Gay Militancy Intimidates RI Internet Radio?

Since 2013, I have been a columnist, commentator, and correspondent to New England readers.

As a California conservative in liberal New England, I carved out a unique niche for a dedicated readership every week. A year later, I reached out to 990WBOB, an internet radio station and blog which Friends from the previous company.

This site seemed like a better fit.

There, I published columns correcting a Mother Jones article, and also a column criticizing a piece in Breitbart. I discussed candidate Charlie Baker’s rise in Massachusetts, and one of my favorite governors: Paul LePage of Maine (“Tell them to kiss my butt!”).

One local legislator reported to me a leftist assault which got his Facebook page shut down. A lot of readers liked that post.

As in the case above, freedom of speech has taken some heavy attacks in New England. Today I report that I have become another casualty.

Problems really surfaced when two weeks ago, 990WBOB’s editor Adam Palazio and crew announced a Veterans Day Fundraiser, called"F-Bomb Friday”:

The idea really disturbed me. F-bombs on the radio? I communicated my concerns to Mr. Palazio:

Palazio responded in a fashion I was not prepared for:

"Your writing is offensive!"
(Even if your columns get a lot of hits)

 

At this time Arthur we should probably part ways. Some of your articles are far more offensive then a few f-bombs.

He responded by attacking me. Neither professional nor purposeful. Really? A number of my posts received many hits and comments, while most articles on 990WBOB were getting very little attention. Palazio even wrote me a personal note telling me what a great writer I am, and compensated me.

His next comments were jarring:

Your stance on homosexuality is primitive and dangerous yet I publish your work and stand by your right to express yourself. So for you to be uncomfortable with this in anyway not only offends me but the entire team as well.

So, Palazio is leeting me go bceause of my views on homosexuality and gay marriage? “Primitive and dangerous” were his words for describing my state. For the record, I support traditional marriage and do not believe that homosexuality is genetic.

 Here are some of the columns I wrote: LGBT Caucus in Congress; RI State Senator Nesselbush. In one of my radio programs , I shared concerns about homosexual conduct, its true origins, and the need to defend religious liberty.

Not once did anyone on the media staff ask me to talk about something else.

Palazio continued:

For to long we have walked on eggshells afraid to offend anyone. It got us no were. However when I finally did trust my gut and stop being so serious I not only made a name for myself but 990WBOB as well. For you to feel this way tells me your only going to be offended sooner then later and your not among like minds. It's very unfortunate that those with the strongest opinions usually have the narrowest mindsets.

The CEO claims that he is offended, and thus everyone else is offended.  This overarching “collective entitlement” is as left-wing, anti-liberty as it gets: “You are offensive because I say so!” Then he decides that I will be offended by anything he says in the future, before anything else has been spoken. Something really intriguing as well as disturbing in this mess? Palazio wrote me a personal note calling me "a great writer" and paid me $25 for one of my columns.

These rants are not coming from The New York Times or The Providence Journal, but comments coming from individuals running alternative news sites, attacking the mainstream media.

Another point: having a strong opinion never indicates a narrow mindset. Those who have formed their conclusions through research and evidence often reach strong opinions.

No matter what the reason, however, to be summarily dismissed, without warning, is reprehensible.

Then his final comments:

You are not a good fit. I took a lot of flack for your opinions on homosexuality.  I defend you as did the company. I've decided now that we are not a good fit.

Did Cicilline pressure 990WBOB?

 

So, someone was giving him a hard time about my views on marriage and homosexuality. But who? Did Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) or other politicos start intimidating Palazio? 

I finally wrote back:

I am disappointed in your lack of candor, or courage. You could have had the courage to say something - request I write on other subjects. In one sense, you are right-- it is not a good fit -- I deserve better than your lack leadership.

Sadly, in Rhode Island, this rising assault on freedom of speech is nothing new. WPRO radio host John DePetro faced an extended boycott from public sector unions because of his relentless exposes. Raymond McKay, an IT employee in Warwick, Rhode Island would have lost his job if he ran for US Senate in 2014. Now, 990WBOB’s Palazio discreetly shows me the door without notice.

Not content with businesses, churches, and charities, has the homosexual lobby begun attacking Internet media companies, too?  Now more than ever, pro-marriage and pro-family forces need to fight back and secure their First Amendment rights in the face of a growing left-wing homosexual militancy in New England, one which may have intimidated a local media site to force out one of their most talented writers.

If SCOTUS Says "Yes" to Gay Marriage. . .

United States Supreme Court

A few days ago, I spoke with an ardent advocate for faith and family in New England, where securalism, pluralism, and academic conformity have replaced the fundamental values on which this country is based.

I had asked him his thoughts about the upcoming decision from the Supreme Court of the United States, whether they would recognize the radical redefinition of marriage. He admitted that many people have been pressing for his thoughts on the matter, and ultimately he was all burned out on talking about the subject.

Working very hard to protect churches and families, this man was tired. While he rested, I pointed out that a growing number of pastors across the country had signaled to the Supreme Court: "We will not comply!"

