There are a considerable number of conservatives currently camped out in social media who are painfully slow on the uptake. Before the fauxfended word-police begin chiming in, from thefreedictionary.com:

re-tard

- A person considered to be foolish or socially inept.

Now, with that bit of housekeeping out of the way we can proceed.

After the enormous gains in the 2010 elections and the equally embarrassing showing in the 2012 elections, one would think conservatives would have come away a little wiser. Alas many continue to engage in the same unproductive and unbecoming behavior that gave us progressives like George W. Bush and Barrack Hussein Obama.

I can think of no better example of this than the mindless drones of the Twitter Gulag Defense Network. (#TGDN) These folks aren’t just acting stupid, they’re ENTHUSIASTICALLY stupid. #TGDN is the contrivance of South Carolina lawyer and reprobate (but I repeat myself) Todd Kincannon. This single endeavor is like a diamond with its multitudinous facets of errancy.

Let’s start with the name “Twitter Gulag Defense Network.” The idea is to have conservatives get on lists and follow each other, thereby increasing a person’s follower count and rendering them immune to having their Twitter account suspended. Unfortunately follower count does absolutely NOTHING to prevent being one from being sent to the gulag. Conservatives should know this given the excellent series on #TwitterGulag posted on the Trenches website MONTHS ago.

Gosh. If hashtags, copious amounts of followers, and membership lists don’t prevent one from being sent to the gulag, why would Kincannon create #TGDN? Well, it does make for a spiffy crisis that an unsavory character could use to prop himself up as a savior, n’est-ce pas? Todd is in fact a small, vainglorious individual that constantly craves attention from others.  Now he has it.

And why would so many people follow Todd without questioning his motives or the effectiveness of #TGDN? Clearly we what we have is a cult of personality. Todd is very careful to use his best photo in his avatar, position his motives as pure, and demonize and block anyone who dares to question TGDN. This type of narcissistic and charismatic authority has been well documented by Jerry Wilson’s writings regarding  Ali Akbar. Principles be damned, Todd is exciting, bombastic, and bawdy. A perverse Pied Piper to lead the unquestioning masses.

If anyone would actually take just a moment to scrutinize Mr. Kincannon’s personal behavior I doubt very seriously that he would be selected to shepherd the conservative movement. A quick perusal of his timeline will find it laced with gratuitous profanity and sexual comments. Not that there aren’t plenty of boorish timelines on Twitter, but this just seems to be the tip of the iceberg with Kincannon. The Piper also appears to enjoy sexting young women photos of his “flute.” It doesn’t appear to be an isolated incident either.

Now that Todd has amassed an unthinking horde that would make ACORN proud, he is turning them against anyone he sees as a threat and purging his list of dissenters. Initially his calls were to spam-block the targets that he specified with the intent of sending the offending account to the Twitter gulag. (irony?) More recently in his benevolence he has called to simply block the offending accounts (selected by him of course) rather than spam-block them. How noble.

Ultimately one has to ask, how does any of this activity relating to TGDN help conservatism and promote our founding principles? If #TGDN is trending, does it reduce the deficit? If you block enough liberals or dissenting voices, will it balance the budget? Can you gain enough followers to repeal Obamacare? Can you play enough hashtag games to get the Federal Reserve audited? Of course not. You’re all just fiddling while the Republic burns.

Conservatives need to shed the current neocon paradigm, reconnect with their founding principles, and expand into other outlets to share those principles. They did it briefly in 2010 with the fleeting Tea Party movement and lost it again in 2012 when that movement was co-opted. It’s time to move on from the Tea Party and juvenile Twitter circle-jerks to bigger and better venues.

Unfortunately too many conservatives are back playing hashtag games, idolizing perverts and squelching free speech. None of which will restore the Republic. Retarded.

Earlier in the week, a fairly well-known blogger (@RBPundit) wrote two opinion pieces for a slightly less well-known blog (The Right Sphere) entitled “The End Game”. In the first, he pissed and moaned about the ‘fiscal cliff’, that Obama wants to leap off of it, that Republicans will be blamed for it, and about the ensuing ‘civil war’ within the GOP. In the second, which he posted a mere 4 hours later, he made some less than bold prediction about the near future and attempted to make the case that conservatives shouldn’t be bashing the ‘establishment’ or ‘mounting primary challenges’ against said establishment. I followed up with a hearty chuckle.

