The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
By Anath Hartmann — Published February 19, 2010 Comments
Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann rallied the Conservative Political Action Conference crowd Friday, receiving several rounds of applause and a standing ovation at the end of her address about the failings thus far of the Obama administration, the pursuit of liberty and ensuring "greatness for America." Bachmann received audible boos from the audience when she said the massive economic bailouts have meant a sizable increase in federal takeover of private companies. "Since the inception of "bailout nation" ... the government has taken control of 30 percent of the private sector," she said, adding that Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Majority leader Harry Reid plan to take over an additional 26 percent with health care and cap and trade legislation. "So I guess the president meant it when he said, 'We can't drive SUVs, set our thermostats at 72 and eat as much as we want,'" Bachmann said. ...
by Anath Hartmann — Published February 19, 2010 Comments
Apostasy killing of former Muslims could become widespread in the United States if the U.S. government and Americans don't "wake up," a panel of three former Muslims said on Capitol Hill Thursday. The talk, hosted by three members of the new civil rights organization Former Muslims United, marked the first public appearance as a self-proclaimed "apostate" of Iranian journalist Amil Imani, one of the founders of the group. Imani and the panel's two other speakers, authors Nonie Darwish and Wafa Sultan, told the audience that ingrained American religious and ethnic tolerance and myths about Islam are combining to gravely threaten the West. "Shi'a radical Islam and Wahhabism is coming to this country," Imani said. "There are 6,000 mosques in the United States now. All the money [we] put into gasoline comes back here and is used in the teaching of hate, violence, etc., etc." in American mosques, he said. Sultan, who said she regularly ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 19, 2010 Comments
Liz Cheney wowed the Conservative Political Action Conference crowd on Thursday when she introduced her father as a surprise guest to CPAC attendees. According to American Conservative Union's (ACU), the organization that hosts the 3-day event, David Keene, very few people knew that the former Vice President would speak on Thursday. "We set a new record because few people knew about this [Mr. Cheney's appearance at CPAC], other than Dick, Liz, and Millie Hallow. We set it up a month ago, and it never got out. So, that’s a pretty good record for Washington." However, Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's appearance was a surprise to even Mr. Keene himself. "Scott Brown was a surprise to all of us, because we hadn’t been able to get him. First of all he wasn’t doing anything, as he said this was the first speech he made....the first appearance he made [since he came ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 18, 2010 Comments
Sen. Scott Brown (R - MA) introduced Former Massachusetts Governor (R) Mitt Romney today at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
by Kerry Picket — Published February 18, 2010 Comments
The Cheneys deployed a tag team strategy today at CPAC when Liz Cheney introduced her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, to the surprise of attendees. Check out the videos below of both father and daughter taking shots at the Obama administration's poor handling of the war on terror. Liz Cheney's Speech To CPAC 2010 from Keep America Safe on Vimeo.
by Kerry Picket — Published February 18, 2010 Comments
New York's Doug Hoffman is visiting fellow conservatives in Washington, D.C., this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and told The Washington Times he will be announcing his candidacy to run for Congress in New York's 23rd District in 2010 in the coming weeks. The former congressional candidate who ran on the Conservative party line and was later endorsed by the New York State GOP for New York's 23rd District lost to Congressman Bill Owens (D - NY) in a special election last November after the seat was vacated by Republican John McHugh. "We feel very very good about it. I think the fact that he [Bill Owens] violated three campaign promises the day he was sworn in, like voting for the health care bill, is going to give us a lot of leverage," Mr. Hoffman told The Washington Times. Mr. Hoffman told the Washington Times that when ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 17, 2010 Comments
The Conservative Political Action Conference faced criticism for allowing the controversial group known as the John Birch Society to become a co-sponsor this year. JBS was denounced by conservative icon William F. Buckley and has been called racist as well as anti-Semitic. The group, however, strongly disagrees. This brings us to the JBS booth at CPAC (photo above). Is this JBS or a 1970's beverage commercial full of hippies on a hilltop? I want to buy the world a Coca-Cola or something. (Video below)
by Kerry Picket — Published February 17, 2010 Comments
As conservative activists land in Washington, D.C. to gather at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, leaders of the conservative movement are meeting at the Collingwood Library in Alexandria, Virginia today at 2:30 PM to publicly unveil what has become known as the Mount Vernon Statement. The Collingwood estate was an original part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon real estate holdings. This updated conservative doctrine is similar to the 1960 Sharon Statement which was created by movement leaders fifty years ago and signed at William F. Buckley's home in Connecticut. The Mount Vernon Statement makes proclamations like the two excerpts below: "The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue." "The conservatism of the Constitution limits ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 17, 2010 Comments
