Conservative sees hope and change wth new presidency
Alex Welles '11
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Commentary
While the campus bathes in near total shock and gloom over the Obama victory, here and there seeking escape and solace by indulging in wanton depravity and licentious abandon (how else would one describe the stoplight dance?) this writer, though remaining fundamentally disturbed by the victories of both "hope" and "change," does not share the irrevocable despair of the student body and faculty.
Why is that? Let us pause and examine the current state of our democratic experiment. The economy cascades deeper into recession. Millions of our countrymen remain without jobs, their savings destroyed; without healthcare, their lives imperiled; without adequate education, their future entombed.
Our Capitol brims with corruption and infighting. How has our country reached such a state? We allowed it be so. We gave the freedom to bankers to make loans they couldn't possibly hope to have repaid. We still leave our citizens free to be ill without care. And, in a fit of well meaning stupidity we have even begun to let parents choose the schools their children attend. What practical good has any of this liberty served?
The freedom to choose has simply meant the freedom for plutocrats to enrich themselves. For the common citizen it is simply the freedom to be exploited by a far harsher hand then that of our benign government. These freedoms are simply the freedoms of division. We must be United! What is needed, what this country has always needed, is a man who is above the petty squabbles of politicians, a leader who embodies the will of the people, with the freedom of action to perfect our Republic and lead it into a new Golden Age.
Obama is that man. How do I know? He supports the reinterpretation of our archaic Constitution to better suit our present needs and free us from the harrying nature of its structures. Our old military identifies itself far too much with the defense of the shopworn, musty ideas of our founders.
Obama recognizes that for the future we need a force that is more ideologically pure. That is why he has promised a civilian national security service that is "just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as our military.
He also hopes for a corveé of the youth to serve our greater community and unite the young behind his new vision. And he will wisely leave the security apparatus of the Bush regime in place, so much the better to ensure stability as his policies are enacted.
There has been talk of a national holiday for President-Elect Obama, to coincide with the 200th birthday of President Lincoln. In my mind, they are incomparable. Mr. Lincoln achieved much, to be sure, but at the end of the day he united the nation at the point of a sword. Obama's triumph in this election means that he has re-energized this Union simply by his very existence.
As lobbyists and companies gather in Washington to receive the spoils of the new regime we can only be heartened by the words of his adviser. "He is ready to rule." Let it be so!
Why is that? Let us pause and examine the current state of our democratic experiment. The economy cascades deeper into recession. Millions of our countrymen remain without jobs, their savings destroyed; without healthcare, their lives imperiled; without adequate education, their future entombed.
Our Capitol brims with corruption and infighting. How has our country reached such a state? We allowed it be so. We gave the freedom to bankers to make loans they couldn't possibly hope to have repaid. We still leave our citizens free to be ill without care. And, in a fit of well meaning stupidity we have even begun to let parents choose the schools their children attend. What practical good has any of this liberty served?
The freedom to choose has simply meant the freedom for plutocrats to enrich themselves. For the common citizen it is simply the freedom to be exploited by a far harsher hand then that of our benign government. These freedoms are simply the freedoms of division. We must be United! What is needed, what this country has always needed, is a man who is above the petty squabbles of politicians, a leader who embodies the will of the people, with the freedom of action to perfect our Republic and lead it into a new Golden Age.
Obama is that man. How do I know? He supports the reinterpretation of our archaic Constitution to better suit our present needs and free us from the harrying nature of its structures. Our old military identifies itself far too much with the defense of the shopworn, musty ideas of our founders.
Obama recognizes that for the future we need a force that is more ideologically pure. That is why he has promised a civilian national security service that is "just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as our military.
He also hopes for a corveé of the youth to serve our greater community and unite the young behind his new vision. And he will wisely leave the security apparatus of the Bush regime in place, so much the better to ensure stability as his policies are enacted.
There has been talk of a national holiday for President-Elect Obama, to coincide with the 200th birthday of President Lincoln. In my mind, they are incomparable. Mr. Lincoln achieved much, to be sure, but at the end of the day he united the nation at the point of a sword. Obama's triumph in this election means that he has re-energized this Union simply by his very existence.
As lobbyists and companies gather in Washington to receive the spoils of the new regime we can only be heartened by the words of his adviser. "He is ready to rule." Let it be so!
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