I hear from a lot of people.  I talk with folks from a variety of backgrounds every day.  I meet with businessmen, doctors, carpenters, waitresses, retired folks, stay at home moms, out of work dads, firemen, policemen and ordinary people from right here in my community.  Here is what you are saying.

Republicans are getting anxious about the future of the party.  They sense a growing bitterness.  The comfort of traditions they have come to trust is being disrupted by challenges to their way of thinking.

You are being told that the people you have supported have let you down.  You are told that choosing another "establishment" candidate will only perpetuate our problems, not solve them.

You are told that George W. Bush was bad for America, that Ernie Fletcher was a disaster, that David Williams is as much to blame for Kentucky's woes as the democrats.

You are being told that the TEA party is out to save the GOP from self-destructing, and yet you hear its members vowing to not support the party nominee unless it is the person of their choice.  You don't know whether to trust them or not.

You know Barack Obama is bad for America and fear that a second term could result in the complete collapse of our economy.  You want him defeated but hear fellow republicans griping that Romney is no better.

You see a battle for Congress being waged with an unusual degree of civility among most of the candidates. 

You are aware that traditional republican values are being questioned at every turn and that this seems to be a strategy of divide and conquer.

Much of this I heard of course, over many years.  You see, I have been paying attention for a long, long time.  I didn't just "wake up" in 2010.  I didn't just take an interest in the Constitution a couple of years ago.  I didn't just start voting and caring about our community, our Commonwealth and our country since Obama was elected.

And I haven't kept my light under a basket.  I've been out here working side by side with you for decades.  I've been telling you how I feel, what issues I see, what solutions I suggest for many years now.

And I have found a lot of common ground between traditional republican values and TEA party principles.  But I detest the denigration of our selected leaders and the suggestion that we were stupid for having chosen them.  In fact, I am angered by such accusations leveled at good people who have been trying very hard to do good things.

I want to heal our party, unify conservatives, defeat Barack Obama, and help to right our ship of state.

Recent comments sent to me in emails have suggested that I need to tell you where I stand on the issues.  I thought you knew how to find that.  Maybe not.

Well, here is where I stand on principles.

And here are my positions on the issues.

And if you want to learn more than any one website can tell you, check out the archives listed under "Categories" in the right hand column of this blog.  Nearly 7,000 articles should give you plenty to look at between now and Tuesday of next week.

And if you haven't heard me say it before, let me say it now.

My name is Marc Carey.  I'm a candidate for Congress, and I'm asking for your vote.

This article is being cross posted from my daily column at KyFoward.com

Not too long ago it was popular for candidates to wrap themselves in the flag, you know, declare undying patriotism for the good old U.S. of A., but that was right after 9-11 when people were reportedly friendlier than they had been in decades.

There was a renewed sense of national unity back then, we were told. We had been attacked and needed to all pull together. Any behavior which questioned our reaction to the attacks was subject to being labeled “un-American.”

These days things have changed. Drivers might wave at you but without using all of their fingers, the Bush Administration has been painted as the cause of all our troubles, Dick Cheney has been vilified, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are booed and the new meme for politicians is to wave the Constitution rather than the flag. But there’s a danger with that of which you need to be aware.

The Constitution was written with the aid of some very well educated men. Despite the quaint story of how they were all farmers and merchants in reality they were deep thinkers with an education far different than any among modern politicians.

The framers of the Constitution were trained in the classics. They studied ancient history. They were well versed in The Bible. They lived in an era where the knowledge base was far more focused on how men interacted throughout history than how to program an I-phone.

The battle between good and evil was real. They had seen brutality at the hands of Tyrants with their own eyes, but more importantly, they had studied all of the methods by which men had tried to govern other men over the years and boldly exploded that notion, filling the void left by their actions with a government where men governed themselves. Their understanding of what the Constitution did had a far greater certainty to it than what lies at the base of modern zeal.

I have made a study of the Constitution all my life. I wrote papers about it in high school. I studied it in college. I focused upon it in Law School. I have practiced law in defense of the Constitution for 32 years. I have read about, written about and spoken about the Constitution for decades. And though I am encouraged to hear that more and more people are paying attention to it these days than they have for a long time, I perceive a danger.

You see, there is an inter-relationship between a number of our founding documents, such as The Bible, the Mayflower Compact, the Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers that many self-proclaimed “constitutional conservatives” ignore when proclaiming what the Constitution says.

In addition, while most of these people will loudly proclaim that the Constitution must be applied strictly as it was written, they will themselves often tell audiences what they think it says, thus interpreting it through their own set of biases in much the same way as the “activist judges” they so despise are frequently accused of doing.

And since I’ve met most of these folks who now treat the Constitution more as a talisman than as a legal document I can also tell you that few if any of them have read any of these other founding documents, read any of the ancient history which the authors of the Constitution had in mind when they drafted it and have read little if any of the various writings from that time or since which have discussed the contextual meaning of the words used or what the authors intended them to mean in the future.

