By all accounts, this should be a relatively simple task.  How hard could it be, after all, defeating a career ‘DC-insider’ who, according to Democrats, wants to starve children, deprive seniors of their medications and force inner-city minority students to work as janitors; and, according to Republicans, supports an individual mandate, favors amnesty for illegals and has spent much of the last decade lining his pockets as a lobbyist, err historian, for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?  Indeed, defeating Newt Gingrich should be the political equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel.

To further complicate matters for Newt, he continues to run far behind his chief political opponent, Mitt Romney, in money, organization and popularity.  In the next primary state (Florida), Romney and his Super PACs have already spent millions on TV ads all across the Sunshine State, while the cash-strapped Gingrich had yet to run a single TV ad with just 10 days to go until the January 31st primary.  In addition to a large cash advantage, Romney (unlike Newt) also has an organizational apparatus in all 50 states (he’s been running for President practically non-stop for 5 years now); and Romney’s favorability rating among voters continues to be much higher than Newt’s.

So, how then can Newt Gingrich – the consummate inside-the-beltway politico – ever hope to gain his party’s nomination, let alone defeat Barack Obama in November?  Quite easily, actually.  Newt Gingrich will be the next President of the United States if he calls a press conference, stands in front of the television cameras, and delivers the following speech…

My fellow Americans, I stand before you today as a candidate for the office of the President of the United States.  My candidacy, as many of you know, has been an improbable one, to say the least.  It has been full of controversy, chaos and uncertainty.  There were moments when we were totally broke, without a staff, and lacking a clear and coherent message.  In fact, many in the national media have declared my campaign ‘dead’ on numerous occasions, some before the first votes were even cast in Iowa back on January 3rd.

But now, we find ourselves in a position where our solutions-based, ideas-oriented message is fundamentally beginning to gain a foothold with the American people.  We saw this in South Carolina, where, despite all of the vicious and misleading attacks by my opponents and by the press – both on me personally and on my previous work in the Congress – the voters in that state rejected this type of destructive politics, and provided our campaign with a sweeping and historic victory that has reverberated all throughout this country.

My critics say that I am a consummate Washington insider.  They say that I am more concerned with personal accolades than I am with renewing and restoring the American spirit that once was the hallmark of this great nation.  They say that I am a man of unconventional and unorthodox ideas.

Well, I believe that America finds itself in need of some unconventional and unorthodox ideas.  I believe that America needs to have faith in its elected officials again.  That is why I am announcing today that, if elected, I will serve only one term as President of the United States.  Four years, no more.  Frankly, that’s all I will need.  You see, if you would give me the honor and privilege of serving as your President for the next four years, I can directly and unequivocally promise you that I will spend every waking minute of those four years creating the solutions that will renew this nation’s spirit and restore our place as the bright, illuminative beacon to the rest of the world.

Without concern for a second term, I will not be beholden to any Washington lobbyists.  I will not be jetting all over the country holding fundraisers.  There will be no Hawaiian vacations, no golf outings, no extended stays at Martha’s Vineyard.  My sole and singular focus will be on restoring the citizens’ faith and confidence in the American system of governance.

And to assist me in that endeavor, I have recruited a young man who knows what it means to have received God’s blessings of living in the freest and most democratic nation in the history of the world.  Tonight, I am announcing that the United States Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, has agreed to serve as my Vice President should you, the American people, give use the privilege of serving you.  Together, Marco Rubio and I will drastically and fundamentally reduce the federal government’s role in your daily lives.  We will cut federal spending, eliminate burdensome regulations, and most importantly, we will restore your faith and confidence in your government.

You see, I am not running for President for my own personal gain; I am running for President for the sole purpose of restoring America to her rightful owners – her people.  Marco Rubio and I ask that you join us tomorrow to turn the page on the next chapter of this great human experiment called America.  Together, we will fundamentally restore and renew America.  Thank you.  God bless you.  And may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Now that would be truly historic…

So, this year, I’ve decided to start a new tradition — it’s called the #TCOT Twitterati Bracket Challenge and I’m sharing it with all of you — my fellow right wing extremists…a group I lovingly refer to as “The Twitterati.”  And the best part? It’s FREE!  Free is good, right? 

