More Cool Online Resources for Conservatives (and right-leaning Independents)

Okay, I’m a big fan of sites like Drudge, Breitbart, Townhall.com and many other conservative outposts on the Internet. But today I stumbled on two related sites worth checking out – The Daily Pledge, and the blog maintained by the founder of The Daily Pledge.

From what I can tell, the author, Kathy Pledger, is another “regular” person who found her place online to share thoughts, ideas, concerns, frustrations, etc. She shares an interesting personal history – all leading to finding her voice as a conservative.

I recommend you check out her sites. I’m adding them to my blogroll as well – and I plan to check back frequently!

It’s so energizing to see so many other people writing, commenting, thinking, arguing – all in an effort to fight for liberty and all that this great nation has represented for so many years.

Maybe Independents Have Things Figured Out?

Full disclosure moment – I am friends with Joe Repya, former MN GOP activist-turned-Independent. Joe is running for MN Governor from the Independence Party, and I’m helping out with his campaign as much as I can. So with full disclosure out of the way, I had to share this link to an appearance he made on WCCO TV (Minneapolis/St. Paul) this morning. Joe is a great leader – and it will be fun to see where this campaign leads us.

He also has a really informative website. I encourage everyone to read up on all of the candidates running. It’s going to be an interesting race for Minnesota Governor, in the wake of Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Big challenges ahead for the next person to take the state’s top office.

One of the logos from Joe's campaign

One thing that is interesting to observe – as everyone scrambles to understand the sentiment around the country with Tea Party events, election upsets and other things that seem to defy explanation, the two largest political parties are probably going to miss the boat, misread the American public, and further alienate a massive chunk of the electorate. That’s why it’s interesting to observe campaigns like Repya’s. It’s going to be a fun ride to November, that’s for sure.

Football Season is Over! Time to Focus on 2010 Elections!

Okay, as a Minnesotan, I have to say I was disheartened by the implosion of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game in New Orleans. This was the team that shoulda coulda woulda, but didn’t. It sure was a lot of fun to see Brett Favre don the #4 in a purple jersey, if for no other reason than it drove a lot of Wisconsinites nuts. That’s always fun.

But the football games are now behind us, so it’s time to turn my attention once again to the game of politics. A lot has happened since my last post (traveling a lot for work again, so the blog tends to fall by the wayside). Let’s see, we saw President Obama’s healthcare takeover implode much like the Vikings in the final game of the playoffs. We saw Democrats fumble the election for “Ted Kennedy’s seat” much like Adrian Peterson fumbled the football at the most inopportune times (can you tell I’m still smarting from the beating we endured in New Orleans?). We saw an underwear bomber on a Delta airplane (no Vikings quips when it comes to terror attacks) and we saw the continued assault from the left on our free market system, much like the Saints offensive line’s continued assaults on 40-year old Brett Favre. (okay okay…I’ll let the Vikes off the hook now – ‘nuf said).

With the football season done, I’m now eagerly analyzing candidates for election this November, from local races on up to the congressional elections. It’s going to be an interesting year.

I started this next phase of “Lost Republican’ism” by meeting with a candidate for Minnesota House in district 56B here in the land of 10,000 Lakes. For those of you not familiar, 56B is a somewhat conservative district in the east metro of Minneapolis/St. Paul – in the heart of Michele Bachmann’s 6th Congressional District. I met with Andrea Kieffer (www.andreakieffer.com) – a challenger to a fairly popular incumbent DFL state representative. Kieffer was a refreshing change as far as candidates go. She and her family are well traveled – having lived in a former Communist block country and other locales, but for some reason they seem to gravitate back to the cold and snow of Minnesota. As a newcomer to politics, Kieffer needs to hone her message a bit, but she sure seemed on track with the simple fact that people are concerned, above all else, with jobs, jobs and jobs.

Image from Andrea Kieffer website

I look forward to hearing more specifics from Andrea as the election season moves on. I hope to see her at caucus night here in Minnesota. And, if the opportunity avails itself, I may try to post a video entry if Andrea is willing to subject herself to a Lost Republican video interview.

Great candidates make for a good start to the season, but as we start to get into the thick of election cycle, I’m concerned that the party establishments in the GOP (state and national) are going to misread what we saw in Massachusetts. I’m concerned that the GOP, in trying to understand the tea party movement and the general uprising of frustrated citizens, will try to control the message and direction of this phenomenon, hence killing it. Hopefully candidates like Andrea Kieffer will have the opportunity to build on the uprising by truly hearing what people are saying. We’re concerned about our jobs. We’re concerned about unchecked political power. We’re concerned about seemingly endless deficits (let’s not forget that GOP’ers haven’t done that much better on budgets as of late). We’re concerned about sky-high taxes.

