On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought.  There had been a lot of frustration with the British government long before these battles.  One key event was the Boston Tea Party, which took place on December 16, 1773.  The Tea Party was proof of widespread discontent, but Lexington & Concord demonstrated a willingness to fight to achieve that change.  Everything changed with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.  For the first time, citizens stood up to the British Red Coats, the most powerful military force on earth, and fired back.  It was not a huge battle, and there was no great victory, but the Minutemen stood their ground and it was the British army that retreated.  The Revolutionary War was on.

The modern Tea Party movement was named, appropriately so, after the original Boston Tea Party, because, once again, we are dealing with a government determined to continue raising taxes so it can spend more money on things people don’t want and don’t need.   Real change always faces strong resistance from the people currently in power.  In 1775, it was the British Government and King George.  Today, it is the federal government and the massive bureaucracy developed over the last 235 years.  This bureaucracy is strongly supported by those who depend on its largess.  This is not just about Barack Obama, or even the Democratic Party; it includes the Republican leadership, labor unions, the main stream media, lobbyists, special interest groups and big business.   All of these have invested a lot of time, money and energy in maintaining the status quo.  All of them are strongly resistant to real change.

Now, we are engaged in another “civil war,” and we are about to find out whether or not we can regain the special type of government purchased with the very blood, sweat and tears of our Founding Fathers.   I seriously doubt that our Founding Fathers would be impressed with the hideous transformation of a limited government, offering freedom of opportunity, to the socialist monstrosity that is destroying our country.  This is a different kind of war, hopefully fought with votes rather than bullets.  But, it is a war, nonetheless. 

One of the first major battles in this war is being fought in Wisconsin.  The people in Wisconsin voted for a Republican Assembly, a Republican Senate and a Republican Governor.  To the shock and dismay of the establishment, these newly elected patriots intend to keep their promise to take on the power monopoly represented by the trifecta of the Democratic Party, the Main Stream Media and the Public Sector Unions.  It took an incredible amount of courage to stand up to these powerful forces and, as expected, they fought viciously back.   People used to power seldom give up that power willingly.  Wisconsin is an important reminder of the willingness of the establishment to fight back against fundamental change.

The battle in Wisconsin rages on.  At first the establishment fought back with massive demonstrations, vocal media support and imported protestors.  There have also been reports of threats of violence against the Governor and key Republicans in the Assembly and the Senate.  This has included death threats.  (Contrary to main stream media reporting, there is far more violence from the far left than from the far right.  Those of us who monitor blogs from either extreme quickly realize that while conservative blogs quickly block those who spew hate speech or threaten violence, such rhetoric is common on the liberal blogs. )  When this attempt at intimidation did not work, they poured in about $4 million in a last-minute campaign to defeat a sitting Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice.  They ran vicious attack ads full of outright lies and distortions.  Fortunately, this didn’t work because the good people of Wisconsin went to the polls and voted in record numbers to restore sanity to a state gone wild.  (As we write this the Democratic Party is still trying to win this election through the “recount” process.  They are talking about “under-counted” votes in places like Milwaukee & Madison.  Don’t be surprised if someone “finds” the additional votes necessary to put this in the Democratic column.) The next battle will be a well-funded attempt to recall any Republican who dared stand up to the well-entrenched establishment.

This war started in Wisconsin, but it will not end there.  Contrary to the myths promulgated by the main stream media, the Tea Party movement is the result of pre-existing systemic disgust with the long slide toward socialism, not an illusion invented by a slick political machine.   The anger is all too real and no amount of media spin is going to change that.  A lot of people are sick and tired of watching a long stream of politicians, from both parties, who promise change but only deliver more and more of the same.  Only a handful of extremely brave individuals have the moral courage to stand up to the establishment in both parties, to the main stream media, to the unions, to the special interest groups and to big business and demand systemic change.  They have been mocked, shunned and, in some cases, assaulted by those who are determined to stay in power.  The unprecedented personal attacks on Sarah Palin are proof positive that these people show no restraint in their never ceasing lust for power.  Never before has the main stream media stood silently by while the innocent children of a political candidate were publicly savaged by those incapable anything other than the vilest personal hatred.  Ironically, those who preach the need for tolerance demonstrate almost none themselves.

The war is on.  The worst fighting is yet to come.  There will be casualties on both sides.  During a time of war, the people look for a very different kind of leader.  Winston Churchill was considered to be the laughingstock of the cultured elite in England, until they desperately needed his leadership during World War II.  The man they mockingly despised is now their most honored hero.   At this time, only a couple of people, like Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Michelle Bachmann and Donald Trump seem to understand what is going on.  The remainder seems to be determined to run as moderates, adored by everyone, desperate for approval by the main stream media.  My hunch is that anyone who wants to be the Republican nominee for President had better figure this out—and fast.  When you’re involved in a war, the most important characteristic of a leader is someone who knows how to win and is willing to pay the price for victory.  When you think about it, nothing else matters, because if we lose, we will have nothing at all.

 I really think Wisconsin is the new Lexington, hence the title:  Lexington Wisconsin.  Now, let’s find a leader who understands what it takes to win this war.

 TDM