And did I mention that you can win prizes?  Cool prizes!  Not crap that you won’t need or use.  We’re talking HD Flip Cam, Chipotle gift cards (this is to get @keder to play), and an awesome bragging rights trophy.  So c’mon along and join in the fun!  It’s easy to sign up; easy to make your picks; and then you can just sit back and enjoy the games (and maybe talk a little smack along the way…).

To enter, just go here -> #TCOT Twitterati Bracket Challenge

PASSWORD:  tigerblood

See you on teh twitters…

~Brent

Let’s start with the basics:

At the beginning of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (a division of the U.S. Department of Labor) releases its “Employment Report” for the previous month.  This monthly Employment Report is based on information provided to the BLS by U.S. employers, and its purpose is to give us a current overall picture of the job market across the country.  The entire monthly report itself usually weighs in at about 40 to 50 pages — chock-full of mind-paralyzing statistics and technical economic data that would send the nerdiest of CPA’s directly to the innermost recesses of his/her liquor cabinet.  At the end of the day, though, the only real “statistic” from the monthly Employment Report that is disseminated by the media (and we hear about) is the “unemployment rate.”  For instance, the current unemployment rate (as of February 4, 2011), according to the BLS, is 9.0%.  So that means, in essence, that as of February 4, 2011, 9.0% of Americans are out of work, right?

Granted, that type of logic would seem, well…logical.  But this is the federal government we’re talking about here, so let’s delve a little bit deeper into this madness, shall we?

The first thing you need to understand about the monthly ”unemployment rate” as calculated by the BLS Employment Report is that it only takes into consideration those individuals who are:  (a) out of work; and (b) actively looking for work.  If a person hasn’t worked in the past 12 months and has just given up for the time being and stopped actively looking for a job, the BLS doesn’t count that person as being “unemployed” for the purpose of its monthly survey.  Wait, what?  That’s right — the BLS places those folks into a different category known as “Individuals No Longer in the Labor Force.”  Back to that in a minute…

If you look at the two big headlines that came out of the January Employment Report, you will notice on the top of the first page that the BLS touts the fact that: (a) “[t]he unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 9.0 percent in January;” and (b) the American economy added “36,000″ new jobs in the past month.  Wow.  That sounds great, doesn’t it?  Lower unemployment.  More jobs.  This would really lead one to believe that the economy is headed in the right direction.  But not so fast…

First of all, let’s look at this figure of 36,000 new jobs in January.  While, granted, positive job growth is better than negative job growth (better to add 36,000 jobs to the economy than to lose 36,000), let’s put this into some perspective.  There are roughly 3,000 individual counties in the United States of America; thus, we can reasonably deduct that about 12 jobs were created in each county in the month of January.  Again, better than losing 12 jobs in every county, but still woefully inadequate to dig the American economy out of its current rut.  Secondly, consider this — America continues to grow.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States grew over the past decade by 27 million people, an increase of about 10%.  Due to this fact, roughly 125,000 new workers enter the American workforce each and every month.  That’s 125,000 new immigrants and/or young Americans flooding the job market every 30 days!  How great does “36,000 new jobs created” last month sound now?

Now, about those “Individuals No Longer in the Labor Force” — As mentioned previously, the BLS has an entirely different category for individuals who haven’t worked for the past 12 months and have simply “given up” on finding a job at the present time.  These folks are not considered “unemployed” (even though they clearly are).  Thus, they are not even counted by the BLS in arriving at the nation’s monthly unemployment rate.  So if we’re not counting these people who are, indeed, unemployed, how accurate can the unemployment rate actually be?  Well, the BLS has an answer to this question — it’s called their ”Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization” and the picture is not pretty.  When all of these folks are added into the equation, the unemployment rate for January 2011 suddenly spikes from 9.0% to 17.3%, up 0.7% from the previous month.  In fact, in the past few months, some financial experts have estimated that the actual unemployment rate could be as high as 22%.

