A Sad Day in America

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I find great sadness that I had to discover there are many people who call themselves conservatives who don’t believe in political free speech. Many of us true conservatives realize the GOP has been hijacked by neocons and moderates, but I learned the hard way as I heard many justify efforts to silence a blogger claiming that bloggers aren’t journalists and shouldn’t be asking politicians questions under the guise of journalism. In fact, if many of these pseudo conservatives had their way, they would prevent people like me from showing up at public appearances of politicians.

Fortunately, I received overwhelming support across the country as many true conservatives wrote letters of support. I even had one older couple share with me a political cartoon inspired by story. I appreciate all these freedom-loving Americans. My hardly used Facebook account became the hub that delivered the well wishes and support.

That’s what I did. I went to public appearances prepared with research, something I didn’t see the local media do. For that, I was a threat. It wasn’t hard research—Google. It was more than the local media was doing. They took candidate Billy Long for his word, and so much evidence was found simply by doing a simple Google search that showed what candidate Long said and what candidate Long did was two different things.

In August, he beat the true conservative candidates by saying two words “fed up” and lying about state Senator Jack Goodman’s pro-life record. Long embraced the Missouri Right to Life, a pro-life organization that embraces Democrats with poor pro- life records while scoring politicians like Goodman with low scores despite having an outstanding pro-family, pro-life record. Nobody challenged Long except me when he claimed he was the only true pro-life candidate. No one called Long out for this attack either, even after a promise he made to Dr. Scott Magill the Missouri Republican Assembly that he would not go negative against fellow Republicans. Everyone was giving Billy Long a free pass, refusing to compare his words to his actions, as it was apparent Long was a walking contradiction.

So it makes me sad that I didn’t do enough research before the primary. Of course, during the primary, I had too many people holding my hand and throwing information my way. Had I stood on my own two feet it may have occurred to me to look at Billy Long’s own personal campaign donations to see if they match his anti-career politician, anti-earmark rhetoric. Of course, I was quite busy too.

I mean, although it has never been confirmed to me, I did the research that found that Long sought earmarks to build a bus terminal to nowhere while serving on the Springfield Branson Airport. I was contacted by an anonymous source to drop off my research and supporting documents and within a few days, the Billy Long “Bus Terminal to Nowhere” advertisement was released by an organization I had never heard of. While serving on the airport board, Long accepted $3 million from federal tax payers for a bus terminal for an airport terminal that was in its final days.

Voters didn’t care Long was a walking contradiction. They heard Billy Long is “fed up” and in August, less than four out of every ten voters cast a vote for “fed up.” I thought my days as the anti-Billy blogger was over, but I received multiple e-mails from both republicans and democrats who knew Billy Long was bad for Southwest Missouri and hoped I would continue. So I did.

Scott Eckersley won the Democrat nomination. He spent his time in government as a whistleblower trying to clean up corruption as an attorney to the Governor. Had he ran as a Republican or independent, he may have had a chance. He ran as a Democrat in a region that is considered safe for Republican. He had an aggressive plan—expose Billy Long as a political know-nothing by challenging him to a series of ten debates.

Long quickly accepted the debate challenge and then soon claimed he never accepted the challenge. For me, I now had a purpose. For the benefit of Southwest Missouri, I could influence this debate story that quickly heated up political discussions, which were all but dead at this point.

I quickly learned from my Republican insider friends that were concerned about  candidate Long that it was Long’s strategy to appear like he was willing to debate and then drag out a debate about the debate to avoid debates. Thanks to Long is Wrong and a number of blogs and conservative radio personality Nick Reed on KSGF, Billy Long was forced to debate.

In the mean time, I worked to diffuse Long’s entire campaign theme, “fed up,” which the Libertarian Party had been using for a number of years prior. I decided the best way to battle the “I’m fed up with career politicians and wasteful government spending” message was to simply look at Federal Election Commission records to see who Long donated to.

It only took a few minutes of searching the FEC Web site to discover that just a few months before Long stated he was “fed up” with career politicians and earmarks, Long made a $1,000 donation to Roy Blunt, a career politician with a history or bringing pet projects funded by earmarks back home to Southwest Missouri. I shared this information with my partner in crime, Jim Lee, who runs the Busplunge blog.

Lee and I decided the best way to expose this was to attend public events and ask the simple question. How can you be fed up and donate to the same people you are fed up with? Lee went to one of the first stops of Billy Long’s business tour. For a series of controlled events that kept Billy Long’s mouth closed as he listened to business leaders, Lee got amazing access to Long. Of course, Long didn’t expect anyone to actually show up, and claimed the Springfield News-Leader had wrongly printed the business tour was open to the public.

