No, I'm not talking about European concepts of personal hygiene, I talking about another of Barack Obama's personal heroes. Unfortunately the smell is just as bad.

Melanie Phillips, a writer in the UK explains just what "community organizer" really means from her vantage point in a society that has been preceding ours down the road to socialism for decades. To read the whole story at your leisure, click here.

We are fiscal, social, cultural and constitutional conservatives. We have been called divisive and been accused of destroying the Republican Party in Arizona for stubbornly standing by our principles. Our accusers, many of them former leading figures in the Republican Party here in Arizona and like-minded business leaders seem to think that a successful Republican Party would look and act a lot more like the Democrat Party.

It is by virtue of Conservatives here in Arizona and across the country who cling stubbornly to their principles (along with their guns and bibles), that the McCain campaign saw the wisdom of choosing Sarah Palin as running mate. From what we know about Team McCain, had Conservatives chosen to "go along to get along" as has been strongly recommended by our local and national opposition in our own party, Team McCain would have made a far less propitious choice.

John McCain is proud of his reputation as a "maverick" and his independence from "establishment" and party. But, with his choice of Sarah Palin, he has acknowledged that conservative principles are important and that party is indeed intrinsic to his success. As President he will no doubt disappoint conservatives from time to time, as has every other Republican President, but we look forward to working to put the McCain / Palin team in the White House and conservative Republicans into office everywhere in Arizona.

Random Thoughts: Perhaps the reason so many Democratic candidates sound so utterly stupid or ignorant to anyone versed in history and economics is that they don't want to appear to be smarter than they think their voters are.

We've said on this site that John McCain is our de-facto Republican Party nominee and even if we, as conservatives, aren't overly enthusiastic about him at least we don't want to stand in his way.

Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are. Mr. McCain does have enthusiastic supporters here and they are doing much to demonstrate how a McCain-led Republican Party might look. Doing Something Right two articles below was a taste. A more detailed look at what is going on is published here

In addition to what Howard Levine reports under the above link, our own field investigators have uncovered a McCain Support Group strategy to use typical left-wing, politically-correct, Speech Police tactics in their campaign to unseat the conservatives... Developing...

It's June 26, 2008. At precisely 6:59pm tonight, Phoenix time, just a few minutes ago, I got a call from the RNC. The guy at the other end wanted money. Lots of it.

"To get our Republican Conservative message out", he said.

"That's what we've been trying to do here", I said. " We're elected precinct committeemen in Phoenix and we're trying to get the Republican Conservative message out and for our trouble McCain's people here want us un-elected. How much do you want?"

He said: "One hundred and sixty five dollars."

"Do you think that would get John's people off our backs?" I asked.

"I don't really know about that." he said. "Could you donate one hundred and twenty five dollars? We really need it to fight the liberals in all the battleground states."

"Well," I said, "you know John considers Arizona a battleground state and he's FROM here. Don't you think my money would be better spent supporting him here in his home state, even though his people here want me out of the party locally?"

"I don't really know anything about that", he said. "How about twenty-five dollars? Couldn't you see your way clear to donating just twenty-five dollars? We really need it to help get out our conservative message."

It's not this guy's fault; I though, don't be so hard on him. "Thanks for your call, I'll think about it. But I still think the money would be better spent getting out the conservative message here in Arizona."

"Good luck and have a good evening." I said, interrupting his request for ten dollars, and hung up.

Rob Haney must be doing something right! If you've been listening to the news, reading the op-ed pages and the blogs, then you know that America is fed up with Republicans. The question is "Which Republicans?", and "Why?"

We think the answers are: 1. - The RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and 2. Because America doesn't need TWO major political parties run by Liberals.

Conservative Republicans took over Congress in 1994 with pledges of smaller government and lower taxes. They screwed it up, primarily by spending more than Democrats on speed. Twelve years later the voters showed them the door. Who took over? Mostly Democrats who ran campaigns based on conservative messages.

