I am an American, not a Republican

One of the most striking impressions I gained while serving as a state representative was that Party, not State, not Country, was placed in a position of much higher importance than anything else. Even campaign donations (read bribes) took a subordinate position. One member of my caucus stated his primary purpose for being in office. “I want to #@!! them,” he said. He meant the Democrats. It did not matter if the legislation had any merit, not even if it saved the taxpayers money. Beating the enemy was all. This attitude also ran rampant throughout the other side of the aisle. Four of my bills were taken from me and given to the Democrat leadership because I was a member of the minority party and my bills were viewed as a violation of a cardinal rule: a freshman legislator shall not propose legislation good enough to pass, especially if it is better than their leaderships’ bills.

Many questions have been asked why our government seems so inadequate in solving our ongoing problems. The simple answer is that the parties are too busy fighting each other to actually accomplish anything. Compounding that is the fact that they also don’t want to upset any of the big money people who typically donate to their campaigns, even if it is the right thing to do.

I have always believed that if an elected official becomes aware of a wrong being perpetrated, that official should take steps to stop it. I did so when I was approached by a group of casino employees upset over their tips being stolen from them by the casino owner. In researching this I found a state law that forbids the taking of tips. My own party attacked me over this, claiming I was violating the “free market”. The fact that a law was being broken was beside the point. In reality, the party in Nevada is owned by the gaming industry and they were told to remove an irritant.

Anyone who has ever watched the TV series The West Wing is familiar with the character Wesley. That character, throughout the series, consistently argues against allowing the Republicans to win anything, even if that win benefits the country. The unfortunate truth is that that attitude prevails in American politics. Elected officials are Democrats, not Americans; Republicans, not Americans; and it doesn’t end there.

Ever hear of Affirmative Action? It is a nasty piece of legislation that legitimizes discrimination because someone’s ancestor may have been discriminated against by someone in the past. In essence it is Washington saying that in this case, two wrongs do make a right. What it has actually done is keep the division going. In the US we do not have Americans in a variety of colors, we have African Americans, Mexican Americans, and so on…We are so busy creating and maintaining socio-political walls to divide our populace that we have become antagonistic toward those who try to scale the wall.

Like our government, our education system is in rapid decline not simply because we refuse to pay for the tools to do the job properly, but because we have surrendered to the politically correct forces who insist on maintaining the walls. The school board in my area has members who actively fight against those methods proven to work in the classroom because those methods are not politically popular with their party leadership.

The Democrat Party will not support anything that upsets the fanatic left. As a result, the party of John F. Kennedy seems to support international terrorism, the killing of healthy, living babies via partial birth abortion, the granting of amnesty to the vilest of serial killers, the removal of personal responsibility, the removal of any right that promotes self-reliance, the destruction of heterosexual marriage and the core family unit, the elimination of Israel as a state, and the dissolution of America as a sovereign nation.

The Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Reagan has metastasized into a party that openly supports massive corporate theft, human trafficking, the resurgence of plantation style slavery, the elimination of small business and the destruction of public education.

Either way we lose, simply because the American voter no longer cares about who runs their party.

What is a Republican anyway?

Over the past few weeks a number of letters to the editor and several articles have appeared in my local papers about the ongoing disarray within the GOP ranks. Some writers have called for the firing of the state party chair and others continue to nibble away at the makeup of the rank and file like flesh-eating bacteria…but to compare those people to bacteria is to insult the germ.

While recovering in the hospital last week, I was visited by Ellen and Bill Spiegel. She is the new State Assemblywoman for my district, taking my place. She and her husband also happen to be Democrats, he more than she. I am still registered Republican, but I have often wondered aloud in conversation with Bill as to whether or not I should change my registration. The party has changed and not at all for the better.

Bill told me in no uncertain terms that I should not register Democrat. He is a consistent reader of this blog and in his opinion I am a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. It is his feeling that I would feel even more out of place in the Democrat ranks than in the GOP. Why is that? What is a Republican?

It used to be that to be a member of the party; one had to share certain common beliefs with the other members. Some of those beliefs were in the reality and rock solid foundation of our constitution. The constitution and not the casual interpretation of it by activist judges was the law of the land. To be a Republican you had to stand for freedom and civil rights, and for those rights to be available for all…equally. One group could not have additional rights or freedoms above another, period and regardless of politics.

You had to be in favor of allowing the market to do its job without governmental encumbrance. A business failed or succeeded on its merits, not because it was a better thief than the others. Understanding that the free exercise of religion was a paramount item in the formation of this country was also very important. How that religion was practiced was not so important, just the freedom to do so…and it did not matter where you did so, regardless of who became upset over your praying.

For myself, I believe that being a Republican means being honest, forthright, compassionate and pragmatic. Simply because someone has more than someone else does not mean they are a better person or have more rights and privileges within our society than anyone else. We are supposed to be a nation of law, not of lawyers. As for the free market, it is meant to be survival of the fittest, not survival of the fattest. The government has no place in commerce outside of general regulation to keep everyone honest. Anything beyond that is a direct violation of our constitution.

Tammy Bruce opined the other day that a lot of people in Washington deserve to be behind bars. I tend to agree with her. She only mentioned Democrats, but I say that the crimes are bipartisan and we have more than enough villains in both parties to go around. Money has become the chief arbiter of power and legislation these days and today’s Republican Party cannot abide an honest man. I may not fit in the Democrat niche, but it is certainly no picnic here in the GOP closet either.

We do not need Ideologues, we need Idealists.

I have found that it is an understanding of the subtleties of the English language that is the last item on the learning list, especially if that learner is a member of the media; doubly so if that learner is a political pundit who believes their own hype.

This lesson is no more apparent than in the ramblings of the right wing fringe that piloted the ship of the GOP onto this last election’s iceberg. The general topic of conversation from these ideologues has been about how the so-called moderate republicans were the ones who caused the current situation. For the life of me, I cannot see how those who thought the Bush agenda of talking conservative while spending and acting like Harry Reid’s evil twin was the wrong way to go, could be the source of the GOP’s current lack of power.

It must be pointed out that these same ideologues were the one’s who saw no dichotomy in proclaiming John McCain their perfect candidate, even though the good senator’s voting record and bills suggest he is far from what any intelligent observer of history would call conservative. These same pundits saw no hypocrisy in supporting McCain while in the background they worked overtime to trash the reputation of his running mate, Sarah Palin. In my opinion, it was the Alaskan Governor’s unfailing and effective opposition to corruption, even when it arose within her own party, which set these so-called bastions of conservatism against her.

In my own state of Nevada, I experienced a similar reaction. As a freshman State Assemblyman, I was attacked by my own party leadership because I wrote a bill that would have forced a business leader to obey an existing law protecting employees from theft by those employing them. For those reporters reading this, I will restate it in simpler language. My bill would have stopped the boss stealing from his workers. Because of this bill, every leading member of the Republican Party in Nevada began working to remove me from my Assembly seat. I was even warned by a sitting State Senator, a State Senator who attends nearly ever bible study held during session, to remove my opposition to this businessman’s theft. My Canadian readers will notice the obvious hypocrisy.

An ideologue will follow the party line regardless where it leads. Corrupt, illegal, even immoral actions are of no consequence. Only party loyalty matters. Those who step out of line, especially those who effectively clean up corruption within the party, are considered traitors to the cause. An idealist is an anathema. An idealist cannot be corrupted and is therefore untrustworthy to the corrupt. Even worse, an idealist cannot be bought. The phrase, “He’s too honest, we can’t trust him,” was spoken by the Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman concerning my own political future after I proved I wasn’t for sale at any price. This was the same chairwoman who violated both state and federal law by ordering the state convention closed before the final vote could be counted. This order came after Ron Paul won the majority of delegates. His wasn’t the prevailing ideology the leadership could afford to support.

To be fair, both major parties are rife with corruption. In fact, corruption has become the common state of affairs; the recent Senate Seat for Sale affair in Illinois is an example of Democrat corruption. Ted Stevens’ 30 year reign of selling his vote in Alaska is a prime example of GOP corruption. Between these two towering infernos of graft stands the thinning herd of idealists. To the idealist, the constitution should be the final arbiter of any concern within and without this country. The Founding Fathers set up hard and fast rules as to how this country should treat its citizens and how the citizens should act out their citizenship. Party ideologues find the constitution an inconvenience at best, and an enemy to be thwarted at worst. They will place the welfare of governments openly hostile to America before that of Americans if there is money to be had in the deal. The ongoing negotiation with Mexico in regard to the US/Mexico super highway is an example. The arrest and conviction of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean because they had the audacity to stop a Mexican drug runner from completing his mission, is another. The Bush Administration’s firing of every federal prosecutor who appeared to be competently honest, is a glaring third. For an ideologue, honesty is not a virtue.

We need Idealists in this country, not Ideologues…whether they be right wing or left wing makes not difference. The past eight years has shown us the result of ideologue leadership. Ronald Reagan asked a very pertinent question of America when he was debating Jimmy Carter, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” I can ask the same now, but let’s change the number from four to eight. Carter’s ideology evaporated the last vestiges of a robust economy like the summer sun on a snowflake. Bush’s ideology has produced an even more devastating result simply because he was granted twice the amount of time.

An idealist functions within the framework of what should be, not what is. The Founding Fathers gave us a template of what should be. Within that framework is the principle of fairness regardless of you circumstances. Everyone, regardless of sex, race, age, or position should be given the same consideration and the same opportunity. Position, power, wealth…none of these should matter in the eyes of the law. That is the world of the idealist and it is adamantly opposed to that of the ideologue.

At least, that’s how it should be.

Right Wing Insanity

The Nevada Legislature held a special session this last Monday, December 8th. The minimum cost of this special session was $100,000 per day. The reason for this lavish waste of the taxpayers money? To cut costs. A brief skim of the Nevada Constitution will show that the power to do this rests in the Governor’s hands, but our Governor, “Thumbs” Gibbons (over 800 text messages to his girlfriend while he was cheating on his wife), didn’t want to do the hard job of deciding where to cut cost and to raise revenue. So he called in the legislature to do the dirty work for him.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. During the 2007 session of the legislature, the Mayors of Reno, Sparks and Carson City wanted to have the Legislature ok the formation of a Northern Nevada Water Authority, even though they had full authority to do so on their own. They didn’t want to do so because it was more expedient for the voters to be mad at us than them. It is interesting to note that honesty in politics, real honesty, is as rare as hen’s teeth. The media, the pundits, the politicians and yes, even the voters, will attack honesty whenever it rears its offensive head.

Yesterday an article was printed in the Las Vegas Review Journal entitled “We Need More Right Wing Ideologues”. The author of that article is know for strident criticism of anyone he considers to be less than his idea of pure Republican, even though he is not a member of the party. During the last election, the GOP received a total shellacking and lost any semblance of power they may have had during the last session. RWI’s (right wing ideologues) like as this writer (I will not name him because he has done nothing to deserve such acknowledgement) have done more to hurt the Republican Party than corrupt governors have hurt the Illinois Democrats.

Cheap shot though it is, the statement is true. If the radicals are allowed to take over any organization, logic and civil discourse leave. I have tried to speak intelligently to the writer. Doing so is impossible. An ideologue cannot carry on a conversation, much less a debate without emotion taking over. Compromise and consensus are concepts totally alien to them, and if forced to participate, only result in frustration for all involved.

During the last eight years the Republican Party experienced a nearly fatal combination of Ideologue fanaticism and Democrat-style spending. The mix of the two have given us Democrat supermajorities in both Washington and several states. One would think that an intelligent person would see history in action and learn from it. Apparently that is too much to expect from the writer. A basic definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result each time. What does it say about a person when they insist on not only repeating the disastrous action, but doing more of it?

The Death of Common Sense

A Memorial to Common Sense:
Common Sense died this year in a tragic mishap. Common’s best friends, Responsibility, Morality, Ethics and Virtue seemed to have also been victim’s of the tragedy. Civil Rights, a close associate of Common Sense is currently in the ICU; the prognosis is not good.

An obituary such as this may seem cynically comical, but in actuality, it is not. Consider the current climate in Washington. Many think the election of Barrack Obama to the Presidency signifies a new era in American government. They see the elimination of poverty, sickness and corporate greed. Somehow, simply putting a black man into the seat of power solves all our problems. The Arabs will no longer hate the Jews. Slavery and oppression will cease to exist and every child will have what they desire waiting for them under the tree on Christmas morning. To many, Obama is not merely the President-elect, he is the Messiah.

The Democrat landslide that swept through this year’s electoral cycle removed even the pretense of bipartisanship that existed last year. Current stories in the press about Nancy Pelosi’s recent moves as Speaker give a good indication of what will be coming our way after the 2009 inauguration.

As a junior Senator, Barrack Obama had the most consistently liberal voting record in American history. Even Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi could not bring themselves to support some of the radical causes championed by their soon to be new boss. Partial birth abortion, friendship with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, and the elimination of the Second Amendment, all have a place at Obama’s table. His proposed tax policies will not create the universal wealth he claims, but drive the current recession we are now experiencing into a full blown depression.

There was a time in recent history where the state of New Jersey was one of the least taxed states in the nation. At that same time it was one of the few states where the Governor had the unique pleasure of dealing with an ongoing budget surplus. The New Jersey legislature, in an attempt to assuage certain special interests, decided to raise taxes on business. Surprisingly, to some, revenues went down, not up. The legislature was unable to learn from history, no surprise there, and raised taxes. Revenues fell a bit more and now New Jersey, rather than being one of the most prosperous states, is one of the least. They function in a state of continuous deficit.

There are some who think all our problems would be solved if the situation were reversed and the GOP held the reins of power. The problem with that sort of thinking is that we have already experienced that scenario and the end result was, after a brief economic expansion, a long steady slide into laissez-faire greed and corruption that culminated in the great depression of the early 1900’s. Now it appears that we are repeating history.

Common Sense would dictate that if doing things one way results in failure, then it would be wise to try something else…possibly in the opposite direction. Two problems with that sort of thinking are, one; it means admitting you were wrong, and two; being able to work outside of your own self interest.

Campaign hysteria

It is interesting to watch the various campaigns attempting to poke holes in each others potential ships of state. Even more interesting are the assorted talking heads in TV news and on talk radio adding their two cents, occaisionally devalued through party agenda.

Of course Sarah Palin is the topic du jour on the majority of shows. The lefties attack, being completly worthless on the issues, has now moved to their default fall back, pure nastiness. According to the feminists, Palin cannot be a real woman for a number of reasons. Her most egregious crime has been multifold, staying married to the father of her children and compounding that by apparantly being quite happy in her marriage, getting pregnant and actually keeping the baby, being a strong woman without being a Democrat, and worst of all, not fitting into the caricature they have built within their diseased minds of what a christian woman should be.

Isn't it a bitch when reality spoils your rant?

You can't teach instincts like that

OK! magazine, the sychophantic journal of Jan Whiner (misspelling intentional) is claiming to be putting an evenhanded choice before the voters. Here is the text from the magazine's site:

"On one cover is an exclusive look into the everyday family life of Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and their two adorable daughters, Malia and Sasha. "

Notice the word ADORABLE and the phrase EVERYDAY FAMILY LIFE where Obama is concerned.

"OK!'s other cover this week is dedicated to Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old Alaskan governer who first surprised the world when she was announced as Senator John McCain's running mate for the November election, only to shock everyone again days later when she announced the pregnancy and impending marriage of her 17-year-old daughter Bristol."

Notice the change in tone here. No hint of scandal in the Obama article but nothing but that when the focus shifts to the opposition. The site finishes the blurb with a bubbly sentence saying it is now the readers turn to decide. Decide, oh yes, but is a fair representation being offered? OK! is in essence asking its readers to decide between a lucious family meal or a suspicious hunk of rotting chicken. And did anyone notice the missing candidates here?

Unless I missed something, isn't McCain running against Obama? As far as I know, no vice presidential candidate has ever debated a presidential candidate, but that is how the left views this race. McCain, to them is not the danger, Palin is. McCain has enough baggage, not as much as either Democrat candidate, but enough to formulate an attack. Palin, on the other hand has a record an eagle scout would envy. Even Dr. Phil, the left's councilor of choice has come to her defense. No, this woman is the real threat.

Consider what Whiner and the others are facing here. Never in this nations history has one of the parties ever made it past three administrations. FDR is considered to be just one long administration. If McCain had played fair and picked a real loser, things would be all right, but what did he do? He picked a woman, notice the Dems are running two men, who not only looks good, speaks good, has experience, and the unfairest of all, is actually good...not just another politician, like Hillary.

So what does OK! do? They polish the tone and slant the view...and do it slickly. You just can't teach instints like that.