LATEST ... Progressive Victim Class/Oppressor Class Cudgel On Everyday Society

Many young men dream of working in oilfields because the money is excellent. Although being employed on an oil rig is difficult and involves lots of manual labor, this career has been around for centuries now. Image Credit: Rig Oilfield Services (2018)

LATEST ... Progressive Victim Class/Oppressor Class Cudgel On Everyday Society

The Left-Wing isn't happy unless, like sharks, they keep swimming on the push provided by another Victim Class/Oppressor Class talking point. Today's entry into the lexicon that hopes to gain traction in social conversation is Petro-Masculinity.

As with other Victim Class/Oppressor Class progressive beat-down points of contention - Toxic-Masculinity | Gender Identity |  Non-Binary | Gay Marriage | Gender Neutral - the progressive agenda of eliminating a cultural identification and role assumption of weak vs strong and etc. never ends and remains as fertile ground for chaos development.
 
Fossil fuels create a warped sense of “masculine identity” and “authoritarianism” among men, asserts feminist professor, Virginia Tech University, Cara Daggett - who issued a study paper titled “Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire” that explain her thoughts on the matter at the intersection of environment and toxic masculinity.

Screen grab - Alicia Massie: #masculinity & work morality in Canadian oilsands. Building on Coles (2009) and Anderson (2008), analysis shows family as the foundation of petro-economy and gender enacted in collective petro-economy identity (e.g. oilfield dad, oil wife). Image Credit: Twitter via Ping H. Wang

PULL QUOTE:
“Petro-masculinity, like fossil fuel systems, arguably has global dimensions,” Daggett asserts. “However, like other masculinities, petro-masculinity should be understood as manifesting in multiple, and locally specific, ways. Petro-masculinity approaches masculinity as a socially constructed identity that emerges ‘within a gender order that defines masculinity in opposition to femininity, and in so doing, sustains a power relation between men and women as groups.”
ENDS

WHAT?

Words, so many words without an actual meaning other than to confuse and contort into a cudgel of pretzel-logic upon which to breathe new life into a Progressive style meme - Petro-Masculinity, indeed.

All Democrat leadership and its public relations firm, the Left-Wing Media Complex, are 100% in the camp of Identity Politics and as the comment/observation suggests - have taken the pointing out and exploitation of victims to a new level of oppression as a tool!

Democrats have to decide, and declare if they are "all in" on this tool upon which society is beat up so that Democrats believe they are gaining some power - or work for another way by gaining power through providing good solutions.

We, at MAXINE, wonder - if any of these progressives were in an automobile accident, or had a heart attack, what, exactly, would be responding to their emergency - a gas-powered, petro-masculinity based Ambulance?



TAGS: Petro-Masculinity, Toxic-Masculinity, Progressive, Victim Class, Oppressor Class, cudgel, #masculinity, work morality, #energydemocracy, Politisite, MAXINE

“Day One” In A Romney Run Executive Branch Of Government

 

Mitt Romney has outlined a bold agenda to spur economic growth and create jobs. On his first day in office, he will approve the Keystone pipeline, introduce pro-growth tax reforms, and repeal Obamacare [ctrl-click HERE to launch video ad]. Credit: mittromney

“Day One” In A Romney Run Executive Branch Of Government

Today, Mitt Romney’s first commercial of the general election will be released (see video) and it says that on “Day One” in the White House he would … Approve The Keystone Pipeline, Introduce Tax Cuts, and Issue Orders To Begin Replacing Obamacare. The Romney campaign’s first official ad in over a month will air today through next Tuesday in Ohio, Iowa, Virginia and North Carolina.

In 2008, we all had “Hope & Change” but no real understanding what an Obama run Executive Branch of government would look like.

In 2008, then candidate Senator (Illinois) Barack Obama promised Reducing The Deficit And Debt, Lobbyists “Won’t Find A Job In My White House”, and Transparency In Law Making complete with a minimum 72 hour internet posting of any proposed law before a vote by Congress.

In 2009, President Barack Obama further promised The Stimulus Will Keep Unemployment Below 8 Percent, Stimulus Jobs Will Not Be Shipped Overseas, the Housing Plan Will Save Millions From Foreclosure, Health Care Negotiations Will Be Televised, ObamaCare Will Reduce Premiums, and The Stimulus Will Create “Shovel-Ready Jobs”.

After over three years, we have a clear understanding and, sadly, the type of Executive Branch that was promised … never materialized.

