Ezra Levant: 'Freedom of Speech in Canada'

Source:Idea City- Ezra Levant talking about free speech in Canada.

"Co-founder of the Western Standard magazine, Ezra Levant, discusses freedom of speech in Canada based on his own experience of being hauled before a Canadian human rights commission for printing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in the magazine." 

From Idea City

PBS NewsHour: 'Bush vs. Dukakis: The first 1988 Presidential Debate'

Source:PBS NewsHour- Vice President George H.W. Bush (Republican, Texas) vs Governor Michael Dukakis (Democrat, Massachusetts) in 1988.

"The 1988 presidential election cycle featured Vice President George H.W. Bush, the Republican nominee, and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee. The first debate was a 90-minute discussion, focusing on foreign and domestic policy. Moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS, with questions posed by a panel of journalists, it took place on September 15, 1988, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

This content is brought to you as part of a PBS NewsHour project to make all presidential and vice presidential debates available to watch online." 

From the PBS NewsHour

"The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor[6] based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded[7] nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programming to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS NewsHour, Sesame Street, and This Old House.[8]

PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, pledge drives, and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. All proposed funding for programming is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source.[9] PBS has over 350 member television stations, many owned by educational institutions, nonprofit groups both independent or affiliated with one particular local public school district or collegiate educational institution, or entities owned by or related to state government." 

From Wikipedia

Reagan Foundation: 1984 Presidential Candidate Debate- President Ronald Reagan vs Walter Mondale

Source: Reagan Foundation- President Ronald W. Reagan (Republican, California) debating Walter Mondale (Democrat, Minnesota) in 1984.

"The full-length 1984 Presidential Candidate Debate between President Reagan and Walter Mondale on 10/7/84."

Source:Reagan Foundation 

I just saw this debate Saturday, because I knew I would probably be blogging about it this week. This was the debate that Walter Mondale was remembered for looking really strong and quick. Able to go toe-to-toe with the President of the United States and actually beat him. While Ronald Reagan, looked old, slow and unsure of himself and how to answer the questions. 

President Reagan, clearly didn't look good in the first debate, but didn't look as bad as he tends to be remembered. His answers were somewhat slow and so-forth, but he answered the questions and didn't take any shots from Vice President Mondale lying down. He took them on and threw some back as well.

But Fritz Mondale just looked good the whole night, while admitting that the economy had definitely improved from four years earlier. That the economy wasn't as strong as it needed to be and that we paid a heavy price for the recovery that we were going through. Increases in debt and deficit and: "If we continued to allow those things rise, we would pay for it in high interest and inflation rates later on." He was right, because the Stock Market crashed just three years later in 1987. The economy slowed in 1989 and of course we had a recession in 1990-91.

This was Fritz Mondale's opportunity to get back in the race. He was down 10-15 points going into this debate and took advantage of it. He brought President Reagan's lead down a bit and had he had a great debate in the second debate, he could've prevented the landslide that came and could've made it a very tight race. 

Mondale's second debate wasn't bad, but President Reagan just bounced back and had a very good debate as well with the memorable line when he was asked about his age, suggesting that he might be too old for President, by saying that: "I'm not going to make age an issue in this election and exploit Fritz Mondale's youth an inexperience." 

Whether voters decided that Fritz Mondale would've been a better President or not, what they did decide, was that they liked Ron Reagan more and liked where the country was going and headed and weren't ready to fire President Reagan.

Human Events: John Gizzi- 'Best Debate Moments': Mike Dukakis in 1988

Source:Human Events- Governor Michael Dukakis (Democrat, Massachusetts) at the 1988 presidential debate against Vice President George H.W. Bush (Republican, Maine)

"#3: What if some criminal raped and murdered Dukakis' wife, Kitty. Would Dukakis still oppose capital punishment? Michael Dukakis's unemotional response is our #3 debate moment.

John Gizzi counts down the Top 10 Debate moments in our multi-part series "Presidential Debates: How they changed the race." 

