The delusions of the new conservatives

A recent article in American Thinker, a very conservative blog, almost made me laugh out loud. To prove their point that America is one step away from destroying themselves as usual they point to a quote by Rush Limbaugh who is complaining that "America as founded is slipping away daily." He's kidding right? That America is long gone and for the better. Keep in mind the vote was generally limited to white male landowners when the country was founded. Laws of the time permitted child labor in modern factories (which didn't exist yet), blacks to be slaved, women forced to obey their man. I could go on, but you get my drift. And though I lean more conservative these days, at least on economical and freedom issues, I don't vote Republican because I find that party to be too far away from my inner core.

The conservatives of today are not those I could never wrap my arms around. I find they have been hijacked by a backwards looking people who refuse to evolve into what should be a robust 21st century movement. Why aren't they leading the charge on over government involvement in everyday lives? Why are they not working to educate anti-gun citizens on what gun ownership means and how gun safety and care by manufacturers and owners can go a long way to resolving illegal guns (not all the way of course, but you need to start somewhere)? Why aren't they pointing out the slippery slope that all these feel good laws take away our freedoms while admitting that some are good for us (clean water and clean air are kind of nice, higher gas mileage cars is also a nice way for us to tell OPEC where to go once we are free of them)? Instead they focus on abortion, Jesus and other issues that were settled over a half century ago. You can be conservative and still move forward with the times.

Perhaps it is because I am not Christian and do not care if gays want to marry or am appalled that my children, already tempted by all the commercial excitement of Christmas, would be forced to pray to Jesus. Maybe it is because I don't look at a book written 2,000 years ago and was probably the best knowledge of the day, written as stories for a simpler people to understand, to take precedence over what science has discovered over the centuries.

Out of touch

I have to laugh at how out of touch the GOP still seems. The only reason I don't is because I realize how bad this is for the country. We are headed towards a one party system and that is good for non one.

The GOP thinks all their problems with the younger generation will go away with just better marketing. Are they for real? I have to wonder what they are thinking if the following quote is the root to solving their identity crisis: "Fortunately, our ideas are already grounded in concepts that appeal across generations: the notion of a free market, where effort is connected with reward and equality is discussed in terms of opportunity, not outcome." I don't necessarily disagree with that last statement, but they don't put their money where there mouth is. How about applying those ideas so our children can get an affordable education that will allow them to use their skills to achieve the available opportunities and rewards GOP? [sound of crickets]

How many times has the GOP been behind cutting spending of education over the decades? They see the rich getting richer and everybody else left behind as the 1% has pulled up the ladder. Sure some can jump and still catch that ladder but fewer and fewer are able to.

In any event, the GOP is doomed to dwindle to nothingness as long as they allow the religious right to control their policies. The young see the GOP's hypocrisy over small government  -- no government involvement unless it concerns what consenting adults are doing in their beds. Most young people don't want to be dictated by a religious morality that they increasingly see as behind the times, especially when you allow political leaders to ignore science etc because a book written a few thousand years ago, that was probably based on the best knowledge of the day, says something else. They don't care what God says about gays and who can marry who.They are tired of leaders who deny and mock modern science and ideals because it doesn't match the leaders' out of date ideological religious teachings

They are concerned about what climate change will mean to them and their children (long after most of us dead). They worry about the increasing costs of health care and how it still seems that the main beneficiaries of Obamacare are private insurance companies and not the People because the GOP refused to allow the government and its economic might strike a better deal for the People.

The young have seen the enemy GOP and it is you. Your small government ideals are fine, but they are not absolute. Yes, there is a danger of government getting too big, but no government is not the solution when the scars of a deregulated financial community is still fresh in our psyche. When you wake up to all this you will have mine and the youth vote.

Goofy Old out of touch Party

Open message to the GOP:

It is very easy to see why the GOP is in decline, at least those who just drink the conservative Kool-Aid and nothing else. The GOP is dead until they become the party of small government that doesn't get into people's bedrooms. The GOP says they are into individual rights over group rights on one hand while on the other interfere with a person's most intimate life decisions. Don't like homosexual marriage? Don't marry a homosexual. Don't like abortions. Don't get an abortion. Want your children to go to a school where they pray to Jesus every morning, where they teach the bible or creationism as fact? Send them to a religious school. You don't do anything to inspire the people who probably agree with 90-95% of the GOP platform. You force many of us who want to vote for the Republican party to vote for the party of big-government social justice because of your attitudes that reflect a culture war that essentially ended decades ago.

