Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell are double teaming the electorate.
Heres’ the opener from Walter Williams’ column this week, Changing America.
Dr. Thomas Sowell, in “Dismantling America,” said in reference to President Obama, “That such an administration could be elected in the first place, headed by a man whose only qualifications to be president of the United States at a dangerous time in the history of the world were rhetoric, style and symbolism — and whose animus against the values and institutions of America had been demonstrated repeatedly over a period of decades beforehand — speaks volumes about the inadequacies of our educational system and the degeneration of our culture.” Obama is by no means unique; his characteristics are shared by other Americans, but what is unique is that no other time in our history would such a person been elected president. That says a lot about the degeneration of our culture, values, thinking abilities and acceptance of what’s no less than tyranny.
And the closer:
Fighting government intrusion into our lives is becoming increasingly difficult for at least two reasons. The first reason is that educators at the primary, secondary and university levels have been successful in teaching our youngsters to despise the values of our Constitution and the founders of our nation — “those dead, old, racist white men.” Their success in that arena might explain why educators have been unable to get our youngsters to read, write and compute on a level comparable with other developed nations; they are too busy proselytizing students.
I was disappointed with both tickets in the last presidential election. I didn’t think any of the candidates were yet qualified for the highest offices. When I pointed that out to folks, I got an assortment of non-sense responses.
One popular response: “He ran a great campaign.” That’s a qualification for President? Would you hire a head football coach for the NFL based solely on a good job interview?
Another popular response: “I want an articulate President.” To which I’d respond, can you listen to his last speech and explain what he said? I could rarely make out what he was saying. Everybody was in awe of his style, not his substance.
Maybe that ties back to Williams’ comment about our education system. We can no longer differentiate between style and substance. Don’t get me wrong, not many politicians actually deliver much substance. But that’s our fault. We have such low expectations of them.
More common responses: “He seems like a good guy. I’d like to have a beer with him.” That’s how you choose your President? In that case, most of my buddies should be President! Again, what are we learning in our education system? The sad thing is that a lot of people would let that pass as an acceptable answer, when they should let that person know that he should not vote until he he becomes an adult.
Here’s a short list of what I would like to know when considering who to vote for President:
- What’s their view on role of government and how does that fit with the Constitution? It’s amazing to me that we let people in office when we’re not entirely clear on this.
- What does freedom mean? Of the two following statements, which best matches their view of freedom? The ability for individuals to make decisions that suit their needs and preferences…
- …free of coercion from others.
- …free of negative consequences that might result from such.
- What do they think of the Constitution? What is its purpose?
- What is the process for changing the Constitution from it’s original intent?
- What actions have they taken in the past that support or contradict their stated views?
- What makes for a good federal judge and Supreme Court justice?
- What does “uphold the Constitution” in their oath of office mean to them?
- Where does the candidate think government has overstepped it’s boundaries in the past?
- What do they like about the U.S. and dislike about it?
- Why do they think Rome fell?
- How have they led in the past against politically unpopular things?
- What do they think about capitalism? Property rights?
- Why do they think the U.S. is the wealthiest country ever?
Those are a few of the questions I would like to know the answer to before casting my ballot.
Related articles
- Sowell on Obama (economicnoise.com)
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