Meanwhile in Cincinnati: When Tyranny Is around the Corner

Last week, President Obama gave the commencement address at Ohio State University where he mocked those who warned against the potential tyranny of overreaching government "around every corner" and accused such critics of "gumming up the works":

In recent days, leaks from a soon-to-be released inspector general's report have shown that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups starting in March of 2010 and that the IRS's chief counsel knew as early as 2011 that such groups were being targeted. The targeting of Tea Party groups included in depth questioning from IRS officials ranging from inquiries regarding interactions with the media to predicting event revenue, expense, and other details of future rallies. Despite earlier claims from the Obama administration aiming to pin responsibility on low level field agents, it has become clear that IRS offices in Washington and at least two other offices were involved in the targeting of conservative groups.  Additionally, IRS officials based in Cincinnati (just 100 miles from where President Obama gave his speech mocking government skeptics) disclosed confidential documents from Tea Party groups to Pro Publica, a left-leaning media group whose main funders also fund the Soros-backed Center for American Progress. 

The news of the last two weeks alone has proven that those who support limited government have reason to question the size and scope of government and how such a large, over-reaching government can truly be held accountable. The Obama administration has been able to feign ignorance over the dealings of several of his own cabinet departments. He has claimed no previous knowledge of IRS targeting of conservative groups, calling the IRS an "independent agency". The Obama administration has claimed only a stylistic role in the editing of Benghazi talking points by his own State Department and CIA. This evening, press secretary Jay Carney claimed that the Obama administration was unaware of that the Department of Justice obtained phone logs of AP reporters, again calling an executive branch entity like the Department of Justice, "independent". All of these examples are proof that government has become too big and leadership has become too small to take responsibility for its own failures. The Left hand doesn't know what the Left hand is doing.  

Late Leftist historian Howard Zinn quipped during the Bush administration that dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Now, dissent in the name of patriotism means that groups undergo harsh scrutiny from the government they wish to help restore to its proper purpose and size. Pardon us, for "gumming up the works", Mr. President.  We simply want our government to abide by the charter of liberties you swore an oath to uphold. We won't be silenced.

Crossposted here and here. 

Coffee and the Tea Party

Today, Saturday, September 29th is National Coffee Day. In addition to being a big consumer of coffee, I took a special interest in researching it several years ago as I was working on my master's thesis where I analyzed a few years' worth of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to see if there was any association between caffeine consumption and depression. My study, thankfully, showed that there was no association between the two, although there were some limitations with the data.

One particular interesting note about the history of coffee that I came across during my research is how it became so popular in America. The Huffington Post (yes, the Huffington Post!)  has a good quick summary up today (emphasis mine):

Through trade with the Europeans, coffee became a popular import by the mid-17th century in Europe. Upon its arrival in America, it didn't experience much success until the Boston Tea Party, when colonists who were rebelling against tea taxes developed a fondness for coffee. Drinking nearly 400 million cups of coffee per day, Americans now consume the most coffee in the world.

230+ years ago, the colonists developed a penchant for coffee as a statement against the high, unrepresentative taxes on tea. It was a political statement, and today, it is the free market in action with a whole industry related to coffee-- local coffee shops and diners, big chains like Starbucks, tumblers to transport coffee, Keurigs, etc. It is an ever expanding market. There is though that unbreakable link to the Tea Party of 1773. Now, instead of drinking coffee as a statement of rebellion against high taxes, it's the fuel for mornings of block walking and making phone calls for candidates, afternoons of calling Congressmen and Senators to keep them accountable, and late night of blogging and planning rallies and events.

So, today, raise your mug to King George, whose taxes contributed to America's coffee addiction.

Wisconsin Flashback: Governor Palin Stands with Us

With Wisconsin’s primary election this week and with recall elections for several Wisconsin officials coming this summer, I can’t help but be reminded of Governor Palin’s epic speech at a “Tax Day” Tea Party rally in Madison, Wisconsin nearly a year ago.  On a cold, snowy Saturday last April she gave an amazing speech during a pivotal time in Wisconsin’s battle for public sector union and budgetary reform. On the day of that speech, I made the drive up to Madison from Springfield, Illinois to attend the event and to help out with some Organize4Palin’s early efforts in Wisconsin, an experience I recounted here.

After being introduced by the late Andrew Breitbart, Governor Palin spoke to thousands of Tea Partiers and many noisy union protestors as well who were blowing on their vuvuzelzas and banging on their drums like they were attending the Socialist World Cup or something.  I spent some time before the event handing out Organize4Palin palm cards and asking if people were interested in joining Organize4Palin’s email list.  Throughout this time and during Governor Palin’s speech, I would tweet something about the event or tweet a picture. I remember one tweet arrived in my mention column that particularly struck me.  That tweet said something to the effect of “if Governor Palin runs for President, Wisconsin will remember that she stood with us”.

 I completely respect and trust Governor Palin’s decision not to run for President this cycle, but that tweet still rings true. Where were the current GOP candidates when Wisconsin needed someone to stand with them? They weren’t there because it wasn’t politically expedient for them. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum were in the early primary state of New Hampshire that “Tax Day” weekend . Newt Gingrich was in his home state of Georgia at a GOP event, and Mitt Romney was in critical electoral state of Florida meeting with donors and holding a public campaign event.  Governor Palin was on the frontlines in the battle—Wisconsin. Governor Palin wasn’t fighting for herself; she was fighting for us and with us.  Last summer, I wrote a post entitled “Governor Palin, George Washington, and the Battle for Our Country” where I discussed Governor Palin’s stance with Wisconsin:

Governor Palin’s prescience shone through once again in recognizing the importance of the political battle in Wisconsin as the “frontlines in the battle for the future of our country”. Earlier this week, recall elections were held for six Wisconsin state senate seats that the unions hoped would flip to break up the Republican’s legislative majority. Despite the fact that recall supporting groups spent at least $30 million for these elections, the Republicans still maintained their majority. These victories come on the heels of other victories for Wisconsin: the re-election of Justice Prosser, a WI supreme court judge (whom Governor Palin endorsed) and the budgetary  victory passed by the WI legislature signed into law by Governor Walker, which Governor Palin spoke of in her speech. These recent political victories may prove to be a precursor to the 2012 elections. 

Governor Palin’s speech in a fierce physical and political climate during a heated period of politics is just one example of Governor Palin’s participation in the battle for the future of our country. In the Spring of 2010 during the impassioned debate over Arizona’s immigration law, Governor Palin stood with Governor Jan Brewer in support of her effort to secure Arizona’s southern border. When the Tea Party was accused of essentially being an accomplice to murder after the horrific action of a madman in Tucson, Arizona, Governor Palin stood side-by-side with the Tea Party while others felt they “didn’t want to get in the middle of [it]”.Several days following the Tucson shooting, Governor Palin released a video where she said, in part:

President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.

Most recently during the debt ceiling debates, after some felt it necessary to pejoratively refer to the Tea Party as “hobbits”, Governor Palin challenged Congressional freshman to“remember the ‘little people’” who elected them.  She has stood for and fought with the Tea Party every step of the way. In short, Governor Palin has been on the front lines of the battle for the future of our country. She has been the leader of the Tea Party, not because she deemed herself the leader, but simply because she has acted as the leader. Whether it was standing with conservatives in Wisconsin or Arizona, supporting Tea Party candidates in the 2010 elections, giving speeches at Tea Parties around the country, or defending the Tea Party against scurrilous accusations and derogatory rhetoric, Governor Palin has been the one leading the fight and battling in the trenches.

Fast forward to 2012, and Governor Palin is still fighting with the reformers in Wisconsin, even when the local and national establishment is, as she describes it, “sitting on their thumbs”. Last week, Governor Palin wrote a strong message of supported for Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch:

She’s being thrown beyond the wolf pack – she’s also under the GOP establishment’s bus because this Tea Party “Mama Grizzly” beat the establishment candidate when she got elected. (And dang, it’s uncomfortable under that chassis!) Rebecca must be thinking, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” Worse than seeing radical Leftists attack and make things up about a Conservative female opponent is when supporters on the Right sit on their thumbs and act as if there’s nothing they can do to help. Come on! When all else fails you can at least tell the truth! Tell other voters why you supported Rebecca in the first place. Explain her campaign promises and how she has stuck to them and – surprising in today’s political world – is actually fulfilling them. She promised to help balance the budget, cut taxes, build a sound fiscal environment, and provide job opportunities for all Wisconsin residents – not only our union brothers and sisters. She’s setting an example for every other state in the union because responsible state and local governments will be the entities that defend our Republic at a time when there is less and less reason to believe our big centralized federal government will address its self-perpetuated economic problems. 

The far Left has targeted Lt. Governor Kleefisch in particular because they know she’s been busy working and hasn’t raised anywhere near the money Governor Walker has to weather his recall. And get this: they are hoping to keep her off the same ballot as Governor Walker, and instead they would love to put her on a ballot during a Democratic primary in order to give her the worst voter turn out possible. It’s vicious. She’s in the fight of her political life for doing nothing more than what she and Governor Walker were elected to do. If Wisconsin sees either of these two go down in defeat, it will have a chilling effect on any public servant having the guts to do what’s right.

This stance is what separates Governor Palin from most political figures. She stands for what’s right regardless of whether or not it’s political expedient, or whether or not she does so in office, as a potential candidate, or as a private citizen.

Crossposted here and here.

Governor Palin's Message to the Donner Party--We Owe Americans a Better Discourse than This

...One of the left's favorite weapons is frivolous ethics complaints. That's what they used to bring down the architect of the 1994 "Republican Revolution", Newt Gingrich. 

Prior to the election of 1994, the Democrats had held a majority in the House of Representatives for nearly 4 decades. Working with a team of grassroots activists, Newt selected and trained candidates, shaped a political message, and became what [David] Horowitz called "something rare in Republican politics--a genuine movement leader." 

To the left, that meant one thing: he had to be eliminated. There are many fine Democrat public servants, but sadly many in the party have moved increasingly left, and often the beating heart of their political warfare had been the personal distruction of their enemies. Generally speaking, after decades of failed social policies and weak national security positions, the party doesn't have a strong base of success from which to win political arguments. So it targets people instead of ideas. 

