Now that the boys are both on heavy doses of antibiotics and prescription medicines – pills, nasal sprays, liquids, all the crap I am trying to cut out of our lives – and couldn’t possibly get sick, I can move on to the other thing that gets me going these days: U.S. politics and the economy. Like you, my friends all send emails with wild rumors, jokes and youtube links extolling the virtues or evils of a particular candidate.
Fun for awhile, but basically ho-hum. Neither of these regulation politicians could effect a bit of change. Nor will we have any left by the time they are done with us! Personally, Obama is way easier to stomach, but I don’t think it matters a bit who wins.
Obama will Spread the Wealth, taking from the rich guy to help the poor guy. This will not help the rich guy ever (except the really rich guy who can afford to buy votes) and will not help the poor guy over the long haul. This tax system is precisely NOT what the Founders had in mind; in fact, just the opposite. A government that punishes productivity and creativity is the very one from which they revolted.
McCain won’t be any kinder to our tax bill. He’s just making different promises. If he died in office and Palin became President… Ok, now I’m scared.
McCain will have to increase taxes some way some how to keep Spreading Democracy, another item that has the Founders rolling in their graves. They formed a non-interventionist peace-mongering government. They would be aghast at a government that slaughters peasants in a third-world country in the name of Spreading Democracy (since the initial reason to bomb them was shown to be a lie, er, mistake, they had to think of something else.) It’s ludicrous.
The U.S. government has abandoned the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the name of fighting the War on Terror. A war without a defined enemy that can go on forever. This abandonment will continue and grow stronger in the name of fixing the economy, which they can’t do because their idea of fixing it is more of the same. Just keepin’ up the skeer so they can keep their hands in our pockets, right next to our RFID-chipped National ID card.
So I threw away my vote on my conscience. I wrote in Ron Paul. God, that felt good!!!
God bless ya Sally!
amen.
The more I’ve thought about libertarianism, the less likely I think it would ever happen in a meaningful way in the US. Ron Paul and Obama were the contenders for my vote, until I found out that Paul’s an odd libertarian who believes in freedom for anyone who is not a woman. But, as much as I’d like to see the IRS shut down, the income tax repealed and government shrunk to high heaven, it’s highly unlikely to ever happen, so perhaps focussing on how to keep your tax money from being wasted on an individual basis is a better option.
Libertarianism seems, like Communism, to be a utopian dream. Selling it to enough people to result in a Libertarian candidate even coming in 2nd in an election will be extremely difficult – even that would require someone who had some charisma and was able to take their facts and present them in a way that wouldn’t make the average person’s eyes glaze over. Telling the average person that this and that is unconstitutional is hard when many people just assume that if it already exists, it must be ok.
“…freedom for anyone who is not a woman”: you misrepresent Dr. Paul’s views on freedom to promote your agenda, Arp. I’m as pro-choice as you are. At 29 years old, I had an abortion and I don’t regret it for a minute. I think it should be legal. Making it illegal would cause more harm than good. In fact, I believe, as Dr. Paul does, that prohibition of most anything is wrong.
The problem with Roe vs. Wade is that it is a federal mandate REQUIRING states to make it legal. Constitutionally, this is un: the Founders were adamant that laws be as local as possible, that the Feds not dictate law to the states. That states retain autonomy in as many matters as possible. For this reason and this reason alone, Roe vs. Wade must be overturned. Along with a host of other bad legislation and decisions. Let’s talk CA’s medical marijuana debacle, for starters.
Having Roe vs. Wade be a federal mandate opens the door to federal funding. So those people who feel – as strongly as you do – that abortion is wrong, have to pay for them. Where is their freedom of choice? Is there an unborn child? Or just a cell… nobody really knows for sure. Both sides say they do…
But if that little jelly bean is an unborn child, with all the God and constitutionally given rights you and I enjoy, where is it’s freedom of choice? And for those who believe it is an unborn child, where is their freedom of choice? At the very least, they should be able to choose to live in a state that does not support abortion. They should be able to choose not to fund it!
In your utopia, all choices are subordinate to the woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy. And she somehow has the right to force her neighbor to pay for her abortion. Who is “free” here?
Dr. Paul is personally anti-abortion. However, as a Libertarian, he would not outlaw abortion. Nor would he promote having it be subsidized by tax dollars. He would put the question into the hands of the individual state.
I believe abortion will always be legal in the U.S. Regardless, the issue should be decided state by state. That would be real freedom of choice for everyone.
