It’s Sunday afternoon, and on Political Fix that once again signals it’s Open Comment time.
Post on any topic, person or event. As usual, please keep your comments civil, somewhat concise and directed at regional or local angles.
We welcome your thoughts, observations and knowledge.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports today that a poll paid for by the American Lung Association of Illinois, the American Cancer Society-Illinois and the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, asked 606 Illinoisans if the Illinois smoking ban had been “beneficial”. 73 percent said yes.
So what! If I had been asked the same question, I would answer yes too. There will be benefits to any ban. The real question that should have been asked is: “Is the loss of freedom and curtailment of property rights due to the Illinois smoking ban justified by whatever health benefits the ban provides?” My answer to that question is no!
This St. Louis Post-Dispatch article only quotes smoking ban proponents concerning the poll. Is that good journalism?
Does Obamessiah’s bus have a hydraulic lift on it? It is getting awefull crapmed under there. Mike Klonsky, well known communist from Chicago, is the latest Obamessiah is the latest person getting ran over. His blog supporting Obamessiah was removed this week from Obamessiah’s parent site. Why does it seem all Obamessiah’s past associates are commies, crooks, terrorists, or racists?
This is from the website of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the firm the ACS hired to question Illinoisans about their smoking ban. Sounds like this firm specializes in progressive social engineering rather than conducting scientific research. Why is it so easy for groups like these to get nonstories in the Post?
“Greenberg Quinlan Rosner works with non-profits and NGOs throughout the US and around the world, helping them win support for their ideas and realize their goals. We know from experience that changing people’s minds can change the world.
We have a proven record of advancing the interests of people and organizations seeking progressive change, like the Nobel Peace Prize winning Campaign to Ban Landmines, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s work to understand the impact of war on civilians around the world, and the Natural Resource Defense Council’s work on global climate change.”
Im a little worried about Jack Kemp advising McCain. The policies he advocates have given us the greatest sustained inflation tax in modern American history. This is a man whose greatest career success was as a quarterback in the NFL. Whose highest level of education is a physical education degree from Occidental College. Whose business experience consists of being a figurehead for several of those strange, mysterious organizations you find littering the offices of Washington, D.C. — the non-profit “advocacy group” that, despite being not-for-profit, still manage to find themselves flush with cash all the time.
And yet despite not actually producing any products or services since his low-paying days as a football player in the 1960s, he somehow managed to become so rich that he could endow an institute at Pepperdine. Sheds some light on McCain’s recent comments on economists always being wrong about things (like the dot com busts, housing crises, etc)…maybe hes listening to the wrong ones?
Park Ranger injured at the Arch -
If the Park Ranger fully recovers, which I sincerely hope that he does, this will be one of my favorite stories of the year.
Four little punks were vandalizing property then one attacked a Federal law enforcement officer. The degenerate criminal died from gunshot wounds inflicted by the Ranger, who was perfectly justified, considering the waste of space, no doubt a product of our public schools, tried to run him over. The jerk got what he deserved. Too bad those bullets didn’t “accidentally” hit the other three lowlifes.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for them. Get out of my city you disgusting little vermin. Once the dead criminals name is released, I challenge the Post-Dispatch to plaster his face on the front page to show the city that at least we have one less despicable crook to worry about. The next day there should be a picture of the Ranger, with the words “Hero” beneath it.
Park Ranger injured at the Arch -
If the Park Ranger fully recovers, which I sincerely hope that he does, this will be one of my favorite stories of the year.
Four little punks were vandalizing property then one attacked a Federal law enforcement officer. The degenerate criminal died from gunshot wounds inflicted by the Ranger, who was perfectly justified, considering the waste of space, no doubt a product of our public schools, tried to run him over. The jerk got what he deserved. Too bad those bullets didn’t “accidentally” hit the other three lowlifes.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for them. Get out of my city you disgusting little vermin. Once the dead criminals name is released, I challenge the Post-Dispatch to plaster his face on the front page to show the city that at least we have one less despicable crook to worry about. The next day there should be a picture of the Ranger, with the words “Hero” beneath it.
