We're Aligned!

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday he wants federal officials to investigate what appear to be “enormously disturbing” conflicts of interest affecting Federal Reserve loans to failed financial institutions. (Burlington Free Press, 5/8/10)

RedStateVT said Friday that it wants federal officials to investigate what appear to be “enormously disturbing” conflicts of interest affecting sweetheart mortgage loans to failed U.S. senators…..including Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd. (RedStateVT, 5/8/10)

Big Money

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. (Politco.com, 5/5/10)

First Obama is revealed to have received $1 million from evil bankers Goldman Sachs. Now we learn that he has taken money from eco-terrorists BP. RedStateVT demands to know: Is Obama in the pocket of Big Business?


You Be the Judge
“Proponents of a “21st century constitution” or “living constitution” aim to transform our nation’s supreme law beyond recognition – and with a minimum of public attention and debate. Indeed, if there is an overarching theme to what they wish to achieve, it is the diminishment of the democratic and representative processes of American government. It is the replacement of a system of republican government, in which the constitution is largely focused upon the architecture of government in order to minimize the likelihood of abuse of power, with a system of judicial government, in which substantive policy outcomes are increasingly determined by federal judges.” (Stephen Markman, Imprimis, April 2010)

Barack W. Obama

Obama supporters must cringe at the eerie parallels that seem to keep arising between the former president and the current one. Unpopular military surges (Iraq and Afghanistan), begrudging acceptance of Cheney terrorism policies (see RedStateVT's post: Luke, I am your father) criticism over slow response to environmental disasters (Katrina, Gulf oil spill). Maybe the first W wasn't so bad after all!

More Tea Party Violence?
The FBI will aid Santa Cruz, Calif., police in their investigation of a riot by what authorities are calling a "methodical, coordinated" anarchist group that damaged and vandalized 18 businesses in the city's downtown last weekend.Police said the anarchist group organized an unsanctioned May Day event as a "political and physical cover" for the riot, which caused an estimated $100,000 in damages to the downtown area. The group had touted the event as family-friendly, using fliers and a website, which has since been removed. (AOLNews, 5/5/10)

Disgraced Former President Bill Clinton weighed in recently on the potential for Tea Party inspired violence (see RedStateVT’s post: The Disgraced Former President Weighs In.) No word yet on whether the Disgraced Former President sees the May Day riots as validation of his concerns.

Sign of the Times
President Reagan had a sign on his desk that said, "It's amazing how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." If President Obama had a sign, it would say, "It's amazing how much you can accomplish if you don't care what the public thinks." (Fred Barnes, WSJ, 5/4/10)

RedStateVT Asks 3 Questions

Who Wrote It?
"A White House as politically attuned as this one should have been conscious of two obvious historical lessons. One was the Exxon Valdez, where a late and lame response by both industry and the federal government all but destroyed one of the country’s richest fishing grounds and ended up costing billions of dollars. The other was President George W. Bush’s hapless response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now we have another disaster in more or less the same neck of the woods, and it takes the administration more than a week to really get moving.

The timetable is damning."

A) Wall Street Journal editorial page
B) Ann Coulter’s weekly column
C) RedStateVT
D) New York Times editorial page


If you guessed D) you are today’s winner! What is going on here? RedStateVT wonders if this is the start of the end of days.

*(NYT, 4/30/10)

Can we check his papers?
RedStateVT is investigating reports that Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-born suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing, is a member of a fundamentalist Christian sect with ties to the Tea Party movement.

What does it take to be discredited?
Al Gore buys yet another multi-million dollar house.

Possibilities and Realities

As the Arizona abomination makes clear, there is a desperate need for federal immigration action to stop the country from turning into a nation of vigilantes suspicious of anybody with dark skin. (Dana Millbank, Washington Post, 5/2/10)

It occurred to RedStateVT that this is exactly what liberals do. Millbank worries about the possibility of vigilantes rounding up honest Hispanics, when the reality that Arizona is confronting is actual crime: drug and arms smuggling.

Meanwhile, those who feared the possibility of Tea Party violence are faced with the reality of actual violence over the weekend at protest rallies over the Arizona immigration law.

It's Official: Fox News is Fair and Balanced

Guest host for The O’Reilly Factor last Friday night was, no not Rush Limbaugh, but Juan Williams. So – not that we ever doubted - it is now official that Fox News is fair and balanced and the rest of the mainstream media is not. Fox has its conservative voices like Sean Hannity, its independents like Bill O’Reilly and its liberals like Juan Williams and Alan Colmes. Most are clearly staked out and the programs let each side have a voice. So why do liberals dislike Fox? That’s easy! It’s simply because Fox gives conservatives the voice that they will never get elsewhere. The liberal media purports to report the news when, in fact, they have a built-in bias and shill for one side.

Until we see Ann Coulter guest hosting for Katie Couric we will know the truth.

Coffee with The Master

RedStateVT just returned from an out-of-town visit with its political guru, a former Reagan administration official. The Master is a savvy political mind who knows the players and the ways of Washington and who generously gives of his time to school RedStateVT on a variety of topics. Yesterday we discussed – among other things – the backroom deals that were behind the health care bill. Fascinating stuff. No surprise The Master is incredulous at the ruthless no-holds-barred tactics of the Obama administration.

The Master’s most interesting thought: perhaps Obama does not get the Dem nomination in 2012. Who does? Hillary!

They’re baaaaaaack!