THE RIGHT THING TO DO – AT 7:31 P.M. ET:  I've sometimes written here that one of the most honorable things you can do in politics is to keep your movement honest.  It's hard, and painful.  It means going up against your friends, and sometimes losing them.

William F. Buckley Jr. stressed this throughout his storied career, working endlessly to fight extremism and nuttiness in the conservative movement he worked so hard to build.  He largely succeeded.  There was no one in liberalism who made the same effort, and the result is obvious.

Now a group of Oklahoma Republicans, following Bill Buckley's example, is doing the right thing:

A group of tea party leaders and Republican state legislators that wants to create a volunteer militia in Oklahoma has no place in the GOP, state Republicans told POLITICO on Tuesday.

The Associated Press has reported that tea party movement leaders and two Republican Oklahoma state lawmakers — Rep. Charles Key and Sen. Randy Brogdon, also a candidate for governor — have discussed forming a militia to defend against what they see as federal infringements on the state’s rights.

In a phone interview, state GOP Chairman Gary Jones said the tea party activists are only talking about forming a militia because “they are trying to make themselves out to be bigger than they are.”

“A lot of these people don’t care about being the majority, they just want a megaphone. They want a voice,” the state GOP chairman said. “Once they get a reporter to cover a story they have a megaphone, and they get pretty loud.”

Jones insisted that Oklahoma Republicans will not follow this “small faction within the party.”

“They’re going to look back and see there are not a whole lot of folks following them in this direction,” he said.

COMMENT:  There are limits in politics.  You have to police your own movement.  The Oklahoma GOP is doing the right thing by rejecting an extremist idea.  Contrast please with the Democratic Party, which tries to throw out Joe Lieberman but embraces Barbara Lee of California, a follower of Fidel Castro.

There have been several other conservative voices raised in recent days, cautioning about extremism.  They are following, not only Buckley's example, but Reagan's.  Reagan, like his political hero, FDR, knew where the limits were.  For those who think the skies are filled with black helicopters, maybe they'd be happier elsewhere.

April 13, 2010