Ugghhhh

Politics turn people into idiots.

I wanted to make a quiet critique of blind liberalism that pervades our campus, but it turned into this. I stand behind the original argument, that most of us are so narrowly left-leaning that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy (Republicans dare not enter the Democratic gauntlet, we don't learn about the Republicans, we become more liberal, and so on). The problem with my article is that given limited space, I had to engage in intellectual triage and attack the larger of several problems. Since there are more liberals on campus, I figured the correct route was to critique the liberals for their lack of knowledge beyond the presidential race. There's much more that merits criticism. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) College Republicans. They are libertarians pretending to be Republicans for political expediency. The GOP is a big-tent party and has been for a long time. That was a good strategy and certainly one that garnered a lot of votes for Reagan and George W. Bush. A party that can simultaneously uphold the tenets of small government for taxes, big government for national defense, and huge government for social issues is sure to pull broad coalitions together. Here are some key baggage that College Republicans won't remind you come with their party:

a) The Christian right, a core demographic of the big tent. This means the GOP is often in favor of the government stepping on your toes if you're gay, a woman having an abortion, or a teacher who believes in evolution.

b) Massive defense projects. This, children, is called government spending. You normally don't like that. Obviously, neither side can or will cut the defense budget substantially, but at least the Democrats pay for it (don't fight it: the last three "fiscal conservatives" ran up massive debt, whereas the last "tax-and-spend" Democrat balanced the budget).

c) The GOP has been the vanguard of political scandal, rather than political integrity which they claim. Actions speak louder than words, and the party of Scooter Libby, Ted Stevens, Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, and Larry Craig should walk the walk if it's going to talk the talk.

John McCain didn't call himself a maverick for nothing. He was a lone ranger who acted on real conservative principles and then mostly abandoned them during the campaign. He's an admirable exception to the rule. But now that McCain is not the winner, there is no way you can claim the GOP is reflecting your interests if you call yourself a conservative. I'll say it again because I don't want you to forget—THE GOP IS NOT THE PARTY OF SMALL GOVERNMENT. IT'S THE PARTY OF SMALL GOVERNMENT IN A FEW INSTANCES, AND HUGE GOVERNMENT IN MANY OTHERS. YOU ARE LIBERTARIANS WHO CALL YOURSELVES REPUBLICANS FOR POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY.

2) Sour grapes. Obama is not a Communist. He is not George McGovern. Just because you recently read Atlas Shrugged doesn't mean a liberal president means a secret police holding a gun to your head forcing you to pay taxes. Shut up, clean your party up, enjoy your subsidized healthcare and improved international reputation, and talk to me in 2010.