The Travails of the GOP Establishment
What about Jon Huntsman, you ask? Don’t. The former Obama ambassador to China’s deer in headlights debate performance along with his rather curious ideas about making the Democrats’ case for them against the other Republican candidates have many in the establishment tip-toeing away, hoping nobody noticed their boosterism for a guy who makes Bob Dole look exciting.
Is there hope for a new establishment candidate to make an entrance into the race when we’re barely five months out from the start of the nominating process? Pollster Nate Silver thinks so:
One seismic factor affecting Republicans’ decision is that Barack Obama is now exceptionally vulnerable for an incumbent president. If you’re a Republican and you think you can become president, that’s doubly important for you; not only does it mean that those aspirations are more likely to be fulfilled this time around, it also means that they’re less likely to be realized in 2016 or 2020 because there’s now more chance that some other Republican will already occupy the Oval Office by then.
So real estate in the Republican primary field has become more valuable. And, despite Mr. Perry’s entry, there’s still some available for the taking. Not much of it is prime real estate, but like the nooks and crannies of Manhattan, it may still be in demand.
Silver thinks most of the “real estate” is of the center-right variety. Three candidates have been prominently mentioned and would almost certainly meet with the establishment’s approval to one degree or another: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former New York Governor George Pataki, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Unfortunately for the Ralph Lauren set, both Christie and Pataki have declared themselves out of the race, while Guiliani is still mulling things over. Besides, even if they changed their minds, the challenges facing each of them would be immense.
Each candidate would be starting from scratch with no organization, little money, and not much chance of catching fire in Iowa. For Giuliani and Pataki, their abortion rights position would be difficult for conservative voters to ignore. Christie has his own problems with the right with his denigration of their positions on global warming and teaching evolution in schools, as well as problematic stances on gun control and Muslim coddling.
Christie has said he would rather commit suicide than run, and Pataki has now officially declined to enter the race. Giuliani’s plans are unknown. Some suspect he is maintaining his name on the active list in order to keep his speaking fees high. His personal baggage is almost as bad as Gingrich, his gay rights stand actually angers social conservatives, and it’s not clear where he can differentiate himself from any other Republican on budget and fiscal issues.
George Pataki might have been the establishment favorite of the latecomers. He might be considered a poor man’s Mitch Daniels. Not as policy oriented or wonkish as the Indiana governor, Pataki nevertheless offered some intellectual heft not seen in some other GOP candidates. He is a thoughtful man, prudent in his public pronouncements, and has an enviable track record of accomplishment in a very Democratic state. For the establishment, what’s not to like?
Well, a dead fish would give him a run for his money in a personality contest for one. And his oratory has been recommended by doctors as a sleep aid. Other than that, the establishment had to ask itself if the ghost of Tim Pawlenty is someone they seriously wanted to back.
So while there may be room for more candidates in the GOP field (Sarah Palin may eventually stop her “Dance of the Coquettes” and declare one way or another), the bad news for the establishment is that there is no one on the horizon who could fill their aching hearts and heal the breach in their souls as they survey the 2012 Republican field.
They are stuck with dopes, jokes, and frauds and they better get used to it.
Also read: All signs point to a Palin run.
I gave up on the Establishment GOP in a single season when 1) virtually no prominent Republican federal legislator would get serious on illegal immigration, and 2) the RNC backed Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. Now, individual candidates get my $20 here and $20 there.
arehooley has it right. The “establishment” gives us candidates like John McCain and does their best to keep T.E.A. party people from getting elected. I cite Karl Rove’s bashing of Christine O’Donnel and Sarah Palin. Electing RINO’s is only barely better than electing people who are actually registered as democrats.
The RNC finally quit calling me, they haven’t now for months. It took them long enough to get the clue.
No more money for you, I give to individual candidates, the most Tea Party ones I think can win.
I agree 100% with all above comments. “Establishment Republican” = more of the same. More uncontrolled spending, more deficits/debt, more compromise with the left on social issues, more big government, more regulation, more bailouts, more taxes, more illegal aliens, more limpwristed judges.
Moderate, establishment Republicans have collaborated with Democrats for 50 years to put America into the position we now find her; broke, illegaled, aborted, unemployed, overtaxed, queered, hopeless and defeated.
We have perhaps one last chance to clear the rabble and stench from our government before it all comes crashing down on us. We’d better get it right this time.
Yep.
I even quit giving to Palin’s PAC when she endorsed McLaim. Now I send my money to those who best fit me directly. Tea Party candidates.
Best horses in the race so far for me are Bachman, Cain tied and Perry as a last resort. I will not vote for any other’s who have declared and. Would rather see obama have another four years. Course that is an easy position for me to take as I am in Oklahoma… the ONLY State… and I say this PROUDLY,… the only State where no County voted for the Lightbringer. My State will vote for whomever the “R” is.
P.S. Been Sending Cain $20.00 a month since June, Started sending Bachman the same this month. Perry I feel is the establishment fall back position, as such does not need my money. Certainly is more Conservative than Dubya, as Dubya was more Conservative than his POS Dad.
I’ll be sending Cain as much money as I can afford to part with. I’m irritated with the concerted effort to ignore him out of the race, but looking at all of the smaller straw polls he’s been winning and his consistent positive intensity lead in the Gallup polling, I’m crossing my fingers and prayin’ for a come-from-behind victory. All the “frontrunners” have been losing steam despite their name recognition. Cain has been consistently gaining.
Palin had to support McCain. And besides his opponent in the Senate race was no great shakes.
I agree with your choices, but Palin is still my first choice. Palin/Toomey in 2012.
You can never go wrong giving to the Club for Growth. They support only candidates who are for smaller government, less government spending and regulation and tax reform with lower taxes. Their favorite goal is to replace rinos with conservatives.
This is clearly the way to go! The elites at the top will even go so far as refusing to discuss grassroots resolutions and just assign them to the ‘bit bucket’. A resolution during the last cycle passed the precinct convention unanaimously, the county convention ~48-2, but the State Republican Executive Committee member from our district didn’t even bother to make sure it got discussed at the state convention. If a wage slave has to take a W-2, and an independent contractor or investor has to take a 1099-MISC for real income, the clearly there is some support for making recipients of ‘income, redistributed’ take a 1099-GOV. It is growing. 1099-GOV 1099-GOV 1099-GOV.
The Republican Party elite exist inside the Beltway, go on talk shows to run down those who favor small government, and want to pick winners and losers at the Primary level by having Party organs back favored candidates.
This is a centralized structure that is full of intermediation.
The modern world is becoming decentralized and disintermediated, and the old style political party as a system and concept is about to be liquidated by the 21st century. You may still have Named parties, but their structure will move from top-down with party organs, to a decentralized bottom-up with high degrees of accountability, the ability to re-call party officials and actually asking those who can’t stand by party principles to find a better way to do things outside of the party.
That last is becoming viable. The structures made in the 19th and 20th centuries are heading to be obsolete not in decades but in years. There will still be those pontificating about what the best candidates are, but their audiences and venues are rapidly disappearing and they will be much smaller, less influential and wonder just where the power went.
Welcome to the 21st century.
Let us leave our ideas of parties behind us to be observed as history, or else they will make us history with their attempts to keep the past in place.
You say, “It’s not clear where he can differentiate himself from any other Republican on budget and fiscal issues”. That’s an admission that he (for which read the Republican Party) has no plan for the country and any sound-bite’ll do.
Apportioning blame for past inadequacies is not enough to win the presidency and, if it is, I’m not sure I’d want to live in that country; what’s done is done – it’s not as though we ever learn anything from such retrospective navel-gazing. The blame-game is a battlefield on which BHO is winning masterfully – look at the poll results for the assessment of how well Congress is doing its job and who is carrying the can for the current economic situation: he knows how it works to win here, you may have noticed; an actual plan with discussable details is not part of HIS plan !
