PrintSeptember 13, 2009
The sad truth is that our representatives will not listen
It is really not about the numbers. Whether the Tea Party protest in D.C. on Saturday attracted the 70,000 preliminarily estimated by the Capitol Police; or the several hundreds of thousands reported by some in the old media and many in the new media; or the helicopter count of more than 1.5 million (which the images of the massive crowd spreading from the Washington Monument to the Capital Building support), all that really matters is that this enormous showing of Americans from all walks of life is being ignored by the old media and by our own elected representatives.
Okay, so the facts are: a tremendous showing of impassioned Americans (who paid their own way -- as opposed to the paid demonstrations we have all witnessed by organized labor and other so-called progressive groups); the old media paying little attention; a white house that thinks they can release a statement saying "the president is unaware of any such protest" and actually think real Americans are going to believe that; and most of our elected representatives simply ignoring what took place!
How can a representative republic's representatives ignore those whom they represent? Unbelievable -- isn't it? Boy if this is not a reason for term limits, then what is?
The sad truth is that the people we elected think that know better than the people who elected them. This is glaringly true about the current majority Democrats. Many refused to hold town hall meetings this summer because they simply did not want to face the people; those who held town hall meetings dismissed the opposition as fringe; leaders of the Democratic Party resorted to personal slurs calling the American people "Nazis" among other insulting and demeaning names. Even the President of the United States referred to American people standing up in opposition as "those tea-baggers" while he waved a hand in a completely dismissive manner.
Have the American people had enough? The best way to show that we have is to keep speaking up and keep speaking out. Keep calling our representatives and letting them know that we will not be dismissed and that we will not be silent. Keep reminding those we elected that they work for us and not the other way around. Keep reminding them that they must listen to us!
If our representatives continue to pretend that they do not hear us, then let our voices be heard with crystal clarity in November of 2010 by imposing term limits instantaneously with our vote. We still have that liberty and we must use it.
