Too much heat for the boiling frog?
I often think that, had Pelosi, Reid, and Obama been just a little smarter, they would have moved more slowly and incrementally to the left. If they had not given away their hand so quickly, they might have lulled the voters into a false sense of security, and would still have their sixty votes in the Senate and an excellent chance for re-election in 2010. This would have been especially true had they paid more attention to the economy and job creation.
But they moved more quickly than that. Has that frog in the pot—the American voter— noticed he was about to be boiled to death, and leapt soon enough to thwart their plans?
[NOTE: Here’s what really happens to those boiling frogs.]
I think they’ve grown impatient. Thus their determination to shove it through, whatever the consequences. They came close to tasting victory with HillaryCare, and they can’t wait any longer.
I couldn’t agree with you more.
It astounds me. The Democrats have squandered a once-in-a-generation chance to actually make some real changes. Of course, the result is good, but it will a long time (if ever) before they have an opportunity like 2009 again. It just goes to show how grossly incompetent and utterly tone deaf these people are. The American public turned to them (after suffering through the incompetence and tone deafness of the Republicans for 6 years), and hardly a year after the most popular Democrat candidate in decades is sworn in, we are bailing out and heading back to the G.O.P. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the G.O.P. doesn’t seem to understand why, and we could end up with the Republicans acting like Congress did back in 2002-2006. Big spending, no reform, caving to bad ideas for political reasons. Obama won by charming the credulous, but he wouldn’t have gone anywhere without the public being rightly disgusted at our leaders for many years.
The saddest part is that while I had Obama pegged two years ago as an empty suit and (later) as a crypto-Marxist even I underestimated how clumsy he would be at his attempts to govern. He can’t open his mouth without insulting someone. He is the biggest whiner to ever hold a major office in this country’s history. He never leads, just endlessly campaigns. He’s just a sad, sad excuse for a leader of any kind.
It’s been shown that his agenda can be stalled, if not neutralized. He’s paying for it now, and he’ll pay for it more in November. The real question is whether We the People will end up more than marginally better off because of it. For every Brown, who seems like a real conservative, we have a Kirk, who is a RINO at best. Keeping the socialists at bay isn’t enough. This country needs to seriously reverse course if it is to survive.
But they moved more quickly than that. Has that frog in the pot–the American voter– noticed he was about to be boiled to death, and leapt soon enough to thwart their plans?
a long time ago i said taht this was always the problem that they feel they have won before they have, and so remvoe the mask early.
once that is done, then there is nothing to do but make a mad dash and hope people dont realize your going for the gun on the floor, and run too.
[this is what they thought bush was going to do – like the chinese did in indonesia. grab the prize that someone else set up]
Being superior to the rest of us and not ashamed to gloat about it, liberals can’t help themselves when it comes to pushing their agenda, no matter how unpopular it may be with us commoners. But,this time around they have been particularly obnoxious and tone deaf. They don’t care a damn for us or for moderate Democrats, for that matter. In my opinion liberals will not admit that they acted too quickly or without any subtlety. Rather, being liberals, they will conclude that they did not act fast enough. Remember, they stumbled on the 1-yard line.
I was recently coming to the conclusion that Obama must be a closet conservative because no one else could have done so much (while actually accomplishing so little) to wake up the American (cowboy) spirit so quickly to the liberal assault on our traditional values. But his superior tone coupled with that chin in the air (so Mussolini like) brought me back to earth. Now the Democrats are going to have to deal with the reality that they pushed an adolescent into a man’s job and he will stink up their plans and schemes for three more years. Worse, their total disregard for the Blue Dogs in their own party may make it harder for them to recruit good candidates for national office for the next 8 to 10 years, or so.
I had hoped not to live through such interesting times.
Conceptjunkie: I agree that I’m worried that the Republicans will muck things up, too. The temptation to pork and corruption seems very great. But I doubt they could muck it up anywhere near as bad as the Democrats are trying to do, at least not in such a fundamental way.
As for Kirk and RINOs, please read Ace on that. And see also this.]
Perhaps too, if they had not broadcast their attempt to take advantage of a country got in the vise of economic upheavel. The whole Hegelian “never waste a crisis” business and the hubris to suppose they could herd the nation like cattle into the socialist corral because desperate people will give their will away for some semblence of security was overplayed and it blew up in their face. Thank god, even now, they are too arrogant and stupid to learn from their colossal misstep!
Well, they could have gone slow and Fabian. I think it would have worked better too.
OTOH since a new president has the most power to get things done in his first year and there was that astonishing buzz of Obama as FDR 2.0, one could argue that the Big Bang approach to transforming the US was a good shot.
Plus I think Obama and the Dem leadership were so besotten with their victories that they couldn’t restrain themselves from trying to grab everything in sight.
For a while it looked like it was working. Last summer was a scary time when it seemed they were about to jam through cap-and-trade then healthcare in a matter of weeks.
It turned out they overreached and executed poorly.
The most likely result is that they will have immunized the US against New Left-style candidates for a generation.
Perhaps its a bit petty on my part, but the way that this Lib-Dem meltdown is occurring is causing me a lot of Schadenfreude-ish pleasure. I’ve known people just like Pelosi and Obama. They represent a particular type of person on the left of the political spectrum. They arrogantly assumed that the American public was in full agreement with their grand plan, and anyone who didn’t agree is mere “astroturf.” They were ready to declare a grand new era, with themselves the cool new leaders of a shiny new Camelot.
Its quite pleasing to see things not turn out as they had expected, and reality smack our would-be heroes in the face. How sweet it is.
I think their mistake was making their first big move the destruction of the economy via the stimulus package, instead of making their initial effort an all-out assault on electoral integrity. If they had immediately given all illegals the right to vote, they could have won every election forever after and enacted whatever madness they wished.
I am not sure that the Rinos of yesterday are like some of these new moderates. I am not sure that have to be. The traditional leftist stranglehold on social issues has been loosened. The new study on the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex ed opens room for people to really think about the best thing for their kids. Sarah Palin has challenged feminists on the meaning of choice. I am not sure people are willing to take on the homophobe label merely because they have reservations about gay marriage. Some of the new moderates may be able to take these issues away from the hard left and propose solutions that more can live with until a real social consensus can be reached.
I think the Dems are on loosing ground on the budget and terrorism. Moderate tones based on real convictions are more appealling than the incoherence of Obama and the Dems. The young who swooned over Obama are now having to face the realities of his vacuous promises. They may be open to a reasoned argument from some of the younger faces in the Reps. Dana Perino and Liz Cheney sound a whole lot more convincing about terrorism since the panty bomber, especially when compared with Pelosi, who apparently slept through CIA briefings.
I think people are skeptical about grand schemes. They will listen to some of the newcomers who look like next-door neighbors and who know about making car payments and sticking to a personal budget. They will respond to smaller scale common sense proposals. At least, I hope so.
Here he opens the door to declaring a whole host of such theories “pernicious.” By the guidelines he lays down, practically any theory that contains beliefs that dissent from the government’s official line in almost any area or subject now qualifies as “pernicious”–not as legitimate free speech. He recommends against ignoring these theories as their proponents may “draw ominous inferences from the government’s silence.”
So, Sunstein’s recommendation is to go after all so-called “conspirators” tooth and nail. He wants to unleash a whole host of government operatives on them, infiltrating their meetings, bugging their phones, monitoring their credit card transactions, tailing their cars, and likely even hiding under their beds if the Obama Administration so desires.
It all sounds like some bizarre scenario culled from the “Coming Attractions” of a science fiction epic. But, unfortunately, in this case, it’s not science fiction at all. And, it’s not “coming;” it’s here.
Cass Sunstein, as mentioned above, is the Obama Administration’s Regulations Czar. As such, he is responsible for deciding what government agencies are allowed to do. And that means when he says it’s time for government enforcers to start spying on “conspirators” who express “skepticism about government’s assertions,” it’s time for you to start looking over your shoulder.
Hat tip to neo for the link debunking the Boiled Frog story. It takes its place next to the Hundredth Monkey myth.
So it’s now clear that you can’t boil frogs or Americans.
What’s next?
I couldn’t talk my son out of buying a piece of crap car when he turned 16. My dad couldn’t talk me out of it and i suspect his dad couldn’t either. Some lessons in life just demand hands on experience.
Lets just chalk up 2008-2009 as an education for Americans who bought a lemon.
and you cant assert they squandered anything.
the final move of the game is not done, and they havent squandered anything if they win.
failure to be smart enough to see how they can win, does nto mean that they are not in the know.
just as greed cant be asserted until after you know need as a final condition.
so both concepts are invalid in most of the times we use them.
its like saying the new england saints blew a big lead by turning over the toss and the end is final.
not too bright..
MEANWHILE..
Russian engineers building arms plants in Venezuela
they have people there now doing it.
want to know what will happen when venezuela starts handing out ak 103s like candy? how about grenade launchers and dragunov sniper rifles.
[oh, by the way.. they also have a war agreement, and so if the columbia situatino heats up, guess who we will be fighting again, like in korea, vietnam, afghanistan, etc]
i wonder if this and other things that peope seem not to know are in their assesments..
