Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 18, 2010

11

LEFT/RIGHT

Mountain Views News Saturday, September 18, 2010

GREG Welborn

70% AND COUNTING

HOWARD Hays 

As I See It

 
I don’t usually like to make election 
predictions. There are so many variables to 
consider, from personal charisma to local 
concerns, that it’s often difficult to simply 
assess the national mood and predict that 
it will be the chief determinant in all the 
house and senate elections that will be held 
in November. But this time, it’s different. 
The Democrats are going to get beaten badly 
in November, and it’s not just because the 
economy stinks. No, Democrats are going 
to be trounced because they have undeniably 
demonstrated, especially over the last 2 
years, that they are an arrogant elite with 
undisguised contempt for the electorate. This 
election will be their deserved comeuppance.

 The Glenn Beck organized rally for 
American values held on the Washington 
Mall just a few weeks ago demonstrated 
that there has been an enormous upheaval 
in the emotions of the vast majority of 
Americans. Poll after poll has shown that 
we are undeniably a nation split 70% toward 
conservative principles and 30% toward 
liberal principles. Normally, the 70% doesn’t 
get that energized, and certainly they tend 
not to agree on the same things. This time 
it’s different. Liberals – the 30% - control all 
the levers of political power, and the rest of 
the country is not happy with what they’ve 
done.

 70% of Americans are appalled by the failed 
economic policies of this administration and 
this congress, by its wanton profligacy and 
its theft from future generations.

 70% did not want Obamacare, does not 
want Obamacare and will vote to have it 
undone. It also rightly angers them that 
despite expressing their dislike of this 
hijacking of healthcare, it was forced upon 
them.

 70% are pretty angry that one little judge 
can wipe out the will of the people and 
redefine marriage and what it means.

 70% want our border defended, want 
immigration laws followed and enforced and 
want to be protected from the thuggery and 
violence that is quickly replacing organized 
government in northern Mexico.

 70% are not ashamed of their Judeo-
Christian belief in God and don’t liked being 
mocked or ridiculed because of it.

 70% view ground zero as a very special place 
(much like Pearl Harbor) that shouldn’t be 
manipulated for anyone’s political message, 
certainly not the message from a group 
of people who stated that America bore 
responsibility for the 9-11 attack.

 70% realize that Iran is not our friend, 
that Israel is our friend, that Iran should 
not get the bomb, and that the current 
administration can’t distinguish between the 
two and doesn’t seem to be able to keep the 
mad mullahs from going nuclear.

 Lastly, 70% of Americans understand that 
the federal government is incompetent and 
power hungry and that our constitution’s 
principles of limited government must be 
upheld and defended if we are to keep our 
freedoms.

 More importantly, however, is the fact 
that 70% of Americans who believe these 
things are now sick and tired of being 
denigrated, mocked and belittled because 
they believe them. Liberalism is under siege. 
What was supposed to be a 40-year liberal 
ascendancy hasn’t lasted a full 2 years yet. 
Most Democrats (the smart ones anyway) 
are running away from the liberalism that 
has ruined our economy and weakened 
our nation. To watch 
liberalism’s reaction to all 
this is not a pretty thing.

 Reason, logical 
argumentation and 
disciplined debate have all 
failed and been thrown out 
the window. All that is left now leading up 
to the November elections is name calling 
and smears. Those of us who believe the 
aforementioned principles are simply bigots 
of one stripe or the other. Remember, even 
as the last election was drawing to a close, 
we were the “small people” “clinging to 
guns or religion” who showed nothing but 
“antipathy toward people who aren’t like 
them.”

 But today resistance to further expansion 
of government power and over-spending is 
racism toward a black president. 

 Demanding that the federal government 
enforce immigration laws, or let the states do 
it if they won’t, is bigotry. 

 Voting to reinforce the 4,000 year-old 
multiculturally consistent definition of 
marriage is homophobia. 

 Opposing the idea – not the legality – of 
building an Islamic center and mosque near 
Ground Zero is written off as Islamophobia. 

 Liberal ideas have been tried, and tried in 
a grand way, and the people don’t like what 
they see. It didn’t take anywhere near the 40 
years that James Carville projected. Liberals 
have lost the argument in the court of public 
opinion. It all happened in less than 2 years, 
that’s how bad liberal ideas are. The only 
thing more painful to watch has been the 
response from those elites in Washington, 
New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles 
who are struggling with the whole concept 
of democracy in action. It is truly painful 
for them to see the little people rise up in 
rebellion against what their betters have told 
them they should do, and so they resort to 
name calling. 

 Very little in America’s recent political 
history has had as much restraining power 
as the accusation of bigotry. For too long, 
all that was needed to silence debate was 
to accuse the other side – usually the 
conservatives – of bigotry. That’s not 
working anymore. America is fed up. We 
are truly the least bigoted society on this 
planet. So when the Tea Party arose from 
the living rooms, kitchen tables and garages 
of America in reaction to the vast expansion 
of government that this president so 
desperately needs in order to transform the 
country, the liberal elites played the race card 
again, but it failed to silence the opposition. 

