WonderfulPessimist.com

Look, no one is going to deny that even third-world countries like Iran have energy needs. The trouble with the recent announcement by Iran that they are now operating as many as 6,000 nuclear centrifuges is that their leader, President Mahmoud Ahmidinijad is still going around talking about how Israel will “soon disappear off the map.”

Any yet he expects world leaders to trust him and his country with nuclear technology? Hell, no.

Maybe if Iran ever grows up and elects a leader that doesn’t talk like, act like, and actually be a terrorist, maybe then we wouldn’t be so worried about them fueling their country’s energy needs with nuclear plants.

In the meantime… sorry, we just can’t trust ya any more than I can trust the purchase of office furniture to an inexperience intern.

Beware, Minnesota! The liberals are at it again, this time with Vote Yes Minnesota, a lobbying effort to pass a state amendment that would hike state sales tax and dedicate the extra money to outdoors and arts concerns.

It’s not enough, apparently, that Minnesota bamboozled voters into passing a transportation amendment that overfunds light rail and underfunds highways two years ago; now they want to raise the state sales tax and dedicate the funds to DFL special interests? It’s criminal and it’d be like giving the state an unrestricted passport to our private bank accounts.

Minnesota is already overtaxed; now they want to overtax us even more, to benefit “the arts” and “outdoors” of all things?

And you can bet by “outdoors,” they don’t mean increasing hunting and fishing; it’ll result in buying up land, declaring them nature preserves, and preventing the very outdoor activities that are supposed to make life in Minnesota enjoyable.

DEFEAT THIS BALLOT QUESTION!

In the latest interview with the controversial “Republican” California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that if Barack Obama is elected to the White House, he would be open to serving in an Obama Administration as the “energy czar.” If Schwarzenegger is supposed to be a Republican, shouldn’t that be an offer he’s making to fellow RINO John McCain?

Despite all the digital signage declaring Ahh-nold a member of the GOP, it’s becoming more and more clear that his loyalties are liberal, not conservative.

While I’m not at the point of urging a recall on The Governator, I do think the California GOP needs to seriously consider backing a different candidate for the office next time around. There needs to be consequences for being a disloyal Republican.

Minnesota’s GOP has often been a disappointment when it comes to producing real conservatives. Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a sell-out to global warming; Sen. Norm Coleman has a worse conservative rating than John McCain; about the only sign of hope of late has been U.S. Rep. Michele Bachman.

But there is hope here in Bloomington, and not just the kind you feel by roaming a sales lot full of used Harleys. In State House district 40B, we have a genuine conservative running against gax-tax-raising incumbant Democrat Ann Lenczewski.

Bob Green is our candidate this year, and he’s a pretty darn good one. Take a look at his blog and decide for yourself; do you want another term of Ann “Licensed to Tax” Lenczewski, or is it time we get a break from overtaxation in Minnesota?

If so, Bob Green’s a conservative worth our vote, even if we can’t find one on the presidential ballot.

Reuters is reporting that Venezuelan president Huge Chavez is predicting that if his country has further economic sanctions leveled against it, oil could rocket to $300 per barrel, which would send gas prices as high as $8.00 per gallon, or approximately twice the current market price.

Less talked about is Chavez’s admission that the current prices are the result of a speculative bubble which, if it bursts, could send oil prices crashing back down to as low as $70 per barrel and about $1.85 per gallon at the pump.

Sounds like Hugo’s playing it both ways so he can claim to be correct no matter what happens; but remember, WonderfulPessimist.com isn’t about to be outdone by a South American dictator. You read it here first two months ago: $500 per barrel, $22.50/gallon.

Our rationale? Well, hell, it’s as good and as based in fact as anyone else’s wild-ass guess, whether they live in the Middle East, the Outer Banks, Venezuela or Minnesota!

While the conventions are still ahead, as are the announcements of running mates, at this point Barack Obama and John McCain are all tied up in the latest Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll on presidential preference.

Both candidates garner about 43 percent in the poll, leaving about 14 percent of the electorate undecided, if these numbers are to be believed. The news of these polls, if you ask me, is about as helpful as an AC compressor in a snowstorm, but there it is.

The only poll that matters, after all, is the one that takes place in November, at the ballot box. Beyond that, it’s all just best guesses at the mood of the moment. And I still can’t figure out why America is so intent on promoting either of these yahoos who have been part of the worst-rated Congress in US history…. Only nine percent approval!

“Acting” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has become everything the Democrats could hope for; the latest example is a recent blast against President Bush for not embracing Algore’s global warming mythology. He did everything to embrace the green movement but wear organic equestrian clothing.

“This administration did not believe in global warming,” Schwarzenegger told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that will air Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Exactly, Arnold. That’s because, contrary to Gore’s propeganda campaign, there is no concensus on global warming, and there are now more climate scientists, meteorologists and other scientific types signed up opposing global warming as a valid scientific conclusion as Gore claimed there was who signed on to it.

And here’s the dirty little secret of Gore’s propeganda lies: a goodly number of scientists who he claimed with on board with a “concensus on global warming,” have changed their stripes and are now part of the “no, it’s not a concensus” movement.

Hint for future reference: the way to tell if Algore, and zittohead governors like Arnold, are lying is simple… if their lips are moving, you can bank on the dishonesty spewing forth.

America lost a strong conservative voice this weekend when former Fox News personality and President Bush’s third press secretary, Tony Snow, died at the age of 53, following a long battle with cancer. Snow had long been a best buy among news anchors and commentators, and was a long-standing host of Fox News Sunday prior to joining the Bush Administration.

I can certainly empathize with the Snow family, as my own mother is fighting a losing battle with cancer right now and we know that at best, she only has months left. It’s an incredibly painful reality and WonderfulPessimist.com extends our deepest and most sincere sympathies to all his family and friends.

While Democrats hope to leverage their PR firm, known as the mainstream media, to retain fractional ownership of Congress, only nine-percent of folks like the way they’re handling things.

I mean, seriously, how much lower can their approval go and yet network anchors and loudmouths will continue to spout conventional wisdom (known as Democratic Talking Points) about how this is a Democratic year and liberals are going to have a veto-proof majority in both houses of Congress by the time it’s all over.

I have a different viewpoint: by the time it’s all over, very few incumbants will be left standing, and control of Congress may just switch back to the GOP, if only because there are more Dem incumbants at the moment than there are GOP incumbants.

And that might just be a healthy thing; get rid of the fossils and inject the system with fresh blood that doesn’t know how to abuse the power they’ve been elected to yet.

The media is eager to tell you how unpopular President Bush is; they’ll trumpet it from the rooftops each time he drops another point. But the dirty little secret is, he’s over three times as popular as the Democratic Congress.

According to the latest Rasmussen Report, President George W. Bush holds only a 32-percent approval rating, down one point from a month ago, when he held a 33-percent approval rating. That’s not good.

But here’s something worse: the Democrat-controlled Congress has an approval rating in the latest Rasmussen Report of only 9 percent; that’s terrible. Congress began the year with only a 15-percent approval rating and has lost another six points since then. It is the first time in history that Congress has received such low approval ratings, and President Bush is 3.6 times more popular than Congress right now.

Which leads us to the most obvious question: why, exactly, are we watching both the GOP and the Democrats nominate folks for the White House who are part of this worst-ever Congress in US History? Both John McCain and Barack Obama have been part of this worst-ever Congress; why in the world does anyone think either of them deserve a promotion?

What would be worlds better is what has always worked best: nominate successful governors and go with the Washington outsider approach. Because right now, while Congress is busy setting aside Congressional earmarks for some whack-job scientist to investigate the mystery of the best acne treatment, most of America is mad as hell, and if it lasts till November, they may not put up with any of these incumbants anymore, Democrat or Republican.

Forget everything everyone in the mainstream media is saying. Completely.

“This is a Democratic year?” Forget it. All bets are off.

That’s because, for the first time ever, Congress has an approval rating of only 9 percent. That’s single digits, my friend. This Congress is despised. And it’s lead by the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid… both Dems.

So if anyone out there still thinks the nation is in the bag for the Democratic Party this year, forget about it. All bets are off.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily cut well for the GOP, either; I think the folks most in danger are incumbants, regardless of party affiliation. If you’re already in office, this could be the year some newcomer takes over your seat… regardless of party.

Considering that there are more incumbant Dems in Congress not than Republicans, it could cut well for the GOP; but not if the GOP keeps running like they’re the Democrat Lite party. That’s what got the GOP kicked out two years ago in the first place.

It’s time to offer people a choice, rather than acting like a bunch of teenagers wasted on horse supplements.

This is conservatism’s time to shine; be bold, be conservative, be different than the incumbants, and conservatives can make real headway this year.

Bottom line? Drill here, drill now, pay less!

Only a few months ago, top Democrats and their strategists thought that Fox News Channel was a child of the devil and a place no sainted liberal should ever, ever tread. Or at least they made those sounds to appease the MoveOn.org extremist left.

Now, one of Sen. Hillary Rodham-Clinton’s top aides, Howard Wolfson, is “going native” and joining Fox News after declaring that FNC was the fairest in its coverage after NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN all seemed to Wolfson to be “in the tank” for Obama.

“I thought that Fox’s coverage during the primary was comprehensive and fair and evenhanded,” Wolfson told the New York Times on Monday. “It’s a huge audience, and it is important to have a strong, progressive voice on the network.”

Wolfson joins Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s top campaign strategist for two terms in the White House, on FNC. While it’s not clear yet how the news network plans to utilize the services of Rove and Wolfson, it’s a sure bet they won’t be paid merely to hawk Phentermine.

Here’s one vote for pairing the two on a Hannity and Colmes type debate and interview show. How’s Rove and Wolfson sound?