THE WELFARE STATE AND “SOCIAL JUSTICE”
by Colonel Bob Pappas, USMC, Retired, ©2013, blogging at Gulf1
(Jul. 31, 2013) — If there were no people, there would be no problems…and so the tyrants of history have repeatedly committed mass genocide: get rid of the opposition and your problems go away. Relatively recent historical examples of that “solution” are: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia. Total human carnage in the Twentieth Century alone exceeds 200 million. The perpetrators of those horrendous deeds were political leftists, socialists/communists. “Destroy the opposition” is the way the left thinks and acts; consider the language used by today’s leading “Liberals.”
Presently there is an Administration in this country that believes capitalism is a failure and its leader all but openly professes his allegiance to socialism, if not communism. His ideology is obfuscated by the words “our values,” “not the American way,” “They’ve tried it and it didn’t work,” which all point to “spreading the wealth around.” Obama’s philosophy is in part: “You didn’t do that, somebody else did that,” so it’s okay to take from those who have and give to those who do nothing to earn, much less thank those from whom it was “stolen” under color of law.
The most recent case of Obama “spreading the wealth around” comes at the expense of military members and retirees by his threat to veto any defense budget that does not contain increases in military health care fees and his proposed one percent pay raise instead of the 1.8 percent inserted by the House. All the while he uses his wide but phony smile and his familiar slap on the back to project an image that he really cares. In the larger scheme of things this is a relatively minor issue when one considers the extensive anti-traditional American legacy being laid by this Administration and many fellow-traveling, contemporary politicians.
It is well-known that politicians in general cannot be trusted, but the current crop of political careerists on both sides of the aisle are arguably the worst in American history, notwithstanding a handful of bright stars. Prior administrations have used their power for political warfare but never as overtly thuggish as this one. All the while Obama attempts to deflect blame for his Administration’s failures, scandals and corruption as though they had not occurred, or if they did occur they weren’t important. “It is the Republican Party trying to create a distraction.”
For example, in a recent speech he brushed aside a growing list of major Administration scandals as “phony” and as manufactured distractions. A partial list is shown below:
- Obama: Constant lying; end-running Congress and subverting or ignoring the Constitution; 16 trillion dollar national debt;
- Department of State: The Benghazi disaster and Administration cover-up/diversion, and others;
- Department of Defense: Leon Panetta’s embarrassing and shameful excuse for not intervening in Benghazi;
- Internal Revenue Service: Political action against conservative tax exempt applicants and politicians;
- Department of Justice: Black Panthers; Fast and Furious operations and contempt of Congress; AP phone records; Fox News, Rosen investigation; and, repeated perjury;
- Department of Health and Human Services: Illegal solicitation of funding from regulated Corporations to help implement “Obamacare;”and forcing religious institutions to provide goods and services that are against their fundamental beliefs; “Obamacare;” http://www.dontfundobamacare.com
- Department of Agriculture: Pigford case which involved obscene overpayments to black farmers, many who were not farmers at all, who had ostensibly faced discrimination by the Department;
- National Security Agency: Illegal intrusion into American citizens’ private conversations;
- Department of Homeland Security: Procurement of billions of rounds of small arms ammunition for which there is no legitimate justification; and selling of spent ammunition casings to communist China which uses them for military purposes instead of Americans who could use them for sports…and personal preparedness.
- Department of the Treasury: Printing worthless money, inflating the cost of goods, devaluing personal holding; and,
- Department of Energy: Intentionally destroying the coal industry.
It is axiomatic that people get from their politicians what they deserve. Soon after the Constitutional Convention concluded, Dr. James Henry recorded, “A lady asked Dr. Franklin, ‘Well, Doctor, what we have got: a republic or a monarchy?’ ‘A republic,’ replied the Doctor, ‘if you can keep it.’” “…If you can keep it” is pertinent to this discussion because too many Americans are woefully if not totally ignorant when it comes to what makes this the greatest country in the world.
The Preamble to the Constitution contains among others the phrase, “the general welfare….” Those words are the underpinning for the Democrat social welfare megalith. Despite the fact that the founders did not envision a welfare state, in particular as advocated by latter day liberals, inclusion of the phrase provided the wedge for activists to move the Democrat Party to the far left. It is notable that so-called, “Liberal” or the more contemporary “Progressive” philosophy was birthed before the turn of the last century by Karl Marx, the father of communism.
The move left politically is largely responsible for the social chaos that afflicts contemporary America. Virtually every social pathology results from liberalism or liberal policies, but there will be an end. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Those words were never truer than today! Think about it.
An Important Final Note: I would be remiss if I did not call attention to an historic, great American who passed on to his eternal reward this past week. U.S. Air Force (with Marine roots) Colonel George “Bud” Day died at the age of 88. One may not have always agreed with Colonel Day and I did not; he was human, warts and all. But…it is likely that his military achievements, patriotism and service to the United States and its Veterans is unequaled by any other single individual is his lifetime, if not U.S. History, and for that he has my enduring admiration and gratitude.
After retiring from military service with distinction, adorned with the Medal of Honor, the Nation’s highest military award of seventy he was awarded, he obtained a Law degree. Equipped with that, he fought the Department of Defense all the way to the Supreme Court on behalf of millions of military retirees. He brought a Class Action suit to force the DoD to honor recruiting promises of lifetime healthcare for one’s self and dependents as partial compensation for career length service…he lost the case. But that isn’t where it ended, despite the loss (There was no Chief Justice at that time who would “engineer a social justice” solution for Veterans the same way Roberts “engineered a social justice solution” for “Obamacare” legislation). The Congress, which for the first time in forty years was dominated by Republicans, enacted Tricare for Life legislation that kept faith with eligible retirees.
Every Veteran, indeed every American, should applaud and salute Colonel Day for a life devoted to God, Country, Veterans, and his family! Therefore, on behalf of the constituency of readers of these essays, heartfelt condolences and prayers are offered to “Bud’s” wife Doris and their family. May they be comforted, and may he rest in well-deserved peace!
Semper Fidelis