Posted on 11/10/2012 11:56:28 AM PST by DanMiller
We the Opposition
Part I can be found here. It provides some of my thinking behind this, Part II.
Jim Gourdi at Conservatives on fire wrote yesterday,
Obama won and we lost. There are lessons WE must take away from this election. One lesson is that the Republican party is not what in many parts of the world is called the OPPOSITION. They are not the opposition. We are. The virtuous conservative and libertarian Americans are the opposition. We have no party that represents us. Yes, there are some small third parties; but, it would take years for a viable third party to be in a position to challenge the two-party system. We don’t have years! The second lesson we must take away from this election is that Obama won because the combined forces of the anti-Obama voters and the pro-Romney voters did not show up in sufficient numbers to defeat Obama. Obama garnered millions fewer votes on Tuesday than he did in 2008. But Romney barely garnered the same as John McCain in 2008. That is the sad truth. What happened to our so-called enthusiasm gap advantage? All of the various reason for why so many of the opposition did not vote no longer matter, in my opinion. America will continue down the path of decline in every sense of that word.. . . .
The question we must face is how do we survive between now and then. I have no idea how long this dark and dangerous period will last. This much is clear to me. WE THE OPPOSITION are going to need each other more than ever before. We are going to need better ways to network with each other. It will be important to have better ways to keep all of the OPPOSITION informed. We will need to know what is happening and where it is happening. We will need to know who needs what where. We will need to know who has what where. In short we will have to help each other survive this dark and dangerous period. The resistance must continue!
I agree that we "don't have years," but I envision doing things bit by bit and over time, perhaps enough to prevent a collapse. Neither a collapse nor a civil war is a viable option except in a state of extremis, at which we have not yet arrived.
Do we need a new party?
Herman Cain recently suggested that we need a new party. During a radio broadcast he said,
This country is in trouble and it is clear that neither party — is going to fix the problems we face.. . . .
Cain agreed . . . that conservatives are growing tired of being ignored by Republican party leadership — and that many believe the GOP no longer speaks for them.
. . . .
“I don’t believe the Republican Party has the ability to rebrand itself against the mainstream media machine that blatantly works to support this president and other liberals as well as the Democrats,” Cain told the radio host.
Cain said it would take money, leadership and at least 50 coalitions to create a viable third political party.
“You need one for every state because of the whacky rules state by state that they have that make it difficult for a third party to emerge,” he said.
He said the new party could be made up of not only disenfranchised Republicans — but also Democrats.
The idea has much appeal but obviously needs to be fleshed out a lot, as have many of Mr. Cain's ideas. Perhaps this article can provide a very small start in that direction; I hope that more savvy people will pursue the issue and do better jobs with it.
A new party needs a name and many come to mind: Conservative Party, Constitution Party, Independence Party, Fiscal Sanity Party or maybe even Tea Party. For purposes of this article, I'll just use "New Party." But it needs much more than a name. It needs objectives consistent with furthering Conservative, Constitutional, Independence and Fiscal Sanity ideas, different from those of the Republican Party. They should revolve about the idea of going back toup to the basics.
Incumbency
Rather than try to keep incumbents perpetually in office, the New Party should do the reverse: there should be no New Party support for any House incumbent's reelection after he has served one, or perhaps two, terms as a member of the New Party. Being a CongressCritter should not be a career; it should be a brief period of service to the country -- perhaps four years for members of the House and six years for Senators -- followed by return to being a private citizen. If, following that period, he wants to run again, New Party support should depend on what he did while in office and what he did when he got back home. Was he effective in promoting New Party principles while in office? Good. Did he go to work with or for a company at which he had shoveled pork while in office? Bad. Did he spend much of his leisure time talking with former and hopefully future constituents to probe their views as well as give them his? Good. Did moral shortcomings or too many "gaffes" cause him to fall on his face and become unelectable? Bad.
