1/25/2015 - Timothy Daughtry Townhall.com
The
Citizens Mandate, released on January 15 by over
fifty conservative leaders, does far more than call upon the GOP to honor the
mandate given it by the electorate in the 2014 landslide. The Mandate offers an
opportunity for mainstream America – for far too long the sleeping giant of
American politics – to get a new attitude about politics.
As our government ratchets further
and further to the left regardless of which party we put in power, the
center-right mainstream in America edges closer and closer to a state that
psychologists call conditioned helplessness. Regardless of how we vote, nothing
changes.
We vote to tell our representatives
to stop Obamacare, to stop Obama’s illegal amnesty and other unconstitutional
intrusions of the Executive branch into the role of the Legislative branch, and
to stop sacrificing American security on the altar of political correctness.
And yet, after tickling our ears with tough campaign talk about doing all those
things, the GOP barely gets back in the Beltway before they fund both Obamacare
and illegal amnesty and, in effect, they collude with Obama’s agenda to
radically transform America.
It is as if the Beltway is telling
mainstream America that the political class is sovereign and that we are merely
subjects: Go ahead and vote; call us and express your opinion if you must;
go to a rally every now and then if it makes you feel better. But nothing you
do can influence us. Just keep working and paying taxes and we’ll run the
country the way we want to.
The longer this goes on, the bolder
the abuses of power will become, and the more mainstream America will feel
cynical and helpless to do anything about it.
In conditioned helplessness
experiments, subjects are exposed to situations that they cannot control, such
as a loud noise that they cannot turn off regardless of which button they push,
or trying to solve a problem that has no solution. Whatever the case, subjects
in these experiments typically give up and passively accept their
circumstances. What is most surprising is that, when the experimental
conditions are changed so that the subject could actually turn off the noise or
solve the problem, these subjects have difficulty learning that their actions
matter. They have developed a mindset of helplessness, and they have trouble
seeing the solution that is right in front of them.
Sound familiar? Press “D” for
Obamacare, amnesty, and executive overreach. Press “R” for Obamacare, amnesty,
and executive overreach.
But, though mainstream America may
feel a growing sense of helplessness to influence the direction of the behemoth
inside the Beltway, there is a solution. We just have to change our attitude
about politics and then try a different approach.
A major thesis of Waking the
Sleeping Giant: How Mainstream America Can Beat Liberals at Their Own Game is
that mainstream America confuses civics with politics. We think that politics
is about voting and winning elections. When the election is over, we go back to
work and wonder why government doesn’t listen to us. But the far left and K
Street lobbyists understand that politics is about pressure. Regardless
of which names are on the doors, the leftists and the lobbyists keep the
pressure on long after the election until they get their way.
But if a handful of left wing
activists and K Street lobbyists can successfully pressure government to carry
out their agenda, what could millions of mainstream Americans do if they
decided to put serious pressure on Washington that continued long after
Election Day?
That’s where the Citizens Mandate
comes in. Signed by conservatives such as Richard Viguerie, Phyllis Schlafly,
bestselling novelist Brad Thor, and dozens of others – including this writer –
the Mandate reminds the new Congress point by point of the 2014 electoral
mandate to stop the radical transformation of America. Started as a
collaborative effort among grassroots conservatives, however, the Mandate has the
potential to become a movement that Washington cannot ignore.
Citizens who support the principles
of the Mandate can join in by linking to it and spreading the word on social
media and through their personal networks. Call talk radio shows to talk about
the Mandate and express your support. Get tea party groups to endorse and
publicize the Mandate. Get your county, district, and state GOP committees to
endorse the Mandate and remind elected Republicans that the wave that put them
in office is still rolling. Call your Representatives and Senators before work
and again when you get home.
And don’t fall for parliamentary
sleight-of-hand in which members of Congress claim to oppose a bill that is
unpopular with their constituents while voting behind the scenes for rules that
ensure its passage. Find websites and blogs written by experts who study those
obscure rules and who can keep you informed about what’s really going on behind
the curtain in the political theater.
The sleeping giant of mainstream
America woke up and voted in 2014, but the mandate inherent in that vote is
being ignored. Now it’s time for that giant to speak in a clear and sustained
voice that rattles the windows in the halls of power.
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