The REC’s need some new blood. After all that has happened the “most active Republicans in the county” are still clueless. The REC is supposed to be the principled foundation of the Party, from which grassroots values are supposed to rise upwards to the elected party leadership; each successive level of leadership is to respond to our mutual values and in cooperation lead the Republican Party to electoral success.
Integral to this relationship is the understanding that individual Republicans are equals. From the voter that chooses to register Republican all the way up to the GOP Chairman, we are all volunteers. While it is necessary that their be hierarchy to order our activities and ensure our effectiveness, it is proper to understand we all serve of our own free will. Just as proper is to demand that all who serve in the name of the Republican Party do so for conservative principles and the resulting benefit to our nation rather than for collateral benefit to themselves.
Recently the grassroots REC members of Florida became incensed at our former state chairman, Jim Greer. The root of their complain was that he was abusing his power, that he was basically pushing Republicans around to serve the electoral purposes of himself and his cronies.
Greer is gone, so now the Republican Party of Florida must pick a new Chairman. We all know who that person is going to be, it will be John Thrasher.
The more power held by an individual the more liable they are to abuse it. Greer was a party insider who abused his power as Chairman. Now the FGOP elite are giving all the power that Greer had to a man who is already a lobbyist and a state senator.
Lobbyist. State lawmaker. State Republican Party Chairman. Greer’s power was nothing compared to the influence Thrasher will be able to wield. Grassroots Republicans had better hope he is a benevolent dictator because he will have more power in the Republican Party of Florida than anyone except perhaps the governor.
Who thinks it is a good idea to give one person that much power, especially when that person will be your leader in the state party? That average REC Republican thinks that’s a good idea! The problem is they don’t come to that idea on their own, they are led to it by manipulation of the party electorate by the party elite.
Case in point: the Clay REC.
Understand that I have no real problem with the board or most of the membership of the Clay REC. Clay is a conservative county and this is reflected by our REC. Except for a couple of local power brokers the majority are sincere in their Republicanism; they are nonetheless clueless. They are not the libertarians of the RLC, or the principled patriots of the tea parties, neither do they even have a good understanding of what is means to be a Reagan Republican. They mean well, but they have no understanding, and so in their January meeting voted to place a Republican king over themselves.
The way it went down was that during “new business” a person in the back of the room made a motion that the Clay REC direct it’s voting delegates (chair, state committeeman, state committeewoman) to select John Thrasher as FGOP chairman. Someone at the front of the room, a former REC chair, then stood up to extol Thrashers virtues. A person in the front and a person in the back, promoting something that was not specifically on the agenda? Sounds to me like an ambush and a tactic for working the room. They told us all the Thrasher had done for Clay County, all that he will doing for Northeast Florida, and all he will do for the FGOP.
There were some objections. One man wanted to know who else was running as chairman; he received a very sketchy answer that ended with “Sharon Day is no John Thrasher.” A woman made very intelligent remarks that could have come straight from RLCNEF, about the obvious conflicts of interest in someone being both a lawmaker and a party chairman. Her objections went unheeded.
They “ayes” won the vote, so now Clay is endorsing Thrasher. My impression is that most of the REC members didn’t really know what they were voting on, they were just going with the flow because a couple of Thrasher henchmen put on a good show. I’m sure the same thing is happening in every REC in the state of Florida.
The Republican Party needs to be protected from itself. Every Republican corporate crony, every tax-and-spend Republican, every power player, every moderate who talks like a conservative, every single one of them was placed in their position by a democratic process in which Republicans unwittingly voted against Republican principles.
My appeal to the people of the RLC, and the tea parties, and the Reagan conservatives, and that we do in earnest that thing we have been talking about for years: take over the REC’s. The stupidity comes from above, from the party elite that use us, but the REC is the soil in which it is planted. Join your county REC; get other constitutional conservatives to join the REC; go the meetings, and when a critical vote unexpectedly pops up stand on your principles. If you don’t like the county REC leadership then replace them in December. Nearly every precinct in Florida has at least one opening for a committeeman or committeewoman: take that position and together let’s take our party where it is supposed to be. It will be easy because it is not a matter of us against everyone already in the REC, it is just a matter of us against just the few who want elitist domination, it is a matter of us educating the majority of sincere REC members who want the best for their party and their nation in the decisions they should make to achieve those ends.
I give whoever reads this permission to copy it onto any venue they desire. My hope is that it will go viral in the state of Florida. This will not prevent Thrasher from being seated, but in the future we will at least be able to say “we told you so.” If we drive that home maybe they will listen the next time.

This is just speculation, but from what I’ve heard…

A) According to latest polls, Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist are now tied in polls for the Republican Senatorial Primary. I attribute this primarily to Crist’s attempts to pass himself off as a fiscal conservative, his radio adds can be considered at best “misleading.” I believe that all attempts by Crist to appeal to the conservative Republican base actually serve to turn conservatives against him. If this is the case, then Crist must use another tactic to garner votes.

