Friends and Patriots in the movement, it’s time for a reality check. The Holidays are over, 2010 is here, and we simply have no more time to talk about “doing something different next year.”
Next year is here. And it is our duty as liberty loving Americans to step up, get over our differences, and unify under realistic goals to take back control of our government.
This morning I had a brief chat with Andrew Ian Dodge via Gmail. I don’t know Andrew personally, but I’ve followed him for more than a year and I find him to be a pretty honest and articulate movement activist. Andrew and I disagree on a few points, but we see eye to eye on a very disconcerting side of the movement.
This morning Andrew published a column at Pajamas Media titled Tea Party 2010: Revolution Brewing? Or Is That Some Weak Tea?
As the nation and the tea party movement prepare for the new year, President Obama and the Democrats have been rushing forward legislation which will forever change the country and raise the deficit.
How far has the tea party movement come since the beginning of last year? A massive event occurred in Washington, D.C., on 9/12, and even greater numbers of people demonstrated all over the country to express their frustration. But ultimately, have they achieved any results? The bills have still gone through, and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Obama have shucked aside criticisms.
While I feel that the movement has at least slowed the rate of government growth and takeover of our lives, I would have to somewhat agree that our rallies do not carry the weight we expect them to.
If we look at the last few healthcare related votes, for example, the movement slammed phone lines, email inboxes and fax machines like never before. Mass rallies were held on the very steps of the building where Congress was casting a vote on the legislation… only to be followed by passage of the bills and resounding applause by Congress over the ability to do so.
We’ve bogged down the process, but we haven’t stopped it. And I think it’s time we take a much deeper look at the mentality of Congress. This band of thugs is not moved by protests and rallies. Corrupt Senate leadership and their ilk do not make decisions based on the will of the people. Or the legality of the legislation for that matter.
Decisions are now made based on power, greed and special interest. Right now the movement has not brought significant money to the process, and we haven’t proven an ability to be effective in the electoral process.
On the second page of Andrew’s post, he writes what I see as a profound and important line.
What may have affected the development of the activists is the fact that many seemed to have been suffering under the delusion that they were “reinventing” politics at the grassroots. Politics is politics
I believe this to be very true. While we can certainly reinvent the way grassroots movements are organized, politics IS politics, and we aren’t reinventing that fact at all.
In 2010, we need to unify like never before. We need to stop thinking about revenge against a political party or trying to come up with a method to create a new party. We need to simply look at the political landscape, decide where we can be most effective, and go remove some power hungry thugs from office.
It really is that simple. And sure, in some cases we might not get the greatest candidate elected, but at this point, that shouldn’t be our focus. Our focus right now needs to be the breaking down of power held by incumbents in Washington.
No, not all incumbents. But certainly any incumbent who supported bailouts, cap & trade, TARP, government healthcare and any other legislation that does not put liberty first.
We can either spend 2010 hosting rallies and media events, and working on ways to “get back” at political parties, or we can focus on putting our energy behind a unified, strategic effort to remove these people from our government.
Perhaps there is a way to do a little of everything mentioned above, but the latter should be our primary objective.
At least… in my opinion of course.
-Eric Odom
Spiking,
So you’re saying no one from either party has stepped up asking to be vetted. No one to take these Tea Party voters to the polls and gain the House, the Senate and the Presidency. It doesn’t sound much like the usual politician, but maybe they are so confident that we will simply feel obligated to vote and that we will vote for those that are presented to us. It would seem that is the story for the media.
————–
The pressure must be enormous on them. Minute by minute, more people learn about the Tea Party manifesto:
1. Taxpayer approval of spending
2. Instant Run-off voting
3. $100K seed money for new candidates
4. Not being forced to pay for GM cars!
The American people will drive stakes through the hearts of the DC politicians, if that’s what it takes. Figuratively speaking, of course, but you can feel the tension and the anger.
Spiking,
So you’re saying no one from either party has stepped up asking to be vetted. No one to take these Tea Party voters to the polls and gain the House, the Senate and the Presidency. It doesn’t sound much like the usual politician, but maybe they are so confident that we will simply feel obligated to vote and that we will vote for those that are presented to us. It would seem that is the story for the media.
Paul P says:
January 8, 2010 at 2:28 pm
At this point, it appears as if promoting a third party, a Tea Party Candidate would be best towards the accomplishment this task. But I must ask, is there time? Do we truly have the ability to mobilize, agree upon our candidates and raise the tremendous amount of funding necessary to accomplish a third party victory?
————-
It would be best to transform the Democratic and Republican parties. We are publicizing the Tea Party manifesto to the best of our ability:
1. Taxpayer approval of spending
2. Instant Run-off voting
3. $100K seed money for new candidates
4. Not being forced to pay for GM cars!
We have had no response yet.