When people look at Republican candidates who are not out and out conservatives, they have to remember that in some areas of the country, an out and out conservative just cannot be elected. As long as a Republican candidate is for fiscal conservatism, against earmarks, for more transparency in legislation, and for being aggressive against terrorists what more could we ask for if they live in a state like Washington, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Connecticut, etc.
The real thrust that has alarmed independents and Republicans has been the secretive legislation, the enthusiastic earmarking, an almost total disregard for controlling spending, and a reactive stance on terrorism that treats it as a law enforcement issue. I don’t know why the liberal dems think these are good ideas. They should have to tell the voters why cooking up legislation in secret, attaching unlimited spending earmarks, and doing more deficit spending in three years than all our previous federal governments combined is a good thing for the country. They cannot justify any of it and when asked about it they merely change the subject or blame Boosh. Scott Brown was able to articulate those issues in an understandable way. His campaign should be a blueprint for anyone wanting to succeed this November.
the final move of the game is not done, and they havent squandered anything if they win.
That’s what you are reduced to arguing now.
And the South will rise again!
I don’t think the Obama administration is demised, but the prospects of an Obama Reich is.
Well said Hux, I always why more people did not see Obama as a dead parrot.
that post should read “I always WONDERED why more people did not see Obama as a dead parrot.”
I just hope you are all not whistling dixie too soon. I’m not nearly so confident the big leftist libs are done with the big plan(s) just yet. Maybe it’s a lagged effect, but I still feel anxious about what this crowd is up to everyday.
A lot of good points made, I’ll add my perception that the Democrats simply shot themselves in the foot. And that given the make-up of their party, that was unavoidable.
They’re the “big tent” party right? Which means they had to work long and hard to come to consensus (how to keep everyone satisfied with their share of the loot) it took so long that Ted Kennedy died from the wait! 😉
By the time they finally put together a Bill with all the earmarks, pork and back room deals…they simply ran out of time.
One more thing, my belief (and hope) that the Republican party won’t turn back the clock to 2004 hen it regains control is based upon several factors; The emergence of Sarah Palin and Scott Brown and the many more like them that are sure to emerge over the next few months and years. They’re the new template for how to succeed, politically.
The state of the economy, ironically the Democrats have placed the country in such an economic fix that the Republicans can’t spend more as there’s nothing left to spend.
The emergence of rising stars like Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal and Tim Pawlenty who are articulate and have pragmatic solutions to offer.
Finally and most importantly, the massive upwelling of involvement and awakening that the Tea Party movement, FOX’s surging ratings and conservative political blogs indicate is happening in this country.
A modern version of Nixon’s ‘silent majority’ is awakening.
An excellent post, and correspondingly insightful comments.
I too have been grateful for the Left’s overplaying their hand, much as Sukarno (ironically, while Obama was living there), Allende (and later, Zemaya) did.
They probably did so because they thought they were so close to their goal that they could taste it, and couldn’t muster the requisite patience. For that I thank God. As Art will doubtless expound on at length (if we can only draw him out a bit), Lenin faced a similar situation, but successfully made the leap to consolidating power.
I am employed by a state social service agency. Our agency is the initial point of contact for almost all government assistance programs except Social Security and unemployment. Everyday our client list grows. Everyday the clients become a little more frightened; a little more demanding; and a little more surly. Eighteen months ago their biggest concern might have been something on American Idol. Today they are worried about where the money will come from for last month’s heating bill or next week’s groceries. Perhaps for the first time they are attentive to events in Washington. Perhaps for the first time they learn that elections do have consequences.
If this Administration; this Congress had done something, anything to actually stop the bleeding and turn the economy around they could have probably passed ObamaCare anyway. They were much too busy pushing ObamaCare to see that people’s lives were falling apart around them.
I hope; I pray that it is not too late to turn things around.
> I don’t think the Obama administration is demised, but the prospects of an Obama Reich is.
Well, when a liberal Euro rag like Stern is calling you a “lame duck president” after only a year in office, I think it’s a safe bet that, if you’re not a walking corpse, “you can play one on TV”
I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination. I strongly caution against declaring victory too soon.
I can envision any number of “black swan” events which could suddenly and radically change the situation in the Left’s favor. Some examples are further economic chaos, a political assassination, a major terrorist attack, or a war breaking out somewhere. I think America’s enemies are licking their chops and circling for the kill, and you can count on the Obamunists to take full advantage of any “crisis” that comes along.
