I’m Afraid Sarah Palin Might Be Ruining Herself Unintentionally

Third Street

…but I’m gonna say it anyway.

The tea-party movement has been showing disturbing signs of coalescing into a third-party movement. This particular carnival sure sounds like another step in that process. And I have never trusted the self-described “maverick” Sarah Palin, who already flaked out on her office, was instrumental in disposing of the guy who would now be our 41st senator, and has otherwise made too many independent-sounding noises for my taste, not to bolt the GOP and run under a Quixotic third-party banner in 2012.

I’m serious. Watch her closely.

Dan Perrin

I sent in my $200 and am still waiting for my $450,000.

I can’t figure out what happened.

http://vbushmills.blogtownhall.com/ vassar

…so, don’t back away. Good instincts. You’re right, it smells, and maybe you should call Sarah’s people and let them know personally. (You can also find out a little about how they do business there.)

We wrote a while back that the personal vanities underwriting many movement organizers would turn acrimonious and personal, at the local election level, as well as the media level. That was always the bottom-up, tea party movement;s biggest hurdle, moving over local stuff into a coalesced army with a single, and understood mission.

This is why I invited you to go bigger…if you can. You have the right instincts. Keep your eye on the rpize, which now, is activism.

I’m worried less about Sarah tying herself to a loose cannon, than the loose cannon beginning to define the grassroots movement.

Fallon

If it turns out to be too weird, there are lots of things to do and see in Nashville.

I’m going to take a chance that this will be something of consequence, if not, I’m spending my money before the government takes it.

Seriously, I’m tired of getting cold feet and backing away from taking chances. I want to hear what others have to say. I am not a “leader” nor am I affiliated with anyone or any group and THAT is the point.

I still support Palin in her endeavers, too. Meh. I can’t help myself. I like her.

http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

And have fun. Maybe I’m wrong on this one.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

but I do think there are people out there trying to hijack the Tea Partiers into the Campaign for Brain Spiders Liberty or some other whack job third party movement.

mbecker908

First, and most important, you should have this diary vetted by the legal Eagles. You may be leaving yourself open to a libel action by the Nigerians.

Second, according to the NYT, Palin is now a Fox News Commentator.

mbecker908

Swamp_Yankee

I hate all these emails I get from Joe Blow and Joe Six-Pack, with these executive sounding titles. Who are you?

Its descending into mob status, but everyone loves it because everyone projects their own ideals upon the rest of the movement.

They only real truth is that they are a conglomerate united in their hatred of socialism and the Democrat controlled Congress and Obama.

But the populists, libertarians, theocons, paleocons, reformers, malcontents and other assorted parts of the movement are not going to coalesce into a united force with a united platform.

tankertodd

The tea party movement doesn’t need a leader. It doesn’t need a convention. And it sure doesn’t need to be a third party. Some of us got burned by the Reform Party disaster. If you want to be a tea party guy, you’re anti-government, and anti-establishment. Why do you immediately desire a national convention and a Dear Leader? The tea party is all about government LEAVING ME THE H3(( ALONE!!

4life

in D.C. on 9/12. Her appearance at this event will have no affect on me. In fact, I am so out of what is going on inside the movement that I didn’t even know about this event. Maybe the people who go will feel like they get their money’s worth if they get to see her in person, I don’t know. I’m sure there are many people like me who want to remain unorganized masses and will still be willing to show up and make their voices heard at the right time. So, in other words, as far as the tea party movement goes I doubt this will keep people from showing up in DC in September. If Sarah makes an awesome speech, it might help her. I like her, but I’m not sure I will vote for her in the primaries, if she runs.

Fallon

I sent Scott some $$$, too, but isn’t it up to me to decide how best to spend my money?

Vegas_Rick

You sure give her alot of credit. How does it feel to be consumed by irrational hate?

Vegas_Rick

Achance

jumped all over the Fed’s mau-mau campaign against him. Now you’re seeing the real Sarah Palin, the one I’ve long known. She’s going to the Tea Party thing for two reasons; it pays her a Helluva lot more than she’s worth and she’ll be the biggest fish in the pond. Sarah don’t like that competition stuff. You’ll note that Sarah Palin is already doing a much better job of dividing Republicans than Democrats; it’s her MO.

orangemtl

Erick,
I support your misgivings. I first saw some blurb on the convention and thought, “Wait: convention for what? And whom? And, what are they supporting or voting for?”
The problem with the Tea Party movement is its amorphous, disseminated structure. Its advanatge is its amorphous, disseminated structure. It’s ripe for scammers to turn it into a money generating device and thereby rob it of legitimacy. Wish I knew how to fix this; I do not.
I support Sarah P. I like her as a political figure. I do think she’s been stigmatized sufficiently to eliminate her from meaningful Presidential consideration: at least for 2012. Secretary of State, Senator, RNC Chair?
Sure. For now, she can get the message out on Fox (hooray!) and pick up some filthy capitalist lucre for her family.

Third Street

…that had the superstar Vice-Presidential nominee of the party not come out a week before the election with a statement that basically amounted to “vote against Ted Stevens” — legitimizing conservative discontent with Stevens and condemning him over a conviction that was later voided by the Holder Justice Department — instead of losing the election by one point, he’d be in the Senate right now and health-reform would have been dead a long time ago.

Very little doubt at all.

I’m not saying that Sarah Palin had malicious intent in throwing Stevens under the bus, any more than she would in running third-party. But as we’ve learned time and again, in very hard ways, being a “maverick” often has unintended consequences.

Vegas_Rick

She did not stand behind Stevens. Granted. But:

“You?ll note that Sarah Palin is already doing a much better job of dividing Republicans than Democrats; it?s her MO.”

Where has she attacked other Republicans? It seems to me it’s the Republican elite back-biters like Scmidt, Noonan et al, who are drumming up the divisions.

Vegas_Rick

Stevens is just the kind of “inside the belway” “old-time” senators that this site rails against. He was one of the kings of pork. Great for Alaska.

He wasn’t convicted in the trumped up charges by the Dems. But remember it was the Dems who trumped up the charges, not Palin.

If we had 41 votes, I think it would give Snowe or the other squish cover to be “bipartisan.”

http://rgeorgedunn.blogspot.com R. George Dunn

As the dust settles from the opening salvo of Teaparty one, certain of us have emerged as the leading Ships. Let our Quest fill these sails.

Sarah should be getting the fair share to carry on the Quest in her part. Motels charging that much per night are not for the Quest. Bring down the room price and raise it for Sarah & others in the Quest.

Just this week in Michigan, we have two protests at the Auto Show, one today by Eric Odom and another on the 16th by the 912. With unity we find strength.

From my view, Patriot Caucus and Independent Caucus have strength in the Quest. ICaucus is vetting candidates to identify Patriots for the primary. Get yours done or find one who is a Patriot to run. WE cannot vote for the Quest without a Patriot Candidate~

jtkell100

Erick and all you people that seem so worried about Sarah and the Tea Party movement look back at what they have accomplished. We will be OK if you don’t worry too awful much. We will just keep proding along, donating and electing good conservative people. Try real hard not to worry very much about Sarah either she seems to be holding her own and dowing well. Just get used to it.

http://www.bearcreekledger.com toni100

but I’m not for the Tea Party movement to become a third party. I have absolutely no issue with Sarah getting the $100k for this appearance. I’m more concerned for the damage this TP group could bring on the whole movement. There’s a lot of egos involved here and I live in Nashville’s back yard and am not attending. The $$ should have been lower and better priced if the correct venue had been selected. However, it wasn’t and the price is what it is. I’ve got better ways to spend that money. The people running this are not bad or money grabbers, they are out to make a name for themselves it seems to me.

Fallon, Nashville is a great area and you can always head downtown if you get bored. If you want to give a hollar to me, please do. But I’m sure you’ll meet lots of great people at the conference.

jdaman

Sarah Palin has joined Fox news as a political contributor. It’s the main story over on Fox.

california_red

Ted Stevens exemplified exactly what was wrong with the Republican party. To single Sarah out for and blame her actions towards Stevens as the cause of the heatlhcare debacle is silly. The Republican brand was damaged in 2008 because of guys like Steven’s I would rather see a principled stand against corruption and the “power at all costs” mentality.

Tbone

should be there to encourage whoever shows up to attenuate to conservative Republicans as their “Third Party”. Thank God Palin is providing some Republican context to whatever is going on there.

Either smart Republicans or nut jobs will seize the tea party energy. Who do you think it should be?

Section9

But there is no way Palin could have suspected that the D’s could have penetrated the BUSH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. Nor is Palin responsible for the bad blood between McCain and Stevens. Stevens LOOKED guilty. Sarah could not have known at the time that the evidence was fabricated by Democratic operatives.

I’m sorry, but no sale. Further, you can’t place the extreme unpopularity of the hapless Frank Murkowski, who was feckless enough to put his daughter in the Senate when there were plenty of more qualified veteran Republicans around (and I’m not thinking of Palin here) and the 2006 edition of the Alaska Republican Party at the feet of Sarah Palin. The GOP had screwed the pooch. Big time. They imploded, like other Republicans all over the country in 2006, because they STOPPED BEING CONSERVATIVES.

Palin was, and remains, an ambitious Republican politician who took advantage of other Republican’s missteps and beat Tony Knowles and Frank in a fair fight.

If Sarah Palin can put Obama’s teeth on the sidewalk, she gets my support. If she can put a monkeywrench in National Socialist Care, she gets my support.

What’s past is prologue, I understand that. But it is also past.

Tbone

You are showing your ignorance or prejudice or both. Everyday that goes by reinforces that resigning was best for her, national Republicans, conservatives and even Alaskans.

To beat the dead horse of “flaked out on her office,” identifies you as having a Palin problem.

JadedByPolitics

……………

Third Street

I figure forty years in the Senate is more than enough no matter what party you’re from, and I’d have been happy to see Stevens lose in the primary.

But, as they say, you go to war with the army you have. This is especially true a week out from a general election in which things are already looking very bad for your party. Don Young hung on against all expectations, and I am convinced Stevens would have too had Palin not given him a nudge at a crucial moment.

Stevens may have been many things, but he would certainly have been a reliable vote against the socialist takeover of our country.

I’m not convinced one of our squishes would have spoiled things, either. Neither Snowe nor Collins nor any other Republican cast a single vote for cloture or passage of the health bill, not even once, which surprised the heck out of me.

Achance

She has plenty of blame for Stevens’ defeat. You guys see her as some Republican Savior. I see her as the Un-Republican; just like John McCain: every Democrat and reporter’s favorite Republican because they can use her to trash Republicans. You guys only knew her after she became the VP nominee and the Democrat press turned on her. I knew her when they loved her and fawned over her because she pursued Democrat agendae and passed anti-Republican legislation with Democrat votes. It’s all about Sarah and she can always find fools who don’t know anybetter to worship her.

Achance

Republicans. Sarah was revelling in it and calling for their beheading seriatim. One thing’s for sure; she’d never win another election in Alaska!

gekster

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/s000888/votes/against-party/

As allways, take with a grain of salt.

Achance

to deal with him, not the Un-Republican, a mau-mau, or Outside Republican purists. Left to Alaska, Ted would have been re-elected and then decided at some point to spend more time with his family and a Republican successor would have been appointed by a Republican governor. We have those Republican officeholders here, or at least we did until smartasses from the Lower 48 started fooling around here and Sarah the Rogue came on the scene.

10ksnooker

We have a few leaders around my place, but they aren’t trying to tell people what to do. They are setting up rallies, time and place, and counting on followers to show. So far it has worked fine. We have a local radio personality that keeps the word out there for us, and serves as an organizing force.

I think the best concept is to be a follower of the Beck type, unite on principles and values not on a leader. That way we can stand back when picking candidates and let the real Conservative rise up — As Rubio has done.

A good historical read is the history of the Apache Nation and how they organized on the Nant’an principle you lead if the people like what I am doing then they can be a follower.

It’s for sure Steele isn’t doing much to get the Republican party back to the small government personal freedom footprint. Not clear if he ever will.

I spent a lot of time in the last year flattening the global warming fraud, I believe this takes a lot of steam out of the need for people to obey their master, and pay needless taxes.

I think third party is not he way forward, and would likely not participate in that.

JadedByPolitics

Let us wait to see what occurs with the TEA Party Movement though I can tell you that WE The People don’t have much patience with THIEVES no matter the letter after their names or their methods for STEALING. They will be obvious and DERIDED and mocked. There is no NEED for a “leader” as WE one by one, vote by vote, dollar by dollar are LEADING the way for the Conservative Revolution.

Principles before Party!

SirGladiator

I don’t think there’s any virtue to being unorganized, or to ‘not’ providing leadership when the opportunity presents itself. Obviously the Tea Party movement has been largely unorganized, due to the fact that its so new and all, and of course theres always the danger that it could be ‘taken over’ by unsavory types. Thats all the more reason why good folks, folks like Sarah Palin and others who support her, should be organizing it and running it, effectively and properly on all counts. I wouldn’t be opposed to it forming an official party either, we saw how nice it was to have a Conservative Party on the ballot in NY a few months back, if there were only two parties in NY then we’d have Congressman Scozefavva today. A Tea Party party would naturally support good Conservative candidates for office, so mostly they would give an extra ballot line to Republican candidates across America, which would be quite helpful. And if/when the GOP nominates someone too liberal, they will run a different candidate, giving us somebody good to vote for, and giving the GOP a very good motivation not to do that . I think its just a win-win all the way around, so long as, of course, good folks like Sarah Palin and other good Conservatives are the ones leading it.

philbo

but I’ve been against having a Tea Party “convention” since I heard about it a few weeks ago. The biggest risk true grassroots movements face is the risk of getting hijacked along the way. That we Tea Party Patriots are spread out without a national leader is what makes gives us so much credibility. I am very leery of anyone who claims to speak for us. So far, Palin has not done this but Dick Armey, whom I support, comes close. Michelle Bachmann just doesn’t get it when she calls on us to help and then delivers us to the capitol steps at the feet of John Boehner and Eric Cantor.

All Palin has to do to wash her hands of any damage from attending this “convention” is to address the issue in her speech. Make it clear that this is not THE Tea Party and that the organizers and participants DO NOT speak for Tea Party protestors across America. On the other hand, it was constructive for her to have a reason to skip the CPAC event. She was absolutely right to skip that one.

jdaman

People need to be loyal to ideals more than certain people, loyalty to people can be betrayed, or used by the wrong person. Ideals on the other hand are more difficult to corrupt, although certain Ideals are corrupt in of themselves, like most of the Democrat ideals.

mbecker908

Hell, GWB did it, he just didn’t bother to leave office.

Bottom line, if the little blizzard in Juneau was enough to drive her out of the office she was elected to hold she wouldn’t last through her inaugural speech in the unlikely event she got nominated.

Hopefully we won’t have to address that in ’12 now that she has a sort-of job with Fox.

aesthete

Just not the lack of intelligence that would be required to think that a third-party bid would be successful. I think that she’s going to stay, more or less, in her current role as political celebrity/commentator: she’s found her niche, it’s made her very successful, and sacrificing it for a pie-in-the-sky chance at governing (which doesn’t seem to hold her interest) is a bad judgement call. Sarah Palin may be a lot of things, but from what I’ve read from people close to her, she’s not dumb.

Tbone

Scary, huh. LOL.

smagar

Good thing for you that Macon is landlocked; that will prevent their High Seas Fleet from laying siege to your home.

snopercod

We Tea Partiers have organized and protested and written letters until we are plumb tuckered out, with no discernible effect.

We all need some moral support at this point. Sarah understands that, even if RedState doesn’t. So what if it costs $600 plus expenses.

mbecker908

“national tea party” or whatever it is? What specifically are their goals? What sort of activism are they going to be involved in?

The issue here is that there is a possibility that some folks are hijacking the “movement”.

trutexan

I’m not sure what happened, but there was supposed to be a huge Tea Party event in San Antonio at the Hyatt Hillcountry Resort on Jan 23. Rumor has it that the event planners wouldn’t pay their bills – like no deposit at the Hyatt and refused to pay their event staff and re-pay promised event expenses put up front by folks who were working the event. The SATP site used to have Palin and Hannity pictures all over it and the movement was sending out emails like crazy encouraging attendance.

Now? Nothing. And no follow-up email talking about the cancellation and no indication of what will happen for those who bought tickets. Refund anyone? (crickets) This whole event is just flakey.

On top of that, the former leader of the SATP movement, who was kicked out of office, has sent out emails claiming conspiracy and there’s no transparency in what is done with funds…to the tune of $70,000 in donations yet the current leader pays themself checks in the amount of $1,200 for audio at meetings. Huh? I don’t know what’s going on, but it sure smells fishy. I’m with you Eric, if I was Sarah Palin, I’d stick with Fox and keep the Tea Party movement at arm’s length. Like you, I’m sure there are good hearted folks out there who are managing their local TP movements in a responsible manner. But with no formal rules or guidelines regarding the disbersement of funds, the chance of fraud with an original good intention runs high.

Achance

I’ve said that all along; any Republican is better than any Democrat.

Power_Pro

I think she intends to corral the Tea Party and woo them to the GOP.

Focus their passion and drive into something that will be effective.

JadedByPolitics

it started with those two IDIOTS on Twitter and anytime anyone tried to take “control” it has been a mess which is why Erick is saying “WATCHOUT”…..which goes back to what I say “WE don’t NEED no STINKING LEADERS” the truth is WE just NEED OURSELVES!

mbecker908

And no, it’s not particularly scary. What is scary is that she would give Obama another four years.

shadowtax

I honestly don’t know because I don’t watch. But if Sarah Palin attends, it will make news.

Maybe her star power can invigorate the grass roots while at the same time eclipse potential hijackers.

medamorphus

Tea Parites, Republicans, Rino’s and third parties and jumbled up. What must, like the Phoenix, rise up from all of this is Conservatism. We do not need a third party, that will destory our chances of winning. Conservatism is the biggest tent of all, we must swing the Republican party right and thus attract the so called “moderates” with our values. This is the winning combination. Look at the polls. 40% are Conservative, 36% moderate and 20% liberal. If we apply the same 2:1 ration to the moderate 36%, that means a strong Conservative should pull the 40%Conservate vote plus pull twice as much of the moderate vote as the liberals would pull. Do the math, that puts us in a very strong postion as long as we differentiate ourselves as Conservative. We have 2;1 advantage out the gate with this stance. When we move towards the middle,(McCain) we lose our loyal base of 40% plus lose more of the moderates, and we LOSE. Conservatism from the ground up and through the Republican party is the way to victory.

Berean

First, until governor Palin speaks on this all the hand wringing is premature.

Second, be careful on the sources. A lot of those upset at this show (when you read them) that the true core of their discontent is Governor Palin (rightly IMHO) declining to attend CPAC due to issues with management.

Third, she is also attending (gratis) the SRLC.

Her and Bachmann headlining a Tea Party leadership conference is a good start at getting the currently somewhat disorganized Tea Party movement more focused and organized so that it can actually achieve goals and not just protest things. And better it do that by influencing the GOP than by becoming a Third Party – something I think Bachmann and Palin help prevent by going to conferences like this one.

Jim Tomasik

the purse, Bill Hemrick who told Dave to “sit down and shut up.” Bad Idea.

It’s a fundraiser sham.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

“partying” indoors at their local Republican Party meeting and “party” inside the Party itself as precinct committeemen so they can be eligible to vote for the Party leadership and turn a half-strength, ideologically split party into a full-strength, conservative political powerhouse.

With HALF the precinct committeeman slots having been unfilled nationwide in the Republican Party on Election Day, 2008, the Republican Party is there for the taking by the conservatives who have taken the time and made the effort to go to Tea Parties and townhall meetings and other protests and gatherings.

They just don’t seem to know this. So I try to tell them.

Thank you.
ColdWarrior
No More Scozzafavas!

Raven

But if she ever wants to get back in the running for national office, she Has to win a statewide Alaskan office.

If she’s who I think she is, she’ll make that try in 2014 against Begich. If she isn’t, she won’t.

Raven

Consider the kind of pork Stevens would have loaded the health care bill with. I’m betting he’d have chased 4 or 5 Dems off the bill.

But then, Stevens is my bit of political hypocrisy. I’m a big fan of him in large part because of things I wouldn’t tolerate in the senators from where I live, let alone anywhere else.

katnandu

Sarah Palin working for a for profit enterprise to promote tea party activism in completely inappropriate! This is exactly what the tea party movement stands against ! Political self promotion for profit.

voteindy

I agree. I think the way Obama and the economy is going almost guarantees a GOP win in 2012….unless Palin is the candidate.

I hope she decides to stay in the media business.

Finrod

I’m calling shenanigans on that line, Art. Even RedState was fooled, you were one of the few here that weren’t, which I’ll give you credit for, but you can’t claim that everyone knew that Stevens was being railroaded, because it’s not true.

Raven

http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

I’ve recently read and heard much about the growth of the independent voter. Most people don’t have time to wonder about 3rd parties. They know neither republicans nor democrats deserve their vote but at the moment democrats are worse. I heard a pundit yesterday saying Massachusetts has a large number of independents who will sway the upcoming vote. NJ has a new governor who ran on the republican line, but the rep. party doesn’t exist in NJ. Same is true in Mass. If they stay out, possibly Brown can win. Governor Palin’s detractors on both left and right seem to use the same labels for her. I read here about Hannity’s posters along with Sarah’s in Texas. Hannity needs to decide either he’s going to support Sarah or he’s going to support Gingrich. He has no credibility supporting both. Not because one of them has to be president, but because Gingrich and anyone else who writes a book advancing global warming should be ridiculed and never spoken of again.

Achance

In Alaska every Republican knew that we were being railroaded. I’ve not much defended some of our officeholders here; some of them were just felony stupid, but the prosecution was a “give them a fair trial before the hanging deal.”

You might have noticed that I’m not the kind of guy who backs down, and I got in lots of people’s faces about this back when it was going on. Some people might have taken a look or at least accepted that there was some doubt.

But as to Palin, she was still walking in the world of Alaska politics in those days; none of you had ever even hear of her except in your most devoted political junkie moments. She was totally an Alaska politician and if she didn’t understand what was going on, she shoud have. I happen to believe that she did understand and chose to take advantage of it. It’s all about Sarah.

Finrod

However, at the time Stevens was being railroaded, it was fall 2008 and pretty much everyone had heard of Sarah Palin by that point– granted the vast majority hadn’t known of her for very long.

Tbone

Assuming you can actually think. We’ll see.

voteindy

LOL

Happy New Year Tbone.

Fallon

Now, you are sounding more like a Democrat. I hope you are trying to be funny.

Fallon

Thanks for the kind welcoming words. I can’t wait to hear the music in Nashville.

mbecker908

It’s Neil’s fault, they were supposed to automated.

traversecityconservative

I stick behind my original comment yesterday where I noted that Redstate is owned by a publishing firm that is co-sponsoring CPAC so Erick might be a little biased on the whole Tea Party Convention/CPAC issue. But I am willing to give Erick the benefit of the doubt if he can come up with facts to support his claims about the organizer/s of the Tea Party Convention. Otherwise, it is all hearsay and conjecture at this point. If you’re trying to protect Palin from a mistake, I give you credit but right now it just sounds like sour grapes. As for Palin, people need to quit judging her on what she is “supposed” to be doing. Some say she should be going to CPAC and not the Tea Party convention…and that she shouldn’t have resigned…and that she shouldn’t be working on Fox…Sarah is NOT status quo (using one of Barry’s favorite phrases). None of you like status quo so quit complaining when she isn’t.

ocleverone

Keep telling them.

Brian Hibbert

But I’m not willing to give you the same courtesy.

You are making anonymous posts accusing Erick of lying to you for monetary reasons, yet you don’t bat an eye at Sarah snubbing C-Pac in favor of a group that offered more money.

Achance

The FBI had been in Alaska after Republican officeholders since ’06. The “come apart” was one of the reasons I decided to retire on July 1, ’06; just no reason to be around. By ’07, people would cross the street rather than be seen around a Republcan elected or appointed official. Sarah Palin just piled on that. Every time somebody got indicted she was all over the news calling for their head. They’d been after Ted and Ben Stevens siince the beginning. You guys only heard about it when Ted came to trial.

