I find it totally disingenuous that our public officials believe we must show ID to do such things as simply enter a building where public officials are but we are oppressing someone if we ask them to produce that same ID in order to elect those same officials. Don’t believe me? Watch this video from Breitbart.com’s James Okeefe here.

 

Congresswoman Snow you are not a Republican. Please stop calling yourself one and make the party switch official.

In an article today on Yahoo! (found here) Senator Snow laments the Senate not working together to solve problems in this quote,

“And so it becomes more divisive and I think ultimately has manifested itself in the Senate and an overall process that lends itself to dysfunction and political paralysis that doesn’t allow problems to be solved.”

Congresswoman Snow we do not want your solutions. We do not think the government IS a solution (to paraphrase The Gipper 10 second video found here). We believe people are the best solution to their own problems. I respect your freedom to believe what you want and to voice those opinions. But please do not be disingenuous with which party you stand with because as demonstrated by your voting actions you do not believe the majority of what Republicans believe, and you certainly do not believe what Conservatives believe.

After the debate last night I am gratified to know that at least in the spoken word our four candidates are mostly headed away from BHO and in a direction I’d rather the country go. I’m still undecided and in the ABR camp (Anybody But Romney), however, my vote can be swayed.

I was on Redstate chat during the debate and hands down Newt won. We all agreed I think. those that didn’t agree thought their candidate did the best who ever they were sold out for in the first place. This morning I find Drudge with a voting graphic up asking who I though won the debate. Imagine my surprise when the tally came back as the image I’ve inserted here!?!

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Someone who IS a conservative doesn’t have to convince us he is a conservative because he lives like a conservative, thinks like a conservative, and acts like a conservative.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matt 7:15-20 (KJV)

Cross posted at www.firstchevalier.com

I’m currently in the ‘Undecided’ category on the Republican primary. In the days to come here are some questions I’d like to see answers to from the respective candidates. Following those questions are some suggestions I have for each candidate. But, before I continue there is one thing I would like to see from ALL the candidates and that is their participation on this forum. Not just them posting campaign speeches in the form of diary entries (that would be good) but their participation in responding to individual diarists here. Those responses would be very telling about how they truly think, what they really believe, and give us insight into the man behind the camera image (but it will never happen). Oh and don’t give me the ‘they’re too busy to read and post on Redstate’ line. Really? Those on here who hold down full time jobs, families, hobbies, et al aren’t? To sum up what I want initially, I’ll steal and modify a line from John F. Kennedy.

I don’t want to know what you’ll do for me. I want to know what you’ll do for my country?

Some rules about responses, gentlemen…First, Don’t give me platitudes or trite campaign answers. Conservatives can tell if it’s from the heart or if you’re mouthing what some consultant has fed you from a focus group. We’re smart like that and so are the independent voters you guys are all so worried about (don’t be or you’ll loose in my opinion). Second, these answers need to come from the candidate not some super PAC or other mouthpiece that would even present the appearance of plausible deniability, which is the tactic of someone eying a run to the center for the general election.

Now on with my questions and suggestions…

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This past weekend beginning on February 17th NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic flight aboard Friendship 7 in which he became the first American to orbit the earth in space. Of the original nine Mercury astronauts only John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, also in attendance, were present along with a large number of other project personnel. The article covering the event was written by Marcia Dunn of the Associated Press and can be found here.

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A friend of mine, Ramled, on Facebook posted a link to this video that demonstrates what monogamy and true love can do and look like. The clip isn’t long and it’s a heart warming little interlude to the day. I thought I’d toss it up here to break up all the doom and gloom of ‘my candidate can beat up your candidate’. Enjoy.

