Catching Fire and Washington D.C.

If you haven’t seen the new Hunger Games movie, I really do recommend it. It’s a solid continuation of the series and it is an incredibly emotional movie that takes the star character, Katniss Everdeen, and breaks her so hard she cries for nearly all 146 minutes the movie is on. However, this isn’t a review of the movie. What does follow, however, does contain some spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie, turn away now.

For those of you who stuck around, thanks.

“Catching Fire” expands on the tale of not just Katniss, but the entire structure of that world’s government. Based on her actions, the 12 districts see her as a figure to admire, one that stood up to the Capitol and won. For President Snow, the most powerful man in the Capitol, this isn’t good. You see, the Hunger Games are a way to control the 12 districts. It reminds them of a rebellion 75 years earlier that they lost. They are oppressed, starved, flogged and black-bagged because of their previous defiance.

Now, we’re nowhere close to having to sacrifice a kid or two every year (…yet), but controlling and punishing those who speak out against our “Capitol” is nothing unheard of. Think back only to the IRS being used to go after right-leaning groups for an example. Think of the countless regulations that choke growth of private enterprise and stagnate wealth in several areas of the economy, and wonder why.

The people that rule us (they see themselves as rulers, not legislators, given their attitudes and comments toward us) see any attempt at trying to convince them to do what we as the people who voted for them want as rebellion. They ignore us and, when that doesn’t work, actively fight back. Mitch McConnell, of course, is a perfect example on our own side.

There is a cure for this, of course, but it is not something we can just talk about and it get done. Fixing the problem with how this country is run (by both sides) takes action, and a lot of it. Constant action, even, as we know well how much power can corrupt. Sure, the deck is stacked against us at times, but we have the power, written in the Constitution, to steer the country back on track.

The Gamemaster and the Hunger Games’ previous victors in “Catching Fire,” who all reside in the Capitol, all represent the insiders who have to work with the outside in order to affect a positive change. It is people like the Heritage Foundation and the Senate Conservatives Fund, who work within to help those on the outside, that make our fight even more likely to succeed. Despite what Democrats and even GOP Establishment will tell you, there is a strategy, and it is one that can win.

And, much like the Hunger Games tributes, we are fighting not just for our lives, but the lives of those we love. It is a fight we can’t lose.

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