Regardless of outcome, these have been some of our finest hours.
From the Tea Parties which sprang to life last April, to the townhalls over the summer, to the voters in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, tens of millions of Americans have done their best to stop this power grab.
Republicans in Congress also deserve credit. Against insurmountable numerical odds, they have stuck together and thereby forced Democrats to confront their own divisions.
Republicans from Eric Cantor to John Boehner to Paul Ryan to Mitch McConnell to John McCain to Scott Brown have given voice to the reality that Obamacare is not about health care, it is about government control over our lives accomplished through budget gimmicks which mask the truth that we cannot afford what Obama is selling.
The nation made an historic error in November 2008. Now we are dealing with the consequences.
The struggle will go on regardless of the vote this week. If Obamacare passes, it will be a multi-year effort to take back the Congress and then unwind or at least mitigate the disastrous effects. If we make it through the week without Obamacare passing, the fight also will continue. The goal of taking control of one-sixth of our economy is so alluring, that Obama cannot let it go.
Regardless of what this week holds, when we look back on the fight to preserve our health care system and our personal freedoms, we can say with confidence that these were some of our nation's finest hours.
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Related Posts:
Reagan on the Foundation of Freedom
Margaret Thatcher: Free Society Speech (1975)
Blagojevich's Allusion To Churchill Was Not His Finest Hour
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If they use "Deemed", then it'll last about as long as it takes to get to Federal Court with a lawsuit for injunction, right?
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteYour post is like a prayer.
It affected me perhaps the way the Gettysburg Address is said to have affected its listeners, who did not clap but stood silent, overwhelmed with emotion at Lincoln's invocation "that government of the people, by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
There was an episode of the original Star Trek where an alien commented that a race's last hours are often it's finest.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the eulogy-like tone of this post.
ReplyDeleteThere is a very old Hebrew saying that the hearts of kings are in the hand of the LORD; and how He can bend it like rivers of waters. I'm not religious but have always believed that when governments turn against their own people, we can always seek the intervention of a Higher Power.
So, pray. Believe. And persist. And call your Dem-reps. to remind them that the only thing that's imminent in passing away are their jobs in November.
We need the first part of the quote as well, for even though we are tired, we are not finished yet....
ReplyDelete"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties"
The goal of taking control of one-sixth of our economy is so alluring, that Obama cannot let it go.
ReplyDeleteVery well spoken.
We have been doing pretty well, but I don't think we've hit our stride yet.
ReplyDeleteHowever long it takes, there is going to be only one outcome to this struggle.
As George S. Patton said: "You're never beaten until you admit it." Oh, there are many, many, many Americans who aren't going to admit to being beaten on this one.
Personally, I'm focusing on that other Churchill quote: "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never. . . ."
"Republicans from Eric Cantor to John Boehner to Paul Ryan to Mitch McConnell to John McCain to Scott Brown have given voice to the reality that Obamacare is not about health care, it is about government control over our lives accomplished through budget gimmicks which mask the truth that we cannot afford what Obama is selling."
ReplyDeleteI think for the people it's a voice to that reality, but for at least a few of those you listed, it's about their incumbency or general political power.
Torches and Pitchforks, my friends.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that those in Congress truly don't get it, nomatter which side of the aisle you are on. The fight is not about healthcare reform. Everyone knows that we need to reform the system. The fight is against this particular bill. While we are standing up and saying no to the bill someone needs to stand up and tell those idiots in Congress what it is we really want and make sure they give it to us.
ReplyDelete"All laws repugnant to the Constitution are null and void"
ReplyDelete-SCOTUS, 1803, Marbury vs Madison
"All governments repugnant to the Constitution are null and void"
-sofa, 2010
http://coordillum.blogspot.com/2010/03/consent-of-governed-dont-fool-yourself.html
Recent CNN Poll: 32% of the population believes in ALIEN ABDUCTIONS.
Recent Rasmussen Poll: 21% believe the government currently is operating with the consent of the governed.
Only the most delusional still believe in our our government.
Recent Rasmussen Poll: 63% of "Independents" think the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.
People see the federal government as an "Immediate threat". Wow.
There was a Coup, and eventually people noticed!
"If we refuse to participate in our own oppression, we will be fined. If we refuse to pay the fine, we will be arrested. If we refuse to submit to arrest we will be killed."
-Mike Vanderboegh
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2010/03/there-can-be-no-reconciliation-on.html
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
-Edward Abbey
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it”
- Albert Einstein
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
-Ronald Reagan
"A fatal misconception is the belief that evil can be reasoned with."
-Unattributed
You can evade reality, but you cannot evade the consequences of evading reality."
- Ayn Rand
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...
...
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
-T. Jefferson, et al, Declaration of Indepedence
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were ever our countrymen."
— Samuel Adams
Torches and pitchforks indeed.
From today's post at Grand Rants:
ReplyDelete"If this bill manages to pass the House, there are going to be numerous legislators who should start thinking now about looking for new jobs just before Thanksgiving. Because at this point, there are irreconcilable differences between the DC ruling elite and the rest of us.
While we are well beyond the “a la lanterne!” passions of centuries past, one can certainly picture a bevy of modern-day Madame DeFarges tweeting the names of every doomed Senator and Congressman in voting precincts across the country.
You’ll be able to identify her easily. She’ll be the one drinking tea."
Personally, I'm ready for a bit of "a la lanterne!", myself...