He glibly answered: "What's that supposed to mean? They should not be complying in the first place!"

I agreed with his point. No one should be complying with an unjust, unsound, unconstitutional decision from the Supreme Court.

Now, gay marriage became a legal fiction in Massachusetts, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court forced gay marriage onto the Bay State in 2004, and to this day pro-family, pro-marriage, and pro-life forces have mobilized to stop the crushing advance of an agenda which rocks,  mocks, and ultimately seeks to destroy the very fabric of society.

Massachusetts, now derided as "Marx-achusetts", is losing population, money, and even inner stability. Local conservatives have informed me that many still do not recognize gay marriage. So much for the argument that the courts can reshape public opinion or policy.

Without families, there is no community. Without communities, there is no civilization. Without civilization, there is poverty, chaos, and death.

Every state, every country which abandoned marriage, strong families, and well-raised children disappeared into the ash-heap of history.

This debate is more than a matter of disagreement or difference of opinion. The notion that man can redefine marriage is the argument that man is God, that he needs to submit to no other opinion than his feelings or the opinions of the times.

The times are a changing, and they will always change. Men will find themselves on the right or wrong side of history, regardless of the final dictates or determinations of the truth.

Now, turning from the arbitrary and arrogant decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, let us consider what SCOTUS may do, and whether it really matters.

Let us establish the following  moral certainty: the Supreme Court, or any court is not the final arbiter of truth.

SCOTUS once ruled, through the mouth of its Chief Justice Roger Taney, that "Negroes are a subordinate class of human beings which have no rights a white man is bound to respect."

Excuse me? The Declaration of Independence affirmed "All men are created equal" then referred to mankind. Even if the Framers were not living up to the standards in this document, the country grew in awareness of Our Creator and Redeemer's endowment of rights and liberties.

SCOTUS also declared in Plessy v Ferguson that "separate but equal" was acceptable in public places. No, it was not, and never would be. Segregation throughout the country produced unequal opportunities, and diminished the status of different people, for no other reason than the color of their skins.

SCOTUS even upheld a Presidential order targeting one ethnic group, and specifically those living in one part of the country, as enemies of the state. Americans of Japanese descent living along the West Coast of the United States were forced to sell their property, take oaths, or face internment, as the President at the time feared that among their numbers thrived terrorist cells in league with the axis power.

The Court has also reversed its prior decisions.

If SCOTUS says "Yes!" to gay marriage, it will not matter. No more than man can tell the sun to stop shining, or the earth to stop spinning on its axis. Man's pronouncement on any institution is irrelevant. Courts cannot mandate water flowing from dried up mountains into desert conditions. Court rulings cannot remake mathematics, science, or economics. Let SCOTUS declare "Two plus two equals five" and 2 + 2 will still equal four.

Just as pro-life advocates never stopped advocating for life, the stance on marriage, the institution which predated the state, will not give way, no matter what the "final" ruling of a court.



Welsh wedding (Geoff Charles)
Marriage is here to stay, no matter what
the Supreme Court rules

Homelessness and Baltimore Riots

Homelessness is a growing problem in the South Bay, and I commend Random Lengths News for discussing this issue. Many homeless suffer from mental illness, including veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Investments in proper treatment then training would tackle a number of issues connected with homelessness.

Homeless Tent (Rodrigo)

Aside from treating those individuals with mental health concerns, what else can be done to alleviate poverty?

Research has revealed that making it easier for people to get a job is better than providing stuff from the state, all paid for by John Q. Public. James Q. Wilson, professor of political science at UCLA, affirmed that individuals can avoid poverty by doing three things: 1. Finish high school 2. Wait until age 20 before getting married 3. Get married before having kids. How often are these values promoted today?

Now, let’s turn our focus to Baltimore, Maryland, where the latest race riots broke out in the wake of purported police brutality.

Matt Weurker’s inferences in his latest cartoon are commendable, including the failing public schools and the loss of major jobs and trade. It is not enough for the police to beat down criminals and thugs, in a public atmosphere which has exacerbated these problems.

However, Weurker’s cartoon and Allen’s editorials ignore the deeper causes of homelessness in general and Baltimore’s economic and moral malaise in particular.

Sixty years of liberal-progressive victimization, race-baiting, redistribution of wealth, and outright waste and fraud turned a beautiful Eastern seaboard city, the scene of American victory over the invading British depicted in the Star Spangled Banner, the home of freedom fighter Frederick Douglas, into a morass of broken homes, bad schools, and cronyism throughout.

Regardless of what the six police officers may or may not have done (keep in mind that half of the indicted officers are black, one of them female), the problems in Baltimore, Maryland had festered for decades, all under Big Government Democratic policies of expanded bureaucracies, rampant welfare abuse, Big Labor bullying, and anti-growth programs, all of which have diminished access to a quality education and rebuffed robust commercial activity. Labor unions and government bureaucrats (20% of Baltimore employees work for the government) have profited at the expense of everyone else.

