Romney, Not Bonafied

Mitt Romney

Conservatives
I’m a conservative, dammit! And not just any conservative; but a well-rounded one. What does well-rounded mean? It means I’m both fiscally and socially conservative; and let me tell you, that’s a tough thing to be right now.

It’s tough because almost all my fellow conservatives are one or the other but generally not both. Yes, both factions have formed a alliance (more a confederacy) based on a mutual goal; which is the hope of beating back the abyss that is the liberal/Democratic agenda. But with any alliance comes disagreements; thus the current riff over who the Republican nominee for President will be.

The fiscal conservatives want Romney; these are pretty well the establishment guys, the pundits, columnists, and Washington insiders. The social conservatives want… we want… ummm… we want… ANYBODY but Romney. Why? When it comes to conservatism; they don’t believe that Romney is “bonafied” as we say down here in the South. For you Yankees, bonafied means genuine, proven. Right now we social conservatives have a couple of guys to choose from in Santorum and Gingrich; both of which have their plusses and minuses.

Santorum really has the social issues on his side. He is undoubtedly one of us. He even has the cojones to speak out against the homosexual agenda. There aren’t too many left that will brave the slings and arrows to do that. But Santorum is from the North, and has been a little too chummy with the unions. Plus the man took a shellacking in his last bid for Senate.

Gingrich hasn’t always sided with us on all social issues. Who can forget him sitting next to Nancy Pelosi and pushing the global warming crap? Plus there was his marital infidelity. But the man is a genius; and just listen to him debate. He’d tear Obama a new one, especially when the POTUS is without the TOTUS. You can’t deny he was instrumental in recapturing congress after 40 years in the desert, and he was greatly responsible for the only balanced budget in half a century. And finally, Gingrich is a game changer!

And Me
So I’ve kind of laid out where both sides in this alliance stand… So where do I stand.

When I have to choose, I don’t even hesitate… I’m a social conservative. Why? Because things of the next world (social) take precedence over things of this world (fiscal). And speaking as a social conservative, I’m with the anybody but Romney crowd… right now. I say right now, because… Yes! I will eventually support Romney (or at least vote for him) if he becomes the nominee. But the same could be said for a grilled cheese sandwich or a dead possum. In the meantime, I’ll be doing everything in my power to ensure he is not the nominee. On the flip side of this coin, I expect the financial guys to do the same whoever the nominee is.

The Fiscal Arguments to Date
Over the last several months the fiscal guys have tried to use fear to get us (social conservatives) to settle for Romney. This tactic has worked so many times they pretty well thought things were in the bag. But we social conservatives went to the brink of capitulation before inching back and saying “No, not this time.”

Now the fiscal guys are back with a new argument. They have decided on shame as their next weapon. They don’t think we’ll (social conservatives) be taking a chance on Santorum; so they’re telling us that if we vote for Gingrich then we are hypocrites. Gingrich is a sinner (and a big one)… so you can’t vote for him or you’ll expose yourself as a hypocrite. Ahhhh… they’ve got us there.

A Little Social Advice
Let me give a little advise to my fiscal conservative brethren (who I am one of)… learn from the Democrats and don’t try to use tools/weapons you don’t understand. It would be like walking up to a .50 caliber fully automatic machine gun and taking it for a spin without knowing anything about it. You’re likely to lose a toe… at best.

If there is ANYTHING we social conservatives understand its sin, forgiveness and redemption. Which is exactly the excuse Gingrich is giving for his past. He admits to his sins, admits that he knows he was in the wrong, and says that his conversion of Christianity/Catholicism a few years ago have shown him the error of his ways. Is he telling the truth? Who can say… but we’re willing to give him the benefit of the doubt considering his recent history.

A final piece of advice to my fiscal brethren… you want to win this battle, stop trying to tear down and instead build up. Help Romney find his “bonafides”! The problem is that with all the flips and flops, we don’t believe Romney when he says he supports socially conservative issues. There’s not enough evidence behind his claims. Produce it! Help us connect the dots! Help us see that he isn’t just paying us lip service…

Unless he IS just paying us lip service… then you’d better just keep doing what you’re doing…

2012 Predictions by Mallard Fillmore

I follow Mallard Fillmore (by Bruce Tinsley) in the Conservative Chronicle, which I subscribe to. Every new year he puts out a few predictions… Here are a few I really liked for 2012.

