Kickass Reagan Quotes: Communism Edition

I've mentioned before how one of the Gipper's greatest talents was his innate ability to communicate big, complex ideas in simple terms that Joe Sixpack could relate to. An example would be his knack for making a complete mockery of socialism and everything it stands for in short, bite-size jokes that would powerfully resonate with audiences in both the U.S. and the Soviet bloc. With Castro stepping down last month I thought it would be a good time to post this:

For Calvaryf@n

In the words of Al Gore, "the debate is over." Cadet baseball, playing without any of its seniors, beat the Cavaliers 10-7 earlier today. We are running out of things to beat ya'll in this year. It's starting to get boring.

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Excellent, excellent job by ABC's Charles Gibson in asking this question at Wednesday night's debate (you only need to watch the first 3 minutes or so of this clip to see what I mean). Unfortunately, Obama resorts to a drawn-out non-answer that proves he doesn't really understand or care about how the Laffer Curve works; instead, he just wants to "soak the rich," even if it lowers tax revenues, because it feels "fair."

But Gibson takes him to task and states the question a second time after he fails to answer it, which is quite shocking. As much as I hate the MSM's constant dumbed-down, class warfare portrayal of economic issues, ABC did an exceptional job Wednesday night.

Seven Years Ago

Benedictine's Junior/Senior Prom was held this past Satueday at the Hyatt. It's hard to believe that was us seven years ago.

So young...so innocent.

2001 Junior/Senior Prom
Location: Marriott Riverfront
Theme: After Midnight
Post Party: Tybee Straits

Feel free to post what you remember from that glorious night.

McCain Joins Bailout Bandwagon

Hillary/Obama: "We think the gov't should be able to violate contract law, rescind voluntary agreements made by consenting adults, coerce banks to lend at rates they otherwise wouldn't, and use taxpayer money to further subsidize stupidity."

McCain: "Don't Worry!! Me too!!"

I can't wait to not vote for this man.

They're Getting Closer

Would You Rather

Would you rather:

BC start accepting girls as students and have football moved to single A

or

Calvary become the Savannah football powerhouse for the next 50 years and you have a stepbrother as their star quarterback to start off that historic run?

Why I Dislike John McCain

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm no John McCain fan, and one of the basic reasons for this is that I do not consider McCain to be conservative. But this may frustrate some readers because "conservative" is a word that gets tossed around a lot by a lot of different people. Just what exactly does it mean? Obviously, everybody interprets the word differently, so I will attempt to better explain why I am turned off my McCain's candidacy instead of simply resorting to obscure labels and categories.

Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were limited-government conservatives. In other words, they were Republicans because they were inherently skeptical of the federal government's ability to plan the economy and solve all of society's problems. Instead, they believed individuals could better plan their own lives themselves, and that a large welfare state created more problems than it solved. They saw a large, powerful, expanding bureaucracy (whether it be at home in Washington or abroad in Moscow) as a threat to individual freedom and prosperity. They subscribed to the belief that "a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have," and their mantra was individual liberty consistent with transcendent order. We could also refer to these types as "leave us alone" conservatives.

McCain, on the other hand, is what we may consider a "national greatness" conservative. In other words, he is Republican because he's a hawk with an astounding war record who made the most honorable of sacrifices for his country during Vietnam, which I have the deepest respect for. He loves this country more than anything else in the world, and this is no doubt a reflection of his impeccable moral character. But this unfortunately leads to his biggest flaw: his long-held, deep-rooted belief that greatness can only be achieved through some great "crusade" that we all have to fight for, some overarching cause that we're all in together, and fulfilling this overarching duty is what makes people decent and good Americans. For example, in a speech the other day he said he's discovered that "nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause that encompasses you but is not defined by your existence alone," and that "there is no honor or happiness in just being strong enough to be left alone." He's always quick to remind us that he served the country "not for profit, but for patriotism."

So unlike Goldwater or Reagan, the maximum goal for McCain isn't individual liberty, but is instead duty, sacrifice, and moral righteousness instigated by the same bureacracy Goldwater and Reagan so vociferously opposed. This is what drives McCain, and whether it's regulating baseball, curtailing campaign finance, fighting climate change, or lambasting hedge funds, it's all about the "duty" politicians and Americans have to "step in," join the "cause," and "do the 'right' thing," which ultimately translates into a political philosophy that is not only inconsistent with traditional conservatism, but often stands directly antithetical to it.

For more on this, check out Prof. Bainbridge's recent post on the topic, which breaks things down a little more elaborately with more direct quotes and analysis.