Tea Party 2010: Revolution Brewing? Or Is That Some Weak Tea?
As the nation and the tea party movement prepare for the new year, President Obama and the Democrats have been rushing forward legislation which will forever change the country and raise the deficit.
How far has the tea party movement come since the beginning of last year? A massive event occurred in Washington, D.C., on 9/12, and even greater numbers of people demonstrated all over the country to express their frustration. But ultimately, have they achieved any results? The bills have still gone through, and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Obama have shucked aside criticisms.
Ignoring the (majority) public outcry, some legislators have gone so far as to ban tea party members from their offices under penalty of arrest. Most of the MSM, excluding Fox, has carried the Democrats’ water, portraying tea parties as a fringe movement at best and domestic terror breeding at worst.
Fox has covered the tea parties, though selectively — driving the ratings of Beck and Hannity and legitimizing non-grassroots groups like FreedomWorks and Tea Party Express. Fox’s coverage assisted the left’s portrayal of the tea parties as astroturf, and the GOP-tied groups made it very hard to claim the movement is non-partisan.
So now what?
What should the tea party movement be doing to make itself more effective and to not exist merely as an exploitable outlet for the frustrated?
Some are pushing the idea of a Perot-like third party to challenge the two major parties on all fronts. Others are desperately against such a move, concerned that the tea party movement will hurt the Republican Party and “cost” them victory in 2010. The tea parties have very limited time to affect the outcome of 2010, and the logistics of a national third party seem overwhelming.
Another approach — and one that seems more logical — is for tea parties to endorse candidates that adhere to their principles, whatever the party.
A state third party has been formed from the movement. Florida already has itself a registered tea party to challenge both parties, though it will be interesting to see if they are alone or one of many. Many states have very difficult, perhaps unreasonable, registration requirements for forming a third party.
I humbly suggest the Tea Party stay away from the typical partisan issues and instead push for political reforms that would restructure the balance of power between the political class and the rest of us. Such reforms would weed down the narcissists, hypocrites, and power-hogs in Washington and would affect both Repubs and Dems.
1 – Term limits
2 – A Constitutional amendment: “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.”
Michele Bachmann has become known as the Queen of the anti-government Tea Baggers, protesting health care reform and slamming every other government handout as “socialism.” But what her followers don’t know is that Rep. Bachmann is also a queen of another kind—a welfare queen. That’s right, the anti-government insurrectionist has taken more than a quarter-million dollars in government handouts thanks to corrupt farming subsidies she has been collecting for at least a decade.
But as Yasha Levine in TruthDig shows, data compiled from federal records by Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit watchdog that tracks the recipients of agricultural subsidies in the United States, shows that Bachmann has an inner Marxist that is perfectly at ease with living on the government dole. According to the organization’s records, Bachmann’s family farm received $251,973 in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2006. The farm had been managed by Bachmann’s recently deceased father-in-law and took in roughly $20,000 in 2006 and $28,000 in 2005, with the bulk of the subsidies going to dairy and corn.
A combination of Tea Party (Independent) candidates and conservative Republican ‘Tea Party emdorsed’ candidates would seem to be the best formula for success. Not competing in any specific district, but where there is not one, there should be the other.
Tea Partiers need to learn how to organize their precincts and districts. The pathetic punching bag known as the Republican Party has outlived it usefulness. Something needs to replace it.
This might seem obvious, but it’s more difficult than it looks because the TEA partiers are ideologically not all that coherent. Even if they were all staunch conservatives, they’d be subject to stresses that are capable of fragmenting any large movement: special-interest politicking and the “which issue matters most” effect. And of course, there’s the question of whether any politician’s promises to hew to a chosen standard are trustworthy.
Given the nature of the American political system, I’d prefer to see the TEA party folks who are conservatives overrun the state Republican organizations, depose their top brass, and thereby take control of the process of candidate selection. That way, more actual conservatives might gain Republican nominations for Congressional and gubernatorial offices. When an openly avowed conservative, solidly backed by the relevant GOP chapter, runs against a liberal, the conservative usually wins…if the conservative has given the electorate no reason to suspect him insincere.
The “action” is in candidate selection. Why else would party kingmakers be so determined to keep that process to themselves, hidden from view?
TO: Andrew Ian Dodge, et al.
RE: What’s Brewing?
Unless the local Republican Party gets off its dead fourth-point-of-contact, I suspect that the local TEA Party will formally organize and start putting forward candidates for the 2010 elections at the county and state levels. Possibly even for national-level offices as well.
Happy New Year,
Chuck(le)
P.S. It could well be exactly what happened to the Whigs in 1856. It’s how the Republican Party got organized….by the Whigs being so much like the Democrats of that era everyone with any sense left the Whigs and joined the newly formed Republican Party.
The 2010 elections will indicate the degree of dissatisfaction with the current programs of this administration. If the Senate and House remain in Democrat hands we are in dip, dip shite.We can’t survive four years of this fiscal nightmare.
The most effective use of the Tea Party movement would probably be to force the Republican Party to nominate true conservatives for local and national office. They had much success in doing this in the special House election in New York State during the recent election, and although the conservative member lost, it wasn’t by much and, considering he was an inexperienced accoutant, did remarkably well. He also has the option of running again in 2010 and he may actually win now that he has all of that local name recognition.
The Tea Party activists could also swing elections in places like Florida and many other southern states. But this idea of starting a third party is just a fantasy and it will also guarantee that the Democrats will win, just like Ross Perot’s candidacy enabled Bill Clinton to win in 1992. Always remember that Bill Clinton won in 1992 with less than 50% of the vote. Hopefully, we won’t see the same thing happen in 2012. But the good news is that the Democrats, who constantly belittled, insulted, and tried to marginalize the Tea Party movement, are going to feel the full brunt of their anger in 2010. If the Tea Party members keep their heads and their eyes on the prize, then they will use their political power to work within the Republican Party to elect true conservatives into office.
And to you liberal trolls out there, save your bitter bile. You’re just angry that conservaties now have a LEGAL version of ACORN. Deal with it. I just think it’s a wonderful piece of irony that Obama, who made his name by working with “grass roots” organizations, is going to be defeated by a grass roots organization. How funny is that?
Everyone underestimates the stupidity of the American public, now in the fourth generation of “constructionist” public education and intentionally subversive media per Marcuse/Alynski.
FORECASTS:
1. The unionists and radicals control the money and the media, so Obama shall win a second term.
2. Obama shall meet a Russian style monumental defeat in Afghanistan and pull out before 2015.
3. When their ideas don’t work they’ll resort to force like all “socialists”, and Obama will light up a Cold Race War.
4. Distinct legislative steps will have started at least partially to dissolve the Republic by 2020.
It’s WAAAY too late, thank you John MacCain.
The subject would be better covered by someone active in the Tea Party. Something is happening here but Andrew doesn’t know what it is.
I don’t believe the Tea Party party you listed is affiliated with the Tea Party movement in Florida. There is belief within Florida’s Tea Party movement that the papers were filed by a life long Democrat trying to co-op or confuse voters.
Those on the left ignore the tea party at their own peril. Believe me it is big and gaining momentum all the time. I think the goal is to turn the Republican party into the tea party. The Republican party used to be like the tea party and I think there is a big push to get back to conservative roots. Obama is the best thing for membership drives too. Common sense government is what people are craving and it will happen the more this administration goes off the rails. They are the gift that keeps on giving. Hurry 2010 and 2012
Tea Parties best actions are to get conservatives nominated this spring to run in the November election. Then work on taking over the GOP from the grassroots on up since the Democrat Party is simply not worth saving.
I absolutely agree with the author, as a founding member of the largest tea party in Virginia’s 5th district I have personally endorsed who I believe to be the strongest candidate in next years congressional race. There are 7 GOP candidates vying for the nomination, some are more liberal than others. Now is the chance for the grassroots to make a difference by getting behind a good conservative candidate.
The tea party participants need to drop this non-partisan BS if they really want to make a change. The only way to affect what is happening is to get behind a conservative who believes in the constitution the way it was written. I doubt that you will find many likely suspects in the Democrat ranks and a third party is completely out. This only leaves finding and supporting a truly conservative candidateamong the Republicans. Sending moderates to DC is what has gotten us into this mess in the first place.
So, what you’re effectively saying is that no amount of tea party enthusiasm can overcome the fixed reality of politics.
Half of the people are dirt stupid and the other half frankly doesn’t give a damn.
Someone active? Are you kidding me? In early December I got back from an 8000 mile trip round the US chatting to tea parties all across the country. Instead of making a uninformed criticism why don’t you tell us what you are doing?
Kochevnick at 2,
Did David Brock help research your talking point about Bachman, or did you do it yourself?
When it comes to sucking off the public teat, no one beats the liberal/Marxist types. Make sure you are on time for your university job tommorow morning.
Bachman must scare you to your very soul for you to bring her up in such a a way.
“But what her followers don’t know is that Rep. Bachmann is also a queen of another kind—a welfare queen. That’s right, the anti-government insurrectionist has taken more than a quarter-million dollars in government handouts thanks to corrupt farming subsidies she has been collecting for at least a decade.”
Michelle Bachmann has vigorously fought against these farm subsidies. She is similar to the athlete advocating for a certain rule change—but her suggestion is rejected. Bachmann is therefore compelled to play by the already established rules. Another example would be somebody long hostile to social security now in their late 60s. They may have wished for other options during their earlier years, but are stuck with the deal forced on them.
Mr. Dodge : This will not be a revolution just a correction. I would truly love it to be a second American revolution. If America doesn’t care about it’s borders and massive voter fraud why should Americans get upset at fiscal irresponsibility. We have been conditioned to believe in the “free lunch”.
Barry will bring us all down, with hope and change!
The biggest problem with the Tea Party movement is a lack of real passion. That is because it is composed chiefly of old people. (I am over 60 myself and marched in one.) The leftist movement of the sixties was composed of young people. That is why it had the energy and staying power to change American politics. Obama and the media were able to ignore the 9/12 rally because smoke was not rising from the streets of Washington. Not even a window was broken. I am not advocating riots, just stating facts. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
The leftist-regressivist faction in the media, academia, politics etc. fears the Tea Party almost as much as it fears Sarah Palin. That is a lot of fear roiling around in those small pointed heads.
Mr. Dodge may understand something about political organisation or not, but he seems not to understand inducing fear in one’s opponent as a means of forcing them to take unwise actions and project a very unattractive public spectacle — as in the union thugs who beat up legitimate protestors and the legislators who ban Tea Party members from their meetings.
The left-regressivists are getting loopy stupid over all of this. Push them further over the edge.
The Democrats achieved their margins in Senate and particularly the House by running candidates to the right of the Republicans. That worked as a short time tactic but the problems are now obvious. The anger of constituents who feel cheated when the Democrat moved left after the election is a serious force.
In NY’s 23rd district the complacency of the old Republican establishment was only part of the story. The psuedo-Republican was used to siphon off the absentee/military votes before they endorsed the Democrat. The Democrat barely slid by by campaigning against the Health Care bill. Immediately after the election, while it was still being contested with recounts in progress, the Democrat went to DC and switched position to give Pelosi her victory. People remember things like that, if a grass roots effort can push past the media snow job sure to follow. THe NY Republican Party has already had a revolution in leadership under Ed Cox. Unfortunately they have a very shallow bench to draw on and with Rudy Giuliani taking a pass on both the Senate and the Governor’s races in 2010 they may miss their best opportunity to change the momentum in decades.
It would prove a diversion into a desert that would please the left wing running the Democratic Party if the Tea Party spent itself on organizing a minor party movement. They would not become the New New Republicans but instead the New New Libertarians. They would be indulged because they would be harmless and reduced to alternative forums with the Marijuana Party, the Greens, the Socialist Workers, and the Rent To Damn High Party.
They would do better if they stay focused on organizing to take control of local Republican organizations while being open to endorsing candidates of any party. If the Democrats run another Griffith to the right of the Republican then endorse that candidate and welcome their subsequent switch in party affiliation. The outraged screams as the Left is forced to abandon the false flag tactic will again help build momentum. If the Democrat in the 23rd had been a Tea Party movement affiliate, or had been reached out to, then maybe the Health Care bill vote could have been flipped and the trap closed on Pelosi. If that failed then the deceit of the Democrat would be all the more apparent which can be used, if there is a competent political organization at hand to exploit it.
Palaut@8
I wish I could disagree with your assessments. I can’t except with regards to Afghanistan. The moment that policy diverged from only deploying SpecOps to kill Al Qaeda the “war” was lost. Ahmet the goatherd and poppy farmer will stick with the ancient kin, clan and tribe structure rather than the alien concept of a nation state. We have neither the will nor the logistics to win in Afghanistan. The CIA can’t provide security for it’s own field agents, how in the hell can it protect this country. Ilicet.
The teabaggers are going nowhere and will eventually die in a pool of their own racist froth and bile.
Has the Tea Party movement been important? Yeah. It demonstrated to people that there were a lot of other people who understood how badly Obama and our government suck, and why, despite the MSM whitewashing and complicity. Then the MSM doubled down by refusing to take the “Teabaggers” seriously, and lost even more credibility.
Obama’s poll numbers began to erode, and the Dems became so desperate to score a victory on health care that they revealed the process of bribery by which such “reform” legislation is passed. It’s the legislative equivalent of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.”
We hear it constantly: We need to work for & nominate “true conservatives”. But those 2 words mean different things to different people!!!!
1. If you mean “GREATLY Cut gov’t spending and reduce gov’t interference”, you’re going to win!
2. If you mean “Ban abortion”, you’re going to lose! If you abhor abortion, don’t have one…it’s that simple!
3. If you mean “Put Jesus back into our non-secular lives”, you’re going to lose! Put Jesus back in YOUR life…not everyone else’s.
4. If you mean, “Homosexual behavior is unacceptable”, you’re going to lose.
Emphasize FISCAL conservatism and underplay the remaining 3 social issues.
Then…and ONLY then…do tea partiers have a chance to influence future elections and WIN
It’s that simple!!!!!
You really need to talk to the “teapartiers” instead of analyzing them from a distance. It may have started as a way to vent for many since absolutely no one was paying any attention but it has evolved into a true movement. I am a local committee person and few have a desire for a new party since it would just get conservatives defeated by splitting their vote. I understand most think we are just stupid people but if you took the time to talk to some people, you just might be surprised. Our group will support independents, dems, repubs, that will hold to some priniples. Due to the ease that certain moderate Dems were bought off with the Heath Care bill, they will have a harder task to convince people they are serious. If anyone thinks we are going away because they deride us, they do not understand, WE DO NOT CARE! I agree that it is locally we will suceed, it will take more time but long term change will take place. This winter, we are starting classes about Government, Constitution, Economics, and who will teach you ask, people who hold Doc, Masters, the self taught. Not because our people are stupid but they have trusted Govenment but now they cannot. Many just have been pursuing raising families, work, church and never had an interest or merely need refresher courses. We have decided we need an informed electorate so we are no longer dependent upon the “media” to tell us what and why things are happening. Most of the media are completely ignorant of history as well as our representatives. The people need to learn to recognize when they are being either lied to or the speakers are just idiots. I keep telling people when they hear something right or left to go to source material – just don’t take their word for it. Beck is reviled but he uses source materials and it is hard to argue with, my conclusions aren’t always the same but the idea he is just lying is silly. The Teaparty movement is really trying to work with Republicans will little help as they seem determined that they are running the show same ol’, same ol’. Our only danger is getting a candidate that is just “popular” like Palin, lovely lady with a lot to offer but not the experience to pull us out of this mess. The general incompetance of our government is startling. Christmas Day was a wakeup call, my 11 grandson could have caught that guy or Major Hansen. I am in my 60′s, blonde, very white, – Over the last ten years I am checked 2 out of every 3 times I fly. I have been put behind blast panels to open my luggage, taken into a room and special exposive wands over me (afterwards, a TSA agent said she was sorry that “we just don’t know who might be a terrorist” my reply was “damn shame, because I do!”, just a general pat down, special wanding, – why, heaven only knows! I am a Grandma not on ANY list. Right after 9/11, I flew out of Dulles, DC and many foreign visitors from the middle east and India flying inland from overseas flights – they checked 3 people me, a very obivious 6’4″ Texan, a 12 yr redheaded little girl with a pink backpack. I know why I am picked, you look around the room and see the least likely person to cause a problem or sue them would be me! TSA is a joke – I got checked in O’Hare and again got wanded,no alarms went off, their was a young Arab, alone, waiting for a delayed flight, he got through with no effort with computer, etc. He was very nervous, invitablely seated next to me – after a very silent 10 minutes we began to talk, he was my neighbor and his son and my grandson were in the same class and I knew his wife. We had a good laugh as I had made him as nervous as he had made me. He said he saw me being checked and said they should have checked him because he did fit a profile (not racial)and since he flew a lot, he wanted people checked as he had no wish to be a victim of a nut. People and government have lost any common sense. By the way, that young man is a “teaparty” person now. There are good people out there of every culture, race, religion and they are ALL concerned about the direction of this country. Sorry, we will not go away.
How far has the tea party movement come since the beginning of last year? A massive event occurred in Washington, D.C., on 9/12, and even greater numbers of people demonstrated all over the country to express their frustration.
Yeah, it was almost as big as the rally for gay rights that happened a month later. Funny, how incredibly dynamic your movement is. Its almost as big as one that only represents ten percent of the country at best.
The tea party movement is better left unchecked and unorganized. Much of the movement depends on what passes in the House and Senate this year. Will Obama move to the middle? Will unemployment rise? Inflation? How will Rubio poll against Crist? All these questions will effect the power of the tea party movement. Trying to control the movement is a waste of time.
The Florida Tea political Party is not re-inventing the wheel. It is not trying to make grand changes in America. It is however seeking a “back to basics” point of view in American politics.
The Florida Tea political Party is the first step in returning to the check and balances called for in the American Constitution.
TEA seeks a return to governance per the constitution instead of the current rule per corporation by laws.
It’s a K.I.S.S. moment. TEA is here to help all Americans remain American. When folks can check their EGO at the door, we will move forward.
Jorge Lovenguth
An objective in a truely independent 3rd party who be to gain the capacity to apply a correcting pressure to partisan politics which would work for the best interests of the nation as a whole. The emphasis on states’ rights under the 10th amendment comes to mind. They have the ability to regulate the fed when it oversteps its authority. The third party wish list should be short so as to not be diluted with special interests. They should be able to motivate above the usual zero-sum game into win-win optimizing laws. For example:
No pork projects, no slush funds, no bribes
Term limits
A solid cap on deficit spending
Every two year review of the legislators by the FBI for questionable activities.
The MSM has failed to provide the safeguards of information and churns opinion designed to sway a gullible public. The D.C. elite have been corrupting the special interest and partisan politicing for too many years without a legitimate third force to supply the checks and balances. The internet has given us all great access to information and opinion, but only virtual access in changing the system.
The tea party members’ own spleen is going to jump out and choke them to death.
Short-term objective: Find, recruit, and run conservative and libertarian candidates for Nov. 2010 at all levels who are right of center on most issues, especially limited government and free-market economics. They should also be for government ethics reform. The GOP should easily take the House back with mostly conservative, common-sense candidates.
Long-term objective: From the precinct up to the White House, get control of the GOP and reform it enough to where it is the party of limited government. No more left of center GOP Reps, Senators, or executives.
TO: All
RE: Projecting Buddy
Funny isn’t the word for Buddy’s self-delusion. More like pathetic, whistling past the graveyard.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. I understand that the TEA Party is going to hold a national convention this Summer. Three guesses as to what they’ll do there. First two don’t count.
P.P.S. Furthermore, I suspect that Buddy’s homosexual pals won’t be forming a political party this Summer.
Andrew is correct.
2010 is a “Failure is not an Option” year for American Democracy. For all the leftist talk of “diversity”, the Obama goal is clearly to stamp out “diversity” in how people choose to lead their lives. It’s not exaggerating to say that the Obama admin will want to control how many times you flush.
Andrew mentions training. He is correct.
Tea Partiers must train to do stump speeches, Tea Partiers must train to go door to door.
Tea Partiers must train for action like soldiers in a peaceful legal war.
Anyone interested in producing training materials, please contact me at CirculationDown@gmail.com . This is a volunteer position for me and for you.
As I said in my piece I don’t think mass rallies on DC achieve anything. Its not just for the tea parties. How many rallies were there against the war(s) and did they affect anything? They made a lot of noise and didn’t change policy at all.
“The political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express — Our Country Deserves Better PAC — funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it.
