Together!
from The Corner by Jonah Goldberg
It is a real burden not to cite every other paragraph spoken from the stage as a vindication of my book, The Tyranny of Clichés (or, for that matter, Liberal Fascism). Over and over again the Democrats spout, to paraphrase De Tocqueville, clear-but-false ideas. The overarching one of the whole convention: Government is the only thing we all belong to. Such bogus appeals to unity and community as a justification for activist government drive me batty. That’s what Elizabeth Warren’s speech was all about and countless other lesser luminaries as well. Here’s Bill Clinton’s soundbite of the night: “You see, we believe that ‘We’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘You’re on your own.’”
According to this, and countless other formulations, the choice is binary. Large, ambitious, government action or dystopian anarchy. It’s as if the only thing keeping us from raping and pillaging defenseless widows is the government. This, to borrow one of Clinton’s favorite phrases, is a nakedly false choice. Despite all of the b.s. we hear about the Randian captivity of the GOP, no Republican makes anything like that argument. What is it about liberals that makes them think all that stands between them and total Road Warrior–style anarchy is a bloated, inefficient, government in Washington?
Their power-mad egos, perhaps? You neeeed us!
nationalreview.com |
