A place to discuss the political current events of the day from Granville County.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers. We are so blessed to live in a country with the freedoms that we enjoy.
It has been a long standing tradition to celebrate the harvest with family and friends, and it is my hope that you will get to share the day and a meal with those closest to you.
Best to all
John
If the goverment’s money was going to be used to fund the plan, I would be willing to tip my hat to President-elect Obama. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as government money. There is only April 15. As President Ronald Reagan once said “[r]epublicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.” President-elect Obama will not be breaking the mold.
There is, however, a more grave concern; namely, big government taking upon itself alone the task of securing the gratifications of the American people. As Tocqueville wrote, “[f]or their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances; what remains, but to spare them all the care of thinking and all trouble of living?” The economic recovery plan is not, in and of itself, dangerous; except to the extent that it will likely lighten our wallets/purses. But, as President-elect Obama himself stated, the plan is only “an early downpayment.” What else do we have to look forward to? Just how far left is Obama willing to take our Country?
I hope you will agree that these are serious times. We don’t have until 2010 to start thinking about the mid-term elections. We must start thinking about them now. If you are interested in reversing the tide, please join us in our efforts to rebuild the Republican party. There is so much that can be done at the local level. Won’t you join us?
Remember all that campaign trail rhetoric from the Democrats about how they represented ‘change we can believe in’, and all those dire warnings about not voting for Sen. McCain because that would just mean ‘more of the same’?
Well, guess what we got folks? More of the same. Not more of the same George Bush administration, but another dose of the Clinton regime. “Yes We Can” clearly means that whatever was said on the campaign trail about ‘hope’ and ‘change’, which, by the way, are neither edible nor in any way useful as a means of exchange for goods and/or services, can be instantly discarded once we win office.
At the time of writing some 70% of appointments that Mr. Obama has made are former (and possibly current) Clinton administration servants. All of a sudden the real meaning of “Yes We Can” has become distressingly clear, even to the most faithful Obama supporter who, as a recent survey and video showed, didn’t know which party has been controlling Congress for the last two years, or anything much about anything else but could, parrot-like, repeat every falsehood that the main stream media had fed them for the last year and a half. Even that good ole fence sitter Joe Lieberman has been welcomed back into the Democrat tent like the proverbial prodigal son, once he agreed to publicly state that some of the things he said while stumping for McCain might have been a little hasty. In return for his continued Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, (and of course his Senate votes on the Democrat side of any upcoming issue) he even ‘confessed’ that on reflection he didn’t mean some of the things he said. Come on Joe, help me out here. Which things did you mean, and which did you not?
And then there are the questions (too numerous to count) surrounding the appointment of our next Secretary of State. No doubt the name of the appointee will be announced soon, but until that somewhat gloomy day please join me in a game of fantasy politics; here’s how it works:
There are three central players; one a sitting Governor who used to be great friends with a former President and his wife, a second player who is a sitting Senator, a losing contender for the nomination as the Presidential candidacy, and is the wife of a former President. The third player is a guy who won the election to be the next President, despite the slings and arrows tossed by the wife of a former President, and who declined to pick the wife of a former President as his VP running mate, despite the fact that she won more votes in the Democratic Party primaries than he did. For simplicity, in this purely hypothetical scenario, we’ll name the players Sana Fe, Chicago and New York. All you have to do is, from the following fantasy scenario, figure out who wins. “Who wins what” I hear you ask? Well, you have to figure that out too.
Scenario: During the election campaign Sana Fe, who has foreign affairs experience, but has retired from contention as a candidate for the presidency, decides to endorse Chicago as the next President. New York and her husband, who has had Santa Fe over to watch the game more times than she can recall is shocked that a so called family friend could do such a thing. When the primaries and their attendant closed shop caucuses are over, New York finds that despite the support of some 18 million glass ceiling smashing enthusiasts, one or two of which she knew by name, it was Chicago who got the nod. New York, deeply disappointed, publicly tearful and allegedly broke temporarily leaves the scene, with a parting plea for assistance with paying her outstanding campaign debts. Without such assistance, we’re told, she might have to make a contribution from her private family funds, meager though they may be.
