I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

On today’s edition of the FreedomCast, FreedomWorks Director of Grassroots, Whitney Neal joins me to discuss Common Core educational standards: the good, the bad and the incredibly creepy. Related links: Common Core Resource Page

Last week Tea Party groups from across the nation made headlines for being the subject of targeted attacks by the IRS.

Last August the seeds of dissention against the grassroots inside the RNC were sown and began to take root. At the committee meeting held during the Republican National Convention, several rules changes were adopted that reduced the power of the grassroots conservatives and libertarian leaning activists inside the GOP. 

It has been four months since the election and Republicans are still in a funk. Whether hanging out at CPAC, in the local GOP office or on social media, wherever two or more are gathered in the Elephant’s name, the mood is downright dark. If Dr. Roget released his thesaurus today, under “conservative” you’d find blue, bummed, crestfallen, dejected, despondent, disconsolate, glum, lugubrious, morose, pessimistic and woebegone.

Matt Kibbe appeared on Fox News Sunday on March 17 to debate Steve LaTourette, a former Republican Congressman who now leads the Republican Mainstreet Partnership. The debate centered around how the GOP can win elections in the future, and was a classic case of the Tea Party vs. the Establishment.  As host and moderator Chris Wallace stated, "CPAC highlighted the disagreement for the [GOP] to broaden its base."

I was bursting with pride yesterday as I watched our champions of liberty filibuster on the Senate floor. It's unimaginable that in America such measures have to be taken to ensure that American citizens won't be blown up at their local cafe because an unelected bureaucrat decided they might be a terrorist, but it is the country we live in currently. I was tweeting with my head held high, supporting Rand Paul all the way. I drove home from work feeling rejuvenated, basking in the hope of liberty’s preservation emanating from Rand Paul’s filibuster. However my elation was short lived.

The state of the union is “screwed.”

The issue is not who is conservative, but who is willing to gamble his own power to achieve a result beneficial to everyone.  In the power struggle between the DC Establishment and grassroots, labeling of the two sides often conceals the battle lines.  Language frames the debate, and I am still not completely comfortable with the labels "establishment" and "grassroots".  I'm even more uncomfortable with the labels "true conservative" and "RINO", as they don't describe at all what the fuss is about.

“Do Something.” “Do Something!” “We have to DO SOMETHING!”Whenever a problem arises, be it an incomprehensible tragedy like Newtown or an imperfection in our economy, those in government and their media enablers are the first to cry, “do something.”