Day: 11/05/2012

Self-Evident Truths, Yearning Masses, & Domestic Tranquility

The time has arrived. After what has seemed like an endless election cycle Americans will go to the polls tomorrow and cast their vote for President of the United States (among other things). I have tossed around ideas in my own mind about what to write in regard to this occasion and originally intended to publish multiple missives in the months leading up to the Election Day. But since I am A) a procrastinator, and B) probably a bit too passionate about this kind of thing and that tends to offend people & get me in trouble, The Voices have persuaded me to wait until the last minute. Don’t worry…I won’t keep you long. I know you have more important things to worry about than the future of our country…stuff like seeing who will get sent home from Dancing with the Stars and checking out that Honey Boo Boo crap on TLC.

 

First of all, let me urge you to do one thing above all else: vote. The United States isn’t perfect. We have problems too numerous to fathom, especially since we are the greatest, wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world and some of the hardships we face are kind of silly, pretty easily handled, and mostly of our own collective doing. However, with that being said, it must also be understood that this whole freedom & democracy thing we have going on here is pretty cool. Sure we don’t always agree with our elected officials, but atleast they are e-l-e-c-t-e-d. We have the opportunity every 2 or 4 years to voice our opinion with a ballot, and it’s a right that I think we take for granted. Voter turnout should never ever ever be below 90% in my humble opinion, yet it has become surprising when it is above 50%. Do we not comprehend that there are people in other parts of the world who have literally given their lives in exchange for expressing their beliefs or trying to provoke change?? There are places where people have fought battles…you know, with guns & bombs…to gain the right to elect their leaders rather than have a dictator rule over them with an iron fist. We can just waltz right into our local polling location and, with proper identification, freely choose who we think will be the most effective leaders for our city, state, & nation, yet a great many decide to stay home and play Angry Birds or pin something on Pinterest (whatever the hell that is). Please do me a favor: put down the adult beverage, DVR your soaps or talk shows, get in your car, and drive to the polls. Take advantage of one of the freedoms that comes with living in this great nation.

 

Now, if you follow my advice the next question becomes who you should vote for. Well, you’re an adult and can cast your vote for anyone you choose. I can’t make you do anything. But I can tell you who I have voted for (early voting rocks!!) and why I made the decision.

 

Citizens of The Manoverse, anyone who follows me on Twitter, and my Facebook friends all know that I am a hardcore, dyed-in-the-wool conservative. I have written about what conservatism means to me, and I have never tried to hide my beliefs & opinions. So it won’t shock the world when I say that I am praying that Willard Mitt Romney becomes the 45th President of the United States. Admittedly Governor Romney isn’t the ideal candidate, but I am not sure such a thing exists anymore. True statesmen like Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, & Madison seem to be a relic of the distant past. All we have now are politicians. And since that is the case the best choice has to be the one who’ll do the least damage and atleast attempt to steer things in the right direction.

 

I believe there are three key elements that need to be considered in relation to this election.

 

Obviously the first & foremost issue is the economy. I am not a financial scholar, but I think I have a firm grasp on the basics. One of the most heinous acts committed during the past 4 years has been the passing of nationalized health care, better known as Obamacare. Look…I get it…free health care sounds awesome. I have had various health issues my entire life. I have had 27 operations!! Do you think I enjoy spending a healthy chunk of my paycheck to pay a doctor or hospital?? Would I rather spend that money on a new car or a trip to Vegas?? Of course. But I wholeheartedly agree with the late President Ronald Reagan, who said that the nine most dangerous words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. If people think our health care system is screwed up now, wait until it is run by the government. I find the prospect frightening. And then we have taxes. Conservatives believe in lower taxes…liberals think everyone needs to pay more, more, more. But my humble Potentate of Profundity you say…if we lower taxes where will Uncle Sam find the revenue to build roads & bridges, fund a strong military, and educate our young’uns?? Well, the obvious answer is to slash spending…dramatically. And therein lies the rub. No one wants to do that because no one wants to piss in anyone’s Cheerios. All those people sitting on their butts, collecting checks, receiving free phones & other goodies, and excited about getting free health care are what politicians like to refer to as voters. I understand the conundrum, I really do. But I also know that I am paying about $3.50/gallon (give or take 20 cents) for gasoline now versus less than $2 four years ago. I know that the national debt has more than doubled in the past four years, meaning that all that “free” stuff people are so excited about is actually being paid for by money borrowed from China. And I know that our GDP has gone down 2% during the past four years, meaning that the value of the goods & services we do produce (there are still a few) has decreased, which reflects extremely poorly on our nation on multiple levels. I could go on & on, but you understand what I’m saying. And yes…bad economic times began during the administration of President George W. Bush. I concede that fact. However, no one ever seems to recall that the infamous housing bubble that began the precipitous descent began under the Clinton regime. Contrary to popular liberal belief there is no such thing as a free lunch, and “providing access” to homes for people who couldn’t afford them was a disastrous mistake. Also, this isn’t the first time we have had a bad economy. But it does seem to be the first time we have taken so long to fight out of the abyss. Reagan inherited a bad economy from Jimmy Carter in 1980. The difference between Reagan & Obama?? Reagan turned things around within a couple of years, while Obama continues to blame Bush.

