A woman President?

Sarah Palin is being called the girl of Conservatives dreams. That may be so. She refuses to be part of the mansion crowd. During her tenure as an Alaskan Mayor she actually cut her own salary as part of a cost-cutting package for the city. She opted out of being driven about in a limo, choosing rather to drive herself. She has five kids, one of them born with downs, and she did not even consider an abortion after the tests showed what her developing child would be. No, the Dems would not like this lady at all. The problem is, the GOP leadership doesn't like her either.

She dared to challenge the intrenched earmark system and worst of all, she won. Fortunately for her she did so in the most indepentminded state in our union, Alaska. If she had tried to do so in my state, her results would have been like mine. One term and out. Lucky for Sarah, not too many Alaskan votes can be bought.

I like this woman. Her husband and kids are undeclared independants and that's just fine with her. She has already gotten a lot of pressure from the GOP leadership about that, but she won't interfere in that decision. Good for her. She is willing to begin cutting at the very top. This frightens the water out of people like Cheny and Kennedy. The top, according to them is supposed to be sacrosanct, as untouchable as God. Not according to Sarah Palin. If pain has to occure, it begins with her. Frankly, I would rather see her as the President instead of McCain, and with McCain's age, it just may happen.

The "Pro-Choice" Crowd lies

For anyone who has read this blog, it will come as no surprise that I am not a fan of the Republican party. As with many in my position, I did not leave them, they left me when they dedcided to adopt the morals of Dick Cheny and toss out the lessons of Lincoln and Reagan. But there is on last remaing plank on the GOP platform with which I still find a modicum of agreement; abortion.

In recent news Nancy Pelosi did what so many politicians who alos happen to be marginal catholics did, she tried to use her absolute lack of biblical knowledge to justify a position against the unborn. To quote an obscure saint, especially out of context would be laughable if her abuse of the bully pulpit did not influence so many people...the majority of them women. Let's put her statement through a bit of dissection.

Pelosi based her views on conception on the "views of Saint Augustine, who said, 'The law does not provide that the act (abortion) pertains to homicide, for there cannot yet be said to be a live soul in a body that lacks sensation.'"

On it's face, this may be nothing more than a faithful follower of church teaching explaining the foundation of her belief, that is, if it is left there. However, Ms. Pelosi is a member of the Senate and as such, someone who writes law. Does what Augustine supposedly said have more authority over chuch doctrine that the bible? No, that would be the same as saying a district court judge's opinion overrides the constitution. The bible is the constitution of the chuch and every reputable scholar (those who do not have an abortion agenda, either pro or con) acknowledges that the bible considers abortion the killing of a human life. All you have to do is look at the amount of money Planned Parenthood has poured into Pelosi's campaigns and you can understand the real reason for her stance.

Now, let's move from religion into science, because obviously Augustine did not have either the medical technology or the understanding of DNA that we do today. What happens when an egg is fertalized? The egg begins to divide, but why? What has happened is that DNA transported by the father has mingled with that of the mother, causing the egg to transform into the next stage which is called a zygote. A number of stages occure between zygote and birth, but in all of them any honest person would have to call that stage a form of human life. For those of you either in disaggreement or outraged by that statement, here is your chance. Submit a comment. Tell me where I am wrong. I am willing to be taught, but consider this, if not human, than what species is this growing lifeform? You have to land somewhere in your argument. Nebulous symantics are not going to win the day.

In every other species on earth, the developing young are considered to be the same species as the parents. Is there a magical process that somehow keeps a human fetus from being human until the moment after delivery? If so, no labratory I am aware of has published a paper detailing this process. Science has actually shown the opposite. A developing fetus shows reaction to stimuli, which automatically renders Augustine moot. Blood and tissue samples show the baby has it's own unique genetic characteristics and often, a bloodtype incompatible with the mother. So, is this merely a lump of tissue similar to a tumor? Planned Parenthood has said just that to women they wanted to sell an abortion to. Notice I said sell, not give. Money is the root of this issue, not philosophy.

