"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
Matthew 7:3
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding."
Justice Louis Brandeis
"Go ahead, make my day."
Inspector Harry Callahan
I don't think Republicans should be so sanguine about the Schwarzenegger victory. It seems to me that his election indicates more a popular disgust with both parties and their entrenched bureaucracy than support for conservative values. In his stated positions he's as much like a Democrat as a Republican. And in certain expressed beliefs, he's almost a libertarian. You might call him a Republicratarian.
During the last decade Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger have ridden the wave of popular frustration with establishment politicians and bureaucrats, and many people see the two parties converging in action if not in word. The passage of laws that benefit the general populace are often viewed not as intentional but coincidental. They feel the only avenue left to counter the career politicrats is to challenge their power with candidates from outside the political/legal/bureaucratic fraternity. This is not good news for either party and they know it.
Thus, as with Perot and Ventura, the parties and the bureaucrats, along with their useful idiots in the media, will squash Arnold like a bug. After the legislature gets through with him his back will look like a knife convention, the bureaucrats will go from park to reverse, and the best headlines he'll see are "True Lies" and "Kindergarten Gov".
So congratulations, Governor Schwarzenegger, and good luck!. You'll soon realize that with victories like this, who needs defeats.
Thursday, October 02, 2003 Saturday, October 04, 2003 Wednesday, October 08, 2003 Sunday, October 19, 2003 Thursday, March 25, 2004