Last evening I experienced a wide array of emotions. I felt a sense of disappointment at the way the McCain campaign had been run but a sense of pride as I reflected on the principled deportment of Governor Sarah Palin. I stayed up to watch McCain's concession speech and to watch Obama's acceptance remarks. Senator McCain conducted himself in the composed manner of an elder statesman, accompanied by Governor Palin. A short while later, I watched Obama stride out into the blaze of lights, awash in the adoration of his crowd. There were people of every color, male and female, beaming with earnest expectation. Obama began his remarks, his tempo and tone modulated with an artful command of polished rhetoric. And, oh, how the faithful soared with Obama, lifted on the wings of his oratory, drawn to visions of teary eyed rapture. Oprah was there, with the tear stained visage of the acolyte. And, Jessie Jackson too. The faithful were drawn inexorably into the high emotion of the conclusion of a hard fought victory and a shared success. Their leader, possessed of the masterful intellect and seasoned wisdom to chart a course to a promised land, had at last overcome. Obama's speech assumed the quality of a civil rights march and his words exhorted his people to rally in the rebuilding of the republic. The scene of the thronging thousands, in adoration of the uplifted leader was, dare I say, almost messianic. The crowds in Chicago and all of us as a nation were challenged to engage in service and sacrifice. Then, Obama cast a paternal eye upon the gathered thousands: vassals in a new and bright republic, shining forth with the hope of equality of outcome, the golden dream of planned fairness burning in their hearts. The edict was issued: service and sacrifice.
But what are we to serve? And, what are we called upon to sacrifice? If history is any guide, we will be called upon to serve the ever widening interests of the welfare state. The evil lies in the open ended nature of this social commitment. The limited resources of the state will be pressed to the utmost to provide for fairness and security where the self regulating forces of the free market would most efficiently secure the same objects to the people. We will know sacrifice. We will sacrifice economic prosperity
as the engines of economic growth grind to a mere sputter under the malaise of oppressive taxation. Innovation will be discouraged, expansion penalized, the cost of goods and services will rise as the cost of doing business is passed on to the consumer. Ultimately, the middle class sacrifices the dream of upward mobility as a ceiling is placed on acceptable levels of success. This is the grey and dreary fairness of the welfare state. We will know the sacrifices imposed by recession. We will sacrifice national honor and security as Obama imposes his doctrines of retreat and appeasement. Our enemies will become emboldened and the Islamo Fascists will strike with renewed vigor. Men and women will pay for this naiveté with their lives. The lives of the unborn will be sacrificed. And, the liberty of the individual will be sacrificed, in creeping increments, to the tyranny of the many.
I hope that the legacy of Obama will be different than this, but I am not optimistic. Using his past conduct as a guide, we don't have much change to hope for. Obama's legacy will be recorded here. Prepare for four years of, "I told you so." Obama is no messiah and will, of course, fail to deliver his people.
