Matt Margolis

The brilliant Thomas Sowell has a great piece on the gay marriage debate over at TownHall.com.

The Bush Mandate is just underway, but the Bush Legacy is being felt today…

Even as a new Gallup poll shows that the public values “values” less than November exit polls suggested, another survey from the same outfit released today showed a historic surge in Republican party affiliation.

In Gallup’s latest poll this month, those identifying themselves as Republicans jumped to 37% of the public, with Democrats now clearly trailing with 32%.

Democrats have long held more party members than Republicans. During the Clinton years, the bulge was about 5% to 6%. As recently as late-October of this year the Democratic edge was 37% to 34%.

Gallup noted today: “Post-election shifts in partisanship after presidential elections or midterm congressional elections are not routine, but are also not uncommon.”

God Bless America!

It’s funny how people can see the exact same thing and come to different conclusions about it.

Blogger Adam Yoshida recently blogged a short list of great conservative movies, and on that list he had It’s A Wonderful Life. Adam says that “the values espoused by the film are profoundly conservative.”

Dutiful George Bailey shirks his dreams in order to do what must be done. The manager of the local trust company, he helps house much of his town. When his father suddenly dies, he puts off going to college in order to keep the Building and Loan running. Instead he sends his brother off to college. When a bank panic hits on his wedding day, he forgoes his honeymoon and uses his money to keep the Building and Loan afloat.

As he stands at the edge of the bridge, an Angel takes Bailey to show him what the world would be like without him. He comes to understand how his doing what had to be done, his keeping his place, has made the world a much better place than it otherwise would have been.

It’s truly an anomaly: a movie which suggests that the road to happiness lies in living up to one’s obligations, rather than running from them.

Interestingly enough, liberal blogger Oliver Willis also thinks highly of the movie, he says,”I can’t think of a more perfect film, and an awesome message.” However, the message he sees is completely different than Adam’s:

..nobody can tell me George Bailey isn’t a poster boy for Democratic ideals: “Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you’re talking about. They do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn’t think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they’re cattle. Well, in my book, he died a much richer man than you’ll ever be.” [emphasis by Oliver Willis]

I can’t really vouch for the political undertones of the movie – I’ve never really watched it start-to-finish. I find Adam Yoshida’s case more convincing, and It’s A Wonderful Life even made National Review’s Best Convservative Movies list back in 1994. The quote singled out by Oliver hardly supports his claim that the character George Bailey is a “poster boy for Democratic ideals.” Adam atleast attempts to look at the movie in its entire context.

However, everyone has the right to take whatever they want from a movie. It comes down to interpretation. My guess is however that It’s A Wonderful Life appears on a number of lists of movies considered to be conservative. Of course I certainly wouldn’t doubt that a liberal would try to adopt something conservative as their own. Howard Dean once said that he was “more conservative with money” than Bush. John Kerry also repeated themes of fiscal conservatism, and who can forget his hunting trip photo-op and and his claims to be a man of faith. Who really knows exactly what Kerry’s position on abortion is today?

That being said, I’ll let other people debate the message of movie…

For quite a few years now, various people have told me I’d run for office one day. I really just dismissed it – considering if I had a choice to either be a Senator, a Congressman, or some other elected official or perhaps have my own radio show like I did in college and talk politics, I’d rather do the latter.

Last night I went to the Republican City Committee of my hometown. It was suggested to me by newly elected Republican State Committee member John Racho that I should go.

Hey, why not? It’s about time I get more involved in local politics…

During this meeting, elections were held to pick new Republican City Committee members and Ward Committee members. To make a long story short, I ended up being elected Secretary of my Ward.

How about that?

Well, I guess all those people might be right… Perhaps this is merely a stepping stone for some future calling. Who knows?

Yesterday, I went to New York City with a few friends from Boston to counter-protest International ANSWER’s anti-war/ anti-Bush/ pro-palestine/ anti-Israel/ pro-Mumia/ anti-capitalism/ pro-socialism/ pro-comunism /anti-America/ anti-Republican/ anti-democracy /anti-war on terror protest.

We left Boston around 7:30 a.m. There were four of us driving down, Aaron and Tyler from Pardon My English, FReeper Javene, and myself.

We got to New York around 11:30 a.m. found a place to park and got into the action. We had our signs and flags ready. I had a Bush-Cheney ‘04 rally sign and a self-made sign for the event. Before we even approached the center of activity, we were getting looks by passerby. Several negative, as well as a good number of people supporting the fact we were about to stand up to the commies of International ANSWER. A vet came to us and was grateful that we were there to support the efforts of President Bush – who actually had the guts to do the right thing.

We met up with our Freeper James, in New York and started in. We were immediately subjected to harassment from those people who didn’t like our signs. A few people even went to so far as to physically intimidate us. One person tried to rip off Tyler’s American flag.

So much for freedom of speech and diversity huh?

