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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2007-02-19

Why I Am A Republican, part X

Over the course of the last two weeks, I have attempted to explain the genesis and evolution of my political philosophy. If you recall (if there's anybody still awake out there), it started early, but changed with the birth of my first child. Last night, I concluded with my children, as well--something about "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

And that, at its core, is why I am a Republican--because of my children.

As you have no doubt surmised from my writings, there is a substantial chance that, even without children, I would be a Republican. However, with children in the mix, that pushes any margin for doubt away, and puts me solidly in the GOP camp.

Why, you might ask, wasn't I a Republican before the 2000 election? Fair point. Because 2000 made a few things abundantly clear: one, that the Democrats' pursuit of power, at the expense of the military, made them untrustworthy with power; two, that in a time of peace and prosperity (presumed) the Democrats still wanted more of my money; and three, in a fact that we did not know until a year later, the Democrats had been unwilling to do what it took to secure the country.

And that is, in the end, the whole ballgame.

On every count that the Constitution labels as the province of the government, as I have demonstrated over the past week or so, the Republican Party is better suited, based on its core principles, to serve the American people. A more perfect Union was fought for and died for by the first Republican, that Union was improved in the 60s by a Republican Congress, and a Republican restored the faith of the people in its country after humiliation and recession in the 80s. Justice and domestic Tranquility is far better served by people who believe in the rule of law and who believe in a equal opportunity--not equivalent results. The common Defense is best provided for by those who believe that rhetoric must have force behind it to mean anything, who do not outsource our national defense to corrupt international organizations that hate us, and who recognize that we have real enemies who will not negotiate and who would like nothing better than to see our women and children die slow, painful, horrible deaths. And all of these do far more to secure the Blessings of Liberty than any social progam or sympathetic expression of "feeling pain" ever will.

All the rest is icing.

Education? Important, but not the province of the federal government. And I have personal experience with the screw-ups that happen when the Feds try to do education, and as much as I support the concept of No Child Left Behind, the net result has not particularly enhanced the American education system, and that's STILL better than every attempt before, which left us the beautiful mess of Title IX and a billion unfunded mandates.

Social Security Reform? Necessary, but not central to the function of government. Unfortunately, we're kinda stuck with it at this point, so would somebody--PUHLEEZE--fix the damn thing.

Oh, by the way, which party is talking about a REAL fix? That's right--the Republicans.

Health Care? Not the province of the federal government. And, by the way, does anybody actually think there's any chance at all that the federal government has any chance of doing this right? I don't--and that's okay with me. IT'S NOT THE GOVERNMENT'S JOB.

Global Warming? First, color me skeptical--I have just enough of a science background to know that a. things in the natural world tend to happen in cycles, and b. we know next to nothing about all of the cycles that play out in our world. Second, talk to me about this when your "models" or "scenarios" don't include 70% margins of error or out-and-out guesswork about some of the causalities built in to the model. For that matter, talk to me about 100 years from now when somebody can accurately predict the weather a week from now. Is global warming real? I suppose so--some (though certainly not all) of the numbers support that idea. Is it caused by man? Probably not--again, cycles. But in what sense is it the American government's job to Save the Planet? I suspect that the Planet has many, many tricks up its sleeve to save itself, and will get along fine without our help, thank you very much. Talk about your arrogant usurpation of responsibility, at the expense of the prosperity of the nation.

Here's my hypothesis: when elections are about the real issues the Federal Government is charged with, Republicans win; when elections are about the icing, Democrats win. Why did GWBush win in 2000? Because, at it's core, the argument for tax reduction is an argument for smaller government. Why did GWBush win in 2004? Because the election was about the national security. Why did the Republicans lose in 2006? Because they failed to make the case for their prosperity, and the issues were corruption in a bloated government and incompetence in managing the national security--specifically, the War in Iraq.

At the same time, you can never underestimate the power of incompetent campaigning . . . in all three of the above cases.

Nonetheless . . .

Democrats believe in their imagination, and in a utopian world that does not reflect reality and has repeatedly been shown to be unattainable (see "Soviet Union"), and that they can make the world conform to their vision if only they believe it fervently enough and say it loud enough.

I am a Republican because the Republicans (often) are true to the intentions of the Founding Fathers and have, at their core, a set of beliefs that have a real chance of succeeding in the real world.

Specifically, that every person in the United States can attain their dream if they are willing to work hard enough for it within the law and if the government keeps out of their way, except to protect them from enemies foreign and domestic. I say this often, and I think it reflects that reality: don't tell me what you want--tell me what you are willing to do to get what you want.

That is the message I try to drum into my children and my students, and that is the America that I believe in and that I believe will provide my children the best opportunity to realize their hopes and dreams.

And that's the whole ballgame.

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Posted by: Michael / 2/19/2007 11:12:00 PM

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