Primary Dilemmas

by Thomas Sowell - January 17th, 2008 - Townhall.com

While Barack Obama and John Edwards have been irresponsible demagogues, the Clintons have a record of lawless and ruthless corruption that goes back not only to their White House days in the 1990s but even back to their time in the governors' mansion in Arkansas.

Nor is this simply a matter of domestic politics. It was Bill Clinton who ignored the advice of military and intelligence officials when he gave China the technology that can be used to enable their nuclear missiles to hit American cities.

It was Bill Clinton who gave the North Koreans help on their nuclear program in exchange for promises that have -- predictably -- proved worthless. This was just one of the dangerous problems that he swept under the rug and left for his successor.

People like this are not to be trusted with the highest office in the land in an era when Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons that can easily be turned over to international terrorists.

Conservatives should be the last ones to let the Clintons take control of the White House again, just because they cannot find an alternative candidate who meets all their desires.

I have rarely seen Thomas Sowell this political. In fact, I can't ever remember him being so involved in politics. He is usually involved in political issues, but who wins is usually something he leaves to others. As usual though he is a master of history and reminds us of important issues that apply to our current situation. That skill is part of what makes him such a powerful writer.

This year's campaign is truly bizarre, primarily because there are so many more candidates than usual. No one has become the dominate candidate in either party. That has a lot to do with the unique situation we find ourselves in.

We are at war, but unlike previous wars it is not dominating the national concern. The legacy of the cold war is the large number of people who simply ingore the war, or as in the case of the democrat party, oppose war for America. This position is not an opposition to war, it is just opposition to what they see as war for our nation.

Those of us who love American see our hegemony as due to the fact we are the greatest nation on earth. Those who love socialism, the heart and soul of the anti-American democrats, merely see our power and hegemony as wrong. Since they want to change our system to socialism, they consider our power as evil and unjustified. They do not want other nations to emulate our free enterprise as that will end the chance that socialism can become the dominate system in the world.

That brings us back to Thomas' article. It is an excellent explanation about the need to not get distracted by small issues when there are large issues at stake. As Thomas says in his conclusion, "The stakes are too high to do anything other than select the best person available, even if none of the candidates seems ideal."