Join Me in the Kaposia Days Parade‏

Hello to all of my fantastic supporters!

Friday, June 27th is the Kaposia Days Parade in S. St. Paul. This is a big parade and there will be several liberals in this parade so I need your participation. We will be 85th in the lineup. The parade starts at 6:30 so we need to start showing up about 5:30 to 6:00.

Here is a link to the map of the parade and line up spots.

http://www.kaposiadays.org/documents/KDParadeMap_000.pdf

Units 81 - End: South side of 4th St. N between 12th Ave. N & 9th Ave. N

Here is the Mapquest link,

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=S+Saint+Paul&state=MN&address=4th+St+N+%26+12th+Ave++N&zipcode=55075&country=US&latitude=44.8961&longitude=-93.0488&geocode=INTERSECTION#a/maps/m::11:44.896097:-93.0488:0::/e

My cell number is 651-308-6442 so please feel free to call me if you need to.

If you are comeing from the north, just take highway 52, (Lafayette Bridge) south and get off on Thompson and take a left.

I will have a cooler full of refreshments and I will be glad to buy a round for everyone when it's over.

I look forward to seeing you all! Let's have a blast!

"Joe, American" Challenges the Presidential Candidates

Here is a man with a plan! I suggest we get on board and support Joe American. I for one, am sick and tired of candidates that run on sound bites and slogans. I want a candidate that address's the important issues Joe American speaks of, affordable energy, the war, health care, education and transportation. United we stand and we can make a difference by demanding action from our elected officials. Take the time to listen to Joe's video. I like this guy.

Minnesotan's for Limited Government Picnic!

Come to the picnic! I hope to meet many new faces there!

Charley Reese: Constitution guarantees gun rights for people, not militia

From News-Press.com
Fort Meyers, Florida

Niccolo Machiavelli, who was a sort of Karl Rove of his day, though with more integrity, said of the Swiss that they were "the most free and most armed people" of Europe. Get it? The connection between arms and freedom?
That statement is still true of the Swiss. Many people know that they practice neutrality, but not many know that they practice armed neutrality. If the gun controllers' claim that the mere presence of arms leads to mayhem were true, the Swiss would have wiped themselves out years ago. There are guns and gun ranges all over the place. You would be hard-pressed to find a Swiss home without a firearm and ammunition. Yet, the Swiss have a very low crime rate.

If you were a robber or a rapist, who would you rather have as a victim? Someone who is armed, or someone who is defenseless? Even a stupid criminal knows the answer to that question.

If the police can protect us - which is another claim the gun-control people make - then why are so many people murdered, raped and robbed? Even the television fictional stories tell you the answer to that. The cops get there after the crime has been committed. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a crime scene. Nearly all the cop shows open with the police looking at a dead, unarmed body.

Do you really believe that the men who had just fought a long and bloody war against the British and were writing what we call the Bill of Rights had this conversation:

"Well, let's see. We've guaranteed freedom of assembly, of religion, of speech and of the press. Oh, my gosh, we've forgotten the duck hunters. They'll raise heck if we leave them out, so we'd better write an amendment for them."

The Second Amendment has nothing whatsoever to do with hunting. It states: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The men who wrote these amendments were pretty darn fluent in English. If they had intended the right to keep and bear arms to apply only to the militia, they would have said so. They would have written "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the states to arm their respective militias shall not be infringed."

They didn't say that. The main sentence says "right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." "People" means everybody, not just the members of the militia. The subordinate clause, "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state," just gives one, but not the only, reason why all the people have a right to keep and bear arms. The militia, after all, was drawn from the people. It was not the Army. The first meaning of "bear," by the way, is to carry, bring or take. Americans have the right to keep arms and to carry them.

The word "regulate" in those days meant trained, and do you notice again the connection between arms and freedom? The subordinate clause refers to a "free state." Obviously, an unfree state would not allow the people to be armed.

The Founding Fathers were not urban neurotics like so many of today's politicians. They were almost all outdoor people. Guns were to them just tools, like their axes or plows. You couldn't survive in the wilderness without firearms, and at the time of our Revolution, there were only about 3 million people from Maine to Georgia.
Nor were there any police forces. There was no Secret Service, FBI or any of the other alphabet law-enforcement agencies. If you decided to travel, you traveled at your own risk, and you can bet people traveled armed. When I was last at Williamsburg, Va., they had a room in one of the historical houses arranged as if a traveler had just arrived and unpacked. There on top of a dresser was a pistol.

- Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, FL 32802.

On the Second Amendment, Don’t Believe Obama!