I’d love to see candidates this season really tuning in to what the people are truly concerned about….and then addressing those concerns head-on. So far, I’m impressed by what I’ve seen in a short hour-long chat with Andrea at a Starbucks today.

I encourage everyone to meet candidates in person. Answer the door when they come-a-knockin’. Ask them questions. Listen to their answers and understand their positions and how those positions will affect your family. It’s time to end the assault on the private sector and move to policies that will allow businesses and entrepreneurs to not only survive – we need to create an environment where they can thrive. That’s how you create sustainable jobs.

Later I’ll blog about my foray into the world of Independents. While I’m not always a fan of candidates that may split the vote, we have some compelling options in Minnesota (not another Jesse Ventura – don’t worry). More to come on that.

Why Do Our Leaders Put Their Foot on the Neck of a Struggling Economy?

Amazing story (see link below) – our leaders in DC seem hell-bent on killing the economy. Why do we want to choke businesses that are already struggling? This hysteria over CO2 is astounding to me. Do we need to control emissions to protect the environment? Yes. Do we need to kill off all businesses to achieve that? No. Industries in the U.S. face more regulations than anywhere else in the world. WE are the responsible ones. WE are the nation that does the most to run clean businesses and protect the air and water. Cut our businesses some slack!

Business Fumes Over Carbon Dioxide Rule – WSJ.com

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World War II Vet vs Homeowner’s Association

Okay…I live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association. It’s a pretty low-test association, but we have to get approvals to do things like landscaping, putting up a swing set, installing a basketball hoop, etc.  I can see the value in the association, as long as the association doesn’t overstep its bounds.

But see this story from WTVR TV:

Local World War II Veteran Fights Homeowner’s Association – wtvr

It’s sickening that an old man who fought in WWII is being forced to remove his flagpole, which he uses to fly the American flag.  I hope he fights this and I hope others get involved and put this specific homeowners association in its place.

We had a situation in a neighboring association that was giving people grief for putting up Christmas decorations. I’m fine paying a small fee for some maintenance and adherence to a limited set of regulations for a neighborhood, but these associations should not be allowed to run roughshod over traditions and peoples liberty to celebrate things like our nation and important holidays.

I’d like to find the contact info for the association in the news story above and encourage people to contact them and voice our support for a man who fought for his nation.

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Sometimes I Have to Give the Left Credit

As someone who is becoming increasingly conservative by the day, I need to sometimes put myself in check. Listening to one of my favorite talk radio hosts this afternoon, I was reminded that we need to always be intellectually honest. He (Jason Lewis) was talking about President Obama’s address at Westpoint – and his now public plan for the war in Afghanistan. Conservatives, like myself, seemed ready to jump all over the president and we were quick to find fault with anything and everything had to say. My favorite commentators on Fox seemed like rabid dogs ripping on every syllable that came out of the president’s mouth – just like the Left did when President Bush was in charge. While we do need to poke holes in their approach, we cannot always foam at the mouth with anger every time the president speaks. Trust me, we’ll have ample opportunity to be truly critical of Democrat leadership in the months ahead.

But trying to look objectively at this, the Left is actually angrier about President Obama’s move to bolster our forces in Afghanistan with 30,000 more troops. Sure, I can take issue with setting an artificial timetable to begin a troop drawdown. But the converse sure doesn’t seem to work that well. The president followed some of the suggestions of the commanders in the field. I guess I can’t find too much fault with his decision. (However, I don’t like the fact that he seemingly intentionally kept the word “victory” out of his speech at Westpoint).

As I searched the universe for interesting videos that I could conceivably post, I came across this one of the John Stewart show. (be patient, you may have to sit through a commercial)

I really do NOT like this show. I can’t take his left wing rants, and his apparent hatred for anything right of center. But in this case, John Stewart is being (somewhat) intellectually honest about the latest stories that cast significant doubt on the “science” behind global warming theory. I appreciate when someone can take shots at his or her own side. God knows there are enough buffoons on the Left and Right. We have to find humor among our own ranks sometimes, and I was pleased to see that John Stewart is occasionally prepared to do just that.

I really do NOT like this show. I can’t take his left wing rants, and his apparent hatred for anything right of center. But in this case, John Stewart is being (somewhat) intellectually honest about the latest stories that cast significant doubt on the “science” behind global warming theory. I appreciate when someone can take shots at his or her own side. God knows there are enough buffoons on the Left and Right. We have to find humor among our own ranks sometimes, and I was pleased to see that John Stewart is occasionally prepared to do just that.

Union Thugs Target Scouts?

Recently, I was convinced to volunteer as a den leader for one of my sons’ cub scout groups. My wife was convinced to volunteer as den leader for our other boy’s den. It’s fun. It’s important to get kids involved in these kinds of things. But it’s also a headache (planning den meetings,  coordinating fundraising activities for the den, etc.).

