Americans have been vilified and conditioned to believe that they are the worst polluters on the planet. The USA has the assignment; worlds whipping boy for any and all environmental abuse on the earth. Somehow it’s all our fault that 16 of the worlds 20 most polluted cities are in China. None of the top 20 most polluted cities are in the U.S., however. In fact of the 10 cleanest cities in the world we, here in the U.S., have 3 cities on that list. And that is an accomplishment to be proud of and should not be taken lightly. It wasn’t always so good, however.
It was June 22nd,1969 when Cleveland Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire. That’s right – water so polluted it just started burning. Ignited by a spark from a passing train, some believe. This, of course, made the national news. The incident is credited with motivating the American public to get on about the chore of cleaning up their environment. Not too long afterward came the Clean Water Act of ’72 and Clean Air Act of ’70. And today the Cuyahoga River has recovered and is frequented by local fisherman.
The Great Lakes are also on the mend and a home to a thriving sports fishing industry. Boston Harbor, called the “filthiest harbor in the nation” back in the early ‘80s, is well on its way to a full recovery.
And does anyone remember the “LA Smog Alerts”? Fact: the last LA Smog Alert was in 1997! A monumental accomplishment that Californians and Americans should be extremely proud of. Not just LA but most of the major U.S. cities have decreased Particulate Matter in the air dramatically over the past couple of decades ( link ). Additionally, much of these advances were prior to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Thanks to technology, vehicle emissions have decreased and we are actually driving many more miles and polluting much less. The reduction of particulate matters in the air have no doubt ( link2 ) contributed to the increase in U.S. life expectancy.
And what ever happened to “acid rain”? Apparently those sulfur dioxide scrubbers in power plants have helped considerably. And the Ozone Hole? Where did it go? And the Whooping Crane? Down to 21 birds in 1941. Now there is a heavily protected population of 300 birds. Successes we get little credit for.
Here’s a cool website: ( link3 ). This site gives the current/daily Air Quality Index status for our nation. The site is provided by our own government. Monitoring the site over a period of time and you’ll have to conclude that our USA is a clean/ healthy place to hang out, for the most part. Rarely an “unhealthy” rating is observed. More and more, the incessant diatribes from our critics simply do not appear to be grounded in reality.
And regarding greenhouse gas emissions. We’re continuously getting chided and berated because of our alleged excessive greenhouse gas emissions, here in the U.S. Its been said that the burning of fossil fuels will cause carbon dioxide to be pumped into the air causing this greenhouse effect (hence warming), yet we continue to have record cold winters and scientists have proven that the oceans are actually cooling a bit. A fairly reliable indication that the earth’s temperature is not rising to any significant or dangerous levels and that the concerns over these emissions have been exaggerated.
Sadly, the recent and tragic emergence of the Climategate emails have deeply tainted all of the Environmental Sciences. Because of the lust of a few for political power and money, the entire scientific community has lost a large measure of credibility. Especially the political-agenda-driven environmental science cabal, headed up by a former vice-president of the United States. It will be difficult for the scientific community to win back that confidence and until that day comes, Americans need not accept or tolerate any criticisms/blame for causing any sort of climate change. And they need not give up their SUV’s!
It is now time to put the man-made climate change debate back on the shelf until we have some solid proof that man is responsible. Not a collection of loose, unproven theories. An honest and open debate must take place with both global warming proponents and skeptics allowed to participate.
In my “layman’s” view it seems there are factors that are not being - factored in. (maybe purposely) Think about plants. During daylight hours plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. During hours of darkness that is reversed – unless there is artificial light available. Then photosynthesis continues. Next time you’re at some high-rise office building, do a quick count of all the plants you see - hundreds. Nasa has proven the value of indoor. Plants that may actually save your life. Some plants actually absorb not only CO2 but toxins from the air. Two indoor plants per 100 square feet can make a significant and healthful difference. Another American success story! Yes, we Americans are house-plant fanatics. We love and nurture millions of plants that help absorb many of the impurities out of the air and in return they emit sweet oxygen. How many indoor plants would you estimate are in a 40 story office building under artificial light? It’s a factor!
