Clipmarks | Conservative Clips

"Pizza" Parliament

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:22:36 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder
clipper's remarks: Looks like Canada will have another "pizza", minority parliament after the November 14th, 2008 election. Harper won 144 seats, short of the 150+ required for a majority. $350 million spent just to get back to where we were the day before the election.

Clip Source: www.wordspy.com

pizza parliament

n. A parliament consisting of many parties, each with only a relatively small number of seats and where no party has a majority of seats.

Example Citations:

Harper was also hurt by what has become a five-party political system in Canada.

"It's very difficult to get a majority in this 'pizza Parliament,' " Wiseman said.
—Andrew van Velzen and Geraldine Baum, "Canada's Conservative Party overcomes Bush comparisons," Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2008

Good Riddance, Buckley

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:51:33 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

Buckley’s Son Leaves National Review

Christopher Buckley, the author and son of the late conservative mainstay William F. Buckley, said in a telephone interview that he has resigned from the National Review, the political journal his father founded in 1955.

As a result, he wrote to Richard Lowry, the editor of the National Review, and its publisher, Jack Fowler, offering to resign, and “this offer was rather briskly accepted,” Mr. Buckley said.

What Being Neat or Messy Says about Political Leanings

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:46:29 GMT

clipped by: keeth

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Political Science: What Being Neat or Messy Says about Political Leanings

Researchers insist they can tell someone's politlcal affiliation by looking at the condition of their offices and bedrooms. Messy? You're a lefty. A neatnik? Welcome to the Right.

According to a controversial new study, set to be published in The Journal of Political Psychology, the bedrooms and offices of liberals, who are generally thought of as open, tend to be colorful and awash in books about travel, ethnicity, feminism and music, along with music CDs covering folk, classic and modern rock, as well as art supplies, movie tickets and travel memorabilia.

Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to surround themselves with calendars, postage stamps, laundry baskets, irons and sewing materials in their personal spaces, according to the study. Their bedrooms and offices are well-lighted and decorated with sports paraphernalia and flags—especially American ones.

Tags: politics, liberal, conservative

Conservatism gains around the world.

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:45:25 GMT

clipped by: sillysam
clipper's remarks: After disappointment with liberalism even Canada returns to their senses following Conservative wins in France and Germany. We on the other hand seem to want to make the liberal mistake for ourselves.

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Harper to Craft Bank Package After Seats Gain in Vote (Update1)

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper likely will use his strengthened hand in Parliament to craft a rescue package to keep the country's financial institutions competitive following bailouts in the U.S. and Europe.

Harper's Conservative Party, which went into yesterday's elections with 127 seats, won 143 districts, short of the 155 needed for a majority government, according to preliminary results from Elections Canada. He will again need support from opposition lawmakers to pass legislation.

America's Strangest Newspaper

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:32:10 GMT

clipped by: Joshua Zumbrun
clipper's remarks: This is fascinating.

Clip Source: www.thebigmoney.com

America's Strangest Newspaper

By Gabriel Sherman Posted Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 10:02am

you'd hardly know that there was a third national business paper that has been published since 1984, counts more than 150,000 subscribers—almost identical to the FT's U.S. circulation—and won a Pulitzer Prize last year for editorial cartoons. Investor's Business Daily might be the biggest newspaper no one has ever heard of. It is also the strangest mainstream newspaper in America.

Tags: investors business daily, history, founder, politics, conservative, newspaper, business, daily

Buckley leaves National Review after Obama endorsement

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:13:28 GMT

clipped by: keeth
clipper's remarks: "Sadly, I think Christopher Buckley is merely the latest example of the 'conservative' avant-garde who has succumbed to a common temptation: Becoming more liberal is tantamount to becoming more open-minded. There is a palpable elitism among some of the conservative panjandrum," Lewis said.

So does this make Lewis an anti-elitist elitist?

elitist (n): One who despises people or things regarded as inferior, especially because of social or intellectual pretension

Clip Source: politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Buckley leaves National Review after Obama endorsement

I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for," Buckley wrote.

