Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups


NoVaMoMe 2024: 06/08/2024
Arlington, VA
Registration Is Open!


Texas MoMe 2024: 10/18/2024-10/19/2024 Corsicana,TX
Contact Ben Had for info





















« Hispanics Are "Natural Conservatives", They Just Prefer Bigger Government. | Main | BBC: US Shale Oil Supply Shock Shifts Global Power Balance »
May 15, 2013

Charles C. W. Cooke On The Virtue Of Political Paranoia

Cooke (follow him on Twitter) has been a revelation at National Review. (link added/fixed thanks to CBD)

On May 5, Barack Obama shamefully told graduating students at Ohio State University: Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.

This statement is telling. Contrary to the manner in which both Al Gore and President Obama customarily use the term, “self-rule” does not in fact describe a process by which the citizen submits himself to the state and, in return, is given occasion to cast a vote on how the government may run the more significant parts of his life. Instead, “self-rule” denotes a system in which a free man may maintain control over the lion’s share of his decisions while maintaining some say over the government’s conduct in those few areas where it is necessary for government to operate.

...

Why, you might ask, do I use “paranoia,” instead of the more palatable “skepticism”? Paranoia, after all, is an involuntary reaction — less of a tendency to “wait and see” than a recipe for constant fear. I will tell you why: because reflexive suspicion of government power is a magnificent and virtuous tendency, and one that should be the starting point of all political conversation in a free republic.

Go. Read it all.

Sad that it takes a young man (I think he's in his mid-20s) from the United Kingdom to remind, or more worryingly educate for the first time, so many Americans of their birthright of freedom.

In a better world, Cooke would be at the Washington Post and Ezra "The Constitution is old" Klein would be back at Pandagon (or whatever lefty swamp he emerged from).

By the way, you know who all this talk of tyranny and government overreach benefits? This guy.

Via Monty, Jonah Goldberg takes issue with Cooke's defense of the word "paranoia". I don't know. It's a polemic. A little license is allowed.

Via RD (blogging is a team effort) Cooke responds to Goldberg.


digg this
posted by DrewM. at 11:26 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
JackStraw: "This does not sound good. @rawsalerts Ԇ ..."

SFGoth: "In 2010 or so, I used miles to fly biz on United ( ..."

"Perfessor" Squirrel: "Looks like three godless Chinese commies will be l ..."

Vice President of Doing Odd Things in General: "What if you were hiring a Director Of Doing Weird ..."

Cannibal Bob: "Is there a hunting season for kangaroos. ..."

The copperhead: "Not the shovel! ..."

john: "There is only one way to commit to war. War is he ..."

Marcus T: "79 and windy in South Texas. Nice. ..."

Moron Robbie - feminism took women from not sweating to tits and vagina deodorant in a generation : "Wait, what's Pixy doing here? It's 3am on Tuesday ..."

Jukin the Deplorable: "Bring back sheriff Joe’s desert tent jails f ..."

A Copperhead: "Ow ..."

Pixy Misa: "Speaking of Sydney and bats, there are a [i]lot[/i ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64