For those who may have forgotten, the Tea Party Express was the faux-grassroots operation that Fox News hopped aboard in late August, after the network’s promotion of the health care town hall meeting disruptions but before they started flogging the 9-12 protest. (It’s so hard to keep Fox’s political activism straight!) It was a nationwide bus tour organized by a political action committee whose mission is to oppose President Obama and other Democrats; with a pedigree like that, how could Fox resist?
Fox News heavily promoted the Tea Party Express; the Our Country Deserves Better PAC even used Fox’s promotion in a fundraising email. Then Fox’s Griff Jenkins hit the trail with the Express, following that bus around the country, throwing journalistic integrity aside as he declared its riders “the America that Washington forgot.”
But somehow, Jenkins missed out on the real story: how loyal tea-party-goers were separated from their hard-earned cash, which was funneled to fat cat Republican political consultants. Russo, Marsh, and Associates salutes you, Fox News. They could have scammed the tea partiers without you, but it probably wouldn’t have been nearly as lucrative.” (M Gertz, TPM)
As long as there’s money to be made, the Tea Party will go on.
It’s strong enough in CT. to http://www.DumpChrisDodd.com
TO: But, But, But, But But:
RE: Funny….
….BUT….
….the activities of the local TEA Party and the fact that there is going to be a national convention this Summer of the TEA Party, don’t support your claim that it’s all a money-making scam.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. See you in Nashville……
38 Chuck Pelto
That’s what they said at the beginning of the Tea Party Express. I’m just saying you have to be careful about being take advantage of by opportunists who pray on people’s fears.
I think there are Republicans who are drooling at the mouth to try to absorb Tea Parties. That is what the two parties do to groups with appealing ideas. So far, Tea Parties seem to hold them at arms length with non-partisan claims, playing hard to get.
What we need, in my opinon. is stronger, more democratic parties who are accountable to members. I feel like the hired staffers and handlers treat me like an ATM machine. Kennedy deliberately took an end run around the Democratic party to get Jack nominated. It has been downhill since. In 2008, nobody took responsibility for assuring eligibility of Obama. We keep getting candidates that their peers despise. The good ole boys had their drawbacks, but they were not as bad as Soros money electing an unknown with Hollyword PR and sizzle.
They want me to contribute to them without any accountability. Am I to trust they defend the individual when they make no real effort to honor the individuality and harness the talents of members?
Sure, I would gladly help out with the education project outlined above .It engages my expertise and, It sure beats stuffing envelopes, imho.
Tea party types need to run for office no matter how lowly they are. This helps in two ways. It teaches the tea party movement leaders how politics works and two it will get them experience. Instead of “finding” candidates they need to run themselves.
TO: But, But, But, But, But:
RE: You Mean Like….
….the way Obama and the Democrats did in 2008?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth is coming out....]
TO: Andrew Ian Dodge
RE: Indeed
And I think they’re beginning to line up now. I think there’s one starting a campaign for the 3d Congressional District for my state.
And that’s a federal-level office, as I mentioned earlier. I think I’m seeing some others gearing up for state-level offices as well.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Revolution IS 'brewing'!]
TO: claire solt phd
RE: Playing Hard to Get?
Another way of looking at their ‘playing’ is as an indicator that they don’t want to be tainted by the Republican apparatciks. As in, they’re going to organize their own political party this Summer.
Considering that their ‘movement’ has more cred in the polls than either the Democrats OR the Republicans…..
….that seems like a rather interesting ‘indicator’, as we would say in military parlance.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[When you see a good fight, get in it.]
8. Nobody asked you. It does nobody any good to say, “Give up, it’s over.” We have not yet begun to fight! What happened last year was a mere warm up!
TO: All
RE: The Nay-Sayers, Here….
….remind me of the cretins who were nay-saying Palin. And they’re STILL trying to decry her.
Why?
Because she scares the living daylights out of them.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[You know you're getting close to the target, because they start throwing more flak at you. -- US Air Force Axiom on 'Hitting the Target']
Andrew is correct. Five minutes of running for public office will teach you more than a lifetime of reading newspapers and watching politics on TV.
This is my complaint with so called “news buffs” and “politics junkies”. They are naive.
Andrew is doing absolutely the correct thing, and I wish all the retired baby boomers sitting at home bemoaning the socialist takeover of our country would follow Andrew’s example.
If you decide to run for office, send me your press release and I will run it on CountyRoots.com. Send it to CountyRoots@gmail.com with “press release” in the subject header.
23. sami brady:
The teabaggers are going nowhere and will eventually die in a pool of their own racist froth and bile.
———————————————————————
Who are the latino, black, asian and arab tea parties racist against?
To But…unless I have facts to back up an allegation, I ignore it…on to the Tea Party movement…it has a life of it’s own because it’s made up of everyday people, not career politicians…we are not happy with either party and although the repubs desperately want to jump on the band wagon, we aren’t letting them…well I didn’t when I held my first Tea Party here in Portland Maine. I am not a politician, just a mother of 6, a Registered Maine Guide, and a VERY concerned citizen.
I don’t think trying to start a new party will accomplish anything except helping the current establishment…I believe that we need to get behind candidates that hold our core values and support them in the 2010 election and work towards further organizing to run a fiscally conservative candidate in the 2012 election. If we don’t, we will lose the America we know and love. We will lose our freedoms and the Constitution our country was founded on with be obliterated if we fail.
We need people who hold our core values to stand up and run for office. NOT career politicians, but regular people that know how to run a household budget( seriously, if a community organizer can run and win a presidential election, then so can anyone with half a brain and the $$$ behind them)…seems these current politicians don’t know how…or just don’t care…it’s not their money anyway, so why should they? We NEED people who care and who better then your everyday person? I believe that is why Palin has such a large base. She is a real person, lives her values and has gone up against the “good ole boys” that were entrenched in Alaskan politics and succeeded in cleaning house. We NEED that kind of person in office. We NEED that kind of person to get over their fear and openly declare they will run for office..at EVERY level of our government. I will endorse and support anyone that is willing to run against the current establishment, but they MUST hold our core values and principles!
I don’t have to agree with their personal beliefs, but I DO have to see that they live their lives with the values and principles put forth in Glenn Beck’s 912 project! I’m tired of our Constitution being ripped up everyday. I’m tired of ALL the crap our current politicians, on BOTH sides, are perpetuating! I want change…REAL change. I want my country back!!!! That is what the Tea Party is all about…real change back to what our founding fathers fought for!!!!!
So…who’s going to run for office?
God Bless America and Happy New Year!
FROM POST #23 by sami brady:
“The teabaggers are going nowhere and will eventually die in a pool of their own racist froth and bile.”
My RESPONSE:
LOL Sami, calling teabaggers “racist” is so 2009. Even your fellow lefties have dropped that tactic because they realize that America is tired of Liberal Race Baiters whose only tactic is to sow the seeds of hatred.
See http://liberalracebaiters.blogspot.com/
17@David Thomson
>She is similar to the athlete advocating for a certain rule change—but
>her suggestion is rejected. Bachmann is therefore compelled to play by the
>already established rules.
I love it when repubs reveal their leadership criteria! Bachmann is just a victim of the system, like any welfare queen. I guess that makes you the newly oppressed?
The TEA Party movement is real. It isn’t as big as I’d like it to be yet. But as the Dems continue cramming unpopular programs, gross levels of spending, and inevitable tax increases down the throats of the majority, the TEA movement will grow. Meanwhile the GOP “leadership” continues it’s feckless, timid response, enabling independent movements like our own to have significant input. Michael Steele??? PLEASE!!!
For this election cycle, forming a new Party is foolish simply because of a lack of ballot access. In the few States where a TEA Party candidate could be on the ballot, it would only dilute the effort in trying to throw out the current fascist/socialists, replacing them with constitutionalists, when possible. But replacing them without fail.
So the key is in candidate recruitment and selection. Some sort of “TEA Party Pledge” may be in order, and that would be my primary suggestion for the TEA Party national convention. In order to garner TEA movement support, candidates would have to sign the “Pledge”, and they would have to know that they would need to abide by it when elected.
I also agree that the TEA movement should not get distracted by social causes. Most conservatives have strong feelings in those areas, myself included, but those issues turn off many folks who agree with us on fiscal and constitutional matters. So the TEA movement should be focused on those specific issues, where we can galvanize a majority. If the 10th Amendment was merely respected, for example, the social issues would be decided within the individual States as originally intended in our federal system.
Stay focused!!!
In the meantime, a certain degree of peaceful civil disobedience is called for to delay and derail the momentum of the fascist/socialists. The Town Hall protests did have an effect. We need significant outreach to the younger demographic, whose future earnings is being sold down the river currently. They are on our side, but don’t yet know it under the Obama delusion.
It may be only a cathartic exercise or a galvinizing moment in history. The awakening has been a long time coming; we hope and pray that this is it.
If you want to help get people to run you should do research on how they get on the ballot. Its different in every state and is not as hard as it sounds. That information should be on every tea party site, so its easy to hand should someone get the idea to run.
Okay, Andrew. I do hate to admit being wrong. Your article improved a lot on second reading. I wave Old Glory and a sign at our local Tea Parties. I drive a big truck over the road so mostly I send a little bread to people like Palin and Inhofe. I can report that a far more active and aware public here is making the tax and spend mayor and council very nervous about their re-election. Something is going on.
By all means, continue making your way
to the Left or Right side of the Titanic.
The _only_ issue is economic recovery.
Tax-and-Spend cannot address this issue.
The people will not allow the Red and the Blue
to drain them white; As the money goes away, and
the people start to hurt, reform will gain all the
voter support it needs, and the Last shall be First.
“Twenty _ten_ , come _again_ !”
If you felow American Patriots really want to do something and start from the grassroots level, be a Precienct Chairman, my local GOP office said it is empty,I am going for it. Being a chairman we can weed out the liberals and rinos of the GOP and take our country back. When I stated that in my request they welcomed me. Here in Texas the filing date is tomorrow Jan 4th, it will only take a few hours a month, if you are willing to sacrifice or are you gonna sit behind these blogs and just complain. Its your choice to take our country back.
Neither major party will allow a third party enough air to survive. However, the conservative movement can morph the Republicans like the left has morphed the Democrats. The difference being conservatives want freedom and the left wants YOUR freedom.
I just thought I’d add my two cents, because there seems to be a lot of confusion about this tea bag business. I’m 66 years old and have been a conservative on fiscal issues and somewhat libertarian on social issues for most of my adult life. My wife and I attended a “tea party” in Las Vegas, where we live. My wife is a moderate thinking Democrat, and I generally vote Republican. When I don’t vote Republican, I vote Conservative.
