What do European Leftists, American Evangelicals and a Quinnipiac poll have in common?

I’m going to try to connect several very different pieces of information to try to build a credible case for something many people will find quite radical. If I am missing something important, I’d love to know your opinion of my conclusion?

Item: Last weekend, my wife and I attended the Christmas party thrown by her employer, a faith-based hospital system. We drove with another couple to the event, both of whom also work for the same hospital. I don’t remember the context of the conversation (probably the state of the economy), but one of our table-mates/carpool buddies suddenly suggested that we are going to need to revert back to the commune for survival. This woman is a conservative and an evangelical, born-again Christian.

Item: I recently read a book, The Coming Insurrection, which argues that our modern society is on the verge of collapse. The authors also suggest that the commune is the key to our survival and also may be a key factor that will bring about the collapse a little quicker. The authors of this tome, the Invisible Committee, is a group of far left radicals and is considered terrorists by France.

Item: In a recent Quinnipiac poll, 85% of Born Again Evangelicals said they were Somewhat/Very dissatisfied with the way things are going in this nation. The only other comparison group that felt as strongly were self-identified Republicans and “conservatives.”  I’m sure there is a lot of overlap between these three groups

Things are getting a little weird when leftist radicals in Europe and conservatives in America are drawn to the same conclusion: the re-emergence of communes (community).

But there is good news for those of us in America; we will be able to see what will happen here by watching the coming events in Europe, especially Greece, the Baltic States, Ireland and Spain. In the introduction of its public policy brief, Can Euroland Survive?, the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College states,

Social unrest across Europe is growing as Euroland’s economy collapses faster than the United States’, the result of falling exports and a weaker fiscal response.

So here’s my conclusion. Unless there is a significant change in how our country proceeds, we will experience rising social unrest and, in order to survive, we will naturally coalesce into some form of de facto commune. If my conclusion is correct, I have one question: How well do you know your neighbor?

Simple math in the Texas Governor’s race, Part 2

When it comes to running for governor in the state of Texas, the process of simple addition gets very confused. Apparently, for the Republican primary, which features two Texas heavyweights, Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and a Tea Party upstart, Debra Medina.

Earlier this year KERA, a Texas public television station and host of one of the most significant primary debates for the primary, established criteria for inclusion in their debate.  All three of the above-mentioned candidates met the criteria set out by the television station. However, KERA has learned from Rick Perry’s campaign that 1+1+1 does not equal three, but it actually equals two.  The KERA incident is not an isolated one. Apparently Rick Perry will not be in a debate that includes Debra Medina. From Debra Medina’s campaign:

Medina calls Perry Arrogant Aristocracy – “Allow Texans to hear all candidates”

by Nelda Carrizales Skevington on Dec 08, 2009

There have been many invitations to participate in debates and forums coming through our office.  The public certainly deserves to hear from each of the candidates. Unfortunately, we’re receiving multiple reports that each time we confirm, the governor cancels. It seems that Rick Perry has learned, over the years, that in order to protect his incumbent status he must be in total control of who he is on stage with and holds the media hostage to his demands.

University of Houston students planned a huge Texas gubernatorial forum. Sixteen Republican and non partisan conservative organizations came together to host the event. They rented the theatre and called the media. Production took months. They called Rick Perry’s office to make sure they scheduled it on a day when he could attend. In the end, after months of planning and selling tickets to cover the cost, Perry would not show. The students and other groups had to return ticket money in disappointment.

In early November, the Texas Press Association scheduled a gubernatorial debate in Galveston. “We thought it would be great for the city of Galveston to have the publicity surrounding such an event,” stated Ed Sterling of the Association. The city would have benefited economically and since the devastation of Hurricane Ike they have undergone a tremendous amount of hardship.  The invitations were sent and Rick Perry and Kay Bailey were confirmed.  Debra Medina was confirmed and two days later we were told the event was canceled as the demands of Rick Perry were not being met. The sponsor had invited all the candidates.

KERA, a public broadcasting station in Dallas, is publicizing that Rick Perry and Kay Bailey will be debating on January 14^th.  During an interview earlier in the year, they had assured us that Debra would be included as she had already met the criteria of the station. “When I called on November 19^th, Shelley Kofler, News Director for KERA let me know that Debra is not invited to debate at this time, even though we meet their criteria,” said Penny Langford Freeman, Medina’s campaign manager. “There are demands by the other candidates, even to where the mic and the seating is placed.  So much cost goes into the production that we can’t risk having the two front runner candidates canceling.” Kofler stated.

