Update #2: "Exclusive–Tea Party to Mitch McConnell: 'You Cannot Win Without Us'," Breitbart, M. Boyle
"A major GOP donor who told Breitbart News Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made disparaging remarks about the Tea Party movement and about Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) continues to stand by his original story after claims that the reports were not accurate....Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin concurs.
“Why would Senator Mitch McConnell want to ‘punch in the nose’ the millions of patriotic moms, grandmoms and veterans who stand up for America through the Tea Party and groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund?” Martin said in an emailed statement to Breitbart News. "The people supporting SCF are the same people going to Tea Party meetings and rallies across the country. We elect our representatives to represent us, not to threaten us with physical violence during secret meetings with Karl Rove’s friends."
Martin added that “everything” Tea Partiers said “about Obamacare turned out to be true,” but instead of “thanking the Tea Party, or standing with us, the Republican establishment—led by Mitch McConnell—is threatening to punch us in the nose.”
“If they’ve got so much fight in them, then where were they when we needed them to stand up and fight against Obamacare?” Martin said.
Martin also added a specific defense of the Senate Conservatives Fund. “Tea Party Patriots shares Senate Conservatives Fund’s goal of holding establishment Republicans accountable, and specifically, we shared the goal of defunding Obamacare,” Martin said."
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Update #1: No transcript but a recording is said to have been provided in which McConnell doesn't cite Tea Party, Cruz or Lee by name, but does specifically criticize conservatives who want to defund ObamaCare:
11/22/13, "Exclusive: Mitch McConnell did not criticize Tea Party in conference call to donors," Washington Examiner, Spiering
"During the call, McConnell criticized conservative groups who supported the plan to defund Obamacare and are now actively working to defeat him in Kentucky, and repeatedly mentioned the Senate Conservatives Fund by name. McConnell's comments about dealing with "schoolyard bullies" by punching them in the nose, as reported by Breitbart News, were accurate but were explicitly directed at the Senate Conservatives Fund, not the Tea Party or a specific conservative senator. McConnell additionally criticized the failed fight to defund Obamacare, which led to a government shutdown, a position consistent with his public remarks criticizing the shutdown strategy."
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11/22/13, ""Exclusive -- McConnell: Tea Party 'Bullies' Who Need Punch in Nose," Breitbart, Matthew Boyle
"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on a conference call organized by Karl Rove’s Crossroads organization for large donors and their advisers on Oct. 30 that the Tea Party movement, in his view, is a “nothing but a bunch of bullies” that he plans to “punch … in the nose."
On the call, according to a donor who was on it, McConnell personally named Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) as Tea Party conservatives he views as problematic for him. “The bulk of it was an attack on the Tea Party in general, Cruz in particular,” the source, a prominent donor, said in a phone interview with Breitbart News.
But the most memorable line came at the end of the call.
“McConnell said the Tea Party was ‘nothing but a bunch of bullies,’” the source said. “And he said ‘you know how you deal with schoolyard bullies? You punch them in the nose and that’s what we’re going to do.’”
Rove, as well as American Crossroads President and CEO Steven J. Law who also serves as the president of sister group Crossroads GPS, were also on the call. Rove “talked in a slightly gentler way, or let’s say, a more diplomatic way,” the source said. “But the message was pretty well the same: That if we’re going to save this thing, we have to back real Republicans.”
Pointing to how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just invoked the “nuclear option,” breaking 225-year old Senate rules to slip through President Obama’s liberal nominees, an aide to a Tea Party lawmaker said that McConnell’s focus on trying to go after the Tea Party has jeopardized Senate Republicans’ chances at actually beating Democrats. “Under Sen. McConnell's watch, Republicans today just got rolled over by Democrats who pushed the button on the nuclear option, destroying years of well-established Senate order,” the aide said in an email to Breitbart News. “Perhaps if he focused less on destroying the Tea Party and more on defeating Democrats, he'd have more to show for his leadership.”
Rove spokesman Jonathan Collegio denies that anything was said about Cruz, Lee, or the Tea Party in general but admits the call did take place and that “some discussion” about the government shutdown and the Senate Conservatives Fund took place.