Back in the 1990s, Democrats had Newt in their sights. And strangely enough, the more influential he became, the more "unethical" he became--at least if you count the number of complaints filed against him. Horowitz wrote, "Eventually, Democrats lodged seventy-four separate charges against Gingrich, sixty-five were summarily 'laughed out the committee'. 

Over time the cloud of ethical questions hanging over Newt reached critical mass. Instead of defending their own, Republicans on certain committees forced Newt to concede one charge. 

-Governor Palin in Going Rogue (page 363-364) (emphasis added)

Yesterday, Governor Palin wrote a scathing rebuke of the GOP Establishment, which based upon the title of that Facebook post, I'm going to now refer to as the Donner Party.Governor Palin has recognized the tactics of the left as they have been applied to both Speaker Gingrich and herself. The excerpt from her book that I shared above comes amid her discussion of the frivolous charges launched at her. What this excerpt and her Facebook post really boil down to is three things: 1) the savageness of the left 2) the passive and sometimes non-existent defense of the "right" and 3) the cannibalism that has been employed by the "Donner Party".

As Governor Palin wrote in that Facebook post:

But this whole thing isn’t 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 guard’s 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 who didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.  

 [...]  

 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. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though it’s 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 didn’t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they’re now using every available microscope and endoscope – along with rewriting history – in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party’s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?

Governor Palin has seen the nature of the tactics of the left and some in the Establishment first hand. She saw her family attacked, her maternity questioned, and her record misrepresented by an Obama campaign machine and a complicit media. The media still employ individuals, like recent Newsweek cover story author Andrew Sullivan,  who question that she is the mother of her youngest son. The 2008 election and beyond brought a whole flurry of attacks on Governor Palin and her record. A legislative inquiry, billed as an "October surprise" for the 2008 election, was launched into whether or not Governor Palin pressured a commissioner to fire a state trooper for personal reasons. This was led by a Alaskan Democrat who later was rewarded with a cushy job in the Obama Interior Department, and the Obama campaign kept in contact with the trooper's union during the proceedings. Her record--from funding for special needs education as Governor to funding for rape kits while mayor--was lied about.   Additionally, when the barrage of frivolous ethics complaints were levied against the Governor in 2009, many of them came from the DNC's official Alaskan blogger for the 2008 campaign. The McCain campaign in 2008 and few if any Republicans in 2009 came to her defense when her record was misrepresented, her character was attacked, and unsubstantiated charges were levied against her.

As an electoral defeat seemed imminent and eventually came to be in 2008, anonymous McCain staffers (many of whom were former Romney staffers) were thought to be the ones who disparaged the Governor--who was a candidate on the very ticket they were working for--by saying she "went rogue" against the McCain campaign's direction, didn't know that Africa was a continent, and answered the door of her hotel room with nothing but a towel on during the campaign. All this happened while, as Governor Palin stated in her Facebook post, "[m]any of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted". Senator McCain's staff was kneecapping their own candidate while Senator McCain was unwilling to effectively focus on candidate Obama's associates and lack of a record.

 In 2010, anonymous Romney staffers would dismiss Governor Palin as "not a serious human being", and even as recently as last fall, other anonymous staffers joked that they would be trilled with a Palin (and/or a Bachmann) candidacy because they could run against  those "crazy women".   Not juxtaposition of records or ideas, but personal attacks, not by Romney himself, but by anonymous staff. His hands stay clean while his potential opponents get knocked.

It's not just about Governor Palin, though in spite of the fact she isn't running for President this cycle, the Donner Party still sees her as a great threat. It is the Tea Party movement.When Christine O'Donnell won the GOP primary race for Senate in Delaware, GOP Establishmentarian Karl Rove and others spent the remainder of the campaign bashing O'Donnell and the Tea Party movement and essentially serving as an across-the-aisle surrogate for Chris Coons, the Democratic candidate and later victor of the race. To be sure, O'Donnell was in many ways a flawed and perhaps out-of-depth candidate, but the level of vitriol launched at her by her own party was hurtful to their chance to potentially regain control of the Senate. Although like O'Donnell,  Nikki Haley is seen by some as a traitor to Tea Party principles following her endorsement of Mitt Romney, she was one of the many who came into office under the wave of the Tea Party. Haley won her race in spite of sexist and Establishment lies about alleged affairs launched at her.  Again, the South Carolina Establishment, rather than supporting their party's gubernatorial nominee, levied attacks against her. To his credit, Governor Romney did support Nikki Haley in this, though the same could not be said of the next attack on Tea Party conservatives when the tragedy of the Tucson shootings occurred a few months following the 2010 election.  Romney and others said little if anything in defense of the Governor Palin, specifically, and the Tea Party, more broadly, when they were essentially deemed to be essentially accomplices to murder. Governor Palin is absolutely right. These folks are political cannibals, or at the very least, political pacifists unwilling to defend the people of their own party.

