That’s all it takes to describe him. Two words. Ron. Paul. Unless you want to throw Doctor in front of it for good measure.

Every time I hear those words I think of a man who is principled, thoughtful, galvanized and consistent. Every time I hear them, I remember that a return to Constitutional principle would be a return to a nation where each individual had the opportunity for greatness based on their own willingness to work toward it. When I hear them, I think of a country where capitalism and free markets decide what the value of my dollar is, and not whichever bank or conglomerate the current batch of political appointees  is most loyal too.

Sadly, when I hear the words, Ron Paul, I also have to think about the people that have, over time, coalesced around and behind him. It takes a few more words to describe them. Granted, I have seen many people who were thoughtful, thorough, and clearheadedly came to the conclusion that Ron Paul was the candidate that they supported for President. They have considered all of the candidates, considered our country’s worsening financial situation, considered the state of international affairs, and considered the threats to our personal liberty that Americans face today, and they made the sound decision that Ron Paul would be the candidate of their choice to take up the helm of the Presidency and lead our nation out of crisis.

Millions of people across the country have gone through the same process and many of those have chosen to support Ron Paul. Many more have chosen to support other candidates though, and despite his positive qualities, Ron Paul has only managed to continually get about 10% of the popular vote among registered Republicans in local elections. Within that 10%, lies the problem.

Along with the thoughtful and careful supporters that Ron Paul deserves, his base seems to have been overwhelmed with delusional fanatics, disrespectful radicals, misguided hate mongers, and even blatant outright liars. What’s worse is that this element of his base seems to have taken over at least the most visible aspects of his grassroots presidential campaign, and they have done their absolute best to repel any chance of acceptance of Ron Paul into the main stream of the Republican Party. They’ve marginalized a good candidate, and relegated him to a permanent third string status, regardless of the qualities that he brings to the table.

A look around the tables that held my own county’s delegation at the Wyoming Republican State Convention gave me a hint as to the type of people that consider themselves Ron Paul supporters. When our junior United States Senator was introduced to the Convention, many of them couldn’t be bothered to rise out of their seats to welcome him. Same for when our senior United States Senator was introduced. Same for when our Congresswoman was introduced. It was especially true when our former Congressman, and former Vice President, Dick Cheney was introduced. The Secretary of State? The State Auditor? The Superintendent of Public Instruction? All were invited. All addressed the convention. All were ignored by these folks who couldn’t be bothered to show even a modicum of respect for their elected representatives and officials, all of which are Republicans, all of which have represented the State of Wyoming with dignity and resolve.  As far as I’m concerned, these “patriotic” Ron Paul supporters were an embarrassment to themselves and to the county that elected them to represent it at the Convention.

A brief look at the forums populated by Ron Paul supporters will give you a look at how many of them feel about their fellow Republicans, the volunteers — who dedicate countless hours and personal resources to make sure that Republicans are successful in the general elections and work to make sure the money necessary to operate the Republican Party is raised — and the elected officials that have dedicated themselves to representing the people who elect them. The forums are a constant barrage of charges of fraud, corruption, sleaziness, dishonesty. Every time Ron Paul loses a vote, the forums light up with stories about how their votes were disenfranchised, how their enemies played dirty, and how the “establishment” tried to shut them out.

I understand the heat of political battle. It is all-consuming, and you are entitled to your own opinions. Sometimes, though, those opinions just make you delusional. This is a perfect example:

It is pretty obvious we are winning. We have the true support. The media in this country is being used to carry out a big lie. Don’t get angry with the supporters of Romney, for they don’t know any better, they are basing their beliefs upon the information they have. Most get that from mainstream sources or Romney Sources.

As far as delegates. It is again obvious with very little research that the GOP is part of the machine, and literally make their own straw vote results. The cuacuses are not so easy, they are having to resort to the most dirty of tricks to win those.

