I’ve been too busy to blog much lately so here’s some socially awkward penguins.

Based on the response I’ve received via Twitter and at BlogCon CLT, people really like the typographical portrait of Andrew Breitbart I did. I’m actually a little stunned that it got such a great reaction but I’m happy it did. Thanks for all the compliments.

As I said when presenting the portrait, I didn’t really know Andrew very well but I was fortunate enough to have met him a couple of times at CPAC. I wanted to create a design in his honor to show my appreciation for all he did and the movement he started. A typographical portrait seemed like the best idea because Andrew was known for what he said, and he did what he said. His words are who he is and constructing a portrait using words said by him (or associated with him) seemed appropriate.

I designed t-shirts for the previous BlogCon events in DC and Denver. They were fun and snarky like Tabatha Hale’s “Legion of Doom” or the “Kruiser Kabana We Much” shirts. This design started out as something to go on a t-shirt but along the way I decided I wanted it to be something a little more than that. I wanted to create something to give to the team who Andrew assembled and who carry on the work he started.

Below is a screen cap of the design as printed. A lot of requests are coming in for t-shirts and posters. I still need to figure out what is the best way to make the design available to people.

My thanks to FreedomWorks and the Franklin Center for giving me the opportunity to present the portrait. Also thanks go to Gage Skidmore who took the photo upon which I based the design and made it available via wikipedia commons.

I’m also thankful to the Imagination Center in Frederick, Maryland for doing a great job printing and mounting the piece with a short turnaround time.

J. Doug Gill has a great piece in yesterday’s Examiner which brilliantly captures the idiocracy currently in power in the Maryland statehouse. Some excerpts:

For someone who likes to speak down to Marylanders in hushed, reverent tones and carry himself with all the emotion of a bagpipe, Gov. Martin O’Malley Monday night seemed downright annoyed as the 2012 Maryland General Assembly Session came to a rather embarrassing, confetti-less conclusion.

And yet, there stood Gov. National Resume – a mere half hour or so after the session ended in disarray – hurling missives of culpability at Curly, Larry and the whole horde of Keystone Kop-alikes in Annapolis that have proved to be almost as useful as a pocket in your underwear.

Constitutionally speaking (they obviously don’t Constitutionally listen), the part-time squatters in the State House are responsible for just one task: passing a balanced budget. Not being forced to pass one as a result of inaction – which is how the latest $35+ billion debacle came to fruition.

…

One job: the budget.

Enabling the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to inspect inflatable amusement attractions was not obligatory (SB 226) and neither was the law changing from 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. the starting time for selling beer, wine, and liquor at golf courses in Howard County (HB 1046).

…

Ninety days + one job = fail. Epic fail.

Apparently it now takes more than 90 days to raise taxes, erase personal freedoms, spend more money than you have and pay off the union, renewable energy and casino cronies that contributed to re-election campaigns and perhaps even a Governor’s Association or two.

“This is not in keeping with what the people of our state expect of their legislature,” O’Malley said to the after-session gathering, proving how oblivious he truly is to what the people of this state expect.

Because this is what we expect of our legislature. Each year – from January to April – Marylanders anticipate the sort of clusterhump extravaganza rivaled only by the previous year’s antics.

…

Anyone who has read this blog lately knows I am 100% behind the U.S. Senate candidacy of Dan Bongino. I’ve compared him to the bright lights in the GOP such as Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio. It’s distressing to me that in this year when so many in the GOP establishment urged conservatives to compromise on principle and get behind Mitt Romney in the presidential race, some in the Maryland GOP are put out that Bongino hasn’t worked his way up within the state party and kissed all the right rings (or right posteriors) to get where he is.

It wasn’t too long ago that Delegate Pat McDonough–who was also running for the Senate nomination,then wasn’t running, then was running again, then wasn’t running again but was still handing out campaign literature saying he was–accused Bongino’s campaign of being a “novelty act.”

“He’s done absolutely nothing for the Republican Party or for his community,” McDonough said. “You have these unknown people who come out of the woodwork who want to run for high office. It’s like joining the Catholic religion and wanting to be pope.”

This sort of petty narcissism seems endemic to the Republican Party nationally but seems particularly virulent in Maryland. Given that the so called “Free State” is being run over rough-shod by a Democrat Party monopoly, I’m not sure what these party insiders claim to have done for the party themselves. Dan Bongino has made it exciting to be a Republican in the state of Maryland, which is far more than some of his detractors have done. Dan is like a defibrillator for a state party in cardiac arrest.