B) In a special session, the Florida legislature voted to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase tracks for Sunrail. Because a state-run passenger train service is unlikely to be profitable, the state has probably committed to hundreds of millions in future expenses.

C) Governor Crist is the one who called the legislature into special session.

D) This legislation seems to have been rammed through. Not only did it pass by a large margin, an unusual procedure was used to move the legislation out of a hung committee.

E) Governor Crist is bragging about Sunrail in his campaign e-mails.

When I connect these dots, the picture I see is that maybe, just maybe, a bunch of Florida politicians got together and voted to spent hundreds of millions of dollars of our money on a boondoggle project because they think it will help the head Florida politician get elected to the Senate.

Think about it. Only the most grossly uninformed would buy Crist’s spiel about being a conservative, so he has to go the other way to appeal to those who like big government and big stimulus and think big spending creates jobs and prosperity. “Damn them ideological Republicans in Washington, they are just the party of no! A governor has to get things done! I’m going to vote to send a go-getter like him to the Senate!”

Of course, passing this legislation doesn’t just help Crist. Some are seeing the Sunrail deal as an opening to reintroduce the debate high-speed in Florida. Ask Corrinne Brown, the railroads have deep, deep pockets. Any politicians that get high-speed rail in Florida are never going to want for campaign contributions for all the days of the lives.

The whole idea of representative government falls apart when you don’t feel like you can trust your representatives.

Everyone knows the miracle of the oil and the story of eight crazy nights, but there is more to Chanukah. I do not consider this time of year to be a festival of lights, but rather a memorial of a people who won liberation from tyranny. There would have been no miracle had not the Jews driven out the oppressor, and though the miracle of the oil rightly belongs to the Almighty, it was the Maccabees victory over the Syrians which made that miracle possible.
Comparison may be made between the events immortalized in the Chanukah festival and current political events, and the spirit of freedom is inherent to the American character. How can one make such a comparison? As the Jews are distinct among the nations, so are the American people. The ancient war against oppression was one in which they fought against being swallowed up by the nations and losing their distinction. America, our struggle is against the mediocrity of socialist practices being forced upon the American people by an imperious government regime. Different lands, different people, different times, yet a common desire to resist domination and retain distinctiveness. Look at the back of a $1 bill. The largest word on the back of it is “ONE;” in the Hebrew “ECHAD” this word is said in prayer by religious Jews twice every day. Above “ONE” are the words “IN GOD WE TRUST;” applying not only to those ancient warriors of Israel, but also to America’s Founding Fathers, our nation’s original champions of freedom of religion. On the right side of the dollar you see the American eagle; above that eagle’s head is a field of stars in the shape of a Star of David. Across the ages we are kindred spirits.
History and it’s modern comparison.
Long ago Egypt lost a war to Syria. This is relevant to Chanukah because up to this time Israel had been a part of the Egyptian empire. The Egyptians had ruled from afar and had allowed the Jews self-rule in their land; this was not to be the case under the Syrian emperor.
Modern comparison: elections have consequences.
Our world changed in November of 2008. Criticize Bush all you want, there is no denying that the election of Barak Obama was an event that will either destroy American or save it. It was more than just a change of regime, for the first time progressives dominate America’s government. To play off of Reagan’s words, the question of our future is whether we are a nation with a government, or rather are we a government that has a nation? Will Americans choose liberty, and so save themselves, or will they choose progressivism, and so be destroyed?
Do not think the doom I speak of is one of economics or of military defeat. The American people can survive such things. The doom I speak of is spiritual; liberty is our birthright, when we give it up we lose our souls. We won’t die, or be dispersed. We will all still live within the borders of America and still be legally defined as American citizens, we just won’t have the American spirit. We will just be residents, living according to the system, doing what we are told. If this is the path we choose, we will be assimilated.
Assimilation was the path the Syria emperor to subdue the Jews. I was not enough to rule, it was not enough to have the power to tax, that dictator wanted the Jews to not be Jews at all. The theory was that if the Jewish distinctiveness was destroyed the Jews would lose their unifying spirit and so become just another group of subjects of the empire rather than a separate people. The method to achieve this was through forced manipulation of the culture; in a religious based culture this meant the profaning of the Temple in Jerusalem and the outlawing of all distinctive Jewish practices.
The Jews said “no.” There was much more to it than just their just saying “no,” but the basis of all that followed was their rejection of the imperial decrees. The path of least resistance would have been to submit, and I’m sure that many did so, but others stood behind their “no,” and these few eventually beat back the dictator.
The ways of the Syrians were rejected because they were alien to the Jewish people, things which had no place in the Torah, or the Temple, or the home, practices which were alien and repugnant to that nation. I consider the trend of our government to continually expand as alien to American culture and traditions, and the hyper-expansion of the progressive agenda to be repugnant to the American character. America is not a democracy, it is a Constitutional Republic whose government is meant to be limited in power by the Constitution. Over the years our elected officials have rebelled against Constitutional constraints, and now are fighting an undeclared war against the system of government set up by the founding patriots, who through courage won their liberty and through wisdom designed a unique government of the people. The government control, the government spending, the systematizing of all life in America, these things are alien to us, unfit for serious people to consider, and it is proper they be rejected by the American people. The First Temple was build by Solomon, our Founder’s first temple is our unique system of government, let those who profane it be cast from power. Get the government out of our lives, we are citizens of a nation conceived in liberty, let us exercise our freedoms despite what comes from Washington. Let those who campaign on liberty but are themselves a part of the problem of government be also cast out; they are hypocrites and conspirators with the enemies of the Constitution, let better stewards be put in their place.
We are Americans, the government works for us, we decide our cultural values, and it is our enterprise and choice which determines if business efforts succeed or fail. Away with those who manipulate the system for profit. Away with those with those who promote social agendas through lawsuits. Away with corporate welfare and special interest lawyers, with union bosses and insider politics. They are the brokers of power, but in truth the governmental power for which they lobby and which they covet is not theirs alone, but belongs to all of us. They only have power because the American people have through silence consented that it be so. Whatever power they have over us is power that we forfeited, but there is a way to get it back.
We have to start saying “no.” We have to resist.
I spoke of two paths, one that would doom America, and one that would save it. The path of resistance is what will remake America; not just change our course away from the progressive agenda, but really remake America as the free nation it was founded to be. Don’t just say “no” to the politicians in Washington, but “no” to all politicians, no to all the power brokers and demagogues every time they try to usurp the power of the people. If we are resolute we can beat them down, but first we have to stand up and be willing to say “no.”
Will it take a miracle to redeem America? Probably, and this brings us back to Chanukah and the miracle of the oil. After the defeat of the Syrians it was necessary to purify the Temple for period of 8 days, during which a light needed to shine continuously. The amount of available holy oil was only enough for one day, but by Divine dispensation lasted for 8 days. Be aware, in order for the miracle to occur it was first necessary that the enemy be driven out, and that victory would not have taken place except for the courage and resolve of those determined not to be dominated.
The lesson? The impossible does happen, but individuals have to do their part for the miracle to occur.
Perhaps at some future time history will look back upon us as the generation of a great awakening and rebirth. Maybe they will call us the liberty generation. Perhaps they will even have some sort of holiday, and maybe it’s spirit will resemble a little bit what is found in Chanukah celebrations. Of course, the future depends upon what we do today.
Happy Holidays

