 | ||||
| ||||
The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included. Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.The following was forwarded to me from Joe Parsons of West Virginia Radio, and it's unfortunately not outrageous to suggest we might need to adopt it in real life. It has been attributed to State Rep. Mitchell Kaye from Georgia, but regardless of its origins, so much of it is all too relevant."We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights." ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything. ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be. ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy. ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes. (This one is my pet peeve...get an education and go to work....don't expect everyone else to take care of you!) ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care. ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair. ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure. ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights. ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from! ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Dr. Doug McKinney released the following statement regarding the first Democratic presidential forum of the 2008 campaign Wednesday in Nevada.“The people of West Virginia will see a lot of candidates at today’s Democratic forum, but we will not see a single President among them. With this first Democratic debate taking place nearly 21 months before the 2008 election, it’s clear that the Democrats have far more candidates than good ideas. “We know that Hillary Clinton is now against the war in Iraq, even though she voted for it when it seemed more popular. We’ve heard John Edwards complain that there are ‘two Americas,’ even though he fails to explain which America his $4.2 million mansion resides in. Today’s forum will feature a cast of second-tier characters trying desperately to race to the left to appeal to the MoveOn members who want to choose the Democrat nominee. Yet, there will be an empty seat reserved for Barack Obama, adding to the impression that – as one national political reporter put it – his campaign is in a ‘bubble.’“What we need to see today is a serious discussion of the issues. Unfortunately, none of the Democratic candidates are talking about how to achieve victory in Iraq. They have not offered a serious economic plan – aside from publicly confirming that they intend to raise taxes. And these candidates do not have a plan for energy independence or health care – as opposed to the aggressive proposals that the President unveiled during his State of the Union address last month. “These are issues that are critically important to our state, and they are critically important to the nation. That’s why we need to hear real solutions for America today – not hypocrisy or political rhetoric.”Yours truly frequently rails against intrusive government actions that seem designed to turn Uncle Sam into everyone's mom or dad, specifically smoking laws, mandated vaccines for school girls, healthy eating initiatives, etc.But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there are ways that government should try to protect us from ourselves. Here are two examples of mandates I would fully support in the interest of public health and safety:* No straight ticket voting. Eliminating straight ticket voting, popularly known in Democrat circles as "pulling the rooster," should be eliminated for the health, prosperity and * No "office jumping." A law to protect citizens from political abuse by prohibiting candidates from seeking reelection to one office, then resigining almost immediately to accept appointment to another office. The law is necessary to protect voters from themselves -- voters who otherwise will vote for said candidate even knowing he will not serve. It could be called the Manchin-Beane Bill. Del. Doug Reynolds, the Democrat who beat Greg Howard by spending $188,000 on his election, campaigned on lowering the gas prices by civilly and criminally suing retailers. But when given the opportunity to vote to sunset the .205 gas tax to save the citizens 5 cents per gallon, he voted against it by voting for the bill that extended it. 