Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing Strategy Group Planning a "30 Front War"

[WhoIsNumberNone]

Source: Mother Jones

Ginni Thomas, Allen West, and a crew of conservative activists and journalists have formed a hush-hush coalition to battle progressives—and Karl Rove.
—By David Corn

Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation," according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.

Dubbed Groundswell, this coalition convenes weekly in the offices of Judicial Watch, the conservative legal watchdog group. During these hush-hush sessions and through a Google group, the members of Groundswell—including aides to congressional Republicans—cook up battle plans for their ongoing fights against the Obama administration, congressional Democrats, progressive outfits, and the Republican establishment and "clueless" GOP congressional leaders. They devise strategies for killing immigration reform, hyping the Benghazi controversy, and countering the impression that the GOP exploits racism. And the Groundswell gang is mounting a behind-the-scenes organized effort to eradicate the outsize influence of GOP über-strategist/pundit Karl Rove within Republican and conservative ranks. (For more on Groundswell's "two front war" against Rove—a major clash on the right—click here.)

One of the influential conservatives guiding the group is Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, a columnist for the Daily Caller and a tea party consultant and lobbyist. Other Groundswell members include John Bolton, the former UN ambassador; Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy; Ken Blackwell and Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council; Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch; Gayle Trotter, a fellow at the Independent Women's Forum; Catherine Engelbrecht and Anita MonCrief of True the Vote; Allen West, the former GOP House member; Sue Myrick, also a former House GOPer; Diana Banister of the influential Shirley and Banister PR firm; and Max Pappas, a top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Among the conveners listed in an invitation to a May 8 meeting of Groundswell were Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News Network; Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who resoundingly lost a Maryland Senate race last year (and is now running for a House seat); Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society; Sandy Rios, a Fox News contributor; Lori Roman, a former executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council; and Austin Ruse, the head of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. Conservative journalists and commentators participating in Groundswell have included Breitbart News reporters Matthew Boyle and Mike Flynn, Washington Examiner executive editor Mark Tapscott, and National Review contributor Michael James Barton.

--------------------------------------------------

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/groundswell-rightwing-group-ginni-thomas

---

You know how every couple of weeks the right wing comes up with some new "scandal" which is "bigger than Watergate"?

This is bigger than Watergate.


See also: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/groundswell-ginni-thomas-war-karl-rove

[heaven05]

1. this

country is a seething cauldron of stupidity, ignorance and hate. Good luck amerikkka!

[Voice for Peace]

2. confederacy of dunces

[calimary]

3. So how do we head this off?

Needs to be out-maneuvered, out-strategized, exposed, and contained.

Perhaps this is what arose from when ALEC "disbanded"?

They're NOT gonna give up, concede defeat, have a change of heart, or go away. So we have to remain vigilant!

One question to keep in mind with folks like these: when you spray for cockroaches - do they ever really go away? Or do they find other ways to come back in?

[kentauros]

9. We have one major thing going "for" us: They're also taking on Rove.

That alone may very well turn their "30 Fronts" into "30 Bloody Battlefields with Heavy Losses"

[Kingofalldems]

4. They won't be happy until we become Chile circa 1973

[SoapBox]

11. Ditto.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. And we are half way there already

[dusty trails]

5. They used to be the Tea Party

Last edited Thu Jul 25, 2013, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Now they're a mob of peasants. Revolting.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. Against the wrong people. nt

[Moostache]

6. 'murica!!! U.S.A. !!!U.S.A. !!!U.S.A. !!!U.S.A. !!!U.S.A. !!!U.S.A. !!!

The gall of these people is beyond disgusting.

They are all kindred spirits with the Steve "Cantaloupe" Kings of the world and they have the gall to talk about how NOT racist they are??? LMAO... Ginni dear, just because you married a black man does not mean that your actions are forever above reproach or somehow grant you a "get out of racism free" card!!

You and your racist pals can bristle all you want when people bring this up, but sometimes the truth hurts and pretending it doesn't ring true does not make your wishes real. You're a racist and you hang out with and pal around with racists, deal with it and own your pathetic life for what it is - revolving around hurting others.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

18. Can we just call Ken Blackwell an Uncle Tom?

I mean really. These are people he's collaborating with that really couldn't give a fuck about him. They are using him as a token so they can place some kind of veneer that their policies are kosher.

