Archive for November, 2008

2008’s electoral results are getting clearer as we close in on a final result in MN and GA. As President-elect Obama sorts out his administration and we all eat turkey sandwiches there are some great lessons to be learned from GOP campaigns of 2008.

In the coming weeks I will interview consultants, campaign staff and candidates to look at the tactics and where they made a difference. Before I start the interviews I want to hear from you on what questions you want answered.

Some of the questions I am considering asking are:

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Can conservatives regain the upper hand as local governments, especially in states like Indiana, attempt to make decisions about cutting budgets instead of raising taxes? In Pick our Fights and Move to the States, Soren Dayton points out something that we all know all too well here in Indiana.

“But at the states, something else will happen. Check out this map (click for a larger version), courtesy of the New York Times, via The Big Picture:

Our states — and our municipalities — are in fiscal crisis. They have gotten drunk on revenue from a credit bubble. As the economy deleverages to something sane, state and local revenue is, or has already, collapsed. Education budgets based on property taxes will develop massive holes when assessments reflect 40% drops in housing prices. Examples, from the NYT story above, of how bad it is: (go to full link: Take Fight to the States for rest)

New York Magazine decided to crash a meeting of a MoveOn.org meetup group on Manhatten’s upper west side.  I would say we clearly have hope for the future, but we certainly have to do better than we did this year.  But this should give an idea of what we’re up against.

(Heads up, one volunteer let’s out a swear, but what’s funny is the reaction she gives after not being asked to do it again)

(H/T - Ace of Spades)

The reason that Alinsky’s book was titled Rules for Radicals was due to the list of rules of power tactics, which is probably the most famous part of the book (if not it’s acknowledgment of Lucifer). Here are briefly the 13 rules:

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have
2. Never go outside the experience of your people
3. Whenever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules
5. Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag
8. Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself
10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition….The pressure produces the reaction, and constant pressure sustains action
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it

Implications after the leap
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Pirates have been in the news for capturing a number of ships lately.  And from the stories reported, these are not the kind of pirates we saw growing up watching Peter Pan or your great great great great grandfathers kinds of pirates.

Via Reuters India:

(See the number of ships that have been captured just in November alone in addition to the moves Germany is making to fight a new “War on Piracy”. (more…)

I want to give a big congratulations to my high school Alma Mater, Heritage Christian, for winning their first high school football championship in class 2A.

This going to make me sound old, but back in my day (I graduated in 1996) we didn’t even have football. It’s incredible how far the school has come in high school athletics.

I was not at all surprised to see that Planned Parenthood has applied for corporate welfare (subscription required) from the Monroe County Council. As I have for the past ten years with the city, I plan on attending the meeting and speaking against funding for Bloomington’s abortion provider. Following is an electronic mail I sent to the Monroe County Council.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Social Services funding
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:03:36 -0500
From: Scott Tibbs <tibbs1973@yahoo.com>
To: stravis@co.monroe.in.us, mwoods@co.monroe.in.us, whenegar@co.monroe.in.us, jlesh@co.monroe.in.us, mhawk@co.monroe.in.us, cnewmann@co.monroe.in.us, vkelson@co.monroe.in.us

Councilors,

I saw in the Herald-Times that social services funding will be considered at the next County Council meeting, at 4:30 p.m. on December 9, and wish to comment on one of the requests.

Before I get to the issue itself, I want to applaud you for the changes you have made to the process. I have thought for years that the social service funding should be distributed by the County Council rather than the County Commissioners, mimicking the much more open process of city government. Unfortunately, the fact that council meetings start at 4:30 still presents an obstacle to public participation, because many people work until 5:00 and cannot be at a council meeting until an hour late. I would encourage you to reform this next year.

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There was an intriguing and rather misleading op-ed this week in the Indianapolis Star by Sheila Suess Kennedy, a professor at IU.

