Make Yourself Heard!
Events & People
Friday, November 6, 2009
EDITORIAL: The grass roots keep growing
Tens of thousands of people from across the country made a "House call" on the west side of the Capitol yesterday. These Americans traveled to Washington to register their objections to the mammoth government health care bill that Democrats are rushing through Congress. The size and spirit of the rally were a testament to the explosion in grass-roots activism opposed to the expansion of government under President Obama's and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's watch. The silent majority is silent no longer.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, called for the Super Bowl of Freedom rally only last Friday during Sean Hannity's show on Fox, and word spread quickly through such social-media networks as Facebook and such organizations as the 912 Project, Americans for Prosperity, ResistNet, As a Mom, Team Sarah and others.
Grass-roots citizen organizers mobilized to plan transportation and lodging. Many just hopped in their cars and headed for Washington. A significant number of the ralliers are new to political activism and have been energized in response to increasingly intrusive and irresponsible government. Lisa Miller, a small-business owner from Northern Virginia and organizer of TeaPartyWDC, told The Washington Times: "Almost everybody I ran into said, 'This is the first time I've done this.' They have never been politically active, but they see what is going on in Washington and understand what the implications are."
Democrats may or may not have gotten the message from Tuesday's election that they are on the wrong side of history, but they should have. Election results and exit polls showed moderates and independents fleeing in droves from Democratic candidates. Despite this electoral warning, the Democratic congressional leadership has chosen to double down on arrogance.
Mrs. Pelosi obdurately declared victory after this week's off-year elections and ramped up the effort to ram through her health care bill. The speaker's undemocratic tactics include sidetracking inconvenient amendments like that proposed by Rep. Bart Stupak, Michigan Democrat, which would prevent federal funding for abortion. On the Senate side, Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, flouted Senate rules to push a job-killing energy bill through her Environment and Public Works Committee without Republican support and with no amendments. Democrats are in denial that Tuesday's repudiation of their agenda even occurred.
Mrs. Pelosi's legislative browbeating is being answered by boisterous and energized crowds. In a not-so-clever play on words, left-wing pundits scoff at the "Astroturf" movement, but the Democrats can only seem to mobilize paid union thugs and grim, rootless activists with vested interests in expanding the size of government. The contrast between the spirit of yesterday's rally and the health-bill ceremony held a week before is telling. Mrs. Pelosi introduced her bill during a tightly controlled ritual in which she regally descended the Capitol steps to unveil her 1,990-page legislative masterpiece to a picked crowd of specially invited supporters ringed by metal fences. At yesterday's rally, the throngs of regular folks spilled out into the Mall, and the spirit was determined and upbeat.
The Democrats may succeed in passing their horrendous trillion-dollar-plus government health care bill, but a reckoning is coming. The conservative grass roots have a lock on the future, and they know it.
Larry Guest and I spent the middle of the day on November 5th on the West Lawn of the Capitol with others opposed to the Health Care Bill. This wasn't an event until late last week when Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota suggested it. Her remark mustered a crowd of approximately 15,000. Groups bused in from Virginia and New Jersey and flew in from as far as Seattle. We met people from Indiana, Tennessee, the state of Washington, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Maine. The signs were homemade. It was American democracy at its finest.
The co-Masters of Ceremony were Tom Price of Georgia and actor Jon Voight. A number of Congress men and women spoke, including those from Minnesota, Texas, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Their remarks made it evident that the real issue goes well beyond health care. Among the more memorable ones were these:
"This bill amount to legislative malpractice."
"The financial resources to fight this battle are limited, but the voice of persuasion coming from the American people is unlimited."
"The people trying to force this bill on us are not the philosophical descendants of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. They are the philosophical descendants of Marx, Lenin and Alinsky."
"Government-run health care is the product of socialism which Winston Churchill described as the equal sharing of misery."
"We need reform that lowers the cost of health care. This bill only increases the size of government."
"The bill represents the biggest challenge to personal freedom that has ever been attempted in Congress."
"In the course of human history there is no greater cause than the fight for individual freedom that it is at stake here."
"This bill amounts to radical social policy wrapped up in a hospital gown."
"This bill does not reform health care. It only imposes massive new government regulations on the American people in the name of reform."
The remark that I hope you'll take to heart is this one: "Government goes to those to show up." Hmm..... It means we can't sit around and wring our hands and hope that the bill gets defeated. We have to ensure it gets defeated. We must get off the sidelines into the game. It means contacting our Congress person by mail, phone or visit. It means getting friends together for the same purpose. Make yourself heard! Every voice of opposition, raised in unison with other voices, must reach a crescendo that Congress cannot ignore. That's the nature of political activism. Unless we keep up the pressure, we cede the field to those who want to expand government and diminish personal freedom. We must not let that happen. Don't fall into the trap of doing nothing because you could only do little. Little counts.
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Sat. May 16, 2009 at 3:30pm
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Filmmakers Forum
Who fights for freedom? Why do young men and women risk their lives for a cause? Is it because they have no where else to go, or is it something much greater than that? Explore the lives of a cross section of Warriors from WWII to present day. What do they have in common? You will be surprised at the words delivered by each Warrior. Whether you agree with war or not, you will be amazed at the stories of courage and commitment displayed by the Warriors who have fought for and fight for America.
Watch Trailer
For information about the G.I. Film Festival, click on:
http://www.gifilmfestival.com/
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Tax Day Tea Party
The Tax Day Tea Party in Annapolis, Maryland was well-attended by many concerned citizens despite a steady, driving rain, temperatures in the 40's, and the wind howling at 15 - 25 miles per hour. The unruly "protesters" came by land and by water, as you can see in these photos.
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Special Americans
