Political Courage Part I: The journey 07/17/09
Here I am again at 3:00A.M, banging away on my keyboard venting frustration through my primary release mechanism, another NCDAS editorial.
Waking up in the middle of the night has become a common occurrence since Obama was elected. It seems like every day the President does something to erode our freedoms or re-engineer our republic into a bastion of socialism.
Just recently, I read a report that by executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in "migration assistance" to the Palestinian refugees and "conflict victims" in Gaza. The "presidential determination", which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States, was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4th. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants with ties to Hamas, the group known for indiscriminately shooting Iranian-supplied missiles into Israel, will now be our neighbors. Maybe they can be roomies with the terrorists from Gitmo who Obama is hoping to release into our neighborhoods. THis is another voting block for the Democratic Party that is sure to improve our quality of life.
Why we are just now starting to hear about this national security affront in the news is anyone’s guess, but I suspect your guess is the same as mine.
This latest case of anti-America news is not why I am staring bleary-eyed at my monitor tonight. No, tonight my frustration comes from a source closer to home. My frustration comes from my home state - the great state of Texas. In fact it comes from my very own district.
For those of you who read my editorials and are from distant lands let me take a moment to explain. I live in Texas, District 66 and am represented by 1 of the 150 Texas State Representatives. Of course we also have a Senate in Texas, but I am going to concentrate on the House of Representatives, specifically my Representative.
Now you must understand I live in a “so called” Republican district. I make the distinction “so called” because the majority of citizens in District 66 have a propensity toward conservative principles. However our duly elected representative is anything but a Republican when it's his time to vote on matters of taxes and social issues.
I won’t try to identify all the bills that validate my assertion, as it would take 19 years to describe them all. Why nineteen years? Because our illustrious representative has decided to make this position his life-calling. That’s right, my representative has held the same office for nineteen years now and is about to run for another term, unopposed.
Herein lies the purpose of tonight’s editorial. You see, no one has the courage to run against him. He is all too powerful. You hear it bantered about all the time, "he can’t be dethroned", "he is Chairman of The Calendars Committee".
It’s pertinent to note he was appointed to the chair when he broke ranks with the Republican Party and voted with the Democrats to replace a conservative house speaker with the most liberal Republican in the Texas House of Representatives. So now the conservative Republican State of Texas is run by a pro-abortion, keep the border open at any cost Speaker of the House. Is this the kind of representation Republican constituents asked for?
Let’s get back to the election. So even though everyone is frustrated with the status quo, no one has the political courage to do anything about it. But here is the kicker. The political insiders feel that with the upcoming gubernatorial election in the near future, whereby Kay Bailey Hutchinson will run against Governor Perry, the current political applecart structure could theoretically be toppled. Toppled because if Hutchinson runs, additional seats will open up down the food chain, and my districts representative could decide to relinquish his seat for a senate seat. Isn’t that special!
If that happens, hold onto your hat because suddenly there will be an influx of candidates all jumping on the bandwagon in an attempt to slide into the seat previously held for two decades. So my question is, why wait?
Each of these so-called candidates in waiting witnessed thousands of citizen voters standing on street corners during the Tea Parties. Tens of thousands attended the Tea party held at Southfork ranch - the expansive ranch made famous from the primetime show Dallas. We know these citizens who took to the streets have exhibited courage to stand for what is right by ‘putting government back on the side of the people’.
These fellow citizens understand full well that Homeland Security continues the process of identifying them as dangerous elements and possible terrorists. But they came out to protest regardless. They came out because they recognize we are losing our country day by day and the clock is ticking. I know because I was there. I know the degree of anger and fear in their hearts because NCDAS assisted in organizing a Tea Party. I was there as hundreds of Americans stood on the street corner and took comfort in the unexpected support of passersby. People waved, yelled, and honked their horns in a sign of solidarity. Such jubilation! You would have thought the Dallas Cowboys had just won the Super Bowl in their brand new stadium.
So where are all of our candidates? Where is their political courage? I submit it’s not out of passion and patriotism they all wish to posture themselves as potential candidates. For if their motivation was derived from a desire to fight for our State of Texas and America each of them would be at the State Registrar putting their John Hancock on the dotted line formally announcing their candidacy. I suppose I should apologize to our founding father, John Hancock who truly demonstrated courage as he was first to sign the Declaration of Independence. Quite the opposite of what we are witnessing today.
Now I know what you are thinking; Wayne since you have such passion for our country and state as exemplified in your past NCDAS editorials, Why don’t you run?
Well I am not a politician for one. I am a business man. Coincidentally, the past nineteen years of my life I spent my time building a company from the ground up. But I must be honest with you all. I have considered it. In fact, I was approached just weeks after our successful Tea Party by a individual who is a player in the local Republican Party. He asked me to consider running for our district seat.
“You really believe I could win a difficult election battle against our all-powerful incumbent?” I asked him.
“Yes, I do” he responded. “But you have to realize that if he does indeed relinquish his seat and run for the senate there will be a lot of local citizens who enter the race at the last minute. If that happens your chance of winning is minimized substantially-- As in you don’t have a chance!”
I must admit for just a moment I was somewhat perplexed and mystified. So I said to him, “Let me get this straight. You believe I can beat our current representative one-on-one but I can’t beat the local “also rans” who could theoretically jump in to the race at the last minute! If that is indeed the case, logic dictates one of these people could easily beat him. Why don’t they run?”
I really didn’t expect or require a response to my question. The answer is crystal clear. No one wants it badly enough to risk time, energy, resources, and reputation. Wannabe candidates prefer to just waltz into the seat with the necessary vote tally they are assured to get from all their friends and cronies. No true battle, no fight, just an almost assured victory.
To put it in perspective they all lack political courage. And that is the essence of our Republican Party. Many Republicans lack political courage; it’s the reason we are watching Obama read from a teleprompter day in and day out. It’s why the government is now a majority stock holder in General Motors. It’s why our American citizens will awaken this morning to Obama speaking to a Russian audience abdicating American power and prestige.
So there we have it. My representative remains unopposed again unless he ascends to an even higher position of power. He has the continued silent consent of unaware citizens in District 66 to misrepresent his constituents. All the while, helping to dismantle the freedoms we know and love in America piece by piece.
So I have challenged all the insiders who are waiting in the wings for his next move. Try to find the courage to fight now. And yes, in doing so, you do risk defeat. But at the very least you will send a message to all of our representatives. The days of automatic reelection are over. Those days are over regardless of your stature or length of time in office. We are holding you accountable.
And should none of you decide to enter the race soon, maybe I will take the challenge and attempt to defeat this Republican in name only.
Maybe I should run. I might lose. But maybe I wouldn’t? But at least I would be able to sleep at night knowing that just as the Tea Party Citizens did their part, I did my part to make our Republic and my state a better place to live.
God Bless America
Wayne S. Richard
President/Founder
NCDAS
