Wednesday, November 05, 2008

"So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause."

The country wants change, and we will get it. Perhaps Bush's legacy will be that he was perceived to be so bad, that we elected the most extreme political candidate in our history. President elect Obama campaigned as a centrist, but his record is clear, he is no centrist. His voting record is extreme left, and despite his promises and pledges, he will move us in that direction.

Last night, he said the rest of the world was watching. They were, and they were pleased. They love him because whatever will make our nation weak will make them strong. They were rejoicing in the caves of Pakistan, in the halls of the Kremlin and in the palace in Venezuela. His party's record on defense and national security is quite clear. The multiple terror attacks during the Clinton administration should be a clear indicator as to how that party deals with our enemies. Perhaps President Bush kept us too safe. We forgot the real threat of Islamofacism is still there. They never give up, and they are still plotting today.

So, what is the summary? That President Obama will be to the left of Bill Clinton? He will release the terrorists in Gitmo? We will have higher taxes, and perhaps another small terrorist attack or two? We can overcome, right? After all, we have a Congress, we have courts, we have term-limits. It will be bad for sure, but it will end eventually, right?

It can be much worse.

In my book, the Presidency is too important a position to elect someone about whom we know so little. All we really know is that he is a charismatic man, who won his presidency on the emotions of a nation who was tired of an administration they have been told was a failure. While the signs of Bush's administration being a bad one are clear (Harriet Mires for the Supreme Court, a poor economy, an illegal war, fractured alliances, etc.) it is not as bad as the media have portrayed it, and certainly no worse than Jimmy Carter's.

So, in addition to his charisma, and emotional support from a weary nation, he has blind support from the media, and we know how important a fair and free press is. The press is currently free (at least until the Fairness Doctrine comes back), but certainly not fair. In addition, he will have a willing and able Congress to implement any policy. Do we really need "The Fairness Doctrine"? No, but it will be step one in stamping out those who oppose his regime.

I just read the other day that he wants to have a citizen army. It kind of reminds me of the brownshirts. If anyone reading this does not know who the brownshirts are - shame on you. Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. There are many other stories and dystopias like this on the Internet, and I am sure many of them are probably exaggerations; these combined with the above factors are too frightening to ignore.

Remember Hitler, Pol Pot and many other despots were socialists and leftists, and not right-wingers like the media and your teachers would have you believe. I recommend that we study their rises to power. I only have a cursory knowledge of these histories, but so far the similarities with Obama's rise to power are interesting. I plan to learn more history, I plan to watch for the signs, and I plan to buy a gun before it becomes illegal.

We made our choice, and it was the wrong one. There were many celebrations that I watched on TV last night. It reminded me of Natalie Portman's great line in one of the Star Wars movies. She said "so this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."

I have three young children, and I am very sad for them. They may not grow up in the free society I did. I hope I am wrong. I fear I am not.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Watching Obama come to power was like watching the old news reels of Hitler coming to power in Germany. In those films you see huge crowds of people and they have the same exact mesmerized looks on their faces as the people who support Obama. Those Germans blindly followed Hitler, who promised change, and look where it got them. I too fear for our safety and our future. This is a sad time in our nations history.

Anonymous said...

My world is just not this black and white. Obama bad, McCain good. Its ridiculous. Theres good and bad to both sides, and lets face it, the Bush administration was a disaster (and nobody TOLD me this, I came to this conclusion on my own based on my interpretation of the facts), and thats all any of us should EVER do. It doesn't matter if he was better or worse than Carter or Nixon or Ford or Washington, he fucked up a lot and thats wehy Mcain lost and Obama won. Just dont understand people that are SO sure of themselves, but I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have little idea of how Obama will do as President, just like I had little idea that Joe Blanton was going to turn into Cy Young for the Phillies, or that God definitely exists, or Buddah or Allah. I don't waste my time on worrying about what MAY be true and what others think. I worry about what I think and what I know to be true, and I try to protect myself and my family the best way I know how based on those facts. And the fact is that once again we were presented with two inferior choices for President. A guy who is a fucking banana peel away from breaking his hip, with a fucking soccer mom to catch him when he falls. I know almost nothing about Obama, which is why i didnt vote for him. But at least he can say 'nuclear'. George Bush was a freaking illiterate. Thats a fact I base on all of the multiple stupid things he has said. Obama is an inexperienced Illinois senator, but so was Lincoln. Is he too Liberal for this country? Maybe. But the way Hank Paulsen is indiscriminately throwing money at stocks and steering us further and further away from Capitalism, and the way Republicans frivolously spent money during this administration, I wonder if Republican supporters even have a firm grasp of what their party even stands for anymore. What bothers me the most is, hate when people look down on someone for wanting Obama to be President. Everyone is rah rah constitution rah rah free country... until someone disagrees with them. Then you're a traitor to your country. Its a fucking joke.

Anonymous said...

T-Bone,
I agree with what you have said here. This is a bad time to be a conservative. George W. Bush has really destroyed the countries faith in the republican party, so much in fact that I think a monkey could have run for the democrats and it would have won. The people want change and God help us that's what we are going to get!

T-_Bone said...

You are all right. W was no conservative. He grew government, pandered to religion, and had an interventionalist foreign policy.

I give him credit for his two Supreme Court justices, they are both great. Also, I really believe his domestic terrorist policies (The Patriot Act, etc.) were a success.

Other than that he was a loser. Big time.

T-_Bone said...

Hey spacebeagle - was the a Howard Cosell reference?