The GOP has offered neither a strong intellectual argument or a convincing emotional one to convince people to vote for them. Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity do not even begin to compare the conservative intellectuals like William F. Buckley or Irving Kristol of the last century. If your tent is not big enough for Republicans like Chris Christie (basically those from states with large urban populations) because he dared jump off the bandwagon for five minutes because he realized that the destruction NJ suffered after Sandy was more than one state could bare alone, then you have no future.

There are so many legitimate issues to fight Democrats on such as drones, spying, unfair taxes etc. More and more people just don't care about gay marriage or abortion. The bible is book on how to get to heaven while on earth, not rule the heavens and earth. There is no pent up demand for the type of conservatism many have deluded themselves into believing is wanted and the sooner you realize the better off this country will be. There will be no true opposition party otherwise, unless the RINOs either kick the "conservatives" out or form a third part that will make the current GOP as relevant as the Whigs.

Going Over Poorly

The GOP is trying to figure out what they did wrong last fall to lose to the Democrats. They've concluded that it is because they don't hang out with the people enough. That is only partially correct.

The GOP is perceived as a party more interested in telling women what to do with their bodies while telling gays what they can't do with theirs all because they rely on a book that may have been the most scientifically advanced work available 2,000 years ago -- the bible is a guide how to get into heaven, not rule the heavens. At the same time they work hard to make sure a few thousand people don't have to pay a "death tax" while screaming that the country will go broke due to "entitlements," such as unemployment insurance that working people have been paying into, if we don't have cuts in spending and taxes, ignoring that taxes have been getting cut for decades. 

What happened to the party that railed against Democrats interfering in a person's private life because they felt government shouldn't be involved in an individual's life? Why have they become the party of telling you how to live? You don't like abortions? Don't get an abortion. You don't like homosexual marriage? Don't get married to a homosexual. How hard is that?

This is a party that loves the ignorant and calls those who want to know more than they are told elitists. They have become so unbending in their philosophy that they dismiss any of their own who might agree with the opposition to help those they represent as not conservative enough.  Under their watch income disparity between the richest and poorer has intensified, making it more and more difficult for the poor to rise to the middle class. Finally their speakers have no problem making subtle racial jokes at the same time the country is getting more diverse.

I am in my mid 40s, white and my family income puts me in the top 10%. I should be in the GOP's cross-hairs as a firm supporter, yet their policies have repelled me so much I feel I have no choice but to vote against them. If they can't get me, how do they expect to get the future voters?

A little free advice to the GOP

Hi Republican party. Middle aged white guy in the top 10% here. How are you? I'm fine. Managed to keep my family fed and warm, plus get the tree off my roof, the last 2 weeks as my area recovers from the double blow of Sandy and the Nor'Easter, without requiring government help. Thought that you would like that as it is kinda boot-strappy. I even helped create a few jobs by hiring a traveling tree service to help me get at some high tree branches I couldn't reach, plus remove the rest of the tree that hit the roof (chainsaws and 45 year old Jewish NYC area lawyers just don't go together as I'm sure you'd agree). Mom's doing well, but you wouldn't like her now as, after a full life of working hard, raising a family and teaching children, she is part of the 47% (though I don't recall her voting for Democrats in presidential elections) in a nursing home sucking down that government juice, but thanks for asking. Anyway, I digress. I'd like to explain why I didn't vote for you last week and, at this rate, may not vote for you again, at least on the national level, and it is not because I want "gifts."

Traditionally, especially as I am Jewish and a Middle East war seems imminent (we all know you love Israel, while the Democrats are a little more reserved), I should be in your base, except I am probably a little too progressive (I'd say liberal in the traditional sense since that means open minded but I know you've twisted that word just as conservatism as been twisted)  for you these days. I'm educated, pretty tolerant of others, don't care what people don't do in their bedrooms or who they want to marry, agree there should be less abortions but feel that should be a personal or medical decision, don't have a problem conserving for tomorrow while keeping the family's debt limited to our mortgage, and don't mind paying taxes to invest in our country's infrastructure. I think that used to be called a Rockefeller Republican or maybe even a Regan Democrat. I don't know. What I do know is that not only did I not vote for your presidential candidate, but I didn't vote for my local Senate and Congressional Republican candidates because your radical right and financial overlords scare the heck out of me and what they would mean for this nation's future.

I know you are trying to broaden your base without resorting to "gifts" but here's the thing, I don't consider the social security and medicare I will receive at the end of my working life a gift. I don't consider new and improved schools to be a gift. I don't consider improved infrastructure to be a gift. And while, technically, my taxes being used to help those less fortunate then myself can be called a gift, I am thankful I am not in a position to need that gift, whether it is food stamps to keep my children fed or FEMA grants to help me rebuild my life. I consider all that, and more, part of what makes this a civilized nation.Maybe I am just too stupid to understand how torpedoing our fragile economy while worsening the plight of a huge majority of the country  to further fatten the wallets of the rich so they can continue to outsource jobs and invest their money overseas is good for America. Or maybe I am not as dumb as you think the majority of the population are in rejecting such a divisive Presidential candidate who, through his words before and after the election,  demonstrate he really held the 99% in disdain (and was an emptier suit than W).

Even though I am not a member of "those groups" you so despise, I don't mind paying taxes to pay for new schools, transportation projects, utilities etc for my grandchildren to live just as I have relied on all my grandparents generation built for me. I consider those "gifts" that I paid for with my payroll taxes since I was 16 to be paying me my money back, whether I see all of it or I don't (and I really, really hope I do see all of it as I'd like to die quietly in my sleep in old age like my great-uncle, not screaming in fear like the passengers in his out of control car). And I am fine if some of that goes to a disabled widow to help her raise her underage children because, well, that's how I think the richest nation to ever walk this earth should roll.

But going back to the broadening of your base, ain't going to happen until you stop being slaves to those who care more about a bunch of cells that could potentially be human life inside of a woman's body over what happens if and when those cells become a human and who believe men should be stoned when sleeping with a man because you misinterpreted that part of the bible that approves drug legalization and gay marriage (think about what I just wrote for a few seconds). Not saying there isn't room at the table for those who oppose abortion and gay marriage for whatever reason, but until you lock your radical righthwads in the damn closets the way Democrats locked their looney, truly liberal associates, you aren't going anywhere near 1600 again. And just picking a token woman for a leadership post to demonstrate your openness is not enough, especially as your leaders imply that there was voter fraud because blacks voted. You have to mean it in your hearts.

There are other things too that bother me. I could mention that, as you continue to politicize the Benghazi attacks, that 9/11 happened on your watch, plus several other attacks on diplomatic sites (including a certain embassy in Lebanon that President Reagan pulled marines out of after a suicide attack killed hundred of Americans). I know its politics etc, but not everything is a conspiracy (though I agree there is more to the Petraeus affair than what we have been told as of this writing). If you want to win again, not only do you have to stop looking backwards at ideas that worked 30 years ago, but you also need to stop making every statement a passive-aggressive attack on Democrats. Half the country agrees with them. 

But how can I explain all this to those who believe the Republican Governor of NJ saying nice things about President Obama for helping his state recover from Hurricane Sandy, caused Mitt Romney to lose the election. Heaven forbid, a leader serving those who voted for him first. I'm sure the loss had nothing to do with a candidate so out of touch that he thought cuts in the capital gains tax would help the middle class when they sold all their stocks. What stocks?! My wife and I make well more then $150,000 combined, our only stocks are in our 401(k) accounts and in the college education cuts we have set up for our children -- if we don't have enough disposable income for stocks, how does a family making just $60,000 have enough to worry paying taxes on dividends or capital gains (the tax on our savings, which would have been cut, is miniscule thanks to low interest rates). Don't any of you watch something other than Fox News?

And, going back to my mother, if you ever saw her medical bills from her nursing home, you'd see that her medicaid payments to supplement her social security and my parents' pensions, were not gifts, but a lifeline in return for her decades of hard work (now if you want to argue that limiting medicare/medicaid payments to grants will force nursing homes etc to lower their prices, I'm listening, but I don't trust the free market that has you where they want you as much as you). And I am not going to get into the fiscal cliff you want to throw the country over because a few of your friends, who will be rich no matter, don't want to pay more taxes unless the entire middle class, already reeling from four decades of your wealth consolidation programs, givers even more of the few crumbs they have left (can't leave the serfs with anything that might look like savings now can we?). As long as your opening bargaining position is to hold a gun to the country's head while telling the other side "no and no discussion until you do what we say," there is no point.

