Another Passionate Opinion

By Passionate Pachyderms                                                                                                          

Why the Tea Party can’t and won’t gather under one central leadership figure 

 

Our Friend and fellow blogger Ken Crow submitted his blog, “Time To Unite Patriots The Hour Is Drawing Near,” which prompted the following response. To better understand the context in which this was written, I urge you to first read his post. PP~

Ken, I read your most recent blog post ,  “Time To Unite Patriots The Hour Is Drawing Near”with interest, as I typically find that our beliefs  are quite similar, and I enjoy your style of writing. You and I have had many long conversations about any number of topics, this one included, in fact we’ve probably discussed this topic more often than any other.

While you have been very active within the movement for a number of years, as you know, I have been involved with it since before it had a name, and before our current administration was elected for the first time.

Having seen the writing very clearly written on the wall, Passionate Pachyderms first attempted to go the route of the GOP.

Rather than go into the long litany of learning experiences and teaching moments we encountered along our leadership path, I’ll direct you to our web site as I have in the past many times, and encourage you to read about them there. To make it easier for you, here are some links:

http://www.passionatepachyderms.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=370&action=edit

http://www.passionatepachyderms.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=374&action=edit

http://www.passionatepachyderms.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1184&action=edit

http://www.passionatepachyderms.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1190&action=edit

There are others, but this will be a good start, and will unequivocally help you to understand that I know what I am talking about with all of this. I am not a Johnny come lately Tea Party wannabe who knows nothing of how this began, why it began, and where it has always been intended to go.

That said, Ken, I mean no disrespect here, but as you and I have discussed before, I completely disagree with the direction your wanting to go in.

I not only firmly believe your wrong in this, based upon my extensive knowledge and experience,  the extensive reach I have as the Passionate Pachyderms founder and leader, as well as my access to information that the general public is not privy to,  I believe, (as do most of the real leaders of the movement believe) that the direction your encouraging others to go in would prove positively DEADLY to the entire Grass Roots Tea Party movement and should be avoided at ALL cost.

Ken, your thoughts in this, while understandable, are unfortunately misguided, likely because you joined the “party” three years or so after it had started. My guess is, that when you did, those around you assumed you knew certain things, so they never bothered to fill you in on them. This isn’t a reflection of you, or your efforts, it’s more a reflection of the speed at which our movement has grown and expanded, adding and loosing many of its  original leaders along the way.

The truth is, there are VERY FEW of those of us who have been here from the beginning left, and those of us who are still around, have our hands so full, we don’t have the time or the energy to fill in those who have opted to jump in with both feet later.

The entire idea behind the Grass Roots TEA Party Movement and it’s structure, (or lack thereof) is to EMPOWER WE THE PEOPLE, and return to us our voices. To accomplish that,  it is absolutely imperative that there be hundreds, indeed thousands of different groups, some big, some small, some above the radar, some below, some with headline grabbing leaders who appear on the nightly news with regularity, and others whose numbers are as big or bigger, that avoid those cameras like the plague because we know they will impede our ability to get what we need to do done.

If your picture is known to every reporter, and T.V anchor person, how easy do you figure it would be for us to quietly skip into and out of our State capital buildings and the offices there? How easy would it be for us to meet with U.S. Senators and Congressional representatives in Washington D.C. on any given day, or with State Governors and top level pundits and advisors? True leadership, and for that matter true leaders have no desire to be in the spotlight, nor do they have any need for their names to be on the lips of anyone who knows of the Tea Parties existence.

To be sure, we need individuals who act in those capacities, folks like those you mention in your blog, who are perfectly willing to perform on cue, speak in front of cameras, and show up at events for a few minutes to impress those in attendance, but those people are without exception, not the ones moving things forward within the political machine on a state or national level, they can’t be.

If for example, Jenny Beth arrived in Washington D.C. and had a two or three hour pow wow with five congressional representatives, every newspaper and T.V. reporter under the sun would be shouting it from the rooftops within five minutes, each of those reporters speculating on what was being discussed, what the outcome might be, or what the “meaning” of the meeting was.

On the other hand, when those of us not constantly in the spotlight who carry very significant sticks, but fly beneath the radar far enough to be able to blend into the woodwork can accomplish this task on an almost daily basis and actually accomplish representing our members, making sure their concerns and opinions are being heard, and even getting things done, on behalf of the Tea Parties millions of members.

Some might consider this political game playing, others know there are reasons for doing things this way, and it’s as it needs to be.

If as you suggest, all groups large and small coalesce under one well known easily identified group of individuals deemed “leaders,” the voices of every member cease to be heard. No longer will Bob and Jane have the same opportunity to be represented and  have their say as is the case with Jenny Beth and Justin, there would no longer be  avenues for Bob and Jane to contact those said “leaders” easily with an email or phone call,  and expect that their message will be carried to where ever it needs to go to be heard. They effectively lose their voice, putting everything right back where it was before we began.

By maintaining the structure as it is, we protect our most effective leaders by not thrusting them out in front of the snarling drooling wolves who want nothing more than the opportunity to rip them to shreds and render them ineffective. By keeping them protected, we provide them the opportunity to do what they do best, represent their members without interruption or distraction.

Gathering under one person, or one select group of people,  selected not by their members, not for their leadership abilities, their attention to detail, the trust their members have in them, or the faith they have worked hard to earn from those members, but rather selected largely in the same way our failed current leaders are selected (whomever has the most $$$ to spend on turning the heads of others with the most $$$).

To do the same things,  in the same ways will only result in the same mess, and for the same reasons, BECAUSE WE THE PEOPLE ARE NOT BEING HEARD, BECAUSE those we elected to represent us don’t or won’t, are corrupted by money, power, and status, and have made their positions more about their status than about doing the business of the people.

Let’s take a look at all those you describe as individuals with “ selfish agenda’s,”  who according to you, are all Napoleon like dictators whose primary interests lie only in keeping control of their” own little serfdom’s” and maintaining their roles as the leaders of the groups they have in many if not all cases founded, shall we?

In the vast majority of cases Ken, these individuals have devoted their lives to these groups in every way imaginable. They have invested their own money, and typically lots of it, to keep the group going.

These selfish ingrates have worked tirelessly to grow their groups from one or two people into the numbers they currently have. They have planned helped with and attended hundreds of events, organized actions, communicated with members, worked on projects, changed laws, influenced lawmakers, represented their members in countless ways and given “selfishly” of themselves every moment of every day for years.

Many have sacrificed time with their families and children, given up vacations, holidays, hobbies and things they used to enjoy doing, and instead  spent those years in pursuit of accomplishing their “selfish goals.”  Selfish goals like, keeping their organizations alive,  opposing Obama and the left’s agenda,  fighting hard against infringements upon our rights and freedoms, and of course, maintaining their, “little serfdoms.” (Your words, not mine)

I can hear the conversations now and guarantee you they’ll sound just like this; And now, this yahoo from  Podunk Iowa, who thinks he is some sort of know it all,  Tea Party political strategist, who hasn’t the first clue about what it’s all about. He wasn’t even around from the beginning, and sees himself as being  all that and a box of rocks, but doesn’t even currently lead a group of any significance.  He travels around doing speaking engagements, and preaching his version of the way things ought to be,  thinks he’s going to come waltzing in, calling us “selfish” glory hounds,  telling us we have to surrender everything we’ve worked to accomplish,  and  tell our members,  members WE  found, then worked our butts off to keep together, engaged, and fighting with all their might  for years,   to surrender the voice we’ve earned together,  and fought to  keep together,  giving it, and all of our hopes for the future,  to one unreachable, untouchable group of  centralized  “leaders,”  who will , no doubt be put in place using the same twisted standards and processes used to find our  current failed elected leaders in government.  With a straight face Mr. Iowa believes we should do all of this, then  pledge our  unending devotion,  faith, trust, and efforts to following their “selfish agendas” rather than our own.  

