Unconventional Wisdom

From Andrew Sullivan. Yep this is the man I’d rather have as President of the United States, even though at this moment it’s very unlikely. He has different ideas than either John McCain or the two Democrats still vying for their nomination. Ideas that I think this country may need to hear, unfortunately these ideas (constitutional principles) aren’t exactly what this country wants to hear right now apparently.

Well I got a comment in this post from someone in the Keyes campaign and makes a claim that I support John McCain. Well they have enough time to make baseless claims on a small-time blog such as this. It’s their right, but still don’t you guys have a campaign to run and shouldn’t guys spend more time getting people to vote for you instead of coming onto a blog half-cocked all mad about what is said. This is why Alan Keyes doesn’t go anywhere fast you know!

Oh and you’re making another assumption when I said Keyes wasn’t right for Illinois. I definitely didn’t vote for Obama back then, but if I had been of a different mind back then I would have, considering, the man he was running against. Apparently people are much prouder of a Senator Obama, than they likely would have been of a Senator Keyes. Sorry, I think it’s the truth.

And stay tuned for the next post. He’s the person I’d rather have as President of the United States than Keyes, Obama, Clinton, or McCain. He’s in fact one of my top choices.

For the Constitution Party, a party that I understand is more to Keyes liking because while they are generally conservative and want to strictly interpret the US Constitution, they are also a very evangelical party. Keyes will love this party. Still Illinois Review offers their caution…

Liberal flame throwers like to call us racists for publicizing so much on Illinois Review about Barack Obama and his black liberation theology-teaching pastor and church, and at the same time, they also ridicule IR editor’s regrettable month-long, non-paid campaign position as Alan Keyes’ coalition coordinator in his 2004 U.S. Senate bid here in Illinois.

For that reason, it seems incumbent upon us to offer our good-hearted, well-intentioned Illinois Constitution Party friends a word of caution:

While it’s perfectly understandable to be frustrated with the GOP nationally and statewide, be forewarned that your hopes to ever establish a credible conservative-principled party will be seriously damaged if you jump on this bandwagon. Please do not make a mockery of solid moral beliefs and political ideology by encouraging Keyes’ ludicrous effort at any level.

If anyone of substance could reason with the former ambassador, he or she should have tried to convince him to stay out of the Republican presidential primary and most certainly would do his or her best to squelch yet another national political embarrassment.

Or perhaps someone should have convinced him to stay out of politics. On the other hand could he be convinced? It’s very likely that he’d do what he want to do even if reason dictated that it might hurt more than it would help.

Hey back in Illinois in 2004, I learned that the hard way. Keyes wasn’t right for Illinois or more likely he isn’t right for anyone in this country. Unfortunately it causes him to do some irrational things.

Well I honestly don’t know Sen. Barack Obama’s position on the environment and global warming, but I only created this poster to talk about this story from the Chicago Tribune…

A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, said British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan.

Because scientists noticed satellite images within hours, they diverted satellite cameras and even flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse for rare pictures and video.

“It’s an event we don’t get to see very often,” said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. “The cracks fill with water and slice off and topple… That gets to be a runaway situation.”

While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland, collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades, Vaughan said. The collapse is similar to what happens to hardened glass when it is smashed with a hammer, he said.

Well I tend to take these things with a grain of salt. I understand that while there are those who will sound the alarms, there are those who won’t. No one is certain because I’m certain that among many in the scientific community global warming is hotly debated. There are those who say it exists and there are those who say it’s not global warming. Of course that doesn’t mean that we should conserve our energy, curb our vehicle emissions, or recycle. Those are some things we are expected to do to be considered environmentally friendly.

Make your own Obama poster here.

Not a very detailed series of videos. We don’t see every step, but at least we see how another guy brews his beer. This time wheat beer. Enjoy!

I found this on a forum, a PW clone known as the IC Database. Actually you can find a link to that place in the middle sidebar as PWIC. Anyway Megami has her views on what’s wrong with the Republican Party at this moment. I will post it in full…

Quite a bit has changed in four years. Four years ago, I was willing to give the war in Iraq a chance, it was new, it was different… and it was horribly wrong. I didn’t fall for the reasons presented. I didn’t buy the WMD excuse back when Billy-Bob Clinton put it forth, and I certainly didn’t buy it when Shrub put it forth. I supported it, because instead of propping up a dictator in a foreign country, we were toppling one. Like I said, it was different, so I thought.

While the outward appearances were different, the motivations and patterns below the surface were the same. Six years later, we’re still in Iraq and progress is minimal.

