Scrappy Conservatives

Fresh from the Blackwell campaign:

TODAY'S LIST OF TED STRICKLAND LIES
Today Strickland admitted that he allowed his psychology license to expire over the course of the 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

• HE LIED: Strickland's license expired in 2004, not during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Today Strickland said Charter schools were not held to same testing standards as traditional public schools:

• HE LIED: Charter schools students must pass the Ohio Graduation Test.

Today Strickland indicated that no charter schools have closed.

• HE LIED: Strickland's own Website cites two Dayton Charter Schools which have closed since July 1.
• HE LIED: Nation Building Technical in Lucas county and International Preparatory School in Cleveland have both closed.

Today Strickland denied his support for university tuition caps:

• HE LIED: According to the original version of Strickland's Turnaround Ohio Plan, he has been supportive of tuition caps. Furthermore, one must wonder, what is a tuition guarantee if not a cap?

Today Strickland said year-round schooling would conserve state money:

• HE LIED: According to the Century Foundation, year-round schooling costs far more. Based on the number of pupils enrolled, year-round schooling would cost $7.2 billion.

That's what a bankruptcy declaration generally indicates. There's some typical business spin:

"The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn't exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts...aren't even associated with Air America." (italics mine)

I guess if you set the bar low enough you can appear successful for creating a format that didn't exist, even though it hasn't proven to be profitable. So they succeeded in coming up with a new way to lose money? Guys, just mail it to me, 'K? Or better yet, wire it to my offshore account.

All they have to do now is convince advertisers that the format is "established and strong" and that people listen to it. Pay no attention to this little bankruptcy thing.

But honestly, I'm going to miss Air America. I mean I can only stand listening to the local affiliate for about 4 or 5 minutes at a time, but that's up from 2 minutes a few months back. It can be very funny, especially in contrast with the kind of sanity on the local Salem affiliate.

Kirk Honeycutt writes a brilliant piece for Hollywood Reporter in which he points out that Death of a President, although ostensibly gratifying to those who would celebrate a Bush assassination might serve to help Republicans win elections. Quote:

"Does it not occur to filmmaker Gabriel Range, as he takes his bows for his clever stunt, that the very forces he warns against will use his film as propaganda? Their line will be: If the enemies of President Bush can be so crass as to imagine his cinematic murder, then what value can one give to their arguments against our great leader's domestic and foreign policies? Range has just made Karl Rove's day."

HT Newsmax. Well, I guess they need it with the ACLU running around chasing terrorists. Article states:

"President Bush last week called for Congress to approve legislation that would exempt CIA officers and other federal civilian officials from prosecution for humiliating and degrading terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, the Post reports."

Yeah, how do you degrade an animal? But even more importantly:

"The President also wants to prevent federal courts from considering lawsuits from detainees who claim counterterrorism officers violated laws governing their treatment."

I like this piece on RCP by Pat Buchanan so I gotta link to it. Also I have to give Buchanan some credit when he deserves it because he's such a retard most of the time anymore. Ex:

"We did a certain amount of internal polling and when it got to immigration, it was very clear," says Santorum's media consultant John Braybender, who prepared two tough ads on immigration. "Rick's position versus Casey's was overwhelming. If Casey or anyone else thinks this is not an issue in Pennsylvania, they should start talking to voters."