Fighting for the Soul, Part I

We are officially down to 4, and practically down to three or maybe two on the Republican side. We are also down to two on the Democratic side, but policy-wise there is such a small difference between Hillary and Barack that it's almost not worth mentioning. (It's kinda funny that Sen. Obama calls himself the candidate of change, yet looking at his voting record, you really can't tell much difference between him and 90 year old and almost 50 year veteran of the Senate, Robert Byrd.) However, there seems to be quite a difference between the two Republican front-runners, John McCain and Mitt Romney, and that difference highlights some critical issues that the Republican party will have to face.

Growing up during the days of Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, there didn't seem to be that much difference between them. (Well, at least the first 3) All seem to want a big government role in our lives. None minded raising taxes if they felt the government needed more money. Of course, it was the "wealthy" that needed their taxes raised the most, so the wealthy bore the brunt of the annual tax raising parties the Democratic Congress and the current President held. There was a war (excuse me I mean "police action") that none of them wanted any part of after it was decided that we weren't even going to try and win. That set the tone for the defeatism that followed during the Ford and Carter years. Yet for all their genuine caring about the country, things were going to hell in a hand basket! We were faced with a combination of inflation and recession never before seen on our shores. The Arab oil producers believed they could influence our policies toward Israel by cutting off our oil. The Soviet Union started heating up the Cold War again with an incursion in Afghanistan. Our strong response to that was to boycott games being held in Moscow. Iran unleashes the start of current Islamic jihad against the US and the West in general by storming our embassy and taking hostages. To make it worse, the moderate wing of the Republican Party seemed just as clueless as the Democrats who were running the Congress. Who could help us in our dimmest hour?

Stay tuned for part 2!

HUCKABEE APPLYING FOR VICE-PRESIDENT!?!?!?!?!?!

I am really confused about the stance Gov. Huckabee is taking about the slander job Sen. McCain is doing on Gov. Romney concerning his "supposed" pronouncement in favor of time tables for leaving Iraq. Although I am not a Baptist currently, I got saved in a Southern Baptist church and spent my junior high and high school years under its tutelage. I was taught that a half-truth was just as bad as a lie. I was also taught to respect those that ministered the Word, and to give them the benefit of the doubt. I have to assume that Gov. Huckabee has not listened to the actual recording that Sen. McCain is twisting to make it sound like Gov. Romney is giving credence to that despicable idea.

While Gov. Romney did use the word "time table" in response to a reporter's question, he made it VERY CLEAR that he would veto any attempt of Congress to put an actual time table on our time in Iraq. He was also VERY CLEAR that any "time table" would be a set of goals between us and the Iraqi government to be used to gage progress AND WOULD BE A PRIVATE MATTER BETWEEN OUR GOVERNMENTS! Gov. Romney emphasized that it would be IDIOTIC to tell our enemies when we would be leaving. He used the example of World War II. How stupid would it have been to tell the Germans that if we didn't cross the Rhine River by December 24th, 1944 that we would pull out? Only a very twisted retelling could come close to accusing Gov. Romney of wanting to telegraph that information to Al Qaeda.

So what is Gov. Huckabee doing? He either doesn't want to know the truth or he and Sen. McCain have worked out a deal for the delegates that Gov. Huckabee controls. How would a McCain-Huckabee ticket play out? The "good" senator gets the nomination he wants and the former governor of the state of a possible candidate gets a chance at almost a decade at national exposure. In fact, give Sen. McCain's age, he may be hoping beyond hope (not that anyone hopes for that) to be the first vice-president since Gerald Ford to advance to the top office.

It is really time to stop it! If you notice, I have been diligent in using the titles of these august men of the Republic. Not only are they men of integrity and accomplishment, they are all striving to represent the Grand Old Party! One thing that has set the Republican Party apart is a mindset that the issues are what are important. When they stoop to tactics that the former President from Arkansas regularly partakes in (I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?) they distract the voters from the very thing that sets them apart, the strength of ideas. Stay with the issues, Sen. McCain. Take what you said you would take in the 200o race. Take the high road. If your ideas are better, your electibility will be better. You are better than that. Please act like it.

Democrats and race: Why African-Americans should reconsider

It is two days until the South Carolina primary. It is 53 years since Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. It is almost 44 years since President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. It is 133 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which provided almost the identical rights as the 1964 law. ( Check out the Wikipedia article here.) Why do I mention all this? It is two days until the South Carolina primary. Two days until January 26, 2008. AND STILL, EVEN IN THIS DAY, DEMOCRATS , (not Republicans), are fighting over race issues during the race between Barack Obama and Hillary/Bill Clinton. And this is a prime example why African-Americans need to look to the Republican party as the party that will help them in the long run.

"That's crazy talk" you may say. "Every knows that the Democrats are the ones who really care about African-Americans." Or are they? Yes, President Johnson, a Democrat, was the one who pressed for passage of the bill. Yet, when the votes were tallied, the Republican Party was the one who overwhelmingly passed it. The vote was 80-20% in favor by the Republican House, and 82-18% by the Republican Senators. Conversely, the Dems voted 63-37% in the House, and 68-32% in the Senate. So it cannot be said that the Republicans opposed or resisted passage of this bill. The Democratic Party however, came out of this as THE PARTY of African-Americans. Yet the party's support, if history is closely examined, has been more of a subjugation than a help. The Democrats have supported policies that have torn apart the African-American family and work ethic rather than building them up. And now, with an African-American running very ably for President, we see a former Democratic president and his candidate wife repeatedly trying to make race an issue in the race for their party nomination. You can check out my link for comments Bill Clinton made in South Carolina. Just recently, Hillary Clinton made comments which seemed to disparage the role Dr King had in the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Maybe the relationship that Democrats have had with African-Americans is one of convenience?

I am not saying that Republicans have the perfect solutions for African-Americans. However, they have the solutions that are the best fit for all Americans. Give businesses the chance to grow jobs so there are ample opportunities for all to work. Quit allowing illegal immigrants to come in and steal jobs. Provide equal opportunity for all. Fulfill the cry of Dr. King that "... my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Look at the true character of the Democratic Party and judge it for what it is. A party that will say whatever it needs to say to gain power. A party that pushes division and partisanship. A party that coddles and enables instead of moving forward and challenging a nation to drive forward into its destiny. Look at the attitude of former President Clinton and judge for yourself. Does this party really have my best interest at heart?

Poor Fred, we hardly knew ye!

Well, my newly found neo-Reagan conservative has dropped out. It has been a crazy run for Sen. Thompson. My father-in-law was talking about Brother Fred a year ago, pointing out that he was the only true conservative in the crowd. For almost 9 months, he hemmed and hawed and teased and obfuscated his intentions. In the meantime, the field filled up with Rudy, Mitt, Huckabee, McCain, and the rest. It was September when he finally jumped in. Even then, Sen. Thompson was virtually unheard until three weeks ago. Then he was exploding like the 4th of July! Fred on the left, Fred on the right, Fred down the middle. Of course at this stage of the game as it is played in 2008, it was WAY too little too late. The fact that he finished third in South Carolina is a testimony to the underlying conservative undertow that exists. Reaganites are not comfortable with ANY of this crew.

Which way does the Grand Old Party go? McCain is George H. W. Bush warmed over, moderate almost all the way. Huckabee is a populist as much as he is a Republican, and although populists make some noise, they have never really played well in American politics. Especially with a tax plan that actually hurts the middle and low income working class. Rudy is great fiscally, but he might as well be John Edwards on social and moral issues.

That leaves Mitt. A conservative in almost all areas, the biggest gripe against him is his recent pronouncements against abortion. After all, he was governor of Massachusetts! We know how liberal they are! Yet I see in Mitt Romney a pragmatism that only Ronald Reagan possessed. President Reagan didn't go hard after the abortion laws, but he understood that this was a long term battle that was going to have to be won in the Supreme Court. And even then, the abortion issue, as all morality issues, have to be won in the hearts and minds of the American people. Legislated morality is legalism at its worse, and if our Lord spoke out against anything, it was the legalism in the name of faith. That's a subject for another forum, but suffice it to say that it may be time for Mitt Romney to stand up and carry the banner for the conservatives of this land.

I'm Baaaaaackkkkkk!!!!!

OK. Life goes on whether I write this thing or not. HOWEVER, my unique voice doesn't get added to the mix unless I choose to add it. With an election coming that is very hotly contested on both sides, and a culture whose very soul is in flux, it is time for a common sense look at the issues that we face in these tumultuous times. Look out , blogosphere, here I come!