On the other hand, I think that’s an opportunity: what I’d like to see is a Republican route-plan to the future, supported by acceptable assumptions and a communications-program which explains the difficult bits and justifies the sacrifices to be made, not the current hodge-podge of finger-pointing, vague ideas and even vaguer promises; as a campaign strategy it makes me barf!
Then let the candidates present themselves by speaking to that program and tell us why he/she is the one to be trusted with the plan’s execution; I’ll do my bit by passing judgment at the election urn.
I’d also like an undated letter of resignation from the candidate in case of non-performance – WTF, I can dream, can’t I?
A charter member of the GOP establishment assures us that there’s no GOP establishment. Oh, sure, I can swallow that! And the COMINTERN was indefatigable at assuring us that there was no international Communist conspiracy!
For some pronouncements, the only imaginable, sensible response is a belly laugh.
Yes a belly laugh would be good, if only the situation with the “establishment” republicans warranted humor. It’s just to sad for me to laugh about. They are more interested in their own power than they are in providing proper representation by following the constitution and keeping to their oaths of office.
“The devil’s greatest feat has been convincing man he does not exist.” -C.S Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
There will always be parties and the party system is built into our form of government. But I believe they are the political equivalent of the creative destruction of capitalism: they are born, they mature, and they die (or they evolve). This has happened over the life of our country.
That said, I’m a registered Republican (after being a lefty Dem most of my life) but the GOP will never get another dime from me. I’m a Tea Partier hobbit and proud of it. For such a young movement, our reach is far and wide. We’ve discovered that the GOP establishment, which absolutely does exist, actually may despise us even more than the Democrats (and incidentally, there are Dems and Independents and disaffected Republicans in my 2 TP groups – and a lot of diversity of another kind as well). Specifically, the GOP is trying its best to undermine and prevent the Committeeman Project that is going on in TP groups all over the country – they’ve finally figured out what we’re up to. Here in NY state, our petitions are routinely getting tossed for nonexistent “errors” and “irregularities.” There are lawsuits by TP members against various local GOP committees. What will come of this, no one knows. But the GOP is very seriously threatened, there is no doubt. GOOD. And I do think we’ll have a significant say in who the GOP nominee will be. We don’t want it going to a RINO, a mushmouth or anyone who believes it’s “owed” to him – all things near and dear to the establishment’s hearts.
Well, the party system may have become entrenched, but it absolutely was not built in to our system of government, any more than the parasitic ivy on the oak.
Peg, Don’t forget – we are also terrorists & evil. The greatest problem we(Tea Partiers)have with George Will and the non-existent Republican Establishment, is their narciscism; They look in their mirrow each morning and see a 2011 version of Paul Revere, but they are not warning us of approaching British troops; They are not even warning of approaching Democrats. Their warning is the same as that of George Will “Hey, folks, don’t shoot at us; we are the good guys; our goal is to continue on this “compromise” route, and work with our brethern across the aisle. We are not your enemy – your enemy is all those Tea Party conservatives, who have the unmitigated gaul to call themselves Republicans. You need to send them back home, because they do not understand how this game in Washington is played, nor do they really want to learn our rules.
George Will is right; We don’t have a Republican Establishment anymore – We have a bunch of Traitors. Trent Lott, are you listening?
The real questions for the Evangelical TeaParty zealots is: “Why do you want to associate with the GOP…your enemy?” With all your percieved strength in numbers it would only seem appropriate for you to form your own political party and run whomever you want to against both your enemies…the democrats and the traditional GOP. Why won’t you divorce the GOP and form your own party?
Well, I think we all know the answers to those questions do we not? Their national support base is fractional….very fractional…minutuely fractional!
My opinion is that, should they pull out a victory using the GOP in 2012 they will have sealed the ‘fate’ of the GOP by 2020 for many years, possibly decades into the future leaving the Democrat party with dominence…..winning ‘A’ battle but losing the war BIG time.
Peg C, high five to you from the other coast! Another proud ex-Dem here who left the left only to find the RNC was led by a bunch of wimps. (I couldn’t believe McCain’s performance on the campaign trail, and I remember Palin being the ONLY ONE to yell “Absolutely!” when a reporter asked her if campaign fraud in Philly should be investigated. Yeah, investigate campaign fraud? Oh, the controversy!)
I was only voting Republican for about two elections before I ditched the establishment for the Tea Party. You’d almost think they don’t want new voters.
Rick I object to your characterization of conservative emotions as “hate” for the liberal democrats. I reserve my “hate” for pedophiles, rapists and murderers. Dictators and liberals (redundant?) receive my lack of respect, my disdain of their lack of common sense, my disgust with their policies. Eric Holder is very close to earning my “hate” due to his actions with the “Fast and Furious” gun running scheme that has gotten our federal agents killed and many everyday Mexican citizens killed by arming the drug lords and their armies.
Chris, be careful with your selection of types to hate. It has just been announced that some psychiatric and psychological professionals want to remove pedophilia from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is the American Psychiatric Association’s bible of mental illnesses and replace the term “pedophile” with the term “Minor Attracted Persons” to start the process of making it acceptable behavior, don’t worry about the children who would be affected. Another step down the ACLU path to normalizing deviancy.
If ever there was an Exhibit A as to how to throw away the opportunity to salvage the wreckage that is this land of ours from the insane policies of unchecked leftism, it is this execrable piece of mindless drivel.
Let me be open here, I find some portions of the “argument” here to have validity. In fact, I personally lean toward a “thinking man’s candidate” such as Ryan or Daniels.
Peppered in this road apple essay, however, are the snide hallmarks of a weak, limp and lame assault on those who don’t buy the fraud of global warming, or the front of “centrism” of the hardcore leftists in the current administration.
One need only to ignore the pictures posted by Zombie of the march of the union comrades, the work of Stanley Kurtz unveiling the Midwest Academy, New Party, Cooper Union, etc. brigade…and a series of hires unveiled by Christian Adams on these very pages.
Because, heaven forbid…someone might see far left ideology…and call it that, which would offend the delicate sensibilities of those who “know better” and are the “intellectual betters” who must suffer the indignity of hanging out with the “dirty fingernail” crowd of “the little people of the extreme right”.
I find myself in an awkward space here. It infuriates me to read some imbecile going off on “RINO’s” whenever yet another social issues trap is set and leg snare snaps shut…sending the country into a spasm of ridiculous chatter about a near irrelevancy while the country inches toward economic collapse.
On the other hand, some self-annointed braying ass, wheezes out how “stupid” non-leftists are for not buying into the global warming hoax or for pointing at the radical extremism rampant in the Soros, Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, lineage of EVERY policy put forward by this administration.
Pointing at extremism….provokes the assault of “extremist” by the feeble-minded and myopic curators of “reasonableness”. Oh, brother.
Let me be clear. If you think this administration is not extreme after reading Kurtz, Horowitz, Christian Adams and Zombie…if you believe that global warming wasn’t an agenda rather than pure science…you have no credibility on national issues.
I may prefer Ryan or Daniels…but, I would take a bowl of split pea soup and vote for it over the radical extremists on the left that have seized power and nearly brought this country to the brink of collapse. And I would be honored to buy those “dirty fingernails” a beer any time…rather than sit with a prissy, self-absorbed, myopic who can’t see the danger in rampant, unchecked leftism that endangers this land of ours each and every day from now until November next year.
cfbleachers I am one of those dirty fingernail persons even tho I do clean them often. you wrote a very good post and I am in total agreement with you. I was raised in a democrat family. they finaly got religion. for many years I was a repubclan. for a lot of years now I have been independent. I go with the T.E.A. party ans suport them in their indeavors. I HATE democrats,
Spot on.
The Ruling Class and ankle biters like Moran recognize no boundaries when defending their own.
Somebody who is willfully blind to what is going on in this country is part of the problem. They can man the guillotines instead of being in them.
cfbleachers – good comment. Road apple essay indeed. Though to be honest, I frankly couldn’t make heads nor tails out of Moran’s piece, so I’m not sure I can criticize specific points. Rather like waving away the fog.
Conservatives object to teaching evolution in schools?
