Nobody in Their Right Mind

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On my way into Kohls today, I was accosted by a young lady asking me if I'm registered to vote. I noticed the shirt she wore and wondered why in thunder she was an Obama supporter. Then again, I'm frequently mystified as to the choices of political involvement made by young people. Ron Paul is poised to win the Iowa GOP Caucus, and I have no idea why.

Young folks tend to support people who think America is the problem. Obama goes around apologizing for America, talking about how we're lazy, greedy, and intolerant. Paul goes around talking about how we're at war on the wrong side. Both of them go around talking and then claim they didn't say what they said or that we misunderstood what they said. The irony is that we can watch them say it over and over again, thanks to sites that archive video of politicians.

I just don't see why these two people attract support from any demographic. Even Obama admits that he hasn't done much, since he needs three more years. Neither of these men will go on record and do what ought to be done, but they'll jump over the steeple chase to attack someone who does. They did so with Ryan's budget. They would do so to me. My life is not better for any of Obama's policies or any of Paul's suggestions despite his entire career in Congress. As I have said and written before and elsewhere, if your life is better, it's coincidental. Most politicians are their own favorite beneficient, beneficiary and constituent, and to Death Valley with you and your problems.

That being said, I don't watch Fox or CNN or anything. I find that my blood pressure goes up when I watch the news. I have spent a good deal of time and money over the past five years studying the Enlightenment Experiment that birthed the United States, traveling to the sites relevant to that history, and reading the actual notes of men who made it happen. Sure, the men were imperfect; they were after all men. Their ideas were, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, the best any group of men ever has or could manage.

The older I get, the more I think that politics is about personality more than principles. The people who flock to Ron Paul or Barack Obama do so, not because they are interested in what ought to be done, but because they identify with the personality of the candidates. They will talk all day long about sacrifice and doing what's right, and then they do what's best for them, the majority of us be damned. Freedom is not license to do whatever you like; it is to do what you ought. Neither of these candidates is a good choice because they believe in destroying America in order to rebuild it. Every real leader knows that it's easier to hold onto something and improve it than to start over from scratch. Once a city is lost to an enemy army, it can only be retaken at the expense of much blood and treasure.

Nobody in their right mind would vote for either kook- Obama or Paul. I'm not happy with the other options trending up either, but the only way I know to find a candidate with whom I completely agree is to run for office myself, and I'm neither old enough to run for president nor interested in the prospect. So I'll settle, but not for either of these court jesters, and neither should you. Improve when you can. Hold your ground when you get there. Every upgrade, no matter how small, moves us closer to lasting prosperity and peace.