18 February 2005
Needed: A Liberty Candidate!
Oh man, is this the understatement of the year, or what?!
The Chief has had a number of discussions, and done a lot of soul-searching about this one. The dilemma of course is whether to keep working within the GOP as the better of the two main parties, or to bolt for the Constitution Party, or Libertarians, or ... ?
So far, the comfort level is not achieved by either of the two alternatives noted above, but on the other hand the idiotarian elements of the GOP & its policies and sometimes enough to drive one to distraction - stuff like the lack of meaningful border control for example, or the seemingly constant search noted on the state level (at least in SD by the overwhelming Republican majority up at Pierre) to increase the power and intrusion of the state into ever more detailed aspects of our lives.
The biggest problem with the two alternatives is their ideological blind spot on national security. In the interest of philosophical purity, they seem unable or unwilling to bite the bullet, and accept that the extraordinary threat of Islamofascism requires unprecedented methods and policies to be dealt with successfully.
After all, this finds us on the leading edge of the kind of civilization clash that the west hasn't had to confront since the last time Vienna was besieged by the Ottomans in the 1600's - a historical window completely outside the experience of the American republic. Representative democratic action certainly MUST include the right of said representative democracies to act in a manner that enables their survival - regardless of issues of philosophical purity.
THAT is the imperative of primary importance! If the security issue is not addressed successfully in this context, all the other social, economic, and political issues become moot, as the agenda will be set by the new Caliphate that would surely result from the failure of the west. The west will not survive as is, without the military and political hegemony (in the original Greek meaning) of the US - and this is the prime policy failure of both the Constitutionals and the Libertarians.
The Chief's ideal combination would be the domestic policies of the Constitutional Party, the foreign policy of the Bush GOP, the Kennedy-Reagan tax cut policy, and the immigration policy of radio talker Michael Savage! (Borders, language, culture!)
So, in words from this article:
What we need now is for a politically viable person to come along, someone with charisma, but who also has wisdom, a loud voice, a transparent soul, and faith in a clear vision of the road back to sanity. This person must touch enough minds and hearts to create a market for his or her ideas, at which point he or she will automatically acquire that "special something," that pheromone that attracts the attention and pocketbooks of the financiers who will allow him or her to be heard and seen on a national scale.
Dare one suggest that this COULD be Sen. John Thune? Why not!
The Chief has had a number of discussions, and done a lot of soul-searching about this one. The dilemma of course is whether to keep working within the GOP as the better of the two main parties, or to bolt for the Constitution Party, or Libertarians, or ... ?
So far, the comfort level is not achieved by either of the two alternatives noted above, but on the other hand the idiotarian elements of the GOP & its policies and sometimes enough to drive one to distraction - stuff like the lack of meaningful border control for example, or the seemingly constant search noted on the state level (at least in SD by the overwhelming Republican majority up at Pierre) to increase the power and intrusion of the state into ever more detailed aspects of our lives.
The biggest problem with the two alternatives is their ideological blind spot on national security. In the interest of philosophical purity, they seem unable or unwilling to bite the bullet, and accept that the extraordinary threat of Islamofascism requires unprecedented methods and policies to be dealt with successfully.
After all, this finds us on the leading edge of the kind of civilization clash that the west hasn't had to confront since the last time Vienna was besieged by the Ottomans in the 1600's - a historical window completely outside the experience of the American republic. Representative democratic action certainly MUST include the right of said representative democracies to act in a manner that enables their survival - regardless of issues of philosophical purity.
THAT is the imperative of primary importance! If the security issue is not addressed successfully in this context, all the other social, economic, and political issues become moot, as the agenda will be set by the new Caliphate that would surely result from the failure of the west. The west will not survive as is, without the military and political hegemony (in the original Greek meaning) of the US - and this is the prime policy failure of both the Constitutionals and the Libertarians.
The Chief's ideal combination would be the domestic policies of the Constitutional Party, the foreign policy of the Bush GOP, the Kennedy-Reagan tax cut policy, and the immigration policy of radio talker Michael Savage! (Borders, language, culture!)
So, in words from this article:
What we need now is for a politically viable person to come along, someone with charisma, but who also has wisdom, a loud voice, a transparent soul, and faith in a clear vision of the road back to sanity. This person must touch enough minds and hearts to create a market for his or her ideas, at which point he or she will automatically acquire that "special something," that pheromone that attracts the attention and pocketbooks of the financiers who will allow him or her to be heard and seen on a national scale.
Dare one suggest that this COULD be Sen. John Thune? Why not!
