Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Campaign 2012: We Review Newt Gingrich

Today we shall examine the presidential candidacy
of Newt Gingrich, ex-Speaker of the House of
Representatives. With his very recent and surprising
surge in the polls, this is proving to be a most
opportune time to bring our scrutiny to bear on
Mr. Gingrich.



NEWT GINGRICH

The former House Speaker was born on June 17, 1943
to Newton Searles McPherson and his wife, Kathleen
Daugherty McPherson, who divorced soon after Newt's
birth. His mother would go on to marry a career army
officer, Robert Gingrich, who adopted the boy. Newt
has three younger half-sisters, Candace, Susan, and
Roberta.

The Gingrich family moved around a lot, with each
posting assigned Robert Gingrich by the Army. Newt
graduated from Baker High School (Columbus,
Georgia), followed by receiving a B.A. from Emory
University in 1965, an M.A. in 1968, and a Ph.D.
in European History from Tulane University in 1971.
Later on, Gingrich was an assistant professor of
history and geography at West Georgia College.

Gingrich first became involved in politics during
his college days, becoming the Southern Regional
Director for Nelson Rockefeller's 1968 presidential
campaign. The man who would go on to become the
first conservative Speaker of the House of Represen-
tatives in many years had, ironically, worked on the
campaign staff of the epitome of the liberal Repub-
lican, Rockefeller, the establishment prince himself.
Gingrich made his first run for office when he ran
for Congress against an incumbent Georgia Democrat
in 1974 and lost. He tried again in 1976 with the same
result. However, the third time proved to be the charm, 
as Gingrich won election in 1978. His Georgia district
would send him back to the House ten more times.

Gingrich founded the Conservative Opportunity Society
in 1983, a gathering of GOP congressional members
whose ideas influenced President Ronald Reagan's
policies. In 1988, Gingrich led the move to oust then-House
Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX), who was alleged to have
violated campaign finance rules. The notoriety gave his
career a boost, as Gingrich was chosen to succeed Rep.
Dick Cheney as House Minority Whip when Cheney was
appointed Secretary of Defense by President George H.W.
Bush. Already known for his aggressive style, Gingrich
was pivotal in the Republican Party drafting the Contract
With America, a platform of 10 policies which included
welfare reform and a balanced federal budget. When
the GOP won the House and the Senate in the 1994
elections on the dissatisfaction at that time with
President Bill Clinton and the Democrats, the Republicans
passed much of the content of their contract, resulting in
a massive overhaul of our country's welfare programs and
the first balanced budget Washington had achieved since
the Kennedy years.

The good times for Newt Gingrich were not to last, how-
ever; government shutdowns over budget impasses in
1995 backfired on Gingrich and the Republicans. In that
same year Gingrich returned a $4.5 million book advance
that the House Ethics Committee questioned. He was also
alleged to have funded a college course he taught with
tax-exempt donations. the House officially reprimanded
Gingrich on a 395-28 vote. Not long afterward Gingrich
resigned his position as Speaker and declined to seek
another term in Congress. Since then Gingrich had been a
consultant and commentator on Fox News, and has authored
four books in avocation of conservative solutions to our
nation's problems.

Newt Gingrich married three times: to Jackie Battley in
1962, having two daughters, Jackie and Kathy before their
divorce in 1980; to Marianne Ginther in 1981, having met
her at a GOP fundraiser in Ohio, divorcing in 1999; and
to current wife Callista Bistek in 2000. Through their
production company, Gingrich Productions, they make
documentaries on public policy matters. The Gingriches
live in McLean, Virginia.

STRENGTHS

Newt Gingrich is a scholarly man with a strong grasp of
U.S. history, especially concerning politics as well as
the Constitution. Gingrich also is conversant in great
detail of many political issues and policy matters, which
would make him a formidable foe in a debate with
President Obama should Gingrich gain the Republican
nomination. Your favorite Peasant is certain that Newt
Gingrich could debate Obama into knots without much
effort. And having been the second person in line for
the Presidency as well as having worked closely with
two presidents, Gingrich knows first hand what it takes
to govern from the White House. His attention to and
grasp of detail would make him a fine administrator and
a fine advocate for legislation that he would favor.

