PrintSeptember 15, 2009
Understanding 'Angry Mobs'
Liberals are having difficulty understanding the grass roots opposition to President Obama's plans for the government takeover of the health care industry, as well as the President's loss of support since his election. Equally disconcerting to liberals was the massive turnout on September 12th to protest a Federal government that is too big, too intrusive, and far too corrupt. As one who attended the September 12th rally at the Capitol, let me offer liberals the following explanation for what is happening.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards out of all of us." And what are the American people these days if not fatigued? Bombarded with bad news from the 24-hour news cycle, is it any wonder that the American people are exhausted? Consider a few examples.
An estimated fifty trillion dollars or more in investor wealth is lost in a matter of weeks in the stock market collapse. Meanwhile a few speculators, Wall Street executives, and maybe even some of America's own politicians make out like bandits. The result is that the American people rightly wonder why they should bother to work hard, put money in a 529 college fund, a 401(k) retirement plan, or save for a new car if it can all be wiped away in the blink of an eye. And Americans are fatigued.
Americans are told the H1N1 swine flu virus is coming and there is little they can do to protect themselves. And Americans are scared.
A young girl is kidnapped and held captive for 18 years, repeatedly raped, made to live in a tent, and forced to be a mother to two children when she was still a child herself. Americans wonder how they can possibly protect their children from such evil. And Americans are afraid.
The Associated Press publishes a photograph of a heroic young Marine taken while he lay dying on a battlefield far from home, ignoring pleas from the young Marine's parents, the United States Marine Corps, and requests from the Secretary of Defense not to publish the photo. Concurrently, op-ed pieces in any number of news publications detail how the war in Afghanistan is lost, or that no matter the outcome, confronting America's enemies can't possibly be worth the sacrifice anyway. As a consequence, the American people question their commitment to confront Islamic terrorism and their solemn duty to pursue America's enemies far from her shores. And Americans are drained.
Medicare and Medicaid, to say nothing of Social Security, are bankrupt and the American people are told the only hope to sustain them is to accept yet another government-run healthcare program that promises even greater encroachment on their most personal freedoms. And if the American people dare to object, their own elected officials and broadcasters on the evening news label them Nazis, Brown Shirts, racists, and right-wing domestic terrorists. And the American people are shattered.
The list of attacks on the American conscience is endless. There is no doubt that the American people are fatigued and as Vince Lombardi well knew, fatigue makes cowards of us all. More importantly however, it is cowardice that the Left relies on to impose its will.
The American people have endured a decades-long effort to discredit their values and belief system and relentless attempts to make them believe their history is worthy of ridicule. The mugging began years ago with attacks on Judeo-Christian values and accusations of intolerance. It continues today with the President giving speeches overseas decrying American excess, ignorance, and arrogance, and culminates at home with political infighting over outrageous borrowing and spending by the members of Congress. Now with majorities in both the House and the Senate and control of the White House, liberals believe the ultimate goal to fundamentally change the Nation (or destroy it in the process) is finally within reach.
In the nick of time however, the American people have shaken off their shared fatigue. Try as they might, the majority of the American people simply cannot reconcile their own view of America with the views of liberals who want to radically change the Nation. In spite of the Left's efforts to convince them otherwise, the American people know without question that the United States has been the greatest force for good the world has ever known. Americans know that a strong, albeit imperfect, America isn't just good for Americans, but for the rest of the world as well.
More Americans are wiser now too and many now recognize the tactics the Left will employ to advance their agenda. More Americans finally understand that Leftists will refuse to argue the facts and will never accept responsibility for their own policies. For example, they will never acknowledge that crime, abortion, out of wedlock births, welfare claims, drug use, and a countless list of other social ills occur most often in areas where Democrats have had a lock on the political landscape for decades. When challenged, liberals will do their best to change the subject. Anyone who disagrees with liberal objectives will be shouted out of the room or otherwise intimidated. Ultimately, anyone who opposes the liberal agenda will be labeled a racist, a Nazi, or worse.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards out of all of us." And what are the American people these days if not fatigued? Bombarded with bad news from the 24-hour news cycle, is it any wonder that the American people are exhausted? Consider a few examples.
