Conservatism and the Dark Knight - Rush

What Bush and Batman Have in Common – Referenced Wall Street Journal Article

As it stands, there are a number of problems with him as a Candidate.  First off, he has no experience.  He has not produced any significant legislation.  As we’ve seen him come up through the ranks of the Democratic party, I think that it’s easy to see how everyone was so easily swayed.  He definitely has a charisma that we haven’t really had much of for a while.  I’ll admit, though Bush does have a few highlights, his speeches are more ridiculed then any president in my lifetime.  However, if you see Obama speaking without a prepared speech and teleprompter, then you might be surprised to find his speaking skills are not what they’ve been said to be. 

Aesthetics aside, the main reasons I fear an Obama presidency are because of issue conflicts.  However, I can’t be too sure that he really is in conflict with me, since he’s changed positions so many times on virtually every important issue since the primary battles.  Fortunately, though, most of his switches have been to positions I still didn’t like, so it’s easy for me to dislike the guy.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows that the best description of my political beliefs is “Capitalist”, because for all intents and purposes, Obama is a socialist.  Let’s take a look at words right out of the mouth of the man himself, spoken today in Berlin:

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

Does that last statement sound contradictory to anyone else besides me?  I mean, to me, fair means you get what you deserve.  If there are people in the US that have the ability or clout to make millions of dollars, isn’t it fair that they keep the money that they earned for themselves?  I mean, if I got to be well off, I wouldn’t want someone to come in and say, I’m glad you did good, now give me more of your hard earned cash.  But that doesn’t sound like what he wants when he says things like “share its benefits more equitably” or “favors the few, and not the many”. 

What has always united us — what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores — is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

There’s one thing about that previous quote that bothers me, and leads to the very heart of what Democrats these days believe - that we can live free from fear and free from want.   Free from want?  Granted, we live in one of the most prosperous nations in the world (don’t tell the democrats that though, they’d have you believe that poor people are really poor in this country).  The democrats believe that we all deserve what we want, whether you worked for it or not.  They want you to believe that the government is the solution for all of your problems, from the economy to health care.  Let’s not even get started on the concept of socializing health care.  All in all, my favorite political commentary of all today was in an article on Politico.com:

McCain 2008 spokesman Tucker Bounds said in response: “While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a ‘citizen of the world,’ John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it.” (Politico)

I think Obama had to be reminded two or three times this trip that he wasn’t the President yet and couldn’t make foreign policy decisions.  The fact of the matter is that there are somethings that you just shouldn’t do, even as a charismatic “change-monger” with presidential ambitions.  He might be willing to do anything to get elected, but if he starts making “policy” in foreign nations, there is a word that we might start considering: Treason.  The only person that has any business making foreign policy is the President.  And in case someone didn’t tell Obama, for a few more months at least, that’s not him.

My take on the whole thing is that they shouldn’t be counted, and the Democratic National Convention should be willing to take all the flack that would entail.  The truth of the matter is that primary “elections” are not a democratic process.  They are an organized event by a political party to give people the illusion of free chioce about Presidential Candidates.  Especially in the DNC, where there are “super delegates” that can vote either way when the convention rolls around.  The fact of the matter is that while the representatives that we “voted” for should vote the way they promised, there is not a rule against voting the other way.  They can vote however they want. 

The real issue with Florida and Michigan is the “disenfranchising” that is going on.  The truth of the matter is that they were discounted long before the primaries started, because the party didn’t like the states rescheduling their primaries.  In other words, over a silly political reason, two entire states lost the opportunity to have a say in the democratic candidate.  But where was the upheval then?  We casually passed it off, saying “it’s their fault for moving their primaries up.”  Now that the results of those primaries might actually be important, the democratic party is starting to care about how they might be disenfranchising these voters and wants to make good. 

This should give all you democrats out there something to think about.  In the mind of the democratic party, it’s ok to marginalize you and ignore your rights on a whim, but if it turns out that you are actually important then they’ll act like they never did anything wrong.  I think the democratic party did something wrong, and now they should take the heat for it. 

Edit: He allowed my comment to be heard, and we’ve started a dialog in the comments.  Feel free to chime in for either side, you won’t be censored unless you are obviously an idiot or over the top.

As I was drinking my bottled water tonight and poking around the internet before I went to bed, I stumbled across your blog through facebook and read this article. And, I’d like to offer a few thoughts about it.

