I posted this on FB a few weeks ago, but wanted to re-post it here.

It's OK, I get it!  You are gravely concerned about our country and our liberties.  I AM TOO!  The problem is that we are approaching the issue from two vastly different directions.  So, let's discuss the challenge openly and see how we can work together so that we have a WIN in the next cycle (if we make it).

First, let's examine where we are at.  I am NOT a Romney supporter, let's be clear about that.  I too view him as Obama light and think he is simply best suited to assure our descent into the nothingness of socialism that waits for our Republic and that it occurs without massive bloodshed (which I view as a definite possibility).  I hope I am wrong on this, but I don't feel that Romney has it in him to do the hard things that are required to save our Republic.

That being said, I also cannot support a candidate who has so little general appeal that he is viewed as a joke by even a large number of extreme conservatives.  Ron Paul's failure to distance himself properly from groups such as the 911 truthers and other conspiracy theorists in the 2008 cycle has left a negative association for him in the mind of the average un-educated American voter.  While Dr. Paul addresses many things I agree with, this is the equivalent of "It only takes 1 Oh ***t to undo 10 attaboys."  The human psyche simply cannot let go of negative actions or memories.

Instead, I supported Herman Cain.  I believe Mr. Cain had several things America needs right now.

1. Big Ideas for limiting government and reducing its size and reach

2. A sense of humor

3. An honest love for the country

I'm not saying Dr. Paul doesn't have these, but Mr. Cain did not have the negative associations that had been left in the mind of most of the electorate.  I'm also not saying he was perfect, but I am saying that I believe very strongly that he could have garnered a majority of electoral votes and beat the Socialist In Chief we have today.

I think I have a good grasp on what Dr. Paul is about and again, I agree with most of it. We differ on some aspects of foreign policy, but in general, I agree with much that he believes and supports.  As someone who is a producer, I believe that we need less government in our lives and less government telling me how to live and spend my hard earned money.  Basically, I think the federal government has a very small scope of actions they are allowed to fulfill and should be restricted to those few itemized powers.

Let's talk about what we are both doing today.

First, I applaud you for getting involved.  The vast majority of the electorate is a bunch of lemmings who don't have the faintest idea about what really occurs in government or what the role of governments (at any level) are.  This is what has led to our current nanny state situation.

Where we differ in what we are doing today is this.  While you are trying to win on technicalities of rules and disproprtional representation in precinct meetings and conventions, we are out working and winning at the local level.  We are hammering away at our candidates trying to ensure that we are getting conservatives into office and hold them accountable for their actions.  This is an area where the RP support team has been vastly silent.  So silent in fact, that it is a generally accepted idea that we won't see most of you again until 2016 once this convention cycle is over.

What this creates is a general lack of acceptance within conservative republican ranks for the RP supporters as it is felt (often rightly so) that you are coming in to hijack a process that we have been working with for months and years to ensure inclusion for conservatives and the spread of the conservative message.  Now, I know you will say that not all county parties are like that and I will agree.  But if you want to change that, you have to show up and volunteer.  Do you know how many RP supporters have been present at the events our county party participates in since the last election cycle (3 festivals per year, multiple parades, and other events)?

What's your guess?  Ten?, Six? two?   How about zero!  That's right, not a single one!

While we are a party that allows you to come in and join and share our conservative ideals (take a look at the Wagoner County Republican Platform if you want to see how conservative we are:  http://wagonergop.com/images/documents/2012/2012%20platform.pdf), because of the human condition, the average member is looking for you to have put your time, money and efforts into the party consistently.  If you don't show up and stay active, you will never "earn your conservative credentials".

Now, that we understand where we are each coming from, let's talk about the future.

Realistically, Dr. Paul is too old to run again.  He needs to step aside in 2016 and allow Rand to run.  Rand is not viewed as being associated with the fringe groups that Dr. Paul has been and due to his economic policy chops, less isolationist foreighn policy and clear messaging, he has a much broader appeal.  What we need to be doing as liberty loving conservatives is preparing the way for Rand in 2016.

The RP team already has a fantastically strong support organization and strong ability to mobilize.  Let's continue to build that and leverage it for county, state, house and senate races where we can put true, limited government candidates into office.  Even if the candidate is not perfect, they are likely far better than the socialist or near socialist alternative.  The yield of having additional conservatives is that the lemming politicians who are still in office will move towards the right thus resulting in more conservative ideals and principles dictating bills that are produced at all levels of government.

By working in the mid-term cycle in conjunction with groups like the Tea Party and 912ers, the RP support team would be able to greatly influence a turn back towards conservative ideals that is necessary for the survival of our Republic.  Don't expect to come into the party and win leadership positions, rather come in and volunteer and stay involved and the leaders among you will float to the top and end up in postions where you are able to help direct America towards a brighter future.

If you're willing to put in the time, effort, finances and energy required to achieve this goal, I think you will find most of truly conservative America is happy to have you here.  Your influence will help stem the tide of progressivism that is trying to invade all aspects of our party and the net result is that you will be accepted and welcomed to the process by a vast majority of liberty loving Americans.

In conclusion, let's work to the future and for Rand (or another limited government conservative) in 2016.  If we work together instead of against each other, we can help this country make the hard right turn necessary to survive.

Anyone that has ever held an elected office knows that they are required to take an oath of office when they assume their position. Usually the oath will include a promise to obey the laws of their state and the Constitution of the United States of America. I have noticed that far too many of our elected officials want to have a system where the laws that they obey are the ones that they select. I agree that there can be so many laws that it can be a burden to be able to obey all of the laws, but an attempt should be made to obey the laws or go through the proper channels to amend the law or change it. I recently read a news article where our president has enacted the so-called DREAM Act by executive order.

The republicans in Congress keep talking politics as if we are still interested in it.  They have lost or are losing the party faithful. The conservative leadership, at least in OK, is sick of the politics and are not interested in the political ramifications of sticking it to the democrats/Obama because we are no longer certain that we will even have a country when the next election rolls around.  If we are playing politics and we KNOW the Senate will not pass this bill, why not make the "Boehner plan" a HUGE cutting bill?  Why not push through trillions upon trillions in cuts?  Take a chainsaw to this ridiculous federal budget.  Go big or go home.

The Boehner plan only guarantees a vote on the balanced budget amendment.  And we all know how much we can trust the guarantees of Congress...

The plan calls to reduce 1.8 trillion over 10 years, but we are increasing at a rate of 8 trillion a year, so this plan simply means that instead of increasing by 80 trillion over 10 years, we will increase just 78 trillion.

What we need are for our Republican leaders to just say "NO, we will NOT compromise." It is time to stand up for what is right, which is to live within the budget AND the bounds of the Constitution.

If you are cutting the spending that is causing us to run so close to the debt ceiling, why do you need to increase the debt ceiling?  Wouldn't it be wiser to just cut spending until it hurts?

The Republicans like to say how bad Obama's spending is, and indeed it is.  Under his administration, government has grown and spent at unprecedented levels. However, let's not forget who paved the way for him.  We overspent to a massive degree when Bush was in the White House, but I guess that was okay because he had an R next to his name.

They're saying that if nothing is done, the treasury would have to use incoming funds to pay the bills coming due, and that the money needing to go out is more than the money coming in.  I have an amazing idea.  I will put it in all caps so the idiots in Congress can read it easier:  CUT THE DIFFERENCE!!

If the president has to prioritize spending, let him be the one that decides not to pay Social Security.

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feel that far too often we Americans don’t want to take an active role in government as long as it doesn’t affect us directly. We have increasingly become a nation of people that could care less about legislation and how it could affect other people as long as it might benefit them. I do not feel that it is wise to blindly follow anyone, and that goes double for our elected leaders, especially those of the liberal persuasion who continually pit one group of Americans against another in the name of political gain. Our country is far from perfect, but at one time I believe that the virtues of honesty and integrity were much stronger than they are today. Whether we want to admit it or not our country was founded upon the Judeao Christian belief system. I thought it was very inappropriate when, while doing a story, the NBC network edited the phrase of “ONE NATION UNDER GOD” from the Pledge of Allegiance that children were reciting.

With all of the problems such as the national debt, crime, etc., that we are currently experiencing, all of us need to have a change of attitude and start to try to understand how it would be to walk in someone else’s shoes. I feel that the idea of America is greater than a group of people running to the public trough like a bunch of pigs when the slop is dumped into their feed trough. All of us have the responsibility to work towards a better and more civil society.

Recently I was impressed with the courage of a lady shopping at her local Wal-Mart who witnessed a trio of individuals stealing cases of beer from the store. By herself she confronted the individuals, and due in large part to her actions, the criminals was apprehended by the police. Granted the lady was taking a chance of personal injury, during an interview she said that she was tired of going to going to her local Wal-Mart and not feeling safe while shopping. She went on to say that if we want to take this country back it is our duty as citizens to do it.

I do not advocate that everyone take it upon ourselves to confront every lawbreaker when we see a crime being committed, but we can provide information to the proper authorities and make sure they act upon the information.  We Americans were never intended to sit back in a corner and simply accept what our elected leaders dictate to us; we must start putting more faith in ourselves and be willing to wear another person’s shoes.

I have often seen the cartoon where there are three monkeys sitting side by side; one with his hands covering his eyes, one covering his ears and the final one covering his mouth. While the cartoon may seem humorous, it is a sad fact that the actions of we Americans are not that much different than those of the monkeys. We Americans have been richly blessed with a standard of living that most of the rest of the world only dreams of. I believe that our prosperity was due to the efforts of the men and women who fought and won WW2 “more commonly known as America’s greatest generation”. Most of them lived through the great depression and knew what sacrifice was. Anyone who has ever lived through bad times has a better understanding of sound financial stewardship. Most of the Americans living today have made the bad assumption that tomorrow will be the same as yesterday and next week will be the same as today. Economics is just like the weather; today it can be calm, tomorrow a storm may fall out of the sky and destroy everything you own. Far too many of our people made the assumption that it was a natural right of Americans to have huge homes, cheap gas, and oodles of junk, as well as a government that could buy anything it wanted without giving a second thought to fiscal discipline. I have begun to get more pessimistic about the financial problems of our country. There are individuals such as Senator Tom Coburn that understand the dilemma facing our country, but for every person like senator Coburn there are numerous others that have to see the storm clouds and lack the courage and political will to make the hard sacrifices. I used to think that corrupt politicians were the problem, but I have found that they are merely a symptom of a much bigger problem. I have often heard voters make the comment that many of the programs of the government have always been done that way and they always expect them to continue even if they are ineffective or corrupt. Many politicians have abused their power to satisfy groups with sweetheart deals funded with taxpayer money. If a politician does try to do the right thing the voters will simply vote him out for someone who promises them what they want to hear. The decades of these practices are on the verge of catching up with us. Granted there is a lot of talk being done about the deficit but I do not see the political courage to solve our problem. By the way the difference between an optimist and pessimist - usually the pessimist has more and better information.