The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

Gain with no pain

The rallying cry of liberalism of all stripes. You can get it all and pay nothing for it: no money, no discomfort, no stress. It is all there for the taking, we will give it to you because we are compassionate, we are kind, we care about people. As long as it doesn’t cause the least discomfort, it is a great situation. It really covers the gamut of issues:

In energy, the promise is that we can get lower gas prices and more full efficient vehicles and we can lower emissions, all with no out of pocket expenses. Maybe if the government steps in they can fix it, I mean who better to solve our energy problems than the same government that can’t do much of anything correctly. Every common sense suggestion is cast aside. To paraphrase a recent comment, the Democrats energy plan is: “Drive smaller care and wait for wind power”. We are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and alleged global warming? How about doing what France and other countries do an build nuclear power plants? Oooh, they are dangerous! Well the current method of electricity generation uses tons of fossil fuels and likely spits tons of pollutants into the air. Wind farms? Take up huge amounts of space, are inefficient and kills lots of birds. Solar power? Again, enormous amounts of space are required. Either we go nuclear in a big way, or we jack prices on energy up to force people to conserve or we continue plodding along the way we are. There is not a viable alternative in place. Even nuclear plants will take a long time to build, but like exploring for oil the fact that it will take a long time doesn’t mean we should never start. Every day we waste dickering about this or that keeps us from developing our own resources, and that will eventually drive us into third world status.

In national security, we can keep everyone safe by promising to prosecute terrorists to the fullest extent of the law and kowtowing to dictators of terror supporting and promoting states. If it takes a couple of minutes longer to get on a plane, even if some of the measures seem silly like taking your shoes off, that is a gross infringement of my civil rights! I have a right as an American to quick and painless boarding of an airplane. It is right there in the Constitution, right over here….maybe it is in this section….hmm, well anyway I am sure it is in there and if it ain’t it should be! To hear the average breathless liberal tell it, the gubmint is lurking outside of your bedroom window right now listening in to your most intimate conversations in the hope of getting some dirt on ya. I am pretty sure the government isn’t listening in on me because there is no reason to do so, and I frankly don’t much care if they do. The plain fact is that no one is getting arrested without cause in the middle of the night. The repression and tyranny, it just is not happening. Of 300,000,000 Americans, 299,990,000 are not under any suspicion and those that are under suspicion are that way for a reason. It is as if everyone has forgotten that just a few years ago we came under attack, not because of President Bush but because of freedom hating terrorists bent on dominating the world and converting people to Islam. That reality hasn’t changed, and while we are fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan now, if Obama gets elected and gets his way we will cut and run from those theaters, drop our national security defenses and open the door to a repeat on a grander scale of 9/11/01.

It boils down to rank dishonesty. The problem is that most Americans are a) grossly ignorant of basic economic facts and what is going on in the world (but they are all up on the latest news about Jessica Spears and her baby!) and b) have bought into the entitlement mentality that says that I am middle class and they guy that makes a dollar a year more than me is “rich” and not paying his fair share. When the envy mongers start up with their us versus them rhetoric, everyone wants everything right now, without waiting and without inconvenience. That sort of rhetoric will always sell to the pampered and pandered to, and that percentage of the population continues to grow. As long as I perceive I am getting something for nothing, I am happy. The city of Detroit is so litigious that it is little wonder businesses move out, every other commercial on daytime TV is for a law firm, get what you deserve, get what is owed to you. No one seems to care that when you do that sort of stuff, the costs get passed onto honest consumers in the form of higher premiums and prices. The whole subprime mess is equal parts banks making bad loans, the government subsidizing people buying houses they couldn’t afford and had no business buying and consumers who signed documents without reading them and bought houses they had no business buying.

Unfortunately this attitude has bled over into the church. Many churches who promote the conservative political causes nonetheless promote what amounts to liberal salvation theology. God hates Democrats, but you can sign a card and be saved! Abortion is murder but the sin of every person is paid for and Jesus is just beggin’ for you to come to Him and be saved by your decision! There is no talk of real sacrifice, of life change, of His Lordship over the lives of His sheep. There is no talk of sin and the very real penalty that was paid by Christ in laying down His life for His sheep.

Everyone wants salvation, but wants it on their terms. The old Savior but not Lord syndrome. I don’t feel like going to church, I mean He already saved me so why should I bother? Serving, evangelizing, GIVING?! Are you serious?! Christ is a big teddy bear and also gives us money and jobs and perfect health. Salvation is not good enough, the future perfection is inadequate. I want perfection, I want riches, I want pain free healthy living and I want it, I DEMAND IT! right now!

These people are shysters, selling snake oil and a bill of goods to people.