Another One Bites the Dust. Tancredo Cedes Race to Romney

There's one fewer Republican candidate to remember. Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo dropped out of the race, recognizing that he has no chance of winning, and that Romney has the best chance to push Tancredo's signature platform - illegal immigration reform.

As the article states, the endorsement comes at a time when Romney (considered the odds-on favorite to win by Pat Buchanan) is pushing to retain an edge in Iowa - and it's a welcome endorsement indeed.

Tancredo and Romney met for about an hour today prior to the announcements, Tancredo said. He opted to support Romney after he was reassured that he had clarified his position on immigration.

Bowing out was the only way to ensure the momentum behind the anti-illegal immigration movement wouldn't flame out, he said.

Seems that Romney has enjoyed slow but steady growth over the course of his marathon campaign, compared to his opponents, whose standings have been either anemic (John McCain, Fred Thompson), in decline (Giuliani), or wildly unpredictable (Huckabee). If recent history is any measure, Mitt is right on track to be the one who beats Hillary in the general election.

Global Cooling? Blame It On Global Warming

Supporting the idea that global warming is nothing more than a dogmatic pseudo-religious movement, the earth has experienced a year of global cooling. Just a few items of evidence from the Washington Times:

Antarctica is getting colder. Neither the intensity nor the frequency of hurricanes has increased. The 2007 season was the third-quietest since 1966. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall in the U.S.

South America this year experienced one of its coldest winters in decades..

Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years. Australia experienced the coldest June ever. In northeastern Australia, the city of Townsville underwent the longest period of continuously cold weather since 1941. In New Zealand, the weather turned so cold that vineyards were endangered.

Recent weeks have seen the return of unusually cold conditions to the Northern Hemisphere. On Dec. 7, St. Cloud, Minn., set a new record low of minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. On the same date, record low temperatures were also recorded in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Canadian government warns that this winter is likely to be the coldest in 15 years.

Finally, David Deming, the writer, concludes quite concisely:

If you think any of the preceding facts can falsify global warming, you're hopelessly naive. Nothing creates cognitive dissonance in the mind of a true believer. In 2005, a Canadian Greenpeace representative explained “global warming can mean colder, it can mean drier, it can mean wetter.” In other words, all weather variations are evidence for global warming.

Meanwhile, the auto industry, reeling from economic downturn, face even greater obstacles ahead with the soon-to-be-passed energy bill, requiring 35 mpg by 2020. The power companies are investing billions into new "carbon-neutral" technology – which by then will be understood as money down the drain.

Global Warming has to be the only religion bent on the self-destruction of its adherents. In fact, sounds more like a cult to me.

Romney's Been Borked!

No, he wasn't denied an up-or-down vote on a Supreme Court appointment. Rather, Judge Robert Bork has endorsed Romney in his presidential bid:

Our next President may be called upon to make more than one Supreme Court nomination, and Governor Romney is committed to nominating judges who take their oath of office seriously and respect the rule of law in our nation. I also support Governor Romney because of his character, his integrity and his stands on the major issues facing the United States.

Mona Charen for Mitt Romney

Here's a snippet from an excellent piece Mona Charen writes about Mitt. Looks like she's one of those who was definitively swayed by his "Faith in America" speech.

"It is difficult to find any significant weakness in Romney. He is refreshingly articulate, exceedingly well prepared and self-disciplined, clearly an excellent manager with both private and government experience, happily married with a large, supportive family, and well within the mainstream of conservatism on every major issue. His nomination would not divide the base.

"He is just the sort of candidate people complain that they never get."

Michael Novak - Another Powerful Romney Endorsement

Wow, there's nothing like heating up the political horse race to bring out the big, ringing endorsements. First the National Review, and now the widely respected philosopher and diplomat Michael Novak. Read the endorsement.

An excerpt:

"One of my favorite texts from the New Testament is "By their fruits you shall know them." That verse has taught me to look for persons who actually love God, not so much by the churches they attend or what they say they believe, but by how they and their families live their lives. Over two public generations now, the Romney family has given us examples of upright, decent, warm lives, given to public commitment even though they did not have to be.

"These days, though, it has become imperative for some Christians to come out publicly for Mitt, now that his religion has come under unfair attack. I am no expert on Mormon theology, but I do profoundly admire the good family life and good individuals it keeps sending forth into the world. Those are signs I read clearly."

Great Hard Rock Café Banner Ad

It's not often an Internet banner ad gets my attention. But Hard Rock Café is one of the 0.00001% that breaks through the clutter into my consciousness. Behold:



I'd like to see the rest of the series. Any idea where they can be found?

