I’m afraid that this is the future for small-town, hardworking, honest-to-goodness Conservatives who speak to the average Joe…especially if the Democrats gain traction with the Fairness Doctrine. Sarah Palin? She’s a barbaric idiot. Joe the Plumber? He’s a tax-evading liar (never mind that we broke the law to investigate him).

I hate to think that this is what it will come down to, but I guarantee you that the Mainstream Mediots will vandalize the image of any sensible conservative that could serve to inspire the lower-to-middle class away from Government freebies.

h/t: Captain Ed/Hot Air

CNN: U.S. Muslim Leaders Denounce al Qaeda’s Slur Toward Obama

The imams called the recorded comments from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, “an insult” from people who have “historically been disconnected from the African-American community generally and Muslim African-Americans in particular.”

I’m sure you’ve heard what al-Zawahiri called Obama.

Of course, there has been no outcry from the imams when black leaders in THIS country were calling Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, and Michael Steele (Googling will help you find the latter two) the term, but I guess the shoe must fit on those leaders because, well, they don’t believe in free money and jobs.

An excerpt I think is particularly apropos:

I supposed one could cop out, and claim that there is truth in all three explanations. But my sense is that most people — who, after all, get a job, eventually buy a house and have to maintain it, have children, and respect the traditions of their families’ past — end up by necessity more conservative than liberal. The challenge is not to water down the conservative message, but to beef it up, even while making it more persuasive to those who are skeptical.

The problem isn’t moving right or left, it’s simply sticking to the guns that won the fight the last time we were at this point, a.k.a. the 1994 MidTerms.

WASHINGTON —  Republican Ted Stevens has spoken and yielded the floor for the last time. Staff members wept openly in the Senate gallery as Stevens, who turned 85 earlier this week, gave his swansong goodbye Thursday.

“I have had a difficult time today articulating my feelings and I hope if I puddle up, as an old friend used to say, I’ll be excused,” Stevens said in a very emotional farewell.

Don’t worry, Ted, you’ll have plenty of time to “puddle up” when you’re eating your lunch next to “Bubba” at the State Pen. What did you expect when you and your friends bought land on an island off the Alaskan coast, and then porked through funding to build the “Bridge To Nowhere”, which would have caused the value to skyrocket? And the ”reason” for the Bridge? A tiny airport that supports a modest-sized borough.

Stevens (not sure if he deserves to hold onto the title of Senator) was the most corrupt Republican on Capitol Hill. The Party will be better for losing this guy. The more of the old that gets replaced, the quicker we’ll see new Republican blood backfill and replenish the Party.

So, why am I not ultraincensed? My economic and social values were instilled during my college years, specifically during the 1994 Mid-Term Elections. Republicans sent a clear message of fiscal responsibility and less government, led by Newt Gingrich, and the House of Representatives went squarely to the Republican Party. Unfortunately, it appears that eight years of George W. Bush corrupted the GOP. Scandal after scandal eroded confidence that Republicans stood for conservatism. Granted, every Republican scandal was placed Front Page of every newspaper and periodical, and led the Evening News broadcasts…while Democratic scandals? Where were they? Oh they were there, just with Media cooperation and many more years of learning how to cover their tracks, it never got to the people.

The Republican Party has become a party without an identity, focused on helping themselves and their friends, rather than doing the best thing for America.

While I’m thoroughly disgusted that we’ve now established a group in Washington that’s as close to Socialist as we’ve ever been (even with FDR), I’m hoping for a turnaround, a cleansing, a renaissance of the fiscal conservatism that ruled 1990′s GOP Politics. It will be a long two years, but with a taste of the alternate, and a renewed sense of urgency, I think it will happen.

Yes, I want to get my rear-end back into the blogging realm. And I’m gonna do it. But it’s one post at a time, of course.

And honestly, my life is a bit topsy-turvy at the moment. A child on the way. Preparing the house to accept said child. Mixing chemicals to help pay for said child’s delivery. Planning visits from family after said child enters the world. Being a husband to said child’s mother-to-be, and being a father to said child’s elder sibling. In other words, life’s busy.

But guess what? Time, while a very limited resource, is nearly always available, but the catch is utilizing that time when it’s there. And that’s where this blog will come in.

My goal is to inform the person who drops by about the happenings of the day, particularly those that interest me. As I’ve said before, I’m a Christian who leans conservative. I believe in the Bible, in values, in a government that protects the freedoms enumerated in our Constitution, and strives to enforce the rights of all people rightfully belonging within this nation.

Hopefully my posts will clearly show where I stand. You may not always agree with me, but we’re free to believe our own worldview, no matter how right or wrong we are.

Let’s go!