Sagittarius
In all honesty, I didn't think Sen. Obama did all that well in the debate, and maybe that's mostly because the "newness" of his incredible speaking skills has truly worn off on me.
I remember being in awe at his 2004 speech. I didn't pay much attention to him after that until the primaries started this year. Truthfully, I even briefly considered voting for Sen. Obama early in this race.
Stick with me here. ;-)
I had already decided that this year I would vote for the best candidate, regardless of party. Although I am a lifelong Republican and have voted Republican in every election since I was eligible to vote, I am also one of the roughly 90% of Americans who is not satisfied with our current administration. I voted for George Bush twice. But the older I get, the more I realize how close to the middle I really am. I believe in our founding documents and their ideals. I am a Jeffersonian. In general, my strongest Republican values pertain to personal freedom. Or as I like to say,
Freedom to Be Myself.
Freedom to Express Myself.
Freedom to Make Myself.
You may recall that McCain wasn't exactly the front-runner during the Republican primaries.
Some of the Republicans who were front runners (frankly) scared the crap out of me, so I realized I may need to seek a candidate for myself outside my normal pool of options!
My husband and I tried to catch as many debates as possible, Republican and Democrat, but truthfully I had a hard time getting through most of the Dem debates, so I only saw bits and pieces of Sen. Obama's responses. But, I was intrigued by him as (I thought) an outsider.
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Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By pungostrawberry, October 13, 2008 at 12:17Excellent article as usual Smartcookie.
I believe that part of the reason government has become so large is that everything has become "centralized". No longer do local economies sustain themselves. Food is not usually grown locally, fuel, energy, autos, drugs, etc are all transported into local markets. No longer are politicians part of your community, working alongside you for the good of your community. They can easily be corrupted by large, mostly non-competitive business.
I also agree with Kit - we have all been on a spending spree. Doing what needs to be done to keep our economy going. There is a very interesting video series on YouTube that explains the creation of money through debt. Very well done. It is a 5 part series and really gives you a good idea of what has happened. Somehow, somewhere along the way, greed became an integral part of doing business.
In this case we had the freedom to screw ourselves.
Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By Kit, October 13, 2008 at 09:54If only government had heeded these warnings of Thomas Jefferson!
"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated."
- Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson
And how true these words are also:
"And the fore horse on this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."
- Thomas Jefferson
Government interference in almost every aspect of our lives, though often cloaked in good intentions, has led us into the current $10 trillion national debt much of it owed to foreign governments, a huge portion owed to, as Senator McCain and Gov. Palin say, "governments who don't like us very much."
I agree, Smart Cookie, that Senator McCain is closer to the principles on which our country was founded and so a vote for him gives us a better chance to stop the rush to socialistic government and make a stand for returning to basic American values.
One good thing coming out of the current fiscal situation is that I'm hearing a few people, even a few conservative commentators, actually saying that average Americans need to look in the mirror when wondering who to blame. Because we too, as a group, are part of the mindset that created the gigantic bubble of credit spending which grew and grew and grew until, finally, it has burst.
Want that new car? Can't really afford it? No problem, all too many have thought. Just finance it -- low or no down payment, deferred payments -- just DO IT. Want the new plasma TV? The old TV works just fine, but why not? After all, this is the latest thing. Finance it. Put it on the credit card. Want to take that big vacation to the Bahamas? Don't have the money in the bank to pay for it? Well, gosh, no problem. Charge it. Want to "move up" to a bigger house? Easy. Get a no or low-down loan and think about the payments later. Government policies have encouraged banks to make easy loans and not look at our income to expense, asset to debt ratios.
Oh, yes, government has gone on a crazy deficit spending binge. No argument with this, but so have we, a majority of the American people.
So, back to my point. Yes, there was a point here somewhere. :)) The GOOD thing I'm beginning to see, the glimmer of hope, is that this fiscal meltdown has shocked at least a few Americans to look in that mirror and realize that if we expect to change, really change, the way our government operates, we need to change ourselves. We need to take personal responsibility for ourselves and our own finances. If we expect government to curtail entitlement programs and avoid being stampeded into bailouts, then we must curtail OUR OWN deficit spending and avoid putting ourselves and our credit and lending institutions in the position to need bailouts.
We need to apply Jefferson's principles not only to our government, but to ourselves.
Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By Kit, October 10, 2008 at 15:38This is an excellent article. What both parties have done is so opposite to Jeffersonian democracy and flies in the face of the democratic republic our founders envisioned and gave us the foundation for in our Constitution. Time we all get back to basics -- self -reliance, responsibility and integrity. Time we hold our elected officials and those running to office to these standards.
John McCain is much closer to these standards than Barack Obama, whose record for the sort time he has served in the US Senate is a record of unbridled liberalism reflecting a socialistic philosophy of government. This is not an attack on his character but rather a truthful statement regarding in which he would take our government were he elected President. It's a direction I, and many others, do not want to see America go.
Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By SmartCookie, October 12, 2008 at 07:40Hi Kit,
Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, I believe Thomas Jefferson would be very disappointed in us. And I couldn't agree with you more about getting back to basics. To grossly oversimplify, what's good is good no matter what.
When things seem at their worst, that is not the time to simply throw in the towel and say we can't do it anymore. When things seem at their worst is when we must try harder. Unfortunately, when we are at our weakest, that's when our enemies pressure us to throw away even more of our freedoms. Our freedom is what make us strong. It's our freedom that people admire ... and also what they hate in envy.
We've squandered it ourselves, along with our global image. It's time for us to start being the example we should be.
We have to make the best of every situation, no matter what. That starts with electing the President who most closely resembles our founding beliefs (obviously John McCain), and then we must work from there. If we should choose Obama, unfortunately we will be even further from those ideals than we are now, making our struggle that much more difficult.
"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated."
- Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson
"... And this is the tendency of all human governments ... Then begins, indeed, the bellum omnium in omnia, which some philosophers observing to be so general in this world, have mistaken for the natural, instead of the abusive state of man. And the fore horse on this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."
- Thomas Jefferson
Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By SmartCookie, October 9, 2008 at 07:58Maggie May,
;-) ... thanks! Well, there's nothing to be afraid of by telling the truth ... at least that's what I believe. Lol, I've definitely heard the same reaction from others in the past. Well, I did vote for him twice and so did millions of others.
In hindsight, Pres. Bush's inexperience in foreign policy led to the hawkish neoconservative policies which have done so much harm to our global image, even though I truly appreciate that we have remained safe since 9-11. I don't believe it's a good idea for us to elect another president who will rely on advisers so heavily for foreign policy decisions. Furthermore, Obama and Biden have repeatedly stated that we should follow world opinion rather than leading by example. I don't believe that's how we earned the admiration of the world which has largely been squandered in recent years.
It's funny, because I think nearly all of us agree that our global image has suffered, and that we want to earn it back. There are many opinions about how we should do that, and certainly not everyone agrees with me. I'm just sharing my (very strong) opinion with you.
But, thanks for the comment ... lol, yes I'm brave, I guess. Like I said, just being honest. Have a great day!
Re: Debate #2: I Am A Jeffersonian
By Maggie May, October 9, 2008 at 07:43You voted for Bush twice? Ouch. That's a brave thing to admit.