Richland County Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Sirois has been fired after shooting Sheriff Leon Lott's dog.

Barney Fife apparently had nothing on this guy.

(HT: Brad Warthen)

Senator Graham,
You were holding a straight flush, and you just folded.

And I think that Thomas Ravenel will make a great Senator in 2009.

(HT to K.Lo at The Corner for the Ravenel link.)

I found this quote from Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on breaking the filibusters on judicial nomiations:

"In ["Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith."], the leader of the Senate breaks the rules to give himself and his supporters more power. As millions of Americans go to see this film this week and in the weeks ahead, I sincerely hope it doesn't mirror actions taken in the Senate of the United States."

For Senator Lautenberg to complain about rule breaking is rank hypocrisy. The only reason he is even in the Senate is because New Jersey Democrats broke the law to get him on the ballot in 2002, with the blessings of the liberal activist judges on the New Jersey Supreme Court, who declared that 51 days doesn't really mean 51 days if you are a Democrat.

Back in February, I blogged about the bogus "Social Insecurity" "calculator" that Senate Democrats are using to try to scare people away from supporting President Bush's Social Security reform proposals. Now, FactCheck.org agrees, and explains much more exhaustively than I could.

That "calculator", and its popularity among Senate Democrats, once again demonstrate that the facts are not on their side, and that they have no qualms at all about using dishonesty to try to gain favor with the public. Also, the level of dishonesty routinely used by Democrat politicians and their rabid supporters is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

(HT: Power Line)

And that is exactly what I hope the GOP majority in the Senate does, Senator Reid. Because it is the Democrats who are attempting a "partisan power grab". For the 109th Congress, the citizens of the United States have, through elections, granted 55% of the seats in the Senate to the GOP. According to the Constitution, it only requires 50% of the Senate plus one to confirm judges, but the Democrats want to use their 45% (let's just go ahead and call Senator Jeffords a Democrat) to stop nominations. It is clear who is attempting to grab more power than they have been granted.

Senator Frist, use the Constitutional option. It is the constitutional duty of the Senate to vote up or down on these nominees, and it is your responsibility to see that those votes occur.

Hugh Hewitt is requesting letters to GOP Senators supporting doing what is necessary to get President Bush's judicial nominees to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. Here is the text of the letter I sent to my Senators:

Dear Senator [DeMint/Graham],
I just wanted to let you know that I fully support any efforts that would be required to allow President Bush's judicial nominees to have a floor vote by the full Senate, up to and including the constitutional option, if it becomes necessary. I believe that the recent Schiavo episode more clearly than ever illustrates the need to confirm judges that respect and follow the Constitution. America needs judges who recognize that lawmaking is the bailiwick of the legislature, not the judiciary.
The hyperlink below will take you to the blog entry I made last August 26, entitled "Jim DeMint for Senate", where I enumerated the most important reasons I supported [Senator DeMint's] election. You will note that the topmost reason was to increase the Republican majority in the Senate in order to facilitate the confirmation of the president's judicial nominees.
Here is the link.

In a recent public debate with Justice Scalia, Justice Breyer actually defended citing decisions by courts in Jamaica and Zimbabwe, of all places, to support his official opinions in the Supreme Court. Also, a recent majority opinion penned by Justice Kennedy indicated that he believes it is the job of the courts to discern the "evolving national concensus" on issues before them. Justice Kennedy has apparently forgotten that the national concensus is indicated by the voters in whom they elect to represent them in Congress.

The judiciary is out of control in this country. America is on the road to becoming a "kritarchy", or a nation ruled by judges. Please do what is necessary to reverse this trend and restore the balance of power envisioned by the founding fathers.

Yesterday, my wife, daughter and I attended the ribbon cutting and open house at Senator Jim DeMint's new office in Columbia, SC. I had an opportunity to speak to Senator DeMint for a couple of minutes, and I took that opportunity to ask him about ABC's so-called "GOP talking points memo" supposedly distributed to Republican Senators on the Senate floor.

John Hinderaker of Power Line wrote this about that memo in The Daily Standard:

Every Republican who has been asked about the memo has denied knowing anything about it.

Well, add Senator DeMint to that list. He told me that he never saw any talking points memo concerning the Schiavo case. He also pointed out that it wouldn't have been needed, since the bill was going to be passed by unanimous consent.

Mr. Hinderaker's title of "Fake but Accurate, Again?" seems more and more apropos every day.

Yesterday, Hugh Hewitt posted a link to this Boston Globe article about an evangelical Ohio family, and asked for explanations as to why this was newsworthy. Here is the response I sent him:

Hugh,
I wanted to respond to you about this story because it hit
close to home, literally. I, like you, am an expatriate
Buckeye. I lived in Mason, Ohio from my birth in 1962 until
1983.

One thing I found somewhat strange about the article is its
comments about the political leanings of Mason and Warren
County, amidst a story about a family who attends church
there, but lives, and presumably votes, in neighboring West
Chester, which is in Butler County.

I suspect that The Globe found the Wilkersons at their
church, which may very possibly also be Ashley Faulkner's
church. (This could be why they picked that location.) The
church lies about halfway between Ashley's home and her (and
my) high school.

Mason has grown considerably since I left 22 years ago. When
my parents brought me home from the hospital, I was the
newest of ~4000 residents. I believe that the population now
is closer to 23,000. Although I no longer live there, I do
visit frequently. There are quite a few neighborhoods full
of quite large houses, but there are also a lot of older
neighborhoods with smaller houses, like the one my parents
shared for 44 years, and that my mother still lives in. (My
Dad passed away last year, and is buried about a mile away
from both churches.)

Mason, which is situated in a "cradle" formed by interstates
I-71, I-75, and I-275, is ideally located to attract the
upper middle class folks who occupy those larger houses.
That is why I find it believeable that the mediam income
could be $81,000, as the article mentioned. It wasn't always
that way, though, and I can say without doubt that Mason was
conservative long before it became affluent.

An anecdote: Last year in early May I stopped at a gas
station on Tylersville Road, very near the Voice of America
Park, where President Bush held the rally that attracted
about 55,000 people (about 2 miles from Mom's house). Inside
the station, there was quite a bit of political
paraphernalia for sale, and all of it for Bush - nothing for
Kerry. This made me smile with pride for my hometown.

It seems to me that The Globe is trying to portray the area
as being the home of a large number of fundamentalist
Christians. I do believe that there are a lot of church
going people there, but no more than would be typical for
any similar small mid-American city. As a member of the
military, I have spent time living in Illinois, Virginia,
and Florida, and after leaving the military I settled in
South Carolina. Of all the places I have lived, I would have
to say that SC is more religious than the others, but not
markedly so. Mason does not stand out in this regard.

I think that the article is just another example of a
"liberal northeastern expedition into the uncharted depths
of the benighted flyover country". Will the liberal elite
never realize that it is they who are out of touch with most
of America?

Mike Dayton
former Mason resident
current resident of Gilbert, SC


P.S. As for Skyline Chili (and Goldstar, for that matter),
it is heaven on Earth. What I wouldn't give right now for a
4-way and a couple of cheese coneys!