US Election 2012

The Trans-Texas Corridor is one such emerging line of criticism against Gov. Perry. First proposed by Perry in 2002, the north-south running road would have also included a railway, petroleum pipeline, power lines, and communications cables. ... conservatives who criticize Gov. Perry over the proposed use of eminent domain to build a road aren't just wrong — they're actually advocating a position that is unconstitutional it its core. ... [Hmmmm. Not all the facts are included in this article.]

Sarah Palin wrote a note titled On the Future of Libya: "We join the Libyan people in gratefulness as we hear of Col. Gaddafi's defeat. The fall of a tyrant and sponsor of terrorism is a great day for freedom-loving people around the world. But the path to democracy in Libya is not complete, and we must make wise choices to ensure that our national interests are protected...."

The Gardasil debacle is just one of many concerns a wide range of grass-roots conservative activists have about Perry's record as governor. He's soft on illegal immigration despite a few recent nods to border enforcement. He's prone to crony capitalism. And as the vaccine mandate scandal shows, he demonstrated Nanny State tendencies that are anathema to Tea Party core principles. A clearer, more forthright apology about the Gardasil executive order would have helped. But in the end, I don't think there's anything he can do to 'fix' his political/ideological instincts. They are what they are. -Michelle Malkin [h/t Patti commenting on HillBuzz]

Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan have had good, inspiring, on-target things to say about the US fiscal crisis. Michelle Bachmann has had good things to say. John Bolton had an important piece making the case that national security is inextricably linked with fiscal security, a much-needed point in the context of the recent debate. But Sarah Palin came through today with a Facebook post that strikes the right tone and is at once simple, direct, and comprehensive. It doesn't rail at past mistakes, nor does it come across as a raised-voice, you've-got-to-get-this-people communication. Palin takes it for granted — with refreshing common sense — that we are in a crisis, its features are obvious, and the task now is to deal with it, not continue to argue whether it's really a crisis or how big it is or whose name we can pin on it.

Special Guest Commentary by the Sarah Palin Homunculus that Lives Inside Liberals' Heads ... Well ya see, the deal is I'm not Sarah, but boy I gotta tell ya, we sure do get mistaken all the time! No, I'm just a plain ol' homunculus Sarah Palin that your own id created to sublimate your deep-seated psychosexual neuroses. Or so those egghead books say, anyway.

American conservatism, the philosophy of smaller, Constitutionally-oriented government is extremely fragile in a world where a surprise event can "reset" the government to its 50-year default position of progressivism, socialism, and top down control.

The problem for Perry, in the blinding light of the national stage, is that he may ultimately be seen as the swaggering rooster who believes the sun came up because of all that crowing. Texas was a conservative, small government, pro-business state long before he was in charge, and Texas will remain so long after he's gone. Americans may conclude that Texas jobs would have materialized whether Perry was governor or not, and it might just be to Texas business' credit, not Perry's, that they did.

President Obama delivered a high-profile speech to NCLR last week, letting the radicals know he plans on giving more to them than just cash. ... the NCLR is a radical racialist group — too many members have absolutely no respect for the United States, most especially not for our immigration laws! (This was evident when the NCLR crowd urged Obama to violate the Constitution during his speech and unilaterally grant amnesty.) Moreover, this is the same organization that supports "radical Chicano" groups that seek to conquer the American Southwest by force or by ballot box and return it to Mexico. ... No matter the reason why Obama is pushing his illegal immigration strategy — whether it's a deep-seated belief or a ploy to attract the Hispanic vote — his polices are downright dangerous and flagrantly unconstitutional.

Her face was plastered on billboards. The press had her staked out. She couldn't go anywhere without the Secret Service and an entourage, so when did she conduct these clandestine shopping sprees? If you believe that, than you are dumb enough to believe that the woman who took on corruption in her state and ousted a sitting governor from her own party didn't know that Africa was a continent, not a country, or the parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes. I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from day one," she says. "But that is kind of an odd issue, an odd campaign issue as things were wrapping up there as to who ordered what and who demanded what." She continues, "I haven't really heard how all of that evolved until we started getting criticized for supposedly asking for all of these clothes, my family and me. And I still don't have all of the answers. But it just seems like such an irrelevant issue when you consider what is going on in the world today and how a new administration is being ushered in and people being concerned about the direction of the nation and policies that will be adopted and also being excited about this moment in our nation's history, clothes just seem irrelevant." Governor Palin says she finds it "puzzling" that critics accused her of not knowing—among other things—what countries made up NAFTA or whether Africa was a continent or a country. "I remember that discussion," she says, referring to NAFTA. "But there was never a question about, well, who are the participants in NAFTA? So for my discussion there to be spun into something that it was not and then being broadcast on national television, again, based on anonymous sources, that's been another puzzling thing to me." So, is Africa a country or a continent? "Never, ever, did I talk about, well, gee, is it [Africa] a country or is it a continent?" she says. "I just don't know about this issue. So I don't know how they took our one discussion on Africa and turned that into what they turned it into."

Gallup Shows Governor Palin's Favorable Rating Among GOP/GOP-Leaning Indies to Be Back Over 70%. That's what my math shows when you multiply the percentage of Republican/Republican-leaning indies who recognize the candidate by the percentage of Republican/Republican-leaning indies who have an overall favorable opinion of the candidate.

President Obama's job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking.

Upon originally hearing about The Undefeated, Youth for Palin wanted to be involved in promoting the film because of the message that the film would share with the public. So Youth for Palin contacted Victory Film Group, offering to bring awareness to The Undefeated. ... Within 24 hours this video attracted at least 10 comments that advocated the beheading, killing and/or violent gang rape of Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughters.

We need to become a little tougher-minded, and cease believing things simply because we saw them on the Net. The left has this stuff scoped out. They know exactly what kind of effect they want, and exactly how to create it. We are well aware that a considerable amount of cash, time, and effort goes into monitoring our sites, including our comment boards. We know full well -- having dealt with them endlessly -- that there are individuals, very likely on the payroll of a certain gentleman from Hungary, who are always available to throw a wrench into things when called for. These people are out to create uncertainty, hopelessness, and paranoia by whatever means they can. They will be doing this on the grand scale during the upcoming election. From here on in, we need to at least consider the possibility that the people promoting visions of chaos and disaster on conservative websites and elsewhere may well be out to push an agenda utterly opposed to our own. Our response must be to think hard and don't jump to conclusions.