On the Norquist Tax Pledge

So, as the fiscal cliff talks continue, some Republicans seem insistent on demonstrating that they are spineless cowards who are completely unwilling to take a stand in the name of principle.  The most recent example?  The expressed willingness by some to ignore Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge.

Grover Norquist, or "The Overlord"

Now, this is not going to be some defense of Grover Norquist, though he most certainly has the right idea.  No, this has far more to do with the liberal obsession over him and the feckless politicians on the "right" side of the aisle who want to violate the tax pledge they took.

First, the obsession.  It is highly aggravating when people talk about Grover Norquist like he is God.  Not only is it aggravating, it is bizarre when they act like he has some sort of power over them to force them to not raise taxes.

Norquist is a man.  Nothing more, nothing less.  He is not some terrible god of thunder who will strike down politicians who stray from what he believes is right.  Neither is he important nor powerful in any meaningful way.  I don't say that to slight the man, for as I said before, he has the right idea.  However, it is shameful and embarrassing when people on both sides try to use him as a scapegoat for their feckless behavior.  Stop and own up to your actions.

Then there are the people who want to ignore the tax pledge that they have taken.  Now, one can argue about whether or not the pledge is a good idea, workable or what have you.  The problem does not lie in the pledge itself.  It lies in the fundamental character flaws that cause one to break a pledge for political expediency.

After all, let us be honest.  The Republicans who are banging the anti-Norquist drum are not doing so because they have had a legitimate change of heart.  They are doing so because it is (seemingly) politically expedient for them to dump fiscal conservatism to look like they are being "bipartisan."

Of course, the correct term is "cowards."

They are cowards for two reasons.  The first is that they are turning their backs on a principled position, as I mentioned before.  Instead of taking a stand for the right thing, as they were elected to do, they are instead more worried about their careers.

However, and perhaps more damning, is their willingness to reject the pledge.  Do their words have no meaning?  They made a promise, no matter what one thinks of its importance or wisdom.  This is not some fickle pinky swear on a schoolyard playground.  They are adults.  Their words have meaning.  And when they say they are willing to break their word for such a cheap reason, it diminishes them, their office and the political system as a whole.

They should be ashamed.

On Why Taxes are Viewed Wrong

So, with the "Fiscal Cliff" battle raging in Washington right now, I'm hearing lots of talk about taxation.  Specifically, Democrats want taxes to go up on the highest earners in any deal that averts the cliff and Republicans want to avoid raising taxes on anyone.  You can guess which one I am in favor of.

I think this debate brings up an important question: what is the proper way to view taxes?  If this seems like a confusing question, read on.

The IRS building.  Because there weren't better pictures.

Let us start off by defining the issue.  This is based off of personal observation alone, but the prevailing view of taxation today seems to be that the collected money is the "government's money."  It seems to suggest that the government is owed that money and indeed deserves it.  It assumes that the government is the only entity capable of effectively spending that money and thus should get that money no matter what.  After all, one cannot call for "tax fairness" without assuming that the money belongs to no one but the government.  It would not be unfair to anyone if it belonged only to the individual who earned it.

The real question then becomes "why is this viewpoint wrong?"

First, we need to redefine what taxes are.  It is not the government's money.  We are legally obligated to pay them to the government, but that does not mean that the government owns it or "deserves" it.  Instead, taxes should be seen as "money entrusted to the government by the people for its continued and proper function."

Taxation has now become a farce, where instead of people giving their money, understanding the necessity of and, therefore, in a way desiring it to go to the government, we now look at tax day with dread and apprehension.  We are forced to hand over our hard-earned money to an entity that absolutely refuses to be responsible with it and then spends beyond what we, as a people, give it.  I have yet to figure out what the 1+ trillion dollars of deficit spending is on.  Heck, I don't really know what the governments spends the money it actually takes in on. 

On top of that, the government spends that money on purposes ranging from frivolous, like turtle tunnels, to immoral, like Planned Parenthood.  To use the latter as an example, I am ardently pro-life (if that wasn't already obvious), yet my taxes (when I eventually pay them; the joys of unemployment) will go to this organization which primarily performs abortions.  I know there are those who say Planned Parenthood provides other services and that it can not spend federal money on abortion.  My answers?  The former is irrelevant to the fact that their chief business is abortion.  The latter is just asinine.  Who actually believes that PP partitions the money?  That would be both inefficient and difficult to track.  It also does not change the fact that tax money goes to fund America's largest abortion provider, whether or not it directly funds abortions.

