The Winning Formula: Palin-McCain ’08!

Just to be clear, I was pulling for Mitt Romney.

The McCain camp has made a fabulous choice in Gov. Sarah Palin as the VP pick. (And it's 'Palin' like 'whalin''…like hunting whales. I know, gross, but the best Alaska analogy I could come up with.)

The only way this could be any better would be if the RNC were to completely ignore the will of the people and make McCain-Palin into Palin-McCain. Okay, I'm being a little sarcastic. But only a little.

Of course, the Dems, the MSM and their mindless minions are furious and disappointed. Their comments toward Palin (aside from the asinine lies, like that her Downs son Trig isn't really her son…yeah, I know) can pretty much fall into two basic groups: "She's too inexperienced" and "She's an unknown."

Both of these are pretty easy to shoot down, if one is willing to analyze the data in an objective way.

To say she is inexperienced betrays a flawed concept of what "experience" is. She's "too inexperienced" because she hasn't served 100 years in the Senate like Biden or McCain?

She is the ONLY person anywhere near the Presidency right now who has served in the executive branch of government, rather than the legislative. This is far more significant than even Conservative pundits are acknowledging. Having a legislator jump from a legislative position to an executive position automatically inserts a learning curve the candidate would face between the two branches of government.

A Governor is merely a President on a microcosmic level.

Legislators (Senators) have never had to actually balance a budget. A governor has.

Legislators have never had to function as the Commander in Chief of a military. A governor has (State National Guard, FYI).

A Legislator doesn't have veto power (don't they wish). Legislators cast votes, but they don't sign bills into law.

Legislators have very limited realms of responsibility compared to governors. They sit on committees and pontificate in the legislature. They don't have to sit behind a desk with the knowledge they may one day have to push the button.

And what has Palin done with her time in office?

She decimated Alaska's budget by over $200 billion dollars.

She has stopped, canceled or repealed many wasteful projects through the state, saving Alaska millions.

She lived up to every one of her campaign promises, including that of reducing her own salary.

She was a major player in stopping the Bridge to Nowhere pork-barrel project (along with our own Sen. Tom Coburn).

She is fiercely Christian and pro-life (both proved by her accepting her teenaged daughter's pregnancy and choice to keep her child rather than abort it), pro-Second Amendment, and has already started America toward energy independence by getting Alaska to build a pipeline to America's oil reserves, all while raising a family, including her oldest son Track, about to be deployed to Iraq.

Of course, when the extremely biased members of the MSM (I'm talking to YOU, Bill O'Reilly) hear these facts – not opinions, facts – they dismiss them by saying, "Well, but she's an unknown."

That happened to me recently. After trying to outline Palin's accomplishments (and getting cut-off before I was able to finish my first sentence), the person I was talking to gave me a "talk to the hand" gesture and said, "You're just trying to justify her as a choice because you're a Republican. I'm a Republican, too, but I'm not going to try and make the best of this when no one knows who she is."

Translation: "She doesn't work because I've never heard of her." The bottom line in this argument is arrogance. That makes you feel special, doesn't it? If YOU haven't heard of this woman, then obviously she can't be any good.

Of course, following that same line of thought, that must mean Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman would have been a better choice, eh? Hey, don't let the facts get in the way of my opinion!

No objective Conservative can be disappointed by the choice of Sarah Palin, unless it's that she's up for veep rather than actual President.

Help us, Sarah Palin. You're our only hope.

Open Letter to Joe Lester

Dear Joe Lester,

I am writing to tell you I will not be voting for you. I will be recommending to any Cleveland County voter I encounter that they do not, either. Please let me explain why.

Early in the primary race, I met you and heard you speak at the Frontier Country Republican Women’s meeting. During your speech, you mentioned that your most recent “law enforcement” experience was that of 12 years of involvement in Campus Security at the University of Oklahoma.

Being the only female at the meeting having attended college within the last decade, that piece of information was deeply troubling to me. As a recent college graduate, I know first-hand that the term “Campus Security” is an oxymoron. As omniscient as campus security officers are about parking violations, never once in either of the campuses I attended was a campus security officer personally involved in protecting a student, though students’ cars were broken into, students were held up on campus, and there was even a girl randomly and brutally attacked in her dorm, which Security didn’t respond to for hours.

This is why I am a strong advocate of Students’ Right to Carry. Aside from the fact it is clearly a Constitutional right, without it, students like me – unarmed female college students - are what’s known as “prey” on college campuses. Even at OU, unless she is lucky enough to be assaulted while already using a callbox, a female student’s chances of walking away from an encounter unscathed are basically nil. So, I’m sorry, but no one who has ever been involved in “Campus Security” has any business being anywhere near real-life law enforcement.

