The Trouble With Santorum

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At this point in the Republican primary, Rick Santorum is the only substantial “not Mitt” left in the running. With Gingrich falling behind Paul in the Illinois primary, it’s safe to say that Newt’s campaign has run it’s course. Delegate count being a factor, there’s no way Gingrich or Paul can feasibly win the nomination.

It’s been interesting to watch the migration of supporters from Palin (once she decided not to run), to Cain. Then from Cain to Gingrich, then from Gingrich to Santorum. Even more surprising is the Tea Party support of Santorum, particularly since Santorum, by his own admission, has qualms with the Tea Party movement as seen here (after his soliloquy on the virtues of government intervention):

We are a people that believes that government has a role to play: federal government has a role to play, state government has a role to play and local government has a role to play; and when there are clear wrongs in society, when there are injustices in society, sure you handle it at the local level if you can, but when the local and state level are in cahoots with the injustice, then the federal government has to step in and do something; … but as I’ve said before, I have some real concerns about this movement within the Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement to sort of refashion conservatism and I will vocally and publicly oppose it and do my best to correct the record.

And then there’s the issue of our friends, the Libertarians. Santorum said,

I am not a Libertarian and I fight very strongly against Libertarian influence within the Republican party and the conservative movement.  I don’t think the libertarians have it right when it comes to what the Constitution is all about. I don’t think they have it right as to what our history is and we are not a group of people that believes in no government.

And Santorum on smaller government? Goldwater Conservatism? Meh…

To our credit, Republicans have sort of morphed away from the Goldwater idea that government needs to be smaller, it needs to do less, it needs to be doing nothing except what it’s core functions are to a party by and large, and there are elements still left by the way, in the party like that, to a party that by and large says, look, we need to restructure the way we do programs or the way government functions to create the kind of incentives or create the kind of help and programs that give that power to folks closer to the people or to family or to the individual themselves.

And to disspel any concern that the above listed were merely isolated incidents, there’s also this - the big one, the queen mother of them all:

One of the criticisms I make to what I refer to as a more Libertarianish right.  They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do.  Government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low and that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. That is not how traditional Conservatives view the world.  There is no society that I”m aware of where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.

Less government?? Individual freedom?? No government in the bedroom?? Pssh… that’s just crazy talk.  Limited government, individual freedom and the ability to make choices without government intervention are the cornerstones of conservatism.  Santorum, for whatever reason, chooses to characterize these “radical” ideals as libertarian, which is not inaccurate, but to act as though they are not conservative values is dishonest. Furthermore, it begs the question as to what conservatism means to Rick Santorum.  If your only solution to societal ails is more government – you’re doing it wrong. And it’s precisely this notion that makes Rick Santorum, well, troubling.

 

 

Occupy Wall Street vs. the Tea Party, the Illustrated Edition

Just when I thought the left couldn’t possibly get more ridiculous, along came “Occupy Wall Street.”  It was only a matter of time before the lovechild of anti-Americanism and liberalism came of age and as gave us a nonsensical “movement.”  Of no surprise to anyone with a brain, the entire spectacle was carefully organized by the far, far left, courtesy of the SEIU, Van Jones and cohorts, as a lame lefty knock-off of an actual spontaneous political movement – the Tea Party.

Despite Occupy Wall Street’s ridiculous demands, incoherent message and purpose, disruptiveness and destructiveness, the media, and a host of the left’s best and brightest quickly gave their blessings and dubbed the movement “understandable.” To overcome the sheer idiocy of the movement and in an attempt to make it more palatable for the viewer at home, the media began comparing the Occupiers with the Tea Party.

Just how dissimilar are these movements? Well, see for yourself:

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Aside from the obvious differences of cohesion, cleanliness, lawlessness, defecating on cop cars, etc. the biggest and most disturbing difference is the issue of patriotism.  Occupy Wall Street may be disoriented and silly, but the underlying message is consistently anti-American, anti-freedom, entitlement-minded and pro-socialistic.  And because it’s being egged on by every left-wing fanatic with a microphone, and has the backing of every thug-ridden union within strong-arms reach, the Occupy Wall Street movement won’t be dispersing any time soon.  I think it’s about time to dust off our Gadsden flags, wear our red, white and blue and remind this country why constitutional America is the innate hope of mankind, don’t you?

President Downgrade’s “Texans Against Perry” Campaign

While perusing some of my normal news sites, I came across a link to an Obama 2012 campaign site, complete with Dear Leader’s logo. You can check out the link here.