In Governor Palin's post, she articulates that this is also not about Newt Gingrich. In fact, Gingrich's support of liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava in the special election in NY-23 indicated that he was willing to go along with the Establishment, and he even criticized Governor Palin for supporting conservative candidate Doug Hoffmann. Gingrich has indeed been in Washington for many years and isn't without fault, but at this point in the election, poses the greatest threat to the Establishment's golden boy, Mitt Romney. As with any election, the candidates are imperfect. Herein lies the beauty of the American electoral experience! James Madison once said, " if men were angels, there would be no need for government".  The beauty of the America lies in the fact that  we choose are leaders from among ourselves. By default, they are going to be imperfect. That's not to say that their faults are to be excused. Quite possibly the only thing that Mitt Romney has not flip flopped on is the topic of Romneycare, among his other faults. Newt Gingrich has supported efforts on climate change with Nancy Pelosi and education with Al Sharpton among other liberal notions he's espoused over the years. Rick Santorum has voted against national right-to-work laws  and has some issues with using taxpayer money to fund his children's "cyber school" education. Ron Paul has a dangerous approach to Iran, and in spite of his strong stand against massive government spending, has requested millions in earmarks, even at a time when the GOP has called for a moratorium on earmarks. Like Governor Palin said, Newt Gingrich is an "imperfect vessel". Any candidate would have some level of imperfection.

The problem with the Donner wing of the GOP is that a double standard is applied. Earlier during the presidential primary, Romney hit then candidate Rick Perry from the left on Social Security without a peep from the Establishment, but when Newt Gingrich hit Romney from the Left on Bain Capital, it was seen as an inexcusable attack on capitalism. Romney, the candidate who said that he didn't want to return to the ways of Reagan, have been inaccurately and malevolently trying to paint Newt Gingrich as anti-Reagan. To be sure, Gingrich has perhaps been critical of Reagan's state department and had suggestions for George HW Bush's campaign, but to paint the man whom Nancy Reagan said carried President Reagan's torch, is an underhanded tactic. One could only imagine the tactics the Establishment would use against Governor Palin had she chosen to run. Attacks on her resignation and the frivolous ethics complaints would likely be used to try to paint her as not up to the pressure of the job of leader of the free world. Who knows? They may have even tried to paint her as anti-Thatcher as well!

The Establishment wants a coronation; the electorate wants a nomination. Generally it has been the "next-in-line" who has gotten the support of the Establishment. In 2008, it was John McCain, and in 2012, it is Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney has gotten the support of the those in the conservative media--Jennifer Rubin and Ann Coulter. He has received the support of the likes of John McCain, President George HW Bush, and Bob Dole--candidates who took the phrase "everything in moderation" and turned it into a political ideology. Whoever has been the biggest challenge to Mitt Romney has been disparaged by the Establishment. Jennifer Rubin started writing negative pieces about Governor Palin 8 days after she started writing for the Washington Post. At the time, Governor Palin's potential candidacy was the biggest threat to Romney's nomination. The Establishment knocked Rick Perry when his candidacy peeked and was a threat to Romney's nomination. Tom Ridge, moderate Republican and former Bush Cabinet member, hit Michele Bachmann as inexperienced when she was at her peak. While Newt Gingrich is seen as a Washington insider, he is not necessarily the Establishment's choice, and has therefore been in many ways unfairly attacked.

 To be sure, campaigns are cutthroat. Records need to be exposed. Policy plans will be scrutinized. Character will be tested. This is all for the benefit of the electorate and the refining of the candidates' mettle. Same standards must be applied to all candidates. People who cry foul on Gingrich's misrepresentation of Romney's immigration stance can't try to sweep Romney's misrepresentation of Gingrich's ethics record under the rug. Our country was founded in part because the settlers wanted representation; they didn't want a distant king calling down orders and levying taxes from on high. Similarly, the conservative electorate, or any American electorate for that matter, does not want an oligarchical "Donner Party" to determine the outcome of election.  Here in Illinois, some of Mitt Romney's delegates are challenging Rick Santorum's ballot petition signatures to potentially keep him off the Illinois primary ballot. Mitt Romney's Illinois campaign manager is also our state treasurer.  Never mind that in the interim, Illinois credit was downgraded to the worst in the country. Getting a political opponent off the ballot is far more important than hunkering down and addressing a major fiscal crisis to those backing Romney. In other words, Romney's supporters would rather not give Illinoisans a choice of candidates rather than win the battle of ideas.

 Thankfully, there are people like Governor Palin who are echoing the words of President Reagan when he said, "those voices don't speak for the rest of us" when speaking about the Elite whether it liberals in elected office or those in the political power at a party level. During her gubernatorial run in 2006, a pivotal point came when Governor Palin's opponents were bickering, and she interrupted them and calmly said, "we owe Alaskans a better discourse than this".  Governor Palin has essentially said the same thing on a national level.  The GOP owes the electorate a discourse, not an Establishment monologue, on the issues, and they owe us a better one. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, " Great minds discuss ideas;average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people". This primary election must be a discourse of ideas, not a barrage of personal attacks. As an undecided voter, a discourse of ideas, not an Establishment command, is what I would like to see in the coming weeks and months of this upcoming election. I'm glad to see that Governor Palin has continued to hold the Donner Party accountable for their tactics.

