The Lone Star State Hall of Famer Named Cool Conservative of the Week

Did You Know Cool Conservative’s Play Sports Too?!

Of course you did. Stymied by who I should honor this with the EUG honor, I thought why not an athlete, a professional athlete. Then, as luck would have it, I sauntered into our TV room, caught the Texas Rangers beating St. Louis Cardinals out of the corner of my eye and it came to me.

In honor the Rangers taking the lead in the Series (at least for now), this week’s Cool Conservative is Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr., nicknamed “The Ryan Express,” the former Major League Baseball pitcher and currently the principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers.

Oh yeah, and a Conservative Republican to boot.

During Ryan’s major league record 27-year baseball career, he pitched in 1966 and from 1968 to 1993 for four different teams: the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

During election years in the late 1990s, Ryan’s name would frequently come up in the news as a potential candidate for some statewide office. Ryan is an ardent Republican but has never run in any race; lucky for him and his sanity these rumors have quieted. He has appeared in print ads for the National Rifle Association’s “I'm the NRA’" campaign (yeah a 2nd Amendment guy).

While not running for office himself, in 1996 Ryan campaigned on behalf of Ron Paul in the Texas’s 14th congressional district election. Hmmm, so Ryan has Libertarian leanings.

And it gets even better. Ryan married his Alvin High School sweetheart, formerly Ruth Holdorff, on June 25, 1967 and they are still married today. They have three children, Reid, Reese and Wendy, all seemingly athletes in their own right.

It’s fun to find conservatives in all types of nooks and crannies, but even better when they are the headliner of a MLB World Series. Go Nolan, Go Rangers!

America’s Insatiable Cronyism

At the local Salt Lake City ABC affiliate yesterday, I fell into some incredibly fascinating political discussion by pure happenstance. In the station to support ABC4’s weekly 2012 election cycle panel, I was lucky to talk with a few bright conservative activists including a U.S. Congressional candidate, a Libertarian 10th Amendment advocate, a Utah economic development leader as well as a thoughtful professor from Westminster College.

While various tentacles of discussion ended mostly with an admission of “let’s agree to disagree” before going back in front of the TV cameras, there were some fascinating thoughts shared and at times, as preposterous as it might sound, agreement did occur.
One of those kumbaya moments occurred when the topic of discussion turned to the basis for today’s attrition of America’s economic and social foundation. While individual reasoning came into question, it became obvious to me they all felt the same: today’s American Dream meltdown has been directly connected to expansion of money in politics (and subsequently greed) regardless no matter party affiliation.

And it’s true. It’s next to impossible for a candidate to make a policy decision purely on behalf of the people when foreign interests, global corporations, massive non-profits and their respective lobbyists are stuffing dollars in the political coffers.
Of course, a more naïve person may choose to believe it can be done. But for those willing to face the facts and break out of denial, it’s a no brainer. Humans are an imperfect species. They will eventually succumb if pressured long enough with high enough stakes.

In my “under the glass” opinion, it’s simple. Once you owe someone or something no matter the entity or organization, you immediately comprise your ability to make clear and objective decisions. When debt becomes master, and not the constituents you serve, all clarity and objectivity vanish. This is the very reason why I had to respectfully disagree with the economics professor who felt ratcheting up a bigger deficit in the short-run might get our country out of recession.

At this stage in the trillion dollar national debt game, literal and figurative solvency must become king. While it may be a hard pill to swallow, solvency is but a small price to pay to ensure future generations of Americans can live and thrive in a country that can protect itself, its constitution and support economic growth, and is why who wins the White House in 2012 is so incredibly critical.

The man or woman who is able to turn this country’s psyche around and undo Obama’s damage will be the winner.

With this said, nothing hit home harder than coming back to my home office desk and finding this MSNBC video in my inbox.



I am so happy my friend shared this rare media moment with me. Watching Dylan Ratigan telling it like it is on his show was refreshing. The pent up frustration with Congress being bought was outstanding and reticent of what many of us are feeling now. Yeah, I know…it’s MSNBC but don’t let that stop you from watching.

Herman Cain: A Refreshing Change from Politics As Usual

Over the past several months, I’ve had this gnawing in the pit of my stomach over the current GOP nominee lineup.

Romney is a smart business man and a relatively savvy debater. And, it appears the GOP power brokers love him. However, Rush isn’t buying it. He’s no fan stating this past week that Romney is not a conservative. I must admit, these factors do make Romney a tentative pick. The thought of another “GOP elite” in office for four years sends a chill up spine much like the thought of Obama getting reelected.
Then there is Rick Perry. I hear he’s running to save the soul of this nation. Also a smart man and specialist when it comes to U.S./Mexico border relations, Perry’s wife Anita embraces the Christian crusade message, maintaining her husband was called by God to run for president. It has been noted by several media that more than once, she has cast the presidential battle in spiritual terms. Not sure I have a problem with this and don’t understand why others do. Making the decision to run for President of the United State is huge and seeking spiritual guidance is no joking matter.

I must admit there are aspects of Perry that fascinate me even though my dear brother-in-law and his wife, the first being politically neutral and the latter more conservative, are not in love with their Texas governor. No matter his jobs growth record, he still appears to take a questionable stance when it comes to some aspects of immigration reform.

Then there is Michele Bachmann. I like her, I really do. I like much of what she stands for and has said over the past year with some social issue exceptions. I like that she has signed the border security pledge. However, “signing and doing” are two very different things. I am reading between the lines carefully this next election cycle because 2012 will be a game changer.

