A little tidbit today, though, from a new site I found, TooManyAborted.com. For several years I’ve followed the nation’s pro-life black leaders in their quest to decrease the number of abortions had by black women. FYI, black women have abortions 3X more than their white counterparts and Planned Parenthood clinics are often located in lower-income black neighborhoods for women to have easier access.

Those who staff Planned Parenthood are not bad people, but they are severely misguided ones. TooManyAborted.com tackles a twisted form of racism within the abortion industry and their site features all the materials, support, endorsements and information we need to fight this battle. I sat next to Ryan, the man featured in this pro-adoption video at the Blogs for Life Conference this year. You can’t deny a story like this one. Watch it and choose life.

Similarly, many on the right are reflexively defensive when outsiders disparage Palin.  Some are at the point where they snap at anyone who looks askew at her.  That’s an understandable overreaction based upon how spitefully liberals and their media pals have treated her.  Still, gently pointing out her flawed decisions is constructive.  Righties just have to remember to offer helpful pointers.   Refraining from wallowing in negativity will keep conservatives from devolving into the sort of dysfunctional family that keeps a shrink on retainer.

Her most debated recent decision involved not what she said but where and when she said it.  Namely, Palin’s decision to participate in last week’s Tea Party Convention resulted in a fantastic speech  (h/t Tammy Bruce).  And she can rightly claim that she attended to address the true Tea Partiers regardless of the organizers’ motivations (h/t Teri Christoph).  But she still should put one more date on her itinerary, especially considering the questions swirling around the structure of the last party she attended.

She shouldn’t neglect the other party.  Despite the organizer’s different kind of noted troubles, CPAC remains an ideal site for walking among the grassroots.  Instead, co-worker Glenn Beck gets to talk to the folks while Palin abstains.  Still, her guardians would point out that her intentions were true even if she’s mistaken by not meeting and greeting both sets of conventioneers.

She’s also picked a horse that most conservatives would prefer to see lose.  The best hope for Rand Paul is that it turns out he’s not as crazy as Dad Ron.  Don’t raise your hopes.  Palin’s outsider-siding ways make her appealing,  But she should take care next time to back someone who’s not so, say, enthusiastically anti-Patriot Act if she wants to appeal to non-Dale Gribble-style conservatives.

More understandable is an act of campaigning kindness she offered to her liberal-leaning former partner.  John McCain put her on the map, after all, although of course she repaid him by serving as the only exciting aspect of his supremely crummy effort.  Her decision to appear alongside the man who sucks the fun out of the word “maverick” is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan endorsing the Brady Bill as a favor to his friend: at certain moments, the personal trumps the political.

On top of that, some don’t like her new job.  Critics have speculated that her stint as a Fox News commenter will slow her down if she’s serious about eventually running for higher office.  But she gets to make fun of the president on television, which qualifies it as the most fun job in America.  In more mature terms, she has yet one more platform she can use to establish her views while establishing how well she can articulate same views.

Still, the Hunter Governor should start taking better advice, or at least hire better advice-giver-outers.  She’s committed a handful of what we can generously classify as gaffes.  But this is a good time for her to learn from curious decisions, especially since the actions in question at least seem to have been made with good intentions.

Plus, there’s one important thing to remember while she endorses odd candidates or attends for-profit Tea Parties: she maintains an undeniably solid philosophy.  Palin remains a plainspoken defender of a nation whose strength descends from its limited national government.  That tendency is most evident in her succinctly cogent Facebook posts, which counteract all the damage inflicted upon civilization by FarmVille.

Set the minor slip-ups aside: she recognizes more than any other public figure that America is great not because of what its government does but rather because of what it allows Americans to do. 

Learning by doing is fine as long as the emphasis is on the “learning” part.  This is a particularly important time for her if she plans the aforementioned career change, namely from media commentator to America-runner.  With, understandably, no clear Republican frontrunner yet for 2012, (h/t Clayton Morris) she can goof up a little now as she strives to polish her image.

The lead is hers to grasp if she’s ready to go.  While Mike Huckabee might presently be able to boast of more individual campaign donors, that tally doesn’t count the 17 trillion books or so sold by the right’s favorite author.  Now, she just has to work toward ensuring the second volume can be shorter on account of it containing fewer pages devoted to bloopers.

