Hope just won't cut it.

Everyone thankfully, is no longer being exposed to the incessant "Yes We Can", "Hope" and "Change" messages of the Obama campaign machine (including the mainstream media). Besides being grating, there were those of us who knew it just would not materialize the way its devout adherents were envisioning. But there's a problem. Despite the removal of the campaign slogans, the Obama administration is still asking Americans to hope, and to wait for change. Wasn't this administration supposed to be bringing change and creating hope?

This is the crux of the problem. Very little has changed for the better, a lot has changed for the worse, and the level of hope has increased out of necessity, not out of positive results. More people are hoping to get out of the current expanding economic mess, the current international boondoggle, and the current health care zealotry unscathed. They are hopeful, but they are worried. The hope is that the Democrats don't make things so terrible that the country cannot recover. That is not a standard worth being hopeful over.

Meanwhile the administration is asking you to have faith that the policies they have put in play are going to work out well. The President promised that without his stimulus bill being approved immediately, the jobless rate would exceed 8%. Oops. The tune then changed to "it was never supposed to work immediately." Oh, really? That latter message is the one that indicates they want you to hold onto the hope that got them elected.

There's only two ways that can pan out; either the economy rebounds in a couple of years, or it doesn't. If it does, do they really deserve credit for the panic reactions? And if it doesn't, will you still be asked to hold out hope a little longer? The American economy is massive. It's survived a lot of woes. It was inevitable that it would survive the end-of-the-world crisis of last September. It would inevitably find it's way back, and no administration should take credit for an economic recovery, when recessions and growth, boom and bust are a relatively natural part of the economic cycle. The economy would have recovered if left alone. It would have recovered more robustly too.

But, never a team to let a crisis go to waste, the Democrats and the Obama administration pounced oall over the crisis in an effort force a bunch of prosperity-leeching taxes and programs and mandates (for others).

Back in March I had a little fun with the Obama campaign poster;

Take a look at those slogans and tell me you don't hope for a little bit of truth in advertising; no cynical attacks *ha!), no fragmentation (with every bill over 1000 pages, how is that possible?), no gridlock (well okay, right now some gridlock wouldn't be so bad), common sense (still waiting), consensus building (wow...), and transparency (wow again).

Hope however, just won't do it. In order to defeat this Alinsky/dirty-politics machine, more 9/12 marches, more tea parties and more determination than ever is needed.

Hope just won't cut it ladies and gentlemen. Neither will complacency. The alternative to both is worse than socialism - it's socialism under facism. Don't just turn out to vote - turn out to protest at every opportunity. I know it's hard because unlike unions and the unemployed, we have jobs or are busy looking for them. But it's very important that this process be halted in its tracks before any more damage gets done to America. I mentioned earlier that the hope now is that the Democrats don't destroy the country. Clearly, hope just won't cut it for that.

9-12 WOW!

Even MSNBC got into the reporting and were reasonable in their coverage. It must have been Olbermann's day off.

Estimates range from the "10's of thousands" to hundreds of thousands to 2 million. The actual number is hard to say but hundreds of thousands at least is fair to say.

This cannot be the end point of the effort. As Mark Steyn points out in National Review,

My sense from Wednesday’s speech is that the president’s gonna shove this through in some form or other. It may cause a little temporary pain in Blue Dog districts in 2010, but the long-term gains will be transformative and irreversible.

That's a devastatingly bad vision for America. And that's why it cannot be allowed to pass. I disagree fundamentally with words like irreversible or impossible on principle. But transformative, for sure. Damaging indeed. Preventable? Not likely in Congress. Possibly in the streets.

One thing I hope is not lost on Republicans - you have to stand up for this movement. You have to be conservative in deed not just in word. This is your last chance for a long, long time to prove yourself to be conservative, to be the inheritors of the Constitution. Olympia Snowes will not suffice. The only thing that will restore the confidence of the American people is your adherence to the ideals of Reagan, of Goldwater and of the Contract With America. Do not let this opportunity pass you by.

Predicting Obama's September 9th Address

Two stories out today on the newest DemObama tactics on advancing the single payer health care agenda. One from Wizbang (great site) discussing how Obama will address a joint session of Congress on September 9th to 'take charge of the health care debate'. They're working on exactly what he's going to say apparently, but they are working on it. According to CNN's Ed Henry though, turncoat Republican Olympia Snowe is working with the White house on a trigger option. An option which puts some tough standards on insurance companies to meet within a few years, or else the government payer option would kick in. This story is echoed by a story in Hot Air by Allahpundit.

Of course the true motivation for Obama will be to just bring in single payer health care a little less quickly under the guise of being centrist. The motivation for Snowe is and has always been, appearing as a centrist. That's not much to hang your hat on at the end of the day, but I guess it's enough for her.

The whole episode could be a trial balloon. Earlier today, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air was reporting that Obama was going to face his left wing base over the issue. Sadly, it is very likely untrue. Based on every other piece of evidence from Obama during the campaign slipping out hints, or as President, he is a far left President. He will govern from there. His triangulation with Snowe is aimed at corralling the Blue Dog Democrats.

The likelihood of Snowe being in on the fix is high. She did it on the stimulus bill (ARRA/error - sounds the same to me). and she'd do it again. And the likelihood of Obama giving up on single payer is very low.

But given the vociferous backlash, just re-postulating the same beaten proposal will not work. Something has to change. Part of Obama's approach all along has been to allow the Congress slug out the details so that he can sweep in and claim ownership of a bi-partisan solution. That's where Snowe comes in as the useless idiot in the scenario. She's a Republican after all. Never mind that one Republican is not really bi-partisan. The point is to force the hand of the Blue Dogs. If a Republican is on board, the theory must go, all Democrats have to fall in line. Then it doesn't matter if Snowe melts (though she won't).

That's how it's expected to play out. And electorally there's no way to stop it. But there's always the 9/12 march on Washington. There has to be strong, vocal and visible opposition or this health care trillion dollar boondoggle is going to pass despite all the fervent opposition and to it. The Town halls were window dressing. The real test is yet to come. Do something.