John Eidsmoe Conference

This past Friday, retired Air-Force Lt. Colonel John Eidsmoe, spoke at the Old Country Buffet in Omaha. His speech entitled, "Seeds of Victory, Seeds of Defeat," cautioned conservatives against losing hope, and becoming cynical in the wake of the past election. For according to Eidsmoe, "In every victory are the seeds of defeat, and in every defeat are the seeds of victory." He gave several examples of this within the past forty years. With the defeat of Barry Goldwater in 1964, many claimed the death of the GOP, yet when 1984 rolled around, pundits heralded the death of the Democratic Party. Now in 2009, when the future of true Conservatism and Christian Ethics appears the bleakest, it is the time for action. Eidsmoe advised those present, not to focus so much on the national elections, but rather on the local races. After all, it is the local positions which serve as the training ground for politicians. He also emphasized a knowledge of the Constitution, and ability to hold officials' feet to it's fire. His point was that we don't just need public officials who know and obey Constitution, but we need an educated citizenry, one that will hold politicians accountable. He masterfully illustrated this point with the story of Horatio Buntz and the Congressman Davy Crockett. This story he recited from memory from the book, "The Life of Colonel David Crockett."

Crockett was campaigning for re-election and he came to Horatio Buntz and asked for his vote. He introduced himself and Buntz said, "I know who you are, sir, you are Colonel David Crockett, our Congressman. I voted for you in the last election; I shall not do so again."

Crockett asked why, and he said, "Because you violated your oath to uphold the Constitution."

"Well, how'd I do that?"

"Remember that bill you passed for the relief of those fire victims in New York?"

"You can't begrudge that, that was a just a small amount, and they were certainly in need."

Buntz said, "It's not the amount, it's not the charity, sir, it's the principle. You are authorized by the Constitution to tax and spend for three purposes: to pay debts, and you know that this wasn't a debt; to provide for the common defense, and you know this had nothing to do with defense; and to promote the general welfare, and this was not for the general welfare, it was for the specific welfare of those people. You violated your oath. I shall not vote for you again"

"Well," Crockett said, "You know, you're right. I can't ask you to vote for me but if you'll call a meeting of the farmers here, I will publicly apologize for that vote and promise never to vote that way again"

Buntz called the meeting, and with or without Buntz's vote, Crockett was re-elected.

In another session of Congress there was a bill to allocate funds for the relief of a widow. It looked like it was going to pass. When Crockett took the floor, he recounted his promise to Horatio Buntz, and said, "This is not a debt, this is not for defense, and this is not for the general welfare." He said, "I am the poorest man in this house, I cannot vote for this bill, but I'll donate one week's pay to this widow. If everyone else on the floor will do the same, it will be more than the bill calls for."

The bill was defeated, but when Crockett passed his coonskin cap, he found he was the only one who contributed. He noted that congressmen are much more willing to spend the taxpayers money than they are their own."

Eidsmoe finished the story by saying, "The point is, what if we had a hundred million Horatio Buntses across America...?

What if we had several hundred congressman like Davy Crockett who either know the Constitution or are willing to learn from people like Horatio Buntz? I believe this nation could be turned around."

That, of course, is the long term goal of the Conservative Christian political movement, we are not about to curl and die because of one defeat, rather as a result of our defeats, we will be awakened and strengthened. Look out Left, here we come!


[David Dykstra is a highschool student from Omaha]