I know you've heard about my own political background; not being involved beyond election day by casting a vote and then going home and praying that the person I voted for won. A pretty sad existence, if you ask me. Now, I'm a fully involved voting citizen; building relationships with my representatives and trying my best to educate those around me. I saw the tea party effect in full-force during the 2010 elections and how the new energy of the tea party injected itself into the Republican party and together we took back the House of Representatives. Notice I said, 'together'.
To be quite honest, I thought that the Republicans versus tea party business was over, at least locally, until I had one such encounter just a few weeks ago. Actually, make that two. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, since Mitch McConnell was recently calling Freedomworks supporters, traitors. Amazingly, there are still those in the GOP that thumb their noses at the tea party groups and efforts. One of the top offenders in the mind some of the GOP is Freedomworks. Now, I'm not saying we should get caught up in the hyperbole of that, but I guess it still exists. I personally wanted to see what about Freedomworks was so darn scary. From Freedomworks' own website under the 'About' section, this is what I found:
What We Do
FreedomWorks recruits, educates, trains and mobilizes millions of volunteer activists to fight for less government, lower taxes, and more freedom.Why We Do It
FreedomWorks believes individual liberty and the freedom to compete increases consumer choices and provides individuals with the greatest control over what they own and earn.How We Do It
FreedomWorks' aggressive, real-time campaigns activate a growing and permanent volunteer grassroots army to show up and demand policy change.Now, honestly, does that sound 'scary' to you? If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, it is fair to say that I like the group Freedomworks. Why, you may ask? They. Are. Effective. They put their money behind worthwhile candidates and they launch campaigns against legislation that they want to see defeated, and they usually get their man. Yet, the GOP is still trying to take down Freedomworks.
The mere fact that the establishment GOPers think that the goals of Freedomworks are a threat to them boggles my mind. Some also say that since Freedomworks uses the word 'liberty', they immediately linked the group to Ron Paul and libertarians and that is offensive to them. Alright, let's be honest, every group has some folks that go over the top for their cause, including Ron Paul supporters. Hey, they have the freedom and the 'liberty' to do so. However, you could say that Ron Paul knows how to message. He believes in liberty and freedom and his supporters know it.
Not only did this individual say that this message of liberty turned them off, they even started to use this information and THEIR opinion to scare other potential supporters from the Freedomworks group because of their own naivety.
I am a mom, if you did not know that prior to reading this and I try as a mom not to pass on my fears to my children. For example, I am afraid of frogs and lizards, but I do not want my children to be afraid of those same things. I want to give them the opportunity to decide for themselves. Unlike the aforementioned parties. Instead of letting the public decide about liberty for themselves, they started using scare tactics to ward them off. This has got to stop.
Now, I know what you must be thinking, and no, I don't think that everyone has to agree with me in order to be right. I also don't think that EVERYONE must support Freedomworks or that Freedomworks is the only way to accomplish things in Washington, D.C. I still think it takes an involved citizenry of like minded individuals focused on a similar goal, to change things; Freedomworks or no.
To the GOP, the tea party is NOT trying to start a third party and we are not saying that GOPers have never done anything. Others would argue that the GOP has done too much and grown government just as much as the Democrats have. To me, liberty equals freedom.
One more thing. My good friend, Felicia Cravens is always challenging people to include an action item in blogs that are written, so I am going to do just that. We can all find the time to complain about group 'xyz', but rarely can we find the time to join group 'abc' and actually put our time and talents into it to improve the landscape around us. So here is what you can do: find a group that you DO mesh with. If it isn't Freedomworks or your local county party, then how about the county clerk? Election day is next Tuesday here in the state of Texas and I KNOW that our county clerk here in Harris County, Stan Stanart would love to hear from you. So call 713-755-6411 and ask if you can help at your polling location or any other polling location, for that matter.
So the next time you desire to scare someone, instead of yelling 'boo', just simply yell, 'liberty'! That ought to do the trick! Oh, and by all means, be a #happywarrior.
