SandBoxBlogs: Red State "I Am a Real Democrat, Therefore I Now Vote Republican"

(See previous post and public commentary here)

A must read classic.  Now archived over on Red State.

'colegrayson':
"This I do know.  I know that my whole life I have believed in the power of our people.

I support reasonable safety nets, but personal empowerment.  We can’t allow our country to become a bread line; we must prevent a collapse into complete dependency.  But even at this point, Obama does not truly care about jobs.  In this new bill he proposes more spending on unemployment extensions, but could that spending not go directly to the SBA, or works programs?  No I don’t want these people to starve but blast it I want them to get out of bed.  We have lost our excellence and drive towards excellence.

In order to be a Democrat you have to capitulate to social permissiveness, to political correctness, and nanny stating.  Democrats I grew up with were largely socially conservative, economically populist, and went to Church.  They did not mock God, like many currently do, and they respected our rights to worship.  We now live in a society that publicly respects Ramadan more than Christmas, Muslim more than Christian, and even the Attorney General, while stating tacitly blacks can’t be guilty of a hate crime, used the power of his office to defend a Muslim teacher from being fired for taking time off to worship.  Try getting the teacher’s union to back you up when you miss work for a church bake sale.

But really America, look around.  Who are the givers?  Do you see latte fueled hipster liberals working food banks?  Or is it almost always the good folk from Church, who constantly give of themselves to help their neighbor, as the Bible teaches, and who want only in return the chance to slip a Psalm in your pocket, and to invite you to listen to the Word.

I respect your right to follow a different faith but I require you to respect mine.

I had to detach myself from the rhetoric and see for myself the empty lip service the Democratic Party had become.  With each passing day I feel better about myself, more in tune with God, and am a nicer person.  My Wife has seen this.  My friends have too.  I don’t beat the Bible, and I am surely no Saint.

But when faced with a choice of amoral narcissists, who say one thing then do another, educated to the point of idiocy, confident only the sound of their own words, or good hearted farmers, and mechanics, and churchgoers who I have seen selflessly give of themselves for the benefit of others, what side do you think I should stand by?.....

......I am and will always be a certain type of Democrat. Some call me Southern or Blue Dog, but I will support equality, and defense, and doing right for my country.

I will support fair tax policy, and respect for God, and human decency.

I will work to reduce abortions and provide safe streets and good schools.

I prioritize paychecks before excuses and excellence over mediocrity.

I believe in the brave men and women of our Armed Forces and feel they deserve more respect.

I believe the Government has grown oppressive, and burdensome, and needs to be reduced.

I believe the poor should be fed first through their earnings, so they can someday cease to be poor, and then only if needed through welfare, with some kind of incentive attached, be it labor or educational.

But most of all, I believe in you.  It is for these reasons, that this certain type of Democrat, is now a Republican.  God Bless all....."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: RedState/shinglejim "Capitalism – Texas Style "

Beautifully done, very well said.

'shinglejim':

"We’ve been treated to a great deal of angst in the past week as some on our side have questioned Romney’s work at Bain capital. It’s been described as an assault on capitalism, one of the foundations of conservatism. If you listen to the arguments made from those complaining, you’d believe that leveraged buyouts and layoffs are the cornerstone of capitalism and to question them is to question one’s conservative bona fides.

Capitalism is more than leveraged buyouts and private equity investments. Capitalism is the free exchange of goods for a profit, the ability to accumulate capital and private property rights. Its entrepreneurship and competition and all they do to create a healthy economy. A few companies are changing the way people view capitalism and its happening in that laboratory of innovation known as Texas. The leaders of these companies believe capitalism doesn’t have to be a zero sum game with one winner and one loser. This belief that capitalism maximizes the value for all stakeholders rather than a select few is catching Texas by store. Its this view that should be compared to Romney’s record at Bain and I believe that is exactly what Perry is trying to do.

I’ve spent my entire fifteen year career in business. I’ve participated in mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and refinancing transactions. My view has always been that the shareholders and investors of a company are the ones putting their money at risk; therefore they rightfully deserve the rewards. That is the beauty of capitalism and thats what makes America great. I still agree with that premise, but today I approach it from a different perspective.  The reason for the change you ask?  A few months ago, I was treated to the most vigorous defense of capitalism I’ve ever heard. Surprisingly, it didn’t come from Limbaugh or Kudlow or anybody from the Republican Party. In fact it came from noted Libertarian John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods in Austin, Texas.

I grew up a Rush baby, but I’ve never heard Rush defend capitalism as eloquently as Mackey did that day.

He spoke of competition, entrepreneurship and private property rights. He aimed both barrels at unionization and over-regulation and blew them away. He spoke of capitalism as one of the factors key to ending Communism, how it has improved the life of everyday Americans and spoke of what it can bring in the future as it creates wealth for those around the world. He had both conservatives and liberals eating it up. It was truly amazing.

Mackey defines capitalism as creating value for all stakeholders...."

(Read more?  You should, it's a great piece. Click title. Comment to discuss)