“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately what with all the brouhaha surrounding the Porkulus bill and other asinine quests of those in Washington.It of course has got me too rambling quite a bit so I thought I might as well jot some of that babbling down.
My mother, much like yours I’m sure, was famous for hurling occasionally befuddling statements at us as kids.Things like;
“Am I talking to a brick wall?”“Are you deaf or something?”“Does anyone in this house listen?”See a pattern here?And of course the typical favorites; “Shut up and Answer me when I ask you a question!” “I hope someday you have children just like you” (careful this curse actually works)
There were always the really confusing ones such as; “Enough is enough!”Huh? And “If wishes were horses...”I’ve never heard the conclusion and I’m somewhat disturbed by how many wishes I may have wasted trying to figure that one out.“I've had it up to here with you.” Now that one would’ve been easier to avoid had she only once given us some inclination as to where the hell ‘here’ was.
There was the infamous “Don’t” list.A veritable cornucopia of kids desires simply round up into a parental manifesto of “absolutely not.”
“Don’t. . . eat that, you'll get worms! . . . Go out with a wet head, you'll catch cold. . . . Make me get up! . . . Run in the house. . . . Sit too close to the television; it'll ruin your eyes. . . . Walk away when I'm talking to you! . . . And on and on and on.
At times she would question or very sense of reality with such conviction us ourselves would take pause . . . “Who do you think you're talking to?” “Who do you think you are?”
Perhaps because of her faith in the aforementioned curse she had no doubt she could simply will things into existence . . . “You WILL eat it, and you WILL like it!”
There was the occasional “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” Line, that remains a subject of great debate to this very day.
Eventually all of the day’s speeches were sure to be followed by the always faithful and dreaded . . . “You just wait until your FATHER gets home!”
This always brought immediate thoughts best described by Ralphie; “It was all over - I was dead. What would it be? The guillotine? Hanging? The chair? The rack? The Chinese water torture? Hmmph. Mere child's play compared to what surely awaited me.”
Your Impact: Give Yourself A “Thank You”, I’m Giving You One.
I wanted to take the time to sincerely thank any and all of you out there that participated in this election cycle.I thank those that were with us from the start, those that joined us in the end and everyone in-between.
I am saving my comments and thoughts regarding the outcome of the election, the future of our cause etc for a later post.This is simply a straight forward THANK YOU.
(for the record when I say we throughout this post I’m talking about YOU!)
In the past two years I have been lucky enough to meet folks all across this nation from every conceivable ethnic background and walk of life.I’ve communicated with you via, phone, internet, TV, Radio and even in person.Overall I am better off for it.
Often throughout this process doubts were present.Doubts about our abilities, or focus,
Our agenda, our purpose, our impact and practically everything else.I can assure you from the bottom of my heart there is no doubt.
For those that questioned our impact and all of the aforementioned let me just give you a bit of info to digest.
Collectively we posted 345,621 blog posts. (related to the mccain campaign etc)That is the most accurate number I have (and trust me I’ve done my best to keep close track) however I am quite certain the number is higher.Our first month in operation we increased McCain’s over-all online presence by 524%.It never fell again.We had articles, stories etc picked up by the Main Stream Media, TV, Print and Radio etc that otherwise never would’ve appeared there.Often we completely took over tracking sites such as Technorati, Wonkosphere and several others . . .we retained a strong presence on all throughout.
THANK YOU.
Before we lost the ability to directly track our contributions (as of January of 2008) we had contributed $116,000.00 dollars directly to the McCain campaign.Since we only grew and put forth stronger numbers and efforts from that point on I can safely assume that number rose dramatically.We also raised $4309.64 for various conservative/republican candidates around the country directly through slatecard, Along with another $3625.00 for candidates above and beyond that.
THANK YOU.
Over 64,400 people from around the country clicked on our link to make phone calls on behalf of the campaign.Many of us held phone banks periodically in our homes, made calls on our own or went to HQ above and beyond that.
THANK YOU.
Many of us were interviewed by or asked to write for or speak to the Main Stream Media,
Including FOX news, NBC, CBS, Columbia News Journal, Medill News, Hundreds of collegiate and high school news services, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, Dozens and dozens of radio programs, the BBC (many times) and the list goes on and on.
THANK YOU.