So, in conclusion, GROW UP! Stop blaming others for your failures. People don't vote for you because they don't like what you say, don't like what is in your hearts, worry that the increasing concentration of wealth is bad for a republic and a whole host of other concerns. We are individuals making up a nation of one, not a nation making individuals of 300 million (yeah, that got away from me too, sorry). No matter how much we adore individualism, we all need each other to some extent. Not many of us live on small family farms anymore, with fewer every year. This isn't the 18th or even the per-industrial 19th century where Americans could live easily enough by themselves, off the grid, without any help from neighbors (assuming the army kept the Indians away and local law kept the bandits at bay). This is the 21st century. Maybe you should remember that.

Signed, Moderate, but conservative, independent white guy

Wishful thinking by the GOP?

Not even 9 months complete, some political handicappers consider President Obama's presidency to be such a failure that right now is not "will Republicans make gains at the midterm elections?" but "how large will those gains be?" I don't know about that. While the party in power almost always loses seats in midterm elections, a lot has to happen or not happen before next November for big changes. However, ignoring that incumbents tend to win in a very high percentage and that a number of somewhat moderate Republicans who could probably attract Obama supporters, have already announced they are not running again next year, the GOP has a bigger problem -- their leadership gap. In 1994 the GOP had Newt who, while out there, was somewhat rationale. He had a 10 point Contract for America plan and some of it made sense to Clinton supporters. Also, the purge of moderates that Reagan democrats could vote for hadn't begun yet. I don't see that with the GOP today. While there are those who do have good ideas they are being shouted out by the crazies whose main goal is just to obstruct. But even so, the GOP has other problems.

Just because they choose to highlight their celebration of ignorance and their passion for stupidity does not mean the rest of the country is going to follow that path. They point to the teabaggers as their new base but, if that is the case, why were the teabaggers not out demonstrating against the Medicare drug benefit, the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, and all the other pork-barrel spending that President Bush refused to veto -- much of which was passed when the Republicans held both houses of Congress? Are we seeing a real grass roots movement or just a bunch of Republican hacks in disbelief that they have been exiled from their seats of power?

If this movement was a majority, we would have seen rioting in the streets months ago. Instead we seem to have a few thousand hard-core individuals intent on destroying and undermining the man that a majority of Americans elected without any proposals of what they would do, aside from not doing what the President wants to try. That is not a grassroots uprising; that is a communication strategy, same as the ability of a very few people to mess it up for everybody because they can.

Instead of growing their base, they are appeasing their worst by chasing away Latinos, who Bush, in theory, was going to bring into the party as natural Catholic conservatives, at the same time their demographics continue to increase. Their embrace of the birthers who think the state of Hawaii was part of Kenya for a brief time in the early 1960s, and other crazy theories is also chasing away voters. Add in that many in what is left of the middle class may have finally come to the realization that the GOP doesn't always have their best interests in mind and it may be hard as sooner or later more will realize that they spent the Bush years working more hours for less dollars, at least until their jobs were outsourced so CEOs could enjoy the additional profits that their tax cuts failed to provide. Their only real hope is that President Obama continues to show the lackadaisical leadership lately that has helped to lead his poll numbers down. If the President stops speaking softly and starts using his big stick then that might be it.

Who do the GOP have now on the national scene? Rush Limburg? Glenn Beck? Sarah Palin? Screaming "you lie" is not leadership. Instead of grooming new leadership they have concentrated on chasing away all but the pure, who will just follow without question. The GOP's supporters may be loud but they are fewer in number then they were 16 years ago and coverage of some of their antics feels more like filler news because there is not much else interesting going on.

The GOP may gain some midterm seats, many if the healthcare war ends badly, or the auto and bank bailouts turn out to not have helped the economy and unemployment remains high. But unless they get the crazies out, like the Dems did over the last 25 years or so (with Kennedy gone are there any real liberals left?) they're going to set themselves up for a bigger disaster in 2012.

Goodbye Old Party?

An analysis by the PewResearch center shows that Americans are abandoning the GOP in droves. I disagree with that. Those people didn't abandon the GOP, the GOP abandoned them or out right kicked them out as were done to Colin Powell and Arlen Specter.