We saw recent evidence — preliminary and tentative, to be sure — that the massive public participation generated by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign may prove more durable than most of us imagined. Spontaneous demonstrations against the Nov. 4 passage of California’s Proposition 8 erupted across the country. (Prop 8 amended the California constitution and repealed the right to same-sex marriage.

Think about the irony of this for a moment. Obama carried California 61% to 37%. Proposition 8 passed 52% to 48%. Since it’s unlikely that someone came to the polls to vote against Prop 8 but not vote for President, that means that around one Obama voter in six voted for the measure.

In reality, the proportion was probably higher (especially if you assume that not every McCain voter voted in favor of it). Exit polling, for example, has indicated that 70% of African Americans (who voted overwhelmingly for Obama) also voted for Prop 8. One Republican voter in five voted against Prop 8. One Democratic voter in three voted for it.

Maybe that “massive public participation generated by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign” has had some unintended consequences.

Could it be that the people spoke, and some of Obama’s supporters–or more accurately opponents of Prop 8–didn’t like what they had to say?

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I hope all you wonderful people had a great Thanksgiving.  Since my lovely wife is 37 weeks pregnant with our third child, we decided to stay home this year instead of traveling out to Washington, D.C.  That’s where her parents live.  We stayed home pretty much under doctor’s orders.  It’s a really bad idea to travel that late into a pregnancy so the decision was easy to make.  But we had some friends from church invite us over to share Thanksgiving with them.  It was a good time.

Anyway, here is a thread of frivolity for you to have fun with.  I stole the idea from Ace.  But what are your top three favorite theme songs from TV shows.  Since most shows these days have ditched the lengthy intro, it will make you harken back a ways.

Anyway, my top three after the leap. (more…)

Thanksgiving Day, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. We recognize that all of these blessings, and life itself, come not from the hand of man but from Almighty God.

Every Thanksgiving, we remember the story of the Pilgrims who came to America in search of religious freedom and a better life. Having arrived in the New World, these early settlers gave thanks to the Author of Life for granting them safe passage to this abundant land and protecting them through a bitter winter. Our Nation’s first President, George Washington, stated in the first Thanksgiving proclamation that “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” While in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition of proclaiming a day of thanksgiving, asking God to heal our wounds and restore our country.

Today, as we look back on the beginnings of our democracy, Americans recall that we live in a land of many blessings where every person has the right to live, work, and worship in freedom. Our Nation is especially thankful for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who protect these rights while setting aside their own comfort and safety. Their courage keeps us free, their sacrifice makes us grateful, and their character makes us proud. Especially during the holidays, our whole country keeps them and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Americans are also mindful of the need to share our gifts with others, and our Nation is moved to compassionate action. We pay tribute to all caring citizens who reach out a helping hand and serve a cause larger than themselves.

On this day, let us all give thanks to God who blessed our Nation’s first days and who blesses us today. May He continue to guide and watch over our families and our country always.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 27, 2008, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to strengthen the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

We’d like to wish our readers and their families and friends a very happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

By: Brian Sikma

Just before Thanksgiving, Planned Parenthood of Indiana distributed a press release announcing that for the first time ever they were offering gift certificates that could be redeemed at any one of their 35 locations around the state. The press release suggested that these gift certificates would make a wonderful and appropriate Christmas or holiday gift for someone you know.

As we approach that season of the year when we celebrate the greatest birth in all the world, the birth of the Christ-child, it is deeply unfortunate that Planned Parenthood of Indiana has taken this opportunity to promote their dark practices. As we celebrate birth and take a little extra time to recognize those who may need our assistance and kindness as they struggle through a difficult period in their life, we should give no place to organizations or entities that promote an agenda and culture of needless and unwarranted death.

The values and virtues of thankfulness, generosity, love, peace, joy, kindness and life are what we celebrate at this season. These qualities define what it means to have a respect and love for humanity and they are hardly the attributes of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has a dark history of promoting abortion irrespective of the situation or the dictates of ethics and love. No other single organization has done more to implement in practice the concept that unborn life is not worthy of our respect and not worthy of the protection which we or government would offer it.

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