“They wont all need the Repair kit….but a few of them probably do…and we all know who they are.“
His minimalist Republican Repair kit really is all that is needed. Really. Two items. The only thing I would add would be a STRONG Conservative outlook, demeanor, and action. Oh yeah, one more thing that seems to be sorely lacking lately: Courage. People will be willing to go to the mat for that person that embodies all that. But that person, that singular personality, has to stand strong, stand up for the Right Principles, and when it counts, has made the decision to not compromise. The example that lately comes to mind is WI Gov. Scott Walker – standing firm on Conservative principles, not backing down, and fighting the good fight.
This past Friday nite at the Future of Journalism weekend event was the first annual Brietbart Awards in honor of Andrew Breitbart who changed the outlook of the Right Blogosphere and was one of the most influential folks that helped to upset the balance between the MSM and the New Media. He showed that simply showing up, and standing up, can change the direction of the political battles in which we find ourselves. The first annual Award winners were:
- Citizen Activist: Andrew Marcus (citizen film director, Hating Breitbart)
- Blogger: Duane Lester (AllAmericanBlogger.com, LibertyNews.com)
- Full Time Reporter: Philip Klein (Washington Examiner)
Of course at such an awards night, there are others that are doing the introducing of the winners and such. In each case, those that did were those that knew Andrew well or had touched their lives in a given way. Dana Loesch, reporter for Breitbart and conservative radio talk host was one of the speakers and made an impassioned, emotional speech (and yes, I have asked Erik Telford, VP at Franklin Center (along with the Heritage Foundaton, the hosts for the event) to see if there is video of it). In it, she had two lines that meshed with the overall theme of the night, in which was that we are not just in a war of ideas, but in a Cold Civil War for the future of America just as real, just as deadly, and will have as much impact on our future that the actual Civil War had going forward.
- You cannot win by running away
- We cannot leave any warriors on the battlefield
Practical reasoning – practical advice. The following is not what Dana said, but what struck home as she uttered these principles.
The first is one that the Republicans have a real hard time and most often it is during that “enemy” contact. All I have to do is watch “moderates” run away from a political or philosophical argument with the Democrats and know that the Conservative position will be lost. These folks, all in the name of “getting something done”, may physically be present but their hearts and minds have already abandoned the field. Again, look at Gov. Walker – he could have completely avoided the entire recall effort and had a better time governing if he had just decided “Naw, I don’t have to do this. All I DO have to do is just wait long enough and this will go away”. But that decision, running away in place, was not acceptable to a man of Principle.
Sidenote: We here at the ‘Grok do not run away or back down when we know we are right, and I am proud of the other Groksters who all have taken the same attitude here – Steve, Tim, Rick, Mike, Carol, Don, and Susan. I am grateful that they stand up for Principle and do not back down, post after post after post. Sure, we are a political blog in a small State, but the only thing that seems to run out is time to take on more issues and people.
I wish more politicians and operatives had this outlook – to stand and fight. Sure, it’s hard, and sure, you lose. But remember our state motto: “Live Free or Die; Death is not the worst of all evils“. One stands what one believes – and that should be Freedom. There is no real alternative. We say we are a ‘free people”, but as I look around, more and more, I see politicians on our side failing to stand up for what is right and instead, stooping for what is easy. As I explained what I meant about an enthusiasm drop-down, this can easily be explained: “go-along” seen as superior to Courage, potential career over Principle. A lack of courage to even to try to produce the expected results desired by supporters means one has run away.
But that just doesn’t go politicians – it goes for each and every one of us. I look at the bloggers, standing up for Free Speech under attacks by Brett Kimberlin and his Lefty henchmen. I heard stories this past weekend of other bloggers being persecuted because of, well, they believe in the precepts of their religion and of their belief in Constitutional values. I heard of intimidation by operatives (even by Republican ones) similar to what has been done to me. I heard mothers and fathers who refused to back down in the face of such attempted domination and an evil sense of trying to silence them. But I also heard the anguish in their hearts as they tried to do the right thing and not bow down to Leftist bullies but tearfully counting the costs to their families as the horror that they imagined did come.
But they did not run away. They kept the faith. This is what, I believe, Dana meant. While there is no way I would ever equate what we do to what Special Ops folks do, the one thing they don’t do is run from a fight they know they have to engage in. It is this ideal, that you cannot win by runing away. They don’t, and nor should we.
- We cannot leave any warriors on the battlefield
We all know know people who have given their all – they have never backed down or run away from a the fight. They are all of the events, always willing to play the team role and take one for the team. They give of their time unstintingly, they fight the good fight in the arena of ideas, and empty their wallets. And then, one day, they aren’t there anymore.
