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The Republican Gazette
MONDAY APRIL 6, 2009
It was inevitable, I suppose. A society that increasingly thinks of the federal government as a giant panacea would slowly but surely reach the point where it quietly acquiesces to that same government taking over our major corporations and banks, redirecting our faith and our focus, and finally becoming the Big Brother that has been warned about for decades, but now seems like a comforting and trusted older sibling rather than a totalitarian boogeyman.
The most effective and lasting coups are those that happen without a shot being fired, and instead occur by a people willingly handing over control. That is what we are witnessing today in the United States of America, as a lonely nation turns its eyes to Washington and says, please, solve our problems and protect us from ourselves.
Despite what some conservative commentators and columnists try to postulate, this is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue, since our society as a whole shares equal culpability in this quiet but swift shift from capitalism to socialism. The groundwork for the current movement was laid as far back as the Great Depression, and the last real effort to stem its inexorable march occurred in the 1980s. But an entrenched Congress by then was already too dominated by pork barrel adherents to let any term-limited president enact lasting change.

A nation of victims has finally won out
The liberal philosophy that we are a nation of victims in need of government’s heavy hand became foundational enough through the years that all that was needed to make the transition complete was a financial crisis on Wall Street and a quick series of government bailouts that began, yes, with a Republican president, a fact that kept conservatives at bay long enough for a True Believer to take the White House and show everyone what government intervention is really all about. George W. Bush may have succumbed in part to Big Brother’s siren song, but Barack Obama has trained his whole life to lead the choir in its most perfect melody. There has seldom been such an ideal coming together of a man and his times.    
Simply put, Barack Obama has always believed that the government should control every aspect of the lives of its countrymen, and he has stepped into the presidency at the exact moment that a majority of Americans, for the first time, essentially agrees with him and is ready to declare that the capitalistic model no longer works. Aided in large part by capitalists whose abuse of the system led to public outrage, Obama’s cure is not to reset the structure so it can be self-corrected, but instead to end it completely. With a willing nation at his side, not to mention, just importantly, a compliant and supportive Big Media, Obama is leading the United States into a new era of socialism and totalitarianism, while Americans not only stand by and watch as it happen, but say thank you as well.
Pay attention, America. You are witnessing the most historic change in the very fiber of our nation since our founding. You are watching a president who thinks of himself as "transitional," and the transition is much more than many understand. Barack Obama fancies himself no less than the second coming of Lincoln. But whereas Lincoln was a man who almost reluctantly rose to his occasion, Obama is a man who fought tooth and nail to make sure he was here when the opportunity presented itself. Where Lincoln believed in freedom and equal opportunity for all, Obama believes that opportunity is not in and of itself enough; the government must ensure equality for all – in income, housing, education and status  -- even for those who have little interest in lifting a finger to acquire it through their own initiative. Under Obama, we will not have equal opportunity to live the American dream; we will all be handed the American dream, even if doing so requires a Robin Hood form of government, and the boundaries of the dream are narrowly redefined.

Big Brother has been handed power willingly
There is no shock or surprise about any of this. For years, the “sovereign states” have been happily empowering the federal Big Brother at the cost of their own independence. The federal government says it will withhold highway dollars unless states agree with its driver alcohol limit of .08? No problem, we’ll lower the alcohol limit to get the federal funds, and thank you very much. The federal government says it will create education standards that must be met, or no money for your schools? Then meet those standards we will. Through the power of its massive purse (or, absent that, the ability to print its own IOU’s to be paid back decades later), the federal government holds its states hostage through its endless mandates, and no state has the willpower to resist.
And now, the President of the United States and his government will set the rules for industry and corporations, and decide how much money executives will be allowed to be paid and, in some cases, who those people will be who get to be executives. The president and Congress will eventually decide the wages of workers, the benefits that will be provided to them, and the costs of goods and services for all of us. It will not be difficult; many countries have been doing it for decades and offer a time-tested model to follow. 
Even more compliant in our current transition from democracy to socialism are those states, like West Virginia, that engage in their own form of Big Brother-ism. From empowering unelected health departments to control the rules of private businesses well beyond the safety of the food they serve, to handing over control to the governor of agencies and departments that were previously independent, to requiring restaurants to post calorie contents to protect us from ourselves, to the very acceptance of the philosophy that a Robert C. Byrd has been the state’s great benefactor because of the tax dollars of others he has redirected to his state in lieu of the state supporting itself, we have surrendered all rights and responsibilities. In the name of better health or more effective government, we now stand and applaud as the very fabric of freedom is being ripped out from under us, like a magician removes a tablecloth with the flick of a wrist without jarring the condiments, plates and silverware that are resting upon it.

The only god left to worship is Mother Earth
Not only have we surrendered our daily lives to the wisdom of those we elect, we have also forfeited our ability to talk bluntly and openly about issues. George Orwell called it “newspeak,” but we know it better as political correctness. Taxes are “revenue enhancements.” Liberals are “progressives.” Abortion is “choice.” Being handicapped is being “differently abled.” A silent prayer is a “moment of silence.” An actress is a “female actor.” Being blind is being “visually impaired.” A stewardess is a “flight attendant.” A garbage collector is a “sanitation engineer.” To be fat is to be “full figured.” Illegal aliens are “undocumented workers.” And, of course, the War on Terror is now an “overseas contingency operation.”
It has been said – not by President Obama, of course -- that when we are constrained from speaking freely, we are likewise constrained from thinking clearly. And so, we can now do neither, trading frankness in favor of hyper-sensitivity to all. To control speech is to control thought.
The final great blow to freedom has been, of course, the governmental manipulation to “go green.” Environmentalism has moved swiftly from simple good stewardship – pick up your litter – to global religion, and anyone who is not willingly baptized in the name of the New World Order into the Church of Global Warming is an enemy of our new god, Mother Earth, whom we all must obediently worship. The penalty for falling from grace is not in this case eternal damnation in a fiery hell, but instead everlasting fines, and requirements to purchase “energy credits” to pay for our sins.       
When the only god left to worship is Mother Earth, which can do nothing for us beyond our mortal lifetimes, the only moral standard left to us is our own ego, and the self-importance which each individual has now attained is realized through the appropriately named “My Space” (“me, my and mine” becoming the new Holy Trinity) and similar “social networking” sites where each of us can strive toward the fullness of our own significance via, what else, the  World Wide Web, where every eye can watch us and every trivial, useless action or thought can be immediately shared with the Whole Wide World, because, well, because our own vanity justifies it.

The great experiment is gasping its final breath
And so, goodbye, America. The great experiment in freedom, democracy and capitalism is gasping its last painful breath. To be sure, there are pockets of protest – the “tea parties” and such currently being held offer visible evidence that there are protestants afoot – but as a whole, Americans have not just surrendered, they have welcomed the complete capitulation to Big Government’s open arms.
Can there be another awakening, another movement toward independence, reaping the rewards of individual initiative, work and creativity, and openly practicing a belief in a power higher than our own who has somehow managed, and will continue to manage, to keep the earth safe and sound throughout the ages without draconian government intervention? Perhaps, but every day that we allow Big Brother to remake the rules, to put us into a heretofore unthinkable debt which most of us will never see erased in our lifetimes, to establish governmental authority over those things that once were the province of private enterprise, the further away the day when those things can even begin to be reversed, even if the national will returns to do so.
We are locking ourselves into socialism and totalitarianism for the foreseeable future, and even the most free enterprise-loving president who might be elected in 2012 will have little power or ability to undo in the near future what we have already done (although even beginning to do so would be a hopeful sign).
The United States of America was once a shining city on a hill, and a beacon of freedom and hope to oppressed people around the world. Government was of, by and for the people. Now, in America, people are for the government. It is no longer a free country, because Americans are daily surrendering their own freedoms and welcoming their own growing oppression, and it is no longer important to be free, or live in the land of opportunity. It is more important now to make sure we are loved by the rest of the world, which means becoming more like the rest of the world, which is the opposite of what America tried to be in its best days.  And the rapidity with which it is happening is startling, as we sleepwalk into the 21st Century and embark on a future whose path has been well trodden by fellow travelers of the past.
We are entering a dark, dark age, the irony being that in this new dark age, those of us who continue to resist will be increasingly labeled as the unenlightened ones -- backward thinking, racist, selfish, unhealthy, insensitive bigots who somehow don’t care about our fellow man (and, excuse me, PC police, our fellow woman). 
The world is officially upside down, and many of us will no doubt fall off, leaving Mother Earth to those who are willing to make any sacrifice to spread the Gospel of Obama, and be well thought of by like-minded brethren who have been properly indoctrinated.
The Republican Gazette is owned, operated, written and edited by Gary Abernathy, and does not represent the views of any other person or organization, except for guest commentary signed by other contributors.
