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Comfortably Numb
Charting Course ^ | 11/02/2014 | Steve Berman

Posted on 11/03/2014 3:30:25 AM PST by lifeofgrace

donkey-elephant-cc1

I’m going to admit you into my circle of trust here, by telling you a secret.  A Secret of the First Order, like the Unified Field Theory, the God Particle, or the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.  Ready?   Here it is:  both Republicans and Democrats are American.  Both of us.  Uniquely so.

No, really, we are.  All of us.  We’ve just got our plans and tools mixed up, really bad.  I’ll explain that a bit more later.  But first, this.

The local Democrat party is calling people in my neighborhood and telling them to get out and vote for Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter because “the Republicans are hungry and we’re on the menu.”  Their call down list is pathetically wrong, because they called at least one conservative household, who was more than glad to tell them what to do with the menu.

I love how the Democrats define what a Republican is.  They draw a circle with “GOP” in it, and declare that everyone in that circle is evil incarnate, and everyone not in the circle must therefore be a Democrat.

With scarcely a day until the last midterm election of President Obama’s last term in office, liberals are still (and always) trying to define what a Republican is.  Time magazine managed a 1,323-word screed in a two-page layout pegging Republicans “from Birchers to birthers,” with “Neocons and Pat Buchanan isolationists; Appalachian miners and emotionally bruised billionaires; Mother Angelica Catholics and Ayn Rand objectivists” thrown in for good measure.  My, my, what a witch’s-brew of dysfunction.  Never mind that the Democrats voted to remove God from their platform in 2012, only to boo His restoration—apparently that’s not dysfunctional at all.

In reality, the GOP can best be defined, at the grass-roots level, as the party of limited government.  That is, unless the Republican in question is in the government, especially in Congress, where Senator Mitch McConnell has already conceded that beached, dead, bloated with rot whales like Obamacare will survive a GOP-controlled Senate.

Dan Holler, a spokesman for the political wing of the Heritage Foundation, Heritage Action, said Republicans have to explain to America what they're for. "That is not going to happen if they sit there and make excuses about [Senate Democratic Leader] Harry Reid or Barack Obama. They need to be proactive about putting out an agenda," he said.
The Washington Post published a chart from the Public Religion Research Institute showing the overlap and non-overlap of self-identified Republicans versus TEA partiers and the Christian Right.

PRRI2

While most TEA partiers identify with the GOP, a much larger sliver of the Christian Right does not.  If you drew a larger circle representing people in favor of limited government, I think you’d find it encompasses all three groups pretty well.  That circle never gets within a thousand light-years of a Democrat.

The Time article illuminated something glimpsed out of the corner of my eye…I turned to look but it was gone.  As Pink Floyd wrote, we’ve become comfortably numb.  We know the issues; we endlessly talk about the issues, and most of us are politically aligned that Massive Government = Tyranny, but we take our eyes off the target and “think tactically” every single time.  We ask if the candidate is electable or has any skeletons in their closet.  We pass over people who are willing to die for the cause simply because we don’t like their hair.  We allow the press and the liberals to define us, ridicule us, and we join in the laughter.  We are numb to our own hypocrisy.

Another Secret.

The Democrats are numb too (triple-entendre intended).  The Democrats have the tools the Republicans should have, while the Republicans have the plans the Democrats should want.  Put another way:  the GOP has the right formula to keep the country going, the way that the founding fathers wanted it to go; while the Democrats have all the tools to build that formula, but not a clue in the world what they are building with them.

Here’s another secret:  the founding fathers have more in common with today’s Democrats, in their methods and tools, than they do with today’s Republicans.  Exception:  that sliver of TEA partiers and the Christian Right who exist at the fringe of the GOP, and those who are well outside it.  Allow me to explain.  Time-travel please!

Back in 1767, the British passed a series of laws called the Townshend Acts, which were designed to keep the American colonies loyal (and in debt) to England.  It also helped England pay for the French and Indian War, and the European Seven Years War with—everybody-not-England.  This didn’t sit well with the average American, and people like George Washington, then in the Virginia Assembly, attempted to pass a bill to boycott all British goods in response.  After the Boston Tea Party, the Brits repealed the Townshend Acts, and replaced them with the Intolerable Acts in 1774.

The Intolerable Acts attempted to destroy District 13 Massachusetts as an example to the rest of the colonies (plot spoiler: ICYMI, The Hunger Games is sort-of about this).  This led to Washington pushing for the convening of a Continental Congress, and that led to battles in Lexington and Concord, and the rest is history.