 Crossposted here and here.

Governor Palin, George Washington, and the Battle for Our Country

On April 18^th, Governor Palin gave a rousing speech in Madison Wisconsin in the midst of one of the fiercest state budget battles in recent history. In that speech, Governor Palin noted the importance of this battle and recognized the courage and tenacity of Wisconsin conservatives in supporting their legislature and governor in their efforts to restore fiscal sanity and ensure that the pressures of union bosses did not mean that teachers’ union members would lose their jobs. She noted (emphasis added):

Hello, Madison, Wisconsin! You look good. I feel like I’m at home. This is beautiful. Madison, I am proud to get to be with you today. Madison, these are the frontlines in the battle for the future of our country. This is where the line has been drawn in the sand. And I am proud to stand with you today in solidarity.

[…]

Well, I am in Madison today because this is where real courage and real integrity can be found. Courage is your governor and your legislators standing strong in the face of death threats and thug tactics. Courage is you all standing strong with them! You saw the forces aligned against fiscal reform. You saw the obstruction and the destruction. You saw these violent rent-a-mobs trash your capital and vandalize businesses.

[…]

And Madison, you defended the 2010 electoral mandate. You are heroes, you are patriots, and when the history of this Tea Party Movement is written, what you accomplished here will not be forgotten.

Your historic stand brought down the curtain on the last election. And the 2012 election begins here.

[…]

It starts here! It starts now! What better place than the state that hosts the Super Bowl champs to call out the liberal left and let them know: Mr. President, game on!

Governor Palin’s prescience shone through once again in recognizing the importance of the political battle in Wisconsin as the “frontlines in the battle for the future of our country”. Earlier this week, recall elections were held for six Wisconsin state senate seats that the unions hoped would flip to break up the Republican's legislative majority. Despite the fact that recall supporting groups spent at least $30 million for these elections, the Republicans still maintained their majority. These victories come on the heels of other victories for Wisconsin: the re-election of Justice Prosser, a WI supreme court judge (whom Governor Palin endorsed) and the budgetary victory passed by the WI legislature signed into law by Governor Walker, which Governor Palin spoke of in her speech. These recent political victories may prove to be a precursor to the 2012 elections.

Governor Palin’s speech in a fierce physical and political climate during a heated period of politics is just one example of Governor Palin’s participation in the battle for the future of our country. In the Spring of 2010 during the impassioned debate over Arizona’s immigration law, Governor Palin stood with Governor Jan Brewer in support of her effort to secure Arizona’s southern border. When the Tea Party was accused of essentially being an accomplice to murder after the horrific action of a madman in Tucson, Arizona, Governor Palin stood side-by-side with the Tea Party while others felt they “didn’t want to get in the middle of [it]”.Several days following the Tucson shooting, Governor Palin released a video where she said, in part:

President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.

Most recently during the debt ceiling debates, after some felt it necessary to pejoratively refer to the Tea Party as “hobbits”, Governor Palin challenged Congressional freshman to “remember the ‘little people’” who elected them. She has stood for and fought with the Tea Party every step of the way.

In short, Governor Palin has been on the front lines of the battle for the future of our country. She has been the leader of the Tea Party, not because she deemed herself the leader, but simply because she has acted as the leader. Whether it was standing with conservatives in Wisconsin or Arizona, supporting Tea Party candidates in the 2010 elections, giving speeches at Tea Parties around the country, or defending the Tea Party against scurrilous accusations and derogatory rhetoric, Governor Palin has been the one leading the fight and battling in the trenches.

Flash back to another time when people felt they were misrepresented and overtaxed and when they felt their God given freedoms were threatened. Who was fighting with them? George Washington. Our current fight may solely be a battle of ideology, principles, and integrity where victories are counted by elections and legislation, not where victories and losses are counted by cities captured or soldiers dead. However, the comparison still rings true. George Washington fought with the Continental Army. A few years later, following the drafting and ratification of a constitution, George Washington was elected as America’s first president. While it was largely an understood formality that the electors would choose Washington, why was he chosen over some of the others? Why was not Patrick Henry, James Madison, or Thomas Jefferson chosen as the first president of the United States? When it was all said and done, it was George Washington, not these men, who fought for and with the people those electors were representing. As we face the upcoming 2012 election, we have politicians who are analogous to the likes of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Patrick Henry, who are great writers, thinkers or orators, but there’s only one who has fought with and for the American people—Governor Sarah Palin.

Crossposted here and here.

Thoughts from Madison: Game On!

Governor Palin gave a simply incredible speech today in Madison, Wisconsin speaking on a range of issues including the recent budget and collective bargaining battle in Wisconsin, the capitulation of the GOP Establishment, the recent budget to the empty promises of President Obama, and a declarative on the 2012 election. Governor Palin began her speech discussing Wisconsin as the "frontlines in the battle for our country", which indeed is true from the roles that Governor Walker, Judge Prosser, and Congressman Ryan have played in the recent political discussion.

