Wesley Gant

Democrats have been winning most elections for the last few years, mostly because they didn’t like what Republicans were doing – and rightfully so. Yet it has become clear that the Democrat agenda is further left that most Americans are comfortable with. I’ve heard from a number of people that voted for Obama and say they got more than they bargained for and won’t be voting for him again. Here is one of them. Polls continue to show that Obama’s approval rating is continually deteriorating, and opposition over the Healthcare and Cap-and-Trade bills are increasing. Even though he won by barely over half of the voting population (53%), and that a significant portion of that was independents and moderate Democrats, the Democratic leadership seems to act like the entire nation has demanded radical movements to the left. I suppose if you define “the nation” through campaign contributions perhaps their mistake is understandable.

The fact is, a lot of people are in disagreement with the new direction. Sure, we can all expect heavy opposition from the far-right, just as we saw heavy opposition to Bush from the far-left. But the kick-back has moved beyond the shouts of fringe extremists and into the calm and concerned voices of the political middle ground. While the predominant species of Tea Party-goers are white, Republican, and Christian, you will also find plenty of minorities and an occasional Democrat. They come from all economic backgrounds, ages and religious beliefs. Videos from townhall meetings have been popping up all over the place of people getting up in front of their Congressmen to challenge the health care bill.

But what has been the response of an administration that billed itself as the bearer of Hope and Change; that they would work for the people and have an open, transparent and bipartisan administration? Simple: If you can’t beat them, kill them. Obviously, I don’t mean literally – I mean through character assassination. Shape the debate as one between Good and Evil (as Republicans have shamefully done in the past) or as Smart vs. Stupid. Examples:

• – Just prior to the nationwide Tea Party protests that were scheduled for April 15th the Department of Homeland Security warned of “right-wing extremists” concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty. Hmmmm… why would any reasonable person have problems with the seizure of weapons and the loss of sovereignty?

• – TalkingPointsMemo.com is one left-wing site that proudly reported Nancy Pelosi’s enlightened view of the tea parties and those involved.  “We call call it astroturf, it’s not really a grassroots movement. It’s astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class. Really? Well I guess I can’t speak for everyone, but seeing as how I worked with the organizers of the downtown Houston Tea Party of April 15th (I did some T-shirt and logo artwork for them), I guess that makes me the very person she’s talking about – and I definitely haven’t received any money or instruction from anyone. The Houston Tea Party Society is led by a group of local citizens, independently funded through donations. They send out emails to people who have signed up for updates to inform them of what Congress is up to and how they can be involved. I’ve run into friends at events like these, and I pretty sure they aren’t working for big Republican fat cats either.

• – Last week a post was added to the Whitehouse.gov site, asking people to forward any “fishy” information – or “rumors” – floating about the internet, or simply being discussed through “casual conversation,” to flag.whitehouse.gov. Here’s the story. So now the administration is taking names on anyone who dissents to their view – after all, law requires that all correspondence to the White House be backed up and kept. If Bush had tried this stunt there would have been untold outrage. I have to wonder what kind of power the government could have if it simply seized all google records at this point.

• – Then came this: A video surfaced, put out by the Democratic National Committee, that makes some pretty strong claims, which I am happy to refute.

Here we have legitimate opposition to the current Administration’s policies being characterized as a bunch of wackos with no substantial argument that are simply trying to disrupt meetings and inflict political attacks on Obama.

The video is quite easy to debunk, and in fact, it’s pretty embarrassing.

It begins with a woman claiming that Obama’s not a U.S. Citizen (which, if true, would make him constitutionally ineligable for office). Very few Republicans actually believe the “Birther” conspiracy theory, and even fewer of them really care. This is a red herring.

“[Republicans] lost the Recovery Act, the Budget and Children’s Health Care bill.” With the Supermajority that Democrats have right now the Republicans could lose on changing our national anthem to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back.”

“8 years of failed policies that ruined our economy and cost millions of jobs.” I’m not sure if anyone realizes this but Democrats have had power of Congress since 2006, and Obama’s been in office for 6 months.

“Desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs.” Seriously,… I mean this just keeps getting more ridiculous.

“Their goal: to destroy Obama and stop the change Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November.” Actually, the vote was not that overwhelming, unless you just look at electoral votes, which are highly misleading. Because of the winner-take-all system that most states have adopted, whomever gets 51% of the state votes automatically gets awarded 100%. Obama’s popular vote was about 53% – not “overwhelming” in the least.

“This mob activity is straigh out of the playbook of high-level Republican political operatives” (while showing a document about shouting and yelling). Actually, that document they’re showing is from a very young and very uninfluencial blog site that doesn’t seem to have much money, nor ties to the Republican party. Check it out for yourself.

“They have no plan for moving our country forward, so they’re calling out the mob.” Well actually Republicans do have alternative plans, but they’ve been unable to get any of them on the table because of the extreme tilt in the balance of power in Washington. The White House, Congressional Democrats, and I dare say the Media has shut out all opposition views, and attempted to delegitimize anyone who criticizes the Obama plan.

So now I must warn you. This blog, by the simple act of promoting conservatism and opposing radical government expansion, is probably flagged by the government as one that promotes extremist views and seeks to disrupt social peace. My views aren’t those of a concerned citizen, but a radical anarchist who hates poor people, single moms and the elderly and has posters of Rush Limbaugh on his walls.

I truly can’t believe it’s already coming to this. The comparisons to Hitler and Stalin always seemed a bit extreme to me, but the patterns are starting to form, and some of the techniques that are being used to pass the Democratic agenda are strikingly similar to those used by the Germans and Russians before they murdered millions of people. You might say they are “right out of the playbook.”

It’s one thing to be divisive by shoving through a one-sided agenda and ignoring all opposing arguments. But to label those dissenting voices as unworthy of being heard strikes at the core of American values toward free speech and the dignity of the individual.

Despite the promises of bi-partisan efforts and the rhetoric about “working together to get things done” the Democratic leadership in Washington, as well as far-left bloggers seem to be taking on more aggressive approach to the debate through the elimination of opposing views. There’s nothing Democratic about it, but I suppose that’s one way of getting things “done.”