A One Way Door?

Over at Egnorance, there's a provocative post comparing Atheism to AIDS. I'm not big on the metaphor, although I haven't thoroughly read the post yet and mregnor's thinking is usually deep enough to warrant thought. What jumped out at me is this:

The hallmark of totalitarianism is the concentration of power in the state. Everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing above the state.

I know this isn't an original thought, but I figured I'd give credit to the blogger who got me thinking along these lines in a different way. Here's the question it brings to mind.

If the Democratic Party is not the party of totalitarianism, then it would have to recommend that the State shed control in some areas to balance all of the areas where it wants the State to assume more. As far as I can see, there really aren't any areas where President Obama, Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid want less control. It's a one-way door: power goes in, but never comes back out. From a strictly logical point of view, isn't that the hallmark of totalitarianism?

Well, OK then.

H/T: Our Monks of Miscellaneous Musings.