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Guest Post: The GOP Is Dying Because The Liberty Movement Is Thriving
Submitted by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market blog,
To the point of causing intestinal convulsions, there has been no shortage of analysis on the elections of 2012. Every no-name mop-head mainstream media hack with a niche audience has put in his or her two cents on the finale of perhaps the biggest non-event of the decade and almost every single one of them has been depressingly wrong or completely disingenuous - but perhaps this was to be expected. The word “journalist” has today become synonymous with “whore”, simply because success in the field makes whoredom essential. The job of news outlets is not to report on the facts, but to fashion an illusory world out of manure bricks and glossy paint, and this is exactly what they have done in their musing on the fate of the GOP.
For any saucer-eyed skeptic who still believes that all disinformation is mere coincidence or personal bias rather than an engineered and coordinated conspiracy, I would like to point out the sudden, similar and simultaneous conclusions of MSM pundits in the wake of Barack Obama’s “victory” in November. You would think that there would be hundreds if not thousands of conflicting ideas about what really happened this year, but instead, Americans are being presented with a chorus of identical viewpoints.
One meme that is being spread widely in the mainstream that I do actually agree with is that the Republican Party is “dying”. Oh yes, this is undoubtedly true. The GOP is on the fast track to the stew pot (or maybe another pot), but what the mainstream fails to mention is that this is something that alternative analysts in the Liberty Movement have been predicting for years, long before the name “Barack Obama” ever haunted the dreams of average Republicans, and this raises an important question; what did the alternative media see that the mainstream media missed?
The primary root of all the dysfunctional observations of the GOP is that most people today have no clue what conservatism is, and therefore, they have no idea how to diagnose problems in the Republican Party (an institution which is supposed to represent conservative values). You don’t send a lawnmower repairman to examine a cancer ridden human being, you send a doctor who knows what a healthy body is supposed to look like. You also don’t send a hardcore liberal or a Neo-Con flunky to comment on the failings of the GOP; you send a true conservative who knows how a healthy conservative organization is supposed to function. And, the only people left in this country who actually understand what conservatism really is are Liberty Movement activists.
Ironically, those of us in the movement who have deeply considered the election aftermath have predominantly concluded that it is WE who have taken the mojo out of the GOP, and frankly, we’re happy to do so…
The GOP is dying because it no longer supports or nurtures the progress of true and traditional conservative values or the people who hold them. The GOP is fading into the bowels of political history because real conservatives are LEAVING it behind, and searching for other more legitimate avenues. These are the cold hard facts which the establishment and those who aid in its dominance have tried to keep out of the mainstream limelight post election. They have concocted a swarm of unsupported and absurd talking points which have been unleashed shotgun-style on the unsuspecting American populace. Their goal? To hide the fact that the Liberty Movement has gained enough momentum to bury the Neo-Con led GOP and even swing state contests at will, simply by not participating in the farce.
During the 2010 mid-term elections, there was a mass resurgence in conservative voting based almost entirely on Tea Party optimism. Some might argue that the Tea Party was a sham, and I would have to agree…to a point. The Tea Party didn’t start out that way (I know because I was involved during its inception). In the beginning it was a legitimate force for reduced government power and spending, and increased protection for civil liberties revolving mainly around the campaign of Ron Paul. That changed, though, when Neo-Con elites began weaseling their way into the club, gushing about how they loved freedom.
What these vermin do not understand, though, is that it takes more than rhetoric to hold onto Liberty Movement voters; you also have to back your words with action, and this is exactly why some career Republicans were shown the door in 2012. Not because the Democrats were a better choice, but because the Republicans had not lived up to the promises they made two years ago. Neo-Con toadies would, of course, sneer at my observations, and tell a completely different story on why they are losers…
Let’s take a look at just a few of the mainstream media and GOP leadership arguments and propaganda initiatives and why they are shameless fabrications meant to hide Liberty Movement influence…
Lie #1: U.S. Demographics Are Changing And The GOP Platform Does Not Appeal To Minorities
The MSM and others are essentially suggesting that only white people will ever vote Republican, and by association, that only white people value conservatism and Constitutionalism. They are also cleverly and subconsciously implanting the idea that most minorities will only ever vote for a socialist and statist candidate (like Obama) in the future, or, that they will vote based entirely on skin color. That is to say, they are inferring that minority voters are predominantly narrow minded and stupid, and are also promoting a fabricated division based on race.
To illustrate why the demographics argument is a lie, I would like to use the examples of Allen West and Denny Rehberg; both high value Republicans in state races who “unexpectedly” lost to the Democrats.
Allen West, a black male candidate for the 22nd Congressional District of Florida, ran on a “Tea Party limited government platform” in 2010, and won by a margin of around 20,000 votes over Ron Klein, a white male Democrat. In 2012, West ran against another white male Democrat, Patrick Murphy, in Florida’s 18th District and lost by 2000 votes. Obviously, Florida’s vast population and myriad minority groups did NOT play the only part in West’s victory in 2010, or his loss in 2012. If skin color was ever the primary issue, then he should have won easily in 2012, just as he did in 2010 according to those who make the “changing demographics” race based argument. West’s opponents, Klein in 2010 and Murphy in 2012, had very similar and very standard Democratic Party policies, and neither man was overly interesting or influential. West did not suddenly have to face down a Dem. powerhouse in 2012; just another boring-as-crackers lefty.
West ran two campaigns against almost identical opponents under almost identical social conditions, somehow winning one, and losing the other. So, what happened? What was different in 2012? The fact is, the only thing different in 2012 was that this time around liberty based voters knew West was not a true conservative. West was a fraud, and a statist, and the Liberty Movement cast him out by declining to vote for him.
Almost immediately after West’s victory in 2010, his limited government constitutionalist persona began to change. He voted to strengthen pork programs which continue to pump fiat federal monies into local governments, generating massive national debt and making state officials beholden to federal control. He voted yes to line-item veto authority for the President, bypassing the constitutionally delineated powers of Congress. He supported CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act) which would have given government incredible legal power to violate the privacy rights of ordinary Americans. And last, but certainly worst, West not only voted for the NDAA despite its unconstitutional indefinite detainment provisions, he also worked to strike down initiatives to remove language in the NDAA that made it applicable to U.S. citizens. To ice the cake, he openly admitted to serving on the Armed Forces Committee which reviewed the bill before it was even released, and later attempted to lie about what it actually did.
Why would a supposed constitutionalist and conservative champion applaud the legislated rendition and indefinite imprisonment of American citizens without trial and without due process all on the mere accusation of “terrorism” by the President, and then pretend as if that power was not granted by the bill? Because, he is a fake conservative and an establishment thug.
In my home state of Montana, Republican Denny Rehberg ran a highly anticipated race for Senate against incumbent Democrat John Tester. Rehberg’s platform was just like Allan West’s; pro-Tea Party, limited government, thumbs up to the Constitution, and wrap up in the flag for good measure.
Rehberg had won many of his U.S. Representative campaigns by a vast margin leading up to his decision to run for Senate (around 60% to his opponent’s 30%). I can say that in a state like Montana, the idea of “changing demographics” affecting the election is laughable. Montana is freaken’ white! W-H-I-T-E! Rehberg, a Republican “dreamboat candidate” complete with carefully groomed cowboy mustache was thought to be a sure win in this state. By my personal observations seeing him at functions including a local Lincoln/Reagan dinner, I would say HE thought he was a sure win, to the point of ego-mania.
So in a predominantly white and predominantly conservative state, how did Rehberg lose? Because elections have little to do with “demographics” or party, and everything to do with the integrity of the person running, especially where the Liberty Movement is concerned.
Rehberg’s professed fuzzy feelings for freedom and limited government were undeniably false. His consistent support for big government programs aside, he voted for and viciously defended the NDAA. When approached by Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers at a Republican function about his vote for rendition and permanent detention without trial for American citizens, he side-stepped the question completely, and accused Rhodes (a veteran Army Paratrooper) of “not supporting the troops”. Rehberg’s attitude did not go unnoticed by the Liberty Movement population in Montana, and like Conrad Burns, the Republican incumbent who had been unseated in 2006, he lost by a substantial margin of voters who instead backed a Libertarian third party candidate.
The argument for “changing demographics” was certainly not applicable in either of these two incidences, along with numerous other state and local elections I do not have the space to mention. It also does not take into account the millions of Americans who refrain from voting because they feel utterly unrepresented in the election process. This lie is being pushed in order to hide the real change in America: a movement towards legitimacy and humility in government, rather than hubris and tyranny.
Lie #2: The GOP Does Not Appeal To Young Voters, Who Are Predominantly Liberal (Socialist)
I would still be considered a young voter, and so would many of my closest friends. They and I had all but abandoned politics in disgust years ago when we discovered Ron Paul, one of the only representatives in Washington D.C. that we felt actually embodied the traditional constitutional methodology (original conservatism). Not only had he received the highest amount of donations from the men and women of the U.S. military, he was also packing sold out speaking events on college campuses across the country while Obama and Romney were crawling on hands and knees throwing free tickets at elementary school children just to get a minor crowd. The point is, Ron Paul, a true conservative, was energizing the youth vote and even bringing some Democrats over from the socialist dark side.
