Posted by
Laura L. Hollis, JD on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:54:32 AM
(Originally published February 24, 2009)
“I saw that there comes a point, in the defeat of any man of
virtue, when his own consent is needed for evil to win – and that no
manner of injury done to him by others can succeed if he chooses to
withhold his consent. I saw that I could put an end to your outrages
by pronouncing a single word in my mind … The word [is] ‘No.’”
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Last week I gave my take
on the trillion dollar “stimulus” package Obama and the Congressional
Democrats shoved down America’s throat – that 1100+ page leviathan that
no one read before it was voted on. I warned that the
“Keynesian” policies it supposedly reflected were long-since
discredited, that it would throw us more deeply into economic chaos,
that this was deliberate, that it was little more than a thinly
disguised effort to socialize the entire American economy, and that one
need only read 80 years of communist and socialist theory to see it for
what it was.
Just one week later, what has happened? The markets reacted to the signing of the bill by falling over 300 points. Obama announced yet another
multi-billion dollar “bailout” – this one allegedly for homeowners who
have defaulted on their mortgages (and this despite a 40-60% redefault rate!). $75 billion for them, and $400 billion for who? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the
quasi-government entities that deceptively repackaged and sold the
worthless mortgage-backed securities (under pressure from special
interest groups) that set this economic collapse in motion. And now the government is talking about nationalizing the banks.
Obama’s shills like to point to his poll numbers as proof of public support. Garbage. The markets – the only “poll” that matters – fell to a twelve-year low
yesterday. They drop every time this guy opens his mouth. At this
rate, by the end of Tuesday’s State of the Union address, we’ll be the Weimar Republic.
We are having hundreds of billions of our hard-earned tax dollars
taken from us and given to the same organizations that got us in this
mess, under the advice and counsel of the same irresponsible and
deceitful politicians like Barney Frank and others who ignored warnings
about the bad lending practices in the first place. And those same
politicians now see fit to lecture us about patriotism and fiscal
responsibility? This is a travesty so appalling that it should be
prompting protests in the streets.
As hardworking, tax-paying Americans have watched this Obamadrama
play out, they have become increasingly distressed, saying, “But what
do we do?”
We start saying NO. Obama’s campaign mantra was “Yes, we can.” Here’s the new mantra for the American taxpayer: “No, we won’t.”
The Obama administration looks bold, calm and confident, but they
have one primal fear, and it isn’t economic collapse. The Obamaniacs
are terrified that Americans will see through the charade.
Obama and the Congressional Communists are counting on the American taxpayers to do what they have always done:
gripe a bit, then hunker down, work even harder, and pay even more
taxes. At the first hint of grumbling, they’ll pronounce the usual
platitudes about “shared sacrifice,” “patriotism” and
“belt-tightening.” They’ve already done that. But Americans have seen
through it. Where’s the “shared sacrifice” if you’re cutting back to
make your mortgage payment, and the government hits you up to
pay some stranger’s mortgage as well? And it’s hard to call for
belt-tightening when Congress clamors to sign the bill within hours of
receiving it so that Nancy Pelosi can jet off to Rome for a private
audience with the Pope, and President Obama can ride a taxpayer-funded
747 back to Chicago to take Michelle out for a romantic Valentine’s Day
dinner. (What, there aren’t any restaurants in D.C.?)
When the grumbling gets a little louder than usual, when appeals to
patriotism don’t work, they’ll ratchet up the next level of
shibboleths: accusations of “greed,” “selfishness,” and (that trusty
old standby) “racism.”
Americans’ response must be the same: “No. That won’t work anymore.”
What’s needed here is some good old-fashioned civil disobedience. The Fairness Doctrine is the best place to start.
This may seem a complete non sequitur to people frantic about
the disappearance of a trillion dollars down a rabbit hole. But that
money isn’t spent yet. The 2010 elections could change things
dramatically. But throwing the hypocritical spendthrift bums out of
Congress (and they wrote this bill, not Obama) is dependent upon
American’s access to truthful information. This, for the moment
therefore, is the most critical fight.
Rick Santelli’s now infamous “rant” on CNBC proves my point. It was the first sign of hope I’ve seen in months. And I am not alone
(if the 1.7 million hits to CNBC’s website are any indication).
Santelli tapped into a huge and powerful vein of public sentiment Mary Kate Cary in U.S. News and World Report called Santelli’s opinion, “the elephant in the room.” (Now there’s an image message-seeking Republicans should be able to relate to.)
That is what Obama and his Congressional commie comrades fear
more than anything else. It was proven when the President – the leader
of the most powerful nation in the world - trotted out his press
secretary, the next day, to try to humiliate a hitherto-obscure reporter from a show called “The Squawk Box.” Americans must not know the truth.
We must not know how many of us are in agreement. We must not defeat
Democrats and elect conservatives in 2010 (and 2012). And so you can
expect the push for the “Fairness Doctrine” (under that name, or
something else) to get stronger now, not weaker.
Our best hope is access to the information we can get from talk
radio and other alternative media. So this is a call to radio station
owners, television station owners, managers, producers, writers, on-air
talent, bloggers, and alternative media magnates everywhere. If they
try to force the Fairness Doctrine on you, you say no. You change nothing – not your schedule, not your format, not your programming, not your writing, not your talent – nothing.
Do you think this is extreme? Consider this: If Congress passed a
law that sent African-Americans to the back of the bus again, would they go? If some administrative agency drafted a regulation that placed Americans with Japanese last names in internment camps, would they go?
Hell, no. Those laws would be unconstitutional, and the persons
affected would make damn sure everyone knew it. But pass a regulation
or law in utter violation of our First Amendment rights, a law intended
to shut conservatives up, and we’re expected to roll over.
No. Not this time. Not anymore.
You take a page out of the civil rights playbook. Protest.
Picket. Storm your representatives’ offices. Use the legal system.
Go straight to your county or federal courthouse and file for a
temporary restraining order, and then a permanent injunction against
the enforcement of the law or regulation. If you are fined, do not pay
it. Make the government defend civil litigation in every city and
every state across the country. The government cannot possibly do
this, anymore than it can possibly shut down every single Christian,
conservative, right-wing, Republican or Libertarian show and/or station
in the country. More to the point, they won’t want the country to see
them try. If you think Santelli’s rant generated public
outrage, imagine how the public would react to footage of government
agents coming into your studio or station and forcing you to shut
down. Imagine that happening all over the country.
When blacks marched peacefully through the streets of the south in
the 1960s, and they had the water hoses turned on them, and attack dogs
unleashed on them, the rest of America saw those governments for what
they were. This government is depending upon our complicity in its takeover.
Not anymore. This time, we are saying, “No.”