It will likely be a large march in Washington but different than what has been seen before.
This will have a different type of protestor. This protestor will be self-sufficient, articulate, and dressed in red, white and blue. They will have respect for other people’s property but they will not be pushed around and they will raise their voices in protest to the perceived socialism of America.
A lot has changed since then. Rick Santelli “made his rant,” as the Allegrinis put it, and the anti-tax “Tea Parties” began. Glenn Beck brushed away his tears and launched the 9-12 Movement, which the Allegrinis happily joined. The Children of Liberty grew from a few dozen members to more than 300. Then, this month, the Allegrinis watched in amazement as their friends, and people who looked like their friends, were labeled a “mob” and accused of being organized by corporate money and groups like, well, Americans for Prosperity. On September 12, they — like many other attendees of the week’s conference — will participate in a march on Washington, sponsored by FreedomWorks.
Glenn Beck aside, this march is unusual because people will be marching to protest government policies that save people and companies from failure. This is not about religious or social issues. It is about natural law as much as it is about US domestic policy.
A March for Consequences is an apt description. In America there are people who believe that there are consequences for failing to do what is right. And when those consequences are undermined, the fabric of society unravels. If lawbreakers are not punished, there will be more law breakers. If companies go broke, they should fail and not be saved to go broke again. If people are immoral, they should suffer the consequences of their actions. The natural law of consequences cannot be avoided with money, policy, good intentions, or government intervention.
People who believe in ‘actions have consequences’ (ahc) fear that the US domestic policy will break the bank of the United States government. Without a strong economy and methods to create wealth in America, the American dream of personal success will wither and die. Along with that dream, American exceptionalism, American individualism, and American work ethics will be subsumed into a mass culture. No longer will the individual reign supreme but the ‘borking’ of Americans will occur until only the collective hive remains. That is what many on the right fear.
Strong language? Fringe thinking? Not so according to conservatives that I know.
While many of us were decrying the policies of George Bush for War on Iraq, for domestic spying programs, for Abu Ghraib and torture, the right side of the aisle is now decrying higher taxes, expansion of government power, and the socializing of America. What they fear is as real to them as what we feared about George Bush and Dick Cheney. Still feared by liberals in some cases.
In America right now, both Republicans and Democrats fear they have lost control over their government for very different reasons. No one can predict how this will resolve itself. When the right wing equate heathcare for all to Nazi Germany, there is no logic in that opinion. When the left wing advocates raising taxes again and again to pay for more social programs without spending less in other areas, the result may be the best social programs in the world that drive America into bankruptcy.
If you have the time, please read this article about the RightOnline meeting in Pittsburgh. You will learn a little more about the other side of the aisle.
Recent Comments