Welcome to Reality Check. Stop by give him a welcome. (A tip of the conservative hat to Steve and Fred).
• 10:03 am 0
Bush Tries to Revive Support for Iraq War
I think it may be too little too late, but this was different:
“Bush sought to emphasize Iraq’s progress in a second event of the day, appearing in the Oval Office beside Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq. The two stood to offer reporters and photographers a view of Barzani’s traditional Kurdish outfit — a khaki jacket tucked into matching, loosely pleated pants adorned by a knotted sash at his waist and a red-and-white headdress.
” ‘It wasn’t all that long ago if he had of worn this outfit and was captured by Saddam Hussein’s thugs he would have been killed for wearing it,’ Bush said. ‘He feels comfortable wearing it here because we’re a free land. He feels comfortable wearing it in his home country because Iraq is free.’ “
More illustrations like this of how we’re making a real difference is needed to turn the tide.
Filed under: Iraq War
October 24, 2005 • 3:02 pm 0
Rosa Parks Dies at 92
All Rosa Parks did was refuse to give up her seat to a white man. Little things can make a difference.
Filed under: History
• 2:40 pm 0
Dennis York Returns
• 12:38 pm 0
Opposing Bush
In conjunction with my last post, I feel compelled to express my increasing frustration with the administration. In an article looking at the juggling act Bush has to do to appeal to independents, the Los Angeles Times articulated some of those. The lack of leadership on the Iraq War. “Stay the course” only goes so far. The American people need some kind of timeline like we got with elections and [rest of the post is lost]
Filed under: George W. Bush, Politics
• 10:36 am 0
Opposing Harriet Miers
I gave the administration the benefit of the doubt, I think. I was supportive; I felt Bush knew the nominee and she would make a good Justice. At the very least, I was neutral, wanting to see what came out in the hearings.
But now I must say that I oppose the Miers nomination.
This nomination has been handled at the best poorly and at the worst with incompetence. News in the past week has highlighted how Miers was vetted by few in the administration and that there are feelers of a Miers pullout. There was also the sloppy answer to the question on equal representation, senators’ rejection as inadequate her answers to a questionaire, and the cessation of Senate visits after reports of saying something to a senator and then clarifying it later, usually with a completely opposite meaning.
This comes on the heels of the stumbling start and “bones” thrown to the social conservatives to reassure them that Miers would vote “the right way.”
It’s just too much anymore.
Filed under: George W. Bush, US Supreme Court
October 23, 2005 • 2:34 pm 0
Carnival of the Badger
The tenth edition can be found at Subject to Change. Aaron has done a fine job and even has a treasure hunt.
Next week’s Carnival will be hosted by Sean at The American Mind.
Filed under: Blog carnivals, Blogging, Wisconsin
• 2:31 pm 0
Changes to the Blogroll
A commenter to my post below has a blog called Waukesha Blogger. He also has a website called Overtaxed Waukesha. Take a look at both of them and welcome Justin to the blogosphere. Sadly, Paul Brewer is taking a hiatus from blogging. He left us a convenient list of his best posts. Best of luck in your endeavors, Paul. UPDATE: How could I have forgotten No Runny Eggs? Steve has commented on many [the rest of the post as well as links lost]
October 20, 2005 • 5:29 pm 0
Vrakas Elected
Rep. Dan Vrakas was elected Waukesha County Executive by a wide (2-1) margin. Unofficially Vrakas polled 36,419 to Jim Dwyer’s 17,509.
Dwyer pledged to work with Vrakas.
Turnout was under 20%.
And, in a bid to keep election officials busy, there will be a special election to fill Vrakas’s seat.
UPDATE: Five Republicans so far are interested in replacing Vrakas. They are
“• James Behrend, a Waukesha County Board member and former Delafield mayor. Behrend, a Hartland real estate agent, ran in the 2002 primary for the 11th Senate District seat when then-Sen. Joanne Huelsman decided to retire.
“• Troy Fullerton of the Town of Waukesha, a technology consultant who ran in the April 2004 election for County Board and lost to the incumbent.
“• Scott Newcomer of Hartland, co-founder of the American Home Inspectors Training Institute, who ran in the GOP primary in 2002 to fill the Senate seat vacated by Margaret Farrow when she become lieutenant governor.
“• Kent Woods, a former Town of Delafield chairman who is vice president of Woods Resources, a consulting firm that does public and government relations and fund raising.
“• Gilbert Yerke, a former Town of Mukwonago chairman and board member. Yerke is a town Plan Commission member and member of the Waukesha County Community Development Block Grant Board.”
Stay tuned.
• 5:27 pm 0
Vrakas for Waukesha County Executive
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a whole section on the race in the “Waukesha” section. There are profiles, a chart (PDF file) comparing the two, a list of previous articles, and, of course, the endorsement (Surprise, it’s Jim Dwyer). The endorsement came in spite of
“His use in a radio ad of a couple of Finley quotes was at best disingenuous and at worst a deliberate attempt to mislead voters.”
As long as you’re not a Republican, I guess, it doesn’t matter what you do.
I haven’t seen any endorsement by the Waukessha Freeman. Perhaps tomorrow? (I haven’t been able to access my online edition 
)
Anyway, I’m voting for Dan Vrakas. Not because he is all that different fiscally from Dwyer, but because of the ads and because I suspect I’m closer to Vrakas politically.
