The election of Barack Obama may have been a good thing for the country...in the long run. No, not because he is forcing an unconstitutional national health care system on us. Not for the bank or auto company bail outs...or the large number of un-approved czars...or the the fact that he has grown the national debt by more than the accumulated debt of every president from Washington to Reagan. But, if we can recover from the damage caused by Obama and the Democratic leadership, it will at least have had the beneficial effect of waking a large number of Americans to the true liberal/progressive tactics and agenda.
It seems everywhere I look these days, people have political bumper stickers, signs, and are talking politics. Political rallies are drawing record numbers. Well, being an election year...and an important mid-term election...this is to be expected. But, this year is different. Now, instead of bumper stickers for a particular candidate...or talk about which party best represents our interests...rallies are being organized by the grass roots, political outsiders...and the stickers are about "Liberty" and the discussions about the Constitution and founding principles.
The People are seeing the results of decade-after-decade of big-government policies that have incrementally attacked our freedom and usurped the power of the sovereign States. State's rights...nullification...the 10th Amendment are all being discussed in the "public square" again. Voters are also seeing that they can no longer be spectators in our system of government. They are standing up and demanding to be heard, and they are realizing that their power cannot be invested in a candidate because of their party affiliation, but must be given only to those who will uphold the letter and spirit of Constitution.
The election of Barack Obama, a black progressive, seemed to give the radical, far-left wing of the Democratic party an injection of hubris. They seemed to believe that they could fully implement their agenda without any serious opposition. Decades of political correctness had been perpetrated on society that would, they believed, allow them to thwart any challengers to their authority with one word..."racist." And, from the beginning, they "liberally" applied the word. If you didn't sign onto the president's nationalization of health care...it was because you are a racist. Against the bank bailouts...you just don't like black people. Didn't like the take-over of GM and Chrysler...RACIST!
But a funny thing happened on the way to a socialist utopia. People began to look at the charges being hurled by the left and say, "No...this has nothing to do with the president's race...it is his policies that we don't like." You see, many who were now being called racists, were the same people who had recently felt good about voting for America's first black president. They knew they weren't racist. Many others, who had not voted for him, knew that their vote had had nothing whatever to do with race, but was based on his politics and qualifications. Large portions of the country began to say, "We know we are not racist...and we don't care what names you call us."
And with that change, the Left's biggest weapon was taken away. You see, liberals cannot defend their stands on an intellectual basis or through their results...in fact, for many of them to win elections, including Obama, they had to hide their true beliefs and act as if they were further to the right than they actually were. No, the only real tactics they had were name calling and character assassination. And now that those tactics were not working on behalf of our first black president, people also began to reject it in other areas too. Because we believe in enforcing immigration laws, we are not racists. Because we don't cave to the gay/lesbian political agenda, we are not homophobes. Questioning the motives of Islamists does not make us intolerant. And, believing in the principles of our Founding Fathers does not make us radicals or anarchists. Your names don't bother us any more.
So, with the election of Barack Obama, the Left felt confident enough to show their true colors. They over-reached and tried to go for the brass ring of socialism. And their tactics were shown for what they were...baseless and ridiculous. This hasn't stopped them from continuing to use them...in fact they seem to have gotten all the more shrill in their attempts...but, now it just seems funny, and more than a little pathetic.
So yes, the election of Barack Obama could have been a good thing, in the long term. But only if we do not forget the lessons we have learned. We must continue to stand for the principles of our founding...and against centralized government power. We must remember that freedom requires vigilance against the tactics of those who would undermine the our Constitution. We must elect representatives who will defend our interests...rather than their power. We must not forget that in this republic, We The People are the ultimate power. And, we must remember what we learned as children...
Sticks and stones may break our bones...but silly, ridiculous labels will not hurt us or make us give up our liberty!