From Human Events 

Mike Dukakis had one more opportunity to turn a presidential election, he should've won at least going in around in the presidential debates and used those opportunities to let the Americans know more about him, that he wasn't cold and could connect with people in a personal positive way. 

But Governor Dukakis blew that when Bernie Shaw of CNN asked him a gotcha question, by bringing his wife into it, about the death penalty. It was sort of no win situation for Governor Dukakis, because it was a gotcha question about his wife of all people but he could've avoided losing it as well and instead of trying to make it a question about policy, he should've took the question for what it was, which was a personal gotcha question and should've answered about how he would feel, if his wife was raped and murdered. And what he feel should be done to the person responsible for the crimes. 

But instead Governor Dukakis used it as an opportunity to explain his opposition on the death penalty, an issue at least back then where a large majority of Americans were in favor of the death penalty.

Human Events: John Gizzi: 'Best Debate Moments #8: Fuzzy Math / Lockbox'

Source:Human Events- political reporter John Gizzi.

"#8: George W Bush's "Fuzzy Math" vs. Al Gore's "Lockbox"

John Gizzi counts down the Top 10 Debate moments in our multi-part series "Presidential Debates: How they changed the race"

From Human Events

If the 2000 presidential election between Governor George W. Bush (Republican, Texas) and Vice President Al Gore (Democrat, Tennessee) could be summed up in one word, it would be ridiculous 

In 2000 we had what most objective people would probably consider two decent, likable men, (at least the people who know them) with good sense of humors in George W. Bush and Al Gore and we get these two presidential debates where both men could barely find anything to say that was positive about themselves and what they wanted to do as President of the United States. 

Oh wait, we did have empty political slogans like Governor Bush saying: "I'll return the people's money to the American people." And with Vice President Gore saying: "We need a world class economy for the American people and put Social Security and Medicare in a lockbox." 

And when Bush vs Gore couldn't find anything positive to say about themselves, they tried to make look like the other guy would destroy the country as soon as he became President. That he was too risky, etc, to be President of the United States. 

If there any real wondering left to do why during a good election year, maybe 3-5 Americans who are eligible to vote, even bother to vote. Especially today with all the legitimate alternatives to voting like reality TV, celebrity court cases, smartphones, social media, and coffee houses, to keep Americans out of the voting booths.

Discovery: 'The Proud History of the Republican Party'

Source:Discovery- with a look at a Republican Party that almost doesn't exist at all anymore.

"The Republican Party formed by abolitionists in 1854 take bold steps in securing freedoms for former slaves until the Democrats regain control of Congress. Once in control of Congress and many of the southern state governments the Democrats once again stripped away the rights African Americans wouldn't again fully achieve until the civil rights movement of the 1960's.

- In 1865, Congressional Republicans unanimously backed the 13th Amendment, which made slavery unconstitutional. Among Democrats, 63 percent of senators and 78 percent of House members voted: "No."

- In 1866, 94 percent of GOP senators and 96 percent of GOP House members approved the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing all Americans equal protection of the law. Every congressional Democrat voted: "No."

- February 28, 1871: The GOP Congress passed the Enforcement Act, giving black voters federal protection.

- February 8, 1894: Democratic President Grover Cleveland and a Democratic Congress repealed the GOP's Enforcement Act, denying black voters federal protection.

- October 16, 1901: GOP President Theodore Roosevelt invited to the White House as its first black dinner guest Republican educator Booker T. Washington. 

- January 26, 1922: The U.S. House adopted Rep. Leonidas Dyer's (R., Mo.) bill making lynching a federal crime. Filibustering Senate Democrats killed the measure.

- Until 1935, every black federal legislator was Republican. America's first black U.S. Representative, South Carolina's Joseph Rainey, and our first black senator, Mississippi's Hiram Revels, both reached Capitol Hill in 1870. On December 9, 1872, Louisiana Republican Pinckney Benton Stewart "P.B.S." Pinchback became America's first black governor.

