Outrageous Photo

I was searching the internet this morning, and I found this very disturbing image.

This a mannequin of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hanging from the noose of a rope.  This is outrageous.  Have we sunk so low in our society that this is how we voice our disagreement with candidates?

You see if this was a mannequin of Obama everyone would be crying racism and would be right in doing so.  Where are the such cries from the left in this case.  I checked the mainstream news organizations, no mention of it on MSNBC, no mention of it on CNN.  Do you really think the mainstream networks would ignore this, had the picture been of Barack Obama.  I have been critical on both sides, criticizing this kind of conduct.

Here is my point, this should not be tolerated on either side of the political spectrum.  This does nothing to promote civil discourse in this country.  I challenge any person on the left, defend this reprehensible conduct.  Maybe we can see some intellectual honesty here.

Obama Campaign Cuts Off Florida Station

I have commented numerous times about the media bias that has penetrated the main stream media, and the lack of hard questions to the Obama campaign. Well we might have some insight as to why that is going on.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Obama campaign has cut off access to the campaign for WFTV, because of what the campaign perceives as unfair treatment to Sen. Biden.

Here is the video of the interview:

The Orlando Sentinel quotes the Obama campaign:

“This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,” wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was “a result of her husband’s experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West.”

Apparently, if you ask tough questions of the campaign you receive political retribution in the form of being cut off. This is what the framers of the Constitution were trying to prevent when they provided for an independent press.

If Obama wins election in 9 days, will they keep the media from asking tough questions by only saying they will interview if you ask softball questions? By the way, these are the same candidates that claim Sarah Palin should answer tough questions from a press that by and large hates her and will stop at nothing to try to destroy her. I guess tough questions are only for Republicans and not Democrats.

KY3: Worst Coverage of the Palin Rally

After yesterday’s Palin event in Springfield was such an overwhelming event, I thought I would grade the local media on their coverage.  No media outlet will be spared the grades of The Albers Report.  So lets get right to it, shall we.

KY3

I was most disappointed with KY3′s coverage of the event.  Right or wrong KY3 has developed a reputation for being the leader in local political coverage.  They are the only television station in the Ozarks that their political reporter has his own blog, The KY3 Political Notebook.  In fact, they have been airing ads on their station, saying they are the place to go for political coverage.

My criticism extends on two fronts.  The first being they did not air the speech live.  When you try to establish yourself as the best in political coverage, you have a responsibility to live up to that standard.  They failed miserably to do that.  In fact, while all other local stations devoted an entire report to just the Palin rally and nothing else.  David Catanese, decided to include also Claire McCaskill in the report, challenging what Gov. Palin said at the rally. He stated that Palin was mocking tax credits, when what she was doing was drawing a distinction between tax credits and across the board tax cuts, which is what our economy needs.  When Sen. Biden came to Springfield the coverage was much different.

When Sen. Biden came to town Mr. Catanese did not seek out Republican elected officials to refute the claims Biden made.  Mr. Catanese did not post pictures of himself  in the middle of pictures of Biden like he did with the pictures he posted on his blog of the Sarah Palin rally.

It is clear  Mr. Catanese’s reporting is full of everything that I have complained about in the media.  Reporters that try to inject a personal political agenda instead of just sticking to the facts and letting the voters decide.

My second area of criticism with Mr. Catanese’s reporting stems from the fact that he is the only local member of the media that tried to underestimate the crowd size.  On his blog he said:

"Let’s be clear: We don’t know how many people attended the Palin rally, because we didn’t count. Nobody did as far as I can tell. But 20,000 — to us — seemed like a bit over the top. Where’d the cars park? Can 20,000 really even fit in that parking lot?"

"We guesstimated around 10 thousand, maybe 12 thousand. But twenty?"

Obviously, Mr. Catanese did not bother to look around, and noticed people parked as far as a mile away, and didn’t notice that people were not allowed into the designated rally area because it was too crowded.  He also does not notice the city Fire Marshall who said the crowd was at least 18,000.

My grade:  F

KSPR-33

One the whole KSPR, did a very good job covering the Palin event.  While they did not broadcast the event live on television, they were the only local television station to stream the event live on the internet.  They were also the first station to have video on their website.  You can find it here. 

On the whole, their coverage was good.  I will give them an A-, because I would have liked to see them air the speech live.

KOLR-10

I was  disappointed with KOLR 10′s coverage of the event.  While they did speak with some folks that were at the rally, they did not post video on their website with the full content of Palin’s speech.  I thought their coverage overall was fair.  They earn a C+.

KSGF

By far the best coverage of the Palin rally came through a radio station, KSGF.  They established themselves as the place to go for political news.  The not just aired the speech in its entirety, but also took listener calls after the event.  They also posted the audio in their podcast section.  You can find that at KSGF.

