Hey, maybe someone else hsa al lready thought of this.... I had an epiphany last night, instead of the GOP trying to get away from being 'the party of no' as the liberals seem to have labeled us perhaps Conservatives should embrace that and run with it. Some one has to be the adults. Some one has to say NO to the unwise decisions of the screaming little kids who want everything and to hell with the consequences. If the Libs are acting like a bunch of immature little kids then perhaps we are right to stand up and be the party of NO and we should go on the offensive with this and make damn sure the world knows why Mommy and Daddy are saying NO! Its time we used their tactics of name calling to bolster their arguments against them, they must be called on it.
I for one am sick of it every time someone brings up legitimate concerns on one of the Liberals pet issues they are branded Racist, Nazi, Homo-phobe, mean spirited. To me that's all speech intended to inflame and cause harm. To me that's real hate speech, and it should not be tolerated. Those who use it should be shunned, trivialized , denounced, or taken to task, but their comments should not go unchallenged. Its time we let them know that the politics of hate and destruction are over, if you can't make your case and persuade the folks without name calling and spinning then its time to pack up your tent and go home.

Couldn't have said it better myself. But hang in there, cooler heads will prevail, and our passion will keep the fire burning. They can't muzzle and ignore us forever. We are the People, we are America. Keep the faith!

I agree completely Sly. Just wanted to give the folks some information should they be inclined to argue the point with a less enlightened audience. Keep the faith!
Shawn D.

· less than 1 minute ago
Fellow patriot? Are you suggesting then that since we havvn't "lost" a constitutional right yet that we should be complacent and just play the sit and wait game? Perhaps we should become absorbed with American Idol or Lost and ignore what is going on around us? Huge changes are afoot and you perhaps think we should just give it time and see where it goes? I don't have to see my house in smoking ruin and rubble to know that I should check to see that my woodstove is working okay or that I should investigate that smokey smell. You play the sit and wait game fellow patriot, I'm going to call 911 and see about putting out the fire. That's my serious, albeit weak minded answer.

Fellow patriot? Are you suggesting then that since we havvn't "lost" a constitutional right yet that we should be complacent and just play the sit and wait game? Perhaps we should become absorbed with American Idol or Lost and ignore what is going on around us? Huge changes are afoot and you perhaps think we should just give it time and see where it goes? I don't have to see my house in smoking ruin and rubble to know that I should check to see that my woodstove is working okay or that I should investigate that smokey smel. You play the sit and wait game fellow patriot, I'm going to call 911 and see about putting out the fire. That's my serious, albeit weak minded answer.

Waterboarding = torture? I seem to recall being trooped into a building with a gas mask on in bootcamp, having CS (tear) gas pumped into the room and being told to march around the room after being ordered to take my mask off. It was not a pleasant experience. My instructor later told us that was just a harassing agent. That there was stuff out there that would do much much worse. I learned an extremely valuable lesson that day about the legths our enemies go to to do us harm and the importance of training to overcome those attempts. I never for a moment considered it torture. This to the best of my knowledge is still being done to this day in our training facilities. Soldiers and sailors in bootcamp. Police and firefighters being exposed to pepper spray, mace and worse as training. Ever hear of S.E.R.E. school? Thats where our service men and women go to learn advance escape and evasion skills to deal with the possibilty they might wind up behind enemy lines and captured. The training there used to be extremely rigorous and often harsh and unpleasant but necessary. Would it surprise anyone to learn that waterboarding may have been used there on occasion.
My point is we do these things in the name of training to our own people to make them better soldiers and sailors. To help them survive the rigors of the real world in combat. Is it really torure then to use the same methods to extract information from enemies who are intent on destroying us? I for one think not, and I sleep very well at night.
Shawn Donohue

