John Wayne 1971 Interview

While growing up my heroes were my grandfather, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne. The other day I found an article that featured a 1971 Playboy Magazine interview with John Wayne. Although I may not agree with all of Wayne’s political views, I did find the article very interesting, and it definitely reminded me of some of my own conservative views.

During the article Wayne talks about the demise of modern civilization and the lack of hope for the younger generation. It’s funny how history repeats itself over and over again, how every generation always thinks that the next generation is going to be the end of the world.

But from my perspective, I think America is better now than it has ever been. The older baby boomers like to think back to how wonderful the fifties were. But while some Americans were living in the suburbs watching “Leave It to Beaver” in the fifties, another portion of Americans were being forced into segregation and being deprived of their civil rights. Sadly, racism still exists, and even though we have a ways to go, I still believe that this point in our nation’s history is the closest we have ever been to “all men are created equal” actually being true.

The more I read about the founding of our nation the more I am amazed at how much we worship some our forefathers as if they were incapable of anything but perfection. Thomas Jefferson is a prime example. While penning “all men are created equal” he also elected to have 141 slaves and not allow women to vote. As Thomas Day so profoundly stated in 1776, “If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves. “ Thomas Jefferson was also the first President to propose the idea of a formal Indian removal plan. So much for everyone being equal!

I despise racism, but the one thing that I agreed with John Wayne on is the fact that no living person has ever been involved with slavery or any of the injustices inflicted upon the Indians. And there are also no surviving victims left of either crime. Consequently, I do believe that it’s time for our nation to move on and truly experience equality. It is time to put a stop to all the hyphenated names. It is time to end Indian reservations. It is time to end self-segregation, such as the Latin Grammy Awards or Miss Black USA Pageant. It is time to end Affirmative Action. It is time to quit focusing on the first Black this, or Hispanic that. I think that at a certain point in time some of the aforementioned served a purpose, but I think that they have all outlived their usefulness and now they do nothing more than cause divisiveness and resentment while promoting racism.

It is time for all of us to come together as a nation of just Americans. Because for the first time in our history a citizen’s opportunities aren’t based off of their gender, race or creed. And for that reason, I believe that America is greater now that it has ever been.

And finally, even though I disagree with some of John Wayne’s views and I may cringe at his less than tactful way of stating a lot of them, I can definitely relate to his final statement.” I hope my family and my friends will be able to say that I was an honest, kind and fairly decent man.”

I’ve included the link to the article below:

http://www.playboy.com/articles/john-wayne-interview

Congresswoman Kirkpatrick Deserves 2nd Term

There has been a lot of hostility and derogatory comments directed at members of Congress because of the passing of the Health Care Reform Bill. Naturally, Ann Kirkpatrick has taken the brunt of criticism here in Yavapai County because she is the elected representative for our district. Most of the disparaging remarks claim that Congresswoman Kirkpatrick ignored all of her constituent’s pleas to vote against health care reform. However, this is a fallacy because there was an equal amount of people hoping that she would adhere to her campaign promise of health care reform. We can sit and debate the polls all day, but the truth is that our nation, for the most part, is equally divided on politics. In this case, I feel that Congresswoman Kirkpatrick owed it to her constituents, the ones who actually voted for her, to vote for the bill based on her campaign promise of health care reform.

Aside from health care reform, so far, Congresswoman Kirkpatrick has adhered to every campaign promise she made, and has not been afraid to go against Democratic Leadership. She has voted against every form of corporate bailout that has gone before Congress. She is a strong supporter of the right to bear arms. In fact, she served as a co-sponsor of the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act. Congresswoman Kirkpatrick has also focused much of her efforts towards veterans including introducing and passing into law the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2009. She also is big advocate of renewable energy such as wind and solar, which would reduce our nation’s dependency on oil while also bringing thousands of high-paying jobs to Arizona. Ms. Kirkpatrick has also voluntarily returned 5% of her salary to help reduce the national debt, while also introducing a bill to Congress that would require all members of Congress to take a pay cut as well.

There are several issues that I don’t agree with Congresswoman Kirkpatrick on, including her opposition to place a ban on assault weapons. Although, I know that she rejects all attempts at gun control because of the strong Republican base in Arizona that would be ready to start a revolution at the mere mention of anyone taking away any of their weapons. I’m a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I think everyone has the right to own a musket, but I’ll never understand why anyone would ever have a need for an assault rifle.

However, in recent times, it is very rare that we actually find a politician who does what they say they’re going to do. Therefore, I think it would be a mistake to not vote for her in the upcoming election. I’ll admit that I didn’t vote for Ann Kirkpatrick the first time around, but she has definitely won my vote for a second term.

Thoughts on U.S. Constitution

Today I received a phone call from my cousin in Florida regarding my previous blog on health care reform. We had a good conversation and he brought up many valid points which made for a good debate. I agree with him that the current bill has a lot to be desired, but as I said before, at least it’s a start. Hopefully, someday the Republicans and Democrats will set their differences aside long enough to work out a good plan that appeases everyone, but sadly, it’s probably not going to happen.

One thing that he mentioned during our conversation was what he felt was disrespect directed at the U.S. Constitution. He spoke of people who have claimed that the Constitution is out of date and does not apply to us today, and he asked if I felt the same way. Well, here is my response to his question. No, I don’t think the Constitution is outdated and I have the utmost respect for it and for what it stands for. However, I do believe people too conveniently yell “it’s unconstitutional” every time they don’t agree with something. Because just like the Bible, the Constitution is open to interpretation. The Constitution is there to protect “We the people,” but it is also a work in progress, the twenty-seven amendments attached to it indicate that. The original premise of the Constitution obviously still exists, but times change, people change, and technology has progressed to levels that our forefathers could have never even imagined. Our nation has evolved over the last three hundred, therefore, it is necessary for our Constitution to evolve and adapt as well.

So, the next time you find yourself compelled to voice your support for the sanctity of the Constitution just keep in mind that without change to the Constitution it would be illegal to drink alcohol, there would be no freedom of speech, no right to bear arms, no women’s right to vote, and slavery would still be legal.