[Colonel Kangaroo]

I wonder if Obama could have been elected in the first place if we conservatives had done a better job facing and debating the issues the past twenty years.

[PapaNew]

I think us libertarians and conservatives by nature mind our own business and build our own lives. I think by nature politics is not on our radar screen for a lot of us. Kind of like a quote attributed to Ann Rand I saw recently along the lines of thinking about politics until can once again I don't have to think about politics. That's a big difference between us and the Socialists who love government, politics, power, and handouts (not to mention "legalized" larceny).

But, as a free people, we should heed the warning that freedom requires eternal vigilance. This may not be comfortable for us, but it is necessary. I fear our comfortable lifestyle has lulled many of us to sleep. True freedom-loving Americans need to wake up and (re)educate themselves (since all government schools do is brain-wash). So I think conservatives and libertarians should exercise educated involvement as they see fit not becasue they love politics but because they love freedom.

Reminds me William Wallace's initial reluctance in "Braveheart" which we saw last night. It also occurred to me while watching that they were ready to fight because their very lives and families were threatened by the English. The threat was obvious at that point, but it required bloodshed. Well, that's the point you raise and I consider here: the sooner Americans recognize and act on the threat to their freedoms, the less pain to fix it.