I've been busy with farm work this week, so here's my Sunday morning ramble about several things I've been too busy to post about.
I find this desecration of the Flag disturbing, for it's lack of respect. It's quite possible the people who did it have no concept of what I'm talking about. It's all too easy to show disrespect to something you don't understand, and therefore don't value. Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if the flag re-designers also have no idea of what the Constitution of the United States is about, either.
Pat did a post today, about some Democrats who are pushing to have term limits removed via a constitutional amendment:
Enough with the amendments already!It seems that some Democrats only want term limits for Republicans. I commented on the post:
Too many of the Dems just want to GRAB power, and keep it by any means possible. They always try to enforce rules on Republicans, but when it comes to themselves they don't want rules to apply. Just look how they criticized the spending for Republican inaugurations. Now they are themselves breaking all spending records, and no one is supposed to mind, or even notice.
The Dems are also more vulnerable to personality cults. I can understand that lots of people are happy that Obama got in, and I can deal with it, that's just politics. But the way so many are insisting that we start naming things after him, and building monuments to him, and he isn't even president yet! I find it creepy. Monuments and dedications are supposed to happen AFTER a president's term, and only if he achieved something great, and even then usually only after he has passed on.
Now they want to repeal term limits, even though Obama hasn't even served a term yet. Talk about counting your chickens before they are hatched! Actually, doesn't it just show that they don't care how he does, as long as the Dems hold power? Why not just scrap the Constitution and make him King, and do away with those pesky elections altogether? Sheesh.
I really don't want to rain on their inauguration parade, but really. Some people need to keep it in proportion.
It's perfectly understandable that Obama supporters are happy that their guy got in, and they want to celebrate that fact. Good for them. But is seems that when the Dems get their way, many of them don't know when to put on the brakes, and always go too far.
All this worship nonsense can backfire. If his supporters really value him, they ought to consider that the higher up they raise him on a pedestal, the further he has to fall and the harder he would land.
Ok, now lest you think that's just sour grapes on my part, let me say something about the "conservative" side's reaction to this.
Michelle Malkin is also criticizing the Obama Worship:
Not all conservatives are singing O-KumbayaWhile she makes some good points, I can't go along with all the criticism. She quotes someone from Politico, who quotes Rush Limbaugh:
[...] While most Republicans now in office are saying all the right things about Tuesday’s proceedings — roll tape on “peaceful transfer of power” and “historic moment for the country” sound bites — some conservatives can’t quite get themselves in the “We Are One” mood.
Not even for a day.
On his radio show last week, Rush Limbaugh railed against “people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds. We have to give him a chance.’”
“Why?” Limbaugh demanded. “They didn’t give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I’m not talking about search-and-destroy, but I’ve been listening to Barack Obama for a year and a half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don’t want them to succeed.” [...]
Obviously I don't want to see Obama succeed with ALL his plans. But I can face facts, and I believe we all should. Republicans lost this election. We are facing economic collapse and hardship, and myriad dangers from abroad. Obama and the Democrats MUST succeed on many key issues; to fail would be catastrophic for us, all of us.
There is a point where constantly accentuating only our differences with Democrats does not serve us well. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and neither can a country. That doesn't mean we all have to agree on everything, but it does mean we NEED to have common ground on which to stand.
I'm not religious, but one of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 5:25, "Agree with thine adversary quickly". There is great wisdom in that. Democrats may be our adversaries politically, but they are NOT our deadly enemies. And thankfully, not all Democrats are insane. We need to find agreement with them when and where we can. Obama has thus far shown some signs of reaching across the isle, and I am truly thankful for that, and hope it continues.
I'm a Republican, but I'm an American first. The Republicans, as the minority party, have to exert what influence we can and work with the Democrats on many issues that are going to effect all of us. We have to cooperate and find common ground on some things, even as we regroup to battle them on other things. It's a balancing act, which will require a certain amount of sophistication, maturity and flexibility, not ridged ideology. Conservatives need to cut the whining, grow up, and deal with it. We can't afford not to.
Before the election, I was worried that if the Dems got in, they would re-instate the fairness doctrine. The Dems won, and now they are already replacing the Republican members of the FCC, paving the way for the return of the Fairness Doctrine, which was an FCC regulation. It can be easily reinstated by the Democrat majority of the commission members. But I've decided not to worry about it. Why?
Reagan got elected during the Fairness Doctrine years. He only scrapped it near the end of his last term. Perhaps the limitation it enforced brought out the best in conservatives.
I sometimes wonder if we weren't better off without conservative talk radio. It seems to have encouraged more shrillness and ideology, which appeals to the ideologically shrill, but repels everyone else.
I resent the Fairness doctrine as government interference; I hate restrictions on free speech. But it's also a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. Many Dems don't like it, because it requires conservative views to be put forth in the mainstream media. When conservative commentary is put forth as a rebuttal to it's liberal counterpart, it's given a context which lends it greater meaning. It's also aimed at a less ideological audience, and therefore has to have a broader appeal. That could serve us better in the long run.
