We haven’t had a Civil War discussion here in a while, but I found this quote of Mark Twain’s regarding the Southern view of the Civil War to be very close to my feelings about the topic:

The hearts of this whole nation, North and South, were in the war. We of the South were not ashamed of the part we took. We believed in those days we were fighting for the right - and it was a noble fight, for we were fighting for our sweethearts, our homes, and our lives. Today we no longer regret the result, today we are glad that it came out as it did, but we of the South are not ashamed that we made an endeavor. And you, too, are proud of the record we made.

We are here to honor the noblest and the best man after Washington that this land, or any other land, has yet produced. When the great conflict began the soldiers from the North and South swung into line to the tune of that same old melody, ‘We are coming. Father Abraham, three hundred thousand strong.’ The choicest of the young and brave went forth to fight and shed their blood under the flag and for what they thought was right. They endured hardships equivalent to circumnavigating the globe four or five times in the olden days. They suffered untold hardships and fought battles night and day.

The old wounds are healed, and you of the North and we of the South are brothers yet. We consider it to be an honor to be of the soldiers who fought for the Lost Cause, and now we consider it a high privilege to be here tonight and assist in laying our humble homage at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. And we do not forget that you of the North and we of the South, one-time enemies, can now unite in singing that great hymn, “America.”

While I’m not in agreement with Lincoln being the “noblest and best man after Washington” bit, I think Twain makes an eloquent description of the war and the goals and views of both sides (self determination and states’ rights versus preserving the Union).  I find people who say simply that the “war was about slavery,” and take the simplistic view that it was Northern abolitionists against Southern racists to be incredibly ignorant of history.  They don’t know that the Emancipation Proclamation was an economic document that only freed slaves in Confederacy-held territories - not those slave-owning areas under control of the Union.  I could go on all day here, but I want to see what others have to offer about the deadliest war in American history.

H/T to Power Line, which is where I saw the Mark Twain quote.

Rasmussen has released its latest primary polling today. The results:

Fred Thompson - 25%

Rudy Giuliani - 24%

Mitt Romney - 12%

John McCain - 12%

Mike Huckabee - 2%

Sam Brownback - 2%

Everyone else - 3% total

Fred Thompson continues to show his strength amongst Republican primary voters, even without formally announcing. His campaign has surely taken note of this, as there are now reports that he’ll delay an announcement until August or even September. If he can garner such support and provoke such press (both good press and hit jobs by the NY and LA Times) without even formally entering the race, why not delay a bit longer and let the other candidates spend their money?

Rasmussen made some good points about Gov. Romney’s failure to make a substantial gain in the polls despite his money machine and organizational skills:

For Romney, the question about his viability is the same, but it is asked from a different perspective. Many insiders have long viewed him as the natural conservative challenger to Giuliani. He’s good looking, rich, and has built a serious campaign organization. But, for Romney, the polling numbers have been less than exhilarating. In national polling, the man from Massachusetts has struggled in the 10% to 12% range for months and can’t seem to gain any traction.

Romney does lead in New Hampshire, but those numbers also suggest an underlying weakness. Romney is from neighboring Massachusetts and well known to New Hampshire voters. On top of that, he is the only candidate to be advertising on television in the state. He should be way ahead rather than nursing a nine-point lead. Will his advantage hold when other candidates begin to get their message out on the airwaves? If he ekes out a narrow victory on his home turf, will that help or hurt?

I think despite Romney’s best efforts to grease the skids of his frequent lane-changes over his political career, Republican primary voters aren’t buying what he’s selling. He may be a great businessman, a masterful politician, and Presidential-looking, but without a consistent conservative philosophy he’s not going to gain any traction. If he were to change on one or two issues it wouldn’t be of great concern, but he has completely revamped his entire political philosophy and made such contradicting statements that he can’t save himself.

Rasmussen also notes this about Fred:

Many Washington insiders tend to dismiss Thompson for a variety of reasons, but it is not clear how well these insiders understand GOP primary voters. After all, they misjudged reaction to both Giuliani and McCain (to say nothing of a total misreading of the public during the immigration debate). Some things viewed as negatives by insiders—such as walking away from a career in the Senate—may be viewed differently by voters. Still, it is fair to expect that perceptions of Thompson will change once he enters the rough and tumble of the campaign. The next three months will probably give us a very clear indication of whether Thompson will sink or swim.

This hits the nail on the head - the aspects of Thompson’s candidacy that don’t excite Washington insiders are exactly what excites primary voters. We don’t want a career politician with Potomac Fever like Sen. McCain, an opportunistic flip-flopper like Gov. Romney, or a “Big Government Republican” like Mayor Giuliani - we learned that lesson with Bush II. An experienced lawyer who has 8 years of experience in the Senate, and did not crave power and chose to leave Washington, and who has been a consistent conservative and Federalist, is exactly what draws voters to support Fred Thompson.

On a different note, I’ve noticed lately that Sen. Thompson is the only Republican candidate to be referred to by his first name - much like Hillary on the Democratic side. We may have a race not between “Senator Thompson and Senator Clinton,” but between Fred! and Hillary!.

I thought listening to Sen. Brownback preach to me at the debates was bad. Check this out:

Presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is seeking to establish a new federal standard that would prevent violent television shows from airing on broadcast networks before 10 p.m.

The measure could prevent programs like “24” and “Law & Order,” which used to star another GOP presidential hopeful, former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.), from being aired before 10 p.m., according to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). The group is lobbying against the amendment.

A Republican courting the social conservative vote, Brownback will offer an amendment Thursday to a financial services appropriations bill that would have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopt measures to “protect children from excessively violent video programming,” according to the draft text obtained by The Hill.

“Broadcasters should not be allowed to use the public airwaves to disseminate violent or obscene material,” Brownback said in a statement. “The abundance of indecent material on television is one indication of the coarsening of our culture.”

Give me a break. Quit trying to legislate my life. Kids have parents to regulate their television-watching, they don’t need your Big Brother government doing it for them, thanks but no thanks. I’m embarrassed that someone like you is running for the nomination to the Presidency under the false banner of “conservative.”

Fred Thompson made another stop in Georgia yesterday in support of the Freedom Alliance concert, which raises funds for scholarships for children of fallen soldiers. Fred also stopped by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce for a brief meet and greet. He was very upbeat and energetic, as was the crowd during the concert which interrupted his speech several times with “Run Fred, Run.” Here is what the AJC had to say about the event.

I am spending most of my bloging time working on www.ga4fred.org but I will try to keep STGOP updated with the latest news on Fred along with the other guys.

From Huffington Post:

There is a growing controversy about a politician smack in the center of the presidential nomination process. Its revelation has sent shock waves through his party. Terrifying the party’s very base. The problem is ghastly. Ghastly!:

His wife is blond, beautiful and younger than him.

Okay, without even being aware of the details, you just know the party in question is the GOP. Yes, Republicans are up in arms upon discovering that Fred Thompson has an attractive wife.
Gadzooks. This is insane just on oh-so many levels.

Raise your hand if anyone on this site has had such a concern about Mrs. Thompson. Liberal projection strikes again: first the NY Times hit-job on Fred Thompson centered on the “Republican” concern that Thompson has a young and pretty wife, though the Right has been absolutely silent on the issue, and now an entire left-wing screed is written online bemoaning the GOP for having such a “puritan” attitude that doesn’t exist except in liberals’ dreams about what could turn the conservative base against a straight-shooter such as Fred.

As Senator Thompson said himself to Sean Hannity last night in the run-up to the Freedom Concert in Atlanta concerning the multiple hit pieces in liberal papers lately, “They know who to be afraid of.” H/T to Daily Pundit.

PS. I’m putting this under the category, “Daily Kos Stupidity,” because even though it’s not from Kos, we don’t have a “Huffington Post stupidity” category and this certainly fits such a moniker.

Isakson may run for Governor of Georgia in 2010. I don’t think he would have a chance against Lt. Governor Casey Cagle.

“Family Values” Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is reported to be listed on the D.C. Madam’s phone list that was revealed late yesterday.

The first-term Republican senator declined interview requests Tuesday, and he made no public appearances in the Capitol. The night before, he’d made a startling confession in an e-mail to The Associated Press:

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling.”

Associated Press

This apparently happened several years ago, prior to him being a Senator, but possibly while he was a Congressman. There don’t appear to be any specific details as to when the indiscretion took place. On my own personal note, I could care less. This is his own private business that he needs to work out within his own family and as far as I am concerned doesn’t impede his ability to be a good representative. However, to anybody out there considering a possible run for political office, if you have scandals in your past and skeletons in your closet, do us all a favor. Please don’t run under the party of “family values.” Trying to convince Americans that a traditional conservative society is best for our nation’s longevity is a daunting enough task as it is without boobs like David Vitter and the other stooges in Congress who have been exposed as frauds over the past couple of years constantly mucking up the waters.

I am so sick and tired of this garbage popping up on the news every few months. We lost five Congressional seats in generally safe Republican districts last year because of scandal and corruption. It’s no wonder the number of self-identified Republicans is dropping. People expect this behavior from Democrats. They have no moral compass. But the Republican Party makes a point of telling America that we are better than that. Thanks for the help there, Dave.

UPDATE (Alex): Vitter has also been linked to another similiar service, this one in New Orleans. Story here.

Of late, I have found myself often in the midst of arguments amongst conservatives, libertarians, and other inhabitants of the centre-right cantina, and have found a recurring theme concerning what is the ultimate end of politics. The answer tends to be Liberty. That in our course of political events, we should seek to maximize liberty. Yet, I believe there is an undercurrent of disagreement here about what defines liberty. Certainly, we are not looking for some libertine oasis of do whatever you want, but rather we seek “The Good Life.” Which is to say some mixture of order and liberty that is most conducive to people leading The Good Life.

Libertine excesses were the French Revolution model, whereas the American Revolution was, at its heart, a conservative revolution designed to give the true vigorous liberty of rights and responsibilities. What say you STG readers about what is the highest end of politics?

Both campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John weaver have resigned were fired. Reports are that long time McCain aide Rick Davis is taking over as campaign manager.

From State. Sen. David Schafer’s blog:

There will be a meet-and-greet for Fred Thompson tomorrow, Tuesday evening, at 6:00 p.m. at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce building in Duluth. It is sponsored by the Government Affairs Committee of the Chamber. The event is open to the public (and the media). The Chamber building is located across the parking lot from the Arena, and the reception will be held on the first floor, in the John D. Stephens room.

I’m there.

Erick Erickson interviewed Fred Thompson and has put up the “FredCast” part one on RedState. Fred answers some great questions and is very straightforward and conversational.Part two will be posted tomorrow. Check it out!

Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA) has shut down the State Government today over the inability to reach a 2007-2008 fiscal budget agreement between he and the Republican controlled state legislature. The disagreement stems over Rendell’s insistence year after year to constantly raise taxes and have the State spend beyond its means. The difference this year is that the Republicans are saying, NO!

Gov. Ed Rendell shut down the Pennsylvania government late Sunday over a budget stalemate with the Legislature that partly hinges on his energy plan for the state.

“I sincerely hope that this will be a one-day furlough, and I have reason for optimism,” Rendell said at a news conference Sunday night, though he declined to be more specific.

Monday morning, the shutdown set in as the partisan battle of wills between the Democratic governor and Republicans who control the Senate entered the ninth day of the new fiscal year. Lacking an approved state budget, the state has lost the authority to spend money on nonessential services.

With Rendell’s order, state workers deemed not critical to health or safety were furloughed without pay.

AP

Finally, we have Pennsylvania Republicans standing up for some form of fiscal responsibility. After the clean sweep of RINOs in the 2006 Republican Primary, the State Senate has shifted right of center and apparently the wake up call they received from voters forced to them all to grow a pair and finally stand up to the Democrat Governor’s tax and spend policies. In the past, the State’s Republican leaders capitulated and voted for “Spendell’s” liberal tax and spend agenda, but not this time.

“We have a $650 million surplus in Pennsylvania,” said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Republican. “There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t have a budget agreement. We could have had a budget earlier but for these ancillary issues.”

The centerpiece of Rendell’s energy plan would place a surcharge on electricity use for a fund for alternative energy programs and electricity conservation. Republican legislators and some Democrats oppose the surcharge and accused the governor of holding state employees hostage to force them to approve it.

“I can’t believe that a man who would call himself governor would do this to state employees,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Republican.

Human Events is speculating that Hagel and Warner might hang it up next year and retire from the U.S. Senate. It’s a reasonable conclusion. Hagel has ruined himself in Nebraska. He already has a strong primary challenger in Nebraska who is beating him in the polls and John Warner hasn’t bothered to start fund raising for next year. I say good riddance to both of them. They haven’t been reliable to the party on many issues and we can do better, especially in Nebraska, being such a conservative state.

On Hagel:

State Attorney General Jon Bruning has already signaled he is running for the Republican nomination regardless of what Hagel does. A day after my lunch, the July 4 Pancake Breakfast for Nebraska Republicans was held for the 29th year in a row in Omaha. An attendee at the breakfast told me that “the Bruning people were out in force. They must have had 25 people in T-shirts for Bruning and numerous others handing out stickers. And Bruning came and walked the parades. Hagel was there as well, but with no support except for his chief of staff, Lou Ann Linehan.”

On Warner:

After thirty years in the Senate — exceeding the tenures of past Old Dominion Sens. A. Willis Robertson, Carter Glass, and Harry Byrd, Sr. and Jr. — John Warner really has no reason to stay on. With odds favoring a Democratic majority next year, the chances of the 80-year-old senator regaining a key committee chairmanship are slim.

The worst-kept secret in the state is that Rep. Tom Davis of Northern Virginia will run if Warner calls it quits. The two are close (longtime Davis political operative John Hishta ran Warner’s re-election bid in ’96, the last time he was seriously challenged for renomination and in the general election) and sources close to both men expect Warner will give Davis a heads-up on his retirement announcement.

What Warner cannot do for Davis, however, is what he did for himself in 1996: determine the venue for the Republican nomination. Under very unique party rules, an incumbent GOP office-holder can call for a primary or convention as the means of nomination but, if there is no incumbent, it is up to the state committee of the party to say what the procedure is. When Warner ran eleven years ago, he called for a primary as a means of settling his challenge from former Reagan budget chief Jim Miller; with no party registration in Virginia, voters who consider themselves independents and Democrats could come out to support Warner, who had irked conservatives on numerous occasions. He won renomination by a margin of 2-to-1.

Should Warner step down next year, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the state committee, top-heavy with conservatives, will opt for the convention system. This does not bode well for Davis (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 70%), whose positions on abortion and the issues of federal employees have irked Republicans on the right.

It would seem early on that Romney has his game on in Iowa with the best infrastructure in place and a sizable lead among the other candidates.

Six months before the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney has taken a commanding organizational lead in this traditional kick-off state.

Arizona Sen. John McCain’s financial difficulties have forced him to dramatically scale back his Iowa campaign, and it’s not clear whether former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or ex-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson will fully engage in the Hawkeye State caucuses.

That leaves Romney as the sole representative of the GOP top tier to commit to the traditional Ames Straw Poll and offer himself to voters for up close and personal inspections.

The former Massachusetts governor has 20 full-time staffers, coordinators in most of the state’s 99 counties, and a group of about 50 “super volunteers” that has already swept through the universe of likely caucus-goers with initial phone calls and have begun going door to door in key precincts.

His effort got a big boost last week when McCain, down to just $2 million cash on hand, halved his Iowa staff to seven to save money.

Politico

If you read anything about the global carbon guilt fest that occurred this weekend, read this liveblog by Mark Hemingway over at NRO. Example:

12:39: Holly Hunter does a PSA about how buying digital music is more environmentally friendly because there is no oil wasted in making plastic CDs and energy is saved by not physically transporting discs around. While this is true, I doubt the music industry is thrilled by this message. Also, isn’t Al Gore on the board of Apple, which just happens to be the largest digital-music retailer?

12:59: Another PSA, this time horrendously exploited children prattling on about global warming. One very young girl bemoans that her children may never see a blue sky or green grass. It’s a full-frame closeup with tears streaming down her face. Naturally, this causes my wife to laugh uproariously. I knew there was a reason I married her.

Good stuff.

I had surgery a little over a week ago on my right Achilles tendon and as a result I am in a cast and walking on crutches. I missed a couple of days of work for recovery but I am struck by how many people are shocked that I am not still at home laid up on the couch watching Days of Our Lives eating Bon-Bons. The implication being I should take advantage of my situation and not work.

My question is where has everyone’s work ethic gone?

I was just watching an ad on Fox for their new tv sitcom called “Back To You” that features Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. I noticed that the city in the background bore a striking resemblance to Pittsburgh and sure enough the sitcom will be set in the burgh!

That’s the latest trotted out by the left, at least. And - get this - they are getting this material from liberal hero Republican scum ok-we-like-him-when-he-insults-Thompson Richard Nixon!

From Kos:

That’s not me speaking. That’s Richard Nixon’s zombie corpse haunting us with words of wisdom from the grave.

Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called “dumb as hell.” The president did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee’s Democratic counsel.

Wow. Next thing you know they’ll be attacking a candidate because Dick Cheney once insulted his choice of tie. Honestly, is this the best they have against Fred?

I got this from IMAO, by the way. Here’s what Frank J. had to say about it:

I hope Fred Thompson’s campaign is ready to spin this one, because that’s just the sort of thing that can sink a candidacy if the public finds out about it.

Honestly, is Fred Thompson that squeaky clean that the Kwazy Kos Kids have to reach this much to come up with an attack? Maybe they can find a grade school teacher of his that will testify that Fred Thompson was at times “unruly.” Sometimes the Kos Krowd is so stupid I almost want to make an account over there and lend them a hand. They try hard within their limited mental range, at least.

With what is looking like an almost certain third party Presidential run by Michael Bloomberg coming next year, I can’t help but to put on my tin foil hat and wonder if there is a Clinton hand behind all of this. Recent polling has shown that almost 50% of voters would not vote for Hillary under any circumstances, so how does she win? The same way her husband did, with less than 50% of the popular vote, but still winning the Electoral College.

The New Jersey General Election poll that was done last week shows Giuliani winning the state, but with Bloomberg in the fray, Rudy ties with Clinton, inferring that a Bloomberg candidacy would hurt the GOP more than the Democrats. Bill Clinton won both in 1992 and 1996 because a strong third party candidate named Ross Perot entered the fray and siphoned off a lot of would be Republican votes allowing Clinton to win electoral votes in states he otherwise would not have. Strong third party candidates are rare and it just seems strangely coincidental to me that the only two times in recent decades that there has been one that changed the result of the election was the two times a Clinton ran for President and now the third time it could happen is with another Clinton running for President.

You can see how Perot changed the landscape by the two charts below. Note that the blue states are actually the Republicans and the red states are actually the Democrats. Traditionally, this is how the parties were always represented until recent years as red generally represents the left side of the political spectrum.

1992

1996:

These charts come from Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, an awesome resource.

Anyway, that is my conspiracy theory of the day. The tin foil hat is coming off now.

Well it looks like not even money can buy you the type of All Star reception that Fred Thompson received at the YR convention yesterday. The Romney folks had spent a lot of money on this event trying to woo undecided voters to their cause and win the straw poll. Still no word on straw poll results, but if the reporters in attendance are to be believed then Fred Thompson knocked this one out of the park.

UPDATE: NY Post on the status of the Thompson campaign and rumors he will not officially declare for sometime.