Richmond, October 14, 2009

      A disturbing comment from a caller on a local radio talk show prompted this message. In response to continued tepidness by GOP leadership in the health care debate, plus just general spinelessness about anything liberal or democrat that goes bump in the night, this caller, a Tea Partier, stated the unthinkable: "I guess I'll just have to sit this one out, too."
      What are you thinking?!!!

       I know there are times when we all want to see Jesus, mounted on a white charger, emerge from the clouds and smite our enemies with one fell swoop of his mighty sword. There actually is an old hymn that draws that image, but there's an awful lot of contradictions in it, e.g., a "sword of peace"?, but no more than the contradictory messages we've sent to ourselves since the passing of conservatism's last messiah, Ronald Reagan.
       The idea that we can only be saved by a messiah is about as self-destructive notion as I've seen. We're seeing that now on the democrat side only, what's being "self-destructed" at their hand is the republic and its constitutional base. The party, as they know, will soon follow, to be replaced by "The Party."
       That process and those people leading it are supposed to be the Enemy here, not some weenies sitting at the throne of the GOP in Washington, or in Richmond, or in Atlanta. They will always make up 30% of some political party. The idea that you (we) will concede the whole of one political party to a bunch of Casper Milquetoast-elitists is sheer cowardice. I wrote not long ago that the Left does not have a corner on the abject teatty-baby market, and you're proving that now.
      You (and you know who you are) stayed home in 2006, handing over the Congress to the Left...not the Democrats. Then in 2008, feeling betrayed by party elitists and guess who?, populist, anti-Mormon (a form of bigotry in these days) voters, party voters chose by election, not back room council, a middle of the road jerk as its candidate, so you stayed home again, just to prove to yourself your moral outrage...and to prove to the rest of us your sheer cowardice in the face of a hard fight.
      But while I'm on a roll I'll go ahead and throw in "stupid" here, for the one player the Left has dancing on a string like a marionette right now is you, not Michael Steele or Mitch McConnell...because they know exactly what you will do, for you have bellowed to the top of your voice for four years now what you will do, and by God, you've kept your pledge.
      What the Left knows you won't do is fight back...
      ...unless Ronald Reagan comes out of a cloud on a white charger, to lead you.
      Yes, I said "stupid" for you are playing a class warfare game against GOP moderates and elitists that neither of you can win. It is a playing field of their design, so naturally it will be you who picks up your ball and glove and stomps home.
      And you are stupid for believing that the Party is the be-all and end-all to political involvement. That is how the moderates see it. You are supposed to be able to look beyond the Party to the foundation the Party stands on, and the banner under which it fights. You, not they, are supposed to have the deeper understanding of what the Party and this fight is all about.
     And you are stupid because you believe, when the right guy shows up, you can just march back and undo everything you've allowed to happen. Wrong-o, Buster!
      To those of who who can actually tell a horse from a mule, I suggest a trip back to your closet where you can work your way through a six pack, assessing what you can do to get back into the fight against the Enemy, the Enemy goddammit, not Olympia mealy-mouthing Snowe. You never, never, never get angry at curs for behaving like curs. If you have to, you will kiss your mother-in-law in order to get back into the fight, and will, if necessary to win the fight, rub her poor aching feet.
      If the Pope can wash the feet of a homosexual, then you can suck up a little humility for the Constitution.

      That said, there are things that need to be done right now by conservatives (true conservatives) in Congress and every state GOP structure.
      This idea is old, for many have been lobbying for the creation of a Conservative Caucus in Congress and the state houses for many years. But the idea that some selfish, thoughtless and stupid conservatives from the only energy source conservatism has right now, the Town Hall-Tea Party-9/12 Movement, will once again throw that big teat fit and walk away under the mistaken notion that they can get all this done by a Third Party, or that they can simply take it all back once the time is more ripe and the GOP finally gets it, say in 2012, or that Ol' Ronnie is out there in the corral right now, saddling up his white charger...is enough to scare the pants off true conservatives who see and know the real Enemy here.
     Moderates come in all gradations, for I consider Michael Steel to be a center-Right moderate, just like Mitch. They both get it. They both know there is far, far more at stake here than better tee-times at Colonial. I'm not sure what drives centrists like M'Cain, who behaves more like a Leftie in many cases, in that he's all about getting even. He defines himself by what he hates. Center-Left members, such as Snow and Collins, or Specter before he came out of the closet, are what we call Sky-determines Republicans. Other then being a bit brighter (who isn't) they are very similar to Barbara Boxer, who simply sees the position as a vanity, a sinecure, and entitlement of privilege. Their sense of nobility, which is not the same as the rest of us, is why France lost almost every battle against England during the Middle Ages.
     The Town Hall-Tea Party-9/12 Movement has been the one thing the Left had not counted on. It has been outside their box, and while they are not stupid, and have already begun to come up with counter-strategies, the one one think they don't have a textbook for, don't know and can't know is what we will do next. Unlike the GOP in Congress, we have always been one-step in front of them. Let's keep it that way.
     With all the power they have politically and economically, they are still weaker than Aunt Lucy's left ankle in the spiritual and guts departments. You (we) already have a knife in their heart, and all it takes is another twist or two...which is why they have distracted you by pointing out lesser enemies..."Hey, lookie over yonder. A chicken Republican...", hoping you'll loosen your grip or drop the knife entirely, and run off to kick that mangy cur you could kick any old day of the week.

      Keeping you focused is our key job now. It would be best if conservatives inside Congress started this, and I plan to pass this message this around myself, knowing such things are rarely read, even by staffers. Most state committees also have a conservative wing.
      My only recommendation is that there be some coordination, beginning with 1) a statement of principles, a rigid statement of principles, 2) a contract signed by each member, with simple rules of admission so Olympia and Susan won't even bother to come knocking, and John Boehner and Eric Cantor won't expect automatic ex officio membership, along with unbending rules of expulsion so that Olympia won't let the door bump her in the arse on her way back out, if she should sneak in, 3) a secret handshake, gestures (winks, nods, etc) and whispered code words, especially if in Latin or Greek, are fun and create a sense of exclusivity, but more, drive the Lefties batty that something may be going on outside their ability to know about it...this goes double for the Congressional Black Caucus, who are so paranoid a simple four note whistle through the teeth sends then into paroxysms of anxiety. A pin would be nice. And just imagine the fun you can have, especially once you get 40-50 members, trying to get special office space and other parity perqs already given to the CBC? Think her Ladyship will oblige?

     I'm not making light of this, for the conservatives at the top, in Congress, in the state and national GOP, need to QUICKLY create an outreach to the Tea Party factions, for many will walk away if they can't stay focused and optimistic. We (conservatives) need their vote. The GOP also needs their vote. But neither of us can afford their abstention again....for last time I checked, the voter fraud arm of ACORN is stiull active and well financed. Expect even runaways (such as the coming VA and NJ gubernatorial races) to be close...and when close, anything can happen. Ask Virgil Goode and Norm Coleman.
Vassar Bushmills