Some post-election pundits are placing the blame for the GOP’s loss on Chris Christie. His lavish praise for Barack Obama in the aftermath of Sandy was a moment that could not be purchased with tens of millions of dollars of political advertising. The biased media, hungry for anything positive, portrayed the incumbent as Presidential and bi-partisan. As if one brief moment could erase four years of vicious partisanship.
What if Chris Christie refused federal aid? What if he decided to rely on conservative principles and self reliance? What if he asked the people of America for help?
The outpouring of support would have been overwhelming because conservatives know how to give. It would have served as a huge teaching point and helped to dismantle the myth that the federal government is the answer to all of our problems.
Instead, Chris Christie acted like a politician. He extended his arms and asked for a bailout. He embraced it with a big bear hug. He knew this stunt would be popular with the folks in Jersey and would garner national headlines. But by doing it, he betrayed conservative principles.
No one will ever really know if Christie’s decision played a decisive role in the outcome of the Presidential election. If some voters were actually swayed by this Presidential photo opportunity, it is a sad comment on America. Because it foreshadows America’s decline from apathy toward dependency, as predicted by de Tocqueville:
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.” The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
“From bondage to spiritual faith; spiritual faith to great courage; courage to liberty; liberty to abundance; abundance to selfishness; selfishness to complacency; complacency to apathy; apathy to dependence; and from dependence back into bondage.” — Alexis de Tocqueville
Meyer Lowry
Peachtree City, Ga.
