Things fall apart
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
That brilliant poem written by Yeats in 1939* [see note] came to mind after 9/11, expressing the sense of chaos and foreboding we all felt. It’s easy to forget how it appeared obvious that many attacks of similar magnitude would be forthcoming, particularly since 9/11 was followed quickly by the mysterious anthrax letters.
George W. Bush was president, and at the time—I was a Democrat, had not voted for him, and had been upset when he won in 2000—I was apprehensive about that, although I remember thinking that Al Gore as president would certainly not have been the man for the hour and that Bush was probably better suited to the situation. As the years went on, despite the setbacks in Iraq and elsewhere, things seemed to be going better than I would have expected on 9/12/2001.
Since the inauguration of Barack Obama as president they have been going steadily downhill, with an especially steep decline since November of 2014. Obama is not responsible for all of it, but I lay a great deal of it at his feet. Almost on a daily basis, I’ve been writing about the ways in which his actions have worsened things around the world. Although I’m not going to go into it in detail right now about all those ways, I think they are pretty obvious by this point to most readers here.
I will take just one example, though, and a relatively simple one compared with some of the others such as Iran: the Bo Bergdahl desertion charges. I wrote “relatively” simple, but that doesn’t mean the incident is simple at all.
The Bergdahl story actually has several layers of horribleness. The first was the prisoner exchange, which would have seemed a bad deal even if Bergdahl had been innocent of any wrongdoing—bad because it involved negotiating with terrorists, releasing captives of extreme dangerousness (five of them!), and also bad because Obama had omitted giving Congress notice although he was bound by law to do so. Then there was White House intransigence and denials in the face of mounting—and extremely compelling—evidence that Bergdahl was a deserter, which had become clear quite early on. Then there was the delay in charging Bergdahl, which was rumored to be the result of White House pressure on the military not to charge him. And maybe there will be further travesties, such as an exoneration despite convincing evidence of guilt.
But worst of all, really, was how the story dropped off the radar screen relatively quickly. That was understandable, though, because so many other terrible things were happening. That’s part of the plan, of course; to get us to play an ever-escalating game of whack-a-mole.
I realized back in 2010 (see the last paragraph of this post) that a second Obama term was to be dreaded because he would then be released from the need to answer to the electorate at all. But the electorate bears some responsibility too, as does the press and Congress. Why oh why are not more people screaming out that the emperor has been completely naked for quite some time now? And that really wouldn’t be strong enough, either, because a naked emperor may just be a fool (with foolish subjects willing to play along). This naked emperor is also malevolent.
The “why oh why” is rhetorical on my part; I suppose I know the answer. It’s certainly a question we’ve discussed before on this blog. But in a more basic way it still puzzles me, because as things become worse and worse, and Obama’s actions more extreme and more revelatory, I keep thinking there must be a tipping point, both for the press and the public as well as Congress.
But even that is probably an illusory hope. Events make me more cynical, but I don’t seem to be able to ratchet my cynicism up quickly enough to meet them.
[* NOTE: Haste makes waste—I seem to have copied the date of Yeats’ death (1939) instead of the date he wrote the poem, which was 1919. That 1919 date is actually interesting in terms of the history of the Middle East, because the end of World War I triggered the division of that region (mostly during the 20s) into something more similar to its modern, post Ottoman Empire form. World War I was a cataclysmic event with enormous repercussions, and I submit that we have never recovered from it.]
Shelby Steele offered warnings and explanations regarding your (our) “why oh why” way back before ClownDisaster’s first executive election in 2008. Too few heeded and here we are: locked out of the cockpit by an unimagined, faulty, failsafe system — as the ground fast approaches.
Maybe it’s a little early to use the Germanwings disaster as a metaphor, but it sure does fit. We’re all in the plane, headed for violent impact with the ground, helpless to stop this madman’s willful and deliberate controlled descent — “manage the decline” — and the cockpit door is locked.
sdferr:
Your metaphor is apt.
By the way, I refer you to this article of mine, written in October of 2009. A quote:
mizpants:
It’s not locked. Congress has the key. The question is whether—and under what circumstances—it might be willing to use it.
There is no tipping point as far as the msm is concerned. Furthermore, a majority of voters get their information from the msm propaganda machine. And, most politicians are far more interested in keeping their positions inside the beltway than protecting the rule of law. The messiah is immune. Only an attack far more serious than 9/11 might possibly open more eyes.
“Congress has the key.”
And ClownDisaster has the crucial “white guilt” toggle-switch to be flipped on and off at his sole discretion, save in the nearly impossible instance that the people of the United States, as Mr. Steele might remark, should grow up and deal with their own irrational motivations as sane adults would be expected to do.
neo-neocon et al, The States have a bigger key(s). Based on what we have seen they will not check this administration any more than Congress will.
neo-neocon, that is a brilliant poem and, although it’s very depressing, your use of it is very apt. I too have referenced it on several posts for similar reasons.
You do a great job of putting this all into words, but, regarding foreign affairs, it mostly boils down to: “The Occident plays checkers and the Orient (the Middle East, Russia and China) plays chess.”
Sirhan Sirhan killed Bobby Kennedy way back in 1968. Klaus Fuchs taught the Soviets how to build the bomb over half a century ago. Anarchists assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. The Battle of the Overpass was waged in 1937.
Our enemies are very, very patient and willing to wait for their opportunities. Communists, Socialists, Anarchists… they’ve operated in this nation and in and out of our institutions for most of the past hundred years. Our government, our schools, our labor unions, our churches…
The Muslims have never stopped fighting the crusades. It’s not coincidental that Chess was invented in Persia.
It can hardly be surprising to anyone that adversaries will press their advantage. However, when mere incompetence cannot account for the failure to guard against an adversary’s pressing his obvious advantage, we must conclude that this failure is a matter of an intentional act. ClownDisaster isn’t so stupid that he doesn’t see what we regard as evil coming (for he regards the evil we see as a clarion good). Face facts. This bad thing is no accident or error.
I have no idea what Lily Tomlin’s politics may be, but her line sums it up –
“No matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up.”
Spend time with those you love, kiss them often, and tell them how important they are and how much you love them. Don’t forget to enjoy the sweetness while we still can.
Written 1919 not 1939 in response to WWI.
The tipping point will come when a bunch of Jihadis show up in The Mall of America or Times Square and start murdering people wholesale with AK 47s. It will tie together illegal immigration and the miserable Mideast policy. The MSM won’t be able to cover that up, no matter how hard they try, and you can be sure that they will try.
Bergdahl’s “desertion” was not the point of your post, but someone should point out a difficulty with proving desertion. An element of proof is evidence that the intention was never to return. If there is no such evidence then the offense is AWOL, a considerably lesser included offense. Evidence of efforts to reach US enemies might constitute a different offense, and might be construed by the court to be proof of desertion.
In any event, courts martial tend to work more with common sense than seems to be the case in many of our criminal courts, but that might be countered here by the extreme political sensitivities involved.
To paraphrase a different poem:
This is the way the Republic ends
This is the way the Republic ends
This is the way the Republic ends,
Not with a bang, but a whimper.”
Incidentally, I learned this poem about a month ago (as a part of my New Year’s resolution to memorize poetry).
These are the lines which strike me the most:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
I think they are quite indicative.
engineer:
Here are the legal definitions of both charges facing Bergdahl. Under the desertion charge, permanent intent to stay away is only for the first definition, but there are other definitions that don’t include it. The second definition is “quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service.” What’s more, the second charge “misbehavior before the enemy” carries a greater penalty, and Bergdahl could be convicted of that as well.
Hard to predict what will actually happen, though. This case is incredibly political.
I think I might have a possible explanation for the lack of a tipping point: I myself have about reached the level of saturation with regard to what he is doing; I don’t know how much more I can take regarding his actions and the obvious pootentially lethal consequences of those actions. I am a much happier person and enjoy life much more when not confronting this everyday.
I think people are vaguely aware of what is going on, but the idea is so repellent that they slip into mental defensive mode. The idea of the president actively working to destroy his own country is a very hard thing to comprehend.
Anna:
You might enjoy this, then. You also might get a kick out of this; the poems there are geared for 6-8th graders (at least, I thought they were), but they are all adult poems and some of my very favorites.
Why oh why are not more people screaming out that the emperor has been completely naked for quite some time now? And that really wouldn’t be strong enough, either, because a naked emperor may just be a fool (with foolish subjects willing to play along). This naked emperor is also malevolent.
Sorry, one absolutely cannot strike a substantial blow against King Barack, regarding his “malevolent” behavior or anything else. That would be racist.
Besides,
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
———————————
But in a more basic way it still puzzles me, because as things become worse and worse, and Obama’s actions more extreme and more revelatory, I keep thinking there must be a tipping point, both for the press and the public as well as Congress.
Alas, I very much doubt the balance will tip against Obama because there is so much force pushing on his side: the racist trump card makes him basically immune from serious criticism, a feckless Congress has given up most of its power, the MSM is still invested in The Transformative President and has spent the last 8 years propagandizing on his behalf and finally, a substantial fraction (maybe 20% – 35%) of low-information boneheads, having mainlined the propaganda for 8 years now, believe it, thus preventing the overwhelming roar of public denunciation needed to derail Obama’s worst plans.
sdferr’s Germanwing’s analogy is most apt. Most apt.
Baraq Hussein has indeed locked himself into the WH with phone and pen. He keeps on over-riding the open-the-door code, and we do not have the weapons needed to blast in, given the time allowed. The Iran nuke awaits, with centrifuges a-churning deep below a mountain.
The tipping point has been passed, as I’ve said here many times before.
Gary:
That racist accusation is always the reason people say Obama is immune.
It seems to me there are worse things that being falsely and maliciously accused of racism. And at this point, isn’t it clear that it’s a canard, something the left throws out no matter what awful thing he has done? Are people still buying that?
“Obama is not merely observing a downward trend and trying to shepherd this nation through the process. He believes such a downward direction is the morally proper one for America and Americans, the only way we can be forgiven our manifold sins and emerge purified through humility and sacrifice.
Obama also believes that he is the special instrument by which the nation can accomplish this transformation. That, more than any specific policy on any specific issue, is the goal of Obama’s presidency: the shriving and humbling of America. That is what Obama means by “fundamental change.”
Profoundly insightful and prescient words neo.