1. English is the official language for all official business. Learn it or leave.
2.Voter fraud is a banishing offense. Lose your citizenship and get booted out.
3. Photo ID required to vote. No ID for non-citizens period!
4. Any elected official caught in a felony level illegal act is immediately put on probation until trial is held, if found guilty gets stripped of elected office and loses all retirement and other perks and is forbidden from running for elected office in the future. Elected officials must be held to a higher standard than the people they serve. No moral relativism allowed thank you.
5.All bills put up for consideration must past strict Constitutional scrutiny. Must be given due consideration (ie READ). Cost benefit analysis must be done.and final version must be available for public comment 30 days prior to voting on the bill unless a super majority deems it to be of an emergency nature. Bills passed as emergency measures must have a sunset provision.
6. Legislators to be held liable for the laws they propose. If a public servant is deemed to be habitually proposing unconstitutional or just plain unworkable legislation then they should be censured or suspended pending a hearing then if found guilty the citizens of the state he represents should be given the opportunity to recall the elected official and make it clear to the official that he or she works for them and if he or she can't represent them in a sober and thoughtful way then the people can opt to allow whomever ran against the official to assume the remainder of the office or hold a special election for the offending officials replacement.
6. All proposed legislation shall be checked to see if it conflicts with other laws before it is voted on and that any conflicts be resolved before it opens a can of worms. Personally I'd run on a platform of promising to remove two laws for every one adopted. We have way too many and the old saw about ignorance of the law is no excuse is just ludicrous. When laws are written in such a way that the average high school graduate cannot understand it without an attorney then that law does not serve the people but some other interest that may be at odds with the wishes of we the people. Keep it simple or keep it to yourself.
7. Fair tax please! The Tax system was never supposed to be a big business (sorry H&R Block) its a boondoggle that does more harm then good.
8. Real transparency please. No closed door sessions. No sealing records until all the players are long dead and gone to hide wrongdoings. Hey and if ET is out there or the Mob was on a grassy knoll I think we can handle it. Please stop the Nanny statism, let us decide for ourselves what we do and do not need to know. Short of real national security stuff (and that does get abused I think).
9. Talk about fat cats and Bonuses, wheres the outrage over all the pay and benefits for our Senators and Congressmen? I mean paid retirement after one term? Give me a break, wheres the outrage? Most of the people in office these days are by no means middle class, don't see them eating macaroni and cheese from a box much I'll bet. I mean If we have to bribe them with excellent benefits to keep them from taking political graft but then they do it anyway then whats the point? Either we elect honest hard working folk who are in it to serve for the common good and not strut around in Limos and private jets, and taking tax deductions you or I would get thrown in jail over, or living high at the public trough, heck you get the point.
10. No more PC mincing of words if you tell a falsehood your a liar, if you steal your a thief. No more of this " oh they misspoke or were taken out of context (when its obviously not the case). Like Glenn say's say what you mean and mean what you say. And for pete's sake write your own dang speeches, we know the difference! Look us in the eye and speak straight to us. Stop the constant shifting of the discussion. We want to know where your coming from and what the game plan is. We are tired of the head fake. Must we always be watching the other hand? Yes we must be ever vigilant but man does it wear on you. Thanks for letting me ramble folks, goodnight.

Here's a wish... Common sense in all government dealings , at all levels! Just registered my Hydro-carbon loving Pick-up for the second year and payed all the fees. Hey Govt., how about we only register a vehicle when it changes hands? How does re-registering it every year when nothing concerning ownership has changed make sense, don't our public servants have better things to do with their time? Maybe it should be mandatory that the dealership include the projected excise taxes for the life of the vehicle on the window sticker somewhere or would that just irritate the consumer and cause a big stink? You'd think the bit about being secure in our property that our founders spoke of would apply to exercising the intended use of said property without unreasonable government intervention. Just some thing to ponder...

Hi Glenn I remember hearing Bill O'Reilly joking (?) that you were building a bunker in Maine. As a resident of Maine I'd like to say " run for your life brother!" Trust me you don't want to be here when it hits the fan. Maine has been ruled by Liberals for so long now that we may as well be Massachusetts. In the local Liberal rag there were two stories that might interest you. One is that a Dem. representative of Portland is advancing a bill to allow non US citizens the right to vote in local elections. The other story deals with a bill to make it mandatory that all transfers of firearms be through a licensed dealer, No gifts to a family member, no lending a rifle to a hunting buddy, no leaving a gun to a family member in your will, without a federal background check. So much for property rights and the second amendment. I would like to be the first to welcome you to the state and lend a hand with your bunker but I'll be moving soon. I can't stomach being a red man in a very blue state. Wyoming is calling. Good luck Brother.
Dar1961