What did the founding fathers have that the GOP of today doesn’t?  Community organizers.  They were willing to stir things up, rally people to the cause, defy the powers-that-be, and become rabid activists for the cause.  They never took their eye off the goal.  After setbacks, defeats, and facing a European superpower, they continued to organize and build coalitions.

Today, the GOP would be Tories.

We'd say, we’re American, but, you know, the Crown is the government, and the King has the legal authority to do whatever-the-heck he wants, and the law says he can put troops in our homes.  We should remain loyal to the government, because law-and-order and that kind of thing.  Today, we wait years for cases to wind their way through the courts to get to the Supreme Court; some we win, some we lose.  Then we regroup to find some electable candidates.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are Patriots in the sense that they are using the tools that the original Patriots used to fight tyranny.  They organize, they rally, they violate laws they feel are intolerable to them; they continue to fight even when everything is against them.  Poor souls, they’re fighting for the wrong side, but they do know how to fight.

The Democrats want to change the demographics of America, to implement their ill-conceived plan to turn America into some socialist wonderland.  So they allow millions of people to come into the country, and plan to give them citizenship, in the name of “amnesty”.  That’s fighting unfair, and for all the wrong ends, but George Washington didn’t fight fair either, by the British rules.

In fact, the Republican party has adopted some of the Democrats goals as their own:  it appears that the continuation of the party itself has become a larger goal than the promotion of our values.  The Democrats have been in that mode for at least three decades, redefining themselves by forgetting history—they were the party of slavery, Jim Crow, and fascist leanings.

Democrats define the GOP as the party of Senator Joe McCarthy, ignoring the fact that McCarthy never served on the House UnAmerican Activites Committee (the Senate had no corresponding committee).  They also ignore the fact that since 1918, the HUAC was chaired by Democrats for 52 of 57 years.  This includes Mississippi Democrat John E. Rankin who remarked “After all, the KKK is an old American institution.”  Senator Mary Landrieu must have been referring to Rankin when she said that the South “has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans.”  Whose fault is that?

As a party, if Republicans want to make a difference, we need to return to the tools the founding fathers used, and stop letting the Democrats have exclusive use of those tools.  We need to forget about the “good of the party” line and work for the good of America.  We need to stop thinking about “optics” and “message” and tactics and think about principles.  Why is there only one Ted Cruz in the Senate?  There should be 99 more like him running, without opposition from the NRSC.

We need to wake up from our comfortable numbness, and fight against the beast the our government has become, instead of feeding the beast and hoping it doesn’t eat us.  If we don’t kill the beast, it’s not the Democrats who will be on the menu, it’s us.


TOPICS: History; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: democrats; gop; patriots; tories
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1 posted on 11/03/2014 3:30:26 AM PST by lifeofgrace
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To: lifeofgrace

Blah, blah, blah............................

“Both” “American” ??????????
No, not really.

Not in any sense of the word I recognize, anyway.


2 posted on 11/03/2014 3:45:31 AM PST by Flintlock
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To: lifeofgrace

Democrats are as American as Baklava.


3 posted on 11/03/2014 3:49:18 AM PST by Politicalkiddo ("Our fertitlity is not a disease that needs to be medicated."- Lila Rose)
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To: lifeofgrace

Skimmed this a few time — I have no idea what the author is trying to say. It seems like mushy thinking with no real point. But maybe I need more coffee.


4 posted on 11/03/2014 3:50:52 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats have a lynch mob mentality. They always have.)
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To: lifeofgrace

Here it is: both Republicans and Democrats are American. Both of us. Uniquely so.

Nope.

No sense reading on.


5 posted on 11/03/2014 3:54:22 AM PST by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: ClearCase_guy
I think he's trying to say that:

The Founders knew how to organize ... and for a good cause.

The demoncrats are good at organizing, but their cause is evil.

The Republicans are lousy at organizing, but their cause much better than the demoncrats.

But the article is a mushy mess and I may have misread it.

6 posted on 11/03/2014 3:55:20 AM PST by NorthMountain
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To: lifeofgrace

I think some Democrats are Americans, and some can change and become conservative and American. But most won’t, and ascribe to foolish delusions that will eventually get us all killed.

The problem is not that the right is intolerant. The problem is the left is intolerant, and wants to force their opinions and radical ideas up our rear ends with no lube. I am forced to pay 31% of my income to a government that uses it to pay for drug addled gang members and lazy people, and abortions for women. That’s just a few things. I’m not even going to mention the money sent to people who would gladly kill any American (even an infant) with a rusty machete if given the chance.

