Yup....
Band
Posted on 12/13/2004 6:36:39 PM PST by FreeMarket1
CONDEMNED TO DEATH BY DEMOCRATIC VOTE By Joel Cameron Beckwith
November 2nd has come and gone, and the election was pretty decisive in selecting George W. Bush to a second term to the Presidency.
Nearly 122 million votes were cast among the candidates, with Bush receiving 61.9 million, about 51%. The U.S. Census POPclock tallies the heads in the U.S. at 294.9 million people. That means 21% of the country endorses Bush’s conduct and wants a continuation of his policies and this constitutes his legitimacy, for what it’s worth. The other 79% are left to feel confident in the system that affords them a single vote every 4 years, if old enough, to redress all the grievances they might have in this system. At least some comfort can be felt that this signifies that the election is not truly democratic, not that democracy is worth anything. In China, only the top members of the Communist Party vote on who will be king and the people just get to vote for the party that decides this king, there being only one party. One party is not good, is two much better? I’ll leave you to decide this while you go find out what Michael Badnarik, a third party candidate was doing during the St. Louis presidential debates. If you love democracy, please go ask Socrates why our Founding Fathers called it the “tyranny of the majority”. (For those who miss the reference, Socrates was condemned to death by democratic vote. And he was a democrat to the last convulsion from hemlock.)
SO WHAT NOW?
Well, it’s easier to predict the future seeing through the eyes of history. For starters, Bush has claimed that this election has given him “political capital” and that he intends to use (spend) it. I believe him. He has spent or authorized spending of quite a bit (read –all) of the money I sent him every other week during his first four years. In fact he has not one veto, what a bipartisan kind of guy. He signs into law all the unread documents that Congress sends to him each week or so. I do not think this will change in the next 4 years, so consider the House and Senate approval of a bill the same as law. Whoa, the executive branch giving up power? If Bush does cast a single veto in this term, his record will look like that of the House when it goes to a vote with Ron Paul, 434 -1.
FOREIGN POLICY
Bush touts democracy as a goal in Iraq. I wish he would remember that the country he rules is a Democratic Republic. In fact, I wish that most people that go through government school would remember it, not that they ever learned it. Well, go check out your favorite almanac and you’ll see. Iraq may have a civil war and America may pull out some have speculated. If so, this will highlight the failure of foreign intervention an how futile it is to think you can change thousands of years of culture. George Washington’s farewell address would be next to an asterisk in many editorials. I think this is a desirable lesson, although unfortunate that we might learn it this way. George left us with that long ago.
Iraq may have an election however and continue under current rule and not collapse into civil war. In this case, expect America to stay in Iraq for at least another 8 years or more and expect to pay the money for it. If you are older than 50, then expect your children to pay for it. It’s paid for with the Fed’s credit card, which has a credit rating equal to future productivity of American laborers: ourselves, and our children. If you are looking for an exit strategy for Iraq, find for me the exit strategy for Japan and Germany and you’ll have your answer.
As for Iran, we will use diplomacy if they have nuclear weapons, we will be more forceful and even possibly invade if they do not. It should be no secret that we don’t invade nuclear capable countries, that’s why we are sending lots of humanitarian aid to North Korea in a diplomatic gesture to the People’s Republic of N.K that nuclear proliferation is not in their interest, after we caught their ship in the ocean shipping them. We used missiles on Sadam as a diplomatic gesture when we thought he might be capable of proliferating potential weapons. Ironic? If China’s economy is so hot, why don’t they give aid to their comrade N.K. instead of letting the capitalists do it?
Invasion of Iran would be unlikely as the military is stretched thin, and they might be able to get the American pop loving Iranian youth to rebel and do “dirty work” for them, not that it’s dirty. Think more in terms of the cold war circa Africa in the 60’s. A people under self-rule is a good thing, good for them, but Michael Moore was right in his interview with Bill O’Reilly that people are capable of changing things from within and military intervention isn’t necessarily the best or right thing. Whoa, Michael and I agree.
