Is Scott Brown The New Face of American Political Change?

Is Scott Brown’s election to the Senate from the ultra liberal Commonwealth of Massachusetts the beginnings of a political revolution started by the Tea Party Movement in 2009?  Could it be that independent voters are finally rising up in mass to support candidates based on issues that are important to them and the country, or are we all just drinking the Kool-Aid (as one of my Democratic friends joked) that the Republican party and conservatives are serving up, to try to win back some power in Washington, DC?

The fact is that I watched the voters of Massachusetts rise up like I have never seen in the last thirty years.   I keep thinking back to that woman in Pennsylvania this past summer who confronted Senator Arlen Specter at one of his Town Hall events.  She pointed her finger and told him “that Congress had  awoken a sleeping giant” and after this past Tuesday, I believe she may be right.

How They See This From The Left!

Now I have heard the Democratic, far left and progressive politicians, pundits and media, (which I include President Obama and his administration as part of) try to either demonize those who see things different, ignore them as astro-turf-not grass roots, or insult as being manipulated and brain washed by “Faux” News, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.  I guess this level of  arrogance is not unusual for those in power, as I have seen it on the right in the past.  My disappointment is that this position is a total contradiction to what swept President Obama into power and is now the driving force that is waking that “sleeping giant” that is America.   Americans are beginning to find it almost comical that if you do not agree with the Presidents position, you are either a racist, right-wing nut or an intellectual imbecile, incapable of understanding the complexity of the issues that they are contemplating.  Americans are not stupid and this arrogance is only fostering this rising tsunami of discontent.

How They See This From The Right!

From the Republican’s and far right ultra conservatives I hear a call to arms like they have won.  They think that this election is a validation of their policies, ultra conservative values and and Republican party in general.  The fact is that they are just as wrong as their colleagues on the left.  They see this win as a turning of the popular tide in their direction, but except for a few independent thinking men like Senator John McCain, I saw very few Republican politicians waste their energy supporting the hopeless cause of Scott Brown in any significant way over the last few months.

I did not see Michael Steele or the RNC supporting Senator Brown until it began to look like he was going to make it a race.  I believe that in many ways the Republican party is just as out of touch with mainstream America as the Democrats are (with the exception of Nancy Pelosi, who I am sad to say has no clue where middle America even is, she scares me!).  I hear the same right wing pundits try to spin this as a win for their team.  The credit is not yours!

New American Revolution

President Calvin Coolidge once said “Patriotism is easy to understand in America.  It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.”  I really believe that people are waking up and coming together as Americans during this time of crisis and turmoil, because many in power have stopped looking out for the country and become so self serving that it threatens the future of our nation.  When Scott Brown told the CNN reporter that it was not Senator Kennedy’s seat in the U.S. Senate it was the people’s seat in the U.S. Senate, he ignited something in many of us.

I give the blame and credit to both the left and right, as many of them have strayed from the path that would best lead America, created a mess by putting themselves before their country and blamed everyone but themselves  (I will save a special post for that).  In their zeal for power though, they may have saved our country as we are seeing the sleeping giant that is the “American People” come back to life and flex its muscle right where the “cradle of liberty” was formed.

Just as the first American Revolution began in Massachusetts, it is only fitting that the new American Revolution begins here anew.  Not a revolution by bullets, but a revolution by ballots.  Not a revolution to give rights to special interests, but a revolution to protect the rights of every American.  We are a country of rights and responsibility, not entitlements and bailouts.

Just an American

I do not consider myself a Republican, Democrat, Progressive, Conservative, Independent or Libertarian.  I consider myself just an American!  I do not say this to demean or accuse anyone who has differing views than I, as being un-American.  On the contrary, as a citizen, you have the right and responsibility to express your opinion and that is All-American to me and I love a vibrant political discussion of differing views.

The greatness of our country is in the diversity of the people, the discussion and a government based on the honest will and best interest of the citizens and not the elite few who capture power and then use it for political and/or personal gain (right, left or center).

I am only one vote, but I do not vote upon party lines, union affiliation, family tradition, racial background or ethnic heritage.  To earn my vote, I have to believe that my elected officials are looking out for me, by looking out for my community, my state and my country and not themselves,  a union, special interest group, PAC or political  party affiliation.  I believe that is why the Massachusetts voters defied all the predictions and elected Scott Brown.  They see it is time to wake up and hold those we elect accountable.  Catchy words like “Hope” and “Change” will not cut it in 2010.   Let this be a wake up call for both citizens and politicians.

Good luck Senator Brown, we are counting on you!