May 23, 2013

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About Big Gipper

Big Gipper is an anonymous Republican in the know living somewhere in DC/MD/VA.

Civil rights for the unborn protected in the Virginia health care exchange…barely

April 4, 2013 By

Yesterday, two major pieces of legislation passed the Virginia General Assembly in the veto session.  The Governor’s amendments to the transportation bill HB 2313 passed with broad bipartisan support.  The Governor’s amendment to HB 1900 to limit insurance coverage for abortion under the health care exchange to cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother passed by one vote in the divided State Senate and passed by the skin of its teeth in a House of Delegates dominated by purportedly pro-life Republicans.

For the record, I support these amendments.  I support new transportation funding revenues and I support the civil rights of the unborn. It is a great day for Virginia.

So after a significant day of accomplishment for our esteemed pro-life Governor, what does the conservative activist base say to that?  Well, after the vote to pass transportation revenue increases and a significant vote to protect civil rights of the unborn, the conservative activists ignored the accomplishment on protecting civil rights for the unborn and single out the “transportation tax hike” to declare a “sad day for Virginia.”

After the conservative activist base overlooked the protection of civil rights for the unborn – that barely passed in a GOP dominated House that is purportedly pro-life – and focused all their energies on protesting the pro-life Governor Bob McDonnell’s “transportation tax hike,” do we need further proof that the virulently anti-tax GOP is fixing to discard their long held pro-life position after shoving it on the back burner in recent years?

I have been a Republican since the 1980s.  If the Republican Party ever starts to support abortion rights, I quit.

Filed Under: Virginia

Is Easter sacred anymore? Not even for Republicans?

March 30, 2013 By

I took a little a hiatus to go on my “I Told You So: Anti-Mitt Romney Republican Tour” and tend to other work.  I hope the GOP never nominates another stiff, flip-flopping, exclusive, elitist, entitled, patrician, power-hungry politician like Mitt ever again.  Gee, Big Gipper, tell us how you really feel…

Well, other than my utter, total disdain for Mitt Romney, I am a Republican through and through.  I am a fiscal conservative AND, I know it is not popular these days within the GOP, a social conservative.

I remember growing up a long time ago.  We actually took time off for Easter.  Spring break did not double up with Easter.  They were two separate holidays so kids would get one full week off for spring break and a five day weekend for Easter that started on Holy Thursday and gave us the next Monday off so we could recover from feasting and visiting with friends and family.  Non-believers existed back then too and no one protested against more holidays regardless of the occasion for such holidays.  Many stores closed to observe Easter.  To the best of my recollection, as long as I have been involved, politicians took Easter off as well.

Today, spring break doubles up with Easter for political correctness.  The Easter Bunny and Easter Egg Hunts have been renamed Spring Bunny and Spring Festivals.  Many stores and restaurants stay open through Easter weekend.

Arguably worst of all, politics continues as usual with politicians, including the so-called “Christian, conservative” Republicans, holding meet-and-greets, door knocks, and last minute fundraising appeals if Easter falls on the last weekend in March – an important filing deadline.  You can find these Christian Republicans giving Easter praise and platitudes on the campaign trail.  You just won’t find these Christian Republicans praising His Resurrection in church.  How Pharisaic of these people!

I guess one could write a treatise about the secularization and Western Europeanization of America and some already have.  For now, I will just say that for those who are sympathetic to this viewpoint, we are where we are today not wholly through the fault of government policies that have driven faith away from the public square into the private home, but it is mainly the fault of many mainstream Christians and Christian denominations that have capitulated to the demands of secular culture and modified their theology to appease the secularists and not offend them.  In doing so, the orthodox Christians (small “o” orthodox – traditionalist – not to be confused with Eastern Orthodox, but they are orthodox as well) have abandoned those denominations in search of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Evangelical Protestant churches that still “cling” to a historical understanding of the faith and the secularists are happy about the changes in the liberal churches (Episcopalians, Presbyterians, United Church of Christ, etc.), but the secularists are not converted to Christianity.  In fact, a watering down of the Christian faith (ex: denying the Resurrection and the miracles like Thomas Jefferson did) makes it easier for Christians to become secularists.  Some of these liberal mainline Protestant churches have clergy who are atheist.  Some of our Christian seminaries employ teachers, tasked with training Christian ministers, who are atheist (see Bart Ehrmann). Can you believe that?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  Politics flows downstream from culture.  Politics does not influence culture.  It merely reflects culture.  Easter is just not that important to our public sector and private sector anymore.  It sure isn’t that important with our politicians, Democratic and Republican, either.

I am afraid that we will soon see the following two political parties in an increasingly polarized America.  There will be a liberal party that admires Karl Marx and there will be a conservative party that worships Ayn Rand.  Karl Marx and Ayn Rand have one thing in common.  They are both outspoken atheists.