Why is the government funding something like that?  Non-abortion services aside, it still performs abortions, which a good number of people find abhorrent.  Yet, they are forced by law to help an organization that makes millions per year slaughtering hundreds of thousands of children like they are cattle.

Before you argue that I want to burn the government down (or something equally stupid), I genuinely can not think of a single person who actually thinks that the government should not get some kind of financing, smears against fiscal conservatives aside. The problem is when the government demands our money of us so it can spend more on God-knows-what (and I'm pretty sure only God knows).

If the American people knew their Constitution (and there are a good many who do, don't get me wrong), they would realize that the federal government's top priority, as dictated by the Constitution, is the civil defense and international treaties and interaction.  Nowhere is the government supposed to provide us entitlements or pet projects for our districts and states.

I would be comfortable giving the government my taxes if it spent that money on its priorities first and then spent the surplus on whatever it deems necessary/useful.

Like debt reduction.

Perhaps when people start seeing taxed money as their money, as opposed to the government's, they may start caring about it more.

On Being Thankful

Word to the wise: This is going to be a pretty personal piece, so if you're looking for political commentary, you're not going to get any.  Also, there will be lots of contractions.

So, it's that time of year again, where we set aside time to be with family and friends.  That time when we gorge ourselves on heinously large foul.  That time we prepare ourselves to be trampled while we try to enter a department store.  Incidentally, speaking of Black Friday, why is it becoming Black Thursday?  Don't get me wrong, businesses can do whatever they want; if there's a way to draw customers earlier, so be it.  All the same, is nothing sacred anymore?  Can't we have one or two days a year where family and God are the focus, without people trampling each other for a blender?  Sure, we have Christmas, but Thanksgiving is one of those days, too.

Anyway, I digress.

So, what am I thankful for this year?  Well, are you ready for a bit of a story?

First, some background.

So, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, I'm a born-again, evangelical Christian.  I have been since I was thirteen and it kept me from ever becoming a liberal.  Now, my opinions took time to develop, no doubt.  Learning in the public school system meant I was bombarded constantly with ideas in direct opposition to the Bible.  Being young, untested, and horrifically inarticulate, it was mostly a matter of keeping my head down and my opinions to myself.

Fast forward to university, following tests of faith and other events that are not relevant to my tale.  In college...I made a mistake.  No, I didn't do cocaine, become a communist or knock up a chick at a frat party on November 11, 2009 at approximately 12:05 AM.  However, I did make a mistake.  One that turned me into a ticking time bomb of emotion that, combined with bad scheduling decisions in my senior year, detonated.

That bomb was crippling and it shook my faith severely.  It seemed that God had abandoned me when I needed Him most.  It left me depressed and drifting for the past two years.

Then Hurricane Sandy hit and knocked out our power.

Now, let me preface this tale with the situation I'm currently in.  My parents haven't been particularly well off for years and I myself am unemployed and, thus, am unable to help them or move out. Considering this, the last thing we really needed was a power outage.  Yet, a power outage we got, days spent not doing anything vaguely productive (though I did finally read "The War of the Worlds;" I can see why it's a classic).

Personally, I found this maddening and got incredibly frustrated.  It seemed like the last thing I should have been doing in my situation was nothing, considering how little I do to begin with.  Outside of blogging and staying informed, my day are unfortunately slim on worthwhile activity.  I was cold, in the dark and had disturbingly little patience for it.

The third evening, while I was waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep, however, I had a revelation.  God told me, in essence, that I had not been trusting in Him or His plan for my life.  He made me realize I had been trusting in myself instead of looking to Him first and foremost.  So I put my faith in God and declared that night would be the last night we would be in the dark and the cold.  I believed (and still do) God had put us in that situation to teach me to depend on Him with a full heart and a clear mind again.

The next day, I got this...feeling telling me to go outside.  It was just an odd inkling to take pictures of the storm damage (which I still haven't uploaded, actually).  Sure enough, when I did, I discovered that a power company worker was assessing our situation and preparing to call the crews in.  Three hours later, not long after nightfall, our lights came back on and our prayers had been answered.

Oh, wait, here's one of those pictures.

More importantly, my faith had been reaffirmed.  I learned that I had been depending too much on myself and the world and not enough on the Lord.  Even now, I'm beginning to see subtle shifts on the employment front.  I also believe that this blog will have something to do with my future as will the people I have met on Twitter.  Seeing what I can do with both, I believe God has a plan for my life involving both.

