2022 elections – RESOLVE

20 + 1

By Steve Woodward

Although far too many Americans know nothing about our nation’s history, we would not have one — a nation or a history — were it not for a determined collection of men, who might in another era have been celebrated for their intellect but were, because of the time in which they lived, best known for their courage.

The Founding Fathers. I suppose, today, we might encounter more than a few in academia who dismiss these men as racist white supremacists. They were indeed supreme. They envisioned a nation born of independence from tyranny — an idea that in that day was seen as ludicrous.

Here we are in 2023. History is repeating. Twenty members of the U.S. House of Representatives gathered their ranks, stood in the breech and, in the spirit of our founders, said, HELL NO!

It has been hilarious to watch cable TV morons calling out the “chaos” being imposed on our government because 20 Americans, duly elected, decided to crush the status quo. Who elected them? Why were they elected? To carry out the will of citizens across the land who have no voice.

The 15 rounds of voting that resulted in Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) becoming Speaker of the House were not a side show, were not disruptive, were not scandalous. The Declaration of Independence was not etched with a rubber stamp. It was fought for by wise individuals who knew how to deliberate.

The “20” have restored the fight inside the corridors of power and in doing so honor our Founders. Among them was North Carolina’s Dan Bishop, who represented Moore County during his just concluded term and was elected to represent a different district (NC-08) in November.

During 11 rounds of voting for Speaker, Bishop stood firm against McCarthy. On January 5, Bishop (photo nearby) nominated young up-and-comer Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). After “the 20” squeezed McCarthy’s camp on concession after concession to empower conservatives on key House committees, Bishop relented on the 12th vote and swung to McCarthy — but not without having the last word.

“Let me help my colleagues in the minority understand, we are doing the peoples’ business,” Bishop said. “We are committed to (bring) change to this institution that has lost its way. It is epitomized in the $1.7 trillion omnibus rammed through this institution just two weeks ago. Ladies and gentlemen, I came to fix this broken system.”

Challenges to McCarthy led by Reps. Lauren Boebert (CO), Matt Gaetz (FL) and Chip Roy (TX), among others, were not personal in nature. They were designed to restore order to the governing process and end the operation of the House as a “fiefdom”, as observed by Real America’s Voice contributor Frank Gaffney.

To prove that he is serious and was not merely caving under the intense scrutiny imposed by Freedom Caucus zealots (which are needed in greater supply), McCarthy now must shepherd through an extensive “rules package” that he agreed to to preserve his ambitions to be Speaker. These are not ground breaking new rules that will remake the House but are, in fact, a return to fundamental tenets of governance. In other words, a complete denunciation of Pelosi-era iron fist rule.

Accepting his ascendency to Speaker in the wee hours of January 7, McCarthy revealed that there was a 21st individual who helped sway the outcome. He also is known as 45. President Donald Trump. McCarthy said Trump influenced a scenario in which five others joined Florida’s Gaetz in voting “present” on the 15th vote for Speaker, which lowered the number of votes McCarthy needed to prevail.

McCarthy praised Trump for being “with me from the beginning.” On that point the Speaker missed the point. It is more plausible to assume that Trump’s artful dealing behind the scenes intended to defang McCarthy and impose rules on House conduct that will contain impulses among uni-party Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) to betray conservatism.

Seems that rumors of MAGA’s death were greatly exaggerated.

Domestic jihad

By Steve Woodward

It was striking that Election Day and Veterans’ Day fell 72 hours apart last week. Both events, one a duty, the other a sacred observance, have reliably and boldly reflected American priorities and values across the years.

There was indeed much to celebrate among values-based conservatives after November 8, Election Day 2022. There was much for which to be thankful and sobered on November 11, Veterans’ Day.

In Moore County, the conservative values wave sent the left crashing into the jagged rocks of irrelevance. Voters overwhelmingly chose morality and stewardship when offered the alternative – cultural secularism and reckless spending. More on these triumphs later. Let’s simply say that where public schools and the Moore County Board of Education are concerned the status quo rubber stamp has been placed permanently in a drawer, and citizens who attend future meetings can rest assured they will not be subjected to metal detectors, masks, and intimidation by security personnel.

But the bigger picture is disheartening, and not for reasons about which the corrupt mainstream media would dare pontificate.

Two examples. Republicans did not seize iron clad majorities in the U.S. House and Senate because they ran too many tainted, Trump-backed “election denier” candidates who are not, and never will be, electable. BS.

Are we to accept this absurd notion even as The Big Steal 2.0 plays out before our eyes in Arizona, California, Nevada and Oregon? Election integrity is taking another hit out West, where “officials” are complacent and, likely, complicit.

The Left is not a wing of the Democrat party in 2022. The Left IS the Democrat party. Its candidates and its voters are not fixated on the so-called insurrection of January 6, 2021. Their fixation is abortion on demand, climate change, LBGTQ rights and gender fluidity. They do not care about our “institutions”, and they are not Never Trumpers. They barely noticed Trump because they never cared about low unemployment, peace through strength abroad, energy independence and restoring the greatness of America. Trump’s foe was and is corporate-owned media.

We can no more understand the radical Left than can we understand that which drives Islamic jihadists to commit acts of unthinkable terror. But we must acknowledge what drives them to vote, what inclines them to go all-in for John Fetterman (PA), Gretchen Witmer (MI), Mark Kelly (AZ), et al, allies of the Left who have no obvious popular appeal.

It’s not about ideology. They have no ideology. They have a religion that is untethered from Christianity, or even common sense. Common sense tells us that citizens of all political stripes would reject unbridled inflation, rising urban crime spreading into formerly “safe” neighborhoods, energy dependence on our enemies and crippling prices for gasoline and heating oil, a military significantly weakened by vaccine mandates, and endless January 6 commissions that crucify Trump but seek no remedies for election fraud.

Second example. It is the default mode among Americans of a certain generation to honor and salute military veterans. But the aforementioned Left views the military industrial complex, alive and well, as a channel through which wokeness and transgenderism will be further engrained. Thus, we honor our veterans one day a year but, should we lose focus, we will witness the demise of the brotherhoods that sustained them in times of war and peace. The Left is in charge in the upper ranks. The faces of valor they see in the black-and-white photos from past World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, leave them cold. They are not moved by these men and women who fought unconditionally. The woke military brass of the 21^st Century prefers conditions for those who serve. They must be vaccinated, indoctrinated, and emancipated from the past. Duty is not inherent; it is irrelevant. Duty gets in the way.

Savor we must the victories gained this first week in November that will subdue the march of the Left. Treasure we must military valor of ages past. But the stark reality of this moment is that we no longer can take for granted the absolute certainty of Election Day “results”, or the sanctity of future missions of those sworn to defend our homeland from enemies foreign and domestic.

In fact, domestic enemies are thriving in a perpetual open season, and they know it.

Alternative reality

By John Rowerdink

President Joe Biden’s August 31 speech on the Afghanistan withdrawal was ripe with statements requiring further examination.