WEAKNESSES

Gingrich is perceived by many people, including some
who otherwise hold him in high regard, as having a
rascally quality. His ethics-related troubles while
Speaker as well as his multiple marriages and divorces
fuel this perception. One of his daughters recently
made a public statement disputing the story of how
Gingrich had presented divorce papers to his first
wife just after she was brought back to her hospital
room following extensive cancer surgery, hoping to
take advantage of her greatly weakened state to get her
to sign them. This tale had been haunting Gingrich for
many years, having some negative impact on his
image if not his career. That, with the rapidity of
his remarrying after the finalization of each divorce,
has been a concern for social conservatives.

When Gingrich was  speaker of the House,
although he was pivotal in getting President Clinton
to sign the legislation making welfare reform and
a balanced budget realities, he was strangely silent
when Clinton claimed sole credit for these legislative
accomplishments. This in turn, your faithful Peasant
believes, helped Clinton to win a second term as
President; so many Americans associated him, and
still do, with these achievements. Although Bill
Clinton is quite the rascal himself for this and
other reasons, he has a smoothness to him that
Gingrich lacks, and therefore has been able to
get away with so much more. Please don't
think that your conscientious Peasant is sugges-
ting that Newt Gingrich should cultivate such
smoothness that he can then function in that
fashion more adroitly!

In recent years, Gingrich has made public statements
to the effect that he believes that global warming is
a clear and presnet threat to the world, and supports
what he terms a "Green Conservatism" to deal with
it. This has been discomfitting to many conservatives
who think that Gingrich will do with enviornmental
regulation what moderate-to-liberal republicans
have done with government --- expand, but not as much
as the democrats would expand. Gingrich also has been
seen to be somewhat soft on the matter of illegal immi-
gration regarding those illegal immigrants who have
been here for some years already, although he does
advocate tighter border security. Moreover, Gingrich
is popular with the beltway set, as is Mitt Romney;
this is not a portent of comfort to conservatives,
especially those of us in Tea Party circles. This
raises the same questions that have been asked about
Romney, which your redoubtable Peasant had stated
in my review of Romney.

In summation, Newt Gingrich is a mixed bag, being full
of pluses and minuses. The pluses are impressive, but the
minuses give worried pause.


MEM




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Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your beloved Peasant wants to wish you all,
my fabulous and fantastic readers and all who
are near and dear to you, a most Happy Thanks-
giving! I shall be taking the week of the holiday
off to recharge my batteries, enjoy some turkey
and accompanying trimmings on the day, and
spend time with friends. We shall resume our
scrutiny of the political and economic news
as well as our gimlet-eye view of the Repub-
lican presidential candidates the following
week.

Meanwhile, President Obama is once again
pardoning a turkey, sparing the bird from a
fateful November. Next November, we shall
not be pardoning Obama, as we shall treat that
turkey to a very fateful November when we
send him packing! For what we are about to
receive may we be truly thankful, at this
Thanksgiving and at the next!


MEM

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Campaign 2012: We Review Mitt Romney

Today, my fabulous readers, we shall scrutinize Mitt Romney
and his campaign for President. The one-time governor of
Massachusetts tried for the Republican presidential nomi-
nation in 2008, and is back for a second try for the GOP
nod. Let's see what Gov. Romney has to offer, shall we?



MITT ROMNEY

Mitt Romney was born on March 12, 1947 in Detroit,
Michigan. His father was former Michigan Governor and
Republican presidential candidate George Romney, who
ran in 1968 but was defeated by eventual GOP nominee
and president Richard Nixon. Romney was raised in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is a practicing member
of the Mormon faith (member of The Church of Latter
-Day Saints), as were the previous five generation of
Romneys. After attending the prestigious Cranbrook
School, Romney received his undergraduate degree
from Brigham Young University in 1971, followed
by obtaining both his law degree and his M.B.A. from
Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School,
respectively, in 1975.

Mitt Romney married Ann Davies in 1969, and have
five sons: Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig. Romney
began his career in business, working for the manage-
ment consulting firm of Bain and Company before founding
the investment firm of Bain Capital in 1984. In 1994, he
ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts but was de-
feated by longtime incumbent Edward "Ted" Kennedy
after a poor showing in a debate between the two
candidates. In 1999, Romney became president of the
Salt Lake Organizing Committee to lead the preparation
for the 2002 Winter Olympics to be hosted there.
He reversed the financial and ethical ills plaguing the
Olympics and led a successful olympiad that year. He
would subsequently write a book about the experience
titled Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic
Games.

