I know that I've been spitting a lot of fire in the direction of the Bush Administration, (trust me, they deserve it), but a friend of mine made the valid point that I've left the Democrats practically unscathed lately. That's been an oversight of mine that I want to correct.
I don't think that the Democrats are a better alternative, especially in terms of economic policy, but lately in any facet of politics. I'll take two quick examples to throw up there.
I recently ranted about the return of the draft. A majority of the people sponsoring that bill, if not all of them, are Democrats. How can I support the people, or the party, that wants to conscript my daughter and son?
Or, for example, today, I linked to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that police don't need warrants to search you or your house. Several of the judges who voted in favor of the ruling were Clinton appointees. In fact, only one Clinton appointee voted against the ruling, compared with two Reagan appointees.
I think that both parties are rife with corruption, and people that are in power for the sake of being in power, rather than doing what's best for us.
That's why I, and my wife both vote Libertarian. Rather than contribute to the current mess we're living in, we would like to make a difference. We would like to live in a world where we have the ability to make our own decisions, and the freedom to live the life we think is best, without being told what we can watch on TV, or listen to on the stereo, or read in books. We don't want our economic well-being tethered to those of every one else, or told that it's my responsibility to take care of people I don't know, or even worse, that I should donate the majority of my income to the government so they can manage how people are taking care of. The democrats want the Nanny-State, a place where they take care of us and all of our needs, and the government is frankly a very bad organization to determine what's best for me and my family. Let me decide.
But let me make a point clear here. I grew up a Democrat, because I viewed their stance on personal freedoms to be better than Republicans. I originally grew up favoring some system like the Netherlands or Sweden, both very socialist, but very liberal with speech, and personal protections. I still view personal freedoms essential, but I have also grown to see that economic freedoms must be in place too, for people to be truly free.
I have seen the mess that both parties have made of our natural rights, and I am afraid. They both have started to shrink the freedoms on both sides, and that worries me.
Now, for a personal note...
Some have written to me suggesting that I take my voice and leave the country, that I have no right to speak my mind and be a dissenter. I defy them, and tell them that it is only in dissenting that I keep the original American spirit alive. Any of you that feel that those who would speak up and speak out have no place here in America have lost sight of what it means to be American.
Those of you who would shut me up and those of you willing to trade away your essential liberties for the illusion of safety would be decried by our Founding Fathers. They put their lives on the line to protect your freedoms. The Continental Army, the men who died on the battlefields of the Civil War, and our modern armed forces joined the Founding Fathers by putting their lives in danger for your freedoms. It's a shame that you would give them up so easily, and try to force me to give up mine.
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