Topic: Politics
Which Way Will the RNC Fall? The choices are numerous but the outcome is singular. The GOP is falling into disarray. Time to take control of the tool from the enemies of liberty.by Jahfre Fire Eater
(libertarian)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Taking control of the GOP from the current leaders does NOT start with the upcoming election of the RNC chairperson. From the list of candidates I've seen there isn't an acceptable one among them based on assessing them according to the Conservative High-5 Principles. They are nearly cookie-cutter insiders who intend to keep the party moving in the same direction as it has been because it lines their pockets and keeps the expansion of the American Empire on track.
The role of party leadership should be to promote active membership or at least to avoid disenfranchising large portions of the membership. As Mrs. Fire Eater puts it, the GOP leaders are acting as if they are directors of a private foundation, not managers of a member-oriented organization. The current crop of GOP leaders think their role is to use the members as cattle; to milk their funds and tell them which stanchion to stick their head through for their daily bread. The membership allows this by their apathy. This leadership attitude extends down into the state organizations where the state chairs behave as if their mandate is to spend as much money as possible pursuing the highest offices as possible and the membership with their naive expectations of integrity and representation be damned. So far, there have been plenty of deep pockets who were willing to buy a piece of the pie. Those pockets are drying up. Nothing closes a purse faster than failure to deliver on a past purchase.
The only reason Barack Obama is President today is because the GOP leadership's behavior has led to disincentives for active membership over the past 4 decades. For the record, I'm not saying that otherwise John McCain would be President. I'm saying that if so many advocates of liberty had not left the party over the past 40 years their influence in the party would be strong enough today to have prevented the likes of John McCain from ever being considered as a candidate. Quitters never win.
So now the GOP is hoping to replace one top cog with another with as little dissension as possible. Too bad, so sad; this is turning into a spectacle just as it should. The 31 flavors of Republicanism are at each other's throats. The Ron Paul faction is self-marginalizing again by attacking only one unacceptable candidate, Saul Anuzis. The core liberal faction, the ruling neocons, have fractured over the difference between racism and perceived racism and racial politics. The liberals in this split have adopted the Democrat definition of racism, which is: "If any ignorant skull full of mush or any blindly agenda-driven race-baiter can be made to feel as if racism is being promoted then it is racism regardless of the content, context or reality of the situation." The social conservatives in this split have aligned on the side of words have meaning - just because someone feels something is real does not make it real. The faction who believes party politics is simply a chess game and race-based choices are nothing more than strategy are backing Michael Steele or Ken Blackwell as the obvious counter-balance to Barack the Magic Negro, depending on how much the individual's anti-abortion feelings weigh against their limited government principles. Neither Steele nor Blackwell would be effective at re-invigorating the GOP membership. They just have access to the latest trend in deep pockets; those who may not be part of the old-boy network to which the current leadership is largely limited. The statists can latch onto Robert M. ("Mike Who?") Duncan or tired old Fred Thompson, the Ghost of Conservatives Past.
There isn't much that can be done at the RNC Chair level immediately but the current shenanigans should be used as evidence that the membership has been marginalized by those in power. While the GOP is certainly in the process of disintegration, the center of power at the top has not yet shifted. The real work towards lasting change needs to start with the remaining active members at the county level. Members have to continuously impress on their county chair person and the rest of their county membership peers that the current GOP leaders are unacceptable. They also need to find and support candidates who represent this view. Just working against the status quo isn't enough; a viable alternative must be offered simultaneously. We must hasten the disintegration while guiding the party towards a principled foundation from which to promote liberty. This takes thankless work by individuals, not self-righteous self-marginalization.
Third party and independent members and the mysterious activists by denial of input cannot help much with this effort. They have abandoned the most powerful political tool on the planet into the hands of the enemies of liberty. Baffling but true.
Those of us who remain active in the party must continue to take actions aimed at giving disenfranchised voters hope that the GOP can be changed into a force for liberty and opportunity or at least a force against the slide towards Socialism instead of grease for the skids as it is now behaving. This means working locally instead of taking pot-shots at the head of the beast. If we trip them up on the ground eventually those at the top must fall. It is up to the members to convince the leadership that the members drive the party, not the other way around. So far, the membership has largely accepted the edicts from the leadership and accepted their cattle role. Even the most bovine in the bunch must be noticing by now that the trust they placed in the leadership isn't delivering the results they'd hoped for. It is, however, delivering exactly the consequences determined by its actions. The leadership will not suddenly start behaving differently because their behavior is based on their enjoyment of the profitability in promoting the expansion of the empire.
Instead, the current GOP leadership must be replaced, by the active membership, not by armchair quarterbacks, with leaders who will work to make the GOP a useful tool for its members to promote their principles in government. The only way to ensure good government is to accept nothing less at any step in the process, starting with oneself.
-Jahfre Fire Eater
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Jahfre Fire Eater only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jahfre Fire Eater is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Change or Die
Date: 2008-12-28 18:43:38
Jahfre:
It is interesting how you state: "The Ron Paul faction is self-marginalizing again by attacking only one unacceptable candidate, Saul Anuzis. " yet by the time I get to the end of the article, I'm getting flashbacks of "Mikey" in a Life Cereal ad, in the sense you don't like anyone.
Marginalized or not, the Ron Paul supporters know from experience that Anuzis would squash dissent in the party. If for only that reason, they and anyone who truly wants to see the party change, should be be strongly against Anuzis.
I get what you are saying, and agree, but the reality of the matter is ~135 insiders are going to make the decision. The GOP must change or it must die and more and more, I'm thinking the later
For the GOP to actually return to the principals of Goldwater, of economic freedom and personal freedom they would have to dump the religious right and the neoconservatives. I see neither of that happening anytime soon.
Do you think it's time to overthrow the Republican Party completely and replace it with the Libertarian Party? That might happen if we could get Ron Paul to return to it. Libertarians need to be more willing to embrace diverse people that are currently Republicans, but not neo-cons or religious extremists.
Jahfre, you made some good points but if we look at it from a marketing point of view the GOP brand is worth about as much as the big three circa late 70's early 80's. I am not sure what would get the general public back into the GOP showrooms to even listen objectively to any ideas from the GOP.
Dale, I like your idea to dump the GOP brand altogether, however I think the neo cons are already seeing the GOP brand sinking and are looking to infiltrate the LP. Bob Barr's campaign and staff as LP USP nominee and his choice of members of his campaign staff maybe evidence of this.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2009-01-07 06:29:44
Hi All,
Just one additional comment. We should all put our best efforts where we believe they will do the most good. Go ahead and "dump the GOP". Good luck on that. I'll continue to ridicule those efforts at every opportunity, nothing personal, I just don't want onlookers to be fooled into thinking those efforts are anything but ego thumping busy work. If that is the best place for one's energy, who am I to judge?
I'll never understand why anyone would assume they could just build another political party from scratch. After 30+ years the LP experience should have proven to anyone who is paying attention that there are TWO parties that can elect candidates.
Don't confuse the vehicle with the creeps who are driving it. It isn't rocket science.
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