The Republican Party of SL - More things to love!

As some of you may have noticed, we have just started the first Republican Party of SL contest. This contest is a way for members of the Republican Party of SL to show off their creativity, SL know how, and their Republican spirit. First prize is 1000L and other prizes may be given out, should there be multiple designs worthy of the highest recognition. See the group notice for details of how to submit an official entry.

Also, the Wednesday Night Political Extravaganza has been so well attended that we have decided to add another day. This will be earlier in the hopes that more easterners can attend the discussions without having to stay up so late. Therefore, Fridays at 4PM SLT will also be a time for weekly political discussions at the Headquarters (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cosentino/212/42/25).

Introducing the Wednesday Night Political Extravaganza!

Once again the Republican Party of SL is beginning to go through a period of change, that we hope will be followed by a period of growth. We have many plans in the works, from documentary screenings to debates, speeches, and even dances. The HQ has gained three new poles which proudly fly the American Flag, a new donation system, a political cartoon displayer, and an events Kiosks that tells the date and time of upcoming events.

However, today also saw the beginning of action. We held our first Wednesday Night Political Extravaganza at the Headquarters. Although, it was not as widely attended as the Sunday Meetings, we were able to reach three members who have never shown up to a Sunday Meeting. Next week will be even better, as the discussion will be opened up to all of Second Life, in hopes of bringing forth the best political opinions that SL has to offer.

This weeks Wednesday Night Political Extravaganza centered on the topic of the US Military. With an awesome impromptu speech by our own American Shepard, we delved into such topics as the morale of soldiers, the impact of the American Media on the soldiers, the wisdom of an all volunteer military, and the way youth are changed through military service. It was a night not to be missed, and hopefully we can count on more participation for our Wednesday Night Political Extravaganza's in the future. They are held every Wednesday at 8PM SLT, or pacific if you aren't familiar with the other, at the Republican Party of SL (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cosentino/212/42/25).

Freespeech It Is, But in Poor Taste

As I was going to the Republican Party of SL - HQ today, as I normally do, with the assistance of the search function I noticed that on the top of the list for the search term Republican is an Anti-Virginia Tech Memorial. I was curious so I decided to stop by. If you would like to see for yourself here is the slurl.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/CARICAVATARS/107/37/21

My eyes were instantly filled with the sight of a caricature of the President in Red, White, and Blue boots, boxers, and 10 gallon hat. He was dancing like a crazy man and carrying a black handgun in each hand and an upside down Bible floating over his head. To the sides there are billboards in both English and French that both direct to michealmoore.com. The noise of sirens filled my ears. Yet this blatant display of, I don't know what, also poses the question, in rotating script beneath the mock President, "Is the Second Amendment worth 32 young lives?"

Though this display is shocking, the question it poses is more shocking still. I'm not sure if he is saying the right to bare arms is responsible for the death of those 32 people or if 32 people is too high a price to pay for the freedom of gun ownership. Either way is wrong by far. Guns were the tool that the murderer used to deny these citizens their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but guns are also the tool that was used to secure those same rights for all citizens. Furthermore, far more than 32 people have died protecting the second amendment, and their deaths were well worth the price of living in as free a society as we currently enjoy. To suggest otherwise, dishonors the memory of generations of fallen soldiers, and those who were left to pick up the pieces.

The second ammendment was put into the constitution for the purpose of allowing citizens the ability to protect themselves from either government gone mad, or a government enfeabled and uncapable of protecting its citizens. Though the time of minute men and militia has passed, the protection of citizens sometimes is beyond the scope of the government, as was proven by the Virginia Tech Massacre. If guns were more acceptable socially, and not less acceptable, this massacre might have been stopped before it reached epic proportions.

What Kind of Conservative are You?

Now that it has been determined which candidate most matches your views ( http://robbrail.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/take-the-challenge-how-republican-are-you/ ), it is time to find out what school of thought you belong to. There are ten possible choices in this test of your political ideology. Here are the possibilities:

Centrist, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, Left-libertarian, Neoconservative, Paleoconservative, Paleo-libertarian, Radical, and Third Way. Each of the ideologies are linked to their wikipedia entry, for clarification purposes.

The test can be found at ( http://www.selectsmart.com/FREE/displayless/select.php?client=zeron ).

I am going to post my top three matches. My number one match was Paleoconservative, which I expected because I am really enjoying the Paleoconservative authors I have been reading lately. Number two is Libertarian, which I have known I tend to lean towards. Finally was Paleo-libertarian, no doubt this had such a high match because of my previous two political leanings.

Also my last three where: Third Way at number 10. Followed by Liberal in the 9 spot and then Centrist at number 8. Feel free to post your results in the comment section, so we can see how far right the Republican of SL tends to lean.

