I want to apologize for calling those Republicans who are going to vote for McCain "ankle grabbers".  I fear I have offended some nice people who are doing what they think is the right thing.  I was wrong to name call. I think "el camino" still fits, though. It is not meant to be derogatory but rather a humorous name to describe individuals who can't tell if they're conservative or liberal.  Anyway, the point is I should not turn the verbal shotgun on my former teammates.  I should save my good stuff for Dem/libs.

The reasons for my mea culpa are that I went to church this morning and am in a humble mood and I also talked to my sister. The former is pretty obvious - this is the time of year we celebrate Jesus' rise from the dead.  No need for grudges against our brothers and sisters. I'm sure we've all seen Passion of the Christ, right? Great movie. Can't wait for the sequel.  But I digress.

The latter reason for my wanting to apologize for name calling is that I would have to consider my sister an ankle grabbing GOP lifer too.  Of course, being a brother, it is part of my job description to aggravate my sister from time to time and name calling is at the top of the list. But, since we're both out of our 30's it is just not appropriate. Plus, I don't want her running to mom and telling.  

I called her to say hello and we got to talking about the election. We both agreed that the quality of candidates was awful and I told her “I ain’t voting for McCain.” What she said in response sounds exactly like what I’ve read and heard dozens of times already. She said, “What?! You have to vote for McCain. You don’t have a choice.” Does this sound like the RNC gameplan or what? I told her, “No, I don’t. And you don’t either. You can vote 3^rd party or vote for Hillary or Obama.” Well, I might as well have asked her to sell one of her kids. It did not compute with her. 

This is when I fully realized that very nice, patriotic and smart people are voting for McCain because they feel they “have to”. Not that I’m slow or anything. My frustration threshold is just too low for my own good when I think others are missing something important. That is also part of my pride/arrogance which I must rid myself of if I’m to be any good to God.  (Did you know that outside of Jesus, Moses was the most humble character in the Bible? He was called an “empty vessel” and, thus, was useful to God.)

My sister and I agreed that we would vote for the Congressional Repubs so that pressure is kept on whoever wins the Whitehouse. I remember we had this same conversation in ’92 when I said I was thinking about voting for Perot. We said the same things to each other then. Today she even said, “Your vote won’t matter. The party won’t get it. They don’t get it.” Looks like she’s right. They’ve swayed to the Left for 20 years. Yet she is still going to vote for the GOP candidate because she is afraid of a Dem/lib in the office. Looks like I have more work to do to persuade her and others. Without the name calling.    

How all national debates should be.  More proof that being conservative makes you beautiful.   

Ben Dover was a nice old man. He had been in Congress since the 1920's.  He was still vigorous and fit and had his wits about him until his death in late 2008. Ben knew the ins and outs of the Beltway.  He had survived for a long time by being extremely diplomatic when dealing with the Loyal Opposition.  Although genial, he could be prickly and, some say, even bossy with members of his own party. But Ben only did that when he felt it was necessary to keep things civil. He didn't like loud people.  Loud people were unseemly. They liked to rock the boat too much. Things went along smoothly when Ben and his friends got their way.  Mr. Dover was appalled at the lack of civility from some of his constituents.  He didn't take kindly to criticism nor suggestions. For he was above reproach, afterall. Ben and his compadres already knew what worked in Washington so being asked to change course was just annoying.  Ben Dover was the epitome of what it meant to be a Republican.

Ben had mentored many Washington folks.  President GHW Bush, Bill Frist, Trent Lott, Denny Hastert and all the fine fellows in the Northeast.  His best students were Bob Michel and Bob Dole, the perfect gentlemen from Illinois and  Kansas respectively.  Under their leadership, the Republican Party gave up 10 seats in the Senate and 26 seats in the Congress to the Democrats.  Ronald Reagan, whom Mr. Dover was not thrilled with, had taken office in the 1980's.  He was an upstart who wanted to press into action the themes from the unfriendly Goldwater and Buckley crowd.  Ben's party put forth a half-hearted effort to help Reagan but the task seemed too big especially since they lost those seats. The Republicans didn't want any trouble. Besides, being friends with Tip O'Neill, George Mitchell, Dick Gephart, and Ted Kennedy was much easier and more fun if the Republicans just went along with the crowd.  The parties that the Beltway and Manhattan crowds threw were fabulous.

When Ben Dover's party did not go along, those pesky protestors would show up and start shouting and who wanted that?  Or the Loyal Opposition would point out how many children and old people would die if certain bills did not pass.  Ben Dover's party was certainly not going to be responsible for that happening. Besides, their constituents had plenty of jobs and money to pay for these extra little things. And they didn't protest too much anyways, not like the Democrats.  

Ben, the two Bobs, and their fellow Republicans, were known to be good sports.  When they lost to the Democrats, they were always gracious in defeat.  They were even practiced at being good losers you might say.  It's funny to note that Ronald Reagan was famous for being in a movie about winning and losing called "Knute Rockne, All American".  The real Knute Rockne once said, "Show me a good and gracious loser and I'll show you a failure."   But Ben's boys didn't think of themselves that way. "Look at what we've accomplished. Look at all the social programs that are going to help the American families and the social fabric." they would say.  When Ben's constituents complained that society seemed to be sliding downwards, Ben usually pretended that he didn't hear.  He really didn't like confrontation.  "Please, be quiet, people.  You're embarassing us.", Mr. Dover chided when pressed to far.  The important thing to Ben and his fellows was to look unified, dignified, and above all else to look amiable. 

In early 2008, the Republican party bore the fruit of Ben Dover's vision and hard work by nominating one of his greatest pupils, John McCain.  Known as "Maverick", McCain was respected by many people, not necessarily in the Republican Party, but where it counted - the moderates, the NYT, Chris Mathews - all the "in the know" and thoughtful people.  John McCain voted against and led the charge against many of the unpopular ideas that the old fashioned conservatives had including lower taxes, a ban on stem cell research, up or down votes for Justices, and no illegal immigration.  The conservatives were soon considered to be racists, prudes and tightwads in this new era.  McCain, such a wild card he was, even briefly considered being the VP running mate for John Kerry on the Democrat ticket.  This only enhanced his image with moderates like Ben Dover.  After McCain's inevitable nomination, the Republican Party gave the ultimate honor to Ben Dover. They renamed the Party the "Ben Dover Party".  Many cheered.   Unfortunately, the Ben Dover Party did not last long.  When it's nominee, John McCain lost in a landslide to Barack Obama, the Party quickly fell on hard times. Donations and membership dried up. Many of the moderates joined the Democrat party and the conservatives formed their own party.  

This sounds like ancient history but it was only 20 years ago.  

1. Make them feel uncomfortable when they come into your place of business. Ignore them or give them dirty
    looks.

2. Sell them a product or service that doesn't work as advertised.

3. Tell them that the product they want is way out of fashion and they should really "get with it".

4. Try to sell them an inferior product or service.

5. Try to sell them a product that only does half of what they need it to do.

6. Try to get them to buy a more expensive product or service they really do not want.

7. Do not follow up on what you said you would do. 

8.  Mess with the customer's money: Charge more than agreed upon, delay corrective refunds. Give no refunds.

9.  Do not listen to what the customer wants.

10.  Waste the customer's time with sloppy service. Put them on hold. 

11. Tell the customer that if they don't act now they will be really sorry.

12. Deliver the wrong product or service.

13. Tell the customer that you don't need their business anyway.

14.  This is the biggest one:  When the customer is upset and trying to discuss the situation with you - tell them
        to "CALM DOWN".


Hmm, I wonder what the store across the street has?

When I was a little kid I'm sure at some point I exclaimed, "That's not fair!"  And I'm also sure that at the time I was rebutted with, "Welcome to the Real World, Sonny Jim."  Over the formative years, I do recall being clued in on the fact that we don't always get our way and that some folks do indeed have more than us or can get away with things which I, personally, could not.  I figured out that Life was a certain way and held no personal grudge against me.  After I figured that out, things became less frustrating for me.  I learned that having things for the sake of having them and being envious of others who had them did not really help me much. It actually made me more miserable.  In my mid-teens I made a comment to two friends of mine who were brothers.  I said, "Man, Jake is so lucky. He gets all the hot girls."  Sal looked at me and said, "So? You should be happy for him. " His brother Vito chimed in with "Yeah. Good for Jake. Why don't you go get one too?"  Right then I was able to apply what I knew philosophically to a real life situation.  Wow. What an eye-opener.  There were plenty of beautiful girls out there and I did go out and get plenty of them but that's another story for another day.

The example above illustrates a big difference between conservatives and liberals: 
Conservatives look at Bill Gates and think, "I can't believe that geek owns his own island".  No, wait that's not what I want to say.  Conservatives look at Bill Gates and say, "Man he is loaded. Now. How can I figure out how to make a pile of money like he did. Let me look at how he did it and maybe I can find a way to do it too.  Oh, and by the way Bill, thanks for inventing computers. My life is a whole lot easier now." 

Liberals look at Bill Gates and say, "Why does he get to have all that money when there are young girls starving in Manhattan? He should be made to give back  some of it." 

Did you notice that the Lib did not go much further than her original impulse to feel envious?  Also, they have a notion that Gates took the money somehow instead of earning it by making a product that people want. That's about as far as an average liberal will think it through.  It takes the professionals like Leahy, Schumer, Kennedy, and the people at the grant-funded organizations to figure out how to get that money from Gates. 

Aside: I know that a lot of libs are wealthy.  But they also feel guilty about it. (Ever notice that people of color never feel guilty when they get rich?) Guilty White Lib syndrome. That is also for another entry. 

Ok. So, from this point, conservatives go about their business of practiciing business.  They only speak out if things are unconstitutional or anti-social.  Conservatives deal with things as they are.

Liberals, from this point, go about their business of whining, crying, and getting themselves, and, hopefully, some other slow-witted people, hysterical.  Libs want to make things like they are in their dream world.  

Dream worlds are bad when applied to reality.  They will not work mathematically, practically, economically, nor when humans are involved.  For one thing, how many dwarfs do we have that are really magic?  See? A bit of a let down already.  And the fantastic worlds of the U.S.S.R. and Cuba should be sufficient evidence that Utopia is still just a fine piece of writing by Sir Thomas More.
 
In political and social discourse, we conservatives always cede the playing fields to the Dem/libs AND we let them make and interpret the rules. This is stupid and puts us on the defensive from the get go. I say we should ask Dem/libs to fully answer the following questions:

1. What do you mean by "unfair"?
2. What exactly is it about the United States of America, its laws, its people, and its economic system that keeps your clients down?
3. What is moral about taking from some people and giving it to others via the U.S. government?
4. What have you done to show your clients how to achieve success in the United States?
5. What is moral about making your clients dependent on the government and others for their subsistence and happiness? 
6. Has your way and the laws you have gotten passed improved the lives of your clients more than if they had figured out how to succeed for themselves? Let's compare and contrast group examples.
7. What if the government says "no" to your clients? What will you do for them then? What will they be able to do for themselves?
8. If things are unfair, and if it is the conservatives' fault, why is it that Dem/libs give less to charities than conservatives?
9. Which philosophy seems better in real life: Being able to write a check or always having to ask for a check? 

After these basic questions stump them we can ignore the Dem/libs' "unfair" premise and move on with rational debate.