Sadly, I cannot accept the nomination

“I’ve never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a ‘fat cat’ and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a ‘public-spirited philanthropist'.”
—President Ronald Reagan

A reader sent the following to me: “Mike, Please run for president. Right Hook is the only reason I read the News & Review. It is refreshing to read your straightforward explanations of the conservative principles that allowed this country to become so great so fast. I am concerned that with each passing day this country is becoming more socialistic and unless we have more people like you spreading the word, we will soon become the next Canada or France. Keep up the good work.”

Dear A.M. Thanks for the encouragement and the support. Unfortunately, I’d probably have to take a pay cut—assuming I could get elected.

I once had political aspirations, but lamentably, I had the fortune (or perhaps the misfortune) to work for two government agencies as a young law student. The first was an agency in the executive branch. Just beyond my cubicle, I had the privilege of watching two grown men—all day, every day—whose sole job was to file paperwork in an endless sea of filing cabinets. (That is, when they weren’t taking that all-important “union-mandated break.") Those gentlemen were what I would call “lifers.” That is, they were full-time government employees with benefits, paid vacations and retirement plans. And might I say they were dumber than a bag of rocks, but at least they were intelligent enough to have found a way to earn that “living wage.”

Anyway, about a year later after an election cycle. a round of budget cuts arrived. Of course, myself and the other part-time law clerk in the office were first on the chopping block, and we eventually were laid off. I still have the letter of protest (and subsequent recommendation) from my boss—herself, a genuine, bona fide conservative—in which she told her boss that she received more work out of me and my counterpart than she ever did from any two full-time government employees—and at half the cost.

After being laid off from that job, positions miraculously opened up at the legislative level, which if nothing else, shows the way government bureaucrats play hide and seek with taxpayer money.

My second round of government experience was in the legislative branch clerking for a state representative. I learned several important lessons there. To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, politicians may practice the world’s second-oldest profession, but it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

You may find examples of conservative hypocrisy, but it is far more prevalent among liberals.

For example, they’re all for raising taxes on someone else, but never have I seen any liberal pay more in taxes than they’re required to. If I understand their thinking, apparently only liberals are paying their “fair share.”

They’re all for immigration reform to import a whole new set of constituents but when it comes to punishment, only the corporations that hire illegal aliens get punished, while they prohibit government entities from even asking about legal status (see city of Las Vegas police department).

They’re all for saving the environment and stopping that myth known as “global warming” by forcing everyone else to sacrifice their standard of living, but where does the chief environmental nanny live? Oh yes, a 30,000-square-foot mansion in Memphis, Tenn.

They’re all for bashing big corporations, as with Michael Moore, but guess where their money is invested?

And that perhaps brings us back to Reagan’s assertions.

www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702270382