What you seem to be forgetting is that those of us who have been with the Tea Party longer than two years have already tried your approach at least once, some of us, like myself have tried it three times, it’s called the GOP. It hasn’t worked yet, and we no longer have the luxury needed to afford them yet another opportunity to fail us!

Ken, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, the same way, expecting a different result.

This is no different, things can’t be done the same way they’ve been done in the past, it’s a new time, with our very lives at stake and those of our children and grandchildren. We are not willing to surrender our freedom or theirs, believing the same lies, promises, and assurances from the same good old boys and girls, who have betrayed us over and over again in the past, and expect to obtain results that are any different than those that led us to this place we currently find ourselves in.

We are the only hope for the future this country has. We know this, we live it and breathe it, and each of us carries the weight of that knowledge with us in all that we have done, and will do going forward.

We have done what we have, given what we have, and fought for as long as we have, because we want have a voice.

 it is our RIGHT to speak and to be heard, and we will never again be silent!  

We finally have a place at the table, neither  you, nor anyone else,  will ever convince us to surrender our voice, or that place again. It’s ridiculous, indeed ludicrous  to ask or expect us to,  promising  nothing more than the same  failed, corrupt, contemptuous, body of government,  failed policy, and non-representing representatives we’ve spent years fighting against.

 As things are now, and were meant to be from the beginning within the Tea Party Movement, every Tom, Jack, Julie, and Tina, can be heard. They know where to turn, and who to go to. They know they can trust their leaders to have their best interests at heart, and to deliver their messages with brutal honesty, and integrity. Our members know their leaders aren’t delivering those messages for the money, because they aren’t paid a dime. They know that leader isn’t a part of the corrupt political machine, because there is NOTHING that machine has to offer them or take from them.

They are safe because they are multiple, some above and some below the radar. They are effective for the same reason. Their numbers are relatively few, yet enough to get their jobs done. Most importantly, they are who they are,  they do what they do because they have EARNED the faith, trust, and allegiance of their members, and other group leaders, as well as that of current elected officials. They’ve EARNED those positions Ken, they didn’t buy them, they didn’t win them via any popularity contest, they didn’t lie their way into them, they didn’t manipulate their way into them, and they didn’t get their by knowing the right people, or being born with the right last name.

 They EARNED the respect of their members and the positions they now hold, that you  call them selfish for refusing to relinquish.

Each of those groups in Iowa got behind different candidates because that is what AMERICANS do! We have that right! We have that duty!

I think Your complaints and your anger are misplaced my friend, it is not  the leadership of the Tea Party that needs to surrender and bend to the “powers that be” but rather the “powers that be” who must surrender to “We the people” and start doing what we put them in office to do, REPRESENT US.

It is not our fault the Republican Party refuses to accept the fact that we don’t want to buy what they are trying so hard to sell. Ownership for that rests in their lap for presenting candidates who refuse to fight for all that is RIGHT and against those people and things that are wrong. We are a country of morals and values, the further we move from them for any reason, the further we sink as a people and as a country into the dark abyss we currently find ourselves.

Give us a fighters, give us real people who are willing to fight for us,  for our country, our way of life, and our FREEDOM. Who aren’t permanent parts of the current political machine or the corrupt pet rocks club permanently glued to their chairs in Washington.  Chairs which were never meant to be lifetime positions. Give us people we can get behind and believe in, who will work with us and for us, do this, and mark my words, we will be there standing beside them. But don’t EVER give us people who are the lesser of two evils again, don’t tell us to plug our noses and vote for those who are neither leaders nor followers, but have the right last name, come from the right family, or are able to swoon the biggest donor.

We’re tired of all the imitation flavoring and preservatives added, in fact they are making us sick! Give us home grown, hard working, patriots who have  backbones,  brains in their heads, and didn’t graduate college the same year Medusa did, and we’ll be in business.