Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Never Retreat, Never Surrender”

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December 19, 2009

Never Retreat, Never Surrender

Hatched by Dafydd

Majority Leader Harry "Pinky" Reid (D-Caesar's Palace, 70%) finally snared Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE, 75%), getting the 60 votes needed to close debate on ObamaCare and (obviously) pass it. We haven't lost entirely yet, though it's now very likely that this dreadful government seizure will become law. Still, there are a few hurdles left for the Left to surmount:

Democrats actually have to muster those supposed 60 votes; it's dimly possible that some extreme leftist in the Democratic caucus will balk at the compromises made to "moderates" like Nelson and Lieberman. But more likely, all Democrats will vote for cloture and the bill; the lefties expect either that the compromises will be washed away in the conference committee -- or that there are enough Trojan horses (like the mandate plus the federal definition of what constitutes an "authorized" insurance plan) to get what they want without the more grotesque elements ever appearing in any formal language in the bill.

Then there is the conference; it's quite possible that House Democrats won't go along with the Reid version of the bill, and that one or more of those "compromises" (the government option, abortion, the delayed implementation) will be restored... and that that will be enough to peel off a moderate or two when it comes time for the final vote -- which is still subject to fillibuster.

Finally, even if everything goes through, the Democrats hold together, and Barack H. Obama signs the bill... remember that the most odious parts of it don't go into effect for several years (though the taxes increase immediately). That means we still have a chance to undo them -- if the GOP picks up many seats in November.

So don't give up the ship. Make the Democrats pay for every vote, every amendment, every abrogation of our liberties. Make them pay at the ballot box for spitting in the face of the American people. Make them regret this vote for the rest of their lives (preferably in retirement).

What one Congress does, another Congress can undo. It's very difficult; I don't know if such an "entitlement" program has ever been eliminated. But if there's ever to be a first time, this vile bill is a great candidate for it: Not only is it repugnant to the huge majority of the American people, but its most evil provisions won't actually start for years (so we have some time); and it was passed in a risible mockery of democracy that even stunned liberals, including threats, tantrums, secret backroom deals, thousands of pages of provisions that not a single senator has fully read, parliamentary chicanery, and of course brazen bribery -- as the payoffs to Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-LA, 65%) Louisiana and Ben Nelson's Nebraska exemplify.

I expect Republicans in 2010 to campaign on precisely that: Overturning ObamaCare before its medical-insurance limitations and rationing go into effect. While they won't likely win back either chamber of Congress -- and couldn't possibly enact a bill undoing ObamaCare with enough votes to override Obama's own veto -- they can make it harder to fund some of its provisions.

And of course, in 2012, we have the chance to change the president and add a few more Republican seats: That is our best shot at erasing this cancer from the books before it settles in and becomes permanent. A Republican president can do just what "Lucky Lefty" Obama did -- armtwist Democratic moderates into siding with Republicans to "amend" ObamaCare into nonexistence. By then I expect the American people to be fed up with the increased taxes and just starting to feel the bite of government control of health care; I doubt they will be any happier about the scheme then than they are right now.

Despair is a mortal sin; it saps one's will to continue fighting. The lesson of the Iraq counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy (and of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged) is this: You can only be defeated if you accept defeat; you must actively conspire in your own subjugation.

So don't. Just say "No" to surrender. We lost a battle; we'll likely lose this campaign. But the war against "socialisme" will continue. The Reds will never surrender, so why should we?

Cross-posted on Hot Air's rogues' gallery...

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, December 19, 2009, at the time of 10:32 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: tehdinj

This is why conservatives/libertarians/righty politicians need to start telling Americans RIGHT NOW that when they are elected back into power that they will roll back this monstrosity and fix healthcare the right way (reintroduce market economics, untie healthcare from employment, etc).

Only by planting that seed now do we have a chance of overcoming the psychological burden of repealing an entitlement years from now.

The above hissed in response by: tehdinj at December 19, 2009 12:49 PM

The following hissed in response by: Ken Hahn

I have never proposed surrendering. I do not despair. But I warned you that the vote to debate this catastrophe was the best chance to stop it. There are few good chances left but I urge everyone to make the best of them. I will continue to hope. I will continue to fight.

If it comes down to it, I will work for repeal. But there is no way that will occur until Obama is defeated. The most massive victory in 2010 won't give opponents enough votes to override his veto of any repeal or rollback. We face, at best, three years of economy-killing taxes and regulations. Thousands of new bureaucrats will be paying union dues to a subsidiary of the Democratic Party. Taxpayers will be funding the campaign against themselves.

We all fight the good fight. We may disagree on tactics or even strategy, but we're on the same side. We cannot and will not give it up. Liberty is too rare and too precious in human history to give away for any price. Each and every fight has its costs. We can do nothing about our costs but we can make the cost to the socialists so high that they will retreat. I will do everything I can to make that happen.

The above hissed in response by: Ken Hahn at December 19, 2009 2:09 PM