Unfortunately, this proved idyllic. We awakened, rose up, though not before discovering that "the enemy lies within," and that the Left has the media, education, and is a heart-beat away from "judiciary cleansing" removing God from public life. It's been almost 22 years since Reagan left office, and who would've guessed that after the Berlin
Wall fell and the Iron
Curtain came down, that Marxists would reign not in Moscow but Washington? Forget "give us this day, our daily bread" (the Lord's Prayer) every day presents
dread... I lie awake asking: Who are these men? Why do they hate Freedom? In the book
Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg defines an abstruse concept held by progressives.
Fascism, he writes, is "the religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the 'will of the people.' It is totalitarian in that it views
everything as political and holds that
any action by the state is justified to achieve the 'common good.' It takes responsibility for
all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation and social pressure. Everything, including the economy and religion, must be aligned with its objectives. And any rival is part of the 'problem,' by definition an enemy."
Jonah is right. This defines "progress." In a world where utopists ban salt, breath is "pollution," and cold implies warming, politicization assails truth, fact, and common sense hewed to liberty. I often argue inter-relatedness, that one can't "progress" without coming full-circle; and no one circles like a bureaucrat with a budget. The alphabet in progressive hands is a foil--the FCC, EPA, DOE, BLM. That the
TSCA might be used to ban lead, and thus bullets, destroying the constitutional right to bear arms, is a perfect example of co-conspiring (Alphabet Abuse), as is the power to tax (Article I, section 8) being used to fine citizens for doing nothing at all. Health care, immigration, the Internet, finance... Is there anything that progressives don't target? Progressives are malign (I would say "wolves in sheep's clothing," but I actually like wolves) and are willing to assert their will by any means.
And, of course, they suffer fools. The other night, a friend (downgraded to "acquaintance") wanted to know how Obama affects me. "Man," I said, "Obama affects
everyone. The U.S. government, at his direction,
quadrupled the deficit. They passed a myopic, pork-laden stimulus and to 'fund' it printed money. Our debt, at historical highs, is nearing
fourteen trillion, and ObamaCare will add more. Debt," I told him, "is enslavement, pure and simple, the death of opportunity. Ours will be 'paid,' if Obama has his way, by increasing taxes on Americans (the 50% who pay taxes) and their employers. As our economy shrinks, government - and this is Obama's aim - will 'come to the rescue.' Am I affected? You bet. When America ceases to produce, when its greatest resource is beholden to Government, all of humanity - and freedom - pays a price."
It had to be explained that our "greatest resource" is people. This friend, a trust-funder, assuages the burden of wealth by voting to raise taxes and advocating abortion. Ignorant, he's quick to trash
Rush despite being morbidly attuned to NPR. And get this: his bequest came from LUMBER!! Yep, dead logs, shaped to protect him, grant this tree-hugger
la dolce vita U.S.A.
This is no surprise. Liberals love to spend others money while hoarding their own. They also love "fairness," a synonym for the leveling of income via plunder and rule. What's frightening is the harm they inflict--people whose news-source is
Rolling Stone vote... When one-liners - "hope and change" being a prime example - empower tyrants it's often because people are more interested in shared opinions (liberal group-think) than thought. In a conversation with Todd Wynn, vice president of Cascade Policy
Institute, I recently learned of the dangers of ignorance.
As he travels Oregon, the citadel of progressivism, Todd is challenged by "greens." They espouse climate science, and one of their arguments for CO2 regulation is the "closed garage" death. Suicide by Subaru. How, they wonder, can he say that CO2 is safe when men die from inhaling it? The answer: Carbon
monoxide, not dioxide, kills people. When he explains that CO2 comprises .03% of the atmosphere, they foment. To have their world implode, their faith blasphemed, stokes anger. Religion is out of bounds, not to be questioned, and make no mistake, the faith and fervor with which they "practice" environmentalism is absolutely religious.
Can they name the Founding Fathers? I suspect not, suspect that men like Thomas Paine are irrelevant, and that emotion-driven fallacy burdens their lives. Indeed, government education, associated with "failure," has actually succeeded in forming citizens so intellectually shallow that they believe almost anything. Don't ask a liberal who caused the mortgage crisis. The answer points to Fannie Mae, the Community Reinvestment Act, and the policies of Clinton; but to know this requires labor. Progressives, for the most part, seem content to parrot sound-bites... Barack's word is gold: Wall Street, which funded his campaign, is attacked, his rhetorical gimlets transmogrified into "truth."
The bottom-line being that principle shatters.
Take, for example,
this from Wilder Publishing. Wilder puts out a tripartite book containing the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. Wondrous, in theory, this little pamphlet nonetheless oozes "progress," not for its content but for its disclaimer.
This book, it begins, is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as if it were written today. Parents might want to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relationships have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.
Does not reflect the same values as if written today...
This is why on some nights I don't sleep. In my eyes nothing has changed, not insofar as the Constitution is concerned. Rights remain inalienable. Power must be limited. But in the eyes of others, power is ambrosia. Words, to them, are malleable in meaning, rhetorical arrows to bleed the Constitution.
Pressure must mount to halt this abrogation. Pressure born of dread of what will happen if we don't.
