Friday Free-for-All: Crawling From the Wreckage

Glenn McCoy cartoon via Townhall

 

Charles Krauthammer, NRO: The Way Forward:

I’ve always been of the “enforcement first” school, with the subsequent promise of legalization. I still think it’s the better policy. But many Hispanics fear that there will be nothing beyond enforcement. So, promise amnesty right up front. Secure the border with guaranteed legalization to follow on the day the four border-state governors affirm that illegal immigration has slowed to a trickle.

Imagine Marco Rubio advancing such a policy on the road to 2016. It would transform the landscape. He’d win the Hispanic vote. Yes, win it. A problem fixable with a single policy initiative is not structural. It is solvable.

The other part of the current lament is that the Republican party consistently trails among blacks, young people, and (unmarried) women. (Republicans are plus-seven among married women.) But this is not for reasons of culture, identity, or even affinity. It is because these constituencies tend to be more politically liberal — and Republicans are the conservative party.

The country doesn’t need two liberal parties. Yes, Republicans need to weed out candidates who talk like morons about rape. But this doesn’t mean the country needs two pro-choice parties either. In fact, more women are pro-life than are pro-choice. The problem here for Republicans is not policy but delicacy — speaking about culturally sensitive and philosophically complex issues with reflection and prudence.

Additionally, warn the doomsayers, Republicans must change not just ethnically but ideologically. Back to the center. Moderation above all!

Additionally, warn the doomsayers, Republicans must change not just ethnically but ideologically. Back to the center. Moderation above all!

More nonsense. Tuesday’s exit polls showed that, by an eight-point margin (51–43), Americans believe that government does too much. And Republicans are the party of smaller government. Moreover, onrushing economic exigencies — crushing debt, unsustainable entitlements — will make the argument for smaller government increasingly unassailable.

Mind-boggling. 51% think the government does to much – and many of those nincompoops voted for Obama. Others stayed home, rather than vote for Romney, the moderate.

Maggie’s Notebook: Rush Limbaugh: The Caller Who Stayed Home On Election Day – Refused to Vote for a Moderate:

We’ve established that about three million Republicans stayed home on election day. One of those Republicans called Rush Limbaugh today. At the end of the conversation with this person from Livonia, Michigan, Rush closes with: “If there’s a 70% chance of curing your cancer, but you hold out for a hundred percent, is that what you would do?  Or would you go for the 70% chance?  Takes all kinds.” Personally, I think fraud and corruption had a whole lot to do with November 6, 2012.

Then there’s the cherished “youth vote”:

Benny Johnson, The Blaze: An Informed Electorate? You Won’t Believe How Little These Obama Voters Know About Our Gov’t:

This reporter called on some of those in line, asking some simple questions concerning why they showed up today to  perform their civic duty.  The answers usually began with a declaration of unwavering support for the president.  So what were the issues that animated them in the campaign?  Their answers were largely couched in generalities, warm pockets of feel-good social “rights” issues, that sounded line-and-verse like Obama campaign talking points.

“Women’s rights”, “gay marriage”, “planned parenthood”, “social welfare” rang out time and time again.  The economic issues Mitt Romney hammered on were nowhere to be found — these voters were participating in an alternate election, one based on the social issues hand-crafted by team Obama.  Without any specifics, but in full faith, these young voters stood, ready to cast their sacred ballots for the incumbent.

To any conservative wondering where they went astray this cycle, observe the religious-like conviction of the voters here when rattling off their liberal talking points. However, beyond the rhetoric, how much do these eager voters know about our American government?  Just a few questions, then: How many Senators are there?  How many Congressmen?  Supreme Court Justices?  Who is Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Can you name an amendment to the Constitution?

The answers inform.  Was this election truly a rebuke of conservatism and its principles?  Or was it a function of the masterful marketing of emotions, niche issues and even revenge?  Judging by what you’re about to observe, the answer seems pretty obvious:

How do you fix stupid?

Andrew Klavan, The Long Game:

To win that game, to create an electorate more deeply committed to true liberty and resistant to the sort of cultural scare tactics the president’s campaign team used so effectively, there are three areas to which conservatives need to commit intellectual and financial resources—three areas that our intelligentsia and funders, in their impractical practicality, too often ignore.

