David

Karki

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November 3, 2008

Democrats Decry Socialism Label: Methinks They Doth Protest Too Much

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” – Queen Gertrude, Hamlet, Act III, Scene II

Gertrude says this to Hamlet upon seeing the Player Queen insist to the Player King that she could never remarry after her husband's death. But Gertrude (whom the Player Queen is portraying) already has remarried following the death of Hamlet's father, and therefore the affirmation of loyalty rings entirely hollow, actually losing credibility the more insistent it gets.

So too it is with Democratic howls of supposed outrage at their positions being compared to or described as Marxism, socialism or anti-American. If these are such calumnies, and so obviously wrong, then the best and simplest course of action would be to quickly explain why and put the whole thing to rest, once and for all, right then and there.

But this is never what happens. Instead they respond emotionally, determined to put the conservative or Republican who made the comparison on the defensive, and distract from the substance of the accusation. It's a neat trick of avoidance as far as it goes as a debate tactic, but it also reveals that Democrats are unwilling to answer the question directly, which suggests that they feel doing so would be damaging to them.

And the only reason for it to be damaging is if there is a substantial amount of truth to the claim.

Fact is, if words mean specific things that cannot be changed on a whim (which is a debatable thing with Democrats; witness President Clinton re-defining “sex” and “is,” not to mention legions of liberal judges reading into texts what isn't there but which they wish were), then there is very much a substantial overlap between the standard policy platform of the left and what we spent 45 years of a Cold War fighting to defeat.

This isn't anything new. Liberals went nuts when President Reagan described the Soviet Union as an “evil empire,” even though it was patently obvious that this was an accurate description. And that didn't mean every single Russian was personally evil, of course, but that the political and economic system practiced there, which they were trying to spread to any place it would somehow take root, was evil.

Why? Because it necessarily infringed upon the inalienable Creator-endowed rights of those people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it's to secure those rights that government is instituted among men. Not some supposed right to material well-being (which is an impossibility, as the antecedent of government “provision” for one is always government seizing from another), but simply to live, be free and make the most of your short time in this world.

You see, we have an objective measure of what is anti-American: Our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These set forth the principles upon which our nation is based, and legally codify them, respectively. If someone's policy ideas, when evaluated against these documents, run afoul of the clear meaning of the language therein, then out the ideas go.

And if someone doesn't like what these documents create, they are free to start their own nation. Would that they had the integrity of the founders, and could lay out their intentions and reasons as candidly, then stake their lives, fortunes and sacred honor thereon.

But for those who cannot even answer a question directly, I rather doubt they have the honor, sacred or otherwise, to stop undermining (if not overthrowing) a nation from within. The last thing they want is to be exposed to the bright light of truth. They didn't like it when Reagan did it, and they don't like it when it happens now.

For the sake of our nation, I can only pray that enough of us see this truth before we make an irreversible and very likely fatal error tomorrow. I close with a quote from another situation in which a group of honorable men were seemingly outnumbered, yet won the day by making one last stand for all they believed in:

"Men of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fail . . .. when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship . . . but it is not this day. An hour of wounds and shattered shields when all hope comes crashing down, but it is NOT THIS DAY! This day, we fight!! For all that you hold dear, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!! " – Aragorn, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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