Ready, Aim.....

THE BOGUS ECONOMIST
June 28, 2008


On Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden sprang a surprise on America which resulted in the deaths of over 3000 innocent people and spelled the beginning of the end of Patrick Henry's immortal (?) phrase, "Give me liberty or give me death."

As George W. Fierce demonstrated his determination to exterminate Osama by pulling troops out of Afghanistan to start a war in Iraq, he also revealed his revision of Henry's thoughts - "To hell with liberty, give me safety."

Somehow, under Bush, the whole principle of sacrifice for a noble cause turned into an undignified scramble for shelter in the face of a possible attack by a religious fundamentalist who confesses a genuine hatred of a civilization that features sex and luxury rather than prayer and asceticism. Fundamentalists on our side rushed into the fray with their own recipe for getting into heaven and outlined why their side was evil while ours was good.

Finally, with more dead in Iraq and Afghanistan than perished in the World Trade Center, Americans began clamoring for a little more logic and a little less rhetoric in how to articulate our principles to the world (the good side), which did not include murder and torture, which were weapons of the bad guys (the evil side).

Meanwhile, while continuing to pee on Henry's sentiments, the President and the Congress kept dreaming up new ways to keep us safe. We had our nail clippers confiscated. We took our shoes off. We let the government open our mail and intercept our electronic conversations. When the Bush boys wanted to tap our phones in order to see if any of us were talking to the Nasty People, we said O.K. Keep us safe, we begged. Nero fiddled while the Constitution burned.

Only one thing was exempt from this rush to safety. Guns. Everybody knows a nail clipper or a pair of cuticle scissors was far more dangerous than a .357 Magnum. Besides, the clippers and scissors people didn't have several million dollars to "influence" legislators to keep anti-gun laws off the books.

Liberty, then, could best be retained by letting us have our firearms because the Second Amendment said we should. So while we bowed to the Second, the First was going to hell in a handbasket.

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I think I'd rather die free than live constrained. I've lived long enough to know that once people have power, they don't like to let go of it and once citizens get used to being told "It's for your own good," they tend to get used to that, too.

I'm ready for more than change in presidents, although that will be pretty good all by itself. I'm ready for an America that's ready to pay higher taxes, cut back on consumption and even risk another 9/11 if it means keeping our head up and showing the world what we showed them during WW II. It's not just a vote against the policies of George W.

It's a vote for Patrick.

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