So BreakTheMatrix had its first live event coverage yesterday from the Revolution March in DC-- big shoutout to Rahn and A_Girl for making it happen. Live events draw audience-- we saw BTM TV peak at 605 viewers, and maintain in the 400-500 range most of the day. A major shoutout also goes to Bryan and Raymond from Revolution Broadcasting who planned and implemented the March. Heavy lifting for freedom from those two guys.

Our Mogulus platform performed well, but (not surprisingly, to me) the BTM coverage was spotty, the camera angles were wrong, the volumes were out of sync, and we missed a lot of telephone callins (for now, we can only take one caller at a time). Far from perfection-- which brings me to the point of this writing. What are our goals in the freedom movement as it exists today? How should we define "success?" And ultimately, what is "victory" in this effort? These sorts of questions deserve careful thought, and I like to use the "football game" and "skilled surgeon" analogies in considering such things.

At the football game we take our seats as spectators on a crisp fall afternoon and watch our team huff and puff for a carefully timed interval (the game). At the end of four quarters we go home-- flushed with victory or saddened by defeat-- and the next morning we're back at our day to day lives. Ah, the pleasant and instant gratification of a football game. Winning and losing; a time for feeling good or feeling bad-- it's the American way, right? Not even close. Not for freedom lovers, that is.

First, of course, freedom lovers don't have the luxury of sitting in our comfortable seats as spectators on the political scene. Our adversaries want us to be spectators. This is how they maintain their power. Haven't we learned yet that our expressed wishes; our votes; our opinions; our cheers and boos mean nothing to these people? Politics is an engagement sport, and we must join in if we are to "win." Rooting for Ron Paul or others on the home team will not be enough.

Second, and even more importantly, the game of politics isn't over at the end of the fourth quarter. The predetermined establishment outcome of a 2008 presidential election between two anointed candidates should mean nothing to freedom lovers. There are excellent candidates in the race (Barr and Baldwin) and a write in vote for Ron Paul might feel good for an instant, but as between an Obama or a McCain the "choice" in this election cycle is inconsequential to our goals. Nothing of substance will change-- but here's the good news. The game doesn't end on November 4. No one will have "won" and no one will have "lost." As freedom lovers we've barely begun to fight, and our future is what matters-- not this fleeting and ethereal moment of the "present."

Which brings me back to the BTM TV coverage of the Freedom March yesterday. Our coverage was flawed, and incomplete, and less than perfect-- but does it matter? Not to us it doesn't. Rahn and A_Girl did their absolute best, and we at BreakTheMatrix have nothing but applause for the outstanding effort. Their work was a giant step forward for a television network that's barely a week old, and we say: "THANK YOU!"

Now to my "skilled surgeon" analogy. When the heart surgeon opens up a fresh chest, his task is to do his best; try his hardest; give his top effort. If the patient lives our heroic surgeon is rewarded with kisses and hugs-- a "success," and everyone feels good. But what if the patient dies, and gets wheeled off to the slab. Is this a "failure?" Should the skilled surgeon put down his scalpel and retire to the sidelines when a patient (or several) is lost?

The answer depends on whether we place our focus on inputs or outcomes. If the surgeon's effort is halfhearted, by all means he should be criticized; but if he's done his best, the appropriate response for the surgeon is to wash his hands and move on to the next patient. The surgeon can control an input by doing his best, but the life or death outcome for the patient is beyond his powers. And it's the same way in politics. Freedom lovers can control what WE DO, but the question of when and in what manner the American people respond to our message is something that is not for us to determine. Defeats, shortfalls, setbacks, disappointments along the way-- these things are short term outcomes, and they simply don't matter if we maintain our focus where it properly belongs. Doing our best-- the key to success-- and we saw some of that at the Revolution March yesterday-- from Bryan, and Raymond, and Rahn and A_Girl. As freedom lovers, we can ask for nothing more.

Here's a final analogy on this topic that I like to think about. A question, actually. How many battles did Washington lose before the Revolution was won?

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