Finally, I am adding a page ( http://robbrail.wordpress.com/in-their-own-words/ ) to my blog called In Their Own Words, where you can go and read what the Republican Candidates in the primaries are talking about. I will try to avoid the short political blurbs that tend to make it on TV and instead focus on larger pieces where the candidate has time to express their full opinion. Any suggestions of resources can be added to the comment section.

On Tearing Down and Building Up

Just as I predicted in my March 28th post about the differences in Political Strategy between the Democrats and Republicans of SL, we are building ourselves up while the Democrats tear each other down. Well, in this case the Hillary Clinton HQ tore themselves down, literally.

Overnight they went from one of the most attractive HQ to nothing. Apparently over a squabble between the land owner and the group ( http://secondchoices.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/gone-with-a-click ). Of course, I don't expect this to be the end for the Hillary Clinton HQ as they still have a large group of followers that will no doubt be rebuilding in a new location as soon as they can.

However, this does go to show the possible problems that can arise if one member becomes too dominate within a group. Or in this case, what can happen if the land of a HQ is on private property rather than group land that is financially supported by the group members, as is the Republican HQ. The importance of which, is only now becoming fully appreciated.

Speaking of the Republican HQ, it appears that we have a few new additions. The WonderFrame with the pictures of the Republican Presidents is now complete. It not only shows each Republican President for the past 150 years, but it whispers their name. Furthermore, Vyre, at the time of posting, is working on making a more inclusive seating arrangement, as the Republican Party of SL has outgrown our intimate expanding circle chairs.

Also, I have added an Intersting Reading page to my blog ( http://robbrail.wordpress.com/interesting-reading ) in time it should grow to be a good resource on conservative thought. Until then, feel free to suggest links to good papers, and if you know the type of conservative thought it is representative of please share that as well. It is my goal to be able to show not just the depth of conservative thought but also the true breadth.

I am also trying to focus in on the timeless conservative issues, so if you run across something that isn't based on current politics but rather a theoretical conservative approach to solving a problem, please share that as well.

Whoa, what has happened to States Rights?

I don't know how many of you noticed this article in the Washington Times entitled "House OKs Electoral College Bill" but it is about Maryland choosing to have its electoral votes determined by the National Popular vote, rather than a vote of Maryland citizens.

Though I would argue a state is within its rights to cede its power to the National Government, in a case like this it is clearly against the individual States best interest to do so. If this passes, the State of Maryland ceases to be politically important within the framework of Presidential Elections. Presidential Candidates can completely bypass Maryland with no political repercussions.

Now I realize Democrats are still hurt over the 2000 elections, but that doesn't mean you should erode one of the last bulwarks of the States sovereignty. The States themselves need to remember that this country was founded, not by individuals, but by 13 States as a means to more easily administrate common interests like defense, currency, and foreign relations. The States have already given up their rights to self elect Senators from their state legislatures. Now potential Senators are forced to raise millions of dollars to be elect by a popular vote which more often then not just proves who the person who can pander to the most special interest groups is rather than the politician who believes most strongly in their States interests.

The wisdom of the Founding Fathers is more self evident today than it ever was. Obviously the popular vote has a place in this Republic, that is what the House of Representatives is for, to represent the people. But who is around to represent the States? Since the passage of the 17th Amendment, nobody. We now have two branches of government that are not only concerned with the welfare of the people but dependent on it to stay in office. Is it any surprise that these institutions keep voting for more and more social welfare, pork, and ever greater government.

What is wrong with the States these days? Have they forgotten that they too are Republics and have a jurisdiction that is constitutionally granted to them? In fact, they have more powers than the Federal Government because as the 10th Amendment states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Has the 10th Amendment died?

Lets begin the conversation!

Second Life, just like Real Life is all about finding your niche. It's about discovering who you would like to be and what activities interest you. Similarly, the Republican Party of SL is going through this process of self discovery. As we look to the future we must ask ourselves how we can differentiate ourselves from all the other political groups of Second Life.

Besides the obvious differences like the way we think (conservatively) and the ways we would choose to change our government, what else makes us different? Are we merely the reverse side of the same coin or are we unique? How can we use Second Life to bring about awareness of the principles (specifically economic and political principles) of the Republican Party of SL?

My idea would be to host nightly discussions, hosted by officers or those approved by an officer, on subjects they are passionate about. Each night could be a new subject with a different moderator. My belief is that if people are exposed to conservative thought they can't help but to walk away changed.

Ideally, by talking of controversial issues in a reasoned manner, we can change the minds of a few and at very least combat some of the liberal thought head on. By holding these discussions on our territory, it makes us less scary (lets face it the liberal media has seceded in painting conservatives as the "other") as well as introduce people to thoughts they might not encounter in their real life.

