Congressman Jack Kimble Speaks Out on Egypt

The events coming out of Egypt must give us all pause. From fear of terrorism, to fear of a worldwide Muslim takeover, to fear of high gas prices, the United States has much at stake in the battle to control Egypt. Even though I am terribly upset that Egyptians taking to the streets to protest an oppressive government has been taken to heart by so many liberals, while last year's tea party rally in Washington was not. I do get it.

As Americans, it is very simple to look on the protesters getting attacked in Egypt and feel sympathy for them. We're Americans that's what we do. Most of us would like to be John Wayne and go over there and tell those inciting violence "knock it off before I knock you out." However, there are some serious issues that I hope the Obama administration has considered.

1. Mohamed al Baradie -He has emerged as one of the leaders in the protest movement. For those of you who don't remember, al Baradie was head of the International Atomic Energy Agency who kept telling us Iraq had abandoned their weapon program before the war. He wound up with egg on his face when we eventually invaded. Why did he provide cover for Saddam Husseim? and what are his motivations here?

2. The Muslim Brotherhood - I do not know much about this organization, but they sound like they are Islamic to me. Can we afford to have Egypt become a Muslim country? There is no doubt if the Brotherhood has their way that is exactly what will happen and if it does, we become that much closer to having Sharia law enforced on the entire planet.

3. Relations with the United States - Egypt has long been an ally of the United States and it is important that it remains one. If Egypt wants a real Democracy, that's fine, but a real Democracy will continue their close relationship with the United States and if they don't, they may need to be overthrown.

I won't go far enough to condemn the protesters, but these troubling questions need answers before we can really support their rebellion. I do want to withdraw earlier comments I made that the struggle for Democracy in Egypt was because of George W. Bush. I can see now, that this instability is clearly Obama's fault. The other day Ann Coulter had a great point and that remains a huge sticking point for me, “Mob riots like this,” she warned, “have never led to something good.”

Representative Kimble on Martin Luther King Jr.

The details of Martin Luther King's assassination are lost to history. The where, when, and how may never be known, but that's not really important to the legacy of Dr. King. What's sad about his assassination is that by silencing his voice much to young, his assassin deprived future generations of hearing Martin Luther King's voice on the issues that are important to our generations.

It's hard to think back, but in the time of Martin Luther King racism was a serious problem in the Untied States. As a Republican who believed in equality for all, this was something that Dr. King could not abide. King spent his life on a crusade against the horrors of racism. The question remains though, in our world where racism has long been eradicated what would Martin Luther King focus his attentions on now.

We have to wonder how Martin Luther King would have reacted if faced with the public workers who serviced his Birmingham, Alabama home were protecting ineffective employees or calling a strike that stopped vital public services from getting to the people who paid for them. How would conservative Republican Dr. King have reacted to public employees driving up his taxes and the taxes of the people who he fought so hard to free from the shackles of racism?

With his dream of black children and white children being able to play together achieved outside of North Carolina, I believe that Dr. King would have thrown himself into the civil rights movement of our day--specifically education reform and curtailing the power of public employee unions.

Dr. King would have been thrilled to see a program like Teach For America, that allows young black children to be taught by the most promising Ivy League educated graduate white kids who spend two years bringing education to urban districts before going on to better paying jobs.

Dr. King would have been a huge supporter of charter schools that may increase segregation in schools, but in doing so allow black children to get extra memorization, math, and reading by not subjecting them to arts programs, social studies, and other time wasting subjects so prevalent in affluent white schools.

Dr. King would have stood with Bill Gates and Michelle Rhee as they called for putting a quality teacher and 40-50 students in every public school in America. He would have been thrilled to have the support of public minded billionaires and he would have worked to cut their taxes so that they could donate even more money to education reform.

As Martin Luther King himself said, "When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Isn't it the time to be free from public employee unions now once and for all?

Happy New Year from Congressman Kimble

As we all gather round and sing Old Lane Sign, it is prudent for us to remember just what we accomplished in 2010 and to look forward to all that we will do in 2011. It has been a great year for us as a country. Together, we finally put a check on President Obama and the Democrats and I have no doubt that prosperity just around the corner.

Disaster was barely avoided at the 12th hour when it looked like the Bush tax cuts would expire, depriving many wealthy Americans of their hard earned cash. The Obama administration continues to run up a huge debt. I don't have any idea how they spend money so fast.

