Top 10 Lists

[Thraxas]

I'm an omnivore. I need me veggies.

[docbyers]

The Top 8 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Is a Weaker Candidate Than People Think
by John Hawkins

We've heard a lot about why Hillary Clinton will be a strong candidate in 2008. In fact, there are whole books on the subject.

However, Hillary Clinton is actually a much weaker candidate than many people seem to believe. Here's a short, but sweet primer that may help explain why that is the case:

1. Likeability and Charisma

If you look back at the last eight presidential elections, at least, the more likeable candidate has won every time. That's unfortunate for Hillary because unlike her slick, gregarious husband, she does not have the gift of gab or a warm personality. If Hillary has to pass the old, "Gee, would I rather go to a ball game, grab some pizza, or get a beer with Hillary or the Republican candidate," test, she's going to be in a lot of trouble unless the person asking the question is wearing a tinfoil hat or is such a radical lefty that she has a "I (heart) abortion" bumper sticker on her car.

2. Gaffes

Hillary not only lacks charisma and likeability, she's more gaffe prone than most people seem to realize. For example, back in March she suggested that the illegal immigration bill in the House, "would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."

Then there were her wacky comments about school vouchers back in February:

"First family that comes and says 'I want to send my daughter to St. Peter's Roman Catholic School' and you say 'Great, wonderful school, here's your voucher,'" Clinton said. "Next parent that comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the school of the Church of the White Supremacist ...' The parent says, 'The way that I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore I believe in white supremacy. ... You gave it to a Catholic parent, you gave it to a Jewish parent, under the Constitution, you can't discriminate against me.'"

As an adoring, if somewhat puzzled, audience of Bronx activists looked on, Clinton added, "So what if the next parent comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the School of the Jihad? ... I won't stand for it."

Criminalizing Jesus? Cain and the Church of the White Supremacist? The School of Jihad? What?!? You put this woman in front of a camera for a year, in a presidential campaign, where every word the candidate utters is scrutinized like the Zapruder tape and she'll give plenty of ammunition to her opponent.

3. She Can't Win in the South

The only two Democratic candidates for the presidency who've won elections since Lyndon Johnson was in office have been two Southern governors, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Why were they able to win? Because unlike John Kerry or Al Gore, they were able to win southern states. Northern liberals like Hillary? They don't do well in the South and Hillary will have a lot of difficulty reversing that trend. After all, not only is she a liberal, from a liberal state, with a liberal voting record, she apparently disliked living in the South so much that she moved to New York. Good luck connecting with the NASCAR crowd after that Hillary, 'cause you're going to need it!

4. Hillary's Base Problem

Here's a little secret: a lot of liberals don't really want Hillary as their candidate in 2008. Some of them don't like her stance on the war. Others don't like her close relationship with the DLC, which is perceived as being too moderate. There are even some liberals that are probably unhappy with her, as much as anything, because she has been treated like the "chosen one" for the Democrats since the 2004 election.

The result of this is that some of the more hardcore liberal activists aren't thrilled with Hillary's candidacy and they're not shy about saying so. In fact, it has gotten so bad that the more time Democrats spend reading liberal bloggers, the cooler they get to Hillary. That's not exactly the kind of reaction a candidate hopes for from people who should be some of her biggest supporters.

5. Hillary Will Increase Turnout—for the GOP

Remember how the Democrats turned out in droves in 2004 so they could vote against President Bush? Well, the same thing would happen on the Republican side if Hillary were the Democratic nominee. There are few words in the English language more terrifying to Republicans than, "President Hillary Clinton," and it's almost guaranteed that they will turn out in record numbers to make sure it never happens.

6. Hillary as Commander in Chief?

In general, the Democrats have serious credibility problems on national security and Hillary is not going to be the one to reverse that trend. Unlike candidates like John Kerry and Jimmy Carter, she doesn't have a military background to fall back on. Moreover, her husband's administration was lackadaisical about fighting terrorism and although Hillary did vote for the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, she certainly hasn't developed a reputation as a hawk, like say Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. Although at this point, it's hard to know exactly what the foreign policy landscape will look like in November of 2008, it's unlikely to be tranquil and that will be a major strike against Hillary.

7. Her Polling Numbers Aren't Very Good

Since Hillary has been the frontrunner on the Democratic side from the moment that John Kerry conceded, she has been the subject of a lot of 2008 related polls. Unfortunately for her, those numbers haven't looked particularly good.

For example, In mid-May of this year, Rasmussen Reports had Hillary's unfavorable rating among adults at 39%. Another mid-May poll, from the New York Times, had 34% of Americans viewing her favorably and 35% viewing her unfavorably.

Perhaps that sort of soft support explains the results of a January 2006, CNN/Gallup poll which found that, "By a margin of three to one, Americans say they would "definitely" vote against Hillary Clinton for president."

