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« on: March 04, 2015, 08:23:27 PM » |
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The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 3-4-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Memo to the GOP: Find a Pile Driver
A REAL Model of Leadership
By Mark Alexander
Mar. 4, 2015
“Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.” –Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 1 (1787)
An authentic national leader addressed Congress Tuesday.
Of course, it was not Barack Obama, nor was it House Speaker John Boehner or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
It has been six LONG years since anyone of “presidential stature1” has addressed a joint session of Congress. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a warrior, statesman and Patriot, broke that losing streak this week and showed us what real leadership looks like. He was a welcome sight, and the contrast between this former commando and our “community organizer” was clearly on display.
Netanyahu’s address2 elucidated Obama’s distorted view of Islam3 and his deadly nuke “deal” with Iran4 amid the Middle East meltdown5 now underway. The Prime Minister made clear the regional threat posed if Iran obtains nuclear weapon capability, and, by extension, the threat of a catastrophic attack against the U.S. homeland if Iran provides Islamic Jihadis6 with those weapons.
Keep in mind that, according to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn7, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, “Iran is [not only] a state sponsor of terrorism. Iran has killed more Americans than al-Qaida has through state sponsors, through their terrorist network Hezbollah.” Netanyahu’s remarks are a clarion wakeup call for all Americans.
Obama rebutted Netanyahu’s remarks8, saying, “There was nothing new,” adding, “What I can guarantee is that, if it’s a deal I signed off on, I will be able to prove that it is the best way for us to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”
Right.
Boehner presented Netanyahu with a bust of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a fitting gift as the pair of statesmen are the only two world leaders who have delivered three addresses to Congress. (Recall that Obama returned a bust of Churchill to the UK shortly after he was elected.)
Ironically, Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, which, despite reports to the contrary, the Prime Minister did not accept until Obama had been notified9, demonstrated the speaker’s boldest gesture of leadership since the 2014 midterm Republican wave.
So how is it that the prime minister of a Middle Eastern nation can so appositely demonstrate genuine leadership before our House and Senate when the GOP “leaders” of those two chambers fail to do so?
To answer that question, let’s review.
A month ahead of the 2014 election, amid all the advance fanfare of the upcoming Republican rout, I posited this question: “GOP Senate Majority, then what?10?” While the midterm election proved an overwhelming referendum on Obama’s11 failed domestic and foreign policies, it was also a referendum on Republican leadership.
A distinct voter pattern12 has emerged over the last four election cycles.
In 2008, Republicans lost the presidency and legislative seats when the national focal point was a moderate Republican presidential candidate, John McCain13, who lacked any charismatic appeal and failed to energize a substantive grassroots campaign.
But the election of Barack Obama, an ideological Socialist14, came with some unintended consequences for Obama and his leftist cadres15 across the nation.
Chief among those consequences was the emergence of the grassroots Tea Party Movement16 ahead of the 2010 midterm election. That grassroots resurgence provided Republican gains of 63 House seats, six Senate seats and six governorships. At the time, Obama remarked that he’d taken a “shellacking.”
The 2010 victory was an earned win by conservatives, but, regrettably, establishment Republican leaders in the House excluded the new conservatives from leadership positions. As a result, those gains were negated by fratricidal infighting17 and consequently the grassroots momentum stalled.
Thus, in 2012, Republicans lost the presidency and suffered lackluster legislative branch performance when the national focal point was a moderate Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney18, who failed to energize a substantive grassroots campaign. Thus, Obama duped voters into electing him for a second term19.
In 2014, Republicans decimated Democrats20 in not only House and Senate races but notably in gubernatorial and statehouse elections across the nation. This was a deep win for Republicans and particularly conservatives.
Can you detect a pattern here? Will the GOP learn from that pattern ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign?
Of the 2014 gains, Charles Krauthammer noted, “Regaining the Senate would finally give the GOP the opportunity, going into 2016, to demonstrate its capacity to govern. … Controlling both houses would allow the GOP to produce a compelling legislative agenda. … If the president signs any of it, good. If he vetoes, it will be clarifying. Who then will be the party of no? The vetoed legislation would become the framework for a 2016 GOP platform.”
Indeed, Republicans won a critical opportunity to contain the policy ambitions of the rogue Socialist Democrat regime21 now occupying the executive branch and its supporting cast in the House and Senate.
But producing a compelling legislative agenda will require outstanding leadership – which neither McConnell nor Boehner demonstrate. As Peggy Noonan wrote, “It’s good to win, but winning without a declared governing purpose is a ticket to nowhere. … Republicans need to say what they’re for.” |
