My Other Duties

I apologize to my readers for my long absence. Just as Burke was a Member of Parliament first and a Philosopher second, I have been busy with other things. However this weekend I have been reinvigorated.

The Candidate and the Cop Killer

The other day I heard Ben and Jerry are supporting Obama; they will hand out "Cherries for Change" during the Vermont Primary. This will not force me to boycott their ice cream, for I have already stopped consuming their product. I am not protesting their liberal politics, for I still listen to Bruce, but their support for cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal is a disgrace.

Based on a rough Google search it seems Obama has never embraced the free Mumia movement. This is good for him, but as a matter of character and judgment, I wonder if the Senator from Illinois wants these “Cherries for Change” distributed officially or unofficially on behalf of his candidacy by defenders of a terrorist. He should denounce their support.

Obama is also supported by one of Mumia’s most powerful boosters, Congressman Chaka Fattah, but in fairness Hillary is supported by Mumia’s favorite mayor, John Street.

Some True Conservatives

I apologize to my 0s of readers for not posting after the first two, I was hoping to be writing almost nightly on the current events, but my I have been toiling with higher objectives such as practical manner of the first branch and more academic pursuits concerning all three branches.

I wanted to say a few words about the candidates linked on the left.

Chris Hackett he is running in the Republican Primary for the opportunity to defeat Chris Carney. His main opponent in the April election is Dan Meuser. Both are wealthy businessman and claim to be true conservatives, but Meuser has contributed thousands of dollars to Democrats including Hillary Clinton’s 2006 Senate Campaign, Ways and means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel’s PAC, and various reelection campaigns of Congressman Paul Kanjorski. Meuser has given substantially more money to Republicans, but his selective donations to certain Democrats reeks of “pay to play.” Hackett has declared he is strongly against Earmarks and national conservative groups, most notably, the Association of Builders and Contractors and Concerned Women for America, have endorsed Hackett; this shows he has support from social and fiscal conservatives. Despite the voter registration advantage Chris Carney will be hard to defeat; in addition to traditionally incumbent advantages Carney has been voting moderately on the War and conservatively on social issues.(In the future I hope to expose Carney for the Neo Con he truly is)

Thomas Manion is the presumed nominee to run against Patrick Murphy in November of 2008. Manion was recruited to run by former Congressman, and a truly Burkean representative, Mike Fitzpatrick. Manion is a former marine and his son served in Iraq. He is a strong Pro-life Catholic and a fiscal conservative. Manion is a bigger risk than running Fitzpatrick, who only lost by 1000 votes, but Manion’s ability to neutralize Murphy’s veteran status could lead to a wider victory. Manion has never run for office before, but this should not be an issue considering Murphy was in the same situation in 2006, and Manion has much more life experience. He has worked in the private sector for a long period of time and has raised two grown children. Manion can win by exploiting Murphy’s weakness on every other issue except Iraq. When reading articles in the local Philadelphia papers his press secretary is quoted more than he is, while it seems the much more competent Congresswoman Schwartz is quoted as herself. It seems Murphy knows little about non-defense issues.

James may is another veteran; he is running the primary against incumbent Karen Boback for State Reprehensive. Boback is a moderate in a very conservative district, and she is the puppet of the teachers unions. Stopping teacher Strikes is a big issue for May who is a true conservative. Sorry I have less to say, but this race is cut and dry liberal vs. conservative with no serious challenge from the Democrats in November.
If anyone ever finds this site and knows of good candidate let me know.

Race for the White House

Unlike many “so-called conservatives” I never questioned John McCain’s credentials as a conservative until I saw this.

McCain a 'True Conservative,' Bush Says

I am not even reading the article, but who is George Bush to make such a proclamation? Bush has expanded the size of the federal government and imposed mandates on states that have increased the size of their governments. John McCain has been calling for spending cuts since his frist day in the House of Representatives. The Neo Cons fooled him; first he bought their crap about WMDs, and worse he believed their pipe dream about democracy working in Iraq so we would not have to make a large commitment of force. John McCain like everyone else in the Country believed the president when said there are WMDs, but he challenged the administration on troop levels from the beginning, for he understands self rule does not just happen. He knew we not be greeted as liberators. Retrospectively going into Iraq was contrary to conservative principles, but instead of looking behind a conservative must consider the consequences of rapid withdrawal. John McCain has done so and will refuse to lose this war, but he will be much more wise and “conservative” in determining the use of force in the future.

That said I just don’t understand how people who support Bush despise McCain while the Arizona Senator is clearly more conservative. The same goes with Romney. People always bring up McCain’s past, while Romney’s more recent and more liberal past is forgiven. He was a pro-choice and pro -gay candidate in 2002, while McCain was always socially conservative. He just called out people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, because they were anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic. I am not a big fan of Campaign Finance reform, but Bush did veto the bill; why was his support amoung these conservatives still strong in 2004. Also Romney always mentioned the “McCain Kennedy” amnesty bill, that McCain has abandoned until the border is secure. No one ever mentions the “Romney Kennedy” health care plan that forced the good people of Massachusetts to buy health insurance they did not need and subsidized abortions.

I know this has just been an unorganized list of complaints about Bush, Romney and the anti-McCain Republicans but I hope to have proven this point. Of the four major Republican candidates this cycle, (Rudy, Romney, Huckabee, and McCain) the most conservative, the most likely to win, the best equipped to serve in time of War, and the second funniest is our nominee. Conservatism won the primary and hopefully it will win in the general election.

Who am I and What am I doing here?

I am a traditional conservative who feels that his voice may add some value to the dialogue in Pennsylvania Politics. I am not claiming to be the Edmund Burke of PA, but I don’t feel like using my real name, and Burke is pretty cool. In addition to Burke I am also a fan of tradition, symbols, healthy prejudices, James Madison, John Marshall, the Eagles, George Washington, Both President Adams, limited and decentralized government power, John Roberts and Sam Alito, Notre Dame, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower, lower case “r” republicanism, Aristotle and Aquinas, Machiavelli, the Phillies, Saints John Neumann and Katherine Drexel, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and many other good people, groups, and ideas. I am not a fan of Woodrow Wilson, secularist, Rousseau, ideology, Mitt Romney, Scientologists, Earl Warren, direct democracy, Thomas Jefferson, and Neo Cons. I hope my random thoughts I share with my tens of potential readers bring them to similar conclusions.