"The untold story of the Bush administration is the deliberate annihilation of the Reaganite, small-government wing of the Republican Party," said Michael Greve, director of the Federalism Project at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "A lot of people are very bitter about it."
..."I do know libertarians who think Obama is the Antichrist, that he's farther left than John Kerry, much farther left than Bill Clinton, and you'd clearly have to be insane to vote for this guy," said David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. "But there are libertarians who say, 'Oh yeah? Do you think Obama will increase spending by $1 trillion, because that's what Republicans did over the past two presidential terms. So really, how much worse can he be?' And there are certainly libertarians who think Obama will be better on the war and on foreign policy, on executive power and on surveillance than McCain" [Carolyn Lochhead, "Why Some Conservatives Are Backing Obama," San Francisco Chronicle, 2008.07.07].
After seven years of Patriot Act (yes, it is just an act), torture, empire, and ever-bigger government, it should be no wonder that true conservatives can find something to love about Obama. How many dyed-in-the-wool liberals/progressives are ready to make the opposite jump for McCain?
Instead of bolting to the Obama camp, I'm surprised more of the "small-government" conservatives aren't switching to a party that believes in less government interference in our pocketboks and in our home lives... the Libertarian party!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best parts of globalization is its capacity to create large groups of people, independent of nationality, that desire the same freedoms and forms of governance. At this point, upwardly mobile individuals can simply uproot and move to other parts of the world with less invasive government. I was recently in South Korea and could easily see myself living there on a permanent basis.
ReplyDeleteNations need to start becoming quite afraid of enacting laws (I'm looking @ you patriot act) that would drive large segments of its populations to other countries. The first to go are those with the most wealth which is typically correlated with knowledge. Those still here have simply run the equation and found that the freedoms we have given up are worth the upfront cost of moving (be those economic, social, etc.).
You can only oppress indivuals so much now since individuals have very competitive options for residence.
People of all stripes have been fleeing oppressive regimes for as long as governments have existed.
ReplyDeleteMary and Joseph fled Herod ... slaves fled the Old South ... Cubans and Haitians stream into Florida ... starving people scramble across our border with Mexico.
The reasons vary: Religious or political persecution, witch hunts, onerous taxation, abject poverty, or a belief (based on reality or fantasy) that "the grass is greener over there."
If people start emigrating from the United States in large numbers, it will be a landmark in the downfall of our country. I think we're quite a ways from that. To me, it seems that our main problem is not emigration, but immigration. May it ever be so.
The San Francisco Chronicle: authoritative bastion of what conservatives think...
ReplyDeleteConservatives don't like McCain but no intelligent conservative is about to cast their lot in with a leftist progressive. Nobody is going to vote based on the patriot act who wouldn't already be voting that way. Moreover, the patriot act effects virtually nobody. Political correctness is more of a pervasive threat in society than the government looking at my library list. People haven't been oppressed by the act and aren't moving to other countries over the issue.
Obama elicits excitement and McCain does not. That is the primary reason a republican win is unlikely.