Wisconsin is also the birthplace of the Republican party and in many ways, the progressive movement as well, particularly in Madison. This made it all the more fitting that Governor Palin came to speak in Wisconsin. In her speech, she called the Republican party to stand on the planks of the party, and she called out the tactics and the policies of the Progressive movement in both Madison and Washington D.C.. The Tea Party movement is on two fronts--against the Left and against the Establishment. As Karen rightly said last night, we are Wisconsin.

I was blessed with the opportunity to make the trip up to Madison this morning to attend the rally. There were, of course, no Koch brother marionettes standing behind Governor Palin choreographing her every move as she spoke, as the Left claims. She is no corporate puppet, just ask the oil companies in Alaska. Of course, the Left's assertions regarding the Governor are more often than not projections, ad hominem attacks, and falsehoods. This rally was no different. Laughably, one protest sign simply said, "Sarah Who?". The illogic of the Left--claim someone is irrelevant, then show up at a venue where they are speaking in the wind and snow to protest their appearance. Their method of "reason"--noise--the audible equivalent of the legitimacy of their arguments.

Prior to the speeches, several Wisconsin and Illinois volunteers from Organize4Palin handed out hundreds of palm cards to rally attendees and got pages and pages of individuals signed up for more information about this grassroots effort. From my personal experience with this, it was very exciting to see the receptiveness and excitement that people had in response to Governor Palin. Some individuals who signed up brought Governor Palin's books to hold up in lieu of signs. Some were military veterans. All appreciated the courageous conservatism that Governor Palin espouses.

Organize4Palin volunteers signing up interested individuals

Organize4Palin WI coordinator Bill Lichter,

Wisconsin Treasurer Kurt Schuller, and myself

If you haven't already, please sign up to be involved in Organize4Palin. Supporting Governor Palin is especially effective when we are boots on the ground in addition to being fingers on a keyboard. She has had our back, and we have the opportunity to have her back as she continues to speak out as 2012 approaches.

Game on.

Kelsey also attended the rally. She has some absolutely amazing pictures. Please see here and here.

Crossposted here.

1773 and a History Lesson for the Left

The Left again proves itself to be devoid of a basic knowledge of American history. Yesterday at the Tea Party Express rally in Reno, Nevada, Governor Palin spoke with appropriate cautiousness about celebrating electoral victories prematurely by telling rally attendees to not "party like it's 1773 just yet". As conservatives know, 1773 was the year of the Boston Tea Party. Michelle Malkin shares this link for those who may need a refresher. Malkin also reports:

Sarah Palin wisely warned Tea Party activists to keep working hard right up until Election Day — and not to “party like it’s 1773″ yet.

Intellectually superior leftists from Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas to PBS “moderator”/Obama cheerleader Gwen Ifill took to Twitter to snicker about Palin’s historical illiteracy.

But it’s the Palin-bashers who humiliated themselves, via Cuffy Meigs.

“Ummm” yourself, nitwit.

Of course they wouldn’t know when the Tea Party occurred.

They’re too busy wallowing in teabagging jokes and hate smears.

Of course Moulitsas has been too busy trying to astroturf internet search engines to smear conservatives running up to the midterm elections to study up on American history. Gwen Ifill perhaps took a history lesson from Joe Biden who confused the First and Second Articles of the Constitution during the 2008 Vice Presidential debate that she moderated between Biden and Palin.

It's always humorous to see the pseudointellectual Left get knocked down from their high horse. Perhaps this chronologically wrong version of history is taught on that "unicorn ranch in fantasyland" that Governor Palin spoke of last week.

Read Ace of Spades' take on this here.

Crossposted here.

Chris Matthews and the Thrill of the Chilean Miners and the Tea Party

On Wednesday, Chris Matthews spoke of the Chilean mine rescue efforts. Rather than viewing it as a triumph of the strength of the human spirit, teamwork, and ingenuity, Matthews used this situation to take an gratuitous slap at the Tea Party in an interview with union boss Richard Trumka (yes, that Richard Trumka):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Okay let's talk about what the...message to a lot of the people was. The message coming out of the Tea Party people, and lot of them are good people, is every man for himself, basically. "No more taxes, no more government, no more everything. No more safety net. No more health care for everybody. Everybody just get out there, make your buck, save it, screw the government, move on." Right?

RICHARD TRUMKA: Yeah.

MATTHEWS: You know these people, if they were every man for himself down in that mine they [the Chilean miners] wouldn't have gotten out.

Many of us have been glued to the TV the past few days to see the jubilation of reunited families as each miner was brought to the surface. However, such exciting news must not have given Matthews a "thrill" because he is completely off base, as usual, to suggest the philosophy of the Tea Party would mean the death of the Chilean miners.

The Chilean government employed several methods in concert with each other to make the rescue of the thirty-three miners a success: appropriate governmental support from a conservative leader, foreign assistance, American ingenuity, and prayer. The Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, who was a constant presence at the rescue site, was the first conservative President elected to lead Chile in 52 years. The Chilean navy engineers developed the rescue capsule that was used. The Chilean government accepted help from the United States including the American ingenuity of a drilling company in Pennsylvania and a contractor in Colorado. The miners relied on faith in God to give them the strength to persevere through more than two months trapped nearly half a mile underground.