Articles like this are usually sources of frustration for me. As you can probably guess, I’m a more conservative minded individual, and though I respect your point of view, I have to disagree.

First, let’s look at your statement: “But with bottled water, we’ve been so readily swayed by consumerism, that we’re willing to think it is perfectly acceptable to pay for something we get for free.” Where do you get the idea that water is free? When you turn on the tap, you expect clean fresh water to come out. However, the water that you get is not free. It is paid for by municipal taxes and water bills. It’s purified, cleaned for your consumption. Sure, you can say that water is available in rivers, but the truth is that it is not clean water. Millions of people around the world do not have access to the clean water that we have available to us relatively cheaply. Tens of thousands of people die every day from water related diseases because of that. In America, we are privalaged to take advantage of the water that has been purified for us. The truth is that we pay for it. What’s wrong with that?

Next, another quote: “Bottled water, for me, sort of represents the epitome of a consumer-based culture that’s far too invested in production, and not invested enough in principles of prudence and justice.” Clearly, consumerism is just horrible. Sarcasm aside, consumerism is what allowed you to be able to declare your principals of prudence and justice. Let’s take a look at what you need to be a blogger: First, you need a computer. Without American consumerism, the computer would never have been invented, much less mass produced. Things in America, from bottled water to Organic flowers are produced based on a desire for profit. Second, you need electricity. Electricity not only to power your computer, but to power your connection to the internet, the internet backbone, and the server your page is hosted on, as well as the backup servers and security systems your site is hosted within. Also, each of your readers must also have a computer and the power to use it. We also have to pay for internet. Internet isn’t provided by the Government, it’s powered by private companies who seek a profit from it’s massive use. Consumerism brought us newspapers, radio, television, the internet, websites and blogs. Consumerism doesn’t prohibit the spread of prudence and justice, it enables the spread of these ideas.

Now don’t get me wrong. I would agree with you that the waste generated by having bottled water is probably detrimental to the environment. If everyone else shared your concerns though, would we still be drinking bottled water? Perhaps not, but who gives you the right to prevent me from buying it? Instead, why not promote recycling programs to reduce the amount of waste we generate? Perhaps it is because of your anti-consumerism; Recycling plants are not non-profit organisations. Recycling plants collect money from people to collect things they don’t want, then melt it all down to sell it to other companies that make things like the bottles for bottled water. Recycling companies are getting profit from both their supply and their product. How many other businesses get paid to take things from their suppliers? Recycling companies are profit organizations that are created by free market consumerism that you seem to dispise so much.

In America, we can afford to complain about things like bottled water making a mess of our landfills. In countries like Kenya, thousands of people live in landfills; they look through other people’s trash to find food, and collect plastic bags to sell to recycling centers. We can take things for granted so easily in America, but complain about these sort of things. In reality, these sort of things make it so that we can afford to complain about them.

Nobody wants to see the planet go to crap. But it’s not! If consumers start to see things as problems then the problems will be fixed; but they’ll vote with their dollars, like they are already. You already buy “organic” foods and green energy, and you pay for it. Do you complain about paying more for these products then you might otherwise? No, because you believe in the long run it will cost you less, whether it is in monetary terms or in terms of your personal pursuit of happiness. Me, I’ll just keep enjoying this bottle of clean, cold water, toss it into the trash or a recycling bin if it’s there, and go on living the American dream. Don’t tread on me.

Thoughts?

Television and the Internet have some very important differences. When you go to look for something on the internet, you’re naturally going to search for something that agrees with what you believe. Television is different. We look to television to be entertaining. As a source of entertainment we aren’t looking to be swayed politically, and we don’t have our guard up against what we would normally look at as misguided information.

Before you go and think that I believe TV is evil, let me say that TV is definitely entertaining. However, it’s important for Americans to not base their opinions off of an episode of a TV show, or off of one news network, one website, one newspaper. If diversifying your stock portfolio sounds smart, diversifying your sources of information should ring as vital. Also, make sure your information comes from a reputable source. A Playoff Season Punk might tell you that Brad Lidge is a horrible pitcher, but the dedicated Astro’s fan will tell you otherwise.

Or think of it this way: If America spent as much time researching who they were going to vote for as they did shopping for a new dress or some new entertainment equipment, how great would our country be? The enemy of democracy is the apathetic voter.

Enough ranting. Thanks for reading!