Loyal To LibertyBeta

Jim Bunning (R, Ky.) is one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate. Unlike so many who wear the conservative label to get votes, but betray conservatives when called upon to vote, Bunning stands tall on issues like the defense of innocent life, the preservation of the natural family, and the paramount importance of securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. Mind you, I'm not saying I think he's perfect. (Not unlike myself some years back, he hasn't yet figured out the connection between so-called free trade and the surrender of American sovereignty to international socialism, for example. But given his otherwise consistent opposition to the socialist agenda, there's reason to hope that he can be persuaded by the facts just as I was.) But his overall performance earns him a 2008 conservative MVP nomination at the very least. The clincher: he had the good sense and courage to vote against the $700 billion dollar leap into socialism (the so-called bank bailout). Understanding its true import, he also anticipated its now generally admitted failure to produce adequate results.

Now Michael Steele's wannabe hip-hop Republicans (including Bunning's Kentucky teammate, Senator Mitch McConnell) reportedly want Senator Bunning taken out of the game. They pretend it's because of his age, his alleged gaffes, and his electoral vulnerability. We're supposed to think it's just a co-incidence that he's the exact opposite of the Whitman (Meg or Christine Todd)-Romney anti-conservatives Steele has been bboyin' with over the past few years. These powerheads mean to smack real conservatives like Bunning. Unlike in R Kelly's classic video, they're not even trying to keep it on the down low. Why? I think they want to demoralize conservative voters. Keep enough of them away from the polls, and elections will be decided by gotcha leftists (Democrat or Republicans) and their gimme constituents. This would redefine the political spectrum: Obama's well-tailored, ruthless but soft-spoken communism on the left; Godless, boisterously greed driven Republican materialism on the right; with Mitt Romney's pseudo-(that's Greek for lying) conservatism claiming the middle ground. Sincerely pro-life conservatives who believe in God ordained unalienable rights, the Republic and truly free, private enterprise economics are to be stigmatized as senile, belittled as whack jobs, and generally set up to be talked down and driven out. This strategy similarly centers the cross hairs on the voting majority of the Republican electorate, not to mention the working majority of the American people. Tageting your own forces hardly seems like a good way to victory, which may be why people who refuse to put partisan blinders on have reached the conclusion that the Republican Party is wack (to put it in terms Steele Republicans want "the young people" to believe they understand.)

It doesn't seem fair, though, to be so hard on the Republican leadership for using these tricks, and not say a word about the conservative donors and grassroots voters who are still willing to be taken in by them. As the RINO Republicans reposition the party to be the second head on the socialist body politic, these co-dependent conservatives need to stop co-operating with their abusers and file for divorce. Of course political parties aren't really like marriages. Nobody should even pretend the association has to last a lifetime, and the only kids involved are the children and grandchildren the two-party socialists mean to crush under a load of debt, despotism and depravity.

The report has it that Bunning has threatened to resign if the Steele Republicans insist on coming after him. If he means to resign from the U.S. Senate, and let the Democrat governor of Kentucky give Senate Democrats a filibuster proof majority, that's bad for America and would be hard to excuse. Instead he should just resign from the Republican Party. Given his brand of sincere, proven conservatism, there's a growing constituency ready to rally to his support. It's being organized in Kentucky and elsewhere, from the grassroots up, and is already by registration the third largest political party in America.

If I had the chance, I would suggest to Senator Bunning that while he's thinking things through, it might be worth it to pay a visit to http://aipnews.com. Make the acquaintance of America's Independent Party. Senator, you're an incumbent with a staunch commitment to do right on issues many conservatives care about deeply. Unlike Michael Steele and other Republican Party figureheads of the moment, you don't have to apologize for breaking faith with your constituents on these issues. In a three way general election contest, pro-life, secure borders, private enterprise loving, God fearing conservatives who are loyal to liberty and the Constitution, have the winning bloc of votes. Your proven good faith should give them a compelling reason to resist letting the Steele Republicans play their intended game of drive out, psych out and sell out against the conservative base. What's more, in a U.S. Senate where so much rides on a one or two vote difference, think what an Independent sincerely conservative Senator might achieve.

AIP is appropriately dubbed the new home of American conservatism. This could be the chance for a conservative home run from a veteran pitcher who has what it takes to make it happen. Resign? Maybe. Just don't give in.