Keep in mind also that the “stimulus” funding (really a slush fund for favored Democrat constituencies) is supposed to kick in this year, and might create the illusion that the economic situation is better than it is. And I’m sure that the federal judiciary and bureaucracy are quietly being filled with fellow travelers who could continue to wreak havoc for decades.
There is a story that when Gorbachev first flew to Canada, he was amazed by all the homes. He commented to the Canadian ambassador flying with him that he was amazed at all the managers that lived there. He was dumbfounded when the ambassador told him that those were the worker’s homes, because workers did not have homes in Russia. Suddenly the narrative he had been fed since he was born was popped.
Whether that story is true or not is not important here. The idea of my comment is we are 20 years from when Reagan left office. The MSM has slanted against conservative ideals constantly and managed to lull the natives into believing a narrative. But one year of living the narrative has popped that bubble. We are witnessing a dramatic and sudden re-alignment of the voting population. Now, the rest of the year, watch as the politicians try to make it look like they are leading the parade instead of being driven out of town.
I don’t think we are out of the woods yet. If/when this whole economic house of cards comes crashing down with all this debt- don’t be suprised if the left starts more of their “we must all come together” baloney in ways that erode American National sovereignty- things like international or regional currency, more trans-national organizations regulating this or that, etc
There is a story that when Gorbachev first flew to Canada, he was amazed by all the homes.
I had the same reaction in reverse, on visiting a Soviet grocery store. Or, more accurately, where groceries would have been, had there been any to speak of. I was shocked. It was worse even than I’d imagined.
oh.. and if you dont think that there are progressives who are like the ones on the other side of the aisle.. then you never realized that such phrases allowed progressives on both sides to ‘come together’ and get things done (ie, collude against the middles).
by the way… communists took over the term progressive… read about taft and roosevelt and 1912 and the bull moose party… that was the original progressives. woodrow wilson was when they took up a new label. later when they ruined that label with eugenics, sterlizations, FDRs programs, and so on…
[listen carefully hux]
and people got fed up… and spent decades trying to undo what was done then. but they never shook out the desease.. like malaria, it flares up till it kills the patient (unless you get rid of it all. and if your not willing to get rid of things like feminism, your never going to get rid of progressives).
today the progressives became liberals. why? because liberals with john steward mill had a good standing and those that sided and thought well of such systems had never read them. so it was easy to slip in, and shift the thing over to a whole new set. (and they became the liberals that lenin wrote about that were idiots! i posted that too).
[edited for length by neo-neocon]
It’s called a “Smash and Grab”.
The thief or thieves run into the jewlery store, smash the glass cases, grab as much loot as they can as quick as they can, then make their escape as quick as they can before they get caught.
What often happens is the thief or thieves are too greedy and try to grab too much loot, taking too much time, and they get caught.
I can envision any number of “black swan” events which could suddenly and radically change the situation in the Left’s favor.
I’d argue that most black swans will work against Obama and Democrats since they are incumbents.
Economic disruptions, wars, and terrorist attacks will be bad for Obama since he has spent most of his time on health care, speeches, and making nice with bad people. Also because he has shown no track record for handling unpleasant events well.
The only wild card I can think of is the assassination of Obama himself which could give Left a boost as Obama ascends to the level of JFK, RFK and MLK.
Artfldgr,
In two ‘comments’ you used 2,801 words. But that’s not a comment, that’s a lecture.
Blogs are free, why don’t you set one up? Just sayin’…
I actually read all of the words you wrote just now, though I have to confess that my eyes started to glaze over at a few points in your dissertation.
In all frankness, most of the time I skip over the majority of your comment(s), not because I think you have nothing of value to say, I trust you do as your sincerity is obvious. I skip over your comment because its an exercise in stamina and concentration to get through it all, because frequently there’s a bit of disjointedness to your comments. As if you have so much to say but haven’t taken the time to properly assemble it all, so as to maximize understanding and persuasion.
I’ve taken the time to mention this because I suspect that some of this is responsible for huxley’s attitude toward your positions. Take it for what its worth, which will be as much as your self-examination allows.
“we will vote to get rid of the DEMS…
and we will vote in a new set of progressives who are under the republican ticket.”
That’s certainly a possibility and one that many conservatives, myself included fear. That said, RINO’s like McCain, Snowe and Lugar are ‘progressive republicans’ just as Teddy Roosevelt was but there’s a difference between a Roosevelt and a Woodrow Wilson and there’s a real difference between a McCain and an Obama.
