Grassfire's Steve Elliott offers his thoughts on politics and the culture

05.13.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS

Dem's problems only grow
Today will continue an odd and difficult stretch of days for the Democrats. Somehow, Barack Obama and the media managed to spin last Tuesday's results -- a split decision in North Carolina and Indiana -- as the coronation for Obama. Time magazine proclaimed him the winner and almost simultaneously Obama wrote off today's West Virginia and next week's Kentucky primaries. Does anyone see the irony of all this? The Demcoratic elite is trying to shame Hillary into leaving the race while Hillary gets ready for her two largest-margin primary victories. This is arguably the closest Democratic primary race in history. The only other race comparable was 1984 when Mondale defeated Hart. Hillary Clinton is the first woman to get close to her party's nomination. The Democrats will have to walk through the next several months very carefully.

San Diego Minutemen Sign Taken Down
California Highway officials recently removed an "adopt a highway" sign sponsored by the San Diego Minutemen because the sign was on a road that illegal aliens use while coming into our country. Apparently, officials thought the sign was too controversial, although it has stood for six weeks without controversy or incident. In 2006, I had the privilege of traveling to San Diego, meeting Jeff Schwilk and others with the SD Minutemen and hearing first-hand the battle they have had to stop the massive flow of illegals that have come across in San Diego. Go here for more information.

Are you Time-Shifting?
How we watch television is undergoing a metamorphosis and I'm not talking about HD. The real change is what's called "time shifting" -- watching TV when you want to watch it and now necessarily when it is aired. If you are one of the 25% of American households with a digital video recorder (DVR), you know what I'm talking about and you're never going back. DVRs let you skip commercials and fit your TV viewing around your schedule rather than the other way around. I now find it annoying to watch any show "live." Even a 15 minute delay lets me skip all the commercials in a one-hour program.

Time-shifting is causing problems for TV executives. THis year's May "sweeps" are down 7 million viewers from last year. But the trend is only going to get bigger, especially since people already time shift when they use their computer (few of us have the patience to sit in front of our computer and watch or listent to something "live").

On the Web Today:
Bob Barr for President
20% of Dems going to defect if Obama nominee
Woman fired for opposing homosexuality

05.09.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS

Vermont Strategy working for homosexual activists.
For example, ever so steadily, the "Vermont" strategy is in full swing for the homosexual agenda. Simply put, the plan is to use Vermont as a foot in the door to other states by forcing other states to recognize same-sex marriages legalized in Vermont.

This week, a New York court of appeals ruled that the state would recognize same-sex marriages from other states and countries (in this case, Canada) -- despite the fact that same-sex unions are outlawed in New York. This comes while the Supreme Courts in Vermont and Virginia are engaged in a legal tug-of-war that hinges on whether Virginia must recognize a Vermont same-sex union. That case is likely headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, the California Supreme Court is currently deciding a case to determine whether traditional marriage is constitutional in that state.

Why is this not a political issue in 2008?
So with all this legal buzz, why is this not one of the leading news stories in the 2008 election cycle as it was four years ago? It can be argued that in 2004 marriage -- not the war, not the economy -- proved to be the decisive issue in the presidential race. That year, Massachusetts recognized same-sex unions and a major controversy erupted when the mayor of San Francisco decided to issue marriage license to homosexuals and lesbians despite that state's ban. The "attacks on marriage" dominated the news for months. On election day 2004, 11 states overwhelmingly passed marriage referenda. Ohio was one of those states and this is important to note since the Bush-Kerry race pivoted on Ohio. In Ohio, Bush won 16% of the black vote (up from 11% nationally) and two-thirds of the church-going vote. The marriage referendum proved to be a key "get-out-the-vote" motivator and Bush was the beneficiary.

Fast forward to 2008. Ironically, the same issue that ignited the marriage debate in 2004 -- the San Francisco mayor's push to issue marriage licenses -- is still at the center of the legal controversy surrounding marriage. The California Supreme Court case I mentioned earlier will decide that original 2004 legal dispute involving the San Francisco mayor.

So, why is this not a political issue in the 2008 race for the presidency? First, the Left got smarter. Marriage is a losing issue for the Left because their ideology and their base supports homosexual marriage. So the Left has gone silent. Homosexual activists are relatively quiet and political leaders try to support "marriage" and the "rights" of homosexuals at the same time. Second, this is not a key issue for John McCain. In fact, he opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment although his position on the issue does line up with marriage advocates on most other points. Third, the media is barely taking notice. And if the media does not bring the issue front-and-center on a regular basis, the candidates do not feel the need to address the issue. In the case of the disappearing marriage issue, the Left clearly has the advantage.

$126,600,000 of your tax dollars flushed down the "Carbon Hole"
This week the Department of Energy awarded grants totalling over $126 million for "carbon sequestration" projects. Basically, our tax dollars are being wasted on projects to pump CO2 into the earth and hopefully slow down Al Gore's "planetary emergency." This comes after Al Gore blamed the tragic cyclone in Myanmar on global warming: "We’re seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming.” Of course, scientists rebuffed Gore's ridiculous claim and we, as taxpayers, should rebuff these grants and the coming $1.2 trillion carbon tax. The vote on the Carbon Tax is next month. Go here to sign our petition.

On the Web today:

Obama open to Clinton "Dream Ticket"
Stay-at-home moms worth $117k
Obama can't shake Wright's and church's wrongs
Are we in recession? No. Check the real definition here (WTimes)
Obama: McCain "losing his bearings"
Hillary's run to the Left too late?
Wikipornia?

05.08.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS