My Washington Times latest: Panicked GOP insiders land in bizarro world

Behold. Some may have doubted that it was possible, but with a little perseverance, I was able to work Ronaldus Magnus into this piece three times ... in the first sentence alone.

[Illustration by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times]

Panicked GOP insiders land in bizarro world
Mitt Romney is Reaganesque like Michael Moore is athletic

The 2012 Republican primary race has passed well beyond the rabbit hole into some extra-dimensional bizarro world where up is down, black is white and the allies of the candidate who disavowed Reaganism would have us believe that the leader of the “second stage of the Reagan Revolution” is somehow insufficiently Reaganesque.

Any idea who said these things?

“I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush.”

“I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”

“I’m someone who is moderate and my views are progressive.”

Yeah, I think you know.

We’ve reached a before-and-after moment in American politics: Republicans will no longer win elections without Tea Party support. So it’s simply stupefying, then, that the establishment would go to such lengths to demoralize their own lifeline.

Consider the simple math behind Republicans’ decidedly bad losses in 2006 and 2008. Their voters, conservatives in particular, simply didn’t show up. Then in 2010, they did. What changed? In 2012, in Iowa and New Hampshire, fresh off the heels of a multimillion-dollar establishment onslaught against Mr. Gingrich, GOP primary voter turnout had basically flat-lined from 2008, on pace to secure President Obama’s re-election. But in South Carolina, Mr. Gingrich masterminded a dramatic surge that was fueled by his bold and brave stand against the establishment. The result? Voter turnout shot up an astonishing 35 percent above 2008 levels as 155,000 new voters went to the polls to support Republicans.

In Florida, the Republican empire is striking back. Somewhere, way beyond the soon-to-be-forgotten distractions of Cayman bank accounts and trumped-up ethics charges, is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Mr. Gingrich may be an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, as the former Alaska governor has said, but in truth, if you connect the dots between the ideals of the Reagan Revolution, Mr. Gingrich’s Republican Revolution and the Tea Party movement, you get a straight line. The GOP establishment is right to fear Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party, just as they once feared Ronald Reagan.

Now swing by The Washington Times and read it all. Leave a comment. Let me know what you think. And, as always, thanks for sharing it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else that will annoy a liberal.

Wolf Pack Roundup: Always wash your what?

Broke: $189,000: That’s the astounding amount each of us owes for our national doubt and unfunded entitlements. That would be over $500,000 per taxpayer.

CATRON: Romney Explains Why He Can't Beat Obama. "The only real difference between Romney and Obama's long-ago-vanquished opponents is that the Chi-town pols were less amateurish. Romney's reversals of position have been so frequent and transparently self-serving that a moderately intelligent preschooler could see through them." Of course, Romney was never married to 7 of 9 (like Barack's previous opponent), but the point is spot-on.

Heh: DNC: We Never Used Extreme Rhetoric When Bush Was President…

OccupyArrests.com: 6,436 and counting [Bookmark this one]

Shovel-ready: How the $800B stimulus failed. Smarter economics is to leave any bailouts to voluntary customers rather than involuntary taxpayers. It's the same people and the same money except this way resources flow to where people actually want it rather than where politicians force it.

Obama: I Created 22 Million Jobs… Uh huh. And he stopped the rise of the oceans. Of course, a recent president did create 21 million jobs. Maybe we should try his ideas...

LI: A vote tomorrow for Santorum still is a vote for Romney. Or as some call him: Flipper.

LEAHY: The Lying Liars at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Make false claims about the principles of the Tea Party movement. Add the word extremist. Carpet bomb the Republican candidate with massive spending on advertising, calling the candidate a 'Tea Party extremist,' then attach positions to the movement that have nothing to do with the movement."And finally, some practical advise....

Paul Hsieh of We Stand FIRM and Geek Press has joined The Objective Standard Blog. Check out his first post: The Grey: A Great Reminder of Crucial Truths.


Finally, some practical advice....

RWN: Polling Conservative Bloggers On The 2012 GOP Primaries (Pre-Florida Edition)

1) If you had to pick the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee today, which of the following candidates would you select?

4) Ron Paul: 11.6% (8 votes)
3) Rick Santorum: 21.7% (15 votes)
2) Mitt Romney: 31.9% (22 votes)
1) Newt Gingrich: 34.8% (24 votes)

Go to Right Wing News and see the other questions (2nd choice, last choice, etc.). The striking part to me is the obvious division of conservatives that benefits the moderates.

What should Tea Partiers do now?

Answer: Get inolved.

No matter who wins the White House, Newt or Mitt, or Rick or Ron, or even Barack -- especially Barack -- grassroots conservatives need to dominate the next Congress. Winning the White House in 2012 won't be enough to save our republic.

Get ready. Here's where the Tea Party goes now...

Constitutionally Limited Government ..... Fiscal Responsibility ..... Free Markets

Visit ElectionDayTeaParty.com now. Get involved. Sign up. America needs you.

InsiderAdvantage Poll: Newt surging in Florida

Ann Coulter, call your office...

InsiderAdvantage Poll: Gingrich Surging, Race 'Tighter Than Expected'

The Sunday results of 646 likely GOP voters are as follows:

Romney 36 percent
Gingrich 31 percent
Santorum 12 percent
Paul 12 percent
Other/Undecided 9 percent

Things are about to get very interesting. Brace yourself for the GOP establishment to go nuclear.

California's suicide pact continues: Green car edition

California: 1 in 7 cars sold by 2025 must be electric

Seeking to influence other states and Washington, California air regulators passed sweeping auto emission standards Friday that include a mandate to have 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on state roads by 2025.

The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the new rules that require that one in seven of the new cars sold in the state in 2025 be an electric or other zero-emission vehicle.

You're not smart enough to choose your own health insurance or your own light bulb. Why should your car be any different?

[California Air Resources Board member Sandra Berg] said a lot of work must be done to educate dealers to sell the new generation of cars.

Yeah, that's why California hasn't sold enough electric cars to satisfy their government overseers, because sales people at the dealers lack sufficient education to sell them. Berg has advice...

"Early adopters (of electric cars) are willing to go without heat to save the miles they need to get to their destination, but that is not going to help grow the consumer base," Berg said, referring to the range issues with some current electric vehicles.

That's right, Californians. Shut off your climate control. It's the California way!

There are really only two ways California's statists can achieve this ridiculous new regulation. The first is to appeal to Californians' environmental sensibilities which won't come anywhere close to achieving 1 in 7 cars. The second will be the cruel process of making all other cars prohibitively expensive through taxes (on cars and fuel) and providing Solyndra-like corporate welfare to companies with connections.

Of course, not everybody is complaining. The Texas jobs boom needs all the California refugees it can get.

Sarah Palin: Cannibals in the GOP Establishment

If there's a path to self-destruction, the GOP Establishment is hell-bent to find it. They are determined to defeat, not Democrats, but conservatives and tea partiers. The GOP's historic electoral successes in 2009 and 2010 were the result of one thing: an energized Tea Party movement.

This energy manifested itself in the 2012 South Carolina primary when Newt Gingrich caught the GOP Establishment flat footed. Conservatives and tea partiers rallied to his support and something amazing happened. South Carolina GOP primary turnout was 35 percent higher in 2012 than it was in 2008.

Consider the enormity of that wildly increased turnout. 155,000 Republicans voted in the 2012 SC primary who sat on the hands in 2008. When conservatives stay home, Republicans lose. If the GOP Establishment can successfully destroy Newt Gingrich with false charges, Republicans will lose 2012.

When allies of Mitt Romney -- the self-described "moderate and my views are progressive" who repudiated Ronald Reagan and Reaganism -- attack the "Reagan Robot" for being insufficiently Reaganesque, something is seriously wrong. When the Romney allies embrace the Pelosi tactic of smearing Newt Gingrich with 20-year old false partisan attacks for which Gingrich was completely exonerated, something is seriously wrong.

With that in mind, read Sarah Palin's brilliant Facebook post...

Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left

We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.

We will look back on this week and realize that something changed.

...

But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard’s choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans “bitterly clinging” to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the “wisdom” of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 who didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.

Go read it all and ask yourself who the GOP Establishment views as its real adversary.

Election Day Tea Party 2012: A New Beginning

You've got to see this video. History will be made...

Constitutionally Limited Government ..... Fiscal Responsibility ..... Free Markets

Visit ElectionDayTeaParty.com now. Get involved. America needs you.

A must-see video: Firewall: The Vote Pump

via Instapundit