Congress does not seem to care what the American people think about any number of issues, whether it is bailing out banks and auto manufacturers or passing an overhaul of the health care system. A Democrat-controlled Congress seems intent on passing a health care bill that is opposed by 55% of the American people.
We the People are feeling frustrated and angry; our elected representatives don’t seem to think they represent anyone but themselves. As I gaze into my crystal ball, I see an interesting year unfolding in 2010.
I have been predicting for months that come next May, after everyone sees their tax bills rising, coupled with continued arrogance on the part of Congress and a President who refuses to call a Muslim a terrorist, there is going to be a “peasant uprising” the likes of which we have not seen in this country in a very long time. Just think the ‘60’s multiplied by a factor of ten. All of the elements are coming together for one of those “perfect storm” moments.
I recently read an article written by Michael Barone that points out some interesting similarities between the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act in 1854 and the ObamaCare bill steaming towards passage in 2010.
Barone explains:
Its (Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854) lead sponsor was Stephen A. Douglas, at 41 in his eighth year as senator from Illinois, the most dynamic leader of a Democratic Party that had won the previous presidential election by 254 electoral votes to 42.
The issue that Douglas said the Kansas-Nebraska Act would settle forever was slavery in the territories. His bill repealed the 34-year-old Missouri Compromise prohibiting slavery in territories north of Arkansas and substituted popular sovereignty -- territory residents could vote slavery up or down.
In order to pass the Act, Douglas had to resort to all kinds of trickery and slight of hand; apparently he got drunk the day after the bill was successfully passed. I guess Harry Reid is a teetotaler so he most likely didn’t follow suit, but not to worry; Senator Baucus of Montana managed to do it for him. If you haven’t seen the video yet of an obviously inebriated Baucus on the Senate floor, just click here for the show.
Barone continues:
We cannot say with assurance that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was unpopular -- Dr. Gallup didn't start polling until 81 years later. But the results of the next election were pretty convincing. The Republican Party was suddenly created to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the 1854-55 elections transformed the Democrats' 159-71 majority to a 108-83 Republican margin. Democrats didn't win a majority of House seats for the next 20 years.
Nor did the Kansas-Nebraska Act settle the issue it addressed. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers fought it out in "bleeding Kansas," and Douglas felt obliged to break with the Democratic administration and disown election-stealing by the pro-slavery side. The issue roused a former congressman named Abraham Lincoln to re-enter politics, and he beat Douglas in the popular vote (but not in the legislature) in 1858 and then was elected president in 1860.
Ultimately, the Kansas-Nebraska Act played a key role in the run-up to the Civil War.
So, will the Union survive or will there be another attempt at secession? I think there is a good chance that a secession movement will develop. I don’t think it will be one that divides states quite in the same way as the civil war, although it would appear that states like California, New York, and Massachusetts will go one way, while states like the Dakotas, Utah, and Wyoming will want to go another. It looks like a rural/urban split is more likely; the land mass versus the population centers.
I also predicted back before the election that if Obama was elected that it would be a very long time before another Democrat became President. I stand by that prediction, also. The Dems seem intent on political suicide, with their ego-based programs intent on social engineering every aspect of our lives and their President who thinks every jihadist is a “lone wolf”, and certainly not to be labeled a terrorist.
The peasants are getting restless; I see a challenging year for E Pluribus Unum.
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