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.
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. ”
– Ben Franklin, Constitutional Congress
"No controlling legal authority."
– Al Gore, 1996 Presidential campaign
The country is all a Twitter by Uber-Progressive Congressman Weiner (D-NY) acting as a sales dude for "tidy whities" and working out at the gym all the time – but for someone other than his new bride. I’m not going to post the pic – our main blogging rule is "Adult themes but kid friendly", and in this, I have no intention of putting up one that would cause a "Hey Mom, what is this?" moment.
Rather, I’d rather (as you can tell from the top quotes) bring up the idea of the differences (again) between a society that is made up of people with internal governors (self-responsible and self-governing) and one that has to have external governors (laws and regulations) surrounding its people. In essence, either we can literally control ourselves ("virtuous") by internal rules (our hearts, our minds, our moral compasses) or we are forced to be controlled by external rules (decrees from others). Which camp do you think Anthony Weiner falls into? More importantly, which camp do you think our country is falling into?
I briefly talked about internal vs external governors (a la Weiner) here. However, we do have to wonder what games are being played with examples like this: Language granting HHS that power was never in the original law. Instead, through new rules and regulations, HHS gave itself the power last summer using a broad interpretation … Read more
Dennis Prager unleashes a corker on the Dems – even as they look down their noses with their faux protectionalism towards blacks: …It is, however, effective. Calling Republicans racist has worked for half a century and will not be abandoned until it is universally recognized as the libel that it is. What we have in … Read more
One of the administration’s programs helps distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure by providingpermanent loan modifications.
Yeah, this is going to work out well. Doesn’t the Administration remember Rick Santelli’s rant on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade where he and the traders railed against the idea that they (and us) should be responsible for paying other peoples’ mortgages? The TEA Party movement it helped to spawn has become the biggest political movement in recent history – and no friend of the ever-expanding-government policies of Obama!
Another program, now ramping up, gives states that have been the hardest hit by falling home prices funding to help reduce the principal of a borrower’s loan, among other things.
Heck, why can’t *I* get my principal reduced? After all, I’m current on my loan – why should I be discriminated against? I’ve played by the rules – not buying more house than I could afford (in fact, bought far less), haven’t remortgaged a whole bunch of times, and blown the cash on toys and vacations, or redone the house well above my pay grade. Heck, who WOULDN’T want to chop off 10%, 20%, or even more from their mortgage? Hey, MY house has fallen in market price too (and selling is about 196 days in my town to boot!).
"I think those will make a big difference in terms of the problems of unemployed homeowners and falling house prices," said Massad. But he added the process was tricky.
"There are issues of how you do it, making sure it’s fair, making sure you don’t create the wrong incentives," Massad said.
Fair? Are you kidding? NOTHING about taking taxpayer monies and just giving it…
One way to summarize the kind of change we need. During the farm era the focus of American domestic policy was to create the most favorable possible environment for millions of ordinary Americans to launch flourishing small businesses. Rather that focusing on home ownership, American social policy should probably be looking at small business formation … Read more
(H/T: ClusterStock) A "normalized" version of the above, from Powerline, that better shows the recessions compared to each other (albeit from March). Obama’s recession IS number one!
Friday nite, GraniteGrok went on board the M/S Mt. Washington that plies the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee as it was the night of the annual Belknap County Republican "First in the Nation" Cruise. The boat was packed with political junkies, operatives, elected officials, and of course, a number of Presidential candidates on the Republican side … Read more
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – HUNDREDS GATHER AT GREELEY PARK FOR “CONSERVATIVE FUTURE” STRAW POLL; SANTORUM WINS Nashua, NH, June 5, 2011 – Today, hundreds of conservative activists attended a barbecue and Straw Poll hosted by The New Hampshire Conservative Future PAC. New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, NHGOP Chairman Jack Kimball and conservative activists Robert Jursik, … Read more
I’ve already made the ‘Grok’s disdain for the mainstream / old media following the Obama Administration’s rule for picking winners and losers here. I dryly note from the results of the NH Conservative Future PAC: 5. Gary Johnson – 10.2% Fifth. Out of ten. From WMUR is this list that they, the Union Leader and … Read more
The last speaker Friday nite on board the M/S Mt. Washington for the Belknap County Republican "First in the Nation" Cruise was former Louisiana Governor (and Congressman) Buddy Roemer: I "accidently" had the chance to do an ad hoc interview with the former Governor – the accident, as it were was that when I came … Read more
And the last of the videos from Friday nite! See: (photo credit: Gail Ober, Laconia Daily Sun, p 10) I wasn’t kidding! That is Wolfeboro behind me (I’m the one with trusty FlipCam – sorry to see that Cisco has decided to kill the line, especially with this news … Read more
Glen Reynolds of Instapundit on Weinergate, and more importantly, commenting on those (er, Progressives of any political party) who believe that everybody should live they way they say (just not necessarily the way they actually live their own): I think there’s an important point in the comic value: The people who think they’re smart enough, … Read more
As I mentioned on Facebook last night after coming home from the Belknap County Republican Committee’s annual M/S Mt. Washington cruise: #WMUR #FAIL learned tonight on the Belknap County Republican annual Mt. Washington cruise that they are excluding Gov. Gary Johnson. The ‘Grok may not agree with the Gov. on all the issues, but … Read more
Last nite, GraniteGrok went on board the M/S Mt. Washington that plies the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee as it was the night of the annual Belknap County Republican "First in the Nation" Cruise. The boat was packed with political junkies, operatives, elected officials, and of course, a number of Presidential candidates on the Republican side … Read more
Continuing with the videos from last nite on the Mt. Washington, this video is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson making his pitch to the crowd of activists: Talk Q & … Read more
Well, that was quick! Maggie responded via a comment here: Skip – thanks for picking up on this…it’s much appreciated! I wanted to follow up on your question, "could we find a group of people equal to the task?" Unfortunately, if such a group were to be created, there would be maneuvering and posturing and … Read more
There is no time in human history in which the ordinary man, the ordinary man, had as great an improvement in his lot in life as in the nineteenth century in the United States when the government was of trivial importance. – Milton Friedman, Path to Socialism
More and more in the general culture, parents are becoming less and less involved in their children’s education – or so it seems or so we are led to believe. So therefore, we are to leave GovernmentLegislationthe Media Education to "the professionals". Nonsense – more and more I keep understanding why we need to keep the attitude of "hey, you work for us!" and not the other way around or to allow them to lead us by the nose. More and more, we are expected to take what they say as gospel and just allow them to do what we believe to be the right thing. However, it seems to be the case that every time I go to yet another site, there is another story of how our Educational system is not educating, but it is subverting the nation’s traditional value system. This line from Ann Marie’s post nailed it:
The outcome may require a student to alter their value system.
Anti-Patriotic:
A most blatant example is that the Pledge of Allegiance is seen as being offensive (to someone) and should not be said by students:
So they went to the school, PS29, to change that. After spirited meetings with parents, teachers, and an “educational unit for kids,” the principal agreed to have the Pledge broadcast over the school’s loud speaker “for the first time in years.”
But here‘s what’s interesting. In New York, reciting the Pledge daily in schools is the law. The principal, then, isn’t doing anything revolutionary — she‘s just complying with what’s been mandated since just after 9/11.
Others, however, aren’t. The Daily News called 10 New York-area schools asking if they recite the Pledge regularly. Only half do.
"Only half do." At the risk of being labeled jingoistic, I found the idea that not saying the Pledge is absolutely amazing (on the idea of befuddling): "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of American, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". Foundational issues, foundational philosophy. Is it that much to ask that citizens support the country we live in? Is that YOUR value?
Extra: Red Skeltonhas a great take on the Pledge that is a must read.
Anti-capitalistic and Pro-Marxist:
There is no way that Marxism and socialism is congruent with the Founders’ vision. Yet, more and more, the liberal socialism that is in the Ivory Towers of colleges and universities, pushed by the Boomer hippie generation, is migrating do the high, middle, and elementary school levels. How many of you parents understand that Johnny and Janie’s teachers hate the system that 1) pays YOUR salaries and 2) uses your taxpayer dollars to teach your children that hatred? Is that your value system? Did our veterans fight and give their all fighting totalitarian countries just so that we would end up being one anyways? What is it that your teachers are teaching your children – do you REALLY know or are you assuming?
“High school is too late” to educate students about unions and workers, says Shuler, the daughter of union parents in Oregon who joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as an activist and organizer after college. “We need to get into the elementary schools.”
From