United Liberty

In 1971, The Who released Who’s Next featuring one of the greatest songs of all time. It couldn’t be more fitting this week as we usher in our new boss here in the United States thirty-seven years later.

Pete Townshend tells us the story of a rebellious uprising against the ruling class. The opening verse states that there is “fighting in the streets” and that “the men who spurred us on sit in judgment of all wrong.” I can’t help but think of the parallels we have been seeing from the media-tainment industry for months driving home the displeasure that the American people have with the Bush administration and serving as pundits (or should I say puppets) by dishing out the propaganda of who is right and who is wrong.

The chorus enters in the “new constitution” with our revolutionaries prepared to “take a bow” and “smile and grin at the change all around”. This is the oldest trick in the playbook as the new regime promises change from the old guard. The smiling and grinning has been so widespread in the wake of Obama’s victory that I can’t help but chuckle and be happy for them. But, as the second verse starts up, the myopic view of the protagonist is revealed saying, “[W]e were liberated from the foe, that’s all.”

It is quickly learned that “the world looks just the same and history ain’t changed.” We have learned time and time again through history that our political heroes are nothing more than human. The larger the revolution, the bigger the mandate from the people, the more opportunity there is for corruption. Our Founding Fathers knew these facts two hundred years before Pete Townshend. That is why the Constitution was designed to severely limit the power of the executive branch.

Alas, it gets worse as our new regime ushers in “the next war”. The supporters of the revolution realize that the “hypnotized never lie” and the stark reality of their precious change is evident. The final verse wraps up with the recognition that “nothing … looks any different … and the slogans are replaced.” The new becomes old and the old becomes new. After the greatest angst-ridden scream in rock and roll history, the song closes with the classic lyric: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”

The song, of course, is “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, and this phrase is the prayer at the end of each chorus. The sad fact is that Pete’s revolutionaries got fooled. This week over sixty million Americans voted for Barack Obama. They will be fooled again as well. It’s only a matter of time. The only question will be how it goes down. Unless we return to our Constitutional design of limited executive power, we will continue to get fooled as a nation.

Let’s learn from history. We have to get out and spread the word of limited government and individual liberty. We have to educate our friends, families and co-workers that history will not change. Our only true choice for change and hope is one that places severe restrictions on the power and scope of the government.