Does the Tea Party Need Leadership?

Recently, a “leadership” of the Tea Party has been emerging.  The GOP huddled with “leadership.”  A convention was held by “leadership.”  A new type of Contract for America has been drafted by “leadership.”  And a few other things have cropped up.  Who are these “leaders” and are they good for the movement? 

The day the Tea Party gets representation is the day it dies.

The Tea Party was started because of principles.  The principles are already set in parchment and instilled in our government.  They just need to be dusted off by people willing to run for office.  Our job, as voters, is to support government officials who are willing to do the dusting.  It’s pretty simple in theory.  Harder in practice, but simple in theory.

Once you get “leadership” a few negative things happen.  First, America is a 2 party system and any “leadership” will get pushed towards one or the other.  Third parties will not be able to compete at a national level with the money and support behind both the Democrats and Republicans.  So the Tea Party leadership will be courted by a party.  Once a party is chosen by “leadership” say goodbye to half of your supporters.  Second, a “leader” is a face.  That leader, who is not even chosen by the people in the movement, better have his or her head on straight or it’s goodnight real quick.  Third, how does anyone get a say in who these “leaders” are?  It’s basically a squeaky wheel deal self promotion deal.  It’s like me saying I’m the “Champion of Tiddlywinks.”  Says who?  I applaud people making things happen and say this knowing that some are not asking to be “leaders” they just are putting things forward.  But without a formal system to elect a leader, there is no leader.  Lastly, once it becomes about leadership, it becomes political, and it becomes less about principles.  “We’ll throw you this bone if you get your people to back us.”  Done and done.

The principles are already there.  They were put into place by real leadership over 200 years ago.  Our job is to get them dusted off.  Back people in government who believe in these principles and ignore the rest.

Read Full Post »

Polls

We are a nation that loves polls.  There are polls for almost everything.  When you say the word “poll” people will usually think of politics.  These polls are pretty basic, “If the election were held today would you vote for Palin or Obama?”  I’d like to see a poll that asked, “What do you agree with more: the policies of President Obama, the policies of Gov. Huckabee, or The Constitution?”  Isn’t that the thing that’s missing?  We spend months during election season talking about policies and asking questions about education, foreign policy, the environment, and everything else.  Shouldn’t the real questions be simple?  “Are you going to be a guardian of The Constitution?” 

Politicians put themselves out there as problem solvers.  Well, guess what?  The blueprint is in front of your faces.  A handful of men wrote it over 200 years ago.  But if politicians just kept it simple, they and their party wouldn’t get slaps on the back for coming up with “great ideas” and “solutions.” 

Want “change”?  Want the “party of ideas”?  No.  I want non-egos who understand they are pretty much just steering the ship away from icebergs while the population rows from below and take their coordinates from a document written a long time ago by men who understood the nature of government and freedom.

Just another example of why President Washington was right about political parties.  By nature, 2 competing visions can’t agree.  So our most precious document takes a backseat in the argument.

Read Full Post »