However, there is another important aspect I fear. I’ve concluded that Obama does not believe that this country can ever be fully purged and purified of its sins until America is no longer a white majority country. I strongly suspect that he believes that all whites are, in their heart of hearts, racists. He believes that because of his own virulent racism. His aim is to ensure that before this century is over, whites will comprise a distinct minority.
physicsguy,
I don’t think its hard to comprehend at all, he’s a very ‘bad’ guy, who has played them for fools, case closed. The idea of the president actively working to destroy his own country is a very hard thing to accept. It’s hard for them to accept because of pride and implicit to that acceptance is shared culpability. It is facing their own complicity and fear of the inherent guilt that acceptance would bring, wherein their difficulty lies.
physicsguy,
I can’t speak for you, obviously, but my theory is it has more to do with frog boiling.
Remember what happened when Rick Santelli stepped outside of his box on the trading floor on national television (MSNBC of all channels)? Thousands lept from their couches and formed Tea Party groups across the nation.
Remember what happened when Glenn Beck got a permit for space in front of the Lincoln Memorial? Hundreds of thousands (a million?) of people made a pilgrimage to Washington DC to stand with him.
Remember what happened when terrorists drove 2 airplanes into the World Trade Towers and felled both buildings? More volunteers than the area could manage showed up within days.
We are not a complacent people. We just have no idea what to do. We love our Constitution, and our Constitution gives us all the rights we need, or want, but the Federal government has expanded, incrementally, year after year, administration after administration, congress after congress.
Each usurpation of freedom and liberty has been too minor to warrant a civil uprising, yet minor impositions, minor inconveniences and minor intrusions are progressively imposed until we find ourselves living in a nation where over 50% of our fellow citizens receive checks from the Federal government. Where all working citizens have whatever percentage of their income Congress chooses confiscated. Where a citizen with a terminal illness is not free to follow a course of care or consume medication of her choosing. Look no further than the TSA line of your local airport to see how far the Republic has fallen.
“And at this point, isn’t it clear that it’s a canard, something the left throws out no matter what awful thing he has done? Are people still buying that?”
Uh yes, they are. People almost always accept what they believe to be true, especially when it supports their prejudices.
Neo:
Thanks, I remember that I consulted these posts at some point as I decided to undertake this little project. I added a few suggestions from your list.
Regarding the TSA, this was Rufus T. Firefly’s plan to improve airport security after 9/11. No additional security screening beyond what was already being done on 9/10
However:
Prior to each flight taking off a video is shown. The video shows several methods terrorists may employ to lessen the likelihood of the flight reaching the intended destination; a few guys with box cutters, a guy trying to light his shoe, a guy storming the cockpit door.
In each instance the threat is immediately followed by a group of able-bodied passengers grabbing the idiot and very physically forcing him to the ground and subduing him.
During all of this the narrator’s voice is very calm and matter of fact. It ends with a blank screen with the following text, read by the narrator:
“In the presence of a threat to the safety of this flight’s passengers it is the duty of every red-blooded American on this flight to halt the perpetrator or perpetrators and protect those not near the threat, or unable to assist. Please take a moment to discuss this with your seatmates and ensure that those most able to counter an attack are seated on the aisle, so they can perform that duty if needed.”
That’s how citizens of a free Republic would address a threat.
Instead we have long queues, random searches and the sad, passive shuffle of the defeated and persecuted.
Our forefathers didn’t start shooting at the drop of hat either. They didn’t start shooting after the first powder raids nor the massacre at Lexington nor the search of Concord. It was as the redcoats retreated from Concord and they suddenly turn and fired on the Acton Militia. That’s when the patriots got the order “Fire! For God’s sake, fellow soldiers, fire!”
Not at the Rubicon yet.
Anna:
Great!
I can’t speak highly enough of the endeavor of memorizing great poetry. It is a wonderful companion throughout life.
Lurker:
I’m talking about doing something early enough that it would prevent shooting.
Not re-electing Obama in 2012 would have been a nice start.
Gary, neo-neocon and others,
I don’t understand why you continually focus on Congress. The States are the check that is the balance to the Federal government usurping power. The States.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
There are only 14 powers delegated to the Federal government. Hold a Constitutional Convention and repeal the XVIth Amendment and force Congress to raise money through consumption taxes and have the State Attorney Generals and Governors ban together to fight the Fed on its overreach.
There are folks much smarter than me here, but I don’t understand why you all don’t see the Congress is as culpable as the President. There are many reasons, but the reasons don’t matter.
Those with power will almost always try to amass more power and draw it to their sphere of influence. This is why the Founders gave almost all the power to the individual States. Our nation is supposed to be in a continual struggle between the Federal Government trying to centralize power and the States trying to retain it. Because of the XVIIth Amendment and the pool of money created by the XVIth Amendment (and manipulations necessary to win the Civil War and finally remove the scourge of slavery from the Country) (and other reasons) political factions within many of the States have been cooperating with the Federal Government for over a century.
If a majority of States don’t care enough to get the power they have lost back, why do you assume a majority of Federal Congresspeople will voluntarily choose to relinquish it? It’s completely against human nature. That makes no sense.
People, if you want to fight a political battle fight it locally. It has to be local. The Federal government is the leviathan. The Legislative branch is even more culpable than the Executive.
Again, I mean no offense, you are very smart people, but your ideas seem to always revolve around negotiating with the serpent’s tail in hopes it will strangle the serpent’s head.