Come on, Moran! Only super high altitude religious nuts do.
Conservatives object to excluding metaphysical alternatives proposed by religions. You had a great article until you toed the Liberal lie line.
BTW, when polled at conventions in the past, near 80% of theoretical physicists ansered YES to the question, “Do you believe God exists?” So cut the crap about there being a choice between God and Science. That’s the commie line.
Still love your writing, Moran, but you should not have ended poorly and equivocally with “dopes, jokes, and frauds”.
Those who worship at the church of Al Gore may disagree, but it requires much more faith to believe in the preposterous notion of a spontaneous “big bang” (or any other of the left’s fairy tales) than to believe all life was created by the guiding hand of Almighty God.
The truly hilarious thing about atheists is that they are using an origin theory written by a Catholic priest to try to deny the existence of a Creator. The Big Bang Theory itself was never intended to deny the existence of God, but rather to explain ex nihilo creation in light of the astronomic observations of an expanding universe. The atheists of the day were convinced in the Steady State Theory, which held (absurdly, in light of gravity and thermodynamics) that the Universe was infinitely old and unchanging on a large scale.
You may believe what you say but true scientists don’t rule out god. I, a professing atheist don’t rule out the possible existence of God, but I need proof. I don’t have “faith” which is believing without evidence. True scientists don’t “believe” in the big bang, what they believe is that it is a possible explanation for what happened. Science doesn’t go into “WHY” of things only the “WHAT” and anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t know what “Science” really is. Algore’s crap isn’t science. It’s a hoax. Just like the Ozone layer hoax before it. That was so simple to disprove that anyone believing in it is just ludicrous. Ozone is byproduct of the UV rays being absorbed by O2 molecules. Global warming is a byproduct of the Sun warming up and our orbits changing. Yes our outputs may increase the temperature a bit but it’s negligible compared to the Sun’s effects. Calling Scientists and science wrong because it doesn’t explain why things happen is just as wrong as Algore.
Why are Atheists obsessed with God?
Because even athiests know deep in their hearts that one day they will have to answer to God for their sinful deeds.
Sure there’s an establishment GOP: in addition to Will, there’s John McCain and MItt McCain . . . . I mean Romney and Roy Blount, John Boehner, Lindsey Graham, Olympia Snow, Rick Moran and a host of others.
This is cute in a snide sort of way: “What mostly defines an establishment member these days is the level of disdain exhibited toward Tea Partiers, the evangelical right, and the anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots who make up a sizable minority of the GOP base and who threaten to determine who will face Barack Obama in 2012.” But it sounds like wishful thinking.
Would you please name some of the “anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots” to whom you refer?
pedal-to-the-metal hate for their political opponents that grips a large segment of the right.
No, who the Will-Noonan crowd hates are their political allies.
anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots
IOW, those who laugh loudly at the concept that all life could have (much less must have) occurred and developed via accident, and cynically wonder why those who are screaming that man is destroying earth via greenhouse gas emissions are driving SUVs and demanding the removal of hydro-electric dams and nuclear power plants.
Oh, and writing papers saying that that if we don’t get our act together aliens might attack.
Love the expression: “prissy, self-absorbed, myopic”. You pegged Will fair.
Careerist Will merits a Useful Idiot Hero badge from the Statist conspirators. Unfortunately, neither he nor I shall live long enough to see his show trial in the coming terror to be unleashed by the Statists.
What George Will should have said was that there is no GOP establishment BASE of voters, that of course is true, which is why they have to put up with the rest of us, whether they like it or not.
They are arrogant elitists in constant search of a parade that they can claim to be leading.
“But let them decide who should represent them as a candidate for president? Perish the thought.”
And you know what changed the landscape of the political world here in this country? The Internet. Yes, the humble little computer will now determine who will become president, because now people are using the Internet to give money (the life blood of any political campaign) directly to a candidate. Right now, I’m surprised that the RNC and the DNC are still even in business. People can give the money directly to their candidates and skip the political establishment. In fact, they can give money to candidates all over the country, not to just local people running for Congress. The Internet is an awesome fundraising tool and will only get stronger as the years go by.
The Internet can also form public opinion about a candidate these days. Sarah Palin has done more with her Facebook account than if she had gone on a hundred local TV programs stating her political views. Remember her statement on death panels? That started on the Internet, not on TV or the newspapers (which are just about dead, anyway). So the Internet is not only giving more power to the individual, it is even beginning to reach more people than TV. Old-time establishment people like George Will still don’t fully grasp the importance of the Internet and what a powerful force it is.
This is the best article I’ve ever read on what’s wrong with the Republican Party and in beautifully written, pungent, language. But, Rick Moran, before giving up on the Republican ability to beat Obama in 2012 . . .
BUDDY ROEMER has filed for a piece of that Republican primary real estate! Evidently you’ve never heard of him? (see brief bio below)That’s a problem of the media picking and choosing who they will cover. Not only has Roemer been a candidate for a couple of weeks, but he has the potential to save the Republican Party from its own sins. The Establishment, thus far, is barring him from September 7 debate by moving the goal posts.
Take a look at his website, click on his speech declaring his candidacy a couple weeks ago at Dartmouth. You’ll see what I mean.
Will the Republican establishment APPROVE of Roemer’s views on reforming trade policy to deal with the economy and lack of jobs? I doubt it–their contributions from global multinationals will dry up if they do. But the voting public will most definitely approve!
Here’s the difference between Roemer as a candidate, and Tea Party approved candidates being rejected by the Republican Establishment. Roemer’s key issues–including reform of trade policy–have populist appeal, cross all party lines from far left to far right. Tea Party approved candidates can’t win general elections. On the other hand, Roemer’s platform offers much that Tea Party fans CAN be happy about–the Tea Party constituency might just not abandon the Republican Party if Roemer were the candidate.
Personally, as someone who believes we’ll never cure our economic ills UNTIL we change our suicidal trade policies, for me as an ardent independent/3dparty advocate, Roemer’s participation in the Republican primary will be a success whether he wins or loses for simply FORCING the two parties to debate his issues during this primary season.
As it is, our bought-out Congress (that passed NAFTA to begin with) is incapable of offering any transformative economic plan, whether it’s Republican or Democratic controlled. They owe their souls to the company store, so to speak.
It was a conservative, Pat Buchanan, who defined multi-national corporations as “amoral behemoths”–as indeed they are. If you expect a Republican Party controlled by THAT establishment (and it IS in control) to do anything that puts America’s interest first, you’re asking for the impossible. At least Tea Party beliefs are morally based. The corporation-controlled Republican Establishment has no such morals–or patriotism for that matter.
Roemer is just the breath of fresh air the mass of Republican (and Democratic) voters need right now before giving up on our system altogether.
Buddy Roemer brief bio: Served as a “reform” governer of Louisiana, and four terms in Congress. He has an MBA from Harvard (entered Harvard at 16), and he’s a banker (who takes no bailouts and serves the small business needs in Louisiana). He has a wife named Scarlett.
–Buddy Roemer, served as reform governor of Louisiana, served 4 terms in the House,
“It was a conservative, Pat Buchanan, who defined multi-national corporations as “amoral behemoths”–as indeed they are. If you expect a Republican Party controlled by THAT establishment (and it IS in control) to do anything that puts America’s interest first, you’re asking for the impossible.”
These “amoral behemoths” are what is referred to as “special interest groups”. These include the finance industry, environmentalists, unions, ACORN, automotive industy, business organizations such as NEMA (electrical manufacturers), IBC and IBMA (batteries), SME (society of mechanical engineers), Chamber of Commerce (small business owners), various gun owners organizations and thousands of others. Each special interest group has lobbyists representing their views, whose purpose is to convince congressmen of their position regarding various legislations. Their only reason for existence is to make a profit. These groups, especially the manufacturers, also offer expertise on technical issues. This is how our political system operates. You can’t blame large corporations, or any group for that matter, to try to control whichever party will look out for their interests. The multi-nationals would contribute more to the Democrats if they thought they could get more favorable legislation out of them. But one multi-national corporation that doesn’t contribute to the Republican party is GE, whose CEO Jeff Immelt is Obama’s economic advisor. And, his company receives hundreds of millions in subsidies from the Obama administration to fund their money-losing wind and solar power divisions, to create “millions” of non-existent green jobs. Another is GMC. And for your information, the finance industry contributed more to Obama during his presidential campaign than to McCain. So did the unions, the greens, ACORN, and many others. That’s why these groups, including the multi-nationals, are called “special interests. Technically, they are all “amoral behemoths”. You’ve singled out the multi-nationals for no good reason.