60 Plus year old piano duet, inspiring

We are now officially not the leading space agency in the world and I’d like to bid a fond farewell to the shuttles heading to static display (article found here). We are arguably second to Russia who can still get men and materiel to the International Space Station. For that matter, China is actively pursuing manned space flight as well striving to land on the moon and establish a space station separately from the international one. In fact, China’s space program plans to launch 21 rockets and 30 satellites in 2012 (found here). In contrast, according to NASA’s website (found here) we have only 7 domestic launches planned in 2012 with as many from Baikonur as well. So maybe we aren’t even in second place.

We learned a great deal from out time in space. We gained so many modern conveniences from the lessons learned as we taught ourselves how to reach, navigate, and survive in the cold black of the vacuum. Now, we have abandoned one of the grandest adventures Man has ever undertaken to other countries. They are now learning new lessons. They are now bringing their people tremendous new innovations. They now control the high ground (from a military perspective). But most startling of all is they are now expanding the horizons of mankind as our representatives to the cosmos.

We have abdicated first place. It wasn’t taken from us someone decided to voluntarily give it up. When did the American spirit become one of surrender? When did the American way become one of giving up? When did America decide it’s okay to be second to any one in anything? But most of all, who is going to reclaim our legacy of hope, excellence, and leadership; and when will that person take the mantle of Leader?

cross posted on The Cavalier’s Sword at firstchevalier.com

I was asked by a friend on Facebook to post my views on two topics. The current republican presidential primary, and the problems with the legislative branch of the federal government. While these items should be treated as two separate topics I will, for the sake of the request try to cover both here.

The Republican Presidential Primary

I am currently, on the eve of the South Carolina debate, firmly in the Not-Romney camp. I think Gingrich had a fantastic showing in the last debate and that Santorum did well also. I also have NO intention of voting for Obama. That said, I am more concerned about the media narrative that it’s already over and decided because Romney has more money than anyone else.

Be warned that we allowed the media to select our candidate last go around in 2008 and we ended up being defeated by a first term congressman from Illinois with no record and only charisma on his side (oh and his willing accomplices in that same media who REFUSED to vet him properly sweeping all his peccadilloes under the rug).

The debate going on right now is just fine. I did like Gingrich’s high road approach early on, to which he has returned now. But I was troubled by his drift to the language of the liberal left when he attacked Romney on Bain Capital as well as the egregious errors used by his Superpac. He himself, as well as the other candidates, when referring to Romney’s own Superpac has said candidates do exert influence and control over what they present, so Gingrich et al do have culpability in the content of their ads. That said, while Newt has some issues that need to be addressed (like sitting on the couch with her highness Pelosi and supporting the idea of global warming to name a few). I do like how many good ideas he has, what he has accomplished in the past (to some degree) i.e. Contract With America, and how he isn’t afraid to take it to Obama.

Santorum, well I like much of what he says but I don’t know enough about his record and past. I do know he was defeated for reelection, but I don’t know the circumstances behind it or why. I REALLY like what he said at the last debate when he was asked about voting for No Child Left Behind. He admitted in an widely viewed public forum that it was wrong of him to vote for that legislation and he wished he hadn’t. This kind of candor and chutzpah is what is needed by our next president. This kind of willingness to say ‘I was wrong’ has been needed in Washington for a LONG time. On this one thing alone I am currently inclined to pull the lever for Santorum, but the primary isn’t to Georgia yet. We shall see.

What is Wrong with the Legislative Branch of the American Federal Government

They currently have no regard for our founding documents, the founders intent of those documents, or the freedoms those documents guarantee to the people of this country. Establishment politicians need to be reigned in. Power to these individuals needs to be curtailed, not granted. As examples I give you the blatant disregard for procedure in the recent recess appointments made by our current president. I’d also through out the clear disregard for the private property i.e. the money we earn embodied in the confiscatory nature of the individual mandate in the health care legislation.

