Stopping by for a necessary chat

In a rare nod to Christian conservatives, John McCain stopped in for a visit with evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham. He had previously inflamed this core religious voter base during his 2000 presidential campaign when he condemned the Revs. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance.”

The article in the Washington Post put it this way: The Republican presidential candidate, who is actively courting religious voters and trying to reassure skeptical conservatives, visited privately with the Grahams on the grounds of Little Piney Cove in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina.

His earlier inflammatory comments, although later reconsidered and softened, resulted in an entrenched distrust which caused McCain to finish last out of nine Republican candidates in a straw poll last year at the socially conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. They’ll be meeting again September 12-14, 2008.

Whether the gathering will be convinced of his change of heart remains to be seen. Check out the Focus on the Family voter scorecard linked on the Family Research Council’s website and scroll down to the individual House and Senate members for a illuminating look at votes cast.

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Sizing up the GOP VP options

Evaluating Romney and other contenders

Jonathan Martin of Politico has his experienced finger on the Republican pulse, backed up with some insider information, that makes this a must-read for political aficionados.

PAChyderm Coalition Legislator Rankings

The latest weekly update to the Republican legislator ratings has been published and sent to us by Howard Levine, Policy Committee Chairman. Review the ratings for the entire session which ended last Friday here.

The budget bill votes, as well as other late additions, produced some dramatic changes in scores for several legislators.

Check out how Republican legislators fared this year. Levine invites use the feedback form on the web page if you have suggestions for improving the evaluation.

More bad news for the news

How about considering increasing readership by not slapping readers in the face each morning?

Teacher tenure on the wane?

Although those desirous of lifetime job security, often minus actual teaching, will resist this development, others who have long opposed institutionalized teacher tenure will give this trend a hearty thumbs up.

The daily decries the changes, opining that [Arizona’s three state university’s] “tenured faculty members are considered the backbone of academic programs, lending continuity to the curriculum and building connections with students.”

The paper neglects to add they are considered the “backbone,” due to the fact, that regardless of the quality of their work, once tenured, they become the privileged recipients of a lifetime employment guarantee.

Witness Ward Churchill. It was only after the University of Colorado professor was accused by three faculty committees of plagiarism, falsification and other misconduct that Churchill was given his walking papers.

At the time of the uproar surrounding his outrageous behavior, Fox News reported that an essay and a follow-up book he authored argued that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a response to a long history of U.S. abuses. The arrogant and unapologetic Churchill said those killed in the World Trade Center collapse were “a technocratic corps at the very heart of America’s global financial empire” and called them “little Eichmanns,” basically deserving of their fate.

Churchill said Adolph Eichmann (a Nazi who stood trial and was executed in 1962 for savage WWII crimes against humanity) was a bureaucrat who carried out policies like the Holocaust that were planned by others but was still responsible for his own actions.

Celebrated author, Dr. Thomas Sowell, in a piece titled, “Academic Freedom”? wrote: There (were) no real grounds for firing him (Churchill) under current rules and practices-which tells you what is wrong with those rules and practices.

Max Boot has also written a masterful piece on the topic: Improve academia: Abolish tenure.

The Arizona Right Report Sundays, 8 – 9 PM

                                                    

Hosted by Mark Zemel
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Call In: 602-277-KFNX (5369)   Toll Free: 1-866-536-1100

Tonight’s Lineup:  News and events important to Arizona conservative voters.

Special Guest: Chairman Randy Pullen, Arizona Republican Party.

Catch Chairman Pullen’s comments on the race for the White House. We will also look at the Arizona congressional and legislature races.

Visit PAChyderm Coalition for the Legislative Report Card. Does your Republican Arizona Legislator routinely vote in accord with the Republican Platform?

Visit AZ Grassroots for voter solutions to mass illegal immigration.

 

Remember Richard Kimball? No, not “The Fugitive,” the candidate

Revealing comments show longtime commitment to amnesty, opposition to employee verification

The Washington Times reviews archived editions of the Arizona Republic to provide revealing coverage from the 1986 senate debates between candidates John McCain and Democrat Richard Kimball.

The article documents the fact that McCain opposed the passage of the 1986 amnesty bill.

Yet speaking recently to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials he brought up that bill: “In 1986, we passed a law that said we would secure the borders and gave amnesty to a couple, three million people. I supported that legislation way back then.”

Far from supporting it, McCain didn’t only vote against the bill, he used charged language to criticize it. The Arizona Republic quoted him as saying the bill’s requirements for employers to verify workers “would institutionalize discrimination.”

It wasn’t amnesty he opposed; rather the provision to verify workers to authenticate employment eligibility.

In a related article in the same publication, McCain told the Hispanic group NALEO that passing an immigration bill to legalize illegal immigrants is “my top priority, yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

He recently held a late-night, closed door meeting with Hispanic leaders in Chicago assuring them he would push through congressional legislation to liberalize federal immigration laws if elected.

McCain is scheduled to speak to the ethnic separatist group, La Raza July 14, 2008. Colin McNickle director of the editorial pages at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes about the lapse of judgment in addressing such a radical group.

Revealing guidelines from the Society of Professional Journalists

Crafting language in an effort to reconfigure attitudes

Ah, diversity.

Here are just a few of the guidelines. How nice to know that white supremacists and “radical anti-abortionists” are grouped in with Islamic terrorists. Oops! That’s a black-balled phrase.

– When writing about terrorism, remember to include white supremacist, radical anti-abortionists and other groups with a history of such activity.

– Use photos and features to demystify veils, turbans and other cultural articles and customs.

– Avoid using word combinations such as “Islamic terrorist” or “Muslim extremist” that are misleading because they link whole religions to criminal activity. Be specific: Alternate choices, depending on context, include “Al Qaeda terrorists” or, to describe the broad range of groups involved in Islamic politics, “political Islamists.” Do not use religious characterizations as shorthand when geographic, political, socioeconomic or other distinctions might be more accurate.

– Avoid using terms such as “jihad” unless you are certain of their precise meaning and include the context when they are used in quotations. The basic meaning of “jihad” is to exert oneself for the good of Islam and to better oneself.

– Avoid the phrase “illegal” immigrants.

And not to leave us wondering how to address the issue of same-sex unions, we have additional guidelines provided by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Society, which has sculpted the issue within the print and electronic media to conform to their standards. Their stylebook supplement is available here.

And, they have thoughtfully included a summertime Pride Primer.

The purposeful manipulation of the English language

 

   

Today’s daily runs this headline, Ban on gay marriage going on state ballot.

In casting the legislative vote protecting traditional marriage as a “ban,” the news is skewed to reflect the liberal bent of the newspaper. By contorting a negative angle to a vote in favor of traditional families—which have been the keystone of society throughout recorded history, the news becomes a vehicle for the homosexual agenda.

“This is a good day for the people of Arizona,” said Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy. “The people of Arizona will be able to decide the definition of marriage rather than the courts or the politicians.”

But Barbara McCullough-Jones, executive director of Equality Arizona, called the vote “disgraceful,” writing “the legislative process was prostituted for political gain.”

She threatened that her group would work to defeat the election of lawmakers who supported the referendum, as well as the referendum itself.

Well, what did you expect listening to NPR?

One of the daily newspaper’s editorial writers, Kathleen Ingley, wrote this short take titled: A loathsome leader manages to find some U.S. supporters:

A couple of call-in programs on public radio focused on Robert Mugabe. Not surprising, since Zimbabwe’s hero-turned-despot is terrorizing opponents in advance of a sham runoff election. But there was a startling twist: Several callers wanted to defend Mugabe. Is there a fan club for ruthless leaders who flout election results, reduce the population to paupers, ignore public health and fuel an inflation rate that runs into the millions?

Yes, Kathleen there is such an “Amen” corner for despots in Liberal-land. If this shocks your sensibilities, tune in to 550-KFYI AM or 960-KKNT AM for intelligent talk.  You might be surprised.