Given the President’s very busy golf / campaigning schedule this summer, the President has naturally de-emphasized the other priorities of the office.  Specifically here, the President wishes to acknowledge the many individuals and interests who have been “acting stupidly”.  The President apologizes for this oversight, and bows to those who have rightfully called him to task.  We have now filled the schedule for the rest of his term to try to clear the books (we apologize if we were not able to make amends for all the wrongs that you perceive).

NOTE – as with all of the President’s scheduling, this is tentative and the schedule may be reordered or reprioritized as required for National Security  (golf and/or campaigning).  However, these dates are being released for planning purposes, and at this time the President fully intends to vote, er, BE present.

In appreciation of the gravity of this situation, and knowing that sometimes only beer will calm the neanderthal clinging to his guns or religion, the President has proposed the following schedule:

Aug 11/12:  “You Didn’t Build That” beer summit.  The President acknowledges that many/most Americans have been programmed to take “You didn’t build that” negatively.  Of course this is Bush’ fault, and President Obama has not had the luxury of time to re-program Americans to understand that all success and goodness flows from the Motherland.  In light of this, the president would like to have a beer summit with Vladimir Lenin.  But he’s dead (allegedly).  So instead, he’ll beer Sir Richard Branson.  Granted, Sir Richard Branson is not an American, but he did build something, and it is Bush’ fault that the President can barely stand to talk to actual Americans.

Aug 18/19: “You Didn’t Win That” beer summit.  The President acknowedges that Michael Phelps is the most medaled Olympian ever, and that most people view his success as being at least somewhat related to his own personal efforts.  President Obama laughs at this ridiculous premise, and relishes the thought of schooling Joe Sixpack on this.  Even though it is totally obvious that Phelps (rhymes with helps – coincidence?!?!!?!) could not have accomplished what he did without government sponsorship of roads, education, air, etc,  you Americans somehow read this differently, and the President understands that he will poll poorly (amongst neanderthals) until he takes the fall.

Aug 25/26: ObamaCare “You Can Keep Your Doctor” beer summit.  President Obama did nothing wrong here (no, he didn’t lie!), and employers exiting the healthcare arena are obviously Bush’ fault.  Dr. Kevorkian would be the natural guest of  this beer summit, because a) was a doctor, and b)  the President wishes that personal doctor choice would die as gracefully as one of Dr. Kevorkian’s patients.  But Dr. Kevorkian is dead, so Obama gets a “bye” on this one.

Sep 1/2: ObamaCare “No Federal Funding of Abortion” beer summit.  No self-respecting person would have taken Nancy “We have to pass the bill so you can see what’s in it” Pelosi and Harry Reid’s assurances seriously, but these Honorable servants did say that the Government would  not fund abortion with ObamaCare.  Yes, this was a case where we (the Obama administration) were actually transparent (in terms of totally telegraphing the actual direction that we would go), but darn it, google searches like “stupak abortion obamacare” show us that we owe someone a beer.  We’re not sure who, but Rick Santorum says there are approximately 50 million.  We’ll contact him for clarification.

Sep 8/9: ObamaCare “No New Taxes” beer summit.  Well, obviously, ObamaCare would never have passed with any NEW TAXES.  Which is why we defined it in fact to reduce the deficit, and eliminate wrinkles.  But we digress.  Since nobody would ever approve of a tax increase in the middle of a Great Recession, ObamaCare has been crafted to reduce the deficit and ward off vampires.  Given this, the President will beer Edward Cullen or Robert Pattinson, whichever shows up.

Sep 15/16: “Unemployment Miscalculation” beer summit.  Sure, President Obama promised that with the stimulus unemployment would peak at 5.6%, and it is now 8.3%.  But which of us hasn’t made mistakes, or knowingly (white) lied to make sure that the  public was protected from evil by a little “white lie”?  And don’t even start to talk about U6 – it’s not what we talk about.  On a mis-calculation of the unemployment rate, the parties most wronged are those who are in fact unemployed, so the President offers to buy all 8.3 of them a beer.  And he hopes they can tell him why this is such a big deal.

Sep 22/23: “Green Jobs are the Future”  beer summit.  Well, sure Solyndra didn’t work out.  But neither did Apollo 13 land on the moon.  And unlike Apollo 13, Soyndra was ”green”.  Face!  For this one, the Executive Branch staff is preparing a beer summit with St. Patrick.  St. Patrick knew “green”.

Sep 29/30: “Most Transparent Administration Ever” beer summit.  Sure, the President has spent millions to keep his records under wraps, which appears totally in conflict with the President’s pledge.  But that is what the term “HIS” covers, isn’t it? Duh!  It’s called English!  But you don’t get it, so – Obama will host Rahm Emanuel for a beer summit.  It’s so transparent, we don’t need to say any more.

Oct 6/7: “I will Close Gitmo” beer summit.  Well, he WON didn’t he?  And to balance out those in captivity that shouldn’t be (Gitmo) -  President Obama will meet Eric Holder, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid (have you considered the seriousness of the charges????), and Anthony Weiner for this beer summit.  And that should cover it.  ‘Nuf said.

Oct 13/14: “Fox News is Propaganda” beer summit.  This is really a stretch for him – how could anyone take Fox seriously!?!!?!  But for this, the President will meet Robert Murdock.

Oct 20/21: “Post-Racial Administration” beer summit.  By Post-Racial, we meant we would “post” anything we could possibly make “racial”.  But you all can’t take a joke, so we’ll meet with you if you can prove you’re not a racist – psych!!!

Oct 27/28: “Fast and Furious” beer summit.  We did a “fast” one, and Darrell Issa is “furious”.  Works for us.  Like Darrell Issa is POTUS – we pwn’ed him.  But in the spirit of reconcilliation, if we accidentally got you killed by selling guns to Mexican drug cartels knowingly and then closing our eyes and counting to 30 billion before coming to look for the buyers, OUR BAD.  Come  have a beer on us.

Nov 3/4: “The Return of the King” beer summit.  This is so titled both because we are working for the “Return of the King” and because we’ll be using an army of the dead to accomplish this.  If you are not on the public dole, we owe you a beer.  If you are, you owe us one.

We apologize in advance.

Well, I don’t need to replay last Thursday’s disaster at the Supreme Court for anyone, I think we’ve got it.  Chief Justice and now contestant for Law-Breaker-of-the-Year (against Eric Holder) John Roberts completely forgot his job description and rewrote Obamacare in such a way that he felt he could rule it constitutional.  Yes, and I’m Beethoven.

But we got one silver lining in the disaster – the Supreme Court said Obamacare is a tax, and otherwise it would be (is) unconstitutional.

OK, the Supreme Court threw this back to the people, theoretically believing that we will now do their job, and get the unconstitutional legislation repealed.  As Mitt Romney is supposed to be the standard-bearer for those who believe in the constitution, want small government, and their own freedom, I did something I had thus far held off doing.  I wanted to send a loud and clear message, “if the Supreme Court will not do its job, I will send Mitt to do it.”  I logged in on his site and donated to his campaign.

But alas, he has made me eat my words of recent days, “I’m starting to get really optimistic that Mitt will win, and that he will in fact govern well, and in line with conservative principles.”  We’re back to what I told my political friends before all the debates, “there is NO WAY Mitt will ever repeal Obamacare.”  Well, shame on me for wavering.

Mitt’s back in view 3 ways today:

1) Denying that Obamacare is a tax,

2) Sending me an email, days on the heels of the last, asking for more money,

3) And relaxing at some beach.

Mitt, if you have any scruples you will return my $100, which was donated in the conservative cause.  To support the blood, sweat, and tears that it will take to undo what all three branches of government have done, instead of following their oaths to defend the constitution.  And looking forward, you will have no more of my money until you publicly go all-in on the repeal.  ALL-IN.  Because if you DON’T, you WON’T.  And if you WON’T, you look just just another constitution-ignoring poseur.