The mainstream news media. Major news outlets, like ABC, NBC, CBS, and the still influential New York Times have now become so ideologically corrupt that they are engaging in the sort of Nixonian cover-ups they once prided themselves on exposing. Their studied creation of non-scandal scandals and non-gaffe gaffes on the right and their active suppression of such true scandals as Fast and Furious and Benghazi on the left amount to journalistic malpractice on behalf of the state. The late Andrew Breitbart understood the depth and extent of the problem better than the cooler establishment heads who wrinkled their noses at him. He declared a guerrilla war on the media in the name of truth.

While Breitbart disciples like John Nolte, Ben Shapiro, and Joel Pollak continue that underground fight, it is long past time for conservative minds and money to take the battle to the mainstream. How is it possible that the mind-boggling success of Fox News has failed to spawn half a dozen imitators at least—especially venues for the libertarian young with their antic sense of political incorrectness? Rupert Murdoch, God love him, can’t live forever. It’s time for others to step up.

Michelle Malkin: You were warned: Obama’s layoff bomb goes BOOM!

This is just the beginning.

In case you missed it, Boeing announced massive layoffs and facilities closures yesterday. More: Small business owners are dropping the axe as they brace for the costs and burdens of Obamacare.

In case you missed it, I reported on Obama’s layoff bomb last week.

Refresher:

Obama’s Layoff Bomb
October 31, 2012
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate

In June, a diffident and self-deluded President Obama claimed that “the private sector is doing fine.” Last week, the private sector responded: Speak for yourself, buster. Who needs an “October Surprise” when the business headlines are broadcasting the imminent layoff bomb in neon lights?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Tuesday that employers issued 1,316 “mass layoff actions” (affecting 50 workers or more) in September; more than 122,000 workers were affected overall. USA Today financial reporter Matt Krantz wrote that “(m)uch of the recent layoff activity is connected to what’s been the slowest period of earnings growth since the third quarter of 2009.” Some necessary restructuring is underway in response to the stagnant European economy. But more and more U.S. businesses are putting the blame — bravely and squarely — right where it belongs: on the obstructionist policies and regulatory schemes of the blame-shifter-in-chief.

Doug Ross: CONGRATULATIONS, DEMOCRATS: More Than 45 Companies Go Galt, Announce Mass Layoffs:

You voted for it, you got it. And the early results are just trickling in.
Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division – Reuters

Vegas Employer: Obama Won, So I Fired 22 Employees – CBS

For me, yesterday’s election didn’t change a thing. I’m still at the old stand providing you the latest 411 on the decline of America, the end of Israel and the collapse of Western Civilization. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a sight to see!
Oh, and then there’s this:

https://twitter.com/stuffyhead9/status/266603408721604609

Twitchy: Layoff bomb detonates; Large corporations join small businesses in announcing mass cuts:

Earlier today, Twitchy related some heartbreaking stories of small business owners laying off workers to avoid the economic impact of the Obamacare tax that isn’t a tax. Comedian Jon Lovitz, a small business owner himself, was no barrel of laughs either as his timeline filled with stories of impending downsizing. So, what about those big corporations? Boeing’s defense division announced yesterday it would cut 30 percent of management staff, and the company was not alone, we’re learning.

CNBC: McDonald’s Suffers First Monthly Sales Drop In 9 Years.

McDonald’s  is having trouble stomaching the competition.

The world’s biggest hamburger chain said Thursday that a key sales figure fell for the first time in nearly a decade in October, as it faced the double whammy of a challenging economy abroad and intensifying competition at home. The company, based in Oak Brook, Ill., says global revenue at restaurants open at least 13 months fell 1.8 percent for the month. The last time it dropped was in March 2003.

Melanie Phillips: America goes into the darkness:

The greatest satisfaction today over the re-election of Obama is not being felt in the Democratic Party. It is not being felt among the media, who are no longer objective observers but have turned instead into corrupt partisans who ruthlessly censored the truth about Obama and helped peddle his demonising propaganda about his opponent. It is not being felt among the gloating, drooling decadents of the western left who now scent a great blood-letting of all who dare defy their secular inquisition. No, the greatest satisfaction is surely being felt in Iran.