An estimated fifty trillion dollars or more in investor wealth is lost in a matter of weeks in the stock market collapse. Meanwhile a few speculators, Wall Street executives, and maybe even some of America's own politicians make out like bandits. The result is that the American people rightly wonder why they should bother to work hard, put money in a 529 college fund, a 401(k) retirement plan, or save for a new car if it can all be wiped away in the blink of an eye. And Americans are fatigued.
Americans are told the H1N1 swine flu virus is coming and there is little they can do to protect themselves. And Americans are scared.
A young girl is kidnapped and held captive for 18 years, repeatedly raped, made to live in a tent, and forced to be a mother to two children when she was still a child herself. Americans wonder how they can possibly protect their children from such evil. And Americans are afraid.
The Associated Press publishes a photograph of a heroic young Marine taken while he lay dying on a battlefield far from home, ignoring pleas from the young Marine's parents, the United States Marine Corps, and requests from the Secretary of Defense not to publish the photo. Concurrently, op-ed pieces in any number of news publications detail how the war in Afghanistan is lost, or that no matter the outcome, confronting America's enemies can't possibly be worth the sacrifice anyway. As a consequence, the American people question their commitment to confront Islamic terrorism and their solemn duty to pursue America's enemies far from her shores. And Americans are drained.
Medicare and Medicaid, to say nothing of Social Security, are bankrupt and the American people are told the only hope to sustain them is to accept yet another government-run healthcare program that promises even greater encroachment on their most personal freedoms. And if the American people dare to object, their own elected officials and broadcasters on the evening news label them Nazis, Brown Shirts, racists, and right-wing domestic terrorists. And the American people are shattered.
The list of attacks on the American conscience is endless. There is no doubt that the American people are fatigued and as Vince Lombardi well knew, fatigue makes cowards of us all. More importantly however, it is cowardice that the Left relies on to impose its will.
The American people have endured a decades-long effort to discredit their values and belief system and relentless attempts to make them believe their history is worthy of ridicule. The mugging began years ago with attacks on Judeo-Christian values and accusations of intolerance. It continues today with the President giving speeches overseas decrying American excess, ignorance, and arrogance, and culminates at home with political infighting over outrageous borrowing and spending by the members of Congress. Now with majorities in both the House and the Senate and control of the White House, liberals believe the ultimate goal to fundamentally change the Nation (or destroy it in the process) is finally within reach.
In the nick of time however, the American people have shaken off their shared fatigue. Try as they might, the majority of the American people simply cannot reconcile their own view of America with the views of liberals who want to radically change the Nation. In spite of the Left's efforts to convince them otherwise, the American people know without question that the United States has been the greatest force for good the world has ever known. Americans know that a strong, albeit imperfect, America isn't just good for Americans, but for the rest of the world as well.
More Americans are wiser now too and many now recognize the tactics the Left will employ to advance their agenda. More Americans finally understand that Leftists will refuse to argue the facts and will never accept responsibility for their own policies. For example, they will never acknowledge that crime, abortion, out of wedlock births, welfare claims, drug use, and a countless list of other social ills occur most often in areas where Democrats have had a lock on the political landscape for decades. When challenged, liberals will do their best to change the subject. Anyone who disagrees with liberal objectives will be shouted out of the room or otherwise intimidated. Ultimately, anyone who opposes the liberal agenda will be labeled a racist, a Nazi, or worse.
It is a formidable defense that Americans have been reluctant to engage, but they have had enough. From the financial meltdown to bailouts, from stimulus packages, to TARP, TARP II, and TARP III, from Cap and Trade to health care reform, the American people have had it with corrupt government. And they know too that the endless stream of "news" that inundates their daily lives is a deliberate attempt to beat them down.
