Monday, February 8, 2010

So the Tea Party had a convention.

So the Tea Party had a small convention, or at least one faction did and it finally made the lamestream news stations. I don't think the establishment is taking us for granted anymore. I even see the GOP trying to take us over.

Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker on saturday. I wasn't there so I only got some reports on what she said. I'm sure it was that the tea party members wanted to hear. She is now on the primary campaign trail supporting John McCain in Arizona and Governor Rick Perry in Texas for their re-election bids. You got to love these politicians. Give them a little time and they will slip up. This is why ALL politicians need to be watched like hawks.

John McCain was the last election loser that was so thoroughly rejected by the american conservative electorate for being a left lite RINO. His McCain-Fiengold act outrage was just correctly overturned by the US Supreme Court. Rick Perry tried one of the biggest land grabs in Texas history with the Trans-Texas Corridor project. That would be the huge toll road to be built and operated by a foreign company until the outraged electorate changed his mind. This politician is really quite good and flopping with the political winds.

Some called for the Tea Party movement to form a PAC to support the GOP in electing conservative politicians. Why would we limit ourselves to the GOP? Isn't that what got us here in the first place, blind trust in the GOP? As we proved in the recent election of Scott Brown we can get anyone elected, even in the deep liberal yankee north. If we form a PAC we should support ALL candidates regardless of political affiliation. I for one refuse to be the lapdog of any political party, even the Constitution Party, of which I am an active dues paying member. We should support and vett ALL candidates that meet our beliefs, goals and objectives. Nothing would bring GOP politicians to heel like knowing that we would go outside the GOP to replace them as needed.

The other option is to form our own political party. As long as we can and WILL enforce party discipline I have no real problem with that either. The best way to ensure the politicians toe our line is to have them in our party where we can throw them out if they betray us like so many Republicans have. It would be a requirement to obey our platform or be kicked out of our party and caucus.

I know, I know many have said its to hard to start a party and that it would split the GOP ensuring a democrat win. I say hogwash. It would be a repeat of the history that the GOP would hate to see repeated, as it's their history. In 1854 the republican party was formed by dissatisfied members of the mainstream Whig party. In 1860 the republicans elected their first leader to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln. This was without the benefit of TV, Radio, air travel for campaigning, and Al Gore had yet to invent the internet. The mass means were the telegraph, newspapers, and the iron horse of the rail road. Lincoln didn't even campaign and he wasn't on the ballot in the south. Don't say it can't be done and done quickly.

We need to stop being polite too. Stop letting the GOP take ALL the blame for this depression. It was barney frank and chris dodd that blocked even the lame GOP attempts to reform fannie mae and freddie mac. They swore on a stack of bibles that all was fine and rosey with those institutions that had them in their pockets.

The local Tea Parties need to resist any attempts at a GOP takeover. We need to find local politicians that we can vett and send to the other Tea Parties to help with support. We need to make an example of those who misuse this trust.

Ken Lowder
oneangrytaxpayer.org