said Julia Gordon, director of housing policy.

Yeah!  We shouldn't obsess about people falling behind on their mortgage payments, either.  Or defaulting altogether.  Because the other problem with the Panic of 2008 is that there weren't enough mortgaged back securities spread throughout the U.S. financial system like ebola viruses.

"Research confirms that low-down-payment loans to lower-wealth borrowers perform very well if the mortgages are well-underwritten, safe and sustainable."

This depends, of course, on what you think "perform very well" means. A low-down-payment loan made to someone with a good credit rating and a low debt-to-income ratio will perform better than a low-down-payment loan made to someone with terrible credit and a lot of debt. But it has a higher default risk than a mortgage made to a similar borrower with an adequate down payment, because when you start out with little equity, you're apt to find yourself in foreclosure if you get into financial trouble.

There is simply no way to make low-down-payment lending stable in any environment other than in a rising house price environment. [The Center of American Progress's] study says it covers the last decade. If you made a low-down-payment loan in 2001, there was enough of a price increase after that you're probably fine. But it only works in that environment and it creates this cycle of a boom as house prices are rising, and then once they stop rising everybody crashes. You get this epidemic of foreclosures. It destabilizes the entire market.

Is there a good public-policy reason to encourage people to make a heavily leveraged bet on continued upward movement in home prices?

Well, it destroyed the Republican Party (for a biennium, anyway), put Barack Obama in the White House (forever), sixty Democrats in the Senate, and 256 Democrats in the House, which paved the way for the fatal lurch to the Left that locked in a permanent economic depression, nationalized several entire industries, most especially health care, decimated the remaining surviving portions of American culture and global power, prestige and respect, and otherwise murdered the Old American Republic.  Seeing as how the Democrats consider all of the above to be the only "good public policy" that matters, I would venture to say to Miss McArdle, "Yes!  There!  Is!"

Predictably, one of the architects of the aforementioned nationalization - or "fascization," if you prefer - of the financial sector - which is, amazingly enough, not producing the predicted selling-point results, is trying to pass the buck, even though he's no longer in Congress:

Back in the day, mortgage lenders were very careful in making loans, since they bore the entire risk of default.

For decades, this principle was eviscerated....

By Democrats in the Carter and Clinton Regimes and their bureaucratic moles, and protected from Capitol Hill by animals like My Boy Lollipop.

....leading to the global financial and economic collapse in 2007 and 2008.

aka The Democrat Financial Logic Bomb that successfully "re-FDR-ized" America, rumpizing the GOP and entrenching Barack Obama in sole power as a de facto imperial monarch.

The securitization process permitted lenders to sell risky loans to unsuspecting investors in the form of derivative securities, thereby preserving an immediate profit for themselves while transferring potential risk and losses to the investing public.

And guess who some of the biggest financial backers of Barack Obama and the Democrat Party have been in and since the 2008 campaign?  Just so.

Dodd-Frank was the formalization of the Democrat Financial Logic Bomb in permanent public policy.  You can tell this because Dodd-Frank promised the diametric opposite result.  Now that it has, "astonishingly," performed completely bass-ackwards of its professed billing and has the financial sector steaming full-speed ahead towards another market calamity, B.F. Worthless is blaming....the Obama Regime?:

Former Representative Barney Frank (D-MA4) the co-author of this legislation and the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, rightfully believed lenders needed to have their own capital at risk to better guarantee the soundness of their loans.

Unfortunately, his legislation did not stipulate what the proper lending parameters would be. The bill relied on regulators to subsequently draw up prudent rules. Four years after this legislation was passed and signed into law, rules governing this practice were recently approved. [emphasis added]

"Oh, those cwazy Obamunists! If only they had wegiswated pwudent wules like Senator Dodd and I spent yeaws opposing and smeawing Wepubwicans as wacists fow insisting upon, we wouldn't be in this mess!"  (Okay, Frank doesn't sound much like Elmer Fudd, but it still seems to fit, for some highly amusing reason.)

If "Mr. Ready" really believed the codswallop he's trying to sell now, and taken his lawmaking duties remotely seriously than, he wouldn't have left the determination of what constitutes "proper lending parameters" to the Regime that owes its existence to their prior "evisceration".  But then, if he, and all his colleagues, had ever taken their Article I constitutional responsibilities seriously, they never would have even proposed Dodd-Frank, nor illegally intervened in and corruptly manipulated financial markets, in the first place.