After decades of abuse at the hands of the Left, the American people can clearly see the great and gathering political storm on the horizon. Two opposing forces will collide and the outcome will be critical to the future of America. On one side there is a corrupt, elitist political machine, the embodiment of politics in America. On the other side are the troubled, but still free people of the United States of America. The growing opposition to all things government is America's recognition that it requires courage, not cowardice, to preserve freedom. That liberals either cannot, or do not want to see it coming speaks to their willingness to believe that if Americans are fatigued enough, they will lack the courage to fight back against a Leftist agenda.
The electorate is weary from the unceasing attacks on the American sense of right and wrong. But make no mistake; the American people will rest to clear their collective head. While resting, perhaps Americans will further befuddle their liberal tormentors and take comfort in the words from the book of Psalms, Chapter 3, a suggestion that prior to the liberal ambush of American values would have been considered mainstream.
Lord, so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. I have so many enemies. So many say that God will never help me. But Lord, you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame.
Then I lay down and slept in peace and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. And now, although ten thousand enemies surround me on every side, I am not afraid.
The Psalms isn't meant to be a gratuitous biblical reference, but rather is meant to serve notice that Americans no longer care what politicians and a complicit media think of them. Americans are among the most benevolent people on earth, but they are tired of being mocked and lampooned for deeply held opinions and beliefs. Instinctively, Americans have always embraced their solemn duty to fight for freedom. Not easily provoked and slow to anger, the American people have always fought for what is right once called into action. It should therefore come as no surprise to anyone, least of all liberals that Americans are protesting in waves.
What politicians in general and liberals in particular don't understand is that no matter how fatigued Americans might be, Coach Lombardi's paradigm simply does not apply. Fatigued? Yes of course, many times and perhaps even still. But never have the American people been cowards. Elitist politicians don't understand what is happening because they don't want to understand it. Whether they figure it out in time to save their own political hides, or not, is immaterial. The political storm is gathering. When it hits, my money will be on the American people.
After decades of abuse at the hands of the Left, the American people can clearly see the great and gathering political storm on the horizon. Two opposing forces will collide and the outcome will be critical to the future of America. On one side there is a corrupt, elitist political machine, the embodiment of politics in America. On the other side are the troubled, but still free people of the United States of America. The growing opposition to all things government is America's recognition that it requires courage, not cowardice, to preserve freedom. That liberals either cannot, or do not want to see it coming speaks to their willingness to believe that if Americans are fatigued enough, they will lack the courage to fight back against a Leftist agenda.
The electorate is weary from the unceasing attacks on the American sense of right and wrong. But make no mistake; the American people will rest to clear their collective head. While resting, perhaps Americans will further befuddle their liberal tormentors and take comfort in the words from the book of Psalms, Chapter 3, a suggestion that prior to the liberal ambush of American values would have been considered mainstream.
Lord, so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. I have so many enemies. So many say that God will never help me. But Lord, you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame.
Then I lay down and slept in peace and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. And now, although ten thousand enemies surround me on every side, I am not afraid.
The Psalms isn't meant to be a gratuitous biblical reference, but rather is meant to serve notice that Americans no longer care what politicians and a complicit media think of them. Americans are among the most benevolent people on earth, but they are tired of being mocked and lampooned for deeply held opinions and beliefs. Instinctively, Americans have always embraced their solemn duty to fight for freedom. Not easily provoked and slow to anger, the American people have always fought for what is right once called into action. It should therefore come as no surprise to anyone, least of all liberals that Americans are protesting in waves.
What politicians in general and liberals in particular don't understand is that no matter how fatigued Americans might be, Coach Lombardi's paradigm simply does not apply. Fatigued? Yes of course, many times and perhaps even still. But never have the American people been cowards. Elitist politicians don't understand what is happening because they don't want to understand it. Whether they figure it out in time to save their own political hides, or not, is immaterial. The political storm is gathering. When it hits, my money will be on the American people.