So I came across this story (link below), and just shook my head in amazement. Some of the most important lessons kids learn in scouting include civic involvement, personal responsibility, volunteerism, respect for the environment, respect for others, and even good old fashioned hard work.

Then the unions have to come in and threaten grievances because a kid did a good thing for his community? When you read it, though, you’ll see the union seems to be back pedaling on this a bit, which they should.

Pennsylvania Union Leader Criticized for Threatening Legal Action Over Boy Scout’s Volunteerism – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com

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Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats in 2010 Vote

Interesting poll data from Gallup. I guess after letting the kids run the show for the last several months, the country wants grown ups to come back and make tough decisions and show real leadership. Here’s the latest from Gallup:

Republicans Edge Ahead of Democrats in 2010 Vote.

Breaking Out of Blogging Rut

I originally launched this blog with the notion of helping other yet-to-get-involved conservatives who feel lost during this time of “hope and change” (coupled with a sometimes aimless Republican party) to get engaged – to do something. It’s tough for ordinary folks like myself to add one more item to our day. Work, family, sporting events, kids’ school projects, unexpected travel – all of this tends to wipe out “free” time. Political involvement, even rudimentary involvement adds to a growing list of “must do” items and takes away from the list of “want to do” items.

So I’ve been in a blogging rut over the last few weeks, for all of the reasons mentioned above (not to mention a nasty bout with that pesky Swine Flu). But I ran into another barrier that others may run into when they start out into the nasty world of political engagement – FRUSTRATION. Over the last month, my job has taken me to Germany, Sweden, Chicago and New York City. It seemed that each place put me face to face with more liberals than conservatives. I found myself feeling defeated, isolated, and marginalized. Much like I felt right after the “historic” election of 2008. It was tough to re-engage in this blog.

Then, while I was in New York City for work, I happened to be able to catch part of one of my favorite conservative talk radio shows – The Mark Levin Show. As luck would have it, my Congressional Representative, Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, was a guest on the show, promoting last week’s hastily arranged rally at the capitol in Washington D.C. (I’ll be the first to admit that Rep. Bachmann can be a bit nutty, but nowhere near as nutty as the Left is). They talked about the event, the speakers (including a)ctors Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger) and the importance of unifying our voice in opposition to further government intrusion into our healthcare system. I was motivated. I wanted to attend. Trouble was, my work trip to NYC ran through the day of the rally.

When I arrived back in Minnesota, I read as much coverage as I could about the event. I checked out videos. I read blogs. Once again, I felt a bit energized and motivated to start writing again. I wish I could have been there. Maybe next time. It would be worth the price of an airline ticket and hotel room.

After getting this needed booster shot, not even the dead-of-night passage of the healthcare “reform” bill in the House can slow me down. I’m back and more motivated than ever. My thanks to people like Rep. Bachmann and Mark Levin for continuing to motivate us all, even when things seem bleak.

Lesson learned – getting started is easy. Staying motivated can be challenging. You need not commit endless hours to political involvement. In fact, committing to too much too soon might burn you out. Then when a setback comes your way, you might be more inclined to give up.

So for those of you starting out, pace yourself. Read, learn, listen, comment. But most importantly, stay focused. We have a long way to go to the 2010 election. But we’ll get there – together.

In the meantime, too much has passed in the last week or so to even begin commenting on – from the horrific terror attack at Fort Hood to Pelosi’s Saturday night passage of the healthcare bill to the long-overdue execution of the DC sniper John Allen Muhammad.  But I still want to provide quick comments:

1) Fort Hood: Cast blame first where it belongs – on the dirtbag who shot up members of our military within the supposedly safe confines of a military base. Then go after the military brass who lacked the resolve to weed this cretin out of the military when it was so clear he had no business donning the uniform.

2) Pelosi’s Saturday night special: Keep it coming, Stretch (thanks Mark Levin for that nickname for Nancy Pelosi). We’ll remember this in 2010.

3) Execution of DC Sniper: Nobody can tell me that dirtbag deserved anything short of execution. The world is a better place now that he is no longer part of it.

Great content on these and many other topics (including Afghanistan) over the last few weeks on some of my favorite blogs, including:

The Lady Patriot

Chris Baker Radio Show

Right Wing Chick

Michael Yon

Larry David Blasted for ‘Curb’ Episode Where He Urinates on Jesus Painting – FOXNews.com

Check out this story:

Larry David Blasted for ‘Curb’ Episode Where He Urinates on Jesus Painting – FOXNews.com

This is beyond unacceptable and beyond simple “satire.” For HBO to dismiss the concerns of people underscores the growing disconnect we see between people and faith. It also underscores an amazing double-standard that the left holds, since such an act of “satire” against other faiths would bring about an immediate outcry. Where’s the media on this one? Where is the outrage?

 

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