The Rostra Archive

Guest Commentary by Jason Jackson Followers of Ron Nehring’s campaign for Lt. Governor were treated to a sneak peak of his first (and apparently only) advertisement of his campaign two weeks ago. The ad features a diverse group of women stating that under Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome’s illegal drug reform plan “more women will be addicted to drugs… You can’t …

Guest Commentary by Tom Del Beccaro The signs of a wave election abound for Republicans. Recent polling even shows that Millennials and women voters favor Republicans in 2014. Obama’s disappearance from the campaign trail is another sign. So too is Bill Clinton’s appearance in California just one week before the election. Ideally, far ahead of an election, a political party …

Guest Commentary by Barbara Decker As the general election draws close, I am surprised at voter apathy. People are not voting! I think back on voting throughout my lifetime and I consider it an important right. Potentially my one vote could decide who gets elected on any particular race. I read the ballot when I receive it, making sure that …

Guest Commentary by Jason Jackson (pictured) The debate about the nation’s Ebola response is yet another example of our elected officials and their media allies attempting to use ambiguous language to obfuscate their positions and motivations. In San Diego, Congressman Scott Peters has repeatedly refused to take a position on restricting air travel from countries suffering from the Ebola outbreak. …

Guest Commentary by Steve Hunyar Our sleepy little town of Alpine is a great place to live. But as of late, political corruption has begun creeping into our bedroom community. A large (8.5″ x 14″) 2-sided, 4-color hit piece was mailed to presumably all the registered voters in our school district precincts. The pamphlet lambasted a candidate who is running …

Guest Commentary by Jason Jackson Special District Board elections may not be sexy and certainly don’t get the press of federal races or even that of some of our municipal elections, but they are nonetheless extremely important for setting policy in the San Diego region. If anything the lack of attention paid to these districts adds to the importance of …

Guest Commentary by Jason Jackson (pictured below) Recently the City of El Cajon entered into a deal with the Rock Church to permit the Rock to lease the currently shuttered East County Performing Arts Theater on Tuesday evenings and Sundays. The deal would net the city more than $200,000 in revenue while enabling the city to reopen the theater, closed …

Guest Commentary by Jennifer Johnson From the Ruth Institute blog. I have always tried to argue that there is a very serious civil outcome to redefining marriage, and it has nothing to do with religious liberty or the idea of “sacramental marriage.” Since marriage is society’s primary way of acknowledging and understanding parenthood, redefining marriage redefines parenthood. Here in California, …

Guest Commentary by Michael A. Schwartz, SD Rostra Junkie A couple of questions on the Ferguson shooting and riots… 1. If you are making the argument that Michael Brown was racially profiled by the police officer who shot him, aren’t you arguing that racially profiling works? Because Michael Brown had just robbed a store, beaten the owner, smoked pot, and …

Guest Commentary by Michael Schwartz Industry leaders Smith & Wesson and Strum, Ruger & Co. Inc. (Ruger) are two of the most well-known, trusted names in the firearms business. Starting business in 1852 and 1949 respectively, these two companies now manufacture about one in every four firearms produced in the U.S., according to a survey by the Graduate Institute of International …

Guest Commentary by Rafid Moga  Michael Bloomberg’s “big gulp ban” was widely ridiculed for being what it was: local government choosing to micromanage the most personal choices of New York City residents. Well, it looks like the uncontrollable urge of local politicians to micromanage what we eat, drink and consume is making its way back to San Diego.  This time …

Guest Column by Rob Morse Do you need to protect yourself?  Not according to Bill Gore.  Sheriff Gore said law enforcement will protect you if you live in San Diego County.  That is hard to believe given the thousands of crime victims in the county each month. In the last few weeks: It was afternoon when a woman was helping her elderly mother …

Guest Commentary by Eric Andersen Dear Council President Gloria, Perhaps no man has had a bigger impact on classical liberal thinking than French political economist Frederic Bastiat (1801 -1850). Bastiat pinned his hopes for liberty on the United States because he saw no place where law was kept more within its proper domain: the protection of every person’s liberty and …

From Bill Horn… Count of late absentee and provisional ballots confirm that I have been re-elected to represent the 5th District on the Board of Supervisors. I wanted you to be among the first to know, and to thank you for your support. We could not have done it without you. In spite of nearly a half-million dollars spent by …

Guest Submission by Debra Brady Carl DeMaio is  good man and a great candidate.  I financially supported him for Mayor of San Diego and volunteered for his campaign.  If he advances after the election on Tuesday, he will have my support against Scott Peters but today, I support Kirk Jorgensen for Congress. I am impressed with Fred Simon but Jorgensen’s campaign …

From Larry Wilske As we all take a moment of grateful reflection on Memorial day let’s honor those fallen by looking forward to the future and live up to their example. Every day a Soldier falls and we allow a leadership failure to be the cause, our Memorial Day stands for less. This is much more than a day of …

Guest Response by Karen Grube This is in response to Michael Schwartz’s post, Some Unsolicited Advice for Kirk Jorgensen: 1. On the day after the election, graciously accept defeat and endorse Kirk Jorgensen, then tell the Republican Party of San Diego to do the same. 2. Donate time and money to Kirk’s campaign. Not token, meaningless stuff. I mean real …