This nation can likely survive even a second Obama Administration. What it cannot survive is the 50+% that voted for him twice. It cannot survive the corruption of all the institutions including academia, both entertainment and news media. It cannot survive the corruption of the churches. It cannot survive a Congress that was elected to confront but instead cooperates with the evil we see.
Neo wrote (3/26, 4:16pm):
It seems to me there are worse things that being falsely and maliciously accused of racism.
It still can be quite potent. Ask the Ferguson PD how they feel about being accused of racism.
Obviously that’s an extreme case, but even in much lesser ones, it still has the power to discount the opinion of the accused, even when done “falsely and maliciously.”
I agree it’s ridiculous, but that’s how it works. Still. There are just too many stupid and/or emotionally inclined people ready to buy even the most absurdly cynical accusations of “racism.” If that were not the case, Al Sharpton would have disappeared long ago.
And at this point, isn’t it clear that it’s a canard, something the left throws out no matter what awful thing he has done? Are people still buying that?
Yes, people are still buying that nonsense. It should be clear it’s a canard, but it still works. Sad but true.
It also works on a subtler level. People self-censor and seriously diminish their criticism of Obama for fear of appearing to be racist. The end result is a protective force-field around King Barack that exempts him from the normal level of criticism that presidents get.
stdferr wrote (3/26, 3:09pm):
ClownDisaster isn’t so stupid that he doesn’t see what we regard as evil coming (for he regards the evil we see as a clarion good). Face facts. This bad thing is no accident or error.
Lately I’ve been musing at how “ClownDisaster” always gets everything wrong. Not just wrong, but 180 degrees off the correct direction.
As you say, this cannot be an “accident or error.” Choose your cliche: the stopped clock being right twice a day, the biggest loser hitting blackjack every now and then, whatever. If you’re maximally wrong all the time, it must be intentional.
“. . . third time is enemy action.”
Said the spy novelist.
Evenso, just think about labeling PresidentIVotePresentAndWonPenPhone a man of traitorous convictions. And why not? Well, isn’t the magic shield sufficient to explain?
The only way to avoid blooshed, unlikely as it may be, is article 5. That is how to take back the power dc has seized by running roughshod over the 9th and 10th. But it will not come to pass. When there is no rule of law all are outlaws. DC is already infested with outlaws. Echoing Palin, we who believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness need to go rogue. Beans, bullets, and water. Remember to focus on the front sight and breathe out slowly.
parker Says:
March 26th, 2015 at 7:22 pm
Remember to focus on the front sight and breathe out slowly.
Yup! And, blame the voters, well articulated blah blah notwithstanding.
TWICE!
Once happenstance, twice enemy action.
Some of these voters ignored all that is know from the depredations of the 20th century. This at a time when more info is available then ever …
Shame. There shall be no mercy when the time comes.
Soon!
Neo: “Why oh why are not more people screaming out that the emperor has been completely naked for quite some time now?”
An emperor is just a man. Obama is an avatar and rep of a social activist movement that specializes in Narrative.
“Why oh why are not more people screaming out that the emperor has been completely naked for quite some time now?”
I think you just answered why I just don’t much care any more. Obama got 65 million votes…twice. What can one person do against that many idiots?
When surrounded by 65 million idiots instead of despair, think of it as a target rich environment. In flyover country it will not be a big deal, for those in urban areas or within 100 miles of the district of criminals all I can wish you is good luck. The monsters of the left and their running dog lackeys have no concept of unintended consequences. I know rural Iowa and Kentucky… kevlar feds look like hog feed, and hogs eat everything, including the bones. My grandparents, father, mother, aunts, and uncles taught me wrong from right. Don’t need a politician, pundit, preacher, or prostitute to tell me the difference.
I’ve given up hoping there is anything whatsoever either President Obama or Hillary Clinton could either do or fail to do that would keep several of my younger well-educated and intelligent but frankly stupid in this regard relatives from supporting both to their dying breath.
My solution is to hope that the inevitable resulting destruction of all I hold dear in this country is delayed until after my hopefully-distant death. They voted for it; let them figure it out. No longer my problem other than voting every time.
To be fair, we’ve gone to world wars before. I am sure that Obama’s excuse will be that he had the best of intentions.
And the MSM will defend him. Lots of people supported Chamberlain and others like him before that. Lots of people could have stopped those bad total wars, but they didn’t.
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“They voted for it; let them figure it out. No longer my problem other than voting every time.”
Said “Man in the Middle” above.
My plan B is the same as his: Hope I die before it all goes bad. I’m 53, type 2 diabetes, over weight, smoking for a month since I last quit (Yeah, I know that smoking is really bad for me, especially bad for me a type 2 diabetic.) I drink too much.
I don’ think my plan B will work.
A majority of Americans know its bad, but they expect we will make it until next election and course adjust. I sort of agree with them that the country will not be irreparably harmed. Israel is another matter though.
Another big loser over the next two years will be the Democratic party – IMHO.
Yeats’ “Second Coming” was composed in 1919, not 1939, after WWI but before WWII (the poet died in 1939, before Hitler’s invasion of Poland began a six-month “phony war” that ended in early April 1940).
Absent valid chronology, analogies profoundly fail. Yeats’ “great beast out of Anima Mundi” refers to 19th Century Spiritualist canons, not 20th Century communo-fascist “socialist realism” on any level.
Kipling had it right…
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
I remember the days of Jimmy Carter when the nation’s economy was a shambles and America had bowed to Iran. It was truly the end of days till someone better came along.
