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Jewish World Review Sept. 17, 2010/ 9 Tishrei, 5771 No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ By Arnold Ahlert
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I don't know which is more amusing: Democrats assuming that any candidate with Tea Party backing is certifiable, or Republicans upset with the idea that RINOs are slowly becoming an endangered species within their own party. One thing is certain: the movement both sides are trying to discredit is revealing what's really in play come November. Ordinary Americans, the very same folks who engender the bipartisan contempt of Beltway insiders, have decided that one of the oldest pieces of conventional wisdom with respect to voting — as in "choosing the lesser of two evils" — doesn't cut it anymore.
With respect to the two parties, Democrats have far more to fear from the Tea Party movement than Republicans do. The movement, which is completely centered around the idea of limited government and reduced spending, is utterly at odds with a party dedicated to exactly the opposite.
Yet there is something far deeper at work here that makes it even worse for Obama and company. The motivation underlying the above-mentioned concepts is a fundamental belief that they represent a return to traditional Constitutional principles, and perhaps more importantly, American exceptionalism. It is the Tea party movement which envisions the greatness of America. It is the Democrat party and its presidential standard-bearer who have made it clear that calculating the plusses and minuses of two hundred and thirty four years of American history nets out on the negative side of the ledger. It is Democrats who consider America a hopelessly racist, bigoted and xenophobic nation in need of a thorough, progressive reboot.
That odious attitude alone, coupled with the imperious arrogance that has accompanied it for four years in Congress and two in the Oval Office, has millions of Americans seething. They get even angrier when that attitude is enshrined by a mainstream media cheering squad who are just as detestable — and just as detested.
The Republican establishment isn't much better. Only a guru-cum-establishment-hack such as Karl Rove could see the toppling of "reasonable" Mike Castle — so reasonable he's refused to back primary winner Christine O'Donnell — as bad for the party, because she may not win. Hey Karl, you know what's worse for the party? Running a tiresome RINO like John McCain for president and giving the electorate the worst "lessor of two evils" choice in modern American history. Perhaps some day you and the other clueless types who attached the word "compassionate" to conservative, may figure out you ran the Republican brand into the ground with such duplicitous nonsense. George W. Bush was barely a conservative. John McCain wasn't even close.
The electorate noticed, and decided to go with the younger liberal in 2008 — topping off their refutation of tax-and-spend Republicans in 2006. Barack Obama and Democrats won? More like Republicans lost — big.
Now that Democrats have proved even more loathsome, many of you think you can go back to RINO business as usual. Fat chance.
The voters have had more than enough of the idea that there's not "dime's worth of difference" between the two parties. While the Beltway "intelligentsia" and the media chatterers are waxing philosophical about the "true meaning" of Tea Party-ism, Americans are struggling to survive. So they're looking for new faces.
Perhaps the most laughable aspect of the so-called wisdom regarding Tea Party candidates is the idea that some of them aren't perfect. Compared to whom? Harry Reid? Barbara Boxer? Charlie Crist?
Christine O'Donnell has skeletons in her closet? What do Charlie Rangel or Maxine Waters have in theirs?
Almost as laughable is the Democrats' and their media allies' contention that the Republican party is being hijacked by "radical elements." Again, compared to whom? The most radical leftist president in American history? How about the party which wants to legalize 20-30 million border-busters, tax the air we exhale, turn the best health care system in the world into a bureaucratic nightmare, or make people ashamed of wanting to get ahead?
Once again for the truly obtuse: the Tea Party isn't a political entity as much as it's a philosophical one. The great irony is that it's anti-establishment precisely because the political establishment, the one which ought to represent core American values and traditions, has prostituted itself beyond recognition.
Perhaps some of the Tea Party-backed candidates will lose races that "moderate" Republicans might have won. So what. No re-alignment happens overnight. But better a future where there really are stark differences between the parties, one where voters are offered genuinely clear choices. Better a day when the "lesser of two evils" plays a minor role in American politics.
Better a future where voters can pull a lever with one hand — -without being forced to hold their noses with the other.
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© 2010, Arnold Ahlert |
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