On Monday, I tweeted that I wouldn't talk about the effort to defund Obamacare.
Well, it turns out that was not entirely true, due to all the infighting it has triggered.
As I have written previously, both sides in the debate have valid points. However, I have found myself more firmly planted on the side of the defund fight as time has gone on. This is not because defunding the law is feasible, however. It is because fighting the law in the first place is the right thing to do.
Something I have noticed since November is that many conservatives are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Republican party. With weak presidential candidates and a propensity give up on a fight when winds shift ever so slightly in the wrong direction, many do not believe the Republicans are willing to fight for what they believe it.
This fight is energizing the conservative base. Even if it is only a handful of senators, like Cruz and Lee, leading the charge, they are salvaging support that was otherwise waning by showing the voting public that there are still people in Washington who care about them. Even if the fight is going to be lost, the public knows there are people out there not just paying lip service to the idea of ending the economy destroying leviathan that is the ACA.
They are not merely talking. They are inspiring those who might otherwise not have hope.
That has been what this fight has always been about. It has not been about winning the fight; not every fight in history has been fought because victory was a prospect. Many battles have been fought simply because they are right. It is because fighting is sometimes necessary, regardless of the outcome. In this case, this fight has far more to do with telling conservatives and anyone who will listen that the battle will not be won as we are. It is a call for reinforcements. More people are needed, both in Washington and in the average American community, calling out this travesty of a law for what it is.
That will not come if we refuse to do anything until "we've won." How will we win over hearts and minds without action?
Now, of course, there are liable to be short term consequences for picking a losing fight. That goes without saying. However, this goes back to the idea of choosing a hill to fight/die on. Conservatives have been told, time and again, that various issues have not been worth fighting over. The right has been looking for someone to take a stand since President Obama was elected and, each time, the fight has been passed over or given up before any effects have been achieved.
Put in other terms, the Republicans have given up hill after hill. At what point do we run out of hills to fight on...or people to fight on those hills at all?
Many on the right are starting to feel backed into a corner, as this fight is demonstrating. They are being told that they're being irrational, that they are foolish, even being subtly implied that they are being ignorant. They are being told this fight is not worth it. Just like every single time before. However, in failing to fight before, those who oppose this action do not realize they have brought this very moment upon us. When one limits a person's options, those have to start taking questionable action to try and make a difference, instead of sitting on their hands doing nothing.
If we are here to turn the country around, would it not only help our cause to show that we mean it? Is it so unfathomable to believe that a tactical defeat now could result in a strategic victory later?
Must we keep cowering to every media caricature of our beliefs?
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