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Throw the Book at Him
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Obama’s Imbroglios
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My Rahm Reunion
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The Current Crisis
The Tea Party Is Not Over
Don’t write it off just yet, at it continues to add candidates to this year’s mix.
WASHINGTON — All is bleak. All is woe! I speak of the Tea Party movement, the movement of 2009 and 2010 that was the hot news story of those years, and led to the Republican rout of the Democrats in 2010. Now the Tea Party movement is according to reports in the media in decline.
Was it extremist? Was it racist? Distinguished Americans like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton said it was. Yet their evidence when it came under objective scrutiny kept falling apart, as so many of their hoaxes over the years have fallen apart: Ms. Tawana Brawley, the 1979-1980 Atlanta killings supposedly by local cops who spent their leisure hours in the Ku Klux Klan. I cannot think of another couple of hucksters who have adduced so much evidence of heinous behavior by the American majority only to have the evidence go poof! The Tea Party movement was neither extremist nor racist. In fact, it was what Americans look like when they suddenly become alive to politics: somewhat amateurish, terrifically enthusiastic, and eventually quite serious about practicing the political arts at the local level, in Madison, Wisconsin; in Waco, Texas; in Tucson, Arizona — all locales far, far away from Washington, D.C. Though I have reason to suspect that the Tea Partiers may return to Washington, D.C. after the November elections. Read on.
The Washington Post related an interesting finding in another dolorous story with hints of an obituary about the Tea Partiers. According to a Washington Post/ABC News Poll, 44 percent of the American people supported the Tea Partiers, 43 percent opposed them. I saw polls like that going back to 2009. The intensity of feeling against them augurs ill for the Tea Partiers, but that does not tell us much. The newness and controversial nature of the Tea Party movement has passed. Its members are not much in the news today. There are other stories making headlines. The 44-43 percent divide among Americans remains, though the Tea Partiers get few headlines. Why?
Ned Ryun, the founder and president of American Majority, a nuts and bolts training operation with its roots deep in the Tea Party movement, says the movement is pretty much beyond the mass demonstration stage in development and has gone local. Its members are learning the art of politics and running for school board, city council, state and national office. They are trying to replace what they perceive as tired old hands, such as 80-year-old Senator Richard Lugar in Indiana, with younger, more vigorous candidates for office. They are learning to play politics seriously and their goal is reform: balance budgets, eliminate debt, return to the Constitution.
One of the oddest twists to the Tea Party story is the comparison with the Occupy movement. Some utterly ideologized observers of the political scene view the often deranged, clearly in decline, Occupiers as a left-wing equivalent of the Tea Party movement, and they see these pathetic waifs as somehow auspicious — the 2012 equivalent of the civil rights movement or a peace movement of yore. Yet the Occupiers make hardly any effort at engaging in politics at the local level. Ryun says his people are, and he has an active training program around the country to prove it.
He has been criss-crossing the country in recent years running seminars and other training sessions. They do not attract a lot of attention in the press as demonstrations and other protest actions do, but they matter more. They can effect real change in politics. The American Majority has trained over 20,000 recruits as activists and candidates. In the last two to three years American Majority has held 570 training sessions across America on how to be effective politically both in government operations and in running for office. From these 570 sessions have come approximately active 2,000 candidates.
So maybe we ought not to write off the Tea Party movement just now. The Tea Partiers not getting the press that the Occupiers are with their Defecate for Peace movements and their public masturbators, but they are aiming at office in November.
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (133) | Leave a comment
More Articles by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
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Jack in Wi.| 4.12.12 @ 7:49AM
Looks over to me. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich mean Tea Party RIP. It was fun while it lasted.
benny havens| 4.12.12 @ 8:26AM
The Tea Party is alive and well. Come November we will be going for, not only the White House, but the Senate as well.
Pete| 4.12.12 @ 11:16AM
Tea Party is dead, killed by Romney and the GOP establishment.
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 12:34PM
The Tea party is dead, but it has many killers. The GOP establishment is certainly one. The mainstream media is another. The various fools, crooks, pawns and vandals that comprise the burgeoning Democrat party is the other.
I guess this Walter Mitty wing-and-a-prayer illusion that things are going to take a turn toward the conservative is comforting, in a way. Not unlike watching an old movie.
But where I live (and, outside my geography, among my circle of peers), every single person I know still thinks Obama is doing a good job - albeit he has been thwarted by evil Republicans. Every single person I talk to thinks that taxes are great and yet has nothing whatsoever to say about gas prices - you know, the very thing that became a cudgel with which pop culture thrashed George Bush daily back in the day. No, on that front I hear SILENCE.
I spoke to a young person the other day who hates tax time. I offered that I agreed that government took way more than its pound of flesh.
He was very quick to point out - lest he be accused of being selfish - that no, no, I misunderstood - he has no problem paying taxes. Please, tax him more! - no, he just hates doing his taxes.
I have a friend who works as a professor in a college in the midwest. Yes, he's in academia, but he used to be a moderate conservative. No more. He gets all of his news from NPR and the NY Times - two liberal organs that conservatives love to pretend are dead in the water. This friend has never heard of "Fast and Furious." He was stunned when I told him there was a movement afoot to demonize white people as a class (and the reason for his being stunned was not the reality of that situation - it was what he perceived to be the extent to which my right-wing paranoia had clouded the sunny day that is Obama's America).
My friend WANTS to pay more taxes; he's DYING to pay more taxes (no, I can't figure out why he doesn't just sit down and write a check to the IRS every week to prove what a good soul he is). He was angry that his family received $800 from Bush's tax cuts back in 2003, or whenever that was. He cannot wait for Obamacare to take health care out of the hands of evil corporations and put it into the hands of "we the people," as he described government.
he is now a true-believing socialist, although he says he hates labels.
The Tea Party was a bug on the windshield of the juggernaut that is the speeding freight train of socialism, which continues its headlong rush over the cliff, taking us with it.
And Mitt Romney will simply wave at the train as it roars past him.
I simply do not understand people who don't comprehend that we are already doomed. Nobody is even going to try to reach out for a branch to soften the fall, let alone admit that there is a, irreversable, fatal "splat" written into our very-near future.
No, the party will continue, possibly with Mitt Romney handing out the goodies, until utter collapse imposes itself on every last one of us and changes our lives such that we can deny it no longer.
And what will happen then? The bulk of people in this country will blame evil Republicans, evil conservatism and evil capitalism - the very things that might have saved us.
The stupidity and greed of the American people have prevailed. Their victory sure is hollow.
We do not deserve this country.
FIGHT TO YOUR LAST BREATH| 4.12.12 @ 1:49PM
Grz,
Thanks for the cheery words.
There are still many of us who will fight to our dying breath, and our last bullet, if necessary, to save this country.
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 3:01PM
I'm with you, Fight. Truly, there was honor among those at the Alamo who fought on.
But our fall a fait accompli. If you think Mitt Romney is going to bring the Great American Gravy Train to a halt (much less reverse its course), I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. Government ONLY grows. And the zeitgeist howls in pain whenever there is even the mention of slowing that growth, never mind making significant cuts. Ain't gonna happen. The cancer has metastasized.
Further, since the economy will continue to sag under a Romney administration, guess what? Even if he does more than make a cosmetic pass at fiscal responsibility (a dubious prospect at best), this depression will continue to accelerate (Kudlow is out of his mind when he looks at "growth" figures) as China and Japan and Saudi Arabia stop buying our debt and we resort exclusively to printing money in order to prop up the potemkin village that is America. If he utters a word about what it will really take to bring us back to health - astronomical interest rates - the people will rise up and insist that the flow of free money continue unabated.