I agree with what you say about corporations giving to Democrats as well. In fact it was Bill Clinton who, in the end, made NAFTA possible. Which doesn’t change the fact that MORE REPUBLICANS wanted so-called “free” trade than Democrats. Clinton’s much vaunted (at the time) “move to the center” translated into–caved into multinationals and colluded with Newt Gingrich into passing NAFTA in that year’s Lame Duck session.
Even at that, so hot an issue (anti-NAFTA)was it back then, all they could pass was an Executive Agreement (in place of the Trade Treaty it should have been) because they couldn’t get that 2/3 vote even in a Lame Duck session. Should appall all those “constitutionalists” wanting to go back to the Founding Fathers!
NAFTA (like our lax immigration policy and open borders and sanctuary cities) has ALWAYS been opposed by the mass of people. It is ONLY the movers and shakers (i.e. global corporations with unlimited contributions made law by the Supreme Court)in both parties that make it impossible to do anything REAL about illegal immigration or “free” trade. Free Trade Ain’t Free!!!
Buddy Roemer is the ONLY person in either party to take up this issue. Besides which, if the mass of Republican voters nominated him, he’d beat Obama–none of the others would in my view. I collected signatures and did politics on behalf of Perot and reform party for 10 years. I never met even ONE Republican (or Democrat) in favor of “free” trade–they didn’t agree with my 3d party efforts, but they thought NAFTA wrong. I like to say, only popular with Libertarians, global corporations and economics professors with tenure.
George Will and the rest of his ilk in the ‘Republican Establishment’ are the reason we are in this mess. They have put themselves before country. They value their self-image and ego-strokes of being an ‘insider’ so much that the insider status means more to them than their conservative ideals. There are some things worth fighting for but WIll and his ilk won’t do it.
Ronaldus Magnus wasn’t the establishment’s choice either.
The real dynamic going on here is that when Sarah is elected they will no longer have a pot to piss in and they will have to start finding honest work. EVERYTHING coming out of the mouths of the Washington elite is derived from this one single thought.
Hey, Party GOP and Rick Moran. It may have escaped your wise and wonderful notice, but our country is in the process of dying. Get over all this stupid discussion stuff and start pitching in to save Her. And tell the GOP establishment to cut up all their credit cards. Time to pay the bills of stupidity. Heaven help us from people who analyze everything to death too.
You Go Granny! They could have had a balanced budget. All they had to do was keep passing one and sending it to the Senate. Don’t pass the debt ceiling increase and they’d have had to balance it. But NO! Boehner had to compromise with himself (sounds so icky) and ruin that chance.
Only problem with your premise is, its the ‘people’ since the 60′s who have
been responsible for where the nation is today.
It is the people of the private sector with their intellectual elites in hundreds of think tanks, the peoples thousands of special interest groups and government lobbyists. It is the Peoples states legislators and community governments…all living in the halls of congress and the White House with their hands out for special legislative favors, all with BIG ‘handout’ dollars attached.
Likewise, show me a single legislative regulatory bill that has not come from a private sector origin!
If you want to blame somebody or some thing, maybe putting the blame where it belongs would be of benefit to the entire nation…..private sectors lobbyists! They’re in fact, the folks who ‘literally’ write most of the congressional legislative bills.
“Only problem with your premise is, its the ‘people’ since the 60′s who have been responsible for where the nation is today.”
Are you really just a troll, or do you really think the people voting in the 60′s are all the same people voting now, or even so much as most of them? Are you really unable to accept a change in direction is desired by the people?
I know from your approval of government death panels, that you are profoundly evil or stupid. What’s you further trauma? Where else in your psyche has the contagion spread? Please, entertain us all further.
Proof, idiots are incrurable!
Population 65+ 2010 Census – 12.9%
Age 65+ who voted 2008 election – 25.5 million
Total who voted 2008 election – 131.1 million
Now I don’t know about you but it seems theres a good amount of folks hanging around from the 60′s voting era who are still active voters. Start messing with the old folks and see that 25.5 million go to 29 million overnight. Add to that the percentage of folks who are 55-64 years of age and I think that’s a pretty big number to be tossing all your TeaParty arrogance at.
Folks like you don’t leave a very good impression on a lot of voters age 55 and up!
I wasn’t impressed in the slightest with this article. However I am very impressed with the intellectual prowess displayed in the comments. One thing I have seen is that the lefties always have top lie about the position, comments or policies of the subject of their attacks. The Tea Partiers aren’t extreme enough to warrant their criticism so they fake an extreme description and then attack it. Now I see the author of this article has resorted to the same tactic. I also notice his extensive use of eloquent criticism such as dope and figure that’s his best intellectual exercise and then the rest of his analysis makes sense.
Here’s to the end of the like of Teddy Roosevelt Progressives (the Republican wing of the Big Government Party). Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Sure was a lot of words to get to your last sentence. I’ll take a stab here, you really are a Republican in name only. Some pundit at some past time called these folks RINOs. Does this sound familiar?
Actually this is one of Rick’s more right-leaning articles – until he wrote
“It’s that these apostates don’t possess the uncompromising fervor of righteous certainty in their views and pedal-to-the-metal hate for their political opponents that grips a large segment of the right.” (Good God!!! Could a better description be made of statists?)
he was doing pretty good IMO…and of course there is that last line. Seems he never passes up the opportunity to display his hate for conservatives and Tea Party members. No matter how much of a dig he gets at the main stream republicans he always takes a larger swipe at those he really dislikes – conservatives and the TP.
“anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots”
By that do you mean all those people who wanted specific questions (Like why the models can’t ‘predict’ the past, or follow current trends) on Global Warming answered BEFORE they bet the farm on so-called solutions?
Do you mean those people who have just been bolstered in their view of the ‘Settled Science’ by the unsettling results coming out of the CERN Super Colider regarding Cosmic Rays, Low Level Cloud Cover, and Sunspot Activity?
Is that who you are talking about?
Could be talking about those who do not subscribe to the ‘scientific myth’ that we are formed of goo dripping from Carl Sagan’s Intellectual cosmos which then evolved into apes who then manifested in hu-man.
Those ‘anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots’, those humans-not- Sagan’s-cosmic-goo-evolving-into-Darwin’s-apes who are enlightened by the technological advancement in Molecular Biology and who are aware of the unscientific state of poorly lacking fossil records.
In effect, the ‘anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots’ are those who recognize that The Origins of the Species was scientifically disproven.
That said; the Intellectuals created Global Warming-Climate Change as a means of evolving their Darwinian Apes; this is their ‘survival of the fittest’ moment.
I’m still a committed rock-ribbed (ouch!)Republican (for my sins) and still believe that the GOP, generally speaking, represents the best chance of leading the nation back to sanity. (I’m also a life-long Cubs fan so draw you own conclusions.) I believe that the RINO element of the party is starting to get it and finally recognizes the dynamism and clarity that have galvinized conservatives over the last two years.
I too have nothing but contempt for the country-club GOP that that will campaign on a small-government platform then spend every dime in sight when in office. Being a small “c” conservative and a Republican takes realy moral courage given the sort of vile attacks the left is capable of making. (Republican officeholders must also resist the blandishments of obtaining “strange new respect” from the dinosaur media.)
