This piece was originally posted by my good friend Billy at the Charleston Tea Party webpage and at RedState.  It is re-posted here in full.

-Bruce (@GayPatriot)

*********

New US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) hits the nail squarely on the head in this piece for the Washington Post. The Republicans MUST become more effective at presenting the idea of the opportunities that conservatism provides. The GOP no longer needs to be known as the Grand Old Party, but the Great Opportunity Party. Our principles of limited government, personal responsibility, and a desire to make tomorrow better than today, are what make us uniquely qualified to address our nation’s challenges in the most productive manner. We MUST become salespeople of conservative ideals.

What is the opportunity that the GOP provides? We have a belief in the power of the individual to improve their own lot in life. We understand that it is hard work and a desire to learn that allows people to invest in their future. We KNOW that America and our founding principles are what continue to make America that “shining city on a hill” that John Winthrop spoke of as he reached the shores of this great land. I believe that we are at a time for choosing, and we must do as Reagan said, ““Four years ago we raised a banner of bold colors – no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an America that would be a ‘shining city on a hill’.” We’re talking about the same bold colors today – crafting a message of opportunity and then communicating that message eloquently, forcefully, and without apology.

We offer a spirit of entrepreneurship. This idea is not only confined to those that own their own business, it applies to everyone as they seek to do their job to the best of their ability. I remember a store manager early in my career said to me, “Billy, in order for us to be successful, we need to run it like we own it.” He meant to take pride in the job that I did, and if I took ownership of the job I was assigned, I would be rewarded. This lesson paid off, as a short period of time later I entered the management training program. I continued to carry that philosophy throughout my time in the grocery business, and continue it today as I have a small business of my own. Any person can be an “entrepreneur,” whether it is the men and women that keep the office clean, the folks that make the products we use everyday, or the people that take care of us when we go out to eat. Anyone that takes pride in their job, and seeks a way to improve, is an entrepreneur.

We offer a way to invest in their future. The ability of an individual to keep the fruits of their labor is essential to investment. When we speak of “investing,” we don’t mean merely putting money in a 401(k), we mean saving to buy a place that you can call home, to buy books for your children so they may learn, to afford a family vacation so that you can make memories that will last a lifetime. Investment can take on many of these forms, but it is about one fundamental idea, “I want to make tomorrow better than today.”

We know that personal responsibility is essential to success. When you play by the rules and work hard you CAN succeed, however a burdensome government can often make this more difficult. The wages that people earn should not be used to bail out irresponsible business owners and others that have made poor decisions. The ability to fail is essential to success, I have learned far more from my failures, than I learned from my successes. If that opportunity to fail was not there, I would never have learned those valuable lessons. When people make bad decisions in business, they need to be allowed to fail, so that we all may learn these lessons to ensure success in the future. It is much better to learn not to touch a hot stove by watching someone else burn themselves, than putting yourself through that pain.

We have many other reasons for why we truly are the “Great Opportunity Party,” and this is just a start. I challenge each of you to think of ways that opportunity can lead to success, and to become salespeople of these ideals. Change begins at home, and I hope many of you will join us in this fight. We must shout our message from the rooftops, and liberate everyone from the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” We can continue to ensure that America remains that “last best hope for mankind,” but it will take all of us working towards a common goal to get there.

I didn’t want the post below to be the lead item on what is a very historic day for my state.  So I want to add some brief personal thoughts about Tim Scott.

He is an awesome pick.  Unlike most of the politicans who embraced Tea Party, limited government principles AFTER the movement forced them to, Tim Scott already possessed those principles.  He is a smart, funny, engaging guy who has a way of making everyone around him feel included.

I daresay that he will rival some of the more notable Senators as one who will go into the history books based on his record and accomplishments.

I had the unfortunate pleasure to follow US Rep. Tim Scott at the October 18 Charleston Tea Party rally.  He had the crowd on its feet, singing and full of energy; he was a hard act to follow.

It is worth noting that Tim Scott is the only black Senator from the Confederate South since Reconstruction.  And the only black Senator from the South since the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed.  Only Illinois and Massachusetts have had African-American Senators in modern America.

