Novelist and journalist Martha Gellhorn – one of the great war correspondents of the 20^th century and one of only five journalists honored with their own U.S. postage stamp – is quoted as saying, “People often say, with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’ They might as well say ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.’ …If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.”

I posted that on Facebook, and one of my friends commented that all of the fighting and focus on money in politics makes government “too messy and tense” for her. She preferred to love her neighbor, take care of her family, and not be involved in politics. She added that “Most folks I know are still voting and still hold opinions. They just aren’t willing to get into a debate about their personal opinion or potentially end a relationship over political views.”

Christians have been taught to take that approach, but it is not a biblical teaching. Christ told his followers to take the light of His holiness and glory into the darkness of evil. After all, even the light from a single candle is more powerful than the deepest darkness. Unfortunately, too many Christians won’t voluntarily go into situations that are uncomfortable, that are messy – situations where fighting, corruption, and back-stabbing abound – situations like politics. They have chosen to quietly hide within their comfort zones rather than do the uncomfortable things to which they have been called. They do not realize that they risk losing their comforts when they don’t do the uncomfortable things necessary to preserve them.

Anything to which Christians have failed to bring the light of Christ invariably goes to the devil, and if you’ve noticed the news lately, Congress has certainly gone to the devil. There are Christians in politics (and the media), but there are not nearly enough of them. Too many Christians don’t want to pay the price necessary to do what Christ told them to do. Someone might confront them on their ideas; they might have to give up something; they might even be attacked. There is a price to pay to be a genuine Christian. But James 1:2-4 tells us to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It seems as though God wants us – for our own good – to go through trials and testing. If Christians are wise, they can help bring sanity to our government and benefit from the trials involved in doing so.

Perhaps our creature comforts are interfering with our spiritual eyes. Compare the thinking of American Christians with a young woman named Mahalat who was born in Ethiopia, abandoned by her parents as a child, and adopted out of abject poverty at age 11 by a Christian American family. She spoke at  the Young Black Leadership Summit at the White House earlier this year. When she stood at the podium in front of not just the attendees but also President Trump and Vice-President Pence she fearlessly spoke her convictions when she said,

“I’m not really good with prayers or anything like that, but I just want to say thank you, Mr. President. I know we have a political warfare right now, but I strongly believe that it is a spiritual one as well… And I want to make sure that, I mean, I know that Americans are gonna wake up, and we’re gonna get back to looking to God instead of social media, and we’re gonna look back to Jesus because Jesus saves and this country was founded upon the Constitution, was built on Godly principles, and we’re gonna fight for that… And I just want to encourage you guys to pray every day for this nation.”

She is not polished, and she is not proud, but when she was placed in a position where she could speak light and  truth into the lives of politicians and policy makers, she did so without hesitation. We are not facing political warfare; we are facing spiritual warfare in our government, and Christians avoid involvement in government despite the huge need for them to be there. Christians have a duty to do more than vote and speak truth to policy makers. Christians need to quit making pious excuses and get off their knees (or their duffs, whichever they happen to be using for support) and put feet to their prayers. Christians need to become politicians and policy makers so that they can be in a position to shed light into the furthest corners of darkness.

All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing. Christians have been bullied and misled into doing nothing for far too long. It’s time to light some fires in the darkness.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

Absentee voting has already begun in Virginia. This year, a voter must have one of a proscribed list of reasons in order to vote absentee. Next year, due to action this year by the General Assembly, anyone can vote by absentee ballot – by mail or in person at their local Registrar’s Office – without having to offer any reason at all. The law change is designed to help more people vote. We Republicans need to be as proactive in using the new law as the Democrats will no doubt be.

Because I will be serving as an election official on November 5, I already cast my absentee ballot. I noticed something on this year’s ballot that brought back memories. In 2011 my son was working a polling place for Tom Garrett’s first run for state senate. Also on the ballot was a man running for a seat on our local Soil and Water Conservation District board. One of my son’s friends called him and told him that because there were two seats available from Lynchburg and only one candidate was running, the friend had written my son’s name on the ballot. Long story short, my son ran and won a very brief (six hour) campaign for a seat on the Soil and Water Conservation District Board. He won with just 35 write-in votes. This story came to mind because on this year’s ballot in Lynchburg, no one is running for either of Lynchburg’s allotted positions on the Board.

But this email is not about having someone fill a slot on some unknown board. Virginia’s 47 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) have a lot of power. They were established in the 1930s to “develop comprehensive programs and plans to conserve soil resources, control and prevent soil erosion, prevent floods and conserve, develop, utilize and dispose water.” Since the 1980s the SWCDs have also worked to control and prevent water pollution. These are all worthy goals from a long distance view, but things become much more personal if you are a farmer or a real estate developer, among others.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the SWCDs expanded rapidly, adding staff and layers of bureaucracy. And the least efficient way to accomplish almost anything is through governmental bureaucracy. Further, Virginia law allows SWCDs (and their overseer, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation) to use taxpayer money to hire lobbyists to encourage lawmakers to give them even more staff and authority.

Unfortunately, not all SWCD board members use common sense. While my son was serving, his SWCD told a local farmer that he had to build a large shed to hold the manure his animals created until such time as he could properly dispose of it. Then he had to petition the board for permission to park a tractor in the shed whenever the shed was empty. The board planned to deny that permission.

Now think about this. A government agency not only forces a private citizen to spend his own money on a structure that they demand he build, but then they tell him what he can and can’t do with the structure he now owns on his own property. My son could not prevent them from forcing the man to shell out his own funds for the shed, but he was able to persuade them to allow the farmer to park a tractor in the shed when the shed wasn’t otherwise in use.

As my son would say, it’s all about people’s property rights. There are a number of things that people can do voluntarily to improve the water, conserve the soil, and avoid pollution. And most farmers will do those things because it makes good sense in the long term to preserve the quality of their land. Farmers – most property owners – know their land far better than the government does, so they have a better idea of what is needed.

The point though is not that we need to let property owners do whatever they want to with their land. The point is that we need quality, conservative-minded, common sense individuals to serve on the boards that are charged with overseeing the details of our lives. We all well know that liberals love heavy handed government control of everything, while conservatives believe that the best government is the one that governs least. Virginia needs to have as many conservatives as possible in these unsung positions simply because they do have so much power in the everyday lives of so many people.

Contact your Registrar, ask how many SWCD seats are up for election in your area and how many candidates are running for those seats. If a seat has no candidate, don’t let your local government appoint a crony. Find a candidate (or be a candidate), put out the word to your local GOP committee and to your friends to write in that candidate’s name, and when your candidate wins, know that at least thata little part of Virginia is safer than it was.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

At the so-called “Whistleblower” hearings this week in the House Select Committee on Intelligence, ranking Republican member Devin Nunes (R-CA) explained why the House keeps trying to impeach the president for reasons that are spurious at best. He noted that Democrats “don’t want answers; they want a public spectacle.” He adds that “there are numerous examples of Democrats doing the exact same thing” that they accuse the President of doing. Nunes asks why Democrats are so eager to impeach the President when in just a year they will have a chance to get him out of office in an election. Then he quotes one of the first Democratic congressmen to call for Trump’s impeachment: “I’m concerned that if we don’t impeach the President, he will get reelected.”

Democratic policies and tactics go beyond ridiculous. And it is not just Republicans who have had enough of this Democratic duplicity. Last year, a New York liberal homosexual named Brandon Straka had had enough of the lies and deceit, so he walked away from the Democratic Party. On his webpage, www.WalkAwayCampaign.com, he explains that he was walking away “from the lies, the false narratives, the fake news, the race-baiting, the victim narrative, the violence, the vandalism, the vitriol.” At the bottom of his home page, is the video that sparked a movement. The key phrase from his video is “we reject hate.”

Hundreds of YouTube videos exist from other liberals who have joined the WalkAway Campaign. Thousands of testimonies appear on Straka’s Facebook page #WalkAway. These videos come from all types of people: Jews, Christians, gays, MBAs and Ph.D.s, single mothers, teenage mothers, welfare mothers, Hispanics, people of color, New Yorkers, Nebraskans, moderate liberals, social workers, veterans, lifelong Democrats, and more, but their videos and testimonies express a common theme. A few examples appear below:

“I have decided not to vote for Democrats ever again. It was the relentless attacks on Trump supporters. Democrats were being so abusive of Trump supporters that I thought I would do some research to find out who they were and why they supported him. They were nice people, smart, kind, loving, extremely well informed. They were actually making arguments. They weren’t name calling – which is not an argument. You can be intelligent but not wise. I was so embarrassed that I had not been wise.”

“I don’t recognize the Democratic Party anymore. It doesn’t represent me anymore. The lies the media will tell. Enough is enough.”

“They say they care about children at the border, but they are okay with abortion even though it’s been proven that unborn children feel pain. There is a lot to work on in both parties, but right now the Democratic Party has a whole lot more it needs to work on.”

“ I walked out of one closet and into another,” said a young lesbian who had to hide that she was a conservative because she would not be accepted by her liberal, homosexual community. “Then I found that conservatives would accept me.”

“The Democratic Party, the whole rise of the liberal thing, does not match my Christian values at all. And not just my Christian values, but they were moving away from common sense. I’m a single teenage mother, but I don’t see how they can scream about how I am oppressed. I’m not.”

“I’m a gay Jew, and the Democrats don’t take antisemitism seriously. They’ve brought in some of the most anti-Israel politicians imaginable – aided and abetted by a spineless Democrat Party. Democrats don’t care. I have come to despise the Democrats’ policy of identity politics. The concept that our problems are always someone else’s fault flies in the face of reality and is opposite of everything that America stands for.”

Liberals would do well to do their own research to find the truth. They should recognize that the Democratic Party is nothing like it was when Democrat John Kennedy was President. In fact, the most famous statement from his inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” is the antithesis of modern Democratic ideology. And conservatives need to welcome WalkAway liberals into a community focused on solving the problems of America, not on continuing to divide it for political gain, which is the Democratic leadership’s goal.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

The Sixth Congressional District Republican Committee met on Saturday, September 14, in Lexington. I was not there. I was helping my dad celebrate his 99^th birthday. I’m grateful that Mary Beth Swemba from Augusta County was able to go to the meeting as my proxy. She did a great job.

After the normal opening exercises, the committee went into executive session to discuss some specific, sensitive financial and campaign issues. When the committee came out of executive session, Larry Bandy (Highland County), made a motion that the committee adopt a permanent special rule that limits debate on all motions that come before the committee. Under the rule each person could speak one time for up to three minutes on a main motion and one time for up to a minute on each amendment to a main motion. The chair would be required to alternate permission to speak between those who supported the motion/amendment and those who opposed. Once all individuals on one side of the debate had spoken then the chair would no longer be required to alternate speakers.

Under Robert’s Rules of Order, unless the deliberative body passes a special rule, each speaker can take up to ten minutes on each motion and each amendment. At our previous meeting some people took advantage of that rule to filibuster and delay the proceedings so that a meeting that should have accomplished everything in two hours went four hours and did not cover half the agenda. It was an embarrassment. I did note that one of the most vehement opponents of the special rule had come to the previous meeting with the complete works of George Washington to make sure he had plenty to say when his turn came to stall the meeting. He claimed that because the word “permanent” was in the motion it constituted a bylaw change and should be referred to the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee, which this person chairs. A special rule is not a bylaw, but just to placate the individual, the word “permanent” was removed from the motion and replaced with “until rescinded.” The special rule still applies to all future meetings so that no one can artificially prevent the members from carrying out the business of the district.

Then he tried to fog up the issue of how many votes it would take to pass or rescind a special rule. Robert’s says that it takes either a majority of the total membership or two-thirds of the members present to pass a special rule. There are 32 members of the committee. A majority of those would be 17, so regardless of how many members attend, 17 votes can establish or rescind a special rule. But Robert’ssays there is another way to pass a special rule. A vote of two-thirds of the members (and proxies) present could also pass a special rule. For example, if only 21 people had attended, the rule could pass with a two-thirds vote (14). The lesser number would apply. But since there were 31 members present, the alternate means of passing the rule was not in effect. A simple majority vote was enough.  Obviously, a majority of those on the committee wanted to prevent the nonsense of the prior meeting, so the rule passed, which is how a deliberative body is supposed to work.

