Politics, Obama, and cynicism
Noah Rothman writes, in “The Poisonous Obama Years,” on the effect Obama’s tenure has had on the public as a whole:
The scale of this scandal [about Middle East intelligence-twisting in the Obama administration], as exposed in a recent piece published in The Daily Beast, is chilling. “Some analysts have also complained that they felt ”˜bullied’ into reaching conclusions favored by their bosses, two separate sources familiar with analysts’ complaints said,” the report read. “In some cases, analysts were also urged to state that killing particular ISIS leaders and key officials would diminish the group and lead to its collapse. Many analysts, however, didn’t believe that simply taking out top ISIS leaders would have an enduring effect on overall operations.” How high up the chain does this culture of corruption that prevailed at CENTCOM lead? Who knows? No one is asking.
It is simply too coincidental that this White House, which wanted nothing more than to avoid becoming embroiled in a new conflict in the Middle East, was being fed intelligence that reinforced their preferred preconceptions. It is the height of irresponsibility for an informed citizenry to learn that the commander-in-chief of the military was allegedly being misled by his subordinates, putting American interests in jeopardy in the process, and to simply brush it off as the cost of doing business.
Do Americans no longer care about good governance? Has the public grown so inured to scandal that most are willing to dismiss them or to excuse them when they arise? Is the popular political press so committed to preserving the mythology surrounding this administration that it would abdicate its responsibilities to the public? The reprehensible revelations above are just a handful of the abuses of public trust that have occurred over the last six years. Americans have grown complacent over the course of Barack Obama’s presidency. A sense of disillusionment that would shrug off these and other misuses of the public trust is unnerving and dangerous. It is a level of dissatisfaction that paves the way for Caesarism. For the sake of the republican ideals, the voters and the press must get serious about holding this White House to account.
The cynicism Rothman describes became clear to me some years ago. I wrote this post about it shortly after the 2012 election, and I wrote another about two months later, entitled “What difference does it make?”
But although I yield to no one in my feeling that Obama has poisoned discourse in this country and contributed greatly to that growing cynicism, I don’t lay the blame entirely on him. Equal blame (maybe even more, in a way) goes to an MSM that has abdicated its role in informing the public (and not just in the Obama administration, as Rothman seems to be suggesting, although it has gotten worse during that time). If the press keeps saying “nothing much to see; move along” when incredibly important outrages are occurring, if the press covers up for the president and the federal government, if the press fails to make a big deal over what actually is a big deal, much of the public doesn’t know, or if it knows it doesn’t care.
Most people follow the lead of others, and most people don’t dig behind the story; that’s why propaganda is so effective. Non-coverage is a negative form of propaganda, as well. If the people are told it’s no big deal, they will think it so.
Another group I blame are the educators. If the press has a duty to tell the public some current truths about current events, educators have a duty to tell the public some ancient truths about past events and principles in order to teach Americans how to put the present into the context of the past. Educators also are supposed to guide students towards critical thinking—how to evaluate and assimilate new information without getting taken in.
None of these things have been happening. And they haven’t been happening for a long time, although that has greatly accelerated and reached critical mass under Obama. Obama is just the visible iceberg’s tip. A huge number of people have been working hard for many decades to make it all happen.
How many times did we hear that the Bush Administration “cooked” and “cherry picked” the intelligence in order to justify the Iraq invasion?
Intelligence is imperfect and much of what is passed up the line is opinion.
Where Obama has truly been poison is on race and religion issues with clock boy being only the latest.
Heard today that we are legally admitting 280,000 Muslims per year. That’s a number larger than the total population of Lincoln, Nebraska. Think about that.
I have concluded that America in the future might be a reasonable place to live, and better than most if not all other places on the globe. But hopes of it remaining America in that undefinable but unmistakable sense we are used to diminish every year.
Just yesterday evening I was accused of being “cynical” when it comes to Obama. This was said by a conservative friend, who would agree with me on most principles. I found his choice of words interesting. I am most certainly not “cynical”. My opinions about Obama and where we are as a nation are predicated on his own words when he campaigned in 2008, his affiliation with Rev. Wright’s church, his actions (no flag pin, no hand over heart), his actions since becoming President, beginning with his address in Egypt, ignoring the uprising in Iran, trouncing Libya, going to Las Vegas during the Benghazi debacle, the Syrian mess, the rise of Isis, working for the release of Bergdahl, and now giving Iran the store. I do not need to wonder what motivates this President and I’m satisfied that only God can read the heart, but this man’s words and behaviors from day-one on the campaign trail belie a disregard for what is the fundamental role of the President if he is to abide by the oath of office. No cynicism, just realism.
Exactly – cynicism is what people call a brutally realistic view of the situation.
“How many times did we hear that the Bush Administration “cooked” and “cherry picked” the intelligence in order to justify the Iraq invasion?” [Cornhead]
More and more, I find that any charges leveled by Democrats are leveled because that is precisely what they would have done in a similar situation; you know, I accuse you of committing the sin I have (or would have) committed.
We speak of “the bosses” putting pressure on employees as though this pressure came directly from Obama himself. I don’t doubt the complicity of the White House in this, but let’s be serious. Many of these “bosses” were not recent Obama appointees, but lower-level supervisors who have been embedded in the govt for one (or several) administrations.
What frightens me is that this is less Obama cooking the books and more likely standard federal govt operating procedure coming to light. If it’s just Obama, we solve a good portion of that problem with a change in administrations; if it is SOP, then it is a symptom of a much greater and fundamentally serious problem.
T-George Soros and Bill Ayres have been the men and money behind Obama. I’m convinced that they were just as stunned at the fast-track to his Presidency that we conservatives were. And once that was set into motion and they were able to pass Obamacare in the manner in which they did, well that set the pace and agenda. Bill Ayres gave Obama his start in Chicago, making him treasurer of the Annenberg fund, though he had no experience or educational training (CPA) to recommend him. Everything George Bush was ever accused of being or doing (empty-suit, etc etc), Obama is and has done. Projection on the national level.
Sharon W:
The cynicism to which I refer in this article is very different from the cynicism of which you were accused. In fact, it’s its polar opposite.
You are cynical about Obama because you care, and you see him as an anomaly in terms of what we can and should expect of our leaders. The cynicism to which I refer (and expand on greatly in the two linked articles from shortly after the 2012 election) is its opposite, a shrugging cynicism that says, “Everyone does it, everyone will continue to do it, so who cares, really?”
“Equal blame (maybe even more, in a way) goes to an MSM that has abdicated its role in informing the public”
and
“Another group I blame are the educators. If the press has a duty to tell the public some current truths about current events, educators have a duty to tell the public some ancient truths about past events and principles”
There’s a third group to blame and it’s the churches and church leaders. I’ll prevail upon myself to keep the phillipic in house — my own church — the Catholic Church, and its dereliction, from priest to prelate. I had not been so irked as I was just before the 2012 election. Then, at the annual Al Smith Charity Dinner, there sat His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan and BHO hee-hawing and yucking it up. His eminence BHO, as I understand it, was there at the behest/invitation of His Eminence Dolan. It was once not so incredible that political (philosophical) adversaries would/could dine together and enjoy the company of the other. It would have been inconceivable that moral enemies could do so. The only explanation is that H E Timothy (and a good great part of the Church) are not so engaged with morality that they have it in them to be able to pass it down to adherents, clerics or laity. Under the circumstances, how is it even possible to feign surprise at Catholic voters giving BHO a 50%+ majority of their votes — twice.
Corruption is pandemic because it has to it an infective agent.
Neo-neocon and Sharon W,
cynic (’sin-ick) n.–One who no longer believes in the comforting illusions and protective half-truths that others use unreflectively to get through their lives.
Cynics’s Dictionary (Kirkpatrick Sale)
“The power of observation is often called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
George Bernard Shaw
“The only explanation is that H E Timothy (and a good great part of the Church) are not so engaged with morality that they have it in them to be able to pass it down to adherents . . . .” [George Pal]
. . . but we have known fro a long time that laws, rules, regulations and morals are for the little people!
