Doggone right with Mark Brighton

July 12, 2007

Judd Gregg vs Burt Cohen

On June 28th the Senate did the right thing and saved the country from S1639, euphemistically called The Amnesty Bill for Illegal Aliens, a bill which 80% of the country recognized as a recipe for disaster. It wasn’t because of anything Judd Gregg did.

Until Thursday an unfathomable madness was gripping Washington. George Bush was putting his full weight behind a
bill that would not have solved the illegal immigration problem and certainly would have meant incalculable damage to his own party. And to top it off, our Republican Senator, Judd Gregg, has now voted twice in favor of it. No excuse is good enough – for either of them. Did Gregg think he was going to get an invitation to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom?

This is the type of bill that defines a man, where he stands and what he believes is good for the country. And our
Senator was found wanting in both areas. If the Senator is thinking that time heels all wounds, I have news for him. Some wounds are fatal.

Albeit with the greatest reluctance, I will join the madness. I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but I’m begging Burt Cohen to run again against Senator Gregg at the next opportunity. Burt, not only will I vote for you, I’ll campaign for you. Well, I might not go that crazy, but at this moment I would vote for you.

Because with you, Burt, at least we “know who you are.”

Posted by Mark Brighton at 12:16 AM | Comments (1)

March 07, 2007

Death of a Liberal

With apologies to Willie Loman

One of my earliest memories is being at my grandmother's house cheering and dancing around as John Kennedy defeated Richard Milhous Nixon. I was about eight years old. My grandmother hated Nixon. She was a good Irish Democrat. My parents were Roosevelt Democrats brought up during the trying times of the depression. Democrats were different then.

As a teenager I remember my father, who was editor of this august paper at the time, changing is opinion of the Vietnam War. He was a WWII vet. The thought that his country could be involved in something so heinous ripped him apart. Democrats were different then.

As a young man of 20 I voted for George McGovern. I was a product of the sixties. We were going to change the world. We were wrong on several counts. The first time around I voted for Jimmy Carter. He lusted in his heart in an age when the definition of "is" wasn't up for debate. Democrats were different then

Carter was the last national Democrat I voted for, but my journey was far from over. Much to my regret I never voted for Ronald Reagan. Bush the elder was my first. It was a gentle experience, for Democrats were no longer different.

It is said that a conservative is a liberal who has just been mugged. My mugging took place long before my Bush vote. My wife and I were newly married and we out and bought a house. Call me naïve, but I was only vaguely aware of property taxes. The vagueness quickly left. We got our first tax bill. It was for the princely sum of about $1,000.

I recently asked my wife if she remembered when got our first tax bill. She said only one word, "Clearly!" We were both on the front steps when I opened the envelope. I think apoplectic is the best description. "How dare they?!" "What are we getting for this?" I'm sure my tirade lasted much longer. My wife's jaw was on the steps. I think she was concerned as to what kind of lunatic she had married. Her journey has been much longer then mine and is still on going.

Nowadays Democrats are what they are. I'm still asking the same question since that day. "How dare they?!" "What are we getting for this?" Since that time we have put a son through the public schools. The same questions popped up.

Today I find myself waving the bloody shirt. Even my dogs know I'm right.

Doggone Right

Posted by Mark Brighton at 11:31 PM | Comments (4)