Ken Srpan, chair of the Roanoke County electoral board was allowed to speak as a guest. He requested that the Committee help recruit election officials to actually run the elections. There is a dire need for Republican election officials in several areas of the District particularly in the cities. Cities in our district have little trouble getting Democrats to work, but we have a rough time recruiting Republicans. Any Virginia registered voter who is at least 21 years old can serve as an election officer anywhere in the state. So anyone who lives in a county can help Republicans in the cities if they will step up and help insure a smooth, accurate, and honest election

Then the committee voted on the method of nomination for our candidate for Congress in 2020. Congressman Ben Cline had told Chairman Brown that he had no preference. The committee then voted to hold a primary – if a challenger emerged. I campaigned on a promise to vote for conventions, and had I been there I would have voted that way. My proxy abstained, but the vote was not close enough for my one vote to have made a difference.

Vance Wilkins (Amherst) brought the final motion that passed prior to adjournment. A year ago, the committee had voted to use the district secretary’s address as our official address on all social media and correspondence, and to allow the secretary the ability to post on our website official calls for unit meetings and events from around the district. That had still not been done. Vance’s motion required that those prior motions be carried out by the district’s webmaster within a week, or the web host administrator would be authorized to do so.

I was pleased that this quarter’s meeting moved much more smoothly than last quarter’s meeting even though there were more contentious issues at this meeting than at the last one. That can only bode well for our candidates.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

The State Central Committee (SCC) accomplished a lot at our quarterly meeting in Midlothian, VA, on Saturday, September 7. Everyone who wished to express their opinions on the issues did so in a very civil atmosphere.

We approved a procedure for selecting delegates to the 2020 National Convention. Each congressional district will select three delegates, as always, and twelve delegates will be selected at the state convention. Individuals may run as candidates at their district convention or at the state convention, but not at both. An estimated cost to attend the convention will be included on the state application, but the delegates are fully responsible for their own costs to attend the national convention. They will not be reimbursed by the Party.

A petition with 125 signatures of registered voters supporting the candidacy must be attached to each state application along with a filing fee of $250. RPV will determine a deadline for applications to be received (postmarks do not apply), and order on the ballot will be determined by the order in which complete applications are received.

A list of candidates and their social media outlets will be supplied to each certified state convention delegate, but the candidates will not be given a list of the delegates (so that delegates won’t be inundated by calls, emails, etc.). The top twelve vote getters will be the delegates; the next twelve highest vote getters will be the alternates. All delegates will be bound on the first ballot at the national convention to the winner of the presidential preference vote at the 2020 state convention.

Following approval of the delegate selection process, we considered nine different proposed amendments to the Party Plan. One proposal that would define in Article II what is meant by “signed by” on a petition to remove a party officer (an outgrowth of the House District 97 debacle) was postponed to our December meeting. A proposal making changes in the Appeals process (Article X, B & C) was likewise postponed to December.

The first proposal to pass added a definition of “ranked choice voting” to Article II. The next proposal stated that the only way a ranked choice ballot could be used was if it was so stated in the call. I voted against these amendments because there are a number of problematic issues that people don’t recognize in the actual use of ranked choice ballots, and a lot of people did not understand that Robert’s Rules only allows rank choice voting on mail-in ballots.

Then we passed a proposal to amend Article VIII, A, 7, to allow a mass meeting or convention to dispense with the reading of the call by majority vote rather than requiring unanimity.

A proposal to change how the SCC amends model calls in the Party Plan did not gain the required three-fourths vote, but Second District SCC member Jeff Ryar, who supported the proposal, saw that the plan did not have enough support to pass so he voted against it. However, because he voted against it, Robert’s Rules allowed him to make a motion to reconsider, which he did. The proposal will now come up for reconsideration at the December meeting.

A proposal to allow the method of nomination given in a call to be changed up until the state mandated deadline to select a primary (another result of the District 97 debacle) ran into a lot of disagreement and discussion about when and whether a method could or should be changed, so it was sent back to the Party Plan Committee for further work.

One of the two best amendments completely changed Article VIII, F, 2, such that military members whose deployment makes them unable to attend a convention, etc., at which public officials are nominated are no longer placed in a separate “delegation.” Their votes will be counted as part of the unit in which they are registered to vote.

The other best amendment to pass (unanimously) did away with the Appeals Committee (Article X, A), which could be easily rigged – as appeared to happen as part of the District 97 debacle – and turned those appeal functions over to the SCC’s Executive Committee, a much less malleable group.

The SCC accomplished a lot of good things at the meeting, but we have a lot of follow-up work to do before our next meeting at the Republican Advance at the Homestead in December. The amended version of the Party Plan is scheduled to be posted on the RPV website by the end of this month.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.