After your earlier post on factual accuracy, I felt a need to reply to Cornhead. We are not admitting 280K Muslim immigrants a year. They ARE a majority of refugees admitted, but in 2014 the total number of refugees admitted was 70K.
Two other popes on Islam:
Paul VI, address to the Islamic communities of Uganda, August 1, 1969:
“In our prayers, we always remember the peoples of Africa. The common belief in the Almighty professed by millions calls down upon this continent the graces of his Providence and love, most of all, peace and unity among all its sons. We feel sure that as representatives of Islam, you join in our prayers to the Almighty, that he may grant all African believers the desire for pardon and reconciliation so often commended in the Gospels and in the Qur’an.”
John Paul II, address to the Catholic community of Ankara, Turkey, November 29, 1979:
“Faith in God, professed by the spiritual descendants of Abraham—Christians, Muslims and Jews—when it is lived sincerely, when it penetrates life, is a certain foundation of the dignity, brotherhood and freedom of men and a principle of uprightness for moral conduct and life in society. And there is more: as a result of this faith in God the Creator and transcendent, one man finds himself at the summit of creation. He was created, the Bible teaches, ‘in the image and likeness of God’ (Gn 1:27); for the Qur’an, the sacred book of the Muslims, although man is made of dust, ‘God breathed into him his spirit and endowed him with hearing, sight and heart,’ that is, intelligence (Surah 32.8).”
More here.
oops — I see I posted the above in the wrong thread. Sorry!
Cornhead: “How many times did we hear that the Bush Administration “cooked” and “cherry picked” the intelligence in order to justify the Iraq invasion?
The global success of the Dems/Left/Russian propaganda that enabled the sabotage of Operation Iraqi Freedom is patient zero for the current state of affairs. In order to re-right America’s orientation as leader of the free world, it is vital to set the record straight on President Bush’s decision for OIF.
The intelligence and justification controversies are addressed in the answers to Did Bush lie his way to war with Iraq? and Did Iraq failing its compliance test justify the regime change? .
To put it another way, the Democrats and Left lied in their relentless propaganda about Bush and the Iraq mission.
When the body politic, including many Republicans, accepted the false narrative of OIF – even though the law and policy, fact basis of Bush’s decision for OIF is straightforward, easily accessed open record – we collectively allowed the fundamental betrayal of America’s life-or-death responsibility as leader of the free world. We all became complicit in the horrific effects that have grown from the betrayal of leadership engineered by Democrats and Left activists.
The complicity by the American people in betraying America’s responsibility as leader of the free world is the root of the cynicism described by Neo commentating on Rothman’s piece.
But Eric, President Bush did not continue to make the case, nor was there any respected spokesperson that would arise to the occasion to set the record straight. It was an infuriating circumstance. Bush just repeatedly took everything on the chin, like a silent lamb led to slaughter. Lies, and deceptions were not countered in any effective way.
Of course Fiorina may not have actually said this.
But if she did, I question whether she understands the tough, cynical environment we are in.
If she did say it, she has a tin ear, and poor understanding.
As with the moslem remark, she is projecting weakness. No one, I mean no one, gives a rat’s ass whether Fiorina has empathy for Hillary for any reason whatsoever.
It gets Fiorina no where, it accomplishes nothing, and it turns off potential supporters who apparently are more savvy than she, not to mention fed up with a corrupt, evil narcissist forever getting a free pass.
http://www.people.com/article/carly-fiorina-feels-empathy-hillary-clinton
If Fiorina insists on doing the McCain/Dole/Bush/Romney thing, she is out of here.
And personally, it makes me wonder how smart she really is, as well as question whether her otherwise admirable remarks are just the same old phony, condescending, campaign conservative insults.
Fiorina is Jeb with a bush…
Not that there is anything wrong with that and it would be very courageous of Jeb to come out and say “call me Carly” ….
Our times!
