Bye-Bye, Freedom

Prior to Barack Obama winning the Democratic party nomination for President, I was largely uninterested in politics. My political bent has always been Libertarian so basically none of the candidates I voted for ever had a chance. (They still don't.) I was as enthralled as the rest of the U.S. with Election 2008, and was quite pleasantly surprised when America elected her first black President. I took it for what it was - a sign that "things they are a'changin".

Boy, was I ever right. Talk about change - the people who voted for Obama put a Socialist in the White House. I think even the far left is secretly shocked at what the President is up to. His attempts to take control of our lives away from us are so outrageous that even the sheeple of the Deluded States of Armchair-ica have been shaken out of their cud-chewing somnolence to say, "Hey! Now wait just a minute!". The wolves are among us, and this is the first time I've ever been grateful for the media in its current form. With all the news coverage, the pack leader is having a hard time hiding the hunt. His targets? Capitalism and personal liberties, for starters.

I have to hand it to him - the man has cojones. In the first six months of his presidency Obama and Congress have interfered in everything from the smallest aspects of our lives (vis a vis the usurious tobacco tax hike, a blatant attempt to force us to stop smoking or go broke) to the biggest of big business (vis a vis the insurance and automotive company bailouts, the money for which came out of your pocket and mine). Now he's trying to impose socialist medicine on us. This is just the first several months of his Presidency, my God! What's the rest of it going to be like? What other sectors of private business are the government going to step into and take over? What other personal liberties are we going to give up?

Speaking of personal liberties, aside from the fait accompli tobacco tax hike there's a bill before Congress that would require all persons wishing to own firearms of any sort to obtain a 5-year permit from the federal government. Fortunately the bill is languishing in committee and the experts say there's no chance it will ever pass - but still. It's the principle of the thing. It frightens me that the government is intent on regulating so much of my private life.

And I don't want Obama taking capitalism away from us. It's what this country was founded on, and what has worked for 233 years. I believe in survival of the fittest for the good of the whole. In a capitalist society the strong survive and the weak fall by the wayside, a principle that has made and kept us First in the First World.

But there is an upside to all this. We're not helpless - we have the power to stop what's going on. If only one-half of the people in the US contacted their representatives, Obama's plans would go up in smoke. Our power lies in fear: frighten your representatives into thinking that they aren't going to be re-elected and you can bet they'll desert Obama's ship like rats.

President Barack Obama. A man who went from "boy" to "Big Brother" in his own lifetime.