Qu'ils mangent de la brioche

Or as we have commonly translated the phrase, "let them eat cake." While the phrase may be mistakenly attributed to Marie Antoinette, the symbolism must not be missed. The apocryphal story we all have heard serves as a telling illustration for our current administration. A parable of wanton disregard. We learn how a citizenry responds when they are pushed too far, too fast and too hard by an oppressive government.

I watched longingly when tens of thousands filled the pavillion in Washington D.C. only to hear our President mock their voices by leaving the city and indicating he had no idea that a rally was present. I chuckle with a labored and heavy-hearted laugh as Reid and Pelosi move forward like Bulls in a China shop despite the outcry of the people they pretend to serve.

In Matthew 23, Jesus warns his disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, "They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." Kind of sounds like healthcare reform, doesn't it? Our elected officials want to dictate coverage to the masses, but provide themselves Cadillac protection. "Let them eat cake," they proclaim, while the irate masses continue to gather at the doors of their ivory towers.

Our current elected officials would do well to study history. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the rise of the Solidarity party in Poland by a common shipyard worker (Lech Walesa), the Contract with America in 1994. What is happening in America is a response (not a reaction) to government gone too far, to an overreaching, power-hungry, arrogant assualt on our Constitutional rights. So as we move closer and closer to the mid-term elections in 2010, let them sit in their fat leather chairs and eat from their tables of pompous pride. If they wish to model us after our European neighbors let them boldy proclaim - "qu'ils mangent de la brioche."

But if you do continue, then remember, because we will no longer forget.