The war on the 1% and the war on the opposition
In a controversial letter published in the WSJ today, Tom Perkins compares the war on the 1% to the escalation of hate propaganda in Germany that led to Kristallnacht:
I perceive a rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent…This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendent “progressive” radicalism unthinkable now?
Predictably, when a person invokes a Nazi comparison people scoff, and Perkins compounded his scoffability quotient by invoking the Nazi comparison while defending the rich (if you want to see scoffing, read the comments about his piece in blogs on the left). Nevertheless, what Perkins said isn’t even really all that controversial. He’s talking about the dangers of drumming up hatred, not mere disagreement with, a segment of society. His point was about Germany in the early days of the Nazis’ rise (Hitler was not even chancellor yet in 1930), not Germany in 1938 (the date of Kristallnacht) or Germany later, when the Nazi machine had gotten the death apparatus fully in gear. His point is that it’s a continuum, and the early days contain the seeds of the later ones.
It is the fate of Cassandra to prophecy and not be believed. The hard left just pretends not to believe; the liberals for the most part are naive about what the hard left is capable of, and what the liberal role is in the drama.
Does this mean Kristallnacht and then the camps are coming? I happen to think what’s happening today will take a different form, a form it is already showing: continuing legal persecution and rhetorical demonization of those who dare to question the liberal line, minus the death camps and the rest. But I also believe that, if killing people ends up being necessary for some reason, the hard left here would have absolutely no hesitation in doing so. I just think, as I’ve written before, that this movement in the US has the earmarks of Chavez more than Hitler or Stalin. That could change.
Yep, Neo, and Venezuela was sowing the catastrophe that Comrade Chavez and his louts had reaped when the Lefty Thug died. Happy trails there, Hugo! May you turn slowly on that spit assigned to you in the Furnace,’Yo!
100 percent on target here, neo.
No need for hyperbole, no need to remind of Godwin’s Law*, just laying it out plainly for what it is (and is becoming).
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
Somewhat related…during the recent protests against government actions in Ukraine, people within the vicinity of of a peaceful demonstration received a mass cell phone message that said “dear subscriber, you have been registered as a participant in a mass disturbance” (whether they were part of the demonstration or not). As the Anchoress notes, this is not only chilling but also not much of a stretch to imagine something similar coming soon to a March for Life or Mass near you:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2014/01/23/the-stuff-priests-are-made-of-orthodox-edition/
Brave letter by VC Tom Perkins of Kleiner Perkins, but I disagree with both Tom and Neo.
In my opinion, any Nazi reference is a mistake unless it is a parody using subtitles from that movie with Hitler in the bunker.
The real danger – and we are heading there – is abandoning the rule of law. From the IRS scandal to ignoring immigration law to the VA AG refusing to enforce marriage laws.
We lose the rule of law and we are finished. And a Harvard Law grad was at the front of that line.
I certainly hope and pray that if the left continues to dominate, your sense of how things may go neo turns out to be the reality we experience, rather than another Kristallnacht and then the camps.
That said, I would ask if anyone here actually thinks it likely that the American Marxist left will be satisfied with simply duplicating European socialism?
And even if they are amenable to that circumstance, can it be achieved given our Constitutional restraints? If not, then the Marxist left’s goals will require either suspending key provisions of the Constitution or accepting something less than Europe’s socialism.
And if our rights are abrogated, will conservatives and libertarians accept it?
I guess what I’m getting at is the proposition that, given the two factions irreconcilable differences, Kristallnacht and then the camps may be unavoidable…if liberals do not awaken in time. I suspect that liberals are the key to which eventuality we experience because IMO, the Marxist left’s power hangs entirely upon the support of liberal progressives and liberal low info voters.
Language is flexible and language is powerful thought control.
Today, Marxists hide in plain sight by calling themselves, and being called, liberals. Marxists are not liberals, though they have deeply infiltrated and corrupted the liberal camp.
Socialists protect themselves from being labeled Nazis by calling Nazis fascists and then labeling their competitors Nazis.
In truth, the Nazi reference is apt. Nazi = National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
The Nazis were Socialists and acted as such.
The folks who identify today with “Socialists” and “Workers’ Parties” use the same playbook as the Nazis did.
If I were Perkins, I would double-down with the assertion and pair it with a memetic, talking-point history lesson and comparison to make the idea stick.
Battle for The Narrative. Define the Zeitgeist.
