Spencerblog

Happily Ever After - NOT!

2009-11-07T07:37:00.002-05:00

Richard Lowry on the Dems' Election Day crack-up.

On November 3, the fairy tale died. The election results in Virginia and New Jersey dismantled the self-satisfied, just-so story that Democrats have been telling themselves about last year's election.

Sing with me now:

Fairy Tales can come true,
It can happen to you
If you're dumb at heart...

Mr. Green Genes

2009-11-06T17:39:00.002-05:00

Almost forgot - My print column about Greg Vitali's free-lunch climate-change bill is up.

A Date That Will Live in Infamy

2009-11-06T08:02:00.002-05:00

Tuesday, the myth of the country's Democratic reallignment is demolished.

The Dem's Tippy Canoe and Obama Too

2009-11-06T06:45:00.003-05:00

The Democrats have hit their tipping point.

Kim Strassel reports:

"We don't look at either of these gubernatorial races . . . as something that portends a lot for our legislative efforts," insisted White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday, as New Jersey and Virginia voters gave Democrats a thumping. Unfortunately for the White House, its opinion no longer counts.

On Jan. 20, Barack Obama began a race against time. The White House knew its liberal agenda would prove unpopular in many parts of the country represented by Democrats. So long as the president looked strong, those Blue Dogs and freshmen and swing-state senators would stick. Show them any sign of weakness, however, and rattled Dems would begin to care more about their own re-elections than they did their president.

Tuesday, the White House hit that tipping point.

Read the whole thing.

"I'm Not Deat Yet!"

2009-11-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

I'm hoping to do this, but at 90.

Hope and Change in New Jersey

2009-11-05T17:12:00.003-05:00

If Obamanomics can bring a GOP governor to a state as blue as New Jersey, can Massachussetts be far behind?

A Bridge Too Far

2009-11-05T17:08:00.002-05:00

Has Nancy Pelosi gone insane?

"It reminds me of Major Nicholson, the obsessed British major in the film 'Bridge on the River Kwai,'" one Democrat told me. "She is fixated on finishing her health care bridge even as she's lost sight of where it's going and what damage it could cause to her own troops."

What does she care if a few Democrats lose their seats in the next election. Her seat's safe. Harry Reid's? Not so much.

Rats!

2009-11-05T06:11:00.000-05:00

There is no joy in Mudville.

GOP Has a Good Night

2009-11-04T07:57:00.005-05:00

Republicans win governorships in "purple" Virginia and "blue" New Jersey. Independents who voted for Obama last year are disappointed in his presidency so far. Proposed higher taxes, huge deficits and an explosion of government spending and power, have them peeling away from Democrats in droves.

Obama has three years to right his own ship. But last night's election returns do not bode well for the party as a whole next year.

Suddenly, millions of voters don't think the country's in the very best of hands.

UPDATE: In New Jersey, in particular, where Obama appeared three times to bolster support for Jon Conzine, voters were not swayed.

"Get a mop," was one of Obama's big campaign lines. In New Jersey, the voters did.

UPDATE II: And that's bad for Obama and other big-government progressives.

This Bud's For You, Science Man!

2009-11-04T07:47:00.003-05:00

In a galaxy not so far far away, BEER!

If Basil's the designated driver get me a go-cup for the trip back to earth. Ummm, Beer!

Dems Win in Chester

2009-11-04T06:46:00.005-05:00

John Linder and Portia West proved how Democrats could win in the city of Chester. Put up good and mature candidates, well-known in the community and work hard to get them elected.

Fred Pickett might be an excellent basketball coach but that doesn't mean he's necessarily well-qualified to help manage a city government.

Linder and West are hardly radical insurgents from the Barbara Bohannon Sheppard school of political symbolism. They are thoughtful, responsible people who it appears will work with the Republicans on council and Mayor Wendell Butler to manage the city - to the extent that Chester is a managable city.

Elsewhere, Republicans manage to win county-wide offices by large margins which, given the big increase in Democratic registration over the last couple election cycles, is a tribute to the GOP machine.

Collins Loses But is No Loser

2009-11-04T06:42:00.002-05:00

Pastor Keith Collins lost last night. But he should stick around the county political scene. He's got the personality, work ethic, and talent of a winner. My print column is up.

A Winning Personality: NOT!

2009-11-03T12:40:00.002-05:00

Meet Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), pompous liberal and sanctimonious Republican hater.

Stuart Rothenberg has seen enough to hold him up as the poster boy on how NOT to run for re-election.

