In a very poignant article posted at the American Thinker website called "The Failed Party", Jeffery Schmidt lays bare the failings of the Democrat party. I couldn't agree more. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the other side is firing on all cylinders. The Republican party is an abysmal failure in its own right.
Schmidt hits the nail on the head here:
Government activism is at the heart of contemporary liberalism, and it is that activism that has proved wanting over the past four decades. As to a social safety net for citizens unable to care for themselves, conservatives concurred long ago with that idea. Where liberals would be wise to recapture their past is in the foreign and defense policies of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy. But that would require a rediscovery of American Exceptionalism and a renewed belief that America is a force for good in the world.
It would take a moral foundation that rejects the Left's excuses and rationalizations for the evil perpetrated by our enemies, and that rejects the sophistry of leftist intellectuals and opinion leaders who seek to assign at least some of the blame for those evil acts to ourselves. With the exception of a Joe Lieberman, where are the liberals who see with such moral clarity?
Liberalism is a spent force today, not only because of a philosophical undoing, but because it has been tried, tested and failed in critical ways and at critical times over four decades in social, economic and national security matters.
Having moved politically right of center in the early 90's as my income rose while my taxes rose higher yet I was really excited with the power shift in 1994. For the first time in my life Congress was not "controlled" by liberal democrats. My excitement was short lived. Instead of taking on big, fundamental issues the Republicans started with flag burning and prayer in schools. How they lasted in power as long as they did is still a mystery to me.
To be fair, they did slow the pace of socialism and did help (somewhat) with important tax cuts and, of course, successful welfare reform. By the time they lost it all in 2006 the Republicans lost all semblance as the party of fiscal conservatism. The pork barreling, now called earmarking, was sickening. So now you have a party of moralizing hypocrites, gee, that's appealing.
None of that makes the Socialist - err I mean Democratic party look any better, but it does create a vacuum for those who like the idea of limited government and lower taxes without all the moralizing and hypocrisy.
So, where do we go from here? I can't vote for socialists, which is all the Democrats offer these days. Greens? No way. The Libertarians just aren't a serious party. Voting for two faced, spineless Republicans is less than appealing.
Like I said, Mr. Kettle meet Mr. Pot.
CW
3 comments:
You don't post as often as a lot of the blogs I read, but I just noticed that on my Google Reader I keep putting "stars" on your posts! I guess you keep agreeing with me and are able to put your thoughts down in a wonderful and logical way. I really love your blog! Thanks for sharing. so I have something truly worth sharing with my friends and relatives.
Thank you. It is nice to know someone is looking at this thing! There are so many voices out there and I find that they often say it better than I can anyway - hence the pseudonym "Static Noise". I would post more often, but the blah, blah, blah factor kicks in and something better is just a click away. Thanks again!
PS if you have a blog yourself I would love to link it up here...
CW
It comes down to which political party you dislike the most. Until the 1990s I disliked the republicans more. During the 90s it was an even split. Since 9/11/01 the democrats have earned my contempt far and away over the republicans. After 2004, the republicans were starting to get closer until the 2006 election, when the democrats pegged the obnoxiometer.
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