The following year Romney was elected governor of
Massachusetts. In his term as governor he oversaw the
shrinkage of a $3 billion budget deficit, but he also
signed into law "Romneycare", a health care program in
which he was instrumental in creating to provide almost
universal health coverage for Massachusetts residents ---
very similar to Obamacare in scope and substance.

After serving one term, he announced his candidacy for
the presidency. After making it through Super Tuesday,
winning primaries in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Alaska,
Colorado and Utah, he closed out his campaign just
before the Wisconsin primary after eventual GOP
nominee John McCain surged ahead of Romney and the
rest of the Republican field. Romney spent $110 million
to fund his unsuccessful presidential campaign, including
$45 million of his own money. He retained his political
staff and PACs, and spent the next few years raising funds
for fellow Republican candidates' campaigns for various
public offices. In March 2010 Romney published a book
titled No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.

Mitt Romney announced his 2012 presidential campaign
at a farm in New Hampshire on June 2, 2011. Since
then Romney has taken the standard Republican positions
on taxes, the economy, and the war on terror. However,
Romney's critics charged him with changing his positions
on abortion and some other hot button issues, including
opposing President Obama's health care reform program
even though his own plan in Massachusetts bears many
similarities.

STRENGTHS

Mitt Romney has a solid background in business, including
successfully turning around a foundering Olympics organ-
izing committee and founding a successful investment firm.
Having grown up in a political family and having had some
exposure to presidential campaigning and accompanying
politics, Romney also has solid grounding in that realm
which is serving as a guide for knowing how to effectively
run a presidential campaign.  Romney brings a businessman's
sense of what needs to be done to rein in a runaway budget
and deficit, coupled with a political savvy for how to get it
accomplished.

WEAKNESSES

His changing stances on some critical issues have dogged
him throughout the campaign so far. On abortion, Romney
stated that he would welcome overturning Roe vs. Wade,
which made legal abortion the law of the land nearly
forty years ago. However, he also claimed to be in the
"legal but rare" camp on the subject as recently as 2007.
Romney also said that he opposes Roe, but would not
alter any abortion laws. He never made it clear when,
if at all, he had switched from being pro-choice to pro-life
on abortion so that we could place his stances and remarks
on the issue on a timeline.

On the budget, Romney has stressed that some budget
cuts must be made, and the more the better. He stated
that not only should waste be cut, but spending be cut
too. On the other hand, Romney said that we must not
ask "what can we cut" but "what should we keep".
Most curious. Does Gov. Romney mean that we must
prioritize what programs we should maintain, regardless
of its possibly enlarging the budget deficit, and simply
tinker around the edges with small, almost inconsequential
cuts, or should we make the objective be cutting
spending with the aim of making the cuts be shared
across the board in order to seriously address our chronic
spending and subsequent creation of further red ink?
Many conservatives in the GOP are confused as to what
Romney's intentions here on these issues are, and also
on the issue of gay people serving openly in our military;
Romney was reported as being in favor of homosexuals
serving openly in our armed forces according to GovWatch,
a government monitoring organization which observes
the stands and votes that elected officials take on a range
of important issues in a 1994 finding. In recent years,
coinciding with his presidential aspirations, Romney
has defended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the law which
made the military back off from asking servicepeople
about their sexual orientation but gives no protection
to them if they wish to openly declare that they are
gay or anything other than heterosexual. There are
supposedly some other issues where Romney has been
less than clear in this way that I have described.

ANALYSIS

Because of his business and law background, Mitt
Romney makes a knowledgeable and skillful pres-
idential candidate. But his position changes on some
issues that are very critical to conservatives in the
Republican Party make Romney look like he is
vacillating. Also, Romney has too many beltway
insiders in the GOP saying complimentary things
about him, especially in light of Romney's criticism
of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI)  plan for cutting
the budget with Medicare cost containment,
calling it "radical". This has not endeared him to
the Tea Party activists nor other grassroots conser-
vatives, the very people that Romney will need if
he is to have any chance of getting the Republican
nomination.

Finally, Romney has the ghost of his Romneycare
health coverage program from his days as governor
in Massachusetts hanging around. This does not inspire
confidence in conservatives looking for a candidate who
will get rid of Obamacare, let alone appreciably shrink
the federal government. Although Romney has some
pluses that should be noted, he also has some warning
bells ringing as well. Is Romney a warrior for government
reduction in scope and in cost? Or is he an establishment
lackey, trying to convince conservatives that he is on
their side while cozying up to the beltway smoothies?
Hopefully we won't have to elect him to see what his
intentions are and where his loyalties lie.


MEM



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Friday, November 11, 2011

Veterans Day Greetings!

Happy Veterans Day to all of our country's warriors
past and present, and to you all, my wonderful readers!
Here's a little treat for you all to enjoy on this special
day; just click the link:

http://vimeo.com/31911850

This video tribute to our veterans has gone viral!
The song in the video was written and performed
by a wonderful band, Due South. A great patriotic
anthem to accompany a great patriotic video made
to thank our brave service folk for their service and
sacrifice!

Always remember, if you like your freedom thank
a vet! It's like your favorite Peasant always says:
Freedom isn't free; it comes with a high price, yet
it is not a luxury but a necessity!


MEM


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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Campaign 2012: We Review Herman Cain

My fabulous readers, we will now review each of the Republican
presidential candidates who are vying for the GOP nomination to
run on its ticket. We shall examine each candidate, taking note of
their strengths and weaknesses, their best features and their
worst , the good things that each has to offer and the areas that
they need to work on. This series is meant as a guide to assisting
conservative voters in choosing the best conservative candidate
to send to face President Obama in next year's presidential 
election. Although is important that we prevent Obama from  
winning a second term in the White House, we must think in terms
of not only who has the best chance to defeat Obama but who can 
repair our country's economy, regain the confidence of our allies 
and the respect of the world, both friends and enemies alike,
and make a conservative template for governance which will be
grounded in the Constitution rather than based on the
whimsy of political leaders who think that they are smarter
than, and superior to, the people whom they are supposed to
serve. It is this kind of arrogance which has led to the problems
which we as a nation now face, combined with equally breath-
taking incompetence. Let us begin.
(Peasant's note)


HERMAN CAIN

Born on December 13, 1945, Herman Cain grew up in Atlanta,
Georgia. The Cain family was impoverished, but tenacious in
making sure that everyone was well provided for; his mother
worked as a domestic and his father held several jobs, including
being a chauffer for the executives of the Coca-Cola Co. Cain's
parents stressed the importance of education to a young Herman,
and the die for Herman Cain was cast.

Cain graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a bachelor's
degree in mathematics. He followed up with earning a master's
degree in computer science at Purdue University. While there,
Cain was employed by the U.S. Navy where he designed fire
control systems.

Next was a position as a systems analyst for Coca-Cola, 
followed by joining Pillsbury in 1977. While with the food giant, 
Cain climbed to the position of vice-president. Seeking new chal-
lenges, he went from information technologies to business
management by going to work at the firm's division at that time,
Burger King. Cain began by flipping burgers and over time
became a regional vice president for the fast-food chain.

In 1986, Herman Cain took on the posts of President/ CEO
of Godfather's Pizza, a company which was then in danger 
of going broke and closing down. In just fourteen months,
Cain made the pizza-maker profitable and with other execu-
tives purchased the business from Pillsbury.

Herman Cain later became president of the National Restaurant
Association. In that post, he challenged President Bill Clinton
on health care during a televised event. Cain stated he thought
that Bill and Hillary's ideas for health care reform would have
an adverse effect on business. In 2004 Cain made his first run
for political office, running for a U.S. Senate seat from Georgia.
Although he lost, Cain confidently entered the race for the
2012 Republican presidential nomination. Between the two
campaigns, Cain served as a member of the Federal Reserve
Board. Thought to be a long shot for the GOP laurels, Cain
has recently advanced to pull neck-and-neck with ex-Gov.
Mitt Romney from Massachusetts for the front-runner's
spot. In August 2011, Herman Cain finished fourth in the
Iowa Straw Poll, eclipsing Romney and Texas Gov.
Rick Perry --- two better-known candidates. Cain went
on to win the Florida Straw Poll in the next month.

STRENGTHS: Herman Cain won over many people with
his straight-up, no nonsense appraoch to governmental reform.
Cain has crafted a plan for fair, flat taxes for individuals and
businesses which, while criticized by some for potentially
placing a greater tax burden on lower-income Americans,
has been the only solid plan offered up by any of the GOP
candidates to date; the rest of the field has only spoken
in general terms as to how they would deal with taxes.
On this subject, and others, Herman Cain has been
refreshingly candid and illuminating with the public,
something to be desired in many politicians in both
parties.

