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Intermission 2005
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2004 Projection Results
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Edicts and Commentary March 29, 2005 Going under... The Blogging Caesar will be going under the knife in the morning. It's probably more than you care to know that
I'm having my gall bladder removed. No biggie, but I covet your prayers nonetheless. While I'm recovering, I may or may not be
up to blogging, so here are a few questions to keep everyone entertained. I look forward to seeing your input in the comment section following each one.
Remember, keep it civil!
Question 1: Violence in this society is primarily due to:
Question 2: If liberals are supposedly bent on helping the less fortunate among us, how can they support lotteries which exploit that very
same demographic as the have-nots cough up their scarce and hard-earned dollars to take that one-in-oh-so-many-million chance at riches?
(I've never understood that one!)
Question 3: Many of my readers have been against the military action in Iraq from day one. Since then, much good has happened along
with much suffering. My question is - and this is for everyone, not just those opposed to the war in Iraq - what set of circumstances would have come
about in this world as a result of the US military involvement in Iraq for you to say, hey, you know, maybe that was the right thing to do? (Don't use
this question to bash President Bush's policies...just answer the question)
Question 4: And finally, who's going to win the Final Four and why?
posted by Scott Elliott at 10:30pm 03/29/05
This leaves me speechless and stunned Brain Scott points
to a Wesley J. Smith article in the National Review Online describing the attempt to legitimize infanticide in Holland.
Unbelievable:
If you love taxes, you'll love the blue states I'm following up the useless fact I posted Monday on the red/blue make-up of
the NCAA Sweet 16 with a much more important fact today, one whose political significance should not be lost on anyone.
MSN.com has an article and
an interactive map exploring the
tax burdens for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The map is especially telling. Of the 17 states - DC included -
bearing the largest overall tax burden, only 3 are red states. Said another way, 14 of the 17 most-taxed states were
won by John Kerry. By stark, and I do mean stark, contrast, the 17 least-taxed states were all won by Bush.
Conclusions? First, liberals really do love their taxes! (hehe) Second, we now have a concrete
reason why red state electoral votes keep increasing while the blue states keep losing them - most people, the aforementioned
liberals notwithstanding, don't really care for oversized tax bills.
posted by Scott Elliott at 12:30am 03/23/05
The Fourth Rail turns one Bill Roggio's blog, The Fourth Rail, has been in business for one year now. Make a stop over there and congratulate him. Some of you may remember the link to his site that headlined this one during the campaign last year. From the first day until now, Bill has been one of my very favorite bloggers. His insightful, intelligent essays rarely, if ever, fail to squarely hit their mark. Congrats on completing year one, Bill! Keep up the excellent work! posted by Scott Elliott at 12:15am 03/22/05
The Sweet 16 File this away in your perfectly useless factoid bin. Of the 16 teams still fighting for the National Championship in men's college basketball, 10 are from red states and 6 are from blue states. The political significance of this escapes me. posted by Scott Elliott at 11:55pm 03/21/05
A letter to my parents Late in the afternoon Iraqi local time, exactly one year ago today, God completed His mission in the lives
of my Mom and Dad. When terrorists decimated their car with automatic gunfire, my parents,
Larry and Jean Elliott, along with
two other missionaries, Karen Watson and David McDonnall, stepped into eternity and were welcomed into the arms of their loving
Savior, Jesus Christ. David's precious wife, Carrie, was critically wounded in the incident and still carries the scars from the
attack.
Dear Mom and Dad,
The phone rang on the morning of the 15th. It
was Leia. She was calling me from home, as she often does, but this time the words she spoke sent a chill down my spine. "Scott,
there's been a shooting in Iraq." Iraq, while a very violent place, is large and shootings were common, so I was uneasy but not
overly concerned. Then a second call from Leia came just a little while later. The shooting had been in the area we knew you
were traveling. I headed home at this point, anxious to know what had happened. Shortly after arriving at home, we
received a call that confirmed our worst fears - your car had been ambushed and both of you were gone.
