Not to beat that proverbial dead horse, but...
When I say the Right must establish the equivalent of MoveOn.Org and KOS, must analyze and understand their tactics, and must use many of those same tactics and techniques, that's but one of many approaches, actions, and tactics the Right must employ -- not the only one, and not necessarily one the GOP or the majority of Conservatives should use.
At this time, it would be counterproductive (and probably a disaster) for the GOP to use those tactics directly against Obama, or even encourage and condone them. In view of Obama's "current" popularity and near cult status, Liberals and Democrats would most certainly, and very effectively, redirect those attacks back on the GOP. Any such effort must be independent of the GOP, just as MoveOn.Org and KOS worked largely outside of, or at best, on the far left fringe of the Democrat Party... until their views and agenda became more accepted by a growing majority.
"RightOn.Org" can take the heat and hatred that will be directed against them, as long as they can dissociate their effort and actions from Republicans and the GOP. The GOP can't take the attacks without losing support and more voters.
On a tangent, that's why I think Steele may have been correct in distancing the GOP from Limbaugh -- at this time; why I think Steele may have been wrong in "apologizing" for his statements -- at this time; and and why I think Rush should distance himself more from the GOP -- at this time. Behind the scenes, however, Rush and Steele should still be friends and allies, but recognize reality and the current political environment.
(I'm not totally sure, however, that my views on Rush and Steele are correct. I might change my mind after a more thorough analysis and discussion on the issue.)
Now, forget about "RightOn.Org"...
There are many things Republicans and Conservatives can do, and tactics they can use without creating the problems associated with a "RightOn.Org".
When I talk about needing "experts in marketing and propaganda" (and effective writers) and sending out a series of short and concise e-mails, that doesn't mean I think, or that I'm suggesting, Republicans and Conservatives should start the type of e-mail campaign a RightOn.Org might conduct.
Now, carving the elephant into bite sized pieces (no pun intended)...
Does anyone think a concerted e-mail campaign could be used effectively by Conservatives and the GOP?AAR
If so, how might it be done?
By whom?
I got to thinking after my earlier response -- what if there are, say, a few million others Out there corresponding just as we are, some in small groups like ours, some in larger groups -- each talking to people at the grocery, the YMCA, the barber shop (yeah, I've been doing that too -- had a great conversation with a couple guys in the locker room at the Y this morning.)? While we were in Kansas last month, we went to Cabella's on the west side of KC, and, while my wife and daughter were looking at outdoor motif bedding for my son-in-law's mom, I wandered through the gun section. I caught bits and pieces of conversations from both customers and clerks, none of which were very complimentary to our new CIC. I heard one guy actually ask a clerk point blank how much longer that section of the store would be open. I heard another guy say that he had never placed a lot of trust in our government, but this was the first time he had actually feared the government. That reflects EXACTLY the way I feel right now. And I don't think I'm alone by any stretch of the imagination. I think the mood of the public is swinging, and swinging rapidly. The Silent Majority is starting to speak up and talk to anyone who will listen -- starting to question where we're headed. I think people who have never paid much attention to government and politics are beginning to -- I know, that's exactly what one of the guys at the Y said to me this morning. I still think we have a long road ahead, but my earlier message may have been a little overly pessimistic.
ReplyDeleteRS
RS, you are so right.
ReplyDeleteI have been developing a friendship with a woman who works in the small cafe in the nearest town. Yesterday I went in to see if I had any FedEx deliveries there---when they can't find my place they sometimes just drop stuff off at the cafe, it's kind of like Mayberry---and have breakfast and she asked me about my trip to DC. Within minutes---prompted, I think, by the assurance that conservative does NOT mean Republican---she was sitting with me and asking all sorts of questions about the conservative take on what is going on. I had taken in my new copy of Imprimus to read during breakfast and she asked if she could borrow it, and wants to read my copy of "New Deal or Raw Deal" when I am through with it. (You guys need to read this---it is the first indictment I have read of FDR as a person as well as of the New Deal, and it is scathing and of, I think, great importance as it lays out the political power gained and played when the government starts dumping billions into the economy.) A I said a couple of weeks ago, the woman at the drycleaners, when she found out I was attending a conservative meeting, volunteered that she and her husband had voted for Obama and were already thinking they had made a mistake.
The dissatisfaction, and fear, are bubbling up throughout the nation, and we just need to make sure they are productive. If we allow people to turn on Obama and then offer them another McCain in 2012, we will have squandered any political capital we may have gained. Here I mean the GOP when I say "we" but I am quite prepared to consider a new, conservative constitutional party. I said this before the 2008 election and I still believe it---the country is looking for a rational, principle-based, conservative party without the baggage of the two parties we have now, and I believe that a huge number of current Republicans would move over, meaning that we would have a three-party system for only a short time, and many disillusioned Dems would be happy to walk away from the far-left Dem party now if it did not mean becoming (gasp!) REPUBLICANS.
I am becoming evangelical, in the political sense, and starting to open up opportunities for dialogue when I can---not jumping right in but kind of tossing out little tidbits to see if anyone is interested in talking, like my comment about going to a conservative action meeting.
And another factor that I think is really important, and possibly not realized yet, is that the key to opening up a dialogue seems to be separating conservatism from the GOP. I am quite willing to throw both parties under the same bus, if that is what it will take to get dissatisfaction with the dems and Obama out in the open. There will be time later to link conservatism with the GOP, if it is accurate to do so, and if it is necessary, and talk about rebuilding the GOP according to its original conservative standards, but what I am seeing now is a really intense dislike for both parties and a renewed interest in conservatism.
J
J,
ReplyDeleteYou and I are on the same page (as usual). I've been hoping for a grass-roots 3rd party movement along the lines you suggest since the GOP abandoned the principles of the Contract with American in the late 90's. Many (most) of my conversations have taken the same form as what you describe, particularly in light of the news that 40% of the earmarks in the Omnibus bill were inserted by Republicans. Talk about "not getting it". We went out to dinner last night with good friends (life-long Republicans), both of whom said they are about done with the GOP as it is currently structured. That kind of grass-roots talk isn't going to go unnoticed for long. Maybe we can call the new party the Common Sense, Constitutional, Back-to-Basics Party -- of course you'd need 2 bumper stickers for that, but that basically describes the mindset of most people I talk to. Just curious -- what, if any conversations did you have with folks at CPAC about Conservatism vs. Republicanism?
How long have you gotten Imprimus? C's brother graduated from Hillsdale College, and got me a free subscription at least 10 years ago. I can't recall ever reading one that wasn't interesting and educational on some level, and the "New Deal or Raw Deal" article you mentioned was one of the best in recent memory.
RS
I can see this as a promising format as the repsonses are all lined up rather than in prior e-mails.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've been having trouble archiving emails with multiple responses. This solves that problem.
ReplyDeleteNoticed this in the AP article about embryonic stem cell research funding linked on the right side of the blog:
ReplyDelete"Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."
Someone needs to tell the President that that applies to Climate Science as well.
RS,
ReplyDeleteYour post looks good from this end. In the absence of a "blockquote" feature, your italicized paragraph looks good too.
Google has numerous tools and options that can be added to their blogs. The AP Headline News feature is one of them as is "This Day In History" and "My Blog List". They are updated automatically by Google or someone.
As far as Obama's Stem Cell Show, it's another Obama lie, a political show, and another snow job. Nothing has prevented non-taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research -- here in the United States and around the world.
Taxpayer funding has been available for a group of embryonic stem cells created before August 2001. Taxpayer funding has been available for adult stem cell research, which has been the more promising area so far. And, taxpayer funding has been available for placental stem cell research which scientists say "could meet the worldwide demand for stem cells several times over without sacrificing a single embryo."
Scientists around the world haven't been prevented from conducting embryonic stem cell research in any area they believe is promising -- and which they can convince financiers is promising -- but that's not good enough for the Democrats and their Left-Wing'ers... especially when it involves the concept that life begins with conception -- an idea Democrats want to stomp out once and for all!
AAR
RS,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, that doesn't sound good. But then, after defeating the Soviet Union, we've allowed Liberals to use our public schools, universities, courts, media, and politically correctness to impose from within what we defeated from without, culminating with the election of a Left-Wing socialist as president.
Liberal political correctness and general complacency by the majority of Americans has allowed our nation to be overrun with illegal aliens.
Now, it looks like we are growing our own terrorists!
What will it take before Americans wake up?
I sent you a separate e-mail.
AAR
I don't want to give you false hope, but as you know I'm in the world of academia up to my eyeballs. My daughter is a senior at the U where I work and she has confirmed what I have observed; the most vocal of students are the leftists that mimic everything the professors teach in the liberal arts colleges. Most students are skeptical of the institutions’ agenda when it comes to subjects of politics. They’ve learned to as my daughter puts it “smile and nod politely.” The consensus opinion here is that Obama is just another politician who’ll say anything to get elected and then pay back the special interests that got him here.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the classes not related to liberal arts spend very little time teaching political correctness; in fact often in the more academic endeavors the professors discourage talk of a political bent. The most common tactic when a subject political comes up is for the instructor to belch out some liberal pap, and then redirect the class to the subject. Picture Professor Alan Colmes interviewing Ann Coulter; she makes a salient point and Prof. Alan says, “CBS proved that Bush was a draft dodger, but let’s stick to the subject of accelerated equipment depreciation in a post World War II investment climate.”
The most popular candidates here were Huckabee and Richardson, mostly, I suspect because neither had a snowball’s chance in hell.
R
Nothing has prevented non-taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research -- here in the United States and around the world.
ReplyDeleteActually, AAR, the market has prevented private investment into ESC research. It's been going on in animal cells for a couple decades and in human ESC's for 10 years with no cures nor even any successful clinical trials to show for it. No one wants to put THEIR OWN money into something that has that bad a track record. Geron has announced the first human clinical trials sometime this year with the goal being addressing spinal injuries. We'll see. Geron has been postponing it's first clinical trial every few months for at least 2 years.
Test post using another Google account.
ReplyDelete