Another Perspective
The Era of Bad Feelings
Where were those calling for unity and bipartisanship during the Bush years?
Historians often refer to the period in American history from 1815 to 1825 as the Era of Good Feelings. During this decade, the nasty squabbles of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans subsided; the divisive debates over the issues of the day — slavery, war, tariffs, the Second National Bank — had, for the moment, disappeared. President James Monroe enjoyed sustained popularity and bipartisan support few chief executives have known.
On election night, President-elect Barack Obama peppered his victory speech with words of humility and cooperation. He urged his followers to “resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.” The gathered throngs in Grant Park approved enthusiastically. We will surely hear much about “unity” and “coming together” in the coming weeks and days; our media will breathlessly await the coming epoch.
Given all this, observers might deduce we are headed towards a second coming of the Era of Good Feelings. However, it would require a mild case of amnesia for anyone who has been paying attention to our national dialogue since 2001 to believe this.
The past eight years have not merely been partisan, but full of dangerous and unhinged hatred for President George W. Bush. And the engine of much of that bile were the men and women in the crowd at Grant Park, the rank and file of the next president’s party, and the compliant media who did so much to destroy Bush and deify Obama.
Those who will now ask for bipartisanship are also those who waited in line to see Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (which alleged Bush’s complicity in 9/11) or Oliver Stone’s W (which painted Bush as Jesus-loving doofus with a serious case of daddy envy) or even Gabriel Range’s Death of a President (which played out the left’s fever dream of Bush’s assassination on the big screen).
They are the same people who slapped “Bush knew about 9/11”, “1/20/09 — the End of an Error” or “Not My President” bumper stickers to the back of their Volvos. They are the same individuals who accused Bush of stealing the 2000 election in Florida and the 2004 election in Ohio.
Those who will now call for us to move beyond division are the ones who bought copies of venomous anti-Bush tomes such as The I Hate George W. Reader, The Bush Hater’s Handbook, or Nicholson Baker’s novel Checkpoint (whose main character, plotting Bush’s assassination, concludes, “I’m going to kill that bastard”).
The advocacy journalists, who gush over the coming non-ideological age of Obama, are also the scribes who attacked Bush for the duration of his presidency. They are the ones who gave us a legacy of journalism that includes the New Republic’s “The Case for Bush Hatred” and the Rolling Stone’s “Worst President in History.”
Those who urge us to look beyond party and support the next president are the ones who nodded approvingly when San Francisco attempted to name a sewage plant after the sitting president.
They are the actors, musicians, and entertainers who littered our public space with infantile attacks on Bush. And they are the people so many of us have met and known, from work to school, or seen and overheard in public spaces who have cruelly prefaced or followed their comments about their own president with words such as Nazi, dictator, evil, racist, hate and even kill.
After nearly a decade of this toxic behavior, they now ask us to join hands in supporting the new president.
At least one Republican has obliged that request. On Wednesday morning, Bush publicly offered Obama his best wishes. The occasion was most likely melancholy for a president whose own party (from which he has been increasingly shunned) had been crushed by the opposition for a second consecutive election. Looking at his face, it was clear the struggles and disappointments of the past few years have taken their physical toll. But there he was, the most maligned man in the world, delivering an elegant and gracious congratulations to his successor — who rode to the White House in no small part by relentlessly attacking Bush and his “failures.”
Given the hoopla surrounding Obama’s election and his coming administration, it will probably be a little noted moment in the whirlwind of history we have been living in. Nor will it be noticed by the Bush haters during their ongoing ecstasy over the change of the guard at the White House. Yet, opponents of Obama should take note of Bush’s words and the left’s current plea for bipartisanship.
The next four years will surely provide ample opportunities for criticism of the incoming president. And, in staggering contrast to the Bush haters, the new opposition should provide that criticism in a thoughtful and civil way. The national discourse does not need any further degrading.
But rest assured, in the coming years critics of President Obama will be blamed for breaking our national unity, accused of being unpatriotic, or told to keep quiet lest we divide the country and disrupt the second Era of Good Feelings. When such accusations are made, always remember these past eight years. Never forget who exactly shattered the unity, who behaved unpatriotically, and who did the dividing.