Exit fun fact: When my wife and I obtained our (FHA) mortgage twenty years ago, our down payment was....3%.  We're still current on that same mortgage, and should be able to pay it off on-schedule, even if I never work again.

I do so enjoy being the exception that proves the rule.

Atheist Cop Enraged When Told "God Bless You"

by JASmius

Cop loses it when I say "God Bless You". Atheist or asshole? - Miami Beach police officer pulled me aside after I had already gotten off my motorcycle for my license plate being folded up and flipped.

Wouldn't a cop, of all people, be aware of the possibility, and ubiquity, of surveillance devices?  It never occurred to him that he might be on what they used to call "Candid Camera"?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this story wasn't over yet.  Not by a long shot.

Kaci Hickox Ebola Quarantine Terminated By Extremist Judge

by JASmius



It's official, my fellow Obamerikastanis: There is now a constitutional right to spread ebola:

A Maine judge gave nurse Kaci Hickox the OK to go wherever she pleases, handing state officials a defeat Friday in the nation's biggest court case yet over how to balance personal liberty, public safety and fear of Ebola.

Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere ruled that Hickox must continue daily monitoring of her health but said there is no need to isolate her or restrict her movements because she has no symptoms and is therefore not contagious.

The judge also decried the "misconceptions, misinformation, bad science and bad information" circulating about the lethal disease in the U.S.

aka The facts.  Like how Dr. Craig Spencer wasn't displaying any symptoms, "promised" to home quarantine himself, which also included patronizing several restaurants, going bowling, and riding the subway, and then.....came down with ebola.  God only knows how many people he exposed and infected.  Or Amber Vinson, the Dallas nurse who was exposed to ebola while treating Thomas Eric Duncan (aka "Ebola Tom" and "Patient Zero"), wasn't exhibiting symptoms, was okayed by the CDC to fly to Cleveland and back, and then....came down with ebola.  God only knows how many people she exposed and infected.  Or the late Mr. Duncan himself, who lied on his travel health form about his exposure to ebola, flew right into Washington, D.C., transferred planes and flew to Dallas, all without exhibiting any symptoms, was even examined at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and sent home, where he....came down with ebola.  God only knows how many people he exposed and infected.  Besides Nurses Pham and Vinson, of course.  That we know about.

And now Kaci Hickox will join that burgeoning club, not displaying any ebola symptoms until she....comes down with ebola.  And God only knows how many people she will have exposed and infected, or how many she has already.

Rest assured, I hope and pray that Miss Hickox doesn't come down with ebola. I don't want anybody to contract hemorrhagic fever, least of all to bolster a debate point. But what if she does? And that is the question that is being deliberately, criminally negligently ignored. It's a question that it is Barack Obama's job to ask, and to err on the side of caution. It's the very reason why Ellis Island is so prominent in American history. The inbound wave of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were fed through Ellis Island because those that were found to be carrying, or suffering from, infectious diseases could then be quarantined before being released into the general U.S. population.  It wasn't an exercise in "prejudice" or "discrimination" or "bigotry"; it was no-brainer, common sense protection of the American people.

A century ago, common sense....was.  Today, we've lost our ever-lovin' minds.

Maine health officials had gone to court on Thursday in an attempt to bar her from crowded public places and require her to stay at least 3 feet from others until the 21-day incubation period for Ebola was up on November 10th. She would have been free to jog or go bike riding.

But the judge turned the state down.

Governor Paul LePage [I bet you couldn't tell he's a Republican, couldja?] said he disagreed with the ruling but will abide by it. Officials said there are no plans to appeal.

"As governor, I have done everything I can to protect the health and safety of Mainers. The judge has eased restrictions with this ruling, and I believe it is unfortunate," LePage said.

Indeed. Especially for all the Americans that die horribly of an entirely preventable contagion, none of whom will need to have perished but for the malevolent zealotry of Barack Obama and his zombie followers.

To appropriately modify the farewell address of President James Buchanan, "The present administration had no alternative but to prevent the epidemic, and deliberately chose not to.  Americans will die, perhaps almost to a man; we can only hope and pray that the country will be sustained despite all the president's deliberately induced hazards."

Lab Results Are In: Former Murrieta Mayor Alan Long Charged with Felony DUI

By Douglas V. Gibbs

How stupid do you have to be to get behind the wheel of a vehicle with your belly full of alcohol. . . especially if you are a first responder sitting on top of the world as mayor of a California city, happily married, with things going so well in your life?

