Even I didn’t think the Red State Strike Force would get disheartened this quickly:
XXXX:
I got an email yesterday. The correspondent wrote:
“I truly appreciate and support your efforts; however I have to admit my total frustration in having failed to stop the Treasury nomination, it is an offensive move. I called everyone but end up talking with one of the volunteers at the Senator’s offices and I truly wonder about this strategy effectiveness. Maybe we need to pursue a different approach. Please advise.”
We are not meant in the course of our activism to be always successful. We will have moments of success and they will be large and they will be small. But sometimes we will not be successful.
The persistent widow in Luke 18 had to keep going to the judge who “neither feared God nor cared about men.” She “kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.'” She persisted and the judge finally said, “Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!”
It is the same with an activist. We must persevere.
Yesterday the Politico ran a story on Jim DeMint filled with invective from anonymous Republican staffers in the Senate. They hate Jim DeMint because he perseveres. He is not always successful, but sometimes he is. And if he perseveres, at some point, he will prevail.
DeMint, in the article, said something very wise about the present Republican leadership. He said “that lawmakers in both parties ‘only respond to pain.'”
Again, we don’t expect to be successful all the time. We will have set backs. That is the nature of the game. We must also accept that some people have good reasons for doing what they do, though we disagree with them. But we must also expect and demand that we are respected as the base of the party. We must fight and our fight must frequently induce pain on our own side. It is frequently the only way to make headway.
Persevere and fight on.
One way to do so is to get your friends to join us in the RedState Army. We will be sometimes defeated. We will be sometimes victorious. But most importantly, we won’t be idly complaining and yelling into the wind – we’ll be working to make a difference. It is no good to complain and not act. It is very good to act without complaint and fight the good fight until the setting of the sun.
Persevere. And relish victories like we had last night – the House Republicans heard us and stood united against Barack Obama’s socialist stimulus plan.
Sincerely yours,
Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com
They’ve gone from Navy Sealesque bad asses to Lukean persistent widows in the course of about two weeks.
Update: I like this especially: “But most importantly, we won’t be idly complaining and yelling into the wind.”
Update #2: Apparently, members of the Red State Strike Force whose fictitious online alter egos live in Kentucky are being instructed to mail balls to Mitch McConnell. Whether it’s their own or someone else’s, I can’t tell.
Catsy
It’s like the Charge of the Light Brigade, as performed by precocious toddlers.
cleek
defeat makes philosophers out of us all, great and small.
Ugh
How much do you suppose they pay Erickson to do this stupid crap?
TCG
It is worse than imagined.
The Strike Force just Launched Operation Numbnuts targeting Mitch McConnell.
Fellow wingnuts are asked to mail balls to Mitch.
Zuzu's Petals
Guess they’re not going for the Jewish demographic.
NutellaonToast
Well, of course. It’s widely known that Luke just left out the part where the widow came, dressed in black, under cover of night, and killed the judge’s family members one by one until he relented.
She killed them with her whining.
John Cole
I hope they are using Fed Ex and other captains of the free market to send those balls to Mitch, because true conservatives would not rely on welfare queens like the USPS.
Cruel Jest
As ridiculous as the message is, the writing is even worse. Meandering, petulant and flowery; it’s not just a writing style, it’s a political philosophy.
John Cole
Also, DougJ, have you noticed it is getting increasingly more difficult to make fun of these guys? After you cut and paste what they themselves have written, how do you top it?
DougJ
With those jihadist uniforms they wear? I think they use UPS. You can’t go wrong with brown shirts.
Ash Can
LOL! Morans.
In other news, I just heard on the radio that jobless claims have set an all-time record. Now, what were these fine patriots just saying about Mitch McConnell?
cleek
respect mah authoratah!
Punchy
All you peeps will now make myriad jokes about "Wolverines, bitches!" and the like. Meanwhile, someone’s taking it to heart (h/t Dunkin’)
DougJ
I don’t even try.
You know, I’ve been on lots of mailing lists for years — MoveON, the ACLU, some crazy ones I found on the Newsmax site, etc. — and I’ve never received an email that sounded this down-in-the-dumps. And this is after one political defeat!
Tsulagi
Hey, don’t you go dissing the RSSF. Sure, maybe their silly putty got a little squishy. One operator disheartened he couldn’t get to fire at his target but instead got handled and handed off to a slurpee-sipping part-time volunteer.
But you can’t count out the Red State Strike Force! A new major operation is underway. Commander E.E. is whipping them into shape exorting them to sacrifice once again by sending Mitch McConnell their balls! I shit you not.
amorphous
I have some cheese that would go nicely with that whine.
Also, OT, but has someone already linked Gingrey’s embarrassing mea culpa transcripted from Rush’s show?
