The Color of Politics

by Tim Condon

I’ve always been bothered by the oxymoronic color-scheme imposed on Republicans in the political world. Somehow, somewhere, at some point, someone said switched the colors on us! (“Let’s call conservative and Republican states Red, and liberal, statist, socialist, Democratic states Blue!”) Who came up with that stupid idea? The Washington Post — now there’s a reliable source, — said that it all started in the 2000 election by Tim Russert. He died in 2008, but he was a big liberal media talking head on NBC and MSNBC for years. So if I’m inclined to see a conspiracy among the media-liars to switch the colors on us — and I am so inclined — he would certainly be a part of it.

Why am I miffed? Simple: “Red” traditionally stands for Communists and other revolutionary socialist movements. As in “Red China”? Or “Khmer Rouge” (the “Cambodian Reds”)? Or the movie with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, “Reds” (the one that portrayed Communists as merely enthusiastic agrarian reformers in a hurry)? Thus, in the traditional political color taxonomy, “blue” meant conservatives and Republicans, while Democrats and their socialist buddies would be “reds” (or “pinkos” in the jargon of the 1950’s… for Democrats who denied and tried to hide how much they admired the Communists).

So of course the lying, leftist, America-hating mainstream media would conspire like they always do, and switch the colors on us, imposing “Red” on Republicans and conservatives, while ditching the true loyalties of the Democrats, disguising them as “Blues.” Even Wikipedia points it out: In their entry on “red states and blue states they say “In general, the media conspired to change the color schemes which were long standing. Blue was nearly always Republican, and red Democrat. [The new] unofficial system of political colors used in the United States is the reverse of that in most other long-established democracies, where blue represents right-wing and conservative parties, while red represents left-wing and socialist parties.”

Does this all piss me off? Well, it did, but I’ve been thinking about it. And, you know what? The new color scheme actually does make sense (no thanks to the mainstream media, who as always have their own malignant agenda). Consider….

“Red” comes first, as in “the Red, White & Blue.” We conservatives and libertarians tend to eat “red meat,” do we not? And we like it! Ditto our liking for “red meat rhetoric.” Are you a “red-blooded American”? You can’t be if you’re a Democrat, because they have great disdain for America. (Oh come on…you’re not going to play me a song and dance about how they’re all big patriotic America-boosters, are you? Puhleeze.) Ever see the movie “Red Dawn”? Great stuff. The Commies invaded America, and — you guessed it — a bunch of “redneck” farm boys and girls put together a guerrilla movement that helps stop the Commies in their tracks (but that’s another story; see the movie!).

Plus there something even more important: “Red” generally stands for “revolution.” So who are the true “revolutionaries today? The Tea Partiers! Resurgent libertarian-conservatives in the Republican Party! Those who are fighting to smash the hegemony of both the Democratic and GOP party hacks in Washington, DC! In other words, the people who are fighting against the political class in order to reassert the primacy of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Those are the true revolutionaries in today’s America. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were and are extraordinarily revolutionary documents, and to the statist political class those two documents are like garlic and a crucifix to a vampire. In other words, the Tea Party movement and the resurgent libertarian-conservative movement in America and the national Republican Party are the revolutionary vanguard carrying on the anti-tyranny heritage of the early American patriots.

The Democrats hate them all, of course, witness the ongoing but fruitless smears and name-calling. Ditto for the mainstream media and all other institutional toadies for leftism in America. All of which brings up an important, fundamental truth: The national Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and other leftist political institutions in our country today are reactionary forces. How else would you describe those who hate and fear the revolutionary heritage of America and today’s Tea Party movement? What else would you call a political party and its members who hate and fear America’s revolutionary history and founding documents? Get with it!

So when you think about it, calling our side “Reds” makes perfect sense. We uphold America’s revolutionary heritage. Powerful reactionary forces are trying to destroy it, i.e. the national Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and other institutions of leftist statism. So yes, we patriots are “Red-Staters,” and Revolutionary Red is our foundational color, because we are American revolutionaries for the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, while the Democrats and other socialist political movements hold that same heritage, and the American people, in fear and contempt.

In New Hampshire, the Free State, we Red-Staters will win. In doing so, we will show the way for the rest of America to break out of the reactionary strait-jacket that Obama and his leftist, statist supporters seek to force upon us. Onward, Red-Staters! We’ve got a set of elections to win, and then one hell of a hangover mess to clean up after six years of Gov. Lynch and his foolish legislative cheerleaders.
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Tim Condon is a Viet Nam War Veteran, husband and father, lover of NH, and a patriot.