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Conservatism

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GrokTALK!: What Happened to the Word “Conservatism”?

This week on GrokTALK! [Rewind] What happened to the word “conservatism”? The Neocons and RINOs wear it like a skin suit, muddying not just its meaning but how the world views people who claim to be conservative. What does it mean, what are its goals, and can we get there from here? Originally aired Jun … Read more

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GrokTALK!: Wrestling With “Conservatism”

This week, I take a few minutes to ask what happened to the word “conservatism.” The Neocons and RINOs wear it like a skin suit, muddying not just its meaning but how the world views people who claim to be conservative. What does it mean, what are its goals, and can we get there from … Read more

Conservatism - knowing what to keep

The New Conservatism?

If you are worried about where Conservatism is, or where it should be, read this. While I disagree with the intent of this complete call out of Libertarianism (I think he’s over the top on harshness even as some of his points hold water), it notes the need to re-arm, re-load, and re-lock onto base Principles instead of just the politics thereof.

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Conservatism Comes From Our Belief About Human Nature

Conservatism Comes From Our Belief About Human Nature


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Conservatism comes from our belief about human nature. Conservatism has been and continues to be extremely vilified by the media and academia. The participants in those occupations, media and academia, are generally speaking leftists. How much more leftist are they than conservative?

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Liberalism Turned Left…

By Marc Abear

American liberalism is being forced to radicalize. It has moved towards socialism and an increasingly post-modern form of leadership. Our youngest generation is openly embracing socialism. Identity politics with its faith in race, sex, and power as the keys to being and meaning is rising.

The #MeToo movement adopted the credo, “Believe the woman.” That is accepting truth will emerge from yielding to the will of the more politically correct “Her truth,” which is stronger than any objective truth. It rejects the adversarial process of objectively weighing evidence and testimony before the bar of reason. That is a pretty fundamental change from where America started; from where we were after the Civil War.

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Quick Thought: At least Landrigan gets our name right!

Kevin LandriganActually, two quick thoughts. Many people don’t get our name right – it shows that Kevin Landrigan is paying attention.  We thank him for not typing “Granite Grok”; there’s no space there that many put in. Just a bit of a nit, but it’s nice to see he cares about us!

State Rep. Steve Negron, R-Nashua, continues to steadily gain support among the very conservative base of the Republican Party for his 2nd Congressional District candidacy.

GraniteGrok, the conservative political blog, has chosen sides and went with Negron over former Manchester Veteran Affairs Medical Center whistleblower Dr. Stewart Levenson of Hopkinton and former Army officer and ex-Concord state representative Lynne Blackenbeker

“We not only unearthed every stone — we threw a few at him too! Did he answer ALL of our questions in a satisfactory manner? Honestly, no, but then again, very few politicians can. However, in the end, we believe that he earned our votes for an endorsement — we now ask you for your vote come September for Steve Negron,” GraniteGrok posted Tuesday.

The other quick thought: I wonder – where does that “very conservative base”

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Belknap County Conservative Republicans’ Family Fun Day – interview with Greg Moore

The last interview from the Belknap County Conservative Republicans’ Family Fun Day was with Greg Moore, the Executive Director of the New Hampshire chapter of Americans for Prosperity.  His mission as Exec. Dir., as always, is to reach out to all kinds of groups, current and new (as the BCCR group is) and let them know what AFP is all about and see if there is common ground on which the groups might be able to collaborate.

This is a three part interview (split for time, and at the end, for technical issues (er, bad cable yielding lots of static – and again, apologies to Colette Worseman and Susan Olsen for the time they spent with me graciously doing interviews which will never be heard).

