Conejo Valley School Board candidate Tony Dolz has a real problem with the book The Kite Runner. His platform on his website lists only two issues. One of them is to ban high school teachers from using The Kite Runner.

What surprises me is that the Republican Party supports such a candidate. He has support from Tony Strickland and the local Tea Party. Do they really think The Kite Runner should be banned? Is that really their priority? With all of the problems in schools their priority is banning this book?

Fun fact: The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, had close connections to Ventura County.

Maybe we can suggest those in favor of censorship to read his book.

Ash Givargis has entered my contest to get the top of my blog on the day of the primary election by sending in a picture of a pet with his campaign sign. Ash is running for a position on the Ventura County Republican Central Committee. Getting attention for a campaign to be a central committee is difficult and a candidate can use all of the earned publicity they can get.

Click here for my past interview with Ash. Here is just one quote that shows why I think he deserves to be on the committee:

If anyone thinks Barack Obama is NOT an American citizen they're just morons. I say, get a life!!! They're just mean spirited people who should re-direct their bad research skills to finding Atlantis, or mermaids, or my damn keys. Where did I put those?

Click on continue reading to see the other animals before voting in the poll. You can vote for as many animals as you want.

Ash Givargis is a brave man. He is running for a seat on the Ventura County Republican Central Committee (VCRCC) and he has agreed to be interviewed by my readers. Ask him any questions you want but let's give him some credit before he starts answering questions.

Ask hardball questions but remember that unlike most people running for central committees ( of either party) he is willing to answer questions from anonymous people in the internet. I will delete abusive posts so that the rest of us can watch him answer our questions.

Here's some of my questions:

Do you think the Central Committee should get involved in nonpartisan races when there are only two Republicans running?

Would you work for a candidate that supports marriage equality if they agree with you on fiscal issues?

Who did you support in the 2008 Republican Presidential Primary?

http://www.ashgivargis.org/

UPDATE:

I am not voting in the Republican Party primary but Ash is really impressing me with his direct answers and wit. Here is my favorite so far:

If anyone thinks Barack Obama is NOT an American citizen they're just morons. I say, get a life!!! They're just mean spirited people who should re-direct their bad research skills to finding Atlantis, or mermaids, or my damn keys. Where did I put those?

Since this will cost him a few votes can I get anyone to pledge to support him?

The typo in the announcement from the Ventura County Republican Party above isn't too hard to spot. In their defense the F and V key are close on a keyboard.

I am not claiming to be better at catching my own mistakes. Instead, I am using it as an opportunity to ask you for help. The Star does not offer me the services of an editor and sometimes I post entries in a rush. If you ever see a grammar mistake, a spelling error, or a typo please let me know.

You can email me directly or leave a comment with the correction. You don't need to register to leave a comment.

I appreciate your help. Especially my loyal reader Nostrademus that likes to use Latin phrases.I am sure you have some input!

Rush Limbaugh has been rejected in his attempt to buy a NFL team because of the reactions to some of his racially inflammatory comments. While some of the comments that were attributed to him are either unverifiable or blatantly false, many of the others are true.

When he was in the news before the Huffingtonpost had an article that repeated some urban myths that were not said by him. I sent in a correction and blogged about it at the time. They ran the correction. Here is a screenshot:

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/dennert/archives/2009/03/

Rush Limbaugh has a long history of making racially inflammatory comments. But when attacking him people should be accurate. I don't support him and I know he is purposefully divisive and inflammatory to provoke a response. That's great for his ratings but bad if we want a thoughtful and elevated debate.

He doesn't represent the best ideals of the Republican Party and they would be best served by not wasting their time defending his record.

Democrats have tried to make him the spokesperson for the Republican Party because his approval ratings are so low.

There are many more conservative or right leaning pundits who are worthy of attention and accolade.

I am sure many of my conservative readers will read this as an attack on a leader of theirs and ignore my opinion. That's fine. But I am telling you that the conservatives I know are much better representatives of your values than him.

I have listened to Rush Limbaugh for years, especially when my old line of work had me drive during the day. He is a skilled broadcaster and has many talents. But why he commands the loyalty of so many is beyond me.

Recently a reader challenged me to read a Glenn Beck book they gave me and then share my thoughts. I am taking you up on the challenge. Let me know when to pick it up. I would prefer his latest book with all of the pictures.

In other news we have a new blogger here at The Ventura County Star. Eric Ingemunson , a conservative Republican activist, has posted his first few blog entries. So far I have found him to be a well reasoned and interesting writer. Let's see if his blog lives up to my hype.

Check it out and leave him a comment:

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/ingemusings/

Eric,

I just defended a right wing pundit from some inaccurate attacks. I challenge you to post a defense of a progressive that has been unfairly maligned by the right wing. Deal?

The Ventura County Young Republicans have been hosting frequent events to energize their base and bring new people into their party. They have been blogging, updating the central committee website, using social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and going out for drinks to connect young Republicans to each other.

Here is a photo from their website of a recent mixer they hosted with guests Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy and Ventura County Republican Central Committee chair Mike Osbourn.

Go the Ventura County Young Republican website for more pictures from their last mixer. Do you recognize the blogger in the photo above? Click here for the answer. BTW, you owe me some comments for linking to your blog.

Click on continue reading for a photo of Peter Foy from their website. Try to caption the picture in a humorous, but classy way. The best submission will be posted on the front page.

In my ongoing poll Peter Foy and Tom Campbell are the top candidates. I don't think Peter Foy will run for governor. Do any of you?

Their next event is tomorrow night. The Ventura County Young Republicans are gathering the night before the Tea Bag protests at a British pub for a mixer. Here are the event details:

This Month's Mixer:
Date: Tuesday April 14th, 2009
Time: 7pm
The Crown and Anchor
2891 E Thousand Oaks Blvd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
(805) 497-0070
Dress: The Crown and Anchor is a British Pub. No Coat and Tie Required.

According to their Facebook RSVP list State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell will be there. Somebody should ask him where he stands on the May ballot propositions.