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July 9, 2013
A third party is nonsensical. It is a vote to fail. [Bumped]
We must become the opposition party within the opposition party. Just as Ronald Reagan fought the establishment for decades, so too must we continue to fight using the party only as a vessel for our needs. -- Doug Ross @ Journal: THREE CRISES: An EssayPosted by gerardvanderleun at July 9, 2013 11:55 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
A vote for the party tells the party you are 100% happy with the direction they are going. You told them you were happy with McCain and with Romney.
Reagan had a lot of great small government quotes, but his actions were big government.
Posted by: Todd at July 7, 2013 1:47 PM
I believe Reagan was caught between two priorities -- Prosecuting the Cold War and reining-in the liberal regulatory state. I think he prioritized the former over the latter, and made compromises to that end that fed the growth of government.
I think I agree with that priority, however much I wish he could have made progress on both fronts, and I still believe in the sincerity of his small government rhetoric, in contrast with the increasingly transparent hypocrisy of every Republican nominee since. I thoroughly agree in rejecting the farce of falling in line to support The Party when it continues to betray the most important principles that would attract me to it.
Posted by: Umbriel at July 7, 2013 2:32 PM
The way the system is currently structured where both parties offer no real choice or representation for conservatives, any vote is a vote to fail. Until such time as a credible third party arises nothing will change.
It is rightly pointed out that a third party will simply divide one block or the other, mostly the Republicans. Be it noted that the Republican Party itself started out as a third party and was not immediately successful. Had a credible third party arisen in 2008 it would have been well on the way to being a majority party in 2016. At which point the the Republicans would go the way of the Whigs in their turn.
The country is already far along the road to civil war, as it was in the 1850's. That trend shows no signs of abating. So long as there is no instrument by means of which the active majority can be obtain government by, for and of the the people the danger of a violent convulsion increases.
Posted by: Tamquam at July 7, 2013 2:41 PM
The GOP is a car definitely going in the wrong direction. It is a million times easier to take over the steering wheel of the GOP than to continue with a fantasy of building a new car. The appeal of a Third Party, like the generic candidate, is it allows all to imagine their perfect case, even if fragments of the group want conflicting outcomes.
If you drop your party registration you lose any ability to pick the candidate during the primary election, if your election is closed. Keep your registration and fight to pick better candidates. Or, alternatively, change your registration to Dem and fight for them to pick sure losers.
I notice a tendency of some of us to want to do one action that will fix all of the big problems in one go. Even nominating and electing the perfect POTUS can't make major changes because the bureaucratic state is full of commielibs. They daily work their evil without regard to the last election.
We should copy The Left's march through society. We know it works because that is how The Left came to dominate. Our job will be more difficult because The Left is entrenched and not the pushovers we've usually been. They won't be shamed into surrender like we were. But, it all starts with fighting back in big ways and small ways. Make that a habit. Expect to do it for the rest of your life and teach your family and friends to seek out the conflict. We outnumber them. They just happen to act on their beliefs.
Posted by: Scott M at July 7, 2013 2:47 PM
Ideally, it's all well and good to say a third party's a dead end. As a practical matter, I think relations between the regular organization and the Tea Party are toxic enough, and likely enough at least to remain so, if not get worse, that staying together may be a dead end as well.
Posted by: Rich Fader at July 7, 2013 3:06 PM
Utah is considered the most conservative state in the nation. Utah county is the most Republican county in the state.
I am here to tell you that as of the last presidential election, the Utah Republican Party, and ESPECIALLY the Utah county party officers, are not "conservative" by any stretch of the imagination.
Their priority is PARTY. Bill Bennett was a wake up call they heard loud and clear.
Orrin Hatch spent six million dollars on this last election. Six million, in Utah, for a seat that had no credible Democrat challenger?
I liked Chaffetz, but he's been assimilated and needs to go. Mia Love might be a good single term representative (better than leaving her district to Mattheson), but Bishop is too Utah Republican to trust. Mike Lee is a great, but he's basically third party already.
Utah Reps tried to defeat the caucus system here, because that was the only way we got rid of Bennett. I've been an independent since before that particular race so don't know exactly where things stand now, but if the Political Class anywhere can be depended on for one thing, it's that they will act quickly to protect their own rice bowls.
