It Ain't Over

Seen over at Instapundit:

IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER, and the ObamaCare bill is clearly wildly unpopular. But if it does pass, the media message will be that the whole Tea Party movement has been a waste — when, in fact, without it this would have been passed nearly a year ago, and with far less political cost.

And political cost is the key. If this bill passes, there will be a brutal political cost, as spelled out in the sign below: You Vote for ObamaCare, We Vote For Your Opponent.

That’s what the next eight months or so will be about, and I don’t think that many of the folks you’ve seen demonstrating will give up and go home.

 For my part, no, it's not over.  In some ways this is the beginning.  We have learned a real hard lesson about what happens when citizens become disengaged.  In my experience people get somewhat involved in politics for a few months every few years and that it is pretty much it.  As a result, politicians on both sides, figured out that they could act in their own interests, rather than their constituents, because quite frankly, nobody was paying attention.
 
We're paying attention now.  We are watching every move our representatives make.  We are studying policy, educating ourselves and each other, and we expect our representatives to listen to us and act in accordance to our wishes. 
 
We know what is at stake now.  We will not allow ourselves to be taken for granted again.

Does The GOP 'Elite" Think That We Are Extremists, Or Are We Just Too Uppity?

Via Memeorandum:

The L.A. Times article Some fear GOP is being carried to the extreme made me think of a woman who was at the Lakeland Tea Party this past Saturday. At fifty-one years old she had just been told that she suffers from a serious, chronic medical condition. Combine that with the fact that her elderly parents both also have medical conditions, she was partly there because of her personal investment in the future of healthcare. She also has two young grandchildren and worries about the effects the government’s reckless spending will have on their lives. Yes, I am talking about myself.

What would make anyone, particularly someone from my own political party, think that I am radical or extremist? Yes, I believe that my country has taken a very wrong turn, and yes, I have become an “activist.” But, and the powers that be in the Republican party need to understand this, I am your base.

I talked to people Saturday and to the last man and woman, they were just like me, unremarkable. We are simply ‘concerned citizens’ who have become more concerned as we see government intrusion in to our markets, our healthcare, our lives, spiral out of control. Some of us are angry and some are scared. None are resigned.

We want our children and our grandchildren to have a better life than we have had. We see that hope being taken away by a government who no longer holds itself accountable to “we the people.” We are not extremists, but we are determined. We are the voters.

More at:

The Sundries Shack

Related: United We Stand

Liberals Don't Like The Taste Of Their Own Medicine

The President is trying to push the country towards socialism at break neck speed and as a result, Conservatives are doing something I never thought that I would see in my life; they are standing up.

Up to now, “conservative activism” has largely been an oxymoron. Up to now, the conservative slogan has been, “Well, what are you going to do?” said with a heavy sigh and averted eyes. Yes, we grumbled when President Bush sat on his hands while Congress spent money we knew we didn’t have. We signed online petitions when Congress and Bush wanted amnesty for illegal aliens. But for the most part, activism was for others.

President Obama changed all that. Obama came in with a radical agenda bent on fundamentally changing this country and conservatives quit looking for the other guy to fix things for them and have literally taken to the streets. We are off the couch and at the Tea Party and the town hall and liberals don’t like it one little bit.

Liberals believe that they hold the patent on protest and that Conservatives have no right to employ Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. They are the one’s who left their playbook laying around and now they are crying foul because Conservatives have taken a page from it.

My best advice for Liberals; get over it crybabies. Conservatives, keep it up. You are making a difference.