I generally respect your opinion on here, but this is one where you really don’t know what you’re talking about.

mbecker908

I’m guessing virtually nobody here has much in the way of information.

bs

SteveLA

traversecityconservative

Sense we are making allusions about 30 pieces of silver, then you’ll be calling for Governor Palin to forgo any fee for speaking at the Tea Party Convention. Or maybe donate her speaking fee to Marco Rubio’s campaign or maybe Chuck DeVore out here in CA?

Right?

Brian Hibbert

but then remembered the posting rules and deleted them. Fill in your favorite term at the end of the 2nd paragraph…..

Beasley Beesmeal

great idea

nessa

The Tea Party Movement is a force to be tapped into and should remain local and generally disorganized. This kind of thing has been building since they started, hopefully this doesn’t get too ugly or stupid, it will only drive members of the silent majority who finally decided to come out of their shell and take part back into their shells. Never to be heard from again. We’re going to need them, for the election, for 2012 and for the final destruction of the progressive agenda.

aesthete

I am willing to give traverse the benefit of the doubt if he can come up with facts to support his claims about the contributors of Redstate.com. Otherwise, it is all hearsay and conjecture at this point. If you?re trying to protect Erick from a mistake, I give you credit but right now it just sounds like sour grapes. As for Erick, people need to quit judging him on what he is ?supposed? to be doing. Some say he should be endorsing this Tea Party convention?and that he shouldn’t have endorsed Rubio?and that she shouldn?t be working with Eagle Publishing?Erick is NOT status quo (using one of Barry?s favorite phrases). None of you like status quo so quit complaining when he isn?t.

Third Street

aesthete

badkarma6

Sarah just needs to have a nice career on TV and be done with politics. I agree with people around here on 99% of issues but Sarah Palin is an absolute idiot. She would be the absolute worst possible candidate I can imagine for Republicans.

Brian Hibbert

aesthete

leehedstrom

It can only hurt the Republican party if the Tea Party movement splits the party. We need a strong Republican party that is right of center, conservative, and has clear goals, and a stalworth mission statement. If the Republican party falters and becomes a second Democrat party they will reap a dismal future. Only an honest and forthright party with goals which seperate them from the Democrats will bring the Tea Party people into the fold. If the Republican party continues to go along with earmarks and allowing government to grow, they will feel the wrath of the Tea Party movement. Tea partyers are sick and tired of seeing their money wasted on programs and bureaucracy, therefore it is incumcant on the Republican party to prove their worth to those in the Tea Party movement.

abeldred

as it may gravely affect the outcome of the 2010 elections. I have been involved with the grassroots for a long time, organized tea party events, started a 912 group and am now trying to bring the grassroots to the GOP. I believe that is the avenue that must currently be pursued to achieve electoral success in November. The Tea Party is strong and has a great deal of support on the ground, but I would much rather see them do as the Progressives did to the Dems and usurp the current GOP and put into place those who are concerned (genuinely) with preserving the Constitution and American traditions and values. I do think that Palin is that kind of Conservative, but perhaps she feels more comfortable with the regular folks than the political elites who are often at CPAC. I won’t try to guess why she made the choice to go to Nashville for this convention. (Hell, maybe she just likes country music.) Sarah Palin likes to stir the pot, and maybe she’s thumbing her nose at the old guard because they, in many ways, have failed the people. The GOP needs to embrace the TP, and the TP needs to embrace the GOP. A meeting of the minds must occur if we are to defeat all that we face in this year’s elections.

http://stixblog.com Black River Wolf

I think many of the so-called Tea Party organizations pretty much going away from the original intent and using it for themselves to build themselves up.

As EE said, this is not all of them,, but some of the ones popping up out of nowhere where no one knows who is really behind the wheel.

warweaver

you’ve completely missed the point of both the original article as well as the previous poster’s response.

1. The article expresses concern that the organizers behind the NTP convention may not be what they’ve advertised themselves to be. The author appears concerned that Palin may damage herself if she participates in an event that turns out to have been run by contemptible opportunists. Nowhere does the article suggest that Palin is selling herself out to a dangerous splinter group that threatens to split the right wing – which would be bad for everyone (ie: take the 30 pieces of silver).

2. The poster you’ve responded to above simply restated that the redstate domain is owned, OWNED, outright, by a publishing outfit that he alleges will co-sponsor CPAC. That isn’t exactly a wild shot that nobody in his right mind would believe. However, it is critical information given the full context of what has been happening to the right wing over the last few months (the NY race; Rubio and the Crist rumors; the tea parties; the lurch to the right among vast swathes of white voters; etc). It is critical because, well, property owners tend to control who does and does not set foot on their land – I trust you grasp my meaning.

I thought the poster made a fair point. Do you always ‘deal’ with apparently reasonable criticisms by simply shooting its messengers in the head, execution style? I dunno, that sort of thing strikes me as precisely the sort of un-serious hackery that never leads to anything productive.

Brian Hibbert

Check the previous post traverscity mentioned. He outright accused Eric (sp) of attacking Sarah based on economic reasons. The term was “sellout”.

graciegirl

to start the 912 movement and to educate. However,I find myself cringing when he berates the Republicans as much as the Dems. My thought is that people will think there is NO place to go! Also I’ve read that he has hinted at a third party. Really.

Somewhere in all of his passion and telling it like it is there MUST be a place to bring the Tea Partiers to us…meaning the Republicans. We need them on our side! I’m sorry, with all of our faults I refuse to agree that we are ALL as bad as the Dems. We have some shining stars coming up. Please tell me I’m wrong about Glenn.

hickorystick

The Tea Party movement will be far more effective is it stays undefined. If their is something the political control freaks can’t stand, is unpredictability. Tea Parties should be able to show up wherever, whenever, for whatever when government is over-reaching. Once they are defined they can be planned for or neutralized. I for one would prefer the party number crunchers never to be sure when an old hippie, or young college graduate might be attracted to the Anti-Big Gov Xmas message and vote a Freedom Sucking Statist out.

aesthete

a question of whether or not Mrs. Palin chose the “Tea Party” conference over CPAC because they paid more (one whose answer doesn’t matter to me), so there is a parallel. A respectful reminder that Erick’s post is conjecture at this point is fine; Erick said as much in his OP. Ragging on established conservatives while at the same time proclaiming their candidate (who, lest we forget, has done very little so far in defense of conservatism as a practical matter) as above reproach is a different matter altogether. As you say, mindfulness concerning ownership of RS isn’t a bad idea, but is only being used by traverse to defend the notion that Sarah is right, and that Erick’s post is just “sour grapes”, which isn’t fair, given Erick’s fairmindedness, and his support of Palin so far.

nessa

He, like several other talk radio hosts, advocates registering as an independent. This isn’t bad in any way. It does send a message to the Parties that they do not represent the independents, they do not offer what the independents are looking for. I agree, the Republican Party doesn’t, as it stands today, represent me. I on the other hand chose a different route to voice my displeasure with my Party. I became a Precinct Committeeman. Now I have a voice in my local Republican Party, once thousands of others like me do the same, we will hijack the Party and it will represent millions of Independent voters, because we will have Principles and we will stand firm on those Principles. Check it out, you can do the same thing!! The Precinct Committeeman Project or read any comment or Diary by Cold Warrior, I think he’s the evil genius who dreamed it up.

langhorne

Palin is way too unstable on so many levels-

I fear a Glenn Beck movement where the GOP is splintered like Perot did back in the nineties..

conservatives must change the party from INSIDE THE TENT and not run quixotic campaigns which only elect liberals!!

every conservative should ruminate on that and do their best to spread the gospel that in this country there are only two parties, so we better make ours the best it can be and then go out and gain victories.

AceInTX

and stop acting like any Governor or politician wouldn’t have thrown him under the bus under the circumstances?

He was convicted…and every Republican was playing CYA in the “Party of corruption days.

It’s obvious after the fact that he was wrongfully convicted…but at the time…everyone outside Alaska thought he was guilty…

He isn’t a saint…and I’m glad he’s gone…the current situation sucks but he wasn’t a good example for us…I’ll NEVER forget his little temper tantrum on the Senate floor about HIS earmark…it’s Mine Mine Mine Mine Mine….WAAAAHHHHH…when the stripped his bridge to nowhere out of his bill….(I’m pretty sure it was the BTNW that I’m thinking of…I may have it mixed up with some other larded up piece of trash for Senator moneybags)

Did Palin Pile on…undoubtedly…were her motives pure and did she know he was innocent? Who knows…was she craven in the way she behaved…Art makes a good case that she was and if she knew he was innocent of the charges he was convicted on and she piled on the shame on her and I hope she Rots in hell if that’s the cas…but Stevens isn’t pure as the wind driven snow….and he never was!

AceInTX

http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

Florida,Nevada. I am PC in Florida, in less than a year after joining, I am now on the Board of my REC. Real Change, happens THIS way, trust me, I see it from inside and am proud to be part of making it happen.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

My dad was a precinct committeeman, city council member, county board member and chairman. I had the good fortune to grow up in a small town in Wisconsin where I saw how government actually worked — and in the 7th grade we had a semester of Civics — taught by an Army Reserve officer who later served as my Selective Service officer. When I finally landed in Arizona, I figured I was in “Republican heaven.” Wrong. When I became a PC, I soon learned that the Party was at less than one-third strength in the PC ranks in “Goldwater Country” — and split about 50-50 between conservatives and Limp Richards.

For decades, I thought donating to the Party and getting my nice little embossed card from the RNC meant I was “in” the Party. (While I was on active duty, of course, I was limited as to what I could do politically.) Helping on campaigns meant I was an “insider.” Wrong. The REAL power, as you know, lies in being a voting member of the Party.

After becoming a PC here in Arizona, I then come to Redstate.com and see Martin Knight’s post:

http://www.redstate.com/martin_a_knight/2009/05/05/the-committeeman-project/

Bingo. The Party, nationwide, is bereft of conservatives! What to do? RECRUIT CONSERVATIVES INTO THE PC RANKS! As you know, precinct committeemen ARE the Party.

This is how we take back the country. Take back the Republican Party. Through sheer numbers. It’s there for the taking (just read Martin Knight’s post and follow all the links!) by conservatives. We have the numbers. Do we conservatives have the wisdom and the energy? Time will tell.

We conservatives who “get” this strategy (it’s just common sense) must tell every other conservative. Because virtually no incumbent will. Because they are TERRIFIED that if the grass roots conservatives invade and take over the precinct committeemen slots they, too, will be tossed out in the primary election they MUST win in order to get on the general ballot.

The Tea Party/9.12/WeSurroundThem/TeamSarah/AsAMom/etc. type grass roots organizations are “target rich environments” for recruiting precinct committeemen because these folks are, overwhelmingly, conservative in their thinking and they want to “do something.” They just don’t know what to “do.” What they need to “do” is party politics. Most have never heard the term “precinct committeemen.” Want to see a beautiful sight? When, after you’ve explained the Precinct Strategy to a conservative at a Tea Party, the light bulb goes off in their mind and you can see it in their face.

The real power lies at local GOP meetings. Find yours. Go to it. Tell them you want to become a voting member of the Party. Fight for that right. THEN we will change the Party. And the outcome of the elections. The primary elections are all-important.

Pray. Recruit. Repeat.

Thank you.
ColdWarrior
No More Scozzafavas!

nessa

…but thanks for the history lesson. You have been the most persistent, consistent and vocal on the subject. I’d never heard of the position before coming here, reading your comments and following the links in your sig. You sold me on making it an inside job, so its you I credit as an eeevil genius. OK, you’re merely one among many, aren’t we all? Thanks.

Achance

I try to stay out of your stupid RINO hunting, witch burning discussions but with idiots like you, it is no wonder this Party is tearing itself apart.

I’ve never made Stevens out to be pure as the driven snow, I don’t even like the arrogant old fart, but he was a vote. You take the votes you can get. The person with you sixty or eighty percent of the time isn’t your enemy; he’s your ally. People like you are the effing enemy alony with cynical opportunists like Sarah Palin; you were made for each other – you were both made for wrecking things.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

love to reminiscence.

My dad was the youngest of eight brothers born by a 95 pound lady who was born on ground I still have the privilege to hunt on. All eight, despite the fact that my grandfather died when my dad was 12, graduated from high school. My uncle who bought the farm from my grandmother has served for years as the town clerk. An oldr brother fought in the Battle of the Bulge and returned to become a small town mayor. All who could served in the military. I could go on and on about the “demi gods” around whom I grew up. I rode the school bus with Carol Bartz, the current CEO of Yahoo and was friends with her little brother. Back then, in the 1960s, in that corner of small-town and rural America, government seemed to be “in check.” But, I recall learning about Social Security and the income tax, and my dad didn’t have very good explanations as to how these two things squared with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I thought taxes were voluntary and we were allowed to be left alone if we chose to be left alone.

See this: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100109/NEWS02/301099964

Some, I guess, are, arbitrarily, more equal than others.

I was fortunate to grow up in a small town where I could see that anyone who wanted to make an impact and be a participant in city or county government could do so. And, I saw how my dad, a Democrat (I never was one), could actually make a difference with a little bit of time and effort.

“We the People” must get involved in party politics. At local GOP meetings. As precinct committeemen.

Thank you.
ColdWarrior
No More Scozzafavas!

aesthete

A saint he was not, but he would have been better than the Boy Genius currently serving in his place. All “pork” amounts to less than 1% of the federal budget, and adds zero regulations to the already massive library of government statutes. HCR, OTOH, will be a large and irremovable part of the budget for years to come, and will add a few pages (2000+, to be exact) to the library of regs.

I’m not particularly happy with any of our congresscritters, sans DeMint, but throwing one under the bus for something as proportionally miniscule as earmarks, especially when the stakes are this high, is folly, IMO.

aesthete

Conservatives should hope that the Tea Party doesn’t get “leadership”; that would defeat its purpose. Something special is forming in the Tea Party movement, namely, a politically active class of constituents that is radically in favor of small government, something that we can’t really say is a constituency in the US right now. Ruining the chances of creating something as beneficial as that for the sake of a couple more chairs in the Chamber of Commerce is a misuse of the potentially fantastic investment that is the Tea Party movement.

To put it simply, the leaders that we elect should ideally be beholden at least to some extent to Tea Partiers and like-minded constituencies. Clamoring for leadership or consolidation simply serves to have the movement collapse or serve the bidding of entrenched leadership.

http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

UWSA, being the United We Stand America movement precursor to the Reform Party, and many fancy themselves as the next great leaders (cuz they’ve blogged a few times, but never ever really helped a campaign in their lives) while only really marching off the Cliff like the Perot-heads. This movement, like that, had a bunch of Democrats looking to help divide the vote, as is the case again.

There are a bunch of folks creating their own little thiefdoms, Libertarians thinking this is gong to now finally be their time to swell the Libertartian Party ranks, all of which becomes yet another FAILing to learn from History and assist Liberal Democrats hold some offices they would otherwise lose. As I’ve said all along: TEApeaters, 3rd Party mistake – alot of TEApeaters fail to recognize (prepare to repeat) History…. Some of them will wake up but most will live in DENIAL like their Liberal counter-parts. Same thing is going on with the 912 spin-offs, especially these “Mommy” movements.

graciegirl

first I want to be wrong that he’s trying to create a third party just couldn’t figure it out and
second I am one of “those people” who doesn’t know what TO DO!
But I’m dying to do something! I think my county is probably staffed…but I will be finding out cause I have to do something. Really.

http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

you got plenty working hard to capitalize on the ONE CHANCE (including running one of the phone bank operations) to finally over-turn the MA Senate seat, while others dither and complain about Brown not being a good enough candidate because of whiny reason over another (as their lead in to the reason folks must join them in continuing to get nothing done in the Libertarian, or by creating another, Party), and still others out-right Liberal (CCINO types) looking to keep votes splits in order to get Democrats elected…. From an email discussion I had with some, just before the moron in charge of a small TEA Party thiefdom she’s trying to profit off of banned me lol….

What you say is true, and a matter of Public record. I did NOT say Scott Brown was/is a perfect Candidate, but he IS one of the ONLY TWO choices available…. You, we, can do one of two things….

1. Help Brown, who will be with our ideals 80%+ of the time and help defeat Obamaocare *OR*
2. Let the Ultra-Liberal get elected and pass the one chance to prevent the AUTOMATIC 60th Cloture Vote and who will be AGAINST our Ideals/Values 90%+ of the time. Another Senator Deady Kennedy like Socialist who will be for every over-expenditure, Stimulus, waste, fraud, abuse, government growth, etc…. that comes down the pike.

Seems pretty clear to me!!!! Sitting out every time one doesn’t find perfection, means we will sit out every time!

As for the Mass-Health…. As I discuss (in more detail) here and here, if it were not FOR Mass-Health the people of MA would still be clamoring FOR National Health Care and willing to pull the JackAss lever out of usual habit — this opportunity would NEVER exist. At least SOME of the people of MA have learned from the failings of Mass-Health and don’t want to saddle the entire country with it — some GOOD can come from that BAD!!!

She is more than happy, and trying to convince others, that it is just fine to allow the Democrats keep that 60th seat! Typical of a Libertarian, of course. The usual “they win, when they lose the country entirely” delusion. And she wonders how she gives herself away and no-one sticks with her little thiefdom when the rest of us actually want to accomplish the espoused goal of DEFEATING PROGRESSIVES!

NOT ALL TEApeaters are created the same, is the point. Good and Bad, people and intentions in every group!!!

jakee308

and I had few illusions about her or any politician to begin with.

First, of course it’s her right to do whatever she wishes and she hasn’t indicated any firm commitment to or desire for future elective office. Her actions fit in with what she has said she would do.

We must remember that she has only made use of the feelings of simpatico that she aroused with the hope of truth and honesty to a conservative electorate and has not worked very hard at actively seeking to create those feelings.

That said, her move to Fox and a ‘multi-year contract’ indicates that she is more interested in shaping opinion and philosophy than actually effectuating that philosophy.

I liken her, now, to Rush Limbaugh; amusing, useful as a conduit and to plant ‘seeds’ but still, an individual unwilling to undergo the grueling and vicious contest that seeking political office has become.

She may be useful and certainly we need voices of sanity to counter the dysfunctional jabbering of the unable-to-see-reality Leftists and the compliant media but her response to the call of the People to it’s service is clearly; NO.

A case can be made that this is a wise move and indicates that she may have plans for 2016 or later but we are in dire straits now and there is no one on the horizon with the charisma and directness coupled with a sense of being ‘one of us’ that has wide spectrum appeal and the ability to receive the financial backing necessary.

I am concerned that if we fail to oust this current President in 2012, we will be in store for some very, very bad times. That’s if we manage to survive relatively intact until then. (Keep in mind that in 2008 a Russian professor said the U.S. would break up in 2010. I scoffed at the thought then but now …..?)

Personally, I feel abandoned by Palin (and I was no slavering Palinista) and am depressed by the lack of anyone available to be the Conservative choice for the Presidency in 2012.

{rats!}

voteindy

Excellent post and points.
Thank you.

http://www.imperfectamerica.com imperfectamerica

While $500 a person seems rather excessive to me, I don?t have a problem with a for profit company seeking to earn money doing something good by filling a need in the marketplace. (Like those guys selling flags and hats in Washington on 9/12. I was glad I could buy a little flag and very much appreciated their entrepreneurial flair.) I have to agree with you however that Palin may have once again taken some bad advice.. This event at this time is probably not quite right for her, Given this and her new FOX News gig, I think what she really needs is a new set of advisors.

While the Tea Party movement has great potential, if it metastasizes into a third party I think it accomplishes nothing but extending Democratic rule a-la Ross Perot, only in hundreds of races across the country.

As I wrote about yesterday, I would suggest the Tea Party movement focus its disparate energies on seizing this moment in time to help return the GOP to a Ronald Reagan conservatism rather than try and build a new structure on its own. There are more than enough strong conservatives out there that the GOP has the potential to put forth a very strong slate, not only in places like Georgia and Texas, but in California and Massachusetts as well. While there may be times when one has to go outside of the GOP ? NY 23 ? I would suggest that the people of the Tea Parties figure out what constitutes good governance for them and then find and support candidates who reflect those ideas. My guess is that there are a lot of unknown Paul Ryans, Bobby Jindals and Ronald Reagans out there, simply waiting for the opportunity to shine.

Brian Hibbert

This move shouldn’t be a negative for her (except to people who call it Faux News).

First, the elections aren’t for a couple of years and she’s gotta eat in the mean time (yeah the Tea Party deal is giving her a siz figure income, but how long is that going to last?).

Second, getting the job at Fox news keeps her name front an center and gives her an outlet to let her ideas show.

Yes she’s interested in shaping public opinion and philosophy. She’s not going to get elected unless we start to spread conservative ideology. Let people know what conservatism is and why it works better than lefty ideology. Can you think of a better venue for shaping opinion that a large television network?

Also, we don’t know the terms of the contract. It may have an easy escape hatch if she plans to run for office. I’m certain it has an escape hatch for the network if her show has poor ratings.

Finally, it’s too soon to pick our candidate for 2012. Who knows? Bobby Jindal may make a comeback in the polls and make Sarah’s run unnecessary.

http://daretruth.wordpress.com lmkitties

I’m a local TEA Party Leader. I am resisting the call by some in my local community to join up with the national movement. As long as I have a say, we will remain local and independent. We are taking small steps. That’s what the libs have been doing for 50 years. We are trying to break the Democrat hold on our County. We are working hard to identify candidates for School Board, County Commissioner and other local offices. We are reaching out to the youth in the form of education and rallies. Yes, we’re planning another TEA Party but that is not our main focus. Electing Conservatives is. If your readers want to do something, they have to get up off the couch, turn off the computer and do something. Get together with like minded local people and start planning and doing. I’m tired of hearing “I don’t know what to do”. Yes you do, now go do it.

mosander

Imkitties is right. I am also a local tea party leader. We are state connected by will not join the nationals because, guess what, if the communist/Marxist/socialists infiltrated the democrats, and I’m sure they have also infiltrated the Republicans, then they are sure going to try to infiltrate the Tea Party movement. Republicans, instead of working with Tea Parties, are more worried about power in the party then saving the country from the New World Order. They are ignoring banks bleeding our country, Maurice Strong and George Soros et all working to enslave us all. Either they don’t believe it, won’t research it or just want candidates who attract the most money (who of course are the most corruptible). We want ETHICAL constitutionalist, who can answer a question with yes, no or I don’t know but I will find out. We want to be able to say Jesus Christ and not be politically incorrect, we want pedophiles out of our schools, we want entitlement attitude reduced and capitalsim, which DOES work, back.

jbinvirginia

Mega Dittos to your comment. I feel sad we have to choose “good enough” candidates though I understand the desperation that would make us do so. To blame SP for the current health care reform progress because she took a stand against a probably corrupt politician is destructive far beyond the current political dilemma we are in. Should we play out all political decisions first? How many would be made in the light of unintended consequences? Are we willing to play it safe and walk the fence forever? Our founding fathers would be leaping from their graves and telling us to grow a pair. Let’s stick with our values and conservative principles and not be afraid to hold others to theirs. If the citizens in this country continue to vote for moderate RINOs and Democrats, perhaps we are not doing everything WE can to educate them and FIGHT for the Constitution OR perhaps it’s time we look for somewhere else to live–somewhere our values and principles are respected. Gosh, I can’t believe I wrote that.

scubadiver49er

when she has a book out with 2.5 million copies in print, a new gig at FOX, AND getting $100K+ for each speaking engagement. She doesn’t need to run for or from anything, except maybe the IRS who will try to tax her to death!!! She doesn’t need the headaches of being in public office, unless she chooses to, and on her own timetable. Only time will tell. For what she has going for her, if I were her, I wouldn’t run for anything right now, and still be effective in telling it like it is, which she has positioned herself very nicely to do so.

jtkell100

By changing our name to TPCSR all the conservative candidates would be identified immediately and meet and vote in the Republican caucus, slowly dominating it to the point of having our common sense Republican party back. Then fight forever to never loose it again. Anyone running as an Independent or Dem. will not help us to get a majority in the House and Senate. I would be honored and proud to call myself a TEA PARTY COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN (TPSCR) if I were running for office anywhere in USA. You would immediately get the support of some Dems an Independents. They would know immediately what you stood for even thought you was running as a Republican. How could any devoted American or(Maligned Democrat or Independent) that is for our Constitution and Bill of Rights and all the orginal intent and meanings of our founders not want get back home and revive this great Nation and to stand tall and be an individual

roncdeweijze

Self-serving leaders of any party are of the past, postmodern era (that will be very hard to shake off for socialists). Following is the way to go, with ‘leaders’ popping up and down anywhere and everywhere (see Twitter). Sarah should not be a leader ‘a priori’ but after the PEOPLE spoke, in case they cannot decide which way they want their country to go. No sooner, no later. That is 180 degrees different from how (D) self-licensed leaders do it: “if we cannot nobody can”. Glenn Beck is right about socialism: 1. Build structure 2. Make it complex 3. Avoid debate 4. Move quickly. http://bit.ly/86qTif 11:20

martyinaz

I have lived with COMPROMISE for the past 50 years. ..And I will continue compromising my values for the sake of stopping the progressives from completly overtaking this country.
What I don’t understand is why you will reject an incumbent Republican over a dark horse ultra conservative. THAT is how you lose a majority. I have spent my life choosing the lesser task master. The one who would deliver only ten lashes instead of twenty. As a libertarian I prefer NO lashes.

But alas, if I vote my conscience it will only cause the lesser task master to lose. We had best keep our eye on the prize in November. Worry not about Sarah, she is going to work for FOX News as a commentator.

earlgrey

I was all set to drive to Nashville and planned to stay at a friend’s house, but then there was still the matter of $500. I decided that money would be better spent on Scott Brown, Senate Conservatives Fund, Marco Rubio, etc.

We have to allocated our few resources in the best possible places.

http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

Actually, I was very upfront with the Politico that Eagle is a sponsor of CPAC and I still the Politico that I think had Sarah not bailed on CPAC some internal issues that need to be addressed wouldn’t be addressed.

But that doesn’t do anything with the fact that charging people $550 for a “tea party convetion” run by a group few know anything about with a growing group of sponsors whispering serious concerns seems like a shady endeavor.

mbecker908

I just put up a diary here…

This should make the “convention” interesting.

AceInTX

and I don’t remember ANY republicans defending him

you want to call me names fine…but for the record, I said he was the victim of a witch hunt by the Democrats and no one was going to help him with the cloud he had over his head in the middle of an election.

And I’ve also said if Palin knew he was innocent and piled on in a cynical way to get him out of the way then shame on her and she deserves to rot in political hell…

but I won’t apologize for being happy to never have to see him pounding the dais and threatening to resign if some senator submits a bill which would cut of funds to build a multi million dollar boon doggle for a bridge used by 200 people…

He was an embarrassment when he was in there and he brought discredit in this party and I would argue there wasn’t one single Senator who did more to destroy the Republican Brand of fiscal responsibility than Ted Stevens…yeah he’d be one more vote right now…and we could darn sure use it…but excuse me if I don’t shed a tear at never having to listen to him shrieking about his perks in the Senate and how little Alaska gets from the federal tit again!

IJB

…So he took his marbles home, and decided to play spoiler instead.

I’m pretty sure it won’t work out well for him.
Good riddance to bad rubbish…

mbecker908

Palin/Huckabee ticket?

mbecker908

could this guy siphon off enough votes for a D to win.

And, will the sponsors of the TP convention support him and urge others to do likewise.

AceInTX

Would another Republican have won had he stepped aside for the good of the party?

I guess we’ll never know will we? He made his stand for his bridge to nowhere complete with a temper tantrum and childish hissy fit….and he decided to stay in the race despite the cloud hanging over his head….He elected to protect his career so he’s as responsible for our not having that one vote as anyone else is

Warrior

previous comment that Palin does not like competition. From what I can tell, she has competed for everything she has ever had – from high school basketball to the city council seat to the governorship.

I’m also concerned that you dismiss all these charges so lightly. This from the citation mentioned above:

“The federal jury found Stevens guilty on seven counts of lying — mostly for not listing gifts and home renovations on financial disclosure forms. Most gifts came from Bill Allen, former chief executive of an oilfield services company called Veco.”

Could all of this been manufactured by Dems in DC?

And also your championship of Randy Reuderich bothers me. I realize he is a friend of yours and I am not trying to slam anyone, believe me. I respect you too much for that. But I truly don’t understand. This, from an andrewhalcro.com piece before his conviction, for instance:

“Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich faces allegations he illegally used state resources to conduct partisan politics while on state time. In an extensive sixteen-page complaint released by the attorney generals office, Reudrich is accused of running party politics from his $118,000 a year state position at the Alaska Oil & Gas Commission. Even more disturbing, he?s accused of disclosing confidential commission information to a political donor and industry lobbyist. These allegations are based on hundreds of supporting documents found on his state computer and subpoenaed cell phone records. In addition, fellow employees at the commission have also verified that Reudrich openly conducted party business on state time.”

I’m most concerned with the proven fact that he truned over confidential legal briefs to a lobbyist for Evergreen — clearly a violation of law and ethics, not to mention of the trust placed in him by the people of Alaska. He was later covicted for all this and paid what was the largest civil fine in Alaska’s history to that point: $12,000, and forced to resign.

Is all that fiction I wonder? According to Palin, she complained about it after receiving pressure from people who knew the score and she used the chain of command. She even wrote two open letters to Murkowski about it before resigning in order to avoid any connection with the corruption. What’s your assessment?

LtE113

She knows what she’s doing.

edintexas

Sorrry Rick, but God only told a select few that the Federal Prosecutors engaged in Prosecutorial Misconduct. The rest of us, apparently including Palin, had no choice but to acknowledge the Jury decision (as much as I thought the prosecution was purely political, it was the Jury’s decision) until such time as it was proven that there was misconduct. Too bad God didn’t include Palin in the revelation that Stevens would have his conviction overturned before she said Stevens was “guilty” after the jury declared Stevens “Guilty”. To say her statement, and not the Jury’s decision, was the reason for Stevens’ defeat strikes me as somewhat delusional.

sapwolf

I’ll be there sort of covering the event for C4P.

#1 Objective for me: DO NOT PUSH A THIRD-PARTY.

#2 Emphasize the reform, not abolition of the GOP.

#3 Education via a national liberty workshop that we can train the trainers and train Americans on relevant history, economics, and the constitution. We must undo much of the lies of the education systems across the country.

#4 Network and pass around ideas for reforming the GOP at the precinct level and county level so we can avoid future Dede Scozzafava foulups.

Achance

of comments and diaries on this stuff but here’s a once over lightly.

Sarah doesn’t like competition in the sense that she WILL NOT share the limelight. She will not accept or even often ask for advice and will not tolerate staff around her who are more than sycophants. Those facts caused her all her problems with Tpr. Wooten and Com. Monehan and her troubles with that issue caused her most of her subsequent problems in Alaska. You don’t pose yourself to be as pure and the driven snow and invite everyone to investigate you and then do everything in your power to thwart that investigation without getting some pushback. Granted the pushback got extreme, over the top extreme, after she became the VP nominee, but the pushback had started long before anyone Outside other than political junkies had ever even heard of her. The myth is that the Legislative investigation was some Soros/Democrat assault on the VP nominee and that all the blog reports were some national campaign against her, but that simply isn’t true. The Leg had already begun taking steps to investigate “Troopergate” before she was the nominee. And remember, those Democrats were the ones she’d been working with to carry out her oil taxation and gasline agenda, not the Republicans, who by this time had little use for her, especially Senate President Lyda Green. And all the rumors about Trig being Bristol’s kid were well known here as well as some of the other ones. Her admirers have glorified all that stuff to be a part of her rising to the VP slot, but it was all going on long before that.

I know better than most what Randy was doing and I’ve never defended him for it beyond saying that if he’d been a Democrat nobody would have noticed it. Even the Democrats wouldn’t have noticed it because they knew they lived in glass houses if Sarah hadn’t served it up to them. It is interesting how Sen. French was her big ally in taking out Randy and trashing Murkowski but later becomes the head of the now politicized “Troopergate” investigation that everybody thinks was soooooo unfair. I think she dodged a bullet; if you believe that neither Sarah nor Todd Palin told Frank Bailey to see to getting rid of Tpr. Wooten, I have a bridge I want to sell you.

I’ve heard her account of the Ruedrich matter and I’ve read her account in “Rogue,” and her version simply isn’t true. I’m not saying she’s lying; I don’t doubt she believes her version. I met with the Deputy Commissioner/Ethics Supervisor before he went to ANC to begin an investigation of her allegations against Randy. The purpose of his meeting with her was to catalog her allegations so that the Administration could investigate and, if warranted, proceed against Randy. We had decided that because of who both he and she were, we would treat it the way we would treat similar allegations against a classified, unionized employee since all the process would make it easier to document what we’d done. She blew off the DC and told him she and Randy had it all worked out. Next thing we know, she’s writing “open letters,” resigning, and playing kiss and tell with the Anchorage Daily News. She then basks for the next couple of years in being the Democrats and Anchorage Daily News’ favorite Republican and goes on to become their favorite Governor, working with them, not the Republicans, to carry out an agenda that was anathema to many Republicans here, especially the “windfall profits” tax on the oil industry.

As the current rustle about whose soiree she’s going to speak at is beginning to show, the most dangerous place in politics is standing close to Sarah Palin.

sapwolf

Sarah will run in 2012 and she will be GOP all the way. She has studied Reagan and will take his path.

She will NOT be a third-party candidate.

Anybody saying she will go third-party for a POTUS run is a troll or completely nuts.

sapwolf

Palin had nothing to do with Stevens losing his Senate seat.

That’s silly-talk.

Come on people, this is RedState. We can do better and keep to the facts.

sapwolf

Good point. Brown winning could be huge. And if the Dems in MA try to stall his swearing in if he wins, they will take a publcity beating at a minimum.

I’m for sending 100,000 armed men in pickup trucks if that happens but that’s just me.

Scope

From the posted financial statements-

2001- 31%

2003- 41.7%

2005- 34.1%

2008- 14%

They are the only years I looked at.

sapwolf

I agree that the heart of the TPM should be local education, organizing and control of the levers of power at the precinct, county, city levels to in effect sow the seeds of good government which will then trickle up the GOP chain as more and more Scozzafava’s are retired.

This event in Nashville is not really like a national political party. It is more for organizing and networking and passing good ideas around.

It is not like a political convention.

I think people are overreacting by reading too much into it.

The TPM is and will probably be a truncated pyramid, its base solid at the local level, but no top-down national leadership due its flexibility to choose at the national level who to back in primaries of both parties and who to back in the general election.

Try not to pump it up too much as some 3rd party thing or a Ross Perot movement. I don’t think that is what it is.

Also, the profit motive is not a bad thing. Only when the money is made illegally or through lies does it become a big credibility issue.

Let’s simply let this event go forward and see how it goes. If it doesn’t go well, maybe the TPM should not emphasize national events but maybe nothing higher than the state level (10th Amendment anyone?).

Let’s not be afraid to go in the water. Shark attacks are a lot rarer than you think, and I’m from Northern CA, shark country.

Scope

These are the percentages of Federal Monies which make up the total General Fund revenues for each year.

Third Street

…yet.

sapwolf

That’s what it should be about.

Thanks and if you can help get other local groups started that would be dynamite.

I’m in Cincinnati, and I don’t know who to join up with or simply start a new group.

sapwolf

She’s running if Obama does not pull back towards the middle. If he appears beatable, she’ll run.

Do what she asked of you. Trust her.

Like Reagan, she must get out there during this time before the primaries to get her message out on issues and get TV time but without the full show like Huckabee.

This is a good move on her part because it will help her to continue her building of experience in the media and gets a big dog named Murdoch on her side.

