Littlestuff Weekender-3-3-2012

Washington State is caucusing on Saturday, and ten states will be selecting delegates while choosing their presidential preferences on Super Tuesday. Perhaps the race for the GOP nomination will become much clearer….perhaps not.

Meanwhile….Germany announced that Greece can either accept the austerity measures mandated by the EU or resign from the European Union. If neither of those actions is undertaken, Germany says it may withdraw from the mega-state. In my view that’s unlikely and business will go on as usual until we have a severe European economic collapse followed by global economic devastation reminiscent of the sound of clicking dominoes as they tumble down.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that forensic evidence proved that President Obama’s “birth certificate” was fraudulent. Obama’s defenders remarked that the ‘copy’ was not an original, therefore likely to be considered a counterfeit. The President laughed and his minions are still pursuing the sheriff for a number of “violations” of federal law regarding treatment of prisoners.

Toledo City Council decides to spend significantly more than $700 thousand to install cameras to observe perpetrators as they commit crimes in Toledo. Meanwhile there’s a shortage of police and cash in Toledo…..as well as common sense. Big Brother lives in Toledo….which is a good thing because others are moving out. The good news is that the videos can be uploaded to You Tube and people throughout the world can laugh at the brazenness of Toledo criminals and the ineffectiveness of Toledo’s finest to prevent their activity.

The conference tournaments are almost underway as we merrily trip into March Madness. As a sports fan, I typically limit my viewing/listening to teams that I care about or follow. March Madness is different. If I have time, I will watch two unknown teams from “directional” (NW, SE, Western, Eastern, Northern etc.) universities play 40 minutes of sloppy basketball. I will dutifully fill my brackets for my son-in-law’s contest and silently contribute my $10. If the pattern from previous years holds true, I will be one of the leaders in the first two rounds and will finish far out of the pack by the completion of the NCAA tournament.

Yesterday (Friday March 2^nd) Pat and I had our 43^rd wedding anniversary. I feel especially blessed that she has been so willing to suffer by staying with me all these years. I know that she could have done better, and I know that my ranting and complaining may have become tiresome for her. She has hung in there for more than four decades and deserves a medal plus the eternal reward that she has been promised and will surely redeem.

Going to an auction today (Saturday). It is 35 degrees and windy. Maybe the weather will discourage other bidders or they’ll show up because it is too miserable to do anything else.

There hasn’t been much publicity surrounding Tea Party challengers to incumbent Congress members of either old fossilized party. Has the focus on the presidential race taken the wind from the sales of local groups? Or are they finding it difficult to attract good candidates who are willing to take on the high-dollar P.R. machines of the current office holders? Given how much energy was lost following the 2010 election, I expected Tea Party, liberty and patriots groups to come back with fire in their eyes this year. Of the 83 or so T.P. candidates elected last cycle only about 20 of them held fast when Boehner and the leadership twisted their arms. Without more new people to help out, those remaining 20 may backslide because Washington D.C. can be a lonely place if your leadership is angry with you. Win the state legislatures and nullify unconstitutional federal meddling then run things constitutionally at home.

The Republican strategy is rather apparent. They didn’t initiate anything of true significance so they wouldn’t anger portions of the population. They hope to win the Senate, but I truly doubt their courage will increase. Unless there is a Republican or third-party President who is ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED to down-sizing government, massively cutting spending and restoring individual liberty, the Congress will not lead and it will be business as usual. The only appreciable change will be the rhetoric as they adjust their words to stop us from charging the Capitol with pitchforks and torches. We’ll be fooled again.

Have a great first weekend of March. Now I will enjoy my prime rib/hashbrown breakfast (leftovers from dinner) before leaving for the auction.

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

  

Littlestuff Weekender-10-8-2011

As the nine announced candidates are vying to secure the GOP presidential nomination, various states are jockeying for early primaries. So far it seems the primary season will get underway right after the New Year which means that about three months remain before the selection process begins in earnest. Polling and straw polls will lose their significance as the voters in their respective states trudge to the polls and select their favorite. The condensed primary schedule places a premium on money raising for the candidates because the opportunities for retail face-to-face campaigning have been minimized so mass media buys, direct mail and robo-calls become critical.

There are times when the gullibility and cluelessness of my fellow citizens drives me to despair. Now is one of those times. The President and his “pass the bill” mantra has become tiresome because we know that: 1) it represents a huge tax increase during a recession; 2) it is “stimulus II” which subsidizes public employees for one year; 3) it funnels piles of money to unions who will, in turn, contribute to Obama’s campaign; and 4) he doesn’t expect it to pass and wants to “blame” Republicans for not creating jobs. Yet, some people will “buy” his theme despite the clear evidence provided by Harry Reid’s failure to move the bill.

Here in Ohio we have less than a month until we vote on three statewide issues. Issue 1 changes the maximum age for running for judge in the state courts from 70 to 75. Issue 2 deals with the legislative effort to repeal mandatory collective bargaining/binding arbitration for public employees and local governments and school boards (SB 5). Opponents of repeal got the measure qualified for a referendum so the citizens of Ohio can address the issue. A “Yes” vote allows the changes the General Assembly passed, and a “No” would repeal the new legislation.

