Redstate: Karen Handel for Governor

After highlighting the political and ethical deficiencies of her opponents, Erick Erickson at www.Redstate.com endorses Karen Handel for Governor of Georgia thusly:

She is most decidedly not one of the boys. Of the top tier candidates — Deal, Johnson, Handel, and Oxendine — she is the only one yet to be touched by media reports of scandal. Honest observers of the race pretty much agree they’d all be surprised if anyone raised something serious and credible about her.

RedState has endorsed Handel, but we have not done a very good job of sending her money. She’s a pro-life, pro-entrepreneur Secretary of State and has given every indication that she would be as Governor too. She knows how to balance budgets and cut waste. She stands out from the pack on the campaign trail. And like with Nikki Haley in South Carolina, we need to help get Karen Handel elected.

We stand on the verge of promoting the next generation of conservatives to office. Karen is one of them and she is one of us. Let’s help her win.

America at the Tipping Point?

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

This week Senator Harry Reid got the 60 votes he needs to pass the Democrat health care legislation in the Senate along partisan lines. While final passage is not assured, what is certain is that America has as of this hour ceased being a republican democracy. The country has fallen into the hands of a corrupt and unaccountable kleptocracy, aided and abetted by Republicans but chiefly operated by Democrats.

This is evidenced not by the fact that only Democrats will vote for this legislation. It is evidenced by the way the legislation—like all such legislation these past 11 months-- was managed from start to finish in both houses: secret deals cut behind closed doors; the opposition party shut out of the process; drafting done out of sight of all members save a chosen few; weekend and midnight roll-calls; bribes and extortion using taxpayer money (that we don’t have); handouts to favored businesses, unions and assorted cronies; deceitful accounting tricks, and total disregard of either body’s rules, minority rights or the will of the people.

Only in a kleptocracy do elected officials attack citizens who dare to oppose this shameful exercise of Chicago-style thuggery. This week Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehead suggested that opponents are dominated by “birthers and fanatics in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups.” Does Senator Whitehead assume that those on the Left who have risen to oppose the Senate bill are also in thrall to right-wing racists? Perhaps demagoguing his fellow citizens is the only way that Senator Whitehead can call attention to himself in the World’s Most Egotistical Deliberative Body.

The assaults on our civic sensibilities and common sense come fast and furious. That is the intent of the ruling class. One day unelected “czars” determine pay limits for private businesses; the next the EPA usurps Congress by “finding” it can regulate water vapor. Barney Frank seeks power to shut down private businesses while giving Fannie and Freddie free reign. Government payrolls swell by 12% while private sector jobs shrink. President Obama promises fiscal discipline while presiding over the second budget in a row with $1.4 trillion deficits.

Not to worry; according to the President the trillion- dollar- plus health care bill will reduce the deficit by a couple of billion dollars over 10 years. (That is, of course, if Congress allows the bill’s $400 billion in cuts in Medicare take effect, which is the fiscal trick at the core of this bill: Congress has no intention of cutting Medicare).

Meanwhile a bunch of unelected bureaucrats and despots from crappy little countries gather in Copenhagen to extort billions from the “rich” countries to fund their “carbon-reduction programs” (i.e., to fund their lavish parties in Paris and their brutal tyranny of women, homosexuals and dissenters at home). The worst part is that the rich countries—who are “rich” only to the extent of their indebtedness to foreign powers-- -- happily offer up the wealth and prosperity of their citizens as guilt-offerings to the most radical Leftist and irredentist regimes on the planet. Our own country is only too willing to lead the way.

Global warming may or not be occurring, but the science is beside the point. “Cap-and-trade” is a global Ponzi scheme designed to lighten your wallet, restrict your freedoms and shovel billions, maybe trillions, into a global bottomless pit where it will be administered (for a small fee) by the same folks who did such a good job running the Oil for Food program a while back.

