What this Election is All About, and the Next One
The President has introduced policies since he came into office that I have rightfully lambasted, and at the end of the day, the policies are what count (as I mentioned the other day). But almost rising to the same level of danger as the policies has been the general rhetoric spewing from this administration. The underlying attitude has not been merely implicit; in many cases it has been explicit. And what I refer to is an attitude that is sickening in its attitude towards free markets, business, growth, success, and ambition. It is not a small deal. It is the end of the Republic if not defeated. And so for that reason, I thought this excerpt from a Byron York interview with the next Senator from the great state of Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, was absolutely inspirational.
<< But now he's squarely in the public eye. And he's using his unlikely prominence to pursue a campaign based on a few core values. "This is not my life's ambition, not by a long shot," he tells the Chamber. "But the fact is, I'm 55 years old. I grew up in America that valued hard work, that celebrated success. Remember that? We weren't demonizing doctors. We were putting them up on a pedestal. We were telling our kids, 'Look at that person, emulate them.' Work hard, this is the land of opportunity, you can be anything you want to be. And unfortunately in my lifetime, what I have witnessed has been a very slow but sure drift, and I would argue in the last 18 months just a lurch, toward a culture of entitlement and dependency. It's not an America I recognize. It's not an America that works."
"America is exceptional, and that's being squandered," Johnson concludes. "So if there's one little phrase that tells you why I chose this path, I decided to run for the U.S. Senate because I think we're losing America. I don't think that's overdramatic. I don't think I'm overstating the case. And I'm just a guy from Oshkosh, a husband and a father. We're a group of people who refuse, absolutely refuse, to let America go without a knock-down, drag-out fight." >>