And the craven politicians will be only too happy to acquiesce. Which means that a DEMOCRAT will be elected in 2016, and most likely bring along a Democrat house and/or Senate. Their mandate? Don't let the party ever end!
And, since we'll be awash in inflation at that point with a completely moribund, quasi-fascist state, they'll continue to spout Marxist pabulum in the hopes that class warfare and hatred of your neighbor will distract the people from the fact that it is government who has robbed them of everything they hold dear.
The Tea Party is an asterisk. It has been marginalized by ridicule. Go out and ask the first 100 people in a mall what they think of the Tea Party. Ill bet money that 75 of them will have negative reactions.
Now, if conservatives can ever get hold of a sizeable chunk of the popular culture in this country, that would be our ONLY hope of turning this thing around. But that won't happen.
America wants a totalitarian, Statist, centrally-planned kleptocracy. To those, like Rush Limbaugh, who say that America remains a center-right country, I ask this: If America is a center-right country, how come we've been sprinting ever-leftward for the last hundred years? Just exactly how does a conservative country accede to being overridden by classic socialism?
IzeHavitt| 4.15.12 @ 2:43PM
Grz, One sadly observes that you seem to view the glass as half (or more) empty, than it being half full. The fact that American Majority is training people in the art of politics is encouraging. I respectfully disagree that it's too late to save this country. Remember, it was some eighty people who signed The Declaration of Independence. And they changed the course of history, perhaps forever. And we must also remember their example: they trusted God-and His wisdom. So must We, The People.
jamesfudd | 4.23.12 @ 6:23PM
You've got to lighten up. I think you're in need of a confidence boost. You're right, the takers and the bleeding hearts will vote for Obama, and it will be tough enough, even if the election will be fair. But, enough of us have awakend to the Truth, or enough of it to cause grave concern for our future. When we take it to them in November, that will only be the start, but it's our only Hope.
LiveFreeOrDie| 4.12.12 @ 1:52PM
On point as usual but I disagree the Tea Party is dead. I don't believe media exposure will define it's success or failure the members will. The Tea Party has become more organized and the membership has continued to grow since it's inception. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part but it might be premature to write them off.
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 4:01PM
BTW, Live Free, I hope you are right. I really do. But I believe the mainstream media assassination squad had dealt the Tea Party movement a death blow. They've successfully painted it as a racist, homophobic, greedy, right-wing fringe group.
I'm telling you, most people out there don't think for themselves. Either they rely on government for goodies or else they're well off enough that they're members of the elite - They accept at face value that what's on the front page of the NY Times is what IS and is ALL there is. Thus they feel guilty and want to purchase the most delicious luxury good of all: absolution from guilt and official membership in the Party of the Good.
A false consciousness has taken over the great critical mass of this country. It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the 1957 version). How long can you run before you are either disposed of or esle fall asleep and become one of them?
The goal of Marxism is to destroy the middle class, leaving only the abject, dependent poor and the complicit wealthy. Lenin said the best way to destroy the bourgeoisie was to pulverize it between the twin millstones of inflation and taxation. Voila. We have arrived.
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 7:17PM
"They've successfully painted it as a racist, homophobic, greedy, right-wing fringe group."
or, in other words..CALLING A SPADE A SPADE...
I'm glad we got something named correctly, fer a change....
Charie| 4.12.12 @ 8:27PM
Why would you let the news media marginalize the Tea Party? You're afraid someone might make fun of you? Wonder if the soldiers at Valley Forge were embarrassed because the British called them" tag rags" (not rag tags) Hell no! They made up a song about it and sang it wherever they went. Who had the last laugh?
Afraid because we're on the "terrorist list" along with military veterans and "right wing" Christians? Wear it as a badge of honor. And if you're worried that they think we're knuckle-dragging neanderthals, why would you care what they think (if you can call what goes on in their heads thinking. Making you feel that way is part of the Saul Alinsky method. For Pete's sake, read up on it and realize what the Communists in this country are doing to us.
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 6:27PM
...and the majority of Americans are breathing a tremendous sigh of relief, as the tea-baggers sink into primordial ooze of their own making..
I LOVE hearing and seeing you right-wingers so SAD....LOL LOL LOL..!!!
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 7:25PM
You're a hater. That is hate speech. Calling Tea party members tea baggers is bigoted, ignorant, hate speech. Plain and simple. You have violated my constitutional right not to ever be offended.
I think you should be prosecuted.
I thought you turds were the compassionate ones? Hmm. All I see here from trolls like you is puerile hatred and vengeance seeking.
Hey moron, when the whole thing comes tumbling down, it's going to land on you, too.
Because eventually you won't be able to cash your welfare check, genius.
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 7:45PM
....bitter...bitter..BITTER,,AREN'T YA..??
JUST ADMIT IT...YOU LOST..AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T WANT OR NEED YOUR SMALL-MINDED "NO-NOTHING-NESS"!!!
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 7:56PM
Hah! That's right. Free lunch for everybody, right? You socialists are all alike - you refuse to live the way you want others to live. you pretend to denounce hate and there's more hate in one Occupy camp than in all the tea parties that have taken place. You preach compassion and you vandalize. you preach green values and yet you trash the parks. You preach peace and yet your first solution is to resort to violence. You think you can live of "the rich" forever - when even a quick glance at reality tells you that isn't possible and, even if it were, your own greed would undermine you.
Yeah, I'm not happy about having to pick up the tab for your lifestyle while you run around the country attending Occupy riots and trying to get laid.
But I guess because you were born, and graced the earth with your presence, you deserve to do whatever you want without having to work for it. Now who's the selfish one again? Oh that's right. YOU.
Now why don't you send me a check for a couple grand so I can get that ipad I want. I don't have one and it's not FAIR. SO pony up, asshole.
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 8:01PM
I don't hate you...like I feel for any poor delusional insane person..I PITY YOU..!
ROTFLMAO...
THE HATRED YOU SPEW IS SO INSANE HOT, I AM SURPRISED YOU HAVEN'T BURST INTO FLAMES......!
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 8:51PM
YOU CAN TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK KEY ANY TIME NOW.
Wow - very witty comeback. "SO INSANE HOT." Hmm. I'm guessing you were a Left-handed African Lesbian Studies major at Harvard, weren't you? And here I thought you were a useless parasite. Well hush my mouth.
Are you sure you read my posts? Because it sounds like you're describing your own primitive, tribal, bellicose rantings.
With a mind like yours, I'll bet you could be the treasurer of your local Marxist club. Yes, your intellect is positively, uh, pedestrian.
I notice you haven't refuted a single thing I've said. All you do is 1) spew hate 2) accuse ME of spewing hate; rinse and repeat. Why don't you get off your ass and write ME a check, hmm? Why don't you pay YOUR fair share, hmmm? In fact, why don't you do something - anything - to justify your existence other than take what others have provided by the sweat of their brow as you engage in inane, callow posturing? What's the matter? Is Daddy about to cut your allowance and you just can't make ends meet with your two EBT cards?
I can answer that one. You are greedy. You hide behind accusations to mask your own guilt. And you're clearly a heterophobe. You think you can don the cloak of goodness and destroy to your heart's content and nobody will be any the wiser. You're not fooling anyone, except of course the others of your ilk who are exactly like you.
You are useless. You mindless automatons are, in fact, fungible commodities; flagstones on which the more ambitious crooks in your movement - those who act on their lust for power - step while they rape and pillage their way to the top of the Socialist Heap in the name of compassion and sharing.
