Four Years on the RNC comes to a close!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

TENURE AS NCM COMES TO A CLOSE!

by Steve Fair

     Tomorrow. I leave for Cleveland, Ohio to attend my last Republican National Committee meeting as Oklahoma National Committeeman.  When the gavel falls and the GOP convention is adjourned, my four year term will come to an end.  I chose to not seek re-election to the RNC for a number of reasons and I have peace that I made the right decision.  I have served as one of the 56 members of the rules committee the entire four years and have enjoyed working with some of the most dedicated, principled Americans I have ever met.  I have made friendships that will last a lifetime.  My replacement has already been elected and will take office on Friday after the convention. 

     On Monday, July 18^th, the national convention will convene for the purpose of nominating our candidates for President and Vice President.  This week, the various convention committees are meeting: Rules, Platform, and Credentials.  Each of the 50 states and 6 territories have two representatives on each committee.  I chose not to seek election to the rules committee( the 43 Oklahoma delegates elect the representatives to the committees).  The male member from Oklahoma is State Auditor Gary Jones.  Normally, the meetings are routine and not very controversial, but there is a group on the convention rules committee who want to ‘unbind’ the delegates and allow each delegate to vote their conscience.  As of this writing they haven’t been successful at getting the 28 needed to get it to the convention floor.  Fact is, like Trump or not, he won the race fair and square and stealing the nomination would be a move that could permanently destroy the Republican Party.

     It also appears the platform committee meeting may be headed to a showdown.  Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is the Co-Chair of the Platform committee.  There is a movement to ‘tone down’ the platform stance on same-sex marriage and some of the more conservative in the Party are committed to keeping the current plank in place.  Gun control is another plank under attack.  Most of the members of the platform committee are Party regulars and conservative, so major changes are not likely to happen.

     This will be my fourth convention and what normally happens is the Vice Presidential nominee accepts the nomination and gives their speech on Wednesday night.  The Presidential nominee accepts the nomination on Thursday night, but the word is that Donald Trump wants to speak every night.  Trump has run an unconventional campaign, so expect the convention to be unconventional. 

     Stephens County will be well represented in Cleveland.  Hope Sutterfield, the Stephens County GOP Chair, is the youngest female delegate.  Hope was the first delegate elected at the 4^th district convention.  Her dad, Richard Sutterfield, is going as an Alternate Delegate.  Stephens County will have more people at the convention than any rural county in the state.  Hope plans to post lots of photos and report from Cleveland.  Watch the Stephens County GOP Facebook page for live updates. 

      Oklahoma has 43 delegates and 40 alternates to the convention.  We also have over 100 guests who attend.  Unlike the Democrats, statewide elected officials are not automatic delegates.  In fact, we have only five elected officials-legislative & county- in our delegation.  Gary Jones is the only statewide elected official to be a delegate.  Senators Lankford and Inhofe, and Congressmen Cole and Lucas will attend and interact all week with the delegation. 

      To a political junkie, going to a national nominating convention is like going to the Super Bowl for a football fan.  Being one of the 2,472 delegates on the floor when the nominee accepts the nomination is electric.   Throughout the week, I post to my blog a recap of the day’s events, sometimes with photos.  It will provide you a great ‘behind the scenes’ look at the convention.     Donald Trump is an exciting candidate, whose unorthodox style and outsider approach has energized the average American about politics.  He is different, but different isn’t always bad. 

The Law should apply to EVERYONE!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

THE RULE OF LAW

by Steve Fair

     The phrase ‘rule of law’ is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, wrote a book titled, The Law and the Prince in 1644 which   argued against the divine right of kings.  But the concept of ‘rule of law’ was addressed in 1215 in the Magna Carta, a document signed by King John recognizing the rights of his subjects to own property.  The Magna Carta planted the seeds that no one was above the law, not even the king.  Founding father, John Adams said the very definition of good government and a republic is ‘an empire of laws.” But it appears that Hillary Clinton doesn’t believe the law applies to her. 