If you want a political spin to this, the mayor needs to speak out more about this sort of thing. Let it be known that this type of behavior is not acceptable in this city. I know this was on federal land but the narrative is all too familiar within the city of Saint Louis. This isn’t coming from a far western suburbanite; this is coming from a city resident, who sees too much out of control behavior within the city with little, if any, consequences.
Missouri Right to Life is warning on its home page that the midwife bill upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court last week hands an “unexpected gift” to abortionists. Here is the link:
RTL complains that the “drafter” of the bill that legalized midwifery used unclear language. The drafter who angered his colleagues by sneaking the language in was Sen. John Loudon. If RTL is so upset with this language, WHY did it endorse Gina Loudon, the wife of the man who may have made it possible for midwives to perform abortions? RTL seems like it is talking out of both sides of its mouth.
If Peter Kinder isn’t his party’s choice to run for governor while he sits in the Lt. Governor’s office, why is he his party’s choice to be the Lt. Governor again? This makes no sense.
I had an interesting experience while canvassing for some candidates this weekend. I found quite a few McCain supporters who were also strongly backing Nixon. In fact, while the presidential race was pretty evenly split, it did not seem like either Republican had a prayer in the wake of Blunt. While my experience might just be random, I am curious how other people might interpret this.
It’s time to call into question the biased surveys conducted and paid for by the same people who force public smoking bans upon government and the people. This survey, like every other survey conducted by anti-smoking people, has the unsurprising result of 73% supporting a smoking ban. Should anyone with curiosity care to investigate, every survey in every state and municipality with a smoking ban has eerily familiar results. Look it up. It will always say that somewhere between 72-74% support smoking bans, no matter where the survey was taken. Shouldn’t that result vary with locale and population? Even more troubling is how an honest survey can ever be conducted and trusted by the very organization pushing the bans. Who answers these questions? Have any regular citizens ever been called and questioned by the survey takers? Is it possible that the survey questions people within the anti-smoking group? I live in Ohio where a smoking ban was enacted over a year ago, and I know only a few people who actually feel it has been good for Ohio, but guess what…..survey says over 73% support it. As in Illinois, the Ohio survey was conducted and paid for by the anti smoking groups themselves. If there was such wide support for the Ohio smoking ban, why is there now a bill to allow exemptions? Like the questionable “science” of the harm of secondhand smoke, it seems likely that the science of these surveys is also flawed.
Jo Mannies is a political columnist and blogger for the Post-Dispatch, where she had been the chief political writer until she stepped down as a full-time staffer in November 2008. She now is a freelance journalist and can be reached at jomannies@gmail.com.
The Iraq Oil Ministry has awarded two-year, no-bid contracts to U.S.-based ExxonMobil and Chevron securing enormously lucrative oil drilling licenses to Iraq’s vast undeveloped oil fields. It is estimated that over $30 trillion in oil still lies underneath the sands of Iraq…Bush and Company wiggled their way into an advisory position with the U.S. hand-picked Iraq Oil Ministry. The American people were repeatedly reassured “that oil had absolutely nothing to do with Bush’s invasion of Iraq…(The Week, July 4, 2008).
Well, what do you know, the American oil companies that lost out 36 years ago when that evil and greedy Saddam nationalized the Iraq oil industry have been welcomed back…..With open arms.
And here, I thought this war was about terrorism. Remember the desperate Iraqi woman who voted with her purple thumb as the Republicans cheered and claimed “Mission Accomplished”?
What do you tell the 8000 parents who lost their children for ExxonMobil?
Or the 200,000 Americans who have been physically or mentally disabled trying to further increase the $100 billion in American oil company profits?
Darth Cheney….let’s hope there is a hell beyond earth.