I continue to thank God every day for 10 years of Reagan. Regardless, the 90s under Clinton and the last decade or so of government expansion under both Bush and Obama, along with too few spending cuts and the inability by the Feds to balance the budget, have taken their toll.

It’s now time for out-of-the-box thinking. And, I don’t use the term “out-of-the-box” lightly. Maybe I should be more specific and qualify the box I am speaking of as a “pizza box” because Herman Cain, the former president and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, is someone that could just bring about the paradigm-shift change this country needs to get back on track toward prosperity.

Cain brings an air of “no BS” to the campaign trail that the others in the pack just don’t right now. And while I fully understand the art of crafted messaging, he’s still not like the other candidates in a good way.



Cain can keep up with the intelligentsia but speaks with an air of honesty that not only resonated with Floridians during the September straw poll but has now piqued the interest of Americans nationwide. What sets Herman Cain apart: he’s not your typical politician.

Cain appears to speak the truth directly to the people and does so with an energy that has been lacking to date. In my mind, these character traits are more than enough reason to honor him as this week’s EUG Cool Conservative. 

Occupy Wall Street: Exact Opposite of Tea Party Movement

Okay, I am back from vacation daily liberal absurdity provides so much fodder it’s difficult to decide where to start.

With so much swirling in my mind, I was relieved last tonight as I watched Hannity to hear Brent Bozell of Media Research Center (passionate despite a bad cold) say exactly what I have been trying to get out for the past week or so as I watch media try to compare the Tea Party Movement with some of the most vile and empty protesting I have ever witnessed: Occupy Wall Street is the Exact Opposite of Tea Party Movement.

It’s a simple statement, and Bozell is right on the mark. I have tried hard to wrap my mind around how mainstream media so desperately tries to parallel Occupy Wall Street (aka we’re not sure why we are here just give us money?!) and the Tea Party Movement. How can this be? Occupy Wall Street whiners are about government entitlement and sour grapes while Tea Party types are about smaller or less government, or the weakening of government, which Reagan so eloquently told America had to happen before our country could begin to get back on its feet toward prosperity and growth.

To even try to tie the two movements and their respective rallies together is nothing less than a joke. Adding more credence to my stand that the two movements are polar opposites, a friend recently summonsed up more support for exactly why the Occupy Wall Street movement is so hypocritical at its core in his response to the Salt Lake Tribune about their Op Ed story on the four levels of responsibility for the subprime mortgage chicanery:

“…you along with countless others in the media, fail to report the whole story. It is too convenient to exclude the roots of the problem going back to the Clinton years' efforts to make home ownership easier for all. You fail to mention Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac's lack of oversight when anybody and everybody could qualify for a loan. Granted, Wall Street, Countrywide, et al. do have some culpability in the mess. Shame on the lenders and institutions for allowing all the bad paper to be generated at all, but the facts go back further than you portray in your piece. As a news source, you need to present all the facts and moreover, not skew facts into a would-be opinion on the Opinion section of your own paper. There is shame in that as well.”

The comment trolls who did chime in on the editorial certainly did not spare my friend. Their harsh rebuke of Danny’s thoughtful letter riddled with questionable source URLs was in my opinion uncalled for but expected given today’s lack of liberal civility or rather a hall pass seemingly only handed out to liberal, left-wing progressives without coherent messages.

But hey…you got to love the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment, which apparently has been interpreted by today’s disgruntled youth in Zuccotti Park as: if it has an engine, poop on it; if not, why not have sex with it!

I am with Godfather Politics: Occupy Wall Street makes me want to yell at my TV!

Cool Conservative Duo of the Week

50 Years of Cool Conservative Influence Against the Odds

I was initially going to skip writing the blog this week and relax. But, then I had a chance to think more about Monday and my Cool Conservative post, and knew exactly who I had to feature — my parents!
This first week in October is a truly special week for me and my entire extended family. We will be celebrating my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary on Friday October 7 at a beautiful guest ranch in California.

Some might consider celebrating a milestone anniversary like this a rarity given today’s outrageous divorce rate, but not me. If you knew my parents and their loyalty to each other, you would know that getting to the 50-year mark was simply inevitable.

But, there are a few other aspects of reaching 50 years in their marriage that I believe deserve some reverence: their belief in a conservative way of life and underlying familial compatibility.

My Dad and Mom are Armenian; this makes me and my sister homogeneously Armenian. Our Armenian heritage doesn’t come lightly, given the suffering my grandparents endured during the Armenian genocide while watching parents, siblings, aunts, and uncles killed at the hands of the Turkish. Their excitement and pride over the opening of the Armenian Library and Museum of America and the recent donation of images by the famous Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh was uncontainable, an additional tribute to their cultural perseverance.

I am convinced catastrophic tragedy builds a character like no other. For survivors like my grandparents instilling the importance of education for success no matter how that success is defined by the individual and forgiveness against those to trespass against us would be defining influences on my parents, and in turn, on me and my family. Life-long learning and the positive mantra of forgiving to overcome professional and personal challenges were inherent, naturally fostering a more Conservative mentality of working hard to contribute to society, assimilating as a U.S. citizen and voluntarily giving back when possible or so desired.

So, regardless of my formative years being shaped while living in very liberal progressive, Blue States (New York City, NY and Massachusetts), my parent’s commonsensical knowledge of what it meant to give their children the tools they would need to achieve, innovate and prosper are why they are my most beloved Cool Conservatives of the Week.