Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves

Over the past few days I've been trying to convince myself that things will be fine if Obama is elected president. I've tried to tell myself that his disasterous policies will awaken the sleeping masses of ordinary Americans, who I believe are still moderately conservative overall, much like the Carter administration helped to sweep Reagan into office. I told myself that the damage Obama, and an overwhelming Democrat majority in congress, will undoubtedly cause can be reversed in the years following his time in office.

Then I read Michael Medved's column in Townhall. Talk about a wake-up call. Those of us who are already trying to rationalize away the potential ramifications of an Obama presidency would do well to listen to these warnings. There is no question that a likely 8 years of this kind of leadership would have dramatic effects on the future of this nation. My daughter will be leaving for college at the end of this hypothetical Obama presidency, and the picture I see for her future is not bright.

Under Obama's promised policies we will no longer live in a nation that rewards hard work with success, but will see those who achieve success duly punished by having to pay for those who don't. We will see even larger groups of people bought and paid for by the Democrat Party - "free" health care, unlimited access to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and an unprecedented expansion of every failed government program in existence, all in exchange for thousands of new welfare addicts - aka, loyal Democrat voters.

I believe this is why it's so difficult for the conservative movement to maintain power for long periods of time. The New Deal laid the ground work for a powerful political strategy: secure power for the Democrat Party by using government to buy people off. Let the government pay for its citizens' healthcare, housing, education, retirement, etc. Give the ignorant, short-sighted, lazy masses what they want, and you have a strong base of loyal voters for life.

The conservative philosophy, however, encourages a strong sense of personal responsibility, hard work, and individual freedom. Get the government out of the way, and the American people will prosper as a result. There is a reason socialism has failed every time it has been tried - it removes any incentive for success. And as Michael points out, once a government entitlement program is created, the likelihood of it ever being dismantled is very small.

I'm just now starting to appreciate the true significance of this election. Barack Obama's policies, easily implemented by a huge Democrat majority in congress, could not only run this country into the ground, but could create millions of new loyal Democrat voters at the expense of our economy. Yes, it may awaken the silent majority of honest, hardworking Americans to usher in the next Ronald Reagan; but at that point it will likely be too late.

I don't honestly believe that the American people, on the whole, want our nation to move more towards socialism. But I also doubt that too many people are thinking about the direction of our nation right now. Most people are more concerned about their own problems, and at this point want someone to "pay" for them. People want change. They want someone else to make their oversized mortgage payments, pay for their healthcare, and provide free daycare in the form of government "preschool" programs. That all sounds great to the cash-strapped masses.

These are frightening times for those who worry about the direction of our nation. We need to remember to trust in God's sovereignty, and in His ability to work out His will, even in the face of leaders who are likely to oppose it. It's time to stop worrying, and start praying.

Liberals & Conservatives: All about maturity

I haven't had much time lately to check out things in the political realm, but I have to comment on the difference between liberal and conservative activists. You very rarely see conservative protestors showing their rear ends in truly childish fashion, as we've already seen in Denver after one day of the Democratic Convention, but that's something that's fairly common among the more leftward leaning groups. Why is it that conservatives tend to keep their rear ends to themselves?

I have a number of theories, but I believe this may have something to do with another of my observations concerning liberal activists. One only need look at the typical professions and/or life stations occupied by those of the liberal persuasion to find a rather obvious trend. Let's see, we have college professors, college students and recent graduates, and celebrities. In other words, people who have had very little exposure to life in the real world. Liberal ideology works very well in the classroom, and generally is met with either apathy or idealistic naivete by students who have yet to try and live on their own. So college profs are usually insulated from any kind of legitimate challenge to their ideas, and certainly rarely need to actually put them into practice.

Celebs are probably the easiest example to explain. They live in a world completely isolated from the problems we ordinary men and women face. Movie stars play make-believe all day, so it's not all that difficult to begin actually believing that we can just throw out all the oil and *poof* ourselves up some alternative fuel technology.

So, why is it that liberals tend to pitch obscenity-filled tantrums when they don't get their way? Sure, most conservatives have actual jobs and families that occupy the time that could otherwise be spent so valuably. But, I'd say it has something to do with the maturity that comes through years of putting others before oneself. It's no surprise that most people who spend enough time in the real world become more conservative over time. You begin to see that all those idealistic solutions to the world's problems have been tried and tried for thousands of years, all with the same result.

Head over and check out more of these hilarious photos from absentee's Flickr page.

Oh, Saxby...

I'm a big supporter of Saxby Chambliss. I may not always agree with him on every issue, but then there are very few politicians who qualify for that high honor, and on the whole I believe he's the right guy for Georgia. He's also a genuinely good guy, and I'll continue to work for his election, which should be a foregone conclusion given his popularity within the state. I do, however, have to lament the timing of his latest efforts at bipartisanship.