The principles I think should be espoused by the New Party are held decreasingly by the Republican Party and the Democrat Party seems forsaken to them. Everyone is familiar with the term "Cafeteria Christians;" it seems that we might also use the term "Cafeteria Republicans." The New Party's goal should be to further its own principles. In doing so, there may well be areas of agreement with Republicans and even a few Democrats. To the extent that there are, New Party members should form transitory coalitions with Republicans (maybe even with the occasional Democrat) and vice versa in hopes of passing legislation acceptable to both. Many countries do not have majority parties and rely instead on coalitions, often fluid depending on the critical issues of the moment. Might that work in the United States? What have we to lose by trying? Assuming that the numbers of New Party members increase over time, the Republican Party may come to need New Party support.
How can the New Party get the "money, leadership and at least 50 coalitions to create a viable third political party" as Herman Cain suggests, correctly, are necessary? Talk radio is presently a good venue. If the energies and other resources of the (non-party) tea party can be tapped, with the help of such as Allen West (who may or may not have won reelection), Michelle Bachmann (who won), Mia Love (who lost) and Herman Cain (who did not run), it might be possible. How about Senator Rubio? How about some Libertarians? Might some Republican members entering or returning to the Congress with tea party support find their proper places in the New Party instead of the Republican Party? Perhaps. Ditto members of State legislatures? Perhaps. Might some of the contributions now going to the Republican Party and supportive PACs go instead to the New Party? Perhaps. We won't know until we try.
The above suggestions are principally procedural (we lawyers love to write about procedures). Here are a just few substantive suggestions.
Education, Government and the media
The public education system in the United States has become little more than a Librul (not Liberal in the classic sense) propaganda machine, turning out Librul clones. Our system of higher education, also for the most part a venue for Librul propaganda, also turns out Librul clones, some of whom then become K1-K12 and college teachers. The morass grows with what it feeds upon. We need to find ways to undo the present system, now based on ideological efforts to distort reality as taught to comport with ideological views of what reality should be. Here is an, er, interesting tabulation. I can't vouch for its accuracy or the methods used in compiling it, but it looks about right.
This trend will for all practical purposes be impossible to reverse soon at the Federal level due to the pervasive career Librul establishment there -- elected, appointed and career. It should be less so at the State and local levels. Doing it there will require giving up some of the Federal funding now received and diminishing the roles of teachers' unions and administrators. Fortunately, there are now 30 Republican governors for the first time in more than a decade. That, combined with sufficient New Party members at State and Local levels, should allow the process at least to get started. It may take many years to show good results, but the current system took many years to get deep into the Librul pit -- with Federal support. We have to be in it for the long term, initially with little if any Federal help.
To change the Federal view of the purposes of education, it will be necessary to change the views of those finishing school and entering Government service. Significant numbers will have to enter Government service, not to better themselves but to pursue New Party principles. Eventually that may change the ways in which our "ethical" media do whatever it is that they do.
Foreign Policy
A common perception seems to be that the United States have done more bad than good in the world. Our educational system is partially to blame for that perception and eventually it may change. At least until 2009, we did many good things (but probably not enough) to promote democracy with freedom. We now promote democracy without freedom, particularly in the Middle East; mob rule is bad. Please see Benghazi and President Obama’s Foreign Policy — Proactive or Reactive?
With the generally unexpected resignation of General Petraeus, more verifiable information may seep out about what we have been doing, even with the customary lack (with the exceptions of Fox and occasionally CBS) of vigorous pushing by the "ethical" media for facts. The election is over so there can be no damage to President Obama's non-existent chances of reelection. That may to some extent unshackle the "ethical" media.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a87vzzfKb-A?feature=player_detailpage]
However, the FBI investigation had been in progress for a long time and General Petraeus obviously knew what he had been up to well before the investigation began.
[T]he affair apparently took place some time ago. Petraeus says it happened “after 37 years marriage.” He has been married for more than 38 years. He became CIA director on June 30, a week before his 37th wedding anniversary.His testimony before the Congress next week has been canceled. Will what comes out be more, or less, truthful? According to this report,
the White House, with concurrence by the FBI and Justice Department, held off on asking for Petraeus’ resignation until after the election. His resignation occurred three days after the election, avoiding the possibility that Obama’s ill-fated appointment of Petraeus could become an issue in the election.FBI agents on the case were aware that such a decision had been made to hold off on forcing him out until after the election and were outraged.
