It’s a time of rebuilding for the Republic and our party in specific. The American people have let their voice resound quite loudly; they have rejected the status quo.

As a party we must do the same if we wish to ensure the future of our party. It is easy to sit here and be an arm chair quarterback, and say that we need to focus just on Taft/Goldwater style policies and nothing else – but that is not what we need.

What we need is balanced policy positions, and to not let one sect of the party overrun the other parts. We need our own “unite-er” so that we may be able to field candidates who can unite. Ron Paul had a unique message that reached a bunch of voters; we do not need to shut those folks out. Mitt Romney attracted some other voters; we don’t need to shut those people out. We need someone who can rein in evangelicals, while giving them a voice – we need someone who can hold back the fiscal hawks while letting them have a say.
Outside of Newt Gingrich, I have seen only one man that appears to be qualified for such a position: Chip Saltsman.

Conservative Blogger Kevin Tracy, has already started a movement to “draft” Chip with a sizable group forming on [facebook] (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33362016863). Join us in trying to take back the party.

Who is Chip? He was the head of the Tennessee GOP in 2000 and helped the State party there make tremendous gains. This past cycle he was Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager, which if you recall was a campaign that came out of nowhere to win Iowa and make a little known Governor a national contender. Chip is certainly a bright man who can help unite this party, even former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist supports Chip Saltsman as the new RNC Chair.

It’s time for new leadership at all levels of the party. We owe it to the people. We owe it to our heroes like Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, and Barry Goldwater. We owe it to ourselves. Let’s turn this country back around and make America great again.

With all due respect to Leader Boehner, Whip Blunt, Sen. McConnell and Sen. Kyl; things have got to change. You have all done your best, with what you were given and we are all grateful for that.

But things must change. You see, despite your efforts things have gotten worse. The situation is now dire, we can not handle further loses of this nature. It is far too risky in this climate. We have elected the Dynamic Liberal Duo, and all of their cohorts – and rest assured they are going to do damage.

What has been lacking in the past few years is party discipline, and that is something we can have right now. We can not allow fringe party members to shift sides on key votes. At the same time we can not alienate the conservative Democrats that can be our allies on those same votes.
Thank you for your service to the party, but you are simply collateral damage. It is of the utmost importance that we raise a new crop of leaders, who are willing to standout and capture the attention of the American public. We need new life in our Congressional and Party Leadership.

There are plenty of fine leaders in the Senate and the House that can take over; but one thing is certain – they have to be committed to making changes happen within our party. We must get back to our principles. We have to unite Fiscal, Social, and Constitutional Conservatives under one banner.

I could easily go around naming names, but I am truly not in the position to say who should be taking over. I do have my favorites of course, and I think one of them should be in good position to take the reins.

In the Senate I expect Lamar Alexander (TN) to be a strong contender for either Leader or Whip.

In the House, I suspect Eric Cantor will easily become the Whip.

I think Tom Price would make a great Minority Leader. He has experience in the State Legislature as Minority Whip and Majority Leader and has shown his ability earlier this summer.

There are plenty of fine candidates to take over, but ultimately such a gesture will be worthless unless they utilize the position. Yesterday we saw a wholesale rejection of George W. Bush and the last eight years, it should then be the goal of Congressional Republicans to redefine themselves.

This has to spillover to the party in general. We need new leadership from the top up. Things are not as dark as Hannity and others would have us think. Remember, things did not look so great after 1992 – then a man named Newt Gingrich came along with a Contract with America and things changed, for the best. We can have that sort of change again, we just have to try.

In a year in which Democrats are set to make large gains across the board, there are but a few seats that can be gained by the Republican Party. One such seat is Georgia’s 8th Congressional District. The incumbent won by only 1,700 votes in 2006 and fancies himself as a “Conservative Democrat.” Congressman Marshall’s record speaks for itself, and he is easier to stomach than some of his colleagues.

But why settle for less? General Rick Goddard is a true conservative. Marshall has attacked Goddard because he took polls on the bailout, yet Marshall had phones calls coming into his office by constituents who were vehemently opposed to the bailout. Well folks, I would rather have my Congressman be an actual Representative rather than a mere Trustee.