Election Day

2009-11-03T09:43:00.004-05:00

Spent the morning riding around with County Council candidate Keith Collins. Good guy. But he has no chance in hell of winning.

Went to Chester and ran into Thaddeus Kirkland, John Linder, Portia West, and even Mayor Wendell Butler working the polls. Beautiful morning but turnout seemed lighter than light. It was downright effervescent. Maybe everyone is sleeping in after last night's World Series game.

If you went to sleep early thinking the Phil's 8-2 to lead was safe in the 8th, I envy you.

More on Collins in tomorrow's print column.

State Rep. Greg Vitali is on his way in to the Daily Times to explain why it's not only environmentally important for the state to pass new mandates on energy providers and businesses to use cleaner energy, but how it makes economic sense and will create jobs.

I can't wait.

Thuggish Liberalism at Work

2009-11-02T22:07:00.003-05:00

A director of a Planned Parenthood office quits after viewing an ultra-sound video of an abortion.

And what does Planned Parenthood do about it? It sues her.

The Wisdom of a Conservative

2009-11-02T07:36:00.004-05:00

Historian Paul Johnson explains why conservatism will never die.

A true conservative today should stress construction, encouragement, moderation and understanding instead of destruction, prohibition, extremism and slogans. A conservative thinks in terms of countless minor corrections and improvements based on experience and experiment rather than in terms of a universal, uniform solution based on theory and enforced by inflexible law.

A conservative, in the best sense, sees the world and its inhabitants as an interdependent organism, comprising innumerable local communities and territories, each adapting to particular conditions. A conservative is someone who goes with the grain of humanity and the nature of the physical world, rather than trying to regiment and fashion a utopia through force of law. And, needless to say, an acceptable conservative is not one who thinks all the answers are obvious but is a modest person who admits that problems are not easily solved, that perfection is unattainable in this world and that it is often necessary to admit mistakes, change one's mind and start again.

Read the whole thing.

Pelosi's Frankensteinian Health Bill

2009-11-02T07:20:00.002-05:00

Read all about it: The "worst bill ever." All 1,990 pages of it.

A Season On The Brink!

2009-11-02T06:33:00.007-05:00

Ouch!

That said, there is no reason to believe this series is over. The Phillies are not in the World Series by mistake. They played their way here and are perfectly capable of beating any team in baseball three straight games, including the New York Yankees.

Tonight, the best pitcher in baseball, Cliff Lee, takes the mound. With their backs against the wall who doubts the World Champions won't rally behind him?

Back in New York, if the Phillies can get an early lead in Game 6, the Yankees might start getting nervous. Win that and anything can happen in Game 7. The Yankees have proven their ability to collapse when the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat them in the 2004 ALCS.

The Phillies can still win this thing.

It's my birthday and I can dream if I want to.

Feliz Navidad!

2009-11-01T23:18:00.001-05:00

Pedro Feliz just tied Game 4 in the bottom of the 8th with a Home Run!

The Nut Store

2009-11-01T18:36:00.005-05:00

ACORN rallies for a supermarket in Chester.

Hmm. If ACORN thinks it so important for the citizens of Chester to have a supermarket, why doesn't build them one? ACORN received tens of millions in federal funds over the last ten years, certainly enough to build a $4 million supermarket.

Recently, America learned ACORN was more interested in giving advice to hookers and pimps on how to import child prostitutes into this country than opening grocery stores for the poor.

It would probably be illegal for ACORN to use taxpayer money to open a for-profit business but why should that stop them? Poor people and their advocates can't be expected to obey the laws everybody else has to live by. It's just not fair.

Fly Eagles Fly

2009-11-01T18:34:00.002-05:00

Eagles hammer Giants. Looks like Andy Reid is on the receiving end of a hip pointer.

Your Name and Address Please!

2009-11-01T18:32:00.002-05:00

George Will on the rise of "Thuggish Liberalism."

Accused Rapist in Custody

2009-10-30T09:37:00.001-04:00

The headline on this story: "Accused Chester Twp. Rapist Detained," should have been "Accused Chester Twp. Rapist Detained, Finally."

With the spate of sex cases that our DAs office has lost in the last several months, here's hoping they have all their ducks in a row on this one.

Young Finkelstein

2009-10-30T09:27:00.002-04:00

At Dolan's Bar they won't to some things for World Series tickets. My print column is up.

Obama's Swing and a Mess

2009-10-28T08:43:00.004-04:00

James Taranto: While the President golfs, Afghanistan burns.

According to The One (a 16 handicapper), the fight against the Taliban was once a "necessary war," now it's somebody else's "mess."