I just read SayUncle's manifesto, calling himself a reformed Republican. I think that if you wait for a party or candidate to agree with you on everything, you'd never vote at all. Maybe that's why the turnout is so low. But expecting any politician to be a full-time statesman and do what he'd really like to, you're in danger of being dangerously naive, any further and you might become a Libertarian.


That is not to say libertarian. I don't know what I am exactly, maybe communitarian, but that depends of what programs they support. I don't buy into the Instapundit celebration of drugs, homosexuals, porn and "victimless" crimes in general, because I think that if you're not contributing, you're harming society. People who harm the family, or waste their lives on addictions are a drag on everyone else, so there are no victimless crimes, and I also believe that there are virtues and duties that are part of citizenship in a free society and inextricably connected with liberty. If you misuse your freedoms you'll lose them, it's that simple. I think we're living on the down hill side of American history, the bread and circuses phase, although we've still got a lot of good sensible hardworking people who keep things heading in generally the right direction. The biggest problem we have is that Americans today equate government programs with kindness and caring. Barry Goldwater wrote a long time ago that everything we get from government comes with strings attached, and when we start to look to government to meet our needs, we give up more of our independence. We're quite a way down that road now, which is why Republicans came up with the "Compassionate Conservative" slogan. They knew that if they stuck to the original principles of the founders of this experiment they'd be out of the running politically.


It's going to take a dramatic turnaround to save us. I'm not very optimistic.