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(Definitely worth reading): Stop Worrying about the Election
mises.org ^ | 10/3/2008 | Isaac M. Morehouse

Posted on 10/04/2008 12:29:51 PM PDT by Publius804

Stop Worrying about the Election

Daily Article by Isaac M. Morehouse

As the presidential election nears, I hear more people voicing their fear over the prospect of the other candidate winning. People from both major parties express genuine trepidation at the thought of a world without their candidate as commander in chief. Both sides believe we will lose our freedom if the wrong party wins.

Perhaps surprisingly, I think there's a lesson to be learned in all this from Hollywood.

The 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption is the fictional story of Andy Dufresne, a prisoner at the infamous Shawshank Penitentiary. One of Dufresne's fellow inmates, Brooks Hatlen, has spent nearly his entire life in Shawshank, and has settled in to the routine and become the prison's bookkeeper. After a lifetime in prison, Hatlen is finally freed as an old man. Once on the outside, Hatlen finds life beyond bars too complicated and confusing, too new, too risky. He cannot cope with this newfound freedom after a life of bondage and, tragically, he commits suicide.

Brooks Hatlen forgot how to be free. He became accustomed to bondage and let the yearning for freedom die within him over his long stay in the penitentiary.

Andy Dufresne, on the other hand, never let his freedom die. While locked in Shawshank, despite oppressive and often gruesome circumstances, Dufresne's spirit was unshakable. He constantly cultivated the seeds of freedom in the least free setting imaginable. When Dufresne escaped, unlike Hatlen, he embraced life in the free air and pursued his dreams.

(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; election; freedom; mccain; obama; shawshankredemption
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A great reminder of the power of the human spirit and the need to cultivate it to remain free.
1 posted on 10/04/2008 12:29:52 PM PDT by Publius804
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To: Publius804

Yep. Sometimes I think we actually spend too much time trying to win elections, and not enough in educating our fellow Americans about our more important ideals.


2 posted on 10/04/2008 12:35:08 PM PDT by kc8ukw
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To: kc8ukw

Agreed, if you can pass this article on to as many people as you can. Despite what happens November 4th it is what we cultivate inside of us that matters most.


3 posted on 10/04/2008 12:36:28 PM PDT by Publius804 (McCain-Palin '08)
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To: Publius804
When the Communist authorities finally announced that they were relinquishing their power the reason they gave was that the Polish people had become "ungovernable." No regulations, no prisons, no secret police, no propaganda, no physical or political suppression could take away the people's freedom. They were free, whether the government liked it or not.

Polish communists are one thing; Obama is quite another. Once the America-hating American Marxists solidify their control, they are not going to simply give it up.

4 posted on 10/04/2008 12:42:32 PM PDT by San Jacinto
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To: Publius804

The only way we can turn this country around is by changing hearts and minds. Obama has unfortunately become an expression of what America has become. 30 years ago he could not have won the Dem nomination for U.S. Senator much less be on the brink of Presidency. It’s the culture, stupid. Decent, rational people who don’t covet their neighbors’ good do not support Obama. It’s people who are driven by envy, covetousness, jealousy, bitterness who fall for this crap. People whose lifestyle requires the availability of abortions. People who want a court that will force God out of the public arena. Until the culture changes we will continue to head in the same direction no matter who happens this election. Witness the fact that even the Republican candidate is a nitwit that we reluctantly support.


5 posted on 10/04/2008 12:46:08 PM PDT by all the best
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To: Publius804
I didn't read the posting but I'll say this,

the carnal side of me is pissed at how easily people are fooled ... how easily people want to COVET what you have ... how EAGER they are to be deceived ... how life is less important that socialism ... in fact even infanticide doesn't stop them for voting for a flat our Marxist.

When I've had enough of that, I think about where I'll be spending eternity. I think about NO MORE LIBERALS and their LIES for ETERNITY. Then I realize all the more how silly all this is. What is most important on earth is $$$$ not eternal life. I'm so glad that whatever happens, as fallible as I am, I know that John 3:16 applies to all who wish to be with Him and that's where I'll be - with Him - away from this madness when He determines that should happen.

6 posted on 10/04/2008 12:46:29 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: Publius804

I would agree except for one HUGE issue. The appointments of at least two Supreme Court justices will echo through possibly the next two decades. This is a much greater issue and far reaching than the election of a President


7 posted on 10/04/2008 12:46:49 PM PDT by Cyman
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To: San Jacinto
"Well,(insert Rooster t. Cockburn voice here , is that the right name?) I ain't ascared of no America-hating American Marxists tryin' solidify their control, they're less than worthless wet wussies".

So many real Americans like me and you will come out of the woodwork they'll have to run home a change their pants.

8 posted on 10/04/2008 12:50:49 PM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: Publius804

The only thing we need to watch is if the Dems are able to steal Ohio. I think a lot of these early votes are not eligible voters, either by a lack of residency or felony backgrounds or illegals.


9 posted on 10/04/2008 12:53:57 PM PDT by Always Right (Obama: more arrogant than Bill Clinton, more naive than Jimmy Carter, and more liberal than LBJ.)
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To: Publius804
I think we need to worry....it DOES matter who wins.

