I like beer. I like many different types of beers, and I especially enjoy the entire line of Sam Addams. My favorite mass-produced beer is Sam Adams Boston Lager, and I rarely turn down the chance to engage in it's bitter hops and full, rich body. I actually graced the Boston Brewery (the producers of Sam Adams products) with my presence while in Boston just under two years ago.
During that trip to Boston, I spent a lot of time drinking Sam Adams beer and contemplating the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. In Boston, one of the greatest examples of American character in the form of political protest took place 235 years ago, when a bunch of drunk guys dressed up like Native Americans dropped a metric shit-tonne (yes, that is an actual measurement) of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the taxes on tea specifically, but more generally about being taxed without representation (there is much more to this, but for the masses, I will keep my history lessons dumbed down).
Today, 15 April 2009, in the year of our Lord, is tax day. The day when most of our taxes are due for the previous fiscal year ending a few months ago. While the old adage goes "the only certainty in life is death and taxes" we see something not so certain and founded occurring today. A nation-wide, organized, conservative, grassroots protest. There are going to be "Tea-Parties" held in state capitals, large cities, small towns, and most venues one can think of across the land, from sea to shining sea (although the meaning of the protests will probably be lost on those crazy east and west coasters who love low virtue and high taxes). I find this to be a very intriguing occurrence seeing as there are at least 10 of these parties happening (that I know of) within an hour and half drive of Ashland, my current location. I say it is a conservative protest because it is based on low taxes and fiscal responsibility, two things that have not been considered by liberals since the Progressive movement hijacked the term liberal.
Now, it is funny to think of a bunch of conservatives gathering to protest and petition their government. I can picture the redneck playing "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" by Toby Keith on his acoustic, or a middle-aged woman who once burned her bra in protest of social injustice, who once inhaled the noxious fumes of a cross-your-heart mixed with whatever was in that joint that just passed by, complaining about the biker smoking 200 yards away from her. Irony at its best. But unlike the overly-energetic hippies of the past, these are respected members of the community, more even-tempered adults coming together to show their frustration with their wasteful and irresponsible government. But this time they don't have much ground to stand on.
These are the same people who felt the need to elect one of the most liberal governments ever seen in American history. These are the same people who looked to George W. Bush to lead the Republican Party, and the Conservative movement in general. After 9.11.01, we seemed more than willing to sacrifice our liberty for safety. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" and these Conservative Americans are the ones who were more than willing to hand over their right to privacy, or the basic human rights of those being held at Guantanamo Bay, just so they could feel a little safer. They elected neo-conservatives and hawkish liberals who had no concern as to economic liberty, and put personal liberty on the back-burner.
While I heavily blame middle-America for just about everything that you can't blame on coastal liberals or the French, I can understand their plight. They just want to raise their families in peace, and work however hard they must to provide a better life for their children. They want to please their God and love their country. No problem with that. The problem is when they loose site of the necessity of the engaged, politically active and attentive citizen. America seems to have lost its "Manly and vigilant spirit" that James Madison claimed (in the Federalist Papers) would keep America going strong even through the unstoppable corruption of democratic governments. Perhaps these "Tea-Parties" are an attempt to regain this manly and vigilant spirit, or perhaps they are a half-ass attempt at making up for over 20 years of terrible voting decisions by both sides of the eisle.
Let me tell you this America: I will be manly and vigilant enough for all of you. I will never cease in my pursuit of liberty and freedom, I will never falter in my quest for my country to thrive as a shining beacon of hope to the rest of the world, and never should you give up, unless you are fighting for something contrary to me, then you should stop right now and feel ashamed of your stupidity.
But seriously America, let us learn a lesson from one of our great brethren, another speaker of English, student of human nature, and more than anything, lover of liberty and freedom, Winston Churchill. In the darkest days of WWII, before the sleeping Giant was awoken, and England was the last stronghold against the dark powers of National Socialism and Communism, Churchill stood up and spoke at his beloved Harrow School. This is what he said "...never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." This is something we should remember. Even when the cynics say America is over, even when we relize our efforts are in vain, or when we realize we are protesting the effects of our cause, we still must stand strong.
May right always make might,
-AJF
