Contemporary Missed Applications of the Eleventh Commandment

The Eleventh
Commandment was a phrase popularized by Ronald Reagan during his 1966
Gubernatorial run.  The Eleventh Commandment idea had itsgenesis from California Republican State Party Chairman Gaylord Parkinson after
the 1964 Presidential campaign, when conservative GOP nominee Senator Barry
Goldwater (R-AZ) was savaged by East Coast country club Republicans who did not
like Goldwater’s style or politics.

It is
interesting to see how this political precept is held by present day
politicians, particularly Congress critters
afflicted with Potomac Fever.

To win the
Republican nomination for President in 2008, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the
senior Senator from Arizona, ran proclaiming that he was a “foot soldier
in the Reagan Revolution.”  Yet
consider how “the Maverick” Senator treats his “friends” in
this session of Congress.   When Senator
Rand Paul (R-KY) held a 13 hour filibuster of CIA
John Brennen’s nomination, Senator McCain chose to call several of his
caucus confreres as “wacko birds.”

To his
credit, Senator McCain uttered televised regrets shortly afterwards for this
infelicitous invective.  But McCain did
not seem to mean it as aides indicate
McCain’s  disdain for Senator Ted Cruz
(R-TX) in what can only be described in raw terms.  Yet Senator McCain had the temerity to task Democrat  Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to
ask for 15 minutes at the end of Cruz’s
filibuster.  It is a good thing that
Cruz had the good sense to ignore this entreaty, as McCain used his time to
denounce Cruz’s efforts.

This is not
an isolated example of Senator McCain bad mouthing other members of his caucus
with whom he disagrees.  As Republicans
were positioned to score major victories in the 2010 Congressional elections,
Senator McCain denounced the enthusiasm of Tea Party types as being hobbits.  

McCain’s
scorn for the Tea Party makes sense, as he governs as a progressive member of
the Cocktail Party, even though he  runs
as one conservative hombre.  Moreover,
McCain used his floor time  after Cruz’s filibuster to waive the whiteflag to Democrats and declare the elections matter and the Republicans lost the Obamacare
fight.  While President Obama did win
re-election in 2012, he did not premise his campaign on Obamacare.  In addition, federal elections do not have
the ability to do referenda on legislation.
Furthermore, legislators are not bound to decisions made by their
predecessors.

Another
“independent” Republican voice who unabashedly ignores the Eleventh
Commandment is Congressman Peter King (R-NY 02).  As a northeastern Republican Representative,
King’s weltanschauung will be considerably more “squishy” than
conservative colleagues to the south.
But this should not give him license to bash his GOP brethren, in most
uncharitable and insulting ways.

Congressman
King denounced Senator Cruz as a “kamikaze pilot” and “medicine man
selling goods he knows are phony goods.”
If that wasn’t enough, King proclaimed “those I’ve spoken to think he’s
[Cruz] crazy.” OK,  you’ve denounced your
colleague as a fraud, crazy and suicidal–one wonders why.

Maybe it has
something to do with Peter King’s crazy idea that he should run forPresident.  Bad mouthing fellow
Republicans works well to get John McCain more TV time on talking heads shows
(and has also helped Senator McCain’s scion Meghan McCain plenty of exposure in the media too).  One can not forget that
Rep. King’s district is in the New York City, which appealing to moneyed
“independents” or those who wish to stifle conservatives can channel
funds.  This seems  akin to former Utah Governor and Obama’s
Ambassador to China
John Huntsman‘s (R-UT) quixotic strategy in running for the GOP nomination
in 2012.

Representative
King ought to remember the fate of the last couple  Members of the House who ran for
President.  In the 2012 cycle, former Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI 11th) launched an ill planned Presidential campaign for a couple of months in 2011, presumably to improve
name recognition for later political contests. McCotter was so taken with Potomac Fever that he failed to get enoughvalid signatures to run for the primary for his Congressional seat in 2012, so
he resigned.   Representative Michele
Bachmann (R-MN 6th) ran a more credible race for the Republican nomination.  But she barely won re-election in the 113th
Congress in a tough district.  Bachmann has announced that she will not seek re-election in 2014.

But of
course, McCotter and Bachmann are different cases because they do not make it a
habit to bad mouth their fellow Republicans.
Surely, Representative Peter King’s telegenic looks, his pleasant
demeanor as well as his principled reputation will put him in good stead once
he loses his position of power as House Homeland Security Chair and is no
longer useful to the Lamestream Media.