Why It Is Impossible to Reform the Republican Party, Part II

In a previous article I explained, using what happened in the Nevada GOP as an example, why it is impossible to "retake" or "reform" either of the two terminally corrupt political parties which have captured the government of this country away from its citizens.   Though they have elaborate forms to present an image which looks otherwise, they are centrally-controlled top-down organizations which are largely funded by global interests that are indifferent or hostile to the interests of almost all American citizens.  Hating me for saying so won't change the facts I cite below.....

With the Nevada GOP, we got a peek at what happens when the grassroots really do successfully jump through the many hoops and accomplish what is never supposed to happen- take over a state party.   The mask comes off, and the national party and their politicians quit working with the state party and instead raise up a shadow party to compete with the legitimate Republican party in that state. That is what happened in Nevada.  They started a "Team Nevada" run by the same people the grassroots voted out, and Romney and the national GOP worked with them, not the Nevada GOP.

The defeated insiders transferred every penny they could out of the party coffers and into clubs run by small groups of hacks before they walked out the door.  The big donors tied to Washington cut off the party.  Then they complain that the reformers "can't raise the money needed to keep the party going."    Review the article for more details.

Now we are in the process of getting a second lesson, because "outsiders" to the Washington establishment (which of course are "inside" to real communities of real people in the locality) won state party elections in Alaska as well.

It started in 2010.    An endorsement by Sarah Palin, with a lot of help from Ron Paul supporters, helped Magistrate Joe Miller win the Republican nomination from liberal republican incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski.  Murkowski was originally appointed to the Senate seat by her father, the Governor.   With the help of many in the Republican establishment, Murkowski then ran as a write-in candidate, barely beating Republican Miller in the General election after numerous allegations of election irregularities in her win.

The Miller forces were not happy that so many of the folks who ran the GOP were either openly or covertly backing the liberal write-in incumbent Murkowski over their own party's nominee.   That resulted in an almost complete turnover in recent party elections.  Long-time chair Randy Ruedrich and his crew were out.  Russ Millette and his crew were in.   Or at least almost in.   A couple of Ruedrich associates leveled charges against Millette in an effort to overturn his election to the state chairmanship, along with another newly elected officer, Debbie Brown.

The charges include that the Chairman elect did not support Republican nominee Romney.  This coming from  some of the same people who backed Murkowski over GOP nominee Miller!  And Millette did not campaign for another candidate, he just did not directly support Romney.

The other charges include a failure to raise money for the party, which they say a Chairman-elect has a duty to do because by the rules he holds the office of "Finance Chairman" from the time of election until he assumes the Chairmanship.   Of course, they with-held from him any donor or other information he might need to accomplish this task, and transferred as much of the party's money as they could to small groups controlled by a cadre of establishment shills.  This tactic made donors who were sympathetic to Millette very reluctant to donate until after he and his team were in charge of the checkbook!  Millette says people have told him that they won't donate until he is in charge, and given the history it is hard to blame them.

In between this time, there was a Republican National Meeting in which the establishment choice for Chairman, Reince Priebus, sought re-election.   His reign has been a national disaster for the GOP, but the insiders would rather burn the house to the ground than let the grassroots have it.   The Maine Chairman started a campaign to run against Priebus for National Chairman.

A challenge to Priebus required three states to support it in order to be considered.   If two states had come in ready to sign onto a challenge, it would have been much easier to find the third.   Nevada was the obvious candidate to team with Maine.  In fact, the new Nevada GOP announced that they intended to do so, opening the search for the third and final state required.   Priebus flew out to Nevada for a secret meeting with Nevada National Committeeman James Smack and Chairman McDonald.   When the secret meeting was over, Smack switched his support to Priebus.  In fact, they agreed to have Nevada be one of the three states to nominate Priebus!  The attempt to get Priebus out was over before it began.

One wonders what Mr. Smack was personally promised in that meeting, because he certainly did not get much for grassroots forces in exchange for the switch.   Basically, he had the word of a dishonest person who had done everything in his power to destroy Nevada GOP once the outsiders (that is, real people) took it over, that this person would henceforth "play nice."

Now let's go back to Alaska.   The establishment forces were not playing nice.  They were trying to overturn the election and block Russ Millette from assuming the chair.    Priebus had asked Nevada grassroots to nominate him in a show of "unity".    He could have flown to Alaska and asked the outgoing group to drop their ridiculous "charges" and let the election stand as a show of unity.  He didn't.

Friday, the day before Russ Millette was to assume the Chairmanship, they brazenly voted Millette "guilty" of failure to raise funds as "Finance Chairman" and blocked him from the Chair.  Remember, these were the same people whose actions made it impossible for him to effectively perform these duties.  Even his allies were afraid to donate money to the party before he assumed the Chair because they thought the insiders would just steal it.   In fact, just in case their kangeroo court did not stand, they transferred another $34,000 out of the party treasury and into a "sister" organization the day beforehand.

They also accused Millette of misrepresenting himself as not being a "true lifelong Republican".   Of course, there is no written requirement that one has to be a lifelong Republican to assume the chair.   They found him guilty of a phantom rule that they made up on the spot!

You cannot win in a contest where the other side makes the rules, changes the rules in the middle of the game, and if they lose according to those rules they simply ignore them and bull doze over you anyway. The moral decision is to quit the game and denounce it for the obvious fraud it is, not compromise yourself to a system you know is corrupt in hopes of somehow gaining "influence". You have as much chance joining the Gambinos in the hope of "reforming" and "taking them back" for any moral purpose.

But you may say "oh that is just what they want us to do".    In the short term yes.     In the middle to long term though, they need legitimacy.   This policy they seem to have of stamping out all grassroots efforts to reform them, though in their short term interests, will in the long term cost them legitimacy.   Their little club will lose legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens at an even faster pace than it otherwise would if nice people like you refuse to lend your good name to it.  And this policy has the added advantage that your good name will not be tarnished by close association with either gang of thieves which will soon be seen for what they are by 90% of the country instead of just being seen as such by the minority who see the truth now.  Very soon the majority of citizens will see the two DC based political parties as the gangs of thieves who destroyed America.

There are other ways to engage in politics, at least at the state and local level.   As a localist, I suggest the policy put for in Localism, A Philosophy of Government (Barnes and Noble E-Book) (Amazon Kindle E-book), to which I own the rights.    They suggest that local or regional (within a state) groups recruit and back their own candidates for small offices.   Political power should be dispersed so that there is no one set of "leaders" that the corrupt can buy off.   I could write a lot about it, but its better you get it all from the book.