Funny, we were talking about this at dinner the other night: who looks good in 2016 for the GOP? My first response was "No More Bushes." And now, Byron York:
The Tea Party surely has had its bad moments (the shutdown is one of them), but it has also developed a sizable group that works and plays well with others, and it is to these that the party should look. They are young, and make Hillary Clinton look tired.
They come from humble sometimes immigrant, backgrounds, and make her look overly rich and entitled. Their diversity makes her look whiter than ever. None has a relative who has ever been president, but one has a mentor who is the son and the brother of presidents, and a Cuban last name: Marco Rubio.
Rubio looks like a Bush, likes the Bush issues, has an eloquence equaled by none in his party, and has been called both a Tea Party and an Establishment figure, sometimes on the same day.
The last three Democrats to be president won as outsiders, running against older, long-time insiders, who themselves came from rich and establishment families. Jeb Bush should call it a day, and become the godfather of the first Hispanic president, who, with Kelly Ayotte on his ticket, will fight Hillary to a race/gender draw.
I'm good with Marco Rubio. He's made some missteps, but I'm just fine with him. I've been in his camp since 2009.
And if you've forgotten how eloquent Marco can be, watch this one more time:
Honestly, I think it's too early for Ted Cruz, Romney says no more, Jeb Bush loves Common Core so he's not for me (though I'm really not a single issue kind of girl), Rick Perry has shot his wad, and as much as I'd love someone like Allen West, I don't think, at this point, he would garner the votes, although I'd love to see him in a primary. Rand Paul? Primary. Get a good strong primary crew and duke it out.
Now that The New York Times has stirred up the Benghazi debate once again (and for that, I'm glad), Allen West has a few questions:
Why was U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi on 9-11? It should be standard practice that high value targets do not move around in hostile terrorist territory, which Benghazi was on that day.
When the message came that the consulate was under attack, why were all immediate resources not allocated? As a former career Soldier who sat on the House Armed Services Committee, I am well aware of security protocols. Why weren’t they followed?
Where was President Obama the evening of the attack? We were treated to all the White House situation room pictures of the raid on Osama bin Laden — but where are the photos from that night?
According to the president, he ordered Secretary of Defense Panetta and CJCS General Dempsey to get the Americans in Benghazi the support they needed. If true, then who disobeyed the president’s order, and why did Obama never follow up with Panetta and Dempsey?
Who came up with the video scapegoat excuse, and why was the U.N. ambassador called out for the Sunday shows and not the person responsible, the secretary of state?
Ambassador Stevens had met with a Turkish representative in Benghazi, but why were his requests for additional security denied, and by whom?
The State Department was repeatedly warned about the chaos in Benghazi and the increasing aggressiveness of the Islamist militias and terror networks in the area after the US-prompted NATO mission decapitated the Qaddafi regime — including escalating demands for security from the US mission in Libya. Why did State ignore these demands?
Other Western nations bailed out of Benghazi because of increasing terrorism. Why did the US stay put when even the UK pulled out? Especially without increasing security?
The attack took place on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11 in an area with active al-Qaeda affiliates, as well as terrorist networks with murkier alliances. Why wasn’t the US prepared to respond to an attack on its most vulnerable diplomatic outpost?
Where was Barack Obama and what was he doing after his 5 pm meeting with Leon Panetta at the beginning of the attack?
If the YouTube video was such an issue, why didn’t anyone in Benghazi or Tripoli know it, and why did the White House end up retracting that claim after a couple of weeks?
Who told the Accountability Review Board to ignore the actions of higher-ranking State Department officials such as Patrick Kennedy, who ignored the pleas for more security, and focus blame on lower-ranking career officials for the unpreparedness of State for the attack?
What was the CIA doing in Benghazi, and how did they miss the rise of Ansar al-Shariah? Kirkpatrick notes that no one seemed aware of its danger until after the attack.
All valid points.
Maybe we can get Hillary Clinton to answer those once she hits the presidential campaign circuit.
Rev. C. L. Bryant's fabulous documentary, Runaway Slave, is now out on DVD. If you haven't seen this film I urge you to order it and watch.
I went to the theater five times last summer and watched it. I loved it. My review is here.
The title refers to Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad in the 19th century; Rev. Bryant contends that we need a "new Underground Railroad" to help lead blacks from the tyranny of enslavement by the United States government which is bent on keeping so many dependent on the government dole.