The Tea Party has performed an historic service in moving the national debate from the expansion of the entitlement state to fiscal rform and government contraction. We must keep pushing despite the recriminations from the left and continue to hold those GOP candidates elected with Tea Party support accountable.
The ChrisitianCoailition/TeaParty should have their own party to run on and hold themselves accountable! Likewise, the Socialits-Progressives of the Democrat Party should be made to run on their Socialist Partys ticket. Thats one of the downfalls of the predominate two-party system. It is corrupted by the extremes of the socialists and the evangelic social ‘conservatives’ as they call themselves in the TeaParty who run in the Democrat and GOP as a matter of convenience.
DOPE – JOKE – FRAUD
Do you need to hear anymore to know it’s the opinion of a Liberal ?
In the absence of facts they go to the only thing they undersatnd – vitriol
You have to hand it to Moran.
When he’s slinging shit, he covers the barn door and the whole neighborhood.
Ever wonder why his kaka is so rarely aimed at The Won?
There are points made in the article that I agree with but the very points made about George Will (who I do like and read regularly) could be made by Will about Moran and be true.
I’ve always said that when comparing Liberals and Conservatives, it all depends on where each thinks the middle is. That would be the biggest bone of contention. In my eyes, the Democrat Party has gone so far Left, it can’t even see the middle. I’ve never been a Democrat but as a young woman was more liberal until I got older and realized the Dem party did not have the good of the country and its citizens in their plans, only the good of the Dem Party.
I’m kinda suprised that Rick Moron”let’s be more like the democrats so they’ll let us eat the at cool kids table” griping about the “tea and crumpets set”. He wants to be David Brooks when he grows up. He’s in the same boat as Glen Reynolds’ adopted and retarded daughters, Althouse and McArdle.
Seems the Mr. witty whatever Moran has a man crush on urbane Mr. Will. Ohhh and nobody understands how we great unwashed—BECAUSE you’re all losers. We didn’t want McCain when you sent him and we damned sure don’t want another like him. We definitely prefer to go down fighting over going down some squish way. My new girlfriend Iluvtea
has it right, we want for the good of the Country, the party has long since failed us. I recently moved my factory to Mexico just to escape totally stupid regulations, I knew going in that it would cost it financially— and we get shot at by drug dealers, who are better than bureaucrats. My factory was a simple furniture operation, in six instances there was no way to comply because of contradictory regs, a couple more required equipment that was of no use. Keep the taxes low and get out of the way —oooops I know that is too complicated for communist, columnists or establishment Republicans— yeah we have some guys on our side who worry about gays and such but most of us don’t care. I will say things were better when the kids started their day with a prayer.
George Will, Karl Rove etal are part of the Political Establishment and they are part of the problem. They trash conservative candidates like Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell before they even have a chance to get their message out. If they are really big players in the Republican establishment and always want Republicans to get elected, why would they do this? Could it be that they only want moderate, mooshy, squishy Republicans to get elected? It sure looks that way. So not only do we have to do battle with the Marxist Media, we have to battle establishment Republicans.
What? Mitt Romney is the classic Nelson Rockefeller incarnate. Jon Huntsman is Nelson Rockefeller too.
Read Angelo Codevilla’s essay on the Political Class. The establishment folks in either party have much more in common, and much more loyalty to one another, than to any of the little people they claim to champion.
Having one of those Tea Party Types attain a position of authority is to them like it was to the upper crust in the 1950′s with the notion that a Negro could get a membership to their country club. No. Never. Its unthinkable.
I, too, am disgusted with the Republicans. It seems impossible to be as tone deaf as they have been for the past few years. However, I just cannot accept their swing to the far right. There will have to be some way to accomodate independents who don’t accept the Democrat way of running the government. For the first time in my long life, I feel that the government doesn’t represent me at all. I agree with the fiscal conservatism of the Tea Party but I can’t go along with their social conservatism. Some, like Bachmann, seem to be more intent on pushing that then on speaking about the financial situation of this coountry. I don’t know that she knows about anything else. Apparently, she was able to complete a law degree but I see little indication of intelligence there.
This is just another idiotic Rick Moran article bemoaning the great unwashed masses in the Tea Party that Moran has to deign to obtain the support of in order for his favored candidate (whoever that is) to win the election.
Moran is so intent on bashing his own party (assuming he really is a Republican at all) that he forgets all about the real enemy, which is Barack Obama and the radical left wing fringe that has taken over the Democratic party. Quite frankly any one of the current Republican party candidates (with the possible exception of Ron Paul) would be a vast improvement over the clown and fraud in the White House now, Michele Bachmann and all.
I liked the article. Yes, I’m looking for a candidate similar to a Pataki — I think if we win, the ensuing presidential term will be the Republicans last chance. In 2000, the Republican Party was golden, except we didn’t have a presidential candidate and so selected the son of a former president to avoid having to run Senator Quincy Magoo (RINO-Ariz). We can win with a dull but articulate candidate who can defend responsible governance principles, and in a debate can point to President Obama and say to the audience, “I’m not him.” That’s all we need to win. This is not difficult. Articulate. Responsible. No bad juju. Not Obama.
The problem is what comes next. If we get a responsible executive, then we need to govern responsibly. Remember the Press will attempt to crucify whoever we win with. This person will have to be able to deflect that criticism and settle the country, give a sense that, yes, we’ve got it under control.
We do that, and when the economy kick starts itself in 2013, we’ll have smooth sailing.
But no Dubyas, no Quayles, no Bachmans, no Palins. Yes, we need a Romney, a Pataki, Pawlenty would have been good.
What kind of logic is that? If the media is going to crucify our agenda no matter what we do, we should go with the most radical candidate to push the Overton Window as far to the right as it can go. We have nothing to lose by going for broke at this point.
["What mostly defines an establishment member these days is the level of disdain exhibited toward Tea Partiers, the evangelical right, and the anti-science Luddites and anti-intellectual galoots who make up a sizable minority of the GOP base and who threaten to determine who will face Barack Obama in 2012."]
The Evangelical ChristianCoailition/TeaParty is the only threat to the GOP and the united States Constitution!
As soon as more of the meida begins to expose the TeaParty as the repackaging of the old GOP Evangelical ChristianCoailition, their polling numbers will dive intom the deficit column just like our governments budgets. They already have ab approximate 80% disapproval reating in Americas since August of this year.
As for the traditional GOP, they have, like Will stated, abandoned their historic platform a long time ago. Same with the traditional Democrat party! Thats why we’ve had the social extremes of the progressives and the Evangelical ChristianCoailition/Teaparty trying to run things on Washington and screwing tthings up so much over the past 40 years. Today, we have the Progressives and the ChristianCoailtion/Teaparty involved in public warfare for which the nations majority will always side with the Progressives on major social issues in the end.
Another factor that will arise sooner or later is that the Evangelical ChristianCoailiton/TeaParty are presenting themselves more and more each day as radical zealots for which, the majority of the nation will not condone very long.
Claiming that climate change is an invention is truly remarkable. Attend a single semester of a Geology related class at any community college, the reality of Climate change will reveal itself unto you.
Technology progressed in a straight line in this Industrial age ONLY because the climate stabilized and agriculture provided overabundance of food. The calm environment of the last 200 years allowed resources to be focused on technological progress instead of survival. When the earth reenters its historically erratic climate mode, survival will once again be our priority. And it has absolutely nothing to do with Humanity, it is standard operating procedure for this Earth.
Like one poster stated the responses on this particular thread are quality and reflect thoughtful deliberation. The problem is too few people deliberate any longer, it is emotional response to a problem or issue.
One example is our massive debt and deficit; We can trace a straight line from President Nixon dumping the Gold standard and replacing it with Saudi Petroleum reserves, which we call the Petro-Dollar. Since 1971 the US dollar has lost 90% of its value, and the current price of Gold indicates this is only the beginning. We may be watching the complete collapse of the US dollar in the next several years.
Instead of attacking the ROOT of the problem; a Petro- Dollar system allowing unlimited printing of USD, we play the political blame game and the problem grows ever larger. There will come a tipping point very soon in which collapse will be the only manner to fix the problem.