Hosted by the American Conservative Union Foundation (ACU), the annual three-day Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gears up on Thursday at Washington, D.C.'s, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Organizers do not seem concerned whatsoever about turnout this week. Last year’s CPAC brought forth reportedly 9,000 attendees from all over the country, which was a record number for the yearly event, and CPAC staffers are expecting more this year. “I think one of the reasons our registrations are up 20 percent this year is that new people were brought into the conservative movement, as Obama came into the White House,” said CPAC's Director Lisa DePasquale to The Washington Times. That could very well be the case. Last CPAC, conservatives had just been run over by Barack Obama mania. They needed time to regroup and re-strategize. After going on a rant about the government forcing taxpayers to bail out failed mortgages, CNBC’s Rick ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 17, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: ‘Kennedys’ miniseries ignites a storm, Bidenism, and O's Bayh-way to hell, Analysis shows Amy Bishop should've been arrested, charged in 1986, Bayh: DC is 'brain-dead'. Boston Globe: ‘Kennedys’ miniseries ignites a storm Leaders of al Qaeda in Yemen claim that they studied airline security in the U.S. and overseas carefully before designing the bomb that Umar Abdulmutallab carried with him on Christmas Day. Associated Content: Analysis shows Amy Bishop should've been arrested, charged in 1986 Current Norfolk County DA Bill Keating contradicted current Democrat congressman and former DA Bill Delahunt over Delahunt's decision not to charge Amy Bishop regarding the 1986 shooting death of her teenage brother. NY Post: Bayh: DC is 'brain-dead' Retiring Sen. Evan Bayh yesterday denounced "brain-dead partisanship" in Congress, saying the pettiness and focus on personal gain are keeping the institution in a state of dysfunction
by Donald Lambro — Published February 16, 2010 Comments
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a lot going for her at the moment, but a lot to prove, too, if she hopes to build her conservative grassroots support beyond the tea party movement that is fueling her meteoric rise as one of the GOP’s top presidential contenders. Palin has been drawing big crowds during her unending Going Rogue book tour, strategically hitting all of the major red states that will be critical to any 2012 campaign. She has stepped up her whirlwind speaking tour as well, almost exclusively in venues that are packed with adoring fans. She has been reaching out to the growing tea party armies that have become her political base, most notably this past weekend at a convention in Nashville which by any measure was a huge success. For several days, before and after her appearance, she made all of the nightly news shows that focused on the gathering, its agenda and her role as ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 16, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: al Qaeda studied airline security prior to bomb design, Bidenism, and O's Bayh-way to hell. National Terror Alert: al Qaeda studied airline security prior to bomb design Leaders of al Qaeda in Yemen claim that they studied airline security in the U.S. and overseas carefully before designing the bomb that Umar Abdulmutallab carried with him on Christmas Day. Pajamas Media: Bidenism All politicians hedge and backtrack, as the daily news proves their previous assertions and boasts wrong. That somersaulting is part of American politics. But even the most astute triangulators know when to go silent, especially in the age of the Internet when one’s past statements are so easily juxtaposed with present reality. NY Post: O's Bayh-way to hell Popular Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh shocked the political world yesterday when he announced he won't run for re-election this year, saying he's fed ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
In the midst of heavy snow fall all over the United States and a recent admission from global warming advocate Phil Jones that there has been no warming since 1995, former Vice-President Al Gore is sticking to his guns. In a February 12 statement, he writes on his website that the "[climate crisis] is worse than we thought." More evidence of the climate crisis is unfolding before our eyes. The situation in the Arctic is worse than data from satellite pictures have told us: "For scientists studying the health of Arctic sea ice, satellite observations are absolutely essential for providing the big picture. It was satellites that revealed in September 2007 a record minimum ice coverage in the region -- the result of a massive summer melt. And it was satellites that showed in 2008 and 2009 the modest recovery of late-summer Arctic ice that suggested to some that the specter of a totally ice-free ...
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
Democrat Senator from Indiana Evan Bayh is announcing his retirement from the U.S. Senate today which leaves his party scrambling for a new candidate to run in the centrist's seat. Mr. Bayh has never lost an election and was facing Indiana GOP'er, and former U.S. Senator, Dan Coats in the upcoming senate race. Cook's Political Report had the race in his favor, so his retirement comes as a shock to some. In the meantime, Mr. Bayh has raised up to $13 million, which is the third largest campaign war chest of all the Senators up for re-election this year, says USA Today. The mystery now is, where that money goes next.
by Kerry Picket — Published February 15, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: Did The Family Guy really just make fun of Trig Palin?, Dem candidate says 'whites don't want to work in factories', and Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park. Mediaite: Did The Family Guy really just make fun of Trig Palin? Last night’s episode featured a “unique” story line where character Chris Griffin was dating a girl with Down’s Syndrome. WFAA: Dem candidate says 'whites don't want to work in factories' Farouk Shami, the millionaire hair care products maker who's running, said he doesn't find many white people willing to work, so he says he hires Hispanics and blacks instead. AP: Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park uthorities removed a statue of Barack Obama from a park in the Indonesian capital due to a public backlash and moved it Monday to a nearby elementary school that the U.S. president attended as ...
