The Difference

Kid Various was listening to the Dennis Prager radio program the other day and Prager noted a truly astounding difference in the visions of the New Hampshire primary winners; John McCain and Hillary Clinton. And Kid Various dares to say, between the Republican field in general and the Democratic field in general. To wit:

The work that we face in our time is great, but our opportunities greater still. In a time of war, and the terrible sacrifices it entails, the promise of a better future is not always clear. But I promise you, my friends, we face no enemy, no matter how cruel; and no challenge, no matter how daunting, greater than the courage, patriotism and determination of Americans. We are the makers of history, not its victims. And as we confront this enemy, the people privileged to serve in public office should not evade our mutual responsibility to defeat them because we are more concerned with personal or partisan ambition.

Whatever the differences between us, so much more should unite us. And nothing should unite us more closely than the imperative of defeating an enemy who despises us, our values and modernity itself. We must all pull together in this critical hour and proclaim that the history of the world will not be determined by this unpardonable foe, but by the aspirations, ideals, faith and courage of free people. In this great, historic task, we will never surrender. They will.

Compare that with this excerpt from Clinton's victory speech:

Too many have been invisible for too long. Well, you are not invisible to me.

The oil companies, the drug companies, the health insurance companies, the predatory student loan companies have had seven years of a president who stands up for them. It’s time we had a president who stands up for all of you.

So basically, we have a candidate who feels that the primary enemies of America are "The oil companies, the drug companies, the health insurance companies" and "the predatory student loan companies." Corporations who, whatever excesses one can document, exist basically to give us Americans power, energy, health care and education. In the Post-modernist's view - these are the principle enemies of America.

The other candidate, who The Kid might say represents the best of the Modern, on the other hand thinks that the primary enemies of America is a large network of Pre-modern savages who feel their traditional way of life threatened by the expansion of The Enlightenment and are currently doing everything within their power to destroy every vestige of Modern culture and those who embody it.

Stark choices ahead.