My friend Crystal Humphrey has a column in today’s Daily Beacon that is sure to ruffle some feathers!
John Fund, in today’s Wall Street Journal:
The Miers nomination vividly illustrates how the political battlefield has changed, from the artillery barrages of the Bork battle to the blitzkrieg tactics of today. Back in 1987, when President Reagan nominated Judge Bork, Rush Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated program, the Drudge Report, instantly updated newspaper Internet sites, competing cable-news channels and e-mail message blasts didn’t exist.
Now both political parties can find themselves under siege–and sometimes even held hostage–to outside forces that bear little resemblance to traditional special interest groups. Peter Beinart, editor of the liberal New Republic, lamented last week in a speech at Harvard that MoveOn.org and other manifestations of “the new liberal political culture emerging on the Internet” resemble the forces that backed George McGovern in 1972. They captured the Democratic Party and lost 49 states and four of the next five presidential elections.
Meanwhile, President Bush has a new appreciation for the power of the conservative movement, which rose up en masse to challenge the Miers nomination. “The Bush White House will never again be able to count on conservatives following the dictum, ‘Our leader, right or left,’ ” says Phyllis Schlafly, who heads the influential Eagle Forum.
Read the whole thing. Fund really nails it.
The two biggest events since Friday have been the indictment of Scooter Libby and the nomination of Samuel Alito. Libby was indicted apparently for lying to a grand jury - not for the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Not that this makes it any less serious. Unlike with the Delay situation, I have seen little evidence that Peter Fitzgerald is motivated by politics. It is my hope that Libby gets a fair trial… But if he’s convicted, he should be punished. No one - be it presidents for chiefs of staff - can be allowed to lie under oath.
Secondly, there’s Samuel Alito. After the Harriet Miers fiasco, Alito seems to be an effort of regain support from conservatives. And it seems to be working. Michelle Malkin has a blogosphere roundup. Expect a fight for confirmation.
The News-Sentinel:
Randy Sanders is expected to announce this afternoon that he will resign as the University of Tennessee offensive coordinator, effective at the end of the season.
Sanders will retain play-calling and most coordinator duties through the remaining four regular-season games, however, a source close to the program said.
Former UT coach David Cutcliffe is a name that will soon surface to replace Sanders, according to a source. Cutcliffe was fired as Ole Miss’ head coach after last season.
I figured Sanders would be gone after this season, but I didn’t expect the announcement to come so soon. Public sentiment is strongly anti-Sanders (as evidenced here and here).
Sanders is, by all accounts, a good person who cares deeply for Tennessee. Part of me hates to see him go; I can only imagine what it must be like for him and his family. I think he deserves some praise for recognizing that things just weren’t working out, and stepping down voluntarily. In a world where no one wants to give up power, it is nice to see Sanders put the team before himself.
Personally, I’d love to see Sanders stay on in some capacity for the Vols, but clearly it just wasn’t to be for him at offensive coordinator.
Banner Elk, NC.
Happy Halloween!
Via Jay Bush, Zogby has released it’s Battleground ‘06 polling. Former Senator Fred Thompson was thrown into a hypothetical race for governor. The results are very interesting for Tennessee:
Governor
Thompson (R) 51%
Bredesen* (D) 38%
Senator
Bryant (R) 51%
Ford Jr. (D) 40%
Hilleary (R) 50%
Ford Jr. (D) 41%
Corker (R) 45%
Ford Jr. (D) 40%
Bryant (R) 51%
Kurita (D) 34%
Hilleary (R) 47%
Kurita (D) 39%
Corker (R) 40%
Kurita (D) 38%
Phil Bredesen is often called one of the most popular Democratic governors in the nation, and has even received grudging praise from prominent national conservatives. However, a hypothetical match-up between Bredesen and one of the Volunteer State’s favorite sons shows he is not invincible.
Fred Thompson, the lawyer-turned-actor-turned-politician-turned-actor who spent eight years in the U.S. Senate, after being elected to fill out the remainder of former Vice President Al Gore’s Senate term, is one of the most popular figures in Tennessee. While a run for governor would likely cause him to discontinue his role as the newly-elected conservative District Attorney on NBC’s Law & Order, were he to seek his home state’s highest office, he’d have a very high probability of winning. The Zogby Interactive poll finds him holding a commanding 13-point lead over the incumbent.