 

The second factor we must ponder is unemployment. It has hovered at or near 8% for a while now. Obama & his minions in the media love to puff their chests when a few thousand jobs are added here & there, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture. The overall rate is still way too high. And one thing no one ever seems to talk about is wages. I don’t really give a rat’s petoot if 100k jobs were added last month if all those jobs pay $7 or 8/hr. That is not a living wage!! Who can really blame people that choose to sit at home and collect welfare when it’s more than what they’d earn if they actually worked for a living?? American citizens deserve the opportunity to thrive, not just survive. We must take the shackles off the business community and allow entrepreneurs to create real jobs. That means lowering taxes and easing up on crippling regulation, especially in relation to the environmental movement. Do you think all those jobs have moved overseas because companies only have to pay workers there a fraction of what they would here?? Sure that’s part of it, but there is also the fact that there are far less environmental restrictions in places like China. We have become a nation crippled by a politically correct obsession to eliminate all risk & danger in all aspects of life. Look at the NFL for God’s sake. Pretty soon they are going to be playing flag football. Anyway, I don’t think our country was doing too bad back when I was growing up and there was a plethora of decent jobs to be had in a variety of factories & plants. Yes our world has moved into a more high tech realm and away from the old industrial ways, but we still need manufacturing, and it’d be nice if more things were made in the USA instead of everywhere else. President Obama has proven that he does not know how to achieve this goal…or maybe he just doesn’t want to. Afterall, the more people that rely on the government, the more people who will vote for him & all his liberal friends.

 

The third & final point to seriously consider is the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s something that we don’t discuss nearly enough, but the one thing that can have a lasting effect beyond just about anything else. What is the one Court case people argue about more than any other?? Roe v. Wade. Now I honestly don’t believe that particular decision will ever be reversed, and quite honestly I don’t care all that much. I know what I believe, and I know the Godly principles that guide my life. I wish there weren’t so many selfish people out there yammering on about “a woman’s right to choose” what happens to her body as if the child shouldn’t even be factored into the equation, but it is what it is. If you murder a child you will someday have to answer for the crime. My point though is the fact that Roe v. Wade happened nearly 40 years ago and it is still being debated. The Supreme Court, in the past half century, has gone far beyond what The Founding Fathers intended and become an activist court that shapes public policy. The decisions they make fundamentally change this country even more than what a President or Congress does. Right now there are four justices age 74 or above, which means that there is a tremendous chance that who we elect President on Tuesday will have an opportunity to alter the American way of life…for better or worse…for decades to come. The prospect of President Obama wielding that power shakes me to my core. I trust Romney with the responsibility far more than I would ever trust a man who I sincerely believe has a deep disdain for traditional American values.

 

I could go all night, but I’ve got a life and so do you. Let me just conclude by cutting thru all the poppycock. This election isn’t about race. Contrary to what assclowns like Chris Matthews try to say on a daily basis, not all conservatives are racists, and the reason we don’t like President Obama has nothing to do with his color. This election isn’t about class envy. Conservatives want everyone to do well, which means that we don’t begrudge anyone who has found a legal way to become wealthy but also that we don’t think that continuous government handouts really help the poor in the long run. And this election isn’t even really about religion. Now I happen to believe that Obama, while not an actual Muslim, grew up with enough Muslim influence that it affects his thought process in subtle ways, and that goes against what I as a Christian stand for. But Romney is a Mormon, which means that he & I would likely disagree on a few things too. It is a non-negotiable fact to me that God is in control no matter who occupies The Oval Office, so at the end of the day it’s all good anyway. But we are to be stewards of what God has provided for us, and part of that duty means putting people in positions of leadership & authority that will do the right thing and move our country in the right direction. Barack Obama had his chance and I don’t think any objective assessment would give him a passing grade. If you or I fail to perform our job duties at a proficient level our boss will dismiss us and give someone else the opportunity to do better. I don’t know if Mitt Romney will be successful or not, but if he isn’t we can make another change in 2016. For now though I feel like he is the better choice.

 

 

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