Irvine City Council Last Night

I had a chance to make it down to the council chambers for the bi-weekly meeting last night. I liked seeing Larry squirm in his chair as councilmember Shea read him and other two suspects(Mayor Krom and Mr. Kang) the riot act about everything that has come to light about the Forde & Mollriche PR contract. Ms Shea tried to agendize a discussion about the PR contract for tonight's meeting, but instead she was stonewalled by the city manager who I'm sure got his direction from Mr Agran. It was a pathetic site to watch Mr Joyce(city manager) stumble over his words(give toastmasters a shot Mr Joyce) trying to rationalize why he kept the item of the agenda for the meeting. Now since there are no scheduled council meetings until September 13th, this issue is going to fester for another month and half. I myself can't wait to tear Larry & Co a new one when I finally get the chance at the next meeting. I predict an all nighter for the next meeting.

Unions Form Circular Firing Squad In Chicago

You guys don't know how much it warms my heart to read about stories like this. Basically several unions that make up the AFL-CIO don't want to be led anymore by that old pasty John Sweeney. The dissident unions want to break off and actually start talking with Republicans instead of throwing their entire lot with the dems. I think it's smart of the unions to break apart. The democrats haven't been doing them any favors. They might as well start giving money to the people that have the power which is the GOP. Unions are pretty much obsolete anyways in todays fast changing workplace.

Benefits Of Owning A Gun

I had heard about this story on the channel 4 news the other day as I was channel surfing. It made me feel proud of owning a gun. It is yet another example of a person not being a victim because he was able to defend himself when the need arose. This is the perfect example of a guy who didn't panic when him and friend were accosted by a criminal looking to rob them as they sat in the drive through of a Jack in the Box in the Peoples Republic of Santa Monica the other night. The assailant stuck a gun to the head of the passenger and demanded money. The passenger was able to wrestle the gun away from the assailant only to be stabbed a few seconds later in the hand. The driver pulled his loaded gun out from behind the seat and shot the bad guy. Wahooo! I love it. This guy was prepared. The assailant died in an alley a few minutes later from lead poisoning. This was a clear case of justifiable homocide. The only other matter to deal with was if the guys in the car had a permit for a concealed weapon. They probably didn't have one and might be charged with a misdomeanor. If I were the DA I would not charge the men. Every person has a God given right to defend themselves. Here are the links to the stories

No Bid Contracting Alive & Well In Irvine

Here is another example of Larry Agran & Co. run amok in the city of Irvine. The Orange County Register dug up the invoice for a Great Park glossy flyer distributed to Irvine residents a few months ago. The city was charged $70,308 by Forde & Mollrich to produce 197,000 copies of the flyer. After you add in postage costs, it cost the city a total of $112,979. Councilman Choi and The OC Register called around to few local printers and received quotes from eight different printers. Here are the gory details: seven of the eight bids were between $24k-$35k and the last one was for $60k from a Santa Ana printer. As Robin would say..."holy taxpayer ripoff" Batman! The money quote is obviously from Larry himself.."I feel the people of the city of Irvine not only got their money's worth, but they've gotten much more"! Leave up to a liberal like Larry to turn econ 101 on its head. Mayor Beth Krom also has a great quote..."I think the value returned for the investment is more important than the dollar amount invested". Since the people who run our great city seem to have no idea of the concept of competitive bidding, I'd like to suggest they stop shopping around for any of their next personal purchases. When they go to buy a car or get insurance or any of the other necessities of life, I want them to buy the items without comparing prices. Would they actually do this is their own money were at risk? I highly doubt it. Why would anyone pay more money than they had to? I guess when it is the taxpayers money it is different. Folks do we need any more reason to vote these idiots out of office? Here is the link

And The Winner Is....John Roberts

I have to say a big thank you to President Bush for keeping his word that he would nominate a true originalist to the Supreme Court bench. John Roberts fits that bill to a tee. I am just so giddy right now. It looks like all the noise about Edith Clement was just that, noise. Judge Roberts will make a fine addition to the court. He has a great papertrail and he is personally liked by a lot of Senate democrats which by the way doesn't guarantee him their vote, but he is the kind of nominee that will be able to pull over 60 votes in the Senate in my opinion.

Update on SCOTUS Nomination

It appears that the Whitehouse is playing hardball on this nomination. First word this morning was that Bush was set to announce Edith Clement of the Fifth Circuit. ABC News just reported that Clement is not the nominee. This would appear to clear the way for a real originalist person to get the nod from Bush. This is great news. Let's get ready to rumble! In my opinion I think Bush & his advisors would do well to mimic the way NFL general managers select their #1 draft pick. They should go with the best available talent or their need. Michael Luttig, JRB, and Edith Jones fit perfectly in this scenario. I hope one of those three is the ultimate nominee tonight.

Bush Close To Picking A Supreme

I just clicked on Drudgeand he has a picture of 5th Circuit judge Edith Clement plastered all over the front page. If this is the nominee it would appear upon first glance to be a shrewd choice by the President. We should here more later this morning.

California Minutemen Take The Stage

After their super successful border watch down in Arizona last month, the California chapter of the Minutemen have taken their place along a 25 mile stretch of border in Southern California. I love it. Finally we are starting to take the bull by by the horns. If this does nothing else, it draws national media attention to our porous southern border problem. All these guys and gals are doing is watching out for illegal activity and notifying the Border Patrol. They are not racists or bigots like some militant La Raza/MECHA types would have us believe. They are patriots. They are normal citizens fed up with the federal government not doing enough to police the southern border.