The documentary is a masterpiece of photography and symbolism as well as strong in its powerful message. Yet even with the seriousness of the subject, in the end I was left optimistic and hopeful.
The trailer:
I've ordered my copy already because even though I almost know it by heart by now, I still want to watch it over and over again.
I'm still hospital sitting and will bring you up to speed on all that later. I brought my laptop with me today because it's easier to blog on it than on the iPad (at least for some posts). Plus I wanted to work on a letter to the Nursing Director of WK to commend an angelic, wonderful nurse we had on seventh floor last week.
Now that that's done, let's take a moment to fisk Kathleen Parker. It's a good thing I'm sitting in a hospital because I'm sputtering and hyperventilating as I'm reading her column.
Let's take a look, shall we? Her thesis seems to be that the Republican convention was too white. She opens with the mind boggling question: "What if Barack Obama had been a Republican?" Have I been hospital-bound too long? Can anyone even fathom that concept? I can't. She contends that if he'd been Republican, i.e., if Republicans had a black nominee, then the delegates on the floor would have been black. And she gets paid the big bucks for this.
Obama was elected not only because of his attractive eloquence but
because we are fundamentally a good people who value fairness and
equality. Electing Obama was part of our reward to ourselves. It allowed
us to feel that we were this good and this big.
Choke, sputter, gag. "part of our reward to ourselves"? Is she kidding? Is this satire?
He was also a tantalizing candidate with a message of hope that felt
like honey after eight bitter years of terrorism and war. He courted our
better angels and articulated our best instincts. We were going to
become a purple, post-racial nation, never again to be divided. Who
wouldn’t fall in love with that?
His "message of hope that felt like honey" never came across to me. His message from day one was of big government and socialist style programs. Anyone who fell for his "purple, post-racial nation" bullshit was not listening past the scripted prose to examine the real man.
Republicans were certain that Obama was all style over substance, but
their criticisms quickly were interpreted in some quarters as racial
animus. Certainly some who call themselves Republicans also can be
called racist. Anyone who spends time on the Internet is aware of the
racist content of some political dialogue. It’s out there, and it’s
ugly.
Then Parker asks "Where are the blacks?" Kathleen Parker, meet just some of the blacks in the Republican party:
Let's start with Rev. C. L. Bryant:
Rev. Bryant gave a brilliant speech at FreePAC in July following on the heels of his brilliant documentary Runaway Slave. Did you see Runaway Slave, Miss Parker?
Meet Mia B. Love. Did you see her at the RNC convention? Wonderful speech!
Mrs. Parker, I'm sure you're familiar with Condoleezza Rice, Herman Cain, Allen West, Alveda King, David Webb, and others.
What about Stephen Broden, Sonja, Schmidt, Kevin Daniels, Jesse Lee Peterson, and Erik Rush. You ever heard of them?
In Kathleen Parker's article, she does note that there are some minorities in the Republican party, she writes:
Appearances matter, and the GOP simply doesn’t look that friendly.
Regardless of what is true, when an arena full of white people cheers
jabs aimed at the first African American president, it feels wrong. This
may not be a conscious recognition, but the subliminal is powerful. It
was with a deep, inner sigh of relief that white Republicans heard
Romney say that he had wanted Obama to succeed because he wanted America
to succeed. Bless the speechwriters.
I would suggest that Miss Parker and others get past the appearances and quit worrying so much about surface issues. Nobody boo'd or jabbed Obama at the RNC because he was black. It's because his policies are failures. It's not "subliminal" racist code. His policies are failures. They'd be failures if he was a white man. It's not about race here. Get over it
In all her search for racial code and dog whistles, she concludes with this, which I'm not even going to touch:
There they’ll learn that ecosystems thrive and are most productive
when there is biodiversity. The same can be said of political parties.
An all-white party will not long survive in a diverse environment.
The strongest and fittest are those who adapt, and that species for now goes by the name Democrat.
James Pethokoukis has six charts that ought to scare you to death.
I heard Allen West say the other day that welfare was meant to be a safety net, not a hammock. According to these charts, it's not only become a hammock but a TempurPedic mattress.
This chart shows the explosion of the entitlement state:
Look at the other charts and keep in mind, this is BEFORE Obamacare hits.
When Runaway Slave comes to a theater near you, drop what you're doing and go see it.
