Now that we have apparently averted Armageddon in Syria thanks to the dynamic duo of accidental diplomacy, the Dark Knight and John Kerry, the Boy Blunder; it is time for the nation to turn its attention back to the recurring crisis of how we pay for this circus we call “The Government”. Democrats and Rinos alike are in an uproar over Tea Party bad boys like Cruz, Lee, and Paul pushing forward on the defunding of Obamacare. The core of the conversation is difficult to follow because the voices are so shrill on all sides.
Despite what the President and his mindless minions insist, the bill passed by the House does not “shut down the government” because of the right’s obsession with repealing the Presidential Train Wreck. What it does do, of course, is provide funding for every aspect of government except Obamacare, and would present the President with the choice of allowing the government to continue on without Obamacare funding, or shut everything down with the aim to force the funding of everything, including Obamacare. It’s a fine point because the President’s veto is a given, even if it did get past the senate, which it won’t. It’s a little like your wife telling you she’ll divorce you if you won’t let her mother move in; you know what your refusal will do, but technically she’s the one doing the divorcing. After all the lies, arm-twisting, rule-bending, and legislative chicanery used to pass the law, suddenly Democrats insist all that kind of stuff is now forbidden. They tell us Obamacare is “The Law of the Land”, as though it were ordained by God himself, or as the law of the Medes and the Persians which altereth not, neither may it be revoked. Such is not the case in our country; many of our laws have been altered, and the really bad ones revoked. The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but it is not the only law, and when you insist on passing unpopular laws, do not expect resistance to end with ratification.
Rinos, and a few well meaning conservatives fear that the defunding strategy is a hazardous path for the GOP, and that it might blow what looks like an opportunity in the next election. Their preferred strategy is to allow the unwieldy program to fall of it’s own weight, a weight that will be borne at the ballot box by Democrats alone. It’s a more cautious and careful strategy; a more civil, less rough around the edges strategy; you could label it the “Romney strategy”. Of course, it’s pretty much the strategy Republicans have used in every major defeat over the last decade… “but this time it will work… we just know it will!”
John Boehner is anything but a Tea Party ideologue, and his support of the defunding bill is hardly to be interpreted as a Newt Gingrich moment for the speaker. Even proponents of defunding have repeatedly acknowledged that absent a Syria type grassroots groundswell of support, the votes are not there to support actually defunding the law. That was never the real intent. The defunding effort has always been about demonstrating resistance, even when resistance is futile. When a train wreck is occurring, even if you can’t stop the train, you want to be the one with your hand on the brake. You do what you can, you do all that you can, to mitigate the damage; and if the train can be salvaged after the wreck you’ve demonstrated who should be at the controls.
IMHO: Behind every movement for change are the rabble-rousers, the trouble-makers, the rebels. People grow comfortable even in their captivity, and conflict is disconcerting to them, especially when the revolutionaries are cast as villains by the powers that be. The powers that be; and that includes members of the “loyal opposition”, who seem just a little too content to remain in that position; can’t understand why we won’t just play the game, go along to get along, sacrifice principle to politics, play nice… behave! For them, the destiny of the nation doesn’t lie beyond the results of the next election; the mangling of the Constitution is acceptable for political expediency, and freedom only extends to the border of their own elitist mandates. But despite the strength of the oppressor, the patriot will stand for the ideas that formed this nation. Despite the hopelessness of the cause, the patriot will always stand for liberty. Despite the futility of resistance, the patriot will resist; to the end he will be a thorn, an irritant if nothing more. You will forgive me if I close with a quote from Anonymous:
“We will not comply. We will not lie down. We will not go quietly. We will not submit. We will not shut up!” …we will not behave.
Can’t help cheering you on, Kevin. This packs a punch, and I love the touch of humor, “Dark Knight” and “Boy Blunder,” indeed!! You’re right about the thorn being an irritant, and I believe it speaks of an awakening giant. The forefathers had a sense of the future progeny of the nation. They were mighty oaks of righteousness though not perfect, like most of us – they planted seeds that have come down the generations – and within those seeds was a quest for liberty from tyrants. There are young oaks in the wings now – waiting for their moment to don some of the mantles of the patriots. A quote from Malachi tells us that He will send his messenger to, “…turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers.” With all the books being written about the constitution and our history, it looks to me as if the children are hearing the call to stand in their place and become a vital part of “We the people.”