STARVE THE FEDS

July 4th has come and gone; and by virtue of the 4th falling on a Sunday, many of us have Monday, July 5th, off of work in order to recuperate and, hopefully, remember. Despite that the first week of July is usually the hottest and most humid time of year for most of the Midwest, I’m still grateful to be alive and a citizen of the United States of America.

I don’t want to lecture people on how grateful they should be, even if it’s through the same people voluntarily reading this blog site. No matter how much I want to proclaim that it is absolutely crucial for people to possess gratitude, nobody likes being lectured to. I’ll leave that to the lecturers today.

I don’t know how military families do it. Today marks the first day that my family has become a military family by virtue of my brother-in-law’s Army re-enlistment. He just shipped out today to an equivalent of a “refresher boot camp” and is anticipated to be stationed in Georgia for around eight months or so. He will miss the birth of his daughter that is due this month. While the desire to support his family factored into the decision, I don’t see how anyone can say that any decision regarding joining or re-joining the military can be taken lightly. Ditto for firemen and policemen. It’s one thing to respect those in uniform for our protection, it’s another to be directly affected when it’s family. I’m not saying this to “one-up” those who are not in military families; rather, I’m just trying to illustrate the overwhelming feeling that comes with it.

I’m also not factoring in the way our federal government likes to politicize the military to make themselves look good. There’s a reason General McChrystal spilled his guts to Rolling Stone magazine – someone as detail oriented as a military general, I would imagine, would know the consequences of such actions. He didn’t do it for a publicity stunt, he did it to warn us what the hell is going on with our Commander-In-Chief. It’s nothing we probably couldn’t have already guessed, but he risked his career in order to build a case for that assertion. We stand warned.

I don’t go to church often enough. Whether one is a believer or not, there is no denying the presence that God has over this country. The Constitution was designed for a vigilant, moral people. Without the safeguards of morality, the Constitution is worthless. We would already know the answer to the rhetorical question that would follow Benjamin Franklin’s quote: “[We have brought upon you] a Republic, if you can keep it”. Whether one likes it or not, this was a nation based on Judeo-Christian principles that allows the freedom for everyone to worship whoever they please, even if it is Man. The precedents set by the popular interpretation of “Separation of Church and State” have it all wrong. It seems to give history revisionists and anti-Christian activists permission to try and wipe out Christianity.

Which brings me to this – why does it seem that Christianity and the Jewish religions are always under attack (militarily and/or politically) until they are extinct? When was the last time anyone tried to wipe out Muslims or Buddhists? Even with the violent history of Islam, history shows that Islam was never wiped out, just kept in check. Is this the battle between good and evil? Why is it necessarily to try and eliminate religions based on love, even if we tend to wince at some of the messengers and followers taking religion into their own hands as a means to judge others themselves? I am horrified that I let myself be hoodwinked by the anti-Christian propaganda for most of my twenties, even by bands I have loved growing up.

I’ve been unsure on where I want to pour my efforts since I lost the election last May. I’ve considered volunteering for the People’s Constitution Coalition of Ohio in support of their Soveriegnty Amendment. I’ve signed up for various candidates’ campaign information distribution lists. I’m still paying off debt used to fund the campaign (in addition to obligations I’ve had all along). I’ve devoted time planning a (hopefully) beautiful wedding with my bride-to-be. Being on the Republican Central Committee is a good thing, but meetings are limited and I’m too impatient to wait until the next meeting in order to attempt to make an impact. I’m wondering how the leadership will take the idea that I, among many others, refuse to endorse Republican candidates solely because they are Republicans. I’ll tell you something – when Constitutionalist and Libertarian parties are putting out more conservative candidates than the major party that claims to be conservative, I’m going to endorse the conservative candidate, regardless of political party. I have a nagging hunch that political parties are the major cause of the division that followed the unification of the American people as a result of 9/11.

I admire how people like Glenn Beck and various other organizations are studying various books from the Founding Fathers and Progressive Eras in order to shape their opinions as far as how to restore our country back to its original principles. I haven’t done that, and maybe I should. I want to start by re-reading the three basics – The Bible, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution. The Bible also doubles for personal reasons as well, as my young lady and I have contemplated loudly more than once about our walk with God and our worship.

As I’ve stated many times before, I’ve been publicly uneasy about approaching any subject when it comes to religion, because I’m not a good example for people to follow. I’m not a religious leader, I’m a sinner. I want to know more and dedicate myself more in order to become a better person, and be part of a bettering the community. I’m fascinated with the lives of missionaries that travel all over the world to spread the word about God. I’m intrigued by the idea that religious principles and political leadership are inseparable, no matter who may try to distort that very fact; because if there is no God to lead our government, than our political leaders become gods themselves. That may be what they set their sights on, but I’m grateful that many of our countrymen feel quite a bit differently. We don’t need dictators and oligarchies here, thank you very much. Independence Day lives on.

It’s becoming a more hostile environment to those who want to remain neutral when it comes to betting our lives and livings in this world. The political class seems intent on having any given citizen believe that politics is a luxury and not a necessity; one can choose whether to follow the political winds of change or just to stand aside. The political class also seems intent on encouraging the thought that it’s ok if we don’t pay attention because we work long hours, study hard, and try to keep roofs over our heads. I don’t have to ask anyone for their words to prove this theory; it has been proven by the lack of participation of local Ohioans as far as political party central committees go. It wasn’t hard for me to go through – I found my precinct/ward’s representative slot had been vacant, I got 9 signatures in my ward (only 5 needed to be certified as valid), and I went unopposed in the primary. One vote in, and I win.

