I’m sure this will anger some, but I am fed up with all the attention to Michael Jackson.  The guy sang like a shrill little girl and talked more like Mickey Mouse than a real person.  Here was a man(?) who liked to sleep with little boys and whose skin mysteriously turned white.  A man apparently addicted to prescription drugs which may have led to his death.  Now I don’t like to speak ill of someone who died but my beef is with the media and all the adoring fans who seem to believe this was some kind of great man who left us. What does this say about the state of our culture?   Please spare me.  My TV will NOT be tuned to the funeral.

My father ran a barbershop on Main Street for more than forty years, known to many in Piedmont who enjoyed a talk about politics or a good joke while getting a trim.  Dad was a man of iron will and integrity who ran his life his way and thought for himself.  His sister Louise said, “Like our father he was truly an individualist.”  He taught himself how to repair small appliances, watches, radios, and TVs.  His opinions were his own, not parroted from someone else.

Dad would never let anyone else win an argument.  After college, I went to California where I spent most of my life, often working overseas.  I wasn’t a very good son, but I came to love and respect my father greatly in later years.  Visits home were especially enjoyable for the subtle humor of my parents, things you would have to think for a second before realizing what it meant.  At my father’s funeral, the operator of the funeral home, who knew Dad, had managed to put an expression on Dad’s face that reflected him perfectly.  One I used to see often, a sly smile that seemed to say he knew a secret no one else was going to find out.   I struggled for many years to find what I believed in.  I could have avoided a lot of mistakes had I just listened to my father when I was young, much of what came to be my philosophy of life was the same as his.  Sadly, much of what I now would like to tell him, I never did in the “living years.”

I would say the hallmarks of my father’s philosophy were, independent thought, self-reliance, respect for reality, integrity, and respect for others (when deserved).

I used to have a friend in California who seemed to always have an informed opinion about everything.  After listening to him carefully, I realized that it was just what he had read in the latest news magazine, even down to the phrasing of the sentences.  Not my father!  He arrived at his own opinions.  If it was difficult to argue with him, it was because he had thought about the issue already, and could back up his arguments.  I think he understood if you don’t think for yourself, you are destined to be a slave to someone else.

I think the most abhorrent concept for my parents was to accept a handout, I honestly believe they would have starved rather than live off someone’s charity.  They made it through the Depression, and provided for the family by their own labor, on their own terms, despite never having the training or opportunity to have a “safe” job with a big company.  My father believed firmly in the value and virtue of hard work and self-reliance, starting me out shining shoes in his shop when I was about 11.

While my mother would often cringe at what she saw on the nightly news, my father knew this was the real world.  He had no illusions that one could create a Garden of Eden from a pig farm.  He knew some people were cruel, some lazy, some ruthless and not to be trusted.  He could spot bull at a distance, and felt free to call it that no matter who the source.  He knew if you tried to fake or deny reality, you would get fleeced.

I think one of the finest things about my father was his integrity.  What he believed in was a rock from which he operated, and I never saw him waiver from standing on that rock.  His values determined how he should act and respond to others, something we should all do.  He was not always happy with what people did and he wasn’t always liked for taking a stand, but take a stand he would.

My father was always respectful to people unless they demonstrated to him that they didn’t deserve it.  When he sold his mother’s home after her death, he gave the buyer a no-down, no-interest, affordable monthly payment arrangement because he felt the buyer was an honest man.  Dad would gladly pay a little more to buy something from someone he knew and trusted, rather that trying to get the best deal at some unknown business.  If someone came into the shop that Dad didn’t especially like, he would be courteous but not engage the person much until he left, then Dad would feel free to be bluntly honest.

My dad’s character and values are worthy of consideration by anyone seeking to clarify their own philosophy of life, something sorely lacking by many in my generation.  I hope something from him will live on to help us on our way.
Thanks Dad

To the Honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan

Dear Mr. President,

I never met you, but it would have been a distinct honor to have shaken your hand.  As I watched your funeral procession, tears came to my eyes, along with millions of your fellow Americans.  To the extent that our country is that “Shining City on the Hill,” you, Sir, relit the lantern.  Sadly, the wheel has turned, and you are no longer with us.