The bottom line is that the BLS “unemployment rate” quite literally means nothing — zip, zero, nada.  It is based on inaccurate data, incomplete information and faulty assumptions.  In order to glean a more accurate snapshot from month-to-month of America’s unemployment situation, look at the following three pieces of data:

1)  The BLS ‘underemployment rate’ — Again, this figure is released at the end of each month, and it takes into account all persons who are out of work, not just those who are ‘actively seeking’ a job.

2)  Look at the Gallup Polling Organization’s monthly ‘rolling average’ of those Americans who are ‘unemployed’ and ‘underemployed.’  Historically, it has been one of the most accurate indicators of the national unemployment rate.  Gallup’s monthly survey measures the percentage of U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, who are unemployed and/or underemployed.  The results for each 30-day ‘rolling average’ are based on telephone interviews with approximately 30,000 adults, and have a less-than-one-percent “margin of error.”  In case you’re wondering, Gallup’s results for January 2011, placed the ‘unemployment rate’ at 9.8%, and the ‘underemployment rate’ at 18.9%.

3)  Finally (and most importantly), look at the BLS monthly Employment Report to find the actual number of private sector jobs created in the previous month.  For instance, with 125,000 new jobs needed each month just to keep pace with population growth, 36,000 jobs created in January of 2011 is not going to cut it.

To illustrate where we need to be in terms of monthly job creation, let’s use the BLS figure of 9.0% unemployment (even though it’s a bogus number) just for the sake of argument.  In order to lower the unemployment rate from 9.0% back down to the historically acceptable rate of 5.0%, the American economy has to create 250,000 new jobs each and every month for the next 60 consecutive months.  Go back and read that sentence again.  And just remember — last month we only added 36,000 new jobs.  So…is the American economy really in recovery?  You be the judge.

Last year at this time, my friend and fellow conservative, Tabitha Hale, wrote a piece entitled “2010: The Year of the Citizen,” wherein she reflected upon the consequential political happenings of 2009 and provided her poignant outlook and predictions for the upcoming new year.  Over the course of the last twelve months — through all the struggles and debates, the ups and downs of the campaign season, the arguments between the left and the right, the arguments between the right and the right, the highs and lows of election night, and the (small) victories and (monumental) cavings of the ‘lame duck’ session — I have often found myself returning to Tabitha’s post (I “favorited” it on Twitter) to refocus my efforts and find some perspective in moments of elation and despair, alike.  As my old high school football coach once said, “You can never allow the ‘highs’ to be too high, nor the ‘lows’ to be too low.  You just have to focus on the task at hand.”  Each and every time I would read it, Tabitha’s post would do just that — refocus my efforts on the task at hand.

And as we enter this new year, that task remains clear.  Near the beginning of Tabitha’s aforementioned post, she wrote the following: 

William Temple said during the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington that this fight was a continuation – not a beginning. The things we are fighting for are not new ideas. Freedom from tyranny and a limited government are what our Founding Fathers built an entire nation upon. Here we are 233 years later continuing the battle for the same thing.

True enough.  This battle is an eternal struggle – Liberty vs. Tyranny.  No matter how many ‘victories’ we win, the battle always continues.  It would be easy to sit back for now and rest on the accomplishments of “2010: The Year of the Citizen.”  After all, the “citizen” did accomplish quite a lot over the course of the last twelve months:  The “Tea Party” built on the momentum of 2009, and became an undeniable force in American politics.  It can no longer be ignored.  The electoral tidal wave that occurred on November 2nd was truly a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ event, sweeping conservatives back into power, not only in the U.S. House of Representatives, but in state houses and governors’ mansions all across the country.  Long-serving dinosaur incumbents were summarily thrown out of office.  Fresh new leadership began to emerge in the conservative movement.  ‘Cap-&-Trade’ died in the Senate, as did the so-called ‘DREAM Act.’  In 2010, the citizen was pissed.  And the citizen rose up.

