Random Political Notes from Out West

Well, I bubbled in my ballot last night while chugging some red wine and listening to 70's music.  The Quiet Magpie's post on Suzi Quatro singing Stumblin' In got my nostalgia going.  Seems I wasn't the only one in love with her as a kid.  She's all mine, Magpie!  Back off!

I didn't vote straight Republican this time, thanks to GOP failure for Governor Dan Maes. The failed tea party candidate is sinking below 10% in the polls but refuses to get out, hurting Tom Tancredo's chances to beat Van Jones fanboy John Chickenlooper, who is mayor of the sanctuary city of Denver.

Got a Spanish language flyer in the mail today asking if we were voting and wanting us to fill the card out and send it back.  Another Hispanic family on the block was the only other house that got one, so the libs are targeting Latinos who have strayed from the liberal plantation...

The Department of Health and Human Services notified us someone will be coming around to question us about who-the-hell-knows-what.  They bribed us with $30 of taxpayer money for each person in the house who responds.  They'll be getting a big faceful of front door when they come knockin' at Casa de Silverfiddle.

We actually have a man named Doc Holiday running for county sheriff.  Some cat named Bob Bux is running for coroner unopposed.  He should be running for treasurer...

Tom Tancredo Can Win This Thing! 

Tancredo is now tied with Obama of the Rockes, John cHickenlooper in the race of Governor of Colorado!

Tom Tancredo, Great American and a Great Coloradan, is leading in polling among the state's Hispanics, who are tired of illegal immigrants who get drunk and kill people giving all Hispanics a bad name. Tom is a Facebook friend of mine.  Stop by and post some words of encouragement on his wall!

Silverfiddle Faces Down Move On Protesters

I went down to a political rally last night.  Not to stand inside and cheer, but to stand outside in support of Senate candidate Ken Buck.  I only went because a coworker told me that Move On morons would be there so the conservatives needed a big crowd.



As much as I talk about it, I hate politics, so I avoid political rallies.  Joe the Plumber was there, and Ken Buck was speaking as well, but I had no interest.  Only the prospect of lefty protesters moved me to go.

I put on my street fighting clothes, to include my Mossy Oak hunting boots in case I needed to stomp some communist protester ass, but also light enough I can run pretty fast in them as well (It's not against the law to run when you hear sirens approaching from the distance). 

The Tea Party Demographic was about 45 years younger than the lefty protesters 
Anyway, it was all a big disappointment.  The protesters were all in their 60's at least, shouting about how Ken Buck is owned by the corporations.  They were handing out "Bucks" with Ken's picture on them.  I got a rousing cheer from my side when I waved one in the air and shouted "These will be worth more than the real thing by the time Obama gets done printing money!"  But that was the only highlight.

I did have a nice, civilized discussion with the gentleman handing out the bucks.  He conceded that Democrat Michael Bennett was also owned by the corporations, "they all are," he sighed.  Maybe that's why I'm not big on political rallies.  I'd rather have a reasoned back and forth than all the screaming and chanting and shouting through bullhorns. 

Life is Beautiful, Politics Isn't
As I said before, I hate politics.  I hate that we have to talk about it so much and that it dominates so much of our time.  Life is full of so many wonderful things, and here we are wrapped around the axle over what a bunch of irresponsible statists are doing in the District of Criminals.

I'd rather be fishing, hunting, playing fiddle or guitar, spending time with the kids, all things I do now, but we have this huge shadow hanging over us all the time.  I hate all the shouting and anger and polarization and politicization of everything.  My wife has fox news on every night when I come home and I can't stand to hear it.  My values may be conservative, my politics libertarian and my neck red, but I am a peace and love hippie at heart.

If I had known the Move On protesters would be old people, I would have brought my guitar and harmonicas and played some Neil Young for them.  Maybe it would have made them happy.  I know it would have made me happy...

Your Politicians: Drive 'em Like You Stole 'em!

The Colorado Governor's race is tightening, but political hero worship is killing the conservative cause

The tea party fell head over heels for Dan Maes, dark horse candidate for governor.  He's since been shown to be not-ready-for-prime-time and he's sinking below 15% in the polls, but a dedicated cohort is in love with him and can't let go.  Their love affair with their hero will probably throw the race to the liberal Democrat.

Political hero worship blinded us to Bush's wild progressive spending, and it put an inexperienced community organizer in the White House.

Enough is enough!  Even if the GOP takes back the house and senate, we've got to hold their feet to the fire.  I wrote this awhile back, but it bears repeating.


I don't see a hero when I see a politician, I see a vehicle that I hope will get me from point A to point B

Like Wall Street, The Big Three, and every other welfare queen standing in line, I see a politician as a vehicle to get us where we want to go. The difference is, I want it to go down Constitution Freeway, they want to steer it down Handout Highway.

We need to stop worshiping our politicians and start riding them like a stolen motorcycle. And when it don't go no more, ditch it and grab another one. That's how the hijackers who are looting our treasury see things.


It's time we grow up and drop the hero worship of our politicians, Republican or Democrat. 

We are not here to serve our government, our government serves us. Not by giving us things but by ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense and otherwise staying the hell out of the way.

Consider this quote by George Washington:

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

This dangerous servant has plundered our treasure, made off with the silver and good china, and flings a few pennies at us as it leaves our house in flames.

This fearful master squeezes more and more out of us and gives less and less in return. Our country is in debt and the government just keeps creating more. The candyman just can't stop doling out sweets to the overweight trick-or-treaters. And it all goes on your tab.

Time to grab the handlebars and drive it like you stole it.


