The 2012 Endorsement

Never an entity to brook the tide of popular convention, the Madison Conservative has taken note of the omnipotent practice of various and sundry scribes and editorial boards publicly announcing their endorsement of a specific candidate for elective office.

This willingness to subjugate one of this nation’s founding principles is indeed perplexing to the Madison Conservative. Men and women, far superior to those currently searching for temporary power via elective office, have willingly laid down their lives to protect the sanctity of the secret ballot.

This nation has fought to protect and defend this nations’ freedom to vote in an atmosphere of safety and security.

The belief that any individual or organization is somehow ordained to provide direction for the electorate is paramount to a non military coup de tat.

This is not hyperbole – it speaks to the right of the people to vote how they choose without fear of recriminations by the state. When the state endorses, by its silence, the mass media ability to announce support for a specific candidate then freedom itself is under assault.

Does publishing an endorsement count as a campaign contribution? Surely an endorsement lists a candidates positive record without veering into their negatives. In short, it is a political commercial.

For a nation looking for leadership, the willingness to allow such blatant attempts to pollute the public discourse is shameful.

For that reason, the Madison Conservative is hereby making its endorsement for President of the United States thusly:

VOTE.

The Madison Conservative has a preference for whom it will cast its constitutionally protected vote, but will extol that opinion solely from behind the curtain of the voting booth. The Madison Conservative has but one vote and will not consider revealing that precious gift from our founders and framers under any circumstances. That should be the nature of all votes and any attempt at endorsements.

Somewhere today, someone will willingly lay down their lives for the hope that maybe someday their posterity will be able to vote freely and unencumbered by the state.

Do not suffer the fate of those who once thought that any assault on freedom was a merely a question of degree.

It is with the first link of ambivalence that the chain of tyranny is formed.

The Weeks Tidbits - 10-21-2012

Two disparate news blurb postings this week on many levels encapsulate what is at the heart of this election and what it means for this nation moving forward.

First, Trinity Church in New York City this week announced that it will need to cancel its annual Halloween festivities. Oddly enough it is not because of some mindlessly aggrieved collection of people that have successfully litigated the issue but rather because of a group of misguided people exercising what they falsely believe are their constitutional rights. A collective of protesters from the Occupy Wall Street enclave are encamped on the sidewalk in front of Trinity.

Church officials have explained that it is their belief to hold festivities with the aforementioned encampment on their doorstep would put the children into potentially harmful situations and so they are acting prudently and preemptively: quoting from the officially released statement – “Last year, more than 1,200 people took part. However, we are deeply concerned about the escalating illegal and abusive activity the camp presents.”

Ed Needham, an Occupy Wall Street organizer, said he found it "frankly disingenuous" for the church to cancel its Halloween celebration.

The second incident of note came from the on-air comments made by the almost comical Chris Matthews, who stated on his MSNBC ‘Hardball’ show, in discussing the second presidential debate and Mr. Romney’s interaction with the President that:

“I don’t think he understands the Constitution of the United States…He’s the president of the United States. You don’t say, ‘you’ll get your chance.’”

There are so many issues raised with this type of ignorant and sycophantic comment.

Consider that Mr. Matthews spent a sizeable part of his professional career on Capitol Hill, working in various and sundry capacities including stints as a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and as an aide to former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill.

There is much hue and cry, whining and bluster by some about a mass media bias. Mr. Matthews is not exhibiting any bias in his comments; he is demonstrating outright stupidity.

His comments, again, live on air, apparently attempt to convey now that Mr. Romney is in violation of a constitutional protection of the president.

It can be discussed whether Mr. Romney may have been rude, or even possibly disrespectful, but to spew forth the claim of constitutional infringement goes beyond even extreme partisanship.

One wonders if Mr. Matthews will extend such concerns to Mr. Romney, should he win the election.

What these two seemingly seperate tidbits demonstrate however is just how far this nation has come to allowing the inmates to run the asylum.

It is absolutely unconstitutional to block access to a church, or to illegally assemble, but it is condoned  because the mass media seems to believe that the ‘righteousness’ of the Occupy Wall Street protesters endows them with the right to flaunt the laws that the average citizen must obey. Mr. Matthews gives voice to this concept by publicly claiming constitutional privilege for what is at most a poor demonstration of manners by Mr. Romney.

Bestowing rights of non-confrontation to an elected leader, but allowing, even encouraging confrontation because the cause is somehow ‘just’ shows how intellectually bankrupt much of the extreme left has become.

They can do and say what they wish, apparently, because they are so much more politically pure than anyone else.

Rubbish.

America must be vigilant to keep these charlatans of freedom and their ilk from infecting the body politic. The Occupy Wall Street thugs and punks should be moved by the police or arrested. Mr. Matthews should be removed from his position as an on air political personality.

If the electorate does not demand these actions be taken, then it must be interpreted as the axiom that their silence is acceptance of these transgressions against democracy.

Our founders, the framers of The United States Constitution and our posterity would be no less than ashamed of us.

We owe them, and ourselves, better.

Let your voice be heard.

Commentary - The Vice Presidential Debate

This past week saw the Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan.

Predictably, the American people were again short changed and treated with massive disrespect by both the political class and their accompanying media flacks and wide-eyed sycophants.

The Vice President is literally a stopped heartbeat away from assuming the most powerful political office on the planet.

The electorate who must decided their preferences have few unfiltered options to glean whatever information they deem pertinent to that decision. In a demonstration of political cowardice that would appall the framers and the founders, the two major political parties have cowered behind a ‘Commission on Presidential Debates’ to allow them cover from answering the relevant questions of the American people. This farcical commission determines the number and format of the debates. The process is so pathetically skewed against the exchange of ideological differences that it merely descends into pitiable political theater.

The political class and the mass media have the appalling gall to review it as if it were only sport – presenting score cards to present their opinion of who won.

This nation has serious issues and must not allow a high school debate team mentality to shape the discourse.

There were no winners in the debate; the losers were the American people.

Vice President Biden had many salient points to make, but they were obscured by his need to feign so many facial gestures one would think he was performing pantomime. He also needed to defend the policies and actions of the Obama administration, but again that requirement was lost in a haze of political performance nonsense. Congressman Ryan had the opportunity to explain much of the Romney policy choices and decisions to an American electorate thirsting for leadership. He was co-opted out of that possibility by the theatrics of Biden. That point being made, Ryan also had the responsibility to push through the Vice Presidents’ diversionary machinations to present the information the nation is looking for.

The post debate spin focused not on the policies presented, but, as in the case of an intellectually bereft MSNBC, on a scorecard of who won what issues that were, in fact, not debated.

This nation has a rich history of political discourse, perhaps best exemplified by the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. The media, needing quick sound bites to present, embrace the imbecilic formats presented by the commission, perhaps due to the fact that it does not require them to be intellectually honest about what issues are being discussed.

The American people must demand that those who wish to be hired as temps in the most significant political office in the nation have a forum wherein they can present their resumes for proper scrutiny.

All that was learned from the last debate is that Paul Ryan is respectful to his elders and that Joe Biden can smirk and smile no matter what the issue.

America deserves better.

The next presidential debate is Tuesday. The Madison Conservative is urging the American electorate to hound their representatives in Congress with e-mails demanding clarity in the debate process; to post on their social media that they demand a true debate; and if queried as to their preferences by pollsters, to respond that they are voting for the Druid candidate.

Accepting the idea of two minute answers and thirty second responses is the act of cowards, not leaders.

We owe ourselves and our posterity no less.

The Debate Aftermath

There has been much written and discussed in the aftermath of the presidential debate this past week.

Political and media hacks have attempted to score it, to dissect it as if it were merely a sporting event of little consequence.

Idiocy has abounded but little in the way of intelligent discourse has been offered in the wake of the debate.

Social media outlets have let fly the most outrageous claims and comments about their perceived winner or loser. Explanations have been offered as to the reasons behind each candidate’s performance, but little has been presented to provide the needed context of the debate. The scurrilous attacks and libelous comments have done little to shine a light on the real issues facing this nation, and the mass media is the greatest offender of all.

It seems that most of the blogs, comments on such outlets such as Facebook, and network programs have all missed the most critical, the most salient point and the accompanying hypocrisy should make all Americans cringe with embarrassment.

To wit:

One of these men, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, will be President of the United States on January 20^th, 2013.

He will be the leader of the freest nation the world has ever seen.

He will be the voice of democracy around the planet.

He will be the leader of ALL Americans.

He will have assumed his responsibilities without a single bullet having been fired.

He will face what we are told is a divided nation, a country with financial issues that are quickly spiraling out of control.

This nation was built on the freedom of speech and the right to criticize its leaders, to demand that they answer to the people and govern only by the consent of the governed.

On one hand the mass media decries the partisanship of Washington and attempt to imply that the ‘system’ is broken and then with the other hand present the opinion that the President is but a socialist and Mr. Romney a felon and a liar.

The stench of hypocrisy is almost too much to bear.

This is America, a nation built upon the premise that it is continually in pursuit of a more perfect union, a land where all men are created equal, and that it is a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Is it now a nation of hate spewing intolerant imbeciles?

Of course not.

The American people are fair, honest and forgiving. America has always been drawn together in times of strife, struggle and hardship.

The man standing on the Capitol steps taking the oath of office at noon on January 20^th will need the full support of the people.

America may have to tolerate the ignorance of free speech, but it need not be accepted as advocacy.

The Madison Conservative, by definition, does not embrace the liberal philosophy. That being said, it must also be remembered that the last time an entire nation was presented as being in unison, it was Germany in the 1930’s.

That really did not work out well.

So, if one feels antipathy to a candidate, or religious fervor for one, it must never be forgotten that those who came before gave their all so that this nation might remain free.

Please consider that before you post to Facebook that your candidate is so much better than that human disgrace running against him.

And let the debates continue.

That is America.