And you thought you weren’t going to get a rant today.  Did  you read my tribute to the cats in my life yesterday? 

Now back to the rant.

While I was driving to Tucson today I half-listened to Rush. BTW, if I could make a wrong turn today I did, every single time I went to go somewhere.  I did end up driving through the Saguaro National Forest, which is always a treat.  Those things are magnificent.

TODAY’S RANT:  THE CONSERVATIVE MESSIAH WATCH

My regular readers know I’ve been trying to understand the problems with ‘conservatives’ who identify themselves as ‘conservative’ first and little “r” republican once in awhile.  Let’s face the fact that these are the people who constantly condemn good, decent Republicans like Lindsey Graham as “RINO”s – Republicans in Name Only.  This is a completely offensive term and completely violates Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.”  The moment one of these ‘conservatives’ open their mouths and condemn a Republican as a “RINO” you can almost guarantee they are the ones who are not even RINO, but ‘conservative’. 

Being a Republican and being conservative are not necessarily the same thing.  Today, it seems the people who make the most noise about being conservative have absolutely NOTHING to do with, nor know absolutely nothing about the Republican Party.  They are “Conservatives”.  They worship at the altar of Ronald Reagan without understanding just who Ronald Reagan was and what Ronald Reagan stood for during his lifetime. 
By doing this, they dishonor the very man they sought to honor.

Ronald Reagan never went around bellyaching about the ‘next’ great conservative leader.  He lead by example.  He stepped up to the plate and hit one out, for the Gipper so to speak.  Today, when our good and decent Republicans in the House or the Senate step up and show true leadership the way Lindsey Graham does, they are criticized as “RINOS” and their tenure in office is threatened. 

This breed of conservative, the ideological perfectionist is looking for someone who has already put in an appearance on Planet Earth, and will put in another, but we just don’t know when.  They want their own version of a conservative messiah to save the ‘conservative movement’.  When this begins to occur, when such luminaries as Rush Limbaugh was poetic over the lack of a ‘great leader’ a GOP messiah, then there are some very serious problems in “Conservativeland”. 

As long as “Conservatives” keep watch for their messiah, much the same way the Sadducees and the Pharisees at the Temple did when the real Messiah appeared, they knew Him not.  Instead, they crucified Him.  By turning themselves into the modern day conservative version of Pharisees and Sadducees, today’s “Conservatives” are placing themselves in a very precarious position.  If they aren’t careful, they could make themselves completely irrelevant.

The fact they these individuals only loosely identify themselves as “Republican” for feasibility sake are the ones who are most loudly complaining about the lack of a “great conservative leader in the style of Ronald Reagan”.  Let’s face it, the irony is delicious.  These are the voters who chose to either vote Libertarian, stay home, or vote Dem “to teach those nasty RINO Republicans a lesson”.  A true Republican votes for the Elephant.  Instead, these immature and rather pathetic individuals chose to align themselves with ‘the enemy’, thereby costing the GOP the House and the Senate.

What good did they do besides exposing themselves as red, white, and yellow.  They haven’t the courage to step up and lead, instead, cry and wring their hands for a leader, a messiah.  When someone does this the most obvious thing about them is they don’t actually want a leader.  They would rather cry and stagnate than get up and do something constructive. 

Quite frankly, I want to know how long REAL REPUBLICANS  are going to continue to allow these people to get away with their slander, vicious attacks on our elected Republican officials, and basic immature treachery?  Do we even want them in the party?  Fortunately they are in the process of marginalizing themselves.  The problem is they just aren’t doing it fast enough.

I think it is time for these people to sit back, shut up, grow up, and let the rest of us lead.

The dino-bird connection grows stronger.  Good. I can now prove my bird phobia is rational.

“…But the new finding by Chris Organ of Harvard University and his colleagues complicates this thinking and shows that the shorter genomes of birds originated in saurischian dinosaurs, the group of dinosaurs from which birds evolved and that includes Tyrannosaurus rex. So rather than being a characteristic of birds or flying animals, short genomes should be thought of as a characteristic of dinosaurs, including the killer theropod dinosaurs, he said….”

This is funny.  I come from a family of night owls.  My grandmother Froehlich would be up until 2AM or so ‘piddling’ around her house, reading or just doing ‘stuff’.  My mother is a night owl.  From the time I was a little kid bed-time would be a battle.  Finally, when I was about 12 or so my mother gave up.  I do my best work around midnight, and am frequently up until 3 or 4 in the AM.  So is my nephew Dustin and my niece Laura.  I have an aunt who is the same way, as is her daughter and her two children.  Well, guess what – it’s genetic!  I am genetically pre-disposed not to function before 10:30AM!   

What are the best military charities? Here is a sample of a few of the 4 star military charities.  

National Military Family Association – 4 star rating.

Disabled Veterines Charitable Trust – 4 star rating

Special Operations Warrior Foundation – 4 star rating

There are a number of small charities that are listed on such blogs a the Mudville Gazette.    They are not listed with Charity Navigator. That does not mean they are bad charities, only they are either too small to be listed or no one filed a complaint or asked for a audit.  So, that is a good sign.

 TERROR

The Long War 

Iranian Influence in Iraq 

A major warlord has split with the Taliban.  

MISC.

Why immigration reform is a political minefield.

Not content with destroying Scooter Libby, Plame-Wilson now want a piece of the action.  Is there no end to the ‘cheek’ of these people? 

 Lindsey on the Walter Reed mess.

The attacks on Domenici and Wilson continue.  This comes from GOP Progress.

Corruption is status quo in New Mexico.  Don’t forget, this is the state that brought us the Teapot Dome Scandal years ago – a Republican scandal.  Then there was the corruption that lead to the Bosque Redondo internment camp for the Navajo and Apache during the Civil War.  (Dems get a pass on this one because it was done with Lincoln’s approval.).  This lead to the Santa Fe Ring, which lead directly to the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid, Chisum, and a plethora of bad Hollywood cowboy melodramas.   The LCW and cattle rustling (a Republican governor, Lew Wallace, helped clean that one up) caused John Slaughter to move out of NM (or go to prison) into Cochise County, NM, taking with him such luminaries as Curly Bill Brocius, John Ringo, Billy Claiborne, Pony Diehl, Charlie Snow, Frank Stilwell, and a whole cast of characters who became the Cowboys.  This lead to Wyatt Earp facing them at the OK Corral.  (Earp was a life-long Republican).  While Earp was conducting his Vendetta Posse throughout Cochise County, Albert Fountain, a lawman in New Mexico was also in Cochise County chasing cattle rustlers from NM.  Fountain later confronts a number of the rich and powerful in NM about rustling and disappears forever along what is now Highway 70 in the White Sands Missile Range.  Pat Garrett, obsessed with the Fountain death is murdered around the turn of the century perhaps 30 miles from where Fountain disappears.  Those of us studying the incidents know that NM powerbrokers Albert Fall (Teapot Dome), Oliver Lee, and others were involved in both deaths.  These were the most powerful men in NM – maybe the most powerful ever.

We had a very good Republican governor, Johnson, who served two terms before Richardson.  His sole purpose for going into office was Dem corruption and corruption in the construction industry.  He won re-election but was the object of ridicule the entire time he was in office. 

Unfortunately, because the GOP only controls perhaps 3 counties, Lincoln included, we see no end to their corruption.  I wish we could blame it on Hollywood and the A-list of stars who are now living in NM, but I can’t. Also, I see no end in sight, not until we have a decent state GOP.  Considering the candidates they fielded last year, I don’t see this happening anytime soon.  There are certain segments of the GOP here that are as corrupt as the Dems.

Corruption is a way of political life in NM.  Aside from Alaska and Hawaii, it is the most recent state to “enter the Union”.  New Mexicans embrace a sense of frontier.  They pride themselves on being rough and ready.  Consider the fact that the majority of Rough Riders came out of NM.  There is a pride in the whole cowboy culture.  You learn to take the good with the bad.  I do think it is worse under Bill Richardson.  He is so charming and so Clinton corrupt with his connections – well….

PRIMARIES 2008

Earl Capps on Giuliani and freedom.  Good post.  

Giuliani and Clinton lead in SC, currently.

While some may take the high road, Romney takes the low road.

 You don’t know how much I am enjoying the GOP dirt fest.  Who is dishing it on Newt now? They’ve hit he and Giuliani today.  What’s up and who is doing it?

 Fred Thompson in?  

Rudy and the Reagan coalition.  Memorandum

Blog Lizards on Edwards and FOX news.

Gingrich is pandering to Dobson, so he must be running.  

Firefighters for Giuliani. 

FDNYagainst Rudy.  

Can Giuliani put the old “Reagan” coalition together?  

Will the RNC support Romney?