Framing the Dialogue

When I get stopped about this sticker, it often sparks a good conversation.

A funny thing happened on the way to Subway today.  After I pulled into the parking slot a stranger came up to me and commented on a sticker that I have on my rear car windo.  It was not Jared the famed pitchman for the chain, but Mike who turned out to be a like-minded individual.  Mike asked about the sticker on my car and we had a great conversation about taxes, big government, and the future.

Besides a love of our country and Ayn Rand, Mike and I both blog though his domain name (Don’t Spread The Wealth) is a little more descriptive of his views than mine.  The most unusual part was the fact that we had this conversation at all.  Twelve months ago this would not have happened. 

There is a groundswell, an awakening of real Americans.  Regular people are opening up and expressing their views to friends, family, and even strangers.  I am amazed at how many of us are out here, but most importantly, I am heartened.  The MSM is trying to ignore the movement and that has worked in the past, but their day has passed.

I had a similar situation recently at work.  I have worked for the same organization for nearly ten years and only now am meeting people who I have known for years.  I happened upon a cubicle conversation last Friday (we don’t have coolers at my office).  My three colleagues were having a conversation about taxes, the economy, and health care and they were against taxes, were pro-capitalism, and wanted government mostly out of health care and their lives.  I had known these folks for years, one of them for probably twenty, yet never knew this side of them.  We all shared similar views, but never had the disposition to share them before. 

This is the awakening. 

If you have been to a T.E.A. party, you have experienced this feeling and it is growing.  I recommend engaging others.  Not starting arguments, but really engaging them and more often than not you will find it rewarding.  There are more of us than you think and we surround them.

After my conversation with Mike, I proceeded to have my five dollar, five dollar foot long and read my paper.  I had a busy weekend and had not been able read my favorite daily and was really looking forward to it.  As I wound my way to the Op/Ed page, I was pleased to see a column by one of my favorite writers, Ralph Reiland.  His article, Atlas’ Is Shrugging completed my circle.  He wrote about one of my favorite books and the hero of my car’s window.  I like when fate steps in.  She writes better than I do.

 

Update:  For some maybe people’s voices are best expressed on their car windows.  A while back I posted about being a conservative working in the environmental field.  An office dominated by left-people is a very unusual place to work.  Over the years, a number of us conservatives have found each other, but we keep it on the down low.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this bumper sticker on a colleague’s car. 

This is not a baby step in our parking lot; it is a leap!  Maybe it’s even a groundswell.  Could it be that citizens are becoming disillusioned with the President?  Could they be tired of the direction he is taking our country?  Could they be tired of the constant fawning by the media?  Could they tired of his seemingly constant campaigning?

Rasmussen conducts a Presidential Tracking Poll indexing President Obama’s “strongly disapprove” versus “strongly approve” from voters.  It seems that while 26 percent of voters strongly approve of Obama’s performance, 39 percent strongly disapprove giving him a negative 13 Presidential Approval Index.  This marks the first time that Obama has had a double digit negative rating for seven weeks in a row.  It should be noted that Obama has only been in office for about 39 weeks and has had nearly slobbering coverage from the main stream media. 

As you would expect, Republican voters are 66 percent strongly disapprove while 50 percent of Democrats strongly approve.  The more telling statistic is that 42 percent of unaffiliated voters strongly disapprove of his performance.  

That is a groundswell.