Good Republicans

I am starting to feel very sorry for old school Republicans. Political parties change over time. Early Democrats and Republicans were fairly reversed in ideology from the groups we have today. In more recent history, Democrats were once the party of both Labor and Farmers. Republicans have slowly claimed farmers for their own, whereas immigrants have shifted to follow the Democrats.

Ideologies aside, I want to see intelligent, well-spoken, and well-versed in history Republicans represented in the media and running for higher elected offices. Just look at the pool of likely Republican candidates for the Presidential election in 2012.

• The forerunner Mitt Romney is an apologist for his liberal leanings, and sadly will likely lose due to his unpopular religion. We may be a country founded on the principles of religious tolerance, but that does not mean we understand how to respect an individual's choices when they're our leader. Also his faith teaches strong intolerance to homosexuality. That ship won't sail anymore.
• Newt Gingrich's campaign is falling apart over scandals and his team jumping ship.
• Ron Paul, the perpetual candidate is no longer taken seriously.
• Herman Cain, known for publicly calling Jon Stewart racist.
• Michele Bachmann consistently makes mistakes in her analogies and historical comparisons, but more than these minor mistakes, she has been responsible for some of the biggest time wasting legislation in Congress.
• Tim Pawlenty comes across as whiny and incompetent, especially in light of the current Minnesota state government shutdown.
• Jon Huntsman, aka Mitt Romney Lite.
• and lastly Sarah Palin, who hasn't announced running for President, but is never forgotten.

Why are there no smart and thoughtful Republicans like West Wing character Ainsley Hayes?

You think because I don't want to work here it's because I can get a better gig on Geraldo? Gosh, let's see if there could possibly be any other reason why I wouldn't want to work in this White House? This White House that feels that government is better for children than parents are. That looks at forty years of degrading and humiliating free lunches handed out in a spectacularly failed effort to level the playing field and says, 'Let's try forty more.' This White House that says of anyone that points that out to them, that they are cold and mean and racist, and then accuses Republicans of using the politics of fear. This White House that loves the Bill of Rights, all of them - except the second one.

There are at least two Republican contenders for President out there that would make the next election more than just a media circus of sound bites and false promises. If any of these candidates makes it through the Primaries, we'll have a chance for real debate in this country. I'll be voting for President Obama, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see a strong and respectable candidate for the Republican party. I truly do.

Gary Johnson www.garyjohnson2012.com

He's an ardent supporter of WikiLeaks, for example, telling Russia Today that "Government needs to be transparent! The more transparent that government is, the better off we all are. Basically, everything we see out of WikiLeaks is what we theorized was actually the truth!"

Well what I'm offering up is, and I hope, we'll see how it plays out, but what I'm hoping for is that people would actually, people might say, "Oh Gary Johnson? Well there's no way that that guy gets elected but I sure like him because he talks about the truth and all the different issues. He's the only one that's telling the truth." And that's what I would love to see happen.

from Huffington Post

On Abortion: "Leave the decision up to the woman."

On Civil Rights: "I support gay unions; government out of marriage business."

On Crime: "Half of crime is drug-related; legalizing drugs cuts crime."

On Gun Control: "Laws regarding guns are ineffective."

On Immigration: "Open the border; flood of Mexicans would become taxpayers."

from On The Issues

On Colbert:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Johnson ran for governor of New Mexico on a low-tax, law-and-order platform. He won – twice – leaving his state with a $1 billion budget surplus and becoming the highest-ranking elected official in the US to advocate legalizing marijuana.

From Christian Science Monitor

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson proved himself to be one of the more honest – and certainly more unorthodox – politicians in the running.

Because of our convoluted immigration policies we’re educating the best and brightest kids from all over the world and we’re sending them back to their countries of origin. Instead of them staying here to start up businesses that will employ tens of millions of Americans they go home and employ tens of millions of Indians. We’re doing that to ourselves.

We should make it as easy as possible to be able to get a legal work visa – not citizenship, not a green card. Just a work visa, with a background check and a social security card so that applicable taxes would get paid.

And then legalize marijuana. Seventy five percent of the border violence with Mexico would go away – that’s the estimate of the drug cartels’ activities that are engaged in the trade of marijuana. We’ve had 28,000 deaths south of the border over the last four years. If we can’t connect the dots between prohibition and violence, I don’t know if we ever will.

I like to tweak the Republican Party on the notion that it is just Obama’s fault. I would like to repeal President Obama’s healthcare plan – very simply because we can’t afford it. But let’s not forget Republicans here a few short years ago, when they controlled both houses of congress and the presidency, passed a prescription healthcare benefit which couldn’t be afforded then and can’t be afforded now. That was the largest entitlement ever passed. And Republicans did that! That’s not why I signed up to be a Republican.

From Rolling Stone magazine

The man climbed Mount Everest, not via helicopter, but on his own two legs.

Fred Karger fredkarger.com/

"The Republican Party, you know, and the party platform is just despicable. It's 27 pages of trying to drive people away," said Karger, who worked on Republican presidential campaigns for much of his career before dedicating himself to activism for gay rights.

Karger said he's gotten a warm welcome to the presidential field by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other party officials. But he acknowledged some "bumps in the road," such as Iowa GOP National Committeeman Steve Scheffler's vow to "work overtime to help ensure that your political aspirations are aborted right here in Iowa."

"The parties and the state parties have been very welcoming to me as the first openly gay candidate," he said. "I think that it's important that it be -- that that barrier be broken by a Republican, because this is the Republican Party of old."

from Huffington Post

“The parties and the state parties have been very welcoming to me as the first openly gay candidate,” he said. “I think that it’s important that it be -- that that barrier be broken by a Republican, because this is the Republican Party of old.”

Karger cited the party’s history, including Abraham Lincoln’s freeing of the slaves, and Theodore Roosevelt’s welcoming of African-Americans into his White House.

from ABC News

"Being a gay Republicans is kind of an oxymoron," he said, "I have been a fighter in my party, I have always been on the more moderate side but I'm also a protigy of Lee Atwater. We need to open up this party and that's one of my reasons for running. The party should not be dominated by one faction or another. It should be open to all."

Karger also added, "I want to be a different kind of Republican. The kind of Republican I grew up with. I consider myself to be Progressive. The last Progressive Republican president was over 100 years ago; Theodore Roosevelt."

from CBS News