"Eight years of 'conservative' government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case," he also wrote.

"My father in his day endorsed a number of liberal Democrats for high office, including Allard K. Lowenstein and Joe Lieberman," he said, adding later, "My point, simply, is that William F. Buckley held to rigorous standards, and if those were met by members of the other side rather than by his own camp, he said as much."

David Brooks, Kathleen Parker, David Frum, Peggy Noonan, and George Will

have each openly criticized the ticket over the last month.

Tags: mccain, obama, buckley, national, review, election, politics

troops have trouble voting

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:54:35 GMT

clipped by: rvnurse2b
clipper's remarks: what a mess... I wonder who they would vote for?

Clip Source: www.onenewsnow.com

Conservative columnist and political analyst John Fund believes two-thirds of the military personnel serving overseas will not be able to vote this presidential election because of bureaucratic red tape.

Recently The Associated Press reported that during the 2006 midterm elections, only 30 percent of the overseas military votes were counted, according to data from the Pew Center on the States and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the latter of which monitors election problems. The article said many ballots arrived late, some were not filled out properly, some were mailed to the wrong location, and some -- for whatever reason -- were not mailed back at all. It also added states and local election districts that have competing, and sometimes confounding, rules governing overseas ballots are contributing to the confusion.

Tags: obama, mcain, republican, democrats, election, law, war, iraq

Toxic Securities: Feds Tap Bank of New York Mellon

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:53:42 GMT

clipped by: Andrew Gillies
clipper's remarks: Washington Post story also notes that law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett won its bid to provide legal advice for the program.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Treasury Hires Lead Contractor for Rescue

Bank of New York Mellon to Manage Federal Purchase of Toxic Securities

The Bank of New York Mellon has been selected as the lead contractor in the government's efforts to buy up toxic securities that have spawned fear in the financial markets, a mammoth task considered a key to the Treasury Department's plan to restart the nation's credit markets.

Under the contract announced yesterday, the bank will run the auctions used by the government to acquire the assets, including many linked to troubled mortgages. Bank of New York Mellon will then hold, track and value those securities.

A firm with a conservative business reputation and historic ties to the U.S. government, the bank is the custodian for $23 trillion in investments and has a lot of experience in financial auctions. Those attributes make it well-suited to the complex task it faces in the rescue plan, financial analysts said.

By Peter Whoriskey and Amit R. Paley

Is there a honest Politician?

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:22:51 GMT

clipped by: benaloy
clipper's remarks: Are we all holding the 'wrong' end of the
'stck' in thinking that 'politicians' must be 'honest'.
Suppose we believe that it is perfectly ok for a person make 'hay' while it 'shines' our minds would be at ease.
Increase the penalties for 'wrong' doing, but who would do such a thing when he himself may be caught in it ???

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Commons speaker Michael Martin has said he is "deeply concerned" at claims Tony Blair misled MPs over exempting Formula One from a tobacco advertising ban.

Mr Ecclestone gave a £1m donation to Labour in 1997, which the party later handed back amid negative newspaper coverage.

Documents obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act - and reported in newspapers at the weekend - suggest Mr Blair ordered ministers to find a way of exempting F1 from the tobacco advertising ban after the meeting with Mr Ecclestone on 16 October of that year.

But at the time the prime minister denied personal involvement, and appeared on a BBC programme to insist he was a "pretty straight kind of guy".

Conservative MP John Maples said of Mr Blair: "In his [previous] answer to us, he stated that no decision had been made on October 16th."

He told the speaker: "This House must assert its right to truth from ministers and I wonder... how we can change our rules to achieve this.

Buckley loses NR column due to backing Obama

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:26:56 GMT

clipped by: georgecf

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Christopher Buckley knew he was venturing into treacherous territory when he endorsed Barack Obama: "It's a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They'd cut off my allowance," he wrote.

The penalty turned out to be more severe. William F. Buckley Jr.'s son said yesterday that he had lost his back-page column in National Review, the conservative bible founded by his father.

