Canadian Human Rights Council dismisses charges against Mark Steyn

One down, he still faces the British Columbia Human Rights Commission.  Allah links Ezra Levant's commentary on the situation,

The only question remaining is whether Heather MacNaughton, chief kangaroo of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, will convict Maclean's. The "jurisprudence" is there; Maclean's surely is "guilty" of "likely" "exposing" someone to "hatred or contempt". Everyone's guilty of that; so the only question is who gets charged.

Levant and Allah have this right, this isn't over, the various Human Rights Commissions of Canada are likely to lay low for a while and try and pick off lower profile people until they get to where they can take out bigger fish like Steyn, Levant, publications like Maclean's and all the Canadian conservative bloggers they're going after. 

They're only declining to pursue these cases for now because they can't get away with it, politically speaking.  I wonder if they may well take out some conservative bloggers still, they might think they can get away with it because they don't have the clout of a Levant, Steyn or Maclean's.  Don't let them be right, Canada.

It is imperative we keep this type of blight on free speech in the Western world from spreading into the US any more than it has already. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 12:22 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Definitely good for McCain, but conservatives can go further

I agree with Vintage here, but I think there's more to be said.  In Vintage's post, he links Hotair, where Allah correctly notes that a lot of social conservatives are going to be pissed about McCain's meeting with the Log Cabin Republicans, and this will probably hurt McCain, politically speaking(I was reading that post too). 

This speaks to a fundamental problem, we're beginning to see a rift between small government conservatives and the social conservatives, many want to simply abandon the social conservatives, sometimes out of frustration, sometimes out of animosity or hatred, or personal hurt, many social conservatives want to ditch the small government wing and use the government to protect traditional social views.  Cathartic as it might be, that isn't the answer.  We small government conservatives need to offer an alternate path to social conservatives, and we must do so quickly. 

This problem became clear with the rise of Mike Huckabee in the primary this year, those of us that saw Huck for the walking disaster he was managed to stop him from taking the nomination, yeah, we ended up with stupid McCain, but Huck would have been worse, which is horrifying in itself. 

Huckabee is still pounding his Christian Democrat message, and he has a solid base of sympathizers and followers.  If you look at that post, you can see how Huckabee slimes small government conservatives and lays waste to several straw men, caricatures of ruthless libertarians and robber barons crushing working people and old folks underfoot.  We know that isn't true, but clearly many people don't, we need to combat this notion, and keep the Christian Democrats from winning the heart of the social conservative movement. 

The problem with Huckabee and many other social conservatives is that they're trying to solve social problems largely caused by overreaching government.  In essence, he and those who think like him are trying to cure illnesses by treating the symptoms of an illness, not the root cause. 

We have to offer an alternative to social conservatives, and we have to work to convince them that our vision isn't the horror show the Mike Huckabees of the world demagogue and portray it as. We have to explain why it is reducing government power won't create social decay, and will likely reverse it.  How working to allow things like private school vouchers allow them to accomplish what they've tried and failed to accomplish in the courts.  I'm sure you can come up with plenty more examples, but there are a few.  

The time to preach the word of small government conservatism is now.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 08:43 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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BREAKING: Gov. Sarah Palin writes Harry Reid, causes blogger to have heart palpitations

Gov. Sarah Palin played the Absolute Moral Authority Card^tm to tell Sen. Harry Reid (Doucebag-NV) to drill in ANWR (PDF). Allah has a post on the letter here, but I think he missed the most interesting part:

Yet there is an even more important point. The location and quality of oil production are changing world geopolitics. Countries that produce significant quantities of oil and natural gas are gaining in power and prestige. Several of these countries have objectives and value systems that are antithetical to U.S. interests. We are becoming increasingly dependent on these insecure sources to our long-term detriment. Further, it has become clear that U.S. petrodollars are financing activities that are harmful to America and to our economic and military interests around the world.

One of the biggest concerns people have with putting Gov. Palin as McCain's vice president is that she has no foreign policy experience*. I think this is a savvy way for Palin to both raise her national profile on an important issue and get on record on a foreign policy issue.

Keep it up, Palin!

*Apparently she lacks the foreign policy acumen and experience of Govs. Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney despite the fact that, as Captain Ed notes, the state she governs is the only one bordered by two foreign nations.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 09:45 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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In which I shill for Sarah Palin...

Philip Klein over at the American Spectator's blog thinks that Gov. Sarah Palin could be McCain's best bet for VP.  I think he makes an interesting point here:

I could see her helping on the national security issue. Beyond the Iraq War, I think one of the reasons Republicans are having more trouble appealing to voters on national security grounds is that tough rhetoric often comes across as testosterone-driven, locker room, chest pounding. But as a mother of five with her eldest son in the Army, Palin could really make the case to other security moms as to why McCain is the best candidate to protect their families. I was watching this Charlie Rose interview with her, and (around the 10 minute mark), she talks about her son joining the Army, and says, "This kid is doing all that he can within his power to help secure and defend the United States, every elected official had better be asking themselves, are you doing as much also? Are you doing all that you can?"

Be sure to head to the link to see Klein's concerns about having Palin at the bottom of the ticket. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 02:33 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The Club for Growth endorses Sean Parnell

Those of you who read my blog in the past already know this, but for the uninitiated, one of my biggest annoyances is when conservatives use a bad presidential candidate as a way to excuse inactivity in grassroots activism. If you don't like the top of the ticket, you need to find someone further down the ticket to help out through donations, volunteering, or promotion.

My candidate of choice this election season is Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska, who is trying to get rid of Kleptocrat Don Young. He's secured the endorsements of Gov. Sarah Palin, RedState, and National Review. Now, we can add the Club for Growth to that list (emphasis mine):

The reason for the endorsement is simple. Mr. Parnell is a solid conservative who led the fight for lower taxes and spending in the state legislature, and joined Gov. Sarah Palin in pushing for reform in the state. The man he is hoping to replace isn't economically conservative in the least. Mr. Young is actually a poster child for what has gone wrong with the Republican Party in Washington.

Over his 35 years in Congress, Mr. Young made himself into the most powerful Republican on the House Transportation Committee. But instead of using his power to steer Republicans down a principled, conservative track, he helped derail the GOP train in 2006.

[...]

The Alaska primary represents a crossroads for Republicans. Will party leaders line up behind Mr. Young, even as the Justice Department is looking into his earmarks? Or will they tell him they cannot support a member who has flagrantly disrespected taxpayers and abandoned Republican principles?

Sadly, we already know the answer to this question. If you can help Lt. Gov. Parnell, please do.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 01:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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