You have been trying for 5 years to put this President in some hateful box. You’ve called him Hitler, you’ve called him Stalin, you’ve Mau-maued him and treated him like dirt under your feet.
Now you call him Hugo Chavez.
Good luck with that. But while you’re living in your imagination, the economy continues to grow. Democrats have learned to show up even in off-year elections, like Virginia. And the wind now blows not from Obama’s right, but from his left.
I agree with you, Neo. The Nazi comparison is difficult to make in a way that will not get laughed off, and I don’t in fact think it’s a likely scenario. But psychologically the demonization is exactly the same thing. The fanning of serious hatred, and a slow clampdown–both already in progress, the first constantly, and the second whenever feasible. I have been trying for some time to get liberals to notice their own hatred, or, failing that, to get the less committed in the middle to see it for what it is. Not too much success that I know of.
The war on the opposition goes way beyond the 1%. There is also a demonizing of middle class people who don’t buy in to the whole victimology scam. Racist, misogynists, climate change deniers, meat eaters, All are being atttacked with the aim of shutting up anyone who doesn’t agree with their causes. Much of the leftist war is being conducted by spoiled brats (of any age) whose life experience is extremely limited.
One thing that may save us is the breakdown of academia as the cost for diversity administrators become better known and the people rebel. We are paying far too much money for these indoctrination camps, and we pay far too much attention to credentialled idiots.
Neo – according to FBI undercover agent Larry Grathwohl, the re-education camps and then extermination for those who could not be re-educated were in the plans of Obama’s mentor Bill Ayers (just some guy who happened to live in Obama’s neighborhood) and the Weathermen after they crashed the system. They have been working toward that goal ever since. I think anything is possible with the regime in charge now. Do not underestimate them. If that day comes to the US, it will get very ugly. Here is a link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484058879/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
no, no, no. The death cams will be the reaction to the Left, most likely. Just as Germany sought a savior, they will get one. Sometimes the savior is the anti Christ and sometimes not.
To a substantial extent, all the talk about Income Inequality and Wealth Inequality serves as a smokescreen to suppress discussion of the high and rapidly-increasing Power Inequality.
Was the “Kristallnacht” rhetoric a little excessive? Sure. It’s not like the left ever uses hysterical demonizing language to trash its opponents. Or that the MFM reflexively covers for them bwahahahaha.
Eric(5:30pm)… No, their favorite moniker isn’t “Liberal”; it’s “Progressive”. Kinda cute. Just like the CPUSA members of old(and current), today’s Lefties and Left-libs are more comfy with “Progressive.” The deeply brilliant Dana just below your comment labels his or her vacuous views as PROGRESSIVE, no doubt.
_______________________________________
Dana F(5:38pm)…Where oh where and when oh when did the nefarious N-Neocon a.) sow HATE here and.. b.) compare the Infantile Majesty to Hitler or Stalin?? BWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….!
CANNOT possibly make this S*** up!! (Oooops…That’s exactly what Dana did.)
The Left always ends in murder. There are no exceptions to that rule. The logic of their position demands it since they must try to change human nature, and they can only do thins by force.
The children are kept alive to kill their parents.
The Left is diabolical, literally. It is never a question of will you have to fight them; only a question of when.
Good post, neo. I also agree that Obama has been more like Hugo Chavez than anyone, so far.
Chavez destroyed the Venezuelan middle class and wrecked the economy, but the poor practically worship him. He was a billionaire when he died.
Look at American inner cities: The worse they get, the more the people vote in lockstep for the Democrats. I believe the left is trying to replicate that formula on a national scale, by crushing the private sector and forcing more and more people onto the government dole. Once they lose hope of ever being able to find a decent job again, they will never vote for anyone they think will cut their benefits.
Consider young people getting out of college. They’re deeply in debt and all they can find are menial jobs. How will they ever be able to afford to buy a house? When they realize that they will never have as high a standard of living as their elders, I will not be surprised to see them become resentful and vindictive. They are perfect targets for class warfare rhetoric. When they can’t afford to own property themselves, why would we expect them to respect the property of others?
But it could get much, much worse.