I’ve been tempted to fall into the trap that I don’t need to access information as much as I do. I don’t stare at TV news scrolls 24 hours a day, I don’t refresh news stories constantly, and my car radio reception has taken a nosedive since my car was repaired due to hitting a deer during campaign season. I’ve almost been tempted to end internet access and just focus on taking care of my property and my family, and outside politics be damned. My logic was that no matter what happened outside my property lines, if any of it came to my front door, I could deal with it then.

However, the tax bill always makes its way to the dining room table to be reviewed. Intrusive laws remind me of how a contract between a land buyer and land seller is really a contract among three parties – the two I listed previously, plus government. Add to that the fact that we have allowed our various levels of government the rights to seize our gross wages before we even receive our paychecks. You don’t need a front door for that.

Lines are being drawn, and I want to be at the front lines for it. Maybe most of you don’t want to participate, but I do. So here are some world changing events that have happened recently, with paragraph bites to demonstrate the lines, and which side is the right one.

Israel

Israel is the only beacon of true freedom in the Middle East, is it not? I don’t know Israel well. All I know is that the country has faced resistance from extremist Muslims, the UN, and Jew-haters everywhere since Israel was reformed in 1948. All three of those subsets are so ingrained as to not deserve any public trust from any freedom loving individual; therefore, if they make so much noise about how bad Israel is, then maybe Israel is doing something right. Add to that the fact that Israel has continued to voluntarily give up land such as the Gaza Strip against the wishes of their countrymen, and the war continues. The burden of proof is on the extremist Muslims, the UN, and the Jew haters, not on Israel. Let freedom ring.

BP Oil Spill

BP screwed up. Mistakes happen, but this mistake has cost mankind 11 lives, and has caused the animal and plant kingdoms countless losses that we’ll never be able to tally years from now. BP has made the oil industry look terrible, and has given our opportunistic federal government another reason to level a campaign against capitalism. I’m tired of stupid mistakes giving the opposition more ammunition to make the fight that much more harder for us. I think if accounting scandals have led to our ability to jail CEOs and CFOs held responsible, maybe these standards should apply to true environmental scandals such as these. I’m not talking the decline of the dodo bird population, I’m talking the oil covered wildlife along the Gulf Coast along with the tourism industry that has all but vanished. No slippery slopes, please. We have enough of those.

Republicans and Democrats

I’m trying my hand at being a registered Republican for the first time in my life. Not because I want to follow party politics, but because if this country is to be saved from deterioration, we must utilize options already in place before embarking on unchartered territory. I don’t know what to expect, or what people expect from me, but I will strive to be a conservative voice that has been severely lacking in the past.

A purely democratic system is wrong, regardless of who is in the majority. Socialism is also dead wrong. Freedom must be maintained or it will be left to deteriorate. Freedom and liberty must be guarded by highly vigilant people who can be trusted to do so by those who aren’t able to be so devoted for whatever reason. It seems socialism is wanting to use the vehicle of democracy and the Democratic Party to let freedom decay into a lower level of mankind – where we voluntarily surrender our liberty to our elected officials without a shot being fired. The media has somehow become a cheerleading vehicle for this, and people seem to allow themselves to be told what to feel about certain situations. I’m not saying news and opinion shows should stop their schtick; they shouldn’t. It all boils down to the people. You can go down the candy aisle, but you don’t have to buy the candy. You can watch Glenn Beck give his opinion, but you don’t have to allow it to substitute it for yours.

Democracy and socialism are beautiful systems and methodologies until you throw numbers into the mix. Numbers are the breaking point. Numbers are the ultimate in accountability. If everyone were highly capable of obtaining the correct information and had high skill levels in statistical operations, then the numbers would speak for themselves and the political tricks would be seen through, as well they should. I was told by one person that the reason he would vote for me for Richland County Commissioner was because with me, “two plus two would always equal four”. Damn straight. Two plus two can never equal five, no matter what spin the press or political hacks try to put on it. You can’t tell me black is white. You can’t put gray where it isn’t. Anyone that cannot define an “unfunded liability” without looking it up on Google should just stay home on voting day. Free lunches and broken promises lead to riots in Greece. We’re heading there. If it came to a violent revolution against a government that is very intent on retaining its overbloated power, whose side are you on? I don’t want another Tiananmen Square, I don’t want another failed uprising that Iran just had, I don’t want my life to exist at the behest of Kim Jong-Il. Even if we wanted to give a government full of good people more power to set things right, there’s nothing to stop bad people from utilizing the same power to fight against us. Worse yet, good people go bad when power is dangled in front of them. Money, power, prestige, and ego strokes hurt everyone, even at the local level. That is why government power should be minimized. Power to the people of 300,000,000+ and counting seems to me a better option than surrendering that power to hundreds of elected and unelected officals at the federal level.

To remain “neutral” is to allow the deterioration to happen, and falsely allow the neutralite to claim that they aren’t responsibile for the results. Not anymore. To not pick a side is to have the side picked for you.

Resistance is not just revolution. Resistance also comes in smaller, incremental forms, such as telling the census worker that you refuse to answer their questions. Resistance is putting up with shallow fair-weather friends that abandon you at the first sign of political disagreement. Resistance is pitting your home-schooling ethic against the teachers’ unions and our socialistic way of collecting school district taxes. Resistance is insisting on birthing your newborn child at home with the assistance of midwives, and not an automatic conforming to the habit of going to the hospital, as if hospitals have had to exist as a prerequisite long before we let mankind reproduce. Resistance is telling doctors that you refuse to let them vaccinate or let them take blood samples if you don’t want them to. Resistance is taking the long hard road full of people annoyed with you, irritated with you, and wishing you took the same simple road as they did. Resistance is taking the time to understand ourselves, and surrounding ourselves with those who think outside of others’ boxes. Resistance is knowing what’s right and using absolute determination to stick to it no matter if it goes out of style with other people. Resistance is no longer giving in to people that yell at you if you know they’re wrong but would give in just to avoid hassle. Resistance is hassle. Resistance is determination. Resistance is knowing who you are, and how you won’t let others chip away at it without just cause. Resistance is not letting ANYONE take anything from you that you don’t want them to have. It’s easier to give in and go “neutral”. I know who I am. Whose side are you on?

I took the day off the day before the Primary Election for 2010. Back in May 2009, I never thought I’d be in this position. THANK YOU to the Tea Parties for making this all a very real possibility, but most of all, thanks to God. The journey is still a mysterious one, and not one that was orchestrated by myself only. This wasn’t my plan. The journey to elected office may end tomorrow at the end of Primary Election Day, or it may continue on a miracle. No question, it will take a miracle to unseat a 24-year long incumbent, especially when there are two other challengers seeking the same thing.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, there is something very real happening. This is beyond politics and Tea Parties; it involves more of civilization. More people are getting involved. Many are voting for the first time in years. Many understand the subtle differences that would have eluded us in the past. We didn’t wait for someone to educate us, we educated ourselves. As more and more start seeing fallout from the destructive politics that permeated our culture from 9/11/01 until today, we’re becoming more united, even if we don’t know it ourselves.

Granted, destructive politics started way before 2001, but 9/11 was a grand opportunity to take how we all united together and make something special of our country. Instead, we’re doing this as a result of our undoing that started with the bailouts of late 2008. The Tea Parties aren’t going away; in fact, the idea of Tea Parties are appealing to many more people.

This past week there have been attempts to use words from Starve The Feds against me in my campaign, and the attempts have backfired. People smell a rat from a mile away when quotes are taken out of context. Anyone who reads this knows that there is not a single racist statement listed anywhere; in fact, go ahead and try to find one yourself! I will never back down in deference to outside pressure, just as anyone would not allow their minds to be changed forcefully from another person. It seems like conservatives are getting a little sick and tired of being made to feel guilty, or feel pressured, or be intimidated. I won’t let it happen here; especially when everyone has gotten every opportunity to contact me during the campaign. I would have been happy to clarify any ambiguities. If someone who decides to bypass this route and go for the jugular with malicious intent, well I can’t help that.

What I have learned from all this, including the attempts to damage my reputation, is that people will stick together when the cause is noble. People will stick together willingly, when the cause is an unspoken duty and goodwill towards others. Immoral and unethical causes are unified only by force – whether physical (by intimidation), emotional (from having guilt placed on them), or by endurance (where the message is so prevalent, it seems to be not worth fighting against in the public eye anymore).

I am beyond thankful to God, my family, my extremely patient young lady, the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party organization for not only their endorsement but for their insistence to all that we should vote for the person and not the party. Thanks to those I have talked to along the campaign trail in their living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, front porches, and on the sidewalk. You all have taught me the idea of community is still very alive and well, and while we may not agree on every issue, we are truly all in this together. We definitely surround “them”, and not the other way around.

The path to county office may or may not end tomorrow, but I do know that this journey will not end tomorrow regardless of the election results. I’ve gained so much, and I really wish this on everyone to at least give this a try; to have your thoughts and ideas questioned and challenged; to put ourselves out there to lead instead of follow; to put our names on the line for what is truly right and not what is easy; to know that there are still good people in this world, who try hard, and work their collective tail ends off in order to achieve their goals. I consider myself honored to even be considered as a representative for over 120,000 people, and I will never take for granted the hours and days that many have poured forth of their own time, with or without being asked, so that this campaign still had a good chance for a miracle upset of a longtime incumbent that sorely needs to go. I will sleep tonight with renewed hope. The hope that was promised to us in Election Year 2008 never came from our president. It only comes from ourselves. That is what makes us Americans. We refuse to deteriorate voluntarily. I will definitely sleep with renewed hope. Never give in, never give up. Thank you, all of you.

To take a break from everyday local political campaigning in order to reserve time for life feels like I almost needed Moses to part the Red Sea so I can stay dry. The process seems pretty all-consuming, and an empty schedule can be swallowed up in no time flat with very little notice.

However, as I have to reiterate to everyone, I’m not complaining. Despite a low budget and zero political experience, I stand an excellent chance of defeating a 24-year incumbent – an idea that is happening to many in today’s stormy political climate, and would have seemed unheard of even in 2007.

My heart is with all those who are rushing to Washington next week in order to give Congress a piece of their mind about the Health Care Disaster Bill. I suppose even if Washington ignores us and refuses to listen, then that doesn’t mean we can stop applying pressure on them. They need pressure. They haven’t seen pressure. If a “We The People” citizenry is starting to act like it for once, then I am not one to naysay them. Have at it!

I have got to hand it to U.S. Senate candidate Eric Deaton (Ohio) for coming up with even a better idea than term limits, and that is a “term limit”. Serve one term, and then you’re done. There’s no pressure to get re-elected, and provides more people with an opportunity to serve the public. The House of Representatives terms will have to be extended past their current 2-year terms in order to make this idea more feasible, but I like it. This wouldn’t solve all our problems, but it sure would force the federal government to make an honest living instead of a dishonest retirement.

Ohio Attorney General candidate Steve Christopher is getting absolutely railroaded. The Fraud Queen, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has probably topped her previously notable distinction. Any person outside of Ohio will best know Jennifer Brunner for her refusal to investigate over 300,000 questionable voter registration cards before the 2008 election. Barack Obama won the state of Ohio by approximately 250,000 votes. This is not to say that McCain would have won, but the refusal to investigate this situation, especially given ACORN’s predilection for hanging out in Columbus and Ohio State’s main campus, will be embedded in her political resume forever. Supposedly, ACORN is giving up their license and leaving the state of Ohio. Boy, do I feel so much better (at least until the ACORN people reorganize under a different name).