And, hey, we humans eat many plants. We love the edible ones, too! During the growth cycle of these plants they are absorbing CO2 and emitting oxygen. The more people, the more they will need to eat and the more plants will be grown for the purpose of feeding these people. Millions of acres of plants being raised for food – absorbing/emitting. Another factor!
And what about the Forest Products sector? Almost half of the of all wood supply is now planted and grown on plantations. Yet these plantations make up only 5% of the worlds forests! Which precludes the need for deforestation in the worlds natural forests. One mature tree (whether planted or naturally grown) can absorb approximately 48 pounds of CO2 per year! The Forest Products Industry has been planting and reforesting for decades. Couple that with the number of trees/shrubs that individuals plant on their personal properties. Massive amounts of CO2 absorbed. Massive amounts of oxygen emitted. A massive factor, for sure!
And, lest we forget…our Nations valiant U.S. Forest Service Firefighters who have saved millions of acres of forest land. From the Hot Shot Crews to the Smoke Jumpers. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice…(link). Our gratitude goes to these brave women and men. An ultimate factor.
We get so much negative input from our media, the blogs, the entertainment industry, foreign nations and world governing bodies regarding the damage that we Americans do to the environment. And personally, I don’t want to hear any more of their doom/gloom predictions. I didn’t have to work very hard to find America’s true, positive environmental impact. But I know I missed much. If you readers have other reports of home grown U.S. environmental successes, please add them to the comments. I’d love to hear more upbeat news.
One day, when pigs fly, Time Magazine might once again celebrate the American People as they did back in 1969 by naming them as “Person of the Year”. It was a far different publication back then. But I’m not going to wait. Nor am I going to wait on timid politicians, who run like scared rabbits from this debate/issue and are afraid to heap this sort of praise on you. Think of the political fallout!
Therefore, I am honored to perform this duty. I do hereby name the Citizens of the U.S.A. - “2009 Darvin Dowdy Person of the Year” for being Great Stewards of the Environment. I salute you and applaud you. And I exhort you to hold your heads high and make no apologies. And don’t get rid of your SUV’s! DD
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Rush Limbaugh: Putting GOP & Conservatives in Harm's Way...
An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh:
Rush, since I can never get through and have no time to sit and dial, redial, etc. This will have to suffice. Slim chance that you’ll ever read it but maybe some caring person will forward it to you. They do you an extreme disservice if they do not.
Lets just cut to the chase, pal – you’ve been intellectually dishonest. Either intentionally or unintentionally… but either way it has affected your overall impact. Negatively. Rush I know you must be aware of this. You’re far too intelligent not to know that something is wrong. Understandably, a man as busy as yourself has little time for introspection or self evaluation. You probably depend on your pandering friends to watch your back for you - but obviously they’ve failed you. So I’ve taken on this very unpleasant task.
Rush, I felt I had a duty to spotlight your lapse of credibility when I heard you absolutely rip the Drive By Media recently over their silence on Climategate. At first I wanted to cheer, “right on, right on!”. But I couldn’t. In fact a dark cloud drifted into my thoughts regarding you. You Rush! A person I’ve admired, respected and loved like a brother for a decade +. I felt I could no longer pretend that there was not a problem within your message as a whole. After some thought I realized; Rush is being a hypocrite. On the one hand he correctly/rightly/continually blames the Drive-By’s for their glaring, deafening reporting omissions of Climategate (and other major news events). But he has used (and uses) the same tactic of “purposeful omission” himself. In particular regarding the Housing Bubble/Sub-prime issue.
Over the past year, Rush, you have put all of the blame on Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the democrats for this crisis when you had to have known that the Bush/Rove team, too, was involved neck deep in the process of relaxing the mortgage lending rules and underwriting guidelines!
No doubt that Frank, Dodd and the democrats bear the majority of the blame and both of these individuals (and others) should be jailed. And I believe eventually they will be. “But!” that doesn’t let the Bush/Rove team off the hook, Rush! You’re far too smart to let something of this magnitude slip by you. Even with one hand tied behind your back. So I have to assume – purposeful omission on your part.
You had to have known, Rush, about K. Rove’s absolute and total obsession with acquiring the elusive, unreliable and overrated Hispanic vote ( LINK ). His obsession went so far as to exclude and alienate other large conservative voting blocks! But that didn’t matter to “the architect”. No, the Conservative Base be damned, all speed ahead and make room for La Raza.
And, Rush, what about the “American Dream Down Payment Act”? The pride of the very liberal George W. Bush. You had to have read this speech, Rush! Bush all but admits his intentions to rig the system so that 5.5 million lower income folks can get into a mortgage. Whether they can afford to repay it or not, isn’t of concern. The prime concern for the Bush/Rove team? Bragging rights. Bragging rights before and during the ’04 election regarding the number of minorities who now own homes since George W. Bush took office.
George W. Bush should have lead. Rather than writing the token “strongly worded letter” he should have insisted that Frank, Dodd and the democrats cease and desist in their efforts to pressure banks and other lending institutions to relax their mortgage lending guidelines. Using the threat of turning the whole mess over to the DoJ. As Bill O’Reilly accurately points out to a very uncomfortable and less than candid Karl Rove here: “Bush should’ve made it a central issue”. But all the while “W” had Karl Rove whispering in his ear, “no, leave them be. We’ll let them take the fall for bad loans and we’ll get to take credit for the increase in minority home ownership”. Bush should have fired this misguided snake-oil salesman years ago. (and so should Fox fire him now) But instead, the wink, the nod and the coy smile….
I can hear you Rush; “playing the blame game, Dowdy”. That’s absolutely correct Rush. Its part of the necessary evaluation process. This distasteful task must be done to analyze what went wrong with the GOP on 11/7/06 and 11/4/08. And in order to do this we must examine specific human errors and , yes - name names. And by your purposeful omissions of this aspect of the sub-prime crisis, you, Rush, have robbed the Republican Party and the Conservative Movement of a valuable method of measuring their dysfunction. And without that capability, how can they right themselves? Maneuver themselves back on course? All of this because of your loyalty to your friend – George W. Bush.
You are his friend, Rush, but I doubt he feels the same towards you. How many times have you been invited to Crawford since 1/21/09? I can assure you that neither Bush nor Rove have any deep respect for you. We know that “W” expressed a disdain for the Conservative Movement and arrogantly claimed to have “redefined the Republican Party”. He got that part right, didn’t he? Damaging the GOP worse than Richard Nixon could’ve ever dreamed of doing. Face it Rush – you have been used. They invited you to the Whitehouse. They wined and dined. Mano y Mano with the POTUS. It was all calculated, choreographed and it had its desired effect on you. You never should’ve accepted that invitation. You became nothing more than a piece on their chess board, after that.
And you continue to act like a pawn on their chess board, Rush. It is not a noble thing you do, shielding these individuals. You spend 100% of your time expounding upon, illustrating and spotlighting “the wicked left”. The part of your job that you love. But every job has certain elements that are unpleasant. You are being immature and irresponsible by not performing these loathsome parts of your job, Rush. And you are depriving your listeners, the GOP, Movement Conservatives and your Nation of the tools it needs to get itself back in phase. Back on target and focused.
Don’t feel too bad, Rush. As a Texan, I voted for “W” - 4 times. He fooled us all. Once I too felt an esprit de corps of sorts with the Republican Party. That is until the GOP Hierarchy, under George W. Bush, revealed itself as nothing more than a collection of Transnational Progressives. And don’t be fooled, the GOP remains highly contaminated with their ilk. Which puts them at strong odds with the highly nationalistic Conservative Base. This major split caused 11/7/06 and 11/4/08.
Rush, you continue to unwittingly “carry the water” for a few of the “old guard”. We need you at peak performance during this battle to save our Constitution. Harping on the Constitution-hating democrats all day by you and other conservative commentators does nothing to help put our GOP and Conservative Movement back on course with a winning strategy. In fact, by your neglect and omissions you allow them to remain - in harms way.
Darvin Dowdy
Rush, since I can never get through and have no time to sit and dial, redial, etc. This will have to suffice. Slim chance that you’ll ever read it but maybe some caring person will forward it to you. They do you an extreme disservice if they do not.
Lets just cut to the chase, pal – you’ve been intellectually dishonest. Either intentionally or unintentionally… but either way it has affected your overall impact. Negatively. Rush I know you must be aware of this. You’re far too intelligent not to know that something is wrong. Understandably, a man as busy as yourself has little time for introspection or self evaluation. You probably depend on your pandering friends to watch your back for you - but obviously they’ve failed you. So I’ve taken on this very unpleasant task.
Rush, I felt I had a duty to spotlight your lapse of credibility when I heard you absolutely rip the Drive By Media recently over their silence on Climategate. At first I wanted to cheer, “right on, right on!”. But I couldn’t. In fact a dark cloud drifted into my thoughts regarding you. You Rush! A person I’ve admired, respected and loved like a brother for a decade +. I felt I could no longer pretend that there was not a problem within your message as a whole. After some thought I realized; Rush is being a hypocrite. On the one hand he correctly/rightly/continually blames the Drive-By’s for their glaring, deafening reporting omissions of Climategate (and other major news events). But he has used (and uses) the same tactic of “purposeful omission” himself. In particular regarding the Housing Bubble/Sub-prime issue.
Over the past year, Rush, you have put all of the blame on Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the democrats for this crisis when you had to have known that the Bush/Rove team, too, was involved neck deep in the process of relaxing the mortgage lending rules and underwriting guidelines!
No doubt that Frank, Dodd and the democrats bear the majority of the blame and both of these individuals (and others) should be jailed. And I believe eventually they will be. “But!” that doesn’t let the Bush/Rove team off the hook, Rush! You’re far too smart to let something of this magnitude slip by you. Even with one hand tied behind your back. So I have to assume – purposeful omission on your part.
You had to have known, Rush, about K. Rove’s absolute and total obsession with acquiring the elusive, unreliable and overrated Hispanic vote ( LINK ). His obsession went so far as to exclude and alienate other large conservative voting blocks! But that didn’t matter to “the architect”. No, the Conservative Base be damned, all speed ahead and make room for La Raza.
And, Rush, what about the “American Dream Down Payment Act”? The pride of the very liberal George W. Bush. You had to have read this speech, Rush! Bush all but admits his intentions to rig the system so that 5.5 million lower income folks can get into a mortgage. Whether they can afford to repay it or not, isn’t of concern. The prime concern for the Bush/Rove team? Bragging rights. Bragging rights before and during the ’04 election regarding the number of minorities who now own homes since George W. Bush took office.
George W. Bush should have lead. Rather than writing the token “strongly worded letter” he should have insisted that Frank, Dodd and the democrats cease and desist in their efforts to pressure banks and other lending institutions to relax their mortgage lending guidelines. Using the threat of turning the whole mess over to the DoJ. As Bill O’Reilly accurately points out to a very uncomfortable and less than candid Karl Rove here: “Bush should’ve made it a central issue”. But all the while “W” had Karl Rove whispering in his ear, “no, leave them be. We’ll let them take the fall for bad loans and we’ll get to take credit for the increase in minority home ownership”. Bush should have fired this misguided snake-oil salesman years ago. (and so should Fox fire him now) But instead, the wink, the nod and the coy smile….
I can hear you Rush; “playing the blame game, Dowdy”. That’s absolutely correct Rush. Its part of the necessary evaluation process. This distasteful task must be done to analyze what went wrong with the GOP on 11/7/06 and 11/4/08. And in order to do this we must examine specific human errors and , yes - name names. And by your purposeful omissions of this aspect of the sub-prime crisis, you, Rush, have robbed the Republican Party and the Conservative Movement of a valuable method of measuring their dysfunction. And without that capability, how can they right themselves? Maneuver themselves back on course? All of this because of your loyalty to your friend – George W. Bush.
You are his friend, Rush, but I doubt he feels the same towards you. How many times have you been invited to Crawford since 1/21/09? I can assure you that neither Bush nor Rove have any deep respect for you. We know that “W” expressed a disdain for the Conservative Movement and arrogantly claimed to have “redefined the Republican Party”. He got that part right, didn’t he? Damaging the GOP worse than Richard Nixon could’ve ever dreamed of doing. Face it Rush – you have been used. They invited you to the Whitehouse. They wined and dined. Mano y Mano with the POTUS. It was all calculated, choreographed and it had its desired effect on you. You never should’ve accepted that invitation. You became nothing more than a piece on their chess board, after that.