I do not want Trump to be the nominee.
I do not like a lot about him.
But here is how you approach Hillary:
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/09/23/trump-shrill-hillary-is-the-original-birther/
Every minute of every day, relentlessly, all month long, all the way to the election, without let up.
For a person running for the Republican nomination to be unable to see that is so discouraging.
Fiorina looks clueless. And maybe she is.
No quarter, no quarter.
If you don’t get that, you should absolutely not be president. But then, you won’t be, will you?
“For the sake of the republican ideals, the voters and the press must get serious about holding this White House to account.”
This guy is a clown. The public “must” get serious? He’s about 7 years too late for that.
Truth Time!: What the public “must” get now is its ass kicked. By relaity. By the consequences of being Obama’s B&^ch and voting for a certified [fill in the blank] for President.
The public “must” take the consequences of ITS, and no one else’s, bad behavior.
The public “must” get all the sh&t it deserves. The only problem is that the rest of us are going to get what the Obama voters deserve. That’s not right. On the other hand, we never fought them like we should have.
But Eric, President Bush did not continue to make the case, nor was there any respected spokesperson that would arise to the occasion to set the record straight. It was an infuriating circumstance. Bush just repeatedly took everything on the chin, like a silent lamb led to slaughter. Lies, and deceptions were not countered in any effective way.
Relying on a government filled half to the brim with traitors isn’t going to get you anywhere, no matter who Bush was or wasn’t, Sharon.
It is not up to the US government to use propaganda to counter the claims of its own citizens. That’s all too often what Stalin and Stazi type regimes used to do and probably still do.
Back when people were complaining about this issue, of course they were frustrated. That’s because they were relying on some top down government to get the job done. You’re always going to get frustrated in that situation. These days people don’t rely on the gov for counter propaganda and setting the record straight, they go out and make videos about Planned Profit. They hit the BLM Nation of Islam freaks on twitter and Faceb. They make propaganda posters almost on the same day a Leftist story breaks, and counters their story hour after hour, day after day, year after year.
People, when they forget about the government for a moment, can actually start getting stuff done. Finally and for once.
It’s not just that the media fails to cover each Obama outrage, it’s that they feed us a constant stream of false outrage – you know, those stories that are all anyone on the news can talk about and then –Poof!– they disappear, never to be heard again. Mixed in with these, of course, are the big outrages like OWS, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Kim Davise, Katrina retrospectives, etc. that are specifically designed to roil up the masses.
It’s hard not to be cynical when you’re being so obviously, intentionally deceived and baited by both your president and your media.
As GB and I have said for a long time, Obama is just the symptom. The real problem are the people who voted for him.
THEY are the ones who shrug. THEY are the ones who refuse to be serious.
The only cure for that is mountains of dead Americans, or maybe a second Great Depression.
Tonawanda:
I couldn’t disagree with you more.
Let’s assume Fiorina did say she feels empathy for Hillary. I actually think that’s brilliant. It puts her in what the family therapy biz would call a “one-down” position, cleverly and subtly. While seeming to say something “nice,” she’s actually saying “poor dear, I can really understand her struggles—poor dear.”
This is the sort of thing that really appeals to women. If that sounds sexist of me, so be it.
At the same time, Fiorina has been absolutely relentless in her critcism of Hillary since the very beginning of Fiorina’s campaign. Maybe you’re not all that familiar with Fiorina’s shtick, but here’s a small part of it (start around 0:40).
Neo, to borrow from Chris Matthews
*everytime Carly unabashedly calls Hillary a
“liar” I get a tingle up my leg*!
It s so *gutsy*, so accurate !
Matthews (whose wife is running for some office BTW) interviewed Carly post 1 st debate, she called Hillary a liar then & Matthews opines,
“that s not really helpful is it to call your opponent a liar?” he is such an idiot, alcohol brain damage I guess, lol
Neo @ 12:15 AM – –
I had not seen that exchange with Tingles and it was good.
I am afraid most people who are paying attention and who can make a difference will hear Fiorina saying she empathizes with a liar and a corrupt leftist.
