Kyrgyzstan has finally shucked off the corrupt post-soviet government that has dominated it for so long. This story is from Foxnews. I must confess it is fascinating watching nation after nation take heart and start to believe in themselves once again. We can thank our President for correctly reading the world geo-political situation; I honestly had no idea that this much turmoil and change could take place so fast.

There has been unrest in the country for quite some time now, but nothing significant because no clear leader existed to lead the opposition groups. Recently however the pressure on the president became so great that somehow Felix Kulov was released from prison which of course sent the whole regime toppling downward. This is big news in China, anytime there is instability in a neighboring country the government stirs.

I respect Brian and the guys over at CR Vets for Truth and agree with the original premise of his story that CRs should not be happy with what went down in Michigan. I and others, on the Davidson side, agree with that premise, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired.

I would like to know where the CR Vets are getting their information about Davidson operatives flipping the state chair, because I have seen no evidence to back up this claim. The hyperbole moreover only is going to create more division. Just my two cents over here, I woudl like to see some proof of these assertions CR Vets before we go any further.

HAT TIP: GrassrootsPA
Well it looks like Governor “Slick” Eddie Rendell may have made his first major mistake in his quest to ruin Pennsylvania with high taxes for another four years. He is working to reduce the number of concealed carry permits given out and has made repeated anti-gun comments in the past few weeks, even teaming up with Mayor Street (Criminal-Philadelphia) to talk about how evil guns are.

Well the problem for Ed is that as Al Gore showed, gun control is a serious loser of an issue. Especially in the Lehigh Valley and Pittsburgh, which will be two KEY areas of Rendell’s re-election. If Swann/Piccola/Scranton can bring this up and hammer him over the head in regards to it, then it may just swing those two regions into the GOP column as the socially conservative union members vote guns over unions. (As Rick Santorum has proven they will do) Any GOP nominee still needs to stop the bleeding in the Philly suburbs but one step at a time.

There is a fantastic article on the problems of the Republican party here which Instapundit linked to.

This problem is exactly why Save the GOP exists. The current Republican party is split into three wings: Power (Bush), Conservative(Pence)-Libertarian(Ron Paul), and Moderate (Specter). In the end the true principled conservatives and the true principled liberatrians (though small in #’s in elected office) get along fine because federalism and jurisprudence tend to cause them to be allies on many many issues. The problem is the power wing, they have played themselves off as conservatives, but their real interest is in just maintaining power. DeLay, Bush, Norquist, etc are all examples of this. They will sell out to big business at the highest cost and have so far shown so little interest in actually helping the party.

If the GOP continues down the road of souless lobbying sellout then it won’t be in power much longer. It needs to return to its roots and its principled lawmakers such as Rep. Pat Toomey, Mike Pence, Mark Sanford, etc, etc. That’s why Save the GOP is here.

Save The GOP sat down for a brief IM interview with Joe Sylvester ( CheneyGun@gmail.com, Michigan College Republican and writer of MI CR Blog. Check it out by clicking more…

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Notice: this is my opinion, only, though I think it represents that of many of us involved in youth politics and the CRs in general.

I think the precednt of Michigan and the removal of Cassin is a bad bad thing, but that being said it is not the first time it has happened, but it represents the two streams of thought of what the College Republicans should be about.
1. A tool of the party to build youth support and turn that into foot soldiers for winning elections
2. A group of like minded conservative activists out to change campuses and the country

I have always belonged to camp number two, as evidenced by work AGAINST THE REPUBLICAN PARTY in the Toomey primary and my resoluteness of supporting the Constitution Party candidate Jim Clymer, after Specter won. To me the CRs is not about advancing up the ladder, scoring your points, setting yourself up for a political career, and being the pawn of the state parties. It is about making a real difference on campuses. To steal a phrase from Mike: I am a patriot first, a conservative second, and a Republican last. I am a Republican because it is how conservatives enact change, and if at some point it no longer is that then I will leave the party.

Under all legal circumstances what the Michigan State Party did was correct and it has the power to do it, and I think it even helped the just cause, but it was a very bad way of going about it. In the end had I been the Chairman of the Pennsylvania College Republicans in 2003, I would have endorsed Rep. Toomey and worked hard to get campuses to do also, though without coercing, threatening, or dividng, but allowing chapters to decide. I would have likely been kicked out of my spot because of it, and that would have been the perogative of the Republican State Committee, but it would not have been the right one. The CRs need some level of independence from the party, because, in the end, we are not their tool to be used how they see fit.

The careerists and Republicans-at-all cost folks out there, as well as some Davidson partisans, are probably gagging right now as to many the College Republicans are to get Republicans elected, and get positive press. I say no, the CRs fundamentally are about changing campues and to do that there needs to be a level of independence between them and the Republican State Committee. If all the CRs is about is padding your resume and setting up your run for Congress than the CRs are pointless, but if the CRs are about getting better, more conservative members elected and changing their campuses and campus opinion then we really have achieved something.

This is why I am involved in the College Republican Conservative Caucus.

CRNCTruthCaucus has confirmed the Michigan “myth” is actually no myth, guess MI CR Blog is going to have a little egg on his face.

Well it looks like we can now move Michigan from the Gourley column to the Davidson column. Ryan Cassin, the elected chairman apparently has been removed and replaced with a pro-Davidson chair by the state party. This is a devestating blow to the Gourley to the campaign. Not sure I like the precdent of this, but what’s done is done.