     On Saturday, the FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton for 3 ½ hours regarding her use of a personal email server during her tenure as Secretary of State.  Accordingly to the FBI, over two thousand emails were found on the server, 65 which were deemed ‘Secret’ and 22 deemed ‘Top Secret.’  In order to get top security clearance, Clinton signed an agreement to handle classified information according to accepted protocol- and that didn’t include having a private email server.   

     Clinton appears to have clearly violated the Federal Records Act, which makes it unlawful to mishandle classified information.   By using the private server, she also violated the Freedom of Information Act, which requires government make records available to the public.   If any other American had done this, they would be paying fines and facing criminal prosecution.  The investigation into this security breach has been going on since March 2015 and the FBI is expected to finally issue their report within the next couple of weeks.  But will anything happen to Hillary?  Back in April, President Obama said that while Clinton was careless by using the private server, national security was not endangered.  This presidential pronouncement was made in the middle of an FBI investigation, which was unprecedented and sent the message that Obama had her back.  And who really believes that President Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch were talking ‘grandkids’ on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport?  The person who will make the decision on whether there is enough evidence to prosecute Clinton is having a chance meeting with her husband?  This was unacceptable behavior by the nation’s chief cop to accept the meeting.  No doubt, they never thought word would get out about the meeting. 

     Richard Nixon didn’t believe the rule of law applied to him.  He placed himself above the law and his crime was one of covering up a two bit break-in to get political campaign information.  The cover-up cost him the presidency- and it should have.  People went to jail, including the Attorney General of the U.S., the special counsel to the President, and several staffers.  Nixon lived out of the rest of his life in disgrace.  But Clinton knowingly violates an agreement to handle national security correspondence in a responsible way and it appears nothing will happen?  If she is elected president, do we have any confidence at all, she will follow the rule of law?  This is not about politics.  This is about our way of life, our system of government- the rule of law.  This should be deeply disturbing to every American, no matter their political leanings.  No elected official should be above the law.  If that is the case, then no one should be subject to the law.  Roman statesman Cicero said, “We are all servants of the laws in order that we may be free.”  There is more at stake here than Clinton’s political future.  Without the rule of law, we have no country. 

GOODBYE EU!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

BREXIT VOTE MAY BE PREVIEW- OR NOT!

by Steve Fair

     Last week, Great Britain voted to exit the European Union.  The EU was formed in the late 50s and includes 28 member nations and about 500 million in population.  It established a single economic market through a standardization of laws in member countries.  It abolished passport controls and allowed free movement of people, goods, services and capital.  The ‘Euro’ currency was authorized and accepted throughout the Union.  Brits voted 52% to leave the EU primarily due to the emotionally charged issue of immigration.  EU law requires members to admit an unlimited number of migrants from other EU countries.  Critics of the open borders policy argued that large-scale migration of workers from elsewhere in Europe had lowered wages for native-born Brits.  Voting was heavy (71% turnout) and blue collar workers were the reason for the outcome.  The average Englander was fed up with the elitist class- financial and political- blurring the distinctives of their country.  In London and other larger metropolitan areas, the vote was clearly to remain, but the rural areas wanted to restrict immigration.

     No one appears to have seen this coming.  Pollsters were saying the vote would be close, but that Brits would vote to remain in the EU.  In April, President Obama urged Brits to think carefully about the leaving the EU and warned them the U.K. would be moved to the “back of the queue” on trade deals with the U.S. if they voted to leave.  Secretary Clinton also cautioned the Brits to remain in the EU.  Donald Trump urged them to ‘take their country back,’ and supported Brexit before he took the official position and told people to not to listen to him because he hadn’t focused on it much.

