Sunday, January 24, 2016


I try to stay away from too much politics in this blog, but I thought I would include a recent piece of mine that the Concord Monitor published on Friday. The world seems to be going a little crazy lately and I think we need to tamp down the anger a lot both in the U.S. and almost everywhere in the world.

Starting at home would be a good idea. The United States should set an example for the rest of the world by electing a President who can work with others and bring some logic and order to our actions both at home and abroad. I hope the electorate will be smart enough to figure this out.

Glenn K. Currie

Conservative Choices

When I was in junior high school, I agreed to play on a church basketball team. One night we played the top team, against which I had scored nineteen points during our previous meeting. Apparently, that was frowned upon because the first time I drove the basket, one of their players hit me in the teeth with an elbow. There was no foul call and lots of trash talk.

I let my anger fester and finally exploded later in the game when my assailant was driving his basket. I put a hip under him that sent him six feet off the court. We immediately got in a fist fight and I was thrown out of the game and off the team.

The relevant point regarding the current primary is that we have seen conservative republicans taking elbows in the teeth for two decades and the festering anger is finally starting to surface. In their anger some are throwing their support behind a guy they think will “even the score”. The problem is that such a candidate will stand no chance of winning the general election and will probably result in their very valid concerns being discarded as they are “thrown out of the game” for picking a stupid fight. Instead let’s “get even” by uniting the party and appealing to the large number of unhappy independents, to make real change, and help eliminate the incompetence and irresponsibility that currently exists in Washington.

The world doesn’t need any more “bomb throwers”. Electing someone as President of the United States is a huge responsibility. And yes, we haven’t done a very good job lately. We have already proven that a “hope and change” guy, with no experience in anything, is going to be totally overwhelmed by the office. It’s a complicated job that takes an ability to make hard decisions, and also a willingness to compromise and work with others.

Our government has spent the last few decades throwing one big frat party at home. We have left a trail of destruction in morals, ethics, drugs, and infrastructure. We have lost our sense of responsibility for our actions, and our ability to tell the difference between right and wrong. Nobody has a clue how to pay for this big party and the answer from the Democrats is “more of the same’, and to let someone else deal with all the garbage our generation leaves strewn on the front lawn.

And overseas it may be even worse. We cannot make a decision and sometimes don’t even make an appearance when things start to go to hell. Uncle Sam is like the weird old relative who lives in the attic and only comes down on the Fourth of July wearing a tin pot hat and thinking he is going to lead the parade.

Our young people are dying or being maimed in conflicts all over the world and we seem to have no strategy and no real objectives. Yet we ignore the major threats to our way of life. Our answer to terrorism is to call it by a different name and try to pass bills to disarm Americans at home, and to sign treaties abroad that will arm our enemies. (Are we really giving Iran 150 billion dollars to support the mess in the Middle East and kill our allies?)

If conservatives are truly angry about all of this, they should work to create a Republican ticket that can actually get elected. There are lots of independents and even some Democrats that are finally getting tired of our current situation. People yearn for leadership that can help reunite the country and solve problems instead of just feeding the flames of hopelessness with devalued dollars. The Democrats have no answer. If they are tired of Hillary and more of the same, their only choice is Bernie, whose solutions all involve spending more money and throwing a bigger party.

But the solution certainly isn’t to be thrown out of the game. Please choose carefully in the upcoming primary. It may be feel good to hit a few people in the teeth after the mess that has been created, but we need long term solutions. There are several candidates that actually have some answers. Let’s fix things, not blow them up.


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