After he beat nine other candidates for the nomination on April 3, Bongino was asked by WJZ TV’s Adam May to respond to an anonymous “high-ranking” Republican’s negativity. (One can’t help but suspect it was McDonough again.)

May: “A high-ranking Republican in Maryland told me the problem with your campaign is that you have no political experience whatsoever.”

Bongino: “What is going up the ranks or so-called waiting in line? What has that done for you, really?  Taught you how to cut deals, so by the time you get to the U.S. Senate you’re skilled in cutting deals and selling out?” . . . “That is our biggest value and an asset that I have no political experience. Thank God.”

The problem in the GOP as a whole is that seniority is seen as more valuable than ability and drive. Many who claim to be conservatives and who argue in favor of an economic meritocracy are nonetheless hidebound to a mentality of waiting one’s turn before seeking high office. They believe in competition in the marketplace but not within the party. The Republicans want to sell off all their buggy whips before getting into the automobile business.

It’s a mentality that leads Republicans to claim victory when they force Democrats to settle implementing only 75% of a bad idea. It’s what makes conservatives cringe when they hear that Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid have “struck a deal.” It’s that mentality that makes principled candidates like Bongino so attractive to voters discouraged by the weakness of the GOP.

Here’s what the Constitution says:

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

There’s nothing there about seeking the approval of any entrenched party bureaucracy, committee or self-anointed boss. Nor should there be.

Yesterday’s Maryland Gazette reported comments on the race from Alan Rzepkowski.

Alan Rzepkowski, chairman of the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee, said it seems Bongino’s campaign gives Republicans the best chance to send a county resident to Congress since Tom McMillen in 1993. Yet, Bongino appears to be doing so as an anti-establishment candidate, which Rzepkowski said might be good plan to pick up votes when so many people are frustrated with the status quo.

“There were other candidates who wanted the nomination, and they came by the committee and introduced themselves,” Rzepkowski said. “It was a little odd, I thought, that he didn’t.”

I don’t know Mr Rzepkowski and I am not on any GOP central committee, but if he or anyone else hasn’t been able to speak to Dan and get to know him, it’s his own fault. I’m just a guy with a blog and I can argue from experience that Dan is one of the most accessible and genuine candidates I’ve ever met. He’s attracted an army of campaign volunteers by going directly to the grass roots. Instead of waiting for Dan to come and pay homage, Mr Rzepkowski and his committee might consider evaluating Dan’s ideas and offering their support.

Ronald Reagan reportedly had a sign on his desk that said “There’s no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” The people who are more concerned about whether Bongino has paid his dues than they are about defeating Ben Cardin need to meditate on that idea. No matter how you rationalize it, jealousy is jealousy. Humility should be the order of the day.

When Bongino arrived at his precinct to cast a ballot for himself last week, one of his volunteers called him “sir.” Bongino told him not to do that.

“My name is Dan,” Bongino said. “And if I’m elected, don’t call me ‘senator.’ I’m one of you. I’m not one of them.”

Conservatives are becoming more and more disillusioned with party machine politics. If we’re to get this country back on the right track we need to speed the necessary paradigm shift to sensible citizen statesmen as candidates. Dan Bongino is exactly the kind of candidate–and Senator–who can help save the Republican Party from itself.

Also read:

Monoblogue: Compromise in Reverse

So it’s up to the Maryland Republican establishment to do what they always told us conservatives to do when a Bob Ehrlich or some other middle-of-the-road, milquetoast candidate was nominated by party faithful – shut up, donate lots of money, and get out the vote.

Right Coast Conservative: The Maryland GOP Thinks it Has a Successful Track Record and Why Independents Should Vote for Dan Bongino

…members of the Maryland GOP leave no doubt that they are disappointed he [Bongino] isn’t their lapdog, vying for the GOP establishment approval, instead of actual Maryland voters.

Yours truly made “Tweets of the Week” in this week’s Kruiser Kontrol at PJTV.

When a star reaches the end of its life and no longer has sufficient fuel to sustain its nuclear reaction, it begins to expand into a bloated gas ball called a supernova  which in turn may collapse upon itself to form a super dense neutron star or under some conditions an infinitely dense singularity which becomes the center of a black hole. A black hole is an insatiable, greedy, sucking thing from which nothing can escape. It is ”unavoidable, moving through space swallowing everything in its path–radio waves, light, even planets and stars.” And presumably tax dollars, individual liberty, and political power.

Sen. Mikulski to have supernova named after her

 

Isn’t that sort of redundant?

This was the scene in Annapolis last night after Dan Bongino won the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.

