Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Fiction, Freedom, and the Fourth Estate
We have all watched a magician perform illusions that leave us spellbound. “How did he do that?” we ask ourselves. We understand there is always something going on that we do not see and that a big part of the illusion is accomplished because our attention is drawn to what the magician wants us to see. The “show” is a fiction that hides what is real.
America is witnessing a kind of magic show right now. Great attention is focused on what President Obama says while what he does is accepted with little scrutiny and no serious questioning because of his personal charisma and popularity.
Elected Republicans and the RNC are almost entirely silent. It is only Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, and a few others who seriously question what is happening. In response we see stories from the old media about “moderate” Republicans fearing the party has left them. These stories are designed to silence elected Republicans so they will not say what they are thinking.
The President says he is concerned about the budget deficit. Yet he helped pass the $700 Billion TARP bill. He asked for the $787 Billion stimulus bill to be passed in January so he could sign it quickly once inaugurated. It shot through Congress so fast that no one actually read it before voting on it. The President has said “no more earmarks” and yet the bill he signed contained thousands of earmarks.
The President said no lobbyists would be appointed under his administration. The exceptions came almost immediately and then last Friday the policy was scrapped with little fanfare. Watch what he does, not what he says.
The President says he wants to nationalize healthcare to save money. Really? Do you believe more people can get more care, and better care, for less money? No one past the second grade should buy that illusion.
The President wants to limit carbon emissions to save the planet. Or is it to create an enormous new tax system that will undermine our ability to be globally competitive and justify regulating virtually every human activity?
The President promised “change.” No one seemed to question whether this “change” would add to our freedom or take away our freedom. We should keep in mind the wise words of Gerald Ford who observed, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
The U.S. Constitution was set up to preserve our freedoms by establishing a limited government that would only have a few definite, enumerated powers. The Fourth Estate (the free press) was to be the watchman on the wall that assured our freedoms would never be swept away.
The Fourth Estate, in the form of newspapers, NBC, ABC, and CBS, has fallen under the spell of the magician. Thank God for the Internet media, talk radio, and FOX News or there would be no Fourth Estate as conceived by the Founders.
Most of what the federal government does today is far beyond the enumerated powers. Because no one seems to question anything government does, even the legislation that passed last week is ignored. Consider the TARP bill that had the express purpose of protecting financial companies from collapse. President Bush used some of that money for the first round of bailouts of the auto companies. Where was the Fourth Estate?
Now there are credible allegations that auto dealerships designated for closing by the Administration were selected based on political contributions. This is a serious issue. Where is the Fourth Estate?
Never forget that government is a monster that always seeks to feed itself and to grow and to devour anything that stands between it and the satisfaction of its appetites. Freedom is a precious thing, and once taken away is not easily regained.
Freedom depends on discovering truth and opening it to the light of day. Fiction, illusions, and flowery speech will not preserve freedom. Will the Fourth Estate fight to preserve freedom, even its own freedom? ¶ 10:29 AM
America is witnessing a kind of magic show right now. Great attention is focused on what President Obama says while what he does is accepted with little scrutiny and no serious questioning because of his personal charisma and popularity.
Elected Republicans and the RNC are almost entirely silent. It is only Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, and a few others who seriously question what is happening. In response we see stories from the old media about “moderate” Republicans fearing the party has left them. These stories are designed to silence elected Republicans so they will not say what they are thinking.
The President says he is concerned about the budget deficit. Yet he helped pass the $700 Billion TARP bill. He asked for the $787 Billion stimulus bill to be passed in January so he could sign it quickly once inaugurated. It shot through Congress so fast that no one actually read it before voting on it. The President has said “no more earmarks” and yet the bill he signed contained thousands of earmarks.
The President said no lobbyists would be appointed under his administration. The exceptions came almost immediately and then last Friday the policy was scrapped with little fanfare. Watch what he does, not what he says.
The President says he wants to nationalize healthcare to save money. Really? Do you believe more people can get more care, and better care, for less money? No one past the second grade should buy that illusion.
The President wants to limit carbon emissions to save the planet. Or is it to create an enormous new tax system that will undermine our ability to be globally competitive and justify regulating virtually every human activity?
The President promised “change.” No one seemed to question whether this “change” would add to our freedom or take away our freedom. We should keep in mind the wise words of Gerald Ford who observed, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
The U.S. Constitution was set up to preserve our freedoms by establishing a limited government that would only have a few definite, enumerated powers. The Fourth Estate (the free press) was to be the watchman on the wall that assured our freedoms would never be swept away.
The Fourth Estate, in the form of newspapers, NBC, ABC, and CBS, has fallen under the spell of the magician. Thank God for the Internet media, talk radio, and FOX News or there would be no Fourth Estate as conceived by the Founders.
Most of what the federal government does today is far beyond the enumerated powers. Because no one seems to question anything government does, even the legislation that passed last week is ignored. Consider the TARP bill that had the express purpose of protecting financial companies from collapse. President Bush used some of that money for the first round of bailouts of the auto companies. Where was the Fourth Estate?
Now there are credible allegations that auto dealerships designated for closing by the Administration were selected based on political contributions. This is a serious issue. Where is the Fourth Estate?
Never forget that government is a monster that always seeks to feed itself and to grow and to devour anything that stands between it and the satisfaction of its appetites. Freedom is a precious thing, and once taken away is not easily regained.
Freedom depends on discovering truth and opening it to the light of day. Fiction, illusions, and flowery speech will not preserve freedom. Will the Fourth Estate fight to preserve freedom, even its own freedom? ¶ 10:29 AM
