Hubris: A Danger to the Tea Party Movement

by Rob Natelson

The disastrous fallout from Rand Paul’s incautious MSNBC interview shortly after his triumph in the Kentucky Republican primary underlines a real danger for the Tea Party movement as we move toward the 2010 elections.

Any political pro could have told Paul not to give that interview. If it had not been a moment of heady triumph, Paul would have known that himself.

But triumph has a way of making people careless.

“Hubris” generally is thought of as wanton pride. For daily purposes, though, it better applies to situations when, fresh from victory, we become a little careless. “I’m on a roll,” the emotions tell us, “the normal rules don’t apply to me any more.”

Paul’s misstep is not the only example. Here in Montana, one of our county Tea Party groups was going from triumph to triumph. So they decided to sponsor a huge “Liberty Convention” — but in doing so, they disregarded some of the hard lessons Montana conservatives have learned over the years.

First, they assumed that people with full-time jobs and families to support would attend a two-day event. [Lesson broken: People with real-world lives can’t afford to spend much time at political rallies—especially not overnight. The big Tea Party crowds of the past year are an anomaly, and probably will not continue. Anyway, the highly competent main-street citizens who are the back-bone of the Tea Party movement are better employed on projects other than sitting in audiences and holding signs.]

Second, the organizers predicted to the press that 5000 attendees would gather in this sparsely populated state. [Lesson broken: Never give an optimistic attendance prediction to the press.]

Third, the organizers chose a huge venue in the most liberal city in the state on the most liberal university campus in the state. [Lessons broken: (1) It’s better to crowd into a smaller facility than make a larger one look empty, and (2) if you want to catch fish, fish where the fish are.]

Fourth: they featured several speakers from the far fringes of political life. [Lesson broken: feature speakers with wide appeal.]

Fifth: They apparently did not seek or follow guidance from those with political organizing experience. [Lesson broken: If you want political success, do what the our Founders did: include experienced politicians; you don’t have to let them take over.] [Disclosure: I was one of those excluded from planning or speaking at the event.]

The results were deeply embarrassing for the Tea Party movement. Instead of the 5000 predicted, only about 250 people showed up, a point emphasized again and again by the local press. Not surprisingly, moreover, newspaper reports featured some of the weirdest comments made there.

Tea Party activists must remember that they are now playing in the Big Leagues. The latter-day Tories who control the federal government and most of the national media will exploit any available opening to discredit and destroy the movement.

Avoid hubris. The task has just begun.

Rob Natelson is a long-time Professor of Law at the University of Montana and a leading constitutional scholar. He is co-author of a forthcoming book on the Necessary and Proper Clause to be published by Cambridge University Press. He is also the author of The Original Constitution: What it Actually Said and Meant, published by the Tenth Amendment Center. Professor Natelson will shortly be leaving academia to work full-time at the Independence Institute.

Eric Adams is right: young black men mistake dehumanization for authenticity

BY: Stanley Crouch

Before New York State Sen. Eric Adams went into politics he became known for shooting off his mouth about how well the New York Police Department handled its business. As a member of 100 Black Men In Law Enforcement, Adams (above) was always there, standing at a press conference to question actions by the armed people in blue whose job it is to protect the citizenry.

His latest controversial focus is on fashion - and he has become one of those who are dismissed as "the fashion police," meaning adults who are convinced that something is wrong with young black men who walk though the world with their pants down so far that the public is offered more than a peek at their underwear.

In a video called "Stop the Sag," Adams looks handsome and dapper. His command of the language is clear, and an unavoidable seriousness seems to steam up through his superbly chosen dress. He is clearly beyond any kind of simple-minded joke, and unable to be dismissed by anyone anxious to write off those who seem to represent some kind of a diverse threat to the status quo.

The startling point of "Stop The Sag" is that stereotypic and denigrating images of ethnic groups usually come from outside of the group itself. We see a number of the minstrel and anti-Semitic images meant to make Negroes, Jews, and others seem closer to cartoons than humanity. The reductive joke always precedes the boot of the bigot.

Now is another time, Adams makes clear as he proceeds to take on the way that too many young black men have been misled by the opportunistic monsters of hip-hop and the prison world. Adams recognizes that this absurd fashion makes it difficult to give these young men the "respect" that seems to obsess them.





Louisiana legislator Ricky Hardy just had a bill banning the fashion rejected, as it should have been. Having the state restrict freedom is going too far. But public comprehension and condemnation of self-destructive behavior is not too far at all.

We have a popular culture that misleads the young as it bolsters their commitment to narcissism and opposition to authority. The mentality of the American adolescent is that he or she has a right to be respected no matter how offensive what is done might seem to others.

The kids are right in that the freedom to offend is part of our democracy. But no other ethnic group ever concluded that terrible behavior was a version of ethnic authenticity. That is a black American innovation in cultural imbecility.

As rapper Chuck D has observed, when one witnesses young black men screaming the N-word at each other in public places, it is obvious that we have a problem confusing obnoxiousness with authenticity.

