Did Freedom Win?
Nov 14, 2012
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Democrats won big last week. So government will continue to grow. Individual freedom will yield. At least some people with records of supporting liberty were elected: Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona and U.S. Reps. Justin Amash and Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan and Thomas Massie in Kentucky.
Also, Washington and Colorado voted to allow any adult to use marijuana. (But users beware. Your newfound freedom may be short-lived thanks to that extraordinary human being in the White House -- you know, the one who smoked pot when he was in school. Despite promising that he wouldn't, he has cracked down on pot dispensaries far more often than President Bush did.)
And voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington said yes to gay marriage; Minnesota defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have outlawed it.
That's the good news. But overall, the results were bad for freedom. As P.J. O'Rourke says, we need to "fix" government. By that, we mean "fixing" government the way we neuter a cat or spay a dog.
When it comes to foreign policy, we must teach our politicians to stop making messes in other people's yards. At home, they should stay out of our bedrooms.
Term limits would be good. When we give politicians power, they should know they don't get to keep it forever. They have to bring that power right back to us and drop it at our feet. "Good boy. Now go back outside!"
Sadly, President Obama's swooning fans don't want to tame politicians. They don't even seem to think much about freedom. We attended Obama's victory party in Chicago (we go so you don't have to) and asked his supporters what Obama's reelection means for freedom. People reacted as if they didn't understand the question.
"Freedom?" one asked.
"Um, yes, I have no idea," said another.
It's not on their radar, and that's upsetting. Some wouldn't know freedom if they fell over it. To many, "freedom" means getting the government to force women's employers to pay for birth control.
Sorry, that's not freedom. That's force.
Obama's supporters seem to think it's enough to put this extraordinary man in office. After that, he will take care of everything. Spare us the details.
"Obama is a classic example of this cult of the presidency," said David Boaz of the Cato Institute. "But the idea that any politician can just fix the problems in society -- that there's some magic there -- that doesn't start with Obama. It goes a long way back."
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