> http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/why_leaderless_tea_parties_are... > > December 10, 2009 > Why Leaderless Tea Parties Are Beating the GOP > By Richard Viguerie > Rasmussen reports that the Tea Party Movement, which percolated only > months ago, is beating the Grand Old Party. > > That's amazing -- a nascent grassroots movement is more popular than a > long-established political party -- and it's good news. > > Republican Party leaders should be embarrassed. Instead, the > Republican establishment disdains this populist uprising. Rather than > embracing this genuine movement, establishment politicians and > consultants are calculating how to co-opt, sideline, or even defeat > the newest phenomenon in politics: tea partiers. > > That would be arrogance, not leadership. It could be the downfall of > Republican leaders, who have taken the Party of Reagan to the Party of > No -- meaning No Ideas, No Leadership, and No Principles. > > What's driving the Tea Party phenomenon? Robert Stacy McCain writes at > American Spectator about one tea partier, Rhonda Lee Welsch, who says, > "'It's a systemic problem,' discussing the top-down approach of > leaders in both parties who seem indifferent to the concerns of > ordinary Americans." > > People realize that big-government career politicians aren't going to > save America (if it's not too late for that already). Like a modern- > day court of Louis XVI, our leaders are disconnected from the people. > An uprising is taking place, yet our political leaders seem more > interested in playing a good round of golf. > > As I wrote not long ago: > > Americans are concluding more and more that many of the current > problems we face are caused by unrestrained and corrupt government. It > is becoming apparent to millions of voters the solution lies in > electing officials who understand, respect and abide by the > Constitution as much as we citizens are expected to follow the law. > > The Tea Party Movement, however, is about more than electing new > politicians, although that will be one of its consequences. What's > happening in the tea parties is that people are actually using the > Constitution to ground and form policy choices, and as a constructive > means to hold the political establishment accountable. > > Our constitutional system of checks and balances is currently in > shambles. Congress refuses to hold the president accountable > constitutionally, and the courts refuse to hold the other two branches > accountable. > > This is why the 10th Amendment is becoming so popular within the Tea > Party Movement, and why that Amendment is becoming the bane of > statists in the political establishment. The 10th Amendment, intended > as a fundamental, "systemic" protection of our constitutional form of > government, says that all powers not given expressly to the federal > government by the text of the Constitution are reserved to the States > or to the people. It is a fail-safe against tyranny. > > The 10th Amendment, which has been collecting dust in the closet, is a > natural resource for the "leaderless" Tea Party Movement. The way to > restrain the abuses of power and create a culture of freedom and > economic prosperity lies within the Constitution itself. Tea partiers > will use the Constitution, which has been so disregarded by the three > branches of government, to tame the beast of tyrannical big > government. The 10th Amendment is one key to overcoming what Ms. > Welsch articulates for all of us as a "systemic problem." > > One of the best books I've read in recent years is The Starfish and > the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, by Ori > Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. > > Read it, and you'll better understand why the Tea Party Movement is > surging while the Republican Party isn't. The book describes the > success of leaderless organizations using the analogy of a spider, > which is killed when its head is cut off, versus the starfish, which, > when a tentacle is cut off, grows a new one. > > The great Aztec civilization existed for centuries before the > Spaniards arrived on the continent. Cortés told the Aztec leader, > Montezuma, give me your gold or your life. Montezuma gave Cortés his > gold, and Cortés killed him anyway. The Aztec civilization did not > survive the loss of its leader. The head of the spider had been cut > off. > > The Apaches, on the other hand -- a leaderless "starfish" society -- > survived hundreds of years of the Spaniards' trying to do what they > did to the Aztecs. As Brafman and Beckstrom write: > > You wanted to follow Geronimo? You followed Geronimo. You didn't want > to follow him? Then you didn't. The power lay with each individual. > > We are seeing the "starfish" Tea Party Movement, with candidates > running in both Democratic and Republican primaries. When they are > shut out by the party establishments, as happened in New York's 23rd > congressional district, they are running as independents or under > third parties. > > "Starfish" tea partiers are learning how to organize, raise money, and > utilize the alternative media in record numbers. They are voicing > their opposition to unaccountable Big Government and promoting > productive policy alternatives through the Founders' guiding > principles. > > From the tea parties, the grassroots, and the alternative media, we > are seeing new leaders emerge. Like our Founders, they understand that > their strength of leadership does not come from a political party, but > from consent of the governed. That is why they don't hitch their > wagons to one person or one party. > > Talk radio host Mark "The Great One" Levin discussed recently how > Reagan spoke not of "his" administration, but of "this" > administration. Levin noted how Reagan understood his power came from > the people, not from the office he held. Reagan didn't read The > Starfish and the Spider, but he understood the principles outlined > therein. The successors to Reagan's GOP do not understand those > principles, and they seem more beholden to staying in Washington than > saving America. They are "spiders." > > The Tea Party Movement is determined to save America. Republican Party > leaders would be unwise to try to co-opt, sideline, or defeat it. > Perhaps they should welcome the new leadership into the party as their > single most promising survival tactic.
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