Posted by: TmjUtah at July 7, 2013 3:24 PM
"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Posted by: I came here for an argument at July 7, 2013 4:00 PM
Scott
If you drop your party registration you lose any ability to pick the candidate during the primary election, if your election is closed. Keep your registration and fight to pick better candidates.
yeah... keep telling yourself that, that is what they want to hear. Stay in line, don't fall off the plantation.
The choices that either of the two main parties offer are horrible. The last election the libertarian party offered me a choice that had my values of limited government, reducing spending, and more freedom. The republicans do not and certainly not the democrats offer that choice.
Please don't tell me I have to vote for your party's pathetic choice
Posted by: I came here for an argument at July 7, 2013 4:07 PM
Too late. Its too late to fix anything, except locally.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 7, 2013 4:55 PM
The problem is with the politicians, regardless of party. They live in a dream world with no Obamacare, Wall Street Bankers pensions, free airline flights, and they get rich while in office and after. We need a bunch of normal folks making laws. We need a do over!
Posted by: Tom at July 7, 2013 6:06 PM
The problem is with the politicians, regardless of party. They live in a dream world with no Obamacare, Wall Street Bankers pensions, free airline flights, and they get rich while in office and after. We need a bunch of normal folks making laws. We need a do over!
Posted by: Tom at July 7, 2013 6:07 PM
It that some kind of meta-comment - repeating verbatim a comment that ends with the words "We need a do over!"?
Posted by: Dr Weevil at July 7, 2013 6:56 PM
As Christopher said, the way to begin fixing it is at the local level. It will take time and energy but, if/when it all comes tumbling down, at least something is in place where one lives.
Posted by: Philip at July 7, 2013 7:13 PM
It clearly has not penetrated into many otherwise excellent minds how advanced the democratic disease is. We do not seek a third party, we seek what the Republican Party achieved in 1856, the elimination of the second party.
Posted by: james wilson at July 7, 2013 8:42 PM
I am tired of drinking Republican kool-aid.
Posted by: Jewel at July 7, 2013 9:56 PM
Someone explain to me how changing your registration to Independent from Republican gives you any voice in picking better Republican candidates? Don't change the subject. It may be emotionally satisfying to walk away from the GOP, but in more than one state only registered Republicans get to vote in Republican primaries. One thing the Ruling Class has done to reduce the influence of conservatives is to make more state primary elections open to voters with any registration. In those cases you have Democrats and Republicans voting on which Republican will run against the Democrat in the general election.
This is why I suspect many of the self-professed libertarians of actually being liberals. They have infinite anger toward the GOP, join the club. So do I. But they are strangely mild when it comes to the Democrats. If they were free of party loyalty and only interested in liberty why so silent on the Dems? The most you can get out of 90% of 'libertarians' about the Dems is "I don't like them either."
Go join your little boutique party. The Constitution Party is probably better organized, why not join them? If you want to change the GOP you have to fight in the primaries, not sit on your butt whining up until the day before the general election and then notice the party didn't do what you wanted even while you were busy NOT PARTICIPATING in the selection process. If you won't fight during the primary process you are like a bored teenager expecting the world to guess what you want and then condemning the world when it doesn't deliver what you didn't bother to even ask for.
The voters are the problem, the politicians are just the symptom. I'm happy to vote for a sure loser Democrat rather than a RINO Republican. That's what I did when Sen Corker was reelected and I expect to do the same when his RINO pal Lamar Alexander is on the ballot. I have noloyalty toward the GOP, they are nothing but a vehicle in my mind. I'll
Posted by: Scott M at July 7, 2013 10:28 PM
I remember some of the posters in this thread making excuses for the poor candidate the GOP was in the process of selecting during the 2012 Primary process. That's to say rather than picking a better candidate before the Ruling Class Candidate was selected there was all kinds of gymnastics being typed on how the obviously flawed Romney was really the best hope of winning. I don't remember who said it, but I do remember someone here saying the Romney flip-flops were a good sign that Romney was best suited to take on Obama. The GOP hasn't forced nearly as many voters to drink the kool-aid as there are many many voters who push their way toward the front of the line and then explain away the bitter taste and the warnings that the kool-aide is poisoned. The same type of people were dismissing all the warnings about GWB being a moderate by latching onto the excuse "he's from Texas so you know he must be conservative."
