Monday, March 5, 2007

In defense of conservatism Here's an open letter about Ann Coulter's speech last week from several conservative bloggers to the ACU and CPAC sponsors. Read the whole thing. Thanks to Captain's Quarters for printing it. Money quote: "Ann Coulter used to serve the movement well. She was telegenic, intelligent, and witty. She was also fearless: saying provocative things to inspire deeper thought and cutting through the haze of competing information has its uses. But Coulter's fearlessness has become an addiction to shock value. She draws attention to herself, rather than placing the spotlight on conservative ideas." "2008 pres" 7:23:43 AM

Global warming? Channel 4: "In a polemical and thought-provoking documentary, film-maker Martin Durkin argues that the theory of man-made global warming has become such a powerful political force that other explanations for climate change are not being properly aired." Thanks to Blogs for Bush for the link. "2008 pres" 7:11:43 AM

Iraq Captain's Quarters: "The Pentagon has not discussed an alternate strategy for Iraq if the surge does not produce the desired results, the Washington Post reports. Peter Pace, Joint Chiefs chairman, parries such questions with the response that 'Marines don't talk about failure,' and that 'Plan B is to make Plan A work'" Daily Kos: "...after four years of over-extending our military, this plan would effectively end Bush's escalation and force the redeployment of troops already in Iraq. Bush's endless war could not be sustained. And who could argue against requiring that our troops are rested, trained and equipped before they are sent into battle? Only the administration and the entire Republican Party, it seems. Republicans do not want to face a vote that would force them to do what they so often talk about; supporting the troops, rather than this administration. "The question is, does the Democratic Party agree? In the weeks since Murtha outlined his plan, there has been a continuous attack against it by the GOP and their mouthpieces that has gone largely unanswered. With accusations of micromanaging the war, enabling the terrorists and harming the troops, the obvious question goes unasked and unanswered. Should our military be properly rested, trained and equipped before they are sent to Iraq? But that question isn't just for Republicans, it's for any Democratic Congressman who opposes or wants to weaken Murtha's proposed legislation." Captains Quarters: "The Democratic win in last year's midterms gave more credibility to the anti-war wing of Congressional Democrats, who spent most of 2006 trying to get reporters to show up to press conferences, and mostly unsuccessfully. With the new majority, these members of the so-called Out of Iraq Caucus have received much more attention and regularly get their message into the mainstream. However, they have begun to discover that all of the seats they won in November came from districts that don't appreciate a cut-and-run policy." Iraq The Model: "As we noted more than once before, Operation 'Imposing Law' is an escalating effort with military and political components. After the troops fixed their feet on the streets of Baghdad, PM Maliki and the troops are pushing forward with both components." "2008 pres" 6:47:44 AM

? for president? Political Wire: "John Edwards is mailing DVDs to more than 70,000 Iowa households this week, The Politico reports, 'introducing the audience of likely caucus-goers to his plan for universal health care with a combination of passion, wonkiness, and implicit comparison with his rivals.'" Rocky Mountain News: "The Los Angeles Times surveyed 133 of the 165 Republican National Committee members about their early picks and pans for the party's 2008 presidential nomination...The survey showed Tancredo, of Littleton, grouped with others at the bottom of the pack. Leading were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani." Political Wire: "New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and political adviser Kevin Sheekey 'are meeting with pollsters and consultants to assess the mayor's chances as a third-party, independent candidate,' Newsweek reports. Said Sheekey: 'There is no Bloomberg campaign. But we have certainly reached out.' Whether he runs 'depends on who the nominees are for the two major parties, and how much cash Bloomberg is willing to spend.'" Political Wire: "'Personally, I'm a Bill Richardson fan. I think he has the Bill Clinton touch with people.' -- Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), quoted by Washington Whispers, on his favorite 2008 presidential candidate." Political Wire: "'In case you harbored any eensy-weensy shred of doubt that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is running for re-election, word comes that he has hired veteran Democratic operative Jeff Link as his general consultant for the 2008 campaign,' the Des Moines Register reports." "2008 pres" 6:44:18 AM

May election ballot issues? Here's a short article from the Denver Post about proposed ballot issues for the May election. From the article, "Denver voters in May could be asked to approve measures that change the way at-large City Council members are elected and extend the term limit for the district attorney. The City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on both issues. "Currently, anyone running for an at-large council seat runs in one large pool. The two candidates with the most votes win the seats. The problem is that makes for a City Council member elected by a small number of people, said at-large Councilman Doug Linkhart, who is pushing for the change. For instance, Linkhart and Carol Boigon - the other at-large council member - were elected by 17 percent of the vote and 22 percent of the vote, respectively... "Linkhart's proposal would divide the races into separate campaigns and require that winning candidates be elected by a majority. If council and then voters approve the idea, it would not take effect until 2011... "Meanwhile, the council also is considering an issue to lengthen the term limits for the district attorney's office. Currently, the city's top prosecutor is the only city office limited to two terms - the others have three. District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said legal questions that have since been resolved kept Denver from extending the third term to the office when the others were extended in 2001." "denver 2007" 6:34:54 AM

