Sarah Palin's Alaska airs Sunday nights on TLC

If I ever go missing, send a search party up to Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

This show, which premiered last night on TLC, accomplished two things I never thought would happen.

1. I have started planning a trip with my wife to Alaska. I’m a beach guy who prefers sand and warm weather over mountains. But watching the Palin family fish in a river while witnessing two bears fight on the river bank changed my heart completely. Can somebody tell me Florida’s best salmon-grizzlie hangout spot? Are the ice caps on Mt. Dora frozen this time of year?

2. TLC is quickly becoming my favorite television station. As a guy, that’s a bit embarrassing to admit. While it’s tough for me to sit through an hour of the Duggar family knowing the Patriots and Steelers are playing only a few stations away, that small sacrifice was rewarded by Palin showing off the big fence Todd constructed to protect their privacy against the snooping reporter next door, and then recommending that our government take a similar action to protect our boarders. Build a fence to protect a boarder? It worked for the Palin household. Maybe America should try it.

Now, I must admit, TLC is not quite my favorite station yet. That title still goes to Fox News, since they also feature Sarah Palin.

Celebrity Politics & Barak Obama

This show–and some discussion I had on Facebook last night–got me thinking about celebrity politics. I’m convinced the only reason President Obama was elected was because of how the media propped him up, so that he attained this celebrity status, became a household name, and swayed a significant portion of our youth vote by his personality and likability. Had we exercised more discretion and actually paid attention to his pre-presidency policies, he would never have been elected. Here’s just a few of the things he said prior to being elected:

• The Constitution is a flawed document and a product of the colonial racist tendencies
• The government’s job, Joe Plumber, is to redistribute wealth
• We need single-payer, nationalized health care

Had anyone been paying attention to these statements, the dangerous policies of the last few years could have been avoided. I’m not sure John McCain would have been a bastion of conservatism himself, but I doubt we would have had McCain Care (maybe JohnnyCare?) or the threats of Cap & Trade, military drawbacks, federally funded abortion and government buyout and nationalization of every major industry that we face under our our current administration.

As many Palin opponents point out, Barak Obama shows us the danger of celebrity politics. Just because a person is popular doesn’t mean they should become president. In fact, the electoral college prevents the presidency from being decided by a popular vote, evidence that the founders tried to prevent this very thing from happening.

Our First Celebrity President: Ronald Reagan

Later on in the evening, after watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska, I flipped over to Fox News where they were running a special by Brit Hume called The Right All Along: The Rise, Fall & Future of Conservatism.

This first episode featured Ronald Reagan and his transition from a Hollywood acting career to the California governors’ office, a move that ultimately positioned him for a run at the White House. If not our first, Reagan is certainly the most recent example of a celebrity becoming president prior to Barak Obama.

Hollywood created the Reagan ascendancy , just like it did for Obama. Now, it seems to be doing the same thing for Sarah Palin. This is not a new tendency, nor is Barak Obama the best example of it. Ultimately, given the difficulty of running for our nation’s highest office, the influence of the media is a reality we cannot avoid.

The more fundamental question is not whether the media is propping someone up or the personality of that person. What we should consider is character and beliefs of the person being propped up. Had we been asking these questions about Obama, he would have never been elected. If we ask these questions of Palin, I think we’ll find someone with great character and principled conservative beliefs.

Looking to 2012

Now, don’t take this as an endorsement of Palin. I really like her, and she makes me want to visit Alaska. I certainly think the videos of her firing rifles provide a great contrast to those of our president throwing pitches that land closer to first base than home plate. However, I think I’d probably vote for New Jersey Gov. Christie over Palin if given the choice. Anyone who takes benefits away from unions like taking candy from a baby will get my vote, even if he is much uglier than Sarah.

My point here is not to endorse anyone, but simply to point out that celebrity politics have certain dangers, as Barak Obama proves. It can however, produce great leaders like Ronald Reagan.