Until today.

-Bruce (@GayPatriot)

Conservative pundits/politicians who claim to know what’s best for We, The People are no less heinous than the liberal ones.

You can surmise who I’m referring to. Hint: More than one person.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Good evening folks! Long time, no see (unless you follow me on Twitter!!!!)

I’m dashing off this quick post from the media room at Wofford College, site of the Republican Presidential Debate. They let me in! LOL. The debate airs live on the CBS television network at 8:00PM Eastern Time. I’ll be live-tweeting and blogging as long as the power on my iPad lasts.

Photos should follow later, too!

For UP TO THE MINUTE reports from the SC GOP Debate, please follow me on Twitter – @GayPatriot – (www.twitter.com/gaypatriot)

UPDATE!

Two early debate photos….

The mostly empty “spin room”…

The FOX News satellite truck outside the auditorum…

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

This complements Dan’s posting below quite nicely…. (via Neal Boortz on Twitter)

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

It’s always fascinating to see how liberals perceive conservatives.  They tend to define us not by our ideas or our most accomplished or eloquent leaders, but by the fringe extremists who cling onto our movement hoping to mean some meaning there.

Yesterday on his eponymous CNN show, Piers Morgan suggested that Tea Party folk harbor some pretty extreme views:

When you see tea party candidates and they are against evolution, climate change, and resolutely so, they think gay marriage is a sin and so on and so on . . . .

Huh? I thought they were primarily concerned about the size of government. If Tea Party critics paid more attention to this phenomenon as it is and not as they imagine it to be, they might realize how diverse are members of the dynamic grassroots movement.

One tea party favorite, U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), announced “this weekend that she opposes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the state“:

Ellmers said that while she opposes same-sex marriages, she believes the proposed amendment goes too far because it would also ban civil unions.

“Congresswoman Ellmers has always believed that marriage is a sacred institution and is defined as the union between one man and one woman,” Ellmers spokesman Tom Doheny wrote in an email to the Raleigh News & Observer. “That is why she has and will continue to protect and defend marriage at the federal level.

“When asked about civil unions, which are different than marriage, she said that she finds nothing wrong with people being granted them, but at the same time, it is currently a state issue and up to the voters to decide,” Doheny said. (more…)

In a piece on Roseanne Barr, Ed Morrissey explains:

Just remember that when conservatives organize into grassroots movements, it’s almost always about protecting their own property and individual liberty.  When leftists decide to start grassroots movements, like OccupyWallStreet or Barr’s example of leftist populism, it almost always involves seizure of property, threats of violence, and eventually re-education camps and the guillotine.

And yet it’s those conservatives protests which our friends in the mainstream media most often accuse of violence.

SOMEWHAT RELATED:  James Taranto observes:

No matter how these guys try to hype it, a left-wing political mob is a dog-bites-man story. For at least 40 years lefties have routinely mounted protests for fun and profit–rallying for a nuclear freeze, against various and sundry wars, against the World Trade Organization and other international financial agencies, against the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. On the right, by contrast, with the exception of the antiabortion movement, there is no permanent protest culture or infrastructure. That’s why the Tea Party was important and newsworthy.

Our readers have engaged in considerable speculation about the “important announcement” Bruce will be making tomorrow on this blog.  We settled on Thursday for this announcement as it is Rosh Hashanah and I will be in synagogue praying and unable to blog.

For the record, I have been privy for some time now to the content of this announcement, but have refused to even hint at what it might entail until such time as Bruce makes it official.  The only thing I will say, as per my communication with Bruce is that this is one of those few issues where he and I do not see eye to eye (hence the advantage of making it when I won’t have the opportunity to reply).

I expect to offer a rebuttal to Bruce’s argument in short order.  Let this occasion remind y’all that while Bruce, Eric, Nick and I all blog on the same site, we don’t always agree with one another.

I’ll be making an important announcement on Thursday here at GayPatriot. 

Let the speculation begin…..