My grade: A+

All in all, most of the local media covered the Palin rally fair and equally, with the lone exception of KY3 news and David Catanese.

Gov. Palin Energizes the Ozarks!!

In case any one doubted it. the Ozarks are officially McCain/Palin country.  After a rally today left thousands and thousands of people energized and a new sense of optimism in the McCain campaign.

My wife and I attended the rally, and I was even amazed at the sheer number of people that were wanting to see Gov. Palin.  I left the event even more convinced McCain and Palin are the right choice for this country. 

As many people remember the rally was originally scheduled for McDonald arena, but had to be moved because the arena was just too small for Gov. Palin.  In fact, the parking lot of Bass Pro shops was a bigger venue, but still couldn’t keep up with the demand of people that wanted to see the Alaska Gov. speak.

My day started when we got in line at 7:00 this morning, and we were not alone.  One person told me they had camped out all night just to see Palin.  Several people told me they had traveled from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas to come to the rally. 

Once we got into the event, we were treated to some excellent music by Pierce Arrow.  They excited an already energized crowd waiting and looking to see when Gov. Palin would arrive. 

When the moment was right, and Naomi Judd introduced Gov. Palin and the crowd went into a frenzy.  The electricity from the crowd was more than enough to create warmth on an otherwise overcast and cool mid-day.  Gov. Palin’s remarks came while getting several applause lines.  Her theme centered around the overall themes of the campaign, and some of the longer applause’s came when she mentioned Obama’s infamous comment about how he wants to "share the wealth around."  She drew several distinctions in her speech between the McCain campaign and the Obama campaign, including how Obama would raise taxes, and McCain wants to promote a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda that includes across the board tax cuts. So everyone sees their taxes lowered.

Gov. Palin was truly Reaganesque in her delivery and proved to many people that she has true command of the issues, and knows what she is talking about.  More importantly however, is that she is genuine.  You really feel listening to her that she is just like you.  She   understands the struggles of families with special needs.  She took the time to make sure she was able to talk to a young child with a form of autism.  She understands the struggles of Joe the travel agent and all the Joe’s in this country.  She is a conservative’s conservative, and that is why I am so proud we have her on our ticket. 

Some folks have tried to say the crowd was less than 10,000.  The Missouri state fire Marshall  set the crowd of at least 18,000.  Keep in mind there were thousands more that were not able to get in because the event was filled to capacity.  While some like KY3′s David Catanese,  tried to say there were fewer at the event, those who were there know just how big the crowd was and how energized they were.  By the way, there was barely elbow room.  Well worth a three hour wait to get in.

The Albers Report: Presidential Endorsement

  As I look out towards the election, I really have to sit down and think about where I want the direction of the country to go.  Do I want a country that will honor its commitments around the world?  Do I want a country that will force retreat from the jaws of victory?  These are the serious questions we must answer.

On one hand, you have Barack Obama, who for better or worse would take this country down a road I don’t want to go.  You see he thinks it is patriotic to pay more taxes, so he can "spread the wealth around",  I don’t.  He thinks abortion is a woman’s right, I think it is murder.  He wants to wave the white flag of surrender, when it appears victory is within our grasp.

On the other hand, you have John McCain.  A man who would rather lose an election than lose a war.  A man who fought hard for the surge because he thought it was the right thing to do.  A man who put his political future in that one decision.  A man who also thinks that you pay too much in taxes, and wants you to pay less in taxes.  A man who thinks that government is not the answer to our problems, but that government is in many cases the problem.

You see to me the choice is clear, with the values that I hold, and the beliefs I hold, there is only man who should be President, and that is John McCain.  I urge you to vote for McCain/Palin on Nov. 4.

Gov. Palin Rally at Bass Pro Friday Update

As mentioned in earlier post Gov. Palin will be in the Ozarks Friday October 24.  The rally has been moved to the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops on Sunshine and Campbell.  Gates will still open at 9am and the event will take off at 11am. 

If you do not have a ticket you are still welcome at the event.  If you do have a ticket bring it with you to the rally because there is a VIP section for those with tickets. 

Intellectual Honesty From The Left?

As I watch this Presidential election unfold, I am beginning to wonder if partisans will ever be able to get away from hyperbole and become intellectually honest.

In a world of political rhetoric, what is intellectual honesty?  Intellectual honesty is decrying what is wrong when it happens on both sides of the aisle. 

Let me clear on something, the recent comments of some Republicans about who hates America and who doesn’t should not be in the political discourse.  I do not agree with those comments, but I do understand where it comes from.

