Skip

Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

EMail Doodlings – “You all owe me”

There are a few people with whom I converse with a lot – some agree with me all of the time, and some agree with me most (but not all) of the time.  This is from a gentleman that used to agree with me hardly at all (in the beginning) but now keeps seeing the actions rather than just passively listening to the words.    He complains (rightfully!) (emphasis mine):

Skip – twice in the last week I’ve heard comments about Social Security that made me realize how far apart our perceptions are.

The first was from an 82 yr old nurse, who bemoaned the fact she wasn’t part of a union and didn’t have a pension, and she was living off of SS and it just wasn’t enough.
Now I realize nurses aren’t treated the best, but I don’t understand why she feels we owe her a pension.  Yeah, she’s a democrat.

The 2nd is from a pastor who wants to convert the amt a congregation pays into his synod mandated pension, into cash so he can pay down his student loans.
Sounds reasonable, except when he was asked about cleaning out his pension and the penalties incurred, he was ambivalent and said not to worry – SS would be there for him.  And he didn’t want it counted as income – he just wanted the congregation to pay down  his loan directly (tax avoidance).  Ambivalent I understand – it wasn’t his money in the pension plan, and he wasn’t going without to plan for his retirement.  Typical pastoral attitude – he expects to be taken care of.  But just how smart is someone with a master’s degree and over $100K in loans, taking a career that pays $1K/wk?  His wife also has a master’s with over $100K in loans, and stays home with a newborn.Yeah, he’s a democrat.

I am under the (misguided?) impression that SS is there to keep old folks out of the food pantry lines, and volunteering at the food pantry instead, for as long as possible.
Never did I suspect it was intended as a retirement or pension plan.  My parents had a different take on money – 10% went to the church, 10% went to their parents, 10% went to savings, and the rest is what they lived off of.  And my parents weren’t Rockerfellers – my dad never made more than the “average” annual income. And yet my parents sent 4 kids to college.  hmmm

thx for letting me vent.

A socialist society is a selfish society – and as Government does more and more (notice that I did not say Society!), people expect and then demand more and more.  And in the Pastor example above, the worth of other peoples’ money and contributions become meaningless and of little worth because, well, it is EXPECTED.  Think of it this way – which is more appreciated?  Something that you know should be part of life, that has become “the norm”?  Or something that someone gives you out of the blue for little reason at all (and for the trifecta – something that you have actually had to go out and earn)?  My response:

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Email Doodlings – on the “Modern” Episcopal Church

Last month, Steve wrote a post on the NH Diocese of the Episcopal Church as it was time to replace retiring Bishop Gene Robinson (the first openly gay Bishop whose ordination pretty much set afire the whole of the Anglican Church).  At the time, the choices were another gay man, a divorced woman, and a heterosexual man.  The post he linked to assured everyone that even the latter was “a friend of the LGBT movement”.

One of our loyal readers decided to take us to task for putting up such a post:

Skip – I’m calling you to task.  This is inappropriate.  But mentioning whether someone upholds all ten commandments would be nice.

I share your frustration – I just think there’s a better way to express it.

OK, confustion time on my part (not a hard state of being for me to be in, somehow):

You can call me to task any time you want – but I point out that I didn’t write the post.  To be honest, I haven’t figured out the conjunction of  your “This is inappropriate.” and “I share your frustration” – they seem to be diametrically opposed.  I get the second sentence (altho an Evangelical Christian, I am saddened by Churches that purport to be Christian but their leadership stray from Biblical teachings.  That’s why, when I was a Deacon in my church, I helped make the decision that we would withdraw from the American Baptist Convention because it was moving away from Biblical teachings to a more “social gospel” that was more in line with pop culture (in our estimation)).

But please explain your first sentence of “inappropriate”.

There are churches whose theology seems to reflect the Political Correctness of the Day.  Instead of using Biblical principles and interpret current events and issues through that lens of absolute standards, they twist those two things around and use that shifting sand of pop culture instead – after all, we can’t be hurting anyones’ feeling for telling them “er, that’s wrong”.  EVERYthing has become a target of the “non-judgmentalism movement”.  Problem is, then, what is right and what is wrong becomes entirely relative.  Is that anyway to deliver a Gospel message, when anything is permissible?

Skip – I mis-spoke – I meant that I wish to take GraniteGrok to task.  [It] seems inappropriate to mention someone’s sexual deviance…
Take the highroad and mention what they could have been measured against, or what they were measured by,  not what the media wishes to distract with.

Well, I was floored by this answer from this normally soberly outlooked friend.  In essence: “let’s not “see” the wrong in those that purport to be our spiritual Leaders and that are supposed to be the examples for their flocks; just see them as they are.  And besides, we can blame the media for this anyways.”  I am not a Calvinist in that I do not believe that everything in our lives is pre-ordained; we, given that we are created in the image of God, have Free Will – we can and do decide our own behaviors (all Progressive philosophy aside that holds that evil corporations and the dreaded 1% manipulate us all to make the decisions they want us to).

