Hear ye! Hear ye!

A Call to Christians and Conservatives

“It does me no harm if my neighbor has one God or twenty.” Thomas Jefferson
There is not a position open for Assistant God. Please do not act, as if,
you would qualify. Captain O.B. Obvious

If Archie Bunker ever had a role model, it could have been my Dad. He was impartial in his discrimination; everyone received his even-handed rancor. In spite, of the many non-factual quips he tied together in his advice; every once in a while, he said something that seemed to make sense to my, then teenage, mind. One such piece of sagacity:”Income, politics and religion are personal; yours is no one Else's business and theirs is none of yours”. He missed the humor of my response: But that’s where to find the best arguments. My Dad passed away in 1994;needless to say, he would be extremely agitated following the news coverage of candidates today.

I do not believe our culture is improved by neglecting my dad’s advice. Instead, we have a president who takes every opportunity to seize upon differences and represents a party that has envy and ‘class warfare’ as its campaign theme. There may have never been a more focused need to nominate a strong presidential candidate as the republicans face in the 2012 election. This election has been reduced to only two goals: First, defeat Barrack Obama; second, accomplish the first goal.

I want Christians to understand two distinct facts about nominating a presidential candidate. The first fact is foremost: God is sovereign. Nothing happens that comes as a surprise to him. Nothing happens that is beyond his knowledge or his allowing for the fulfillment of his purpose. The second fact is the President of United States is the executive position of a civil government. It is not an ecclesiastical position; therefore, one’s theology has no direct bearing on the performance of the job. (See Jimmy Carter)

As to ‘Conservatives’, I have never met a more politically confused set of people   in my life. Due to a lack of understanding of what it is that is to be conserved; shallow-rooted conservatives are tossed like milkweed in the wind of media manipulation. It is appalling to me, that many believe Newt Gingrich is a conservative. I would argue that he is not more conservative than Romney and that Romney is smarter and more talented. Let me say, any one of the republican candidates would be a better president than Mr. Obama. I believe that Jon Huntsman is more consistently positioned in conservative principles than the others without the distraction of their personality quirks. Unfortunately, for him, the media plays much too large of a role in today’s political landscape.

Please consider that the conservatism of the president is less important than the conservatism of Congress. The republicans are only four seats away from controlling the Senate, a necessity in changing the direction of the country. America needs at least 10 more fiscal conservatives like Paul Ryan in the House of Representatives.

Do not rely on the media to determine your vote. Obama has a record now, which will go a long way to defeating him. Our country will improve dramatically, simply due to him being gone. The significant changes in law, tax codes and energy policy will arise from congress. The president’s role will be in team building domestically and in foreign relations. He will have many crises from outside that demand a tremendously smart military efficiency and preparedness, including reappraisal of our deployments. He will need to replace our financial officers with a new thinking team and will have to initiate   a complete revival of our State Department and Department of Justice. The primary function of the next four years demands a very skilled executive not an egotist or ideologue. When I filter the republican field, I see only one who meets my qualifications: Mitt Romney

C'mon Donnie tell us who's the Captain Picking?

ALL MEN ARE FLAWED

Media Independence part 3

For those you who have been following, I choose not to let the popular television media carry much weight in regards to my political decisions.  This is evidenced by the fact that I have yet to see any of the so-called debates. Also, those who know me know that I have an ‘inside’ tipster, who provides me with more than adequate advice to count on: Captain O.B. Obvious.

The delay in the arrival of this; the final part of my wandering point, is due to that necessary consultation. When one travels, as I did this week, from north to south through Nevada on US 93 then back from south to north on US 95; one is surrounded only by desolate beauty, which provides the unlimited silence from which the Captain can pontificate. During this sojourn we spent some time at Lage’s junction. Do not look for it on a map; it does not exist that way. Evidently, where Alt 93 meets US 93; approximately 60 miles south of Wendover, NV, Mr. Lage once stood. Working, I of course, was at this locale to pick up 24 bales (8’ x 4’ x 4’) 20 tons of Alfalfa hay going to Wilmington, CA for export to Japan. (Please Mr. President, leave our economy alone.) Anyway, the captain and I, from high on the valley floor (elev. 5400ft), experienced a Mr. Spock-like ‘mind-meld’. We concluded that Mitt Romney is our choice for the republican nominee.