When the campaign was low on resources WE WERE THERE.In the NH primary we literally put 500 boots on the ground.These volunteers did everything a paid campaign normally covers.We single handedly won the NH primary for McCain which of course resulted in his attaining the nomination of the party.
When McCain began the no surrender tour it was from our ranks he pulled the veterans and volunteers, many of us road on that tour with him when he need us.
THANK YOU.
We contributed THOUSANDS of dollars directly out of pocket to cover expenses of our efforts, to help others etc. (I will not give the dollar amounts to protect those that wish to remain private etc).
THANK YOU.
We traveled around the country to battleground areas and areas in desperate need of additional support, typically on our own dime.
THANK YOU.
When the campaign was lacking in signage we took up the cause.We raised money for signs around the country.We shipped over 3000 signs in a two month period to states, areas that needed them.We shipped them in most cases without charging the receiving party.Often we even covered the shipping charges.Not including all of the stickers, hats and pins we sent out.
The campaign on numerous occasions implemented ‘our’ ideas and took ‘our’ advice.
(had they done it a lil’ more often perhaps we would’ve won . . . lol)
We also ran 21 Television commercials in KEY battleground areas around the country thanks to direct donations from YOU!
THANK YOU.
We created ‘groups’ in every state on facebook, google and other platforms. (over 800 affiliated groups, most set up by us directly!)From these groups 15 individuals were directly hired by the campaign (several others had offers and turned them down, but continued to volunteer anyhow!).Of those 15 directly hired 2 were at our request, 8 at our suggestion.One of these folks became part of McCain’s official personal advance team another one of Sarah Palin’s handlers.
The google groups (which ended with 745 members) were utilized directly by the McCain campaign for several months and we received several written messages thanking us for that use and the amazing results they achieved when using them. Often they found their ‘area’ leaders or boots on the ground folks directly from those groups.They stated that they always had a positive response and that every time they reached out via that avenue those folks ALWAYS showed up for them.
THANK YOU.
We had an amazing force of numbers and effort. Our contact list grew to over 700,000 during the course of this campaign. AMAZING! That is just staggering!That is from members of our various sites/blogs/groups/subscriptions etc.Millions upon millions of ‘hits’ and ‘visits’ to our sites,blogs,platforms.Hundreds of thousands of readers (sometimes for one blog). . . you truly reached the masses my friends.
THANK YOU.
Now I could go on and on boring you with details and numbers but I won’t.I just wanted to make sure you had at least a slight idea of the tremendous impact you had.We may not have won, but ultimately our accomplishment was astounding.We impacted the process.We insisted our voice be heard and succeeded. NEVER forget that.
The ‘battle’ may be over however the war rages on.The war for the heart and soul of our country has begun.Don’t start whispering now, do not hang your heads in shame, or storm away in anger and frustration.The sun came up on November 5th, I saw it.
I am proud of what I did for the past three years.I am proud of all you have done.I am proud of the McCain family and am honored to count them among my friends, just as I do many of you.
So once again I offer you my most heart-felt and deepest thanks.I wish I had the time and energy to list and thank you all by name . . . I can not.Before I end however, I would like to give a special thanks to just a handful folks that went far above and beyond their call of duty . . .(there are many more, but bare with me)
Kathy Morrisson, Michael Schuyler, Brad Marston, Jeff Vath, John Barnhart, Bill Smith,
Branden Folger, Samantha Folger, Brad Hansen, Andi Card, Debra Aldinger, Yomin Postelnik, Jean Avery, Andrea Snell, Ian Droste, Sharon Caliendo, Oliver Ditch, Jonathan Tallman, and many many many many more.
More important than our own ‘feelings’ or even more important than congratulating the new President-elect is to give our advice on how our nations needs to be guided.
It is our duty as citizens, it is our obligation to our country to press on and do so.The democrats and Obama may indeed not listen, however we may still benefit our nation by speaking up.
As promised -- LGTR is still here and in the battle for conservative ideals and principles. Thank you for all your efforts getting ready for the 2008 election.
LGTR also values you, your friends and others who are in this fight and commend yours and their efforts. Starting immediately, LGTR will begin work towards taking back control of the Congress in 2010. Ronald Reagan told his supporters upon the election of Jimmy Carter, that the time would be ripe for a major change in four years because America cannot abide socialism for long and to prepare immediately. The same effect happened with the Clinton Administration who lost control of Congress.