Wyoming is a perfect example…the GOP hero Dick Cheney was at the Wyoming convention and turned it around for Romney. On the initial vote, Paul won, so the GOP leadership allowed Paul supporters to leave then declared the vote unacceptable and held it again. Treachery…by none other the mr. weapons of mass destruction himself, yes, the man without a heart, he who profited many many millions from war, former Halliburto employee….mr. cheney.

Cheney is NOT a hero, he is a criminal. He should be in a prison, not speaking at a political event. But for all of our supporters, we CAN win this. It is lies, deciet and injustice that are preventing it. Hold strong and do not let them railroad us again, so far in all three states to have finished their caucuses, the GOP has managed to railroad the democratic process. Put a stop to it immediately.

-DuaneK36, Daily Paul

First of all, there was no initial vote that Ron Paul won. That is an outright lie. No one “declared the vote unacceptable and held it again.” It simply never happened. It really is not “pretty obvious (they) are winning.” If it were “pretty obvious” that Ron Paul was winning, he would be ahead in the delegate count. I won’t even rehash the comments about Vice President Cheney. They’re idiotic and they are a common thread throughout the Ron Paul forums. The above post is pretty representative of the hate that exists in the Ron Paul support groups for both the Republican Party itself, and the elected officials that are endorsed by it.

During the Wyoming Convention, the Romney Campaign realized that the votes for the sheer number of nominated delegates that were declared for Romney would be watered down and result in the election of the more focused group of non Romney declared nominees, so the Romney Campaign did something that was utterly despicable, dishonest, and sleazy.  They *gasp* distributed a Romney endorsed slate of delegate nominees! Oh, the horror! How could they do something so vile?! Oh. Wait. Doesn’t the Paul campaign use preferred delegate slates? They do? Oh yeah, they just don’t put Ron Paul’s name on them. The candidates run as “undeclared” so all of them silly, corrupt, sleazy establishment Republicans won’t know who they are. Yeah. Great strategy. The use of a preferred slate by any campaign is an honest and acceptable and commonly used tactic, especially when the origin of the slate is clearly labeled, as the Romney endorsed slate was. A slate of “undeclared” candidates developed in a private locked door meeting protected by their ”6’7″ 300+lb bouncer?” Just as acceptable, right?

Of all the strategies of the Ron Paul supporters, this is the one I find to be most offensive. Do they really believe that the only way they can win is to trick unknowing state delegates into voting for them? I’ll be completely honest here. I would have voted for at least one of the Ron Paul supporters from my county — he is one of those thorough, thoughtful, and clearheaded Ron Paul supporters, and I would have been proud to know that he was in Tampa not only casting a vote for presidential nomination, but fighting for common sense platforms and resolutions to guide the National Republican Party — except he, along with most of the rest of the Ron Paul crowd, ran as “undeclared.” As far as I’m concerned, if he couldn’t be honest about his intent to vote for Ron Paul at the National Convention, he didn’t deserve my vote. The same goes for the rest of the “undeclared” delegates that were, and are, clearly Ron Paul supporters. The forums are ripe with claims that they won all fourteen alternate delegate seats, but most of those seats went to “undeclared” nominees, not people who declared for Ron Paul. Which begs the question: Were the delegate nominees lying about their declaration of support before the election, or are the Ron Paul supporters lying now about having won the seats? Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. What’s more, the reality is that only reason the Ron Paul supporters were able to claim the fourteen alternate positions is that convention participants could only vote for fourteen delegates, and the overwhelming majority of those votes went to a unified slate of candidates that had declared for Mitt Romney. That allowed the unified minority to claim the leftovers. I’d hardly think of that in terms of “how close we came to taking this state.”

