Over the last few days, I have encountered a couple of articles that have made me think of the hookah-smoking caterpillar in the movie…

Let’s try to get beyond the mind that conjured a hookah-smoking caterpillar and ponder the nicotine-riddled insect’s question: Who are you? Isn’t that at the very heart of the matter faced by America today? Our governments. Our institutions. Our people. As a nation and a people, we are all battling an identity crisis.

THIS ARTICLE in the Wall Street Journal speaks of just such a crisis. (Sorry, the article is behind a paywall. If you’d like to see it, drop me an email, and I’ll loan you my copy.) The article details the findings of a poll taken by the Wall Street Journal and NORC and the findings indicate that the ties that once bound America – patriotism, religious faith, rearing children, and building community – are all on the decline. Read the complete poll results HERE and then take a gander at the high-level results graphically displayed below.

From the WSJ article…

Bill McInturff, a pollster who worked on a previous Journal survey that measured these attitudes along with NBC News, said that “these differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America.’’ He surmised that “perhaps the toll of our political division, Covid and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.’

Bottom line: We no longer trust our institutions and we no longer trust each other. But we do trust cash. Who are we?

THIS ARTICLE in The Free Press by Katherine Boyle elaborates on the findings of the aforementioned WSJ/NORC poll and very eloquently expresses what has been floating around my head. Are we a cult of personality or a nation of principles? Do we truly have justice for all, not just the politically connected few? Do we still reward merit and hard work – the American work ethic – or do we reward individuals because they happen to fall into a certain group?

In the linked Free Press article, Boyle equates purpose to principle. I am going to cut-n-paste a big quote from the article. Every word is important.

It’s not hard to see why Americans are losing a sense of membership in any kind of mutual enterprise, especially since 2020, when the steepest drops in sentiment occurred. Between global lockdowns, a fentanyl epidemic, school shootings, seemingly inevitable great-power wars, and a looming recession, Americans are losing hope. It’s the sort of poll that if America were your best friend or your child, you’d urge her to seek help.

The decline in traditional values isn’t particularly new. The things that make people feel as though their presence matters, such as civic-mindedness and religious observance, have declined in tandem. From Bowling Alone in the late ’90s to Coming Apart in 2012 to a slew of recent “End of America” essays from every major publication, researchers believe these trends are accelerating further. This decline in civic belief and religiosity predated the mobile internet. We can’t blame the phones this time.

For a while, we tried in vain to replace the default traditional values with something equally noble or even more sophisticated. Classical liberalism, which upheld individual rights and liberty until we started hating half of the individuals in this country. New Atheism had a good run until “trust the science” became a meme. There was meditation. Yoga retreats. Eating clean. Worshipping politics and politicians. Chasing influence. 

But it turns out none of those things filled the national void either. Perhaps if they had, we wouldn’t see story after story about teenage depression and midlife crisis depression and deaths of despair. We have become a treatment-resistant Prozac Nation. 

Who. Are. We? Presidents from Roosevelt to Reagan have improperly accredited the following quote to French historian Alexis de Tocqueville. It’s not his. I’m not too sure to whom it belongs, but I use it because it is just that good.

America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.

Not Alexis de Tocqueville

Truth. Have we ceased to be good? What makes America good? Is it government?

My opinion: Nope. It is her people, firmly planted in a morality generally drawn from religious faith. No amount of government or laws will make us great unless the people we elect to represent us in government and author those laws are themselves good.

I am busy working on a strategic plan for the Weld GOP. It’s hard. I would appreciate your help. Drop me an email if you are interested. I want the mission, vision, and values of this plan to reflect who we are as a party and as a Weld County community. I want the plan to be good. Taking these two articles into account, America is thirsting for bold, aspirational leadership rooted in the truth. Let’s give it to them.

Let’s steer our organization and live our lives morally rooted in principles and exhibiting great purpose. When we do, we will be able to firmly answer a hookah-smoking blue caterpillar when he asks, “Who are you?”