So, what's my point with this tale?  I'm am thankful for the saving grace of Jesus.  I am thankful for the Lord's forgiveness that brings me, for without second chances, I would have been doomed long before now.  And I'm thankful that the Lord reminded me of this very important and eternal truth when I need Him more than ever.

One last note: I'm thankful for your readership and hope to continue to have it in the future.  If it weren't for you, I'd have given up on this venture by now, I'm sure.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

On Supporting Israel

So, as you, my reader, may recall, I had a rather long rant on what is wrong with people who oppose Israel.  It can sometimes be truly maddening, if not frightening, to see how an argument that starts with ignorance on who the instigator is can quickly degenerate into anti-Semitic rants against Israel and Jews in general.  However, I got my fill of complaining about them last week.

Instead, I want to talk about why it is important and morally right to support Israel.

First of all, Israel has a right to the land for two reasons.  The first is that Israel has been internationally recognized as a sovereign nation.  That alone means that the land is rightfully theirs, no matter who says what.  In addition to that, historically, the land of Israel was the Jewish homeland for centuries.  The only thing they have done in establishing themselves in Israel is return to that homeland by the millions since 1948.

The land of Israel, on the other hand, is the homeland of no other group that continues to exist to this day.  Prior to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the area known as Palestine was a blighted, barren wasteland.  Its population was sparse and it produced nothing of value.  Consequently, with no native population, there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.

Palestine, in fact, got its modern name from the Roman Empire.  The land of Judea (the name of modern day Israel under Roman rule) was renamed "Syria Palestina" in an attempt to erase the Jewish history of the land after Jewish rebellions were crushed in 70 and 135 AD.  As such, the land is not actually named after an ethnic group.  Today's "Palestinians" are merely of Arabian, Egyptian and other descent, many of whom have been displaced by the repeated wars waged against Israel in the past sixty years.

Of course, history is not the only reason to support Israel.  After all, this is the only free, stable, democratic nation in the Middle East.  In a region where military dictatorships and violent, Islamist theocracies are the norm, the fact that any nation that reflects western values exists there is positively miraculous.  In a region where women are stoned for being the victims of rape and gays are executed for existing, Israel should have the world's full support.

Then there is the fact that Israel is routinely demonized by the international community for defending itself.  Granted, the appeal of this point is purely emotional, but is one worth considering regardless.  After spending years having lukewarm feelings on Israel, I eventually learned the truth about Israel's situation.  I learned it was the victim, not the perpetrator, of terror.  I learned it was, time and again, invaded by its neighbors and won each time, despite seemingly insurmountable odds.  Yet, it is still treated as evil by nations and organizations that should be supporting it.

Indeed, Israel has made it clear, time and again, that it is the party that seeks peace.  In demonstrating its willingness to trade land for peace, Israel has been shown to be the only side seeking peace in this conflict.  In withdrawing from the Gaza strip, the nation was rewarded with thousands of rockets wantonly fired into its territory.  Yet somehow, it is the great villain of the world, demonized and censured more than any other nation on the planet, save for a select few.

The final reason, and the biggest for me, is that the Jews are God's chosen people and Israel is the apple of His eye.  The Jews are proof, above all else, of God's existence.  Despite being dispersed as a people and scattered around the world for nearly 2000 years, they were still able to come back together in 1948 and form a nation of their own.  His promise to them still stands, no matter how much other people may hate it.  Thus, anyone who stands against Israel stands in direct opposition to the will of God almighty.

In the end, there is little excuse not to support Israel.  Now, one can most certainly disagree with the tactics the Israeli people use or the course they take.  However, there is no equivalence between them and their brutal, murderous enemies.  To even attempt to draw a comparison is evidence of either astonishing ignorance or moral bankruptcy.

On the State of Israel

As I start writing this, I am seeing for the first time (at least personally) a story on the situation in Israel on Fox News Channel.  Thank goodness we have that conservative media outlet dutifully reporting on events in Israel like it should be, right?  You know, showing us on television the full story of events over there, just like any conservative media outlet would, right?  Showing us what was happening when it started shortly after the election...right?

Okay, that's out of my system.