Chicago wins the election and sets about appointing his cabinet and senior staff, remembering two things at all times; who helped him and who didn’t, and who has the least murky record that can be sufficiently ’spun’ so as to earn the approval of Congress and the ignorance of the electorate. Egotistical New York, with spousal support no doubt, confidently awaits the call to high office from Chicago, but no call comes. Instead, New York hears that Santa Fe is probably going to be invited to high office. So, facing potential obscurity and the end of a dynasty, New York leaks word that she has been invited to meet Chicago so that he can appoint her to be the next Secretary of State. Chicago, now close to appointing Santa Fe to that job, and very anxious to avoid a bare knuckle fight during his transition to the presidency, reluctantly agrees to meet with New York. In the dead of night New York slips silently and anonymously, in the full glare of the alphabet TV network cameras, onto a scheduled flight to somewhere in Illinois. At a post (secret) meeting press conference New York states that she cannot of course discuss or take questions on anything related to any appointments that Chicago may or may not make. On the same day, while speaking for an enormous fee somewhere in the Middle East, New York’s husband says that his wife would be an excellent Secretary of State. Meanwhile, Santa Fe is still being considered and background checks are being conducted on all candidates.
A few days later the media begins to carry stories, or perhaps smoke screens, that New York may not in fact be wholeheartedly wedded to the idea of becoming S of S, that she may prefer to continue to serve her needy constituents and their vital interests in Congress. Some outlets, clearly drunk on Kool-Aid actually have the temerity to suggest that the global commercial dealings of New York’s husband may not pass the smell test, and may therefore make her appointment impossible. But Chicago might yet have to concede, quietly, lest he too receives a fish in the mail.
Fact is, right now, nobody knows. Except of course that 70% of hard core staffers and acolytes who are diligently preparing to devote their skills and previous experience to the cause of making sure that nothing really changes at all, unless it was something that could be called a Republican success. But there weren’t too many of those, so nothing to worry about.
And for all those who swallowed the ‘hope’ and ‘change’ pitch? Well, they don’t even know who’s been in charge for the last two years, so they’ll have no clue about what went on between 1992 and 2000. When it happens again it will all be fresh and new. And if it isn’t?
It’s Bush’s fault.
We are happy that you have stopped in at Granville Alive for a visit.
Please join me in welcoming our new editor Adam Tarsitano. Adam lives in the Wilton Precinct with his wife and daughter. They are new residents of Granville County, and we are happy that he wants to be a part of our party.
We hope that you will take the time to register so that you can participate and stop in often and be a part.
John Wilkerson
Webmaster Granvillegop
My Fellow Granville County Republicans,
This is not the time to wallow in defeat. This is not the time to compromise or abandon our political philosophy. This is not the time to concede that liberalism has finally slain its staunch enemy. This is, however, the time for serious reflection.
We sustained a significant electoral defeat on November 4, 2008. Voters clearly sent the Republican Party a message. Was the message that liberalism has won the war and the country has shifted left of center? Was it that the Republican Party has been permanently relegated to the bin of political minority? Or was it that the Republican Party failed to capture the minds of the voters because it ran away from its virtues for political expediency? I believe it is the latter of the three.
There is nothing more distressing than witnessing Republicans on the defensive. But this is the very position we found ourselves in. Our party’s representatives permitted the Democrats to define us. Moreover, our party’s representatives turned their backs on us. They have lost faith in the political philosophy that gave our party its wings during the 1980′s. They have lost faith in conservatism. But we haven’t. We still believe. And we know that our political philosophy is as viable today as it was during the Reagan-era. The problem is that no one is delivering this message on our behalf. As such, we must deliver this message ourselves.
We win elections when we are bold. We win elections when we are courageous. We win elections when we stand by our convictions. We win elections when we are proud of our beliefs. We have had a few days to lick our wounds following our defeat on November 4, 2008 and now we must get back to work.
The revival and revitalization of our party must begin at the local level. We must rebuild from the ground up. If we do, we will thrive once again. As the wise Edmund Burke said, “The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment, is foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is wise, and, when time is given to it, as a species it always acts right.” I believe this to be true. I hope you do too.
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