We, at MAXINE, all now have a new target to have hope for in the nature of the change in the promises made by a replacement leader for the Executive Branch of government.

Let the 2012 election season begin!

Public OpinionPoll Results

In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80

 

Ice Sculpture created for Senator Dick Lugar's primary victory celebration. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80

Can anyone believe that the Tea Party is just an "astro-turf" political/cultural movement that has outlived its time in the functional protest limelight?

Tonight, Senator Dick Lugar doesn't think so. After 6, six-year terms, and running for a 7th, lost the ability to represent the Republican political party for one of the State of Indiana's two federal Senatorial seats. He was swept aside by a challenge from Richard Mourdock.

Richard Mourdock had a successful 30 year career in the private sector, managing businesses in the energy, environmental and construction industries. He also served two terms as County Commissioner of Vanderburgh County.

Mourdock became a viable challenger for the Senate seat after he proved as Indiana’s State Treasurer that he had been an integral part of the state’s fiscal health.  His leadership earned over $1 billion in investment income for taxpayers and successfully expanded the state’s college savings plan.  At the same time, his office has returned an average of 10% of his budget back to the Treasury each year.

Richard Mourdock out on the campaign trail. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

Richard Mourdock also became known nation-wide for leading the legal fight to challenge the Obama Administration’s illegal bailout and takeover of Chrysler. Richard took this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Indiana pensioners. Further, his conservative message of constitutionally limited government was heard by over one million people in attendance during the Glenn Beck promoted 9-12 March on Washington in 2009.

So what has current Senator Dick Lugar done to gain the positive attention of the Tea Party activists throughout Indiana? Well, he spent his last full day on the stump defending earmarks, touting that he won over a pair of voters who saw him as the “least worst of the two” and pinning his hopes on the unlikely scenario that Democrats and independents will turn out in higher-than-expected numbers to hand him a victory.

 Mourdock was endorsed by Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann, and Lugar had the backing of the party establishment, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Six-term Senator Dick Lugar throwing darts out on the stump. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

To be honest, we at MAXINE believe, no human should be allowed to hold any office, elected, or otherwise, past the age of 70 years old. Senator Dick Lugar is 80 years old and was hoping to be able to occupy the office for another six years!

Lugar, known as one of the more centrist members of the Senate, was befriended by Barack Obama during his time in the Senate. Obama touted the friendship during his 2008 campaign for president, angering some of Lugar’s constituents.

The Senate’s longest-serving Republican, Lugar also suffered a blow earlier this year when a panel in Indiana ruled that he was ineligible to vote in his former home district because he no longer lived there.

I guess we will just have to say,  Dick Lugar's political career, tonight, has been put on ice.

The real trick now that the Tea Party has brought down one of the centrist stalwarts of the Senate, long seen as a Republican not holding strongly to fiscal and constitutional matters, can they carry this momentum forward to the general election against Democrat political party Rep. Joe Donnelly, a three-term congressman from the South Bend area, this fall. The matchup is a preferred outcome for Democrats, who view Lugar’s ouster as an opportunity to pick up a longtime Republican seat. 

This contest will show if the Tea Party is dormant or if the protest movement has just moved from demonstrating in front of City Halls to electing Conservative answer based, solutions-oriented representatives to bring America back to its citizens and not the political class who have given us all a 16 Trillion dollar debt.

Public OpinionPoll Results

** Article first published as In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80 on Technorati **

If We, At MAXINE, Wanted A Free And Constitutional America To Fail ...

A central understanding of why nations fail has found that political institutions and the behavior of ruling elites largely determine the economic success or failure of the countries they operate in. If most Americans have experienced virtually no economic gains for decades, perhaps we should cast our gaze on the Constitutional and political factors in/or out of effect throughout our own society. Image Credit: investorcentric

If We, At MAXINE, Wanted A Free And Constitutional America To Fail ...

Today on the Rush Limbaugh radio program, Rush mentioned and played a few snippets of a video produced and posted by FreeMarketAmerica.org. The presentation gave light to the how and why America appears to be going backward and failing on the goals and opportunity that had once been hallmarks to a free and Constitutional America.

Ryan Houck, the Executive Director of FreeMarketAmerica.org, a project of Americans for Limited Government, produced this opinion presentation which was inspired by Paul Harvey’s “If I were the Devil” published in 1964 and 1996.

Paul Harvey was a cultural and news story commentator that became one of the first to reach millions of people with his presentations. He used the medium of radio in the form of a 15 minute syndicated show that generally aired around noon and The Paul Harvey Show helped to stitch part of the fabric of a true American culture or insight on a way to think or view the world around us.

This excerpted and edited from TruthOrFiction.Com -

“If I were the Devil”
By Paul Harvey

I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;

I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings;

I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around;

I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;

I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership;

I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;

I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent machines to make it  convenient;

I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that life of animals are valued more than human beings;

I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;

I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;

I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the minds of every family member for my agenda;

I would attack then family, the backbone of any nation. I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation;

I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movies screens, and I would call it art;

I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agendas as politically correct;

I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, the Bible is for the naive;

I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;

I GUESS I WOULD LEAVE THINGS PRETTY MUCH THE WAY THEY ARE!
[Reference Here]

So how does this approach to understanding give us insights on how American life has changed under a Barack Obama presidency and have us understand the power of progressive thought as it is applied to our every day lives?

This excerpted and edited from NetRightDaily.Com -

If I wanted America to fail (video)
By Ryan Houck

If I wanted America to fail …

To follow, not lead; to suffer, not prosper; to despair, not dream — I’d start with energy.

I’d cut off America’s supply of cheap, abundant energy.  Of course, I couldn’t take it by force. So, I’d make Americans feel guilty for using the energy that heats their homes, fuels their cars, runs their businesses, and powers their economy.

I’d make cheap energy expensive, so that expensive energy would seem cheap.

I would empower unelected bureaucrats to all-but-outlaw America’s most abundant sources of energy.  And after banning its use in America, I’d make it illegal for American companies to ship it overseas.

If I wanted America to fail …

I’d use our schools to teach one generation of Americans that our factories and our cars will cause a new Ice Age, and I’d muster a straight face so I could teach the next generation that they’re causing Global Warming.

And when it’s cold out, I’d call it Climate Change instead.

I’d imply that America’s cities and factories could run on wind power and wishes.  I’d teach children how to ignore the hypocrisy of condemning logging, mining and farming — while having roofs over their heads, heat in their homes and food on their tables.

I would never teach children that the free market is the only force in human history to uplift the poor, establish the middle class and create lasting prosperity. Instead, I’d demonize prosperity itself, so that they will not miss what they will never have.

If I wanted America to fail …

I would create countless new regulations and seldom cancel old ones. They would be so complicated that only bureaucrats, lawyers and lobbyists could understand them.  That way small businesses with big ideas wouldn’t stand a chance — and I would never have to worry about another Thomas Edison, Henry Ford or Steve Jobs.

I would ridicule as “Flat Earthers” those who urge us to lower energy costs by increasing supply. And when the evangelists of commonsense try to remind people about the law of supply and demand, I’d enlist a sympathetic media to drown them out.

If I wanted America to fail …

I would empower unaccountable bureaucracies seated in a distant capitol to bully Americans out of their dreams and their property rights.  I’d send federal agents to raid guitar factories for using the wrong kind of wood; I’d force homeowners to tear down the homes they built on their own land.

I’d make it almost impossible for farmers to farm, miners to mine, loggers to log, and builders to build.  And because I don’t believe in free markets, I’d invent false ones.  I’d devise fictitious products — like carbon credits — and trade them in imaginary markets.  I’d convince people that this would create jobs and be good for the economy.

If I wanted America to fail …

For every concern, I’d invent a crisis; and for every crisis, I’d invent the cause. Like shutting down entire industries and killing tens of thousands of jobs in the name of saving spotted owls.  When everyone learned the stunning irony that the owls were victims of their larger cousins — and not people — it would already be decades too late.

If I wanted America to fail …

I’d make it easier to stop commerce than start it — easier to kill jobs than create them — more fashionable to resent success than to seek it.  When industries seek to create jobs, I’d file lawsuits to stop them.  And then I’d make taxpayers pay for my lawyers.

If I wanted America to fail …

I would transform the environmental agenda from a document of conservation to an economic suicide pact.  I would concede entire industries to our economic rivals by imposing regulations that cost trillions.

I would celebrate those who preach environmental austerity in public while indulging a lavish lifestyle in private.  I’d convince Americans that Europe has it right, and America has it wrong.

If I wanted America to fail …

I would prey on the goodness and decency of ordinary Americans.  I would only need to convince them … that all of this is for the greater good.