Interestingly, the Chileans' successful response to their national crisis is quite similar to what Governor Palin suggested to the Obama administration during America's most recent "national crisis": the Gulf oil spill. Governor Palin, as a conservative leader, suggested accepting foreign assistance, embracing American ingenuity, and prayer.

When the Obama administration was dithering with how to approach the largest environmental disaster in America's history, Governor Palin was urging him to waive the Jones Act to allow foreign assistance from the Dutch who have experience building sand dikes that could be used to clean up the spill and accepting the offers of help like that of a Maine company that builds booms, as she stated on the O'Reilly Factor in June (emphasis mine):

They can't even get a phone call returned, Bill. The Dutch. They are known in the Norwegian (sic). They are known for — for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills. They offered to help and, yet, no, they too, with a proverbial can't even get a phone call back. That is what the Norwegians are telling us, and the Dutch are telling us. And then the entrepreneurial Americans, the company in Maine that has the boom and the absorbents, those companies that are waiting for the Obama administration eight weeks later for the regulators to come in and say, OK, we'll purchase from you now. We'll do all that we can. That's where some of the frustration is.

Now, we saw the same thing though with Katrina, didn't we? So, I'm not going to point fingers and make this a partisan issue at all, point fingers at different administrations. But it is that inherent problem that we have with government, not necessarily being prepared, because our priorities in government are wrong. National security, safety of the people, needs to be the top priority. That's where we need to be funding instead of funding these other things on the periphery that really just get in the way of the private sector's progress, their ability to produce and to thrive and to prosper, Instead, our priorities in the national government have been screwed up.

The Obama administration did eventually accept help from the Dutch, but as with most aspects of the oil spill, he was a day late and a dollar short. However, just as the Chilean government did, Governor Palin promoted accepting foreign assistance (by removing isolationist regulations) and called for utilization of American entrepreneurs. Additionally, just as the miners did, she encouraged prayer for those affected by the Gulf spill:

Gulf disaster needs divine intervention as man's efforts have been futile. Gulf lawmakers designate today Day of Prayer for solution/miracle

So, Mr. Matthews, when faced with a national crisis, Governor Palin's solutions are congruent with those of the successes in Chile. When the Tea Party calls for less government, they are not calling for anarchy or a non-response to a national crisis. They are calling for a government that is supposed to protect the American people, not burden them with excessive regulation, as Governor Palin said in her appearance on O'Reilly's show this summer. What we saw with the oil spill is that too often government regulations got in the way of the solving the problems like when oil skimming barges were docked due to too few life jackets (as regulated by the government).

Such a misrepresentation of the Tea Party movement has become common place among the liberal press. The Tea Party is not about no government, it's about limited government. It is not about an "every man for himself" mentality; it's about the voluntary generosity of individuals rather than the obligatory redistribution of wealth. It's about everyday Americans, not the political elite or the Establishment. Just because it's so good, let's re-visit what the Tea Party really is:



Does that give anyone a thrill?

Crossposted here and here.

A Tale of Two Tea (Tee) Parties

Here's President Obama's Idea of a Tee Party:



Here's Governor Palin's Idea of a Tea Party:





Any questions?

Charles Krauthammer Re-Writes the Buckley Rule

In his latest column in the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer triples down on the idea that it was a "capricious" decision for people like Governor Palin and Senator DeMint to endorse Christine O'Donnell and her victory in Tuesday's primary means that Republicans won't have a chance to take back the Senate in November.

He begins first by contradicting himself (emphasis mine):

Bill Buckley -- no Mike Castle he -- had a rule: Support the most conservative candidate who is electable.

...

Of course Mike Castle is a liberal Republican. What do you expect from Delaware? A DeMint? Castle voted against Obamacare and the stimulus. Yes, he voted for cap-and-trade. That's batting .667. You'd rather have a Democrat who bats .000 and who might give the Democrats the 50th vote to control the Senate?

Buckley's "rule" is to support to the conservative candidate most likely to win, yet Krauthammer willfully states that Castle isn't even conservative. Castle is an entrenched, establishment liberal Republican. Many seem to emphasize the supposed electability at the expense of political principles. Principles cannot be sacrificed at the expense of theoretical expediency. Surprisingly, Peggy Noonan of all people seems to get it in her recognition of the Tea Party movement that nominated Christine O'Donnell:

So far, the Tea Party is not a wing of the GOP but a critique of it. This was demonstrated in spectacular fashion when GOP operatives dismissed Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. The Republican establishment is "the reason we even have the Tea Party movement," shot back columnist and Tea Party enthusiast Andrea Tantaros in the New York Daily News. It was the Bush administration that "ran up deficits" and gave us "open borders" and "Medicare Part D and busted budgets."

Returning to the Krauthammer article, to be fair, he too has a good grasp of the "Tea Party" movement, but he doesn't make the connection between what the Tea Party values and how those values influence their vote:

Indeed, it[the Tea Party Movement] is among the most vigorous and salutary grass-roots movements of our time, dedicated to a genuine constitutionalism from which the country has strayed far.

