A Confederacy of Fools

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such
as those who made him their president." - Author Unknown

I saw this today in my inbox -- attributed to the President of the Czech Republic, but an extensive search could not confirm his authorship and I doubt that attribution is authentic. But I wish I knew who wrote it. It is spot on. And it is this concern about the mental competence of some of my fellow citizens that has me most disturbed. What does it speak to our shared sense of community when a country that was once unified in its' love of individual freedom is now split nearly evenly between those so out of touch that they see no parallel between Greece's default, California's bankruptcy, and the coming collapse of the US Currency due to an over-active printing press.

What can be said about a generation that spends not just it's own money, but that of its' children and grand-children such that a newborn is born literally a slave -- owing a debt they can never reasonably repay and which they had no say in acquiring. Where is the shame? How do people look in the mirror knowing that for the first time in America, the prospects for the next generation are far worse than for the present one?

Will we have riots in the streets as those who are used to being given rebel when they are given to no longer? This is what we saw in Greece -- "just make more, give me MINE". It is a temper-tantrum suited to a 5 year old but displayed in adults. Are the California labor unions any different when they hold hostage police, fire, and city services upon a bankrupt population that is leaving by the droves?

I would love to see a proposal as to how the US can be reborn and Phoenix-like rise out of the ashes. A new coalition of those who realize that solutions to fit 300 million people are too big but those for "my town" are just right is what is required. But how do we break free? Arizona enacts something right for it and AG Holder says "no way". California favors free use of Marijuana, and DC says "we'll throw you in OUR jails". Montana says automatic weapons are fine with us and DC says "we'll apply the interstate commerce clause even to something clearly intrastate".

Fascism, Socialism, Statism, Corporatism, I don't care what you call it. I call it Tyranny. Are there not enough people left in this country who's number 1 ideal is "leave me alone!". THAT, my friends, is what I think America used to stand for. The country of "Leave me alone". "Stop telling me what to do." "Live your own life and let me live mine." I see nothing unchristian about that. It is an ideal that is neither Left nor Right nor Green nor Progressive. Why must I leave my town which I like, my State who's government works simply because a Confederacy of Fools hundreds of miles away can't keep their hands out of my pocket-book, their cameras out of my streets, their data-scrapers out of my communications, and their attitudes out of my town square and my church. Just go away -- lead your own life -- and let me lead mine.