One dictionary’s definition of populism:  any of various, often anti establishment or anti-intellectual political movements or philosophies that offer unorthodox solutions or policies and appeal to the common person rather than according with traditional party or partisan ideologies. 

And wikipedia’s definition:  the use of discourses, ideas or policies which try to appeal to “the people” by setting up a dichotomy between the people and the elite.

One can certainly conclude that a so-called intellectual or elitist wrote these definitions and that same person has little respect for the common person or populism.  But from time to time the governing intellectuals and elites make mistakes.  To err is human.  You won’t get these elitists to admit they’re wrong but wrong they are and on several issues as of late.   So in this fantastic Constitutional Republic that our forefathers designed and built for us, at times the populace must take time out of their busy lives, and  let the governing elites (that they elected/hired)  know who the boss is.  At the same time it is extremely important for the populace to understand that runaway populism or pure democracy would be the end of our republic resulting eventually in some sort of military coup, marshal law or dictatorship.  None of us really want that.  Therefore, this “ingredient” called populism must be measured very carefully and sparingly.  Too much populism in the mix and you’ll pull a Huey P. Long out of the oven.   “Every Man a King”.  Well most folks have enough sense to know now days that the true end results of the wealth redistribution that Long tried to implement  would be “Every Man a Pauper”.    With the exception of modern day democrats and their hard core base.  They’ll never learn, though.  But they represent such a small portion of Middle America. 

So, again, the smart GOP politician had best begin to mix a little populism into their strategy.   President Bush has done everything in his power to do just the opposite.   Starting from Dubai Ports, to Harriet Miers,  branding the Minutemen as vigilantes and waving in the Mexican Trucks.  Especially once he lowered his hand on 1/20/05 his good natured grin turned downward into a snarl when it came to the voting base that put his butt into the oval office twice.  He began to view and treat them more as disgruntled employees.    As a result much of the voting base that had kept the GOP in the majority for decades have now become exasperated and are dropping out of the process because of  the myriad of insults flung their way over the last several years by President Bush and the GOP hierarchy.

So our candidates must increase, a bit, the mixture of populism into their strategy to offset the damage done to the GOP by President Bush, K. Rove and the RNC.  And most of them have.  Some more than others.  Really these upcoming primaries are going to be more like a chili cook-off than anything.  There’s a flavor out there for every taste.  We can only hope the choice we make can take the blue ribbon at the big cook-off on 11/4/08.    DD

My essay last week was a warning to those Middle Americans who, last June, emailed, called, faxed, yelled,  screamed and stopped dead the McCain/Kennedy/Bush immigration plan.  The warning was not of an impending assault by the dem’s.   No but from our own party members who align themselves behind the Bush/WSJ globalists that have hijacked "our" GOP.   These globalists will attempt to spin a web or cocoon around our group  thus diminishing the importance of the  entire illegal immigration issue.  Again, they’ll try to steer policy makers away from “us”.   They’ll  point to the downfall of the Hunter and Tancredo campaigns as “proof” that the anti-illegal immigration movement is not what it appeared to be and “don’t be concerned about it”.   “On the contrary”  they’ll say,  “those who take up the anti-illegal cause are destined to failure”.  And the politicians will listen, unfortunately.

A perfect example of this globalist shell game/slight of hand tactic is in a  politico.com article by Ben Adler on  Friday( link ).  Here’s an example of Mr. Adler’s knife being pushed slowly in Tom Tancredo’s back (metaphorically  of course):

“Despite Tancredo’s laser-like focus on immigration — during debates, he talks about it even when he’s not asked about it — experts agree his candidacy is going nowhere and that he’s unlikely to even play the role of spoiler.

Tancredo offers multiple reasons — his lack of money chief among them. But his candidacy also raises questions about the potency of the immigration issue as a central 2008 battleground.

In reality, polls offer conflicting evidence on voters’ level of concern over immigration. When voters are given a list of issues and asked to rank their importance, immigration sometimes makes the top four. “But when it’s open-ended, Iraq, terrorism and health care always come out ahead,” said Douglas Rivlin of the National Immigration Forum.”

One can almost hear the gloating Mr. Adler snickering.  And this Douglas Rivlin character is a known immigration advocate.  Just google the guys name!  Not an objective person to quote from.   But Ben does spin a mighty tight web here.   And some will be convinced to jump ship and support one of the Big 3.   John McCain should thank spin meisters like this Adler fellow for his recent upsurge.  