(P.S.) I think you can click on the actual cartoon in WordPress to make it bigger/readable. Try it! Then use the back button to return to the blog/post…

And I especially like this prediction, because it’s so right on the money…

Why Republicans Hate “Infrastructure” Spending

I’ve heard quite a few people buy into the premise that Republicans/Conservatives will not commit to rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. That is only true if you define infrastructure spending the same as Democrats…

Here is why we are snake-bit on investments in “infrastructure”…

(Months Ago)

Democrats: Ahhhh! We’re about to go into another Great Depression! We need to spend $850 billion quick. It’ll go towards badly needed infrastructure!

Republicans: Well we certainly can’t do the Great Depression thing again, so…

Democrats: Ahhhh! What are you doing?

Republicans: Reading the bill….

Democrats: Don’t read it! Sign it! This can’t wait!

Republicans: OK, OK! Chill…

(Months Later)

Democrats: Ahhhh! We spent that $850 billion, the economy is still in the crapper, and we’ve got an election coming up! We need more of the same! This time a trillion dollars in stimulus. It’ll go towards badly needed infrastructure so it’s a win/win!

Republicans: Now hold on… what happened to the first $850 billion going towards infrastructure?

Democrats: Well, we spent it on candy, toys, and hookers… and I gave a bunch to our friends in the unions… oh and a bit of it went to that infrastructure stuff we talked about…

Republicans: I don’t think spending all this government money is going to help our situation; especially if the money doesn’t go where we say… In fact…

Democrats (and the Media): Ahhhhh! You partisan bastards, you just want us to fail so you can benefit in the next election! You would sacrifice the good of your own country for political gain. Some of that money would have gone to teachers, firemen and policemen; but noooo! You hate teachers, firemen, and policemen don’t you! And the children… you hate them too! You can’t deny it! This was our chance to work together, to compromise and rebuild the ailing roads and bridges of this country, but you can’t even do that!

Conclusion:
You want to invest in infrastructure?
Step One: Bust the unions (no union requirements to do the work)
Step Two: Put it up for bid with bonuses (and penalties) for on-time and quality

Otherwise you get stuff like the “Big Dig” in Massachusetts and/or the last “stimulus” package.

No, Republicans aren’t against investment in the rebuilding of the infrastructure of this country. We’re against pork and waste disguised and infrastructure investment; which is all the Democrats offer.

Christian Persecution in the U.S. – Knee Deep

Christian Persecution

In a different blog posting (concerning Tim Tebow) my discussion with a friend moved into persecution of Christians in the United States. My friend mentioned how privileged we (Christians) are in the U.S. (not persecuted) and that Egyptian Christians are examples of real persecution. There is no denying our blessings here and the torment of the Egyptians… BUT…

“A righteous man was disliked by his neighbors for his beliefs. As punishment he was taunted, ridiculed, and made to stand knee deep in a pit of sewage. When he pointed out the injustice of his punishment he was informed that in other countries people with his beliefs are forced to stand waist and even neck deep in pits of sewage. The righteous man realized this to be true, repented, and was thankful for such good neighbors from then on.”

And the lesson of this story is, be thankful… No, No NO! This won’t do…

Greater injustice does not excuse or mitigate injustice.

The real ending of the story should be:

“The righteous man realized this to be true, but also realized that the only reason he was not standing neck deep in sewage was because his neighbors had yet to find the tools and/or the will to dig the pit deeper. The righteous man also realized that if he tolerated knee deep sewage, his children will be expected to tolerate waist deep sewage.”

I think we Christians in the United States are persecuted today; and I think it’s getting worse every year.

Now, it is really tough to say that when you consider the persecution of Christians in the Middle East (where the “religion of peace” reigns) or China (where leftist policies reign). We American Christians thankfully do not fear for our freedom or our lives. No, we are not persecuted to such a horrible extent; but to ignore the persecution we do suffer is to invite more.

While we Christians in the United States continue to enjoy the blessings of liberty, including our national holidays, we should remember that these are blessings afforded us by the sacrifices of our fore-fathers. Now these blessings are being eroded little by little. To take them for granted and excuse abuse because it’s not as bad as it could be is to jeopardize the passing of these blessings on to our children.

Look at the attacks on public prayer or displays of our heritage and faith. Look at the attacks on what is considered acceptable or decent in society. Look at the attacks on the basic institution of marriage. Look at the attacks on the Christmas holiday. Look at the attacks on the very sanctity of human life!

Who can look at these and say, there is no culture war?

We are to love and pray for our enemies; that doesn’t mean we are to ignore them or not fight for what is right. We ignore what is going on in this country at our own peril or worse that of our children.

Nancy Pelosi – Befuddled or Befuddler

Nancy Pelosi

Some Liberals/Democrats are easy to figure out. Take Sheila Jackson Lee for example. Given her words and actions over the years, it is easy to see that she is a pompous, egotistical, poverty pimp with the grace and sophistication of a retarded yak… and the brains to match.

But some Liberals/Democrats are not so easy to read. Oh they may have accumulated influence, and power… but what is really going on in that noggin of theirs?

For me, Nancy Pelosi is one of those. She has me completely flummoxed. As I see it, she is one of two things, and I’ll be dammed if I can figure out which one. Nancy is either 1) A complete and total idiot with little or no clue as to what goes on outside of NancyWorld OR 2) She is a profound evil genius keeping fools like myself off kilter with brilliant statements of nonsense.

Case in point…

“If the far right thought that Romney could win, they might be more enthusiastic about him. But they question what he stands for and they don’t think he’s going to win.” — Nancy Pelosi

This statement is either 1) Something total idiot Nancy really believes OR 2) Genius Nancy throws out there to befuddle mere mortals such as myself.

Of course the “far right” thinks Romney could win. It’s the only reason he’s still in the race. We are so sure that Romney can beat Obama that we are willing (again) to compromise substance and principle to be sure.

What the “far right” does question is if Gingrich or Santorum or Perry (more conservative candidates) can win. If this doubt disappeared about any one of these candidates, Romney would be history. Of course much of this doubt has been implanted by the Main Stream Media doing the bidding of the left. They do it every election cycle; so why the conservatives can’t easily see that is beyond me. Maybe we are the bunch of dolts the left believes us to be.

The nomination of the Republican candidate is all about the conservatives following their heads or their hearts. Heads… the safe, predictable Romney. Hearts… a real conservative. I guess there is an unlikely third option of the conservatives following their heads after they realize that the real conservative has an as good or better chance to defeat Obama as the Romney compromise.

The World and Charles Barkley Hate Tim Tebow

Charles Barkley & Tim Tebow

I haven’t really commented on the Tim Tebow thing. But I finally heard a comment from a old athlete that helped me put it in perspective.

I haven’t seen a lot of Tebow’s displays personally because I’m not a Broncos fan and don’t live in the Denver area. But from what little I’ve seen and understand his displays are a bit subdued. He points to heaven after scores and gets down on a bended knee sometimes. That’s it! No jumping into the stands, no moon walks, no butt thrusts, no trash talking a inch from your opponents face… This… THIS SHOULD BE BANNED!

The left is in a hissy fit that a man of faith has the audacity to publically declare his belief and trust in God. Such a thing cannot go unchallenged or unridiculed from the left. Forget Tebow’s constitutional right to freedom of religion. Forget his freedom of speech. He’s expressing something the left absolutely loathes with venomous hatred. And the horror of horrors… people and fans like it. They support and admire him for it!

So who was it that helped put this whole thing into perspective? None other than Charles Barkley.

In reference to Tim’s ups and downs on the football field, Charles Barkley said, “The national nightmare continues… Hey listen, I like Tim Tebow… The jury is still out … Just because he had a great game and made four or five great throws doesn’t mean he’s gonna be a great starting quarterback in the NFL”

Now this is partially a valid critique by Barkley. Like many young NFL players, Tim has had his great games and his not so great games. He has a long way to go before he proves himself a top quarterback in the NFL. Of course the “national nightmare” and the “I like Tim Tebow” from Barkley kind of expose his true feelings. Anytime a celebrity or politician says “I like” someone… they can’t stand them.

This brings me to the Barkley statement that brought it all into perspective. When asked if Barkley had had enough of “Tebomania”, Barkley replied “I think the world has.”

EXACTLY! Christians everywhere are jumping up and yelling at their TVs, Radio’s and computer monitors, “Exactly!” It’s amazing how the Lord uses the words of fools to reiterate his message!

In John 15:19, Jesus explained to those who would follow him what they could expect:
“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” — New International Version (NIV)

“The World” has had just about enough of Tim Tebow and his dedication to his God. “The World” hates him for it and wishes him punished. And those of this world (the left) will continually try to shout down, ridicule, and demean any messenger who points to the greater glory of God. Meanwhile, “The World” loves and embraces men who strut and thrust and yell, “Me! Look at Me… It all about Me and what I just did”.