The internet is fueling a revolution, no less than invention of printing Press triggering European revolutions. The sudden availability of Information created an environment to over throw monarchies and establish A representative Republic in the New World in the 1700′s…without the Printing Press there would not have been an American Republic.
We are watching Global revolution upsetting real and artificial establishments
today in the same manner, although now weighted towards communication. The Internet provides massive availability of information and more importantly instant communication, again providing the foundation for societal revolution. The problem is that instant communication also plays upon emotional responses…there needs to be thoughtful deliberation between information and action.
Silver thinks most of the “real estate” is of the center-right variety. Three candidates have been prominently mentioned and would almost certainly meet with the establishment’s approval to one degree or another: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former New York Governor George Pataki, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”
Center right -of whom Stalin or Alinsky?
Three radically liberal candidates. None will ever make it. Unless the work for the Obama dynasty nation.
I agree. When Rick mentions those three left-of-center Rinos it just totally betrays his credibility.
Look, I’m out in Iowa. This state is Palin’s to lose.
She’ll announce by the end of Sept. or after Perry is properly vetted. The attitude of Perry and his past record are pretty bad ONCE you examine it.
Once Perry is sufficiently vetted, Gov. Palin will announce and there will be NO major candidate to join in after that.
At Ames, I had even two Ron Paul supporters tell me they would switch support to Palin if she runs. They both rightly believe they are constitutionalists which they are. But, they did know at least some of Palin’s record as a leader and executive, something Ron Paul does not have experience in.
So, keep digging into the Perry detail and compare to the stellar record of Palin in Alaska.
She’ll announce when Perry’s star begins to burn out, and once she announces the momentum will shift again. Then there will be a decent chance we win against O with a solid right-of-center prudent fiscal conservative who will pick interpretationists for the courts and LEAD the country.
The idea that Rudy Giuliani is a “radically liberal candidate” is simply silly. He is entirely sound on fiscal and defense issues, and basically live-and-let-live on social issues. More importantly, he has far more personal force and executive experience than anyone else in the game, including the President. He has demonstrated the ability to take over a modern liberal mess and execute a comprehensive political and fiscal turnaround. He could do it again.
How is there absolutely no mention of Ron Paul? He’s the only man in Washington that actually stands for economic freedom. In my opinion, he is an almost perfect candidate, yet he is just completely ignored.
Why is there no mention of Ron Paul? I’ll tell you why. Because not enough people have taken the time to read his books and see what the man has to say. They are tv-watching, sound-bite quoting fake republicans that do not have a clue about REAL fiscal conservatism, the principles of sound money, etc etc that the Ron Paul Tea Party knows all about. None of them can quote their “candidate’s” platforms, beliefs or tell you anything about Ron Paul’s 30 year congressional voting record.
It’s simply that most people don’t understand how far this country has wondered off the path of a Constitutional Republic, and how terrible it will be unless we throw all the bath water out, AND the baby, and start acting constitutional again.
I have only been “awake” since 2007 when a friend took me to hear Ron Paul speak. After I heard what he had to say, and then did a lot of research and reading, I was able to comprehend the enormity of our governmental follies. It would be entertaining if it wasn’t all so horrifying. It’s a game to most people, this bashing of Ron Paul. And no one can ever tell you what he says that is so wrong, or what their candidate would do instead, they don’t have any ideas. They are AFRAID to know the truth.
It was sure a lot easier when I was blissfully ignorant of the pertinent facts and politically apathetic. When I think of my public high school, I have to wonder why we never were trained on reading and understanding the Constitution? How did I get to be fifty years old before I understood it? Our educational system is very broken. Along with lots of other things. But never mind, it’s time for the latest reality tv show – so don’t go reading anything sensible,just go hypnotize yourselves. But should you ever desire an education, go read some Ron Paul books, then read his assigned reading list. THEN and ONLY THEN will you be able to have a real, informed, educated opinion in a conversation about politics and the state of this country, and the ideals of a republic.Until then, until you understand your duties as a citizen, and the ideals of the Constitution of this country, you shouldn’t even be allowed to vote. Educate yourselves and then we can talk about who best represents those ideals. Just don’t wait too long – disaster looms ahead with the wrong choice in 2012.
Ron Pauls economic ideology would certainly be ‘A’ cure but he lacks any legislative governing ability to implement any of it.
On the otherhand, if the nation were to follow the track of Dr. Paul it would set our nation back into a relative stone age of economics…one in which not many citizens would agree too or be able to survive in. It would essentially take the nation back the the pr-1940 era.
At least for his economic ideology, he would get my vote if it were even remotely possible for him to get it implemented.
I read all the comments. What is truly sad is how many people have bought into the Left’s mischaracterization of the Tea Party. These people are a mixture of disaffected people of all parties. Primarily, it is about having a minimal government as the Constitution requires. The idea that they are mostly religious Conservatives is ridiculous. When you express such a view, you are truly being bigoted, painting them all with the same brush.
Yes, there are Conservatives like Bachmann. “Oh, they only want to talk about God and Social Conservativism.” Really? Is that true, or does it only seem like that, because that’s what the damned Media keeps asking them about? They talk about the issues all the time, and the Media reports only about the SoCon stuff. And you suckers buy it again and again. This is the process which brought us Obama, and will again, if you fail to learn this lesson!
Let me spell out the Tea Party for you. Former Democrats, who can no longer abide the Leftists who have hijacked their Party. Former Republicans (Conservatives) who can no longer abide the Republican Leftists (actually Democrats) who have hijacked their Party. Then there are the “Centrists, who in personal ideology, match the “moderate “Republicans”, but cannot stand how the policies actually play out. Then there are the libertarian folks. They are Conservatives without the SoCon stuff.
I really get tired of people who keep falling for the Media lies. They lie to you. All the time. Figure it out, or you will keep getting, and will deserve, someone like Obama.
Keep this simple fact in mind. You simply cannot fix this mess without the support of the SoCons. You cannot. You must have their help, period, so learn to live with them. These are good people. Any one of them would make fine neighbors. You have nothing to fear from them.
Just ignore any noise about the SoCon stuff. It is not like they are actually going to be able to do anything about it. And remember, it was not they who made this mess. It was the people who are primarily anti-religious who made this mess. Conservatives are not the enemy, nor are they something to fear. Get a damned grip, or get Obama again.
Stop letting the Left divide us. Stop it, damn your eyes! We row together, or we are truly screwed. Do you understand that? Or. We. Are. Screwed.
I never had any problem with the Tea Party until Dick Armey and his organization and the Club for Growth became their major financial supporters.
We all have our issues that are primary and basic to us — for me that’s trade (NAFTA,GATT, the WTO) that I feel has been responsible for our economic mess now. So how can I take seriously an organization that lets the Club for Growth run them??
I feel as if the Tea Party got itself co-opted — which can happen!! Happened to the Reform Party I was involved in, until 2000. Then Pat Buchanan and his supporters tried to co-opt IT (as Club for Growth has done to the Tea Party) by rejecting our “no social issues platform” and turning the Reform Party into a right to life party.
I was one of the members who WELCOMED PAT BUCHANAN, and many Reformers did, for his economic nationalism and his wonderful books on the history of trade BUT when he tried to change the whole concept of the Reform Party to include the abortion issue, we just couldn’t live with that.
I agree the Tea Party has been transformational but I think I always know those shakers and movers from the multinationals were NEVER going to let women like Palin or Bachmann dictate what THEY end up with. They loved the Tea Party when it won seats in 2010, but they want them then to just fold up and go home and let the big boys run things.
["Stop letting the Left divide us."]
You’re completely wrong Marc! What makes you wrong, you ask. You tell who an organization is by those who fund it and direct it. You tell who an organization is by the principles incorporated into their rhetoric. The TeaParty allowed themselves to become consumed by the old Christian Coailtion of the GOP and all its backers and operatives.
