Good post...

It is almost scary when you think of the speed with which the Tea Party has manifested itself as a dominant movement in American politics. So scary, in fact, that it begs a question...

Are there historical parallels?

Could Beck have been right when he compared what he was doing on 8/28 with what Dr. King said on the same steps thirty seven years earlier? Has the Tea Party taken up the call to champion the power and dignity of the individual over the generalization and stratification of the ever growing and ever less accessible government bureaucracy?

King's speech called on America, and specifically the Federal government, to judge a man by the content of his character, rather than by the superficial methods typically employed in generations past. King was addressing racism... no question about it. But was that all you can apply his words and intent to? Does nothing in the modern world seem to call for the rights and dignity of the individual to be paramount to the stagnant, undignified status quo?

Collectivism, socialism, Marxism, liberalism... whatever label you choose to use means the same thing: reducing all of our society to the lowest common denominator. How can that be an acceptable outlook for America's future? Who doesn't want their children to do better in life than their parents did? Who doesn't want to succeed in business, finances, career, family, and faith? Why is it wrong to expect to be compensated for labor or assets sold to the highest bidder? When is it okay for a government to say "This is enough... you don't need any more"?

This is a time when we get to see America come back from the extreme. Liberalism has reached its limit here in the US, I think. When even someone as politically savy as a President of the United States must be can be as brazen as to feel comfortable discussing "collective salvation" while giving a commencement speech, or using terms like "spreading the wealth" when speaking ex tempore during a photo op... traditional American values are going to seem pretty threatened, and John Q Public on Main Street America isn't going to feel good about that threat.

Conservatives cannot squander what they win now, though. In 2000, George W. Bush had the White House, Trent Lott had the Senate, and Dennis Hastert ruled the House. A "conservative majority" sat the Bench of the Supreme Court. That conservative government lasted only 6 years... and very little "conservative" success can be seen from those six years. The deficit soared to new heights, domestic spending was three times what it had been in the 90's, and America saw little benefit to keeping the GOP control in place.

If the GOP really has the answers, then they better do everything in their power to SHOW us the answers and benefits... or the liberal agenda will again win out.