Jim Marshall has distorted Goddard’s stance on immigration, attempted to portray himself as the Conservative media darling with misleading radio ads, and has insulted the American people by saying they did not know what was best for themselves with the bailout.

The battleground is now Georgia. GA-08 is winnable, but we need your help. The party is busy trying to save seats elsewhere, but we can make a gain right here, right now. If you know someone in Middle Georgia, email them and convince them to support the General. If you have the means, donate to the campaign. Anything you can do to help will put us one step closer to winning the battle for this seat, and for the future. Do not let this one slip through our fingers, Take Charge!

UPDATE

As of today, polls are showing General Goddard only four points behind Jim Marshall, with a four point margin of error. Victory is in our grasp! Learn how you can help us win this battle and take charge of Congress!

This past weekend, Gov. Mike Huckabee used the term “economic terrorism” on his show Huckabee. But what exactly does this mean? Huck posits that it is possible for economic crises, like the current one, to be caused by a group set out to upset the economy via pulling money in and out fats and disrupting the normal function of the market.

He cites the increased e-trading going on right now as possible evidence. I like Mike, but I think he may be chasing rabbits here – but he may be on the scent of something bigger. Do I think his interpretation of economic terrorism is right? It is possible, but I do not think that is the root cause of the current crisis.

But I think we are experiencing a form of economic terrorism. Terrorism is merely a term for people who use to fear to disrupt the status quo. Following this single guideline, I think there is a large argument that there is a giant economic terrorist just sitting out there collecting a get out of jail free card.

I speak not of Islamo-fundys, or any other sort of traditional terrorist. I speak of Rather, Brokaw, Hume, Blitzer, etc – the media.

But wait a minute, how can the media be a terrorist?! Simple; the media exists to make a profit. What makes profit? Ads. How do we ensure ads get watched? By airing something controversial! By God, yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus and the media is an economic terrorist!

You see, they make you fear so you watch. You watch out of fear. Then you believe the hype, and then you pull your 401k out like an idiot. You listen and then you run to the bank to grab all of your savings. They thereby are creating an artificial panic.

Think about it. Would the Dow have plummeted the day the bailout failed had the media not trumped it up so much, had we not all been so interconnected? Not only are we experiencing economic terrorism, but there is a tremendous spillover. This round has resulted in bad policy, which will result in more economic woes and could lead to future wars. We could sit here all day and theorize possible impacts.

The single most dangerous force in this world is not a nuclear weapon, not a massive army, but the media and the information/misinformation it chooses to present. They control the markets, they control the elections, in the end it is the media that determines how many people go about their life. They are empowered by the lack of information and education, and as long as we allow them to run rough shot over the country they will.

This isn’t to say so and so is a terrorist, so don’t watch their show! What I am trying to get across to everyone is that you can’t always believe what you see on the tv, or on the internet. Information is a powerful thing, and when combined with ignorance it is still as powerful. Add in a little fear and you got yourself a deadly cocktail.

So, Gov. Huckabee – I believe you were right in your original assertion that there are economic terrorists and the current crisis is due to them; I just think you labeled the wrong people.

I’m not going to cover what most are yelling about right now, that being the whole coal thing and other things Biden and Palin said tonight. I have a different bone to pick, and my oh my it is a big bone.

Joe Biden said, and I am paraphrasing, that due to the Wall St. Crisis the Obama Administration may have to cut back on foreign aid.

As a fiscal conservative I normally would cheer anything that smacked of cutting back on the good ole budget stick, but there is a small problem here.

Later on in the debate, there was all this talk about Darfur and how we need to assist there and there were tangents were Biden began to talk about problems in Afghanistan where we needed to build up infrastructure.

Hold up. I thought we might have to cut foreign aid. I’ve been a rabid supporter of stopping the genocide in Darfur for years, and I think it is insane we have not made the UN put the foot down there, but By God – you can’t cut foreign aid and do all this stuff Biden.

Of course, Palin did not address the issue of cut backs head on. But neither did she make a claim she had no intention of keeping.

Look, I’m not advocating for foreign aid to be cut nor am I saying that it shouldn’t be cut. What I am saying is that if you are going to say you may have to cut something, don’t renege on the statement in less than 60 minutes by advocating all these expensive things that require – you guess it, foreign aid.

The Senate just passed the bailout plan by attaching it to an already passed bill and amending that. Hold still my beating heart; I thought things would get better after Monday’s vote. I thought I saw backbone in House Republicans.
Lo and behold today the Senate actually passes the thing.

But things are now worse.

I’m not talking about the markets, they are better now than they were Monday. I’m talking about this bailout plan. How do they plan to get it passed by the House? By tacking on as much crap that people want as they can.

Now the bailout is MORE COSTLY. That cost will be covered not by some imaginary man somewhere else, but by the American Tax Payer. So they tacked and tacked all these goodies on the bill, and they all cost money.
Where was the amendment that CUTS SPENDING? It’s not there. We are on a disaster course, and it is not because of some bank that is too big to fail; it’s because we are up in our eyeballs in debt.

Here is a novel idea. Make the stance known that we won’t let the economy fail. Go back, have every policy wonk and economist you can cook up think about this. Come up with something that is the best possible solution and not just the first thing to come to mind.

I’m against this bailout. I’m not against finding something that works. This idea has only been around for two weeks, we as a country are being rushed into doing something under the impression that an emergency exists.

I can only hope that there is enough resistance in the House to vote against this. I’m not sure there is. Let’s do something about the problem, but we need to proceed with caution. Spend some time, this is a trillion dollars of tax payer money – I expect the government to be hesitant and guarded with such a sum of money.

From all the signs I have seen, they have been hasty and unrelenting. I’d much rather face trouble in the next week or two than have to worry about the country completely breaking down in a few years. We can’t just play short term ball, we have to look to the future. Figure out what is best for the long term. Find a plan that will help out the markets while ensuring that we have sustainability.

Is that too much to ask for?

I won’t call names or down trod those who think this bailout plan is necessary, but I will still remain vehemently against it. I am very proud of the Conservatives in the House who stood up to the Democrats and did not cave into threats of loosing committee seats.

I’m rather sad that we are already looking into future plans. Half of the top economists say one thing, the other half says another. Idealists are saying this, realists are saying that. Is disaster and doom unavoidable at this point or will the markets fix themselves? I don’t claim to know. But I can say that the Paulson plan is a bad policy choice in my eyes. I also have a very big problem with our Presidential choices right now.

My problem is this. NO ONE WANTS TO CUT SPENDING.

There was this debate the other night, both candidates could not cite a single source of spending in their plans they would cut due to economic conditions. McCain will not vote for pork, but I’m sure Congress will override his veto.

Cut spending. Is it that complicated? The main reason I am so apprehensive to this bailout is because it increases our national debt by so much. And who is accountable for this money? An unelected official who will only be around for a few more months, who wants to be responsible for 700 billion dollars worth of tax payer money.

Not acceptable.

What is the emergency? Where is the urgency? Guess what, the world didn’t end yesterday. By all means we should take time with something that commits this much money.

Bush has truly begun to disappoint me. I’ve set idly for years while the size of the federal government increased. I took it. No more. This plan goes too far.

A bailout may in fact be necessary, but by God it doesn’t need to be concocted in under a week and a half. Explore ALL the options that are REASONABLE. Let’s look at fundamentally overhauling the tax system. Let’s look at stopping short-selling completely. Let’s look at ending mark-to-market.

The backlash is directed at the GOP, and I’m not sure if that is accurate or not. By all means this problem is a result of both parties. I almost want to call for a fleecing of the flock in the House. It’s time for a new Republican Revolution. Stop supporting big government policies, start finding the inner Goldwater.

Rise up.

Too long we have been complacent and allowed big government interests to permeate in the party and take center stage. It’s time for a new crop of fiscal Republicans to rise up and lead the nation. We may very well lose an unprecedented number of seats this go-round, we may lose the White House, but what is important is finding the party again. We can’t let this be the 1950’s again and let the Democrats to dominate things for decades.

Rise up I say.

That is the only word for this trend of government bailouts and buyouts. I will concede that these companies are important to the stability of our economy, but tell me why the Federal Reserve has to wait all weekend to decide to bail out AIG? If it had been done on Friday, the cost to the American Tax Payer would have been substantially lower.

Yet no one seems to care. In the past couple of weeks we have increased the national debt by leaps and bounds, forcing a bigger burden on the American Tax Payer – while senselessly conducting business as usual.

