This blog is written in the context of thoughts I laid out in my blog “The Poison of Right Meets the Teaparty.”

Utopia Declined
This week it is clear that Obama is clinging to his own “rightness.”  He is so sure of his academic theoretical vision of equality distributed by the educated elite; he refuses to see that more than half of America knows Utopia cannot be paid for with opportunity stolen from our children.

The Choices of Leaders
Not one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence did so to increase their bottom line or lay the foundation for a coming election.  When they signed that document the chances that they would hang for it were very high.  They did so for one reason, they were proclaiming to God and humanity that the future of America, of their children and their neighbors’ children was more important than their personal safety and comfort.

America has reversed direction.  Not only do we have leaders that think the immediate safety and comfort of their supporters is worth borrowing from the future.  We now have leaders that are sure their own personal needs are more important than the future of a nation that includes their supporters.  They now buy personal comfort and power for themselves on promises that not only will burden our children with their excess, but promises timed to collapse after their term in office ends. 

We see the proof of this in a congress that has amassed a fleet of private jets so they not only can avoid flying with the “common folk” but will not be subjected to hopping a ride with our troops.  We have a congress that has failed for the first time ever to accomplish its primary job of creating and approving a budget, but will soon recess to ask for use to send them back to fail some more.

We have a President who claims he doesn’t go to church because it will create inconvenience for others but has no problem shutting down major sections of New Your City and Washington DC to take his wife on a date, this even as the White House hosts world class acts for his personal entertainment.  Entertainment enjoyed while oil spilled into the gulf and millions of Americans are losing their homes.

Intentions
At the very best President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid believe they are smart enough to chart the destiny of 300 million Americans.  They assume they are wise enough to choose the winners and losers across the diverse American map.   At best we have good intentions leading us to the hell of fiscal insolvency.

But history tells us we may have a new pantheon of political elites whose self-esteem is not built on personal accomplishment, but demands the edifices of generational reorganization with their names chiseled on cornerstones quarried from liberty of our children.

Do we have leaders who are comfortable fiddling while America’s future burns?

Strong Words
Yes these are strong words.  Words earned but a congressional leadership who made deals and twisted arms to pass legislation they never read.  Words earned by leaders who demanded a man leave his mother’s graveside to pass a bill in the middle of the night before America could read it.  Words earned by leaders who have confused an election with a coronation.

This week President Obama managed to create some passion.  Passion to blame others for problems he has created or failed to address.  He blamed his supporters for being lethargic, while failing to deliver well on even one promise. 

Utopia Denied
His supporters are not lethargic, they are feeling cheated.  They are cheated by a Gitmo without even the illusion of a plan to close it.  They are cheated by inaction on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” They are cheated by the 50,000 troops in Iraq who still are in harm’s way but have been politically renamed “non-combat”  They are feeling cheated by a healthcare bill that was more about winning than healing.  They feel cheated because they see the political price their progressive movement has paid while the actual vision has moved forward very little.

Conservatives just know the cost of these incomplete promises will be opportunity and choice for generations to come without even the specter of Utopia that some progressives see in their policies

Enough Blame for All
From stump speeches in Wisconsin to his interview in Rolling Stone, we see a President who claims success and will deflect all blame towards his own supporters as easily as he will towards those who oppose his policies.  He has created a tightrope of “rightness” stretched over an America he sees as either lethargic and uncommitted or ignorant and selfish.   He walks above us on the thin idea that if we only understood his intentions we could forgive his results. 

His lack of ability to complete a single promise with overwhelming control of congress will not inspire his base.  His willingness to compromise America’s future for an incomplete vision of an impossible Utopia has created the Teaparty

No More Excuses
Obama, Pelosi and Reid are only the figureheads of a political class that has become more about being right, than constitutional rights.  They are more about personal comfort than economic empowerment.

America has been poisoned from the top down.  Come November not only should we want leaders who will move the country in the right direction, but we need leaders with the humanity to own when they are wrong or the same mistakes will be made with new excuses.

 
Let me start by saying I do not believe conservatives should require 100% agreement on all issues in the conservative spectrum to be part of the movement.  I think we should be unified around defending self-determination and individual rights.  Discussions about what that means within our ranks should be civil.

Respect

I have deep respect for gay Republicans and gay conservatives that are "out of the closet" on both counts.  I consider them some the bravest of the politically active.  They make a choice many of us, especially straight white people, will never understand.  They choose what is right for the nation and liberties that help all of us, over an agenda that what would make their life as gay Americans easier in many cases.  Unlike race, there are some current conservative policy goals that limit choices for gay Americans.  In supporting the core conservative causes, they may be working against some important areas of self-interest.