How about the NDAA that strips American citizens of their rights on accusations alone without due process? How about the double speak of the current president concerning US Government debt? It was convenient to accuse President Bush of being ‘…unpatriotic…’ for running up his debt with China, but when President Obama wants to spend TWICE what Bush spent in less than half the time, it’s okay (that’s not unconstitutional, just offensive on the face of it). How about the abridgment of free speech embodied in the SOPA and PIPA acts? How about saying jobs are his number one priority on the campaign trail (at taxpayer expense by the way) and then killing the Keystone Pipeline, which his own advisory board is pleading with him to enact? How about sending secret letters to our enemies to talk while they threaten to sink our carriers and kill our sailors?

What’s wrong with the legislative branch of the federal government? If you’re sitting at home and don’t think anything is wrong with the legislative branch of the federal government, just wait. They’ll be at your door soon enough to explain it to you in words you will understand, and when you begin screaming about how your freedoms are being infringed upon, the rest of us will only have the sad comfort of knowing at least we were right in decrying it when it started back in the campaign of 2008.
That’s my opinion. You are still free to express yours….for now.

Cross posted on my site firstchevalier.com

I am firmly in the camp of ‘Anybody but Mitt’. However, my preferred candidate is not in the race so I am left squarely undecided. I am researching and listening to everyone in the field, yes everyone. I haven’t made up my mind yet, and won’t until the primary gets to Georgia. My concern is that we are all so apoplectic about NOT choosing Mitt Romney we cannot unit strongly enough behind any one candidate to beat him. This will mirror 2008 giving us a squishy like McCain, which will hand the election to four more of Obama I fear.

I have been saying ‘I will NOT vote for Mitt Romney no matter what’. I am now squarely faced with the very real possibility of having to vote for a third party candidate, and I DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT. I realize a third party vote is all but assuring us of four more with Hoppey McChange the socialist clown. I do not want that, but I will NOT compromise my principals anymore and ‘hold my nose’ because either the media intelligentsia or the Establishment Republicans say ‘He’s the only one who can beat Obama’.

No he is not.

So, here is an open call to Mitt Romney (not his operatives or supporters) to explain why what he’s done in the past that wasn’t conservative won’t happen again?

Before you Mitt supporters post something like, ‘well that’s what he had to do to get elected in Massachusetts’ understand that is an answer that will drive me away. That is an answer from someone who has no convictions, principals, or moral standing who is going to stick a finger in the wind and run in the direction of the mob. My fear about Mitt Romney is he will tout all the right conservative catch-phrases during the primary and once he has secured the nomination he will break the sound barrier as he runs to the middle, which is where he will govern from.

To escape and repair the damage done these past three years (four by the time the next president is elected) we will need someone who believes, TRULY BELIEVES government isn’t the answer. We don’t need someone who thinks like Establishment Republicans that if only ‘We’ could do it ‘Our Way’ everything would be right. No, not at all.

We do not need more laws and regulations. To create jobs businesses need less. We do not need more handouts and entitlements. People need to be required to stand on their own or they won’t learn how to walk. We don’t need more Federal spending to get the economy going again. We need less debt looming over our heads to give us hope again. Ultimately it is that hope things will get better that will move people to action, taking risks again. We need the risk takers. We need them to look to the rewards worth risking for or they won’t. If you remove the prospect of failure, which is the downside of risk, you also remove the possibility of reward which is why the risk was taken in the first place.

So, my question is simple: Mr. Romney et al how do you propose to return the prospect of success and the hope of things worth being risked for to the American people?

Cross posted at my website, firstchevalier.com

I’m probably behind the curve on this one but I figured I’d post it up anyway.  The Red Cross is partnering with Pitney Bowes to send Christmas cards to US troops.  I posted this first on my website (found here) and now cross posting here.  The Red Cross link can be found here, and the full mailing address is below.  This is NOT the Walter Reid hospital email going around, and no mail addressed to a generic recipient like ‘Any wounded US Soldier’ or ‘Any US Service Member’ will be received by anyone due to US Postal and US Military rules.