You can't change the GOP if you leave it. You can't change the GOP if you believe any damn fool excuse they put out. Look at the world with your own eyes and make your own judgment. Most of the mistakes the voters are making come down to foolishly letting someone else make decisions for them or a search for a short-cut. "Someone said he's the most electable so I can't be talked out of walking off a cliff." Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Karl Rove and many many others can't do this for you. If you rely on anyone but yourself to figure this out you are just volunteering for one cult over another.
Get off you ass before the Primary election and work for a candidate. If you do like most voters and wait for the November election you are part of the problem. You have a Republic if you can keep it.
Posted by: Scott M at July 7, 2013 10:44 PM
After Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney....we're STILL supposed to "try to work within the Party"?!?
BULL. It is not only more delusional, but more guaranteed to failure to CONTINUE with this GOP Suicide Machine.
Startinf a new Party is not easy, but go ask Abraham Lincoln if he thought it was worth it then.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 8, 2013 12:45 AM
To Jewel and Scott M:
WHO SAYS we want to "change" the GOP anymore?!
They've HAD their chances, and they BLEW it.
Each. And. Every. Time.
Witness the "reward" of contempt, exclusion and punishment the Tea-Party-types received after winning the House for the GOP in 2010.
That said, I'll likely vote GOP in 2014 *ONLY* to hold off a Dem/Marxist takeover of the House with Obama in power. After that, it's DEATH TO THE GOP.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 8, 2013 1:22 AM
I'm a Brit, so America's problems don't affect me, but we have similar problems to yours in some respects.
It seems to me that whatever political persuasion you follow, the most important thing of all is to get rid of the incumbent. In many constituencies, the same person has been in office for a decade or more - three or four decades, in some instances - and that leaves obvious opportunities for all manner of undue influence. The long-term solution to this problem is term limits, but as that requires a change of Constitution and would affect the current incumbents it's as likely that you would persuade turkeys to vote for Christmas, right now.
A candidate, for either party but the GOP would probably work better, who had as a campaign platform that he would work for term limits once elected might have a decent chance of winning. Might. Especially if many people did it.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at July 8, 2013 3:24 AM
For any real change, the County Chairmanship for the party has to be in conservative hands. That is a local position that sets up the slate for the elections. Also grab the school board positions.
Vote a third party. (Libertarian or other) Only when the twin disgraces stop getting votes will they pay any attention.
Stop the internecine battles. The Left will vote for any Donkey, agreeable or not. If you're not in office, you won't change squat.
Posted by: Peccable at July 8, 2013 3:41 AM
@ Peccable
It seems you're missing the forest for all the trees: you can change all the teeny tiny little pieces of the GOP machinery all you want, and still, at the end of the day, if the money (The Big Donors) which greases the wheels doesn't *want* to change (i.e. from "establishment" to "conservative"), IT WON'T.
AND. THEY. WON'T.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 8, 2013 4:27 AM
Fletcher Christian
"I'm a Brit, so America's problems don't affect me..."
Sadly most Brits seem to believe that, which is why we are losing the culture war against neo-Comintern (in cahoots with islamic jihad) so comprehensively.
In your case it may be the isolation of Pitcairn Island that is the cause of your delusion. :-)
Posted by: Frank P at July 8, 2013 6:25 AM
Fletcher Christian
"I'm a Brit, so America's problems don't affect me..."
Sadly most Brits seem to believe that, which is why we are losing the culture war against neo-Comintern (in cahoots with islamic jihad) so comprehensively.
In your case it may be the isolation of Pitcairn Island that is the cause of your delusion. :-)
Posted by: Frank P at July 8, 2013 6:28 AM
The lessons we need to learn and the examples we must follow are not to be found with the Civil War.
Look to the Revolutionary War. See what was done to acquire freedom. Emulate that.
Posted by: chasmatic at July 8, 2013 6:49 AM
There will be no electoral solutions for the rot.
The Patient is terminal. Gone. TU. Absente. Yes, the corpus is till warm, and blood pumps, but that illusion is the result of the IVs and O2.
The merest consideration of our demographic devolution would make this fact apparent, but the practitioners of Freddy Hegels' scam are now fully in charge.
Continued allegiance to a "Republican" partei is simply placing ones' own shackles on. As always, the Insiders begin the mantra " a third party vote is a vote for the Democrats"
My response ? .... Marco the Rube aka San Marco
Prepare Accordingly, keeping in mind that in any endeavor, the reality-oriented entity will ALWAYS outperform those that are not.
Posted by: OhioDude at July 8, 2013 7:45 AM
Something people don't seem to comprehend is that whatever you vote like in most states is irrelevant. Yes, you can throw out the incumbent or vote for a different guy, and it might even work where you live.
That's not going to help. The problem isn't with your guy, its with the ones like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the ones who've been in office for decades. The people who are completely safe and do not care what voters anywhere think.
There are too many of these 100% lock candidates who can ignore everyone and push whatever demented agenda they desire because it simply does not matter how corrupt, demented, or radical they act. And they are the core of congress; they are the ones that do all the damage.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 8, 2013 7:55 AM
I tried the grass-roots approach a couple of years ago. The GOP committee in our rural area has a monthly breakfast meeting at the county's only country club. These half-dozen RINOs had no interest in rank and file opinions or participation. Those meetings are no longer announced in the local paper - which belongs to one of the members, so no 'letters to the editor' here.
Your mileage may differ but I suspect you too will find that there's no such thing as a free breakfast.
Posted by: Monday Anon at July 8, 2013 9:15 AM
Like many, I had some hopes that the Tea Party movement would result in local GOP being taken over by tea partiers and transformed from the bottom up.
The problem is that there are only so many people who have the time, drive, and interest in running political parties and those people tend to be less grounded in good ideas and virtue than those who find politics and power enticing for their own sake.
So in the end, little change was made, and none at the top.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 8, 2013 9:21 AM
An individual American citizen's political reach is swiftly being reduced to the range of your rifle's zero by the very people who are working overtime to negate the Constitution and seize that rifle from out of your hands.
They call this progress.
The very same volk who have been steadily reducing our financial independence while veritably waterboarding us under a stream of intolerable regulatory acts designed to prod us into living as they demand we must live.
The same 'progressives' who have designed 2700 pages of scheme to deliver our very health, and indeed our individual right to life itself, into their own hands.
For the children...50 million (and counting) of whom they've dismembered in their mother's womb.
Fuck them right to hell.
Posted by: monkeyfan at July 8, 2013 12:05 PM
Frank P - Perhaps I should have said "directly affect me". In any case, the point is moot - I can't affect American politics anyway, short of moving there (probably wouldn't get a visa, for various reasons) and becoming an American citizen. Oddly enough, I prefer being a subject of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at July 8, 2013 12:06 PM
"The sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Keep voting republican, I am sure it will be different next time.
Scott, if you want to accuse me of being a liberal make sure it is a classic liberal. I will accuse you of being a big government statist, you openly support a party of big government.
Posted by: I came here for an arguement at July 8, 2013 12:59 PM
What too many people don't get yet is that its nonsensical to vote for EITHER party these days. The federal government is a write off, they cannot be fixed. I had one vain shred of a hope, a wind-blown tatter that was lost in the last election.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 8, 2013 1:24 PM
We don't need to worry about third parties until we have a functioning second party.
Right now we have no choice of direction, only speed.
Posted by: B Moe at July 8, 2013 2:10 PM
Vote? Really?
Feet on ground, steel in hands.
Is that ballot enough for ya?
Posted by: chasmatic at July 8, 2013 4:13 PM
Remember the question I asked was how do you influence the GOP if you leave it? Re-telling the list of grievances with the GOP doesn't answer the question. For those that say good riddance to the GOP, what has your little boutique party accomplished? If the point is to make changes, I suspect the real point is just to feel good, your little parties are not having any effect in slowing the anyone.
I've never been a supporter of the GOP. I use them like a vehicle when I use them at all. If the larger portion of Conservatives were inside the Dem party I would be there as well. Too many only have one ide in their head and nothing penetrates unless it is translated into like/don't like. When I see so-called libertarians doing 1% as much harm to the Dems and they routinely do the the Rupugs I'll stop suspecting them. Frankly they seem more like spoiled children mad that they eve have to fight for their point of view and in their anger they are happy to destroy anything, but especially happy to destroy their closer allies.
If you are disappointed in the Tea Party what have you done to advance their goals. Moslty what I see are people on our side just longing for a messiah that will do all the work to fix this country. They look for this messiah and then every 4 years just decide the guy selected while they were NOT PARTICIPATING is the messiah simply because some party guy or guy on the radio says the word 'electable'.
We practice sitting on our butts and then condemn those elected for not doing it all for us. The lobbyists and the big money donors, for all their evils, at least work for their side. Our side decides from the outset our money isn't important, we'll only support someone that is 100%, and feel like we've participated by listening to talk radio.
Stop with the excuses for doing nothing. These excuses are disguised as declarations nothing can be done, it's too late, it's inevitable, or I tried once and everything wasn't fixed. Use the tactics of The Left and use them to pressure The Ruling Class until they have reason to fear what happens if they ignore us. Just recognize that because we are so mild and they are so entrenched, and we have waited so long, it will need lost and lots of effort. Most people translate that last bit into an excuse for inaction and that is the problem.
Posted by: Scott M at July 8, 2013 4:54 PM
"Remember the question I asked was how do you influence the GOP if you leave it?"
I think you missed some comments here pointing out that there's no fixing it, that it doesn't matter what you try now, its too late. You believe if we only try harder we can turn it around. We can't, no matter who we vote for, not now. Its too late.
All that remains is how long it takes for you to realize that, too.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 8, 2013 6:46 PM
Scott M, your snide contempt is Georgetown-Party-Chic, but doesn't cut it here. You might as well have written in the 1850's/1860's "how do you influence the Whigs if you leave it?" *That* is how tone deaf you are to the point made by many of us above: the GOP is DEAD to us and we will move forward accordingly.
Speaking of contempt, your "Excuses?" "Butt sitting?" claptrap makes it sound like you've been soaking up schizophrenia juice a bit too long. What do YOU do, other than rant online? PHHHT.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 8, 2013 6:57 PM
Declaring the GOP dead seems to be just an excuse to do nothing. If I'm wrong about that tell me the name of the organization and about their accomplishments. What influence has anyone but the Democrats and Republicans had?
What tiny percentage of the complainers have done something besides like hearing someone's speech? They pin 100% of their hope on electing a President. Then the messiah President is expected to force House, Senate, Courts, and bureaucracy to snap to. They rush from one name to the next (Chris Christie, Herman Cain, etc) and then are crushed at the first mistake or first personal disclosure.
The Tea Party is the best option for change at the moment because they actually have elected people. But the Tea Party's influence seems to have faded because as described above too many people thought liking the Tea Party was the same as fixing all problems at once. The Libertarians aren't the answer unless the question is who wants to spend 90% of their energy talking about pot and who wants to stay on the sideline and criticize.
Conservatives have some influence inside the GOP, that is known by noticing the GOP at least tries to sound conservative before elections. The RINOs get away with talk only because most of us will not pressure them daily or weekly after the election. Most of us spend all of the time between elections waiting for improvements. Unions and the race hustlers don't sit and wait they pressure and pressure and then exact a price if they aren't rewarded.
Donate to rock solid people with a record of fighting and winning on their issues. The Tea Party is a good place to start. Volunteer for get out the vote or phone banks. But if you think this is a battle where you try one thing once, and then we'll have improvement you are the problem. You are vulnerable to the next snake oil salesman like Karl Rove promising you he'll take care of all for you just send a check. You are particularly susceptible to people like Karl Rove telling you this candidate, just happens to be his candidate, is the guy that will be easiest to elect. Nothing attracts Republican voters like the promise of not having to do things to win.
I'm happy to call my officials weekly, donate to RINO alternatives around the country, and help my state Tea Party organization. I am starting to help with the BeatLamar.com effort to get a primary opponent for worthless Lamar Alexander. Failing that I'll vote for the egg-sucking Democrat against Alexander unless it's very close in November. The only Democrat I ever voted for was the one running against Bob Corker in 2012. The fact that candidate was disowned by the DNC just made it easier to sleep afterwards. I see the Dems as evil malevolent enemies of American liberty and the RINOs as the Benedict Arnolds selling our liberty to the Democrats for media coverage. My theme is we have a party in DC, we just need to deliver more pressure to them then they get from the moochers and the lobbyists. No reason to throw away the whole army and build another when we could fight the traitors in the army we have. It's easier to turn a car around than build a new car. You can't do either unless you do something besides fell sorry for yourself.
