Posted on 08/08/2011 9:32:27 AM PDT by seekthetruth
I am writing this in the form of an open letter to all my compatriots in the conservative movement: In the tea parties, in AnyStreet, in national and local groups alike . . . but most especially in the tea parties. This may be the longest single article I have ever written, but it is essential that we have this dialog. I believe this information to be vital to the success of the movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at westernfreepress.com ...
Stopped reading after “We won on the debt ceiling deal”. Rubbish
FLORIDA PING IS FIRST!
Sorry you stopped reading! Because the truth is later down in the article for anyone to read and then decide if Christopher Cook makes any very good points.
Perhaps you will consider reading the entire article and then comment back to me so we can talk about his points.
Geithner and Obama can be attacked and beat up along with other Dems all day long.
But do the Republicans intend to change course and stop spending too much money.
I heard some candidates and others attack people but not advocating for cutting spending on Medicare and Social Security.
When are these idiots going to learn that the “Tea Party” is not some fridge third party? It is a movement that grows bigger each time Obooma and the dimwits open their mouths! By the way, this prez is so bad that I am not convinced that a third party candidate would loose the election.
Another ping to a few more friends.
From that point on, you was wasting your time. We got our asses royally handed to us on that deal. If they believe that debt ceiling deal was a win, they are not on our side.
We must remember that the DEMS were in power totally until we took the House in 2010. We also have to remember that Obama and the DEMS would have NOTHING to do with ANY form of crack down on Social Security and Medicare fraud....even when help was offered for FREE! Listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvkV5IPVtVg&feature=player_detailpage
Another ping here. As always, if anyone wishes to be removed from my ping list, please let me know through FreepMail. If you requested removal, and find yourself back on, sorry. Some of my lists were lost, and went back to an old list in some areas. Just request removal again and I will do it right away. Thanks!
No, we did not win the game. In fact, we only gained a couple of yards...But this was the moment when we stopped the lefts 100 year push into our territory.
I think this is the essential gain. It was the beginning of the beginning.
I don't agree with some of the things the writer says, but he does make the very good point that Tea Partiers are a tiny minority and, under our system, have to convince the majority to join them, at least on a particular issue. And there can be legitimate differences in strategy, even among people committed to the same goal.
Announcing that you are not going to vote for one of the freshmen Congressmen and are going to "primary" him (I saw several Freepers screaming this) simply because he negotiated with Boehner (who is also NOT the enemy) is a sure way to get no support and lose what little we have gained to date.
I was disgusted with the screaming and name-calling to which Allen West, one of the smartest and most conservative members of the House, was subjected here on the board because he announced that he would accept the plan because he felt he had gotten about 75% of what he wanted and sometimes you had to take a partial win in a battle and go on to fight the next one, building on the first one.
Some people here may not agree with that strategy, which is fine; we all have different ideas on how to get where we're going. But screaming anybody who doesn't agree with you in every little detail is a traitor to the cause conveniently neglects the fact that we are all in agreement on the cause itself and the objective of the war.
I also think many people have way too much of a tendency to invest all their hopes in one particular politician and then they get enraged if he doesn't carry out their plans as if he had an Obama-style magic wand. Investing your hopes in the Great Leader is a very Dem-style thing to do.
But the author is right; the only people who can destroy the conservative movement are conservatives themselves. We have seen this in the past all too often, when conservatives have set up the circular firing squad to wipe out their own while completely ignoring what the real enemy is up to. I don't think I saw the Dems subjected to rhetoric nearly as vicious as that to which the GOP, including the new House members, was subjected by people on this forum.
Well I sure am NOT on the other side! I was very sorry the Republicans didn't do much better, but I have come to see that we made a SMALL win. Christopher Cook does make some very good points. Main one is if the Tea Party Movement folks (ie.American Patriots against spending) start trashing ALL Republicans, we will play right into the enemy hands! United we stand, divided we fail.
Let's concentrate on electing conservatives to replace ALL DEMS in Congress and take the White House and see what happens!
Neither of you get it.
There was no way for us to win the debt battle.
The Tea Party won its first election and dummies like you expect the whole ballgame to change.
2010 was a first step. 2012 will be another step, but do not expect things to miraculously change after that, either!
It will take several election cycles to clean house. We will elect some who betray us. We will lose some seats because we primaried out a RINO in favor of a weak candidate.
But that is expected. That is the way of politics.
If you are not mature enough to understand the disgusting, sausage-making that we call politics, then just shut up and let the adults get the job done!
I think that cutting Medicare and Social Security are going to be very unpopular with the voters. Whichever party is in power when this happens is going to get slaughtered during subsequent elections. That's why Bush didn't do it and now Obama is avoiding it.
The baby boomers are a strong voting block and they don't want to alienate them.
It's bitter medicine that someone is going to have to swallow or we'll never get this out of control government reined in.
Agreeing to increase the debt ceiling and increase spending while getting nothing in return is not any grand tactical strategery. It wasn’t compromise, it was capitulation dummy. Spin it how you wish.
The Tea Party got waxed.
Mr. Obama has 2.7 Trillion more to pay with.
And the rest of us got the debt downgrade along with interest rate increases from the markets and tax increases from the Presidium of Congress.
TWB
I thought Ryan’s plan was good, but it didn’t get enough support and, of course, right away the Dems started screaming that he was going to throw Granny to the wolves (ironic, when the Dems are actually the ones who want to do that...their solution to the “elderly problem” is the death panels, for all but Dem legislators, of course).
There are ways of working at reform that are not massively disruptive, but the problem is that the Dems are so effective with their fear and hysteria propaganda. We have to get out there present a united front and get our words out first, rather than letting them define us.
I haven’t “Given Up”, but by allowing the debt ceiling to be raised even by a MILLION was wrong.
Boehner had the upper hand when the House passed CCB. Then he caved (IMNSHO).
The debt ceiling was raised immediately, but now the “CUTS” are going to take ten years.
And the dims IN TWO DAYS spent as nearly as much money as the Ten Years of cuts will produce.
The Tea Party freshmen did their best, and I applaud them, but they were overwhelmed by the Country-Club Types within their own party.
The old establishment has a way of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Perhaps this is as good an argument for term limits as anything else.
Boehner had the upper hand when the House passed CCB. Then he caved (IMNSHO).
"CCB" would have raised the debt ceiling by pretty much the same amount Obama was seeking all along. $2.4 TRILLION dollars.
So, there's a fundamental fallacy in how you're viewing the whole debacle.
Fact is, both parties supported raising the debt ceiling by trillions every step of the way. There was no "cave" by Boehner. There was never anything else on the table at any point.
Almost all of them voted at some point to raise the debt ceiling by at least $2.4 TRILLION dollars.
I find NOTHING to applaud in that.
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