Posted on 01/27/2012 3:18:48 PM PST by Timber Rattler
We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.
We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this weeks tactics arent what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagans 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. Ive seen it before heck, I lived it before but not in a GOP primary race.
I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008. The left seeks to single someone out and destroy his or her record and reputation and family using the media as a channel to dump handpicked and half-baked campaign opposition research on the public. The difference in 2008 was that I was largely unknown to the American public, so they had no way of differentiating between the lies and the truth. All of it came at them at once as facts about me. But Newt Gingrich is known to us both the good and the bad.
We know that Newt fought in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Newt was among a handful of Republican Congressman who would regularly take to the House floor to defend Reagan at a time when conservatives didnt have Fox News or talk radio or conservative blogs to give any balance to the liberal mainstream media. Newt actually came at Reagans administration from the right to remind Americans that freer markets and tougher national defense would win our future. But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan, and isnt conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you wont stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this anti-Reagan claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didnt want to go back to the Reagan days. You cant change history. We know that Newt Gingrich brought the Reagan Revolution into the 1990s. We know it because none other than Nancy Reagan herself announced this when she presented Newt with an award, telling us, The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive. As Rush and others pointed out, if Nancy Reagan had ever thought that Newt was in any way an opponent of her beloved husband, she would never have even appeared on a stage with him, let alone presented him with an award and said such kind things about him. Nor would Reagans son, Michael Reagan, have chosen to endorse Newt in this primary race. There are no two greater keepers of the Reagan legacy than Nancy and Michael Reagan. What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stanlin-esque re-writing of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.
But this whole thing isnt really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guards choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans bitterly clinging to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the wisdom of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 that didnt win. Well, heres a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.
I spoke up before the South Carolina primary to urge voters there to keep this primary going because I have great concern about the GOP establishment trying to anoint a candidate without the blessing of the grassroots and all the needed energy and resources we as commonsense constitutional conservatives could bring to the general election in order to defeat President Obama. Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end. We need to vet this. Pundits in the Beltway are gleefully proclaiming that this primary race is over after Florida, despite 46 states still not having chimed in. Well, perhaps its possible that it will come to a speedy end in just four days; but with these questions left unanswered, it will not have come to a satisfactory conclusion. Without this necessary vetting process, the unanswered question of Governor Romneys conservative bona fides and the unanswered and false attacks on Newt Gingrich will hang in the air to demoralize many in the electorate. The Tea Party grassroots will certainly feel disenfranchised and disenchanted with the perceived orchestrated outcome from self-proclaimed movers and shakers trying to sew this all up. And, trust me, during the general election, Governor Romneys statements and record in the private sector will be relentlessly parsed over by the opposition in excruciating detail to frighten off swing voters. This is why we need a fair primary that is not prematurely cut short by the GOP establishment using Alinsky tactics to kneecap Governor Romneys chief rival.
As I said in my speech in Iowa last September, the challenge of this election is not simply to replace President Obama. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. Its not enough to just change up the uniform. If we dont change the team and the game plan, we wont save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though its becoming clearer that the old guard wants anything but that. That is why we should all be concerned by the tactics employed by the establishment this week. We will not save our country by becoming like the left. And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didnt see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in 08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, theyre now using every available microscope and endoscope along with rewriting history in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own partys primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?
- Sarah Palin
Iron dog is a snow mobile. Todd has raced for years and won a couple of time. It follows a similar trail than the big famous dog sled race....BIG thing. Todd is a national Iron Dog Champion and has been for years.
My my what could of been. Sarah Palin should be president and I hope one day she will be.
Thanks Jedi for clearing that up. I knew something was off on that comment and after reading about Greta. Misinformation about conservative Sarah, who wudda thunk?
Godspeed Newt Gingrich.
I have similar memories. It was early in my political development. I had pretty much figured out where I stood, but I a) had difficulty fully articulating my views and b) felt somewhat isolated. I turned on my television, and there was El Rushbo........................
Good God! Has there EVER been a woman that’s been more centered and consistent? I just love Sarah!
This is why she didn't unload on the party elites that sabotaged her candidacy and expected to use her and then dump her. She didn't want to destructively divide the party, just nudge it toward the conservative, and free market capitalism.
With Sarah in the running, this infighting would be worse, not better, and anyone she endorses will have the sky fall on them, from both sides.
HOW to get these answers and/or how to get anyone to care.
I believe Sarah is trying to get the average Republican to force these questions by motivating individuals to make up their own minds by her NOT being specific, but always talking about the issues and tactics of the candidates, but endorsing none.
Newt “THE TORCH” Gingrich,,,Sarah adding fuel to the fire!!!
I love that analogy, Georgia fan here. Actually, the Dawgs were down 15-0 when Herschel got in. It was all Herschel from there. Final: Georgia 16, Tenn. 15. Yes, Sarah could be our Herschel!
“Can you imagine if Newt is the nominee and were to pick Sarah for his VP?”
From your typing fingers to God’s eyes and ears!!!!
Answered prayers happen!!!!
Wow.
Freepers know about it because it has been discussed here so many times, Todd Palin is a four time champion.
"Iron Dog,originally known as the Iron Dog Gold Rush Classic and later the Tesoro Iron Dog, is an off-road snowmobile race across Alaska. It normally starts on a Sunday in mid-February. At 1,971 miles (3,172 km), it is the longest snowmobile race in the world. The 2008 event featured a record forty teams competing for a $100,000 purse, with $25,000 awarded to the winners. The race attracted worldwide attention in 2008, when 4-time winner Todd Palin's wife Sarah contested the vice presidency of the United States."
I feel the same about you.
Ireland (U2) had “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”,,,Patriots have “Thursday, Bloody Thursday”!
Thank You Sarah for being on our side! Go Newt!
Probably more so than any who've not been through the same fire themselves.
I think Rush is a wise man and he may have read some of the posts here that were very angry with him for his treatment of Newt in recent days...he OWES his listeners to come clean.
Finally hear someone who heard Rush the way I did. What’s with these people calling him establishment?
I think Rush is a wise man and he may have read some of the posts here that were very angry with him for his treatment of Newt in recent days...he OWES his listeners to come clean.
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