Like many of us on this site, I'm encouraged by what happened on Tuesday night. No real news pundit can think that ousting the governor of New Jersey didn't represent true political upheaval. This was more like an earthquake. Obama had made 5 separate trips to New Jersey and I'm sure all of ACORN and SEIU were doing their dirty deeds. Yet, a fat guy who was targeted as that in political ads, was able to beat all the media, all the crazy endorsements of Corzine and all of what The White House could dish out. And then there was Virginia. A rout. The new governor has a genuine mandate. And finally New York's 23rd district. A close race where a candidate who ran in the Conservative Party, was edged out only slightly by the democrat who by the way, did not run on an Obama platform as the media has stated. He won because the liberal republican endorsed him and I'm sure more than 6% of the people who voted blindly chose the "R" instead of actually reading the names of the three candidates.

But it does tell us one thing about third parties: they still can't win. And even though I have pondered aloud that we need a third party. I have thought long and hard about trading in my "I" for an "L". After last night I've had a bit of an epiphany. I do think the republicans are better; and the only vehicle to drive when asking for conservative pilots should have an "R" on the door. The republican party can be reformed. A third party cannot gain momentum without a national, all out once ascension with a huge infusion of money, time and capital all at once. The only exception would be a Ross Perot type who hit on one or two issues so effectively that he or she could rally the country as a whole and at the same time begin a new party. But for immediate success, it's way more prudent to be a Republican and reform the party from within. Run the correct candidates. Make conservatism the hallmark of the party again. The way forward has to include a more unified front. Libertarians, conservatives, independents and even some moderates need to come together to agree on a few core issues. If we can get a consensus on some basic tenets of the American dream, we can restore it again. The Republicans are the answer. The party is not dead, nor does it have to go liberal or moderate to be successful. Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner and Sara Palin are the real deal. We need to support candidates who have these values. Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal are all on the radar screen and are all viable forces to be reckoned with. Hope has and "R" in front of it right now.

In many recent debates, especially when it comes to health care and immigration, God is now playing for the liberal team. Catholic Charities are now officially a sponsor of illegal immigration. Catholic policy on social justice calls on the government to "help" those in need. That's interesting. Why doesn't the rich and powerful Church have their own free health care program for illegals? The same with the rest of the uninsured. The Church should set up their own program to help all the uninsured rather than calling on those, many of whom already have health insurance to fund a government option with more of their tax dollars.

Barack Obama made the rounds to these left leaning religious institutions in '08 on the campaign trail. People like Jim Wallis and Bill Moyers became allies in Obama's plans to co-opt the faith community into thinking his way was the right way. Wallis began writing books on this topic about two years prior to Obama's ascendancy. You can view all the liberal hand wringing  at www.sojo.net. And of course, the poor are mentioned countless times in the Bible. We are to take care of them, offer them shelter, food and a new life in Christ. The problem for people like Moyers is that nowhere in Scripture does it say we as the collective are to lobby our governing bodies to forcibly take money from one group in order to care for another. We are to act individually and within the Church to create a more heavenly earth in the here and now.

And I have to say that both the liberal mainline church and the conservative evangelical church have both dropped the ball. Mainlines preach a social gospel around the notion of lobbying the government to spend more on illegals and free health care. Evangelicals preach a way more inward gospel that rarely challenges the congregants to worry about more than their own salvation. Some evangelicals do take their calling seriously and make a point of setting up a homeless shelter or collecting food for the poor. And that is what the church should be doing in relation to it's calling. This new emphasis on health care and immigration is through government coercion and is a new phenomenon that the Obama people have used to co-opt religion and make it more mainstream for those of us with traditional views.

Many in the faith community have gone soft. Either they don't want to get political, or they want to follow the Obama model. Those who resist are branded as racists and religious fanatics. While those who follow are serving God honorably. The church needs it's own poor people health care model. They could sign on with Wal-Mart to cover the estimated 11 or so million who need insurance but can't afford it. There is a compassionate way to fix this without the government taking it over. And without the Church lobbying the government to do their job. The Good Samaritan was a person who did the right thing on his own as an independent problem solver. We should all be Good Samaritans in our approach to those in need, so there's no need for a government option.