Ordinarily, I would engage a typical misguided neocon blogger on Twitter, where I was introduced to this garbage, but RB has long since blocked me. He made a few good points on the surface, but overall, is very off-target. (If, indeed, his target is a strong and prosperous America that is governed within the confines of the Constitution.)

Republicans have “lost the public relations battle” on the ‘fiscal cliff’ nonsense. That much is absolutely true. Republicans loose virtually EVERY PR battle. This is not rocket science.
Obama wants to go over the fiscal cliff. Again, one doesn’t need a high school diploma to figure this out. Personally, I don’t think he really cares one way or the other about some imaginary cliff, so long as he maintains control over the electorate. To a narcissistic tyrant, all that matters is the result, not how it’s achieved.
We’re going over the cliff, the GOP gets blamed, and then middle class taxes will be lowered early next year. A very logical prediction.

It doesn’t take a blog to make those points.

But then these articles take a sad turn. (Sad turns are common when you’re running in circles.) The overall tone, of both pieces, is one of “Party First”. Phrases like “avoid the civil war within the GOP…”, “bashing John Boehner and attacking the establishment…” are a “waste of time…”, and “instead of mounting primary challenges…” only serve to cement that. And then he jumps on the Marco Rubio bandwagon. Great.

I beg your pardon, WHAT?! The Republican Party NEEDS a civil war, as it were. At least if it wants to be anything besides a slightly less bad version of the Democrat’s version of progressivism and socialism. Right now, you’ve got old-school Republicans who want nothing more than to stay elected. And you’ve got conservatives. You know, the average Joe who respects the Constitution and desires a free and prosperous country for his kids and grandkids to grow up in. Also, there are the Libertarians, most of whom have become so disgusted with Republican progressivism that they fight the GOP just as hard as the Democrats do. Ladies and gentlemen of the establishment, you are fighting a losing battle.

And what’s this nonsense about not challenging the mushy squishes of Republicans who were sent to Washington to oppose progressivism? Not push some watered-down version of the same bullshit? Every single elected official needs to be held accountable, and the most effective way (only way?) of doing that is by removing them from office, either in the primary or the general elections. As it is, we are far more likely to see a conservative challenger in the primaries than in the generals. Similarly, term limits. Since the likelihood of Congress imposing term limits on itself, that onus is on ‘we the people’. When we keep voting for the same ineffective failures, we become ‘sheeple’ rather than people.

For the record, we won’t go over the imaginary fiscal cliff. The GOP establishment will cave, I suppose with the hope of not being seen as the bad guys, and a deal will be made, most likely before Christmas. And every single congressman who supports this deal deserves to be harassed until they can give a reasoned answer as to why they abandoned their constituents. And then they’ll have at least two years to attempt to redeem themselves (depending on when they’re up for re-election), and if they continue with their Democrat Lite bullshit, they deserve to be removed from office. Congress’ job is easy: budget the nation’s expenses in such a manner that they align with federal revenue, and only pass laws that are clearly within the constraints of the Constitution. If they can’t do that, they can go find another job. The Wendy’s down the street from me is looking for kitchen help.

So President Obama has a second term. Not the outcome I was looking for but…..

There has been much analysis as to the reasons behind President Obama’s win and Governor Romney’s loss. I believe that it’s really the victory of Marxism over the Constitution regardless of the names on the ballots (people come and go, ideas live on). I also believe that, while Marxism was represented very well, the Constitution was not. It is the latter that I wish to address here.

In the application of Lean principles a problem always has a root cause. I believe the root cause of the Constitution not being represented well is a lack of education in the general population. While Mr. Romney is a fine person who has contributed much good in society through his business career and heaps of charitable giving through the years, he simply did not represent the Constitution well in his bid for the Oval Office. In the same way, I believe that proper knowledge of the Constitution and the ideas behind it would have
1. Made Mr. Romney a better candidate or,
2. A different candidate would have been chosen.

The state of education has gone through many changes over the years in the US. While I have not done an exhaustive study on the subject, I would like to point out a few items:
1. A number of our Founding Fathers attended Harvard College which taught many clergy members

So, how do we solve the problem of lack of education? There are a number of resources out there. A few that come to mind are Hillsdale College and their free online courses called “Constitution 101” and “Constitution 201” which are a series of videos available on YouTube, the National Center for Constitutional Studies and its chairman Dr. Earl Taylor (www.nccs.net) and Dr. Jake Jacobs at www.jjusa.org and his involvement with Freedom Project at www.freedomproject.com. All of these have great resources for all levels. If you know of others please share some of them in the comment section below.

