Back to Basics

The National Rifle Association is not getting a lot of rave reviews from its members lately. In fact, by the looks of things the NRA is willfully taking a long trip up poop creek and doing so without a paddle in hand. What is the whole kerfuffle that has led to this ill advised journey? Well it revolves around Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Harry Reid is in a not so surprising fight for his political future in Nevada. The incumbent Senator is in a statistical dead heat with challenger Sharron Angle. It is a fight that Mr. Reid does not believe he should be in and that he cannot understand. He thinks the people should adore him. If they are foolish enough not to blindly love him then at least he thinks they should show him some respect as a long term representative of theirs in Washington and simply reelect him. Whether or not Mr. Reid deserves such respect after years of trashing individual liberties and our Constitution is of secondary importance. For you see, Harry Reid is a member of the ruling class and he is entitled.

Like most liberals, Harry Reid is a walking gaffe machine. And when he speaks his lack of substance becomes regularly apparent. So it would be a surprise for most to learn that the NRA is actually considering endorsing this man in the 2010 midterm elections. Yes, you heard right, the NRA is actually considering endorsing a man who has been a leader in our charge off the cliff and into the abyss.

The NRA’s excuse? They claim Harry Reid has been a champion of gun rights. On top of that they opine that if Harry Reid is defeated and the Democrats retain control of the Senate someone unkind to gun rights might take his place as Majority Leader.

The NRA further defends this excuse by saying they are a single issue group and that the only important issue to them is the second amendment. What they fail to understand is that for the vast majority of their members other issues are important too. You know, like upholding and defending the Constitution, the whole Constitution and nothing but the Constitution? That is something Harry Reid has never done in his entire career in national politics.

The NRA’s support for the Second Amendment is admirable. But if there is no Constitution left because it has been torn apart by liberals like Mr. Reid how far does such support go? It harkens back to the silly slogan of leftists with regards to how they said that they support the troops but not their mission. The NRA is just as goofily saying that they are prepared to support Harry Reid but not his goal of a socialist America.

Sharron Angle on the other hand, as much as disgruntled Republicans in Nevada who are upset that their candidate did not win the primary and even Harry Reid himself hate to admit, has a much firmer grasp of reality. That includes her understanding of the Second Amendment. For example, Sharron Angle once correctly noted why we have a Second Amendment. She stated that it was to allow the people to protect themselves against government tyranny and perform the role the altering or abolishing government unkind to individual liberties. This is what the founders discussed in our Declaration of Independence. She said, with regards to the continual usurpation of individual liberties and state’s rights by those in Washington, Harry Reid included, that, “If Congress keeps going the way it is, people are already looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.”

Are politicians out of touch with the American people? Listen to this video of Ronald Regan and the comments of those in charge today and you decide. This country is in trouble and we must get back to the principles of our constitution to reclaim America!

Corruption in government – it starts with the election process.  Special interest groups, labor unions, big pharma, all making campaign contributions supporting the candidate that is going to give them the back room deals they are after.  Why do you think this country is in this much trouble!  They have all basically bought and paid for the candidate of choice, the one who is looking out for their special interests instead of the interests of the American people.  The corruption needs to stop now, and reform needs to start with the funding of political campaigns.

The democrats seem to want to make everything equal – take from the rich and give to the poor.  So let’s start with campaign funding.  Let’s implement this equal for all system for the politicians, right from the start of the campaign process.  It’s time for a radical campaign funding change.

Instead of companies and individuals supporting one candidate over another, campaign contributions would be made to a government fund for each elected position.  There would be one fund for the president, one for each state senator race, one for each representative of the house race.  All campaign monies would go into this fund and NO OTHER funding for campaigns would be permitted.  The money from these funds would then be divided equally to all candidates running for that position, whether it be two or more.  Everyone would have an equal opportunity in campaigning for the desired position.

How the campaign spends this money would be up to them, but they would have to limit spending to only the money received from the fund.  It would be restricted, of course, to legal activities only.  At the end of the campaign a full disclosure of the money would be required within a specific timeframe and an audit would be completed on the final campaign funds.  Any money remaining from the election would be returned to the fund for the next elections.  There could be no “outstanding balance due” at the end of the campaign.

A radical move, but the problems we see in the government today are because every special interest group and every company has their own agenda and they have all made deals with the politicians to get what they want.  They donate and expect to receive benefits in return – and they don’t just mean a thank you letter.  The government is no longer run by the people, for the people.  It is being run by special interests and big business.  This has got to stop!  Start the reform where the corruption begins – the campaign funding.  Equal opportunity for everyone.

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is one of the rights we must hang on to.  Without those basic freedoms the country is in grave trouble.  You may not like or agree with someone, but that does not give you the right to take away their freedom to speak.

Millions of people watch Glenn Beck.  You may agree with him today and disagree with him tomorrow.  You may watch his show and think he is great – or you may think he is some kind of nut.  Either way, he has a right to speak his mind and you have a right to agree or disagree.

Although I do not watch the Glenn Beck show as I do not have cable TV, I watched a clip of the video that is raising such a controversy.  Glenn was stating his opinion of the president and how he handled the situation involving a friend of his and the police department.  His statements only reflected what many people have been thinking and they came to those conclusions by actions and statements made by the president himself!  Glenn’s statements made on that show were less offensive than Nancy Pelosi calling all republicans who oppose the health care bill Nazis!  But because Glenn is white and his comments are against an African-American, making these comments it is not acceptable.  After all, how can a black man be racist!

The group putting pressure on removing the advertising is totally a racist group.  They represent only the African-American population.  Yet companies cower to their Chicago style tactics.  How stupid can these companies get?  The show is one of the top rated TV shows and because some racist organization coerced them they are removing advertising from the Glenn Beck show.

Where does this stop?  Any company that pulled their advertising from the Glenn Beck show is not supporting our 1^st amendment rights.  Maybe we should ban them and any station or television show that supports their disrespect for our constitution!

No one forces you to watch television and you have the choice which shows you choose to watch.  Starting censorship in television is a very dangerous road to travel.  No organization should be allowed to have the power to encourage censorship.  No company should allow these same organizations to dictate where to advertise.  One day they may all find themselves on the wrong side of a censorship issue.

Anyone with any brains knows that the ads shown during a television show do not necessarily represent the views of those companies whose products are being advertised.  Do we need to have a disclaimer run with every ad making that obvious statement?  Is it wrong for them to want to get their advertising message out to as many people as possible?