The constant claims on the Ron Paul forums that the Romney Preferred Slate was “treachery”, “underhanded”, and a “dirty trick” makes them sound like four-month olds with full diapers. Same goes for their crying that Wyoming’s national elected representatives were allowed to make speeches, and dared to endorse Romney. Of course, the final betrayal by the Wyoming GOP was to allow Josh Romney to make a speech in support of his father! OH MY GOD! How could they let that happen? Too bad that the Paul campaign didn’t have an official representative at the Wyoming convention. Maybe he or she could have made a supporting speech themselves. Why didn’t this happen? Maybe this comment from a Paul supporter explains it:

The grassroots everywhere have to work so much harder to compensate for the lack of assistance from the national campaign. I understand why the campaign ignores places where they think they cannot win and doesn’t spend money in thoses places. But what does it cost for one of the “professionals” to find each state’s grassroots headquarters, pick up a phone or send someone to advise us novices?

While I find it very frustrating, I am heartened to see grassroots people working to get the job done. This is only giving us more individual and collective strength than perhaps we’d otherwise have.

We are in this for the long haul, with or without them.

Bump for Cheyenne WY State Convention grassroots assistance!

-Nonna, Daily Paul

If there had been an official representative from the Paul campaign at the convention, they would have been allowed to speak. Same for Gingrich. The fact is, as the the person clearly realizes in the above post, they just couldn’t be bothered.

The election had some real problems. In the delegate elections at the Wyoming State Convention, there were three ballots cast (out of an eligible 425) that shouldn’t have been. One each from the State Chairman, the National Committeeman, and the National Committeewoman. The Ron Paul forums are screaming about voter fraud, and they have every right to. Was it voter fraud? I don’t know. I don’t know all the details, but I do believe it was questionable and I intend to make sure it is addressed at the next State Central Committee Meeting. I know each of the people in question personally, and can’t imagine that any of them consciously sought to cast a vote that they weren’t entitled to. I find it more likely that it was done out of confusion in the moment, but I don’t know for sure. I won’t make excuses for them. What I do know is that those three improper ballots did not, in any possible mathematical way, have any effect on the final results of the national delegate election. Of course, the outcome was that the slate of candidates supported by the Romney campaign were overwhelmingly elected by a majority of the eligible voters at the convention to be national delegates.

It doesn’t matter though, because the Ron Paul supporters will hold on to that dark stain on the convention and tell everyone that it was the reason they lost.  That, and the underhanded speeches by elected officials, the sleazy candidate slates put out by the Romney campaign, the monstrous onstage conversation by the evil former Vice President and his daughter, and an underlying fear by the “establishment” of a poorly organized hodgepodge of people who start pretty much every conversation with that very same “establishment” with name calling, accusations, and outright hostility.

That may sum up a great portion of the real reason Ron Paul isn’t winning delegates. It’s not because there is a vast some-kind-of-wing conspiracy against him. It’s not because Ron Paul isn’t a great and gifted statesman, because he is. It’s because while Dr. Paul has been extremely effective at lighting a fire under people who believe in liberty and getting them involved and interested, and he has done an astounding job of educating a new generation about how they have been robbed of those liberties, he has also failed to organize a national campaign that could expound on his Constitutional principles in the national political arena, and has allowed his grassroots campaign mechanisms to be hijacked by a bunch of kooks that have about as much credibility as the free Mumia activists. It’s because the average Republican believes Dr. Paul’s followers when they declare that they won’t support the Republican nominee if it is anyone but Dr. Paul. It’s because the average member of the Republican Party doesn’t believe that the average Ron Paul supporter could care less about the future of the Republican party. It’s because while the rest of the Republican Party has spent the last year raising money for the Republican Party, volunteering for the Republican Party, and promoting the Republican Party, the Ron Paul supporters have spent the last year throwing rocks at them.

Mostly though, it’s because the majority of registered Republicans are voting for someone else.

But, you know, there is always their fall back strategy at the National Convention to get rid of all those pesky Romney delegates and replace them with all of those “undeclared” Paul alternates.

Offer them free coffee full of ex-lax the day of the convention. They will have to try and vote from the bathroom.

-namealreadyinuse, Daily Paul

Wow, I can’t believe these campaign strategies aren’t working.

Wisdom

One thing I do know from my experience as both a blogger, and a frequent commenter on various political forums, is that by publishing this 2500 word essay on this particular subject, I am begging to be flamed and trolled. I’m tempted to turn off the comments for this one, because frankly, I just don’t want to deal with the emotional outbursts that are likely to follow. But, alas, that isn’t my way. The comments are open (if you can get past the spam filters.) Just don’t expect me to come out and play if you insist on turning on the flamethrower. I’ll be busy, doing the real work of the Republican Party. Raising money. Recruiting candidates. Registering voters. Getting Republicans elected.

Which brings to mind one last issue I have with the typical Ron Paul supporter, but didn’t fit into the scope of the essay above. That I know of, there has been one, count ‘em, one, Ron Paul supporter that has been continuously active at the county party level in the last year. (Thumbs up to you YC!) The rest of the crew? The ones that so proudly “took over” the County Convention? Other than a couple of sporadic appearances, they haven’t done a thing in the last year to help the Republican Party in Sweetwater County. They haven’t come to meetings (Thumbs up to you, too, TB). They haven’t helped with the fundraiser. And they didn’t show up at the fundraiser (Except for you RZ and YC, more thumbs up.) Again, there are a couple of exceptions, but very few. There might have even been one or two “undeclared” Paul supporters helping out, I don’t know. I truly hope they will all change your mind and become active, and engaging, and stop looking at the rest of us as their enemy, but honestly? I’m not holding my breath. 

One of the fundamental issues that I have with today’s Republican Party is that we allow ourselves to be defined by liberals and the liberal press rather than defining ourselves. As a former county party chairman, I had to live with county and state by-laws that forbade party officials from endorsing candidates in the primaries. It never happened in my county, but the fact that I might have one day been forced to officially support a liberal candidate always festered in the back of my mind.

The problem is that the National Republican Party, together with state and local parties, spend more time, money and effort trying to include everyone in the “big tent” than they do standing by the core conservative values that should be guiding them. I can understand how easy it is to fall into the trap of believing the goal is to elect people with R’s at the end of their names. Obviously, without enough R’s the party loses majority control of government, but this ignores the reality that control by Republicans isn’t the real goal. The real goal is holding our nation true to the conservative principles by which it was created.

Talk Radio personality Andrew Wilkow likes to say, “Individual Patriot first. Conservative second. Republican third.” What he means is that it is our first duty to be individuals who support our country, that we can do that best by living and promoting our conservative principles, and that the Republican Party is the currently the best tool that we have to do it with. If the Republican Party ceases to be the best tool for that job, then we are left with a couple choices. We can throw out the tool and get a new one, or we can refurbish our current tool and make it work how it’s supposed to.

Throwing out the tool would mean abandoning the Republican Party altogether and forming or joining a third party. This is a difficult course to follow, but it isn’t unheard of. There have been several ruling political parties throughout our history including Democrat-Republicans (one party, not the same as todays), Federalists, Whigs, Democrats, Republicans and dozens of smaller parties that exist in smaller numbers around the nation. It might be rare in our national history for a new party to come out of obscurity and take power at the federal level, and it is a difficult proposition, but it’s not impossible.

Refurbishing the current tool is the more likely scenario and would mean bringing the Republican Party back into line with its historical conservative principles. In order to forward those principles, we need to elect conservative Republicans. Not liberal Republicans. Not moderate Republicans. Conservative Republicans. Conservatives must retake control of the Party at all levels — from local precincts, to the statewide parties, to the National Republican Party. To succeed, we will have to make a stand against mediocrity, and so called moderates, and refuse to vote for or fund candidates that don’t truly represent us, regardless of whether or not they registered as Republicans. The first battle we face is to get conservative candidates nominated in the primaries, and only then can we carry those candidates through to victory in the general elections. We have to make our voices be heard loud and clear, and not allow the biased liberal press agencies decide which candidates are going to win our support.

