Political Compromises

The continued welfare-warfare state was on display this week, as the Democrat-controlled Congress agreed on a compromise piece of legislation designed to "shield telecommunications companies from privacy lawsuits."

As reported in the Washington Post, "The agreement extends the government's ability to eavesdrop on espionage and terrorism suspects while effectively providing a legal escape hatch for ... telecom firms."

One might wonder how the Democrat majority could be so complicit in the ever growing surveillance state, even as they bask in their newfound majority status. This only two years after they regained control of Congress due largely to their perceived antiwar stance. Needless to say, anyone who thought the Democrats would end the war and halt the Bush administration's consolidation of executive power surely must feel like they got the proverbial wool pulled over their eyes.

Well, in a classic bit of political compromise, and a sure sign that the welfare-warfare state is alive and doing just fine, thank you, “the White House agreed to Democrat[] demands for domestic spending additions to an emergency war funding bill.” That’s right, as long as Democrats get their way on domestic goodies the administration can go ahead with its surveillance program.

And so our long descent from republic to empire to history’s squandered opportunity continues, as the war goes on, our debt piles up, our personal wealth shrinks due to institutionalized inflation, and our freedoms erode to the point of triviality – all in the name of compromise.

To paraphrase a famous quote: in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.

Or to put it more bluntly, in the words of H.L. Mencken: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

Simply stated: compromise is for suckers.