So, for those of you who are not up to speed, for the past week, Hamas, terrorists and elected rulers of the Gaza Strip, have been bombarding Israel with mortars and rockets.  As radical Islamist terrorists like to do, they have targeted towns and cities in the regions surrounding Gaza.  In response, Israel killed Ahmed Jabari, one of Hamas' top military chiefs.   Declaring that "the gates of Hell" have been opened, the terrorists have initiated a sustained rocket barrage on Israeli civilians, forcing Israel to respond with airstrikes and now it appears that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is massing troops for a ground invasion of Gaza.

Despite the "Iron Dome" Missile Shield, hundreds of rockets have rained on Israel's cities.

These events have brought out two types of (often overlapping) people: the ignorant and the anti-Semitic.

I will start with the ignorant.  These are the people who think that Israel is the aggressor.  They believe that Israel attacks first and targets civilians intentionally.  They believe that Israel is some sort of genocidal, apartheid state that wishes to annihilate all Palestinians and/or Arabs.  Worst of all, these are often the people who absolutely refuse to believe anything else regarding Israel, no matter what they are told contrary to those viewpoints.

And those people tend to overlap with people who just hate Israel and Jews in general.  There is nothing more disgusting than logging into Twitter in the morning and seeing people I follow retweet that hatred, to show the world those heinous and morally bankrupt feelings.  After all, nothing is more unsettling than people wishing the Jewish state be wiped out and all the Jews be killed.  It is equally disturbing seeing those who call out such bigotry getting called epithets like "Jew slut."

You may have noticed that I am writing this without any hint of irony or amusement.  It's largely because these are issues that just are not funny.  And I certainly am not amused by them right now.  I'm just thoroughly disgusted with the dishonesty, hatred and lies directed at the Israeli people.

Let me go back and take those arguments from ignorance one at a time.  First, this inane notion that Israel is the aggressor state.  As I pointed out in this situation (and throughout history), military action taken by Israel is reactionary.  The Israelis know half the world hates them and know better than to be reckless in their reactions.  When Israel does act, it is fully justified, whether its a defense against foreign invasion or to protect its people from hundreds of rocket strikes in the course of a year.  Indeed, it is indicative of incredible self-restraint that the Israelis did not strike Gaza sooner, despite over 700 rockets landing in Israel this year prior to this week.

Now imagine this was the US or any other western nation. 

Then there are these accusations that Israel attack civilians intentionally.  What Israel's critics never seem to understand, or even care to know for that matter, is that Israel's enemies are the ones committing war crimes.  It is horrifying enough that the terrorists attack civilians every chance they get; they compound those crimes by hiding among civilians, forcing Israel into difficult choices.  Do they risk killing civilians to eliminate a mortar/rocket position or allow the terrorists to continue firing randomly into Israel's cities?

The IDF often takes a sort of "middle road" when faced by such choices.  They will drop leaflets warning of impending bombardment, ruining both the element of surprise and the chances of eliminating a target. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect the people of Israel to accept daily bombardment by Hamas merely because the terrorists (that the people of Gaza voted into power) hide among the civilian population.  No other country would accept such limitations on its ability to protect itself and neither should Israel.

And then there is the accusations of genocide and apartheid.  Can we all just agree that the former is idiotic?  Israel has had ample opportunity to try and wipe out the Arab people around it.  It has not.  This takes on disturbing subtext when one realizes that only seventy years ago, the Jews were subjected to the Holocaust.  Accusations of apartheid are equally stupid.  One million Arabs/Muslims  live in Israel and are not oppressed.  Assuming they do not try to blow up shopping centers or drop mortars on children, they are accepted in Israeli society and allowed to vote and live free lives in the only stable, democratic nation in the region. 

So ultimately, the point of this post is this: who are the real victims: the Arabs harboring murderous extremists or the Israelis who are attacked for merely existing?  Who are the real ignoramuses: the people who recognize Israel's challenges in a hostile world or the one's who defend Hamas and want to "free Gaza" (from a country that withdrew six years ago)?  Who are the real racists: Israelis under siege from rockets or the people all around the world who see Zionism as a great evil and applaud the idea of the six million Jews in Israel getting wiped out?

You decide.

A Grave Concern

While my analysis on the election prior to now has been rather sober and thoughtful (or so I like to hope), I do have one really pressing concern that could see me in crazy town by week's end.  Before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with extensive widespread voter fraud swaying the election (though I believe that quite a bit occurred or at least want to see investigations into allegations).  Nor does it have to do with secession.  While I appreciate the sentiment behind it, I also find it silly and the people who take it seriously silly.

No, my concern has nothing to do with any of that, but with the state of our republic.

