Wednesday, October 29, 2008

 

The official end of summer...

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Just finished a salad with the last of the vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden. I have about 3 pounds of tomatoes that I rescued from the freeze and in various shades of green ripening in the house, but it's just not the same.

Fall is my favorite time of year, elections notwithstanding, but it's bittersweet.

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Wife had to teach today. That means I got to cook up a small school of whitefish. Mrs. Hoosiertoo hates seafood in general, so the only times I get seafood is when we go out - or when she leaves me alone.

Today it was unbreaded whitefish fillets cooked in butter with salt, pepper, garlic and a lot of parsley. Yum! The house reeks of fish; I'm going to catch it when she gets home.

I'll be at work. Heh...

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As promised...

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A couple of days ago I posted my picks for POTUS, Indiana Governor, and 4th District Representative. Today, I reveal my choices for state and local offices. You may unbate your breath now.

State Attorney General - Greg Zoeller (R)
Superintendent of Puplic Instruction - Tony Bennett (R)
State Rep - Dist 38 - Jacque Clements (R) Held my nose on this one. Her opponent was an absolute cipher. During a Q & A session with the local fishwrap, I don't think he gave an answer longer than a sentence, and agreed with Clements on virtually every issue. I went with experience, even though I wish there would have been a stronger candidate.

Local Offices:

County Prosecutor - Justin Hunter (R) Mainly because I don't like his opponent.
County Commissioner D1 - Michael Beard (R) His opponent is the ex-County Coroner, a Democrat who gave up his seat to run for Commissioner. The coroner's position will be filled by a Republican who is running unopposed. Go figure.

The only Democrat in the County Council At-Large race, when asked what he hoped to accomplish if elected replied, according to the Frankfort Times:

"First of all, try and learn the job," he said, "and not lose touch with them (constituents)."
Phipps has no specific plans for the months leading up to the election, but intends to connect with as many residents as possible.
"Just to let everyone know I'm doing it, and see how it goes," he said. "I'll be campaigning at the gas station when I'm pumping gas."
(In case anyone wonders why I didn't vote for any Democrats, that's a big reason why.)

Of the justices up for retention, the only one I voted "NO" on was Theodore R Boehm.

In every case, my vote went to the more pro-life candidate, or if there was no real data to ascertain who the pro-life candidate was, I went with the candidate most likely to be for smaller government and fiscal restraint.

I was disappointed that there were so many unopposed races. I think I may toss my hat in the ring next time around. Maybe even as a Demonrat. Think the party is ready for a pro-life Catholic libertarian?

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Monday, October 27, 2008

 

Lying Liars Lying

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or at least obfuscating...
Steve Buyer has supported Bush's losing economic policies, voted for massive federal deficits and allowed billion dollar bailouts that will be paid for by taxpayers for generations to come.
Just received another campaign missive from Nels Ackerson.* It's loaded with standard politico twaddle, such as this jewel:
...Steve Buyer has been in Washington too long, and he has been too partisan.
He goes on to promise to
"...reach across party lines and confront the excessive partisanship that has crippled the political process."
He also castigates Buyer for not bringing home enough pork to the 4th District.
...the 4th District has fallen to the bottom in the nation in receiving federal contracts.
Buyer is one of the few politicians of either party to vote against the massive bailout of the banks and financial sector- twice. I've already castigated both Bayh (D) and Lugar (R) in this blog - how's that for bi-partisan? - for conspiring to foist this unprecedented power grab off on the American people.

Ackerson conveniently forgets that Congress has been Demonrat controlled for the past two years and that the bailout was a BI-PARTISAN debacle. The political process CALLS for principled opposition on occasion. If the federal deficit is enormous - and it is - Ackerson should bemoan the bi-partisan effort it took to create it instead of promising CHANGE by promoting more of the same.

I suspect that Ackerson isn't planning to vote for Mr. Bi-Partisan himself, John McCain. Just sayin'.

As for not bringing home the pork, even if it is true (it's not) - so what? I'd be much more interested in sending less of Hoosiers' hard-earned dollars to the thieves in Washington to begin with, and while Buyer could certainly do a better job of that, I see no indication that Ackerson could either a.) bring more home or b.) send less to begin with. Sending Ackerson to Congress to beg largesse for the 4th from Pelosi and the rest of the Demonrat leadership in exchange for supporting such abominations as FOCA hardly seems like a good idea to me.

Real change would involve breaking up the bi-factional love fest in US politics and electing libertarians and true citizen legislators instead of career politicians - such as Nels Ackerson (or Buyer, for that matter) to power. Given the lack of alternatives, I feel much better about my vote for Steve Buyer.

*I keep wanting to type Ackerman.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

 

How I'll Vote.