What we saw at the “party” was both revealing and fascinating. While most of the folks were white, we did see all kinds of people from every walk of life. We saw Perot voters, Reagan Democrats, libertarians, conservatives, and many who were unaffiliated and rarely seen participating in the political process. The thread that united people was the feeling that the government was out of control and acting in an authoritarian manner. Most people there believed that the crushing burden of debt that was being passed on to the next generation was immoral, and that to resort to the printing presses to “pay” for wild irresponsible spending, would ruin us all. There’s more. though, much more, and this is the part that neither Republicans nor Democrats seem to get.
There was a wide spread feeling that our Republic had morphed into a system whereby insiders had gamed the system against the ordinary citizen. It was socialism and government largess for well connected insiders, and raw naked capitalism for the little guy. When the government demanded that the the little guy pay to bail out large financial institutions that should be allowed to fail, it was the last straw. The discipline of the market place would no long punish bad ideas or dysfunctional business models, the government (meaning us) would foot the bill.
Another problem that united most of the folks was the unseemly sense of entitlement that the political class exhibited. Democracy used to mean majority rule with protection of minority rights. Now the will of the people no longer seemed to count for anything. The political class seemed to go off to public office to feather their own nests and seek personal and family wealth, at the expense of the people. They lost all sense of who they were working for. That insensitivity and corruption was the rot that infected both political parties. Republicans will try to co-opt these feelings, because we all lean toward smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, more personal liberty etc, but that is just the sweet music that Republicans have been playing to their base, a mere marketing technique, to get votes, and advance careers.
Will it all just fizzle out, and go away? Maybe. I hope though that it can be a catalyst for some change in both parties.
TO: aerpguy48
RE: Be All That You Can Be
Go for it. I’ve been one since 2004. However, be aware of my earlier comment at #5 of this thread.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[If you're not part of the solution....you're part of the problem.]
TO: archer52
RE: I’ll Bet….
….that people said the same thing about the situation in the 1850s regarding the aspiring Republican Party.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[History repeats itself. That's one of the problems with history.]
The problem with tea partiers (and I am one) is that they are not your typical politically connected folks. We want reform away from politics as usual and back to a representative gov’t, but we do not know the players – potential candidates. Most of the folks I know who would be good candidates are not ready to be hacked apart by the MSM precisely because they are just normal folks suddenly thrust into civic duty.
I live in WA state in an area with firmly ensconced Congresspeople. They are so belligerent towards their constituents that the politicians refuse to hear us or speak to us and have gone so far as to tell us they do not need us. Unfortunately, it may be true. We do not have any strong candidates that could run against them. The only solution for us would be term limits.
Outside my state, I hope tea partiers come up with an agreed platform (we are mostly there) and try to find candidates within the two party system to support.
We were told never to talk politics or religion, as someone’s going to get angry and throw a punch. It is safer to avoid conflict. Here is another way. Never make a statement of fact. Instead, ask a question so the opponent feels respected, and then listen. They must give predictable answers, putting their position so far out on a limb it falls by its own weight. The only way to do this, however, is to know what you are talking about, what you believe, what to ask and predict. To argue with an elitist who believes life only works when the government designs it, or the elitists few who want to rule the non-elite many, find the roots. If you go toe-to-toe with a know-it-all, without knowing your stuff, you will be embarrassed or trade blows. Know the roots of every argument. Understand what conservatives, libertarians and Marxists believe. It is easier than you think, because the root differences are simple. We may lose the America we’ve known if not mounting a good defense. Go to claysamerica.com and learn the roots of both sides before jousting in politics. You can never lose if you know the roots and debate with confidence. Claysamerica.com
Does anyone have ideas about what a Tea Party could do in a very safe Democratic Party district? (Legally, that is.) Especially if the median age is about 75.
My wife and I went to a big Party in Atlanta this summer and it was an eye opener. The people there were not interested in a third party or joining the R’s or against the D’s. They were there to protest the irresponsible spending and the lack of listening to them by their reps and sens. I think you all miss what this movement is. It is a showing of outrage at our representation in DC and it is not a political movement. If nothing else it serves to remind the conservative voters who would probably stay home that they must react. It tells everyone that we are not alone in our beliefs that we are losing our country and spending our children’s future. As long as it does these things it is doing its job. Woe be to the pol who thinks he can hitch a ride on the Tea Party idea. That’s exactly what it isn’t. It’s like Old Glory during a battle. It inspires but is not a stand alone movement. There was no hatred or racism at our party and there were speakers from both sides of the isle. You trolls are just upset that your group has no common theme except power at any cost to the country.
42. Chuck Pelto:
….the way Obama and the Democrats did in 2008?
What fears did they pray on?
I hope that the tea party movement can have a significant impact but I am afraid we have passed a tipping point where this left/liberal movement will not lose steam for two or three generations. The harmful effects of socialistic policies, although immediately obvious to anyone with an open mind, won’t get around to punching everyone in the face for many years.
So I think the only answer is civil disobedience, primarily by refusal to pay taxes. I am thinking about a movement where 20 or 30 million people agree amongst themselves to pay only a certain percentage of taxes owed – where that percentage is determined by government expenditures that are deemed constitutional (divided by total government expenditures). This percentage would be further reduced by any increase in the national debt.
Another aspect of this movement could be to contribute to a legal defense fund to protect against targeting of individuals.
This may be the only way to derail the rise of the political class and the unions and interest groups that aid and abet them. When only one of four voters pays any meaningful taxes, I don’t see how political action can be effective.
Excuse me; someone is knocking at my door!
TO: But, But, But, But, BUt:
RE: What ‘Fears’?
The ‘fears’ about:
• If Obama wasn’t elected, the war would continue as they were. [Note: Oddly enough, he WAS elected and it HAS.]
• If Obama wasn’t elected, health care costs would go through the ‘roof’. [Note: And with ObamaCare, they certainly will.]
• If Obama wasn’t elected, the economy would go into the toile. [Note: And with the 'stimulus' programs, it has.]
I can go on and on, to include matters like:
• The world would still hate US.
• Corruption in Congress would continue.
• Etc.
• Etc.
• Etc.
However, as that KGB guy points out, you and your ilk don’t care much about facts.
Happy New Year,
Chuck(le)
[Rebuke a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. -- Proverbs]
Where is the passion in the country?? The answer is easy. It is in the tea party movement. Because a lot of the tea party members are older some think that means a lack of passion. Being a senior citizen myself, I know my level of committment and that of my frriends. We have just begun. More tea party expresses are scheduled, vehicles for spreading the word locally and stirring the passion as they tour the country. Recently, our passions have become more inflammed as we saw our “cool” and “unflappable” president respond in a flat way to our national security. We worry for our children and grandchildren. This is a strong motivator.
Follow the passion to know the center of political energy.
I would say ditto to libertyship46 but I would add this: read Rules For Radicals by Saul Alinsky. There is information in there that can be applied to our movement. The problem I have had with republicans when they have gone up against democrats is they “play” too nice. The dems are street fighters. We need to be street fighters too. Our liberty is at stake. Also, these socialists did not take over the democrat party overnight. This was a long time coming. I don’t think the entire republican party is useless. There are good conservatives who have fought the good fight and deserve our support. Are there RINOS? Yes. Do they need to be replaced? You bet! But it takes time and money. Liberals are patient. We must be too.
The only thing that I’ve seen so far that seems to make any sense is the formation of the Patriot Caucus, although it still leaves much to be desired. They are now drafting Judge Andrew Napolitano and Grover Norquist. https://patriotcaucus.pbworks.com/draft_Judge-Andrew-Napolitano
TO: Mike G
RE: Your ‘Modest’ Proposal
I’m reminded of that famous quotation….
One of the greatest blessings of virtue is the contempt of death. He who has learned how to die has unlearned how to serve. To be ready to die frees us from all bondage and thralldom. — Montaigne
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. About that….
Got body armor?
Prediction: In the end, the tea partiers (I count myself among you) will vote for Republicans. The Republicans will control government and nothing will change. They will fail to eliminate any government bureaucracy and greatly increase spending, as they did under Bush.
I will not vote for Republicans. And if you do, you are voting for Big Government.
In the Novel Shogun, after many years the pilot was finally taken into the confidence of Toranaga, The Shogun. The “pilot” asks Torunaga. “…Your enemies have all been defeated even though many times it seems like you were about to be beaten. To what do you attribute your ULTIMATE success in becoming Shogun?…”
Toranaga looked at him and spoke slowly. There are three tenets of life that I have always lived by. Number 1 – “Be Patient”; Number 2 – “Be Patient” and Number 3 – “Be Patient”.
Perseverence and Patience have often changed and made history.
Yes, it is politics. We are about to see the greatest PR campaign in history over the next year to rewrite history and change the public opinion about the marxist in congress. They had to push through the massive marxist agenda last year so they could campaign as Americans in 2010. Once they are re-elected in 2010 they will generate a massive assault on America and we will lose the country and the world will lose Freedom forever. Once Freedom is lost in America it is lost to the world.
The Tea Party movement will get active in Republican primaries, and any advance made by the GOP next fall will be due to Tea Party work.
Let’s not allow ourselves to get pessimistic. The Republican Party as it now stands has some excellent people in it, but as an effective organization the Republican Party has yet to put its eye on the ball. It is too stuffed with deadwood and hangers-on who are happy putting out a GOP “product” and lack vision to fully capitalize on the opportunity the Obama Administration has given it.
Example: Here in Illinois the nationally-endorsed Republican candidate for US Senate — to replace that sterling Chicago statesman, Roland Burris, who now holds Barack Obama’s seat — is GOP Congressman Mark Kirk. Kirk is one of eight GOP light-weights who voted with the Democrats on Cap and Trade.
At the Tea Party rally in Chicago’s chilly Federal Plaza last April, one of the speakers said that the current Republican Party is in a weakened state. “We are going to have to lead.” Because they can’t or won’t.
If the better path for the tea partiers is to work more local issues, some of what they can do is the brick-and-mortar work of revising or laying new ground rules for citizen participation. I suggest they first work at the state and local levels to unravel the byzantine registration process for new candidates and new parties.
Also, they should work within their states to streamline the recall processes, especially for those states that don’t have a recall process for their federal-level congressmen and senators. Then work to RECALL SOME OF THE BASTARDS! A recall would put many a congresscritter on notice — if nothing else, they respond to tangible threats to their incumbency.
68. Chuck Pelto:
Your response includes only broad positions, not threats:
The wars Do continue, though Iraq continues to draw down and Afghanistan has a deadline.
Health care costs are going through the ‘roof’ . . . continuing their trend of the last decade
How do you measure “the world hating us?” I don’t know, but it seems they hate us less now than before.
Corruption in Congress . . . are you suggesting conservatives will clean that up? That they’ve mended their “culture of corruption?”
Sorry, but you just don’t bring much weight to your claims by your examples. Conservatives, on the other hand, have a demonstrable history of promoting fear:
It started with “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud” . . . and continued with tall tales about Atta meetings in Europe and “We’ve pretty much confirmed” that Hussein has reconstructed nuclear weapons” and planting stories with Judith Miller in the NYT only to pint to the planted story as a source the following day. For the next seven years, whenever there was a bill or appointment pending in Congress, we had a terror alert . . . “Bombs in baby strollers on the NYC subways!”
And it just keeps going . . . They want to pull the plug on grandma! . . . You won’t get knee replacements! . . . They’re going to force our kids into homosexuality!
So you see, those are good solid examples of fear mongering courtesy of conservatives and Republicans.I asked you for examples. You offered vague ambiguous right wing talking points, ending with, “I can go on and on . . . etc. etc. etc.” . . . I think you might need to do exactly that if you really want to make a valid point.
I’m another tea party person. One basic assumption often made is regarding age – but who can come to rallies on short notice? Retired people, for the most part. In my experience, working people support the tea party ideas enthusiastically, but can rarely take off work to go to events. Similarly, it’s hard for parents of young families to participate.
Passion expresses itself differently among the mature and disciplined. It’s certainly there. Most of us are experienced enough to know to pick our battles, and save the big guns for the real war. Assuming we don’t have passion because we do have self-control doesn’t follow.
We are disorganized, because we are a happening. My confidence is in the real motivation that huge numbers of us feel. As intelligent free agents, we run for office or support chosen candidates, we participate in the ways most suited to us, we are watchful. I’m not sure trying to organize would be fruitful, because I think this is a phenomenon of independent thinkers. We feel alarmed and threatened enough to see the value of pitching in as we can. Most of us see the threat in the idea of a 3rd party.
Right now, as we speak, there are politicians rubbing their hands together in anticipation ready to tell the Tea Parties they are the person for the job. Guess what – there are no guarantees in life. This whole nonsense about getting the right people into Washington is a pipe dream. So is this nonsense I am always hearing about no organizational structure to Tea Parties. Guess what, a true grassroots has only one direction – revolution. If something spontaneous does not lead to revolution then it will whither away on the vine unless it becomes organized. As revolution was never the intent of the Tea Parties, there inability and unwillingness to organize in a top-down fashion is indicative of poor leadership, lack of vision, and just plain old naivety.
I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to watch so much potential go to such waste. Name one – ONE – company or military campaign or any successful endeavor in history that did not have an organized structure behind it.
If you want to know what an organized structure can do, look no further than a group called Tea Party Support:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30869.html
As the story indicates, this group actually had an impact on the health care debate. The message was picked up by Rush Limbaugh, Redstate, and others and lead to Michael Steele to send a memo to the GOP to obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. Finally they listened, although a bit too late. It was TPS and other organizations that lead the way (www.teapartysupport.org) with the “I Object” campaign and exposing the flawed strategy of the Senate GOP and the bravery of a single Senator – Senator Jim DeMint – to do the right thing for this country. Meanwhile back in Tea Party Land it was picket signs and emails the lead to marginal pressure vs. the real leveraged pressure one gets if they pay attention to what is happening INSIDE the Senate. This is only accomplished by a top-down organizational structure and a strategy that is targeted and accompanied by sustained and laser focused pressure.
All politics is local, but that does not mean that local politics cannot impact national politics and visa versa. Stop the naivety and stop wearing this “grassroots” label like it was something to be proud of if by “grassroots” you mean the Tea Parties as they exist today.
The Tea Parties are their own worse enemy, politically naive and unable to focus. They write their own rules of engagement, rules their own foes don’t live by. If you think you can win on principle without strategy, then you are naive. Let me know how that works out for you.
It is time for the Tea Parties to step up to the plate. One thing that drives me crazy is that if you dare, DARE, try to raise money or make money for the purpose of fighting future battles you are not Tea Party enough for the tea partiers. As if capitalism is somehow bad.
Weak tea? How about no tea. When the Tea Parties are ready to play with the big boys I will be impressed. What I have seen to date is nothing but a bunch of teenagers pumped up on testosterone running amok and aimlessly through the political wilderness.
No caffeine here folks.
TO: But, But, But, But, But:
RE: Yeah?
That’s a matter of ‘perception’. Or perhaps something to do with {HORROR!!!!} ‘logic’.
Either of which relates back to the link I provided (above), wherein a KGB agent—from the 1980s—informs US that people like you lack BOTH.
Happy New Year,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth is coming out.....and people like multi-butt don't like it one little bit....]
TO: jodetoad
RE: Perhaps
I’m talking with someone who’s thinking about running in the 2010 election for a state-assembly position. She thinks like a TEA Partier. She’s currently chair of her precinct.
Here’s the challenge….
If the local and state party apparatus don’t support her candidacy, i.e., as they failed to provide adequate support in her 2006 bid, what does she do?
Option #1: Persevere in the face of blatant stupidity on the part of the Republican Party.
Option #2: Convert to TEA Party.
There are advantages and disadvantages to either approach.
Option #1 Advantages:
• Get some support from the dyed-in-the-wool Republicans.
• Don’t get blasted by the Republican Party for being a ‘turn-coat’.
Option #1 Disadvantages:
• No REAL support from the Republican Party, i.e., a repeat of the 2006 experience.
• Looked upon as another Republican Party apparatcik by the “independent” thinkers/voters.
Option #2 Advantages:
• Looked upon as an ‘independent’ thinker by the people who look down upon Republican Party apparatciks.
Option #2 Disadvantages:
• No monetary support from the TEA Party as it doesn’t have that kind of infra-structure at this time.
• No voting support from the dyed-in-the-wool Republicans.
• Assuring a ‘win’ for the Democrats.
The lists goes on-and-on-and-on-and-on.
But I’m open to advice to give her on this weighty decision.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[What would Life be without challenges?]
TO: James
RE: Teenagers? Testosterone?
Try not to be too much the young fool you appear to be.
I suspect I was jumping C130s before you learned how to jump a prom date.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[You ain't seen NOTHING, yet.]
I have attended several Tea Party events and meetings in the Seattle area and it seems that what most want in our area at least is a renewed Republican party opposed to out of control spending, that supports tax cuts to stimulate the economy, and that understands how angry people are with the corruptocracy we have been experiencing in the past decade that has peaked with the Democrats. Fiscal Responsibility and a Congress that understands its Constitutional limits seems to be the two main themes I have observed.
@64 Houyhnhnm – If the district is really strongly Democrat, a Cook rating of D+10 or more, the first option is for the Local Tea Party to find a more conservative Democrat, a true fiscal conservative, to run in the Democratic primary. What state & district are you in? If the Cook rating is less than D+10 but the local Republican Party is moribund, I would recommend finding a retired military officer or executive and help that person run as an Independent, with a campaign focused on fiscal conservatism. IMO
Chuck,
And your point is? Also, I suspect you are very wrong about my age and experience. Also, people a lot more intelligent than you or I about politcal matters are agreeing with me, not you. Sorry, but I have yet to see anything like what is described in the Politico story happen by any other Tea Party. What happened in the Senate was the result of big boys playing politics, not a bunch of wannabes.
To the point: After 9/12 the Senate staffers were wringing their hands in fear. Three weeks after 9/12 the Tea Parties were the joke of the day on the Hill. That’s from Senate insiders. Bang then poof – nothing. They jumped out their C130s (Am I supposed to be impressed?), landed, had a picnic and went home.
A metric – if you know what one even is – is what is use to measure something. The metric of the Tea Party effectiveness is, to put it bluntly, nil when it comes to impacting anything on the Hill. Don’t think for a second that any House and Senate gains in 2010 is the result of anything you have done – it is not. It will be the result of Dems staying home and ticked off American’s voting. Most people are NOT members of a Tea Party. I know members and non-members who are fed up with the nonsense, the lawsuits, the bickering, and basic childlike behavior of many in the Tea Party movement. However, true to the actions of testosterone pumped teenagers, you will no doubt take credit when it happens. Sort of like telling everyone you made it to third base with the prom queen when in reality you got your face slapped.
I have witnessed it all first hand. Your right – I aint’t seen nothing yet and I doubt I ever will. It will be the American people who win the day in 2010, not the Tea Parties. You had your day and blew it after that. The level of frustration by those of us who aligned ourselves with you is palpable. You are all wind and no sail.
great article!
TO: James
RE: Wrong?
Maybe so. But I’m not wrong about you’re perception of the TEA Partiers. Not that many testosterone-challenged teenagers at the events I’ve attended.
As for ‘metrics’….you’re obviously missing the point of many of the comments on this thread. And that’s another indicator of your ‘ignorance’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. I doubt if you could recognize a seat in a C130 from a Congressional Senators chair.
[God is alive and Airborne-Ranger qualified....and so am I.]
The author states:
“The tea party movement may be best served by operating locally. Mass rallies in D.C. and phone-calling initiatives do not seem to be effective in modern politics. Local activism could have an actual effect, and is a good part of what the left has done to gain power.”
True, but rather than look for a reason the seemingly easy approach is taken – bring it to the local level. Here is the reality. Mass rallies and phone-calls do not work when they are directed to legislators not on the margin. It is leveraged pressure that works.