Fool me once, shame on you.  And that will be enough of that!

Fast forward, and with help from both Coldwarrior and Ron Robinson, who knew the California ropes, I am serving on this Central Committee, roughly the equivalent of the “Precinct Committeeman” for my state, and will be on the ballot in June for a new term.

Now what?  Now I have the pleasure to serve with a group of about 30 others who have given of their time and talents to serve our community and our country.  It has been quite an experience to learn the rules of order and to see the functioning of this political body.  I have learned enough about many of my peers to respect many of them for various strengths, and also enough to be clear that we have different opinions on various issues.  And in many cases, there is plenty of room for differing opinions.  No problem – we can take votes and move on. 

But I have also seen that we have issues that go beyond differing opinions: interpersonal conflicts, baggage from past wrongs, suspicions, cliques, etc.  I see people take bizarre positions, apparently solely focused on hobbling a person or persons that they dislike.  Cutting off their nose to spite their face.  And it is hurting us.  Is this your committee?  Is this you?

From my Central Committee bylaws:

The objectives of the County Party shall be:

1. To campaign for the election of Republican candidates for public offices, and to work for the appointment of Republicans to appointive positions;
2. To maintain an effective, intelligent, aggressive, and permanent Republican campaign organization in [our] County;
3. To register Republican voters;
4. To participate in the development of the principles and platforms of the Republican Party, and to support and promulgate them;
5. To serve as a liaison between Republicans in [our] County and the California Republican Party;
6. To recognize and assist Republican organizations in [our] County, and to coordinate their activities with those of the County Party;
7. To bring new volunteers into Republican Party politics;
8. To recruit competent Republican candidates to run for office, to endorse qualified Republican candidates, and to train leaders for service in government;
9. To promote loyalty and patriotism among the citizens of [our] County, the State of California, and the United States of America; and,
10. To advance the cause of good government at all levels.

This is a good list, and it is important work.  It is the work that must be duplicated all over the country if we wish to “conserve” the United States that we knew or at least read about.  We as PCs can do whatever we want in our meeting rooms and achieve zero of our objectives.  Achieving the objectives requires that we are as large a force for change as possible out in our community.  We will achieve so much more if we can unite behind our objectives, and focus on our work.  Do our positions matter?  Sure they do.  Sweat the details.  Do your homework.  Respectfully argue your positions.  Vote your conscience.  And then march into battle with your committee regardless of whether you got your way or not.

I guess we all know people who distrust or dismiss law enforcement and military types.  I’m not that guy.  I’m grateful and supportive.  All my life I’ve been surrounded by friends with dads who served.  The fathers/step-fathers of my circle of friends in high school looked like: B52 pilot, F4 “Wild Weasel” pilot (2), CHP officer, Barstow PD, San Bernardino County Sheriff, Air Force mechanic, etc.  In college my close friends included ones who went on to be Air Force Pilots, Navy Pilots, and one who went on to pilot the Space Shuttle twice.

I tried to fly Navy, applying for AOCS during college.  I aced the written and thought I was on my way, then was rejected for a heart murmur that I didn’t even know I had.  The Air Force didn’t want to deal with it either.  And that is the closest I got to personal military service.  I liked the idea of serving my country, but I have to admit that my willingness to serve in the military at that time was tied to the job description.  I can say that my appreciation for those who serve has not wavered.  I love the military and law enforcement.  They are some of the people I most like having in my “tribe”.  Certainly I get along better with and want to be around those who love America, and who will fight to defend her.  As Jesus said in John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

In this way, Act of Valor is a love story.  A story of professional warriors, the “best of the best”, who will do whatever it takes (WIT) to complete the mission in service of God and country, up to and including “laying down his life for his friends”.  This movie will not get accolades in Hollywood.  But it was more than adequate as a reminder of the magnitude of Seals’ service, and the debt of gratitude that we owe to the men and women who serve and the God who has provided for us in this way.

My thoughts and pulse were both racing as this movie ended.  I needed the whole credit roll at the end to let go of the stress and weight that had built during the movie.  Gratitude was the dominant feeling.  But there were others.  Anger that we will pay in blood and treasure in another act of terrorism because we do not take our domestic security seriously.  Disgust that the “leadership” too often does not back the troops, throwing them under the bus as soon as controversy arises.

But here is the transition.  From “their” sacrifice, to ours.  Most RedStaters are here because of love of God and country, in the desire to be of service to the nation politically.  Some of us, maybe many, previously served in the armed forces.  Some still do.  God bless you all for the sacrifices that you have made.  But again, I think we dishonor our heroes if we leave this story as a celebration of “their” military sacrifice, without challenging our political sacrifice.  Your nation and military need professional warriors in the political corps as much as they need them on the battlefield.  Warriors who will do WIT to complete the mission of securing freedom and the pursuit of happiness for ourselves and our posterity.  When we fail, we allow the trashing of our Constitution by our government.  When we fail, we allow the media and politicians to lie without challenging their falsehood.  When we fail, we task our military without ensuring their success.  So you see, one class of service cannot exist without the other.  If we are to honor our country and our military (remember much has been given to you), then our political service must be honorable and sacrificial as well (much will be expected).  Are your politicians serving sacrificially? Showing Acts of Valor?  Are you?

Some associated good reading:

• Lone Survivor by Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Luttrell – Seal fortitude and sacrifice.
• A Table in the Presence by Lt. Carey H. Cash – God at work on the battlefield.

That’s the foundation of the “Big-H” Heart.  But it is not enough.  We must add the components that will DISTINGUISH the passion, that it not EXTINGUISH.  Discipline.  Will.  Courage.  Submission.  Sacrifice.  Without these, oxygen will be removed from the fires of passion, and the world dims and grows colder.

Why are these words posted here at RedState?  Because my Heart grows daily for public service.  Why are these words posted here at Redstate?  Because I’m awake at 2AM, 3AM, 4AM this morning consumed with this Heart.  Because I see more and more clearly with each passing day both the wrongs, and things that could be different.  Better.  Stronger.  Because I am so COMPELLED that fear, uncertainty, and doubt diminish as the flames rise.  Why is our system not rewarding effort, leadership, service, responsibility, and excellence?  Why is it rewarding sloth, corruption, fraud, and theft?  In fewer words, from a different era: rewarding virtue/punishing vice.

Why are my talented, hard-working, and committed neighbors punished and burdened more by government with each passing day without raising the fortunes of anyone, or the our nation?  Though you may not agree with my dichotomy, you must admit our system has added a huge burden versus the historical version, with debatable positive effects, if any.  Has the war on poverty left us richer?  Has the safety net really kept anyone from starving/freezing to death, or has it merely shifted responsibility from the individuals that would provide these services from their Hearts to a government with no Heart.  Yes, there are government employees with Heart.  But unlike in free enterprise and the free market, employees with NO Heart can thrive, leaving the whole, and us, poorer.

Progressives can lecture us all day about who has a heart.  Without reason/intellect to recognize our increasing, not decreasing poverty (of treasure, security, freedom, accomplishment), it is really they that have no Heart.

The big day came.  On Wednesday February eighth I prepared for my day job as an electrical engineer with an added air of excitement – that night would bring my first meeting as a member of the Placer County Republican Central Committee (PCRCC).  I had some apprehension, as I had not been able to meet most of the other members, and I was aware from reputation that there could be some interesting dynamics within the group (probably true of any group!)  At this point though, I did finally have in my hands a roster of the committee, minutes of the last meeting, agenda of the one to come, and an address where we would meet.  It also helped that I had been able to meet my committee Chairman as discussed in the previous blog in this series.  A nice man, who together with his wife who also serves both locally and with the state, have years and years of service for the  Republican Party in various capacities.

Nonetheless, I was not so much relishing the thought of the meeting as I was responding to what I am sure is the Spirit leading me to this point.  I’m not a politician – I’m husband and dad first, and have a day job that I have been very committed to for many years.  I have no personal agenda to drive at this time, other than to respond to this call to serve.

I caught my ten-year-old son in the hall as I prepared to head out for the day.  Knowing I would not see him until after the PCRCC meeting that evening, I had a special request.  “Son, I have my first meeting tonight, and I would like you to pray for me.  Pray that God would make clear the agenda(s), and what he wants of me tonight, and that I would respond.  Can you do this for me?”  To which I got a “Yes, Dad” and off he went.  He returned less than a minute later, asked me to lean down, and reached inside my sport coat to stuff something into my left breast pocket.  I was blown away as I reached in next to my heart and pulled out a very compact version of the New Testament.  I paused, then asked, “Do you know what you just did?

My son responded clearly, confidently, and with a fire in his eyes, “I gave you the ‘Sword of the Spirit’”  (ref. Eph6:10-20, esp. v17)

That day I went to work, I served at a meeting of the PCRCC, and I thanked God in Heaven for the opportunity to serve Him and to be surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ and in a parallel context of the fight for freedom in this God-given country we call America.  I had seen firsthand that the PCRCC has some real commitment and patriots, and got to serve alongside.  Finally, I got to tuck my son in after a long day, and yes, he checked, then fell back into bed satisfied.  I was still armed.  With God’s grace, I will ALWAYS be armed.

After prayer and discussion with my wife, I accepted Senator Gaines’ offer a week ago, and have now been appointed to the PCRCC.  This is the culmination of a process that started a year ago, when I was inspired by ColdWarrior to become involved in the party to enact change.  ColdWarrior’s reference material points out that the specifics vary by state/county, and provided contact information for Ron Robinson of the Los Angeles County RCC who took the baton to coach me through the California version of party politics.  My seat on the PCRCC is my local version of being a Precinct Committeeman.  While I am now on the committee via this appointment, I still expect to run for an elected seat in June, and begin serving in that seat in Jan 2013.

God has lined up many people and opportunities on this journey – and today was one of them.  When I told Ron the great news a week ago, he told me that there was a Republican Conference (California Northern Region, one of eight state regions) today (Saturday) in Yuba City, an hour’s drive from my home.  Got to love God’s timing.  I registered and looked forward to a great day, which is what I got!

There was so much great material today I will not be able to cover it all, and will try to summarize:

