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William F. Buckley 1925 - 2008
I am not going to even try to explain the importance of William F. Buckley. Instead, I will link to articles written by the people who knew him best. Rest in peace.
Man of Manifold Marvels - Norman Podhoretz
Buckley on the Hill - David Freddoso
Where There's a Will, There's Bill Buckley - Mark Hemingway
Simply Superlative - George H. Nash
A Great Man -- And a Fun One - John O'Sullivan
Three states voted on February 19th. Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama swept the elections of the day. McCain moved ever closer to securing the nomination while Obama has increased his lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton. The states of Hawaii, Washington and Wisconsin all had elections of one type or another. Hawaii held Democratic caucuses. Washington held a second round of voting, this time primaries as opposed to their earlier caucuses. The Democratic side was non-binding. Wisconsin held primaries for both parties.
Here are the final results:
HAWAII
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 76%
Clinton: 24%
WASHINGTON
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 49%
Huckabee: 22%
Romney: 20%
Paul: 7%
WISCONSIN
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 55%
Huckabee: 37%
Paul: 5%
Romney: 2%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 58%
Clinton: 41%
HAVANA — An ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after foiling U.S. attempts to topple him for nearly half a century — leaving on his own terms by clearing the way for his brother Raul to take power.
"I will not aspire nor accept — I repeat I will not aspire or accept — the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief," read the letter signed by Castro and published quietly overnight without advance warning in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma.
The new National Assembly is meeting Sunday for first time since January elections to pick the governing Council of State, including the presidency Castro holds. There had been wide speculation about whether he would accept a nomination for re-election to that post or retire.
The 81-year-old Castro's overnight announcement effectively ends his rule of almost 50 years over Cuba, positioning his 76-year-old brother Raul for permanent succession to the presidency.
Over the decades, the fiery guerrilla leader reshaped Cuba into a communist state 90 miles from U.S. shores and survived assassination attempts, a CIA-backed invasion and a missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Since his rise to power on New Year's Day 1959, Castro resisted attempts by 10 U.S. administrations to topple him, including the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
The comments still aren't working properly. I completely shut them off for now. I would love to hear any feedback you might have on any of the blogs. Feel free to email any comments to: questions@proudconservative.com.
Thanks,
Trent
John McCain……John McCain…..How did it come to John McCain? Maybe I’ll get into that later, but as of now it looks as if it’s going to be John McCain on the Republican side. So what am I, as a proud conservative to do? I have emails and messages telling me to hop on the John McCain bandwagon. I get emails telling me that they aren’t going to vote. I get emails telling me that they are going to vote for Obama or Clinton. I get emails telling me that they are going to write in a candidate or vote third party. Truth be told, I don’t condemn any of these actions. It’s up to each one of us to decide what being a conservative means. It’s up to each one of us to decide what’s better for the Republican party. It’s up to each one of us to decide what is best for conservatives. It is up to each one of us to decide what is best for America. And guess what? As conservatives, we aren’t all going to come to the same conclusion. I see valid points in all of the options above. I also see cons in each of the options above. So what am I going to do? Read on.
Now as I start going into this a little deeper, keep in mind, I am not condemning anyone for the decisions they’ve made. I’m just giving my opinion. I’m telling you what is going on in my head. Hopefully, I will get some people thinking. There is one thing that I must make perfectly clear before I get started. I admire and respect John McCain’s military service and the sacrifices he has made for this nation. I honor his military career. But that does not mean that I have to honor everything he has done or tried to do during his career as a Senator. So let me get started.
