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seretogis · 09-23-2003, 06:59 PM

This is from Rush's newsletter (please don't tell him that I typed it out).

Quote:

The Limbaugh Letter, September 2003

[size=large]Taking the Wind Out of My Sails[/size]

Shortly after my conversation with the RNC's Ed Gillespie, I was disheartened to read in New Hampshire's Manchester Union Leader the editors' conclusions from their own sit-down with the chairman:

Quote:

Had there been any doubts about the direction the Republican Party is headed, they vanished last week when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie visited New Hampshire. During a cheerful and pleasant meeting (that's the kind of guy Gillespie is) at The Union Leader offices, the party's new chairman, energetic and full of vigor, said in no uncertain terms that the day of Reaganesque Republican railings against the expansion of federal government are over. No longer does the Republican Party stand for shrinking the federal government, for scaling back its encroachment into the lives of Americans, or for carrying the banner of federalism into the political battles of the day.

Now, Mr. Gillespie denies that he said that. And to be fair, it is unlikely these exact words came out of his mouth. But The Union Leader stands by its summary of his comments. According to Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid, the editors asked Mr. Gillespie to name "any area or agency where they were looking to dismantle, and I don't think he came up with one."

And, I am very sorry to say, it has been a very long time since we have heard the Reaganesque philosophical case for smaller government made by the Republican Party leadership. We have not heard it from George W. Bush; we have not heard it from the Republican National Committee.

Instead, we have had unbridled spending. And so, the RNC's strategy is to defend the Bush Administration's budgetary "non-defense discretionary spending increase" statistic. Will that inspire a single soul?

The deficit here is not even a factor to me. I'm worried abotu what this does to citizens. Massive government spending is an encroachment on individual freedom and human development. It stifles individuals striving to become the best they can be. It gets in the way. This spending is yearned after by Democrats to empower themselves. It is designed to make government bigger and more oppressive and more present in everybody's lives to the most infinite detail. These are precisely the reasons that -- until now -- Republicans have vigorously opposed bigger government and more spending.

But apparently, the days of informing, educating and growing a movement or party based on such principles is over. This is a race for pwoer based on who can spend the most and get credit for it. It's destructive. I have to admit that when I first read this editorial, I felt a lot of wind being taken out of my sails. This is almost the equivalent of 15 years of work down the tubes. We're back to square one. This is about the political class in Washington doing everything it can to cement its own power and to create as much dependency as possible.

My friends, the whole notion of limited government is the essence of everything. It was on that basis that this nation was founded. That was the purpose of our founding documents. The whole point of the Constitution was to limit the role of the federal government. But now the federal government is omnipresent in everybody's lives. The federal government speaks and like obedient children we accept the dictates out of Washington. That was never, ever the intended role of government.

To me, this is deeply personal. My program has been devoted to inspiring and motivating as many individuals as possible to be the best they can be. Because of my own life experiences, I know how much potential individuals have that they don't even know they've got. Tapping it and inspiring people to seek heights that they don't even think they're capable of -- there's nothing more satisfying and pleasurable.

What has made the country great is average, ordinary people doing extraordinary things -- the average, anonymous among us pursuing their lives as well as they can, pursuing excellence, whether to care for their families or to just be the best they can be. Liberal Democrats will tell you government programs are what made government great. Not true. Rugged individualism, people engagign in self-interest -- not selfishness, but self-interest -- provides the foundation for this nation's greatness. It's not what comes out of Washington that makes this country great. Never has been.

But the more people are conditioned not to seek the best in themselves, the more they're not challenged to meet or exceed expectations, the more they're not inspired to do what they're capable of doing, then the greater the odds that the country will not continue to be great. It's axiomatic.

So this lack of interest by the Republican leadership in passionately advocating the ideal of limited government -- one of the most profound philosophical achievements in human history -- is discouraging.

The Democratic Party is falling apart. They've lost the governorships of most states. They've lost the House, the Senate, the White House, they don't have a prayer of getting any of it back. Do you realize the opportunity we have? After 40 years of the Democrats running this country down the tubes, controlling the House and controlling the Senate, it's just there to be taken. And what are we doing? We're trying to act like them!

This article is just more of the same to me. I'm waiting for Rush to publicly endorse the Libertarian Party as America's last chance. It probably won't happen, but if he did so it would definitely have a noticeable impact on the upcoming elections.