Baltimore Harbor (Chuck Szmurlo)

 

What Baltimore needs is exactly what single mother Toya Graham gave her son: repeated slaps on the head, with stern rebukes to stop babying miscreants and start rewarding hard-working, law-abiding citizens.

Is Freedom of Speech Dead in Rhode Island?

Since 2013, I have been a columnist, commentator, and correspondent to New England  readership.

After the 2012 Presidential disappointment, with President Obama winning a second term, I was convinced that the Republican Party needed a Fifty-State strategy.

Right away, I began contacting Republican leaders in deep blue states along the Eastern Seaboard, including Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island, arguably the most liberal state in the Union, where Republicans eke out a paltry 9% of the registration.

I sent some columns to one Internet only media company based in Providence, who took up my piece: “Roger Williams would be a Republican in RI”.

As a California conservative writing in liberal New England, I could carve out a niche, which I did for two sites: Providence, RI, and Worcester, MA. I got a lot of traffic, and two of my articles were considered in the Top 10 for Go Local Worcester that year.

Because of creative differences, as well as frustration with the leadership at the first site, I quit but kept writing to other open news sites. During that time, another media company reached out to me, 990WBOB, an internet radio station as well as blog site. Friends of mine from the previous company had brought me on board.

 

There, I corrected the record on a Mother Jones article, in Breitbart, and discussed candidate Charlie Baker’s rise in Massachusetts, as well as one of my favorite governors: Paul LePage of Maine (“Tell them to kiss my butt!”). One local legislator reported to me a leftist assault which got his Facebook page shut down.

As in Rep. Chippendale’s case, freedom of speech has taken some heavy attacks in New England. Today I report that I have become another casualty.

The company director, Adam Palazio, wanted to provide me a forum for my articles and also my own radio show: “The State of the Union.” He praised my work a number of times, and informed the rest of the staff that I was getting a large amount of the traffic on the site.

Two weeks ago, Palazio and crew announced their intentions for a Veterans Day Fundraiser, with F-Bomb Friday”:

 

 

WBOB Says F-U to the FCC to Support Our Nation's Heroes

 

 

The event, which runs from 8 pm to 11 pm (EST), will feature celebrity cameos and listener call-ins aimed at saying the F-word as often as possible, and for good reason -- every F-Bomb equals a two dollar donation to Operation Stand Down Rhode Island (www.OSDRI.org).

I was really disturbed by this idea, and I communicated my concerns to Mr. Palazio:

That does not present a strong, respectable image for the radio show. But more importantly, I think that it does not reflect well on our veterans or our country. How about: "We will donate $2 for every time someone says 'Veteran'"?

For the record,  one of the other radio hosts on the station shared with me his difficulty in finding people to participate.

Later that day, Palazio responded in a fashion I was not prepared for:

At this time Arthur we should probably part ways. Some of your articles are far more offensive then a few f-bombs.

Really? A number of the posts received many hits, and a few comments. Many of the articles on 990WBOB were not getting comments, likes, or retweets.

Your stance on homosexuality is primitive and dangerous yet I publish your work and stand by your right to express yourself. So for you to be uncomfortable with this in anyway not only offends me but the entire team as well.

So, my stance on homosexuality is the reason he let me go? For the record, these are the articles I wrote touching on homosexuality: LGBT Caucus in Congress; RI State Senator Nesselbush. In one of my radio programs in particular, I shared concerns about homosexual conduct, its true origins, and the need to defend religious liberty, although I did not reserve my opinions support marriage between one man and one woman, plus the necessity of protecting businesses, churches, and charities from a rising militancy against freedom of conscience in this country.

Palazio continued:

For to long we have walked on eggshells afraid to offend anyone. It got us no were. However when I finally did trust my gut and stop being so serious I not only made a name for myself but 990WBOB as well. For you to feel this way tells me your only going to be offended sooner then later and your not among like minds. It's very unfortunate that those with the strongest opinions usually have the narrowest mindsets.

At one point, the CEO claims that he is offended, and therefore everyone else is offended. Then he decides that I will be offended, before anything else has been spoken. What is going on? For the record, having a strong opinion never indicates a narrow mindset. Those who have formed their conclusions through research and evidence often reach strong opinions. Such is the essence of critical thinking.

Now, even local Internet media companies are getting intimidated or easily offended over differences of opinion. Freedom of speech means nothing if there is no freedom to speak or write freely. To be summarily dismissed, without warning, is reprehensible. This I wrote back to Palazio, and much more:

I am disappointed in your lack of candor, or courage. You could have had the courage to say something - request I write on other subjects. In one sense, you are right-- it is not a good fit -- I deserve better than your lack leadership.

 

John DePetro

 

Sadly, in Rhode Island, this rising assault on freedom of speech is nothing new. WPRO radio host John DePetro faced an extended boycott from public sector unions because of his relentless exposes on their tactics and aggressive agenda against RI taxpayers. Raymond McKay, an IT employee in Warwick, Rhode Island would have lost his job if he ran for US Senate in 2014.

 

Raymond McKay

 

Now, Palazio has discreetly shown me the door without any notice from 990WBOB.

So, I must ask: Is freedom of speech dead in Rhode Island?

The McCain Dilemma, or Accountability for US Senators

John McCain in trouble for 2016

New polling indicates that Senior US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is losing popularity with Arizona voters, who want a more conservative candidate representing them in Washington:

Five-term incumbent Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has good reason to fear a primary challenge. Newly released data from liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling shows half of Arizona’s Republican primary voters disapprove of McCain’s job performance, and more than half would prefer a more conservative Senate candidate in 2016.

Five-term incumbent? No wonder McCain has gotten out of touch. Term limits are not the answer, other than responsive voters expecting responsible officials.

Arizona Republicans want a more conservative candidate, and only 37% of Arizonans in general approve of McCain.

Why ever would they think that?

Let's start with his litany of bipartisan liberalized legislation with progressives on an array of displaced issues.

He talks up climate alarmism, having draft legislation with retired Democrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. He also coauthored the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform" legislation, which the US  Supreme Court struck down in 2010 in Citizens United.

McCain also teamed up with now-deceased ultra-liberal Ted Kennedy on immigration "reform". He also voted against the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, then signed off on the Medicare Part D expansion which the country could not afford. On war issues, McCain has become a belligerent neocon who shames anyone disputing immediate investment of armed troops into the Middle East.

Let's not forget his stunningly stupid slur against US Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, calling them "Wacko Birds". Although he later apologized, McCain has still shown himself to be more allied with big government, establishment interests at the expense of conservative movements around the country, including the Tea Party.

Conclusion: McCain has gone Washington for years, more interested in holding onto power rather than representing the best interests of the people who elected him.

Other reports earlier this year caught him purging Tea Party and conservative Republican critics from the central committees and endorsing bodies throughout Arizona, in another attempt to safeguard his reelection chances for 2016.

McCain's non-conformity to the conservative cause reared its ugly head before, when in 2010 he faced a primary challenge from a former Congressman and radio host. McCain quickly changed his tune and shouted: "Build the dang fence!" Three years after his election, he signed off on the Obamacare of immigration bills, failing to reach the 70 votes threshold they had initially promised.

McCain gest jittery around election time, and veers right to dampen a primary fight, or at least curry enough favor to survive the primary and float into reelection.

In 2015, with a more relentless media exposing his back-handed deals with Democratic elements in the US Senate, plus the recent purge of Arizona GOP committee groups from key leadership positions, it has become very clear that McCain represents his own ambitions, no longer the best interests of his state.

McCain will face a tougher fight going into 2016, and with more conservatives angry at Washington Republicans trying to keep the status quo rather than change the culture of the upper chamber, the same voters who held their noses for him in 2010 will be giving him the thumbs down the next go around. 

A deeper question arises from the McCain dilemma: How can voters ensure that US Senators remain connected and competent?

James Madison, Father of the Constitution

The Federalist Papers may assist us. Madison wrote in Federalist 62 that the US Senate would provide a check on federal authority against the states:

It is recommended by the double advantage of favoring a select appointment, and of giving to the State governments such an agency in the formation of the federal government as must secure the authority of the former, and may form a convenient link between the two systems. 

In Federalist 63, Madison charged that the US Senate projected an aura of national stability before member nations in the world:

A fifth desideratum, illustrating the utility of a senate, is the want of a due sense of national character.

US Senators were never supposed to respond to popular interest, but the states. This process changed with the Seventeenth Amendment, prodded along by progressives seeking to empower the popular vote, yet inadvertently diminished individual influence as well as state sovereignty. The popular electorate in general does not have the time or resources to pay attention and force their senior representatives to focus on their proper duties and represent the best interests of their state.

So, what to do?

Bill Whittle: "Give Back the Senate!"

Conservative news analyst Bill Whittle has suggested it, former Governor Rick Perry briefly campaigned on it, and even left-wing Mother Jones talked about the movement: repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, and give back the US Senate to the states, not to the people.

Does the Constitution require this amendment repeal in order to bring the US Senators back in line with respecting the enumerated powers of the US Constitution, and limiting the spread of the federal leviathan into the daily business of the states and the people?

Based on the recent attempts to unseat liberal-leaning Republicans like Lindsey Graham in 2014, following the statewide rebuke from his own party, it appears necessary to reinvigorate the power of state legislatures against Washington.

Conservatives could take advantage of repeal. In 2015, Republicans control 70% of the state legislatures, who would appoint US Senators reflecting their numbers, and their values. Rather than direct election and all its adverse idiosyncrasies, today there would be a marked supermajority of Republican US Senators in the upper chamber, ready to override a number of Obama's unjust and unsound vetoes.

Ironically, by removing the power of the American People to elect their US Senators, repeal of the 17th Amendment would inadvertently enhance the power of the states and the people against Washington, including a rogue Democratic President bent on his own agenda at the expense of the country and the US Constitution.

It would also force US Senators like John McCain to uphold the Constitution as well as their commitments to their constituents.

Will Governor Hogan become Walker or Christie?

