Blitzkrieg

It seems these days that every time you turn on the news there is some new reform bill before Congress, some system needs to be overhauled. First it was health care reform, then finance reform, and now there is talk about immigration reform. No sooner is one piece of sweeping reform legislation passed then another equally monstrous bill is introduced. Can the system really be this broken? If so then why haven’t we noticed it before and where will it all end?


I find it inconceivable that our system could be this broken. How is it that this country could go on for so long facing such impending doom yet our plight remained unnoticed until now?

There are those who would say that all of these problems have been in existence for quite some time but that they have been ignored. I fear that the new trend in Washington represents something more sinister. What we are seeing now is an assault on America- a blitzkrieg on individual liberty. I use the word blitzkrieg to describe the tactics being used by the current administration because it clearly illustrates the motive behind this new wave of legislation. A blitzkrieg is a lightning war, the idea being that if you act swiftly with overwhelming force, your enemy, no matter how large, will be unable to respond fast enough to prevent the invasion. Unfortunately these are the tactics being used by the current administration against the American people. Crushing legislation is being introduced with such quickness that the American people are unable to oppose it.

In this paper I will outline how the current administration is conducting its blitzkrieg against your rights. The process is relatively simple and consists of these three steps: (1) create the illusion of an emergency, (2) use fear tactics to convince the people that even bad legislation is better than none, (3) cast yourself as savior of the state, (4) repeat this process rapidly to overwhelm any resistance.

Illusion of Emergency

The first step in this process is to create the illusion of an emergency so that the people will believe that there is an immediate need for the legislation. This causes the people to feel rushed and disoriented, preventing them from keeping a cool head and examining any new legislation rationally or considering alternatives.

An example of this can be seen by looking at the bailouts of GM and Chrysler. We were told that we can’t allow these two companies to fail because it would destroy our economy. The administration acted as though these companies were in danger of closing their doors forever and that no new company would take their place. The truth is that companies go bankrupt all the time, even large corporations like Sears Roebuck and Co. Does this mean disaster for our economy? No, it only means that the factors of production can put to a more efficient use.

There was no real emergency when it comes to GM or Chrysler. Even if they had been allowed to fail don’t you think Ford or any other auto manufacturer would have jumped at the opportunity to take GM or Chrysler’s share of the market?

Fear Tactics

By now you should be asking yourself why would the government want to create an emergency? The answer is simple: to create fear. This is the next step in the political blitzkrieg process. By stirring up fear among the population the government is able to convince many Americans that the problem will only get worse with each passing day and that any legislation is better than no legislation.

We are all very familiar with this tactic. How many times have you heard the comment “well we have to do something.” This is the purpose behind using fear tactics, make people think that they must do something regardless of what that something is.

Use of this tactic could be no clearer than in the adoption of the health care bill. We were told that we must pass this bill now; too many Americans were without insurance and we had to do something about it. What we got was a 2,000 page bill that no one read because it was an “emergency.” Of course it wasn’t until the bill actually passed that we learned that, despite all the alarm, no one will receive any benefits for several years.

Savior of the State

After convincing the people that an emergency exists and scaring them into thinking that they must go along with whatever law you give them, the next step is to tell them that by your dynamic action you have saved the nation from imminent danger and certain destruction. This, obviously, is all a lie because no emergency ever actually existed.

We have seen an example of this as well with the current administration. I am sure that everyone remembers being told that the stimulus bill saved us from another great depression and if we hadn’t passed it things would have been much worse. The problem with this is that there is no way of knowing what would have been, just like there is no way of calculating how many jobs have been “saved.”

Repeat

The last step in this systematic destruction of America is the most diabolical and the one that contributes most significantly to the plan’s overall success. Under this last step the administration repeats the process outlined above in rapid succession in an attempt to overwhelm any opposition.

This works based on the very simple and undeniable fact that it would be impossible to mount any meaningful opposition to more than one item of legislation or for any extended period of time. If two or more controversial bills are introduced into Congress at the same time or in rapid succession opponents of both bills will be forced to choose only one to focus a majority of their attention on. This is true because no one has unlimited time or resources and must therefore allocate resources according to importance. In addition to this, many Americans are so shocked with the scope and rapidity of the new legislation that they are often in disbelief that such a thing could be happening, meanwhile more legislation is being passed at breakneck speed.

It is the enormity of the new laws that are being passed and the unheard-of speed at which they are being submitted and voted on that warrants the use of the word blitzkrieg to describe what is happening to America.