Ground rules and truisms

Hi
In my last blog I said I would lay out what I feel should be a good agenda for the conservative movement in the United States. My first thought is that we should get some things straightened out so we are all on the same page. Listed below are what I call truisms. These should be kept in mind because they apply to all life situations.

1. Conservatives are not by nature mean spirited evil people, we are the same as everybody else, we laugh, cry and mourn just as well as liberals.

2. Liberals are not smarter than conservatives. Just because some one has some letters after their name does not qualify them to feel superior in intelligence, this may be hard for some to grasp but it is true. I use the example of an incident that happened while I was taking Army basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. One of the other recruits in my basic training class was a Harvard graduate. This guy was the most inept screwed up person I met. At one point the sergeant told him that he was so bad marching that when the sergeant gave the order to " Forward march ", this guy was already out of step. But the incident that really stands out in my mind took place when we were marching to a rifle range. We had to carry silhouette targets with us and he was assigned to carry one. For those of you who are not familiar with this type of target it is a life sized cutout of a person with the lower body missing but mounted on a length of wood to give it a full figure look. Many of you have seen them in movies and on TV. It had snowed the day before and the snow melted, turned to water and then iced up. Walking on the ground was like walking on an ice skating rink. To compound the situation the day was windy. My "friend" carried the target by the board with the outline in the air. Needless to say he blew all over the place until he was told to lower the target and hold it length wise so it didn't act like a sail. I hope this isn't what Harvard teaches but it does give an example of the so called mental elite. Just remind your liberal friends when they try to intimidate you by acting as if they are the smartest person around. No one philosophy has a monopoly on brains.

3. When the discussion turns to a thorny point and your adversary tries to shift the talk and make some one out as the villain just keep the conversation on point. The old adage applies, "Don't kill the messenger if you don't like the message."

4. Never use the excuse that one can d o bad things and should not be blamed because some one else has done worse. This is a very poor position to take and not only shouldn't you accept this argument but you should not use it either. Two bad acts do not make a right one nor do they justify a bad act.

5. Always try to stay civil, maintain your composure and give logical reasons for your position. It is easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar. ( I know, who wants to catch flies, but I have an answer for that - if you play left field for the Red Sox you do want to catch flies Ha Ha, just a little humor. ) Stay friends with your opponent, in the long run it will help your cause. That is the goal.

6. Some people throw number, facts and figures out with reckless abandon. Don't do this, always back up your statement with sources and references. Several years ago I was watching a TV program on the Catholic Network. The topic was world over population and the guest speaker was debunking this argument. She stated that the entire world population could fit into a space with the area of the State of Texas, and the population density would be equal to the density of Brooklyn, New York. She really made her point with the next statement - If you have any doubts, just look up the numbers and do the arithmetic. She knew the value of good statistics and how to project them.

7/ Liberals try to intimidate opponents by statements such as : "You really don't believe that ". Stick to your guns, tell them that you do believe what you are saying. People who hold a precarious position will try to throw your argument off by deriding your position, don't let this happen. Be polite but firm.

These are some of the points that I hope will help us in getting the conservative message across.

Remember to pray for our brave service people, GOD Bless.

See you soon.