Patriots Needed
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)
Many of the most radical conservative brethren interpret this to mean “time to lock and load”. How far this is from what is really needed. Good men with good intentions are what’s needed, not an armed militia ready to take back power.
Will you join the leagues of Patrick Henry; “Give me liberty or give me death”. Or will you cower under the weight of clever terms and phrases like “fairness” or “spread the wealth”? Will you still try to hold onto the facade of the comfortable living with 2 new cars, a 5,000 square foot home, European vacations, and a second home at the beach? Or are you willing to wrest liberty from the clutches of the government with as much fervor and sacrifice as our Founders pledged?
America is most definitely at the precipice of a major re-alignment, not one led by Obama and his acolytes, but by the American People themselves. It seems as though we really do want a nanny state, after all, 63 million people marched to the polls and shouted with their loudest ballot box voice…YES WE CAN!
The sad reality is that FDR using the tidal wave of depression filled emotion, transformed a once great, noble and ruggedly individualistic nation into a “we” nation (YES WE CAN!). Translation; what’s yours is mine or more subtlety, “ours” as in the plural of “we”. And we conservatives are guilty of sitting by and watching.
Even as I listen to Laura Ingraham this morning, there is much hand wringing about the need to reorient the GOP back to its roots and obviously, she’s correct. Time to purge the ranks they say, get rid of the country club republicans and replace them with a new, younger breed of republican. I’d be all for that, but I’m not sure we’re really serious about this venture, why? Because people really haven’t been faced with the real choices that will get us back to the “me” type liberty ole’ Patrick was speaking about. And quite honestly, I haven’t heard the leader who’s really saying what needs to be said in order to get the GOP back to its roots. Thus, my continued separation from the party I once worked for.
Today, most republican’s are not cut from the same clothe as Patrick Henry…a true patriot. No, we’re quite content with a modified Patrick Henry quip:
“Give me liberty…and a farm bill laden with subsidies, and perhaps a nice layer of tax breaks for my business and while you’re at it, lather on some good ole’ mortgage relief. Oh, and let the other chumps have death, I’ve got a timeshare to buy”.
We beat our chests and claim to be like the patriots of old, but are we really? Aren’t we really big-government conservatives? Want to test your patriot commitment to see if you’re really up to what would it take to limit government and its power?
HUD - How many republicans do you see standing up and shouting it’s time to throw off the tyranny of the Housing and Urban Development Agency? You know, the agency that keeps people relegated to poverty status for generations thanks to LBJ’s vaunted War on Poverty and Great Society programs. And let’s say we did end HUD resulting in less government spending and lower taxes; how many of us want to get our hands dirty with our own money and time to help trashed out parts of our cities clean-up. How about engaging the downtrodden with practical lessons on parenting and budgeting, envisioning them to see a better, individualistic way of life? And for those who don’t choose this path, how many of us are willing to let them suffer the consequences of their decisions that may lead to isolation, imprisonment and even death?
Public Education- How many of us rail against the status of public education and their insistence on inculcating our children with liberal ideology but when pressed state; “yeah, I know it’s bad, but my child’s school is ok.” Sounds eerily similar to “yeah, I know Congress is corrupt, but my Congressman, he’s ok”. How many of you are willing to force the dismantling of our public education system and replace it with a competitive free choice model based on performance and the evil “bottom line” of business? How many are willing to cough up some dough to provide scholarships to the less fortunate to ensure they have access to a good education? After all, a rising tide lifts all ships.
Social Security - How many of you would be willing to relieve the federal government of your individual right to a Social Security benefit if you’re under 55? How many of you would be willing to promise a parent that you, yes you, will be sure to take care of them with your own money?
Civil Disobedience - How about protesting? How many are willing to plan so that a threat can be leveled at the Federal Government of a peaceable work stoppage, not for more federal handouts, but to choke off the life blood of all politics…money? To force them to see that while yes, they have the power to take from us, they do not have the power to make us provide them with the lubrication of all malignant government growth, commerce? How many are willing to mimic our African American brethren and forgo a vacation to march on Washington to demand its shrinkage? How about taking a water hosing from federal agents who want to put down a protest? We have MUCH to learn about courage, passion and commitment from Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s.
The list could go on and on with all the government provides that we’ve grown comfortable with. It’s a travesty, but conservatives are just as guilty by our inaction as the liberal utopianites are by their actions. They meant to grow government, we conservatives sat by a watched.
I personally believe the outcome is all but certain; we’re headed towards European style socialism, not as flagrant as Marxism, but socialism nonetheless. Why? Because I don’t believe most of us want to “pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” I think we’re glad the Founders pledged that, but I’m not so sure we have that same mettle, passion or stomach for it…especially the fortune part. We’re pretty comfortable right now, but like the proverbial Frog in the Kettle fable, the heat is getting turned up.
Patriots Needed – do you really have the intestinal fortitude? I doubt it and shame on us because we don’t; we deserve the government we refuse to fight for. Talk is cheap.