Analysis for Critical Thinkers

There was much talk during the presidential campaign season about “reaching across the aisle”, compromise and bipartisanship. Those that profess to pursue such goals speak as if these goals are strong selling points – admirable assets to bring the country together. Often though, all it leads to is wavering positions, lack of clear vision, and overly complex decisions that accomplish nothing and that leave both sides dissatisfied. The old maxim comes to mind that “a camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

 The current health care debate comes to mind as well. In trying to be all things to all people, this over-one-thousand-page rough draft of a bill has become so complex that even those who have tried to read it have been at a loss to explain it. Big Government politicians have even began proclaiming that they never read any of the bills that they vote for because they wouldn’t understand them anyway if they did! These same politicians insist that they can come up with some sort of compromise even if the bill doesn’t do what they hoped it would do. This, they claim, willat least show that they did “something” when we would have been much better off doing “nothing”.

A more valuable asset is having a well thought out definitive course of action. One part of leadership is about having a well informed position on a subject which adheres to one’s core beliefs. Another part of leadership is communicating to people why you believe that your way is better than theirs. Trying to come up with a plan that makes everybody happy makes for a poor leader. Such a leader displays no clear vision that will lead. Such a leader panders to both sides resulting in neither side prevailing.

It is funny how “partisan politics” just means that the OTHER side is simply voting their party’s line while failing to see that YOUR side is doing exactly the same thing. But rather than name calling and fist shaking, stand tall and proud and exhibit leadership. Defend your position and why it is so important to you and to your country. Explain why your way is better and maybe you will get converts.

Some things should ceretainly have a compromise: what to watch on TV tonight, what to have for dinner. But there are some things that there can be no compromise on. There are those that think that negotiations and compromise on these things will make the world “come together”. How does one compromise on these issues?

– Religious fanatics tell you repeatedly that they want to kill you and all of your infidels. Would you ask that they please agree to kill only half of us?

– Anti abortion demonstraters demand an end to the killing of babies. Do we agree to kill just a certain amount per year to make both sides happy?

– Criminals have run rampant in a city. Terrorists have taken over a town. Do we ask that they only do certain crimes or only blow up a certain number of people in order to be “fair”?

If your intent is to try and appease everyone in order to make everyone like you and vote for you, then you may be inclined toward wavering positions and compromise. History shows though, that these types of leaders have been failures. What we need is integrity – the steadfast adherence to some moral code. Some things cannot be compromised. A true leader can inspire even his critics toward what he believes is right. Those that still believe that the leader is wrong can still respect his integrity.

These were some notes found by C.R. that were apparently left behind by a Democrat strategist who was rushing to see the latest Michael Moore film. (Ed. note- this is commentary by the oft-acerbic C.R. and not an actual incident. However, we welcome any comments – especially those from people who can provide rational insight into (and especially rebuttal on) the issues mentioned.)

Surrender as soon as possible in Afghanistan. People (voters) get squeamish when Americans are killed by terrorists whose existence Bush lied about anyway. No one cares about terrorists anymore- it is a tired scare tactic from the extreme right wing just to fool people into defending our country. Plus, we need that money to spend on other socialist programs that will create more dependency on Big Government. On a side note, let’s prosecute someone(anyone) from the Bush administration just to show people how stupid he was.

Prosecute terrorist interrogators past and present. We must show the terrorists that we are serious about how stupid the Republicans are.  If the terrorists like us, they will leave us alone and maybe even move to our country! Find some way to stop those 7 damned former CIA heads that keep on complaining about our relentless assault on their intelligence people. But wait, there are no terrorists anyway – it was all a big lie just to get free oil – and they had nothing to do with 9/11!

 Abandon our allies in Eastern Europe. It was all Bush’s fault anyway, whatever the problem was –  and we should use that money to get reelected.

Promote the dream of Global Warming. This catastrophe is vital in our efforts to seize assets from productive people in order to pay for our socialist projects. But let’s agree to not use the word “socialist” when in public.

Under no circumstances allow any discussion of an issue. We are doomed if actual issues are ever debated because our position will collapse under the simplest scrutiny. Instead, call people names to try to get them to defend themselves rather than continue prying into the issues. Suggested names: racist, nazi, evil, greedy, homophobe, stupid, unpatriotic, unAmerican, ignorant, misguided, liars. Change the argument to anything else as quickly as possible.

If someone catches you in a lie and calls you a liar, act indignant,shocked and offended and pass resolutions to punish this sort of rude name calling by these greedy extremists. There can be no place in society for such behavior by these stupid evil Nazi liars.

Go down into Mexico and start bussing tens of thousands of people into the U.S. with the promise of something for nothing. Point out to them how the evil Republicans want to send them home or otherwise deny them free medical care, housing, legal representation, amnesty and any other “right” which they would be willing to accept from us. This will help ensure that whatever the American people and the Constitution say, we will still get reelected, unless the Republicans cheat and steal the election again.

If you raise taxes and seize the assets from 49 percent of the country and give it to the other 51 percent, how can we ever lose an election?

On missile defense – we should be using that money to create more dependency on Big Government and buy the next election. There are no more terrorists because Bush is gone and he was stupid and evil. Everybody loves us now because Obama is a world hero. But just in case somebody does attack us with a nuclear missile, we are covered because we can blame the Bush Administration and the media will support us 100 percent. So don’t let anybody say that we do not have a missile defense strategy.

Conservative talk radio must be stopped at once. We control Big Government now and this is our chance to prohibit any thoughts or ideas contrary to our agenda. It is unpatriotic and un-American to express one’s views if they are different from ours. After all, we won the election – let them get over it! It is hard to simply outlaw talk radio because of the inconvenience of the First Amendment as well as a number of informed voters who are knowledgeable and vocal about that sort of thing. We can however force endless regulations and taxes that will make it practically impossible for these crazies to continue. Or – force people to listen to liberal talk radio. Liberal talk shows have never been successful in the evil free market so we could make it mandatory somehow – like in the public schools!

Regulate the Internet because right now, people have the freedom to express any view that they want. This could adversely affect our agenda. Many young and impressionable future voters may be poisoned by the evil greedy ideas of capitalism and self-sufficiency making our goal of complete dependency on Big Government more difficult to achieve. Consider an outright ban or perhaps a new tax, tariff, surcharge, fee, co-payment,Internet dues, activity charges, per-minute stipend, or mandatory payment. We can say that we’ll use the money for the good of all mankind or something else noble and progressive.

Call everyone a racist. We cannot stand people who prejudge based on generalities and stereotypes – and that is exactly what every single white Conservative Republican does all of the time! The great thing about calling everyone a racist is that they will hopefully forget about the issue in question and instead simply try to uselessly defend themselves against the charges.

Do not get mad. All I ask is that you simply define and defend your position with logic and reason. So write to us! -C.R.