Simple Man Politics

As you all know by now there was a tragic shooting here in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend, in which congressperson Gabrielle Giffords was shot and several people died including a federal judge. These people were attacked by a young man who seems to be mentally disturbed, and who acted on his own as evidence coming out seems to indicate. The evidence also indicated that Gabrielle Giffords was his intended target, but does not explain why he continued shooting after Giffords was shot. However, nowhere in the evidence does politics appear to play a part, but politics will play a part in all of this.

The politics of tragedy are often times strong and emotional responses to situations where a person or a group of people are hurt or wronged for no good reason, and there is no immediate answer as to why they were. Those people who are touched by these tragedies can be anybody who witnesses the tragedy or who has an emotional investment in those who suffered the tragedy, and sometimes they will react drastically to this kind of situation. These people will often say things that seem drastic, irrational, and even hateful while under duress, but they deserve a pass because they need the emotional release.

Then there are people who will use any opportunity to further their agenda, and they do not really care whether a given situation is even germane to their political beliefs and agendas. These are the people that you will have to watch closely and be sure to protect yourselves against, because they will attempt to take from you your civil liberties, rights, and freedoms in the name national security and your best interest. All of this is unfortunately true with regard to this past Saturday’s tragic assassination of Gabrielle Giffords and the collateral murders associated with it.

Of course, not all political moves with regards to the Tucson shooting are bad things. The House of Representatives and the Republican leadership in particular did a good thing by suspending house business in light of Saturdays shooting rampage by 22yr old Jared Loughner. However, there seems to be some renewed effort to attack both the 1st and 2nd amendments to the constitution and in that order too, and this I believe is not a good thing or good politics. Neither is the attempt to link the lunatic to the Tea Party, the Republican Party, or conservatives in general because that just is not true.

What is true is that this guy is a seriously disturbed and whom evidence says lives in his own little world. However, some now want to pass legislation against using any speech that might inflame people’s emotions and especially the emotions of those with mental problems. The problem with this is that they are crazy and no one can determine how someone like that will react to what someone says. They also are now looking to pass more gun legislation in light of the attack and that means restricting law abiding citizens gun rights even more than they already are, which is also a bad move.

What really should be taken into consideration in light of this past weekends events is how to best secure our elected officials when they are speaking in a public forum. I also agree with some that think it should be a federal offense to attack these elected officials who represent the people that put them in office. I also sincerely believe that our 1st and 2nd amendment rights should not be infringed upon simply because of the actions of one lone individual. Without free speech and free press the truth will be much harder to ferret out in the future, and without gun rights we will be one step closer to subjects rather than free citizens.

That is all I have for you today, but I will be back again although I hope it will be under lighter circumstances than this one. My prayers go out to the Giffords family and to the families of those who lost loved ones on that fateful Saturday morning. I can only hope that cooler heads will ultimately prevail when it comes time for the collective national mind to deal with this tragedy legally and legislatively and that no one has their rights to the American dream restricted even further. I hope you all have a Marvelous Monday and a wonderful week, take care my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

That is right less than 40 days until Washington D.C. is flooded with the corpses of the political careers that once belonged to incumbent Senators and Representatives who forgot who they were working for. I for one cannot wait to see all of that filth and detritus washed away from the facade of our nation’s capital so that it can start once again become the shining light of our republic. Once that happens it may again become a beacon of hope for those who really do treasure the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Actually, it is only 35 days until the mid-term elections and both of the major political parties are seeing a major shake up occur right before their eyes with the national electorate. That is right I said both parties because I do not believe that either one of them will be immune to the havoc that may be wreaked upon their ranks. For to long they have made up the rules to the game as they went along and believed that politics as usual was not going to become a crime that they would have to answer for. Unfortunately, for them their time has appeared to have run out, and judgment day is coming for them.

I believe that the party that is going to pay the most for past legislative transgressions is going to be the Democratic Party. I think that in this case while they may not be to blame for everything that has happened they do deserve the lion’s share of the blame. They saw the election of Barack Hussein Obama as a green light to push his and their agendas and went for it, even though the bulk of it was against the will of most people in the country. The fact that TARP, corporate bailouts, Obamacare, and the first stimulus did not work proves that they should have listened to the voters, because we are not stupid.

For the record, the Republican Party is also to blame for much of the trouble in Washington D.C. as well, and in particular those lovely legislators known as the RINO’s. Those Republicans In Name Only have also helped to perpetuate these legislative assaults against the American people. They tell us during elections that they are fiscal conservatives who believe in small government, low taxes, and the constitution. Then when they are elected, they throw their constituents under the bus. Their wake up call is that wonderfully robust grass roots movement known as the Tea Party.

After tons of research on my part from many different sources, both within the parties and independently, I have concluded that the Democrats are going to lose and lose big too. I think that the Dem’s will lose as many as 40 seats in the lower house and may even lose 10 seats in the Senate. While this will certainly tip the balance of power in both houses, I do not think that the GOP will be the same after November 2nd either, because of the possibility that some of those Tea Party candidates who have won Republican primaries will be seated also and they will want to push a true conservative agenda.

As a fiscal conservative, I can only hope that all of this will happen, because our continued existence as both a free market economy and a democracy depend upon these epic changes taking place. I am not saying that the federal government does not have a role to play in our lives, but it should be a limited role based strictly upon that historic document known as the US Constitution. I also believe that the daily governance of America’s people should be relegated to the states where it was intended to be in the first place. I for one do not wish to see the American Dream become just a memory.

I only have one other thing to say to all of you my friends and that is no matter what side you are on, or what you believe, please get out there and vote. Vote because that is how we control those we have elected and show them who is boss, because they work for us not the other way around. I hope you all have enjoyed this post and I am sorry it has taken so long for me to write anything, but I have been waiting for the home stretch of the mid-terms and it is here and I will write more. I hope you all have a great day and Simple Man Politics will be back very soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Welcome back to Simple Man Politics my friends I know it has been a while since I have written anything and I am sorry. However life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes and you have to take care of business so you can do what you like to do. That has definitely been true in my case recently, but I am well on my way to a full political rant recovery, so please bear with me.

Today I am going to write a little bit about a guy I have been listening to for quite a while on the radio and who has recently gotten himself his own show on Fox News. The guy I am talking about is none other than The Stormin Mormon Glenn Beck. To say the least this guy is a human lightning rod and fireplug that seems to thrive on political controversy, and I think both political parties are scared of him, but the left most of all.

However the thing I would like to talk about today is an interview that he gave to Katie Couric recently. In this interview he discusses the 2008 Presidential Election and makes a startling public statement that I think really floored the Republican Party as well as the Democratic Party. He not only said that he would not have voted for Obama, but that he may have even supported Hillary Clinton over John McCain.

Now I will tell you that I was really surprised by this statement, but after hearing his explanation I understand why he said what he did. Yes Glenn Beck does agree with John McCain on foreign policy and national defense issues, but he seriously disagrees with McCain on some domestic policies. The most notable of these domestic policy issues are John McCain’s support of Cap and Trade, Amnesty for Illegal’s, and Campaign Finance Reform.

What Beck basically says is that we as a nation would be no better off and maybe even worse off with McCain than with Obama. He cites that with McCain supporting those domestic policies that our economy would be in just as bad a shape and that there would more than likely have been no opposition from conservative independents or Republicans. I think that Mr. Beck may be right about this.

While I am a conservative who had voted for John McCain in 2008 I am also an independent voter with no party affiliation. With hindsight being 20/20 I have to agree that John McCain would quite possibly have been a bad choice for America to make. Unfortunately I am not a great fan of Hillary Clinton either and I would have had a hard time to vote for her even though she is a hawk on defense and foreign policy as am I.

For now though it appears that Glenn Beck has the spotlight, the soapbox, and the microphone. He also has his own organization known as the 9/12 project, which is designed with getting the grass roots conservative movement motivated. While I don’t support all of Becks views I have to agree with him that we need to strictly adhere to our nation’s constitution if we are to get out of this economic mess and remain strong as well.

I for one will be keeping an eye on Glenn Beck to see if he winds up being just like all of the other media personalities out there who are floating their own agendas and telling the American people a bunch of lies. For now though it seems to appear that we are safe from this where he is concerned. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I will be back again soon my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Soooo…..what do you all think about Sarah Palin resigning from the Governorship of the great state of Alaska? I am sure you all have some opinion about it because every talking head, moron, and know-it-all in politics and the media seems to have at least one opinion about it. Hell I guarantee you I have at least one opinion and I will for sure air them out here today.

