These kids today...they just don't get it!

Many things have been puzzling me since the ascendancy of Obama to the national stage. The gleeful abandonment of even the appearance of journalistic integrity, for one. Another is the double standard handling of Sarah Palin and her family. But tonight I'm ruminating on the Obama Youth Movement.

It's been pretty well documented that young people turned out for Obama in huge numbers. While walking out of Folsom Field after this year's Bolder Boulder, I passed a group of, I assume, CU students wearing shirts with the Obama logo on them, but some community organizing slogan underneath. I expect that at CU, but I've run into other young people who think Obama is just the best. Why? Well, I have a theory.

First, the gleefully ethically (and increasingly financially) bankrupt media has helped perpetuate the myth that the GOP is the party of rich, old, white men while the DNC is the hip, young party - or par-TAY - that has as it's representatives Jon Stewart, Hayden Panatierre (did I spell that right? Who cares...) and a host of other Hollywood people. As they know from experience (check here for more), if you get the media to repeat something often enough, people will believe it. If you need proof, bogus statistics about abortions in the 1960's found their way into the infamous freedom of choice act. Anyway, The GOP's doddering, decrepit old white guys are no match for the DNCs counterparts - Harry Reid, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden...um, wait a minute...

Next, the young people, particularly those still in school and old enough to vote are awash in the left wing indoctrination camps that are America's colleges. This means a few things. First, they're getting primarily one side of the story from their teachers. My friends in academia may bristle at these accusations, but there's not a lot done in schools to teach conservative values, and it's a fact that the NEA is one of the largest donors to the Democratic ticket. Since they're practically brainwashed anyway, the Hollywood cool factor makes it even harder for youngsters to break free from the mind control. If everyone around you in the dorms and on campus is for Obama, you're not likely to deviate from that or you'll be an outcast. Nothing is more frightening for a young person. Secondly, by their very nature, young people, especially students, don't have a lot at risk. Few have much in the way of savings, and certainly not many make enough money to worry about taxes. With Obama promising free college education in trade for community organizing and tax rebates to everyone regardless of how little they pay in taxes, young people stand to benefit from Obama's social programs (assuming he actually delivers on these promises) more than most other demographic groups. Why wouldn't they vote for him?

Lastly, the Democrats, or at least the liberal subset, represent the par-tay of if it feels good, do it. Remember, these are the flower children from the summer of love, Woodstock and a million 'love-ins.' They laugh at the concept of abstinence, promote abortion as a method of birth control, have laid the groundwork for young people today to do what they want, when they want and bear none of the negative consequences. Incurable sexually transmitted diseases like herpes (your friend for life) are the only permanent reminders of misspent youth. Young people are all about having the good time, putting off responsibility and getting instant gratification. The DNC plays to that with vigor. As a young person, why wouldn't you vote for the left?

As all of us old farts know, youth is wasted on the young. Once these kids who turned out in record numbers to vote for Obama get out of school and get a job, they'll start to see what they've done. Once they're out of school, mom and dad's health care coverage won't be there anymore, they'll have to pay for coverage through their job. The only thing is, if Obama passes his health plan, fewer companies are going to offer health care, so they'll be stuck with whatever government rationed plan is available. You can't get in to see a doctor, you won't get any meds if you do, but hey - it's free! (Except for those taxes that come out of your paycheck, of course.) Speaking of taxes, as they move up the ladder in their companies and their salaries increase, they'll understand just how unfair the progressive tax system is. Those rebate checks won't seem so hip any more once they realize that more they make, the less they keep. And when they find out that their daughters went and got an abortion without their consent and the law says there's nothing they can do about it, they may have a different perspective on the whole no consequences thing.

The ultimate payback for them will be when, well into their 30's, closer to 50 than to 20, a fresh faced Hollywood starlet, just turned 18 and voting in her first election, putting into practice all the knowledge she's gleaned during her long life, condescends to tell them that if they don't vote for the democrat, they're out of touch. Maybe they'll shake their head and mutter under their breath "These kids today....they just don't get it!"