But, despite all the victories in 2010, there still is much work to be done in 2011 (and beyond).  For far too long, the overreaching tentacles of the federal government have been allowed to weave their way into every fabric of the citizen’s life.  No longer does the citizen have the freedom to make fundamental decisions for himself and his family.  The citizen is told what kind of car to drive, what type of lightbulb he is allowed to install in his home, what manner of healthcare coverage he is to provide for his family, and, yes, what kind of food he is allowed to purchase for his children.

At the same time, our nation’s debt continues to rise, now on the verge of surpassing $14 trillion – that’s $125,935.00 per taxpayer.  The unemployment rate (according to the U.S. Labor Department) hovers near 10%; and the real unemployment rate is probably closer to 22%.  Gasoline prices look to be headed to upwards of $5 per gallon by 2012.  And the housing market continues to be in complete disarray, and possibly on the verge of yet another crash.

In short, the citizen has very little to celebrate this new year.  While we seem to have quelled these overtly vicious attacks upon liberty for now, the citizen can rest assured that the other side is not retreating from this fight.  They are simply reloading.  2010 was, indeed, historic and unforgettable – the “Year of the Citizen.”  But it’s over.  And the next battle begins now.

At this point, most Americans are familiar with John Thune only as a result of his 2004 shocking upset of (then) U.S. Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle, in the South Dakota Senate race.  Thune, a proponent of term limits who had previously served 3 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives – and who declined to run for a 4th because he had promised voters he would not (novel concept) – showed tremendous fundraising prowess on a national level in defeating Daschle in 2004.  According to Politico, the Thune people already have a fundraising list of over 100,000 donors as a result of that campaign.  Couple that with the fact that Thune currently enjoys a 70% approval rating among South Dakota voters, and he appears to be unbeatable in his home state.  In fact, six years after defeating Daschle, Thune is up for re-election and Democrats, seemingly sensing the inevitable, have declined to oppose him this time around.

You wouldn’t know that Senator Thune is unopposed in November by his fundraising activities, though.  As of April 1, 2010, Thune had a campaign war chest in excess of $6.5 million, and it’s still growing.  Thune has been on a torrent pace over the past several months – attending events around the country, shaking hands and raising money in support of other conservative candidates.  A recent Washington Post article by Chris Cillizza highlights the fact that the South Dakota Senator will begin to “raise his national profile” by attending some key conservative functions in Maryland and North Carolina this month.  All the while, the quiet, steadily rising tide of “Thune 2012″ supporters continues to swell on Facebook, Twitter and beyond.

At a moment in time when the conservative movement is yearning for that pragmatic, plain-spoken, charismatic leader who can connect with people (the way Reagan did), and effectively (and unabashedly) communicate the conservative message, the man and the hour are about to meet.  Consider the facts…

1.  Obama will be imminently beatable in 2012. What once seemed inconceivable, has become reality.  Independents are jumping ship on Obama and the Democrats in droves.  While it is impossible to predict what may happen between now and November of 2012 to “sway” the voters in one direction or another, one thing is certain – the American conservative movement is in the midst of a renaissance.  This movement is real – there is nothing false, artificial or trendy about the desire of Americans to get their nation’s financial house in order.  Democrats, led by Obama, have overreached in their lust for more federal control over the everyday lives of Americans, and Americans are pushing back in a major way.  The “Stimulus Bill” has failed and healthcare reform was a disaster for Democrats.  While, in the end, Obama was able to convince Democrats to “walk the plank” for Obamacare, Americans felt violated over the way in which Democrats arrogantly thumbed their noses at the voters throughout the whole process.  The voters will not forget – not now and certainly not by 2012.