I am firmly convinced that America remains the last best hope for the world and someone better will emerge. The Almighty has not forsaken us.
I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments, but The Second Coming was written in 1919, not 1938.
Sorry, I meant 1939 but can’t edit my earlier comment.
We knew enough about Obama in 2008 to know that he would be this bad or worse.
bill ayers is occupying the white house
If I can get Biblical for a second, America is paying the price for its sins. Only when the proud are humbled will America return to greatness.
(of course, I’m talking about the sins of those who voted for Obama…not us! LOL)
…although, now that I think about it we who DIDN’T vote for Obama are guilty too: guilty of putting feckless losers like Boehner and McConnell in charge of the opposition.
How much of Obama’s agenda could’ve been stopped with actual leaders in the Republican party?
I’m more and more convinced: we need to clean our own house first.
Instalanche.
The Second Coming was published in 1919 – not 1939.
1939 was the year Yeats died.
Pedantry has a place in God’s universe y’know.
If I had known all the things that Obama was going to do, i would have voted for him. (But I live in California, so my vote really doesn’t matter.) The federal government is a cancer, and Obama is doing more to kill it than any competent President could. I’m rooting for Hillary in 2016.
Impressive comments to a high degree in this blog. No trolls! I just heard Peter Paul & Mary singing commie Pete Seeger’s “I got a hammer” on a radio show hosted by a good DJ who is a loony lefty with half his body up Obama’s posterior. These good natured “educated” people are a problem, just like our children. Well intentioned but totally stupid to reality. They will continue to vote for policies that destroy the USA. Either a severe depression or a World War are the only things which might possibly change their minds about the wonderfulness of Obama and the Progressive project. The Constitution gives both Congress and the States power to stop the Madness. So far, not enough push back has occured. IF even conservatives are mostly afraid of shouting from the rooftops that Obama and the Progressives hate America, then how can we expect any change.
When We Choose a King
By Robert Winkler Burke
Book #4 of In That Day Teachings
1/22/09 http://www.inthatdayteachings.com
When we choose a king,
We get what we deserve,
Lessons in gladness or sadness,
For a king always serves.
A king always serves,
To prove right or wrong,
In teaching it matters not,
What side he belongs.
If a fool, the king will be loved,
By all his same kind,
While proving a fool in power, showers,
Insanity all around.
The fool king proves wrong doctrines,
Creates death eventually,
Letting fools repent to great depths,
Of fool insanity.
A wise king is hated utterly,
By all foolish crowds,
His acts of wisdom provoke,
Fools to stand proud.
While the wise king brings life,
Through sagacious acts,
The death lovers will distort,
Great matters of fact.
The only way fools will change,
And love a wise king,
Is to first let a fool king,
Up end everything.
So let the fool king,
Up end all he can,
He’ll just prove what a fool believes,
Not a wise man.
The fool king’s subjects,
Will finally want truth,
Hard truths, brutal truths the crowds,
Earlier forsoothed.
Give us sane doctrines!
They’ll cry in unison,
A fool king is deadly!
Forgive us, God’s Son.
And God will forgive,
Our foolish choices,
When hard truth is honored,
God rejoices.
God rejoices and lets us,
Choose our wise kings,
First letting us suffer fools,
To learn great things.
How do I know this?
I’ve been king of my life,
Often fool, sometimes wise,
Mostly in between strife.
So let a fool be a fool,
As good as it gets,
This a wise man allows,
How wisdom begets.
Robert Winkler Burke Says:
March 26th, 2015 at 11:17 pm
Nice!
We get the government we deserve.
I hope I’ll be able to demonstrate the same courage and fortitude as my ancestors …
Soon!
I joined the Tea Party protests, but the movement foundered on its fundamental contradiction:
Americans love socialism when it’s called Social Security and Medicare; even the most extreme Tea Partiers never suggested abolishing these programs. If you admit that some socialism is good, doesn’t it logically follow that more is better?
It’s true that we can’t afford more socialism, nor could we afford the socialism we had before Obama. Socialism always begets more socialism, so the only sustainable level of socialism is zero.
When America reaches full socialism, you’d better know which weeds are edible!
When America reaches full socialism, you’d better know which weeds are edible!
Mental weeds also. This moronic piece by a
Ken Silverstein.
The likes of Silverstein should be disposed off by their own. They make me nervous …
Excerpt:
What all this means is that Hillary Clinton’s husband has already been implicated in the Epstein scandal and that his dubious private behavior, which has already once distracted the entire nation from more important business, could do so again if Ms. Clinton does indeed run for president.
What’s worse, at least from my personal standpoint, is that if Ms. Clinton were to become the Democratic nominee I still might vote for her because the likely Republican candidates have retrograde and vile public views about race, class, gender and gay rights, and those are important to me, and especially because the two main parties are virtually indistinguishable when it comes to fundamental economic policy. Because both are bought and paid for by Wall Street and financiers like Jeffrey Epstein, as well as other powerful interests who overwhelmingly fund our political campaigns.
Actually, I still might not vote for Hillary Clinton if she becomes the nominee, but I probably will if my college-age daughter asks me. Even though I don’t think she likes Ms. Clinton all that much–and I expect she likes her husband less–she is appalled and outraged by the GOP’s stone age social politics and because she would like to see a woman become president. And that’s a good enough reason for me. Maybe.
This is why the Epstein affair is a national disgrace and shines a bright light on the current tragedy of American democracy and this country’s abysmal national political and media elites.
Had it too good for too long
Things are inexplicable if you continue the mistake of assuming Obama is actually trying to do good things for the US, and wants to promote our national interests like our defense, the economy, national prestige, our morale, etc. But the administrations of Barack Hussein Obama, and his policies, actions, appointments and statements make sense only if you proceed with the understanding that he is, quite simply, on the other side.
Harlan Ellison wrote a story called ” I have no mouth and I must scream” in 1967.
Sums up how many of us feel. We warned you about Obama, continue to warn you and the world goes on, heedless of our screams.
OT: Help! I’m on Martha’s Vineyard, surrounded by the most Bigoted Leftists I’ve ever dealt with!
Not kidding: here on a “writing retreat,” and they’ve been engaging in circular onanism, loathing “Republicans,” whom they have the vilest ideas about. Undisguised loathing, contempt, insane ideas about what we believe, etc., etc. They don’t know I’m not one of Them, so they’ve been appallingly frank.
I came on this trip because I’ve always wanted to see the Vineyard (grandmother and great-aunt were born here); we all just gathered at the inn this evening. But now I’m feeling like that part-black heroine of the old movie — PoppY? — where she passed as white and thus got to see how ugly the racism was when the whites thought they were among their own.
Did you know, for example, that it’s “the Republicans!” (gag) who aren’t vaccinating their kids? Because, Ignorant! Jesusland! Science-haters! I threw in that SF, for ex., has a vaccination rate of something like only 75% of the kids, and someone said “They have a lot of gay people out there,” and I said “What has that got to do with kids’ vaccination rates?”
I’ve been diplomatic so far: outnumbered TWELVE to one, but I may go off on them at some point. The woman who hitched a ride with me up from NY knows I’m no longer part of their Borg, but she deliberately started a few hares herself, making ugly comments about all the Republicans in Monmouth, NJ (shoot, maybe I should move there!).
Seriously, neither time nor space to elaborate it, but the TONE is one of a bloodcurdlingly casual venom and unbridled contempt. Folks, they’d have NO trouble herding us Hated Ones into the gulag.
Oh, and the troublemaker preens herself for not hating the Muslim terrorists, but she absolutely despises — Republicans.
Thanks for letting me vent. I don’t know what to do, but I may bust out of the closet this weekend, just to see if they have any shame. My guess: I’d be attacked and shunned. But I’m so damned uncomfortable I might as well be honest. And who needs “friends” who despise one?
Now i need to cool my jets and try to get some sleep. Thanks for all who post here, and Neo especially. You all are a real lifeline.
I’ve always enjoyed this poem, dystopian as it is. Yeats nails something profound, and does so quite nicely.
That’s not venting, Beverley. You shared intelligence. Now tell us where these people get their money.
Thanks for correction of typo re date—will fix.
I believe that when Obama lost the Israeli vote (and he did!) he lost a large part of his ‘power.’ And that is why the military has made a decision re Bergdahl: it’s OK, now, to ignore the king.
There will be further revelations, attacks, on Obama, from other parts of the US Govt. That is what happens when one loses power.
So, who’s next? The CIA? Pop the popcorn, and begin the betting.
Came here to say this: Worst. President. Ever.
beverly Says
“Oh, and the troublemaker preens herself for not hating the Muslim terrorists, but she absolutely despises – Republicans.”
Nice post beverly.
Although I’m generally skeptical, evidence like beverly has presented in her post drives me reluctantly to the conclusion that we are fighting a spiritual battle between the forces of good and evil in which facts are irrelevant.
My brother who holds an elected position in the SEIU in California is trying to block the influence of Islamist supporters who have infiltrated the left wing of the SEIU including especially avowed communists. Because my brother favors socialism he tried to move them away from support for Muslim Jihad (ISIS) and towards support of the Kurds by pointing out that many of the Kurds are secularists and support socialism – positions which the left supposedly also supports. My brother sent me a copy of their reply. It was vile. They didn’t even bother responding to his arguments but instead sent out the message to other members that my brother is not worthy of their attention and that they will no longer even consider anything he say from now on out.
First off, facts became irrelevant when Truth became malleable. Also, I don’t think we’re fighting a spiritual battle, but rather an existential struggle for the survival of the Republic. Our Nation is what every tyrant hates, including President Boyfriend: Self-government.
Revolution 2.0 will be a battle between the forces of Individual Liberty and Freedom versus the forces of Big Government Uber Alles. It will be another bloody, most uncivil war.
“Slouches towards Bethlehem”–only lately did I recognize the source of the title Judge Bork chose for his book, Slouching Towards Gomorrah.
Beverly,
I can relate! I work in higher Ed and always keep my political opinions under wraps. Honestly, I believe my job security depends upon flying under the radar.
You might enjoy this piece on “the 21st century closet: or why I hide my conservative beliefs from my friends.”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/the-21st-century-closet-why-i-hide-my-conservative-beliefs-from-my-friends
Ah well, at least you get to enjoy the Vineyard scenery!
0bama is best categorized as a NeoCom, a new communist.
A very plausible reason Barry sealed his (poor) scholastic records is likely even poorer writings pander to Cloward-Piven in much the same way SHillary pandered to Saul Alinski.
