“Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years” 

                                                –  LL Cool J.

Cool J’s lyrics describe the post 2008 general election GOP.  Much like a stock market bottom, we will look back on the November 4, 2008 – the Obama Tsunami — as the low point of the Republican Party.  Since November 4, and the soul searching that ensued, the has strung together some victories. 

First, Senator Chambliss handily won the runoff election on December 2.  Senator Chambliss prevented a Democratic super majority and also sunk nitwit Al Franken’s hopes of being a Senator. 

Second, the Party picked up a Congressional seat when, Josephs Quang Cao beat Congressmen Williams Jefferson, a criminal, in Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District.  Cao is this Country first Vietnamese-American elect to Congress.  (As a side note, could the election of Barack Obama and Joseph Cao happen anywhere else but America, what a great country.)  The mainstream media did not cover the political and social significance of the Cao pick up, they were too busy freaking out over Sarah Palin’s wardrobe. 

Finally, the defeat of the bailout bill indicates a return to our GOP principles.  A bailout of the auto industry is absurd on multiple levels.  Frankly, no industry is so vital to America that we cannot bare to see it fail.  If it were so vital then why is it failing?  Also, the arrogance of the Big 3, GM especially, and the UAW is that Chapter 11 is not an option is appalling.  The UAW refuses to take a pay cut, so you would rather have zero wages than reduced wages?  And, we wonder why these companies are a broken mess.  The bailout of the financial industry was wrong and the fact that no one knows what is going on with the $700 billion we pledged to it proves it was a mistake.  The bailout of the auto industry is worse.  Thankfully, Republicans returned to our roots on this issue. 

If the GOP is uncomfortable using Cool J’s as its new theme song, perhaps they would rather quote Mark Twain who said “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

More news from the cradle of tolerance and open mindedness — the Middle East.  On Monday nearly 3,000 radical Islamic nitwit facists attacked a Christian Church in Eygpt.  Although the Coptic Church pre-dates Islam by a few hundred years and has been present in Eygpt since bacially the time of Christ, in order to highlight their ignorance these Islamo-nitwits chanted “infides worship house in Islamic Land.” 

Meanwhile, the mainstream media has no problem demonstrating tolerance — for anything anti-Christian.  Could you imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and a group of Christians attacked a mosque?  We would be looking at Code Red, an IED bonanza, and people not wanted to get on airplanes.  This story is not covered on any of the major networks, but it should be.  What also should be done is to immediately call these Islamo-nuts what they are savages!

“Until the millennium arrives and countries cease trying to enslave others, it will be necessary to accept one’s responsibilities and to be willing to make sacrifices for one’s country — as my comrades did. As the troops used to say, ‘If the country is good enough to live in, it’s good enough to fight for.’ With privilege goes responsibility.”

–  E.B. Sledge “With the Old Breed”

And so PFC Sledge concludes his epic memoir of the fighting on Peleiu and Okinawa.  Unfortunately, as we have learned through these last seven years, the millennium has arrived and countries have not ceased enslaving others. What makes this conclusion remark most striking is it concludes a tome that speaks of the horror of combat and that warns future generations to stay out of war at all costs. Sledge’s remark however reflects what the modern Left does not understand, evil exists in the world and sometimes ugly things must be done to confront it.   Hopefully, President-Elect Obama will learn this to be true very soon — if he already has not already done so.  Despite what the whacko Left thinks we are not at war to make Dick Cheney rich or because George Bush wanted to establish an era of American imperialism, we are at war because groups like Al-Qaeda want to enslave America and we have a responsibility to future generations to make sure that does not happen.  Yes, we should use every ounce of diplomacy to prevent war.  But, what sort of diplomacy does one suggest against an enemy who’s stated purpose is our annihilation?   

Make no mistake I disagreed with just about everything President Elect Obama campaigned on and for over a year I worked hard — and spent too much money — for his opponent Senator McCain.  However, there are a few things everyone needs to acknowledge. First, Tuesday’s election of Senator Obama was a great day for America.  Never in the history of the world has a white nation elected a person of color as its leader.  Senator Obama’s election could only happen in America.  I hope and I pray that President Obama can significantly heal the racial divide in this country.  Tuesday’s election goes a long way toward doing that but more work must be done.  Second, I am giving President Elect Obama the benefit of the doubt.  Unlike the intolerant Left who immediately launched personal attacks on George W. Bush from day one, I am supporting my President.  President Elect Obama asked for my support on Tuesday night and I am more than happy to give it to him as I think all Americans should.  If and when he does something I disagree with I will criticize him and point out why.  But until he does I am remaining open minded.  Third, I think President Obama is going to surprise many on both the Left and Right.  Must to the chagrin of both I may add. 

President Obama and Michele Obama are still finding themselves.  Over a year on the campaign trail has changed both of them.  This is not surprising.  They both lived in a bubble of intellectualism that shaped their values.  The campaign trail opened them to new ideas and different values than those held by there Hyde Park neighbors and colleagues at the University of Chicago.  The Left is going to be upset that Senator Obama is going to be much more conservative then they hoped.  His selection of Rahm Emanuel indicates this.  Emanuel is considered a centrist.  He also volunteered for the Israel Civilian Defense Force during the first Gulf War.  Emanuel is hardly the radical Leftist the Left was hoping for.  Moreover, if Obama follows through with the selection of Larry Summers as Secretary of the Treasury, it spells more bad news for far his far Left supporters.  Meanwhile, the Right will be upset because Obama will not be as easy to attack as a far Left ideologue that they said he would be.  Finally, I suspect that when President Obama is faced with the reality of the dangers our nation faces he is likely to react far more conservative than some think.  It would be a disaster for a fledging President Obama to show weakness towards Russian placement of nuclear missiles on the Polish border.  Those on the Left and Right should expect him too. In all, President Elect Obama is still an evolving person.  I think the next four years will be both interesting and surprising.  We should all support President Obama until he is wrong and for the good of our Republic disagree with him when he is.   

After historic election of Senator Obama and the further loss of Senate and House seats, many are asking “Where do we go from here?” Contrary to the mainstream media and many within the GOP, the simple answer is “not to the left.”

This answer probably surprises many who feel the Republican Party needs to move further to the “center” in order to prevail in future elections. However, facts are stubborn things and the facts indicate that moving to the left is a recipe for further diaster in the Party. Consider the following: only 6% of Americans believe the GOP is too conservative, Gay marriage was defeated in three states, and Republican candidates that ran as true “Goldwater” conservatives, like Hazelton Mayor Lou Barletta, did unbelievably well, even in heavily Democratic and liberal Districts. However, don’t expect to hear any of the following in the mainstream media who want nothing more than to kill the modern conservative movement.

The Party, however, must “re-brand” what it means to be conservative. First, we must get BOLD. We simply cannot sit back and critize President Obama for the next four years. We need to once again become the party of ideas and put forth our own common sense solutions to our nation’s problems. These ideas must be BOLD. Any example of a common sense conservative solution that was successful was Newt Ginrich’s “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” Campaign. This campaign was so devstatingly succesful it unfortunately became a non-issue for Senator McCain after liberal Democratics capitulated and let the drilling ban expire. We need more such campaigns.

Second, we must engage the African-American community. Our minority outreach is shameful. 80% of inner-city African-Americans agree with school choice and a voucher system. Why are we dismissing a demographic that agress one of our Party’s mainplatforms? Moreover, why are we not championing the value of entrepeurship as a path to wealth creation in the community? Its mindboggling.

Of course, there is much much more that needs to be done, but these two ideas are a start. And, we better start now, the mid-term Congressional elections are only 24 months away. Our nation will be stuck with the failures  of a Leftist Congress and we must be opportunistic.