About the Author
Ryan L. Cole writes from Indiana.
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Dud Spoozle| 11.10.08 @ 8:32AM
George Bush was "The Uniter" remember? He did have over a 90% approval rating after 9/11 and he blew it. The Far Right, Evangelists, Republican majority and the Neo-Con Artists made sure unity only meant "You are either with us or you are against us!" Now you whine?
John M| 11.10.08 @ 8:42AM
Most of the vituperative hate-mongering from the left during the Bush presidency that came at us day after day for eight long years was I think simply a fully orchestrated left-wing propaganda campaign starting from day one that was used to create a false reality. Bush's governing style was essentially bi-partisan and not very ideological. In order to ensure funding for the military, he was overly compromising and gave the Democrats in Congress nearly everything they asked for, which is why the deficit has expanded astronomically. The veto pen was used very rarely, if at all. Considering that the poison, pettiness, partisanship, and immaturity was all coming from the left, their job now in promoting unity and healing the nation will be very difficult, and frankly I don't think that they have the desire or the capability of doing this.
stu.b.con| 11.10.08 @ 8:43AM
Ironic isn't it? dud spoozle provides the first comment and it is nothing more or less than the same ad hominem garbage we listened to from these humps for the past 7 years. spoozle? dud?
clearle a genius
Anthony| 11.10.08 @ 9:41AM
Mr. Cole and reader John M. have it exactly right. Eight non-stop years of unhinged Bush hatred, gleefully goaded on by the reprehensible Democrat leadership in Washington and the corrupt MSM. Bush was still filling his cabinet appointments when 9/11 hit, as the Democrats were in full rage to keep his administration from getting started. Don't forget, Mr.Cole, the unhinged rants of former CNN, now Newsweek paranoid in chief, Evan Thomas, who said American troops were shooting at journalists in Iraq. And the recent gem by Erica Jong, that Bush was sending troops back from Iraq to take over the country after the election, led by Dick Cheney. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman had a semi nervous breakdown after Bush was re-elected in 04, such that he had to take a leave of absence from the NY Times. The excuse given at the time was a book he was writing. Bottom line: The '60s left are still adolescents at heart. It must be their way or no way. Their anger, hatred of the Right, and sense of entitlment will not be sated with Obama's victory. Instead ,the feeding frenzy will only get worse. The stifling of disent will come quickly as will the transformation of America into a European socialist state, and Obama's drones will cheer it on. Talk about ironic, the flower children of the '60s have brought us to a new age of Facism.
Josh F| 11.10.08 @ 10:20AM
What are the odds that the scads of new voters -- so-called first-time enuthusiasts of American politics -- will see the hypocrisy in the Hope and Unity mantra promulgated by Team Obama? More likely, they'll fully absorb the corrosive division that now surrounds them which has been masked in innocent terms as "change" over the course of the 22-month Obama campaign. Back to square one: perpetual partisan bickering. The only change? A Democrat in the White House. *That's* change I can believe in.
dave| 11.10.08 @ 10:34AM
As I've repeatedly said since last Tuesday, I will treat our new president with the same level of respect shown Bush by his political opponents.
The democrats/leftists have shown me how a "loyal opposition" operates and I have learned well. Remember, "dissent it patriotic!"
Bobbi| 11.10.08 @ 10:40AM
Pres. Bush was doomed from the start. He was "selected not elected," remember? That was the root of all the BDS. There are people who STILL claim that he "stole" the election. I for one am so glad he was in the White House when 9/11 (referred to by our Pres.-elect as a "tragedy," not the act of war that it was) happened. To all of those people who still suffer from BDS-"Chimpy McHitler-Halliburton" has kept your sorry butts safe for the past 7 years. I plan on giving "Mr. Obama" the same respect you gave "Mr. Bush" the past 8 years.
