Basic Flaws in the GOP’s Thinking

 

The Republican Party is comprised of people who have conservative beliefs, but not all conservative beliefs are viewed with the same degree of importance.

Conservatives believe in smaller government. We want to elect a like-minded individual to office and then let them run with the ball. We have our own lives and jobs, let them do theirs and do we right and we will do ours. We expect our elected officials to honest, ethical, steadfast and live the conservative principles.

Conservatives believe in the individual not the group, not the collective. As a result Conservatives are not joiners. We are also not blind followers.

The RNC seems to believe that the vocal minority is whom they must pander to, instead of adhering the principles of the party base. The majority of true conservatives, those conservative in both social and fiscal responsibility, probably do not like belonging to a political “party” and many don’t. In those states where independents can vote in primaries without joining either party there is a large number of “independent” registered voters whom are real conservatives.

Closed primaries, Semi-closed primaries, Semi-open primaries and caucuses disenfranchise a large section of the voting public. While I understand the gaming that goes on in Open primaries and the raiding, there has to be a way that includes all voters in each step of the election process.

Conservatives are individuals. They are leaders of 7themselves, fiercely independent. The only way to appeal to this group is to listen to them and include them. 

Conservatives who demand to be group leaders tend to be from the centrist mold. These people espouse some conservative talking point but can be spotted by their constant pursuit of more “fame”, influence and the almighty dollar. They attempt to organize and then control a group, but real conservatives question every thing and will never be “controlled”.

Conservatives simply need to be provided honest information and then pointed in a direction; guided not led. The RNC should consider providing the voting public with straight data without no hyperbole or misleading statements. RINO’s and other spineless officials should not be allowed to hang their careers on Party membership; actions speak louder than words or labels. 

Larger is not better. Conservatives prefer smaller. In some areas a County-wide organization may work but conservatives are more inclined to smaller groups 10 to 30 people in neighborhood “cells” where they feel their input is actually heard. These small neighborhood groups determine how much or how little they do based on their opinions.

If the information, ideas or suggestions from the grassroots gets lost on its way up the chain, the voters will continue on but as individuals thereby reducing their effectiveness. 

The Conservative platform is like the boat. The grassroots groups are the outboard motor and the RNC should be the tiller not the rudder. The destination is a free republic that follows the tenets of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers.

 
 

 

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Ghost Ranger, Tex’s first novel, is now available on Lulu and Amazon.

 

 

 

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A Truly Sad Day

I don’t know what disturbs me most, Mark Sanford’s infidelity or the public response to it.

I’m a South Carolinian.  I’ve been a very vocal supporter of Mark Sanford and I worked as a volunteer in his first campaign for governor.  I was at his victory party when he won the first time.  I and a friend prayed with him at that party.  It was an incredible moment!  From then until now, I’ve stood with Mark Sanford.

Mark Sanford is that rare person who actually lives what he believes regardless of the consequences.  That is until now.  And that is what makes this so troubling.  This affair was so totally out of character for Sanford that his supporters would never have seen it coming.  When I heard the news today I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.  I went through the afternoon is sort of a fog.

I had high hopes for a Sanford run for the White House in 2012.  I believed he was the absolute best man for the job.  Indeed, if not for this, he would have been.  He was becoming the standard bearer for principled conservatism.  He was the real deal.

All that is history now.  Sanford’s political career is over.  Any presidential aspiration he may have had are now beyond reach.  He’ll be lucky if he manages to stay in the governor’s mansion for the duration of his term.

I’ve wrestled with this all afternoon.  How do I feel?  I feel betrayed but what else?  What do I think should happen?  Reaching a rational conclusion has been complicated by the reactions of others.  I’ve been bewildered by much of what I’ve heard and read.  Twitter has been awash with attacks under the #sanford hashtag.  There has been sheer glee on the part of many on both the right and the left!  I found it simply disgusting and had to stop following the stream.

Many conservative whom I’ve come to respect and follow were piling on Sanford in an apparent attempt to outdo the vitriol of the left.  Sanford might have been Satan himself, or worse.  In the face of all that I found it difficult to even think straight about the whole situation.

Then I ran across a post from, of all places, Slate, that gave me some perspective.  In that piece John Dickerson says:

The minute Sanford started speaking, the reviews poured in via e-mail and Twitter. He was rambling, confused. He didn’t tear up enough when talking about his wife. He favored his mistress. He answered the questions too thoroughly. All these judgments seemed absurd. A man standing in front of a bank of cameras in the middle of a complete collapse is going to say a lot of things poorly.

