One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All.

Erick, thank you.

I am a Christian, a Conservative, and a Patriot. The answer is NOT to try and secede from our great nation, but to remake it in the same way Ronald Reagan did.

Conservatives are strong, patriotic, American citizens who fight for our beliefs, but also respect the Office of the President. I want a good moral conservative to be president, but until that time, I’m still a proud American. And baseless attacks on our country and our president are beneath us. We can certainly debate the mistakes and liberal policies of Obama, and we can fight hard to end the liberal occupancy of the White House and Senate.

God has chosen for us to endure this trial so that we can grow and become stronger as a result. And for us to succumb to our baser instincts is a failing. Let’s bring the fight to the Democrats, but let’s still remember that we are citizens of the greatest nation on earth, and Obama was elected by the people. It’s our job to figure out how to elect good conservatives, not talk about secession, “Second Amendment solutions” or other treasonous notions.

No conservative will be unifying as long as the establishment is anti-conservative. The Republicans eat their own, while the Democrats have been eliminating dissent behing the scenes in order to maintain public unity. The result is a coherent message, and many people I know voted for Obama because they decided to stick with the devil they know.

http://www.redstate.com/posting-rules/

Nothing’s changed.

thank you for posting.

Thank you, Bill. I expect we’re going to be repeating this a lot between now and New Year’s.

When you say “eat their own” what do you mean? Do you mean running at them from the right?

Not very open and welcoming, are you? You have been saying the same stuff for the last four years. And where has it gotten us? “Be a team player.” “Fight the good fight.” I do not want to secede, but Washington has left us. It is time to rebuild the country from the states outward. The states need to reclaim the power that is granted to them by our Declaration of Independence and our US Constitution Erick, do not call us unwelcome, rather show us the way. You want us to understand undecided voters, well try to understand us. Try to understand our frustrations and talk to us in a way to which we can relate. I do not want to beat Democrats. I want America to be the home of the free and the brave. And Democrats do stand in the way. But the RNC has proved to us that Republicans cannot win and I am not going to waste my time with the RNC. I will rebuild America starting in Tennessee. Perhaps if Tennessee becomes the land of the free, America will follow. Stand by me. Show me the way. But do not treat me like a petulant child. I just lost my freedom.

Bill S sir,

I find the whole thing funny, both sides.

Maybe it is my twisted sense of humor.
But I find that secession-related petitions humorous.
The State total is now 40 by the way.
The total number of signers per State is 25,000 for the White House to response in writing, correct?
If all 50 States were to have the required number, that is but 1,250,000, an awful small number.

But the White House would have to respond in writing to them.
The real reason for them?
As they are worded differently the responses should also be.

Obama’s responses on record and using them?
A distraction for the White House?
Send the Media Talking Heads off into a tangent tail spin?

Other than that will it accomplish anything, nooooo.

The 10TH Amendment a much better way for the States to reel in the Federal Government.

Well, some might read a tone in how you replied to Erick, completely ignoring his directive against secession.

It is aaronmd’s mindset that I can’t understand. Freedom was defeated? You know what party wins every election? The Communist Party in China. The whole point of having a democracy is to have many views represented. Sometimes your view as represented by a political party wins, sometimes it loses, but it doesn’t mean you’ve lost your freedom.

correct. Sometimes I wonder if it is the very process of the political tug of war itself that prevents free nations from tumbling over the cliff on either edge, led by radical extremists from the fringe of either ideology.

Personally I think the piece of Virginia that was taken as part of DC then given back to Virginia should be given back to DC again. I haven’t run the numbers but I’d bet good money that without that piece Virginia would have been red this election.

I don’t know which states required a picture ID other than Florida, but it went Obama, so I’m not sure your stats are correct. And it’s probably true that BECAUSE of all of the efforts by Republicans on behalf of ferreting out “voter fraud”, that So. Florida had those ghastly long lines. People were grumbling about being targeted for disenfranchisement and stayed in those lines to show Rick Scott a lesson. May have backfired.

Seriously??? thats funny Bill, many here at RS, including EE and others are nonstop crying about romney being a bad candidate. Quitting the effort to defeat obama, and bragging with incessant I TOLD YOU SOs.

Is not a big core tenet of conservatism self reliance? We have some big crybabies here demanding if they don’t get their conservative arses kissed, they’ll take their ball and go home.

Will someone answer me this: would a romney or obama admin be easier to influence and advance conservatism?

Erick admitted he gave up on this race. That is a tacit approval that an Obama win doesn’t really matter.

