Category Archives: Politics

2013 looks to be off to an auspicious start.  What with the 11th hour fiscal cliff deal, we’ve been spared, right?  At this point I’m so sick of  Republicans not only looking like horses’ asses, but talking out of theirs too.  Harsh, I know, but when will the party ever wake-up and realize that at some point, when you incrementally bargain away your principles, you no longer have any left.  I skipped most of the horse trading over the last several weeks, because the GOP always ends up on the wrong end of these deals, left with the worst old nags in the financial barn.  Thomas Sowell  (here) explains why we end up outside the doors of the proverbial glue factory every time.  I’m weary of these GOP insiders.

I felt an ideological affinity for the Tea Party, but I didn’t join up, mostly because I’m very cautious about  which drum I choose to follow.  I had, and still do have, reservations about many who led the Tea Party charge.  At this point, the media elites have declared the Tea Party dead , but perhaps events will stir up enough grassroots dirt devils over the next few years to blow through and clear the path for real change.  As federal encroachment escalates, one can only hope that the seeds of federalism spread like wild flowers, to brighten our stark political landscape.  We might need some positive national campaigning to aid in the propagation, akin to a smiley face campaign, like Ladybird’s, “Keep America Beautiful” ( borrowing  from our adversaries arsenal, so to say), where we offer the principles that make liberty bloom in ways that would be hard to counter.   Where we really need the “winning the hearts and minds” campaign is right here at home:  to foster and educate on our American values and ideals.   I’m hoping that out in flyover country there are still many keen on saving the heirloom seeds of our Constitutional principles and that enough of them are willing to put in the effort  to preserve them for future generations.

My friend, Gladius Maximus, recently mentioned that he sees many conservatives who want easy fixes, the kind who would rather sit on their butts and throw money at stuff rather than do anything.  I keep reminding myself, America wasn’t built in a day, it was built by the sweat of our forefathers’ brows, those willing to wake up each day and face the arduous work ahead, with a cheery smile and a roll up their sleeves attitude.  They tackled the field one furrow at a time and perhaps that attitude is what it will take to rebuild our American team.

The Online Library of Liberty (here) is a project of Liberty Fund, Inc., which was founded in 1960 by Pierre F. Goodrich, an Indiana businessman and lawyer.  This site contains a wealth of references pertaining to man’s pursuit of liberty.   I mentioned in a previous post  that I was going to read DeTocqueville for inspiration and I’ve been finding some true gems worth sharing.   The Online Library of Liberty contains a very good selection of deTocqueville’s work.   Hopefully, most people reading this blog are already familiar with deTocqueville’s most famous work, a detailed study of American culture and politics in America.  In 1931 two young Frenchmen,  Alexis DeTocqueville and Gustave  deBeaumont, embarked on a year-long trip around America to study democracy in America.  Their detailed study of America led to a perennial political science and US history teachers’  favorite work, deTocqueville’s, “Democracy In America“.

As on most topics, deTocqueville,  succinctly explained the evils of socialism.  Following is a paragraph from the Online Library of Liberty website, where the entire speech deTocqueville gave to the Constituent Assembly in February 1848 can be found.  He was speaking out against the French government’s program that was set up to alleviate unemployment in Paris – a government works program (dejavu all over again, sadly), where the government created jobs at a certain wage, for all who wanted them.  Here’s the paragraph:

“Now, a third and final trait, one which, in my eyes, best describes socialists of all schools and shades, is a profound opposition to personal liberty and scorn for individual reason, a complete contempt for the individual. They unceasingly attempt to mutilate, to curtail, to obstruct personal freedom in any and all ways. They hold that the State must not only act as the director of society, but must further be master of each man, and not only master, but keeper and trainer. [“Excellent.”] For fear of allowing him to err, the State must place itself forever by his side, above him, around him, better to guide him, to maintain him, in a word, to confine him. They call, in fact, for the forfeiture, to a greater or less degree, of human liberty, [Further signs of assent.] to the point where, were I to attempt to sum up what socialism is, I would say that it was simply a new system of serfdom. [Lively assent.]”  (from the Online Library of Liberty- here)

What more can I say, when deTocqueville said it so much better.  I encourage you to read the entire speech, which is at the above link.  An additional excellent resource on deTocqueville is the The Alexis deTocqueville Tour, Exploring Democracy in America (here).

