tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224195682024-03-13T12:35:31.324-05:0021st Century WhigReflections on American public life from a perspective that has (apparently) gone out of fashion.S. P. Tibbetts http://www.blogger.com/profile/00381737872566931139noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-37042246455962656632019-03-12T13:24:00.000-05:002019-03-12T13:24:00.476-05:00With Friends Like This...I think there is more to this "provocateur" than meets the eye. Progressives who say the election of Donald Trump was a cry of anguish from white America aren't entirely wrong—but the Left is uncharateristcally coy about who created such a relentlessly hostile atmosphere for ordinary, God-fearing, working-class white Americans that they took the drastic step of electing a fairly ridiculous Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-22880601502891784472018-11-08T14:33:00.001-06:002018-11-08T14:33:33.965-06:00Republicans Lose the House -- and More?My first thought Tuesday night when the TV news folk started declaring Republicans had lost the House of Representatives was, "ObamaCare stays."
Remember, Republicans took control of the House after vowing in the 2010 election to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They maintained that vow in the elections of 2012 and 2014, and voted several times in those three Congresses to actually do it -- Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-52219750203516576432018-03-04T20:53:00.000-06:002018-03-04T20:53:37.302-06:00Pastor Zip: Freedom's Just Another Word[Note: Reblogged from my Pastor Zip's Blog, where this appeared last February 20.]
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose," Janis sang in Kris Kristofferson's Me and Bobby McGee. That's what immediately came to my mind when Twitter (yes, Pastor Zip has a Twitter account, but only because NetworkedBlogs, which for free automatically forwards my blog posts to my Facebook page, doesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-3829140246033879122017-04-26T22:05:00.000-05:002017-04-26T22:05:22.561-05:00Letter to RNC Chair McDaniel6 March 2017
Mrs. Ronna McDaniel
Chair, Republican National Committee
310 First Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Dear Mrs. McDaniel:
I first became a Sustaining Member of the Republican National Committee in 1980, the first Presidential election in which I was eligible to vote. I was then a College Republican, working part-time. Even before that I had been active in Republican groups Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-75244911822828559412017-01-20T23:59:00.001-06:002017-01-20T23:59:26.071-06:00President Trump's Inaugural AddressAs a statement of principals to launch his administration, President Trump's inaugural address resonates surprisingly well with this American Whig. Of course the Devil is in the details, but the principles he presented both domestic and foreign fit well with those of American Whiggery.
With regard to foreign affairs, I especially liked a section that echoed of the great John Quincy Adams: We Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-43486402120317137032016-11-07T21:42:00.000-06:002016-11-07T21:42:21.006-06:00Thiel on Voting for PresidentCatch this quote from billionaire Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, addressing the National Press Club last week (on Hallowe'en): But I don't think the voters pull the lever in order to endorse a candidate's flaws. It's not a lack of judgment that leads Americans to vote for Trump. We're voting for Trump because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed.
Now I have no Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-3148458503407713442016-10-22T00:03:00.000-05:002016-10-22T00:03:04.931-05:00Wasted Vote?Slightly edited from the ALPB Forum Online, November 6, 2012:
I have in the past voted for Libertarians not because they have a chance of winning, and not simply to "send a message."
My votes for independent or 3rd party candidates increases the chance that their party will be able to appear on the next state-wide ballot without have to meet the onorous and steep cost Democrats and RepublicanUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-45860074387447737702016-02-29T23:50:00.003-06:002016-03-01T00:30:15.881-06:00Election 2016: Senator Sasse Gets ItFirst term U. S. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, was before his election the President of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, a school related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the alma mater of the pastor who sent me to seminary. Late yesterday via his Facebook page, Sen. Sasse used the controversy over Donald Trump's initial success in the polls and the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-13157273517989770702014-09-17T08:51:00.000-05:002014-09-17T08:51:08.266-05:00It's Election Season!Illinois' Governor Quinn, who is seeking a third term, has a couple of different YouTube sites. This is not from them.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-23124431595285231042013-03-06T20:34:00.000-06:002013-03-06T20:39:40.723-06:00Sen. Rand Paul's FilibusterIt really is this simple:
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-17254304403658529242011-03-12T13:30:00.000-06:002011-03-13T01:11:49.000-06:00Budget Battle ShowdownsFrom the Heritage Foundation and reason.tv: Hat tip to the View from Chaos Manor.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-45071439399448397012010-11-11T11:11:00.003-06:002010-11-11T14:43:50.307-06:00November 11thWith the current President of the United States otherwise occupied this Veterans Day, we offer — in honor of my father, who served in Europe during World War Two — the remarks offered for this occasion 49 years ago at Arlington National Cemetery by another young President. Tip o' the hat to the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon at TitusOneNine.Remarks by President John F. KennedyVeterans DayUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-47805811344073411572010-10-30T16:52:00.005-05:002010-10-30T17:36:39.473-05:00A Computer Game of Contemporary PoliticsWhen I was a young teen, we would play games with dice and boards. War games by Avalon Hill like Stalingrad, Waterloo, or D-Day. Long before "fantasy leagues," I created a baseball season using baseball board game, with dice and drawing cards. Then came computers, and the boards started to disappear, especially as computer games began to get graphics.The following returns us to a mid-point in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-55344977259774368902010-03-22T21:22:00.007-05:002010-03-22T21:50:18.214-05:00Our Founders Are WeepingRepresentative Tom Price (R-Georgia), as quoted from the floor of the House of Representatives on the PBS Newshour today, describes best the meaning of the passage of "health care reform" last night: Madam Speaker, it's raining here in Washington today. It's raining because our founders are weeping. Our founders are weeping over the incredible vote taken yesterday that was an affront to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-87975094579741755532010-01-26T21:37:00.003-06:002010-01-26T21:54:34.923-06:00The genuine republican principleJerry Pournelle puts forth the best possible 2010 Republican slogan: Limited Government and This Time We Really Mean It. Read more here at today's Chaos Manor.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-48428335248492693892010-01-23T22:42:00.006-06:002010-01-23T22:58:24.986-06:00Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won Massachusetts Senate SeatHat tip to Chaos Manor Mail.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-49231348617728147082009-06-26T18:40:00.010-05:002009-07-04T12:19:25.917-05:00Who Can You Trust?Last autumn I posted a commentary by the Governor of South Carolina that began, I am worried for our country... A bit further on, he writes, For 200 years, the "business model" in our country has rested on a simple fact: that while one may reap rewards from taking risks, one should also be prepared to face the consequences of those risks. This week Gov. Mark Sanford is facing the consequences Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-43982172121136450432009-06-05T19:20:00.010-05:002009-06-05T19:41:54.259-05:00This Was Published WHERE???Those of us raised during the Cold War will find the following, well as Jerry Pournelle says (hat tip), "it is astonishing." It's from Pravda. Yes, Pravda! spt+ American capitalism gone with a whimperIt must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-13677645620134120262009-04-29T20:07:00.007-05:002010-03-22T21:54:58.313-05:00Oh, the Shame! But Do We Recognize It?It's not that I've no Whiggish reflections since last November. If anything, there's simply too much to comment upon. The Panic of 2008 continues. Republicans rightly (but without much effect) oppose the Obama Administration's exponential expansion of the Bush Administration's foolish "solutions," but are unable to express anything positive -- largely because they can have no credibilty untilUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-37662934229954175692008-11-11T00:14:00.003-06:002008-11-11T00:46:07.682-06:00What Should the Republicans Do Now?Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin offers this advice in this Wall Street Journal commentary:Take Some Political RisksAfter two straight electoral defeats, it is time for a substantial party shake-up. We don't need a feather duster; we need a fire hose.We need to be honest about the root causes of our current financial crisis: loose money, crony capitalism and a lack of market transparency andUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-85964062757754174352008-10-06T14:59:00.002-05:002008-10-06T15:40:34.813-05:00Blowing Air in a Burst Bubble"It's a terrible bill, but we have to do something!" Congress cried last week. You'd think I could have come up with the above headline a couple of weeks ago and called it in to my Congresscritter (who, not running for re-election didn't give a whit for my "please don't vote for the bailout" phone call and voted for it both times -- then again, the entire point of Mr. LaHood's political career Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-19006081737511569462008-10-04T15:00:00.002-05:002008-10-04T15:41:03.737-05:00Fiddling with the ConstitutionThe first sentence of Section 7 of Article 1 of the United States Constitution reads:All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. How, then, did this week's bailout ("rescue"), which originated in the Senate (having first failed in the House of Representatives) become law? Note that this is Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-75966104785455306502008-09-29T00:46:00.004-05:002008-09-29T01:04:40.528-05:00Republican Liberty Caucus on the BailoutThe Republican Liberty Caucus is much more libertarian than Whig. Nevertheless, their critique of how we got into the current financial crisis and the proposed "solutions" offers some important warnings."NO Bailout for Failure, NO Rescue from Risk," says Republican GroupThousand Oaks, CA - A national caucus of Republican activists has urged GOP legislators to stand firm against the &Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-52337492998277542062008-09-27T13:49:00.004-05:002008-09-27T14:20:19.407-05:00It's Not Yours to GiveOne of my childhood records was Bill Hayes' "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," the third stanza of which isHe went off to Congress and served a spellFixin' up the Government and the laws as wellTook over Washington, so I heard tellAnd he patched up the crack in the Liberty BellDavy, Davy Crockett, seeing his duty clearBut I never really thought about Davy Crockett as a Congressman until, during my Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-77214321029414171672008-09-26T14:29:00.005-05:002011-01-12T20:25:27.586-06:00Mark Sanford: A Bailout for All Our Bad Decisions?For more on the economic side of the current financial crisis, you might check my main Pastor Zip's Blog. Here in the Washington Post Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina raises very important questions of what the responses to the emergencies of the last few years mean for the Republic. As you read it note this: the pattern of federalizing crisis response started long before 9/11 or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0