2008: HOBSON'S CHOICE

In a post on the recent demise of Fred Thompson's presidential campaign, Phoenix, of Villains Vanquished, bemoans the apparent lack of choice in the coming election.

Honestly, the entire field of candidates remaining are unsatisfactory. They are all fucking liberals. Even the Republicans!

I wouldn't go so far as to call them all liberals, but I can't deny that the conservative credentials of all of the GOP candidates are less than stellar. McCain has been too soft on border security and illegal aliens; and he sponsored that horrific campaign finance reform free speech control bill. Giuliani has been too anti-gun. Romney is just too slick by half--maybe three quarters. He's also a flip-flopper on abortion, which will turn off much of the Republican base. And the Mormon issue will hurt him too. I know, it shouldn't; but it will. And Ron Paul? I pretty much see him as the Republican Dennis Kucinich. And his views on foreign policy are too in line with traditional libertarian thinking, which has its roots in the 19th century--where it might have worked, but not today. Isolationism won't work in the 21st century.

So the question is this: Who should a true-blue conservative vote for? Would said true-blue conservative be better off sitting this one out? Ultimately, we all have to make that decision for ourselves. As for me, I will not sit this one out. This election is about damage control. It's about choosing the lesser of two evils. The country is in a crisis situation. Ask any survival expert how to handle a crisis situation, and they'll tell you the following:

1. Keep cool. Don't let your emotions take over.

2. NEVER ask "why me." Keep focused on the job at hand. Reflection and recrimination are for when the crisis has passed.

3. Figure out what you have to do, then do it. Make it happen, and keep moving.

If you're stranded in the wilderness and there's no food available, you eat bugs if you have to. You don't starve yourself to protest the lack of menu selection. You do what you have to in order to survive. When you get back to civilization, you can have a filet mignon and an icy cold brew (or whatever you were craving while you were lost in the woods). But first you have to survive.

This is a time of crisis, and I've resigned myself to eating bugs in November. That's not a particularly appetizing prospect, but it's better than eating shit.