United Liberty

Politically active people, such as those who read blogs, usually have a lot of knowledge about pending legislation, Supreme Court cases, et cetera. I’m sure you’ve read blog post after blog post, analysis after analysis on today’s decision(s). Twitter basically exploded with meltdowns from the right, gloating from the left, and a lot of hand-wringing and predictions about the death of the Republic.

About an hour after the decision, and after lots of pleading and puppy-dog eyes from my 9-year-old, we headed to the health club where, guess what, no one was talking about ObamaCare or SCOTUS at all.

While commiserating with my one workout partner who is politically aware, she said the following:

“I think this sealed the deal on another election like 2010. A few weeks ago I was about 50/50 on whether Obama would be re-elected, but now I am thinking 60/40 on Romney. This ticked a lot of people off and put the fire under the butts of a lot of inactive conservatives. In 2010 I was so pissed off that I picked up 2 like-minded friends that wouldn’t have bothered to vote on my way to the polling station. I also manipulated my husband into getting off his butt. In other words, I multiplied my vote by 4. Given the amount of people that don’t vote, I think this is the way to really win an election. I’m sure every conservative can find at least 1 person to drag out to vote.”

She gets it! Instead of hand-wringing and legal analysis, we need to now MESSAGE what this election is about and mobilize. Americans are an innately freedom-loving people. The time for philosophies of what government should be and what an ideal candidate would look/sound like is over. It’s time to rally behind Romney, imperfect candidate that he is, and take the first steps toward restoring liberty.

What message should we be getting out to our circle of influence? Point out the following:

• This is the first time that you can be taxed for NOT doing something. Now that Congress has this power, what else will they try to make you do for fear of being taxed?
• This tax is levied on US Citizens, but not illegals – but they can still partake of the healthcare. (This already happens, but will be on a much greater level.)
• The government will tell you that you will get a subsidy to help pay for your insurance program, but that subsidy comes from the taxes you and other people already paid, so it’s really a giant money-laundering process.
• Every healthcare decision will now be subject to review by the government. When has that ever been fast or effective?

These are only four points, but when you are talking with your friends and associates about political issues, you don’t want to launch into a thesis. These are great starting points for a conversation where you can go into depth on principles of liberty, especially the first and last points.

And if you don’t have time for a conversation, internet memes can be useful when used properly: