Bush makes the conservative case

President George W. Bush would be the first to admit that he's not The Great Communicator, a fact that has hurt his presidency and support for his policies at home and abroad. But every now and then, he gets his game on.

At yesterday's press conference, the President was large and in charge. He was relaxed and interjected humor and personal asides to the press. More significantly, he articulated several conservative principles, forcefully and unapologetically:

S-CHIP: "Democratic leaders in Congress want to put more power in the hands of government by expanding federal health care programs. Their S-CHIP plan is an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American.

"I have a different view. I believe the best approach is to put more power in the hands of individuals by empowering people and their doctors to make health care decisions that are right for them. Instead of expanding S-CHIP beyond its original purpose, we should return it to its original focus, and that is helping poor children, those who are most in need. And instead of encouraging people to drop private coverage in favor of government plans, we should work to make basic private health insurance affordable and accessible for all Americans.

"Their [the Democrat] vision is, expand the eligibility so that people making up to $80,000 will be eligible for this program. I believe this is a step toward federalization of health care. I know that their proposal is beyond the scope of the program, and that's why I'm going to veto the bill.

Taxes: "I believe the worst thing that can happen now is to allow the Congress to do that which they have said they want to do, which is to raise the taxes on people, and — because I think taking money out of the hands of investors and consumers and small business owners would weaken the economy.

"And so, as I say, I'm optimistic, but I would be pessimistic if I thought Congress was going to get their way. And they're not. They're not going to raise taxes."

Iran and Israel: "We're also talking to different finance ministers about how we can send a message to the Iranian government that the free world is not going to tolerate the development of know-how in how to build a [nuclear] weapon, or at least gain the ability to make a weapon.

"And the reason why is, is because it's very important for us to take the threats coming out of the mouth of the President of Iran very seriously. He's a person that … constantly talks about the use of force … on Israel, for example, and Israel is our very firm and strong ally."

Race relations and the Republican party: "My advice to whoever will be our [presidential] nominee is to reach out to the African American community, as well as other communities, because I believe that we've got a very strong record when it comes to empowerment, when it comes to education, or home ownership, or small business formation.

The economy: "The deficit, as a percent of GDP, is low. It's lower than the 30-year average. We have submitted a plan to balance the budget. We dealt with a recession, a terrorist attack and corporate scandals. And we did it by cutting taxes. The tax cuts worked. The economy recovered. People are working. Interest rates are low.

"I'm a supply-sider. I believe supply-side economics, when properly instituted, enables us to achieve certain objectives. One, people find work and there's hope in the economy. Two, that supply-side economics yields additional tax revenues. And if we're smart about how we manage the fiscal budget, it leads to balance, and that's what we have done. …We've submitted a plan that will enable this budget to become balanced by 2012, so long as Congress learns to set priorities. And we can balance the budget without raising taxes."

Entitlements: "I'm not going to give up on entitlement reform. They require … members of both parties to recognize we have a problem that ought to be solved now. …I thought it was time to come together a couple years ago, and that wasn't the political will in Congress. And I'm not so sure we're going to find it now, but I'm going to keep trying because, like the [former Federal Reserve] Chairman [Alan Greenspan], I understand that the biggest issue we've got with the deficit are those deficits inherent in these entitlement programs."

America's role in the world: "You'll find isolationists are those who say it's not our business what happens overseas; it doesn't matter if there's a free society in the heart of the Middle East, as far as our long-term security and peace. I just strongly reject that. I think it does matter a lot that the United States is working with other nations to promote liberty and freedom. I believe liberty is a change agent. Liberty can help hostile parts of the world become peaceful parts of the world.

Liberal hate speech:

Q: What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General "Betrayus," and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?

THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org — or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It's one thing to attack me; it's another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.

"We love freedom, how 'bout you?!"

Conservatives don't quite have a knack for protest marches, like the left does.

On Saturday, I joined a group of around twenty conservative bloggers and activists at a counterdemonstration to the Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) anti-war protest march. Most estimates put the WAMM crowd at approximately 1500, which sounds about right to me. The marchers started at the Saint Paul Cathedral, then took a hard right turn (how apropos) onto Kellogg Avenue to the Xcel Energy Center, site of the 2008 Republican National Convention, and then doubled back to the State Capitol.