Let’s start from the beginning. Why have I been against John McCain from the beginning of this campaign? The same reason most conservatives have been against him. No, it’s not that all conservatives are robots that walk in lock step. It’s that we hold a set of core beliefs. These core beliefs can not be negotiated and they can not be compromised. John McCain went against the first amendment by drafting and pushing McCain/Feingold legislation through. The first amendment of the Constitution is not up for compromise. McCain tried and tried to push through McCain/Kennedy which was nothing more than an amnesty bill. He tries to deny it and say it was not amnesty. It was amnesty plain and simple. Read the legislation. No amount of spin is going to change the fact that it granted amnesty to 12 - 20 million illegal aliens in this nation and then gave them the opportunity to bring in an additional 20 million people. Protecting our borders is non-negotiable. A nation without borders is not a nation. He voted not once, but twice against the Bush tax cuts. Cutting taxes is a conservative fundamental. What else did he do? He tried to pass off his legislation, McCain/Edwards/Kennedy as a “patient bill of rights.” All it really accomplished was a open door for slip and fall trial lawyers to exploit the system which would inevitably raise health care costs while diminishing services. He also drafted McCain/Lieberman. This was an anti business bill that was based on faulty science. Bringing our economy to a halt is not conservative thinking. He opposed drilling in ANWR. We have a huge supply of domestic oil that we can tap into so that we don’t have to rely on and support terrorist nations, yet when it came time to allow us to drill there, Sen. McCain was against it. When the Republicans needed his support to get some great judges approved, Sen. McCain once again teamed up with liberals and moderates (the Gang of 14) and blocked a lot of good judges. Is anyone noticing a pattern here? McCain/Kennedy. McCain/Edwards/Kennedy. McCain/Lieberman. McCain/Feingold. It seems as if John McCain likes to team up with liberals. I don’t want a President who teams up with liberals. I want a President who will fight for conservative ideals and try to defeat the liberals. “But Trent. What about bipartisanship?” I am not for bipartisanship. I want a person that is proud of their conservative values and who is willing to stand up to liberals and fight for what is right. When the Democrats are in power, are they bipartisan? No, they are not. Now, of course, when there is an issue that both sides can agree on, well that’s great. I think to myself, based on how Sen. McCain has acted in the Senate, what will he do as President. If an important issues comes up, who will he go running to for help and support? Will it be the conservatives or will it be the Democrats? Based on the past, one can argue he’ll run to the Democrats. He also has an undeniable temper. I’ve seen it come out and I’ve heard first hand stories of it coming out. All the times I’ve seen it come out, it’s been against conservatives. The stories I have heard have all been against conservatives. I’m sorry, but I’m supposed to trust this guy?
So what are the options? I listed them above. Let me go through some of them.
“VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT.” I have gotten emails telling me that a person will vote for Obama or Hillary to teach the party a lesson. I understand the sentiment. It’s telling the Republican Party, “I am a conservative. If you are going to keep sending us moderate to liberal Republicans as candidates, I will no longer support your efforts to block conservatives from getting in and I will do whatever is necessary to defeat the liberal Republican you send up. When a conservative is sent up and supported, I will begin supporting the party again.” For me, personally, this is not an option. Like I said, I completely understand the thought, but it is not something I will do.
“SIT HOME AND DON’T VOTE” I have gotten emails stating that if John McCain is the nominee, then that person will stay home on election day. To the people contemplating this option, let me remind you how many brave men and women serving our nation have died to protect your freedom to vote. It is our duty to honor their sacrifice by voting. Does that mean you have to vote for President if there is no candidate you can support? No, it doesn’t. Leave the President spot blank. However, go and vote for your conservative candidates that are running for Congress or the Senate. Support your local and state officials who are conservative. Staying home because you dislike the top guy is completely unfair to your local people who are conservative and who are representing your conservative values.
“WRITE IN A CANDIDATE OR VOTE THIRD PARTY” To the people who contemplated sitting home and not voting but who have now decided to go and at least vote for their local people, why not write in a candidate? This way you are using that right that we hold dear, voting, and you are staying true to your beliefs. Who knows if there will be a third party candidate? Again, the election is in nine months. A lot can happen. Normally a third party candidate has no chance. But again, if your conscience will not let you vote for McCain and there is a third party candidate running that you feel appeals to you as a conservative, use your vote. A lot of people call it a wasted vote. I say there is no such thing as a wasted vote.
“HOP ON THE JOHN MCCAIN BANDWAGON NOW” I have gotten emails saying, “Trent, like it or not, John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. We have to get behind him and support him now.” Oh I do? I don’t think so. I am a proud conservative. I don’t have to support anyone just because they have an ( R ) next to their name. I have core conservative beliefs and principles. That ( R ) does not affect those principles and beliefs. And if the Republican candidate does not believe in my core values, I owe no loyalty to him simply because he is a Republican. Why would I jump on the John McCain bandwagon now? If I do that then he is pulling me to the left. If the conservatives choose to stay off the bandwagon, then we can force his wagon to the right. We can force him to put a true conservative on his ticket as V.P. We can force him to our way of thinking rather than submit to his way of thinking. If he moves towards our conservative beliefs down the road, THEN I’ll think about hopping on the bandwagon. If I hop on now I may as well be saying to Sen. McCain, "Feel free to move as far to the left as you want. I have no other choice but to vote for you." As long as the possibility remains that conservatives will not vote for him remains, he will have to stay to the right.