2.  The Republican field is ripe for the picking. With the exception of (possibly) Sarah Palin, no potential Republican nominee has been able to electrify and unify conservatives.  This was a problem for Republicans in 2008 when John McCain received the nomination by default.  Result? President Obama and super-majorities for Democrats in both houses of Congress.  Don’t look for Republicans to make the same mistake again.  After 4 full years of “Obamanation,” Republicans will be looking for a dynamic, strong leader with broad appeal.  Newt Gingrich?  Tim Pawlenty?  Mike Huckabee?  Probably not.  Mitt Romney?  While he certainly has the executive experience and economic credentials, the former Massachusetts Governor will be hard-pressed to make it out of the Republican primary with the albatross of “RomneyCare” hanging around his neck – oh, and don’t forget the fact that he couldn’t even beat McCain in 2008.  Conservatives are desperate for that unusual combination of substance, charisma and leadership that seems to have eluded them on the national level since Reagan.  Enter John Thune.  Exhibit A:

3.  The Palin Factor. What about the former Alaska Governor and 2008 VP-Candidate, Sarah Palin?  A year ago, she seemed to be the heir apparent to the Republican throne.  Through a series of her own decisions, though, beginning with her resignation announcement over last year’s July 4th holiday, Sarah Palin seems content now playing the role of “King Maker” rather than King (err, Queen).  There is no question that, outside of Obama himself, Sarah Palin is one of the most polarizing figures in American politics today.  This alone, coupled with the absolute smear job that the media outlets and the goons at Saturday Night Live have perpetrated upon Palin, will make it difficult for her to win in 2012.  Plus, one just gets the sense that she’s not too in love with the idea of running for President at this point in her life. And frankly, who could blame her?

For his part, John Thune continues to deflect questions about his prospects of running for President in 2012, sticking to what has become his standard, canned response that he’s “focused on doing everything [he] can to help Republicans gain majorities in the House and Senate in 2010.”  The lifelong South Dakotan seems to have embraced his role as the “dark horse” candidate for now, content to sit back in true midwestern style and let all the dust settle before rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.  As Oliver Cromwell once said, “Keep your powder dry.”  Up until this point, Thune has had the powder in dry storage under lock and key.  But soon, very soon, the lock is comin’ off.  The door will open.  And John Thune will emerge.

The Left has its new target, and he is none other than University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) law professor and current candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach.  Kobach, a constitutional scholar and former chief adviser and counsel to Attorney General, John Ashcroft, has come under fierce attack in recent days by those on the Left for his leading role in drafting the much-debated and highly controversial Arizona immigration law (SB1070).

Kobach is a regular guest on CNN and the Fox New Channel’s O’Reilly Factor, where he is routinely called upon to give expert commentary and opinion on the constitutional and immigration issues of the day.  Over the past few years, he has had a hand in drafting and/or legally arguing about some of the most important and sweeping immigration reform laws all across the country, including  in states such as Kansas, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, and most recently, Arizona.

Since being signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on April 24th, Arizona’s SB1070 has drawn the ire of many, from hispanic groups to the ACLU to the “Reverand” Al Sharpton, and all the way up the ladder to our current President.  Just hours after being enacted, President Obama rushed to the microphones in order to criticize the law (and its drafters) as being “misguided” and ”irresponsible.”  Of course, given the Alinsky-like tactics of the Obama Administration over the past 15 months to isolate, malign, discredit and destroy any of its opponents with respect to any issue, the President’s remarks in this regard really came as no surprise.

What has been somewhat surprising, if not (eh-hmm) hypocritical, has been the reaction of some of Kobach’s colleagues and other “organizations” affiliated with UMKC, who now claim that “sanctions” should levied against Kobach for his work on the immigration legislation.  Consider this story from Kansas City’s local ABC-affiliate, KMBC 9 News, regarding the Kobach situation (watch this video – this is truly unbelievable).

So, Kris Kobach – a university law professor – works on this legislation on his own time (i.e. not the university’s), and because these groups don’t agree with him, he now needs to be “sanctioned” by the university?  What does that even mean?  Are these groups calling for his job?  And what ever happened to a professor’s sacred and hallowed right to “academic freedom,” the likes of which the Left constantly reminds us on a daily basis?

Well, apparently the concept of “academic freedom” does not apply when you are a conservative candidate for Kansas Secretary of State.  Perhaps it is time we expand the “BUYcott.”  Whatever Kris Kobach is selling right now, I’m buying:  http://www.kriskobach.org.

Put more simply – Just because we can do something, doesn’t necessarily mean we should.  As a parent, I certainly can relate to this concept.  Nearly every weekday morning, I awaken my 9 year-old and get this question: “Can I stay home from school today?”  My answer: “No.”  My 4 year-old daughter would like to eat M&M’s and Ding Dongs for breakfast every day.  My answer: “No.”  And my beloved 7 year-old wants her very own real, live horse (mind you, we live in town and don’t even have a fence for our dog).  Thus, my answer?  You guessed it.

“No” is one of the first words we ever learn to speak and one of the easiest in the English language to pronounce.  Ironically, it seems to be one of the most difficult to use, particularly in Washington.  The use of the word “No” – in my opinion – is highly underrated.  Imagine if Bill Clinton had said “No” when Monica Lewinsky strolled through the Oval Office in her little blue dress and snapped her thong in front of his desk.  What if Richard Nixon had said “No” when presented with the opportunity to break into Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel?  What if Neville Chamberlain and the rest of Europe had said “No” to Hitler moving into Czechoslovakia in 1938?

Consider this – Where would we be today had people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. not stood up and said “No – these circumstances are unacceptable.”  What if Abraham Lincoln (the first Republican President) hadn’t said “No” to the expansion of slavery in the United States?  What if our founders had remained silent in the face of tyranny, taxation and oppression?  “No” – it’s a difficult word to say sometimes, particularly when saying “Yes” will result in immediate praise and adoration from others.  But consequences are a stubborn occurrence.

If my 9 year-old doesn’t go to school, he doesn’t become a productive member of society (and I get a visit from Family Services).  If my 4 year-old eats M&M’s and Ding Dongs for breakfast every morning, she thinks I am the coolest dude alive; but, eventually, she has no teeth left and she looks like one of the residents of Sea World.  I could buy my 7 year-old a horse – and once again, I earn the title of “coolest dad on the planet” – until, that is, I get sued by my homeowner’s association and have the folks from PETA standing in my driveway with protest signs.

“No” is a difficult word to say.  Saying “No” takes courage.  The primary reason our nation is on the verge of complete and total financial ruin is precisely because of the fact that politicians from both political parties have lacked the courage to say “No” to anyone for anything for the better part of the last century.  America has become an entitlement society.  Americans have been conditioned into a belief that we can walk into a doctor’s office, be seen, be treated, be healed, pay our $25.00 “co-pay,” and let someone else pay the rest of the bill (oh yes, there is more than just the co-pay, folks).  We have been taught that we can pay people to not work (and then continue to extend those benefits endlessly, as if this encourages the unemployed to run out and find employment).  We have been led to believe that we have a right to own a home even though we don’t have sufficient income to pay for that home (and that when we default on the loan the “evil” banks can be forced by the government to renegotiate the terms of the loan so that it’s “more in our price-range”).  We’ve been eating M&M’s and Ding Dongs for the entirety of our lives and now it’s time to take a good, long look in the mirror.

President Obama and the Democrats in Congress would have you believe that we can continue to eat what we’ve been eating for the last century and that everything will be just fine – “Yes We Can!”  Republicans have expressed a desire to come to grips with our problems; admit our failures; and put an end to this destructive behavior that is leading our nation down a pathway to disaster – “Just Say No!”

