Colin Powell Claims He's Still a Republican -- But on What Basis?

The highly over-rated Colin Powell continues to clog up the airwaves.

This past Sunday he made the rounds of the Sunday shows, proclaiming loudly that he's still a Republican.

A Republican who voted for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama.

A Republican who believes the country wants higher taxes and more government services.

A Republican who publicly endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain.

You know what they say.

If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck.... it probably is a duck.

Colin Powell doesn't walk like a Republican or sound like a Republican. He walks and talks like a Democrat. An Obama endorsing Democrat.

There's the door, Mr. Powell !

Michael Steele Gives an Uninspiring Speech in Kingsport, Tennessee

RNC Chairman Michael Steele gave a speech in Kingsport, Tennessee recently.

Here it is, in all its uninspiring glory.

Mr. Steele advised the gathered Republican faithful to "stop looking backwards," an apparent repetition of earlier themes Mr. Steele has articulated with little success.

The RNC Chair also continued his ill advised attempts to try and co-opt the Tea Party Movement.

“Why do you think they were so outdone by a little thing called a Tea Party?” Steele asked the crowd. “And how disrespectful is it that when the president’s spokesman is asked whether or not the president was following this (series of anti-spending events around the country), he was dismissive. ... They ignored it ... the arrogance of power.”

It's not hard to understand why Eric Odom respectfully suggested that Mr. Steele attend, but not speak at, the April 15 Tax Day Tea Party in Chicago. A lot of us wish Mr. Steele had come to that tea party -- and listened to what's really going on in the heartland of the country.

Libel Dispute Resolved by Mutual Accord: I Remove Lawsuit, Blogger Removes Word

I am pleased to report that blogger Stephanie Grasmick has agreed to remove the false and misleading word from the headline of her May 13, 2009 blogpost which caused me to file a libel suit against her on May 18, 2009. I, in response, have withdrawn my complaint against her.

The word in question, “fraud”, has a clear and distinct meaning, and it is my belief that by removing that word from her headline Ms. Grasmick is acknowledging her error.

I hasten to add that after our private dialogue on the matter, I am completely convinced that Ms. Grasmick included that word in the headline out of misunderstanding, and not out of any desire to misrepresent the facts.

I found Ms. Grasmick in our private dialogue to be gracious, intelligent, fair minded, and unfailingly polite.

I believe that had Ms. Grasmick and I taken the time to have a more detailed discussion of the matter subsequent to her private notification to me of her intent to publish the story, and the actual publication of the story, she would have written the headline in such a manner as to accurately reflect the facts.

Her public persona, in which many of her posts were filled with profanity and insults, coupled with the anonymous nature of her authorship at the time, led me not to trust that she would be fair in her reporting of the story. That, coupled with the relatively short period of time between the private notification and the actual publication created this public miscommunication, which has now been resolved to our mutual agreement.

I believe that her conduct in resolving this matter so quickly should demonstrate to all that Ms. Grasmick is a fair-minded and honest person.

An Update on Recent Developments

For those of you following developments related to a story recently posted on a blog operated by Ms. Stephanie Grasmick:

Ms. Grasmick posted this comment today:

"I have been in touch with Mr. Leahy, and it is my sincere hope that we can resolve this matter through clear-minded and thoughtful dialogue, and at a minimal cost to the American taxpayer."

Ms. Grasmick's statement is accurate, and it is also my sincere hope that we can resolve this matter through clear-minded and thoughtful dialogue.

I will have no further public comment on this matter until this dialogue has been completed.

Quit, Baby, Quit: My Message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele

The RNC has been disastrously ineffective since Michael Steele took over as Chairman of the RNC.

Now, apparently, the man who insulted Rush Limbaugh, appeared to endorse abortion, and thinks the Democrats aren't socialists is threatening to quit as RNC Chairman tomorrow if conservatives don't play nice with him and adopt his silly "reach out to everyone despite what they may or may not advocate" policies.

My advice to Chairman Steele:

Quit, Baby, Quit.

Keith Olbermann Leads Personal Attacks on Me by the Left Wing Smear Merchants

Less than two weeks after I was one of 18 signators on The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition's acceptance of President Obama's invitation "to have a serious discussion" with people in the Tea Party Movement, the left wing smear merchants have begun their personal attacks on me in a predictably vile way.

First came a profanity laced left wing blogger who posted 16 years worth of my personal business and tax records on her blog.

Then today, champion smear monger Keith Olbermann named me "The Worst Person in the World" over runners up Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly.

You can see his personal attack on me here.

Without bothering to contact me to check on the facts, Mr Olbemann stated that "over 16 years , [Mr. Leahy] has had a few judgements filed against him for unpaid taxes, small claim court judgements, and civil suits.... nearly $150,000"

Olbermann concluded "So what's the point in protesting taxes if you're not going to bother to pay them anyways," and proceeded to name me the Worst Person in the World.

If Mr. Olbermann were a real journalist, instead of a left wing propagandist, he could have learned the facts of the situation before he exposed himself to the world, once again, as the conservative hating person he is.

