The final political insult to conservatives made by liberals came
last week when the State of Maryland under dubious circumstances
indicted Linda Tripp -- of all people -- for wiretapping Monica
Lewinsky.
Never mind that Ms. Tripp already had immunity from prosecution given
to her by Kenneth Starr -- and that his federal immunity supersedes any
state's ability to charge her for this crime. Never mind that the Lt.
Governor of Maryland, just a week before the indictment was handed down,
rode on Air Force One with Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to the JFK Jr. funeral.
Never mind that Ms. Tripp, more than anyone else, deserves to be
hassle-free and that President Bill Clinton, more than anyone else,
deserves to be indicted for real criminal activity.
But no indictments of Clinton will ever be handed down because
so-called Republican "conservatives" in Congress are too weak, too
compromised, and too focused on perpetuating their own existence to do
anything about it. And many of Clinton's socialist buddies in the
Democrat Party are guilty of colluding with the president to commit many
of his crimes.
I'm telling you, folks -- if ever we needed to clean house,
the 2000 election is the time to do it.
But that won't happen as long as real conservatives, independents and
fed-up folks keep listening to the "political experts" tell us it "can't
be done outside of the Democrat and Republican Parties." Horse dust --
tell that to the governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura.
It can be done and it must be done. And there's a way
to get it done.
We've all heard the influential talking heads on both sides give
their primary reason for discounting any serious third-party challenge
for the presidency and Congress. Any such challenge will only take
votes away from (GOP or Democrat -- circle one), and therefore cause the
(GOP or Democrat -- circle one) to win by default, so the big lie goes.
Wait a minute. With a couple hundred million potential voters out
here -- many of whom are sick and tired of the corrupt "business" of
"mainstream politics" -- claiming that no third party can win any
election is worse than ludicrous. It's downright insulting because
claiming that assumes that you and I are stupid if we choose "none of
the above" and "waste" our vote on putting a third party into power.
If you're like me, you're probably tired of "wasting your vote" on
the two mainstream political parties -- both of which have merged for
all intents and purposes. I realize, as you do, that yes, both parties
still speak about differing points of view. And on occasion, one
party actually opposes the other on some insignificant piece of
legislation that ultimately wouldn't make much difference out here in
the Hinterland if it did pass.
But the fact is, regardless of whether the Democrats or Republicans
have been in charge, the federal government has steadily grown more
repressive, more expensive, larger, more complex, and less responsive
over the past 60 years. Pretending otherwise is folly and it's a lie.
Worse, the Republicans -- supposedly the party of smaller government
-- has kept the EPA, the IRS, the BATF, the Commerce Department, the
Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts around
to suck away more of our money and liberties than ever before. We don't
have fewer power-hungry bureaucrats since Republicans took over
Congress -- we have more. And because the GOP has refused to
rein in William Jefferson Clinton, he has been able to write numerous
executive orders and presidential decrees that directly usurp
congressional power and have, in essence, created a dictatorship in the
White House.
It's time for this charade to end. It's time to say, "No more!" to
career politicians who owe their souls to special interest groups,
lobbying firms, big corporate donors and a president who has too much on
them.
There is a solution, and it came to me during a recent
interview on my talk show with
Sen. Bob Smith, the newly-independent, former GOP senator from New
Hampshire who wants to be our next president.
Sen. Smith appealed to my Catholic and Protestant listeners to
support him, primarily, because he is staunchly pro-life, would appoint
only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court so we could finally get rid of
Roe. v. Wade, and would appoint only pro-constitutional judges to the
federal bench. He was so adamant when taking this (and other) positions
on the issues that a few of our listeners actually called the show just
to say they were changing their minds and supporting Smith.
That's a powerful response to a powerful message.
Now just suppose that others who have similarly powerful messages --
like Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes, Harry Browne, Steve Forbes, and Howard
Phillips -- were to band together? What kind of voting block would
these candidates draw? What if Reform Party supporters joined as
well?
Disenfranchised conservatives from both major parties would flock
here, as would the already large (and growing) base of independent
voters around the country.
These leaders, regardless of whom they chose as candidates for
president and vice president, could make a pledge to each other that if
their candidates won the White House, each of them would be
placed in various positions within the administration. That way
nobody goes away a loser -- each of them wins something,
with this country winning the most. Since incumbent administrations
usually have the advantage (except for this year), it's logical to
assume that the leadership coalition we placed in power in 2000 -- with
their small government, pro-constitutional ideals -- would be there for
some time to come.
As one set of leaders served out their time in the White House, a new
pair could be drawn from the remaining group, and so on.
I personally would support such a platform -- one filled with the
constitutional ideals these leaders espouse. No matter who the top two
candidates are in 2000, in 2008 there will be two more we can draw
upon. But these people must pledge to include the others in each
new administration's Cabinet.
If enough Americans get it through their heads that there is more to
political life than simply Democrats and Republicans this can work. If
enough Americans were educated to the fact that there are really only
two kinds of politicians -- those who support and defend our
constitutional rights and those who do not -- this can work.
But don't be fooled by the rhetorical lambasting such an idea will
draw from the "big two" political parties. Anytime their traditional
bases of power are threatened they will attack.
United we stand and divided we fall. Enough of this fractious
infighting. No more Linda Tripps.