I am dropping out of politics all together if it ever gets to this point.  I may be a fiscal conservative, but my money is not more important than my soul.

Filed Under: National, Religion

Georgia mother uses .38 revolver to protect herself against a home invasion

January 10, 2013 By
Filed Under: National

Mayor Bob Lazaro = Mayor Michael Bloomberg

January 4, 2013 By

“Look at folk like Sean Taylor. You know what they said? They said if he had a strap, he would have lived today.” – T.I.

Gun save lives. The only way to defend yourself against a criminal with a gun is to be armed. Criminals do not abide by the law by definition and will find a way to get a gun.

Let’s face it. Karate lessons will not save the life of a petite 100 pound woman when a rapist is 250 pounds and has a gun. The cops won’t come in time. The woman needs the gun to protect herself and save her own life.

If you are familiar with “Republican” Mayor Bob Lazaro of Purcellville, a little podunk town with an identity crisis in western Loudoun County, you will find that him signing on with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns is no surprise.

Mayor Lazaro and his “Republican” acolytes have never met a spending program they didn’t like because it is all for the benefit of their “wonderful community,” “the people,” and their Loudoun heritage – “a wonderful place to live” …supposedly. None of these feel good projects (pork) are of any substance.

Except when the spending program is an essential government function, affordable, and of significant positive economic impact, do Lazaro’s acolytes (namely Supervisor Janet Clarke) oppose it like Metro to Ashburn. Talk about getting priorities wrong.

“But no, Metro will urbanize Loudoun County and we want to preserve our rural heritage!” Um, excuse me, have you seen Purcellville lately? Metro will terminate in eastern Loudoun far away from Purcellville, but it has not been constructed yet. Meanwhile, walk down Main Street in Purcellville and it is filled with unsightly strip malls, traffic, and fattening fast food joints. It is not charming in any way. The people, still nostalgic about western Loudoun’s “rural character,” would revolt if Wal-Mart opened up shop in Purcellville, but they sure don’t have a problem with that Bloom, Giant, and Harris Teeter in that barn-looking structure.

Purcellville is already urbanized and the people polled there have the gall to oppose Ashburn’s much needed Metro stops because they fear creeping urbanization coming from the east that will destroy their “rural heritage” in the west.

So let me get this straight.

- Purcellville residents oppose Metro to Ashburn far away in the east because it is “too expensive,” will “urbanize” Loudoun, and will “threaten Western Loudoun’s rural heritage and scenery.”
- Yet, Purcellville is already urbanized despite the people’s obsession with the “rural heritage and scenery.”
- As Purcellville’s Mayor and his acolytes oppose paying for Metro, a core transportation solution that will benefit the entire county, they have no problem spending taxpayer money on feel good programs that don’t really do anything because they are “charitable” and help out the community. They win office because Purcellville residents support this.
- Purcellville Mayor Bob Lazaro comes out for gun control in a region that is pro-gun and prides itself on its “rural heritage.” Straight moxie.
- Despite everything in the past, Mayor Lazaro has been reelected without significant opposition and will probably continue that streak after this Bloomberg incident.

Two takeaways:

1. Purcellville, the unofficial seat of western Loudoun County that almost seceded to be Catoctin County in the last decade, has an identity crisis and their internal issues are hurting the progress of Loudoun County as a whole.

2. Jeannemarie Davis needs to call up Bob Lazaro and ask him how he continues to maintain high favorable ratings with his constituents after allying with Mike Bloomberg.

Filed Under: Loudoun County

Terry McAuliffe = Mitt Romney (Part 2)

December 25, 2012 By

Last Mitt Romney rant I will make for the year.

Talking to my Democratic friends, the more I learn about Terry McAuliffe, presumptive Democratic nominee for Governor of Virginia, the more I am disturbed by his uncanny resemblance to my least favorite politician ever – Mitt Romney.  The following is an addendum to part one.

Here is a recap.

“[Both Terry McAuliffe and Mitt Romney are great businessmen.  That is a good thing and must be encouraged.  Every similarity beyond that one positive trait is scary.]

Both went statewide in their first attempt at elected office and lost.  Mitt Romney lost his U.S. Senate race in 1994 and Terry McAuliffe lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for Virginia Governor in 2009.

Mitt Romney campaigned for President for six years from 2006 to 2012, despite losing to an uninspiring and tired John McCain in 2008 primary.  Terry McAuliffe never stopped campaigning since 2008, despite losing to an inept and  incompetent Creigh Deeds in the 2009 primary.

Other than general platitudes about business, nobody knows where Mitt Romney and Terry McAuliffe stand.  Republicans were not enthused about Romney, but they fell in line.  Democrats are not enthused about McAuliffe, but they are falling in line.

