The Liberty Legation

Monday, October 29, 2012

Hunkering Down

Charlie Earl

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That astute observation has been attributed to one of our nation’s Founders and Framers, Benjamin Franklin, Delegate from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately too many of us fall into reactive mode rather than behaving proactively. As we scan the various polls and prognostications about the 2012 election, it appears that Governor Romney may be closing in on victory. So, if indeed, the trend continues for the next week or so, we should be looking forward to how his election would affect the state of the nation and our preparations for coping with the challenges that lie ahead.

Should he win, Romney’s first and most vital task is to “stop the bleeding.” In the first few hours (or days if he lingers) the new President can issue a bevy of Executive Orders to stop or prevent thousands of bureaucratic over reaches in all departments of government. He can also repeal hundreds of Obama EO’s such as those that created the unconstitutional czar positions and those which restrict sensible domestic energy development. Clearly he should follow through on his PROMISE to REPEAL Obamacare, and the Congress should follow suit.

Governor Romney statements during the three debates and various stump speeches indicate that other than some tax rate/deductions changes, he doesn’t anticipate proposing massive reformation of our monstrous tax code. He has also suggested that aside from some regulatory reorientation, he has no desire to drastically reduce the various agencies and bureaus. In fact….he has stated that he seeks to increase the impact of the Department of Education. These are not the policies of a government reductionist. These are not the words of a constitutionalist. These are not the plans for downsizing big government and spending control. These statements suggest a “statist-lite” approach to government power, big spending and ever-growing tyranny.

Don’t get me wrong. Although I prefer another candidate for President, I would much rather have Romney in the White House for the next four years than the Marxist incompetent who dwells there now. With Obama at the helm my preparations for the dismal failure of our nation would have to be accelerated. If Romney guides the ship of state, I can arrange my affairs and my bunker in a more orderly manner because … none of the plans proposed by the GOP nominee or his sidekick, Congressman Ryan, will prevent the inevitable fiscal chaos facing our nation. None. Nada. Not any. Their most drastic proposal achieves a balanced budget in 28 years. TWENTY EIGHT MORE YEARS OF DEFICIT SPENDING is not a prescription for what ails us. It is a suicide pill. Again…to give them their due, Obama’s “solutions” are more devastating and less gentle than taking a never-wake-up tablet.

Some of the Governor’s supporters tout his history as a turn-around artist in the business world. I respect his history in that regard and have a tiny glimmer of hope that he might succeed with our nation, but those same supporters fail to mention that sometimes the enterprises Romney sought to save had to be dismantled and sold piecemeal or go through bankruptcy. Even he and his Bain cohorts could not save them all, and I believe that I can forcefully argue that the situation in the United States of America is much direr than at “Bubba’s Widgets.”

Obviously I have not factored in the role of Congress following the election. The Republicans have a fighting chance to win the Senate, but it does not appear likely that they will have a filibuster-proof 60 members. Even if they reach that lofty goal, the Senate GOP is over-populated with moderate RINO’s who will ferociously resist any attempts to seriously downsize the cost and size of government. The Republican House may add a few more members, but Boehner et.al have not shown that they are willing to do the heavy lifting. In fact a resolute minority of the GOP caucus has attempted to initiate some fiscal sanity only to be thwarted and condemned by their own leadership. Whatever changes come about following the election next week will be cosmetic and ineffective. It’s time to hunker down.

Charlie Earl

Friday, October 26, 2012

Final Lap

Charlie Earl

Roughly ten days remain in the 2012 election cycle. The campaigning and positioning have been front and center for more than a year. From the White House to the state house to the courthouse candidates have been swarming around their districts and the nation attempting to win your trust and your vote. You certainly can be excused if you find the cacophony of political slogans confusing and overwhelming. Some might characterize it as “white noise”….the irritating pattern you see when there is no signal on your TV set. I suspect the noise factor is the reason that roughly 20% of the nation pays attention to presidential debates. The answers and responses are from one to two minutes in length and offer more insight than a carefully crafted 30-second commercial. In addition…body language, word choice and temperament can be indicators for determining a candidate’s true positions.

