Thursday, May 31, 2007

a time magazine article on thompson

Time Magazine wrote a pretty good article on Thompson that gives a nice outline of who he is, what his record is, and why he is running.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

ol' fred enters race...sort of...

Fred Thompson, of Law & Order fame, has pushed his hat further into the ring of Republican candidates. Once he officially makes the announcement, likely to be on July fourth, he will bring the tally of GOP candidates to eleven. Hopefully a few or the lagers will realize they are only hurting the party and bow out gracefully.

But, who is Fred Thompson? Well, he looks like a big serious man. He certainly looks presidential. He has political experience as a senator in Tennessee. But, what are his views on the issues?



Here is a quick rundown of his views:

1) Abortion: pro-life, basically view it as legislating from the bench, bad law, bad science
2) Homosexuality: tolerance but no special rights or categories, marriage is between one man and one woman
3) War in Iraq: we are where we are and we cannot up and leave, long term consequences are greater if we leave
4) Gun control: against gun control generally
5) Campaign finance: support reform, it's wrong for people to be able to give politicians huge sums of money then call in favors later..."you get thrown in jail for stuff like that in the real world," understand arguments against it though
6) Illegal Immigration: not realistic to round up 12 million people and ship them back, impossible situation because of years of neglect, concerned about the next tens of millions, solve security at border first then solve the issue of people here first, do not encourage people to stay here

He seems real quick and smart. His voice is velvety smooth and reassuring. He is now the third conservative I could support. Fred is very rational and clear-thinking individual.

Monday, May 28, 2007

i support...

Rudy McRomney for president in 2008. Seriously, I cannot decide between the two. They are both the type of strong leader and manager that this nation desperately needs. I have my doubts about Rudy getting out of the primary and any Republican but Rudy in the general election.

But, both have top notch resumes. On one hand you have Rudy who has the star power that is so valuable. He has all the successes that a conservative would want on their resume. He cut crime, lowered taxed, grew the economy, lowered abortions, etc. He's a tackler of tough issues. Then you have Romney who is such a great speaker. Just watch any of his appearances such as his time on Leno or the debates and he'll win you over. Plus, he is a business mastermind, a succesful governor and the man who turned around the olympics which were mired in a mess much like America is today.

I just can't decide....yet. For now I am hoping for a Rudy McRomney ticket! Who knows?

I do know that I hope Hillary Clinton wins the democratic nomination. Nothing else would re-energize the conservative base and sway moderates to the GOP side like a Clinton ticket. This will especially be helpful if Rudy is the nominee and the base needs a reason to get out and vote Republican!

the quintessential loony liberal


O'Donnell personifies pretty much everything I cannot stand in a liberal. Furthermore, her treatment of the always classy Elisabeth Hasselbeck is disgusting. It was good to see her quit and walk away like the loser she truly is.

Here is an article from MSNBC that discusses her being a part of the defacing of a Hasselbeck photo as well as her other childish and immature ways.

Many conservatives thought Rose should have been taken off The View. I always thought she should stay on to show America what the main stream left wing has become. Scary. I know!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

essentials part 1: border security

I am going to post a series of articles that lay out what America needs for the next four years. These are basic changes, policies, and needs for America to be safe and prosper. They are in no particular order.

One glaring need is a secure border. The reasons for such a secure border range from obvious to subtle. But, they are countless in number.

The primary reason for a secure border is the safety of the United States. We need to know who is coming in and who is leaving. Proponents of immigration always seem to believe anti-illegal immigration folks do not want immigration at all. That is simply false. We only want the system to be orderly. There is a correct way that is fair, safe and legal. And there is an illegal way that perverts the struggles of our ancestors who followed the laws and struggled to make to America.

A second reason for border security reform is to ensure that illegal immigrants are not poaching on the tax dollars of hard working citizens and legal immigrants. The burden on infrastructure and health services by illegal immigrants is unfair and down right despicable.