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Wow.  This from Gallup today:

• 49% of Americans believe the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. In 2003, less than a third (30%) believed this.
• A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years.

Oh, there’s so much more…. read the whole thing.

Hey, someone should write more about this “Low Grade Civil War” thing!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I’m headed to Boston for work this morning, and good fortune has given me a few extra minutes before boarding my flight. So you lucky people get the benefit of my random post-Ames GOP nomination thoughts.

First, I’m not surprised that T-Paw dropped out. He was boring and completely boorish in his very personal attacks on Michele Bachmann during last week’s FOX News debate. Second, I am NOT a Bachmann supporter, but I’m pretty pissed off about how she is being treated by the press — liberal and conservative alike. Yes, Byron York — I’m lookin’ at you.

With regard to Bachmann, I see a major flame-out coming for her campaign. That’s all I’ll say about that…

I’m still a Herman Cain fan, I’ve given his campaign some of my hard-earned money, but I just don’t see him catching on as I hoped by now. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it on soon.

I’m told I should be flocking now behind Rick Perry. Sorry, I don’t see “it” yet. Someone please educate me.

In a week from today, I’ll be a South Carolina voter. So hopefully I’ll get a firsthand chance to meet my potential future President. I’m still holding out hope that Marco Rubio & Paul Ryan hear the desperate call of their fellow Americans to defeat Barack Milhous Obama.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

If the Politico labels Tea Party activits as “terrorists” for opposing the debt ceiling increase, does that make Barack Obama a terrorist for articulating the exact same stance in 2006?

US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): “The fact that we’re here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means ‘The buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.”

Consistency in news reporting and analysis?  Naaaahhhhh.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Seems that way. (h/t - Instapundit)

John Williams, over at Shadow Stats, compiles economic data for inflation and unemployment the way it used to be calculated pre-1990. Based on that data, the CPI inflation rate is over 10%, and the unemployment rate is over 15% (see charts). The Misery Index is the sum of the current inflation rate and the unemployment rate. If it were to be calculated using the older methods, the Index would now be over 25, a record high. It surpasses the old index high of 21.98, which occurred in June 1980, when Jimmy Carter was president. Most believe the height of the Index along with the Iranian hostage crisis is what caused Carter to lose his re-election bid.

Verrrry interesting. But I still stick to my steak dinner bet with Little Miss Atilla that come Jan 20, 2013 it will be Barack Obama taking the Oath again.

P.S. – Employment rates among African Americans is the worst ever.  They told me if I voted for McCain that there’d be discrimination against minorities from The White House — they were right!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

If you watch nothing else on the Interwebs today, make it THIS!

Great work from Caleb Howe and Benjamin Howe!!!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Via National Review Online:

As Gov. Scott Walker (R., Wis.) battles the public-sector unions, Cain says Madison has become “ground zero for the rest of the nation.”

“For the last couple of days, America has heard from ten percent of the workforce. It’s now time for them to hear from the [other] 90 percent of the workforce,” Cain told the crowd. “Maybe the ten percent has forgotten that we pay the bills.”

The more I hear of Herman Cain, the more I like his prospects in the 2012 GOP Presidential race.

UPDATE:  Here is a photo of the Tea Party rally crowd today in Madison, WI (h/t – The Other McCain)

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

UPDATE:  Here’s the podcast!

Tonight on the Gay Patriot’s America BlogTalkRadio show, I’ll be joined by conservative news guru AndrewBreitbart.

The show will air live tonight at 9PM Eastern Time.

Join the show online at this link —>
GayPatriot’s America

I’m looking forward to the show!

I’ve been very disappointed by the apperance of a growing “boycott” against the CPAC 2011 conference by hard core social conservatives.  When the World News Daily and Family Research C0uncil skipped out, my reaction was one of “Meh.”  But what really hit me hard was the decision by The Heritage Foundation to also skip CPAC this year.  There are many reasons why these different groups are choosing not to attend; some are related to GOProud; some are related to fundraising schemes; some are related to dissension with CPAC Board leadership.  But the MSM wants the ENTIRE CPAC walkout to relate back to their meme:  “Conservatives Hate Gays And Are Punishing CPAC For It.”

Bullshit. (Via Muth’s Truths)

On Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint announced that he was joining a boycott of the oldest, largest, most successful annual conservative conference in the universe next month: CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference).

Why? Because out of a hundred or so sponsors and vendors covering an exhibit hall the size of a football field or two…one of them is a conservative organization he and a few others believe to be a menace to the conservative movement.

“With leading conservative organizations not participating this year,” DeMint’s spokesman told Politico, “Senator DeMint will not be attending.”

Leading conservative organizations aren’t participating this year? Really?

Well, I just checked and here’s a partial list of leading conservative organizations which ARE listed as participating in CPAC this year as sponsors, co-sponsors and vendors:

Human Events, Leadership Institute, National Rifle Association, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Townhall/HotAir.com, Young America’s Foundation, Citizens United and FreedomWorks.

There will also be: 60 Plus Association, Accuracy in Media, The American Civil Rights Union, American Council for Immigration Reform, The American Spectator Foundation, Americans for Fair Taxation, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Campaign for Liberty, Capital Research Center, Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Oh, and the Congress of Racial Equality, Conservative Party USA and the Eagle Forum. Freedom Alliance, The Future of Freedom Foundation, Heartland Institute, The Independent Institute, Institute for Policy Innovation, John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs, Judicial Watch, Manhattan Institute, National Taxpayers Union, ProEnglish, SecureAmericaNow.org and Young Americans for Freedom.

So what is Sen. DeMint talking about? These are among the most prominent, leading conservative organizations in the country today.

However, one conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, is, in fact, boycotting CPAC this year. “As more fringe organizations rise in prominence (at CPAC) then you start wondering if this is what we want to be associated with as strongly we have,” said Heritage spokesman Jim Weidman.

I think Heritage will realize they made a mistake when they see the excitement and unity that will be displayed at CPAC in 17 days.

Chuck closes his piece with this brilliant summary: (more…)

A good reminder of the significance of this date…. from the Heritage Foundation.

On this day in 1773, a group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded British merchant ships and dumped into the Boston Harbor an estimated £10,000 worth of tea as a protest against British colonial policies.. John Adams declared this event, that we celebrate today as the Boston Tea Party, to be the “grandest event which has ever yet happened since the controversy with Britain opened.” What led once loyal colonists to protest the World’s leading power?  How should we think about the Tea Party two hundred thirty-seven years later?

The American Revolution began as a tax revolt. After defeating France in the Seven Years’ War (which began in North America as the French and Indian War), Great Britain gained control over vast areas of land in the Americas, but also incurred massive debts. For the first time, Parliament looked to the American colonies as a source of revenue, and so began the long train of abuses against the American colonies. The American Revenue Act (sometimes called the Sugar Act) expanded import and export duties and created new government mechanisms to enforce trade laws. The Stamp Act was the first direct tax levied on America, requiring all newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, and official documents—even decks of playing cards!—to have stamps as proof of payment of taxes.

These new policies outraged the colonists. The problem with the policies was not the amount of taxation—the taxes were actually quite low—but the process by which the British government imposed and enforced these taxes. As loyal colonists, the Americans recognized Parliament’s authority to legislate for the empire generally. But, the power to tax was a legislative power reserved to the colonists’ own assemblies rather than a distant legislature in London. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 had forbidden the imposition of taxes without legislative consent, and since the colonists had no representation in parliament they complained that the taxes violated their traditional rights. Thus the American’s rallying cry became: “No taxation without representation!”

The British rejected the Americans’ argument for self-government. The Declaratory Act of 1766, asserted Parliament’s absolute sovereignty over the Americans, including the power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” “No taxation without representation” meant no taxation without the approval of the British Parliament. It never literally meant—not for the Americans or even for the overwhelming majority of British citizens—representation in that body. The colonists, like all British subjects, enjoyed “virtual representation” of their interests by the aristocrats that controlled Parliament.

After repealing the earlier taxes, the British government passed a new series of revenue measures (called the Townshend Acts) in 1767, which taxed goods such as paper, glass, lead, and tea—and once again affirmed the power of British courts to issue undefined and open-ended search warrants (called “writs of assistance”) to enforce the law. Asserting that the sole right of taxation was with the colonial legislature, Virginia proposed a formal agreement among the colonies banning the importation of British goods—a practice that quickly spread to the other local legislatures and cut the colonial import of British goods in half. So Parliament eventually repealed those duties, too, except for the tax on tea.

Our forefathers did not destroy the tea cargo because of a simple tax dispute. At issue were the principles of self-government, consent, and natural rights. These principles are enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and continue to define us as a nation and inspire us as a people.

In 2010, we have our own intolerable act—Obamacare, a massive bureaucratic expansion of government over one-sixth of the American economy and many aspects of our lives and medical decisions. But there is a key difference between the situation now and that of 1773. Those early patriots had to establish their independence and to start anew. But, our task is different. “It is not about fixed bayonets but fixed principles; not about bullets but ballots. Our task is not to overthrow; it is not revolution; it is renewal and restoration of those self-evident truths of constitutional government at the heart of America.”

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Heh, heh.. I love it.

Ilario Pantano is a combat veteran of two wars, a small business owner, an author and a constitional conservative. He is running for Congress to retire an entrenched politician who votes with Nancy Pelosi over 90% of the time in a district that has not elected a Republican since the 1800s. This race was recently upgraded from “Safely Democrat” to “Toss Up” because polls show that Ilario can win, and momentum is building on his side.

Pantano has another distinction in this race.  He was viciously attacked by the anti-war, anti-American Left as the result of his service to our nation in Iraq.

Ilario Pantano is a respected combat veteran, and bestselling author who has worked in both global markets and small business. The “born again Southerner” is a 38 year-old conservative committed to promoting job creation and revitalizing the economy, protecting the homeland and preserving our conservative values.

On his way to a meeting in Manhattan, he witnessed the Twin Towers burning in the attacks of September 11, 2001.   Friends and colleagues were killed in the attacks.

Pantano rushed to a recruiter’s office and began the lengthy process of returning to service in the Marines, this time as an officer.  

Pantano graduated Marine officer training in the top 2 percentile and was selected by his peers to lead their Infantry Officer Class. Upon graduation, 2^nd Lt Pantano and his family were assigned to Camp Lejeune North Carolina, where he took command of an Infantry Platoon with the 2^nd Battalion of the 2^nd Marine Regiment, the WARLORDS.  The WARLORDS deployed to the “Triangle of Death” Region in Iraq where they conducted combat operations in Latafiyah, Yusufiyah and Falluja.

After months of insurgent violence triggered by the infamous ambush and grisly hanging of Americans in Fallujah (2004), Pantano was investigated for actions in killing two terrorists after a disgruntled Marine that Pantano had publicly demoted filed a complaint. The case took on national attention. Media outlets from dozens of national networks and newspapers overflowed the courtroom.  After a lengthy and very public hearing of the facts, Pantano was cleared of all charges and given a new command, but death threats from jihadists and fear for his family ultimately led Pantano to resign his commission. 

Pantano was the subject of faux outrage from the MoveOn.org wing of the Democrat Party (the only wing at this point).  He was falsely accused of murder and the anti-war loons went all Jack Murtha on him.  LINK: http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=760785&page=1

Now, it is true that Pantano doesn’t think “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” should be repealed at this time.  Having never served in the military, I have to completely respect his perspective.  However, I also believe that someone like Pantano (a Gen-X’er who grew up under Reagan and responded to his nation’s call after 9/11/01) will have a completely different perspective on gay issues than many who currently sit in Congress (GOP & Dem alike).  What is that perspective?  An open mind. 

Pantano is a true American hero.  He’s a hard-working, hard-charging candidate and I believe he will be the new Congressman from NC-07.  If Pantano wins this seat, Nancy Pelosi has a very hard path to retaining her Speaker’s gavel. Please join me in supporting the candidacy of Ilario Pantano.  DONATE NOW!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)