Secondly, you made a point of emphasizing that you were being supported and endorsed by David Boren. That’s right – that David Boren. Oklahoma’s most liberal Governor in the last 30 years, maybe more. Now, I realize you have no control over who donates to your campaign or makes a statement of support. And I also realize that you have a good personal relationship with David Boren through OU. But the fact that you would stand in the middle of a room of Conservative Republicans and proudly state that he is behind you concerns me. This gives me cause to doubt your own stated Conservative principles.

Both of these reasons are why I did not vote for you in the primaries. And honestly, that would have been enough to turn me away at the run-off vote. But, you’ve made the decision even easier with your recent campaign behavior.

Back several years ago, Mark Hamm was involved in a car accident. He was cited at fault, and received a ticket. His insurance company was supposed to pay off the ticket prior to the date he was to appear in court. The insurance company did not act in time, but did not notify Hamm of their lapse. Therefore, he was not aware he still needed to appear in court. Years later, someone noticed the ticket hadn’t been paid and issued a warrant. Once notified, Hamm paid the ticket.

But is that how you represent the story, Joe? No, it isn’t. I know, because I have gotten your mailer regarding it. And just the other night, I received a phone call from a supposedly “bipartisan” polling place trying to retell your distorted version of this story, implying that Mark Hamm had been issued a warrant for a deliberate, recent conflict with the law. This is false.

As a candidate running against another Republican, negative campaigning is unacceptable. Ronald Reagan told us to never speak evil against another Republican. After the particularly nasty primary races that I and many other Cleveland County Republicans were involved in that involved similar gross smear attempts, mailers and phone calls of this nature leave a particularly bad taste in my mouth and in the mouths of many other voters.

Joe, as a Christian who emphasizes his missions background, openly engaging in smear campaigning by deliberately misrepresenting another Christian’s background to other Christian voters is not only damaging to the Republican party but to the Body of Christ. I realize now, after the primary races, that not all Christians take that seriously. But I do. And many others do. And you should.

Now, I realize that I’m not a very important person, and my opinion doesn’t matter any more than any other person’s opinion. But I am a voter. And I will not be voting for you tomorrow.

Today is the day!!

It's July 29th!! Time to vote!! Remember to vote for: Mike Reynolds, HD 91 Steve Russell, SD 45 Kerrie Hudson, Cleveland County Carolyn Caudill, Oklahoma County Jim Inhoffe, US Senate Today is the day, people. Go forth!!

Vote Kerrie Hudson July 29th!!!

What Bush and Batman Have in Common

by ANDREW KLAVAN

July 25, 2008; Page A15

A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .

Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W."

Warner Bros. Pictures

There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.

And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.

"The Dark Knight," then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year's "300," "The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans.

Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror -- films like "In The Valley of Elah," "Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.

Why is it then that left-wingers feel free to make their films direct and realistic, whereas Hollywood conservatives have to put on a mask in order to speak what they know to be the truth? Why is it, indeed, that the conservative values that power our defense -- values like morality, faith, self-sacrifice and the nobility of fighting for the right -- only appear in fantasy or comic-inspired films like "300," "Lord of the Rings," "Narnia," "Spiderman 3" and now "The Dark Knight"?

The moment filmmakers take on the problem of Islamic terrorism in realistic films, suddenly those values vanish. The good guys become indistinguishable from the bad guys, and we end up denigrating the very heroes who defend us. Why should this be?

The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of "The Dark Knight" itself: Doing what's right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified.

Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They're wrong, of course, even on their own terms.

Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don't always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless.

The true complexity arises when we must defend these values in a world that does not universally embrace them -- when we reach the place where we must be intolerant in order to defend tolerance, or unkind in order to defend kindness, or hateful in order to defend what we love.

When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness. We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."

That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror.

Perhaps that's when Hollywood conservatives will be able to take off their masks and speak plainly in the light of day.

Mr. Klavan has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. His new novel, "Empire of Lies" (An Otto Penzler Book, Harcourt), is about an ordinary man confronting the war on terror.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121694247343482821.html

What Does an Effective Leader Look Like?

By Jaci Greggs, Cleveland County Precinct 50 Republican Vice-Chairman

I’ve heard the word “effective” thrown around a lot this election cycle, from the national level all the way down. And rightly so. We have had our fill of seat-warmers in the Republican Party, doing nothing for the Conservative cause and being only interested in self-promotion. A discussion of an effective leader is definitely warranted. Here are some examples of an effective leader:

An effective leader is someone who will go to bat for taxpayers. In honor of the State’s Centennial celebration, the Centennial Commission decided to spend $15 million in various projects across the state. However, most of these projects were sponsored by venture capitalists that would have directly profited from this $15 million taxpayer expenditure, and were not required to account for the money they received. A leader would say that the taxpayers deserve to know exactly where and how their money was going to be spent. Someone did, and filed a lawsuit to that effect. Also, when the legislature got away from the constitutionally mandated process of bringing every new bond and tax issue to a vote of the people, someone took a stand to hold the legislature accountable so they would not pass bond issues without a vote of the people.