We knew we were going to be outnumbered. We were not part of any nationally organized effort, so other counter-protesters like us were probably there, but we couldn’t find them. However, the support we got from onlookers throughout the day was especially pleasing. We gave out some Bush-Cheney ‘04 buttons to a bunch of people who told us they were grateful we were there to counter protest the “nuts marching in the rally.”

We were engaged by occasional anti-war protesters. Many of whom told us we didn’t belong there and we should leave. Some looked at our signs and said “Are kidding?”, or “Are you for real? These are people who are so extreme they literally cannot believe that people could possibly think differently than them.

Or in reality – just think.

In the middle of the action

Tyler and I get interviewed by independent media

These people were completely uninterested in debating – they approached us not to have a discussion (which they claimed they were trying to have) but to tell us why they were right, why we were wrong, and they showed no interest in what we had to say and quickly dismissed our facts as propaganda and lies.

John and James

Me, holding my signs

Along the way, we were joined by a few people, one of them was John Brose, who just came back from serving Iraq in February. He had come see what was going on with the rally after hearing about it in the news and spotted us and joined our group.

I talked a lot with John, between arguing with the commies of International ANSWER. He told me about how things were in Iraq (which are not nearly as bad as the media makes it out to be) and that the troops are overwhelmingly pro-Bush and are still dedicated to the mission.

Sometimes John was confronted by the protesters, being criticized for his views. Very often he was told “Why don’t you enlist and go to Iraq?” Of course, he would “Actually, I just got back from Iraq.” After that they would usually shut up and move on. I heard a couple protesters accuse him of lying to them.

None of them thanked him for his service either. How’s that for “supporting the troops?”

John Brose (center) in Iraq

There were lots of different reactions to our presence. Once a person did come up to me said, “Listen, I disagree with what you’re saying, but I have to admit you have guts to come out here.”

People like that I could appreciate. He was someone I could have a discussion with. Unfortunately, he was a rare exception.

The signs hoisted by the ANSWER people were quite telling. From the blunt anti-Bush signs like “Bush Sucks,” “Re-Defeat Bush” or “Impeach Bush” to the anti-war signs “Bush Lies, Who Dies,” “Bring The Troops Home Now” and of course “End the Occupation of Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq,” we knew we were dealing with dealing with a large groups of extremists. Some of them even told us “You guys better get out – you’re going to get killed!”

So much for being pro-peace and anti-violence right?

We took a time out at Starbucks to get caffeinated and reenergized for the rest of the rally. We shared our individual stories from confrontations, and laughed at the ridiculousness of their arguments. After that short break, we jumped back in, and infiltrated the march – which had already started dying down.

Taking a break, posing for a photo

At one point, a rambunctious anti-war protester was screaming at us, accusing us being stupid and illiterate, and I was even called a “Hitler Youth,” – which was not a nice thing to say to a Jew.

But that’s the mindset of these extremists… If you don’t agree with them, you’re a nazi. If you support President Bush, they call you a neo-con. If you support the war on terror, you are yourself a terrorist.

There was some media interest in us. We were followed by a freelance photographer for a couple hours, and I was asked some questions by a freelance writer from Columbia University and I spoke with someone from Salon.com (though I’m not expecting an objective recount of that encounter – should she use my words.)

After the rally died down, we decided to pack up and get dinner. We treated our new friend John to dinner, as a thank you for serving our country.

After parting with our new friends, those of us who came in from Boston went to pay our respects at Ground Zero.

The cross at Ground Zero

We walked around and grasped the massiveness of the holes where the twin towers once stood. We had parked nearby, and it was eerie to think as we approached that this is where it happened. This is where thousands of people died, where people ran to escape the crashing down of the towers.

And it’s sad so many people have forgotten.

Our humility turned to anger when we began heading back to the car to find that the ANSWER people had assembled a small group of people on the platform of the view area of Ground Zero. The were still going at it, bullhorns out, and screaming out hateful words and obscenities, disgracing the memories of those who died there on September 11, 2001.

ANSWER disagracing the memory of 3000 dead at Ground Zero

As we left, we decided to do our best to disrupt this despicable display; we hoisted out of the car window Tyler’s American flag, and beeped the horn as we drove by them. It may not have stopped them, but we couldn’t have left without doing what we could.

Hours later, I came home and had received an e-mail from John Brose, thanking us for hanging out with him:

Thanks for hanging out during that bullshit protest. Well, I am glad I came across you guys, because seeing all these morons in one place was pissing me off and I think I was ready to jump someone. I just can’t understand their whole thought process. How can you not be willing to support someone who is defending you? I was shocked at how almost all of these people had no agenda whatsoever, or even seemed to know what they were talking about. Most of them were nothing but freaks. And what’s scary is that their votes count just as much as mine.

Scary also is that they think they represent mainstream America.

It was quite a day. So much happened I probably won’t get to share, but Aaron and Tyler have each written about the day at Pardon My English, and you can read their accounts of the protest.

