Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Did Freedom Win?

Democrats won big last week. So government will continue to grow. Individual freedom will yield.
At least some people with records of supporting liberty were elected: Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona and U.S. Reps. Justin Amash and Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan and Thomas Massie in Kentucky.
Also, Washington and Colorado voted to allow any adult to use marijuana. (But users beware. Your newfound freedom may be short-lived thanks to that extraordinary human being in the White House -- you know, the one who smoked pot when he was in school. Despite promising that he wouldn't, he has cracked down on pot dispensaries far more often than President Bush did.)
And voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington said yes to gay marriage; Minnesota defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have outlawed it.
That's the good news. But overall, the results were bad for freedom. As P.J. O'Rourke says, we need to "fix" government. By that, we mean "fixing" government the way we neuter a cat or spay a dog.
When it comes to foreign policy, we must teach our politicians to stop making messes in other people's yards. At home, they should stay out of our bedrooms.
Term limits would be good. When we give politicians power, they should know they don't get to keep it forever. They have to bring that power right back to us and drop it at our feet. "Good boy. Now go back outside!"
Sadly, President Obama's swooning fans don't want to tame politicians. They don't even seem to think much about freedom. We attended Obama's victory party in Chicago (we go so you don't have to) and asked his supporters what Obama's reelection means for freedom. People reacted as if they didn't understand the question.

Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2012/11/14/did_freedom_win

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