Congressman Bill Young to Run Again in 2012

By Spartacus Thrace

(September 18, 2011) It looks like United States Congressman C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.) will be running for re-election in 2012.

State Senator Jack Latvala (R-St. Petersburg) made the announcement as he was introducing Congressman Young before a crowd of hundreds of wildly enthusiastic Republican activists at last night’s Reagan Day Dinner at the Marriott St. Petersburg.  The dinner is an annual fundraising event put on by the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC).

The money quote came at about the 4:23 mark in Latvala’s six-minute introduction of Young, when he made the somewhat oddly-worded statement:

And you know some of the best news that I’ve had in the past few weeks is when it became apparent to me that [Young is] preparing to run again.

Sen. Latvala’s remarks in their entirety can be seen in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Young, for his part, appeared aged but unbowed and looked to be in remarkably better health than he did when he last addressed the PCREC at its Lincoln Day Dinner in February (another annual fundraiser put on by the PCREC).  Among other remarks, Young told his audience that he had undergone back surgery, spent almost three months in the hospital, and had lost 50 pounds in weight and four inches in height (he used to be about as tall as Ronald Reagan) as a result of parts of his spine being fused.  Although he walked slowly and with a thick cane, his mind appeared to be as sharp as ever.  His remarks, which perhaps comprise his first campaign speech of the 2012 election season, can be viewed in their entirety in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Rep. Young has been in public service as an elected official for more than half a century.  He is considered by the pundits to be unbeatable in 2012, even at this early stage in the election season, barring a sudden decline in his health.  The backstory of this announcement of his plans to run for his twenty-second term in Congress is that the throng of those who have long hoped and planned to take Young’s place when he leaves the political scene (Sen. Latvala is among these) did not get the news they had hoped for and will have to bide their time a bit longer.  Some predict that if Young’s exit is not a “controlled crash” guided by political insiders, it will trigger one of the biggest political brawls in the history of Pinellas County politics.

Happy Birthday, President Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln

By Allah Palooza

February 12, 2011 marks the 202^nd birthday of Abraham Lincoln, 16^th President of the United States. He was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, President the nation has ever had, and his principled leadership held the United States together in its greatest moment of national peril. He remains one of the Republican Party’s greatest icons.

Born in a log cabin in Kentucky to a farmer and his wife who were barely literate, Lincoln overcame tremendous challenge and adversity to become, first, a successful lawyer, and, finally, the President who shepherded  the United States though civil war and other national calamities. In the end, he left an America that was a stronger and better place, a nation of enduring strength of character, labor, and ingenuity that grew over the ensuing decades into the greatest nation in the history of mankind. It would be fair to say that without Lincoln, there could not have been a President as great as Ronald Reagan.

One can learn a lot from studying the words and deeds of Abraham Lincoln. Republicans, in particular, can benefit from the words and deeds of this great President as he successfully strove to preserve the great American experiment in democracy. Foremost of these lessons is that America would not have survived without his determined leadership.

For those who do want to learn more about Abraham Lincoln, the following is a short list of internet-accessible resources that may be useful in this endeavor, beginning with a video about Lincoln that was featured at the 2008 Republican National Convention:

Other quick links for learning more about Abraham Lincoln include the following:

Happy 100th Birthday, President Ronald Reagan

By Allah Palooza

President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was a man of conviction, a true leader of his nation, and one of the greatest presidents the United States has ever had. Were he still alive, Sunday would be his 100th birthday.  Although he has passed, his legacy remains strong, and he remains an inspiration to conservatives who love this country and the bane of radicals on the Left who hate it.

Above all, Reagan stood for American exceptionalism, by which democracy, individual liberty, and the free enterprise system combined to create the greatest nation in the history of mankind. Reagan saw America as great shining city on the hill in a world of darkness and despair, giving hope and encouragement to all those who longed for freedom. He spoke with pristine clarity about his vision of America, and he gave Americans the strength to believe in themselves at a time of crisis similar to what our country is experiencing now.

Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments speak for themselves, and so there is not much more to state here than to suggest the following quick links for those celebrating his 100th birthday and wanting to know more about this great man: