Change isn't popular. We all know this. History has shown us clear examples throughout time:
End to slavery, women's suffrage, women's rights, voter rights, age discrimination clauses, minor protection laws, wage laws, union rights, workers rights, race discrimination, civil rights, disability rights, abortion rights, minority rights, gun rights, health care rights, and so on.
Nothing is ever *accepted* the first time out. Nobody wants their worlds or corners of the universe disturbed or upended violently.
But going over what the Tea Party is so against, it just *amazes* me that they are often on the losing side of history.
All their bravado, false witnessing, misdirected hatred, and racial intolerance just proves how ill-equipped they are to dealing with change.
Charging the government with treason, socialist aims, and being nothing more than a basic 'thug' is just undermining our own ongoing drives and goals towards continued democracy and freedom.
Wishing violence, spreading hatred, inciting calls to civil war isn't going to be taken at face value, nor will this kind of childish behavior be tolerated out in the open or in public office.
These types of "conservatives" had well over a decade to make the changes that they wanted to tax laws to favor themselves, or to cull social programs designed to help a number of Americans from *all* walks of life, but all they did waste their time and the government's money bestowing tax breaks to the rich, passing legislation which favored Big Business over the average consumer, revoked consumer and environmental protections for this country, challenged and subverted science and technological advances for political gain, started wars for profits, wasted tax payer monies on a whole host of government projects and programs--from trying to uncover the secrets to immortality to chasing an impossible dream to shoot for Mars.
But where's the change which favors *them*? Political perks and government handouts? Where was the Republican *promise* that those who are party loyalists get rewarded for their undying faith and belief in conservatism?
I didn't see *any* of these same voters whom voted Republican time and again, get their "cake" from years of loyalty.
What I *did* see is the same party they voted in many times over put the *screws* to both them and everyone else when it came to passing legislation or laws designed to help out Main Street Street America!
They complain too often that their taxes are too *high* and that they are paying too much, but does anyone here know *who* started this trend?
Think about the 12 years we had of Republican control and the 8 years we had of *Bush*: Do you think he was thinking of constituents when he lowered the tax rates on the wealthy and raised it on everyone else?
Nope.
So why blame Democrats or anyone else for the increase in tax rates? Why accuse liberals and free-thinkers for being the reason for the decline of America?
*We* weren't in the driver's seat dictating Congressional law or what went on in the White House! From where we stood, Bush kept reassuring Americans that everything was well and there was nothing to worry about! lol
And the Republican Party went along like a loyal servant and reiterated what their boss said on public television.
While the Democrats did take control of Congress in 2006, did anyone catch what the GOP and Bush said a couple days after the elections?
They said (and I quote): "We're going to do whatever we can to slow or stop the progress of government--by gridlocking everything completely and obstructing any meaningful legislation that the Democrats may come up and want to pass."
In other words: Nothing would get done for the next two years--something that many political analysts predicted would come to pass.
And it did! We had to wait till Obama was President to finally get down to work and get things done!
And what does the Tea Party complain about?
That Obama and the Democrats have done *nothing* since they were elected! They haven't addressed the job situation, the unemployment problem, or the lack of federal funding for many programs--from education to first response.
Instead--they charge--they spent most of the year tackling health care and nothing else.
Well...wasn't that one of Obama's campaign promises? To tackle health care and bring reform to the people?
If McCain had done the same--which he didn't want to (by the way)--would the Tea Party people be up in arms as they are now over the issue as they are with Obama?
This piece of legislation has always been a touchy issue. It has been since the days of Teddy Roosevelt all the way up to President Clinton.
No one knows *how* the bill was going to be crafted or created. But because of the difficulties it was *then* to implement such change, nobody said that it was going to be easy to accomplish--let alone understand what the bill contains.
Or what it means for the American public at large.
But the facts remain: The Republican Party historically didn't want this bill to pass or to even take up the baton to addressing health care reform that would benefit everyone.
As you've already seen, they've done everything they could to kill the bill.
Repealing it is going to be impossible--since some of the provisions of the bill has already gone into effect.
That's like trying to take someone off life-support--after he got into a bad car accident--and trying to decide which devices that the patient can do without, without killing him in the process.
Yes, health care reform is a scary prospect to comprehend. But look at all the challenges and difficulties we had to endure just to get to this one point:
It's not just about making history, it's about finally changing the face of the beast which has left millions of our fellow Americans without coverage.
The Tea Party may have problems with it on a personal or political level, but their Republican bosses had their chance to keep things from changing.
And they couldn't stop it from happening. All the money in the world couldn't prevent change from taking place.
Because...why?
Anyone?
Because the world we live in *today* (in the here and now) has transformed itself considerably from what it was during the last 30 years.
Things are much different and everyone is rushing to catch up to that fact.
Unfortunately, there are those that still want to change things back to the way they were, turn back the clock on both history and progress and go back into hiding--because they can't handle what's going on.
It's just too much for them to handle.
And that's why the Tea Party and the GOP is acting the way they are: They're powerless to do anything about what's happened, they are scared, and they think that if they don't do something soon, everything they've ever known will just...
Disappear into the ether.
Thoughts? Comments? Hot chocolate-tea combo with marshmallows?
