The words on the Gadsden Flag – the unofficial flag of the TEA Party movement. No one decreed it, no one ordered it, and no law / regulation / statute was passed demanding it be so. It just became, it just IS. The people spontaneously decided (with no controlling legal authority, Mr. Gore) that the sentiment expressed in that simple statement fits just fine. No, it doesn’t signal an anti-government sentiment – but it does signal "anti-the-people-running-Government" outrage and you-took-a-wrong-turn" feeling. They went back to the basics and discovered that the basics that founded this country have been ignored – and THAT’S what is being "taken back" (since the Left is howling about the use of the phrase "We’re taking back our country!").
Anti-Government? No – just "anti" those who put Government ahead of "We, the People". Just "anti" those that believe that Government must lead, must direct "We, the People" because we just don’t know what’s best for ourselves. After all, it IS "We, the People" and not "Oh, those elite Progressives and unelected bureaucrats who know they know what’s better for us than we do".
That quaint notion of Freedom, of being able to make decisions for ourselves, even those that end up in a face-plant into cement? That Freedom DOES mean the Right to FAIL as well as the Right to succeed? "Oh, but that’s just SOOO old fashioned…it’s a new day, a new age, and we need something new and fresh and up to date; we’ll tell you how to act and behave…or else"
That thinking is not new, that’s not fresh; it’s as old as the hills and as old as human history. It is the ancient story of self-appointed overlords deciding to take from others – the power of choice. And that is the meaning of the Progressive / Liberal mantra: let us rule you – by elected means if possible, by an unelected bureaucracy (that they control) if needed.
And now, the American people, this gaggle of orner people have the temerity to say "Don’t you dare" to those faux leaders – we simply wish to take care of ourselves instead of being herded like sheep. This says it well:
