Triad Conservative

Pandering for the Black Vote, Carolina GOP Edition

One of the political strategies launched by the national Republicans during recent years has been pandering for the black vote. There have been at least two major manifestations of this trend.

First, the passage of the First Step Act was hailed as a major priority and achievement. This was the "jailbreak bill" that would release hardened criminals from federal prisons because it would curry favor with the black community. Although it was advertised that only nonviolent criminals would be released, in reality those in federal prison are typically major criminals-- drug kingpins and the like-- whose activities spawn violence.

A second example was the effort to demonstrate solidarity with the cause of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's). Even though education is not constitutionally a legitimate federal activity, we saw many Republicans posturing and advocating for increased funding at the federal level. But these institutions ought not even exist if we truly want a color-blind environment in higher education.

Some of the Republican members of Congress taking these positions have been from right here in North Carolina. Trump himself was also part of these efforts.

Now, the socialists are pushing a "Second Look Act" that would build upon the mistakes in the First Step Act. Policy errors can sometimes snowball.

But here in the Triad, we were treated to some unexpected news last week. Deputy Chief James Hinson of the Greensboro Police Department was brought to Washington by Congressman Mark Walker to testify before a congressional committee on the matter of opioid overdoses.

Many of us recall Hinson well because he was one of the starring characters in Jerry Bledsoe's Cops in Black and White series in the old Rhinoceros Times. Hinson had led a successful racial insurrection against the police chief; and made a series of allegations and complaints of racial discrimination. But he was demonstrated in the series to have participated in a number of real and suspected instances of very serious wrongdoing. Hinson was a lightning rod.

But he also happens to be perhaps the most politically protected cop in the history of the Greensboro Police Department. In spite of all the real and alleged wrongful activities in which he had participated, he moved up the ladder all the way to deputy chief.

I have no idea why Walker would have felt Hinson had to come to Washington. There were probably hundreds of police leaders around the country who could have given that testimony who do not have Hinson's record. Yes, I know about "second chances"; and agree such chances should be extended to folks in the right way.

But the overall pattern of pandering continues.

The Anti-American Left

The years pass, but the left never really changes...

Local Liberal Church Conspires to Obstruct Justice, Undermine Rule of Law

A Greensboro church that is part of the United Church of Christ denomination-- i.e., the most liberal of the liberal mainline churches-- hosted a special event earlier this week.

The purpose? To teach illegal immigrants how to evade ICE. They taught the telltale signs they ought to be observing when ICE visits their communities, and even engaged in role-playing exercises.

Jordan Green at Triad City Beat approvingly reports the story. A counselor from within the Guilford County Schools system is featured; and of course, one of the ministers at the church also.

This represents overt conspiring to obstruct justice-- ironically, the same crime their side has alleged against Trump. It is conspiring to undermine the rule of law; and also aiding and abetting those who break the law.

But we are not supposed to notice these things because they are oh-so-compassionate. They are not compassionate, however, toward those who cannot make a decent living because of illegal immigration; or toward those victimized by the crime it spawns.

Those who aid and abet law-breaking ought to be held accountable in our criminal justice system.

The Right Greg, and the Wrong Greg

Dan Bishop in the 9th Congressional District has used to his benefit a clever play on his name and that of his opponent, Dan McCready. We are hearing in his commercials about the "right Dan and the wrong Dan".

But it turns out that, in the 3rd Congressional District, we have a couple of "Gregs" running-- Greg Murphy and Greg Holt. Holt is the "right Greg"; and Murphy is the "wrong Greg".

Holt is the Constitution Party nominee; and Murphy is the Republican nominee.

Few people seem to know that Greg Murphy's Civitas Action ratings during his four years in the state House have been 67.7, 73.3., 87.5 and 83.3, respectively. His first two years in the General Assembly were therefore in the high 60's and low 70's. Those numbers are fairly unimpressive. Yet, he has secured various conservative endorsements and even approached the House Freedom Caucus. It gives the appearance that he tried to clean up his profile as his congressional candidacy approached.

We have written about Murphy previously. Among his most notorious votes are the following:

• Against State Treasurer Dale Folwell's effort to save money on the State Health Plan:
• To repeal HB 2;
• To propose a massive new charity health care entitlement-- something similar to Medicaid;
• To use taxpayer money to subsidize green energy; and
• To pass a massive $2 billion bond package.

Check out and support Greg Holt's candidacy. Holt is a small business owner and a committed Christian conservative. He is, unlike Murphy, a limited government, constitutional conservative. He is the better man in this race. Indeed, he is clearly the "right Greg".