Be patient.

sapwolf

They invited Michael Steele and Tim Kaine to visit the Nashville event.

The worst nightmare for the Dems is if the TPM and the GOP learn to unite to a common national vision that is still open enough on non-constitutional issues to localize that last 20% of the vision.

If that happens, the GOP establishment will be more comfortable in who the TPM backs, and the TPM will be comfortable working withing the GOP too to provide the uniting of the vision, and adding the fuel to the fire of reform.

Sarah Palin is perfectly positioned to be the bridge between the TPM and the GOP, not as a leader of the TPM or GOP, but as a good inspiration towards unity to the vision.

Third Street

Just sayin’.

sapwolf

Bingo!

That is what I’m looking to do in my little part of Cincinnati.

I’m going to the Mt. Vernon seminar on precint strategy.

Achance

aesthete

one could argue all of those things, and more, but in the general, you stick with the candidate that you’ve got, and since Stevens wasn’t found guilty of the allegations that he was accused of, it stands to reason that he might have won had Republicans declared that fact loudly and supported him, instead of running away from him as quickly as possible and bringing out the tar and feathers. I don’t much care about Palin’s role and motivations in the Stevens fiasco; if her motivations were underhanded, it would just prove that she’s your typical politician. Since I already believe that that statement more or less describes her, it would do nothing to lower my opinion of her. It is annoying, though, to hear her supporters rush to defend her honor by basically saying, “everybody does it”, when the mythology built around Palin is built around her “maverickness” (“she’s not status quo” is a typical remark).

aesthete

sapwolf

And you are wrong.

Reagan QUIT the Democratic Party and it was the right move.

Sarah made the proper move given the executive branch was effectively paralyzed.

Now she has stepped up to the national stage to take on Obama & Co.

RedRepub

There is a lady here in Chicago “in charge” of a tea party rally last Fall at Millennium Park (where obama was Election Night). She is a DEMOCRAT who told someone she was only there because she was being paid. The musical acts were all lesbian folk singers, seriously.

When a group of my friends tried to informally plan a rally on their own , she got wind of it. She called my friend to say there was only “one tea party” and she was in charge.

RedRepub

There is a lady here in Chicago “in charge” of a tea party rally last Fall at Millennium Park (where obama was Election Night). She is a DEMOCRAT who told someone she was only there because she was being paid. The musical acts were all lesbian folk singers, seriously.

When a group of my friends tried to informally plan a rally on their own , she got wind of it. She called my friend to say there was only “one tea party” and she was in charge.

sapwolf

Stevens is a corrupt bastard.

Are you defending his type of crony Republicanism and past pork-barreling.

If you are, you can get off this site now.

Achance

She absolutely piled on. ‘Course, that’s her MO; she made her poltical fortune by attacking Republicans.

Now go suck your thumb and fantasize about Sarah for awhile.

Achance

from the constraints of that Ethics Act she was once so proud of.

navtechie

From the emails I have received from national organizers (such as they are), the convention is about getting the state members and organizers together to plan,organize and identify conservative candidates to push in 2010 and beyond.

The whole point of the TPM is to find and push real conservative candidates.

This will be a great fundraiser to assist in that goal as well as a great brainstorming session for all the state leaders and members that attend.

Chill dudes.

As for the phony profiteers: If you find them, call them out and burn them at the public stake. Figuratively, of course.

oh, and the Steven’s thing: Ted who?

rickindenver

Sarah Palin could put a stop to the notion of a third party if she would begin her speach with a comment like “Creating a third party will be a disaster! We can, and will, transform the Republican party from within!” Reagan essentially said the same thing then delivered it. Could there be a more opportune time?

E Pluribus Unum

takes 5 seconds. First link McCain and Palin: Stevens Should Resign, from WaPo, dated October 28, 2008. Even has video. You know, one week before the election, the Republican VP calling for his resignation, in an election he ended up losing narrowly. I’m sure she had nothing to do with that.

Now talk straight or face the bunny.

http://www.thehotjoints.com/ realchrisjones

I hadn’t thought of that way with regards to Palin speaking at the event. I think you could be right, but I really hope you’re not.

Warrior

it’s tough rehashing that story again and I appreciate it. I’ll try not to ask again…

mbecker908

I would deconstruct this effort in public imbecility but my resolution for 2010 is to refrain from feeding trolls.

Third Street

mbecker908

And, according to the RedStar, Michelle Bachmann will be speaking along with Sarah.

It looks like the revolution will not be televised, after all.

At least not the Tea Party?s revolution.

Word from Nashville on Monday was that the First National Tea Party Convention next month will be closed to the press, other than for a limited number of ?selected? journalists. No word on who or how many.

This from the people who brought us last summer?s media-saturated Town Hall meetings.

The restrictions apparently apply to the much-anticipated speeches by Sarah Palin and Minnesota?s own Michele Bachmann.

And then there’s THIS little tidbit..

While organizers are offering to help set up interviews with speakers, they said Palin will not be available.

It’s not often that I agree with anything in the RedStar, but I do agree with this one…

If the secrecy sounds a little, well, un-American, Phillips has this explanation: It?s not a political convention, but a ?working convention.?

It appears that sometimes the right of the people to peaceably assemble is best conducted out of view.

The more I hear about this little conclave the less I like.

AceInTX

it was a bad situation all the way around…

but we all know the reports and how bad it looked…and there were those of us “purists that were calling for Stevens to retire and take the cloud of the race…

as far as the R Politicians who didn’t step forward to defend him…that speaks directly to my point…name me one politician that is concerned about maintaining their own office who is going to step out and defend someone who was taking the slings and arrows the Stevens was in the middle of that mess….we’re talking about a craven class of people who are concerned first and foremost about their own perks and power!

Art says there are plenty in AK who knew Stevens was innocent…We can only take his word for that where were they in his defense?

As for Palin…Art will turn any comment about how scummy Stevens is/was into an opportunity to tar anyone who points out the obvious as a Palin bot and mind numbed robots or purists….

My objection is to rewriting history abour who Stevens was and the idea that he’s someone we should miss when his little tirade about taking the money for his multi million dollar bridge to nowwhere in order to pay for Katrina and his one man hold on ear mark reform in an effort to protect his pork made him the poster boy for Republican Party largess!

as much as I’d like to have his vote now…or as much as I wish he’d have stepped aside for a new candidate who might have kept the seat red…I’m not going to morn his absence even while I condemn the Dem tactics used to oust him!

Vegas_Rick

If only he had known how to fight for his win. Plenty of blame to go around, if you want to play that game.

reaganlives

” was instrumental in disposing of the guy who would now be our 41st senator, ”

Right, like keeping a corrupt moron in office was obligation?

You want to complain about lost Senators,talk to the establishment RNC re Spector etc.

” and has otherwise made too many independent-sounding noises for my taste”

Sorry you lost your place at the trough.

Third Street

and fought back for almost eight months, which is unheard of for a Republican victim of Democrat election fraud. Had Coleman not kept Al Franken out of the Senate until July, the Democrats would probably have pushed the health bill forward much earlier in the year, when they and Obama had much more political capital to work with, and socialized health care would have been a done deal months ago.

Believe me, that Minnesota Senate seat being vacant for half a year was not part of the Democrat plan. Coleman mucked things up for them big-time and should be recognized for it.

Besides, Palin had no direct influence on Coleman’s re-election race. She did with Stevens’.

mbecker908

You’ve been here a month and your “contribution” is more than a tad in doubt. You’d certainly be more comfortable – and a lot more “at home” – posting this crap on a RonPaul site.

Hinz Rule!

mbecker908

that nobody “gives a crap” what Tbone says either. Note, I did not say “what Tbone thinks” because we all know that’s beyond him.

Achance

Oh, from her press releases and her book. Funny, I can’t recall her ever fighting anything much on the Democrat side; she worked with them real well. Right up until they, predictably, turned on her when she got the VP nomination.

realskinny

ColdWarrior. I remember how proud my parents were of putting all 4 of us boys through highschool in Michigan. Both my mother and father had to quit school after the 8th grade to go to work. My father was Director of the school board when I was young. My mother said parents running the school board was training in being a good citizen and school consolidation was intended to end such training. She understood very clearly in the 1950′s the motives of the statists in taking over the schools was to turn the populace into livestock.

Vegas_Rick

If you can’t blame it on Palin, it must not be worth talking about.

And Coleman’s hubris and tendency towards “commity” are what allowed the election to be stolen.

mbecker908

was “friendly fire”. Like it or not, the only people Palin has ever really “made war on” are Republicans.

Third Street

Tbone

Don’t be such a grumpy, old guy, Beckster. As a person who fancies himself as an important contributor to the RedState community, you you really shouldn’t troll around looking to start fights, now should you ol’ buddy?

Power_Pro

Third Street

…that the length of a comment title is inversely proportional to the substance contained within.

mbecker908

traversecityconservative

What I don’t do is take information at face value when there is a conflict of interest. Facts can be added and sway my opinion but I don’t hear a whole lot…maybe Erick has inside information on things but I haven’t heard anything to make me wary of Palin’s decision about the convention. Since she seems to have vetted CPAC, I assume she did the same with the Tea Party convention when making her decision. I also assume she has more information than the rest of us regarding her plans for the future and the people she knows in certain organizations.

By “sellout” I didn’t mean to imply Erick’s opinion had to do with money – it has to do with his job and how Redstate is connected to CPAC. The term “sellout” (at least in my case) was about a possible sellout of principles because of what I stated above – not a sellout in terms of monetary gain for defending Redstate/CPAC.

Speaking of money, I highly doubt Palin’s decision to choose the Tea Party Convention over CPAC was based on monetary gain – otherwise she could accept invitations from HuffPo and others. I think it was probably a decision that was based on two things like everything else she has done – what is best for the people and what is best for her. By people, you can define that as the conservative movement but in the end, it really means everyone because everyone would benefit if the country were run by conservatives.

I support Palin’s loyalty to her Conservative principles and will until she proves herself disingenuous. I won’t assume certain things about her merely because she’s a politician and every other politician has done things a certain way. I trust that she knows that everything she does will be held up to scrutiny x 1000.

And by the way, I’m a she, not a he – which is why I often end up explaining Palin to men. I even have to explain Palin to my husband once in a while and he’s more of a Palin supporter than I am. Men don’t understand how women think and how they make decisions. So, Erick, you can use that as an excuse if you need to.

traversecityconservative

I don’t like to hear that info. either. Is this supposed to be a “strategy” session for tea party organizers? People that have already put on their own tea parties? That would explain the secrecy as you posted – a working convention.

Achance

You read her press releases? You read her book? You heard her say it? Another one of Palin’s useful idiots.

mbecker908

bridge in Arizona.

Believe that one and you’re either gullible or stupid.

mbecker908

This one is too stupid to be “useful”.

Brian Hibbert

That’s the term you used and it is an attack word.

You made that charge based on no information other than Erick said something that was not 100% flattering to Sarah (it wasn’t particularly an attack, just stating that she made a poor decision).

Yet you have no problem with Sarah charging a 6 figure fee to talk to the tea pariters. She made the decision to address them for money. Is that a sellout?

You assume Erick is willing to sellout his principles for a paltry fee, yet the great Sarah is not a sellout for a much larger fee. You need to take a look at yourself. You have made Sarah into an idol and put her into a position which she can not live up to. Sarah isn’t Our One. No one is.

*** Note **** I am attacking YOU not Sarah. I actually like her. I just don’t like people who fawn over her like she is perfect. She isn’t. She’s human just like the rest of us.

Leopard1996

The head being that of an big fat ass, to state that this individual is an assclown.

Power_Pro

Is that a short enough comment for you, sport?

Power_Pro

I looked it up. You know, research?

When she resigned, I wanted to find out why. I checked out the facts and found out who the players were, what their motivations were and who was supporting them from a variety of sources.

I listened to what Palin said about why she left and looked into it for myself. And this makes me a useful idiot? What a buffoon you are. Really.

Who needs Chris Matthews and Keith Overbite when we have people on our own side ready to attack without facts? You’re the useful idiot here…to the left. They hope people are ignorant boobs willing to regurgitate the tripe they spout…and sure enough, dolts like you come along like good little lemmings and quote their propaganda as though it’s factual.