I probably could have chosen a slightly more flattering picture.

When I saw the projection that Barack Obama won reelection, I was, as I said before, flabbergasted.  I was utterly surprised.  I was shocked.  I was any number of other adjectives that imply I was terrified for my country.

Then I started thinking: What else does the Obama victory suggest? 

My conclusion was not pretty.

As you may remember, in the lead up to election day (all 50 years of it), the Obama campaign relied on going small.  It attacked Mitt Romney for his tenure at Bain Capital.  It targeted minority groups, telling blacks that he wanted  to them all "back in chains."  It pandered to Hispanics with the unconstitutional loosening of immigration law.  It terrified young people with the idea that he was going to set women's and gay rights back 40 years (thank goodness our school teach them that our president has no power to do that).  It tried to scare seniors into thinking he wanted take away their Medicare and Social Security (the only attack that backfired).

Remember back in 2008 when Barack Obama said these words?  "If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters."  That is exactly what he did this cycle. 

He tried to scare voters away from Mitt Romney into his campaign and made the argument about small, petty issues.  Instead of the debate being about big government vs. small, it was 'free' birth control vs. hating women.  Instead of it being about entitlement reform vs. ruinous entitlement expansion, it was 'free' stuff vs. 'heartlessness.'  Instead of Constitutional governance vs. executive fiat, it was Obama = good; Romney = evil.

And small won on the 7th.

I believe this bodes ill for the nation.  Obama's win on divide and demonize indicates that the nation is not only highly polarized, but possibly skewed in favor of government dependence and belief in the evils of conservatism.  Now, note, I don't believe that such a mentality is 'locked-in' to the popular mindset.  But the fact that small, petty and dependency won should still be alarming.  It means that we, as a nation, are well on course to that eventual outcome if nothing is done to reverse the momentum.

I believe that if conservatives fail to solidify a place for our ideas before the next election cycle, we may very well find our ideas unelectable in the face of progressive scorn.

If you think me defeatist, however, you have misjudged the words in this post.  I am merely assessing the situation as it now seems.  I have not given up hope.

I believe conservatism is not only correct, but that it is true, like I am sure many of you do.  I believe, in light of our electoral defeat, it is time for conservatism to rebrand itself.  We must become a force, not just in politics, but in the culture and communities as well.  We must make ourselves better known in the public square, not as those racist rednecks we are portrayed as, but as the thinking, caring human beings we really are.  We must turn aside the perception that we are stodgy and backward and show the world who we really are.

The re-election of President Obama will certainly make things even more difficult, as progressives push ever harder for their ruinous policies under a presumed mandate, but that is irrelevant.  Standing by and allowing irrelevancy to slowly overtake us is not acceptable.

Surrender is not an option.

Firing a Few Rounds

Honestly, you can not be completely surprised I have a few rounds left to fire off in the circular tent squad.  I already unleashed most of the clip in my first election analysis.  However, there are two other things I want to address.

First is Chris Christie.  I have heard a lot of people blaming him for the election loss, though I feel that is a lot more emotion than deep analysis.  It is pretty easy to knee-jerk against a guy who embraces the most dangerous president since Woodrow Wilson.

That said, I think they may be preparing to kiss here.

That being said, I do assign a very small portion of blame to Chris Christie.  The problem was not Governor Christie's complimenting of Barack Obama.  The problem is that he complimented him, at best, for getting nothing done.  At worst, he complimented Obama for a job badly done.  Power was inevitably going to return slowly considering how widespread the damage was.  The real problem lay and still lies in what is happening while the power remains unrestored, particularly the logistical nightmare triggered by the disruption of commerce.  People starve, freeze and live in filth as long as that has not recovered.

Yet, FEMA under Obama, much like under Bush, was woefully unprepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.  And Chris Christie complimented him on a job well done, a move which I have no doubt helped to solidify the appearance of Barack Obama being in control, despite people suffering a week later when the polls opened.  He complimented the president for doing a few photo-ops in a bomber jacket.

Ultimately, I think that the governor killed any prospects he had of national office.  While I do not hate him like some seem to now, I am immensely disappointed in the man.  No one should be in the business of giving undeserved accolades, whether because they are blind, for the sake of their own reelection (Christie will be up for reelection next year) or just to seem bipartisan.

Finally, my last problem is with those people who believe that the Republican party should divorce itself from the social wing.  This seems to come up every election (often from liberals...hm...) and frankly, I think is a foolish idea to consider.