My, my, my, how quickly life can come crashing down with one, stupid little error in judgement.  One betrayal of the public trust, despite knowing better as a fire fighter, and Alan Long's life could become something he never thought was possible.

The toxicology results have come in, and it turns out that those who were defending former Murrieta Mayor Alan Long, saying his blood-alcohol level was below the legal limit, were in error.  Their opinion was based on the preliminary results from a breathalyzer at the site of the accident, during which Long's blood-alcohol was registered at 0.07 and after which he failed the field sobriety test.  The tests regarding his blood-alcohol level the night Long slammed into the rear of a car full of teenage cheerleaders say he was actually at 0.08, which means according to the law, Long was presumed to be impaired.  As a result, on Halloween 2014, Long was formerly charged with a felony DUI (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol), and faces four allegations of causing bodily injury that could add to his sentence if he were to be convicted as the charges specify.  The potential penalty could be as long as nine years in prison.  His arraignment is scheduled for December 11, over a month after the election that he refused to withdraw from after he resigned as mayor of Murrieta.

On October 20, Long declared his innocence, quipping that his eventual exoneration was reason enough for him to seek reelection, and the only reason he resigned was because the criminal investigation may serve as a distraction to his duties as a city councilman.  Now, with the blood-alcohol test results emerging as evidence of Long's illegal inebriation in regards to being behind the wheel of a moving vehicle on the night he injured four teenage girls in a vehicular accident, his sixteen year career as an Anaheim Fire Department battalion chief, and any political career he thought he might be embarking upon, was been placed in serious jeopardy by his foolish decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle with alcohol in his system.

As a first responder, he should have known better.

As I told Los Angeles NBC 4 News in an interview conducted in the parking lot of Miguel's Jr. yesterday near Los Alamos and Whitewood, "I am not angry.  I am disappointed.  Long became the face of Murrieta in July during the Immigration Protests, and his actions have not only sullied his own life, but has given Murrieta a black eye as a city."  Long's foolish drunken adventure, as with any of our own decisions do in any situation, carries consequences, and Long's actions have influenced more than his own, miserable little life.

The vehicular accident in question that Long caused while drunk behind the wheel of his full-size pickup truck occurred on October 16.  Three of the girls in the vehicle he struck suffered from minor injuries.  The fourth child is recovering from a fracture to her neck.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Murrieta: Ex-mayor charged with felony DUI - Press Enterprise

Charlie Crist's Strip Club Supporter Tied To Rampant Drug Dealing, Prostitution

by JASmius



Sorry Charlie, indeed:

The Florida Republican Party on Friday pounded Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate challenging Governor Rick Scott in Tuesday's midterm election, over a new report on his alleged ties to the strip club industry.

Crist has come under fire for refusing to return contributions to his political committee from owners of strip clubs, including a $50,000 donation from Joe Rodriguez, who, although his club was closed down 2009 for drug-dealing and prostitution, was allowed to sell it and never lost his business license, Sunshine State News notes.

I do believe that was while Charlie Crist was still Governor of Florida the last time. Hmmm.....

Two other companies that own South Florida strip clubs, J.W. Lee Properties and S.B. Productions, gave Crist $20,000 each.

Sunshine State News also reported Friday three agents from the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco who'd worked on the prostitution and drug investigation all left the agency to work for convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein's now-defunct law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.

Meanwhile, the women at the shuttered strip club Cheetah weren't even making minimum wage, Sunshine State News noted. [emphases added]

No comment is necessary, is there?  Besides which, it would step all over the punchline:

"Doesn't that bother Charlie Crist that when Rodriguez was busted, he was in the governor's office, he saw the reports of how Rodriguez's strippers lived?" Sunshine State News journalist Nancy Smith writes.

"Can the candidate who makes such big, puffy speeches about a $10.10 minimum wage and the 'Republican war on women' really justify taking $90,000 from strip club operators? Especially these?" [emphasis added]

All together, now: Yes!  He!  Can!

You want a bonus punchline?



Crist refuses to return the ninety grand.

No, wait, sorry, here's the punchline: By my latest projection, the winner of the Florida gubernatorial election on Tuesday will be....Sorry Charlie Crist, 54.8% to Governor Rick Scott's 45.2%.

Guess it pays to rape strippers after all.