That may not be a fair or even logical interpretation, but (I guess) it will be by far the most widespread interpretation, predictably so.
When it comes to liars, cheaters, corrupt plutocrats, aggressive slanderers and harassers, destroyers of innocent lives, it is hard to imagine anything they can do otherwise which elicits empathy, or at least expressions of empathy. They can go to Hell.
Having so far been very impressed by Fiorina (and very hopeful) I hope I am over-reacting now.
American conservative, in many ways, has failed its people. It has nearly abandoned positions in academia (public schools and higher education), in D.C. (conservative think tanks are the minority), refused to seriously engage in arts & entertainment (so we’re left with the Kirk Camerons of the world) and are singled out in journalism (besides a handful of alternative online newspapers and the GOP establishment FOX, what else?). I honestly don’t mind the Limbaughs, the O’ Reillys and the Becks of the conservative world – there’s a place for them; I want the Diana Wests, the Lawrence Austers to emerge and, with the help of said non-“progressives” gain a solid foothold in the conservative media instead of being an outlier.
Conservatism dearly needs people who have sophistication – I wouldn’t say the educational pedigree that many on the left have – but it needs to evolve into an urbane image, both inside and out. We sorta have that in some of the current GOP candidates, but The Right needs more and such people need to take over the current GOP party, and for good.
Too long have conservatives wanted to be “left alone” and with this attitude have failed to engage in the world, when need be. And when they do it’s often times awkward and embarrassing. Take a lesson out of the left: infiltrate society’s institutions with the pedigree and slowly gain authority, but given how the American conservatism works it’ll twice as long as the left slogged away when they gained entrance.
@ GRA: that’s sort of what conservatism is – the people who want to be left alone and have a life. We have businesses, families, charities, houses, and hobbies that we want to put our time into. What you say about engaging the culture is absolutely true, but it is never going to happen. When things are going badly wrong in the country, we will each do our bit, but we don’t tend to be the indefatigable SJW’s obsessed with fixing everyone else so that the world “finally looks right.”
If we limited the franchise to married people who have raised two children to the age of eight, the Democratic Party would shrink to unimportant size. Those of you here who don’t fit that description fully would likely sign off on it once you saw the results.
Never gonna happen, of course. But it illustrates my point.
Also articles like this one makes me think the “not conservative enough” types are low in gray matter.
https://www.conservativereview.com/Commentary/2015/09/7-reasons-voters-are-questioning-fiorinas-outsider-status
@ AVI: True, many are busy in those things you’ve listed. What I don’t see why there isn’t a hard push to fight for elbow room in the cultural institutions I’ve noted. Even the military is bowing down to “equality” and “inclusion” and losing its identity. Not all conservatives have the mentality to run a business and ironically, businesses that become corporations tend to support whatever social issue becomes the flavor of the months (LGBT). So even the land of suits and “bottom-line” are in bed with the social tide.
>>When things are going badly wrong in the country, we will each do our bit,
Too little, too late. If there’s one thing I admire about The Left is their feverish will to “win.” They got a plan and they execute it. Even if they achieve just 80% of their goal, it’s far more than what conservatives have done. Conservatives don’t have that, and if any there’s not enough to go around.
I just see it as immensely pathetic how The Left dominates cultural institutions. It truly is pathetic. If leftism the tide and conservatism is cliff getting pummeled by the tide, causing slow erosion, there’s talk how to fix the erosion but no agency. I don’t households with conservative values encouraging their kids to enter academia if they show an aptitude for such a thing; I don’t see conservative families encouraging their kids t become playwrights or writers in fiction if they show talent in expressing their thoughts on paper. I don’t see conservative families encourage their kids to work in the media, even with all the technology that surrounds their kids. I don’t see any of that. It’s the weird obsession with STEM and business (and business is growing more left every day).
