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05-04-2009, 09:48 PM
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Tea Party Thoughts
Grass roots movements are a powerful tool that has brought about much change in this country. The April 15, 2009 Tea Parties were in a sense a national attempt to create a grassroots movement against the passage of the biggest federal budget in U.S. history. On the surface, standing as conservatives and voicing our displeasure with excessive spending seemed like a worthy cause. Yet simmering below the surface is a movement that threatens to divide our party and as a result, our nation.
My wife, son, and I decided to attend the Tea Party at Clear Lake Park in Nassau Bay with the intention of showing solidarity with fellow Republicans. There were many people in the crowd I’m sure who like us, feel as though Republicans represent a rational, logical choice that opposes big government and can provide reasonable and realistic alternatives. To our chagrin, a large part of the crowd represented the dissenters who not only oppose the democratic agenda but the Republican platform that most claim to be a part of. We were in all reality met with a libertarian rally of secessionists with rebel flags, anarchists who exalt the cry of, “Who is John Galt”; and the Campaign for Liberty shirts and homemade signs claiming they are bearers of the Constitutional truths. Speaker after speaker railed against the federal government using a rhetoric that was bordering on inciting rebellion until the grand master of all libertarian rhetoric Ron Paul responded to the crowd with chants of, “end the Fed and bring back the Gold Standard”. We’d had enough by this point.
What happened at this Tea Party though very disturbing reinforces several key things for me personally. It reinforces in me the commitment I’ve made to defeat Ron Paul in next year’s Republican Primary to represent the people of the 14th congressional district. As much as I have already read, seen, and heard from the Paulistas and their intimidation tactics of name-calling, creating false websites in my name and the occasional threat of bodily harm; I know that my voice of reason won’t be silenced. This particular tea party only reinforces my belief that the libertarians are attempting to tear down the Republican Party from the inside out. Many efforts are certainly covert but in this case openly criticizing Republican leaders and playing up only the fiscal conservatism of their platform. A platform that provides no real answer except “withdrawal”.
I have to believe that middle class Americans are looking for a way to end this widening gap between the liberals and their increasingly socialistic agenda and our own fringe element who too often scream loudly without providing pragmatic and realistic alternatives. The ideology that drives this behavior is creating a divisiveness that threatens to rip the social fabric of this country apart.
As a member of what I hope is the next true Republican class in Congress, I along with other civil Republican leaders such as Pete Olson, Paul Ryan, and John Boehner who have true political capital can provide a practical vision and response that will address the problems we face. But for now; don’t take the bait of the libertarian fringe. We are the party of ideas and we will get our chance if we stick to true Republican values.
Respectfully,
Jeff Cherry
*from his blog
http://www.cherryforcongress.blogspot.com/
Tea Party Thoughts
Grass roots movements are a powerful tool that has brought about much change in this country. The April 15, 2009 Tea Parties were in a sense a national attempt to create a grassroots movement against the passage of the biggest federal budget in U.S. history. On the surface, standing as conservatives and voicing our displeasure with excessive spending seemed like a worthy cause. Yet simmering below the surface is a movement that threatens to divide our party and as a result, our nation.
My wife, son, and I decided to attend the Tea Party at Clear Lake Park in Nassau Bay with the intention of showing solidarity with fellow Republicans. There were many people in the crowd I’m sure who like us, feel as though Republicans represent a rational, logical choice that opposes big government and can provide reasonable and realistic alternatives. To our chagrin, a large part of the crowd represented the dissenters who not only oppose the democratic agenda but the Republican platform that most claim to be a part of. We were in all reality met with a libertarian rally of secessionists with rebel flags, anarchists who exalt the cry of, “Who is John Galt”; and the Campaign for Liberty shirts and homemade signs claiming they are bearers of the Constitutional truths. Speaker after speaker railed against the federal government using a rhetoric that was bordering on inciting rebellion until the grand master of all libertarian rhetoric Ron Paul responded to the crowd with chants of, “end the Fed and bring back the Gold Standard”. We’d had enough by this point.
What happened at this Tea Party though very disturbing reinforces several key things for me personally. It reinforces in me the commitment I’ve made to defeat Ron Paul in next year’s Republican Primary to represent the people of the 14th congressional district. As much as I have already read, seen, and heard from the Paulistas and their intimidation tactics of name-calling, creating false websites in my name and the occasional threat of bodily harm; I know that my voice of reason won’t be silenced. This particular tea party only reinforces my belief that the libertarians are attempting to tear down the Republican Party from the inside out. Many efforts are certainly covert but in this case openly criticizing Republican leaders and playing up only the fiscal conservatism of their platform. A platform that provides no real answer except “withdrawal”.
I have to believe that middle class Americans are looking for a way to end this widening gap between the liberals and their increasingly socialistic agenda and our own fringe element who too often scream loudly without providing pragmatic and realistic alternatives. The ideology that drives this behavior is creating a divisiveness that threatens to rip the social fabric of this country apart.
As a member of what I hope is the next true Republican class in Congress, I along with other civil Republican leaders such as Pete Olson, Paul Ryan, and John Boehner who have true political capital can provide a practical vision and response that will address the problems we face. But for now; don’t take the bait of the libertarian fringe. We are the party of ideas and we will get our chance if we stick to true Republican values.
Respectfully,
Jeff Cherry
*from his blog
http://www.cherryforcongress.blogspot.com/