 

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan went from the sidelines to the spotlight in November, winning an unlikely upset in the deeply Democratic Old Line State.

No one was paying attention to the Maryland's gubernatorial race, until Republican Larry Hogan, son of Congressman Laurence Hogan, won the race.

Change Maryland

Change Maryland, Hogan's grassroots organization, changed Maryland.

So far, following from the first budget session of the Republican governor, he has followed through on his fiscally conservative platform, repealing the dreaded rain tax, as well as cutting wasteful contracts and expanding charter schools.

In a forum discussing his first one hundred days in office, Hogan recognized that he did not get everything that he wanted, nor did the Democratic legislature.

Hogan's political situation mirrors that of a few other Republican governors along the East Coast, including Massachusetts' Charlie Baker and New Jersey's Chris Christie, as all three of them are red governors still representing deep-blue states with heavy Democratic majorities in the state legislature.

This set-up brings up a serious question: will Governor Hogan turn into Governor Christie, or does he have the chance to become a real reform and shape the culture in his state, much like Scott Walker of Wisconsin?

Granted, Hogan invited his New Jersey counterpart to speak at his inauguration. Do the similarities continue from there?

For the time being, I gladly submit: "No".

Governor Larry Hogan

Hogan has been a team player for at least a decade, and his coalition of Democrats and Independents reveals a capacity to work with different ideological backgrounds, but still achieve results.

Once in office, Hogan did not parade just himself. He worked with his team of advisers, and set up realistic goals. Clear and convincing without blare and bombast, the small business owner has focused on accomplishing needed tasks without making himself the forefront.



His very interesting One Hundred Days forum featured his interest in cooperation, as he consistently refused to take all the time for himself to talk. Hogan passed the microphone around, allowing his Republican colleagues, including the current Lieutenant Governor, to share their thoughts about the first budget session. Good leadership is based on more than "Look what I did!" but "See what we have accomplished."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

In contrast to the Hogan win in 2014, Bush surrogate then US Attorney Chris Christie of New Jersey  unseated an unpopular incumbent in 2009. He accomplished something memorable and compelling, yet he did so without his own grassroots coalition.

Within days, Christie gained a lot of attention, not just for winning as a Republican in Democratic New Jersey, but for his plain-spoken affronts to the press and the Democratic legislature. He took a firm stance against unions early on and killed expensive government projects.

Yet from the outset, he was the center of attention, and he seemed more intent on getting along to go along. Hogan has worked with his Democratic legislative counterparts, but he is also building his party, the conservative brand, and prepping for the long-term.

From the moment Christie made the front-page news with his brash style, he made himself the subject of attention. He did not talk about bringing up his party, nor did he focus on getting more Republicans into the state legislature. Rather than working the legislature in line with reform policies, he worked with the legislature according to their leads. He played along.

Pension liabilities, spending, waste and fraud, and much-needed fiscal and government reforms won't work without a more like-minded legislature.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker understood the importance of a team effort to put forward and advance key reforms. He did not run for Governor in 2010 on his own, but a concerted effort brought in other Republicans, who gained majorities in Madison.

Will Maryland's Hogan end up like Governor Christie, getting along to go along in Annapolis with the Democratic machine majorities, or will he work with local conservatives and the general public to expand his coalition and get like-minded legislators into the General Assembly in the next election?

Based on his measured and professional response to the Baltimore riots, plus his strong efforts with the Maryland Republican Party, Hogan is more on line to be like Scott Walker, but time will tell.

Clinton Boosts Warren in Time

Time Magazine just released their list of the 100 Hundred Most influential people for this year.

The politicization in these rankings can rankle some people. House Speaker John Boehner praises Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tennessee's US Senator Lamar Alexander praises Bob Corker.

These glowing paragraphs praising this year's winners also reek of self-promotion. We tend to praise in other people the very things we either see or want to see in ourselves. A number of Presidential contenders or 2016 aspirants do not appear in these pages, most of them the conservative, Republican nominees.

Where is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker? What about Paul LePage? Or even Indian-American female governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina? She has identity politics written all over, and she represents one of the Deep South States, the first to secede from the Union. Where was the glowing editorial on her behalf?

Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC)

One of the more telling examples of  Time 100's "Praise yourself through praising others", Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touts US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in a unique column, filled with the same warm liberal talking points. Critics contend that the progressive academic can make Hillary do whatever she wants. Warren supporters believe that her record and rhetoric better match the tone of the Democratic Party, and that she should run instead of Clinton, whose campaign is struggling to gain momentum in the face of scandals, message failures, and outright boredom.

What does Hillary's flattery of Warren say about Hillary? Do we find the former First Lady trying to bolster her sagging bid for President?

Progressive champion (How anyone can describe deepening gaps in wealth and opportunity in this country, plus expanded government dependence, loose borders, a failing foreign policy, and race riots nationwide as "progressive" escapes most people, yet Hillary calls Elizabeth a champion of this cause)

It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests.