As for her book …I’ve just started reading it. So far, it’s a great read. You might consider reading it yourself to see her side of the story…and then research what she says and fact check them for yourself.

Tbone

I said I would vote for her if she were the nominee and I did, but “President Palin” ain’t bringin’ no smile to my face.

Power_Pro

You determined I’m stupid after all of one comment where I call someone out for saying something that’s provably false?

You and your little gang are nothing more than overgrown high school bullies.

Achance

Fool, I know the woman, served in the same Administration with her. I know what really happened rather than what she put in that work of fiction of hers. Now, I’m tired of both you and Sarah Palin but at least, thank God, she’s no longer governor of my state and in a few years we’ll have the mess cleaned up.

http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

this one case… this one-off Special election… each and every circumstance (Special, Primary, General) must be looked at individually based on condidtions and looked at realistically. And MA is what it is, right now!

but first, as most of us around here have been saying, if we’d have more folks working from within the GOP being directly involved at the local Committee, Clubs, Conventions, etc…. levels we’d have better (more Conservative) Candidates in the first place.

In MA, the choices are Coakley (D) or Brown (R)…. Kennedy (I) doesn’t seem to be much of a factor now and, IMO, shouldn’t distract us from the (R) Candidate. In fact, we can/should hope that the Democrats wander into the Polls not paying attention that this Kennedy is not a relation of Teddy and get confused and vote for him over the Democrat in their lack-of-paying-attention Liberal-Laziness – as we focus people on Brown – which will hopefully help Brown over the top.

Campaign handicapping factors – Analyzing Campaign chances by more than “gut feel” (see too: Confirmation bias (Pollyanna principle))

My swipe at the person I was referring to in that (partial from) email was that she keeps being willing to — Sacrafice the Good because of the Absence of the Perfect!! — in her mind. That is how people allow folks like Barack Obama to be elected!!!!! Further, since she is in MI, and whined about the choices rather than working, how Granholm got re-elected as Governor and Stabenow is still around! How anyone thinks it would be just fine to allow the 60th Democrat Vote around DC by letting Coakley win might just be a Democrat Troll/Moby working within the Tea Party movement (as was seen in the UWSA/Perot/Reform movement also) looking to keep people from casting a Vote that can matter. The MA Candidate could be Snowe, Collins, or McCainiac lol, and I’ve have to support them over that Democrat choice — wouldn’t have to like it, but widdling away at that magic 60 mark is that important.

Cannot Sacrafic the “Good” over the Absence of Perfection and if we wait for Perfection, we’d be sitting out every Election and we know that just hands the seats over to even more uber-Leftists.

Power_Pro

Your effort to diminish and mock me is meaningless. I don’t worship any political figure (although I come close when it comes to Col. West). And I take everything a politician says with a grain of salt.

As for your wonderful personal experience…bully for you but I don’t really care. I looked into what others said about the situation. People without an obvious bone to pick as you clearly seem to have.

You’re not the authority on Palin any more than I am…your life story notwithstanding…and there is actually the possibility that you don’t know everything. Just like the rest of us out here.

So try selling your wares elsewhere.

You really are a rude little thing, aren’t you? If you’re tired of me, then ignore me rather than pile on me. I’m no one of consequence.

mbecker908

When picking a fight the most important thing to find out is WHO you’re picking a fight with.

You’ve walked, nay, run into an artillery battle carrying a broken stick.

You are an ignorant fool who doesn’t know how to do research or assemble a cogent argument.

CincoSolas_del_Bronx

mbecker908

You’re of no consequence.

jayburd

If you really believed that, than you could conceivably vote for Ron Paul.
Both Ted Stevens and Don Young are corrupt on at least two levels ; they have enriched themselves personally and they steal taxpayers money in the form of pork. If you don’t have a problem with that than you are part of the problem (like thinking that blacks work cheaper). The GOP here cheers them on as they do almost everywhere for being able to appropriate our future generations earnings. Begich just hasn’t learned how to steal nationally yet.

Power_Pro

So I don’t fall lockstep with your anti-Palin screed…I disagree, and thus I’m a stupid Palinbot and a fool and I get piled on by people I had erroneously thought were brothers in arms in the conservative movement.

How disappointing.

Achance

like that stupid caption of yours and expect to emerge unscathed. Sarah Palin was smart enough to know that ’10 and ’11 as Governor were going to tarnish her gilded reputation; her political value had a shelf life because by ’10 when she was facing re-election, there’d be no gasline, most of her BS about ethics had been proven to be just that, BS, and while she’d probably win, it wouldn’t be by much and it would leave a mark.

She bailed to go cash in, just like she’s always done. With Sarah, it is all about Sarah. Fortunately for her, there are people like you.

Power_Pro

And yet you’ve made fun of me, dismissed me and thrown me away. Who tasked you with judging me?

Thank goodness you’re not the standard bearer of the conservative movement you seem to presume yourselves to be and that, believe it or not, there are people out here who disagree with you that aren’t drones or fools…who have lives and have the ability to think and look into things on our own.

With friends like this…

Achance

to stupid, arrogant people. You’ll pay for that caption for awhile.

Power_Pro

mocking me, patronizing me…all because I had the utter nerve to call out something I disagree with…

and I’M the arrogant fool?

Fantastic logic there, friend.

Achance

“What an asinine statement to make, completely bereft of even the most basic information about why she felt she had to change course. Try boning up on some…you know…FACTS before you make a fool of yourself again like this in the future. ”

You’re an ignorant, arrogant ass.

Power_Pro

1. She was being hammered by irresponsible and frivolous lawsuits that cost her money, cost the state money and paralyzed her as far as getting work done. She also didn’t want to serve a weakened lame duck session where she was tethered to these attacks on her.

2. She set up Parnell so that he could continue her policies as the sitting governor, not as a candidate who would have ridden on very damaged coattails.

3. She freed herself to campaign for candidates in 2010 and to be more vocal fighting against the destructive policies of this administration.

4. She gave herself the ability to get her message out, tell her story by way of her book, bone up on policies so she can respond to them and participate more in the debate (thus Fox News)…and make some money.

5. The people who were lined up to marginalize her and keep her trapped in Alaska dealing with these lawsuits courtesy the DNC showed no sign of stopping and promised to keep going. She would have been worthless for the 2010 election, much less be viable for 2012 if that’s what she’s looking at.

I won’t even bother responding to the sniping at Palin by you because, really, that’s your opinion and I disagree with that position obviously.

And what caption are you talking about?

Third Street

You accused a guy who is personally acquainted with the lady with being an uninformed fool who needs to bone up on his facts. That’s arrogant and foolish by any measure.

Never ignore the opinion of someone with a first-hand perspective on a politician. Especially when that politician is widely believed to be the future of the GOP, and perhaps the country. Whether or not Art’s opinions and info jibe with what you know to be true is something you have to determine for yourself, but first you must be certain of what you know to be true.

Power_Pro

Do you not understand the difference?

Apparently not.

mbecker908

“anti-Palin”. What we are, are folks who have done a tad of homework (some of more than a tad), and who’ve been around politics for more than a while.

I can guarantee you that every one of us would hold our nose and vote for Palin if she became the Republican nominee. Hell, we all voted for McCain.

You are more than welcome to come in here with your opinions and your assumptions. You’ll get some discussion or ignored. when you show up with your own “facts” you can expect to get outed as an idiot. And a really stupid idiot to boot. That’s exactly what you’ve done here Sparky.

You are demonstrably not bright enough to make your arguments. You want to defend a do-nothing Governor whose only claim to fame in her elected office is shiving Republicans and working with Democrats and then running out the back door when her friends the Ds turn on her have at it. You can expect a warm welcome.

There are a number of things that Palin CAN do, potentially. She may well be able to bring specific issues to the forefront in a very effective manner – “death panels” for example. That was a great piece of work and she was applauded here for that. She may be a force to raise significant contributions, that remains to be seen. She may also be able to – in very specific circumstances – coalesce voters around a specific candidate. For example, I think she could probably help Marco in FL if he needs help. OTOH, she would Kill Scott Brown in MA. She’ll potentially be very good at Fox, depending on the focus and scope of her programming, about which we know absolutely nothing yet.

What she isn’t, would be a leader with vision and the guts to stay with the fight. She’s no history at all in her elected offices that would indicate she has any real idea about fiscal conservatism or reducing the role of government. She also has a solid record of zero accomplishments as Governor.

People want to give her cover because she was the “victim” of lefty lawsuits and attacks on her family and she ran like a plucked chicken from office. Frankly if she can’t take the little bit of heat from the stuff in Alaska just how do you think she’s going to hold up when the big guns come if she runs for President? Once a runner…

Specifically, with respect to the ethics charges in Alaska, she never had to front a personal nickle to defend them, that’s what the AG is for. All she had to do was request that he (or the Chair of the Ethics Commission) certify that her actions were consistent with her office. She chose not to do that.

OK, you can now sulk down the stairs with your little hurt feelings and hang out in front of your SarahShrine™. If you ever get around to growing up, ask your mommy for a computer of your own and try it again. If you haven’t learned anything by then, you’ll get the same result.

Aaron Gardner

If you don’t want your feelings hurt, start debating the facts, then your feelings will never be the focus of the debate.

See how easy that is?

mbecker908

Power_Pro

My response was that it doesn’t make him an expert…just someone with a unique angle. I’ll take his words into account but then I’ll balance it with the experiences of others.

What I don’t understand is why this isn’t understood. I take everything any politician says with a grain of salt…but I do the same thing when people are forwarding an angle that’s entirely different than what I’ve experienced.

I won’t dismiss it but, just like a rumor, I have to consider the possibility that the person saying it has a bias that skews their version of events. Perhaps fairly, perhaps not. I deal with this in working with a production company in Vancouvery. Some folks really dislike one of the actresses involved and say all manner of things about her they say from their personal experiences…that I KNOW are false and I know why they’re saying it.

But to pile on me and rip me to shreds because I don’t agree with that perspective is just such a weird reaction.

Power_Pro

How condescending can you be? Do you just have a Pavlovian need to be put me down or what? It’s really unnecessary.

When you end your posts in such a demeaning manner, don’t be surprised when you don’t win friends and influence people.

http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

hey… hey… hey… hey….

mbecker908

how stupid the person I’m talking to is.

In your case I can be a whole lot more condescending than you think I’ve been so far.

I have absolutely no interest in making friends with you, and given the demonstrated level of your stupidity I doubt you can be influenced.

Zip up and run along.

Aaron Gardner

Imagine if you stopped ringing the bell. Maybe these Pavlovian dogs would quit eating your lunch.

mbecker908

or your feelings for that matter.

What we care about are facts and they will likely effect the political landscape.

You obviously wouldn’t know a “fact” if it fell on you and if you know anything about politics you likely learned it in school.

Aaron Gardner

If you can’t see how this make YOU look stupid, then I don’t know what to tell you.

specklefoot

Republicans SHOULD be scared of The Tea Party, and as this article shows, they are. But tearing something down because you are afraid of it isn’t the way to go. That just makes you appear like a Democrat. And that is the whole complaint—-why support the Republicans when they pull all the same sleazy moves as the Democrats? What difference is there anymore?

The Tea Party wants good conservatives with traditional values in office. That means people with backbone, moral fiber, and allegiance to the nation and the Constitution above self and above Party. Where are they going to find that, Republicans?

If you stop blowing your own horn and trying to fear-monger against the Tea Party long enough you might just hear what they are saying and if you do, you might run candidates that the Tea Party supporters will respect and support.

You have to understand that the discontent is against BOTH political parties. People feel like they are between a rock and a hard place—between two different flavors of the same slop. They want something different and if they want it bad enough, they will get it—-one way, or another.

Republicans need to rise to the occasion with a slate of new candidates who will support the Constitution and make that their aim. They need to be loud and proud and reform themselves from within. Nothing else will save the boat.

Vegas_Rick

I didn’t like the sound of this from the beginning and it’s just getting worse.

