THE NEW REPUBLICAN NEWSLETTER No. 73 - (November 6, 2008) ------------------------------------------------------------ CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA First, and foremost, congratulations to Barack Obama for running an almost perfect campaign. He did it with dignity - as did John McCain. All Americans can take pride in this election, not only from a democratic standpoint but also from a historical standpoint. Think legalized slavery. Think 1865 and the end of the Civil War. Think 1954 and Brown v. Board of Education. And now 2008 with the election of Barack Obama. All Americans can be proud of the way the democratic process worked. There were no riots that I know of. I was very happy to be wrong on this prediction. I was also wrong on the prediction of John McCain winning. But in all honesty, John McCain again showed his love of country and his personal dignity with one of his best speeches of his career, albeit his concession speech. All in all, we can be proud of America and the country for which it stands. ------------------------------------------------------------ WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? First of all, no whining. Take the lead from John McCain and suck it up. Republicans got beat - and for some very good reasons. I won't lay blame on any one group - but I am not going to pull my punches either. To begin with, I was ashamed that Americans were saying the economy was the number one concern they had. We are fighting two wars - on two fronts - in the Middle East, and the economy is out biggest concern? That self-centered concept is not only frightening - but also very disconcerting. It is our greed - and our all-consuming concern for WIIFM (What's In It For Me) - that has gotten us into this economic mess in the first place. And now, We the People have to bail out those same bastards that have been pulling the economic strings all along. I took a lot of heat for my last two Newsletters. I was called a "conspiracy nut." I was called a "right-wing loon." But no one said I was wrong when I pointed out that the Federal Reserve was run by a group of private individuals that are actually controlling our economy and who gets the biggest part of the economic pie. You are a fool if you actually think you control your own economic destiny. The three control groups that I mentioned in previous Newsletters are the ones running the show. But I digress. Until we wake up as a nation we will continue to be controlled - and manipulated - by these types of organizations. But greed has - and apparently will continue to be - our greatest national affliction. When greed exceeds need - you bleed. And believe me, the bleeding has just begun. ------------------------------------------------------------ OK. BUT WHERE DO WE GO NOW? We go back to basics. Every time I mention my Congressional Campaign I get some reader who always goes on a rant about "sour grapes." Well, I hate to say it - but I told you so. In 2004, I said if the GOP does not open up and let others who wish to join in the conservative movement - then the GOP will first lose the House. I went on to say if it continues to be pig-headed about other groups, it will also lose the Senate. And I also predicted that, if the GOP kept hammering at "social issues" and not the real issues, the GOP will lose the White House. Barack Obama is now the 44th President of the United States of America. And it is totally the fault of the dimwitted leadership of the most myopic group of LOSERS that I have seen in a very long time. I have gotten a ton of e-mails - I am writing this New Republican Newsletter at 5:00 AM on November 5th - and almost everyone is bellyaching about how the country is going to be ruined. What will happen now? What are we going to do? Well, the first thing you - the GOP - must do is, GROW UP. Last night, when Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech - did anyone notice the makeup of the crowd? They were all different colors of people. And they were waving the American flag. They were all Americans. Black people, white people, brown, yellow and red people. There were homosexuals and straights, liberals and conservatives, MEN and WOMEN standing side by side. And they won! So, my first suggestion would be to have the GOP open up it doors to anybody that wants to enter. Again, during my campaign, I was ashamed at the blatant anti-homosexual attitude that members of the Whatcom County Republicans took at our GOP meeting at Bellingham High School. The Log Cabin Republicans (Republican homosexual conservative group) PLEADED, with the totally inept leadership of the Whatcom County Republicans, to let them be part of the conservative movement. But ignorant members of the GOP in attendance said no. And Dino Rossi lost his election bid to be governor - by less than 200 votes. You don't need a calculator to figure out how many Log Cabin Republicans would have voted for Rossi. He would be governor today but the Whatcom County "leadership" would not allow them to take part. And I predict that Dino Rossi will lose again - and this time by a bigger margin - because of his "ultra" conservative stance on social issues. So, the first thing that the GOP must do - is get rid of the narrow-minded people that have helped to drive down the Republican Party to where it is today. ------------------------------------------------------------ WHERE THE HELL DID THEY COME FROM, ANYWAY? A little history is in store here. In 1948, when the Democrats finally decided to recognize black people as human beings, the Dixiecrats (a combination of Southern Bigoted Baptists, outright racists, and narrow-minded Evangelicals) stormed out of the convention - and went crawling to the Republican Party. Slowly but surely, they infiltrated and started to help the GOP win elections again. Remember, 1948 was just three short years after FOUR TERMS of FDR - and then Harry Truman won by beating Thomas Dewey in a squeaker, again in the election of 1948. The Republican Party was desperate, so they turned to this group of individuals who have become known as the "Evangelical Base" of the Republican Party as we know it today. This motley group of individuals then gave us Richard Nixon and both Bushes, Don Rumsfeld, Karl Rove and Dick Chaney to boot. They had nothing to do with electing Eisenhower. He would have won against anybody. And please don't say they were the ones who elected Ronald Reagan. In both instances, the Democrats blew it big time with their presidential hopefuls. If you want to give credit for the election of Reagan, give it to the Reagan Democrats. By the way, what happened to the Reagan Democrats this time around? And what about the Evangelical "Base" of the Republican Party? Did the Evangelical Element really go out of its way to help John McCain? No, they did not. Then the Neo-Dixiecrats began to show their true colors. When they wrote their "Contract With America" all of a sudden they became drunk with power - and started jamming their "anti-homosexual, anti-abortion, anti-anything but Christian doctrine" down everybody's throats. Now look where we are. I hate to say it again - but I told you so. And just for the record, it was the Evangelical Element who sabotaged John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary, by saying that McCain had fathered a black child, when in fact, he and his wife had the true Christian Charity to take an Indian child from Mother Theresa and raise her as their own. I hold the Evangelical Element entirely responsible for defaming one of America's truly great heroes - John McCain - and from denying him the opportunity of becoming president of the United States in 2000. Instead, we were shackled with George W. Bush and his non-military serving war hawks, just because they were more to the liking of the "Evangelical Base", than the TRUE Republican "Maverick" John McCain. ------------------------------------------------------------ SO, WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW? Sorry, by my reply is still the same as it was in 2004. Get rid of the Evangelical Element and start to rebuild the Republican Party on the merits that Abraham Lincoln spelled out when he was President. Small government, help those who need help, work hard and save for the future, don't interfere in people's private lives and let America - and the American people - live in freedom and prosper. You can go to the Lincoln Quotes page on the Internet to get the exact wording, but I think you get the picture. So, the first thing that should be done is for all true conservatives to stand up and show the Evangelical Element the door. After that, the remaining true conservatives should first run for the Chair of their respective Republican organizations and political groups. Become Precinct Captains. It simply will not get done unless this plan is carried out. Once REAL Republicans retake the controls, may I suggest that you DO NOT start every meeting with a prayer. There is such a thing as Separation of Church and State. Yes, I know that the Congress is still opened with a prayer, but to my knowledge, it is "generic" in approach. I cannot tell you how many Jews, Muslims and other religious people came up to me and said they would like to come to the Whatcom County GOP meetings - but felt that they were being excluded by the "Christian" prayer that was always said before every get-together. So, run for the Chair. If you want to have a prayer - have a generic one. Probably better just to get on with business and leave religion to the individual - just like the Founding Fathers suggested in the first place. Once you have taken back control - then stand on the principles upon which the Republican Party was founded. Small government, low taxes and a strong national defense. It is actually very simple - if you stick to it. ------------------------------------------------------------ THE UPCOMING CHANGE IN COMMAND IN WHATCOM COUNTY I realize that there are a lot of readers, some even overseas in different countries, so please bear with me just on a quick local reference at this point. It is my understanding that the Evangelical Element was largely responsible for making Chet Dow step down as leader of the Whatcom County Republicans. I have heard this from a number of people. That is too bad. Chet was going in the right direction - and that is probably why he was pushed out. As always, Chet held no grudge and offered a good reason as to his decision, but I have heard too many people tell me that the "base" did not back him. I also understand that the Evangelical Element was against letting the Ron Paul people speak at the Whatcom County GOP group meeting on past Saturdays. Also, the Libertarians were looked down upon. However, it is my understanding that the Ron Paul representatives finally got to speak, but to an overtly hostile environment. Once true Republicans take back the Whatcom County GOP leadership, please let everyone know about it. Send a letter to the Editor of the Herald and announce your new Chair, and invite all past and present Republicans, and everybody else for that matter, to come to the next general meeting and get involved. However, if you still don't want to roll your sleeves up, or are "too busy," or think one person can't make a change, then get prepared for more defeats in the future. And don't blame anybody but yourselves for not getting involved in the political process. "Bad politicians are elected by good people who choose not to vote." Anonymous ------------------------------------------------------------ BUT PROPOSITION 8 WON IN CALIFORNIA! That is true. But it wasn't because of the Evangelical Element. It was because people simply didn't want their kids to have homosexual propaganda shoved down their children's throats. Californians are not anti-homosexual—they just didn't like the way the proposition was written. It will come up again on a future ballot, I assure you. ------------------------------------------------------------ PALIN IN 2012 This is already the rallying cry - of the Evangelical Element. And if she is the GOP candidate in 2012, she will lose. And then the Republican Party will be dead. Listen up - all good Republicans! Get rid of the Evangelical Element before it completely destroys the party once and for all. And just for the record, they are NOT Christians. They refer to themselves as EVANGELICALS. That is how they introduce themselves. They are as narrow-minded and rigid as any other fundamental, religious group. Take the lead from the Democrats in 1948, who had the good sense to let them walk out, never to return. If you are truly worried about the future of the Republican Party, this MUST be done. If you do not have the courage to confront these people - as I confronted them, and almost won in 2004 - then you have only yourselves to blame. And for anybody who wishes to do a little research, you might be interested to know that Evangelicals were a constant thorn in the side of Abraham Lincoln and even hounded the stalwart of modern Republican conservatism, Barry Goldwater. Need I say more? ------------------------------------------------------------ WHY ARE YOU A REPUBLICAN? This has been asked of me a lot recently. I became a Republican in 1952, at the tender age of 5 years old, when my father taped two pictures of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon (who Eisenhower despised, by the way) to the sides of his 1952 four-door, red Ford sedan and drove all over town honking the horn. The by-line was, "Sure to Click, with Ike and Dick." But when I really decided to get involved was after I did some research and found out that Abraham Lincoln was considered the father of the Republican party and that Theodore Roosevelt was also a Republican, two men I greatly admire to this day. I was also swayed when it was the Republicans that Lyndon Johnson turned to for help getting his Civil Rights Laws and the Voting Rights Act of 1964 passed. The Democrats of that era were so racist that Johnson knew he could not trust them, and instead got the needed support to pass the legislation from Republicans in Congress. Another reason I decided to become a Republican was because Lincoln freed the slaves. I know this has political ramifications - but face it, Lincoln paid dearly, and so did the country, for his act of courage on this matter. Some other reasons are as follows: During Reconstruction Hiram Revels was the first black man elected to the Senate - a Republican. Joseph Rainey was the first black man to be elected to the House of Representatives - a Republican. Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives - a Republican. Oscar Stanton De Priest was the first black man elected to the House of Representatives in the 20th Century - a Republican. Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to seek the presidential nomination of a major political party - a Republican. Edward Brooke became the first black man since Reconstruction that was elected to the Senate - a Republican. Colin Powell became the first black man to become Secretary of State - a Republican. Condoleezza Rice became the first black woman to be Secretary of State - a Republican. And the media depicts the Republican Party as racist. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson, the man credited with founding the Democrat Party was an ardent slave owner, used his female slaves as sex objects and was an avowed atheist. For me, choosing to be a Republican was actually pretty easy. And if TRUE Republicans had still been in control, they could have had the honor of electing Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the first black man and first black woman to be President and Vice-president of the United States of America. However, the "base" of the party - the Evangelical Element - would have none of it. How on earth the Republican Party ever let such a winning ticket slip through its fingers is beyond my comprehension. But they did. So, the Democrats now hold the distinction of electing the first black man as President. And if the Republican Party does not wake up soon - it will be a cold day in Hell before they get another chance to control the Executive Mansion, let alone the House or the Senate. ------------------------------------------------------------ A NAME CHANGE I have been very fortunate to have a large number of new additions to the readership of the New Republican. However, a lot of them have told me that they are not Republicans but like what I had to say after reading my newsletter that was forwarded to them by friends. I remember, years ago, one of my best professors, Dr. James Pratt, used to come into our advanced political science class at San Jose State University, armed only with the Christian Science Monitor. Being the smart ass that I was I remarked after class as to why he was reading a "religious" newspaper. Dr. Pratt looked at me, smiled and said, "You should be wise enough not to judge a book by its cover." He gave me his copy and told me to read it and then get back to him on what I thought. The Christian Science Monitor is one of the best newspapers in the industry - and it has, little if any, religious bent. By the way, Dr. Pratt was a true liberal thinker who worked on FDR's staff in Roosevelt's third and fourth terms. The reason for this slight digression is that more and more people are wanting to read the New Republican, but have shied away because of the title. So, with that in mind, I have decided to change the name of my newsletter. I have a new name and it will be at the head of my next mailing. So, in fact, this will be the last New Republican Newsletter. From the next publication it will be under a new heading. ------------------------------------------------------------ ONE LAST WORD Let's give President-Elect Barack Obama a chance. He was elected with a solid number in both the Electoral College and also the popular vote. The people have spoken. We owe it to our new president - and to the United States of America - to give him a proper hearing. As John McCain said, he is now "Our" President. In the spirit and true dignity of John McCain, let us back our new President with courage, pride and love of country. We will have plenty of time to criticize later if he fails. But in the tradition of American fairness let's give him the chance that he rightly deserves. Until next time, Larry Klepinger Still, a New Republican Your ideas and comments are more than welcome. Many thanks again for taking the time and effort to read the New Republican Newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ If you wish to no longer receive this e-newsletter, please e-mail me directly at: lawrenceklepinger@gmail.com