After some further thought...

I wrote my last just as I was leaving my office to finish a project in another building, so I was a bit rushed. The jist is sound, but I left for home at about 1 AM and thought I'd add to it some. So, for the 45 minutes I was driving home, I pondered Ryan's post.

The more I thought, the more I was inclined to agree that much of the Democratic Party IS bent on trying to marginalize the Constitution as out-dated and irrelevant to anything that applies to traditional or conservative values in America. The First Amendment seems to apply ONLY to the pornography industry or to Hollywood execs... but not to people or communities where a display of the Ten Commandments would be appreciated, or to political commentators who voice a different opinion than the DNC.

Here's my opinion on how best to combat the Reid-Pelosi poison currently spinning through the halls of power...

For every single ultra-liberal proposal that Congress or Obama wants to push through the way that they pushed through the initial stimulus bill, the GOP (and this means specifically Steele and the RNC and Republican Congressional leadership... NOT "talk radio" pundits) needs to find a way to SHOW the public in clear and concise ways WHY the proposal is wrong, bad or ill-concieved. Put it into a press release, have it read in a daily radio address, have Steele and the Congressional leadership begin a tradition of "fire-side chats" to SHOW the population what is wrong with the liberal agenda being forced on America... just do SOMETHING to show that the opposition isn't OPPOSED to something for the sake of opposition. THAT is the message that the Left is bringing home now... there is nothing for the common man in the message of conservatism today, it is only for the super-rich, power-hungry types who rule Wall Street and go to church every Sunday.

Obama has learned one lesson from history, at least: you have to be seen to be doing SOMETHING to fix the problem by the public. "Hands off" is fantastic in political and economic theory, but it doesn't do those in America that really are in trouble any good NOW. They will gravitate and support the man that is seen to be doing SOMETHING, and Huey Long is my example from history. The man was an avowed crook... and I do mean "avowed". He was blatant in his cronyism, he routinely made references to fascist ideals in his speeches, and espoused the strongest form of big, bloated central government we've ever seen, before or since... yet this man's name is still spoken of fondly and with regard in the State of Louisianna to this very day, and LA is considered a "rock-solid" RED state! How can this be?

I feel that if someone is going to attribute this to his undeniable "entitlement" programs, you can also attribute some of it to the "work projects" that are still functional today... like the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, or UNO, or the first causeway across Lake Pontchertrain (something he championed, in fact, if he didn't actually finish). Back in the day, however, Long's political detractors simply labeled him a "communist" and kept pointing to his moral and ethical failings, rather than offer real substance to counter his positions.

The GOP can't afford to make this mistake again now. If the programs and agendas of Obama, Reid and Pelosi are bad for America, then the GOP has to show the evidence in a clear and measurable manner that will counter their talking points, one-on-one.