When I consider how the Tea Party has been relentlessly demonized by the media as violent, dangerous racist bigots, how government agencies like the IRS are being used to punish the political opposition, and the Andrew Cuomo-type rhetoric, I don’t think the Kristallnacht comparison is overblown at all. The left is preparing the battle space. White middle class conservatives are being systematically dehumanized and painted as Enemies of the People. Scores of millions of people–especially people of color, but not only them–are literally being taught to hate us. I saw a comment at Ace of Spades yesterday: “We are in a slow motion Kristallnacht.”
Recall that the explicit purpose of the Cloward-Piven strategy is to overload the system and cause its collapse. The left expects to seize even more power in the aftermath. When the economy crashes and the dollar becomes worthless, fingers will be pointed in our direction, and the desperate poor will be told, “Those people are to blame; the ones who have more than you do.” That message will fall on receptive ears.
While class warfare rhetoric always talks about “the rich” or “the 1%”, the targets of that rhetoric are the poor. Most middle class people don’t hate the rich. I have a nice, modest house of my own. I couldn’t care less how many mansions Bill Gates has. But a person who has nothing will regard me with envy, and I’m a much softer target than a billionaire living in a gated community who can afford private security.
Here is an excellent short story by Matt Bracken from a couple of years ago. Note the date, which might explain why it didn’t get more traction.
What I Saw At The Coup
In a two volume book, Ian Kershaw’s biography of Hitler makes the point that Hitler’s political approach was identical to that of his Marxist opponents, except that race warfare was substituted for class warfare, and Hitler used Marxist political methods better than the Marxists did. (Kershaw is by no means anti-Marxist in his book).
A useful comparison is Jung Chang’s (brilliant) biography of Mao, another wily genius for whom hatred and cold-blooded brutality were the essential ingredients.
It is a matter of degree depending on what people can get away with. Hugo Chavez and BO are different from Mao and Hitler because of what they can (cannot) get away with.
Because of circumstances Germany and China at the time of their ascendancy permitted Hitler and Mao to get away with a lot.
The point non-Leftists have to keep in mind is that the evil man must always be prevented from meeting the moment by maintaining the circumstances which do not permit the moment to happen.
When the moment happens, the man will appear, because even a dozen evil men are all that is necessary.
As Tolstoy argued in War and Peace, this is not possible. It can be attempted, and it can actually have great success, and it ought to be the continuing goal of prudent persons in their personal and political life, but the great sweep of history as well as total flukes make it impossible.
Non-Leftists have a solid reference point, the American Constitution, for influencing events from allowing the man to meet the moment. That is slipping away.
Hatred is the natural, logical and compelling force for those who understand that a crisis is too good to waste.
The squalid, shriveled souls of a Hitler, a Mao, a Castro, a Chavez, an Obama, are animated by the same force. They are only limited by what they can exploit.
Invoking Godwin’s Law in this instance would be ironic: the law only deals with the propensity for rhetoric to heat up to absurd levels the longer a conversation goes on. In that sense, it refers to the misuse of Nazi/Hitler analogies.
When discussing programmatic hate speech, especially when directed by institutions as large as government, analogies to Nazi Germany are entirely apt.
Tonawanda Says:
January 25th, 2014 at 9:23 pm
That’s pretty chilling. Obama is very clearly using both.
“Now you call him Hugo Chavez.
Good luck with that. But while you’re living in your imagination, the economy continues to grow. Democrats have learned to show up even in off-year elections, like Virginia. And the wind now blows not from Obama’s right, but from his left.”
Sorry to inform you, Dana F. Blankenhorn (if that is your real name), but the economy is hanging by a thread. Something, somewhere is going to make the bubble pop and since we live in a global age, that something could come from anywhere.
In that case, the last pretense will be ripped off and even the phony 6.7% unemployment numbers (the U6 unemployment is closer to 13%) will start to rise. That is, of course, if Obamacare doesn’t finish the economy off first.
The Virginia race was decided by a lot more than Democratic turnout, so for you to grossly oversimplify it is disingenuous.
But by all means, continue to believe in Democratic (i.e. low-information voter) turnout in the midterms. We won’t have to wait long to put that theory to the test.
As far as which way the political winds are blowing, how are Obama’s poll numbers these days?
See that? And I’m not even a weatherman!
The US in general has not reached a point where society will allow and condone violence against its members for political ends. However, certain progressives have already committed political violence against other Americans (Bill Ayers comes to mind) and certainly many progressives condone it and are even advocating it.
