|
"I want the truth!"
"You can't handle the truth!"
Rushing to distance itself from Rep. Michele Bachmann's comment on MSNBC that Sen. Barack Obama "may have anti-American views," the Republican Party, nationally and locally, apparently can't handle the truth.
As politically incorrect as the "anti-American" tag might be, it's the impression Republicans from the top of the ticket to campaign surrogates hope to leave with Americans by bringing up Obama's association with William Ayers — '60s radical and co-founder of Weathermen, which Gov. Tim Pawlenty said "attempted bombing of the Pentagon, the Capitol, and (had) plans for other domestic terrorism."
"What kind of judgment would allow an unrepentant domestic terrorist to host a political event for you in his home, in the terrorist's home?" Pawlenty told ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
Let's be honest. The operative word is "terrorist," is it not? "Bad judgment" is picking HD DVD over Blu-ray discs. Palling around with terrorists is "anti-American." That's the impression Republicans want Americans to take away. An awful lot of Republicans can't handle the anti-American truth — and neither can Democrats.
Chris Matthews didn't conduct an "interview" of Michele Bachmann. Matthews cross-examined Bachmann with the intensity of Lt. Kaffee cross-examining Col. Jessep in "A Few Good Men," eliciting the "you-can't handle-the-truth" outburst from Jessep. In the film, Lt. Kaffee's interrogative task is to trap Col. Jessep into admitting he gave an illegal order.
"I think he (Jessep) wants to say it," Kaffee tells his co-counsel. "I think he's pissed off that he has to hide behind all this. ... I need to shake him, put him on the defensive and lead him right where he's dying to go."
Matthews also was after an "incriminating" sound bite. Bachmann had no intention of giving it to him, but like Col. Jessep, she was dying to go there. And she did.
Gloating on late-night television, Matthews boasted to host Craig Ferguson, "We found her (Bachmann) ... I sensed that she was going in that direction, so I prompted her a little: 'Are you saying Barack Obama is anti-American?' ... There are live ones out there. You just have to catch them."
Conservatives — Bachmann is one of the few live ones in this state — are ticked off that their presidential candidate hasn't hit harder on the fundamental departure from traditional American values that energizes the modern Democratic Party. It took a plumber from Ohio to rightly introduce "socialism" into the campaign and put the Obama camp on the defensive (and, incidentally, raise philosophical questions about some "moderate" policies of Sen. John McCain).
Democrats may be in denial, but the American fundamentals of individual sovereignty, the rule of law and private property do not admit the least tolerance of a government that takes it upon itself to "spread the wealth."
That's where conservatives are dying to go. On "Hardball," Bachmann made an impolitic statement, but later she stated her case more concisely.
"What are Barack Obama's policies?" Bachmann rhetorically asked on a local radio program. "Are they for America or will they be against traditional American ideals and values? And I'll tell you what, punishing tax rates, redistribution of wealth, socialized medicine, in-putting censorship in the form of the 'un-Fairness Doctrine' and taking away the secret ballot from the worker has nothing to do with traditional American values. That's why your listeners need to know. Otherwise, the United States may be literally changed forever if Barack Obama becomes the next president."
Republicans, instead of fleeing from the fact that the battle lines of this election lie between collectivism and individualism, need to muster the courage to defend that which they claim to believe.
Who's going to speak for individual sovereignty? Those running from Bachmann's remarks: Pawlenty? Sen. Norm Coleman? The Republican National Congressional Committee? Bachmann said Obama has "anti-American views." That is politically incorrect, but if it brings focus to the current Democratic Party leadership's radical departure from the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, then Bachmann has done Americans a service.
Republicans for whom bipartisanship is an end in itself don't want to face the truth. Moderates don't want to battle in the trenches where ideological battles are fought and freedom is won. They won't admit they want Bachmann in that trench; they need Bachmann in that trench to do their dirty work. They treat individual sovereignty, rule of law and private property as political slogans. Bachmann lives by those principles and is willing to fight for them, whatever the personal cost.
A new anti-Bachmann ad claims she stands alone. Not true. In the fight for American fundamentals, some of us still stand with her.
Craig Westover is a contributing columnist to the Pioneer Press Opinion Page and a senior policy fellow at the Minnesota Free Market Institute (mnfmi.org). His e-mail address is
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. |
