The Wisdom in the Oreo

I saw this commercial this morning on YouTube from last night’s Super Bowl.  It’s a really funny commercial that pokes fun at whispering in the library.  But the last line in the commercial, as funny as it is, really rings truer than Nabisco or Oreo probably ever intended.  Check out the clip.

 

 

Did you hear the last line?  The policeman drives through the wall, gets out, and then says “You guys have to stop fighting, we’re the cops.”

To be perfectly honest, this ridiculous logic is exactly the logic used by the government to justify actions that would be immoral if you or I acted this way.

Why Can’t Catholics Vote Libertarian?

In an article published on Catholic Exchange, the author, Joe Fulwiler, makes some claims about libertarians and libertarianism that I find offensive, but that I also realize may be shared by many other Catholics.  In musing about a perfect “Catholic Party,” which he says would combine the pro-life aspects of the Republican party and the social justice and poverty relief programs of the Democrats, Fulwiler actually describes the Libertarian Party as the opposite of a Catholic Party.

Reasons to be Optimistic in 2013

2012 was a busy year for our government.  There are so many reasons to be upset that you may think I’m in denial for saying this, but there are actually some reasons to be optimistic about 2013.  I’ll list a few, and I encourage you to contribute some of your own in the comments section (also, please subscribe to this blog by clicking “follow” in the top right corner, thanks!).

If you enjoy food like I do, then you will be happy to know that this past year saw many victories in the fight for food freedom.

The Fiscal Cliff: Let’s Jump

Let’s all go over. Why not?  The only other deals being proposed, including the one passed at 2AM last night in the Senate, are eliminating or postponing the spending cuts of the sequester.  The only good thing about these alternative deals is that taxes are going up on fewer Americans.

Why Romney Got Spanked

George W. Bush was president from 2000-2008.  He was a Republican, so consequently, he ran on “small government” principles, at least initially.  However, in those 8 years alone, he almost doubled our national debt.  He started (and prolonged) two wars, and neither war was executed with a declaration from Congress.  He ballooned Medicare and the Department of Education.  He brushed aside the fourth amendment with his passing of the Patriot Act.  He paid hundreds of billions to bailed out companies that should have failed.  By all accounts, Bush was not a small government president.  He was a moderate at best, a Teddy Roosevelt progressive at worst.

Away with the Welfare State! A Catholic Argument for Replacing the State Safety Net

A criticism often heard of libertarians is that we are advocates of the individual, and therefore don’t care about the poor, needy, disabled, sick, etc.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Like most people, I feel it is my moral obligation to do what I can to help anybody who I encounter who needs help.  It is helping the poor by means of a state safety net that libertarians oppose.  Why?  Well, to use an old cliché, “What the government gives, it must first take away.”

Just War and The War on Terror

Someone said to me recently that Just War is not a subject that comes out with clear-cut answers.  I would say that war is a sticky matter.  I would also say that it is hard to make definitive statements regarding the wars fought in the last decade, because obviously, you and I do not have all the information.  I would argue, however, that the Just War Theory is very clear-cut, though complex, and that it should be obvious to every Catholic, as it is obvious to every libertarian, that the War on Terror is anything but just.