The Democrats are backing away from the public option, saying it is just a small part of the whole plan. President Obama told an audience in Colorado Saturday it “is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it. One aspect of it.” He’s willing to give it up in order to pass the rest of the bill.
Victory for the Republicans?
No.
See, the left has a far more long term vision than the right generally. They understand the purpose of the camel sticking it’s nose under the tent’s flap. If they can just pass a portion of it, then later, they can pass a little more. Then a bit more until, over time, they have exactly what they want.
This is possible because Washington, D.C. is a place of compromise. The media applauds bi-partisan legislation, but that generally means the Republicans work with the Democrats to pass what the Democrats want. Rarely do Democrats cross the aisle to ensure the passage of conservative legislation.
The Democrats understand that while they might not get what they want this time around, there will be another opportunity sometime in the future where they can count on so-called Republicans like Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham to pass a little bit more, until they have exactly what they wanted here.
It’s an admirable trait, really. This long term planning, the patience of the statist is very impressive. They understand that this isn’t an overnight revolution, but a revolution of generational proportions.
In a 1944 speech, Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party said, “The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” He later added, “I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.”
He understood the long term. He spelled it out. Attain the goal, piece by piece, little by little. That is the way to victory for the statist. That is why the public option can be jettisoned. If they can just get the camel’s nose under the tent, they can get the rest later. It’s that first step that’s so important.
Republicans, conservatives and libertarians need to understand the long term of the left. They need to apply the same thinking to their actions. This isn’t an ideological war that can be won with one big fight, but with a series of skimishes staged throughout the years. Look back over the last 70-80 years and look at the statist’s actions. Little by little they have crept into the private sector.
Defeating the public option while allowing the rest is not victory. It’s delayed defeat.
Until the right starts looking at the long term, and understanding the Democrats think this way, we will continue across the Bridge to Dependence.