Back to Steve Christopher – I saw with my own eyes, a receipt showing that the candidate turned in over 2,700 petition signatures to the state of Ohio. Now Ms. Fraud Brunner claims that only 700 showed up (out of 1,000 required)? I call “bullshit”, and in essence, so does Steve, but in much classier terms than mine. It was almost a divine miracle that Mr. Christopher even got the signatures in time, since he announced his candidacy so late. For those not in the know, the late announcement was not a fault of Mr. Christopher’s, but a blessing. You see, Dave Yost was going to be the lone Republican Attorney General candidate, until Mr. Gang-of-14 Mike DeWine decides “hey, I want to run for that!”. Subsequently, the Ohio Republican Party, in a closed night meeting, decided to move Yost to State Auditor so DeWine can run for Attorney General. With the decision laying so close to the petition deadline, we were almost presumably stuck. Steve Christopher refused to stay stuck and stuck his neck out and got the petitions signed that he needed signed, and we’re glad we helped him get him there. Now the Railroad Department had to come up with some way to nudge him back out, and this was the best they could come with. Steve Christopher is fighting this, and we too, shall help him.

This is one ugly mess, and we are compelled to clean it up. Please help us candidates continue to see the pressure you exert on elected officials, and please pray that we continue to blaze the trail and set the standard for future candidates to live up to. Ever since the first day where I had the realization that I could win this race, I felt an immediate and borderline overwhelming responsibility to the people. This isn’t about me, this is about them, their lives, and the fact that they are counting on me to stand up for what is right. I think of them when I go to sleep at night. How do our current politicians do the same?

It’s amazing how a near-spontaneous gathering of 500 people not knowing where things were going turned into a march of 1.5 million on Washington, full of people united on telling the government exactly where we wanted to go. I fear the subsequent marches on Washington will dilute the cause, regardless of good intentions, because the whole let’s-march-on-Washington ethic has already been exhausted, and the 9/12 March will never be replicated. I’m all for the FairTax (April 15) and the 2nd Amendment (April 19), but we are not serial Washington marchers. They got the message; they just choose to ignore it. Protesting is now futile. Action is king.

Lest we be tempted to think that raising our voices does no good, we have the luxury of the Tea Party’s one year history to reflect over. This is not to gloat about what we accomplished, but to serve as a guide to us that need encouraged to speak up and let people know you won’t shut up and take what’s given to you. We never go down without a fight. Let’s not choose to refrain from fighting like we have in years past.

Enough of the waxing poetic, let’s just bring up a list of items that the Tea Party movement (and similar movements in like spirit) have had direct or indirect influence on America and the world:

• First and foremost, the health care bill has been STALLED and may be DEAD. We are one legislative trick away form totally killing the totalitarian spirit of our government.
• Although the guy has disappointed us some, the election of Scott Brown gave politicians the spanking they truly needed. We just had to say “Number 41″ and everyone knew what that meant.
• Doug Hoffman gave all our hard work a shining big result to boost our confidence and to show the criticizers that we’re not messing around. Had he just garnered a paltry 1-4% of the vote like most third party candidates do, our movement would have been dead.
• The August 2009 town hall meetings were also Last Stand Battles – again, had we failed, we’d have totalitarian health care without a whimper.
• ACORN and the SEIU are being watched and prodded over incessantly. Before this past year, they just did what they wanted.
• Van Jones had to go underground. He’s still trying to find a way back in, but that bastard will be watched like crazy.
• Mark Levin’s book ”Liberty and Tyranny” was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for countless weeks, and the mainstream media tried to ignore or discredit the book. Of course, this leads to every talking head wanting to write a book (especially Hannity), which will get me tired of this concept real quick. However, Levin showed that people really do want to know conservatism.
• Glenn Beck is probably the only talk show host which makes people willingly get a notepad and pencil and take notes like we’re in history class. And his ratings whip the asses of those other news shows that like cracking teabagging jokes.
• 9/12 groups are holding book club meetings over books such as “The 5000 Year Leap”. Man, I need to stop by Barnes and Noble.
• Sarah Palin has been perfection for a few years now, but not even she can escape legitimate criticism from conservatives. If this doesn’t prove we’re not blind to people, then logic is hopeless with them.
• The government can threaten us with $5,000 fines for not answering intrusive “census” forms that want to know when we leave and get home from work, and we can still refuse to fill them out.
• On a personal note, the movement has inspired me to run for office, learn to shoot at firing ranges, and homeschool our future children.
• The government will not use direct speeches to go over our heads as parents to lecture to our children. They went to a generic “Plan B” speech and will continue to do so, although Organizing For America is trying to get students to be political interns for Obama currently.

There’s much more, of course, but I need to get out and do some campaigning. Don’t stop believing!

I haven’t been a fan of the New Year holiday (except for the time off work) because it just seems that changes and resolutions occur in name only. Sure, the calendars on the walls have to be changed, and it does give us opportunity to review the calendars that we put away and reflect on what really happened in the previous year.

This past holiday season – from Christmas Eve 2009 to this weekend – has proven pretty difficult for me. With the exception of one campaign speech last week, I have pretty much walked away from politics in order to focus more on family and friends. The hurt seems too great to confront, and the temptation to turn hope into hopelessness looms heavily.

I am still shocked and stunned by the political turn of events beginning with the U.S. Senate’s passage of their version of health care legislation. Common sense says I need to snap the hell out of it or I’ll become depressed by the whole thing.

