Florida Swings Like A Swing State Do

Swing states (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those of you who are old enough to remember one of my favorite country singers, the late, great, Roger Miller, probably remember one of his most famous songs, England Swings. The title of this column fits pretty well into the tune, and is also apropos for the upcoming November elections.

If you believe the pollsters, the Electoral College could save a lot of time by completely eliminating forty or so states from the vote count. It is supposedly a done deal that roughly half of the votes in those states will be Democrat, and the rest, Republican.

The election will happen, for all practical purposes, in nine or ten “swing states,” the voters in which will have a huge impact in which direction we go as a nation for the next four years. We hear much from the media about whether or not Americans should have free health care for all, or whether we are irresponsible fossil fuel gluttons, or whether churches should be required to provide condoms to altar boys, but none of that is the real issue.

At issue in the 2012 elections is a clear choice between the European style socialism that Democrat liberals prefer, or traditional American values that include individualism, self reliance, and, above all, a sense of human goodness that encourages each of us to care for our neighbors. We have always been a nation of people who care for and look out for each other. Socialist style governments are based on the premise that government can take care of all of our needs, and socialist governments make every effort to usurp the goodness on which this nation has depended since its founding. Socialism attempts to undermine traditional American values, demonize our religion and personal successes, and replace the charity of our friends, neighbors, churches and civic groups to support us when we are down, with impersonal and agnostic government agencies that they say will serve all of our needs.

The result of the worldwide spread of socialism has been that governments are spending far more than they take in, economies are crumbling, and riots are beginning because people have become so dependent on government handouts that they cannot envision a world where they actually must work for their keep. Bloated government agencies can no longer afford their excessive staffs and their disproportionate perks and retirement plans. The current problem is primarily European, but with the national debt twice what it was less than four years ago and with states and cities teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, the problem is at our doorstep and beating the door down to get in.

I mentioned only some of the undesirable results of socialism. Number one on the list of deleterious effects, however, has to be that socialism, by design, takes away the very individualism, self determination, and human goodness on which our Constitution and our nation were founded.

Here is a personal example of what I mean: My car broke down recently in a residential neighborhood in a city with which I was unfamiliar. After my wife and I pushed it off the street and into a nearby driveway, with the help of a kind gentleman who was passing by, I went to the door of the home to see if it was alright to leave the car there until we could get a tow truck to come. The very kind young lady who answered the door didn’t hesitate a moment before inviting us in out of the heat, giving us cold bottles of water, offering her telephone to call for a tow, and, in short, doing everything she could possibly do to be helpful and make us comfortable. She was the epitome of human goodness, and a gracious example of ‘people helping people.’ She found a nearby tow service that quickly sent a truck and a mechanic, and within 10 minutes our car was running and we were ready to go. Let me emphasize, “People helping people!”

As a theoretical contrast, suppose my wife and I had gone the ‘government helping people’ route instead. We would have left the car in the narrow street to block traffic while we called the local police. Some lengthy amount of time later, a patrol car would arrive, and a grim policeman would put out traffic cones and warning signs around our vehicle, still in the street and blocking traffic. Then he would doubtless check our license plates and drivers’ licenses against a national database to make certain we were not criminals (government always assumes we are criminals, you know). Assuming we passed national scrutiny, he would then call in two or three other patrol cars to help direct traffic, and would fill in a mountain of paperwork documenting the event. Sooner or later, the official government tow service would send a truck from an hour away to clear away the mess and open the street for traffic. Figuring time, fuel, tow expense, and more, the “government controlled” event would have cost taxpayers hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars. It would also rob the nearby citizens of a chance to help their fellow man and promote the idea of  ‘people helping people.’

That is just a simple example. Apply the concept to health care, crime, hunger, poverty, and just about any other social ill you can think of. A couple generations ago people depended on each other, on God, on human goodness to get them through the rough spots. Then government took most of that away. Now instead of charitable giving, we pay high taxes to various government entities that squander most of what they take. Government (not neighbors) provides food to the hungry, and often vilifies and regulates out of business those who would, as individuals, provide sustenance to the needy. Government has assumed the role of “Robin Hood,” as it takes from the rich (rich being defined as all of us who work for a living) and gives to the poor (after wasting much of what they have stolen on bureaucracy, graft, and other governmental necessities). Government ‘protects’ us from danger by demeaning and molesting us at airports and train stations, but at the same time endeavors to take away our guns so we can no longer protect ourselves.

Liberals desperately want to do virtually everything for us. They are convinced that ‘we the people’ are simply not bright enough to live our lives safely and fully in the modern age, so they feel obligated to restrict our movements, our freedoms, and our choices in a possibly well intended effort to protect us from…well…ourselves. At the same time, they want to completely eliminate our ability to help ourselves or help our neighbors accomplish anything! That is the single issue of the November elections! Do Americans become the hapless, helpless, compliant drones of a faceless government? Do we toss away the Constitution for which our forefathers fought and died in favor of bowing to the uncaring minions of a bureaucracy that wants only to stay in power?

Or do we vote for freedom, for personal responsibility, for the American way of life? Do we vote for the right to help those in need on our own terms? Do we vote for human goodness or government regulation? Do we vote for a continuation of the vision of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison or do we lose our nation to the vision of Marx, Lenin, and Chairman Mao?

That is the choice, and it is a pretty clear one. I started out this column stressing the importance of swing state votes. I’ll close by imploring you to call, write, email, and otherwise assail your friends and family in those swing states and insisting that they vote for the Constitution, for American freedom. Simply put, vote Republican. The GOP candidates are not perfect, and don’t have all the answers, but except for a very few, they believe in the American people and the Constitution of the United States.

I truly believe that the average Democrat voter in the next election has no idea that he or she is voting for an agenda that is completely un-American, anti-Constitution, and downright Marxist in origin. I truly believe that most of those Democrat voters are good Americans who have been duped by a slick message and a ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude.

I just as truly believe that many of those Democrats will not listen to reason or argument on their position…but some of them will. “Some” will be all we need in the swing states to swing the vote, like Roger Miller’s pendulum, to the side of the equation that represents the American way of life.

It’s time to go to work. As Casey Stengel once said to Yogi Berra, “Swing away!”