WEAKNESSES: Cain is rather skimpy in terms of foreign
policy know-how; he openly admitted that he could not
name the president of Uzbekistan and "knowing who is the
head of some of these small insignificant states around the
world" was not as important as paying attention to domestic
issues. We need a president who will be attentive to both
domestic and foreign policy matters, and will at least know
(or will be willing to learn) who is the head of state in the
countries with whom we must deal with, especially in
sensitive areas of the world where radical Islam is a
potential or actual threat.

Furthermore, at this time Herman Cain is embroiled in
a controversial series of accusations made against him
by female employees in a couple of businesses where
Cain had had powerful positions. Four women have
claimed that Cain had been "sexually inappropriate"
with them. Now, your faithful Peasant has provided
links to stories giving some elaboration on these
claims by these women, which date back as far as
the '90s. Soon, I shall make comment on these
accusations made against Herman Cain here on
this blog but I will say this for now: Based on
what I have come to discover about Herman
Cain and his character, as well as his close and
solid relationship with his wife of 43 years, and
what I know about the liberal establishment and
its abject fear of black conservatives (especially
when they dare to seek the presidency), along
with the dubious timing of these claims becoming
public, the whole affair smacks of the establishment's
attempt to derail the appointment of Justice Clarence
Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court which, thank-
fully failed to deprive us of a thoughtful, fair-
minded conservative jurist ensuring that constitu-
tional standards are applied to all matters brought
before our highest court. The racism is once
again as ugly and repugnant as before, and sadly
it may prove that some in the Republican Party
may be behind the campaign to derail Herman Cain's
presidential campaign, joining with the Democrats.

Herman Cain also has an inexperienced campaign staff
that, while enthusiastic and energetic, have no ideas for
effectively countering the accusations made against their
candidate. Cain recently held a press conference to
deny the accusations and to state that he does not even
know one of the women accusing him. Some are saying
that it shouldn't have gotten to the point of Cain having
to hold that press conference; personally I don't know.
But if the Cain campaign continues to take more hits
like the ones it took so far, Herman Cain may well have
to leave the field of battle and limp home.

Let's hope that, for a number of reasons (some not
pertaining strictly to Herman Cain), this does not
become the case.

ANALYSIS:  Herman Cain is a breath of fresh air,
being essentially a non-politician in his demeanor
and the presentation of his ideas. The "insider" smarty-
pants types in both parties have made mischief
at our expense for too long. But lacking foreign policy
knowledge is a minus, and lacking an experienced,
campaign-savvy staff is an even bigger minus, especially
in the face of a smear campaign of growing proportions.
Cain must offset both of these weak areas if he is to
be around for the Republican convention, let alone
win the party's presidential nomination. If he can do
these things, Cain will siphon off enough of the black
vote to topple Obama in November of next year.
The question remains, though:  Can he overcome
these two glaring weaknesses? The coming weeks
will tell.


MEM




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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

We Round Out 2011

Hi everybody!

Today I have no article but I do have an announcement
of coming attractions that I'll be presenting for your
enjoyment over the course of this month and next.

It seems that the liberal media are scared stiff of the
surge of Herman Cain in the Republican presidential
nomination contest, with polls showing him neck-and-
neck with establishment favorite Mitt Romney, so they
have "discovered" some accusations of sexual harassment
made by some female employees against him from several
years ago. So far none of the accusations have any sub-
stance to them; one of them is quite ludicrous --- Cain
made a remark to a woman in his office that she was about
the same height as his wife, holding his hand up to his chin
as he spoke, never touching the woman in question.
Funny how the media hounds are barking over that, but
have been stone silent about the rash of accounts of
attempted rape at several OWS enclaves around the
country; this is the same motley bunch that the media
mouthpieces for the establishment have tried to liken
to the Tea Party, don't forget. And we'll be doing some
more comparisons between the Tea Party and the OWS
as well, notably on misbehavior and arrests (So far, the
Tea party has a SPOTLESS record on both these
criteria --- ZERO!).

We shall also examine the candidates in the Republican
presidential field, assessing the strengths and weaknesses
of each candidate. In this way we shall do our part to
ensure that we conservatives put our best foot forward
against Obama next year.

Finally, we shall also be on the lookout for any stories
which may pop up that will prove worthy of our attention,
and as always, we shall comfort the afflicted and afflict
the comfortable --- when the comfortable have made them-
selves so at the expense of others.

Thank you, my wonderful readers, for your ongoing reader-
ship and your loyalty! I appreciate you and your support and
your encouragement more than I can ever say! We shall
finish this year with a bang!


MEM

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