“HE’S BETTER THAN EITHER OF THE DEMOCRATS!” So is having one arm cut off instead of both. You won’t see me running around cheering…..”Hey, isn’t it great?!!! I only lost one arm!!” Just because something is better than something else, does not mean I have to support it and campaign for it and cheer for it. There is no doubt that he is better than either of the Democrats left. Is that how we really want to decide who is our President? “Well he doesn’t suck as much as the others.” I know I don’t. I want to vote FOR someone, not AGAINST someone else.
“HE’S MAKING AN EFFORT TO REACH OUT TO CONSERVATIVES.” He made a speech at CPAC. Big deal. I was hoping that this would be his chance to make his appeal to me as a conservative. Am I the only one that didn’t buy a word of what he was saying there? As I was watching the speech, I couldn’t help but feel that he was disgusted by the fact that he had to kiss up to conservatives. I am of the opinion that if he thought he had enough liberal and moderate support to win, he would have driven past CPAC and flipped off everyone who was attending. I hear the pundits saying that it was a good first step for McCain to woo conservatives. Conservatives don’t need wooing if you are one of us. The fact that he has to woo conservatives should set off alarms in the heads of anyone who considers themselves a conservative. He said he will make the Bush tax cuts permanent. O.K. That’s great! But why did he vote against them in the first place? He claims now that it was because there wasn’t any spending cuts to go along with it. But at the time, he used class warfare rhetoric calling it tax cuts for the rich. Now where have we heard those words before? Oh yeah….the Democrats. I’ll be generous though. Let’s say I take him at his word now and that he opposed them because there were no spending cuts to go along with it. Isn’t this just as bad? Conservatives know, that when you cut taxes, revenue to the government increases. So even if there were no spending cuts, the government would have been better off with the tax cuts. More importantly, the citizens of this nation would have been better off with the tax cuts. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for cutting spending. However, that is not a prerequisite for cutting taxes. He has said he got the message about illegal immigration and that he will secure our borders first. Listen closely to what he has said though. He may secure the borders first, but then he is still open to granting amnesty to all the illegal immigrants that are here. That is not what most people in this nation want. We want the borders secured and to deport those that are here illegally. He has said he will seek the council of conservatives on issues. Sounds great. The fact is he has not done so in the past, so why would he start now?
"HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT ANYWAY?" How is it that John McCain even had a chance to win the Republican nomination? After the first few debates, I endorsed Duncan Hunter. In my opinion, Duncan Hunter was far and away the most complete conservative running. I supported him and his candidacy. After endorsing him, I received hundreds of messages telling me, "You are right...Duncan Hunter is the best conservative in the race. But he doesn't have a chance to win. So I am voting for 'insert another candidate here.'" We had a true conservative running. By most everyone's opinion, Duncan Hunter is a true conservative. How many of you supported his candidacy? How many people chose to support someone who they thought "could win" over Duncan Hunter, only to see their candidate drop out? If we are going to keep supporting candidates simply on the basis that "they can win," we are going to keep getting candidates like John McCain.
“O.K. TRENT. THEN WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?” John McCain is not all bad. He has some conservative values. Some conservative values does not make a person a conservative though. I am not comfortable putting my support behind him at this point. Once again, the election is in nine months. I don’t have to decide what I am going to do now. Have I already made up my mind to vote for John McCain? No I haven’t. Can John McCain ever garner my vote? Yes he can. But he won’t get it by constantly telling me he is a conservative. He won’t get it simply because he has an ( R ) next to his name. He won’t get it by simply making a speech at CPAC. He won’t get my support by constantly saying “My fellow conservatives.” Honestly, that drives me away from him. Most conservatives do not consider him a conservative. He needs to accept that fact. What am I going to do? I don’t know yet. I am waiting to see how things play out. Nine months is a long time and anything can happen. I will not hop on his bandwagon at this point in time. It is not headed in a direction I am comfortable with. If we conservatives can alter the course of that bandwagon, I’ll consider hopping on at a later point. Again, the only way to alter the course of his campaign, in my opinion, is to withhold support for the time being.>
I know I will get many responses to this. I welcome them all. I know some people will agree with me. I know some people will be completely opposed to what I am saying and will insist we must jump behind McCain and fully support him now. I hope I get some people at least thinking about their position. For those of you who say that those of us not willing to support John McCain at present are not true conservatives and that we are foolish, I respect your opinion. However, I do have a question for you. Why are you willing to give up your conservative beliefs so easily and throw your support behind John McCain “as is?"
I’ll leave you with this thought. “The lesser of two evils is still evil.”
-Trent
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
DAMASCUS, Syria - Imad Mughniyeh, the suspected mastermind of dramatic attacks on the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, has died in a car bombing in Syria.
The Islamic militant group Hezbollah and its Iranian backers on Wednesday blamed Israel for the killing of Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's security chief in the 1980s who was one of the world's most wanted and elusive terrorists. Israel denied involvement.
Hezbollah did not say how or where Mughniyeh was killed. But Iranian state television and the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said he died in a car bombing in the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday night.
CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
The election results are in from the contests being held on February 12, 2008. There were primaries conducted in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia for both parties. Sen. John McCain scored a hat trick for the Republicans and Sen. Barack Obama scored another hat trick for the Democrats. With these wins, Sen. John McCain is bolstering his delegate count, trying to reach that magical number of 1,191 needed to secure the nomination. Sen. Barack Obama has by most accounts taken the delegate lead from Sen Hillary Clinton. The Democrats need 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination.
Here are the final results:
WASHINGTON D.C.
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 68%
Huckabee: 17%
Paul: 8%
Romney: 6%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 75%
Clinton: 24%
Uncommitted: 1%
MARYLAND
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 55%
Huckabee: 30%
Romney: 6%
Paul: 6%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 60%
Clinton: 37%
Uncommitted: 1%
VIRGINIA
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 50%
Huckabee: 41%
Paul: 5%
Romney: 3%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 64%
Clinton: 35%
NEXT UP IS HAWAII (D), WASHINGTON STATE AND WISCONSIN ON FEBRUARY 19TH.
Sen. Barack Obama has won again. He defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Maine Caucus. Sen. Obama garnered 59% of the vote, while Sen. Clinton could only muster 40%. Uncommitted received 1% of the vote.
Sen. Barack Obama was the big winner of the several Democrat races happening. He had commanding victories over Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Louisiana Primary, Nebraska Caucus and Washington Caucus. The defeats for Sen. hillary Clinton caused her to cry once again. Now I am in no position to tell Democrats what to do, but do you Democrats really want a person who cries everytime she loses to be the head of your party?
Gov. Mike Huckabee had an overwhelming win over Sen. John McCain in the Kansas Caucus. Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Mitt Romney finished in 3rd and 4th respectively. Gov. Huckabeee also squeaked out a narrow win over Sen. McCain in Louisiani as well. Gov. Mitt Romeny and Rep. Ron Paul finished this contest in 3rd and 4th respectively. And finally, Sen. McCain edged out Gov. Huckabee for a win in Washington. Rep. Ron Paul finished third with Gov. Mitt Romney finishng 4th.
HERE ARE THE FINAL RESULTS:
KANSAS
Huckabee: 60%
McCain: 24%
Paul: 11%
Romney: 3%
LOUISIANA
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 43%
McCain: 42%
Romney: 7%
Paul: 5%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 57%
Clinton: 36%
NEBRASKA
Obama: 68%
Clinton: 32%
WASHINGTON:
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 26%
Huckabee: 24%
Paul: 21%
Romney: 16%
Uncommitted: 13%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 68%
Clinton: 31%
Uncommitted: 1%
(CNN) -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will suspend his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP sources tell CNN.
Romney had won 270 delegates in through the Super Tuesday contests, compared with front-runner John McCain's 680.
Suspending a campaign has a different meaning depending on the party.
On the Republican side, decisions on how to allocate delegates is left to the state parties.
On the Democratic side, a candidate who "suspends" is technically still a candidate so he or she keeps both district and statewide delegates won through primaries and caucuses. Superdelegates are always free to support any candidate at any time, whether the candidate drops out, suspends or stays in.
