Posted on 04/08/2010 10:52:51 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Democratic officeholders should be afraid.
Republican officeholders, too.
For many a year now, officeholders of both major parties have worked hard to earn the distrust of ordinary Americans. It appears that they finally have succeeded.
If only ordinary Americans hadn't been so inattentive. If only ordinary Americans hadn't been so trusting. If only ordinary Americans hadn't been so damnably nice, the country would be in a better position to manage its finances today.
But when have Americans not tried to look for the good in every situation? When have we not been slow to recognize the need to deal with forces, foreign or domestic, aligning against our best interests?
Better late than never, a lot of ordinary Americans are waking up to the sobering reality that there really is no one they can trust. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Not government. Not corporations. And certainly not corporations in league with government.
Hallelujah.
The people who are angry today are more in tune with this nation's founders than ordinary Americans have been in decades.
The United States has an intricate system of checks and balances, and a government structure based on a separation of powers, and a Bill of Rights that safeguards the rights of states and the rights of the people precisely because the greatest collection of political talent and philosophical insight ever assembled on this continent -- and maybe anywhere on this planet -- looked at the concept of government and said, "We need to make a really small cage for this thing, then be careful not to overfeed it."
We seem to have lost the care-and- feeding instructions about a century ago. We let government out of its little cage and it has been consuming everything it can lay its paws on ever since. In the last 45 years, it has been on a real binge, and in the last year and a half, it has taken bigger bites than a lot of people thought possible.
Ordinary Americans who care about freedom are finally getting a clue and -- horrors! -- they're hollering at members of Congress. That's right: Nice, trusting, formerly inattentive Americans are getting in the faces of the political class and calling them names.
Big (Joe Biden expletive deleted) deal. If members of the political class are too tender to endure a little well-earned rudeness from the people whose hard-earned money they like to "spread around," then they ought to get out of politics. Maybe their successors will find the voice of the people less irritating.
A very, very few ordinary Americans are going so far as to threaten members of the ruling class with physical harm or property damage. That's not fine.
All that does is damage the cause of the people who are loudly but peaceably petitioning their government for the redress of a growing list of very real grievances.
It also allows politicians on the left, including a president who now taunts opponents of his new health care law every time he speaks, to cast themselves simultaneously as victors and victims.
Finally, threats from the right allow the left to lump every proponent of individual liberty, self-reliance, limited government and limited government spending -- the Tea Party movement, in general -- in with nuts who might actually do some harm.
Don't doubt for a second that the left is hoping desperately for someone to step all the way out of line. They thought they had their man -- and early news reports said they did -- when Joseph Stack crashed his Piper Dakota into an IRS building in Texas.
As it turned out, Stack proved to be a Marx-quoting lefty -- the wrong flavor of nut.
So the left has to settle for a little name-calling of its own: "ignorant," "racist," "homophobes," "hooligans," "extremists." The list, as you know, goes on and on.
It's bunk, but it's the script.
Tea Party folks are just patriots worried, with good reason, about the future of the country they love. They're vocal and they're inspiringly unaffiliated.
They scare the hell out of both political parties, because they've embraced distrust.
The Democrats fear them because they see through the left's empty promise of utopia in exchange for freedom. The Republicans fear them because they're pushy and because they're loyal to their principles rather than to a party.
They make everyone uncomfortable. That's healthy.
Your premise would certainly tend to explain why the Democrat leadership has been so surprisingly willing to work against the will of the majority -- a course that usually ends in political defeat.
Do they know something we don't know?
Under the circumstances, I'd agree we ought to ask the question...
Good article, and true.
I read an eye opening article yesterday by columnist Walter Williams titled, “Parting Company”.
He wrote;
If one group of people prefers government control and management of people’s lives and another prefers liberty and a desire to be left alone, should they be required to fight, antagonize one another, risk bloodshed and loss of life in order to impose their preferences or should they be able to peaceably part company and go their separate ways?” ...continued;
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams040710.php3
His articles are always excellent.
This guy has been hitting monster home runs the last couple of weeks.
I hear the liberal rag lets him out of his cage once a week. I would bet they have never seen traffic to an online story like they are seeing in the last couple of weeks.
“Erring sisters, depart in peace”, eh?
Hear, hear!
I think the Dims will steal the elections and dare us to do something about it.
Secede in peace - but is that even possible!
I was surprised to read that West Virginia seceded from Virginia in 1863, I never knew that but am not a history buff.
Walter is spot on. It’s about time we talk about secession or revolt. The government’s agenda is worldwide, though. I doubt this can be done peaceably.
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson
Excellent post.
The status quo of permament, entrenched government growth is the real problem here. How many people are now fully on board with socialism? How many can even define it?
This problem requires a butcher’s cleaver not a surgeon’s scalpel.
Time to revive talk of dissolving entire federal agencies coupled with substantial across-the board permanent tax cuts. Starve the monster.
Then on to the state and local non-productive, money-party fiefdoms in schools, fire departments and local governments.
I agree and posted that in #29. I'm sure many conservative Governors have ‘thought’ it though. Rick Perry has even said it, most probably in ‘serious’ jest.
Something’s gotta give....sooner or later.
He knocked it out of the ballpark! Politicians have well earned our displeasure.
It is our fault..to a point... We the People have allowed our employees to forget exactly whom their employers are....
bump
.
Good thought potlatch
Starve the DC Bastards!
Thanks. My first post #24 was about an interesting Walter Williams article.
That question demands an honset and unflinching answer. The answer unfolds a brutal truth. Otherwise, we're all just whistling past the graveyard of the Republic.
We’re being goaded into doing something. If the government locked all bank accounts and told us we have to choose between our guns and food.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.