The Alternate Reality Files by Julie Ranson

I don’t know about you, but the list of political events in recent weeks completely amazes me by its scope and its absurdity. I have commented to others that it feels like we’re living in a parallel universe. It appears that part of the mystery of all that is Washington DC is starting to clear up: those folks in D.C. live in an alternate reality, no doubt about it now. And the liberal media? Yes, they too reside in that specially scented air of the alternate reality. With all the troubles this country is facing right now, our Congress takes time to celebrate this.

In mid-February, Joe Sestak (D-PA) dropped a bombshell when he revealed that he’d be offered a job by the White House in return for him dropping out of a primary challenge against Arlen Specter (D-PA, formerly R-PA). For the past three months, the WH has dodged explaining this story. We were assured by a variety of WH folks, President Obama included, that “nothing improper happened” as if we’d all just blindly accept any White House’s internal investigation of itself! (See first paragraph about alternate reality.)

This past Friday, it was reported that Rep. Joe Sestak would not have been eligible for a place on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the job he was supposedly offered by WH emissary, the former President Bill Clinton. So, they take three months to come up with a “good story” that isn’t very good at all.

Immigration continues to boil on the front burner in the news and in the hearts and minds of the American people. I saw a sign over the weekend at the anti-AZ immigration law rally – “Stop ripping apart families.” Isn’t that what we do when we send fathers or mothers to jail for their crimes? You know that old saw, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Proposed by George Will (and this writer), one solution to this sticky problem for those illegal immigrants creating families here in the USA is to end the birthright citizenship of children born to illegals.

This past week we glimpsed the alternate reality called the House of Representatives with a visit from the president of Mexico. Calderon took several opportunities to condemn the new immigration law in Arizona at the White House and in the House. In fact, the Democrats in the House gave him a standing ovation! I ask....Where am I?

For those of us interested in retiring at a decent age, the tanking of the DOW to its worst levels in 70 years caused much consternation. “U.S. stocks slid, capping the worst May for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1940, while the euro slumped and Treasuries rose as a downgrade of Spain’s debt rating and escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula triggered a flight from riskier assets. The Dow tumbled 122.36 points, or 1.2 percent, to 10,136.63 at 4 p.m. in New York and lost 7.9 percent this month.” For the last two years, investments have taken one step forward and two steps back far too often. What we need is some evidence of a growing economy, not just promises.

I started this blog post intending discussion of six news topics for which I have some passion. So overwhelming is this political theatre I daily observed, I can illuminate only three for you this weekend. While I would never disparage the World Wide Web, it goes without saying that the availability of information from myriad of sources and perspectives is a significant distraction to us mere mortals. Wait a minute, that’s not me talking; that’s what Obama said at a recent commencement address. I don’t agree with Obama about much and, as an academic, I could not vilify “information” anyway.

One problem with information is what we do with it. With the advent of the Web and the 24/7 cable news cycle, overload is inevitable for those of us who devour it. Here at Citizen’s Roundtable, our purpose is to educate. So, here’s a tip, fellow citizen: Find the area where you have the most interest and become an expert on that topic. Use a variety of sources; and for heaven’s sake, don’t quote a story told by a television or radio personality unless you’ve checked out the information sources for yourself first.

Julie Ranson is a community college business professor in Virginia.

Lessons Not Learned by Larry Miller

Where has the principled courage of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) gone? Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds has been raising a ruckus about a thirty year old thesis written by his Republican opponent Bob McDonnell. This thesis, written in youthful enthusiasm, said such terrible things as killing unborn babies was wrong and that children raised by stay-at-home mothers tended to fare better than those whose mothers worked outside the home. Deeds questions how anyone with such outdated ideas could be taken seriously. RPV has no defense, only a strategy of duck and cover.

While times have changed, principles have not. Former Attorney General McDonnell may express himself differently these days, but I would hope the ideals of the young student have not changed significantly. Instead of defending ideas that have broad appeal in the normally red state of Virginia, RPV Chairman Pat Mullins issued a statement complaining that Mr. Deeds has introduced divisive social issues into the campaign. One has to wonder if this is the milquetoast leadership the party insiders were looking for when they ousted Jeff Frederick from the position and replaced him with Mullins a few weeks before this summer's convention in Richmond. A recent Rasmussen poll shows that 74% of Republicans believe that their congressional representatives have lost touch with the voters. Is it much of a stretch to believe the same of party leaders as well?

The Republican candidate, who is a good man and has compiled a strong conservative record during his years in the General Assembly, is now running as a jobs and energy moderate... not that there is anything wrong with either issue. They are about making a living... not a life. As this is written, McDonnell is up by four points over Deeds... down from double digits a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it appears that his political gurus are working to mellow him down the same road of defeat that they showed previous candidates for this position, Jerry Kilgore and Mark Earley.

Further evidence of the emasculation of the party in the Old Dominion came to light when House of Delegates candidate Catherine Craybill had the audacity to say "We have the chance to fight this battle at the ballot box, before we have to resort to the bullet box. But that's the beauty of the Second Amendment right. I am glad for all of us that we can enjoy the use of firearms for hunting, but make no mistake. That was NOT the intent of the Founding Fathers. Our Second Amendment rights was to guard against tyranny."

Again the official party and candidates are running for cover. The RPV Chairman going so far as to deny any support to the candidate and suggesting she would not be the best one to run for the office. Imagine what they would do if Patrick Henry returned and gave his “give me liberty or give me death” speech that we admire so much two hundred thirty some years in the past.

Republicans have lost favor with the voters because they have talked a good game but failed to live up the their espoused values. We see here two opportunities to show there is substance to the party and candidates, but we see the party and so many candidates rushing to the mushy middle.

Consultants will tell us that roughly 40% of the voters will be on one side and 40% on the other. The battle, therefore, is for the 20% in the middle. The conventional wisdom that has been failing the Republicans in recent years is that to win these votes, you have to look and sound like the people in the middle... thus losing the support and respect of your base. What Ronald Reagan did was to explain the conservative position so effectively that those in this middle ground understood and came along. This is the way to deal with independent voters!

When will the party of Reagan learn that it was principled stands that brought it to power and that deserting these values led to defeat. We are faced with an administration in Washington audaciously sticking its nose in many areas constitutionally ceded to the states at a rate many times faster than that of any previous administrations. We need bold leadership to stand up to it, not timid politicians afraid to take a position.

Victory or defeat, that is the choice. It seems that no one appears to remember what George Santayana told us, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Republicans have the choice to stand unapologetically on the conservative values people expect and respect or they can hide in the bushes and watch while the country falls apart around them.

The only saving grace for the Republicans may be the stench the Democrats have become in the nostrils of a significant block of voters. While many of us are looking for anything that will put a crimp in Obama administration's expansion at this point, the danger is that winning with this strategy will condemn the Republican Party and the country to an even longer string of so-called moderate, ineffective candidates to oppose the downright socialist, if not fascist machinations of the Democratic Party.

The best hope is that the candidate for Attorney General, Senator Ken Cuccinelli, leads the ticket on election day, showing that a true conservative, running on conservative principles, particularly from the liberal bastion of northern Virginia, can attract more support than candidates running on a Democrat-lite platform.

Originally posted at Political Christian blog:

http://www.politicalchristian.org/wordpress/2009/09/lessons-not-learned/