Friday, April 13, 2012

Prudence, Politics, and Principles

If you haven't read Van's piece from Blogodidact, I recommend it.

He also refers to the lovely Dana Loesch's "It's Time to Galvanize" on Breitbart.  I recommend it, too.

If you were to go over to one of the premier conservative sites on the web, freerepublic.com, you can read that many of the folks there are going to go third party or not fill in the box for president on their ballots because Mitt Romney is a RINO.  Mitt Romney is not a conservative in the same sense that I am.

I go over to Free Republic most every day.  I've been registered there for about twelve years.  It is a good place to see the latest news headlines and articles.  It used to be that they had some good discussions and often very humorous comments, and it still does from time to time.

Early in the primary process, the man who owns the site, Jim Robinson, came out saying that he was absolutely not going to support Mitt Romney under any circumstances.  I think he did throw his support behind Newt Gingrich at one point when it looked like the Speaker might take off and take the lead.  Free Republic is Jim Robinson's property.  He is entitled to do as he pleases with it.  He is certainly entitled to vote or not vote as he sees fit.  Like many of us, Robinson was enamored of Sarah Palin.  Governor Palin is not running.  I liked Herman Cain -- and I still do, but Herman apparently likes the ladies too much.  I like Newt Gingrich's ideas, but I frankly find the man personally repulsive -- as I have stated here before.  I think Rick Santorum is probably a decent family man, but he doesn't strike me as a leader.  I like Rick Perry even though he is not particularly a good candidate -- I think he would have been a fairly decent president.  I like Ron Paul -- in fact, I agree with Ron Paul with regard to libertarian domestic policy.  I really don't think Paul is all that far off on foreign policy, either.  Regardless, Ron Paul is not going to be the nominee.

I am reduced to a very simple choice come November.  I can vote against Barack Obama, or I can vote for a principle.

In my personal life, I must adhere to and follow my guiding principles.  I should know what those are -- obedience to Christ, faithfulness to my marriage and family, loyalty, honesty, self-control, self-reliance, patience, generosity, and courage.  If I live by Christian principles and live in obedience to the Christ and the the Spirit, I do not need laws to keep me from hurting or cheating other people.

Conversely, I am not particularly interested in what other people do with their own time, their own money and resources, and their own bodies.  Provided, of course, I don't have to pay for anything stupid they might do, and so long as they do nothing to harm anyone else.  While I am a "social conservative" in terms of how I live and how I would like to see things operate in my community, I think that instilling values and upholding standards is the job of the family, the church, and the local community.  In other words, social conservativism as a top-down approach is misguided.  "Social progressivism", meanwhile, is just horribly wrong at all levels.   You guys at the top, just stay out of social issues. 

This country has taken nearly a hundred years to get into this mess.   It will take, probably, at least that long to straighten out -- barring catastrophic events and/or divine intervention.  Meanwhile, the principle in politics is to make the best of your choices.  Government is evil.  The best you can do is choose the lesser of evils.

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