Friday, September 10, 2004

Post 2: The POTUS Comes to Town

Yes, that's right. George W. Bush himself came to good ol' Huntington, WV today. As you know from my previous message, I'm a conservative so I was going to vote for President Bush anyway, but I was struck by his charisma today. I'd always thought the President was likeable, but I didn't realize that he had such a good presence in person. I may have been affected by a very rah-rah partisan crowd, but I thoroughly enjoyed Bush's speech. Don't worry, though, I made sure to keep my head so I could analyze what he said at least a little.

I must say I'm a fan of some of the 'compassionate conservative' policies the President has pursued. I think it has become trendy register Republican but call yourself 'libertarian,' and frankly I think that's a shame. Too many of the libertarians I know are either isolationists or they don't care about the problems we face in our culture. For instance, many libertarians do not want to restrict abortion or gay marriage through government action. Personally, I think that's a mistake. This whole 'live and let live' mentality is naive. Humans are communal beings, and what one does will necessarily affect those close to him/her. From there it moves on like ripples in a pond.

I know what you're thinking. 'Nice slippery slope argument, Josh!' Maybe it is a slippery slope argument, but I think negative consequences will certainly follow if both abortion (and other related things, like ESCR) gay marriage are legal. Leaving things as they are is tantamount to government approval, and that sews dangerous seeds. I fear the fruit we reap will be terrible. I'm comfortable using the 'slippery slope' in this instance.

Phew. Only two posts and already I've gone off on a tangent. I'll cut this one off before it gets too terribly long. Thanks for reading.

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