Tea party learning lessons in how to fight

Ever since the tea party’s historic victories in the November election, the nation has been watching very closely to see how the movement would act on its new found influence. Two things happened recently which show the amazing potential of the movement to accomplish needed changes, but also to shoot itself in the foot. Let’s examine these two examples.

Good example: Letter to Rick Scott

During his campaign, Rick Scott campaigned against the Sun-Rail system. Various members of his transition team, however, tried to influence him to change his position and support it. So we signed a letter, sent it to the governor elect, and talked to him personally to encourage him to follow through on his campaign promises.

This is an example of good advocacy. Chalk up a few points for the tea party movement.

Bad example: Blasting Personal Cell Numbers

Unfortunately, we also have a recent example of how NOT to advocate. A national group called “Tea Party Patriots” attempted to schedule a meeting with all of the newly elected representatives. However, another group scheduled a meeting that same day. The TPP emailed out the personal cell phone numbers and email addresses of the newly elected congressmen and women and told their members to call and tell them which meeting to attend.

I tried to smooth things over with my representative and heard that many of the incoming freshman were not too happy with their personal information being blasted nationwide. Hardly a way to win friends and influence people. Deduct a few points from the tea party.

The long-term influence of the tea party movement will be depend on whether it learns the lessons from events like these. Here are two lessons we can learn about how to be effective in our involvement as citizens:

1. Stay true to principles: Advocating for the government to oppose a project or spending bill is one thing. Lobbying for them to skip another group’s meeting to come to your own meeting is completely different.

2. Be constructive, not vindictive: Politics is personal and constructive relationships require trust. Calling your representative and expressing solidarity for a campaign position is constructive. Sending out their personal contact information nationwide to be spammed is counter productive.

If the tea party can stay true to principals and learn to overlook petty differences to focus on the important issues at hand in a way that is constructive, we will see our influence increased and freedom preserved.

TPP could show a little more discretion

I love the tea party movement, but some people who call themselves tea partiers can be thoughtless. Emailing a list of your congressional representatives personal cell phone numbers and email addresses, simply because they skipped out of a meeting you had planned to attend another with alleged lobbyists, is a fairly adolescent response that will do nothing to increase your influence in Congress. Here’s a press release from the Central Florida Tea Party Council, which Citizen2Citizen is a proud member of, explaining what happened.

Local Grass Roots Central Florida Tea Party Council Members Reject National “Tea Party Patriots” Methods

In an attempt to bully the Congressional Freshman Class, “leaders” of the national “Tea Party Patriots” group embarrass the grass roots Tea Party Movement by releasing the personal phone numbers of freshmen House Members with instructions to their email list to pressure Members into attending a private TPP Freshman Class Orientation.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – November 12, 2010 – A statement issued to its email list yesterday by the national “Tea Party Patriots” group leadership demands: “Let’s show them that you won’t tolerate politics as usual and show them the power of the Tea Party” – and then breaks with the most basic protocol of respect and reveals the private cell numbers of the entire Congressional Freshman Class to their list to ensure delivery of this message.

Was this grand call to arms justified because of an important piece of legislation under consideration? Were these freshmen legislators engaged in some act of fiscal irresponsibility or constitutional malfeasance? Not exactly. This demand involved a Freshman Class Orientation scheduling conflict with the conservative organization Claremont Institute, unjustifiably attacked by TPP leaders in its statement as a group comprised of nothing but “Washington Insiders”.

“The grass roots Tea Party Movement, where the volunteers on the ground do the real heavy lifting in the Movement, find the message in the TPP statement and the release of private contact information of Congressional Members inexcusable and an embarrassment for all of us,” says Jason Hoyt, co-founder of the Central Florida Tea Party Council.

Clyde Fabretti of the West Orlando Tea Party, a member of the CFTPC, explains, “We have worked very hard in our community to bring respect and dignity to the Tea Party brand. We find the behavior of the leaders of this national Tea Party group, with whom we have no affiliation, abhorrent and sophomoric conduct.”

Many in the Congressional Freshman class are angry about how poorly they have been treated. There are those who are also puzzled by such egregious and merit-less behavior imposed on them before they have even been sworn into office.