And no one thinks to ask “Er, anyone see so-and-so?” We just go on to the next thing, perhaps noting that something is different, or that something is not being done, but just don’t “see” that someone is perhaps in trouble. We don’t realize that someone has gone missing. Too often, from a lack of encouragement and affirmation, we lose a warrior simply from stress or burnout. And while self-responsibility says “take care of yourself FIRST”, too often we do not heed our own advise to others. But no one goes to see and ask “what can we do”?
Or worse, we didn’t spot it ahead of time. I spent a little time with a blogger friend – gone “pro” and does blogging full time as an independent. Gets more traffic in a week than we do in a year. But it is HARD – lots of travel to “be” where news is being made, always trying to be on the “trigger” edge with the competition to be the first with the next big blogger story – it gets weary. And the pay? You wait on the ads and you wait on the Tip Jar donations (and sometimes, grants and acts of kindness). It wears a person down, and I could see it in my friend’s eyes. Sometimes, the best advice is to say “sit down – and let some of us take up the load for you”.
Warriors do not want to quit and do not wish to let others see them “weak” (even as we marvel “how the heck have you done this”?). They will deceive themselves and say “I’m fine” when they aren’t. They say “hey, I can suck it up one more time” – even as they start to wobble. They imagine that the reason they aren’t productive or successful is “I hit a small rough patch”and YOU cannot let these warriors collapse – YOU need to go up to them and let them know, be they be “the Big Dog” or the person that fades into the wallpaper. Make it your duty to reach out, encourage them, help them, and if necessary, tell them to sit out (for their own good) and let them know
You don’t have to do it all by yourself.
And then make sure they see that they aren’t alone.
But there is also a more insidious version of this same command: We cannot leave any warriors on the battlefield – by throwing them under the bus. What happens when that warrior above, especially in a pure political play, says or does something that all know is a momentary lapse of judgement, the bad word uttered innocently? Yeah, just like when David commanded Joab to withdraw the troops from around Uriah on the battlefield, how often have you seen others fall away from that person to let them stand alone? How often have you joined them?
We all have made mistakes – and I am sure that a large number of you have all felt the aloneness when others back away and let you be the target. I have. And I can remember that time that the Political Correctness Police decided to charge me guilty simply because I used the phrase “hiding behind a skirt” (oh, I was considered to be so sexist!) and how a lot of folks I had actually considered to be friends threw me under the bus to protect their “political careers”. I know the person who was behind the word that was used in the Presser that called that “derogatory” – she, who turned out to be a faux friend, is a prime example of what I mean by ” We cannot leave any warriors on the battlefield – by throwing them under the bus“. I was that warrior, had given of my time and effort to that political battle but was thrown to the side because I was a political liability. Or rather, that Presser made me a liability and made any earlier contributions worthless. And lots of folks followed her lead.
But not my friends, and certainly not the Groksters – and we will not forget and will NEVER let it happen again. And when the Dems came to attack another of us for a different incident, instead emulating that coward’s example of walking away, we rallied around that person, picked that person up, and took the attack to Harrell Kirsten (the NHDP Press Flack at the time) who, haven been laughing over the results he had seen by “cutting the herd”. Instead of groveling and begging for forgiveness, we picked up the maces, and the shields, and the swords, and the Mini-Gun, and ran to that person, surrounded him, and then carried him with us to attack to real enemy.
And the Dems haven’t tried to do it again since. A warning to them, and a warning to others. For we will do it again (” …and fly to the aid of rock-ribbed freedom loving and liberty seeking / leaning folk anywhere!“) – and it matters not they be Democrats, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists – or Republicans.
We now expect you to do the same.
I am glad to see that Mitt has put a “No Repudiation Rule” into place:
Mitt Romney’s refusal to repudiate Donald Trump sends a signal, both to Democrats and the voting public: With the nation’s future at stake in this November’s election, Romney will not accommodate calls that he disown supporters who make ill-considered, unpopular, or sometimes outrageous statements on matters not fundamental to the campaign.
Romney aides believe that cooperating with Democrats and media figures who are demanding a Trump disavowal would most certainly lead to more calls for more disavowals of other figures in the future
Indeed – Mitt has taken a huge gun away from his rival. He has said “I don’t care”. He has made up his mind that I will not bow to Political Correctness, I will not submit to the other side’s rules of conduct – I will make up my own rules on how this fight will be fought and not allow my rivals to create my rulebook and allow them to measure me.
Good for him. Good for us. Hope more Conservatives and Republicans follow it. And if you think you might need it (or know of someone who needs an XL version of it), here is Steve’s Republican Repair Kit again:
We’ll sell you one cheap – but ONLY if you promise to use it. If you don’t, well, we’ll remember you.
Like this one – NH State Rep David Hess. YOU deliberately threw a whole bunch of “rock-ribbed freedom loving and liberty seeking / leaning folk” under the bus on Sunday and compounded it by making a joke with Dem Baroody. “Served cold” is the phrase that comes to mind.