Pay attention, Americans. You are witnessing the most historic change in our fiber since our founding.
TUESDAY APRIL 7, 2009
Iowa gay marriage event couldn't happen in WV?
When the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of forcing that midwestern state to allow same-sex marriages, it sent shivers down the spine of West Virginia politicians and pontificaters who have been resisting the need for a constitutional amendment here defining marriage as, well, not between a couple of guys or a couple of gals.
And yet, they continued to insist, it couldn't happen here. Our high court would never go for it. Our justices have to stand for election here, and that alone would prevent a ruling in favor of gay marriage, they say.
Don't be so sure. A ruling is expected soon from the West Virginia Supreme Court on a high-profile lesbian adoption case, and depending on how that comes out, the debate over whether gay marriage could be ruled constitutional in West Virginia might reignite. We'll see. But I don't see our current court as particularly conservative on social issues.
Obama applauded for saying same thing Bush always said about Muslims
When President Obama said this week that the United States “is not and will never be at war with Islam,” and other such things, he was hailed in the media as a statesman and fence mender.
But President Bush often said almost exactly the same thing, including this statement: “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.” 
For a nice comparison of Obama v. Bush in regard to their comments on the issue, click here.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 8, 2009
Foster, others in Legislature still don't understand why calorie count bill is not a very weighty issue
After the misguided bill to require some restaurants to post calorie information was killed in a House committee yesterday, Sen. Dan Foster still didn't seem to get it, at least according to today's Charleston Gazette, which reported as follows:
"This is an issue that's important to people around the country," said Foster, predicting that restaurants will give in to consumer demand for menu labeling.
Exactly! If restaurants "give in to consumer demand for menu labeling," then that's how it's supposed to work -- the market drives such things, not government. Restaurants and other businesses
should adjust to consumer demand because it's good business -- not because the government mandates such things.
Foster, of course, is a doctor, and sometimes there's nothing worse than a doctor with law making powers. Too many doctors seem to believe they were elected to enact health measures, as though the Capitol is some kind of giant urgent care center.
The government's job is not to make people healthier, even under the excuse of saving money. The right to be unhealthy is sometimes part of the price of being a free society of people able to make free choices.
Republicans try to stem huge tax hike, job losses in jobless benefit bill
Republicans in the House of Delegates are fighting today to try to stem one of the biggest tax hikes in state history in connection with a bill related to unemployment compensation.
Unless it is stopped, Democrats in the Legislature are poised to pass a bill that would double what small businesses currently pay in unemployment taxes and cost countless jobs.
House GOP Leader Tim Armstead and his caucus are holding a 1:30 p.m. press conference today to discuss their own plan to preserve jobless benefits without a tax hike. After that, at 2 p.m., they will hold a public hearing on the matter.
Several Republican lawmakers were going on local talk radio around the state to warn businesses of the coming tax hike, as well as contacting small businesses around the state who are not well represented by official "pro-business" organizations.
Manchin expected to name McHugh to post replacing Joseph Albright
Gov. Joe Manchin today is expected to name Thomas McHugh as the permanent replacement for the late Joseph P. Albright, according to published reports.
Manchin had originally said he was going to appoint a committee to recommend names for the replacement, but an almost universal call for McHugh to keep serving on the court has apparently swayed the governor.
McHugh has been sitting in for Albright since the late justice first fell ill last year, and when Albright passed away recently, Chief Justice Brent Benjamin appointed McHugh to fill the post until Manchin named a permanent replacement.
With McHugh on the bench, the high court has been operating smoothly, and so far all 28 decisions issued by the court have been by unanimous decision.
McHugh is likely not the kind of judge that conservatives or Republicans would want to serve beyond 2010, when an election will be held to choose Albright's successor. But if Manchin chose someone else now to fill the spot, it would likely be a Democrat who would run for election and be difficult to defeat, having the advantage of incumbency. So, given that McHugh is in his 70s and has demonstrated an ability to work well with his fellow justices, his appointment by Manchin makes sense for all sides.
Delegate Pat McGeehan will be hosting an Energy Independence Summit in the Governor's Press Conference Room today beginning at noon.
The Summit will include Department of Defense officials, several coal executives, airline executives and other interested parties to start the process of building a coal-to-liquid facility in West Virginia. The event is billed as a "road map to build the nation's first coal-to-liquid plant."
