Arrogance in Washington
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}I want to start with a phrase that could be the quintessential American ideal: All men are created equal. I don't think we've ever achieved it; even in the golden era of the American Revolution, it was short and fleeting. But we strive for it.
Do you agree we should strive for it? Before you answer that, take a look at video of Democratic Rep. Pete Stark that came out this week. Stark is the guy who taunted The Minutemen and asked how many illegals they killed. He was taking questions at a town hall meeting in Hayward, California about the power of the federal government:
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}REP. PETE STARK, D-CALIF.: The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country.
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WOMAN: You, sir, and people that think like you are destroying this nation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}STARK: Well, I'm sure glad you're here to save it. Makes me feel very comfortable.
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These are his constituents and arrogance just oozes out of him. He's not even trying to hide it. Now, if this was just one lone arrogant jerk then I wouldn't be giving this clown the light of day, but it's not just him. I think this is how the overwhelming majority of our congressmen and senators view you. They hold you in contempt. They think you're stupid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}How many times have you called your representative's office, only to get hung up on or be given the runaround? How many times did you call to get information on a health care town hall or event and get lied to about the time and date of the event?
Why would they treat their own constituents this way? Because they can. They think you'll just go away.
We've got a show coming up soon — another one of my crazy ratings ploys: "Manifest destiny vs. divine providence."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Divine providence is the idea that you are just trying to live your life — working, raising a family, trying to live by God's principles — but doors are opened and things happen that could only be explained as the finger of God, who helps you along the way. The understanding of divine providence actually humbles those involved.
But just like all good things, the dark side turns it inside out, into something horrible. The opposite of divine providence is manifest destiny; it's "Get the hell out of our way, we're on a mission from God." And you see this from Andrew Jackson to Woodrow Wilson to today. What do you think Obama means when he says this:
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BARACK OBAMA: My individual salvation is not going to come about without a collective salvation for the country.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}OBAMA: I strongly believe that my personal story is wrapped up with the larger story of this country. That my individual salvation rests on our collective salvation.
OBAMA: What I found in my life is that my individual salvation depends on our collective salvation.
OBAMA: Our individual salvation depends on collective salvation.
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What does that mean? He cannot be saved, unless we're all saved. That is a perversion. The point is that the president and progressives like him have put themselves in a position that they know something you don't know or are too stupid to figure out. So the smart people have to figure things out; it's their obligation to save you.
Is Obama making himself God? No. But the progressive movement wants to replace God with the state. They have the right to punish, to take away rights, grant favors and decide who lives and who dies. The state has become God and it's for the good of the collective. If you disagree, well, you have to be stopped. They know best.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That's why Pope Benedict says this: "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine but demonic."
Demonic not divine.
Now, help me figure this one out: They say they want to help you. Well let's look at the difference between a democracy and a republic. What's the difference?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pure democracy operates by direct majority vote of the people; the majority feeling rules.
A republic is what we currently have: You elect representatives who then go to work for you. You don't have time to read the 2,500-page bills coming out one after another, so you hire someone to do it for you. Which makes the arrogance of John Conyers even more amazing when he says this:
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}REP. JOHN CONYERS: I love these members that get up and say, "read the bill." What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?
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That's like a truck driver saying, "Why would I do all that driving? Have you seen how many miles that is?" He's supposed to do that so I don't have to! That's what we pay him for. But if they think that the bills are too confusing and long for them to read, why do they want more democracy? How can they expect you (the stupid one) to read it? You're too stupid to know universal health care is good, that TARP is for the best, but they are pushing for more voice from you? That doesn't seem consistent.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Only way to make those consistent is that they are only telling the truth on half of it. Are they really empowering you and lying about being arrogant? Or are they truly elitists and getting you to be like sheep to be led into the barn — that's for you to decide. But it's kind of obvious.
Have you ever played poker? Pete Stark is a tell — something that gives away your hand. These guys are at best a tell, but I think more so they are just tired of playing the game: We're close, let's just take it!
Same with progressive Bill Maher, who says the stupid people have to be dragged into health care:
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BILL MAHER, HBO: Forget this stuff. You can't get Americans to agree on anything. Sixty-percent? Sixty-percent of people don't believe in evolution in this country. He just needs to drag them to it. Like I just said, they're stupid. Just drag them to this. Get health care done with or without them...
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}America, you might think these are isolated events, that they are not connected. But here's what about Walter Lippman — icon in the press industry — says: "The common interests very largely elude public opinion entirely and can be managed only by a specialized class whose personal interests reach beyond the locality."
In other words: You're too stupid or greedy to understand.
How about when the president's favorite blog, Arianna Huffington's The Huffington Post, wanted to understand Sarah Palin. Here's Arianna's conclusion: "It's not Palin's positions people respond to — it's her use of symbols."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No, that's not what it is. They like the fact that she's real. She says what she means and means what she says. People are starving for someone that is real, not calculating. Does Arianna believe Sarah Palin is equal to her? Of course not.
How about President Obama, who knows the Cambridge police acted stupidly and knows the Arizona police will act stupidly. He doesn't need to meet the head of BP, he already knows what those people are like. Does he believe all men are created equal?
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