UPDATE: How silly am I? Pretty damn silly. I’m actually updating a post I haven’t posted yet. A PolitiJim reader named Georgia (AllToJesus) sent me a link to a wonderful post by writer Ted Lacksonen at the Country Thinker. It fits EXACTLY into a post I almost put up yesterday – and am glad I didn’t. So you actually get 2 posts in one in this one. Lucky you.
Thinker lays out a case that we should not vote for Romney because:
- Mitt will do nothing to improve the country (I agree)
- The GOP can not be “taken over” (I disagree)
- The GOP is corrupt beyond repair. (I agree and disagree).
Lacksonen’s ultimate solution is to join Libertarian Gary Johnson as President who I understand is selecting a pro-marijuana VP. (sarcasm alert ahead) Undoubtedly this will attract every last Santorum supporter that just split the conservative movement over supposed religiosity. Of course, Johnson’s platform isn’t all bad, but like the Santorum supporters who think people would suddenly be attracted to a shrill religionist who couldn’t even win his own state, Libertarian party people need to think this through a bit more. No matter how much someone likes Fresca, it will NEVER overtake 7-up, right? My response to Ted quickly followed by the MECHANICS of a long term strategy I think could be employed.
Ted, I appreciate your thoughts and passion very much. I can't say that I can't identify with all of them because I do.
Your points are so well made, I'm holding up a post on the same object to address and "flesh out" more of the thinking around your points.
I have a question for you. Let's say you are realize that professional basketball has bastardized the game that the founding father of basketball – Naismith -envisioned. Get rid of the shot clock, 20 fouls a game and 4 step dribbling without a call. (For the record I'm probably more of a progressive in the NBA sense).
Even if you had Lebron James and the entire Charlotte Bobcat team, do you think breaking away from the NBA and starting your own league would "change" the game? Or that you could possibly get people to quit watching the NBA?
Of course not. But many have changed the game from within by exemplifying unregulated changes in their own clubs or creating pressure from the talent the "establishment" needs. They don't have total control, but the players union in football (finally) won some reforms on long term concussion care and even INSTANT REPLAY was eventually adopted by Major League Baseball. Change is slow from within, but trying to compete for viewers with your own "brand" is ludicrous from almost any angle in politics or professional sports. Even with an enormous amount of money, a better philosophy for the game (and product) it is extremely unlikely to succeed as is shown by the history of the WNBA, CBA, XFL, WFL and others.
It actually makes even MORE impressive the accomplishments of Newton Leroy Gingrich to know he battled not only the liberal smears and attacks, but the undercutting of his own party. In fact, he was allowed to operate because they DIDNT take him seriously. And yet until the RINO’s revolted, it was Gingrich who set the course for no taxes, welfare reform and a myraid of ideas that were put into law.
Haven't the extreme liberal socialists done the same in the Democratic Party? Their 2008 Platform is more extreme than Ralph Nadar's GREEN PARTY was 20 years ago. The Green Party went no where. But the Marxists co-opted the party.
How do you do it? You deliver power and money to your slavemaster. Jacob become WEALTHIER than his nefarious uncle Laban. The Hebrews were a threat to Egypt BECAUSE they prospered and multiplied INSIDE of the corrupt Egyptian system.
If you can show me some practical mechanism to create a rival VOTING (not rhetorical) force for even 35% of Americans I'm in! But who is it? The very asset of the Tea Party was also it's downfall. Disconnected, non-leadership driven autonomy didn't even work with a Supreme Omniscient and Omnipotent Ruler behind it as those forces quickly demanded a KING! (The Story of the first Hebrew King Saul.) Modern armies simply aren't effective without Leadership, clearly delineated lines of authority, sustenance and communication.
The T.E.A. Party agglomerated because of a common (easily identifiable) enemy and a very generalized but powerful concept to stop paying for your neighbor's home, car, student loan, healthcare and union job. It was quickly explained and quickly accepted as a “call” to years of frustration. But sociologists can document 5000 years of movements that are short lived being "against" something.
It isn't any of your arguments or analysis that are flawed (in my humble opinion) but the lack of logistical logic to create mass. Unfortunately there are only a few who have the potential to initially draw that power and build on it. Either a charismatic personality or media person. Palin never started and Malkin sold her soul to the devil by falsely worshiping a unprincipled Pennsylvania liar who was the CHIEF architect of insider GOP establishment politics with Tom Delay.