The real issue at the moment is not violence, but the criminalization of certain viewpoints and political activity that progressives find disagreeable. The IRS investigation of Tea Party groups, and the current indictment of Dinesh D’Souza for what is in fact a fairly routine practice among the political class are both inexcusable. However, where are the protests regarding this? How many people in Congress really even want to investigate this IRS mess, much less hold the IRS and the Justice Department accountable for their attempts to silence political dissent. The lack of outrage is truly frightening.
Dana F. Blankenhorn,
I fear for your sanity when your naive/mendacious worldview collapses. Just remember two things:
1) You brought this on yourself.
2) Jesus saves.
@John Scotus
“However, where are the protests regarding this? How many people in Congress really even want to investigate this IRS mess, much less hold the IRS and the Justice Department accountable for their attempts to silence political dissent. The lack of outrage is truly frightening.”
I agree with most of what you said, but this last bit is too pessimistic, IMO.
The lack of protests is easily explainable: most conservatives live far away from Washington D.C., so protesting (like pimpin’!) ain’t easy. Conservatives are also responsible…which means they have responsibilities. They cannot drop their lives to protest.
Contrast that to liberals, many of whom are paid to protest. Really…that’s their job! When you take that into account, 90% of liberal protests and protesters are astroturf.
Although there’s enough cowardice in Congress to go around, in this case they have made a rational (if not a “good”) decision. Congress has held plenty of investigations into the administration’s malfeasance. What conservatives are upset about is lack of action.
Congress makes laws. Holding anyone accountable is the purview of the executive branch, and the executive branch isn’t interested in justice.
When coupled with the propagandistic air-cover provided by the MSM, how is Congress (really, only the House) supposed to do anything?
As I’ve said before, Obama has gamed the system. The first lynchpin in unraveling his schemes is retaking the Senate. Then, impeachment is back on the table (if not for Obama himself, then at least for his enablers like Holder).
“the economy continues to grow”
Yes. At this rate it is asymptotically approaching the unemployment rate that was called a “jobless recovery” under Bush and will reach it in a century or so.
“the wind now blows not from Obama’s right, but from his left”
Agree completely about the left blowing.
Dana F. Blankenhorn:
I’ve called Obama Stalin? Really? I’ve Mau-maued him and treated him like dirt? Well of course, if you say it—why, then it must be true.
But one thing you do say is true, although you’re way behind the times. You write, “Now you call him Hugo Chavez.” Actually, I said that Obama reminded me of Chavez a long time ago, even before his first presidential term. I think the first time I made the Obama/Chavez comparison was in October of 2008.
On Election night , 2008 , I had a dear friend from Colombia watching the returns in horror on a Spanish network. When it became obvious Teleprompter Stalin ( I said that Dana F Peckerwood) my friend turned to me and said, I feel so sorry for you and your people, You’ve just elected Hugo Chavez.
Yes we did and El Commandante depended on oxygen thieves like Dana to support him
I’ve been worrying for years about the routine demonization of ‘the other’ – it’s just prepping the new political battlespace. It’s heartbreaking for me to see how supporters of the Tea Party were painted as stupid, redneck racists, something vile – and the same now for believing Christians. It’s all over the entertainment media – sometimes subtle, but always there. Maybe it will not come to camps, but it likely will come to violence against persons and property. And it now has come to criminalization of political dissent.
I put Francisco d’Anconia’s money speech from Atlas Shrugged up on Scribd. It’s a free download, and is formatted for printing, and perhaps even framing if one is so inclined.
Francisco’s Speech
Re-reading it again while doing the layout made me realize just how prescient it was. “Your time is running out”, indeed.
The soft power of the state being used to suppress conservative policies and ideas (prosecution of D’Souza, IRS harassment of conservative groups, denunciations of the TEA Party, etc., etc.) is the process of striking fear into the heart of any who oppose the “Narrative.” Once the “Narrative” has been established (Resistance is futile!) the progressives will be free to interfere in everyone’s life. As in Jonah Goldberg’s book, “Liberal Fascism,” when their is no resistance, the time will come when conservatives will dread the knock on their door to find a bureaucrat standing there saying, “Hello, I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” It won’t be Kristallnacht and the camps, but something less violent that imprisons us in the red tape of the do-gooder Nanny State.
Sgt.Mom: the initial reaction to the Tea Party bothered me, too. Then it strengthened my resolve. I refuse to me hatefully labeled by idiots.