I believe that another way to educate the population about the Constitution is in the public schools. I know what you are thinking – “but the schools are all locked up by the unions and the education establishment!”. To this I say – “then throw the bums out!”. Okay, this is easier said than done, but we MUST do it!

I am suggesting that the school boards of this nation be populated by Conservatives who understand the ideas that guided the Founders. As elections come up in your communities, you need to put yourself out there and go for those seats. It may take more than one try but, try you must. There are hundreds of TEA Party groups out there that can help. If you are not already a member, please find one and get involved if there are none where you are, start one.
The “rubber stamp crowd” must be replaced if OUR schools (our children) are to be rescued from the educrats who always demand more resources but never offer a better product. When you do get on to the boards you need to (with the support of your neighbors and your TEA Party) push for curriculum changes that force the reintroduction of the Constitution to the classroom. You can even come equipped with a lesson plan as Dr. Taylor (mentioned above) has been teaching the Constitution for years at the high school level.

I realize that it will take years to get this done. It took decades for Liberalism to infect our society and there is no easy fix but we must start sometime. If we tap into the legacy that our Founders left us and turn to God for the same strength our forefathers used we can get our country back.

What is the alternative?

In case you haven’t noticed, butt-hurt people abound online, particularly on Twitter in “conservative” circles. If you haven’t been paying attention, you may be wondering what it is that offends their sensibilities and causes them to lash out en masse. Surely there must be concrete reasons for their collective wrath. Certainly the facts must support their righteous rage. You’d be wrong. Nothing. Just a cult of personality and conflicts with infidels who dare to question their golden calves. Facts be damned. It’s all about the personalities.

I don’t pretend to get along with everyone and let’s face it, why should I or anyone else? What kind of individuals would we be if we all marched in lockstep? If you don’t like someone, fine. If you hate someone’s guts, fine. If you don’t like their modus operandi, fine. You’re free to do your own thing.

Now, if you don’t like them and you want to lie about them, not fine. You want to cherry pick their timeline to fit a particular meme, not fine. You want to make wild accusations and place the onus on them, not fine. You want to use Twitter, your blog or your paid writers to libel them, not fine.

Unfortunately that is precisely what is happening. The fauxfended do not suffer dissent lightly. Once you draw their ire you can expect to be labeled and marginalized in ways that would make Saul Alinsky blush.  “How do I smear thee? Let me count the ways.”

• Pointing out someone using minority status as a crutch becomes bigotry or anti-Semitism.
• Question the facts in a shooting and you’re a conspiracy kook.
• Stating a lawsuit is unproductive means you’re a criminal’s ally.
• Considering census numbers transforms you into a holocaust denier.
• Disagreeing with a conservative blogging icon makes you anti-capitalism.

On the flip side, many devotees are so enamored with big name “conservatives” that they’re willing to ignore any facts and rationalize their hero/heroine’s actions. Lie about your involvement in a felony…no problem. Shoot some rape-fetish art…who hasn’t? Hire people to attack other conservatives…completely understandable. These rationalizations are so Clinton-esque it’s downright frightening.

Ultimately, after all the attention that you will have drawn to yourself, they will proclaim that you’re nobody anyway. Really? Because “nobody” has done more for the conservative movement than any of the big name charlatans or their acolytes. That’s a fact. And “nobody” is going to tell you about it in his next post…

The enigma called the McRib is returning to McDonald’s at Christmastime. Americans are as divided on the McRib as our electorate. You may think the McRib is the greatest barbecue you have ever tasted in your life.

I do not.

For the sake of this article take a moment and think about the greatest barbecue you ever had. It could be ribs, pulled pork, brisket, whatever. Regionally barbecue is different. It’s even spelled different ways (barbecue, barbeque, bbq, etc). Here in Texas we also have barbacoa.

Now that you thought about the greatest barbeque you’ve ever had, it’s probably not the McRib.

Here’s my point.

Today America is more McRib than the greatest barbecue you’ve ever had.

The McRib Society is upon us.

What is the McRib Society?

The McRib Society (definition) A metaphor of something once regarded as high quality that has been replaced with something of lower quality, and now generally accepted by society.

The McRib Society isn’t an indictment on processed fast food or McDonald’s. This concept has everything to do with understanding history, quality of life, vanishing value, and individual expectations.

The McRib Society is everywhere.

In the fifties when someone would drive up to a Texaco gas station in their $3,300 Buick Roadmaster and they were immediately surrounded by several helpful car attendants wearing bow ties. They checked everything on your ride. Now, over the course of time, we have pay-at-the-pump with little or no service. Several factors made that tradition disappear: competition, high cost of employees, low margins, maximizing profits, etc. So what happened? Over the years society started accepted this by gradual change. It wasn’t like Monday there were five employees then by Friday there were two. No, it happened gradually or you would have noticed and gone across the street to Esso.

Government does not work this way. There is no consumer to satisfy. But I’ll get to that.

The McRib Society extends beyond products and services.

When America was founded it was the greatest experiment of liberty ever tried in the world. Our Constitution was slow roasted. In plain English, it was some fine barbecue.

Damn, liberty is tasty.

• Liberty is natural and contains no artificial preservatives.

• Liberty is the absence of coercion from government.

• Liberty should always include economic liberty, respect for private property rights, and equal protection and enforcement under the law.

There are many laws and systems we take for granted now that haven’t always existed.

It wasn’t until 1913 that America had an income tax. Before this our federal government primarily generated revenue through tariffs on things like barbecue sauce. Everybody paid, because everybody bought stuff. The highest tax rate then was below 10%. The highest tax rate now is 35%, certainly not the highest in history (thankfully), but far above the original rate and covers the majority of people now. There was no withholding tax money in your paycheck until World War II. Now it’s the gross versus net amount in your paycheck. That’s a major difference in the way people pay for their government.

Government debt in America has skyrocketed up to $16 Trillion now. In 1912 according to President William H. Taft, it was $1.3 Billion. (Side note: William H. Taft was our heaviest President and probably could have eaten his share of McRibs. He weighed 332lbs!)

Free enterprise and markets were the means of pricing in America. No printing money to devalue currency or Quantitative Easing like the Federal Reserve does now. Price controls had more to do with the money you had in your pocket. The deals extending favorable economic policies towards preferred social classes weren’t as evolved. President Calvin Coolidge did call for a Constitutional amendment to limit child labor and guarantee women a minimum wage in 1923.

Giant bureaucracies like the EPA and Department of Education which burden Americans with more regulations haven’t always existed either. I wonder if public schools serve barbecue?

So America, which was once the tastiest barbecue you’ve ever had, is now morphing into The McRib Society.

And only those who pay attention to history see it.

Sad.

The McRib Society probably wouldn’t exist without Americans being ignorant of history. We wouldn’t tolerate the low expectations of today’s products, services, leaders, laws, and policies.

I won’t settle for the McRib.

There’s better barbecue out there.

Much like Memorial Day, the origins of Labor Day have been lost to most Americans and it is simply another 3-day weekend. This is unfortunate, because there is a great deal to be learned from both in very different ways. While Memorial Day has its origins in the Civil War to honor fallen veterans, Labor Day traces its roots to the progressive-era socialist movement.

Don’t take my word for it. The following video is from last year’s Labor Day broadcast by RTAmerica, a Russian state-sponsored propaganda network. (RT literally stands for Russia Today) The segment features guest Jihan Hafiz, a correspondent for Soros-funded Democracy Now! giving a performance as a faux journalist. It also interviews Sarah Sloan of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a US-based group that promotes the “validity of Marxism and Leninism.”

Obviously they still cling to their “socialism is responsible for the 8 hour work day” nonsense, but you get the point. The holiday didn’t originate to celebrate honest labor, it was created to celebrate socialist labor unions. Note also that uber-leftist Barack Obama isn’t collapsing the country and socializing it fast enough for these folks.

Enjoy your cookout, but be informed and stay vigilant. The collectivists are congregating today as well, and they hunger for power. If you let history fade into obscurity, their movement will continue to gain a foothold.

Those who have been once intoxicated with power and have derived any kind of emolument from it can never willingly abandon it. – Edmund Burke

Ah, Labor Day. The unofficial end of summer. A three day weekend with cookouts, pool parties, retail sales, and political campaigns kicking into high gear. To most Americans, that’s all there is to it. But why do we have a federal holiday with the designation ‘Labor Day’?  Essentially, we have three people to thank (blame?) for this extended weekend.

Way back in the late 1800’s, labor unions were fairly important, influential groups in American society and politics.  Virtually any skilled trade had a national organization with local chapters, from carpenters to ironworkers to engineers.  Even some unskilled workers had organized unions, such as the American Railway Union, or ARU.  The ARU included most any sort of railway worker, but the majority of members were unskilled workers.

