Steve Skojec

In light of some recent, brazen, commentator-stat-boosting (due, no doubt, to the fact that I’ve provided so little content here over the past month) I’ve been asked by Joe Marier to open the comment boxes to a shameless stat-boosting war.

To the best of my knowledge, the “top commentator” rankings are reset at the end of the month, so it’s a fight to the finish if you want to come out on top for November.

Everyone shake hands, and come out posting. (And may the best man win.)

I was reading through a pictorial today at the New York Times about the (long-overdue) re-opening of the American History Museum here in DC.

One of the slides features this comment about the museum’s redesign:

It is more difficult to see whether any more profound interpretive change is in the offing. I can’t think of another museum where individual objects are so impressive, while the whole is so out of focus.

If you replaced the word “museum” with the word “country”, wouldn’t this be a profoundly apt description of America itself?

My wife and I have gotten involved with an effort to promote “Choose Life” license plates in Virginia as a means by which to raise money for crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life organizations. In other states where they’ve been introduced, these plates have been very effective elsewhere in raising funds to help mothers-in-need.

I’m late posting this - I’ve been absolutely buried with work this month - but better late than never. They’re really in need of more petition signatures and pre-orders, so if you’re in a position to participate, please do.

Read on for the details on how you can help:

Pre-Paid Applications Needed To Get “Choose Life” License Plates Approved In Virginia

Plate Proceeds To Benefit Pregnancy Resource Centers Which Assist Pregnant Mothers In Need

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Richmond, Virginia November 13, 2008: The Richmond Coalition for Life today issued a call for action from all pro-life Virginians to help get approval of the “Choose Life” Virginia license plate.  Shawn Doran, Community Outreach Committee Chairman of the Richmond Coalition for Life is asking all Virginia pro-lifers to immediately get involved.

“You can help put ‘Choose Life’ license plates on Virginia roads and financially support pregnancy resource centers that assist women in need around the Commonwealth. Simply go to our web page, http://www.vachoose-life.org/ or Google ’Choose Life Virginia’. You can print the license plate application then mail it in with your $25 plate fee to demonstrate to state legislators and the Governor that you are serious about having a ‘Choose Life’ license plate. Specific instructions, the online petition and paper petitions for individuals, churches and pro-life organizations are on the website. Don’t delay; your pre-paid application will make a big difference when the General Assembly votes in January.”

State Senator Ken Cuccinelli has introduced Senate Bill 801 to the Virginia General Assembly which convenes January 14, 2009. Passage of the SB801 will make license plates, bearing the message “Choose Life” available to Virginia drivers. Virginia currently offers over 200 personalized license plates depicting themes ranging from wildflowers to college Alma Maters. With so many options for expressing what is important to drivers, Virginians are now also seeking a plate that expresses the value of all human life.

Doran said, “This license plate is a clear and colorful pro-life message which can be seen by drivers everywhere. Most importantly, the majority portion of the proceeds from the annual fees will go to support pregnancy resource centers around the Commonwealth.”

In 2003, a Choose Life license plate bill passed both the House and Senate of Virginia but suffered through large-scale opposition and didn’t make it past the Governor’s desk. Virginians who wish to exercise their First Amendment right to speak out in defense of the unborn are hopeful that this time, the bill will be passed without obstruction. RCL is attempting to rally more support to pass the bill this session.

The Richmond Coalition for Life is asking for assistance from Virginians to help make the new plates a reality in 2009. Doran said, “All pro-life registered car owners should sign the online or paper petition to support Senator Cuccinelli’s bill. For those who are ready now to apply, we really need the pre-paid applications mailed in as soon as possible.” In Florida, a similar plate was introduced in August 2000. To date, over 39,000 Floridians have purchased the plates and over $6 million dollars has been raised and donated.

Visit the Richmond Coalition for Life’s Choose Life License Plate web page: http://www.vachoose-life.org to sign the online petition, print the license plate application or paper petition or instructions for individuals and churches.

The Richmond Coalition for Life is a 501c3 non profit organization and will not retain any proceeds from the plates. The mission of the Richmond Coalition for Life is to spread awareness throughout the Commonwealth of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

(Cross-posted)

These days, I don’t even know what a cohesive economic philosophy looks like. I don’t know when the government should be involved and when it shouldn’t. The best I can do is offer my gut instinct. I had trouble with the enormous rescue package for the financial industry, based on a lot I was reading. I’m still not sure that it was the right thing to do, though the argument could be made.

But I am finding, as time goes on, that I am an instinctive protectionist. Unmitigated free trade and the globalism which is inextricably intertwined with it is savaging our economy and making us vulnerable strategically. America needs a manufacturing base, particularly as we risk hyperinflation in the coming year (yes, the dollar is up now, but wait and see how long that lasts) and the economy, fragile as it is, cannot sustain another critical blow.

Which brings me to the auto industry. I am a consultant to that industry, and am restricted from speaking about my work in this space. So I will let others do the talking. Suffice it to say that I think Tom Piatak is dead on, Pat Buchanan makes some excellent points about our situation in general, and John Derbyshire’s reader knows what he is talking about.

Whatever you feel about how they get there, if Detroit goes down, get ready for Great Depression II. The economic impact will be astronomical - we’re talking 1 in 10 jobs here, many of them only indirectly related to actual manufacturing but nonetheless dependent on that revenue stream- and over 3 million people affected.

However you feel about government mingling with capitalism, the fact is that it’s the system we’ve got. The government is so involved with our economy (largely through artificially-imposed regulations rather than market-driven ones) that they have had a big hand in creating the messes we’re in. Now, the question is simple - will getting us out of this mess cost more or less than doing nothing at all?

