Alex Peak

2008/09/25:  Messing With Mr. Bush

Also available in .txt.

I’m at what appears to be some sort of school function.  Maybe it’s not a school function, but it’s certainly a function.  Either way, George Walker Bush is the guest of honour.  I don’t recall if I had fellow libertarians with me, although I think I did.  Either way, I took the opportunity to mess with the president.  I did this by asking uncomfortable questions, although I do not recall what these questions were at this time.

The guy more or less hosting this whole shin-dig was some twenty-five- to thirty-years older than I.  At a certain point, he’s listing the values of this administration.  I could see that he was looking for a certain word, wishing to heap praise on the glorious leader.  But, the word on the tip of his tongue just wasn’t coming to him.  I was close to him, and suggested the word “slavery.”  Because I offered it so confidently and honestly, the guy speaking used it without giving it a second thought.  Immediately after his uttering the word, I could see him grow extremely embarrassed.  “I mean, I…I didn’t mean to say that, I….”  He seemed furious at me, although I’m not sure why.

This guy asked me what my deal was.  How dare I, apparently, challenge the idols of the state?

I immediately pointed out that even by the state’s own guidelines, it is a criminal organisation.  When is the last time the government restrained its functions to just those enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution?

The guy couldn’t believe his ears!  Who was this kid proclaiming the radical notion that there was any value to constitutional limitations?

With his next statement, he thought he had me.  “If the government only did the things listed in Article I, Section 8,” the gentleman (correctly) proclaimed, “we would have to do away with all the regulations on healthcare, including the FDA!  What would you do then‽”

The guy was so irate.  Too bad for him he didn’t know how badly I want a separation of healthcare and state.  The reason our healthcare is in the shambles it is in in this country is precisely the fact that government has opted to get involved.  If I could only abolish a single government agency, the one I would wipe out would be the FDA, an agency responsible for uncountable deaths.

I later remember getting in a car with some friends.