Just remember, parasite: The victory of cancer over healthy tissue kills both the healthy tissue and the cancer (just to help you out, since your intellect appears to be less than stellar, in the preceding analogy, YOU are the cancer).
When you get a moment, why don't you have a literate person read Animal Farm to you? I think you'll see a lot of yourself in the pig they call Napoleon.
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 9:20PM
It's rather funny..and all too telling.. that you right winger cretins are the first to start calling names---I only do it in return, as it seems to be the only dialogue you seem to respond to...
ADIOS, LOSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pelleas| 4.14.12 @ 12:12PM
"PARASITES".."FUNGIBLE".."GREEDY".."PIGS"..
where have I heard those terms hurled before..??
OH YEAH..someone by the name of Adolph Hitler was very fond of similar insane name-calling, nu...?
AllantheK| 4.12.12 @ 10:22PM
Reality is really going to suck for you!
jamesfudd | 4.23.12 @ 6:27PM
The pity is returned to you. May you use it wisely, and begin to realize the free breakfast, lunch, and dinners are over.
Charie| 4.12.12 @ 8:29PM
Hey Commie, I want to see you back here the day after the election in November. I might let you apologize, you gross, crude jerk!
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 8:37PM
NEVER EVER GONNA HAPPEN, TEA-BAG LOSERS...!!
Unless you apologise first...fer the filth that you spew towards people who dont look or act like mirror images of your sorry selves....
...'TA... , HAS BEENS....!!!==LOL LOL LOL
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 8:55PM
Can't ya just smell the liberal compassion? I'm so glad Obama turned out to be a uniter and not a divider. With sub-human Neanderthals like Figaro in his army, Obama can't lose!
After all, Eric Holder's gonna make it legal for all Democrat Precinct Captains to carry "Voter Help Kits" - which look an awful lot like baseball bats to me.
Charie| 4.12.12 @ 8:17PM
BULL!!!!
Liberal vitory looks like this| 4.12.12 @ 11:45PM
Should Obama be re-elected:
OK, wait, the US gravy train is coming by any second...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcFwAUfxZLA
thoams burke| 4.15.12 @ 6:06PM
Grzmlyk: you are a bafoon.. plain and simple.
1st Tell me were in the founding documents the federal Gov't has the "RIGHT " to bail out companies with my tax dollars . AAMOF other than the defense of the country were dose the founding documents give the power to the fed's to do any of the crap they have been shoving down are througts since the 1950 and 60's.
the ELITE establishments on both side are the problem and the TEA PARTY is poised to take them out. theGOP did not learn their lessons from the last election; so their for the TEA PARTY is going after the ROOTS of the weeds in political office. Tarp was 700+ billion for what?? So they can raise my taxes to jump start the polices and promises from the past. I am not going to let people like you ruin my childs chance at a future. i am set; i have played by the rules and have taken nothing from the system . i have been unemployeed twice and did not ask for food stamps or a check.. i got off my a$$ and looked for another job. so put your head up the DEMs A$$ and keep eating the swill they expel from their colin.
Todd M | 4.16.12 @ 2:05AM
It is dead. Killed by the Romney RINOs, Rove and all the phony "conservative" media pundits and frauds like Fox News. I zapped O-TV after 2008 - it is all the same. Fox is no better - all of TV and the media love dear leader.
Stopped reading or viewing the Romney RINO shills like Drudge, Coulter, Ingraham, Savage, Miller and the other frauds and fake conservatives.
Rubio has always been a RINO but the last straw was Paul Ryan and Ron Johnson in WI. Their support for Romney was the last straw.
I will never donate a penny in the future and will never volunteer to do anything.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 8:55AM
We Tea Party Patriots Are Placing Delegates & Vetting Candidates In Federal, State & County Elections.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To Tuesday, November 6.
Pete| 4.12.12 @ 11:17AM
Once in Washington these candidates will do just what the party leaders tell them to do.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 11:31AM
We Tea Party Patriots Are Realistic Enough To Know That A Certain Some Opportunist Candidates Will Sell Out The Tea Party Patriots Mission Statement In That Big Government Washington, D.C. Swamp.
If They Do, We 'll Fire Them Because They Are Our Hired Help
Todd M | 4.16.12 @ 2:06AM
Yeah all of our great Tea Party candidates who turned into RINO's like open-borders Rubio or Ron Johns or Paul Ryan or Christie. All RINO frauds. There area few real deals still like Allan West but even DeMint is a Romney-bot.
Vern Crisler | 4.12.12 @ 11:30AM
What do you care about the Tea Party, RET? You supported Romney after all.
Crassus| 4.12.12 @ 11:37AM
Where's that brokered convention, Jack?
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 12:53PM
Crassus you are funny. Ron Paul-bots never allow a little thing like reality to enter their fantasy world.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 1:26PM
We Know Where Your RINO-CINO Romney McCain Redux Is.
Grzmlyk| 4.12.12 @ 3:04PM
Gee, Clint, since Ron Paul is a historical footnote at this point, I figured you'd be busy stomping on your own face right about now.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 7:33PM
You Ain't Man Enough To Try It, Coward Grizzle Licker.
Soljerblue| 4.12.12 @ 1:16PM
JW, as usual, chimes in with solid assurance and confidence on a subject about which he's both antipathetic and ignorant.
The Tea Party isn't dead. It's active. Its members understand that change must come from the grass roots, so that is where they are working. And they are scoring victories; perhaps small upon first glance, but in the aggregate they will bring the change we desire. We are like the Jello you can't quite nail to the wall. Or, put another way -- you don't necessarily see the termites in your foundation until your house collapses. You will see our work in congressional results come November.
Renaissance Nerd | 4.13.12 @ 11:55AM
And not just then; to start a new party this is what has to be done. It's the reason the Libertarians are still a hapless footnote; they haven't bothered with all the boring stuff like school board and town council and dogcatcher. But that's how it MUST be done. Start in small towns, run them well, go to the State legislature and DEMONSTRATE your bona fides. The TEA Party isn't dead--it's just gotten serious.
odmartin| 4.12.12 @ 3:51PM
The Tea Party is no more dead than the people who comprise it. There simple has not been any overarching issue like the 2010 elections for us to have mass meetings. I predict you will be seeing some as November approaches. It never was an actual "party," just an aggregate of a lot of sane-thinking Americans who were pissed off at the condition a professional-politicians class, locally and nationally, had subjected us to.
BodieInSD| 4.12.12 @ 5:47PM
Well put! As long as there is an unpayable national debt and no plan to deal with it the tea party will exist, and will exercise a profound influence of politics on the local and national levels. Maybe if we crapped on the occasional squad car, ran child prostitutes at a rally, or engaged in open-air drug use we could get the media attention that these lefties need like oxygen to survive. Decent people doing good things seldom make the news.
datameister| 4.12.12 @ 4:34PM
Uh, you and others may delude yourself by thinking the Tea Party is of no consequence if you choose, but you do so at your own risk.
In fact, we would prefer you to continue to pay us no heed, if you do not believe in our principles of constitutionally limited government, free enterprise and personal liberty.
Just as the Alinskyites of the left preferred to be ignored back in the '70s and '80s, while they executed their "inside-out" strategy to infiltrate from within, in order to eventually destabilize this country via a series of manufactured economic crisis (ref: Cloward-Piven).
