IS THE GOP A DINOSAUR or AN ENGINE OF REAL CHANGE

IS THE GOP A DINOSAUR or AN ENGINE OF REAL CHANGE, EVOLVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?

When a political party thinks that “the wind is on our backs”, one should ask which way the wind is blowing. Over the long run, the historic opportunity facing the GOP this election year is more likely to weaken the Republican Party than strengthen it.

Unlike Bob Dylan, the GOP needs “a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.” Republican candidates fail to appreciate the fact that most voters do not view the GOP favorably; they primarily would be voting against Democratic policies. Thus, the 2010 November elections would be a inverse replay of those in 2006 and 2008, when most voters voted for Democrats and against Republican policies. The Party sees itself as solving a self-defined problem: “The wrong party is in control.” Wrong. This attitude is an illustration of what a new book describes as “How we trick ourselves and others into solving the wrong problems….”^[1] Upon returning to power (if they do), Republicans are no more likely to change Congress than the Democrats.

So, what is the truly “historic opportunity” of this election year? It is that, after decades of decline in political participation, “We the people”, representing a good cross section of the electorate, have finally woken up, and seeing how badly off our nation has become, said: ‘We’ve got to get involved -- to take our government back.’

With the election-year opportunity recast in these terms, we can begin to see to what degree the GOP is, like the Congress it seeks to control, a dinosaur rather than an institution offering even evolutionary change. For the Republican mantra is ‘lower taxes, less spending, smaller government and free markets. Nothing here about helping people to ‘take back our government’. Just change the seats from ‘D’ to ‘R’ and all will be well!

If the Party was really listening, its emphasis would shift from the conventional headline issues (symptoms) to the underlying factors affecting issues (causes). These include:

«     Congress-as-an-institutional-dinosaur, implying that issue #1 is none of the above but rather the need to change the way Congress does the people’s business on any of the headline issues. The last such effort was made by Congress’ “Class of ‘94” under the leadership of Newt Gingrich.

«     The dominance of big money over people: Campaign finance reform (CFR) a la McCain-Feingold has failed, and a recent Supreme Court decision allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns. “Big money” has corrupted the Congress.

Ä     The need to empower people to take back what, indeed, should be their politics and their government. Lacking this, new Members will revert to SO/SO [Same-Old/Same-Old] Congressional behavior dictated by Lady GA GA [Go-Along/Get-Along] pressures -- as if “change” is simply a game for insiders only. Congress has proven unable to reform itself. 

The exception is the Tea Party, a radical departure from the GOP in terms of structure and organization. Contrast flat with hierarchical organization, democracy with oligarchy, newness with SO/SO, dynamics with statics, and individualism with GA/GA. Tea Party candidates’ positions overlap the GOP Platform on headline issue #1, deficits and spending. Otherwise, they represent the empowerment of people who either have not been politically involved or who do not represent the ‘establishment’ of any established party. In other words, they represent a new, conservative populism.^[2] As Peggy Noonan has written: “The populist movement is more a critique of the GOP than a wing of it.”^[3]

The GOP is caught in a contradiction. On the one hand, the Party needs to co-opt the Tea Party in order to engage the new political energies that it has mobilized. On the other, the self-organizing, populist dynamic of the Tea Party is utterly foreign to the good old boy network that dominates the GOP. How and whether the GOP can bridge these gaps may well determine whether the Party makes history by leading American politics into a new, conservative political realignment, or whether the party becomes history.

Whether the GOP is really open to the change that the Tea Party represents is very much open to question. The acid test will lie with candidate recruitment and financing. The GOP has a greater chance of bringing Tea Party folks into its ranks to the extent that it:

Ä     Rebrands itself as a “Party of People” and begins to throw off the image of the Party as a party of big money. This implies not favoring “big money” men and women for candidate recruitment, and rebuilding the Party from the ground-up. 

Ä     Offers an alternative way to reform the so-called “reform” of CFR, one that for the first time values people’s contributions of time over big money donations. 

Ä     Substantially revamps Party structure and functions in terms of leadership, hierarchy, decentralization, financing, membership training, and use of new Internet or ‘Web-based technologies.

Ä     Recruits candidates who have proven themselves to be innovators and change-agents at the local and state levels of government.

Fundamentally at issue in all of this is whether our democratic Republic can be saved. Real change is required in the place where it most counts -- in the Congress, the branch of government that, under our Constitution, is the only branch constituted to work for us, “We the People”. If the GOP cannot change, we may have a dinosaur party in control of a dinosaur Congress. This is a formula for failure of our Republic.   [Sept. 20, 2010]

            PETER BEARSE, Ph.D., former Republican Candidate for Congress in NH CD 1

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^[1]  See Mitroff, Ian and A. Silvers (2010), dirty rotten strategies, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press

^[2]  See Bearse, Peter (2004), WE THE PEOPLE: A Conservative Populism. Lafayette, LA: Alpha Publishers, Inc.

^[3] Noonan, Peggy (2010), “Why It’s Time for the Tea Party,” WALL St. JOURNAL (Sept.18-19)



TEA PARTY PHOBIA

By Nick Fortune

The growing fear of the steadily emerging Tea Party movement is scaring the pants off of liberal progressives.  Liberals feel that they must fight back hard, using any tactics available to them.  In their panic, the liberal politicians and their liberal news media is ratcheting up the propaganda machine; they have prepared and are now implementing their agenda to defame the Tea Party movement and its members.  Charges of racism abound, and suggestions that the Republicans and / or Fox News is responsible for the creation of the Tea Party movement.  They just can't accept that the movement is legitimate and made up of people from different segments of our society.  In the past such people were referred to as the “silent” or “moral majority”. 

All of a sudden the liberal progressives want to celebrate Tim McVeigh’s “domestic terrorism”.  For years we haven’t heard anything about Tim McVeigh; there was no public interview with Oprah or Barbara Walters.  Why were there no interviews as were had with Charlie Manson and the son of Sam and many others? Now they’re trying to use McVeigh as a poster boy representing the Tea Party movement. Janet Napolitano accused people who had Ron Paul bumper stickers and veterans coming home from the Middle East wars as likely potential “domestic terrorists”.  How ridiculously irresponsible to accuse people of being potential terrorists because of a bumper sticker with Ron Paul’s name on it. How insensitive and repulsive to point the finger at our young men and women some of whom have given their lives as being potential terrorists?  Why is the sensitivity of MSNBC so selective?  Warnings and intimidations such as these are on the rise. 

Radical progressives are trying to form groups to infiltrate the Tea Party and use tactics to vilify and demonize the movement and its people.  While conservatives tend to be morally and ethically inclined, liberal progressives demonstrate over and over their philosophy of amorality.  While left wing media such as MSNBC distorts, mocks and demonizes the people in the Tea Party; they also sponsor divisive programming such as “DEBATING THE BLACK AGENDA”;  legitimizing and giving dignity to a divisive, self interest, racial agenda, while at the same time putting down the “white people” of the Tea Party movement.  They fail to see that there are blacks who are participating in the Tea Party movement while they must acknowledge the de Facto absence of white people who cannot benefit from a “black agenda.”  Why is MSNBC promoting a “Black Agenda” anyway; why not an American Agenda, why generate and promote racial divisiveness? 

Liberals like Robert Reich, Obama’s economic advisor, can freely say that he doesn’t want recovery jobs for "White Male Construction Workers,"  and recent Obama supreme court appointee, Sonya Sottomayor said; ““I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”  Apparently “white” men and women are fair game to be ridiculed, mocked and called racist.  While with the government applying Affirmative Action against white people and private industry using “diversity” against white people, somehow these “white” people are not supposed to be angry and fed up with this racist bias against them?

There is no white agenda; neither declared, nor implied.  The very idea that white people should be ashamed or be defensive and take a step backward, while according to MSNBC blacks should proudly move forward with a black agenda, is in itself racist.  As with people who love to use the “hate” word against other people; I’ve found that the accusers are more often the one’s filled with hatred, and are trying to project their hateful attitudes upon others.  So it is true with people who are quick to use the word “racist” against other people; the accusers are more often the racists.  They are people who are overly race conscious and who look scrupulously into every activity and try to read every mind hoping to discover racism; the very same racism that they themselves have in their hearts.  Somehow there is a belief that only white people can be racist.  And of course that’s not true, anyone can be a racist, racism exists in one’s heart. 

The liberal progressive media is poking and probing at the Tea Party much as they’ve done to Sarah Palin, hoping (I’d say praying but I know most don’t pray, as they don’t believe in god) to find something, anything that they can blow out of proportion and use against the Tea Party movement.  In order to counter these left wing attacks, there must be a vigilance, an awareness, of this effort to destroy the Tea Party movement and how it is manifest.

Nick Fortunato
Greenwich, CT

Response To LTE in Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Demeaning the Tea Party Members

Information in the “Tea or coffee” letter printed in the Monadnock Ledger April 1st is incorrect and misleading.

I am a member of the T.E.A. Party which is a group of concerned citizens (democrats, republicans, independents, libertarians, etc.) that have banded together as one voice to say that they are TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY.

Contrary to what was said in the previous letter, constructive criticism and creative solutions have been offered. TEA Partiers do not encourage violence, obscenities, or racial remarks as incorrectly reported by the biased news media. Demonstrators using such tactics have been democratic supporters such as S.E.I.U. members.

Why are we “Teed Off”?

Take a look at this and just remember elections in November 2010.

1.     The House & Senate have voted themselves $4,700 and $5,300 raises.

2.     They voted to NOT give you a S.S. Cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011.   

3.     Your Medicare premiums will go up $285.60 for the next 2-years

4.     Over these same 2-years each Congress person will get $10,000.

5.     Will they have your cost of drugs - doctor fees - local taxes - food, etc., increase?

Congress received a raise and has better health and retirement benefits than you or I.  

     ·Why should they care about you?  

     ·You never did anything about it in the past.  

     ·You obviously are too stupid or don't care.   

     ·Do you really think that Nancy, Harry, Chris, Charlie, Barnie, et al, care about you?

Maybe it's time for Amendment 28 to the Constitution whereby  "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ."

These people in Washington have brought this upon themselves!  It's time for retribution.  Let's take back America!

Dick Olson

Born Again America---Powerful Song?

By Nick Fortune

The following group calls itself American, like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), and Citizens For The American Way; neither of which are pro traditional American. Don't let them fool you. This is a Liberal Progressive effort to deceive people. The left has always had contempt for patriotic Americans suggesting that we "wrap ourselves up in the American flag" (they disrespectfully called it "a peice of cloth").  Now they've decided to wrap themselves up by using the word American in order to deceive and promote an unAmerican agenda.

The following is the video that they're sending around even to conservatives hoping to dupe them into serving their agenda.  

Click on the line below and turn up your sound: 

http://www.bornagainamerican.org/index.html

These "People For The American Way" wouldn't know the American Way if it hit them in the face. This is an effort to counter the Tea Party movement.

Read what they have to say about traditional Americans ("the right")

Right Wing Watch in Focus: Rise of the New McCarthyism

Video: Fight the Right!

Right Wing Watch in Focus: Right Plays the Race Card

Anti-Gay Politics and the Religious Right *

Tell the President and Congress: It's time to repeal DOMA.

They use the term  "Born Again" to further deceive people; the only way they want America to be Born Again is in the NEW Image of Obaman CHANGE; i.e. Marxism. 

They want to do away with our Founding Fathers and want to dismantle the public manifestation of Christianity.  These are the people who want us to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas so we don't offend the anti-Christians. They're for gay marriage and for whatever other distortion of marriage it will bring. 

DO NOT BE FOOLED!



Should The Tea Party Form A Third Party Or Be Absorbed By The Republican Party?

Fellow Conservatives, Libertarians and members of the various Tea Parties;

Although I am a member and District leader on a local Republican Town Committee; I think it would be foolish to become a third party or be absorbed by any party, Republican or Democrat.

We have political muscle and we've flexed that muscle, now even the Liberal Progressive news media is paying attention, as well as President Obama and those incumbents who are at risk. 

The two party system is too well entrenched; they’re just a vehicle or a means to getting people elected, too often they are insider groups of people having their own agenda, collaborating together in the background.  The politicians (players) have been exploiting the voters through the system; using whichever party will grease the skids for them.  As Glenn Beck said; the progressives (liberals) have infiltrated both parties.  It’s happened right here in my home town.

Let’s not re-invent the wheel, let’s continue to become a solid, united, coalition of INDEPENDENT, conservative and libertarian citizens bargaining with both parties, using the leverage we have in our sheer numbers.  Let’s get both parties to “reach out to us” bringing forth candidates that aspire to the same goals we do, and if they do not bring forth worthy candidates, let them know that we will solicit, groom, and present our own candidates to challenge theirs.

Unfortunately politics has become a corrupting force. Politicians are chameleons changing their color or positions to suit those whom they happen to be addressing at the time.

Often when you join a party hoping to bring forward some new and original ideas, that might be considered “rocking the boat” you’ll find that you might be intimidated by suggestions that you be a “team player” (go along, to get along). Try to buck the system, the establishment, and you’ll be marginalized or ostracized.

Both parties welcome new worker members but the hierarchy does not want to be displaced.

The whole country, the world is looking at our movement; who knows we might even inspire people from other nations to take control over their governments.  We need to continue to build, to educate, and to keep the momentum going.

Nick Fortunato

"The great pillars of all government...[are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible."