Dragons.

"I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with terrible resolve."
Naval Marshall General Isoroku Yamamoto, at Pearl Harbor., 1941


Legend has it that he stated this after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It may be that this is merely legend. No one knows for sure....


But truer words cannot be spoken about the "debate" between the left and the right regarding health care in particular, and the philosophy behind it. The oppositon has awoken, looked around, and found that they are many.

For the most part, conservatives have been absent, or at least quiet, in their opposition of the entitlement mentality that has pervaded the left. Not protesting (at least not in ways that made headlines) about the liberal socialist agenda that has been foisted on the American people, at the expense of their wallets. Social programs (some might say "social experimentation" writ large) using taxpayers dollars. Government programs and incentives that, quite frankly, have failed year after year, pet programs funded as rewards for interest groups, and incredibly expensive boondoggles that have befitted few except campaign donors of the left.

But the "Health Care" (socialized medicine) debate has enraged the "sleeping dragon" of conservatives and libertarians. Never before have so many conservatives, libertarians, and even slightly left leaning people gathered together and voiced their opposition to an issue. Never before has the opposition to not only socialized medicine, but other government spending been opposed so vehemently.

Those opponents of "Big Government" have been told for many years, by "Big Media", and other parts of the MSM, that they were alone in their thinking. By themselves, they were quieter than they might have been. Not silent, perhaps, but not organized, and not loud in their protest. They seldom banded together, seldom held protests, were, at best, quiet in their opposition to the direction that the left and the socialists have steered this country, leaving large protest gathering to those who benefited from the government largess that they opposed. Most had neither the time nor the energy to organize and to attend protests, having to take time for jobs, and family, and their social needs. Most could not be bothered to take the time, unlike those on the other side, who had no commitments, were easily "astroturfed" and really had nothing to lose by protesting, and generally nothing better to do anyway.

No more. Those opposing "Health Care Reform" have not only found their voice, they have discovered that not only do they have many others who are in agreement with them in their opposition to big government, to big spending, and to handouts and social programs, but they have also discovered that the politicians fear them in large groups, and that this fear gives the protesters a voice. They now know that their protests are heard, and are, if not heeded, are taken into account. Politicians like their jobs, and despite the dismissal and spin by the MSM, they now realize, due to the Internet and other communication channels, that their constituents are unhappy with the status quo, and want "change", want their representatives to actually represent their constituents. Not Barack Obama's style of "change", but change that decreases government, and lowers, rather than raises taxes, and a change that will bring about a return to the very principles upon which this great nation was founded.

Mr. Obama promised "change", and that is indeed what people voted for. But I doubt that the "change" that he is instigating will be what he envisioned. His supporters on the left will not like the "change" that may come about. The "sleeping dragon" has been awakened by the far left's overreaching, and will not go quietly into the night, as they had done before. "Change" is in the wind. The dragon has awakened.

The revolution from which this country began was, at any given time, supported by less than 3% of the population. Yet those 3% wrought great changes on the world, forging a great nation that 230 + years later is, while not perfect, still the most productive and most powerful nation on the planet. And the opposition to the left's plans encompass far more than 3% of the citizens of this nation. "Change" shall indeed happen.

Let us make that "change" for the better. Let us not lose our voice. Let us forge a "change" to return to the principles of this nations founders, and a return to the government that allowed this nation to grow and become what it is. Let us remove those who would change this nation to follow the social (and socialistic) pattern of Europe, which is dying, despite the help and defense that we provide.