According to the vaunted Wikipedia, bowling is the most popular participation sport in the U.S., with more than 43 million people going bowling at least once yearly. Bowling is popular because it has to be the easiest sport ever invented. Plus it doesn’t break the bank. More about the former later. If you’re serious about this “activity,” you might invest a couple hundred bucks for a ball and shoes. Otherwise, you just rent some “house” shoes and a “house” ball. Notoriously the worst dressed people (while they’re bowling) on the planet, amateur bowlers don’t have to invest in special attire or style. In fact, they do just the opposite. Just throw on whatever you ordinarily wear to pressure wash the deck. Then definitely find some ugly shoes. Bowling alleys are relatively clean places; but beer, chicken wings, pizza and other similar delicacies have a way of sullying decent apparel. Professional bowlers do wear special clothing — brilliantly colored microfiber shirts that resemble the skin of Nascar autos decorated with at least a dozen sponsor logos. Despite being easier than curling and croquet, bowling curiously makes it on nationwide television. Recently, the world’s best competed in a round robin PBA World Series before a thunderous crowd of, say, at least 50-75 family members and close friends. Staged in what appeared to be a spiffy looking warehouse, this is the sport’s premier event, mind you. Eight professionals seemed almost as bored with the proceedings as did the audience who clapped politely when they weren’t snacking or staring at TV monitors. By comparison, televised bass fishing is electrifying. To be fair, what ostensibly “captivates” a typical television audience is the expectation of witnessing a perfect game. Every bowler — pro or amateur — wants to roll a perfect game. PBA televised events pay $10K for this rare achievement — so rare, in fact, that last year a mere 42,163 perfect games were recorded in the US. You can go to any Podunk bowling center in America and see the names of dozens of 300 rollers. They come in all ages, sizes and shapes. You can see them in League play. The game is simple. You play it on an “alley” 60′ long from the foul line to the head pin (that’s the pin in the middle, closest to you). The alley is 42″ wide. The pins (10 of them) are 15″ tall, arranged in a reverse triangle that puts them 12″ apart, each from the other. You take an 8.5″ diameter ball and roll it toward the head pin (the nearest pin). Children can do it. Recently, a 15 year old boy in the Junior Division rolled a perfect game on national TV. He received a $1000 scholarship. What generosity. Senior bowlers — grandmas and grandpas — most disabled by age to some degree — descend on alleys all over America, regularly bowling 200+ games, some flirting with perfect games. The “sport” is so easy, the perfect game has lost its luster. You can witness the apathy for yourself. Someone two lanes over may have nine strikes in a row — just three short of perfection — while others in the building pay scant attention and certainly don’t gather round. If it does happen, you have handshakes, high fives and an announcement over the PA system. Then it’s on to the next game. The good news is — bowling is lots of fun for family and friends who can socialize for a couple of hours, have some laughs and get in a little exercise — on the cheap. The bad news? As a professional sport, the game is dull as dirt. The organizing bodies better come up with some way to make the game more difficult —  to add challenge — to add personality, danger or some other unexpected element. The Nascar audience would drop precipitously were it not for the danger — the possibility of massive pile-ups, cars cart-wheeling down the track, cars on fire, a driver shoving a rival into the wall and drivers punching each other after the smoke clears. Of course, Nascar is trying its best to ruin the sport by over regulating gratuitous violence. They, like the NFL, are trying to do to Nascar what Bowling has already managed to achieve. As social recreation, bowling is alive and well and will remain so. Anyone can do it; and with very little practice, can do it relatively well. Ultimately, you can eat and exercise simultaneously. And nobody — but nobody — cares how you dress.

The undisputed king of Conservative talk radio is Rush. No argument there. Most of the time his political analysis rests on solid ground. But his recent monologues on the weakness, the feebleness, the cowardice of the GOP were badly flawed, especially for someone who brags daily about his analytical superiority. Like other pundits, Rush said he’s perplexed. He said the GOP finally has political power but doesn’t exercise that power. Why? He surmises the GOP foolishly cares about its image of fair play — and thus chooses to occupy the moral high ground — to avoid media criticism and voter discontent. He claims the GOP doesn’t understand that DEMS have been waging war for decades — he says the GOP doesn’t understand that Democrats never play fair — he says the GOP doesn’t understand that the Democrat Party fights to win at all cost — that the DEMS want to bury the GOP from top to bottom. And like nearly everyone else on the planet, Rush is among those who don’t understand why the GOP doesn’t exercise its muscle, doesn’t strap it on and wage war as the voters commanded them to do with their precious votes. Rush should know better. He should grasp the obvious — that the GOP does in fact “get it.” The GOP is not timid, not spineless. He and everyone else should finally wake up and smell the Truth. The GOP and DEM are not opposition parties in the matter of political governance. They give the appearance of rivals, certainly — like heavyweights in the WWE ring. But after their skirmishes in public, these political “brawlers” laugh it up in private. No matter which party wins or loses, the outcome remains the same — the United States, the people, continue to fall deeper and deeper into astronomical debt, the addicted Federal Government continues to grow larger and larger, continues to print, borrow and spend more dollars to support its habit, and continues to impose ever increasing regulations upon every aspect of American life. You don’t have to be a forensic pathologist to diagnose the evidence of foul play, do you? After all, the evidence isn’t circumstantial. You are an eyewitness. Every year, every quarter of the year, every month of the quarter, you receive an official survey from the National Republican Committee, urging you to participate in supporting GOP “principles” — Balanced Budget, Tax reform, IRS reform, Immigration reform, Healthcare reform, Education reform, Welfare reform, etc. These mailings are bogus. They simply troll for dollars. Every month, every day, in broadcast interviews, GOP officials complain that something needs to be done to restore America’s sacred principles of Limited Government. Yet every day, debt escalates. Unelected Federal bureaucrats stretch their meddling hands into every home, every business, every school, every clinic, every city hall and every State House. The Washington swamp gets deeper and more contaminated, more corrupt. And try as it might, the GOP just doesn’t have the balance of power to act, right? Wrong.  Because the GOP has no intention of solving or changing anything. More Kool Aid anyone? How dumb can you be? Pretty damn dumb if you think electing different people will lead to a different outcome. Under the circumstances, you just might want to investigate reality:

Washington — Congress, SCOTUS, every agency — will never voluntarily reduce its power, size, budget and authority over the States. Washington answers only to money and more power.