Posted by: Scott M at July 8, 2013 10:13 PM
And, DOING NOTHING is exactly what YOU seem to have done...unless dontaing money is your idea of doing something. By "declaring the GOP dead" is as powerful a first step as saying "the Emperor wears no clothes"...or - if one is to slip away from the modesty expected - as sending off that "Declaration of Independence."
All YOU are doing is expressing/personifying the hidden FEAR of the established Party losing its grip. But, GO AHEAD, *TELL* us all here why we are SO MUCH BETTER OFF in the "chains" of the Crown GOP. That *really* makes you sound like such a big guy...(/s).
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 9, 2013 4:38 AM
NOTE: there should be a "strikethrough" line through the word "CROWN." Only italics and bold seem to work here. Dat's life.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 9, 2013 4:41 AM
Scott, You also remind me of BULWORTH saying - with full contempt and bravado - to the blacks in the congregation,
"Well, who *else* ya gonna vote for...REPUBLICANS?!?"
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 9, 2013 6:15 AM
Scott all I can say is you don't really bother reading what other people post, do you? You have your narrative and you're sticking to it.
In time, I suspect you'll understand what we're talking about.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 9, 2013 8:06 AM
Scott talks like a sausage, and should be treated accordingly.
Posted by: chasmatic at July 9, 2013 9:33 AM
The GOP is headed by a 'Tearmeister' not a fighter. The only thing Boehner worries about is getting reelected. Anything goes to that end.
Posted by: Peccable at July 9, 2013 11:14 AM
I don't have a fear of leaving the GOP. As I said earlier I would be in the DNC if that was where the critical mass of conservatives resided. My point is advancing conservative ideas not defending the GOP. I haven't minimized the sometimes feckless and sometimes complicit and sometimes evil action of the GOP. I see only 1-2 dozen worthy members in the House and Senate working for the right things and they happen to be Republican. Most of that group are the very few House Members that DID NOT vote for John Boehner as Speaker.
The Libertarians are not doing anything but complaining and putting most of their effort into making America more pot friendly. If the Libertarians had done as much as the Tea Party I would be more favorable to them. But my whole life the Libertarians have been exclusively about declaring 'I'm not with those parties.'
What has anyone here complaining about my view done for their side beside declare the GOP dead? If my efforts are puny tell me about your efforts.
Posted by: Scott M at July 9, 2013 6:56 PM
I left the party in 95. I continue to vote republican, knowing that in the end it won't matter what I think. The party cares not a wit what we think. I think it may be time for different kinds of actions. Massive work stoppages, tax revolts. Peaceful mass revolts that transcend either party. Nothing scares these dinosaurs but a sudden weather change.
Posted by: Jewel at July 9, 2013 8:02 PM
Scott, please reread, or at a minimum improve your reading comprehension abilities. NO ONE said you were afraid of "leaving the GOP."
I SAID: you embody and are expressing the fears of the GOP in "losing the grip on power" of being the established Party.
It's nice to ask "what are you doing?", but posing the question itself displays an utterly blind unwillingness TO SEE ("acknowledge") WHAT WE ARE DOING.
DENIAL is more than a river in Egypt, Scott.
Posted by: Kauf Buch at July 10, 2013 2:18 AM
Gerard, darlin' man, you ought to write from the heart and mind and let off this easy linkage glut.
With a few notable exceptions, your threads have descended into a stale fest of right wing talking points streaked with a wide brush of bizarre paranoia.
Better to write something grand than go for the easy comment hit.
I know you can write with polished skill (my favorite was your bar/divorce story) and slam dunk a persuasive political commentary - you're so fucking intelligent and talented... why are you courting this pack of low-rent internet morons?
I so admire and personally like you, Gerard.
If you're going to blog, live up to your own earlier standards and do it better.
Posted by: Daphne at July 10, 2013 6:01 PM
Daphne, dear, this is the sidebar, its all about links.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 10, 2013 6:54 PM
@Kauf I take your correction about my mis-reading comments. I assume all organizations desire to stick around into the future. I dare say even the malevolent Democrats worry in that regard.
