Silent No More
Posts in this category are from the introductions to our monthly newsletter “In Liberty”
It is with great hesitancy that I wade into the quagmire of this month’s events in Charlottesville and Boston. Uncontrolled and irrational emotions on both sides seem to have wiped out any chance of civilized conversation about Charlottesville, President Trump, Antifa, White Supremacy, Confederate statues, and other issues that have gripped the news and social media.
I’ve just finished reading Brave New World (when I say “reading’, I really mean listening to on Audible). Written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley, Brave New World was one of the first dystopian novels, a genre that has gain much popularity in the 21st century, and for good reason.
Independence Day offers us reason to celebrate and to reflect what it means to be free. Looking to the revolutionary times of the late 18th century, we see a society where, for the first time in human history, the “common man” came to seize power from his aristocratic oppressors. Today though, we should be looking beyond the “common man”. We should all be uncommon.
“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.”
Winston S. Churchill
A few years ago, I saw a bumper sticker that said something that stuck in my mind firmer than the sticker was attached to the bumper. It said ‘Don’t Always Believe What You Think’. Philosophers call this concept “Intellectual Humility”. This type of humility acknowledges the limitations of our knowledge. It calls on us to challenge our own beliefs and, in doing so, places the surviving beliefs on firmer ground.
Last month marked the 8 year anniversary of the Tea Party movement (TPM). One of the remarkable characteristics about the movement that has been largely overlooked is the role of women. From its beginning, the Tea Party was largely a women-led movement.
“American liberals have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means of effecting their social agenda on everything from gay marriage to assisted suicide to the use of vouchers for private-school education.”
This month, we are witnessing one of the most important rituals of American democracy: the confirmation hearing of a United States Supreme Court nominee. This process has evolved over the past few decades, particularly since the failed nomination of Judge Bork. The contentiousness has reached embarrassing levels. Like most modern political practices, we continue to battle over nominees much as our forefathers did, but we do it in a way that shows little regard for the character and qualifications of the nominee.
Donald Trump’s campaign promise to “Drain the swamp” has successfully placed him in the Oval Office. But what exactly is the swamp, and how does one go about draining it?
The commonly accepted definition of the “swamp”, and the one Trump alludes to, is the career, political elite of Washington, D.C., who are in essence tenured legislators. This career, political class is seen as an entrenched, corrupt, blackguard of the status quo, a semi-permanent legislative body that stands between the people, their rights, and a just government. I contend that these entrenched politicians are not in fact, “THE swamp”; rather they merely reflect the dominant ideas of our culture. I would argue that these career politicians are merely a surface layer, and the real depth of the swamp lies somewhere else.
The Democrats and Republicans are virtually united in their moral base, that is, the pinnacle of virtue for both parties is altruism, the morality which preaches the sacrifice of the individual self for “others”. They sometimes differ on which individuals should be sacrificed, and quibble over the level of sacrifice, but they both fundamentally believe in the moral duty of being “thy brother’s keeper”.
Many of America’s school children are returning to school this week, having “celebrated” a week off that included Presidents Day. Traditionalists will always call it Washington’s Birthday. He was perhaps the last President that we had who deserved to be celebrated. Presidents Day should be a day where we question the power of the Presidency.
 Eight years ago, the Tea Party movement began, supposedly sparked by a ranting CNBC reporter. Unlike the protests that occurred this month around the inauguration of Donald Trump, those rallies began more than a month into President Obama’s term. It took until September before the first large rally occupied Washington, D.C.
Times have changed though, and power has shifted. For many, hopes are flying high. For others, fear grips them. I have a hard time understanding those who are frozen by fear of the Trump Presidency, but I do not doubt that their fear is real. The marches against Trump were planned well before he held any power, yet organizers were able to mobilize millions of protesters across the country. As a veteran of the Tea Party movement, I say “kudos” to them. They are doing what Americans should do when they peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I think that one thing that has created fear on the left is the decimation that they have suffered at the polls over the past eight years. They thought that they would be the rightful masters of Congress and the courts indefinitely. They are not. The incredible shift from an electorate that elected the most leftist President in our history, to one who promises to undo that President’s legacy, is something for the history books. The left does have reason to fear a Trump Presidency, not because he is an evil man, but because after 8 years of perverting the Constitution, things are going to change. I have my doubts about President Trump’s concern for the Constitution. He never mentions it. Some of his ideas seem contrary to the limits of the Constitution. Until the power of the Presidency is rightfully diminished, we’ll have to cling to the hope that he is serious about shrinking the power of Washington, D.C. He’s gone outside the box in his cabinet appointments. The coastal elites are apoplectic about some of these appointments, but their fossilized idea of government has been rejected by the American voters. This is the biggest hope for the Trump Presidency, that it is a transformational era, where new ideas are allowed to flourish, while the stagnant failed model of the New Deal, Progressivism, and “wars” on everything are once and for all declared dead. We will forever have leaders who seek to pervert the Constitution. Regardless of who is living in the White House, vigilance is a virtue always required of the patriot. The task of the Tea Party is no lighter than when Barack Obama was President. When we started this movement, I said that this is a decades long task. Our problem is not with the leaders who pervert the Constitution, but with the voters who elect them. These are the minds that we must win over. This is your task. Instead of badmouthing the left, we should talk about the power of the model that our founders gifted to us. By creating more lovers of the Constitution, we can ensure that the road to real liberty is always open. In Liberty, Ken Mandile Senior Fellow Worcester Tea Party |
After the election, I spoke with a person from the other side of the aisle who asked what I would be doing now that the Tea Party’s mission was over. He was under the impression, probably gathered from fake news stories, that the Tea Party’s mission was just to oppose Barack Obama. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Tea Party Movement is a grass roots response to the corruption, and incompetence, we have seen at every level of government. The Worcester Tea Party is an incorporated non-profit dedicated to education focusing on economics and politics. As an educational organization, those that accepted a leadership roles are given the title of Deans. The treasurer of our organization is our Bursar. Previous leaders of our organization that have retired from most active duties are Senior Fellows. The guidance and counsel of our Senior Fellows is very important to our organization. I have the honor of being the President of the Worcester Tea Party. The President is the spokes person and evangelist for the group and I help out in any other way I can.
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