On who? On Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who's accomplished a lot there and won re-election in 2008 with nearly 60% of the vote--and who's been visible lately and has some ideas:
" Conservatism will become credible again if it's forward-looking, constructive and friendly and connects with the lives of everyday people, Indiana Gov. Mitch
Good advice. Don't be surprised if Daniels becomes a player on the national stage in 2012.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY CORRUPTION WATCH:
More problems for Democratic congressman John Murtha (PA):
"...a budget watchdog group says there are growing ethical questions for Murtha. "He gets contracts to his district. He expects people who want to do business in his district to give him campaign contributions," said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "If you look at what's swirling around him, he's got a lot of reason to be concerned."
Republicans need to hammer away at this stuff.
YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT WORK--DETROIT VERSION:
"Audits conducted at every Detroit Public School show sloppy bookkeeping, employees using school funds for personal loans and missing cash receipts, findings that could lead to criminal indictments in some cases, Emergency Financial Manager Robert C. Bobb said today. All but five of the 194 schools audited skirted district requirements by not providing support for expenditures, not preparing bank reconciliations, not getting appropriate signatures on checks and, in some cases, deliberately misappropriating funds, according to officials."
And heaven forbid that any of the poor families in Detroit should have a chance at a voucher, which might allow them to escape these failing schools and allow their children a shot at a better education.
FAVORITE TEAM UPDATE: it was a tough night last night for the faves. The Detroit Red Wings last night didn't play badly--they outshot Pittsburgh, on the road, for the game and totally dominated the second period. But they couldn't get the puck in the net, while the Pens capitalized on their chances, and won 4-2. But the Wings still lead 2-1 in the series, making game 4 another chance for them to grab a stranglehold on this thing...
BASEBALL DIARY: it was a tough night for the Detroit Tigers, too--they lost last night at home to Boston, 5-1. It was rookie Rick Porcello's first loss as a starter after 5 straight wins. He didn't pitch that badly, but the Red Sox, a very good, experienced club, made him pay for his mistakes. Again the key for the Tigers is that they didn't hit--they had 9 hits, but went only 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. I predict the Tigers will look this month and next for another bat they can add to this lineup, in trade...
It was a tough night for my other teams, too. The Cubs blew a 5-0 lead and lost to Atlanta, 6-5 in 12 innings. The bullpen blew this one, erasing a fine start by rookie Randy Wells. One can point especially to Carlos Marmol, who came in and walked two batters and hit another...
Meanwhile the Texas Rangers continue to have a hard time matching up with the hot Yankees, losing last night, 12-3. Vincente Padilla had a bad start--walking too many guys, being constantly in trouble. Plus the Yankees hit several 3-run homers--that never helps.
ON THE MURDER OF ABORTIONIST DOCTOR GEORGE TILLER:
Some say the pro-life movement as a whole bears responsibility for it. Not so, wisely notes the editors of National Review:
"Without abolitionism there would probably have been no John Brown. Without anti–Vietnam War activism, no Weathermen. (At the very least, disturbed and violent people would have found other outlets for their rage.) The abolitionists and the antiwar movement could not reasonably have been asked to foreswear passionate advocacy of their causes in order to minimize the chance of violence. Pro-lifers cannot reasonably be asked to stop saying that George Tiller spent his days killing young human beings — especially since what they say is true.
What any group of activists can reasonably be asked is to condemn violence and to do the best they can to root out anyone who does not condemn it. This pro-lifers have done and are doing. They can also be asked to do and have done one more thing: to support the just punishment, by legitimate authorities, of murderers."
Bingo. We must do what Abraham Lincoln did in the wake of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859---state that, yes, Brown agreed with anti-slavery politicians such as Lincoln in thinking slavery wrong, still that did not give him the right to foment violence against the state and the break the country's laws. It should be noted that conservative and pro-life leaders immediately denounced Tiller's murder. That can't always be said about liberals and the nuts in their midst.
PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS SOMETHING DUMB DEPT:
He claims that the United States is "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world." Hmmm:
"...of the approximately 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, there are about 200 million Muslims in Indonesia, 196 million in India, 165 million in Pakistan, 132 million in Bangladesh, 75 million in Egypt, 64 million in Iran, 33 million in Morocco, 32 million in Algeria, 31 million in Afghanistan, 26 million in Iraq, 25 million in Ethiopia, 24 million in Saudi Arabia, 20 million in China, and 15 million in Russia, to name just a few countries. In fact, there are 2 to 3 times as many Muslims in Burkina Faso (approx. 7.5 million) as there are in America. So obviously, one can see why the president would say the United States is "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world."
Ooops. Let's see how much play this gets in the news media.
If George W. Bush had said something like this, he'd be savaged for the next week.