 Hurling insults and accusing 70% of 
Americans of being bigoted and in Michelle 
Obama’s words “just downright mean” isn’t 
producing the desired affect. The 70% is 
growing and may well come to include all 
but the tiniest fraction of ultra-left wing 
radicals. November is going to be one of 
those quintessential American elections 
where the common citizen takes the levers 
of government out of the hands of those who 
have abused the public trust and places them 
into those of more deserving stewards of that 
trust. 

 About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is 
a freelance writer and has spoken to several 
civic and religious organizations on cultural 
and moral issues. He lives in the Los Angeles 
area with his wife and 3 children and is active 
in the community. He can be reached at 
gregwelborn@earthlink.net.

 Here we are only six weeks 
from the election, and it’s 
getting interesting. Not so 
much with the Democrats, 
as we already know what 
they hope to accomplish 
(“form a more perfect Union, establish 
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility”, etc.). 
It’s the Republicans who keep us guessing.

 

 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell 
(R-KY), still says “I’m not going to scoop 
ourselves” when asked where his party 
intends to take our country. We’d like 
to know something other than they’re 
opposing whatever President Obama 
proposes (middle class tax cuts, help for 
small business, legislation that’s paid for), 
and are afraid to even allow debate on the 
Senate floor. 

 

 They’ve pretty much run out of names 
to call President Obama, so former House 
Speaker Newt Gingrich (who pushed for 
impeaching Clinton over Monica while he 
was cheating on his own wife) suggests we 
can understand the president “only if you 
understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior” 
(this from the tactician whose suggestion 
they “shut down” government led to a rout 
of the GOP in 1996).

 

 They’ve pretty much run out of things for 
us to be afraid of; whether “death panels”, 
Mexican immigrants, gay people, black 
government employees who (after extensive 
digital video editing) hate whitey, and, most 
recently, Muslims. This latter be-very-afraid 
campaign jumped the shark with Fox News 
hanging on every word from that sideshow 
“pastor” with his maybe-I-will, maybe-I 
won’t book burning in Florida. The new 
Manhattan Muslim center will proceed out 
of the headlines, as it had for months after 
being announced in the New York Times 
last December, prior to the Summer-of-Fear. 
And, the devout who work for our nation’s 
defense will continue to pray as they have for 
years at the Muslim center in the Pentagon, 
down the hall from where 184 coworkers 
died on September 11, 2001. 

 

 It’s hard to get answers from candidates. 
Sharron Angle, Tea Party Republican 
challenger of Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), held 
a “news conference” last July and ran from 
the podium three minutes into it when 
reporters began to ask questions. (She later 
explained she’d be happy to give answers, if 
only reporters agreed beforehand to ask the 
right questions.) Last June, she appeared on 
a Reno talk show and challenged Sen. Reid to 
a debate. After Reid accepted, Angle reneged 
on the offer. She explained that she changed 
her mind and now refuses to debate because 
“we wanted an informed electorate”. (No, it 
doesn’t make any sense to me, either.)

 

 “(R)eckless”, “hypocritical”, “dishonest” 
are words used to describe Delaware 
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christine 
O’Donnell - by the Delaware Republican 
Party. She’s the Sarah Palin - approved, 
Tea Party candidate who defeated longtime 
Republican Congressman Mike Castle, 
who’d taken the dangerously radical 
position that there was some scientific basis 
to “global warming”. The tea-baggers (and 
their generous benefactors from the fossil 
fuels industries) decided he had to go.

 

 Ms. O’Donnell studied English Lit at 
Fairleigh Dickinson University seventeen 
years ago, but only received her diploma 
earlier this month. Her 
campaign manager says it’s because she 
just finished her coursework this summer. 
The candidate says it’s because she never 
got around to paying off her student loan. 
Whatever.

 

 She lobbied Congress on “moral issues” 
and “Christian values”, and worked for the 
conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 
which she sued for wrongful termination 
and gender discrimination in 2005. The ISI 
says O’Donnell was fired for working on 
her own “public relations” business on their 
time. Whatever. (O’Donnell dropped the 
suit.)

 

 Two years ago, O’Donnell’s house was 
to be sold at sheriff’s auction to settle a 
$90,000 judgment awarded her mortgage 
company. She’s been paying half the rent 
on her subsequent home with campaign 
contributions. Her 2008 campaign ended 
$23,000 in debt, and the FEC cited her eight 
times for reporting violations. Earlier this 
year, the IRS placed a lien on her for $11,000 
in unpaid taxes.

 

 Christine O’Donnell hopes to become 
an advocate for fiscal responsibility in 
Washington. She’s also the only U.S. 
Senate candidate (that I’m aware of) who’s 
appeared on MTV to explain the biblical 
condemnations of, well, playing with 
yourself. Whatever.

 

 New York Republican gubernatorial 
candidate Carl Paladino is one of those just-
folks tea-baggers who’s able to commit $10 
million of his own money to his campaign. 
At a time when extreme umbrage is taken 
at any suggestion of racism in the Tea 
Party, Paladino was asked about his charge 
that a new school superintendent got his 
job “because he is black”. The candidate 
responded that it doesn’t matter to him “if 
they’re a Dago or a Polack”. There were 
questions about a peculiar sense of “humor” 
in e-mails circulated among friends and 
colleagues. One of the “milder” ones was 
a photo-shopped President and First Lady 
depicted as a pimp and a whore. Others 
involved animals. “The racially and sexually 
inappropriate nature of Mr. Paladino’s emails 
is disturbing to say the least, and stands in 
stark contrast to what the Republican Party 
stands for and the values it promotes.”, 
according to NY GOP Chairman Ed Cox.

 

 There are many questions to be asked, 
but some things are becoming more clear; 
such as why we haven’t heard much from 
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand 
Paul from Kentucky since he suggested we 
“revisit” the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

 

 There are a number of questions I’d like 
to ask our own Republican Congressman, 
David Dreier. Primary among them would 
be, why won’t he debate the issues with his 
Democratic challenger, Russ Warner? I’d 
like to ask about the small business aid bill 
that just passed the Senate. The hang-up 
in the House appears to be how to pay for 
dropping a reporting provision; Democrats 
want to pay for it by closing tax loopholes for 
oil and gas companies, Republicans instead 
want to close public health programs.

 

 Where does Rep. Dreier stand? Or, like 
Sharron Angle, would he insist that we agree 
beforehand to only ask the “right” questions? 
It’s getting interesting.

CALIFORNIA GENERAL ELECTION 2010

A Word From The Editor: The Mountain Views News will continue in its tradition of providing readers with as much unbiased information as possible regarding the issues and 
candidates on the General Election Ballot in November. The series will run for the next seven weeks and will include coverage of all Propositions, The U. S. Senate Race, The 
California Governor’s Race, all other Statewide races, and the California Legislative Races. Please remember that the opinions of ALL columnists are not necessarily the position 
of the paper, but rather, those of the individual author. Those opinions will NOT be a part of our General Election Coverage. The official position of the Mountain Views and 
its’ Editorial Advisors will be clearly stated prior to the election. We do encourage readers, however, to submit their views as Letters To The Editor. The more we communicate 
with each other, the more informed our decisions will be. -Susan Henderson, Publisher

Dates to Remember

October 18, 2010

Last day to register to vote

October 26, 2010

Last day to apply for a

vote-by-mail ballot by 
mail

November 2, 2010

Election Day

 1. You have the right to cast a ballot if 
you are a valid registered voter. A valid 
registered voter means a United States 
citizen who is a resident in this state, who 
is at least 18 years of age and not in prison 
or on parole for conviction of a felony, 
and who is registered to vote at his or her 
current residence address.

2. You have the right to cast a provisional 
ballot if your name is not listed on the 
voting rolls.

3. You have the right to cast a ballot if you 
are present and in line at the polling place 
prior to the close of the polls.

4. You have the right to cast a secret ballot 
free from intimidation.

5. You have the right to receive a new 
ballot if, prior to casting your ballot, you 
believe you made a mistake. If at any time 
before you finally cast your ballot, you feel 
you have made a mistake, you have the 
right to exchange the spoiled ballot for a 
new ballot. Vote-by-mail voters may also 
request and receive a new ballot if they 
return their spoiled ballot to an elections 
official prior to the closing of the polls on 
election day.

6. You have the right to receive assistance 
in casting your ballot, if you are unable to 
vote without assistance.

7. You have the right to return a completed 
vote-by-mail ballot to any precinct in the 
county.

8. You have the right to election materials 
in another language, if there are sufficient 
residents in your precinct to warrant 
production.

9. You have the right to ask questions 
about election procedures and observe 
the election process. You have the right 
to ask questions of the precinct board 
and elections officials regarding election 
procedures and to receive an answer or be 
directed to the appropriate official for an 
answer. However, if persistent questioning 
disrupts the execution of their duties, the 
board or election officials may discontinue 
responding to questions.

10. You have the right to report any illegal 
or fraudulent activity to a local elections 
official or to the Secretary of State’s Office.

 

If you believe you have been denied any 
of these rights, or you are aware of any 
election fraud or misconduct, please call 
the Secretary of State’s confidential toll-
free Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE 
(8683).

Information on your voter registration 
affidavit will be used by elections officials 
to send you official information on the 
voting process, such as the location of 
your polling place and the issues and 
candidates that will appear on the ballot. 
Commercial use of voter registration 
information is prohibited by law and is a 
misdemeanor. Voter information may be 
provided to a candidate for office, a ballot 
measure committee, or other person for 
election, scholarly, journalistic, political, 
or governmental purposes, as determined 
by the Secretary of State. Driver license and 
social security numbers, or your signature 
as shown on your voter registration card, 
cannot be released for these purposes. 

If you have any questions about the use 
of voter information or wish to report 
suspected misuse of such information, 
please call the Secretary of State’s Voter 
Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE (8683).

Certain voters facing life-threatening 
situations may qualify for confidential 
voter status. For more information, please 
contact the Secretary of State’s Safe at 
Home program toll-free at (877) 322-5227 
or visit the Secretary of State’s website at 
www.sos.ca.gov.

VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS - from the California Secretary of State’s Office