“Your source is ascribing things to the call that simply were never said,” Collegio said in an email. “There was no ‘anti-tea party donor call.’ There was a call, and there was some discussion about the government shutdown and the Senate Conservatives Fund (note this was one day after SCF launched a dishonest ad about McConnell), but nothing about the Tea Party or Sens. Cruz or Lee.”
Collegio declined to provide a transcript or recording of the call to Breitbart News. McConnell’s office has not commented on the matter."
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Free Republic commenter on this topic:
"To: what's up; lodi90
.
You are exactly right, we are blaming Mitch McConnell for what he didn't do.
.
.
He failed to prepare the country for this fight. He failed to educate
the people about the importance of advice and consent. He failed to
demonstrate to the electorate how Obama is moving us toward tyranny.
He failed to make the Republican case on virtually any issue. It is only through the grace of God and the existence of computer devils that Obamacare has crashed and turned the country against it. Can you think of anything that Mitch McConnell has done to bring that about? Mitch McConnell failed to coordinate with Boehner, failed to have a coherent policy on every issue, failed to make the case to the people. Ask yourself, what is the Republican position on healthcare? They don't like it, they want it repealed, but not if there's any price to the repeal, they want it delayed, but to what purpose? Ask yourself if Mitch McConnell were the majority leader rather than minority leader would America be even 1 mm closer to repealing Obamacare? I think not.
The job of the minority leader, and the Speaker of the House when the Republicans are otherwise in the minority, is to stake out positions on all of the issues which the public can understand, support, and will vote for. Think of Newt Gingrich and The Contract with America. They are a dozen issues which the Republicans could clearly stake out, but they have not. Mitch McConnell stands for no political tactic except rope-a-dope.
So Harry Reid and Barack Obama do not fear Mitch McConnell, they do not fear John Boehner, they do not fear the Republicans save for Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul and a few stalwarts in the House. If McConnell could articulate an attractive platform to the people, the Democrats would fear him and they would have to compromise. But they do not have to compromise, they don't even have to be polite.
But we are not exercised about the degree of in politeness, Democrats, we are terrified of their tyranny and of the reckoning that must come.
He failed to make the Republican case on virtually any issue. It is only through the grace of God and the existence of computer devils that Obamacare has crashed and turned the country against it. Can you think of anything that Mitch McConnell has done to bring that about? Mitch McConnell failed to coordinate with Boehner, failed to have a coherent policy on every issue, failed to make the case to the people. Ask yourself, what is the Republican position on healthcare? They don't like it, they want it repealed, but not if there's any price to the repeal, they want it delayed, but to what purpose? Ask yourself if Mitch McConnell were the majority leader rather than minority leader would America be even 1 mm closer to repealing Obamacare? I think not.
The job of the minority leader, and the Speaker of the House when the Republicans are otherwise in the minority, is to stake out positions on all of the issues which the public can understand, support, and will vote for. Think of Newt Gingrich and The Contract with America. They are a dozen issues which the Republicans could clearly stake out, but they have not. Mitch McConnell stands for no political tactic except rope-a-dope.
So Harry Reid and Barack Obama do not fear Mitch McConnell, they do not fear John Boehner, they do not fear the Republicans save for Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul and a few stalwarts in the House. If McConnell could articulate an attractive platform to the people, the Democrats would fear him and they would have to compromise. But they do not have to compromise, they don't even have to be polite.
But we are not exercised about the degree of in politeness, Democrats, we are terrified of their tyranny and of the reckoning that must come.
23
posted on Friday, November 22, 2013 12:18:38 PM
by nathanbedford
("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)"
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Comment: Mitch McConnell is strictly about sabotage. The GOP is about making sure the radical left stays in charge. They do this via the back door, via continual sabotage.
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Call them the Sabotage Republicans."...
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Comment: Mitch McConnell is strictly about sabotage. The GOP is about making sure the radical left stays in charge. They do this via the back door, via continual sabotage.
.
“The betrayal of Ken Cuccinelli has the GOP going back to the future.
Call them the Sabotage Republicans."...
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