What it comes down to is symantics. If they call a pro-abortion stance "pro-choice", than it sounds moral and righteous, while in reality the only choice they will honor is death...of the developing child. If choice was a reality, all the pertinent information would be offered. It is not. Occaisionally ultrasounds and other noninvasive proceedures are offered, but that is the exception, not the rule. A true pro-choice stance would be to offer every bit of advice that is available and then honor the decision. If abortion is chosen, and it is legal, than the proceedure should be performed free of charge as a service, all the while with the understanding that the mother is asking for the death of her unborn child. Truth is truth, even if it is uncomfortable. Tax money should not be put up to pay for it as too many citizens disagree with abortion. If organizations such as NOW and Planned Parenthood trully believed what they preach, they would forego federal money and fees, existing purely on donations. Yeah, like that is ever going to happen.

Agendas can be treacherous things. Often the people following an agenda become little more than disposable tools of those running the movement. Look at people like Jesse Jackson, Dick Cheny and his oil buddies, Al Sharpton, and the above-mentioned Nancy Pelosi. Their allegiance is to the money and power their agenda can bring them. The average citizen means nothing to them. They never see the emails or letters sent to them. A staff secretary has templates and an electronic signature for that purpose. In the pro-life/pro-choice debate, the truth has been tossed in favor of an agenda. Sadly, the real victim has been innocence in its truest form.

What's in a name?

Even though I lost in the primary, I am still the office holder until my replacement takes the oath of office. A few reporters whose heads are not completly filled with concrete get this. Unfortunately, they are not the ones who call my phone. The last voice message left was asking me to comment on a very tired thread that has run since I first ran for office.

You see, Nevada has several men living here with the name Bob Beers. Two were active in the legislature, myself and a man who is 9 years my junior. My middle initial is L and his is T. He was in the senate and I was in the assembly. I was the maverick, willing to speak the truth regardless of the political cost, he followed the party line, even when it was obvious he did not agree with it. I lost the primary, he didn't, but it looks like he may not survive the general...which brings us to the reporter's question. It was all about name recognition. This typing twerp wanted to ask me about whether or not I felt the similarity between the senator's and my names had any impact on the voters. I did not return the call. It is such a ludicrous question that non response is the only correct reponse.

It would be far better to ask whether or not the good senator's handling of the Republican convention this summer had an impact. He did tick off a few thousand Ron Paul supporters, and those folks vote. Perhaps his agreement with McCain's platform may have upset a significant number of people. McCain did say that anyone making less than 5 million a year was middle class. Apparantly anyone working blue-collar need not apply. No, no reporter working in Nevada would have caught that. You have to be able to read.

The most important election ever???

Yesterday, as the Democrat Party Convention was warming up a number of network talking heads, otherwise known as News Anchors, gave their impressions on the upcoming election. The phrases "most vital", "most important", and "critical" were the common thread throughout all the commentaries. You have to wonder. Will the selection of either man running for our highest office be that significant of a choice? Are their ideals, stands and opinions so vastly different that choosing one over the other could spell ruin for the United States?

Not really. What is happening is the typical media hyperbole. The differences between McCain and Obama are about as significant as the difference between and orange and a clementine. Both are fruits, both can be used in the same dishes and they have a similar taste. The differences are subtle, but you wind up in the same place.

Right about now both McCain and Obama supporters are outraged. How can he say (put candidate name here) is like (put opponent name here)?! That's because I'm not invested in either man. Both candidates are the selected property of their party leadership. If you bothered to watch intelligently at all, you would have seen the almost immediate 180 degree switch that their closest rivals performed when McCain and Obama won the majority. Not even Dr. Jeckel changed personality that rapidly. Devils became not just angels, but saviors. The next day television ads proclaimed these men would do everything short of creating life from clay. Now we are being told that this election is history in the making and the United States stands on a precipise and the choosing of the wrong candidate could push us over.