Well, we’ve just witnessed another GOP spectacle of ineptitude with the Plan B collapse. It’s way past time for the GOP to have a “come to Jesus” moment and figure out what the heck the party stands for. It’s like watching elephants doing the hokey-pokey, while the Obama spinmeisters perform complex media waltzes. Last week I came across this short piece (here) on why conservatives are worried that there’s no way to stop Obama. It hit me as probably the closest to the truth take on President Obama. As this writer suggests, the Obama fundamental transformation doesn’t include any concern about the “fiscal cliff” or safeguarding America’s future. This past election has left me feeling very discouraged about our great country, because I truly believed the vast majority of Americans cared about the direction our government has taken in the past four years. A young man at work, who just graduated from high school told me this election was his his first time voting. He voted for Romney and he seemed perplexed why Romney hadn’t won and his take was , “I guess most people want free stuff.” I’m afraid he’s right, except all these people wanting “free” stuff seem totally oblivious that other people have to work hard to provide all this “free” stuff.  Watching the deliberate escalation of class warfare leads me to believe that Obama truly intends to alienate conservatives and attempt to take down The Constitution and replace it with his regulatory tyranny. And he’ll do it with smiley face populist appeals and duping people into believing it’s because he cares. Lord, protect us from utopian do-gooders!

So, what stands in President Obama’s way?  Not much, really!!! I’m already sick to death of Republican pundits offering up all these watered down values that they think will attract particular demographics of the electorate, where they think the GOP needs to pick up voters. What the GOP needs to do is define the party around clear-cut values and fundamental constitutional principles. If it becomes some progressive-light party, then I want no part of it. Our politically correct culture brainwashes people into believing that not offending a single person and appealing to everyone (branding above principles) lights the path toward GOP ballot success. I always told my kids that whenever they join any group in life, “you are joining them, they aren’t joining you”. By constantly chipping away at core beliefs and foundational principles, many great private organizations crumble into dim shadows of their original group. Purpose before polls has got to be the GOP mantra. Every parent uses the home truth rhetorical question, “if your friends jump off a cliff, are you going to jump too?”, yet at every turn the media throws out a poll number as if that denotes whether a stance has merit. It’s way past time for the American values reeducation tract to begin. So what if only 49% or 25% or even 5%  of the public agrees with us! Stop falling for that mainstream media trap and feint right with core principles over polls! If we believe in the principles behind our policies, that should motivate our party’s leaders to knuckle down and sell our ideas. Most important changes in American culture were met with public distrust or disapproval at the beginning, so being on the wrong side of the polling curve shouldn’t be a reason to fold up our tent and hike over to set up camp with our ideological foes. After we’re clear on what we stand for, then it’s time to move on to explaining our purpose in ways that appeal to various demographics.

Enough of weepy John Boehner and the man for all sides of political issues, John McCain. And is there any Republican that isn’t sick to death of Lindsey Graham’s grandstanding and hypocrisy. Oh, yes Lindsey and John, you pushed for military intervention in Libya and Syria, then when it blows up in our face in Benghazi, you turn tail and attack the President’s policy failures…. I’ll hold my specific comments about foreign policy disasters and muddled military thinking for another day, but it’s clear that no one in Washington seems to understand long range strategic planning or even has a clue what America’s long range strategic interests are. I see a bunch of knee-jerk reactionary claptrap and flimsy psycho-babble disguised as strategy (thank-you General Petraeus and your COINista nonsense). I long for some inspirational leaders in our country – people who can get us to quit wallowing in despair and move purposefully toward rebuilding America’s greatness. Yes, I admit it, I’ve been wallowing and it’s time to regroup and not get sucked into all these noxious remedies that amount to little more than purging our core principles for political expediency. It’s way too easy to tune out and throw our hands up in despair, but I’m reading De Tocqueville again to inspire me;)  We need to take heart that America’s greatness lies not in the yahoos in Washington, but in “We the people”! Federalism must be our starting point to revitalize our great country.

Steven Calabresi at National Review penned a remembrance on the passing of Judge Robert Bork, one the finest legal minds in America, here.  The thing I remember about Judge Bork was that during his many TV appearances and interviews he possessed that rare ability to turn complex constitutional issues into elegant, simple terms, that even a layperson on the law could understand.  I was a long-time fan.