I think that conservatives will benefit most by using third parties to force change in the Republican Party. By selectively abandoning the Republican Party, conservatives can bring about enough pressure on party leaders to force them to rethink which candidates they will endorse and support in the future. By supporting independent and third party candidates that more accurately represent our conservative values and principles, as the people of New York’s 23rd Congressional district have done, we can send the GOP a message about what kind of candidates we will accept. Give us a real conservative candidate to support, and we will. Send us a wishy-washy liberal like Dede Scozzafava? We’re gone. If we do it consistently, each and every time, the Republican Party will figure out that they should only send us candidates that share our values. Anything else will be a waste of our time, their money, and an erosion of their power base.

By regaining control of our party, and only supporting candidates that we want to support, we can define the Republican Party ourselves instead of letting the liberals and the liberal press define it for us. If the Republican Party continues to allow the likes of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to carry our endorsement, then there is no reason for us to continue to be Republicans. We can throw our support behind a third party like New York’s State Conservative Party, or start a new one. If the Republican Party can retool, however, and show us that they can send us honest-to-goodness, conservative candidates, then we can continue to be part of the Grand Old Party. If we lose a few races in order to cement that position, then so be it. I would rather have a Democrat in office that we can challenge straight up in the next election than a sponge like Arlen Specter who sucks the party coffers dry, while voting with the Democrats anyway, and keeping the party from endorsing a real conservative candidate.

Conservatives are going to regain control of this country’s future and hold our country true to its conservative roots, regardless of the tools we use. The Republican Party just needs to decide whether it’s going to be the best tool for that job, or just a tool.

First of all, let me be gracious in defeat. I would like to congratulate Senator Obama for attaining the highest office in our nation. Senator Obama ran a superb campaign, and the final vote tallies show just how excellent of a campaign it was. While I definitely did not support his candidacy, I will support him as my President.

Secondly, I want to say, while I will support him as my President, I will be watching him closely over the next four years. While I believe that he should be given the chance to shape policy in the direction which he believes is best for the nation, that policy must stay within the bounds of our Constitution, and I will not tolerate any divergence to the same. I have been an outspoken opponent of what I believe to be Obama’s vision for this nation, but I hope I have been wrong. I have also been very unforgiving about Obama’s past associations, and very suspicious of his economic and political beliefs. I have been very vocal in my suspicion that he is both a Marxist, and a reparationist. There is a chance I have been wrong. There is a chance that he is just another politician, and he may even turn out to be a good President. This is one of those few times that I hope I was wrong in the past. I doubt it, but I am hopeful. Either way, I will be watching.

Thirdly, I have to say, I am proud to be from one the few Red States left in our country. Wyoming voted overwhelmingly Republican, and we sent two great Republican Senators, Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, back to Washington, and picked Cynthia Lummis, a long serving Republican Stateswoman, to replace Barbara Cubin as our sole voice in the House of Representatives. We are one of the few strongholds of conservatism left in the nation, and I wouldn’t think about living anywhere else.

Finally, I have to answer comments that I have heard that the Republican Party is broken, and that we have to remake ourselves in order to come back to the good graces of the voting public. Balderdash. The Republican Party does not have to remake itself, or become more like the Democratic Party, or have a ‘bigger tent’ or become more tolerant, or any of that foolishness. The Republican Party needs to do seven things in order to retake its place as the leaders of our nation.

