Sunday, February 11, 2007

George Will: Beyond Reaganism

"If the defining doctrine of the GOP is limited government, the party must move up from nostalgia and leaven its reverence for Reagan with respect for Madison. As Diggins says, Reaganism tells people comforting and flattering things that they want to hear; the Madisonian persuasion tells them sobering truths that they need to know."

All well and good but modern civilization REQUIRES an obeisance to the populace, via the modern media.

Madison had a dream job with regards to public relations. His constituents were far more hale of body and spirit, and without the neverending admonitions and reminders that television in particular employs to inundate the masses with "facts". After the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, it became oh so proletarian to describe presidential elections as popularity contests. And they were. And they are.

Technology and democracy are a bad mix. We soon found ourselves with the brightest of peoples who could change the world through both might of arms and bright lights and makeup.

The values of Madison MUST be kept sacred, we know this to be true, but the medium is the message and any modern leader must use it in the manner it demands to be used.

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