A common argument for illegal immigrants by the left is that they do jobs that no Americans are willing to do. Well, as long as these lefties want welfare then that argument holds no substance. Are they saying that these folks on welfare are too good to do the work of illegal’s? I should hope not.

The president, congress, and people around the nation scratch their heads and put together amnesty programs for these cheaters. They all wonder how to deal with this problem. They say we can't hunt down the millions already in America. But, alas, we can hunt down business owners who are the impetus behind illegal immigration. The SOLUTION to this problem of our time is to throw the sorry bastards that hire illegal immigrants in prison. Fine the companies. Eventually it will be so difficult for an illegal to find a job that they will go back. Many potential illegal’s won’t even come in the first place anymore. After all it is better to work in Mexico making very little that to wonder the streets in America unsuccessfully looking for a job every day.

Will a bag of tomatoes cost a little bit more? Sure! But, I think that added cost is more than worth it for a safe, secure and orderly border…and a lower unemployment rate!

So, to secure the border America needs to 1) throw into prison any CEO or manager that runs a company employing illegal immigrants 2) fine any company that employs illegal aliens 3) build walls in high illegal areas 4) hire and train more border security agents and 4) do not throw into prison those agents that do their job (i.e. shooting at illegal’s that try to run them over or try to smuggle drugs)…reward them.
We need a president that will not give amnesty to cheaters. We need a president that will stand strong for the sanctity of the sovereign state. We need a president that has the spine to stand up for a common sense solution to a safe, secure and orderly southern border.

Disclaimer: If I was a Mexican citizen I would be running like hell for America. I do not blame them. We just need to make it an orderly system for legal immigration and an impossible system for those that do not follow the law.

The beginning...

I imagine this will be a place for me to think out loud regarding the 2008 election, among other things. I am decidedly republican and this blog will reflect that. Sometimes I travel outside the current GOP boundaries; however, I believe all of my positions lie with true conservatism. Sometimes I find that I am more moderate but then I get a whiff of a democrat. The whiny, pessimistic, no idea, blame America first, spineless, tax and spend, short-sighted, welfare state wanting democrats such as Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi put me back in my place further on the right.

I am from south Mississippi but lived in central Pennsylvania until I went off to college at Mississippi State University. So, it is easy to see part of the reason that I am conservative. But, I was not raised in a political household. My mother won’t talk about politics nor does she bother with knowing about such things. My father is cynical and generally thinks things are pretty much too far gone for us to do anything about. But, he votes Republican because of the qualities most democrats possess (mentioned above).

One kink in all of this is that I do not believe in the Abrahamic god in which most American’s believe. I was not raised in a religious household so I didn’t even really know what religion was until I was old enough to know for myself. At that point it all sounded like stuff out of science fiction novels. I do not hide this or make qualms about it. I hold my conservative values because I choose to do so not because a book or religion tells me to do so.

I do believe there is a cultural war going on. But, it is not merely a war against religion by secular progressives as Bill O’Reilly purports. Although there is some over-the-top stuff such as the attempt to take the Christmas tree out of schools and the like. It is also a war against science by mere faith. It is war against science by a book written by people thousands of years ago who heard or saw things they couldn’t explain, tried to explain them, then had their book translated, translated more, interpreted, and interpreted even more which gives us what we have today. None of this holds my attention though. My attention is focused on the true religious problem we face: radical Islam.

I do believe that science will take care of any religious problems we have in America. As younger generations are exposed to more and more ideas as they grow up via the internet and science continues to answer our questions, the epidemic of religion by default with slow to a crawl. It disturbs me that children grow up to believe in the particular God and religion in which they are raised. It has a sinister tone to me.

One of my favorite lines by Richard Dawkins reads something like “we are all atheists in that we do not believe in the god’s Ra or Zeus; I just go one God further.”

Nevertheless, this blog will not be about my religion or lack thereof. It will be about my unique perspective as a twentysomething conservative atheist, who attends business school and works to stay afloat.