Just wanted to post some notes to get everyone caught up with what is going on with IMPACT and Serious Civics.  The show is going gang busters with the quality hopefully improving every day.  We will be having a lot of guests on during the next several weeks as we have several primaries on the republican side in the local area.  In the spirit of letting the people decide, we will be giving everyone access to the program to get their thoughts and ideas out there.  I am excited about this process as it really does get the best candidates into the general election.

In Iowa this weekend, the GOP will be holding its district conventions.  From these conventions, the various GOPers will be building a state platform, electing committee members and most importantly starting the process to select national delegates to the convention.  Also, there will be several people wanting to be on the state central committee.  Bubbling under the surface, however, is the persistent rumor that certain elements in the party will be agitating and even disrupting proceedings.  I am hoping this will be a tempest in a teapot, but if representatives of certain campaigns want to make things tough for everyone, then I suppose they can.  I am holding out that they will be respectful and will follow procedures.  If it goes south, however, we can make sure things get put on hold until such time as eveyone realizes that we are after the same goal, and that is making Barack Obama a one term president.

Senator Rick Santorum suspended his campaign with grace, humility and character.  Of course, that is the guy I know and admire.  His speech may have been one of his best ever.  I am hoping he will have a strong role in the campaign and a strong position in the administration of the next president.  He has done so much for the party by sticking to the conservative principles he so heartily embraces.

Our Serious Civics programs are going great.  We seem to get more people involved all the time, which is just fabulous.  I have a great group of friends who are supporting everything I want to do.  One cannot do this alone.

Many more announcements about some exciting opportunities are coming up this summer and this fall.  Keep watching this website for notifications.  One final note--we are approaching 5,000 downloads from the podcasts.  This is pretty remarkable for a small station, a one hour program and a year's worth of postings.  Thanks to all of you, we are flourishing.

When I first saw Rick Santorum give a speech in person, I thought that he was testing the waters for a run at the presidency.  His pitch was not that great, but a year later, he took the stage at Emma's Event Center in Sioux City and showed a passion that I found particularly appealing.  I told him that night that if he needed any help with his campaign, I would be glad to do what I could.  Over the next several months, he became a better candidate and I got to be a bigger supporter.  Finally, in December of last year, right before the caucuses, I endorsed him on my radio program.  I was proud to do it.

I had the chance to campaign with Senator Santorum and found that what he delivered on the stage was the same guy off stage.  He is a good father and husband.  He is, above all else, a courageous, committed and tenacious conservative.  He has grit, as they say, and I am proud to be a supporter.

Rick gave some of the most moving speeches I have ever heard.  The reason these speeches were so powerful is because they came from the heart.  He knows his stuff and he believes in what he is doing.  Right now, he is doing what is best for his family, but I can assure you, he will be out on the campaign trail very soon helping get conservatives elected across the country.  He will be a hot ticket for the rest of the campaign season--and rightfully so.

I hope I get the chance to work with him again.  He has so much to offer the country.  He has a vision of where we ought to be going and he uses the Constitution as the very roadmap to how we get there.  To him and his family, I wish the very best.  God Bless.

Unprecedented.  That is how one must characterize the comments made by the president about the Supreme Court in the last couple of days.  Outside of his role model, FDR, this president is the only one I can recall that has threatened the court and the judiciary.  If one recalls history, FDR threatened to have the democrat congress expand the court until such time as the president could get a majority vote on his legislative agenda.  In remarkable shows of courage, the Supreme Court of the 1930s overturned law after law in the administration's quest for absolute control of every aspect of life in America.  Only after Justice Owen Roberts flipped sides did the court lose its way and start its 70 year wandering through judicial deserts where original intent was not the focus of the majority. 

Since Justice Thomas joined the court some 20 years ago, however, the court has been moving inexorably back to a more balanced approach to juris prudence.  Though original intent is not always part of the opinions, it has become more of an influence than in the previous seven decades.  What one hopes is that these justices can find the courage to do what is right as opposed to doing what is politically expedient (and short sighted).

The president trying to bully the court, particularly in this era of instantaneous communications, is unwise and unseemly.  Again, Barack Obama has shown his contempt for the separation of powers and the institutions of our government.  Further, he diminishes the presidency with each tactless, thoughtless and tasteless assault on those who might disagree with him.  He unleashes his Alinsky attack dogs then follows up to make sure that those under assault know it is coming from him.

The worst of all of this is that he has demonstrated beyond question that he has no regard for the American people.  His arrogance and pathological narcissism do not allow him the ability to connect with everyday people.  Of course, he thinks he is better than everyone else, so he sees no point in having empathy.

This president is a dangerous person.  He is dangerous in that he does not have the interests of the nation in mind and is more than willing to do anything to advance an ideology that is absolutely opposed to American exceptionalism.  Four more years of this man as president could very well mean the total deconstruction of our Constitutional republic.  He wants to be a dictator and he wants to enslave all who are not part of his regime.  As Althusius advised in the 17th Century, we have a right to throw off imprudent magistrates.  The current president certainly qualifies.  Vote in November.

Today, arguments started in the Supreme Court concerning the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act of 2010.  The fact that this law has made it to the SCOTUS in a little over two years is just remarkable.  I predict a 5-4 or 6-3 decision that will overturn most, if not all, of the bill.  The individual mandate, if allowed to stand, will be a complete cave to totalitarian government.  Yes, I said totalitarian government.

If the mandate is allowed to stand, the Congress of the United States will have the last fetters removed and thus will be able to tell you and me exactly what we can buy, what we can eat, etc.  There will be no limit to the powers of the Congress--exactly opposite of what the Constitution was intended to do.  Limiting government, particularly the Congress, to its enumerated powers seem a worthy goal for the people.  I am hoping the SCOTUS sees it the same way.

Those who believe in big government typically believe in collective thinking and action.  They do not believe in individual liberty or voluntary association.  They believe that the government can dictate our lives, mostly because these progressives think that an elite few are better equipped to make decisions for us.  What the ultimate goal of progressives is the enslavement of the people and dictatorial power so as to pursue the perfection of man--an impossible ideal that is contraposed to individual liberty and self-determination.

My hope is that we will learn a great deal from this experience in that we will start the process of taking back our country and Constitution from the deathgrip the progressives have placed around our necks.  We cannot let them prevail, nor can we count on the courts to do our biding.  Our elected officials should be working to repeal the Affordable Care Act in totality, so that we can seek health care reform that includes tort reform and true interstate commerce.  What a concept.

After my experience during the last couple of weeks with grass-roots party activities, ended up writing my Voice from the Plains newsletter about what happened and what I learned along the way.  Suffice it to say that I am bouyed by the experience, and I think we can all learn from examining what really happens when a party is trying to build its platform.

We had some really intense negotiations during our platform discussions both at the county and at the district level.  What struck me most was that I kept coming back to the Constitution for guidance on what ought to be in the best interest of the country.  Constitutional arguments are so compelling, so powerful, that it becomes hard refute anything that is not based in the language and intent of the Constitution.  Unfortunately, unless someone reads the Federalist Papers, one will miss the profound wisdom and vision of the Founders.  Thus, to write my newsletter, I went back to the Federalist Papers and reread several to make sure I had it right.

If you don't read any other entries, read Federalist 10 and Federalist 51.  Those two build the strongest arguments for understanding our the how and why of our federal system.  Federalist 10 is about factions and why we need a system of checks and balances to not only temper the heat of passion, we must also have the federal system to curtail tyranny and despotism.  The Founders thought that without this system, men would fall into the human trap of gathering power for personal gain.  Think about the wisdom of that thinking.  Even with the out of control executive branch we have right now, our system has worked--and worked well.

Federalist 51 goes on to discuss the checks and balances of our federal system.  The power of the government is not in one institution or another but really resides in the people.  The fact that the Constitution provides these checks and balances is so important in assuring the citizens of the nation that are the true source of popular sovereignty. 

Over the next several months, we will revisit the Federalist Papers from time to time.  I would commend to all of you to find a copy you can read, and reread, to remind youselves of just how great this nation is, and will be again.