gid: February 2008 Archives

General Sessions Court Judge Ron Durby said he made a recent trip to Tunica with former Sheriff Long. The judge said he cannot remember who else was in the car on the six-hour trip.

(via)

I guess you can say what you want when reelection is not until Aug. 2014.

Posted by gid at 03:20 PM | Comments (1)

February 15, 2008

my first response to a Chattanoogan.com opinion piece

To get the context please go here and read the original opinion by Bruce Caldwell. Below is my response, which can also be read here.

Bruce,

Reading your opinion brought to mind a great quote from George Washington's Farwell address. He said this: "If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield."

Your argument, which is based on an emotional grab, is a waste of everyone's time. Emotions have nothing to do with enforcing the rule of law. I have read many of your opinions, and have yet to agree fully with any of them. I should have prefaced that last statement with the fact that I am a life-long Republican. You, sir, might call yourself a Republican, but are in fact a Federalist and a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Yes, I know these words are harsh, but the evidence supports them. As Republicans our tent cannot be so big that we stand for nothing because we stand for everything. Being a Republican is about small, fiscally conservative government. Government that is limited in power and government that first asks in every situation "What does the U.S. Constitution give me authority to do?"

Now you should be asking yourself with regard to this FISA bill: What does the U.S Constitution give us authority to do?

The U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment says: "and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Bruce please tell us, what would the U.S. Constitution give you authority to do in regard to the FISA bill? I should add before you disregard any more of our founder's wisdom this quote: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Posted by gid at 05:15 AM | Comments (1)

February 12, 2008

Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

While sitting at the dentist yesterday I picked up their December 2007 copy of Bon Appétit. I must say Bon Appétit is a great magazine. I think I might just get a subscription for Leslie. Anyway, they had a recipe for a blood orange champagne cocktail. I think it will be our drink on Valentines Day. It's basically a mimosa, with the addition of créme de cassis, which is a black-currant liqueur.

Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail Ingredients

1/4 cup créme de cassis (black-currant liqueur)
1 1/2 cups strained fresh blood orange juice(from about 6 oranges)
1 750-ml bottle chilled brut Champagne
8 blood orange slices (optional)

Instructions

Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons of créme de cassis into each of 8 Champagne flutes. Add 3 tablespoons of blood orange juice to each up. Fill each glass with Champagne, then stir gently. Garnish cocktails with slices of blood orange, if desired.

Posted by gid at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2008

Georgia declares war against Tennessee

Okay, maybe not, but the news is very interesting. Evidently the southern border of Tennessee was drawn incorrectly back in 1818 and now that the Atlanta water shortage is in full swing, a few Georgia state legislators are proposing the line be redrawn. I guess the idea is they want to be able to get the water out of Nickajack Reservoir/Lake to make up for the water shortages caused by their ill-planned & ill-thought-out population growth. (chattanoogan)

I made a google map that shows what the new boarder would look like. Evidently Alabama lost a huge swath of land as well. If this goes through there are going to be a lot of unhappy Tennessee Vols fans that are now going to be living in either Bulldog or Crimson Tide territory. Not that I care too much about local sports, but I do think some locals would be willing to fight a war over this.

View Larger Map

hat tip:
Is St. Elmo really in Georgia?

Posted by gid at 02:11 PM | Comments (1)

February 06, 2008

The rEVOLution's Next Steps...getting local

Looking at last night numbers we have an extremely strong base of support in our local area. We are in the process of getting the foundation laid for Ron Paul Republicans to get elected locally, but we need to know who you are. For those of you who have not given us your name, email address, and phone number at either the last meetup group or the Rand Paul rally we need to know who you are! We need to stay organized and we need to be able to get in touch with you when Ron Paul Republicans run for office.

Please if you have not gotten your name on the list, then please email me privately. So far we have 180+ people signed up, but there are several thousand of us locally that we need to be able to get in touch with. Please forward this post to local Ron Paul supporters that might not be on the list. This includes all Ron Paul supporters in Tennessee's 3rd Congressional district (Wamp's district).

Please email me at j.d.gidcumb[AT]gmail.com

Posted by gid at 12:56 PM | Comments (1)

February 05, 2008

CNN = reliable, fair, balanced, unbiased

I just don't get it. Ron Paul takes second in LA, second in NV, second in delegates in ME, and they can not even put him on their site! Please vote!

Posted by gid at 12:43 PM | Comments (6)

February 04, 2008

Barna Group: Republicans have lost Born Again voters

What is it going to take for the Republican party to see that they have lost their way? I for one still believe there is hope for a Republican reformation.

Compared to recent presidential elections, the current leanings of the born again constituency have reversed. The new Barna study shows that if the election were to be held today, 40% of all born again adults who are likely to vote in November would choose the Democratic candidate and just 29% would choose the Republican candidate. The remaining 28% are currently not sure whom they would choose, preferring to make their selection on the basis of the candidate than strictly on the basis of his or her party affiliation. barna group

Posted by gid at 07:18 AM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2008

Ron Paul Tops Military Donations, Again

This time, the victory was decisive. Paul received approximately three times as many Army donations as Senator John McCain, twice as many from the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, and more military donations overall than all the other Republican candidates combined. from