Tag Archives: change

Whither The Republican Party

BY B. JAY COOPER
Reprinted from BJayCooper.com

Short  answer: I don’t know. But I do know that many of our new “frontrunners for the 2016 nomination” aren’t defining that path either.

I just read a piece by Bobby Jindal, Louisiana GOP governor, who said he’s laid out seven “ideas for change.” Let me briefly sum them up: stop looking back, compete for every vote, reject identity politics, stop being the stupid party, stop insulting the intelligence of voters, stop being the party of  “big,” focus on people not government.

Thanks, governor…but where are the ideas for change? I see navel gazing. Now where do you lay out a policy path for change, which is what the Republican Party really needs. I know the Tea Party types think they have that, and what they have is 100 percent acceptable…by them. Continue reading →

A Changing World

BY GARY JOHNSON
Reprinted from Loose Change (TCBMag.com)

The National Security Agency’s Prism revelations have contributed to America’s growing ambivalence and fear around privacy and personal data. Who knows what legislation may result from it all.

I know that, like many fellow citizens, I was not alarmed by our government’s data-gathering practices. I am more alarmed by what private enterprise can and may do with my data. But, for me, that’s an old saw.

Author Mitch Joel released a book, Ctrl, Alt, Delete, that attempts to establish a certain level of fear and foreboding in us by offering up some staggering statistics indicating how our world has changed, transformed by the digital revolution. It’s yet another police siren the digerati persists in blowing and I’m not sure why.

We know the world is changing, for God’s sake. Rather than dish facts, how about demonstrating some traction and results? Continue reading →

The End

BY GARY JOHNSON
Reprinted from Loose Change (TCBMag.com)

The End is a 1978 flick in Burt Reynold’s prime (for whatever that’s worth) starring Dom DeLuise, Robby Benson, Carl Reiner, Joanne Woodward, Sally Field, Myrna Loy, Norman Fell, Strother Martin, Pat O’Brien, etc. It’s about a young-ish rich guy who has been given six months to live. His end will be horrible, he’s told, so he decides to put himself out of his misery early. After a few failed attempts, he ends up spending a few days in a mental hospital where he enlists the help of a fellow patient (Dom DeLuise). Continue reading →

California Bulls Leave The Stadium

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

When I first started on Capitol Hill (23 years ago…man, I am getting old), I was not terribly sophisticated in the world of politics. For example, I couldn’t quite come to grips that one of the most powerful men in the House of Representatives had the same last name as a famous comedian who spent every Labor Day raising money for disabled kids.

Jerry Lewis, at that time, was Chairman of the House Republican Conference and, along with Mickey Edwards and Tom DeLay, a rival of new House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich.

Even back then, Lewis was old-school. A former insurance salesman, Lewis understood politics from the street-level. He wasn’t a particularly brilliant theoretician, but he was a great practical politician who got into the game to help his constituents. Continue reading →