On November 2, 2010, you will have the opportunity to make a choice with respect to which path you believe will lead us back to sustained, long-term prosperity – and right now, that choice could not be any clearer.  It’s as easy as “Yes” or “No.”  Choose wisely.

History has a way with irony.  On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 – over 236 years after those Americans lit the brushfire that ultimately would begin to burn so hot and so bright that it exploded into revolution – liberty, once again, will place its hope in Massachusetts.  And what once seemed impossible, has now become plausible.

Can Scott Brown really win?  Six months ago, it was impossible.  Six weeks ago, it was improbable.  Six days ago, it was inconceivable.  And yet, with less than 48 hours to go,  the Democrats are jumping on the panic button with both feet.  Bill Clinton was dispatched to Massachusetts over the weekend in an attempt to breathe life into Martha Coakley’s flailing campaign.  President Obama is heading to Boston with Coakley on Sunday in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to rally the left’s “unenthused” base.  In the meantime, all of the polls – including Coakley’s own internals – show Scott Brown surging.  While the race remains “within the margin of ACORN” (H/T Steven Crowder), keep in mind that, as late as mid-October, all of the polls had Coakley enjoying a very comfortable 25 to 30 point lead.

How can this be?  How – in the bluest of blue states, the birthplace of American socialized medicine, the home of Barney Frank - can Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat (err, sorry – the “People’s Seat”) be on the verge of turning red?  Some will credit the socialist agenda of the far-left, as manifested in the health care debate, which, oddly enough, has turned out to be even too much for the “People’s Republic of Massachusetts” to stomach.  Some will call it a reflexive, knee-jerk repudiation of the relentless barrage of programs and pork which have been thrust upon us by the tone-deaf politicians in Washington over the past 12 months.  Still, others will point to the fact that Coakley has presided over what may very well go down as the worst political campaign in modern American history.

While I do not discount the cumulative effect of any of these factors upon the race, I do believe that there is something much larger at play here.  You see, America – ALL OF AMERICA – remains a place unlike any other in the history of the world.  And while we waiver and tire and falter from time to time, in the end, we will always protect liberty.  For the people of Massachusetts, that time is now.  Let freedom ring…

09.12.09 – Some are calling it the beginning of the Second American Revolution.  Yet the hope is (for now at least) that this “revolution” will be fought with words rather than guns; on the battlefield of ideas rather than in bunkers all across the fruited plain.

I, for one, was there – a witness to history.  I’m still trying to figure out the progression of events that led to me to the west lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., at precisely 12:12 p.m. on 09.12.09.  I am a 34 year-old American; a father of 3; a small business owner; and a husband to the most ordinary-in-mind, yet extraordinary-in-thought, woman in the world.  I graduated from a small high school, grinded my way to an undergraduate degree; suffered through 3 long years of law school; lived in Missouri my entire life; and, somehow, someway, on 09.12.09, I found myself there – in our nation’s capital – standing face-to-face with hundreds of thousands of Americans, unified in purpose and message: “Don’t Tread on Me.”

It was amazing; historic; momentous; unbelievable and indescribable.  In fact, at one point during the march from Freedom Plaza to Capitol Hill, I sent out a “tweet” from my phone: “I literally have no words to describe this right now.”  Even now, I’m not sure that I do…or ever will.  And yet, when it was over, and we had returned to our hotel room, anxious to view the “postgame” coverage on all the news channels, it was as if nothing at all had happened.  Feverishly flipping through the cable channels and local news stations to find something – anything – about this unprecedented march, it was as if it had all been a dream, a sweet escape from the realities of the harsh condition which has befallen us.  But, I was there! I witnessed it with my own eyes – the passion, the resolve and the sheer determination of hundreds of thousands of individuals acting as one: “e pluribus unum.”

