We have finally caught up.

For years, decades even, the political Left in this country has been a far more effective and influential political force than the Right. As much as many of us on the Right would like to disagree with that statement, I think we all know, deep down, that it is the truth.

There are many reasons for this discrepancy in influence, but I think the primary factor has been the Left’s ability to run circles around the Right in terms of grassroots political participation.

Grassroots activism has long been vital to the Democratic political machine. From get-out-the-vote drives on college campuses, inner city neighborhoods and union meetings to a friendly mass media that disseminated the Left’s agenda to millions of American homes on a daily basis, the Left instituted a multi-facetted approach to get people excited, organized and active. Over the past decade, with the emergence of the Internet as a powerful communication tool, the Left quickly cornered the interactive political market with sites like Moveon.org and the Huffington Post.

During this time, from a grassroots perspective, the Right simply floundered. Yes, political participation was strong and voter turnout remained high, but the movement was stagnant. Passion was there, but it was coupled with a complacency that simply was not present on the Left.

This situation came to a head during the midterm elections of 2006 when the policies of President Bush and Congressional Republicans were soundly routed. While an unpopular president and a failing Iraqi War were enough ammo for the Left, it was their fervent grassroots activism that helped them ignite a groundswell of support for their cause…a groundswell that continued through to the 2008 presidential election.

Faced with steep losses in the House and Senate, an incredibly liberal agenda coming out of the White House and a complacent press, the Right had a choice: either narrow the grassroots gap or go the way of the Whig, Federalist, Bull Moose and Know Nothing parties.

Fortunately, we chose the former. That’s right, things have changed. We’ve closed the gap.

I’ve heard many commentators discuss the recent resurgence of the Conservative Movement in this country and attribute it to President Obama’s policies moving the country to the right. I wholeheartedly disagree with this assertion. I believe this country has always leaned to the conservative end of the political spectrum. The only difference is that now, more and more conservatives are active in the political process.

In short, it’s all about grassroots activity.

The examples are everywhere. Sure, they may take different forms from those on the Left, but they are just as effective.

Look at the millions of people that participated in the Tea Parties and the taxpayer march in Washington that occurred in September. When do you remember anything resembling this come from those of us on the Right?

This grassroots activity doesn’t just take shape in demonstrations; there are media examples like conservative talk radio and Fox News. These two forces provided the push to get Doug Hoffman and the Conservative Party on the ballot in the special, Congressional election in the 23^rd district of New York state.

Let’s not forget the Internet either. Websites like Townhall.com and Drudgereport.com (with it’s 8 billion visits in the last year alone…yes, you did read that properly, 8 billion), not to mention blogs like this one, help organize events like the tea parties and dispense information that major media outlets won’t touch.

What’s especially encouraging about these latest developments is that I think they may be here to stay. This up tick in conservative, grassroots participation rallies around a principle, an idea, not a person. People are fallible. They say stupid things, make mistakes and, unfortunately, die. A movement doesn’t do any of those things, making it easier to follow, defend and rely upon.

These recent developments are as shocking as they are important. Honestly, I wasn’t sure we had it in us to become as active as the Left. After all, our track record hasn’t been the strongest in this area. I am thankful that we did because I’m not sure the Conservative Movement would be able to survive in today’s political landscape without it.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

The First 100.

President Obama’s 100-day mark has come and gone with much fanfare, dozens upon dozens of articles (both, praising and criticizing him) from around the country and assessments from all over the world. All of this attention has prompted many to label the 100-day mark as overrated and insignificant.

I humbly disagree, especially in the case of President Obama.

You can say or think what you will of President Obama and his policies, however, you cannot criticize his willingness to make things happen in Washington. This was something that I questioned about him as he entered office. I did not know if he wanted to be a serious politician or someone that thought of himself more as a celebrity. Well, the former is certainly the case.

That is about where the praise ends, however.

While he has been incredibly active in his little time as Commander in Chief, his activity has been quite detrimental to, not only this country’s present, but its future as well.

