“It’s About the Votes, Stupid”

As shared at my Column with Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/republican-in-san-francisco/it-s-about-the-votes-stupid


When I was young, my mother used to say to me, “Do as I say, not as I do.” For as wise as she was sweet, this clever quip never worked for me. The example set in what she actually did had the greater impact on my own choices and behavior. I have otherwise heard it aptly put, “Your actions speak so loud, I cannot hear what you are saying.” In the current political climate heading into the 2010 mid-term elections, the usual siege of campaign rhetoric, promises and smears are no different; these mere, empty, last minute words cannot undo 20 months of choices and behavior, and therefore, no longer have enough depth to hold air let alone our trust.

The polarizing issues of the 2008 Presidential Elections began disturbing the slumber of the politically apathetic. Unfortunately, as often goes with apathy, the awakening comes a day late and a dollar short, now racing from the disadvantage of the back of the field. It’s like “The Frog in the Kettle” analogy: toss a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out, but, put the frog in tepid water and slowly turn up the heat, it will boil alive because it won’t even feel it.

While the cost of our apathy eventually gave us an Obama Presidency, fortunately, we the people did feel the heat (called the TARP Bill) soon enough to begin our subsequent uphill fight, furiously calling and writing our respective Congressional Representatives to not support the Bill, all to no avail. Against the will of “we the people,” especially those of us in the Republican Party, even John McCain, the 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate, voted in favor of it, speaking huge disappointing volumes.

What a rude awakening. Not only was our voice not heard, worse - while we’d slumbered, our voice became irrelevant to those voted into Office to serve us. Instead, Congressional Representatives, including Republicans, were lording over us and serving themselves, as if this was normal and acceptable, as if they knew what was best for us, the ignorant and stupid. We were just asleep and therefore silent… but no more.

This under-estimation of we the people has subsequently exposed that it’s not we who are the ignorant and stupid or the only ones asleep. While we are now wide awake and motivated to action as reflected in the grassroots TEA Party movement, they remain clueless, especially to the fact that we feel most betrayed by the votes of those in our own Party, the “moderate” Republicans, or RINO’s (Republicans In Name Only).

From that first vote for the TARP Bill to all the votes that quickly followed Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, we the people have been taking copious notes. RINO’s made 3 key mistakes, thus, outing themselves and forever etching their names in our minds: 1) they voted for Obama’s radical agenda at every turn, 2) they believed we would forget these votes, and 3) they demonized us for opposing them. They’re like the dross which surfaces and is then removed in the process of purifying silver. All it took was turning up the heat to expose them. As we fast approach the 2010 mid-term elections, we haven’t forgotten. Anything but – we’ve been like a stampede of horses chomping at the bit to get out of the gate and to the ballot box to finally be heard.  The heat of the TEA Party is purging the dross of compromise right out of the Republican Party.

Still fresh in our minds are the names of every RINO who voted for the passage of Cap and Trade, the Stimulus Bills, the Obama Care Bill, and the confirmation of radicals to our National Supreme Court, all in spite of the passionate opposition from the majority of we the people, essentially shoving their will down our throats time and time again. When Cap and Trade barely passed, due to the votes of just 8 RINO’s, a “Wanted Poster” of them quickly circulated over the internet.

The reason there is such uproar over the primary election of Christine O’Donnell instead of incumbent Mike Castle is because RINO’s still don’t get it. Dick Morris does.

        Morris said labeling candidates like O’Donnell “extremist” was based on outdated political calculations. “There is a basic misconception which the establishment has about these primaries. When a tea party candidate or an ‘extremist’ wins the primary, normally that would mean there’s a lesser chance of winning the election.”

        “The issue is not extremism or moderation, its sincerity or insincerity.”

        “Fiscal and economic concerns are more important to voters.”

        “Someone who is an ‘extremist,’ in the words of the establishment, is probably more trustworthy on those issues.”

We don’t care about O’Donnell’s “dabbling in witchcraft” as a teenager, or any other stupid issue for which she has been attacked, and more scrutinized and scandalized than Obama ever was. We only care about the conservative principles she stands for and how she will vote. We already know by the aforementioned "Wanted Poster" what Castle believes and how he votes.

What is so surprising then about the ousting of these RINO’s like Crist, Murkowski, and now Castle? Their votes for Obama’s radical agenda, against our will, were painful to helplessly witness. We prayed, we called, we wrote, we rallied, we did all we could to make it clear, “Please do not vote for Obama’s agenda!” Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” For each vote that betrayed the will of we the people, our hearts grew increasingly sick with deep disappointment. Of course we no longer want them to have the opportunity to vote against us again. We don’t want any more painful and hopeless angst with each vote cast against our will; we want the peace and confidence that the votes will represent it.

Call it extremist, purist, or foolish, we don’t care. We only care about one thing - the votes. That’s what it boils down to. There’s no mystery here. It’s about the votes, stupid!

We don’t care about the attacks on the TEA Party or the candidates we endorse, attacks which only reinforce our assessment of the opposition. We are not swayed but their deflection of blame onto Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, or Fox News. They have no one to blame but themselves. No one else placed their vote in the box.

We don’t care about last minute campaign ads trying to save their hides; our minds were made up when they voted. Campaigning now doesn’t erase all they’ve done and how they voted in the previous 20 months.

Fortunately, in the beauty of our sacred Republic our Founders established the failsafe of empowering us, the people, with voting these public servants not only into but also out of Office.

President George Washington said in 1787, "The power under the Constitution will always be in the People. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can--and undoubtedly will--be recalled."

Patrick Henry said, "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government."

Instead of building upon Reagan’s proven conservative legacy after he left Office, RINO’s have dragged the Republican Party away from it by the leaven of their compromise. First it paved the way for an Obama Presidency, and now it’s been paving the way for the blasphemous Obama agenda to fundamentally transform America. They have dragged us so far away from true Reagan conservatism that our current efforts to return to our Founding principles of smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and a strong national defense, are now ironically viewed as extremist.

Every time we have been diminished, mocked, attacked, and ignored, it has only fueled our resolve. We want public servants who indeed serve the will of the people and not a radical Presidential agenda.  It is time for the Republican Party to get behind we the people and no longer the other way around.

In the end, if they do not represent the will of the people when they vote, they will be purged by the votes of the people they refuse to represent. If they vote for us, we will vote for them. If they don’t – we won’t. It doesn’t get clearer than that.