But today there’s the beginnings of a sea change in American conservativism. No, I’m not referring to John McCain, but his ascendency to the GOP nomination is a symptom, and catalyst for this fundamental change. The buzz about the presidential candidacy of Rep. Ron Paul probably caught most of the GOP neo-conservative and theo-conservative establishment by surprise, though it was no surprise to me. The “south park conservatives” are in or finishing college, and in an interesting turn are emerging more libertarian or “Buckley conservative” (what I would call “intellectually conservative”) than the present majority of the GOP. The present GOP establishment of “conservatives” are not conservative in their heads, they are only “conservative” on individual issues, as a result it seems the modern “GOP conservative” is just a leftist who opposes abortion, supports foreign wars, and thinks that it’s a compelling federal interest to prevent homosexuals from opening joint checking accounts.

Let me be very blunt, and very clear… That is not, and will not be a truly conservative agenda.

Conservativism, is a very simple ideal, it is one of trust. It is knowing the fact that if all government disappeared overnight, the majority of people would not turn into brutish savages. Where the left wants to intervene in everyone’s life with their mantra of “You can’t do this, you’re not capable. Let us help you.” we present the alternative proposition of “We trust that you are a human being with the capacity to reason and you are due the rights and dignity that entails. As such, we will get out of your way so that you are free to make a life of your choosing.” Conservatives, do not seek to remold people into some mythical ideal, we deal with people as individuals, judging them by the criteria set forth by Dr. Martin Luther King, the content of their character.

Conservativism is about small federal government. The state governments are more representative of the wishes of their citizens, thus they are the logical bodies to possess greater power, and moreso with county and city governments. The federal government was neither designed nor intended to be a blunt instrument where a few states can force their ideals upon the rest of the nation. Most advocates of ethnic and cultural diversity suddenly become opposed to diversity when the idea of political diversity is brought to the fore. Let me be plainspoken, you either support all forms of diversity, or you do not support diversity at all. Real diversity is an ideal that terrifies the left, because it would mean having to accept that those “rednecks” in the south and west have the right within the bounds of the US Constitution, to run their states how they see fit. It also terrifies the current GOP, because it means that those “godless heathens” in California and New York have the right to run their states as they see fit.

Conservativism is opposed to foreign wars and shenanigans that manipulate the governments of other nations. Over time, the government of any nation will wind up reflecting the will of the majority of those it governs. This holds true no matter the form of government or our opinions of that form of government. If the people of other nations want democracy or a republican form of government it is their responsibility to establish it. We cannot give them democracy or freedom, they have to give those to themselves, if they truely want those things.

Conservatives address real issues. If Rev. Wright is a nutcase for spouting that AIDS was engineered by the federal government, then by logic, neo-conservatives who spout off about some mythical connection between Bin Ladin & Co. and Iraq are equally, nutcases. There are plenty of matters of actual substance to oppose Obama and Clinton 2.0 over without essentially resorting to the irrational and unthinking shout-down tactics of the left. Sadly, the “issue-conservatives” of the modern GOP have as little thought in their positions as modern leftists do.

Conservatives consider the U.S. Constitution to be the final word. Both the Democrats and GOP have long histories of trying and mostly succeeding to bend and twist the Constitution and Bill of Rights to allow any piece of legislation they want. Mainly, this is a sign of how fundamentally fringe their own interests really are. After all, what need is there to warp and corrupt the meaning of the Constitution or to rely on judges appointed for their political allegiances to stretch the boundaries of reason and even sanity if you do truely represent a majority opinion? The truth is, neither parties with their mishmash of agendas has the kind of support to go about altering the Constitution in the only manner in which it can be altered, by amendment.

Conservatives, do not trade essential liberty for assurances of security. Security can always be reestablished, but liberty when lost can only be restored by intense conflict, either political or actual. The left offers “security” with their welfare state, while the modern GOP offers it with their “national security state”. Both carry a heavy price of essential liberty. Conservatives think the cost of either, is too high.

This is the “new conservativism” that is making its self felt. The “Ron Paul Revolution” was only a preview of the future of conservativism, but in truth, the revolution is ongoing and not complete, yet. But it is happening.

And to the “issue-conservatives” reading this and scoffing, we don’t care if you’re scoffing…

Because we are your children, and we’re the ones actively engaging your children… so you coming around isn’t needful.

I hope this makes sense. It makes sense to me! This essay apparently was inspired by this vid posted by the Southern Avenger.

While we wait for a decision on DC vs. Heller which should be out this coming June, there’s another gun control case that will make it to the Supreme Court. This makes me want to try my hand at being a lawyer to test my constitutional law muster. I would look forward to that.

Anyway I have to be content with having live this dream vicarious thru these blogs such as this one that will cover this new gun case.