Also remember you can form groups on the LGTR website and start communicating and preparing for the future by addressing conservative values and principles right now.
The New Hampshire Republican State Committee is filing a lawsuit against the New Hampshire Secretary of State, William Gardner, claiming that Republican election officials are purposefuly being kept away from new registration tables. Both Republicans and Democrats appoint election officials to ensure that neither party tries to tamper with votes or registration.
The photo above shows election officials over pre-registered check-in tables in Hampton this morning.
Welcome To Let's Get This Right! A coalition of Americans dedicated to preserving the ideals, core beliefs and moral fiber that made the Republican party and our country great.
The days of reaching across the aisle and slowly compromising away our values and beliefs bit by bit are over. There is a strong surge of unity and communication fueled by frustration and disappointment within the party. We have much work to do starting in 2009!
By joining Let's Get This right you have taken a step in the "Right" direction. Traditionalists, Libertarian, varied forms of republicans and constitutionalists share many of the same views regarding the future of our nation. It is time we focused on those things and take advantage of our common ground, our networks our net-roots and grass-roots to defeat the liberal socialist agenda that is eating away all we hold dear.
Below in the the Let's Get This Right TV module. You can come and FOLLOW us on USTREAM. Once you follow LGTR TV, you'll be able to recieve notification for when we start broadcasting, record a video, or create an event!
Please Tune In November 4th With LGTR Co-Founder/Director Brad Marston LIVE ON THE GROUND with the McCain Campaign in Arizona! After the elction look for many more new updates from our new TV Module. Here is a link to our channel and here is a link to our profile.
Show up to make phone calls for McCain-Palin and you never know who may show up.
So Meghan did show up. I think it is important to realize the importance the campaign is putting on the volunteer grass roots and net roots effort. As Meghan says in the interview, she has been traveling around to campaign headquarters to thank and rally the troops.
Towards the end of the video you can hear Meghan saying she wanted to talk to me and we got a chance to as we rolled on the Straight Talk Express to Boston College.
What we talked about was GOTV efforts and how important they are in every campaign.
I snagged the picture above from Meghan's Blog. The caption was "Brad Marston McCain e-Campaign Coordinator." I wish I was. I think I have done some good for the McCain campaign but at the end of the day, I am just a guy who waves a sign, sends an e-mail or makes a phone call.
Everyone who reads this post can do the same. Politics is like life. 90% is just showing up.
Don't let those free evening and weekend minutes go unused!
Don't let those Rollover minutes expire!
Let's use our Minutes for McCain-Palin 2008!
We can make 100,000 calls for McCain-Palin 2008 between now and November 4th. It is easy. Okay. It may not be fun but it has to be done.
You can make 20 calls in each session using the OnLine Phone Bank at www.JohnMcCain.com. It will take about 45 minutes depending on the number of people you actually reach.
If all the loyal McCain-Palin supporters who read this make just 20 calls a day between now and Election Day we can EASILY make 100,000 calls for McCain-Palin 2008 (if not more.)
Dear McCain Supporter,
Thank You for you support of Sen. JOHN McCAIN & Gov. SARAH PALIN!!!
Use your FREE Cellphone weekend minutes to make calls for McCain/Palin! We are targeting certain states, and ask our FANTASTIC McCain Google Group Volunteers to please make calls to the following states from the McCain website
Why are we targeting these states? Why isn't your state a targeted state? We are focusing on 10 states that President Bush won in 2004 that are currently either "toss-ups" or leaning either McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden. We need to hold these states. Please help us do exactly that!
INDEPENDENT GROUP LAUNCHES $500,000 TV AD BUY TO DEFEAT OBAMA IN MICHIGAN
* Ad Buy Launched As Obama Pulls Staff and
Ad Dollars Out of the Great Lakes State
* Bus Tour With 9 Pro-McCain/Palin Rallies
Across Michigan to Support Ad Campaign
[MICHIGAN] -- A federally registered independent political action committee has begun a $500,000+ television ad campaign in Michigan to support the McCain/Palin ticket and defeat the Obama/Biden campaign in the Great Lakes State.
The Our Country Deserves Better Committee (website: http://www.OurCountryDeservesBetter.com) is paying for the TV ad buy and sponsoring a "Stop Obama Tour" across the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan in an effort to win the state's 17 electoral votes for the McCain/Palin campaign. The "Stop Obama Tour" will conduct 9 rallies across Michigan from this Thursday (October 23rd) - Saturday (October 25th).
