Much like the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland, there are potent elements careening around at high velocity in the pressurized tubes of politics, as well.
We’ve seen, just in the past few weeks, the collapsing of proton beams at CERN. Likewise, in politics, we have seen in the last two months a collapsing of the laser beam our President promised would be used to focus on job creation.
Instead, his twin laser beams have been trained on scoring political victory with Health Care Reform and ensuring the ouster of the private sector from the student loan industry. And the collision course (just like at CERN), was plotted MANY kilometers ago.
While ramming bits of particulate matter together at light speed may seem like a recipe for disaster, an exponentially greater threat to society is posed in much the same way, and with far more devastating consequences.
In America, differing ideologies have been placed in hyperbaric chambers at opposite ends of the political vacuum, and launched toward each other at high velocity. The launch sequence, however, was facilitated not by the flip of a switch, but by the punching of “confirm” tabs on touch screens in late Autumn (of ’08 AND ’09).
These ideologies, like their particle counterparts in the LHC, have measurable electrical charges. Since the left loves to propagate their “Party of No” line, we’ll call the Republicans electrons, ceding the “negative charge” point for the moment.
That would make Democrats protons (since they’re pro-choice and pro-big-government), and Independents would necessarily be neutrons.
Now, to further the sub-atomic comparison, let’s go ahead and bring in the flip-side of the coin: anti-matter.
Since there is a negative charged electron, there is also a version with a positive charge. That anti-electron particle is called the positron. It is the same size and weight as an electron, except it has an opposite charge.
(Again, going on Liberal talking points, since the TeaParty Movement is “part of the GOP,” let’s call these folks positrons.)
For the positive charged proton, there is the anti-proton that has a negative charge. (Using logic, we can reasonably call the Congressional Progressive Caucus anti-protons, since they are the ones charging us headlong in a direction that is, ultimately, negative for our country.)
There is even an anti-neutron. It is still neutral in electrical charge, but it spins in the opposite direction. (These are the Independents who, just a year and a half ago, were voting for Barack Obama. They are now, through simply keeping one eye open, spinning in the other direction. Rapidly.)
All of these particles have been loaded into the tubes in our Large Hadron Collider of a political climate.
The result of this impending impact, I argue, will be far different than the results expected by CERN physicists. Indeed, even the results feared by a wide contingent of LHC doom-sayers are no match for the political shake-up I foresee.
Our present collision course will not yield the political equivalent of Higgs Boson, nor unleash the widely-feared (if highly speculative) uncontained black hole that will portend the cumulative implosion of all human existence. It will instead, I believe, have an immediate impact that will send aftershocks rippling through our nation’s political class. On both sides of the aisle. And leave we, the people, on much more solid ground than they.
The current ideological struggle does indeed pit proton against neutron, but we have another even more unstable atom in play: the moron. Recent examples are becoming more and more frequent, proving this particle’s potential for spontaneous combustion.
Removing the moron particle from the equation, preferably before the accelerator is engaged, is the only way to keep it out of the collision course. Protons and electrons can reasonably disagree on substance, and the neutrons will always be the deciding factor on election day. I believe that, in politics as well as physics, opposite charges do attract. (Hell, just look at the wedded bliss of Mary Matalin and James “Serpent-head” Carville.)
Here comes the damning “but” – But, the tricky particle, the moron, is hard to spot. In the examples linked above, we have seen it take on the shape and properties of protons, electrons, neutrons, and even their anti-matter counterparts.
These amorphous chameleons, cycling through their amoeba-like contortions, have a potential to show up when and where we least expect them.
We have seen many signs over the past year indicating that the left and right are equally terrified of the TeaParty Movement. I have stated for a while now that this is not at all a bad thing. In fact, this was (or at least should’ve been) one of the main goals all along.
But, again, we have seen elements inside the TeaParty Movement making moves to seriously undermine its credibility, whether through naivete or idiocy. The result is the same.
We have seen the GOP continuing their months-long campaign to subvert, overtake, and dominate the movement.
And, as if we needed further proof of how utterly horrified the left is, and how completely apoplectic they are over the rapid growth and success of the TeaParty Movement, last week heralded the launch of a website aimed at “crashing” Tax Day Tea Parties across the country. (And, no, I’m not linking to it.)
This latest attempt to make the “racist” and “terrorist” paint stick will fall short, as well. Not because the TeaParty Movement can’t be painted, but because they are using a brush that is far too wide-sweeping and a generic flat enamel paint, trying to cover the brilliant tapestry of political & ideological stripes from which the movement is stitched together.
It is precisely because of this diversity and inclusiveness that the movement has grown so rapidly. And therein lies the pitfall. Any ground-up fledgling movement will attract a small number of undesirables.
It happened to The Sons Of Liberty, the Suffragettes, the Prohibitionists, the Desegregationists, and the Civil Rights activists, just for starters. ALL eventually had to police their ranks to weed out militants and a tiny faction of violence promoters. If they hadn’t, their movements would have failed and our nation’s history could very well have been drastically altered.
I think Thomas Jefferson was correct in saying that the tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. I also happen to believe he was speaking of political bloodshed, not literal. I would submit, dear reader, that the branches of the tree must also be pruned at times, to prevent any from growing so heavy that they succeed only in weighing it down.
Only after we prune the weaker branches from that tree, and remove the moron particles from our political physics experiment, can we set about our true task.
And what is that task? Restoring ourselves.
To explain, we once had a Federal government, as our Founders prescribed, but it has truly morphed into a National government. Previous Supreme Courts, packed with judicial activists, set precedents which are now regarded more highly than the Constitution. And by university professors, no less, who claim the title “Constitutional scholar,” or even “expert” (whatever the hell that is).
But, as many culprits as there are to lay blame upon (the Supreme Court in cases like Wickard v. Filburn being but one example), I truly believe the worst villains of all are ourselves. We became complacent and distracted, focusing more of our scrutiny on the Federal government, and allowing our state legislators to run roughshod over our liberty. Even in cases where state legislatures sought to defend the rights and freedoms of their citizenry, the political will to push the envelope and assert sovereignty was simply not powerful enough.
We have begun to see a shift now. Let’s use this opportunity to put pressure on our state-level officials to do the right thing, and see it through all the while keeping a watchful eye on Washington, to ensure that our powers are no longer abused. By either party.
The collision which awaits us at the end of these tubes ( ones we must travel, mind you) will be a massive one, and its after-effects will be both beautiful and unpredictable. But, whatever the ramifications, fallout, and long-term repercussions will be, rest assured they will all be worth the time and sweat we must expend in our preparation.
