Do liberals dream of subsidized sleep?

  WASHINGTON - At the core of Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign is a promise that he can transcend the starkly red-and-blue politics of the last 15 years, end the partisan and ideological wars, and build a new governing majority.

  To achieve the change the country wants, he says, "we need a leader who can finally move beyond the divisive politics of Washington and bring Democrats, independents and Republicans together to get things done." But this promise leads, inevitably, to a question: Can such a majority be built and led by Obama, whose voting record was, by one ranking, the most liberal in the Senate last year?

  More immediately, if Obama wins the Democratic nomination, how will his promise of a new and less polarized type of politics fare against the Republican attacks that since the 1980s have portrayed Democrats as far out of step with the country's values?

  Obama, in an interview, said that "a lot of these old labels don't apply anymore." He said he was a progressive and a pragmatist, eager to tackle the big issues like health care and convinced that the Democrats could rally independents and disaffected Republicans to their agenda. Only then, he said, could the party achieve what it has so rarely won in modern presidential elections - a mandate to do big things.

  "Senator Clinton's argument in this campaign has really been that you can't change the electoral map," he said. "That it's a static map and we are inalterably divided, so we've got to eke out a victory and then try to govern more competently than George Bush has. "My argument is that if that's what we're settling for, after seven or eight years of disastrous policies on the part of the Bush administration, then we're not going to deliver on the big changes that are needed." Link

   What 'big changes'? Deconstuct the best medical system in the world? Chase research and developement out of this country with onerous taxation and tort liability? A further diminution of our educational system in order to cater to the teacher's unions? Perhaps shutting down the economy with over-taxation, bloated entitlements and regulation? Or how about retreating in the face of enemies hell bent on our destruction - even while we are beginning to make progress in that endeavor? I could go on - but why?

   Here's the deal. The Left, specifically the Democrats, have so much pent up social do gooding to do that they are beside themselves. They ache longingly for the days of the New Deal or the Great Society - those bygone halcyon days of squeezing every cent out of everyone's paycheck in order to fund wastefull and ultimately disasterous boondoggles with which to buy the support they must have to remain in power. After all, the more money they lavish on the unions, the greens, the welfare class and increased governmental payrolls - the more votes they can count on.

   Yes, there is, and will always be, a large segment of this country which is desirous of that - but they have yet to become a viable majority. Given just a few measures of the dose of socialism the Democrats dream of dispensing - the American taxpayer/voter rebels. This 'big change' scenario of which they speak usually lasts no more than a couple of terms and when adults come back into the room - all that crap is tossed out like the garbage it is.

   Obama says he will 'unify' disparate ideologies, that he will bring us all together so we can sing Kumbaya around the campfire and the world will be so much better for it. What the Left, and Democrats specifically, fail to grasp is the reality of this nation. This is a nation founded on CAPITALISM and FREE ENTERPRISE. We are not about to become France. At least not just yet. The working stiff likes to keep what he earns and is not about to roll over and let his neighbor tap into his bank account. We will allow only so much of that.

   The very same reasons oft cited for a possible Democratic victory come November are also why a majority of Americans do not want to enter into their brave new world of socialistic, nanny state, womb to tomb governance. The economy? Any fool knows that is a creature of cycles and the Left's methods will only make things worse - witness Jimmy Carter. The War? Any fool knows that if we do not draw a line THERE, it will be draw for us HERE. Corporate greed and malfeseance? Is there a bigger perpetrator of that than the governement? The Left perceives a rising tide of national resentment and disatisfaction. That is NOT the case.

   Because any fool knows that all that is required are minor tweaks - not 'big changes'. Which happens to be the basis of conservatism. Yes, there are plenty of folks who dream differently. But they are not now, nor will they ever be, the majority of Americans. And this is not a geo-politcally isolated sentiment. Witness the recent elections in France, Germany, Britain and Canada. Wherever within the first world capitalism has taken root, it is damned hard to pull those roots from the national psyche. Yeah, the Left does get its opportunities and they always, and will always, fail to grasp the one single thing that defines life.

   It's a struggle. It takes work and persistence to survive. The strong will and the rest better learn how ...... or fall by the wayside.Spread the word! 

Comments

[Oldcatman]

and does HE walk on water too?

[Ron]

Obama is winning because he is out-slicking the slickmeisters themselves i.e. the Clintons. I hope your guarded optimism is justified. Way too many people are onboard with the global warming hoax though. That's what is about to destroy our economy. And what bothers me more is that McCain seems to be clueless about the economy. He is definitely better than the 2 socialist alternatives, but having said that, I fear you've said everything.
BTW, nice allusion to "Blade Runner" in the title.