VERBATIM
Professor Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection has reminded us of a post he did back in 2008 whose message is perhaps more relevant now than ever before.
Given that the Republicans under Boehner can't seem to negotiate themselves and the country out of a wet paper bag, might not the best strategy be one that famous Soviet political prisoner of conscience Natan Sharansky employed when he had no power against his jailers, other than the ability to refuse to cooperate.
After all, the Democrats won't follow the law and pass a budget, will they? They refuse to recognize the truth of the financial crisis, don't they? Why should we cooperate at all in their calamitous rush to destroy the country?
From the article:
"Conservatives face a choice. Yield to “progressive” policies which,
once implemented will take a generation to undo, or stand on principles
of free enterprise, individual liberty, and capitalism? Giving in is
much easier, but in the long run more costly. We can learn a lot about
the power of standing on principle from Anatoly Sharansky (see my
earlier Post).
Sharansky spend almost a decade in Soviet prison because of his
activities on behalf of Jews who wanted to emigrate to Israel. Sharansky
was subjected to torture and other indignities, but never lost his
spirit.Sharansky notoriously refused to obey even the most mundane
orders from his captors.
Sharansky understood that to compromise even a
little would lead to compromising a lot. Throughout his ordeal,
Sharansky kept his spirits alive by reading a small book of psalms.
As Sharansky was being led to the airplane that would take him from the
Soviet Union to East Germany for the exchange, the Soviets confiscated
his book of psalms.It would have been easy for Sharansky simply to keep
walking towards the plane and freedom. But Sharansky understood that the
Soviets confiscated his book of psalms not because they wanted the
book, but because they wanted to show that even in this last moment,
they were in control.
In front of reporters covering his departure, Sharansky sat in the snow
refusing to move unless the Soviets gave him back his book of psalms.
Here was this diminutive man, after 10 years in prison, on the verge of
freedom, refusing to budge unless one of the world’s two superpowers
gave him back his book. And give him back his book of psalms they did.
Sharansky proceeded to the plane, where he read Psalm 30: “I will extol
thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to
rejoice over me.”
Jay Nordlinger’s 2005 interview with
Sharansky recounts not only the episode in the snow, but also the final
moments when Sharansky walked to the car for the exchange:
Sharansky spent nine years in the Gulag, a harrowing time in which he demonstrated what resistance is. More than 400 of those days were spent in punishment cells; more than 200 were spent on hunger strikes. His refusal to concede anything to the Soviet state was almost superhuman. This was true to the very last. When they relinquished him to the East Germans, they told him to walk straight to a waiting car — “Don’t make any turns.” Sharansky zig-zagged his way to that car.
Isn’t it time for conservatives and supporters of free enterprise,
individual liberty, and capitalism in the Congress and elsewhere to do
the political equivalent of sitting down in the snow? When told by the
new administration, the majority party in Congress, and the mainstream
media to walk straight, isn’t it time to zig and zag?"
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