“Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.” —Will Rogers
As I sit and read the paper over morning coffee, I read yet another hit piece on Bill O’Brien. Fergus Cullen…former incompetent, do-nothing, New Hampshire Republican party chair periodically takes to the commentary pages of the Union Leader, bestowing upon us his pearls of wisdom about all things, “Republican,” while eschewing the underlying foundational principles that once defined the Republican Party.
This from one of the crowd of “neo-cons” who brought us, “Vote for Romney! Only Romney can beat Obama!”. Fergus Cullen…just one of the many who passionately advocate for politics grounded in the spirit and ripe form of the Hegelian Dialectic of false arguments, false opposition and big tent synthesis.
Yesterday, Fergus Cullen told us of Bill O’Brien “plotting his return to power” analogous with Napoleon Bonaparte’s Waterloo. His facts are spot on. The GOP lost 120 House seats or 40% of its caucus. Fair enough.
But as with most establishment-types…Rockefellarites…RINO’s….and so-called moderates, Cullen channels his laser-like focus on, style. This is a mere diversion…a straw argument. Fergus Cullen and the other clever neo-cons know this because in reality, when they talk about those conservative principles we mainstream Republicans cherish, those very principles are their Potemkin Village. And when confronted, they immediately shift the conversation to the, “style” argument…ergo,
“For O’Brien detractors, the issue has rarely been about policy, but style. Small in stature and soft spoken with a grandfather’s demeanor, O’Brien is nonetheless ceaselessly combative, as apt to fight with a Republican as with a Democrat. It was this polarizing approach to politics that led to O’Brien’s descent from the speaker’s rostrum in the first place, and defeat has only made his edge more cutting.
Reaching across the aisle…compromise….being loved, adored and appreciated are the baseline tenets of Establishment Republicans….”Squishes,” as they are often called. We see manifestations of the vitrolic and corrupt Democratic party message and platform emerge in neo-con talking points…
The drag on the ticket was the motley crew of insular Tea Partiers, Free Staters, birthers, Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists, and borderline anarchists calling themselves Libertarians who dominated the Republican majority in the Legislature, led recklessly by soon-to-be ex-Speaker Bill O’Brien. Together they produced a rolling public relations disaster and did great harm to the Republican brand. Guilt by association worked bottom up and primed voters to believe the worst about Lamontagne. End public education! Ban contraception!
Cullen’s fealty to the Establishment Squishes leaves no ass un-kicked. And the Establishment soldiers on blaming others, pointing fingers marginalizing some factions, real or imagined and perpetuating straw opponents. When conservative Republicans push back with charges of principle abandonment, the counter is always branding packaging, style, speech, message….like I said, the Potemkin Village.
Sour grapes? No, not so much…We need only look back to Cullen’s historical comments to the Hippo Press’s Jeff Mucciarone where Cullen asserts,
“(O’Brien’s) had one success after another for most of this session. A defeat on the right-to-work bill would be the exception, not the rule. It’s been a very good session on balance from a policy perspective.”
and
“If [O’Brien] weren’t pushing hard, you’d have supporters say you’re not doing enough,” Cullen said. “I think some of the criticism goes with the territory and part of the price of being a leader.
The starkest criticism made by Cullen was of the Redress of Grievances Committee. He characterized the committee on more than one occasion as a conduit for angry dads, marginalizing those who have been mistreated by the courts.
Many Republicans I have spoken to see the Republican party as not having all that many differences from the Democrat Party. And many like me have abandoned the Republican Party for that very reason. Our so-called just rewards are to be labelled as, “extremist, outdated and out of touch.”
Today’s Republican Party uses the template of traditional conservative values to sucker people in; To separate donors from their cash. They preach tolerance and big tentism, then alter those values through nuanced capitulations and compromises.
Republicans claim to be the party of the constitution, but dumb down the second amendment with fallacious arguments about types of guns and magazine capacities; What a “well-regulated militia” really means and advocacy for the current red herring referred to as “universal background checks.”
Republicans claim to be about the freedom to succeed economically, and then support flawed principles that create laws requiring that workers pay money to labor Unions and oppose Right to Work Legislation.
Republicans claim to be the advocates of school choice and then consistently vote against any program that would afford alternative choices in education..all in the face of failing schools and educational systems rife with bureaucracy and corruption.
Republicans claim to be the party of conservatism, yet marginalize the party into factions of “fiscal conservatives, moderates and evangelicals” for the sake of brand.
Republicans claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility but support candidates who vote for governmental expansion, pork barrel spending and the status quo.
This is all the doing of the Establishment Republicans…Those who care for nothing other than themselves and their grip on power at any cost. Fergus Cullen is a willing participant in all things Establishment. Certainly, we thank him for giving us the Gnome of the North.
For all the criticisms and bashing of Bill O’Brien, many of us are certain of one thing: Bill O’Brien is a principled, serious, conservative who takes a clear, unequivocal stand on issues, never waivering and standing firm. While Fergus blames conservatives, the real blames lies with himself and other establishment types. The evidence is in. Republican party….leaderless…lost…adrift…Perhaps Jennifer Horn will make a positive go of it…but something tells me she will have to play ball with the establishment. And in the end, those for who stand for nothing, fall for anything. Just not me.
