Hey they interviewed me.
So here we are in 2010. I’ll be the first to say that I am not the least bit sorry to say goodbye. As painful and crazy as it was – both personally and politically – it was in many ways the start of something bigger than I could have imagined… as well as a renewal.
William Temple said during the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington that this fight was a continuation – not a beginning. The things we are fighting for are not new ideas. Freedom from tyranny and a limited government are what our Founding Fathers built an entire nation upon. Here we are 233 years later continuing the battle for the same thing.
So how did we get here again? The short answer is that we got lazy. Quite simply, Americans don’t understand what it’s like to not be free. The average American has no concept of what it is like to live under the control of a government, and therefore has a false sense of security. As a nation, we can’t really comprehend the idea that our freedom could be taken away, so protecting our personal liberty isn’t a priority anymore – I don’t think I need to articulate how dangerous that is. Those in office do not generally like to limit their own power, which leads to, well, Congress. Our liberty is something we need to protect.
This past year was a wake up call. Congress isn’t doing anything unprecedented. They are doing what any law making body does when they aren’t being held accountable – they are doing what’s best for them. The thing about Americans is that we want it our way, and we only let ourselves get pushed around for so long. Then we get angry.
What happened over the past year is the result of Americans hitting a breaking point. The encroachment on our liberty did not begin with Barack Obama, and this discontent has been brewing for a while. The amount of money being spent and the absurd power grab coming from Washington defy everything that we stand for, and Washington has finally met some resistance. Now we enter a new decade with country-reshaping legislation hanging in the balance, leaders who will not listen, and a whole bunch of pissed off gun and religion clingers. So what comes next?
Democrats in Congress have been clear about their intent to “reshape” America. Republicans – while surprisingly strong throughout the health care debate – are still not quite getting it. In order for the GOP to gain any ground this year, they’re going to have to figure out how to work with the grassroots instead of treating us like wayward children who have been off having a tantrum. Serving tea at an RNC pizza party does not a Tea Party make, Michael Steele, and if you want the Tea Party movement to “come home” you’re going to have to first acknowledge that it would not exist if Republicans had done their job in the first place.
I think the trend of bloggers, podcasters and other citizen reporters breaking stories a la Andrew Breitbart will continue to fill the void left by the failing media establishment. There is news out there – news that doesn’t necessarily serve the utopian agenda being forced down our throats – and the internet has provided the average person with a platform to get the more, shall I say, inconvenient stories out there. No one can deny that the work done by Glenn Beck, Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe, Andrew Breitbart and Lila Rose have been game changing. We are now in a time where a housewife with a Facebook page can post about “death panels” and turn the whole conversation on it’s head. The power of social media and an informed citizen can’t be ignored by the establishment much longer.
In closing, my final prediction is that this will not be pretty. Political tension is already high, and with so much weight being placed on this year’s November elections, it is undoubtedly going to get nasty. There is a fundamental divide among many in our country, and it all goes back to the role of government. In the infamous words of our ever-so-eloquent Vice President, girds your loins.
I look forward to another year of fighting the fight. Many of us have stepped back during the slow news week to spend time with family and regroup. Congress is back in session as of January 6th, and that means that we’ve got to come out swingin’.
Happy New Year, everyone. I look forward to a better 2010.
So at first, when I heard what Steele said this week I just rolled my eyes and moved on. It didn’t bother me. But I thought about it yesterday. And then I went to the RNC and heard him speak at their “tea party” yesterday and blame everything on the Democrats over and over. And I realized how clueless he really is.
At the risk of sounding too much like our President, let me be clear. I don’t want to see the party split. But I also think it’s silly to have half the party running like Barack Obama and the other half running like Ronald Reagan. We can’t win in that situation either. I kind of view the Tea Party as an outside force that keeps Republicans accountable. The party cannot refine itself from within. It takes pressure from the outside – from those who can speak freely about officials and hold their feet to the fire.
This is nothing but a clear illustration of how incredibly out of touch Steele is with this movement. He’s figured out that it’s significant and it’s not going anywhere. I will give him credit for that much. He isn’t trying to ignore us anymore, but there is no doubt that they’re all nervous. Him telling the movement to “come home” to the GOP is the equivalent of a parent looking at someone else’s kid and telling them to stop throwing a tantrum.