Howard | 11.10.08 @ 10:42AM
The difference between then and now is that (1) Obama seems to have extremely thin skin and (2) any criticism directed at him will be viewed as racism in action. During the campaign, any negative comment was dismissed as "code." We may be facing a more race war than ever.
Ed O'Brien| 11.10.08 @ 11:09AM
The election and eight previous years have done one good thing; smoked the rats out of their holes. I now have clearly identified enemies. I know who they are. I KNOW they are my enemies because they told me so, in no uncertain terms. From my next door neighbor, with his "Worst President Ever" bumper sticker to the lady who USED to cut my hair, do not expect me to "work" with you any more. For those "republicans" who think you can work with these guys, I say, make it official, change party!
Thomas| 11.10.08 @ 11:19AM
There is a faction in this country that hates and fears freedom. It hates and fears diversity. It hates and fears self-reliance. It hates and fears the common man. And it is not the Conservative movement nor the Republican Party. It is the liberal elite and its stooges in the Democrat Party.
The Democrats have done everything in their power, since the early 1900's to restrict the liberty of Americans. They are the party of taxation, as a method of controlling the populous [that, incidentally, led to the American revolution]. The party of social welfare [another means of controlling the populous]. In fact, since 1900, the Democrat party has not put forward a single measure that would limit the intrusion of the government into the life of the individual American citizen, except abortion. When the liberal elite can not get their own way, they resort to ad homenim attacks and character assassination on their opponents.
Bipartisanship has become a one-way street in this country. It runs only from the right to the left, never the reverse. It is time that came to a stop. Or get comfortable with a continuation of the Go Along-Get Along mentallity among Republicans.
Dale | 11.10.08 @ 11:21AM
A minor correction:
"The past eight years have not merely been partisan, but full of dangerous and unhinged hatred for President George W. Bush."
Should read:
"The past eight years have not merely been partisan, but full of dangerous and unhinged hatred generated by the minions of President George W. Bush towards anyone who dared think differently than Bill Kristol."
Chuck| 11.10.08 @ 11:26AM
And lest we forget, for at least five of Bush's eight years everybody in Washington with a 'D' after their name was incapable of saying anything, on any issue, without notating that it was the result of "the failed policies of George Bush." Forget? Hell!
WallyG| 11.10.08 @ 11:31AM
Unfortunately that "unity" door swings one way and that's to the left. The Republicans allowed the dems to be nasty, stay nasty and permit themselves to be subjects of ridicule. Bush, never responded, and that gave the lunatic left their openings. Personally, I never wanted to play nice with dems, be their friend or otherwise engage in the niceties associated with "bi-partisanship" as practiced by them. I am all for total and utter defeat of them and their ideology and perfectly willing to do what it takes to flush them down the toilet of their own making! It's time for us to be on the attack and who cares what the "media" thinks! It's time to win, and conservatism ALWAYS wins, Prop 8 proved it!
Gazinya| 11.10.08 @ 11:35AM
I remember back in the late 70's reading a small paragraph buried in the local paper. It was an article on the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning our nations' Motto. M. O'Hare had filed a law suit stating "In God We Trust" promoted religion. The Supreme Court ruled that the motto was "jingoism" and had no value to promote an actual 'trust in God'. After previous rulings of seperation and establishment clauses that effectively 'killed God' in our culture this ruling was not that suprising.
That is how the Court figured they could get around this bugaboo. George W. said he was a 'compassonate conservative' and that is how he thought he could get around his bugaboo. To say it rather than belive it. Jingoism.
Obama claims he has 'received Jesus in his heart' but when asked how that squares with his infanticied policies, he said he has found "obscurities in many of the Bible passages." These dark, gloomy passages exempt him from further belief. That is how he gets around his bugaboos. Jingoism.
I am a Christan. Politically, philosophically, spiritually. I don't get 'around' my bugaboos. I give them to God. I acutally trust in God. No jingoisms for me.
This nations forefathers knew that to be successful we had to have some sense of morality. For the past 60 or so years this nation has tried to handle our bugaboos by redefining who we are as a nation. How to 'get around' our Christian bugaboos.
This multiculturalism, evolution over 'intelligent design', non-christian history, assaulting wisdom and understanding. Looking for global answers, and having our laws reflect a more international flavor has reinvented the term 'reality'. Redefining what it means to be an American.
This nation, as a nation, does not know what it is or who we are supposed to be. That is our bugaboo. When we regain our motto and tear down the wall of seperation from our God and our Constitution that is when we will know the difference between Conservative and Liberal. Christian and Pagan.
Jonas| 11.10.08 @ 11:38AM
I can confidently say to "dale", and all the other followers of Dear Leader, that, concerning the subect of unhinged hatred, you ain't seen nothing, yet. Wait until Dear Leader starts to use Executive Orders to smash this 'living constitution' thing that so inhibits his "change".
Jonas| 11.10.08 @ 11:38AM
I can confidently say to "dale", and all the other followers of Dear Leader, that, concerning the subect of unhinged hatred, you ain't seen nothing, yet. Wait until Dear Leader starts to use Executive Orders to smash this 'living constitution' thing that so inhibits his "change".
Howard| 11.10.08 @ 11:45AM
I think a telling moment was last week when Chris throbbing leg Matthews was given the host spot on Meet The Press. This clown said his job was to help insure the Obama's presidency is a success. Where is your real job of being an honest broker. I'm sure Lawrence Spivak and Tim Russert are turning in their graves.
Edward| 11.10.08 @ 12:10PM
It seems pointless to debate who is "more partisan" or divisive on the Spectator comments. Seems like we are extremists talking about who is more extreme, creating a reflexive argument. Our political natures seem inseparable from our human ones in this regard. I think we are really just venting our emotional fatigue; displaying reactions to the extremes themselves. The outliers will always be spouting hatred and then cycle around to criticize the opponents who do the same. Whether we listen or, worse yet, incorporate the extreme views as accepted views might be the chief danger. Our powers of discernment are more crucial now that everybody has a digital seat at the anonymous pointless discourse table, as these posts illustrate.
Vern Crisler | 11.10.08 @ 12:29PM
I think Cole should have directed his fire against another group of Bush haters -- libertarians. These boneheads have been just as ugly in their opposition to Bush as any lunatic leftist. And look what it got them -- a statist as president, and a Congress run by statists. Nice job libertarians. If there's to be a clearing of the rats out of the house, let's include the libertarians too.
Tom Paine| 11.10.08 @ 12:32PM
Where were they during the Bush years?
Same place they were during the Clinton years.
Since the early 70s, when income disparities began becoming alarming great, politics has become more vitriolic. There has always been a tension between conservative and progressive forces in modern American history, but now the division is extremely bitter and hardened.
Obama, as a post-boomer, has some chance of toning down the vitriol, precisely because he is NOT a part of the William Ayers, Abbe Hoffman, Rush Limbaugh, George W Bush generation of extremes.
Face it boomers. You guys had some of the best music of the century. From what I hear, you had some pretty good parties. But THIS party is over, and as for politics, your me-generation approach has been lousy. It's time for a generation to take over that is far less polarized on social issues and far more interested in pragmatic solutions to problems that transcend or just plain ignore ideological coding.
Roll over, Beethoven.
Thomas| 11.10.08 @ 1:09PM
Mr. Paine,
Good to see you this morning. I am glad you like the music of the '70's, cause when the income disparity is corrected, no one will be making or buying any new music.
As to Mssr. Obama not being a part of Wm Ayers, have you been living under a rock the last ten months? Who livers down the street from Mssr. Obama, worked on two commitees with him, sits with the One at tetimonial dinners for terrorist financiers? Who lent him their living room to kick-off his political career? What generation is Rev. Wright a member of? What about the Rev. Farrakhan?. Is he part of Gen X?
As for the Me generation; what about the people represented by Peggy the Moocher? You don't get much more "ME" than that.
I realize that you were up late last night spreading dis-information, but grab a latte and get back to us when your arguments are more lucid and less neo-socialist talking points.
Gotta go. Working.