This is especially true in the two most important issues facing our country today: our national security and our economy.

Let’s discuss national security first.

Actually, I take back what I said a few lines above as I think President Obama has done a pretty good job in Iraq in Afghanistan. He has stayed the course with the Bush plan to leave an American presence in the country until 2011, while starting a slow drawdown in the number of troops stationed there. Truthfully, I was rather worried about him sticking to his campaign promise of withdrawing right away, so this has been a welcomed development.

Additionally, he has showed some firmness in Afghanistan and committed to a troop surge there, all the while staying tough on Pakistan. Both actions were the right moves in my opinion.

While he has been strong on those two issues, I cannot, for the life of me, understand his approach to the nuclear weapon issues in North Korea and Iran. His impotence in these two separate issues could lead to a global destabilization, widespread nuclear proliferation and the propping up of additional, rogue and despotic regimes around the world. Couple that with his willingness to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp without a viable option as to what to do with the prisoners and we have a president that does not understand the grave threats to our country…not a good thing when we are at war.

His economic track record has been even worse.

His reckless spending from the spending bill with 9,000 earmarks to his $1.5 trillion deficit for this year, the governmental control he has established in the banking and automotive industries and his misuse of TARP fund management will potentially cripple us financially for decades

Then there’s the…

Air Force One Photo op over Manhattan-Indefensible

The buddy-buddy moments with Hugo Chavez-Troubling

His inability to give any statements without a teleprompter-Frightening

The lack of discipline he exhibits when making off-the-cuff statements (how companies shouldn’t go to Las Vegas in tough economic times for meetings or conventions, thereby hurting an already slumping travel and tourism industry)-Irresponsible

Pushing Congress to quickly pass the Stimulus Bill (without many of them reading it), then taking a three-day, Valentine’s day weekend with the First Lady-Arrogant

His cabinet and senior leadership nominations being wrought with scandal and controversy-Careless

The release of CIA interrogation information-Inexcusable

The comment about the Special Olympics-Awful

His willingness to let Russia broker a deal with Iran over nuclear weapons-Unbelievable

His lavish, $50 million inauguration-Again, arrogant

Not the best start, now is it?

Here’s to the next 1,360 (and not 2,820) being much, much better…although I’m not very optimistic about that.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Conservatives: The untouchables of America.

I had a strange thing happen to me the other night and I thought some of you would find it fairly interesting…

Due to the relatively pleasant weather that we Milwaukeeans were enjoying this past Sunday afternoon/evening, my wonderful girlfriend and I were invited to a barbeque with some of our friends.

To be honest, they were her friends first, however, in the nearly two years I have been with my girlfriend; I have become friends with them as well.

We were at the incredibly posh condo of one of the couples that has done very, very well in real estate development. The condo is located on the fashionable, trendy and extremely liberal East Side of Milwaukee.

There were three couples all in their late 20’s or early 30’s, a woman (the neighbor of the host) who is probably around 50 or so and her small dog.

Very good group and atmosphere. Casual, lighthearted, fun.

The night was quite pleasant as the food was quickly eaten, beers and martinis drank and humorous stories ranging from pets, grandparents, professional mascots, chimpanzees and awkward encounters with neighbors were exchanged.

For once politics did not really come up…but I do stress the word “really”.

Knowing the political leanings of the other two couples and after hearing the neighbor woman go on and on about Jon Stewart’s “brilliant” performance while debating Jim Cramer, I knew that my girlfriend and I were outnumbered…badly.

And let me be honest about this…I’m perfectly fine with that. Many of my friends are liberals and I have no problem hanging out with them, confiding in them or even discussing politics with them. To me, they are not defined by their political views. Even if they were, I am not that close-minded to only surround myself with like-minded individuals.

Anyway, as I said, we were discussing chimpanzees and I brought up an old program that Fox ran a couple of years back called “Man vs. Beast”. “Man vs. Beast” was a ridiculous competition pitting humans and animals against each other in athletic events.

