Book Review: Paper, Ink, & What I Think

About a week or so ago we finished Alfonzo Rachel’s book “Paper, Ink, & What I Think (Zo's Writ of Rants).” We highly recommend the book although if you aren’t familiar with Zo you might want to watch a few of his current videos on PJTV or older ones on YouTube. Here’s our all-time favorite:



Zo grew up in the “da hoody hood” of San Bernardino, CA, and developed into a…(deep breath) rock-hard Christian conservative. He is terribly funny and has a knack and talent for presenting the message in a funny, ebonistic-jive, down-to-earth sort of way you won’t get from Limbaugh or Hannity. He is a professional comedian, musician, political commentator, and proficient at the martial arts. Don’t call him African-American however: he prefers the term “Nubian” (read pages 95-6 for more info).

We were rather befuddled by the seeming lack of formal organization of the book at first but if you think of the book as the title indicates “writ of rants” and maybe even read aloud, if you’re like us you’ll soon become endeared. The memorable quotes from the book started coming in so fast that we actually had to write them all down to remember them starting from the first paragraph: “We should be able to drop kick liberalism into the land of missing sock makes.” Or this one later in the chapter: “The Second Amendment is our emergency tool to protect our Constitution, in the event the First is no longer effective in maintaining it.”

We would love to share with you all our fav quotes but don’t want to spoil the book so we’ll limit our sharing to one more: “Many people think [speaking in tongues] is strange but don’t think it strange when jazz singers scat, or when rock singers yell out a bunch of ???????...Christians however, are seen as weird for speaking in tongues. That’s messed up.”

To us, this isn’t a book for little kids; after all, this is funny yet serious political commentary for an adult audience. Whoa! We’re not talking “adult” in the porno sense here; just we wouldn’t let little kids watch SNL either. Simply put, Zo speaks his mind, and that’s Zo at his best. Even if you're apolitical, the book is worth its weight if nothing but the wonderful jive (ie: "daaaaaaang guuuuurrrrlll!')

To order Zo’s book, visit his website at: http://www.machosauceproductions.com/merchandise.html We picked up the book for a bargain under $15 which included postage.

Today the Last Day of Capitalism?

Nacilbupera is unequivocally opposed to the tax-raising, 2000-page, $2.5 trillion, socialized healthcare bill before a vote in the Senate today. In our opinion, this is the single most significant vote of the Senate for 2009 (if not longer) and urge all Senators to vote NO! We will be taking note of every Senator voting today to discuss this socialized healthcare behemoth.

Utah conservative GOP-er Diedre Henderson has a new blog entitled The Daily Dose with some powerful and concise information on the socialized medicine bill debate. In her post "U.S. Senate to Commit Harry-Kerry" she describes the sly tactics used by the Democrats to force this unpopular bill through the Senate. In her post Shadegg's One Man Revolt she describes how Congressman John Shadegg (AZ-03) recognized the Stupak Amendment as a way for Pelosi to shepherd votes for Obamacare knowing full well the amendment would be stripped. Shadegg posted his own thoughts on his website.

The whole process is reminiscent of the significant corruption that exists in our country as exhibited in this famous John Murtha Youtube video:


Nacilbupera has pondered much whether with the government takeover of automakers, banks, railroads, and mortgage companies along with massive entitlement/welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, America remains a capitalist country or if we have slouched into socialism. We believe passage on debate of the public option socialized healthcare bill before the Senate today will almost inevitably lead to the public option becoming law. Should healthcare which represents 1/6th of our economy become socialized through this public option, Nacilbupera will no longer be able to accurately describe our economy as capitalist; it is the last leaf.

We support those sacrificing their time in today MillionMedMarch and wish them well. Consider this post our cyber-walk with you!

To the dwindling number of Obama supporters, when you weigh in this massive government expansion, perhaps you can understand the rationale of why many of us fully consider Obama a radical socialist.

Eagar Momentum Growing

We are pleased to report that Cherilyn Eagar, the conservative frontrunner in the Utah 2010 race to replace Bailout Bob Bennett, is making strong headway in the campaign. (Cherilyn was visible at today's Salt Lake 912/tea party rally and looked vibrant!) The most crucial time for the campaign is during these next six months as we are trying to get 60% of Republican delegates to commit to Eagar at the state GOP convention on May 8, 2010, and thus avoid an expensive GOP primary runoff presumably against Bailout Bob who has already spent a whopping 1/2million (including large donations from the banks he bailed out!)

First, we (literally we as my honeybunny is joining me) are excited to join Cherilyn and Joe the Plumber this Wednesday, November 18th, for a fundraising dinner (click here to purchase yours or visit http://www.eagar4senate.com/). We have never participated in a fundraising dinner before, but indeed these are times that try men's souls and we believe Cherilyn is a key part of the solution.