Tim scores and says “It’s not about me… It’s about Him…” and his fans understand and support him. And this is a “national nightmare” for Charles and the world that embraces him.

Tim Tebow may not make it as a great or even good NFL quarterback. Neither is necessary for him to perform his primary function here on Earth; which is to give glory to his creator. Right now Tim is winning on the football field. He’s doing the right things while he can. Not only that but by the grace of God he gets to play football too.

Bill Daley Resignation

Bill Daley, Obama Chief of Staff (2011)

Have you heard Bill Daley’s name in the news over the last year? I don’t mean in the last few days now that he has resigned, can you name some other news you’ve heard?

No, me neither. But why do I bring this up? Chiefs of Staff don’t really make the news that often…

The last time Bill was in the news was when he was nominated and confirmed as Obama’s chief of staff back in January of 2011. At the time Obama and the lapdog media touted Daley as proof, absolute proof, of how Obama was our savior that would bridge the partisan gap. It seems Daily was supposed to be a “moderate ” businessman; and to be fair he probably is. He was touted as the guy who could forge agreements across the aisles.

This was right after the 2010 elections when Obama’s heavy-handedness and ineptitude had cost his party the House and almost the Senate. Now, if ever was the time for Daley to work his magic and make the system work.

But that’s not what happened. After Daley had served the purpose of poster boy for Obama’s claim of working across the aisle he was quietly locked in a closet by David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett. They hold the real power in the Obama administration and Daley doesn’t fit in with their plans of class-warfare and depicting the Congress as do-nothing.

After a year, Daley has seen the writing on the wall. He’s not going to have the influence or opportunities he was promised. He had said earlier “I made a commitment to put the president through his re-election, which I’m confident he will do, and then my wife and I will be back in Chicago”, but he doesn’t want to be associated with the crap that’s about to hit the fan. He’s gone. Now he’s leaving on “good terms” and not bad-mouthing anybody because he still wants an administration job… Tim Geithner’s Secretary of Treasury job to be exact.

Like much that comes from the left. Bill Daley’s nomination and service was all about appearance to hide the reality. Obama was never interested in bi-partisan solutions. He never was and never will be.

Getting All the Government We Pay For

The White House has just proposed a 0.5 percent pay increase for all civilian federal employees. This would be a modest increase after a two-year freeze that began in late 2010.

Luckily the plan requires congressional approval, and maybe, just maybe, the Republicans will find their magical set of cojones and nix it.

One administration official said that “a permanent pay freeze is not an acceptable policy” and I would agree. BUT now is not the time to un-freeze it. Federal (and state and local) government employees used to NOT make as much as private sector employees. That was OK, because they made up for it in cushy benefits, job security, better retirement plans, and relaxed standards for competence. But over time they managed to use their political clout to surpass the private sector in pay and benefits. This will not do.

Pay should be frozen on all Federal civilian employees until their compensation is equitable with the private sector. It that takes three years, fine. If that takes a decade, fine. The military is a different matter. They should receive pay increases until they are well above the comparable private sector job; especially those who see combat.

Federal vs. Private Compensation

But TexasLynn, you say, won’t this cause some of those Federals employees to quit in frustration. To which I say, Yeah, What’s your point? We need less, FAR LESS, people on the public jobs dole.

Of course the union bosses aren’t happy. John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, says “Clearly I don’t think it comes close to paying federal employees what they’re worth.” Wow, we agree… to pay them what they are worth would require a huge, HUGE reduction.

William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees who was slightly more pleased, called the move “a breath of fresh air for all those who serve their country every day.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa… I take exception and offense at that statement. Federal employees do not “serve” their country in the same manner as the military does; which this statement in intended to imply. They do not sacrifice squat for their country. Perhaps William meant to say “service their country”.

OK, OK, to be fair, Federal employees should be paid an equitable wage; equitable to the private sector for the same type job and performance. Right now, that’s not the case; and until it is there should be no more raises; not even 0.5%. Trimming and cutting that workforce down to the level it should be is a separate issue.

Look, I know I’m biased against the Feds. My opinion on the value per dollar we get out of these guys is terrible. It’s like Will Rogers said, “Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.”

Everyone’s a Critic… Some of Us Just Express It Better

So I go to this museum, see, and I’m looking at all these “paintings” from famous dudes that are worth millions, 10s of millions, and all I can think is “I can do that”.

By “that”, I mean I could create a painting just as stupid looking… not that I could get some moron with more money than brains to buy it.

To me it raises a lot of questions:
1) Is there something really there that my uneducated, untrained eye just can’t see?
2) If yes… can that something be explained logically or objectively?
3) How did painter guy convince enough rich buyer guys his paintings were good or worth anything?

I admit I’m befuddled by the whole art scene…

So what brought this up?

Well, there was this art critic in Denver (Carmen Tisch) who didn’t like a particular piece by the late Clyfford Still, an Abstract Expressionist. Clyfford is considered very influential and some of his paintings have sold for tens of millions.

The piece she didn’t like was called “1957-J no.2″ and was hanging in the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. It is estimated to be worth between 30 & 40 million dollars. Ms. Tisch proceeded to show her disdain for the piece by scratching, punching, dropping her knickers and rubbing her butt on the painting… while urinating. Granted, witnesses state that most of the urine wetted Ms. Tisch more than anything else and they aren’t sure exactly how much got on the panting…

Now for her critique Ms. Tisch was actually arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief. It seems her rubbing, et. al. caused $10,000 in damage.

OK… so here’s a picture of the painting.

I’m not sure if this is a before, or after picture of the painting… which kind of brings up a few questions.

1. If it looked like crap before the critique, and looks like crap after the critique, wasn’t it always crap?
   
2. How does one estimate the 10K in damage? Can this be explained logically and/or objectively?
   
3. Are we sure Ms. Tisch didn’t accidentally increase the value of the painting?
   
4. How do we know that Ms. Tisch wasn’t just paying tribute to the artist (Clyfford Still) who just as easily could have painted the original with his butt?
   
5. Who are we to cast stones at Carmen Tisch? Just look at that thing… it’s just askin’ for a good butt rubbin’!
   

Results of the Iowa Caucuses

OK, here’s my take on the Iowa Caucuses…

Huntsman:
Is this dumbass still in the race? Oh yeah, he skipped Iowa and went straight to New Hampshire where Democrats are allowed to vote in the Republican primary. McCain actually used the strategy when he first ran in the primary against George W. Bush.

Perry and Bachmann:
Adios. Both were good candidates and would have been infinitely better Presidents than Obama. Bachman just doesn’t have the money to continue; and Perry is just questioning if he wants to continue wasting his.

Ron Paul:
Third’s not bad. He hoped he would do better, but hey… third.

Ron Paul is doing one of two things. He is either 1) Using the Republican primary process to garner publicity for his eventual Independent run for President OR 2) Using the Republican primary process to publicize libertarian issues and ideas.

I hope he is doing the latter, which would be acceptable and classy. The former would be like attending a party of a tolerant friend, eating his food, drinking his beer, then just before leaving pissing off half the guest and taking a dump in the middle of the floor. Not so classy…

Gingrich:
Fourth! Uggg! Not what he had hoped, especially a few weeks ago.

Of all the candidates Gingrich has the most right to be pissed. When he zoomed to the top of the polls; most of the other candidates (especially Romney, Paul, and Perry) piled on with the negative ads. Gingrich did the noble thing and didn’t retaliate. That didn’t work out too well for him.

He’s decided to move forward; we’ll see if he re-evaluates his stance.

I will say that Gingrich did sum up the election choices pretty well. He said that Romney was a competent leader who will do a good job of managing the current decline, and that he (Gingrich) was the only option if you really wanted to shake things up.

Romney:
Romney lost, but barely; it could have been much worse for him. Romney wanted to win Iowa which he technically did, but in reality he just squeaked out a tie. Romney needed to win Iowa or failing that he needed Ron Paul to win.

Why Paul? Ron Paul is not going to be the nominee. We Republicans love our libertarian brothers. In many cases they are better on the issues of the Economy and smaller government than our Republican leaders. But when it comes to social issues and foreign policy… Those are deal killers. A win for Paul would be a loss for Romney’s conservative challengers.

Santorum:
Santorum won Iowa and a ticket to move on. Yes, he came in second by about seven votes; but he came out of the contest as THE Conservative alternative to Romney with the other Conservatives bowing out of the race. Sure there’s still Gingrich, but there will be much less splitting of the conservative vote now. It will be up to Santorum to make his case and consolidate the social/fiscal conservatives.

It looks like Santorum will be my candidate now. No, I’m not happy with all his conservative credentials; but I can’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough.

Conclusion:
We now move on to New Hampshire (next week). Romney should run away with it because of its proximity to Mass., and its liberal leanings. If he doesn’t, he’s finished.