This is how fat cat incumbents perpetuate their political career: holding the media hostage to their demands thus preventing open and transparent debate by all the candidates.

“I have been a grass roots activist for a long time. I have seen this type of thing go on and voters deserve to know about it. Governor Perry has taken on the attitude of arrogant aristocracy.  This sort of behavior is why the public trust in our elected officials is at an all time low and the word “politician” has become synonymous with “cheat and liar,” said challenger Debra Medina.

“We know that it is not against the law for Rick Perry to cancel but the arrogant demands that he be allowed to dictate who else is on stage is a tragic abuse of power that ultimately harms the very public he is sworn to serve,” Medina added.

Why does Rick Perry have so little respect for the voters and the rule of law? Why doesn’t he want to have healthy debate with all of the candidates? “I will tell you why” said Langford Freeman, “Not only is he arrogant. He does not want you to hear what is really going on in this state and he knows that Debra Medina is dedicated to telling the truth.”

The Debra Medina campaign will press on all fronts to insure that the people are given the opportunity to hear from all the candidates.  “If Rick Perry wants what is best for Texas, he will stop these aristocratic power plays and show up to debate ALL candidates.  Texans deserve to hear that debate,” said Medina.

“We are demanding that he come down off of his royal high horse and talk to the people who pay his salary,” Langford Freeman said.

It seems the governor won’t participate in a three-way debate because of a very simple principle in politics. The guy in the middle will lose. With KBH a little to his left, and Debra Medina a bit to the right, Rick Perry would be forced to rhetorically negotiate a very narrow path between his opponents. It takes a very skilled debater to be able to do that, and I don’t believe Rick is up to the task. His campaign must believe the same while they pressure debate hosts to drop Mrs. Medina or risk not having the governor at the debate for the gubernatorial candidates.

If you are a Democrat and want to see Rick Perry squirm, call KERA and let them know your support will dry up if Deb Medina is not allowed to participate. If you are a Republican, it is your duty to hear from all the candidates that qualified for the debate.

Be sure to speak with Shelley Kofler at 214-871-1390 to express your disappointment with KERA’s decision.

You might also remind them that they are acting a lot like Fox News, when they conveniently uninvited Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter from the presidential primary debate. I’m sure the folks at KERA will really appreciate the comparison to the folks at Fox News.

K2BYTZFFHXUJ

Some simple math in the Texas Governor’s race – Part 1

On the Democratic side the newest contender for the governorship of Texas is Houston’s mayor, Bill White. He announced his bid just days after Tom Schieffer decided to drop out of contention.

I’ll admit that I do not know much about Bill White since I live in the Dallas area, but I do know this:

On October 22, 2009 a letter and financial report was sent to Mayor Bill White, the City Controller, City Council Members, Non-Incumbent City Candidates, Greater Houston Partnership Board Members, The Houston Chronicle, Houston TV Stations, Houston Business Journal, Houston Community Newspapers, Houston Press, Municipal Bond Rating Agencies, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, Texas Monthly and the Houston and New York offices of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The first line of the financial report was this,

The City of Houston is financially broke and it appears that the mayor who takes office in January 2010 may have to captain the City through bankruptcy procedures.

What?!

The report then goes on to describe why this group of accountants arrived at this fantastic conclusion. For a summary visit Mish’s post on the subject.

And this man, who has spent the last 6 years in charge of running the city of Houston wants to run the State of Texas?

Tea Partiers of Texas have to make sure this financial dufus is NOT in charge of our state finances.

I don’t think Perry has done particularly well on the financial front either. The crisis of the state’s unemployment insurance fund hit home today with a 250% increase in our organization’s unemployment insurance rate, but he hasn’t bankrupted the state – yet.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Why is this First Amendment issue even a question under our Constitution?

The New York Times had a report yesterday on a case before the Supreme Court where the Christian Legal Society is suing the Hastings Law School, part of the University of California system, for the right to use the public bulletin boards and meeting space for their organization.  The law school says the Christian Legal Society has violated the school’s policy of discrimination and is therefore banned from using the resources the school makes available to student groups.

I just don’t get why any reasonable jurisprudence would come to the conclusion that in order for any group to use a public space it must comply with a policy that goes against its charter. We have, under the first amendment to the Constitution, the right to free association; and the state cannot pass any law (or policy) to discriminate against that right.

So how is it that the state of our liberty-based system of jurisprudence has degenerated so far as to even consider blocking a group’s right to free association?

I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will slap down the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hard.