Al Franken Declared Winner Of Minnesota Senate Race, Democrats Now Have Filibuster-Proof Majority In The Senate: How Will Americans Respond?

The worst-case scenario of the 2008 election has now come to pass. God help us all. I say that as a prayer, and not as a lamentation.

There is every reason to cry foul about the election results in Minnesota, where incumbent Republican Norm Coleman led after the initial counting of ballots by more than 700 votes, only to see that lead evaporate as new votes were "discovered" all over the state, with a highly disproportionate (some would say statistically impossible) number of those votes favoring Franken. The suspicious recount and horribly bungled subsequent canvassing process were chronicled in a great National Review article by Powerline's Scott Johnson.

The election results aside, we now have to face the dire consequences. In a blog post dated October 6, 2008, I warned of the following potential consequences of an Obama White House, a Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives, and a Harry Reid-led, filibuster-proof Senate:

"- All abortion restrictions will be overturned courtesy of the demonically misnamed "Freedom of Choice Act"

- Ruth Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, and possibly even David Souter could retire within those two years, leaving Obama to name their replacements, who are sure to get sped through the Senate with little to no vetting, costing the pro-life movement what is likely to be the only opportunity to achieve a pro-life Supreme Court majority for the next generation.

- It is very likely that an effort to codify gay marriage into federal law will be attempted, and the next two years would be the best chance for such a codification to succeed.

- Embryonic stem cell research will receive massive federal funding, ensuring that this practice will continue well beyond our lifetimes.

- There is a good chance that Obama and Congress will attempt to pass numerous pieces of subversive legislation of the sort that will make it easier for groups like ACORN (which Obama worked for during his community organizing days, and whose members he helped train in the very tactics that have gotten many of them indicted for voter fraud in 7 states) to act in secrecy and with relative impunity, paving the way for massive voter fraud in future elections which will lead to a built-in handicap working against Republicans and conservative initiatives at the ballot box.

- Taxes. Taxes. Taxes. Did I forget to mention the possibility of taxes? Any financial crisis we think we might be facing today will pale in comparison to what is sure to follow if jobs are lost courtesy of over-taxation of businesses, if gas prices shoot up due to newly-imposed drilling bans, and if the disastrous subsidies for ethanol-based fuel continue to drive food prices through the roof.

- Government oversight over private enterprise will grow, as will government oversight of first amendment rights. Can you imagine Democrats having no obstacle to passing laws that would make it possible for Catholic priests to get arrested as accessories if they preach against homosexuality during Mass and one of that priest's parishioners subsequently commits any act perceived as criminal or discriminatory against someone they may or may not have known to be homosexual? When government imposes itself in any area of private life, history has shown that it is not so easily pushed out again.

- The abominable "Fairness Doctrine" - designed specifically to drive conservative talk radio (the one media outlet liberals don't have a monopoly on apart from the Internet) out of business - is sure to be revisited and snuck through Congress with as little fanfare as possible."


Some of the things described above - including Souter's retirement, massive tax increases, increasing government oversight of private industry, and the beginnings of federal attempts to suppress ideological dissent - have already come to pass (and as expected, Democrats are trying to speed Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor through the confirmation process with minimal scrutiny), and these things have happened without the assurance of a filibuster-proof Democrat majority as everyone waited for the Minnesota shenanigans to play out. Now, with the filibuster-proof majority assured, the Democrats still have 16 months before the next mid-term congressional election - to say nothing of the additional two month period between the elections themselves and the swearing in of the newly-elected - in which time they can push through the rest of the above-mentioned agenda (and much else besides) with minimal Republican resistance.

Only one obstacle remains to the imminent attempt to run roughshod over our civil liberties, and that is the voice of the would-be downtrodden: namely, we the American people. As a general rule, politicians are set in their political agenda, and rarely listen to their constituents once the votes have been tallied and they have been assured of election (or re-election, as the case may be). However, public outcry very nearly derailed HR 2454 (the disastrous cap and trade legislation) in the House (the margin of passage being only 7 votes), and stands a good chance of derailing the legislation in the Senate - even with a filibuster-proof Democrat majority. Public pressure is also the only hope we now have of derailing the passage of the financially catastrophic "Obamacare" health care proposal, as well as forestalling the inevitable attempts at gun control. Politicians tend ignore isolated outcries from constituents whose opinions differ from their own. However, they find it a great deal more difficult to ignore massive public outcries, especially these days if said politicians face re-election in 2010.

Congressmen often have the luxury of relative anonymity when casting their votes. We know that the self-proclaimed "most transparent administration in U.S. history" is not going to go out of its way to explain the consequences of the legislation it favors, so it falls to us to exhort our Senators and Representatives to familiarize themselves with the legislation for which they are casting a vote - and to hold them accountable for running afoul of the American people when they fail to act in our best interests. Public exposure of those who vote in favor of disastrous legislation or against beneficial legislation is warranted. That, however, is not possible unless we the people bother to familiarize ourselves with the mechanisms of government and the wording and practical applications of the legislation that passes through the halls of Congress.

Which means, folks, that we cannot continue to remain in ignorant bliss of what our government is doing. Ignorant voters tend to elect the most capable con artists to high office, and then tend to turn a blind eye to the mischief such con artists perpetrate. If we truly care about this American experiment, that has to stop. The right to vote carries with it a grave moral responsibility. Not only do we have an obligation to familiarize ourselves with the candidates and amendments that appear on our ballots, we also have an obligation to ensure that our elected officials remain on good behavior and that the amendments we vote into law are properly enacted. To do otherwise, and to remain ignorant of what we enable at the ballot box, is to ensure the advent of tyranny.

We are now at a crossroads. We must decide if the American experiment is worth saving. If we can't be bothered to inform ourselves about the agenda of the people now tasked with perpetuating that experiment, and to hold them accountable to us, we may soon wake up to the realization that the vision of our Founding Fathers has passed us by. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves. God bless!


In Jesus and Mary,
Gerald