cjhowe
09-01-2007, 11:04 PM
Hey guys, I'm submitting the following opinion piece to a couple of newspapers and would really appreciate some critique. I'm having a bit of trouble finishing up the closing...
Republicans, who has abandoned the party?
This Labor Day weekend, while we were enjoying the last few days of summer with our friends and families, the Texas GOP invited twenty-some-odd thousand Republican party activists to take part in the first ever Texas GOP Straw Poll in dowtown Fort Worth. Something strange happened, or more appropriately worded, did not happen. We did not show up. Only 1,300 people cast their vote for who Texas wants to represent our party in 2008. Now, I know what you are thinking; it is the end of summer, Texas really does not have a say in choosing the GOP's Presidential nominee, etc, etc. The thing is though, those twenty-some-odd thousand are our go-getters, our grassroots activists. They're the ones that make the trek to our state convention every other June to vote on our platform and what is important to the Republican Party of Texas. Could it be that those twenty thousand strong just are not as concerned as they used to be about the role of government in our lives? I just cannot imagine that being the case.
So, if we are still concerned citizens, it must be something else. I took the time to read back over the planks of the Republican Party of Texas Platform that were agreed upon in 2006. I am convinced, we did not show up because our national leadership has abandoned our principles. Principle one: We respect and cherish the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and our founders intent to limit the power of the federal government. What has our leadership given us? They have given us a Continuity of Government Plan, a perpetual state of national emergency with our terrorism levels orange and red, an abundance of executive orders, and the continuation of the Trans-Texas Corridor legislation. All of which are in direct opposition to our platform. Principle two: We recognize that all innocent human life must be protected. Yet, our leadership tells us to accept the collateral damage of a war that does not have a millitary solution and that is not making us any safer and is only emboldening our enemy. Principle three: We insist that no one's rights are negotiable and that individual freedom demands personal responsibility. Again, our leadership has failed us. Instead, we now have warrantless wire taps of American citizens, the suspension of habeas corpus and what appears to be federal prosecution based on political motivation. Principle four: We believe government spending is out of control and needs to be reduced. What do we get? A 56% increase in federal government spending since our leadership took office! Unfortunately, I can go on about how our leadership has turned their back on us. From our demands to abolish the IRS, to withdraw from the United Nations, to enforce our laws, all of it, ignored. We did not skip the straw poll because we had better things to do on a beautiful, Texas summer day. We did not show up because our party talks the talk, but they absolutely have refused to walk the walk. We decided that we were not going to go to the party if we knew we'd be leaving with a hangover.
So who is the Republican savior? Is it anyone leading the opinion polls? I do not think so. I see Rudy McRomney, as they say, looking to continue rubbing our past betrayal in our face. In addition, they cannot possible maintain Republican control of the executive while advocating the continued unpopular war in Iraq. There does appear to be a dark horse in the race though, Ron Paul. He's been walking the walk for ten terms as a U.S. Congressman from Texas, in the district along the Gulf Coast. He's consistently adherring to what our party claims to be its values. Get the government off our backs, out of our wallets and let us accept the responsibility for raising our familes as we see fit.
Republicans, who has abandoned the party?
This Labor Day weekend, while we were enjoying the last few days of summer with our friends and families, the Texas GOP invited twenty-some-odd thousand Republican party activists to take part in the first ever Texas GOP Straw Poll in dowtown Fort Worth. Something strange happened, or more appropriately worded, did not happen. We did not show up. Only 1,300 people cast their vote for who Texas wants to represent our party in 2008. Now, I know what you are thinking; it is the end of summer, Texas really does not have a say in choosing the GOP's Presidential nominee, etc, etc. The thing is though, those twenty-some-odd thousand are our go-getters, our grassroots activists. They're the ones that make the trek to our state convention every other June to vote on our platform and what is important to the Republican Party of Texas. Could it be that those twenty thousand strong just are not as concerned as they used to be about the role of government in our lives? I just cannot imagine that being the case.
So, if we are still concerned citizens, it must be something else. I took the time to read back over the planks of the Republican Party of Texas Platform that were agreed upon in 2006. I am convinced, we did not show up because our national leadership has abandoned our principles. Principle one: We respect and cherish the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and our founders intent to limit the power of the federal government. What has our leadership given us? They have given us a Continuity of Government Plan, a perpetual state of national emergency with our terrorism levels orange and red, an abundance of executive orders, and the continuation of the Trans-Texas Corridor legislation. All of which are in direct opposition to our platform. Principle two: We recognize that all innocent human life must be protected. Yet, our leadership tells us to accept the collateral damage of a war that does not have a millitary solution and that is not making us any safer and is only emboldening our enemy. Principle three: We insist that no one's rights are negotiable and that individual freedom demands personal responsibility. Again, our leadership has failed us. Instead, we now have warrantless wire taps of American citizens, the suspension of habeas corpus and what appears to be federal prosecution based on political motivation. Principle four: We believe government spending is out of control and needs to be reduced. What do we get? A 56% increase in federal government spending since our leadership took office! Unfortunately, I can go on about how our leadership has turned their back on us. From our demands to abolish the IRS, to withdraw from the United Nations, to enforce our laws, all of it, ignored. We did not skip the straw poll because we had better things to do on a beautiful, Texas summer day. We did not show up because our party talks the talk, but they absolutely have refused to walk the walk. We decided that we were not going to go to the party if we knew we'd be leaving with a hangover.
So who is the Republican savior? Is it anyone leading the opinion polls? I do not think so. I see Rudy McRomney, as they say, looking to continue rubbing our past betrayal in our face. In addition, they cannot possible maintain Republican control of the executive while advocating the continued unpopular war in Iraq. There does appear to be a dark horse in the race though, Ron Paul. He's been walking the walk for ten terms as a U.S. Congressman from Texas, in the district along the Gulf Coast. He's consistently adherring to what our party claims to be its values. Get the government off our backs, out of our wallets and let us accept the responsibility for raising our familes as we see fit.