A senior Washington Post congressional reporter found it “interesting” that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told him that he answers to his constituents and the grassroots instead of the leaders in the Republican leadership who make up the permanent political class.

On Tuesday, Paul Kane said that in an interview in August, Cruz told him that every day in the Senate he tries to remember “to whom I am accountable; and it is not elected officials in Washington.” He also said, “with all respect,” it is not the mainstream media either.

“The people to whom I believe I am accountable are the men and women in Texas… who knocked on doors, who made phone calls, who stood up and said ‘Please, help turn this country around,'” Cruz, who is leading the defunding Obamacare efforts, told him.

And as it should be.  Too often, we see the Humble Folk make promises, say the right things, and generally seem to be truthful when talking to:

• Supporters that inhale and internalize what they are saying – they want to believe “maybe this time” (as in “won’t change”).

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This is one of those few times that I will reprint an entire post.  Yet, I am hearing similar things more and more: “why should I fight and support a Party that more and more is Democrat-like versus Freedom and Constitution loving?  Why should my time, my valuable time, be spent defending a Platform that is always ignored when times get hard to defend (or the converse – easy to walk away from when convenient).  Breeanne Howe does a good job (emphasis mine):

Dear GOP,

I’m breaking up with you. It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. We’ve had our ups and downs. The Tea Party years were tough enough, but I truly thought we could make it when we elected (who we thought were) more principled leaders to replace at least some of the old guard. Unfortunately, the old guard and their old ways just won’t go away and you seem to be more in tune with them.

Hear it often – heck, I hear myself saying it.  Principles over Party, for we look at what “Party – what Principles?” has wrought for this country in conjunction with the Democrats – a government that isn’t trusted to do the right thing, a government that doesn’t listen, a government that lies, a government that “looks down” on the Common Folk, elected officials that put themselves first versus why they were sent to their offices in the first place…

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Let me be clear.  I think it is awesome that this kid wants to break a record and increase ‘awareness” and I think we need more of these adventurous sorts in every age group, but will he be increasing awareness of his preconceived notions about the climate or educating us on how what he sees contradicts what he has been told he should believe?

Liautaud will venture out on Nov. 23 on a 40-day expedition. His goal is to bring attention to climate change, an issue he has been passionate about since a young age. Liautaud talked about his past arctic ventures and upcoming expedition alongside the founder of the Climate Reality Project, former Vice President Al Gore, Monday atSocial Good Summit.

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Banned book week began Sunday, September 22nd, and runs until Saturday the 28th.  They even have their own web site.  http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

I’m always a bit cautious when people start tossing the censorship thing around and the “banning books” crusade is as likely as any to declare the refusal of a group (school, library, whatever) to include a book in its collection or curriculum, or to exclude one, as “banning” or “censorship.” The actual word for this is choice.  People, parents, societies, cultures, school districts, towns and states, even individuals all exercise choices about material or activities deemed appropriate.  Their exclusion is not censorship unless it is statutory and total.

A store that sells travel books has not banned all other books unrelated to travel.  It has simply chosen not to make them available.  And neither schools nor libraries are required to carry every piece of rubbish simply because someone has put it between a front and back cover and named it a book.

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And make no mistake, to Progressives, politics IS a religion!  This is the post that I read from while we were yakking with Bill O’Brien during GrokTALK! (update: here too!) this past Saturday that outlines some of the VAST differences in outlook between Conservatives that are confident in themselves and in their fellow citizens and in Progressives that believe totally in Government and that it must be placed first – to the point that NOTHING should ever be detracted from it.  Tower of Babel, anyone?  A self-constructed idol, anyone?  Republicans are UNBELIEVERS and must be held to account for any attempt in diminishing the reach, the cost, and the power of their all-giving (hmm, they keep forgetting about “all-taking”) Government.  In setting the stage (emphasis mine):

CHAPEL HILL – Abortion safety laws make it “more dangerous for the black woman’s body.” Republican lawmakers “want kids to die.” Conservatives “are trying to take the U.S. hostage” and hope to “destroy our public school system.”

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The Democrat “conversation” about gun violence is dangerous.  It is dangerous because in its obsessive tunnel-vision group-think it purposefully ignores all acts of violence and their escalation in the absence of armed, law abiding citizens.

From NPR

There are fewer than 13 million firearms in circulation in Russia, compared with an estimated 300 million in the United States. That works out to about 9 guns per 100 people in Russia and closed to 100 guns per 100 people in America.

The most recent for Russia show that there were 21,603 killings in 2009.

According to the FBI, the United States had 13,636 homicides in 2009 with a population that is more than twice as large. More than 80 percent of those killings were gun-related.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison of gun homicides in the two countries because Russia doesn’t break down its murder statistics.

Three observations.

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