Ken's Comments

The word conservative is used by many people, but few seem to have any real idea of what it means. The media uses the term very inconsistently. A frequent misperception is that conservative is synonymous with Republican -- not true at all. Despite the misuse of the word conservative, laying out a political spectrum that shows conservatives and liberals, which represents all political philosophies, and can be applied to any domestic issue and show consistent results is not hard. However, when you actually applied this to issues of the day some interesting results occur. Not the kind of results you'd get if you read the paper. If you read or listen to the media, you'd have a hard time coming up with a definition of conservative that can be consistently applied. Perhaps the media subscribes to a political spectrum that has Communists and Socialists on the "Far Left" (a term never seen in the press any more) and Nazis and Fascists on the "Far Right." If t...

CNN's Robin Meade reports the hot news about the Illinois Governor being arrested. Four times I saw her report this. Not once did she say the Governor is a Democrat. I went to the CNN website and there is a big story on the Illinois Governor being arrested. Not once does it say he is a Democrat. CNN has never withheld party affiliation when a Republican (e.g. Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens) was arrested.

Remember when Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber used the "S" word (Socialism) in the election? The media was up in arms. Yet she was not far off, just perhaps Gov. Palin and Joe the Plumber were labeling the wrong person. Consider this story from the NY Times today titled Detroit Bailout is set to bring on more U.S. oversight which says: "Congressional Democrats were drafting legislation Sunday for tight government control of the crippled American auto industry, including the possible creation of an oversight board made up of five cabinet secretaries and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and led by an independent chairman or “car czar.” "Tight government control..." and "...oversight board..." If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... According to the article, this legislation is being negotiated with President Bush. Let's see where he stands on the idea of the Government having tight control over an indus...

Barack Obama won the 2008 election because he and his campaign were very good. They were also a bit lucky in that their campaign was floundering when the economy began its melt-down. But luck, in this case, was where opportunity opportunity met capability. Plus it did not hurt that the Obama campaign cheated when it came to fundraising. Nevertheless, you have to give Sen. Obama and his campaign their due -- they ran a very good campaign and capitalized on the opportunities given to them. A key reason Sen. Obama won, in my opinion, is that he put forth a positive message. Ironically, I'm reminded of the campaign results of Ronald Reagan. Both Reagan and Obama ran campaigns where they talked about what they would do as President and their messages were simple but powerful messages. In both cases, the result was not just the election of a President but a shift in power in Congress. Sen. Obama's campaign was very good, particularly when the economy went into the tank. They...

2008 Election Review The Election is over and the worst has happened. The Republicans got what they deserved. John McCain’s campaign was run by boobs. The Obama campaign was very good and they benefitted from every media outlet not named Fox News having a collective thrill run up their legs at the idea of Sen. Obama being elected. And all of this coalesced at just the wrong moment in time leading to a tidal wave of voters dissatisfied with the way things turning to the Democrats. So it’s time for an election recap and then I’ll move on to using this space for discussing ideas for the future. The McCain campaign -- what a bunch of boobs. I’m not talking about Senator McCain here – he was magnificent. He provided leadership, he overcame disaster in 2007 – when his campaign was nearly bankrupt and he fired key campaign leaders -- to defy all the odds and win the Republican nomination. Then he overcame the odds again in the summer of 2008 to go from way behind Senator Obama to actua...

2008 Election Review The Election is over and the worst has happened. The Republicans got what they deserved. John McCain’s campaign was run by boobs. The Obama campaign was very good and they benefitted from every media outlet not named Fox News having a collective thrill run up their legs at the idea of Sen. Obama being elected. And all of this coalesced at just the wrong moment in time leading to a tidal wave of voters dissatisfied with the way things turning to the Democrats. So it’s time for an election recap and then I’ll move on to using this space for discussing ideas for the future. Unfortunately as I started writing this article it ran on and on and on… So I will break this up and post it in three or four installments. Looking back at the 2008 elections it is obvious that the Republicans got what they deserved. During the 80’s and 90’s the Republicans were the party of ideas and the Democrats were intellectually bankrupt and rudderless. That culminated in the House Repu...

**Read this all the way through, there is a bonus surprise at the end.** There are lots of things being said about the Election Night coverage -- which I did not watch, by the way. I had a pretty good idea where things were going and did not need Chris Mathews and others to tell me what a thrill they have running down their leg (or was it up). Conservative media watchers are lamenting the pro-Obama coverage. However, regardless of your views, it was indeed, as one person compared it, like the Moon landing of 1969. This was an historic event so one has to suspend political beliefs as they apply to media journalism. That being said, here is a link to a really, really nice article on the coverage from Election Night. According to Ms. Werts, Sheppard Smith of Fox News is due some compliments for his handling of key moments in the evening. I'm not surprised, I have found Sheppard Smith to be quite good and enjoyable as a news anchor. If you are a Fox News disbeliever, I particular...