On a personal note, things on the home front have greatly improved for me. My relationship with my wife has fully recovered from the incident of AIPAC 2009 and if anything it's stronger than ever since she began taking separate vacations to hike the Appalachian Trail. She always comes back from her me time refreshed like a whole new person.

I have joined the Board of Directions of Last Stand for Children First, to try and get billionaires voices heard in the struggle to reform our schools. After they have reformed education, I hope we can move on to the police department. It really seems to me that when Congress is in session, Congressmen should get sirens.

I had a feud with Jonathan Capehart in September as the result of a misunderstanding on Twitter, but I think we've agreed to put it behind us and move on. All and all, it's been a great year for most all Americans and 2011 promises to be better still.

A Christmas Treat from Congressman Kimble and Nate Peele

I made this video with Nate Peele of www.thatsrightnate.com. He's a great guy and was hugely important in my campaign. Sadly, he neglected his own blog to get his up and running:

Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
A new-born king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum

Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
A new-born king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
to lay before the king pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum
so to honour him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
when we come

Little baby pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
I stood beside him there pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
I played my drum for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
I played my best for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum
And he smiled at me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
me and my drum

Merry Christmas from the GOP
2 Years from now, you know we'll see
See the election of Sarah Palin
See the day, when men of good means
Pay less tax, pay less tax again

2012, can it be
Everyone must be made aware
That the rich do more than their share
Do so much for their fellow man
Let's cut all their taxes we can

I pray my wish will come true
For Boehner and McConnell too
We'll see President Palin
See the day when men of good means
Pay less tax, Pay less tax again

2012, can it be

Jack Kimble's Christmas Message

No matter how much is going on in the world around us, the holiday season offers us a chance to pause, give thanks for our good fortune, and spend time with our friends and families. This is truly what the season should be about.

Every year, Kerry, and I find ourselves thinking about our men and women in uniform. This will be the last year that our military will be able to celebrate a wholesome family oriented 100% straight Christmas, but we know it is still so hard for so many our brave men and women to be away from home. If you are a Christian in a Muslim country this Christmas, it is a great time to proselytize and expose them to your Christian faith.

This year, we're also particularly mindful that many in our state and in our country are celebrating the holidays under difficult economic circumstances. And I'm going to urge those of you without jobs to get up early in the morning December 26 and check out those want ads. No job is going to find you, you have to find the job. Pay extra attention that you are clean shaven and not slovenly looking or smelling of holiday spirits.

For now, though, I want to thank all of you for your support and friendship. And from the Kimbles to your family, Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a great new year. Four our Jewish friends who are celebrating Hanaka tomorrow or our African-American friends celebrating Kwanzaa, may you also have a joyous season and may the peace of Jesus Christ be upon us all.

Congressman Jack & Kerry Kimble

P.S. If you are wanting to send me a gift, please consider sending cash to my campaign fund. If you want to send John Boehner a gift, a cute poster satirizing Two and a Half Men and referring to him as John Crier is not a good idea.

The Amalgamated Singers

It has been a most trying day. The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell may have been heralded as a positive by 77% of the nation, but the other 33% of us are not the least bit happy. Fortunately, today I also got an amazing Christmas gift.

In the early 1960s, before I was born, my mother was in a band called The Amalgamated Singers. They released only one album called Office Romance and it is incredibly hard to find. I had heard it growing up, but owning a copy for myself has been an elusive quest to say the least. Today, I received a copy in the mail from a delightful young lobbyist who knew how much I wanted a copy of my mother's own record.

The Amalgamated Singers were formed in 1960 by my mother and 4 other musicians who believed that folk musicians of the time focused too much on blue collar issues and liberal social causes. Their music attempted to give the other side of things. Songs like The Mine Owner's Lament, Tax Bracket Blues, and How We Broke the Strike of '92 gave encouragement to white collar workers and professionals. They were the only folk group to sing about the need for a strong nuclear deterrent against Soviet expansion.

Sadly, like a shooting star they were gone too fast. They broke up by 1962 and my mom had my older brother and quit performing, but hearing her voice on The Mine Owner's Lament was a treat today as she bemoaned the difficulties of finding miners to replace those dead in a collapse.

Jack Kimble's Message to Freshmen Congressmen

As GOP Pledge Chair, I feel very fortunate that I am not only given an opportunity to help our Congressmen bond, but also to help them understand some of the complex decisions that we must make as legislators if we're to keep to our legislative strategy this Congress. I made this short two minute video to brief them on a myriad of Republican positions.