The strange thing that happened to me was when I brought up the show.

I said, “Have any of you heard of the show “Man vs. Beast?”.

No one did.

Somebody asked me what channel it was on and I responded, “Fox”. The neighbor woman heard the word “Fox” and replied, “Well, there’s your problem”…she was clearly referring to Fox News.

At that point, one of the girls mouths to the neighbor woman with her eyes open wide and a slow nodding of the head, “No, he’s a…”.

In response, the neighbor woman mouthed “oh…”, eyes equally big, nod equally slow.

She didn’t even have to say or mouth the word “conservative”…she knew what she meant.

Now, I know they did not intend me to see the exchange, so it’s not like they tried to make a big deal about it or anything, but it just kind of struck me as odd that the exchange even took place. It was as if to say, “Well, this barbaric and simplistic interest is only explained by his conservative viewpoint”.

And the look on the neighbor’s face was priceless, as it seemed to convey the thought, “My God, one of them slipped in!”.

The rest of the night concluded without incident and nothing more was made of the issue.

Maybe I’m being sensitive here, but the more I think about it, the more it stays with me. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I was offended or hurt, but after it happened, I felt different, apart from the rest of the group. It was a feeling I certainly didn’t have before this brief, seven-second exchange took place, that’s for sure.

So, is that what we conservatives have been reduced to, a group of untouchables? A boorish and uncouth group of people that must be identified before speaking as to alert the other, more civilized members of society of our existence? A collection of people whose thoughts and ideals are backwards when compared to those of the enlightened Left?

Hopefully, that’s just the case on the East Side of Milwaukee.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

What ever happened to that “line by line” elimination of earmarks?

If you haven’t been paying attention to the news lately, you may have missed the fact that President Obama just signed a Congressional spending bill that had some earmarks in it and they will cost us taxpayers a little bit of money.

Oh yeah, by “some”, I mean 8,816 of them and by “little bit of money”, I mean $7.6 billion.

But Mr. President, I thought we you getting rid of all of those earmarks! After all, didn’t you say the following:

"We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress' seniority, rather than the merit of the project."

“Our earmark system, some call it pork-barrel spending, in Washington, is fraught with abuse. It badly needs reform.”

Oh yes, that’s right, that was candidate Obama speaking, not President Obama. There seems to be a growing gap between those two, doesn’t there?

Now I could sit here and list out the top offenders and the most absurd projects, but that’s already been done to death. I would rather explore the reasons behind the signing of this bill as I find that to be far more interesting... and troubling.

First, I have a question…why is he signing this bill in the first place?

Here’s a quote from President Obama about the bill just after he signed it:

"Let there be no doubt, this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability.”

Have you ever heard a president sign a bill and within minutes start criticizing it? I mean if the bill is such a bad thing, why is did he sign it?

Well in my estimation, the answer to those questions can be one three choices.

Reason #1. He’s a liar.

I know that’s a rather plain way of putting it, but I think it’s appropriate in this case. He signed the bill because he lied to us. He lied throughout the campaign, he lied after he was elected and he’s lying to us now.

Reason #2. He’s lazy.

Here’s another quote from President Obama regarding this bill:

"I am signing an imperfect... bill."

Wait a minute, if it’s imperfect, why don’t you fix it?

It’s because he’s lazy.

We all know how much he loves his weekend getaways with Michelle and with his kids having Spring Break, Lord knows the business of our country has to take a back seat.

By the way, didn’t a large number of Governor Palin’s detractors say that a mother of five couldn’t be Vice President because her family would take away from the business of the country?

Reason #3. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are running the show.

While I think I was getting warm with the first three, I have a feeling I’m getting red-hot now.

Obama’s inexperience has been well documented and this is just the latest example of it, as he clearly could not control the party he supposedly leads.

If he could control them, I really think he would not be forced to sign this embarrassing bill filled with the very earmarks that he’s been heavily criticizing for the past nine months.

Truth be told, I really think this latest capitulation is due in part to a combination of all three options.

