Congratulations to Senator Obama, and in fact, to us all….

My limited government leanings steered me clear of any chance I would vote for Senator Obama.  With statements like “Universal” this and “Universal” that and “spread the wealth around”, and that paying taxes is both “Patriotic” as well as a matter of “fairness”, it was a bad fit.  But the Cult of Personality has spoken and Obama is now “Our President” as he so eloquently promised during his victory speech.  So it is with the spirit of moving America forward that I offer my perspective on this Historic election.

The Election of Obama is the justification of everything our country was founded on and the repudiation of many of the principles that Obama himself has expressed during his campaign.  We founded this country with the promise that the opportunities would be ours’ to create and master, not the government’s to give out.  A country that became the Beacon of Liberty the world over with the promise that all were welcome, all were equal, and all had a chance to make their own way. The American Dream says that Social mobility is an expected result of the system.  Our immigration policy asked for “…your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.  And yet we are a country still heavy with the wounds of racism and slavery; the latter of which was the clearest lapse of judgment by some of the very people who promised that “…all men are created equal”.  How important was slavery in this country?  We killed 620,000 Americans in the effort to end it while preserving our Union–a number that has yet to be matched by any other war we’ve fought in (WWII was closest with close to 420,000 Americans killed).

We have just elected by a respectable majority a man who is widely considered “black” (actually the label “African-American” truly applies here) and is, in truth, of mixed heritage…racism be damned.  He is the first generation son of an immigrant–a dubious label since his father eventually left the US to return to Kenya, but an immigrant nonetheless.  His upbringing was meager, making his rise to the top all the more of a compelling “rags-to-riches” story.  If the doubters and naysayers of modern America were right, this man never had a chance.  And yet here we are.  This election is proof of the American Dream and that it still exists for anyone who wants it.

Obama has stated on several occasions that he believes in the ideology that the poor in this country are somehow disadvantaged by outside forces they can’t control rather than their own choices and decisions and may even buy into the Marxist principle that the poor are exploited and oppressed by the rich (“the poor get poorer and the rich get richer”).  He has said that taking money from people who are successful and giving it to people who aren’t is a matter of “fairness”.  And yet his own story, even as he tells it, belies this very idea.  And if he could do it why can’t anyone?  And if they can’t do it, maybe no amount of “fairness” is going to change that situation for them.  Giving fish and feeing for a day versus teaching to fish and all that.  If he’s not an elitist, how could he not believe that others will be inspired by his example and follow it without government assistence/intervention?

Obama invoked the Founding of our country in his speech tonight.  Let’s see how well he actually understands the Founding principles going forward.

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”
-Thomas Jefferson

Tags: Election 2008, Obama, politics, social mobility, Thomas Jefferson