Rush Limbaugh and the conservative movement

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The 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) produced a message of inclusion - of angry people. Rush Limbaugh was placed in the vaunted position of keynote speaker, which is a good indication of just where the GOP stands within the political arena. Polarized. Focused. Frustrated. Angry. Looking toward a self-aggrandizing reactionary pontificant to lead the way.
Rush Limbaugh told the choir, which was full of those there to hear the preacher, exactly what they wanted to hear. Liberals are bad. They are subverting the country from within. Obama is attempting to destroy the country that it took generations to build.Limbaugh makes it sound like Democrats (synonymous with "liberal") are the most vile people in the world. Actually, they're not, he is quick to disclaim. Their intentions are good, but... But it is part of the master plan. Because conservatives need direction to take the country back.
So, after telling everybody a joke about god thinking he was Rush Limbaugh to show how non-pompous he is, seconds later Limbaugh says, "Everybody asks me, what are we going to do?"
Limbaugh does look a little like Buddha. But, then, Buddha wasn't a god. Or so angry all the time... But the party faithful enjoyed it, giving Rush Limbaugh one standing ovation after another.
Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota, talked about the new GOP. It has become a common theme among the more progressive Republicans: The Republican Party needs new blood. There is talk of inclusion and diversity in the party that is made up primarily of white people. But in the straw poll taken at the Conference, Bobby Jindal is the lone face of diversity among the likely contenders for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Sarah Palin is the only woman. Democrats and Independents, political commentators and pundits call the GOP the 'party of old white men' or 'the party of tokens.' It isn't difficult to see why.

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Mike Huckabee finished sixth in the straw poll (7%). Newt Gingrich came in fifth (10%). Ron Paul finished third, tied with Sarah Palin (13%). Bobby Jindal edged them out for second (14%), even after that horrible speech on Tuesday evening. Mitt Romney finished on top (20%).
The CPAC straw poll showed a big difference in the choice among the hardcore faithful (the CPAC members) and regular Republican voters. CNN revealed that Sarah Palin won in a national poll among potential Republican voters in 2012, polling 29%, with Mike Huckabee polling a close 26%. Bobby Jindal polled a low 9% (and the poll was taken before the Republican Response speech)..

Michael Steele, who was just recently elected to the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, is the first black man to ever hold the position. Some point to it as a sign of the changing face of the Republican Party. Others point to it as a political maneuver to counter the black man that occupies the White House.
At this year's Republican National Convention, there were only 36 black delegates in attendance, down from a record number in attendance in 2004 (167).
In his CPAC speech, Rush Limbaugh said he didn't see black people, women, or Hispanics. The sad thing is, given the make-up of the Republican Party, it may have been the most factual thing he said in the entire hour-and-a-half that he spoke.
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Barack Obama and Bobby Jindal

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Barack Obama has spoken in prime time before, but not in a State of the Union-esq setting in front of Congress. With the stimulus package still under immense scrutiny, and the economic news still unsettling, Obama's speech to Congress was under a big radar. Under just as much attention was the reaction speech on behalf of Republicans by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has become the leading voice against the stimulus. Obama's speech to Congress, and Jindal's response, both delivered what their base likely expected.

 

President Obama has had to stand up and applaud every few seconds in the last few State of the Union addresses by President Bush. Last night, Obama was on the other end of the endless Congressional applause, getting 61 brief standing ovations in his speech to Congress.

For weeks, Obama offered downbeat messages about the economy, betraying the "Yes we can" type of speeches that got him the Presidency. Last night, his speech to Congress returned Obama to his optimistic, campaign form. Urging that America would recover, while also urging that the recovery would take time, Obama blended his pre and post-campaign speech tones into one whole.

 

For all of the economic worry and the slowness of recovery, Obama has still largely remained above criticism thus far. The speech to Congress continued that trend, as between 68-80% were very positive on the speech in polls from CNN and CBS.

 

The harder sell had to come from Bobby Jindal, as he leads the Republican opposition against Obama and the stimulus. Chosen to give the opposition speech at the end of the night, Jindal had the difficult task of trying to promise to work with Obama, while opposing everything from massive government spending to tax hikes.