If I wanted America to fail, I suppose I wouldn’t change a thing.
[Reference Here]

If we, at MAXINE, wanted a free and Constitutional America to fail ... we wouldn't change a thing either - Vote Obama 2012! ... click link :) and donate now.


** Article first published as "If We Wanted A Free And Constitutional America To Fail ..." at Technorati **

Establishment Media Guide To "White Hispanic"

In Chicago, Cleveland, Washington DC and Philadelphia, demonstrators supported Martin's family by wearing hoodies like the one Martin was wearing when he was shot. The Civil Rights Heritage Center in the Natatorium is asking people to do the same thing here [in South Bend Indiana] by hosting the Million Hoodie March. Image Credit: IU South Bend Civil Rights Center website

Establishment Media Guide To "White Hispanic"

Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot last month in the town of Sanford, Florida by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, who has claimed self defense and has not been charged.

The Trayvon Martin death at the apparent hands of a neighborhood watch individual named George Zimmerman has become a most troubling episode in American media culture. It reveals what happens when facts are over-run, unimportant, and only selected deaths of young black men are important when it seems to rise to the level of political exploitation by the forces that support a liberal, divide and control mentality. Under this view, in order to keep government front and center in the minds of all Americans, American unity must be broken down and marginalized so that we may never recognize each others value as an individual ... but only value a single person to their value toward the advancement of a single group in the eyes of, and favorable treatment by, governmental powers and laws, alive or dead.

To this end, the New York Times decided to describe George Zimmerman as a "White Hispanic", a term that on its face has hardly ever been used to describe a person's ethnic heritage. Rush Limbaugh's staff performed a nexis/lexis search of New York Times articles that may have used the term before and could only find three previous references of this nature in the paper's publishing history ... very telling on how this establishment media outlet wishes to promote the liberal, divide and control mentality.

In order to educate the establishment media on skin color and bring a little American-natured levity to an ugly situation that involves race and color, conservative Hispanic blogger and cartoonist, el SOOPer @SooperMexican, posted this graphic to help guide some to proper conclusions for their articles.

This excerpted and edited from Soopermexican.com -

The Sooper Guide to “White Hispanic” Skin Color for the Gringo Media!
Date: 3/26/2012

It’s amazing the lengths of race-baiting that the Leftist Liberal News Media Industrial Complex will go to in order to re-elect their savior, Obama. They’re going so far as to call a Hispanic man “White Hispanic” in order to incite a race war! How tolerant and inclusive of them.

Well, I thought I’d help them out and give them this easy to understand guide to classifying Hispanic skin colors!

Enjoy gringos - Full Size Image HERE!


[Reference Here]

Other points that were made while reading 140 character (or less) "Tweets" from Twitter ranged from:

"Why is it that the ONLY photo of Trayvon Martin is of a 13 yr. old boy and not the 17 yr. old grown male? Jus' askin' #tcot #tlot #p2"

to

"If Zimmerman is White and Obama is Black, race must be pat-ri-lo-cal only."



** Article first published as Establishment Media Guide To "White Hispanic" on Technorati **

Sunday Morning Tweet | ReTweets Review - Rush, Breitbart, & Etc.

Andrew Breitbart (1969 - 2012) - who has described himself in the past as “Matt Drudge’s bitch”- is the proprietor of the websites Breitbart.com, BigHollywood.com, BigGovernment.com, BigJournalism.com, and BigPeace.com ... sports a Snuggie for Derek Hunter. Image Credit: Derek Hunter, TownHall (2011)

Sunday Morning Tweet | ReTweets Review - Rush, Breitbart, & Etc.

It is funny what one can get into during a Sunday morning when they are involved in New Media and are interested in Culture, Politics, and what other folks are thinking about the current trend topics of the day.

Take, for example, the copy of these Tweets and ReTweets taken from a column in a "TweetDeck" array, over the course of an hour or so, found at The EDJE's Twitter account (yes, that is "MAXINE's account).

The subjects range from Rush Limbaugh's recent flap that originated when he tried to make an outrageous point from an outrageous press conference put on by Nancy Pelosi that featured a 30 year-old co-ed, Sandra Fluke, who read from a statement she (Fluke) wrote about how the taxpayers should pay for her birth control and contraception drugs because her sexual activity was such that it costs her over $3,000. To the reaction to the death of Conservative politics warrior, Andrew Breitbart and how we all might have to fill this void with our collective voice. To the actions of the, as Sarah Palin loves to coin it, Permanent Political Class (RINO's to others).

Read and enjoy ... follow the links provided and, of course, follow those you feel a connection with:

START

Opinionated @ColorMeRed

No matter how brief a man's life, he can impact and alter the future leaving his imprint on the face of the earth forever.#Breitbart

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Proud Conservative @ConservativeGal

So we're suppose to pay for birth control 4 students going to schools we can't afford to send r own kids to? #tcot#teaparty #conservatives

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

The_Q @The_Q_is3m

Carbonite pulls ads from Rush to “contribute to a more civilized public discourse.” But keep Ed Schulz (called Laura Ingraham slut!) #tcot

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

John Difool @MCHblazer5m

@jtLOL @AndrewBreitbart. The left hated Andrew Breitbart because he used their absolute moral authority as his favorite toilet paper.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE6m

“@free_US_Citizen: Gov. Jindal Gives Amazing Republican Energy Policy Speech island-adv.com/?p=74124” #tcot#tlot #p2 #nrcc #mitt #newt #santo

Ric @prismsinc10m

WOW MT @soylentbeige Mitt Romney consulted Population Control Eugenics Czar John Holdren wp.me/ptUz8-32y#tcot #RickSantorum #teaparty

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

iWithNewtG @cantwaittillnov10m

This Election experience has changed my life. Media Types that I once trusted ... Now I Do Not ! #withNewt #GA #MI #AK#OH #MA #WA #TX

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE25m

From Gut Punch by Derek Huntertownhall.com/columnists/der… - Who will replace Andrew Breitbart? No one, and everyone #tcot #tlot #p2 #nrcc #drudge

'Jim' 'Treacher' @jtLOL38m

A Gut Punch-The Loss of Andrew Breitbart - Derek Huntertownhall.com/columnists/der…

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE39m

“@WhineNot: Newt slapdown of David Gregory's question on trying to get him to diss Rush Limbaugh! Beauuuuuutiful!!!#MTP #SuperTuesday”

Mary Katharine Ham @mkhammer53m

Someone should do a Kickstarter to buy things for Sandra Fluke she doesn't feel like buying herself.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

This is a result of dance rehearsal ... or really just not knowing what your doing. :-) | Caption & Image Credit: Katharine McPhee via twitpic (2012)

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@katharinemcphee - Looks like you were mugged in an alley by midgets or being kneecapped by a blindman! Good work.#smash #tv #dancing

in reply to @katharinemcphee - Reaction to photo re-posted HERE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@Politisite They are part of the fourth and third estate!

in reply to @Politisite

Politisite @Politisite1h

@EricBoehlert oh look for the last few weeks obama approval has been down to 43%... Forgot to mention that?

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

in reply to @EricBoehlert

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@iowahawkblog - Also, isn't actually having sex a choice as opposed to an ailment? Isn't having babies the same through consequence? #rush

David Burge @iowahawkblog1h

Birth control is a foreseeable, regular expense. What idiot wants it covered by insurance? It's like having corn flakes insurance.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@prismsinc @EricCantor - DITTO!

in reply to @prismsinc

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

“@ShannonBream: BREAKING: Rep Eric Cantor has just endorsed Mitt Romney”#politicalclass #newt #tcot #tlot #p2 #vp#hhrs #tkrs

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@MMFlint @jtLOL - No bigger prostitute than you working from exaggerated circumstances to make the distorted opinion films you make #rush

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

“@kirstenpowers10: Hey @edshow you forgot to mention slutwalk. Also why don't u talk about the time you called me a "bimbo"?” #rush

David Limbaugh @DavidLimbaugh1h

i have to say it: Those of you who are saying Rush sold out don't have the courage in your entire universe that he has in his little finger.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

ENDS

So, it is on to "Super Tuesday" and whoever ends up being the Republican Political Party's nominee for the potential 45th President of the United States ... do not loose sight, VOTE for them! Then when they assume office, ride them HARD as we all did when Bush 43 tried to place on the Supreme Court, Harriet Ellan Miers or soften on the issue of Immigration!

The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins ... And Ends

The polling trends of the last week, both nationally and in South Carolina, indicate that the race for the Republican presidential nomination has taken another dramatic shift. At face value, these trends suggest that Newt Gingrich has moved into the lead in South Carolina and now stands a good chance of winning the state's primary on Saturday. Image Credit: Joe Raedle - Getty Images via Examiner

The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins ... And Ends

After a ton of debates over about an eight month period, and two spirited debates in South Carolina, Republicans get their first real pure test as to who they would like to see replace Barack Obama as the leader of the free world, oh, and the president of the United States.

The two warm-up acts, the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary had an element to them which have both voting processes tainted by being loose as it relates to who could sign up to vote (in Iowa, one may not even live in the state) or which political party affiliation one happened to be representing in order to vote.

South Carolina wants registered Republicans to vote in the Republican primary for president, or any other office for that matter. Good, clean, and clear democratic politics.

It turns out that the candidate that has the most money, and the backing of the Republican professional politician elite (the string pullers) has the most to lose here in the Palmetto Pick because, as it turns out, Gov. Mitt Romney did not win the Iowa Caucuses by eight votes over Sen, Rick Santorum, but lost to Rick Santorum by about 30 votes with a total of around 120,000 votes being cast. That is one win for Senator Rick Santorum.

In New Hampshire, where registered Democrat Political Party voters can openly go to the polls and vote for a Republican in a republican Political Party primary, Governor Mitt Romney won by 39% of the vote over Congressman Ron Paul who got about 23% of the vote (this will be the best that this Libertarian purist Republican will post - normally is stuck at around 16% - the rest of the primaries due to a Democrat crossover vote). Mitt Romney expected to win in the low 40 percentile range because he is very moderate and he was the elected Governor of a neighboring liberal state, Massachusetts.

So now we come to South Carolina, the Palmetto State, where the politics are big "C" Conservative, a little big "C" Christian, and always big "C" Contentious!

This vote was presumed to be able to be won by the candidate supported by the Republican Party elite as it was four years ago with John McCain ... the man who lost to Barack Obama and now currently endorses ... Mitt Romney. If Mitt Romney were to win, and win decisively, the rest of the primaries would probably end up going for Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee.

The two debates in South Carolina, however, have pointed out a weakness in Mitt Romney's ability to respond to pointed and tough questions ... not by the press who have run the debates, but by the other candidates on politically conservative positions. This has exposed Mitt and may have moved him out from the presumptive front-runner position.

The latest polling shows just this trend:

This excerpted and edited from Public Policy Polling -

Newt expands South Carolina lead
January 20, 2012

Newt Gingrich heads into South Carolina election day as the clear front runner in the state: he's now polling at 37% to 28% for Mitt Romney, 16% for Rick Santorum, and 14% for Ron Paul.

Gingrich's lead has actually increased in the wake of his ex-wife's controversial interview with ABC. Although one night poll results should always be interpreted with caution, he led the final night of the field period by a 40-26 margin. One thing that continues to work to his advantage are the debates. 60% of primary voters report having watched the one last night, and Gingrich has a 46-23 lead with those folks.

The other reason his ex-wife's interview isn't causing him much trouble is that there's a lot of skepticism about it. Only 31% of voters say they think her accusations are true while 35% think they are false and 34% are unsure. 51% of voters say that they have 'no concerns' about what came out in the interview.

The skepticism of Republican voters toward the media is helping Gingrich as well. Just 14% of likely voters have a generally favorable opinion of the media, while 77% view it negatively. Gingrich's attacks on the media have clearly played well with the party base.

Gingrich is leading with pretty much every key segment of the Republican electorate. He's up 41-21 on Romney and Santorum with Evangelicals, he has a 52-18 advantage on Romney with Tea Partiers, he leads Santorum 44-21 with 'very conservative' voters with Romney at 20%, and he's up 39-26 with men.

In the final week of the campaign Gingrich rose from 24% to 37% in PPP's polling while Romney basically stayed in place, going from 29% to 28%. Romney saw a 15 point decline in his net favorability in the closing stretch from +24 (57/33) to just +9 (51/42). Gingrich saw a modest increase in his numbers over the final week from +14 (51/37) to +17 (54/37).
----
Mark Blumenthal's piece today for Huffington Post about 'expecting the unexpected' tomorrow is well worth a read. Gingrich will probably win tomorrow- but there's a higher than normal chance for a surprise given everything that's gone down in the last 48 hours.

Full results here
[Reference Here]

Other interesting developments that are of note come in the area of endorsements. Michael Reagan, the nationally syndicated radio talk show host (5 million listeners) and adopted son of Ronald Reagan, came out with an unqualified endorsement of Newt.

Michael Reagan said in a statement released Friday afternoon that Gingrich “exemplifies the conservative principles my father championed.”

Reagan urged “fellow Republicans and conservatives” to vote for Gingrich, citing the contrast between Gingrich’s Reagan conservatism and President Obama’s “European style” socialism.

