During the 2003 Recall of Governor “Gray-Out” Davis in California, there were a plethora of candidates from across the political spectrum on the ballot. Also on the October 7th ballot, however, was an interesting voter initiative that was almost entirely overlooked by both local and national media coverage. This was Prop. 54, also known as the Racial Privacy Initiative, which asked the question: Should state and local governments be prohibited from classifying any person by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin?

The proposition ultimately failed, with 64% voting No and just 36% voting Yes.

When I first heard about it, I thought this was great. It was a good step in the right direction for eliminating the issue of race in this country and getting the government out of the way of the “Melting Pot” process we have historically boasted.

And now that the 2010 Census is starting to come out, I’m seeing a number of groups on Facebook and other social networking sites urging Americans to either leave the Race field blank, mark “Other,” or otherwise obstruct the collection of this data in the Census. Undoubtedly, this is going to result in some Democrats and Republicans in state and federal positions to once again analyze the purpose of the race identifiers in the 21st century.

I remember the night I went from being overly excited about Proposition 54 to being opposed to it. It happened over the course of about one minute in an add done by the former Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Charles Everett Koop. Although the proposition had an exception for classifying medical data, this initiative still would have prevented the government and independent researchers from studying long term medical problems in communities and, more significantly, it would have prevented the local, state, and federal governments from spending tax dollars effectively to combat race-targeting diseases in the communities where they live.

And when you think about it, it’s really pretty stupid. The elimination of racial segregation in society isn’t something the government is going to start by eliminating a question in the census. It’s something we the people have to accept for ourselves and, generally speaking, it’s something we ARE accepting for ourselves. Affirmative Action is increasingly being recognized as an insult to the intelligence of minority students, racial quotas are a thing of the past, and the color of a person’s skin is quickly becoming as irrelevant as the color of a person’s hair.

The difference between the color of a person’s hair and their ethnicity, however, is that knowing the color of a person’s hair isn’t going to help combat disease in this country. Having access to the racial characteristics of a community, on the other hand, can do that.

Ladies and gentlemen, when you get your census, FILL IT OUT COMPLETELY! Don’t be a jerk and fill in intentionally bad information. The government isn’t going to throw anybody in a concentration camp or begin slaughtering Americans of any given ethnicity. This is all important data and it’s in the best interest of WE THE PEOPLE to have access to this information. Remember, this is OUR census: don’t corrupt it.

I really wish I could find video of the ad with Dr. Koop. But since 2003 was at the dawn of the golden age of YouTube, it doesn’t appear as though anybody had the means or knowledge to upload it to the internet. In the absence of that video, however, I thought I would at least share this one.

Travis and I are working our butts off here in Porter County, Indiana as my first campaign kicks into full gear and the outpouring of support from near and far has been tremendous. Even though I have clearly upset quite a few people with my sharp tongue in the past, I’ve been endorsed by a few big names in the conservative grassroots movement, including the Can-Do Conservatives and @ The Front Lines of Faith, Family, and Freedom. I’ve been endorsed by these guys and others like them because I’ve sweat with them, bled with them, and shed tears with them for the victories and defeats we’ve faced over the past few years. In particular, I owe Brian Donegan and Daniel Miller a debt of gratitude for their unwaivering friendship through the trials and tribulations and I can’t begin to thank them enough.

But as the time between where we are now and the May 4th Republican Primary here in Indiana draws nearer, I am finding myself in increasing need of the support of my friends and family who make up the readership of this blog. I know times are tough in this economy that has been made infinitely worse by Democrats at every level of government, from the White House to the Courthouse, but all is not lost. As Travis, Semp, Josh, and myself have said in the past: YOU can make the difference.

I am looking to unseat a very vulnerable Democrat in what has traditionally been a pretty conservative area. If you donate to my campaign, even if it’s just a small amount, it will go an incredible distance in unseating this Democrat and replacing him with a conservative who you know will always speak his mind and say what needs to be said.

But I can’t do it without you! Your donation will provide our campaign with the financial support we need to print all of our campaign materials, signs, and literature in order to oust one more Democrat once and for all come November.

You can check out my campaign website here.

Or you can click here to make an online donation.

Sorry I’ve been AWOL from the site for so long. Travis and I have been working our butts off with our day jobs and my campaign. For those of you who were unaware, Travis is serving as my campaign manager and he’s been blowing people’s minds with how aggressively he’s pursuing this.

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve been on the campaign trail is that a lot of Republicans want to know what we should do with the “crazies,” “nut-jobs,” “freaks,” and others who are trying to hijack the Republican Party. In particular, they are talking about the libertarian movement and the wacky Ron Paul people out there.

My answer is relatively simple: “Listen to them.”

Seriously, during the Bush Administration, the Republican Party (under the leadership of President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Bill Frist) began to abandon its “limited government” message by pursing enormous spending projects that alienated MOST Republicans in one sense or another. The difference is that most Republicans were willing to turn a blind eye because they were “National Security Conservatives” or part of the “Christian Right.” Because so many of us were going along with what the President said to support the party, the “Small Government Conservatives” were left with just a hand full of asinine idiot leaders who were willing to speak to those values… namely, idiots like Ron Paul and Alex Jones.

Of course, these neglected conservatives are going to not only listen to the small handful of people talking about these values, but they’re going to sympathize and identify with them because they are treated like scum by the establishment and, because they are being neglected, they feel as though the establishment is treating them like scum, too.

Because I’ve been so involved in the TEA Party process in so many different states, I’ve also had the opportunity before my campaign to talk to a lot of these “Small Government Conservatives” who feel neglected by the Republican Party. And do you know what? They aren’t “crazies,” “nut-jobs,” or “freaks.” These are honest to goodness conservatives who believe strongly that the best government is self-government and the larger government gets, the worse it is. These are good people who any one of us would be willing to sit down and share a family meal with.

And do you know what’s going on in their minds? Well, they’re feeling alienated again. First, at the hands of the Republican Party, and again by the people trying to hijack the Republican Party… the “leaders” of these local TEA Party groups. Across the country, these TEA Party groups have been posting increasingly radical information to their message boards and sending increasingly disgusting e-mails to their lists.

They’re claiming that 9/11 was a government conspiracy.
They’re claiming vaccines are a government conspiracy.
They’re claiming that TWA Flight 800 was a government conspiracy.
They’re claiming Gov. Daniels is part of a globalist conspiracy because of the I-69 expansion.
They’re suggesting that the Catholic Church and the Illuminati want to take over the world.

On that last one, a Michigan woman joked “at least then abortion would be illegal.”

The alliance between these conservatives and the nut jobs in charge of many (but NOT ALL) of these TEA Parties is incredibly fragile. Even here in Northwest Indiana, one must simply look at the message board for the “Northwest Indiana Patriots” to see why I no longer go to their meetings or participate in their events. Simply put, I don’t want to be associated with that crap. And likewise, the group has seen participation at its events drop quickly for the same reason. People are more angry now than ever before and, due to the unemployment rates, people have more time now than ever before.

I promise you, the “Small Government Conservatives” aren’t the enemy. The enemy within for the Republican Party and the Conservative Movement are the REAL nut-jobs. Ron Paul, Alex Jones, and the idiots who excitedly rally behind them and their offensive, outrageous conspiracy nonsense.

The Republican Party will have to prove itself to the good people in the “Small Government” group when it wins in 2010. But likewise, these “Small Government Conservatives” will have to support them as they do it. There is a serious disconnect between these grassroots conservatives and the party as a whole and both sides need to come to terms with the fact that they need each other. The GOP needs their political voice and support in the setting of the 21st Century political arena and the grassroots, “Small Government Conservatives” will need the Republican Party to stop the aggressive, socialist agenda of the Democratic Party.

Let me be on the record as saying that I love my Governor. He’s really done incredible wonders for our state. Before Governor Daniels won the 2004 Gubernatorial race in Indiana, our state had an $800 Million deficit and government was growing at a rate beyond comprehension for Hoosiers. Since then, Governor Daniels has slashed payrolls, helped find countless ways to cut costs, and delivered consistent surpluses in the process. Even in the current recession, Indiana hasn’t been hit all that hard relative to most other states. That’s entirely because of the persistence of Governor Daniels and the sound plan he put forward when he got in office.

The New York Times is actually starting to pay attention to “My Man Mitch” as a possible 2012 contender:

Mitt Romney? He couldn’t make the voters like him last time … Sarah Palin? She’d lose 47 states … Mike Huckabee? Better as a talk-show host … Tim Pawlenty, Jim DeMint, Bobby Jindal, David Petraeus? Too blah, too extreme, too green, and stop dreaming …

But murmur the name Mitch Daniels, and everyone perks up a bit. Would he win? Maybe not. But he’d be the best president of any of them …

Would Mitch Daniels make an excellent leader of this country? Undoubtedly!