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Drudge is running a link to an add touting a speech Sarah Palin is giving on September 3rd in Iowa (which can be heard here).  That add mentions a 5013c website (found here) claiming the title of Tea Party of America.  That website appears to have just gone up and feels like a candidate website just before an announcement.  If it is, I’m all in, drunk the Kool-aid, and looking for her organization here in Georgia.  I can’t wait to see the next debate with Perry, Bachmann, Cain, Palin, and even that crazy Paul on stage all at once.  If nothing else, this election is going to be a wonderful showcase of the young conservative voices we have who can work to undo all the damage the elite, liberal-left has done to our country.

and the they’re making a mistake allowing the media to portray it that way.

The idea the Republicans are the ones ‘assaulting’ anything here is laughable.  The idea the Republicans are the cause of the problem here is ludicrous.  The idea the Republicans are ‘getting in the way’ of the solution is dishonest on the face of it.

The Democrats are the ones who’ve built the mountain of debt we have (with the help of Bush and his followers).  The Democrats proposed and shoved TARP down our throats offering it as a solution.  The Democrats are the ones who have no proposed bills and are saying NO to those bills put forward.

Remember the following things from the debt ceiling exchange…

Remember who voted for TARP and you will know who will vote for raising the ceiling, and indenturing future generations to the Federal government via taxes.

Remember the rhetoric of, ‘but we’ve gotta do something’, ‘doing something is better than nothing’, ‘if we don’t do this RIGHT NOW the world will end’, and ‘too big to fail’. then you’ll know how this will turn out.

But most of all, remember who said they were conservative when they ran for office but votes to raise the ceiling.  Then you will know who to vote for, and against, come the next election cycle.

That’s my opinion, I welcome yours…

I started this diary with anger in my heart because only 50 Republicans voted against the continuing resolution passed yesterday.  I hate even typing that.

However, I am not speaking to those who forgot how forcefully Americans shouted last November.  I am speaking to the 50.

Great job.  Well done.  Stand firm. THANK YOU.

Please, you brave happy few, you band of brothers, have an influence on those mollycoddles around you.  Use your powers of persuasion to pull them into your band.  For that matter, if you’d like to demonstrate to them how much backing there is for your position post something here soliciting our input.  Then, after you have it, show it to your friends.

Now I am speaking to all the other elected officials in Congress.

I won’t say you have fully missed the point of November, but you’ve missed it enough to be ousted from office at the next opportunity in favor of someone who says or has demonstrated they do get it.  You had better craft and pass something that does what we the American people voted for in November.  Thanks.

I have a friend who blogs the scripture behind a Bible study he wrote on pride. Today’s entry, while short and found here makes those who are governed just as accountable for the failures of their leaders as the leaders are for their own failures.

Given the current Republican leadership decisions that are appearing to once again head down the path of failure, I thought it both poignant and germane to our situation today. We put’em there folks, and if we don’t let them know they’re failing (which RS readers/posters do regularly) then we shoulder the blame for them being able to govern poorly.

Cross-posted on www.firstchevalier.com

I refuse any longer to listen to, contribute to, or promote any person or cause that does not stick to the principals they espouse in public. Period.

Campaign conservative govern moderate, your out.

Tell me the reason you ‘reached across the isle’ is too complicated for my simple hoi polloi brain to handle, your gone.

Make closed door, smoke-filled room, or under the table deals because ‘it was the only way to get it done’, your done.

Take things out of important legislation designed to support the Constitution and my freedoms in the name of ‘we had to do something’, your through.

Compromise is a four letter word now, Exit.

For those of you who haven’t had your coffee yet, that was an imperative, which is a verb that issues a command. The command is to you who compromise. The command is exit, i.e. Get Out. I no longer have any use for you, and I will vote accordingly.