A little farther on Dickerson says:

I’m not offering Sanford’s humanity as an excuse. I’m just marveling at how few people stopped for a moment to even nod to it. My thoughtful colleague William Saletan and Andrew Sullivan were exceptions. Maybe there are others. Maybe people expressed these views in private conversations. But in the e-mails and Twitter entries and blog posts I read in the aftermath, Sanford’s human ruin was greeted with what felt like antiseptic glee. The pain he’s caused, the hypocrisies he’s engaged in, seemed like license to deny him any humanity at all.

Read the piece.  I’m fighting the temptation to quote the whole thing.  It’s really worth your time.

Sanford is not Bill Clinton.  I don’t believe he ever felt entitled to whatever he wanted, including women.  He messed up.  He allowed a relationship to develop that was inappropriate.  In my view, it is always inappropriate for a married person to allow a deep, personal relationship to develop with a member of the opposite sex not their spouse.  It is dangerous and very often leads to an affair, as it did in this case.  The truth is, there’s not a person alive who couldn’t fall into the same trap given the right circumstances.  It requires some diligence on each person’s part to guard against that sort of thing getting started int he first place.

Sanford didn’t guard himself.  He didn’t guard his heart.  I’m sure he never considered that he needed to because he never believed he would be the guy having an affair.  His principles just wouldn’t allow it.  Except principles are no match for feelings when feelings are allow to develop unchecked.  I know that unless I take precautions to prevent the beginning of something, I could do what Sanford did.  And so could you!  If you don’t think so, you’re fooling yourself and you could be in for a fall, just like Mark Sanford.

I understand how Sanford ended up where he is.  He’s human and subject to human failings.  But understanding is not excusing and actions have consequences.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Sanford should resign for a couple of reasons.  First, he needs to focus all his attention on his family.  He doesn’t need the responsibilites of the state house in the way of that.  If his marriage is to survive, he has to make sacrifices and that should start with the governorship.

Second, I don’t think he can govern now.  Maybe, if he’d only had the affair, he could.  But the strange disappearance, the trip to Argentina, not letting anyone know where he was and all the unanswered questions make it impossible for him to stay.  He should have resigned today.  I think he will resign within the next week.

In the face of all this, fortunate isn’t a word most people would apply to Mark Sanford today, yet I submit he is fortunate indeed.  He has a wife who is willing to put the effort into restoring their marriage so long as she believes he’s willing to put in the same effort.  Jenny Sanford’s statement, released this afternoon, is sheer class and it’s much more than Mark Sanford deserves at this point.  She is no doormat as some would portray her.  She is clearly a strong woman who values her children and he marriage.  Her statement is all over the internet but I’ll include it below because I think it is a model for all Christian women who face similar circumstances.

The Sanford’s are in a precarious situation.  In spite of my deep disappointment with Mark Sanford, I am praying him, for Jenny and for the boys.  I pray that their marriage will be restored and that the boys will recover from the hurt they must feel.  And I pray that someone will rise up to replace Mark Sanford as the standard bearer of true conservatism.

Jenny Sanford’s statement:

I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. As well, for the last fifteen years my husband has been fully engaged in public service to the citizens and taxpayers of this state and I have faithfully supported him in those efforts to the best of my ability. I have been and remain proud of his accomplishments and his service to this state.
I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband’s infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage. During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us. I kept this separation quiet out of respect of his public office and reputation, and in hopes of keeping our children from just this type of public exposure. Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week.

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.

Cheney vs. Obama

Sean Hannity takes a look at Dick Cheney’s speech vs. Barack Obama’s speech.

 

Rush Limbaugh on Government Growth

Rush Limbaugh, in a morning update, takes on Big Government.

 

Kid Explains Conservativism at CPAC

Aso, take note of the comments left on YouTube. The socialist liberals again show their true colors.

Do not miss this!

 

Happy New Year!

2009 promises to be a year full of challenges for political conservatives in the United States, but together and with God’s help, we can meet those challenges.

We at Ft. Hard Knox wish you and yours a very Happy and prosperous New Year.

Real life is relentlessly Conservative. Fantasy is relentlessly Left Liberal and Radical.

Abraham Lincoln, the little known Conservative Republican and his explicitly correct summation of much of the MSM, academia, Hollywood, celebrity, the Democratic Party and the British and Australian Labour Party’s et al ad nauseum. “The greatest dangers to liberty,” wrote Justice Brandeis, “lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”

My very dear readers, Colonel Neville wishes you ALL a very, very Merry Christmas season and a Happy New Year! Hey, let’s all download Mark Steyn’s Christmas song Marshmallow World! It’s a hoot.

