At the Heart of American Politics is -- the Barbershop!

At the Heart of American Politics is -- the Barbershop!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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In my small North Carolina community, when you really want to know what’s going on, if you really want to take the pulse of local, state and national politics, you go to the local barbershop.

For me, a trip to my local barbershop is a stimulating, invigorating, experience. I just climb up into the chair and allow the conversation to wash over me, and occasionally, I toss a few tidbits of my own into the steady stream of political commentary that is almost always well informed, politically incorrect, and surprisingly candid and -- quite accurate.

I have often wondered why politicians, who need to be plugged into the thought processes of their constituents, do not deliberately visit barbershops in their districts and really learn what is on the minds of their constituents. If there is one single place where politicians can learn how their constituents feel -- on any issue -- it is the local barbershop. The barbershop is the one place they can visit and get an education, quickly.

My most recent visit to my own barbershop revealed the open disgust with which my neighbors hold the Obama Regime and the current Congress. What was somewhat surprising was the depth of that disgust. It was as though they spat out the name of the President and the names of certain members of Congress, as one would expectorate something that had a horrible taste. The disdain in which my neighbors hold the Obama Regime is bone deep. They cannot wait for the election in November to send our national leaders a clear and concise message. Simply stated the message is: “Be gone!”

It is not only disgust and disdain, it is anger — deep, swirling, writhing, white-hot anger -- at the way the current Congress and the Obama Administration have dragged our country from the pinnacle of world leadership to the depths of humiliation and mediocrity. Their disbelief in American Exceptionalism lends credence to the average American’s belief that our current leadership simply does not like America.

What was once a creeping realization that we now have a socialist government in America has sped up and blossomed into an epiphany, of a sort. My neighbors now understand that with the passage of ObamaCare America joined the ranks of the pitiful socialist countries “circling the drain” all over the planet.

The old fashion neighborhood barbershop is one of the last locales to which men can retire -- and just be men. They discuss hunting, fishing, sports, cars, war, and politics. Of course, they discuss other things, which we will not mention because this is a family column. For the past few months politics has been the reigning topic of discussion above all others.

On my most recent visit to by barbershop the topic of discussion was, as usual politics. Someone raised the question of whom the Republicans would nominate to run for President in 2012. It is interesting that no one present felt that any one of the “usual suspects” would be acceptable to the GOP voters. In fact, the general feeling was that the nomination of any of those involved in past campaigns would simply lead to another four years of Obama as President. That included both Palin and Romney. In fact, it was agreed that Palin was damaged beyond repair and was now unacceptable as a candidate on a national GOP ticket. Not one participant in the discussion could offer the name of a single republican with a snowball’s chance in Hades of winning against Obama in 2012.

It was a telling moment. What it said to this scribe was this: the GOP had better begin a search for a candidate the republican voters will support. If they do not, then the GOP should be prepared for their base to stay home, again, on Election Day.

The conservative wing of the GOP has decided they will no longer “settle” for a candidate who cannot prove his/her conservative credentials. They will no longer vote for the “lesser of two evils.” They will no longer settle for another RINO candidate. If that means losing to the democrats, then so be it. It is not considered a “purity test” of any kind. The Mainstream Media should understand that out here in the hinterlands, honesty with oneself and one’s neighbor is STILL considered a virtue -- AND a matter of personal honor.

The RNC and the DNC could learn a lot from the customers at my barbershop -- if they were willing to learn. The trouble is, I believe, the GOP is now being controlled (as is the Democratic Party) by a group of “elites” who feel they know better than the rank and file electorate. In the case of the RNC -- the plain truth is – they don’t.

If the GOP is really serious about retaking this nation’s government from the socialists, then they need to visit my barbershop and listen. Then put to use what they learn.

In the meantime, I’m not holding my breath.

J. D. Longstreet

American First, Last, and Always!

American First, Last, and Always!
A Citizen of the World, NOT!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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A recent commenter on one of my articles took me to task for not realizing that I am a citizen of the world FIRST -- and a citizen of America SECOND!

How wrong he is! If you subscribe to world citizenship first, then you, too are wrong.

My allegiance is to America. I don’t give a rat’s behind what the remainder of the countries on this globe does. It is none of my concern -- right up to the point they insist on making trouble for America. It is then that we must send the “United States WORLD Police Force” to clean up the mess the offending country, or countries, has made. I sometimes think our US Navy aircraft carriers should be painted black and white as are our police cruisers. Maybe we could install a gigantic blue flashing light on the carrier’s tallest radio mast. Impressive, what?

I am an admitted isolationist. If I could, I would build a wall around the US and invite the rest of the world to take a hike. Alas, I cannot. I am also a realist and I understand the interconnectedness of America with the rest of the world. I don’t like it, but I understand it. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Look, individuals who prized their independence and self-reliance settled America. They had no desire to be citizens of the world. Our forefathers warned us of “foreign entanglements.” The original America was designed to stand-alone. It was during the war for Independence from Great Britain that we began “entangling” ourselves with European countries as we sought allies to assist in our fight with the British world superpower. We have not been able to disengage since.

Last June, at a fundraiser in Washington, DC, Newt Gingrich is reported to have said: "I am not a citizen of the world. I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous!"

I agree with Gingrich. It s one of those “warm and fuzzy,” emotion inducing, expressions so favored by the useful idiots of the left. It is also, I have concluded, a result of the brainwashing of America’s youth in that left-wing indoctrination system we refer to, laughingly, as the Public Education System.

Why brainwash our kids into believing they are citizens of the world FIRST? Simple. It will make it much easier for Americans to accept becoming a part of a Global Government which would negate the US Constitution, strip Americans of all their rights as American citizens and render them serf’s of an elite globe spanning Marxist ruling class.

We all know by now that Obama is “a citizen of the world.” He tells us he is. Obama is, or at least was, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, “the organization that represents those who want globalism, nations without borders, a North American Union, a Godless U.N. Charter that can be changed according to political whims of unelected elite bureaucrats to replace the U.S. Constitution; a new, universal currency to replace the dollar controlled by the central bankers of Europe…” The preceding is from an excellent article by Joe Kress at “News with Views” entitled: “Obama: I’m a Citizen of the World.” You will find it HERE.

There has been, for a very long time, a movement behind the scenes, in the shadows, so to speak, to create a Global Government. A single One-World Government to which all people on earth would pledge their allegiance. The current governments of the various countries on earth would be suppliants to that Global Government. The earth would be under the power of an elite, unelected, oligarchy. A nameless, faceless, group of power-hungry individuals who will decide how everything, I mean EVERY THING, is run. They still believe in the Socialist/Marxist Utopia, which has never existed -- and never will -- so long as human beings are at the helm.

Obama belongs to that group of elitists who believe that they are the “anointed ones” charged with insuring the emergence of Global Governance on earth. They are the people who use phrases such as “a citizen of the world.”

Those of us who consider ourselves citizens of America first place our hands over our hearts when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the US. We do this because our allegiance is to America and ONLY America – FIRST! NOW do you understand why Obama did NOT? (Remember the Photo?)

So, if you are inclined to take me to task for not considering myself a citizen of the world first and America second, you can stand down. Your efforts will be totally wasted. You see -- I live in the REAL world -- not in your fantasy world of Socialist/Marxist propaganda and sloganeering. I am an American, First, Last, and Always!

J. D. Longstreet