Don't Get Me Started

Don't Get Me Started

Girly-man politicians

Andy Hefty

 BY ANDY HEFTY

MACCLENNY, FL - It’s time we consider how the current class of political insiders has become downright wimpy. And it’s time to call them on the carpet for their lack of guts. Let’s consider.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, was the one who made the phrase "girly-man" popular in the world of politics. He called state legislators in Sacramento this new epithet as a way of getting them to declare their intention to vote on cutting government, cutting taxes, and curbing the overreaching regulation that was driving residents and businesses out of state. When the issue finally went to a voter referendum, it was soundly defeated, thanks in large part to the whiners who depend on excessive government to make, keep, and increase their power base.

Teachers unions, government employee unions, grievance groups, politicians, and media apologists all teamed together to spend truckloads of cash to defeat the measure. The key argument was that citizens would have their favorite government giveaway snatched from them. They were threatened with the possibility that the elderly would eat dog food. The sick would be kicked out of hospitals. The criminals would kill everyone because they didn’t have any jobs.

On and on. The whiners won.

Now, the "Govern-ator" has caved. The next attempt, he simply decided to raise taxes and increase the growth of government. For such an incredibly large, strong man, he certainly got "girly-man" on us pretty quickly in the political realm.

Barack Obama, Democrat presidential candidate, is allowing his media henchmen to accuse anyone who dares to criticize his policy (or extreme lack thereof) of being a racist. If you call his health care proposal an attempt at socialized medicine, you are a racist. If you ask him to state clearly and for the record where Obama stands on his Marxist friends, such as the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, you’re a racist. If you ask him to explain his ideas beyond hope, change, hope, change, and hope, you’re a racist. If you tell him that retreating in Iraq is a foolish idea, well, you get the idea. Sounds like he can’t take the heat, so he goes "girly-man."

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democrat Party, has done everything he can to smear Republicans instead of openly debating them on the issues. Remember it was Dean who told his audience that the Republicans couldn’t get "this many African Americans" in a room unless the hotel wait staff joined them. Translation: Republicans are racists. That’s not debate, that’s girly-man politics. He’s too much of a coward to go head to head with a conservative on any specific or random topic.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is busy calling the war lost. When she sees success in Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives credit to Iran’s boredom. They don’t bother to pass budgets and confirm judges. Instead, they grill oil executives and baseball players. I wonder how they would act if the cameras were shut off. No guts. Just "girly."

Florida Governor Charlie Crist finally decides to consider offshore drilling, but only after he is likely to be McCain’s running mate. Senator Mel Martinez wants us to buy hybrids to counter the high price of gas. Sadly, the hybrid is too expensive to make a difference. And conserving resources (which is a good thing) will not produce more energy. But it does seem to make men rather "girly."

George W. Bush goes to Saudi Arabia -- three times -- to beg for more oil, but doesn’t bother to press Congress like he should have until just this last week. Why didn’t he push for this with the kind of passion necessary to move the mountains of political girly-men immediately after being sworn in? For a tough-talking Texan, he has been far too "girly" for far too long.

Congressman Ander Crenshaw seems to only speak to the media whenever he is spending money on Mayport. Let any other major issue come up, and we only hear the rantings of Corrine Brown. Defending only pork is awful "girly" in front of voters who want answers.

What we need are politicians at every level taking strong stands and then standing by their statements. We need people who won’t be so blatantly offended at every turn of events. We need more citizens telling politicians to shut up and get their jobs done. We need more voters to inform themselves before voting.

Perhaps then, government will do their jobs and go home. Without these high demands, our expectations are -- well -- "girly."

Andy is a father of 13 children who lives with his wife of over 23 years in Baker County, Florida. His opinions usually center around mixing politics and religion with hot-button topics as his specialty. You can contact him at  ACHefty@yahoo.com.