And it’s not what you think.

John Hood, in this post at National Review Online, gets at something that’s been gnawing at ‘Puter for a while now. The issue is freedom, and our right to be free from unwarranted government interference in our lives. Read Mr. Hood’s thoughtful post in its entirety. His post led ‘Puter down this road.

The Left has wailed and gnashed its teeth during the Bush administration claiming that Bush’s increased security measures such as the Patriot Act, among others, were the first step on a quick trip to a fascist dictatorship.

But, Sen. Obama’s revealing quote noted in Mr. Hood’s post, showing Sen. Obama does not understand the sharp distinction between government coercion of private behavior and the unimpeded free choice of a citizen, is far more worrisome.

So, perhaps someone on the Left can explain this to me. President Bush’s programs permit citizens to act as they normally would in the public and private spheres, exercising free choice as they wish. The only change being the government’s monitoring of citizens’ behavior in the public sphere (e.g., surveillance cameras in public places, data mining of public transactions, etc.). Sen. Obama’s commitment to “spread the wealth around,” whether one believes it socialist or not, is a clear call for government compulsion of citizen behavior at the point of a gun, through mandatory taxation.

Under President Bush, ‘Puter can choose with whom he wishes to deal in the public sphere, although the government may be watching. ‘Puter is still free to make personal decisions for himself: with whom to deal, on whom to spend his money. Under Sen. Obama, our government betters will decide for ‘Puter with whom ‘Puter should be dealing, and then redistributing ‘Puter’s hard earned dollars against ‘Puter’s will, regardless of ‘Puter’s thoughts on the matter.

Which administration would interfere more with a citizen’s right to determine his own conduct? ‘Puter submits Sen. Obama’s administration is a greater threat to personal liberty.

'Puter

Always right, unless he isn’t, the infallible Ghettoputer F. X. Gormogons claims to be an in-law of the Volgi, although no one really believes this.

’Puter carefully follows economic and financial trends, legal affairs, and serves as the Gormogons’ financial and legal advisor. He successfully defended us against a lawsuit from a liquor distributor worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid deliveries of bootleg shandies.

The Geep has an IQ so high it is untestable and attempts to measure it have resulted in dangerously unstable results as well as injuries to researchers. Coincidentally, he publishes intelligence tests as a side gig.

His sarcasm is so highly developed it borders on the psychic, and he is often able to insult a person even before meeting them. ’Puter enjoys hunting small game with 000 slugs and punt guns, correcting homilies in real time at Mass, and undermining unions. ’Puter likes to wear a hockey mask and carry an axe into public campgrounds, where he bursts into people’s tents and screams. As you might expect, he has been shot several times but remains completely undeterred.

He assures us that his obsessive fawning over news stories involving women teachers sleeping with young students is not Freudian in any way, although he admits something similar once happened to him. Uniquely, ’Puter is unable to speak, read, or write Russian, but he is able to sing it fluently.

Geep joined the order in the mid-1980s. He arrived at the Castle door with dozens of steamer trunks and an inarticulate hissing creature of astonishingly low intelligence he calls “Sleestak.” Ghettoputer appears to make his wishes known to Sleestak, although no one is sure whether this is the result of complex sign language, expert body posture reading, or simply beating Sleestak with a rubber mallet.

‘Puter suggests the Czar suck it.