We all knew when you guys set out for Iraq that it was a dangerous country, yet your children and our spouses all
felt peaceful knowing you were answering the call of God in your lives. As you often said, there is no safer place to be than in the
center of God's will. It is an irony only those who know Jesus can understand that even in violent death, you guys were in God's will
and secure in His providence over your lives.
A year has now passed since that fateful day. Your children and our families are faring well. Not a day goes by that we don't
think of you and long to hear your voices and feel your embrace. But we are comforted by the knowledge that you are enjoying your
reward, to the glory of God, for all eternity. So many things I'd like to share with you. So much has happened.
You are no longer here with us in body, yet your lives and your example continue to have an enormous impact on so many people.
Truly you lived out Jesus' command when He said, "Live in such a way that men may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
I am grateful to God that He allowed me to see how willing and obedient, yet imperfect humans can be used by Him in such a mighty way.
May He continue to be glorified through your example! Your witness, your unshakeable faith, and your steadfast commitment to Him
have been such an encouragement to me as I try, through His strength, to follow His will in my own life. I'm sure countless others would
say the same thing.
I don't know if you can read this letter from where you are. I'm too mortal to understand how eternity and heaven all work. But,
if you can read it, I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, "I love you, Mom, I love you, Dad." Someday we'll be together
again. Nothing can fully take away the pain and loss we still feel without you, yet that assurance provides comfort that is real and
substantial. I can't wait to see you again. It brings to mind another truth that Paul referred to when he said, "Oh, death, where
is thy victory? Oh, death, where is thy sting?"
Your son,
posted by Scott Elliott at 1:10pm 03/15/05
Pop Quiz What was the number of this year's Super Bowl? (Hint: The answer is the same as my age as of today!) That's right - today's my birthday, which delights Mrs. Blogging Caesar since she gets to be younger than I for the next three months! posted by Scott Elliott at 12:50am 03/11/05
Looking ahead by looking back Just as a coach quickly turns his focus to the next game after the last one is over, so has The
Blogging Caesar's attention shifted to the next presidential election in 2008. On the other hand, just as game films
of previous contests can help a coach gauge his teams prospects in future ones, so a look back at Election 2004
can provide important insight into the nature and possible outcomes of Election 2008.
Since November's landmark election, I've been mulling over the different forces that played a part in the result and
tried to evaluate what they will mean three years and eight months from now. In addition, I've tried to conceive
what new dynamics will exert their influence on the next election as well. Characterizing these future developments
is obviously difficult since I am no prophet. However, in looking back, I've come to realize that even the realities
of last Election Day serve as poor predictors of the next one.
So, here's a list of my conclusions as I look back and the questions that arise looking ahead.
First, just as I predicted last September,
the GOP get-out-the-vote effort was indeed the most powerful contribution to Bush's eventual victory. Karl
Rove, et al, knew exactly what was needed to match the Democrats and exactly how many volunteers, team leaders and,
eventually, voters it would take, precinct by precinct, to surpass them. It was an incredible feat of
logistical planning, pinpoint focus, coordinated effort and precise calculation. The result was a convincing GOP
win in a high-turnout election in which President Bush received almost 12 million more votes in 2004 than he did in
2000! To put all this in perspective, John Kerry tallied nearly 5 million more votes than any presidential candidate
before him in United States history...and lost by 3 million!
Yes, the GOP GOTV was monumentally successful last year, yet past performance does not insure future success.
Instead, questions abound. Will the leadership team in place at GOP campaign headquarters in 2008 be as resourceful and
ingenuitive as Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and the rest? Will the enormous legions of volunteers come out in force again?
Is the strategy employed last year duplicatable? In other words, now that massive GOP grassroots organizations have
been formed, will they be a fixture of future campaigns independent of the GOP candidate or will the degree of their
involvement be dependent on the charisma and drawing power of the nominee? Only time will tell if the gains made in
getting Republicans to the polls will become permanent or if they were only a temporary phenomenon due to the skill and
hard work of the current leadership.