With four more years of Obama in the White House, Iran can now be sure that it will be able to complete its infernal construction of a genocide bomb to use against the Jews and the west. World War Three has now come a lot closer.

Pundit Press: What Luck! Obama Won Dozens of Cleveland Districts with 100% of the Vote:

President Obama must have run a great campaign considering the tremendous numbers he put up in numerous big cities. Over in Philadelphia, he was lucky enough to get 90% percent turnout in some districts with over 99% of the vote.

In Cleveland, in some districts he did even better with an astounding 100% of the vote in dozens of locations. For example, in Cleveland’s Fifth Ward, Mr. Obama won districts E, F, and G 1,337 to Mitt Romney’s… 0. And in case you’re wondering, Gary Johnson received more votes than Mr. Romney.

Well, maybe that’s just a fluke. In the Ninth Ward, Mr. Obama won districts D-G with a paltry total of 1,740 to… 3. Hey, at least Romney got .2% of the vote!

CDN: Was Massive Voter Fraud Involved?

As I pondered over this election I wondered how could so many pundits like Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Peggy Noonan all be so wrong when they are always so right on? They all had Romney and republicans winning by huge margins and said that more republicans than democrats showed up in the polls and in early voting? In the end Romney lost by 2% o the popular vote but 25% of the electoral vote. Then stories like this appeared. In South Carolina voting machines were coming up Obama when Romney’s name was pushed. In Wisconsin the same thing happened. A friend of mine said that in his district a women complained that every time she hit a vote for Romney, the whole dem line lit up so they had two members, one from each party come over to check it out. They did a few manipulations and everything apparently went alright then another man complained of the same thing. My friend didn’t have any problems. With electronic voting like this you wonder with so many hackers hacking into other people’s computers and stealing identities it is very possible they could hack into voting machines too.
Then there was this situation.
A couple from Forest Park showed up yesterday at the polls to vote just like they have ever since they turned 18. When it was their turn, they were both told that they had already voted via absentee ballot. The couple said that they have never voted absentee and wanted to know how this could happen.
Precinct officials told them that they could fill out a provisional ballot, which they did.
Before long, a number of other voters in the same precinct were told the same thing, that they had already voted via absentee ballots and that they also needed to fill out a provisional ballot. Eventually, voting officials said that the mistake was due to ‘human error’ and that anyone else in the same situation would likewise have to cast a provisional ballot. In Ohio, provisional ballots are not counted until 10 days after the election.

Katie Pavlich, Townhall: Obama Administration Partners With the UN to Attack the Second Amendment:

Not shockingly, immediately after President Obama was reelected for a second term, his administration reinforced its support for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty [ATT], also known as the “Small Arms Treaty.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been expressing full support of the treaty on behalf of the United States for years now while for political reasons, President Obama sat back. Now, the entire administration will be out front in support of ratifying it.

The Daily Caller: Rep. John Fleming publicly rebukes Boehner: Don’t make promises to national media without talking to us first:

Louisiana Republican Rep. John Fleming issued a statement late Thursday rebuking Speaker of the House John Boehner for making promises to the national news media without first discussing the pledges with fellow House Republicans.

In an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer on Thursday, Boehner promised that Republicans in Congress next year would focus primarily on developing a “comprehensive approach” to immigration reform, as well as on searching for new revenues for the federal government.

But Boehner apparently didn’t clear that message with members of his own caucus before preaching it to the national news media.

“I’m concerned that Speaker Boehner is getting ahead of House Republicans when he commits to getting a ‘comprehensive approach’ to immigration taken care of ‘once and for all,’” Fleming said in a late Thursday evening statement.

“There’s been zero discussion of this issue within the conference, and I’m urging the Speaker to talk with House Republicans before making pledges on the national news. The first thing we need is for President Obama to finally enforce current immigration law and strengthen our borders. To take up any other agenda is bad policy for the American people and bad politics for Republicans. The Speaker needs to pull back on this issue and stop negotiating in public.”