Snark Mouse (S & M) Obama is so much like the descriptions of the brutal but servile members of the deathhead squads. Total obedience demanded; total obedience given.
It’s an interesting distinction, but truly an irrelevant one. Whether the organism dies by violent horror or quiet horror is irrelevant, perhaps only not so in that the quiet horror may be more likely.
JJ at 5:15PM
We do not disagree except in terminology. It is not the “soft” power of the state.
Indictments and public proclamations by government officials are hard things.
The Nazi comparison fails because few Americans realize just who and what the Nazis were. We think of movie villains in striking uniforms acting like–well–movie villains in striking uniforms. The reality isn’t quite that obvious or photogenic.
I think that because of the image the Nazis and Italian fascists projected people were misled. There are people who want the same things and the same power that those groups wanted but are “invisible” because they’re not wearing black uniforms and jackboots. We’re really closer to the Soviet version of the same beast (and yes, it is the same beast), where the person to fear wears an off-the-rack cheap baggy suit with jacket arms too long (Hi, Nikita!) and flogs you half to death with petty regulations backed up by very real government force.
On the Internet any reference to the Nazis gets a reference to Godwin’s Law, but in most cases that is a subterfuge; an attempt to shame and silence people realizing the truth. But that seems to be because most people don’t realize just how bloody the same kind of tyranny was under Stalin, Mao, Pot or Kim. What makes them exempt? Ugly uniforms and cheap suits? Or is it the “egalitarian” rhetoric that leads in the same direction as the most vile speeches ever given by the likes of Heinrich Himmler, obvious to anyone who listens and thinks?
Sadly, for most people–even on the Internet–these are esoteric questions. They plod on in their daily lives, solve whatever problems they need to to get to tomorrow but never quite realize what a nightmare tomorrow can be because they don’t see some strutting goon in a comic opera uniform on the street corner.
He’s not the guy to watch out for–he’s just a tool. The guy to watch out for looks just like you and me and may even be personally pleasant, but he is absolutely convinced that he knows how you should live your life (“For your own good, Comrade”!) and is willing to use or support the use of any amount of force to make sure you live that way….
Yes, Jenk:
RINO’s.
Over the last few months, people have naturally grown to accept the nature of the Left, to the point where real hate is now being felt.
People may have 2 reactions to it. They may attempt dialogue and compromise, while the hate of the enemy eats into them in the form of IRS attacks and white knockout games. Or people can take the more popular option, which is to hate the haters.
At that point, it’s no longer necessary for me to add anything. The reaction has already started.
The Left finds many elements of human nature to be useful, so they exploit the weaknesses for leverage. Originally, they got people to hate the Jews by telling them that Jews hated the Aryans enough to drink the blood of Aryan children or some such. Humans being humans, it is natural to hate an enemy of that caliber.
Telling people to hate the Left is an intellectual function. The way it works is for people to recognize the Left as an existential threat. Once that happens, emotions occur naturally. It was not my duty to supply the evidence for such. The Left creates fictional enemies so that they can provide fabricated solutions to the problems they create. The problems I describe are real, thus I don’t have to lift a finger to convince people. The Left will convince you of why they hate you.
rickl,
I remember reading the Coup article. It gave me hope that people were preparing for the storm. And that it was just about time for me to start checking on things outside again.
If people were thinking of writing stuff like that, then things must have changed drastically on the ground since 2007.
The left wants you to think that hatred and fear are the same things, and that once you overcome what they consider “fear” “hatred” will disappear. What a giant steaming pile of crap that is.
Just because I hate something doesn’t mean I fear it, and just because I fear something doesn’t mean I hate it.
I don’t like runny eggs–the sight of them revolts me, but I’m not afraid of them. I do not fear being attacked by a half-cooked egg jumping out at me from an alley.
I don’t like spiders, and yes I’m aware that most spiders in the US are relatively harmless but the sight of them sets me off. Whenever possible I just simply avoid them, but with effort and self-control I don’t kill them where I see them. They have their lives, and I have mine.
Funny story as a segue. When I was going through basic training at Fort Jackson in 1980 (No, we were not using muzzle-loading muskets!) I had to practice shooting from a foxhole position. The foxhole had a wooden crate so that shorter soldiers could more easily see over the top. After the firing exercise was done we had to collect all of our brass casings and turn them in–that meant we had to clean up the foxhole and the surrounding area.