     So does the Brexit impact Americans?  The initial reaction by the Dow Jones was negative, dropping 900 points in two days- the largest drop in history.  That impacts 401ks, and retirement plans for most Americans- if anyone sells at the lower prices.  Analysists expect the market to recover, but the Brexit could impact the worldwide economy for the next year.  Britain is the world’s fifth largest economy and with the political climate murky in the country, investors pulled back on trading.  The British pound fell to a 30 year low against the dollar.  Three observations about the Brexit:

     First, the Brexit vote reveals an angry electorate worldwide.  The 28 nations of the EU have the most liberal immigration policy in the world.  Many ‘natives’ in those countries see their country transforming before their eyes.  Their culture, religion, economic livelihood and way of life are being threatened by unrestricted immigration.  They believe their national and personal security is threatened by Muslim terrorists who can move freely throughout the EU.  That frustration with the status quo is what propelled Donald Trump to the Republican nomination.  Angry voters tend to be streaky voters and not as informed as faithful voters, and their mentality is often ‘throw the bums out,’ which has never resulted in better government. 

     Second, the leadership of Great Britain was clearly out of touch with their citizens. Prime Minister David Cameron, who once called himself Obama’s ‘bro,” announced after the vote he would resign in October and let his successor handle the spilt from the EU.  Cameron bet his political future on the results of Brexit and lost.  Brits have been pressuring their elected officials for years to reform the EU or get out, but the political elite didn’t listen.

     Third, the Brexit has set back globalization.  Political and financial elitists have to regroup in their plan to dissolve borders and create a common worldwide currency.  Convincing the rank and file that national borders are unnecessary and that immigration should be unrestricted has presented more of a challenge than they anticipated, particularly in self-governing democracies.  The sheep are not following as closely as they had hoped.  

     The Brexit vote may be a preview of the coming presidential election- or not.  There are certainly enough angry voters in America to elect Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.  Americans are not ready for a borderless world, no matter what Secretary Kerry says.  Americans want illegal immigration stopped.  They want the borders secured.  The question is:  will they turn out at the polls in mass like the Brits?

 

CHRISTIANS MUST BE THE SALT & LIGHT OF THE WORLD!

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

CHRISTIANS! STAY HOOKED UP!

by Steve Fair

     Tuesday is primary election day.  It is important that every citizen, regardless of their political philosophy, exercise their right/responsibility and vote.  One group of voters that have become disengaged in the political process in recent years is the Christian conservatives.  Once a very powerful voting bloc that could virtually guarantee the election of a candidate, the Christian political influence has waned because many have stopped voting for a variety of reasons.  Here are three:

     First, they feel betrayed and conned.  Many of the candidates who campaigned on family values and Christian principles were not doing it out of conviction, but out of convenience.  When they were elected, the revealed their secular philosophy and failed to champion the issues the Christian voters supported.  That betrayal has come home to roost and many Christian voters dropped out of the political process.  They didn’t see their political involvement making a difference and they stopped investing their time in politics.  That is all the more reason for Christians to stay in the process- to expose the phonies and to work to get principled, ethical people elected to office.

     Second, they view the world as secular.  Christians know this world is not their home- they are just passing through.  They are sojourners.  They got involved in the political process because they believed it would further the spread of the Gospel and that didn’t happen.  They pulled back because they believe that most political types are pragmatists that practice situational ethics and don’t believe in absolute truth.     

     Third, they believe the process is rigged.  Many Christians believe the political process in America is not unlike the WWE- that the special interest groups script out winners and losers.  They think only those who will go along to get along can progress in politics and real people don’t get elected and if they do they can’t make a difference. You can’t argue with their logic when you see the fruit of many elected officials.

     So what are Christian voters to do?  Drop out because they are not seeing the needle move?  In Romans 13, Paul admonishes the church at Rome to stay engaged in secular government.  He tells them that a sovereign God rules in the affairs of men and that installs(and brings them down) kings and elected officials into their positions.  Elected officials may think they are in charge, but in fact He is the real power behind the throne.  That should encourage the Christian to know that God is in control of the situation.  Even when secular progressives win and take office, God is in control.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that believers are to be salt and light in society.  If that salt and light is removed from a culture, it will only get worse.  Christians must stay engaged.  They must be the salt and light otherwise our culture in America is doomed. 

