IOWA GOP Dinner and my rant

Last Wednesday (May 26, 2010) I attended the First Annual Robb Kelley Victory Club Dinner, who is Robb Kelly? (Bio) I was interested in going because Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker. As a bonus all three of the major Republican candidates for governor and four of the candidates for Iowa’s 3rd district gave a 5 minute speech.

All of the speeches played to the fundamentals of Conservatism with some Republicanism in there too. I distinguish the two because there are subtle differences that the casual viewer might not see.

Unlike the view of conservatism by the left, it is not a belief in preserving everything of the past. Which they would point out racism, slavery and woman’s suffrage. They must be thinking about Democrats when they talk about those issues as it was the party of slavery and discrimination of minorities in the south until the 60’s when they had a conversion or a “born again” moment and much like an alcoholic or a smoker who has now quit or a person who has suddenly found god, unless you see the world through their eyes you are just wrong and evil.

Conservatives see that the founders of this country had it mostly right the first time. It is a travesty that they had to compromise on slavery in order form a “more perfect union” but their sin was paid in blood 80 years later during the civil war. What conservatives do see a truly right about the constitution and the founders is that rights do not descend from government but from God. Even if you don’t believe in God you must believe that there are rights you have that are yours and not given to you by others. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are outlined in the declaration of independence. The pursuit of happiness as Gingrich pointed out is the pursuit of wisdom and wealth. Furthermore that the states have rights that the federal government cannot change, the tenth amendment state’s this very clear,

” The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

This is why states can have different laws on similar issues such as the death penalty, and why it is okay for states to decide if they will allow gay marriage. Of course I say this with the understanding that the people or the legislature of those states make the law as outlined in each states constitution and not the court system of those states or the US supreme court system or its appellate courts. Abortion, gay marriage, death penalty and other laws should be state issues and not federal issues. But that is for another blog.

Republicanism is for those who only love the game of politics, chalking up wins and losses are more important for this group of people rather than staying true to a core belief system. Not that there isn’t wiggle room on many issues but on some issues you must be willing to shut down government because there is no compromise. This group of people sometimes referred to as “RINO” (Republican’s in name only) will not only give away the farm but will switch parties to maintain their power, not what is best for the citizens they represent.

Back to the fund raiser:

Of the 3rd district candidates only Mark Rees underperformed. He might have had a good message but with no energy to push it I got bored. Much like an Econ professor I had, I needed to ingest caffeine for the 5 min speech to not have my mind wonder off.

I am voting for Brad Zaun, A) he was the only one working the crowd before the speeches, but B) I have known him for over a decade as he was councilman and mayor of Urbandale and has only had a proven track record on good government.

Side note: Gibbons, the most fit I’m sure ran from the back of the room to the front to give his speech. I mention this because Gov. Branstad hustled up to the podium from about 30 feet away which I believe was an attempt to show youthful energy, only to notice a slight out of breath moment during a few of his first words.

The three governor candidates gave good speeches, I may have switched from Vander Plaats to Rod Roberts as he was impressive but I had not heard him speak before. I’ve seen Vander Plaats over the last 15 years give a number of speeches, all very good but I don’t know if he can win in November. I know Branstad can win but he is a retread, had similar solutions as our current governor has and I don’t believe he is a conservative but just a Republican who represents a winning team from the 80’s & 90’s.

Second Side note: Dinner was a typical hotel rubber chicken meal, nothing interesting and with a German chocolate cake for dessert (which I did not have) I thought a shot of insulin was needed to go with it. Much like the speeches given that night which were rich with “Conservatism” I don’t know if it was the real stuff or just something to make you think you had something sweet.

Newt “effing” Gingrich, was all I remember him to be. This makes the Newt of 2006 to 2008 all the more confusing. Why he was doing things with Hillary Clinton and acting like a Republican instead of the red meat conservative I remember from the 90’s and last Wednesday’s speech makes me wonder what is going on. His information has always been top notch but the delivery has changed, again. I don’t know if he is gearing up for a 2012 run and this is a way to connect with the “tea party” and conservative base or if this a real Gingrich.

It is okay to change your style depending on who you are talking too. I would expect a different tone when talking to the plus 65 crowd vs. the under 35 crowd but only as long as you are consistent in the message. Don’t tell seniors you are okay with Social Security only to denounce it to the younger crowd, not that Newt has done this.

“Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate.” – Mark Cohen

Chris Mendelsohn 2010

Biggest breach of privacy in history? Not even close

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This is the view of my business. It has my car in it but even if I was in the picture walking to my car my privacy would not be violated. In the UK tv cameras are everywhere. Its funny that they think a private company can invade your privacy but not them.

(Telegraph.co.uk)

AL: The beginning of the end

Many are concerned, including Steve Cobert, of the coming war with robots, but now we have "Artificial Life" to deal with. (BBC News)

"The researchers hope eventually to design bacterial cells that will produce medicines and fuels and even absorb greenhouse gases."

So this is being pushed by the green movement?

Who else is pushing a "green" movement? Churches!

There is legislation in the Senate to have the EPA create a "faith-based" program to help churches build green buildings and instruct its members on how to be green. Much like the Catholic churches helping illegal immigrants, some churches are active in greening the world because it helps those in poverty. (nccecojustice.org) and its response to the legislation as not going far enough! (ncccusa.org/news)

I believe that there are those who know that "social justice" is code for Marxism are in this movement and there are those that just know it "feels" right and don't understand the power behind the movement and money.

Freedom of choice is as much apart of religion and your willingness to have faith in G-d as you need air to breath. These programs are to play on man's greed for money and power in the church and to promote an idea that the poor will suffer more, and you will be farther away from G-d, if we don't all become green.

California out of cash, out of ideas.

They never had very many good ideas to begin with and now the state government of California is just out of cash. So to speak. If you can call 66 billion in revenue as being out of cash. The problem is that they have a budget of 83 billion. Some how the headlines are how the poor are going to get hurt. Of course they are going to get hurt, they are the benefactors of a giant social network that is only designed to pump money into areas and families with low income.

The choice is to continue to spend with giant deficits and crash the whole system, or only spend the 66 billion you have, lay off a lot of people, lower the income for those you help. It is not rocket science. Lots of people will suffer, lots of people will leave California but the healing will begin. People will get off the tit of the government sow, they will file bankruptcies and shed their debt, find a skill that they can make money at and continue on.

Greece, California and the U.S. government if we don't make serious radical cuts and changes now.

Chris Mendelsohn 5/15/10

Look to God, live and be free

Over the course of human history (evolutionary or creationist) the pattern is the same when it comes to our leaders. In the beginning the strong became the alpha male, either by defeating their foes or being the son of a leader. It might have been a cave man or the story of David, either way the strong or the smart would win.

Kings claimed that they were “god” on Earth or later divinely chosen to be king. The point is that the highest authority, the creator of the world, had a hand in picking the person that made the laws of the land. How could anyone stand up to the will of the creator?

In 1534 Henry VIII officially separated from Rome and created the Church of England. This had been preceded by Martin Luther in 1517, when he protested the Catholic churches policy of allowing “sinners” to receive salvation by purchasing it from the church.

Both of these breaks from Rome shown that the power of the former Roman empire had been replaced by men who used Christianity instead of the old Roman gods to rule its people. In the case of Martin Luther he broke away and claimed a higher power to the church. As for Henry VIII he created his own church for political purposes and to deny Rome power over his throne.

The original 13 colonies were each dominated by different religions. In fact most had state-supported religion well into the 1800’s the last being New Hampshire in 1877! The religions were different for each state and in most states it was impossible to run for public office without being a member of that church.

1. Virginia, New York, Maryland, N. Carolina, S. Carolina: Anglican/Church of England
   
2. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire: Congregational Church
   
3. Delaware, R.I., Georgia, Pennsylvania, N.J.: None, as long as they believe in Jesus.
   

It was the differences in the state religions that lead to the amendment that forbids the establishment of a national religion. The founders did not believe that religion could not influence on government, but that no government could establish a church.


Now to my point:

When you replace God or a higher power, with man, as you do in a world that promotes the reliance on government in place of your family, neighbors or church, then the government becomes the final word on what needs to be done in all aspects of your life. By believing that “smarter” people than yourself have thought about solutions to world problems, like global warming, and must have the correct answer, you allow yourself to stop thinking about those subjects and simply accept their recommendations. This is similar to the “Milgram Experiment” in which a test subject will torture others because they are obeying an authority figure. They defer to the authorities belief in right or wrong because the authority tells the subject they will take responsibility for the outcome.

Robber baron capitalism of the 19th century was cruel. It is one thing to take advantage of the growing urban populations where immigrants, southern blacks or those moving from rural communities flooded the cities creating so much labor that it was very cheap to hire, and it is another thing to make them work in such conditions as chaining people to their tables with no breaks and leading to the garment district fire of 1911 which began the rise of unions and better building regulations in New York and around the nation.

Socialism as an antithesis of capitalism, does not want to destroy the power created by capitalism, just wants to change who is in control. Change the authority figure and a whole lot of different people now run things.

Socialism has as one of its agendas the elimination of the church and God and to treat it as a story no different than the tooth fairy. To establish the government as the ultimate authority and final say on subjects and to allow for no decent, after all if the government is right, decent must be wrong. It is done by promising the weaker and poor among us their heaven on Earth. Why wait until you die, “we are the ones we have been waiting for”.

The constitution of the United States guarantee what is known as “Negative liberties” which is what the government can not infringe upon, like our right to (political) speech. This 1st generation liberty establishes things we are not compelled to do. Much like a doctor’s “do no harm”, these negative rights or liberties establish a relationship between man and government.

The socialist wants more. They want what is known as “Positive liberties”. These current “rights” like healthcare, education, social security, housing and wages were outlined in Pres. Roosevelt’s “Second bill of rights” and the foundation for most socialist movements in the U.S. today. Unlike negative rights, these compel you to act or pay for the rights of others. Ask yourself, when does another person’s “right” cost you money? Speech, Press, Religion, Petition, bear arms, not quarter soldiers, regulated search and seizure, self incrimination, held without being charged (US Citizens), speedy trial, trial by jury(might cost), cruel punishment. Those were most of the first 10 amendments to the constitution.

But they still want more, the next (3rd) generation includes, group rights, rights to natural resources, intergenerational wealth and cultural heritage. All items that could only exist by limiting your 1st gen rights and expanding the role of government in its citizen’s daily life.

Government is nothing but men and women who have their own opinions on the world but have the resources to influence the citizens to see things their way or to defer to their authority, no different than the Catholic church in the 1500 offering salvation from sin for a donation, in this case to a cause or campaign or tax, after all the Pope was God on Earth and can determine how sin is dealt with, if everything is a shade of gray then only man can decide how to deal with your sin.

If you believe in God or just in a higher truth than man, you can challenge government and men in power. If you don’t believe in God, than all you can ever say is that it is just a matter of opinion, or a shade of gray in how the world works and then it is just a matter of power coming to those willing to use the barrel of a gun. Sometimes you get our country, but most of the time you get, Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Kim Jung Il (Progressives, Socialists, spread the wealth types)

Whether you believe in God, Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha or an atheist, you must believe in a higher truth to the universe, that men are corruptible and ultimate power corrupts all. It is only when we act in our families, neighbors and local communities best interest do we see that power must flow from the bottom up and not the top down. Socialism always lies and says that they are helping the lowest among us, and that we must give up equal opportunity, which they don’t believe in, for equal outcome, which is impossible to create as we are all different.

It does not matter if it is the biggest caveman, or a Hitler willing to kill to grab power. You must take personal responsibility for your actions in order to preserve the liberties of everyone. If you believe you can take the property of others, either by eminent domain or taxes, for your rights, then you already live in totalitarian country and will have no security and no liberties.

Chris Mendelsohn © 2010

La Raza to take back California

La Raza "The Race" (Link)

As much as I am a conservative, sympathetic to the "Tea Party" movement and believe much of what Glenn Beck talks about when he is on the subject of "Crime, Inc." I would only tell people to vote the idiots out of office. This "educator" is yelling fire in a theater and needs to be tried for treason. He calls for the distruction of our economy and take back California for Mexico.

Part of me would be okay with that if they take the debt too.

Chris Mendelsohn