Posted by
fiddler on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 1:30:00 PM
Sometimes I find myself wondering if I'm the only one in this country to question the pronouncements of leftists who pontificate on everything under the sun, brooking no disagreement, no matter how well founded. I hear so many comments from people while out and about. For example someone recently said to me "Anyone has to be better than what we have now!" Oh really? Anyone, say, a Pol Pot? A Josef Stalin? A Baby-Doc Duvalier? Or an Adolf Hitler? I could think of a lot of leaders who would be far worse than our current president, and I don't agree with everything he has done, particularly on immigration. But come on, people!
Then there's that canard, "Bush lied, people died." Ok, it's catchy. But nothing will ever convince me that Bush lied to get us into Iraq. The mere fact that WMD weren't found in Iraq does not prove that he lied. It could be that he was wrong, which I doubt, considering that he wasn't the only one to think Saddam had such weapons. Or it could be (and this is my belief) that he sent his weapons to Syria during the run-up to the war. Either way, no one has produced any credible evidence that he lied.
More recently, we've been hearing a lot about how Barack Obama represents "change." But change for change's sake could be a Very Bad Thing Man, and I wonder if all the people clamoring for "change" have considered that. What would "change" look like? Change in what? The biggest change I would like to see is in the way things are done in Washington. I'd like to see our government more concerned with the good of the nation than they are with the lining of their pockets. I'd like to see judges on the bench who will do the job of interpreting the law rather than legislating from the bench, so that the American people will be free from judicial tyranny. I'd like to see a fiscally responsible president and congress rein in spending on every little "gimme" package, so that the American people will be free from confiscatory taxation. But in the more than 35 years that I have been watching politics I've heard one candidate after another promise change, and very few of them have delivered. Of the few that have, some of the change has been good (e.g. Ronald Reagan), and some of it has been devastating to the country (e.g. Jimmy Carter).
So I ask again, just what would the change promised by Obama look like? He's short on details, but he promises universal health care, a "comprehensive" energy policy, and a "fairer" tax code. But he doesn't exactly explain where the money will come from to pay for universal health care; he doesn't explain why a "comprehensive" energy policy doesn't include opening up known oil reserves in the US; and he doesn't explain how raising taxes on the "rich" will help the economy. He promises more Supreme Court justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, and none like Roberts or Thomas or Scalia.
Sorry, Senator Obama. From where I'm sitting, things could be better, but they could also be a lot worse. I've heard too many politicians over the last three decades make vague promises they didn't have the slightest hope (or intention) of fulfilling once they got into office. I need to know just how and why you think your proposals will work, and I need some evidence that they will. Before I could consider voting for you, I have to know why you think your proposals would be good for this country, and I need some supporting evidence.