A series of television ads attacking Obama's liberal economic and foreign policy positions will air across Michigan and will incude two ads specifically produced for Michigan that highlight Sen. Obama's ties to unpopular Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, disgraced former Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, as well as other controversial Obama associates including Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko and domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers.
"Since Senator Obama and Senator McCain have pulled most of their advertising dollars out of Michigan, we felt we were in a unique position to have a major impact on the final days of this election campaign here in the state," said Howard Kaloogian, Chairman of the Our Country Deserves Better Committee.
Our Country Deserves Better spokesman, radio talk show host Mark Williams, said that Michigan voters must reject the same disastrous policies of Democratic Governor Jennifer Granhom, that Senator Obama now threatens to inflict upon the state's residents were he to occupy the Oval Office.
"The Democratic leadership in Michigan has failed the people of the Great Lakes State, and Senator Obama as promised to deliver these same failed policies to all of America if he is elected president. Higher taxes, big government spending, and redistribution of wealth have hurt Michigan, and the voters of this state have the chance to reject these policies and embrace the hope and opportunity that a McCain/Palin administration would bring to Michigan," Williams said.
Also traveling with the tour across Michigan will be national pro-troop leader, Deborah Johns, whose son, Marine Sgt. William Johns, has served several tours of duty in the War on Terror, including three tours in Iraq alone.
"Senator Obama has not been faithful to our troops or our military families. Michigan voters know that a McCain/Palin administration would be led by two people who will honor the service and sacrifice of our troops. Senator McCain and Governor Palin both have children who are serving this nation in the United States military, and they know that our troops need our support for their missions in this dangerous world where unstable dictators and violent regimes threaten our nation's security," Johns said.
At each rally in Michigan, attendees will hear the powerful and moving vocals of singer/songwriter, Lloyd Marcus, a black conservative who has penned a tribute song honoring Gov. Sarah Palin.
"It makes me so mad when I hear Obama's supporters implying that it is racist to not vote for Barack Obama. No, that is wrong! It is racist to vote for this man simply because of the color of his skin, when he is the wrong man with the wrong policies for the job of president and leader of the Free World," Mr. Marcus said.
For additional information on the Our Country Deserves Better "Save Michigan" campaign contact Kelly S. Eustis at kseustis@eusatrix.com - (518) 796-8999 or Joe Wierzbicki at jwierzbicki@rmrwest.com – (916) 752-3655.
The McCain/Palin campagin needs our help, friends, and they need our help IMMEDIATELY.
The New York Times and other media outlets are reporting on the $150 million Barack Obama raised in September (on top of the $66 million he raised in August), and how he used that money to flood the airwaves in key battleground states over the past month to run up his poll numbers.
Obama "swamped" McCain in ad spending by a 4-to-1 margin, and in some states the margin over McCain was even higher.
Obama, the Democratic candidate, is now running at least four times as much advertising nationwide as his Republican rival, John McCain, according to CMAG, a service that monitors political advertising. That difference is even larger in several closely contested states.
While Obama's decision to forgo the matching funds - and the limits that come with them - has given him a spending advantage throughout the election, his television dominance has become most apparent in the past few weeks as he has gone on a buying binge that has allowed him to utterly swamp McCain's campaign with concurrent lines of positive and negative messages.
Since McCain is limited under public financing laws as to how much he can raise and spend - whereas Obama can raise and spend unlimited funds since he went without matching funds - it is critically important for groups like the Our Country Deserves Better Committee to step in to help bring a balance to the TV ad wars.
This is why we must continue to ask our supporters to make donations to our TV ad fund. Over 150,000 people will receive this email you are reading right now. Imagine the impact we can make if all of us make a contribution to our anti-Obama/pro-McCain/Palin ad campaign.
The maximum allowed contribution to a federal PAC such as ours is $5,000. If you can afford such a contribution, please lend your support to our cause now -- DONATE HERE.
Many of us can only afford to contribute lesser amounts of $1,000 or $500 or $250 or $100 or even $50 or $25. Even donations of $10 and $5 make a strong impact when they come from tens of thousands of Americans.
