National Party News

Since February 2008, we have been seeing a rise across America of entirely new directions as states demand the federal government stay within the realm appointed to it by the Constitution and demand accountability. But as angry voices take up the cudgel, the original messages get blurred and forgotten. The Tea Party’s new ideas were regularly talked about for years in Libertarian circles before they became cool by people such as Nelson Hultberg, a prolific writer from Texas. He has written a new book called “The Conservative Revolution: Why We Must Form a Third Political Party to Win It.” Recently, Hultberg was interviewed by Ron Holland of The Daily Bell. As a major Tea Party bash occurs in Washington, D.C., this weekend, here are some thoughts from this original thinker:

Holland: Is the Tea Party making progress in your estimation?

Hultberg: “Neo-cons like Newt Gingrich and pseudo-conservatives like Dick Armey have moved their organizations to co-opt the Tea Party revolutionaries into the Republican Party. This is the kiss of death. Gingrich, Armey and their cohorts are the epitome of what is wrong with the conservative movement in America. They pay only lip service to freedom's ideals. When it comes time to match the rhetoric with action and adherence to principle, they cave in like a homeless alcoholic in face of saloon music and the smell of whiskey. It's pitiful how Republican Party stalwarts delude themselves into believing they are fighting "a great fight for freedom" while throwing trillions to the banking oligarchs and steadfastly refusing to address the immigration invasion. The lures of "celebrity" and "social approval" have consumed their integrity of thought. They want too much to be revered by the ghouls of Wall Street, as if riding in black limousines with thieves is somehow honor. They want too much to be invited to palace dinners at the White House. Thus usurpation and shameful profligacy become tolerable tools of trade.”

What we need today, says Hultberg, is the restoration of the Jeffersonian/Burkean blend of libertarian-conservatism that built our nation during the first 125 years up through World War I.

“ . . . neo-conservatives hate what the ‘libertarian-conservative’ movement is all about,” says Hultberg. “They go out of their way to smear conservatives who believe in individual rights, limited government, federalism and a mind-our-own-business foreign policy. But this is to be expected; they are collectivists. They hate the whole idea of individualism, and the self-reliance that sustains it.”

Regarding Ron Paul: “But the battle to light ‘brushfires of freedom in the minds of men’ that Samuel Adams spoke of has been launched. The Ron Paul Revolution ignited it, and, hopefully, there will be no stopping it. We are politically libertarian because freedom requires a strictly limited government, but we are culturally conservative because freedom requires the inculcation of objective moral values into the young. Freedom does not mean the anarchical fetish of ‘doing your own thing’ as the pure libertarian seems to think. Freedom is meant for ‘doing the right thing’ as Albert Jay Nock espoused. We believe, with Jefferson, in the rights of man, but we believe with Burke that ‘men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.’"

When Newt Gingrich said that the Muslims seeking to build the Islamic center in New York were radical Islamists, he was bearing false witness and dramatizing what will become a great battle for the Republican soul.

This battle is steeped in the lineage of modern Republican and conservative history, with leading roles played by transcendent figures such as William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

There is an enormous contest under way in American politics, not only between Democrats and Republicans, but between Republicans who favor the politics of inclusion, such as Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Republicans who favor the politics of division, such as former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The ongoing imbroglio over the construction of a mosque on private property in lower Manhattan has proven two things: 1. Cable news has something to get it through the doldrums of August, and 2. The Republican Party will use even the U.S. Constitution as a weapon of hate.

Those of us who are somewhat past puberty remember the Summer of Love. How much we recall depends on what we each ingested recreationally but the consensus is that it did happen.

It defined a generation, but for those who missed out, a little background: It was actually spread over two years of sex-drug-and-rock-and-roll, from the 1967 release of the Beatles' incredible “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album to the musical glory and excess of Woodstock in 1969.

The way to know a phony Tea Party person versus a sincere Tea Party person is to watch which of them will attack Republicans for pushing hard to return to the policies of George W. Bush.

Republicans in Congress want more Bush policies. They supported Bush policies yesterday. They support Bush policies today. The want more Bush policies tomorrow. The same Bush policies that caused the deficit, caused the recession and caused the bailout begun by George W. Bush.

Gone are the days when a rich and influential man would desire an opera star for a status wife, as Aristotle Onassis did, or a Russian ballerina, as Keynes did. What the successful and status-conscious newly rich and influential man would want today in a trophy wife is a senator or possibly a Supreme Court justice. A lowly congresswoman wouldn’t even get you into the middle-range country clubs.

Heading into the midterm elections, this is the last thing Democrats needed. On top of a public trial for Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.), it now looks like there’ll be a second ethics trial for California Rep. Maxine Waters — on charges that, among other minority banks she sought federal help for, was a bank of which her husband was a shareholder and former board member.

Like Rangel, Waters has apparently decided to take her chances in a public trial, rather than accept a one-sided verdict from the House ethics committee.

Luckily for Michael Steele, someone named Shirley Sherrod was starring in a far more significant drama yesterday and will for at least the rest of this week. As is his habit, Steele had another interesting day yesterday as the embattled chairman of the Republican National Committee. Recall that Steele has been described as "embattled" since as far back as March of 2009, just two months after taking over at the RNC. He has enforced a never-a-dull-moment policy ever since.

The modern Republican Party has utterly failed to effectively reach out to the black community.

This failure is most clear at the grassroots level, where Republicans have not done enough to make clear to American blacks that they understand, care about and have solutions to their problems.

By contrast, about one-quarter of the membership of the Democratic National Committee is black. This strong representation within the party facilitates more hiring and elected representation of American blacks in government at every level and creates a positive ripple effect throughout the community.

Robert Gibbs let the cat out of the bag over the weekend. He admitted that Republicans have a decent shot at getting a majority in November.

That admission sent shockwaves through the Washington punditocracy.

How could it be? What a mistake! Can you believe he said that?