Congress needs to have hearings on the practices of these companies. There needs to be trials. If we are going to pay for this, then by God we need to investigate. I want to know just how shameful these CEOs are. I want to see how poorly they managed their companies.

What makes me even more sick are the Democrats who are trying to wash their hands of the problem. Ok. You want to play ball. Last time I checked, the deficit has grown since Democrats took control of the major law making body in 2006. Not only that, but things have gotten progressively worse since then. But it is not a Democrat problem.

Are you so spineless that with a Majority in the House and Senate that you cannot pass legislation? Zell Miller must have been right when he said the party was in trouble, but I didn’t realize they could not even coordinate a simple vote.

The fact of the matter is that both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for this. Shaking the blame finger at one party or another doesn’t solve the problem. Harry Reid is shaking his finger at Phil Gramm for deregulation legislation in regards to the financial services industry, Harry forgets that a number of Democrats voted with Senator Gramm – himself and Joe Biden included. Oops. If you do not have the sense to realize bad policy, why are you being elected? That goes for Republicans, Democrats, and even those Libertarians.

We are facing these issues because Congress is full of a bunch of Washington Do-Nothingers, who as long as Lobbyists and Interest Groups support them, do largely nothing of sustenance. Republicans are shifting towards spending more money while borrowing it from other places; Democrats are taxing and spending like no tomorrow. It all has to end now.

These companies are failing because they are not held accountable. We give them a safety net. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve and Secretary of Treasury decide to call companies to arrange buy outs and decide how to use tax payers’ money to bail out companies. When did I elect these people? You mean Congress is going to sit back and let these unelected groups simply determine how much money they will take away from American citizens to save a company? Sounds an awful lot like Communism.

Congress should start arranging hearings. They should hold these people accountable. Congress won’t. It’s not the Democrats fault. It’s not the Republicans’ fault. It’s the fault of the American citizen who keeps on letting these Do-nothingers get elected. Hold your Representative accountable. Hold your Senator accountable. We may not be able to elect the Reserve, but we can sure as heck make Congress uncomfortable enough to send the message.

I whip open my local newspaper and what do I find in the editorial section but a letter from Jim Marshall. Jim is my district’s representative. Lo and Behold, his letter is about a new energy plan he has signed on too.

I’ll surmise it for you in few words. Drill a lot, put the federal revenue into developing technologies, and eliminate foreign oil dependence by pursuing solar/wind/nuclear power sources. Doesn’t sound horrible, certainly better than what Senators Isakson and Chambliss proposed a few weeks ago; I digress.

My problem with this is that I sincerely do not believe it will go anywhere. Why? That’s not a question for me to answer, it would be more appropriate to phrase that question to Jim himself. Why Jim?

Maybe I should illuminate this issue a little. You see, Jim Marshall has claimed to be for drilling in ANWR recently – but by my account he has voted against it every time it has come up since he has been in office. He claims he would vote for it now, but his track record says otherwise. And now he has an energy plan that has bans lifted in ANWR and offshore.

Jim missed his convention by the way. He also hasn’t endorsed his party’s own candidate. Conveniently he also didn’t show up with the Republicans who were protesting the vacation when Americans were being crunched by gas prices. If Marshall truly cared about gas prices and the American consumer, he would know that such things require bipartisan efforts. Meaning he would either need to be pulling people from his own party or the Republican Party. Marshall ducks his own party; I don’t think he has their support. Marshall ducks the House protest; I don’t think eh has their support.

Sorry Jimbo. You may convince some people in the 8th District that you aren’t just pushing one of those Washington Double-Speak agendas, but you won’t fool this boy from Rhine.

Granny has a saying that many people I’m sure have heard, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck – then it might be a duck.” Jim Marshall looks, walks, and is starting to sound like a Bureaucratic Washington Do-Nothingner – he must therefore be one.

I’m one of those people. You know, I never have really talked about 9/11 in terms of how it impacted me. I mean a few people know, but you know?

I remember it quite vividly actually, I had the experience of being a participant in the Georgia Youth Summit held at Rock Eagle, in beautiful Eatonton, Georgia. I had been to Rock Eagle many times throughout my tenure as a 4-Her, in fact I think that was about the 20th or so time I had been there. It was my home away from home in many ways.