We’ll regret this for the next few decades, not just the next 4 years. Especially when obamacare gets cemented and at least 2 more radical SCOTUS get cemented into place for DECADES.

So then the RS editors all sign some stupid diary about becoming more insular. RS changes here have been our way or the highway, even to regular supporters. Any dissent is met with, “gee, you can go elsewhere.” Do you want an echo-chamber here??

The same goes with my comments. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to read them.

I’ll give my input here as long as I want, unless the quitters at RS ban me.

RS largely quit this race against obama. Obviously there is much good information here and does not apply to everyone.

It really sounds like EE just couldnt wait for obama to win to say “i told you so”. and the purists here are just waiting for Conservative JESUS to run, or they won’t support anyone.

conservative in the primary, Republican in the general. RS obviously skipped the latter.

I encourage everyone to look at the man in the mirror and ask if you did enough to defeat obama.

It is also a fact that states with Voter ID laws did not go for Obama. So 50 states with voter ID laws lessens the chances for Democrats
.http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/111312-633313-voter-fraud-is-a-problem.htm?src=HPLNews
I am not saying that the election was stolen, because I still wrestle with the IBD polling which predicted the President winning with the smallest error rate, according yesterdays editorial there. I wrestle with winning the house and losing the presidency as well.

Too many people have also wasted time whining about how Mitt Romney was not an Evangelical, and that we should demand that candidates run on platforms that presidents can’t possibly follow through on – like outlawing abortion in any and all circumstances.
It seems that the welcome mat was rolled up quite a while ago around here, and everyone now wants to pretend that this didn’t have a major impact on why Barack Obama won the election.

Well, compared to some of the mail he gets I was very polite, I meant it as a well-meaning arm on his shoulder, and not at all in a facetious way, as for the most part Erick says what I am thinking, but not on this occasion.

‘His directive’. That is strangely put, but let me say this, as much as I love this country, if the government ask me to jump off a cliff, guess what, I’m not going to comply. There is a line in the sand for all of us, and I think that is the thought behind all this conjecture.

It’s nice for Erick to know you have his back, although it’s not needed for me.

NOW you are talking.

you’re right- I reread the editorial and they mention four states with strict photo id requirements, without naming them that did not go to Obama.

Explain the math, then.

Most of the diaries call for getting more foot soldiers on the ground to organize at the community level. I agree. However, we have jobs and are raising families.

Ouch! The only reason I didn’t sign the WH petition to secede was because they wanted too much personal information. Better they don’t put me on THE LIST.
But I am cheering on the secessionist movement. It is a non-binding referendum. It is a measure of dissatisfaction among the electorate. Being from Texas I am hollering “yeah, baby! Yea Texas!, Show ‘em what you think!”
Of course it’s stupid. Of, course nothing official will come of it. Of course it makes us look like hicks & mindless rebels.
But just look at all the ink it’s getting!

Plenty of Canadians like country music, outdoor activities and NASCAR too. What’s your point? On all the things that matter in life, they (you) are diametrically different than us.

When people like you talk about freedom, you’re talking about freedom to get high, marry another dude and kill babies in utero – fine. I’m talking about freedom from enslaving future generations with debt, conscience clauses for free practice of religion and freedom from the government telling you what you products and services you must buy.

See? We are different, you and I. We can pretend that we are similar because we’re both human and like similar human recreational activities, but we’re really not.

impercipient mackd:
“Not every person on welfare is completely incapable of taking care of themselves and to think so is pretty ignorant. This is a slippery slope and pretty soon you’d have a minimum amount of land required to vote. Not exactly ideal for the cradle of liberty.”

Please look at the ‘ownership of property’ as a qualifier to vote from this point of view:

You own rental property and the township/state [whatever] has a property tax increase on the ballot. The proposition offered is that the tax increase will enable more “X” for everyone, and ‘everyone’ can vote. All your tenants will likely vote FOR this because the immediate benefits can be seen. They do not see the cost because that is on you as the property owner and ‘hidden’ from them. Yes, you can pass the tax down to them through rent increases but they will never see the increased property tax they voted for as the culprit. That is IF you can raise your rents within your market. If you can’t do that you have to eat the increased cost of business caused by those who have nothing to lose.

The above example is just one of many that would show the same result. If the voter does not have any skin in the game he/she does not care about the end result of their vote. There is no personal responsibility. This attitude is very prevalent within the “section 8″ community and elsewhere among those reliant on government handouts.

I get your narrow point, which is correct, but which is actually only a sliver of what a good business should do. To pretend that business ACTUALLY is sensitive to the demands of customers totally depends on the business. However, as a generality but a truism, the only voices which the current generation of CEOs listen to are the quarterly earnings, share prices and each other. It used to be that CEOs were “embedded” with all their stakeholders. They cared about their bottom line, yes, but not to the exclusion of their customers, suppliers, employees and community in which they operated. They used to be good citizens, weaving an industrial and post-industrial American which provided a working wage, attracted suppliers to relocate within proximity of operational efficiency, paid their fair taxes and looked everyone squarely in the eye. If there were downturns in the business cycle, they may have even taken a cut in pay. These old virtues of business are nowhere to be found in modern America, where CEOs are slaves to Wall Street and the type of people who would sell grandma down the river, and actually did it. This is not a sustainable business model for an excellent society, and therefore should not be emulated on any level. We are slowly becoming third world in our behaviors (yes, I have lived in third world countries) and big business is leading us there. Give me a small business entrepreneur ANY DAY, the type of business which IS sensitive to ALL of the factors of production, the customers, the suppliers, the landlord, the employees, the banker, and a citizen of their community – then I will believe in business again. But our society is enamored of Bigger is Better, and Win at All Costs. The most egregiously unethical of our business practitioners (big oil, big mining, big pharma, big bankers, big defense contractors) are all of the biggest businesses which have imbedded and infected our government, so we have gotten what we (richly) deserve. I say this with respect to you, rog.

So pray tell is the point of this posting? The tone is that of a stern father reprimanding his children if they do not get in line. From the postings I’ve read even the moderators are in on the act. Oh well! I have heard the same type of stuff coming from “there is no tea party here Boehner” and I guess I can expect that here too.
Again the birtherism thing was brought up for no apparent reason. I would venture a guess that a back and forth would not be appreciated on the subject. If aired out fully and logically then it may begin to die down. Failing to address the secession petitions in a respectful manner is ignoring what is going on in this country. It may not have a chance of an ice cube in Hell but if people are feeling ignored then why? We have just had an election where people should have had a voice and were not allowed to speak. By the tone of this posting Erik you seem to have joined the crowd or is it club?

The post is in English. If you don’t like what it says you need to move on. There is no place on this site for squawking about secession. That issue was decided in 1865.

Instead of signing petitions that have on meaning or effect, citizens should be writing their elected servants advising them what their employers expect of them. I took a poll one night at a political meeting regarding the number of people who write to their elected servants. Less than 10% raised their hand. No wonder our representatives have gone off the reservation because they can hide out in WDC and not expect any repercussions from the citizens. They have lost touch because we have lost touch with those we entrusted to represent us. They only get in touch with us when it comes time for reelection which is why they can become lifetime members of the exclusive club in WDC.

I have no problem with letting my congressman know my displeasure at how he voted on an issue. Senators get no free pass either. I might not like the response I receive from them but at least they know I’m out here watching them. More people need to do the same. The only way we can term limit those who are suppose to represent us is at the polls and we need to term limit more of them.

I know you do not entertain thoughts of sucession, but now, incredibly, on the White House web site they also now have a petition where their aim is to strip any sucession signer of their citizenship, i hope you will get your knickers in an equal knot.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but the meeting of the unions and ‘Move On’ and now this, Obama is flexing his muscles.
Ballots have disappeared in Allan West’s race. They are not going to keep to any laws now.
I fear we haven’t seen anything yet.

Good grief! This attitude is appalling! Dude, you want people to read your articles. You invite comments.
Not all of us are going to agree with what you say.
What do you want – all of us to hang on every word in utter awe at your genius and go baa baa baa like sheep?
Gees!

I consider myself an average person. I feel that you are right about some things. But any dishonest effort in an election should be rewarded by jail time. That goes for people in either party. The conventions this year were a national disgrace. All one has to do is go to UTube to see this at the Florida Convention. According to some sources, Ohio had over 100 polling places where some very fishy things went on. It doesn’t matter if it made a difference in who was elected or not. The point is both parties need to condemn cheating period. Both parties need the “appearance” of being honest. So if there was cheating going on, I say turn whatever agency loose that needs to fix it so that these people go to jail. Then fix it so it cannot happen again. If that means valid photo IDs for everyone, then that is what we are going to have to do as a nation to remain credible to our allies. If it means backing away from computers in an election then we have to go back to a manual voting system. What has to happen is people have to know that things are on the up and up and honest. IF they are not, then I can see why some people want another way of doing things.

We expect you to not act insane as you disagree.

But yes, it would be nice for you to hang on every word in utter awe of our genius. We do want that. In your case, we won’t be reciprocating, I’m sure.

