Democrats come in two varieties: rational and irrational. The rational make up the party’s base. They are the people voting for the candidate who promises them a larger portion of someone else’s paycheck. That is a reasonable act of self-interest, whether or not it’s good public policy.
Irrational Democrats are those who vote against their own best interests. For example, they vote for politicians who protect incompetent teachers, even though that means having to pay to send their own kids to private school. These Democrats cannot be swayed by logic or facts. They believe what they believe because they choose to believe it, not because data or history prove them right.
Irrational Democrats share their guiding philosophy with Jiminy Cricket.
“When you wish upon a star — makes no difference who you are — anything your heart desires will come to you.”
So, for instance, they believe that gun control will stop crime, even though that is soundly refuted by statistics. They believe that indolent individuals would be eager to work if only there were more jobs programs. No matter how many studies show that spending on education does not correlate with academic achievement (Washington, D.C., ranks third among cities on per-pupil spending; ’nuff said), they vote for the candidate who promises to spend more on education.
For a candidate such as Barack Obama, these people are ripe for the pickin’.
Although, by his own admission, he could not do as a community organizer what he promises to do as president, the irrational Democrats believe Obama when he promises to right all wrongs: fix our education and health care systems, turn our enemies into friends, and bring about world peace.
“If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme, when you wish upon a star as dreamers do….”
It escapes them that much of what Obama proposes has been tried and failed. For example, to turn criminals into upstanding citizens, he “will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society.” Such programs have been in place since they were recommended by the Katzenbach Commission in 1967. Has crime gone away?
Even more puzzling, Obama proposes laws already on the books.For the benefit of disabled Americans, “policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities.” Has Obama never heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act?
There is the ludicrous, such as his plan to spend $250 million per year to “facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies.” So…Obama wants to take more money from people with capital, who start businesses that create jobs, to fund a program to give capital for people to start businesses and create jobs.
There is the wasteful, such as Obama’s plan to spend $25 billion to stop states from making cutbacks in government jobs. By what logic should taxpayers have to continue funding positions that governors and state legislators deem superfluous?
Mostly, there is the unfair. In the name of “economic justice,” socialism confiscates money from people who earn and save and gives it to those who do not. Obama plans to redistribute not only wealth, but time. He will expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to require employers to give parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to attend their children’s school activities or “to address domestic violence or sexual assault.”
Why not require that employers give additional leave to workers who want to go home and walk their dogs? There is no fairness in giving three more vacation days to workers who happen to have a child or a maniac at home.
But arguing the efficacy or fairness of Obama’s proposals is lost on most of his supporters. They are convinced beyond reason that putting him in the White House will mean the end of war, illness, hatred, poverty, ignorance, and tooth decay.
“Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.”
Obama won’t make their dreams come true, of course. His platform is the stuff of nightmares. But try telling that to the Jiminy Cricket brigade, wishing mightily upon their Barack star.
Melanie Scarborough is an award-winning commentary writer whose work has appeared in more than two dozen newspapers, magazines, and books.