Man, Mark Steyn is more fun and good value than sorting through an overstuffed Christmas stocking at 5:AM, wearing your new Batman pajamas, smoking a cigar and finding that the latest Atlantic Monthly you got, contains a very substantial article by P.J O’Rourke. [Atlantic link is Grove Atlantic.]

“Social justice, in the catechism of the socialist religion, is no more than an exertion of raw power to force people to conform to what liberal-progressives believe conditions ought to be.” Thomas E. Brewton.

Conservative values are empirical, proven, timeless, essential and for real human beings as they are and not for theoretical and entirely imaginary people. The values of Conservatism are precisely what have made us prosperous and free. Plus we bathe more regularly.

These are the values that even Left Liberals and Radical’s actually live by day by day, for if they didn’t, they would be financially bankrupt, which would match their current intellectual and moral bankruptcy.

“Buddy can you spare an expanded government aparatus?”

In fact the more morally and intellectually bankrupt a Left Liberal is, the more fabulously rich they usually are.

“The people will believe what the media tells them they believe”. George Orwell.

Their non-values and naturally the radical too, are invariably fantasy hobby’s supported by the pragmatism of factual Conservatism. Like a donkey with legs of pastry, Liberalism can’t support itself, thus the endless calls on more government, their favourite source of financial aid.

Lisa to Grandpa Simpson: “Didn’t you wonder why you were getting checks for not doing anything?”

Grandpa: “I thought it was because the Democrats were back in power”

“To ERR is human, to FORGIVE divine. HOWEVER, neither is Marine Corps Policy.”

Dig this. The utter hypocrisy and venal fraud of Hollywood and the Super Phony Al Gore, are ENTIRELY elevated, supported by, and made rich through CAPITALISM and the free market etc, both basic Conservative ideas. The dominance of Left Libby junk scams is made possible by their relentless manipulation, indoctrination and control freakery via the media, education and entertainment etc. THESE are actual Left Liberal er, “ideas” on the ground.

By default, the same Lib and Rad boobs have trouble possessing any true values at all, as everything they profess to er, believe in, is by definition “up for grabs”, and are always allegedly going to be a success in a future that never seems to arrive…Continue reading on Colonel Robert Neville Always Dresses for Dinner >>

Did Karl Rove Kill Conservativism?

Reading the words of Karl Rove in a recent Wall Street Journal article shows that the mindless blame game continues.

The man most credited with the GOP’s sucesses in the past decade really misses [or ignores] the relevant points. Missing in his article are the facts that McCain ran as a moderate after dismising the conservatives, how McCain was more concerned with running a clean campaign than showing America who the real B.H.O. is, how many conservatives voted for the real liberal while many others stayed home, and how a true conservative stomped the liberal in Georgia.

Too many running the Republican Party have dismissed Reagan conservatives. Many voters today realize that the current powers that are running the GOP have got to go. Karl Rove just proved that in spades.

 

THE SMOKESCREEN

When I was a younger man I found myself in many a fight.  Usually because of my smart mouth and unwillingness to bow down to anyone.  Well, I’ve learned to choose my words better 98% of the time and if you’ll forgive me, still can’t seem to bow down.  Stay with me.

I’ll never forget a fight behind the school bus line one summer day with a fellah bigger than me  who decided to have a little fun with this smart mouth Buffoon.  He kept taunting me to watch his left hand, "watch my left, watch my left", he said.  I was dumbfounded.  What in the world is he talking about, I thought?  Then BLAM!  He knocked piss, fire and vinegar out of me with his right.  Now I know why he wanted me to watch his left hand, because as soon as I became fixated on it, his right was going to take me out, and take me out it did.  Still with me?

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What Does the GOP, and This Country, Need?

It’s an interesting question.  The GOP loses in the ‘06 election were widely attributed, both by GOP leadership and the media, to unhappiness over the Iraq war.  While there was certainly unhappiness over the war, it was clear to most conservatives that the war was not the reason for the loss.  Rather, the abandonment of conservative principles by the Republican Congress was the issue.  Under the Bush administration we saw the largest growth of the federal government since LBJ’s Great Society.

Ronald Reagan wanted to eliminate the Department of Education.  George W. Bush grew it beyond all recognition and Congressional Republicans went right along.  Until the Democrats gained control of Congress the President had yet to use his veto pen.  All the while GOP leadership and President Bush claimed the mantle of conservatism.

When Bush first ran in 2000 I knew he was no conservative.  I voted against him in the primaries.  Compassionate conservatism was nothing but a smoke screen for big government.  Since then GOP leadership embraced this big government "conservatism" and their governance was hardly distinguishable for the Democrats.  With spending out of control and government growing at an increasing rate, the conservative rank and file said "enough."  If the GOP was going to abandon us, why should we support them?

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