President Barack Obama was vulnerable, but Mitt Romney was the worst candidate to challenge Obama so he lost by a landslide.  Many independents do not like Ken Cuccinelli, who is unapologetic and outspoken on some very controversial hot button issues.  Ken Cuccinelli, despite his liabilities, currently looks like a stronger candidate because Terry McAuliffe is not a good candidate to challenge Cuccinelli.

What goes around comes around in politics.  Mitt Romney was the Republican John Kerry.  Terry McAuliffe is the Democratic Mitt Romney.”

Add to that the fact that diehard supporters of Terry McAuliffe and Mitt Romney who jumped on board from the very start are arrogant, egotistical, entitled, exclusive, and elitist.

T-Mac and Mittens may be good people, but the abrasiveness of their diehard supporters offers a bad reflection of the candidates.  It reflects poorly because it highlights the type of exclusive, unwelcoming culture that is allowed to develop within the ranks of the supporters.

One of my friends started working for Republican candidates in 2009 after being inspired by a certain Republican Governor.  This Republican Governor at the time posed a direct threat to Mitt Romney’s path to the Presidential nomination in 2012 (it would turn out to be a false alarm).  As a result, everywhere my friend went from 2009 to 2012, a conversation would inevitably come up at cocktail parties in DC.  It went like this.

Former Democrat: “I was a lifelong Democrat until 2008.”
Romney Diehard: “Oh wow.  What made you change?”
Former Democrat: “Sarah Palin.”
Romney Diehard: “You people represent everything that is wrong with the Republican Party.  Go away.  We only want Rockefeller Republicans around here. That is what the people want, that is where the country is, and Mitt Romney will be the next President of the United States.”

Way to roll out the welcome mat, folks.  You were speaking to a, hello, FORMER DEMOCRAT TURNED REPUBLICAN, and then you proceeded to insult his very motivation for coming over to your Party.  If you want to know why Mitt Romney had such a difficult time rallying the Party, it was because his problems went far beyond being a flip-flopping “Massachusetts moderate” who had absolutely no credibility to speak out against the individual mandate.

Mitt Romney’s people insulted the very people who could be his best supporters since 2009.  The Romney Kool-Aid drinkers were so dead set on making Mitt Romney the next President in 2012 that they sought to denigrate and marginalize anyone who stood in their path for 2012 (They were nicer to the 2016 types…because it was not “their turn”.).

Why would Republicans from factions of the Party the Romney people disrespected be expected to “fall in line?”

This makes the latest, and hopefully final, revelations from the embarrassing Romney campaign so damaging and disturbing.

Mitt Romney never really wanted to be President anyway?   Puh-leeze.

Mittens kept his campaign team from his failed 2008 Presidential bid (began in 2006) intact and ready to roll for 2012 since 2009.  Why else would you run into so many DC cocktail party socialites in the know with professional connections to Romney’s inner circle tell you that Mittens was going to be the next President as far back as 2009???!!!?!

What goes around comes around indeed. Mitten’s people employed a slash-and-burn strategy under the radar against all potential GOP challengers from 2009-2012 and disrespected everyone on their way to the top of the GOP for 2012.  They could not close the deal in 2012 and got blown out.  Now, nobody wants to associate with them and some of Romney’s staffers are still unemployed and shellshocked to this day.  They seriously thought Mittens was going to win and didn’t plan for anything else.  Tone-deaf doesn’t even begin to describe this.  What a delusional nightmare.

I say all that to say that my Democratic friends have told me that diehard Terry McAuliffe supporters are no better than diehard Mitt Romney supporters.    They seem so much alike.

T-Mac, take note.  You are walking down the same path like Mittens.  We can probably bet on Ken Cuccinelli being the next Governor of Virginia.

Filed Under: National, Virginia

Terry McAuliffe = Mitt Romney

December 5, 2012 By

Irony is abundant in politics.  It is so ironic that after Democrats criticized Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney for being a power hungry plutocrat who stood for nothing other than his own Presidential ambitions, Democrats are on their way to nominating a Virginia gubernatorial candidate who is… a power hungry plutocrat who stands for nothing other than his own gubernatorial ambitions (and perhaps Presidential?).

Terry McAuliffe and Mitt Romney are great businessmen.  I don’t criticize them for that and I think people need to follow their example and chase the American Dream.

What I do criticize are the premises, or lack thereof, of their political campaigns.

Both went statewide in their first attempt at elected office and lost.  Mitt Romney lost his U.S. Senate race in 1994 and Terry McAuliffe lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for Virginia Governor in 2009.

Mitt Romney campaigned for President for six years from 2006 to 2012, despite losing to an uninspiring and tired John McCain in 2008 primary.  Terry McAuliffe never stopped campaigning since 2009, despite losing to an inept and  incompetent Creigh Deeds in the 2009 primary.

