The Mourners' Bench

Imagine the looks I get, when I tell people I don’t have cable or satellite television. To put things in the terms of one of my favorite movies, I choose to be unplugged from the Matrix.

We have a television, and it does have an antenna, but I refuse to spend money on the garbage that is piped into people’s homes on Hollywood’s sewer line. When I am at home, I believe that there are more important things like the personal safety, and the financial security of my family that warrant my attention. I believe that Hollywood, profession sports, and the entertainment industries play an important role creating a diversion so that the American people aren’t paying attention to the actions of power hungry, greedy politicians. In exchange for the diversion, the government rewards sports teams by spending millions of taxpayer dollars building stadiums, coliseums, and arenas.

As a result, while people watching millionaires play children’s games; they themselves are being played by the politicians that are lifting their wallets. Compare how many people who can name the members of NFL teams, but can’t name their own representatives. Politicians are perfectly happy that people aren’t paying attention to them. To them the issues aren’t important, just show up on Election Day and copy the sample ballots. Meanwhile, these same voters are voting against school choice and prayer in schools, and for non-heterosexual marriage.

I choose to avoid being distracted and I make sure that my family and our values are represented in the voting booth. Therefore, it is a matter of my priorities. I choose to be more concerned about those who determine the direction of this country, and a lot less concerned about those who determine the direction of the football. Wake up American! It’s 4^th and long, do you know what you politicians are doing?

Take the quiz, you may learn a little about yourself. My results were not much of a surprise.

PoliticsMatch Your Political Philosophy The below is a way of thinking about your political philosophy by dividing your PoliticsMatch answers into "personal" and "economic" questions. It is only a theory - please take it with a grain of salt! Personal Questions: Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers. Economic Questions: Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers. Your Score You scored the following on the PoliticsMatch questions: Personal Score 0% Economic Score 89% Where You Fit In Where your Personal score meets your Economic score on the grid below is your political philosophy. Based on the above score, you are a Hard-Core Conservative . Personal Score This measures how much you believe government should intervene in people's personal lives. Personal issues include health, love, recreation, prayer and other activities that are not measured in dollars. A high score (above 60%) means you believe in tolerance for different people and lifestyles. A low score (below 40%) means you believe that your standards of morality & safety should be enforced by government. Economic Score This measures how much you believe government should intervene in people's economic lives. Economic issues include retirement funding, budget allocations, and taxes. A high score (above 60%) means you believe in personal responsibility for your financial matters, and that free-market competition is better for people than central planning by the government. A low score (below 40%) means you believe that a good society is best achieved by the government redistributing wealth. You believe that government's purpose is to decide which programs are good for society, and how much should be spent on each program. Examples The chart below indicates how four "hard-core" political philosophers would answer the questions. From this example, you can see how you fit in with each philosophy. Your answers are on the left. A "hard-core liberal" would answer personal questions to minimize government involvement, but would answer economic questions to include government intervention. A "hard-core libertarian" would answer both personal and economic questions to minimize government involvement. A "hard-core conservative" would answer personal questions to include government intervention, but would answer economic questions to minimize government involvement. A "hard-core populist" would answer both personal and economic questions with proposals that include government intervention.

My name is Eric, and I approve of this message.

Although imitation is the best form of flattery, Ms Estrich should have spent a little extra money for a photoshopped picture. On second thought, even if she put her face on Ann's body it still would't work for her. In my opinion, Ms. Estrich is a couple of 12 packs from holding a candle to Ann Coulter.

The 2006 election season has caused the creation of some very funny ads.

The Democrat Party in Maryland is again up to no good, but Micheal Steele is takin' out the trash. They wouldn’t support Kweisi Mfume’s run for the US Senate, and now they attack Micheal Steele with political trickery. In Democratic Party politics, Blacks are only good as voters, not as canidates. So, as they say in the WWF, MD Dems you need to "know your role, and shut your mouth" and vote for the one with the (D) next to his name.

Below is a letter form Lt. Gov. Micheal Steele to the Dem leadership concerning his unfair treatment and their "gutter" politics. See you at the polls.

October 4, 2006

Dear Congressman Cardin, Governor Dean, Chairman Lierman and Senator Schumer:

For several months, I have been trailed by Democrat operatives filming my public events. At these events – speeches, press conferences, county fairs and parades – my every word and move has been recorded.

I realize this has become a part of modern campaigning and I welcome the scrutiny. In fact, I always make a point to say a friendly hello to whomever the Democrat Party sends to follow me. However, recent actions have crossed the line from political activity to an invasion of privacy.

On the morning of September 30, I participated in a homecoming ceremony for the Army National Guard 243rd Engineers. The event – as fitting for the occasion – was non-political. Republicans and Democrats joined together to welcome home brave men and women returning from Iraq and I attended in my official capacity to spend time with the troops and their families.

While speaking with two mothers whose sons had died in Iraq, I noticed the ever present Democrat operative filming our conversation. A conversation with parents who have lost a loved one in combat is private in nature and has no place in partisan politics, and certainly not in the smear campaign you have waged against me even before I entered the race for United States Senate. The filming of this conversation demonstrates a callous disregard for families who have lost a loved one and is an indefensible invasion of privacy.

Unfortunately, I have come to expect such ugly, gutter politics from you. Congressman Cardin, while saying you have expressed outrage to “all concerned parties” for the racist comments on your senior staffer’s blog, you have yet to apologize to me. Chairman Dean, your personal pollster, Cornell Belcher, advocated racist attacks to “knock” me down and “discredit” me, and yet I have received no apology from you. And, Senator Schumer, your staffers pled guilty to a crime when they stole my credit report and violated my privacy and that of my family, but I have had no apology from you either.

I did not think until this past Saturday, however, that such ugliness would intrude upon the return of our troops from Iraq. As I told your colleague, Congressman Steny Hoyer, who attended the event, this action represents a new low in Maryland politics and has no place in this campaign.

My campaign is focused on having a conversation with the voters of our state about the issues affecting Maryland and I am committed to building bridges over that which divides us. But, ugly partisan political tricks only work to divide our communities and represent the very type of political behavior voters are sick of.

If your respective organizations are as concerned as I am about the use of such poor judgment by your staff(s), you would take immediate steps to hold all responsible parties accountable.

I eagerly await your prompt response.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL S. STEELE

http://www.steeleformaryland.com/SteeleLettertoCardinDeanSchumerLierman.htm