When Senator DeMint removed Unanimous Consent and it looked like other Senators were going to follow suite, Durbin takes the floor and threatens to keep everyone there through the holidays. Result – the GOP Senators cave. The answer – an email buy with a large organization with the information “GOP choses vacation over country”. It was the “I Object” and stand with Jim DeMint campaign by the Social Security Institute, Tea Party Support, Gun Owners of America, and the National Tax Limitation Committee that moved events. Result – Michael Steele sends a memo to McConnell and the Senate GOP to obstruct, Rush picks it up, as well as Redstate. The ultimate result – it worked. The problem, the GOP should have been doing this all along. What most of the readers here do not know is that McConnell and Cornyn’s strategy all along was to use ObamaCare to gain more seats in 2010. That’s right – they wanted it to pass, took the passive approach, and only appeared to take on the fight when their polical arses were on the line. Leveraged pressure people – it works. If the GOP been doing this all along we could very well have stopped the bill in the Senate. Even now, other approaches are being taken by the same group of people to continue the fight. Meanwhile, back at Tea Party headquarter – mroe signs, faxes, phone calls; all generic and all saying the same thing to the same group of Senators. Don’t vote for this or else! Some strategy.
Knowledge and strategy are the answer. Pushing this to the local level and ignoring the impact Tea Parties could have at the national level is the reason the Tea Parties are having no impact on the health care debate.
64. Houyhnhnm:
What to do in a safe, old, D_istrict ?
A: Spread the truthful seditious rumor
that the Ds cannot keep their voters
safe during the coming Hard Times,
and run on a “Safety First” platform.
82. Chuck Pelto:
Should she go to the Pubs, or the Tea Party ?
If she sees a continuation of politics as usual,
she shoud see to the safety of her family.
If she sees a switch to survival mode in politics,
she should run on a “Law and Order” platform, and
seek funding from local small businesses, who
are particularly vulnerable to even short-term
interruptions in economic activity due to, ah,
“Civil Unrest”, during Hard Times.
Per Heinlein:
“Never appeal to a man’s better nature;
He may not have one.
Appeal to his self-interest instead;
It gives you more leverage.”
Per M. Report: Patience is good, but
preparation is better; If there are
Hard Times coming, the data are out
there to show a “Round on the way”,
and those data need to be put on
the Web, and established, as was
done with the AGW scam.
1) Like the Dallas and Houston Tea Parties, change can best come by a position that is strongly FISCALLY conservative, but which mostly stays clear of societal and moral issues. That is, it is OK to object to government taking a position on abortion, pro or anti, but it is unacceptable to campaign for any thing other than neutrality as an official position. A libertarian approach on most social issues.
2) On a national level endorse candidates of whatever party, likewise on a state level, and work to get out the vote that elects these folk.
3) Someone needs to maintain a library of the damaging votes, positions, views of the incumbents. Memory’s are very short, You Tube footage of the arrogance of all to many incumbents in ignoring the position of a clear majority is often forgotten when they start kissing babies, promising funding and favors, etc.
4) All politics is local, it is true, so work to elect local candidates who can be vetted and shown worthy. These are the agents of change in the national parties, they will shape the future.
5) Keep on protesting, pester your local TV/Radio stations about why no coverage.
6) Realize it is an uphill battle, 50%+/- of all Americans pay no, nada, zero income tax. How my tax dollars are spent matters to non taxpayers, but convincing even a small % of them will be difficult.
jpintx,
Bad choice. What if it becomes strategic to cast your lot, say, with keeping the Stupak language in the final conference bill (the House abortion language is very strong when it comes to federally funded abortion and the Senate version is very weak)? What to do then? Stand on principle and lose the fight? You see, if the Stupak language stays in the final bill then the Senate will not have 60 votes, or it becomes much harder for 60 votes to be obtained, basically slowing down the process. What if you find that aligning yourself with evangelicals and anti-abortion groups in this case will help you defeat ObamaCare? I ask because this is what must be done right now.
Like I said – playing with the Big Boys requires big thinking and not the naive approach I see so often in the Tea Parties.
Vetting is a joke as there is no guarantee that once elected power will not corrupt. As you can’t guarantee that, it makes no sense to concentrate anyting but marginal attention to this tactic.
It all comes down to strategy and the very wise idiom that “politics makes for strange bedfellows”. Try as you might, if you think you can be effective and always stand on principle alone and ignore this wise observation, you are living in a land of fairy dust and gingerbread houses. So drop the libertarian approach on social issue garbage. Instead, the answer is “A pragmatic approach on social issues”. Ignore pragmatism at your own peril.
TO: M. Report
RE: Which Way to Go
Good points [following the rhetorical question].
Referring back to my comment at #5 of this thread, I see the biggest problem the Republicans face, locally, is an inability to do ANYTHING.
Seriously. I had an e-mail ‘exchange’ with the county party chair about someone who just threw their hat in the ring. Not one of the better candidates, in my honestly held opinion. The chair referred to him as ‘colorful’. I replied, “Now THERE’S a euphemism.” As in Bill Clinton was ‘colorful’ with Monica.
And yet, the chair seems unable to say ANYTHING about the candidate. Furthermore, he’s bridled the web-site so that it is nothing more than banalities of no value whatsoever.
I’m all for taking the fight to the ‘enemy’….something inculcated in me from 27 years in the infantry, I suppose.
My current opinion is that if the local and state Republican Party are incapable of doing anything effective, they’re part of the problem. And the logical course of action is to get into ‘hot water’ with the TEA Party.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[I like 'hot water'. It keeps me clean.]
The tea partys are just that, one big party. No one is willing to take the next logical step to discard this government and start over again and maybe this time, get it right, sticking to the principles of the founding fathers, with a very limited central government and power vested in the states.
Observable and tangible passion resides in the Tea Parties. Events planned from now until the elections will keep the passions alive.Fund raising from the grassroots cntinues. I cannot locate similar passion anywhere else. Therefore, Tea Party organization will set the next elections agenda and probably that of the election of 1012.
loco36,
If what I have seen from the Tea Parties is any indication, I don’t think I wnt them setting any election agenda. Trying to reason with the Tea Parties is like trying to drink the ocean with a fork – it is an exercise in futility. They are not ready for primetime and if they float third party candidates and Perot us then they will be the useful idiots of the Democratic Party. The GOP needs to be changed from the inside. You do that by keeping constant pressure and using strategy to defeat legislation. This is a process and not an event. Everyone is treating it like an event (like the 2010 and 2012 elections) and it is, in fact, a very long and trying process. I don’t see that they are up to the task.
Passions don’t impact legislation and the Tea Parties seem hell-bent on talking about elections and “taking America back”, which if I hear that one more time I am going to friggin’ scream. If I stole your car, I am sure you would want it back. But what if I went on a joyride, crashed into a few sidewalls, landed in a ditch, and set your vehicle on fire? How badly would you want it back then? The Tea Parties keep focusing on the elections and refuse to concentrate their attention, strategy, and power into stopping the slide. What use will getting America back be if what we get back is a bag of socialist crap?
loco36, sorry about that. Comment 96 came from me and not you. Brain fart.
There have been statements made by different activists that the tea party movement is not having an impact. They have become frustrated because after millions of people have taken to the streets in protest of national healthcare and hundreds of thousands phone calls have been to elected officials, the Senate and House still passed healthcare bills.
We won’t begin to realize the fruition of our labor until the November 2010 General Election. You have to not just focus on today or tomorrow but look forward to the future and upcoming years to accurately gauge the impact of tea parties.
I think the tea party movement has already had a tremendous impact.
When President Obama was elected in 2008 by such a wide margin, there was much talk over how the political landscape in America had swung left. Much was said over the fact that now that the liberals controlled The Senate, House and The White House they would speedily enact their agenda.
At the beginning of Pres.Obama’s first term, his favorable poll numbers were in the 80% range. Pres. Obama was like a juggernaut poised to completely change America without much opposition.
Americans were becoming dismayed and did not know what to do to stop the Obama Juggernaut. Rick Santelli had his famous rant on the floor of Wall Street that was telecast nationwide and “We the People” suddenly found an avenue of venting our frustrations and trying to stop the changes sought by the liberals.
The tea parties began on February 27th, and in the ensuing tea parties, millions took to the streets protesting the policies of bailouts, higher taxes, socialized medicine, big government spending and government control that President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Sen Reid advocated. Suddenly, millions of ordinary Americans that had previously been inactive politically, began attending Congressional Town Hall Meetings and contacting their elected representatives. The tea parties became a national phenomenom.
We have slowed the socialist agenda dramatically. We forced the Senate to drop the public option for health care. We have stalled Cap and Trade. President Obama’s approval ratings are now below 45% and are historically low compared to other Presidents at a similar juncture in their Presidential terms.
The polls also show the majority of Americans disapprove of higher taxes, Obama Care, big government spending and government control. In order to stimulate the economy, Americans prefer tax cuts as opposed to more government spending.The polling data also shows the the tea parties are more popular than either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party is having a hard time recruiting candidates to run against conservatives in many areas in the upcoming November 2010 election. Many of their recruits that had consented to being candidates, are now bowing out and choosing not to run. A Democratic Congressman from Alabama recently changed parties.
Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid have put their party’s Congressmen and Senators re-election chances at great jeoporady in order to enact their sociaist agenda. They are doing this because they know that now is their greatest chance at enacting their leftist agenda and a chance like this is not likely to come along again in decades to come. They know that it is now or never. This is why Pelosi and Reid are willing to sacrifice their party’s office holders in the Senate and House.
Pelosi and Reid are also hoping that we tea partiers will give up and not continue the fight if they enact their agenda. They are hoping momentary defeat will cause us to lose our fighting passion.
We must not give up the fight. In 2010 we must become more passionate and active than ever before. The futures of our children and grandchildren are at stake..
President Obama’s election was historic; his defeat may be as well…
Debbie Dooley
Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator
Atlanta Tea Party Co-Organizer
Please note that the views I have expressed here are solely my own, and they do not necessarily represent the views of any other individual or organization. These comments are being made in my individual capacity, and not on behalf of group or organization.
To: Allan Gendelman
Well said!
Typical teabagger comeback: “It’s not being a welfare queen if we do it!”
Debbie,
Sorry but the narrative does not fit. If the Tea Parties had been doing their job after the August recess and 9/12 were over, then healthcare would not have passed. I tried and tried to get your own group to pay attention. I tried and tried to impart a strategy to TPP and to no avail. Not only I, but others inside and outside the beltway did the same. The only difference was I lasted the longest before giving up in disgust.
Don’t take credit where credit is not due. Obama’s approval ratings are the fault of one person – Obama. America does not want what Obama is selling and the Tea Parties had very little to do with that. Certainly there is a general distrust of both political parties, and Tea Party candidates now out-poll both Democrats and Republicans on the generic ballot but that is an effect and not a cause. In other words, it is not the Tea Parties that caused that response. The Tea Parties may benefit from it, but they are not driving force behind the reason America is fed up. In the end, about the only thing the Tea Parties can do is ride the same wave of distrust that other American’s are riding. In the process they can do one of two things – hurt the country or help it. If they insist on running third party candidates and not on changing the GOP from the inside out then they will hurt the country. If they decide to play political football and get their game on varsity style we may actually see something. My guess – lots of noise, very little measurable impact and, in the end, a grabbing of all the credit if 2010 and/or 2012 goes our way.
