Losing Touch (With America)

On a cold and blustery day, Art Koenig goes to his mailbox and retrieves the latest propaganda flyer sent to him by his Representative, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith. In a staunchly Republican state, these flyers have come sporadically in the past, but in the last several months as the republican machine struggles to regain and assert its own brand of government intrusion and control, Mr. Koenig notes that both his physical and his e-mailbox are getting more than their fair share of such political messages from the likes of Smith and Senator Cornyn.




All of the flyers and email blasts excoriate the Democrats for their big government plans and take them to task for trying to take over the country. To Mr. Koenig, however, these fulminations against those evil Democrats and Liberals are disingenuous and he thinks under his breath that it takes not too bright a spark in the shed to see that there is something "off" about the messages that he and others like him are getting from the "Republican Machine".



He wonders if other people see it too, and as he trudges back into his house, he cries for his county and laments privately as he realizes that he grew up at a time when America was at its greatest and that it is now being destroyed from within by the collectivists, and the feel-gooders and that it is all happening exactly as Kruchev said it would happen - without there being a shot fired.



As he walks back inside, Mr. Koenig takes a closer look at the flyer from Smith and sees that it proudly displays on its cover the Constitution of the United States of America upon which has been overprinted the standard publisher's teaser headlines indicating the content. Three of those teasers "Defending the Constitution"; "Fighting for Limited Government", and "Speaking Out"  immediately draw his eye.


As Koenig sits down to his dinner table to read, he shakes his head as he recalls that ALL of his Texas Republican delegation, comprising Congressman Smith and Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, voted to sell out their constituents and that all three of them an a host of other Republicans helped pull the trigger on the first cannon salvo of TARP that has now become a shot heard around the world, and has which set the stage for all the other heavy artillery that has been unleashed against the American People.



As Mr. Koenig opens the flyer he sees that Mr Smith's propaganda machine tells us that Smith opposed the Stimulus Bill because it would waste taxpayers dollars and increase inflation (with no mention of his support for the thing that started it all - the TARP).The flyer also tells up that Smith is a vocal advocate of limited government. Then, elsewhere in the flyer Koenig sees that Mr .Smith also believes that: health care in America is too expensive, that too many families do not have health care insurance, that he wants to have legislation that allows families to keep their health insurance regardless of a change of loss of a job, and that he wants to improve Medicare and Medicaid.



Here now comes the rub, because as mentioned above Smith voted FOR the TARP (which will waste taxpayer money and increase inflation) and cannot now be said to be a proponent of limited government. In addition, all of these things that Smith supports are collectivist ideas and are brought to you courtesy of .... Big Government.



Do Smith and the others that inhabit the oxygen deficient atmosphere of Washington, not realize that NONE of these things that they are "for" are functions of the Federal Government to provide.



Where, for example does it say that the Federal Government is allowed to make sure that people have enough food, or health care, or movie tickets? Not to put too fine a point on things, no matter how much a Congressman, or a citizen, thinks that these things would be "good" and that the Federal Government should provide them, the Constitution of the United States of America, for a very good reason, does not grant the Congress the right to legislate or regulate concerning these things.



Thus it is that the Congress and the governments in general (Federal, State, AND Local) have ALL lost touch with the American People - and have lost touch with the Constitution, the document that specifies how the national government is to be constituted and what it can and cannot do.



As Koenig closes the flyer and adds it to his library section chronicling the fall of America, he feels alone. Indeed, as he writes items for his electronic newsletter he often wonders if anybody cares - after all, is there really any reason to worry when they can still get their triple grande super latte or as long as they can get "theirs" from the government?



On his way to work though he sees his neighbor Mary, and on stopping to talk they fall into a discussion wherein she tells him that she often wonders what happened to the Republican Party and that she and her husband feel that the Republicans have deserted her.



Hearing that, he  knows that he is not alone and wonders if the Republican Machine will ever catch on to the fact that there are millions like him and Mary, who given a change to vote Democrat or Democrat-Lite, will either go full Democrat so as to "get ours", or will simply sit out and wait for the diseased beast of the Republican Party to fall and die, whereupon we will be able to erect a new animal that is in touch with us the American People.

A Boot is Still a Boot

Starbucks - Bulverde Texas

I saw a fellow reading The 5000 Year Leap, and since we had just had a TeaRally, I stuck up a conversation by asking if he liked the book. He said the he did and that he was amazed at how far off the tracks the country has moved from the ideals that made the country in the first place.

Now, here is where it becomes distressing, for these preliminaries lead to a discussion of Statism and Big Government, and in that vein, I mentioned how the "Big-Government Problem" is not confined to the Democrats, but that the Republicans are helping hand-in-hand to expand the power of the Federal Government over our lives. Essentially, it being that the Democrats come from one direction while the Republicans come from the other - with the pocketbook of the citizen in the middle. To try and drive the point home that "our" party is power hungry just as are the Democrats, I mentioned that the thing that was the straw that broke my back was when our Republican Senators Hutchison & Cornyn, and my District 21 Representative Lamar Smith, ALL voted for the first TARP bailout - over the objections of their constituents.

Now, think of it. I had just told him that the Republicans were ½ the problem. Was there any light that went off in his head? Was there any nod of agreement? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Even though that I was telling him that his Republican Senators and his Republican Congressman sold him out, he was going to avoid that ugly fact and continue to think that it is all Obama and those evil Democrats.

I am so saddened that even the people that go to the tea parties, when led by a celebrity to "boo" the Republicans and the Democrats, do so with gusto; yet in their heart of hearts, when you get them "one-on-one" to look inside, you can see that they feel that it is all the Democrat's fault, and think that if the Republicans can boot them out then things will be all good and fine. They completely ignore that it was BUSH that came to Congress and wanted a $700 billion appropriation in 3 days.

In sum it will not be good if Obama has his way, nor will not be all good and fine if the Republicans with their current brand of Corporatism and Statism come back to power, because a boot is a boot and feels the same on my neck whether it is worn by a Democrat or a Republican.

In sum, I think that it is appropriate to remember - It is Not Left vs Right - It is the STATE vs YOU.

A Letter to a Senator II

I got this from a friend of mine. It is an email that he sent to Senator Cornyn (R-Tx), one of the two Republican Senators from Texas that sold us out on the TARP bailout. My friend is a laid back guy that does not generally bestir himself to become entangled in the messy politics of the day because, like many of us that are not drinking the Kool-Aid, he is too busy working as an Architect.

The very fact that he has taken the time to pen this invective to his elected Senator is one of the reasons that I post his letter, for I believe there are millions like him (a.k.a. - Ayn Rand's "Creators") and that it is they that will make the difference in the next election cycle.

Indeed, if the Republicans do not wake up and smell the coffee, then they may wake up and find that the Democrats have taken even more seats because of the Republicans that figure that if they have a choice of 2 Democrats running, then it would be best to choose the Real Democrat as opposed to the other Democrat - i.e., that is running on the Republican ticket.

(Editors Note: I have taken the liberty to edit for context.)
_____________________

Senator Cornyn ,

The following is the opening paragraph of your May 1, 2009 Update newsletter.

"This week marked President Obama’s 100th day in office, and his agenda has been nothing so far if not ambitious. However, I have serious concerns about the long term impact it will have on our nation. Since being sworn in, President Obama and the Democrat majority have spent too much, taxed too much and borrowed too much. They have managed to spend more in 100 days than we have spent on the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Hurricane Katrina relief-- combined. And they’ve stuck generations of Americans with the tab."

Oh, Yeah Right. Last October, I sent you, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Representative Lamar Smith an email asking . . . NO - demanding - that you vote NO on the first TARP Bill. And yet, each of you voted FOR.

After my letter, I heard nothing from your office. (Hutchinson's office sent an acknowledgement email, and Smith's office sent some nonsense regarding "turning the stampede".)

So, based on your showing of your colors as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) when November came around, I voted for the Libertarian candidate in each race. I don't vote for people that refuse to listen to their constituency. I am not so naive to think that my opinion would sway any one vote, but, since the last election I have talked to many others who felt the same sentiment that the TARP was something that needed to be deep-sixed and were appalled at the Republican sell-out and accordingly stayed home .. or voted against you and the others. One friend of mine, Republican for all his life, actually voted for your Democratic challenger.

Now back to your disgusting and self -serving "update email newsletter". Since the water is now under the bridge, you now have a different take on the situation and you are nothing but the pot calling the kettle black. In addition, and more important, you have saddled my grandchildren and great-grandchildren with the enormous burden of paying back your excesses not only in money but in having to suffer under the tightening yoke of government control and intrusion over/ into our lives.

All of us are now in chains because of the liberal, phony propaganda machine, and "conservative" Senators like you, and Representatives like Lamar Smith, being unable and unwilling to take a stand for the beliefs of their constituency and unwilling to take a stand for private property (a.k.a. my money that is confiscated via taxation to pay for the statism that is infecting the country.)

Those of us in the private sector know what it takes to balance budgets. We don't have the luxury of printing money - which, by the way, is no answer either. My hope was that our elected officials would understand how business works, but apparently they don't.

Please know that I will work to oust any politicians that cannot or will not reflect my conservative thinking.

We were promised change . . . we got it . . and you, and the Republican Party helped bring it about!

Sincerely,

Name withheld by request