If a fundraising dinner is too much commitment at this time for you, here is the complete list of events for Utah and Salt Lake counties that day (note: paying for your own meal is part of the conservative philosophy of not trying buying your vote--unlike Bailout Bob who will and has bought your breakfast before):

• Buy Your Own Breakfast with Joe the Plumber 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. @ IHOP Restaurant (850 S 1250 W, Orem -- across from UVU)


• Clean Up Washington with Joe the Plumber Town Hall 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. @ UVU, Center Stage 12:00 noon - 12:30 p.m.: News Conference, Utah State Capitol Rotunda


• Clean Up Washington with Joe the Plumber Rally 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. @ Utah State Capitol Rotunda, Salt Lake City



• Delegate Training & Constitution Class to be held right after Rally at the Capital 1:45 - 2:45 @ The Utah State Capital


• Salt Lake County: Dinner with Joe the Plumber - Eagar for Senate Fundraiser 6:00 p.m. Reception: $100 7:00 p.m. Dinner: $100/plate; $150/couple; $600/table@ Grand Building Ballroom, Utah State Fair Park (155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City)

Additional statewide tours dates and places are available at http://www.eagarforsenate.com/. If you are unable to attend the events, Nacilbupera asks a personal favor to stop by www.eagar4senate.com and make a donation of any size during the month of November to her campaign. (A suggested donation of $9.12 is great as it sends a message well noted by Cherilyn; yet even $1 would send a huge message about the number of supporters there are out there!)

Second item. Earlier this month Cherilyn was interviewed by Art Wayland of 912 Project Truck, a perfect example of the 912 grassroots project we are proud to associate with. Art praises her as being a "highly conservative, very well versed, amazing American Patriot." We concur! Here is the video from the interview:

NY-23 not quite yet over

It appears now from statements by the Hoffman campaign that conceding defeat on election night was premature. Apparently in Oswego County, with the largest number of voters in the election, 84 out of 245 county races called in incorrect totals (Syracuse Post-Standard) resulting in a significant undercounting of Hoffman votes.

The NY State Board of Elections now has the race with Hoffman trailing Owens by only 3,000 votes or 46.5% to 48.7%. Considering the 10,200 absentee ballots issued have not been counted it is within the realm of possibility that Hoffman could still be declared winner. We believe that the ballots will break for Hoffman, but the question remains by how much?

Meanwhile as Hoffman conceded victory to Owens predicated on false return summaries, Owens was sworn in by Pelosi and voted for Pelosicare the next day. We believe that this vote alone will not be forgotten by NY-23rd voters and should Hoffman not prevail when all the votes are counted, voters will unite Republican and Conservative parties in 2010 to replace Owens.

One final thought before leaving this race: considering the fusion party politics of New York, as Scozzafava dropped from the race and the Republican party endorsed Hoffman, wouldn't that render the vote for the Republican a count for Hoffman? That is, in fusion politics aren't you essentially voting for the party not the candidate? If so, Hoffman would pick up the 5% from the Republican candidate and run away with the race. We don't know fusion-voting politics well enough to make this case, but it seems logical. Perhaps someone might want to challenge this idea in court?

With all this in hindsight, it seems really too bad Hoffman conceded but Nacilbupera does formally recall our earlier post declaring Owens a victor and will not declare either candidate in this race a victor at least until this race is certified.

Shurtleff withdraws from Senate Race

All over the political news across Utah today was Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's withdrawal from the 2010 U.S. Senate race. Shurtleff cited the need for family time particularly during a time when his adopted daughter had acute mental health needs. Having familial mental health experiences, we strongly sympathize and wish the Shurtleff family God bless.

Fellow pundits and media outlets have already begun to speculate as the stock of other candidates in the race. Although they raise interesting points, Nacilbupera will refrain for the moment from public comment on the impact of the Shurtleff announcement on other candidates out of respect for the Shurtleff family.

Notwithstanding Nacilbupera’s endorsement of another candidate, Shurtleff has gained our respect both through this commitment to family and through his willingness to recognize that running a U.S. Senatorial race is not done by jumping in late in the game hoping to get one’s name into the ring. We suggest a way of supporting our great AG through this time of distress might be the reading of Shurtleff’s newly-released historical: "Am I Not a Man, the Dred Scott Story” though we confess we haven’t done so ourselves. We reiterate our stance that Bennett is wrong for Utah and stand by our previous endorsement in this race as a strong alternative to Bailout Bob.

