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What's Glenn Beck Up To? Something Big, He Says
The Atlantic ^ | 10/16/09 | Marc Ambinder

Posted on 10/15/2009 11:23:27 PM PDT by American Dream 246

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To: Solar Wind
I wish I had said that.


61 posted on 10/16/2009 5:40:43 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford

If you think for 5 seconds that the people marching on Washington caused no concern with liberals, you are sadly mistaken. They have always counted on conservative people to sit on their hands. If Beck creates an event where a combined 50 million people show up at their county courthouse, you can bet it’ll have a huge impact. Beck is the only one smart enough to realize America won’t take much more.


62 posted on 10/16/2009 5:58:21 AM PDT by King Hawk
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To: American Dream 246

Beck has very good relations with and a lot in common with Sarah Palin. Could it be possible that the tidal wave of sales of Going Rogue is going to be used to jump start Palin’s recently announced new political organization, and join it with Beck and his grassroots followers, and the Tea Party organization. If so, we could very well be witnessing history in the making here. Latest polls show that twice as many people self identify as conservative as liberal, yet the gop is languishing, because of its insistance that democrat lite is the way to go. A new, revitalized truly conservative movement may be just what the doctor ordered.

Hang onto your seat, this could get really bumpy over the next couple of years.


63 posted on 10/16/2009 5:59:44 AM PDT by euram
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To: nathanbedford

IMHO he’s trying to get us to take back the party and bring it along with us, marginalizing only the RINOs.

Personally I’ll trade Snowe or her seat for two RealCons (I think I just made that up) from the Midwest.


64 posted on 10/16/2009 6:22:24 AM PDT by ExGeeEye (Keep your powder dry, and your iron hidden.)
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To: nathanbedford
(From the artice)...Beck's relationship with the official organs of the Republican Party is, to the say the least, strained.

My attitude toward "official organs of the Republican Party" is, to the say the least, one of suspicion and distrust.

65 posted on 10/16/2009 6:24:09 AM PDT by ExGeeEye (Keep your powder dry, and your iron hidden.)
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To: nathanbedford
...the official organs of the Republican Party...

nathanbedford - I always enjoy your thoughtful thoughts. My concern with the Republican Party is that their 'official organs' have been decidedly concave for the past decade or so. They have been perfect receptacles for whatever the opposition wishes to push. In the short run we will be better off with any type of opposition in Washington. But recent history shows that the country will not be well served by simply electing republicans. The GOP supports RINOs and the necessary retooling of the Republican party is simply not going to happen in the near term. Conservatives are caught fighting a two-front war. Admittedly, I don't have many answers and I am not sold on the idea of a third party. But I will no longer vote for the guy with an 'R' after his name, simply because he has an 'R' after his name. Many share this attitude. The populism and popularity of Beck is in part embedded in these realities.
66 posted on 10/16/2009 6:33:48 AM PDT by AD from SpringBay (We deserve the government we allow.)
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To: nathanbedford

