I'm sitting here at my keyboard because sleep just isn't coming to me that well tonight. It's been awhile since I've posted, but I have the frustration to vent, so why not shove it all on you, the hapless Internet surfer?
If you didn't know, yesterday (20 May) was actor James Stewart's Birthday. The only reason I knew this is because TCM was doing a marathon of his movies to celebrate. In the course of this, one of his best films was shown: Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Although made in 1939, most of the issues raised still ring true today. For those who haven't seen the film, here's the summary. Some great quotes come up in the film that are still mostly correct about our government. In one particularly good scene, an upset Saunders (Smith's secretary) tells Smith, "You should go home. You're halfway decent, you don't belong here." And, of course, the entire filibuster at the end of the movie is probably one of the best scenes in movie history. But I didn't get on to discuss a movie; it simply reminded me of what we're losing in our time.
As our government locomotive is picking up steam on the Socialism Express, the people are going to love our President because he's making the train run on time (yes, that was a Mussolini reference). And as we roll along the track, less and less subtlety is used, until news like the GM (now stands for "Government Motors") takeover comes out, and suddenly the government is running a portion of the marketplace directly. And you know what? I don't even blame Obama for it. I don't agree with him; in fact, I am diametrically opposed to him. But he's doing what is natural to him. I blame you people - the voters. People who looked at him and said "Ooh, a black man. I'll vote for him and be super-progressive and end racism." I swear, if I had one dollar for every Obama voter who could not name a policy of his that they agreed with, I would be able to fund all of the various stimulus packages myself. It was bad enough that it almost made me pro-abortion for the left, so at least they wouldn't have a future generation to pass down their mental defects to. And before anyone labels me as a disgruntled Republican, let me say that I was never a McCain fan, and I did not vote for him. I mean, he was such a terrible candidate that I can't believe he was real; he had to be a fall guy.
You see, the answer to our problems is less government, not more. Really, the only jobs the Federal government has are to defend the country with a military, promote interstate commerce (not by regulating, but by aiding), and help when state jurisdiction ends in criminal matters (if a murderer flees California to Wyoming, then the FBI gets to hunt him, because California can't send police to a sovereign state, but Wyoming itself has no reason to arrest the person). Those three things, that's it; these are the only things that they should be using taxes to pay for. Everything else is a State issue. Abortion, Marijuana, health care - all these are off limits to the Federal level. These are things that must be decided amongst a state's citizenry. For example, I view abortion as murder. Now hear me out, before you leave, pro-choicers. It's like Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said; the Constitution doesn't ban murder - each State has decided how to deal with it and what punishments are acceptable. Each state also sets the appropriate age for tobacco and alcohol consumption, so why can't they decide marijuana on their own? And national socialized health care would be the worst thing for this country, because it opens the door to, you guessed it, MORE FEDERAL INTERFERENCE. I'll leave the other reasons alone for now; the rationing of care, the long lines for the correct doctor - these are being covered by more than one big name talk radio show. I'll simply say this; if the government is paying for your doctor visits, then they have a financial stake in your private life. You can't expect them to pay for hospital visits and then not want to know what put you there and how to stop it from happening in the future. It's like having your parents pay for college, and then not wanting to tell them your grades - it's just not going to fly. People who want nationalized health care point to Massachusetts as an example of how it can work. Without being an expert on the intricacies of the system, I can say fairly confidently that it works because it's a state program; the people of Mass. got together and decided that they would pay more taxes to allow fellow citizens care. Fellow Mass. citizens, that is. You see, it all boils down to this: Texas doesn't want New York telling it how to work, Vermont doesn't want Utah to interfere with their inner concerns. With a nationalized health system, we would have different states paying for other states' health concerns. I respect that Los Angeles has begun restricting fast food restaurants; but at the same time, I would like LA to recognize that I like to have the occasional greasy cheeseburger with fries. All in all, I don't tell them how to live, they shouldn't tell me how to. Each issue should be a state-controlled item, because when you get down to it, the state level gets pretty close to some kind of consensus on the issue. Now, I realize that there are the people who don't match the majority of the state; I understand that some conservatives do live in Michigan and California, and some liberals reside in Texas and Kansas. But when you look at election results, most of the states are not big surprises. Nobody is shocked to see the New England area blued-out, or the Gulf states entirely in red. Because on larger topics, the state is usually a community of mostly like-minded individuals.
But I've strayed from the point. As each day passes, I am growing in my dislike of the current administration's policies. If that last statement gets me put on a DHS watch list, I just hope they spell my name right (smile and wave to your monitor, Sec. Napolitano is watching). You know, it used to be that the last statement would have been ludicrous; you could gripe about the government without worrying about what happened. But we must not disrespect our Glorious Leader. To doubt him is to invite chaos into our nation, apparently.
I'll leave you with these quote, in honor of Mr. Stewart's birthday and the cause which his character, Mr. Smith, fought for.
"You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that."
"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain, simple rule: "Love thy neighbor."And in this world today full of hatred, a man who knows that one rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr. Paine. And I loved you for it -- just as my father did. And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any others. Yes, you even die for them -- like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine. You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked! Well, I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause, even if this room gets filled with lies like these; and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to me."
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