Rally 'Round the Family

To paraphrase former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, there are knowns and unknowns (and there are unknown knowns and known unknowns, but for the purposes of clarity let's stop with the knowns and unknowns, lest we become as confused as he). What's known is that Democratic representatives in Congress have never been so eager to get back to work as they are this summer.

The unknowns are less comforting. How much uglier could these conservative invasions of town-hall meetings possibly get? That depends on the conservatives. Already a couple of meetings have ended fitfully due to the presence of firearms among some in the audience. That's a small step beyond the effigies and mock headstones displayed last week.

At first, it was easy to find a suitable axiom for this sort of paid-under-the-table lobbying by the insurance industry. Given the number of Viagra prescriptions doled out these days, one could presume, you are what you eat. Now, though, the debate has progressed into what the Supreme Court has defined as "fighting words".

Put aside, for now, the irony that most of the attention-seekers at these events are obviously in their golden years and are therefore eligible for Medicare (i.e., government health care, which they... oppose). Conservatives have determined that, since their First Amendment rights obviously aren't getting the trick done, they'll fall back on the Second Amendment.

That very sentiment was expressed by a woman in Oregon the other day. It is a tinny reverberation of what has been playing out for years now in the Evangelical set. A good number of Americans are convinced that the End Times are near. They don't want to get Left Behind when the Rapture hits, and like another well-known group of religious zealots, they feel that the best way to get a seat at His Right Hand is to kill the infidels (in Jesus' name, of course).

One of the worst perpetrators of this incivil disobedience has been Erik Prince, the CEO and founder of XE, which is the new name of Blackwater Security. Long known for killing innocent Iraqis in 'roid-rage combat maneuvers, XE is under investigation for all sorts of bad-apple stuff, from gun-running to the killing of potential witnesses. That's why Prince, when you look at him today, has "Prison Bitch" written all over his face.

If conservatives really feel that health care is the rallying cry for an armed revolution, well, that's scary for them. It means that the United States government, sworn to uphold and defend this nation against all enemies foreign and domestic, will have to show them what all those defense dollars were about.

With all due respect (Read: not much) to the folks at XE/Blackwater, I'd be willing to put my money on our troops over these neo-con paramilitary crusaders any day. I'm pretty sure Vegas would agree. The big wagers would involve how many hours - or minutes - it would take to put down a modern-day Whisky Rebellion.

If it's worth anything, there would also be a good number of Americans appalled enough by their actions to take up arms themselves, as well they should. If that's where this is headed, then you can count on about three-fourths of the people willing to be your hackle-bearer.

pH 8.12.o9