My desire to fix the GOP rather than fantasize about a new party or pretending the Libertarian Party is worthy of effort is nothing more than practical laziness, especially mine. Look at our side. Our people are not lazy, least of all are they stupid. Our people are the people that do the work and keep the working parts of this country working. But, when it comes to politics were are as active as a doorstop. These same people are not going to build a new party. If we start we may be able to throw out enough of the GOP and replace them with Tea Party types. While that is a lot of work also, it is a lot less than building a new party from scratch.
The small beneficial part of the GOP, I'll call them the Tea Party wing of the party, is bigger and more effective in practice than any other 3 or 4 prospective efforts combined. While we have recently increased our downhill slide in this country, it's been clear since GWB one or both parties are wildly out of step with either the party base or the majority of citizens. In that time the Libertarians have little to show for their efforts but constant efforts to legalize pot. They've elected fewer candidates than the Tea Party while the Tea Party is much younger.
The only thing that keeps me from full-throated expression about the RNC and GOP are the laws about making threats. I'm not arguing the GOP/RNC only has value as a tear-down. I want it torn down and rebuilt. But I want it preserved because it is on very valuable real estate. It's on every ballot in all 57 state. Every state and most counties have the organization in place. My argument is if we are very actice in throwing out enough of the bums in the party, the other cowards in the party organization will see things our way, or at least act like they do. Then we will need to constantly apply enough pressure on them, all the time, so they recognize their jobs are always on the line. As hard as that is, and it never ends, it's a damn site less effort than building a new party, getting it in every state, and then riding herd on them 24/7/365. Third Party is a more pleasing fantasy than hard work, but it won't work and all the hard work I've detailed will be required anyway with the Third Party.
Posted by: Scott M at July 11, 2013 3:47 AM
Daphne,
Complain not. You came here of your own free will. Surcease from that which bothers you is but a mouse-click away.
"... low-rent internet morons?" is rather condescending, uh? And tellin' the guy how to keep his own house is bad form.
Whyncha just email him your displeasure instead of dressing him down in front of others? Yes, I wonder that.
Posted by: chasmatic at July 11, 2013 11:39 AM
One simple start is this: never allow any office to run unopposed in any election ever again. File for office. Even if you can't afford to campaign. Go down on the last filing day and pick an election where the incumbent has no opponent. Even if he's a good guy. Regardless of party. File for it.
In our town, the city and school board do not even have to hold an election if there isn't an opponent. I doubt I am up to a state office, but after our last local election, I have decided that I will just file from now on, just to give people a choice of representatives, and a chance to cast a vote.
This is a simple thing, but almost everyone can do it, and it won't cost much. A great old free for all where half the people are running for fun, to throw a monkey wrench in the works will skew the statistics. No one will be able to predict what will happen. Slowly, we'll get real candidates again. And by having real candidates, we'll get real representatives.
Posted by: Tina at July 11, 2013 7:06 PM
All you need to do is to coat the chicken by rolling them over the seasoning mixture.
And according to my short research, celery stalk contains PHTHALIDE which can lower blood pressure, and also it lessens the production of catecholamine (exists if physically
and emotionally stressed) which causes the imbalance
flow of blood by restricting or blocking the blood vessels.
Using only flour, the crust frequently falls off in the oil,
doesn't stick that well to the chicken and is soggy.
Posted by: ehow.com at August 5, 2013 7:28 PM
Ich denke, youve einige wirklich interessante Punkte. Nicht viele Menschen würden auch wirklich über diese, wie Sie gerade getan denken. Im wirklich beeindruckt, dass theres so viel über dieses Thema wurde aufgedeckt und das ist, du hast es so gut, mit so viel Klasse. Gut 1 Sie, Mann! Definitiv fantastische Dinge hier richtig.
Posted by: Grazyna Weiss at February 2, 2014 12:27 PM
Esta es mi primera vez que visite aquí. Encontré muchos cosas entretenidas en su blog, sobre todo el debate. De las toneladas de comentarios sobre sus puestos de trabajo, creo que no soy el único que tiene toda la diversión aquí! Sigan con el excelente trabajo.
Posted by: Kimberlee Chararria at February 15, 2014 9:26 AM