A final thought on this darkish day: much is said about the “inevitability” of these kinds of legislation, that once enacted they are impossible to repeal or roll back.
This kind of thinking is self-fulfilling defeatism and has to stop. ANY law enacted can be repealed. We repealed a constitutional amendment, for God’s sake. From now on we must change our message from one of limiting government growth and spending and regulation to one of reducing it.
It is true that no nation has in the past ever recovered from the cycle of entitlement, moral decay and aristocratic rot that we find ourselves in. But it is also true that no nation — not one in history — was established precisely in opposition to these cancers. It is also true that never before have common people — otherwise known as the Host Organism — had the means to speak directly to one another, as we are here. It is true that if there is to be an historical exemption to the Cycle of Civilization it is only here that it will occur, and it is also true that the concepts of Free Will and Destiny are antithetical to one another. One of them is true and the other is not. It is my belief that you can chose to abandon Free Will and chose to believe in destiny and historical inevitability, or you can take the risk to believe instead that there is a new world populated by optimists and dreamers, but dreamers with rifles as well as quills and parchment… People who have never surrendered and for whom the very idea of defeat and despair is anathema.
Read it all.
William Jacobson has some perspective:
On November 5, 2008, did any one of you think that over 16 months later Obama would barely be able to pass a truncated version of his dream of single payer, and that dozens of Democrats would join Republicans in opposition?
As the mainstream media celebrated the permanent Democratic majority in the weeks after the 2008 election, did any of you think that in March 2010 we would be talking about the Democratic majority being in danger?
On January 20, 2009, when Obama took office, and then again in April when Arlen Specter jumped ship, did any one of you think we could hold off Obamacare beyond July?
When Obama won we knew it would be hard, we knew there would be challenges, we knew there would be losses, but... we keep going on.
A plea to the GOP.
I don’t expect you guys to stop being politicians. Even the founders
were politicians who fought some nasty battles within their own group
and could be as mean and petty as any generation of politicians. But I
need, America needs you to step up here. You need to be statesmen on a
mission as much as you can. Something bad happened last night and I
think you know it. There weren’t the usual stupid politician tricks,
you guys looked scared. And you’re not scared for your political
lives, none of you is in any trouble (other than maybe Sen. Burr from
N.C.) , I think a lot of you were flat out scared for your country.
That’s good, that’s a start. It focuses the mind.
You need to be the party of No for the next 6 months on just about
every issue. The only issue (other than national security) that
matters is repealing this monstrosity. I don’t know if it can be done
but it has to be tried.
Please don’t let Obama drag you into a pissing match over the small
stuff. If he has another idiotic jobs bill, just let it go. Vote no
but don’t fight about it, reframe the fight in terms of health care.
Reframe everything in terms of health care…immigration, taxes, Cap and
Trade, whatever other crap they throw at you. It all comes down to
health care and the fundamental shift in the relationship between
government and people. I know the presidency is a hard institution to
fight with and Obama just makes shit up but you’ve got to try and keep
the focus on the health care bill. More and more details will come out
and that will help you.
But it’s bigger than legislation and even politics. You guys are going
to be asked to do something you’re not necessarily equipped to
do…speak philosophically about what it means to be an American. You
are going to have to tell people something politicians don’t like to
have say…no. No, Americans can’t have everything and not pay for it.
No, they can’t have ‘free’ health care forever. No, you can’t expect
the government to do the basic things that free adults should and must
do for themselves.
You also need to tell people what that will give them…freedom. Freedom
to do the best they can. Freedom to chart the course of their own
lives and freedom live in peace without an army of pushy bureaucrats
treating them like children.
I know that kind of freedom scares some people but you need to sell it
to them. Remind them how it’s their birthright and how even if they
want lots of ‘stuff’ given to them, it’s got to come from somewhere.
Freedom and free enterprise is the greatest wealth generator known to
mankind, without there’s nothing else.
Will the GOP get that? Maybe
In an Obamacare world, what is the GOP’s message? “We need to become
the party of liberty and freedom,” Ryan argues. “We’re not doing
enough. We can do better, and we will — because we have no choice. If
we’re going to offer the country a completely different vision, we
can’t be Democratic-lite or resign ourselves to be slightly more
efficient managers and tax-collectors for the welfare state. We have
to break with that and give people a clear and distinct difference.”
From the National Review:
James Madison’s words cannot be repeated often enough: “The cool and
deliberate sense of the community ought, in all governments, and
actually will, in all free governments, ultimately prevail over the
views of its rulers.” The American people don’t want Obamacare, and
the will of the American people will ultimately prevail over the will
of their rulers — starting in November.
Repeal will be achieved through a three-step process: First, the vast
majority of Americans who oppose Obamacare will elect members to
Congress who will actually reflect their views. Second, they will
elect a president who will actually reflect their views. Third, this
new Congress and new president will repeal the overhaul. (Remember,
only 1 percent of Obamacare — based on its projected costs over the
next ten years — will have kicked in by then.)
So, the war has just begun, and we must be prepared to dig in for the
long haul. Repeal will be a three-year process — more like a marathon
than a sprint. If those of us who oppose Obamacare show as much
determination to repeal it as Obama has shown in imposing it, we will
prevail. Until victory is achieved, let us be committed to this
five-word goal: Repeal, and then real reform. And let us fight until
we achieve it. After all, that is the will of the American people, and
this is America.
Michael Lendeen writes of "Tocqueville’s nightmare scenario of a slow seduction of the American people who would willingly abandon freedom to a soft dictatorship that would appear to be democratic."
And the response of the American public:
But the scheme did not succeed, at least the way they planned it. Instead of embracing the tyranny, the American people unexpectedly rose up against it. To use Tocqueville’s metaphor, Americans acted like a recalcitrant child and refused to behave. At which point the tyrannical wannabes decided to slap us down and make us behave properly. They were forced to carry out a coup, a baldfaced seizure of power. Thus, the Demon Pass. Thus the two most memorable lines from the coup plotters: (Pelosi) “we have to pass it to find out what’s in it,” and (Hastings): “there are no rules. This is the U.S. Congress.”
That was not the way it was supposed to happen. We were supposed to go quietly. Instead we fought back, and the final outcome of this big fight–the one I foresaw more than a year ago–is still in doubt. The would-be tyrants may prevail; after all, they have the awesome power of the state. But we have the numbers and a superior vision.
Americans can be very tough in this kind of fight. Ask King George.
For this to work the American people need to be kept energized, and kept suspicious. They have to realized what the Dems are up to and not buy into their lies. They have to believe that their energy, their votes, their desire for liberty means something.
Of course, it may not work. Joanna fo RFAA is less sanguine over things.
We're just that far gone. I'm not enjoying the spectacle, by any means, but I'm at the point where I'd rather make s'mores with the firefighters than wear myself out trying to save a house that'll burn down regardless.
The point is, it's not going to go back to the way it was. There are so many debts coming due all at once that we're past the tipping point -- heck, the tipping point isn't even visible in the rearview mirror anymore. We went over that ledge before I was even born. I don't know if that makes me a pessimist, a realist or a cheerleader for the apocalypse (stock up on Twinkies now, kids!), but I've made my peace with whatever's coming, good, bad or indifferent.
Things could go bad and they likely will, but I'm thinking of a little Pascal's Wager.
Maybe we can help the US get back on track. If not, be prepared. It's like self defense but on a larger scale. Disaster can strike natural or economic or anything else.
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