The idea that a young voter is predestined to embrace collectivist nanny government and sell their soul to the Democratic Party is a lie of epic proportions. The GOP could have had them on board anytime they wanted; all they had to do was nominate Ron Paul as their presidential candidate. Instead, they went with yet another Neo-Con ghoul whose rhetoric and record was nearly identical to Obama’s. The GOP could have won, if they had actually wanted to win. But then, it would have meant disrupting the false left right paradigm, and surely, the establishment can’t have that…
Lie #3: The GOP Needs To Evolve With Our “Progressive” Times Instead Of Clinging To Traditional Conservative Principles
Ultimately, this lie is designed to infer that the Republican Party needs to take on a more collectivist attitude in order to appeal to the rising tide of a younger generation and our nation’s so-called “changing demographics”. Hilariously, the lie is suggesting that the GOP do what they have in fact already done: go full socialist.
The Republican Party has not “clung” to traditional conservative principles for a very long time. Over the course of the past several decades it has become a haven for the minions of Leo Strauss, a statist and Platonian fascist whose job was to subvert the core of conservatism and warp it into a festering cesspool of elitism - much like the Democratic Party. The GOP has failed because this elitism is now undeniably present, and the party has lost its ability to hide what it has become.
When a sad victim of academia tries to argue that the cause of our economic crisis is the “evil of the free market”, I always point out that he/she has actually never lived in a world where true free markets exist. They have, for their entire lives, lived under a socialized and centralized economic system, and so, blaming “free markets” for their financial woes is like blaming Tasmanian Tigers for the death of their Chihuahua. The same goes for conservatism. When people wail against the crimes of George W. Bush and the possible return of a “conservative” presidency, I always point out that Bush was not a conservative, and that there hasn’t been a legitimately conservative GOP since before they were born.
The Republican Party has already delved into the realm of centralized despotism as much as the Democratic Party has. Its only salvation now is to reverse course back towards limited government and freedom, not continue into federalized oblivion.
Lie #4: The Liberty Movement Had No Influence On The Elections Whatsoever
As I have shown, proponents of constitutional values have indeed swayed particular elections, at least at the state and local level. Therefore, the assertion is meant to inject disinformation in pursuit of a particular end. Strangely, I heard this argument all throughout the primaries and up until the week after Obama declared victory; the argument that our movement does not matter and will never gain tangible momentum. And yet, all through the primaries up until the day before elections the Neo-Cons were either courting us with gifts, goodies, and offers of a “place at the table”, or attacking us viciously as “traitors to our own ideals” whose non-participation was akin to a “vote for the Antichrist (Obama)”.
Now, my question is; if the Liberty Movement doesn’t matter, then why were GOP cronies so desperate to convince us to vote party line?
Why did they feel the need to regurgitate the “lesser of to evils” argument over and over again? Why did it matter to them if we voted for Romney, or voted third party, or didn’t vote at all? If our influence is so miniscule, then why invite Liberty Movement representatives like Rand Paul or Sherriff Mac to cheerlead for the “guy who will drive the bus off the cliff slower”? Why try in a grade school manner to shame us into setting aside our principles? Why not simply ignore us and let us wallow in our own “obscurity”.
I see two possibilities…
First, that the Liberty Movement has grown strong enough to encompass a sizable mass of voting power, at least large enough to ensure that many GOP candidates will win or lose by a particular margin. That margin may be thin and we may not yet be in a position to launch our own party, but without us, they know they are likely to fall short, and this problem is only going to grow as time passes. They court us, or attack us, because they realize they cannot win despite us.
Second, if you subscribe to the well documented idea that elections, at least at the federal level, are entirely staged (which I do), then you might ask yourself again why the GOP elite were grasping for the Liberty Movement to relinquish for the sake of defeating Obama. If Obama and Romney are essentially the same monkey, the same exact errand boy for the same exact globalist puppeteers, then what the hell do they need our vote for? Romney wins, and they get what they want. Obama wins and they get what they want. Unless…what they really wanted was our participation in the farce.
That’s right, perhaps the greater purpose of the endless lesser-of-two-evils charade was to see if the establishment could convince us to compromise our conscience and be drawn back into the game. Maybe, just maybe, it was all a test, of you, of us, to discern how much of the Liberty Movement could be conned or swayed with moral relativism. Perhaps the death rattle of the Republican industrial complex was due to the one thing that the media will never spotlight in a 60 minute primetime special; the fact that the majority of the burgeoning Liberty Movement refused to sell out, proving that the GOP is no longer effective at keeping us reigned in or co-opted. The GOP is dying and we are thriving. Whether or not the two are related, I leave for you to decide…
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That's a class-A argument you got there - " I just skimmed it". In other words you didn't really read it, you saw what you wanted and jump to your own preset conclusions. Bye bye.
Good post, great points.
More bilge ... even dictators are in favor of liberty, what is a 'Liberty Movement'? Who is to judge one person's liberty against another's? I can't walk down the street in front of my house b/c the street has been 'gifted' to the auto industry for its own profit. Where is the liberty?
Where is the liberty from constant, non-stop advertising? Where is the liberty to not subsidize heavy industries with claims lodged as liabilities against any funds I might earn ... without my input or permission?
The GOP is obsolete because it is without anything to offer other than whatever its big-business masters tell it to offer.
The Tea Party is obsolete because it became the sock-puppet of the petroleum industry/Koch brothers rather than an independent force with its own agenda. The TP could have orchestrated some accountability in the finance industry and a cleanout of the K-Street lobbyists but they immediately jumped into be with the cash cows. They are all cowards and many of them are gone. Good riddance.
Not enough libertarianism? Yr kidding, right? The US has been run from top-to-bottom and beginning-to-end for-by- and about the gigantic corporation as soon as there were gigantic corporations. Prior, the US was run for-by-and about aristocrats and associated 'gentlemen', money-lenders and buccaneers disguised as businessmen. Nobody in the governent has ever gone to bat for ordinary citizens. The libertarians want to dump the citizenry into the shark tank with business predators: Darwinism in the guise of greater efficiency.
The voters said, "no thanks!"
Efficiency has gotten the world into its current jam now: efficiency isn't liberty it isn't anything: a sugar coated turd is still a turd.
Yep, that pretty well sums it up...
Outstanding thinking, as usual---this site needs more posters like this.
Mit Romney was an efficiency expert, a predator pretending to be a religious person. What would Jesus say to a Liberty Movement scoundrel?
Obama and the socialists will offer you plenty of liberty as long as you tow the Marxist line. You will have the liberty to walk within your slave-cave. No political party can offer freedom; that is done through the Constitution and the Bil of Rights.
It is "toe the line" and you seem to imply that it is a "Thin Red Line"....
Now back to your regurgitated nonsense....
No political party can offer freedom; that is done through the Constitution and the Bil of Rights.
No! Those documents merely acknowledged that people had rights.
We are BORN with rights. Governments ONLY take them away. The Constitution attempted to limit the theft.
Wrong, you are born with nothing and what passes as Liberty is a *social* convention...
The idea of inalienable rights is purely a philosophical construction...
And if you do not live by an ethical code, such as a philosophical construction, then you are nothing more than a common criminal set out to steal that which is not yours.
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT AND IF THAT IS TRULY THE CASE THEN...
How do you live with yourself without ethics?
How can others live around you and be certain that you will not violate them?
Are you arguing or agreeing with me? It would appear to be the latter...
Jonathan Haidt has added liberty to the list of moral spheres.
The spheres now consist of: harm, fairness, liberty, community, authority, and purity.
That indicates that liberty is an innate behavior, not a *social* convention, like using chopsticks.
The level of your liberty is a social convention...
Please explain how it can be anything but...
Hint: What is to stop me if I wish to impose upon you my vision of liberty?
Social conventions are behaviors like shaking hands, using chopsticks, and curtsying - they are learned.
Liberty falls into the category of morality - it is innate.
Social conventions don't evoke high dudgeon, where as morality does because it is hard wired.
Let's see what the Liberty movement has to say about Lindsey v. Normet!
I think it had more to do with running an out-of-touch, 1%er, unpersonable white guy whose strongest supporters were the social conservatives, comprised primarily of old white people who are unable to adapt to social changes such as abortion and gay marriage and who, being brought up in a white dominated society, feel uncomfortable with minority peoples.
That and the fact that most Americans do not even know their multiplication tables let alone understand how the economy works.
Again; if someone is selling me a line, I want to know who they are, and who paid for it. Pinning down exactly who Brandon Smith is, is a rather slippery beast.
Of course, his blog doesn't list a CV, but I can instantly see:
To point this out to the masses, Oath Keepers is organizing a joint effort along with Alex Jones of Infowars dot com (who himself called for an Occupy the Fed movement); Steven Vincent of End The Fed; Danny Panzella’s Truth Squad TV; Brandon Smith of Alt-Mkt.com; Gary Franch of Restore The Republic; and others as quickly as we can contact them.[source]
Showing the networking going on, and this is indeed confirmed by Alt-Market. Anything allying itself with InfoWars raises an eyebrow [it's called manufactured dissent, dears[1]], but let's start cutting into the meat of this.
He appeared at the SaveAmericaConvention in 2011 [source], which is a very political beast: "“Invited speakers” include Rush Limbaugh; Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; Florida resident and likely 2012 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee [LOL!]; Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale; and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.", and is itself funded well by the Evangelical side of America: "We first covered the Save America Convention and the 501(c)(4) behind the event, the Save America Foundation, back in January, but since our first story, the event has picked up a handful of new sponsors, among them the Constitution Party, One Nation Under God U.S.A., The John Birch Society and Personhood Florida."[source]
So, he's at least playing in the park with Evangelical money, which raises my hackles a little: they're really not known for that whole "small Government" thing, given they want to make Religion part of it.
