Much has already been said, but a few comments stand out. Perhaps most astute are those of the always-reliable Mark Steyn of National Review Online. The ramifications of this bill are hard to overstate:
If Barack Obama does nothing else in his term in office, this will make him one of the most consequential presidents in history. It's a huge transformative event in Americans' view of themselves and of the role of government. You can say, oh, well, the polls show most people opposed to it, but, if that mattered, the Dems wouldn't be doing what they're doing. Their bet is that it can't be undone, and that over time, as I've been saying for years now, governmentalized health care not only changes the relationship of the citizen to the state but the very character of the people. As I wrote in NR recently, there's plenty of evidence to support that from Britain, Canada, and elsewhere.One does not have to be a fan of America's recent military adventurism to recognize that Canada, England, and most of the western European welfare states have been depending on a strong America for their own defense for decades. (Anyone seen a French fighter jet buzzing around lately?) I don't regret the end of the free ride for America's ostensible allies, but I do regret that America will soon be among the simpering, helpless giants depending on some other nation to defend us. (And who will that be? China?)
More prosaically, it's also unaffordable. That's why one of the first things that middle-rank powers abandon once they go down this road is a global military capability. If you take the view that the U.S. is an imperialist aggressor, congratulations: You can cease worrying. But, if you think that America has been the ultimate guarantor of the post-war global order, it's less cheery. Five years from now, just as in Canada and Europe two generations ago, we'll be getting used to announcements of defense cuts to prop up the unsustainable costs of big government at home. And, as the superpower retrenches, America's enemies will be quick to scent opportunity.
It has also become clear that, incredibly enough, we have an entire political party in America--indeed, one currently holding the majority--that is almost completely devoted to the killing of unborn children. Lest anyone think this is a partisan statement, let me be quick to add that Republicans, on the main, have been mediocre at best in defending human life. But as the Stupak debacle shows us, the "pro-life Democrat" is now a purely mythical creature. The fact is, as a national entity, the Democratic Party loves it some baby-killin'. Infanticide has become the party's sine qua non. And so we should not be entirely surprised to find God's judgment falling upon us.
Other civilizations have similarly been toppled at comparable points in their histories, and a nation whose sexual proclivities have driven us to require a blood sacrifice to the tune of 50 million human lives can only ask what took so long. Repentance is the only way out, and it takes a mighty strong faith to imagine such a thing having gone this far down the road.
Such repentance will need to begin with the Christians, who frequently look just like the world when it comes to such matters as sexuality and being the recipients of stolen goods via government redistribution programs. The LORD was willing to spare Sodom if just ten righteous men could be found there. Only when Christians, who ought to know better, stop bowing the knee to Baal will the Lord relent from treating us like Baal-worshipers. What we're seeing is Romans 1 in action, and it was promised long ago.
Obamacare health care Bart Stupak abortion