Other than general platitudes about business, nobody knows where Mitt Romney and Terry McAuliffe stand.  Republicans were not enthused about Romney, but they fell in line.  Democrats are not enthused about McAuliffe, but they are falling in line.

President Barack Obama was vulnerable, but Mitt Romney was the worst candidate to challenge Obama so he lost by a landslide.  Many independents do not like Ken Cuccinelli, who is unapologetic and outspoken on some very controversial hot button issues.  Ken Cuccinelli, despite his liabilities, currently looks like a stronger candidate because Terry McAuliffe is not a good candidate to challenge Cuccinelli.

What goes around comes around in politics.  Mitt Romney was the Republican John Kerry.  Terry McAuliffe is the Democratic Mitt Romney.

Filed Under: Virginia

Guns Save Lives

December 4, 2012 By

“Look at folk like Sean Taylor.  You know what they said?  They said if he had a strap, he would have lived today.” – T.I.

The rapper T.I. expressed in his song “Ready for Whatever” that if Sean Taylor had a gun on him on the day he was robbed by armed burglars, he would have been able to protect himself from deadly force.

Guns save lives.  No, I am not part of the Virginia Citizens’ Defense League.  I think a lot of those people are weird, but I do agree with the assertion that guns save lives.  Banning guns will only disarm law abiding citizens.  It will not disarm criminals who will find a way to get a gun.  It will not eliminate a criminal’s criminal intention.

Guns are the great equalizer when the deadly threat is physically stronger.  The best way for a petite woman to protect herself against an unarmed, physically stronger attacker would be to possess a handgun.  When you think about it, gun rights should be supported by the left because the idea of equalizing results is, um… socialistic!

John Lott wrote a reasonable and rational response to Bob Costas’ on-air criticism of guns.  Some people believe that if guns were banned, Jovan Belcher’s murder-suicide would have never happened.  John Lott argues against a handgun ban, but he does not argue for free, unregulated handgun ownership either.  He urges people to look into the net effect when comparing a strict gun policy versus a more accessible gun policy.  Gun crimes will happen regardless of the law, but counterintuitively, more guns does equal less crime when you factor in the millions of assaults, batteries, rapes, and murders that are prevented when law abiding citizens use guns to fight back.  Often, no shots are even fired and the incidents go unreported by the media.

Guns protect those who can’t protect themselves.  Petite women being attacked by brutally strong attackers and poor, urban families living in neighborhoods neglected by the police stand to benefit the most from gun ownership.  John Lott’s article is a recommended read.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/12/03/truth-about-costas-belcher-and-guns/?test=latestnews

Filed Under: Football, National

Live from the RPV Advance

November 30, 2012 By

I am coming to you live from Virginia Beach where we are having our annual RPV Advance.  I spotted Attorney General candidate Rob Bell traveling with an entourage of interns and volunteers wearing Revolutionary War era hats.  I see lots of people here just like last year, though there is not a minority in sight.  Sigh.  I will offer my opinion on the state of the RPV once I hit up all these parties and talk to some folks down here.

No, I am not running for Lieutenant Governor!  Haha.  It seems like everyone and their dog is running for LG.

Filed Under: Virginia

Rick Santorum – The Gift That Keeps On Giving

November 26, 2012 By

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum says he is “open” to running for President again in 2016 after his failed bid in 2012.  Are you serious?  Talk about delusions of grandeur.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/santorum-im-open-2016-run_664017.html

Filed Under: National

As Republican candidates lose, Republicans consultants win.

November 25, 2012 By

This is pretty much on point.  I would add that not only did the consultant class lose the election for the GOP (cough, Steve Schmidt, cough), Mitt Romney lost the election for the GOP by being an out-of-touch, flip-flopping, elitist who wanted to be President too badly.  A Republican John Kerry indeed.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/23/Pat-Caddell-Republican-Consultant-Lobbyist-Establishment-Complex-Responsible-For-Romney-Defeat?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BreitbartFeed+%28Breitbart+Feed%29

Here is a doozy.  I have sources in the political arena who have told me that Corry Bliss has made a killing (well over six figures, probably close to half a million dollars) mismanaging the campaigns of Thelma Drake for Congress ’08 (VA), Kerry Bolognese for Delegate ’09 (VA), Brian Dubie for Governor ’10 (VT), John Stirrup for State Senate ’11 (VA), and Linda McMahon for U.S. Senate ’12 (CT).  Why Corry Bliss is still in the league while promising, dedicated, caring, and intelligent young individuals toil for poverty level wages in politics is beyond me.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/11/shays-unloads-on-mcmahon-campaign-149162.html

 

Filed Under: National
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