Patience, perseverance, and a patriotic poison just might weaken the establishment IF we can become invaluable (and remain principled) to the GOP. Certainly a bold and charismatic leader could jump start that movement as well. My fantasies of Gingrich and Palin coalescing to do what Palin did in Alaska would have not only galvanized the constitutionalists I imagine, but also attracted a fair number of Independents sick of feeling like they were selling out to one party or the other.
Don't forget Palin took a moderate Republican/RINO state and maintained an EIGHTY PERCENT approval rating nearly 3 years into her Governorship. And this is while she was under assault from some liberal media and principals in her own party. She was "safe" for both sides because she was clearly un-owned by either. Funny how Levin and Limbaugh are oddly silent about HER attack of “big oil” but totally misrepresented Gingrich’s righteous questions on BAIN.
I fear how much MORE sovereignty can be given away in 4 more Barry years. I cringe at how much more debt or dollar dilution can continue by an overheated Federal Reserve printing press in another Obama cycle. We certainly know it will be quantitatively more difficult to overcome or dismantle even further entrenched bureaucracies, institutional local, state and Federal corruption with the power of the police state behind them.
I despise Romney. I don't think he will be any more effective than George H W Bush and will likely set up a Democratic resurgence in 4 years if he’s elected. But unless someone with more money, influence or balls steps up to the plate to set a strong conservative crusade in place, I'll bide my time under RINO occupation for a later insurrection and avoid a worse tyrannical takeover.
My original post centers around our mutual fantasy that all of us that ORIGINALLY knew Romney was dangerous would still act as one. It begins here:
The “must follow” The Church Report carried an article by J.J. Jackson speculating how grand it would be for the 60% of “real” conservatives to not accept a Romney nomination. Two quick excerpts include:
Conservatives could certainly opt to attempt to reprogram the scenario the GOP has given us. We could, and I know it sounds radical but bear with me, actually choose a candidate other than Romney or Obama and then actually vote for them. Of course I know the cries that go out at this suggest all too well. Voting “third party”? What are you? Insane? That would certainly lead to another four years of President Obama! Yeah, it might. I will stipulate that. But you must also stipulate that it might not.
and
Yeah, I know, it is just a pipedream. Most conservatives have proven that they are not that principled when push comes to shove and will gladly parade around with blood on their hands as long as they can proclaim that it was not as much blood as if they had accepted the other option that was given. But the reality is that in three months into the Romney Administration, maybe a year or two if we are lucky, those conservatives who fell in line will be staring at their hands in horror screaming, “What have we done!” There will still be big government. There will still be rampant waste. Their will still be widespread fraud. There will still be debt as far as our great grandchildren can see. And the Constitution will still lay in tatters upon the floor. Oh, sure, he might roll back some or even most of the policies of President Obama. But be honest. What we had before Obama was not all that good either.
With the impotence of Romney's 25% ceiling, the energy of a boiling Tea Party and the prospect of what we thought were MANY Conservative Blends, I never in my wildest dreams thought we would end up with a RINO six months ago.
You are right JJ that there ARE more of "us" than them in anti-RINO philosophy. But it seems there aren't many who are also strong willed independent thinks of conviction. It is a shock to realize that as tenacious as a Michelle Malkin is on corruption, she is equally fallacious in partisan thinking. It’s like recruiting a 7’ 2” center for your basketball team only to find out he is more uncoordinated than a 12 year old boy at his first school dance.
You are also correct on both counts that it turns out we have failed to grow “principled” conservatives and this is precisely the reason why a third party won’t work. If they aren’t principled enough to keep fighting for a conservative when the nomination isn’t set (or to accurately assess who are the real and fake ones) what scenario actually makes them act counter to their programmed 2 party habit they’ve adopted for generations? Purity isn’t the goal. Power is.
It’s hard for some to conceive, but there are actually mathematical mechanisms needed to create corresponding results in politics. For instance, I can create a new, no calorie, vitamin enriched soft drink more refreshing than Coca-Cola, but I need people to know about it before I can make any money from selling it. Even if USA Today runs a feature story extolling it’s virtues, I still may have not convinced many to actually TRY it. Those that were convinced could not find it at their local grocers yet. Worse, without repeated press or ads, the desire and knowledge would fade after a few days. Marketing studies of consumer behavior show that even if it was in every store in America, cheaper the competition, a better tasting and healthier alternative EVEN THEN it would be lucky get a fraction of the market share of Coca-Cola over the first year. People simply take a lot of time to ACT in accordance with a new belief and change a habit. Like voting a straight party ticket.