But I also see a confluence of events and trends that I believe bode well for the future: the emergence of Palin and Brown acting as future templates for getting elected. The dire economic state we are in, which makes future profligate spending a non-starter. The emergence of new leaders in the Republican party like Ryan, Jindal and Pawlenty offering voters new alternatives. The Tea Party movement, FOX’s surging ratings and robust popular conservative blogs getting out alternative news and analysis. All these things preclude business as usual for the Republican leadership.
“Is this all some cunning plan and in early November we will wake up to martial law?”
“no…martial law will become apparant when we realize we have been played and we cant do anything about it. that is, when all these laws COME INTO EFFECT at the same time, with china or others sayin screw it and pulling the debt to ZERO in one month. how many symbols and signs does one need to know that they are yelling we meet at 2012..
that wont be till after chavez has his factories up and they are sure that they can send the problem army people to another country. how do you think they solve the army problem in other countries?
that is, a conflict allows you to separate your forces in any way you want. and so those soldiers your saying wont let it happen, wont be here.”
You appear to be suggesting that a nefarious plot is being woven with all the threads coming together in a prearranged manner, at a pre-appointed time and to ensure its success, it will be arranged that key military units will be overseas, out of position to prevent the coup.
If that is what you are proposing, then quite frankly, I don’t believe you understand the foundational culture of this country.
Let me explain; many polls show that the American people self-identify as 85% Christian, however accurate that may or may not be, I assure you that 95% of Americans; democrats, republicans, liberals, independents, libertarians and conservatives literally worship the concept of individual freedom and that seminal phrase; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”, it is that factor Artfldgr that will prevent any coup from succeeding, no matter how well planned nor how much force is used to impose it.
Please consider these points, they are offered in the same spirit of sincerity and seriousness that I believe I sense in your comments.
huxley Says:
February 4th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
It all depends on the circumstances. “Black swan” events are by definition something out of the blue that no one foresees or plans for. You’re right; they could go either way. But if they go against us we could be in real trouble.
On the one hand, if the economy looks rosy it will benefit the party in power, but on the other hand a sudden traumatic economic shock could send frightened and desperate people to seek shelter in the inviting embrace of the Nanny State.
I really don’t want to go into the details, but I can imagine assassination scenarios that have nothing to do with Obama, but they would be like putting a match to a powder keg.
Black swans are not unforeseeable; they are just events with high impact which are very unlikely and hard to predict.
Mostly they are negative and I’m saying that high impact negative events will work to Obama’s disadvantage, not his advantage, because he is doing nothing to make life in America more robust — in fact he is increasing instability and fragility. The majority of Americans recognize this.
Obama is paying a high price for that now. If things go seriously sideways, he is toast.
Those concerned about fascism in America ought to be considering who might be swept into power if America is overtaken by chaos. That’s how fascism happens.
Hint: it won’t be Obama. He’ll be the one who is blamed and overthrown.
Geoffrey Britain: Several people, including myself, have made your points to Artfldgr and to no avail.
Nice of you to try though.
Rickl, I am not too concerned that these knuckleheads can do anything to stimulate the economy in 2010 or ever, the stimulus has been proven to me to be a payoff scheme, as long as the payees keep the money we don’t have to worry about any spike in hiring etc. Couple in all the back door tax hikes, I have no confidence in an upswing, in fact I see the “growth” figure this qtr being adjusted down unexpectedly in the next 3 months or so, they simply don’t know how to do it, to them everything works off of graft and that doesn’t cut it large scale…
“Geoffrey Britain: Several people, including myself, have made your points to Artfldgr and to no avail.”
Yea, just leave it alone. Read the first little bit and scan from there on out. You will get 99% of what you did for reading the whole thing for 20% the costs. I can be sad I miss that 1%, and frankly I am – he has a good deal of information to transmit, but it just isn’t done well. I simply do not have the time to deal with those walls of text and I get it the first time it is said – I do not need 10 corroborating instances.
Many of us have told him to spend part of the enormous amount of time he does (there are some interesting past posts about his sleep patterns) on editing, but that ended up being concluded that he was better off just spilling it all end letting it go (or rather he decided such).
IMO he just misses being a truly influential person, its the delivery that lacks. It’s been gone over for years and isn’t going to change. This is approaching the double digit mark I and others have made similar posts (and a few that went on for a long time). Take the posts for what they are, figure out how to incorporate them into you reading (there is lots of good info in them), and move on – he is most likely not going to change based on another person telling what he has heard for many a year, though maybe you will be the proverbial straw that broke the camels back and get him to change.
The fact that we (including our host) still like him here despite all the other issues is testament to the content, if not the delivery, of his posts. Take it as that and move on.
