In a struggle over political power, ruthlessness and lack of scruples are advantages.

Human history is filled with strong, ruthless, bloody minded men grasping for power.  And if they are successful, they found dynasties in which the fifth and sixth generation wear furs and silks instead of swords and spears after the founder’s sons and grandsons destroy the opponents who are left.  Search the history of anywhere in the world and you will find the same pattern, with a few, a very few exceptions. 

One of these is the United States.  The unique aspect of the founding of this country is not the revolution.  It was only a matter of time.  What was virtually unparalleled was that the leaders of the revolution actually enacted the ideals behind the revolution.  Instead of setting up a monarchy – keeping in mind that monarchies were the norm – they abolished hereditary government, gave up power when elections were lost and abided by those simple rules enshrined in the Constitution. 

Francis Poretto makes the inescapable point that:

“seldom have political upheavals not elevated the very worst to the very highest positions. Moreover, the "very worst" are aware of this, which is why one finds a disproportionate number of the unscrupulous -- the liars, the thugs, the embezzlers, and miscellaneous other blackguards -- in the strategy councils of left-oriented movements. Search as long as you like; you will never find anyone resembling Saul Alinsky among conservative or libertarian thinkers. Such a person would rebel against the promotion of individual liberty; he'd seek to undermine it at every opportunity, such that no one on the Right would listen to him. .....

No, it's on the Left that you'll find the Rahm Emanuels and the David Axelrods, the Jeremiah Wrights and the Al Sharptons, the Tony Rezkos, the Rod Blagojeviches, the Alex Giannoulias, the Bill Ayerses and Bernardine Dohrns.

At this time, the Left is in control of many of the critical levers of power. Note that almost as soon as Barack Hussein Obama took office, he began to elevate the worst of his lieutenants to the highest positions available -- in the case of his many "czars," even bypassing Congress to do so. They will work like madmen to assure his continuation in power. No tactic will be considered too low to employ. They understand that ejecting Obama from the Oval Office will cause their downfall as well: no more ukases to the unwashed; no more Washington high life; no more endlessly importuning reporters.

The American experiment is just that, an ongoing experiment with no guarantees that history will end well for it, unless people are willing to stand up against the worst in the highest positions. There are many in this country who willingly give up their independence for their daily bread, and others – from Nanny Bloomberg who wishes to rule in little things, to Obama who wants to rule in all things who entice us to give in to them ... and we won’t get hurt. 

My understanding of the human condition and the realization of the fragility of human institutions explains why I am a Conservative, not a Libertarian.  Libertarians believe that we can fundamentally alter and abolish the rules, the fences we have slowly and painfully established to arrive at a virtually unique culture.  The Libertarian world removes the barriers that keep the thugs at bay by atomizing a culture.  Once it ceases to exist, once there is no over-arching Weltanschauung that the overwhelming population believes in, the door is open for the liars, the cheats and the men thirsting for power and willing to do whatever they can to attain it.