UPDATE
Press release from the campaign:

“I am grateful to the voters of Maryland who have given me this amazing opportunity,” Bongino said. “I would also like to thank the other Republican challengers. We all share the same concerns about the direction of this country and agree it is time Maryland had new representation in Washington. I hope they will join my campaign to bring an outsider’s perspective to the US Senate.”

Dan Bongino understands the needs of the people of Maryland. As a public servant working at the United States Secret Service, to the private sector starting new businesses, Bongino has seen how the policies of Washington insiders impact the lives of Maryland residents. His campaign will focus on issues that matter to the citizens of Maryland; the economy, national security, energy and government accountability.

“The people of Maryland deserve a Senator who will fight for them, and not the Washington establishment,” Bongino said. “We need leadership in the Senate that will work to increase opportunity for middle-class Americans, that will provide a path for those in poverty to advance and ensure this nation will once again be a place where jobs are created and people are willing to invest.”

 For more information on Dan Bongino visit www.bongino.com.

]]> http://www.anthropocon.com/2012/04/04/video-dan-bongino-wins-u-s-senate-primary/feed/ 0 http://www.anthropocon.com/2012/04/04/video-faith-loudon-candidate-for-congress-in-md-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=video-faith-loudon-candidate-for-congress-in-md-4 http://www.anthropocon.com/2012/04/04/video-faith-loudon-candidate-for-congress-in-md-4/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:55:03 +0000 Jim http://www.anthropocon.com/?p=1740

This week we’ve seen DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz caught blatantly lying about her claim that Republicans wanted to “literally” drag us back to the days of the Jim Crow laws. Now Chris Van Hollen, one of Maryland’s collection of Democrat hacks, has suddenly discovered that the world oil market drives gas prices. Van Hollen cites experts “on both sides” who say there are factors “totally beyond the control of the president or the congress with respect to the price.” Here he is today on WMAL:

But as you might expect, Mr. Van Hollen felt differently back when George W. Bush was president. According UPI he blamed the two “oil men” in the White House for conspiring to set high oil prices with a “secret energy task force.” Amazingly, George Bush and Dick Cheney were able to intentionally raise gas prices despite all those factors “totally beyond” their control.

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) – U.S. President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have helped major oil companies raise gas prices, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Saturday.

The Maryland congressman said during the weekly Democratic radio address that the nation’s top two elected Republicans created a “secret energy task force” and met with oil company officials early in their first term to hear their “wish lists.”

“It’s really no surprise what happened next. With two oil men in the White House, gas prices have nearly tripled, and oil company profits are up over 300 percent,” Van Hollen said.

“We’re all paying the price for these decisions — not only at the pump, but when we buy groceries or when we drive or fly for business or to visit our families.”

Van Hollen also said despite contradictory comments from Bush, congressional Democrats support domestic drilling. But the Democratic official said the drilling should take place on lands already held by the major oil companies.

“In fact, what the president hasn’t told you is that the oil companies are already sitting on 68 million acres of federal lands with the potential to nearly double U.S. oil production,” he said.

Van Hollen said Democrats were creating legislation to require oil companies to use those federal lands or lease them to others to facilitate drilling.

(Emphasis added)

Come clean,Congressman. That sort of two faced approach isn’t going to help you with the new voters in your newly gerrymandered district.

No surprises here. Lots of federal employees work in DC but live (and vote) in Maryland. Our Democrat politicians are more motivated by how to buy those votes than by what is best for the country. So this tweet from Mikulski is the sort of smoke they blow up government employees’ butts on a regular basis.

Hard working civil servants promote American businesses, protect American ideas and resources and keep our economy moving forward — Barbara Mikulski (@SenatorBarb) March 22, 2012

Mikulski is cagy enough to hedge her pandering in terms of keeping “our economy moving forward” even though what she’s saying doesn’t make any real economic sense. Her partner in crime, Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) is less adept at smoke blowing. When pandering to folks who earn their living on the backs of the tax payers, he actually backhands those who work in the private sector, creating the wealth that his constituents consume. As reported recently in the Daily Caller, Cardin said:

“Federal workers are making a sacrifice to serve in the federal workforce. You are doing things much more complicated and difficult and you’re not being compensated fairly when compared to the private sector…”

I hope you Democrat voters who run your own businesses or work for private companies are comfortable with leaders who think what you do is less difficult and has less value than government paper pushing. If you ever want to ruin a good mood, take a look at the Twitter feeds of our Maryland congressional delegation. Maryland deserves better than this.