HALF-FULL REPORT 08/31/12

After such an enjoyable week watching GOP all-stars slap Zero around like a hockey puck, I’m outta here – for I’m sure not sticking around to spend a minute watching Democrat fascisti indulge in lies, rage, and racism in Charlotte.

Next week I’ll be in Bangladesh – for real.  Then I’m spending the rest of September, ah, somewhere in Asia. It’s a place I can’t write about – I’ll have to explain when I get back.

Meanwhile, the HFR will be in good hands with Jack Kelly.  Thanks, Jack!

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In June 2008, when he was still Candidate Zero and well before he became, to America’s eternal embarrassment, President Zero, I wrote a rant that went completely viral:  O=Zero

This week it’s gone viral again, emailed by folks all over the country to everyone on their list, and published in scores of places like Arizona’s Sonoran News (8/29). 

Perhaps one trigger for this was Zero’s paying tribute to Neil Armstrong with a picture of himself.  It was a last-straw example of his pathological narcissism.  The best caption I’ve seen for Zero’s moon-gazing picture is:  The Ego has landed…..

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In June 2011, I wrote Why Obama Will Be A One-Term President.  It explained that the only reason Zero gained the Dem candidacy and then the presidency was because he was black.  Nobody would have paid any attention to him, with his empty suit resumé, if he were white.  Zero was elected by white voters wanting to prove they weren’t racist – in the vain hope that if they did, liberals would finally STFU and stop calling them and America racist.

They didn’t, of course, resulting in the only argument the Dems have now is to scream racism! at every criticism of The One.  Yesterday (8/30), El Rushbo used the MSNBC Moonbats as an example:

"These people have lost it.  I mean, they’re worse than in the tank.  Their minds have been corrupted.  They have actually become perverted.  It’s as though there’s a poison eating away brain cells.  They’re becoming hysterical, nonsensical." 

It’s actually going to be funny watching Dems and the media moonbats become ever more deranged as they realize their accusations of racism are pushing on a string.  The louder they yell, the more folks will tune them out.  The white guilt trip is gone.  And thus, so is Zero.

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Fun Break.  One of the classic Golden Oldies is Mister Sandman by The Chordettes in 1954.  Here’s country singer Don Roberts’ version for today:  Mister Scam-man:
 

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Perhaps you’re wondering by now when the HFR will get around to Tampa.  Let’s start with Clint last night (8/30).  The media moonbats erupted with scorn and mockery. They can’t stand it when Zero is made fun of – any more than Zero can.

The first time I watched Clint’s skit, I was taken aback.  By the second and third time, I realized I was watching comedic genius.  Now think about the context: 

Amidst a convention awash with earnestly soaring rhetoric, just before Romney has to give what he knows is the most important speech of his life, the Mittster arranges for Eastwood at age 82 to get up on the stage and wing it with improv comedy.  That took moxie, and a very intriguing sense of humor on the part of our next president.

When Clint pretends to be interrupted by Invisible Zero and says:  "What do you want me to tell Romney? I can’t tell him to do that. I can’t tell him to do that to himself…" and with the crowd going into hysterics, he then waves his hand dismissively at the chair and says, "You’re crazy, you’re absolutely crazy. You’re getting as bad as Biden."

The crowd is now coming unglued laughing, so Clint follows this after a perfectly-timed pause with:  "Of course we all know Biden is the intellect of the Democratic party… Kind of a grin with a body behind it."

When he winds up with reminding Americans that "we own this country," not politicians, that "politicians are employees of ours," and that "when someone does not do his job, we’ve got to let him go" – the entire wildly cheering audience is in the palm of his hand.  It was an extraordinary performance.  No doubt about it, Clint made their day.  See for yourself:

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The big mistake the RNC organizers made, that Romney made, was a sin of omission.  Mama Grizzly wasn’t there.

Sarah Palin would have blown the doors off the convention hall.  The television viewership would have been doubled. She’s by far the biggest star in the conservative-tea party galaxy, and she wasn’t invited.  Big mistake.

A mistake that highlights the internal battle within the GOP between the tea party grassroots activists and the party leadership elite.  The elite didn’t want Sarah – for she could have ignited the smoldering rebellion of the tea partyers against them.  The leadership made an outrageous attempt to railroad the delegates with new convention rules.  Another massive mistake.

At least now the battle lines are clear.  The fight now is for Nobama.  After November 6^th, the new fight begins in earnest: preventing the Rino takeover of personnel in the Romney-Ryan Administration.  A luta continua, as Mozambique’s Renamo freedom fighters would say – the struggle continues.

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Other than that, I thought the RNC was fabuloso.  As an example, as one wag puts it: if the GOP is waging a "war on women," the women are winning.  Ann Romney was dazzling (sorry, Feebie – Drudge is right, she’s now Mrs. America), Mia Love fantastic, Condi rocked the house. 

Plus Americans were made aware of a trio of truly impressive Republican Governors:  South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, Oklahoma’s Mary Fallin, and New Mexico’s Susana Martinez. Plus New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte. War on Women?  Yeah, right…..

At the risk of driving Feebie around the bend, here’s our next First Lady.  I cried… and I’m a guy.  America is going to fall in love with her and her values.  This is a very good thing.  The contrast between her and Mrs. Zero could not be more stark.  Watch the whole 22 minutes if you can.  This is Mrs. America.

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The RNC was all about the presidency, but what about the Senate?   Let’s discuss the prospects.  What freaked a lot of GOPers out last week was they thought Missouri was going to be an easy pickup almost guaranteeing their gaining the majority – before Mr. Legitimate Rape stepped on his tongue.