One of my cartridges ended up under the wooden box in the foxhole. I turned the box over to retrieve it and found a black widow spider nesting inside of it. I spent the next half hour doing push-ups because the range sergeant got pissed at me–something to do with destroying that crate (and the spider) with my rifle butt.
OK, fun story over, back to the point. There are things to be feared but not necessarily hated. A person who fears nothing at all is generally either a complete idiot or a lunatic (I lean closer to the lunatic side, but this does not in any way mean that I am “fearless”. Now get that damn spider away from me!)
There are things one should fear, if only out of an instinct for self-preservation, but those are not necessarily hated. Those things also generate, in a mentally healthy person, a sense of respect and a certain degree of avoidance. I’m not going to try to do my own electrical repairs–I’m going to call a professional. Much better than calling the fire department.
But hatred–real hatred and not the phony stuff ginned up by demagogues–also has its uses. Once you realize that something is intolerable and must be either neutralized or destroyed, it’s easier to do that if you hate it. We’ve won wars on that basis, and good men have gone to their deaths with that rightgeous hatred. But it’s like a fire–a useful tool to be sure, but if you don’t control it it will consume you.
The left seeks to use fear and hatred to promote discord and disorder, so much easier to pick up the pieces afterwards. It is a conscious strategy, combining misdirection, manipulation and in the end brute force. Don’t let them fool you.
You should fear the left, for they represent a very real and dangerous threat, but that fear should be conditioned by the confidence that they can be defeated. Hatred is a weapon to be used in that fight, but one must always remember that giving in to it risks turning you into that which you wish to defeat….
Tonawanda, I call police and military violence against the citizens hard power. Public pronouncements and indictments (soft power) can demoralize you and intimidate you, but there are still courts, public opinion, and elections standing between you and the state. However, when the Narrative has been accepted by the vast majority, those are no longer protections from the state.
The Narrative has cracks in it now – Obamacare, GlobalWarming/ClimateChange/ClimateDisruption, a stagnant economy, and more people realizing Obama is an empty suit. All are running in the right direction.
By Jenk:
“Hatred is a weapon to be used in that fight, but one must always remember that giving in to it risks turning you into that which you wish to defeat….”
Yeah, children should definitely not give in to it on a child abuse level and many other levels.
Isn’t hate that which motivates us to demand retribution for extreme crimes? Will you tell the mother of a murdered child to not hate?
What about the Scriptural references that to hate evil is good?
Are you not subscribing to the evil progressive mandate?
So, what should we do?
Isn’t hate that which motivates us to demand retribution for extreme crimes? Will you tell the mother of a murdered child to not hate?
What about the Scriptural references that to hate evil is good?
Are you not subscribing to the evil progressive mandate?
So, what should we do?
Unless I’m somehow misreading you I think you’re illustrating my point….
Tonawanda has said it the best.
We ignore that warning at our peril and the peril of civilization itself.
Obama and his ilk only lack opportunity. Their motive is already set, and it is very strong, monomaniacal I’d say.
We are a hop, skip, and a jump; a mere accident here and there, from death camps and re-education camps; and Siberia Prisons; and the Killing Fields. Do not doubt it. It is exactly and precisely the “intellectuals” and “elites” who will carry this thing out if it is to be carried out. Then they will get it. But the good people first. Good, in any form or fashion, must and will be marred or destroyed by the Left.
Take Note. I am not making this up. You can look it up: Obama is suing the Little Sisters of the Poor. Crazy you say. The “optics” are all bad. A “political loser” for Obama.
Wrong. He is fighting his number one enemy – the good. He is Darth Vader fighting the equivalent of Obi Wan Kenobi. Here is the truth: If he can’t beat them, then he cannot win. Therefore he is wise enough to fight his strongest foe. On the other hand, if he can beat them, he can beat anybody and he knows it.
He is rolling the dice on them. he is showing the world he is “all in” in “fundamentally transforming” America.
Support those nuns with every ounce you got. They are the freaking Battle of Midway and the Bulge and a Bridge too Far all rolled into one. They lose we all lose. They win, we got a shot.
Interesting proposition–are the nuns the focal point of a counterattack, or are they the foundation of a defensive approach…?
I think you know the answer to that one.
(yikes!)
The most frightening thing to me is the obliviousness of so many of our fellow citizens. It was down right depressing to hear my conservative, retired military brother-in-law call The One a nice guy during our Xmas get together.
For further proof, there was a very short story on ABC World News Tonight (Sunday, 1/26/14) about this letter.
First, they did mention the comparison to Kristallnacht and how it wasn’t a good thing.
Secondly, and most importantly, their whole attitude seemed to be – “you’re rich, how dare you feel that you’re under attack” – which they didn’t even see the irony of. It is very clear to me that they (the news media reporting this) were a part of the problem and they didn’t even see it!
So, yea. I think any reference/comparisons to Nazis is going to come across bad; But, this kind of treating the rich as the “other” has been gaining ground in the political arena, especially in the last few years and is only getting worse. (it has actually been around in liberal circles and especially in academia for a couple of decades now – so, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised that it has crossed over into politics.)
Most recently, de Blasio in NYC was elected on a platform of “make the rich pay.” Lo and behold, come the first major snow storm after he takes office and the Upper East Side, which did NOT vote for him, had their streets poorly cleaned. Luckily, the news media and others called him out on it (even after he tried to cover it up with a lie of “every place was well take care of.” He did correct himself afterwards).
But, this kind of envy of others; and making others into “the other” is what so many politicians have been doing lately, and it is VERY frightening. Frightening in itself, and frightening because it seems to work!
A voting public that voted for Obama twice and also falls for this kind of dangerous crap does not bode well for the future of our country.
This is an excellent thread. I hope it will be saved someplace safe in case we need to look at it again.
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I tend to think in terms of cliches, so I’ll repeat some here:
1. “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” Think Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Chavez, Mao for starters.
2. “Preparation of the battle space”: Think about this idea. We can do it too.
3. We can make up lists of our own. I have my own little list, and I’m sure some of you do too.
4. We should start our own memes, for example: “Protect Dinesh Souza.” He can be our cause celebre. His movie was wonderful. Our fascist government is trying to crush dissent. Don’t let them do it.
5. Post little stickers everywhere, for example: “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake flag stickers.
Don’t let Obama’s minions, Soros, Jarrett, Holder, and various bitches in the cabinet, gain anymore traction. These people are mentally disturbed, and we can find many ways to mess with their minds.
I have no doubt lefties will go full concentration/work to death camps in the very near future. Especially once the new totalitarians meet armed and violent resistance to their gun grabbing ways. There are only three scenario end games to totalitarian control: You either submit, or you protest and win, or you protest and die.
Gun grabbing will be the modern Rubicon to achieve the long-held ‘total control of the citizenry’ goal of the left. And the left will willingly and gladly cross that river.
“All political power comes from the barrel of a gun.” ~ One of Anita Dunn’s Two Favorite Political Philosophers, Mao Tse-Tung
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” ~ Some Old Dead Slave-Owning White Guy and Whiskey Distiller Named George Washington
Same as it always was, same as it will always be. It’s just that we’ve had it so good for so long that we’ve forgotten how bad things can be, and how quickly that can happen.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” ~ Ronald Reagan
To believe the modern left will not do the unthinkable is Pollyanna thinking at its worst, and ignores the all too numerous lessons of History.
But it’s like a fire—a useful tool to be sure, but if you don’t control it it will consume you.
The Left makes zombies once they allow the hate to subsume a person’s judgment. So what they use is real hate, but most people lack resistance training and thus lack control over it.
First Americans should hate the LEft. Then they should learn to control that emotion, instead of allowing the emotion to control them.
In 2007-2010, the primary problem I saw was the lack of hate. People were still talking about Democrats as if they were the loyal opposition or that their politics were misguided.
Now that we aren’t lacking that emotion, people will have to find a way to use it well. Self control won’t be something the totalitarian Leftist utopia will teach people.
It’s heartbreaking for me to see how supporters of the Tea Party were painted as stupid, redneck racists, something vile — and the same now for believing Christians.
I found it a sign of hope. So long as the Left treated their enemies as a legitimate opposition, people would not be able to easily feel hate in their hearts. Without that feeling, they could not pull the trigger and do what is necessary in war.
Other than Richard Nixon, I doubt any Republican on the hill has truly hated the Left as America’s enemy. There were always the prophets and the crazy individuals out there. It just never broke the Republican main stream, until now.
How about a little fun and it nicely combines opera and the current subject thereby unifying our conjectural attempts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NLV24qTnlg
From “The Mikado” this is “The List.”
Stuart the Man. Super blog and should receive vast attention.
http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/
I don’t think Hugo Chavez could get away with Stalin’s worst activities because he would face intervention. That said I have no doubt he would have been willing to use such measures.
The hard left today is no better then the worst evil that has gone before.
I’ll also note that Obama’s willingness to subvert rule of law is much worse then I expected. It shows what he’s capable of. The ease which his supporters accept it shows what they are.
Now, it is very unlikely things go the way they did in Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s USSR, but that is due to the cultural makeup of the American people.
Yep. The sort of crazed rhetoric we’ve been hearing from the far left since Gore lost has metastasized and gone mainstream.
I was working on a contract in Sacramento six-seven years ago, and every day I’d go out for lunch and see a few more little stickers put up on phone poles, on the sides of buildings… little black stickers about the side of a 3×5 card with white sanserif letters. REPUBLICANS HATE THEMSELVES, they said. REPUBLICANS ARE DISGUSTING. REPUBLICANS HATE LIFE. Republicans are this, Republicans are that. Someone kept coming around the downtown area and putting them up the entire eighteen months I was there.
I was still a dyed-in-the-wool Clinton Democrat at that point — I was looking forward to Sir Rudy vs Hillary in 2008, I recall, because I liked both of them and considered it a novelty to have *two* good candidates to vote for — and even then it made me a bit queasy. Who the hell *is* this person? Why are they doing this? What kind of sociopath with a political grudge spends time doing this? Who paid to print all those stickers….? And what can they possibly hope to accomplish?
Now we know, of course. They were desensitizing the general public and looking for more of their own kind. They are just now hitting critical mass. There are an awful lot of postmodern Brownshirts out there who want a conservative Kristallnacht. And they will happily give the government the power to carry it out. Elections have consequences! Winner take all! You’re not a minority — you’re obstructionist! You’re not the people on the other side of the aisle, the ones we can poke fun at and argue with — you’re EVIL! You Rethuglican Teafaggers have held up progress in our wonderful country long ENOUGH…!
You hear this every day. You hear it on the sidewalk from passing strangers; you see it in the comments section of respectable newspapers. As far as the 20-somethings are concerned, this level of vitriol is normal. This is the way the game is played; and oh it feels so wonderful to be submerged in righteous hatred….
They have been well drilled. This has been done on purpose. This culture shift has been organized, orchestrated, and well funded. And we are in deep trouble.
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Promethea: “4. We should start our own memes, for example: “Protect Dinesh Souza.” He can be our cause celebre. His movie was wonderful. Our fascist government is trying to crush dissent. Don’t let them do it.”
Terrific idea!
“The US in general has not reached a point where society will allow and condone violence against its members for political ends.”
Not yet. But they are able to exert force over their opponents and have the desired results – put them out of business, rob them of their livelihood, or do whatever they want to do.
There’s no violence now because the federal government has used the powers it has, soft, illegal, or otherwise to pay off a large number of people and keep them relatively comfortable, by taking from one group and giving it to another, or borrowing it from China, or printing it out of thin air.
When there’ nothing left to take or borrow, which will eventually happen if the fiscal and tax policies of this country is do not change, all bets are off.
Those who have been receiving — that adds up to a lot of people – more than 50% are getting something,, aren’t going to lose sleep if the government confiscates by any means necessary (violence included) the cash and property of those who have it. They will cheer it on and take part if they can.
There have been a lot of societies in history who made the mistake of thinking their fellow countrymen wouldn’t go that far. Millions of beheaded, hanged, shot, starved, gassed, and just about every other way there is to kill someone. Don’t underestimate your fellow countrymen’s capacity for cruelty and envy and sense of entitlement when the entitlements go away.
southpaw: yep. Anyone with sense and the wherewithal should move away from the big cities.
You meant, “prophesy”, (the verb form).
General population cannot name a single one of the blacks that died from Obama thugs having guns in Chicago. But they can name Tray and Zimmerman.
Violence tolerance assumes people know it is happening, for there to be a rejection effect.
Listening to the wonderful and relentless enemy of the cultural & political Left last night, Dennis Prager, he made some comparisons of Left and Conservatives: Bottom Line(my words not his): We fight Evil. The Left–cultural and political–promotes Evil.
I, a lifelong student of human Evil–vast & Small–have come to believe that Dennis is correct. It might be way past time to take off the soft weave gloves and slip in to chain mail and battle axes.