Liberals Proven Wrong Again On Tax Cuts

The democrats worst nightmare is coming true. In what can only be seen as a sharp rebuke to liberals who think tax cuts shrink government revenue, tax receipts for corporate and individuals are up a nice 15% over last year. Liberals/democrats believe that if you cut taxes you will decrease revenues. Once again that has proven to be a fallacy just like when Reagan cut taxes in the 80's and doubled government revenues in the process. When you cut taxes you give people and businesses an incentive to grow. Now if the republicans would only keep spending in line with population growth and inflation we could really make some progress. Here is the link for the NY Times story.

Monday Musings

.........Well it's back to the grindstone this Monday. In the sales business, last week and last month don't count anymore. What have you done for me lately is the appropriate term I would say. I stayed home for most of the weekend. Yesterday I got caught up watching the hurricane coverage and I was reminded that there is sometimes a heavy price to pay to live near the ocean if your in the hurricane zone. Last night I took my wife out to dinner to Trabuco Oaks Steakhouse in Trabuco Canyon. The ambiance is pleasantly tacky I would say. They have a bunch of cut neckties on the wall & in the rafters from the the unlucky suckers that wore a tie into the restaurant. They also have alot of political memorabilia from past OC campaigns. The restaurant used to be one of Richard Nixon's favorites when he was out here. The food is excellent. We shared a 32 ounce steak called "the cowboy". We were only able to eat about half the thing between the two of us.
..........I also want to take this time to defend my Assemblymember, Chuck Devore. He is getting a lot of heat from the nihilists over at the OC Blog. I was not happy with the new spending in the budget. In fact I have gone on record that I would have voted against the budget, but don't make accusations against a guy that aren't true. Chuck is a real conservative. I also admire him because he was one of the few people to put his neck on the line here in Irvine and run against the Agran/Dornan machine. For that he will always have my eternal gratitude. So what if he doesn't vote all the time like I or others would have voted. Let's try to keep our eye on the ball here.

Rehnquist Has Retired

I'm taking this from Erick over at RedState. What an enormous opportunity for President Bush and the nation to get back to what is actually written in the US Constitution. We originalists have a radical idea that we should actually follow what is written in the Constitution. I have complete faith in President Bush that he will follow through on his campaign promise to appoint judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. Wahoooo.

*****Update******
It's looking like Monday now, but it's a done deal

Chuck Schumer Gets Caught

Memo to Chucky: If your going to talk trash to your buddies about the upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle, you might want to check under the stalls to make sure that no one else is listening. Drudge is reporting a cellphone conversation that Sen Schumer had with probably one of his aides or political confidants. In the conversation, he is quoted as saying that "we are going to war over this nomination". We knew that the democrats were going to fight this nomination, but it's also good to know the strategy of your opponent before the battle has begun.

CA Coastal Commision Is Out Of Control

This article in the NY Times proves it today. Recently the Republican congress has finally started passing some good legislation dealing with illegal immigration. One of the items that has been a big problem in the past was a three and half mile stretch known as "smuggler's gulch". It is a section that runs from the ocean in Imperial Beach to about three and half miles inland. The congress has finally appropriated money to complete the fence/barrier and of course the liberals who run the Coastal Commision are going ballistic over this. It's more proof that the commision is just an extension of the liberal do gooders here in California. They would rather protect a little marginal coastal habitat that is already heavily polluted from the Tijuana River runoff than build a wall to keep the illegals out. Nice priorities.

Memo To Karl Rove: Real Conservatives Only Please

We know Karl Rove reads blogs because he has said that he does. So Karl if your reading this tonight, please know that only true strict constructionist jurists need be nominated. Mike Luttig, John Roberts, Sam Alito, Emilo Garza, Edith Jones, and Janice Rogers Brown will do just nicely thank you. Tell President Bush that we like where Alberto Gonzales is right now as the head of the Justice Dept. We know the President is very loyal to his people, but if Mr Gonzales is the nominee, I'm afraid then that we've got a major problem. We need jurists to interpret the Constitution for what is written in it.

It's Time For Randy "Duke" Cunningham To Stand Down

I wish it wouldn't have come to this, but it has. I wish Duke had used better judgment, but he didn't. I wish Duke had known that selling his house to a major defense contractor for a hugely inflated value looks suspicious. Alas he went ahead anyway with the sale. The feds raided his posh Rancho Santa Fe house yesterday. The house deal would have looked suspicious even if he had sold it for a true market value. You know the deal is fraudulent when the guy you sold your house to turns around and sells it a year later for a $700k loss in one of the biggest bull markets ever in southern California real estate history. It's sad to say, but it just looks like Duke put his congressional vote up for sale to the highest bidder. I'm not saying that he is the only one that has done this, but you got caught Duke. I'm not sure if you should just not resign immediately. The heat is starting to come down heavy on you and you will not be able to focus on your job of representing the good citizens of northern San Diego county. Why not just resign and let some new blood represent the district. You were a great rep for many years. We thank you for your service to the country. Your legacy as a Navy "Top Gun" is second to none. I just believe that if you continue to stay in office you will overshadow all the good things that you have accomplished over the years. As far as who should take over for you, my first thought is that Howard Kaloogian must be licking his chops(in secret) at the thought of a plum seat for Congress in a very safe republican district. I'm sure it will be a spirited primary battle.

Que Michael Buffer voice ....Let's get Ready To Rumble!

Sandra Day O' Conner Is Retiring. All I can is that it's about time we had some turnover on The SCOTUS. I thought if there would be any retirements so far that it would be Rehnquist. I'm glad that she decided to retire when she did. This gives Bush a chance to put his mark on the SC for years to come. Justice O'Conner will have a mixed legacy IMO. She was great on alot of conservative issues, but horrible on a host of other issues. You might call her the prototypical squishy/RINO justice. I think Bush should nominate Janice Rogers Brown or Pricella Owen for this seat. Bush will probably want to nominate a woman since this was O'Conner's seat.