Friday, November 14, 2008

14 Nov., '08

I will be leaving soon for a couple of weeks
in San Angelo, TX to spend the Thanksgiving
holiday with Belinda’s Father and Step-mother.
Probably be back around 3rd or 4th December.
I usually don’t have much access to the internet
except at hotels en route that have wifi, so I might
not be posting anything after this until I return.
I will just defer until that time posting any more
comments/analysis of potential party leaders. Let
me just say, though, that there is certainly no dearth
of great talent to lead the conservative movement
forward. As I understand from Fox News and other
sources, two of these talents are vying for leadership
of the Republican National Committee, that is,
Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich. Either of these
2 would be a very positive influence on the Party
and I couldn’t possibly express a preference.


Among the future leaders of conservatism, in
addition to those I’ve already commented on, are
Rick Perry, Gov. of Texas, Haley Barbour, Gov. of
Mississippi, Mitch Daniels, Gov. of Indiana, to
name but a few. Keep your eye on these folks, as
well as those already mentioned earlier.


It has been said that, in a democracy a people will
get the government they deserve. This quote has
been variously attributed to Thomas Jefferson,
Alexis de Tocqueville, and Wm. Shakepeare in
Julius Caesar” and a few other lesser-known
sources. I don’t presume to definitively know the
source of the quote, but I do know it’s true except
that there are those of us who don’t deserve what
we are getting. Many of us worked hard against
what proved to be insurmountable obstacles to
see that Barack Obama was not elected to the
Presidency. And how can we possibly “deserve”
the likes of Hillary Clinton in the Senate? How
can we be held accountable for the Senatorial
election in Minnesota, sending the one-man freak
show Al Franken to, of all places, THE US SENATE?
(I mean no disparagement to all you honest,
hard-working freaks out there by comparing you
to Al Franken - honestly, I just don't have a better
analogy!). Well, I think we can
only strive to do whatever it takes to get
this country back to what the Founders
intended to pass on to us by supporting with
money and our efforts to the leaders we choose,
as well as loyalty to our worthy cause, never waver,
never just roll over and acquiesce to those
things we believe to be truly dangerous to
life, liberty and the pusuit of happiness as
we cherish it.


One last note, before I sign off and go
off on my trip, about the runoff election
in Georgia. I don’t know if you understand
just how critical this runoff is, but the Dems
are threatening with a filibuster-proof Senate.
If this happens, anything goes! We really
need to support Sen. Saxby Chambliss in
this runoff effort. One organization looms
especially large between the Dems and Sen
Chambliss, the National Republican Trust
http://nationalrepublicantrust.com/. Check
out the website and make a contribution.
Money is the “mothers milk of politics” and
without our efforts the liberals will implement
whatever screwball policies the Obama-Reid-
Pelosi troika (truly an unholy alliance) can
come up with. All that is necessary for evil
to prevail is for good men and women to do
nothing. And I believe many of the Dem
policies are truly evil.

C U in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, please
click the "Comments" button and give me
your thoughts, criticisms, encouragement,
even a "cyber-Snickers Bar"!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

11/13/08

Not much to write about tonight. I have
been on my feet most of the day and am
really tired. We (US Submarine Veterans,
South Sound Base, Tacoma, WA) took a
tour of the Trident submarine USS Maine
today. Had a really great time and met some
of the Navy's best & brightest. What a GREAT
bunch of young men (to me, even most, if not
all, of the older guys were "young men").
These sailors love their job, their ship and
most importantly, their country.

Anybody see any of the "speechifying" out
of the Republican Governor's Conference
today? I understand Sarah Palin "wowed"
them AGAIN.

Well, I'll catch up tomorrow with some more
about some of our rising young stars. Until
then, next time you meet a veteran, say
"Thanks, GI".

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

12 Nov. ‘08 @ 1305
We need to find and encourage local as well as national
talent to re-energize the conservative movement.
Conservatism is NOT a “hard sell”, the basic principles
of self-reliance, smaller government & lower taxation are
fairly universally desirable. The problem, though, is that
most of these principles have been compromised in recent
years. I don’t think the conservative movement has been
hi-jacked by charlatans like the Democratic Party has, but
it has simply lost it’s way. It almost seems that in many
cases conservative leaders have just lost the will to fight.
Here are some leaders at the national level who I think
will/should play a prominent role in the resurgence of
conservatism in our great nation. You may not agree with
some of these and you may feel more strongly about others.
If so, please post your thoughts via the “comments” link at
the bottom of the page.