Just outside of Chicago was the planned community of Pullman.  The town was essentially owned by George M. Pullman, who also was the owner/president of Pullman Palace Car Company, maker of railroad cars.  Pullman built the town for his factory workers, and charged them rent. However, following the Panic of 1893, Pullman cut the wages of his employees by as much as 25%.  The workers’ rents stayed the same, however.  The ARU had recently struck, successfully, against the Great Northern Railway for similar wage cuts, and decided to strike against Pullman.  At first, the workers did not have the full support of the ARU, so on May 11, 1984, they launched a wildcat strike, ceasing to pull or service any trains with a Pullman car on it.  The wildcat worked, as the rest of the ARU quickly joined in, led by union president Eugene V. Debs.

Now, I could dedicate an entire post just to Mr. Debs, but that will have to wait.  Briefly though, Debs was born to French immigrants who were no stranger to wealth, owning both a meat market and a textile mill.  He dropped out of high school at 14, and began his railroad career as a painter, car cleaner, and later a locomotive fireman.  He attended business school and became heavily involved with unions by the age of 20.  He held various positions of rank within the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman before eventually running, successfully, for 2 terms as city clerk in his home town, and later one term on the Indiana General Assembly as a Democrat.

Debs originally opposed the Pullman Strike, but quickly relented as it spread beyond Chicago, and eventually, all the way to California.  The strike, referred to in that time as “Deb’s Rebellion”, crippled the national railroad infrastructure, including U.S. Mail deliveries.  It was at this point that President Grover Cleveland stepped in, ordering an injunction against Debs and the ARU, calling for the strike to end.  Once it was clear that he had been ignored, Cleveland ordered military intervention to break the strike and set the mail cars back to work.  In the process of breaking the striking, an estimated $80 million in damages and vandalism occurred, and at least 30 people were killed. Debs and the rest of the Board for the ARU were arrested for ignoring a federal injunction and interfering with U.S. Mail deliveries. While in prison, Debs immersed himself in the works of Karl Marx, and later ran for President as a Socialist 6 consecutive times, starting in 1900.

Even after the strike was over, and the town of Pullman was incorporated into Chicago, public opinion generally was still a resentment of the ARU for the strike, and of Debs for leading the charge. The (then unbiased) New York Times declared him “a lawbreaker at large, an enemy of the human race.”  Nevertheless, Cleveland and the great majority of Congress feared for their political careers and passed legislation declaring the first Monday of September a federal holiday: Labor Day.  The bill was signed into law a whopping 6 days after the strike was broken. Talk about a union stranglehold.

Various labor organization had proposed a similar holiday as early as 10 years prior to the Pullman Strike, and some states had even begun observing such a holiday on a state level. But, thanks to the grossly immoral business practices of George Pullman, the aggressive tactics of democrat-turned-socialist (not much of a turn, I know) Eugene Debs, and the fear of losing union support by Grover Cleveland, we now have a National Labor Day. To celebrate and honor American workers! And the Unions that control them! But the first Monday of September? That’s a bit arbitrary.  Well, that was because the politicians had to find a balance between placating the unions, who wanted to use May Day (a communist workers’ holiday), and the American population, who were put off by communism and all of it’s wares.

So in summary, as you enjoy cold beers, swimming pools, and cookouts today, remember this:  were it not for the crippling stranglehold that unions have over politicians, you’d be at work today.  That is, of course, if your not one of the 23 + million unemployed.  Enjoy!!

This is my first writing for The Graph, so I thought I might start out with a bit of an introduction.

I was born in Manitoba, Canada (that’s north of North Dakota), where my parents had a small farm equipment manufacturing company. In 1975, the company building burned down as the result of an accident. Hot sparks and paint do not mix! After a brief stay in temporary quarters, my family and I moved to North Dakota in 1978. I remember that my father was very impressed with the business- friendly attitude of the American banker and city officials who helped us get a new business set up in our new town (during the malaise at the end of the Carter administration). Of course, the fun came to an end a few years later when my dad’s business could not survive the recession of ’80-81.

After high school (‘81) and college (‘87), I was a casual observer of the political scene without becoming very involved, as I had life to live. Since employment was impossible with a B.A. in Sociology, I reverted to the training of my youth and became a welder. Many jobs, a lovely wife, a child, and 25 years later, I noticed that my adopted country was not the “Land of the Free” and the “Home of the Brave” to which my family first came.