Iran is allowed to pursue its nuclear program unchecked while Israel is monitored for infractions of its building codes. Casualties mount in Iraq and lip service is given to the “necessary” war in Afghanistan while timetables for retreat are articulated, then denied. The one clear constitutional responsibility of government—to defend and protect the United States—is treated as a footnote to the really important work of bowing to foreign leaders and apologizing for our very existence.

If we had a reasonably fair and professional media, even a biased one, one might feel better about all this. With a press dedicated to truth and its role as government watchdog, we would know that in time the secrets, lies, fraud and corruption would be exposed to the light of day. But in truth we have not just a biased media but a corrupt one, gleefully urging on the agenda of the elites and providing cover for their schemes. It is all very disheartening.

Yet, we citizens—patriots—do have access to information, primarily through the “alternative media” of talk radio, the internet, cable news, email communication, Twitter, Facebook, and the like. And we have the ability to share it at lightning speed with dozens, indeed hundreds or thousands of others. Might our wise and good masters attempt to commandeer these electronic wonderments for their own purposes, denying access to those with whom they disagree? With this crowd anything is possible. But recall that in an earlier age, in an hour darker than this one, Americans with the benefit of only the printing press and a determination to live as free people found a way to spread the truth and rally their fellow citizens to the cause of independence.

I don’t suggest that we are faced today with the dire circumstances that confronted our founders in 1776. But we are at the start of an unprecedented era where, left unchecked, government is bound to tighten restrictions on political liberty and economic freedom, much like the period that began in 1763 with the Stamp Act. And like British Parliament of the 18th century, our own Congress grows more contemptuous of its subjects with each passing day.

It is said that Americans are slow to anger, but mighty when provoked. As I will detail in a subsequent post, Americans suffered under increasingly despotic British rule for a decade and a half before finally acting to sever the bonds that existed between American and England. Forbearance is a virtue, but like all virtues it has its limits. Our political masters should not conclude that because Americans have yet to rise up as one in anger that they never will.

We would do well to recall that in America power ultimately resides with the people, not the media, the bureaucrats or even with Senators and Representatives. Americans may be loathe to give up their comforts and conveniences, but they still hate tyranny and love freedom. As long as that continues, we can be assured that they will rise to whatever demands are made of them to preserve their rights and liberties.

It’s just a matter of time.

Massachusetts Dem tells Fellows: "You're Screwed"

Democrat Rep. Michael Capuano returned to Washington after losing the Democratic primary for the Senate seat recently vacated by Ted Kennedy. According to The Huffington Post, in a weekly meeting of the Democrat caucus he gave his fellow Dems a two-word warning: "You're Screwed:"

Everywhere Capuano went in his state, he said, he was bombarded with demands that the government do more to create jobs. He was also greeted by deep skepticism about Obama's escalation of the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan.

Of course, many Americans believe that the government doesn't actually "create" jobs. But the fact remains that if Capuano is right, the voters of deep blue Massachusetts--like all voters --care more about jobs than they do about health care "reform," cap-and-trade legislation, the war against Wall Street "fat-cats" and other misplaced priorities of the Obama administration.

No one can be surprised that the economy and jobs are the most important issues on the minds of voters everywhere. No one, that is, except the statists and social engineers who populate the White House, the cabinet and Capitol Hill.

Once the best and brightest in Washington do turn their attention from destroying capitalism to more mundane matters like "creating" jobs it may just be too late. They will have cooked the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.

Democrats would be wise to heed Rep. Capuano's warning, or else the goose that gets cooked may well be their own.

"A Leap of Faith"

Christian, Muslim or Jew, if you are a Believer you will appreciate this reflection by Redstate's Erick Erickson on faith and trust in G-d and the power of prayer.

"A Senator’s Gift to the Jews, Nonreturnable"

Finally, a Senator who actually does something to celebrate.

To see video of Senator Hatch's ode to Chanukah, click here.