1. Sarah Palin: http://www.teamsarah.org/
We’re all familiar with images of Gov. Palin
from the recent campaign. She energized the
conservative base of the Republican Party in
ways that John McCain could not possibly have
done.
I would not have a problem with a 2012 run by
Sarah for the Presidency, providing, of course, she continues
to perform well as Gov. of Alaska and becomes more “seasoned
in her world view.
I believe, though, that her greatest service would be as a
US Senator. This because the Senate is a deliberative body
and hers is a voice of reason. She could very quickly rise to
a leadership position of considerable importance in a Republican
led Senate. She could possibly make a run very soon
depending on Ted Stevens' political life. Probably would
be better to wait until 2010 and run against Murkowski.
The important thing, of course, is to keep that Senate seat
in Republican control to prevent Obama having a fillibuster
proof Senate.






2. Piyush “Bobby” Jindal


Currently Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal
is one of the really dynamic rising stars in
Republican Politics.
At age 24, Jindal was placed in charge of Louisiana’s
Health System and in less than 2 years led it from a
$400 million deficit to a $200 million surplus. This
without sacrificing services and quality.
Bobby Jindal was elected to the US House of Representatives
in 2004 after losing the gubernatorial election in ’03
to Democrat Kathleen Blanco, who proved to be a
disaster during the Hurrican Katrina debacle. Jindal
was re-elected to his House seat with 88% of the votes
cast. He ran for Governor again when Blanco declined
to stand for re-election and won with 54% of the vote
in a field of 3 other major and some minor candidates.
Jindal is the son of immigrants from India, converted
from Hinduism to Catholicism in high school and has
given testimonies to many evangelical congregations.




3. Paul Ryan, 1st Congressional District of
Wisconsin.

Little known outside of Wisconsin at this time,
but surely destined for a major role in any
resurgence of conservatism.
Ryan was considered as a possible running
mate for John McCain in the recent campaign.
Ryan is the Ranking Member of the House Budget
Committee the highest ranking Republican on that committee
and is a clear voice for economic conservatism.
Watch Ryan, he’s destined for a major role sometime in the
future, probably first as a VP nominee in a near future
Presidential campaign, almost certainly a candidate for a
Senate seat.
These are but a few of my selection of candidates. I’ll post
some more later, probably tomorrow , such as
Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee. In the meanwhile,
let me know, via the “comments” button, if you have other
suggestions.


Tom

Monday, November 10, 2008

Posted 10 Nov., '08 @ 2130

Hello all.
Welcome to the “grand opening” of my politically conservative blog.
I will be looking forward to seeing your comments and criticisms and
hopefully even a compliment now and then.

So lets get right to it, then.
Conservative” and “Republican” are usually considered to be synonymous.
But this is not necessarily always the case. Conservatism should be about
ideals, not ideology, about principles, not party. We should stand for
candidates who will do what’s best for the country, not necessarily what’s
good for their party. I am darned tired of politicians caring more for “the
party” than they do for WE THE PEOPLE! If you feel as I do about this,
then please join me as a participant in this discussion on this blog.

I believe the future of the Republican Party, and the conservative
movement in general, lies in getting back to the basic concepts of
Ronald Reagan style conservatism. That is, self-reliance as opposed
to government doing for us, strict adherence to the Constitution as
opposed to the Constitution being a “living document”, legislators and
judges who believe in the rule of law as enacted by representatives of the
people as opposed to new law being made from the bench by an appointed,
life-tenured activist judge. These being just some of the things that “Ronaldus
Magnus” (Ronald the Great) stood for.
I believe right now is the time to start being prepared for the elections of
2012 & 2016. We need to find and encourage leaders with the ideas that
will lead this nation back to what we were given by the Founders, not
the socialism of the last few years. Frankly, the policies of an Obama
administration, as he talked about in interviews, debates and campaign
speeches are frightening.
We do have a new President, we should all wish him success, but we must
never acquiesce to the ultra-liberal social and economic policies he has
espoused during his campaign. Oppose, but be respectful. Remember,
Reagan respected his Office so much he would not enter the Oval Office
without a coat & tie on. We must write letters, send emails, make phone
calls, send text messages, whatever means we can communicate with our
elected officials. Gov. Mike Huckabee had a great suggestion pertaining
to communicating with these folks. Be respectful, but be sure you make
clear exactly what you want and expect. Never say, “…I’ll never vote for
you (again)”. If you say that, you’ve lost him, why should he care about
someone who isn’t going to vote for him anyways! Say something like,
“…I want to have a reason for voting for you in the next election…”.
If we become as vituperative as some we have seen and heard in the last
8 years, we're no better than they are. I think we should, MUST, set a
very high standard for ourselves.
Remember, these folks are stuck on their positions of power, one of the
things that’s wrong in politics, but also something we can use as a tool.
It takes but a few minutes to write a letter, send an email or make a call.
You will probably not catch the ear of your Legislator him/herself, but
they will have a staff collating responses from correspondents, they
WILL get your message.