And you continue to act like a pawn on their chess board, Rush. It is not a noble thing you do, shielding these individuals. You spend 100% of your time expounding upon, illustrating and spotlighting “the wicked left”. The part of your job that you love. But every job has certain elements that are unpleasant. You are being immature and irresponsible by not performing these loathsome parts of your job, Rush. And you are depriving your listeners, the GOP, Movement Conservatives and your Nation of the tools it needs to get itself back in phase. Back on target and focused.
Don’t feel too bad, Rush. As a Texan, I voted for “W” - 4 times. He fooled us all. Once I too felt an esprit de corps of sorts with the Republican Party. That is until the GOP Hierarchy, under George W. Bush, revealed itself as nothing more than a collection of Transnational Progressives. And don’t be fooled, the GOP remains highly contaminated with their ilk. Which puts them at strong odds with the highly nationalistic Conservative Base. This major split caused 11/7/06 and 11/4/08.
Rush, you continue to unwittingly “carry the water” for a few of the “old guard”. We need you at peak performance during this battle to save our Constitution. Harping on the Constitution-hating democrats all day by you and other conservative commentators does nothing to help put our GOP and Conservative Movement back on course with a winning strategy. In fact, by your neglect and omissions you allow them to remain - in harms way.
Darvin Dowdy
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Can the GOP Continue to Ignore the "Lou Dobbs Voters"?
Chris Gacek of the Family Research Council gave the GOP a stern warning via his October ’07 essay in Politico – “Lou Dobbs Voters Will Decide ‘08”. Of course, the arrogant GOP Hierarchy paid little-to-no attention. Hence, they were punished severely on 11/4/08 by this massive block of former/traditional GOP voters now estimated by Rasmussen to be 12-14% ( link ). By my best estimation that translates into 15-18 million. Think they could have made a difference on election day for the GOP? Instead the disconnected Republicans opted to pander and grovel for the unreliable moderate/centrist vote. And the overrated Hispanic/LaRaza vote. They (McCain and Gingrich especially) even took a shot at the “green” vote. And this overall strategy worked about as well as one would expect forcing 59 million of “us” to reluctantly and dutifully hold our nose and pull the lever for McCain. Lot of good it did, huh?
So, who are these Lou Dobbs Voters? Estranged and shunned by the pompous GOP. They’re not simply the audience of Lou Dobbs former CNN program, no. These folks come out of the heartland of our Nation – coast to coast/Canada to Mexico. They know history, they know the Constitution and they keep up with current events. Also, they’re fiercely nationalistic. If you ask them who Ramos and Compean are – that’ll get their attention. And if you really want to see their blood pressure rise, ask them about Johnny Sutton. These Dobbs voters will also be able to tell you about the 99% effective E-Verify program and the seditious efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to block the gov’t from mandating its use by employers to verify that their employees are, indeed, either citizens or in country legally. The U.S. Chamber, of course wanting to keep the flow of cheap, illegal labor open and unobstructed. News issues that Dobbs bravely reported on regularly.
I’ll wager that if you asked Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty or any GOP insider “what about Ramos and Compean?”, they wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. But these are the issues that concern this unique block of voters. Issues that are reported on by very few in the mainstream media – Dobbs, Beck, Ingraham, Malkin and Savage mostly.
I’d challenge some of you, who consider yourselves moderate Republicans to look below the surface of some of these issues. Here’s one. Do some research on Oklahoma House Bill 1804. The good citizens of Oklahoma overwhelmingly supported this bill and it passed the Oklahoma house by a vote of 89-9 which would have protected the state from the costs of rampant illegal immigration. But who do you think used the courts to block it? La Raza? Lulac? The ACLU? No! None of the above. It was our GOP’s best bosom buddy (and best donor) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce again. They went against the will of Oklahoma citizenry and blocked this bill by finding a liberal judge and using the courts. Which explains a lot. Do I have to spell it out? The GOP Base says, “close the borders and enforce existing immigration laws!”. The U.S. Chamber says with a sly smile, “if you do we’ll cut off our major donations”. The Republicans simply can’t wean themselves away from that revenue stream. No matter that its costing them votes. These are the sorts of extremely important issues that Dobbs (and very few others) are reporting on.
The concern over these issues is very consistent with Conservative thought. States Rights, Rule of Law, National Pride and national Sovereignty. And Reagan Realism in the area of international trade. Our military protects our shores even when they’re in foreign battlefields. Shouldn’t we also have an umbrella of realistic global trade protections over our own nations economy? Make no mistake, Ronald Reagan believed we should have them. Somewhere between 1988 and the present we drifted off course in the area of international trade, dealing only with the approval and permission of the WTO and other world governing bodies. Watching helplessly as our wealth was (and is) being slowly siphoned off and our trade deficit ever widening.
Again, these are the sorts of issues that Lou Dobbs and a handful of others report on. These same issues are of deep concern to the Constitution-loving, fiercely nationalistic Lou Dobbs Voters. And as the Republican Party continues to gravitate more towards Transnational Progressivism / globalism, this sizeable block of voters has opted to stop the train and get off.
Once our Republicans get elected they immediately turn their backs on those that put them in office. They shift their focus instead on the requests/demands of special interests, world governing bodies, foreign governments and non-governmental orgs (NGO’s). Hence, it was necessary for the voters to punish them for their bad behavior. And that’s what happened not only on 11/4/08 but also on 11/7/06. And it’ll happen again on 11/2/10 if we don’t right our course.
So, what happened to these Lou Dobbs voters on 11/4/08? Most simply, and respectably “Stayed at Home”. Others protest voted for a 3rd party candidate. Also, understandable. But many (too many) were so emotional and eager to “throw the bums out” that they engaged in a stupid knee-jerk type reaction and – voted Obama. I’m sure they’re kicking themselves about now. And well they should.
It was also very stupid of the GOP Hierarchy to disrespect, ignore and insult the Lou Dobbs voters and similar voting blocks. Can they afford to do that again with the 2010 midterms so close? After all, they must’ve learned by now that depending on the centrist/moderate, Hispanic and green vote did not (and will not) translate into votes for them.
There is another huge factor – Lou Dobbs is no longer some Monday-Friday evening news anchor guy. The GOP now has to deal with the very real possibility of “Lou Dobbs – Presidential Candidate” . And deal they must. Lou Dobbs describes himself as a “lifelong Republican”. Believe me, the GOP and Movement Conservatives want to keep it that way. They don’t want to force Dobbs into some 3rd party option. Wouldn’t it be best for the GOP to stop compromising away its principles and reengage with its principled Base?
Republicans are involved in a very dangerous gamble at present. They have adopted the tactic of spending 100% of their time illustrating the weakness of the opposition and zero time in self introspection/analysis. They seem to think that if they embark on an emotional tirade about the wicked left then the unpleasant task of getting their own dysfunctional house in order will not be necessary. It’s a very childish and irresponsible tactic and in my view it will not attract the Lou Dobbs Voters back into the GOP fold on 11/2/10.
Darvin Dowdy
Note: not an endorsement of Lou Dobbs - DD
So, who are these Lou Dobbs Voters? Estranged and shunned by the pompous GOP. They’re not simply the audience of Lou Dobbs former CNN program, no. These folks come out of the heartland of our Nation – coast to coast/Canada to Mexico. They know history, they know the Constitution and they keep up with current events. Also, they’re fiercely nationalistic. If you ask them who Ramos and Compean are – that’ll get their attention. And if you really want to see their blood pressure rise, ask them about Johnny Sutton. These Dobbs voters will also be able to tell you about the 99% effective E-Verify program and the seditious efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to block the gov’t from mandating its use by employers to verify that their employees are, indeed, either citizens or in country legally. The U.S. Chamber, of course wanting to keep the flow of cheap, illegal labor open and unobstructed. News issues that Dobbs bravely reported on regularly.
I’ll wager that if you asked Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty or any GOP insider “what about Ramos and Compean?”, they wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. But these are the issues that concern this unique block of voters. Issues that are reported on by very few in the mainstream media – Dobbs, Beck, Ingraham, Malkin and Savage mostly.
I’d challenge some of you, who consider yourselves moderate Republicans to look below the surface of some of these issues. Here’s one. Do some research on Oklahoma House Bill 1804. The good citizens of Oklahoma overwhelmingly supported this bill and it passed the Oklahoma house by a vote of 89-9 which would have protected the state from the costs of rampant illegal immigration. But who do you think used the courts to block it? La Raza? Lulac? The ACLU? No! None of the above. It was our GOP’s best bosom buddy (and best donor) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce again. They went against the will of Oklahoma citizenry and blocked this bill by finding a liberal judge and using the courts. Which explains a lot. Do I have to spell it out? The GOP Base says, “close the borders and enforce existing immigration laws!”. The U.S. Chamber says with a sly smile, “if you do we’ll cut off our major donations”. The Republicans simply can’t wean themselves away from that revenue stream. No matter that its costing them votes. These are the sorts of extremely important issues that Dobbs (and very few others) are reporting on.
The concern over these issues is very consistent with Conservative thought. States Rights, Rule of Law, National Pride and national Sovereignty. And Reagan Realism in the area of international trade. Our military protects our shores even when they’re in foreign battlefields. Shouldn’t we also have an umbrella of realistic global trade protections over our own nations economy? Make no mistake, Ronald Reagan believed we should have them. Somewhere between 1988 and the present we drifted off course in the area of international trade, dealing only with the approval and permission of the WTO and other world governing bodies. Watching helplessly as our wealth was (and is) being slowly siphoned off and our trade deficit ever widening.
Again, these are the sorts of issues that Lou Dobbs and a handful of others report on. These same issues are of deep concern to the Constitution-loving, fiercely nationalistic Lou Dobbs Voters. And as the Republican Party continues to gravitate more towards Transnational Progressivism / globalism, this sizeable block of voters has opted to stop the train and get off.
Once our Republicans get elected they immediately turn their backs on those that put them in office. They shift their focus instead on the requests/demands of special interests, world governing bodies, foreign governments and non-governmental orgs (NGO’s). Hence, it was necessary for the voters to punish them for their bad behavior. And that’s what happened not only on 11/4/08 but also on 11/7/06. And it’ll happen again on 11/2/10 if we don’t right our course.
So, what happened to these Lou Dobbs voters on 11/4/08? Most simply, and respectably “Stayed at Home”. Others protest voted for a 3rd party candidate. Also, understandable. But many (too many) were so emotional and eager to “throw the bums out” that they engaged in a stupid knee-jerk type reaction and – voted Obama. I’m sure they’re kicking themselves about now. And well they should.
It was also very stupid of the GOP Hierarchy to disrespect, ignore and insult the Lou Dobbs voters and similar voting blocks. Can they afford to do that again with the 2010 midterms so close? After all, they must’ve learned by now that depending on the centrist/moderate, Hispanic and green vote did not (and will not) translate into votes for them.
There is another huge factor – Lou Dobbs is no longer some Monday-Friday evening news anchor guy. The GOP now has to deal with the very real possibility of “Lou Dobbs – Presidential Candidate” . And deal they must. Lou Dobbs describes himself as a “lifelong Republican”. Believe me, the GOP and Movement Conservatives want to keep it that way. They don’t want to force Dobbs into some 3rd party option. Wouldn’t it be best for the GOP to stop compromising away its principles and reengage with its principled Base?
Republicans are involved in a very dangerous gamble at present. They have adopted the tactic of spending 100% of their time illustrating the weakness of the opposition and zero time in self introspection/analysis. They seem to think that if they embark on an emotional tirade about the wicked left then the unpleasant task of getting their own dysfunctional house in order will not be necessary. It’s a very childish and irresponsible tactic and in my view it will not attract the Lou Dobbs Voters back into the GOP fold on 11/2/10.
Darvin Dowdy
Note: not an endorsement of Lou Dobbs - DD
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