"Journalism and Freedom"

From Rupert Murdoch in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal on the prospect of government subsidies for newspapers:

The prospect of the U.S. government becoming directly involved in commercial journalism ought to be chilling for anyone who cares about freedom of speech. The Founding Fathers knew that the key to independence was to allow enterprises to prosper and serve as a counterweight to government power. It is precisely because newspapers make profits and do not depend on the government for their livelihood that they have the resources and wherewithal to hold the government accountable.

When the representatives of 13 former British colonies established a new order for the ages, they built it on a sturdy foundation: a free and informed citizenry. They understood that an informed citizenry requires news that is independent from government. That is one reason they put the First Amendment first.

Our modern world is faster moving and far more complex than theirs. But the basic truth remains: To make informed decisions, free men and women require honest and reliable news about events affecting their countries and their lives. Whether the newspaper of the future is delivered with electrons or dead trees is ultimately not that important. What is most important is that the news industry remains free, independent—and competitive.

A Doctor Email on Healthcare

Hugh Hewitt at www.Hughhewitt.com has been soliciting and publishing emails from M.D.s all across the country in order to gain their unique perspective on health care in America and the legislation being foisted on Americans by Congress to "fix" the health care "crisis."

As this email suggests, whatever else may be said about the pending legislation, it will by no means "fix" the problem of too few doctors serving too many patients. In fact, by subsidizing access to millions who otherwise wouldn't pay for private medical insurance while at the same time cutting doctor's reimbursements for services, the legislation will ensure that thousands of young doctors and would-be doctors will flee the medical profession and choose to apply their talents elsewhere, thus turning a problem into a disaster.

Believe it or not, altruism is not an adequate incentive for a talented young person to incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and to defer career income for 8 to 10 years after college. It is the prospect of ultimately doing well financially while doing good medically that sustains the sacrifice in time, money and effort that all docs suffer.

Nothing wrong with that in a free society. Is there?

Barack Obama Channeling Bush, says Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart skewers Barack Obama on his Afghanistan policy.

Considering that millions in Generation X and Y (is there a Gen Z yet?) view Jon Stewart's show as their sole source of news, this is likely to resonate.

Huckabee's Hopes Dashed by Clemmons, See?

Lets face it. Mike Huckabee was never going to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. The smooth-talking former minister and faux-populist Arkansas governor doesn't have the economic credentials and foreign-policy experience that the GOP will need in it is next nominee in order to seek to rescue the country from the grips of Obamanomics and Obama's foreign policy disaster.

But Huckabee would have made a go of it had he ran. And he would have provided a distraction that would have drawn media, money and votes from more promising candidates for the GOP nomination. All that changed when Maurice Clemmons killed four police officers in Lakeland WA, near Seattle, the other day while they were filling out paperwork in a local coffee shop.

Clemmons had been released from the Arkansas State prison system nine years ago after then-Governor Huckabee commuted his sentence over the objections of prosecutors. Instantly Clemmons has become a weight around Huckabee heavier even than the one called "Willie Horton" that haunted 1988 Democrat Presidential nominee Mike Dukakis. Unlike Dukakis, who did not personally set Horton free, Huckabee signed the clemency papers that set the stage for Clemmons' parole.

This is not not to say that Huckabee is morally culpable for the evil Clemmons did. After all, as Huck himself points out, "a series of failures" throughout the Arkansas and Washington State bureaucracy led to Clemmons being free to roam the streets of Seattle. But the fact remains that but for Huckabee's signature Clemmons might still be in prison and the children of those four Lakeland cops might still have their fathers.


Luckily, Clemmons was shot dead by a police officer Tuesday morning near Seattle. So its over for Clemmons. And for the families of Clemmons' many victims, who will be spared the agony of a drawn out process of pre-trial motions, courtroom theatrics and post-trial appeals that would have undoubtedly delayed or even prevented the delivery of the justice that these families so richly deserve. (For a chilling account showing just how depraved Clemmons was, click here).


