Liberty MavenThe GOP Savior: The Free Country Project
May 20th, 2009 8:30 am | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Activism, Big Government, Constitution, Humor, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Neo-con, Philosophy, Ron Paul, Ron Paul Republicans, congress | 5 Responses
In many re-branding efforts a new mission statement is derived. My choice for a re-branded GOP: The Free Country Project. The mission could also be worded in this way, “Do the polar opposite of whatever Lindsey Graham suggests.”
I apologize to the wonderful Free State Project for bastardizing their efforts with such a suggestion, but I am quite serious. Instead of putting energy into calling the Obama administration socialists why not abandon the petty, kindergarten-style, partisan bickering and look within? Come up with a new 1994-style “Contract With America” but this time don’t renege on the contract. It should not be called anything similar to “Contract With America” though. Yes, that bad taste is still lingering.
Dubbing it “The Free Country Project” and making more than a half-assed effort to bring libertarianism back into the GOP could be a winning formula. Of course, many will have to tuck their neo-con tails between their legs and embrace Ron Paul and his libertarian friends. I’m not talking about a macho homophobic half-hearted embrace here. I’m talking about a full-on bear hug that will make gawkers worry about dropping the soap in the GOP country club shower.
The principles that should go in The Free Country Project are quite simple to find. In fact those principles were codified into a rulebook that every lawmaker must take an oath to uphold. Yet once most of them set foot on DC soil they begin thinking, “What oath?”
The Free Country Project should be a promise to restore the Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.” If that promise is made and the GOP begins behaving like grown-ups again the sky is the limit. It may take a long time to touch the clouds again, but at least there will be an upward trajectory.
So here are my humble recommendations for successfully restoring the GOP, the five guiding principles of The Free Country Project:
- Promise to follow the Constitution and do so.
- Behave like grown-ups.
- Watch what Lindsey Graham does and do the opposite.
- Listen to what Lindsey Graham says and say the opposite.
- Fear the soap.
Do all of this and the GOP may be able to declare the Obama honeymoon over right before socialized medicine starts killing off old people to ease the Social Security burden.
NOTE: Another name considered was “The 9-13 Project”. If I can steal from real libertarians (Free State Project) then I can certainly steal from pseudo-libertarians like Glenn Beck (9-12 Project). If Glenn Beck and I were contestants on the Price Is Right I would amuse myself silly by bidding one dollar more than him every time. And Beck being Beck, it wouldn’t shock me if he ended up crying about it on the air.
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May 20th, 2009 at 12:55 pm (#)
Regarding your 5 principles; #1 is actually enshrined in law and known as "The Oath of Office". They swear to do this on the Bible, and still can't help but make liars of themselves. I would suggest #2 be altered to read "Act like a grownup who doesn't have anything to hide". #s 3 &4? Well, if hanging him is not an option I guess this is good enough.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:57 pm (#)
Don't waste your time hoping the Republican Party can be brought to sanity. It was never a sane political movement to start with. It has always been divided against itself, a libertarian/statist nightmare that has never known exactly which way it wants to go. Each side is divided against itself, just as its first President, Lincoln, described. You know, the house that cannot stand?
All true libertarians should totally abandon the Republican Party Titanic today! Long live libertarianism! Long live the Libertarian Party!
May 20th, 2009 at 6:22 pm (#)
There's a single, but fatal, flaw in your logic here.
The reason the Republican party doesn't do this (follow the Constution) is because the people in the Republican Party want power. They way they DO this is by convincing you they care about the Constution and then abandoning it. If they followed it, they'd not have power.
So… How do you get the Republican Party all the power they want AND have them follow the Constitution?
You can't. So… here's the choice. Do you abandon the Republicans and embrace freedom, or do you do the opposite?
May 20th, 2009 at 7:01 pm (#)
The problem is, for all the libertarian/freedom-loving rhetoric that comes out of the Republican Party–once they get elected–they are just as statist and totalitarian as the Democrats. There's really no difference between them, they just advance their goals according to different styles. That's the only difference–stylistic.
The American voter must decided that he (and she) is tired of turning to the government to fix all ills in society. They must figure out that government is the problem, not the solution. They must get tired of having their hard-earned money taxed away from them. They must assert ownership of their own lives–and insist that government be scaled back and held within constitutional boundaries.
Thus far, the American voter hasn't seen the problem–or the solution. That's why we have the Democrats back in power today–doing the same statist/totalitarian things that wearied the voters in the late 70s.
The pendulum has swung again–but in America–it only seems to swing between Republicans and Democrats.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:38 pm (#)
Grand announcements will get nowhere, they just result in lost credibility.
Just doing the right thing, now and into the future, will quickly catch on. It is the only way. It is like a friend once told me, "When in doubt about the right thing to do, just do the right thing".