And its complaint that it is often taken for granted by the Republican establishment (interestingly parallel to the often-heard African American community's complaint against the Democratic Party) is not to be dismissed. Tea Partyers should not, as many of them fear, simply be used by the Republican Party as a source of electoral energy while their own candidates are ignored and dismissed. But the question is: Which of their candidates?

He then goes on to essentially argues that it's fine for voters to nominate "Tea Party" candidates, but only in states like Alaska and Kentucky where they are more likely to win, supposedly, than states like Delaware. Should Tea Partyers in more liberal states then not vote their principles and nominate more moderate candidates instead? Is "Buckley rule" applied differently in these states?

Regarding Governor Palin's understanding of the Buckley rule, let's see her apply this to one of her endorsements in a liberal state, shall we? In the California Republican senate primary, Governor Palin endorsed Carly Fiorina over who many people saw as the more conservative, Tea Party candidate, Chuck DeVore. Interestingly, polling just before the primary in June showed that more California Tea Partyers supported Fiorina than DeVore, but I digress. Fiorina was perceived as more electable than DeVore (and as current polling shows is poised to potentially defeat "Ma'am" Boxer). Governor Palin noted this in her endorsement on Facebook (emphasis mine):

Carly has been endorsed by the National Right to Life, the California Pro-Life Council, and the Susan B. Anthony List. She is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-military, and pro-strict border security and against amnesty. She is against Obamacare and will vote to repeal it and prevent the government takeover of private companies and industries. Carly is also a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Like me, she is a member of the NRA, has a 100% NRA rating, and she and her husband are gun owners. She is pro-energy development and believes as I do in an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence. She is against cap and tax. And most importantly, Carly is the only conservative in the race who can beat Barbara Boxer. That’s no RINO. That’s a winner.

Governor Palin understands that if one is to use the Buckley rule, one must embrace both the principles of the candidate and the probability of that candidate's election. As previously mentioned, Fiorina is neck-in-neck with Boxer. O'Donnell, while currently trailing overall, is leading among both Republicans and independents in the most recent poll. For both of these Palin endorsed candidates, their electability and their conservative principles are present.

While Krauthammer has a good grasp of what the Tea Party stands for, he seems to miss the point about how the Tea Party should manifest their principles via their vote. The GOP Establishment was sent a message; it's about conservative principles, not Republican politics.

Related:Mark Levin at his best via the Right Scoop (H/T Stacy):



Crossposted here.

Michele Bachmann Forms Tea Party Caucus

Michele Bachmann has started a Tea Party caucus in the US House. Bachmann says:

“No, I don’t see it that way,” Bachmann, of Minnesota, told The Daily Caller when asked if she envisioned the caucus offering a conservative counterpoint to the GOP establishment. “I think it’s really just complementary. … Usually the purposes of the caucuses are to promote an idea or issue — whether it’s the shellfish caucus, the potato caucus, the missile defense caucus. It’s members of Congress who are interested in an idea and they want to promote it. Well, this is no different.”

The idea is for the caucus to bring in “real people from various walks of life” to speak to its members about issues resonating within the Tea Party movement. “Usually we invite experts in,” Bachmann said of other caucuses in the House. “Well, these are experts in just being regular Americans,” she said.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mike Pence, John Carter, Pete Sessions, Todd Tiahart (who Palin is endorsing for Senate), Dan Burton, Paul Broun, and Cliff Sterns have already joined the caucus. Bachmann has also invited Speaker Pelosi to join the caucus, but no word if she has intentions of joining (read with sarcasm). The Daily Caller piece linked above also reports that Palin endorsee, Rand Paul, is planning on starting the same caucus in the Senate if he is elected.

Cross posted here.

Reason # 1, 405, 403 to Love the St. Louis Cardinals

I have been a big St. Louis Cardinals' fan pretty much since conception. Actually, since the Cardinals won the 1982 and 2006 World Series, I technically have seen two more World Series victories in my 27 years than the Cubs have seen in the last 102. Note: Life begins at conception, and my mom was pregnant with me in 1982, so I count that one! :)

St. Louis has the best baseball team and fans in the majors! I've disagreed with manager Tony Larussa on many things--benching Ozzie Smith in favor of Royce Clayton, pulling starting pitchers out in the late innings even though they are pitching well, and hiring Mark McGuire as a hitting coach--to name a few. However, I was pleasant surprised to hear his support of the Tea Partiers assembling at Busch Stadium and his support of Arizona's immigration law. Thanks, Tony!

Tea Party Express Pictures

I didn't have time to make a sign, so I thought this would suffice!

Former gubernatorial candidate, Adam Andrezjewski, calling for a forensic audit of state spending. During one the debates earlier this year, in response to the question, "who is your political role model, Adam said, "I'd rather be a Sarah Palin than an Arnold Schwarzenegger".

Why this really matters.

It wouldn't be an event in Springfield,Illinois
without Abraham Lincoln.

All Tea Party or Sarah-related buttons.

Bobby Schilling, father of 10 kids and
running for Congress against Phil
"I don't care about the Constitution" Hare