People are going to run out of patience. I really don’t believe funding will be a problem. If our ideas are good enough to take the House, the funding will be there.
Watch out if the Tea Party manifesto gets into more media outlets.
Be prepared to run for the House, or support those who are.
Eric,
It seems to me that you are again trying to herd the cats.
Please understand that my initial comment was not to condone the same old actions of anyone within the existing parties. Yet, my instincts do lead me to believe there is likely a candidate within the GOP who shares our values, and will honestly and faithfully promote them.
Mr. Andrew Dodge mentions the difficulty with fundraising, he mentions the past effects on elections from a third party and also demonstrates that in spite of our efforts, bills keep moving through. These are the very same difficulties that I perceive and believe are the difficulties which slow our progress towards immediate correction of the “crisis in Washington”.
The Obama administration and his Democratic Party Leaders are well aware of the election losses they will suffer due to their recent actions. Speaker Pelosi implied that the anticipated losses are acceptable losses. They don’t care. They are not listening to us. They only ridicule and try to minimalize us. They are only listening to Barack Obama. As long as they get his bills passed and do so before anyone can stop them, they will continue on this path without guilt. They will persist in fundamentally transforming America right up until they are removed from office.
I believe, the speed with which we must act, must match the speed with which they are transforming America. We must get organized, put forth candidates both nationally and locally, fully move into the fray, and stop this crisis now.
At this point, it appears as if promoting a third party, a Tea Party Candidate would be best towards the accomplishment this task. But I must ask, is there time? Do we truly have the ability to mobilize, agree upon our candidates and raise the tremendous amount of funding necessary to accomplish a third party victory?
Or. Can we court and then vet certain existing candidates to perhaps fill the seats in the House and the Senate in 2010 and then the Presidency in 2012? Can we then promote Tea Party candidates from within the movement for local seats, knowing they will faithfully adhere to our values.
We are a recognized political force. A force which is willingly or unwillingly acknowledged by both the media and by those in office. We can become the force which first causes the GOP to discard the routine antics of Washington and to adopt Tea Party values. Then we may become the force which transforms the Grand ol Party into The Tea Party.
Killing the Obamacare bill is one thing, but what about Climategate?
To bring everyone up to speed, Prior to the Copenhagen Summit on Global Warning, someone (Praise god for this brave individual, and Lord protect him/her!) had gotten on their server and retrieved or intercepted email to and between the scientists who keep track of a fictitious world-wide warming trend, and apparently sent them out to news sources (ones that could be trusted).
These scientists were omitting data being sent to them for their computations on the so called climate crisis because it would skew their results and graphs from exposing the real truth: That Global Warming was a scam! Our country has been defrauded of over a trillion dollars of tax-payer money!
You won’t find this in the liberal media, simply because they are “liberal”. Conservative media will educate you. You can Google it, but, bear in mind that Al Gore is on the board of directors of Google (or so I’ve been told).
Think of all the rules and regs of the EPA,the laws passed in Congress, that have caused businesses at least millions of dollars of become political acceptable by these “gods of the air”. Think also of the “Cap and Trade” bill that the liberals in Congress were trying to (and still trying to) slap onto the backs of over-burdened taxpayers!
Since the liberal media won’t headline this great hoax (assuming that they would ever print anything at all about it), most folks don’t know much, if anything, about it.
My request is, if it hasn’t already been done, to educate the general public of Climategate: “The Big Lie”. Cap and Trade has only been put on a back-burner until after the fall elections so the incumbents can get back into office.
Let’s let Congress and the President know that “The truth is out there.”, and it has noting to do with the X-files!
I’m going to repeat a post I left in response to consideration of a 3rd party because it is an issue here.
In addition we need to consider the issue of FRAUD which was mentioned in a previous post on this issue. You can bet THEY WILL CHEAT in the upcoming election; this must be addressed at every State level. Republican Governors will be a big help; in the absence we need to find incumbent State legislators who can help us with impending fraud. Watch for Demon legislation, Federal and State, which gives the vote to illegals, convicts, dead people, people who can vote multiple times, etc. Just review what was done in 2008. Lawyer up with lawyers who love the flag more than money. They don’t have to help pro-bono but they can cut their usual fees and we can feed them!
Now I want to share the post I left concerning a 3rd party:
I am a life long Conservative Republican who is certainly not pleased with everything done (or not done) by my party
during decade 1 of the 2000’s. However, a third party is not the answer for many reasons already stated. What I would
suggest is the following:
If you are a good conservative or constitutionalist, for heaven’s sake don’t run as a Demoncrat! Have you seen what
they did with Liebermann and his wife? Nobody is strong enough to resist their pressure; they are tyrants and they
would just as well see you and your family in a dumpster than have you vote in opposition to what they want.