The year 2010, symbolically or not, has been widely accepted by our fellow freedom fighters as the banner year in which we unite and take back our Republic to its Constitutional roots. In recognition of our political slacking and taking our peaceful system for granted in years past, we are banding together this coming year and are looking to make a true impact on our government – on ALL levels. I don’t want to even consider what will happen if we fail at this effort. I don’t want to look at ourselves at the 2011 New Year wondering where we went wrong. This is it, right here.

I will pause for one paragraph’s worth of reflection. The year 2009 has marked the year when the Tea Party movement was born. Many organizations had begun or became popular due to our citizens’ quest for liberty: Don’tGo, American Majority, 73Wire, Blood Of Patriots, New American Patriots, The Patrick Henry Caucus, The 912 Project, The Patriot Caucus – all these and many more are examples. Social networking sites are ripe with pro-liberty sites. Ordinary Joes are taking their citizenship to the next level by challenging incumbents directly at all levels of government. A Republican won the New Jersey governor’s seat. Doug Hoffman almost won the election heard around the political world. The 9/12 million-and-a-half-man march on Washington DC was the best of times; the health care bill passage on 12/24 was the worst of times. Approximately 20% of our American population did not take this big government debacle sitting down.

The new year will begin with these assertions in mind:

It will take another national tragedy in order to wake up America.

The health care bill has proven that even though there is resistance, it is too little too late. There may be a chance that state attorney generals may challenge the constitutionality of the bill, or that the House and Senate may be unable to reconcile the bill. However, our government has shown us how they overcome that – and that is by major payoffs. Mary Landrieu’s $300 million, Chris Dodd’s $100 million, and Ben Nelson’s free Medicare for Nebraska for life – that’s how it’s done. If there is hope, it is in the proles; and the proles need another tragedy to wake them up, because the health care bill wasn’t a big enough tragedy that provided immediate consequences for the majority of American citizens. We are officially a pre-9/11 country overall, even if 20% of us refuse to accept it. It’s absolutely sad that it has to come to this point; that people are just simply not vigilant enough to spot evil when they see it. Because people take their freedom for granted, it will take a senseless loss of innocent American lives in order to snap them out of it.

Big government is STILL wrong, point blank.

I don’t say this as one conservative person’s opinion, I say that as a theory that has been proven time and time again. Every spiritual person that believes that religion is personal and that no person should ever have the power to play God with our lives must immediately reject our government’s current state. Our government can give us health care in 2014, but it can take it away in 2015. A Troubled Asset Relief Program promised to be used to bail out banks only has just had its purpose changed to some “job creation” fund, even though government cannot create private sector jobs. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are all examples of how our government can step in and help us through our lives, but also provides the quiet implication that it can all be taken away at the government’s whim. Free money is never free; there are always strings attached, aren’t there? Isn’t money given to us by any party come under some condition or an unspoken obligation or implication? States that were all too willing to accept stimulus money will be finding that out if they haven’t already.

The United States Government is the Ultimate Monopoly.

I don’t care how anti-corporation you are, how can government administration be the solution when there is no competition to keep the government honest? If you’re sick of Time Warner being the only choice available for your cable company, how are you going to feel about the Feds being the only option for your medicine? I advocate for the breaking up of the current federal monopoly similar to the way the government split up AT&T into the “Baby Bells” in 1984. We even have the structures in place to handle the Baby Bell government workload – they’re called “states”. The only way to do that – starve the Feds of their money (power), and state sovereignty enforcement. It may be time for states to gather their own armies in defense of that enforcement.

Entitlement Programs are Bribes.

We’re being paid off. Not only must entitlement programs end or be phased out, but we as a people will have to reassess how we can help others on our own, so that government can stay the hell out of that business.

My wish list for 2010:

More and more people become aware of what is truly surrounding them by rejecting what their media tells them.

More on that later.

A new or current marketing organization will take it upon themselves to make the public aware of conservative candidates well before the primaries.

If people don’t know we exist, then we lose.

We precinct our way into government like the Tea Partiers in Nevada did.

If 20% is all we have, let’s put that 20% into productive use. It will only be then that we can prove the theory that the activists are all we need because the activists are the only ones that put their money and time where their mouth is. Then 20% won’t seem so bad. We can do this, people.

I have got to quit expecting people to understand us, because it will not happen. I can bury my head in my girlfriend’s shoulder all I want, but I cannot expect her to understand or accept the weight that I put on myself or the weight that all of us liberty fighters have taken on in order to ensure we don’t ever approach socialism or communism again. It’s all on us. We can be the “go to” person politically for our circle of friends, and that may be the most we can expect. We cannot stop altogether. For every silent response, someone is listening out there. Someone is taking our ideas in. Someone out there welcomes the cognitive dissonance that we create in order to challenge what they have always believed as true.

It’s going to get worse in this country before it gets better. Inflation has to hit. States have to go bankrupt. People are going to see this government fail them. We have to be there to pick them up when the government knocks them down. We know there will be no economic recovery. We know Obama cannot blame Bush for all four years of his term and expect everyone to believe him for that period of time. People will have their turning points. We just have to be there when that happens, and show them that the way out is through themselves, just as we have seen that we ourselves are the only salvation for the United States Of America.

I’ll try not to make this entry too personal, since this blog’s intention is to report on what I see with my own eyes, as opposed to being about me exclusively. However, there are too many parallels between my personal experiences before and after diving headfirst into the American political muck. It’s at the precise moment when I realize these parallels to be true does the world seem to start making sense; sometimes these realizations are almost epiphany-like.

For example, when I was a more active participant in the music world playing shows with the band frequently, there was always pressure to conform to the “next big thing”. Our band’s priorities include being true to ourselves in how we act publicly, in our lyrics (except the obnoxious songs that are clearly ridiculous sick jokes), and our song arrangements and structure. There are more formulaic approaches to this available, but we chose the ones that reflected us rather than what the music industry clearly wanted. Simply put, our music is an artistic adventure first, and never a commerical one. It’s a musical value system I agree with, for art is the ultimate in self-expression, and that trumped any temptation to water down our material for commerical consumption. I follow that value system for the musical project I do on my own.

