THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 275, October 23, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
RUINING AMERICA
By Alan Caruba
THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS A MOST CRITICAL ELECTION: THE SERIOUS THREAT OF AN OBAMA
PRESIDENCY & THE "CHANGE" THAT IT WILL BRING TO AMERICA -- THE HIGH PROBABILITY THAT SUCH A LEFTIST
PRESIDENCY WILL RUIN THE NATION BY RETURNING TO ALL THE FAILED PROGRAMS THE DEMOCRATS HAVE FOISTED ON
US SINCE THE DAYS OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT & HIS PRESIDENCY
FULL STORY:
George Washington warned against “factions” -- by which he meant political parties -- but, even in the earliest days of the
new republic, the most natural of human inclinations was to band together with like-minded people to elect one’s preferred
candidate to office.
Indeed, in the early years of the nation, elections were the occasion for candidate vilification of a sort that would appall the
modern voter. All manner of calumnies and slanders were heaped upon each other by the early candidates and it was
considered a perfectly natural way to campaign.
The provision of booze was considered another standard element of running for office. One could whet one’s whistle and
get a bite to eat in exchange for listening to speeches and debates. Since this was what passed for entertainment in the
days before mass communications, nobody thought it improper.
Eventually, it became the practice of those running for President to not even campaign in any way we’d recognize these
days. Instead, they stayed home and had surrogates represent them. It would have been deemed unseemly to actually want
the high office. You had to be drafted by your friends and admirers.
For a long time in United States history, if you hadn’t been tested in battle, you might as well not even run for public office.
Teddy Roosevelt so hungered for the warrior’s glory, he put together his own fighting unit, the Rough Riders, to
participate in the Spanish-American War.
Today’s political battles are fought daily with endless emails and news releases, disputing every word the other side says
about anything. Then the television and radio ads pile on. Major issues are reduced to “sound bites” and irrelevant
charges about the smallest aspect of the candidate’s look or behavior are instantly analyzed.
In person together for a debate, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain shook hands and exchanged an hour and
a half of tedious conversation, elements of which had been carefully tested in advance. Obama did well because he is
blessed with a serene demeanor that has nothing to do with his mind-boggling Leftist agenda, whereas McCain is a mass of
twitches, blinking eyes, and inappropriate smiles. It makes one yearn for the polished affability of Ronald Reagan.
If you locked McCain in the Oval Office and sent in sandwiches, he probably would do a very competent job of running the
madhouse we call America. Obama, on the other hand, in between sips of his mocha latte, will bring the economy to total
ruin, with the help of a Congress that will more resemble the Russian Duma than anything that passes for an independent,
bicameral legislature.
So now, for the remainder of the campaign, we will be assured that the “other” side will destroy the nation and, in the case
of the McCain campaign, they will be right to issue such warnings. One need only listen to the ravings of Barney Frank, the
lunacy of Nancy Pelosi, or rock bottom stupidity of Harry Reid, to know that.
I lived through the 1960s with the rioting in the streets, the drugged-out hippies, the terrorists like Bill Ayers, and know I do
not want to live in a nation where those perpetrating hostile activities in the name of "The Revolution" are in charge, or at
least whispering in the ear of President Obama.
Things look grim. I remember the ugliness surrounding President Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War and the
national welfare state he tried to create with his Great Society program. That, in turn, facilitated the election of Richard Nixon.
In the wake of the Watergate Scandal that brought down Nixon, we ended up with Jimmy Carter, a virtual unknown with a
big toothy smile who turned out to be straight out of Mad Magazine.
Just voting for “change” in bad times ought to require knowing and understanding what that change will be. So, yes,
Obama’s “change” will ruin the nation by returning to all the failed programs the Democrats have foisted on us since the
days of FDR.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, & Special Interest Groups
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, Marxists, & Other Leftists:
The Democratic Party, Academia, & the Mainstream Media
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s most recent book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press. Books
previously authored by Caruba include A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam, The United Nations Versus the United States: The
UN's Plan to Control Planet Earth, and America: A Nation Without Borders -- A Pocket Guide to Immigration Issues.
© Alan Caruba 2008
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity