Post free speech appreciation day
-JHoward
Stuff I’m waiting for the day after free speech appreciation day:
- Three major US cities to be sued for practicing official discrimination while promoting official moral values
- The citizens of those cities to demand their mayors issue corrections and publicly acknowledge the First or step down
- The mayor of my town to promote shuttering a chicken restaurant because of its president’s point of view
- Christians to call on their mayors to shut down half a dozen major companies with whose presidents they don’t agree
- Those mayors to actually consider doing so
- Per its preference for empty opinion, four-fifths of the media to fairly and thoroughly analyze the issue’s structural components
On the other hand, carry on and never give up.
“It is time to think differently about the Tea Party,” said Darrell West, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution. “In the early days, the Tea Party was basically a grassroots movement, didn’t have a lot of prominent people behind them, didn’t have a lot of money. But now they have big money. They can bring outside resources into a state election, and prove to be very decisive. So they are getting institutionalized as a movement: They have major political figures who are behind them; they have money that is behind them. So they have emerged as a different type of ‘establishment’ organization.”
Other races this year in which Tea Party-backed candidates have defeated better-known politicians include the victory of state Sen. Deb Fisher in a three-way primary in Nebraska, and the primary defeat of six-term GOP incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar at the hands of state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in Indiana.
Turnout among GOP voters in Texas dropped slightly from the 2008 primary contest in which incumbent Sen. John Cornyn prevailed over fellow Republican Larry Kilgore. In that race, more than 1.2 million votes were cast, as contrasted with Tuesday night’s results, in which just over 1.1 million votes were tallied.
Still, the popular narrative of the Cruz-Dewhurst race was reinforced by the candidates themselves. “Tonight is a victory for the grassroots,” Cruz told an ecstatic audience at his victory rally Tuesday night. “It is a testament to Republican women, to Tea Party leaders, and to grassroots conservatives. This is how elections are supposed to be decided — by we the people.”
For the first time since late 2008, I’m considering being really proud of my country.
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We’re turning a corner. We’re waking up. We have Obama to thank for this.
Maybe, Pablo. But the GOP has to die.
I’ve been in denial about this. My dad was a ND Republican party member and served two terms in the state legislature, so it runs in my blood. But I finally realized that the power-for-its-own-sake types and their apparatchiks are far too entrenched.
At any rate, any party that allows [redacted] like Snowe and Specter — Snarlin’ Arlen Freaking Specter! {spits on ground} — to stick around . . . That is not my father’s party, nor mine. I may vote for a Republican, but I will not call myself one any more.
Die, or be reformed?
The national gullibility tipping point has been passed, but it’s the nation’s “leaders” who have fallen for it. They will continue to believe the unbelievable no matter how many times the election results try to wise them up.
The only remedy is simply to keep removing these brain-dead fools from positions of influence, as voters have been doing since 2009 and 2010.
Don’t define victory as when they figure it out — they won’t. Run them down and push on.
Testament to Republican woman? How can woman be Republicans? Don’t they know Republicans are waging a war on them?
The GOP doesn’t need to die. It just needs to be taken over. Like whats happening now.
One is gone, the other is leaving. Both became unwelcome.
Yes. It’s not a one cycle process.
Some of them will read the writing on the wall and act accordingly. If you’re a squish and you’re not getting really nervous, you’re not paying attention.
True enough, but it only means they know what noises to make. It doesn’t mean we’ve won.
Yes. It’s not a one cycle process.
Like a really stubborn grease spot? Can we take a page from the detergent ads, and simply SHOUT(R) Congress out?
Sure, great. Glad to see it happen.
But, to my knowledge, NOBODY in the GOP leadership ever told Specter that, if he was going to wear it, then the actions should start resembling the label. Nobody ever challenged him. Did it actually happen and I missed it? Anybody? Bueller?
rjacobse has the right point — it wasn’t the Party™ that decided Arlen and Oly are unwelcome. It was the bitter-clinging rank-and-file, whose input the Party™ has tried to bracket for years.
With varying degrees of success, especially lately.
Specter WAS party leadership. Now he’s a laughable part of its past.
It’s still instructive that nary a peep that can be construed as leading away from the formal Republican party structure has been heard, as yet, from anyone of these otherwise decent men, Cruz and Rubio, both. Or Rep. Ryan. Or name the pol.
Officeholders and would-be officeholders tend to be wary of pissing off people who can assign them to broom closets instead of actual offices.
Perhaps the first sign will come when the House membership amasses enough votes to refuse to reelect Boehner and his leadership team, putting in place Tea Party proponents instead?
On the other hand, there may be some positive advance to be obtained by some leaderly brave soul to rhetorically heighten the contradictions, using the ‘broom closet’ reaction to honest criticism to demonstrate the problem the establishment poses to achieving a government of, by and for the people?
Sounds good to me. Mr. Smith, call your
officebroom closet!