People are not angry because of the Democrats. Democrats are just doing what Lefties do. It’s their thing. What we’re angry about is the fact that the GOP, who SHOULD be representing a smaller government and more freedom, forgot what they were supposed to be doing. They’re the ones that left us, not the other way around. There is no excuse for starting Bailoutpalooza or “suspending free market principles to save the market” or whatever crap line Bush fed us last year. THAT’s what we’re angry about. It has every bit as much to do with the Republicans as with the Democrats. In fact, I’d wager that the crowds at these rallies are even more hostile to liberal Republicans than they are toward Democrats. The outcry is non-partisan.
I have to re-iterate that this is not about being anti-GOP. It needs to be noted that every Republican who has been a freedom fighter and had the cajones to show up at the rallies and face the people has been embraced. Michele Bachmann, Joe Wilson, Jim DeMint, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Pence, and other have shown up time and again to take on the establishment and do the right thing. They are what the GOP needs to be. As long as the RNC is giving $900k to help people like Dede Scozzafava, it is hard take them seriously. The NY-23 race was the ultimate punk for the RNC. She took their money, was an embarrassment, and then threw her support behind the opponent. They have no credibility. The “Republican” name is a liability.
Michael Steele fails to realize that in order for us to “come home” the Tea Party would have had to be a Republican movement to begin with, which is just false. He’s saying things that play directly into the media’s caricature of what it is. Really, it is the GOP that needs to come home. The people that have become the Tea Party never went anywhere.
Because clearly they’re entirely too accomodating to dissenting viewpoints.
If anything, the Democrats’ problem is that they permit too much dissent—unlike the Republicans, who demand “lockstep marching.” In fact, if Democrats would learn to be just a little less tolerant of dissent, they might get a lot more done.
Yeah, they just get STEAMROLLED. Poor little Democrats, bullied by the Republicans over and over again. Like that time they kept the House floor open to make sure that Republicans also had time to speak. Or maybe that time they took the time to hear the concerns of the public on the stimulus package before it was rammed through.
Or maybe when they listened so closely to concerns about health care. They were SO RECEPTIVE to widespread concern that President Obama didn’t have to go on TV 4 times a day for an entire 3 month stretch to say the SAME THING over and over. Republicans were just bastards who didn’t bother offering any other plans.
Uh, right. (Side note: I need a sarcasm font desperately.)
They have done everything in their power to silence protesters and dissenting voices. Period. The media coverage has been laughable.
They have a 60 seat supermajority in the Senate. They have a 70 seat advantage in the House. They have a President who is willing to ram through as much horrible legislation as possible. They don’t need one Republican to accomplish anything. Not one nasty little GOPer has the ability to stand in the way of the their Utopian society under Team Lightbringer.
I have no patience for the pity game. Man up, lefties. You have the power to do whatever you want. You claim the the whole world wants your version of America. In the words of our President, “the stars have aligned”. Why aren’t you making this happen?
Democrats are realizing that their constituents don’t want them to support these proposals. They’re risking their jobs by consistently casting “yes” votes for bad bills. We are the ones that hired them. We have the ability to fire them.
WE are the ones standing in their way- you, me, and everyone else who has voiced their opposition. Keep holding their feet to the fire.
Posted in Congress, conservatives, Democrats, GOP, Liberals, Media Fail, Obama, Politics, Tea Parties
Tagged Congress, conservatives, Democrats, Dissent, GOP, Liberals, Obama, Republicans, Tea Parties
Upside of this administration: We all thought the GOP was dead. And slowly, they’re remembering what it means to be a Republican. Stacy Mott has said, and I’ve often quoted, that Obama is currently the leader of the conservative movement.
Let’s face it, he’s done more to mobilize us than anyone else has. The numbers from the 9/12 march, and at rallies across the country, have proved that this is more than a fringe contingent of the right. Despite what any media source would have you believe.