It does take a special leader. Or does it take a village? One of the titles of Clinton's self-appreciations, "It Takes a Village" might take more than one reading to endure the collectivist liberalism she promotes in raising young people. There is little truth that Edward "Ted" Kennedy was a champion of working people and pushed against special interests. His chief interest was his political ambitions, which permitted him an overly long stay in the US Senate. His immediate successor, Republican state senator Scott Brown of Wrentham, replaced Kennedy on a platform of stopping Obamacare. The signature legislation expanding government control into health care remains unpopular, except with the special interests who lobbied for then benefitted from the legislation.

Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.

About taming Wall Street, Warren better start defending her defense on behalf of Wall Street lawyers, though not the bankers. She also receives a large amount of her campaign funding from banking lobbyists, those firms not as big as Goldman-Sachs, but much larger than the neighborhood bank on the corner of Main Street.

Warren has pushed back against President Obama's push for Free Trade deals, but when will she explain why Obama's other policies (Stimulus, Obamacare, etc.) have also hurt middle-income families and small businesses? Warren hesitated to hold anyone accountable for the failed Democratic agenda during her celebrated guest spot on "The Tonight Show with Seth Meyers".

No wonder Hillary likes Warren, so far. She talks about accountability, but holds no one accountable, like President Obama and her less likely successor.

Clinton 2016 Logo

Presidential aspirants. . .like Hillary Clinton, of course. So, the Former US Senator plays up the current US Senator's "outsider" status. Clinton tried to make herself an average Joanne, first with her claims of "Dead broke" after leaving the White House in 2001, then driving around in her van "Scooby" for her first trip to Iowa after announcing her Presidential bid.

Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma. She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself.

Leveling the playing field has turned into skewing the game toward Big Government, and the big interests who can pull the levers and make the connections blocked or prevented from the little guy in the street. Warren, with on purpose or unintentionally, has geared populism toward more cronyism. Warren may have started out as a janitor's daughter. What about Hillary? Does her fulsome praise for the faux-Cherokee academic spill into promoting her chances? Hillary Clinton: the Barry Goldwater supporter of the early 1960s, who then came under the tutelage of Communist radical Saul Alinksy. Not very impressive, and more elite than mainstream.


Clinton's Time 100 praise for Warren does very little for her Presidential hopes. Everything she details in the Bay State US Senator, she wants people to see in her. Inadvertently, for the Democratic Party's progressive base, Clinton has made the case for bringing Warren into the race.



Elizabeth Warren (David Shankbone)

What RNC Should Learn from CA GOP

In his latest column, Washington Post commentator EJ Dionne advises National Republicans to learn from California's mistakes, or face declining voter support in election cycles to come.

CA GOP Chairman Jim Brulte

His first point of contact on this matter? The current Chairman of the California GOP, Jim Brulte:

 “California is the leading edge of the country’s demographic changes,” Brulte said in an interview. “Frankly, Republicans in California did not react quickly enough to them, and we have paid a horrible price.”

That is true. Up to the early 1980s and the 1990s, California was a majority white state, Republicans did very well working the entire. Other critics can rightly point out that the party structures got complacent, with easily redrawn Congressional and state representative districts which made it very difficult to remove an incumbent. Still, the demographic changes took the California Republican Party by surprise, and indeed they are playing catch-up.

The strange turn of Dionne's article, however, highlights the liberal columnists’ infusion of their left-leaning vision onto everything. They would prefer all political parties participate and promote that view. The Republican Party, by platform and legacy, is dedicated to a conservative standard, i.e. limited government, local control, individual liberty, small-scale constitutional form of governance.

In one flagrant example of this liberal bias, Dionne plays the race card to diagnose the California Grand Old Party's middling appeal to minorities:

 The principal cause of the GOP’s troubles is its alienation of Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans in a state whose population is now majority nonwhite.

This statement is disconcerting and false. Lack of outreach, yes. Offensive, alienating policies? No.

Governor Romualdo Pacheco

Before anyone claims that GOP stands for "Grandpas and Old People", a little history lesson about the California GOP is well in order. From its early stages as the opposition to the otherwise Democratic machine dominance in San Francisco and Los Angeles (where Confederate sympathizers attempted to secede California from the United States), the Republican Party boasted a diverse array of candidates. The first Latino Governor of California, Romualdo Pacheco, had started out as a Democrat, but left the party over slavery (he opposed it!) then became an elected Republican.

Governor George Deukmejian

 In the next century, Progressive (when it really meant “progress”) Republican Governor Hiram Johnson initiated the referendum and recall process. Another famous California Republican Governor, Ronald Reagan, relied on Hispanic outreach to unseat Governor Pat Brown. After eight years of Jerry Brown Part One, Republican  leader George Deukmejian, of Armenian descent, restored the Golden State from its wasteful, profligate predecessor. He also divested state funding from apartheid-run South Africa and engaged the black vote, depriving then-Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley of a possible upset during Deukmejian's 1986 reelection.