I was not able to attend the DC protests, mostly due to my own financial situation. I now work for about 60% of what I earned last year and will soon take on a 2nd job. Atleast I'm able to find work! But the prospect of 7 day work weeks does not make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Yesterday I attended a gathering in Worcester Massachusetts at the very busy intersection at Lincoln Square. At the peak of the event there were about 100 of us holding homemade signs and waving at drivers, many of whom honked in support of our cause. We got the bird from two drivers and the "your crazy" sign from a couple more. But it was largely a positive 90 minutes of waving and chatting with people who I deem as normal Americans.

The highlight for me was a woman who was taking oxygen and sitting in a wheelchair with a sign that read, "leave my health care alone!" Several of us went over to meet this true patriot. I made the comment several times how this was not an angry "mob" or "astroturf", but a peaceful group of very concerned citizens. When I got back home I was able to catch the last hour or so of Glenn Beck and the DC Tea Parties. There were estimates of well over a million people, and this could be the largest gathering ever on the mall. This is about freedom, lower taxes, less government, and a restored sense of who's in charge. We are. We're in charge. And this wave won't crest until 2010.

This may be some foolish and useless observation on my part. But it's clear there's some kind of odd competition going on between Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. And it's clear that there is a huge difference between these two commentators. One has always been a rank partisan, who used to, until recently, tow the party line on everything and on everyone, maybe minus Arlen Spector. That person of course is Sean Hannity. Hannity's new prime time show is entertaining, but is more like a staged circus with fall guys (the great, great American panel) repleat with the token lib and 3 on 1 bashing that is sometimes self indulgent and silly. With Bob Beckel taking the brunt of this designed excess, it's clear that the show lacks the balance Fox wants. And even though this blogger abhored the likes of Alan Coombs, there seems to be a play it safe, republicans still rule mentality that lacks honesty and makes for a predictable show. Hannity also does these Glenn Beck-lite (pun intended) features like tonight's goofy and often nonsensical 101 ways to waste the stimulous money. Sean also had a cartoon-like tree on his show several weeks ago with apples that represented some form of liberty that we were losing. The apples would fall after Sean made his contitutional 101 presentation about the founding fathers. Beck had been deep into the founders, and especially the modern progressive movement. The only difference is the level of sincerity Beck demonstrates and his voracious study habits. He's a show prep machine. His shows are packed from front to back, both radio and TV with stuff that nobody is following except Beck. His cry-baby nervous on air breakdowns make him all the more palatable to the casual onlooker, looking for something not staged or canned. Hannity is a nice guy with stunning grey locks and a tough guy attitude that comes off as rather 1996. But we've seen this movie before.

Beck takes aim at all the politicians. He understands that the republican party only tacs slightly north of democrat central. He's been predicting this economic stuff for years on his show. Yet he's savvy and contained enough to not run over into Alex Jones territory. Although he's done TV shows that are likely inspired by the book of Revelation. This is a guy (Beck) who went from being an alcoholic to a workaholic with all of the fire of an Old Testament prophet. He's a modern day Ezekiel. He's beating his own drum in a way that is succinct, real and heartfelt. Beck is not about being #1 in the ratings. He's about waking up the masses to the coming wave of socialism that is now ruining what the founders set out to protect against. Hannity seems eager to glom on to these Beck coat tails. He had Mark Levin on his show the other night to tout his "Liberty And Tyranny" book which has spent a number of weeks at #1 on the NYT best seller list. Both Hannity and Levin failed to acknowledge that Glenn's "Common Sense" obliterated every book on the planet for the last week and has taken over the publishing world. Beck's book may end up being the biggest selling non-fiction book of all time. That honor currently belongs to Rush Limbaugh. My apologies to God. It's actually the Bible.

Finally, we need sincerity. We need truth. And we also need teamwork. I want Hannity, Beck, Levin, Limbaugh, Savage and O'Reilly to work together and not get in each other's way. This is about changing the political dynamic and working in concert to inform the masses of the coming doom if they don't run back to conservative principles. Hannity may be the stunning hero who we can put forth as our TV monarch. But that doesn't mean squat when Glenn Beck speaks from the heart and is aiming at all evildoers. It's our job to be discerning politicos who round up our friends and who use the knowledge we receive to actually turn this boat around. Beck seems to have struck a nerve with his Paul Revere approach, while Hannity is still touting the republican revolution as something new and fresh. Beck is the real deal.

I just finished reading Glenn Beck's Common Sense, I still have yet to finish the book; half of it is Thomas Paine's actual pamphlet reprinted. This work will likely go down as an evangelical tool on behalf of those who want to recruit for liberty. Beck is smart because he makes the case by making it simple. The stats on deficits he throws down are staggering and will make you angry.

