A sincere warning to big-government Republicans politicians

Last night, I published an article at The Next Right aimed at Republicans currently holding public office. Afterwards, I recalled that it wasn’t all that long ago that many elected Republicans thought the Internets are a long series of tubes. Lately, it seems that some Republican office holders have learned to tweet, but I’m not sure how many of them are ready for a full-sized blog posting. Although Glenn Reynolds, Robert Stacy McCain, Memeorandum, PoliGazette, BeltwayBlips, Jason Pye and SC Hotline managed to find the story, I’m not sure how many Republican governors and congresscritters did.

I’ve never met a Hill staffer who didn’t monitor Google News alerts on his or her boss.  As this site generates Google News alerts and The Next Right doesn’t, I thought I’d repost the article over here, adding the name of each current Republican Representitive, Senator and Governor at the end.   Hopefully the staffer who reads this will also inform his or her boss that the stage props used at this large Tea Party were really quite simple: A Gadsden Flag and a pitchfork.

A few offices will certainly have a good chuckle over this, as folks like Mark Sanford, Ron Paul and Jeff Flake have little to fear from their constituents.  The rest of them might benefit from reading the article below.  Enjoy!


Shortly after I wrote this quick piece for the Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus website, I was called by someone in another state who tracked down my cell number from a press release.

I had posted the now-going-viral video below of South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett (R) being booed, told to go home, and having people turn their backs on him when he spoke at the Greenville, SC Tea Party.

Calling out a Republican from my state congressional delegation for a bad vote on an amendment to the budget bill was my initial intention, but it’s starting to turn into more than this now.

My caller liked the idea so much, he’s beginning to quietly organize his folks to show at a scheduled event for one of his local “RINOs in DC.”  They plan to boo, turn their backs, and video the entire encounter.  They also plan to quietly alert the media in advance.

From the perspective of someone who helped organize a large 2003 Tea Party event to begin the process to kill Alabama Governor Riley’s proposed tax increase, I know how angry fiscal conservatives can feel about folks who have betrayed them.  More recently, we even dissed a Republican Secretary of State who demanded to speak at one of the April 15th Tea Parties I helped organize.

Pondering all of this, I contacted a few Tea Party organizers I’d been in contact with see what they thought of the general idea.

“Hell, yeah!” was the immediate response from one person I’ve never heard use that word before.

“We should do it even for one bad floor vote,” wrote one organizer about a specific Senator in his state.  “This way, he’ll get the message that we’ll be watching every minor move he makes.”

To wrap this all up, it’s better that I don’t identify any states or congressional districts already targeted.  This way, every last Republican with a bad fiscal conscience (or desire to be re-elected) who currently holds public office should be having nightmares about who might show at his or her next campaign rally or public speaking event. A healthy dose of paranoia can sometimes be a good thing.

Even little ol’ me can turn out a few thousand on fairly short notice in my state.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, it’s worth your time to watch it.  And if you are a Republican holding public office, think about how embarrassed you will feel losing to some unknown challenger come next primary election night. Only those with guilt in their hearts have to fear being next on the list.  If you think you might be on the list, I’d start with a call to my favorite spin-meister to come up with either the first or the best mea culpa that money can buy.

H/T to the good folks at the John Locke Foundation.

Bob Riley, Sarah Palin, Jan Brewer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jodi Rell, Charlie Crist, Sonny Perdue, Linda Lingle, Butch Otter, Mitch Daniels, Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, Dave Heineman, Jim Gibbons, John Hoeven, Donald Carcieri, Mark Sanford, Mike Rounds, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Richard Shelby, Jeff Sessions, Lisa Murkowski, John McCain, Jon Kyl, Mel Martinez, Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Isakson, Mike Crapo, Jim Risch, Richard Lugar, Chuck Grassley, Sam Brownback, Pat Roberts, Mitch McConnell, Jim Bunning, David Vitter, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Thad Cochran, Roger Wicker, Kit Bond, Mike Johanns, John Ensign, Judd Gregg, Richard Burr, George Voinovich, Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Arlen Specter, Lindsey Graham, Jim DeMint, John Thune, Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, Robert Bennett, Mike Enzi, John Barrasso, Jo Bonner, Mike D. Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Spencer Bachus, Don Young, Trent Franks, John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, John Boozman, Wally Herger, Dan Lungren, Tom McClintock, George Radanovich, Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Elton Gallegly, Howard McKeon, David Dreier, Edward R. Royce, Jerry Lewis, Gary Miller, Ken Calvert, Mary Bono Mack, Dana Rohrabacher, John Campbell, Darrell Issa, Brian Bilbray, Duncan D. Hunter, Doug Lamborn, Mike Coffman, Michael N. Castle, Jeff Miller, Ander Crenshaw, Ginny Brown-Waite, Cliff Stearns, John Mica, Gus Bilirakis, Bill Young, Adam Putnam, Vern Buchanan, Connie Mack IV, Bill Posey, Tom Rooney, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jack Kingston, Lynn Westmoreland, Tom Price, John Linder, Nathan Deal, Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Michael K. Simpson, Peter Roskam, Mark Steven Kirk, Judy Biggert, Timothy V. Johnson, Donald Manzullo, Aaron Schock, John Shimkus, Mark Souder, Steve Buyer, Dan Burton, Mike Pence, Tom Latham, Steve King, Jerry Moran, Lynn Jenkins, Todd Tiahrt, Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie, Geoff Davis, Harold Rogers, Steve Scalise, Joseph Cao, John C. Fleming, Rodney Alexander, Bill Cassidy, Charles Boustany, Roscoe Bartlett, Peter Hoekstra, Vern Ehlers, David Lee Camp, Fred Upton, Mike J. Rogers, Candice Miller, Thaddeus McCotter, John Kline, Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann, Gregg Harper, Todd Akin, Sam Graves, Roy Blunt, Jo Ann Emerson, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Denny Rehberg, Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terry, Adrian Smith, Dean Heller, Frank LoBiondo, Chris Smith, Scott Garrett, Leonard Lance, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Peter T. King, John M. McHugh, Chris Lee, Walter B. Jones, Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Sue Wilkins Myrick, Patrick McHenry, Jean Schmidt, Michael R. Turner, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Steve Austria, John A. Boehner, Pat Tiberi, Steve LaTourette, John Sullivan, Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, Mary Fallin, Greg Walden, Glenn Thompson, Jim Gerlach, Bill Shuster, Charlie Dent, Joseph R. Pitts, Tim Murphy, Todd Platts, Henry E. Brown, Jr., Joe Wilson, Gresham Barrett, Bob Inglis, Phil Roe, John Duncan, Zach Wamp, Marsha Blackburn, Louie Gohmert, Ted Poe, Sam Johnson, Ralph Hall, Jeb Hensarling, Joe Barton, John Culberson, Kevin Brady, Michael McCaul, Mike Conaway, Kay Granger, Mac Thornberry, Ron Paul, Randy Neugebauer, Lamar S. Smith, Pete Olson, Kenny Marchant, Michael C. Burgess, John Carter, Pete Sessions, Rob Bishop, Jason Chaffetz, Rob Wittman, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Eric Cantor, Frank Wolf, Doc Hastings, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dave Reichert, Shelley Moore Capito, Paul Ryan, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Cynthia Lummis.