The Tea Party Movement (TPM) - particularly in this go-round (2012) - is focused on local and regional levels. As the article this comment is attached to points out. It's not about the presidency, per se. It's about sound LOCAL fiscal repsonsibility at municipal level. To start with.
The TPM truly is a grass roots movement. Very real, very much alive, and very much representative of the often overlooked "Silent Majority". A majority which, by the way, still exists in this country.
For every one of us "actively" engaged in any one of the thousands of TPM groups across the country, representing MILLIONS of individuals aligned with shared concerns, there are 10 additional people who silently, tacitly, implicitly agree . They just are not as comfortable taking a more 'public' stance as people such as myself are.
I am the Tea Party Movement. Not ever active politically before 9/2009; but 100% dedicated ever since then, thanks to a common belief and a means through which to share it. And to do something about it.
We want our country back; we are AMERICA; not France, or Greece, or Argentina - or even Canada or Australia. And certainly not anything like China or Russia.
And I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even HERE, there are more of us that any of you realize. Just quieter about it, because we are behind enemy lines.
We Care; We Will Act. We Will Persist. Just not with a bunch of hyped-up wild-eyed "film-at-11" nonsense.
This is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
The "Progressives", as they would blythely describe themselves, have been steadily chipping away at this country for decades - particularly since the '60s, as part of a defined 75-year plan.
That plan may be best described under the "Fabian Socialism" header, established in the late 1800s. Look it up; check out their "logo". It is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
So, it comes down to this, in my opinion: "If you don't Stand Up for what is right, it will stand for what is wrong." - anon.
You want to just lay down and give in? If so, you are merely in denial, ignorant... or complicit.
I will persist; I will never give in, never give up. I believe in this country, and the foundational principles upon which it was built and enabled it to flourish as it has.
And I have the comparative experience to know the difference. I've the benefit of travelling the world. And resided in the cafes and bars and homes of those that would either want to tear down this country, and alternatively wish they could leave theirs for ours. I've personally seen what the alternatives - and our possible future - looks like, if we continue the "Progressive" road that Obama and most members of the democrat party would have us on.
And I'm not going to passively stand by and let it happen. Are you with us, or them? It really comes down to that simple challenge.
You have an opportunity to choose, and a choice to make during the primaries of your municipality and state, and again this coming November.
Choose wisely.
heytrud| 4.12.12 @ 6:40PM
You have stated it all perfectly, there is nothing that I can add to your statement. IT IS PERFECT! I love watching all the lefties manufacturing up lie after lie...WE the Tea Party is alive and well..never forget the 2010 elections where you lefties were bloodied...WE were behind that and WE don;t need pulpits like Shapton or Jackson...WE work so well behind the scenes... and, but oh so well too you can't see it either!
Todd M | 4.16.12 @ 2:10AM
So we can be sabotaged by RINOs like Rove, Jeb Bush and those phony conservative radio and media frauds? Rush is an exception and maybe Hannity. The rest of them are a joke. No more Bush clan either.
Rubio was an open-borders RINO in Florida in the state house. Ron Johnson and Paul Ryan in WI - sadly became sellouts to Romney. I think WI Governor is still the real deal.
Sad that moronic GOP voters did not realize the only choice was Romney or Santorum. Santorum had no money and the RINO GOP/RNC wanted unelectable Romney.
Charie| 4.12.12 @ 8:12PM
Dream on, Jack. I just joined a brand-new one. We don't need news cameras in our faces all the time. Read the article, Jack??
WickedDickie--Virginia| 4.12.12 @ 8:17AM
I like the fact that they're so well organized and working at the local level. Big splashes like the ones they put on last time may be passe'. The lefty union thugs are also better prepared to enforce the Chicago Way this time and bloody riots may well ensue. Obama-ayers' Big Media sycophants would love to be able to exploit that with their usual lies and deceit. I hope Romney, et al are ready with the ammunition provided by Fast and Furious, the Eric, the Red Voter Video, Keystone Pipeline, etc. to really blast His Majesticalness, King Putt this time. We simply must Remember in November.
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 8:40AM
We are working at the local level, we are working with True The Vote, we helped out with the Wisconsin Recall Election, who do you think went through all of the petitions and identified many problems? Others are educating citizens on Agenda 21, the Constitution, numerous activities are flying under the media radar because they think we have gone away.
We elected good candiates in 2010, they need to serve their terms before they will be ready for higher office. Who is making a difference in the Senate? Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Pat Toomey, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, are they perfect? no but what an improvement...we are building on that effort by looking for more good candidates, such as Ted Cruz, will we win every election, no, just as in 2010 there will be disappointments but I refuse to give up, even with Romney as the nominee, I will hold my nose and vote for him but I will work to elect good people to Congress and state / local positions.
Yes, media, think we are asleep. We may not be happy about the GOP nominee or candidates that ran but we are still here, the media attacked us and still will, they embraced OWS, wait until May 1 and the summer, the media / Dems now own OWS, when the violence escalates, they will have blood on their hands.
If you are not already active at the local level, please join me, find something or someone you believe in and make a difference. At a minimum, we need fair elections, consider becoming a poll observer. Feel free to share with us what you are doing, who knows you may provide a spark to get someone off the couch...
Von Mises Jr.| 4.12.12 @ 9:07AM
G-d bless you Indy. I have been to two TEA Party meetings in the last two nights. It looked real to me?
We had a state committeman speak to us about a foreclosure bill, and a Senate candidate speak on his platform. Saturday, I will be phone banking for a conservative challenger to a RINO encumbent.
We have been meeting and speaking with our State Senators and Assemblymen. We are reaching out to our Mayors about Agenda21.
Or perhaps it is just a dream? If it is, I hope I wake up soon. This is hard work.
But in the meantime, if I was not dreaming; I met Allen West a couple weeks ago. I have met Betsy McCaughey, Robert Moffit from Heritage, Peter Ferarra from TAS. I spoke to Judge Napolitano recently. I've met with Charles Payne, Dr. Jerome Corsi, Sheriff Richard Mack, Mychal Massie and David Webb.
All this happened while OWS was raping groupies and crapping on police cars. I don't see the comparison???
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 10:12AM
Thank you, I have read many of your posts and know you are fully engaged and active. It is hard work but we must do it if we hope to have a future for our kids...
Speaking of work, I will have to check back here later, I must focus on my job so I can pay the mortgage and write a painful check to Uncle Sam on Monday and watch them waste it on the GSA / Solyndra clones, etc...
merlin| 4.12.12 @ 10:29AM
Von Mises Jr.
"..... I don't see the comparison???"
LOL, thanks for all your comments.
Von Mises Jr.| 4.12.12 @ 10:46AM
Good morning merlin,
The column makes two references:
- The TEA Party is dead
- Liberals conflate it with OWS
You may not know who I am, but the local State Senators, Assemblymen and my Mayor know who I am, and what conservatives in the TEA party believe on local issues.
So my point is that Indy and I are taking the time to be informed and INVOLVED. I lived a wonderful life with abundant liberty and prosperity. The last few generations in America have truly been the top 1% when compared to the human race throughout world history. I just want to keep it going for my family and yours.
G-d bless and thanks for the encouragement. It is much easier and comfortable to not speak up.
Marie commenting| 4.12.12 @ 11:21AM
I am a 77 year old female who wants to help. Live in a very small town. How can I help????
Von Mises Jr.| 4.12.12 @ 12:39PM
Marie, you just did. You had the fortitude to state your opinion for others to benefit. They need to know that they are not alone.
That is the deceit of both establishments and the MSM. They want people to think all is lost and they hope that you lose hope. Do not be fooled. We are the majority.