Overtime:

• John Curtis' gracious acceptance video for Provo Mayor
  
  
• David Harmer loses by 10pts. There are two positives in this loss. First, the loss is that this is slightly less than the Cook PVI of D+11 with a Republican neophyte making a great showing against the top ranking Democratic executive in the state. More importantly, Democrats will likely lose a Lieutenant-Governorship with Schwarzenegger having an opportunity to appoint a fiscally-conservative Republican to fill Garamendi's vacated position. With Schwarzenegger being term-limited, this appointee stands to receive a tremendous boost in the upcoming gubernatorial elections. Finally, a Schwarzenegger appointee would add a rare Republican to a near Democratic monopoly in California on executive-branch offices.
  


• Poll: Do you support parental notification of abortion? http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-teen-abortion-law-02-nov02,0,6313456.story

New York: con-Fusion Voting

Lesson to be learned by outsiders on Hoffman's loss in New York's U.S. Congressional District 23: don't ever allow "Fusion Voting" in your state!

Yesterday, twitterer @RightKlik posted a URL to a sample ballot in NY23 which we post below:

So say you've decided as a voter to vote for Doug Hoffman. Can you find him on the ballot? Not too easy. How about William Owens, his Democratic counterpart--well he's a lot easier to find because his name is on their TWICE. Or how about Dede Scozzafava who withdrew from the race? Yes, she's easy to find as well as she, too, is listed TWICE.

So how in the world does a non-candidate get listed TWICE, your opponent get listed TWICE, but your name is listed once? Welcome to the world of fusion voting where political parties get power not candidates.

If you happened to know that Mr. Hoffman was running on the "Conservative Party" ticket, he is much easier to find. The problem is that Hoffman was often described as an "Independent" in the media which can be confused with the "Independence Party" which endorsed Scozzafava (and later Owens). When Scozzafava withdrew, the Republican Party endorsed Hoffman, so one might also think that one could find Hoffman under the Republican Party line. What a mess, indeed!

The solution for solving these problems under con-fusion voting rules lies in the creation of multiple parties cross-endorsing the desired candidate to provide maximum exposure. For example, you could create the "9/12 Party" which could cross endorse Hoffman and bingo! Hoffman has his name twice on the ballot like everyone else. But we wouldn't stop there. Let's get the "Tea Party" Party on there with a "Rush Limbaugh" Party and a "Matt Drudge" Party and heck, lets just throw in the "Obamanation" Party for good riddance! Now we've got Hoffman's name on the ballot six times and you'll have to hunt for anyone else running in the race.

The point is fusion voting is ridiculous and while we won't blame Hoffman's loss solely on a terrible ballot we need to be alert in all our states for nonsensical voter reforms such as New York's.

Election Wrapup

John Curtis elected Provo Mayor!
Race tonight was a wild one as PR36 with a 41% best-of-all-voter-precinct-turnouts dumped in early voting 4:1 for Clark giving Clark a huge early 60%/40% over Curtis. This was Clark's stronghold and as Clark had represented these voters as State Rep. in District 63. But Curtis came back winning comfortably in the end with 53% of the vote and winning 35 out of 49 precincts. Our PR20 had a respectable 26% turnout with Curtis losing by a mere 6 votes. Yet for PR20 this is a Curtis victory as residing in our boundaries was former mayoral contestant Don Allpin (and posterity) who came in 3rd in the primaries and endorsed Clark on Oct 24th.

Maine votes down same-sex marriage!
Leading 53% to 47% with 87% reporting, voters in Maine gave a voter veto to a bill passed by their legislature that would have allowed same-sex marriage in the state. No matter how liberal the state, whenever the decision has been put to the voters instead of a few liberal judges, same sex marriage has been defeated and tonight was no exception.

Bob McDonnell elected VA gov in landslide; Republicans sweep trifecta of seats!
With all precincts reporting McDonnell won 59% to 41% bringing with him a Republican Lt. Gov. and A.G. in a state that went for Obama just 12 months ago. Just last week, Obama had "campaigned" for McDonnell's opponent Deeds by saying: "He may not be perfect -- my wife reminds me I'm not. (Applause.) She is, just like our spouses are perfect, but we're not. (Laughter.) You know, Creigh, sometimes his tie gets a little askew, and you know, his hair is a little -- (laughter)..." (Yahoo News) We don't think the patronizing of Deeds by Obama helped Deeds at all.

Chris Christie(R) elected NJ governor!

How a conservative Republican can win a dark blue state like NJ was extremely encouraging for conservatives in 2010. NJ wanted their highest-in-the-union property taxes cut and were fed up with Corzine and the flight of business from the state. Obama had his clout snubbed here as well with multiple plugs for Corzine while Christie racked in 49% of the vote and led Corzine by 5%.

Doug Hoffman loses to Bill Owens

In a gut-wrencher for conservatives, with 92% reporting Hoffman loses to Owens 45% to 49%. Conisdering the disarray of the campaign and Scozzafava who withdrew receiving 5% of the vote, there is much to be proud of in this loss. The district will vote again next year and if Owens dares to vote for a public option and the GOP puts up a Conservative, Owens might just be a pop on the 4th of July.

Dave Harmer loses to John Garamendi

With 50% reporting, Harmer is losing 55% to 40% to Lt. Governor and carpetbagger Garamendi who, like Hoffman, doesn't live in the district. Getting Harmer elected was our biggest challenge going into election day and obviously Californians despite their May referendums just haven't had enough of folks who promise a better life through raising taxes. If it were just District 10's taxes he were raising, we probably wouldn't even bother with the post.

What next...
Tonight was a huge bounceback from the losses suffered twelve months ago. It also shows where we need to shore up support and educate on the evils of Socialistic ideas in getting ready for 2010, which officially starts....well, now! For starters, we can begin by rallying at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday, Nov. 14th, for a combined 9/12 and Utah Tea Party rally. Let us use our victories to motivate us to replace Bennett, throw out Harry Reid, and get some good Conservative Republicans back in both houses of our Congress in 2010.

Re: Mudslinging by an Attack Dog

Preface note: Although this is formed as a response to a reader's comment, its both its length and introduction of new material justify a separate blog entry.

Anonymous: Thanks for stopping by; you are welcome to remain anonymous, but we feel it would have empowered your premises had you (1) revealed the status of your citizenship in Provo (2) if you are tied into the authorship (IE “RMC”) of the anti-Curtis blog you cite TWICE and (3) if you are a member of the Clark campaign or family. Understandably, we have our suspicions though you are welcome to refute these thoughts of ours (emphasize thoughts rather than accusations.)

As a five-year Provo resident, sole author of this blog, and a vocal supporter and endorser of but not part of the Curtis campaign, we shoot straight here which gives us a bit more authority in the debate than someone who hides behind an Anonymous posting. Although we already have “pulled the lever” for Curtis in early voting, we owe it to our readership to respond.

First, your accusation that we have not “really educate[d] [my]self beyond one-worded campaign slogans” goes right along with the mudslinging of the Clark campaign. Even RMC who you quote TWICE hoped the debate would not be about “slinging mud” (bottom of page; first post by RMC). Let us elaborate upon the “literally hours upon hours of listening to Curtis” we have done. Coming into this election we hadn’t a clue who either candidate was; we aren't related to anyone in Provo (does the wife count? LOL) and admittedly had never heard of Action Target. At some length even before the primaries, we met both candidates personally and asked them direct questions one-on-one eye-to-eye. We attended our neighborhood’s meet-the-candidates night at Amelia Earhart Elementary, attended a number of open houses and the first mayoral debates at the Provo city center, and been in communication via email until our concerns were satisfied. We reckon (pardon the Missouri-ism here) based on the effort of eligible voters to stay informed, we rank in the top 1%. Your accusation of us not being educated is simply baseless, biased, and demeaning to a private citizen doing their civic duty.

We will however, address your two underlying premises of debate. In reading the posting on the anti-Curtis blog you point to, we believe you are bringing up non-relevant, partisan material into the campaign. Gee whiz (sorry, our age is showing...), Glenn Beck grew up a drunk Democrat; David Horowitz was a commie—and while Curtis was neither but simply trying to bring some “common sense” back to the Democratic Party—do we really care? Is past partisan politics relevant in a non-partisan local election? The point is this isn’t a partisan race but Clark (who if you want to bring partisanship into this race in our opinion is more Democratic than Curtis sponsoring bills like HB290) is trying to make it one with these campaign fliers (see newest below). As Republicans we denounce AG Eric Holder’s forced reversal in Kinston, NC, of the non-partisan status of their local elections; but you tolerate--even advocate--Steve Clark repeatedly bringing up partisanship into this race? Hogwash.

Partisan Clark attacks continue against Curtis in non-partisan race (red underlines ours)

To your second point on the green sweater comment: perhaps Curtis “lost his cool”; don’t know, wasn’t there, but Curtis did apologize. So we concede the point. Yet you know it seems a bit double-standard: like Clark attacking Curtis for not owning dogs? Clark also seemed to be losing his cool when we asked him one-on-one what he was going to do about our city’s “sanctuary city” label. So wow, both candidates have human emotions; passion is better than apathy and both these men are decent in their hearts and neither at all like Democrat Harry Reid.

On funding, Curtis has consistently said that for special projects the voters should have a say, not forced upon us like Iprovo. If we want a new rec center or whatever, are we willing to support that with higher levies? Curtis’ plan for four officers on gangs instead of one is deficit neutral; directing police who are told to “go write tickets” to actually fighting crime. As a businessman, he is keen to eliminating inefficiencies in government so that we can balance our budget as well as making Provo more business friendly to grow our tax base. Clark on the other had wants to add a layer of government by having “mentors” assigned to developers; to us growing the scope of government is not a desirable ideal.