The John Adams Society

Gregory F.E.C Wersal

Chairman

Melvin R. Welch

Secretary

G. Larry Colson Jr.

Chief Whip

Josh Regnier

Chancellor

MAY 2012

Self-will in the man who does not reckon wisely is by itself the weakest of all things.

~Aeschylus

LIKE THE TWO CATS OF KILKENNY, the Minnesota Republican Party has fallen prey to defects of identity, leaving it defenseless against consumption by the corruption identified by Lord Acton. The GOP has been unable to articulate its components, despairing of reconciling the relativism of libertarianism with the convention of conservatism; unable to resist the dialectic employed by its adversaries once in power, eschewing lofty principle for material gain and abandoning fiscal responsibility, if ever they truly adhered to it. Here at the end, it is unable even to provide for its own panegyric and we are tasked to reminisce its failures.

The GOP has ever had the higher and harder calling, asking principled support while encouraging stoical self-sacrifice by denying populist appeals to self-interest. The GOP has determined that this historical calling, defending liberties and favoring none, is too tedious a task and instead turned to rapacious practices: scamming the poor, cooking the books, and demagoguing the electorate to maintain power.  A billion dollar building at the behest of a billionaire businessman here; an extra billion or three for education there; billions found in the pennies of the poor for another endearing enterprise. If the Minnesota GOP thinks it can continue the rapine of its people and stay in power, then the words of Aeschylus prophesy truth.

ON THE OTHER HAND, this is not a death but a rebirth. Like the Phoenix, the dynamism of the Republican Party is its strength.  We are witnesses to the death rattle of party rot as youthful passions burn away the decayed and soulless opportunism of the entrenched.  A new GOP cohesion is rising: the academic skepticism that cemented disparate ideologies of antiquity finds considerate adherents anew.  While unreasoned dogmatism breathes its last, a new mind of reason finds traction amongst concerned citizenry and flowers in the GOP.  Wisdom again asserts dominance as the ailments from unwise leadership multiply and plague without surcease.

THE CHAIRMAN, certain that confusion is clarity, has called a debate to settle the question.

RESOLVED:RIP MN GOP

The Debate will be held on Wednesday May 16, 2012, at the University Club, 420 Summit Avenue, in Saint Paul. The Chancellor will preside over drinks beginning at seven o’clock p.m. The debate will begin at half past seven. There is no dress code, however gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie; ladies are encourage to adhere to a similar sartorial standard. For those gentlemen arriving sans tie yet wishing to discourse on the resolution, the Purveyor of Ties will keep on hand several remarkable selections. Questions regarding debate caucus procedures of about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at (612) 701-9623 or the Secretary at (612) 220-7586.