“This I am sure, whoever, ruler or subject, by force goes about to invade the rights of either prince or people, and lays the foundation for overturning the constitution and frame of any just government, is highly guilty of the greatest crime, I think, a man is capable of….Whosoever uses force without right, as every one does in society, who does it without law, puts himself into a state of war with those against whom he so uses it; and in that state all former ties are cancelled, all other rights cease, and every one has a right to defend himself, and to resist the aggressor. This is so evident, that Barclay himself, that great assertor of the power and sacredness of kings, is forced to confess, That it is lawful for the people, in some cases to resist their king…”

- John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1690

The words and ideas of philosopher John Locke stirred the Founders of our nation to rise in revolution against the British crown. Alongside the Gadsden flag–”Don’t Tread On Me”–that has become a favorite emblem of today’s Tea Party, the forces of George Washington also flew the Pine Tree Flag with the motto: “An Appeal To Heaven.” It was a reference to Locke’s teaching that power and right ultimately lay in the hands of the people themselves.

In 2008, the American people elected a man whose life story represented the fulfillment of the Founders’ nascent vision of the equality of all human beings, and whose rise to power bespoke the very American exceptionalism he himself declined to profess. Yet this man, who could have achieved greatness far beyond his oratory skill, could not transcend the left’s rhetoric of violence and conflict, and could not resist the temptation to divide and rule.

For three years, he and his political allies have used violent words: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Senator Obama said as he campaigned in 2008. “Punch back twice as hard,” Obama’s deputy chief of staff (now campaign manager) told Democrats in 2009. “Punish” your “enemies,” Obama told Latino voters in 2010. “Take out” the “sons of bitches,” a union leader said before Obama at a rally this month. Today Democratic strategists justify Obama’s naked class warfare by accusing Republicans of a “war on the middle class”–a false charge, calculated to incite and inflame hatred.

For three years, that rhetoric has had real and regrettable results: physical intimidation at a polling place in Philadelphia, which the Obama justice department refuses to prosecute; assault, battery and mayhem committed by union thugs against citizens at town hall meetings; harassment of executives at their homes by bussed-in “community organizers; and, most recently, hostage-taking by union members engaged in illegal strikes–real hostage-taking, not the trumped-up kind Obama has invoked in rhetorical attacks against his political opponents.

Violence is wrong, and anyone who uses violence to achieve a political purpose does violence to our American values. Yet from Bill Ayers to James Hoffa, Jr., the left has embraced–and the media has largely ignored–Obama’s violent associates. Until CNN finally acknowledged the Tea Party as a legitimate political movement by hosting its recent presidential debate, the media generally assisted the left in casting the Tea Party as extreme, racist, and “terrorist,” blaming it for events like the Tuscon atrocity.

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SEIU THUGS PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN BRUTAL BEATDOWN–
After a health care town hall meeting in August Kenneth Gladney was beaten, kicked and called racist names by Rep. Russ Carnahan’s SEIU supporters. Gladney was hospitallized after this unprovoked attack in South St. Louis County.

Gladney, a cancer survivor, was selected for the beatdown because he was handing out “Don’t Tread On Me” flags and because he was black.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported at the time:

Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with “Don’t tread on me” printed on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack started.

The national media and NAACP ignored the hate crime. Gladney didn’t fit the mold.

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My wife, Sandra, and I attended St. Louis Congressman Russ Carnahan’s panel on aging. The tactic was clear. They let in about two hundred of us but had about 120 seats set aside, marked “RSVP,” and these were for Carnahan supporters. These people were let in by a side door for the “handicapped.” Many had purple t-shirts with “Organizing for America” in white letters on the back and large “SEIU,” smaller “Service Employees International Union” on the front. [Ed Note: The events described were on August 6, 2009]

They shut the doors on about 1000 people around 6:30 pm for the 7:00 pm event. After being introduced, Carnahan spoke but was booed frequently while the supporters stood and applauded. It was announced that there would be a question and answer period at the end, so “be respectful.” Then a regional director of AARP spoke to many boo’s, followed by about five other speakers. The dissenters waited somewhat patiently, waiting to pounce on the Congressman during the Q&A.

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