From where you rest, it is well you cannot see what has happened to us.  The country, I fear, has made a hard left turn onto the road to tyranny.  The Democratic Party, which left you, has now left a lot more of us, and has begun to abandon the principles of our founding.  Yet this party today controls the Congress, which has become the most radical, corrupt, arrogant, and mean-spirited in my long memory. This Congress seems intent on dictating every aspect of our daily lives, as if the Constitution gave them unlimited powers.  I choose not to say what I really think of them, the words would not be fit for this letter.

The major media today (with some notable exceptions) have become little more than a propaganda arm of the state.  For the most part, unbiased reporting has to been found in the British press or, ironically, in the English Edition of Pravda.  The American media put its substantial wind behind the sails of the most radical and least qualified candidate for President in history, a man with a list of questionable associations as long as Paul Bunyan’s arm.  He now sits in the oval office.

This President’s foreign policy is based on pandering and apology, in contrast to yours of strength and speaking the truth, evidenced by your remarkable speech before the British Parliament in 1982.  In that speech, you said:

If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.

This line has clearly not been read or comprehended by the policymakers today, whose approach to dealing with enemies would be more correctly described as Chamberlainesque

As if years of government overspending were not enough, Congress and the President now propose grotesque increases in spending and levels of debt which may exceed the ability of any future generation to repay, and which threaten the very creditworthiness of the United States.   California, where you spent much of your life, and loved to ride on your ranch, has spent itself to the edge of bankruptcy.

The civility which existed in your time has gone.  For those in power today and their allies in the media, no smear is too ugly, no trick too underhanded, no lie too audacious, and no twisted distortion of language too outrageous. 

There are many of us who resist.  The memory of your optimistic smile, honesty, character, and integrity help us to carry on.  If we keep those values with us, I am sure we will not fail.

With my most sincere respect,

Gary H. Horne

The storm clouds of liberal taxation are once more looming on the horizon.  In spite of Joe Biden’s reassurance that it is patriotic to pay even more, it’s time for some straight talk.  What does it mean to “pay taxes?”  According to my little Webster’s New World Dictionary (2003), the word “tax” is defined as:

a compulsory payment of a percentage of income, property value, etc. for the support of a government.

I would take “support of a government” to mean paying for the operations of government (like salaries, buildings, operations costs, etc).  I am fine with that. The government is entitled to bill me for costs of operating.  After all, they work for me, or at least they are supposed to.

In the same dictionary, the word “pay” is defined as:

1.    to give to (a person) what is due, as for goods or services  2. to give (what is due) in return, as for goods or services.

My wife loves to have trees and plants on our property, so we ordered some from the nursery.  Everything was delivered and the trees planted.  I paid the bill…. End of story.  This was a voluntary agreement freely entered into, goods and services in exchange for money.  Suppose I had decided not to pay the bill.  The nursery would have legal recourse to collect the money owed, as they should have.  Suppose, after the bill is paid, the owner decides he “needs” another $500 (never mind why).  He has no legal right to collect (at least not until more judges are nominated that rule on the basis of empathy). 

Certainly, I would agree to pay for the goods and services the government provides.  I can’t think of any goods the government has provided for me lately.  So, mostly it comes to what services does the federal government provide for me?  The duties of the federal government as defined in the Constitution are services for me:  protecting me against foreign enemies and criminals, providing for courts, running the mechanisms of government, such as Congress and necessary government entities. 

For example, how about the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, an agency with a budget of 37.4 billion dollars in 2008.  What services do they provide for me?  I don’t even live in a city.  I think the answer is none.  Have I ever requested a service from them?  No.  Were government funds allocated for community organizers a service for me?  What about the “investment” the government made in Chrysler?  What was the rate of return on that one?  I think -100%, a total loss – great investment!  I don’t recall asking the government to invest my money for me.  Was that one of their Constitutional duties?  What about protecting the salt marsh harvest mouse, a service for me??  Why don’t they send the mouse the bill?  What about food stamps for the guy in front of me in the supermarket who drove away in his Cadillac?

