Tag Archive for 'candidate'

Bobby Saxon, Democratic Candidate for Congress, 10th GA

Bobby is doing what a lot more of us regular, ordinary people ought to start doing-run for political office. The shame of our system is that it takes so much money to put on a campaign. That is precisely why Bobby is getting in the race early.

Most of this interview focused on the Iraq War, mainly because Bobby has been there, done that. He fulfilled his military commitment in the early 1980’s and after 9-11 he put his life on hold and signed up again. While he apparently has no personal regrets (he made it out alive), he fully realizes that he (and the rest of us) was misled with regard to the reasons we were invading Iraq. Now, he thinks it is time for an orderly withdrawal, although he believes a small contigent of troops will probably stay in Iraq for a while, just not 100,000+.

It’s a long time to November 2008 and I hope to have several more interviews with Bobby, but this one was a good start.

 
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God Doesn’t Want to be President!

I see everyone is getting ready for the Democratic Presidential debate Monday night in the great State of South Carolina. SC seems to be just as “Red” as GA is and I cannot help but note that the morons in their legislature passed a ridiculous law last year (or maybe the year before, I forget) that said only experts that were licensed to practice in the State of South Carolina could testify in the courts of SC. What does this mean? Simply, that the most knowledgeable doctor in the world on heart disease or cancer could not testify in the courts of SC unless he applied to the SC medical board for a SC license. The law was so ridiculous (not to mention unconstitutional) that the Supreme Court of SC immediately issued an order essentially suspending the law. So much for SC, but that is not my purpose.

I just happened to be watching CNN and saw some of the video questions that were submitted for the debate. The discussion was about questions of faith and to what extent a candidate would rely on his faith in making decisions. J. C. Watts made a comment something to the effect that a candidate (and thus an elected official) should certainly rely on his faith for guidance in making decisions for the people. I have no idea what that means other than someone prays, gets an answer and acts upon it. That kind of talk is just plain nuts.

I am scared to death of people of faith making political decisions. I don’t even want someone praying and getting an answer as to what I should do. Why would I want to trust them to get the “right” answer on something as important as the federal budget or health care. I can hear it now: “I vetoed universal health care because God told me he would take care of everyone.” Come on J. C., give me a break.

Sorry, J. C., you just need to mind your church business and leave politics alone. People who think faith/religion has a place in American politics has no understanding of where America came from or what it is about.

I cannot say it better than one of our most philosophical Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. We would all do well to read it, memorize it and live it. Jefferson wrote:

[Sec. 1] Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporary rewards, which proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a natural right; that it tends only to corrupt the principles of that religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them:

[Sec. 2] Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

[Sec. 3] And though we well know that this assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act to be irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation, such act shall be an infringement of natural right.

Interview with Denise Majette

Denise Majette is an attorney who served as a State Court Judge in Dekalb County from 1993 until she successfully ran for U. S. Congress in 2002. In 2004 she was the Democratic nominee for U. S. Senate.

 
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Interview with Charlie Bailey

Charlie Bailey is a Republican Candidate for Secretary of State who lives in Roswell, Georgia. He is a business consultant with over 40 years experience. Charlie is a life-long Republican and has been active in community affairs.

 
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Interview with Danny Carter

Danny Carter is running for State School Superintendent. Danny has taught school, worked with the Farm Credit Service and then returned to the educational world as an Area Adult Agriculture Teacher. Since 1996 he has been involved in various administrative positions within the Department of Education.

 
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Interview with Cathy Cox

Cathy Cox is seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor. She learned about politics at the knee of her father who a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, a post Cathy also held for 6 years. She has been Georgia’s Secretary of State since 1999 and is primarily responsible for making Georgia the first state to institute electronic voting.

 
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Interview with Rufus O. Terrill

Rufus is a conservative Democratic seeking his party’s nomination for Lt. Governor.

 
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Interview with Ray McBerry

Ray McBerry is a Republican running against Sonny Perdue for the Republican nomination.

 
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Interview with Darryl Hicks

Darryl Hicks is a Democratic Candidate for SOS. He is an accountant by education and an auditor by experience. Since 1985 he worked for Atlanta Gas Light Company and resigned his job to run for office full time.

 
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Interview with Bobby Reeves

Bobby is Chairman of the Emanuel County Republican Party and has been involved in the Republican Party for many years. He discusses how the Republican Party has changed in recent years, for better and for worse and contrasts it with those years in which the Democrats were in power.

 
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