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G.K Chesterton
has said:
The whole modern world has divided itself into conservatives and progressives. The business of progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.
Here I sit staring at my absentee ballot and wondering how I'm going to cast my votes this year. Yes votes. There are many offices up for grabs in this election, despite the media's fixation on The Chosen One and the coming socialist dys - err, I mean U - topia.

I am a past member of the Libertarian Party and have cast votes for their candidates in virtually every race in which they have run a candidate over the past 40 years. Not this time. A few years back, I canceled my membership (although I've still voted for Libertarian candidates) when I began to suspect that they no longer took themselves seriously as a party. This election, they confirmed my suspicion by whoring out the party to a Republican for name recognition. Bob Barr? Really?

Well, it didn't work. Third parties have been even more marginalized than usual and the Libertarians seem poised to waste the hard work invested in gaining ballot access over the years. It's a shame. I like Andy Hornung, but the LP is not and won't be a viable threat to supplant the Repugnican party, and let's face it - a third party is a third wheel in US politics. At best, the LP can cost the Repugnicons a few votes in a close race. Not that I care a heckuva lot about Repugnicons per se, but who needs more Demonrats in office?

That said, I'm voting for Steve Buyer in the Indiana 4th Congressional District due solely to his principled opposition to the bailout. I've perused Nels Ackerson's campaign material and remain unimpressed. FWIW, my vote for Buyer is the first for a Republican congressional candidate ever. Thanks Congressman Buyer for your "no" vote.

Mitch Daniels is my choice for governor. He's done a good job during his first term; the state is in decent financial shape - the budget is "balanced" and the infrastructure seems to be improving. God knows there are enough construction zones all over the place. While there is still work to be done, I think Daniels can do the job. Jill Long Thompson's main message seems to be that she isn't Mitch Daniels. Indeed, I agree. FWIW, this will be my first vote for a Republican candidate for governor ever. Here's to four more years for Mitch!

Barack Hussein Obama will not get my vote. I doubt that ANY Demonrat would have, but Obama made me seriously consider voting for John McCain, if only in the hope that a McCain win would stop the Freedom of Choice Act and the lives of unborn children could be saved. Given McCain's penchant for bi-partisanship, I'm not at all confident that would be the case in any event. I was disgusted with the Repugnicon choice of candidate and still am. I cannot vote for McCain; if I were to vote for him, at best it would only be a vote against Obama. Sorry. I've resisted the urge to vote against a candidate in all but the '84 election. If that seems a little odd given my history of voting third party, so be it.

While a vote against Obama is a reasonable and justifiable position, a vote against Obama should not equal an endorsement for McCain. I simply do not believe John McCain should be president. I don't believe that rewarding the Repugnicans for choosing a jackass in elephant clothing is a good idea.

As for VP, Joe Biden is a liar and an idiot of the first magnitude. Sarah Palin is a lightweight. I'm not voting for Vice-President anyway, although Palin would probably be a better president than either McCain or Obama. I doubt she could be worse. Did I mention that Biden is an idiot? For a party that derides the intellect of Shrub, you'd think the Demonrats could do a better job picking candidates.

Indiana proscribes writing in a candidate who is not declared as a write-in candidate. Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party candidate for POTUS, is a declared write-in candidate. I've never cast a vote for a write-in candidate before. Since this seems to be an election of firsts for me, I intend to write in Chuck Baldwin as my choice for POTUS. Casting my vote for Baldwin is a positive act, as he is a candidate that I can support whole-heartedly over either the Marxist (Obama) or socialist lite (McCain) candidates the major parties have served up.

I do not cast votes in uncontested elections. There are five such local races this year. Surely the opposition could - you know - oppose? If you don't participate in the primaries - and as an independent, I don't - you don't get a choice. I know for a fact that the performance of state and local government leaves a lot to be desired. C'mon guys, get with the program.

I'm going to be back in Da Region on election day - hence the absentee ballot. I'm sure I'll need lots of beer to follow the results, probably on Fox. Fox is unbearable, but even at that they're better than CNNPSMNBCCBSETC. At least I won't have to watch Chris Matthews have an orgasm on national television when the Magic Negro wins the election.

In the unlikely event McCain wins, I hope the riots don't start until I get back to Podunk. And that the MSM's collective heads explode. THAT would make for a good night, and compelling television.

I'll list my choice for local offices in a later post.

Like anyone is likely to care.

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Thursday, October 02, 2008

 

The Bi-Factional Ruling Party stikes again.

Sen. Evan Bayh represents virtually everything I hate about Demonrats. Sen. Richard Lugar represents most everything I hate about Repugnicons. Little wonder the two of them voted to saddle us with the atrocity of a bailout bill that the House will take up tomorrow afternoon.

Anyone still deluded that either Obama or McCain will CHANGE anything, except for the worse, is on crack. McCain or Obama? The choice is still yea or yea.

No wonder I normally vote 3rd party.

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