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发帖数: 29846 | 1 The Republican vice-presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan, is the
Democrats’ political version of the Antichrist. He believes in self-
reliance; the Left believes in reliance on the state. His moral values are
shaped by religion (Catholicism); the Left is frightened by religious
Christian politicians (and athletes, and members of the armed forces, and
talk-show hosts, and, for that matter, clergy). He believes in individualism
; the Left believes in collectivism. He believes in small government and
powerful citizens; the Left believes in large government and dependent
citizens.
Nevertheless, the Democratic party claims to be overjoyed at his selection
as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
The Democrats’ glee — even if exaggerated — emanates from their belief
that Americans will reject Ryan’s economic and social plans to reduce the
American debt, unleash private economic growth (the only type there is), and
reform unsustainable government programs such as Medicare.
Democrats believe that if Americans perceive that their entitlements may be
affected — even if only beginning a decade from now, and even if the
American debt is thereby cut by one-third, and even if they, as well as the
country, will ultimately benefit — so many Americans have become so used to
government benefits, the Republicans stand little chance of winning the
upcoming elections.
In other words, and tragically, the Left and Democrats are relying on the
decline of character that left-wing policies have produced (not only here
but in Latin America, Europe, and everywhere else). The Democrats are hoping
that older Americans are (irrationally) frightened by Medicare reform even
though it will not affect them, and that younger Americans will likewise
reject it because they are counting on receiving Medicare as it now exists.
Left-wing social policies are predicated on giving more and more Americans
more and more benefits and demanding less and less from them.
The Left’s party, the Democratic party, seeks to have the state pay for
Americans’ health care, give record numbers of Americans food stamps (now
in a form similar to ATM and credit cards so that no stigma be involved),
provide their children with school meals, and provide women with child care
and contraceptives, while enabling more and more Americans to pay no federal
taxes to pay for any of these benefits.
The negative impact these policies have had on the character of Americans is
indisputable. Every parent — and probably almost every adult who is not a
parent — knows what giving children things they have not earned, and
demanding nothing from them in return, produces: spoiled children.
Left-wing, Democratic-party policies have negatively impacted the American
character in another way. Whenever possible, the Left and the Democrats have
de-stigmatized irresponsible behavior.
One example is women who give birth to and raise children without fathers in
their children’s lives. This past Sunday’s New York Times opinion section
featured another attack on those who stigmatize out-of-wedlock birth and
single motherhood.
Another example is the cultural Left’s glorification of graffiti — once
regarded as vandalism of public and private property — as “street art.”
A third example is how difficult the Democratic party and the left-wing
education establishment have made it for teachers and principals to
discipline disruptive and foul-mouthed students. The Department of Education
has just declared education the “civil rights issue of our generation”
because black students are disproportionately suspended and otherwise
punished by school officials. The effect? Black young people who abuse their
teachers and schools feel empowered to continue their antisocial behavior.
At the same time, the Left works to weaken the single most effective device
for character-building in American history: Judeo-Christian religions.
Increasingly the American motto “In God We Trust” has been replaced by “
In Government We Trust” and “In Experts We Trust.”
Since the Democrats could not win any national election with the votes of
liberals alone — according to Gallup, self-described liberals constitute
just 21 percent of the electorate — the great question of the 2012 American
presidential election is this: Have the Left and Democratic party
sufficiently weakened the character of enough Americans to enable the
demonization of Paul Ryan to lead Barack Obama to victory?
I don’t believe so. But given the enormity of the national debt incurred by
this administration, its spectacular failure to improve the nation’s
economy, and its commitment to weakening American defense, if there were a
better explanation for a Democratic victory, I would welcome it.
— Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated columnist and radio talk-show host
, is author of Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to
Triumph. He may be contacted through his website, dennisprager.com. |
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