Random Thoughts for October, 2012
Robert A. Hall
Are you better off today than you were four years ago? For most Americans, the answer is no, though the candidates argue about who is responsible. The real question is, Will you be better off in four years than you are now? I fear the answer to that is also “No!” But I think things will get far worse under Obama than Romney.
The polling trends suggest that the scare tactic of “Republicans are going to take away your government goodies” is working. If the country votes for more dependency and bigger government, our grandchildren will lose everything. Democracy is only fit for a moral and self-reliant people, which we may no longer be.
Outlaw Blasphemy? Fine. Since Christians consider many things in the Qur'an to be blasphemy, we'll ban it. Happy now? Of course, to outlaw blasphemy as the Muslims want, we'd have to ban the Bible, because they consider the claim that God had a son to be blasphemy.
You forget the Norm Thompson Rule at your peril. Norm, a wise selectman in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, once asked me if I wanted to know his theory of politics. Since he’d been elected to public office several times, and I was just starting my first campaign, I said sure. “I want a fellow to be for me,” Norm said. “If he won’t be for me, I want him neutral. But if he has to be against me, I don’t want him mad at me—he’ll work twice as hard and give twice as much money if he’s mad!” I carved it in stone on my heart.
