Via California Tree of Liberty
Some people have missed my point about Sick Rantorum and his claim that happiness means doing what is moral. That's not all that he said. The key point here is that Rantorum also said that this means "doing what you are ordered to do" by the state. The Newt Gingriches, Bill Clintons, and Sick Rantorums will define for us what is moral, and then use the state's powers of imprisonment, taxation, execution, torture, etc. to force us to live like they want us to live. In other words, some of the most immoral people in society, who have gotten to where they are by being masterful liars, connivers, and manipulators, will force us to live our lives in their image.
Quoting ancient Catholic theologians or founding generation politicians on the subject of happiness is therefore irrelevant unless they, too, were totalitarians like Rantorum. He said this in the context of running for office to become the most powerful politician in the world, after all, not the College of Cardinals. Only the state can force you to live in a cage for ten years for smoking a joint; the Catholic Church can only urge you to quit smoking. That's why he cited the war on drugs as how he differs from Ron Paul; he would like to put all pot smokers in prison.
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