Punchy. Cheeky. Sassy. Saucy. Fearless. This ain't your grandfather's conservative movement.
If the Tea Party Movement has done one thing right (and I think it has done far more than one right thing), it has been to inject some adrenaline into the dehydrated veins of demoralized conservatives. Remember how horrible it felt to wake up on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 and look about and wonder if we were heading — with the landslide win for the most liberal brand of Dems — toward that sort of limp-wristed, soft-underbellied slide into Western European-style socialism and whether we would have something as unique as the idea of America by the end of 2012? Well, I do. I awoke that morning at 4 AM and wrote a fable — an allegory, really — about our willful abandonment of all things rugged and wild and free called "Whosoever Treasures Freedom." Well, I thought, that was a nice ride while it lasted. And I was depressed — or, at least, depressed for me, which is still far too ebullient and gay for my husband's taste most of the time.
Then, 2009 got into full swing and — wonder of wonders! — the party of "Hell No!" arose. Regular American people were jolted out of their slumber to gather together in defiance of this squishy slide. The moral core of America fought back — not with rifles or bayonets or violence of any kind, but with feet planted firmly in the ground, arms crossed, eyes steely with resolve, saying, "Not on our watch. Not to our children and grandchildren. We don't want it. We don't need it. We can't afford it. Stop it."
Now, with the amazing tools of things like blogs and Twitter and YouTube, conservatives are getting quite creative and ever more amusing. Things like Tim Hawkins's The Government Can and Steven Crowder's I GotsA Peace Prize were only the beginning. Now, with this catalyst of an election just around the corner, conservative causes are releasing sharp, focused and hilarious videos almost daily. I came across this gem today:
(Backstory: Rep. Alan Grayson (FL8-D) is thoroughly reprehensible. Scummy, dirty, douchebaggery does not even begin to do justice to his absolute loathsomeness, but it is a good start. He recently approved of a vile, repulsive concoction of lies and misrepresentations in the shape of a campaign ad about his opponent, Daniel Webster. Perhaps most appalling and despicable is that he took cuts of Mr. Webster's speaking at a church function about marriage completely out of context — contriving to make Mr. Webster appear like a misogynist neanderthal and one who is completely obsessed by biblical exhortations of wifely submission — and ends the ad with the outrageous labeling of his Republican opponent as "Taliban Dan." For the ad itself and the unedited video of Mr. Webster's speech, I direct you to Freedom's Lighthouse (my favorite source for all must-see videos and the latest polling information). Mr. Grayson has been unapologetic when confronted with his malignant malfeasance, saying "in context, out of context, whatever.")
Well, Townhall released today a brilliant, biting, spot-on send-up of this Alan Grayson kerfuffle. The ending is priceless! Enjoy!
I think that this new, confident, bold and ballsy, in-your-face face of conservatism is largely due to one former governor of Alaska who was the first one to call out now-President Obama for being, essentially, a very silly person. Most of the pundits and all the politicians (including, for way too long, his opponent in the general election, Senator McCain) were intimidated by his resounding, pastor-like delivery of frothy, empty sentiment, by his exotic family history and upbringing, by his academic accomplishments and pretensions to intellectualism, and by the seeming aura of destiny that surrounded his campaign. Add to that the understandable American aversion to anything that could be construed as racism, and Candidate Obama seemed untouchable. Then, in September 2008, Sarah Palin delivered a barn-burner of a speech that actually dared to poke fun at this pretender, this shyster, this voice in a suit. For this, she was excoriated by most of the media, and even a great portion of the country. So much gall packed into one woman! So much hatred focused on same. The campaign to destroy her was immediate and unrelenting. But it failed. And, up from the ashes of November 5, Gov. Palin has become one of the strongest voices for the resurgent fun factor in conservatism. The smiler with a knife, she continues on — bold in her message that silliness cannot hold sway in such a sensible country for long, and that Americans are now as they have always been: a people who, paradoxically, are far better and wiser as a whole than the officials they elect.
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