While it ain’t over ’til it’s over, the downfall (and no, I will not link a parody) of Obama’s master plans begin and end with his hubris and arrogance. His calling his election a ‘mandate’ (a mandate of 52-47%) to fundamentally change this Country and rudely stating in one of the first and only White House meetings with Republicans, “I won!” tells it all. There is also the impatience of such ideologues. They’re right, they know it, and we will, too, once they shove their ‘rightness’ down our throats.
The comment about herding the American people like sheep toward their goals is correct, because getting Americans to do One’s bidding is more like herding cats.
I personally am waiting for Obama’s meltdown in public. It’s coming. He can’t open his mouth sans teleprompter without inserting his foot. (‘Corpse-man. And that was with a teleprompter!) His blank canvas campaign style does not work when doing actual executive work. He cannot be all things to all people, as if he ever was. But now the curtain has been pulled back, and more of the 52%ers who voted for Hope’n’Che’nge are seeing the great Oz is really nothing more than a small and petty man, corrupt to his core.
2010 is shaping up to be a very good year. But it is only shaping up that way. There is still plenty of hard, tough work ahead to stop the communist takeover of our Country and right the ship of State. Obama never would have won if he had truth in advertizing and ran under the more modest Socialist ticket. Americans have an inherent distrust if socialism/communism.
Geoffrey B, I wish you were right about 95% of Americans and their attitudes toward individual freedom and liberty. A lot of people would answer a poll question saying they believe in it. And probably 20% or more would say putting individual liberty first is selfish, the common good is more important. Many Obama voters think socialism is great and we should be like Europe. If you want some examples, read through the articles and comments at TNR, TPM, and Mother Jones about the health care battle. Scary! They want reconciliation now, 51 votes; rewrite the Senate rules to end use of the filibuster or even abolish the Senate and go with a parliamentary system; people will like the bills after something is passed or the country needs it so do whatever it takes to ” punch it through”.
Huxley,
“Those concerned about fascism in America ought to be considering who might be swept into power if America is overtaken by chaos. That’s how fascism happens.”
Right. Point taken.
rickl,
I too have wondered about assassination scenarios that don’t involve Obama, and whose upshots would be explosive. There are some people whom I occasionally think of, hoping they are watching their backs and have some very good security.
Neo: I get it, a RINO is much better than a Democrat at this point… and I understand that I am acting with prejudice against Kirk, but he’s voted for things that I find morally and otherwise reprehensible. We owe our current political situation to the Republicans as much as the Democrats. My point is that while rewinding the clock to, say, 2005, will certainly be an improvement, it’s just delaying the inevitable.
We need real reform. Most Republicans have been part of the problem, if less so than Democrats. No doubt that the more seats the Democrats lose the better, but that’s a short-term gain, and at least for now, only a band-aid. Despite Brown’s victory, as well as victories in New Jersey and my home, the
Oops… fat-fingered that one.
… great Commonwealth of Virginia, I’m not yet sanguine that the RNC gets it yet.
Unlike you and a lot of people here, I am a lifelong conservative, so perhaps I see things a little differently. We, as a country, are on the first steps of a thousand-mile journey back to greatness. We still have the qualities, as a culture, that made America what it is, but they have been dangerously diluted. The Republicans might have enabled Obama, but it was the collective lack of common sense that threw the last switch to put him in the White House. Not because he’s a liberal, but because he’s clearly a radical who is totally unqualified for the job to which he aspired and won. I wouldn’t have felt the same if someone like Kucinich had won (Yeah, I know… fat chance). I think he’s about as wrong as you can get on issues, but he’s principled, and I can respect that. The only thing I respect about Obama is that he seems to be a good family man.
And one final personal note: this is my favorite political blog. This is not some big impersonal clearinghouse for commentary (which isn’t inherently bad… I love American Thinker too… Slashdot and Techdirt for nerdiana, etc), but it is an intimate view into the thoughts and feelings of a well-educated, literate and thoughtful person. It’s like you’ve invited a bunch of friends to sit around your living room and have a nice and fruitful discussion. I feel smarter because I read “neo-neocon”. 🙂
All posts very well written concept junkie.
You have pretty much said what I’m thinking but wrote it much better than I could have.
Conceptjunkie: Thank you!
I would have called the blog “Salon,” but that one was already taken :-).
And besides, when I first started the blog and chose the name, the idea of it someday being a salon, where people could come and talk to each other about big issues (and sometimes small ones as well), was just a hope of mine. But fortunately it came to be.