Turns out the website is an attempt to accrue negative feedback on Governor Perry and encourages respondents to submit an email indicating, “which part of Rick Perry’s record you’d most like to see him held accountable for.” So of course I had to respond:

Dear Anti-Perry Propaganda machine,

If your failed candidate of choice had actually taken care of our country, and done even one thing remotely presidential (other than over-utilizing teleprompters to give speeches to first graders) in these passed 2.5 years, there would be no need to spend so much time, resources, and no doubt, taxpayer money or at the very least illegally obtained campaign contributions trying to denigrate an incredibly successful Governor.  Had Mr. Obama been the savior you swore he would be, then he would be running on his record of goodness, charity, hope, change and success. But since he hasn’t had any successes to date (based solely on his poor choices), and has left a wake of poverty, joblessness and destruction at every turn, you must now result to attacking everyone else.

Since at this point, ANYONE would be better than Nobel Prize Laureate, Dictator Deposer, Illegal War Intervener, oh, excuse me — Illegal “Kinetic Military Action” Intervener, Globalized Unconstitutional Healthcare, Project Gunrunner Funding, President Downgrade, your feeble attempts to discredit someone with an actual record of success (unlike our incumbent, Dear Leader) are just that — feeble.

While you will continue to do your damnest to smear Governor Perry, or any other GOP frontrunner, there are millions of us who will be there to counter your every lie.

Most sincerely,

Red Head

Is it surprising that President Obama’s re-election campaign is actively seeking out information (from the public) that could damage or defame the current GOP frontrunner? Of course not. It’s par for the course (and he spends enough time on the back nine for us to know).  However, the sheer fact that this administration is so brazen in their efforts to squash any competition is in a word: pathetic.  Regardless of your candidate of choice, this type of “strategy” is unacceptable and we are sure to see much more of it in the days to come. Because unlike his mentor, Slick Willy, Mr. Obama lacks finesse and political savvy. He’s just too narcissistic for such things.

With 14 months left before the big election day, and arguably the most crucial election in recent American history, we cannot relent. We must continue to fight the good fight and deflect the lies being hurled at those of us who still love America. Oh and feel free to send this campaign atrocity your thoughts. Link’s right here.

Smile when they call you a “terrorist”

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As a conservative, being lambasted with criticism, lies and trash has become, rather sadly, commonplace.  Just part of belonging to the “vast right-wing conspiracy” I suppose.  Yet throughout the “debt ceiling,” “debt crisis,” or whatever you want to call it debate, the Left’s  reaction to the the Tea Parties “rigid” stance turned sour. Take a look.

Seems like only yesterday the Left was accusing us of racism every other minute.  But since that was no longer harsh enough or effective enough, they had to move on to bigger and better slurs.  The rhetoric went from bad to “you’ve got to be freaking kidding me” when esteemed Vice President, Joe “Gaffe Machine” Biden pronounced (along with the entire left-wing establishment) that the Tea Party was nothing but a group of terrorists. Of course, as Bernie Goldberg pointed out, it’s a bit ironic that the Left, who won’t even call the Islamic extremists responsible for the 9/11 and the Fort Hood attacks “jihadis” or “terrorists,” without reservation, toss the term at anything that smells like Tea Party.  I maintain it’s just par for the course. Just another attempt by the left-wingers to smear, smudge and bury the truth behind a barrage of falsehoods, thereby misleading the public who still believe CNN is “balanced.”

The last laugh belongs to us though. For in this ridiculous hyperbole is desperation. For years the Conservative Right has sat silent while the left-wing establishment has launched countless verbal assaults.  Well, we’ve finally had enough. And to help our cause, we’ve elected representatives who bear our sentiments and are also unafraid to speak up (see Joe Walsh, Allen West, Marco Rubio, Michelle Bachman, etc.).  For too long the Left has controlled and manipulated, until the darned Tea Party came along.  The darned Tea Party who won’t hush when they’re told to hush and won’t fall in partisan line with “everyone else.” And why should we?  We have the ideological majority, and by quite a margin.

So, while there’s no question that being called a “terrorist” is ridiculous and unacceptable, we should grin a little every time the accusation is hurled.  We have succeeded in getting under the collective liberal skin. We have found their Achilles heel.  As we gear up for the 2012 elections, we must keep it up — it’s working. We must speak up not only for our values, freedom and future but for America. We must continue to speak truth.  The liberal facade is cracking before us.  Time to pull out our sledge hammers and finish the job.  If we don’t, who will?