A few million terrorists across the globe who would be emboldened by an Obama presidency make it necessary to worry and thus work, contrary to what the author states.

Yes, eventually Poland got their freedom. But do we really want to wait a few decades like they had to before we get ours back?

10 posted on 10/04/2008 12:57:27 PM PDT by what's up
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To: San Jacinto

A large part of that freedom stemmed from their deep religious faith.


11 posted on 10/04/2008 12:59:56 PM PDT by GatorGirl (Election 2008--It's all about the judges!!)
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To: San Jacinto
Polish communists are one thing; Obama is quite another. Once the America-hating American Marxists solidify their control, they are not going to simply give it up.

I agree. We are at our Hugo Chavez moment. If BO is elected with a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, we will continue to have elections in America. But there will be as much suspense as in today's Russian elections.

Some holes are too deep for "indominable spirit" to dig out of. Or, more accurately, an Obama election means that, eventually, indominable spirit will only be able to express itself effectively with guns. I think that's some ways off--20 plus years. But it will come to that eventually. The result will depend on whether BO and his socialist successors can raise a generation of American kids who will be willing, as soldiers, to shoot into assemblies of American Christians or Environmental Thought Criminals. If they are, 2008 will be the year that Western Civilization voluntarily surrendered it's hundreds of years of leadership of the world.

12 posted on 10/04/2008 1:02:37 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: Publius804

This article is a sobering wake-up call for anyone who believes that saying that this election is the most important in our lifetime, is simply emotional hyperbole.

It is incredibly sad, and shocking to read an article that tells Americans to stay free in their hearts and minds.

Tatt


13 posted on 10/04/2008 1:07:10 PM PDT by thesearethetimes... ("Courage, is fear that has said its prayers." Dorothy Bernard)
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To: thesearethetimes...

Even with a McCain/Palin victory there is much work to be done. The cause of liberty requires eternal vigilance, and people like us, on this site, are the ones to guard liberty’s existence. The fact that I live in a country where even 30-40% of the people can conceive of an Obama presidency and smile gives me pause but makes me want to work harder to protect freedom.


14 posted on 10/04/2008 1:12:24 PM PDT by Publius804 (McCain-Palin '08)
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To: Always Right
Like it or not, in Ohio a felony does not keep you from voting. Once you are released from prison your voting rights are returned.
15 posted on 10/04/2008 1:22:06 PM PDT by muggs
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To: Always Right
Felon Voting Rights By State

Permanent Disenfranchisement for All Felony Offenders:
Kentucky Virginia

Permanent Disenfranchisement for at Least Some Offenders: Alabama Arizona Delaware Florida Mississippi Nebraska Nevada Tennessee

16 posted on 10/04/2008 1:25:31 PM PDT by muggs
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To: San Jacinto
Polish communists are one thing; Obama is quite another. Once the America-hating American Marxists solidify their control, they are not going to simply give it up.

If we will lose freedoms we will have fight to win them back. Maybe a period in the wilderness will help us renew ourselves and rediscover who we are. There is an old saying, "Adversity creates heroes." Maybe some adversity is in order.

17 posted on 10/04/2008 1:31:20 PM PDT by ExtremeUnction
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To: San Jacinto
Polish communists are one thing; Obama is quite another. Once the America-hating American Marxists solidify their control, they are not going to simply give it up.

Please! The real Communists of yore were WAY more scary than Obama and his band of homosexuals and metrosexuals and asexual feminists. And we here in red-state America are WAY more ungovernable than even the Poles.

I predict that Obama, were he to win, would be a single-term President and an abject failure.

But of course, that's not going to happen.

-ccm

18 posted on 10/04/2008 1:36:22 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: all the best

“It’s people who are driven by envy, covetousness, jealousy, bitterness who fall for this crap.....”

Conservatives (I place myself in this category) have fallen into the trap of expecting politicians to fix problems that can only be addressed on the moral level.

When McCain wins I will only hold him accountable for nominating strict constructionist judges, reforming the Federal budget and getting his Energy Program enacted. To expect a President to fundamentally change our culture is a bridge too far.

I would ask every Conservative who has been more aggressive in promoting their values on cultural level? It has been the crypto-Communist nihilists.

To change our cultural drift would require a full frontal assault on the culture-making institutions of our society: the media, the Universities and Publishing.

There have been some successes on the cultural side but for the most part vast parts of the cultural terrain have been ceded to the crypto-Marxists.

To fully join the cultural battle it will be helpful to recognize the limits of politics.


19 posted on 10/04/2008 2:07:10 PM PDT by ggekko60506
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To: San Jacinto

Yes, but they can’t solidify their control. They can’t. They can’t compel us to do things contrary to our wishes if we stay united and resist. If they demand community service, refuse to serve and refuse to accommodate their offices. If they decide to make an example out of a protest group, band around and make sure too many are there to fight. Hire lawyers. Spend money on advertisements. And, if peaceful methods fail, there is one right remaining to the American people.


20 posted on 10/04/2008 2:18:37 PM PDT by GAB-1955 (Kicking and Screaming into the Kingdom of Heaven!)
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