US Senator S. I. Hayakawa

 

One of the latest (hopefully not last) Republican US Senators for California, Japanese-American S. I. Hayakawa unseated an absentee incumbent Democratic US Senator John Tunney in 1976. What bolstered the profile of this non-politician? His courage, when he stopped unruly black militant protests during his tenure as President of San Francisco State, despite ethnic cries of prejudice. His bold stance against disrespectful disruption gained the respect of conservative voters. He campaigned on a pro-America, keep Panama platform, and won in a year when Jimmy Carter upset incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford.  (Ironically enough, the roots of failed GOP minority outreach began with Ford, who failed to re-charter RNC groups to reach out to Hispanics.)

Refusing to be defined narrowly by race, Hayakawa, a celebrated linguist and writer as well as outsider-politician, questioned paying reparations to interned Japanese-Americans during World War II, and even founded a lobbying group to promote English as the official language.

 The California Republican Party already boasts a winning legacy with other ethnic groups.

Predictably, the party's more government-averse views jar with progressive Dionne and the Democrats whom he also interviewed for his column. No wonder they (and the media) counsel Republicans to go liberal: “Be like us, and lose more elections!”

Like many liberals, Dionne beats the CA GOP with the Prop 187 stick, claiming that the popular (passed by 57%) initiative to block public benefits to illegal aliens ended up alienating Hispanics. Despite this misleading information, Dionne still has to explain the growing array of California’s Republican state and federal legislators of Hispanic origin.

Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance/Santa Monica), born in Taiwan, first elected to the Torrance City Council in the late 2000s, who mountaineered his way to federal office, commented that Republican opposition to in-state tuition for illegal aliens has hurt their brand:

 “Republicans were saying, ‘Come support us, we like you, but we want to deport your children.’ ”

Another patently offensive remark with no factual basis.

Some California Hispanic voters opposed Governor Jerry Brown Part II's "DREAM" Act, which benefitted three thousand illegal aliens at the expense of the millions of legal students, in-state or not, who still pay high and rising tuition rates.

What really “rankled” Asian-American voters? The Democratic legislature’s attempt to reintroduce discrimination into the college application process. Dionne did mention the CA GOP’s strong and growing outreach to California’s Asian-Pac communities, with an unprecedented number of Asian-Americans in the state legislature, all Republicans, evidently CA GOP leaders are learning from their past mistakes. By the way, there are more women in the GOP caucus then their liberal counterparts. Who is waging a War on Women now?

From Left Assembly Woman Young Kim, Supervisor Michelle Park-Steel,
Senator Janet Nguyen and Assembly Woman Ling-Ling Chang (Forbes)

Before conservatives nationally or in California panic about the Republican Party’s future, a historical and political perspective is essential.  For the CA GOP, the issue has been messaging, not massaging the truth, but more importantly punching back at the heated, racist narrative played out by the California Democratic Party for the past two decades (see one example here).

In 2014, Republicans already learned and applied key lessons. With wide-spread technological advances, a broader appeal through recruitment, outreach, and grassroots investment, the Grand Old Party is getting more than its well-deserver make-over. The National GOP needs to follow on those reforms in California, not take up the “advice” of liberal California Congressmen like Lieu, or liberal columnists like E. J. Dionne.

Gov. Hogan: Go "Toya Graham" on Baltimore

Over the past week, Baltimore, Maryland went up in riotous flames over the spurious reports that the police harmed and ultimately killed another black man in custody.

Violence has engulfed the largest city of the Old Line State before.

After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennis, on hundred twenty-five cities turned into scenes of inner-city violence. Then, a non-violent civil rights leader died at the hands of wily, wicked gunman. The country fell into upheaval.

Today, a black of dubious character, with a prior rap sheet of crime and mental illness, dies in police custody. Racial animus has turned into an excuse for pillaging city streets and rioting throughout urban regions every time a black man is killed in police custody.

The movement of the 1960s to grant more respect and civic participation for African-Americans has become a sophomoric temper tantrum of blame, shame, and victimization, wrapped up in self-righteous destruction of private property and open disrespect of established authority.

MD Governor Larry Hogan (Marrh2)

There is no excuse to break the law in the name of social protest, as Governor Hogan announced in his state of emergency:

This evening, as a result of violence and looting, which has led to the destruction of property and put innocent Marylanders at significant risk, I have declared a state of emergency at the request of Baltimore City. I have not made this decision lightly. The National Guard represents a last resort in order to restore order.


Look, people have the right to protest and express their frustration. But Baltimore City families deserve peace and safety in their communities. And these acts of violence and destruction of property cannot and will not be tolerated. I strongly condemn the acts of those who have engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians, businesses, and law enforcement officers.

Before Governor Hogan release his executive order for the National Guard to enforce curfews in the city, another Marylander, a Baltimore resident, took matters into her own hands. Toya Graham, a single mother of six, saw her son rioting in the streets, throwing rocks at police cars.