 

Naturally, while Obama received raves, Jindal was panned by the likes of Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow and the Politico website. Kate Couric called the debate an example of the "ideological fault line" between Democrats and Republicans, which is likely reflected on the party-line reactions to both speeches. Obama shored up his base by going back to vast, idealistic promises for the future, despite warning of bleak times ahead. Jindal shored up his base by promoting traditional Republican policies as a way to counter the Democrat's proposals.

 

Since the stimulus has already been signed into law, the effects of it are going to take a long time to judge. Until then, there seems to be little to do but for the likes of Obama and Jindal to keep debating on it in respective speeches, unless any new economic ideas come along.

Solar

If you think solar power relies on rooftop panels alone, think again: a whole new crop of innovative gadgets promises to deliver sun-generated energy in all sorts of ways ... even in the dark. Following are seven potential sources for next-generation solar power: Hot roads and parking lots. All those roadways and parking lots shimmering with heat on sunny days could do more than turn your car into a sauna, according to researchers at the Massachusetts-based Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Areas paved with asphalt could heat up water in buried  pipes, providing a ready source of power across the landscape, researchers say. The hot water could be used to heat buildings or could be run through a thermoelectric generator to produce electricity. Such systems could even offer a few advantages over traditional rooftop arrays, the researchers say. One, the pipes would be under roads or parking lots, so they'd be invisible to the public. Two, they'd reduce the "heat island" effect that can make paved urban areas so uncomfortable on hot summer days. And three, they could continue generating energy even after sunset, thanks to asphalt's heat-absorbing powers. Our preliminary results provide a promising proof of concept for what could be a very important future source of renewable, pollution-free energy for our nation," said Rajib Mallick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. "And it has been there all along, right under our feet. Infrared-gathering nanoantennas. Researchers are eyeing plastic sheets embedded with billions of super-microscopic "nanoantennas" as a way to harness the power of the sun and more. The nanoantennas collect infrared radiation -- better known to us as heat -- rather than visible sunlight, which means they could generate energy around the clock, sopping up both ambient heat and waste heat from buildings and electronic devices. The concept is still a long way from becoming a mass-market reality, but it's an idea with huge potential. Every process in our industrial world creates waste heat," said Steven Novack, a physicist with the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory. And right now, he added, "It's energy that we just throw away. Water-powered dryers. Among the innovations being tested by students and faculty at the University of Cinncinati's (UC) solar house is a solar-heated dryer closet. Clothes hung in the enclosed closet are dried by hot air rising from pipes at the bottom, which carry water heated by the sun. Even more promising: an adaptor that could enable homeowners to use the heat from water to power a conventional clothes dryer. Use of this adapter would represent a significant cost and energy savings annually and over the life of the dryer," said Anton Harfmann, an associate dean at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. ;One day, we'd love it if conventional dryers could be sold with our idea as a simple modification Solar-powered bicycle kiosks.Freewheelin, a new national bike-sharing program, lets users check out free bicycles using solar-powered kiosks. The program, developed by Humana Inc. and the cycling group Bikes Belong, is getting a major debut at this summer's Democratic and Republican national conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Light-generating tree "leaves." What a neat concept is this: lighting nighttime pathways with solar-powered, leaf-shaped lights wound around street-side tree branches? Created by South Korean designer Jongoh Lee, the "Invisible Streetlights" are actually solar-powered LED lamps shaped like leaves and easily attached to trees in any quantity.
Solar-charged fuel cells. Tapping the sun's power today carries several disadvantages: you can't do it in the dark, and it's hard (and expensive) to efficiently store solar-generated energy for use when the sun isn't shining. But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe they might have found a solution to those drawbacks. Building on the concept of photosynthesis that plants use to tap the sun's power, MIT researchers have developed a way to use solar energy to split water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen. When those two gases are recombined in a fuel cell, they release energy that can be used to generate clean electricity, day or night. This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT researcher Daniel Nocera. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon. Window power. Rather than relying on large and very noticeable solar panels on their roofs, homeowners could one day invisibly tap the sun's power through their windows. Another development by researchers at MIT, window-based solar power would use dye-based solar concentrators on the glass to focus the sun's energy onto photovoltaic cells at the window's edges. Better still, researchers say, the system is simple enough that it could become widely manufactured and available within three years or so.
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