Here at Jack’s blog, we’re going to take a couple of days off to enjoy the holiday with family and friends.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday!
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That’s the question The Hill newspaper sought to answer (for some reason). A number of Members of Congress answered the question including Jack:
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.): I’d say on any given day clearly half the members think about doing something else and the other half are lying about it. If I was back home selling shoes, I wouldn’t have the delight of dealing with the fair and balanced members of the press.
Our favorite answer has to be from incoming Republican Policy Chairman Thad McCotter of Michigan:
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.): Put it this way: Being a member of Congress is like a Jim Morrison line: The future is always uncertain and the end is always near.
Steny Hoyer has taken a step back from his comments last week that Members of Congress don’t do any work when they’re not in Washington and would be in Washington for five-day work weeks:
Incoming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) backed off slightly from his promise to keep the House in session five days a week during a press conference yesterday with House leaders.
Hoyer explained that his previous comments about extending congressional working hours, which were made at a meeting with reporters earlier this week, were taken too literally.
“Everyone took that literally and presumed that when members aren’t here, they are on vacation,” Hoyer said, adding that when members return to their home districts, they continue to work hard talking to constituents.
He stressed that Congress would be working more in Washington in the new year, staying in town for full days on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Ok, so who was the one calling it “smoke and mirrors” in the first place?
Today in Baxley, I had the honor of assisting Congressman Kingston in presenting a World War II veteran with medals he had won more than 60 years ago. If you have never seen a medal presentation, I highly recommend it. It will fill your heart with pride and give you goosebumps.
The recipient was 84-year-old Jack Phelps, an Army veteran who stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, helped liberate Paris, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Today, with his wife by his side, Mr. Phelps received the
Read the rest of Jack Phelps’ story:
A big congratulations goes out to the Northern Little League team from Columbus who just won the Little League World Championship. Northern defeated Kawaguchi City 2-1 to become only the second team from Georgia to win the championship.
You can read more about the exciting win HERE and even check out the team’s blog.
Friends -
Just wanted to give you all a heads up that there will be a few changes on Jack’s Blog through November.
1. As we near a political election, the nature of most of the comments coming in on the blog have been political. Therefore, all comments will now be moderated. As always, we encourage civil discourse and disagreement on the issues but there must be a clear distinction between policy and politics.
2. The Spokesblogger–me–will be handing the editorial reins of the blog over to Spokesbloggette through November.
Thanks everyone and I’ll see you in November.
Sb
Did we miss “FREE Communist Dictator Bobblehead Night” at the Communist Convention in Fidel’s hospital room?
(Look at the bobbleheads in the background of Fidel and Hugo’s warm embrace.)
UPDATE (5:34 PM): Here’s the link to the rest of the pics in this series? Something looks very odd about these pictures. What do you think?
RedState.com, a conservative blog where Congressman Kingston contributes regularly, has re-launched with some great new features and an easy-to-read-and-navigate design.
We’re looking forward to showing the new features to Jack.
Congrats to Erick, Clayton, Mike and Ben for such a great new website.
Last week, NYT foreign affairs columnist and award-winning author Tom Friedman was Jack’s featured guest at Theme Team. We thought you’d like some pics of the event.
David Bernstein of Volokh Conspiracy has finally read FREAKONOMICS. Reading Bernstein’s less-than-stellar review of the book caused this spokesblogger to dust off my copy of the book and weigh in.
Let me be frank: I AM NEITHER AN ECONOMIST NOR DO I ENJOY READING ABOUT ECON THEORY. It’s not my “bag.”
On the other hand, Jack is in to economics, or at least he studied econ in college and likes to dip in to his copy of Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom often. (Heck, we’ve even heard rumblings of “supply” and “demand” when he’s divvying up his annual vidalia onion shipment to other Members of Congress.)
While I usually prefer to stay in my own little piece of Heaven called South Georgia, I do make the occasional trip to the “home office” in DC to do a few things. This time, I planned my trip to coincide with an annual event called “The Congressional Baseball Game.”
Believe it or not, Members of Congress actually field teams - of course, Republican vs. Democrat - and play baseball. Not slow pitch softball, but real fast pitch baseball on the big diamond at RFK Stadium in Washington. It’s for Members only, no staff ringers, and they take it very seriously. You have to have skills to play and you better bring your “A” game.
Fortunately for Jack, he keeps himself in good shape - running, bicycling - so he is a natural for the team. The GOP counts on his “wheels” to run the bases and they put him in to do just that. And that is what he did. In the 3rd inning, the Dems were up 1-0. Jack hit the basepaths and once he got to third, all it took was a short pop-fly to make him tag up and dig for home, easily beating the throw. In the 5th, Jack was on base again when Mike Conaway hit a single to bring him in. At the plate in the 6th inning, Jack worked an 0-2 count into a base on balls where he promptly sped to second and then third on a wild pitch.
Jack has already blogged on the Dixie Chicks and their penchant for controversial statements, so I thought my first post would highlight what the Chicks have been up to lately.
In a recent interview with the London Telegraph (hat tip to Michelle Malkin), the Chicks had this to say:
“The reaction was as if Natalie had said ‘Death to the President’ or something,” says violinist and vocalist Maguire.
“It was the bullying and the scare factor,” shudders banjo and guitar player Robison. “It was like the McCarthy days, and it was almost like the country was unrecognisable.” . . . .
“A lot of pandering started going on, and you’d see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism.”
“The entire country may disagree with me, but I don’t understand the necessity for patriotism,” Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. “Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don’t see why people care about patriotism.”
Now before the First Amendment posts pile in, let me say that I am a 100% supporter of freedom of speech. I’m not bothered that the Chicks keep criticizing President Bush, patriotism, country music fans and even Reba McIntyre, although I disagree with them.
What bothers me about the Chicks and other singers and actors who criticize the President, is that after they say their peace, they act as if they’ve done something brave and should be held up as some kind of hero. Well, last time I checked, the Bush administration isn’t hauling these people before congressional committees or shutting down recording and movie companies. So tell me again why they consider themselves so brave?
In fact, the real heroes are the ones fighting over in Iraq and Afghanistan BECAUSE they are patriotic. It’s because of this patriotism that these heroes are out there defending America and the freedoms we stand for, therefore allowing the Dixie Chicks and company to pretty much say what they like. And with the exception of possibly low CD and concert ticket sales, nothing much else is going to happen to them for their “bravery.”
Some of you — ok, A LOT of you — have been weighing in on Congressman Kingston’s earlier note about the Dixie Chicks…
Here’s a note from Jack on the matter:
Congrats on using ur first amt right to speak up just as I have. So far so good.
I’m motivating a bunch of left leaning rockers to defiantly go out, buy n listen to country music. They’ll find the Dipsie Chicks can’t satisfy their needs and they’ll start listening to real Americans like Toby Keith and before u know it folks will be joining the NRA and moving to red state USA.
Isn’t freedom a blast! Thx for ur comments.
Thx, Jack
Last week, Congressman Kingston noted that America’s Bush-bashing-Democratic-divas, the Dixie Chicks, should stand clear of the political scene and focus more on their music.
According to the progressive magazine, The Nation, this blog may have helped push their sales to the top. (Sorry about that.)
Conservative politicians, pundits and political writers — from Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston to Media Research Council president L. Brent Bozell and bloggers by the dozen — couldn’t wait to trash Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison for releasing a new album that refused to make nice with President Bush and the thought police who screech “shut up and sing” every time a musician expresses an opinion.
We were starting to get upset until John Nichols said this in his story:
Congressman Kingston –who, it should be said, maintains the most entertaining offical blog of anyone in Washington–used his “Jack’s Blog” to muse that Maines and her compatriots made a big mistake when they started talking politics.
Happy, happy, joy, joy! We welcome all of our Democratic readers to Jack’s Blog, including our friends in Nancy Pelosi’s shop. Hehehe.