Reflections on 2010 elections by James Goodfellow
(libertarian)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
This week's results at the polls exposed yet again, the intellectual vacuum that is American politics. The Democrats were soundly trounced, having failed to demonstrate the viability of their ideas to a majority of the American people. In a clear swing away from the left, votes were bestowed on Republican party candidates whose only fresh ideas centered on libertarian calls for smaller government by Tea Party hopefuls. It remains to be seen, whether this dusty GOP plank, waved half-heartedly in the past decades as a matter of habit, rather than of conviction, is yet another ploy, or a genuine Paulian movement in the making.
Two years ago, the Democrats swept into power riding a wave of contempt for, and mistrust of, Republican politics. After the dust cleared, the GOP found themselves in control of none of the branches of the federal government; a richly deserved fate, IMHO. Their continued lust for empire, and acquiescence to Keynesian economics had finally driven the USA to the brink of bankruptcy, and the American voter had once more had enough.
The previous 8 years of Republican leadership had set the expectations bar astoundingly low. But, seemingly not to be outdone in the race to the bottom of incompetence, the Democrats tripped over it. To borrow a baseball metaphor, Obama & team stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. All they had to do was hit a bloop single, and their success was assured. They would've been seen as saviors. The GOP would be consigned to the dust bin of history. Predictably, they hit into a triple play. A more impressive example of leadership impotence is scarcely imaginable.
For proof, one need only observe the cream of the Democrat crop: Harry Reid, the current senate majority leader, is so confused about the definition of the word "voluntary", that he has no chance of understanding the 13th amendment to the Constitution, which outlaws involuntary servitude. President Obama, the parties superstar, has proven he is just as comfortably lying to the American voter as his Republican predecessor. Bailouts, never ending war, 9-11 coverup, etc, ad nauseam. Where is the change?
Don't tell me it takes time. Don't tell me to wait 2 more years. Don't ask me to trust DC to do the right thing; I don't. The problem, as I see it, is that the overwhelming majority of both major parties are completely sold on "big government". They almost have what they want. In what universe do you spend trillions of dollars and decades of effort and not get what you want? What they want is damn near what we have. How hard is that to fathom?
The relevant question here is: do you want what they have given us? I know I don't. Record unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, job loss, inflation of the money supply, foreigners masquerading as bombs to retaliate for our army blowing their families to little bits, microwaving air travelers, multi-cultural infighting, Balkinization, yada yada. These are not unintended consequences. Nobody is that stupid.
The point of this rant is to invite you to entertain the notion that most of the negative things you see happening to this country, and to a large extent, the rest of the world, are symptoms of the very same big government you may rely on for pet programs. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Sending a big government clown to Washington to ram your particular charity down the throats of the rest of us just exposes you to having a different orifice of yours crammed with someone else's utopian scheme. Not very pleasant, for any any of us.
Vote small.
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