The Tea Party could also be explained by math. If confined to the audience of CNBC, Rick Santelli’s rant would have temporarily excited a few thousand people of the tens of thousands that were watching but it soon would have been forgotten like the American Idol runners-up of years past. It was the repetition and amplification of the Rick Rant that seen by hundreds of thousands on YouTube, millions on Rush and then repeated that made it become a surrogate outlet for ALL OF THE FRUSTRATIONS with the Obama administration. Others said, “I’ll be there” giving it credibility and removing the fear of isolation for slow adopters. Newt Gingrich actually bought ads to get people to join. Skeptical analysts were quite correct that at the time, there WERE no real new taxes in place different from the Bush days when even conservatives merely grumbled at the excessive spending. The Santelli rant in the middle of the Bush second term would have gone nowhere because the DESIRE for change wasn’t there. Enough people had to be extremely frustrated or angry in large enough numbers to show up in response to multiple media and conservative leaders.
This is what Gingrich commented upon to Paul Weyrich when Reagan was elected in 1980. People liked Reagan personally, but not only was there no REAL massive switch in thinking to the acceptance of pure conservative values, there was no media to significant media to amplify it or representatives to help pass it. We now know that Reagan himself would have imploded and given in to the Bob Dole RINO’s if it weren’t for Gingrich. We also know that HillaryCare would already been in place if not for the 14 years spent after Reagan’s first election to protect conservative ideals with elected conservatives and with a substantial money raising and education network Gingrich engineered through GOPAC.
It’s shocking that the Limbaugh’s, Malkin’s, Coulter’s and even George Will didn’t amplify EVERY DAY that it was Gingrich who paid for ads for people to JOIN THE TEA PARTY movement, much less embrace him AT LEAST as a senior fellow conservative soldier. (Instead, Malkin’s HotAir proves to be worse than just bad breath with Allahpundit and Erika Johnson allowing lies like this to continue to be spread.) What Gingrich knew is that AWARENESS is different from RESOLUTION and is way different from ACTION much less MAINTAINABLE ACTION. (I go into this extensively in one of my first PolitiJim articles How Political Ideas Become Reality.)
And with BOTH Limbaugh and Gingrich (who at the time were considered by everyone as co-leaders of the conservative movement according to Gallup) it gave CREDIBILTY and COMMUNITY for people to not feel alone in adopting a NEW action. It’s why you wouldn’t see very many women lifting up their shirts at Mardi Gras if they were alone in front of one dirty old bum in the street. It’s only “fun” (for the depraved mind) if everyone is doing it and it is acknowledged as being so by peers. Truly righteous actions like those of Terry Lakin are all the more profound when the potential result is the loss of one’s career and freedom instead of the promise of a cheap thrill. To me the indictment of the GOP primary is not the eventual domination by RINOey, but the exposure of how “unprincipled,” “undisciplined,” and “uneducated” conservatives really are.
The only saving grace is that the liberals are worse.
But I have to keep reminding myself that only 30% of the American republic supported the FIRST American revolution in 1776. Like fair weather sports fan who suddenly fill the stadiums when their team is good (as opposed to valiant Cubs fans who remain faithful from year to stinking year), the rest of the country suddenly became “patriots” when the vanquishing of King George’s armies seemed likely or inevitable. The bible teaches us to not chastise those for being late to the party but I must admit, I struggle with it.
But I must encourage Mr. J.J. in his lament. Although terribly unlikely in this cycle, it could still happen. And I guarantee there are enough patriots left like Patriotic Nurse, Gulagbound, Libertarian Neocon, Justin.FM, Krisxx, and Katrina Pierson to ensure it most definitely will happen in the long term. We will never yield to tyranny whether in this country or in the GOP.
A 2012 elimination before June would likely require a significant INDEFENSIBLE scandal by Romney which isn’t likely to happen. If the likes of Ann Coulter would defend RomneyCare (which we would have THOUGHT indefensible six months ago), it is too much to expect most to grow balls or brain to throw him overboard. Even if Obama starts trouncing Romney in the head to head polls, most conservatives would think changing horses as too risky.