As in a football game in which the final score doesn't tell the full story, you can't judge the success or failure of this event by the lopsided turnout. I spoke with one WAMM marcher who was disappointed by the turnout on her side.



Both sides looked at Saturday's event at least in part as a practice run for next year's Republican National Convention, at which the left is gearing up to stage a major protest action — which some fear could turn violent. Conservative bloggers are referring to this group of protesters as "anarkids," a combination of "anarchy" and their ostensible twenty-something average age.



But Saturday's event was for the most part peaceful. There were the two female bicyclists who had a pointed conversation with one of our group (see photo), the trio of military veterans against the war who were respectfully but firmly challenged by Navy vet Swiftee, and the tall, slim ranting guy with a shaved head whose verbal attack on Leo nearly drew an intervention from a mounted patrol of Saint Paul's finest. Then were the two women dressed from head to toe in red feathers.



The WAMM pre-march rally featured several speakers and the obilgatory series of rhyming chants ("No War For Oil," etc.). Rainbow gay pride kites and banners flew high, which was an ironic scene at a Catholic cathedral.

We were encouraged before the march began by the many motorists who honked, clapped, and waved at us as they drove by. The left definitely has the organizations, the coalitions, and the individuals who seem to be energized by the street theater of political protest en masse. The right is much more into working the political process by lobbying, campaigning, and writing. This day reminded me of the demonstrations outside the gubernatorial debate at the Fitzgerald Theatre last fall: a bunch of activists shouting at each other. Maybe next time I'll just wander around with my video camera like Eva Young did, in search of some interesting interviews. If I get around to it, I'll upload my video of the march itself for your viewing pleasure.



True North, the new conservative collaborative blog that sponsored the counterdemonstration, has aggregated much more coverage of the event. Don't miss the brief video of Swiftee sweetly taunting the marchers with "Bin Laden thanks you!"

Let us never forget 9/11/01...they haven't

On September 11, 2001, radical Islamic terrorists hijacked and crashed two passenger aircraft into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York City, a third aircraft into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing themselves and all aboard.

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West is now on sale on DVD and via streaming video on the Obsession web site.

Sullivan endorses Romney

On last Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio Network show, "The Final Word" with King Banaian and Michael Brodkorb (broadcast on AM 1280 The Patriot), Brian Sullivan endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

Sullivan, the current Republican National Committeeman from Minnesota, ran against Tim Pawlenty for the Republican endorsement for governor in 2002, which culminated in a legendary, overnight ballot battle royale (ask me to tell you about it someday, it was my first state convention and I was a Sullivan delegate). He has maintained a behind-the-scenes profile since then, with occasional appearances on Almanac as the conservative voice on the political panel. In spite of his unsuccessful endorsement bid, Sullivan is still a favorite son among many Minnesota conservatives.

So Sullivan's endorsement carries some weight in this state, especially on the eve of Fred Thompson's presumed entry into the presidential race this week. Sullivan said that for him, it came down to two candidates, Romney and Thompson.

"I feel both are good conservatives," said Sullivan, "that would support the principles that I believe in, and I think that many conservatives in Minnesota believe in, it came down to who would I hire? Who is it that has actually accomplished something, made a difference, made progress against tough goals, it's Romney."

"In some ways I think that Thompson has become the Republican Party's [Barack] Obama, in the sense that not that much is known about him, he's clearly a very good speaker, he's an appealing personality, but his track record as a Senator, you could argue, isn't very strong...he's going to have to be able to be more than just a good candidate, but actually convince folks that he can lead the charge."

Interestingly, aside from his business experience, Sullivan's critics made much the same arguements in 2002 about Sullivan, who never held elected office.

Brodkorb reported that joining Sullivan in endorsing Romney this week were former Republican National Committeepersons Evie Axdahl, Jack Meeks, and Republican Party of Minnesota Treasurer Tony Sutton.