The Sanford Affair

Written : June 30, 2009

We look at South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and wonder what he was thinking. He had a shot at the presidency; his actions were not logical. It’s a shame. We contrast this one to other “scandals” and realize this one is wrong, too, but it pales in its comparison.

True, Sanford (R-SC) is a powerful, sitting Governor, but he’s come clean while others in similar situations did not. Senator John Edwards (D-NC) campaigned for president during his affair and lied about it to all of us by hiding it. He was caught “red handed”, in the middle of the night while trying to sneak a visit to his ‘other woman’ through a back alley (creepy). Edwards was even rumored to have fathered a child with his mistress. He appeared to have used his wife, who had cancer, to garner sympathy. And, of course, all coverage of his affair was hushed and covered up as much as was possible by the mainstream press until The Enquirer broke the story.

President Clinton (D-AR) wriggled under oath, lying about having sex with an intern, wagging his finger at us and telling us he didn’t have sex “with that woman”, Monica Lewinsky. He even implied the meaning of the word “is” would have changed the meaning of his deed. Come on.

Sanford definitely screwed up. But as I said in a recent post, Republicans do not preach to others – they just aspire to a high (high, not “higher”) set of morals. Sometimes they fail. It’s amazing to me that some point their finger and say Sanford didn’t “practice what he preached”, as Michael Eric Dyson robotically repeated this past Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”. That’s misuse of an old, tired stereotype; a distortion and a tactic Democrats use against conservatives. Sanford didn’t preach to anyone, did he preach to you?

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, President Obama, Barack Obama, foreign policy, weakening of America.

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", “From The Left to the Right “, "conservative blog", "conservative blogs”, “President Obama”, “Barack Obama”, “foreign policy”, “weakening of America”.

Conservative Blog

America’s A-Weakening

Written : June 23, 2009

President Obama isn’t trying to make our nation weaker, but he’s succeeding anyway. When our government favors one company over another with bailout money, it unfairly influences ‘the market’. The bailed-out companies succeed (such as GM) while those not receiving funds (like Ford) are more likely to fail. Favoring a push for negotiations with Iran’s leaders over public opposition of Iran’s oppression over its own people damages America’s noblest cause, the quest for worldwide freedom from tyranny. Removing tax deductions and passing repressive tax legislation as the new massive fund-raising “energy” bill does would over-tax the American people and will eventually make us less financially strong. Let’s drill now and startup large numbers of nuclear and solar energy plants, and build a large number of wind farms instead, to move America off of it’s dependence on foreign oil. We can do scientific research during a new concerted effort to produce more energy. The president has had and still has the opportunity to rally us on this point; it would strengthen our country if he seizes it.

In these times of multiple direct military threats from North Korea and the continuous belligerence of Iran, we must not weaken our military as Obama has done when he pledged to reduce our missile defense. This is precisely the wrong time to do it – although I’m not sure if there ever will be a “right time”. It’s stunning that our own president is hurting us in so many ways. It’s all right to negotiate with every country in private, but it is sensible policy to publicly posture against such a strategy. That’s called “diplomacy”, and if I know about it, why are so many people I speak to and the current administration ignorant of such a tactic? Using a weak public posture does not help to defend America, it places us at more risk.

How has America become stronger after our president "made nice" with all the countries of the world? Obama's tried to make the world like us these past few months, but America’s received many threats for his trouble. Korea's leader has threatened Hawaii. Iran's "president" has continually threatened our ally, Israel. Osama Bin Laden, one of many unrepentant terrorists, has also threatened us this month (June 2009)! Venezuela's dictator doesn't seem to like us any more now than before. What has Obama's recent appeasement of Muslims in Cairo done to improve our relations with Arab countries? The price of gas just keeps going up. I wonder often about the current administration's policies, don't you?

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, President Obama, Barack Obama, foreign policy, weakening of America.

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", “From The Left to the Right “, "conservative blog", "conservative blogs”, “President Obama”, “Barack Obama”, “foreign policy”, “weakening of America”.

We Do Not Preach

Written : June 16, 2009

When I first heard about David Letterman’s “flawed joke” concerning A-Rod “knocking up” Sarah Palin’s fourteen year-old daughter Willow, I thought it was just an instance of bias in our media. Another liberal comedian took a crack at another conservative in an attempt to make the conservative look bad. This particular joke was also another chauvinistic stab at women, supported rape, and it assaulted progress made by liberal women’s groups in the last century. But it attacked a conservative, so it was for the most part left alone by our mainstream media and most liberal women’s groups. (I used to call them “women’s groups”, but no longer. After the relentless, vicious attacks in the media on Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign with no “women’s groups” coming to her aid, I have begun calling them “liberal women’s groups.)

There’s a little more to it than I originally thought. This speaks to one of the reasons why liberals are unjustifiably angry at conservatives. They view us as part moron, part warmonger, and part intolerant religious zealot, among other things. Of course, those stereotypes are as untrue as any other. I want to address the "religious zealot" portion of our perceived character.

I wonder how people on the left can see us like that, but they do. They see conservatives as holding everyone to every religious and moral principle. However, where they have it wrong is that they see us shaking our fingers at them, scolding society, forcing everyone to adhere to the same standards. I admit, some of us do, but most of us just try to “live right”, and many teach sensible principles and morals to our children. No conservative I know scolds others for moral errors, nor do they hold anyone else accountable for not adhering to standards we hold dear. Most conservatives and I know that God alone will do that.

Liberals insist, therefore, that ALL conservatives must live up to every religious and moral principle known to man because their perception is “that’s what we preach”. They savor depicting us as morally hypocritical. So, when Sarah Palin’s daughter got pregnant (had pre-marital sex) it makes them want to stick it in all of our faces. Gillian Barberrie Reynolds said as much on “Hannity”, on June 15, 2009. They’re apt to say something like, “Aha, so there! You conservatives aren’t perfect, either!” But we know that. We know that people (even conservatives) make mistakes and use poor judgment at times. We forgive all those who err; liberals in general, forgive only liberals. We attempt to make the best of any situation and generally look on the “bright side”. That’s our power, our strength, as I see it.

When Hillary and Bill Clinton told the media to leave their daughter Chelsea alone, they were correct. Why can’t liberals and liberal groups do the same for Sarah and Todd Palin’s children?

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, Double Standard, David Letterman, flawed joke, flawed Palin joke, bias in the media.

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", “From The Left to the Right “, "conservative blog", "double standard”, “David Letterman”, “flawed joke”, “flawed Palin joke”, “bias in the media”.

When the Shoe’s on the Other Foot…

Written : June 9, 2009

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) dared members of his committee Thursday to vote against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said a few days earlier that Sotomayor is “filibuster-proof” (a filibuster is a parliamentary tactic that allows unlimited debate) and that anyone who opposes her does so at his “own peril”. This is how the Democratic Party defines “tolerance” these days, where it’s either their way, or the highway. By the way, some Democrats DID stage a filibuster in the Senate to upset Judge Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 2006, in case anyone’s forgotten.

When Judge John Roberts and Judge Alito had their hearings only a few short years ago, Reid and the Democrats begged for more time to look over their records. I remember that Reid then insisted it was imperative that they then have more time. The Republicans, in charge at the time, graciously granted as much time as Senator Harry Reid required. Now the shoe’s on the other foot. The Republicans have just asked for more time to go over Judge Sotomayor’s record. But instead of granting more time, the Democrats have submitted an aggressive nomination schedule without even consulting with the Republicans.

In response to the Republican request for more time, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) open-mindedly said, “There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee.” Keeping in mind that this is a party whose members often scream for “fairness”, can someone please explain to me (preferably on this blog) how that response was fair?

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, conservative blog, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justice nominees

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "conservative blog", "Harry Reid",
Chuck Schumer”, "Sonia Sotomayor", "Supreme Court Justice nominees"