Given that Hillary already has extremely high name recognition, these bad numbers don't bode well for her chances to win the presidency.

8. Baggage

Hillary is carrying around as much baggage as any of the other five candidates combined, starting with her philandering husband. In fact, there are so many controversies that have swirled around Bill and Hill than you can hardly list them all: Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broderick, Whitewater, selling the Lincoln bedroom, using the IRS against political enemies, selling pardons, taking the White House furniture, shady cattle futures deals, impeachment, firing the travel office staff to make room for cronies, it goes on and on and on. Discount these scandals as old news if you like, but the American people are going to think long and hard before they vote to turn the White House into the sort of sleazy circus sideshow that it was during Bill Clinton's tenure as President.

Conclusion

Although Hillary Clinton would be far from a pushover, she's not an unstoppable juggernaut either. To the contrary, Hillary is a deeply flawed candidate who would have great difficulty beating a credible, conservative Republican. So while it's important not to get overconfident about a potential race against Hillary Clinton, we shouldn't minimize her numerous weaknesses either.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Conservative Governors
Ranked by HUMAN EVENTS Political Editor John Gizzi.

10. Mitch Daniels—Indiana

While the former Bush Office of Management and Budget chief upset Indiana conservatives with his call for a temporary tax increase on those earning more than $100,000-per-year (the legislature rejected this), he nonetheless overcame a $645-million deficit with spending cuts. He has also attracted more private-sector business to the state and signed a voter identification measure that infuriated liberals.

9. Mike Rounds—South Dakota

Has made nationwide headlines by pushing a measure to ban all abortions in his state—a move almost certain to lead to the Supreme Court's revisiting Roe v. Wade. Rounds did sign phone tax and cigarette tax increases to deal with a deficit he inherited, but backs his state's no-income tax stand and calls for property-tax relief when the state has more money.

8. Tim Pawlenty—Minnesota

Unchanged on pro-life and other social stands from his days in the legislature, Pawlenty cut more than $171 million from the budget to cover a deficit in '03 and has called for a constitutional limit on the growth of spending.

7. Haley Barbour—Mississippi

The former GOP national chairman never veered from his no-new tax, no government-expansion policies and was a take-charge leader during Hurricane Katrina. But he has disappointed some fans by becoming a visible lobbyist for more federal tax-funded post-Katrina relief.

6. David Heineman—Nebraska

Since succeeding Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns as governor in '05, Heineman has won high marks for vetoing a bill to provide in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants. His stand was key to his winning the GOP primary this year for a full term over Rep. Tom Osborne, revered former college football coach.

5. Rick Perry—Texas

After serving as George W. Bush's lieutenant governor and then succeeding him as governor in '01, Perry put through a zero-based budget to deal with a $10-billion deficit in '04-05 and has maintained his state's no-income-tax policy. He has proposed a $6-billion property tax cut. Perry is far tougher on border security and illegal immigration than his predecessor.

4. Jon Huntsman—Utah

After less than two years in office, this philanthropist and former Reagan and Bush Administration official has denounced the "No Child Left Behind" federal education scheme, signed a measure to void illegal immigrants' driver's licenses and replace them with a special "driving privilege" card, and supports school vouchers and phasing out the state sales tax on food.

3. Matt Blunt—Missouri

Backed by Republican majorities in both houses of the state legislature, America's youngest (36) governor has successfully pushed for tax cuts as well as slashing the size of government.

2. Bill Owens—Colorado

"A sterling record of fiscal accomplishment" is how the Cato Institute characterized GOPer Owens' six years in office. He backed a state tax and expenditure limit, cut income, capital gains and dividends taxes, and resisted raising taxes when his state had a $850-million deficit in '03. Owens remains strongly pro-life and backed a statewide marriage initiative.

1. Jeb Bush—Florida

Winding up his second term as governor, Bush has signed a tax cut of some kind almost every year he has been in office—from slashing property to intangibles taxes—and not trimmed his pro-life, pro-voucher sails, although his refusal to permit natural gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has upset many conservatives. He would be an obvious Republican presidential possibility in '08 were he not following his father and brother.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Democrat Sex Scandals in Congress

Information compiled from the Washington Post, "Congressional Sex Scandals in History," and other sources.

10. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 82-year-old Hawaii Democrat was accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. Democrats cast doubt on the allegations and the Senate Ethics Committee dropped its investigation.

9. Former Rep. Gus Savage. The Illinois Democrat was accused of fondling a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee decided against disciplinary action in 1990.

8. Rep. Barney Frank. The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from Frank's residence in the 1980s. Only two Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to censure him in 1990.

7. Former Sen. Brock Adams. The late Washington Democrat was forced to stop campaigning after numerous accusations of drugging, assault and rape, the first surfacing in 1988.