In any case, her miscalculations will never approach those of the current officeholder even if she ends up holding the same responsibilities.  Of all the disreputable aspects of Barack Obama’s first presidential year, the worst may be how he’s trying, and failing, to learn on the job.  While he’d be a sad leftist even 20 years from now, he could still use seasoning to learn how to react properly under duress.

By contrast, Palin wouldn’t spend her time in the White House sucking up to Iran’s hoodlum regime while provoking our Honduran, Colombian, British, Israeli, Polish, Czech, South Korean, Indian, Canadian, Georgian, or other friends.  She’d trust us to stimulate the economy instead of assuming she can micromanage our finances from the Oval Office, too.  Most of all, there’s little fear that she would get into the habit of bowing to foreign leaders, including Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Tampa Bay.

Conservatives should keep her natural abilities in mind and afford her ample leeway.  If nothing else, small-government aficionados should overlook her occasional missteps simply because of the attributes we see in her enemies. Namely, they’re consistently the insufferably vitriolic types who slapped “CHRISTIAN FASCIST” bumper stickers upon their Volkswagens in January 2001.  That’s when her antagonists aren’t simply nasty, troubled, sad humans.

Palin provokes the same reaction among the stammering left that the previous president did, namely the W. Twitch.  We should petition doctors to update the syndrome’s name, as those infected now robotically spew venom at their new favorite adversary.  Most notoriously, her enemies shriek about how the underwhelming litany of colleges she attended speaks to her dimness, although that fails to simultaneously account for how Yale and Harvard man Bush can be such a dunce.

Her wholly conservative values are the best reason to offer her support.  But Palin is worth cheering for just to irritate the people who think she’s a mere simpleton.  Their hilariously apoplectic reaction to everything she says and does is fantastic in itself.  The level and pitch of hatred tells us that the Rogue Queen must be doing something correctly.

Our favorite Alaskan will sharpen her approach and tactics with time.  Meanwhile, before they give her further grief about how she’s nowhere near as brilliant as they are, Palin’s archenemies ought to ensure that the dumb things they accuse her of saying weren’t actually uttered by that 30 Rock woman.         

Anthony Bialy is a freelance writer and “Red Eye” Conservative in Western New York.  He blogs at http://thebuffalobean.com and tweets at http://twitter.com/AnthonyBialy.

“She would not have wanted to be kept alive this way.” “We just can’t afford to have him on life support forever.” Discussing life support is a difficult conversation for any family, especially when the unresponsive loved one did not leave any indication of what he or she wanted. But imagine having that conversation when your relative can both hear and understand the discussion centering on whether or not to pull the plug on their life.

Newly-released results of a UK/Belgian study indicate some persistent vegetative state (PVS) patients while paralyzed may be able to effectively communicate via brain waves. Functioning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology detects blood flow during neurologic activity; brain function requires oxygen, so when the brain is active more oxygen-rich blood is supplied and the fMRI tracks it. 54 patients with severe brain injuries were studied and 5 were shown to answer simply phrased yes/no questions. Once clinicians knew these patients were more coherent, more attention was paid to bedside interactions and 3 of the 5 were credited for at least some physical response.

PVS has a 40% misdiagnosis rate – meaning patients are declared vegetative when they should be classified with higher levels of consciousness; life support is still needed to carry out the mechanical and chemical functions of the body while feeding tubes supply nutrition and hydration. When the decision is made to take a person off of life support, it is often done through the removal of this feeding tube. Dehydration is often considered a “natural” cause of death and gives the family time to not only make peace with their decision, but also say good-bye.

But what about the person who is conscious, paralyzed, and slowly dying without any means to save their own?

Once the body reaches extreme dehydration, the kidneys stop working which means toxins are no longer filtered out of the body and that eventually leads to heart failure and a quiet death. This can take anywhere from 10 to 28 days. For patients who are terminally ill, it is thought to be a peaceful departure from this life, but are PVS patients with some degree of awareness terminal?

