“A Room Without Books is a Room Without a Soul”
William Shakespeare
I have a confession to make. I haven’t read a lot of Shakespeare in my life, but this is one quote that has made me stop and think.
About things that you instinctively know are about something bigger than what meets the eye.
As long as we’re on the subject of “soul” we might as well wade out (or should I say in?) a bit further. About 5 years ago, my wife wrote a novel about the Biblical character, King Solomon. She is presently working on the sequel and the focus is on how Solomon who was at one time considered the wisest guy whoever lived, took the ditch — how he went the way of so many humans who have “had the whole world, but lose their own soul.”
As a prolific writer of wisdom literature and poetry, he kept track of his life with many “words of wisdom” in the Biblical book of Proverbs.
In Proverbs 24:30-35 he describes an image, that of the ant building a home and working at it faithfully and diligently but losing it all later due to careless neglect. It is essentially what happened to Solomon.
Instead of rising to greatness, he was pulled into idolatry by unholy alliances.
I have another confession to make. When I read the last fundraising piece that came from the NDGOP, something hit me after the first sentence. I gave into this strategy once. That it is all about winning — no matter the cost.
Another thing that struck me was that the message was canned — it had nothing to do with what is going on here or the gravity of what’s at stake at the convention in ND this weekend.
This isn’t about winning. The Democrats are not even fieldling serious candidates. This is about the very essence of who we are as Republicans in North Dakota. This is far more about what we stand to lose if we face this challenge sitting down.
What will you do to insure that the platform is upheld? So many of the things previously listed in our platform and resolutions have been labeled “right-wing,” “radical,” or “ultra-conservative” categories.
What must be done to insure that these principles aren't deemed irrelevant? That there seems to be more concern about the code of conduct than First Amendment rights. And honestly, is someone going to address the elephant in the room — there is a challenger to the U.S. Senate seat!
I, for one, am not interested in the status quo and mediocrity. With almost complete control of the legislature and all statewide offices, this is not a time be complacent but a time to stand up for the qualities of the Representative Republic that our founders created.
Below is the link for what the paper stands for on their web site:
Current ND GOP Platform and Code of Conduct (Link)
We have watered down our platform, what we believe and stand for, that 50% of my democrat friends would support the platform on the party’s web site.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this convention regarding platform and resolutions. I suspect they will be such, that we could work on 100% buy-in from North Dakota which seems to be where we are headed.
I am afraid the soul of the party is non-existent or is in danger of becoming extinct.
That’s sad and just plain wrong.
See the link below of the resolutions from 2010 as a comparison.
2010 ND GOP Resolutions (Link)
What we stand for matters.
Florida's U.S. Senator Rick Scott has promoted as a set of principles and policies to win on in 2022.
Click Link Below:
NRSC Campaign Policy 2022 Election (Link)
Suggest you take time to see the comparisons!
Gary Emineth
Washburn, North Dakota
