Dem Philosophy More Authoritarian than GOP's - Or Am I Nuts?

No opinion pieces having particularly incited my ire at my normal haunts of the NY Times, LA Times or Boston Globe this morning, I ventured over to the Huffington Post, and found this beauty by Cliff Schecter, "Are You Psychotic? Because Empirically That Makes You Susceptible To Being A Republican."

It in turn touted a study by a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University purporting to find that there exists "a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush."

And how does the study's author explain the results? “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.'”

That in turn raises the question: whose philosophy of government is more authoritarian: the Democrats' or the Republicans'? Forgive me for suggesting that it isn't even close. Though the Republican majority might have strayed from its ideological roots since 1994 - explaining perhaps why it is now the future ex-majority - can anyone deny that essence of Republicanism is a belief in small government and the empowerment of the individual? Over at Free Republic, my 'handle' is 'governsleastgovernsbest,' representing my subscription as a mainstream conservative Republican to the notion advanced by Jefferson [some would say by Thomas Paine] that "the government is best which governs least." If ever there was an expression of an anti-authoritarian philosophy empowering the individual over the state, that is it.

In contrast, haven't the Dems come to be known as The Big Mommy party, exemplified by none other than Hillary Clinton herself? She who contrived a Rube Goldberesque scheme for government control of health care. She who uttered the nec plus ultra of authoritarianism: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." They who want to tell us what we can do and where we can do it on everything from smoking a cigarette to investing in hedge funds?

So I ask: aren't Dems more authoritarian than Republicans - or am I nuts?

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net