Then again, perhaps not. As Rush Limbaugh occasionally says, “Politics is theater for ugly people.” That may have been a truism before the advent of television, but now candidates must be passably attractive. So what we are left with in this modern hi-tech age are shallow beautiful people who have no need or desire to be openly candid with the voters. It’s no wonder that so many of our current public servants lack substance yet we continue to return them to office. Our 21^st Century candidates are too pretty and often too shallow. Our hi-tech microwave culture has transformed us into a nation of impatient people who want quick answers and instant resolutions for our problems…. No matter how complex or petty.

The 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were held in seven different venues across Illinois. Each confrontation was scheduled for three hours and covered one topic… slavery… in each and every case. Lincoln was gangly and homely with a high-pitched voice. Douglas was short and somewhat rotund. Neither was a pretty boy. Contrast their contests with our present-day versions. Each candidate gets a maximum of 2 minutes with a 1 minute rebuttal FOR EACH TOPIC OR ISSUE. It is no wonder that our current politicians lack depth, and our voters remain ignorant about their positions, philosophies and principles.

Our slide into big government socialism began long before the “idiot box” dominated our family rooms. However television, in my view, has been a major contributor toward our dwindling attention spans and massive chasms of ignorance. The slow march toward collectivism has been aided and abetted by our rapid decline in patience and reason. The march toward tyranny has accelerated to the point that it has become a gallop, and we have surrendered our tools for stopping it. This column is a “blog”…. an abbreviated form of discourse that is disguised as being thoughtful and somewhat comprehensive. It is but a “postem note” of rational thinking and argument.

Many of you may disagree with what I’ve presented so far even though if I had used a longer form with proper attributions and underlying research, you may have accepted my premise…. or at the least… given it serious consideration. Others of you are nodding agreeably with my shallowly-given points even when I have no supporting data aside from intuitive observation. I don’t fault you, nor do I masochistically beat up on myself. It is what it is. We have become who we are. If we are to restore our Republic to its Founding Principles, we must recapture the depth of knowledge and reservoir of reason that our Framers exhibited. As we enter the final lap of the 2012 race, let us pledge to continue the trek beyond the “winner’s circle.” If we do not, the victory will be a pyrrhic one. May God truly bless you as you ponder the decisions you must make in the coming week.

Charlie Earl

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Paper Cuts

Charlie Earl

When pollsters examine the voting universe, they attempt to identify registered voters and likely voters. Registered voters are those who are legally qualified to cast a ballot in the current election cycle (yes, I know, wishful thinking). Likely voters are those whose voting habits indicate that they will probably cast their votes this time as well. Clearly, except for the usual instances of fraud, the election will be decided by registered voters, and probably by likely voters. Those who consistently go to the polls during the election process will have a greater impact than those who do not (a self-evident observation).

In 1967 I was finally eligible to vote. We had to be 21 years of age in those days so I was not allowed to vote in the 1964 contest between Senator Barry Goldwater and President Lyndon B. Johnson. Suffice it to say that my candidate got his doors blown off in that national referendum. My single little vote could not have turned the tide from Johnson’s “Great Society” goodie wagon to Goldwater’s small government point-of-view. This is a very long introduction to my topic and title, “Paper Cuts.” Every day since August my mailboxes, electronic and snail version, have been inundated with slick campaign literature pieces.

Perhaps when one reaches his mid-sixties, politicians and their minimally-astute minions assume that we like mail because we have nothing better to do than to scan and absorb slick advertising copy featuring the handsome candidate and the requisite perfect family. My ever-shrinking memory bank reminds me that my campaign produced a similar piece during our 1982 campaign for the Ohio House of Representatives. There we were…the four of us seated in front of the fireplace. My wife, Pat, and I were nattily attired and our precious offspring were angelically inspired. Kelly wore her cowgirl boots with a modest mid-calf skirt (she was 13), and seven-year-old P.J. looked rather dapper with his hair somewhat under control (an exception). Our placid yet confident poses did not reflect the turmoil and chaos in our household during that hectic campaign season. But …. We only did the one mailer….sent to every household in the district. In 2012, it’s a different ballgame.