Erick, We have 3″machines behemoths that we are battling – DNC, RNC, MSM – all tremendously well-funded with “machines” in place. We have a president that has now been re-elected that can’t even prove his citizenship or provide any proof of even legally having an SSN! If it was ANYONE else besides a Dem operative, esp. “black”, then he’d be in JAIL. How can we NOT stand against this fraud? Look what he is DOING to this nation? Yet, we allow jackasses in RINO clothing to “lead” us & kick us in the nuts & send us on our way down the road to destruction! We are watching at least 2 of our FINEST soldiers be destroyed to “protect” this fraud, yet you tell us we’re to ACCEPT him as POTUS? I’m sorry, but as a Vet, as a Citizen, as a CHRISTIAN I cannot accept this lie & fraud as my representative to the world….

paxcat. True that I made sweeping generalizations about big business. As for charitable giving, we will see how that pans out once the charitable deduction has gone the way of the dinosaur. I happen not to be a fan of Apple or Microsoft, either. One of the reasons is that I’ve got a theory about societies, and it’s basically based on observations about the natural order of things. Once an organism or entity gets to a particular heretofore unspecified size, the ability of the “brain” of the organism/entity to exercise good governance becomes strained. This is completely true of the animal kingdom, the human body, the natural universe. I’ll give you another example (and this is just an observation). Once a town grows into a city and its citizens are too numerous for us to know each other by name or by face or by family history, the generally exercised good behavior amongst known people or entities devolves into anonymity. Once we gain this anonymity, we are tempted to misbehave in more and more venues and larger and larger platforms, thus we have road rage behind dark tinted windows, flaming language about libtards and rethugs, bullying behavior, cheating on educational exams, profligate spending of others’ money, and this bad behavior becomes normalized. We feel like chumps for not getting our pound of flesh from the other guy. When Goldman Sachs was a private corporation of partners, with their own skin in the game, they were playing by a set of rules which were natural ones, with real risks to themselves. Whether jobs going overseas, suppliers who had been reduced to operating down to the bone before being told their accounts were now being fulfilled by Chinese companies, my point is there’s such a thing as too big. It occurs in nature, and we should be more thoughtful about what makes a great company and what makes a great society. Big and bigger isn’t necessarily better. That’s my point.

@Danno415, perhaps you don’t realize that Austin’s liberal slant is VERY different from pretty much the rest of the state of Texas. It’s pretty much a political pariah. Yes, Vermont may be somewhat like Austin politically, but not at all like the rest of that vast state.

I intend to fight to the bitter end, I want to see the RINO’s in the party gone, but I also realize that this might very well be a losing battle. I want to see a party that will adhere to the constitution, not in word only, but in deeds. I don’t see that yet, I see Boehner saying that Obamacare is the law of the land, we can’t do anything about it. I hear the words, tax the rich from supposed conservative Republican pundits. So unless I see some positive changes, like booting Boehner and McConnell out of leadership and putting some conservatives in. I think Mr. Erickson, with you changes to our Red State board, I may very well bid you adieu, because I don’t like threats either. You don’t want conservatives around who disagree with you. OK.