Seeing all the news anchors fawning over Obama, it is obvious which candidate they have chosen. The reaction they had to the one lone journalist who had the bad grace to ask a substantive question solidifies the opinion. The choice of the Republican Party is more puzzling. Obama is an obvious Democrat choice. He is an elitist. He has a history of being friendly with outspoken enemies of this country. He is married to a racist and he speaks very well when the words are written for him. The plus is that he also looks like a minority while being able to act like a member of the ruling class. In their opinion, the best of both worlds. McCain, on the other hand has nothing that the NeoCon Republicans have expressed as vital for party membership. He has no desire to see the border secured. He was one of the founding legislators in securing the treaty to form the superhighway from Mexico to Canada. He has consistently voted to give trade preference to our economic enemies. He has no desire to see illegal immigration stemmed, and he has expressed the belief that the US should not have its own official language, even though those countries he shows favoritism to have such a law.

Perhaps the fact that McCain does have inroads with big oil has something to do with the party faithfuls' support. They own the current administrsation and would like to continue that relationship. If one looks closer, you will also notice that McCain's largest contributers also employ vast numbers of illegals in their workforce. Hypocracy knows no color...unless it is green.
The current gush of overblown opinion coming from the media is not surprising. They have done so before, in spite of looking like idiots. Dan Rather is a past example. In the talk show world, little has changed. Consider Bob D. Elvis is on the line again.

What is a Republican

This was taken from the website, "The History of the Republican Party".

The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. The first informal meeting of the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin.
The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." Four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House.
During the Civil War, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans of their day worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.

Back then it was easy to recognize a Republican. Stands on actual freedom and self responsibility were like the ninteenth century's version of a neon sign shouting out, "This is a Republican!" The party then also fought for honest business practices, feeling that if a man prospered in his business, it should be because he worked hard, obeyed the law and gave honest measure for a fair price. If that ideal were to be proposed by a member of the party now, that individual would be driven from the ranks. He would be considered an idiot, unworthy of support.

There has been a great switch of ideals. The Democrats of the ninteenth century, those who supported slavery, high land prices, dishonest business practices and the maintenence of an oppressed lower class, have become the Republicans of the twentyfirst century. Some call them NeoCons, short for New Conservatives. In order to succeed in membership within this new version, one has to obey the dictates of the party leadership...without question. The fact that those dictates sometimes violate the constitution is beside the point. What is important is that business is allowed to do whatever it wants. Even suggesting that a business owner might be violating the law is considered bad manners by party faithful. Actually writing a bill mandating adherance to existing law is tantamount to a personal attack.

There may still be a few Fremonts out there, but they are indeed few and far between. "Go along to get along" has replaced "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men". If Lincoln, or even Reagan were alive today, they would not receive support from the party. Their ideals would be considered harmful to the party platform.

Lethal Bus Stops in Clark County, Nevada

This morning I read an article in the Las Vegas Sun by a reporter named Joe Schoenmann regarding a meeting of the Clark County Bus Shelter and Bench Advisory Committee. I was at that meeting and I spoke in two capacities, as a member of the State Assembly and as the chairman for the Citizens for Better Transportation and Safety. Nothing I said was reported by Mr. Schoenmann, which is a shame because what I said would have made a significant difference in his article; particularly because he asks whether or not something is going to be done at its end. I rarely read either of the two newspapers in the Las Vegas area any more, primarily because neither of them gets anything right. They don't hire staff capable of better than low-level prose and cursory research, and their agenda continues to get in the way of the story. An example comes in this article's third paragraph: he gets the name of Portia Hughes' husband wrong. Joe, the man's name is Markton, not Martin. If you bothered to listen before you wrote, you wouldn't have glaring errors on the page. Another massive hole in the story is in what was written about the committee's reaction to the testimony. Of course, a good portion of that reaction was after I spoke, and the Sun has an agenda to not report anything I say or do that is positive since I upset the publisher by challenging and beating Steve Wynn, one of the publisher's drinking buddies. Those reactions centered around the solutions I proposed, none of which are in the article. I mentioned the placement of steel and concrete bollards that would prevent any errant car of truck from being able to hit people waiting at a bus stop. I spoke about the contract the RTC has with Outdoor Promotions and that those funds could be used for the moving of the shelters and the installation of bollards. I also mentioned the nuclear option, eminent domain...none of which appeared in Mr. Schoenmann's haphazard story. Robin, the surviving daughter of Patricia Huff also spoke, eloquently, and at length. You made the point that LA has greater traffic and more bus shelters than Clark County and somehow those passengers haven't been killed. If Schoenmann had done his research, he would have also found out that Outdoor Promotions also does business there. So what makes the difference? The difference is that LA has stiffer laws protecting life than we do. A human life is worth more there than it is here. Here, the RTC staff run the numbers and decide that the cost of losing a few riders to death and injury won't cost as much, including suits since a public agency has a cap on what can be won, as actually doing the right thing. Portia's lawyer needs to consider making Outdoor Promotions the primary in the lawsuit. They don't have the cap and they are the ones building and placing the shelters. The biggest problem Clark County Nevada has is not the economy, it isn't education and it isn't even gangs, drugs or crime. It is the purchasing of politicians and the attendant insistence on a few "favors" being granted here and there, the public good be damned. One of the few people who understands what is going on in the RTC in regards to our lethal bus shelters is Steve Miller, a writer for American Mafia.com. Steve writes about how Outdoor Promotions offered a few "free" political ads in exchange for the usual considerations. Apparently those considerations included allowing the shelters to be placed as dangerously as possible. There is an engineering firm conducting yet another "study", even though the staff, the RTC and the advisory committee all know what is needed to be done. This study is nothing more than a delaying tactic so that the public ire can cool down. For you see, the real story, the one that Joe Schoenmann either missed, or wasn't allowed to write by editorial decree, is that, as stated earlier, the price of a himan life isn't that much as far as Clark County, Nevada is concerned; unless, of course, that human life is someone of stature. For, as a well known author once wrote, "Some animals are more equal than others."

