Lose 'Em

Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx’s straight man, wrote that “an ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” And so it is, as Obama and the Democrats in congress have shot out of the blocks with their so-called “stimulus” bill, which has practically no transparent theoretical underpinning, but all the action that Democrat interest groups could possibly have asked for. Far worse than the mere pork, however, is the fact that the bill is an insidious attempt to inject socialism into our political economy. The stimulus bill is the smallpox-infected blanket by means of which the Democrats seek to weaken and, if possible, destroy the strong historical traditions of personal freedom and responsibility that have made America a great nation. It is a bridge to the “soft socialism” of Europe that has produced a teeming class of underemployed malcontents, a stagnant intellectual climate, and a vacuous culture that looks with impotent horror on the recrudescence of militant Islam. And it won’t do any good to say it can’t happen here. It can happen anywhere.

This is the main reason why I argue that Collins, Snow and Specter should be targeted for replacement. They have been given plenty of latitude to play at compromise and “aisle-spanning.” This was one occasion when it was essential for them to stand with the party, and they declined – and ignominiously so, since not one of the three could produce a single plausible reason for supporting the bill (I do not consider Collins’ leap off the ledge in response to her constituents shouting “Jump!” to be an acceptable excuse; nor was Specter’s maundering nonsense, which pretty much boiled down to “I didn’t know the thing was loaded!”, anything more than imbecilic rationalizing). No doubt the Republican Party needs to broaden its appeal, but not by continuing to support these cross-dressing Democrats. Take 'em off life support, I say. A smaller, but highly-principled, party may struggle in the short-term, but it will make of itself a beacon of genuine hope and change when the Obama Express runs off the tracks into the gorge.