“Telling the average person that this and that is unconstitutional is hard when many people just assume that if it already exists, it must be ok.” That if it already exists, it must be ok??? Um, Arp, knock knock, are you in there? Someone should have told this to Rosa Parks. And Schindler. And Ghandi. This would be a very long list, praise Allah.
The U.S. used to allow its citizens to be educated on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights… now it simply institutionalizes them, starting with pre-school, the goal being to produce obedient little tax payers. Pick up a high school U.S. Government textbook sometime, Arp. We should settle for this????
If you are a one-issue voter, this might fall on deaf ears. The problems of the U.S. are much greater than one issue. Of all the candidates, Ron Paul is the only one with any substantial answers. The freedoms, liberties, and dreams U.S. citizens have always enjoyed are built on the Constitution. We should ignore it because it’s too difficult to comprehend? You will teach this to your kids? I can’t believe it. It’s here online, by the way: http://www.usconstitution.net.
Let’s talk again in four years, after Mr. Obama has had a chance. Well, hopefully, we’ll talk before then…
Of course the problems of the US are much greater than one issue. The likelihood of Ron Paul being elected AND getting anything done was slim to none. It’s certainly not possible in America today. In 20 years – maybe. In this election voters seem to have seen through the attacks to make a decision based on issues. No Swiftboating this year.
Regarding abortion, I will say that I’m thinking of ONLY a woman’s right to choose, and not looking at the deeper issues of federal funding or the chicken/egg argument of when life begins. (I don’t think the chicken/egg argument should have a bearing on whether a woman can choose as there will never be a consensus on it.) As for states deciding on abortion – I don’t see the point of having a country if the breadth of a person’s rights depend on their geographic location within the nation.
And the Parks/Gandhi/Schindler comparison was awfully misplaced. I’m talking about facets of government and you drag in racism – who’s the one with the agenda? It’s not a great stretch to open someone’s eyes to the inhumanity of racism – especially when it’s a singular issue that can be easily personalized. Convincing millions to overhaul a government – and attacking multiple issues in the process – is a much, much, much larger task. I don’t think people would be willing to put their lives on the line to abolish the income tax. You’re going to have a hard time convincing people about what needs to be changed by comparing it to the Civil Rights movement or the racist oppression & robbery of a whole nation. In your eyes, the comparison may be legit, but it won’t fly with the general public.
The one thing we can probably agree on is the sad state of institutional education. My kids will learn about liberty and government thoroughly – we’ve taken them voting, explained why wanted to watch the debates and why we’ll be watching the returns on Tuesday. The millions in school, I doubt. Educational reform is the one thing that can really spur change by fostering curiosity and teaching critical thinking. I haven’t picked up any high school texts in about 20 years and I’m sure I would be aghast. And I certainly don’t think it’s something we should settle for, but change will never happen overnight – especially in a nation where people are inordinately focused on consuming (maybe this economic climate will help change that too). It will take baby steps, and people paying attention to the issues this time is a step forward. Hopefully it’s something that will grow. But Ron Paul can’t be president this year and if he could, his ability to do anything would be limited. When was the last time legislation made it through without being nipped & tucked to death? (except when Congress rolled over for the Patriot Act…)
I certainly understand your view that the Dems & the GOP are not that different. In 2000 I voted for Nader (knowing that NY was safely Democratic) in hopes that the Greens could somehow get 5% of the vote to get federal funding for the 2004 election and start breaking the 2 party monopoly. Don’t you think a vote for the Libertarian party to help push them closer to 5% would be voting for change, or do you disagree with the concept of federal funding for elections? That just seems to be a more effective way to try to enact change.
The only reason Ron Paul’s likelihood of being elected was slim to none was because of the MSM and the GOP. The MSM has been so successful, in fact, that most people think he had a small following. Not so: he had a huge following, still does. Had he been given the airtime given the other candidates, he would have buried them.
He’s a Republican running for President and he was refused a speaking slot at the convention. WTF? He didn’t spout the party line, so they shut the door in his face. Ron Paul delivers a message that Americans are hungry for: real change. That scares the political machine. It scares the central bankers who are really in charge.
About getting things done in Congress. Little Congress does is worth doing. A really effective Congress would be one that does nothing new: no new laws, no new pork, no new entitlements, no new promises. The President doesn’t need a congenial Congress: the President can veto anything. Ron Paul’s pen would be busy. That alone would cut spending. He doesn’t need Congress kissing his butt to get things done; au contraire. (There’s a great article called 545 People by Charlie Reese – I think that’s his name. All about Congress.)
