Solutions

I just got a call from one of my Leadership Team members (of the local political group I formed) with the ironic: "Congratulations on your ascendancy to Pure Founder Status!"

We both laughed and a deep sense of relief washed over me once again.

24 Hours Earlier...

We had our regular bi-weekly leadership meeting and LS, the man who has been acting in the capacity of Director's Helper....or putting into effect my ideas...of the group, but who really does all the managing and directing for the group—announced that he was thinking of running for school board, and that if he won, he would necessarily have to scale back his involvement in our group....and he just wanted to let us know well in advance.

Everyone in the room made the correct sort of approval and support noises, except me, who, perhaps best understood what losing this individual would mean for the group!

And I'm thinking not just "no!", but "Hell No! This is a TERRIBLE idea!"

As we chatted further, it came to me in a blinding flash—the solution totally clear...and it had only been brought on by LS's announcement - thank God he made it just then, or we might have limped on in twilight limbo for several more months.

You see, the "management" of a political group is just not my forte. I'm a landscaper who hates gardening:  I loved creating my garden, but I have no desire to putter around in it on a regular basis, maintaining it. I'm not a gardener. Boring!

I  enjoy—and apparently am good at—inspiring people into an organized group for a political purpose. It is the creating, forming, and growing it into a living entity that I'm good at. (I've done it twice, actually...and when I stop and think about it, that's pretty impressive. Not something most people do.)

But the rest....not so much. (I also think of it as liking the business that creates the children, but not so high on actually raising them!)

So, faced with both realizations 1) LS, the good manager, might leave; and 2) I hate managing; I resigned as "Director" of the group and designated LS as my successor. He already effectively does most of the "managing" because he's good at it, and likes to do it - but does it in the capacity of "helping me out". I realized he should be officially recognized, and enjoy the rank and authority of his effective responsibility.

He worried that I felt cornered by his election announcement, and forced into the decision. But I could see he was happy with the offer. And was totally willing to take on the job. (Which would end the nonsense of running for school board and deserting the group!)

I could only do my best to assure him that what I felt was relief, not pressure.

The others were a little disconcerted, I think, by the apparent spontaneity of my decision, but it was actually the culmination of concerns and  issues that have been growing in my mind for quite a while now. As the organization required agendas, activities, intergalactic communications...once it required "management" as well as "leadership"....it became much less enjoyable for me. Joy and enthusiasm became pressure and stress.

But the problem has been solved.

My title was Founder/Director. LS's card will now say "Director".

And mine will say only:  Founder.    

"Ascendancy to Pure Founder Status"

The group has a smart, effective, dynamic Director/Manager who will take it through its next phase of growth and strengthen it into the future....and I still get the credit and status as Mom/Founder/Creator.

Pretty good deal.

And I still get to go to all those leadership meetings where they serve all the best food.

Sometimes life is good.

The Gunslinger

Breathtaking!

Click on this picture and see it LARGE!


Laugh at me if you want to....but I'm starting to think that:

God sent Barack Obama to wake our lazy asses up.

I say rejoice that Øbama was elected. This could not, would not have happened otherwise. If John McCain had been elected, he would have crept down the same path—just in smaller increments—and the Republican Party would have felt bound (because they care more about Party than Country, just like the Democrats) to support him, and we would have slept through the final death rattle of our liberties.

The ridiculous barbarian, and his mindless, heedless rush to Communism has jarred us awake and made us realize that we have allowed the criminals in Washington to peel our rights away one after the other and gather unconscionable, unconstitutional power into their hands, and drag us well down the road to an autocracy/oligarchy.

Without Barack Huessin Øbama most of the millions in this photo would still be on their couches.

When I see this, I know, as Glenn says, "the paradigm is changing"! And WE are shaping the future.

The Slobbering Media has never been so obviously irrelevant, so out of step, or so conscious of it. The Left, who usually owns protests and "frames the dialogue" is grasping at straws, becoming more strident in their impotence, foaming at the mouth. None of the old accusations work anymore. And they have a very shallow bench. With their man in the White House, and majorities in both houses they are losing. They are losing power, support, confidence. They are losing control of history.

It's a beautiful thing.

We can't rest. We can't stop. We cannot give them a moment to catch breath. This is not victory. But it might just be the end of the beginning...and now the real Battle begins!

The Gunslinger
Enemy of the Imperial State (EOTIS)
Wolfpack

The POST Gets it RIGHT??

I hope you're siting down.

Here's a shockingly fair report about the yesterday's March on Washington from the....wait for it...Washington Post!

(I can't seem to locate the looking glass I've obviously stepped through!)

It does not call us "astroturf" it does not align us with the Republicans, it does not vaguely imply that we're all racists, nazis or religious nuts.

Fucking amazing!

And their only reference to guns was nothing more than a direct quote from a sign...which I loved:

Some came to protest what they see as government interference with gun ownership. Shaun Bryant, 40, a leadership trainer, was among eight people who flew in from Salt Lake City. They fashioned a sign with a drawing of an AR-15 assault rifle and the words, "We came unarmed from Montana and Utah . . . this time!"

Truer words...etc.

My only quibble: In the interests of accuracy, "tens of thousands" should have read "hundreds of thousands".

