The Essence of Conservatism

Ahem, this has absolutely nothing to do with bikes. But I'm running the show, so here we go.

While I wasn't expecting to find a lot of common ground with the McCain campaign, though I do agree that there should be much more focus on nuclear power, his latest line of attack on Obama is especially perplexing. This whole Bill Ayers guilt-by-association thing strikes me as quite odd. Bill Ayers life appears to be something that a true (intellectual) conservative would hold as an example of the true good that can emerge when people face the consequences of past actions, reevaluate their life and dedicate their energies and talents to a productive cause. All without any assistance from government or social safety net.

From what I can gather, the core belief of conservatism is that a man left to himself will better achieve his full potential (intellectually, economically, emotionally or otherwise) when unencumbered by governmental or societal influence.

So here we have a man, Bill Ayers, who was involved in some very unfortunate episode during a very tumultuous time. His behavior was so bad that he had to go into hiding for over twenty years.

After that time in hiding, Ayers emerged as a tremendous source for good as a social justice advocate, and distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He helped the mayor reorganize Chicago's school system, helped write a grant that won $50 million for the Chicago's schools and was even named Chicago's 'Citizen of the Year' in 1997.

So he did bad stuff, disappeared and without any assistance from 'the man' or 'the system' he got straight and now has a distinguished record of contributing immensely to the common good. Oh yeah, and he happened to host a fundraiser for an up-and-coming politician named Barack Obama, who was in elementary at the time Ayers's transgressions were committed.

Yes, Mr. McCain obviously has a very deep-rooted, visceral reaction to one of the most famous opponents of the Vietnam War. As a presidential candidate, HE ISN'T FIGHTING THE GODDAMN VIETNAM WAR. To stake his campaign on rehashing his problems with old war protesters seems misguided. Following this line of thought, McCain is either telling us that events that happened forty years ago are more important to him than those happening right now, or that his political platform has absolutely no intellectual foundation.

Never mind the fact that McCain spent the 60's graduating at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, and then crashing several planes paid for by American taxpayers.

Anyways, there's only one good choice for Prez, and I'm betting on a big party November 4. But there's also a Senate race here in Oregon that could be pretty close. Vote for Merkeley, too.

I'm gonna add more to this, but for now I'm going home.