But who knows, maybe this is just a temporary course of action during “unprecedented times”.

Hopefully he’s telling the truth and this will be the end of business as usual as we all know it in Washington.

Hopefully, he will find some semblance of financial responsibility.

Hopefully, he will usher in the change that he promised, but so far, has failed to produce.

I can remain hopeful…just not optimistic.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Quickie: We’ve just been taken for a ride folks…

So…things aren’t so bad after all, huh Mr. President?

Well then, that’s great, I’m sure you’ll have no problem canceling all of your spending plans that were franticly passed due to the assumption that the economy was in such bad shape and we needed this “historic” government intervention or else...

Yeah…that wasn’t included in the story.

I guess they were right…never let a serious crisis go to waste.

Do a president’s oratory skills really matter?

I bring this question up because we have just left the administration of a president that was always (and at times, unfairly so) criticized for his ham-fisted performances in formal speeches and every day speaking opportunities and have just entered the administration of a president that is often (too much, at times) lauded for his performance in those very same endeavors.

I guess the answer to the title question seems to depend on who is leading each party, now doesn’t it?

If you ask this question to supporters of each president, I will guarantee you that more supporters of President Obama will say that good oratory skills are important than President Bush supporters would.

So back to the question at hand, do they actually matter?

Obviously, there has to be some intelligence, knowledge and savviness behind the words, but I do believe that the oratory skills of a president are incredibly important and matter a great deal.

I know some may argue that the ability to give a good speech does not qualify someone to be president and that the inability to do so should not disqualify someone as well.

I would wholeheartedly agree with the first statement and agree with the second one...but only to a certain point.

A president could have incredibly brilliant and well thought out policies, but if they cannot articulate them to the public or to other members of the government what good would they be?

For an example of this, take President Bush’s plan to restructure Social Security.

To me, this was a brilliant plan. The plan would divert some of your Social Security withholdings to a personal account that would be invested in Wall Street. This would have done wonders for the market and created substantial wealth for every person that contributed to the fund. Moreover, it would have solved the budgetary shortfalls the system faces in the not too distant future.

We all know what happened to that plan; it failed because the American people didn’t buy into it.

Why was that?

Well, it was because President Bush simply could not properly communicate it to the average citizen. He tried using graphs and charts, speaking to the public through the press; even campaigning around the country trying to gain support for this plan. In the end, it just didn’t work…he couldn’t close the deal. The message was solid, the messenger…not so much.

The importance of oratory skills is not a new phenomenon that is a byproduct of the 24-hour news cycle.

Think about the basic foundation of our country. What is it?

It is not a crop or a good that can be bought, traded or sold.

It is not a political system or a ruling dynasty.

It is an idea and that idea is freedom.

How did this idea of freedom take root? It was founded in the streets of Boston and governmental chambers of Virginia and born in the fiery speeches of John Adams, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. It spread through the word of mouth of colonial citizens and took hold from Maine to Georgia.

So you see that strong political oratory predates the founding of our country and played an incredibly vital role in its founding.

Plus, can anyone really remember what a president wrote in any of their official documents?

Of course not, but can anyone remember any speeches given by our presidents?

Of course you can!

“Four score and seven years ago…”

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country…”

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall…”

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…”

“I am not a crook…”

“It depends on what the meaning of “is” is…”

Sorry about those last two, but I couldn’t help myself.

Having sound oratory skills is an invaluable weapon in a president’s arsenal. They help a president look more focused, sure of himself, prepared…in short, presidential.

So when someone says, “All Obama can do is give a good speech”, don’t shrug that off as some inconsequential skill…even if it is aided by a teleprompter.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

The Egotism of the Left

As many of you may have noticed over the years, there are quite a few differences between liberals and conservatives.

The list of those differences is far too long to mention here, so I’m just going to focus on one of those differences today…

That difference is the egotism of the Left.

Frankly, I’m not sure how many liberals get their heads through most doorways, as the level of egotism by many on the Left, particularly those in government, is astounding.