For this reason, we consider other bands and musicians who clearly were following industry trends in pursuit of being the next rock stars, as taking the easy way out. It was easier to imitate Korn and Limp Bizkit in front of teenage fans than it was to provide your own sound. It’s easier to scream unintelligble lyrics about how one hates the world than to find new ways of expressing emotion. It’s much easier to rely on playing songs by Motley Crue and Pantera for a paltry percentage of beer sales than it is to come up with original material and introduce it to a crowd. It’s much easier to cater to a local reviewer’s musical taste in order to gain notoriety, especially when the reviewer just happens to be a member of a rival band lacking artistic integrity. You see what I mean when I say that politics are absolutely everywhere?

Anyways, during the thick of things at those times, I remember one of my favorite expressions was something to the effect of: “My life would be so much easier if I just liked bands like Creed.” Earlier this decade, when Creed was a multi-platinum seller and all the girls were hot on the singer Scott Stapp, it was definitely true. I’m willing to bet many of the men and boys who went to Creed concerts weren’t there for the band, but to pick up girls who were already there.

Generally, the music-buying population is mainly 80% mainstream, and 20% underground – the 20% being those who appreciated the artistic nature of music. It wasn’t the easy way through the industry by any means – we would have had more fans, we would have made much more money, and we would have gotten laid more often if we went the imitation and commerical route of the other 80%.

We believe in our music so much that that principle carries more importance than making more money or taking advantage of groupies. Many bands do stick to this principle as well, but many also cave in to “selling out” later in their music careers in order to placate their record company and boost sales.

It’s the same way with American politics. At best, 20% of the population are involved with Tea Parties, or hold some sort of similar belief system, or would vote for a candidate running on a Tea Party platform. The 20% figure is a poll number, but in my experience it seems to be relatively accurate, as much as I wish that percentage was higher.

Radio talk show host Jason Lewis mentioned this past week that the liberals have control of almost everything – the schools, the universities, the press, the federal government, many state governments (and respective Secretaries of States that run election ballot counting), the entertainment industry, and so forth. There may be sprinkles of conservatism here and there in all of the above, but the main dish is liberal leaning. It has to be liberal leaning – why else would an anti-establishment governor who has run a city and a state get negative treatment while a smooth-talking lawyer who couldn’t even run a Dairy Queen get glowing coverage in the 2008 election? Moving right along….

In this environment, I hear or see examples of not-so-thought-out liberalism when I connect to the internet each day, or talking to co-workers, or turn on the evening news, or viewing advertisements, or drive by a local union hall, or see an Obama bumper sticker. Man, wouldn’t it be so much easier if us Tea Partiers would just give in and become liberals? Wouldn’t life just be more of a cakewalk if we gave in to health care legislation and Crap and Trade?

Maybe that was what happened during the 2008 national election. People didn’t elect someone to lead the country, they elected a celebrity who took advantage of his skin color for popularity purposes. People didn’t elect Obama the person, they elected the chance to say to their heirs that they helped elect the first black president. If this is true, can it follow that we are far from Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals that we should judge a man not by the color of his skin, but the content of his character? Are we truly in a country where we would prefer a black person who is evil over a white person who is moral, just to satisfy the affirmative action guilt in our head?

I think too many people gave in. Too many people sold themselves out. They fell in love with an idea of electing a black president so much that it trumped other principles. People didn’t want to know who he truly was because they were infatuated with the idea of “making history” because we can’t get over ourselves with skin color in 2009. You people have made Barack Obama a “token”, a stance he seems pretty okay with as long as all his destructive legislature is passed.

Think of all work we would save ourselves if we just gave in. There would be no protests, no resistance, no need to purchase defense weapons, no need to run for office. We’d save our money on campaign expenses and funding political action committees. We could stay home and feel proud of ourselves for being such a “post-racial society”. It’s much more satisfying to think that our work is done rather than dealing with the reality that we have a long way to go. Think of all the rage and anger that would disappear out of passionate disagreement. We could just stay home and spend time with our families while the politicians deal with the heavy stuff. We’ve trusted them this long, we’re still alive now, aren’t we?

This would be tempting to anyone who is known to take the path of least resistance. Instead, we know who we are.

I wish everyone could see that when I said that every day should be Thanksgiving (along with Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Christmas Day, and Independence Day), I meant it. I think some people mistook me for wishing for more days off from work.

A beauty unacknowledged daily is a beauty wasted and unappreciated; and the United States of America is a great example of this.

To know freedom is to be thankful for it, for it is paid with a dear price. We could have chosen to sacrifice what we want for ourselves in favor of what the elites want for themselves. We are damn lucky we had forefathers who would not accept that back in the late 18th century. We all have no idea what it is like to live as citizens who by force and intimidation are giving up our very basic rights in exchange for the elites to let us live under tyranny. This explains why many favored living in “peace” under the rule of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, the KGB, Saddam Hussein, and many more – because they figured they weren’t the ones resisting and “asking” to be killed.

To abuse freedom is to reject it, for it is have been given to us with the weight of the public trust. To use liberty in order to betray another’s trust not only affects trust in the individual doing the betraying, but in liberty itself. This is why we must be a moral society in order to keep freedom alive and vigilant, because doing the bare minimum in following legislative code as opposed to our personal moral principles will not suffice anymore. In other words, it is possible to betray someone’s trust legally, but it is not possible to betray someone’s trust morally. Trust betrayal was what got America in the darkness we are currently in.