When it comes to education, there seems to be a fundamental difference in philosophy: conservatives see college as job training (STEM) while the left sees it as a cultural pathway to further push whatever agenda. You don’t gain cultural influence through STEM – STEM is behind the scenes. For all the talk about gaining back the culture, conservatives need a new strategy because their aim is aiming at the wrong target. As I said, you fail to engage in academia, arts & entertainment and journalism and you lost half the battle.
“Politics is downstream from culture.” – Andrew Breitbart
You gain a firm footing in culture, you can effectively change the culture – while not being the laughing stock.
Take a lesson out of the left: infiltrate society’s institutions with the pedigree and slowly gain authority, but given how the American conservatism works it’ll twice as long as the left slogged away when they gained entrance.
It is way too soon to be talking about a counter offensive campaign. Right now American patriots are on lock down, pure defensive turtle mode. If they try to mobilize together, the IRS will pop a nuke and a drone bomb on those formations.
Besides, keeping the Left from taking over any more institutions is just as valuable as trying to use up resources in a counter offensive, as a last ditch offensive even. Logistically, people should be shoring up their defenses against the Left. Instead of infiltrating the Left, make sure any SJWs or Leftists in your economic or social circle are purged. If you have the manpower to take back any orgs which the Left occupies, go for it, but if you don’t, get out of the organization and form a new one, one that the Left can’t infiltrate as easily.
Without this re alignment of strategic assets, top down orgs like the IRS can always nuke any significant threat on the enemy front.
What you say about engaging the culture is absolutely true, but it is never going to happen. When things are going badly wrong in the country, we will each do our bit, but we don’t tend to be the indefatigable SJW’s obsessed with fixing everyone else so that the world “finally looks right.”
That’s because you and your generation, and even some of the later gens, don’t have a lot of fanatics on your side.
The newer generations brought up on the internet, sub cultures of the mainstream culture, are different. There are plenty of fanatics and rebels out there, but they are also conservative in the sense that they are like a killer bee nest. Don’t threaten them and they’re okay. However, as a force on the internet, the Left has tried to take over their economy and their interests, and instead of the quick victory in which the Left had over the civil rights and subversion of feminism, the internet sub cultures pushed back successfully.
What makes the newer generations different from the older ones? They brought up in a different sub culture, one that focused on Arakis like fanaticism over the reason and calm of normal old gen conservatives.
Of course statistically, it is difficult to pin point their generation, because they share the generation with the newer Leftist zombies out of universities.
It is the height of irony that the only successful counter offensive ever launched against the Left’s poisonous evil invasion and subversion forces have come from internet gamers, the least likely community to be thought to have the back bone to punch back twice as hard against totalitarians. They can’t win the war on their own, of course, merely solidify their defense and logistics against Leftist invasion. They have almost zero defense against SWAT teams, although they are far less vulnerable to the IRS and Fema.
The defense line against the death squads will come from a different sub cultural front entirely, once time gets right.
For all the talk about gaining back the culture, conservatives need a new strategy because their aim is aiming at the wrong target.
You probably should out some of the new sub cultural movements, they will probably appeal to you more than the authoritative mainstream of conservative culture or politics.
http://www.voxday.blogspot.com/2015/09/how-not-to-do-it.html
The Cimmerian Blog has been defunct for half a decade, but now that one of our former bloggers has been exposed as an SJW, we feel impelled to rise from our slumber to declare that we stand 100% against SJWs and their travelling freakshow of interlocking fetishes and predatory abuses.
As a now-confirmed SJW, Barbara Barrett is hereby EXPELLED from this blog. We have struck her prose from every post, and her face from every picture. Let her name be unheard and unspoken among us, erased from the memory of our august fellowship, for all time. So let it be written. So let it be done.
We publicly express our support, unequivocally and without reservation, for Sword-and-Sorcery expert Morgan Holmes, as well as for fantasy author Vox Day. Both are great and good friends of REH fandom, and of liberty.-is another example from a different post there
The word “fan” is important there, because it’s a variation on fanatic. Human beings don’t become calmer without a religious authority like the Pope over them. They just find other stuff to believe in. And some of that stuff is somewhat allergic to Leftists.