A now four-decade-old piece of political wit reminds us that Conservatives were told in 1964 that if they voted for Senator Barry Goldwater (running against President Lyndon Johnson), the US would be bombing Vietnam within a year. Darn it, if the warnings weren’t right. Conservatives voted for Barry Goldwater and the US was bombing Vietnam within a year. With a similar tongue planted firmly in cheek, we can amuse ourselves with President-elect Barack Obama’s recent choices and actions.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would retain President Bush’s Secretary of Defense and pursue a policy of gradually turning over security responsibilities to the Iraqis rather than implementing a quick withdrawal. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain and Robert Gates is the Secretary of Defense pursing precisely the deliberate strategy of yielding responsibilities to the Iraqis as they are able. Given the recent status of forces agreement with Iraq, Obama will be following Bush’s withdrawal schedule.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would continue to have a hard-nosed woman leading the State Department who supported the Iraq War when it was initiated. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain and Hillary Clinton will be the Secretary of Defense.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would we have free-trading-believing financial-world insiders leading the country’s economic team. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain and Timothy Geithner, President of the New York Federal Reserve who was instrumental in the bailouts of Bear Sterns and AIG, will be the new Treasury Secretary.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would keep President Bush’s tax cuts. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain and the Obama Administration will keep the Bush tax cuts for at least a little while longer.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would maintain an aggressive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to track terrorist plotting against the United States. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain and to the chagrin of the hard Left, Obama, whether out of political conviction or convenience, supported a FISA bill rejected by Congressional Democrats.
They told me if I voted for Senator John McCain, we would nominate an Attorney General who believes that the Geneva Accords do not apply to those detained at Guantanamo. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain, and Eric Holder, the likely attorney general, believes those held at Guantanamo are “not prisoners of war” and are thus not entitled to Geneva Accords prisoner status.
They told me if I voted for Senator McCain, we would have a third Bush term. Darn it, if they weren’t right. I voted for McCain, and we are in many ways following a Bush economic and foreign policy strategy.
Congratulations to President-Elect Obama
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008It is now the appropriate time to congratulate President-Elect Barack Obama. Although we find here his policies to be in severe error and in many ways a threat to liberty, his election brings an important salutatory result. With the election of an African-American president, we have erased one more vestige of a sometimes ugly past that included slavery, Jim Crow laws, and all manner of discrimination against black Americans. The legal discriminatory restrictions passed decades ago, but this election provides evidence that Americans now generally see beyond color. Given the historic nature of this election, race has played a thankfully small role.
Conservatives now should regroup and re-articulate our vision of freedom and stand up to those who would trade freedom for security. We should, at all costs, avoid an Obama version of “Bush Derangement Syndrome” that polluted politics for the last eight years.
Posted in Politics, Social Commentary | No Comments »