I find it amazing that ever since Sarah announced her decision to resign last Friday that there has been a concerted effort by not only the press, but both sides of the political spectrum to put their own spin on her resignation. As usual both the left and their biased media allies have sought to further denigrate this fine lady, but what is astounding is that members within her own party are attacking her also.

I for one cannot personally blame Mrs. Palin for her decision to quit whatever it may be, because the honest truth is that no one knows for sure why but her. After the attempts at assassinating her character, assaulting her son Trig, and going after her daughter Bristol like a pack of rabid dogs any normal person would not be surprised. Of course Letterman proved they are all animals with his transparent attempt at going after Willow recently as well.

However I personally don’t think that these are the reasons for Sarah Palin’s supposedly sudden resignation. After her sudden and meteoric rise to stardom in the Republican Party in the last presidential election, I think she realizes that she needs to move onward and upward to remain a viable entity in the political arena. To do this she needs to maintain her exposure in the national media and politics of her party.

I feel that she may be eyeing a run for the senate seat coming up in the mid-term elections in her home state of Alaska. I also think that as a superstar with the Republican Party base that she may also campaign for some republican candidates seeking re-election or election in both houses of congress in the mid-terms too. I don’t see a potential White House run before 2016 if at all though.

I am sure though that no matter what Sarah decides to do in the future it will be something that she wants to do, and not something someone else thinks she should do. I also hope that whatever that something is it is productive, positive, and makes her happy as well. I am equally sure that whatever that something is that it will drive the haters in both parties and the media crazy and I LOVE that.

One final thought on this subject before I go and that is that no matter whether you love this woman or hate this woman, she definitely keeps politics alive, interesting, and edgy. This results in people asking questions of our elected officials and so will keep our citizens a little more well informed.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow and I will be back again soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Welcome back to Simple Man Politics for yet another hump day post. The man of the hour today who may be bestowed his hump honor eventually but not today is the RNC (Republican National Committee) Chairman Michael Steele. I have been considering doing a piece on this man for some time but other topics have taken precedence till now.

Former Lt Governor of Maryland Michael Steele (R-MD) now chairs the RNC and has the almost impossible and unenviable task of reviving and rejuvenating the Republican Party. He must not only ensure greater success of the party’s wins in at least the next two election cycles, but he must get his party’s base expanded, energized, and actively into the fight to regain GOP dominance in D.C. as well.

To say the least Mr. Steele faces some opposition to these goals and not just from the Democratic Party. He faces critics and opposition from within his own party also. Since his appointment to the RNC Chairmanship he has been blasted by Rush Limbaugh, and had ideological differences with former VP Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich just to name a couple of his detractors.

In addition to these troubles he has had trouble with the RNC board who have attempted to place limitations or regulations on what he can and can’t do as Chairman including funding, which has caused him to say at one point that if they want a figurehead as the Chairman they picked the wrong man. As if all of this isn’t enough for the man to deal with he is now taking heat from within the RNC for hiring friends, which every Chairman before him has done.

Michael Steele also laid out his game plan Tuesday 05/19/09 for bringing back the GOP strong. He says that regardless of Barack Obamas immense popularity with the public that the Republican Party will attack the President and his policies head on. He says that even with a revamped Republican Party there will still be clear differences between Democrats and Republicans politically and ideologically.

He cites this stance as a comeback of the two party system and said that the GOP has turned the corner predicting a Republican resurgence and that the comeback has begun and it is not in Washington. He also stated that this comeback is underway with the rebirth of the American dream and the change came to the party in a teabag referring to the Tea Parties of last month. All of this however seems to fly in the face of the fact that less people now identify themselves as Republicans when compared to the 2000 through 2004 election cycles.

I personally hope that Michael Steele is successful in his endeavor to reconstitute the Republican Party, but until a consensus is reached within the leadership of the Grand Old Party and the figure out how to present a new streamlined fresh image of the party to the base and potential members this is all just rhetoric. Unfortunately this may also be how Steele gets humped and by no one and nothing else but his own party the GOP. I do wish him all the luck in the world and I hope he is careful about bending over to pick anything up right now.

That is all I have to write about for now, but I am sure I will come up with something very interesting for all of you to read tomorrow. I also hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and I will be back again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well I was going to write some about the Republican Party effort to reinvent themselves and their intention to appeal to more independent, conservative democrat, and moderate Republican voters. However in recent hours leading up to the drafting of this blog post there has been an important piece of news out of the US Supreme Court. It appears that US Supreme Court Justice David Souter is due to retire from the bench in June after completing the courts business for the summer.