6. Former Rep. Fred Richmond. This New York Democrat was arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old. He remained in Congress and won re-election—before eventually resigning in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.

5. Former Rep. John Young. The late Texas Democrat increased the salary of a staffer after she gave in to his sexual advances. The congressman won re-election in 1976 but lost two years later.

4. Former Rep. Wayne Hays. The late Ohio Democrat hired an unqualified secretary reportedly for sexual acts. Although he resigned from Congress, the Democratic House leadership stalled in removing him from the Administration Committee in 1976.

3. Former Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms.

2. Former Rep. Mel Reynolds. The Illinois Democrat was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault with a 16-year-old. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.

1. Sen. Teddy Kennedy. The liberal Massachusetts senator testified in defense of nephew accused of rape, invoking his family history to win over the jury in 1991.

[PMEL_DEVIL-DOG]

Top 10 Democrat Sex Scandals in Congress

Information compiled from the Washington Post, "Congressional Sex Scandals in History," and other sources.

10. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 82-year-old Hawaii Democrat was accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. Democrats cast doubt on the allegations and the Senate Ethics Committee dropped its investigation.

9. Former Rep. Gus Savage. The Illinois Democrat was accused of fondling a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee decided against disciplinary action in 1990.

8. Rep. Barney Frank. The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from Frank's residence in the 1980s. Only two Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to censure him in 1990.

7. Former Sen. Brock Adams. The late Washington Democrat was forced to stop campaigning after numerous accusations of drugging, assault and rape, the first surfacing in 1988.

6. Former Rep. Fred Richmond. This New York Democrat was arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old. He remained in Congress and won re-election—before eventually resigning in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.

5. Former Rep. John Young. The late Texas Democrat increased the salary of a staffer after she gave in to his sexual advances. The congressman won re-election in 1976 but lost two years later.

4. Former Rep. Wayne Hays. The late Ohio Democrat hired an unqualified secretary reportedly for sexual acts. Although he resigned from Congress, the Democratic House leadership stalled in removing him from the Administration Committee in 1976.

3. Former Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms.

2. Former Rep. Mel Reynolds. The Illinois Democrat was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault with a 16-year-old. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.

1. Sen. Teddy Kennedy. The liberal Massachusetts senator testified in defense of nephew accused of rape, invoking his family history to win over the jury in 1991.

What about ol Slick Willy?

[docbyers]

This list was only for the congressmen; "Willy" is in a class all by himself!  Whenever I think of him and his escapades, the term "repeat offender" keeps rolling through my mind...

[PMEL_DEVIL-DOG]

This list was only for the congressmen; "Willy" is in a class all by himself!  Whenever I think of him and his escapades, the term "repeat offender" keeps rolling through my mind...

All my buddies just think he was a pimp...

[K-Rock]

All my buddies just think he was a pimp...

Or a Gigolo! It's funny how some people see his behavior as forgivable and others as reprehensible.

[docbyers]

All my buddies just think he was a pimp...

Or a Gigolo! It's funny how some people see his behavior as forgivable and others as reprehensible.

The Democrats are "godless" (according to Ann Coulter), so they don't subscribe to those old-fashioned ideas about fidelity to your spouse; therefore, Bill's "sins" aren't sins at all, in their eyes.  So it's OK for him to play 'hide the cigar' with an intern; it's a good thing he didn't email a congressional page, though!  That would have really finished him in politics!

[docbyers]

"10 Things That Only Happen to Celebrities."

10. The paparazzi take more pictures of your wedding than the official photographer. Just ask TomKat.

9. Pictures of your children are worth millions. There is a tale of two celebrity parents to be told here. One is Brad and Angelina. They sold baby Shiloh's pictures and gave millions to charity. The other is Joe Simpson, father to Jessica and Ashlee. According to reports on Radar.com he profits selling photos of his daughters.

8. You're forced to pay taxes on freebies like award show gift bags and custom-made baby strollers from Ellen Degeneres.

7. You only party with people who have been on the cover of "US Weekly"... twice... in the last month, right Britney?

6. To quote Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" video (something that only happens in Hollyweird) you're "so famous every time you break up Oprah does a special."

5. Despite living in Malibu and London, your children are born in Africa. Sometimes it's the only place you can go to get a break from the press like Brangelina. And as Madonna taught us, it helps to be a celebrity when adopting in Malawi.

4. Artist Daniel Edwards creates a life-size sculpture of your most personal moments. Remember, Britney on the bear skin rug?

3. Your divorce papers, mug shots, and baby's birth certificate are on the Smoking Gun and TMZ.

2. You're so famous people write about your wannabe rapper husband or wannabe talk show host mother. Just ask Britney or Lindsay Lohan.