The first priority of every elected official is to secure his/her position — power, money, influence, perks, lifetime security. That priority is confirmed by assuring the Federal Government continues to grow,  amassing more power and greater control.

America became the envy of the world as a model of individual liberty, free enterprise and justice before the Law. Millions flocked to the land of opportunity. Meanwhile, Europe and  much of the rest of the world remain under Socialism, Communism, Monarchy and other Autocracies. These countries did not choose to  emulate the American model. That fact should give you a clue.

If the majority of people wanted less government and more liberty, the U.S. wouldn’t be speeding to outright Socialism.

People eventually prefer to give up their Liberty to a powerful Government that secures their basic daily needs. Ruling classes, aristocracies, and caste systems depend on this preference.

Donald Trump is the symbol of everything the Washington oligarchy hates. He represents the robust idea of America, circa 1920. He will not fulfill his promises because the GOP will not let him succeed. Rush was right about one thing. There is a war going on. But it’s not DEM vs. GOP. It’s the DEM, GOP, Media, Fed Bureaucracy and Entertainment Industry vs. Trump and every person who voted for him.

There is one and only one remedy. The Founders, in their genius,  gave it to you.

Article V.

Sign the petition now.

https://www.conventionofstates.com/

According to the revered Heritage Foundation, the modern American Conservative movement was born in 1953 with publication of Russell Kirk’s masterwork — The Conservative Mind. Kirk deserves profound acclaim, as do many other legendary heroes of Conservatism — among them, Goldwater, Friedman, Buckley, Reagan, Gingrich — even media stalwarts like Limbaugh and Levin. Too bad all of that stunning brainpower doesn’t include the name of one mediocre marketer of average intellect. Too bad some competent people with common sense didn’t convene to create a compelling brand name that would coincide with compelling brand principles. But, typical of many “think-tank” scholars, Kirk and other stalwart authors ignored their audience. They planted the seeds of Conservatism all across fertile political fields; and in doing so, forever alienated the majority of voters under the age of 35 — those living and those yet to be conceived (in the Biblical sense). They failed to consider that millions of people would reject the word “conservative” — but not because they would reject Conservative beliefs. They reject the word — the word. They reject it simply because no self respecting millennial wants to be thought of as “conservative.” As that famous intellectual Gomer Pyle was so fond of saying, “Surprise, surprise! Because who can blame them? Nobody should. “Conservative” is the wrong term for a political ideology that is potent, powerful and productive. If you think you’re a Conservative, take a simple test to prove it. List the known synonyms of “conservative” that you can find in any thesaurus or dictionary. Do it. Do it now. Ready? They are:

Bourgeois, Controlled, Conventional, Die-hard, Fearful, Firm, Fogeyish, Fuddy-duddy, Guarded, Hard Hat, Hidebound, Holding, Illiberal, In a Rut, Inflexible, Obstinate, Old Guard, Old Line, Orthodox, Prejudiced, Reactionary, Redneck, Right of Center, Right Winger, Sober, Stable, Traditional, Unchangeable, Uncreative, Un-Daring, Unimaginative, White Bread.

By contrast to these published definitions of “conservative,”you should also familiarize yourself with the “liberal” counterparts:

Advanced, Avante-Garde, Broad-minded, Enlightened, Flexible, Free, High-minded, Humanistic, Humanitarian, Intelligent, Interested, Left, Loose, Lenient, Libertarian, Magnanimous, Permissive, Rational, Reasonable, Receptive, Receiving, Reformist, Tolerant, Unbiased, Unbigoted, Unconventional, Understanding, Unorthodox, Unprejudiced.

These words are not perceptions. These words are published in the most respected anthologies. These words and definitions are taught, used and accepted in the best schools — grammar schools, high schools and colleges. Conservatives are “Right Wingers.” But Liberals are not “Left Wingers.” Liberals are “Understanding.” Conservatives are “Obstinate.” Conservatives are “reactionary.” Liberals are “rational.” With few exceptions, Conservative is synonymous with negativity, antagonism and deprecation. Liberal is synonymous with thoughtfulness, intelligence and enlightenment. These perceptions may be false but nothing can change them. Conservative gurus in academia and in media work tirelessly to reverse these wrong impressions in an effort to sway young voters — to believe that Conservatism is in their self interest and can indeed be “cool.” They will be successful — when Hell freezes over. At best, Conservatism is an anemic name for a muscular doctrine. Conservatism didn’t elect Trump. The true Conservative candidates lost. The self-avowed Conservative Inner Circle rejected Trump and still does, along with the GOP Beltway Boys. If the Democrat Party had placed in nomination an authentic American Centrist — someone other than their anointed serial criminal or whacko Socialist — Donald and Melania would  be living happily together in Manhattan, doing what billionaires do. Trump didn’t create a new brand, but he did create a new coalition — a coalition that doesn’t walk lock-step with the GOP or any other established party. The Outsider defeated the Establishment. But demographics are not on the side of the new coalition without attracting millennials in much greater numbers. The case has to be made and marketed. The window is open — temporarily. It needs a name.