1. We need to self police and purge our Party of the corruption that seeped into the ranks during our years of power. From the halls of Congress, to the living rooms where local Party officials meet, the people who have used political power to advance personal prosperity, illegally and unethically, need to be stripped from their positions of leadership, and censured or prosecuted as the situations dictate. Sarah Palin set a standard for us in how she hit hard against entrenched corruption in Alaska, and we would do well to heed her example.
2. We need to go back to the basics of what makes our Party great. We need to embrace the foundations of our party’s history, such as constitutional constructionism, federalism, individual responsibility, and conservative fiscal policy. We need cast off this idea that it is our job to include all points of view in our Party, and instead set a steadfast standard that others can look up to and join with as they see and understand the superiority of the Conservative Republican Platform.
3. We need to learn from the success of the Democratic Party and use their methods to teach conservative values from the bottom up. We need to become ‘community organizers’ in our own right, and work hard to make sure that our values are taught in our preschools, in our grade schools, our middle schools, our high schools, and ultimately in our colleges and our universities. We need to create our own educational programs to counter the liberal programs that have become entrenched in the liberal controlled education systems. We need to promote and support conservative community programs and charities, and take advantage of any chance to promote conservative social efforts wherever we see them.
4. We have to find strong, honest, charismatic, conservative leaders to take control of the current Republican Caucus in Congress. We cannot afford to have congressional leaders who cannot relate to the national constituency. The chosen leaders have to be able to articulate our congressional objectives, and communicate their importance to the American people. A Democratic majority can stonewall a Republican minority, but they cannot stand against a resolute American public that demands results. When the inevitable political infighting begins in the now too powerful Democratic Party, a calm, steadfast Republican minority can show America what leadership should look like.
5. We have to recruit, promote, and support good conservative leaders at all levels of local and statewide government. The first, and most important, place we can do this is on school boards nationwide. If we can shift the political balance of our education system, we can begin to take the control of our classrooms out of the hands of the far left.
6. We have to recruit, promote, support good conservative candidates to challenge the Democrats for control of Congress in 2010. The Democrats have two years ahead where they will have control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and we can take advantage of those two years to recruit candidates and build successful campaigns. The political infighting of the Democratic Party is inevitable, and a unified Republican Party can take advantage of that to make huge gains in congressional seats.
7. We have to find a great, young, ambitious, charismatic, conservative leader, who has a bulletproof past, who has a grand vision for our nation, to lead our party to victory in the 2012 Presidential race. I know this is asking a lot, but our Party needs a young Ronald Reagan — male, female, black, white, latino — it doesn’t make a difference. If we put forth anything less, then we will be trying again in 2016.

That’s it. My seven steps to reclaim conservative values in America. Will it happen? I don’t know. If the Republican Party can find the right leadership, then I think it can happen. If they want me to come do it for them in Washington, they can always give me a call. Otherwise, I’ll be here in Wyoming working on it at the local level.

Until then….

-Wisdom

Better be stocking up on those soon to be illegal weapons!

-Wisdom

Republican HQ Managers Home Shot Up Over McCain Signs

Democrats Far More Aggressive in Seminole County, Victim Says

POSTED: 11:26 pm EDT October 22, 2008

UPDATED: 10:45 am EDT October 23, 2008

LONGWOOD, Fla. — The home of a Central Florida Republican headquarters manager was shot up and damaged over his support of Sen. John McCain, the man told police.

IMAGES: Home Shot Up

Rog Coverely said several pellets pierced his Longwood home. Coverely showed several spiderwebbed-holes in the front windows of his home.

Republican HQ Managers Home Shot Up Over McCain Signs – Politics News Story – WKMG Orlando.

Check out his official website at imwithfred.com

Donate to his campaign here.

Wisdom

Some years later a new election divided the people of Dariflo. This time the election was to decide who would be leader of the all the lands of Erimaca. When all the votes from across the lands were in it was so close that a winner could not be declared. It fell to the votes cast by the people of Dariflo to decide who would be the leader of all the lands of Erimaca, but even here, in these sunny lands, the vote was close to a tie. When all the votes were cast and counted, however, the Pubrelican candidate was found to be ahead by a slim margin. “Woghash,” cried the Medocrats! “Recount,” they screamed! “Revote,” some bawled! All was in disarray.

The law of the land called for a recount of all the votes cast in the land of Dariflo, and all sides agreed that it should be done. Over the next day, overseen by the elected overseer of Darifloidian elections, the ballots were put into the counting machines and counted again. When all was counted, the Pubrelican candidate was still the leader, but the Medocratic candidate was not happy, so he requested that the ballots in just a few parts of Dariflo be counted by hand. “Sorry,” said the elected overseer of elections, “but you can only count the ballots by hand if the counting machines made errors.” The Medocrats were angry, and they went to a Circuit Hold Wise Man and asked him to overrule the Elections Overseer.

The Medocrats argued that the Elections Overseer was a Pubrelican so she couldn’t make a fair judgment in this close election between a Pubrelican and a Medocrat. “I can and will make a fair judgment in this matter.”

“The Elections Overseer must consider all, but the decision is hers to make as the people of Dariflo have elected her to do and the House of Lawmakers have given her power to do, though she cannot do so arbitrarily,” he declared!

“Well then,” said the Elections Overseer, “I have heard the reasons given for hand counting all the ballots, and I have compared them to Dariflodian law and previous rulings by Wise Men, and I don’t believe that there is a purpose for a hand counting. So, when the military and the travelers votes have been counted, I will declare a winner.”

The Medocrats were angry once again, and they went back to the Circuit Hold Wise Man and claimed the Elections Overseer had acted unnaccordingly. “Arbitrary,” they yelled! “Partisan,” they cried!

Once again, the Circuit Hold Wise Man gave his opinion, “The Elections Overseer was elected to do a job, and the House of Lawmakers have ruled that the job is hers to do, and she did so justly and to the best of her ability. Her decisions were legal and not arbitrary. I won’t overrule her.”

The Medocrats were angry yet again so they went to the High Hold of the Seven Wise Men and asked them to overrule both the Circuit Hold Wise Man and the elected Elections Overseer.

The High Hold of the Seven Wise Men agreed to hear the argument and offer an opinion. “We have decided,” the wise men said, “and we decided to overrule the Circuit Hold Wise Man and the elected Elections Overseer, and the House of Lawmakers whose job it is to make the laws,” and they proceeded to give all involved new rules about how and when to count votes. “Overreach of powers,” the Pubrelicans cried! “Not their job,” they bellowed! “The House of Lawmakers is going to be ticked off,” they yelled! And so they were.

The Pubrelicans were so angry that they went to the Super High Hold of the Nine Wise Men and asked them to overrule the High Hold of the Seven Wise Men. “We will listen,” said the Super Wise Men, “but not till next week.”

And that is how things stand in the land of Dariflo, Erimaca. We’re waiting till next week.

To be continued….

Wisdom

I feel the stirrings of a broken heart. But that’s just silly isn’t it? After all, my life is good. I am happy and at peace in my world. So why do I feel so disheartened? Why do I wake up in the night with such a sense of dread and sadness I can’t sleep?

Could it be because the heart I fear is breaking is the collective heart of America? Our country is in trouble. The heart of this dear democracy is aching, perhaps breaking. The United States of America is crying out for succor and we who love her must stand by and wait and watch for the dangerous and divisive games to stop.

I awoke on November 7th, with a sense of election day excitement, a growing hope for victory by “our side,” a little trepidation about the possibility it wouldn’t go “our” way, and a lot of relief that the endless campaigning was finally over. Ten days later, I am no more certain about the election results than any other American-an unlikely, even unheard of, turn of events in the sophisticated, well-oiled political machinery of the most powerful country in the world.

Who would have ever guessed in the year 2000, with 100 million of her citizens voting, that the United States of America would be embroiled in a presidential contest where the country is literally split down the middle? If we can agree on not one single other thing, we must agree to pray God will guard us, give us strength, and guide us so this does no irreparable harm to these United States.

We are witnessing the most historical election in this country’s history. God bless America. She is an unbelievably strong and resilient country. We have endured some rocky times, many in the past week, and there is no doubt the waters ahead are troubled. But we must believe she will survive and emerge all the stronger. Any other possibility is too monumental and too frightening even to consider.