Obviously as we get closer to final Election Day, the quantity of political mail increases exponentially. Several of the candidates send mailers to me several times per week, and in some cases several per day. Notice the multiple uses of “several” in one small sentence? Several in the electoral context means too many, too often. The vast majority of the glossy pieces add nothing to my knowledge about the candidate, party or policies. They generally fail to include any nuance or specifics. In fact they offend me. If a candidate, party or special interest group believes that I am so easily persuaded by so little information, then they under-value my smarts and my role as a conscientious citizen. My response is: nice family, nice graphics, so what?

Stop the overkill with the barrage of electronic and paper mailing. Allow the Postal Service to die gracefully without being propped up by your big bucks being shelled out for your bulk rate. Send me fewer pieces with more depth and explanation. Spare me the cascading reams of paper that spill from my modest little rural mailbox at 4:15pm. Please Candidates, tell me more and contact me less. I’ll have a higher opinion of you if you do.

Oh yeah, then there are the insufferable ads on video….TV, cable and satellite. But that’s another story. I must go soak my ailing fingertips in Bactine now.

Charlie Earl

Monday, October 22, 2012

Closed Shop

Charlie Earl

The income tax is immoral because it involves the government (your master) stealing the product of your labor. Closed union shops are immoral because in some cases they deny you an equal opportunity to trade your labor for wages. The two major political parties are immoral because they collude to deny alternative voices access to the political process in the various states and on the national stage. Liberty is definitive. You either have it, or you do not. Liberty is tempered by responsibility and accountability wherein you cannot suppress or deny someone else’s liberty to advance your own. Therefore, license (unfettered anarchy) cannot be defined as liberty. It is license.

A “closed” shop in any context is a denial of an INDIVIDUAL’S liberty. While it may advance the goals of a defined collective, individual choice is overrun and shattered. There is another type of closed shop that has destructive consequences for our nation. It is the Eastern University Cabal…(EUC) ..pronounced “yuk.” It is a human tendency to associate with others with whom we are most comfortable. We often share similar values and beliefs, so it is logical that government and the east coast power centers are dominated by graduates from Yale, Harvard, Georgetown and other institutions like them. It becomes a “closed shop” of elites many of whom assume they have divine rights to micromanage the lives of their fellow citizens.

The term “closed shop” may not be precise enough to describe the various forms of exclusion in our culture and our nation. “Tribalism” may be a more accurate term although it is weighted by ethnic and racial distinctions that may not be present in the examples I cited above.

Obviously there is some tension between the concept of the closed shop and the freedom of association that is inherent in liberty. The contradiction is solved by citing one word: government. In those instances where government mandates, endorses, subsidizes or encourages barriers to openness and opportunity, the immoral closed shop will exist. If government is not the motivator or enforcer, then the path of exclusive voluntary association has been chosen. While the idea that any group may chose to exclude some while including others may seem distasteful, it is the power and force of government involvement that tips the balance from undesirable to immoral. When one is forced to join or prevented from affiliating with any group because of government action, the concept of free choice is violated. Admittedly … some groups under both public and private auspices require an identifiable level of special knowledge and expertise (e.g. physicians, engineers, attorneys). The criteria for membership to those closed shops should be as simple and basic as possible. Too often government entities have conspired with professional practitioners to construct barriers and hurdles to limit the opportunities for others to “join the club.”

Liberty is often characterized as a lonely pursuit. One person following her or his dreams and ideals without harming others or damaging their property describes the usual concept of personal freedom. It’s more than the lonely traveler blazing a path. It can include working with others or forming voluntary associations to handle difficulties that may face a community. But….true liberty should not and cannot deny others the opportunity to join if they are moral and willing to abide by the rules of the voluntary association (e.g. company workplace rules, Lions Club regs.). On the other hand forcing someone to join or support an association that does not conform to her or his ideals or is viewed as too restrictive is an immoral use of force. Closed shops of any kind that are under the wing of a too-powerful government are wrong.

Charlie Earl