Perry de Havilland at Samizdata.net posts about disillusioned US conservatives starting to realize just what the next two-to-four years may be like, and proceeds to lay into them for making it possible:
Guys, you have been voting for the lesser evil for so long you may have lost sight of the fact that you have been voting for evil, just a tiny bit less than the other guy. Well no more easy options, no more putting the day of reckoning off for some point in the future… the day of reckoning has arrived and I for one am delighted. Do your worst Obama… to quote Lenin’s inspiration Nikolai Chernyshevsky, “the worse, the better”. Do not think of it as a disaster but rather an opportunity to actually create an opposition worth voting for.
Personally, my concern isn’t for the fate of the Republican party in the US, although there is a plausible case to be made that they’re still the best hope for freedom. But I absolutely share the sentiment that there is no longer a lifetime’s supply of oxygen left. No more hoping that the enemies of liberty will leave you alone, or not find you. What are you waiting for? (Oh, a plan? I know, I know, I’m working on it. And if you want to help, please let me know.)
In the past I’ve always thought the Republican party was the worth fighting for. I’d always hope for some sort of libertarian infiltration. Even Reagan had major enemies in his own party. Only a handful of intellectually honest members still remain. I remember reading how the most consistent participant in an argument prevails.
Today’s elected members seem to be “Democrat Light”. The only argument mustered is “the Dems spend too much”. The definition of rights and their direct connection to happiness barely sqeak out even in watered down form. When GOP members accept the premise of a statist argument, the battle is already lost. It would have been best to say nothing at all.
So to convert my rant to a question: Is the problem with freedom’s timid guardians that they no longer are able to define rights or they believe doing so is political suicide? I’ve always thought if election victory wasn’t a gimmee for any Republican willing to honestly define the advantage of freedom, what would be? Instead of an honest argument by the GOP, there was a vaccuum.
Oxygen is running out. I am not willing to wait around. I want to help!