RickZ Says:
“Also, I don’t think we’re fighting a spiritual battle, but rather an existential struggle for the survival of the Republic.”
If one views our Republic as a good thing as I do then I’m afraid I don’t see much difference between “a battle between good and evil” and “an existential struggle for survival of the Republic”.
Beverly,
I will echo CV’s comment; this is exactly what is like to work in academia, and I am very much looking forward to retirement soon. The college I work at just two days ago sponsored a 3 hour “hate”, in the Orwellian sense, over remarks made by a Jewish philosophy professor that offended some Muslim students. It was a sight to behold. Same as your experience, only on a larger scale. These people are truly deranged.
Here we are talking about trying to win a war, but when conservatives are surrounded by the enemy, what do they do? Clam up. This is the wrong approach, and we won’t win any battles if we’re just going to give up before a single shot is fired (metaphorically).
Beverly – here is my suggestion to you: give them all both barrels. Point out the idiocy of their positions (calmly), and make sure you use some mockery while you’re at it.
Make sure that the left doesn’t think they’ve won this battle by thinking that conservatives don’t exist. Be heard.
“Why oh why are not more people screaming out that the emperor has been completely naked for quite some time now”
Because many of them were invested in assuring those of us that were screaming it that the emprorer did too have close. They invested their dignity, self respect and their livlihood into assuring us that we were wrong and they were right. So now that things are going to hell in a handbasket they are looking for a scapegoat to explain the disaster but most assuredly it will be a scapegoat that wont make them look bad.
While not specifically–nor even necessarily, functionally–a communist, Obama nevertheless shows the inevitable ends of government controlling the “means of production” in areas not actually tied to manufacturing. Instead, in our digital-based, world-wide economy, “means of production” should be replaced with “levers of power”–economically, communicationally, politically, socially. Obama has filled multiple crony positions with financial sector insiders; he is beholden to media powerhouses and Hollywood progs; he is using the inertia of Congressional processes to effect change completely outside the Constitutionally prescribed channels. He is the perfect, ultimate terrorist: as noted above in the comments, he’s locked himself in the cockpit and is purposefully hurtling us straight into hell.
rocinante3d,
Someone better did emerge, Romney/Ryan. Instead we re-elected Belshazzar.
He has not forsaken us, we have forsaken Him.
beverly Says:
March 26th, 2015 at 11:57 pm
OT: Help! I’m on Martha’s Vineyard, surrounded by the most Bigoted Leftists I’ve ever dealt with!
Come on Bev! What do you expect by now …
This, meet Susan J. Douglas
They don’t hide it.
g6log,
I made the mistake of reading Ms. Douglas’ piece, then reading more of her “wisdom” on the web. If you think she hates Republicans you ought to see what she thinks of mothers.
Wow!
Wading into the swamp of her judgmental and narcissistic opinions for 5 minutes had me concerned her dyspeptic thoughts might temporarily turn mine sour so I abandoned the research, although I’m sure if I had continued I would have soon discovered her masterworks; “I hate apple pie,” and “all boys should be aborted.” I guess William Jefferson Clinton could have married worse.
Beverly:
You have my sympathies.
Depending on how close you are with these people, and how much you would care if they never spoke to you again, as well as how much damage there would be to you professionally from “coming out,” it may be time to do so. The price of keeping silent is high in terms of stress, although the price of coming out can be high in terms of stress.
However, it’s not easy. And it sounds as though you will just be shouted down. Sometimes it’s better to take just one person on at a time. Good luck getting through it, whichever way you decide to go.
beverly,
When I decide to “out” myself I rarely do it specific to political affiliation. One can have a lot of success by making a more extreme statement than theirs that shows the foolishness of their stilted view (without directly implicating them).
For example, in a discussion regarding Republicans hatred of homosexuals and opposition to gay marriage I would (and have) say, “I can’t imagine why anyone thinks a government should have any say in what consenting adults do. I don’t think the government should have any say in who marries, heterosexual or otherwise.*”
Or, in reply to a statement made about Republicans’ anti-science ignorance in refusing to support global warming I would (and have) say, “Climate is such a complex system, literally one of the most difficult to model and predict that it’s such a shame Al Gore and others took the stance of tying their stance to Professor Mann’s inaccurate CO2 model. Every agrees we ought to have less air pollution, but by linking that cause to a scientific model that time has proven inaccurate, Al Gore has probably done more to harm the cause of environmentalism in the long run.”
Now, once you state something like the above they’ll realize two things; They’ve never heard anyone talk like this before
AND
You seem to know more about the subjects than they do.
They won’t really know what your politics are, in some ways those views sound more radical than theirs, and they are, because freedom and liberty are radical concepts to them.
Examples similar to the above can be crafted for any view they state:
Education (Every community wants the best education possible for its children. It’s human nature. The further removed a bureaucracy is from the schools and children the less likely it will provide what’s needed.)
Guns (I have no idea what life is like for a rancher in Montana trying to keep coyotes from his herd. It seems obvious Manhattan and Montana residents need the ability to determine what is best for their communities.
* This may seem like an extreme view (get government out of all marriage), but it’s not. I’ve written a lot about it on my blog, but I don’t want to threadjack neo-neocon’s. You can certainly find others who have come to this same conclusion at many places on the Internet. It’s actually the only, correct conclusion for a Conservative but it drives Liberals nuts because it shows that they are the ones obsessed with Social Engineering and control.
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Excellent article. Especially liked your sentence, “naked emperor is malevolent.”
“George W. Bush was president, and at the time–I was a Democrat, had not voted for him, and had been upset when he won in 2000”
I am fond of saying that I and 536 other jokers put W. in the White House, officially. I was never a democrat – it was anathema to my soul. And as a former inhabitant of Arkansas, I knew that Slick Willie was a conman par excellance. He and that lying Owlgore rode the Reagan/Bush recovery far too long.
“Since the inauguration of Barack Obama as president they have been going steadily downhill”
Wrong. Since, January 2007, after 6 years of non-stop Bush bashing, America placed in charge of the Congress, a total lunatic and a serial grifter, Nancy Pelosi and Hairy Reid. Bush’s last deficit was $161 billion. Shortly after the democrats took over, it skyrocketed to over a trillion and has remained there ever since.
2009, and obama’s inauguration just sealed the deal on our country. Proof positive that when parasites and producers are allowed the same voice, society as we knew it, is over.
When more voters know who won American Idol than can tell you who their US Congressman is, it’s finished.
The reason you were once a democrat was the leftists got control of our ‘educational’ institutions decades before you were born.
Hollywood pushes the homosexual/deviant/anit-God/democrat agenda daily. Rap is hailed as ‘genius’. And white guilt is powerful. The leftists knew this.
Fortunately for you, your inherent logic took over.
Lanceman:
For me, it wasn’t the educational system. The schools I attended were very old-fashioned—patriotism, etc.—despite being in NYC.
My Democratic background was most definitely my family. Read this.
Immediate family and relatives on one side liberal Democrats. Distant relatives on other side, and one uncle, Communists. I had no sympathy with that side, however, nor did my parents.
Thanks, all y’all. Great suggestions, really comforting to hear from you! I wish I could teleport 3 or 4 of you into the beach house. We could mop the floor with them. 😉
Here’s the funny thing: I’ve been blessed with a good mind, and the libbies I meet never assume I’m one of “them” because “you’re so smart,” etc., etc. Never occurs to them anyone they like is one of the Hated Ones. And libbies who meet me usually really like me (one just bought me a fantastic dinner).
Since I’m grossly outnumbered, and as I enjoy talking with them as long as we’re NOT on politics, I’ve provisionally decided not to “come out,” tho I’m holding that idea in reserve…. But I have been dropping little hand grenades of knowledge here and there, and blowing a couple of minds.
E.g.: I used to write for the UN, at a pretty high level. That gives me cred with them. Told them some scandalous, and true, anecdotes about Turtle Bay that blew a couple of gaskets. Also used to write for WHO, and told them some things about battling with the Muslim patriarchy around the world: also true. Told them another anecdote about how the embattled feminists in Pakistan (they do exist) asked us “Where are all the Western feminists? Why won’t they help us?!?” (That one really got to them.)
I told an old friend who’s here that I’m a libertarian these days:not exact, but what it calls up in their bigoted minds is a closer approximation of my POV than the term “conservative” would.
Oh, BTW, I drove them past B.O.’s retreat on the island, and one of the women said in hushed, reverent tones, “That’s where Obama stays when he comes…. it’s a full-service, gated community. And I think there’s a golf course.”
“oh, there would Have to be,” I said breezily, and changed the subject before my passengers could react.
So, when they decide they think you’re a great gal, and they want to adopt you as a friend, and so on…. it’s pretty funny. The sad part is, if they weren’t so poisoned with their politics, they’d be some pretty interesting, great folks to hang out with. It’s a shame. But their Leftism is so off the charts, such a derangement: it’s like meeting a great artist and bon vivant who just happens to be a Nazi.
That, of course, is probably what they’d think about moi.
The island is delightful. Lots of Methodist camp meeting gingerbread houses, like Ocean Grove in Jersey. I’m the only practicing Christian in the group (Episc.), so I know more about it than they do, and have a direct connection. Theirs is practically anthropological: like British toffs discussing the strange habits of the Hottentots.
Playing it by ear….
I think Conservatives don’t demonstrate because 1. They work for a living and 2. We did demonstrate against Obamacare and it didn’t matter. If a Beck or a Bachman can get tens of thousands to show up in DC, why doesn’t the mainstream of the Republican Party seek popular support? Could it be they are comfortable with their bank and industry hand outs and like Reid, don’t want to smell all those sweaty tourists in the Capitol?
Don’t be surprised when Boehner fails to do anything to further the conservative cause. The FY16 deficit is going to be larger than FY15’s, that is what Boehner and McConnel want. There are less than 80 serious, intelligent, and conservative patriots left in Congress today, and the machine is working to reorient them to be slaves to the lobbyists, not rocking the boat. Pretty pathetic.
It all makes perfect sense once you realize that Obama shares the ideals of the bomb-throwers and flag-burners who gave him his start in politics, and learned his love of America from the Rev. Wright.
I keep thinking there must be a tipping point, both for the press and the public as well as Congress.
It’s normally called a civil war, specifically Civil War II.
As for people who were unable to imagine how that could come about… well, that was their problem, now wasn’t it.
I re-read Neo’s Nov. 7, 2010 in its entirety. She was prescient in what Obama has done since. Her training in psychotherapy gives her insight into Obama’s underlying, durable, core motives.
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