Deportation Raids are Constitutional

Regarding the Contemporary South

From a book review by Donald Livingston, Chronicles:

(T)he South is not just any region of the United States, like the Midwest, the Southwest, or even New England.  From 1776 to 1860 the South was at the core of American identity.  In the first 72 years under the Constitution, only five presidents were elected from the North.  None served two terms; whereas five Southern presidents served two terms.  All the territory beyond the original 13 states was acquired by Southern presidents.

As of 1860, the South was America: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Calhoun, Clay, the Louisiana Purchase, the Alamo.  But this Jeffersonian America was challenged with the formation of the Republican Party in 1854.  It was a revolutionary party and a sectional party.  Its goal was to consolidate the states into a centralized regime of crony capitalism ruled by the emerging New York-Chicago industrial axis.  This aim stood in stark contrast to the America that Southerners did so much to create and sustain.  So, they seceded and took the Founders’ constitution with them, word for word, except for a few reforms to prevent crony capitalism and to strengthen state sovereignty.

Unlike other regions, the South was once an independent country.  It suffered defeat in one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century and endured the humiliation of military occupation and plunder.  Out of this Golgotha came a tragic view of human life and human nature that immunized the best of the Southern people against the ideological enthusiasms of the age.

In time North and South would be reunited, and the War would be seen as a battle over a contested American identity that existed among the Founders themselves.  This gave the Confederacy an honorable heritage.  Southern heroes such as Lee became models for emulation by all Americans.  President Eisenhower kept a portrait of Lee in the Oval Office throughout his two terms.

But that America is as gone with the wind as the Old South itself...

(O)f Southern virtues, (readers) will... wonder whether the tradition that produced those virtues still exists.  Have most Southerners been transformed into a nomadic, Sunbelted mass of deracinated Americans wearing Ray-Bans?  It might seem so.  In recent years, those leading attacks on Southern monuments have been Southern mayors, city councils, governors, and prominent leaders of Southern churches and denominations.

Today, two years after the tragic events of Charlottesville, one is hard-pressed to find a state or federal political leader willing to defend the Lee monument there, though it still stands by court order.  A South whose leadership cannot (or will not) say a good word about Lee is in serious decline, if not already dead.  Have Southerners lost their immunity to ideology?  Have they internalized the Cultural Marxist mantra that America is structurally white supremacist, sexist, and homophobic to the point that they are morally disarmed by the dreaded charge of racism?  The question applies not only to leaders but to rank-and-file Southerners as well, who failed to assemble en masse to protest the desecration and tearing down of their monuments.

Traditions do die, and usually with a whimper. 

The Right is the GOP's "Justice Squad"

It has been fascinating to witness the bitter recriminations over the last several days within democratic socialist circles. The "mainstream" Democratic crowd has been quite upset with the "Justice Squad"; and also was quite unhappy over the impeachment attempt. They fear they are being hurt politically.

The irony, however, is that there really is not much distance between the "Justice Squad" and the rest of the democratic socialist party. The Squad engages freely in identity politics. It wallows in the Critical Theory approach that was popularized and disseminated by the Jewish community on their own side of the ideological divide. It is the Hate-America-First, Blame-America-First methodology.

But it must be noted that virtually the entire remainder of the democratic socialist community shares this perspective. The squad is merely more verbose and in-your-face than the rest of them.

The Republican side is quite different. There is major intellectual diversity within the GOP ranks. The GOP has moderates, liberals, progressives, globalists, incremental socialists, libertarians and establishmentarians.

But what about the strong social/cultural conservatives within the GOP ranks? What about the limited government, constitutional conservatives? What about the strong fiscal conservatives? What about the identitarian right? These latter groups described in this paragraph are the equivalent of the "Justice Squad" within GOP ranks. Many Republicans deeply resent when true conservatives push for their issues. They perceive these are too risky politically, and losers at the ballot box. They hold them at an arm's distance, and try to assure they will not rise to the surface. They just don't believe in these issues; and certainly don't want to prioritize them.

And unfortunately, we therefore have many ardent conservatives within the GOP coalition who are marginalized; and whose issues cannot see the light of day. They are truly the GOP's Justice Squad. But unlike the socialist side, they truly believe differently than their intraparty adversaries. 

The socialists feel they can treat their Justice Squad types dismissively because they perceive there is nowhere else for them to go. The GOP treats conservatives similarly for the same reason.

But there is, in fact, another option for conservatives.

Democratic Socialist Judgments Reveal a Flawed Worldview

They are extremely judgmental.

On the House floor today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi-- of Italian Catholic descent-- essentially proclaimed that President Trump is a racist, and sought a vote to condemn him. She was unhappy with some things that he said.

Last week, here in North Carolina, a managerial-level employee at a regional health system pronounced that the trustees of the State Health Plan ought to burn in hell because their proposed changes would shut off the gravy train that had been flowing for many years. It was apparently regarded as unforgivable for these trustees to refrain from transferring inordinate amounts of taxpayer money so the health systems could continue to build their empires, and redistribute the monies as they see fit. The health systems, after all, are instruments of governmental power given the fascistic framework in which they operate; and therefore are to be regarded as untouchable. This particular employee-- the one who would consign the trustees to hell-- had a Jewish surname.

In the democratic socialist catechism, racism is the greatest of unpardonable sins-- just above homophobia and Islamophobia and misogyny and white supremacy. Anti-Semitism used to be on their list years ago; but that is a bit complicated these days because they readily welcome anti-Semites in their midst.

Refusing to raise and redistribute taxpayers' monies to bestow upon favored groups is also regarded as a major transgression within democratic socialist circles.

These positions need to be contrasted with those sins that are truly unpardonable.

Jesus Christ in His time taught that the only unpardonable sin was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham's organization explains further that this sin involves a "refusal to accept the witness of the Holy Spirit to who Jesus was and what He had come to do, and then submit (oneself) to Him". The implication is that we cannot reject God.

But the democratic socialist viewpoint openly and rebelliously rejects God every single day. They enshrine abortion as a sacrament. They institutionalize and legitimize same-sex marriage, and persecute those who disagree with it. Those are but two examples of their willful separation from God. Pelosi, of course, is a great example. 

They condemn the speck in the eyes of other people; but ignore the plank in their own eye. They reject God-- which is the truly unpardoned sin. We ought to pray for their salvation-- for their accepting Jesus Christ, and submitting to Him.

When I read about various Washington Republicans condemning Trump's words, I can only shake my head. Their repeated pearl-clutching routine accepts unquestioningly the skewed civic theology imposed upon us by the socialists. These Republicans refuse to recognize how thoroughly and systematically their opponents emphasize the wrong values.

By the way, I don't think that what Trump said was racist. Telling someone who hates the United States that they should return to-- and fix-- the areas from which they come is not racist. But even if it was racist, it would not be an unpardonable sin.  Some of us are grateful he is willing to say some necessary things that others are too petrified to verbalize.

The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and the Ancient Religion of "Self"

GOP House Members Shaft American College Graduates, Workers

It was interesting that the socialist-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last night that would open the floodgates of "high-skilled" immigration from India. But many GOP representatives voted in favor also. This bill deals mostly with professional and managerial-level positions.

I see a big problem here. Big money political donors want an expanded labor pool so that they can drive down Americans' earnings. The most apparent impact is in the tech industry, but other spheres are affected also. Large numbers of American college students are encouraged to go into the STEM disciplines because it is represented that there is a huge need for workers in these fields. But then, they must compete with foreign nationals for the jobs that are available when they graduate.

The tech industry uses these imported workers-- mostly from India and China-- as an "overlord" class over American workers; and has also used them to replace American workers. In the most egregious cases, Americans have been forced to train their foreign replacements.

Which North Carolina GOP congressmen voted for this mess? Budd, Rouzer, Holding, and McHenry. To their credit, Walker, Foxx, Meadows and Hudson voted against the bill.

It should be noted that Tea Party favorite Mike Lee has been one of the bill's big cheerleaders.

Obviously, there is no popular groundswell for this type of legislation. Recall that when the GOP held the U.S. House during the first two years of the Trump Administration, its leadership steadfastly refused to pass anything of value except tax cuts.

This bill passed after we have experienced a nearly six-decade long surge of immigration-- legal and illegal-- from non-Western countries. This type of immigration can reduce public safety, diminish cultural unity and undermine our national identity-- particularly when our elites are resistant to the premise that new immigrants must be assimilated. We now have many immigrants who despise the United States and its people.

It is fairly obvious that Thom Tillis will be eager to vote in favor of this legislation.

Trump himself has spoken in favor of high-skilled immigration-- and one big question is whether he will sign this bill, especially in view of the tech industry's hostility to his agenda and his supporters; and in view of the fact that Congress has not delivered ANY of his immigration agenda. This bill further opens the spigots without achieving any of the controls Trump has wanted from Congress.

It is a mistake to presume that Republicans are pro-American, and that they necessarily will fight for the best interests of the American people.