If you have grandchildren, buy them good books. I bought my nephews "1984," "Animal Farm," "Cat's Cradle," "Brave New World" and "Gulliver’s Travels" for Christmas. It cost me $25 or so. They learn while having fun. Then you can simply ask them if they understood what they read.
If you have children who have teenagers going to college, especially if you contribute; set your own educational goals for them. My son just graduated summa cum laude. He is reasonably intelligent, but he was incentivized to work hard. We paid for "A's" and "B's." He got one "C" and bought me Klipsch speakers. He didn't get another "C."
Before I paid his tuition, he read the books I assigned such as "Liberty and Tyranny," "Road to Serfdom," "The 5,000 Year Leap," "Elementary Lessons in Logic' and a few more. I told him I paid my own Undergrad and Grad school; and he was lucky to get a free ride after passing the quiz.
And talk to your friends and family. Political Correctness is for slaves.
Call me a ba$tard, but my son just bouoght a new car, new suits and has a brokerage account and is out of college for one year. He thanks me now. And he respects me that is just as important as love.
LiveFreeOrDie| 4.12.12 @ 2:00PM
Every so often I read a post that changes my life in some small way and this is one! This is excellent parenting and a stellar reading list. I'm inspired yet ashamed I did not have a similar plan.
Von Mises Jr.| 4.12.12 @ 3:13PM
I am sorry if I sounded verbose or sanctimonious. My son is self-sufficient and I am proud. Now I work on my nieces and nephews. But so do their parents. It takes a family, not a village.
LiveFreeOrDie| 4.13.12 @ 12:53PM
Not at all and you should be proud. I've plenty of young relatives and you've inspired me to follow suit.
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 4:02PM
Marie,
There is much you can do, continue to educate yourself and educate others on the issues, there are a number of ways to do this, share emails with family, friends, speak to people when you are around town, I frequently strike up converstations while standing in line at grocery stores, attending my children's school activities, walking the dog, any opportunity I can think of.
First decide what issues matter most to you. Share your experiences with our youth. My grandmother always paid in cash, she remembers the depression and passed along her learnings to her family. Our seniors are a wealth of information. You can help educate seniors on Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare, he will leave the plan as is for those 55 and over, the Democrats always use scare tactics on our Seniors, they say the GOP wants to destroy Medicare, that's simply not true. In reality, ObamaCare will destroy Medicare, the financial collapse of that program will happen sooner because of ObamaCare.
Find candidates you like and make calls on their behalf.
Make sure your friends / neighbors are registered voters, Formulate a plan to help them get absentee ballots or help them get to the polls during early voting.
True the Vote info is here
http://www.truethevote.org/
Consider helping Gov, Scott Walker, you can make calls from your home, http://www.scottwalker.org/volunteer
Thank you for posting here and joining us!
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 4:10PM
Seek out good information to share with others, Bill Whittle produces excellent videos, you can see them http://declarationentertainment.com/
A simple video on debt limit
http://debtlimitusa.org/ Our country is broke, we must educate our youth, they have no idea what's coming if we cannot get the debt under control...riots like those in Europe will be here sooner rather than later.
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 5:25PM
Here's a great site to use to educate yourself and others, especially our youth, the videos are well done and worth sharing with others.
http://www.learnliberty.org/
We need more Rick Santelli's, he's not afraid to speak out.
http://freebeacon.com/beastmod.....-debtbomb/
Marie, please post more often, we would like to hear what's happening in your small town, what are voters there concerned about? Are they actively helping out or looking for ways to help?
Layne S| 4.12.12 @ 9:36AM
Agree 100%. Just signed up to be a poll-watcher.
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 10:03AM
Rock on, thank you for jumping in - We The People are the power!
Soljerblue| 4.12.12 @ 1:18PM
May God bless you Indy, and all the Tea Party Patriots.
datameister| 4.12.12 @ 5:00PM
As it is also happening in of all places, San Francisco! We invoke the spirit of the resistance fighters of WWII, even though most of us were born decades afterwards.
reference my post earlier, above.
a whole new meaning to the phrase, E Pluribus Unum.
Charie| 4.12.12 @ 8:15PM
Say hey, Indy. True the Vote did a wonderful job in Wisconsin. Two thumbs up!! One of these days we may have a Government Accountability Board that actually understands what non-partisan means.
Melvin| 4.12.12 @ 9:01AM
Conservatives need to operate on a dual track. Such as Romney may be, he will be the standard bearer for the Republican Party. Conservatives need to swallow their Romney Castor oil and do the best they can to elect him as the next President of the United States.
The second track is to form a completely new Conservative Party from the ground up. If Conservatives keep siding with the Republican Party we will continue to have McCain and Romney like candidates and they will continue to lose Presidential match-ups.
Tea Party Conservatives need to completely kick the Republican Party to the curb and disassociate itself.
Forming a new political party is not going to be easy by any sense of the word. The Republican Party will join forces with the Democrats and fight this new idea to the death. Both political parties will attempt to co-opt, infiltrate, and attempt to derail the formation of this new Party.
The Conservative Party will not be Republican nor will it be Democrat. It will be a Party of Americans who are just plain tired of the status quo, the corruption, the wast and robbery of their hard earned tax money.
The Conservative Party will create a simplified and fair tax code, adherence to the US Constitution, and create the conditions that will allow Americans and all those who come to this Country to prosper, and attain what they consider the American dream, not the American nightmare that centralized federal government envisions for us.
cuban pete| 4.12.12 @ 9:45AM
"Conservatives need to swallow their Romney Castor oil and do the best they can to elect him...."
Thank you, Melvin! Great advice. Let's get BHO retired and then reinvent or reconfigure the GOP or do as you suggest and form a new party.
But either way we need to prevent a second Obama term. I hope people of good will not shoot themselves in the foot just to make a point because if BHO is reelected the cost will be dear.
Pete| 4.12.12 @ 11:19AM
Without the bogie man it won't happen. The GOP will just take the power Obama left and use it to benefit their own cronies.
spoofproof| 4.12.12 @ 10:37AM
Let it be as you say Melvin. The only thing the two parties have over We The People is organization. I believe there are more of us than there are of them. There are now too many people making their livings off taxpayer dollars and that includes lawyers, bureaucrats, pollsters, pundits, political consultants, aides, staffers, etcetera, etcetera. It's gonna take time to change things. Mark Meckler says 40 years minimum, but anything can happen.
We. Are. Relentless.
Melvin| 4.12.12 @ 12:08PM
This can happen and the American people are resourceful enough to do so. We have generations in the ranks who might be young and naive, but many of them are not swallowing the socialist bait with it's Marxian philosophy.
This in itself has surprised even me. I thought that the younger generations were indeed lost to the Communist cause, but these young Americans are resisting.
Latinos, the Democrats are under the illusion that they have this demographic in their back pocket, not so. Latinos are some of the most rabid social Conservatives on the planet.
Conservatives would be wise, to send a message to this demographic by demanding retooling the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
I have personal insight to the INS, and how to fix it.
Once the INS gets retooled, modernized and staff adequately, then we can have an intelligent conversation about Immigration Reform. But my personal opinion is that my fixing the INS many of the problems that are plaguing our Immigration policy will be corrected by the INS themselves without new legislation.
But the biggest challenge to Conservatives is to put before the American people, that Liberalism is a failure, and has damaged this Country, culturally and economically.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 9:04AM
Romney Is McCain Redux.