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/CentennialPork.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/Stopgoingintodebt.pdf

We want a leader who will stand up for our Christian beliefs in the public arena. Governor Brad Henry created an Ethnic Advisory Council, comprised entirely of Muslims, refusing to appoint a Middle-Eastern Christian Pastor. While this may not seem like a big deal, the real story is that this Council was able to distribute Qurans at taxpayer expense, supposedly in honor of Oklahoma’s Centennial. A leader would be brave enough to tell the Governor that the taxpayers are not obligated to fund Islamic proselytizing, and that Islam and the Quran have not played any significant role in the history of our state, while our country and subsequently our state have been guided throughout history by Judeo-Christian values. Someone did just that. Someone also co-authored a bill protecting Christian students’ rights to be able to pray openly and discuss their beliefs in schoolwork without fear of censorship or biased grading. The bill passed both the House and the Senate, but the Governor vetoed it on the last day of legislative session.

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/EthnicCouncilQuran.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/RenameMuslimCouncil.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/ReligiousFreedom.pdf

A leader is someone who should stand up for us in any arena, even when it means facing down the State Regents and a former Oklahoma governor. When Oklahoma seniors in 2005 were being abused by OUs Housing and Admittance policies, a leader would have thought that it was worth taking a public stand against a beloved Oklahoma institution when it was in the wrong. Someone did take a stand, and created a precedent so that Oklahoma universities couldn’t require students to live on campus, forcing them (or really, their taxpaying parents) to pay housing fees whether they really lived there or not.

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/CollegeEducationnotHousing.pdf

A leader will work to maintain an open government that is accountable to the people. Oklahoma has to abide by the Open Records Act, making official documents available to the public. The City of Norman was infringing on the Open Records Act by charging exorbitant fees for access to public documents. Someone took the City of Norman to task, and authored a bill to keep them from profiting off of the openness of public documents.

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/Openrecordsmustbefree.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/Openrecordsmustbefast.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/KeepOpenRecordsFree.pdf

Of course, there are also examples of those we don’t want in positions of political power. One of my favorites is Gene Stipe. Among other endeavors, Stipe created non-profits and then legislated government money into his non-profits, which were kept unaccountable to the state (thanks to Jeff McMahan, but that’s for another time). My favorite particular story involves a train engine. The city of Guthrie has a historic train depot that is one of the city’s landmarks. Gene Stipe thought it would be a great idea if Guthrie bought a train engine and cars to sit on the tracks next to the station. He legislated $300,000 to the company that owned the train and cars, Phipps Enterprises. Guess who owned the company? Businessman Steve Phipps – and Gene Stipes. A leader should be someone willing to make sure that crooks like Gene Stipe are punished for their crimes. Someone was, and investigated independently and consequently was able turn over evidence to the FBI that destroyed Gene Stipe’s false mental incapability claim to avoid jail time after being prosecuted for acts such as the one described above. Someone also fought to keep Stipe from collecting his legislator’s retirement – which equaled more than his legislator’s salary – while he is in prison as a result of the felonies he committed using his legislative power.

http://kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=125762

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/Stipe_Cogs.pdf

http://www.okdata.net/house91/NewsClippings/StipeRetirementRipoff.pdf

The “Someone” in every situation I described was State Representative Mike Reynolds. This is a small sampling of Mike’s legislative service on your behalf, protecting your Constitutional right to vote on new taxes, your rights to express your beliefs, and routing out corruption to prevent more waste of your hard-earned tax money (For more examples, you may refer to the recent legal troubles with Jeff McMahan, Drew Edmondson, and the exposure of Brad Henry’s illegal campaign donations).

So now that we have answered the first question - what an effective leader looks like - I’ll leave it to you to answer the next one:

What are you doing to help us keep this Conservative warrior fighting for you at the Capitol? This was not created with the knowledge, cooperation or approval of Mike Reynolds. Totally on my own. Please forward or repost.

And So It Begins

Yes, it has been a month. I'm sorry. Hopefully this month will be better. I'm sure there will be plenty to discuss as we head into primary season, which officially began today. This week is the week that anyone wishing to file as a candidate for political office in the state of Oklahoma is to do so. In fact, I already have a blog in the works detailing a local race. Right now we have a state race that is, in my opinion, decisive in the future of the Republican Party in the state of Oklahoma. I will get to that another time, though. As is stands, here is my official list of primary candidate endorsements for where I live. (I can't keep an eye on the whole state, sorry). Blogs explaining each one will be forthcoming (God willing). State Representative Dist. 91 - Mike Reynolds - incumbent State Senator Dist. 45 - LTC Steve Russell (Ret) US Senator - Jim Inhoffe - incumbent Corporation Commissioner - Dana Murphy Cleveland County Clerk - Kerrie Hudson Cleveland County Sheriff - David Williams Once the information is made available I'll link each of their websites to my list on the right. I have visited extensively with each candidate personally and am thoroughly convinced of their qualifications for their respective positions.