Tuesday, November 16, 2004

O' Canada!

From the I'm-taking-my-ball-and-going-home department, more stories about disgruntled liberals moving to Canada.

Honestly people, get a grip! Part of living in a republic is that you're not always going to be in power. Usually, this gets people energized to swing the political pendulum back to the center. But the left is not ready to admit they're wrong and out of touch. So instead, they're leaving? I can't think of anything more un-patriotic than to give up on your country.

The right didn't leave during the Carter years. They didn't leave when Clinton was elected. Instead, they re-evaluated where they were as a party and have made steady progress since 1994, culminating with this year's gains in the White House, the House, the Senate, and soon, the Supreme Court.

As this morning's DP article points out:

Libertarian Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute think tank in Golden, says he never thought about leaving the country during his own long seasons of political discontent.

"I survived the Clinton years," he says. "Good God almighty, we survived the Carter years. I think the left can handle the Bush years."


A couple of observations:

1. I can imagine that those who are actually contemplating leaving the country are from the most extreme elements of the left. Good, with them gone, maybe the Democrat Party can come back to the middle and actually start to re-connect with American voters.

2. I'm not that familiar with the immigration laws, but I think that anyone who voluntarily moves to another country, should have their U.S. citizenship revoked. When the Democrats look like they are coming back into power, those who left should have to re-apply for citizenship and be considered aliens, just like any other immigrant. You can't have it both ways.