Article VII, Section 3 of the Weld GOP Bylaws says…

“There shall be an Auditing Committee, consisting of three members, who shall be chosen by the majority vote of the Weld County Republican Central Committee and responsible only to it. The Auditing Committee shall select its own Chairman. It shall audit the books of the Finance Committee and of any other office or committee of the Weld County Republican Central Committee receiving funds or paying out funds, at least once each year, and shall make its report and recommendations to the Executive Committee at interim times and to the Weld County Republican Central Committee.”

No one was elected to the Auditing Committee at the Central Committee meeting, so three vacancies exist. So the Central Committee Vacancy Committee is looking for three qualified folks to serve on our Auditing Committee.

I like numbers. What do I need to do?

Please submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) and Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) to Weld GOP Chairman Scott James by 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2023. Scott’s email is me@scottkjames.com.

Don’t let the two submissions spook you.

A Letter of Interest is just that; a letter stating your name, address, and your interest in the position. A Statement of Qualifications can be sent in the body of the same email. Just let the Central Committee Vacancy Committee know a little bit about you and why you believe you are qualified to serve on the Auditing Committee.

How much time will it take?

Our bylaws say that all committees that expend money will be audited once a year. If you spread these audits out, which is the purview of the Auditing Committee, you will likely spend 2 – 3 hours a month on the G-O-P J-O-B.

I’m in. What’s next?

The Chair will forward all LOIs and SOQs to the Central Vacancy Committee for review. The Vacancy Committee will then interview interested Republicans on March 21 at 6:00 p.m. The same committee will appoint the Auditing Committee members at the Executive Committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. the same evening.

If you’re nerdy with numbers (we say that with the utmost respect!), we kindly ask you to donate your time and talents to this needed committee. If you have additional questions, please contact Weld GOP Treasurer Fred Mahe at fredwmahe@gmail.com or Weld GOP Chairman Scott James at me@scottkjames.com.

After years of Serving the Weld GOP, both District F Captain Todd Sargeant and District L Captain Joe Koppes are stepping down. Todd will professionally pursue his musical interests and Joe will spend his time being a granddaddy to his soon-to-arrive grandbaby. The Weld GOP owes them both a huge thank you!

With that news, we need two new District Captains!

What is a District Captain?

Our bylaws divide Weld County into fifteen districts. Each of these districts has a District Captain who works directly with the Precinct Committee People in the precincts within their district to coordinate Weld GOP activities.

District Captains are voting members on the Weld GOP Executive Committee and are vital to the cause of electing Republicans and advancing conservative ideas in Weld County. Our bylaws say that District Captains shall attend Central and Executive Committee Meetings, shall assist the committee people in their district by coordinating party activities, and shall perform other duties assigned to them by the County Chair.

What Districts Are Open?

Todd served as District F Captain, which encompasses the Weld County portions of Erie and Longmont along I-25. Precincts included in District F are:

Joe served as District L Captain which is southwest Greeley. Precincts in District L include

You must live in the district to serve as the District Captain. You can determine in which precinct you live at the Secretary of State’s website HERE. You can also reference a map of precincts in Weld County HERE. Determine your precinct and if it is listed in one of the tables above, you’re eligible to fill one of our vacancies and we want and need you!

I’m interested. What do I do?

We ask that you draft a simple letter of interest and a statement of qualifications. Let us know that you would like to be a District Captain, a little bit about yourself, and why you believe you would be a good fit in helping us elect more Republicans! These are due by 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2023.

Email your letter to County Chairman Scott James – me@scottkjames.com. He will share these emails with the Central Committee Vacancy Committee who will then briefly interview each respondent on March 21 at 6:00 p.m.

We’d love to have you join the Weld GOP Executive Committee as a District Captain!

If you have any questions, please call/text Weld GOP County Chairman Scott James at 970-227-8386 or email me@scottkjames.com!