My first reaction was one of disdain and disappointment: “Here we go again…the ‘mainstream media’ buries another story that doesn’t promote and advance its agenda.”  Disgusted and defeated, I was on the verge of throwing in the towel; but then, the strangest thing happened.  I went to dinner with my wife and met up with some fellow 912 marchers and began to discuss the day’s events.  Before we knew it, others in the restaurant were overhearing our conversations; we were overhearing theirs; the bartender was asking questions about ‘all of these people’ who had invaded his city: “What was this all about?” he asked.  “Let me show you our pictures,” we said.  “Wait a second,” the others replied, “take a look at ours.”  We ate, we drank, we exchanged stories, photos, videos, and before the night was over, people from other tables wanted to join in the conversation.  College football games dominated the televisions; Serena Williams dropped F-Bombs at the U.S. Open; the NFL season was set to kick off the next day; it was Saturday night; and nobody wanted to talk about anything but “this movement.”

The next day (09.13.09), before boarding a plane to head back to Missouri, my wife and I decided to “do the touristy thing” and take in a few sites.  We took the long stroll up to the Lincoln Memorial and spent some time reflecting on our Sixteenth President’s words which are literally engraved in stone on the walls of one of the greatest monuments in the world.  I had been there before.  I had read Lincoln’s words on numerous occasions.  But, on this date – at this moment – these words from his Gettysburg Address jumped out and jolted me:

“that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

I think it was at that moment that my revelation occurred – this is no longer about Democrat vs. Republican; Left vs. Right; Liberal vs. Conservative; or Blue vs. Red.  This is about We the People vs. Them.  This is about liberty vs. tyranny. This is about a “sleeping giant” who has been poked and prodded one too many times by an overreaching, overly intrusive federal government and we…have…had…ENOUGH!  Don’t Tread on Me!

So to all you politicians, whether Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative – in the words of President Obama, “Let me be clear” -

“We the People” are done with broken promises; we are done with bailouts; we are done with so-called “stimulus packages;” we are done with you making a career out of being a politician; we are done with you mortgaging our children’s future in order to buy votes to get re-elected; we are done with you creating one set of rules for us and a different set for you; we are done with you apologizing to the rest of the world for America being America; we are done with you calling us “uneducated,” “uninformed,” and “ignorant;” we are done with you not having to balance your checkbook the same way we have to balance ours; and most importantly, we are done with you pitting us against each other!  At the end of the day, we are all Americans, and we are sick of your games.  We refuse to play.  We will start a new game with our rules.

My revelation is that the revolution has begun.  All of this talk of “hope” and “change” – I have finally come to realize that WE are the HOPE; and we ARE the CHANGE.  We the People are the ones who will give “new birth to freedom.”  No one in Washington can do it – not Barack Obama; not any Democrat; not any Republican; not the media – only us.  You and me.  With each day that passes, Democrats and Republicans are becoming more and more irrelevant.  The “press” is becoming obsolete.  They are being replaced by talk radio, internet bloggers, twitter and other social media outlets.  They (a) think we’re too stupid to figure out on our own what’s really going on; and (b) are only concerned about their own financial security and advancement.  Why do you think they spend so much time looking down their noses and demeaning all of these mediums?  Why do you think they try to ignore hundreds of thousands of Americans converging on our nation’s capital to say “we have had enough”?

I still do not understand the progression of events that led me to Washington on 09.12.09.  I still cannot comprehend the historical significance of what I witnessed.  But I do know this – my wife and I arrived home on Sunday evening, 09.13.09, just in time to kiss our children and put them to bed.  As we walked through the door, my 3 year-old came bursting down the hallway, jumped into my arms and said, “Where were you, daddy?  I missed you!”  I squeezed her tightly and kissed her on the head as I replied, “Mommy and daddy were in Washington, baby.”

“Why were you in Washington, daddy?” she said.

“For you, baby.  For you.”

To view footage of the 912 March on Washington, go to: http://www.politicalmommentary.com

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton