We Are Now A Center-Left Country

Many conservatives have held that we are, deep down where it counts, a center-right country. Others argue that we drifted left of center as long ago as FDR. The election this week settled the issue: the country - very narrowly - voted for more government, more regulation, more war on drugs, and national health care. In other words, we took one step further towards becoming Europe, even as Europe struggles to shed the costly burden of socialism and become more like the USA of old.

The lasting damage will be twofold: First, ObamaCare will be so firmly entrenched that it'll be impossible to repeal, which will reduce both the quality and availability of health care and make us a poorer nation in the process. Second, Dear Leader and the Democrat-dominated Congress will in all likelihood appoint one or more justices to the Supreme Court, thus tilting that body back to the left for the foreseeable future.

Well, the news isn't all bad. Conservatives made gains in both the House and in state governorships. The youth vote tended to be more to the right, which bodes well for the future. A couple of states legalized (at least to some extent) marijuana use, which is a step in the direction of personal liberty. Those are signs that we might well hang on for some time. But the moochers now out-number (or at least out-vote) the producers, so decline and fall is now inevitable. A Romney/Ryan victory would have delayed that decline; Obama's victory will accelerate it. Southern Man was hoping for a four or even eight-year reprieve (yes, he was dreaming of Paul Ryan for president in 2016) and additional time to prepare; he's not going to get it. The markets woke up, saw their shadow, and decided to go to sleep; they've have already fallen enough to wipe out all the gains his retirement account had accumulated over the year. And it's not going to get better.

In a way it's almost good; at least Dear Leader won't be able to blame the "last four years" on his troubles, which will be considerable. It will be a lot of fun to watch. As one of my fellow bloggers often says, empires in decline generate a lot of excessive and even lavish behavior (you can bet that the inauguration will be a billion-dollar love fest), so join 'em if you can (Southern Man is even now preparing for his next career as a government bureaucrat), and enjoy it!