I am tapped out right now. Work is insanely busy and I’ve got research papers to work on with Finals coming right on their heels. Blogging will come in fits and starts for a while. Very much looking forward to some Christmas downtime.

Headed down for confession this morning, and grabbed few pics while there:

I suddenly remembered today what I didn’t like about Chuck Baldwin: His rhetoric. Reading like nothing so much as an obnoxious “I Told You So”, his column is insulting, condescending, and self-aggrandizing. Allow me to excerpt, with my emphasis and comments:

“In fact, in this column, weeks ago, I stated emphatically that John McCain could no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton. He didn’t.” (Read: I told you so.)

“I also predicted that Obama would win with an electoral landslide. He did.” (Read: I told you so, again.)

“Bush’s portrayal of himself as a conservative Christian paved the way for the betrayal and ultimate destruction of conservatism (something I also predicted years ago).” (Read: I told you so, yet another time. I’m wicked smart.)

“The greatest tragedy of this deception is the way that Christian conservatives so thoroughly (and stupidly) swallowed the whole Bush/McCain neocon agenda.” (Read: You’re stupid. I’m not. I predict things. Ahead of time. Like a smart guy. Cause I am. Smart, that is.)

“The James Dobsons of this country should hang their heads in shame! Not only did they lose an election, they lost their integrity!” (Read: I’m so much better than you other Christians. And no, I don’t read Luke 18:9-14 when I’m acting in the capacity of “Pastor Chuck”.)

“Then there was the pathetic attempt by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to scare gun owners regarding an Obama White House.” (Read: Did you hear that? Pathetic. Oh yes - I went there.)

“A majority of evangelical Christians in South Carolina stupidly rejected Bob Conley and voted for Graham.” (Read: See previous note, and add “stupidly”as appropriate.)

“Across the country, rather than stand on principle, hundreds of thousands of pastors, Christians, and pro-life conservatives capitulated and groveled before John McCain’s neocon agenda. In doing so, they forfeited any claim to truth, and they abandoned any and all fidelity to constitutional government. They should rip the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of their Bibles. They should never again tell their children, parishioners, and radio audiences the importance of standing for truth and principle. They have made a mockery of Christian virtue.” (Read: Again, you do not compare to my Christian awesomeness and virtue.)

“And since it is unlikely that the Republican Party has enough sense to understand any of this and will, therefore, do little to reestablish genuine conservative principles, it is probably best to just go ahead and bury the scoundrels now and move on to something else.” (Read: Did I mention everyon in the G.O.P is stupid? I have? Well, good. It bears repeating. Stupids.)

And yes, this is the guy I voted for.

Now, to be fair, I voted for him bases on his issue platforms, because those are what will be noted when the GOP revisits a third party candidate who picked up a decent number of votes as they noodle the direction they want to take. What they won’t replicate is the zany Baptist condescention of the man, who sets me on edge when I read screeds like this. It’s not the conduct of a decent man to be so condemning - EVEN THOUGH I AGREE WITH VIRTUALLY EVERY NON-PERSONAL-CHARACTER-ASSASINATION POINT HE MAKES IN THE ARTICLE. The GOP is self-destructive, and yes, a lot of Christians sold out. Many did not, and acted according to their conscience as best they could. These would be primarily the pro-lifers, not the “I vote Republican because I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” types. And yes, these people exist, and what they do - voting out of tribal politics rather than more substantial reasons - is arguably foolish.

But pounding their faces in it is unlikely to change anything.

Which brings me, in a circuitous path, again to the title of my post. I voted for a man who I can be this critical of because I knew it was a doomed vote to begin with. My point was to send a message to the GOP - “I don’t want a guy who supports issues like that; I do want a guy who supports issues like this.” Chuck Baldwin the man - like Ron Paul before him - is far less of a thing than the sum of his political philosophies. He might just make a miserable president. But I was, in a very real sense, not voting for president. I was voting for the things I want in a president to be represented in an actual presidential candidate some day - hopefully, a candidate who doesn’t sound half the time like a founding father and the other half like he’s, to borrow from the poet-laureate Ozzy Ozzbourne, “going off the rails on a crazy train.”

The advantage of voting quixotic is feeling good about pulling the lever for a candidate you agree with on policy. The disadvantage is knowing that if the guy espousing those policies ever actually made it into office, you might really regret it.

Some day, I’d like to believe that third parties will have a saner, less obnoxious future. Today is not that day.

It was one of those mornings this morning. I woke up late, I forgot to put out the trash and missed the recycling guys, I drove away with my lunch on top of my car, and I arrived at work only to discover that I’d left my laptop at home (I moved it aside after I found Sophie standing on it, then didn’t see it to grab it when I left.)

Since we had some sort of unexpected, mandatory fire drill at work today requiring an evacuation of our entire office building, I took advantage of the time and darted home to grab my computer. When I arrived, I found the following scene, already in progress:

Looks like being forgetful today paid off.

Brian Saint-Paul linked to a video from Fox News disclosing the comments of a number of discontented McCain staffers with an axe to grind against Gov. Sarah Palin:

McCain notably said in his concession speech, “It’s natural tonight to feel some disappointment. Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.” He also said that Palin is “one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen.”

So what to make of this video? Is she really as incompetent and spoiled as they say? Is this McCain’s way of pawning off the defeat on the very woman he brought in out of desperation to help him win? Are these just the individual opinions of his staffers? Or is it some combination of the above, mixed with a dose of truth?

Fox reported. You decide.