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Sometimes, a post needs to go up….and up….and up again. And then remind some that we didn’t think that they didn’t need them….at first.

From Steve’s post:

“They wont all need the Repair kit….but a few of them probably do…and we all know who they are.“

His minimalist Republican Repair kit really is all that is needed.  Really.  Two items.  The only thing I would add would be a STRONG Conservative outlook, demeanor, and action.  Oh yeah, one more thing that seems to be sorely lacking lately: Courage.  People will be willing to go to the mat for that person that embodies all that.  But that person, that singular personality, has to stand strong, stand up for the Right Principles, and when it counts, has made the decision to not compromise.  The example that lately comes to mind is WI Gov. Scott Walker – standing firm on Conservative principles, not backing down, and fighting the good fight.

This past Friday nite at the Future of Journalism weekend event was the first annual Brietbart Awards in honor of Andrew Breitbart who changed the outlook of the Right Blogosphere and was one of the most influential folks that helped to upset the balance between the MSM and the New Media.  He showed that simply showing up, and standing up, can change the direction of the political battles in which we find ourselves.  The first annual Award winners were:

Of course at such an awards night, there are others that are doing the introducing of the winners and such.  In each case, those that did were those that knew Andrew well or had touched their lives in a given way.  Dana Loesch, reporter for Breitbart and conservative radio talk host was one of the speakers and  made an impassioned, emotional speech (and yes, I have asked Erik Telford, VP at Franklin Center (along with the Heritage Foundaton, the hosts for the event) to see if there is video of it).  In it, she had two lines that meshed with the overall theme of the night, in which was that we are not just in a war of ideas, but in a Cold Civil War for the future of America just as real, just as deadly, and will have as much impact on our future that the actual Civil War had going forward.

  • You cannot win by running away
  • We cannot leave any warriors on the battlefield

Practical reasoning – practical advice. The following is not what Dana said, but what struck home as she uttered these principles.

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Blogosphere Line of The Day – Diversity on the Left isn’t that diverse

From the end of a post at The Corner: I hate to bring up other “mid-century notions” but intellectual diversity on the left is increasingly indistinguishable from Tupperware night with the Stepford Wives. I love a good turn of phrase! All those same plastic dishes, in such pretty colors – but just the same thing … Read more

That WMUR mention last night? Enthusiasm Drop-down?

“I can tell you that there is an enthusiasm drop-down compared to last time around.  Now, what will happen as we get close to the race, who knows?”

In trying to get caught back up from the weekend in Providence, I failed to see this email when it first came in (reformatted here):

Skip —

Was hoping to run into you at tonight’s Guinta kick-off.  Just looking for some perspective on the Congressman from the GOP/Liberty side of things.  If you can give me a call tonight for a phone interview before 10pm, I’d greatly appreciate it.  Sorry for the short notice!  I’m at XXX-XXXX.  Thanks!

Adam Sexton
Reporter, WMUR-TV

To be honest, I knew that Frank’s office was opening, but given that I was away the entire weekend, I just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to let TMEW know: “Oh, btw, I’ll be in Manchester tonite”.  There’s times when a man has to know his [wife’s] limits, but more realistically, it was that enthusiasm gap – I just could not pump myself up to overcome the inertia to just stay home.  Adam has proven himself to me to be a fair reporter so I called him up and chatted for a little while and then he recorded a couple of sound bites.  Yes, the one that went over air was indicative of my current outlook.  A lot of TEA Party type folks got behind him in the last cycle – and so did GraniteGrok.  Expectations were high when he took office – me, the other Groksters, and a lot of those Liberty and Freedom activists that worked their butts off to the point that Frank beat Carol Shea-Porter in her hometown.

We activists promised that even if he voted “wrong” according to the Dems and the Republican Leadership, we’d have his back.  Promised.

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Data Point – 400 vs the bottom 50%

Interesting – in 2009: So, the bottom 50% earn over a Trillion, pays $19.5 Billion in income tax The top 400 earners (just 400), earn $81 Billion, pays $16.1 Billion in income tax. Effective rate for 400: 19.8% Effective rate for bottom 50%: 2% So, who is paying their Fair Share? ****** Interesting – from … Read more

WMUR Closeup for 6/10/2012: in which NH Rep David Hess decides to widen the chasm in the Republican Party by insulting it on TV

Unbelievable – do the Establishment Republicans feel THAT secure that Hess can openly insult NH Seth Cohn on TV – and all those that ascribe to many of the same stances?  I am sorely wishing to violate my own standards to use a four letter Yiddish word that ends in “z” – but I shan’t (cute way not to violate my “adult themes, kid friendly rule; maybe I should have Seth explain it to him).