2010 is make or break for our economy. The entire House is up and we can stop the “Progressive” destruction machine in one election, if we focus our resources and think strategically. The TPM should work with the Republicans to take 40 votes away from the Democrats. Let the Republicans run against the Blue Dogs with no 3rd party distractions. In exchange, the Republicans should give Tea Party Independent candidates free rein to run against Democrats in selected districts. There are about 75 districts where an Independent Tea party candidate, with a focus on fiscal policy and no need to stay within a Republican Party platform, can win. These are mostly rural and suburban, Midwest through Northeast, with electorates less liberal than Pelosi/Obama but unwilling to vote Republican. Split the races, not the vote. We’re working on it at firefifty.com
Debbie Dooley (#98),
Well said and well done!
My gut feeling is that Tea Party Patriots are from the Rugged Individual stock and won’t give up very easily at all. We are ready for a long hard slog just like the patriots before us. It does help to hear motivational words of encouragement from folks such as yourself though.
81. Chuck Pelto:
B5: Your response includes only broad positions, not threats: — But, But, But, But, But:
CP: That’s a matter of ‘perception’.
What’s NOT a matter of perception are the examples of Conservative fear mongering I gave you.
You stand corrected.
And now for something completely different,
and essentially identical: Quantum Mechanical
Denialists; Distinguished experts in classical
physics who went to their graves insisting that
there _had_to_be_a_way_ to explain QM effects
in classical terms.
Distinguished politicians, practically Statesmen,
convinced that there _has_to_be_a_way_ to go on
taxing and spending, at least until they are
safely retired.
Officials can be voted out of office, recalled,
or simply shunned, depending on how bad the
economy gets before the reforms start.
No need to debate; Just pay attention for the
next 1-3 years.
TO: All
RE: Multi-But[t]
Notice that nothing stated by this character has refuted all that has gone on over this ‘administrations’ actions and their impact on life in America.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth will out.....]
James,
I understand what you are saying and would like to help.
Can you contact me directly? curtmilr@att.net
TO: All
RE: These Nay-Sayers
They remind me of the likes of Tokyo Rose and Lord Ha Ha of World War II infamy. And they’re not even close to being as effective. [Note: Probably because they can't play pleasant music for US between their diatribes.]
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Progressive is a one-word oxymoron.]
P.S. Emphasis on the word ‘moron’….
I agree with the sentiment that the TPP lot are pretty determined. The only thing that will get things done as they should be is determination. The trick is making sure they use their time and resources effectively.
So, this is simply politics-as-usual redux. It is the Club for Growth strategy. It won’t work. Address that one Chuck Pelto. The strategy is the same and guess what – it did not work. Period.
I am beginning to think that some of the aspiring leaders of the movement are telling the movement what it wants to hear as opposed to the hard truth.
Replacing politicians looks good on paper, but what guarantee do we have that those who replace them will be any better? None.
Recall that power corrupts and there are few who can avoid the siren call of its pull and the detrimental effects it has on them. The statement that rallies don’t work and that all politics is local, is a tacit admission of failure without an attempt to identify the source of that failure which to many of us is quite clear – the lack of a strong leadership, the lack of a top-down organizational structure, and an odd anti-capitalist bent towards anyone who wishes to make money to fight the good fight. Politics is local, but it can also be made national as the Left has shown us over the past fifty years.
If we are going to compete with the likes of MoveOn.org, writing our own rules of engagement in such as way as to hamstring us from the start is not the way to go about winning the war. I am afraid this will play itself out over the next year and the Tea Parties will continue to be marginal. Right now the Tea Parties out-poll the other two parties because they are tapping into a sentiment present in the American public. To state they are the reason for this sentiment is to put the cart before the horse. They are the beneficiaries of such sentiment but are completely unable to capitalize on it. Those not belonging to a Tea Party will, in the end, vote out many Democrats in 2010 and 2012, and the Tea Parties will take credit for the bloodbath, but the reality is they are nothing more than spectators who make some noise every now and then. Club for Growth took the same approach and we can all see where that got us.
The movement craves leadership –real leadership. The type of leadership that is willing to make difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions – the type of leadership willing to do the heavy lifting and act strategically. I just don’t see it right now. What is see is plenty of sound and fury, signifying nothing, with too many egos vying for attention. I don’t see the spirit of sacrifice our ancestors possessed.
Ronald Reagan once said, “There is no limit to what can be accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit”. The Tea Parties would do well to learn humility. It is from such a position that ensures the hard-lift can be done. When the ego rules it gets in the way, and the path before us becomes blocked by the baggage of self-interest driven agendas. That is what I see in the Tea Parties now. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes, but my experience has been of people who care more about posturing than about actually doing anything. August and 9/12 were great. Since then….
As far as Chuck’s statement to the Nay-Sayers, it is a sure sign you are losing an argument when you resort to insults couched in a poor attempt at humor. For example, I could say that you are incapable of pouring water out of a boot even if the instructions were written on the heel, but what point would I have made?
Two can play that game. Oh, and by the way, I have more confidence in our men and women in uniform in WWII. To say Tokyo Rose and Lord Ha Ha were effective is quite an insult to the mettle of the U.S. armed forces.
TO: All
RE: Looks Like….
….doesn’t find his ‘busy-box’ entertaining enough this morning.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. But it IS interesting that something about Tokyo Rose ‘touched’ a nerve. And I was thinking more of Mult-But[t] when I posted that remark last night.
[Interesting. My son describes a general garment and you declare it is made to fit. -- Lady Jessica (Atradies) at a dinner party on Arrakis in Dune]
P.P.S. On re-reading the thread since item #108 (inclusive), I suspect it was the comment about ‘Progressives’ that triggered his ‘ire’…..
This dooms the Tea Party:
http://washingtonindependent.com/73036/n-word-sign-dogs-would-be-tea-party-leader
Until you stop doing that, you’re going nowhere.
106. Chuck Pelto:
TO: All
RE: Chuck Pelto
Notice that nothing stated by this character has refuted all the examples of right wing fear mongering and their impact on life in America.
Regards,
Butt(le)
[The Truth IS out.....]
The tea party is Democrats’ best friend. This is becaues it has been co-opted by carpetbagging publicity hounds looking to make a buck. How much donor contributions are being used to pay special interest PACs, PR firms and consultants to “advise” tea party groups? How much donor contributions are being used to finance lawsuits between warring tea party groups? How much donor contributions are being used to set up “representatives” at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville for the teabagger convention? Funny the hypocracy of it all when the main organizer for the convention is a tax dodger yet has no problem trying to stir up the public against more prominent tax cheats. The tea party becomes a bigger and bigger joke each day.
Chuck,
I have more conservative bones in my pinky than you do in your entire body. I also have been a member of a Tea Party team that actually did something. I have also been a member of other Tea Parties (that is, the rest of them) that have had NO impact and are the joke of the Hill. Sorry, but the truth IS out.
My guess is that the Tea Party will fizzle out over the next year to two years… mostly because they don’t have the right people to fight against the GOP and Dem machines. However, the movement is very important as its much like the sort of movements that precede violent conflict within nations. IF there is no agreement, consensus or compromise made in the next few years,between both sides of America, things may get very bad for all of us.
No one wins a Civil War.
Ratatosk,
Funny you should mention that. The spontaneity present during the August recess was very reminiscent of the type of uprising one sees before a Revolution (e.g. the French Revolution). The problem with the current Tea Parties is that their model was one of revolution but their post-August existence culminating in 9/12 did not follow through to the next logical step one would expect if the revolution (thank God) did not occur.
The next step should have been the creation of a new model which should have included an organizational structure, a national and local strategy for various legislation, a plan for 2010 that was not as ephemeral as “throw the bums out” which is indicative of a young and immature response to a serious condition that requires a more nuanced approach. In short, they needed to take their game to the next level.
The Tea Parties are still stuck in this revolutionary mode and with no leadership are rolling about like a bunch of loose beads with nothing to string them together. Hence they are actually quite a useless entity when it comes to impacting the national debate.
As far as your violence comment goes, I posted about that a couple of months back and I share your worry: http://tinyurl.com/l2k3bq
But (etc): That guy is an attention grabbing idiot. He was kicked out of the tea party he attended with that signed and has been disowned by everyone involved. The MSM love the guy because he sums up what they think of them all. I am sure he knew he would be the center of attention by carrying that sign. One nut does not an entire movement make.
Dale Robertson is a fraud and he been disowned by the tea parties since day 1
http://ikeonic.blogspot.com/2010/01/epic-fail-teapartyorg-founder-dale.html
TO: James
RE: Really?
So….
…tell US, buckie boy….
[1] When did YOU enlist in the Army and go combat arms?
[2] When did YOU give your life to Christ?
[3] When did YOUR wife run for state-level office on the Conservative-Republican ticket?
[4] How many liberal-progressive and/or atheist blogs have YOU been banned from because of your witnessing for Christ?
If your answers to ANY of those is that you haven’t yet, you’re a consummate liar….which is what I suspected in the first place.
Happy New Year,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth will out.....it just takes time and patience.]
Chuck,
1. Enlisting does not make you a conservative. It will tend to make on conservative but many who enlist are not necessarily conservatives. I am a conservative and I tried but was turned down due to health issues (heart issues that probably lead to item 3)
2. Three years ago
3. What does my wife have to do with my conservatism? I run a blog http://www.thesubstratum.com. I also run another blog that used to be a conservative blog called http://www.lumponablog.com and is now a blog about heart disease. One has a google PR of 3 and the other has a PR of 4.
4. I lost count. I have also been banned from Tea Party Google Groups. Funny given that most of them gripe about censorship from the Obama administration but by God, you had better not disagree with them.
Any other questions buckie boy?
