American Glob

Ken Mehlman, the campaign manager for George W. Bush in 2004 and former chair of the RNC has come out as gay. You know what? Good for him…

Ken Mehlman, President Bush’s campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay.

Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter’s questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would arise about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California’s ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.

“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” said Mehlman, now an executive vice-president with the New York City-based private equity firm, KKR. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”

Maybe he was listening to what Paul Ryan said about the future of the Republican party in April of 2009…

Ryan is promoting, not bending, conservative principles to expand the party.

“If you believe in freedom, liberty, self-determination, free enterprise, I don’t care if you’re a Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, gay, straight, Latino, black, white, Irish, whatever. Join us.”

I’ve been saying since July of 2009 that the Republican Party was going more Libertarian and that it was a good thing. I stand by my prediction.

UPDATE: According to Allahpundit of Hot Air, this is old news. Who knew? Not me, apparently.

Read a lot more on this at Memeorandum.

Yesterday, Weekly Standard Editor Fred Barnes, wrote in the Washington Examiner:

For Republicans, the road map authored by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is the most important proposal in domestic policy since Ronald Reagan embraced supply-side economics in the 1980 presidential campaign. It’s not only the freshest, boldest, and most comprehensive Republican thinking, it’s also the most relevant. If Republicans adopt the road map as their basic ideological blueprint, it offers them the prospect of a landslide in the midterm election this year, followed by victory in the presidential election in 2012.

A little over a year ago, the Heritage Foundation urged the very same thing…

He’s young, charismatic and conservative.

The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank in Washington, has anointed this rising GOP star “the leader of the future of the conservative movement.”

No, it’s not Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The man supposedly tasked with carrying the hopes and ambitions of an entire political party is Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

At 39, Ryan has become the go-to-guy on policy. SNIP

Ryan is promoting, not bending, conservative principles to expand the party.

“If you believe in freedom, liberty, self-determination, free enterprise, I don’t care if you’re a Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, gay, straight, Latino, black, white, Irish, whatever. Join us.”

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin delivers the GOP weekly address.

I think this falls into the category of what Glenn Beck calls “common sense porn.”

HT to Smitty at The Other McCain who adds “cuts are fine, but we need to amputate the system that buries liberty in reams of legislation to support un-Federal tasking.”

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that many Americans share Rep. Paul Ryan’s fear.

No matter how many times President Obama says Americans should be “thanking him” and no matter how many times Bill Maher implies the American people are too stupid to realize that Obama has cut taxes, they can’t escape the facts.

Rep. Paul Ryan is pretty damn good with numbers…

The document Paul Ryan referred to in the video can be accessed by clicking the image below…

An excellent question which IBD answers in their own column. The media can’t ask that question because they’re all too busy praising Obama for his brilliant, incredible performance made of awesomeness.

Many viewers were wowed by the president’s performance at the health care summit, his command of facts and ability to rebut every point the Republicans made. We must have been watching another channel.

‘Obama dominates the room at health care summit” was the headline on a Reuters dispatch that found the president “always in command not only of the room but also the most intricate policy details, as he personally rebutted every point he disagreed with.”

In a Washington Post column titled “Professor Obama schools lawmakers on health care reform,” Dana Milbank marveled at how the president “controlled the microphone and the clock, (using) both skillfully to limit the Republicans’ time, to rebut their arguments and to always have the last word.”

Milbank went on to tell how Sen. John McCain got his “knuckles rapped” by the learned professor, how Sen. Mitch McConnell was made to “look small in his chair” and how various other Republican low-achievers felt the sting of Obama’s “big rhetorical paddle.”

But neither Reuters nor Milbank — nor many others, it seems — noticed Obama’s conspicuous non-rebuttal to Rep. Paul Ryan.

Ryan was the GOP superstar of the Health Summit. You can confirm it for yourself by watching this video:

My guess is that Obama didn’t respond to Paul Ryan because he can’t. To respond to Paul Ryan is to admit that everything he said in the video above is true. ObamaCare is an insane plan which sucks and the majority of the American people don’t want.

Facts like that don’t fit the narrative or help Obama in any way. Why would he respond?

Is this six minute segment featuring Rep. Paul Ryan who fillets the Democrats’ health bill numbers effortlessly while all Obama & co. can do is sit there and listen.

Robert Stacy McCain, with whom I enjoy a blogger friendship, is on his way to Orlando, Florida to cover the arrival of the Tea Party Express on Thursday. I caught up with him on his cell phone tonight as he was driving through the lower Appalachian Mountains.

No major scoops but I asked Stacy if he minded me putting up a blog post about our conversation. He didn’t mind at all so I’m happy to share the yadda-yadda-yadda with you.

A portion of our chit chat was about the relationship between Libertarians and Republicans. I think we pretty much agreed that the GOP would be wise to welcome Libertarian minded Republicans to the tent. As a result, Eric Dondero came up in conversation and Stacy encouraged me to send Dondero a big shout out. Mr. Dondero, consider yourself shouted.

The focus of all this Libertarian Republican talk was really an offshoot of a bigger issue – the building of a coalition to oppose Pelosi & Obama’s agenda and this has entirely to do with the conservative grassroots. The point? No more infighting. The grassroots tent has to include social conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, Tea Partiers, and other Americans of all backgrounds.

As Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said in April 2009, “If you believe in freedom, liberty, self-determination, free enterprise, I don’t care if you’re a Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, gay, straight, Latino, black, white, Irish, whatever. Join us.”

If together, we can stop ObamaCare, Cap & Trade and Card Check, American politics will be “a whole new ball game” to use Stacy’s words. I concur.

The libertarians need to stop bashing the neocons, the neocons need to stop trashing the Paulistas, the beltway pros need to stop trashing the grassroots and on and on…

Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, says he wants to build a big tent. Let’s give it to him.

We can start by working together. Let’s settle the small stuff after the 2010 elections.

Free college for everyone might not be the brightest idea…