Free Republic

. . . . . Elected Republicans should govern by the principles they profess in campaign rallies and advertisements. Those principles were once the difference between the parties. . . . . . The Republican Party, at its best, is a party of broad ideas and principles. For example, those who tend to vote Republican believe in limiting the size and scope of government and respect the guarantees of individual freedom and liberty of our Constitution. They respect life and its diversity; and they understand that free market capitalism, the glue that holds the Republican Party, and our nation, together,...

Since the Tax Day Tea Parties on April 15, there has been much discussion on what to do with the Tea Party movement after the big protest. Jim Geraghty of National Review’s Campaign Spot suggested that Conservatives get involved and organized at the local level, starting at local city councils and school boards. Getting 1,000 people to show up at a town council meeting would have real impact, and would begin to push a Conservatism from the bottom up, rather from the top down. It may be a longer-term strategy, but possibly a more effective one over time.

...This picture is worth a 1,000 words and, I hope, dozens of defeated incumbents. 150 citizens, normal people, political novices and neighborhood activists jammed the dining room of Ken's Steakhouse at 8am on the most beautiful Saturday we've had in New England this year. Their hands are raised because I've just ask "How many of you plan to be on the ballot in 2009 or 2010."

A quick tour through the week’s headlines suggests the Republican Party is beginning to come to terms with the last election and that consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues. There was Sen. John McCain's daughter and his campaign manager who last week demanded that their fellow Republicans embrace same-sex marriage. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman – the most devoted modernizer among the party's 2012 hopefuls – won approving words from New York Times columnist Frank Rich for his call to downplay divisive values issues. The party’s top elected leaders in...

Something that I wonder about...no one in the media (including FOX) ever mentions thedifference between a leftist demonstration and the TEA Parties...what is the most obvious "sign" that the lefties are organized by a machine and the grass roots of the TEA Parties are home made? It's all in the signs...notice that everyone in the lefty crowd magically shows up with IDENTICAL signs? Now look at what we show up with? Besides the fact that they are more clever, the TEA Party signs are obviously home made while the left has the ANSWER produced, Soros funded mill cranking theirs out......

"Let's be very honest about what this is about. It's not about bashing democrats, it's not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about. They don't know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks. And there is no way around that... They are now dependent upon immigrant bashing, and hating the black guy in the White House. Will people act on that? It's not new, but Fox doesn't mind fomenting it. Michelle Bachman...

I have two concerns that I think the tea parties should NOT become (we should fight these anyway). 1. they should not primarily become movements to support the Republican Party, alone, and for Republicans to regain political power (though that doesn't preclude any one member or a group from supporting Republicans where they agree with US). 2. These tea parties are not about any ONE individual, either to demonize or for one person (or organization) to "lead", they are about citizenship leadership, spontaneity, and just FED UP Americans, we can not allow any one person to become leader to "dictate"...

AN incomplete survey of newspaper accounts and organizer estimates pegged this week's Tea Party protest population at a minimum of 250,000. If we use the crowd-counting math of left-wing activists, we can call it the Million Taxpayer March. To George Soros-funded grievance professionals, 250,000 is an insignificant number. But unlike recent anti-war and pro-illegal-immigration rallies padded with union workers, college students and homeless people, the Tax Day Tea Party demonstrations featured small-business owners, working taxpayers and families. A quarter-million people took time off in the middle of the workweek to raise their voices against reckless taxing and bipartisan spending. Multimillionaire...

Many writers have dubbed the Tax Day Tea Parties as inconsequential, a fad that will die quickly, and of foolish origins that have nothing to do with the American patriots of revolutionary days. Patriots dumped a ship full of tea into Boston Harbor, these folks contend, to protest one thing: taxation without representation. We modern patriots have representation and are therefore insane to protest, or so this line of argument goes. Folks who believe that the American Revolution was over nothing but taxation -- a penny more for a cup of tea or sugar or any of the other fees...

Please post what is happening at your tea party here, your location and attendance...and as always, lots of pictures:)

Congratulations to the hundreds of spontaneous grassroots organizers who have successfully organized the over 300 tea party events that will take place today across the country. Such events have already been widespread, and highly successful, with sudden big crowds: 2,000 in St. Louis, 3,000 in Cincinnati, 6,000 in Orlando, as recently reported by Peter Roff in a Fox News blog. Because these events are highly decentralized, with no significant institutional organization or funding behind them, they represent a genuine outpouring of grassroots opinion with enormous political importance. For every person out in the streets today, there are undoubtedly many more...

When his post-campaign organization was unveiled in January, Barack Obama vowed that the 13 million-strong grass-roots network built during his presidential campaign would play a "crucial role" in enacting his agenda from the White House. "The change we've worked so hard for will not happen unless ordinary Americans get involved, and supporters like you must lead the way," Obama told backers just before his inauguration. But in its first big test, the group dubbed Organizing for America (OFA) had little obvious impact on the debate over President Obama's budget, which passed Congress on Thursday with no Republican support and a...

More than 3000 protestors showed up. A plethora of pictures taken records conservative protest against Obama and his Administration. Click on link or source for photos! http://pereiraville.com/scribble/?p=7104

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford sees a strong future for the Republican Party, provided it's rebuilt in what he sees as the right way: on the local level, far from the halls of Congress and the GOP's national headquarters. Republican ideals haven't changed, he said last week, but he thinks the ways the party engages new people will have to. NEWSWEEK's Daniel Stone asked Sanford who's responsible to lead the party from here and what he thinks about the party's national leadership. Excerpts: NEWSWEEK: In devising a new strategy for the party, where do you go from here?SANFORD: There is...

A meeting is scheduled for 3/14, 3pm at the Right Wing TavernReply if you’re going to be there because we need a count by 3/13. We also need to determine the agenda. JimRob already has one established this guidelineInput is appreciated and we look forward to a great first meeting!

Calling all CT FReepers! (I was going to post this to the local board, but I don't know how many CT FReepers actually read the thing...) It's taken a while for me to be able to post this, so here goes - we're going to have another dinner/conference similar to the one we had in early 2007. Location: John Harvard's, Manchester, CT Date: Wednesday March 25, or Thursday, March 26 (I thought Friday might be better, but it can be mobbed in there on Fridays, and, IIRC, they don't do formal reservations.) Please let me know which day is best...

Word up - we must organize. Organize to lobby, to protest, get others involved...

It's time for the grassroots conservatives gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference to again lead the fight for the principles of freedom that have propelled America to greatness. "Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question." ~ President Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801 There has been a constant battle throughout history between those who wish to control others and those who...

Four months ago, the Republican Party seemed headed for the scrap heap. Today, things don't look quite so bad -- not because the party has done anything particularly brilliant, mind you, but because opposition parties almost always come back sooner or later -- and almost always for the same reason. The other party screws up. Or, to paraphrase Enoch Powell, the British politician who put it far more eloquently: all political careers ultimately end in failure. That's because leaders and political parties inevitably over-promise and over-reach. Already, President Barack Obama's efforts -- from the stimulus package to welfare reform --...

Okay everyone, welcome to the general Alabama thread on Free Republic! Use this thread to post interesting news, tidbits, plans, meeting times, or just to converse with your fellow people of Alabama. This thread will be used to properly coordinate FR activism and various other activities...and, if things go well, serve as the proper thread for Alabama FR chapters to plan and organize. Hope you all make good use of it!