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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Fred Thompson: First Principles |
| 2008-07-03 |
| There has been a lot of talk about the need for change in this country. That is Senator Obama’s mantra, of course. And all of the commentators say, “It is a change election.” Well, I can understand why the call for change is so powerful considering the pitiful condition that our country is in. We simply have the most prosperous, freest and strongest country in the history of the world. So we can understand why liberal politicians and their supporters see the need for great change. On a more serious note, we have long recognized the role change plays in lives. Edmund Burke wrote extensively about it in the 18th century. He said that change was inevitable and when properly guided, change was a process of renewal. But it was his opinion that the man who loves change is disqualified from being a reformer because of his lust … to be the agent of change. Remind you of anybody you know? So it is not change that concerns us — it’s change in the wrong direction. And what we may be changing from. ... Those changes that are momentarily popular in elite circles, which would expand our government, weaken our ability to defend ourselves, redefine marriage and life itself, sap our sense of personal responsibility and treat our people as if they were merely a collection of appetites to be fed in an election year ... they must be rejected. These are not changes we can believe in. These are changes we should run away from. Because the ideas behind these endeavors, which have long inspired left-wing politicians around the world, have led to consistently disastrous results. I’d like to suggest a change for us: Instead of a constant search for the new, exciting and different, let’s re-assert the "First Principles" that made this country great. Has freedom, liberty and the strength which guarantees them become outdated? ... Do we see our nation as one in decline, populated by helpless victims for whom every misfortune and every economic downturn is a conspiracy against them? Or do we still see that we are a people of free will, willing to accept our responsibilities? Are we a people who – as generations of American before us did – believe that our best days are ahead of us? Will we remember who we are, what we stand for, and what we represent to the world? That we are free people … who respect life … who love liberty. Read the whole thing. Fred, as usual, nails it. |
| Posted by:OldSpook |