Crassus| 4.12.12 @ 11:39AM
Thanks, Captain Obvious.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 12:26PM
Call Bibi, Crappus.
Mike Hawk| 4.12.12 @ 1:18PM
Captain Obvious is acid reflux
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 1:28PM
Little Micky Hawklette Is Coughin' Up His Own Mitten's Kitten Fur Balls, Among Others.
Bobloblaw| 4.12.12 @ 9:13AM
Indiana will be sending a Tea Party member to the US Senate come Jan 2013 in Richard Mourdock.
Soljerblue| 4.12.12 @ 1:20PM
OO-rahh!!
Mike Hawk| 4.12.12 @ 2:15PM
Semper Fi
PattyMor| 4.12.12 @ 9:20AM
Well this Tea Partyier is not giving up. I fund Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, I fund several other Senate Candidates, several other PAC's. I'm active in my 9/11 group. I'll not go into servitude willingly. And out with the carpetbagger, Richard Lugar. He doesn't live in Indiana--get rid of him he's past his sell by date.
Mike Hawk| 4.12.12 @ 9:45AM
In PA the Tea Party Patriots are actively supporting the Conservative Sam Rohrer against two RINO former Democrats Tom Smith and Steve Welch. Welch was an Obama contributor and supporter in '08 and Sest-hack supporter in '10. Smith was a Democrat Supervisor in his home County and voted in 19 Democrat primaries since 1969. Both registered Republican last year. I guess they have John Corzine syndrome. After successful business careers they want to dabble in politics and start at the top. No thanks guys. No more Rendell Republicans here. The state GOP Establishment is now giving the finger to Tea Party people after currying favor in 2010 (They were not big on Pat Toomey after , or before, Specter flipped either). In January at the state convention thay barred us from the assembly and endorsed Welch against the wishes of 85% of the base. Rob Gleason, the chairman basically gave the Tea Party movement a Raspberry. Sam Rohrer has embraced it and in fact calls Tea Party and affiliates the "Freedom Movement" and has the momentum. We will nominate Sam for Senate and after that defeat Bob (with one "o") Casey (sorry Clint, your boy has to go). Then we will replace Gleason and the other Establishment types by electing local committee people to replace them. It will meet resistence, but it can be done. Support Sam Rohrer. www.Rohrer for Senate.com
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 10:35AM
You're A Serial Sociopathic Liar, Little Micky Hawklette.
I Never Voted For The Lib Boy, Junior Casey Nor His Old Man.
Now, Tell Us All About Your New Mancrush On The RINO-CINO Frontman,Mttens Romney, Little Micky Hawklette.
We Are Being Set Up By These RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
Mike Hawk| 4.12.12 @ 1:00PM
Hey, little Clinty snotnose, I didn't say you voted for Casey, your incessant hatred of Rick Santorum enabled him and makes you a Casey supporter by default. Obviously you couldn't have voted for Rick as that would make you a serious hypocrite.
You are a serial cut and paster TPINO Paulistinain crackpot Casey enabler. Who said anything about Romney?? You sure do have a thin skin.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 1:43PM
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha !
Hey Little Micky Hawklette Booger Eater, You're Fickle Ricky Specter-Santorum Mancrush Is Now A Mitten's Kitten Mancrush.
Aaaaaand,
You're A Chronic Repeat Serial Disingenuous Intellectually Dishonest Liar, Little Micky Hawklette.
You Have Attempted Over And Over Again To Make Others Think I Supported& Voted For The Democrap Lib Boy, Junior Casey.
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
Mike Hawk| 4.12.12 @ 2:16PM
Try debating Joe Biden. I'd bet Biden wins.You are a hoot.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 2:32PM
Try Attending A Tea Party Protest Rally On Sunday, Like Us Valley Forge Tea Party Patriots, Little Micky Hawklette.
crookedwren| 4.12.12 @ 11:43AM
While I am a caretaker now for my mother and can do little these days, our local Tea Partiers and other local groups are extremely busy -- mostly fighting Agenda 21 and getting ICLEI kicked out of local communities.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you better get researching.
In another article above, I saw the "Mitt H. W. Bush" title -- It was Bush Sr. that signed on to A21 and the "New World Order." And Clinton set it off with an Ex. Order, so I'm told.
But it's through that ngo ICLEI that America is giving up sovereignty, one community at a time.
Yet throughout this great country, Tea Partiers have learned something that NO ONE in the media is talking about, a danger so insidious, so heinous, that even FNC leaves it alone. Beck mentioned it once in his last week. That's it.
Agenda 21 is a "real and present danger" -- as is a second term for Barack Obama. Yes, Soros said Mitt would be Obama-lite, and that may be true, but Mitt, as a Mormon, must have a trace of conservatism somewhere in his ideology, even if it's just a trace. He CAN'T be as anti-free market as Obama.
No. The Tea Party is hardly "dead." The movement has changed. We can't be on alert, ready to head to DC at a moment's notice, week after week for three years. We have JOBS. We have homes to maintain. We have RESPONSIBILITIES we have to meet.
But we are on the alert. I'm taking the Hillsdale College Constitution 101 course online, reading some incredible original sources -- for free, by the way. Reading and still emailing and calling my Rep. and my died-in-the-wool Democratic Senators.
I made phone calls from my home to help defeat Rick Boucher and get Morgan Griffith elected.
We don't carry as many signs these days.
We are busy.
But we are alert. We are aware. We are educating ourselves. Many are learning how to lead.
We are locating candidates.
We are fighting state and local legislative battles -- to repeal legislation that promotes A21 and other progressive agendas, and to move forward on legislation that is more consonant with the Constitution.
Don't write us off -- even though the GOP can't manage candidate with which we are thrilled. After all, Paul Ryan refused to run. Pence didn't run. We NEED the candidates to say "Yes" to running!
Although I don't blame Paul Ryan. And Marco Rubio needs a little more time.
But we're here. Our lives will never be quite the same. We're fighting the ideological battles at home.
Hopefully, we'll make inroads in academia and the textbooks. But that's going to take several generations, I'm afraid.
howard lohmuller| 4.12.12 @ 12:12PM
The real purpose of the occupiers, whom are for the most part anarchists, Marxists and paid freeloaders, is to suppress the Conservative vote by scaring them away from the voting places in large cities. This tactic also allows the Democrats to continue their vote fraud techniques in these cities.
Conservatives need to build their own army of poll watchers and protectors to insure safety for their voters.
Indy| 4.12.12 @ 4:28PM
Join us, call your local party and volunteer to be a poll watcher, in my county we are well short of what we need, so jump in and help in your community.
9thID| 4.12.12 @ 12:15PM
Since the Dole/McCain Redux has been once again foisted upon Conservatives by the RINO Establishment, I will devote my time and money to the House and Senate races. If Conservatives can hold onto the House, and gain a majority in the Senate, it is the best we can now hope for in saving us from the worst of Comrade Barry's 2nd term.
Even after the 2008 loss and the 2010 Tea Party "Shellacking", the RINOs told us to vote for a candidate who is the godfather of ObamaCare and to the Left of McCain on most everything-- incredible!
With Barry's terrible record, the 2012 presidential race was always the GOP's to lose, and with Mitt RomneyCare as the nominee they just handed the W.H. back to the Dems. This is not defeatist, it is realism. Hoping for victory in the House/Senate & prepping for the worst...
The American Hitman| 4.12.12 @ 1:28PM
Conservatives don't "hold" the House. Statists do.
aware| 4.13.12 @ 7:34AM
And the rest of "government".
sweatyfederalist | 4.12.12 @ 12:19PM
It wasn't Jon Huntsman that kept Mitt's polling at or below 25% for all of last year.
Bill| 4.12.12 @ 1:01PM
The Tea Party is a movement based on liberty, free enterprise, and the limited government. It ain't gonna evaporate soon, but it will stay forever as long as those liberals and the union thugs remain in power. Millions of people hold the banner of the Tea Party because they love America and don't want to surrender to those socialists.
Al| 4.12.12 @ 1:26PM
I hope you are wrong. The Tea Party's flaw is that they are uncompromising. They want everyone to think the same and you cannot elect a president with that attitude. My wife spent three years with a group of charismatic Christians. Eventually they wore her out. My wife was a better Christian than most of those in the group. She left because they had no room for other opinions or beliefs. The Tea Party is the same. If you and I believe exactly the same and have exactly the same opinions, one of us is not needed.
The American Hitman| 4.12.12 @ 1:26PM
Dead as a door nail, knifed in the back by the GOPe and its liars in the media. Right Bob?
Keith Strachan| 4.12.12 @ 1:31PM
I believe the Tea Party has gone underground; much like the socialist party did in the 1960's. They decided to covertly slide into the Democrat party and grow from within, eventually to overtake the party itself. They are now proudly declaring themselves as progressives. The Tea Party is quietly going to take over the Republican party from within. It may take some time, but a new party will emerge that will provide a stark contrast to the progressives.
Frediano| 4.12.12 @ 1:31PM
Train wreck politics, with a heavy dose of musical chairs; which pathetic party of power is going to do nothing but position itself best to blame the other losers in the smoking ruins of this tribal C.F.?
We are decades past waiting for responsible leadership to show up in DC; what is needed is an giant axe and years of moving vans leaving Northern VA and the end of the two party CronyFest on the Potomac.
Wendy | 4.12.12 @ 1:35PM
The Tea Party still lives in the Ron Paul campaign!
George F.| 4.12.12 @ 1:42PM
The Tea Party movement has done one other positive thing; they've pushed the mainstream media into revealing what they've been all along, far left-wing zealots not concerned with facts or the truth.
Pete| 4.12.12 @ 10:05PM
Good point. Our awareness has never been greater. 4 years ago we thought Romney was a conservative and that Fox and Drudge were for conservatives. We have seen the dynamics of smear and attack from both the GOP establishment and the Democrats. We see the crimes happening in front of our face and the GOP watching without saying a word.
Hopefully people are truly waking up.
mike edelman| 4.12.12 @ 2:16PM
the tea party is indeed quite over...this has
nothing to do with al sharpton and like
limbaugh you are setting up a straw man for
the purpose of bolstering the argument..the reason the tea party is over is because the representatives it sent to dc are incapable of
compromise...and incapable of solving the
naitons budget and deficit issues insisting on
their way or the highway...those tea party members who were sold on "smaller government"
weren't quite ready to give up their medicare
and their social security....
The Bruce| 4.12.12 @ 2:32PM
I'm not dead. I feel fine. I feel happy. I think I want to go for a walk.
Timely Renewed | 4.12.12 @ 2:40PM
One of the great contributions the Tea Party is making (present tense) is to turn the nation's attention back to the Constitution. We now need to reform the amendment process so that states can initiate and enact constitutional amendments without having to go through Congress or the unworkable and archaic mechanism of a convention. Then Tea Party patriots working on the state level can effect constitutional amendments restating and re-affirming the original constitutional limits on federal power. See http://www.timelyrenewed.com
Glenn Koons| 4.12.12 @ 2:48PM
The writer is good on ...TEAS picking younger candidates. But, unless Mitt or the Pub House and Senate candidates can unite the TEAS, Indies, Libertarians, Reagan Dems and ALL WINGS OF THE GOP, including the DC elites, Bama will win. So the TEAS might have to hold their noses and just remember, ANYBODYBUTOBAMA.
Lolo | 4.12.12 @ 2:56PM
It's over. Tea Party has been co-opted by other groups.
messup| 4.12.12 @ 2:57PM
About OWS. Present day OWS'er have a strange resemblance to the "Hell-No-We-Won't-Go" sit-in's, riots, bombings, street shut downs of the 60's and 70's. These were fringe radical revolutionaries, Saul Alinskyites, trained in academic incubators...not much different than today's OWS'ers. Same MO, Same mantra, same tired marxist speak. All lead by their idol: Francis Fox Piven and abetted by their enabler-in-chief Mr. Cass Sustein.
Yes, "top down/bottom up and inside out" is well and operational. It's everywhere for We The People to see, witness unfolding before our very eyes.
Tea Party is America's only deterrent to this tried and true marxist attempt at overt/covert take over of America's:1)religion,, 2)education, 3) financial system and, 4) system of governance.
God Bless America and Tea Partiers everywhere. Amen.
ABNCP| 4.12.12 @ 3:23PM
The Tea Party is not dead. Anyone who believes that does not have any idea about what is going on in the heartland of this country. Having said that I also believe The Tea Party will not achieve its full potential until it becomes far more organized. It still has no national organization. It's local and state groups for the most part have no regular paths of communication. There is no driving force at the top because there is no organization at the top. For those of us who have attended Tea Party meetings, demonstrations and marches, it is great while they are happening but for the most part there is no consistent progress, no follow up. There is no doubt in my mind there must be a national leader for the Tea Party who can put a national organization together. That leader must be one who has wide name recognition. I believe that person would be Sara Palin. She can do far more for this country a a CEO for the Tea Party than any other thing she could accomplish at this time. A strong organized Tea Party would then have the capability of getting the money (funds) that it will require to actually select good people to run for state and national office. It costs MONEY to do that. In order to have the financial resources
to suceed those channels have to be in place. It should be pretty easy to understand. Look and any sucessful corporation. Outstanding CEO, great management team. Thats what the TEA PARTY needs. OBTW does anyone else believe as I do that Clint has to be some 14 year old banging away on his computer in his mothers basement. I mean some of his postings sound like two children screaming at each other in a fight over an ice cream cone.
The American Hitman| 4.12.12 @ 3:45PM
I agree with 99% of your post. I obviously don't know whats happening in your locale, but what I've seen at mine, and nationally, is that the tea party is fractured and has been largely co-opted by the GOP.
The tea party is indeed too disorganized. Many celebrate their disorganization. The disorganization has directly resulted in the Presidential primary fiasco. I suspect--I hope I'm wrong--that the tp will have far less impact on the shape of Congress this time than they did last time.
They need to organize nationally, they need leadership (Palin would be great) and they need some organizational distance from the GOP.
Phil Mosolino| 4.12.12 @ 4:34PM
Yeah we need a leader but not a george Soros plant or one of the many minnions of the current media conspiracy that will drive it into no where. Find a way to protect teh movement from the current all encompassing screw the constitution conspiracy and ya will have something ! Good luck with that. Can you say press 1 for english,
heytrud| 4.12.12 @ 7:20PM
Sarah Palin would be perfect for this job...and she can raise money from everyone of us! Great post.
ABNCP| 4.12.12 @ 4:00PM
To The American Hitman. I agree that the Tea Party needs to beware of being overwhelmed by the Republican Party. The Tea Party does not need to be a 3rd party, not yet anyway and certainly not for this election, it's far to important.
But we have to have the fiancial and political strength to put enough people who have Tea Party beliefs in political office, local, state and national in order to make establishment Republicans do what is required to return this country to its founding principals. Or, when the time comes to either take over the Republican Party or create a powerful 3rd party.
