Q: How can we get rid of Obama if there’s nobody decent to replace him with? Is anybody better than Obama?
A: It’s simple. You replace Obama with somebody who will probably be just as bad, or perhaps a tad better. While it’s regrettable not to find someone good, at least you will have removed the present problem. More importantly, you get to repeal the principles of socialism which govern every moment of this administration.
Anyone currently running against Obama who’s likely to win will be an improvement. Why?
Because by their very election, they will have removed Obama from office. Removing Obama from office is a good thing. Does it mean that the battle for freedom and capitalism has been won? Not by a long shot. Neither political party stands for freedom and capitalism. But Obama is the one most associated with the ideas and policies of socialism. He has continued George W. Bush’s policies of gradually nationalizing the financial industry and appeasing our greatest enemy, Iran. He expanded on Bush’s policies by nationalizing medical care and part of the automobile industry. Everybody knows Obama is a socialist, or at least a virtual socialist. His fall from office will represent a blow to Big Government, and even President Mitt Romney — no opponent of Big Government — will have to note it.
Just as it was possible to be against George W. Bush while voting for him in 2004, it’s equally possible to be against whomever the Republican candidate ends up being in 2012, while still voting for him or her. This time around, you get more for your vote, because Barack Obama is definitely worth defeating. Obama is a sitting, incumbent President. The election is really a referendum on his Presidency. It was difficult for many advocates of capitalism and individual rights to vote for George W. Bush in 2004, since he was plainly no friend to these principles. But to vote against Obama this time will be, if nothing else, an opportunity to repudiate one of the most statist, anti-liberty presidencies in the history of the republic.
Right now, both major political parties appeal to the psychology of victimhood. Democrats claim that big business and capitalism are victimizing everybody, and even Obama cannot stop these evil forces completely. Republicans claim that Obama is the cause of every problem, even though most of Obama’s policies were followed by previous Republican presidents, particularly George W. Bush. To be a fan of either of these two parties is to be a fan of victimhood. And victimhood sells in America these days, regardless of who’s doing the selling.
Nobody running for office is telling Americans that they are the problem, and that they are the ones who must grow up. No Republican is saying, “America, you’ve got to make up your mind. Do you want freedom, and the responsibility that comes with it, or not?” Instead, Republicans talk of their constituents as if they’re helpless victims of a Big Government they never voted for, and never wanted. Well, to some extent that might be true. But Mitt Romney is the one saying that Social Security and Medicare are brilliant programs which must be preserved and expanded, and he’s getting most of the support so far. What does this say about grass roots Republicans? Most of them want the same Big Government that the Democrats demand and expect.
Most Americans want a welfare state, but an efficiently run welfare state. They want endless goodies at a minimal cost (to someone else). When Paul Ryan suggested that Medicare might have to at least be partially privatized, he was shot down — by Republicans as much as Democrats. When Rick Perry suggested that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme (it’s actually worse than that), he collapsed in the polls almost immediately. These things would not happen in a nation which was not filled with people who want the dollars from government programs to keep coming and coming. Sure, a lot of Americans are angry about the deficit. But what’s creating the deficit? The programs that 90 percent of Americans wouldn’t allow any politician to ever touch.
You never know. Maybe one of the Republican candidates, if he or she manages to become President, will surprise us once in office, and start to say some of these things. But it seems unlikely, because the American people just don’t want to hear the truth. The truth is still coming their way, however, and defeating Obama is one way to drive it home just a little bit sooner. If we’re fortunate enough to see Obama step down, however, the next President had better be set to pursue a 180-degree course reversal, and fast.