(Sam wrote this article before the election of Obama in 2008.)
Considering the fact that millions of white folks in thirty states voted for Barack Obama
instead of Hillary Clinton ought to be proof enough that the American people are no
longer negatively influenced by race when it comes to choosing political leadership.
This is true, regardless of what has come out of the mouth of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He
represents the racist past, while Obama represents the non-racist future.
But what Republicans and conservatives don’t like about Obama is not his race but his
ideology. After all, if Thomas Sowell were running for President, conservatives would
back him to the hilt. The problem with Obama is that he represents the far left ideology
of the Democratic Party, otherwise known as Socialism, the philosophy of government
that advocates bureaucratic control over all aspects of life.
When Obama advocates “unity,” he surely must be aware of the great divide that
separates the two political parties. The Democratic Party is the party of the advanced
Nanny State. The Republican Party is theoretically still the party of limited government,
low taxes, individual freedom, less government regulation of the economy, and
traditional moral principles. Thus, there is no way that the great divide between the two major political parties can be cemented over by talk of “unity.” The existence of the two political parties with
opposing philosophies of government guarantee that we shall be living in an ideologically
divided society for the foreseeable future. Liberals will continue to control the education
of most American children, thus spreading the ideas of Socialism among younger
generations, and conservatives will assert traditional spiritual and moral values by
adherence to the teachings of the Bible and the original intent of the Framers of the U. S.
Constitution.
Homeschoolers, although small in numbers, will have a disproportionate influence on
conservative politics. The astonishing success of Patrick Henry College in getting its
graduates into key positions in Congress, the media, and the judiciary, bodes well for the
future of Christian political purpose
Recent elections have shown that the see-sawing between left and right indicate that
neither political party is going to be able to overwhelmingly impose its philosophy on the
American people. This is all to the good, because it means that no one President, who is
the leader of his party, can become a dictator in a nation as divided as we are. Not even
Bill Clinton could ignore the great divide, and much as she may try, Hillary will not be
able to deliver the kind of “unity” Obama prattles about.
If leftist Obama is elected, we shall see a conservative reaction that will stymie many of
his programs. But, if his victory also brings in full Democratic control of Congress, then
he may, like LBJ in 1965, be able to push through some of his ultra-liberal programs. But
in the next election, we would, no doubt, see a strong resurgence of conservatism.
Just as we have seen that there cannot be a permanent Republican majority in Congress
and the White House as Karl Rove would have liked to achieve, so it is unlikely that we
shall see a permanent Democratic majority controlling Congress. Regardless of what
happens in November 2008, our divided politics will provide a kind of equilibrium
between our warring factions. Our cultural civil war will continue but not become
physical.
Yet, each President is confronted with daunting challenges. All was peace and light for
George Bush until Osama bin Ladin gave us 9/11. We then found ourselves at war with
radical Islam. This was a new kind of war that had to be fought in a new kind of way.
Whether or not you believe that the invasion of Iraq was a good idea, we are now there
and whoever is President will have to deal with that problem. And whatever solution is
adopted, the American people will have to deal with its consequences.
The President of the United States is still considered the most powerful political figure in
the world and the leader of the free world. He projects America’s abiding ideals of
individual freedom, human rights, and benign government. He is also
Commander-in-Chief of the world’s largest and most powerful military force. And all of
that is supported by the largest, richest, and most dynamic economy on the globe.
We may already be in a serious recession. But that’s nothing new. Our economy
expands and contracts according to a whole battery of economic factors. We have a
consumer driven economy dependent on easy consumer credit. Only paper money
churned out by the Federal Reserve’s printing presses can sustain such an economy.
Inherent in such a system is the continued devaluation of the currency.
Who would have ever thought that one day the Canadian dollar would be worth more
than the American buck? These are just some of the things the next President will be
confronted with. We wish him or her good luck!.