For those who are pro-life, protecting human life extends not only to the womb, but to the end of life as well. Regarding ethics, morals, and religion, it is traditionally a decision made on a case-by-case basis by an intimate group of people. Fundamentally, however, each American is entitled to the pursuit of life (in addition to liberty and happiness) which begs to question what role the courts should play in end-of-life decisions.

In the well-known case of Terri Schiavo, the court upheld the principle of guardianship (in her case, Michael, her husband who sought to end her life under the supposition that Terri wouldn’t have wanted an artificially sustained existence) and denied all motions set forth by her Roman Catholic parents who declared they would fight for their devout daughter. Ms. Schiavo’s cerebral cortex, the area of the brain used for consciousness, language, and thought, was liquified by her injury and, therefore, unable to function in any capacity. Given the information we have today, it is safe to assume Terri was not aware of her surroundings or situation despite her alleged smiles and eye contact.

On the other hand, Rom Houben, a Belgian man, spent 23 years silently suffering in what doctors thought was a persistent vegetative state before he emerged. When he “woke up” doctors found that Rom was paralyzed but maintained a higher degree of brain function throughout his coma. Impaired, he uses a special computer to recall conversations nurses had between themselves in his room and dreams he had over the course of two decades. Physically unable to give any indication that he was mentally competent, Rom’s family continued to sustain his life in the hope that he would recover.

New technology will continue to sustain human life longer than ever thought possible and the federal court will more than likely keep deferring these types of cases to state courts. These new developments are more reasons for concern over current health care reform legislation. PVS patients will require substantially more money to sustain and may not have as great of a chance for fMRI testing or even compliance with family wishes if the federal government is footing the bill. This very issue questions the legality of President Obama’s health care reform because, after all, the Constitution does not explicitly grant Congress the power to make any decisions directly or indirectly centering on the medical treatment, life, or death of an individual.

The central theme running throughout the final day of the National Tea Party Convention focused on the movement itself.  How strong is it?  Will it last?  Speakers confronted these questions while rank and file Tea Party convention attendees discussed new plans of action that they would be bringing home.  As for the question of division within the movement, the hard working volunteers consider the discord as the inevitable growing pains of a new, spirited movement.  The presence of unity and shared values among the folks who populate the movement was far stronger and only seemed to strengthen their resolve.

 These people aren’t quitters and they know what they’re up against.  They’re used to hard work and perseverance; in fact, it’s a way of life for them.  These are the kind of folks prepared to go the distance to defend the Constitution and re-light the lamp of liberty so that it will continue to blaze freely into a dark and dangerous world.  After a long weekend of training and networking, these Patriots from the Tea Party movement clearly understand the critical reality that the future of the movement depends on what happens at the grassroots level. 

 
Andrew Breitbart, the self- professed “middle income media mogul” was among the day’s top draws.   Breitbart didn’t break stride as he “pushed back” against the main stream media while they looked on.  Fearless and direct, Breitbart called the media out on their “contempt for the American people.”  He told the media that “it’s not your business model that sucks, it’s you that sucks.”  The packed room was on its feet and facing the media assembled on a platform in the back as they applauded their agreement.  Breitbart pointed out that the media and the elites who they answer to, can no longer control the narrative; not with the steady advance of new media of which Breitbart knows a thing or two.  Breitbart shares a distinctive quality with Sarah Palin…he receives a standing ovation before and after he speaks from the podium.  This was the case again later in the day when Breitbart introduced a mysterious, un-named conservative singer, songwriter as the opening act for the Saturday night dinner.

Keynote speaker Sarah Palin delivered one knock-out punch of a speech in a ballroom packed to capacity and against the backdrop of media from around the world.  Patriot and Tea Partier, Peter Singleton of Menlo Park, CA stated decisively that Palin’s speech tonight surpassed the stirring performance she delivered from the floor of the 2008 Republican Party Convention. 

Palin lost no time laying out her argument, our argument against the conduct and the policies coming out of the Obama White House.  Palin advised the President to “stop lecturing and start listening” to the American people.  Palin pointed out that our country needs “a national security policy that distinguishes our friends from our enemies and recognizes the true risks we face.”   Palin added, that we need a “Commander in Chief not a Professor of Law,” in response to the Obama Administration’s bestowal of our Constitutional rights on the ‘Christmas Day Bomber’. 