Do I claim to be the pre-eminent expert? No. And I am very happy that more and more people are starting to read the Constitution. I am particularly pleased to see that more and more candidates have started to read the Constitution in light of the fact that their oath of office will require them to defend it.

But I am very concerned that any number of citizens who are not as motivated to read the document itself, and certainly not as motivated to spend over forty years studying Constitutional Law, are being treated as political prey by snake oil salesmen of the political type. I hope this is not the case, but I do see crowds responding with great enthusiasm to such candidates.

Instead, I’d rather be more optimistic and think that many of those candidates who have just discovered the Constitution are driven by the kind of passion that makes them kindred spirits with our founders. And if so, perhaps a word or two from one of the most senior, and most brilliant of them all, might help guide these newcomers on their journey.

What would Ben Franklin say? He might repeat on of his most famous quotations: “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”

Yesterday morning I asked if Ron paul helps or hurts. Yesterday afternoon he answered the question I think.

In two separate articles Paul made clearer the role he sees himself playing in the future of the Republican Party.

"The truth is, I'm trying to save the Republican Party from themselves because they want perpetual wars, they don't care about presidents who assassinate American citizens, they don't care about searching our houses without search warrants, and these are the kind of things people care about," Paul said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

First of all after having devoted my life to helping the republican party I admire any man who is truly trying to save it.  But for Ron Paul to say that the party wants perpetual wars, doesn't care about presidents who assassinate American citizens, doesn't care about illegal searches or the kinds of things ordinary people care about is *expletive deleted* insulting!

In fact, it's not only insulting, it's compelling evidence how self righteous and out of touch Ron Paul is with the heart and soul of we republicans who have been working within the system our entire lives.

How dare he climb up on his rickety old high horse and accuse me of such things?  I spoke out against the Patriot Act in the very beginning, at a time in fact when it was considered un-patriotic to challenge President Bush.  I spoke out against the NDAA from the get go.  I have been fighting to defend the Constitution every single day of my adult life.

Has Ron Paul finally gone completely insane?  Does he really think that we don't care about presidents assassinating American citizens?  What a rude thing to say.

What he is really doing is not trying to save the Republican Party but trying to disparage it, slander our members and split off some of our voters into his own camp, dividing our troops and weakening our ability to win against the liberals who want to sacrifice Israel to the Jihadists, sacrifice our national security in the name of reducing the size of the mean old government, and cutting federal spending to the bone just as millions of Americans are heading into their most vulnerable senior years, counting on the programs which they were promised would be their when they needed them the most.

Trying to save the Republican Party my patooty!

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday he hasn't decided whether he will support the party's eventual nominee, saying concerns over spending, foreign policy and civil liberties could keep him from endorsing the winner.

"I haven't decided," Paul said when asked about whether he would support the GOP candidate during an appearance Monday on WMAL, a Washington, D.C., radio station.

Paul also left the door wider open than he has in past statements about a potential third-party bid, saying he would weigh an outside run "after the votes are counted." [The Hill]

No, quite the contrary, Ron Paul has successfully mesmerized a large number of people into believing that his political movement is non-political.  He has convinced an audience of discontented voters to ignore his many years in Congress and to adopt the completely illogical illusion that he is not a career politician.

He has persuaded people with sleight of hand to believe that what he is doing is not "politics as usual" yet all the while employing the usual political skills of raising money, crafting slick commercials, delivering confusing speeches, denying his own words and mobilizing people to his cause that all the other politicians he says he dislikes have been using for decades.

And what is the response of his groupies when confronted with the facts?  They lash out the same way they complain the establishment lashes out against them, they argue that they must first win by using the same tactics they say they hate because it's the only way they can win and eventually change the rules from the inside.

Not only is our nation being divided, but our party is being divided.  And while people like me have no problem speaking out against the policies of the GOP which we think are wrong, we don't throw down our arms, run from the battlefield and join up with another army in the middle of a raging war which threatens the very survival of our nation.

There's a word for such behavior, and the men who run from battle.  There's a word for men who fire upon their own "to save them".

Does Ron Paul hurt or help?  I think he has answered that one for himself pretty clearly.

And for those who think like he does, you have been defined by the company you keep.

When searching for a movie for date night this past Saturday I noticed two things.  Most of the movies currently showing had some form of violence.  Second, only one was scheduled for a showing every 30 minutes, which means the theater was expecting a very large audience. That movie was Hunger Games.

We arrived in time to purchase tickets for the 7:15 showing.  Every show was sold out until 8:45.  So we bought tickets for that time.  The lobby was packed at 6:45 and again at 8:30.  This certainly raised my expectations.

