Of Boots and Necks

Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
--Tears for Fears

We've noted before that core tenants of the Tea Party movement (limited government, fiscal responsibility, free markets) are threats to both the Left and the Right. In true 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' fashion, many Republicans are riding the Tea Party's coat tails as a means to bash Democrats, although they abhor the Tea Party philosophy themselves.

This week, we got a whiff of how this works in the political free-for-all that has followed US Senate candidate Rand Paul's comments on the appropriate scope of government's involvement in private enterprise operations. Such remarks were a layup to incite the Left's machine--particularly that part of the apparatus seeking to fill the KY seat w/ a Democrat.

But Republicans have been distancing from Paul's comments as well. Quite predictably, I might add, given their big government roots.

As observed last week, the real 'progressive' idea is liberty. Two hundred+ yrs after it drove this country's founding, the premise that people should be free to pursue their individual destinies unshackled from the control of others remains the most radical idea the world has ever known. 

Modern governments and the special interest groups that feed them will do what they can to keep their boot on the neck of freedom in suppressive authoritarian style.