I think that even if Obama & Co. do not get their prized Health Care Reform and Cap and Trade passed, and even if their further major initiatives are increasingly blocked as more and more Democrats are voted out of office and they lose their majorities in the House and Senate, Obama & Co. will have done so much other damage by their judicial and other appointments and policy and regulatory changes, that we will be trying to root them out–all the while suffering from their effects–for many years to come.
Of particular danger is the work of the un-vetted and largely unknown Czars (a precedent and power grab that can be revived by a future dictatorially minded President), Czars completely out of the control of and unaccountable to Congress and the American people, and answerable only to Obama, all busily working away out of sight. Three of the 35 or so Czars that we do know a little about are the extremely dangerous and powerful Cass Sunstein–who wants to spy on us, to construct a web of regulations and policy changes to force (“nudge”) us to move in the directions he wants, and who has proposed setting up what is in effect the apparatus of a “Ministry of Truth,” John Holdren–who thinks that forced abortions, secretly slipping sterilants in our water, forcibly taking babies from teen age mothers and adopting them out, and denying the elderly–the useless, worn out “eaters”–necessary health care are all policies that would be acceptable, and Mark Lloyd–a fan of Hugo Chavez’ revolution who wants to shut down the opposition to the far Left on talk radio and TV and to give PBS a monopoly.
I suspect that as more information trickles out about the rest of the Czars, they will prove just as radical and dangerous as these three. This extraordinarily dangerous Czar structure has to be tackled by Congress and dismantled.
If they had not given away their hand so quickly
These particular Controllists obviously can’t control their own ‘minds’? They are not in control or capable enough to do it at any level beyond, say, feeding themselves and the like?
The Progressives have denied reality to the extent that they actually think their Fantasyland is reality?
But “denying reality is not a good way to confront reality, boy!” – Clint Eastwoodism,
~”dying is not a good way to make a living, boy”
Progressives are largely narcissistic “Marxisant” or “latte’ Communists” who therefore think running reality is easy because of their unique ability to channel the Ideal? And because “everyone wuvs Me”? So that having nearly complete “theoretical” power has brought out the “best” in them?
“The Commie in the Candy Store” syndrome?
Runaway Parastism of the Producers or Host by the evolutionary dead end Parasites?
Washington DC is a Fantasyland?
So excited they wet their own pants instead?
Pinnochio’s “Pleasure Island” syndrome?
The Lord of The Flies is not a book only about chronological children?
“Greed is good”?
The usual externalized obsessive-compulsive urgency writ large?
Window into the “mind” of an infantile Cult?
Fear of life translates into an orgasmic conversion reaction?
The Slavers forgot to first chain up the Slaves?
Intellectually unhinged Elitism is not all it’s cracked up to be?
“Parasitism”
Wolla Dalbo—that could be a good rallying cry for Republicans running for Congress: overthrow the czars!
Be careful what you wish for. one of the reasons that such attempts at control succeeds is that the ignorant in their vociferousness, alienate those who are not ignorant.
i have decided to give you all waht you want.. why? i am realizing that i am risking my life for idiots who when things change will remember me and sell me down the river for nothing. you see, if things do change the way they might go, then what will happen to me for speaking out and telling the truth now?
i could have remained safe. i could have joined them, and the attitudes here make that a reasonable thing, but as yet have no offers. i could just let things happen…and not only that, knowing how it works
the longer i try, the deeper my grave if things change.
i will try to make this my last post for a while. the malcontents seem to have it covered. its obvious that you dont want or need my historical references, you know it all already. there comes a time when its better to let the drowning man drown, and wave by by to them as they go under. no sense wasting two lives in stupidity.
the nice thing is that by doing this, i cover both bases. if i am wrong, it works out well for me. if i am right, doing this works out better for me. why work against a perfect outcome?
freedom for others who dont get it? knowlege for others that dont want it? i guess the complainers never figured that it was nice to have a person with a higher than phd level memory of history to check facts on and see if things are as they ASSUME and then insure that their analysis is not GIGO..but they LOVE GIGO..
they would rather be wrong and seem right…than be right, and screw how they feel abuot it. 🙂
sad thing is that i am not sadistic enough to watch the prols fumble helplessly against their fate like the people you are considering. not my problem. is it? if it changes, will it become my problem? nope. my family has experiecne and so in truth, i was more worried for those who couldnt adapt.
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time to party guys… my last insight for a while!!!