Why you should send Representative Allen West a “Thank You” Card

Yesterday, the liberal outrage du jour centered around one my most favorite members of the House: Lieutenant Colonel Allen West.  Not only is he incredibly informed, intelligent, sharp and quick but he’s also gutsy and direct.  Yesterday’s uproar stemmed from an email sent to Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, also a Congressional Representative from Florida.

How it started:

The direct insult, made on the floor of the House begins at 1:02 of this video.  Before watching, be forwarned that you will be exposed to the exact same talking points the White House is circulating  (i.e. “shared sacrifice,” “millionaires and billionaire,” “Bush Tax Cuts,” “Winning the Future,” “Big Oil” and other carefully devised untruths).  Her passive agressive assault ends at 1:26:

So, Representative West responded with the following email (I’ve highlighted my favorite parts):

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tues­day, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasser­man Schultz, Deb­bie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Can­tor, Eric
Sub­ject: Unpro­fes­sional and Inap­pro­pri­ate Sopho­moric Behav­ior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Deb­bie, I under­stand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech com­ments directly towards me. Let me make myself per­fectly clear, you want a per­sonal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unpro­fes­sional ‚and despi­ca­ble mem­ber of the US House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives. If you have some­thing to say to me, stop being a cow­ard and say it to my face, oth­er­wise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own con­gres­sional district!

I am bring­ing your actions today to our Major­ity Leader and Major­ity Whip and from this time for­ward, under­stand that I shall defend myself forth­right against your heinous char­ac­ter­less behavior……which dates back to the dis­gust­ing protest you ordered at my cam­paign hqs, Octo­ber 2010 in Deer­field Beach.

You have proven repeat­edly that you are not a Lady, there­fore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Stead­fast and Loyal

Con­gress­man Allen B West (R-FL)

Representative Wasserman Schultz took the email public.  And that’s when the liberal tomfoolery began.  Never mind that liberals jump to defend Bill Maher when he and his guests continually lambast women on HBO’s Real Time, or how the liberal state-run media constantly malign Sarah Palin and really any woman who is not liberal for.   No, no — it was Congressman West who was clearly out of line, and behind Congressman West is the Tea Party, herego, it’s once again, the mean, evil Tea Parties fault!  At least that’s the “rational” MSNBC purports.

When asked if he would apologize, Representative West responded, saying , “that’s not happening.”  I don’t blame him and neither should you.

For years, liberals, by way of the state-controlled media have  called us racists, ignorant, stupid, uneducated, religious fanatics who couldn’t find our way out of a paper sack.  Enough is enough.  I maintain that on the whole, people who value family, hard work, effort and conservative principles, as a by-product, also tend to have better manners (of course we all know at least one person that makes a cringe…every village has its idiot) and are more inclined to keep their mouths shut because that’s what respect and class dictate.

But Representative West is absolutely right.  We have the right to fight for our honor.  Had we done so sooner, we might not be in this mess.  Our quietness has been misconstrued as complicity, complicity in the debt fiasco, revenue shortfalls, 9/11 and the  socialist liberal agenda that seeks to dismantle everything that makes America great.   We should not continue to sit quietly and defenseless as we are pounded in a verbal onslaught.  We need to speak up, if not for our own honor, for America’s.  Unquestioned, uncontested lies become “truth” (at least in the minds of the masses) and these “truths” will be the end of America as we know it.

I’ve had conversations with quite a few people about this administration’s current policies.  Like most individuals, they simply take the news for face value, and being busy with work, life and families, don’t take much time to dig any deeper.  These conversations always start off the same: (they like to ask because they know I follow politics more than any sane person should)  they bring up a headline, ask me if I’ve heard about it and then follow up by asking me what I think.  Never shy to share my opinion (particularly when asked), I share simple facts on the issue.  Facts like, yes, Social Security checks will be paid and actually, Obamacare requires employers with over fifty employers to provide healthcare (a friend just starting a small business wasn’t happy about this one) and [insert more truth here].  Every single time, they walk away “with something to think about.”  That “something to think about” prompts them to investigate and ultimately they realize the truth.

The truth always goes further than a lie.  If we do not speak up for ourselves and speak up for America, who will?  We cannot and should not be afraid to confront those that would seek to discredit us and what we believe.  Representative West perfectly displayed how we should speak up for ourselves and the truth: with class and dignity.  He deserves our gratitude and thanks, not just for putting his life on the line for freedom, but for reminding us what it looks like to boldly and rightly stand up to adversity.