To appreciate true capitalism is to love the freedom of choice. We were not born and bred to be slaves to any master, nor be forced into the same social class as our ancestors. We can voluntarily save and work towards bettering ourselves, as well as have the freedom to foolishly blow our riches on short term tokens of happiness. We practically invented rags-to-riches, as well as riches-to-rags. In a true capitalistic society with the freedom to own private property free of overbearing and overreaching taxes, we are a true reflection of our work ethic and our creativity. Indentured servitude is strictly voluntary. We cannot benefit ourselves without having to benefit others in exchange. We would help people who would only help themselves.

To value a citizens’ government is to treasure daily our lives and our livelihoods. To know that we can put the trust of ourselves into an elected representative accountable to us is precious in that we choose our leaders and weed out pretenders and those who put their self-interest ahead of their citizens’ using taxpayer money to fund it. We have all been guilty in letting this go for too long, and I am grateful that we are finally standing up in order to put our own in to represent us instead of more elitists.

I may never fully grasp how my grandparents singlehandedly lived through the Great Depression and World War II. They are now slowly giving in to old age, as well as the stubborn pride that insists that people are here to help each other, that labor unions truly represented and stood up for the rights of the work force nationwide, and that being a mid-20th century Democrat was honorable. They shelter themselves from our world now, just as I fear of sheltering myself and my family from the world of tomorrow. No more – I choose to fight for the honor my grandparents have. To see my grandfather’s pictures of those directly affected by the Holocaust, and knowing that our nation chose to stand against those who use death as a means to achieve political goals – I pray for those affected by tyranny today.

I am grateful that I enjoy working in my field for a company that helps the elderly. I am lucky to own property in a rural area that borders alongside a state forest so I can see snow at 6:30 this morning covering the hills full of trees and fallen leaves. I am lucky to have a supportive young lady whom I can trust with my life and the lives of our future children. I am lucky to be close to my immediate family who insist on helping each other despite their differences with each other. I am lucky to live the life I have always wanted, and have the ways and means to defend it from intrusion.

We can overcome the Copenhagen Treaty and the public’s unwillingness to confront those who cooked the books to perpetuate the hoax that is global warming. We can overcome any tragedy and adversity just by virtue of us being Americans and having the willpower to do so. We can  defend our way of life from our own government. To know that citizens like us are standing up and railing against the evil tide that was once seen as inevitable, is something I will always carry with me. I am grateful of being fully aware that we are doing this despite the followers who know no experience with a critical thought, and despite those who wish to block out everything so that they can carry on with their daily lives, not knowing that it is their very daily lives that they cling to that is at stake here.

I fear no opposition that consists of followers bereft of heart, soul, mind, and logic.

I fear no threat to myself, my family, my property, or my country.

I fear no evil.

Since I’ve started this thing, some truths and patterns continue to float to the top of the salt water muck that is the American political culture. I have to tip my hat once again to Mr. Jim Quinn, who comes up with his “laws” during the Quinn and Rose show. These are ones I have come up with so far. I’m not copyrighting these, because I’m all for public use of these ideas. The sooner everyone faces this, the better.

Government has a financial interest in letting you die.

The only exception to that rule is if you are giving them more tax revenue than they spend on you – and when I say “giving”, I mean “taking away from you by government force via the IRS”.

If our government continues its path towards morphing into a gigantic entity set up to take responsibility for their citizens’ well being, then people will inevitably be judged by how much profit they generate for the government. If you pay no income taxes due to being out of work because of a disability – if the government pays the hospital tab, they won’t want to for very long, financially speaking. But if you’re pretty low maintenance, hard working, and willing enough to surrender 60%+ of your income to the government – well, they just might let you live.

Wouldn’t government take care of their citizens better than those insurance companies that look after the almighty dollar? I don’t know – what are the chances of the federal government taking a personal interest in you? What are the chances of you not being “just another number” when there are 300+ million to take care of? What are your chances of having your appeal heard when turned down for coverage? Well, let’s look at the government’s track record of how well they are listening to their citizens right now. Yeah, good luck with that.

Liberals typically do not understand how the economy works.

I’m not saying that as a rip to my liberal friends who know what they know and know what they don’t know. I am saying that as a rip to those who don’t know what they don’t know, and try to project it on those who do know. Conservatives are not against health care reform and want to cut Social Security because they don’t care about the little guy; we just know what it would cost to undertake such a mission. I’m not talking just financial either, but the cost of giving up individual control in favor of the collective run by a bunch of elitists.

Our country should be awash in surplus money and buying up oil fields like China and Russia are doing now. We used to do stuff like that post WWII. The federal government should have as little money as possible to control what they are constitutionally allowed to govern – so that there is nothing left to bribe state and local governments with pork projects and stimulus grants in exchange for a tacit secession of power. We could pay for our own car and health insurance, our own children’s schooling, and use any type of non-poisonous energy we see fit (CO2 isn’t poisonous).

Instead, we let our government take our money. Then we let them fool us into calling it “taxpayer money”. Once it leaves our hands, it ain’t our money anymore. The government claims it as theirs, and they spend it any way they see fit. Nothing really stops them from raiding funds set aside for other purposes, and nothing stops them from changing their minds. Nothing stops them from wanting more after they plead poverty while dangling the livelihoods of dependable public officials such as firefighters and police officers.

I understand the need to help people, but let’s teach them how to fish rather than just handing them fish.

Any bill longer than 20/50/100 pages isn’t worth reading or passing for any reason.

Have I read the bill yet? No. Why read something twice as long as a Tolstoy novel except it’s ten times as hard to understand? Our individual health plans are in the 10-20 page range. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is only 1,200 pages long with pages much smaller than the normal size, and it’s an exciting read. The bill is longer than the Bible itself! Maybe I’ll read it if they pass it, so I can gauge the BOHICA level. BOHICA = Bend Over Here It Comes Again. Thanks, Neal Boortz!

