Apparently the April 15 tea parties were well attended — I say "apparently" because the mass media, household servants of the Obama machine, scarcely noticed them; you have to read blogs or look at videos on YouTube to get the picture. The lack of coverage may turn out to be a good thing. If you were in the midst of thousands on that day, knowing that there were similar rallies all over the country, and found that it hadn't happened and you didn't exist as far as the Living Dead media were concerned, that might stir further thoughts about the status of power in this country.
The tea parties were encouraging, of course. They were the first time I can remember when large numbers of conservatives — including many who were formerly complacent or apolitical — took to the streets nationwide demonstrating against political malfeasance. It wasn't a long journey, only the proverbial first step.
But what are the protests about? Looking at web sites for the upcoming action, scheduled for September 12, it's not clear. Many, like this, sound generically anti-taxation, like budget hawks with upraised muskets. A few, like this, have a long agenda, mostly items on the conservative shopping list for years. But if the tea parties are to matter, they have to carry the struggle into new territory, because the immediate danger — of our becoming a society in which the State makes every decision and the individual's role is to consume, produce, and obey — goes way beyond traditional liberal versus conservative arguments.
So there are ditches on either side of the road, and the new energy of protest can run into either and wind up with its wheels spinning in the air.
If it becomes just blustering about taxes and Mad King Obama's borrow-and-borrow, spend-and-spend vote buying, it's likely to be futile. It then becomes an argument about economics rather than principles of a free society.
If the tea parties are no more than agitation for various reforms, worthy though many of them would be, they miss the point. There are times in history — and we have been lucky that they've included most of the years of our republic — when reforms, even incomplete, keep the society going reasonably well. This is not one of those times. Not when a radical overthrow of what the United States has meant is happening before our eyes.
If not stopped, it could unfold amazingly fast. Britain has turned into an Orwellian, corrupt, dysfunctional catastrophe, mostly in less than two decades since Labour took over. Here we face the prospect of being reduced to servants of a globalist elite–controlled government with the power to save or kill businesses; dilute the indigenous population with alien tribes that can be easily bribed with welfare and preferment; pull down the foundations of our armed forces and security agencies; and suppress or criminalize blogs, radio, or speech that challenge the party line.
Bring on the tea parties. But understand what we're really up against, and act accordingly.
The tea parties were encouraging, of course. They were the first time I can remember when large numbers of conservatives — including many who were formerly complacent or apolitical — took to the streets nationwide demonstrating against political malfeasance. It wasn't a long journey, only the proverbial first step.
But what are the protests about? Looking at web sites for the upcoming action, scheduled for September 12, it's not clear. Many, like this, sound generically anti-taxation, like budget hawks with upraised muskets. A few, like this, have a long agenda, mostly items on the conservative shopping list for years. But if the tea parties are to matter, they have to carry the struggle into new territory, because the immediate danger — of our becoming a society in which the State makes every decision and the individual's role is to consume, produce, and obey — goes way beyond traditional liberal versus conservative arguments.
So there are ditches on either side of the road, and the new energy of protest can run into either and wind up with its wheels spinning in the air.
If it becomes just blustering about taxes and Mad King Obama's borrow-and-borrow, spend-and-spend vote buying, it's likely to be futile. It then becomes an argument about economics rather than principles of a free society.
If the tea parties are no more than agitation for various reforms, worthy though many of them would be, they miss the point. There are times in history — and we have been lucky that they've included most of the years of our republic — when reforms, even incomplete, keep the society going reasonably well. This is not one of those times. Not when a radical overthrow of what the United States has meant is happening before our eyes.
If not stopped, it could unfold amazingly fast. Britain has turned into an Orwellian, corrupt, dysfunctional catastrophe, mostly in less than two decades since Labour took over. Here we face the prospect of being reduced to servants of a globalist elite–controlled government with the power to save or kill businesses; dilute the indigenous population with alien tribes that can be easily bribed with welfare and preferment; pull down the foundations of our armed forces and security agencies; and suppress or criminalize blogs, radio, or speech that challenge the party line.
Bring on the tea parties. But understand what we're really up against, and act accordingly.
5 comments:
Great post!, and amen to everything you said. And it IS happening at breakneck speed as we speak.
Why anyone ever believed that Hussein and the socialists that occupy the Congress were anything other than radicals with a radical agenda which they intended to push through once elected is way beyond my ability to understand.
But maybe, just maybe, this is the very impetus we need to get on with the business at hand. I personally think that Hussein and the leftists in Congress cannot possibly understand what the phrase "slow down and proceed with caution" means. And I'm not sure that that's necessarily a bad thing.
Terry,
It's dangerous either way. But on the whole I'd rather Obama, his mob, and his handlers try to tear down the traditional United States in a frenzy than incrementally. The more dramatic and visible the attempted makeover, the faster and stronger the countermovement is likely to develop … if enough people still care and are willing to stick their necks out.
Why, thank you, Apoorva. I fancy tea myself. Brought back several boxes from my recent London visit. Have you tried Dilmah unblended from Sri Lanka? I understand they're fighting a civil war there over who controls the tea plantations.
Here are some Obama nominations which will make you worry even more.
Good words, again, Rick. Thank you.
I hadn't seen the date, 9/12/09 (your graphic) before now. I have seen here and there May 23 and July 4 indicated for similar events. Can you or your readers confirm?
Thanks again for your consistently excellent commentary.
-J
J,
Google "Tea Party September 12" and you'll find plenty of references. But you're right, other dates have been proposed as well. July 4 was one, but that looks like a non-starter, for reasons that make sense: Congress will be gone, no one else will be downtown to witness the demo(s), lots of Americans will be traveling or celebrating a holiday and not attuned to protesting, etc.
September 12 is better -- the silly season/dog days of August over, mass vacation time over, politics again center stage.
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