Lee got it on tape. Billy Long saying he wasn’t afraid of anyone, anywhere, any time. Within the week, when I tried asking similar questions, Long ran from me, as well as other voters who were also on the campaign trail at Lee’s knowledge all to test Long’s statement. These were the last times I engaged Billy Long on the campaign trail, fortunately, I had videos for I didn’t know what would soon come my way. Long, who claimed he wasn’t scared of anyone, would attack the First Amendment in ways I hoped I would never see from a politician that calls themselves a conservative Republican.

Long eventually agreed to a series of three debates with Eckersley and the Libertarian Kevin Craig. For all practical purposes, there was nothing more I could do with Long is Wrong.  I along with other bloggers and KSGF radio host Nick Reed, pushed Long into a corner and made it an issue that people were talking about. Long is Wrong was going to end on a high note as Southwest Missouri voters would be able to see the candidates discuss the issues. It was a win, and I soon began to phase the site out, that is until another controversy surrounding Long surfaced.

I had heard the rumors since March. Many people hoped that I would be a tool that exposed the rumors, but the truth is I didn’t even go looking for evidence. I had heard about the private parties with strippers and illegal gambling, but these are things I wanted nothing to do with. In fact, I woke up on a Monday stunned as the local blogs were discussing Jennifer Case, a local waitress who claims she served Mr. Long on a number of occasions at these private parties and described him as racist. The Fuse Joplin was the first to release the Case letter with accusations against Long.

Deep down inside, I knew the fingers were going to be pointed at me, and I struggled to determine would I appear more guilty if I ignored the story and not brought it to the attention of my readers, or would printing it make me the target for more FEC investigations once Long received his new federal powers. I felt like I was going to lose no matter what I did in the matter, even though I had known about these parties within weeks of the blog going live. I went with it knowing it was a no-win scenario for me.

A Sad Day in America will conclude tomorrow with the final installment.

 

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…On the Campaign Trail

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It was awkward, uncomfortable. Those big beady eyes met mine for the first time after going live with Long is Wrong at the Newton County Lincoln Day event in Joplin—the real kick off of the campaign season—a who’s who of political donors and fake political affection by local and federal politicians. I was talking to Susan Redden with the Joplin Globe, and she was giving me insight about the event when he walked in. He appeared to know who I was with a look of disapproval.

It was just an uncomfortable look—nothing more. I went on with my business introducing myself to the other GOP Congressional candidates, while a number of political insiders sought me out. Many were already familiar with my work despite Long is Wrong being up a short time. I soon learned I would be their tool for their dirty work. Our goals were the same though—keep Billy Long’s political career limited to a failed primary run.

I began attending party functions and campaign events at a regular interval, often giving up date night for a night to engage in political discussions with the eight Republicans who wanted to replace Roy Blunt as the next Congressman in Missouri 7. They offered me, just a mediocre blogger with good traffic, interviews, insider information, and most importantly material. It would be the personal actions of Billy Long himself that would create the controversy that would drive the site.

There is this truth in life. Ignore it and it will go away. Feed it energy, and it will grow into something that could haunt you. Billy Long, with all his barn-yard wisdom used to produce clever sound bites that never say much but sound good. I never subscribed to this truth. Those beady eyes soon became an invitation to coffee just a month later when we both returned to Joplin.

The Federated Republican Women of Joplin held their month meeting at Pizza by Stout. I made arrangements with Bob Schanz, a Republican who surprisingly entered the race on the first day candidate registration in Jefferson City. I called up Schanz the night he registered, even before even the media did to discover who this mystery candidate was.  In his seventies, Schanz needed help to get to campaign events and asked me to come along with him to the meeting.

Schanz decided he would drive. He had a comfortable Lincoln Town Car that would serve us better than my small convertible. His age met his driving skills and we showed up late to the meeting. As we walked in the room, I felt the uncomfortable beady eyes stare me down and follow me across the room as one of the other candidates spoke. What was it about my criticism that had Billy Long so concerned?

Schanz introduced himself to the organizers, and they gave him a chance to speak even though he had not been invited. When he completed his tough on crime stance, the meeting was adjourned. I didn’t notice any appreciation for his guests, rather Mr. Long in his cowboy boot stroll quickly rushed to the back of the room and asked me for coffee. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, and I was wondering if you would like to do coffee.”

In some ways I was honored. I had gotten the attention of the money leader in the Southwest Missouri Congressional race. In some ways I was a little nervous. Other than observing his pandering at the Claire McCaskill Obamacare town hall meeting, I had not engaged in much of a conversation.

We were seated at a booth near the front of the restaurant. Curtis Trent his loyal aid and campaign manager accompanied us. Trent was an innocent kid, still pure and unstained from the reality of politics. He was small town and a recent law school graduate, but he had a purpose to Long.

Long began talking. As he talked he exposed himself as an insecure man unsure why anyone wouldn’t like him. I told me he never met a man who didn’t like him, and just couldn’t believe that someone would take the time to question his candidacy.

I explained to Long this wasn’t personal. I just didn’t believe he was qualified at this time in our Republic’s history to tackle the major problems our country faces. He didn’t want to address that. He just kept telling me how people have always liked him.

His rant soon covered a number of issues from being liked, to him and his wife living a boring life, never partying and in bed long before 10:00 PM. It was odd to say the least. He couldn’t grasp that I didn’t have faith in his knowledge of the Constitution, which he responded to me, “that’s why I pay Curtis $2,000 a month for. “ Trent was Long’s hope that people would see him as a Constitutional Tea Party candidate—keep him in line with what the Tea Parties wanted to hear. It’s funny now when I hear Long running to the mainstream media claiming to be “Tea Party before Tea Party was cool.” At Pizza by Stout, Long admitted he knew little about the Constitution.

There were times when I thought Mr. Long was going to come across the table and strangle me when I explained to him I didn’t think he could change my mind. Watching him in action confirmed what I suspected. He was a fraud—a man who has been told he was great his entire life and couldn’t deal with criticism. I wondered that night if Mr. Long couldn’t deal with me, how will he react when the liberal media turns on him.

“You are a smart guy,” Mr. Long softly exclaimed at the table. “I could use a guy like you in my campaign. There could be a job in this if you were to take down the site.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This candidate was so nervous about my little site that he actually attempted to bribe me with a campaign job to remove it.

Forty-five minutes later, it was obvious to Mr. Long that we probably weren’t going to come to an agreement.  We both got up from the table, and Mr. Long tried one more time. “It’s never too late to join the dark side.” Little did I know, dark side tactics were coming my way to silence me.

I drove home with a heavy heart disappointed knowing Republicans play a dirty game just like the Democrats that I have long detested. We are supposed to be the good guys. We are the GOP, and yet here is the GOP money leader believing he could buy my silence. I went home and prayed.

The next day, after seeking spiritual guidance, I shared with the world what happened in the restaurant booth. It soon became the conversation in political circles. I was even asked to give a radio interview of the encounter. This was growing much bigger than I ever expected at a much faster pace. I knew from then on the nice approach was spent and it might get ugly, but still I didn’t understand what Mr. Long was hiding that worried him so much about my little site. After all, the site would not have gained much attention has Billy Long simply ignored it.

Next – Part 3

© Clay Bowler – Bungalow Bill’s Conservative Wisdom

 

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Currently in the United States, there are too many politicians in Washington, DC, pretending to be representatives who believe the General Welfare clause gives them power to do nearly anything. They have molested the General Welfare clause and made it something that it’s not. The General Welfare clause is part of the founding fathers’ mission statement. It is not nor has it ever been a power of the Congress. That’s why it appears where it does in the Constitution—the preamble (no, it’s not in the Declaration of Independence Rachel Maddow).

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It’s amazes me so many politicians go to Washington and abuse these two words—general welfare. The thing is, they don’t even have to do much research into what the purpose of these words are. Senator Claire McCaskill, who continues to use the general welfare clause to justify her votes to expand federal babysitting programs like welfare and national healthcare only has to go to Wikipedia. In less time than it takes McCaskill to tweet her nonsense, she could have the preamble explained to her in the Internet’s cheesiest resource tool, Wikipedia.

Here’s what Wikipedia says:

The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the fundamental purposes and guiding principles that the Constitution is meant to serve. In general terms it states, and courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of, the Founding Fathers’ intentions regarding the Constitution’s meaning and what they hoped it would achieve.

That’s it. It describes the role of the Constitution—not the role of Congress. That’s found in Article I of the Constitution. In Article One, there are 18 enumerated powers handed to Congress. Guess what? Providing general welfare is not in there. Deep down inside you know the members of Congress know this, but they think we are stupid and can’t possibly know what that great document known as the Constitution contains. No one reads anymore, or so they think.

When you look at the preamble, there are functions that are provided to the branches of government. One of the powers of Congress is to declare war; therefore, they were given part of the responsibility to provide defense to the states. If the founding fathers wanted a welfare system, don’t you think they would have given Congress those rights in the 18 enumerated powers and turned them into the 19 enumerated powers? Of course they would.

Look at Article II of the Constitution, there is defense listed once again. The President serves as the commander and chief of the armed services. He however wasn’t given the power to serve as the commander and chief of national babysitting services for the states. There is no power granted to the President to promote general welfare.

Too many of these same politicians think the word promote means provide. They are two different words with two different meanings. Our federal government—all three branches are guilty of molesting the Constitution with the general welfare clause.

The Constitution is the only mechanism in government that promotes the general welfare of the people. It does this by limiting the powers of the federal government so states can be sovereign countries brought together as United States with the agreement the federal government provides defense and rules in interstate commerce disputes. It’s really that simple. Unfortunately politicians like Claire McCaskill are power hungry and greedy, and they trample the Constitution every day with their adulterous beliefs towards the Constitution and their lack of knowledge concerning its origins.

Originally posted at Bungalow Bill’s Conservative Wisdom © Clay Bowler

 

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