This is a turning point in American politics. Americans are angry. They are tired of the games in Washington, the bailouts that have helped the wealthy at the expense of the taxpayer. They are furious over the condescension of the ruling elite. And they have begun to make their voices heard.
The rumblings began with the election of Scott Brown winning a senate seat held by the liberal lion, Ted Kennedy. What followed was a growing wave of anti-incumbency votes and a rejection of Washington politics as usual.
In Utah, senator Bob Bennett, incumbent and hard right GOP voter, lost his seat to Tea Party as he trailed a distant third in the primary.
In a big upset, Democratic Representative (who was once GOP representative) Arlan Specter lost his seat during the primaries to Joe Sestak. This, despite the fact that the Obama Administration rallied heavily behind Specter, and President Obama even went so far as to say he "loves" Specter.
Well, Mr. President, America does not love Specter. And they do not love their politicians. And the other big headline grabber: Rand Paul, son of famed Libertarian and Texas representative Ron Paul, won the GOP primary in Kentucky for the US Senate seat. Paul's victory is a major won, and a seat for the Tea Party in the Senate could mean big changes in store for Washington.
There are many bloggers on the left who are claiming that the recent victories by the Tea Party candidates is not a sign that the Tea Party has power, but that voters are angry over the economic situation. These assessments, however, are off the mark. The Tea Party is now a political force in America, and the questions as to its lasting power, its potency, are beside the point. Long time senators lost their seats.
And voters are not just angry at the economy. Again, this is a distortion by the mainstream media to make our current political situation look less volatile and corrosive.
Americans on the right are inflamed at the profligate spending of Washington. The Bush bailouts began in 2008 for the high end banks. These bailouts continued under the Obama administration in the form of GM, banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and other institutions. The debt the Obama team has piled onto the American tax payer is at record proportions. And the results are lackluster at best. An economy that has grown few jobs, states going broke, social services unable to service even the most dire in need.
Americans on the left are outraged by the continuation of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite the fact that they voted in a candidate who promised change. Left leaning voters see little to be gained by the war in Afghanistan, where American casulaties have now topped 1,000 and the spending now outdoes the Iraq war. The money being poured into the military industrial complex for the sake of what seems to be a dead end, while millions of Americans face foreclosure, is enough to leave the left with a bad taste in their mouth.
Americans on the right are furious at the extensive reach of big government. The health care bill failed to address the real concerns most conservatives had, and that was a failure on the part of Big Government to accomplish much of anything over the past several decades. They see taxes as burdensome to their individual growth, and the tax money they feed to Washington is being used for pet projects and dates for the President.
Americans on the left are inflamed that their congresspeople did not do more to push for a medicare buy-in or a public option. Again, the left sees a president who has failed to live up to the lofty expectations he set for himself. The watered down health care bill has been a boon to the health care industry, even if these companies would have rather had no bill. The long battle over a few changes have soured liberals to the point of disgust. They can no longer trust their representatives to vote in their interests.
But Americans as a whole feel righteous indignation at the elite. This is not just an economic outrage, where Americans feel they have been cheated. No. They know that their fundamental rights - to vote, to free expression, to free business - are being robbed. Big Government, in collusion with Big Business, has taken the American public along for a joy ride that ends with a mangled car and a broken constitution.
Do not dismiss the rage as economically driven. See it for what it is: a people who want their country back.
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