She recommended that the President would be well served to stop blaming all of his problems on his predecessor;  and  that we the people are “tired of hearing the talk, talk, talk” from this over-exposed President.  Palin referred to the Stimulus money as “borrowed, printed up, invented dollars;” and questioned the so called “transparency behind closed doors.”  In citing the broken promises and the administration’s deaf ear to the American people, Palin said, ”Washington has broken the trust of the American people.”

 In an evening loaded with takeaway lines, Palin described the recently unveiled budget as “record breaking and mind boggling.”  Unafraid, Palin moved from comments on the budget to her conviction that “freedom was a God given right.”   Countless standing ovations occurred one after another in a room filled with the energy that Palin unfailingly brings.  When questioned later about how she would advise someone to handle the vitriolic attacks that she has endured from the intolerant leftist media, Palin advised people to “just plow right through it…who cares.”  How fitting, that all these conservatives would be gathered on the birthday of President Ronald Reagan for a speech by a true patriot and a great American woman, Sarah Palin who stands for common sense conservatism.

“We are proud to sponsor a nationwide voter registration initiative. Smart Girl Politics believes that part of grassroots activism is helping to get more and more voters to the polls,” says Stacy Mott, Founder of Smart Girl Politics. “In no way does Smart Girl Politics endorse or condone any effort to dissuade any segment of the population from registering to vote. As a volunteer organization with limited funding, SGP must rely on its membership to exercise judgment which reflects the non-partisan mission of Smart Girl Politics, as a whole.”

SGP will continue to provide members with information and resources to conduct voter registration drives throughout the country, in the spirit of seeing every eligible American exercise her or his right to vote on election day.

——-
Rebecca Wales, SGP Director of Communications, can be reached at rebecca@smartgirlpolitics.org

Michelle Moore, SGP Director of Technology engaged a packed room at the National Tea Party Convention as she detailed the short yet amazing history of Smart Girl Politics of which she was an integral part.  The story of SGP along with its mission as told by Michelle inspired numerous conservative women to join Smart Girl Politics today.  The topic of voter registration as an effective tool of grassroots activism was also covered during this Break Away session.

During lunch, convention attendees listened to a powerful speaker line up.  First up, Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch.  Fitton told the crowd “we’re investigating everything.”  Currently, Judicial Watch has filed 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the notorious Bailouts.  Fitton described the Obama administration as a “stonewall” in preventing these facts from seeing the light of day.  Fitton also discussed FOIA requests that average citizens can and should be filing on their local governments in regards to state of many cities and townships as sanctuaries for illegal aliens.  He added that local politicians should fear Judicial Watch more than the ACLU; to which the crowd responded with boisterous applause.

Next up, was former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, Roy Moore; a.k.a. “the 10 Commandments Judge.”  Moore began by delivering a portion of the famous “give me liberty or give me death” speech of Patriot, Patrick Henry that effectively produced an atmosphere where one could hear a pin drop.  Moore went on to describe Obama’s bowing to the Saudis as an act that “subjugated our national sovereignty.”  Moore reminded the crowd that we are in a moral, as well as an economic crisis.  He said that “we live in a time that tries not just the souls of men and women, but the soul of our nation.”  Moore concluded his inspiring talk with the directive; “we must fight, I repeat, we must fight.”

Following lunch, a popular Break Away session with an overflow crowd presented a discussion on “Defeating Liberals in the Primary Process.”  The panel included Chicagoans, Bruce Donnelly of www.SurgeUSA.org Tim Kraulidis of www.Joliettaxdayteaparty.com and recent primary winner for the IL 8^th Congressional District, Joe Walsh, www.JoeWalshforCongress.com Following the nation’s first primary, this Illinois-based panel presented insight into setting up candidate forums, as well as a break- down on the success of Walsh’ primary race in a crowded field. 

Fox News Political Analyst Angela McGlowan, founder and CEO of Political Strategies & Insights, kicked off the evening program over dinner.  McGlowan brought down the house with her solid, conservative discourse and hinted towards a big announcement on Monday of her own candidacy.  Next on stage was Joseph Farah of www.worldnetdaily.com who delivered a ‘no holds barred’ speech reflective of the courageous news served up daily at his web-site. 

The evening was capped off with a special screening of the new film ‘Generation Zero’ by acclaimed conservative film maker Stephen K. Bannon.  The film delves into the economic meltdown, the greed behind it and the ongoing fiscal mismanagement by the elite, entrenched, Political class.  The film is endorsed by Andrew Breitbart and should be the one film you see this year. 

Media presence at the convention continues to build with the arrival of Governor Sarah Palin on Saturday night.  Much like the mission at Smart Girl Politics, the focus at this convention can be best described as Engage, Educate and Empower.  Convention participants are networking, learning about political engagement and are hearing from the most powerful, conservative voices in the country.

Taxpayers might want to pay close attention to this Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast or they’ll miss Uncle Sam’s 30-second, $2.5-million reminder to stand up and be counted.

That’s what the Census Bureau paid CBS to get their message notched somewhere between a National Lampoon reprisal, a weird dude with big glasses, a beer-can house and men without pants.

And, that’s just a fraction of what the bureau plans to spend this year to get Americans to answer a simple, 10-question survey.

The bureau is spending $133 million between January and May — or, more than $13 million for each of 10 questions, one of which reads: What is your telephone number? — to publicize the national head-count. Part of that effort is the Super Bowl ad, which Kendall Johnson, a spokeswoman for the bureau, confirmed Wednesday to FoxNews.com cost $2.5 million to air. The ad, produced by actor and director Christopher Guest, also will appear in other media, Johnson said.

It’s insane that the government is spending so much money on a freaking public service announcement. Obama has already quadrupled the deficit. Unemployment is out of control. The economy is showing no signs of improving. Yet Obama still found it necessary to spend $2.5 million on a 30 second ad? It’s as if this ad sums up the entire problem with the Obama presidency. To them, what’s another few million dollars? It’s as if Marie Antoinette has been reincarnated into our new president, who is just as clueless as she was. Why on earth do we need a $2.5 million commercial for the census during the Super Bowl? To put this into perspective, even Pepsi isn’t buying any ad spots during the game. Pepsi decided not to buy any because… it was too expensive. We’re spending more and more money on more and more crap that doesn’t even matter. There’s no reason to have an ad for the census during the Super Bowl, none whatsoever.

Oh, and check out this interesting little nugget about the census:

Every U.S. household, including those occupied by non-citizens and illegal immigrants, must be counted.

Including illegal immigrants. Way to go, Obama. You’ve turned something that’s fairly routine into another FUBAR mess.

Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more original commentary, or follow her on Twitter!

The former Congressman voiced his concerns about the march of big government, the loss of personal freedom and the threat of multiculturalism.   When talking about our flag, our country’s history and the indisputable greatness of this nation, the Congressman was visibly moved.  A true patriot, Tancredo opened this gathering of Patriots with energy, enthusiasm and a message to the crowd to stay the course.

The presence of media from around the world in Nashville has surprised many of the Convention participants.  Many of these same folks were also present at the 9/12 March on Washington, D.C. which was notoriously downplayed and under-reported on by most American media outlets.

As I waited for Congressman’s Tancredo’s opening remarks, I spoke with Carolyn Lowry of Kentucky.  Like many of the folks gathered in Nashville this weekend, Carolyn had never been politically active before; yet in the past year, she and her husband attended local Tea Parties, a Town Hall Meeting, as well as the 9-12 March in D.C.  Earlier in the evening, Carolyn had been interviewed by the New York Times; and that’s not all, I’m happy to announce that on the Tea Party Convention floor, Carolyn signed up at Smart Girl Politics.

Right after an interview with Campbell Brown of CNN, Smart Girl Politics member, Lisa Mei of Virginia took to the stage to sing her hit song “Revolution’s Brewing” along with some new material as part of the evening’s entertainment line-up.  Red Rhinestone-studded cowboy boots peeked out from her jeans as Lisa brought the crowd to its feet more than once with her patriotic lyrics and melodic voice.  Lisa will be featured in the April, 2010 issue of ‘Spin’ magazine as part of a story on the music of the Tea Party Movement.

Ray Stevens brought his entire Band to the stage as the headlining act and put the crowd in a partying mood.  Stevens brought people to their feet and got them dancing as he played new music, patriotic tunes, as well as some of the old favorites.  His performance reflected the energy of the crowd tonight.

Patriotism is the common thread from the convention logo exhibiting the stars and stripes and the American eagle, to the speakers and the evening’s entertainment.  In some respects, this gathering in Nashville is a celebration of a phenomenal year when freedom-loving Americans united nation-wide through local grassroots networking in defense of the Constitution, our Judeo-Christian heritage and our way of life.  All weekend long, these Patriots will be networking with each other, learning from each other and generally focusing the passion of the Tea Party into action.  The event will culminate with a Keynote Address by Sarah Palin on Saturday night which will be covered by global news networks and viewed by millions around the world.

If the election were held today, Sen. Blanche Lincoln would lose in a landslide, according to the latest polling from Public Policy.

The poll shows 33% of voters would pick the Arkansas Democrat, while 56% would vote for Republican Rep. John Boozman.

The 23-point edge for Boozman, who has yet to officially announce his campaign, underscores that Lincoln is one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the 2010 cycle. Among independents, Boozman fares even better, 66%-20%.

Also troubling for Lincoln is her 27% approval rating, and 62% disapproval rating among Arkansans. Even among self-identified Democrats, her approval rating is a lackluster 51%, and just 17% of independents approve.

The number one thing dragging down her numbers? According to Public Policy, it’s health care. A majority of voters are against it. They’re so against it, that Public Policy even found Boozman beating other Democrats, in case Lincoln were to step down. Arkansas looks to be a state that will not stay in the Democratic Party’s hands. Two Democrats already cut and run, but Lincoln hasn’t yet. After she sees these numbers, will she realize that it’s her turn to retire too? I’m sure she’s getting pressure from party leaders to do so, because they’ll think that some other Democrat will have a better chance of holding the seat.

These signs from across the country should be a cue to Obama to scale back a bit. Americans hate his policies, they hate what Democrats are doing in Congress. They voted for change and transparency, and got the same old bloated big government, the same Chicago corruption, and the same overspending. People aren’t happy. They aren’t much happier with Republicans, but most Americans don’t buy Obama’s repeated whining about how it’s Bush’s fault. They know exactly who created this mess, and it’s the Democrats. And now, the Democrats either need to make some changes, and fast, or pay the price.

Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more original commentary, or follow her on Twitter!

When Obama took the unprecedented opportunity during his State of the Union address to demonize the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission he called negative attention to a decision that restores First Amendment rights limited by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as McCain-Feingold.

Citizens United, a non-profit corporation, released a documentary in 2008 entitled “Hillary: The Movie” that was critical of then-candidate Hillary Clinton. After releasing the movie in theaters, the corporation planned to release the documentary on cable “on demand” within 30 days of the primary elections. This was a potential conflict with election law. Corporations and Unions could not fund “issue ads” within a particular time period prior to an election or primary. Citizens United challenged this ban.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United striking down part of 2 U.S.C. 441(b). The Court found that it was unconstitutional to limit free speech simply because of the speaker’s corporate identity. This ruling applies equally to unions’ free speech rights.

The President’s comments during the State of the Union are intellectually dishonest. Citizens United struck down part of 2 U.S.C. 441(b) and did not deal with 2 U.S.C. 441(e) which bans election contributions by foreign nationals. The Court even notes that it need not address the government’s interest in preventing “foreign individuals and associations” from contributing to elections and cites Section 441(e). 558 U.S. 46-47 (2010)

Clearly, the government has a strong interest in preventing foreign influence over our elections, but by overreaching and limiting free speech for American citizens, McCain-Feingold flies in the face of the Constitution. The Citizens United decision does not open the floodgates to foreign influence. It removes an unconstitutional limit on free speech that violated the rights of Americans. As a former constitutional law professor, our President should know this.