The race for Tennessee’s other Senate seat - the one being vacated by current Majority Leader Bill Frist - produces nothing short of great news for the Tennessee Republican Party. Every prospective match-up shows the GOP winning, and usually by substantial margins. While former Congressman Ed Bryant, who lost a 2002 primary to Lamar Alexander, the man who succeeded Thompson in the U.S. Senate, is the GOP’s strongest potential candidate, Van Hilleary, the conservative former congressman who ran against Bredesen and lost in 2002 would also likely win. Beth Harwell, a state representative and former state Republican chairwoman, performs at levels similar to Hilleary. Even Bob Corker, the moderate Chattanooga mayor, and weakest candidate against potential Democratic opponents, would likely win by decisive margins.
On the Democratic side, Harold Ford Jr., the telegenic African American congressman who represents Memphis and is one of the more moderate-to-conservative Democrats in the U.S. House, is his party’s best hope. But, in a state that has trended increasingly Republican since both its Senate seats switched to the GOP in 1994, Ford trails his potential GOP opponents - faring worst in a match-up against Bryant. Democratic State Senator Rosalind Kurita performs even worse.
I am generally skeptical of Zogby polls, so I would take all this with a grain of salt. However, if this poll is accurate, it is very good news for Republicans. The dream scenario of Fred Thompson entering the governor’s race is highly unlikely, but Bredesen clearly is beatable. It would have been nice of Zogby had put Beth Harwell and Jim Henry into hypothetical races against the Governor.
The Senate polls bring even better news, with every candidate winning handily over Harold Ford, Jr. Having said that, I fully expect the race to tighten up after the primary season ends.
State Sen. Rosalind Kurita also sees some good news in these numbers.
It’s nice to be back in Nashville again. I have always loved this city. The only real complaint I have is the amount of road construction going on here - both on the interstate and Briley Parkway. The amount of road work here is actually starting to rival Knoxville! That is an accomplishment, albeit not a good one.
Tonight I am going on a ghost tour downtown. Should be fun! As most of you know, I love weird stuff 
I am spending this weekend in Nashville. Blogging will be light (if I have internet access) or nonexistent (if I don’t). Have a great weekend, everyone!
Can you believe this is already week nine of the college football season? I can’t!
Miami over North Carolina (W, Miami 34-16)
Ohio State over Minnesota (W, Ohio State 45-31)
Michigan State over Indiana (W, Michigan State 46-15)
Syracuse over Cincinnati (L, Cincinnati 22-16)
Wisconsin over Illinois (W, Wisconsin 41-24)
Wake Forest over Duke (W, Wake 44-6)
BYU over Air Force (W, BYU 62-41)
Oklahoma over Nebraska (W, Oklahoma 31-24)
Auburn over Mississippi (W, Auburn 27-3)
Missouri over Kansas (L, Kansas 13-3)
Georgia over Florida (L, Florida 14-10)
Florida State over Maryland (W, FSU 35-27)
Penn State over Purdue (W, Penn State 33-15)
Georgia Tech over Clemson (W, GA Tech 10-9)
Rutgers over Navy (W, Rutgers 31-21)
Oregon State over Arizona (L, Arizona 29-27)
Texas A&M over Iowa State (L, ISU 42-14)
UCLA over Stanford (W, UCLA 30-27)
Marshall over Tulane (W, Marshall 27-26)
Texas over Oklahoma State (W, Texas 47-28)
Northwestern over Michigan (L, Michigan 33-17)
Fresno State over Hawaii (W, Fresno 27-13)
Mississippi State over Kentucky (L, Kentucky 13-7)
Tennessee over South Carolina (L, SC 16-15)
TCU over San Diego State (W, TCU 23-20)
Record: Last week: 24-6 (.800), Season: 159-51 (.757)
From Pittsburgh:
A Duquesne University sophomore will risk being kicked out of school rather than write an essay as punishment for expressing his view that homosexuality is “subhuman.”
Ryan Miner, 19, of Hagerstown, Md., was sanctioned by Duquesne after posting his view in The Facebook, an online directory that is not related to the university.
Miner opposed an effort by other students to form a Gay-Straight Alliance group, an issue that is still being debated by the university.
