Who Is John Galt?

We went to the Tea Party yesterday at the State Capitol, myself and all the children. The media was predicting a crowd of around 1500, but they were off by almost 4000. I suppose that they simply underestimated the anger of the common man who is tired of seeing his paycheck be squandered by people who are not having to trade their own lives for the money they spend.

The people we saw yesterday were tired of being used as a piggy bank for the pet projects of people for whom they had never voted. They took their lunch hour to come and stand in the sun and the Oklahoma wind to hear ordinary citizens speak the truth as they see it. They sang The Star Spangled Banner so loudly that the soloist’s voice was completely drowned out and then pledged allegiance to that same flag with tears in their eyes. These patriots, these good-hearted men and women have finally reached the breaking point. At long last, they have been pushed as far as they are willing to move and will yield no more.

What was the tipping point? Was it a stimulus bill which passed without having first been read by any of the voters? Was it being told that their hard earned money,so carefully managed, will go to pay the mortgages of those who weren’t so prudent? Was it being mocked and ridiculed publicly by the very people who are supposed to work in the best interests of the citizenry, but don’t think the people are smart enough to know what their own best interests are? In a word, yes.

History teaches us that when the silent majority grows weary of feeling oppressed, abused, and ignored by the people their tax dollars support, they will rise up in opposition to that power structure and the structure will either change or be torn down.

Col. Travis at the Alamo famously used the point of his sword to draw a line in the sand at his feet and challenge the men around him to either leave quietly and go live their lives under the tyranny of Santa Ana or to decide that they had had enough of being pushed around and stay behind that line to stand up for something more important than their own individual comforts. I believe we are seeing the modern day equivalent all around us of people drawing their own lines and saying “only to here and then no further.” Like the defenders of the Alamo and her sister mission Goliad, the tea-partiers are declaring themselves to be free men who are unwilling to live under oppression no matter the cost of their freedom.