Although I am a firm advocate for Cluj-Napoca, Romania, it is still good to be home. It's hard to be in Cluj during January on crutches with lots of slippery cobblestone streets and few elevators.
It's also hard to keep up with the political happenings in the U.S. except by computer, which I had problems with at times.
A digression please. One enjoyable event was when I was walking (hopping) down the street, and a picture in one of the Romanian newspapers really made my day. It was a picture of Janet Napolitano, our highly unqualified secretary of Homeland Security, actually sleeping during the State of The Union teleprompter reading. It goes to show you what the Romanians think of our state of readiness regarding terrorism.
Back to the column. I really wanted to follow the Brown/Coakley Massachusetts Senate race, but since Romania is seven hours ahead, I had to wait until the morning to find out the results.
And it was certainly worth the wait: A sort-of conservative upsetting the anointed liberal for the most-liberal seat in the most-liberal state in the U.S. That makes three major victories in a row for conservative candidates going against incumbent liberals' seats. And the best is yet to come.
Of course, Obama's arrogance still doesn't allow him to admit that these victories have nothing to do with his failing policies. Remember, Barack stumped for all three of his chosen candidates. I guess he believed his mere presence would carry the day.
I just hope he keeps supporting all of the liberal candidates and showing up at all of the Democratic seats up for grabs, which are pretty much all of them. If it can be done in Massachusetts, it can be done anywhere. I'll bet the liberal candidates will secretly ask him not to show up.
Grass-roots movements, primarily led by Tea Party Patriots, are making the difference. 2009 was the year of the expression of common sense by regular Americans, and 2010 has to be the year of action to take the country back from these radicals. And it is going to happen in November. Now is not the time to run out of steam. We have to carry this mission to a successful conclusion. We have to have the energy of ACORN, but with ethics.
You know the liberals are afraid of the Tea Party movement. They have been resorting to name-calling almost from the beginning. As the movement keeps growing, the name calling worsens.
Harry Reid calls us "evilmongers." Nancy Pelosi calls us "un-American." Instead of recognizing it as the grass-roots movement it is, she cleverly came up with the term "Astroturf movement." She hasn't used it again since people started laughing at her.
We've been called rednecks, racists, fascists and anything else they can think of. I guess my question is if we are considered such a radical, right-wing insignificant fringe element, why are they spending so much time demeaning us? The answer? They're scared ... really scared.
The good thing is this strategy is pushing previously non-politically oriented people _ as well as all those who were duped by the lies from Obama _ to be involved. The number of people at rallies has gone from the hundreds to the thousands. People involved number in the millions.
We must all make a serious effort to discuss the issues with independents every chance we get, write letters to the editor, get involved in conservative candidates' campaigns and shut down the loud-mouthed liberals who only use emotion as a weapon since they can't be fact-based.
We can't let up now. There is too much at stake for the country, our children and grandchildren. There is only a little more than eight months to get this done. We have to treat it like a marathon and not a sprint and have energy left for Election Day.
Please, if you haven't attended a Tea Party rally, make an effort to do so. More than one would be great. You will find the participants to be peaceful, patriotic, everyday individuals who care a lot about their country. The events are well-organized and professionally done. You'll have a pleasant day and come away feeling good. You will see the nonsense being spread by the left has been nothing but lies.
Lastly, make sure you thank the people who set up the event. They have been putting in amazing amounts of their time, effort and, especially, financial resources to keep this movement moving and growing. They are the real patriots. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
Tom Sears is a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/tomsears.