Issue 3 is the “Healthcare Freedom Amendment” that allows Ohioans and Ohio to “opt out” of the individual mandate imposed by Obamacare. This issue is a grassroots attempt to enforce the 10^th Amendment since the State Legislature has exhibited neither the inclination nor the will to challenge another federal government over reach. A “yes” vote would signal the feds to put their usurpation of individual freedom of choice right where the sun never shines. A “no” vote is a ringing endorsement of Big Brother and the Nanny State. It is difficult to assess what the turnout may be since our “early voting” period has begun, and the progressives/socialists/statists have mastered the art of gaming the system.

Today is the “Day of Atonement” for the Children of Israel. It’s a very special and sacred time for reconnecting and restoring one’s relationship with G_d.

For those of you who are Christian or secular….78 shopping days until Christmas.

“Occupy” (fill in the blank) will not be covered in today’s column because to this point they don’t have large enough numbers to “occupy” phone booths and porta potties.  

We have a big weekend planned with much driving across and around western Ohio. Enjoy your weekend. Cherish your loved ones. Always stand for liberty.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. and Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

The Tortise and the Hare

The turtle is an amazing creature. It ambles along at a steady pace….seemingly going nowhere but shuffling towards its goal. The rabbit ricochets all over the place with frenzy and appears quite often to be off the path to victory. Aesop and his fabulous fable about the tortoise and the hare provide the background for today’s column. If you recall the story, the hare dashed ahead of the tortuously slow tortoise. Thinking that he had easily won the race, the hare lay down for a pleasant nap, and the steady tortoise passed the sleeping bunny to win the race. This old and informative fable can be used to illustrate the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

As the GOP campaign begins to develop, we have had some sputtering starts and withdrawals. In addition, we continue to have speculation around the possible entry of others into the fray. So far various straw polls and preference polling have lent a “flavor of the week’ element as different individuals have managed to capture the fancies of voters in different states. Michele Bachmann stunned the pundits with her victory in Ames, Iowa, and Ron Paul was within breathing distance of her victory. Herman Cain has garnered victories in Denver at the Western Conservative Summit and more recently in Florida. Ron Paul has, in addition to his 2^nd place in Iowa, won the New Orleans republican Leadership Conference straw poll, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) preference, and the California favorability vote.

The media and Establishment-anointed leaders, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, have NOT won any of the straw of preference polls although they have been performing rather well in general polling for primaries and the general election. Although the media and their resident pundits enjoy speculating about the horse-race aspects of the contest for the GOP nomination, it seems as of this point in time, some 13 months until the people trudge to the polls, that no one has a clear advantage. The two most likely candidates for the role of the “hare” appear to be Romney and Paul. Dr. Paul has polled consistently well but does not have the support of the moderate or RINO wing of the party. The entrenched self-designated leadership of the Republican Party tends to favor a middle-of-the-road candidate whom they believe would have a greater appeal to a broader segment of the electorate.

Former Governor Romney seems to have collected the support of much of the staid establishment GOP although some are attempting to convince Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey to enter the race despite his repeated refusals to do so. If Christie holds fast and stays out of the race, then it will probably be Romney versus whoever has staying power (i.e. cash). Cain’s dramatic victory in Florida will rocket him to the upper tier of candidates for the present time, but he must use his new-found celebrity status to raise some serious cash to continue the momentum. Dr. Paul is well-funded, and his organization grows stronger every week. In addition, Congressman Paul has an energetic and loyal cadre of young people who can add “feet on the ground” to his media advertising purchases. He will need every dollar and every volunteer to overcome the GOP Establishment opposition. They enjoy the benefits of big government nearly as much as their Democrat counterparts do, and they do not want a Paul candidacy that is pledged to downsizing the federal government.

As the hares hop around the landscape seeking to attract attention and support, the battle for TOP TORTISE is shaping out to be between Romney and Paul with Cain and Perry getting fitted for shells. Perry’s mercurial beginning has faded quickly, but enough anti-Romney people exist to keep his hopes alive. The Perry supporters might be defined as “pragmatic conservatives.” They are people who generally lean conservative but are unwilling to rock the electoral vote by supporting someone whom they believe too extreme or too inexperienced. The Republican movers and shakers seem somewhat schizophrenic as the moderates and token conservative pragmatists seek to boost their preferred candidates. The moderates believe that most Independents prefer milquetoast non-entities, and the conservative pragmatists sense that the conservative base will abandon the party if a sufficiently conservative candidate is not nominated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Paul continues to plug along as Herman Cain catches fire.

http://youtu.be/ERW8z8Y6MHk

Exciting times are ahead, but we must NEVER forget that the goal is to preserve and restore our Republic. A victory for more-of-the-same will be a pyrrhic one. Trust the tortoise, and beware the hare.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com