Obviously, using the term “subhuman” is offense, and I strongly disagree with it. Still, it is his opinion, and I doubt that writing an essay is going to change it. As with the Jillian Bandes situation, we have a student being punished for expressing an opinion (on Facebook nonetheless).
I guess some speech is more free than others.
It seems that fall has returned. Earlier in the week, we saw a sudden blast of winter that blew most of the leaves off the trees, but now the temperature has warmed a bit, finally giving us a feel of fall. We shall see how long this lasts.
I think most of us saw this coming. It will be interesting to see who Bush nominates now.
Defeated 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry has called for President Bush to bring home 20,000 U.S. troops in Iraq before Christmas:
“It will be hard for this administration, but it is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down … starting immediately after successful elections in December,” Kerry, D-Mass., said in a speech Wednesday at Georgetown University.
This represents a major position shift for Kerry, who advocated sending more troops while running for president, and as recently as June 30 said we didn’t have enough troops in Iraq.
The consensus on the Left has increasingly argued the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq. Think Kerry might be mulling another run in 2008?
A Soldier’s Perspective has some thoughts on the death of Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander Jr. (#2,000), and the media’s coverage.
The Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at the University of Tennessee last night. I wanted to go listen to him (not because I agree with anything he says, but because he is pretty entertaining), but alas, I had class. Stefanie Bowen was there.
President Bush, in a speech to Joint Armed Forces Officers’ Wives’ group:
Some have argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions of our coalition in Iraq, claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September 11th, 2001, and al Qaeda attacked us anyway. The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse. (Applause.)
The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and yet the militants killed more than 150 Russian schoolchildren in Beslan. Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence — the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we’re not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We’re facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world.
No acts of ours involves the rage of killers. And no concessions, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans of murder. On the contrary; they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, never give in, and never accept anything less than complete victory. (Applause.)
The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet, in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century. Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims — and I quote — “what is good for them and what is not.” And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers. He assures them that this is the road to paradise — though he never offers to go along for the ride. (Laughter.)
When 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school, or hospital workers are killed caring for the wounded, this is murder, pure and simple — the total rejection of justice and honor and morality and religion. These militants are not just enemies of America or enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and enemies of humanity. (Applause.)
We have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before — in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, the Cultural Revolution, and the killing fields. Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth, they have endless ambitions of imperial domination; they wish to make everyone powerless, except themselves.***
Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. Zarqawi has said that Americans are, “the most cowardly of God’s creatures.” But let us be clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs. It’s cowardice that cuts the throat of a bound captive. It is cowardice that targets worshipers leaving a mosque. It is courage that liberated more than 50 million people; it is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of a rising democracy. It is courage in the cause of freedom that will once again destroy the enemies of freedom. (Applause.)
Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It’s not justified. With every random bombing and every funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots or resistance fighters — they are murderers at war with the Iraqi people, themselves. In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress — from tyranny to liberation, to national elections, to the ratification of a constitution — in the space of two and a half years. (Applause.)
There’s always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. That would be a pleasant world — but it isn’t the world in which we live. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory — and we will keep our nerve and we will win that victory. (Applause.)
Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision — and they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure — until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent — until the day that free men and women defeat them.
Amen! (Via Power Line)
This is a new item I haven’t heard much about, possibly because so few of those affected are willing to talk publicly.
It appears that British Labour MP George Galloway lied to the Senate during the Iraq/UN Oil-for-Food Investigations.
Christopher Hitchens:
For George Galloway, however, the war would seem to be over. The evidence presented suggests that he lied in court when he sued the Daily Telegraph in London over similar allegations (and collected money for that, too). It suggests that he lied to the Senate under oath. And it suggests that he made a deceptive statement in the register of interests held by members of the British House of Commons. All in all, a bad week for him, especially coming as it does on the heels of the U.N. report on the murder of Rafik Hariri, which appears to pin the convict’s badge on senior members of the Assad despotism in Damascus, Galloway’s default patron after he lost his main ally in Baghdad.
Yet this is the man who received wall-to-wall good press for insulting the Senate subcommittee in May, and who was later the subject of a fawning puff piece in the New York Times, and who was lionized by the anti-war movement when he came on a mendacious and demagogic tour of the country last month. I wonder if any of those who furnished him a platform will now have the grace to admit that they were hosting a man who is not just a pimp for fascism but one of its prostitutes as well.
Indeed. Read the whole thing.