You want an answer to a question? Go ask a liberal.

Sure, you may not get the answer that you want or even an answer that is correct, but trust them; they know what they’re talking about.

This egotism used to be merely a mild annoyance, something to shake your head at or roll your eyes over.

Those days are long gone, as their egotism is getting all of us into deep trouble.

Want some examples?

The election of Barack Obama

In the mind of a liberal, electing a man with no executive or managerial experience to the most complicated executive job in the world is perfectly acceptable. Never mind his lack of experience, look at the man’s abilities, intellect and promise, that’s the true measure of the man.

We all see how that’s working.

The Iranian Nuclear Crisis

All throughout the presidential campaign, all we heard from Obama was that we would listen to Iran and meet with them face-to-face rather than the tired, old tactics of the Bush White House.

But like many, I asked, what is he possibly going to say that hasn’t already been said?

You see, in the liberal’s mind, it’s not what was being said that was the problem; the problem was who was saying it. Now that Obama is calling the shots the Iranians, and any rogue nation or group for that matter, will just go along with whatever we say.

Wrong.

Iran now has enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. Not that this is all Obama’s fault, but he certainly isn’t doing anything about it.

Government Control of Business

The vast majority of liberals want, at best, tougher government regulation on businesses and, at worst, complete governmental control of the private sector.

They think that this is good for business.

This is arguably the most flawed logic I can think of.

Take the struggling automotive industry as an example. Since when are senators, members of the House or even presidents, experts at managing an automobile manufacturer, designing cars that the buying public wants or overseeing assembly lines?

You want the answer?

They’re not experts at any of those things! Yet, it is their astronomical egotism that makes them believe they know what’s right for the struggling car manufacturers…not the actual people that work in that industry.

I mean, has anyone in Congress even worked in the automobile industry in their lives?

Can someone please explain this one to me?

Government Control of Healthcare

This is the exact same argument as the one above; however, this scenario is even more frightening.

Are you curious about what our healthcare system would look like if it were totally under the control of the government?

I’ve got three letters for you…

D M V

Simply frightening.

Again I ask, how many members of Congress are actual healthcare experts?

Foreign Policy

In the mind of many liberals, once the evil Bush Administration was run out of town on a rail, the rest of the world would rejoice, join hands, sing Koom By Ya and be bff’s with us.

Please.

Since Obama has entered office:

He has insulted Gordon Brown.

His drone missile attacks have been criticized by Pakistan.

He had to apologize to Canada for his protectionist rhetoric.

North Korea has intensified its nuclear weapons program.

Kyrgyzstan (bribed by Russia) evicted the U.S. from a major air base critical to the War in Afghanistan.

Israel elected a conservative government.

The Iranians launched a satellite, showing when they have nuclear weapons, they can put them on a ballistic missile.

Our most important ally in the Far East, India, was slighted by Hillary Clinton’s failure to visit the country in her tour of Asia.

Turkey has moved further away from us.

Koom By Ya indeed!

The economy

Now, I’m all for letting someone implement a plan, while patiently waiting for it to mature on its own and start working. However…

President Obama’s economic “plan” has been a disaster. The market is in a nosedive, more and more banks are closing, bankruptcies are piling up and consumer confidence is way down.

Why is this?

Because the Obama Administration’s “plan” isn’t really a plan at all. It’s merely a collection of half-baked ideas concocted by a bunch of government officials that are in way over their heads.

But according to liberals, we should have faith in them because they’re such gifted and intelligent people.

Some would call that confidence…I call it egotism.

You see, we conservatives don’t claim to know everything.

That’s why we would rather let business run itself rather than having government doing so.

That’s why we put our faith in people with a proven track record and lengthy experience to difficult jobs like the President of the United States.

That’s why we want lower taxes as we believe individuals know the best ways to spend their money, not some congressional committee.

That’s why we take a realistic approach to foreign policy.

That’s just my opinion…but hey, what do I know?

I’m just a simple conservative.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John