Yesterday the Reverend Pat Robertson was on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulis, and when asked about the current animosity of the federal judiciary by conservatives, he said this:

"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings," Robertson said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

"I think we have controlled Al Qaeda," the 700 Club host said, but warned of "erosion at home" and said judges were creating a "tyranny of oligarchy."

Confronted by Stephanopoulos on his claims that an out-of-control liberal judiciary is the worst threat America has faced in 400 years - worse than Nazi Germany, Japan and the Civil War - Robertson didn't back down.

"Yes, I really believe that," he said. "I think they are destroying the fabric that holds our nation together."

This has led to some strong criticism, as the "Moderate" Voice responds:

This kind of verbal stops political debate — cold. So Robertson now says our judges are in some ways worse than terrorists. Why? Because they don't rule the way HE wants. And Republicans (rightfully) complained about some of the verbal excesses of Michael Moore?

If you've seen me respond to some of his comments on Booker Rising, you know I don't think much of Gandleman to begin with, nor of most of the bloggers that call themselves "moderates" (I'd rather call them fenceriders or lukewarmers).  I have a hard time taking people seriously who's solution to everything is the middle of the road, or whatever sounds like a good idea at the time.

But what's wrong with Robertson's comments?  Absolutely nothing.  While the terrorist reference is admittedly over-the-top, the fact remains that Robertson isn't saying anything that hasn't been said since the founding of this country:

Thomas Jefferson:

The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.

James Madison:

I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the judicial. But I beg to know upon what principle it can be contended that any one department draws from the Constitution greater powers than another in marking out the limits of the powers of the several departments.

George Mason:

"When we consider the nature of these (Federal) courts, we must conclude that their effect and operation will be utterly to destroy the State governments; for they will be the judges how far their laws will operate .... The principle itself goes to the destruction of the legislation of the States, whether or not it was intended .... I think it will destroy the State governments .... Ther are many gentlemen in the United States who think it right that we should have one great, national, consolidated government, and that it was better to bring it about slowly and imperceptibly rather than all at once .... To those who think that one national consolidated government is best for America, this extensive judicial authority will be agreeable."

Abraham Lincoln:

"The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

Alexander Hamilton:

For I agree, that there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and judicial powers.

So Robertson's comments aren't new, at least to people with a modicum of American history.  Sure, Robertson is looking out for his own viewpoint of constitutional interpretation in relation to Christianity.  But that doesn't mean you ignore the central premise of his argument, which is that we live under a judiciary run amok, that has given themselves powers that weren't handed to them by the Constitutional Convention or any constitutional amendment.  And this was predicted by several of the framers as well as early public figures and former presidents.

If that's something that the fenceriders can't handle, then that's fine by me.  America will be a better place without ticks clinging on to men and women of principle.

(Photo:  Yahoo's The Contender Page)

Alfonso Manfredo won last week's fight over an overmatched Ahmed Khaddour.  Alfonso was much more bruised this time than he was in his first fight with Peter, but won by a unaminous decision.  Back at the training house the boys talked about how dangerous Alfonso was, but they gave him kudos for being all heart.

There were four boxers left to go in the quarterfinals, and they once again tried to pre-pick fights, which has failed, what, three times already?  At the heart of the matter was Anthony, who had a torn hamstring (most thought it was just pulled, but a doctor announced it being torn later on).  They decided Joey would face Peter this week and Jesse would face Anthony next week.  However, none of them trusted Anthony to keep his word to fight Jesse if he won the mission this week due to the Brent Cooper incident a few episodes back.

They didn't realize Joey was scheming as well.  Anthony was injured, and would be a much better matchup for him than the other three fighters.  The object of the game is to win, and the best way to win is to choose your opponents carefully when given the chance.  However, Joey screwed up by telling Jesse his plan.  Jesse felt Joey was trying to get an easy fight.  However, wasn't Jesse more than willing to get that same injured fighter?  Jesse realized that Joey couldn't win the mission this week, or Joey would choose Anthony to fight this week.

Later, Stallone gave Alfonso the IV pendant, which is given to each semifinalist.  Jackie, who is a long-time boxing publicist and manager, allowed Alfonso to take someone with him for the reward.  Since Sergio took Alfonso with him last week for his reward, Alfonso would pay back the favor.  They accompanied Jackie on a clothes shopping spree on Rodeo Drive.  Blah.  Seems to me they're starting to run out of rewards choices, as they've already done one before.  I felt it was a waste of money anyways.  Had it be me, I'd have probably asked her could the money we were going to spend home.  I could have paid bills with it.