Lest we get pegged as only a CRNC related blog, which we certainly are much more than that…
Lynn Swann (fmr. Pittsburgh Steeler, NFL Hall of Famer) is running for Governor in Pennsylvania and his Exploratory Committee has just launched their website here. Lynn is considered one of the stronger likely competitors in the race to beat Ed Rendell, though both State Sen Jeff Picola and former Lt. Governor Bill Scrantor are running. Swann is the only pro-life candidate in the race (Picola has “claimed” that he changed his position, but it is highly dubious).

Since I do political web design on the side, I can say the site has a nice look and feel but will definitely need to be flushed out with a lot more content. If I am Swann I am calling Rep. Toomey and begging for his endorsement and support. Rumor has it that Ridge and Santorum are already lining up behind him.

This article claims that “polyamory” is closer than we thought.

As of now, the state will recognize a marriage if it is between: 1 man and 1 woman, over the age of 18, not directly related.

But why do many people who support gay marriage deny polygamy? If something as trivial as *gender* should not be used to regulate who cannot be married, then why would something even more trivial, *number*. You say 2 men can get married. Why not 3? Why not 30?

Furthermore, there have been no civilizations in which children were raised with two mothers or two fathers, while polygamy has been used as a family unit. Doesn’t Osama have 62 children? Granted, our own civilization is struggling mighty hard with trying one mother and no father.

Anyway, by noticing the dearth of posts, it’s pretty clear that most of us here at SaveTheGOP don’t get too excited about the marriage issue. Let me know what y’all think.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Marshall (D) may face a challenge from former Rep. Mac Collins (R) in an altered and renumbered 8th district that more heavily favors the GOP.

Looks like Mac Collins, who came in third in the three way Georgia Senate primary, is looking to revive his political career with a possible run against Jim Marshall in Georgia’s 8th District. This is good news for the GOP as it will give them a real shot at picking up the seat. The big question for all of the readers out there who have Georgia political expierence: Is Mac back or is Mac on Crack?

Read Townhall Columnist Ben Shapiro’s op-ed here.

Here’s the bottom line: The CRNC needs some fresh faces. Current CRNC leadership has been tarnished by these fund-raising scandals, and with College Republicans finally beginning to win the war on campus and turn the corner in terms of youth recruiting, the CRNC must avoid being bogged down by scandalous allegations.

Bingo, my friend, bingo.

Bob Novak has an excellent article in the Chicago Sun-Times on the RINOs in the Senate. This problem has long since crossed the “sad” threshold and is now bordering on “pathetic”. If the GOP can’t cut ” . . . just four-tenths of one percent of entitlements.” then why the hell do we bother with having a majority? What was the point of electing a Republican senator in Oregon if he is going to vote like a Democrat?

This will doom Dubya’s second term if the “conservative” portion of the legislative branch can’t bring itself to even attempt to restrain spending. Sometimes I wonder whose side half of these clowns are really on.

You can’t help but laugh at the stupidity and incompetence of these people.

HBO is set to air a behind the scenes look at the launching of liberal radio network AIR AMERICA.
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Would this be a Goldwater re-run? I don’t know. But I’d take him over any of the other hopefuls.

Check out the Social Security Reform blog, www.SocialSecurityForAll.com

Notice: Mark Harris is the administrator of this blog through his dayjob. (With how crazy blog ethics has been getting lately I felt I should prob let everyone know.)

The CR Vets for Truth have laid out an “Open Forum” for discussion and debate on the issue. We welcome them to the fray.

Yesterday, Senator Jon Corzine, who is running for Governor in New Jersey, compared Dick Cheney to Saddam Hussein

In a conference call with reporters Monday, Sen. John Corzine, D-NJ, one of the leading opponents of the president’s plan, said Cheney had “a virtual career of disdain for Social Security,” and compared his appearances to sending Saddam Hussein to campaign for democracy in Iraq.

How does such a rediculous quote get burried in the ELEVENTH paragraph! Click here for the rediculous story.

A new blog has just sprung up this time just dealing with New York… check it out.

Sign the petition urging Paul Gourley to debate Michael Davidson BEFORE the National Convention! This is the chance for College Republicans from across the country to really get involved and make sure that we find out more about BOTH candidates, by having them debate at least once before the National Convention takes place.

Want to have the Gourley Debate Dodge icon on your website? Simply copy and paste the code below onto your site and you will have an icon that links straight to the page and will be updated showing how many days Gourley has dodged a real debate about the future of the CRs.

<a href="http://www.savethegop.com/petition.php"><img src="http://www.savethegop.com/wp-content/gourleydodge.gif" width="150" height="150" alt="" /></a>

UPDATE: Sorry made a math mistake it is actually only day 14 not 21

Ohio State Chair Ian Ellis’s endorsement of Gourley reads:

As a two-time field representative, state chairman, national treasurer and fieldman school training director, Paul understands how to lead field representatives to achieve success as we did in 2004! I strongly believe that the Field Program is the most important thing that the CRNC does and I know that Paul’s experience gives him the skills necessary to raise the incredible amount of funds and provide the important training necessary to run the best field program in our history.

Emphasis mine.

Under what rock is this guy living? The whole reason why this race is competitive is BECAUSE of this “skill” of fundraising the CRNC had. (Known as deception) Someone on the Gourley campaign was seriously sleeping at the stick to allow him, in his endorsement, to bring back up fundraising as an issue.

Save The GOP issues a question to Mr. Ellis, and ALL Gourley supporters:
What fundraising prowess has Gourley displayed that hasn’t involved dubious tactics?

Email me with the reponse mark@savethegop.com.

Update: Check out similar column by CRNC Chatter