National Review Endorses Romney

The bastion of conservative news, thought and commentary, the National Review, has endorsed my pick for president, Mitt Romney. Read the excellent endorsement. Here are some excerpts:

Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest.

Romney is an intelligent, articulate, and accomplished former businessman and governor. At a time when voters yearn for competence and have soured on Washington because too often the Bush administration has not demonstrated it, Romney offers proven executive skill. He has demonstrated it in everything he has done in his professional life, and his tightly organized, disciplined campaign is no exception. He himself has shown impressive focus and energy.

We believe that Romney is a natural ally of social conservatives. He speaks often about the toll of fatherlessness in this country. He may not have thought deeply about the political dimensions of social issues until, as governor, he was confronted with the cutting edge of social liberalism. No other Republican governor had to deal with both human cloning and court-imposed same-sex marriage. He was on the right side of both issues, and those battles seem to have made him see the stakes of a broad range of public-policy issues more clearly. He will work to put abortion on a path to extinction. Whatever the process by which he got to where he is on marriage, judges, and life, we’re glad he is now on our side — and we trust him to stay there.

For some people, Romney’s Mormonism is still a barrier. But we are not electing a pastor...He deserves to be judged on his considerable merits as a potential president...Romney is an exemplary family man and a patriot whose character matches the high office to which he aspires.

In this most fluid and unpredictable Republican field, we vote for Mitt Romney.

National Review and NRO are America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for Republican/conservative news, commentary, and opinion. Both magazine and web site are the benchmark vehicles for reaching those Republicans/conservatives who shape opinion on the important issues, and both reach an affluent, educated, and highly responsive audience of corporate and government leaders, the financial elite, educators, journalists, community and association leaders, as well as engaged activists all across America.

Mitt Romney: Most Targeted by the Democrats

These figures from Drudge are rather telling. It's a summary of the press release attacks from the Democratic National Committee. Here's the breakdown:

Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) – 37% (99 press releases)
Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) – 28% (74)
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) – 24% (64)
Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) – 8% (20)
Governor Mike Huckabee – 2% (4)]

Mitt Romney is far and away the biggest target for the DNC. They obviously see him as the greatest threat, with the best chance of defeating Hillary or whomever else they nominate.

Compare that to Mike Huckabee, who has been on the business end of a total of four negative attack releases – even though he has proposed putting all AIDS victims under quarantine.

The DNC had better pray the anti-Mormons have their way. Hmm...now there's a strange pair of bedfellows.

Awesome Quote of the Day

"Climate change is a non problem. The right answer to a non problem is to have the courage to do nothing. The UN conference is a complete waste of our time and your money and we should no longer pay the slightest attention to the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.]"

From Lord Christopher Monckton, a UK climate researcher attending the UN climate conference at a posh resort in Bali, Indonesia.

His colleague, Australian scientist Dr. David Evans, noted that,

"This is the most lavish conference I have ever been to, but I am only a scientist and I actually only go to the science conferences.

Most of the people here have jobs that are very well paid and they depend on the idea that carbon emissions cause global warming. They are not going to be very receptive to the idea that well actually the science has gone off in a different direction."

Watch "Faith in America"

I finally got around to embedding Mitt Romney's defining moment thus far in his campaign. Take a few minutes to give it a watch or listen. There are at least a half-dozen AOL (agree-out-loud) moments in it.

Webcast: Catch Romney's Religion Speech

Don't miss one of the cornerstone speeches of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign! Airing 10:30am EST. Watch it at MittRomney.com.

Dear President Bush: No More Bailouts

Don't you just love it when people about to reap the rewards of poor judgment get bailed out by politicians at the cost of those who act more responsibly? Of course, that's the essence of the game in Washington, and it's no different with Bush's proposed interest rate freeze for the two million idiots who took out an adjustable rate mortgage that will be beyond their means to pay after it "adjusts."

Talk about rewarding stupidity! "Oh, I can afford a $300,000 home because the interest rate is only 3%! Because I can always refinance later." That's like building your home on a flood plain, and then expecting the insurance company to cover the cost of your bad judgment. It won't happen.

So Bush freezes the interest rate to save their homes. At whose cost? The investors in the lending companies. More simply, Bush proposes to transfer wealth from the business owners to the homeowners, just so families don't have to move into an apartment due to their own moronic decisions. Yeah, that sounds fair.

Detroit from a Distance

looming detroit
Originally uploaded by Senor Velasco

Fiddling around with my new camera from the 8th floor of my workplace. I have to learn how to use this thing before I take Christmas photos!