Right now, America is chaotic, and divided. It will stay that way until something threatens our very existence. However our existence is being threatened, but most don’t see that. The real catastrophe and deaths are going to be right around the corner. These “American Liberals” this article speaks of will not even wake up when their cities are on fire. They MIGHT get it when they have no water, no food, no weapons, and no way to survive. They might get it when the dust settles and those who get it drag those responsible from their safety bunkers covered in tar and feathers. Until then the only thing I believe we can do is fight using their tactics. But not committing crimes, or hurting anyone. We need to get young conservative patriotic Americans into the media, and into positions in universities and government. The reason why it has gone on so long like this is because the socialistic leftists have had an unhindered covert operation to slowly indoctrinate Americans into thinking American greatness and superiority are evil for years upon years. No counter operation means no resistance, we have let them get away with it for decades.


7 posted on 11/03/2014 3:56:32 AM PST by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: lifeofgrace

Steve is incorrect in a large part of this article.


8 posted on 11/03/2014 3:56:48 AM PST by RAY (God Bless the USA!)
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To: TalBlack
Here it is: both Republicans and Democrats are American. Both of us. Uniquely so. Nope. No sense reading on.

Not to tell you what to do, but you should read on. Especially if you want to know why the GOP keeps stepping in its own way.
9 posted on 11/03/2014 3:57:19 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: RAY
Steve is incorrect in a large part of this article. Would appreciate corrections then.
10 posted on 11/03/2014 3:57:57 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: FreedomStar3028

He makes a point about learning to use the tools they use. I agree but up to a point in some ways and beyond in others. Conservatives cannot take on the tools of evil. Integrity is utmost. As in, “Let us raise a banner to which all can repair.”. The beyond part is trickier. In the sense combat operations call for patrols to make limited contact with the enemy it is probably time to begin public gatherings again. This time armed. When Union goons and agitators try to do their thing give them the lead. It is a war we are in and we need to begin to engage the enemy in a way that sends a clear signal to them that we finally DO GET IT. A way that protects our country, communities, families, and persons. We are being robbed minute by minute by a corrupt Fed conspiring with a corrupt Fed gummint while we sit on our thumbs doing nothing to stop the process. It HAS to end and now and to end it WE have to do what the political class does not have the will to do. Sad but true. We have an enemy within that needs to be dealt with sternly. Time to get to work.


11 posted on 11/03/2014 5:07:06 AM PST by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: lifeofgrace

Seriously????? Nah, not even close. Every Democrat I know thinks that what my husband and I work hard for, because we make a good living, is owed to them. We have it too good, never mind that my husband works an average of 60 hours a week, weekends, holidays etc. while they are all sitting at home with their families.

Nope not even close.


12 posted on 11/03/2014 5:20:29 AM PST by southernindymom
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To: southernindymom

Then why do we have such blockheads in Congress behind the (R) label? They are comfortable and we are comfortably numb.


13 posted on 11/03/2014 5:22:57 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: FreedomStar3028
THAT is an intelligent, well thought out reply. Thank you.
14 posted on 11/03/2014 5:26:28 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: Flintlock
"...both Republicans and Democrats are American..."

A long-wonded article for the low-information voter.

A suspension of critical thought is imperative for the leftists to gain and hold power.

Charles Manson is an American too. Doesn't mean I want him marrying my daughter.

15 posted on 11/03/2014 5:37:15 AM PST by T-Bone Texan (The time is now to form up into leaderless cells of 5 men or less.)
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To: lifeofgrace
Comfortably Numb

I'm waiting, comfortably numb, for some one to post the song................waiting......

FMCDH(BITS)

16 posted on 11/03/2014 9:07:39 AM PST by nothingnew (Hemmer and MacCullum are the worst on FNC)
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To: lifeofgrace

The GOPe has no principals in conflict with the donkeys.


17 posted on 11/03/2014 10:13:47 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: nothingnew

There’s a link to the song in the article. Best live performance I’ve seen. Best light show EVER.


18 posted on 11/03/2014 10:36:01 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: T-Bone Texan
A long-wonded article for the low-information voter. A suspension of critical thought is imperative for the leftists to gain and hold power. Charles Manson is an American too. Doesn't mean I want him marrying my daughter.

Actually it's for the informed voter. And you totally missed the point of the article. The Dems are dead wrong, but why are we letting them control the agenda while we sit back?
19 posted on 11/03/2014 10:37:27 AM PST by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: lifeofgrace

“Here it is: both Republicans and Democrats are American.”

No the Democrats are not. Not by any reasonable definition of the word “American” The statement is so wrong it off the charts. Don’t tell me 2 plus 2 is ninety and expect me subject myself to any more of such drivel.


20 posted on 11/04/2014 3:53:59 AM PST by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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