There will be a question and answer session for the press at 3:00 p.m.
Originally, it was announced that Gov. Joe Manchin would attend the event, but his office later notified McGeehan that Manchin would not attend.
McGeehan hosting energy summit today
Newspapers on last legs? Let's hope not, for the sake of good info
It seems that every week brings more bad news for the newspaper industry, with more bankruptcies and closings reported across the country.
While the internet and a sour economy have threatened newspapers, their demise would be a blow to the flow of good information, versus rumor and unsubstantiated gossip, which is what fills most blogs and other online forms of "news." Regardless of whether newspapers have a bias or editorial slant, most of them still have standards of journalism that require fact checking, multiple sources, etc., to ensure that the news they report is accurate.
If they ever fall completely by the wayside, we'll be left with nothing except, as Daily Mail columnist Dave Peyton wrote recently, the "Daily Me."
THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2009
House GOP Leader Tim Armstead and fellow Republican caucus members address the media Wednesday at a press conference describing an alternative to raising unemployment premiums on small businesses across the state.
GOP stands up for small businesses with alternate plan on unemployment bill
House Republicans unveiled a plan Wednesday to secure the unemployment compensation fund while foregoing additional premiums for small businesses across West Virginia.
While Democrats are preparing to hike premiums, likely costing jobs across the state, the Republican plan would make up needed funds by dipping into the so-called Rainy Day Fund -- something Gov. Joe Manchin and the Dems seem to consider untouchable. (Read a good recap in the Beckley Register-Herald.)
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the state Chamber of Commerce is supporing the Democrat plan. But local chambers are a different story, and the president of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce spoke out against the bill at a press conference Wednesday, and small businesses around the state have called and emailed with complaints about the bill.
In fact, much of the support for the "agreed upon" bill by the established "business community" is reportedly lukewarm  at best and came after heavy pressure was applied from the governor and Democrat leaders.
The plan offered by the GOP caucus includes using the Rainy Day Fund to ensure continued stability in the fund instead of imposing drastic tax increases that would represent at least a $70 million additional tax burden on West Virginia employers. 
In a press release, Armstead said, "Over 24,000 West Virginians have lost their jobs this year alone. Placing millions of dollars of new taxes on West Virginia's businesses will likely result in more West Virginians losing their jobs. Our proposal would allow the unemployment fund to be stabilized without imposing new taxes that will result in additional job losses."
SB 246, as passed by the House Finance Committee, would increase the base wage rate from $8,000 to $12,000 representing a fifty percent tax increase on employers for each and every employee.  The Republican members of the House of Delegates have proposed shifting funds, as needed on a periodic basis, from the state Rainy Day Fund.  The Rainy Day Fund currently contains in excess of $400 million.
"The Rainy Day Fund is there to help the state address both natural disasters and other economic demands.  The current challenge in the unemployment fund is certainly one which warrants use of such funds in order to avoid massive tax increases that will worsen the economic downturn," added Armstead.
The
oath of
office
Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, left, administers the oath of office to Justice Tom McHugh, far right, as Gov. Joe Manchin looks on.
Benjamin swears in Tom McHugh as new justice after Manchin selection
Thomas McHugh was sworn in as a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court on Wednesday after Gov. Joe Manchin tapped him to take the seat of the late Justice Joe Albright.
In remarks at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol, Manchin said he originally planned to consider recommendations from a committee on replacing Albright. But it became clear to him that a concensus of opinion centered around keeping McHugh on the bench. McHugh has been sitting in for Albright since the late justice's illness last year, and Chief Justice Brent Benjamin had appointed McHugh to continue in the role after Albright's death and pending Manchin's appointment.
Manchin said he had never seen such complete support from all sides of the political spectrum for one individual in a lifetime of politics, so he asked McHugh to continue serving, which he will do until the election of 2010, when voters will decide who fills the remaining two years of Albright's term.
Manchin said, "Across the state there is such extreme consensus that Tom McHugh is an excellent Justice, of the highest caliber. I am honored that he has accepted this appointment.” Manchin said that the West Virginia Supreme Court is the busiest appellate court of its kind in the entire country and it was necessary to find a person to fill this position who has extensive judicial experience.
McHugh said, “It is a privilege for me to continue working with the Justices of the Court. I wish to note the encouragement of my wife, Judy, and my family as well as many members of the judiciary, have given me. It is my desire to serve the citizens of our state as a Supreme Court justice in an exemplary manner.”
Benjamin said, “We appreciate the promptness of Gov. Manchin’s appointment of Acting Justice McHugh to the position in which he has been so ably serving the people. This appointment helps underscore the stability and predictability of our Supreme Court.  On a personal note, I am delighted to be able to continue working with my friend, Tom McHugh.”
WV Blue gets red over 'Goodbye, America'
The "progressive" Democrat website West Virginia Blue has taken exception to my Monday column, "Goodbye, America", and actually found a way to link me to Richard Poplawski, the individual charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers, writing, "...even Republicans like West Virginia Republican Party executive director Gary Abernathy, who should know better, are spreading falsehoods which only encourages people to hold a similar world view as Poplawski's." Right.
The author of the piece, "Carnacki," writes, "It is hard to fathom that such incendiary and irresponsible words came from a state leader such as Abernathy. It is not hard to see, however, how such falsehoods could cause a troubled man to take up arms." So, don't read my column, or you might kill someone.
FRIDAY APRIL 10, 2009
Socialist candidate for president
foresaw today's political landscape
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
--Norman Thomas, six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.
The late Mr. Thomas may not have been a successful candidate for president, but he was apparently clairvoyant, foreseeing the presidency of Barack Obama and the philosophies both in economics and foreign policy that are currently being employed by Obama, Hillary Clinton and other current Obama administration officials.
(By the way, emails being circulated claim that Mr. Thomas also added, "I no longer need to run as a presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform." But that particular quote is still unverified -- although the truth of the statement does not hinge on Thomas saying it.)
Blair working on amendment to protect small businesses from jobless premium hikes
Del. Craig Blair is planning to introduce an amendment to the unemployment rate hike bill that would exempt businesses that employ 20 or fewer workers from the premium jumps being planned by Democrats.
SB 246, as passed by the House Finance Committee and being promoted by Gov. Joe Manchin and legislative Democrats, would increase the base wage rate on all employers from $8,000 to $12,000, representing a fifty percent tax increase on employers for each and every employee.
But Blair and other House Republicans say the bill disproportionately hurts small businesses. Blair says that typical "mom and pop" businesses that employ six to 16 people are paying about $2 million into the system, but take only about a half million out -- meaning for every $4 they put in, they are only costing about $1. Major manufacturers, on the other hand, are taking about $1.20 out for every $1 they put in.
Under Blair's amendment, businesses with 20 or fewer employees would see their rates remain where they are currently.
Blair's planned amendment was being talked about by an increasing number of lawmakers on Thursday, and by today it might pick up enough support to actually be passed as part of the final bill -- although in principle, Republicans remain opposed to the concept of raising premiums for any businesses, instead preferring a plan outlined Wednesday by House GOP leader Tim Armstead (see story below in Thursday's post).    
Republicans gaining traction with resolution asking for DOMA action
House Republicans are gaining traction with a resolution asking Gov. Joe Manchin to address the need for a Defense of Marriage Amendment in either a special session, or during the budget session later this spring.
A resolution being circulated has reportedly picked up virtually all 29 House Republicans, and as many as 20 Democrat signatures.
The need for a constitutional amendment defining marriage was driven home recently when Iowa was forced to recognize gay marriages by a ruling of its state Supreme Court.
That turn of events has quieted the typical West Virginia Democrat argument that an amendment is unnecessary because state law already precludes gay marriage.
Fact is, Iowa had a similar statute in state code, but the Iowa Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional -- and the same thing could happen in West Virginia without the issue being made part of the constitution.
Kessler for governor? Another dose of reality needed in politics
Sen. Jeff Kessler this week announced his candidacy for governor in 2012 -- that's right, 2012 -- barely five months since the last gubernatorial campaign.
Kessler, a Democrat from Marshall County, appeared on "Talkline" and in essence told host Hoppy Kercheval that he either wrote or had a hand in every good bill that has happened in the last decade or so. Modesty will not be his campaign theme.
Actually, I have met Sen. Kessler a couple of times, and he seems like a very nice fellow. But he will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever be elected governor of West Virginia, or even win the Democrat nomination, and he's another in a long line of candidates (can you say Billy Wayne Bailey?) whose ability to ignore the obvious makes you wonder how they got as far as they have.
The most telling part of Kessler's interview with Hoppy was when Kessler was asked whether he could raise money, and he replied that money wasn't everything -- which is what candidates tend to say who end up calling to congratulate the winners.