OF COURSE YOU REALIZE, THIS MEANS WAR!

When I was growing up, I enjoyed watching cartoons.  Bugs Bunny was amongst my favorites.  One of his silly sayings, I still remember well.

Of course you realize, this means war!

Here he is saying it in the video below.

In the full cartoon, here, we see the reason for Bugs Bunny‘s conflict with the magician.  The magician, advertising his show, tries to post a sign over the entrance to Bugs Bunny‘s home.  When Bugs Bunny righteously objects, the magician rudely slams a pie into his face.  Thus the magician precipitates Bugs Bunny‘s grand and riotous ridicule.

As good art does, the cartoon imitates life.  Remember when you were a child.  Didn’t we all imagine ourselves making the fool of a prideful and pompous ass?  Don’t we still do so?  Yet who exactly is this prideful and pompous ass?  Is it someone else, or is it each and every one of us?

To what extent does each of us respect the rights of others?  When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton is reported to have said, “because that’s where the money is” (from here).  How easy and convenient it can be to just take what we want!   However, there is more to it than that.  Sutton enjoyed robbing banks!  Can you imagine the thrill Sutton felt when he “proved” his manhood by robbing a seemingly impregnable bank?

Then imagine the thrill our political leaders experience when they rule over the rest of us.  What a grand experience it must be to be the patron.  What if important people and powerful people came to you to get a new law passed?  When influential and important men want to change the character of a park, a building, a town, a state, or an entire industry, what if they came to you?

For the sake a thrill, Sutton frightened his fellow citizens and took their money.  He made that thrill his god.  He honored no morality or law that stood in his way.  What do our political leaders honor?   Do they honor anything that stands in their way?  If you ask a politician why he wants to raise taxes on the People,  what will he say?  Will he honestly answer, “because that’s where the money is.” Or is he more likely to ignore the question?   Will he instead explain how utterly important it is to “invest” in the program he wants?   Will he use the end to justify the means?

Because he engaged in simple and straightforward theft, Willie Sutton went to prison.  When our politicians rob Peter to pay Paul, they too steal.  In fact, they make us all complicit in their cunning and clever crimes.  Yet we do not condemn the legalization of their thievery.  We shrug.  We wonder:  how can we beat city hall?  Then in admiration we give the perpetrators a title, Honorable, and we applaud their “accomplishments.”  And we hope we will receive a small portion of their ill-gotten gains.

Eventually, however, Peter must complain.  At some point, in their insatiable quest for thrills, power, and pride, our political leaders must make Peter afraid.  What then will Peter say?  Will he repeat Bugs Bunny‘s words?

Of course you realize, this means war!

Laughable?  Perhaps, but not so long ago it happened here in this land.  Because of their pride, southern Whites started the American Civil War.  When men enslave others, that is an act of pride.  For the slaver, slavery is also a thrill.  There is no real economic benefit from slavery, but there is the thrill of bending another to our godlike will.

When southern Whites used every political and legal trick they could find to force slavery on the North, that too was an act of pride — and a thrill.  Southern Whites tried to corrupt even the Constitution, but the North refused to become complicit in slavery and fought back.  Nonetheless, southern Whites persisted ferociously in their stubborn pride.  So the war did not end until Northern armies started burning homes and fields across the South.  Even then, southern Whites would not accept Blacks as equals.  And oddly, neither would most northern Whites.

If we want peace, there is only one way.  Each of us must respect the God-endowed rights of our fellows.  We cannot regard government as a ready tool suitable for imposing our own dreams and ambitions on others.   We must remember that our nation is made up of individual people, that God gave each of us the right to retain and live by our own beliefs and ambitions.   If we respect the rights that God gave each of us, then we will begin to understand how government can serve us best.  Only government provides us the means to protect our rights from each others predatory desires.

Other Views

In this post, Moon-howler, an ANTI-BVBL poster, explains that he cannot understand why one of our local leaders, Corey Stewart, does not become excitedly ecstatic at the prospect of spending other people’s money.

Below the Beltway discovers a rare bit of sanity in the New York Times here.

Crystal Clear Conservative provides a link to an amusing interpretation of HR 3200 here.

Isophorone observes that a Congressman Gerry Connolly has a knack for appropriate imagery here.

Smashed Mouth Politics provides a remarkably concise explanation of how Cash For Clunkers works here.

Here the Richmond Democrat references a post by Nate Silver.  The focus is numbers, not ethics.  For The Richmond Democrat, government is about results, that is, income redistribution.  Here the Richmond Democrat talks about the things he wants from government.   The Richmond Democrat wants government to rob Peter to pay Paul (He just wants to be Paul.).

What do Canadians think of government-run health care?  The right-wing liberal provides a link to a short, but funny video featuring an embarrassed Paul Krugman here.

Blue Virginia lauds the same Paul Krugman here.  Krugman argues that government intervention prevented Great Depression II.  That is doubtful.  What is certain is that Krugman’s advocacy makes him popular in big government circles.