You see, the comments have been wrongly worded, but there is some truth to what they are saying.  The liberal establishment would have you believe that everything in the world that is wrong is because of America.  There is a  blame America first atmosphere that has lead to these comments in my view.  Any time there is a crisis in the world, these liberal elitists seem to try to find someway to blame the U S first.  On the Republican side, there is a frustration with this, and it has boiled over and morphed into these comments about who hates America.  When in reality, they should be talking about the mind set of the liberal elites who believe America is at fault for everything in the world.

You see the liberals have been decrying these comments, but they show no intellectual honesty when it comes to their side.  They say now that Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama, he should prepare for the onslaught that will naturally come his way.  So when Rush Limbaugh says that the endorsement to some degree is about race, the mainstream media says he is insulting Powell. But, where is the outrage on the left, when Congressman Murtha calls his own constituents racist.  That’s right the very people that elect Congressman Murtha, he claims are racist.  Where are the cries and demand for public outrage when the McCain/Palin ticket are compared to Hitler and Nazi Germany on a prime time tv show.

You see the liberals have selective outrage.  That is when a Republican makes a comment that is seen as offensive to them.  In some cases, they may be right but they should demand better on both sides.  I guess that is just asking too much from the left, a little intellectual honesty would go a longs ways in this political climate.

Gov. Palin to visit the Ozarks

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Republican Vice-Presidential hopeful will make her first campaign stop in the Ozarks on Friday.  The event will occur Friday morning at 11:00.   The doors will open at 9:00, according to The KY3 Political Notebook. 

If you want to see the Governor, tickets are available at Greene County Republican headquarters or at the Christian County Republican headquarters.

Our Next Governor: Moving Forward, or Stepping Backwards?

As we prepare to elect our next Governor, I wanted to take some time and discuss the future of our state.  Any time you discuss the future, you have to look to the past as a point of reference.  Allow me to take you back 4 years ago and remind you where we were at.

First, you had leadership in the Governor’s office believing that the most important budget priority was ensuring anyone and everyone that wanted medical coverage could get it, paid for by the taxpayers.  You had a Governor that believed that he could withhold money from our schools.  We had lost the most jobs per capita of any state in the country.  We had a budget crisis, where the state could not meet its obligations.  We were bankrupt.

Then we elected Matt Blunt as our Governor.  As Governor, Matt Blunt had to make difficult decisions.  Decisions that were made necessary because repeated Democrat Administrations ran our finances into the ground.  First, was the controversial medicaid decisions.  Gov. Blunt believed that medicaid was broken and had to be fixed.   With this fix came the elimination of wasteful government spending in Jefferson City with programs that are designed to help those in need, going to the needy and not those who are able to help themselves.   He put in place income guidelines, that said if you want state assistance you have to demonstrate financial need, and eliminated fraud that was running wild throughout the system.  Most politicians, put off these kind of tough decisions, but not Gov. Blunt.  He met the challenges head on.  The changes had to be drastic, because we had a drastic problem.   He created an environment that allowed small business to create jobs.  He never withheld money from our schools, but he did increase the education budget every year of his term.  He turned a budget deficit and made a budget surplus.

Now, enter Jay Nixon and Kenny Hulshof.  Mr. Nixon believes that the state should pay for every child’s health care, through us the taxpayers.  Jay Nixon will make fiscal decisions that will bankrupt this state.  For example, he can’t even provide a clear estimate of what his health care plan will cost.  His economic plan is to reverse much of Gov. Blunt’s job creating proposals, and his policies as Governor would create a sudden stop to the job growth in Missouri.

Kenny Hulshof would continue policies of fiscal responsibility and work to ensure private market solutions to the challenges to our healthcare industries.  This means continuing helping those who do need assistance from our state but not turning our state programs into a disaster.  Hulshof understands the best way to spur economic development is to get government out of the way.  Hulshof will strengthen our state by looking forward and investing in our best asset, our people.

Now, we have a choice to make.  We can either move forward and make this state more fiscally sound by electing Kenny Hulshof our next Governor, or we can go backwards in time back to 2004, when Bob Holden was Governor.  Back to jobs leaving Missouri, back to an out of control medicaid program, and withholding precious dollars from our schools.  That is the direction of Jay Nixon, backwards.

Red River Shootout

              vs                    

So let’s take a break from politics, shall we.  Tomorrow, I will be watching the "Shootout from Dallas", and cheering on my Texas Longhorns, hoping that they will upset the hated Sooners.

This has all the makings of a great game.  On one side, you have the #1 team in the country, on the other side, you have the #5 team in the country.  Both teams match up pretty well defensively.  OU might have a slight advantage in the running game.

All in all, I think this will be a great game, and one for the history books, they always are.

Prediction: Texas wins a close one 35-31

HOOK  "EM HORNS