Since everyone who knows me for more than three minutes knows that I am a political junkie, I have been asked repeatedly "What effect do you think Sandy will have on the vote?"
What are the politics of disasters?
When someone at work asked me this question yesterday, I answered the question a little differently.
"You will go vote tomorrow", I said. "You have repeatedly heard me talk about liberty and how it hangs in the balance in this country and that how this election may have a profound effect on whether religious liberty, among other liberties, will still really exist in this country."
I saw the look on his face and his eyes roll, there goes Patrick again.
You don't think these liberties are all that important, fine. You don't think that limits on the government are important fine. But you asked me about the disaster which you acknowledge is a big deal. So let me put to you this way.
Over the last 2,000 year of recorded history, if you took all the deaths from every known natural disaster, and added them together. From the 2004 Tsunami and the quarter million who died there all the way to the Antioch earthquake in the year 526 AD, and every disaster in between and since. If you added all that death together it would be quite a massive sum, probably somewhere close to 10 million deaths.
Now think that in the 20th Century alone, more than 20 times that number have died at the hands of governments, frequently their own. It is estimated that from 1917 to its end in the late eighties, Soviet Communism killed 61,000,000 people. It is estimated that Nazi Germany killed over 20,000,000 people including 6 million Jews. China, another 35,000,000. Add to that the genocides of Japan, Pol Pot, Turkey and on and on.
Close to 200,000,000 people have died in the 20th Century alone because of the tyranny of government. And in many cases, the person most responsible for the killing was elected.
So don't tell me it can't happen here. Don't tell me that in the country that has killed 50,000,000 unborn babies, the country that forcibly interned thousands for the crime of being of Japanese ancestry, that the country that currently has a kill list of American citizens overseas, the country of killer drones, don't tell that in this country it cannot happen. It already has and does.
So liberty matters. When I vote, I vote to protect each and every liberty and to restrain government in any way I can because there are hundreds of millions of dead people who wished they could.
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That was very well said. Straight and to the point. Its sad that people don’t have the forseit to see this before damage is already done. Whether its pride or just being nieve, its amazing people just live in a constant stuper. Unwilling to at least consider the times we are in are more serious than their own little bubble they choose to live in. Just to look at the big picture, and see what has happened to many great nations before. I wonder why words like, liberty, patriotism, American, moral, and conservative immediately make people roll their eyes, or just angry. I wonder if those people ever wonder why they feel that way about their country…thanks for a good read.
Without the Person of God, WHO is TRUTH, rendered unto Caesar, no person is free. What Jeremy says: “thanks for a good read.”
Fortunately, the hundreds of millions of dead people do still have a chance to vote. Unfortunately, their votes will be cast in Chicago.
Beautiful article. Thanks for putting it so beautifully.
Well written article and I agree with all the comments. Just have to add, Jeremy, it’s foresight and naive. (smile)I know I’m such a stickler. God Bless.
I never thought of it that way. Problem is, I voted for Romney because I already know Obama will take away our liberties but I can’t say I don’t believe Romney will as well. Hopefully less than Obama, but still, I frequently have to pray to Jesus for trust because I feel pretty worried and frightened about our country.
Lol, I had a feeling I was spelling those words wrong, just didn’t have time to check it. I’m fairly new to the blog world and it’s encouraging to find sites like this that express beliefs like ours. Makes ya feel like we actually do have a voice. Maybe we are not so outnumbered like it feels sometimes. God Bless
Pat, I do have to take issue with part of your comments.
I realize it’s not politically correct to admit that we might’ve had any cause at all for incarcerating anyone at any time, but the fact remains that, in our nation’s history, we HAVE had legitimate cause to risk violating Constitution three times.
In each of the three cases, though privacy advocates will scream bloody murder about hindering anyone at all without trial, the fact remains that certain persons DID need to be detained for a time, both for the purposes of public safety AND to ensure that law and order would be maintained.
Whether we deal with people in Border States during the Civil War, internment of formerly Japanese nationals during World War II, or holding alleged US citizens at Guantanamo, we DID have legitimate cause to act as we did.
When you’re faced either with a distinct threat of continued violence directed against the general populace or a political threat that may not be entirely honest, you DO have a responsibility as a public servant to ensure that such malicious influences are not allowed to harm people or unfairly influence politics.
It may not be nice, but doing otherwise would be, in my opinion, negligent.
John: In all three cases, martial law and the articles of war had to be invoked. Constitutional law applies to citizens in time of peace. What is terrifying is that Obama is invoking martial law against the citizens in time of peace, to rescind government of the people.
I fail to see any moral connection whatsoever between temporary detainment of foreign nationals inside our borders with whom we are at war, versus destroying innocent life in the womb. No relationship whatsoever.
Mary, Hat Lady,
I appreciate your willingness to more or less back my point.
I must caution you though, I meant everything I said and I still mean it. ..And I DO see a connection between these folks and life in the womb.
Even if detaining people might be necessary, I worry that we still take the risk that we or some part of the populace will begin believing that a person does not or certain groups of people do not merit being treated as human beings, Creatures of God. When you consider that, often enough, people who ARE recognized as worthwhile creatures under law can be treated very poorly, I worry about any latitude we give to deviate from that ideal.
In other words, whenever we begin seeing any person or group of people as worthy of being denied due process of law, I think we take a serious risk of treating them exactly like the unborn; as unpersons.
The Republic of the United States of America July 4, 1776 - November 6, 2012. The People’s Soviet Union of America November 7, 2012 - ?
We are in for it now.
Please, the same “epitaph of America” is written with wailing & gnashing of teeth after every election.
Obamazilla being reelected is hardly the death knell of a country who’s corpse has been propped up with sticks for decades….
I hope you’re right, ChrisKABA.
I hope we’re still here with a country we can legitimately call “America” in several years.
Keep praying.
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