The Bush 43 administration gradually woke me up, the final call coming when the housing bubble burst and the economy went into its slide into recession, with TARP and corporate bailouts along the way. Then came a Presidential election and Rick Santelli’s rant in Chicago. I realized that “We The People” needed to shake things up in Washington if we wanted life to be any better for us and our kids. I heard about a local tax-day event that was being planned and decided to check it out. The organization for that event turned into the local Tea Party, which I joined and subsequently met Ben Froland, a key contributor to the beginning of the Fox Valley Initiative (FVI).

It was through this association that I realized I needed to do some studying so that I could converse better with people about what our country means and how to put it back on the course that our Founders began. I started my education of the Founding Documents with a seminar sponsored by FVI and put on by the National Center for Constitutional Studies and its president, Dr. Earl Taylor. The primary lesson I learned from the seminar is that both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have all of the answers we need today, if only we could get more people to study them and recognize the original intent of the great men who wrote the documents. As a Catholic Christian, I have an appreciation for documents that are “inspired.” I believe the people who came up with our Founding Documents were inspired.

I believe that if “We The People,” and the politicians who we hire to represent us, will turn back to the ideas enshrined in the Founding Documents, the U.S. will quickly return to being the “shining city on the hill” spoken of so eloquently by President Reagan.

The first idea we need to get back to is the sanctity of life, the first of the “unalienable Rights” listed in the Declaration of Independence, obviously held in high esteem by the Founders. Without this primary idea, our country devolves into a culture of death where we have little regard for anyone that cannot speak for themselves or anyone we deem not worthy of consideration.

Another of the primary ideas we need to get back to is the protection of personal property. This starts with the products of individual labor and extends to defining a national border and the enforcement of this border. Without this simple concept, we don’t have an identity as a sovereign country. In order to be truly free we must have both a respect for property rights and national borders.

As do many of you, I believe that the Obama administration must be replaced in order to have any chance of saving this once-great country from continuing its slide into Socialism and into crushing debt from which there will be no return. Are Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan the answer? Gov. Romney was not my first (or second) choice and I would like to ask Rep. Ryan a few questions but Pres. Obama must be defeated! The challenge remains with “We The People” (as it always has) to get as many Originalists into positions of power as possible at all levels of government.

As important as our governmental leadership is, so too are our non-governmental institutions. These include our houses of worship, our schools and universities. Alexis de Tocqueville noted that “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” He also said that “The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other.” In the Progressive era of our society we have too many of our population abandoning religion and, therefore, faith and morality. Conservatives need to take back the institutions that educate and form our children into moral and productive citizens.

I believe sites like TheGraph.com and the TEA Party are vehicles to turn the USA back to the ideas and ideals enshrined in our Founding Documents and the key to all of it is education. We must educate ourselves and others and identify/support people and institutions that can help return our country to the confines and freedoms codified in those two documents that started the American Experiment and transformed a fledgling group of colonies into the world’s most influential society in a mere 130-140 years.

I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine who fancies himself a thoughtful conservative. We were on a boating trip and I was doing my best to avoid politics on a beautiful, sunny day. He was doggedly persistent and I’m not known for a lack of opinion. Now, this particular friend has a tendency to over-analyze a given topic and work himself in circles so I was prepared to try and steer him back. As the discussion got underway, I found that I was indeed prepared to champion America’s first principles. I just didn’t think I would have to defend them from a self-proclaimed conservative at a tiki bar today.

For starters he was starstruck by the perfect hair of the duo of Romney and Ryan. This is fairly typical of most casual conservatives who get into election mode and leave their scruples at the door. I burst his bubble by reminding him of  the tandem’s history with Romneycare, TARP, Auto Bailouts, and Medicare Part D. Hardly conservative positions and hardly an indication that these men were the saviors he felt they were. Of course any criticism of the GOP ticket instantly draws the accusation that I want Obama to win. Hardly. I told him I would certainly vote for the Mormon over the Black Liberation Theologian.

Then he slid a little more to the left and began to talk about the health care legislation that the GOP should pass after repealing Obamacare. He had accepted the liberal premise that there was a health care crisis that must be dealt with at a federal level. I told him when you put out a fire, you don’t replace it with anything else. Just repeal it. This sent him into a tirade about all the poor, unfortunate people of this world that needed our help. Uh oh. He’s really going down the rabbit hole.