Page restrictions would make bills smaller, force plain English language usage, prevent pork barrel spending, and discourage last minute amendments to the bill. The bill would be more focused, so we don’t have the dumb “Hate Crime” legislation attached to war spending bills. We could read the damn things, and know what we’re getting into. That’s what we mean by the word transparency, for anyone whose last name is “Obama” or “Pelosi”.

Anyone who takes freedom for granted is dangerous.

And here is a short list of examples who fall in that category:

Those who feel the right to bear arms - ANY arms – is unnecessary. These are people who never fear government enough to want to defend against them; therefore, they trust them by default.

Those who believe the idea of “well, it can’t get any worse than it is now!” Yes, it can. Try the FARC-infested jungles of Colombia, where a popular presidential candidate was kidnapped and used as bait for over 6 years. Try the cardboard box poverty standard of living by Mexicans and Chinese peasants. Try Zimbabwe’s Mugabe-era economy, where they experience inflation in the billions of percents. If that happened here, $10,000,000,000 tomorrow would be worth $1 today. Try ex-Soviet state Georgia, where despite a selfless freedom loving leader, they face the stern old school KGB stare of Russia constantly because of Russian greed for Georgian oil pipelines. Try any culture where it is considered normal to rip women’s clitorises out. Try the Middle East.

We live here in the United States of America – where every single living day should be Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day all rolled into one. Anything less, and you’re throwing away a thing of beauty needlessly.

The entitlement society. I don’t necessarily mean those who feel like they’re owed everything – screw them. I’m talking more so about situations where people face the dilemma of whether or not they should take a job that pays half of what they were getting in unemployment benefits. When that happens, you know your government is trying to bribe you, and cheaply. Some prostitutes get paid more than that, and they at least get something else out of it! So are we prostitutes and half-slaves to our own government? Only you can answer that.

At the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party yesterday, I announced that I will be running for Richland County (Ohio) Commissioner for the 2010 election year.

I will not be using “Starve The Feds” as campaign media, except for possible allusions, anecdotes, and various experiences during the campaign. The official website for my campaign is www.KentForRichland.com. All direct campaign correspondence will take place there.

I will say that the prime motivation for running was being tired of complaining. I want to continue documenting various events about our out-of-control federal government, the Tea Party movement, the national economy, the Federal Reserve, etc; but I can’t see myself doing so solely as an outside bystander. It seems too easy for any given person to criticize, and not be a part of the solution at the same time.

This will also serve as a warning to everyone that wants this movement to succeed – I can not, and I will not do this alone. I put a lot on my shoulders, as my young lady can surely attest. I could not fly to NY-23 and personally campaign for Doug Hoffman. I did not make an effort to attend the 11/5 “Kill The Bill” march on the Capitol. With regret, I did not make the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Parade in Shelby, Ohio, that ended up making the national news. I have a lot going on, and I’m sure I will put it upon myself to take more than I can probably handle.

That means that many of you that are with us “in spirit” are going to have to make it “in person”, because as you can imagine, the next step for us is running for office ourselves. Michael J. Maxim is running for Dennis Kucinich’s House seat for the Cleveland area district in 2010. Tom Ganley is running for George Voinovich’s old spot in the U.S. Senate in 2010. Those are just the people I know, or have some loose connection to. The 2010 election is going to be chock full of Doug Hoffmans nationwide, and we’ll be busy as hell trying to get into office. That means activists will become campaign committees, and meeting attendees will have to become activists. That means we’ll need more people to become meeting attendees, and that means those of you closely following what’s going on and wanting to advance the cause will have to show up. We need you. Doug Hoffman’s near miracle has proven that.

I think John Boehner overstated the situation when he called the 11/5 march a “rebellion”. However, he is pretty close – I’d call it a “near rebellion”. I can guarantee you that 2010 will be one hell of a historical year for American politics, because this will be the first year that “We The People” will run for office, and the percentage of political elites’ participation on any side of the aisle will be at an all-time low, with the exception of the Founding Fathers’ era.

I think we’re all starting to see where our line in the sand is located. If the current version of the health care bill passes the Senate and is signed by the president, there will be unprecedented and inspiring fire of determination to get the bill repealed before it takes effect in 2013. The 2010 and 2012 elections will be our last stand for freedom. We’re looking ahead, and we won’t make the mistake of falling asleep again. The “pathetic right wingers” that one person spoke of are really the American Silent Majority. You’ve pissed on us long enough. You’ve stomped on our lifestyle choices long enough. You’ve made it difficult for Christians to practice their religion freely. You’ve counted on us to just take your insults and back down. You’ve stayed up late nights making your twisted ideologies your passion while the rest of us have to work and take care of our own. You’ve asked for help, which is fine, but now you want to forcefully take it away from us – money, taxes, government programs, welfare, any incentive for people to stay poor and not look for work. We are well on our way toward mob rule – where the number of those who receive help outnumber those who give it. We know it – and we’ve had enough. You’ll wish you never have stirred us.

If this health care disaster passes, plain and simple – you are allowing government force to compel us to pay the government more taxes in exchange for the illusion that they are going to take care of us via health care. I am saddened and disgusted by the fools that you are – taking our freedom for granted and freely willing to throw away ours in exchange for receiving small bribes on your end. We see through you, and we’ll vigilantly make damn sure we’ll never let mob rule overtake our country. You’ll have to kill us first before we bow down to you. In the meantime, we’re coming for you.

I’ll see to it that I protect myself and my family from tyranny. Hopefully, if I’m elected in 2010, I can do the same for 120,000+ citizens in my home county. Peace.