Feeling Disenfranchised

I will not pretend to be able to read into the future and tell you which of the presidential candidates will be left standing to proceed toward the nomination of their parties or if there will be brokered conventions. I am only expressing my personal opinion in this article.

People talk a lot about Reagan's "three legged stool" and how they represent the different sectors of conservative voters - the fiscal conservatives, the security conservatives and the social conservatives. They rave about how Reagan brought those three groups together, and he did well at that because he was able to effectively communicate with all conservatives and with those called the "Reagan Democrats". It was what the Republican Party needed at the time.

The Republican party is again fractured and somehow needs to be brought together. George W. Bush has not left us with an 'heir-apparent", and the fractured sections of the conservative base have again become evident. This makes for an exciting, if frustrating, selection process as we try to determine the Republican nominee. Our current choices are a very socially liberal candidate who is strong on national security, a one-term governor and business man who seems to be buying the election and is only recently 'conservative', a successful multi-term conservative governor who communicates well, but is branded as a liberal because of his compassion for the poor and because he had to raise some taxes to benefit the people of his state, and an anti-war Libertarian who should have run as a Libertarian, but decided he had a better chance running as a Republican.

Additionally, those in the media whom we deemed trustworthy are fully supporting Republican candidates who either hold firmly to liberal positions or who are recent converts to conservatism with no evidence to back up their new positions. One candidate, whose companies own part of a popular "fair and balanced" television station, is being foisted on us by that station. The one candidate who is most conservative is sidelined and ignored in the mainstream media. The most liberal of the Republican candidates, the one who has done the most to denigrate his Republican credentials, is seen as the 'front runner."

The irony in our current scenario is that the current 'front runner' does not adhere to the Republican party platform, led a revolt of Senators against the President, collaborated with the Democrats to limit our free speech and give amnesty to illegal immigrants, and was even courted by Democrats to be a vice presidential candidate. The one pushed by the 'fair and balanced' media outlet promised to be even more liberal than his democratic opponent when he ran as governor, and made gay marriage and legalized abortion (only $50) available during his term as governor.

All of these candidates need the large block of social conservatives to successfully gain the Republican nomination. This block, branded as the "evangelicals" consist of social conservatives who believe in traditional values. Republican candidates try to court this large group of voters and are often successful because of promises made to them - promises that usually do not come to fruition.

This leads me to the point of this rambling article. As a social conservative, I feel disenfranchised by my own political party. The party has certain political platforms that are supposed to define and unify those who agree with them, but the majority of candidates being foisted upon us do not adhere to the platform (probably out of fear of losing elections). This causes the Republican party to appear as if it does not have significant differences from the opposing party, and demonstrates a lack of integrity. As mentioned before, these candidates aggressively court the 'evangelical' vote, only to disappoint those very voters by supporting issues that they consider socially liberal. Could it be that evangelicals are being used by the Republican Party the same way Blacks and Hispanics are used by the Democratic Party? It's something to think about! And maybe it's time to determinedly pursue an alternative to the current two party system, and organize a third party.


Feb. 3, 2008
Quick update: To those on the Ron Paul Information site - I am not LouDobbs!!!
Radiant Times is a humble music teacher in New Mexico.

Is Huckabee like Carter? NO WAY!

I get so frustrated when Mike Huckabee is portrayed as some kind of 'liberal'. In truth, Huckabee is truly conservative and is exactly the type of leader the Republican Party is looking for.

Here are links to some great articles which talk about Huckabee's conservative positions:

Mike Huckabee Is A "Real" Conservative

Huckabee: Another Carter? How Stupid Can It Get!


Now, if only the electorate would look at facts instead of being spoonfed by the media.......

Snowed under by Snow

Please read this speech given by Tony Snow when he received the Freedom of Speech award from the Media Institute.

It's a PDF so give it a little time to load.

Pelosi in Chains?

Looks like Nancy Pelosi overstepped her bounds as she traveled to Damascus, Syria to play diplomatic games. Unfortunately for her, and she should know better, the United States is to present a unified diplomatic front to the nations of the world, and by freelancing Pelosi presented a different view from current State Department and international policy. The UN and State Department have determined that Syria is a brood of vipers harboring terrorists.

There is a law in place to deal with issues like rogue diplomats. It is called the Logan Act. The Logan Act makes it a felony for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States" and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years.

Even though Nancy Pelosi wanted to follow the guidelines of the ISG report that suggests more communication with Syria, she is foolish and idealistic to think her input would benefit the current situation in the Middle East. Not only is she a very high ranking official going to visit our enemies (third in line to the presidency) without the current administration's blessing, she is presenting a view different from what our State Department presents, AND she botched a supposed message from Israel.

When she comes home, she should be censured severely at the very least, and should possibly lose her position as Speaker of the House if the Democrats have the cojones to deal with her behavior. Perhaps, instead of the witch hunt against Scooter Libby, prosecutors should face a real lawbreaker like Pelosi!


HERE is another article about the Logan Act and whether or not Nancy Pelosi should be arrested for her actions.


Radiant Times

UPDATE:

Is it me, or is there a Pelosi blackout in the Media today? Hmmmm.
We wonder if she's given secrets to the enemy, and personally would not put it past her.

Why is Richardson Ignored by the Media?

We need a good answer to that question, because it seems that Richardson is the best qualified of the long list of candidates to become President.

People need to take a closer look at him.

Matthew Yglesias has written an informative article in The American Prospect about Richardson:

Fitting the Bill
Why isn't Bill Richardson's presidential candidacy taken seriously?

I got lucky again

First comments from this humble blogger were printed in the Chicago Tribune.

Then Yesterday this humble blog was mentioned in the Washington Post!!!

Strafing the Speaker by Howard Kurtz

What am I? A Media Magnet? Hardly. I just hit a few pertinent news nerves and someone noticed me. But it does make a newish blogger kind of happy, even if the links to the blog come from people who think I'm an idiot.