Appearances and opportunities, Part II

Ms. Bachman should have been the only Congresscritter to have been featured. To have other GOPers speak and assume prominent roles merely transformed a serious outpouring of grassroots sentiment into a partisan pep rally. As an objectivist, constitutionalist, libertarian, conservative christian, I view many Republican legislators with an element of healthy skepticism. While many of them speak the language of conservatives, I suspect that deep within their cores, there is nothing there. They are uneasy with the left, and somewhat skittish about "Big Government," but seem to lack any coherent structure of principles. They seem to be mere opportunists who generally vote to the right of center. Ms. Bachman, I believe, is principled, and therefore, should have been seen to be solely responsible for generating the gathering. Forty-thousand (s.w.a.g. average) citizens answering the clarion call of one principled leader has a much greater impact than if the same number had assembled under the sponsorship of several dozen Members of Congress. I do not know if Ms. Bachman invited the others, or if they invited themselves, but their presence certainly diluted the impact of the event...in my view.