If the most significant conservative INFLUENCERS like Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity and others decided to be truly courageous and press the issue to the convention, it could happen. But all have clearly telegraphed their cowardly resignation to the GOP establishment and it would take a Damascus experience for them to suddenly see their own complicity in conservative failure.
To my dismay, Palin and Gingrich will not attack the GOP establishment this year seemingly fearing that if they lost, they would ensure Obama’s reelection. As I’ve said from the beginning, a war against Obama on his corruption, forgeries and current/past indiscretions would likely see an immediate new front runner by nearly anyone including Donald Trump who would be fearless enough to take it on.
Instead, the goal IS to stop Obama and the certain give away of US sovereignty and freedom that would happen if he were re-elected. Like J.J., I am convinced by his past governance, the crowd around him, the spineless and duplicitous leadership of his past that Romney’s election will still leave us on the road to Grecian-like ruin, but it will give us more time to carry on the battle.
George Washington knew this by simply avoiding capture of his rag tag army for months on end. I love it that the British thought by capturing Philadelphia the colonists would have to surrender and instead we just moved the “capitol” to the nearest Holiday Inn Express.
Our strategy should be similar. Avoid capture. Make it through the political winter of 1776 when we can rebuild our forces and resources. Figure out who are REAL allies are and build around a core that will not yield.
While sitting at the True the Vote National Summit I realized that our strategy will require a much longer and drawn out effort than what I first imagined.
- Retake the electoral system. I’m talking about BOTH the state by state election laws of Voter ID and registration verification as well as the individual precincts and GOP party controls on a local level. If we see a LEGITMATE mathematically plausible avenue for a third party – we take our network with us leaving the GOP bankrupt of real soldiers. Do you realize we could absolutely control the entire GOP from the ground up with a FRACTION of those that attended the Tea Party rallies? It requires time, patience and recruiting or stepping up to take those roles – but we can no longer leave this up to them. We MUST take it over.
- Take back a clear, unfiltered voice for TRUTH in the media. Limbaugh is unreliable, Coulter and Drudge can not be redeemed but all of them built ACCESS to millions of eyeballs and eardrums to gain agreement on issues to coordinate. It takes talent, money and time to create a “network” that reaches millions, but whether it is the next “Rush” or funding the purchase of CBS, we can not win this war without coordinated communication.
- Continue to create and educate on REAL American values. Gingrich knew this in 1980. Even Rick Santorum admitted he learned HOW to achieve power in the conservative brand through material Gingrich created through GOPAC. True the Vote is doing this on the general election issues of #1 in a phenomenal way. PJTV has been wonderful at pioneering information in a MTV brainwashed world and these efforts must continue at a local level on up. But it must be based in – and committed to - OBJECTIVE TRUTH and not personality or petty biases as was glaringly evident by the George Will’s of the world, or even (shockingly) the social conservatives willing to sell out their Christian values for politics. The education has FIRST got to be our own, and then worry about the “independents” who still have open minds
- Create FUNDING of “true” conservatives like Toomey, Ryan, Walker and Demint. We aren’t going ANYWHERE without money and qualified conservative candidates who can IMPLEMENT change at a legislative level from local offices on up. Start identifying and exhorting these people. Raise money for them. Budget part of your OWN income on a consistent basis like you would your church tithe or monthly cable bill. We can make money talk and Boehner walk.
- Take back America not just for our children, but for those who NEED the inspiration of what she stands for around the world. Lech Walesa said Poland would not be free if not Ronald Regan. He’s only partially right. If it wasn’t for the “idea” of America – neither would South Korea, Vietnam and even the economic democracy in communist China. But right now our OWN elections are less fair and free than even some new democracies. Once we’ve re-established the principles of blind justice, responsible freedom, libertarian economics and non-gerrymandered representative democracy by people who adhere to fundamental Judeo-Christian values – not only will be a beacon to others, our own results will shine strong enough to send the cockroaches who crimped REAL conservative values into permanent exile.
Find your local tea party. Vet them. Determine how much time and/or money you can give, and start showing the example of consistent, responsible diligence to your children and grandchildren born or unborn. Only YOU can save this Republic for which it stands.