You have named men to office so wildly irresponsible, so extreme in their positions, so vulgar in their means of expression, that they have made the Republican Party regain its of gleam of gentility and good graces. I am not talking only about the tough guy/ballet dancer Rahm Emanuel, who screamed like a jilted drunken sorority girl at GOP leaders after Joe Wilson’s outburst (itself a disgrace) last Wednesday night.”
He has brought more energy and conviction to Republicans and the right than I thought possible six months ago. So, for that I thank you, President Obama. You are exposing the flaws in liberal policy faster than anyone else in recent history has been able to – even Jimmy Carter.
A few months ago I’d given up on the party. Now, I see a glimmer of hope. I see Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Mike Pence turn out for the 9/12 rally, and say the things that conservatives have been dying to hear from their Congressmen.
Granted, there are those that still need to be held accountable. There are those that I still have no use for. McCain adviser Mark McKinnon said this last week:
Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other Republicans, said there is an “opportunity for Republicans” to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. But he said that “right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements” and are dominating media coverage.
“It’s bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party,” McKinnon said.
So now we’re not only extremists, nut jobs, a mob, racist, etc… but one of the men who was supposed to be one our side refers to us as “freaks”. McKinnon, maybe if there were a leader who did his job and stopped pretending to be a Democrat to appeal to both sides, we wouldn’t have an absence of leadership. The fact that we don’t have a real leader tells me two things:
I can honestly say that at this moment I’m grateful Barack Obama won the election, if for no other reason than to get us off our butts and force us to pay attention. I have very little faith that John McCain would have done a better job… and Republicans would still have been taking the blame. If Obama is the fall out from 8 years of Bush, I would hate to see what the fall out would be if another Republican screwed things up. The rapidfire legislation and the grandeur of this administration has provided a stark contrast, and put things in perspective for many.
For the first time, I say thank you, President Obama. You’ve given us the wake up call we needed to mobilize.
Posted in Congress, Democrats, GOP, Obama, Politics, Tea Parties
Tagged 9/12, Congress, GOP, Jim DeMint, John McCain, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Pence, Obama, Republicans, Stacy Mott
“Bipartisan” and “reaching across the aisle” are both terms that make me want to send my fist through a wall. Let’s have a chat about my favorite buzzword.
Exhibit A: Obama won. Which means he is now supreme ruler, and his opinion on tax policy (as well as all other matters, I presume) is now law. Or something like that. Oh yeah, and then there’s this:
“If we don’t get this done we (the Democrats) could lose seats and I could lose re-election. But we can’t let people like Rush Limbaugh stall this. That’s how things don’t get done in this town.”
It took him all of what, a week in office to start thinking re-election? Give us a break. Clearly you won, you got you $150 million party, now get to work. You’ve got 300 million supervisors now – you work for US, Obama. Don’t forget it. Anyway, I digress.
There’s nothing bipartisan about stepping into a congressional meeting and rallying Democrats against Rush and talking about re-election. Period. You don’t achieve a “bipartisan” attitude by actively working to eliminate the other party from day one.
Exhibit B: The House vote this week. The GOP finally united – in opposition to the Dems. Well played GOP.
The point of all this? Bipartisanship doesn’t exist. Hear that? It’s a crock. I threw this question out on Twitter today and was amazed by the number of conservatives who felt it was a necessary evil. Necessary for what? IT DOESN’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING. And we need to get over the idea that it ever will. The definition of bipartisanship is nothing but this: Republicans being spineless. Period. It is never shown to increase effectiveness or unite anyone.
The only thing it DOES manage to accomplish is conservative guilt. It’s a product of the squishy hopey changey rhetoric we’ve been getting from Washington all year. I have no use for a term that dilutes what I’m trying to achieve. I picture it sort of like a Punnett Square. Conservatism is the recessive trait in our government. When paired with a liberal gene, it stays in the background, where it can be invisible. This is not a good compromise, ya’ll.
This is NOT a necessary evil. And I’m sick of being guilted into watching the GOP play nice with people who have no interest in reciprocating the sentiment. This is the reason we have forgotten what we stand for.
Brodigan gets his second shout out this week with this definition: Bi-Partisanship (n. b?-?pär-t?-z?n-ship) Word media uses to guilt Republicans into bending over to Democrats.