“We cannot afford a candidate backed by the same Washington insiders who repeatedly tried to undermine my father and the Reagan revolution,” he added.
Official Statement

This is pretty serious ... much more serious than Sarah Palin's "If I were a person voting in South Carolina ..." endorsement of Newt.

The Palmetto Pick Is ...

POLLS Close In South Carolina - FOXNews projects Newt Gingrich with strong support from all voting demographics including independents, evangelicals, and ... married women!

This is a slam to the established "ruling class" Republican elites and moderates who think that a Republican needs to be measured in his or her support of core Conservative values of self-reliance, right-to-work, and smaller Government.

Full Vote Results HERE -- Exit Poll Analysis HERE>>

Most Telling Takeaway:

How do you feel about the Tea Party movement?

Total - Paul | Gingrich | Romney | Santorum
Support
64% 12% 45% 25% 17%
Neutral
27% 15% 35% 30% 18%
Oppose
8% 21% 19% 32% 13%



- Article first seen as The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins … And Ends at Technorati -

"Occupy Rose Parade" A Failure On Any Measure

Occupy protesters march at the end of the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena Monday, January 2, 2012 [ctrl-click image to see "Occupy Rose Parade" slideshow]. Image Credit: SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/SXCITY


"Occupy Rose Parade" A Failure On Any Measure

On observation, the Occupy Wall Street's attempt to gain sympathy and support for their movement ended up being a complete failure on most any measure one wishes to apply to the display and its execution.

First off, very little media attention of their actual display and end-of-parade walk for the first mile and a half of the five and a half mile parade route was to be found on a Google search of "Occupy Rose Parade" - total postings and RSS feed pick-ups show only 24 listing Results. Any New Media writer knows that when one self-publishes, one must self-syndicate in order to increase Google search results on the title or subject of any article ... 24 item Results after 24 hours of an event is weak by any standard, let alone the platform the Rose Parade provides to a world audience. An estimated 40 million people viewed this year's procession of 43 floats, 16 marching bands and 22 equestrian troupes on U.S. television alone.

The first Rose Parade took place in 1890 and was attended by 2,000 people. The attendance has grown to one million parade goers lining Colorado Blvd. over the last few years.

Upon reading the stories leading up to the actual event, the "Occupy Rose Parade" organizers were hoping for tens-of-thousands of people turning out to participate in their side-bar, soft sanctioned, end-of-parade event. The initial projections provided by spokesman and organizer Peter Thottam estimated that 40,000 Occupy Movement (OWS) sympathizers would attend the demonstration but in hours before the parade, settled on the number of 3,000 demonstrators which the MSM press services of AP and Reuters picked-up and used as the template for all of their postings used by newspaper and television news broadcasts on the subject.

Actual estimates of the people who marched in the parade came to about 400 people. The official policy of the Pasadena Police Department is that they do not issue crowd estimates but when pushed, the Pasadena Police Department estimated that no more than 400 "Occupy Rose Parade" protesters marched the route and were joined by people from the crowd leaving the parade event, which made the actual protest seem larger.

Lastly, about the only people who took notice of this soft sanctioned, end-of-parade event were the real political activists who actually have a message people can relate to, and, to be frank, did not have to show up to act as a counter-weight to the "Occupy Rose Parade" protest effort. The Pasadena Tea Party Patriots, also known as TEAPAC, were upset by what they felt was the politicizing of the Rose Parade event and promised to stage their own protest if the city and the Tournament of Roses did not keep "Occupy Rose Parade" from demonstrating within the actual parade.

TEAPAC leader Michael Alexander said, "Occupy has no business in the parade, and neither do we. "But fair is fair and if the city and the (TofR) allow the parade to be politicized then we are going to be there."

So, the last failure of Occupy Rose Parade was that they were unable to have TEAPAC (and other serious political action organizations) take the bait and swell their protest crowd with a sizable counter-demonstration for the corporate media wire services to write about.

One has to ask - If 400 people in a parade and crowd of over 1,000,000 people represent "the 99%", just who are the rest of the parade and crowd of over 1,000,000 people ... the 1%?

The weather was perfect, the parade was beautiful, the Rose Bowl game came to a perfect conclusion with Oregon winning over Wisconsin in the highest scoring Rose Bowl game ever (Oregon Ducks, 45 - Wisconsin Badgers, 38), and 400 ineffective politically-progressive agitators were adsorbed (and nearly erased) by the general public as they left the parade route to get to their cars and get on with their first business day of the 2012 year holiday, happy being personally-free Americans.



<Article first seen as “Occupy Rose Parade” A Failure On Any Measure at Technorati>

Mitt - Gingrich Out-Demonize Each Other In Obama-Style Class-Warfare Attacks

Trading accusations of greed, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich challenged each other Monday to return millions made in private business as the race for the GOP presidential nomination turned increasingly acerbic and personal at the start of a three-week sprint to the Iowa caucuses. Image Credit: StarTribune

Mitt - Gingrich Out-Demonize Each Other In Obama-Style Class-Warfare Attacks

Yesterday, Mitt Romney made a point that Newt Gingrich should pay back monies he was paid by Freddie Mac, a money loosing, quasi-government mortgage funding organization, for a consulting services contract he had made with the management.

Newt Gingrich felt compelled to jump ugly back into the fray at Mitt Romney by saying Romney should pay back the monies he made through downsizing corporations to make them more efficient and profitable.

This is a lose-lose tennis match where on one side, it is no one's business what one gets paid for consulting services (just, why is Freddie Mac, and its partner organization, Fannie Mae in business on taxpayer money in the first place?), and on the other hand, the Communist/Socialist argument on Capitalism where corporate leaders are able to benefit personally from an increase in profits due to making a company, and its products more attractive to consumers and the needs the company's efforts fill.

This excerpted and edited from the StarTribune -

Greed is the issue this time: Romney and Gingrich trade barbs as 3-week sprint to Iowa begins
Article by: KASIE HUNT and STEVE PEOPLES , Associated Press - Updated: December 13, 2011 - 1:00 AM

Far from Iowa, the two men campaigned miles apart from each other in next-up New Hampshire, where Romney has long dominated in polls but where Gingrich is aggressively working to make inroads. Romney called on Gingrich to return the estimated $1.6 million he received for providing strategic advice to Freddie Mac, the quasi-government agency that guarantees home mortgages. Gingrich has said he acted as a historian, not a lobbyist.

"That would make him the highest paid historian in history," Romney told Fox News Channel during an interview from the Chez Vachon diner, a regular New Hampshire stop for presidential candidates. He suggested that Gingrich was an ultimate insider who leveraged his position as a former House speaker to line his pockets when he left office. Said Romney: "One of the things that I think people recognize in Washington is that people go there to serve the people and then they stay there to serve themselves."

Gingrich, campaigning in nearby Londonderry, countered quickly, saying that Romney should give back the millions he made working at Bain Capital, a venture capital firm that sometimes laid people off as part of its efforts to make businesses more efficient. "If Governor Romney would give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over the years at Bain, then I would be glad to listen to him," Gingrich said. "But I bet you $10 — not $10,000 — that he won't take the offer." That was a dig at Romney's offer of a $10,000 wager with Rick Perry at Saturday night's debate.

Unbowed, Romney chided Gingrich anew, saying: "There's a big difference between working in the private economy and working on K Street, and working as a lobbyist and working as a legislator, and working to connect businesses with government." Romney's campaign also pressed the notion of Gingrich as a Washington insider, with news releases labeling him an "unreliable leader" and pictured with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
[Reference Here]

If one were to side with the Gingrich argument (in retort), one would be siding with Barack Obama and continue the the cultural and economic slide into the abyss of socialist class-warfare and Euroism. If one were to side with Romney in his attack on Gingrich, while this argument points out how one, as a Washington insider gets to support themselves, it is none of anyone's business what one gets paid for consulting services as long as these arrangements are legal.

What is much more important as a takeaway from Romney's query, however, is with all of the Government resources (read, TAXPAYER) laid at the doorsteps of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, why were the executives who ran Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae able to walk-away while making bonuses in the millions of dollars as these organizations took the worldwide economy into the massive junk-mortgage tailspin of a property value downgrade we find ourselves now? Four words (two hyphenated phrases): Ruling-Class Slush-Fund!

Next debate from Sioux City Convention Center in Sioux City, Iowa, to be aired on FOXNews, Thursday, December 15, 9:00pm ET ... the gloves will be thrown to the ice and it might be time for the more recognized Conservatives as seen in Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachmann to rise above the fray in the ugly, ankle-biting "Newt Romney" back-and-forth, Iowa Caucuses.


<article first published as Mitt - Gingrich Out Demonize Each Other In Obama Style Class Warfare Attacks on Technorati>