For one, social conservatives bring the bulk of the energy and enthusiasm to the GOP fold.  Additionally we have numbers that moderates lack.  Splitting the party along these lines would shrink the influence of conservatives and right-leaning libertarians as they would fight amongst themselves more to vie for influence than come together.  The Republican party serves, in many ways, as a means to smooth over the differences between the two and allow them to face the left side of the aisle with greater unity.

The other problem is approaching moderates as some sort of monolithic block.  I believe this to be silly, at best.  The fact of the matter is, everyone who claims to be moderate/independent leans one way or the other.  It is not a matter of dumping social conservatives to appeal to these people; it is a matter of making a cogent argument to them in the first place.  I do not believe conservative values will fail to resonate with people when articulated clearly. 

Moderate candidates cannot do this and that, I believe, is where the problem truly lies.  As long as we keep selecting Doles, McCains and Romneys to represent conservatism on a national stage, we will continue to fail.  Now, I do think it is reasonable to debate which issues should take precedence.  Dropping certain planks because they are politically inconvenient is not the solution, however.

I believe the Democrats and progressive recognize our weaknesses when we choose moderates.  It is why they goad us into considering dumping certain ideologies and morals, particularly when elections go their way.  They wish to use this period of post-election soul searching to divide us further.  The least I can ask is that we don't fall for this kind of silly, knee-jerk stupidity.

Since there is one more big, very important topic that I wish to discuss, there will be one last blog post tomorrow or Tuesday.  Until then, readers!

Also, I hope you spent at least a little time today thinking about the veterans in your life.

Shooting the Circular Tent Squad

I think I just mixed metaphors.

Yes, yes I did.

It was not an aimless mixing, however.  Though the wave seems to be subsiding now, I noticed over the past few days a tendency for conservatives to lash out at each other in the wake of the election.  And by lash out, I do not mean "have introspective conversations with one another that occasionally become heated, but otherwise stay cordial."  I mean full blown nastiness as people would fly off the handle at each other over relatively minor disagreements over causes for the election results.  Likewise, in the immediate aftermath, I saw many jump to hilarious conclusions or assume that single issues were the sole reason for our election defeat.

Now, I do not blame people for getting emotional.  I think all of us conservatives flipped out at some point following the election.  My moment was the morning immediately after.  However, I feel we should be careful with how out of control we allow our emotions to get or, more accurately, who we take those emotions out on, no one being preferable.  Perhaps our gut feelings are right or maybe they are wrong, but we most certainly can stand to wait a day or two to articulate them in a way that does not involve attacking our friends and allies.  It is what I did and do you see any profanity in this post?  Hell no!

...Oops. (Warning: it happens again).

Part of the reason this knee-jerk emotionalism bothers me so much is that it is what liberals do.  So many liberals arrogantly began to preen about their victory, showing little grace and class in the aftermath of the election.  Indeed, the hashtag #F---WhitePeople was trending on Twitter for a time immediately following the result.  However, conservative reactions were not much better and I was disappointed.  Keep yourselves in check, people.  Be better than them.

That leads me to a few incidents that occurred during the election.

Congressman Ego.

First is the situation with Todd Akin.  Now, before you think I'm crazy, I am not defending his statements, but I do feel the need to defend him against how he was treated.  It is true he said something colossally stupid then compounded the problem by having a massive ego to boot.  Sadly, that colossally stupid thing was also taken out of context, as his overall point was that the child conceived in rape has a right to live.  However, pulling back from the man was not the solution.  He was the candidate we had to deal with.

He received far too little support (considering a straight apology and an admission of the stupidity of his statement) and he was still ignored until the last minute, despite running against a woman considered the most vulnerable senator in the country. I feel giving him greater support could have given him a shot against Claire McCaskill.  However, even if he could not have possibly won, at the very least, I feel that we could blame Akin and only Akin had he the support.  As it stands now, we will never know.

Next is Richard Mourdock.  His statement on rape was ill-conceived, but not wrong.  Anyone with common sense knows he was referring to God's plan for the child conceived in rape, not that God intended the rape.  This has been Christian belief since its founding, yet liberals pretended to be shocked at it due to (very) inartful wording.  Though not as strong as Akin's, I believe the blowback and lack of support, again, damaged Mourdock's effort severely.

Richard Mourdock

Indeed, he was asked a question that he doubtless could not have prepared for in that debate, since rape was not a pressing issue this election season.  Liberals brought it up, of course, but it is doubtful it filtered down into state races all that often.  Are conservatives telling me that if blindsided by a question, they're not going to fumble for an honest answer of what they truly believe?  If you say no, you're daft. 