The thing about why have a country… the Founders set up the power grid in the USA specifically to diffuse power. So that power could be maintained by the people. You can only do that by keeping it local and not centralized. You see geography as limiting a person’s rights. I see it as the Founders intended: protecting a person’s rights from an over-reaching government. Once too much power gets too far away, it is literally out of your hands.
Parks/Gandhi/Schindler was not about race. It was about laying down in the face of “what everyone assumes to be true.” My point was not race, my point was courage.
If millions don’t take a hatchet to this machine on all fronts at once, it will be unstoppable. It almost is now and if it weren’t for Ron Paul, I would still be out of hope. The machine is so large now and the power so centralized, it is on auto-growth. Picking at it with a tweezer just annoys it. It is rolling over us right this minute. Unless you are involved in the fight, paying attention, you won’t even notice. Most people I know there don’t. A lot of people here do. Distance and detachment offer a perspective difficult to come by any other way.
Will people lay down their lives fighting taxes? Historically, we always have. Taxes are slavery, it is the straw that will break the camel’s back.
Do I disagree with the concept of federal funding for elections? Of taking money from taxpayers and giving it to politicians who didn’t earn it to spend on TV commercials? You betcha. Let them raise their own money.
And it doesn’t make a race any more fair, it just gives incumbents that much more free money to spend squashing their unknown challengers.
And now for something completely different, the old broad is going to bed. You young ‘uns can stay up late debating this stuff… pura vida!
Don’t forget BlogBlast For Peace is Thursday, November 6th!
BlogBlast For Peace ~ How To Get Your Peace Globe
Hi Sally,
I agree with you on all of your points. Way too much money is spent on elections and I like freedom of choice. I also want the constitution reinstated.
Love your blog.
Ginnee
We can agree to disagree 🙂 (except for the BS about Paul being ignored by the MSM & his own party – that was blatantly obvious) I just don’t see a point in a write-in vote since it doesn’t help change anything. It’s the sound of one hand clapping. The existing system is not going to be dismantled overnight, so working within the system – like trying to get a third party federal matching funds – makes a lot more sense. But let’s see what happens with federal funding, since Obama eschewed the federal funds and raised enough money to feed zillions of people. Sure, people gave freely but the amount is obscene. Anyone running for president will need at least $600 million now, which will rule out every party/individual that does not have the ability to raise that amount. But if the liberals could mobilize after 2000 & 2004, I’m sure the libertarians can do the same.
However, your point about courage is utterly and completely cheapened by the comparison with racism. Most people who are taxed do not feel the inherent sense of injustice that someone who is the object of racial discrimination does. No one thinks to themselves I wish I hadn’t been born in a country that falsely taxes its citzens and wastes most of the money or Why am I being taxed? I haven’t done anything wrong. It’s a ridiculous comparison that anyone not in the choir has trouble taking seriously. Comparing the overtaxed to people who have been killed for the color of their skin? That’s just awful.
The liberals could only mobilize because the MSM allowed it to happen. The libertarians have mobilized. You don’t realize it because the MSM is still ignoring them.
I didn’t make any comparison with racism. You did. Race was not in my mind at all; you brought it into the conversation and now you are chastising me? I’m not following the logic.
I mention those three people because of their courage in bucking the system, not WHY they bucked the system. Just because they DID buck it, despite any “common knowledge of the way things are.” How ’bout some really white people on the list. Let’s add the Founders to the list. John Hancock, James Madison, George Washington. They all risked everything to sign the Declaration of Independence, pretty much putting their heads in the noose. Tom “give me liberty or give me death” Paine. Mother Teresa. Joan of Arc (although one could argue she was certifiable.) She was turned in by government finks. As I said, the list is loooooong and praise Allah for it. Courage. Race has nothing to do with it.
You need to work on getting your message across. The system that Parks/Gandhi/Schindler bucked was all about racism and brutality – true human injustice. Taxes are not in the same realm. You don’t see the issue with comparing overtaxed white white folks to blacks & browns treated like animals? That’s a microcosm of why the revolution won’t happen anytime soon. Selling the message to the masses needs a much defter touch. There are less than 20,000 write-in votes for Ron Paul (so far). The message may not get into the MSM, but the believers aren’t spreading the word either. Comparing taxes to slavery & degredation certainly does not help.