Honored as I am to have accepted, and having finally added TypePad to the list of circles I've joined, something put off for too long for an Internet Pioneer, I admit to having doubts about what, if anything, I can add that might be original to the conversation. I do so only after having been given the exceptional opportunity to contribute to the work at Katy Benningfield's Conservative Corner.
No jokes from me will you hear evoking Groucho Marx and his too-often quoted reluctance to "join any club that wants me for a member." Katy has proven herself tireless at steady, respectable work in tending the Garden of Truth, and especially in the either too acidic or too base and never balanced soil of North Carolina's dynamic politics. Few others, and I can name one or two at least, have managed to so easily garner an acceptance from me. An fewer others "in a New York Minute."
I qualify my humility at introducting myself here, quoting Dr. Lewis (who died the same day as that conservative cold warrior John F. Kennedy, in 1963 - when I was six years old) from his underappreciated The Screwtape Letters, where the teaching elder demon suggests to his student demon the following course of action as a next step in their eventually failed attempt to subvert "the patient."
"The patient," beloved Uncle Screwtape says, "has become humble. have you reminded him of this fact?"
So, "humbly," I introduce myself as Joel Raupe, a minor player, thought to be somewhat of a loose cannon and certainly unpredictable - a small volcano mistakenly thought dormant usually until the last minute, respected because, it is generally believed by those who don't know me as well as they should, "he's liable to do anything, at anytime, for no particular reason."
In other words, "a white guy," which would also be a mistake. I am "Native American" enough to qualify for federal protection, but would rather sing my Deathsong. Presently, I am gladly at the service of a fourth Republican Leader in the General Assembly since 1999. They were in order, Senator Patrick Ballantine, Senator James Forrester, Senator Phil Berger and Representative Paul "Skip" Stam, each different and above average, excellent friends and good people of better manners and schooling than myself.
I can never be President of the United States because, like Barry Goldwater, I was not born within the United States. I was born in the District of Columbia as part of what the almanacs say is the largest demographic defined by age, by "live births per annum," either before or since.
Whatever else might be said about me, as I pretend to be humble, can be discovered in snippets of truth and some bold lies, here and there, sprinkled around the Internet. But my interests, other than in the good reputation of Republican Members of the General Assembly, may be seen in my WebBlogs.
And the gloriously blank since my broken back-aborted and mercifully brief time as the nominee of my party as their candidate to serve as Representative of District 6 in the North Carolina House of Representatives - http://www.joelraupe.com
I'm a friend of Senator Hugh Webster (R-Alamance), and I like to think a close one, since - like Senator David Hoyle (D-Gaston) and my own Senator Marc Basnight (D-Dare), we shared a house, the "safehaus" as we called it, for two and a half years near Cameron Village - and for its great size, affording us both the pleasure of rarely seeing one another in the morning, we have both confessed eternal gratitude.
That's another good reason for me to celebrate Katy's invitation to contribute to her Blog. The former Senator is scheduled to file and announce his candidacy for the U.S. Congress, at Noon today.
Katy had the exclusive story on his decision to offer himself for the citizens of North Carolina Congressional District 13, and I had the thrill of being able to confirm it by phone. (I have all his numbers. "Access" is a commodity on The Hill.)
I wish him luck, extend my gratitude to Katy once again, and invite you to be at North Carolina Republican Headquarters in Raleigh at "High Noon" to see whether Hugh has succeeded in developing the ability to give a good speech. No one I know looks better on television than he does in person, and I wish him success in all he does. We taxpayers need him. He actually reads the legislation before he votes, you see, and has a better eye for "unintended consequences" than most of the politicians I've ever met. (And I've known quite a few.)
See you there! And, thank you again, Katy. I hope I can live up to the genuine honor.
For More Informaton:
Your blogger is humbled by Joel's kind words. Please check out his blogs at:
Things to Come - http://joelraupe.blogspot.com Lunar Networks - http://lunarnetworks.blogspot.com North State Roads - http://northstateroads.blogspot.com Beyond the Pain Pill Prison - http://painpillprison.blogspot.com
You may send him e-mail at [email protected].
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