Travis Christensen .

I hear a “Charlie Crist for Senate” commercial every day on the radio. It goes a little something like this:

I’m Charlie Crist and I have something to say to President Obama: You can’t spend your way to prosperity. When I went to Tallahassee three years ago it was a mess. Since then we’ve cut spending and given Floridians the biggest tax cut in Florida history. I was named by the conservative Cato magazine as the most fiscally conservative governor in America. Less spending, less taxes, more freedom. Let’s send some Florida common sense to Washington.

In a World where everyone told the truth, the commercial would look like this:

I’m Charlie Crist, my support of the Stimulus Bill has cost me the votes of most conservative Republicans, so now I’m making public statements that make it look like I never supported the Stimulus at all. Hopefully that will dupe enough voters that I will be able to win the primary. Despite being the sitting governor, and having all sorts of big endorsements, and all the money I’ve raised in and out of state I actually could lose the primary. Now I have to spend millions on commercials, you know what they say, repeat something enough times and people think it must be true.
It’s not really a lie to say I cut taxes. I really did give Florida it’s biggest tax cut ever, hopefully no one will realize that their property taxes didn’t really go down and that I raised vehicle fees and threw some more taxes at smokers. I had to do it because Florida is pretty much broke. We really did slash spending to the bone, but it wasn’t because we wanted to, it was because we had to. People can throw stones all they want, but if that stimulus money hadn’t come in then we would have had to lay off thousands and thousands of teachers. Not on my watch, because that would really screw with my Senatorial ambitions. I think we were very responsible with the stimulus money, because we did set aside 1 billion for next year…yeah, we did already spend most of the “set aside” money, but you know what they say, “spending happens.”

Look, send me to the Senate and I will make sure that Florida gets a stimulus every year. You think Corinne Brown delivers, I will make her look like a lightweight. This works out for everyone. I get a step closer to being President, and the Florida state budget gets met with federal taxpayer money. That is some Florida common sense.

You all should just be happy their weren’t any hurricanes this year because then I wouldn’t have a chance to get elected to Senate. The way things work down here is that Florida government does whatever it has to in order to support the growth industry. We had to provide state-backed insurance or they wouldn’t have been able to build all those houses on the beach.

To all you conservatives in the county REC’s and Republican Clubs who think you might want to support my opponent, I have two words for you: GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE. Watch what you say.

Less spending, less taxes, more freedom, just believe the commercials, vote for me, I’m the people’s governor.