It was challenge time, this week they had a speedbag race...sorta.  The guys had to lay on the ground facing away from the speedbags which were probably, say, 100 yards away.  In front of each speedbag was a sign with a specific color and number.  Sugar Ray would either tell them a number or a color, and they had to get up and run to it and grab the speedbag.

There were only five guys that were in this challenge, since Anthony was injured and forfeited.  The first part of the competition had the five guys simply trying to run and grab a speedbag.  There were four speedbags, so the odd man out had to challenge another guy in a speedbag race.  The loser of that race was eliminated.

Sergio lost the first race and challenged Alfonso, who was eliminated first.  Sergio lost the group race again, and challenged Peter.  Peter misunderstood Sugar Ray's command, which gave Sergio the easy victory.  Sergio lost the group race AGAIN, challenged Joey, but was eliminated.  That meant Joey and Jesse remained, and they went two out of three.  Jesse won the first race, Joey won the second, but Jesse pulled out the third to win the mission and became the matchmaker.

When they got back to the gym, Jesse decided the fight.  He said he would have fought next, but he had a hamstring pull.  Thus, he picked Joey and Peter to fight.

So it was Peter Manfredo Jr. vs. Joey Gilbert.  Once again experience was a factor, as Peter had lost only one in 23 fights (Alfonso was his first loss).  Joey had only fought nine fights.  The one thing Joey had going for him was his strength and heart.  Joey understood what he was getting into, as Peter would no doubt be the toughest fight he has had up to date.  He also rationalized that Jesse's choice might be a blessing in disguise, as fighting Peter would make him tougher.  Peter simply saw this as another fight, and the win a few weeks back over Miguel allowed him to regain his confidence.

In the first round, Peter simply had the sharper punches and was able to make things happen by using his jab and unloading some good counterpunches.  Joey came in very flustered.  His punches were very wide, he wasn't guarding very well, and he left himself open to some strong shots by Peter.  Joey's probably the best athlete in the competition, and he has a long reach, so he should have tried to use the jab to pin Peter on the ropes.  The crowd grimmaced with almost every shot Peter threw, and he hurt Joey with a few of them.  Peter won the round easily.

Before the second round, Joey told his corner Peter broke one of his ribs.  Ouch.  I'm not sure, but once he stood up you could see a part of his rib cage poking out.  I don't know if that was the one that was broke or if that was just cartilage, because Joey's a pretty slim guy.  However, you could tell it was bothering him, as Peter pretty much did anything he wanted in there.  Joey really didn't put up any resistance on defense nor did he do any kind of damage on offense.  He was never in danger of being knocked out, but it was a lopsided round. 
Now here's the problem with edited rounds:  Tommy said he felt Joey won Round two, but there was nothing in the edited footage that would have pointed to that.  As long as Tommy's been in the boxing business I'm sure he knows what he's talking about.  At the very least, it was probably closer than the footage suggests.

In round three, Peter comes out with some pretty good shots.  He looks a little more careful now.  And then something went off in Joey's head.  He caught Peter with a good shot right on the ear, and then he goes after him.  Finally he's using his athletic abilities to rough Peter up and comes back with punch after punch, hurting Peter with every shot.  It should be noted that Peter did a fairly decent job of guarding under the circumstances, but Joey definitely won round three.

Round four saw much of the same.  Peter simply couldn't go toe-to-toe with Joey.  Peter should also be criticized with worrying too much about head shots, which is normal in boxing, and not going to the body.  He might have been surprised if he got him with some really good hooks to the body.  But Joey continues to lunge at Peter, and although Peter displays some knowledge of defense, there's only so much you can do when facing shots like that.  Joey wins that round.

Round five started exactly like you thought it would: both guys coming out and throwing everything they had at each other.  Peter is an excellent counterpuncher.  He knows when his opponent is vulnerable from the missed shot and he takes advantage.  He hit Joey with some great shots, reminiscent of the first round.  But Joey wisely uses his strength advantage to pin Peter against the ropes and tries to unload on him.  You would have thought his corner would have told him to move around more and stop getting caught on the ropes against a stronger opponent.