I was a big fan up until now. Now you denigrate those that no longer see this system as viable and wish to hit the reset button by discussing sucession? So you just want to imitate the left now and tell people;” Hey, you didn’t just see what you THOUGHT you saw on November 6th?” Are you kidding me? I thought you were better than that, Eric. Could it be that a sucession movement would be bad for business? The fact that you easily dismiss this, and now try to offhandedly influence your followers to do the same makes your motives highly suspect in my mind of having been unduly influenced. THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED EVERY PERSON ON THIS BLOG, MISERABLY! But now, it’s “Let’s go back to the SAME old way we’ve BEEN doing things, business as usual, and get back in our comfort zones.” Around here, we call that a presciption for getting your butts handed to you, AGAIN!
Most folks hear that word Sucession, and think back to grainy pictures in history books, ugly muskets, folks with hygeine challenges, slaves beating rugs out back, and LOTS of bad teeth. Let’s revisit it now in MODERN context, and actually consider the BENEFITS that could be derived from such a move. I think this will surprise some. Indulge me;
Conservatives and Constitutionalists;
* Want to stop suicidal Government borrowing? A viable, formidable Sucession move will DO it! China and friends are worried about being paid back NOW on what we owe them. So is everyone ELSE we owe money to. How many folks do you know who would continue to lend money to BROKE, divorcing couples? No one I know with an IQ over 42……. The money borrowing spigot would get shut down in a REAL hurry. A movement like this would accomplish what 6 years of partisan wrangling COULD NOT; Shut down the insane borrowing and stop the mortgaging of our children’s future QUICKLY.
* How about a recovery of the housing market? Sound good? What happened in the LAST sucession movement? Folks moved to either side of the line to accomodate their ideologies. INSTANT housing demand! Instant recovery of housing prices! A win-win for both sides.
* Regain control over our sovereignity and borders. The opportunity to kick the UN OUT OF OUR AFFAIRS, PERMANENTLY. We can close our borders and stem the flow of illegal immigration that is sucking the resources dry in this country.
*Regain control over this insane regulation krystalnacht. All that EPA greenie weenie crap and Dodd-Frank nonsense, GONE! Oil and natural gas? Flowing like gangbusters again!
*Regain control over ENTITLEMENTS! This is huge, as it is the biggest stranglehold on our financial well-being. As suceeded states, we would assume the responsibility of maintaining Social Security, Medicare, Government pensions, etc. BUT, we could also jettison generational welfare, section 8 and food stamps, etc. How I would LOVE to see all this back in the hands of responsible, fiscal conservatives.
*Term limits, anyone? WE THE PEOPLE would get to reset the term limits of those who serve us publicly. Let’s get real; there is NO WAY the current batch of folks that serve will submit to term limits, and we all KNOW it. If you want change in this department, it must either be wrested away, or reset. I vote reset…….
* How about regaining control of education? Sick of leftists filling your children’s head with Socialist, dependent crap? Here’s our chance to FINALLY have an education system that reflects OUR values. That includes dissolving the teacher’s unions, and ending their patronage to them. This one is a biggie to me….
*Regain control of healthcare. Self-explanatory.
* The chance to reset the 2nd amendment in STONE, to make it permanently inviolable and irrevocable, for ANY reason. Hey, on Obama’s current trajectory on THIS one, it may get ugly ANYWAY!
I could go on, but you get the picture. Now forgive me, but weighing THIS, or 4 more years of Obama’s destruction to EVERYTHING we hold dear, I choose THIS!
2 things happened on November 6th;
1) It was confirmed that over 50% OF OUR NATION NOW embraces Socialism. We, the producers, are now outnumbered. They have forfeited their God-given right to freedom for a few checks and a handful of free stuff. The situation is now irretrievable folks. The pandora’s box of Free stuff is now open in America. Folks will NOT willingly relinquish it, either. They will stop taking free stuff ONLY when the resources run out. The democrats will continue to use this formula to ensure re-election, and why not? It worked, and they’d be stupid to stop……
2) If anyone on here thinks that those computerized voting machines reflected the true sentiments of the American people on November 6th, then they’re lying to themselves. I watched a video of the man that CREATED the original program to tamper with those machines, alter the results and then time out and vanish. What does your gut say, folks?
Here’s the problem; Our last and final mode of redress offered by the Constitution has now been corrupted beyond retrieval. The integrity of the voting system has been compromised, and the results can NEVER be trusted again. We are out of honest and reliable recourse; folks. That’s the hard truth. Voting-wise, we are now Venezuela.
So it irritates me when Eric stoops to utilizing leftist tactics to denigrate something he opposes, and by the above, something that is a viable alternative for folks that are fed up. This is NOT a tin foil hat initiative, people. It is an option, a lifeboat if you will, OFF of the sinking ship. Instead of patching the holes, Obama and friends are tearing new ones faster than we can patch them. The clock is now our biggest enemy. To me, the benefits above are looking pretty good right now. Nostalgia for the ‘Old America” is only vapor now…… In light of this, more business as usual, Eric? I thought you held more vision than that……..

I guess a well-run campaign now means don’t tell the people what your plans for the next term are and bash your opponent as much as you can. Pretty sad as Romney and Ryan are the good guys.

No supreme court case is irreversible. But yes, secession is idiotic.

OH NO! RACHEL MADDOW SAID JUST NOW THAT SHE READS RED STATE AND AGREES WITH ERICK ERICKSON!

Just before this, she accused Republicans who question Susan Rice as just old white men attacking a black woman. Yep, that’s MSNBC for you.

I’m listening now to the Rachel Maddow interview with Dan Rather, who is accusing Republicans of taking leave of the “fact-based world.” Yep, that Dan Rather, who left CBS because he lied about facts.

Maybe I should reinstate my RedState “MSNBC Watch” posts?

We don’t want crazy people around. If you fall into that category…well, that’s your call.

Excellent post. I plan to do everything I can to make sure the comments and diaries I post DON’T reflect ideas on your “nuttiness” list.