So, the next time the IRS calls, I will tell them I would be happy to pay for the services the federal government is providing.  Just send me an itemized statement, and I will pay for every one that is for me.

Suppose a fictitious individual (I’ll call him Jack) decides he needs some extra funds.  After living a life of excess, he finds himself in need of some medical procedures, and, by the way, some Viagra would be nice too.  So Jack comes to my door and asks me to help.  I tell him no.  In a rational, civilized society, that would be the end of it.  But Jack is more persistent.  The next time he comes to my door there are a couple of burly-looking guys waiting in his car.  He points to his “friends” and warns of serious consequences if I don’t hand over the dough.  Now this is also in my little dictionary.  It’s called “extortion”

to get (money, etc.) from someone by force or threats

Extortion is, of course, illegal.  Not easily intimidated, I refuse again.  But Jack tries again, this time sending one of his burly-looking friends.  Since I answered the door with a mean looking hammer in my hand, he goes away. 

Jack really needs that Viagra, so he calls his Congressman.  Later an IRS agent appears at my door.  The IRS is not deterred by a hammer.   The IRS agent carries the threat of incarceration in his briefcase.  If I resist, I may find myself sharing a cell with one of Jack’s burly friends.  The conversation might go like this:

Me, “What are you in for?

The burly guy, “Extortion, what about you?

Me,  “Resisting extortion.”

Who can tell me why when Jack’s friend visits, it is extortion, and when the government agent visits it isn’t?  No one can, because logically there is no difference.  In fact, government employees are liable for prosecution for extortion under US Code,  Title 18, Chapter 41, Section 872.  I am sure lawyers have been able to determine that this is no problem, using some convincing arguments that A is really not A and red is really blue, but that’s the subject of another article.  Ayn Rand in fact gives a slight moral edge to Jack’s friend (from Collectivized Ethics in The Virtue of Selfishness):

In fact, the private hoodlum has a slight edge of moral superiority:  he has no power to devastate an entire nation and his victims are not legally disarmed.

So, from now on all income tax returns I send will be accompanied by the following, signed and notarized:

Since the taxes I am paying are not used exclusively for my goods and services, I would choose to pay only that portion that does.  However, since you have unlimited legal authority to take whatever the government chooses from me, I cannot refuse, but my payment is sent under extreme protest.

I can hear the left’s response already.  But Jack needs the money.  You shouldn’t be so selfish.  Look Mr. Benevolent, it is none of your business whether I am selfish or not!  In fact, I will do everything in my power to prevent you from forcing me to conform to your standard of “unselfishness.”  I will oppose your attempts to extort money from me (or from anyone else, for that matter).  If you intend to force me, why don’t you come to my door in person?  I still keep that hammer under the bed.

This is, of course, a continuation of Part I.  Resistance is not futile, but we have to figure out what exactly to do:

3.  BRAINSTORM

This is the place, Red State and other sites.  I don’t know what to do, I’m groping in the dark.  I will say what I think, but good ideas are desperately needed.  Who among us has all the answers?  This is where ideas can bubble up for discussion and consideration.  Some have appeared already,  How to Talk to a Liberal, Defeating Political Ridicule

4.. GET ELECTED

More talented individuals are needed to pursue elected office, people like I see here who want to return the country to it’s roots, as it was founded.  People who want a rational society instead of a fantasy one.   I don’t know if conservative is even the right word,  maybe anti-tyrannist.  One has to start, of course, locally.  I’m too old, too ugly, and have a terrible speaking voice (not to mention all those skeletons in the closet).  All the same, I will do what I can.  If you have values you are willing to stand up for, go for it.  That is what people really yearn to see in a candidate, character and integrity.  That was really the basis for Ronald Reagan’s popularity, as reflected in Peggy Noonan’s book title, When Character was King.  To quote from the book:

He started out with little, and rose very far.  And the great thing with him was not his personality or charm, celebrated though they were and are, but his character.

Herbert Meyer addresses this issue in an American Thinker article:

We need to launch a counter-offensive, so to speak, and the place to start is at the local level.  Working with our county and state political parties when we can — or working around them when we must — our objective will be to elect as many people as we can to public office who understand what a democracy is and how the free market works.  This will include city council members, county commissioners, school board members, judges, sheriffs and even members of the local parks commission.  With the strength and political momentum their elections will provide, we can surge to the state level and then — before it’s too late — take back the power in Washington DC.

Not only elected office, but we need to populate the other “infected” areas of our society, teaching, media, and entertainment.  By default, these have gone to the far left.  Time now to start moving in people of character.

5.  VACCINATE THE CHILDREN

There was a joke circulating in the natural gas industry a few years ago when prices seemed forever depressed.  The executive of a gas distribution company went to Heaven.  He asked God when gas prices would go higher.  God answered, “They will, but not in my lifetime!”   This war will not be over in my lifetime.  Even if the 2010 and 2012 elections massively overturn things (they might just do that), only a major battle would be won, the war will continue.  For that reason, children have to be vaccinated against the relentless viruses from the media, mass entertainment,  and universities.  Mark Levin in Liberty and Tyranny:

Parents and grandparents by the millions can counteract the Statist’s indoctrination of their children and grandchildren in government schools and by other Statist institutions simply by conferring their knowledge, beliefs, and ideals on them over the dinner table, in the car, or at bedtime.  If undertaken on an intimate, purposeful, and consistent basis, it will shape a generation of new conservatives.

6. BUST THE MEDIA

The major media have in their abandonment of journalist principles, betrayed the American people.  Readers here are well aware of the blatant malpractice.  Though I never turn on the acronym channels, (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN), my wife had on the CBS evening propaganda hour news just before the election.  I was stunned to the extent that this “news” program was propaganda for the Democratic candidate.  It was frighteningly Orwellian.  The local major newspaper in my area, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, endorsed Obama saying what he learned as a community organizer trumped any inexperience.  They praised Obama for forgoing the politics of smear (huh?) then proceed to smear Sarah Palin in the next paragraph.  I had to paraphrase these since I refuse to even visit their website, having angrily canceled my subscription.  (They didn’t print my rebuttal to the endorsement.)

So we together must in every respect avoid these media outlets.  This is one area where our candles can together make a lighthouse.  This is one area where impact is most needed and most possible.

– Do NOT watch or read any of these outlets.  Avoid even the websites because ad revenue is based on the number of hits.

– Boycott owners and advertisers.  GE would be a good start.  Somehow we need to get this organized.  An effective boycott would focus attention on the problem.  Notify advertisers that you do not appreciate their sponsorship of biased media outlets.  A mass of e-mails would give pause to a company advertising there.

– Support the good guys.  There are still responsible newspapers out there, e.g. The Washington Times.  Subscribe to their on-line services if you don’t live in the area.  Take a small local paper (Make sure it isn’t owned by one of the “Pravdas”)

– If you win the lottery, buy a media outlet and clean house.  (well…it’s an idea)

7.  DESTINATION 2010

We all know this is the next opportunity to derail the statists.  I will do everything I can to influence the outcome, however meager that may be.  This again is the place.  Here we can combine our candles into a ever growing flame.  Here we can organize, exchange ideas, plan strategy, and get intellectual ammunition.

Help or contribute to candidates or organizations opposed to the statist (usually Democratic) incumbents.  For example, I contributed to a campaign to oust Harry Reid (boy, that would be a relief!)

Let’s roll!!

I never thought I would say this, but, President Obama (my, how that sticks in the throat!)  I want to thank you.  You and Senator Reid (I sent him a letter already), Speaker Pelosi, and all the other Democrats on my rogues list have awakened me, aroused me from a semi-slumber, caused me to realize the danger posed to my beloved country.  Had it not been for you, I wouldn’t be here writing this.  I would probably still be coasting along thinking things weren’t that bad.  I would probably be at home thinking I could never write very well, and simply enjoying a good movie (an old one).  I and many others have been aroused, called up, just like calling up the militia.  We are ready for action.  You will be surprised at how many have been awakened.

In appreciation for what you have done, I want to offer the wisdom I have gained in my nearly 64 years on this Earth, having lived and worked all over the planet, and studied about anything you could imagine.  The wisdom I have now is no less than the secret to all that presently ails us.  I offer it to you even though I know you will refuse to do it.

GET OUT OF THE WAY!!

Let’s Roll!

No better time than Memorial Day to start taking back our country.  Much like the passengers on Flight 93 who were told by the hijackers not to worry, we the passengers on hijacked Flight 1776 have to take action.   Let’s roll!

I haven’t been at this long, starting to blog after my disgust with the Presidential election.  I have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the material I find here, not the hate and emotional drivel of the left’s sites; yes, anger, but for the most part, well thought out and rational arguments (and a little humor).  We are like a group of citizens meeting in the town hall, worried about the monster devouring the next county.  We agree and find solace in each other, but we are still in the town hall and need to figure out how to get out and confront the monster.  In the spirit of Memorial Day, it is time to think about what concrete actions we can take.

The statist ideologues are not going to visit here.  If Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Holder, and the like did visit, they wouldn’t say, “Oh, Now I see the light!  I was wrong.”  Those who were suckered into voting for Obama probably won’t either.  They just aren’t that curious or don’t have the time.  Here we find ammunition and encouragement for the fight, but it has to be won somewhere else.

In response to Joe Conner’s incredible letter to his father, I said:

We are but candles in a hurricane of hate, class envy, and character assassination.

As candles, we cannot light the way alone.  We can gather our lights together as a lighthouse, and we can light other candles one at a time.  What can we do?

1.  SPEAK

Ayn Rand addressed the issue we agonize over in an essay written in 1972 (from Philosophy, Who Needs It):

If you like condensations (provided you bear in mind their full meaning), I will say: when you ask “What can one do?” — the answer is “SPEAK” (provided you know what you are saying).

A few suggestions:  do not wait for a national audience.  Speak on any scale open to you, large or small — to your friends, your associates, your professional organizations, or any legitimate public forum.  You can never tell when your words will reach the right mind at the right time.  You will see no immediate results — but it is of such activities that public opinion is made.

Do not pass up a chance to express your views on important issues.  Write letters to the editors of newspapers and magazines, to TV and radio commentators and, above all, to your Congressman (who depend on their constituents).  If your letters are brief and rational (rather than incoherently emotional), they will have more influence than you suspect.

The opportunities to speak are all around you.  I suggest that you make the following experiment:  take an ideological “inventory” of one week, i.e. note how many times people utter the wrong political, social and moral notions as if these were self-evident truths, with your silent sanction.  Then make it a habit to object to such remarks — no, not to make lengthy speeches, which are seldom appropriate, but merely to say:  “I don’t agree.”  (and be prepared to explain why, if the speaker wants to know.)  This is one of the best ways to stop the spread of vicious bromides.  (If the speaker is innocent, it will help him; if he is not, it will undercut his confidence the next time.)  Most particularly, do not keep silent when your own ideas and values are being attacked.

Do not “proselytize” indiscriminately, i.e. do not force discussions or arguments on those who are not interested or not willing to argue.  It is not your job to save everyone’s soul.  If you do the things that are in your power, you will not feel guilty about not doing — “somehow” — the things that are not.

The bewildered look on some individual in the supermarket checkout line when we say, “I do not agree.” is not going to give us the feeling we have changed the course of history.  It is going to be slow and discouraging.

2. DO NOT YIELD

These are dark days.  The statists of the far left have taken over.  Like a virus, they have infected most of the media, and most of the universities.  They control the Congress and the White House and have corrupted much of the judiciary.  The virus has become a cancer which threatens Western Civilization as we know it.  We are like the crew of the Starship Enterprise who have encountered the Borg and hear, “Resistance is Futile.”

When I brought my oldest daughter to the US from Thailand, she knew nothing of American language or culture.  When I walked her to the first day of Middle School, I looked over at her and saw the most amazing look of determination on her face, like nothing I have ever seen.  So now with Selena’s rock-hard determination, I pledge:

I will not yield!

No matter how bleak things appear to be.  I will not yield!