One of the big problems within the NH GOP is this divide: why be a Republican when you won’t speak, act, or vote like one?  Given that the TEA Party / 9-12ers / Libertarian part of the Party gave new spirit in the last election and a new attitude, why are you going to take them publicly to task?  Do you REALLY think that you can “muscle” votes out of these folks just on your whim?  Are you nuts?  Or do you have so little sense of the movement that you have forgotten that the TEA Party started out hating the Republicans first because they thought you all knew better than what you showed?

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Dispatch from Future of Journalism Summit / NetRoots Nation foray – Obligatory rag-tag Occupy Providence post.

OK, OK, I know – from the postings thus far, it may seem that I went down for one event but spent my time over at the other: NetRoots Nation.  Non, mon freres!  Frankly, given the drubbing that the Democrats, theLeft, the Unions, and the rest of the associated fellow travelers, that yearly collection of collectivists was a dim bulb affair. Not so much that I am CALLING them dim bulbs (heh!) but that the overall “vibe” of the place (Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI) was not exactly joyous and effervescent. Sure, smiles could be seen (like when friends see friends after a space of time).  But dismal is a good word.  Downer is a better word.

Denial, in what happened and WHY, is probably the best descriptor of the overall mood (where as, Delight could be used for the attendees of the Franklin Center / Heritage Foundation event – but more on that actual set of activities later).

Back to adjectives: Dense.  Yeah, outside the RI Convention Center, across the street, was the most dejected bunch of dingleberries I’d seen in a long time; how the Occupy Wall Street movement has fallen.  Frankly, there is little difference from these folks and the typical Skid Row inhabitants.  And in their rally, it showed.

We had just finished with another activity (heh! In a later post!) when all of a sudden, we heard a lot of yelling, so the group of us quickly went to the front atrium.  Problem: by the time that we arrived, security had already removed them.  However, one of Jim Hoft’s (The Gateway Pundit) folks caught the “mic check” session of the OWS folks pleading with the rest of the NetRoots to come and join them in a march (“hey, we’re the 99% – and so are you!  You are us, and us is you” supplication):

Well, by that time, I got there, spun up the camera, and taped for a while (after the jump).  Two observations:

  • OWS has turned out to be nothing than the “storm troopers of the moment” for the Left.  Like Cindy Sheehan who protested President Bush, especially at his ranch in Texas), once their purpose was done, so was the Left with them.  Sadly, it seems like the OWS folks haven’t figured out that they’ve become mostly tools that have been left by the side of the sidewalk as the only folks that heeded the call of OWS Providence were folks like me with a camera.  I should have gone and spent my time elsewhere.
  • The last scene’s commentary seems appropriate for the entire movement.

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Dispatch from Future of Journalism Summit / NetRoots Nation foray – Van Jones Book Signing Part 2

Well, of COURSE I bought the book as well.  Why not?  Now, some might say “Hey, you’re funding the enemy!”  Yeah, a few shekels will make it into Van Jones’s wallet.  But I also read Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals for TWO specific reasons:

  • Sun-Tze: know your enemy
  • I almost got Alinsky’d before I knew what it was (Hey, Zandra Rice-Hawkins -> #FAIL)

I have no intention of allowing myself to get “Jones’d” in the future; as my high school Principal said over and over and over (again) over the loudspeaker for the morning greeting: forewarned is forearmed (and in politics, that last word has multiple definitions).  He’s a major player in this engagement  between philosophies – and make NO mistake, we have been in a philosophical war here in the US for quite some time. His is an ideology, shared by much of the White House denizens and President Obam.  It is one that is an outlook that is more communism than individualistic, more Marx than Founding Fathers. In fact, I think it could be safe to say, as was discussed a lot at the Future of Journalism Summit dinners, workshops, and informal gatherings, that this struggle we are in IS a Cold Civil War.  Just was with the war with Communism (which, being between nation-states, did have a few “hot” proxy wars – more on this later.

In the mean time, here’s video of me getting the book signed:

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Dispatch from Future of Journalism Summit / NetRoots Nation foray – Van Jones Book Signing Part 1 – Update

When I put up the video of Dana Loesch and Jim Hoft, I totally forgot about a real important point until I went back to GatewayPundit to check on something (emphasis mine):

It seems like it was just yesterday that I broke the news here on Gateway Pundit that Van Jones signed 9-11 Truther documents blaming Bush for 9-11. This revelation forced Obama’s Green Czar to resign from his position in the Obama White House two days later. They talked about Van’s departure on FOX News at the time.

So it was a real pleasure to finally meet commie Van Jones.