JenJen
Also, according to Karl Rove’s "piece" in the WSJ today, the Strike Force might need to stock up on Red Bull. Why? Because Obama has different work habits than Bush did, which of course will "cause problems."
Take it away, Karl:
Teh GOP is really into the 9-to-5 lifestyle, eh?
Binkyboy
Must be their own balls, after that letter it doesn’t seem like they will ever need them again.
Left Coast Tom
I wonder how many members of this "army" are actually people like DougJ subscribing for entertainment value?
jibeaux
I like how they admitted that Republican politicians don’t fear God or care about men, though.
Lev
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the winner of the annual PETA Award for the most useless public action group. This is a tough competition (dammit, PETA usually has it wrapped up), but this year we have a new candidate. For their utter inability to articulate persuasive arguments, for their intemperate bark–which is backed up with soft, poignant sobs, and for their assistance in punk-rockifying conservatism, I select RedState as this year’s PETA Award winner! Yay!
SnarkIntern
This mindset, of course, explains the GOP in general, most of the Bush Administration and its approach to GWOT, and as we all know, Balloon-Juice.
The pliers in your kit are there for pulling out your fingernails. Please use them accordingly.
Fulcanelli
Witness the phony Christian Jihadists learning to accept defeat.
If they spent half as much time trying to understand why sane, rational people view them as the political equivalent of pimply faced boys hiding beneath the bed covers with a Penthouse, a flashlight and a baggie full of their Mom’s hand cream as they did acting out their impotent lobbying war fantasies, they’d realize this broke-ass country ain’t buying their bankrupt ideologic wankery anymore.
Starbursts!
Do you think they wear kewl uniforms when they go online?
kay
@JenJen:
They’re younger than the elderly Bushies. They can put in some hours without toppling over sideways.
Media Browski
Why is the GOP always mixing religion, sex and politics?
Dave
So not voting for a bill that passed anyway is what Strike Farce considers a success?
If that is the standard, I think they’ll have a lot of successes over the next four years.
Shygetz
Given the typical Red State Strike Force operative’s pear-shaped body type, combined with the well-documented sexual proclivities of many right-wing activists, it’s more likely that they will have ready access to someone else’s balls than to their own.
jibeaux
I also think it’s adorable that mailing balls and silly putty qualifies in RS world as "working to make a difference" and or "pain".
Feebog
And then its free mojitos for everyone!
Shinobi
I always suspected that conservatives were secretly Emo.
This is what happens when spoiled kids find out what the real world is like.
Sebastien
The Redstate Task Force new motto: "Give me liberty… or give me tissues."
SpotWeld
Is it me, or does all this mopy-ness seem like a long preamble that occurs before a plead for money?
SpotWeld
Is it me, or does all this mopy-ness seem like a long preamble that occurs before a plead for money?
Punchy
Is this a time frame, or the age range of the boys they seem to target?
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Was I the only one who, while reading this email, found himself thinking of the sad/mopey of the song "America, Fuck Yeah!" from "Team America"?
Dave S.
The tone is that of a child who has attempted to throw a water balloon, only to have it break right by his head.
Picture that image with the caption "FAIL" and you’ve got it.
SpotWeld
That’s what the RS-SF really needs…
..a montage!
jibeaux
@Feebog:
Ooh. I didn’t know there were free mojitos….
/ponders extent of flexibility of political opinions…
KCinDC
Okay, first they were sending people to buy Silly Putty, now playground balls. Is Redstate Strike Farce really just a scam to get Amazon commissions?
marjowil
I thought the Repubs were going off into the wilderness. when does that start to happen?
Tim in SF
Well, me, for another. I get these email in the morning right after I wake up and teh funny really raises my spirits. Then reading the commentary later here on B-J (usually about the time I get to work) is a second helping of mockery-goodness along with my morning coffee. Yay!
I recommend everyone sign up for the email. They’re funny as hell.
Roger Moore
@Binkyboy:
It can’t possibly be their balls. That would require that they had some in the first place.
Bubblegum Tate
Is it time that we start seriously considering the notion that the Trike Force is one giant spoof operation?
Napoleon
@KCinDC:
I am reading Thomas Frank’s book "The Wrecking Crew" right now and he goes onto a lot of detail on how to an amazing degree the agitators on the right basically are scamming the bedwetters who support hard right policies.
jlo
Red State Strike Force Porn
jake 4 that 1
Psst, Erick! The "Base" is not the same thing as a "Bottom."
AC Delaware County
Big sale on Truck Nutz?
flyerhawk
I’m confused now. Saint Sarah of Nanook told me that activists were lesser folk that should be scorned. Now RedState seems to be praising them. I don’t get it.
Louise van Hine
It’s time to change their name from Red State Strike Force to Red State Slap Force.
Nylund
Wait…are the "we" and "us" referring to all GOP supporters or to the Strike Farce in particular? Are they implying that they were the ones who got the GOP to vote unanimously against the stimulus package?
Laura W
As I did in an earlier thread where his best work from this missive was quoted, I am again going to call eWoode the epitome of an Anti-Aphrodisiac.
I’m very fond of the term for him, and it certainly bears repeating.
Often.
wiley
Red Stain Trike Farce? Let’s bring out our compassion and honestly pity the Obviously Karmically-Challenged. Very painful awakenings are in their collective futures.
Tom65
They are now in a race for irrelevancy with PUMAs. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of kids.
pastordan
Pedantry: it’s "Lukan," not "Lukean."
OriGuy
They should have called themselves "The Sacred Band of Dweebs".
Bob D.
As Staff SGT Huber (USAF) used to say on those long night shifts: Endeavor to persevere!
shortstop
What a perfectly delicious little sentence.
John Brown
I joined Red State years ago and was banned a number of times for speaking my mind about their warped sense of conservatism. It use to be painful to read their posts. Now, I don’t read them at all. Why they encourage people to join their site is a mystery to me. They do not handle discenting opinions very well.
I have been a libertarian/conservative for many years but being from Texas I could never stomach Bush. The folks at Red State are a good example of his constituency.
ibid
No, she was only talking about people who try to improve their communities. People who try to influence national leaders by sending them toys are the real heroes.
Catsy
Seriously though, when I read Redstate now, I don’t feel threatened by them, I don’t get angry over the silly and vile things they say. I laugh. It’s part of my morning humor reading list. Reading their sanctimonious, arch posts–especially from Moe, who by now has turned unearned smug sanctimony into an art form–I can’t help but laugh, because they’ve rendered themselves irrelevant through their own idiocy, and they don’t even seem to know it.
Redstate is a failure. Oh, it has a community, it continues to operate, and it gets a pat on the head from the occasional Republican pol who decides that they’re useful idiots for broadcasting his talking points. If Redstate is nothing but Erick’s personal blog writ large, where success is defined simply as having a circle of readers who hate the same things you do, then sure, it’s a success. But as activism, as a contributor to intellectual discourse, as an influential player on the stage of American politics, and most of all as a site for helping Republicans get elected–it’s a failure. It’s even a failure by the modest aims that Tacitus set forth when Redstate was just a glimmer of an idea for a right-leaning community where everyone could come and have intelligent discussions.
To an extent–but only up to a point–I feel sorry for them. They’ve been so consistently wrong about almost everything, it must be tough by now to sustain the cognitive dissonance necessary to keep bleating the same tired lines over and over again, long after they’ve been discredited and repudiated by the country. And I know, from hard experience, what a bitter pill it is to swallow, looking forward to at least four years of having an agenda antithetical to your ideology sail through Congress on the wings of a commanding majority and solid popular support. Four years of hearing "President Barack Obama" every single day, and still believing that if you could just make Chris Matthews say "Hussein" in there with it, that everyone would wake up and realize that the charismatic man in the Oval Office is secretly an Islamofascist who wants to institute socialized medicine in order to pay for the abortions of married gay communist babies.
Can you imagine how terrified they must be right now? A black Democrat is President, and he enjoys a level of bipartisan popular support that Bush needed a terrorist attack and war drums to reach. Congress is firmly under Democratic control. The country is in crisis, and–whether they admit it to themselves or not–is in crisis largely as a result of Republican policies. Clear majorities of the American people support the Democratic solutions to the country’s problems, leaving the Republicans in Congress with a very unenviable choice: come on board and be part of the solution, accepting that you will have to swallow a lot of liberal policies in order to have your own ideas heard; or stand on a soapbox in the town square shouting "NO!" at the top of your lungs while the country is hurting, accomplishing the impressive twofer of alienating the country and getting steamrolled in Congress anyway.
The only ideas they have are the ones that got us into this mess. They know it, and the country knows it. The only hope they have of having any influence for the next four years relies on the Democrats being spineless–and while that is usually a safe bet, Obama has shown signs that he won’t be tolerating the usual Republican games, and the Republicans themselves gave a strategically foolish demonstration of their own powerlessness by unanimously voting against a popular bill that passed anyway. They’ve got nothing. And that’s the Republicans in Congress, elected officials with a nontrivial amount of access, money and influence. Redstate is just their fan site. Is it any wonder they sound like butthurt emo kids who can’t understand why nobody takes their genius seriously?
Maus
Hahahah, the mighty RedState warriors have turned into mewling network TV fanbase, only with miniscule numbers.
The firefly/buffy/angel mafia could probably headstomp all these guys before they knew what for.
Maus
That’s still a community activist. The only people Sarah trusts to influence national leaders in Real America are lobbyists.
Catsy
Without a doubt. Redstate has nothing on the furor that can be mobilized by Joss Whedon fans en masse.