Jonah Goldberg has a brilliant piece in the April 7th issue of National Review (NRODT) about Barack Obama and his calls for a "kingdom on Earth":
Obama is the truth, Obama is the way, and he promises that — with your help — he can “create a kingdom right here on earth.”
This is Utopian rhetoric. And Utopians worry me. In fact, they frighten me.
Utopians believe that it is possible to have a perfect society if only . . . whatever. And “whatever” is usually some government action and always bad news for some segment of society. “We could have great society just as soon as we eliminate all property and anti-revolutionaries and implement a few planned famines.” “We could have a utopia if only we kill all the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mental deficients, and other undesirables.” “We’ll all live in Paradise as soon as we kill all educated people.” “We could have a perfect society if only we taxed the rich and fed the poor, eliminated all guns, and have universal government-paid health and child care.”
The problem with Utopians is that the end justifies the means. After all, if your goal is Eden, then what you do to get there, no matter how hideous, is justified. Simply having laudable goals exonerates all misdeeds, from the scandals of the Clinton Administration both petty and grand, to the slaughter of 100 million innocent people by Mao’s minions.
Now I'm not saying Obama is going to open concentration camps for the ideologically impure. But whatever he decides is needed to bring "kingdom to Earth" will be justified, from shredding the Constitution to denying you the right to choose your own doctor. Whatever achieves his ends is worth the means.
So if Obama is attempting to immanentize the eschaton, and his rhetoric sounds as if he his, that is a frightening prospect. Run, don't walk, away from him.
And yes, that means voting for McCain.
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