Cutting back to the story: his initial project "neithercorp.us" was killed off in 2010 (by "hacking") and currently is non-existent. It's listed as being formed in 2007; if I was interested, I'd track down his co-founder. I've an "in" to where Mr Smith comes from, but back to the present: 6 months ago, he formed a Safe Haven project in Montana, of which getting information is difficult, even for Alt-Market forum members. So, I'm left poking into enclave doomers in Montana: Which is fine if you want to do that kind of thing, and I hope everyone has fun & is happy, but it's really not representative of what's going on Nationally in the Republican party.
So, back to the start. Who is Brandon Smith? (aka Giordano Bruno ~ interesting Alter-Ego there, and quite telling). 2007 is the start of his web prescence, and he self-identifies as 'discovering his path' in 2004. I'm left looking at Brandon Smith, “Liberty and Happiness in Modern Economics and Economies” (Spring 2007) from Texas Christian University. Not a lot of data from there, but I suppose I could contact Robert F. Garnett, Jr. to check.
But, at this point: He looks like a Christian Fundamentalist Doomer against the Globalists. Which is fine, but not really my game. And trust me; not a huge impact on the GOP, barring small localised impacts of the Tea Party, which (as we saw in 2012), were swiftly chewed up & spat away.
Be Seeing You.
[1]Those wanting more data on InfoWars, could look here. Looks well-researched at any rate. Tin-foil hats are a go!
>>>Christian Fundamentalist Doomer<<<
Yep. He's on the losing end of the Culture War. The Reps only used the Christian Right Wing to bolster the party and keep the agenda going for the truly wealthy back in the 1980s. That Raygun demographic is dying-off in droves.
Eventhough he is "young" he's of the same mindset as the rest of them headed for the graveyard.
I can't say Fundamentalism has a future, no (and indeed, I think the Rapture crowd will be happy if this is correct). I also find it ironic that he ended up in "Kali - Spell", but I've a rather twisted sense of humour.
Now that we have a uni-party system, don't tell them that it's the system that is dying. Let them enjoy their final moments in peace.
www.tradewithdave.com
I was only going to give the article a 3, until I hit the last two paragraphs.
Team Red Team Blue. Same owners. No matter how much you spend for tickets and trinkets, no matter how good your seats are, or how hard you cheer, they always seem to win.
The only way they lose is if the fans refuse to show up for the game.
Well, whoodathunkit...
I actually heard something intelligent coming out of a Repub congress-critter today regarding Medicare. He would require Living Wills if you are a Medicare recipient...
A Republican Congressman wanted Medicare to pay for a separate End of Life/Living Will discussion with a patient's doctor. It was to be included in the intial Health Care Reform Act.
Tea Party Fucks went nutz claiming Obama was trying to pull the plug on Granny. Remember that?
All the Rep. Congressman wanted to do was give Seniors the opportunity to discuss their options with their primary care provider when they were well and luciid rather than having to make a decision when ill and undergoing treatment.
It was a good idea regardless of where it came from, but Obama got burned by Tea Party Fucks on it.
Yep.. could not have summarized it better...
Blame the conservative media shills for the outcome on this one...
Well, fuckity fuck, fuck fuck FUCK. There, i feel better now, thank you!
The faster the fake "opposition party" GOP dies, the better. If they truly were the opposition, they'd announce that they're taking a page from that paragon of courage, Illinois State Senator Obama, and will vote "present" on any and all bills that the President wants via the Democratic Party. Stop playing "bad cop," stop giving that Madow dude a scapegoat for the failures of the King. Give them EVERYTHING and make them own the results for once.
'Course, the official state media will just run Kardashian asses 24/7 then to hide the rust and mold.
Agreed, and I get tired of the statist republicans treating libertarian voters as their entitlement because at least on paper they sometimes say things that might be conservative.
So, yes, the republican party is a rotted tree, and the sooner we saw it down and plant a liberty seedling, the better.
Much as I wish it were true, I think the author over-states the american appetite for liberty and critical thinking. I do agree that the republican party has always been statist since lincoln--the ultimate statist hero. The facism--corporatism--is indistinguishable from the democrats, and the only true distinction between democrats and republicans is the issues that fundamentalist christians get hepped up about: Gayness as being something the government ought to do something about, and abortion.
As far as gayness goes, I consider it the largest non-issue one can imagine, both for and against. And everyone agrees that abortion is an awful thing, but cheer or lament abortion rights in the mooted vacuum created by the supreme courts first trimester protection.
I used to say the republicans are slow learners on matters of fiscal discipline and statism, but I think it was naive of me to think they had any interest in these matters at all. Obama's re-election seemed to be disappointing to even those who voted for him, as they just signed up for more of the same, and if a joker like obama can get re-elected given his track record and debate performance, then there is no doubt in my mind that the republican party has indeed achieved irrelevence by being anti-abortion democrats and war mongers.
The republicans are so far left that I took obama's re-election as a mild disappointment, rather than 4 years of profound disappointment as romney would put the 'conservative' stamp on so many liberal issues--as I did with reagan, a couple of bushes.
