Those of you who are frequent readers of this column may have detected that I believe civility in politics is overrated. When principles are challenged, when the stakes are high, sweet talk and comity usually lead to a destructive “compromise.” Our nation is in peril. Our leaders have failed us, and we have miserably failed to hold them accountable. Happy talk and congeniality in the halls of governance will not pull us back from the precipice. “Going along to get along” will not reverse the decay that has infested our system. These times demand harsh, blunt talk. Our current situation begs for forceful action that is based on principles not on “slowing down the inevitable slide into statism.”
Tough talk when dealing with opponents and career politicians is necessary, but when working with allies to capture the levers of power, harsh language could prove to be counterproductive. For those of us in the liberty/patriot movement to have some disagreements about policies or tactics is to be expected. To engage in name calling and character assassination with others who are as passionate as we are about restoring our nation is stupid and self-defeating. Are we willing to sacrifice an opportunity for constitutional government in order to pass another constitutional amendment that will be ignored by the political class? Will we forfeit our chance for constitutional government so that we may encase our preferences for social behavior into law? These are not the only diversions from the laser-like goal of restoring our constitutional republic. There are others, but the focus, the effort and our energy must be on defeating self-serving compromisers and underhanded, big-government statists. We cannot have any hope of restoring constitutional government to the nation as a whole (secession is always an option) until we eliminate the weak and the nannies. We cannot win until we ALL agree that constitutional government is the goal, and we’ll deal with our other differences after the battle is over.
The NCAA Sweet Sixteen is taking place this weekend at a number of venues around the country. There are a number of talented teams who will be playing, but only a quarter of them will advance to the Final Four in Huston. Each team is unique, but they do share some common traits. Each of them has roughly a dozen highly talented players with varying skills. Their experience in tournament competition is rather broad, but not all have played on a stage so prominent. The rules limit each team to five players at one time in the game although substitutions will be an important component of their games. Every game begins with a jump ball, and whichever team wins that will have to first opportunity to score.
The situation today in our country, and its meaning for patriots or liberty-lovers is somewhat similar to the NCAA scenario. The movement consists of people with varying talents, skill levels and experience. We must all work together as a team, however, and for any given task, we should have our best five on the floor. If someone falters or fouls out, our subs must be ready and prepared. Even if we find a teammate who is annoying, we must submerge our dislike and work together as a team for a common purpose. If one of our teammates allows her or his personal agenda and preferences to rise above the team goal, then we must do everything possible to bring the outlier back into the fold,…or put in a substitute. Some huge differences between the Sweet Sixteen and our task are that the survival of our nation is on the line, and losing is not an option. Also, our jump ball takes place at the end of the game rather than the beginning. When our opponents play dirty, no one will call a “foul” because our adversaries pay the referees and control the distribution of whistles. Our game is the proverbial five on eight that so many coaches and players whine about. It’s too bad, but we have spent our lifetimes ignoring the game and failing to learn the rules. It’s time to play catch-up. We can win. We must win. We will win if we play together…as a team. Ball’s up!!
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