They can smear me (I’m sure they can find something), and dig through my trash, and open my tax records.
I will not yield!

They can call me a hillbilly or right-wing radical.  They can insult my heritage and my family.  I will not yield!

In the name of my parents and their generation, who lived through the Depression, defeated enemies threatening our nation’s very existence, then built the strongest economy in the world.  I will not yield!

In honor of my ancestors, who helped build the country from before the Revolution, some of whom fired their farmer muskets at Guilford Courthouse so bloodying Cornwallis’ army that he retired to Yorktown.
I will not yield!

In honor of the soldiers of the Continental Army who lined up in their ragged uniforms to accept the surrender at Yorktown.  I will not yield!

In honor of all those remembered on this Memorial Day.   I will not yield!

In honor of those who died in the twin towers, the Pentagon, and Flight 93.
I will not yield!

Take the pledge with me, fellow passengers on Flight 1776:
We will not yield!

(more in Part 2)

The immigration policy of the US is easy to understand.  In fact, it can be summed up in one word “NO.”

Control the border to prevent a flood of illegal workers — NO

Control the border to control drug traffic — NO

Control the border to block the entry of terrorists — NO

Control the border to control violent gangs and kidnappings — NO

Control the border to prevent the spread of swine flu — NO

While grilling outside yesterday, I lay down and watched the clouds drift by overhead with a warm breeze on my face.  I thought it’s great to be alive, even with all the rabbit-brains in Washington.

After dinner, I sat down to read a book I found at the used book store.  It was called The Statist Review of History.  After reading this, I understand at last the administration’s policies.  For example, in the section on European history:

War was averted by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s agreement with Adolf Hitler.  Europe has existed in peace ever since, with Chamberlain serving three terms as Prime Minister using the slogan “Appeasement Works.”

And the discussion of the Soviet Union:

The Soviet Union remains to this day the strongest economic power on earth, providing an example for the world on how to manage economic growth and provide security and liberty for its citizens.

The section on Asia states:

After the US withdrawal from Vietnam, the area became a beacon of democracy.  Cambodian leader Pol Pot, adored by his people, went on to be Secretary General of the United Nations.

The last chapter, called “Recent Developments” states:

After the famous meeting in Damascus, where the former US President profusely apologized for US arrogance, the attendees (Assad, Ahmadinejad, Omar H.A. Al-Bashier, and Ismail Haniya) were so impressed they formed the group, Committee for the Reform of Anti-freedom Policies, in order to promote freedom throughout the region.

and later in that chapter:

Recently university professor Albert Noncerveau in his book Merde-Pensee proved in a brilliant argument that reality is determined by the views of the majority of scientists, using as his example global warming where the result of the majority opinion was that the scientific models indeed showed the majority right.  He argued that any dissent from the majority could not be tolerated as it weakened the subsequent “reality” produced.

These revelations were a great relief, correcting my previous misconceptions.  Undoubtedly, this is the reference for the Obama foreign policy meetings.  Don’t you feel better now?

In the spirit of Francisco D’Aconia.

Dear Senator Reid,

I am now 63 and counting.  I can’t seem to find that Reset button anywhere!  You are a bit ahead of me, but the difference between you and me is that you have been in Congress for the last 26 years while I have been in the real world.  The Reset button I would really like to find is for Congress, a body that is beyond doubt the most radical, arrogant, incompetent, and corrupt I have ever seen in my 63 years.

I find the situation today much like Colonial America before the Revolution.  The Colonies were governed by elitist aristocrats in England who saw the colonists as just a bunch of lower class wilderness settlers.  The anger at such treatment boiled over on several occasions, such as the Boston Tea Party, which was more about arrogance than taxation.  The tax on tea had remained unchanged for six years before the tea party.  The real beef behind the tea party was Parliament’s attempt to save the struggling East India Company at the expense of colonial tea importers, you might say, “the first American bail-out.”  It was an accumulation of these kinds of slights that affected George Washington personally and convinced him to lead the Continental Army in its unlikely struggle.  This is the same kind of elitist arrogance that drives the present day tea parties and objections from the states, such as from Texas Governor Perry:

The federal government has become oppressive.  I believe it’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of its citizens, and it’s interference with the affairs of our state.  Millions of Texans just like yourselves that are tired of Washington, DC, trying to come down here and tell us how to run Texas.  We think it’s time to draw the line in the sand and tell Washington that no longer are we going to accept their oppressive hand in the state of Texas.  There is a point in time where you stand up and say, “Enough is enough,” and I think Americans and Texans especially have reached that point.

It is you, sir, and your party who are treating we the American people as if we couldn’t tie our shoes without your Benevolent Elitenesses.  You will force us all to be “unselfish.”  Never having run a business yourselves, you will tell us how to run ours.  Having no concept of the meaning of money, you trash the nation’s finances.  You flaunt the Constitution, imagining yourselves to have unlimited and unrestricted power.  The Democrats in Congress who have never worked (nor never will) in a union, want to allow union thugs to force others to.  You seem to be intent upon telling us how much money we can make and whether we can keep any of it or not, what kind of car to drive, and whether we can see a doctor or not.  Your party sees the fruits of our labor only as something to be plundered.  Members of your party take large political donations from entities they are supposed to regulate, and evade taxes yet maintain their chairmanships.  Members of your party involved in corruption always seem to stay in power, mistakes you call them.  Yours is the party of ACORN, using government funds to register Democratic voters, and the favorite of the parasites trial lawyers, for whom tax breaks were inserted in the stimulus package.

Now that your party is running the country, what do we everyday Americans see?  We see a government more concerned about Rush Limbaugh, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and returning veterans than Islamic terrorists, a government redefining the War on Terror as “Overseas Contingency Operation,” a title so absurd only an intellectual could come up with it.   We see a government with an Easter Bunny foreign policy, whose Iran policy is to warn Israel to do nothing.  An administration who followed through with “serious consequences” after the North Korean missile launch by the dreaded referral to the UN.    We see a President who thinks a nation achieves respect through apology on the very grounds that our fathers and grandfathers liberated, some of whom are buried at Normandy.  We see a government where the appointment of radicals, anti-Americans, and tax cheats to high offices in the administration is OK.  This is a government of university elitists with no concept of the real world, no sense of ethics or morality, and who apparently haven’t read many history books.  I prefer the thoughtful common sense of my parents, graduates of the University of the Real World.

My father often voted Democrat, but were he still alive, would be appalled at the party today.  I can almost see that disgusted look on his face as he angrily turns off the TV.  Nancy Coppock states it most eloquently in an American Thinker blog:

The Democrat Party has gone off the edge of the world. The party is incapable of being reformed. The party needs to go the way of the Federalists and decline into ancient history. Any person still manning the Democrat Party at the local level should have either his ability to discern reality or his ability to read documents like The Constitution or The Declaration of Independence and get the main idea questioned. Those two thoughts make those still manning Fort DNC unworthy for public service. They may be really nice people, but all the same, incapable of smelling the bean pot scorching on the back burner of reality.

Your party has become what Jonah Goldberg has aptly called “liberal fascists,” a modern day version of the Brown Shirts running around to assassinate the character of anyone who dares oppose them. Just ask “Joe the Plumber,” or Cindy McCain, or Sarah Palin.  You somehow have managed to use most of the media in these smear campaigns, and as a propaganda arm of your party, a media who never asked a Presidential candidate about a list of questionable radical and corrupt associations as long as Paul Bunyan’s arm!

Remarks about the tea parties from your party’s leadership reveal what you really think about most of us.  You Benevolent Elitenesses in Washington treat the rest of the country like helpless “hillbillies” or peasants that you have to take care of, you know, the ones that smell bad.  Well, I am proud to call myself a “hillbilly.”  My hillbilly ancestors built this country from before the Revolution.  A few fired their militia muskets at Guilford Courthouse, so bloodying Cornwallis that he retired to Yorktown.  They were never university elitists, just simple farmers who would have never taken a handout, much less forced someone else to give them one.

Senator, if you sense anger or disrespect here, you and your party have earned it!  I predict you will be gone in 2010, along with many others.

Gary Horne