Thursday, September 29, 2005
Fellow TN GOP Legislator Clem Suggests Rep. Matthew Hill is a Non-Thinking, Semi-Literate, and "Shallow" "Knee-Jerk Conservative"
The following is from a post on billhobbs.com on March 28, 2005:
Blogging Politicians
Friday's Christian Science Monitor had a very interesting story about politics and blogging, headlined More politicians write blogs to bypass mainstream media.
Memo to Republican members of the Tennessee legislature: If you would be willing to contribute to a new blog, now in the planning stages, that would be written by several Republican members of the state legislature, about the legislature, contact me at bill-at-billhobbs.com.
State Rep. Chris Clem, R-Lookout Mountain, is one of a few legislators I have already invited individually to write for the blog, either under his own name or as "Legislator X" due to the possibility of blowback from the Democratic House leadership. Clem emailed me a very thoughtful response, and gave me permission to post it for you:
It is not a bad idea. I, for one, prefer to sign my name to anything I write. I think it is good practice for people to learn to write and to learn to write well. Writing forces one to think about what they believe and why they believe it. Too many conservative legislators simply vote knee-jerk conservative without thinking why. I think several legislators would love to write for one of your blogs. And, it would help them think through their own beliefs.
I would love to see Campfield, Hill, Kelsey and Swafford start writing about why they vote certain ways, not just reporting what is going on.
We need more people who can articulate why the income tax is not a good a idea, why the TEA is heading in the wrong direction, why activist judges are undermining our republic, why abortion cheapens human life and why euthanasia will threaten all our rights.
This is the 50 year anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's founding of L'Abri in Switzerland. I owe him and L'Abri a great deal. My wife's family spent a year in L'Abri back in the 1960's. On this 50th anniversary of L'Abri I find an even greater need for conservatives to understand certain foundational truths.
Republicans could learn a lot from having a clear "world view." Voting a certain way because Ronald Reagan did it will only get you so far. I hope your blogs and your attempt to get Republicans to write about their beliefs will deepen and strengthen the conservative philosophy in a Republican party that is too often too shallow to respond to the challenges of today.
So, don't just encourage them to report what is going on. Ask them why they believe what they believe. And, don't be satisfied with a shallow response.
- Rep. Chris Clem
Blogging Politicians
Friday's Christian Science Monitor had a very interesting story about politics and blogging, headlined More politicians write blogs to bypass mainstream media.
Memo to Republican members of the Tennessee legislature: If you would be willing to contribute to a new blog, now in the planning stages, that would be written by several Republican members of the state legislature, about the legislature, contact me at bill-at-billhobbs.com.
State Rep. Chris Clem, R-Lookout Mountain, is one of a few legislators I have already invited individually to write for the blog, either under his own name or as "Legislator X" due to the possibility of blowback from the Democratic House leadership. Clem emailed me a very thoughtful response, and gave me permission to post it for you:
It is not a bad idea. I, for one, prefer to sign my name to anything I write. I think it is good practice for people to learn to write and to learn to write well. Writing forces one to think about what they believe and why they believe it. Too many conservative legislators simply vote knee-jerk conservative without thinking why. I think several legislators would love to write for one of your blogs. And, it would help them think through their own beliefs.
I would love to see Campfield, Hill, Kelsey and Swafford start writing about why they vote certain ways, not just reporting what is going on.
We need more people who can articulate why the income tax is not a good a idea, why the TEA is heading in the wrong direction, why activist judges are undermining our republic, why abortion cheapens human life and why euthanasia will threaten all our rights.
This is the 50 year anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's founding of L'Abri in Switzerland. I owe him and L'Abri a great deal. My wife's family spent a year in L'Abri back in the 1960's. On this 50th anniversary of L'Abri I find an even greater need for conservatives to understand certain foundational truths.
Republicans could learn a lot from having a clear "world view." Voting a certain way because Ronald Reagan did it will only get you so far. I hope your blogs and your attempt to get Republicans to write about their beliefs will deepen and strengthen the conservative philosophy in a Republican party that is too often too shallow to respond to the challenges of today.
So, don't just encourage them to report what is going on. Ask them why they believe what they believe. And, don't be satisfied with a shallow response.
- Rep. Chris Clem