For more information and background on the Colorado Governors race, follow the links below:
Teabagged:  The Downside of Dark Horses
Caught Between the Grassroots and the Establishment

Render unto Caesar...

IRC 501 (c) (3): In general, no organization, including a church, may qualify for IRC section 501 (c) (3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying).

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, will be a leader of Saturday's (5/1/10)march in downtown Los Angeles, where tens of thousands of people are expected to protest Arizona's new immigration law.

Legislation includes action by Congress, any state legislature, any local council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolutions, or similar items (such as legislative confirmation or appointive offices), or by the public in a referendum, ballot initiative, constitutional amendment, or similar procedure.


On Thursday, the archdiocese started a website, Faces of Immigrants, based on a concept by Cardinal Mahony that "personal stories from immigrants will give a face, or faces, to immigration and show people the effect our broken immigration system has on their lives."


A Church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.

Displayed prominently on the Faces of Immigrants website is the link to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Justice for Immigrants website urging us to send a JFI postcard to Congress accompanied by the quote "every man and woman may be regarded as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father" - Pope Benedict XVI.

Under the substantial part test, a church or religious organization that conducts excessive lobbying activity in any taxable year may lose its tax-exempt status resulting in all of its income being subject to tax. In addition, a religious organization is subject to an excise tax equal to five percent of its lobbying expenditures for the year in which it ceases to qualify for exemption. Further a tax equal to five percent of the lobbying expenditures for the year may be imposed against organization managers, jointly and severally, who agree to the making of such expenditures knowing that the expenditures would likely result in the loss of tax-exempt status.

Previously Cardinal Roger Mahony electrified the US immigration reform debate by announcing on March 1, 2006 (Ash Wednesday), that he would instruct archdiocesan priests and lay Catholics to ignore provisions in a House-passed "enforcement only" bill (H.R. 4437) - were they to pass - that would make it a crime to assist unauthorized immigrants.

In an April 18th post on his blog, Cardinal Mahony describes the bill passed by the Arizona Legislature as "the countries most retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless anti-immigrant law born of the assumption that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder, and consume public resources." "I can't imagine," the cardinal wrote, "Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation."

Bishop John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, Chairman, US Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration: "Specifically, we have emphasised the need for a pathway to citizenship (read amnesty - Finntann) for the 11-12 million undocumented in the country.

When I was a member of the US military, I was free to exercise my constitutional rights in regards to participation in the US political process. There was one caveat however, I could not participate in the process in uniform or utilize my rank. Identifying myself as a member of the United States Air Force was forbidden, lest the public perceive my political activities as an official endorsement of a particular candidate, issue, or party.


In my opinion... these activities constitute participation in the US political process in an attempt to influence legislation , not by Roger Mahony, or John Wester, but by the Catholic Church.

~Finntann~

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
http://www.usccb.org/jfi/index.html
http://www.facesofimmigrants.org/share.html
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=395

Good RINO Hunting

Republicanism is not Conservatism
We all have our own ideologies.  When they broadly overlap with others we make common cause via a political movement or party.  Our two major political parties only imperfectly concord with ideology.  Rather, they are the two vessels, right and left, that carry candidates to victory or defeat.  They are the two big tents. 

Given this True or False question, the only right answer for a conservative is the GOP.

I think we criticize politicians too much for not matching our ideology perfectly, for not being pure.  Meanwhile, we fail to criticize them for their serial constitutional infidelities.

Scott Brown is a GOP hero for wrenching the "Ted Kennedy" seat from the liberals' grimy clutches, but he wouldn't play well in Texas.  The south has many fine conservative congressmen and senators who proudly put Christianity and family values first, but Christian credentials don't carry you too far here in the Mountain West. 

Congressmen and Senators Serve Their States
If you believe in federalism, where the federal government restricts itself to its constitutional duties and leaves the heavy lifting to state and local governments, you cannot argue that Meg Whitman is too liberal to be the GOP nominee for governor of California, or that Carly Fiorina is too liberal to be the GOP senate candidate from that same state.  Senators and congressmen serve their states, and their politics will reflect the sentiments of those who elect them. 

The ACU Ratings:  Who are the True Conservatives?
The American Conservative Union publishes the gold standard of conservative measurements, ranking every congressman and senator based upon how each voted. 

Barbra Boxer is a zero (in more ways than one), and constitutional conservative Jim DeMint is around 98%.  The much hated Lindsay Graham scored a perfect 100% in 2008.  I don't believe he should be banned from the club because he has strayed on the one issue of global warming.

RINO Safari
The lifetime scores of Senators Snow and Collins of Maine both hover around the low side of 50%, in a state where the two liberal Democrat congressmen score a 6% and 12%.  These good women are walking a political tightrope, but they're on our side (Dems have heavily courted them).  If they both were Democrats, Obama and Harry Reid would still have a a 61 vote supermajority in the Senate.   

It's time we cut fellow Republicans some slack
Yes, conservatives, you're Republicans.  Who else are you going to vote for?  Politics is about gaining power so you can implement your ideas.  You do that by winning elections, not by "making a statement" with your independent party that steals 8% of the vote and throws the election to the Democrat (Bill Clinton never got 50% of the vote thanks to third-partiers).

The primaries are the arena to fight it out.  Proof:  Marco Rubio is now beating squishy moderate Charlie Crist. 

We need to hold the feet to the fire of those we elect.  We must invade the GOP and insist it stand for constitutional conservatism.  We also need robust internal debate, but let's save our outraged cries of "RINO!" for the rare Scozzafava, and stop anathematizing each other. 

Do you want the power to make the changes our nation needs?  Or do you want the smug satisfaction of being a pure but powerless minority?