Fresh Spring Air

We are now into Fresh Spring Air. Time to get out of our dodgy Winter Abodes. I have talked to many of you in our Orange County Party over the last couple of weeks. Thank you for your well wishes of our newly elected Executive Committee. Some have told me they are thankful for the vaccines and those brave enough to take it. President Trump rallied for them through Operation Warp Speed so we could have the choice, as much as the Biden Administration belittles President Trump for putting the world in this position of having the vaccines. President Trump also recently encouraged the use of them. We have all seen the numbers and begin to wonder, “What If,” over the last year. I have had my first dose, and expect to be Bullet Proof by the end of April. I have heard, read and discussed the pluses and minuses both ways about Big Pharma's answer to the pandemic. Some of you will not choose to take these vaccines. I will not criticize anyone for not receiving them. These are personal decisions.

There are chances we take in life, in almost every aspect of life. It's hard sometimes not to be criticized in those decisions in life. In our Party, we can choose to disagree, and not be Canceled Out, because we hold one position or another. In the Democrat Party, we see the 10% Progressives running everything, and shutting down, shouting down and running over those in the decent. I pray that the common-sense side of the Opposition can have the ability to take control again. But we know that Liberalism is a mental illness, as Rush would say. And the only cure is Conservatism.

In high school I took JROTC. In and out of classes we would argue our positions, during the early days of Reagan. When I later went to Bible College, the same things would happen. We would take a strong stance on any idea in the dorms and defend it as long as we could, with what well of information we had, which for freshman theologians was not a lot. There was one professor whose teachings seemed to challenge one of my most-held positions, which I cling to today. I still can go toe-to-toe on the subject. I hear other views, and I love those who espouse differing views, I just don't share them. Even in our recent County Convention we can see disagreement among us in our platform. We need to have a reasoned approach in all that we do.

I say all of this to begin to showcase our push into Advocacy Action Teams that our former Chairman, Waddy Davis, is leading in the charge. Their early efforts center around Immigration, Education, Election Integrity, and the 2^nd Amendment. I do not believe it’s too late to get involved. They will be working up simple-to-understand position papers in each area and presenting them to our membership. I applaud their efforts to keep our minds sharp, during this time of our discontent, while we bide our time to be at the helm of both the White House and Governor’s Mansion. As they complete one area they will move on to other positions. Candidates are preparing their campaigns for the 2022 Senate race in NC, and we hope for a sound, principled Conservative in the seat. We may disagree between candidates that we will advocate for in the Primary coming up a little more than a year from now. We, that live the burden of politics throughout the year, enjoy the fight, but for others, it is not even on their radar. II Timothy 2:4 tells us to be ready in season and out of season. We are sharpening our tools preparing for the season. Winter is gone and Spring is upon us.

- Rev. John B. Gaither

  Chairman, Orange County Republican Party