This year has played host to a paradigm shift in the Republican Party. That shift has been reflected in headlines again and again. The below list reflects that shift and some other top moments in 2013 conservative politics.
#10 OBAMA TELLS STUDENTS NOT TO CELEBRATE FOURTH OF JULY SATIRE PIECE
A satire piece, which jokingly cited Obama telling students not to celebrate the Fourth of July made headlines around the country last Summer. The piece was published just 2 days before the holiday and went viral. Viewed more than 500k times in only 2 days, many conservatives were enraged when they discovered the story they had shared was in fact satire. As MSN News points out,
“A label at the end of the short article reads in all capital letters: “POLITICAL SATIRE.” But not everyone reads to the end of articles, however short. For every hour Americans spend online, only two minutes is spent reading news, according to Experian, which doesn’t leave much time to absorb details like “satire” labels.“
TheOnion.com ran a satire piece on Kim Jong-Un being the sexiest man alive a few months before this piece ran. Conservatives were delighted when the entire country of North Korea was fooled by the piece. However, when the tables were reversed it wasn’t funny. Perhaps the article taught us a lesson about actually reading versus seeing a 5 word headline and re-posting to our Facebook walls.
#9 OFFICIAL AT CENTER OF IRS SCANDAL PLEADS THE FIFTH
Conservatives knew they were onto something when Lois Lerner, a senior IRS official, took the Fifth claiming that she had nothing to do with the IRS targeting tea party political groups. They kept digging and discovered that Lerner was indeed involved. She had sent emails directly targeting the tea party.
#8 MEET DR. BEN CARSON
Dr. Carson isn’t new to politics, but he made national headlines in his National Prayer Breakfast speech last February when he literally insulted Obama at an event where the President was featured to his face. Dr. Carson has been a household name since, and many are begging the Dr. to run for office.
#7 THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
A new libertarian leaning stronghold has emerged out of the United States Congress, and in 2013 their voices are being heard. Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) was attacked by Karl Rove, who called him, “The most liberal republican member of Congress.” Rove claimed Amash had the most similar voting record to Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Amash laughed back with facts. The fact is that Amash actually has the least similar voting record to Pelosi than any other member of the House. Rove Recently launched his Conservative Victory Project, which seeks to squash any tea party, libertarian leaning republicans who seek a run for office. Amash is joined by Rep. Thomas Massey (R-KY) who is being painted as Kentucky’s “Next Rand Paul”. United States Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul form the Senate version. Harry Reid (D-NV) recently took to the Senate floor and proclaimed that Congress had been taken over by anarchists. The 5 horsemen are certainly not anarchists. They just aren’t socialists, and that upsets Harry Reid. Headlines around the country read, “Nation Has Arrived At A New Libertarian Movement” and these are its leaders.
#6 WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE
Hillary Clinton, mulling over a presidential bid in 2016, gave conservatives all the ammunition they could ever need to take her down when she shocked the country by saying the talking points made no difference when it came to the Americans who had died in the Benghazi terrorist attack. To politicize Benghazi does no honor to the souls lost, but it’s the American way.
#5 SENATOR TED CRUZ V. SENATOR DIANE FEINSTEN
After the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy many in the country were calling for stricter gun laws. Democrats capitalized on the incident. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) made a name for himself when he infuriated Diane Feinstein (D-CA) with his Texas straight talk. Cruz challenged Fenstein’s knowledge and understanding of the Constitution to which she responded:
“I’m not a sixth grader,” said Feinstein. “Senator, I’ve been on this committee for 20 years. I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in, I saw people shot. I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I’ve seen the bullets that implode. In Sandy Hook, youngsters were dismembered. Look, there are other weapons. I’ve been up — I’m not a lawyer, but after 20 years I’ve been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it.”
#4 Plead The Tenth
Nullification has experienced a recent renaissance in America. The Tenth Amendment Center, the driving force behind the rebirth of American nullification, has come under attack from mainstream democrats and republicans.
Michael Boldin, executive director, tells us:
“If you’re not catching any flak, you’re not over the target. Nullification is definitely over the target with the establishment on both the left and right using the same talking points to attack it. But truth seems to catch on, and the nullification movement keeps growing no matter what these people throw at us.”
It is the mission of the Tenth Amendment Center to pull back the hand of the federal government and return power to the states, which is where the Constitution delegates it. Polls show that more than 1/2 of Americans now support nullification.
#3 Ron Paul Retires From Congress
The man who quite literally started a revolution retired from Congress this year. Many heavy hearts watched his farewell speech and were sad to see him leave. Paul blatantly called his colleagues crooks to their faces, which they all applauded to by time the speech was over. It was quite comical.
#2 John McCain To Retire?
#1 “I will speak, until I can no longer speak.” -The Rand Paul Filibuster
My number one pick for conservative politics in 2013 so far was the Rand Paul filibuster. There’s no need to go into details about the filibuster as it made headlines around the world, and if you don’t know about it then you probably aren’t alive. Rand Paul became a viral sensation around the world that night. The 13 hour filibuster was front page news everywhere you looked. Paul trended to the top of Twitter, Facebook and Google. He also generated a new campaign slogan #StandWithRand. The “Stand With x Candidate” slogan has now been used in just about every republican campaign for the upcoming election. Even the establishment likes it. Except John McCain and Lindsey Graham of course who called Paul a wacko bird. Paul’s bone-chilling 13 hour speech captured the hearts and minds of the world, and many believe it is why he now sits at the top of the 2016 GOP Presidential polls.
Stay tuned and in 2014 I will update the list to include the Top 20 moments for the year.