Wisdom in Our Political Language

Ken Blackwell sounds a good warning to those whose anger or fear of what is happening in the country and the trends being set for the future threaten to overwhelm sound thinking. We need language that rises above mere rhetoric. We've had enough of mere rhetoric.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Whoa, Friends, Hold the "Regime" Talk!

by Ken Blackwell

Some of my friends on the conservative side of the aisle are vexed with President Obama’s clearly unconstitutional moves on health care. They cannot stomach the power grabs of his EPA. They are stunned by his unilateral disarmament. Faced with this radicalism, some of my friends have taken to calling the Obama administration “the regime.”

I share their frustration. I agree with their indignation. I support their determination--not just to take the country back from liberals--but to restore the rule of law itself. And, I too have referred to the Obama administration as a regime.

However, on reflection I think it’s bad policy to refer to President Obama’s administration as a “regime.”

Yes, yes. I know. Regime can technically refer to the rule of a political class actuated by the same premises and beliefs and united by the same purposes. All true. But we’re not talking higher political science here. We’re talking about how it sounds on Main Street.

Americans never refer to their government as a regime. Even if we’re “mad as hell and won’t take it anymore,” we don’t have regimes here. A regime is something run by a Kim Jong-il, or a Castro. It strikes the American ear as something fundamentally illegitimate. Not only illegitimate, but foreign.

Calling the Obama administration a regime is likely only to marginalize ourselves with the American people. Poll after poll shows Obama policies are losing the Independents. That’s the good news. Let’s not forget, however, that it was the Republicans who lost the Independents big time in 2006 and 2008.

If we call Obama’s administration a regime, it only strengthens his argument that we are a threat to orderly constitutional government. The American people want no part of disruption and radical attacks on America. That’s why it’s been so hard for liberals to elect one of their own since 1968. Older Americans, especially, remember the chaos LBJ’s policies brought to the campuses and the streets.

Yes, I know the Move-On types always referred to George W. Bush’s administration as a regime. But those folks didn’t persuade the Independents. It was the scandal of spending by Congress and that administration--as well as the sex and money scandals--that caused Independent voters to abandon the GOP in droves.

We have a great opportunity before us. Americans are rallying to the Constitution. It’s a beautiful thing to see. TEA parties--despite lies, abuse and vilification from the liberal media (or perhaps because of it)--are gathering steam all over the country. DONT TREAD ON ME! flags are flying all over. Polls show average Americans identify more with Tea Partiers’ values than with those of the Obama administration.

Resistance to the radical policies of Barack Obama is rising. Let it rise! Let’s make it easier, not harder, for mainstream Americans to join our ranks. We have the makings of a major repudiation of left wing zaniness. We could see scores of liberal Members of Congress sent packing--or, better, stupaking. If we don’t blow it.

I’m not signing up for a conservative circular firing squad. I’m not trying to censor anyone. I agree with the all the arguments being made by my friends--even if I disagree with that one-word choice.

Millions of Americans were excited by the prospect of electing the first black President. We should recognize that sentiment and respect it. What many of our fellow Americans did not realize is that along with that historic achievement came, tragically, the election of the first nuclear pacifist as President, the election of the first democratic socialist, the election of the first radical administration. And the election of an ultra-liberal Congress.

These voters were lured--and lulled--by a worshipful media into an historic mistake. We must not allow that error to be compounded. Let’s do nothing to keep millions of Americans of goodwill from filing into voting booths this fall and correcting that mistake.

We must be patient. Very patient. Conservative thinker Edmund Burke said it well: Individuals are foolish but the species is wise. The American people, given time and given due respect, will conclude about Barack Obama what they concluded about Jimmy Carter: He is in over his head.

When asked by pushy reporters just what he would do differently than Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan flashed his winning smile and said: Everything.

Until November, we should continue to show how these policies are destroying our economy, imposing a crushing burden of taxes and debt on the young, and endangering our national security. We can help our friends and neighbors by showing how the policies being pursued by this Congress and, yes, this administration are increasingly a threat to our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

About The Author

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Mr. Blackwell, a contributing editor at Townhall.com, is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council and American Civil Rights Union. He is the co-author of the forthcoming book The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency.