Obama, you had them at "Change"

The final scene in the movie "Jerry McGuire" puts a repentant Tom Cruise in his living room with his on-screen wife, Rene Zellweger, explaining why he was wrong to leave her and why they should be together. He starts off by saying "Hello," and proceeds to give his observations of love and the world and how they tie together. She tells him to shut up, then says "You had me at 'Hello.'" They kiss and all is well with the McGuires.

It would have really sucked, though, if she didn't have the sense to actually listen to what he said after "Hello" and he had actually said something like "...I forgot my toothbrush." She would have felt pretty stupid trying to kiss him as he made a beeline for the bathroom.

It seems to me that many of Barack Obama's supporters are like Rene Z and have stopped listening to Obama ever since he uttered the "Change" mantra.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for change, and believe that it's long overdue in the halls of our government. Members of both parties have shown evidence of being corrupted absolutely by their absolute power. It seems that all politicians these days really have one goal: To win the next election. To that end, they don't...nay...can't have the best interests of their constituents in mind as they legislate. They gerrymander to minimize competition. They fear truth-telling because they know that it could provide fodder for a competitor's campaign ads in the next race. They change their positions for political expediency.

While I, too, feel the need for change, Obama is not the candidate to deliver it, and maybe 2008 is not the year for it to be delivered.

Why is Obama not the one? His ideas of change cut into the core of what this country has been about for the past 200+ years; they are downright dangerous to our Republic and your freedom. I'm not talking about his ideas on equal rights, or other discrete issues. I'm talking about his ideas on the size and role of government, his ideas on personal liberty, his ideas on the individual and society.

When it comes down to it, Obama feels that individual ambitions should be subservient to the collective needs of society. He feels that government should play a key role in directing the human resources of the country to address the needs of the society at large.

Obviously, he doesn't come right out and say this, and to be honest, I'm not sure if he even realizes exactly where the path he wants to take us on ends. When I listen to him speak, I really believe that he has the best interests of the American people at heart, and I believe that is what motivates him. I'm sure he thinks he has the solution to our woes.

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of keystrokes demonstrating to you that Obamas ideas boil down to simple socialism; there are plenty of other writers out there who have done that. (In fact, many of his supporters will even admit that it is socialism that he is after. I have seen many apologetic comments made by them, saying "hey, socialism isn't communism," as if to say "nothing to fear here.")

Rather, I want to try to convince you, in a few short paragraphs, why socialism isn't where this country ought to go.

Our Constitution is rather unique in all of the governments in history. It is succinct, and based around two basic concepts:

1. There are certain freedoms (rights) that all people are given. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are given not by government, but by their Creator (that is to say, they are just there). These basic rights provide for everything needed for a person to live and succeed in their life. These rights are, at their core, passionately individualistic.
2. Government is inherently corrupt and will try, however possible, to gain more power. Our forefathers were very distrustful of a powerful central government, and that is why the bulk of the Constitution was written in an effort to limit the ability of government to become more powerful. That is why there are three distinct branches of government and why those each of these branches are established so as to keep the others in check.

Healthcare is not a right. Education is not a right. A wage-paing job is not a right. A comfortable retirement is not a right.

Do you know why they are not rights given to us by our forefathers? Because our forefathers understood that whoever gives the right has control over how that right is exercised. Government control of this much of a person's life would be in direct conflict with the tone of individualism that frames our Constitution.

Take health care. Obama wants to establish a national health care system whereby the care is financed by the government. This is just fine until you consider that a health care plan offered by the government cannot possibly provide the breadth of options that an open marketplace of private insurers can. What does this mean for you? You're stuck with the options they give you. Your freedom to choose has now been curtailed. Of course, this is all being done for the benefit of the society as a whole. So where you sacrifice, others gain. You say you'd like an MRI for some shoulder pain you've been having? Sorry, the state doesn't think you really need that. Oh, and if you try to go and pay for it yourself, you'll be penalized for consuming resources that need to be used for the other, more needy members of society, as determined by the beauracracy.

Again, Obama won't tell you that this will be the eventual result. But such micromanagement and intrusiveness is the only possible result of a government that is trying to decide how limited resources (health care, in this case) can be used to serve society as a whole.

You want to go to medical school and be a neurosurgeon? Sorry, the government already has enough of those. But, you can be a pediatrician or an optomitrist, there aren't enough of those to fill the needs of society in the coming years.

There is no exception: More government is always harmful to the people. This may not be immediately obvious, but socialism is at the bottom of a very slippery slope. Under socialism, you can kiss your individual rights and ambitions goodbye. Your life becomes part of the collective and your choices are limited by the needs of the collective.

You don't get much more un-American than that. But that is the story that comes with an Obama presidency. Are you still listening? Or did he have you at "Change?"