Courage of Conviction

A colleague sent me an excellent 10 minute video.  It’s a segment from Oprah, not a show I typically watch, but the segment is a great reminder and more.  Randy Pausch is a professor at Carnegie Mellon Univ. who knows that he only has a few more months to live.  He gave a lecture to his class, and in turn to the Oprah audience on the way to live life.  Ultimately it comes down to having the courage to be excellent because someday is not a day on the calendar.  It’s either now or never.  Be excellent my friends!

My first book was just published.  It’s called Speaking of Success.  There are other authors involved in this book as well - people like Ken Blanchard, Jack Canfield and Stephen Covey.  It’s a book about success, just as the title implies.  If you are a person who seeks success or looking to overcome obstacles in your way - this is the book for you.  If you have an interest in buying the book - Please go here.

I was looking at the news this morning and one story after another has confirmed that my world is now upside down.

What did it - three stories.  That’s all I could handle before I had to stop.

First story - Barbaro.  He died - get over it.  He was a horse.  We go out of our way to morn a horse and yet children die every day without anyont even thinking about them.  I saw one comment about someone understanding Philly mourning his death because they are in search of a champion and haven’t had one since 1983.  When will people realize that each and every person is a champion.  Each person is a leader.  We can and should stop looking to others for leadership when we have it within us - all we have to do is use it.

Second story - poll - 56% of Philadelphians want survellience cameras.  Wow.  All I can do is quote a Philadelphian - Ben Franklin once said something to the effect that the man who would give up some freedom to gain some security deserves neither.  How sad that our national birthplace of freedom is willingly wanting to give up freedom for security.

Third story - Republicans propose a state smoking ban.  I’m not a smoker.  I have never in my entire life even put a cigarette to my lips.  I don’t support a ban on smoking though.  I can see teh spin to this story - These Republicans are one-uping Rendell and attempting to pose as the party of health care.  I’ve often said that it is ridiculous to do this piecemeal approach to banning smoking that we have done in the past.  Still, Republicans are proving once again to me that they are not the party of limited government - they are still nanny state light - in other words they are really Democrats who are just taking their time getting to big government.  Real Democrats are running toward big government. 

I for one am thrilled that Denny O’Brien is the new Speaker of the House - Why?  Very simply this - he’s not DeWeese or Perzel, and he signaled that he would move reform legislation through the House.  What more could you ask for from the most screwed up legislature in the nation?  My sincere thanks go out to all members who voted for O’Brien. 

BTW, this means that one of my predictions has already come true.  I predicted that Perzel would no longer be Speaker. 

The circus that is the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives has an uncertain future, thanks in large part to the large number of amatuer members the chamber contains.  The PA House can certainly be equated with a circus, and it isn’t a stretch - there are plenty of rings, not just three, making this circus the world’s biggest.  You have members of this chamber who openly disregard a constitution it swears to uphold.  You have members being bought off with campaign contirbutions or with nice cushy jobs after leaving the circus, and you have a circus master who P.T. Barnum would be jealous of. 

One D has decided to cross over to support King John in his bid to hang on to his own personal life support, that is known as the Speaker of the House.  There are rumors that up to 6 R’s will either vote present or vote for another R as a means of protest.  If these R’s actually go through with it, I think they ought to receive a medal of honor for doing the entire state a favor.  This action will come with a price of course, but it will be the right thing to do. 

The time has come for all rank-and-file Republicans to take a stand.  Will they be enablers and thus victims?  Or will they take their elected duty seriously and start leading?  Based on past experience, I won’t hold my breath.  Victims do not belong in elected positions - only men and women of courage belong in the halls of government. 

It was Patrick Henry who so eloquently stated:

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  

In these times of uncertainty, we need men and women patriots like Patrick Henry. 

I’ll leave with one last thought - while I have been openly critical of the House, it’s membership and it’s leaders, I want this much to be certain.  I thank God for the system of government we have - where amatuers are elected to represent us.  There is great risk in allowing amatuers to run the show, but there is also great opportunity.  It is in opportunity that courage is allowed to thrive.  It is in opportunity that great men and woman are born.  It is in opportunity that liberty is allowed to flurish. 

I believe that before us, on Jan. 2nd, lies a great opportunity.  Opportunity is only potential though.  It only becomes powerful when one person responds to it with openness to the calling of opportunity.  When one man or woman who has been asking for opportunity, and it is given to them, gives themselves permission to receive the opportunity. 

The question before all Pennsylvanians now is this - How many of our elected officials will give themselves permission to receive the opportunity for leadership?

Brian Rice, who I would call a leadesrhip pastor at Living Word Church in York, PA, put up a very nice post about my on his blog - LeadershipConnextions. 

He has a nice blog that focuses on leadership, especially within the church - a area of great opportunity.  This posting deals more with my professional, i.e. “real job”, being an entreprenuerial coach, more so than dealing with politics. 

Take a moment an check out his blog - you may learn some interesting things about leadership.  Enjoy!

Back on November 14th, I posed a question.  “The question now becomes what do registered Republicans do?” was the question I asked.  I gave four possible answers.  Well, I’ve made my decision after much thought and consideration. 

For a first step, I’ve decided to re-register as an Independent.  I am doing this for a number of reasons.  Am I cutting an running from my party?  Some may say so.  Just realize, when I first registered to vote when I turned 18, I didn’t register as a Republican back then.  Back then, when I lived in NY, I registered in the Conservative Party.  It’s actually a legitimate party in NY with a pretty big following and has an impact on Republican politics pretty frequently, mostly because NY allows candidates to cross register with multiple parties, unlike here in PA. 

I like to think of it as my party has cut and run from me.  The Republican party does not represent me anymore.  The leadership of the party has pulled the party away from its principles to a party that cares more about influence and protection of the establishment than it does care about working to reduce the size of government, cutting taxes, and making important changes to public policy. 

This is not meant to be a criticism of voters who are registered Republican - this is only meant as a criticism of the Party’s leadership, or lack thereof. 

So why not register as a Democrat?  Well, I don’t like what I see within the current state of the Democrat Party either.  Besides a disagreement about most public policy issues that would probably be too numerous to name here, I find that the Democrat Party leadership to similar to the Republican Party leadership - arrogant. 

Again, I’m not criticizing voters who are registered Democrat - it’s the leadership. 

So why Independent?  For one, I don’t like to be told what to do.  This related specifically to primaries.  The Parties discourage primaries, preferring to annoint candidates.  Plus, if you go against the annointed candidates, many times the establishment and the die-hards do not look kindly upon you, to put it lightly.  Second, until the Republican Party leadership and elected officials start acting like Republicans, I will find it difficult to support many Republicans.  Third, I’ve come to learn that there are good people in the Republican, Democrat, and the other parties that exist in PA. 

Do this mean I’ll never be a Republican again?  No, not at all.  I’ll re-register as a Republican when the Party gets their act together, when there is a primary that matters, or when it makes the most sense.  Overall, I just really don’t feel tied to the Party.

Let me close by saying that I don’t make this decision lightly.  Mind you, I’ve worked my ass building the Republican Party since college.  I was a Republican Committeeman for a few years.  I worked in the Young Republicans for many years, even serving as the Chairman of Cumberland County YRs and as Chairman of the Pennsylvania YRs.  I’ve worked with Republicans candidates to get them elected, and even worked for a Republican Congressman in DC. 

By making this move, I have much to lose, but also much to gain - mostly I can be honest with myself and sleep well at night knowing that I living out my true beliefs. 

Lowman Henry wrote a piece today on his blog which mirrors what I’ve been saying -

“Proving my point that Republicans lost because they acted like Democrats, so voters decided to go with the real thing.”

 I encourage you to read Lowman’s article - it is right on target and a good warning for elected Republicans.  Here’s my quick version of his piece - get your head out of your ass and start acting like Republicans again.  Of course he says it much more eloquently than do I. 

As for Perzel.  I won’t be surprised if Mr. Perzel is somehow able to maintain being the Speaker when the House votes in January.  He’ll pull out all of the stops to save his own skin.  The voters of PA will need to hold their breath to see if the House Dems are full of weenies to. 

On a last note - Bill DeWeese.  I’m not crazy about the guy, but you have to give him credit for something.  He sees the gambling situation is a mess, so he has the idea of having full, no holds bar, gambling - meaning blackjack and other card games.  I don’t agree with the idea of expanding gambling like that, but hey, he’s right in one sense, if you are going to allow gambling, atleast do it right and allow as many forms of gambling as you possibly can.  Why do it half-ass and only allow the same amount of gambling as the other states that surround PA. 

I want to take a moment and give two thumbs up to my state Sen. Pat Vance.  I sent her an e-mail before the Senate leadership vote asking her to support Sen. Piccola for Pro Temp. 

Today I received her response - nice, short, sweet and to the point - “I did support Sen. Piccola.” 

I thanked her for her efforts to reform Harrisburg.  On a side note, I still haven’t gotten a response from Rep. Gabig on how he voted. 

The PA House of Representatives have now flipped to the D’s.  I guess that’s one way to get John Perzel out of the Speaker’s seat.  What the House Republicans whimped out of doing the people of Chester County ended up doing for the rest of the state.  I wonder if the weenies in the House Republican Caucus will now have the guts to totally get Perzel out of all leadership positions.