We Voted For No Incumbents!

Those of us who actually voted, that is. As I write this little ditty, I can't believe how unenthusiastic I've become. I guess I've always thought of American politcs as a sort of team sport, to decide which team gets to rob me--erroneously thinking that one team will steal less of my meager wealth than the other.

No fewer than five conservative pundits I've heard are saying that it wasn't conservatives that lost, but republicans. I'm not sure how much that satisfies me, but it might just be true. The last time I thought that there was any hope at all that conservatism might lead a tentative, transitory movement toward a smaller, less intrusive government was in '94, when Newt Gingrich offered the "Contract With America."

The "Contract" promised to remove a number of obstacles to decreasing the size of government. Gingrich required a vote on several bills, some of which placed limits on Congressional excesses and would've, it was to be hoped, started a move toward decreasing the size of the federal government.

The Democrats started bleating their "it's for the children" inanities and accusing Gingrich and his adherents of all manner of immorality (some of it true) from selfishness and callousness to infidelity. The Republicans, as is their way, folded like a glass-jawed boxer and even in their majority, backed themselves into an ashamed silence.

We know what's happened since then: the Democrat minority pretty much had their way with them for the remainder of Bill and Hillary's tenure as co-Presidents.

Eh, eh! And then along came George! Tall, slim George! Slow walkin' George, slow talkin' George! Along came long, lean lanky Georrge!

We're saved! The pundits all said so! With George Bush as President and a Republican-controlled House and Senate, the country will be fully returned to the promise of the Founding Fathers in no time at all!

Well folks, again we saw what happened. Bush made a few tentative overtures in what might be called the right direction, such as the suggestion of the privatization of a minute slice of the Great American Ponzi Scheme, er, Social Security. When the Democrats began wailing about how Republicans wanted the elderly to starve to death, Republicans in the House and Senate hid under their desks and started up with their standard meek refrain about reviving the Anti-Flag-Burning Amendment.

The Bush Administration reverted to their kowtowing to the Democrat leadership, signing every spending bill they could dream up, and we're off to the (spending) races yet again.

And this is all before the Sept 11, attack!

The resulting war presents a whole new set of Republican gaffes of its own, mostly resulting from, again, Republican cowardice, all of which added to my growing distaste for this administration. In the face of Democrat criticism, and criticism from Europe and (!) from the evil muslim fascists themselves, the American wehrmacht was ordered to fight a "Politically Correct" war. That is, to kill no non-combatant even though the combatants wear no distinctive clothing nor do they in any way separate themselves from the "civilians." This, of course, is to guarantee that the "War on Terror" will never end and will never be won.

Then there was Iraq. What can one say about Iraq? There are a couple of old American military phrases that can adequately describe Iraq: Cluster-fuck and that old WWII acronym, SNAFU (situation normal: all fucked up).

Aside from using the attacks by the islamic fascists to increase government intrusion into the lives and freedom of Americans, destroying the Bill of Rights and every bit of the America for which the Founders fought, there's no reasonable explanation for the way this struggle has been mishandled, almost from the start.

And thus endeth the Republican Party and, with it, the counterfeit philosophy that promised freedom but gives us never-ending strife: conservatism. It really ended decades ago, but its shadow continues to cast a pall over the America envisioned by freedom lovers to this day.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California