Listening at the mirror

Longtime readers may recollect that, awhile back, I mentioned a tale from Jorge Luis Borges’ anthology of mythology and folk tales, The Book of Imaginary Beings. The particular story I referenced originated in China, and relates how, in the distant past, all living things had doubles. For generations they lived in peace with one another; however, in an evil time, one set of doubles waged war on the other, defeated them, and imprisoned them in mirrors, so that the images one sees in the glass are actually the vanquished, condemned to the slavery of mimicking the motions of their captors. But the tale ends on an ominous note – or rather, on a note of hope for the defeated – because it is said that the prisoners in the mirror are growing rebellious, and if one listens closely, one can occasionally hear the clattering of swords and the distant roar of tigers.

This yarn came to mind as I read through a score or so of blog posts this past week dealing with the increasingly imperial attitude of the federal government, and the truly disturbing tendency of the political class to view citizens as if they were essentially little more than puppets, to be manipulated without any constitutional let or hindrance. This stance was ominously evident in remarks recently made by Rep. Pete Stark of California. Yes, he’s one of the more prominent leftist ideologues in American politics, but his world view – that there really are no practical restraints on the government, constitutional or otherwise – is not at all rare among Democrats, and poses a threat even at the level of the Supreme Court, where, more and more frequently, it appears that our liberties hinge on the outcome of a 5-4 split (the mere fact that there are so many 5-4 splits should serve as an object lesson to those who believe that the judicial system will ultimately bail us out of the worst excesses of the executive and legislative branches).

But there is a deeply-felt attachment to personal liberty that animates what I believe is still a majority of Americans. And there is a spirit of rebellion in the air, as exemplified by this post at Investors Business Daily (“Will Washington’s Failures Lead to Second American Revolution?”), and this one at Confederate Yankee (“A Nation on the Edge of Revolt”). There are many – and I am one – who will not willingly submit to the capricious edicts of a political class that refuses to acknowledge the existence of basic individual rights that are beyond, and secure from, the writ of the president and congress.

So, when you stand there in the morning in front of your mirror shaving, Congressman Stark, listen closely. You just might hear the first sounds of the gathering storm.