Why is it that every time we get a "Gang of ___" conservatives get screwed? Republicans are obviously very poor negotiators, because these bipartisan collaborations always end up with our side surrendering everything for very little in return. The bill proposed by this latest Gang of 10 is no different. Not only does its timing completely undermine the courageous efforts of the House GOP in demanding real solutions NOW, it simply doesn't do enough to provide immediate, comprehensive solutions to our dependence on foreign oil. There is far too much emphasis on funding for 'alternative fuels' research, and far too little in the way of short-term solutions available to us NOW.

I won't get into the political suicide that this bill effectively accomplishes for Republicans. That's been covered, and the senators are getting hammered, over at Redstate and other places for the last few days. But the real world solutions this bill is supposed to offer are simply not good enough. As Erick and others have said, we would be much better off simply allowing the ban of offshore drilling to expire, allowing us to drill everywhere.

This is awesome...

This was a brilliant move by the House GOP on Friday, and it continues today...

After already barely passing a resolution to give themselves a five week paid vacation, the Democrat Congress sneakily adjourned for the day in a craven attempt to escape Washington without a real vote to address America’s high gas prices and energy security. It also, they laughed, would silence Republican members from discussing America’s energy security and independence on the record after votes...

Led by Tom Price (Patriot-GA), Mike Pence (Patriot-IN), Lynn Westmoreland (Patriot-GA) and Henry Brown (Patriot-SC), what commenced as a spontaneous expression of American outrage at Speaker Pelosi and her party’s refusal to hold a vote and help working Americans, soon became a historic Republican “Speak-In” unmatched in U.S. House history...

And so it will continue!

House Republicans will be rearranging schedules, flying thousands of miles, and refusing to take a paid vacation. Instead, the GOP will take to the House floor every day to ensure the voice of Americans’ is heard; there is a vote to make our country energy secure and independent; and keep America the greatest nation on Earth!

Excellent work from our Georgia boys, Lynn Westmoreland and Tom Price! Paul Broun, unsurprisingly, was also a part of the original 'revolution.' Funny, I don't see our 'conservative' congressman Jim Marshall on the list...

The Rush Effect

Like him or not, it would be very difficult to deny that Rush Limbaugh has transformed the world of politics in America over the last two decades. I am one of the first generation of Rush Babies to enter the real world, and I am extremely grateful for the influence he had, and continues to have, on my understanding of conservative thought and practice. As I came of age in the era of Bill Clinton, Rush Limbaugh provided commentary on the events surrounding my life that was both entertaining and informative.

Much of the criticism he receives centers around his blend of entertainment and information. Most of us Rush Babies had at least one liberal college professor tell us that the Rush Limbaugh Show is nothing more than entertainment, and should never be taken seriously. Of course, to most liberals, no point of view that conflicts with their own should ever be taken seriously anyway. Condescension is often employed as a preemptive strike for those whose policy defence strategy is based less on common sense than on emotional or populist rhetoric.

But Rush has defied every detractor. His show has grown beyond anything else in the industry, (if only among us "bitter gun-toting religious fanatics") and he continues to redefine talk radio and inspire others to at least try to emulate his success. His influence on conservative thought and practice in America cannot be overstated, and his influence on young people continues to guard against the liberal indoctrination that occurs daily in our "screwls" and universities.

It's no wonder Democrats and the left are desparately trying to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine. If nothing else, Rush - and his proud ideological offspring - can see this outrageous attempt at regulation of speech as the remarkable compliment that it is. Congratulations Rush...and thanks.

Also, head on over to Human Events where they're celebrating 20 years of the show with some great articles about "The Great One."

Brobama

A certain British newspaper, which I will not link to, and do not read because of my support for a certain British football club, caught up with one of Barack's little brothers (well, technically half brother). Bernard Obama lives in Kenya where he runs a car parts store, but visits his mother, who lives in the UK, quite often. Bernard and Barack were born of the same Kenyan father, but by different mothers, and didn't actually meet until Bernard was around 17.

It would therefore be difficult to argue that Bernard reflects in any way on his older half-brother - besides, we all know that the Obama is the incarnation of Hope and Change, and cannot therefore be considered anything other than divine.

Bernard is a proud muslim, but we're not supposed to mention that word in the same sentence as His HopeChangefulness, so we'll leave that topic well enough alone. The Brobama is also a devoted Manchester United fan, and avid reader of The Sun*. Now, I could care less about his religion - that's between him and his Maker - but his exceptionally poor choice of football club, and alleged daily reading of such a sorry excuse for journalism is so egregious that it cannot do less than reflect poorly on his illustrious big bro...at least in my book. But then I was already pretty biased against the Obamessiah before I learned his brother was a dirty manc.

*The Sun, which is never to be named in the presence of a Liverpool fan, much less ever purchased or read, is still the subject of a boycott among any well-informed Red. This is due to the inexcusable coverage of the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool FC supporters in 1989. The newspaper's editor ran a completely false and unsubstantiated article on the front page of the rag, claiming that the LFC fans involved in the tragedy participated in horrible acts which will not be given the dignity of having been named on this site. The editor refuses to apologize for this remarkable smear to this day.

Shocker...

For anyone who somehow continues to doubt the liberal bias in the news media, well, just follow the money.

An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans .

Two-hundred thirty-five journalists donated to Democrats, just 20 gave to Republicans — a margin greater than 10-to-1. An even greater disparity, 20-to-1, exists between the number of journalists who donated to Barack Obama and John McCain.

Searches for other newsroom categories (reporters, correspondents, news editors, anchors, newspaper editors and publishers) produces 311 donors to Democrats to 30 donors to Republicans, a ratio of just over 10-to-1. In terms of money, $279,266 went to Dems, $20,709 to Republicans, a 14-to-1 ratio.

The author also provides a handy chart containing the contributions made by "those who reported being employed by major media organizations."

The contributions add up to $315,533 to Democrats and $22,656 to Republicans — most of that to Ron Paul, who was supported by many liberals as a stalking horse to John McCain, a la Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos with Hillary and Obama.

What is truly remarkable about the list is that, discounting contributions to Paul and Rudy Giuliani, who was a favorite son for many folks in the media, the totals look like this: $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans (four individuals who donated to McCain).

Let me repeat: $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans — a ratio of 100-to-1. No bias there.

Dubya in Georgia

The president stopped by yesterday afternoon to throw his weight behind the GOP's effort to unseat Congressman Jim Marshall in the 8th Congressional District. At this point, I'm not so sure how much Bush's presence helps any Republican candidate, but as the Telegraph points out, it's pretty much become a tradition for the president to visit the 8th District every two years.

I really like Rick Goddard, and will of course support his candidacy. If anyone can unseat the popular Jim Marshall, he can do it. I just don't think the timing is right for this challenge, though. The last two races against Marshall were incredibly close, and had Goddard been running instead of Mac Collins last time, we may have seen a different result. But we have to remember that Congressman Marshall has been holding onto this seat, albeit by the skin of his teeth and only because he generally votes as a conservative, throughout a period of overall Republican dominance. If we weren't able to unseat Marshall while the GOP brand was hot, I don't see it happening now that the Republican name is not well liked.

The only ray of hope lies in the fact that Georgia has been bucking the national trend away from Republicans. Even in the 2006 election - a disaster for the GOP nationally- Collins only fell short by 1752 votes, or one percentage point, after running a fairly lackluster campaign. The problem is that Goddard, or any candidate for this seat, needs to make significant gains in Bibb county, where Marshall received nearly 60% of the vote, in order to win the seat. So far, Marshall has too much support from voters in this area who otherwise tend to support conservatives. Proof of this can be seen in the results for Governor in this same election. Sonny Perdue won over Democrat Mark Taylor by 1881 votes in Bibb County. Overall, 18,954 Bibb County voters chose Perdue, while only 13,893 voted for Collins.

The task for Rick Goddard's campaign is to convince more of those Bibb County voters that they are best represented by a true conservative. There is no question that the district is conservative - Marshall has, on the bigger issues, voted as a conservative throughout his tenure - but Goddard needs to highlight where he has strayed. His support for liberal party leadership, and his votes on other issues that didn't get as much publicity (he was a co-sponsor of the ironically named "Employee Free Choice Act") need to receive attention. Goddard also needs to remind voters in this area that Marshall constantly has to go against his own personal liberal views in order to accurately represent his district, whereas a true conservative can be trusted to fall back on his core beliefs for difficult decisions.

This will be a difficult race - Marshall already has a big lead in fundraising - but we need to get behind Rick Goddard. Go to his site and contribute, or better yet, contribute through Slatecard today.

Conservatism Wins

Paul Broun's huge win over Barry Fleming is a very good sign for conservatives in the GOP. Broun was elected to fill Rep. Charlie Norwood's seat after his untimely death last year, and has represented the 10th congressional district as a true conservative. He has stood firm on a number of key fiscal and social issues, and won the support of most of the conservative base. This turned into an ugly race, however, after the Republican Party establishment backed Broun's opponent. I suppose Broun's tendency to put conservative ideals before the party line was a rubbing a few folks the wrong way.

Thankfully, Broun won comfortably, by a 71 - 29% margin, sending a strong message to the GOP establishment. The base, especially in Georgia, is as conservative as it gets - and a politician who actually lives up to his promises to limit government and fight for conservatism will always get our support. The GOP needs to wake up and see what's going on here. It's time to take our party back.

November to Remember?

Leon has an excellent post over at Redstate concerning what most of us have come to terms with at this point. November will likely be a month to forget for the GOP and it's loyal supporters. The debacle of 2006, an unpopular (although improving) war, an economy that at least appears to be in serious trouble, and the fact that there seems to be a new virus going around that causes registered voters to break out in hives when the word Republican comes up - all these factors will likely make this a November to remember for very few Republicans. But does disaster for the GOP necessarily mean disaster for conservatives?

Those of us who are conservative first, and Republicans only as long as they are the party that best represents our values, can take heart if this election does go the wrong way. I'm not advocating that anyone sit this one out. There is far too much at stake, and far too many important issues that we cannot afford to surrender to liberalism at this point. I for one will fight for and support every conservative candidate I can in this election because I believe that conservatism is what's best for this country and its future. But if we do suffer heavy losses - if we end up with large majorities in both houses and Barack Obama - it certainly won't be the end of the world.

For one thing, this is evidently the only way the GOP leadership will wake up and realize that they've lost the plot. A long stay in the majority gave too many Republicans too much power, and it went straight to some of their heads. They veered remarkably off course, engineering some of the largest spending increases in history and completely failed, with a GOP president in office, to advance any meaningful conservative policy. As Leon points out, we had a chance to show the majority center-right public that the GOP was serious about cleaning up its act after the 2006 elections. Instead of electing party leaders who were serious about reform, we continued down the same path. And although the current leadership has fought some battles well against an inept Democratic majority, they have failed to lead on the big issues - especially earmarks.

Perhaps, if nothing else, a bloodbath in November will finally pave the way for true reform within the party. We must support McCain this fall - we may not like him, but Barack Obama is not an option if we care anything about this nation. And more importantly, we need to support true conservatives in our primaries. It's time to clean house, and if it takes a drubbing at the poles, and 4 years of Jimmy-Carter-like-policy to make the public see once again that liberalism fails - every time - then so be it.

R.I.P. Tony Snow

The contrast between President Bush's previous 2 press secretaries (before Dana Perino) couldn't be more marked. When Tony Snow stepped in to clean up the mess left by the incompetent Scott McClellan, it was like a breath of fresh air. Finally, someone who could actually communicate the positions of the Bush administration with intelligence and flair. He was articulate, witty, and extremely good at defending policy.

He earned the respect of the press corps when the vast majority of his audience were biased against the administration he was representing. Compare that to the idiot that was his predecessor, and well, there is no comparison. The reason Tony Snow was such a success in his postion is the same reason McClellan was such a failure. Tony Snow actually believed in the policies he defended. He was passionate in his belief in conservatism as the best hope for this nation, and that drove his desire to persuade others who didn't believe.

Unlike McClellan, he wasn't simply spouting the talking points handed down from the higher-ups. He had a genuine desire to defend the administration because he honestly believed in the job it was trying to do. Tony Snow will be missed by those of us who long for articulate defenses of conservative principles in the public arena.

Ted Kennedy

I wanted to take a moment to comment on the sad news about Senator Kennedy. There couldn't be a greater contrast between two people than the one between the Senate's "Liberal Lion" and an unknown political junkie like myself. I disagree with pretty much everything the Senator has supported in his impressive career. But sometimes it's important to be reminded that these politicians are people just like us...people with families and friends who care about them. I've never met the man, but this article speaks to his personality and the impact he has had on every member of the Senate.

Unfortunately, the comments section of the article has drawn out the lowest of the low. It didn't take long for the charge of "this is God's judgement on him for his Liberal ways" to surface. I always wonder how it is that these people have access to the mind of the Almighty God. How else can they be so certain about His motives? The bottom line is we are told to love and pray for our enemies - period. If this disease claims Senator Kennedy's life, then he will answer to God for his actions - as will all of us.

Democrats: Raping Small Business

The Patriot Tax. I'm almost at a loss for words. But not quite...

I would say it's hard to know what's going on in their minds, but by now I know too well how the mind of a Democrat works. Hey, here's a great idea! Our economy's in the tank, so let's find a way to destroy one of the most reliable sources of economic growth by hitting small business owners in the wallet! Sure, it'll punish those who create 60 to 80% of all new jobs, and employ half of all Americans, but the voters don't know that. They'll see that we're increasing taxes on the Evil Rich - those who make more than $500,000 a year, and they'll love us for it!

Never mind the fact that many small business owners file their business income on their personal tax return. In fact, 83% of all tax returns with incomes over $1 million are business owners. Small businesses are already suffering from the credit crunch, and the Dems want to pile on for political points. It's not surprising, but still pathetic.

And the worst part of all: 31 GOP jackasses voted for it. It's things like this that will cause me to shed few tears over the impending November bloodbath that awaits the GOP.