Second, as George W. Bush exits the political arena in 2008, he will leave a huge emotional vacuum, politically speaking,
in his absence. Never before, certainly in my memory and perhaps ever, has a president been the focus of so much love
and so much hate all at once. Across this country, the number of people ambivalent to President Bush is dwarfed both
by those who hate him and those who love him. Even Clinton (that would be Bill), for all his scandal and swagger,
could not compare with Bush in this regard.
To continue in the vein of looking ahead by looking back, how can we possibly determine what effect a Bush-less ballot
will have in 2008? Will anyone be able to stir up the excitement and loathing we saw last year? Will turnout be
historically low as voters find they just don't have that fire in them this time? Or will GOTV efforts by both parties
prove impervious to the personalities and ideologies of their respective nominees? If turnout is low, who will that
benefit more, the Democrats or the GOP? It could be the Democrats if the Repuplican candidate fails to connect with
conservative Christians. Conversely, it could be the GOP since a lot of the hatred that motivated so many to vote in
November will be without its perferred target.
Or will there be a sense of Bush fatigue, the flipside to the Clinton fatigue that plagued
Al Gore in 2000? Certainly one could surmise that, just as the nation tired of Clinton's bad boy antics, we might tire
of Bush's insistence on promoting high morals and values as well. (It is my fervent hope that our nation would never
tire of such standards, but I am aware it could happen.) The future looks clear as mud, doesn't it?
The shadows these past effects cast on the next presidential election are long indeed. As a political aficionado,
I would like to post in this space a definite prediction concerning who is likely to come out victorious in 2008. I
would like to be able to look back at 2004 and pick out patterns emerging that would give me a sense of the ebb and flow of our
political tide. Alas, the water is murky at best - truly either party's pick could win in 2008.
Last February when I wrote Twenty-one Reasons Why Bush Will Win, I had a keen sense of optimism
in my man's chances. That article proved to be mostly true. This time, don't expect any such proclamations from
the keyboard of The Blogging Caesar any time soon. And I've only addressed the past; when one factors in the unknowns of
the future - the eventualities in the War on Terror, the unpredictable state of the economy, and the political circumstances of
our rising ladies, Hillary and Condi, three years hence - any prognostications for Election 2008 should be taken with a healthy
portion of snake oil elixir.
posted by Scott Elliott at 11:55pm 03/10/05
Free ad for your product, business, or cause You may have noticed the blogad enticement I've added to the right sidebar. In order to help folks make the decision to advertise on this site, The Blogging Caesar is offering a free one-month ad to a worthy recipient. Who will that recipient be? I don't know, but I'm giving my readers one week to tout their product, business, or cause in the comment thread below. If you'd like to be considered, tell me why your site should be promoted here and include the website address and your email in your comment. I'll evaluate all entries and notify the winner next Monday by email. posted by Scott Elliott at 7:55pm 03/08/05
Here's a great list
of numerous recent articles from lots of different sources echoing what we conservatives have known for some
time now...
Hat tip: Lorie
posted by Scott Elliott at 7:35pm 03/08/05
Sad news Bill Quick, aka The Daily Pundit,
has lost his father.
I've offered my condolences; go offer him yours.
posted by Scott Elliott at 5:35pm 03/07/05
"No to terrorism!" I just saw an interesting story about the changing climate for terrorism in Iraq over
at AlphaPatriot.
The story is a couple days old, and - of course - ABC attempts to minimized it by including a much more
detailed bad news story. Nevertheless, it's just one more sign that President Bush's vision is taking hold over
there.
posted by Scott Elliott at 12:55am 03/04/05
SUVs roamed the earth 9,500 years ago Need proof?
Tim Blair's got it.
posted by Scott Elliott at 7:05pm 03/01/05
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