UPDATE: More accounts of anti-protests from IvanLenin, Hootinan, and Anti-com.com,

That’s my Bush!

After three years of watching Senate Democrats block his judicial nominees, President Bush trumped them for the second time this year by installing Alabama Attorney General William Pryor on the federal appeals court.

Take that Kennedy!
Take that Schumer!
Take that Leahy!

You know, the whining by the Democrats is so juvenile.

Senator Chuck Schumer “Regularly circumventing the advise and consent process is not the way to change the tone in Washington.”

Circumventing advise and consent? You mean like when Leahy demended Bush consult with Senate Democrats before nominating a judge? Or like delaying confirmation hearings in order to get a controversial ruling passed on affirmative action?

They never bitched when Clinton did it either…

Senate Democrats just can’t get over themselves… They want their own liberal activist judges to pervert our courts, letting child molesters, murderers and terrorists back on the streets. Well, suck it down Dems! They just got bitchslapped and now they have to lie in bed they made.

To all my readers in Massachusetts, I urge you to visit the “Axe The Auto Tax” Website, download the petition, and get signatures in your town. As of November 3, the website says “8,225 signatures have been collected, and they need 69,422 by the 19th.

Read up on this petition to get an understanding of why the Auto Tax should be repealed. You can sign up for updates on the main page to stay informed of the progress. There’s not a lot of time, so with a little organization and dedication, we can axe the auto tax!

Last night, myself, and a few others of the local chapter of Free Republic held a counter protest to a rally organized by One Palestine. One Palestine was in Boston to protest a conference held by an organization called Brit Tzedek V’Shalom, an organization which basically believes that the Jews of Israel can peacefully co-exist with the Arabs as long as both sides make various concessions. Personally, I don’t believe their goal is realistic, for the Arabs have shown nothing but pure hatred for the Jewish people and only wish to destroy Israel.

Holding signs and having fun.

That aside, we had a small group with us. Several people on our side could not make it. However, we had about five people, and the pro-Palis had between 30 and 40 people. They were on one side of the street, we were on the other, at the entrance to the Park Plaza hotel.

Their messages were contradictory and inflammatory. They called Israel a “Terror State,” they were calling for an end to “racism and genocide” amongst other things.

Aaron with his ever-so-popular “Suck My Intifada” sign.

This is very interesting, because not one of them was holding a sign condemning suicide homicide bombings. They had a few chants, and we’d usually counter their chants with our own. They would shout “Palestine will never die!” and we’d say “Palestine was never alive!” or they’d say, “Zionism is racism!” to which we replied, “Intifadah is terrorism!” They had a bunch of different slogans, and I’d come up with different things on the fly to respond with, “Palestine is a terror state!” “Bombing buses is not peace!” “Stop the bombings then we’ll talk!” “Am Yisrael Chai”

All in all, I think we did a good a job standing up to them. They appeared very irritated at our presence, and I think they got really annoyed that our chants were interrupting theirs and they certainly appeared dumbfounded at times on how to respond to various things we said.

Me wearing Tyler’s President Bush mask.

You can imagine the reactions we got.

We experienced a lot of different reactions from passersby. One man came up next to me said, “I can’t believe those people across the street, I’m glad you guys are out here, you’re doing the Lord’s work.”

At one point, we saw the pro-Palis chasing after someone surrounded by security, me, my brother, and another Freeper chased after them to see what was going on, we were told it was Congressman Barney Frank, who the pro-Palis had been shouting about a couple times back by the hotel. They assaulted him with questions, and he did his best to have a reasonable conversation with him, but after they kept flooding him from all directions with remarks and accusations he refused to continue and left with his security. After this incident we had some face-to-face confrontations with the pro-Palis, which almost seemed ready to violent. Ignorant of the history of Eretz Yisrael, they were unwilling to listen to what we had to say, calling us racists and counter productive. The sign I was carrying had pictures of suicide bombings and I asked them “Do you call this peace? Why don’t you condemn this?” A couple of girls, who I believe were organizers of their protest said, “Yes, I support suicide bombings if that’s what it takes.”

Tyler (wearing the mask) and myself.

These pro-Palis were clearly inhuman parasites. I couldn’t believe my ears. I shouted some nasty things at them, and made my way back across the street.

Occasionally someone from their side would come over and they’d engage us in an argument… while they were perfectly willing to spread their hateful lies, they were unwilling to listen to us. They kept shouting, ignoring the facts we had…I once again asked them to condemn the homicide bombings, and they wouldn’t – they actually said they agreed with them.

The whole affair lasted a bit over 4 hours. For a group of our size, we gave them a decent fight and as their numbers dwindled, we remained strong. After it was over, the five of us went to cheers for dinner and some brew. It was a great time.

Hanging at Cheers after the protest.

Check out my brother Aaron’s description of the protest at his blog.
And Tyler (BostonianRightist) has a FReport about the event also.