The question 'conservative' pundits fear

After more than a year of lies, deception, corruption, heavy-handed tactics, bribes, threats, bailouts for privileged corporations, government takeover of two automakers and the shameless forcing of government-controlled health care on people who don't want it – among other unconscionable actions – The Big Question about the Duplicitous Despot has become: "Do you believe Barack Obama is a socialist?"

Gosh, that's a real toughie. You'll have to give me a couple of seconds to think about it. Whenever I hear this question posed on television, I wonder to myself, "Are you asking if the person thinks he's a socialist as opposed to a communist? You certainly couldn't be asking whether he's a socialist or just a misguided moderate." Please, let's get real here.

When confronted with The Big Question, it's fascinating to watch people become tongue-tied and incapable of uttering a straightforward response. As is only fitting, Mush McCain's recent reaction to The Big Question reinforces his claim to the title Liberal Democrats' Favorite Republican. With that sly little grin and "Aw shucks" chuckle of his, McCain coyly muttered: "That's for others to decide."

Huh? You aspired to be president of the United States, and you want to leave it up to others to decide? Have you no thoughts of your own? As one of the elder statesmen of the Republican Party, when someone asks for your opinion, for goodness sakes, man, speak up and tell them what you think.

The phenomenon of conservative politicians and media types becoming tongue-tied over an easy-pitch question like this has broader implications than most people might suspect. What it demonstrates is 1) how intimidating the far-left has become over the years and 2) how lacking in courage and candor so-called conservative politicians and media pundits are.

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If a conservative politician doesn't have the courage to define what his opponent stands for, how can anyone possibly believe that he'll fight to overturn that opponent's socialist policies? It's not surprising, then, that so many conservative politicians repeatedly say things like, "We all agree that health-care reform is needed" or, worse, "Let's slow down and work on fixing health care one step at a time."

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Once and for all, let's get this straight: Everyone doesn't agree that health-care reform is needed – unless by reform one means getting the government totally out of the health-care business – which, of course, would include the removal of barriers to buying insurance across state lines.

The only crisis in health care is government's current involvement. Instead of giving government more power, we need to take away the unconstitutional powers it has already grabbed for itself.

When conservative politicians talk about solving a nonexistent problem one step at a time, it's code for, "We'll continue to move the marker to the left. We just want to do it more slowly than the progressives."

Hey, if your intention is to continue to aid the progressives' hundred-year march to fundamentally change the face of America, why drag things out? If socialism is a good thing, let's bring it on quickly. I can't wait to enjoy the benefits.

I rarely compliment BHO, but I'm obliged to say that I respect him for his unwavering Marxist beliefs. His nonstop lying about those beliefs should not be held against him. It's just part of the Marx-Lenin-Alinsky "ends-justifies-the-means" philosophy of bringing about the loss of liberty that all of them sincerely believed was a moral objective.

I have no doubts BHO sincerely believes this morally deficient garbage. Even with his college papers sealed, the man's public statements (as well as his own books) make it clear that he has been consistent in his Marxist beliefs. You don't hang out with Marxist professors in college if you're a believer in freedom and free markets and love the American way of life.

So, yes, I'm sticking up for the Duplicitous Despot: He is consistent. When he told Joe the Plumber that he thought the wealth should be "spread around" more, he was merely echoing his on-record complaints that the Constitution doesn't provide for "redistributive change."

I mean, how dumb could the Founding Fathers have been not to have thought about redistribution of the wealth? Isn't that what liberty is all about? Where's the ''social justice"? Where's the ''shared prosperity"?' Don't these phrases just make your leg want to tingle?

If you're perplexed as to how BHO can still have an approval rating of about 45 percent after the most cataclysmic one year in office for any president, the answer lies in the same mindset that causes media pundits to ask, "Do you believe Barack Obama is a socialist?" Both items underscore the reality that people do not love truth; instead, they try to make true that which they love.

My estimate is that about 30 percent of the population wants the U.S to be completely transformed into a socialist country, and that's fine. They're honest about it, so they're easy to identify as the enemy. In the words of John Stossel, they like free stuff! I get it.

But the other 15 percent or so (of the 44 percent) who still view BHO favorably are simply self-delusive folks who refuse to let go of their fairy tale that a black family in the White House is, of and by itself, a great thing for America. And it's precisely that kind of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. Try selling that to Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell or Alan Keyes.

No, of and by itself, a black family in the White House is not a great thing. What would be great is to have a family – black … or white … or Asian … or Latino – in the White House that believes in freedom, free enterprise and Western values. And that is not the family that now resides there.

It's really not that hard to answer The Big Question once you get the hang of it. All together now … one, two, three: SOCIALIST!