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My October Surprise

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In American political jargon, an “October Surprise” is a term used to characterize late-breaking and potentially game-changing information leading up to an election, particularly a presidential election.  It was first used in the 1972 Presidential election of Richard Nixon, regarding the Vietnam War and a speech made by Henry Kissinger predicting “peace is at hand”.  More recently, the photo-op of NJ Governor Chris Christie and President Obama walking on the NJ shore following Hurricane Sandy was seen by some as the October Surprise that ensured Obama’s re-election to a second term.  It remains to be seen whether or not the Ebola outbreak in America will surprise Senate Democrats and their quest to maintain control of the Senate.

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Personally, my October surprise came in the form of a powerful cold front earlier this month that ripped a portion of our metal roof off our home.  It has been a game-changer for me, redirecting my focus away from the mid-term election, while wading through insurance policies, cosmetic clauses and getting quotes for both repair and/or replacement costs – should we successfully win our claim for the latter.  Someone did ask me recently for my thoughts on a few statewide offices.  Never short on opinion or passion I filled his ear.  Hopefully I can “get a grasp – at least in outline” – for our local paper.  Channeling Aristotle . . .

Liberty Sense: Is This Progress?

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Screen shot 2013-04-19 at 2.49.12 PMHow have Bostonians gone from firing “the shot heard ’round the world” to being on “house arrest” with their city in “lockdown” in slightly over 200 years? Interestingly enough, it is 238 years almost exactly to the day.  Revere’s legendary ride took place April 18, 1775.  It’s hard to imagine how different history would have been had Paul Revere sought cover instead of riding through the New England countryside upon hearing that danger was approaching.  Even more ironic is the fact that the danger was the British army coming to disarm the patriots, thereby stripping them of one of their natural rights.  Gun control anyone?

The answer is simple:  this is “progress”.  Massachusetts is one of the most progressive  states in the country.  Partisan labels are unhelpful and nondescript in getting to the heart of the matter.  Basically, Americans can be divided into two philosophical camps – Conservatives and Progressives – each of which is best understood  in the context of the Constitution.

The Constitution was born of the Revolutionary experiment that ushered in a “new order for the ages” (Novus Ordo Seclorum – see back of $1 bill).  It consists of the fundamental and abiding principles that prescribe the optimal arrangement of political power to achieve a government of, by and for the people.  Conservatives believe in the preservation of that constitutionally-defined role of government embraced in the American founding.  Progressives seek to move or “progress” beyond the constitutionally-defined role of government in favor of an ever expanding government role.

Progressivism subverts the power of the individual to the collective state.  It erases the common cause of America reflected in the phrases “E Pluribus Unum” (from many to one – also on back of $1 bill) and “melting pot” and replaces it with “multiculturalism”.  Emphasis becomes what divides us instead of what unites us.  And we are to believe this is “progress”.