The information about Souter’s retirement has come to the public by means of a source inside the Supreme Court who asked to remain anonymous because the source was not authorized to speak for Justice Souter. As of yesterday evening Justice Souter had not released any statements either confirming or denying his potential retirement. It should be known though that for sometime Justice Souter has longed to return to New Hampshire and a life outside of Washington D.C.


There were many people who actually thought that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would be the first to go especially after her fight with pancreatic cancer and the chemo that she undergoes regularly. However she has consistently stated that she plans to serve on the bench in the US Supreme Court until well into her 80’s. Justice Souter however is just 69 years of age with 19 years on the bench.

While this will be Obamas first Supreme Court appointment if Justice Souter does indeed retire it will not give the Obama administration any distinct advantage in the high court either politically or ideologically since Justice Souter is known to be one of three liberal justices that currently sit on the Supreme Court. What this means is that Obama would be replacing a sitting liberal justice with a justice of like mind.

Obamas advantage in getting his Supreme Court justice nominee confirmed is his party’s absolute power in the lower house of congress and his near filibuster proof majority in the upper house of the Senate. However there are still enough of Obamas detractors on the hill to make this potential appointment both painful and time consuming before there is a confirmed justice appointment to the Supreme Court. So what ever the outcome the status quo will remain unchanged at least for now.

That is all I have for you guys today but I will be back again next week. I hope you all have a superb weekend and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello to all the readers of SimpleManPolitics. As requested by Tim, your fearless blogger, I'll be posting from time to time here to give him a break as he starts his other blog. I'm honored to have the opportunity to contribute, and I look forward to hearing back from all the readers, whether you agree or disagree with me.

Today as I was doing my customary research, I came across an interesting article at Townhall.com by Congressman Thomas Price. Essentially Price felt he had an idea of what was wrong with the Republican Party, and went on to give a list of things he felt needed to be changed. However, his list was so vague that there was no substance to it at all. Typical political BS if you ask me.

What really got my attention though was the many comments left in reply to his writing - all from angry conservatives unhappy with the Republican Party. You see, the theme that many Republicans seen to be singing lately is the theme of becoming moderate, moving to the left, and making change. Well, the conservatives aren't happy about this.

Many conservatives are leaving the party and some find themselves only voting Republican because they feel the Republican choice is the lesser of two evils. You'll probably be shocked to find out that studies show 1 out of 5 "self proclaimed" conservatives actually voted for Obama. They hated John McCain that much that they'd vote for a leftist Democrat - Barack Obama. Now that's scary and a sad place for the Republican Party to be.

Simply take a look at the past 10 years in the Republican Party. It's no longer so conservative. The party continues to move towards the left. Too many Republican senators and representatives vote based on popularity and concerns of re-election instead of voting based on the principals that the Republican Party stands for. Those who are truly concerned about the people of America will not be as worried about re-election as they are doing what is right for the people.

The Republican Party didn't lose the last election because of the Democrats - they lost because of their own party. People no longer have a reason to vote Republican. Conservatives are no longer happy with the platforms that Republican leaders are running on. When you have "centrists" like John McCain running with a staunch conservative like Sarah Palin, it just doesn't work out. The people didn't trust John McCain because he wasn't a staunch conservative. This was the disaster that lost an election to the most liberal politician in Washington - Obama.

Listen up Republican leaders. It's time to actually walk the walk. You can claim to be Republicans, but look at the decisions you make. Right now there are republicans in Congress blindly following along with the crowd. Take a look at Orin Hatch, who decided to confirm Geithner in spite of the tax fraud say that he was "qualified" for the job.

Now, you may be wondering why I, a Republican, am writing negatively about the Republican Party. Well, that's because I call it like I see it folks. I'm not blind. I see the problems in the party. Who knows, if it doesn't change, I may be out there finding a new party myself. There are many conservatives out there looking for a new party that is "truly" conservative. There are actually some choices out there, such as the American First Party, which is beginning to grow.

Now I don't have all the answers here, but I can definitely see when a party is dying. Unless true conservatism is truly held up once again in the Republican Party, I believe it will die. Perhaps Michael Steele, the new Chairman of the party will make a difference. We can only wait and see. Until then though, Republican leaders better walk carefully. There's a mob of angry conservatives out there.