For more than six years, the conservative grass roots in District 11 have been trying to make the Republican elites aware of their lunacy. Four years ago we took over District 11. Two years ago we took over the Arizona GOP. We finally got their attention.

Like a gopher gets the attention of a rattlesnake.

Now the Republicans at the top seem to think they can get it back by being more like democrats than the Democrats. And the local RINOs want to take back the Party at the grass roots. They have been running folks for the position of Precinct Committeeman in hopes of re-taking the Republican Party in Arizona.

Maricopa County boasts twenty legislative districts containing a total of 1141 precincts. Eighty three precincts out of 1141 are running contests for Precinct Committeeman. District 11 has 46 of those contested precincts. We are Conservative Central and we are under attack. Again. We must be doing something right.

When voters want Liberals, they vote Democrat. If they want something better, they should be able to vote Republican and not worry about getting a Liberal in a suit. We're busy finding and promoting Conservative Republicans. That's what we're about and the voters we talk to tell us that's the way they like it.

From the point of view of a Republican with fairly strong conservative beliefs, the McCain campaign has been confusing and incoherent to put it kindly. More mud hit the water, (I try to choose my metaphors carefully), when I recently came across a 14-minute strategy video narrated by John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis. You can find it linked on SeeingRedAZ.

Mr. Davis begins by saying, "...today’s political environment, its among the worst in modern history for Republicans." At about 3:30 into the video he says, "the GOP brand troubles have created a larger group of independent voters that we need to appeal to this election cycle than normal. No longer can a Republican candidate win by just running up the score with our base. We need to reach out to independents and disaffected democrats because they now represent the largest portion of swing voters and the greatest electoral block up for grabs." At 5:30 he shows a map depicting Arizona as a "battleground" state and at 9:53 another map showing Arizona as "leaning Republican". What Rick Davis is really saying is: Our candidate is not conservative enough to turn out the usual Republican base so we need to bring over moderate DEMs and INDs if we want McCain to win. So much for reaching out to disaffected conservative voters.

Arizona is a predominantly Republican state and John McCain claims to be a "predominantly" Republican candidate. And yet Arizona is a "battleground" state?. My understanding, from boots-on-the-ground intel, is that the GOP "brand" has lost its appeal to Conservatives because it's being tarnished a liberal-blue by the party elites and elected officials and that John McCain is far more a part of the problem than the solution. I have the nearly ruptured ear-drums to attest to that. Meanwhile Mr. McCain continues to highlight all his positions that make conservatives so completely ill at ease.

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?

"Remember the Mantra" should be a war cry recorded somewhere in the history of politics, like "Remember the Maine" in the history of the Spanish-American war.

The new mantra in the Valley is "A small but vocal group" or "some few but loud people". You heard the first ahead of the Arizona State Convention as the excuse for John McCain's absence from his own home-state convention. The second appeared recently in an article in the Yellow Sheets quoting Stan Barnes as he waxed solemn about the state of the Republican Party in Arizona. Woe is us according to him. "The Republican Party is in the worst shape I have seen in my 20 years of active Arizona politics,...". The next paragraph begins "Winding back the tape:" and the article goes on to say: Trouble in the party has been brewing since Pullen was elected chair in January 2007 by a four votes (sic) over Lisa James.

The tape is a lot longer than Stan implies. You can wind it back a bit further here and see just how those "four votes" came to throw out the "establishment" and replace it with conservative leadership. The article was written in an attempt to bring an understanding to the angry folks who swamped the phone lines at Arizona GOP headquarters during the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (aka McCain/Lieberman) imbroglio last summer.

Those of you who have been walking your precincts here in Phoenix and hearing voters' opinions about John McCain already know "vocal" and "loud" are true but "small" is just wishful thinking when it comes to that mantra. Trouble has been brewing since John McCain turned left a long time ago with attacks on the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, anti-drilling in ANWR, closing Gitmo, Trials for terrorists, and, recently, his pandering to the Global Warming Religionists just to list a few reasons. Conservatives are forced to support John McCain because the alternative is so much worse. But if there is no gusto in the effort, the blame belongs to John McCain, Stan.

