Why Don't They Get It?

Here's a great example of the ego-centric "me" projecting my reasons to people around me.

I hear commentators spanning the political spectrum analyzing why people (like me) went to tea parties on 15 April 09. They discuss the outrage expressed by people (like me) over the first stimulus package. Others (like me) were angered with the bailouts given to large companies in America. Pundits banter about people (like me) who rage over the healthcare "reforms" that are proposed.

The consensus seems to be split. One group believes that these groups of people are "astroturf". That we are a fabrication of some corporate/rightwing/naziesque/fringe entity. That is wrong. The other group believes that we are "Republicans" who are finally voicing our support for the Republican Party. That is wrong, too.

I know I cannot speak for others, but I will tell you why I am getting involved.

I grew up believing that the United States of America was a fundamentally good country. I believed that its leaders wanted the best for the people and that they would act in defense of the principles of the Constitution. I thought that if I worked hard I could succeed and that if I did not want to work hard enough I would be allowed, likewise, to fail. I thought that if I met with ruin I would have a chance to rebuild. I thought that if I had an idea, a thought or a belief I could hold it and express it without fear and without reprisal. I thought that we Americans were a free and independent people who shared a vision of opportunity.

I have learned that there is a significant portion of Americans who are content to surrender freedom and independence in exchange for some sense of security. I have learned that there are beliefs, thoughts and ideas that are "politically incorrect". That is not to say that they are bad or antisocial, but expressing them often leads to derrision and social isolation. I have learned that if some Americans meet with financial or other ruin they expect the government to support them in perpetuity. And in many cases the government will do just that. I have learned that there are some in government and others in the population who support them who, regardless of the input or the outcome of my efforts, would not allow me to fail, but would force me to attain some level of mediocrity in housing, in healthcare, in education. I have learned that there are some - and I say now, "many" - in government whose efforts are not expended in the interest of the country. They would compromise the liberty of their constituents and national security in an effort to curry favor with special interests and large financial contributors.

But at the root of it all still stands the Constitution of the United States of America. It is still good. The principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are still sound. The ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence are still ideals.

That is why I attended my local tea party. That is why I have been calling my representatives in Congress and in the state legislature to express my views.

I am disgusted by the mealymouthed Republican Party. I am repulsed by the radical leftleaning Democrat Party. I am terrified that both of their policies lead to the same place: An increasingly powerful federal government and further restriction of individual liberties. One claims to lead in the interest of Security. The other claims to lead in the interest of Equality. Both will lead us to Slavery.

But no one gets it.

I, for one, am mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

This is not a Republican v. Democrat thing. This is not a Right v. Left thing. This is not a Religious v. Atheist thing.

This is nothing but a Libery v. Tyranny thing!

That is the line in the sand. Those who favor individual liberty and believe that man has a natural right to his liberty must gather to oppose those who believe that man has no inherent rights and that the State gives or takes rights as it seems appropriate to the State to do.

Which side are you on?

Then lay aside your petty "politics" and join us in fighting to save all of our liberties. You need to understand that we are fighting to preserve your right to have a homosexual relationship as avidly as we are fighting to preserve our right to have a heterosexual "marriage". We are working as hard to ensure your right to oppose wars as we are to ensure our right to live without fear. We are struggling to provide you relief from poverty as well as to allow us to retain the just fruits of our labors.

It's not about parties or politics, this is about people and preserving possibilities.