National party rules say that a candidate who "drops out" keeps any district-level delegates he or she has won so far but loses any statewide delegates he or she has won.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/romney.campaign/index.html
Here are the results for all of the Super Tuesday contests:
ALABAMA
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 41%
McCain: 37%
Romney: 18%
Paul: 3%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 56%
Clinton: 42%
Edwards: 1%
ALASKA
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 44%
Huckabee: 22%
Paul: 17%
McCain: 15%
Uncommitted: 2%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 75%
Clinton: 25%
ARIZONA
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 48%
Romney: 34%
Huckabee: 9%
Paul: 4%
Giuliani: 3%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 51%
Obama: 42%
Edwards: 5%
ARKANSAS
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 60%
McCain: 20%
Romney: 14%
Paul: 5%
Uncommitted: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 69%
Obama: 27%
Edwards: 2%
Uncommitted: 1%
CALIFORNIA
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 42%
Romney: 34%
Huckabee: 12%
Giuliani: 5%
Paul: 4%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 52%
Obama: 42%
Edwards: 4%
COLORADO
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 60%
McCain: 19%
Huckabee: 13%
Paul: 8%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 67%
Clinton: 32%
Uncommitted: 1%
CONNECTICUT
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 52%
Romney: 33%
Huckabee: 7%
Paul: 4%
Giuliani: 2%
Uncommitted: 2%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 51%
Clinton: 47%
Edwards: 1%
Uncommitted: 1%
DELAWARE:
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 45%
Romney: 33%
Huckabee: 15%
Paul: 4%
Giuliani: 3%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 53%
Clinton: 43%
Biden: 3%
Edwards: 1%
GEORGIA
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 34%
McCain: 32%
Romney: 30%
Paul: 3%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 67%
Clinton: 31%
Edwards: 2%
IDAHO
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 79%
Clinton: 17%
Uncommitted: 3%
Edwards: 1%
ILLINOIS
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 47%
Romney: 29%
Huckabee: 17%
Paul: 5%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 65%
Clinton: 33%
Edwards: 2%
KANSAS
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 74%
Clinton: 26%
MASSACHUSETTS
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 51%
McCain: 41%
Huckabee: 4%
Paul: 3%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 56%
Obama: 41%
Edwards: 2%
Uncommitted: 1%
MINNESOTA
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 42%
McCain: 22%
Huckabee: 20%
Paul: 15%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 67%
Clinton: 32%
Uncommitted: 1%
MISSOURI
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 33%
Huckabee: 32%
Romney: 29%
Paul: 4%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 49%
Clinton: 48%
Edwards: 2%
Uncommitted: 1%
MONTANA
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 38%
Paul: 25%
McCain: 22%
Huckabee: 15%
NEW JERSEY
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 55%
Romney: 28%
Huckabee: 8%
Paul: 5%
Giuliani: 3%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 54%
Obama: 44%
Edwards: 1%
NEW MEXICO
DEMOCRATS:
STILL TO CLOSE TO CALL
NEW YORK
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 51%
Romney: 28%
Huckabee: 11%
Paul: 7%
Giuliani: 3%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 57%
Obama: 40%
Edwards: 1%
NORTH DAKOTA
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 36%
McCain: 23%
Paul: 21%
Huckabee: 20%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 61%
Clinton: 37%
Edwards: 2%
OKLAHOMA
REPUBLICANS:
McCain: 37%
Huckabee: 33%
Romney: 25%
Paul: 3%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 55%
Obama: 31%
Edwards: 10%
TENNESSEE
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 34%
McCain: 32%
Romney: 24%
Paul: 6%
Thompson: 3%
Giuliani: 1%
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: 54%
Obama: 41%
Edwards: 4%
Uncommitted: 1%
UTAH
REPUBLICANS:
Romney: 90%
McCain: 5%
Paul: 3%
Huckabee: 2%
DEMOCRATS:
Obama: 57%
Clinton: 39%
Edwards: 3%
WEST VIRGINIA
REPUBLICANS:
Huckabee: 52%
Romney: 47%
McCain: 1%
Gov. Mike Huckabee has won the West Virginia Caucus, but only after a dirty trick from the McCain campaign. After the first round of voting, Gov. Mitt Romney lead the vote. Sen. John McCain was in a distant third. His campaign made the decision to release his boosters to vote for Gov. Huckabee in the second round of voting, thus ensuring a Huckabee win. On the first ballot, McCain had 176 votes to Huckabee’s 375 and Romney’s 464 votes. Make no bones about it, a vote for Huckabee, at this stage in the race, is a vote for John McCain.
Gov. Huckabee wins with 52% of the vote. Gov. Romney places second with 47% of the vote and Sen. McCain after his dirty trick gets 1% of the vote.
Gov. Mitt Romney easily defeated his opponents in the Maine Caucuses on Saturday February 2, 2008. A distant second place went to Sen. John McCain who was trailed closely by Rep. Ron Paul who finished third. This set up the momentum heading in to Super Tuesday.
Romney garnered 52% of the vote, while McCain got 21%. Paul received 19% and Huckabee was way behind with 6%.