The answer to the problem might be far simpler than Eric Adams or anyone else has actually considered. Trying to convince the men might be arguing up the wrong tree.

Once young women cease accepting the "culture" of sagging pants and refuse to go out with men who look like fools, we will all be shocked by just how fast it will all end.

The sensibilities of women are always central to what we call civilization anywhere in the world. Even in the inner city.

NY Daily

Tragedy in Amish Country: Living Levi's Example

By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

I first met Levi almost 20 years ago. He was about 12. We had just purchased our land from his parents, Jake and Nancy. Being old-order Amish, Jake and Nancy needed a ride to the attorney’s office, so we drove them and new-born Chris, their youngest, to finalize the transaction. Thus began a very special friendship between two families.

Every Christmas Eve, our little family of three and Jake and Nancy’s larger family (five children at the beginning, but more recently including four daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and 13 grandchildren) gather for Christmas fellowship.

Levi is the second of Jake and Nancy’s five children. Friendly, kind, very bright, soft-spoken, strong and gentle, he has always been a gem. I can still picture, during that first year of friendship, Levi sitting next to my daughter on a couch in Jake and Nancy’s house. Karin, who was about 15, was holding a book or magazine. Levi leaned over to get a better look, resting his head on Karin’s shoulder. It was a completely unself-conscious moment for both of them, just two pure and innocent youngsters sharing the joy of a story. Nancy remarked, “I know we don’t have photographs, but I’d love to have a photo of that.”

Levi was an avid reader. I shared dozens of the books that I had read as a young teenager with him and his siblings.

About ten years ago, we attended the wedding dinner celebrating Levi’s marriage to Katie. We were two of five “English” (that’s the word the Amish use for all of us who aren’t Amish) packed in among 200 or 300 Amish.

Katie was a perfect match for Levi, a veritable angel of sweetness and quiet steadiness. A couple of years later, they welcomed Sally into the world. Of all of Jake and Nancy’s 13 grandchildren, it was Sally who bonded most closely with our family. The highlight of her year was to draw pictures to give us at our Christmas Eve gathering and to help my Eileen in the kitchen. Like her Aunt Lizzie before her, she was enthralled by the “miracle” of the “baked Alaska” going into the hot oven and the ice cream not melting.

Five years later (about three years ago) little Anna joined the family. The four of them lived their version of the American dream, keeping to the simple Amish life, placing worship of God and love of their families above all else. It was idyllic.

Two weeks ago, Jake and Nancy were over for dessert. Eileen told Nancy that she would be going over to visit her buddy, Sally, on the following Monday. It wasn’t to be.

On that Saturday, May 8, the unthinkable happened. Levi went fishing with his brother Gideon, one of those simple enjoyments that always remain special to these unspoiled people. It was a miserable day, cold, windy, and rainy. At home, Katie went to light a fire. Somehow the can of kerosene ignited. Katie, Sally, and Anna all quickly succumbed.

The next day was visitation. It was at Levi’s next-door neighbor’s house. I have never seen such gloom and grief in my life. Dozens of Amish were quietly and tearfully sitting on rows of benches—men in one group, women in the other, as is their custom.

I could barely recognize Levi, so transfigured were his features by sorrow. We shared a quiet, private word. Jake, his father, was sitting next to him. He couldn’t speak. I just stayed by his side for a few minutes, hand gently touching him in wordless sympathy. Later a tearful Nancy softly voiced her deep faith to Eileen and me, bravely affirming, “God is in control.”

I went to visit Jake and Nancy two days after the funeral. They reported that Levi was trying to buoy up everyone’s spirits. The next day, I spent a half-hour with Levi, and found that to be the case. Though still trying to come to grips with this inexplicable calamity, he continues to be a loving soul, caring deeply for those around him. He has already learned the secret discovered by Job in the Bible, that the key to recovery and renewal from grievous affliction is to pray for one’s friends.

A tragedy of this magnitude puts things in perspective. Why do we waste our scarce and precious time on earth with trivial concerns and petty quarrels?

One of my college classmates told me that her dad’s advice on her wedding day was, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Amen. Let us all honor the gift of life by forgiving and forgetting our misunderstandings, small and great, and use our brief time on earth to do a better job of loving each other. Let us follow Levi’s example.

— Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member, economist, and contributing scholar with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.

More Americans support repeal of Health Care Law

Health Care Law

63% Favor Repeal of National Health Care Plan

Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.

Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.

Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.

Read more at Rasmussen Reports

Healthcare Bait and Switch AKA Lying

The Obama Administration Now Admits Their Health Care Plan Will Lead To Rationing


Back when Obama was trying to convince Congress to destroy America's health care system in the name of expanding government and giving Democrats more power, his administration claimed that there would be no rationing under the program:

“No one here is talking about rationing,” said Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office for Management and Budget. “What we are talking about, look at the source of that 30 percent or so in potential efficiency gains in the health system are from unnecessary procedures, unnecessary days in hospital, unnecessary applications of technology and what have you.”

But now that they've forced it through, their tune has changed quite a bit:

Read the entire post at Right Wing News