Tyranny of the Majority

The president and those yokels in congress have run amok. Seriously. Between what they've been preaching and the media's high horsed rants, so many people have climbed aboard the bandwagon of "give it to me for free!" Our country, our poor, poor country, was not established on the virtues of large take-care-of-everyone's-needs government. The successes we've seen in the history of this great nation have emminated from an attitude of DIY - Do It Yourself.

Was it right for AIG to give "bonuses" to executives, using the monies obtained through a hastily crafted, fault ridden, bohemoth of a bill that will continue to haunt our children's children for decades? Probably not. Retroactive taxing is no more appropriate now than it was before, though. The apparant lack of respect for the rights of people has left me flabergasted. I watch through tearful eyes as the basis upon which this country was built is torn assunder.

As I listen to the news broadcasts relating the events unfolding in Washington, I am almost constantly on the verge of breaking down, screaming at the television for all the good that would do. John McCain was riddiculed for suggesting that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Yet, that statement was as accurate that day as it is today. Fundamentally, our economy is based on free trade. The markets are free to go up as well as down. It is when government intervenes that the shifts in the market go totally out of whack.

President Obama and his cohorts in congress are attacking the very fundamentals that make this country strong. In the name of safety, they are seeking to sieze control of private and publically held companies. Serious danger looms on the horizon.

I fear what will become of this nation when we've offered our last shred of liberty as a sacrifice to the gods of safety. That day is not too far away. I hope I am wrong.

Our hope. Our only hope rests with a few Democrats seeing the light and banding with conservatives in congress. MoveOn.org calls this a "nightmare scenario: a few conservative Democrats teaming up with Republicans to stop the progressive pieces of the President's agenda."

Abraham Lincoln suggested that what one man calls liberty is another man's tyranny.

“We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny.”

I'm thinking that much of what is going on in Washington is the Progressive effort to take what belongs to one man and give it to others. Taking the product of another's labor and doing with that as they please is not liberty but tyranny. This is not what our country is about. This is not what made America the strong country that it is today.

I cannot sit back and watch this from the comfort of my livingroom. What I would ask is that everyone call your representatives, your senators and write a letter or two. Write to your congressmen! Write to the President! Stop this injustice, stop it all!