1.         Forget getting a street, town, or county named after you. Only one celebrity could get her own planet. While most of us feel like we already live on Planet Oprah, the good scientists at her alma mater, Tennessee State University, are actually considering naming a planet they found after her. Now that's out of this world!

[docbyers]

Top 10 Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses
Ranked by Young America's Foundation.

College costs average more than $31,000 a year. This list highlights the most troubling instances of leftist activism's supplanting traditional scholarship in our nation's colleges and universities. The growth of these courses gobbles up tons of money and resources, while scholarship from conservatives is ignored. Scores of courses were researched from hundreds of the nation's leading schools. Below are the worst of the worst.

10. Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism
Swarthmore College's "Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism" course "deconstruct(s) terrorism" and "build(s) on promising nonviolent procedures to combat today's terrorism," using the struggle blacks pursued in the 1960s as a mode for tackling today's terrorism.

9. American Dreams/American Realities
Duke University's "American Dreams/American Realities" course seeks to unearth "such myths as 'rags to riches,' 'beacon to the world,' and the 'frontier,' in defining the American character."

8. Cyberfeminism
This Cornell University class investigates "the emergence of cyberfeminism in theory and art in the context of feminism/post feminism and the accelerated technological developments of the last 30 years of the 20th Century."

7. Mail Order Brides: Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context
Johns Hopkins University offers this course as a supposedly deep look into Filipino kinship and gender.

6. Whiteness: The Other Side of Racism
This is Mount Holyoke College's attempt to analyze race. The class seeks to spark thought on: "What is whiteness?" "How is it related to racism?" "What are the legal frameworks of whiteness?" "How is whiteness enacted in everyday practice?" And how does whiteness impact the "lives of whites and people of color?"

5. Blackness
Occidental College (making the list twice) offers "Blackness," which elaborates on a "new blackness," "critical blackness," "post-blackness," and an "unforgivable blackness"—all of which combine to create a "feminist New Black Man."

4. Adultery Novel
Students in this University of Pennsylvania class read 19th- and 20th-Century works about "adultery," watch "several adultery films," and apply "various critical approaches in order to place adultery into its aesthetic, social and cultural context, including: sociological descriptions of modernity, Marxist examinations of family as a social and economic institution" and "feminist work on the construction of gender."

3. Taking Marx Seriously
"Should Marx be given another chance?" That's what Amherst College students are asked. Students in this class are also asked to question if Marxism still has "credibility," while also inquiring if societies can gain new insights by "returning to [Marx's] texts." This course also states that Lenin, Stalin, and Pol Pot misapplied Maxist concepts.

2. Queer Musicology
This University of California-Los Angeles class explores how "sexual difference and complex gender identities in music and among musicians have incited productive consternation" during the 1990s.

1. The Phallus
This course at Occidental College covers a broad study on the relation "between the phallus and the penis, the meaning of the phallus, phallologocentrism, the lesbian phallus, the Jewish phallus, the Latino phallus, and the relation of the phallus and fetishism."

edit:  changed "[ ]" to "( )" in post because it was causing the remaining text to be struck through
~Hoopty

[docbyers]

Top 10 Questions Hillary Clinton Should Answer

Compiled by HUMAN EVENTS Assistant Editor Amanda B. Carpenter, author of "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Clinton."

10. Goldman Sachs, another corporation that generously funded your Senate campaign, received a $25-million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a $1.65-billion bond in federal 9/11 aid. You went to the groundbreaking ceremony of their new 43-story headquarters in 2005 and said you were "proud to have worked with my colleagues in Congress to secure $20 billion in federal aid for New York" and "major employers like Goldman Sachs needed to know they had a partner in government." That year, the company was worth $43.3 billion and turned a $5.6 billion profit. Why should the government give them this money?

9. In a 2003 radio interview, you said you were "adamantly against illegal aliens" and then in 2006 told a group of illegal Irish immigrants who were lobbying Congress for amnesty on Capitol Hill, "It is so heartening to see you here. You are really here on behalf of what America means, America's values, America's hopes." You also voted for Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy's amnesty plan. How do you reconcile these actions?

8. Did you formulate your plans to "track and monitor" the health of 9/11 workers for the next 20 years as a stepping stone to universal healthcare?

7. Will your husband continue his international lobbying activities for his foundation (the Clinton Global Initiative) if you go to the White House?

6. What legislative favors did you support for Corning, Inc. after receiving large donations from their employees and political actions committee?

5. What programs would you cut to help balance the budget?

4. Who in the mainstream media -- CBS, NBC, ABC, the Washington Post, the New York Times and others -- do you collaborate with regularly?

3. Do you believe we must win the Iraq war, and if so, how would you specifically do that?

2. Did the Clinton Administration exaggerate the threat Iraq posed to the United States?

1. Will you pledge not to use any of the $20 million in foreign money your husband has earned since leaving the White House for any campaign expenses?