Immigration Here's Part I of the Denver Post's series, Fortress America, about efforts to secure the southern border with Mexico. From the article, "Gerardo Carbajal sits on a bench on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande, shivering. Caught that morning by the U.S. Border Patrol as he stepped out of the ice-cold river, he's exhausted, hungry, and he's going home. At just 17 years old, Carbajal has sneaked across the border six times before. 'It's never been this hard,' he said, confessing that he would return to his home in the Mexican state of Guanajuato rather than try again. Although he may not know exactly why, Carbajal knows this for sure: The border is changing. In federal courthouses in Laredo and Del Rio, a small army of illegal immigrants who a few years ago would have been set free or dumped back across the Fortress America border are instead going to jail. In Artesia, N.M., there is a ballet of cranes twirling over half-finished barracks in frenzied preparation for a flood of trainees headed to the Border Patrol Academy there." Here's an Part II of the Post's series about efforts to secure the border down south, from the Denver Post. They write, "A 10-foot-high wall snakes along the U.S.-Mexico border south of here, and behind it another fence, steel mesh and even higher. Cameras sit atop 50-foot poles, and stadium lights can turn night here to day. It's a daunting sight that looks utterly secure. Until you notice the dozens of divots. 'Everywhere you see a divot, that's where someone has gone over with a ladder,' said Damon Foreman, a young Border Patrol agent, pointing to the nicks across the top of the secondary fence. Sold for $5 on the Mexican side, the ladders are made of rebar and can be carried with one hand at a quick run. 'Ten guys are over that fence in a minute,' Foreman said. For Department of Homeland Security officials trying to secure the country's land borders, it's a hard lesson: A $5 ladder trumps a $30 million fence... "Despite some notable successes in deploying technology, experts warn that there have also been spectacular failures: Private contractors have shoved off shoddy materials; an unforgiving environment has wreaked havoc on sophisticated systems; and the Border Patrol has misjudged technology's value. In a cramped control room in the Border Patrol's Del Rio sector in Texas, a crisply uniformed agent shows off the program's most technologically advanced system, part of a network originally known as ISIS, for Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System. From this spot, two dispatchers have a remarkable view of a 24-mile stretch of the Texas border. Using joysticks, they manipulate more than 40 day-and-night cameras, scanning the border's weed-choked riverbanks for illegal immigrants and dispatching agents via encrypted radios. On a central console, hits from an array of buried ground sensors roll across a computer screen, alerting the controllers to possible smugglers hidden amid the mesquite and river grass. 'With manpower and technology, you can bring the border under control,' said Randy Clark, a Border Patrol supervisory agent, as he stood in front of the impressive array." "2008 pres" 6:30:03 AM

Douglas County: Collect rainwater? Douglas County is looking at collecting rain water as a means for augmentation for landscape water, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "The newest idea to find water in tapped-out Douglas County is as old as civilization: catching rain and using it later. But for this region, whose future is tied to dwindling aquifers, Colorado water law turns simple science into a process akin to the tax code. A Douglas County study to be presented Friday at a national conference at the University of Denver's Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute lays out the simple science and complex legal hurdles for letting homeowners take rainfall from their rooftops to sprinkle on their lawns... "Colorado water law decrees rights to a share of almost every drop of river water. Rainfall is part of that equation. If it is captured and used, the law requires the same volume must be put back in the river for downstream users. Keeping it 'would cause big problems,' said Bill Paddock, a Denver water-rights attorney, author and lecturer who formerly worked in the water unit of the state attorney general's office... "The Colorado legislature would have to rewrite the laws, carve out exceptions for collected rainwater or create credits that compensate those with purchased water rights. 'The first thing we would have to demonstrate is that we're protecting senior water rights' downstream, said Harold Smethills, who hopes to someday develop a 2,200-acre community in northwest Douglas County engineered around such water-saving concepts. In reality, only a fraction of rainwater on the arid Front Range makes it back to rivers, said engineer Greg Roush, one of the study's authors. Douglas County gets an annual average of 17 inches of rain, and up to 97 percent of it is lost to evaporation and vegetation. Rivers are filled by mountain snowmelt and treatment plants. Heavy deluges tend to do more harm than the water is worth, delivering costly pollutants, silt and flood damage. Capturing rain where it falls would probably save money, in the big picture, van Hemert said... "Drains and cisterns for the average home would run more than $5,000 and save roughly the equivalent of a low-flow toilet. But combined with water- wise landscaping, it could cover 75 percent of outdoor watering needs, Smethills said... "Rainwater has such promise that the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Douglas County, Dominion and Thunderbird water districts, Castle Pines North Metro District and Plum Valley Heights Homeowners Association paid $97,000 to study it. Backers hope to study it more, to quantify the benefits, iron out legal problems and make sure water rights are protected." "colorado water" 6:17:35 AM

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