It left me wondering about the tea party movement, and how much effect they have really had in this whole affair. There was much chest-thumping in conservative circles after the August town hall uprisings, much talk that the demonstrations had put the fear of God into congressional Democrats. Maybe. And yet since then, liberal health care bills and plans have continued to coalesce on Capitol Hill, and now one has passed the House. The momentum it seems, is with the President and his party.Apparently, to hardened Democrat Congressmen, we needed to "act out" more. We need to do something dramatic to get their attention. They do not fear us, and fear is the only thing that will, evidently, get them to back off.
For two reasons, I think. One, as I was coming to work in downtown Washington D.C. on Thursday morning, the day of the "House call" protests, I emerged from my train and into Union Station and beheld the protesters, who were then gathering and preparing for their march on Capitol Hill just a few blocks a away.
I spoke to a number of them. They were uniformly middle-class, middle-American folks, whole families, whole neighborhoods of them. They looked, and acted, so nice. The kind of people who would bake you a tray of brownies if you weren't feeling very well. In other words, not intimidating in the slightest.
So, what's the solution?
Interestingly, another article, by James Lewis, also in today's American Thinker seems to have the answer.
Conservatives are individualists, so we have to do something unusual: organize, organize, organize. Local and national. Even international. Some of our friends are in the British media, where they are looking for us to stand up and defend civilization, just as they stood up against Hitler when we were still dithering. Some of our friends are in Australia, in Canada, and yes, in France. Around the world there are millions of people who get it. We can be American patriots with allies all around the world. They need leaders and vocal support just as much as we do.Organizing is indeed necessary, but we must also be perceived as dangerous to cross, just like the Left. What a sad world this is coming to.
And we must militantly defend the freedom of the web. The Stalinoids will attack it viciously, just as they will attack talk radio and Fox News. We are fighting the same enemy Ronald Reagan fought. We have to do it just as intelligently and vigorously as he did.
The word "activist" used to be a media word for the Left. It's high time to make it work for American conservatives.
The anger and frustration are there, on the right, but will those coalesce into an actual movement? Hard to say, but like you point out, it seems to be all vocal and no "danger" to those in office.
ReplyDeleteRev. Paul,
ReplyDeleteI often hear comentators and columnists pointing out how polite the TEA parties have been, how we haven't left the place trashed, and contrast this behavior with typical protests on the left. This should commend the TEA partiers to our elected "reps" in any sane world,and cause them to want to work with us. That it does not, indeed, that they go out of their way to insult us, leaves me speechless.