Take an ‘honest’ look at the legislative angenda’s of the states that the TeaParty claims as their victories in 2010. Over 29% of their combined legislation has been around Abortion alone.
“About 46 percent of the Teaparty activists say religion is the “top influence of their views.” That’s more than typical Republicans (40 percent) and registered voters (28 percent), who tend to look beyond religion to assess abortion policy. That agenda was dormant during the 2010 election, so it was hard to see. The TeaParty had pledged, earnestly, to keep both social and foreign policy issues off the table for the sake of making fiscal conservatism the priority in the run-up to the midterm elections. Presumably that was always understood to be a temporary arrangement.”
This is before we get to the rest of the TeaParty social agenda’s such as:
•Eliminate all welfare programs that do not call for work in return. Why should the tax dollars of hard working Americans be used to support lazy people.
•Eliminate social security, medicare and medicaid. These are all just ponzi schemes designed to take money from hard working Americans and transfer it to others. It’s not the fault of hard working Americans that some people have to struggle. Everyone in this country has had the same opportunities, and if they did not take advantage of those opportunities, or were lazy, why should the rest of America have to support them.
•Return GOD to government. We all know when our founding fathers talked about freedom of religion, they were only referring to religions that believed in CHRIST. Only those religions are protected under the constitution, and things like mosques, abortions and gays shall be eliminated under the penalty of law.
“There will be no more free rides in this country. Either work hard or leave. Believe in CHRIST or leave.”
“We are a grass roots movement trying to take this country back from those who do not share our core values.”
“In times of turmoil there is only one place to turn, and that is to the word of God. When we do that all our problems can be solved, and it should be pretty obvious to everyone how God is telling us to proceed.”
“What we need to take away from that statement is that sacrifice has to be made, and it should be the weak that make that sacrifice so that the healthy and wealthy can prosper.”
“Social Security and Medicare must go. Continuing to drain resources from productive members of society, simply to benefit the weak is not only a sin, but also immoral.”
“I’m truly sorry if a few old, disabled and sick people have to suffer, but it sure isn’t my responsibility to help them. There is no other way.”
“Survival of the fittest!”
“God tells us that!”
“Freedom of religion for all Christians. Jews might be ok too.”
Okay I coulld go on and on but these are just a few examples extracted from the various TeaParty’s online representing the TeaParty Platforms. You folks can judge for yourselves what the TeaParty is….and about!
My experiences on this site rather confirms most of the above!
Those stats sound about right to me. I accept them as your premise. However, I do not see a problem with them. In order to get fiscal sanity, ALL those in favor of fiscal sanity have to band together. That includes the SoCons.
Once in office, they will pursue fiscal sanity, but they will also pursue their agenda. 46% of the Tea-Partiers are SoCons, but 29% of legislation is about abortion? Sounds like the SoCons are not being adequately represented, or are simply holding back a bit in the interests of comity. How is this a problem, TT?
I do not get why people make such a fuss about the SoCons advocating what they believe. What is this shut up stuff all about? Do you favor abortion? If yes, then okay, I get that you oppose the SoCons. If you are neutral about it, then what the heck do you care if they get what they want? It should be a non-issue for you. If you get fiscal sanity, it seems a small price to pay, right?
Maybe it is just that you really are socially liberal FisCons, meaning you are libertarians… and pro-abortion and pro gay-marriage. Well then, just say so. Do not hide behind the Constitution and tell us to shut up. There is nothing unconstitutional about banning abortion. If it is a human life, as all the science indicates, then we are obligated to prohibit abortion with laws. If you are a social liberal,though, you do not want to have that discussion, do you? You would rather just tell us to shut up, just like the liberals of the Left.
Don’t believe I’m on record as having ever told anybody to “shut up” as you indicate!
I’m glad however, that you were man enough to stand up in support of those sample “platform” issues of the TeaParty I posted from some of their online sites. If only the TeaParty folks and their following would broadly stand up to their own platforms in public venues, the nation would have a better understanding of who they are and what they ‘honestly’ represent.
That said, the TeaParty of today, are the most anti-constitutionalists in the nation! They have ‘perverted’ the constitution with self-serving interpretaions that only a very few can accept and condone. Maybe thats why the TeaParty’s reputation in the nation is declining as it is today. I would even argue that the TeaParty and their followers, representing such platform issues as I posted above have ‘perverted’ the teachings of Christianity! I will know more about that as I receive responses back from church leaders of Christianty. I suspect I already know what their responses will be.
Doesn’t really matter to me how you try to politically ‘label’ me as I’m first, a patriot of God; second, a patriot of The United States Constitution and third, the patriarch of my family. Neither my God nor my Constitution of the United States or our families values, are in harmony with the platforms of the TeaParty folks and their followers. I can’t make it any more black and white for you!
“I’m truly sorry if a few old, disabled and sick people have to suffer, but it sure isn’t my responsibility to help them. There is no other way.”
“Survival of the fittest!”
“God tells us that!”
Do you want to discuss Christanity and abortion now or later?
“If only the TeaParty folks and their following would broadly stand up to their own platforms in public venues, the nation would have a better understanding of who they are and what they ‘honestly’ represent”
Do you think the internet is some kind of secret place that only you and a few others have discovered?
You act like you found the secret hiding place of the Tea Party, or maybe you are the only one with a supersecret Tea Party decoder ring. Did you discover some messages written in invisible ink?
There is no Tea Party platform that is about the nonsense you are spewing. You have been suckered by the leftists on this issue, but you get suckered willingly, even eagerly.
Instead of trolling for the “secret internet places” of the Tea Party, why don’t you do what rational, sane people do when they want to know the truth about others? Go talk to them. Go to a rally and mingle. You will get an education, but I doubt it will stick.
Marc
I’d be as careful of his stats as of the accuracy of all those “Tea Party”,
so-con quotes. I’ve seen more than a little tea party stuff and all that stuff he strung out does not ring true. God is not cited like that, Obama fiscal mismanagement is almost always the message. ‘Course most of my Tea Party stuff comes from Wis., if that makes a difference.
Since there is no party or single organization that can claim to be the Tea Party (It is a state of mind), anybody can create a website and claim to represent the views of the Tea Party.
But the Tea Party simply supports limited government and less spending, in accordance with our Constitution. There is no other platform, no position papers on abortion, gay rights or any of the other social issues. It is not a party– there is no leader or leadership. There is no steering committee or any other nonsense. The Tea Party came into existence through the conscience of ordinary American citizens who became alarmed at what our President and Congress were doing to this country’s future with outsized, reckless, corrupt spending and expansion of government. There is no evidence– none– that the Tea Party was other than grassroots.
Given the nonsense that T.T. brings to the table, is it not more likely that he was “pointed” to these alleged Tea Party websites from whatever HuffPo or lefty blog he was frantically looking for anti Tea Party “facts” on? His previous comments indicate that he would be an easy and willing mark.
I have never met anyone who considers him/herself to be a Tea Partier who would fit the asinine descriptions of this T.T. guy, who is consumed by some sort of sickness about the Tea Party. Bet that he has never, ever been to a Tea Party rally, and has never, ever sat down and talked with any real TP supporter in his life. His depiction of them does not match real world experience.
Hard to tell if you are the propagandist, or just a tool of the propagandist.
Sort of a chicken/egg thing, I guess. But, if I had to bet, I would bet on tool.
Henry…You represent the typical TeaParty sheeple in the same fashion as the Socialist-Progressive sheeple! To be a political sheeple/follower one has to be a lesser, and ignorant and you certainly qualify! Movements are founded by leaders…leaders who recruit and otherwise find the lessers and the ignorant to teach and indocrinate as their little robot army of support.
You don’t have a clue how government and the economy works in this country or anywhere around the world. Once either appears to be in desparation you cling to the rhetoric of leaders that manipulate and exploit your weaknesses of knowledge according to their yin yang will. Makes no difference whether or not their simplistic and superficial rhetoric is viable or not…they convince you it is, because afterall, they are the knowledgeable…the experts and you are the lesser…the ignorant!
