It's Debateable

Liberals believe government should take people's earnings to give to poor people. Conservatives disagree. They think government should confiscate people's earnings and give them to farmers and insolvent banks. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one's property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage. – Walter Williams

Liberals and Conservatives own the political dialog, and there ain't a dime's worth of difference between them, (Hoss). So at some point you just have to wonder who is going to step up and differentiate himself in this mess. Since I don't believe there is even a scant majority of people that would vote for a Democrat, especially since they couldn't even beat George Bush (twice, and blindfolded), it wouldn't take much of a Republican to win the thing handily. So, that's why the debate carried last night is probably as serious a bellwether we are likely to see in 2007.

Before we start the American Idol-like reduction in candidates, it is important to get out on the table what we want our next president to be. Since I am the Wizer, it behooves me to put it out there for all to embrace. So, here goes:

1. He/she can be conservative, only to the extent that conservatism means adherence to the constitution as written; not the status quo of their own institutions.
2. He/she can be liberal, only to the extent that all freedoms are to be protected at all costs, not just the ones liberals find convenient for their own agendas.
3. He/she must support the markets for goods and services, as they are the way clear for all those who are disadvantaged.
4. He/she must not promote markets for the degrading and debasing of human life, especially those most vulnerable.
5. He/she must use the tools and resources of defense in a strict defensive manner, and not use them as a tool of geopolitical influence-peddling, graft, and corruption.
6. He/she will finally find a way to declare victory before the good of the effort is simply forgotten by the masses, and misconstrued for the history books.
7. He/she will not pretend that Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy were statesmen of equal stature.

I can come up with a few others, but those seven off the top of my head are enough to eliminate everyone who has declared so far. This is probably a good time for Fred Thompson to declare. On the other hand, he is sure to violate one or more of these requirements the longer he's in the race. Perhaps he should wait until Next January to run....

During the debate, everybody, including Ron Paul got it wrong. I don't know why both sides of "the debate" refer to the war as still in progress. It's no longer a war. And I might vote for the first guy who says this out loud. It's not a war, and hasn't been since the Iraqi army turned into a band of desert rats. What it is now, is influence peddling on a massive scale.

The Democrats are so out of touch, they fail to recognize that this amounts to a massive welfare scheme, and if they were to be intellectually honest, they would seek to end welfare here too.

The Republicans say that we should seek victory, but we've already achieved all the victory that can be achieved, and by failing to properly frame it as a victory when victory was quite obvious, it looks a lot like defeat.