The Gunslinger
Enemy of the Imperial State (EOTIS)

Feast Your Eyes

The Daily Mail estimates the crowd as "up to Two Million".

What? You don't think I'm going to quote the New York Times or CNN, do you?

Sometimes life is good.

The Gunslinger
Enemy of the Imperial State
Member of the Angry Mob

Fire Them All!

This is the "Reboot Congress" initiative from the New Hampshire 912 Project. I think it's a good one. The danger of getting a worse scoundrel than we got rid of is nothing compared to the lesson we'll teach the Imperial Statemongers...that it is We The People who are in charge!

I endorse it!

Hey Congress - You're Fired!

You Can Take Action NOW!

As voters, we face a prodigious challenge in the coming elections. The challenge itself has been with us for decades, and for decades we have failed to step up to it. Yes, the blame for the failed policies of the past lies squarely on the shoulders of the American voter – not George Bush. Likewise, the failed policies of the future (now being formulated in Washington by the Obama coalition as a doubling down on the failed policies of the past) are directly the responsibility of - yes - the American voter.

How, with the best of intentions, have we gone wrong? Certainly we can point to having been hornswaggled by politicians and special interests, but we are a self-reliant people and most of us are not inclined to blame others for our own mistakes. We must examine our failed voting policies of the past and correct them. And we must do it before the next general election. Most of us are truly frightened by what is happening in Washington D.C. There is no time to waste.

The Lesser of Two Evils voting policy: This is the excuse we use when voting for borderline (or outright) criminals for public office. This rationale generally favors the incumbent as “the devil we know” vs. “the devil we don’t know”. This voter policy is directly responsible for negative campaign advertising. Voters almost universally don’t approve of negative campaign advertising BUT IT STILL WORKS. It works because it succeeds in planting the notion of greater evil about one or another candidate and political operatives know we will select the lesser of two evils. So long as this voter policy is in place the political operatives will be able to outmaneuver us. The major failure of this policy is that it promotes incumbency (the devil we know). Incumbency fosters the proliferation of unholy networks of public servants, lobbyists and political operatives (the parties) within which favors are done by the public servants and favors are paid for by the special interests. These are subtle exchanges, usually unlikely to be prosecutable in a court of law. If no politician could serve even a second term, these networks would deteriorate, there not being sufficient time to form them into stable, robust cabals.

The Straight Ticket voting policy: This policy simply applies the “Lesser of Two Evils” policy to slates of party candidates. Voters who tend to favor the Democrat platform vote for Democrats and vice versa. Because the voter now only has to make one decision, rather than many, it is a much more efficient path to political Armageddon. Similar to negative campaign advertising, this policy leads to a continual demonization war each party against the other. We now have rancorous political rhetoric bombarding us every day even when there are no elections in process. The consequence of this voting policy is incumbency squared. The parties are the promoters and the facilitators of the unholy networks within which wealth is transferred from special interests to politicians and, through legislation passed by the politicians, from the American voters to the special interests (guess who makes a profit on this). Parties almost always renominate an incumbent, so this voting policy practically guarantees high levels of long-term incumbency.

The question is, “Can we formulate a voting policy to break this cycle of voter failure?”. The answer is certainly “Yes” (else we are certainly doomed). Term limits you say? That is not a voting policy. That is an appeal to the legislature to pass a law to save us from ourselves. How pathetic is that? Not to mention the impracticality of it. Do you expect the U.S. Congress to ever pass a law that would derail it's gravy train? The unholy networks have been enormously profitable for most members of congress; and, although many of them will say they support term limits, the legislation itself will never, ever happen.

The Reboot Congress Voting policy: Just a few weeks before the election of 2008, Congressional approval hit an all time low of around 12%. One would therefore expect the reelection rate for sitting congressmen in 2008 to have been quite low, but in fact it turned out to be 94%! The last time the congressional reelection rate was below 94% was 1994. The lowest reelection rate in the last 50 years was in 1970 – 85%. Maybe we just love to hate these folks. In any case we have consistently empowered them to take advantage of us.

“And of what kind are the men that will strive for this profitable pre-eminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters? It will not be the wise and moderate, the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust. It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will thrust themselves into your government, and be your rulers. And these, too, will be mistaken in the expected happiness of their situation, for their vanquished competitors, of the same spirit, and from the same motives, will perpetually be endeavoring to distress their administration, thwart their measures, and render them odious to the people.” Benjamin Franklin

We MUST say to these people, loudly and clearly, “You're fired!”. The successful voting policy is easy to implement. It requires no research, no soul searching. All the information needed to do it is printed right on the ballot. Simply do not check the box for an incumbent. If by this policy the American voter can limit Congress to a reelection rate of 75% in 2010, that will be enough to shatter the confidence of Washington D.C. And it will reverberate throughout the country at every level of government. If we can achieve a reelection rate less than 50%, that will be total victory. Yes, if we follow this policy, we're going to elect some scoundrel challengers who may be worse than the deposed incumbents, but they will know they are likely to be one-termers if they don't win our approval. Ultimately of course, we will have to adopt a different policy we'll call “the greater of two goods” - the sooner the better. But for now, as voters, we need to take drastic action.

YOU CAN TAKE ACTION NOW by clicking here and notifying your congressman of his/her term limit.