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A shout out to our ‘Grok friend, Chan and WeekendPundit

As you have seen the last couple of days, I’ve been out of town the last couple of days – so I missed this announcement from a blogger that was one of the first to send us some link love:

Weekend Pundit

Has It Really Been Ten Years?

I can’t believe it’s been ten years since Weekend Pundit was started by my dear brother. The third post to this blog was mine and I’ve been doing it ever since. There have been thousands of posts though a goodly number disappeared into the Big Bit Bucket when our second host, Blogmosis, went up in smoke, leaving us to fall back on Blogger and later on to our own site. Despite the loss, I still have all of my original posts here at The Manse on the Official Weekend Pundit Main Computer as well as on a number of backup disks stashed away in secure locations.

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Internet Doodlings – Another taste of Enviros using “We know what is best for you” to mask totalitarianism

Heh!  But again, not so heh!  We laugh, but they mean it.  Over at TreeHugger (they have become such a source of sport!), they were discussing the righteousness of NYC-Nanny-Chieftain Mayor Bloomberg’s (whose own dietary predilections do not match his public policy for the rest of his “citizens”) declaration that he would solve the obesity problem of his haunts be making certain sizes of soda sold by NYC establishments off limits.  In a post entitled “More than Reasonable:

Last week, New York City showed the nation once again what it means to be on the cutting edge of public health policy. The city announced a bold plan to limit the size of sugary beverages sold at restaurants and other food establishments. Predictably, much of the media went crazy, and numerous outlets have already proclaimed that this time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just gone too far. Banning trans fats was fine, but don’t take away my right to guzzle a gallon of Coke is the lazy reaction of some pundits.

But let’s take a more rational look at what New York is proposing. From both a policy-making and political strategy standpoint, it makes perfect sense. No one is banning anything or restricting anyone’s freedoms. The city is simply placing a reasonable limit on how much soda (or other sugary beverage) can be served in a single container.

Cutting edge?  Bloomberg already went after salt (which he himself uses with wild abandon in a “fine for me but not for thee fashion”). Now, there is a study out that says cutting salt intake to such a level promulgated by the Feds could actually be dangerous.  There also is no definitive study on soda usage either.

The post also tried to slyly slip in what Goverment is doing is just what private business has done with serving sizes in the past (thus, trying to rationalize Bloomy’s actions):

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BE BREITBART – Heritage, Franklin to host Breitbart Awards

Politico (reformatted here, emphasis mine): The Heritage Foundation and Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity will host an awards dinner this Friday in honor of Andrew Breitbart, the conservative firebrand who passed away earlier this year.  The first annual Breibart Awards dinner, which will take place in Providence, R.I., is part of the two … Read more

“Act of Valor” – Real heroes.

I am not a movie person – TMEW is, but not me.  But given what I read about Act of Valor, I was convinced that I wanted to see it.  Having missed it in the local theaters, I bought it.  Watching it right now.  It shows that the folks in the action scenes are real … Read more

Dispatch from Future of Journalism Summit – NetRoots Nation foray – Brietbart’s Dana Loesch “WI: How are the grassroots going to cope now?”

Am at the Future of Journalism Summit in Providence, RI that is being sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the Franklin Center (full disclosure – they are picking up my hotel charges).  Since I arrived early, I had the chance to invite myself to a group of Conservative bloggers that were head over to the Providence Conference Center to visit the NetRoots Nation gathering to do a bit of video reporting.  Actually, all I did was tail them with a camera in case something “happened” (er, nothing much – no confrontations).

This video is from a NetRoots Nation panel and Breitbart.com’s Dana Loesch had the chance to ask a question at the end of the panel’s talks:

“With rapidly decreasing Public Employee Union membership & 36% of union households voting to retain Scott Walker as WI Governor, what is the Union Leadership & grassroots response and how will they cope going forward?”

I lent my FlipCam to another Conservative blogger and she took another video of Dana’s question (after the jump, slightly better audio):

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Dispatch from Future of Journalism Summit – NetRoots Nation foray – GatewayPundit Jim Hoft “How will the dropping enthusiasm from WI affect the Nov. election?”

At the same time that Dana Loesch was asking her question, Samsphere blogger buddy Jim Hoft (Gateway Pundit)  also got in line “within the belly of the beast” to ask his question.  Abbreviated, I’m sure, as the panel’s time slot was already overlong.  His question: “The high enthusiasm level at the start of the recall … Read more

Occuppy Wall Street – if you’ve lost Harvard….

Frankly, Occupy Wall Street has pretty much left Occupy Wall Street (with, perhaps, the lone exceptions being San Francisco and Oakland as the only sites still making national news once in a while).  This did catch my eye – as there was an abortive attempt at Hahvahd University to have an Occupy outpost there as … Read more

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