     Noah Webster said: “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, “just men who will rule in the fear of God.” The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty.”

     Senator James Lankford says, “Washington doesn’t fix America- America fixes Washington.”  His point is that individual citizens working to make a difference in their families, their church, their community will change our culture and our society.  President Garfield said: “Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”

     The level of a person’s involvement in the political arena is a personal one.  Whether they choose to become very engaged in campaigns and Party politics or to simply be an informed voter is a decision between them and their God, but no one should drop out.  Men and women in uniform have fought and died for our right to vote as a free people.  Never take that for granted.  Christian- cast your ballot on Tuesday.

CANDIDATE'S WORLDVIEW IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN STANCE ON A SINGLE ISSUE!

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

LESSER OF TWO EVILS

by Steve Fair

     The “lesser of two evils” principle is the principle that when faced with a choice between two unpleasant options, the one least harmful should be chosen.  Situational ethics is the doctrine of flexibility in the application of moral laws according to circumstances.  Both of these principles are rooted in theology.  Some say the two principles are one and the same, but they are not.  The fact is everyone makes a choice between the ‘lesser of two evils” in every election.  All people, regardless of political Party affiliation, theology/philosophy, education, cultural background, or gender have an inherent sin nature, so every candidate on the ballot is evil, in varying degrees.  It is certainly a voter’s right to abstain and not vote in any race, but to use the argument that they can’t bring themselves to vote for the “lesser of two evils,” shows they are ignorant of the true nature of man.

     Situational ethics on the other hand is a different matter.  In practice, situational ethics had been around for centuries, but the theory itself was systematized by Joseph Fletcher in the 1960s.  A Harvard Divinity School professor, Fletcher was a leading academic proponent of the potential benefits of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics and cloning.  “We need to educate people to the idea that the quality of life is more important than mere length of life. Our cultural tradition holds that life has absolute value, but that is really not good enough anymore. Sometimes, no life is better," Fletcher said.  Fletcher advocated that all decisions regarding interaction with others should be pragmatic, relative, positive and personal.  Fletcher proposed that loving ends justify any means. Fletcher claimed situational ethics provided a balance between Antinomianism (no law) and legalism (all law).  But Fletcher’s theory is self-contradictory.  If there are no absolutes, except love in every situation, where is God in the equation?  Those who practice situational ethics remove God from the throne as the moral sovereign of the universe, and substitute man in His place.  Situationists have no true north- no absolute truth, except their conscience.  Jeremiah 17 says the heart of man is deceitful- you simply can’t trust your heart.

     As we approach the 2016 elections, you will have opportunity to interact with many candidates for office.  Question them on their stance on issues, but if you want to know what guides how they will govern, ask them their philosophy on these two important theological/philosophical principles- the nature of man and situational ethics.  If a candidate believes man is basically good and all we need to do is change their circumstances, then they will likely do anything to help improve those circumstances, including spending more tax dollars.  If a candidate believes that circumstances dictate how you respond (situational ethics), then they don’t believe in absolute truth, so they will likely change their position on issues depending on the circumstances.  Probing into how a candidate will make decisions will give you a much better idea of what type of elected official they will be.  Be prepared to have candidates give you a blank stare when you ask them ‘philosophical’ questions and not ‘issue’ questions, but be persistent.  Their worldview is more critical than where they stand on a single issue.  Issues change, but their worldview will guide their decision making process.

       A word of caution; many political candidates will give you the right answers, but watch the works of their campaigns.  They don’t always walk the walk.  Candidates, including many professing Christian candidates, have been duped into believing it is acceptable to lie, cheat, steal, gossip, and backbite to win an election.  God doesn’t bless that mess.  That is nothing more than situational ethics.   

      So go out on June 28^th AND November 8^th and vote for the candidate who has a worldview consistent with yours.  Make no mistake; they will be the lesser of two evils because until Jesus Christ is on the ballot, you will always be voting for the “lesser of two evils.”