I know something you guys dont…actually i know alot that you guys dont! but the key thing is this.
i didnt have to share what i know, i didnt have to throw away time in my life to share it find it, and put it up. if you paid me i might have taken time to work them into article form and entertain you, but you didnt. neo got it. others did to. those who prefer to stand on top and lose over being in the crowd and winning didnt.
i lose nothing by stopping!!! what do you lose? [i dont have to teach history at the PHD level and higher to get my rocks off. but how many of you have a source that can tell you history down to the various laws, people, facts, revisions and such?
have fun.. for me its going to be like letting the smart as kids take over the chemistry lab. we will all find out in the long run who was smart and who thought they were smart. i have too much negative stuff in my life now to be so gracious with my time to people who want me to be even more gracious and cater to them. screw that.
i dont see them being more gracious to me and meeting me half way, they dont pay me, and they insult me most of the time. and have balls enough to make demands of the life guard trying to save them? or at the very least help them understand and become more competent?
funny that these same people will watch a chinese kung fu movie and watch how the student busts his balls for just a little bit. and they feel with that.
then they get out and they say hey Teacher. make it intersting for me. you owe me. i am so special that you have to spend your precious life energy and time caterign to me while it treat you like an asshole.
to that i will say
What is the sound of one hand clapping and watch them all in ignorance not know the answer!!!!!! not 1 in 100 will answer right. the US i was from was a meritocracy. the people here have shown that we cant get back to that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
why? because they dont care about merit, facts, history, reality… they only care that they seem right to others and so can puff up their chin like obama at a state of the union address.
read and learn a bit.. but i fear you wont get it.
WHEN Yamaoka was a brash young student, he visited the master Dokuon. Wanting to impress the master, he said:
“There is no mind, there is no body, there is no Buddha. There is no better, there is no worse. There is no master and there is no student; there is no giving, there is no receiving. What we think we see and feel is not real. All that is real is Emptiness. None of these seeming things really exists.”
Dokuon had been sitting quietly smoking his pipe, and saying nothing. Now he picked up his staff, and without warning gave Yamaoka a terrible whack. Yamaoka jumped up in anger.
“Since none of these things really exists,” said Dokuon, “and all is Emptiness, where does your anger come from? Think about it.”
10 bucks says that there are going to be idiots who think i am saying that i am the master. BEEEEP!!! fail!!! i am not the master, i am a student who learned that lesson. do you know what that lesson is? that regardless of how smart and how inventive and how clever you are… reality is going to wack you upside yoru head and show you your wrong, and no amount of cleverness will save you from the folly of impertenent disrespect of reality.
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“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”
What kind of kingdom did he get? What kind of kingdom did russia become for the common man? What kind of kingdom did china get? Cuba? Korea?
HELL on EARTH…
Wouldn’t sadists, despots, pedophiles, pederasts, murderers, thieves and such, consider hell to be a heaven for them? (well a hell that let them act out and didn’t spend the time torturing them. which is their view of secular heaven, life not limited by small people who don’t like to be victims and spoil your fun) Its not a religious thing…It’s a marsist neitsche thing!!!!!!!!
They cant make a place better than capitalism. Its as close to heaven mankind has ever been able to make… But they CAN make a living hell and call it their home. Taking to heart the maxim that its better to rule in hell than serve in heaven. Applied to our current politics…Its better to be a despot over a decrepit and failed state…Than it is to be a servant of the people in a wonderful society
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thats it… you’re on your own for a while.. .i am going to give you waht you want. you’re going to get nothing but short posts and collective agreement. [and neo, i will continue to send you interesting things, i just wont share them here]
enjoy!!!!
🙂
If the feet of enlightenment moved, the great ocean would overflow;
If that head bowed, it would look down upon the heavens.
Such a body has no place to rest….
Let another continue this poem
🙂
Going to miss your posts in a big way Artfldgr.
@DaveH: Thanks for the compliment. I owe my writing skills to a lifetime of reading and to good teachers (in public schools no less).
Another thing I’ve learned (from computer programming!) is that big complicated system makes a whole lot more sense when you have a simple, consistent and well-defined foundation, and I think the conservative philosophy, along with a firm grounding in the proverbial Judeo-Christian tradition is the foundation upon which you can build a mighty edifice of ideas that won’t fall over in a storm.
Going to miss your posts in a big way Artfldgr.
dont worry…
the new me will be more entertaining for a very short while.
Just as “brevity is the soul of whit”…
If you can’t explain the operative principles of any concept in the fewest steps necessary, you don’t really understand it.
Unnecessary complexity is the refuge of the intellectually insecure.
And when others offer constructive criticism, the truly wise consider it and embrace what value it may contain, rather than react with knee-jerk offense.
How sad. But then, we’re all our own worst enemies.
Found your blog post on AskJeeves, great articles and other content, but the site looks awkward inside my browser setup, but works out fine in IE. travel figure.