Third Street

I know next to nothing about Alaskan politics. But I believe Art’s accounts about Sarah Palin’s actions and motives as governor because they line up with the impression I have formed about her based on the things she has said and done during her year and a half on the national scene. As far as I’m concerned, her resignation made no sense at all (yes, I know the official line, and I don’t buy it) without that Alaskan backstory that most of us in the Lower 48 aren’t familiar with. And the story it tells doesn’t reflect well either on her viability or desirability as a presidential candidate.

Sarah Palin isn’t Ronald Reagan, in the sense that she hasn’t been on the national scene for several decades and built up a profile as a well-known quantity. That being the case, we scrape up as much info as we can. Since opinion about Palin is now generally polarized into adore-her and despise-her camps, and it’s difficult to get a straight line about her on the facts anywhere in the media, I’ll listen to the guy who was actually there. Does what he’s telling us explain a lot about Sarah Palin? I think so.

Power_Pro

I voiced an opinion and was attacked personally.

If you want to debate facts, then list something and we’ll debate them.

See how easy that is?

Power_Pro

I voiced an opinion and was attacked personally. My opinion wasn’t dismissed or made fun of, I was.

If you want to debate facts, then list something and we’ll debate them.

See how easy that is?

Aaron Gardner

All you have done is attempt to assassinate the character of anyone who dared speak ill of The Sarah.

You didn’t bring one fact to the table, all that was being debate were your feelings about Sarah, and that didn’t last long. When confronted with facts presented by both Mbecker and Achance you just cried foul rather then engage in real debate.

You do Sarah Palin a disservice. For everyone of you, there are three who are turned off of Sarah Palin precisely because of your inability to see her as less than perfect, much less allow someone else to do the same.

Think about this, if your active support is driving other conservatives away from Palin…YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!!

mbecker908

You’re back to showing your stupidity.

“Feelings” are not debatable. They are only exploitable. That’s why sales teachers tell their students to find out what their targets “feel”.

Now then, YOU are the one insisting Palin special and, apparently, electable. You started the thread, the burden of proof is on you. So, produce some facts. Hell, produce some assumptions that are fact based and we can discuss them.

Put up your feelings, completely absent one fact or fact based assumptions and you get ripped like a punk in his first day on the yard.

Nobody here is going to do your homework for you or provide Vaseline when you mince like punk you have consistently shown yourself to be.

Power_Pro

Tell him feelings aren’t debatable.

Like I said, I offered my opinion…which is of course debatable if I base it on something factually incorrect.

As for the name, it’s for my business… Power Promoz. I’m a website designer, graphic artist, video post, etc. I was going for PowerPro, but that name was already taken.

As for you, I wish I could take you seriously but you can’t seem to help yourself when it comes to being extremely brusque to the point of being cruel.

I’m always open to listening to other people’s ideas and opinions…but you have proven to be pretty vicious in your characterization of me…someone by your own admission, you don’t know.

So thanks for the advice…but I’ll look elsewhere for a debate on Palin’s pros and cons.

I have no interest interacting with someone who belittles and mocks for the sake of belittling and mocking.

PS…I did list some of the facts and conclusions I’ve drawn and why. If you’d take a time out from putting me down, you might have noticed.

Power_Pro

Go back and read what I’ve written. I posed opinions, facts and yes, a few feelings.

The others gave me some facts, some opinions and labeled me a worshipper and a bot and an ignorant fool. You’ve judged me wrongly and dismissed me but then you already made up your mind without all the facts.

Dare I say, you’ve behaved “stupidly”?

Aaron Gardner

That’s what you don’t seem to understand, among many other things.

You haven’t provided anything except your opinion. And since you haven’t, your opinion is nothing more that what you feel.

I don’t have time to run through the entire Merriam Webster’s and explain each word to you. Neither do the others here.

Come back when you can cite facts rather than relying on your feelings about a given subject.

Power_Pro

Plus…you’re not even bothering to read what I wrote.

I listed several things I’ve learned…conclusions drawn from facts from
which I’ve formed some of my opinions.

But please…do go on. “Condescending” works great for you.

Really.

Power_Pro

Have fun with your cheering section because you’re too rude to interact with on any level at all.

I’ll interact with others on this site who don’t feel the need to personally insult people. Believe it or not…i’s possible!

Aaron Gardner

Seriously, I am a Palin supporter, you will notice that I haven’t said one bad thing about her. You are making it harder for others to support her because you have joined the cult of personality that surrounds her. Quit now, you are not helping Palin at all.

I didn’t dismiss you, I read all of your comments and the responses to them. I tried to objectively tel you where you went wrong. Instead of seeing it as advice you took offense. Your loss.

Then when I tell you that you are hurting Palin, you just disregard that and don’t even address the possibility that YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.

With defenders like you, who needs enemies.

Aaron Gardner

Cause I am certainly not going to step down just so you can understand me.

Tbone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm_-sW4Vktw

Aaron Gardner

I heard if you play it backwards it say “Sarah Palin 2012″.

Power_Pro

I’m not a Palin expert but I did do some research as to why shy left office. I posted those conclusions.

I’m just a regular gal here…not the definitive Palin aficionado. I called out what someone said about her leaving office and have been barraged. Sorry if I missed your prescient insights.

Frankly I wasn’t expecting quite the storm my post generated.

I’ll let someone who knows her entire record and wants to spend the time responding to each of the things posted in response to my opinion because frankly I don’t have all he answers and don’t have the time to look everything up.

As for Palin…my opinion is that she’s a politician and everything she says and does should be held to great scrutiny.

Aaron Gardner

You want everyone to be respectful of your opinion while at the same time attacking them for theres. It makes you appear to be nothing more than a Palin bot.

Like I have told you a few times, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!,. And that is not an attack on you or Palin. It is an admonishment and advice.

Take it or leave it. I am done with you.

Power_Pro

I offered an alternate perspective and was attacked as a Palinbot who worships at her altar and sees no wrong in here.

I don’t mind debate and disagreement…but that’s not what’s
happening.

So…whatever.

Like I said I’ll let some Palin expert who has the time and interest go at it.

Scope

she will be an occasional contributor.

BTW- On O’Reilly tonight, she said she knows there is talk about her getting paid for the Tea Party gig, but, she will then have more money to help good conservative candidates.

vrwcnut

Indulge a new guy here- only been readingRS for a couple of weeks so I’m not looking to upset anybody’s seniority. But lemme ask

Can anyone who has spent a lot of time and energy on this amazing thrread remember just yesterday when we worked together to accomplish something? I’m just a po boy but a mil-three is not chump change. Wouldn’t have happened if we’d not cooperated instead of peein on each other and arguing about who-did-what-to-whom.

Maybe I’d be better off just lurking for the requisite year or two but none of this makes sense to me. It’s a poor excuse for political discourse and sounds like misdirected anger.

There- I’m done. Take yer best shot.

Achance

how convenient. You wrote a check with our mouth you couldn’t cash with your brain. You wrote that ignorant, arrogant caption and you couldn’t back it up. Did you become a girl because ‘Becker suggested you might be typing one-handed in your mom’s basement? You are not a serious person.

mbecker908

You’ve established yourself as a pretty poor Troll, incapable of making a rational argument. You don’t get away with that crap here.

Up to now, you’ve not been “insulted”, people have simply pointed out the fact that you’re simply not very bright. Obviously you don’t deal well with the truth.

Have a nice time in your mom’s basement.

Mary Beth

So find someone else to bully please.

Have fun with that with your little friends there and leave me alone.

Mary Beth

mbecker908

right here.

Looks like May Beth is a kid. Had her parents donate to Scott Brown. So maybe the basement thing is looking better. And hey, SHE could be typing with one hand too…

mbecker908

Just not a very good one.

You’ll find that as long as you post on matters of absolutely no importance or substance and make comments that don’t rely on facts, ability to assemble a rational argument or understand history you’ll be left alone.

Dabble in matters of fact or substance and you can fully expect to be beaten to a bloody pulp.

mbecker908

go be a victim someplace else.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

Please save the nastiness for the OTHER side.

Mary Beth

Mary Beth is “Power_Pro”s real first name. Mary Beth realized she could change the screen name to something that looked better.

As for the rest of it…

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LEAVE ME ALONE.

Stop psychoanalyzing me. You’re not even close and yet you persist. I didn’t “become a girl” for your benefit, I was born that way. Yes, indeed, the world does not revolve around you.

I will say that I’m so so SO sorry to have commented on your post in the first place. Especially since you feel it gives you license to harrass me.

I offered why I used the post I did, the conclusions I drew from the research I did and I don’t understand why you feel the need to pester me. I get it. We don’t agree.

Just accept we see it differently and leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.

Mary Beth

My folks, who are RETIRED, live with me. I’m 36 years old.

You do realize that adults have parents too, right?

Now stop stalking me and leave me alone.

Mary Beth

All I ask is that you leave me alone.

Are you unable to do this?

And I’m not a troll. Who designated you to make these kinds of judgments? Who do you think you are?

From where I sit, you’re cyberstalking me.

NOW LEAVE ME ALONE.

If you or your clique write another post to me, you’ll be talking to yourself.

aesthete

For next time, I suggest that you contact the moderators if you feel that someone is harassing you (http://www.redstate.com/contact/). They are generally quite responsive, and it can prevent things like the multi-post schoolyard fight that occurred here.

Mary Beth

I’ll keep that in mind just in case … but since this has never happened to me before, I’ll hope that this is just one of those crazy things.

TBH…I’m still a little stunned by the hornet’s nest I tripped into.

Lesson learned, right?

Finrod

My point is and only is that by the time Sarah Palin dissed Ted Stevens, she was a national candidate (VP) and every Republican in the Lower 48 either had or was about to diss him as well.

You can go on about the entire history of Alaska politics all you want, and I’m quite certain that you’ve forgotten more about it than I’ll ever know, but in the context that I set out, Sarah’s actions shouldn’t be seen as anything unusual.

Now, if you can point me to where Sarah Palin said anything at all along the lines of ‘people shouldn’t vote for Ted Stevens’ before she became a VP candidate, then I’ll quite willingly retract everything that I said in this thread.

tkilmarx

And this is exactly what this is….scammers turning this movement into a money-making venture. I was on the inside of this tea party group early last year through Aug. I know intimately what they are about. Hundreds of us down here know intimately what this megalomaniac wanna-be is about. Not one single tea party in any county of Tennessee is a part of this….indeed, we were all kicked out of this group. Wonder why, hmmmm, no one from Tennessee from county tea parties are attending? Wonder why we have formed a Tennessee coalition that includes all but TPN? Wonder why the GOP here is helping to facilitate this little convention? Wonder why, with Palin’s fees and the cost of the venue (which I know the answer to for we were once the planners for this), the cost/ticket is what it is? Do the math. Where is the rest going? I know the answer. Palin and the others do not know what they are attending. They think they are coming in support of the tea party. This is a lie! They do not know that NONE of Tennessee is being represented here this night. Why would this be a grassroots thing and only 1000 can attend….those 1000 who have a bountiful harvest of cash to pay over $1000 to attend this thing. Grassroots my eye! Look to Tennessee, folks, and ask the hard questions…unless you don’t care about the answers.

tkilmarx

You are so right…the group holding this event has hijacked our movement….down here in Tennessee. Not one single county level tea party has been included….indeed, we have all be kicked out. Thousands of us across Tennessee found ourselves orphaned after being banished from TPN….imagine being kicked out of a tea party. Thousands! Not one of our Coalition members (20 groups and counting here) are condoning or supporting this thing. So look to what goes on here folks….scam is definitely in the works. I know more than what I can let on with what has gone on here past year with this feckless weasel.

tkilmarx

We have plenty of information here in Tennessee. This stuff is in our backyard. We know what has occurred here because we suffered it with this group….for the past year. Information? Yea. But, do you want to hear it? It is being spoon-fed to you all over the wire….viral. Corruption will be exposed wherever it turns up. And corruption is what this is. Can you stand it? No? Get out of the kitchen and let those who have developed spines over this stuff deal with it and deal with it we are!

Aaron Gardner

Becker was actually encouraging Jim to write an expose on it here in order to share the information.

Take a deep breath and try again.

http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

Looks like I’ll have to wait until 2012 to do that.

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

I’m Afraid Sarah Palin Might Be Ruining Herself Unintentionally

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