“The decision was made to delay the resignation apparently to avoid potential embarrassment to the president before the election,” an FBI source says. “To leave him in such a sensitive position where he was vulnerable to potential blackmail for months compromised our security and is inexcusable.”
To the extent that President Obama has even had a foreign policy, it has been excessively reactive and tied to his apparent perception that reality is what he wants it to be. It's not, so his very perceptions are a bad and lead to bad results. To what extent did General Petraeus accept or challenge President Obama's perceptions? They seem to be based in large part on the absurd notion that Islam is the Religion of Peace and on his multicultural world view that everything is just as good as everything else -- except when our own civilization is considered; it is seen as perverse. If we can't even call our civilization's principal current enemy by it's name, or see the good in our own civilization, how can we hope to preserve it?
Economics
The national economy is a mess that would have been unbelievable even a decade ago and continues to get worse. We can fool around trying to secure a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, but getting something agreed upon by two thirds of the members of both houses of the Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the States, required under Article V of the Constitution, is highly unlikely; were it to happen, the language of the amendment would so resemble Swiss Cheese as to be worthless.
So what can we do? Under Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution,
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
An accompanying Senate annotation states,
The House, directly elected by the people, received authority to originate all tax bills. The Senate, however, can amend a tax bill, and the support of both houses is necessary for the bill to become law.
With its present majority in the House, the Republican Party should be able to direct if not control budgetary and taxing matters; it seems to have been less forceful than it should have been. Perhaps the New Party could eventually be part of a Republican - New Party coalition willing and able to bring more emphasis to those matters.
Other stuff
There are many other problems, and actions that the New Party should take concerning them, but a book beyond my capabilities would be needed even to attempt to address them comprehensively. However, it seems that overall the country's not in the very best of hands and that we had better do something -- effective -- about it. Whining is not effective.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwqPBlSxb-0?feature=player_detailpage]
The ideas presented here probably seem a bit "far out" and away from the mainstream. They are. However, I don't see any alternatives that have a better chance of getting the country moving again in what I consider a good direction.
Daniel in Venezuela presents a thoughtful but rather different view here. I disagree for the most part, but consider it well worth reading.
Listen to Carl Rove through those eyes and tell me why they are wrong. Listen to Romney. Did he say very much about taking a scythe to government regulation to help out SMALL business?
The Republican party has to shake this image.
I woud say the Dem Party is dead too. It’s becoming a no party system.
This is getting ridiculous. The party, or the people, aren’t the problem. The problem is the completely corrupt media. Did you see what Candy Crowley did to Romney, it was outrageous and they got away with it. Have you seen the countless reports of voter fraud, and notice the silence is deafening? Do you see what Obama has done in Benghazi, and it’s business as usual? If the media is in bed with the enemy, we have no truth. If we have no truth, we will never succeed. We are living in an Orwellian nation/world at the level of China, just with a better standard of living. It has to end. Romney would have simply delayed and enabled this dysfunctional society to maintain the status quo longer. We have to hit bottom, economically and otherwise. It’s money that has the media bending over at will. God is in charge, and as promised, the proverbial manure will hit the hurricane, and peace will reign again. Own it, we lost the battle but we know who wins this war. Be happy, and loving towards the haters, that is the best revenge.
That leaves two viable options that both need to be used.
1. Be active in the Republican Party. Long term. That means more than just voting in primaries and generals, but attending the local meetings, becoming precinct delegates that pick party leadership, building relationships, and getting good folks elected. Not just president, but down ticket.
2. PACS. If you want to back conservatives, PAC's a good way to do it. Get involved in primaries and use the PACs to support the right people.
The virtuous conservative and libertarian Americans are the opposition. We have no party that represents us.
America was not designed for a people who are ignorant of and reject Western ethics and morals. Libertarianism is a flawed ideology in it’s social mandate of public atheism and humanist moral relativity.
