For politicos who are also classic movie buffs, was a great year. In the political arena, Barry Goldwater ran a principled campaign for President that while unsuccessful that year, paved the way for a future, successful run by Ronald Reagan. That same year, on the silver screen, premiered one of my favorite films – Zulu. While it did not claim an Oscar Award, and it didn’t have any top-notch stars, Zulu was a great historical drama of a 1864 incident in Nepal, Africa, where a 140 man contingent of British Army regulars make a heroic stand at Rorke’s Drift, where they are attacked by 4,000 Zulu warriors.

I recall one scene in particular where the British Soldiers have steeled themselves for the attack, and the silent anticipation of the first Zulu attack is palpable. The Zulu, understanding the importance of “getting inside the heads” of their opponent, are masters of psychological warfare. So before you ever see the first Zulu, you hear the loud banging of their… Read More

FR readers know that in my role as a columnist and blogger on this site I have been quite critical of the system of Congressional "earmarking" that takes place in Washington, D.C.

That said, the party is clearly not monolithic on this subject since most GOP Members of Congress aren’t just earmarking proponents, but spend a lot of time and energy towards the end of "bringing home the bacon" in the form of federal funds for projects in their districts.

Today on the FlashReport I am pleased that we are offering a "pro-con" debate on this issue, in the form of two featured columns. The first, by businessmen David Ellis and Buck Johns, makes the case in support of Congressional earmarking. You can read their column here. The second is the case against the practice of earmarking, penned by our own FR blogging Congressman John Campbell. You can read his column here.

I hope that you enjoy reading to very different views on this… Read More

FR readers know that in my role as a columnist and blogger on this site I have been quite critical of the system of Congressional "earmarking" that takes place in Washington, D.C.

That said, the party is clearly not monolithic on this subject since most GOP Members of Congress aren’t just earmarking proponents, but spend a lot of time and energy towards the end of "bringing home the bacon" in the form of federal funds for projects in their districts.

Today on the FlashReport I am pleased that we are offering a "pro-con" debate on this issue, in the form of two featured columns. The first, by businessmen David Ellis and Buck Johns, makes the case in support of Congressional earmarking. You can read their column here. The second is the case against the practice of earmarking, penned by our own FR blogging Congressman John Campbell. You can read his column here.

I hope that you enjoy reading to very different views on this… Read More

When thousands of angry Californians gather in full froth, as they did in Fullerton last week, you know something is amiss in the Golden State. I wasn’t there, but I’m guessing those folks were genuinely angry; they weren’t voguing for the cameras. "Heads on a stick" is not the sort of mantra they teach you in transcendental meditation classes.

But now that the shouting has died down (for the moment, at least), here’s my question: do California Republicans have a plan to productively channel all this anger, other than picking off a few lawmakers though recalls or primary challenges? Is there any strategy in place — or even the thought of a strategy — other than the game of randomly selecting names out of a hat to dole out punishment?

It’s a fair question to ask given that we’re now in the 2010 election cycle and the media once again are asking: wither the California GOP?

**There is more – click the link**

View… Read More

When thousands of angry Californians gather in full froth, as they did in Fullerton last week, you know something is amiss in the Golden State. I wasn’t there, but I’m guessing those folks were genuinely angry; they weren’t voguing for the cameras. "Heads on a stick" is not the sort of mantra they teach you in transcendental meditation classes.

But now that the shouting has died down (for the moment, at least), here’s my question: do California Republicans have a plan to productively channel all this anger, other than picking off a few lawmakers though recalls or primary challenges? Is there any strategy in place — or even the thought of a strategy — other than the game of randomly selecting names out of a hat to dole out punishment?

It’s a fair question to ask given that we’re now in the 2010 election cycle and the media once again are asking: wither the California GOP?

It’s also a fair question to ask if, a few months from now, the California constitutional convention shows signs of moving from concept to reality. I’d hate to see the train leave the station, with the GOP waving goodbye… Read More

Last evening a group of Bay Area Republicans gathered in Oakland to meet and listen to Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. This informal group plans on meeting with the other two gubernatorial candidates in the next two months as well.

Poizner was a good sport for even attending a meeting of Bay Area Republicans (believe it or not, there were more than six of us there). Poizner’s speech was a basic stump speech underscoring his opposition to the latest budget deal and explaining his commitment to low taxes, job growth and innovation. Oh, and his commitment to public schools, via charter schools. (School choice, he said, was politically dead in this state.) He also eloquently addressed the problem the state faces with the expense of retirees’ health care.

The most interesting part of his appearance was his response to a question (mine) about the spending cap voters will be considering in May. He had already stated his opposition to the spending cap because it extends the tax… Read More

There is no doubt that there are a lot of changes happening in the newspaper business – or perhaps I should say in the business of newspapers. For years now, we have been watching newspapers all around the country experience a decline in readership. What is the cause of this? Some, especially readers of this website, would like to say that it is exclusively due to the left-wing dogma of most newspaper editorial pages, along with the left-of-center bias that appears to come from most newspaper news rooms (see the most recent example of that here).

The reality is that while some people have stopped subscribing to newspapers for ideological reasons, the most likely suspect for the precipitous drop in readership is due primary to the way that people choose to get their news (I guess there could also be less people interested in getting the news, but I… Read More

There is no doubt that there are a lot of changes happening in the newspaper business – or perhaps I should say in the business of newspapers. For years now, we have been watching newspapers all around the country experience a decline in readership. What is the cause of this? Some, especially readers of this website, would like to say that it is exclusively due to the left-wing dogma of most newspaper editorial pages, along with the left-of-center bias that appears to come from most newspaper news rooms (see the most recent example of that here).

The reality is that while some people have stopped subscribing to newspapers for ideological reasons, the most likely suspect for the precipitous drop in readership is due primary to the way that people choose to get their news (I guess there could also be less people interested in getting the news, but I… Read More