He says it’s an amazing success but does that comport with what you’ve seen?
Then, in the next breath, he says there was no way to end this in some semblance of an honorable, organized way. It can’t be both an amazing success and an unavoidable mess. Which one have you seen unfold over the last couple of weeks? Who are you going to believe — Biden or your lying eyes?
He continues to confuse the decision and support for ending the war with the disgusting way he did it.
He continues to blame President Trump for this mess. Here are two questions about that:
- With all we know about President Trump, do you think he would let himself be viewed as weak by the rest of the world?
- Biden reversed all kinds of other decisions Trump made but he left this one in place. So where does that buck stop?
If you see the list of military equipment we left behind, it will make you sick.
How could the president, our diplomats and our military brass be so wrong about the Afghan army’s ability to hold the country for a few years? Did we not work with these people for 20 years?
He said we would get every single American out before we left. Did we do that? No.
We said we would protect the thousands of Afghans who worked with us and get them out if they wanted. Did we do that? No.
We got about 123,000 people out. 5,000 of them were Americans who wanted to leave; 6,000 of them were our troops; and by all accounts, not many of them were the 60,000 Afghans who helped us during the war (give him 12,000 of them). Who were the other 100,000 that we got out and how were they selected? How good was our rushed vetting process? Did we just take whoever the Taliban decided to allow into the airport? What’s the chance that some of them are terrorists?
We gave the Taliban a list of the Afghans who helped us during the war. What do you suppose they’ll do with that list now that we’re gone?
He says we will still get these people out. Yeah, right.
He talks about our support for women and girls. Go back to Afghanistan in a few months and ask women and girls how they’re doing under the Taliban.
In the days ahead, watch how many of our dollars the Biden administration is going to give the Taliban. So we fight them for 20 years, we then quit and leave them billions of dollars of our military equipment while we plead for them to help us. Then after we’re gone, we send them more taxpayer dollars. How disgusting is that? Is that what he calls an amazing success?
His military advisors wanted him to leave 2,500 troops there to assist the Afghan army, which they had been doing for many months with no loss of American life. The bipartisan Afghanistan Study Group in Congress recommended that we leave troops there. Military testimony to their 2020 report warned that a withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 U.S. service members from Afghanistan would result in “catastrophic consequences for the security and stability of Afghanistan, including the potential resurgence of terrorist organizations that could threaten the U.S. homeland”.
Our NATO allies wanted us to stay and continue to support this NATO mission.
We have 28,000 troops in South Korea more than 60 years after the Korean War, successfully keeping the peace. We have 320,000 troops in Europe more than 70 years after the end of World War II. Was it really so hard to keep 2,500 in Afghanistan?
But no, Biden wanted zero and this screwed up mess is what we ended up with.
The President of the United States is living in an alternative reality

Trump 2.0

By Steve Woodward

What I learned at the North Carolina Republican Party Convention in Greenville:

Ernie’s Sub Shop (since 1980) is legitimate, and the best alternative to the NC GOP’s offerings, which left delegates craving airline food.

The ballroom of the Greenville Hilton is a cramped and stifling venue in which conducting a convention is not advisable. It surely was designed by a radical Lefty because it divides people and limits their ability to be heard.

President Donald Trump is reflective but not defeated six months after his inexplicable “loss”, and no longer opposes Joe Bidden as a “sleepy” adversary but as an enemy of our nation’s core values.

His Saturday night (June 5) address to dehydrated convention delegates and donors was, in many ways, vintage Trump. Our “45″ chided the media (which was assembled en masse), China (and its clear role in unleashing the Wuhan virus), and the Biden administration’s already collapsing economy and stature around the world.

What Trump did not do to any significant degree is belabor Biden’s obvious physical and mental limitations, other than mentioning Biden’s talent at falling “up” the stairs to the door of Air Force One. He pointed to the debacle caused by Dr. Anthony Fauci’s deceit, which fueled Wuhan virus hysteria. He acknowledged that he made a huge “bet” when directing the federal government to underwrite the launch of Operation Warp Speed, which ultimately delivered on his promise of virus vaccines in record time by sidestepping normal Food and Drug Administration testing.

Those like me who were at the White House ellipse on January 6, shivering in bitter cold, and in the Greenville Convention Center on June 5 shivering under blasting air conditioning, could not have escaped the conclusion that Trump has bounced back from the November election outcome more so than many of us.

That is reason enough to enter the road to 2022 and beyond rejuvenated and determined. The man who remains the heart and soul of the Republican Party is counting on that. (Not to mention the inspiration we can draw from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who spoke with the eloquence of a leader and the common sense of a rancher during her June 5 convention luncheon appearance).

As demonstrated in Greenville, even if Trump never again runs for elected office, the sheer force of his personality will assist state parties in raising millions of dollars to support Republican campaigns. NC GOP chairman Michael Whatley informed delegates that Trump’s presence guaranteed that last Saturday’s fundraiser would reap the largest collection in party history. By four times, in fact.

In the unlikely event that Trump decides not to run for President in 2024, he will have positioned the Republican Party’s conservatives to rise up in defiance of the Socialist tsunami sweeping upon our shores. As our culture crumbles, constitutional rights slip away, religious freedoms evaporate, inflation soars and economic growth stagnates, we must look to the Trump example. We stand firm. We don’t back down. We elect candidates who execute on their promises from day one. We make America great again. Again.