"Liberty" is now impossible under the Patriot Act and other laws passed into the American Police State. If you look closely at all the laws passed after 9/11, you will see a President and Government that hold the legal basis to impose a control mechanism nearly equal to Stalinism. Simply giving a President the right to designate anyone, even an American citizen, to be an "enemy of the people" "i.e. A known supporter of terrorists" and allowing said president the right to order a targeted killing or to order arrest and rendition into a secret torture prison system in foreign nations and to allow by law torture to get a confession, to hold Americans in secret forever and to forfit all legal prtections under the law, etc. etc., well, this constitutes Stalinist powers.
Now our great congress passed these laws without a peep of discontent. Mr. Bush was first granted absolute power of life an death over every American, this same power was passed on to Obama and recently given even more strength.
Our president holds the power to act on his own overseas as well. He has the absolute power to bomb anyone in any nation at any time. The only limit on a presidents power to bomb at will is the individual anti aircraft forces of any given nation. Thus you see Russia busy upgrading their missile networks and building a new super high tech tracking system dependent on tracking all electronic emissions. Putin at least knows the power a US president claims, He alone seems prepared to shoot down the US killer drones if they ever deploy over his nation.
Our local police use a so called "war on drugs" to arrest and put in prison literally a million or more Americans. Private companies profit from running parts of Americas new Gulag system. A million various laws and regulation exist which no average human could ever keep track of and comply with on a daily basis. Thus government can ALWAYS find a law or regulation that YOU have violated. So if you voice discontent or make yourself unpopular with the local powers that be, they ALWAYS have a means to arrest you.
We could go on and on with this, but the point as regards Republicans is that THEY have gone along with the new police state, they support expanding it. They owe alligance to a foreign power and even stand in congress and proclaim that Americans owe this single nation loyalty, money, weapons and our unquestioned support, if we voice disagreement with this foreign power's control over US law and US foreign policy, we risk being officially designated a terrorist. In the field of military actions and foreign policy, we as Americans are held hostage to a foreign power. All the police state powers of the US government can be brought to bear on any American refusing to proclaim loyalty to this foreign nation.
In short, we are a Stalinist state, we just simply are moving to take away all freedoms at a slower rate than a mad dictator like Stalin, but rest assured, we are now in a legal state that allows the powers of a dictator over citizens life, liberty and property. We are slaves to an elite that uses government to enforce their power, and TOO often the regular main stream republican party is complicit in this. Especially as it regards War Mongering, War on Drugs, Police State Laws, and anti Israeli sentiment. There are a million crimes we could be charged with and in many cases not even know we are violating the law. That is a Police State.
We are spyed on on a minute by minute bases. Just google the NSA and see what the government is up to. To them, a Liberty Movement" is just another name for "Enemy of the State".
Sorry, but hardcore liberals can also be right about what's wrong with the Republican Party. Maybe you oughta listen to us. In fact, we can also see what's wrong with the Democratic Party, and they don't seem to give a shit about what liberals think either.
Most of us are finally waking up and realizing this particular two-party system is a sham, an illusion of democracy. The oligarchy will decide which people are allowed to run in primaries, therefore whoever ends up running for office is A OK with them. Just try to get taxes raised on corporations or the the top .1% and see what happens. Just try to trim the waste out of the defense budget and see what happens. Just say you want fairness in the Israeli-Palestinian issue and see what happens. You're run out of town on a rail.
When Republicans admit, out loud, they represent business interests and the top 2%, and that's about it, maybe they'll start winning. Until then, they'll just be liars. And the alternative we have are lying conservative Democrats who are ready and winning to serve the oligarchs.
Amen -I've always considered myself conservative -I like Reagan, Buchanan and Ron Paul - but I'd give a liberal a chance if I knew he was telling the truth and not just a phony mouthpiece for the banksters. I'd vote for Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader or Dennis Kucinich over a lying elititist neocon Republican. Too many Republicans are gullible and naive. Democrats aren't any better.
let's use the word THRIVING when they are in power and reducing my taxes and getting rid of obamacare and reducing and or eliminating a few dozen federal agencies, thanks in advance
Smith writes, "The GOP is dying because it no longer supports or nurtures the progress of true and traditional conservative values or the people who hold them." OK, but the GOP hasn't supported or nurtured, ha that's a good one, traditional conservative values since Eisenhower. So why is it dying NOW? Why didn't it die off back in the 70's with Nixon or better yet the 80's with Reagan.
Smith goes on to write, "If Obama and Romney are essentially the same monkey, the same exact errand boy for the same exact globalist puppeteers, then what the hell do they need our vote for?" Because while they are both beholden to ruling elites, they are beholden to different ruling elites much like the difference between Gorbachev and Brezhnev. While it is commendable that young people partake in political discussion and put their analysis out there for review, it does seem like Smith hasn't really done the homework that would have made this a better article. Sometimes smart stundents feel like they can get away with skipping out on hitting the books but it is almost always blatantly obvious.