Would he make an excellent candidate for the Republican Party? … eh.

If Mitch Daniels were to run and win, it would be largely because there was some sort of natural disaster the claimed the lives of several other Republican candidates before the Primaries and nation-wide disgust with President Obama in the General Election. Daniels really isn’t the most charismatic guy in the world and while that doesn’t stop him from making an awesome executive, it does stop him from being the excellent politician.

As a result of this, Mitch Daniels isn’t really an enormous help for Republican candidates. In 2008, Governor Daniels slaughtered his Democratic opponent by a jaw dropping 17.7% (and that’s with Obama campaigning for his Democratic opponent, Jill Long Thompson). Yet, despite the 17.7% victory for Governor Daniels, the Republican Party lost Congressional races by wider margins than in 2006 (despite having some amazing candidates), the State House remained in Democrat hands, and Indiana’s electoral delegates went to a Democrat for the first time in 40 years.

Governor Daniels is really a great leader for our country, but I’m not convinced he’s the right guy to put at the top of 2012 ticket. Granted, if he runs, I’ll support him simply because we don’t have a lot of options an of all the names I’ve heard (except John Thune), I like Mitch Daniels the best… even if he is only 5′7″.

With that said, it’s worth noting that Mitch Daniels has not been touring Iowa or New Hampshire at all (neither has Senator Thune) and, according the Human Events, Governor Daniels is talking down the idea:

“I don’t plan to do it, I don’t expect to do it, I really don’t want to do it, [...] there are 100 reasons that no sane person wants to do this.”

But as John Gizzi also pointed out in that same article:

[T]he one-time Reagan White House aide and director of the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush never said “I won’t do it.”

With all of this said, there are some people who disagree with me about the charisma of the man. Mary Kate Cary from US News & World Report is apparently among them. Personally, I hope she’s right. Mitch has been the kind of leader in Indiana that conservatives should legitimately be excited about.

If he decides to run, you’ll most likely find me in this man’s corner.

This past week, as I’m sure all of you have read in the newspaper, a woman who was a trainer at Sea World was killed by a killer whale. This story was especially big in our (me and Kevin Tracy’s) neck of the woods, since  Dawn Brancheau, the woman that was killed by Tilikum, the whale, went to Andrean High School right here in Northwest Indiana. The whale had killed two others in the past, and from what I can find Sea World has not yet determined what, exactly, to do with this killer whale.

The bigger problem here stems from the stupid remarks made by actors like Matt Damon and Jeff Goldblum (not to mention those idiot PETA members).

“I think they should just shut them all down,” Damon told “The Insider” on the red carpet, saying that the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau was “horrible.” “I’ve never been a fan of places like that.”

“Actress Tippi Hedren, who founded a wildlife rescue organization in Southern California, is speaking out following yesterday’s death of a trainer who was attacked by a killer whale at Sea World.

Tippi’s statement, titled “Tilikum,” the name of the whale involved in the attack, reads, “Animal abuse is rampant in the U.S., right under everyone’s eyes, for the entertainment of the public. The brutal confinement and pain of training methods of wild animals in the circus, the aquatic and theatrical shows, leads to retaliation by the animals. Eventually they find the right time to strike out, and they will.

“What is it going to take to make it clear these animals are wild? These animals are innocent; it is man and the huge amounts of money brought in by the animals that allows this kind of insanity and deception to continue. It is up to the public to stop attending these theatrical, and aquatic shows, and circuses with wild animals. The rhetoric about how the animals are happy and well cared for are lies. Don’t be swayed by them. The money behind these shows is huge; there is nothing good about them.

“Federal legislation is urgently needed to stop this insanity of wild animals in captivity.”

Tippi founded the Roar Foundation’s Shambala Preserve, which is home to about 60 big cats, including leopards, lions, tigers, cougars and more.” Excert from www.theinsider.com

First let me say this: few of the quotes that I have been able to find on this poor woman’s death have shown much concern for the HUMAN that was killed. Sure, Matt Damon made the off the cuff remark that it was a tragedy, and then went on to say how all of the animals should be returned to the wild. The fact that so many people can be so callous and use this as an opportunity to peddle an agenda instead of giving her family condolences is mind boggling, and so I’ll start by going against the grain and doing just that.

To the Brancheau family, those of us at ktracy.com and mattersofopinion.net want to let you know that our prayers go out to you during this tragic time. From what I have read in the newspapers, your lost loved one was an animal lover and didn’t wish ill towards any of the aquatic life that she worked with.