Having heard Rev. C. L. Bryant speak before, I thought I had an idea what to expect but I underestimated the power of the documentary. It's very powerful.
Visually, the movie has a gritty, urban, edgy feel to it that contrasts with rural rolling hills and scenic neighborhoods as narrator C. L. Bryant makes his way from one city to the next, crossing America, ultimately ending up in Washington, D.C., where he movingly stands at the Jefferson Memorial reading lines from the Declaration of Independence. I have to say, I got a tear in my eye on that one.
Bryant drives across the country asking black individuals along the way "Are we free at last? Are you free?" He strides purposefully across the nation and listens inquisitively at both Tea Party rallies and NAACP rallies. He asks black Americans what they are prevented from doing today because of their skin color.
The only person who wouldn't, or couldn't, answer that was Rev. Al Sharpton who refused to speak to Bryant in the documentary.
C. L. Bryant tells of his journey from liberalism to conservatism. He was a chapter president of the NAACP in Garland, Texas at one time, a position he lost because of his pro-life stance. He also lost the position of pastor of his church because of his conservatism. But Bryant has brought his message to a much larger audience now with Runaway Slave and it's a message that everyone needs to see.
The thesis of the documentary is the enslavement of black society by big government. Bryant tries to determine why 95% of the black community votes Democrat and why the nation is still so racially divided. People like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are described in interviews as "poverty pimps" because while they claim to represent the best interests of black America they are profiting from the continued degraded social status of blacks.
To support his thesis Bryant talks to many black leaders across America such as Alveda King who spoke strongly against Planned Parenthood and cited the high abortion rate in black society. She noted the prevalence of Planned Parenthood in black communities and suggested they "target" black women.
He really impressed me and I'm ordering his book today (there's no Kindle version).
Steve was impressed with Mason Weaver. He wrote a book entitled It's OK to Leave the Plantation. Watch this clip of Weaver speaking in 2009:
Bryant spoke with many other black leaders and the takeaway is that it is the Democratic party that has enslaved the black community to a life of poverty and entitlements. You are not guaranteed success by the Constitution, you are guaranteed opportunity. Nothing is handed to you.
Bryant also talks with well known black leaders like Allen West, Herman Cain, and Thomas Sowell, but it was the lesser knowns like K. Carl Smith and Kevin Daniels that impressed me so much.
The movie opens July 27 in wider release; right now it's just in Bossier City. The film website is here. There you will find release locations and dates, all the interview participants, and video clips.
If you're anywhere close to Shreveport/Bossier, go to Regal Cinema on Shed Road and see this film. We were pleasantly surprised to see C. L. Bryant himself striding to the front of the theater as the credits rolled. We gave him a hearty round of applause and then he was swamped with people who wanted to shake his hand and speak with him.
The film is powerful, moving, articulate, and speaks to all of us. It's one that I'll want to see more than once and if you get a chance to see it, drop everything you're doing and go.
Update:
Linked at The Dead Pelican - the one stop shop for ALL news Louisiana!
The film has been held over through July 19th at Regal on Shed Road in Bossier. Buy tickets here.
Representative West has set the internet all aflame with his email smack down of DNC chair and fellow Representative Debbie Wasserman Scultz. Rep. West took exception to comments by DWS on the House floor yesterday and I've just got to print that email in its entirety even though it's already everywhere:
From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz
Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!
I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.
You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!
Steadfast and Loyal
Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)
Reaction to Rep. West's letter is as you would expect. The left is not pleased and the right is offering virtual high-fives.
Hey, idiot: it's not "big oil and millionaires" that destroyed Medicare: it's you. You're an embarrassment, Debbie. And I can't wait until Allen West is House Speaker; I hope he puts your office in the basement with [Milton] and his red stapler.
Debbie Wasserman Scultz might have overlooked the fact that she's dealing with a combat veteran and would do well to remember that Allen West knows how to deal with the likes of her.
Oh, I know about West's interrogation style in Iraq but I'm glad he's got the cojones to call it like it is. If she's going to violate the decorum of the House floor and speak ill of a member not present then West is correct in correcting her.
Does it "lower the discourse"? Maybe, but hey. After listening to the left, and to Obama, the discourse be damned. The left offers some of the lowest discourse there is.
Consider this my own virtual high five to Allen West!
! Hilarious!