Again, I get stuff. Last Thursday, the Cheshire County Republican Committee held a debate for the Republicans vying to be the NH GOP victor in the primary in September for CD-2. What was brought to my attention was this line (video starts at 11:45 into the event):
“Government’s job is to provide opportunity for all of us.”
Let that sink in for a second.
Contrast that with the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution that it was set up was to LIMIT government. IF you read it, it is clear that it was done in a style that does one thing (or would, if politicians would read and live it): limits government in that it CAN’T DO things to you. It is a list of forbidden activities by government when looking at citizens: it can’t limit your speech, it can’t stop you for seeking redress, it can’t limit your means of self-defense, it can’t force you to give testimony against yourself, and so on.
So read that and then read the above-quoted line again. Think about this: WHO is supposed to be in charge of you? Now think: Democrat or Republican?
If our Constitution was built to limit access to power by distributing it across three branches as checks and balances against each other if it was built with strictures for each of those branches, and if the 10th Amendment says…
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
…which of those CD-2 Republican candidates hasn’t read their Constitution lately? Who is merely going along with the current period’s assumed idea that this is a Power that the Federal Government has?
“Government’s job is to provide opportunity for all of us.”
Taken literally, in that person’s own words, this is dumping the Constitution on its head.
Sure, several of them on that stage, either due to military or public service have sworn an oath to protect and defend it. Fine and dandy. But when they demonstrably say that it stands for the opposite of its construction and stands upside down on its head, that’s a huge problem. No, perhaps not for them but for US!
Look at that line again. Is it a statement of limiting the Government? Is it a statement of agreement with the original text and meanings of the Constitution? Or is it a symptom of the bastardization of the US Constitution: “it is a living document”?
Nope. Nope. Yes.
Rather, it is negating the negative liberties that our Founders cherished knowing that a limited government couldn’t hurt you or take away your liberties, your freedoms. This is a statement of POSITIVE Rights and an assignment of a responsibility that cannot be found within the Constitution. This says “Government has a responsibility to take care of you and your future.” This is a complete rendering of the idea of Federalism (if not an outright denial of that strictly American philosophy of Government). Full Stop.
Shades of the Life of Julia is flashing before my eyes. FDR’s Second Bill of Rights is being read in my mind.
Both are wrong. Both are one reason this country is failing to uphold the promises that our founders bequeathed to us: The Freedom from Government. Government won’t hurt or stop you.
Simply stated, this is what Progressives preach – that Government exists to do things FOR you. The Progressive / incremental Socialists (or better put: Compassionate Totalitarians – wrap your mind around that one!) ideal: The Freedom from Want. Government will provide everything for you.
No, Lynne Blankenbeker, your statement that “Government’s job is to provide opportunity for all of us.” is not a Conservative one, not a Freedom one (unless one is a Progressive and assumes their philosophy). It is not found in the Constitution. It is UTTERLY wrong. Sure, you started to talk about lowering taxes and all the rest, but YOUR LINE is horribly incorrect.
WORDS MATTER – and they matter, or should, in a place and in a time where we all are trying to get enough information to be able to answer two questions:
Winning is merely a precursor; what you do afterward is most important. What will you do?
Can I Trust that I never have to worry about how you will legislate or vote?
If that is her starting point for her philosophy, I would have to say “nope.” Again, her exact words and not taken out of context (the whole debate is here, listen and judge for yourself).
It is, however, an artifact that had Andrew Breitbart famously saying that “Politics is downstream of Culture.” The Frankfurt School and the writings of the Italian Socialist Gramsci informed American Progressives and Socialist how to circumvent the classical Marxist ideology of mere economic warfare between the “classes” and turn, instead, to create culture warfare. Wipe out the underpinnings of American political philosophy and Exceptionalism through pop culture and a horrible education system, we have the above – and believing it to be Conservative. As Van Jones said
“Top Down, Bottom Up, Inside Out”
And I added “a total transformation. And it is always about Power – always – by any means”. You know, George Orwell in his infamous book 1984 spoke about controlling the language. Control the language, and you control the thoughts. Eliminate the words, and you send the thinking behind them into the everlasting Memory Hole, to the point that if you don’t have the words, you can’t express your thoughts. Sooner or later, you don’t even have those thoughts.
“Government’s job is to provide opportunity for all of us.”
Is (or has) the idea, the thought, of a limited government, actually disappearing from a Party who pledges fealty to it? Is it the Emperor’s clothes?
No, I can’t vote in this race as I live in CD-1. Yes, for full disclosure, GraniteGrok endorsed Steve Negron. Also for full disclosure, when I listen to this whole debate (I stopped when I heard her line), and if I hear him go off the Constitutional reservation, I’ll skewer him just as much (and I told him that).
Or any of them. I don’t discriminate – I just listen to their own words.
