My copy of the 3rd edition of The
American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language (published in
1992…yeah, a “real book” to you digitally-connected upstarts) defines “courage”
according to the following definition: “The state or quality of mind or
spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with
self-possession, confidence, and resolution.”
With this definition, I do not have
to bother ‘qualifying’ the type of courage I am going to discuss with regards
to people in the political arena because the word “courage” describes a
state of mind, not a type of action.
Whether a person faces fear due to
physical danger to life and limb on a battlefield of war, or they face fear of
losing one’s livelihood or way of life by decisions they make, the “fear” of
what might happen if you do “X”, “Y”, or “Z” is, in most cases, considered
before every single act is taken.
To overcome any fear requires
“self-possession, confidence, and resolution.”
To overcome fear requires the
ability to silence all the negative thoughts in your head of
the unknown “What-if this…and what-if that…and So-and-so might not like me
anymore…and I won’t be invited to whatever”…and so on. That takes a significant
degree of wisdom and self-awareness.
Courage in Georgia Politics
When Sonny Perdue switched parties
back in 1998, I think that (regardless of his actual governorship in the 2000s)
we can honestly recognize that that took courage for him to
personally make that decision, and then take that act.
The Democrats were still in control of this state back then (House, Senate, Governor’s Office, and most of all the other constitutional offices). He was jumping to the minority party at that time, and, though there a lot of hope that year (1998), there was no definite forecast for a Republican takeover.
In the November election of 2002,
Sonny Perdue defeated then-Governor Roy Barnes. The State House was still
firmly in the hands of the Democrats, but, after the election results had
rolled-in that night, the State Senate was within 4 seats of becoming a
Republican majority.The Democrats were still in control of this state back then (House, Senate, Governor’s Office, and most of all the other constitutional offices). He was jumping to the minority party at that time, and, though there a lot of hope that year (1998), there was no definite forecast for a Republican takeover.
I was in the “war room” of the state
senate that election night when telephone negotiations were going on between
Republican senate leaders and 4 key Democrat state senators. Things like
“committee assignments” and “committee chairmanships” were promised to the
Democrat state senators if they would switch parties and join the Republicans
to “takeover” the state senate.
I put “takeover” in quotes for a
reason because…those 4 Democrat state senators did not have a ‘courageous
change of heart’ in their minds as to why they agreed to switch to the GOP:
it was an opportunity to be a bigwig in the new majority party in the
senate. And, as we’ve kinda discovered, there was a bit of a sellout on
both sides of the aisle to recruit those party switchers.
In the 2004 November elections, the
Republican Party of Georgia finally gained enough “real Republican”
candidate-wins to assume control of the State House.
And, what do these brilliant winners
decide to do? Well, apparently, in their euphoria of actually accomplishing
a hard-fought, long-sought goal of running enough Republican candidates against
Democrat candidates, these Republican folks decide to make a guy who had been a
long time Democrat up to that point in the House (who
saw what happened in the state senate two years prior with 4 Democrat
colleagues trading a party label for their own sweet opportunistic, legislative
position), their ”House Majority Leader.”
[Hmmmmmm...a
worm-infested, rotten apple gets tossed into a bushel of freshly picked green
apples...golly...can someone tell me what was bound to happen in that
case?]
House District 80
Current State Rep for HD 80 is Mike
Jacobs. Jacobs was first elected to the State House in 2004, and
served as a Democrat rep until…sometime in (I think) 2007, when he switched
parties.
Did that take courage?
Probably, maybe, some…but, the Republicans were firmly in control of the
Governor’s seat, the state house, and the state senate by that time.So, I’m not sure of what “fear” Mike faced in his own mind then because I believe he was strongly recruited to switch by centrist Republicans, as opposed to deciding on his own that he didn’t wish to remain as a member of the Democratic Party, and this was more of a switch for opportunistic reasons (like the 4 state senators in 2002, and Larry O’Neal in 2005).
Challenging Mike Jacobs this cycle
will be Catherine Bernard. I will go into more detail about Catherine
shortly, but rather than listen to me (or, “read” me) about why I have such
respect for her, and, why I support her in this race, I suggest you spend the
next 11 minutes of your life listening to her speak about herself and her
campaign for SH 80…it’s 11 minutes that will tell most
people exactly what kind of person Catherine Bernard is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VSOch_XSUto
This was recorded last Saturday at
her campaign kick-off party. For the record, I was there. (For the
record, I rarely go to any political events, but she is quite the
different kind of candidate, and quite the different kind of person.)
Establishment Class vs. Everyone
Else
To get into a meaningful discussion
here of this race, everyone needs to understand the basis for what I will say,
so, a few definitions:
1) Political Class: The political
class are all the class of people who like the current state of politics and
public policy, and are members of the “establishment.” They have no
problem with crony-capitalism.
In fact, they all tend to be
kinda-sorta engaged in it themselves. Crony capitalism, for the record,
basically entails businesses lobbying government to use the force of taxation
to either help special businesses grow larger, or to hurt smaller competitors,
and, in the process, they tend to seek to steal money from people like you and
I, the individual taxpayer. Both Republicans and Democrats enjoy participating
in crony-capitalism to the hilt, and they chalk it up to “well, that’s the way
it always works.”
2) Non-Political Class: People who
are not part of the entrenched, “Establishment” of either of the two major
political parties.
3) Liberty/Constitutional-focused
People: These are people who truly believe in the God-granted rights to
individual freedom, individual responsibility, economic freedom, personal
liberty, and a Constitutionally-constrained government.
A lot of the 9-12 folks are very
similar to the liberty-minded folks. Most of the people involved in Tea
Party groups are liberty-minded as well.
The Republican Establishment HATES,
with a fiery, jealous passion these “liberty-minded” folks.
Which, as an aside, is really kind
of strange, actually…because when I see Establishment-types post excerpts of Ayn
Rand books on their Facebook walls, where she has focused her writing on
the individual liberties and economic freedom concepts, etc…and then you look
at the disdain these same establishment types have for the
liberty-minded people, the only thing that comes to my mind is
“Wow…what a bad case of cognitive dissonance that person must
suffer from.” (Well, truth be told, there is a shorter conclusion that I
actually come to about that type of person, and it involves the use of a
9-character expression to describe their obvious state of mind.)
SO…here’s the gist of how this all relates to the HD 80 race: Mike
Jacobs is an establishment-backed candidate. All the big-wig elected
Republicans in the State House support and cherish Mike Jacobs. All the
lobbyists support Mike Jacobs. All the chambers of commerce support Mike
Jacobs…he will do their bidding with little to no regard for the
deleterious effect the legislation actually has on the individual
taxpayers in this state.
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce
ranks Mike Jacobs at 100% in agreement with the Ga Chamber’s goals.
For those of you who are not aware, the “chambers of commerce” are really
not “good” for anyone who views the growth of government as a harmful thing.
Anyone who lives in Gwinnett or Cobb knows exactly how
pernicious these two chambers are to the individual taxpayers in each of these
counties.
Last year, the Atlanta-Metro Chamber
of Commerce played a BIG role in the promotion of the T-SPLOST. See, they
don’t have the guts to come to your front door and stick a gun in your face to
rob you of your living, so they support giving the government the power to do
that (which, as an aside, also explains why most of the people at the top of
the chamber of commerces would really like to see the 2nd Amendment be
obliterated and the people forced into more slave labor situations to feed
their corporate cronies who cannot figure out how to make a buck on their own
in a more competitive, free-market environment).
So, when it comes to the “Republican
Establishment,” well, Catherine Bernard, in her experience in Tampa in 2012,
pretty much faced the toughest that the Republican Establishment could throw at
her…and, she did not back down or cave to
the “powers that be.”
THAT is an individual that has a demonstrative ability to not
give a **** about the chamber of commerce types…or, the “House Leadership” or
the Governor, or, really, anyone who might want her to bend to their
will.
The Establishment is
scared-to-death of Catherine Bernard (and, whomever she inspires).
They know they will not be able to control her. They cannot
intimidate her.
Watch her campaign speech, again.
From the conversations I have had with her, …she is a very mature adult,
and is a person who has tons of wisdom about the world for her
age. She is a soft-spoken, kind-hearted person who cares a lot about
correcting clear wrongs in society that the government, itself, has created…but,
do not mistake her quiet demeanor or her soft voice for any
kind of weakness, or an ability to push her around. She is nobody’s fool.
Now, in this video, Catherine makes
several comments about her opposition. Some might think “Oh, she’s going
negative early.”
No, in actuality, she’s responding
to what Mike Jacobs’ rabid junkyard dog/political consultant stated in
comments thru a couple of his daily newsletter editions in the previous weeks
in reference to Catherine’s candidacy.
I observed those comments as well,
just quietly biding my time. And, it is because of those comments made by
the junkyard dog (along with some various Facebook comments I’ve witnessed from
other junkyard dogs over the past month), that I, as a junkyard dog myself (and,
sometimes quite the rabid one), am publicly coming-out in support of
Catherine Bernard for this race.
I have nothing personal against Mike
Jacobs…but, I do have something against him as a representative of the
entrenched political class. I don’t perceive that he has the ability to
recognize why he should change into someone more focused on a
Constitutionally-restrained state government.
So, I must oppose his reelection,
and throw my support to help Catherine Bernard where ever, and how ever, I can.
Mike Jacobs will likely be able to
raise $150K to $300K from all of his establishment pals.
Catherine Bernard, in her speech,
talks about needing $50,000. Why is money needed? Because it takes
money to buy yard signs, pushcards, stamps, stationery, and pizza and soft
drinks. Ain’t nothing free, and winning a race requires both a bunch of volunteers
to help canvass and knock-on doors, as well as money to deliver the message via
printed material.
She is out knocking on doors as I
finish this up…she is running a totally grassroots, shoestring campaign…so, if
you call and leave a message, she may not actually be able to return a phone
call as quick as you’d like. (Be patient.)
So, please, if you are someone fed-up
with the Establishment Political Class screwing you over, checkout
Catherine Bernard’s website, her viewpoint on the issues she lists…and make
a contribution to her campaign for State House District 80.
The maximum you can give is $2300
for her primary.
The election is May 20th, but early
voting starts in 97 days. There is a “DONATE” link on her Website: http://votecatherine.com/
Conclusion
So, to loop this back to the
beginning, the definition of “courage” is “The state or quality of
mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with
self-possession, confidence, and resolution.”
Well, I think Catherine Bernard
demonstrated courage in refusing to cave to the vicissitudes of dealing with
the likes of Sue Everhart, Reince Preibus, and whoever else attempted to
browbeat her into signing a “loyalty oath” to vote for Mitt Romney at the 2012
Republican National Convention.
And, after I personally witnessed
the extent of the cheating in the various Republican county and
district conventions in Georgia in 2012, most of them designed to block the
liberty-minded Republicans as a result of direction from Chairman Sue Everhart
(and, a few of them simply designed to exact cruelty on their fellow man), it’s
time to make a stand now against the tyranny of the establishment Republicans who
expect party loyalists to continue to back everything they do without daring to
question them.
This state needs more people like
Catherine Bernard to step-up, place their name on a ballot, and run for office.
I hope you will be as inspired by her as I am, and contribute money
and/or time to help her canvass and contact voters.
This entry was posted by Bill Simon,
on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 at 8:18 pm and is filed under DeKalb County, Georgia Politics,
Georgia Races, Georgia State House
and Tagged: 2012 Republican National Convention, Ayn Rand,
Catherine Bernard, Constitutional Republicans, GA HD 80,
Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Georgia GOP,
Georgia Politics, Liberty Republicans, Michael Jacobs,
Mike Jacobs,
Mitt Romney,
political courage, Republican Establishment, Sonny Perdue,
State House District 80, Sue Everhart
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