A Law Student's Attempt to Understand It All.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Hopey Changeyness

To the last day of liberty!

We will now have hope and change and other platitudes. But with this hopey changyness, we may also see an end to many freedoms. Of course, chief on the list of the Chicago democrat is the end of guns in America. I seriously doubt that there will be another assault weapons ban. Instead, the BATFE will be free to "regulate" guns until only the elite (i.e. well-connected) few can own them legally. This gives the same effects as a ban, without a Congressional vote or a signature from the annotated one. Political plausible denaiablity.

But look too to other things. We will see a return of censorship in the form of the "fairness doctrine" that would practically ban talk radio as we know it. So too with "required service"-- if not in the military, then in another form (peace corps, city year, etc.). Finally, look for a radical change in our economic structure: he will likely introduce regulations that make everyday investment difficult (in the name of "stability") that will result in a net increase in the costs of investment as the costs of regulations get passed along.

Listen to what the chosen has said and will say in the first few weeks. Already, he has spoken of his comming "rule" and the taking of power. These are dangerous words. Combined with the personality cult that has arisen around him, these words could come true. As you have likely seen, Obama is on a "historic" whistle-stop tour on the way to inauguration day. He has been doing eveything Lincoln likely could have done. Obama has not even taken office and he is already setting up his "legacy" as a great president. Well, we as Americans need to remind him that it is actions and results that determine who good a president is. It is only then, after the presidency, that it can properly be judged.

When a victorious general came back from conquest to the city of Rome, the citizens would hold a great parade called a triumph. The general would ride a chariot and a man would hold a wreath-crown of gold olive leaves over his head. The man would never put the crown on the general's head, for Rome had no kings. The man would also whisper continually, "Remember, you are only a man. Remember, you are only a man."

When those traditions became lost, and the crown finally hit the victorious general's head, it was the beginning of the empire-- and the end of liberty.

Let us chant to Obama, "Remember, you are only a man."