I also don't buy into the argument that these men were not ready for prime-time.  Akin was a six-term congressman and Mourdock had won several statewide elections in Indiana.  Both had ample experience.

Both just ultimately made mistakes that we all make and they (and we) paid the price.  Acting like we need to find perfect men and women to represent us is an election is a pipe dream.  We are the ones who believe that man is inherently imperfect and will make mistakes.  If I may be blunt, sh*t happens.  The least we can do is stand by our fellows when they stumble instead of leave them out in the cold to be torn apart by the wolves.  We do ourselves no favors when we show a willingness to abandon otherwise principled men to gratify our own egos (even as Akin gratified his).

I would continue, but this post has gotten uncomfortably long.  As such, I'll save additional thoughts for later today or the rest of the weekend.

On the 2012 Election

Well, after taking a kinda-sorta break immediately following an election that was a disaster, I am back and in full force.  I have my ice cream, my vodka and my fuzzy bunny slippers and I am all ready to curl up and cry for another few months.  Yes, I will be eating all three.

In all seriousness, as I slowly recover from the utter demoralization of Tuesday, let me give you my thoughts on what happened.

This man loses more gracefully than liberals win, sadly.

First of all, I was utterly shocked by the result.  Not only did Mitt Romney lose, but the Republicans lost seats in congress (though they maintained their house majority).  You already know this.  I think I can also say with confidence I was as flabbergasted as the rest of the conservative movement by this.  It seemed like the momentum was on our side, with the terrible shape the nation is in, and people would be wise enough to make the change needed to fix our ever-growing problems.

They did not and now the question is why?  Let me take a stab at it.

First, I honestly believe Romney was a bad candidate.  Now, do not get me wrong, conservatives did not have a good crop to choose from to begin with.  Most of the others had baggage or inherent flaws.  I love Rick Santorum and Herman Cain (the latter's recent advocacy of a third party notwithstanding), but I also realize neither could have won.  I am also not shortchanging Mitt, for I believe he put as much effort as he personally could into his bid.

However, Romney had several glaring issues, among them Romneycare.  It took the issue of Obamacare off the table almost entirely.  It was most certainly mentioned here or there, but its taxes, spending and rationing never got the play it should have.  Indeed, with Obama's re-election, many businesses fully intend on avoiding its costs and a firmer argument against it may have avoided the lost jobs we will be seeing.

He also never truly has been a conservative.  In this election, it seemed imperative to me that our side draw a clear distinction between ourselves and Barack Obama and, in so doing, show those demographic groups who often vote Democrat that we have their best interests at heart.  That never happened. Romney certainly talked a good game and selected Paul Ryan, to his credit, but it never truly got beyond that.  Thus the lines between the "devil we knew "and the "devil we didn't" became increasingly blurred, particularly during the third debate.

However, moreso than Mitt's own flaws as a candidate was his campaign apparatus.  I believe he surrounded himself with establishment advisers who gave him bad advice.  Part of me genuinely wonders if it was Mitt himself who preferred passivity or the advice he was given to be less aggressive.  Perhaps it was a combination both.  Either way, his campaign was mismanaged, much in the same way John McCain's was (though McCain was a charisma black hole, if what happened Sarah Palin is any indication).  His lack of aggressiveness on issues like Benghazi allowed to truth to stay sealed up tight.

Additionally, I am hearing stories now of a truly weak ground game by the Republicans, which, if true, is truly absurd.  Millions of conservatives and Christians not voting should not be happening, particularly in an election this important.  Obama having a stronger ground game should not have translated into an inept one by his opposition.

This points to what are really the inherent weaknesses of the Republican Party.  If its establishment is so mired in their own egos and belief in their ability that they cannot organize effectively, it is about time they be replaced with people of energy and fresh ideas.  Replaced by people capable of adapting to the information age and changing demographics.  In particular, that establishment must be replaced by people with true conservative principles instead of party loyalty.

I believe when we realize this, conservatives will have learned the true lesson of 2012.

P.S. Think I may write about some of the smaller issues on the election tomorrow or Saturday.  There are many small issues like Chris Christie, Akin and Mourdock and others that deserve some mention.  That and I just feel like talking about it.  You got a problem with that?

