Two years ago the Wall Street Journal published a strident announcement entitled "New Fangs for the Conservative 'Beast'." Written by Edwin J. Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, and Michael A. Needham, CEO of Heritage Action for America, the article described a "new advocacy organization [that] will pressure congressmen to do what's right."
Congressmen (not congress women?) would henceforth "feel the heat from more than 630,000 members of the Heritage Foundation — and millions of others around the country who believe in our principles and share our vision of America's future."
[Here's the same article, outside the WSJ firewall — hat tip to cris0000]
The late Andrew Breitbart addressing the Heritage Foundation
We now see what comes of the think tank entity that they themselves refer to as "the beast".
This video from Heritage Action for America was the hasty response to Obama's win, having been composed and uploaded to Youtube on November 6, 2012 — election day. That was before the full measure of Team Romney's humiliation at the polls could even be appreciated.
Stand with Us — Heritage For America
Heritage For America tells American Citizens to "stand by us" as martial music — the music of warfare — wells in the background. The language of the video is likewise martial, referring to such warlike concepts as "winning this war", "losing freedom", a "devastating blow", "decisive defeat", and "exploding" federal spending. There are rapid, clipped references to patriotism and betrayal ("unpatriotic!") as Michael A. Needham bluntly declares, "we are in a war. A war to save this nation. And abandoning our post will condemn it to a future of managed decline."
No one would suggest that a mechanism such as Youtube's LIKE's and DISLIKE's should be decisive in evaluating a political argument. However, judging from (as I write this) more than a seven to one ratio of DISLIKE's, it is at least a probability that the new, ultra-militant tone adopted by some conservatives in the aftermath of a devastating defeat at the polls is not well-received. Think they'll notice? Or care?
One final point of interest: that membership of 630,000 claimed by the Heritage Foundation? They're essentially Rush Limbaugh's audience, recruited largely through deception.
Since the election, more than 780 new activists have joined the Flush Rush group on Facebook. Limbaugh was already facing dwindling ad revenue (as described by two different radio industry analysts), has been knocked out of the top spot in streaming audio audience share, and has cost the radio industry countless millions, while experiencing the embarrassment of having a majority of a National Association of Broadcasters panel advocate his replacement. We be flushin' Rush.
The diarist is active in Flush Rush on Facebook:
Flush Rush on Facebook: http://facebook.com/...
Stop Rush database: http://stoprush.net
My Stop Rush blog posts: http://dailykos.com/...