During my graduate studies, I was frequently in the miserable position of listening to the lectures of professors who loathed this country, and who were so focused on indoctrination that they had all but forgotten that their job was to provide an education. And although the desires of these professors varied one to another – from abolishing gender to eradicating God to magnifying the “wonders” of communism and more – one theme that united all of them was a militant environmentalism that demanded an end to drilling for oil vis-à-vis their opposition to the use of fossil fuels.

The professors gave voice to their militancy whenever they saw fit, which was pretty often. And sometimes, they would ask questions designed to pull the student who was an unwitting supporter of things like cheaper gasoline into a situation where he or she would be lambasted for being so naïve as to think fossil fuels remained a viable energy option.

In the fall of 2008, in a class that covered the history of the western portion of the United States, a professor was lecturing on how oil companies had drained western states of all their oil, and how they had raped the environment in the process. Mid-sentence he suddenly stopped, grimaced, and asked: “Why do Republicans keep pushing for a revival of this kind of thing? Why don’t they understand that we’ve already taken all the oil there is to take?”

He then pushed for discussion, and when none of the students spoke up he began to call us out by name to force comment. When he called my name, I said, “Sir, this attempt to dissuade further oil extraction is analogous to trying to dissuade hungry persons from reaching into a cupboard for food.”

The professor looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but I continued: “Just imagine if you were hungry, near starvation, and you knew there was food in a cupboard in front you, but between you and the cupboard stood a strong man who not only kept you from opening the cupboard doors, but swore there wasn’t any food in the cupboard to begin with. Yet even as he made such promises you could look through the cracks in the cupboard doors and see the food he said wasn’t there.”

I then turned the question back to him and said, “In that situation what would you do?”

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Earlier today, I urged people to vote for the GOP, even people they see as RINOs who show strong qualities as LiGIEs (Limited Government Intervention in the Economy).  I urged them to drag their friends too, as a victory in the House creates gridlock, but a victory in the Senate stops the judges.

Drew Kurlowski (A protege’ of Larry Sabato), has predicted a Senate surprise will lead to a GOP taking the reins there.  He uses historical data to back up that assertion.

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Just outside the DC Beltway, in Maryland’s sprawling first congressional district, an electoral battle is underway that exposes unique ideological fault lines beneath America’s political landscape.

The campaign pits freshman “Blue Dog” Democratic congressman Frank Kratovil in a rematch against Republican Dr. Andy Harris. Given the political tilt of the district, coupled with the Tea Party tsunami gathering force this year, one would think that this race should be a slam dunk for Harris.

A tall, affable family man, Harris is an anesthesiologist, Navy veteran, hardcore free-marketer, and constitutional conservative. By contrast, Kratovil, a former attorney, tries to portray himself as an “independent” who distances himself from Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic majority. However, the Washington Post reports that “Frank Kratovil has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 84.6% of the time during the current Congress.” Among his least popular votes since taking office: support for the “cash for clunkers” program, for the near-trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending orgy, and for the hugely expensive “cap-and-trade” energy bill. Plus, of course, his vote to elevate the widely reviled Pelosi to the Speaker’s position.

Yet, despite all that, a recent poll finds Harris holding only a statistically insignificant three-point lead over Kratovil. This, while other GOP candidates are faring much better even in usually “safe” Democratic districts.

What’s going on here?

One of the most infuriating spectacles this election season is supposedly “Republican,” “conservative,” and “pro-business” individuals and groups supporting entrenched liberal incumbents against free-market, limited-government challengers. For many special-interest “insiders,” even on the right, philosophical convictions are far less important than sharing a “seat at the table” with the politically powerful.

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In the lead-up to the 1972 elections, then-Vice President Spiro Agnew headed up something called “Operation Switch” at President Nixon’s request. His mission was to help get Southern Democratic elected officials more comfortable with Republican conservative values than their own party to switch and urge their supporters to follow.

Most Southern elected officials at the time were Democrats, and the Republican parties in the region tended to be small, elitist groups that couldn’t win elections that were often referred to by cynics as “Post Office Parties.” They were comfortable little groups of elitists eligible for patronage jobs when Republican presidents occupied the White House. Most Southern GOP leaders were quite comfortable as big fish in very small ponds and felt personally threatened at the prospect of admitting new members to their small and exclusive club.

I served as Agnew’s chief political assistant back then, and shortly after Operation Switch launched, then-Rep. Lou Frey of Florida came to see me. He was furious. “We don’t want these people in our party,” he (literally) yelled, “because if we let ’em in, the next thing you know, they’ll be primarying us and taking over.”

That White House scene has often come to mind as newly energized voters with new concerns have, in the process of moving to the GOP, threatened the comfort level of the establishment in charge.

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Republican Gary Miller represents everything the Tea Party activists are trying to fight against.

He has put his name on 10 earmarks since 2007 for $15 million.  The earmarks went directly to three non-profit entities outside of his congressional district.  The three non-profits were all operated out of the same address in the City of Rancho Cucamonga and all run by the same person, Jeffrey Burum.  Jeffrey Burum is under investigation by the San Bernardino DA and the California Attorney General for bribery and corruption of government officials.  Burum is also one of the top contributors to Republican Gary Miller’s PAC.

Why direct these earmarks to three different organizations outside of his district and to a man who is a top campaign donor and is under a cloud of suspicion for bribing government officials regarding real estate deals?

Republican Gary Miller is in the process of negotiating with the Rancho Cucamonga City Council regarding land that he purchased and has drawn up plans to develop.  The residents in the city are protesting the development and he is working with the City to sell the land back to them.  The deal has come under heavy scrutiny.

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A national coalition of Tea Party activists called Thursday for rallies in several states to announce their dissatisfaction with the Grand Old Party.  In an October 22 press release they state:

We are extremely disappointed that the Republican Party (and leaders like Newt Gingrich) has missed the message of the Tea Parties and continues to take conservative voters for granted. We applaud all courageous statesmen (Fred Thompson, Michelle Bachmann, and Dick Armey) and call on other GOP officials to put America’s values over traditional, often corrupt and morally bankrupt, power structures.

This is nothing new, and it is certainly nothing good.  I am no partisan apologist, mind you, and would not support Ms. Scozzafava.  My first significant political activity was on behalf of Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican primary in New Hampshire against a sitting Republican president.  You may remember how that ended: Buchanan lost the primary, and President Bush lost the general election.

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