A clever solution to Idiot Todd Akin’s refusal to get out of the way in Missouri has been suggested by my friend John Fund.

To run for the Senate, Akin had to vacate his House seat – for which the Pub candidate is Ann Wagner, who is fantastic.  Rather than forcing Akin to fall on his sword so Ann can run instead, John proposes a switch:  Akin runs for reelection in his district (CD2) – where he’s still popular so he’d win – while Ann takes on Claire McKaskill, whom she would easily defeat.

Akin saves face and is still a Congressman, while the Pubs get a Senate pickup.  Court approval for the switch is required, but it could work,  Smart work, John.

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Mitch McConnell (KY) is claiming the GOP can still take the Senate without Missouri but it will be harder. Really?  Here’s the HFR 2012 Labor Day Senate Sitrep.

The current line-up is 53D, 47R.  The Pubs thus need a net 4-seat gain for a majority (or 3 for 50-50 with VP Ryan to break ties). There are 33 seats up:  23 Ds (including 2 phony Indies) and 10 Rs. 

Of those 10 Rs, 6 are incumbents.  The HFR predicts all will win and handily:  Barrasso-WY, Corker-TN, Hatch-UT, Wicker-MS – and yes, Dean Heller-NV and Scott Brown-MA.

Of the 4 R open seats, 2 are easy wins, Mourdock-IN and Cruz-TX. Jeff Flake-AZ may not have an easy win over Richard Carmona, but will win nonetheless.  The loss may be in Maine.  Odds are that former governor Angus King, running as an Indie, will defeat both Charlie Summers (R) and Cynthia Dill (D).  King is a Greenie and will caucus with the Dems if elected.  King and Dill may split the leftie vote, though, giving the seat to Summers.

Of the 23 Ds, 16 are incumbents.  The HFR predicts that 10 will win clearly: Cantwell-WA, Cardin-MD, Carper-DE, Casey-PA, DiFi-CA, Gillibrand-NY, Klobuchar-MN, Manchin-WV, Sanders-VT, Whitehouse-RI.

That means 6 Dem incumbents are in trouble.  3 are going to lose: in Michigan, Pete Hoekstra will defeat Debbie Stabenow; in Montana, Denny Rehberg will defeat Jon Tester, and in Ohio, Josh Mandel will defeat Sherrod Brown.

2 of the remaining D incumbents are tossups: D-Bill Nelson vs. R-Connie Mack in Florida, and D-Bob Menendez vs. R-Joe Kyrillos in New Jersey could go either way.  Neither D is popular, and both Rs are gaining on them. Lastly, there’s Missouri, which is indeterminate:  McKaskill will destroy Akin but lose to Wagner.

There are 7 Dem open seats.  They will lose 5:  in Nebraska, Deb Fischer will defeat Bob Kerrey; in North Dakota, Rick Berg will defeat Heidi Heitkamp; in Virginia, George Allen will defeat Tim Kaine; in Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson will defeat Tammy Baldwin; and yes, in Connecticut, Linda McMahon will defeat Chris Murphy.

Of the 2 remaining D open, both are likely D wins, but not for sure.  In Hawaii, it’s D Congresswoman Mazie Hirono vs. R popular former governor Linda Lingle.  In New Mexico, it’s D Congressman Martin Heinrich vs. R former Congresswoman Heather Wilson who will get a lot of help from Gov. Susana Martinez (and Karl Rove’s Super-Pac).

The HFR bottom line: 1 R loss (Maine), 8 D loss (Connecticut, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin), with a net R gain of 7 seats for a 53-47 majority (same as now only flipped). 

There will be surprises and upsets, naturally.  But don’t be surprised at all if Romney-Ryan coattails result in even more than a 7-seat Pub gain.

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OK, on to the finale.  Paul Ryan is beyond a shadow of any doubt the best and smartest vice-presidential candidate of either party in modern memory.  The only one who comes remotely close is Dick Cheney.  His RNC speech was total OMG boffo.

There were so many great quote lines.  Here’s a sample:

"Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work.  Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed.  Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty.  Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life.  Half of them can’t find the work they studied for, or any work at all…" 

So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?

It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new.  Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind." 

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"College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.  Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now.  And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us." 

I urge you watch it entire.  As Joe Katzman told me, it’s not just the words, it’s Ryan’s humanity that you have to see for yourself.  After Romney, Paul Ryan is the next POTUS.  Sixteen years of incredibly smart, competent leadership.  Think about that as you watch him, all the way to the fantastic finish.

And Romney himself?  Over the bleachers and out of the park.  It wasn’t a barn-burner.  It was soul-touching.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience as he choked up saying:

"Mom and Dad were married 64 years. And if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist – because every day Dad gave Mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. That’s how she found out what happened on the day my father died – she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose."

His words had a deep sincerity:

"Many of you felt that way on Election Day four years ago. Hope and Change had a powerful appeal. But tonight I’d ask a simple question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama? You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

The President hasn’t disappointed you because he wanted to. The President has disappointed America because he hasn’t led America in the right direction. He took office without the basic qualification that most Americans have and one that was essential to his task. He had almost no experience working in a business. Jobs to him are about government."

He skewered Zero with this:

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise…is to help you and your family.

I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President Obama began with an apology tour. America, he said, had dictated to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators."

The moment that got everyone leaping off their feet:

"I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn’t something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. With your help we will do something.

Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, "I’m an American. I make my destiny. And we deserve better! My children deserve better! My family deserves better. My country deserves better!"

Yes it does.  And starting November 6^th, our blessed country is going to get it.  Have a great Labor Day, folks.  And don’t waste your time turning on your TV.  This is what you could watch instead: