Gov. Huckabee on SNL

I'm a little late on posting this, but funny none the less.






ER

Rove on O'Reilly

This was pretty good analysis by Karl Rove, and he also reinforces what I've been saying all along about the state of our party:




ER

Romney Bows Out

Mitt Romney suspended (practically withdrawing from the race) his campaign for the Republican nomination today.

In a charismatic delivery to the Conservative Political Action Conference, I was impressed with his selflessness and gracious nature of the speech he gave. Highlighting conservative values before making his announcement, he all but endorsed John McCain by saying more is a stake in this election then a political ideology.

Commenting on the alternative of a Democrat winning the White House, Romney said that, “In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.”

Obviously directed toward Hillary and Obama, Romney continued by saying, “If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country.”

Those comments alone underline the need for unity within our party and sends a message to conservatives: Get behind McCain so we can win in November.

Ultimately, Romney was quite animated in his speech and noble in his actions. Nobility and having the ability to rise above one’s self interests is something you don’t see out of many politicians in Washington, and it’s something that bodes well for him in his political future.

ER

TFA: Lift-off!

Since the space shuttle Atlantis will be launching today (barring technical difficulties and weather), I thought it might be a good time to blog about my live experience of a shuttle launch.

Anyone who knows me understands how much of a dork I am about NASA and the exploration of space. It’s something that’s obviously a risky enterprise, but to me has romantic appeal, analogous to venturing westward in 19^th century America.

Once I found myself in Florida, taking a trip to Cape Canaveral to watch a shuttle launch was at the top of my list. On August 8^th, 2007, I got to mark it off.

A group of us decided to make the trip from Ft. Lauderdale to the coastal town of Titusville, Florida where we would watch the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. The drive was anything but glamorous, but when we got closer to our destination, we started to see a spattering of cars parked on the side of Highway 1. The closer we got, the more these groups grew and the more I became amazed at how many people actually watched a shuttle launch.

By the time we arrived in Titusville, the number of spectators had grown into a mass of humanity that stood on a packed shoreline waiting to catch a glimpse of Endeavour.

Pushing through the crowds, we finally found our own spot to patiently await the launch. With binoculars in hand, I gazed through and began to skim the horizon. It was a fairly hazy day and the binoculars had a hard time focusing in on Merritt Island over the bay, but I knew exactly what I was looking for – Launch Pad 39A.

From my vantage point, I knew the launch pad was to the left, or north of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (a huge, rectangular building that preps and houses the shuttle). After locating the exact position of the pad, I stood patiently, waiting for the final countdown.

With personal radios and car stereos blaring the NASA audio feed, the time had finally arrived. With bated breath and child-like anticipation, I watched and listened as the final seconds arrived: 3, 2, 1 . . . Lift-off!

While taking pictures with my camera and describing the launch to a friend over the phone, I gazed across the bay in amazement. Plumes of smoke shot out from the launch pad and an orange glow from the rockets illuminated and pierced through the haze. A few seconds later, the shuttle was clear of the tower and miasma she had created. While captivated by the view, the sounds and vibrations of the launch hadn’t reached us yet. The silence the shuttle ascended in seemed unnatural, but like rolling thunder from a spring storm, Endeavour eventually let us know that she was there.

The entire experience of being at a live launch lasted no longer then two minutes. To some, the build-up may have over hyped the actual event, but I personally got to witness a childhood dream come true that I will never be able to adequately describe.

Either way, a space shuttle launch is something that everyone should definitely see.

ER

The Future of the Republican Party

The party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan is in trouble.

At least that’s what every hard right-winger would have you believe.

Over the past couple of months, talking heads from Limbaugh to no-name political pundits have said that our party is a house divided and crumbling. It’s a house that no longer reflects the ideals of Reagan and true conservative values.

I have a different take on the other hand.

I feel that it’s a house of progressive change that is starting to show the beliefs of moderate, mainstream America by burying the tradition of preserving the status quo.

The future of our party is moderates like Giuliani and McCain who can embrace the other side of the aisle. It’s a future that will hold on to core Republican ideas such as lower taxes, smaller government and strong defense, but opens it’s mind to true freedoms that government shouldn’t give a damn about like the right for a gay couple to pursue marriage and a woman’s right to choose.

I would even argue that Reagan himself would be happy of the path our party is going today (minus a couple of domestic issues here and there). It was he who showed a strong arm to Iran, the USSR and communism world wide. It was he who signed the largest tax cut in American history in 1981. And after all, it was he who gave millions of illegal immigrants citizenship status by granting amnesty in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

It’s a “compassionate conservative” message that carries though to today with George W. Bush, and it’s why I still support him in his waning days in office.

Rush Limbaugh and others who invoke the name of Reagan and say he would never approve of McCain or Giuliani obviously never paid attention to Reagan’s politics. Limbaugh and others are only citing the name and image of Reagan to pursue a political philosophy over a party platform by trying to mold the GOP into something it’s not.

Do I believe our Grand Old Party has the ability to embrace moderates and conservatives?

If the talking heads have their way and hard, right-wing conservatives run the GOP by playing on your emotions, then no and I would worry about the direction of the party.

But, if our party is to be led by moderate (i.e. open-minded) leadership like the three former presidents mentioned at the beginning of this blog, then with out a doubt, the GOP will remain strong.

ER

RCP: Will the Reagan Era End Today?

Washington Post: Limbaugh on McCain

The Denver Post: Conservatives vs. McCain

The Money Race

Have you ever wondered if a friend really is a Republican or Democrat? How about a celebrity and who they gave their hard earned money to?

You can check that info out (and waste tons of time) at the Federal Election Commission’s website or at FundRace 2008.

Federal Election Commission

FundRace 2008

ER