Things that irk!

George Mason University's Distinguished Professor Walter Williams recently wrote: "There are a lot of things, large and small, that irk me. One of them is our tendency to evaluate a presidential candidate based on his intelligence or academic credentials."

Well.. that started me thinking... what was Dr. Williams talking about? So I decided to look up the formal education credentials of the presidents.

First, a few of the "good" presidents:

No. 1: George Washington has long been described as First in War, First in Peace, First in the hearts of his countrymen. His education was rudimentary, probably being obtained from tutors but possibly also from private schools, and he learned surveying.

No. 2: Abraham Lincoln gained what education he could along the way. While reading law, he worked in a store, managed a mill, surveyed, and split rails.

No. 3: Thomas Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary and read law (1762-1767) with George Wythe, the greatest law teacher of his generation in Virginia.

No. 4: Ronald Wilson Reagan earned a BA degree in 1932 from Eureka (Ill.) College.

No. 5: Harry S. Truman attended the public schools in Independence, Mo.

And, a few "stinkers":

No. 1: (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson. A Princeton graduate, he turned from law practice to post-graduate work in political science at Johns Hopkins University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1886. He taught at Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, and Princeton, and in 1902 was made president of Princeton.

No. 2: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A Harvard graduate, he also attended Columbia Law School.

No. 3. Theodore Roosevelt. A Harvard graduate.

No. 4: William Howard Taft. A Yale graduate.

No. 5: James Earl Carter, Jr. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis

And, we must not forget:

No. 6: Barack Hussein Obama obtained early education in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Hawaii; continued education at Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif.; received a B.A. in 1983 from Columbia University, New York City; studied law at Harvard University, where he received J.D. in 1991

I could go on, but no need... I now think I see what Dr. Williams was talking about!

Does anyone believe

those political talking points? Or do they just keep repeating them to persuade the uninformed to believe a lie?

Last night my wife and I attended a Town Hall type meeting conducted by our New Mexico Congressman, Republican Stevan Pearce. A couple of people persisted in demanding to know why the Republicans refused to "tax the rich" as a way to ease the nation's debt crisis. After the Congressman quoted New Mexico's former Democrat governor Bill Richardson that raising taxes killed jobs, the questioner stormed out of the meeting in a huff.

The fact is, if the government confiscated every dime of income of the top 2% of the nation's earners - not just an increase in their tax rates, but every dime of their income - it would raise only enough cash to operate the government for a week or ten days. There are other sound reasons why raising tax rates on top income earners would be a mistake, but are more reasons needed?

Again, I ask... does anyone believe those talking points? I worry that they do, and those people also vote.

An Urgent Message

to all political pundits predicting who can or cannot, will or will not win the 2012 presidential election:

Take a deep breath. Read a little history. Then shut up.

Everything we are being told is wishful thinking, imaginings from fantasy land, or, perhaps, deliberate spin in hopes of influencing election results.

Just check the elections in my lifetime. In 1936, Roosevelt was completing his first term. He had brought us more than a dozen failed government programs. Kansas' Governor Alf Landon ran against FDR as the Republican candidate. The only polling of the day, conducted by The Literary Digest, predicted a Landon win by a landslide. Roosevelt won.

FDR died in 1945. V.P. Harry Truman became president and ran for reelection in 1948. Even on election day, everyone thought Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas Dewey. The Chicago Tribune famously published a headline proclaiming a Dewey win. Truman won.

In 1960, Richard Nixon, a former U.S. Senator and Vice President under the popular Dwight Eisenhower, was favored to win over the young Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Kennedy won.

Following the first Gulf War, George H. W. Bush had approval ratings in the 90% range and was considered unbeatable in the 1992 election. The economy took a cyclical downturn and an unknown governor of a small southern state, William Jefferson Clinton, defeated Bush.

Even after election day we may not know the winner in November 2012. Recall how long it took in 2000 when Al Gore's on-again-off-again concession delayed the inevitable win for George W. Bush.

When Barrack Obama announced his candidacy, even the respected columnist Dr. Charles Krauthammer scoffed. His comment, almost word for word, was "Many Americans, myself included, would like to see an African-American elected to the presidency, but this inexperienced candidate has no chance of winning." As the canned tuna people would say, "Sorry Charley"! Obama won.

So, hang onto your TV remote. Every time a learned pundit starts telling you what the election results will be, change the channel!

Elections Have Consequences!

And, apparently, one of the consequences of last November's elections is that Uncle Sam's Tavern has a new sign out front!

But, If you peek through that dusty window, you'll see one lonely patriot sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a now warm, flat beer.

The back door is unlocked! Will one of our one-time contributors join me!

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.

Who Owns Chris Biggs?

Chris Biggs makes a lot of noise about keeping the Kansas Secretary of State's office non-partisan:

“I believe that partisanship should have nothing to do with the Secretary of State’s office,” said current Secretary of State Chris Biggs,“Elections in Kansas are fair, accessible and non-partisan.”

