I haul my own garbage to the dump. Call me old fashioned. Or cheap. Or both.
Here in South Carolina we have “waste collection and recycling” centers conveniently located around the county. Instead of sending out an army of men and trucks to pick up trash door-to-door once a week, whether we need it or not, our county lets us take our trash to them. No charge (other than the small cost of operation added to our property taxes). No wasted miles, no noisy diesel trucks fouling the air, no bloated union driver pensions. It’s one more example of how refreshingly common-sensible I find our state and local government to be – unlike our federal government.
Yesterday my truck’s radio was tuned in to my favorite political talk show, and as I jumped out at one of the huge trash collection bins, I couldn’t help but notice the caretaker’s radio was on the same station. “You have a great job,” I kidded him. “You get to just sit around and listen to Rush all day!”
That started our discussion about the current state of political affairs and, of course, the presidential campaign. And it reminded me how ignorant the mainstream media and the political elites of both parties are about the voters’ state of mind this time around. It is unfathomable to me that they still underestimate or totally dismiss the level of discontent out here on the street.
The man at the dump is backing Donald Trump all the way, and he defends his position vigorously with facts and figures about the damage illegal immigration is doing to our country. He is furious with the corrupt Republican house and senate leaders and the sheepish representatives who abandoned their conservative promises for fear of retribution. He is pro-life, pro-second amendment, anti-ObamaCare and anti-Iran-agreement.
Just like virtually everybody I meet.
My next-door neighbor is educated, wealthy, and black. He is raising his three beautiful girls with traditional conservative American values: work hard, have respect, be responsible, and don’t expect to receive anything you don’t earn. He hasn’t picked a presidential candidate yet, but is watching the race closely and says he will vote for the most conservative one.
The guy that set up my pool table puts in sixty hour weeks, and he loves it. He enjoys the competition, the financial rewards, and the independence of owning his small business. He just bought a bigger building and will be hiring more people, but government intrusion makes running his business difficult, and the anti-America agenda of the left just makes him mad. “I can’t understand these liberals. They waste so much time and money on things that really aren’t important, and won’t deal with the things that are.”
This week I attended Congressman Jeff Duncan’s “Faith and Freedom” barbecue event. In addition to some fine barbecued pork, we also got a heaping portion of red meat politics from presidential contenders Governor Scott Walker, Dr. Ben Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz. These guys know what is on the minds of the common folks, 2000 strong, who sang the national anthem with inspiration and harmony. The candidates hit every hot button: Planned Parenthood, ISIS, tax reform, energy independence, ObamaCare, Iran, national debt, corporate cronyism, honesty and values. They know the man and woman on the street are angry at the Republicans they elected and who refuse to represent them.
“If you elect me,” Ted Cruz bellowed, “I will always tell the truth, and I will do what I said I would do!”
Trump’s supporters unanimously appreciate the way he “tells it like it is.” After initially dismissing Trump as a serious candidate, pollster Frank Luntz finally admitted, “Trump is punishment to a Republican elite that wasn’t listening to their grassroots.” Charles Krauthammer insisted in a recent editorial that Trump’s nomination would guarantee Hillary Clinton a victory. Then he added, “Yes, I understand. The anger, the frustration, etc., etc., that Trump is channeling. But how are these alleviated by yelling “I’m mad as hell?”
The guy at the dump is mad as hell, and he doesn’t know what else to do. Like the rest of us, he studied the issues and voted for people who promised they would be conservatives when they got to Washington. We thought we elected conservative majorities in both houses, but things keep getting worse.
The DC elites need to put down their martini glasses, cut their Martha’s Vineyard vacations short, and take a good hard look at the guy on the street. He’s angry, and they had better not ignore him any longer.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
There’s a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
And he’s always at home with his back to the wall.
Several years ago, while on a long drive, I tuned in to National Public Radio’s afternoon talk show featuring Diane Rehm. I nearly wrecked my truck as several Democrats fervently defended government officials and scientists who were caught fabricating weather data and computer models to make it appear that man-caused global warming was real. They forthrightly stated that lying was the right thing to do if it achieved the results they sought.
A group of “responsible” Republican Montana legislators, led by Sen. Jim Peterson, Sen. Llew Jones, and Sen. Ed Buttrey, has banded together to “stand up against political extremists.” The group, Montana Business Advocates for Sensible Elections (BASE), is seeking donations from businesses, for whom they promise protection from the forces of evil.
Rockin' On The Right Side 