The CFTPC strongly requests that the leaders of the “Tea Party Patriots” immediately move do all that they can to repair the damage that these actions have caused to the Movement’s relationship with these Congressional Freshmen and the good name of the Tea Party Movement.

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Judges undergo retention vote

Last year, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid teamed up to pass what became known as Obamacare, against the clear will of the American people. Taking control of one-sixth of our economy was a temptation too hard to resist for the most radical leftist congress and presidential administration in our nation’s history. Only time will tell how deep and pervasive the negative consequences will be to our economy and to our freedom.

With a number of other states, Florida took decisive action to protect against this historic Federal power grab, passing a law known as the Health Care Freedom Act, which rightfully protected Floridians from the individual mandate provisions of Obamacare which require individuals and companies be taxed and/or fined for not purcahsing health insurance or purchasing what the infinitely wise government deems as the wrong insurance plans. For the first time in our lives, we are going to be taxed for breathing by a statist government whose actions betray a belief that the state owns the people and has a vested interest in regulating their health.

Fortunately, the Florida’s representatives did what they were elected to do, and that’s pose a question to the citizens. The question was a referendum on the Obama health care overhaul in the form of a proposed ballot initiative asking Floridians if we wanted to enshrine the Health Care Freedom Act on our state constitution. Florida state law gives citizens the power to decide on amendments proposed by the legislature.

Floridians were poised to follow Missouri and deliver a significant blow to the leftist march toward a single-payer health care system which we all know has worked so well in Canada and Europe. Fortunately for Obama, like so many other instances when freedom threatened to break loose, the court system intervened and saved the day. Justices Jorge Labarga and James Perry rescued Obamacare from the scrutiny and potential rebuke of an opposition amendment.

In a 5-2 decision, Labarga, Perry and three other justices showed utter contempt and disregard for the rights of Floridians to vote on amendments proposed by the legislature, decided on the matter themselves, agreeing with a handful of liberal democrats who campaigned for Obama, that the whole proposal was nothing more than Republicans trying to mislead people. If this does not constitute bad behavior, disregard for the rule of law and appropriate balance of power between branches, then these things simple don’t exist.

This November, Jorge Labarga and James Perry will be up for a merit retention vote. We believe that this decision warrants their removal Labarga and Perry for three reasons:

• Judicial Activism and Party Politics: An inconsistent ruling in favor of several plaintiffs with publicly known ties to the administration, which conveniently prevents a potential challenge to Obama’s health care plan, constitutes judicial activism and legislating from the bench, not interpreting the law in respect of the Constitution. In doing so, these Justices exhibited a callous disregard for the rights of the Legislature, as a co-equal branch of government to propose constitutional amendments, and of Floridians to vote on such proposals.
• Disenfranchised Voters: Millions of voters were disenfranchised when their constitutional right to vote on proposed amendments was taken away after four plaintiffs thought the ballot summary was “misleading.” The Court’s lack of respect for the Legislature’s role of representing the will of the people resulted in the amendment being removed from the ballot.
• Inconsistent, Arbitrary Precedent: The decision to keep Amendment 9 off the ballot was a direct reversal of the action taken by the Court in 2004, when it unanimously (joined by current Justices Lewis, Quince, and Pariente) ordered the Legislature’s proposed amendment text to be placed on the ballot in lieu of a ballot summary the Court found misleading.  By citing case law decided before the Legislature exempted itself from a ballot summary requirement in 2000, in order to justify the Court’s inability to simply place the amendment text on the ballot as it did in 2004, the Court has arbitrarily and inconsistently interpreted the law to enfranchise voters in one case and disenfranchise voters in another.

Fortunately for Floridians, citizens have recourse when their freedoms are threatened. Judges are not appointed for life. They are only allowed to maintain their positions during periods of good behavior, which is defined as consistently ruling in a way that upholds the constitution, rule of law, proper balance of powers, the net effect of which keeps us free from an unruly court system.

Any Floridian with a vested interest in their own freedom should vote no do not retain Jorge Labarga and James Perry this November.