• This is the first such Northern Region Conference in memory for those I talked to in attendance, and excitement was very high.  Something about being together with fellow soldiers, with a common vision, energy and aspirations that is very, very motivating.  I want to serve my peers and countrymen well!
• We were hosted by Dr. Arnie Ziederman, the Vice Chairman of this region and Chair of the Amador County RCC.  We opened with an invocation by David Kugelman, who shared several great Bible verses that have application for us: Prov15:9, Prov28:12, Prov28:2, Prov29:16, Matt5:10.  The Pledge of Allegience was led by Clay Maynard, Chair of Sutter County RCC.
• We followed with a quick summary from all the Chairmen present from the 19 counties in this region.  Where they are, neighboring counties, area covered, population, registration breakdown, events, fundraising techniques, particular challenges, etc.  Very interesting for this newcomer, as I got a feel for local issues, alliances between neighboring counties, etc.
• Dr. Joel Strom spoke in a “leadership training” section of the event.  I didn’t get a chance to meet him personally, though I wish I had.  I am very impressed with what he is doing!  He has been focused on the policy issues of healthcare for some number of years, (30?)  When we had Obamacare rammed down our throats, he put together a plan to build an army of doctors ”Doc Squads” to fight it.  He said he got no help from state or local GOP, and was basically shut down.  Except that he didn’t take no for an answer, and has pursued this vision without them.  He confidently stated that when he builds and trains an army of 10,000 doctors to fight Obamacare, it WILL get used.  It made me think of the scene in the movie “Facing the Giants” where the coach is exhorted to “prepare his fields for rain” in a farming metaphor.  Dr. Strom is preparing his fields!
• We got to hear from all Northern Region Candidates for State Assy, State Senate, and US Congress; and then from all our incumbents who were present.  Another great experience, getting to know each to some degree.  I was especially grateful to hear very impassioned and expanded presentations from both Doug LaMalfa (CA Assy, running for US Rep) and Dan Logue (CA Assy).  These guys gave great examples of the fights they are taking on to protect citizens from the state.
• We had four workshop sessions, one of which included our own Ron Robinson, who already seems a great and long-time friend.  I was introduced to Don Schweitzer, Chair of the Siskiyou RCC, and his wife, Vice Chair, by Ron.  They are both involved for the same reason as me – ColdWarrior and Ron Robinson leadership and inspiration!  These guys are making a tremendous difference – 3% of the room were people Ron had helped to get on their own RCCs.
• Great, dedicated people all around – from those that put the event together, to the delegations from the RCC’s, to our speakers and workshop leaders.  Is it just me, or is it great to be surrounded by like-minded people who are so committed to having our country be the shining city on a hill?
• My RCC was full, as many seemed to be; but there were multiple counties that are NOT full.  Let’s go RedStaters – are we going to jeopardize the mission by leaving holes in our front lines?!?!?
• Guest Speaker Shawn Steel, CRP National Committeeman gave a great talk,
• Dennis Revell introduced a movie to close the day, “In the Face of Evil” Reagan’s War in Word and Deed, winner 2004 Best Documentary.  I had to leave before that one ended, but learned much about my favorite modern president.  I had no idea how much earlier he had started his war against communism and for freedom.  I thought this was something that only been characteristic of his presidency, but he was fighting this fight prior to becoming state Governor, while President of the Screen Actors’ Guild.

Next Steps:

• My first PCRCC meeting as member of the Committee is Wed, 2/8, 7PM.  Let’s get to work.
• The CA GOP has a convention 2/24-26.  I plan to attend, and am seeking a delegate spot so that I will be able to vote on an agenda that includes an update of the state GOP platform.
• I am looking for twitter followers to expand my reach within my conservative family (and further): @MikeFrey95746  (no askie, no gettie!!)
• If someone can tell me how to insert pictures into these WordPress posts, I’ll be able to add a picture of Ron Robinson, the Schweitzers, and myself – a portion of our CA Precinct Project club!

Well, it’s been a long day (it’s now Sunday morning!), but I am still full of energy and optimism fueled by new friendships and opportunities to make a difference.  Let’s all work together to put this country back in the hands of conservatives who want to serve and defend this country!  More later! 

But hey, here’s the deal: if I have to live with wounded pride, or chalking up the Great American Political Experiment as a loss, I’ll take the wounded pride.

So why do I go here?  It appears to me that a big part of our candidate selection process has been driven by this dynamic.  A candidate starts to lead, something embarassing happens, we move to another.  I’m not going to play this game.  There is not a walking, breathing human that cannot be presented in a bad light by a hostile media (I use pravda as my term of derision), and even our own team in the guise of the “establishment”.  So avoidance of embarassment is not a technique that will leave a candidate, not until the hostile parties decide that our spin-the-bottle game is pointed at someone who cannot threaten their choice(s).  You are going to have to take a principled stand, and not only hold it, but get out of your comfort zone and promote it.  Tell people why it is better for us to deal with [insert wart here] than {choose as many as you like: Obamacare, nanny state, open borders, financial ruin, …}.

Consider this: avoidance of embarrassment would have knocked out the following heroes, and more:

• David, who slew Goliath.  “Really? YOU? You’re puny, we’ll lose!”  King Saul tried to go here, but David would have none of it.  Result: Goliath slain.
• Paul of the New Testament: “Put you in a leadership position in our Christian movement?  You’re the ultimate flip-flopper!  You are on record that we are Blasphemers and Heretics!”
• Jesus: Fear of embarassment (among other issues) led me to deny him for 20 years.