Rand Paul 2016. The wildfire of liberty is only getting stronger each day. 2012 was a great election for the liberty movement as the liberty delegation picked up several seats.
Too fuckin' funny...
The Liberty Movement is not a 'Movement' and it can never be one because at its core is liberty. Liberty of thought and action brings diversity and as history continually show us ... might is ascribed to the united. The Liberty Movement is also doomed because of a desire for purity of thought and any violation leads to ostracism, yet because of diversity of opinion, unanimity is unattainable.
The 'Progressive Movement' is a successful 'Movement', because although there is considerable difference of opinion, it is subservient to the overall objective of gaining power to rule ... which they have since 2008 (thanks to G. Bush and his insane support of Neo Imperialism, debt expansion, and conservative hypocrisy).
To be successful, we must be united in purpose (just as the Progressives), we must be accommodative to differences of opinion, and we must stop attacking are allies.
Hilter was defeated only when the Free-World united with the Communists to defeat an even bigger threat. Today the Progressive Movement stands united to kill Liberty for a generation ... we must unite to defeat it, for united we stand, divided we fall.
"the only people left in this country who actually (insert sweeping unsubstantiated generalization here)"
I didn't read the whole thing, but my analysis is that the tea party was destroyed not by neocons, but by adoption of social conservatives platorm, and also highjacked by big money kock brothers. I used to support the tea party a great deal, am a democrat, but watching it get destroyed that was it.
After the destruction o the social conservatives movement (ralph reed) and in order to give it a non church face, those olks moved.
It's also more comples, and I think the analysis in what's the matter with kansas is spot on. the party has become a lobby group o the 0.5%, in 9order to attract more voters they go or stupiid social issues.
I they got out of personal live issues, then were honest conservatives they would do ine. but they are paid to represent the 0.5%, and until that money dependency is broken up a bit....
also much of their economic philosophy isn't supported by the data.
not that dems are better. But the party just tells lies
I understand what you have said, but a grass roots movement that relies only on grass for movement is doomed.
The original Tea Party was a bunch of 1%ers getting together to poke the King in the eye.
Gee Whiz,
Imagine that people in favor of a small limited power govt. that is fiscally responsible and doesn't spy on, or indefinitely detains or kills it's own or other nations citizens might possibly not think exactly like I do on every single possible issue...
Oh, the horror. Let's burn them and complain that nobody represents us.
Jesus himself could run for President and there would always be that certain bunch that agree with everything he was for, but would complain about some people who support him that seem to think he was a little bit more than a sensible candidate and reject him as not 'the right type'.
Hot tip: There ain't never gonna be a Dudley Doright tall enough for the Polly Purebreds stuck in cartoonville.
The abysmal choice between the two recent candidates only emphasize my point that much work needs to be done to get better candidates on the ballot otherwise we can always get worse ones by doing nothing.
And I believe they can get a lot worse.
I am a lifelong conservative and Republican so it pains me to say that both will never be a majority in our country again...until the shit hits the fan. The progressives (read 'Socialists') have done an extraordinary job of moving the poitcal and philosophical bar to the left in our country over the last 40 years; and right under the noses of self absorbed rich white dudes. I see several problems with our party and platform: 1. Many of the people the party hoists up to the voting platform are duds and representative of the worst of the party (think Akers...) and are used by the left to reinforce unfounded stereotypes of the rest of the party,2. Conservatives have a value system that teaches them to fight fair - liberals are not burdened by these boundaries, 3. The left was much better at forging voting coalitions by making last minute promises (that they are not keeping) or lying and they have used the ignorance of the people who support them against them. I will say it again, Barack Obama and his cronies do not give shit about the little guy, it's about power masked in a charade. Tax increases on the rich score brownie points with the masses while achieving little practical results. The promises to support gay marriage were empty...now he is saying it is up to the states. Where is his immigration plan? America has gone from being a country of self reliant rugged individuaists to a country of sloth and greed. No good will come from this. My personal feelings are let's let them destroy it, then we can rebuild it stronger with conservative support.
Top Five Reasons Why Obama Is Not A Liberal:
1) Military budget increased under Obama
2) Obama has deported more illegal immigrants per month than Bush
3) Instead of Single Payer, we get corporate crony friendly Obamacare
4) Due process has continued to be attacked
5) Corporate welfare expands under Obama
http://www.policymic.com/articles/13232/top-5-reasons-obama-is-not-a-tru...
I would add that the War on Drugs has been stepped up under Obama, with more medical marijuana dispensaries being raided than under Bush.
Spooz, I guess you had better define at a liberal is exactly.
One of the first, if not the first article that this guy posted on ZH was a piece about how poor people shouldn't be allowed to vote. This is all you need to know about this guy and his type of mindset.
No one should be allowed to vote to take anothers property or liberty.
The mob always condones killing and stealing.
