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Lady Liberty
Ping Pong Politics
December 10, 2009
Over a few games of beer pong (yes, really), I got a
chance to talk a little politics with a couple of
college students over the Thanksgiving holiday
weekend. It was no surprise to find that their view
of Barack Obama was fairly positive since that
demographic is almost overwhelmingly both Democrat
and supportive of Obama's campaign and presidency.
One said he thought that the President was a lot
smarter than all of us (I disagree, and an
interesting 'blog entry sets out some convincing
reasoning as to how that's actually the case);
another said he seemed like a decent enough man (I
disagree with that, too). Yet for the first time,
the positive comments were followed by a word that's
becoming more and more pervasive these days where
Barack Obama is concerned, and that word is "but."
Yes, Barack Obama seems to be a pretty smart guy but he's sure doing
some stupid things!
Sure, Barack Obama appears to be a nice guy but his programs are bad for
the country.
The fact is, it doesn't really matter what kind of
scores the president received on any intelligence tests, nor should
we really care whether or not we'd like him if we ever met him. While we
all know that he's a charismatic user of the teleprompter and that he
made myriad promises to hand out largesse from the US Treasury if he
were elected, actions speak louder than words. And in his every deed,
his every action since his election, he's proved himself to be either
ignorant of history or uncaring for American citizens (and often both).
That's not very smart, and it's certainly not very nice!
After some further discussion, I discovered a very interesting thing.
Despite any otherwise positive thoughts they may have concerning the
president, both young men confessed to being worried. One told me he
didn't want to think about the debt the Obama administration is
incurring, one that will likely burden not only him but his children,
grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren as well. Another, despite
his fears, seemed to think that he was being paranoid, that the bad
things we were talking about wouldn't—couldn't!—really happen here.
Sadly, a hefty part of the rationale behind their inclination to hide
their heads in the sand is the belief that there's nothing they can do
about the situation anyway.
I told the guys that, as much as it pained me to admit it, they're
right. Of course, they're also very wrong.
As individuals, there aren't many of us who can make an appreciable
difference. Without the money of Bill Gates, the audience of Oprah
Winfrey, or (let's face it), the blind worship of Barack Obama, our
influence is limited. But individual action can be multiplied many times
when other individuals commit similar, preferably simultaneous action.
Witness last spring's Tea Parties and the resulting impressive march on
Washington. Take note of the summertime townhall meetings regarding
health care reform. The fact that our taxes haven't yet been lowered and
that efforts toward health care reform are still ongoing doesn't take
away from the truth our representatives have now come to know: Betray
your constituency, lose your job.
While one freshman Senator says he doesn't care if his vote on health
care reform
results in his losing his seat, the vast majority of politicians do
care, and they care a great deal. This is one time when the evolution of
politicians from representation of other citizens to being in it for
themselves and their party is going to come in handy!
They may not be willing to do the right thing because it's the right
thing, but they'll likely do it if they don't think they've got any
other way to keep their job and all of its accompanying benefits
(including, by the way, a far better health care plan than any of us
could ever get).
Those of us on the side of liberty and prosperity have now lost a couple
of battles where health care reform is concerned, but the war hasn't yet
been won. And make no mistake: This is a war. Our freedom and our
standard of living are both very much at risk if existing plans come to
fruition. The same is true of Cap and Trade legislation.
If it passes, we stand to lose not only a good deal of money and the
resulting hit to our economy, but portions of our sovereignty as well.
And don't even get me started talking about the increasing chatter
concerning any small arms agreements made through the United Nations, a
group that has long wanted to infringe the Second Amendment rights of
Americans and which now sees its opportunity under a US President who is
just as hostile to freedom as it is!
I know most of you are no more rich or powerful than I am. But I also
know that we must do something if we expect to be able to continue to
live free and in relative comfort. Health care reform isn't a bad thing,
but the way Washington currently plans to do it is. Get involved in
efforts to halt current plans and replace them with something that's
both more freedom-friendly and which might actually work (adding
insult to injury, current proposals don't encompass either of those
things). No one favors pollution, but
Cap and Trade isn't the way to clean up our environment. Learn more
for yourself, and get involved in halting Cap and Trade while supporting
measures that are better for both the economy and the environment alike.
Have you ever played beer pong? I realize it's simplifying things a
great deal, but look at the current state of politics as a game of beer
pong.
Barack Obama and Congress are on one end of the table. They're throwing
balls everywhere, and some of them are splashing down right on target.
Meanwhile, they've apparently been at it for awhile now because it's
clear that he and his cronies are drunk on their power and on their
heady high opinions of themselves. But with a resigned czar here, an
investigation there, a plummeting opinion poll or two, and a White House
on the defensive, we're managing to hit a few of those cups ourselves.
Beer pong is a winner-take-all kind of game. You can be down any number
of cups, but if you start getting the balls in the cups, you can keep
right on going until you catch up and then surpass your opponent. If you
hit the last cup, that's it. Game over. So the fact that we're currently
a little behind on this one is immaterial to whether or not we can still
win because the truth is that we can. We just have to be willing to keep
throwing those balls. So make your phone calls. Write your letters. Go
to your protests. Every one of those individual shots could be, when
pooled with all of the others, be the game winner.
A friend with whom I'm usually paired in games of beer pong likes to say
that there are no real losers in the game that everybody ends up
drinking at least some beer over the course of a match. I'll give him
that. But the game of politics is a little more serious than beer pong,
and we stand to lose a whole lot more than a game if we lose the
currently ongoing battles over the direction our country is headed.
Now here's some really good news: College kids are usually better at
beer pong than the average older adult because they get more practice.
They're often better at political protests, too, because they have a
good deal of passion. Their passion, in fact, played a major role in
getting Barack Obama elected. Their feelings toward the president,
however, are changing in the face of the debt they'll have to shoulder,
the unemployment numbers they'll be pitted against on graduation, and
the knowledge that they'll likely be the first generation to have a
lower standard of living than their parents.
These students aren't stupid. Once they
really get what's going on, they'll be inclined to rally against it.
Those of us who have seen several presidents and who remember people
like Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan are already on board. If all it
takes is some conversation and a few beers to illustrate to them why
they should join us, well, beer is cheap. Freedom is not and, once lost,
takes years and a good deal of blood and sweat to win back. I don't know
about you, but I'd rather play beer pong. |