And its over for Huckabee too, at least politically. As blogger Dan Calabrese said, Huckabee may be a good man but he's a lousy leader. His Christian evangelic compassion and belief in personal redemption are admirable qualities in a preacher but are problematic in an executive. Said Calabrese two years ago:


[Huckabee] seems to see his position of authority as a mechanism to impulsively apply his evangelical agenda. As governor, he pardoned or otherwise advocate (sic) the earlier release of more than 1,000 criminals, with beneficiaries including 13 murderers (one of whom went on to kill again), Huckabee acts as though his seat in the state house is license to bestow a Christ-like gift of grace to anyone he chooses.

Even Jesus didn’t cut the thieves down from their crosses. He just offered them a place in Heaven.

I am the last person to weigh in on matters of Christian theology and the concept of grace. But I do think that Huckabee's sense of moral certainty flowing from his religious beliefs has ultimately done him in. His inability to balance his own firmly held views of forgiveness, compassion and grace with his responsibility to protect the common weal apparently led him to gamble on the divine redemption of provably dangerous criminals at the expense of the public's safety.


The Maurice Clemmons affair proves the old adage that to govern is to choose. Motivated by a sense of religious duty and evangelical mission Mike Huckabee chose to dispense justice with a liberal use of his pardon pen. Now his choices have caught up with him, and he will be consigned forever to political purgatory.

But feel not sorry for the Huckster. After all he's got a cable TV show all his own.

"Obama a One-Trick Pony"?

Powerlineblog posts a long and thoughtful piece by a professor at Hillsdale College analyzing a recent Peggy Noonan column on President Obama.

The Noonan column and the professor's analysis gives voice to many on both the Right and the Left who wonder whether Obama has the skills, depth or interest in governing as he campaigned.

In Noonan's words:

Mr Obama is in a hard place. Health care hangs over him, and if he is lucky he will lose a close vote in the Senate. The common wisdom that he can't afford to lose is exactly wrong--he can't afford to win with such a poor piece of legislation. He needs to get the issue behind him, vow to fight another day, and move on. Afghanistan hangs over him, threatening the unity of his own Democratic congressional base. There is the growing perception of incompetence, of the inability to run the machine of government. This, with Americans, is worse than Obama's rebranding as a leader who governs from the left. Americans demands baseline competence. If he comes to be seen as Jimmy Carter was, that the job was bigger than the man, that will be the end.

The Hillsdale professor (who often finds Noonan's gauzy, moralizing writing style off-putting), thinks Peggy Noonan is spot on this time. He concludes with his own observation--that Democrats are sowing what they have reaped:

[In 2008, the Democrats] had on their hands an inexperienced, recently minted US Senator from Illinois who was -- as Joe Biden put it in a candid remark that typifies his propensity for speaking his mind without first thinking about the consequences -- "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Never mind, they thought, Obama's long-standing connections with William Ayers, the unrepentant mastermind of a domestic terrorist bombing campaign in the 1970s. Never mind Obama's close association with the racist demagogue Jeremiah Wright. Never mind his lack of executive experience, his unfamiliarity with the private sector, and his ignorance of the ways of Washington. With the help of the pliable press, he could be sold -- and Americans would congratulate themselves on their lack of racial prejudice if they voted for him.

Now comes the reckoning. For Barack Obama seems to be a one-trick pony. He is very good at delivering a speech if he has a teleprompter at hand, and the first and even the second time that you hear him, you will be impressed. If you bother later to read and re-read the speech you will perceive its emptiness. But few will do that, and by the time that they do, it will be too late.

My take on all this is that it must be very tough to be a Democrat loyalist these days. We conservatives knew what we were getting with Barack Obama, and are surprised only by the scale of his arrogance and the emptiness of his politics. Liberals are just discovering that the man they swooned for as a candidate can't or won't deliver what he promised them.

Imagine how disappointing the next three years is going to be for them. And the worst part is, they can't admit it to anyone. Not even themselves.

"America the Valiant"

A Thanksgiving Day column by Claudia Rosett.