As a white middle aged professionals with a 6 figure income (both mine and my wife) tired of paying high taxes & generally conservative, my wife and I should be smack in their demographic. Yet, as we've aged, become parents and a tad more conservative, we look at them and see nothing that appeals to us. We feel we would not be welcomed because we don't pray to Jesus, have a live and let live attitude to homosexuality (it's none of the government's business), refuse to force our views on abortion on those who disagree with us, support affordable higher education and health care for all and ... gasp ... don't think every tax or government regulation is evil. 30 years ago, I probably would have been classified as a Reagan Democrat (with the exception of my live and live attitude about homosexuality). Today, for holding these views, I would probably be called a bleeding heart liberal by the "true conservatives."

When I look at what the GOP stands for, I don't see my views reflected in theirs. I have no problem with diversity. I think an educated society with a relatively healthy population that is free from worrying about the most basic needs is an overall good thing for the nation as a whole. I think some government regulation is a necessary evil, especially after recent events where the players took out innocent bystanders, but don't want the government telling me what to do when the only person harmed by my actions is me (if I choose to be an idiot and ride a motorcycle without a helmet than that should be between me, Darwin and whoever receives my organs). Much of this used to fit squarely within the GOP, but not today.

Instead the GOP is obsessed with sex and religion, particularly homosexual sex and those who don't accept Jesus as their Savior. The sex obsession, particularly their insistence that people don't have it, is kind of ironic considering the amount of conservatives caught in sex scandals. The religionobsession is the same one governments have been using for centuries. They use religion as justification to hold back free thought, free expression, sex, scientific discovery, and even potentially life saving research.

Worse, the GOP doesn't seem to have the nation's best interests in their hearts anymore as they try to make sure their friends get theirs and yours and mine as they try to return us to the boom and bust robberbaron economy of the 19 th century, ignoring all the prosperity the maturation of our capitalism brought to all because it contained a little socialism and regulation. They have forgotten what they used to stand for: fiscal responsibility and reasonable government.

Do I think there is too much government with their hands out? Yes (but then I live in NJ). Do I think government can solve all problems? No. This used to be the GOP's mantra but now it seems their mantra is to follow what the least educated want no matter if it is bad for our nation as a whole. The GOP has become the party of no and has run out of ideas. They have abandoned us.

Will the GOP really become as relevant as the Whigs

You know times are tough for the GOP when the "liberal" NY Times feels the need to lecture them on how to defeat the Democrats. Well somebody needs to tell the GOP they better do something before they become as relevant as the Whigs. I'm over 40, married with children, white, have a family income in the 6 figures and am generally conservative -- smack in the middle of their demographic. Yet I'd be considered a flaming liberal by the party today because my views are moderate and would not find myself welcome in their tent.

Forget the negative attitude that current "leaders," such as Dick Cheney, offer in lieu of the optimistic attitudes of leaders such as Ronald Reagan. It's more then that. They seem to not want anybody who doesn't believe in no taxes, no gay marriage, no abortion, no regulations and no to schools not allowing Jesus in the classroom. Forget anything in the middle, such as a live and let live attitude on gay marriage and the necessity of some taxes and regulations to help us maintain our freedom, unless it is for weapons to bomb people we don't like to keep our military manufacturers employed. While I don't think government can solve everything, I see a place for it and sometimes think it needs to be more active then other times. Less active in the people's individual life choices, more active in keeping the country strong as a whole so I may remain free, even if it costs me a few extra dollars. For that, I feel unwelcome.

I think that some taxes are a necessary evil, as they pay for services that keep me more free. For example, paying taxes for school, welfare, police, fire etc is a lot cheaper then paying for those on my own and improve society as a whole. It benefits me if some government money is spent on stopping swine flu (or the next medical disaster) before it spreads and knocks out my employees or my children. It benefits me if my taxes educate my workforce so I don't have to (aside from basic training any new employee needs). It benefits all of us if our children can become contributing members of society, not just yes men or women to a foreign overlord because they have not been taught the skills needed for living in the 21st century. yet, according to some, raising taxes to pay down our debt and invest on potential domestic energy and manufacturing plants that may help us stay free and independent will enslave us, as if being forced to make policy decisions based on the wants of a foreign government who holds our debt will not. Personally, if I'm going to be forced to pay for something I disagree with, I'd rather it because a majority of my fellow citizens disagree with me and not because a foreign entity held a gun to my head.