Maybe its time you wake up and educate yourself that the government and economy in this country are NOT controlled internally by a congress or a sitting president….and hasn’t been since the resurgence of the New World Order and a One World Government in the early 20th century. I’m betting you haven’t a clue that you can correlate to your TeaParty’s disingenuous rhetoric of small government and fiscal conservatism!
Theres a reason our government has systemically and systematically grown larger and larger and our economy becoming inclusionary in a global economy. Its so much larger than any little TeaParty who are politically disingenuous and haven’t the controlling power over the external forces to stop or reverse anything in the greater scheme of things. The ONLY power the TeaParty has is over internal social issues and rewritng/redefining the constittuion to give favor for Christiany as the ‘controlling’ religion of the the nation. Thats it!
The government and the economy are long locked into the global order for which, if Dr. Paul were to have his way, it would return the U.S. back to a relative stone age isolated government and economy. How many Americans today are willing to return to the individual wealth structure and lifestyles predating the 1940′s? NO legitimate economist would ever try to infer that our nations economy can progress from where it is today UNTIL the global economy that is in a deep recession can recover….and guess who holds the majority of the worlds economic/monetary wealth? Certainly not any free world government!
Seems rather strange to tell an adult to grow up but…grow up! Learn about the two opposing forces that have long been conducting the New World Order and a One World Government. Then maybe, you will begin to see and understand how disingenuous the politicians superficial rhetoric of both parties and the Tea Party is.
Maybe you don’t realize what the New World Order really is. It is Satanic, and I don’t use that word lightly. Making Christianity the national religion isn’t perceived as some puppet show for the masses by the NWO; rather, it is perceived by them as a DECLARATION OF WAR. They want control over all politics, economics, and religion, and freedom of speech/press, free enterprise and Christianity are diametrically opposed to the NWO. We will not be silenced, we will not be assimilated, and we will not bow down before them!
I agree with Marc Malone. Stop buying into the Establishment Media’s attempt to define the terms of the discussion. They are members of Codevilla’s Ruling Class, and their goal is to preserve the status quo, with themselves in the drivers seat. Don’t buy into the argument that an insignificant cut in government spending over a 10 year period is really doing something to reduce the out-of-control debt. As long as the base budget for each year contains an automatic 8% increase as a starting point, these “cuts” are merely smaller increases in certain areas in return for higher tax rates to fund the other, untouched increases in spending. We have to elect candidates who will start NOW to reduce the size and scope of the Federal government. This means less people: less Cabinet departments; less regulatory bureaus; less people in the permanent body of federal employees who are untouched by each election, but retain lifetime jobs, health benefits, and pensions supporting the status quo of Federal control of our lives. Don’t fall for the Ruling Class media stories about cutting benefits for granny or putting poor, underprivileged children out on the street to starve. This is just a ploy to make you look away from the real problem: too many people employed to regulate our lives and redistribute our money in the Federal bureaucracy!
If we don’t start NOW to elect administrators and legislators who will reduce the size of Washington and return the power to govern our lives to the states, the local governments and to ourselves, we are truly screwed.
More interesting FACTS about Perry:
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/terrihall/2011/08/rick-perry-tied-to-agenda-21-globalist-policies/
Another gem from Perry’s past:
http://www.rightspeak.net/2011/08/rick-perry-wanted-bi-national-health.html
You won’t find this in Palin’s past. Keep looking. Need another 24,000 e-mails?
Nice being fully-vetted already, huh?
13,000 emails. 24,000 pages. (Just setting the record straight.)
The descendency of G Will and his ilk, springs not from his refusal to acknowledge the inherent wisdom of tea party politics, rather from a willful refusal to even casually acknowledge the abject depravity of the current left wing cool aid party. A thoughtful analysis would note the hate, hysteria, vile rhetoric and yes, physical violence promulgated and endorsed by the Obama machine. Delusional projection that far exceeds the norm!
Ah, well. There are establishment Republicans, but not as an organization, and there’s where the Republicans fail as a party. Lack of organization. So, Obama’s team was able to persuade the Hillary supporters to put McCain in office, denying Hillary the canditacy and giving Obama an easy win.
Might be how we ended up with Dole in ’96 when Clinton should have been easy to beat.
“It’s that these apostates don’t possess the uncompromising fervor of righteous certainty in their views and pedal-to-the-metal hate for their political opponents that grips a large segment of the right.”
Interesting article Rick – until I got to this paragraph at least. Your understanding of who and what we are seems to slip between the neurons of your left-leaning brain. Once again for your benefit Rick, its the LEFT that carries hate and discontent for their political opponents. You offer up that line with NO PROOF at all of hatred on the part of the right. What it does prove is where your loyalties lay – establishment republicanism.
And FWIW there is little difference between G. Will K. Rove (or R. Moran) and the power brokers on the left. Each want power above all else – and will say and do anything to the opposition (us, I.E. Tea Party) to keep themselves in power.
Their attitude is to control how they lose so they don’t lose control.
Rove is the perfect example – having savaged Christine McDonald on national tv (Hannity) in a way that even most leftists never would to one of their own kind. Rove makes money from dispensing power and advice – take that away and Rove becomes irrelevant. Rove will do and say anything to keep his relevancy. ANYTHING. G. Will is no different.
And so it seems – Mr. Moran – you will too. I ask you to to take back that nasty line I quoted from your article.
Two ‘extremes’ are two extremes! The Democrats progressives and the GOP’s Evenagelical TeaParty are two extremes fighting over control of the nation. One fights under the premises of the common laws of nature and humanity whith the other fights for control over the Evangelical Christian law of nature and humanity. One wants the role of government to be by and for the people and the other wants government to be by and for Evangelical Christianity.
All this small constitutional government, budgets and debt rhetoric is simply a side show and diversion away from their core in-fighting.
Heres what the constitution says:
Article I, Section 8 inpart, “….pay the Debts and PROVIDE for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…”
The United States consists of only three (3) components: Land mass, Sovereign Borders AND the PEOPLE. Therefore, the constitution refers to [Defense] of the land mass inside the sovereign borders and [welfare] of the people.
The issue of all the extremes infighting and the majority of the people comes down to what side of the constitution one is on.
Defining a RINO,
“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” — G. K. Chesterton
This needs to change and hope WILL NOT make it change and RINO’s WILL NOT make it change. We either rise up and cut off the snakes head or it will swallow us whole. See the EU for the outcome to the snake head continuing to live.
Good Luck All of Us, the day of reckoning has arrived 11/6/2012.
Love it! The man had a way with words.
“The Travails of the GOP Establishment”:
Stay away from Social Security.
Improve Medicare.
Raise taxes, or this country will go down the drain.
You all will be old one day and your money will not last forever . . .
Be smart now; later will be too late.
The country needs a rational economic policy, a hands-off approach to social issues, and an articulate leader who can win both confirmed Republicans and a large majority of independents.
Hard-core liberals outnumber hard-core social conservatives in this country. If Republicans run on an platform that emphasizes pro-life, marriage, creationism, religion, etc. Obama will win a 2nd term. The only way to beat him is to focus like a laser beam on economics and appeal to the pragmatic middle that is not committed to conservative ideology.
I like the Tea Party (as I understand it) because it emphasizes economic freedom and scaling back government without taking a stand on social issues. However, the Tea Party is more a movement than a party per se. Despite what some campaigns may claim, the Tea Party has not produced any serious candidates for President.
The only way to reverse Obama’s disastrous economic policies is to field a moderate candidate who can attract enough conservatives and independents to win. I’m not crazy about so-called RINO’s, but it’s those “squishy” RINO qualities that make them potentially electable.
And, when elected, they govern in a “squishy” manner, and the band plays on. Why elect another commie, misrepresenting himself as a conservative?
The damned liberals have all but destroyed this country. Let them finish the job. Then we’ll start from scratch, bar the morally and intellectually challenged from the electoral process, and get it right.
I’m suggesting that the system is too badly broken to be fixed.