It's how they feel powerful, it gives their lives meaning and all they have to do is lower themselves to the level of an ant in an ant colony.
Voting to take something of any value from somebody that doesn't belong to you in the first place is legalized theft.
We shouldn't be talking about what taxes are fair and who should be paying them. What we should be talking about is repealing the 16th amendment!!!! Whenever one of these fucks at the county, state and federal levels want to spend money, they should be coming to us with hat in hand and asking for a loan. We conduct a credit check on the government person who is asking so that WE can ascertain their ability / character to pay us back, and make them settle their loan before they can ask for another loan.
Oh yeah....something else UNIONS.... Private unions, No problem.... PUBLIC UNIONS ON THE OTHER HAND SHOULD BE OUTRIGHT BANNED AND OUTLAWED. the shenanigans these fools do are TREASONOUS.
It is THEE "who have taken the mojo out of the GOP"?? Ha ha ha...! I hardly think so... Why oh WHY are you all so insufferably self-righteous, Fact-Free Faux Freedom Fighter...? Where's yer women? Huh? With all your nitwit whining about Oppression and Stripping of Liberties, you'd think you'd have more recruits from the phew!-man-that-was-CLOSE-vag-probe refugees.
The Republicans threw away the senate with no help from the "liberty movement." In 2012 the two old white guys talking about rape, in 2010 Chistine O'Donnel, Sharon Engle and the westling chick in CT, all three of whom were clearly less fit to be senators than an honest half of the voters over 30.
That's 5 seats, and the dems only have 53. You gold bugs claim to do math.
the GOP is dying because Boehner can't say anything coherent to Americans because he's got some 2 percenter's dick in his mouth
If you've ever worked in IT, you've seen cases where a database was corrupted so subtly and gradually that by the time anyone noticed, all the backups were corrupted as well. Same here. The USA has absorbed so much socialism in the last hundred years that there's not much else for "conservatives" to conserve. While we bicker over which backup tape to restore (i.o.w. how far to turn back the clock), the Democrats fearlessly push forward into the glorious socialist future.
"...The word “journalist” has today become synonymous with “whore”..."
what an understatement - they are actually newsfakers under control of the cia who spew forth abominable lie after abominable lie....
the gop is full of neocon blood thirsty war mongering totalitarian freaks just as is the democrat party....they are jealous from the last election because they did not have a foreign born non-usa citizen in the white house....
the gop is party of bush, cheney, rumsfeld, rove and the other murderous reptiles of 9/11 crimes against humanity...
I guess Zerohedge has abandoned any pretense of not being partisan in its politics.
Just read "Submitted by..." as "Paid for by...", it'll make things a lot easier to parse. Added to that is Page Views - a topic like this is a sure-fire 100% page click bonanza. which is revenue.
ZH would be dumb to turn down the free revenue / exposure, plus everyone can get gnarly in the comments.
I'm sure even Greens could submit things to ZH, although I can imagine the voting score on it, sadly.
IMHO the conservative Christian vote was diluted by the alikeness of the two candidates. But one thing is certain, I think a lot of conservative Xians have been shocked and put off of politics forever, bec they had the wrong values, supposing politics was something to place their hope in. You become a whore to put your faith in men, I don't care who it is. Conservatives are retiring, getting out of politcs bec they see that the answer is on a more personal, human, one to one level.
Good article...agree with a lot of it.
In the end it comes down to this:
Either you adapt, or you die out. Right now the GOP isn't adapting at all and is infiltrated by a lot of crazy people (Aiken, Palin, etc) who are such a turnoff to sane people they can't possibly win in the medium to long term. Until they kick those crazies out true conservatives don't stand a chance. Why? Because as it turns out those crazies scream a lot louder then them...so the image the GOP has at the moment is that of a party of crazy people (aka "the world is 6k years old", "climate change isn't real", "women can shut down their vagina during rape", etc.) and racists (anti-immigration rethoric, thinly veiled racism towards blacks/latinos, etc.).
The comments they make about the subjects above are so batshit crazy and offending that it doesn't matter if they're economic policies make sense. If you saw a guy standing on Times Square giving a speech about the economy...and he ended it with "tomorrow it's going to rain frogs and giant pigs will roam the skies"...well, robs him of all credibility, and it's exactly what the GOP suffers from at the moment.
Cliff notes: Throw the crazy people (Bachmann, Palin, Aiken, etc.) out of the party!
Hey, Hey, Can I join ,
Hey, Hey Goodbye,
Hey Hey, I'm having a Movement,
Hey, Hey, wipe three times and say Goodbye
Also, all the guys who pretend to be "fiscally responsible" while promoting massive increases in defense spending (as Romney did for example) should be kicked out...if indeed being fiscally responsible is a conservative value (which I'm still not buying given overall spending has increased more under GOP leadership than democrats), I don't understand why they should be in the GOP in the first place.
So if they want to be taken seriously they have to stop being hypocrites ;)