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USA Weekend
Thursday, June 25, 2009 12:59 PM

FELTS: ‘Big Brother’ Obama knows best?

By TOMMY FELTS, Voices From The News

It’s funny. I always thought “Big Brother” would be an old white guy.

That’s how the movies, books and TV shows about our potential totalitarian future always depicted the looming puppetmaster figure — usually a right-wing fascist at the reins of an all-powerful, all-seeing government that’s bent on repressing and controlling the masses.

But the truth?

Well, the truth is that stereotypes are meant to be proven wrong. President Obama is making sure of that.

Regulation of personal choice and behavior from the Oval Office. Manipulation of the public through media propaganda. The appointment of czars — answerable only to the president — who oversee and meddle in nearly every aspect of American life, from energy and the Internet to faith and corporate pay (there are now 28 of them).

We’ve seen the face of “change” in Obama’s America ... and it looks a lot like Big Brother.

I know. I know. Everything the president does is for the benefit of our country; it certainly couldn’t be a calculated bid to grow the role of the federal government in our everyday lives ... right? What a cynical thought.

No, Obama does it all for the children. That’s the line his policy supporters constantly feed us anyway.

Forced government-run health care? We’ve got to do it for the children. (They’re uninsured.)

Dismantling the tobacco industry — a still-legal, private enterprise — through hyper-regulation? We’ve got to do it for the children. (They’re apparently smoking ... though studies show youth smoking has plummeted in recent years.)

Taxing soda pop out existence? We’ve got to do it for the children. (They’re getting fat from the stuff ... and besides, we need to build up revenue somehow to pay for that lovely health care system we’re cramming down everyone’s throats.)

Want to make your own choices on health care? Want to smoke? Want to drink soda?

Sorry. You soon may be out of luck. Those personal decisions are best left to your benevolent, all-knowing Big Brother (the best nanny and wet nurse your vote could buy).

And we thought Obama was the pro-choice president ...

(Examine that irony: The only “choice” it seems Obama wants to let you keep is whether to kill your unborn child. So much for doing what’s best for the children, huh?)

A supporter of the president’s policies might see little harm in being “forced” to be more healthy through Obama’s regulation of all things icky. After all, these are just a few, insignificant little sacrifices. And we’ll be better off in the long run, right?

Wrong.

History has shown cigarettes and soda will be just the beginning. Once we start letting the government take from us, it gets easier and easier for Big Brother to return for more.

Think about it: If Obama and the Democrats can make decisions about your health and what you choose to put in your body, who’s to say they won’t take it a step further (for your own good) and tell you what kind of car you can or can’t purchase, whether to recycle or how long your morning shower can be?

But none of that is “bad,” a person might argue. It’s just progress ...

And we wouldn’t want our pesky personal freedoms to get in the way of progress, right?

Opposition to Obama’s heavy regulatory hand isn’t a call for anarchy. No one is saying the government shouldn’t have such laws as those banning drunken driving or criminalizing the methamphetamine trade. Society needs rules, limitations and regulation. But there is a line that can be crossed, and our president is testing us to see if he can jump across it.

Regulations that micromanage our actions, based on the whims of the ruling party, aren’t acceptable. We must be allowed to make our own decisions and our own mistakes.

What choices will Big Brother eliminate next? When will we realize our freedoms — large and small — are quietly and quickly being whittled away? Will it take the loss of our First or Second Amendment rights for us to notice?

Obama’s “it’s for your own good” reasoning isn’t good enough. Big Brother just may be trying to “protect” the children, but don’t forget: as far as the government is concerned, you’re the child.

And any “child” who stands in the way of Obama’s programs is considered an obstructionist — a whiny brat who knows only how to say “no.”

But what’s wrong with “no?” Since when is that response not a solution itself?

If you’re in a car, speeding toward a brick wall with the steering column locked, and someone tells you to brake, do you tell them stopping isn’t a solution?

No.

President Obama isn’t our king, and he’s not supposed to be our nanny. He is indeed the highest-ranking public servant in the country, but he’s still just that — a servant and an employee of the taxpayers. It’s not his role to dictate his political party’s personal preferences for the everyday minutia of our lives. He shouldn’t be mandating the contents of our refrigerators or making our personal health decisions for us.

Can you tell Big Brother “no?”

That’s your choice ... for now.

Tommy Felts is design editor for The Ottawa Herald. E-mail him at tfelts@ottawaherald.com.

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