Freedom in the Bluegrass
columnist: Josh Koch

Topic: Election 2008
The Courage of "Nope"

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If Obama is the answer, you're asking the wrong question.

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by Josh Koch
(Libertarian)
Monday, June 30, 2008

Unfortunately for America, public speaking ability will not solve our national dilemmas. In 2008, Obama may be the best the Democrats have to offer a troubled nation, but their best just isn't good enough. Whereas McCain is running an "all things to all people" campaign, Obama is running two separate campaigns: a faux-populist campaign for the RINO "Obamacans" and a hard-core socialist campaign for the "progressives." The first is a fraud, so I'll deal with the second.

Senator Obama comes across as a likable character. He's not Charles Foster Kane...he's a black Willie Stark. He's the son of poor people, child of a single-parent household, and an American success story. Unfortunately, while those make great headlines, the real truth is that he left those roots behind years ago for greener pastures among socialist elites. Like Stark, power has changed Obama's "hope" from a lifestyle to an excuse for a dangerous platform.

The "hope" platform is this:

Senator Obama has been able to develop innovative approaches to challenge the status quo and get results. Americans are tired of divisive ideological politics, which is why Senator Obama has reached out to Republicans to find areas of common ground. He has tried to break partisan logjams and take on seemingly intractable problems. (Source)

He is a fresh face willing to work with everyone to articulate creative solutions to today's problems. Who could say, "No," to that?

When you take a look under the hood of his campaign, though, problems immediately arise. His plans for your kids, for instance, might scare you. If they don't, they should.

Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.

Expand YouthBuild Program: Obama will expand the YouthBuild program, which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills and build affordable housing in their communities. He will grow the program so that 50,000 low-income young people a year a chance to learn construction job skills and complete high school.

Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.

Promote College Serve-Study: Obama will ensure that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of jobs in dining halls and libraries. (Source)

Sure, it sounds good, but the underlying premise is that students and youth must be compelled by Washington to serve their nation. As a military man, myself, I respect the tradition of volunteer service, and the thought of drafting kids and young adults into federal working parties is an alarmingly statist notion. Can one be counted a volunteer if one is compelled to work for the state by imperial edict? NO!

This is extreme social engineering at its worst. I work several jobs, go to college, raise a family, and (sometimes) get some sleep. Do I need the Great White Father (pun intended) from Washington tinkering in my life? NO! I need to get through college so I can have the good life. I don't have time for 100 hours of service. I'm a veteran, so I already paid my debt to society, but non-vets don't deserve that sort of imperial demand, either.

Then, there's Obama's gun control position. This is a sloppy attempt at pandering to John McCain's "Rockefeller RINO's," but it reveals the shallow nature of Obama's "gun rights" facade.

Barack Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America's hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport.

Were it not for America's hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. Obama recognizes that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America's hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.

PROTECTING GUN RIGHTS

Respect the Second Amendment: Millions of hunters own and use guns each year. Millions more participate in a variety of shooting sports such as sporting clays, skeet, target and trap shooting that may not necessarily involve hunting. As a former constitutional law professor, Barack Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he greatly respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms. He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting. He also believes that the right is subject to reasonable and commonsense regulation. (Source)

Now, comprehend what all of that means. Forget for a moment that the Democrats thought the firearms legislation of 1935, 1968, 1986, and the Brady Ban was "reasonable." Basically, Obama has said that he supports guns because, without gunowners, there would be no National Parks and lands. In theory, he is correct to a point, but it highlights a shortcoming in his understanding: gun rights are not there to give the government more powers. Gun rights are there for our individual rights of self-sustenance and self-protection.

Second, the source of the preceding quote mysteriously disappeared after the final primaries. You can only access it is from the "Additional Issues" page, a page that vanished, unlinked, when Obama entered general election mode. The implication is unvarnished: once he was done convincing outdoor Democrats in western primaries that he was pro-gun, he disappeared the issue by hiding the page in a 21^st century redux of Stalin's magic airbrush.

The "Additional Issues" also include points that play well with some demographics, but play like a resurrection of quotas to the rest of us:

Support the America COMPETES Act: In the U.S. Senate, Obama passed three amendments to the America COMPETES Act to increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the professions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; offer competitive state grants to support summer term education programs to help students develop skills in math and problem solving; and establish a mentoring program for women and minorities as they advance in those fields.

Improve Minority Scholarships: In the Illinois legislature, Obama voted to create the minority environmental scholarship program to increase the number of minority students enrolled in engineering, environmental science, chemistry, or law enforcement programs at qualified institutions of higher learning. (Source)

As a veteran and adult college student, I sympathize with the "underrepresented" demographics, but I fail to see why some people get special treatment because of gender and race. If you have the will, there's a way, but I shouldn't be forced to foot the bill for certain people to get free rides. This will pander to the rich "white guilt" audience who can afford such projection and fantasy, but to working-class people who believe in hard work and merit, this reeks of favoritism. Is turning women and minority studentsinto an army of environmental bureaucrats an American ideal?

Obama is a pretty face and a strong voice, but he is a threat to our freedom. He will look America in the face and demand more of us, but that's the job of a king, not the president of a constitutional republic. We cherish freedom because our ancestors lived under tyrants and came here to avoid such mistreatment. Tyranny that promises "a chicken in every deserving pot" is still tyranny. If you value freedom and your rights, you'll "Just Say No" to Obama.

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2008 Josh Koch, all rights reserved.
Published: Monday, June 30, 2008
Last modified: Monday, June 30, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Josh Koch only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Josh Koch is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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