Right… And Wrong.
Even as we “politicos” wrangle over policies and issues, we are still losing the debate on conservatism. This article brought that home.
Partisan politics is a deadly weapon that is destroying the fabric of one of the greatest societies in history. It’s frustrating to watch Americans slowly losing their grip on true freedom. It seems that we’re either free to be liberal or free to be conservative. How does choosing between these two failed ideologies give us real freedom at all? (emphasis mine)
The bolded words is where the writer went wrong. He has confused conservative with Republican. I can understand his mistake. Most people make the same mistake. However, the reason most conservatives vote Republican is that fact that we lose less freedom and at a slower pace than if we were to vote for the Democrat instead.
He doesn’t understand that conservatism isn’t a political ideology but a way of living in that freedom he is in such fear of losing. Conservatives are individuals and believe in individual freedom and come at our decisions in individual ways knowing there is no “one size fits all” solution to any problem whether it’s on a personal or national level. Not even state to state.
Continue reading
A Debate About the Mosque Debate
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There have been a lot of knee jerk reactions to the Ground Zero Mosque/Cultural Center. I’ve had my own, which was troubling as I generally don’t care about others’ religion except in the general sense of wanting everyone to go to Heaven. Why we’ve had such visceral reactions is not easy to put into words and most will fail at putting it into words, though I’ll give it a try.
Our understanding of Islam is that it is not “just a religion” but a whole system of government and economics as well as religion. This runs counter to the main argument being used by both sides. To date, the framers of the debate on the Ground Zero Mosque, have designated freedom of religion as the hill to die on. The problem with this approach is that it allows those debating to avoid the big issues lurking underneath.
Just as we Christians have different doctrinal flavors (Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Catholic, and so on) so does Islam. The particular “flavor” of Islam that is being promoted with the construction of the Ground Zero Mosque is that of Wahhabism and Sharia Law.
The would-be builders are seeking money from Saudi Arabia and Iran among other nations that practice the above described religion, which isn’t just a religion. In addition, those builders/backers refuse to give any assurances that this new “cultural center” won’t be a repeat of this one (emphasis mine). Continue reading
Compare and Contrast
Whether you agree with her conservatism or not, this was a well done video; uplifting in an activist sort of way. It’s not big on policy issues because it was never meant to be about policy issues but a renewal of the American voices that seem to be fading away in the cacophony of liberal angst. If those who shout loudest are the only ones heard, the next video fails miserably.
I can think of only one word to describe this one: Infantilism. There’s the nurse, the teacher, the therapist, and the entertainment lawyer. It’s scary to think these people are in charge of anything in any one of those fields. It’s even scarier to realize that at least one of them is in charge of someone’s children somewhere.
The last video reminds me of the old saying: “Babies raising babies.” If not their own, yours.
Do you hear us now, Congressman Cooper?
A lot of seats considered safe are flying under the radar. TN-05 is one of them. Cooper is beatable.
According to this poll, any Republican can beat Jim Cooper.
The article does talk about some drawbacks, one of which is the poll is coming from the Hartline camp, whom I come have as close to endorsing as anybody, in spite of Huckabee not because of him. However, Cooper has done nothing but the same in the intervening months.
It’s always the quiet ones, eh? They try to keep quiet and not draw attention to what they’re doing in the shadows, while being rode roughshod by the likes of Pelosi, not to mention buying into the whole “common good” myth.
And for those of you too lazy to click through to the poll findings, the key findings are:
- Voters in the 5th District are actively seeking an alternative to Jim Cooper.
- Cooper can’t even manage a majority of the vote against a virtually-unknown Republican.
- The more voters learn about Jim Cooper, the less they like him.
Considering this is Cooper’s second gig, one does wonder where he’ll crop up next. Likely nowhere if he and the rest of the Democratic majority Congress continue with their threats of a lame duck session.
While many are concentrating and working actively on some critical campaigns, we often overlook some chances of making a real change because it’s never been done before. TN-05 has been Democrat held since 1875 (much as I hate to link to Wikipedia). That’s a goal worth attaining, wouldn’t you think?
When in Doubt, Blame Bush. Or the Runaway President?
Sometimes you have to step back, away, and into the silence to hear what is going on. If you listen closely, everything is still Bush’s fault.
Yesterday, a Democrat saw fit to spam my site with his campaign against Jim Cooper. He left no link to any site but there is this. The reason I say he spammed is because he’s pretty much done the same thing on a number of sites.
One thing, I’ve figured out in the silence is there will be no Obama’s Katrina. Pundits have declared that BP is Obama’s Katrina, or the Nashville flood, any number of other occurrences (read: crises) that have happened during his first two years. No, instead we’ll hear things like Communication Gulf, wherein the author states that Obama forgot to show his emotions (and assuming he has them to show). Or this, Obama, the Oil Spill and the Chaos Perception, where the author begins by lauding Obama as a rare politician and gifted writer, before talking about the dangers to that politician’s presidency. It doesn’t seem to occur to either writer that Obama has a one track mind focused only on his agenda and nothing else matters. People do not matter unless they are of use in pushing that agenda forward. Neither do the long term effects of that agenda seem to bother anyone, though it has been tried many times in the past and is still being tried in Europe.There are lessons from Greece, Spain, and yes even France and Germany, that should be learned but denial is the best defense because there is always some joker who thinks he can make it work.
One wonders when everything will stop being Bush’s fault per the Communication Gulf article complaining about previous presidents’ messes. We were not 13 trillion dollars into debt when Obama took office but we’re there now. We were somewhere around the 9 trillion mark on January 20, 2009, but how can one explain the 4 trillion more when Obama campaigned on hope and change? He did say, “Change we can believe in” but one doesn’t believe the change he meant is the change people wanted. Bush was crucified for less deeds, but Obama is more of a teflon presiden than Clinton ever thought about being (the last linked article is from 1 year ago and truer today than then). For Obama this is called bashing, mixed of course with a healthy pinch of Bush bashing. Wouldn’t be a complete article without inserting Bush’s name in there somewhere, now would it?
There seems to be a frenetic quality to the “bashing,” as if they can’t fathom how to pin some of the deeds on Bush, causing great leaps in logic to accomplish the “fact.”
Bush had no part in nationalizing auto companies.
Bush had no part in the nationalizing health care.
Bush had no part in the breakdown of ties with Israel.
Bush had no part in the stimulus bill that did nothing.
In only a few short months (about 18), Obama has done all that claiming that he has to because of what Bush did the previous eight years. Meanwhile, real crises are going to waste, though Rahm Emmanuel doesn’t seem to mind. When there is a real one such as the BP spill or the flood or even the storms and tornadoes today, Obama runs away:
- Christmas terror attempt
- BP Oil Spill
- Storms rip through the midwest killing at least 7
- Credit Rating Cut for the U.S. wealthiest state
- Fort Hood
- Flooding and storms of AR, TN, AL, MS (Yes I meant to link to the same one as the flood was superceded by BP)
One might think that Obama’s favorite movie is Runaway Bride because when the going gets tough, he sure knows how to runaway. After all, blaming Bush for everything is just another form of running away.
Perhaps a female version of a Richard Gere will convince him that running away isn’t the answer. Apparently, that isn’t Michelle O or she would have done it already.
Jeff Hartline Has a Chance Unseating Jim Cooper
Rep. Jim Cooper sold his vote while playing coy with district TN-05′s voters when after the fact facts tell a different story.
TN-05 and other districts nearby recently experienced a historic natural disaster. Cooper’s answer is to find a scapegoat and publicize it.
I had started a series to highlight five candidates for this district Out of the five planned two are done and only two will be done because the remaining candidates have either declined or ignored the series of questions I asked for article content. Hartline’s profile is here.
Both had good answers to the series of questions, but Hartline has the advantage: Activity and raising money, both of which are going to be necessary to challenging an incumbent in a district that isn’t on the radar with political pundits.
NASHVILLE – Congressional candidate Jeff Hartline of Mount Juliet is raising record contributions for his campaign to unseat incumbent Congressman Jim Cooper. First quarter financial disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission show that, of the several candidates for the Fifth District Republican nomination, only Hartline raised
significant sums of money from individual contributors.Hartline raised almost $45,000 during the first quarter – more than any Republican has ever raised to run against Cooper in the 5th district – with all of his contributions coming from individual donors. None came from political action committees and none came from Hartline’s personal funds. Hartline is the only candidate for the Republican nomination who raised a significant amount of money from individual donors.
In addition to his money raising fetes with individual donors, Mr. Hartline has Nashville business owners pledging $500,000+ to his campaign. In politics, November is a lifetime away but one believes Hartline has what it takes to send the message to the beltway that Washington, D.C. works for us, not the other way around.
E Pluribus Unum once predicted an 80 seat pickup for Congress. Given the anti-incumbent sentiment in the country with a deaf Congress that passes massive spending bills under the guise of reform and against the will of the people, it is possible that districts once considered safe are endangered. WV’s Alan Mollohan, a 28 year incumbent was defeated in primary, as was Arlen Specter and other incumbents such as Barbara Boxer find themselves in tough primary fights.
It’s time for some unexpected upsets. There are sites focusing on some crucial races including RedState and 73wire. Let’s not forget those districts that aren’t being considered in the push for conservative candidates. Cooper is entrenched and has a long political career with district hopping representing TN-04 from 1982-1994 before moving to Nashville and becoming a Congressional Representative once again since 2002.