Back in 2010 when the vote for TARP was coming up I was dialing senators on a regular basis imploring them not to vote for that bad idea or they would lose my vote. Chambliss ignored me and others then (one of many references found here). Many I pleaded with to not support him then ignored me because they insisted his conservative credentials were/are impeccable. Well, what I feared is happening once more. We’re in a crisis of herculean proportions with our spending and budget deficits, but some ‘conservatives’ still want to reach across the isle, and Saxby Chambliss is leading the way.

In a town hall meeting (being reported on by the Richmond Times-Dispatch here) held just last night in Richmond Virginia Saxby Chambliss and the Gang of Six, a bi-partisan group of Republican and Democrat senators, are taking the recommendations for the presidents fiscal commission to figure out which of those recommendations to put forward. In that town hall meeting Chambliss put forward, among other things, that small businesses giving up tax breaks would be something they would support.

Their plan will leave nothing off the table, the lawmakers told business community members at a Virginia Chamber of Commerce event. Spending would be slashed, defense spending cut and the tax breaks eliminated. Entitlement programs would also be cut, and gradually, the retirement age would be raised

The ‘Gang of Six’ consist of the following as listed on Politico Mark Warner (D VA), Saxby Chambliss (R GA), Tom Coburn (R OK), Kent Conrad (D ND), Mike Crapo (R ID), & Dick Durbin (D IL).

Unfortunately for Georgians just like with TARP, it looks like we’re going to be left holding the ‘Tax Bag’ again. What we need is true conservative leadership to step up and propose tax breaks just as Ronald Reagan did when he took office in 1981 following the disastrous Jimmy Carter years.

Have we learned nothing of how Democrats operate? When they have power they put forth the worst of freedom destroying legislation, and when they’re out they scream of ‘bipartisanship’. They wanted nothing to do with ‘reaching across the isle’ when Obama-care was being ‘discussed’. They wanted nothing to do with Republican ideas for two solid years, yet now as soon as we have the inkling of control to right our collective ship some in the Republican party cannot wait to run across the isle and embrace those who have put us in this horrible fiscal position in the first place.

The elections of November should indicate conservative values, both fiscal and social, are popular enough to win the electorial day. My assumption as one of the ‘unwashed hoi polloi’ is you are standing on your principals each and every vote. America is watching your principals on parade. Conservatives have a memory. We will remember come 2016 Senator Chambliss, and for those who don’t I can easily repost things here and elsewhere.

It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the Main Stream Media has either selected the candidate they believe the Republicans should choose or have at least narrowed the field to their short list. I’m not going to name names or disparage anyone here because, frankly that’s the MSM’s job. What I will say here is that I would like to remind everyone how well we did against Hopey McChange in the last election whilst following the lead of the candidate that was all but crowned the Republican nominee almost a year before the actual primary.

I fervently request that each and every one of us investigate a candidate outside of the simple and easy to find sources of information i.e. the ones the MSM seems to guide the most. While this is usually the case for RS readers, please ask a simple question of those who would ask for you to endorse their Chosen One: “Where did you hear that?” If they’re answer is something you would consider the MSM, then kindly ask them to find an alternate source that is not the MSM.

In the 2012 election cycle I thought I was going to be backing a single individual, but thanks to the Presidential pole conducted on this very site I have become exposed to a much larger field of candidates I find appealing. As for me, my vote is in play and will be decided by the debates, issues raised, and statements made by the candidates. I would be suspicious and concerned about any hearsay aimed at stripping anyone candidate of his/her supporters. Heck, if you want to explore an interesting corollary to the idea that whoever the MSM likes is destined to fail, lets take a closer look at who they hate and vilify. Perhaps they do that because they’re concerned that person could actually defeat Hopey McChange? Now there’s a thought I like.

A friend I used to work with posted this on her Facebook page and I thought you guys would like it. Merry Christmas…

North Point Church Iband (music played exclusively on iphones and ipads)

For your review I offer the following link to an article that would cause panic among the left if it had originated from the Bush White House. As it is, it is going to die a quiet death as our freedoms are further assaulted and eroded.