So the first candidate I chose was Rick Perry.  AFTER he had embarrassing moments that would be (and later were) thown in my face for daring to support him.  I was with him til the end, and I’d do it again.  I’m not sure which candidate is my next choice (I still haven’t met my usual rule of leaning in the same direction for more than 24 hours!), but when I choose, I will do so free of fear of embarrassment.  I will guarantee you that my choice will have said or done things that can be used to embarrass me.  But I will look to a candidate and a future that is bigger than this.

(Title from some TV commercial I saw a million years ago, that always stuck with me.  I didn’t make it up.)

This reminds me of a day one of my employees asked me a question about why a decision had been made by higher-level management, a decision that made no sense to him.  I explained the whole thing from my (still limited, but bigger than his) viewpoint.  He listened quietly and intently, then concluded something to the effect of, “I am SO grateful that I don’t have to look at things from all of those perspectives!!!”

In any case, we know for sure that God moves the pieces to make the most glorious outcome possible, that he loves us, and that we can choose to trust Him and share eternal life with Him.

The rest we don’t know.  Does he have a solution that will be better at getting us less intrusive government sooner?  Maybe.  Does he need to humble us some more?  Send us all the way into slavery so that we will return to Him?   Ick, I personally don’t want doors two or three.

Thank God that he sees and knows all, and is loving, faithful, and just.  The same God who can raise the dead and defeat Satan is totally capable of defeating the mainstream media and the Republican Establishment.  There was never a RINO that God couldn’t outwit or outrun.

I don’t know the outcome, but I will let God be God, and I will trust Him.

This is my chance to go fight for what I believe, for the America that seems to have been misplaced gradually over my lifetime, and even before.  2007 and 2008 were the years that I started to really pay attention and do more than vote.  My votes were clearly not enough to make a difference – my ballot was useful in predicting the outcome of our California elections, but only in the sense that a photographic negative is useful to predict the final printed photo.  I’m a fish out of water here. 

So I wrote hundreds of letters, emails, faxes.  No amnesties.  No bailouts.  Secure the borders.  Encouraging the brave and righteous politicians.  Admonishing the squishes / socialists.   And still felt like I was screaming in a hurricane, the ultimate in wasted energy.

Then found RedState and Coldwarrior, and intuitively got it.  The only way to get better candidates and better results was to get into the game.  By the time I was offered candidates on a ballot, the game was already over.  The solution was to be a precinct committeeman, and get the right and a vote to help choose those candidates from the get-go!

Turns out the California Party system is different than the generic, and there is no such thing as a precinct committeeman where I live.  Coldwarrior and Watchcenter / Ron Richardson were both helpful and supportive as I navigated the political maze.  I found that where I live we have a Republican Central Committee, and I would have to get on that committee.   I spent time with anybody I knew with actual political experience, and my local representatives.  I interviewed, in the sense that I shared my interest, philosophies, and experience with anyone who would listen.  I prayed that God would make it clear whether he would be well served by my getting involved.  I thought I would have until March to pull paperwork, and then would get elected in June.  Still lots of time to figure this out – I’m just doing the advance work!

Today I was told that my offer and interest are an answer to prayer, and that if I will accept the position, I would be offered an appointment that would start now!  I was not expecting this, and I indicated that I would prayerfully consider this.

So, the dread of politics that I have felt for a year while I pursued this has come to a head.  Can I really make a difference?  Is this how God wants me to use my time?  I have a wife, kids, church, career, a family business, etc.  Would the additional time away from them be the right choice?  Or would I be a modern Don Quixote, tilting at windmills?

I believe that God has put me here, at this time, with this passion, for a reason.  He has surrounded me with people of integrity as advisors.  He has opened doors in all these ways, and today opened a door that I didn’t even know existed.  I don’t know why or how this plays out, but know that I will step forward in faith, not fear.

* with apologies to our men and women in uniform who serve in actual combat and support operations, rather than the metaphorical war I speak of here.  I am eternally grateful for your service.