There are hundreds of millions of Americans in both parties sharing a common anger and frustration about this election fiasco. But I don’t believe even a tiny fraction of one percent of those same people know the real story of what is going on here. I don’t believe for one minute that most, or even many, people know about or condone the political manipulations going on in Florida. We, the silent millions of hurting Americans, believe one or the other presidential candidate is the right man for the job. We believe the system will work itself out to the “right” end, and we will not or can not fathom that in our great country there is really anything unsavory, illegal or God forbid, criminal, going on. God bless America. We the people continue to believe and maybe that will keep us sane and united in the days and years to come.

Is the law the law or is it up for debate? Has my standard admonishing to my children of “it may not be fair and you may not agree but it’s the law” been completely off base? Is there still right and wrong? Are not some things still black and white or must everything be viewed in shades of gray. Isn’t it our duty to obey the laws of our country whether we agree or not. May we plead “unfair” and be excused from the rules? I think not.

Some people are talking about a revote. How can anyone possibly think that is a viable option? An election is a snapshot in time-the exact circumstances of the moment can never, never be recreated. The only way to re-do the election would be to turn back the hands of time. To re-vote in Florida now would make the Nov. 7 election a primary where Nader and Buchanan were eliminated and the two remaining candidates square off. What about the people who have died since Nov. 7th and those who have reached the age of majority since then. Who gets to revote? Who could possibly determine a set of rules to guarantee a fair and accurate election?

On NBC’s Today Show this week, Matt Lauer posed a question about whether Katherine Harris should recuse herself. Why in the world should she? She was elected to the job as Florida’s Secretary of State. Part of her job description is to be the overseer of the electoral process in that state. Now that she is doing her job, she should not do it? She was directed, both by Florida law and by Florida courts, to use her discretion. Isn’t discretion a judgment call? Don’t we give that privilege to anyone we elect-to use his or her judgment, discretion, on our behalf? Who’s to say her discretion is right or wrong?

Senator Joseph Lieberman said it would be unfair to allow the Florida Secretary of State to decide the presidential election. So what would be fair? Is there another person who should call it that would be fairer, because if it goes to the courts, a person will call it?

Let’s be honest, there are as many people out there who want a recount as there are that don’t. Ultimately, it is going to come down to a human being-a Republican or a Democrat, a man or a woman, an elected official or a judge-making the final call. There is not a single, solitary person involved in any aspect of this fantastic epoch that isn’t partisan in some way or another. I imagine only God could tell us whose judgement is the “right” judgement.

The will of the people? Has not the will of the people been divined after 10 days of ballot counting with little change in the outcome? There is no doubt this is an inconceivably close election. But the electorate has spoken. Does the phrase “We the people” mean anything anymore? The U.S. Constitution says the Electoral College will determine the presidency. The Electoral College protects the heartland of America. Without it, why would any presidential candidate bother to campaign anywhere but the most populated metropolitan cities-New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles-and a huge portion of the United States would be ignored.

Where does a recount stop? If we recount three democratic counties in Florida, mustn’t we recount all the counties in Florida? And if we recount Florida, what about the other close states like New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin and Iowa? Where does it stop? With nearly 100 million votes to recount, how many hanging chads, dimpled chads or double chadded ballots are out there? By the way, if pro-life person votes and the chad is left pregnant, does that count as 2 votes?

Senator Fred Thompson said, “There are two choices and neither is perfect.” The first is to take the certified results of the election, which follow the letter of the law. The second is an objective recounting with no rules and protesters outside. Tim Russert said there is a margin of error in both machine and hand counting. You were promised a fair election, not a perfect election.

Perfect is not an option. So this has got to stop. We deserve a President elect and we will stand behind him if we know the system, and the law of the land, prevailed. Pray we don’t have to spend the next four years sorting through innuendo about criminal manipulations of our political process. That would surely split this great nation and cause irrevocable damage.

Vicki Moore Tillard