He stated that we had a moral obligation to help those less fortunate. As a practicing Christian, I wholeheartedly agreed. Just not via the Federal government. I asked if it was OK that he was holding gun to my head and forcing me to be “charitable.” This caused him great concern and he walked away only to return one drink later with his retort. It was no longer an obligation in his mind, but an “opportunity,” as if that was any more sensible. Things were really starting to slide.

I asked him what authority within the United States Constitution gave Congress the ability to pass such legislation? “General Welfare Clause” he responded. Ugh. Logic right out of a liberal playbook being played by a “conservative.” I tried in vain to explain the enumerated powers of Congress and the role of the General Welfare Clause as a modifier rather than a stand alone power. He responded that he didn’t know what the enumerated powers were. (Facepalm) Maybe I could use another drink myself.

I politely explained the limited powers of the Federal government and how the remainder was left for the states. He was fine with that as long as the Federal government could force the states to “uniformly” implement their own policies. What?!?! “If the Federal government can force the states to all be the same, you lose the ability to vote with your feet” I replied. “That’s not practical” he shrieked. “People can’t just pick up and move!” Of course they can and do. For jobs, relationships, lower taxes, etc… That freedom to escape poor policies and find greener pastures is a hallmark of American Federalism.

Ultimately our wives separated us and we went on with enjoying our day although the conversation continued to bother me. It is clear at this point that the left is winning. They have pounded their message so effectively over the last century that Marxism is now engrained in many facets of society. The uninformed and even the well-intentioned have been indoctrinated. The argument begins at the far left with the liberals and ends up compromised on the not-quite-so-far-left with the neo-conservatives.

We have a lot of work to do just to even begin to reverse this trend. Those who should be our allies are too wrapped up in politics and policies to realize they’ve been compromised. We need a revival of America’s first principles to cleanse its very soul. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get back to basics.

Over the past several months, there has been a lot of drama in the conservative circles on Twitter. If I had to pinpoint a timeframe, I’d say it all began when the news of Brett Kimberlin using SWATting and law fare against conservatives broke. You can read up on that story here:  http://theothermccain.com/category/neutral-objective-journalism/the-kimberlin-files/  However, over the past month or so, sh*t has really hit the fan.

A lot of the sh*t being lobbed is aimed at one Brooks Bayne (@brooksbayne), his website, www.thetrenches.us, and his known “associates”. Why? A quick google of this man produces a mixed bag, if you will, of blogs by and about him. What we can gather is that he has been rather consistent with everything he blogs about and tweets about. He assisted in organizing the first Tea Parties and has been extremely vocal for quite some time in defense of America’s founding principles.  Public perception, especially as seen by those who don’t know Brooks or haven’t interacted with him in any way, is that he comes off as “boorish”.  But that’s hardly an excuse for intentional smears and defamation of him, his endeavors, and his associates.

People are out there in the twitter-verse ‘taking sides’, ‘defending’ so-and-so, ‘threatening’, ‘smearing’, etc.,  As for me, I am on the side of American Liberty, I am defending the truth and those so brave as to tell it plainly, threatening no one, and certainly not smearing anyone. It is not my intention to drag anyone’s name through the mud that has been slung from all corners.  But I find it only fair, only appropriate, to make an attempt at clearing up some things that a lot of people seem unaware of or misinformed about.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Mr. Bayne founded this website, but no longer has any affiliation with it whatsoever, save for still being on a rarely-used email group.  He did not ask me to write this. He has never paid me for anything I’ve written, nor has he had a direct hand in any of my content.

Let’s start with the website. Thetrenches.us has been up and running for less than a year.  (I really don’t know exactly for how long. You know, because I’m not involved with it.)  The staff at The Trenches has covered topics ranging from #twittergulag to Brett Kimberlin and Neal Rauhauser to exposing some ties that certain people have with certain other radical people. And for the most part, the group received no animosity for their hard work and diligence in holding people accountable.  But when they posted this: http://thetrenches.us/2012/06/breitbarts-last-night-wherein-he-prepared-for-war-in-the-trenches-against-neal-rauhauser/ all Hell seemed to break loose. “Ooh! Did you see that?!” “What do they know about Andrew Breitbart?”  “How DARE they mention Breitbart?!” And so on.  That was the tipping point for a great many conservatives.  This post, not even written by Brooks, ended up pissing a lot of people off. And for what?  The point that was made was that Breitbart, despite everything else on his plate, was ready to combat the crazies behind the SWATtings.