Go for any open Republican seat.
Vet each Republican incumbent and decide whether you should battle him/her in the primary, especially if the
incumbent is a RINO.
If it doesn’t look good in the primary against a RINO incumbent, run as an independent but let people know you are
Republican minded, Conservative, and against everything Demoncrats and RINO Republicans represent.
Support every true, honest, active, conservative Republican incumbent you can within your State or outside.
P.S. Demoncrat is NOT misspelled.
The Tea Party strikers in Jan
Are out to offer a plan;
Stop supporting the Commies or we’ll tell your mommies,
And you’ll end up grounded again.
Join the fight! Only in unity can we survive.
http://www.meetup.com/New-Generation-Warriors-Anti-New-World-Order/
Join the fight…only in unity can we survive!
Paul,
I think that option is out of our hands. That’s why the whole country is so passionate right now. Rich people go to DC to join the old boys club.
Old boys don’t want to interact with taxpayers. They want to throw taxpayer money at problems.
Back in the 90s, or even a few years ago, that was good enough for the American people.
Now, people know that a passive approach to politicians brings pain.
That’s what Taxpayer approval of spending is all about. Do we want to be victims? Or customers?
I am reminded of the story about the person who sees a group of people moving forward and the person says something like “wait one minute, there goes my party and I am their leader, I better get out in front of them”.
Why can’t an incumbent candidate see within the Tea Party Movement, something familiar, something sound, something principled and reinvigorating? Does such an incumbent exist?
If one believes he or she share our values and will demonstrate it, wouldn’t they want to step forward and lead? It certainly would speed the recovery of our nation. I don’t mean the economic recovery, I mean the recovery of our nation as a whole; as a Republic, by the people, for the people, and nothing less. Otherwise, I fear we may continue searching and searching for candidates, while our nation slips farther and farther away from the values for which we stand. Maybe there are none in Washington who share our beliefs.
You are overlooking a serious problem…
This last election proved we have vote fraud taking place, at least two races logged more votes than registered voters.
As long as party bosses can produce pseudo votes we will never change things. We need a serious effort to monitor the voting process. If you have never read the book Vote Scam I suggest you do so.
FD
Janet,
I don’t think that the media is opposed to us. Fox obviously likes us. MSNBC at least talks about us. Does anyone watch CNN or know what the non-cable media is saying about us?
Online, USA Today and MSNBC allow anyone to comment on their articles, real-time. The other media sites do also, although there may be moderation and delay.
The biggest “obstacle” to winning the House is the American people themselves. Do we have something they want?
I support allowing local candidates to represent their district as well as they can. That’s obviously going to mean different things in Massachusetts and Texas.
But I believe that the Tea Party needs to stand for something real. As Eric mentions, there isn’t much time.
Taxpayer approval of spending is the only real issue that I see out there. Everything else is already being done by Democrats and Republicans.
Candidate recruitment and publicity is obviously critical. And you guys are doing a fantastic job with that.
There are some Tea Partiers who may just want to stick with the Republican party. But Taxpayer approval of spending will greatly expand our base, and gain us support from the media.
And a word to those who worry about the Tea Party splitting votes with Republicans. THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE LAST THING THAT I WANT TO DO!!!!!!!!! I’m about getting MORE representation for the American people, not less.
For those who are really concerned about that, please start working on Instant Run-Off Voting. That’s where a candidate needs 50% to win, and you select a first preference, second preference, etc.
KEEP IT SIMPLE and STAY FOCUSED:
We do have a positive message and core values, so just ignore the lies and keep showing that we are true patriots ready to defend the Constitution and take back our country.
1) Support Scott Brown with time and $$
2) Keep meeting and fighting locally
to elect conservative in the primaries
3) Make plans to attend the April 15 Tax
Day Tea Party Rally in DC
4) Register for The Patriot Caucus at
Valley Forge April 16-18 to promote better organization
5) Work to support conservative candidates for the November election
6) Repeal legislation that was passed in this corrupt environment, or promote nullification at the state level
7) Stay engaged
THIS IS MY PLAN FOR THE TIME BEING. EVERY DAY IS A STRUGGLE, BUT WE CANNOT GIVE UP. I WILL NOT GIVE UP!
bottom line: anyone who voted for the health care bill needs to be flipped out of their seat soundly and loudly! Create a $PAC that gives money to candidates we can support, that is, bearing in mind that a slightly stinky Republican is probably better than a sweety Democrit. That’s politics.