"Within hours, poor NR was being swamped with furious mail, 'Cancel my subscription, this is betrayal, Judas, Benedict Arnold,' " Buckley, 56, said in an interview. "I thought the decent thing to do would be to offer to resign the column. Well, they accepted it."

Tags: buckley, obama, endorsement, national review

In Virginia, Palin crowd believes every myth

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:45:48 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: This sounds like The Onion, but it's a New York Times story covering a race-track rally by Sarah Palin. How have we failed, that Americans could be so poorly educated as to be vulnerable to such tripe?

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Their answers were uniform because they all followed the same right-wing radio chat-show hosts and conservative bloggers. The “liberal media elite” is enemy number two here. Only Mr Obama is detested more.

Others considered Mr Obama to be a subversive, terrorist- sympathising, America-hating radical and covert Muslim

Some claimed that he supported sharia in Kenya and consorted with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

his supporters — his inner circle— are radicals who want revolution,” Billy Benton, 55, an estate agent, said. “I don't know what he was doing in Indonesia all those years — hanging around with Muslim terrorists?” Madeleine Willis, 60, a retired factory worker, asked

wore a T-shirt proclaiming: “The difference between Obama and Osama is just a little B.S.”

“What turned me off was the way he wouldn't put his hand over his heart for the Pledge of Allegiance or wear a flag pin. I don't know how you can call yourself an American if you don't do that,”

a substitute teacher, said

Tags: palin, obama, virginia

Christoper Buckley Bows out of National Review

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:31:32 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.

So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Thanks, anyway, for the memories, and here’s to happier days and with any luck, a bit less fresh hell.

Clip Source: www.thedailybeast.com

Within hours of my endorsement appearing in The Daily Beast it became clear that National Review had a serious problem on its hands. So the next morning, I thought the only decent thing to do would be to offer to resign my column there. This offer was accepted—rather briskly!

My father in his day endorsed a number of liberal Democrats for high office, including Allard K. Lowenstein and Joe Lieberman

In 1969, Pup wrote a widely-remarked upon column saying that it was time America had a black president

My point, simply, is that William F. Buckley held to rigorous standards, and if those were met by members of the other side rather than by his own camp, he said as much

So, I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.

Buckley resigns after Obama endorsement

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:25:50 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Christopher Buckley, the son of conservative icon William F. Buckley, said Tuesday he's resigned from the conservative National Review days after endorsing Barack Obama's White House bid, among the most powerful symbols yet of the conservative discontent expressed this election cycle.

In an online column, Buckley said he had decided to offer his resignation from the magazine his father founded after hundreds of readers and some National Review colleagues expressed outrage he was backing the Illinois senator.

"While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for," Buckley wrote.

But in his column Tuesday, Buckley expressed disappointment the magazine, and conservatives in general, were not more open to dissenting opinions that his own father once championed.

Tags: obama, politics, conservative, media

Christopher Buckley on his treatment after endorsing Obama

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:14:33 GMT

clipped by: Sweeneybird
clipper's remarks: I always liked that nice Buckley boy...

Clip Source: www.thedailybeast.com

But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.

So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Tags: po

Canada Socially Conservative? I think not.

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:11:04 GMT

clipped by: iulawboy

Clip Source: thetyee.ca

Most people seem to acknowledge the need to seek free trade agreements with other nations but, even so, about three quarters are adamant that Canada should put human rights before commercial gain when negotiating these accords.

Are Canadians increasingly adopting conservative social values

most Canadians would support the legalization of marijuana; seven-in-10 back the idea of punishing non-violent offenders with alternative sentences such as probation or community service rather than jail, and more than half would push for a complete ban on handguns.

Two fifths of Canadians support a harm-reduction approach to drugs instead of punitive measures for addicts

close to 60 per cent of Canadians want to reverse a measure stating that nobody under the age of 12 can be convicted of an offence.

Tags: canada, nafta, free trade, marijuana, probation, community service, jail, gun control, crime, juvinal justice