I'm Confused About the Democratic Convention
by Isaiah Sterrett
Thursday, July 29, 2004
I'm confused. And if I’m confused, Democrats must be more befuddled than Ted Kennedy at an A.A. meeting.
I followed the Democratic primaries closely, and--like all good conservatives--rooted for Dennis Kucinich. I watched Howard Dean and his band of orange-capped neophytes rise to an exciting, albeit short-lived, pedestal of fame. I saw Al Sharpton hop from talk-show to talk-show, glibly explaining why he should be accountable for presiding over the world. And I saw John Edwards, along with his hair, talk about the ''two Americas.''
Baruck Obama, the Democrats’ U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois, obviously disagreed with Edwards’ assessment of America, for he told the FleetCenter crowd on Tuesday that we Americans are ''one people.''
''We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states,'' he alleged. ''We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.''
Personally, I’m offended. I liked being set apart from liberals. Now, thanks to Baruck Obama, suddenly we’re all in the same boat again! The only guy who seems not to be included in Obama’s America is John Edwards, who’s still spewing his ''two Americas'' garbage.
This is where I really get confused. Like a true Kerry follower, Obama flip-flopped on his ''one America'' position—in his ''one America'' speech. He said that while Illinoisans don’t expect the government to solve their problems, Illinoisans are going to kick and scream until the government solves their problems.
Reliance on government is one of the two principal sicknesses that ail the Democratic Party. (The other is Democrats’ undying love for tyrants and traitors.) Between speakers on Tuesday evening, Democrats showed a short movie about a young man, from New York I think, who participated in a help-liberals-win-elections program, which was cleverly disguised as a get-back-on-your-own-two-feet program.
''If this program don’t make me,'' said the man in the film, ''I don’t think nothing will.''
Anyone in search of a nutshell definition of Democrats can stop hunting. I’ve found it. All it took was a Democratic National Convention speech, broadcast only by C-Span.
If asked to comment on the same subject, a Republican would have said, ''This program helped me help myself, and I’m grateful.'' A libertarian would have said, ''I hate the government, and I’d rather drop dead than take its advice.'' A Green would have said, ''Stop talking, the gaseous emissions from your mouth are expanding the hole in the ozone.''
Only a Democrat would actually admit that a government program, rather than hard work or intelligence or faith, led to success.
Democrats want Americans to fall victim not only to the whims of Kofi Annan and ''the allies,'' but also to the liberal myth that you can’t make it without the government.
Bill Clinton told the convention audience on Monday that Republicans need a divided nation in order to prosper. That’s not true. But it’s absolutely true that the Democratic Party needs a victim-minded nation in order to prosper. If Democrats didn’t complain about losing their jobs or the ''rising cost of healthcare,'' what would they talk about?
Democrats love hearing people like the governor of Arizona, who spoke Tuesday night and talked about the poor state of healthcare in America. They insist that the GOP--part of the government--continually undermines patients and their doctors. Everybody, including the governor or Arizona, knows that’s not true. But if it was, why would anyone turn to the government to solve the problem? If the government caused the ''healthcare crisis,'' why are Democrats so anxious for the government to fix it?
Perhaps there really are ''two Americas.'' Maybe there’s one America for Republicans, who know that perseverance and ideas have a way of turning into profit, and one America for Democrats, who will die waiting for Washington to drop them some crumbs. Maybe there’s one America for innovation and ingenuity, and one for whining and begging. Maybe there’s one for Bush and one for Kerry, and, if the latest polls are right, maybe more Americans are rejecting laziness and embracing personal responsibility.
Anyway, I’m still confused. Why would anyone be a Democrat?
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