The Medias George W

It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting: such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to be nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

This is why McCain’s focus on preserving the security of the modern welfare state runs counter to the virtues of duty, courage, and risk-taking that he argues for when, for instance, he berates the Clinton administration for its cautious conduct of the war over Kosovo. If government keeps us from smoking, and gives us our prescription drugs, and protects us from the distress of negative campaign ads, and devotes almost all of the resources thrown off by the new economy to preserving middle-class entitlements, why should it not also send its warriors into combat at 15,000 feet so they can be as safe and pampered as everyone else?

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Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human-rights activist.

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George W. Bush

John McCain

Presidential Election

It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting: such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to be nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

This is why McCain’s focus on preserving the security of the modern welfare state runs counter to the virtues of duty, courage, and risk-taking that he argues for when, for instance, he berates the Clinton administration for its cautious conduct of the war over Kosovo. If government keeps us from smoking, and gives us our prescription drugs, and protects us from the distress of negative campaign ads, and devotes almost all of the resources thrown off by the new economy to preserving middle-class entitlements, why should it not also send its warriors into combat at 15,000 feet so they can be as safe and pampered as everyone else?