- August 17, 1937: Republicans opposed Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Supreme Court nominee, U.S. Senator Hugo Black (D., Al.), a former Klansman who defended Klansmen against race-murder charges.

- September 24, 1957: Eisenhower deployed the 82nd Airborne Division to desegregate Little Rock's government schools over the strenuous resistance of Governor Orval Faubus (D., Ark.).

- May 6, 1960: Eisenhower signs the GOP's 1960 Civil Rights Act after it survived a five-day, five-hour filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats.

- November 2, 1983: President Reagan established Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday, the first such honor for a black American.

- President Reagan named Colin Powell America's first black national-security adviser while GOP President George W. Bush appointed him our first black secretary of state.

Facts are from Deroy Murdock who  is an advisory board member of Project 21, a Washington-based network of black free-market advocates." 

From RCO 64 

The Republican Party has never been a left-wing, or even center-left, social democratic party. They've always been, for the most part (with perhaps today being the exception) a center-right, pro-constitution, pro-limited government, pro-fiscal responsibility, pro-individual, pro-national security, pro-rule of law party, that would fit in very well with most center-right parties, at least in the developed world. 

But pre-Christian-Right, pre-Tea Party populists, the Republican Party had a strong right-progressive faction, led by Tom Dewey, Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Nixon, even, that believed in civil rights for all Americans and that all Americans should have the same constitutional, individual rights and responsibilities, as every other American, including African-Americans and women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. 

The reason why the Republican Party got the nickname the Grand Ole Party, because they were a big tent party with a strong classical conservative faction in it, that's always been there, to go along with a strong right-progressive faction in it. And why they were the Party of Abraham Lincoln that freed the African slaves and gave them the same constitutional rights as European-Americans, including Souther-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant men in this country. That Republican Party is all but gone today.

CBS News: The Longine Chronoscope- U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (1952)

Source:CBS News- U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (Republican, Illinois) on The Longines Chronoscope in 1952.

“LONGINES CHRONOSCOPE WITH SEN. EVERETT M. DIRKSEN – National Archives and Records Administration 1952-05-07 – ARC Identifier 95971 / Local Identifier LW-LW-417 – TELEVISION INTERVIEW: William Bradford Huie and Donald I. Rogers talk with Sen. Dirksen on his Senate bill to limit the powers of the Wage Stabilization Board, government seizure of steel industry, credit controls, and the presidential campaign 1952. Copied by IASL Master Scanner Thomas Gideon.” 

From Public Resource 

Members of Congress in both parties are always looking to weaken executive power (until they become President themselves) specially since President’s are always looking to increase executive power. Which is what this debate is about and what Senator Dirksen was trying to do to have the members of this board having to all be approved by the U.S. Senate.

During the 1930s the Roosevelt Administration under the New Deal, created all sorts of new programs, boards, agencies that had jurisdiction over the economy. And what Senator Dirksen wanted to do was to have these boards and board members have to be approved by the Senate. With both the Senate and House having Congressional oversight over these boards.

Many of these boards and agencies that were created by the New Deal were permanent boards and agencies. The President can put together short-term commissions and boards to study issues and come up with policy proposals and these things are put together all the time. But these commissions don’t have subpoena power generally and can’t issue new rules and regulations that business’s and individuals have to comply with.

What Senator Dirksen wanted to do here with this board since it was permanent with regulatory power was to have the members be approved by the Senate and have to report to Congress both the House and Senate.

This interview was done in 1952 when the country was at peace for the most part even though we were involved in the Korean Civil War. And the economy that was in depression for most of the 1930s and came out of that and recovered in the 1940s thanks to World War II.

Senator Dirksen’s line in this interview about “fake prosperity” had to do with the fact that the American economy was booming at this point, because we were at war and had so many me oversees and fighting. Which created millions of jobs at home with so many men out of the country. Plus with all the middle class jobs that were created at home to fight World War II and then later the Korean War. And I guess Senator Dirksen was saying that America wouldn’t have the prosperity at home if we weren’t fighting abroad.  

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