The presidential primary season is finally over, and it is now time for gun owners to take a careful look at just where apparent nominee Barack Obama stands on issues related to the Second Amendment. During the primaries, Obama tried to hide behind vague statements of support for “sportsmen” or unfounded claims of general support for the right to keep and bear arms.

But his real record, based on votes taken, political associations, and long standing positions, shows that Barack Obama is a serious threat to Second Amendment liberties. Don’t listen to his campaign rhetoric! Look instead to what he has said and done during his entire political career.

FACT: Barack Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry. 1
FACT: Barack Obama wants to re-impose the failed and discredited Clinton Gun Ban. 2
FACT: Barack Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting. 3
FACT: Barack Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership. 2
FACT: Barack Obama supports local gun bans in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities. 4
FACT: Barack Obama voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self-defense. 5
FACT: Barack Obama supports gun owner licensing and gun registration. 6
FACT: Barack Obama refused to sign a friend-of-the-court Brief in support of individual Second Amendment rights in the Heller case.
FACT: Barack Obama opposes Right to Carry laws. 7
FACT: Barack Obama was a member of the Board of Directors of the Joyce Foundation, the leading source of funds for anti-gun organizations and “research.” 8
FACT: Barack Obama supported a proposal to ban gun stores within 5 miles of a school or park, which would eliminate almost every gun store in America. 9
FACT: Barack Obama voted not to notify gun owners when the state of Illinois did records searches on them.10
FACT: Barack Obama voted against a measure to lower the Firearms Owners Identification card age minimum from 21 to 18, a measure designed to assist young people in the military. 11
FACT: Barack Obama favors a ban on standard capacity magazines. 12
FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory micro-stamping. 13
FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory waiting periods. 2
FACT: Barack Obama supports repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits information on gun traces collected by the BATFE from being used in reckless lawsuits against firearm dealers and manufacturers. 14
FACT: Barack Obama supports one-gun-a-month sales restrictions. 9
FACT: Barack Obama supports a ban on inexpensive handguns. 9
FACT: Barack Obama supports a ban on the resale of police issued firearms, even if the money is going to police departments for replacement equipment. 9
FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory firearm training requirements for all gun owners and a ban on gun ownership for persons under the age of 21. 9

1. United States Senate, S. 397, vote number 219, July 2, 2005. (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00219)

2. Independent Voters of Illinois/Independent Precinct Organization general candidate questionnaire, Sept. 9, 1996. The responses on this survey were described in “Obama had greater role on liberal survey,” Politico, March 31, 20087. (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9269.html)

3. United States Senate, S. 397, vote number 217, Kennedy amendment July 2, 2005. (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00217)

4. David Wright, Ursula Fahy and Sunlen Miller, "Obama: 'Common Sense Regulation' On Gun Owners' Rights," ABC News' "Political Radar" Blog, http://blogs.abcnews.com, 2/15/08. (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/obama-common-se.html)

5. Illinois Senate, March 25, 2004 SB 2165, vote 20.
6. “Fact Check: No News In Obama's Consistent Record.” Obama ’08, December 11, 2007. (http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/12/11/fact_check_no_news_in_obamas_c.php)

7. “Candidates' gun control positions may figure in Pa. vote,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Wednesday, April 2, 2008, and "Keyes, Obama Are Far Apart On Guns," Chicago Tribune, 9/15/04. (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_560181.html)

8. 1998 Joyce Foundation Annual Report, p. 7.
9. “Obama and Gun Control,” The Volokh Conspiracy, taken from the Chicago Defender, Dec. 13, 1999. (http://www.volokh.com/posts/1203389334.shtml)

10. Illinois Senate, May 5, 2002, SB 1936 Con., vote 26.
11. Illinois Senate, March 25, 2003, SB 2163, vote 18.
12. “Clinton, Edwards, Obama on gun control,” Radio Iowa, Sunday, April 22, 2007. (http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2007/04/clinton_edwards.html)

13. Chicago Tribune blogs, “Barack Obama: NIU Shootings call for action,” February 15, 2008, (http://blogs.trb.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/barack_obama_comments_on_shoot.html)

14. Barack Obama campaign website: “As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment . . .” (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/urbanpolicy/#crime-and-law-enforcement.)

Campaigning on my Birthday

Yesterday, June 7th was my 51st birthday. It was a great day, warm and sunny. I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at Mendakota Park in Mendota Heights. It was the Mendota Heights Parks Celebration Kick Off. Everyone was friendly. It was a great time shaking hands, putting stickers on kids and even some adults. Some folks new me from my campaign for state senate two years ago and urged me to make sure I get to their house with lawn signs. Many people are concerned for their freedom and constitutional liberties. Taxes, education, transportation, warehousing of our children's DNA, the patriot act, national ID's, pro-life and pro second amendment were all subjects of concern.

From there I went to Bugg's Bar on Concord in South Saint Paul. Here I met many great Vietnam Veterans that were having a benefit to fund a war memorial in Wisconsin. Because it was my birthday I believe it was prudent to have a couple of cocktails with the troops. Spent some money on raffle tickets and ate some great food. The cake, (what was left of it), was red, white and blue and was delicious.

Marianne Stebbins was on 100.3 KTLK radio with Sue Jeffers at 5:00. Called in during the discussion on the MNGOP Convention. Andy Aplikowski was on the phone from his cabin in Wisconsin. My friend Lorri called in and it was an informative discussion. I look forward to next weeks show.

Finished the day at the Taco House with my wife of twenty five years and our new friend Joe T. The red chili burritos are an awesome culinary delight.

Liberty Patriots in the UK

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!

I found this link in a meet up group email. Seems there are people just like us in merry old England that want their liberty and freedom from an oppressive and intrusive government. They too oppose a national ID and spy cameras on their city streets and DNA warehousing.

http://www.15thjunemagnacarta.org/

Barack Obama is a 'Post Turtle'

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, a doctor struck up a conversation with the old man

Eventually the topic got around to Barack Obama and his bid to be our President.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Obama is a 'post turtle.'"

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a "post turtle" was.

"When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top," The old rancher said, "that's a 'post turtle.'"

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain.

"You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there to begin with."

What Other Bloggers Have to Say About the Minnesota State GOP Convention

Here is a list of blog posts that address the atmosphere at the MNGOP state convention that was recently held in Rochester Minnesota. There is a lot to read here but it will give you an idea of the climate within the party and the desperate need for a change in leadership. What could have been a great chance to unite, was destroyed by party leadership. I received an email today from a person within my BPOU who writes "I will never again be involved in the party. I will support single candidates that share my principles." She has been a hard worker for my campaign and I am very thankful that she believes in me. If only party leadership would have practiced what they preached, unity, many people like her would be more than willing to bust there rears to get good people elected during this campaign season.

"We the People" have been scammed! The GOP slate put together by the party leadership was fixed days in advance. This was obvious because of the need to print up mailings, literature and those huge banners. This blog address's this very issue.

http://www.ronpaul.com/2008-06-02/report-from-the-minnesota-state-convention/

Here is one that makes me curious. Someone told me at the convention that the address for the "Minnesota Conservative Delegate Team" belongs to a GOP officer of sorts. It was also mentioned that the state constitution bylaws forbid a party officer from endorsing a candidate. This may be just for public office rather than a party position. If anyone knows who this address belongs to, please let me know. I was told at the convention but I did not make note of it. Further investigation is waranted in this manner.

http://www.ronpaul.com/2008-05-28/minnesota-gop-vote-for-mccain-and-shut-up/

http://www.thefreesavage.com/2008/06/03/republican-party-convention-2008-no-integrity/

This one from Joe Repya is a must read! This man pulls no punches!

http://joerepya.typepad.com/eaglesnest/2008/06/the-minnesota-g.html

More from GI Joe Repya.

http://joerepya.typepad.com/eaglesnest/2008/06/republican-disa.html

http://joerepya.typepad.com/eaglesnest/2008/05/rochester---the.html

http://joerepya.typepad.com/eaglesnest/2008/05/minnesota-gop-.html

http://joerepya.typepad.com/eaglesnest/2008/05/ron-pauls-peopl.html

From the Wright County Republicans

http://wrightrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/04/apology-to-ron-paul-folks.html

Residual Forces has a good story about the division created at the convention. The party leadership had a great opportunity to bring people together. People willing to work hard to fight the liberals. Yet leadership shunned them and many are feeling very disenfranchised.

http://www.residualforces.com/2008/06/02/08-state-convention-advice-for-leadership/

http://www.residualforces.com/2008/06/02/a-real-point-of-clarification/

http://www.residualforces.com/2008/06/01/08-state-convention-logistics/

Thoughts on State Central.

http://www.residualforces.com/2008/05/31/2008-summer-state-central-meeting-my-thoughts/

http://www.residualforces.com/2008/05/30/ahhhh-the-smell-of-sausage-in-the-afternoon/

Convention wrap-up from True North.

http://www.looktruenorth.com/component/content/article/349-republican-party-business-a-conventions/3297-mn-gop-state-convention-wrap-up.html

http://www.looktruenorth.com/component/content/article/116-General/3304-review-republican-state-convention-.html

Joe Repya unloads on Ron Carey's Handling of Convention from Lloyd Letta Nooze Blog.

http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2008/05/joe-repya-unloads-on-ron-careys.html

It's Not Easy Being Green

From Tony Perkin's Family Update

When Congress adjourned for Memorial Day recess, marriage was in disarray, gas prices were soaring, circuit courts sat empty, and our troops were still waiting for funding to replenish supplies. Now, fresh off a holiday weekend in which most families paid $4 a gallon to drive to neighborhood barbecues, American patience has worn thin. Imagine the frustration this week, as Congress returned to work--not on judges, marriage, or the war supplemental bill--but on changing the weather. By a 74-14 vote, the Senate agreed to devote days to the Lieberman-Warner legislation on global warming. Desperate to prove their environmental mettle, liberals are fighting for a policy that would bankrupt the economy and burden American taxpayers. The leadership says its goal is to slash CO2 emissions by almost 20 percent in 12 years, but conservatives argue the cost to American businesses and taxpayers far outweighs the negligible climate benefit. The bill's 500 pages are a complicated mess of distorted science, pork projects, and a tax-and-trade solution that will send U.S. jobs overseas and result in the most massive expansion of the federal government since the New Deal. In just 10 years, the tax burden to American families would skyrocket by $1 trillion. The average American would face higher heating and cooling bills, more pain at the pump, and expensive consumer products. From the less fortunate, the bill saps even more. As Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) points out in the Wall Street Journal, the poorest Americans already spend almost a fifth of their monthly budget on energy. By 2030, gas prices could climb anywhere from 45 cents to $1, and the U.S. economy would be on the hook for an extra $4.8 trillion. And for what? Even environmental advocates admit that in the end these concessions may do nothing to affect the earth's climate. After 40 years of Lieberman-Warner, the most that the Environmental Protection Agency is willing to promise is a one percent reduction in CO2 emissions. To hardworking Americans who are struggling to provide for their children, this entire debate is baffling. Sen. Inhofe, who has fought this global warming hysteria since 2003, challenged his colleagues to get back to business. "Will you dare stand on the Senate floor in these uncertain economic times and vote in favor of significantly increasing the price of gas at the pump, losing millions of American jobs, creating a huge new bureaucracy and raising taxes by record amounts?" Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of this bill is that the evidence is still very inconclusive about the climate threat. If anything is heating up, it's marriage. This Congress is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the real crises facing this nation as they refuse to intervene.

A Quick Take on the State Convention

I was just on the Pioneer Press website looking at comments about the state convention. There was one in particular that I had to respond to. Her comments are similar to others that I have been hearing from other party loyalists. I have been hearing disturbing tales of some immature pictures that were drawn on ballots that were cast. I wrote "abstain" on the alternate ballot and a member of my BPOU wrote "corrupt." He has been a member of the party for over twenty years and I quote him in my response below.

GOP GAL 50 years Well, I'm STILL here at the Chateau. All I can say are the RP folks were entirely rude, disrespectful and did NOT follow parliamentary procedure.
BTW, did you RP folks pay GOP dues this year? Help to support the convention you tried to take over.
Geez, either work to build up the Libertarian Party or join the GOP, come to regular meetings, volunteer to committees, work to get on the platform committee...etc... It takes time, but is the CORRECT manner to effect change.
I'm not a McCain fan at all (Huckabee gal here)...but old RP has as much chance as Hillary at this time.
P.S. The language I was subjected to by the RP folks was horrible too. Sorry, but I find the repeated use of the F-word on the front steps of the hotel disrespectful as well.
I'm sure not all RP folks are rude and foul-mouthed. I just happened upon a lot of them today.

There are many great Ron Paul people who are quite aware that good manners and diplomacy is key to making changes within the party. This is what I look forward to being a part of in the coming years. I must point out that I am upset with what I call a "radical faction" at the convention. These radical few make us look bad in the eyes of many and I hope that these few can mature in the future.

I am disgusted about all the lip service to Ronald Reagan and our conservative values that went on and then we are asked to compromise on these principles by supporting RINO candidates. One prominent Republican I know well said to me that the way that the convention was held reminded him of Eastern Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

I am just about finished with a book titled "When Hell Was In Session" by Senator Jeremiah Denton. He was in the Hanoi Hilton for over seven years. In it he writes of North Vietnam's soldiers loyalty to "The Party." Many of the speeches that we heard this weekend did nothing but push for loyalty to "The Party" and how important unity is. I found the similarities to be disturbing to me.

I have only been involved in the Republican Party for two years but I have been very active at every level I can in that time. I am currently an endorsed candidate for the second time. I will be around in the future with many of the more mature Ron Paul people actively seeking change within the party to restore it to the values we hold dear to us as conservatives. The way in which the convention was held, it is my responsibility to continue to "Show Up" and be a part of the fight to a better party and a better country.