An excerpt:

Thanksgiving is a day to step back... and count not only a laundry list of material comforts, but also the gifts of the spirit. For all the sound and fury, there is no place richer in such blessings, or with more to be proud of, than the United States of America. For more than two centuries, this country has endured and prospered as a free nation, outlasting an array of despotisms that once loomed large. America of its own volition ended slavery, survived its Civil War and led the way to victory in World War II and the Cold War. In modern times no nation has been friendlier to invention, creativity and the commerce that makes for betterment of life around the globe. America is where the Wright Brothers took flight, where vacuum tubes of the lugubrious early computers led onto the microchips of the digital age and where medicine has made the greatest strides.

Yet with all that has come a sense of guilt and unease. Having led the way out of a 20th century afflicted with totalitarian ideologies and two world wars, America over the past decade has been reviled by many of its own elite for being "unilateral," for overthrowing in Iraq one of the world's worst tyrants, for leading a scientific and industrial revolution in which it produced more carbon dioxide per capita than Laos.

The big question before us is whether America will now bow, scrape, regulate and spend its way into decline. Columnist Charles Krauthammer, speaking in New York at the Manhattan Institute's annual dinner in October wisely argued that decline is not an imminent destiny, but a choice.

Read the rest of Claudia Rosett's article here.

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

In Barack Obama's America, it appears that the only defendants fit for military justice are those brave men and women whose actions actually protect and defend this country.

If you are a radical Muslim officer in the U.S. armed forces who kills 14 fellow soldiers and an unborn baby while shouting "Allahu Akbar," you will be defended as a victim of Islamophobic harrassment.

If you are a member of the U.S. special forces on the front lines of what used to be called the "war on terror" who gives a mass killer a bloody lip you will be vilifed and court-martialed.

What a country.

H/T: Erick Erickson at Redstate.com

Damn it, I do like Sarah Palin

What is it about Sarah Palin that has the denizens of the "lamestream media" (Sarah's term, not mine) all tied up in knots? The has-been Bob Schiefer (you may have heard of him) declares that Sarah Palin has no future in politics, and Keith Olbermann becomes apoplectic at the news that Sarah Palin reads Newsmax magazine.

Newsweek magazine puts a purloined photo of a shorts-clad Sarah on its cover and declares that Sarah is "bad for the GOP and bad for the rest of us." The media fairly snarls with contempt for her, and even some mainstream Republicans stiffen at the very mention of her name.

Even my wife (who admittedly is not a Republican) and some of my close friends (who are) recoil at the very mention of her name. They declare with smugness that she's either too stupid, too shallow or too inexperienced to be president. When I ask for back up for these assertions, I am told that the burden is on me to prove that she isn't (stupid; shallow; etc.).

Is there another public figure in our history who has suffered the scrutiny and ignominy that Sarah has? The AP reportedly assigned eleven (11) staffers to "fact check" her book, Going Rogue, which was released on Tuesday. Nora O'Donnell of MSNBC ridiculed a 14-year old girl merely for being a fan of the former Alaska governor and now bestselling author. David Letterman, the poster boy for liberal tolerance of all things mysogynistic, makes crude (and unfunny) jokes about Palin's daughter sleeping with a baseball star.

I will leave it to others more qualified than me to analyze the phenomenon called "Sarah Derangement Syndrome" My own theory is that what the Left hates is the connection that Sarah has with ordinary Americans and timeless American values, like family, individual effort and accomplishment --without government assistance--free market capitalism and (especially) the belief in a loving God. The fact that she is an accomplished woman with five kids (including one with Downs Syndrome) who is not beholden to the narrow strictures and doxologies of radical feminism only adds fuel to the already blazing fire.

In other words, what the Left hates about Sarah is what they hate about you. They hate you because you love freedom, fear God and resist government trammeling on your Constitutional rights. They hate Sarah because she gives voice to the primal yearning for liberty, free speech, independence and free enterprise that resides deep in the DNA of every American.

The Left hates Sarah almost as much as they fear her. And they fear her because she has the capacity to light the spark of inspiration in the rest of us to resist everything that the Left represents.

Which is exactly why I like Sarah Palin. Damn it.