 

But this book is mostly a launching point for real activism. This is one of those books that you hand over to a friend or non-friend. But it demands that we DO something. This isn't a book you read for all the warm fuzzies you'll get. In fact, this is a book that demands we WORK to change the system. That means getting involved with things that we may be unfamiliar with. It may mean we go out and stand for hours and hold signs. It may mean a letter to the editor or to the TV station manager. It may mean unplugging from leisure activities, even family time, in order to make this happen. What we have to all come to grips with is that our politics, our beliefs can no longer be a hobby, or way for us to belong to a conservative club. Beck actually asked us to leave whatever political party we belong to, atleast democrat and republican.

 

For a number of years I've been an independent, with an affinity for the libertarians. I think that philosophy is crucial to moving away from worshipping at the altar of party. Those who continue to hold out hope that the republican leadership (oxymoron) is going to magically revive itself, well, I have serious doubts that this can happen. There are a few good politicians left in that party, but none of whom are willing to risk their fortunes or their sacred honor. My hunch is it's party time! Third party or new party time. Or it's the unparty. Like the uncola. Maybe we need to join the American Party. The one that values 1776 over 1984. I think the gauntlet has been thrown down by Glenn Beck. Who among us is able to pick it up and run with it?

She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership: I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

 Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Glenn Beck's Common Sense Now available in book stores nationwide...

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why -- what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try -- please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

I love this woman! Copy and paste, send it everywhere, send it to congress! This could help begin the revolution we are waiting for!

As an independent conservative I try to ignore parties and give people a chance to be who they are. Which means I make an effort to get past ideology. What does that appointed or elected official actually do? Barack voters have to be asking themselves that same question. Their president has done a number of bold about faces in recent weeks. Many of them against the liberal wave of protest that got him to The White House in the first place. So when it comes to Judge Sotomoyer it's actually what conservatives feared (and expected) most in a supreme court nominee. Here's a true activist with real statements on file about her ability as a "latina" to handle certain cases with better judgement. A statement like this should be a red flag to any true defender of the constitution. And while I don't believe the statement is racist on it's own, it does imply some type of politically correct, modern, special interpretation of the law that would give Sonia Sotomoyer an edge in making decisions where hispanic people are in the mix.

The problem with all of this is it reeks of affirmative action. Both as an appointment and in future rulings by Sotomoyer. Obama was caught on tape in '02 spouting off on how the Warren court wasn't activist enough in their approach. This all dovetails with the notion of Rahm Emmanuel's "never let a good crisis go to waste" mantra. The reason the two are connected can be found in the idea of government bailouts and control, as well as "leveling the playing field" when making policy. But that's the whole problem; interpreting law and making policy are completely independent ventures. If you think it's your job as a Justice to strike down elements of the constitution that aren't palatable to your "group", then you're in the wrong profession.

Sonia Sotomoyer is now even on video taking activist positions. No matter how the President spins the initial remarks, it's clear that the judge already has an agenda in place. And last time I looked at the court, the better justices were the one's interpreting the law and not reading their own empathy or life experience into it. And as an independent thinker, one must be able to distinguish the judge's life experience with the way she'll rule from the bench. An inspiring story need not be an affront to honest questions about her writings and rulings. She is young enough to set policy for years to come. And setting policy is not what the court should be doing. We already have a congress that makes the laws. And the people who elect the body should be the one's revising or correcting "past mistakes".

Unless some incredibly convincing clarification comes to the surface, I would urge all of my brethren to oppose this nomination in the same manner Harriet Miers was taken down. I would say that Sotomoyer is a way more dangerous nominee since her educational background and experience certainly qualifies her for this nomination. Miers was kind of a blank slate and that alone deflated her prospects. Sotomoyer will be given all kinds of liberal kudos from activist congressional members who will be looking to balance the court with someone who is not a "strict constructionist". Elections have consequences and this is certainly one of them. My political gut tells me Sotomoyer will make it to the court amidst only mild opposition from a neutered republican party. A blood bath would make the repubs look like race baiters and "latina haters". And so it goes. Barack and Rahm have made some excellent political calculations. In the short term, it's a winner. As time goes by all of this could unravel and we could see another huge outcry to restore the republic to where it should be. For now there's little to stop the Chicago machine that now grips the nation's capitol.