Now, let’s get my opinion on this matter (since I know you’re all DIEING to hear what I have to say). 

If Sea Worldhadn’t acquired this whale, there is a good chance it would be feeding a bunch of Japanese families right now. While we here in America like to think of ourselves as better than that and recognize that the killer whale is an endangered species, the rest of the world couldn’t give a crap less. Whales, like panda bears and elephants, are mostly no longer endangered (or at least to a lesser extent) because people have found a way to make money off of them. Plain and simple. Yes, laws have deterred some. But lets use the elephants in Africa as an example. People can pay big money to go on an elephant hunt, even though poaching the large animals is outlawed. This gives those in the villages a reason to keep the poachers from poaching. It’s a little more difficult to have the same kind of idea with whales, what with the almost unlimited mobility of the aquatic animals, however the overall principle still applies here. The whales are fed like kings and trained to entertain the species with the larger brain (I don’t care what you people say, when I can hire a whale to build a house or to do my homework, THEN I’ll give up my rightful place on the “smartest species throne”. Until then, I’ll reign supreme, and I’m not too worried about handing off that scepter just yet, thank you), and a great majority of the whales do not kill their trainers. So while this one whale seems to have a history of this, the solution isn’t “shut down all of the parks”. On one message board talking about this incident, somebody had written “kill it and grill it”. While I’m sure that would feed a lot of homeless people, how about this one whale, that is the problem whale, just gets let go into the ocean? If it’s caught by Japan and eaten, great. If it’s not, great. Win win here, people. The idea that all aquatic theme parks should be immediately shut down is kind of like that fifth grade teacher making EVERBODY stay after school for detention because of the disruptions of one individual, and it simply isn’t fair.

I remember going to Sea World in Ohio when I was younger. It was awesome, and I hope that when my son is older I can take him to that same park and have a whale of a time (pun intended). So here is what I propose. All of you executives at Sea World, get out your notebooks and start taking some notes.

1. Continue your wonderful park

2. Detain all PETA members (this will of course need the President’s approval of martial law, so wait for a Republican to be in office, maybe 2012?)

3. Feed PETA members to aquatic entertainers (my fancy rewording of “big otherwise useless fish mammals”). They should go willingly if you tell them that it is to help fix the balance of nature that has been disrupted by white Anglo-Saxon protestant men.

That last part is of course a joke. Or so my lawyer advises me to say.

Watch this video and tell me what’s missing from this hearing about child prostitution and sex trafficking in the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law.

That’s right, the Senate Subcommittee is missing! I saw this on the news last night and thought it was just the wrong footage. No, that wasn’t the case. In fact, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was the only guy there listening… and that’s probably only because Alvarez is from his state.

So just who is (or at least ‘is supposed to be’) on this committee?

Well, Dick Durbin is the chairman of the committee… so it’s probably good that he was there.

Other Democrats on the committee include Russ Feingold (WI), Ben Cardin (MD), Ted Kaufman (DE),
Arlen Specter (PA), and Al Franken (MN).

Al Franken’s (empty) seat on this committee is all the proof we should need that this issue is a joke for the US Senate.

The absent Republicans are Tom Coburn (OK), Lindsey Graham (SC), and John Cornyn (TX).

Well, Lindsey Graham is busy serving as John McCain’s loyal lapdog and John Cornyn is pre-occupied with using the NRSC to screw over conservatives in every state of the Union with Senate election in 2010. I’m not sure what Coburn’s excuse is.

Look, I know everyone in Washington is busy watching the Obamacare Bill die its slow, painful and humiliating death – but is it so much to ask that a group of 9 Senators charged with investigating Human Rights violations around the world pay just a little bit of attention to a growing, gut wrenching violation taking place against children right here in our own country?

All 8 of the Senators absent from Wednesday’s hearing should be utterly ashamed of themselves and thrown out of office the when they’re up for re-election. Regardless of whether or not Durbin was required to be there as Subcommittee chairman or whatever his motives were, he at least deserves some credit for sitting in the room and letting the hearing take place at all so that media attention could be placed on the horrific atrocity taking place within our own borders.

To begin with, please, if you haven’t read the original piece (or even if you have and don’t remember it exactly) read it here: Working Vs. Stay at Home Moms

Ok, now that our memories are refreshed, let me address something that I had THOUGHT was clear in the original article. If you’re individual life situation doesn’t allow you to be a stay at home mom, then THAT’S FINE. I stressed countless times in the article this exact point, but unfortunately some people either don’t know how to read or choose not to. Regardless, the main reason that I decided to dredge this wonderful topic back up is because apparently I have a hate group regarding my articles. This doesn’t really bother me. Most ignorant people don’t like me, and that’s fine. The feeling is mutual. However, since this comment in particular (via a facebook conversation) about this particular article came up, I thought that I would ask you all, loyal readers, your input. Here it goes:

“Somebody needs to tell that fool that instead of spending time writing idiotic blogs and posting crap on facebook he should spend it with his kid (side note: Gage is almost always sleeping when I’m doing my extracurricular activities. Also, you will all be happy to know that Gage’s first word is “Daddy”. It must be from all that darn neglect.) and act like a grown up!!! He’s an idiot…”  There are some other things regarding peoples personal information and names that I won’t publish, but you all get the gist.

My question is this: what exactly did I write that was so offensive? Was my own personal thoughts, that a mother, if GIVEN THE CHOICE, should choose to stay at home with her child so that he/she is receiving the care and guidance that that child deserves? I went out of the way, in several parts of this article, to be sure to articulate that working mothers who juggle a career (ESPECIALLY single mothers) deserve a special place in heaven. I don’t understand, people. I really don’t. By the way, thanks to all of you readers, my “idiotic blogging” has made it’s way into the local college newspaper several times, has been featured in the Post-Tribune (a local paper) and I now occasionally write for the Northwest Indiana Times. Thank you again, loyal readers, for reading my useless opinions. At least I’m stimulating some peoples brains. Or rather, those that care to have their brains stimulated at all.

I know I promised not to bombard you with local news about my campaign, but we’re getting things started with our first fundraiser tonight and we’re going to stream live video to the internet. We solved a lot of the problems we had a few weeks ago by switching to a new streaming video service.

You can watch the fundraiser live from my campaign’s donation page.

https://secure.piryx.com/donate/IFP10jaM/support-kevin/virtual

If you please, and I hope you do, make a donation while you’re there. The primary is coming up quick on May 4th and we need all the help we can get from friends and family across the country in order to get our message out there. If you want to join us in person, we’re meeting at Gelsosomo’s in Chesterton, IN at 6:30 (Central). It’s just $15 a person, although you are certainly welcome to donate more, and you’re getting some of the best pizza in the region out of it.

I hope to see you there, but if not, feel free to watch us online.

By the way, today is my birthday and I’ve been endorsed by the Can-Do Conservatives. How great is that?

WATCH THE EVENT LIVE!

 

CPAC, for all of you out there that don’t know what it is, is the Conservative Political Action Conference, and is a conservative staple. This years list of speakers included Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, etc. etc. Over the years Republican candidates have used CPAC to gauge the audience response as to whether or not he/she would take a Presidential stab. The ”straw poll” is a poll that indicates each individuals popularity.   

Here are the numbers and large number of people that ran in this “straw poll”.

Haley Barbour: 1%

Mitch Daniels: 2%

Newt Gingrich: 4%

Mike Huckabee: 4%

Sarah Palin: 7%

Ron Paul: 31%

Tim Pawlenty: 6%

Mike Pence: 5%

Mitt Romney: 22%

Rick Santorum: 2%

John Thune: 2%

It is important to note that only 2,395 votes were cast while the estimates of how many people showed up was well over 10,000. Of course, I’m sure this won’t stop hard-core Paul followers from proclaiming this a victory for their man.

However, if less than a fourth of those that attended voted for this, what are the odds that this poll is accurate enough to make that judgement? Also, let’s do some math. The Ron Paul section has really only two guys on this list that are in that libertarian vein: Pence and Paul. Add those two numbers up, it’s only 36%, which would mean only 36% of conservatives are of the RLC type. That leaves 64%, which is split amongst all of the other candidates, and as we all know everyone has their “pet” politicians. I’m sure most of the other 64% would be more than willing to vote for a different person if the name came up on the ballet, but the odds are most of the conservatives that  are in that 64% would not vote for Paul. Why? Most conservatives at that rally were probably “neo-cons”: which would clash quite a bit with Paul’s isolationism (OH that dreaded word again! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…non-interventionism which would force us into isolationism. My bad.) Pence, I actually like quite a bit, however he isn’t nearly as extreme about certain things like Paul is, and most other thinking people of the remaining 64% would probably still cast a vote for him.

The point of this post? The straw man poll means nothing, thank God.