Will Republicans Seize The Moment?

It daily becomes more and more difficult for any but the most stalwart leftists to ignore or deny the grim visage of the "change" being inflicted on America by the liberals/Democrats. Like a script from a revolutionary handbook, the key players in Washington, all on the left, are shredding the Constitution, while twisting and contorting current law, or completely ignoring it when need be, in order to further mutate this once-great nation into a withered collectivist caricature of its former self.

The entirety of the contrived AIG executive bonus firestorm, as well as the Democrat "solution" to it, are ideal examples of the new order, and should serve as a stark warning to those who cling to any expectation of freedom and justice for themselves and their posterity. In contrast to the former notion of "due process of law" Americans once presumed to have been their inherent right, a new and appalling version of "justice" is being instituted.

As has been stated many times in the past, the "law" serves a completely different purpose in a free and just society than it does in a tyranny. In a free society, it is applied equally to all, and as such constitutes a framework of mutually established boundaries within which the citizenry can live and flourish to its maximum benefit. Under tyranny however, an elite class, which exempts itself from the annoyance of such a framework, nevertheless imposes its law on its subjects for the purpose of manipulating and controlling them.

Congressional reaction to the fanned-flames of outrage at the AIG bonuses clearly falls into the latter category. By passing a "tax increase" that only applies to AIG executives who had received bonuses, the federal government seeks to use "law" as a means to punitively and selectively attack individual citizens who had done nothing other than to abide by the terms of their own employment. Worse yet, by implementing this criminal misuse of power "retroactively," the Congress removed any and all legal protection from any citizen whom it targets.

Yet at the same time, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a true law breaker who was somehow excused from the same responsibility to pay his taxes that every ordinary citizen faces, now holds the reins on a sum of money that is counted not in the billions or hundreds of billions, but in the trillions. Unfortunately, the complexity of his latest "bailout" scheme causes most commoners to lose interest in the situation. But that complexity is itself a foundational component of the ruse, intended to prevent taxpayers from comprehending the degree to which they are being scammed.

In essence, Geithner is playing a shell game with the vast sums of money at his disposal. His hope is to shift and switch the untold billions from one financial organization to another, for the purpose of dissipating a focus on the toxic liabilities of any particular institution. Yet the reality of this game is that, at the end of the day, the till will remain empty, and the bill for all of the bad mortgages and other cascading obligations of the current financial crisis will be compensated, once again, by the taxpayer.

This is graft and embezzlement on a cosmic scale, accompanied by a power grab the likes of which have never before been witnessed in the "free world." And, if rightly confronted such arrogant conduct could serve as a catalyst to ensure that its perpetrators, meaning the Democrat leadership and committee heads in Congress, along with all who have enabled them, are politically tarred, feathered, and run out of town at the earliest opportunity.

But, self-evident as this situation may be, it will require conservative leaders of impeccable courage and principle to face the tempest of liberal character assassins who will surely be brought to bear on any who lead such a movement. Yet the only alternative is to see conservatism, and indeed America itself, frayed and pummeled into oblivion.

Republicans capably faced a similar, albeit much milder scenario, in the wake of Bill Clinton's election in 1992. Holding distinct minorities in both houses of Congress, and operating under the shadow of a new and charismatic president who was being sold on the nightly news in superhuman terms, the Republican leadership pursued a strategy that highlighted the very distinctions between their governing philosophy and that of the omnipotent and newly energized Democrats.

As a result, on short order the sinister realities of the Democrat agenda began to emerge from the background noise of Washington politics as a burgeoning threat to mainstream America. In response to this threat, the famous GOP "Contract With America" was birthed and advanced during the 1994 midterm elections, allowing voters a clear option for the future of their country from that promised by the Democrats.

Given such distinct options, voter reaction was severe. And the success of this strategy was so profound that it took the Democrats a dozen years to begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered political juggernaut.

Now, taking up their banner from where they were forced to abandon it in 1995, and with a ferocity that demonstrates their resentment over ever having to soft-peddle their agenda as the minority party, liberal Democrats once again are advancing like a marauding army against traditional America. And once again, traditional America is clamoring for an alternative that upholds and preserves, instead of disparaging and attacking, the great principles on which the country was founded and from which it has prospered and flourished.

Clearly, the time is right for bold and unashamed conservatives to make their case with the American people. From coast to coast, signs of a voter backlash abound. The rash of grassroots "tea parties" cannot be construed as anything less. Outspoken and unapologetic conservatives such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, despite being targets of a vicious media onslaught, are more popular than ever.

In a manner that contradicts the supposed message of last fall's elections, which were presented as a wave of liberalism sweeping over the country, the liberal special interest group "Americans United for Change" is running television ads targeted to pressure moderate Democrats to support Obama's grotesquely bloated federal budget proposal. Surely, if the nation were actually embracing a liberal/socialist philosophy on an overwhelming scale, support for the measure would be a "given," and no such ad campaign would be necessary.

The true sentiments of real America contrast starkly from that which is presented on the nightly news. Americans at the grassroots have absolutely no desire to see their country dismembered, despoiled, and put up for auction to cold and indifferent entities that have no stake whatsoever in its future. On every ensuing issue from the current economic morass to the selection of judges for the nation's high courts, a confident and audacious opposition that continually recasts the day's debate in terms of traditional and constitutional principles will resonate with the American people.

Against the ugly backdrop of present day Washington, a GOP that returns to its roots, and steadfastly remains there in spite of media scorn and derision, can once again inspire and rally the people of the heartland.