Same with government regulations: I tend to think that my meat won't kill me because the government sent some regulators out and not because the free market works so well and I am incredibly pissed that a lack of government oversight let a few do so much damage to the economy that even innocent bystanders got taken down in the cross fire. I also don't think it is government's role to be involved with anything regarding the sex life of consenting adults, especially when they start enforcing their religious views on all. And I also don't like big deficits, at least when times were good. I can see a budget deficit in recession times, such as 2008 and 2009, when the government is trying to kick start the economy, but there is no reason to pile on debt when times are good and there is enough money available to pay for the government's costs (or at least come reasonably close).

There used to be Republicans (Reagan democrats) who felt as I did. A live and let live attitude for adults not bothering anyone, a pay as you go standard and a business atmosphere that allowed for savvy people to prosper without harming the economy as a whole. These days I see that on the Democratic side of the aisle (with the book still being out on pay as you go, I'll withhold judgment on that until the recession ends). The GOP is allowing a few hard cores to chase away those who could help it succeed in the 21st century. And unless we want another generation of one party rule, we will all be poorer for it.

The Fifth Column

One of the great things about the United States is that I can express myself and criticize our government by expressing myself on a page like this without fear of retribution from government officials.

Born in the late 60s, my first real political memory is Watergate. I do not have many memories of the Ford administration (aside from the Daily News's "Drop Dead" front page). I recall the Carter years as one of gas lines and the hostage crisis. Later, I recall, during my 7th grade lunch period, the students counting down the minutes to the end of Carter's presidency, followed, 40 minutes, later by cheering students when the principal announced the Iranian embassy hostages were free. At the time, I thought the Republican party was king and the Democrats were wimps. While my left leaning, but far from liberal, parents, were upset by Reagan's budget cuts (and as New Yorkers that made sense since we were paying more in federal taxes then we were receiving in federal aid), I saw some of his moves as necessary to right a bloated government (at least as per my limited understanding of the time). Though too young to vote for President in 1984, my dad was appalled that I voted for Reagan over Mondale in my high school's class mock elections.

Today, I look at the Republicans of the 1980s and wonder what happened to them. The GOP points at Reagan's outspending the Soviet Union, and bringing democracy (or at least ending Communism) to Russia as a point of pride. However, the GOP is still living on the fumes of events, climaxing with the fall of the USSR, that occurred almost two decades ago.

When I look at the Republican party of today all I see is a party of incredible fiscal irresponsibility that will leave massive debts for me and my children. I see a party that is short sighted, refusing to invest in their own nation to ensure that we remain a strong super power in lieu of quick profits today. They lie about WMDs to grab some cheap oil from a guy, evil in his own right, but of no real harm to America, just because he was an annoying thorn in their side (sticks and stones ... ) who they were tired of. Worse, I see a party refuse to take care of the veterans whose lives were destroyed by their "oil war." I see a party unafraid to call un-patriotic anyone with the nerve to question them (and, to be fair, that was a bipartisan thing back in 2003), something that should be a basic part of a functioning democracy in our republic. When I think of the worse terrorist attack on the US, I see the Republicans in charge. I see a party happy to use the Constitution as toilet paper, harping and flaming the fears of average Americans to maintain their hold on power. I see a party happy to use torture on prisoners, despite the harm this may do to our own, captured soldiers, not to mention what that does to our image of ourselves as the "good guys."

Contrary to that, the Democrats seem to be the source of fiscal responsibility (I'm talking national level). They may raise taxes, but at least they don't leave as big a bill as the next guy. They even balanced the budget for a few years. More importantly, they at least show a little respect for civil rights.

I'm not a "liberal pinhead" by any means. I'm a socially liberal, fiscally conservative American citizen. And, as an American citizen, I can't vote for the fifth column Republicans any longer.The GOP needs to lose, and lose badly this fall. Cleaning house might be the only way they get the deadwood out. I don't agree with everything the Democrats stand for and, I realize, they are only slightly to the left of the GOP, beholden to many of the same corporations/supporters of the GOP. However, I will hold my nose and gladly vote Democratic down the line this fall in the national elections.

One of the great things about the United States is that I can express myself and criticize our government by expressing myself on a page like this without fear of retribution from government officials. I want it to remain that way for my children and grandchildren.