“If Rush Limbaugh can be defeated in his quest to give somebody else his money, it is understandable why mere politicians shrink from saying anything that would focus liberal limelight on them and cause themselves to be the object of race baiting.”
~~~~~

Except for the fact that Rush had to battle as a solitary person. Long before this incident, I had become increasingly furious that our cowering Repubs have let Beck & Rush twist in the wind as if they were some crazy uncles in the attic they don’t want to acknowledge belongs in their family.

It has become factually obvious that Marxists have taken control of the Federal government-—not to mention higher education, with “lower” education currently conducting indoctrination-— with the implicit consent of a collaborating media. While most TV news-viewing Americans are not yet aware of this fact, our senators & congressmen are.

All it would take is for a small group from the House and Senate to start an intelligent, disruptive campaign with the counter talking-point mantra -—Red, not black, is our problem-—each and every time a Dem (including the talking heads) uses one of their code-word insinuations of racism.

The mantra would
1) disarm the murderess intent of the racism weapon;
2) it would inform a sleepy public of a danger that is already visible and yet not comprehended;
3) it-—perhaps-—might cause moderate Dems to question how they are being perceived;
4) it would allow that unfamiliar word “Constitution” to be uttered with more frequency; and
5) it would provide a platform for a public discussion as to why confiscation of private assets by the Federal government is counter-productive to job creation and a healthy economy.

I just don’t see the downside-—unless they (the Repubs) are being blackmailed-—in which case it might be more difficult, but hopefully not impossible, to find two such willing groups in the Senate & House (and among State Governors, for that matter).


67 posted on 10/16/2009 6:34:48 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
I'm not going to be coerced to accept the status quo by scare tactics from the RINOs. It isn't leading anywhere but further to the left.

Then don't. Get involved within the party and take it back from the RINOs. Get any conservatives you can to do the same. There is no excuse for the state of the GOP today. Conservatives outnumber Republicans yet "moderates" are in control of the leadership of the party. Kick the RINOs out of the leadership and vote them out in next year's primaries.
68 posted on 10/16/2009 6:38:37 AM PDT by DangerZone (RINOs rather lose with a liberal candidate than win with a conservative one.)
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To: nathanbedford

OK how do we rid the GOP of “Snowe, McCain, Graham, Collins and the squish McConnal”?


69 posted on 10/16/2009 7:15:59 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
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To: Bellflower

Communism sure did a number on our enemies, didn’t it?

Have said that, I agree we are obligated to hold up our end of the bargain too.

Regards


70 posted on 10/16/2009 7:16:38 AM PDT by Finalapproach29er (A woman will be the next President; I hope it's Palin instead of HRC.)
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To: US Navy Vet; Solar Wind
Solar wind in reply number 59 had some pretty good ideas, good enough to warrant quoting at length here:

Though we have the record of the Reagan Revolution and the Contract for America and other successes we have shown an inertia against organization and street level political work, especially within the Republican party.

Look at how the hard left took over the Democratic party. They attacked hard and got rid of the Scoop Jacksons and Zell Millers and Norm Colemans. They fought tooth and nail to get Obama elected. They had all the legislation pre-written for when he was elected and boasted of it before the election.

If we are worth our talk and our words we need to get out and do the hard work of transforming the Republican party. It will not be given to us. We have to take it back and fight hard to do it. We have to fight as hard as the left did and harder.

We need to join the organizing committees and become delegates and organizers. We need to become election judges. Take the day off work and drive people to the polls. Get rid of the RINOs by working for good candidates and getting them elected instead. Work hard and be smart. Work the phones for a candidate you can believe in. Become a candidate. Get out there and fight.

We need to join and infiltrate our way into the party apparatus. We need to network and recognize each other so we can see who our fellow conservatives are doing the same thing and help them out even though they may not agree on our favorite color or brand of beer.

And when the old guard won't let us in we push in. We force our way in the door. We don't take no for an answer. We get up off our fat, blovating asses and do something.

It will be dirty and uncomfortable and we will bloody our knuckles. It will be hard work. It will be as hard as Nathaniel Greene or Daniel Morgan had it during the Revolutionary War. Look at what they gave to something they believed in.

There is a level of unremitting, steely determination we need to muster that will take us though to win this fight.

Nathan is right. This is no ordinary fight. It is possible to fail and to lose this country. The left is deadly serious. We have to be even more determined and harder working than they are.

We have to take over the Republican party like John Paul Jones took over the Serapis. We cannot hold back or shrink from getting our hands dirty or doing something unfamiliar. We can do this. We can take back the Republican party in order to save America. We have to do this or we will lose America.

Mr Sol


71 posted on 10/16/2009 7:50:35 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford
The problem with Glenn Beck is that he does not seek to reform the Republican Party, he seeks to marginalize it

I'd say that the RNC has done a bang-up job of marginalizing itself without any help from Mr. Beck.

Those boneheads in DC better get the message this time. To whit we're sick of their crap. Straighten up. Fight for the principles this Nation was founded on or go the way of the Whigs.

L

72 posted on 10/16/2009 7:53:00 AM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: nathanbedford
