The Morning After

First off, I want to extend my congratulations to Barack Obama and to everyone who supported him.  It is exciting when a candidate you believe in wins an office you so desperately thought they deserved to win and I'm happy for you all today. I know the feeling, and it's a great one.

I can't fault my fellow Americans for not embracing John McCain.  While on a personal level I find Senator McCain's career admirable, there were many, many issues on which I disagreed with him.  He never articulated what I wanted to hear and what, frankly, I think a lot of Americans needed to hear to cast their votes his way.

I am upset today, but not how you'd think, probably.  I'm upset with the Republican party which let itself succumb to the temptations of power, and the desire to hang onto it, no matter the cost. I'm angry with myself.  Yes, life has kept me busy, but I've been completely disengaged in politics since I stopped working in the field right before Hank's birth.  How can I complain about the outcome if I wasn't part of the process?  And, yes,  I'm more than a little nervous about the future economic stability of this country.  

In any event, I'm happy it's all over.  

Update: Ah ha! Once again Jonah Goldberg says it all perfectly.

Happy Election Day!

I hate election day.  I really do.  Already my stomach is in knots and already I feel like I want to throw up because I'm so nervous.  

I can't ever remember our country being at such a crossroads or an election being so critical to the direction the United States is going to take.  If we, as a nation, collectively decide that we want a person to be president who is going to shove more and more government down our throats, well, I will accept that.  For now.  

But I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my head around the idea that citizens of the freest country in the world want more federal government mandates, more government restrictions and more money being collected and redistributed by one of, if not the, most ineffective, inefficient entities that exist.  I accept it, but I don't understand it.

I wish I could say I am voting for liberty; for freedom, but in my opinion, neither of the two viable candidates really understands the concept, and the reality that government is not inherently good or desirable and works best when it doesn't exist.  But while John McCain may not fully embody someone who, in my opinion, fully comprehends the importance of liberty and the absolute necessity that we remember our country is a republic, and not a democracy, and why that distinction is really, really important, I am even more certain his opponent will give us the antithesis of liberty.  

If Barack Obama becomes president, I am not a doomsayer; this country will survive.  But our citizenship will be less free.  A country cannot centralize its government and create more government programs without infringing on its peoples' freedom and rights.  A citizenship may choose to accept the loss of liberty, and our electorate may choose to today, but we cannot get around the fact that we will be less free tomorrow than we are today if Senator Obama becomes President Obama.

I leave you with a few of my favorite quotes on this, election day.

It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. -- David Hume

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -- Ronald Reagan

Man is not free unless government is limited... as government expands, liberty contracts.  --Ronald Reagan

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force.  Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. --George Washington

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. -- Thomas Jefferson

When a government takes over a people's economic life it becomes absolute, and when it has become absolute it destroys the arts, the minds, the liberties and the meaning of the people it governs. --Maxwell Anderson

May God bless America.

The Election

You know the one I'm talking about. The election that is consuming news channels, the blogosphere, and much regular discourse in my life both with McCain people and Obama people. One thing everyone seems to agree on is what a crazy, eventful election it is.

I'm engaged now whereas I wasn't before. Was it the Palin pick that woke me up? Probably. Or maybe it's the constant inundation of election talk and wanting to be a part of it. Or maybe it was taking a wrong turn downtown last Friday and seeing McCain's motorcade drive by and then, later, seeing the McCain campaign's airplane. Whatever the reason, I am solidly in the McCain/Palin camp whereas a few weeks ago I vacillating between voting for McCain and abstaining.

Why? Again, I don't really know. Maybe it's because I've really started listening to Obama and every time I hear him talk about the programs he wants to implement a voice inside my head overtakes his and it screams, "Higher taxes, higher taxes, higher taxes!!!" I can't get one of his quotes from one of the Democrat debates out of my head when he was asked about the capital gains tax. Obama acknowledged the truth that lowering capital gains tax rates actually increases revenues but went on to say he was in favor of raising the rates, despite the decreased revenue, because it was "more fair."

I can't decide if I'm happy I'm engaged or not. Between the tabloid media coverage and the vitriolic blog posts on all sides I think I'd almost rather go back to not caring.

Paris Hilton Meets Politics

OK, not really, but sort off. It appears John McCain's apolitical daughter, Meghan McCain, is blogging from the campaign trail. And yeah, she supports her dad and blogs about that, but she appears more interested in who is on the campaign trail with her dad and what they're wearing than what they actually say. A fun, different take on the "inside the campaign" blog.

Here it is: McCainBlogette

William F. Buckley

To say that William F. Buckley has had a huge influence on me would be an understatement. His contributions to American political thought have been numerous and I will miss his ideas and writing enormously.

RIP, Mr. Buckley.

Flashback: March 14, 2001

Joe is first year law student. He has successfully completed one semester of his graduate degree and is settling into his academic routine. The student chapter of the Federalist Society, to which Joe belongs, secures Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to come and speak at the University of Wisconsin, where Joe is enrolled. Federalist Society members also have the opportunity to dine with Justice Scalia the evening prior to his speech. Spouses (and perhaps dates?) were allowed to tag along, which I did. I remember the intimate dinner well and enjoying the company of a man I had previously known only a little of.

I don't know if we ever appreciate the great moments in life enough when we have them, but looking back, the enormity of dining with a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States with only twenty or thirty people present occurs to me. I am thankful I remember the low lights of Restaurant Magnus, the din of casual conversation and my position in the room in relation to Justice Scalia as well as I do.

Joe did appreciate the moment at the time and, as an aspiring lawyer, made sure to get his photo taken with the man.


Why in the world on an unexceptional, cold February day seven years later am I thinking of this moment? Joe has been pleading for months for me to get this picture of him, along with the menu Justice Scalia autographed, framed for his office. I have tried ignoring, mumbling and outright denial for long enough; my hand was finally called and I had to confess to Joe that I could not remember where the picture was.

Oh, sure, I knew it was somewhere. Even though I couldn't locate it, it wasn't lost.

And now, just today, I scoured CDs and external hard drives and voilà! Success! See, I knew it wasn't lost.

Election Humor

My Inner Angst

Do you all know how much angst I have been having over the presidential election? No, of course you don't. I haven't been talking about it here.

Well, I have been angst filled. Lots and lots of angst. What's better for a fiscal, small government conservative that believes, strongly, that government functions best when it's small, when taxes are low and regulation is minimal: taking the small chance that John McCain could turn out to be a fiscal conservative but who, if isn't, has a better chance of getting big government programs passed in Congress or a Democrat in the White House whose tax and spend entitlement programs will at least be given a chance at defeat because, presumably, the Republicans in Congress will fight back?

I change my mind by the day. No, by the hour.

Tell me what I should do.