They risk ridicule from both liberal gays and conservatives who believe their faith calls for certain judgments. Even if you are a devout fundamentalist Christian who holds fast to a biblical interpretation, you need to respect the courage of being "out" as both gay and Republican / conservative.

Straight is All Around Us

Being straight, it's easy to miss the role our sexuality plays in daily life.  It is just there.  We don't think about how it affected our youth and the small things we do to increase attractiveness to the opposite sex from better clothes to a better job.  We blithely go along as the deep drive to mate, procreate and protect the progeny is neatly wrapped up in tradition and ritual of family.

I can't write about what it is to be gay in America, to grow up as a youth seeing all those rituals that often don't have a built in place for a gay person. But I do know that just being honest can put you at risk for harm, ridicule and still can lose opportunities, like serving your country. It doesn't seem right that the law of the land says to serve this nation with honor you must hide or lie about who you are. In the end that cannot be good for the country or the bond of trust needed between soldiers.

I don't think in our hetero-sameness we can understand how for some gays thier difference becomes a conscious part of core identity.  This means when someone says "It's wrong," it is possible to hear it as "You are wrong just for being." No one is wrong for just being.

Being Good

It is too easy to adopt the idea that being a good Christian one has to be "against homosexuality" without thinking about what that means to real humans.  I am not asking that you stop being good Christians. I believe that good Christians and good people who care about faith are the hope for this nation.  I will ask you to pull out your Bible and read EVERY word that Jesus said himself.  Not one word about the subject.  He did tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, where a man from Samaria who Hebrews would mistrust and see as unworthy is shown to be a good man.  He did tell us to " Do to others as you would have them do to you.." 

I am quite sure based on the words of Jesus; I can be a good Christian and be loving and accepting of those that are gay.  I am also sure that it is impossible to be a good Christian and be cruel to my fellow humans.  Jesus stopped the stoning in-favor of compassion.  We don't throw stones anymore; we make rules and laws to cage people into neat little boxes of conformity.

I don't want the government telling me how to love my wife, if you are a conservative; you can’t want the government controlling how anyone loves another consenting adult.  That is not in The Constitution.


We can debate for hours why people are gay.  For me it is clear many if not most are born that way.  One might say, they were CREATED that way.  So who am I to question God's plan for his creation.  From a scientific standpoint it’s just as easy to suggest being gay is a standard variation in the population as it is to jump to the conclusion it is a defect. Would anyone reading this want to be defined as "defective?"  But if you prefer to think about this from a "God as creator" view point, is there any chance the plan is to test our compassion for differences?

We The People

Gay persons are just another part of WE THE PEOPLE and are part of who we are as a country and a planet. I would hope we can agree as conservatives that WE THE PEOPLE includes every American and that part of restraining the government is keeping it out of defining what appropriate adult love is.

The question of balancing respect for individual liberties both religious and personal is more complicated. As conservatives working together, not as opponents, we may come to solutions to the more complicated issues of government approved marriage, military service, what we teach in the schools and equal protection under the law.

To be effective conservatives we have to welcome allies from all walks of life that value personal liberty. When any person, the progressives assume is a lock for them, joins the cause we all win.
 

 
I'll keep this short. I am feeling pretty disgusted if what I think I am seeing is true:

CBS has released new promos of the much hyped Justin Bieber CSI episode. This will be opener for season eleven.  You have to watch closely but in a couple of the clips we see flashes of a meeting with an American flag and the words "Freedom" on a banner at the side.
 
To me it clearly shows a teenager who is or has family in a "patriot" group turning to terrorism with bombs that kill police etc. Spoiler web interviews already tell us Bieber is the bomber.

The formula for shows like CSI is to usually echo what is in the news.  Tell me who was the last one to try to blow up something in the USA.  It wasn't a clean cut looking kid in a patriot group, it was Jihad wannabe in NYC.

Watch the Promos: One running on CBS television that I can't find on net yet, has clear shot of a man speaking before a flag, then cuts to bomb blasts.

Watch... Decide on Your Own... then if think this is a slander of conservative / Teaparty teenagers.  Call the sponsors etc.  This kind of thing is pathetic. Cowards attack and slander children.

Watch CSI Clips Here:  (also watch for CSI clip in TV)

 http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/


The episode aired and was just as a predicted.  
Watch Full Episode HERE: http://www.tv.com/video/10487107/csi--shock-waves

I was right and Fox News finally covered this story AFTER the episode aired.  

For me when TV fiction goes to full propaganda I am out.  In the case of CSI we stopped watching years ago, but I had been looking forward to the new Jimmy Smits "Outlaw" series until a saw a clip that made it clear they were going to use dishonest information to attack the Arizona Illegal Immigration law.   Based on ratings it appears many of us avoided that show.  Keep your eyes open.  This will only get worse.

See how Megyn Kelly covered this topic:

 
The human condition is often poisoned by "RIGHT."  The need to be right is so strong that people have fought, died and killed to 'be right.'  Right about god, right about leaders, right about flags, right about family members; needing to be right poisons relationships and cultures.

Right Leads to Collecting

We all want to be right; frankly it is an important part of feeling relevant in a universe that is too big to comprehend.  Where the poison creeps in is how we confirm our place in the universe.  The most common way people confirm they are right, is by counting the people who agree with them and working to collect more.

Some of you may be screaming, I am unique I don't want people to be like me!  Ever been to some of the streets common to university areas?  You will see groups of people making extreme fashion choices to be different, standing in groups all dressed in the same choices.  Preppy or Goth, people want to belong.  Often as we grow up we decide we need to be different from our parents, so we seek out groups not like our parents to join and be right with.

My final proof would be that Anarchists who show up at rallies to disrupt, do it with organization and in a uniform of black.  Organized anarchist!!

Two Parties Making Each Vote about Being Right

In American politics we have a two party system.  In some states you have to choose one or be left out of the process of voting in the primary.  Each election voted as a Democrat or Republican creates a moment of choice that then must be defended as being "right" with each new vote.  This need to be right makes it easy for party leaders to poison our minds with fears about other groups.  "Democrats hate Christians" , "Republicans hate Blacks" I have heard both of these spouted by people trying to create fear.

Guess what, both are true and both are false, because these groups are made up of people and sadly people hate.  So yes I know of Democrats who hate Christians and I know Democrats in my own family that are devote church going, charity working Christians.   I have met Republicans that hate blacks (I either tell them they need to rethink their attitude or I run away, I have no place for racism in my life)  I also know many Republicans that are black and the Republicans I associate with want economic success for ALL Americans.

If you get one thing out of this blog, get this.  When someone trying to collect you into their group of "right" tells you a group made up thousands or millions "hates you" unless it is a hate group like the KKK or HAMAS they are lying, they are using your need to feel right, to keep you from learning and listening to other ideas.  Run away from that person!!!

Here is my challenge. Your being right has nothing to do with the party.  Party affiliation is a part of how you judge a candidate's views.  Always, always take the time to vote for the person or the issues, especially for leadership positions like Mayor, Governor and President. 

How do you avoid being poisoned by "right"?  It's not easy, it appears to be pretty deeply part of the human programming to join and follow strong leaders.  This is my advice.  Be Your Own Leader!!  Avoid being collected by someone looking to prove THEY are right.

How to Be Your Own Leader!

Twenty years ago, maybe we had to rely on others to feed us a truth that we used to "be right."  No more, if you are reading me, you are on the Internet.  Learn to question anything told you in order to collect you into a group of "right minded" people.

Polls show most of the news-media votes and favors Democrats and liberals.  If you are using the "news" to measure your rightness, they are trying to collect you, Beware!.  But also while Rush Limbaugh will play audio clips the news media tends to hide, he also edits them to make them match his interpretation, he is trying to collect you, Beware!  If you see something on MSNBC or FOXNEWS that makes you mad, that makes you feel like you agree with them, they may be collecting you.  If it evokes an emotion that makes you distrust someone or change your vote, it is worth the time on the Internet to find the other side or the full video clip.

The Teaparty and Being Right

The Teaparty is not about a party. It it is about economic liberty.  If someone tells you it's just Republicans, they have lied to you and are trying to collect you.  The Teaparty has to work in the two party system because of laws and our current culture.  They have chosen the Republicans for a couple of reasons.

• The GOP platform and voters are closer to agreement about stopping the dangerous overspending and cutting taxes so the economy can recover.  Trust me too many of the GOP politicians are no different from Democrats in wanting money for their own pet projects and contributors. 
• The GOP right now has fewer incumbents. Incumbents tend to use name recognition and cash shake downs to fund re-election so its easier to beat non-incumbents in the primaries.  The Teaparty is cleaning out the GOP spenders in the primaries; you have to help clean out the congress in the general election.

Why should a Democrat or Independent vote GOP this year?

Why should someone who has been a Democrat all your life vote for a Republican or Teaparty candidate.  Because every other right you might care about or program you want to be saved hangs on a strong economy and economic freedom.  We can not get out of this by expanding the debt or taking money from the economy siphoning off the typical cut for special interests and sending back less to a weak economy.

Except for property taxes, we tax money when it moves.  If people are scared or unsure they stop spending. If it costs too much to move money, take a profit etc. their money stays where it is. That means higher tax rates that seem more fair end up hurting the poor who have to spend and can't leave money in an investment. Lower tax rates (within reason) tend create more movement of money in spending and changing investments, the rich end up paying more in tax with the money they move, vs paying less when they store the money.

I totally disagree with some stands on social issues the GOP has and that many Teaparty people may hold, but those won't matter if we lose our ability to choose.  We are losing the ability to choose, choose to move (underwater mortgages are anchors for people), to choose the insurance that has lower coverage the the government wants to force you to pay for, to choose to get the care that lets Grandma live six months to see her grandchild born.  Most importantly we are losing our ability to choose not to be in debt and managed by Washington D.C.

Be your own leader! Do you care about jobs or someone's personal religion?  Do you care about reducing the debt your children will pay or what someone does for recreation?  Most of all beware of those are trying to collect you, with agreement on things that this year don't matter!!!

You are not wrong for being a Democrat and the Teaparty I know welcomes you.  I for 15 years called myself an Independent because I didn't trust elected Republicans to keep their promises. This year I did adopt the label Republican, because I think we need to choose a power party that is closest to our key views.  I am libertarian in most views, we need to keep economic liberty first or the rest of the liberties that you care about might not matter.  As a Teaparty supporter and Republican for the moment, I will talk to others about why it makes sense to support or allow things legal gay marriage, outside of religion I can make a strong conservative case for this.  (I will probably write about this in the next few weeks)

This is about choosing theoretical economics that have failed or proven policies that helped the US recover from recessions. Polices that were carried out by both John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.  At the very least it is about stopping uncontrolled change that has businesses too scared to hire new people.  This is about jobs, that fuel the economy, that fuels the government and dealing with those that have it backwards.

If you read my whole blog I thank you, now go out be your own leader and don't be collected, even by me :)
  

  
We'll folks, tweets are just too short to express all that I have to say.  If you are here I most graciously thank you for reading this far, as I am not a celebrity, candidate, politician or even a clever pundit.

Who Am I?

I am a husband, father, American, Christian, writer, Libertarian and Teaparty Supporter that votes mostly Republican.

Why I list these identities in this order: 

I am only 100% aligned to being a husband and father.  I love my wife and daughter without question. It is what I am most certain of in life. 

Some might question the order of putting American before Christian, oh! my!  I know what it is to be an American most of the time, but I question that regularly.  Being a Christian is an act of faith and it evolves as I do, I will write about that at times, but lets face it, no one knows the face of God. So it is sometimes hard to grab on. I will count on his mercy after listing him #4 on my identity list.

This blog is about me trying to be the writer with some regularity, I think my life would be much more enjoyable if writer was on the list right after father, but it isn't. Writing is something that drives me, but I have not yet harnessed it to fill my life and pay bills and it is too small a part of the jobs that do that.

Then there is what will be the major subject of this blog, POLITICS!  I can't help it, it matters; it always has.  I could never be one of those Jay Leno stops who are willing to float where the government lets them with no clue about what is going on.   Libertarian comes from both American and Christian.  Take the Bill of Rights and The Golden Rule and you have how I expect the government and my fellow citizens to act.  It is how I aspire to act.

Before you start searching blogs written when I was tired and mad or paging through tweets sent in frustration, I am far from perfect. But I can tell you I never write from bigotry.  If you think I do, call me on it.  But keep in mind bigotry is not the same as disagreeing with the politics of race, gender, sexual preference and religion.  I can support equal gay rights and get really disgusted with some of the tactics used to "advance it."  I can be proud that America was open to choosing Barack Obama as our President and mostly frustrated with the results of that choice.

Lets talk about Twitter
Twitter is easy to define.  It is a global cocktail party where we have no idea how much each person has imbibed before they speak.  Important communications are missed and the trivial tweets can start a riot.  It is the background noise of the connected plant.

• What I like is that it creates the illusion of relevance from my little home office.  
• What I hate is that it creates the illusion of importance to too many people who have nothing to say*
• What is ugly, well Twitter is about people and it is quick and easy and becomes a channel for some ugly language.

It is one of those inventions no one saw coming and yet from the first cell phone text message it was inevitable.  It would be nice if we actually communicated with it and it helped bring understanding, but I am pretty sure that is not a feature of the technology.  It at most gives a place for people to find like minds or prove they are different.  A few people get to feel important when they get thousands of followers, problem is those followers are following hundreds of others, you are still a face in the crowd.

And for those that choose to post ugly, rancid, bigoted, misogyny in tweets. Stop that! it totally ruins the illusion that you matter, it defines you as refuse to be ignored.  Find a clever way to express yourself, maybe you will inspire someone to rethink a position or try on a new idea.

I welcome your comments and critiques.  Keep it civilized, you are much more likely to get your comments dumped for crude attacks on others than of me. I can take it,but I also think we have a duty to call out people who practice personal destruction as their main form of communication.

*yes I often tweet when I have nothing to say... :)