Posted on 05/15/2008 6:27:32 AM PDT by TSchmereL
. . . Democrats will control Congress. If they also control the White House, we will have a series of legislative packages that will make the Great Society look like a libertarian government. . . .
The country is in trouble. We have forgotten our founding principles, and we move inexorably toward a European style socialist state, with the only winners being an enormous bureaucracy. This will accelerate the economic decline.
The argument is to give the Democrats their head, and pick up the pieces after the inevitable crash. I think that overlooks the resilience of tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect regimes. We haven't seen much in the way of reforms in Europe. The Democrats will create new bureaucracies that can never be dismantled: an example is the Department of Education. Reagan came into office determined to abolish it. Now it owns US education, and No Child Left Behind is entrenched. The Iron Law of Bureaucracy is inexorable.
. . .
I conclude that McCain as president is a far lesser evil than Obama would be. But there are those in whom hope springs eternal: who hold the view that Obama is not what all the evidence says he is, a left wing liberal intellectual with Chicago political connections and all the ethical implications that implies. Hope springs eternal. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at jerrypournelle.com ...
Does that mean that I hope John McCain wins? Not really.
As Dante Alighieri wrote, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."
I am almost there.
“If they also control the White House, we will have a series of legislative packages that will make the Great Society look like a libertarian government. . . . The country is in trouble.”
Get ready for federally mandated “Global Warming Days” where the gov’t shuts down commerce to slow CO2 emission. And while it might be nice to the have the day off, our economy will begin to resemble that of France.
No matter who wins, we lose!
I used to read this column in Byte magazine, delivered to my door each month from 1981 until they ceased printing. It was, by far, the most respected computer magazine of its time.
Jerry is a science fiction writer, and his books, especially the ones he co-authored with Niven, are great reads.
He leans consistently conservative.
The founding fathers gave us recourse in the event this happens.
Read the 2nd admendment and the Bill of Rights.
It is the nature of government to grow. Trying to stop it is admirable but futile. At best, growth can be posponed for a short whie.
Loved his books (and Byte) but had no idea of his politics. Good on him!
Post-Gringrich? How about Post-Reagan. Although Gringrich was the author of the Contract for America, he was the first one to bail on it as soon as the term limitations item came up before Congress. Maybe if he could have seen the future of his not being reelected to Speaker of the House, he would have stuck with the Contract.
And they all laughed when I said we need a “Climate Protection Amendment” to the Constitution, whereby the government is specifically prohibited from making any law, regulation or executive order for the purposes of changing or regulating the climate of the planet.
I’m doing a write in vote for Ron Paul. He is the only Republican presidential candidate who isn’t a socialist.
I will be voting for Juan too, but my nose will be sore from holding it so hard.
We’re about to witness governmental tyranny on an unimaginable scale.
Win the battle, lose the war, choice of evils be..
Sorry. I can’t pull the lever for Johnny Mac.
I have 3 questions for anyone.
What’s the point of fighting a war on terror and supporting the troops when the ILLEGAL immigration issue is the direct result of not enforcing existing law - why have a gaping hole for anyone to crawl through on the southern border?
Why have a candidate embrace this green nonsense which is the equivalent of surrendering American economic leadership and sovereignty?
What have we accomplished by allowing foreign despots who enable terror to dictate energy policy and pricing when we restrict our own domestic fuel reserves?
I would say we are fighting many wars .. all are equally important. I would say our troops agree and understand the significance of supporting all our fights.
Ron Paul’s chances of winning are close to zero. Why waste your vote? You will do what you want, but it makes little sense to me.
It’s already beginning...the Dept of the Interior just put the polar bear on the threatened list because of “global warming.”
I had no idea he was conservative. As I recall, “The View from Chaos Manor” was the name of his monthly column, wasn’t it?
This country is doomed. If the Rats win, I believe we will enter a period where punishing taxes, regulations, fuel shortages, illegal immigration and inept government run health care make the problems we are having with these today make today seem like to good old days. The stupidity of the American people who think “change” is going to mean improvements to any of the above is truly amazing.
I will hold my nose and vote McLame and as many conservatives as I can in my one party state of NJ. Hopefully, he may be able to slow this inexorible march to Socialism, but I doubt it. The American people, especially the Baby-boom generation, which I am ashamed to be a member of have come of age. I’m sorry to say, this is the whiniest generation in history and they are taking the reins of power now and the country is going to suffer greatly.
I am voting for Ron Paul because I agree with him on the issues. Why should I vote for someone whom I disagree with?
Not “Post-Reagan” either: he never submitted a balanced budget. I’m sure I’ll get flamed for saying anything bad about Reagan, but it is true
No one in either mainstream party gets high marks for fiscal discipline
“Why waste your vote?”
I would respectfully request you cease insulting Americans in this manner. Left or right, vote or abstain, every vote, sir, is an exercise in true liberty that exists ONLY on our shores; none are “wasted” as long as we CAN vote.
Conservatives vote their conscience and your question impugns the intellectual foundations of all!
I always enjoyed his take on things. He was a curmudgeon from day one, and I loved it.
You've got to look into his science-fiction. It was good stuff. He also had collections of science-fiction essays in his, “There Will Be War” books.
Hey who doesn’t want 13+ weeks of vacation required a year? I wish my boss would let me lounge around for 3 months and do nothing. Oh wait thats me. Dam management.
In Wisconsin, we have “Ozone Alert” days. No grilling on the gas grill, don’t drive unless you have to, etc.
Must’ve worked since the ozone hole is closing. Wow, you Wisconsinites saved the planet!!! ;)
Frankly our system of elections is such that any candidate beyond the two nominees is just going to take votes from the other two candidates. While all three of them are my worst nightmare, McCain at least has the ability to support business . The other two will kill our business and our economy. Until the right and middle of America want to do something to stop the rampant tax and spend policies, we will never have a good candidate.
I’m not into letting any Dem win, even if Ron Paul is the best candidate, I can’t vote for him. There is a much bigger threat to our country than sticking to my idealism for this specific issue.
I voted for Ross Perot. I loved those charts! But it cost us. While Perot grabbed votes equally from both parties, Ron Paul will not. Paul will grab them from the right, and ensure the Dems success.
This bears repeating. Gingrich is no friend of conservatism, and in my opinion, he's a coward.
Yep - the “Progressive State” is still ahead of the curve! ;-)
“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” Max Lerner
one socialist is just as dangerous as the next!
freedom is is a precious thing hard to get and even harder to keep.
He was a pompous fool when he was the Speaker, and has done nothing since then to convince me otherwise.
Hmm... is there some coincidence that many of Socialists posing as senators are opposed to honest people having Guns”
At the Maine State Republican convention, Senator Snow (job)
said if the Democrats are elected there will be runaway spending. She is right. But she should have added that if the Republicans are elected there will be continued runaway spending.
The flower children of yesterday are today’s blooming idiots. Too bad they are in power, their damage to this country will take decades to clean up.
Jerry is pretty much the only person who was against going into Iraq from the beginning, that I respect for. And I have enormous respect for him.
I’ve been reading his “day book” at that site for years. That site was arguably the first blog. Highly recommended.
If we
Vote for mccain we loose...
i
f we
Vote for Hillary we loose...
if we
vote for obama we loose...
all of them will cost us freedom and security, not to mention that trhey will trash the economy.
we are in perilous times or country is at steak!
where have the Patriots gone? anyone?
Khrushchev’s prediction is coming true! Thanks Ted
I respectfully disagree, Mr. Cletus.D.Yokel
The next president is probably going to be Barack Obama, The Single Most Liberal Senator, and only John McCain has a small chance of stopping him.
When you vote for someone who has zero chance of changing the outcome of that probability, you are objectively wasting your vote.
There is no insult in stating facts honestly.
When you vote for someone who has virtually no chance of winning, your vote has zero effect on the outcome.
It is not an insult to point out that voting for Ron Paul is a waste of time any more than it is an insult, Barack Obama’s objections notwithstanding, to point out that Barack Obama’s middle name is “Hussein” or that he is, in fact, The Single Most Liberal Senator.
“Exercising Liberty” is not the same thing as “Protecting Liberty” or preserving it for others.
For example, I might be exercising my Liberty by drinking a beer or taking the Fifth Amendment Privilege against self-incrimination.
These are wonderful exercises in Individual Liberty! They do absolutely nothing towards protecting Liberty or preserving it for others.
When you conflate the two distinct concepts of “Exercising Liberty” and “Protecting Liberty” or preserving it for others, you reveal a failure of critical thinking. That statement is no insult. It is a fact. You have, in fact, conflated two distinct concepts and revealed a failure of critical thought.
I support everyone’s right to “Exercise their Individual Liberty.”
I respectfully suggest that you honor my right to speak freely and honestly point out when such exercises are a total waste of time and when such exercises further no beneficial purposes.
I disagree.
One socialist is not just as dangerous as the next.
Socialism is a matter of degree.
A MORE committed socialist is MORE dangerous than a LESS committed socialist.
More socialism is MORE dangerous than a LESS socialism.
“Big Government Conservatism”
There is no such thing, and people who vote for it are not conservatives.
Maybe : ) It seems to me that a moderate socialist (McCain) can and will do much more damage than an extreme Socialist (Hussein). Simply for two reasons, first he will have no opposition and secondarily he will accomplish what it is possible to achieve (he will get extremely bad laws passed). A traitor from within doesn't generally work from a basis of ideological purity, he generally has other agendas.
Hussein on the other hand would face opposition even from his own party because they would fear that the unintended consequences might make them look bad. Hussein would be a very constrained President.
IF, it can be cleaned up. The bureacracy these slugs will create will be impossible to undo. Never mind the activist ACLU Supreme court justices they will appoint. We are in deep doo-doo.
“Big Government Conservatism” exists. The phrase was first used by Fred Barnes to describe George W. Bush who is, in fact, a “Big Government Conservative.”
George W. Bush saw Big Government Conservatism as a trade-off. To gain free-market reforms and expand individual choice, he was willing to broaden programs and increase spending. Thus his aim in proposing to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare is to reform the entire health-care system for seniors.
George W. Bush believed that People like big government so long as it is not a huge drag on the economy.
I am a Conservative. It was well known that George W. Bush was a “Big Government Conservative” well before 2004. I still voted for George W. Bush in 2004 because the alternative was worse.
I am a Conservative. I hate Big Government Conservatism. Big Government Conservatism is a total failure. But whatever it is, “Soviet Style Communism” is far worse.
When faced with a choice between “Big Government Conservatism” and “Soviet Style Communism,” I, a Conservative, will reluctantly vote for “Big Government Conservatism.” And hate it.
If you actually believe what you just wrote, you should vote for Barack Obama.
I think the logic is convoluted.
That is true. And a MORE committed socialist is still MORE dangerous than a LESS committed socialist.
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