(Maryland National Guard)

Instead of throwing her hands up, she decided to throw her hands around in turn, and repeatedly slapped her son for participating in the violent, disorderly conduct. Forcing the mask of his face, Graham showed no restraint in restraining her son, and more parents needed to follow her example. This raw courage and character, while on full display, were not the driving reason for assaulting her son:

I could see the objects being thrown at the police. And I was in an awe: 'Oh my God! This is really happening right here with me.

Toya Graham slapping son Michael

Even Civil rights veteran and Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) has repudiated the attacks on police.

Low and behold, I turn around and I look in this crowd and my son is actually coming across the street with this hoodie on and a mask. At that point, I just lost it.

Nothing more, and nothing less, than a mother's instinct took over.

That’s my only son, and at the end of the day, I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray.

Her next remarks were stunning and profound:

To stand there and vandalize police cars: that's not justice.

I'm a single Mom, I have six children. . .and I simply choose not to  live like that no more. I don't want that for him.

It's a choice. It's time for parents and community leaders to choose accountability and responsibility.

And it appears that some people in Baltimore are doing just that.

Toya Graham interviewed by CBS

While the media picked up the destruction and violence, they ignored the outreach of community pastors who marched for peace, then knelt in prayer for an end to the crime. In the aftermath of the Governor's order, residents started picking up the pieces, cleaning up the mess.

Graham's example of Tough Love, however, should be the template for Governor Hogan and his administration. Instead of treating minority miscreants, or the city elements which foment the crisis with kid gloves, the governor, civil authorities, and local leaders need to start slapping some sense into these communities, hold all members accountable for the upbringing and orderly behavior of residents.

Instead of aiding and abetting welfarism, unjust transfers of wealth from rich to poor, or blaming the true victims (property owners and law-abiding residents, especially the few remaining white ones), Marylanders need to embrace conservative, limited government policies which promote individual liberty and responsibility, i.e. Republican programs.

For Governor Hogan, it's time for tough love of the city of Baltimore and the rest of Maryland. Hogan needs to go "Toya Graham" and smack down the hypermajority Baltimore City’s Democratic leadership and bureaucracy which has enabled and aggravated the poverty, stagnation, and rampant failure in that city.

He has taken clear steps to stop government growth, cutting taxes and spending. Now he needs to implement programs getting Baltimoreans off the dole, off the streets, and on the path to recovery and prosperity. He needs to echo the frustration of Ms. Graham:

 

I simply choose not to live like that no more.

Two Press Releases on Freddie Grey Indictments

Following the Maryland State Attorney's indictment of six Baltimore City police officers for the death of Freddie Grey, two major Maryland politicians issued a set of stark press releases, each revealing not only the chief concerns of the representatives, but also the undercurrent causes of the cultural and economic concerns.

MD Governor Larry Hogan (Marrh2)

From Governor Larry Hogan:

“For the safety and well-being of all Baltimore residents, I strongly urge everyone to continue to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner in the days ahead. The last week has been very difficult for the people of Baltimore and emotions are still running high following the indictments issued this morning by State’s Attorney Mosby. I believe in the criminal justice system, and we will all see this process play out over the coming months.

Governor Hogan thinks ahead regarding the potential turmoil facing the city. How welcome to read state leaders honoring not only the authorities in their midst, but also re-engage an aura of respect for the criminal justice system, for all its faults.

Pat Buchanan of the McLaughlin Group already fears that a situation like the LA riots may break out, since there is little evidence to uphold an indictment against the six police officers. Now more than ever peaceful conduct is essential.

“I also want to thank the Baltimore residents who kept their protests calm and nonviolent over the last several days, including community leaders who worked to keep the peace in their neighborhoods. The incredibly hardworking men and women in the National Guard and State Police, as well as police and firefighters from Baltimore and the surrounding states and counties, deserve our thanks for their tireless efforts in protecting our citizens.”

What the media misses, the governor gave credit for. Numerous Marylanders, particularly Baltimoreans, turned out to clean up the streets and restore order to their communities.

US Senator Barbara Mikulski

Senior US Senator Barbara Mikulski issued this release:

“Baltimore citizens have consistently demanded truth and demanded justice.

Baltimore citizens demand truth: no one should set aside that concern. Truth is a necessity. Yet to argue at the same time that they have demanded justice seems to fly in the face of the rioting and pillaging which overwhelmed the city for the past week.

Truth and justice are essential for any civil society, but what do these broad pronouncements have to do with restoring order to a city beleaguered with crime, gang violence, and a general disorderly rejection of the rule of law?

“Today the Baltimore City State’s Attorney announced criminal charges have been filed against six Baltimore City Police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray. Every individual deserves due process under the law. That means due process for Freddie Gray and his family and due process for the officers charged today.

Why is she talking about the arrest of six police officers, when the immediate concern rests on the burning, charred, and unsettled city?

“I encourage calm and peace in our great city as the legal process proceeds.”

Senators act more like advocates, rather than authorities. That is the nature of their office.

Governors are responsible not just for seeking the facts and establishing the final conclusion on controversial matters, but they must ensure stability and safety in their states. This two-fold responsibility justifies Hogan's retained remarks about the general need for calm despite the racial storms hitting the city.