The Liberty Papers

All of a sudden, Republicans are “going Galt.”  To some degree, this is a good thing and about damned time.  My friend Robert Stacy McCain (who went Galt some time ago and never looked back) describes the phenomon like this:

Michelle Malkin has begun hammering the “Going Galt” theme, and it’s the subject of a long post by Melissa Clouthier today, and Donald Douglas also weighs in. I believe Dr. Helen may have been the first to raise the issue, so I’ll link her to be on the safe side.

I’ve heard talk radio host after talk radio host lambasting Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama for the recent stimulus packages.  I don’t recall them lambasting former president Bush for his spending increases with such fervor (if any fervor at all), nor was there more than token resistance to McCain’s proposals to increase the cost of government.  Hell, McCain and Sarah Palin took ink to paper over at the Wall Street Journal to promote the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Republicans (Ron Paul supporters notwithstanding) have an enormous credibility problem, not just with libertarians, but with more typical voters as well. Before the election, I wrote that the “only remaining claim for McCain defenders is that ‘John McCain may be a socialist, but at least he’s our socialist.'”

In my own state, Senator Shelby speaks out against bailouts while he’s got pork grease dripping down his chin.  To be sure, he’s the second best pork king in the Senate.

I fear that if the Republicans were to suddenly regain political power, all of the cries of “socialism” would be buried under the rug as Republican defenders of big government race to outdo the Democrats with additional deficit spending.