Our Wise and Benevolent Rulers Know Best

The U.S. Senate plans to vote late Saturday night on a Motion to Proceed which would bring the 2094-page Senate "health care" legislation to the floor. This Motion needs to attract 60 votes in order to overcome a filibuster. Conventional wisdom has it that all Republicans will vote against the Motion, and a few vulnerable so-called "moderate" Democrats are on the fence. It would presumably require only one or two of these "moderates" to join the Republicans in order to kill the bill.

At the suggestion of author and radio talk show host Mark Levin, I have tried calling the so-called "moderate" Dem Senators (Lincoln, Landrieu, Nelson and Bayh) at their Washington fortresses and all of their field offices to urge them to vote "No"on the Motion to Proceed. It would appear that our benevolent and wise political masters (f/k/a public servants) don't really care what the "folks" think. When I don't get a busy signal I get a voice mailbox. When I get a voice mailbox it is invariably full.

I would like to think that the constituents of these worthies are ringing their phones off the hook. But I have this sinking feeling that the phones have been taken off the hook by our munificent rulers since they already know what the people think and really don't care.

Naw. They wouldn't be that craven. Would they?

For more information on the "Levin Surge" to defeat this bill, click here.

"A perversion of the justice system"

Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, can be maddening sometimes, as when he sides with John Kerry on the need for climate-change regulation or with John McCain and the rest of the Democrats and squishy Republicans on immigration.

But after watching this brilliant smackdown of AG Eric Holder at the Senate hearing on the outrageous decision to try KSM in Federal court, my affection for Lindsey has grown geometrically.

I just wish he hadn't called Holder a "fine man" in this clip. There is little support for that proposition and much evidence to the contrary.

Broder: Make a Decision, Mr. President

The dean of the liberal Washington press corps, David Broder, calls out President Obama for "dithering" on Afghanistan. He reminds his readers that Afghanistan was the "good war" Obama campaigned on, the one he agreed we ought to have waged and we couldn't afford to lose.

Says Broder in advising Obama, "If we can't afford to lose, than play to win."

By the way the White House attacked Dick Cheney for daring to call Obama a ditherer. Will Broder come in for the same treatment?

Berlin 1989: "Walls Can Fall"

This short piece by Darrell Issa, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is a reminder of the awful price paid by those who lived behind the Iron Curtain in tyranny's shadow and the threat to freedom that Marxist ideology poses to this day.

Issa is quick to single out Ronald Reagan as the indispensable figure without whom the events of 20 years ago might not have transpired. It was Reagan who refused to weaken our defenses or compromise our security that put the final nail in the rotten Soviet Communist coffin. "How different the world's course might have been if Jimmy Carter won reelection in 1980," wonders Issa.

Now that Barack Obama is serving Jimmy Carter's second term three decades later, we may be about to find out.

The Stimulus Sham, Revealed

The red line is the new official unemployment rate of 10.2%. The line below it is Obama's projection of unemployment without the stimulus. The line below that is Obama's projection of unemployment with the stimulus.

Just like Obama's 640,000 jobs "saved or created," you can ssume the Bureau of Labor Statistics 10.2% unemployment numbers are bogus, too. Just imagine what the chart would look like if the BLS counted workers who have given up looking for jobs or are underemployed.

The number would be closer to 17%. Not that far off the 25% real unemployment rate at the peak of the Great Depression.

I don't mind if Obama fails, but why does he have to drag the rest of us down with him?

Senate Conservatives Fund Conference Call

Please join Senator Jim DeMint and Erick Erickson of Redstate.com on the Senate Conservatives Fund Election Conference Call tonight at 8:30 to learn how to take back the country.

To register please click on this link.

NY-23:My Email to the NRCC

To: Mike Bober, Director of Coalitions, National Republican Campaign Committee

Dear Mike,

We spoke a few weeks ago when you were kind enough to take my call objecting to the Repubican establishment support of Dede Scozzafavva in NY-23.

