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Jewish World Review
Dec. 23, 2009
/ 6 Teves 5770
Yet, Freedom!
By
Tony Blankley
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Taking stock this second Christmas after the election of Barack Obama to
the presidency as a conservative Republican (with growing "tea party"
tendencies) I'm filled with a thrilling, unexpected hopefulness that
the president may be well on his way to losing his battle for the hearts
and minds of the American people tempered by a shocked disbelief that
so much long-term damage could be perpetrated on our economy, national
security and way of life in just 11 months of ill-judged governance.
Inevitably, Charles Dickens' immortal opening sentence to "A Tale of Two
Cities" comes to mind:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were
all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
Remarkably, this view could apply as equally to the left as it does to
the right. Obama first thrilled and then disappointed and now enrages
the left with his policies of (as they now see it): 1) giving the banks,
health insurance companies, drug companies, for-profit hospitals and
Washington lobbyists everything they want, 2) doing nothing for
middle-class homeowners and 3) escalating the war in Afghanistan.
Of course, conservatives are appalled at (among other things) the
trillions in new deficits, the nationalizations, the trillion-dollar
partisan slush fund (i.e., stimulus packages), the attempted federal
government takeover of the private economy via carbon taxing and
regulating, the weakening of our anti-terrorism efforts, the
never-ending worldwide apology tour, the undercutting of our allies
while our enemies are appeased, and the ongoing effort to destroy our
health care system and replace it with a socialized, rationing
European-style system.
Remarkably, the president cannot even credibly make the claim that if he
has the left and right agitated, it is because he is going down the
sensible middle. The Dec. 9 Quinnipiac poll mirrors what other polls are
showing: Obama is losing the independents, too. In that poll, overall,
the president's approval and disapproval were 46 percent and 44 percent,
respectively. However, with independents, he was at 37 percent approval
and 51 percent disapproval.
Of course, for both the left and the right, all our hopes and dreads
hinge on how an increasingly volatile American public expresses itself
on Election Day. Currently, in head-to-head polling of generic party
voting intentions, the Republicans, who had been steadily down by double
digits (and by as much as 18 percent) to the Democrats, in the past few
months have surged to a 2-3 percent advantage (RealClearPolitics' latest
average: 43.3 to 41 percent).
But all is not solidity on the right. In one of the more remarkable
entrances into American politics, the "tea party" movement, which did
not exist until spring, already has gained a second-place affiliation
status in Scott Rasmussen's poll. Last month's numbers: Democratic
Party, 36 percent; "tea party," 23 percent; Republican Party, 18
percent.
That number is, if anything, probably understated, because the polling
respondents are taken from voter registration lists. And based on what I
have observed while attending "tea party" events (and from other
sources), it is my sense that many "tea party" people may not even have
registered to vote in the past. (They are registering now, by golly.)
Keep in mind that they have no national leaders no billionaire Ross
Perot type, no nationally admired Barry Goldwater type. Of course,
individuals are stepping up across the country to help organize. But
they are the purest example of what Thomas Jefferson might have called
an aroused yeomanry (back then, the small freeholders who cultivated
their own land). They are a reaction (in the very best sense of the
word) to the ongoing attempted power grab by Washington of a free
people's wealth and rights.
In the aftermath of the economic collapse and the election of a
glamorous young president who seemed to many people to be a fresh
force, unentangled with entrenched special interests (emphatically not
my view, during the election or afterward) the country could have
gone one of two ways: Fearing the rigors of economic hard times, people
could have sought shelter under the wing of a stronger government (as
Americans did during the Great Depression), or fearing the power of
government, they could have sought shelter in freedom come what may
economically.
It may turn out to be one of the most important facts of the 21st
century that the American people as exemplified by, but not limited
to, the "tea party" fighters came down on the side of freedom over
fear. I don't know that there is another people on the planet who would
have had a similar impulse and judgment. It is, to use a word,
exceptional (as in "American exceptionalism").
It is why we live in hope this Christmas season that we may yet claw
back our government in time to protect our grandchildren's freedom and
prosperity.
"Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying,
Streams like the thunder-storm against the wind."
Lord George Gordon Byron
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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Tony Blankley is executive vice president of Edelman public relations in Washington. Comment by clicking here.
© 2009, Creators Syndicate
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