There is right and there is wrong. Wrong decisions result in consequences of suffering. Liberal-tarians like to think they all live in a bubble and won’t be affected by the those who choose to be or who are taught to live as degenerates by elitists, teachers and parents. That is a lie. Freedom can tolerate some retard degenerates in the allies but not the darkness of a top, down ordered humanist society creates. Humanist society is now voting itself the power to rob and attack their neighbors via their vote. It has no basis of comprehenion for the constitution’s ideals and responsibilities.
The constitution had religious freedom for Christians for a reason. Their speech of virtue was not intended to be banned by the courts and governments from the public schools and public square. It was the main source of virtue (ie, the ten commandments) for the majority of people and served the constitution’s need for mutual respect (for human life), independence and responsibility.
Too late now. Liberals won a generation. Many are in the libertarian party.
You live in Panama? What state is that in? If you want me to take you seriously, then come back to the US. Otherwise, you’re just another outsider.
It can sometimes be a good thing to get an outside perspective on things.
Once you realize you’re already dead, it’s easier to face what needs to be done.
Andy you hang up with a lot of intelligent people. They have the GOP figured out. Those that haven’t still think Kenya is part of Hawaii. As Reagan used to say ‘I didn’t leave the Democrat party, they left me’. Today there are some 3,000,000+ saying the same thing about the Republican party, maybe Reagan would also. This is not Reagan’s GOP.
“... Rush has said - how . . . can you beat a party that keeps running Santa Claus for office?” BARACK O’CLAUS
Yeah; and the answer is NOT “out-Santa Clausing Santa Claus” either!!
This is why America is doomed.
We have passed the tipping point of freeloaders and the politicians vying for their votes. It is now just a viscious cycle. The only unknown is how long it takes for the USA to collapse under the weight of the takers. But the end is certain. We collapse.
America died in 2008, we just didn’t know it yet. The poison was consumed in the 1960s and it is taking hold today.
We are done. Enjoy the end as much as you can. There is nothing left to fight for.
Pray to God and apologize to your children.
The GOP has to recognize that for better or worse, DEM lite candidates in the form of moderates, can’t be force fed to the base. Unfortunately, if Boehner’s comments regarding “There is not Tea Party caucus” is the view of how the party is going to proceed, then it is dead.
3 million voters less than McCain? Seriously? In what was called the most important election in our lifetime? Something went horribly wrong. I would suggest the basic reason is the base of informed voters were tired of being fed a milquetoast diet of moderate pablum and decided to say ‘No thanks’. Give us a real conservative in 2016 and watch what happens. But if Boehner as gatekeeper til then is the best the GOP can offer maybe it’s time go Galt and let the whole d**n thing burn.
I agree with #14 except for allowing it to burn.
Regardless, I believe that the communists will not cut government agencies or social programs. Instead, they will opt for inflation.
I believe that the country will stand for inflation that reduces living standards by 50%, if done gradually, because people will not put cause and effect together.
Whether hyperinflation will be enough to keep the enterprise afloat, I don’t know.
The GOP-e with the RNC mismanmaged this campaign from the very beginning. I gave my support for Romney only because I believe Obama will destroy our country in his second term.
No more. Enough... I have contempt for all of the GOP-e and their pundits. Carl Rove has done enough damage to our country already. No more Bushes. I had no idea GW’s wife was such a liberal.
They ignored the real issues and failed miserably by NOT ATTACKING Obama for his Marxist-communist agenda.
No, you’re right. As long as there’s a working printing press the entitlements will flow with the caveat that the Boehner led House will not stop it in the name of bi-partisanship. Given the Speaker’s comments in the last few days I’m not encouraged.
As for hyperinflation (in a possibly too easy example to make) I’d point to the Weimar Republic as our immediate future. What happens next is the only question.
There's a reason why only landowners were allowed to vote... those with no significant contribution should have no voice in how it is spent.
Nothing "whacky" about it. The two parties colluded extensively after Perot to prevent 3rd parties from gaining traction. It is quite deliberate and intentional. There are reasons why a Congress with a 9% approval rating regularly has over 93% of incumbents re-elected.
(Going after voter fraud methods a year or two before election time might help drop 5-10 million votes from the other side of the ledger, as well.)
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