Marc Jeric| 11.10.08 @ 1:14PM
After their failed coup d'etat in Florida in the 2000 elections the far-left has exibited such hatred of Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney that was unheard of in American politics ever. The fact that both Bushes and Dole, thinking of themselves as "gentlemen politicians", were such wimps with no understanding of the enemy was the big factor in this second coming of Abu Hussein and his revolutionary marxist cohorts. W should have started with firing of all 6,000 Clinton appointees in the executive, including all 93 District Attorneys and the CIA director, just like that disbarred felon Clinton did.
Tom Paine| 11.10.08 @ 1:22PM
Thomas,
Thanks for the kind words. I think the Ayers connection with Obama illustrates my point perfectly.
Obama is a politician, he's not an angel or a saint. As a politician, he mixed with Ayers at a pretty low level of association. That is, he's no more associated with him than is the Republican governor of S. Carolina, who now sits on an educational board with Ayers.
My only point is this:
The boomers went out on a credit card spree, and many of them are filled with exasperated resentment because they know the bill is coming due and their line of credit is being cut.
It's being cut with respect to the economy. It's being cut with respect to entitlements, the schools, infrastructure, and the environment.
The extremism of the boomers -- whether it was Woodstock extremism or the extremism of the so-called evangelical right -- is, from a certain distance, all of a piece.
Rush Limbaugh and Michael More and Bill Clinton and George W Bush are from the same generation of thoughtless spenders and vitriolic politics. Their mindset was formed during the age of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and years of lies about SE Asia from Democrats and Republicans.
I think a post-boomer president does not work based on the same hostilities, resentments, and grudges. I think you'll find Obama has many "associations". More important than Ayers are the associations from working with conservatives at the U of Chicago for 10 years, and earlier associations with conservatives at the Harvard Review, whose esteem and support he won.
I know all of this means nothing to you because to you he and I and all his supporters are just Marxist liars. Whatever. I say, if it feels good, do it.
Reggie| 11.10.08 @ 1:27PM
Thanks to Mr. Paine for Turning the Beat Around! As for the olden days and the vitriol, if you're looking for a joiner, It Aint Me, Babe!
Ray| 11.10.08 @ 1:39PM
I'd also like to thank Mr. Pain for his 70's music flashback and would like to add one more: After 8 years of non-stop Bush bashing, promoted by the "tolerant" left and the calls for "payback," justified by the statement that "elections have consequences," I have only one thing to say, Welcome to my Nightmare.
Thomas| 11.10.08 @ 1:52PM
Mr. Paine,
Nice bit of misdirection, there. First, he is not an associate of Ayers, then he is a low level associate of Ayers. Sounds just like Mssr. Obama. Just a neighbor, then their children went to school together [ I guess Ayers' kids were held back for a decade], then they worked on a committee, then two committees, must have slept through Rev. Wright's sermons, etc. Being a Boomer, I remember Jon Lovitz as the "Pathological Liar" on SNL. This sounds like one of those skits. Yeh, yeh, that's the ticket. Do you really want to elect a man who plays fast and loose with the truth?
Now we're going to try a little generational warfare, eh?
Let me try a quiz, here. Do you own a cell phone? If so, how much did you pay for it? Do you own a computer? If so how many and how much did you pay? How about a home? If so how much did you pay for it? Car? High end household electronics? If you have any debt [credit card, mortgage, auto loan], what percentage of your gross income goes to credit relief? Remember that the average boomer is now close to 50 years old. At that age, most boomers have enough disposable income, a high enough salary and good enough investments to afford to spend money So how has boomer spending broken the bank?
If you are refering to governement spending, then you are in for a real shock. Boomers have led the charge for smaller government and reduced spending. Remember, that most of the people who are currently on welfare are not boomers but born after 1975. Most boomers have gotten nothing from government but the bill.
You see, as you get older, you realize that history runs in cycles. There is really nothing new in the human spectrum, it is just a recycling of older ideas. This is the useful nature of history. By identifying similarities between current movements, people, ideas and situations, a fairly accurate prognosis of future events and the success or failure of ideas and philosophies.
