Posted on 08/17/2010 8:14:28 PM PDT by neverdem
The movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party. It is aiming for a hostile takeover.
On Feb. 9, 2009, Mary Rakovich, a recently laid-off automotive engineer, set out for a convention center in Fort Myers, Fla. with protest signs, a cooler of water and the courage of her convictions. She felt compelled to act, having grown increasingly alarmed at the explosion of earmarks, bailouts and government spending in the waning years of the Bush administration. President Barack Obama, joined by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, was in town promoting his plan to spend a trillion dollars in borrowed money to "stimulate" the economy.
Mary didn't know it, but she was on the front lines of a grass-roots revolution that was brewing across the nation. More than 3,000 miles away, Keli Carender, a young Seattle school teacher and a member of a local comedy improv troupe, was feeling equally frustrated. She started to organize like-minded citizens. "Our nation's fiscal path is just not sustainable," she said. "You can't continue to spend money you don't have indefinitely."
Today the ranks of this citizen rebellion can be counted in the millions. The rebellion's name derives from the glorious rant of CNBC commentator Rick Santelli, who in February 2009 called for a new "tea party" from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. By doing so he reminded all of us that America was founded on the revolutionary principle of citizen participation, citizen activism and the primacy of the individual over the government. That's the tea party ethos.
The tea party movement has blossomed into a powerful social phenomenon because it is leaderlessnot directed by any one mind, political party or parochial agenda.
The criteria for membership are straightforward: Stay true to principle even when it proves inconvenient, be assertive but...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
DR. CODEVILLA'S NOT-QUITE MANIFESTO [A Foundation for the Tea Party]
IMHO, any talk of a third party that has the true conservatives is just silly. The majority of the GOP is conservative. Big government pubbies and RINOs need to be eliminated in primaries. A conservative third party movement will hand the White House to the rats just like Perot did.
A complaint that Dick Armey is pro-amnesty is irrelevant. He has no power. No pro-amnesty bill is going anywhere with unemployment this high, and most people still want a fence on the Mexican border. The Canadian border should come next along with a way to monitor people who overstay their visas. Islamists still want to kill those in Dar al-Harb i.e. house of war, for the foreseeable future.
With our economy in a shambles, we don't need any more no skilled or low skilled labor who send billions to Latin America every year, and who have no intention to assimilate. They are too close to home, unlike previous immigrants who crossed oceans to get here, while they expect to benefit from our welfare state.
It’s about time control of the GOP was taken from the RINO’s. Now, will they actually work to bring our nation back to it’s core values?
Oh no!
You mean the Tea Partiers might vote their convictions?
That is AWFUL!
Hostile or otherwise...take it over.
Is this a positive article or a negative article from the WSJ?
Exactly. Time to end the socialism at a slower pace GOP and return to the “government is the problem” conservative values of Reagan.
The GOP should be the third party.
My biggest concern isn’t a friendly takeover of the Republican party by Tea Partiers - it’s a hostile takeover of the Tea Party by the Republican leadership. Beware of RINOs bearing gifts.
One Word: Good!
I think it's a positive, but what do you think it is?
Current RINO laden GOP = 'Rat Lite
'Rats = Socialism
RINO GOP = Socialism with cough syrup
Go f'yourselves RINOS BTTT!
Beware of third parties. Remember Perot. IMHO, many independents abandoned the GOP because of big government Republicanism, i.e. RINOs. Some left because of big government authoritarianism, e.g. taxing internet gambling.
Armey is trying to hijack a leadership position in a Tea Party whose real origins are not a Rick Santelli rant but a popular rebellion against a Republican-led (Bush/Rove/McCain/Graham), Democrat supported plan for amnesty and open borders in 2006-2007. 75% of the American people melted the Capitol Hill switchboards to thwart that abomination. Armey was a full participant in the amnesty game.
It had its breeding ground before that in the Republican spending spree. These events are what turned the people off to Republicans.
The Tea Party has no leaders, only local coordinators to arrange a meeting or charter a bus. That is its strength. The Wall St Journal and the media don’t understand that, so they keep running to people like Armey as its leaders. But they aren’t. Armey speaks only for himself.
A Tea Party movement is a failure if it wins elections but allows things like amnesty to be tolerated.
What’s a Dick Armey? Is that like a gay militia?
Hostile takeover of the GOP pingie.
The RINO’s have to be dealt with. They are THE major obstacle in the way of regaining our country. They are like the Wolves in Sheeps clothing that cause confusion. They are the true enemy within. The stealth enemy for too many that don’t follow politics as closely as we do here at FR.
There are many brilliant attributes to Tea Party:
1. It is not a “Party” but an ideological street movement
2. It has no leaders, depriving the Democrat activists of their “targets”
3. It stresses smaller government and states’ rights
4. It is impossible to sue or attack
5. It is patriotic and cleans up after itself
6. It exerts amazing pressure on RINOs to quit or join ranks
7. It “conserves” our Founding principles
8. It threatens weak politicians and bureaucrats transparently
9. It has the power of a million storms
10. It has only revealed a tiny portion of it’s potential passion
11. America’s enemies: It knows where YOU live!
Dick Armey is a tireless supporter of the T-Party and the Reagan Republican Party. They do not come any better in my book, and I attended his retirement party at the Texas State Republican Convention.
A very good man and a true patriot.
FreedomWorks is his group.
Today we had a special election in CA for a State Senate vacancy and, and guess what....
I didn't see one New Black Panther in the polling area. What a relief!
THIS is what the Left - and now the Republican Party - calls "leaderless":
How about we see who's leader wins in the end, hmmm?
They are the result of that 'big open tent' that was shoved down our throats for years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.