We hold these truths to be self-evident, that...

The blog post title is from the Declaration of Indpendence. But what if the ENTIRE Declaration of Indpendence was just that sentence?


Here are some excerpts from famous American speeches/writings:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the "

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately "

"AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new"

"WHEN the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to decide a question, which, in its consequences, must prove one of the"

"And, Reverend Clergy all, Senator Hawkins, distinguished members of the Florida congressional delegation, and all of you: I can't "


How do those short "excerpts" resonate with you? Do they move you, do they make you think? I'm sure you know where many of these excerpts come from (and you can cheat and look at the bottom for answers). If you had never heard those speeches or read those words in their entirety, would this small little excerpt have ANY impact on you by only reading this short sentence above?

What do they all have in common? They are all less than 140 characters, which is the maximum number of characters of a Twitter post.

Twitter is a fun website, and it's great for posting announcements quickly to a lot of different people.

I admire Michael Leahy’s drive, ambition, and ability to organize conservatives on TCOT and with the various tea parties across the country. I see quite a lot of conservatives see Obama using social networking in his campaign, and so conservatives try to use Twitter to spread the conservative message.

But the time for conservatives now (and forever) is not the ability to do quick announcements; what we need is for the populace to be EDUCATED. Do you think a 20-year old will be able to glean the crux of the Federalist Papers from reading it 140 characters at a time? How can we present IDEAS like freedom, education about history and economics, about Democrats repeating failed policies, 140 characters at a time? Sure, we can send messages to EXISTING conservatives using Twitter, but how many NEW ONES can we expect to get?

Of course, you can post links (URLs) to Twitter with pages that have unlimited content, but it’s actually more cumbersome to click each individual link, and with only 140 characters it’s not even clear what the link is from the abbreviated description.

Twitter is actually more conducive to quick, emotional outbursts than reasoned debate or argument.

And this dovetails with the tea parties as well, organized by Michael Leahy of TCOT fame. What is the purpose of the tea parties? Is it that conservatives are unhappy with Obama? High taxes? Spending? Government control? All of the above?

It seems that the tea parties are making a lot of noise, and letting people vent; it’s also showing that conservatives in general CAN organize. These are all good things.

The danger is that the actual MESSAGE of what conservative tea parties are standing for is muddled and most people don’t understand what conservatives are talking about.

Everyone knows that the pro-immigration rallies were about getting amnesty.
Everyone knows that the G20 rallies iun London were anti-capitalist/banker/globalization.
Everyone knows that the anti-war ralliers were…anti-war.

If an apolitical/moderate voter sees a tea party on TV, will they know what conservatives are protesting? If not, then whomever is commenting on the news story will freely TELL the viewer what they are protesting.

Sadly, many voters don’t know what the issue with spending is because: 1) we haven’t seen negative effects of deficit spending after so many years of it, and 2) Bush/Republicans also had deficits. They have no idea how big Obama’s deficits really are in relation to any of Bush’s deficits, about inevitable inflation (and what that even is), about Obama’s power grabs.

Without educating voters as to the REASONS why Obama’s spending and Obama’s policies are harmful, conservatives can easily be painted as “obstructionist”, trying to prevent Obama who “got dealt a bad hand” and is “just trying to help out”.

Do I think conservatives should use Twitter? ABSOLUTELY! Is TCOT a great way of communicating to fellow conservatives? Yes. Are tea parties a good chance for conservatives to get their voices heard? Yes.

But let’s not substitute noise for reason, abbreviated Twitter posts for well-thought out arguments.




Just in case you're wondering, here are where the excerpts are from:
Gettysburg Address
FDR Dec 8 1941
Federalist Papers #1
Federalist Papers #2
Reagan "Evil Empire" speech 1983