A Reader

Last year, before the election, a friend convinced me to start a blog. It's been fun. I think that part of me was hoping for the "starlet discovered at the soda fountain" story ... someone would read what I wrote and proclaim "GENIUS!"

I am perhaps, and however, primarily a reader and I suspect my writing, while occasionally clever, will never be profitable or acclaimed. In the meantime, I'll continue to read, and occasionally, steal ideas from the good writers I find.

I read Mark Levin's book, "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" and was expecting the typical conservative talk show host rant/memoir. Instead I got a cogent, concise, concrete (Mr. Nooncaster would be proud) and well reasoned dissertation on the conservative perspective. Critics might say that his picture of "the statist" is overstated, but then, they'd be wrong. Read this book, and you will understand that conservativism is not a club of knuckle-dragging old white guys. Conservatism has intellectual, and logical, heft and that the left is not nearly as smart as they present themselves to be. They are on the wrong side of most arguments if you consider experience, history and logic trustworthy guides.

Anyway. Read the book.

I liked the book so much, I bought 5 extra copies from Amazon and sent them to friends. I get that Chris Matthews 'tingle-up-my-leg' just thinking about a book espousing conservative principles being at the top of the best seller list for weeks. I'd like to see it up there for the rest of the year.

I sent one to my friend Tom, with the following gift note:

To: Buddy Tom
From: Texas Redneck
because you'll never buy this yourself & because it sums up conservativism nicely & I hope you pass it on to your kids

Of course, some of the people I sent a copy to are not as interested in knowledge as Tom, so as a personal touch to get their attention, I customized the gift note ...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

To: Speaker Pelosi
From: Charlie Tuna, American Samoa

Levin's book on your shelf ... is it more like a caterpillar? or Celine Dion?

Enjoy!




Representative Barney Frank
2252 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515

To: Representative Frank
From: Moses Gobie

"These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis"

Thanks a bunch, Barney!





Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
522 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

To: Senator Harry Reid
From: J. Brown-Whittemore

will fares on your train from L.A. to L.V. be subsidized so we can gamble our tax cuts?

You love Levin? Enjoy!





President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1414

To: President Obama
From: Tony Ayers

I hear you are a reader. Hope you enjoy the nice gesture.
Levin's a big fan ... of that Constitution you swore to protect.

It cost me $17.74 to buy each book and have it shipped from Amazon. I figure these people will never read my blog ... and even if they did, they probably wouldn't understand it. They do, however, understand and acknowledge gifts. And Levin says what they need to hear much more better than I do. Ideologues aren't much for reasoned discussion, but perhaps a bright shiny object will get their attention.

I hope every conservative who can afford it sends a few extra copies to their DC favorites. They ignore the elected Republicans. They ignore and deny TEA parties. They insult us at every opportunity by denigrating our ideas and describing us a "bitter clingers" and "right wing extremists". Perhaps instead of throwing shoes, we need to throw the book at them.

Liberal Disconnect

Recently my sister wrote, "I'm a conservative and I believe in capitalism. I can figure most things out, but I don't understand liberals." I sympathize. The disconnect between liberal words and liberal actions is maddening.*

A list on Facebook said "Five People I Would Like to Punch in the Face." They were:

1. George Bush
2. Karl Rove
3. Rush Limbaugh
4. Sean Hannity
5. Dick Cheney

President Obama's policies are naive, self serving and dangerous. As a person he seems shallow and deceitful. Rahm Emmanuel is every bit as partisan, and probably more mean spirited, than Karl Rove. There are no liberal equivalents to Limbaugh and Hannity, unless you want to count Olbermann, Letterman, Stewart or almost any network news anchor ... but individually they are inconsequential; none of them have ever been verbally attacked by a President or a presidential candidate. And Joe Biden couldn't hold Dick Cheney's jock strap. But I've never wanted to punch any of them. It is, however, an instructive list for anyone wanting to understand how liberals think.

A list like this is made because it's divisive. It's a hate list. If you don't hate George Bush, you're stupid or uninformed or unenlightened. The list maker doesn't need to be informed or enlightened because popular culture and the main stream media have already validated their opinion. "The science", or in this case "the opinion", is already in. It's been defined for you and if you fail to subscribe to what your betters are telling you, then you are "the other." Liberals have no tolerance for dissent.

A list like this comes from arrogance, the hallmark of the liberal. It's obvious in every liberal policy and position. Taxes? They want control of your money because they can manage it better than you. Foreign policy? Entire cultures, built around hating America and its principles, will change their ways simply because the liberal elites are now in charge. Second amendment? If you're not liberal, you obviously don't understand how dangerous it is to have the ignorant masses armed. Health care? Liberals really can't trust people to manage their own health care ... or retirement ... or car purchases ... or education ... or environment ... or charitable contributions ...

Apologizing for America is not a demonstration of humility, it is the ultimate arrogance, assuming the role of spokesman for generations of Americans and validating the undeserved contempt of an unappreciative world.

You make a list like this because you really can't trust anyone. Self interest, in the liberal mind, has a negative connotation. Self interested to them means greedy, not ambitious, and even ambition is suspect. Liberals don't believe that "others" will follow rules, and so more rules are always preferred. Note, however, that if you are a liberal, if you count yourself among this enlightened elite, then the rules do not apply. Rules are for "others."

You make a list like this because you have no core beliefs. Liberal political opinions are more informed by what "sounds good" than what "is good." Distinguishing between sounding good and being good requires a definition for "good" which cannot be defined without a moral foundation. Inalienable rights? A liberal might say:

We are so much more sophisticated than those provincial white males that founded the country ... surely you don't believe that those antiquated ideas can apply to our 'post-modern' society? How quaint!

Without a core belief system, the general public opinion is easily shaped and the public itself is easily divided, grouped and controlled. Without a belief in true equality, a belief in the rights and responsibilities of the individual, there is no mutual trust. Liberals can't trust the states, much less individual citizens, to take care of themselves. They want the power concentrated at the federal level, preferably with their elite group in charge because they know best how to protect us from ourselves.

This year's Tax Day Tea Parties were not about just about taxes. It's hard to believe that anyone, liberals included, believes that the government is a good steward of our money. It's an issue we can confidently agree upon. The people who attended the Tea Parties were 'just folks' ... not elites, not "right wing radicals", not power brokers and deal makers. The anti-Tea Party media tied themselves in knots by alternating between reporting and ridiculing the protestors. How dare the public disagree with what they've been told to believe. The Tea Parties were about fundamental beliefs, not the crisis of the week. It appears that the American public is just about fed up with having their beliefs undermined.

The Tea Parties did not create division, nor were they based on arrogance. They affirmed that there are things we can all agree on and that those things are grounded in our basic beliefs. Liberals intentionally divide along the lines of race, sex, faith, education and class. Conservatives believe in uniting behind common beliefs, one of which is individual freedom, not group differences. Liberals struggle with the problems of "other people". Conservatives struggle with self-sufficiency, personal responsibility and duty. Liberals must constantly adjust their position, referencing popular opinion and the latest trend. Conservatives must constantly evaluate the changing world to determine the best way to apply their core beliefs to new issues.

There is a disconnect between what liberals say and what they do. Liberals say "equality", but create laws to keep minorities subordinate. They say "prosperity", but want to control and limit it. They say "peace", but promote surrender. They say "justice", but celebrate cop killers and terrorists.

A list like this perfectly describes how modern liberals think. Create division. Assign yourself the "correct" position. Marginalize and ridicule dissenters. Repeat when necessary to maintain the position of power. If you think saying you would like to punch George Bush in the face says something about you, that it identifies you as one of enlightened, you're right. It does.

* Just when I thought I had this out of my system, on the way to work I hear that President Obama is holding his first full cabinet meeting today, and on the agenda are ideas from every department head on how they can trim $100 million dollars from their budgets. That's million, with an 'M'. Liberals say "we're cutting the budget!" on one hand, while appropriating billions ( with a 'B') and trillions ( with a 'T') of your money with the other. I particularly enjoyed these lines from our President ...

In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective. In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it's time their government did the same.

That is why I have assembled a team of management, technology and budget experts to guide us in this work, leaders who will help us revamp government operations from top to bottom and ensure that the federal government is truly working for the American people.

Let me translate. What he's really saying is ...

I plan on empowering a select group of my friends and supporters to determine which programs we will continue to fund, to further ensure your dependency on the federal government and to continue our attack on your outdated beliefs.