Jay, meet Adolph!

I was just a little kid, not yet in school, when the Nazis staged their big 1934 book burning in Berlin. Obviously I do not remember the actual event, but I have heard it demonized all my life. Today, the very concept of book burning - the literal attempt to destroy the ideas of persons who disagree with your own ideas - is a horror to me. I don't like MSNBC, or the Huffington Post, but let them exist! They are their own worst enemy.

You can then imagine my shock and surprise this week when a United States Senator, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, actually said he wanted the F.C.C. to shut down MSNBC and Fox News Channel. Of course, he really meant to say only Fox News Channel. Comcast is about to acquire NBC - and MSNBC - so the fate of that cable network, as we know it, is already sealed.

Sure, I meet people who demonize CNN and MSNBC. But they are not United States Senators!

I think the good people of West Virginia, loyal Americans beyond a doubt, should demand that their Senator apologize for his Nazi-like comments.

An Open Letter to the Republican Party

This piece was written by Larry Halloran, a true patriot and dear friend. I agree completely and feel his words should be shared far and wide.

While the election results of this past Tuesday were impressive, the natural tendency for jubilant celebration was tempered, at least for some of us. We realize that the difficult task ahead is to awaken our party and fellow citizens to the awesome responsibility that comes with the victory. We can not allow ourselves to simply become the empowered party and granters of favors but must assume the more difficult task of providing principled leadership.

The progressives in both the Republican and Democratic parties would have us believe that they have evolved beyond the mortal status of our Founders and are no longer shackled with the frailties of human nature. Our Founders rightly understood that if unrestrained power and wealth were concentrated in government, the scourge of the earth would soon arrive at the doorstep to relieve the citizens of both. We would be hard pressed today to find any citizen that does not look to government for the benefit of an unhealthy promise.

This is not a time for political deal makers to prevail and claim victory. Rather it is time for citizens to stand boldly and break the chains of political corrections. It is time to both teach and live our heritage. It is time for the party to assume a role in that task and provide a rallying point for the greatness of America that resides in self government and the fervent independence of its citizens.

The Tea Party represents the heartbeat of America and it’s greatest attribute; the citizen. The Republican party would be wise to exercise great humility in the victory of Tuesday night. Those elected must hear clearly the mandate of the citizen - HONOR our trust in you and your OATH to us. We appreciate that hard decisions lay ahead and unlike the past we do not expect that you carry the weight solely upon your own shoulders. We must do our part as well and we look forward to participating in our own governance. Concentrate on fulfilling the obligations of your office and let us concentrate on whether we will return you to that office or not.

As the Republican party moves toward reorganization it would do well to remember from where its victory came else it find itself again sitting in the bleacher seats. The Tea Party is not a prize to be co-opted or taken advantage of but an advantage to be incorporated and encouraged. The choice is yours.

Larry Halloran. Chairman
Wichita - South Central KS 912 Group

What I learned on 11/2/10

Having now lived through 42 national elections, I thought I had seen everything. Nope.

This year, for the first time in my experience, awakened voters (especially we seasoned citizens) fully realized that people we had trusted and elected had let us down. We said "No more!" to business as usual.

A percentage of us got off our butts at primary time and looked over the field of hopeful candidates. Then we actually worked for and went to the polls and voted for people we thought would not let us down. Certainly not always "attractive" candidates in the usual sense of the word. But we felt the usual attractive candidates were the ones who had failed us (like Harvard Law School grads who had made it to the U.S. Senate). Better to have a new kind of candidate, the kind we believed was telling us the truth - warts, if any, notwithstanding. We chose our nominees.

Ah, but here is the next new part. A lot of folks, largely the ones Angelo M. Codevilla called The Ruling Class, decided we had chosen our nominees stupidly and proceeded to trumpet their opinions far and wide. The opposition party instantly grabbed those opinions and made their negative political ads.

Sadly, many members of our party's electorate who had sat out the primary cycle, bought into the poor choice syndrome and bypassed the general election - or actually voted for our nominee's opponent.

Some fresh, new candidate choices lost. Would they have been good leaders? No one knows. But I remember when candidate Ronald Reagan was considered a low-class Hollywood type, not appropriate for high political office! And we all have read that self-educated Abraham Lincoln was considered a bumpkin log-splitter.

I may or may not live to see my 43rd national election. But I would hope that when it does roll around, all the smart guys work for and vote for their choice of candidate. When the primary winner emerges (your choice or your neighbor's) support them or just change parties, but spare the world your learned opinion.