Hold your horses Bunky, I’ll explain. It is my contention; that if, George, John, Thomas, James and James were on stage having these ‘debates’; not only would the MSNBC hosts become unraveled and still support Mr. Obama, the front-runner would change from week to week. My reference should not be obscure; George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were our 1st five presidents and all members of our ‘founding fathers’. By today’s standards, they would all be considered radical conservatives. They were not in their time. George Washington was, by necessity, the most powerful; Mr. Obama would be extremely jealous; if he knew who Washington was. John Adams was the 1st to be elected as a party candidate; he was a Federalist, the closest thinking to what we call today’s democrats; believing in more of a consolidated government; a national rather than severely limited form. Thomas Jefferson was elected third, as a republican. The party he and James Madison formed was called Republican (Revisionist historians called it republican-democratic) it was formed in direct contrast to the Federalists like Adams and Hamilton. Jefferson was, by far, the most libertine. However, he would not be able to support libertarians of today. Much to Ron Paul’s chagrin he sent the newly formed marines into Tripoli to war with the Barbary Pirates on small boats called ‘Jeffs’; named after him. (Can you imagine a Marine support ship named USS Ron Paul) He also had the US Navy intercept US citizens’ boats as they were violating the embargo he placed on exports to England. He effectively made transportation of slaves from Africa illegal in the US, while he was also starting to move Native American tribes farther west. He reduced taxes and supported the national bank. He repealed the Alien and Seditions Act and set about to remove or impeach Federal Judges that he disagreed with politically, including the historically singular trial of a sitting Supreme Court Judge, Samuel Chase; this was defeated unanimously. James Madison, known erroneously as the “Father of the Constitution”, studied law under Thomas Jefferson. He would qualify as the most conservative, if judged by today’s standards. Even though, the US Constitution is almost a direct repudiation of what he and Alexander Hamilton proposed when they supplanted the original call to assembly for the purpose of ‘strengthening’ the Articles of Confederation. As president, he would not even support ‘road building’ by the federal government. Today’s call for more ‘infrastructure spending’ would not pass his veto. James Monroe, our 5th president, recovered from a near fatal wound at the victorious battle of Trenton. He (as a lieutenant) is seen standing behind Washington holding the flag in Leutze’s famous painting “Crossing the Delaware”. He also studied law under Jefferson and was the third consecutive Jeffersonian-republican elected. His presidency is best remembered by the “Monroe Doctrine” which  ended foreign intervention in our hemisphere due to the risk of war. At the time, a very bold commitment; considering the New England states would not allow their militia to leave their own state during the War of 1812 with England. A possible factor  to Baltimore being bombarded by British war vessels (You may remember the song by Francis Scott Key) prior to our White House being burned by British soldiers before England decided they needed to use all of their forces against France.

Wow, that is interesting. What does it have to do with Mitt Romney again? I’ll admit; one of the reasons I’m for Mitt is because the media isn’t. He is an honorable, intelligent man with a pleasant mixture of ideals and business acumen. As Joe Biden once said; "he is clean and articulate.” (Oh, I forgot, Biden was talking about Obama!) He will be an able executive and attract noble men to our government. Have we seen enough of the caliber of persons Obama attracts? He is not a ‘natural conservative’ and does not pretend to be, that is an asset. He will be humbled by the nomination and election, which is not what we are used to seeing. I believe his motivation is service not career enhancement. He will be far more willing to listen than any of the others and he is an excellent judge of character. He is according to the Captain and I, the right man at the right time!

If you believe that Newt Gingrich is more to your liking as a conservative than you don’t know Newt Gingrich. Newt knows history well. Newt knows politics well. He uses history to facilitate his politics. He says a lot of the right things, catch phrases and quotes that can make a conservative salivate. But he has neither the understanding nor the character of the men and ideals he claims to emulate. That is why his personal history is tainted by contradiction, hypocrisy and the ever present implosion. He and Mitt are alike in their behavior: not natural conservatives. In my humble opinion, you know a conservative by his actions, i.e. Mitch Daniels of Indiana not because they told you. Romney will listen and therefore learn; Newt already knows it all and will tell you so.