People need to get involved with the precinct committeeman project. Get very interested individuals to want to be precinct committeemen in your county. If you have enough Constitutional Conservatives you win the county. Now you can vote for County Central Chair, etc. Education->Knowledge—-> POWER! This is our time!
http://www.nationalprecinctalliance.org/
John,
I wholeheartedly agree with your point about enthusiastic volunteers.
And I have absolutely nothing against “platforms” at the local level.
But I think we really have to be viewing winning the House of Representatives.
It’s going to be very tempting to narrow our focus to what some want.
But the narrower we become, the less votes we get.
I at least encourage you to think about this: what law would you like to see enacted when Congress returns Jan 12?
And let’s say the Tea Party gets behind this law and Congress doesn’t act. Will that be enough to propel the Tea Party to victory in the House of Representatives?
If we are to be successful in finding and supporting candidates to replace those who have betrayed us, we will have to have a group of principles on which we can agree. Those principles, that platform, should, I believe, include such things as:
A return to Constitutional government.
Defense of second amendment rights.
Limiting the use of Eminent Domain.
Developing and defending our nation’s energy resources.
A review of all international treaties to which we are signatory.
If we have a program we can seek cndidates to run with that as their platform.
Also, I can tell you that enthusiastic volunteers are more useful than money, and we can raise volunteers if we have an inspiring platform and purpose.
Can we begin now to write a platform?
Greg,
There are a number of different ways to do good.
Ultimately, it depends on where America wants to go.
The general goal has to be to get better representation for the American people. That’s where the votes and the money is. Not to mention simply doing the right thing.
If Taxpayer approval is required for spending by Congress, we’ll get worlds better representation in a hurry.
I simply don’t know if Democrats and Republicans want to represent us. Judging by their current lack of action, I would strongly say that they don’t.
So that’s my two cents. Demand Taxpayer approval for spending. That creates the starkest of contrasts between “us” and them. We want to represent the American people, and they don’t. Plain and simple, for the whole country to see every day.
But as always, I’m eager for that better idea that will get us representation EVEN QUICKER!
For something, against something ~ semantics. Let’s roll.
While I am all for replacing our current, and all too familiar bookends in government, I can see no way to get there from the Tea party’s perspective.
If it is all about Liberty, …”By the People - for the people” throwing a few candidates into office just won’t work.
As Dan’s post said: “elections are won with money. Pure and simple” and that is the confilct of the problem.
You can’t get a candidate in without money and money is what is soo corrupting.
It would start out well and then the mountain of our making will crush them each, one-by-one, with the same corruption they all succumed to.
Its the people that you need to reach and without a galvanizing event to make ALL thier eyes focus on what really matters the puppet masters will continue with the show.
As I have already suggested before, we should take an example from the Socialists that took over the Democrat party. This means that we have to have a coherent plan to take over the Republican party. There are a lot of people and organizations around who support the party name, no matter who runs. The plan is simple: the Tea Party candidates should run for Republican offices within the party and for elective offices as Republicans. Our very basic principle should e the adherence to the Constitution, especially to the Bill of Rights.
Personally, I am very, very tired of the “middle of the road” and “moderate” Republicans who are willing to compromise our rights on anything while Democrats want total victories. Dole and McCain, and now such candidates as Carli Fiorina in California running against Barbara Boxer are being eaten alive by Dems. I am tired of supporting these people.
The Tea Party organization should collect money and support the right candidates in the coming primaries.
Truer words have not been spoken. It’s not revenge that is going to save this country. It never has. Defending it has. The correct defense now is to stop a country from dividing further and come together. We need to unify. Nothing bad can come of that.
Once unified, we can then focus on electing individuals who can deliver our Constitutional Rights. Small details can be worked out along the way, but there is no need for this fighting between parties.
We need to hold elected officials to the word of the Constitution - not an interpretation.
What is our country worth to us? We have money to go to dinner. Money for a show. Lets stay home one night and put this country back on track. elections are won with money. Pure and simple
I completely agree that we need to concentrate on endorsing fiscally conservative candidates. Both of my senators(Spector and Casey) and Houe Representative(Chris Carney) have to go. We need alternatives and need to get the word out about them. Ther’s no time to waste.
I totally agree. We need to focus on elections. We need to get our candidates in office and support them. We also need to raise money too cause like it was said politics is politics and weather we like it or not money is part of politics.
Ooh, la la. Tea Party on front page of realclearpolitics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/opinion/05brooks.html
Brooks claims “The tea party movement is a large, fractious confederation of Americans who are defined by what they are against.”
I think Mr. Brooks is a moron. I suggest that Tea Partiers are FOR representation.
Must be tough out there in the wilderness for the Times.