The Spag Report

The Importance Of ClimateGate

The reason why even the Guardian's George Monbiot has expressed total shock and dismay at the picture revealed by the documents is that their authors are not just any old bunch of academics. Their importance cannot be overestimated, What we are looking at here is the small group of scientists who have for years been more influential in driving the worldwide alarm over global warming than any others, not least through the role they play at the heart of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

via www.telegraph.co.uk

Justice Department Ignores Congress On ACORN Funding

The U.S. Department of Justice has decided that despite an explicit ban by Congress, the government can continue to fund ACORN under existing contracts.

The new law “should not be read as directing or authorizing HUD to breach a pre-existing binding contractual obligation to make payments to Acorn or its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations where doing so would give rise to contractual liability,” Mr. Barron wrote.

However, the Congressional ban clearly addressed contractually liability because it applied to funds previously authorized by legislation.  Such funds would be used for any contractual obligations with ACORN.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department decided that non-partisan municipal races in Kinston, North Carolina had to become partisan (isn't Obama supposed to be "post-partisan"?).  The reason:  Unless black voters know who the Democratic candidates are, they might vote for someone who doesn't represent their interests because only Democrats historically represent the interests of blacks.

No kidding, that was the actual rationale. (Post racial America?)

So now Eric Holder & Company have decided that taxpayer funds can be used to pay ACORN despite an explicit and overwhelmingly bipartisan ban by Congress.  I question whether this opinion will get as much attention as the ban, or will ACORN still quietly get paid while American's are led to believe they aren't.

Don't Mess With Texas

Comparing the relative success of Red vs. Blue:

“Texas vs. California”—hardly any phrase more succinctly captures the battle going on today for America’s philosophical soul.

Red is winning because it makes smarter decisions.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Fallout from Adam Lambert's antics on network t.v. isn't limited to Puritans:

Jennifer Vanasco, editor in chief of website 365gay.com, said his (Lambert's) performance hurt the cause of gay marriage in the eyes of mainstream Americans "who think gay life is exactly what (he) portrayed on the American Music Awards."

She Can't Win?

Rasmussen:

Obama and Romney are tied at 44%, Obama leads Huckabee 45% to 41%, and the president leads Palin 46% to 43%.

So Palin trails Obama by only three points, three years out. That should be a wake up call to critics who are selling the narrative that she can't win, and for Democrats who claim to be eager for her to win the GOP nomination so Obama can stomp her.

Turn your attention to a TIME Magazine poll from 2007:

"A race between McCain and Clinton would be a virtual tie (47%-47%), according to the poll, while McCain would beat either Obama or Senator John Edwards by a 7-point margin."

The last time I checked, John McCain wasn't President and Barack Obama was. 

And what about all the talk about Palin's unfavorable ratings? Right now, three years out, her unfavorable rating is 49%. In January of 2008, Barack Obama's unfavorable rating was 45%, and the other female in the 2008 race, Hillary Clinton, had unfavorables of 51%. Clinton actually received more votes in the Democratic primaries than Barack Obama. Still, as late as 2007, 50% of Americans said they would never vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstances. (Note: I was one of them, which is why I cheered on Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries).

Right now, Obama's unfavorable rating is around 40%, while more Americans disapprove of his job performance than approve of it. Obama clearly has his own troubles.

Palin's critics have known all along that she was going to present some problems.  That's why they set out to destroy her from day one with a vicious and classless effort that continues even now.  Expect it to get much worse as Obama continues to struggle and Palin's favorables continue to rise. 

Palin's biggest problem is that a majority still believe she is not qualified to be President.  However, she does well in most other areas.  64% think she is a good role model for women.  56% believe she cares about the needs of average citizens.  55% believe she is honest and trustworthy. 

History shows that she has plenty of time to overcome the disinformation and false image of her that the Left and establishment Rockefeller Republicans have perpetuated.  If she runs she will be a formidable candidate. She might not win, but that doesn't mean she can't win.

Not Necessarily The News

Noemie Emery offers a post mortem on Newsweek's controversial cover story on Sarah Palin:

If the theme was that she was too frivolous to be taken seriously, it seemed to rebound on the messenger. "Newsweek has called attention to its own editorial judgment," Achenbach added. "It's just the ever-evolving Newsweek trying desperately to hang on to relevancy," Jeffrey Goldberg would write. 

...It's a good thing Newsweek stopped covering news, or it would have to notice such things as the Republican sweep in the 2009 midterms, and the swing of independents back to the GOP corner. News, however, is beneath the new Newsweek, which fancies the kind it makes up.

Unprecedented Arrogance

A few other words that combine well with "unprecedented":  Arrogance, deficits, incompetence, naivety, recklessness, drop in approval rating, whining, blaming of others, flip flops, disconnect between words and actions, hype, narcissism, indecision, hypocrisy, use of a teleprompter, liberal media bias, expansion of government...