Why is the Iowa Democratic Party so infatuated with the Republican gubernatorial candidates more than nine months away from the primary?  I realize that they are probably anything but proud of their standard bearer's performance lately and are trying to distract us from that fact, but come on, accusing Bob Vander Plaats of using "rhetoric of armed extremists" is a bit of a stretch.

It's one thing to go after Christian Fong for an ad that the IDP believes is misleading (which might be a fruitful effort if Fong was recognized in more than one area of Iowa) but it's another thing to accuse Vander Plaats of  "inflammatory speech" when the issue at hand was about President Obama's health care plan.  Perhaps the IDP doesn't want to address why the constituents are riled up at the town halls or why Governor Culver is failing so badly.

By the way, President Obama has done wonders for the gun and ammunition industry.  Perhaps it is because the 2nd Amendment is in place to allow us to protect ourselves from our own government.  After all, we need something to cling to.

I attended my first townhall yesterday and it happened to be Representative Leonard Boswell's in Des Moines on the topic of the health care bill.  I now realize it will be my last townhall.  I have come to the conclusion that a Type A personality like myself is best left to sitting behind the computer as I cannot deal with people who have no sense of individual responsibility.

If you have ever seen the movie WALL-E you will recognize those lazy, unproductive people on the space ship who have everything spoon fed to them because earth is no longer safe to dwell on as who we will become when the government begins to take over every aspect of our lives and spoon feeds us.  I believe that the most important part of the movie is when the earth becomes able to sustain life again but the computer on board of the space ship has orders to never to return the people back to earth but to keep them captive in space.  I don't think I need to explain the analogy to you.

I am going to share with you my favorite question for Boswell at the townhall.  It was the last question and one he never answered.  Welcome to the world of WALL-E.

This morning the Des Moines Register demonstrated extremely poor judgment when it published an article about the Town Hall hosted by 3^rd District Congressman Leonard Boswell this past Sunday. I have to question whether the reporter credited with authoring the article was even in attendance or if he allowed a member of Boswell’s staff to pen the article. But alas; near the end of the article the proof that it was indeed not one of Boswell’s staffers that authored it. At one point the article even misrepresents a comment from Boswell, an error that even Boswell’s staff could not possibly overlook. I am not going to go through the article to point out the inaccuracies or the author’s bias. Instead I intend to provide you with a true recollection of the event as I was in attendance.  

The very first thing that I noticed was before the event ever began. As I was pulling into the parking lot I witnessed a large group of what can only be called organizers. But contrary to what has been published in the mainstream media it was not a conservative group organizing. It was none other than President Obama’s perpetual campaign team Organizing for America recruiting people to attend the event in support of the presidents health care agenda. They were passing out signs and signing people up to support the president’s ungainly monstrosity.

Once I entered the venue I felt like I had walked into a political rally. The atmosphere was unreal. You could hear the people belittling those that opposed the plan. People were passing out signs supporting the Democrats health care reform proposals. In addition to this obvious organization was the large presence of members of AFSCME. The public employee union that determined that its members needed a raise as millions of other Americans have been forced to cut back. Of course they were there to support the folly that is President Obama’s health care reform plan. Once again there was absolutely no evidence of conservative, Republican, or even insurance industry organizing to oppose health care reform.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with anyone organizing a group of like minded individuals to make sure that your points are heard. But when you are going to condemn one side for imagined organization you had better condemn the other for blatant organization. The lack of comment from the party of debt about what they themselves have termed “Astroturf” or false grassroots movements clearly demonstrates their hypocritical nature. As a matter of fact Congressman Boswell seemed to encourage the organized supporters.

As I have stated already, the atmosphere within this Town Hall seemed more appropriate for a campaign rally rather than a serious discussion and debate on the future of health care in our nation. The level of ignorance demonstrated by those in support of the legislation was astounding. It seemed that these people were more willing to believe a politician rather than doing the necessary research to understand the bill themselves. In the end this event was nothing more than a reelection rally for Leonard Boswell. And the Des Moines Register once again proves it is little more than the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.

On Saturday, August 22, Team Huck members from across America hosted house parties in order to make phone calls for Huck PAC endorsed candidate Bob McDonnell who is the Republican running for Virginia Governor.  The goal for the day was to make 10,000 phone calls for McDonnell in order to recognize supporters for GOTV in November.  The house parties, along with individual members making calls on their own, surpassed the 10,000 goal.  It looks like Mike Huckabee's grassroots support is alive and well.

In addition to his PAC activities, Huckabee has returned home recently from a trip from Israel.  There is an interesting first person account of his trip from someone who toured with the Governor.

Huckabee also continues to voice his oppostion to President Obama's plan to reform health care.  For the last two months his closing comments on his Fox News show, Huckabee, have addressed this issue with the two best being "Doctors Should Make a Lot of Money" and "Why Government-Run Health Care is a Bad Idea."  He has also kept Americans informed on the health care debate on his Huck PAC website with videos which covers subjects such as elective abortions, the number of uninsured, and how this plan will affect small businesses.

Huck PAC endorsed candidate Bob McDonnell who is the Republican running for Governor of Virginia in November is reaping the benefits of being backed by Governor Mike Huckabee.  The nationwide grassroots organization of Huck PAC which is present in all fifty states, Team Huck, will be making 10,000 calls into Virgina on behalf of McDonnell on August 22nd.  Some volunteers are also hosting Huck PAC house parties in order to get the phone calling completed.  (There are over thirty house parties across America currently planned.)

While Huck PAC has lagged behind its rivals in fundraising it is interesting to see how they use the immense grassroots support that they have to assist candidates which is not characteristic of a normal PAC, however, nothing about Huckabee and his shocking rise to the top is characteristic of any other politician.  It seems that Huck PAC is not a cookie cut out PAC but instead utilizing its one of a kind asset:  the power of the people.

Find out more about the Huck PAC house parties here and learn about the Team Huck volunteers who have individually pledged to make fifty calls for Bob McDonnell here.  You can also donate to help the efforts of Huck PAC and Team Huck.

We live in the greatest country on earth where we cherish life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and boast the First Amendment to our Constitution as being the best thing about being an American.  However, when it comes to the topic of religion or lack thereof it's those who profess to believe in the Christian God who seem to get the shaft when it comes to the freedom of speech.

One example that has happened lately on this matter is in Florida where a principal and an athletic director are being criminally charged for saying a prayer to a room full of adults.  Do you think this same thing would have happened if a Muslim wanted to pray to Allah?  Would they threaten to throw the Muslim in jail for exercising his/her freedom on speech?  Of course not because our country is all about diversity and being able to express yourself and welcoming all different views of religion.  Unless, of course, your religion happens to be the Christian one.

Anther example happened right here in Des Moines, Iowa, when the DART buses started carrying advertisements for atheists saying that it is okay not to believe in God.  I cringe at this because the DART buses are known for striking down pedestrians, and if anybody needs to know God it is those who venture in the proximity of a DART bus.  The ads were eventually taken off because of immense criticism but then DART was forced to put them back up by the ACLU.  Do you really think a pro-God advertisement would have won this battle?  Heck no, because our country is only diverse when it comes to non-God things.  What's most disturbing is that a DART employee has been suspended because she didn't want to drive a bus that directly violated her faith.  There were buses that didn't have the atheist ad on them but DART decided to suspend her instead of giving her one of those buses to drive.

I realize that many races, religions, etc... are discriminated against at one time or another but it seems like when it comes to belief in God then that discrimination is okay and it is wrong to cry foul.  Remember, tolerance only exists if the other side agrees with you which is why I better keep my mouth shut about President Obama's latest "decision."