Posted by
Patrick Henry on Saturday, November 14, 2009 1:16:02 PM
Whoever said that democracy is rule by majority? The only time that's even semi-true seems to be at
the time of a presidential election. From that time forward the president and the party in power seem
to do as they jolly well please without reference to the majority opinion of the American people.
Recent history is replete with examples, and the polls tell the sad tale. A majority of the population
opposes the healthcare reform bill recently passed by the House of Representatives and vigorously
lobbied for by the president. A majority of Americans opposes closing Guantanamo Bay and and an even
larger majority disagrees with bringing the terrorists to American soil and trying them in civilian courts.
Yet that is what is in progress today. A clear majority of Americans oppose raising taxes to pay for
more entitlement programs, government encroachment into the private sector, union takeover by
card check, cap-and-trade energy policies, abortion on demand, gay marriage and gays in the military
and a host of other things that Barack Obama are daily striving to impose on the nation. The election
was last year. The majority clearly does not govern this year.
What's wrong with these people that they're not listening? Even more important, what's wrong with
our system that a president and his party can run roughshod over the American people on issues
ranging from their most dearly held moral principles to their freedom of speech to their healthcare?
In many of the world's Democracies massive public denunciation of a leader's actions can lead to
mandatory special elections. If elections were forced today, would Barack Obama and the Democratic
legislative majority retain power? Only when pigs fly!
The problem with the Democratic party and their president is that they have spent decades flirting
with and adopting a socialist political philosophy, and when America granted them the windfall of
near unbridled control of the White House and both houses of congress they reacted like a child who
stole the entire cookie jar. They plan to stuff themselves until they eventually get sick. Trouble is,
they're making the rest of us sick in the process. Are they miscalculating? Doubtful. They understand
that when their agenda has been enacted they will be thrown out of Washington for abusing their
power and doing the very things a majority of American don't want. But they also know that whatever
they can successfully write into law will be extremely difficult -- maybe even impossible -- for
successor givernments to undo. They are exactly like the kid who stole the car he could never afford
to buy, and, like him, they're going to drive it as far and as fast as they can before they crash. The
bad news is that there won't be anything left of the car, and America is the car.
So what can be done about presidents and parties who habitually break promises they made to get
elected and who insist in ramming policies the majority don't agree with down America's throat? Very
little on the short term. The Tea Parties, angry town hall meeting protests and the precious few news
organizations that have criticized and challenged them have, at least, rocked them back on their heels
a bit. But they have also become more determined to enact their catastrophic agenda fast, before the
mid-term elections and the looming presidential election of 2012. When those elections occur, Americans
will have a chance to prove ther're not as dumb as electing Obama made them look. That might be too
late. It is critically important to wrest majority status in the House of Representatives from the Democrats
in 2010. But that may be a long shot.
What about the longer term? Term limits would help, althugh the current Democratic majority in the
Senate will never pass that suggested limitation. What we need is a constitutional mandate to demand
immediate new elections when it becomes clear that elected officials have lied to gain power and are not
acting according to the will of a majority of American citizens. Good luck with that!
Meanwhile, what we've got is what we've got. Hugo Chavez, socialist dictator Venezuela has clutched
and consolidated his power by silencing critics through intimdation, restricting the free press, forcing
enactment of legislation and nationalizing everything from oil refineries to gilf courses. Can anyone with
half a brain look at what's going on in America and say, with a straight face, that Barack Obama is NOT
doing or trying to do all of those same things? Of course he is, because he fancies himself a socialist
dictator, not the president of a free democracy. America is well down the road toward having an emperor
instead of a president. I'm passing on a family gathering this weekend because I have a Tea Party to go
to. What are you willing to give up for the country we used to know?