Stop The ACLU Interviews John Hawkins of Right Wing News
Posted on November 9, 2005
First of all I just want to thank John Hawkins of Rightwing News for taking the time to answer a few questions. I think many of you will find this interview informative, encouraging, and maybe even a little entertaining. Thank you again John.
#1. What inspired you to start blogging? When did you start?
The 2000 election inspired me to get involved. The media’s liberal bias during the recount in Florida was so out-of-hand that I thought a little conservative bias was needed to even things out ;D. So, that’s when the concept of RWN was born.
#2. How long did it take you to build up your loyal readership?
I actually got started back in early 2001 and after months of work was still pulling only 300 people a day. After roughly two years of hitting it hard, I got up to about 3000 people a day. Now, I’m still a small fish in the blogging game, but I am at least in a bigger pond.
#3. What advice would you provide for smaller blogs that hope to become more successful and gain more readers?
Be talented, work hard, and promote yourself without stepping over the line and annoying people. Put as much effort into blogging as the A-List bloggers do, even if you have a tiny audience. That’s because if you don’t churn out a lot of high quality work when you’re small, you’ll never get to be big.
#4. How many other blogs do you read each day? Which ones are your favorites?
Now that Conservative Grapevine is defunct, I’ve gone from reading 75-100 blogs a day to 30-50. Some of my faves are Michelle Malkin, Instapundit, Polipundit, The Corner, RedState, and Betsy’s Page.
(Hey! What about me?)
#5. Share your thoughts about the ACLU with us?
They are foot fungus on the toes of liberty, halitosis in the mouth of Christianity, and a huge ball of wax in the ears of society. They’re a rotten organization that makes this country a worse place to live.
#6. What makes you the most angry about the ACLU? Their exploitation of children? Their defense of the enemy?
Their anti-religious stance actually. They’re implacably hostile to Christianity.
#7. What is the most effective way in your opinion for people to fight the ACLU?
Donate money to groups that fight them in the court room, change 42 U.S.C., Section 1988, of the United States Code to keep them off the taxpayer dole, and oppose politicians who support the ACLU.
(Sign the Petition to Stop Taxpayer Funding of the ACLU)
#8. How important is the issue of judicial activism? How dangerous is it to the American system?
Judicial activism and the whole concept of a “living Constitution” are fundamentally undemocratic concepts because they enable 9 judges in black robes to overrule the will of elected legislatures while camouflaging what they’re doing by claiming it’s in the Constitution.
#9. Is this why the nomination of Miers was such an important issue to you?
If the Supreme Court were actually doing the job that the Founding Fathers intended, Harriet Miers’ appointment wouldn’t have been very important. But, when you have an out-of-control Supreme Court that’s anxious to insert its tendrils into every facet of American life, regardless of the consequences,
you need textualist judges on the SCOTUS who understand the Court’s limited role. It’s unknown whether Harriet was such a person and, therefore, there’s no way I could support her lifetime appointment to the court. Samuel Alito, on the other hand, is such a person and conservatives should be thrilled
that the President selected him.
#10. Do you believe the judicial branch out of control?
Unquestionably. The Supreme Court should be made up of judges who understand that their role is to be an umpire with the Constitution as their rule book. Unfortunately, we only have 3 judges on the court who seem to understand that and 6 judges who believe they are entitled to be tyrants in black robes
whenever it suits them. That’s a situation that needs to change for the good of the country.
#11. How much time do you devote to your blog each day?
8-12 hours except on Saturdays, which I generally try to use as an off day.
#12. Does it affect time with your family?
I’m not married and don’t have any kids, so, no.
(Hear that girls? He’s available!)
#13. What is the most important issue in America today in your opinion?
Winning the war on terrorism. Either we stop Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups of global reach and nations that continue to support them or we can expect more 9/11’s, perhaps with biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons this time around. It’s that simple.
#14. Does the blogosphere have the ability to change people’s minds?
Sure, but at the moment, because of our small audience size, we do that by influencing the influencers. We write; columnists, reporters, and talking heads read it, and it impacts what they say to their big audiences. In other words, at least for the moment, it’s the who, not the how many.
(Yes, I have often felt that Bill O’Reilly steals some of his talking points from my blog).
#15. Why did you shut down Conservative Grapevine instead of selling it?
Well, I didn’t think I would get all that much for it. But, even if I were able to sell CG for a lot of money, since Danny Carlton over at Jack Lewis did an enormous amount of tech & design work on the blog for minimal compensation, I wouldn’t have felt good about personally pocketing a check for the page when his fantastic work would have been a big part of the draw.
#16. When did you first become interested in politics?
In college. I was a very pragmatic person looking to learn more about politics. I listened to my liberal college professors and found their solutions to the world’s problems to be impractical. Then, in order to see if conservatism had real answers to America’s problems, I listened to Rush Limbaugh. The rest was history.
#17. What is your favorite movie?
Braveheart. Great battle scenes, great acting, great movie.
#18. When I first started the blog, Stop The ACLU, you were one of the first big bloggers to link to me. How did you discover us? What made you decide to support us? What advice would you give us to be more successful?
I’m usually one of the first “big bloggers” (although 9000 people a day M-F isn’t all that big) to link a lot of new people =D. Any time I run across a decent new conservative blog and they appear to be updating regularly, I like to find a way to give them a link. It helps build the blogosphere and besides, I remember what it’s like to have a small audience, think you’re doing great work, and wonder why no one seems to be noticing.
(You hear that? 9,000 people a day isn’t all that big folks! Sheesh.)
#19. Can I have a free blogad?
Sure, right after you change the name of your blog to “Support the ACLU” and talk about how much you love the fine folks at the ACLU.
PS: This offer is no good if you actually change the name of your blog to “Support the ACLU” and talk about how much you love the fine folks at the ACLU.
(Jeez, and I was thinking about there for a sec.)
Again, thank you John for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope people will find some of it useful.
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3 Responses to “Stop The ACLU Interviews John Hawkins of Right Wing News”
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Well, anyone opposed to Christianity in the public sphere can’t be all bad.
Three cheers to the ACLU!
Hey, great work, “Stop the ACLU”, and do not be discouraged by small beginnings.
The ACLU is like the worms in the caskets of dead men. Won’t hurt a thing to squish them.
Anyone who hero worships Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin just doesn’t need to be a voice meddling in American Politics – all they are good for is seeds of Paris riots.
Since the inspiration for such Socialists to have a voice in America’s politics came from Stalin, and after 100 years of seeing firsthand what Marxism is good for, culminating in the horrors of the USSR, Nazi GErmany, and now Paris burning, that is no foundation for any obligation on our part to allow this gaggle of Socialists to use Freedom of Speech as cover for sedition, subversion, and slander – Treason, and no repurcussions.
So, KICK BUTT!
And as Ann Richards personally recommends, get a pair of Texas sharp-toed old-fashioned boots to do the job with.
Ann Richards is really a man.