And that's when it happened; an accidental headbutt gives Joey a huge cut over his eye.  Many thought it was a punch, but that was WAY too deep to be from one or even a coupleof punches.  The blood flowed quickly, and soon the ref called the cutman over to check it out.  There was no way the fight could continue, so under California rules if the fight is stopped by a cut it goes to the scorecards.

In a split decision, Peter won.  I kind of question that, as I thought it should have been a draw, and if you place Tommy's view into it, Joey won the fight.  But I wasn't angered by the decision for a couple of reasons:  1.)  Joey fought weak in the first and second round.  2,)  There was no way Joey was going to fight again anyway.  He had a busted rib and a deep cut over his eye.  There had already been too many replacements on the show at that point anyway.

For all of the talk about Joey being a manipulator and an opportunist, the fact remains that he had the two best fights on the show; both showing how much heart he has.  In this fight, he had a broken rib.  In his earlier fight, he had an injured leg, and he had opponents both times that were more experienced than him.  Kudos to Stallone and the gang, because they really had an asset in Joey Gilbert.

Afterwards, Joey could hardly see, and he was in a lot of pain from the beating he took by Peter.  They called the EMT's to take him to the nearest hospital.  They were going to place him on a gurney, but he wanted to walk out on his own, which he did with his dad.

Next week is Anthony vs. Jesse.  Anthony has the only knockout of the show, and both are injured.  Will we see another short fight?  Possibly.  See ya next week.

So many things to talk about, I thought I'd just put them in one post:

   - First and foremost, all condolences to the family of wrestler Chris Candido.  Formerly "Skip" of the BodyDonnas, Candido at one time was one of the best mat wrestlers in the world.  He was a natural in the ring, and it was good that he got rid of some of the demons that had been plaguing him before he died.

Candido died Thursday of a freak condition; a blood clot after having surgery on his leg which had been broken in a match last Sunday.  Even after he broke it he showed up at TNA Impact in a wheelchair, which shows how much he loved just being around the guys even when he couldn't work.  I hope Sonny Siaki isn't taking this too hard (he came down wrong on Candido's leg, which caused the break), and he's able to continue his career as well.

   - In boxing last night, James Toney captured one of the alphabet heavyweight titles with a unaminous decision over John Ruiz.  Toney is not only the fourth oldest person to ever win a heavyweight title, but the third to win it after winning the middleweight title.  He won that title 14 years and 73 pounds ago.

I would say he's one of the flabbiest champions ever, but I'm sure someone can find one that was in worse shape than he was.  Nevertheless, James Toney is 36 years old, overweight (he weighed in at 233; he probably weighed more when he actually got into the ring), and he is a smoker.  Not only did he outpoint a "heavyweight champion" (Ruiz has always been a joke), but he won the last six rounds of the fight.

Makes you feel good about the future of the sport, doesn't it?  And people call MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters barbaric and undisciplined?  Not even in the early 1980's did it ever get this bad.

   - In the first episode of the Eagles soap opera, we found out T.O. didn't show up for mini-camp, which means he's officially holding out for another contract.  Donovan also took the time to check T.O. for some comments he made about him a few weeks back.

Well, T.O. got slapped in the mouth again, this time by the Eagles front office.  They said he is in breech of contract for not showing up to minicamp, which means he could forfeit $1.8 million of his signing bonus.

Ha.  If T.O. keeps on, he'll be lucky to get a new pair of cleats.  Although the Eagles haven't decided if they are going to collect or not, the longer he holds out, the more likely he'll have to come out of pocket.  Talk about irony.

- Also in this episode, Andy Reid told the press that he told Mitchell not to show up.  I don't think we need any more of a guarantee that he will be waived or part of a trade deal.

- I'm sure none of you pay attention to college baseball, and well...I can't blame ya.  Hell; it's hard enough to stay interested in Major League Baseball.

However, here's something that might get your attention.  Here's what Oklahoma baseball coach, Larry Cochell, said as a compliment about one of his players to ESPN off camera on Tuesday:



How nice.  I'm sure Dunigan felt great after hearing those comments.

As for Oklahoma officials?  They didn't suspend him, but he isn't in the dugout and has been replaced by one of the coaches.  Oklahoma is conducting their own investigation into what happened, although the coach admitted to the comments and apologized.

It reminds me of the Robert Byrd incident on Fox News a few years back.  I was actually watching that live at the time that went down.  I wonder if Cochell will get off the hook like Byrd did?  Cochell better hope he's a registered Democrat; he'll be fine then.

   - In MLB, suspensions have been levied against players as well as the managers of both the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the defending world champion Boston Red Sox.

I support the decision, particularly when a manager orders a pitcher or a pitcher takes it upon himself to throw a beanball in retaliation.  Yeah; it's an old unwritten rule, but it's a stupid rule.  Baseball should fine and suspend any pitcher that throws one.

   - Speaking of suspensions, Bud Selig went to his own nuclear option after criticism of his new steroid policy.  Implementing a "three strikes and you're out" rule, the first offense is 50 games, the second offense is 100 games, and the third bans you from the league completely.

I'm not sure about this.  I understand MLB wants to show they will be tough after being trashed Congress and later the sports media during the steroid hearings, but going from one extreme to another isn't going to help. 

It all depends on what level of testocerone will the drug test detect?  If it's a sensitive test that can trace a change from over-the-counter drugs, then I think it's too heavy handed.  But if it's like the NFL policy, where you have to look like Captain Caveman (you had to have six times the normal level to be caught) in order for it to catch you, then I might be inclined to agree.

That's all I have.  Watch Miami/New Jersey today on ABC.  I will.  I think Miami will close this one out.

More news out of Georgia this morning, as Gwinnett investigators released a tape of a subdued inmate, Frederick Williams, being tasered in the chest five times at a county jail outside of Atlanta last year.

Williams had been arrested on domestic violence charges, as his wife said he didn't take his medicine for epilpsy and had gotten violent.  They took him to Gwinnett County Jail with shackles on his feet and handcuffed.  At the beginning of the video, you can hear him yelling, "Don't kill me man!" as he was being led into what would be the last room he'd live in.  Once he was there, eleven officers tried to force Williams into a restraining chair.  When he resisted, he was tasered in the chest not once, but five times.  In between taser shots, you can hear the officer say, "You want it again?"  After the fifth shock, Williams fell unconscious and eventually died.

Take a look at the video, courtesy of 11 Alive News in Atlanta.

I don't have a problem with the use of the taser, in and of itself.  But when you have eleven cops in a room restraining one man, yet they still feel the need to taser a man that's already overpowered, I have a serious problem with that.  Tasers and other devices are to be used when the officers are undermanned, and having trouble subduing the assailant.  Show me eleven cops that can't restrain one man, and I'll show you eleven cops that should be fired, because they can't do their job effectively.

In spite of this, a Gwinnett County grand jury declined to press charges (they never looked at the video), the sheriff's department stated the officers acted appropriately and a police investigation cleared them of criminal wrongdoing.  I find this very hard to believe.  If this isn't considered excessive force, then what would?  41 shots?

(via Wizbang's Kevin Aylward)

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UPDATE:  A former friend of the family and lawyer Melvin Johnson gives a full account of the events of that night on Wizbang's comments section:

(5) At the jail, while still hog-tied and securely bound, Mr. Williams is tasered at least 5 times according to the autopsy reports. I say at least 5 time because not every taser attack results in an identifiable burn mark. There are mounted cameras at the jail and an officer reportedly had a hand held camcorded to record the entire ordeal. Of course, at this point, Gwinnett has refused to provide either of these recordings. Gwinnett County justifies the tasering under these conditions because according to another written report by a senior officer at the jail, Mr. Williams was reportedly thrashing and jerking his body upon arrival at the jail. Nowhere in this second report does the senior officer indicate that Mr. Williams attacks any of the officers, throws a punch, kick, bite, or anything; nonetheless, Gwinnett County officials, in the media, justifies the MURDER of this young father, husband, only child, deacon, friend, etc., because his apparent thrashing and jerking was "combative" while he is still hog-tied and securely bound. In fact, the senior officer records in his report that Mr. Williams is conscious at least for a moment, and utters his last and only words "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME." Upon arrival of Mr. Williams' body at the hospital, Doctors record that there were plastic instruments that were apparently used to hog-tied Mr. Williams at his house. Doctors' examinations revealed acute with suspicion of chronic renal failure, negligible brain activity, negligible pulse, and negligible blood pressure. His hands and feet were cold and capillary refill was poor. He had no eye movements, no muscular movements and his entire body was flaccid. His pupils were dilated 6 mm and fixed. Doctors' impression were that there was cardiac arrest, brain hemorrhage, pulmonary embolus and/or seizure. Mr. Williams reportedly lost all pulses at about 1948 hours. He had no gag response.

As you can tell by the numerial at the top of the quote, there is much more to this story, including what happened at the home, an alleged quote by one of the officers, and Williams's family telling both the dispatchers and the officers several times that Williams is a epilepsy patient.

There is a Yahoo group created by the Ed Kramer Legal Defense Fund, where they are collecting funds for a man who is in jail in Gwinnett County.  They are monitoring the Williams case as well.

The Georgia woman that had been missing since Tuesday and was supposed to be married today, Jennifer Wilbanks, showed up alive in New Mexico on Friday.

At first she told her family that she had been abducted, but after being questioned by the police, she recanted her story and admitted she got cold feet because of such a large wedding. According to the Associated Press, they had invited over 600 people to the wedding.

I think Neal Boortz and I will agree on this one.  Wilbanks should be forced to pay back the money and resources used to search for her.  The cold feet was her own problem, and she should have come forth and admitted this from the beginning.  Instead, she decided to start a nationwide manhunt and then lied about being kidnapped.

After the flap last month about the hiring of new agent Drew Rosenhaus, Terrell Owens denied he was trying to strongarm the Eagles.  Everyone called his bluff.

Well, today Owens no showed the Eagles minicamp.  I think this guarantees that Owens will hold out for more money.  The question is whether this will carry on until August training camp.  I believe the Eagles will end up adjusting Owen's contract and paying him more.

And note, he isn't the only one that didn't show up.  Running back Brian Westbrook is trying to get a long term deal, and after finding out the Eagles only offered him a one-year deal for only $1.43 million, I don't blame him.  That's a total insult considering that he was one of the key factors for the Eagles last season.  I'm not saying he should be paid like a franchise player, but he deserves more than that. 

Corey Simon is holding out too.  Out of all of them, Simon has the best chance of getting traded.

Lastly Freddie Mitchell, of ALL people, is a no-show.  I expect the waiver papers will be ready for him sometime next week.  It's one thing to be a pain in the behind during the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but then to complain about not having a bigger role in the offense?  You're done, dude.  This little squeezeplay you're trying to pull on the Eagles while T.O. is running game isn't going to work.

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UPDATE:  You may recall a few weeks ago, T.O. took a hidden jab obviously intended for Donovan McNabb:

"I played every snap they allowed me to play," Owens told ESPN.com. "I wasn't even running until, like, two weeks before the game. But I made sure I was in the best shape possible. I wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl."

At first, McNabb declined to comment on it.   Today was a different story:

"I don't play games in the media," McNabb said. "I'm not going to sit here and try to have a war of words. I'm a man at what I do. If there's a problem with anyone, and they feel the need to lash out, they know how to get in touch with me and we can handle it like men."

and this:

"If you say I was winded, if you say the (offensive) line was winded, if you say the defense was winded, that's fine," McNabb said. "But to be tired and dropping to a knee, that didn't happen."

Without mentioning Owens, McNabb had strong advice for his most loquacious teammate.

"Just keep my name out of your mouth," McNabb said. "Don't try to throw names or guys under the bus to better yourself. You never heard me say any names in any situation. You never heard me talk about any given players. I'm the guy to be professional and be a man about things."

McNabb said he hasn't spoken to Owens since hearing the inflammatory comments.

"If a comment was made about me, it would take that person to call me," he said. "I don't have to reach out to anyone."

Quite a few people, including myself, said Owens was a cancer to the Eagles, much like Bill Clinton has become one to the Democratic Party.  Sure, it seems benign, maybe even cute, but sooner or later it's going to grow, and it's going to harm more than it helps.  I never thought it would happen less than three months removed from the Super Bowl, though.

McNabb and Owens will kiss and make up, but only after the Eagles show T.O. the money.

Today Chinese President Hu Jintao and Taiwan's Opposition (Minority) Leader Lien Chan met in Beijing in order to discuss the long-standing Taiwan/China conflict.

I didn't think China would take over Taiwan until I read this tonight.  Despite the opposition of many Taiwanese, China will be there.  The question is will it happen with or without bloodshed.  Regardless of what Jintao and the Communists say, Taiwan is an independent country.  How long they will keep their independence is another story.

This isn't to reduce tension.  China is starting to get their ducks in a row in order to regain full control of the island.  If there are other minority party leaders, expect Jintao to meet with them as well, if he hasn't already.  If China does move on Taiwan, they'll make the excuse that the people wanted it, which will be an outright lie.

The only thing that has stopped China from doing so anytime during the last 50 years has been the United States.  If China calls our bluff, will we blink?  Considering our problems in the Middle East and with Chinese cooperation with North Korea, it's difficult to say we will risk world war by standing with Taiwan.  China is the last major communist stronghold, and more than likely it will be the last one.  Is a conflict worth risking in this day and age?

When I first woke up to the radio reports of the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center on September 11th, my first guess at the culprits wasn't Islamic terrorists.  It was the Chinese Government.  As the Chinese government continues to move forward with its plans to take control of Taiwan, will I be correct the next time America is attacked?

I think any hope of a privatized Social Security plan is pretty much DOA.

Bush completely screwed up with the idea that Social Security reform should be means tested, and I wouldn't blame conservatives from both the House and the Senate to kill the plan.  This isn't about a plan that seems bipartisan; it's about coming up with a plan that works.  And I am tired of politicans half-stepping on initiatives that would provide a real solution, rather than a problem that resurfaces every 20 years or so.

There wasn't a viable solution in anything Bush touched on tonight.  People criticize Bush on not having more press conferences, but I say he should have even less if they're going to be that boring and ordinary.  I found myself flipping between Smackdown and the Heat/Nets game more than I did the press conference.  This was a complete waste of time.

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UPDATE:  Drudge is reporting that CBS, Fox, and NBC dropped coverage at 9:00, leaving Bush at mid-sentence for their network programming.  CBS had Survivor (they moved it to 9, and put CSI on at 10), Fox had The Simple Life, and NBC had The Apprentice.  I was watching CNN (Forgive me; I don't have Fox) so I wasn't aware of it.

That doesn't surprise me.  I think the networks said "screw you" to politics and important events in place of ratings long ago.  I don't watch any of those shows, and I think they're all stupid.  But, sluts in reality shows trump the president every time.

In sports, we got the Heat/Nets game that's on TNT right now.  NBATV has Boston/Indiana, which is turning out to be a great series, at 8:30.  At the conclusion of Heat/Nets, TNT has Dallas/Houston with the tipoff at 10:00.  On top of that,  I watch WWE Smackdown (Don't give me any lip about pro wrestling.  I've loved it since I was little.).

I decided to check out the WSJ's OpinionJournal website, since blog-worthy news is quite slow today, and ran up on a piece by Jill Stewart featuring Ted Hayes, a social activist who's a member of the Republican Party in Los Angeles.  According to Stewart, Hayes is well known within the inner city, and is helping to clean up the streets and provide an alternative to gang life and drugs.

Usually Ambra is better at featuring people than I am, so I'll just let you read the column about some of the things Hayes has done for Los Angeles.  However,  I will say if inroads are to be made within the black community as well as the electorate that tends to vote leftward, conservatives should look for people who actually look like everyday people. 

That's not to shrug off the Ivy League scholars and the silver spooners, but the main reason why so many blacks cast their votes for the Left - whether it's Green or Democrat - is due to the fact that they know other blacks who vote the same way.  Say what you want about Cynthia McKinney or Barbara Lee (and there's plenty to say), but they do come across as more in-tuned to the voices of black people.

I really don't think conservatives realize that they are often considered out of touch and elitist.  It's ironic because I'm reading South Park Conservatives by City Journal editor Brian Anderson, and he mentions how Fox News journalists and anchors don't come off as elitist.  That may be true to a considerable amount of the population, but sometimes they don't realize that they look like a clique themselves.

I'm reminded of this quote:

Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.”  - Eric Hoffer

It's a regular thing for high-profile conservatives to deride the "mainstream" media, although oftentimes they have more readers and viewers than the people they criticize.  They might not see this as being "mainstream", but others do.  I guarantee you people see Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and others not only as "mainstream", but elitist.

Ted Hayes and others give credit to conservatives being people of all fabrics and all colors.  Those are the people we truly need if conservative principles are to survive this century.