Hartline is conservative. He is also a man after my own heart with his love and faith in the people of Tennessee. I don’t believe we can ask for a better representative for Tennessee’s 5th district.
He deserves our support and TN-05 deserves better than Cooper. Check him out and donate if you feel so inclined.
Crossposted to Redstate
Attack of the Coopers; Time for a Regime Change
Updated and bumped: I’ve been informed that there is another candidate for TN-05 whose name is David Hall. Please follow the link made from his name and check him out.
In spite of its passage over the protests of the majority of Americans, the health care debate rages on in the states. The number of states challenging the legislation as unConstitutional now number 18. Tennessee isn’t one of them. In spite of Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen’s objections, Tennessee’s Attorney General Bob Cooper is questioning the constitutionality of the Health Freedom Act instead.
Cooper wrote in a legal opinion released Tuesday that the proposed “Health Freedom Act” sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Bell of Riceville would likely be pre-empted by federal law, and that a requirement for the attorney general to mount a legal defense for the measure could violate separation of powers provisions in the state constitution.
His official opinion is here.
While not brothers, though I admit I haven’t looked very hard for a familial connection between our AG Cooper and our Representative Cooper, there are connections. For instance, the law firm for which the Attorney General once worked was among Representative Cooper’s highest donors coming in just under Caterpillar by $250. Another little tidbit is they’re both adjunct professors at Vanderbilt which was covered here for Rep. Cooper.
The Attorney General is also a native of Chattanooga, TN which is where Representative Jim Cooper first entered politics at the national level, TN district 04. Attorney General Cooper’s father was also a State Supreme Court Justice. Given Rep. Cooper’s positions on issues, a state attorney general with a working relationship connection to said representative as well as a same last name, one has to question just who is in charge of the state of Tennessee. Representative Cooper also has a brother whose claim to fame is this: Tax Informants Are On The Loose. Perhaps we should be changing the name of the state to Cooper rather than Tennessee.
Other states are hiring attorneys to fight the healthcare legislation. Should Tennessee follow suit by hiring an outside attorney?
Given Representative Cooper’s support for the legislation in spite of his Governor’s and Tennesseans’ objections and the Attorney General’s possibly questionable connections to said representative our choices look bleak. Meanwhile, said representative’s brother is advocating a tax informant program that smacks of communist regimes that rewards said informants.
“They” do say all politics are local.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey who is campaigning for Governor to replace Bredesen had this to say about the AG’s position:
Because the attorney general is appointed by the state Supreme Court, not the legislature or governor, Ramsey agreed that lawmakers cannot force Cooper to change his mind. But Ramsey said he hoped to find a lawyer who would represent the state free of charge if Cooper does not change his mind.“That’s the reason that I’m passing this resolution, to make a statement that the General Assembly — both the House and the Senate when this passes both — wants (Cooper) to do that,” he said. “If he refuses to do that, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
November is just seven months away. We can work for regime change in Tennessee as much as at the national level. We need new blood rather than entrenched politicians at all levels of government. Tennessee deserves better than this. Perhaps, TN-05 is ready for a Republican representative for the district considering there hasn’t been one since 1875.
Here is a list of Republican candidates for TN-05:
Michael Barbuto (No website)
Brendan Finucane Jr. (No website)
Jeff Hartline
Vijay Kumar
Patrick Miranda
Cece Heil
Bob Ries
Robert Schwartz (No website)
Jared Scott
Lonnie Spivak
Al Strauss (No website)
Tracy Tarum
If you live in other districts in Tennessee and would like to know about Republican candidates in your area you can look them up from this link: http://www.politics1.com/tn.htm.
Over the next few weeks/months the plan is to highlight each of those candidates in separate articles. Mr. Miranda is the first and only one to date who answered questions I submitted to be included in the write up. It’s a nice set of questions to have answered but, if necessary, I’ll work without them. In the process of writing this post, the title for those articles is all wrong considering there are twelve candidates versus the five previously thought.
Incidentally, I voted for Kumar in ’08 though knowledge of him was sketchy. Desperation to rid the district of Cooper can lead one to commit such actions on faith rather than actual knowledge. That is NOT an endorsement. As I research these candidates, I’m looking for whom I will endorse as much as any of you Republican Tennessean readers. This election, one is hopeful that we will be better informed and better armed to make better choices.
Surely we can do better than a career politician like Jim Cooper who moved from one district in Tennessee to another, making claims of being a Blue Dog (conservative) Democrat while voting in legislation entailing massive spending, massive tax hikes, and massive deficits.
What’s more he voted for a bill of which he had little to no knowledge of its content. Nor did anyone else except for the authors.
How’s that hope and change working out for you? If you’ve had enough, please consider making a real change in Tennessee instead of voting in the same or similar players, ad infinitum.
Psst! Congressman Cooper.
I have some questions for you. Now, I know I didn’t vote for you but you are still my congressman in spite of that. You don’t get to ignore those who disagree with you when you take that oath to become a public servant.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Let me work on some of this for you, okay? I know by your august standards I’m an “ig-nernt” hillbilly but, well, sir, I can read a map and this one looks quite a bit lopsided. I mean in ways other than being scrunched in this blog post, that is.
See that area where all those pretty symbols are? You claim this is where Tennessee’s Recovery Dollars are being spent. So let’s get down to business, shall we? If one does a “stroll” through they could mistake it for the health care deform you just committed upon the American people, but I digress.
Almost all those symbols seemed to be placed in a very small geographical area known as Vanderbilt University. Can I assume that you have told everyone in your district that you are an adjunct professor at said university? Of course you have. You just didn’t expect anyone to understand what they’re seeing, right?
So, I’d like to know, sir, how many jobs did these items create from their share of the recovery money?
- 1) $5,239,099 to Vanderbilt University for which the funds will be used to support the Beta Cell Biology Consortium, which develops cell-based therapies for insulin delivery.2) $5,184,612 to Vanderbilt University for which the funds will be used to combine a DNA repository with electronic medical systems, in order to provide analysis of disease susceptibility and therapeutic outcomes across patient populations. These funds will be go towards the VESPA: Vanderbilt Electronic Systems for Pharmacogenomic Assessment project.
3) $4,721,145 to Vanderbilt University for which the funds will be used to enhance the Southern Community Cohort Study, which investigates cancer disparities.
4) $3,948,000 to Vanderbilt University for which the funds will be used to acquire a 900 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The spectrometer will study the structures and interactions of biomacromolecules.
5) $3,000,000 to Vanderbilt University for which the funds will be used to supplement the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Support Center.
There are more of them. 175 in all for Vanderbilt University totaling $74,230,739. I’d just like to know where the jobs are in those earmarks? Tennessee’s unemployment rate is a tad higher than the national rate. And people have given up looking for work in construction because the unemployment rate in that field is even worse.
So, can you explain to me why there are all those earmarks for medical research in a jobs bill? That’s what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was touted as a jobs bill. While some might consider them laudable causes, they hardly belong in a jobs bill.
Bill Frist, at one time, was crucified for having shares in his family owned HCA when he was divesting himself of his holdings for a possible presidential run. We wouldn’t want a congressional leader to have the appearance of a conflict of interest, would we?
So, Congressman Cooper. What about Vanderbilt University? Frist was later exonerated. You probably won’t be hauled into a court of law but your constituents would like to know why a small but rather affluent area around Vanderbilt University has gotten the lion’s share of Tennessee’s Recovery Act money.
Look at that map again, Congressman. You see that blank area near the bottom southeast just under the cute little airplane? That’s where I live. There is nothing, not one dime, spent there. Want to know something about that area? It’s the area to which most of the illegal aliens have gravitated. You really care about them, don’t you? How about east Nashville? North? That’s where most of the minorities are concentrated. I live among them, mostly peacefully except for the illegal immigrant gang shootings, etc. There’s nothing there, either.
I won’t hold my breath for your explanation but I’d really love to know: Do you represent all of TN-05 or just that little patch around Vanderbilt University?
Earth to Microsoft, We Already Pay Taxes.
I believe what you mean is we should raise taxes, rather than add a new one.
Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats — a costly venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits.
The problem with this is: We already pay fees and taxes for web usage. We also pay fees and taxes for phone usage (both cell and land lines), cable TV, and utilities in general.
This is someone who has never looked at a bill for any service he pays. We pay sales taxes, franchise fees, FCC fees, and the like typically adding up to about 20-25% of the bill, depending on the service. For instance, my Vonage business account is supposed to cost $49.99/month but the bill is always $74 or higher. If I don’t go over my free minutes for the toll free or fax numbers, it’s $74/month. If I go over… well, you get the idea.
Go ahead, open up your next bill or dig out one of your old ones and look at all the various fees and taxes that are added to the supposed cheap price of services. It becomes more ironic when you find you’re paying taxes on a government owned utility such as your electric bill or water services.
Where has this guy been living? In a cocoon? People are already hurting trying to make their dollars stretch and he wants to add yet another tax. I suppose this is one of those: The government will insure that it receives its fair share of our labors regardless of how they describe it, be it income tax or some fee for supposed services that never seem to materialize into anything concrete except more governmental control.
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