So please, help us overcome Obama's campaign funding advantage over McCain by allowing us to go up on the airwaves in key swing states with our strong and aggressive TV ads. Make a contribution online right now, and ask your friends or family members to also make a contribution to double or triple the impact you make in this election.
As always, you can see the TV ads your donations are funding - HERE.
Use your FREE Cell phone weekend minutes to make calls for McCain/Palin! We are targeting certain states, our FANTASTIC McCain Google Group Volunteers please make calls to the following states from the McCain web site (these are the Targeted, Battleground states:
Many investors are nervous because of the current uncertainty in the stock market, and the general lack of liquidity in the financial markets. Now, however, is NOT the time to sell. There are some unique buying opportunities in a market that has lost 20% of its value.If you can avoid the herd mentality fueled by the same type of speculation that caused this crisis, there are good profits to be gained in the future - if you are prudent and patient. The American economy is still the strongest in the world. Success from Wall Street to Main Street, however, may have something to do with who is elected President in 2008.
So I got an e-mail Monday morning [excerpts below] from Obama Campaign puppet master David Plouffe announcing that they would be releasing a 13 minute “documentary”, “Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis.” I was curious how many lies of commission and omission the Obama campaign could fit into a single short e-mail. Now I didn’t expect Plouffe to mention that Barack Obama has received in three years, five times the political donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that John McCain has received in twenty years. I didn’t expect Plouffe to explain what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought with those payments.
Over the weekend, John McCain's top adviser announced their plan to stop engaging in a debate over the economy and "turn the page" to more direct, personal attacks on Barack Obama.
Okay. According to RealClearPolitics it wasn’t McCain’s top adviser and what he said was "looking to turning the page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's liberal, aggressively liberal, record and how he will be too risky for the Americans." I guess talking about Senator Obama’s record is a personal attack. I mean he did personally establish his record as a hard left liberal.
In the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to change the subject from the central question of this election. Perhaps because the policies McCain supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend.
Well that is demonstrably false as we are not “in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” While we are at risk of it, the worst economic crisis since the great depression is still the stagflation brought on by the Carter economic policies when home foreclosure rates were higher than they are today.
Actually John McCain supported greater oversight and regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both in 2003 and 2006. John McCain had the foresight to predict the crisis that led to the Government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Obama’s buddy, Senator Chris Dodd wouldn’t even let the bill out of committee.
But it's not just McCain's role in the current crisis that they're avoiding. The backward economic philosophy and culture of corruption that helped create the current crisis are looking more and more like the other major financial crisis of our time.
Actually over regulation and misguided regulation caused this crisis.
During the savings and loan crisis of the late '80s and early '90s, McCain's political favors and aggressive support for deregulation put him at the center of the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan, one of the largest in the country. More than 23,000 investors lost their savings.
Actually John McCain was never at the “center of the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan”. The Senate Ethics Committee probe of the Keating Five began in November 1990 and committee Special Counsel Robert Bennett [a Democrat] recommended that McCain and Glenn be dropped from the investigation. They were not. McCain believes Democrats on the committee blocked Bennett's recommendation because he was the lone Keating Five Republican.
I also find it interesting how Plouffe tries to spin the phrase “investors lost their savings” implying that people with savings accounts lost money (They didn’t as they were FSLIC insured.) and unless Mr. Plouffe knows all the investors personally, I am not sure he can also imply that they lost all of their savings.
Overall, the savings and loan crisis required the federal government to bail out the savings of hundreds of thousands of families and ultimately cost American taxpayers $124 billion.
Sound familiar?
In that crisis, John McCain and his political patron, Charles Keating, played central roles that ultimately landed Keating in jail for fraud and McCain in front of the Senate Ethics Committee.
This from wikipedia on the Keating Five Scandal
After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment".
[Plouffe fails to mention that it was only Democratic Senators who were found to have acted improperly and in fact all three chose to not run for re-election.]
And this time, McCain's bankrupt economic philosophy has put our economy at the brink of collapse and put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes.
Actually again, no. It was the policies of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Barack Obama that have put millions of American’s at risk of losing their homes. Of course, most of those people couldn’t really afford those homes in the first place.
If Barack Obama through David Plouffe can tell that many lies about John McCain in a short e-mail, I wonder how many he can tell in a 13 minute documentary.
But of course neither Plouffe or Obama will tell you that.