Brooks Bayne, the individual, regardless of where he posts his blogs, has taken a lot of flack for far too long. The first instance that I can remember him taking any major “friendly-fire” for was his article on this site connecting Sandra Fluke to some pretty radical leftists who just happen to be big-time supporter of President Obama, and who also happen to be Jewish. And Socialist.  Some Jews on ‘our side’ took great offense to the fact that there are other Jews out there who support and endorse socialism. And so Brooks became an anti-Semite overnight.  I defended Brooks against those charges, and was subsequently blocked by @keder and @kesgardner, among others, I’m sure.  I thought the conservatives were the tolerant ones? Sadly, Brooks seems to face a barrage of hatred from ‘conservatives’ on an almost daily basis. But when he defends himself, he’s the crazy, irrelevant, Twitter-terrorizing, anti-Semitic asshole.

Everyone associated with Trenches, or anyone who is even considered friendly with them, has been subject to varying forms of harassment, incivility, smears, and vitriol.  Myself included, lately.  I tried to avoid the sh*t-throwing at first. I’d chime in when someone told a blatant lie, but otherwise, focused on my own endeavors.  I even went on a Twitter rant (#flbr) one day calling on ALL PARTIES involved to just walk away. Take a chill pill and call me in the morning, ya know? I have interacted, on and off Twitter, with  several members over at The Trenches, and I am willing to vouch for their credibility and their characters.  And so there came a point in time where I had simply seen enough.

Two people in particular have focused way too much time on smearing Brooks, The Trenches organization, and anyone who dare attempt to stand in the middle: Lee Stranahan (@stranahan) and Stevie J. West (@steviejwest).  Both have gone so far as to to post libelous smears of Greg Howard, a United States Marine veteran, whose life was turned upside down a few years ago by none other than Neal Rauhauser and his ‘beandogs’.

So, why would these two have such animosity for Brooks and his pals?  Well, both are former writers for The Trenches, for starters.  I don’t know much about Lee’s departure, but I’ve heard that it was kind of messy, at least for him.  As for Ms. West’s departure, she wasn’t happy with certain aspects of the organization, but she left on perceived good terms.  She received well-wishes from all of the major writers there.  It has always been The Trenches policy that writers may come and go as they please, barring the sharing of confidential information received during ‘employment’.   Lee is a ‘former’ leftist while Stevie, as far as I know, has always been a conservative.  No connection there.  Maybe there is no connection between the two, and it’s just a coincidence that both have engaged in similar smear tactics after severing ties with The Trenches. We may never know.

Lee’s insidious behavior has been well documented, and you can see it here: http://thetrenches.us/2012/07/the-chronicles-of-strandedhan-part-1-of-n/ and here: http://thetrenches.us/2012/07/the-chronicles-of-strandedhan-part-2-of-infinity-the-dark-side/, so I won’t waste time rehashing that psycho.

For some reason, Ms. West found it necessary to to make it very public about her break-up with The Trenches.  She tweeted it to public domain, and then began to play the victim card for some reason.

Now, Brooks and his pals at The Trenches were all under the impression that the break-up was mutual. She didn’t want to participate with them any longer, and they weren’t going to try to force here to stay.  So, needless to say, they were completely taken aback when they saw her smears, as was I.  I always had viewed her a strong independent woman who would not hesitate to school the Marxist lefties, so this was odd behavior.  She began (as far as I know, this was the beginning) with accusing @foolishreporter of “bringing her kids into it”.  Foolish is a father of one, and is expecting another, so he would know better than to stoop that low, right?  Well, Ms. West is apparently so vain, so obsessed with her own popularity, that she assumed that this was about her, and lashed out because someone was “bringing her kids into it”.

Foolish naturally defended himself, and several others backed him up as well.  But Stevie is unrelenting (just like Lee), and still holds to this day that he started it by even mentioning her kids, nevermind that as a father, he sympathized with her about what she was going through at the time.

Even an innocent observer understood what was going on.

Her attacks and smears have only escalated since. Anytime one of her followers asks, she is happy to drag every single one of these patriots through the mud.  She has even stooped so low as to share a beandog-produced video with her followers, warning them to avoid Greg Howard.  Greg’s only connection to the Trenches is that they have been ardent defenders of him when he is attacked by the Left, and now, even by some on the Right.

What could cause someone to carry such a grudge?  Why the axe to grind, Stevie?  Why do you continue to pursue this sick vendetta of yours?   I asked Stevie to email me her side of the story over a week ago, before I even considered writing this.  To date, she has made no effort to contact me, only to double-down on her malicious smears.  It’s sad, really. I’ve always liked her.  Truly sad.