Here are the facts:

The left wing blog smear listed a total of 12 distinct judgements covering the period 1993-2009. The total dollar amount of these judgements were $145,264.

$40,806 was from 7 civil judgements. Of these 7 judgements, 4 have been paid in their entirety.

$19,009 was a judgement filed by the State of California in 1993 in Los Angeles County. In 1993 I had not been a resident of California for 2 years, and earned no income in the state of California. Nor was I ever a resident of Los Angeles County. I was not even aware of this judgement until around 2003, at which time I promptly responded to the State of California that there was no basis for this judgement for the reasons I mentioned above.

$85,449 was for 4 Federal Tax Liens. Of these liens, more than half of the amount listed is for penalty and interest. I have, for the past nine years, engaged in a long dialogue with several different offices of the IRS, all towards the purpose of completing a workable installment agreement. Anyone who has had the pleasure of dealing with the IRS knows that this can be a long process, one that is particularly difficult for individuals and small business people. I am pleased to report that after years of attempting to actually hold such an installment agreement, I indeed have received a commitment from the IRS to have the very first meeting for this purpose within the next 30 days.

The broader question here is this:

What kind of country do we live in if anyone who raises their voices loudly against the socialist-statists who currently run our government and the Mainstream Media is rapidly subjected to vicious attacks in the left wing blogosphere ?

In the fall it was Joe the Plumber.

Earlier this week it was Carrie Prejean.

Today it's me.

Tomorrow will it be you, or any one of the 1 million other Tea Party Protesters who object to the out of control spending our Federal Government is currently subjecting us to ?

So, Mr. Olbermann, here's my challenge to you, if you have the courage to accept it.

I will debate you in person, on either Glenn Beck's program or the O'Reilly Factor on the following topic:

Which is worse for the future of the United States of America ? My tax problems, or the $1.8 Trillion Deficit in President Obama's current budget ?

Oh, and one last thing.

If you are to be consistent in your logic, you ought to nominate me to serve in President Obama's Cabinet. After all, Secretary of the Treasury had tax problems that were worse than mine. He knew the law and knowingly violated it.

I'm not running for public office. I'm not offering myself up to be a member of President Obama's Cabinet. And neither you nor any other left wing smear merchant will intimidate me from exercising my right of free speech as an American citizen.

The Embarrassingly Crude and Ignorant Meghan McCain

Add Meghan McCain to the list of those whose departure from the Repubulican Party can't come quickly enough.

Besides her father's fame, Ms. McCain has no reason to be part of the public discussion.

Her recent attempts at pretending to be a blogging pundit have demonstrated only her ignorance and profound desire to impress her liberal friends with her constant public use of profanity.

Last night, Miss McCain, through her public tweets while attending the White House Correspondents dinner, used especially crude and profane language to describe the event. In fact, the only words she could use to describe the event were of a profane nature. This of course brings to mind the old saying that constant use of profanity is merely an indication of a person's limited vocabulary and inability to express in detail a coherent and illuminating thought.

Ms. McCain is apparently so proud of her contribution to the coarsening of society she sent out another tweet loudly proclaiming that she is highly ranked on a public website devoted to listing those public and private figures who use profanity most frequently in public.

Such coarse behavior in public appears to be on the rise, regrettably, and Miss McCain appears to be basking in the glow of those in our society who cheer such an unsavory trend.

Such a circumstance would be unpleasant enough to observe if Miss McCain actually had an original idea worth contributing to the public dialogue. Sadly, Miss McCain's apparent thirst for public notoriety appears to be the only driving force in the embarrassment that is her public record. I've been unable to observe one original thought in anything she's written. Every public utterance from her (those that are not crude and profane) appears to be out of the left wing liberal playbook.

Do us all a favor, Miss McCain, and try to improve your public manners.

And after you've done that, please publicly disavow any affiliation with the Republican Party.

Colin Powell, Cheerleader for the Political Class, Should Join Arlen Specter in the Democratic Party

Colin Powell, the most overrated underperformer in recent political history, once again showed himself to be the opportunistic self aggrandizer he's been throughout his career.

The so-called "moderate Republican" who shamelessly endorsed the candidacy of Barack Obama, the man who is leading us towards a socialist-statist debacle that would make George Orwell apopletic, once again demonstrated that he is the cheerleader for the Democratic political class.

In a recent speech to corporate security executives, Powell proclaimed haughtily "the American people want MORE government, not LESS."

Mr. Powell apparently missed the 1 million Americans who demonstrated against more government at the April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties.

Time to leave the Republican Party officially, Mr. Powell.

We don't need socialist-statists like you in the party.

President Obama and his friends will be sure to welcome you with open arms. Why not ? You've been espousing the same anti free market policies for years.

You belong with the elite political class that controls the Democratic Party, those 30 percent of Democrats who believe in socialism, not capitalism.

Joseph Schumpeter predicted the arch of your career 70 years ago. Do the right thing and make it official now.