But things changed that day. I remember we were supposed to be treated to a speech by then Lt. Governor Mark Taylor – that got cancelled. Director of Georgia 4-H Bo Ryles simply told us that the rest of the events had to be cancelled, that something tragic had happened, and that we were to go home and be safe. Just prior to this, all of the adults had been spreading around – I heard whispers of what was happening. I remember my County Agent’s words very well, “There are planes hitting buildings everywhere.”

It was at this moment that my heart sank all the way to the floor. I remember the nervous and nauseating feeling I had. I knew right then and there what had happened. I had been studying terrorism for one and a half years as a part of High School Policy Debate; I also realized that things would never be the same.

As we departed, we struggled to find out more information. Only one of us had a cellphone; and the radio in the Dodge County van was non-existent. The lack of information had me unnerved. The little bits we got were not very reassuring, all the planes have been grounded, hospital may be being evacuated, possible bomb threats in Warner Robins – everything was sketchy. We stopped at Zaxby’s, I had never eaten there before and I can not remember what I ate.

We got home after the multi-hour journey. I was concerned because we were so close to a major air force base. I remember getting home, turning on CNN and immediately calling my Papa and Granny. They were alright. I remember being worried they wouldn’t be. How silly is that? Milan, Georgia was about as far away from the action as you could get I suppose. They assured me everything would be ok. I didn’t believe them. I called my Grandmother, who was sitting with a woman at a nursing home. She hated for me to call at work. She told me to be calm till she got home. My grandfather wasn’t there. I broke down and cried. To me this was the worst thing that could happen. I had been studying scenarios the past week as to what would happen if such a thing had happened. Many of those led to nuclear war. To say I was frightened would be an understatement.

It was hard for me to fathom, how all of this could happen – why did it happen. I was confused. My fear soon subsided. The next day the anger began to build. I was furious. I remember going back to school the next day, everyone was shell shocked. I remember friends such as Matt Oxley being just as concerned as I was, he was my debate partner at the time and we both wondered how we could ever run the terrorism disadvantage ever again.
Over the next few weeks there were prayers and vigils and memorials. Then time began to pass, I became numb. Every year there was some event, but again I was numb. The compassion and anger that inhabited my body in some odd dualistic battle for control had left. Time passed. I tried not to think about 9/11. I’d rather people not talk about it. Whenever it came down to policy debates I steered the debate away from that issue. It wasn’t something I cared to hear about.

Seven long years later. I visited New York in March, and besides all the Ghostbusters buildings I wanted to see Ground Zero. Emily didn’t really want to go, but I did. While she took pictures, I felt all those emotions rise back up – and I cried silently while no one noticed. I don’t know what I expected to happen, but that’s what did. Now my old debate partner is a 9/11 Truther, I try not to judge him nor anyone else for that decision. People can believe what they want.

Today Georgia Southwestern State University had organized a fundraiser for their new Golf Course named for the honorable Judge & Former Attorney General Griffin Bell. On the slate of events was no sort of remembrance for 9/11. When we first discovered this in our weekly Student Government Meeting, I became concerned. Could we have truly forgotten so quickly what happened a mere seven years ago?

It hasn’t been that long, this isn’t something anyone should forget about. With the blessing of my Advisors and my colleagues, I set out to organize a memorial event. We had good turnout, hopefully it becomes an annual event.
While the turnout was better than I had expected, it still disheartens me that the masses no longer descend upon events like this. I hear stories of how events around the country only have a handful of people show up. One of my Professor’s, whom I respect very much, consoled my disappointment – he told me that he had some students who didn’t fully know about 9/11.

The words from Dr. Cooper’s mouth hit me like a sack of bricks. I thought it to be inconceivable, but I know he wouldn’t falsify such a thing. How is that possible, that the only major event in the history of this nation to occur in these people’s lifetimes goes unnoticed? Earlier this morning I had committed myself, and asked about a hundred others to reaffirm the statement we all made seven years ago – “never forget”, then it seemed like a simple reminder for our own lives. Now I have a new appreciation for what I did, if people are not aware of such a major event – then I must resolve myself to ensure that at least I never forget.