“That will change is if Kris Kobach is elected,” continued Biggs. “It’s clear that Kobach and his partisan allies are pursuing a political agenda that will destroy Kansas’s proud tradition of non-partisan Secretaries of State and make it harder for eligible Kansans to vote.”

All very noble, Mr. Biggs - too bad you don't practice what you preach.

The truth is that nearly 60% of Mr. Biggs recently reported (10/25/2010) campaign donations came from labor unions, special interest groups, lawyers, law firms and political sources.

Mr. Biggs' is his own single largest benefactor, having loaned his campaign $30,000 during the reporting period. This generous contribution is dwarfed, however, by the $61,562 he received from various lawyers and law firms. Contributions from legal and governmental interests represent a whopping 45.40% of Biggs' total fundraising efforts.

Labor unions and special interest groups were also very generous to the "non-partisan" Biggs campaign, kicking in nearly $30,000, or another 13.35% of Biggs' funds.

All total, 58.75% of Mr. Biggs' donations came from these highly partisan sources. By contrast, his opponent, Kris Kobach, reports a mere 12.74% of his donations were received from lawyers, governmental and special interest groups.

Who is the real "partisan" candidate, Mr. Biggs? What kind of favors will your contributors be expecting should you be elected?

I voted!!!

On October 19, exactly two weeks before Election Day! In my case, that says a lot about how important this election is to me.

I have always loved Election Day. You start your day knowing that voting will be the top priority of your day. So you begin the day by deciding exactly when you will go to the polls. Since retiring from a 9-5 job, we try never to vote in the early morning. Lots of people have to get to work, so best not to crowd the polls between 7 and 9. Same holds true for the noon hour, and the last two hours, 5-7, when people who had to be at work early will be trying to vote on their lunch hour, or on the way home from work.

It was always fun arriving at the polling place and sometimes having to wait for a parking place. Then standing in line. I remember one election day when the lines were so long they extended out the door and we shivered in the cold for about ten minutes before the line moved us indoors.

But this election is so much more important. Ever since I first read one of the ancient Greek philosophers discuss the fragility of man, I adhere strongly to the principal of not putting off until tomorrow. So, when the time for early voting began, we hurried to the temporary polling place.

In keeping with President Obama's view that this year's voters are angry and fearful, I voted like a angry, frightened old man. Democrats have controlled Washington, and our New Mexico state government, and I do not approve of their job. Years ago, a business client suggested that an employer should not hesitate to fire an employee who is not doing their job. His reasoning is that firing them from a job they do not like (why else would they do a poor job?) helps both the employer and the employee... forcing them to find a job where they will be happy.

So, I voted a straight Republican ticket for all candidates, and voted against every proposed Constitutional Amendment. If you want to amend my Constitution, don't spring it on me on a sample ballot while I am in line at the polling place. You are gong to have to spend some time convincing me.

I also voted against every bond proposal. Before I agree to any spending, prove to me that the population as a whole will suffer in the absence of the spending.

When Republican Gary Johnson was in our state house, he viewed every spending bill from the angle of how it would benefit all the people of New Mexico. If it didn't pass that test, he vetoed it! I learned a lot from Gary Johnson!

Yesterday a campaign worker approached my wife with some literature supporting some candidate. She said, "Sorry... I've already voted!" It feels so good!

Kansas Democratic Secretary of State Needs Ethics Lesson

A couple of weeks ago, the Kansas Secretary of State, running for reelection and lagging in the polls, decided that the official website of the office needed to be redone to make the site "as helpful and user friendly as possible." Problem is, it's still a rotten site - the major change is that it's now a full page ad for Secretary of State Biggs, featuring a large picture, and this text (emphasis added):

About Us

Secretary of State Chris Biggs is one of only four state officers authorized by the Kansas constitution and elected state-wide every four years. With his vision and leadership, our office serves all Kansans by performing numerous statutory duties related to the administration of statewide elections, business entities, and the uniform commercial code. The Kansas constitution created our office, but statutes define our daily duties.

Chris Biggs is "authorized by the Kansas constitution"? And the office only runs, I'm sure, because of his "vision and leadership." Transparently political...from the man who harps constantly about how non-partisan the office is supposed to be.

Today, we learned that Biggs is spending $159,000 of taxpayer money to run this ad:



He calls it a public service announcement. Just educating the public, he assures us. I'm sure it's important for the public to hear the name of the Secretary of State in order to learn about advance voting options in Kansas. Another blatantly political move, less than three weeks before the election.

The gall of an elected official spending $159,000 in taxpayer funds to display his mug all over the state this close to an election is incredible. And, by the way...how do we know he's spending $159,000? Because his campaign communications director, Tyler Longpine, tells us it is so. Why would anyone from his campaign need to be involved with the public service duties of the Secretary of State?

This is an outrage, and as a Kansas taxpayer and voter, I urge you to reject this transparent ploy and send this slimy politician packing. He has no respect for our money or our intelligence and is not fit to preside over elections for class president, let alone for the great state of Kansas.