Getting ready for August 24

The choice in November is going to be clear. If I lived in District 8 I would examine the Grayson versus Non-Grayson portion of the ballot for about a millisecond before voting for the Candidate-Not-Known-As-Grayson with every fiber of my being. I’ve considered moving to the district just for that vote, but alas, my own district has one Suzanne Kosmas to deal with.

While the decision in November is easy, the decision in August is more difficult. The Republican primary is chock full of quality individuals, many of whom I have met and all of whom I respect. As one who was home schooled and is actively involved in the Tea Party, I deeply respect Patricia Sullivan. I was one of the first people to order Todd Long’s book “The Conservative Comeback” and was inspired by his passion for our founding principals. I have always respected Daniel Webster, and wish that he would have run for governor. In all of these cases, I wholeheartedly believe that anybody who wins the nomination and potentially defeats Grayson would bring some substantial change to our government.

I am, however, choosing to join a growing faith-based coalition supporting Bruce O’Donoghue to contest Alan Grayson in November. I’ve been impressed with with the no-nonsense approach he has taken in his campaign. He is not afraid of speaking the truth, exposing lies in the media regarding the registered TEA Party. His boldness in challenging the ethically questionable tactics of Mr. Grayson show me he’s the person we should send to confront the destructive habits of career politicians. Bruce is a man we desperately need to break the paralysis that strangles Washington and threatens our Constitution and our republic.

As a pastor and concerned American, I’m very aware of the need for someone who recognizes the danger of dependence on government. Bruce’s experience in small business and compassionate outreach through initiatives like House of Hope prove to me that he has the mindset and character Washington so desperately needs.

I know I’ve alienated some of you by supporting Bruce. I respect your decision to support your candidate. I would, however, encourage you to take time to learn about Mr. O’Donoghue. Look at his business background and the positions he has served to protect small businesses, the backbone of the American economy. Look at his track-record of social conservativism through the House of Hope, Vision Orlando, YMCA, FCA and more. If you do, I think you’ll find a man that demonstrates the character our Founders knew to be so vital to holding public office.

NOTE – Neither Citizen2Citizen nor my church have any interest in endorsing candidates. I am not speaking on behalf of any organization. My support is simply a function of my American citizenship.

Is Webster Out of Time?

Originally posted at the Orlando Political Press.

I thought I take a break from watching the compelling NBA playoffs to jot down some thoughts on Daniel Webster’s decision to enter the race.

Here’s my concern about Webster. I don’t want to rain on the party of all his supporters, but I’m concerned he entered the race too late. Todd Long has been at this a long time and seems to have tremendous Tea Party support. Bruce O’Donoghue seems to be raising a lot of money. Where does that leave Daniel Webster? Perhaps if he had entered earlier, more of the religious subset of the Tea Party movement would have held out before jumping behind Long, and more of the  establishment might have waited before backing O’Donoghue.

I could be wrong, but it seems a number of key individuals would love to support Webster, but because of his delay, have already lent support to other candidates.

Don’t get me wrong. Webster will be able to garner tremendous support, and will be a force to be reckoned with. In the end, I think this could break well for Todd Long. Because of how early he announced his campaign, and his Tea Party credibility, his campaign is not as dependent on the larger money sources. Webster could end up helping Long by depleting some donors who would have otherwise backed O’Donoghue. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out.

In the end, we have three good candidates. My hope is that these fine gentlemen will run a clean, positive primary campaign, so that there is no lack of support for the victor. The last thing we need is for mudslinging among friends to hurt our chances at accomplishing the ultimate goal: kicking Grayson out of office.

“First of all, then we have to say the American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama,” Sharpton said. “Let’s not act as though the president didn’t tell the American people – the president offered the American people health reform when he ran. He was overwhelmingly elected running on that and he has delivered what he promised” Al Sharpton.

Governor Chris Christie

Watch this is speech made by the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. He is a brave man, standing for what he knows is the right thing to do. We need more men like this, ready to stand strong, and do the hard thing no matter how unpopular it is.