Voting for McCain: A Faustian Bargain?

Point/Counterpoint - Many conservatives are beginning to suggest that "we conservatives" should all shut up and vote for McCain, because the alternative of Hillary or Obama is much worse. But for me the alternatives in this election will not be between Hillary/Obama and McCain, it will be between liberty and political death.

There are several reasons why conservatives and libertarians should not compromise on their principles and vote for a "big government conservative" over a big government liberal.

First of all, the conservative movement has never been about attaining power for the sake of power. This is the Democrats' raison d'etre. In fact the conservative movement is most concerned with limiting power. This is the essence behind Reagan's statement that "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."

Second, this election is bigger than McCain, bigger than Hillary, and even bigger than Obama. This election is about principles of government. Unfortunately, there is not a wit's difference among them as far as the future of this country goes. They all want more power, more control of our money, more government.

Third, as far as the Iraq War goes, we have our own country to worry about. Why go abroad fighting for a democracy where some people show the fundamental resolve to fight for it on its own, some are fanatical and unreceptive to liberal democratic ideas, and some are outright apathetic? We are in our own crisis of democracy and need to mobilize our resources here.

Fourth, the left and the right are cooperating together to build what will result in a communist police state. As controversial as this may sound, it is the inevitable conclusion of big government liberals cooperating with big government conservatives. The Left is busy implementing its Gramscian strategy of prepping the ground for communism via leftist universities, a MSM with a penchant for agit-prop, activist courts, and public school indoctrination. The Right is busy with its preoccupation with military Keynesianism, the adventurism abroad that justifies an outrageous Defense budget, and sheltering big corporations. These trends are occurring in the context of a materialistic, entertainment-obsessed culture that is at times politically apathetic and at times emotionally manipulated by the adept oratory of certain politicians.

One more bit of explanation lest the insinuation that the Democrats and the Republicans are strange bedfellows is taken to mean that their constituents want exactly the same thing. The issue of immigration is the real litmus test for this hypothesis. The Republicans think they are keeping the corporate gravy train coming by bringing illegal labor here, under their control. But this demographic most certainly will be controlled by Democrats via social handouts. As illegals,down the road, will inevitably asked to "save social security," medicare, medicaid etc. they will revolt. There will be a call for a 'Thermidorean reaction' by the right (the backlash against radicals in the French Revolution), and a call for "social justice" by the Left. An additional aggravator will be the deterioration of the dollar, inflation, and the relative decline of U.S. power in the world. There will be an isolationist "turn inward" that will combine with a strong inclination for social and economic control, the seeds for a fascist state - and this kind will most likely resemble a communist police state. Before one scoffs too harshly, examine the technology being implemented around you, the use of your social security number in ways contradictory to its original purposes, in other words, try to connect the dots on your own.

Lastly, my argument is that before we sacrifice conservatism on the altar of political expediency, and ultimately for the sake of others' democracies, we should do our utmost to recoup our voices in the electoral process. If McCain is allowed to get away with his endorsement of policies that erode U.S. sovereignty (McCain-Kennedy), limit First Amendment rights (McCain-Feingold), keep taxes high (he voted against the first Bush tax cut), lower U.S. security (he is against waterboarding and wants to give enemy combatants Constitutional rights), and other anti-conservative policies, then this country will continue to become more and more like the statist socialist European regime that is writhing in its own death throes as we speak.

I will not sacrifice the United States to gain Iraq.