School daze

This coming monday has all the makings of an approaching horrorfest. Two groups of people are dreading the passing of each click of the clock. Those groups are students and teachers. Beginning monday they wil face each other in a battle of wills that will last until next June. The lone group breathlessly awaiting the arrival of monday? Parents.

Humor aside, some teachers and students do look forward to the opening of the school year. Believe it or not, some actually enjoy the teaching/learning process. I'm taking on a first grade class this year. My wife, who teaches foods and nutrition at a local high school, thinks I'm suffering from temporary insanity. Sure, the little ones may have a few attendant problems such as projectile vomiting, crying and the occaisional messes, but they are teachable, unlike teenagers who have come to believe they now know everything. I ask you this, given the choice, would you rather face a class of wide-eyed innocent 6 year olds, or a class of insolent, bored 16 year olds? I rest my case.

Sharp turn to the right

My neighbor greeted me this morning by offering condolences for my loss in the primary. He even wrote a letter to the editor about my photo being placed in the same listing with an accused pedophile, a woman who stabbed her husband and a psychotic judge...all losers in their primaries. He finished by saying, "The far right of your party is starting to piss me off!"

He has a point. The element that has taken over the republican party has indeed pissed a lot of people off, not one of them a democrat. Those folks are laughing, rubbing their hands in glee and counting all the new members and seats they will be winning in the coming election. The party is no longer the party that Lincoln helped establish, hell, it's not even the party Reagan worked for. It's sad when mob-run Las Vegas is remembered as being more honest than those elected into office. The republican party has taken a sharp turn to the right, leaving many of their members behind. This was no more apparant than when the state party chairwoman refused to allow the vote at this year's state convention to be ratified because the majority of delegates would have voted for Ron Paul rather than John McCain. The wishes of the people, being different from the party leadership, could not be allowed to have a voice.

Many people say that the time has come for a viable third party. I say that we already have one. The fastest growing voter registration in Nevada is independent. All they need are candidates.

Talk Radio

During my stint in politics I was asked a few times to be a guest on a couple of the local talk radio shows. I came away from those experiences with the distinct impression that the world I portrayed in my cartoon strip was more real than not. Far right talk radio is "popular", not because it has so many listeners nodding in time with the comments and opinions of the host, but because the shows are putting forth the opinions the advertisers want to hear. The old adage still holds true: follow the money. How long do you think a Rush Limbaugh would remain on the air if no advertising money came in? About as long as it took for the producer to pull the plug.

The average American is neither far right nor far left. The average American is not concerned whether or not some camel jockey becomes the dictator over miles of sand. What the average American wants is to be able to pay the bills, raise the kids safely, and be unbothered by the government. The wierdos, kooks and screaming fanatics are all background noise. They are not that important...except to the radio hosts looking for a story.

You know, every problem we currently face could be solved literally overnight if those with the power to do so would let go of their personal ambition and greed. People would not be losing their homes to foreclosure, teachers would be able to actually teach in uncrowded classrooms, gas would be affordable as well as every other commodity on the market, and people would not have to go into debt in order to see a doctor.

That last paragraph is complete heresy to the talk radio crowd. It is almost as if they require the existence of a peasant class. At one cocktail party, the publisher of one of the local newspapers boasted that he used illegals for two-thirds of his crew at his printing plant, drunkingly adding that he was saving a fortune over hiring citizens for the same work. He has no shortage of money and even if he switched to union labor his personal fortune would not be harmed. No, like all of the other so-called powerful in this country, he is wallowing in self-satisfied greed assured that the broadcast media will go along with him...as long as the advertising dollars keep flowing.

And what about those dollars. What sort of life's necessities are Rush, Laura, Michael and the others selling? Less than twenty years ago many of their advertisers would have been arrested as frauds, or at the very least ridiculed as "snakeoil" peddlers. Now it seems anything goes as long as it makes a buck. No proof has to be offered that what is being sold has any basis in science or even reality. A pity, that. It would be nice to have an assurance that truth had come back to the airwaves. Of course, if that happened, we wouldn't have the great fortune to learn all about the latest sexual enhancement product being advertised on the radio.

More on the cartoon strip

The above strip is the first in the series. Generally, the story is about a media mogul and his employees. During my stint in politics I developed a love-hate relationship with the media. Most reporters, whether they work for print or broadcast, seem to be at a social level somewhere below that of pimps. I did run into a couple that were generally decent people, but they were the rare exeption that proves the rule. This strip is a way of dealing with that experience. I think Mark Twain would have enjoyed it.

My cartoon strip

I have always enjpyed the art of the cartoon strip. People like Charles Shultz, Berkeley Breathed and Bill Waterson were able to distill life's foibles with just four funny panels. The strip above is my creation, and I think it is pretty good. Not good enough for the newspapers because they no longer want good, they want to appease, especially if the artist (from some of the new strips, the term artist may be a misnomer) is related to the publisher in some way. From my viewpoint, a carton strip should be funny and evocative as well as well-drawn.

I am going to continue posting Rockpile, changing the strip on a fairly regular basis. If you like what you see, please comment.

Transition

Well, yesterday was the end of my political life, so I am now returned to public life. The voters of district 21 turned out in record low numbers and have given my opponent a chance at the job...that is, if he can win in the general election, which I doubt.

As for what's next? This blog will continue, obscure as it is. I have an idea for a cartoon strip, and once the bugs are worked out, I'm going to try posting it within this site. More later.

Lies and damn lies

My primary opponent in my Assembly race, John Ozark is telling everyone that I was the only member of the Nevada legislature to vote no on AB434, the erstwhile millenium scholarship reform bill. In that narrow view he is right. Out of 63 legislators I was the only no vote. What he is not telling anyone is why. If he did, it would add votes to my side.

The second amendment placed onto AB434 in the last minute on June 4, 2006 said this:
5. The Board of Regents shall establish a procedure by which an applicant
9 for a millennium scholarship is required to execute an affidavit declaring his
10 eligibility for a millennium scholarship pursuant to the requirements of this
11 section. The affidavit must include a declaration that the applicant is a United
12 States citizen or has lawful immigration status or that the applicant has filed an
13 application to legalize his immigration status or will file an application to legalize
14 his immigration status as soon as he is eligible to do so.
15 Sec. 5. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2008.

Take a look at lines 13 an 14, that opens a huge loophole for illegal immigrants to get scholarship money, and you know how the government works. That means that illegals would eventually get preference over citizens. THAT is why I voted no. Apparantly I was the only one who read the amendment. It is also equally apparant that Mr. Ozark is willing to do whatever it takes to win this seat, including lie. I'm guessing ethics was not a course he passed in business school.