It would be relatively easy to start this program, all it would take is a topic, a good time for a moderator, and listing it on the events calendar with Second Life, under discussion. I would suggest with tax season upon us, perhaps the best beginner subject would be on taxation. Where conservative thoughts like the flat tax ( http://www.cse.org/flattax/index.php ) and fair tax ( http://linderfairtax.house.gov ) could be discussed in opposition to the current system.

Take the Challenge - How Republican are You?

I ran across Marcburmeister Bury in world today, and at the end of a long conversation with liberals that at points touched on topics like taxation, consumption, social security, and the rich, he pointed me towards a website that helps you select your candidate for president based on your views, rather than party affiliation.

The results where, in my case, rather predictable. My first match in a candidate was Rep. Duncan Hunter (R), Second was Rep. Ron Paul (R), and third was Sen. Sam Brownback (R). Perhaps the most telling ranking from this quiz was who were the bottom three candidates. At dead last, was Ex-VP Al Gore (D), followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D), and Sen. Barrack Obama (D).

Of course, this website ( http://selectsmart.com/plus/select.php?url=08frontrunners ) won't really influence me as to who I choose to vote for, but it does stand as a vivid reminder as to why I am a republican. Obviously, on the issues I care about the Republican's most represent the views I stand for. But what a great device for people that can't even choose a Party!

If you would like to take the test, please post your top and bottom three Candidates, lets see where we as the Republican Party of SL stand. Hopefully, we aren't surprised and our conservative credentials will shine through.

Democrats Vs. Republicans of SL - Strategy 101

Second Life politics is really begining to pick up this week as the John Edwards HQ had a large gathering today and the Obama HQ has two gatherings planned for Sunday. Which beggs the question, what are the Republicans doing? The answer is... nothing APPEARS to be happening. And why not, you might be wondering. To answer that you have to look to the differences in political strategy that the Democrats and Republicans of SL are taking.

On the one hand you have the Democrats. They have four campiagns that are vying for the attention (Clark, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama) of the Democrat vote within Second Life. Each campaign has its own Headquarters, its own leaders, its own supporters, and its own agenda. Every campaign is trying to highlight the "wonderful" ideas of their candidate.

The Republicans of SL have chosen a different route. By design we have built One Headquarters, One leadership, One group of supporters, and most importantly One agenda. We will see our group united behind One candidate AFTER the primaries. Until then we will develop into a party of ideas instead of just another cult of personality.

As the Democrat campaigns begin tearing eachother down, just wait untill we get closer to February 2008, we will be building our party up. We choose slow growth based on conservative principles over the personality of one candidate. So, when you ask why aren't the Republicans doing anything, the best answer just might be that we are taking the time to get it RIGHT.

After a spirited showing at the second meeting of the reconstituted Republican Party of SL, things have begun to move at a rapid pace. Literally, overnight the Republican Party of SL has moved from a good concept to an idea in motion. As that idea takes shape two area's of change are most worth keeping an eye on.

The first area is the Headquarters itself. Not only has there been flowers added to the outside planter, but the inside is now aflower with promise. As you approach the entrance, you can't help but be struck by the simple beauty of a solitary WonderFrame with the logo of the Republican Party proudly emblazoned across its surface. Moments later a welcome message appears, followed by these three profound sentences, "truth. justice. the American way." Finally we are treated to the vision of our proud flag unfurled across the screen. If that weren't impressive enough, a quick right turn inside of the Headquarters reveals a rotating portrait of those that have inspired the Republican Party in the past. Following the circle within the Headquarters you will notice snapshots that have vividly captured the return of the Republican Party of SL. Again to your right you will notice a Kiosk on the wall. Though just a promise of the information that will one day be available at the Headquarters, its prominent placement speaks to the desire of the Republican Party of SL to help enlighten all visitors on the finer points of our philosophy.

Moving from the "physical" embodiment of the Republican Party of SL to the ideas behind the party has also become much easier. With the introduction of a forum ( http://slrepublicans.freeforums.org ) in which members can share ideas, we now have the ability to communicate with each other in a well thought out and easy to moderate system. Gone are the days where we will have to spend large amounts of time on relatively simple issues. We will now have the capability to summarize the important points and do the arguing over internal policy, out of world. Leaving valuable time for in world voting and political discourse.

Taken together it is obvious that we are building not just a wonderful place to get together and discuss the important issues of our times, but a community that will help balance the liberal lean in Second Life for a long time to come.

Welcome

Stay tuned....this will be the site for all blogs regarding the Republican Party in SL. We have a lot of fantastic things planed. Stick around to see how they unfold.