Thousand of people have died, so that we may have liberty and freedom. I may be one person, but I promise I will never forget that sacrifice.

It became apparent to me last night, that the speakers were being spread out as evenly as possible. By far, however, last night was it. Romney did well, Huckabee rocked, Rudy dug in and attacked, and Palin – well she was amazing.

The “angry left” disagrees I’m sure, yet I’ve heard much buzz around these parts here today. My classes are typically full of left leaning peoples, so for people to be happy with an RNC speech is amazing.

Personally, I felt between Huck and Palin I was going to be overloaded with motivation. I don’t care what they say about Mike, he was a great candidate. He truly connects with the people and is genuinely funny. I think his speech set a great humble tone for introducing John McCain, and I wish they had saved him for that purpose. They could have given Romney a little more time and let him fuss and storm a bit more.

Romney did get to go on a little warpath. He got in a few good punches too; I suppose its kiss and make up time for all those snide remarks between him and McCain during the primary. Once again I echo the same words I said after Fred’s speech; Romney did better here than he did in the primaries. Now, I can not say I’m sure I would freely go and vote for Romney now; but he did do a good job. I am a little troubled by some of the things he may have implied, but it seems that McCain is following another Arizona Senator to a large degree. McCain’s campaign seems now to be steadfast on bringing about reform to Washington, and if you pay attention to a lot of the rhetoric it seems oddly reminiscent of Barry Goldwater.

“Last week, the Democrats talked about change. But let me ask you — what do you think Washington is right now, liberal or conservative? Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It’s liberal! Is a government liberal or conservative that puts the interests of the teachers union ahead of the needs of our children? It’s liberal!
Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and offshore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle East tyrants? It’s liberal!
Is government spending — excluding inflation — liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It’s liberal!
We need change all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain!”

While I resoundingly agree with this statement 100%, I am somewhat confused by what he said. For instance, the Supreme Court is very much split at the moment with 4-1-4 in terms of how they are composed ideologically. Kennedy would be the moderate, and he leans to the right a good amount of the time. I don’t know that we should just go throwing out that the Supreme Court is liberal; and even if we can, it would not be had H.W. Bush made a better selection. So is this an attack on the 41st President? The oil and energy stuff is right on. The spending, well spending went up with a Republican Congress – I’m taking this as a veiled attack on pork, which McCain is vehemently against.
We’ve heard a great deal about how Palin is a reformer, and how McCain is a maverick. I’m hoping that this means they are going in to slash spending and reign in the Republicans who lost their way. For all my issues with Ron Paul, the one thing he said that I consistently agreed with was that we need to get spending under control. Do it McCain, I believe in you – and apparently Romney does too.
Now, I’ve long made it known that I am a big Huckabee supporter. He didn’t lose me last night either. As witty and charming as ever, Mike truly understands the common man. I do take offense with him on one matter though:

“I get a little tired of hearing how the Democrats care about the working guy as if all Republicans grew up with silk stockings and silver spoons. In my little hometown of Hope, Arkansas, the three sacred heroes were Jesus, Elvis, and FDR, not necessarily in that order.
My own father held down two jobs, barely affording the little rented house I grew up in. My Dad was one of those guys like so many of your dads, worked hard, lifted heavy things, and got his hands dirty. The only soap we had at my house was Lava.
Let me explain that. I was in college before I found out it wasn’t supposed to hurt to take a shower. “

We had Lava soap too, and I don’t recall it hurting that bad. You know I get asked a lot “Why are you a Republican” and hear “They only help the rich” a lot. I get sick of it actually. Governor Huckabee gave the most eloquent response thatI have ever heard:

“I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich. I’m a Republican because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.”

Amen. That’s all I know to say about that.

But the show didn’t end there, next up was former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. I can’t say I agree with him all the time, I can’t say I’ve supported him in the past, but Rudy is a good attack dog – and he sunk his teeth in deep.

“On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer, and immersed himself in Chicago machine politics. Then he ran for the state legislature — where nearly 130 times he was unable to make a decision yes or no. He simply voted “present.”

As mayor of New York City, I never got a chance to vote “present.” And you know, when you’re president of the United States, you can’t just vote “present.” You must make decisions.

A few years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He won and has spent most of his time as a “celebrity senator.” No leadership or major legislation to speak of. His rise is remarkable in its own right — it’s the kind of thing that could happen only in America. But he’s never run a city, never run a state, never run a business.

He’s never had to lead people in crisis.

This is not a personal attack … it’s a statement of fact — Barack Obama has never led anything.

Nothing. Nada.”

Rudy’s words do not need to be explained, nor paraphrased. They speak for themselves. What he said was true. However, he said one thing I would like to expound upon:

“When speaking to a pro-Israel group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem. Until the very next day when he changed his mind.”

Oh how very poignant and true. Obama does change his mind a lot, I wouldn’t say he is a flip flopper – just that he is much like a college student with a general studies major; UNDECIDED.

Then the reckoning came and garnered 37 million viewers, Sarah Palin – Vice Presidential nominee and the future of the party. Quite simply she delivered a great speech. She made one remark, that has been floated around:

“You know what they say’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick”

Let me tell you, I can’t speak for many hockey Moms – but Palin has A LOT of bite. Palin packs a big punch, she was throwing Rocky style “hurtin’ bombs” last night. She stood up for herself, her family, and her party. She brought out the issues and addressed them, proving she is competent. And most of all, she took the fight to the Democrats and specifically Obama. She tackles him on every criticism he has dished out for her, and she’s fired back with her own. Obama, it’s your turn to reply. And this time, try to make an actual decision.

Four years ago I thought I had witnessed the most combative attack dog speech I would see for many years, when Senator Zell Miller unleashed his fiery wrath upon the Democrat party at the RNC. Looks like I was wrong.

It began last night with President George W. Bush, with whom many Americans have qualms, endorsing McCain as being “ready” for the job. The President then proceeded to take a jab at the Democrats, “Fellow citizens: If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.”

Pretty tame in the grand scheme of things, however I was not expecting such a combative statement so early on in the convention given the parameters McCain has ran his campaign in. This was to only be the start of something, because shortly after Senator Fred Thompson emerged on the stage.

And in mere thirty or so minutes, Fred ripped into the outlandish coverage of Palin, invalidated Obama’s tax plan, and threw more punches at the left than I could keep up with. Here are a few of my more cherished quotations and quips:

“To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history making nominee for president.

History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress.

History making because it’s the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation’s history. “

“Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases.

They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.

They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the “other” side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.”

“We need a President, and Vice President, who will take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking.

And we need a President who doesn’t think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade.”

Had Fred issued declarations like this during the primary, I feel that he would have been speaking on Thursday night accepting the nomination rather than McCain. I digress, that is neither here nor now. Senator Thompson did stand up for Palin like only a true Southern Gentlemen could. He did so rightly as the media coverage of Palin has been the most ludicrous display of ignorance since Justice Thomas was confirmed.

The vast majority of the attacks are coming from the media, you know the one that is supposed to have no bias? If they truly had no bias, every sentence last week would have included at least one mention of Hunter Biden – ‘Scrappy’ Joe’s lobbyist son. But instead we get treated to the inquisition of Sarah Palin about her daughter’s mistakes. Dick Cheney didn’t get this kind of coverage, and his daughter was a lesbian – and last time I checked there are more children born to unwed mothers than there are lesbians.

If you can honestly say you do not believe Palin is being scrutinized harsher than others have been, that are men, then you need your head examined.

I digress, the fireworks were not only on the stage; MSNBC had the audacity to question Newt Gingrich about Palin’s credentials on the floor – he proceeded to shut their reporter up. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you check it out.

Palin’s speech is tonight, and overall tonight is packed with big speakers. It’s going to be exciting. I just hope General Rick Goddard gets worked back into the rotation as he could use the publicity.

Everyday this past week, I have watched the news as usual. Everyday I have seen the same four things; Olympics, Georgia Invaded, McCain/Obama, and the hurricane. Not much I can say about a hurricane. I guess I should inset an obligatory congratulation statement for Michael Phelps. So there.

The other two news stories, however, fascinate me. Georgia, that’s the one near Russia, is a bit of an oddity. Portrayed by the media, and our elected officials, as being the sweet innocent bastion of democracy that could never stand up to the mighty Russian Communists. I hate to shatter the illusion, but if you look back a few days before Russia invaded you will find that Georgia had actually started firing upon a breakaway colony. A colony that just happened to be aligned with a small little country to the north called ‘Russia.’

Georgia has long had problems with these little breakaway states, and similarly they have had problems with the Russian government who supported the states. I do not claim to be fully up to date with all the history of this region, nor any of the minute interworking of their society. I can say that this situation looks to me to be a case of where diplomacy has failed. What I do know this is not the story that has been promulgated by the media. I sincerely hope all of the officials who have been making trips over there at least attempt to validate Russia’s claims. Oh what a tangled web that has been woven. Could Russia actually be in the right?

There is a possibility that the initial actions taken by Russian forces could have validated. At this point, however, I am inclined to believe the situation has escalated beyond the point it should have ever reached. Maybe we should have sent Jimmy Carter over there; or does he still believe that you can’t trust a communist?

Carter is the natural segue to the other Georgia, the one known for peaches and a million streets named ‘Peach’-something. With less than a week to go to the DNC the news world is buzzing with talk of VP choices for both candidates. With the recent Georgia/Russia crisis, many people are clamoring for a strong foreign policy guy for Obama. The most natural suggestion is thus Joe Biden, who is most certainly qualified to be a Vice President. But I’m not sure he is the best choice. In the Saddleback Forum on Saturday, Obama stated he would look to Sam Nunn for advice. For those of you out of the loop, Nunn is a former Senator from Georgia who was greatly involved with foreign relations and helped facilitate nuclear disarmament. I argue Nunn is almost a better choice for Obama than Biden. Experience wise they are in the same ballpark, but Nunn has something Biden doesn’t; and that is the state of Georgia.

Georgia is a red state. Recent polls have had Obama and McCain running close together and most current polls give McCain a slight lead. Obama is running commercials here in the peach state, targeting key demographics in an attempt to sway the state his way. Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr is also in this race, and is on the ballot in Georgia. Some polls have shown Barr as pulling in 6% of the vote here in Georgia. Barr, who use to be a Republican, is actually rated higher than McCain by the NRA. While the Libertarian party is likely to pull voters from both candidates in this state, the addition of Nunn to the Democratic ticket could swing things in Obama’s favor. Nunn is still well liked in the state, and many of the older generation remember him fondly. This could spell danger for McCain, and could wind up giving Obama the 15 electoral votes from Georgia in the end.

But that is all hypothetical. Obama would first have to pick Nunn. If Nunn does not get asked to be VP, expect him to be asked to take some position such as SecState or SecDef in an Obama administration.

John McCain’s running mate? I really can’t make a call there. I’d rather see a younger guy who was the second coming of Goldwater, but I doubt that person exists. I’d settle for Newt though.

Our government is setup in a fashion such that we elect people who represent our interests in the federal government. This is a pretty basic statement anyone could find in any government textbook.

In Dodge County we are represented by Representative Jim Marshall. Or that is the way things are supposed to be. For I do not believe that gas hovering between 3.75 and 4.00 a gallon is in the interest of Dodge County, but we can only infer Jim does. He says differently sure, but while other prominent Georgian Representatives are helping stage an energy protest at the capital one can’t help but wonder where is Marshall.

The answer? On vacation. He’s not there. This isn’t the first vote he has missed either. But things are ok fellow citizens, for Marshall says he would vote for energy exploration – he just won’t vote to bring the issue to the floor. His congressional staff should really inform him about that little paradox.

Marshall took a trip overseas to see the troops when the House was debating about the Farm Bill. While I will commend his visit, should he not have been there for the debate? The 8th district contains a lot of rural areas, and in Dodge you can barely travel 15 miles without seeing a farm of some sort.

Marshall champions himself as a “conservative democrat”, and to a degree he fits that bill. Here lately though, it seems like Mr. Marshall is worried about upsetting the rest of his party more than he is concerned about the citizens of the 8th district. I’m sorry, but Nancy Pelosi just does not fly down here and I cannot affirm that Marshall is conservative at all while he continues to caucus and support her.

I will not vote for Marshall nor will I ever refer to him as my Representative until he cleans up his act and starts actually representing his constituency. Needless to say, I’m supporting Rick Goddard this fall – someone who would stand up at the Capitol and at least voice concern for the people he is chosen to represent.