I admit that I hadn't read the books. Fantasy is not my favorite genre.  So I went to the movie with little more knowledge about it than what the trailer at Movies.com showed and the expectation that if it was so popular that it must be good.  As it turns out I was both right and wrong.  The movie smashed box office records, but turned out to be a pretty common story set in a very unusual environment.

The setting is a post apocalyptic world where hunger and starvation among common people exists within their concentration camp like "disticts".  This is contrasted with a weird Sodom and Gomorrah looking world of excess which exists for the "ruling class".  The "ruling class" has devised an annual game for their amusement which pits representatives of various "districts" against each other in a battle of life and death all played out on a "big brother" like video screen for the public which is controlled by the game sponsors.

Broken down into it's basic parts it is a movie about rich vs. poor, life and death, real love, fake love and special effects.  Was it worth the 2 hour wait?  Not really, but it was action packed and the effects were cool.  The story was predictable and the violence gratuitous.

Might somebody come away from it with a deeper understanding of life inspired to make a difference in the world?  If they do, then our families, our churches and our schools have done a pretty lousy job of finding the proper method of communicating ideas.

Was it worth the ticket price?  In today's world, sure, but in the world depicted in the film, $10 might mean the difference between eating and starving, unless of course you were one of the ruling class.

If you did not suffer any adverse consequences of Friday's tornadoes, say a prayer of thanksgiving.  If you have not seen first hand the devastation which has crushed our neighbors, you need to look.  If you haven't found a way to pitch in and help, please find one.

I visited neighbors who lost their house Friday.  The wreckage is nearly impossible to describe.  It is as if a bomb went off.

The incredible destruction of towns like West Liberty Kentucky is truly hard to fathom unless you see the photos and videos and realize the scope of the task of cleanup and rebuilding.

The videos I've seen of people standing and staring at piles of splintered debris where once their house or barn stood conveys the staggering message of how stunned they are, how much in shock they are and how hard it is to wrap their minds around the work which lies ahead.

If we are indeed a nation of brave and considerate people, please find a way to help.

I will not be able to blog any more today.  I am heading to help my neighbors as I know they would do for me.

I will still be holding my Town Hall meeting online tonight at 7.  Please join the conversation at Carey2012.com.

I've always felt that rights and muscles have one thing in common.  If you don't exercise them regularly they might not be of much service to you when the time comes that you need them.

Recently I commented that I would soon hit a milestone here at BluegrassBulletin.  It came and went the other day apparently without me noticing it.

I have now posted over 6500 items here on this blog.  That's a lot of writing.  That's a lot of free speech.

I thank each and every one of you for reading and sharing this with others.

From time to time the things which appear here first later show up at places like Hannity, Glenn Beck and on a few occassions on Rush Limbaugh.  How do I know?  When words I write, in the order I write them, when analogies I create used exactly as I first employed them, later show up on other sites and coming out of other people's mouths, I go back and check to see if I had any traffic from places where these folks are located.  It's not hard to connect those dots.

I also appreciate the support of KyForward, CleanTV and the many radio stations across the country who regularly invite me on to talk about matters of concern to our nation.  I want to also thank the good folks at the former Insight Media company, and for Ryan Alessi for the frequent invitations to come on their shows and talk about politics and conservative ideals.

And I want to thank the many folks who have invited me to speak, to emcee and to deliver keynote addresses for expressing an interest in the things I have had to say.

I know that not everyone will always agree with everything I say and I am sure that some of the many things I've said were written or spoken in the context of what I knew then.  But our traffic continues to grow, I don't subscribe to any of the "measurement sites" which like to help people like me boast, but I do have a meter which I keep private and I will say this much: we have the kind of readership that a lot of daily newspapers wish they had.

Thank you for your support. 

Oh, and stay tuned.  There is something very exciting coming up and you will read about it first, right here.  I promise, you won't want to miss it.

My good friend, and lawyer, Bob Sanders suggested that I record my speech to the Kenton County Republican Women's Club Monday.  I forgot.  So I have been putting it in writing.

Part two is now online at KyForward.com

Click here to read it.

If you haven't found your way over to KyForward.com yet, I invite you to come today.

Judy Clabes has invited me to write a daily column for her new online publication.  I was humbled and honored to be asked.  Today's column is one I think you might like.

You can find it here at KyForward.com.

After writing and speaking about this very topic for quite some time now I have to admit, had it not been for a mouth full of coffee this morning, my jaw would have dropped when I read this, from an interview with George Soros:

“At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesn’t just mean it’s time to protect your assets. He means it’s time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history—a period of “evil.” Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. [The Daily Beast]

Drats!  Now if I could only figure out a way to make a billion dollars in one day like he did.

Today at 11:30 I will be speaking to the Kenton County Republican Women's Club at their first luncheon of the year.  I look forward to seeing you there.

I will return here later today.  Thanks for your support.