Period.
Posted in Congress, Democrats, GOP, Politics
Tagged Bipartisanship, Democrats, GOP, House Stimulus Vote, Obama
So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the direction I want to take my work, with SGP, this blog, and in my volunteer time. And originally, Palin was a large part of the reason I was excited about politics. However, her novelty has worn off for me. I do still like her and I will still support her when I can. That said, I do see some issues with her as a national candidate.
The biggest one is not a political one, in my eyes – it’s a cultural one. Our country is still a center right country. What that means is that, despite what the lefties and the media would have you believe, the majority of Americans, at their core, hold on to their traditional values. Nothing spelled this out more clearly than deep blue California passing Prop 8.
Now – Palin. Yes, her politics are the most conservative we’ve seen in a candidate in a long time (minus the gray area of her amnesty position). I think she’s smart, and I think she’s capable. NO one has stirred people up like she has, and that is not a power that should be overlooked. She is definitely an asset to the GOP, if they ever figure out how to use her gifts.
However, Palin herself ends up contradicting her own conservative values, solely because of who she is as a Christian wife, mother, and woman. I think the fact that she was the superior to her husband in pretty much every (education, status, provider, etc…) way didn’t sit well with a lot of people. As unfair and horrible as the media was to her, I don’t believe that they were completely out of line in wondering how she would juggle raising five children, including an infant, (which any mother will tell you is a full time job in and of itself) with, say, possibly being the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in the world during war time. Something has to give – and her children would be the ones to suffer for it.
Let me clear something up for you. I’m pretty much the opposite of a feminist in a lot of ways.
Palin won conservatives over because of her stance on government reform, tax cuts, gun control, THEN the social con issues. A large portion of the country won’t listen to the first three, and that’s where the divide happens. I recently talked to some girls about the abortion issue, and how that’s where we end up losing a lot of the women voters. We can’t bank on her winning the indie and moderate vote based on their inner social conservative.
Now, I am in no way denying the Palin effect, or contesting her capability or intelligence. Obviously, I voted for her, and I think that her support system (IE Todd) was great, and that her family was solid. I am just pointing out the things I see as faults, and saying that the scope of the conservative movement is so much bigger than Palin. There are so many other things for us to focus on. If we focus all of our energy on Palin, we’re setting ourselves up for failure in both 2010 and 2012.
Posted in GOP, Politics, Sarah Palin, Social Con Stuff
Tagged Abortion, Election 2012, Future of GOP, GOP, Sarah Palin
Jindal had an MS-NBC interview to talk about the future of the GOP, as well as the republican governors conference that has gotten so much attention due to the attendance of Palin. Here’s the clip:
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.744330&w=425&h=350&fv=]
His three bullet points on what we have to do to win elections:
1. Actions have to match rhetoric
2. Root out corruption
3. Be the “party of solutions”
“You can be a traditionalist and a reformer”.
I think you have to be a reformer in order to be a traditionalist at this point. The one thing both sides agreed on this entire election was that big changes need to me made in Washington – the divide came in that no one agreed on which changes should be made. Governor Jindal impresses me more every time I watch him. If Obama has even a mediocre presidency, I don’t think the GOP has a shot in 2012. I’d hate to see Jindal or Palin run against a historic incumbant who has even a moderate approval rating. The inevitable loss could irreversibly taint any future either one of them has nationally. This situation would require a sacraficial lamb on behalf of the GOP for 2012… someone past their prime, possibly? Any ideas? Guiliani? Romney?
Posted in Bobby Jindal, GOP, Politics, Sarah Palin
Tagged 2012, Bobby Jindal, GOP, Mitt Romney, MS-NBC, Rudy Guiliani, Sarah Palin
The RNC has launched a new grassroots effort to get input from party members and regroup. You have the opportunity to sign up and make your voice heard. Tell them when you think. Here’s an excerpt from Mike Duncan’s statement on the home page:
Moving forward and right here, you have the opportunity to reflect on the reasons why you are a proud Republican. Please tell us what you would like to see the Party focus on and address in the coming weeks and months. To learn more about the principles of the Republican Party, read our Party rules and Party platform ratified during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota.
