A very good friend of mine, who is a Committee person in a near by state, was recently accused of being disloyal because she refused to carry petitions for a candidate. She had the courage to stand her ground because this person did not deserve it.
The reason I bring this up is because folks can get on Facebook and post about Obama and his ilk until the cows come home, but until we get rid of the local wannabees who in too many instances are RINOs, it won’t make much of a difference.
We have mid term elections coming up later this year. Can everyone say that they have a handle on what’s happening locally in their districts? Even if the candidate says they are Republican, Conservative or Tea Party. Are they really?
I first became politically active back in the early 1970s at the age of 19. What I observed and experienced back then is no different than what I observe and experience these days. I am fortunate to have good friends who are actively involved and are true patriots. However, there are those who get involved, not to make things better for their district, state, or our country, but for their own needs. I actually had a person tell me a few years ago while working on a campaign that I should get involved in politics at the local level because it was a good way to meet people. That’s funny, I never thought of getting involved in politics as a way to have a social life. I have plenty of friends, but this person told me a lot about themselves when they made that statement to me.
I’ve said this a number of times and I will say it again – it’s not just liberals who are a threat to our Republic, it is also RINOs. Do your homework to figure out the ones who truly embrace and believe in the principles of a Republic and weed out the ones who just label themselves as Republican, Conservative or Tea Party, yet have no clue of the ideology. And, if you really want to support a 3rd party candidate, get out there, make phone calls and knock on doors to get support for that individual or individuals. Numbers matter. That is a fact.
Scott St. Clair:
In Washington state, from whence I cometh, no political party hack-a-doodle-do can do threaten anyone because the parties are relatively weak.
I used to think parties should be strong and have the ultimate say in who should appear on the ballot. Since coming to New Jersey and seeing the level of corruption that’s rampant throughout the state, I repent of my sin and daily do penance to atone for it.
The backs of the political parties in this state should be broken into more pieces than there are grains of sand on the beach, and then they should be scattered to the four winds.
How? Simple:
End nominating petitions. If someone wants to run, let them file an application, pay the fee and then they’re on the ballot. End of story.
End registration by party. It’s nobody’s business which party you support, least of all some party boss.
End party nominating conventions and the absurd “line.” Reserve to the people the exclusive right to decide who they prefer to see advance to a general election. Primaries should be strictly neutral with no endorsements.
Move to an open primary. One ballot for all candidates irrespective of party. If someone wants to vote for a Republican candidate in one race and a Democrat in another, then so be it — that’s the voter’s right.
Top-two finishers advance to the general. Where is it written that the general election must be between a Republican and a Democrat? If the really competitive race is between two Republicans and two Democrats, let them advance to the general based upon the popular vote.
Make the term “party boss” so pejorative that it’s equated with “felon,” which is how it’s regarded in most states west of the Mississippi.
Amend the state Constitution to include the initiative and referendum. It’s the only way the people have to check the abuses of the Legislature, and God only knows there are plenty of abuses.
Expand the number of elective positions in the state to include all judges, prosecutors, the senior officials of most statewide and countywide agencies, all commission and authority officials and as many others as you can find. Make as many of them non-partisan as possible — potholes and courtrooms are neither Republican nor Democratic.
Require all political party meetings be subject to the state’s open public meetings act, or Sunshine Law.
No person who serves as a lobbyist should be allowed a position in a political party because those who are end up using the party apparatus to further the interests of their clients, but never the interests of the people.
End political patronage. All hiring decisions for all jobs in any level of government are strictly and exclusively merit-based and made by independent hiring authorities.
I told you it was simple.
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Loyalty should be to the Constitution, the people, sound public policy and honest governance, NEVER to a political party per se.
Lord Acton’s phrase applies to parties: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Anyone who scratches their head over why governance and politics in strong-party states is as corrupt as it is and the people are as apathetic as they are isn’t paying attention.
Take a look at the cesspool of the Delaware River Port Authority, an ATM and patronage pit for South Jersey Democratic Party bosses. That’s what you get when unelected, unaccountable, unsavory and unethical dirt bags run the show.
The political parties have become money changers in the temple of democracy. Time to overturn some tables and take after them with the scourge of public outrage.
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In 1989, KKK mucky-muck David Duke snookered himself the GOP nomination for a Louisiana congressional seat.
Former-President Ronald Reagan and then-President George H.W. Bush both openly campaigned via TV ads for Duke’s Democratic opponent, David Treen.
Under New York’s rules, and to a lesser extent New Jersey’s, that made the two of them disloyal traitors to the party.
Can anyone name me a more stupid notion than that?
We’re supposed to be free people, not party apparatchiks.
For decades, no Republican in his right mind in Washington state supported the party’s “nominee” for state auditor — we all openly supported and voted for the Democrat because he was an outstanding public official who rooted out more official waste, fraud and abuse in an hour than the next 10 guys could do in a career. The Republican nominee was usually some crackpot gadfly in need of a hobby.
Were we all traitors, or were we more interested in supporting a good public servant who was an effective and honest watchdog over our tax dollars and the performance of government?
As long as parties call the shots and intimidate people, you’ll have corruption and graft. If you want a shot at honest government, you have to break their backs and relegate them to the bottom rung on the political food chain.
Jeanine Vecchiarelli:
The party rules in NY are no better, trust me. Here a committee member can be brought up on disloyalty charges for having a lawn sign promoting another party’s candidate on his/her property. Yet enforcement is very selective. While the rank and file gets persecuted for minor infractions big wigs in leadership openly support and campaign for rival party candidates with no fear of reprisals. Enacting your proposals would eliminate the ability of the big guns to enrich and empower themselves, so problems like these would go away.
I think your proposed changes would also force people to become more informed. Too many of us trust the judgment of the supreme executive committees. Well, I just had a long talk with one which rules over one of the big two parties up here. The topic turned to one of their candidates. You should have seen the members’ expressions as I ticked off all the platform stances he holds that are the antithesis of the party’s traditional principles. They put this candidate up and had no clue what he stands for! And we wonder why we have such a mess! Sheesh.
Eric Dixon:
The New York Election Law is a lawyer’s dream. The problem for outsider activists is that the judicial system, from the judges on down to the bailiffs and court reporters, is populated by people who literally owe their jobs to the same machine one is challenging.
Rochester Smoke Out 