Meanwhile, take a few minutes to read the history linked above, and you will know exactly what's behind Stan's attack on Randy Pullen.

Impressions from the Convention. Herewith an attempt, aided by Scotch whisky, ice and a keyboard to sort out the conflicting thoughts and emotions.

Convention Delegates: Here is a link to a sample of the district 11 Ballot for our April 8 election of Delegates to the State of Arizona Republican Convention. If you're not already on it and you want to be on it, contact Chairman Rob. (Hint: you can call him or use this site's "Feedback" feature by clicking on the envelope icon in the red bar at the top of this page.) Names will be added and posted as they come in until 6:00pm Phx time, the Sunday before the meeting. You qualify If you're currently a Republican of record in district 11.

Now that John McCain is the Republican Party's de-facto nominee, should conservative PCs hop on the bus, even if in the past he threw them under it? Perhaps. Depends. A few callers to District 11 officials have demanded immediate, unconditional capitulation on our principles. One thing for sure, conservatives won't be emulating the old Republicans for Janet trick. Here's why.

News From the Future: The following is, (will be), taken from an interview between an annonymous NY Times reporter and Hillary Clinton on October 1, 2008 just before she wins the Presidency in a landslide election.

Hillary: "...and we can pay for that by reducing the tax rates on wealthier Americans."

NYT: "Ok, before this, you used to propose paying for at least 6 major social programs by raising taxes on the "rich". Now you say you can pay for for everything by reducing their taxes? Isn't that the Republican's pitch? Would you explain this please? "

HC: "First of all I never said I would raise taxes. That's all just part of that vast right-wing conspiracy. And my plan is definitely not the Republican's pitch. Their pitch is trickle down economics and the terrible economy we've had since Reagan has pretty well laid that theory on the ash heap of history. I'd say we could finance all this with just a 25% tax rate on incomes over, let's say, two hundred and fifty thousand per year. "

NYT: "That's amazing. Today those folks pay about 43% on every dollar over two hundred and fifty thousand. How will you raise even more with twenty five percent? "

HC: "It's really quite simple. You see, you aren't thinking of this in the right way. What I'm saying is, for every dollar you earn above two hundred and fifty thousand per year, you pay four dollars in tax. You earn one dollar, you pay four, one divided by four is twenty five percent. And we'll raise enough to pay for all my programs and more. See? We lower the tax rate and take in more. It's the Democrat way. "

NYT: "Ok, now I see. I never thought of it that way... How did you say I could contribute to your campaign? "

HC: "Don't you worry sweetie, you just keep printing the stuff you're printing and I'll take care of everybody, I mean, everything else.

Don’t Let This Movie Get Lost by Kathryn Jean Lopez,National Review Online Andy Garcia’s most recent movie is oceans apart from what you might have seen him in lately—say, the big-budget box-office success Ocean’s Eleven (or Twelve)—but it’s a movie that should not get lost.

Movie reviewers—a club of which I most definitely am not a member—have taken issue with The Lost City: It is, they point out, too long. But viva The Lost City anyway—it more than makes up for its flaws in its myth-busting cultural contributions. Here in the U.S., where Che Guevara T-shirts are a staple at most soccer-mom shopping malls and on college campuses, it´s a countercultural revolution of a movie. If Bill Clinton and Janet Reno were still in charge—thugs at the ready to send a boy back down to be Fidel´s poster boy after his mother died getting him here, to freedom—I´d be advocating showing the movie on the Ellipse, marathon-style.

Full text of the review here. Movie opens 6/23/2006 Scottsdale, AZ: Camelview 5 Theatre; Tucson, AZ: Century El Con 20 Theatre