Parts 2 &  3 after the jump:

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Belknap County Conservative Republicans’ Family Fun Day – interview with Don Walker

After doing GrokTALK! first thing in the morning in Concord, I headed up to Laconia to Funspot where the Belknap County Conservative Republicans were having their Family Fun Day – under the tent, free food, and opening up their arms to the public at large to talk about the Republican Party Platform, Constitutional values, and conservative values.  One example of their literature contained information on their mission, who they are, where they stand, and an answer to those that disagree that their group should even exist (full info after the jump).  While I was there, I took the opportunity to get a couple of interviews.  This first one with is long time conservative activist and co-founder of the group, Don Walker:

  

Technical note: normally I just use a shotgun mic on the camera but the ambient noise level was just too high for that configuration.  Instead, we were wearing headsets due to the noise level and then trying to pipe that into the camera via a soundboard – something I have seldomly done in the past.  Post-processing, it became clear that one of the cables used to do this went bad – I apologize to Susan Olsen and Colette Worseman as their interviews were too static-y to use, and I had to edit Greg Moore’s near the end as well.

You know, I can’t remember the last time that the “official” Belknap County Republican Committee had such an event – estimates were that between 125 – 175 people came over at some point during the day.

Our Mission:

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”no controlling legal authority”

Get Out Of Jail Free CardThat was the line Al Gore used back when he was campaigning against George W Bush back in 2000 in raising money at a Buddhist temple (where the monks has a vow of poverty).   As I used to hear in Sunday school, and then say myself – an object lesson!  By that, he just didn’t see any applicable law that applied to the situation – there was nothing there to stop him.  There was no gate, if breached, that would cause a negative consequence to him.  It was as if someone gave him a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card.

And that is the lesson.  As a Conservative, I believe in the phrase “self-governance”.  A two-fer: both meant that citizens should be able to govern themselves in a limited government – there is no monarchy or unaccountable entity to which to be responsible for regulations and laws set for them to merely obey.  We, the citizens, elect our representatives in the law-making process.  It is also is complementary to another phrase: self-responsibility.  Combine them and one will have a sense of morality that says “I need to do the right thing – regardless if there is a law about this or not”.  It is internal governance – that little guy that sits on your shoulder that says “you REALLY should think about NOT doing that” when you know you are wrong before you start.  Right from wrong becomes a personal responsibility – even when no one is looking.  Especially when no one else is there.

Being the Progressive that he is, Gore took advantage of the fact there there was not an “external governor” stuck in the ground in front of him that said “no, this is not right”.  No flag, no cop, no bars, no signs – nothing.  In the Progressive mindset, it seems that they depend on externalities to govern their behavior.  Seeing nothing?  Go ahead and do it!  And he did.  And then blamed the fact that there was no law there to stop him.  Effectively, Progressives outsource that internal governance to others who have made the laws they must follow.

Like Gore, it seems that AG Eric Holder and his partisan crew at the Federal Dept of Justice are now claiming “hey, if there had JUST been another law in place”:

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April 27th GrokTALK! Guest Segment – Republican Youth Activist David Hurst

This week on GrokTALK! the New Hampshire Young Republican’s (former chairman) and current vice-chairman, David Hurst, takes a few minutes to chat about conservatism, what is a young Republican, the challenges of promoting opportunity versus the lefts allure of handouts, learning self responsibility, and where NHYR is now and where it is headed. To download … Read more

Guest Post: former Speaker of the NH House, Bill O’Brien on the passing of Margaret Thatcher

Rep. William O’Brien’s Comments on the Passing of Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minster of Great Britain and the indispensable philosophical, political and international ally of Ronald Reagan, died this morning.

Lady Thatcher was a giant of conservative values and action.  Along with President Reagan, Margaret Thatcher inspired us with her thoughtful and unflinching advocacy of a dynamic, forward-looking conservatism.

In reaction to her death, Rep. William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) was quoted as saying, “Prime Minster Thatcher will be missed.  She was one of the foremost conservative leaders who have come forward in recent years and led change both in Britain and the United States.  Just as the liberal progressives of the Reagan/Thatcher era tried to diminish both of them with arguments that they had to soften their rhetoric and abandon important goals to get elected, so we hear the same claims today.  Thankfully, the Iron Lady and Ronald Reagan knew better that the importance of achieving critical public policy goals outweighed the politics of the moment and we remember both so fondly for their willingness to stand against the tide, let the personal invective wash over them, and make the world a better and freer place.”

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Guest Post by NH State Rep. Jane Cormier – Honor is the Only Way Out of This Mess!

Since becoming involved in Republican politics back after the 2006 elections where the Republicans first got mauled (for not understanding and standing up for what they used to say they were), I have said, over and over again, that elected Republicans needed to stay engaged with the local media outlets – write the guest columns, write the Letters to the Editor, and write the commentary.  Scared of their own shadows and whatever political beliefs they held, none of the Establishment Old Guard bothered to do so (with the possible exception of doing so RIGHT before the election – just like some politicians that come to the Belknap County Republican meeting one meeting before Nov. 6th and one meeting afterwards – with the latter being mostly optional).   Let’s not get Democrats riled up, eh?  How’d that work out fer ya?

It has been very refreshing that I see folks that I am dubbing the New Conservative Republicans willing to stand up and do such – NH State Rep. and Belknap County Convention Chair Colette Worseman, NH State Reps Bob Greemore and Herb Vadney and some others.  Finally, folks willing to answer back the Democrats instead of cowardly shivering in their shelters or retreating from the field of ideological battle (for make no mistake, the Democrats are even more ideologically based than many people with Rs after their names).  Now I also get to add freshman NH State Rep Jane Cormier to the mix with this guest post that is also appearing in the Weirs Times:

Honor is the Only Way Out of This Mess!  
(With a good dose of Conservatism, of course…)

Rep. Jane Cormier

As a newly elected member of the NH House of Representatives, (Belknap District 8 including the towns of Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton), I would like to introduce myself to you, the readers of the Weirs Times.  I have long loved this local newspaper for its honesty and integrity.  Each week, the Weirs Times offers a conservative platform which is reminiscent of former President Reagan and his definition of conservatism: “The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority and more individual freedom…”.  How true.  But, as a dedicated conservative, I also know personal honor is central in true conservatism.  Without honor and integrity, especially from those who serve us in political office, our republic is doomed to fail.  Honor is what makes us better as a nation and a people.  Together, conservatism and honor are an unbeatable team.  In my humble opinion, Republicans will start winning elections again when we embrace these two ideals.  But, that is a discussion for another day.

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And so it begins……….a thought

Cowering Woman

Remember, Progressives hate women defending themselves.  Why?  Well, Susan just posted another case of “what as bad when Republicans did it, but fine when Democrats do it” – their faux cries of “settled law” (here and here).  Here we see the regressive nature of Democrats in trying to reverse the Natural Right to defend yourself.  No longer will it be lawful to defend your home (“castle”) or yourself where ever you happen to be – even if you do not “consent” to give your Right to the State in this regard.

This case illustrates wonderfully, beautifully is the difference:

Conservatives:

You have the Natural Right (and responsibility) to defend yourself.  The State should not force you to outsource that to itself.  Remember, the lives of you and your family, loved ones, and friends might depend on it.  Gun Control: firm grip, get the correct sight picture, and keep the muzzle pointed at the evil ones.  Carry on.

Progressives:

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Notable Quote – Plus!: On Restraining the ‘Passions of Men’

Quintin Hogg - Author of The Case for Conservatism
Quintin Hogg

“For Conservative thinkers believe that man is corrupt, that his appetites need restraint, and that the forces of custom, authority, law, and government, as well as moral discipline, are required to keep sin in check.”

-Quintin Hogg

 

 

 

John Adams
John Adams

“Experience has ever shown, that education, as well as religion, aristocracy, as well as democracy and monarchy, are, singly, totally inadequate to the business of restraining the passions of men, of preserving a steady government, and protecting the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.”

-John Adams

 

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A Conservative Solution to The Public School Lunch Circular Firing Squad

Federal mandates made school lunches cost more and forced foods into them most kids don’t care for so the Derry School District Lunch program School lunches dont have to be expensive trach no one wantsis pondering why overall receipts are down.

“The food service numbers are significantly less on student sales,” Simard said. She said the food services department is still working to determine the cause and whether it is the result of new meal plans and food choices required under state and federal reimbursement guidelines.

She knows why she is just being diplomatic.  The Feds have made lunch cost more.  They have made the cost of providing lunch cost more.  They have simultaneously required foods that a majority of the target hot lunch customer base does not enjoy while making foods they do less accessible or unavailable.  The result is more cost for less benefit.

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