Not that Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter don’t deserve some blame.  They have run the most inept, backwards campaigns.   No winning strategy whatsoever.   They just figured they’d stand behind the bloody pulpit, espouse the truth and project out their best Mount Rushmore profile and by doing that, well Middle America would swarm about them.  They’d have to wade through throngs of adoring supporters!  No aggressive, winning strategy at all by these two gentlemen.   It just never dawned on them that big dollar donors might be the same ones who want to keep the flow of cheap labor open and might also mightily oppose their campaigns.  Dollar wise, that is.  And  it might take some ingenuity and imagination to figure out how to raise money elsewhere in order to keep their campaigns afloat.  Never occurred to them!  And, evidently still does not.  DD

The GOP has divided like some amoeba on a glass slide under a microscope. 

There are the Globalists that continue to warn the various GOP candidates and politicians that they will damage their political careers if they take the side of those wanting to seal the border and strictly enforce existing immigration laws.  They blame the discontent by GOP voters on the Iraq War, run-away federal spending and scandalous behavior by elected GOP politicians.  They delight in pointing to the downfall of those who have taken strong enforcement first stances.    J.D. Hayworth lost his congressional seat in Arizona after taking a tough stance on the border.  George Allen of Virginia lost his senate seat, some say for the same reason.  Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. And in the current presidential race the campaigns of both  hard line border enforcement candidates, Hunter and Tancredo appear to be sinking like a rock.  Their fundraising efforts a total joke.  Or so these geopolitical elitists would want us to believe. 

And then there’s our side of the divided amoeba.  We don’t really have “advisers” and “strategists” telling us what our next move should be.  We live every day with the reality of illegal immigration and its negative, downward pull on our social structure.  We’ve observed the illegals banding together, marching in the streets of America.  Streets that we as taxpayers have paid to build.  We saw them waving Mexican flags and burning American flags.  Their monumental ingratitude.  We’ve watched our politicians allow these illegal hordes to invade our nation and enjoy rights and privileges that actually accede our own.   And when we dared to raise complaints regarding this dangerous and worsening situation these same politicians, that we elected,  presented us with disrespect, insults and intimidation.  Yet we fight on to maintain and protect our nations sovereignty.

Sadly, we are losing.  The globalists controlling our party seem to be gaining the upper hand.  Both  Hunter and Tancredo are nearly out of cash ( link ).  The other candidates , good men all, will simply not remain on our side in the long term, in my view.  They are making all the correct noises now because they want our votes.  But when the battle gets intense they’ll fall back on they’re long proven expertise – the art of compromise.  

So the question begs to be answered – why?  Why have the campaigns of Hunter and Tancredo faltered?   Certainly its not lack of support.  Duncan Hunter recently left the entire GOP pack in the dust in the Texas Straw Poll.  No one was even close.  He’s also won other straw polls. Tancredo did well in the recent Iowa straw.  Why are they so upside down in the fundraising department?  Would it be fair to say that their followers are a bunch of  dunces who go about waving their flags and emotions in the air?  Who are so stupid that they can’t figure out that it takes money to run a campaign?  God forbid as I count myself among them.   Well the jury is not yet in on that verdict yet.  But honestly, something simply doesn’t add up.  About 60% of Americans support tougher enforcement of immigration laws.  Hunter and Tancredo both have large followings.  So where are the donors? 

Where the heck are these so called Border Watch groups, I ask?  Groups like the Minutemen Project?  And U.S. Border Watch?  Jim Gilchrist’s  Wake Up America?  And U.S. Border Control?  And these are just a few.  There are many more org’s of this nature.  But when you visit these sites you see no open support for Hunter or Tancredo.  No ads, banners or anything.   You can’t tell me that there isn’t a way to, legally, get the word out to their members regarding the fundraising woe’s of these 2 candidates.   My gosh the entire Borders/Illegals issue is at stake!  Certainly the decision makers within these organizations must have enough snap to know that without enlightened politicians and originalist judges on the bench our cause of U.S. sovereignty is doomed!  Many of the org’s have become bogged down in the details and have lost sight of the mission.  I ask all who read this to begin some kind of email campaign or other correspondence to these org’s immediately.  Especially those who might be members of such  groups.  Put pressure on them to more aggressively work for our 2 valiant candidates Hunter and/or Tancredo.  Withhold your donations to these groups until they regain the correct priorities.  Inform them, if they don’t know, of the dire fundraising situation that our 2 candidates face and encourage them to formulate an action plan to help keep these campaigns effective financially.  These candidates can not be effective without TV/Radio campaigns and that takes money. 

And one might ask, where is corporate America?  Why no help for the Hunter and Tancredo campaigns from large U.S. companies?   One of the main thrusts of the Hunter campaign is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.   You’d think large companies would be all over that and the donations would be pouring in.  Not so.  You see the corporate fat cats see the blood in the water.  Republican blood.  So the corporate cowards are shifting over to the dem’s thinking that the GOP will be devoured by the sharks.  The CEO’s like the idea of Hillary Care.  A huge chunk of their annual budget goes toward medical insurance benefits for their employees.  They like the idea of that massive expenditure instead being diverted into their quarterly bonus’.   Additionally, they love the continued flow of cheap labor coming from across the border.   This is why both Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo are persona non grata in the eyes of the corporate fat cats.  And the dem’s are wallowing in money.

So while the fundraising efforts of our valiant candidates Hunter and Tancredo continue to sink into the quagmire, the globalists that have hijacked “our” GOP are standing around in the shadows having a good laugh at our expense.  Snickering at us. Also sinking into the quagmire is our cause of sealing the borders and insisting that our elected officials see to it that immigration laws are strictly enforced.  Why should they listen to us?  We can’t even keep our own candidates in a liquid financial state.    So to all of you who still believe that the notion of national sovereign borders is not an antiquated, obsolete concept,  I ask you, do you enjoy the sting of defeat?  How do you like being laughed at, rebuked and put back into your place by the elitists?

I also put forth the question – is it too late to reverse this negative trend?  Is there still time? I believe there is time but none to waste.   I welcome your comments.  And who is your least-favorite GOP open borders globalist? Leave a link.   DD 

Who would want this guy’s job?  Pervez Musharraf.  Talking about being between a rock and a hard place.  Trying so very hard to figure out just what the U.S. really wants from him.  Just this past March VP Cheney was dispatched along with a CIA deputy director to  “pay a call” on Musharraf.   The visit was an obvious attempt by the U.S. to put extreme pressure on Musharraf  to regain control in the NW Waziristan territories of Pakistan where bin Laden is believed to be hiding.   Problem for Musharraf and his army is that when they advance on this western Pakistan region, that leaves their rear open to attacks from the radical Islamists in the central part of the country!  Because the armed, radical Islamic forces are everywhere in Pakistan.  In fact they want to take over and take possession of Pakistans nuclear arsenal.  Any moron who picks up a newspaper once in awhile ought to know that.  How many times now have they tried to assassinate this poor guy  Musharraf?    

Then this past August Musharaff reads the morning paper where upwardly moving U.S. Senator Barack Obama  delivers a not so veiled threat that if “Musharraf will not act [in western Pakistan] then we will!” – if he’s elected, that is.    Well that must’ve been a real Maalox moment for Pervez.  Knowing how the  Democratic star is rising in U.S. politics and knowing that Sen. Obama is gaining in popularity within that party,  Musharraf  realizing that there’s a good possibility that he’ll be dealing with President Obama  come January ’09.  Or so his sources tell him.   “What a predicament to be in” says Pervez.   “Its beginning to become crystal clear that the U.S. wants  more action and less talk.  Certainly they know that Pakistan is almost totally permeated with radical Islamist and there is only one real course of action to be taken.  Of course they have to know and therefore they must approve of this action even though it won’t make me a very popular person in the world community.  But what choice do I have?  To stay friendly with the U.S. or to be over run by the radical jihadists?” 

So Pervez Musharraf made his decision this past week and did what had to be done.  What has been done in other nations during times of severe crisis and chaos throughout history.   Even in our own nation during the civil war President Lincoln declared martial law.   A  State of Emergency can  be declared during time of war or national disaster.  To be honest, Musharraf probably waited too long.  He should’ve done this sooner or he should’ve cracked down a lot harder on the radicals, at least.  And Musharraf makes a good and reasoned argument for his actions this past week.  ( link )

Certainly Musharraf  sat in his office this past Saturday waiting for an encouraging phone call from President Bush or SecState Rice.   And he’s probably still waiting.  Because all he got from  Secretary Rice and her department of state was a  wagging  self-righteous, condemning finger pointed at him.     No phone call from our weakling of a President or Secretary of Defense proposing a rapid deployment of Pakistani, U.S. and Afghan troops into the Waziristan  area to once and for all wipe out the Taliban and other radical elements.  And to get that section of Pakistan back under the control of the Pakistani government.    Which is not to say that something is not happening.  I have to believe that there are some of our Special Ops and CIA folks in there trying to help our friend and ally - Pakistan.  This is such a grand opportunity in the over all Global War on Terror.  A chance to totally crush the radical trouble makers.   And capture bin Laden and al Zawahiri.   If they’re even still alive.   DD