As for North Korea, it’s diplomacy all the way. Kim Jung Il will laugh like his beloved Daffy Duck as Japan burns if pressed to the point where his family legacy will end. Poor Japan, stuck behind the defense of America and bound by a Constitution they actually follow (What a concept!) to not aggress against nations or build a military as they have before. North Korea may not be a large issue upcoming. The Chinese 2008 Olympics and money are important to China so now that N.K. has it’s rice and supplies, China will continue electricity flow into the country and keep a lid on them. Japan will enjoy the bittersweet nectar of free defense with political strings and dependence attached to them.
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Domestically, gas prices will stay high or go up. Why? Because China and India are growing and deregulating and that means that entrepreneurs (the best skill a country could want) will be competing for scarce resources on the global market. They don’t have the capital invested in their country to really compete yet, but they will buy it from us, or build it to compete. In fact, the government may subsidize certain industries in a pseudo private way that will make it hard for America to compete against. It’s hard to beat a lower price offered by a country that takes money from its citizens to subsidize an unprofitable business. Europe already does this. In any event, more people will vie for these scarce resources and this demand increase will raise prices, increasing need for alternatives, research and economizing. Bye, bye Hummer H2.
Bush will not likely deregulate business as he hasn’t spoken of it yet, quite frankly, he has spoken the opposite. His State of the Union address to the nation listed tons of spending and government funded (read this as: paid for by yourself) research for alternative fuels and energy sources. That definitely puts him at odds with some of his other ties (Saudi Arabia, businesses) but he will probably do it nonetheless. It will take time to bring these technologies to the market and he will be out of office by then. If Bush is for cutting taxes, how about starting with cutting the Gas Tax? (Check www.atr.org). In the end, Bush has little power to influence the market in a good way other than deregulation, which undoes continuing damage. He can damage the market tremendously if he wishes, and he does with every bill he signs, and he signs every one of them. Not much change is likely to come in this department. Bush also favors protectionism in the lumber industry with regards to Canada and steel. Japan finally discovered that de-regulation is good and rice will be cheaper by 2008 in that country. We will not have this by 2008. Of course, in our country rice is not protected, sugar is. That’s why Brach’s moved to Canada.
JOBS
Jobs will be on shaky ground. Basic economics .........
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The other 79% are left to feel confident in the system that affords them a single vote every 4 years, if old enough
Why is this number even relevant? A huge portion of the aforementioned are not 18 and/or not citizens or not eligible to vote for numerous other reasons.
Of the other registered and voting age adults that did not vote, we can only assume that they were pleased with the status quo and were not motivated to change it.
Communist Party vote on who will be king and the people just get to vote for the party that decides this king,
Um...there is no king in China.
’ll leave you to decide this while you go find out what Michael Badnarik, a third party candidate was doing during the St. Louis presidential debates
I don't care what Mr. Badnarik the third party candidate was doing during the debate. The Commission on Presidential Debates makes it very clear that in order to participate in the debates a candidate must be polling at least 8% in an average of major polls prior to the debates. Badnarik was so low that he could not even register in polls, and received only 0.32% of the vote in November.
Free-Market News Network does not represent, warrant, or endorse the accuracy, reliability, completeness
Go figure. Very poorly written article.
You're not going to get a reply from the poster. Don't hold your breathe, its just a libertarian site pimp.
Yep, he just spams our forum with his garbage and does not respond. People that don't spend them time to defend the garbage they post should be banned.
Well, um, yea, thats got to be the biggest load of bs I've heard all week...
oh good grief....this must be new math.
I am sure they complained when over 80 percent did not vote for Clinton either...
I wouldnt go so far as to say "banned". But it looks poor to be a it and run poster only IMO
He lost me at the King of China.
I just don't like posters who just use this forum to promote their site especially when it is complete garbage like this. They contribute nothing to this site, but just try to take advantage of the traffic. I would ban him in a heartbeat, especially after this turd.
Yup....
Band
"November 2nd has come and gone, and the election was pretty decisive in selecting George W. Bush to a second term to the Presidency."
That would be 'ELECTING'. You sound like a democrat.
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