Phil Mosolino| 4.12.12 @ 4:03PM
In My humble opinion The TeaParty was stolen and driven into the ground by the likes of Glen Beck And Sarah Palin. Glen Had every camera on him and every media outlet at the largest gathering yet and he answered the question whats it all about with the New World Order's encouraged answer of "Ya will have to ask them." Then Palin Buried it with her bus to no where and backed another Secret Society Member for office. Disgusting but true and taboo i can not find a real story about the decline of america with truth outside of the Alex Jones types but we are awakening brother.
Not Special Ops Bill| 4.12.12 @ 4:04PM
The Tea Party is still mentioned in conversation among many politically different kinds of people.
The Occupy movement largely fizzled out after they were ousted from the pestilential blasted heaths they made out of public parks. They lasted about six months. Every now and then you hear an Occupy bluster, but it quickly blows over.
Abdiel| 4.12.12 @ 4:21PM
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are "distinguished Americans"?
ABNCP| 4.12.12 @ 4:38PM
Phil, I do not understand what you are talking about.
After the Beck speech and the Palin bus tour and for the most part due to the Tea Party to we had the biggest congressional turn around in the history of the United States of America in 2010.
Other than that your post completly lost me about the decline of America etc.
Magic Underwear| 4.12.12 @ 4:48PM
BELIEVE IN IT!
Jack London| 4.12.12 @ 5:50PM
I thought the Tawana Brawley case was a hoax too, but I'm not so sure after reading this:
http://ourtimepress.com/2009/1.....open-case/
Figaro| 4.12.12 @ 6:36PM
Thank you, JL... very interesting, indeed...!
albert constantine jr.| 4.12.12 @ 10:13PM
Jack, I followed your link and read the interview with retired NYPD professional black activist Weatherspoon. This was my favorite part:
GW: Right. The Grand Jury is handed this bag of goodies which they accept as truth and the Grand Jury reports no true bill. Then the word is put out that Pagones is cleared. See the White man is good at perpetuating his myths. Ask the Seminole, ask the Apache.
OTP: White man speaks with forked tongue?
GW: If the shoe fits…
Apparently, the jury that rendered the verdict against Sharpton and in favor of Pagones saw it differently.
Jack London| 4.13.12 @ 12:51PM
There is plenty of food for thought though – for example the death of Harry Crist. I'm not much into major conspiracy theories, but could cover ups take place routinely at local level? Just look at how the cops did nothing on Trayvon Martin.
verbatim| 4.12.12 @ 6:22PM
"Yet the Occupiers make hardly any effort at engaging in politics at the local level. "
This is a great article, but I can't agree with this statement. I'm sure the nutjob Occupiers and their funders are stuffing ballot boxes to take the reins of small positions or "occupying" local boards, infiltrating our Government at whatever level they can get their grubby hands on, in order to control us and take away our freedoms.
Windy City Commentary| 4.12.12 @ 8:09PM
Men like R. Emmet Tyrell, who put grudges ahead of liberty, by bashing Newt Gingrich during this campaign helped kill the Tea Party. Who remembers this piece written by Tyrell back in January, right after South Carolina. Tyrell was a participant in Black Thursday.
Our Bill Clinton
http://spectator.org/archives/.....ll-clinton
It is Time for Newt to Go
http://spectator.org/archives/.....newt-to-go
Thanks R. Emmet, you did well in helping Romney get the nomination.
Glocksmith| 4.13.12 @ 2:23AM
So, some of you claim the Tea Party is over, eh..?
Well, as an active Tea Party member this is news to me...
Simply wishing for us to "go away" isn't going to make it so.
Look for us in November at the polls....I'll be there...and believe me, I won't be alone.
Pete| 4.13.12 @ 11:06AM
Well what good is it doing? With two liberals running against each other, of what use is the Tea Party.
Glocksmith| 4.13.12 @ 7:09PM
We do what we can. If you want to help, it would be gladly accepted. If all you are going to to is complain, well...then you're part of the problem.
Osamas Pajamas| 4.15.12 @ 2:10AM
I went to my first Tea Party event on a Boston wharf nearby Old Ironsides in 1967 --- The Society of Radicals For Capitalism [RADCAPS} from Harvard and MIT and others --- less than a hundred and fifty libertarians and conservatives and a sprinkling of leftist dopeheads trying to commandeer the lot of us --- and we booed them to despair and they left.
I like Ayn Rand's mention of the dandelion or weed that pops-up in sidewalk cracks and unexpected places anywhere --- no matter how hard the dictators try to eradicate it.
I expect that the uncentralized Tea Party movement will continue to grow and become more effective --- and if the tax-eating enemy erects barricades against us --- we'll come from the shadows --- and thanks to Joan Baez for that one --- whether she likes it or not.
The Democrats should know better than to dictate to Americans. That's "unAmerican."
IrishEdddieOHara| 4.15.12 @ 9:43AM
Mr. Tyrell falls into the same trap as all right wing blowhards. He can't help taking the few crazies of who infested the Occupy movement and use them to infer that the whole movement is filled with public defecators. In doing this, he entirely misses the whole point of the movement. Many of us, even those of us who are not Socialists, Communists, and who HATE Obama, think that the Wall Street thugs CHEATED AND SHOULD BE IN JAIL.
However, since they made $$$, which is the heart of right wing politics, I'm sure that Mr. Tyrell is just happy as a clam on a warm beach with the Wall Street gang. They appear to be his kind of people. I get this from listening to Rush Blowhard and the gang at right wing radio. If it makes money, it is good. If it doesn't, such as Catholic social teaching about the poor and disinfranchised, then it is bad.
What a sad little person you are, Emmett.
Tenn Slim| 4.15.12 @ 11:46AM
The T Party may well be alive and active, and I hope so fervently.
Reality says: The Obama win odds are 6/1 across the Nation. A win in November = Regs in Jan.
A draw in November = a Crisis in Dec SCOTUS or Electoral college.
A Loss in November = a Leftist drive to retain control of the Exec office, the Congress and the US.
Understand clearly, the Leftist will never go quietly into the night.
Semper fi
end
WM| 4.15.12 @ 6:22PM
Look at the strategic picture. The mainstream media *has* to run its phony stories about the Tea Party waning *at this point in time,* because it will not be able to do so again. This point in time is really the only chance it has left to damage the morale and influence of the Tea Party. The left has to do *better* than hold ground in on-year elections like 2012, because they lose ground during the off-years. If the Tea Party holds or gains ground in November, which it probably will, it's all over but the crying for the left.
The mainstream media's bogus stories and polls about the decline of the Tea Party inevitably lead to the usual smug hand-wringing by insecure personalities on the right who use the stories and other irrelevancies like who our nominee is to showboat. "Oh, look at me, I know so much more than the Tea Party, I knew they couldn't last, look at me. If only they had done what I suggested. Aren't I so smart." These people are irrelevant. The Tea Party influence is gaining irreversible momentum as we speak.
Tick tock.
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diogenes| 4.27.12 @ 10:25AM
Am I mistaken, or did the Tea Party vociferously support a bunch of screwball candidates like Herman Cain and Sarah Palin, not to mention Christine and Sharon?
It is risible to read the threats and promises of the Tea Party supporters announcing how they will take back the White House, or Washington, or whatever.
The Tea Party has been savaged in the MSM, predictably enough, but the Tea Party invites derision when it fails to put up a serious contender rather than sloganeers, and fails to develop a platform that could be of interest to anyone buts its own benighted members.