I read your comments and some of your points are well-taken; however, I don’t know how much personal interaction you have had with local level Tea Party groups…but they are not leaving in some “fantasy of emotion.” In the beginning there was much discussion on blogs as just how to proceed and the majority of opinions was, let’s stay local with no national leadership, board, no required reporting, etc. The people I have met are all ages: young to old, all religions, all conservative. They all have one thing in common: they don’t like those occupying the Democratic or Republican seats in the House and the Senate–and ALL are now politically INDEPENDENT. On your following comments: “Fox has covered the tea parties, though selectively — driving the ratings of Beck and Hannity and legitimizing non-grassroots groups like FreedomWorks and Tea Party Express. Fox’s coverage assisted the left’s portrayal of the tea parties as astroturf, and the GOP-tied groups made it very hard to claim the movement is non-partisan.” I have done some background checking on the Tea Party Express organization, they are a sub-PAC-committee of the PAC of ‘Our Country Deserves Better’ operated out of Sacramento, CA by political consultants for Republicans: Russo Marsh & Associates; namely Sal Russo. Russo opted for his new found PAC ‘teapartyexpres.org’ our Tea Party Patriots’ grassroot organization. He used the bus called Tea Party Express to collect donations; there was a tab for donations on his TPE web site showing the stops the bus was making from CA to DC. He and his associates collected some handsome PAC consulting fees filed with the SEC under the name: Tea Party Express. They are planning a Tea Party Express II for almost same time period as last year: March 27 to April 15, 2010. You are right about Fox…on the SEC filings there are two payments one for $50,290.25 and one for $26,593.95 with payment being labeled as ‘PAC Media Buy Tea Party Express payable to the Fox Business Network.’ And the SEC filings show a tremendous amount of ‘contributions’ to the Tea Party Express PAC. Tea Party groups had no idea they were spending their time and money to meet the Tea Party Express bus to support a political consulting firm for Republicans who also was collecting contributions to their new found-PAC. This is why the Tea Party movement came under such fire…there was some astroturf involved particularly in the support for the Tea Party Express. It would be hard to trace where all the contributions went…there was an SEC filing entry for PAC Travel and Meals During Tea Party Express paid to Russo Marsh for $42,365.83. There is no evidence of wrong-doing on anybody’s part; Russo gets paid for his involvement in any project, and the Tea Party Express was just another PAC for him. I don’t plan to support the upcoming Tea Party Express II and I hope those who support the Tea Party Movement will not be involved with it either.
TO: All
RE: Ahem….
….as I was saying about James….
….’nuff said.
Happy New Year,
Chuck(le)
[The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else. -- George Bernard Shaw]
P.S. Interesting….
….isn’t it, how Shaw nails James’ behavior so accurately.
Joanie,
How do you intend on competing with the liberal communication juggernaut? With monopoly money?
Take for example robocalling – a quite excellent way to get a message out if done correctly. If you wait to collect donations until you recognize the need for a robocall campaign – they are not cheap – then by the time you collect the money the moment has passed and the campaign will no longer be effective. How do you do battle with MoveOn.org if you insist that money is somehow a poison to the movement, which strikes me as odd because capitalism is a very conservative ideal in stark contrast to socialism. There is a logic rift in the Tea Party brain. God forbid anybody raise any money!
With money in the bank you can pivot on a dime and run all sorts of campaigns without waiting to raise the cash. I would love, just LOVE, to see the Tea Parties raise money and keep raising money as long as everything was above board and accounted for. You are not going to win the war with the liberal media/internet monster without it – it is just plain impossible.
As to Chuck, your affliction, now clear to me, alas knows no cure. It is unfortunate the level to which you suffer delusions of adequacy.
Draft Judge Andrew Napolitano? Not a bad choice, but I have a Better one. Sheriff Tom Mann or Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Even at 77 years of age, Joe Arpaio has a toughness and a leadership that America needs. We need millions more like him. The Tea Party movement could use someone like Arpaio, who understands how to deal with politicians(ask Janet Incompetano what it was like having to mess with sheriff Joe when she was governor of Arizona-he ate her lunch routinely). Sarah Palin is more a king(or queen) maker right now than a leader of a movement. Go ahead ,Tea Party movement and see if Joe Arpaio might serve as a national spokesman. You have nothing to lose.
#67 Mike G-Ive advocated the exact same thing myself-one of the first steps in civil disobiedience is to no feed the beast. One of the reasons Solidarity became a force against Polands communist government in the early 80s was Pope John Paul 2nd advocating to the natives to not pay taxes to the oppressive governments. The Czechs later did the same thing with Vlaclav Hamel. One of the biggest reasons the Iron Curtain collapsed was the natives stopped paying taxes. A huge black market in underground goods/services can serve as an economic buffer. Last, but not least, if it comes down to a fight, how many folks think the military/or police forces will support a corrupt government? Id bet at least 1/3 to 1/2 will side with the Tea party movement or its other like minded brethren.
121 and 124 Chuck Pelto:
No offense, but you’re kind of a dick.
1. The Republicans already admitted they were off track, so drop that one.
2. The Conservatives should focus on supporting candidates in local, state as well as national government. If the states are conservative and moderate then the national elections will follow suit.
3. The State Attorney Generals or constitutional lawyers or grassroots could file lawsuits and injunctions to stop unconstitutional or illegal sections of the HealthCare bill from moving forward.
4. Support Philip J. Berg, Esq. in his long quest to force the birth certificate.
5. Do background checks and make sure the conservative candidates for Congress are “real” conservatives and have the backbone to “stay the course.”
6. Seek out a conservative presidential candidate that has charisma; articulate speaker; no baggage or indiscretions; experience; and knows the issues and is a leader who can lead millions of people to the polls.
7. Strategize. PIC – Persistent, Insistent, Consistent, and stay on track. Don’t get detoured with starting a third party – this is not the time. We have very little time to save our country from this radical ideology and economic disaster, not to mention that millions are out of work and we feel more unsafe since 2009 than we’ve ever felt since WWII. Americans believe their welfare and safety has been jeporadized since 2009. Let’s getleaders into office who will stand strong against the anti-American enemy and protect Americans and the American people.
TO: All
RE: Does Any of….
….THIS look ‘familiar’ on this thread?
Looks like some of the characters here got their ‘talking points’, i.e., ‘marching [moron] orders’, just before this thread started.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. This correlates well with my understanding of James’ going ‘ballistic’ over the comment about ‘progressives’ being ‘oxymoronic’.
[Liberals aren't. Progressives won't.]
TO: Multi-But[t]
RE: Yeah….
….that’s what most progressives call conservatives. That or worse.
Thanks for confirming my creds and discrediting James at the same time.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. Don’t worry about insulting me. I’ve been abused by the best. And you wouldn’t stand two heartbeats against the wrath of Colonel ‘No Slack’ Stack, child. [Note: He and I almost came to blows when I was a company commander in his infantry battalion. And I was recovering from a broken leg, courtesy of himself, at the time. A GREAT guy....but....he had his foibles....]
Ah, go easy on old Chucky boy. Taking shots at him is like shooting fish in a barrel. I could outmaneuver this guy intellectually with most of my brain removed while in a coma. If somebody has to resort to slander by calling somebody a liar while ignoring the salient points of the argument presented to them, the conclusion is obvious and the fight is over. Chuck is just venting his frustration about being unable to keep up with complex sentences. To Chuck, everything is esoteric.
I’ll keep it short. Tea Party folks have only begun less than a year ago. Unlike the Left, these folks are not used to going out and demonstrating. They are not activists by nature, they’ve been driven into activism. It will take some time for their efforts to have an effect. If the GOP (conservatives not RINOS) make headway in the 2010 elections, that is some effect.
TO: All
RE: Heh….Heh….Heh….
And he’s just one of eight….so far.
[1] Three Democrat Congressmen not running this year.
[2] One Democrat Congressman rolled to Republican.
[3] Two Democrat Senators (Including Dodd).
[4] One Democrat Governor.
[5] One Democrat Lieutenant Governor.
The nay-sayers here don’t care for that. So their rhetoric becomes more and more (1) obstreperous and/or (2) inane.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Revolution is 'brewing'. And the the water is getting too hot for the Democrats.]
To James
What you fail to understand about the tea party movement is that we are the voting base. We aren’t stupid nor are we ignorant. We get what the current and previous, entrenched career politicians are doing and that it’s going to destroy our country as we know it. WE are the ones that elect these elitists and we can and will find people to replace them! We are not concerned with voting a certain party, or the inner workings of the current political establishment. We ARE in a revolution. We will persevere. We are a patient lot, but we are also fed up with what the entrenched politicians have done to our country and we WILL change it.
Just because we don’t speak eloquently, or worry about the inner workings of the status quo in our government, doesn’t mean we aren’t affecting change within it. We are the people you see going to work, raising our families, and now gathering together to effect change…real change. Not the pretend “progressive” change that is leading this country deep into socialism, but change BACK to the rule of law, back to fiscal responsibility, back to our constitutional rights.
Never underestimate your opponent. That will be the detriment of the “progressive” movement. The more they dismiss us, or call us names, the more determined we are to affect the changes we need to get our country out of the hands of these socialists. We can and will, turn back the clocks, and undo what the progressives have done to our beloved country! Make no mistake, we are a force to be reckoned with…we are the voters,Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Conservatives, and undeclared, that is who we are and we will no longer sit back and let the government take our country away from us.
We understand that the progressives are counting on the old conquer and divide strategy. We also understand that it will be on the local level that we will start to affect the changes we need. Again, we are neither stupid nor ignorant, as you have intimated. We will not just go away, give up, or divide the system in a way that would be a detriment to our liberties, as that is the very thing we are fighting to preserve. We will be there to vote, in 2010 and in 2012, and we will succeed.
The biggest way we will be replacing these progressives is by vetting the people that we get behind. If the MSM won’t, we will, be it in the blogs, with the tea party expresses, at the tea party rallies, emails, and town halls. The word is spreading and the tea party movement is growing and since the tea party movement is made up of your everyday person, we are the voters, the people that will be in the voting boxes affecting the changes back to a government that is fiscally responsible, and based on our constitution. So sir, keep “talking” down to us. You are just strengthening our reserve to reach further and work harder!
ALL politicians are like teenagers, and cannot be trusted to preserve Other People’s Money. Anyone who understands this truism should download a copy of “The USER’S GUIDE TO FREEDOM: on how to DOWNSIZE government instead of prosperity” at http://www.libertysoup.org. The 535 Project (pg 20) clearly explains how to impose fiscal discipline on Congress now. The fix is easier than you think.
Please sign the Tea Party Pledge
http://www.conservativeexodusproject.com/
and forward this email to everyone you know. Thank you.
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