Filed under: happenings
I just read Barak Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech he is to give today over at Drudge. I’d post a link, but it will be dead by day’s end.
Obama’s proposed policies couldn’t be more different, and sometimes opposed, to my core beliefs. He is a “government can fix all” guy – proposing a plethora of new Big Brother spending that the so-called “wealthy” will pay for by increased taxes. As if the “wealthy” don’t already pay way more than the lion’s share. I digress.
The speech, though, is yet another example of the brilliance of Obama’s campaign. If he is not the next President of the USA, then something will have gone terribly wrong. Instead of doing the tried-and-true political move of citing a line like Bill Clinton’s jargon about getting on to the work of the American People, Obama breaths a few more news cycles of life into the Rev. Wright issue! The speech is not full of vague references followed by vague and/or grand movements away from the bigoted banter of Rev. Wright – no, Obama calls it out, disassociates himself from it, and supplies well thought-out logic as to why.
As a Ron Paul Conservative, I left that speech – which as of this writing has not been given yet – satisfied. Obama made his case, it makes sense. I have a few Leftist friends, some I count as sisters and brothers, and our debates are fiery and sometimes result in temporary tempers. But cooler heads prevail because we love each other. I am not going to only have fellow Conservatives around me – that would be incredibly boring. The more I spar with my Lefty pals, the sharper my mind becomes. What’s more, sometimes I end up changing my stance on some issues, so long as it falls in line with my core principles.
Here’s another aspect of Obama no one is talking about: Whether you regard Rush Limbaugh as a leader or an entertainer (or better/worse), one cannot deny the impact Rush has and has had on the political landscape for the past 12-15 years. The one thing Rush talks about no matter who is President is the importance of being optimistic. Conservatism, at its core, is an optimistic world view. Conservatism believes that the individual can thrive, prosper, and help his/her fellow man/woman by resources available without govt. intervention. Conservatism has a positive outlook on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Optimism attracts people, and this is why the Democrats have failed on such a grand scale over the past 20 years, because they offer a persistently negative outlook on life. Everything is in need of repair, reform, or some govt. program to “fix” any given situation.
Then along comes Obama, with Big Govt. veiled in optimism. The guy has a very positive outlook on things, and sells his ideas around a genuine offering of “hope.” Hope is a universally optimistic theme. Anyone who has hope has a seed of optimism. And we see the crowds of people organizing behind Obama.
Personally, I plan to vote for whomever the Democrat is on my ballot come November. To me, the GOP is no longer the home to Conservatism. George W. Bush is no more a Conservative than I am a border collie. So some time in the wilderness is needed to see if the GOP and Conservatism can still live under the same roof. I can’t vote for John McXerox because it would be more of the same – unfulfilled expectations, quasi-conservatism (note the lower-case “c”), and more war. I just hope that Obama can weather whatever is on the horizon for him. I’d like to see this experiment played out.