An Important Video

While I said I was not going to post about the election before the election...well...I'm not, from a certain point of view.  No, I can't tell you what that point of view is.  And I don't think I asked for your opinion on the matter.

Anyway...

If you have friends, family, acquaintances, minor enemies, major villains or whoever who still think President Obama is good for this country, show them this video.  If they think conservatives are evil hatemongers, show them this video.  If you think they've never truly questioned their core beliefs in their lives, show them this video.  This is particularly important if they are able to be swayed. 

Sadly, there are many out there who will refuse to look up on the truth, no matter how directly it's presented to them.

That doesn't matter. 

As I said yesterday, we are facing the most critical election in decades.  In the waning hours of the election cycle, make sure everyone possible knows what must be done to reverse our current course.

That is our only option if we want our future to be bright.  It is our only option if we want America to grow and succeed.  To be the shining city on the hill.  So make every effort to share this video with people and open their eyes.

Conservatism is calling.

On...e More Pre-Election Post

I refuse to write or post anything between the time you see this and the moment we find out who the winner of the presidential election is.  As such, I'm writing my final piece before election day now and saving my energy for a post-election wrap-up (or whatever the situation calls for).

First, I feel the need to apologize for not having posted in well over a week.  I was not feeling anything pressing on my heart after my last post.  Then, Sandy knocked out my power for three days (fortunately, that was all it did) and I've been trying to get back into the swing of things since.

This line...is just for early voting.

So...this is finally it.  The nation is not even two days out from election day.  Since 2008, politics and the nation in general has seemed like a roller coaster, moving from one event to the other.  Election one day, gridlock the next, triumph the day after and abject defeat to follow.  I refer to nothing in particular in any order in saying that, by the way.

And now it's come down to this.  After four years of stagnation, exploding debt and endless bickering, America is about to make what may seem like the greatest choice to face any generation.  Now, it may seem like I'm repeating the same old line repeated every election.  And I am.  However, I do not repeat it for its own sake.  This election, there are two very important reasons this is true.

First, every election is important.  Let's not kid ourselves here.  Every election is a choice for our future, whether it is more/less government, honorable/dishonorable representation, higher/lower taxes, etc..  Frankly, in my humble opinion, people who do not vote have no business complaining about the condition of their country.  If they do not care enough to at least try to change things, adding their voice to the chorus is not really earned.  That is how important I feel voting is.  It is a privilege that a barely perceptible blip of all the people who have ever lived on the Earth have ever been able to do.  It should not be squandered.

Second, the past four years have just been a precursor to the next four.  For the past four years, we have seen the debt rise meteorically.  The president has produced budget proposal after budget proposal that maintains the same, sky high levels of massive debt for ten years and counting.  The Democratic Senate has not even produced a budget in four years, despite its Constitutional obligation to do so.

Speaking of the Constitution, we have a man who does not seem to respect it and its restrictions much.  Using executive orders and czars, he has committed to many policies that have never been seen by Congress.  His agencies have created thousands of regulations, avoiding the legislative body as well.  His Justice Department refuses to defend the laws it does not like, despite its obligation to defend the laws of the United States.

And I have yet to mention his constant demonizing of those he dislikes.  I have not mentioned his shunning of our allies or the embrace of our enemies (which they are taking full advantage of).  I have not mentioned the billions spent on energy companies that have failed, Fast & Furious, Benghazi and whatever else you can think of.  There's so much I have not mentioned because this is a blog, not a book.  My point is, when the man no longer faces reelection, he will not be inhibited from being far worse than he already has been.

Really, I did not intend to rant about the president originally.  However, I cannot seem to stress the importance of this election without noting why we cannot afford another four years of the Obama administration. 

To be perfectly honest, while my belief that Mitt Romney is the right man for the job has been consistently reinforced since the Paul Ryan pick, I am still not sure how he is going to govern.  I do not believe he is going to be a solid conservative, but if he holds to his promises to correct our fiscal course, I believe it will be enough.  If Mitt Romney fails in this purpose, I concur with Bill Whittle when he says he will do everything his power to ensure that Americans can have a solidly conservative choice to vote for in 2016.

Anyway, that is my pre-election rant.  I'm currently watching The Walking Dead and don't want to mix zombies into this post (though I just thought of ten ways I could).  As such I will leave it here. 

You can keep up with me on Twitter if you want to. 

Or you can also check out my Facebook page, though I don't use it much except to post these updates.

Expect me again on Election night!

Bonus: That Bill Whittle video I linked to above.