Enablers like him make me sick.

[Myrina]

7. I'm sorry but these people are completely fucking nuts.

" ... and then we're going to take over the world! Muwahahahahahahahahaaaaaa"

[formercia]

8. I wonder what Karl will have to say about this.

This will be good..

[dem in texas]

10. Get Rid of Clarence Thomas

It is time to get a petition calling for his resignation. He has voted on too many issues that his wife is involved in. This stinks to high heaven.

[Fozzledick]

12. Is this a fascist conspiracy against democracy?

Or is calling it that too "theoretical"?

[starroute]

13. Everybody you love to hate

Just savor the names. John Bolton. Frank Gaffney -- the Neocon who believes Grover Norquist is objectively pro-Islamic terrorism. Ken Blackwell of Ohio 2004 election fame. Jerry "My God is Bigger Than Your God" Boykin. Allen West. And the list goes on and on.

I mean, these people literally are the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. They're just not trying to hide it any more.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

15. Progressives and Leftists need to have an equally powerful force.

And perhaps, dare I say, have some type of infiltration in these right-wing groups. Understanding how the enemy works is the best way to defeat them.

[lastlib]

19. I completely agree. I would love to hear ideas/thoughts....

...on how to build a counter-force to things like this. Including the Koch Bros. little strategy retreats, ALEC, and all the RW think-tanks that come up with their war plans.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

21. I thought and think Occupy was a good counter force.

It's been somewhat neutered but they still continue to do good things.

I'd like some kind of subversive group that lawfully exposes these guys for who they are, not unlike the camera that exposed Romney and his 47% rhetoric.

Wikileaks, Anonymous, etc. are all doing their part. But one thing the Left has never been known for for any length of time (excluding the Spanish anarchists who got shit done!) is organizing and remaining organized without factionalization. That's just what comes when people think freely and independently. But, if we could set our difference on theoretical matters aside, and act in unison, I have no doubt that we could smash these right-wing groups. Their ideas just can't stand up to scrutiny. That's why they lie constantly, because their policy prescriptions are designed to help the few, and not the many.

[lastlib]

26. Occupy has been good, but too narrow a front.....

the bad guys have their think-tanks, legal bulldogs, corporate PACs, etc. Where is the "left-wing ALEC"? What umbrella groups do we have that could bring together all the left-oriented groups into a co-ordinated front? We don't have an anti-Norquist, an anti-Rove, an anti-Ralph Reed..... Progressivism would be much more powerful if it could channel its forces into a cohesive, coherent wave, like a laser does with ordinary light. We have a lot of bright bulbs that can spread light weakly over a broad dark area; we lack the laser that can focus that light on a target and blast it with force.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

27. Too true.

I don't know. Like I said, the Left loves its factionalization. We do have a lot of bright bulbs, but some bulbs want to burn brighter than others.

I wish we could coordinate against the reactionary and fascist forces that are upon us.

[bemildred]

17. That confirms my impression, I think they are losers too. nt

[The Wizard]

20. Unfortunately

there isn't enough medication to keep these fringe lunatics harmless.

[Jackpine Radical]

24. There is no effective medication for psychopathy.

Nor for idiocy.

Republicans invariably have at least one of these conditions; often both.

[Iliyah]

22. They are infiltrating progressive sites as well

Divide and conquer and of course everything this administration does or don't do is worst than Watergate - see Issa and his investigation cronies.

[matthews]

25. Huh?

"Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives..."

Are these people nuts? Do they think progressives would ever find anything in common with them? Just seeing who's involved with this movement would make anyone with any political sense and an I.Q. run as fast as their legs could carry them.

This is just another one of these crazy things the right does that just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

[PSPS]

28. "and journalists from Breitbart News"

Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation," according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.

I have a hard time taking any article seriously that has "journalists from Breitbart News" in it. And, upon further reading, I see I'm right this time too. The is nothing more than a bunch of right wingers thinking that they are still in touch with reality because of the media bubble in which they reside. They think that if they are the loudest voice in the bubble, they "win the argument" in the real world. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. This will be just a circle jerk with an angle to extract even more money from their (dwindling) base.