I have been sounding this klaxon on these threads for some time now, always provoking a visceral reaction among Beck fans of whom I count myself one. The problem with Glenn Beck is that he does not seek to reform the Republican Party, he seeks to marginalize it. If he succeeds in moving the electorate only a couple of centimeters in a direction away from the Republican Party, he will ensure victory for the Democrats. If Obama prevails again, there really might not be any coming back for America. Beck is acting out of a common but fatal misconception of the role of the political party in American political history. He will accomplish nothing if he tries something "more subtle" than the opposite of what he desires. His efforts and our efforts should be bent toward reforming the Republican Party to make it the political apparatus of the conservative movement. We do not need a Libertarian party competing with the Republican Party. But we do need a 50 state organization capable of raising hundreds of millions of dollars and capable of imposing discipline on a selected members. Glenn Beck will produce none of that he will instead, with the brightest of intentions, pipe us down a path to inevitable electoral destruction.

Right on target. It's why they feed Beck(I'm guessing), Van Jones.

73 posted on 10/16/2009 7:54:19 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: nathanbedford
REPEATING:

If we are worth our talk and our words we need to get out and do the hard work of transforming the Republican party. It will not be given to us. We have to take it back and fight hard to do it. We have to fight as hard as the left did and harder.

74 posted on 10/16/2009 7:54:43 AM PDT by paulycy (Why pay HIGHER TAXES for WORSE healthcare?)
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To: American Dream 246

Wow, some of you guys still believe in elections?


75 posted on 10/16/2009 8:06:57 AM PDT by The Toll
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To: Lurker
I say take it away from them. See: #69.


76 posted on 10/16/2009 8:16:43 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford
I don't know how old most of you all are, and I may not be as old as the hills, but it seems to be the same thing over and over, with the only real exception being the Contract for America in the mid-90s, and that is that THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FALLS FAR SHORT OF THEIR SMALL GOVERNMENT, FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY LIP SERVICE EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY ARE GIVEN A CHANCE TO PUT OUT!

...and every single time we are told to accept the lesser of two evils. It never changes!
Except that the worse of two evils gets more evil (democrats become more socialist), and the lesser of two evils gets more evil (republicans become more "moderate") and we are told that we cannot exercise our right to THE THING WE ARE PROMISED by the deceivers in the republican party.

If you really want the real deal small-government representatives, then you MUST have the courage to depose the fakes!!!

It's time to grow a backbone people. It's time to do the hard thing. You cannot fear the enemy getting into power. The enemy IS IN POWER.
Throw the bums out.
77 posted on 10/16/2009 8:37:13 AM PDT by z3n
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To: RushLake

AND get involved personally in your local GOP County comittee. If they are RINO then confront them and vote the Local GOP Chairperson out.


78 posted on 10/16/2009 9:11:57 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
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To: z3n
the only real exception being the Contract for America in the mid-90s,

All you have to do to raise firestorm on these threads is to praise Newt Gingrich and offer him up as presidential timber. Yet he is by your standard the only man who contrived a way to nationalize a by- election and reversing decades of history and place Republicans in power who would act conservatively, again by your standard. Thereafter, these Republicans, under Gingrich's leadership, put through all but one of the provisions of the contract with America. Gingrich took the Congress to the point of twice shutting down the federal government. He forced balance budgets of the Clinton administration and the reform of welfare.

And yet Republicans by the bushel basket full deserted Gingrich and to this day they turn their face away from the contract with America. Do you recall how so many people got nervous when Clinton contrived to blame the government shutdown on the Republicans? Do you recall how Republicans turned on Gingrich after the media distorted Gingrich's anger over being mistreated on Air Force One? Gingrich was assaulted by bogus ethics charges and many Republicans shamefully deserted him. His marital indiscretions did not include perjury as did Bill Clinton's whom he criticized for the crimes he committed. Yet many many conservatives will have no further truck with them because of his adultery.

I read FReepers on these threads say they will not trust Gingrich because he is not a reliable conservative. He has done many things which destress me as well. Just today I understand he endorsed the Republican House candidate in New York State in exchange for her written commitment not to raise taxes. I think he was wrong, as was George Bush, when Gingrich pandered to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, just as George Bush pandered to Teddy Kennedy.

Yet I will not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. We are all of us born in original sin. We are not going to find the perfect conservative, even considering Ronald Reagan, this side of the cross. We must make do by modeling the clay we are given. To indignantly and loudly abandon all efforts to sort out the good from the bad and the better from the worse is to succumb to cynicism which, while it offers certain short-term psychological empty calories, leaves the world vulnerable to the unscrupulous.

My point is that it is not entirely a one-sided problem. If our Republican politicians are untrustworthy, we Republicans ourselves are at best fickle. We ask our politicians to fall on their swords for conservative principle, but we abandon them at the slightest whiff of scandal when the media succeeds in undermining them.

There is some truth in the axiom that people get the kind of government they deserve.


79 posted on 10/16/2009 10:53:22 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford
I constantly hear the claim that republicans have no backbone, and lose heart or turn their back on each other as soon as things get difficult.

But I contend that it's the voter's fault. It's the voters who have no backbone. They don't hold their representatives accountable.
They always pull the "leser of two evils" and put the spineless rinos back into office.
You have to have a backbone yourself first, or your representatives wont get one either.
80 posted on 10/16/2009 11:02:41 AM PDT by z3n
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