As almost every sentient being now knows, Ms. Scozzofavva (who I will refer to henceforth as Dede) is a liberal Republican running in a special election to replace John McHugh, who was chosen to serve as Secretary of the Army. She faces a Democrat challenger and a conservative independent challenger named Doug Hoffman, who has been endorsed by a number of national Republican leaders who have broken with the party establishment.

Many conservatives--myself included--have broken with the party as well by supporting Doug Hoffman.

You gave me a sincere and impassioned defense of the NRCC's position re: the race, one that I have seen articulated by Newt Gingrich and other establishment figures who have endorsed Dede. That is to say, failure to support the GOP nominee would set a bad precedent in 2010 races where a third party nominee might feel emboldened to challenge the party's candidate. I have also heard Newt say that it is dangerous to second-guess the local party leaders who presumably vetted all the possible candidates before selecting the nominee.

Undoubtedly the NRCC, the RNC and other party organizations who back Dede are well intentioned, sincere, and perhaps even "correct" from the point of view of the party.
Loyalty to party and to its institutions is admirable, under normal circumstances.

But I would argue that these are not normal circumstances or normal times. I believe the party establishment is missing the larger context in which it is operating,

Many Americans, most Republicans and virtually all conservatives intuit that we are in the midst of the greatest and boldest assault on the free markets, the U.S. Constitution
and American institutions in our country's history. Americans are stunned at the speed with which the President and the Democrats in Congress have introduced massive government control into our private enterprise system. Perhaps even more shocking is the public expression of contempt by Democrat leaders (and sadly by some Republicans) for the very people they govern, merely for exercising their Constitutionally protected right to assemble and speak freely. That the bootlicking media is a full partner in all of this is not quite as surprising but disheartening nonetheless.

To be sure, many of us believe that Barack Obama and the Democrats are the ones holding the Statist gun to the head of the American people, so to speak. But we also recognize that the Republicans in Congress and in the previous administration handed them the weapon and loaded the chamber. As a result Americans are increasingly frustrated by the business-as-usual nature of party politics.

We are in a fight for the very heart and soul of our country, and we want political leadership who will either stand in front and show us the way, or stand aside and get out of the way. Mike Pence, Tom Price, Michelle Bachman, Senator Tom Coburn and and Senator Jim DeMint come to mind as examples of the kind of men and women who are standing in front. But they represent a tiny fraction of the hundreds of elected Republican officials in Washington. Most are standing aside, and unfortunately they are too numerous to mention by name.

Whatever Dede's attributes are, it is clear that she doesn't measure up to the kind of political leader conservatives will support. She is beholden to the very special interests (labor unions, for one) that are aligned with the Statist agenda of the majority party. The fact that she says she would oppose this or that legislation, or for that matter vote for John Boehner as Speaker, rings hollow in the face of her record as a New York State legislator or her political alliances. The last time Americans ignored the record and associations of a politican we elected Barack Obama as president.

Successful political parties, like successful governing parties, do not last long if they defy the will of their constituents. Harry Reid will learn that lesson when he finally has to face the voters of Nevada. I am afraid that many Republicans will learn that lesson the hard way, too, if they continue to ignore the sentiments and sensibilitites of its activists.

The furor surrounding NY--23 does not represent an abandonment by "the folks"of the Republican Party or the first rumblings of a nascent third party in American politics. Rather it constitutes a cry in the wilderness, a plea to the GOP's leaders to abandon business as usual and to engage in the hard work of rebuilding the party into an institution that we can be proud of again, a party in tune with the views of it activist base and the values of the vast majority of Americans.

I hope Hoffman wins NY-23, not to poke the party in the eye but to send a message for 2010 and beyond. But even of he loses, the message is the same: Recruit and support candidates who hold fast to the values of free speech, free enterprise, energy independence, national security, rational budgets, low taxes and national sovereignty. Candidates who will fight to turn back the Statist assault with every fiber of their being.

If you will do this I promise you that we will once again be proud and happy to call ourselves Republicans. If you do not, I believe we will all reap the whirlwind.