You may actually believe that forced redistribution of wealth, that totalitarian control of people's lives, that big government and big government spending is a positive thing. But, history does not agree with you. So have a nice day. And good luck in the worker's utopia.
ThinkTank| 11.10.08 @ 2:06PM
Conspiracies at every turn, facism around every corner...
There's only one thing worse than whiny lefties - and that's whiny righties!
stan redmond| 11.10.08 @ 2:09PM
Darn right I'm partisan. How can I, in right mind, work along side and with a committed marxist abortionist who has CHOSEN to associate himself with some of the most vile anti-American radicals his entire life? There is zero room for comprimise on killing 'punishing' babies. There is zero room for comprimising freedom. There is zero room for comprimising on the friendly worded "spread the weath" socialism. There is zero room to comprimise on the failed liberal policies that have destroyed the black community. There's right and theres wrong. Obama is wrong.
Saulty Dawg| 11.10.08 @ 2:11PM
Glad to see the no-hint-of-irony vitriol from Stan! See?! Conservatives do it too!
Charles| 11.10.08 @ 2:21PM
Don't losers always have bad feelings?
Tom Paine| 11.10.08 @ 2:34PM
Sorry fellas. I was talking about 60s music, not 70s. But I won't quibble. It's all better than what's on the radio today.
Thomas --
I just don't buy the Ayers' connection. I remember reading an article by Ayers in college. I didn't know who he was then. I do remember that the article was pretty boring. Ayers holds completely foolish ideas about politics now (I'm not even so sure how well he understands the theories he espouses), and he did awful things back before I was born.
Obama has not been crystal clear about every aspect of his relationship with Ayers. Like I said, the guy's a politician, not a saint.
I think that the association has been investigated endlessly and there is no evidence that Ayers has had anything substantial to do with Obama's campaign or the development of his political philosophy.
Ayers is involved with many many people in academia and in local politics -- including many conservatives and Republicans.
I just don't buy the Sean Hannity line on this one. Sorry.
Give peace a chance.
Tom Paine| 11.10.08 @ 2:39PM
Anyway, I hope we're not in for an era of bad feelings.
At least until we start that War on Christmas again in a few weeks.
Happy holidays, until then, comrades.
Peggy | 11.10.08 @ 3:31PM
Dud Spoozle sez "Wahhhh! You "evil haters" made us do it!"
Right we made you descend into an irrational frothing at the mouth hate filled tantrum for 8 years far surpassing anything I have ever seen in our political discourse.
I am an independent and a moderate in most things so I think I can be objective about this. Nothing Bush did deserved that kind of treatment. His worst crime was to be an average president when we needed a far better one. And yet even conceding that, the alternatives would have been far worse.
Now he peacefully prepares to leave office. What no second 9/11? No martial law? No concentration camps for Democrats and the dissidents?
How un-Hitler-like of him!
Someday people will regret how unfair they were to him, after the full truth is finally known. Sadly, he will probably not live to see it.
megapotamus| 11.10.08 @ 3:47PM
I would have voted for the GWB Sewage Treatment Plant if I could, even though it isn't actually a sewage plant. But we need sewage plants, sewage plants are thoroughly necessary as are difficult decisions that please no one are in politics. George Bush has made those decisions to uniform derision regardless of the merits. Now Barack will enjoy uniform aprobation regardless of the facts. But approbation doesn't pump a single barrel of oil or otherwise fuel the modern world we all enjoy so much. Reality is only so ammenable to rhetoric. Kumbayaism will not ameliorate much less solve a single international issue with friend or foe. This reality is already obvious. I hope Barack is as quick a study and devoted a patriot as his supporters claim. I sincerely hope that he will not denounce respiration merely because Bush practices it (and exhales those nasty carbon-thingies) but the early returns are not good. We're on the train now, in any case.
Tom, "I don't buy it" is the eternal Lefty mantra for unpleasant and uninvited facts. It doesn't matter if you buy it or not, reality will intrude. Ayers is, sadly, alive and well and has a reprint of Fugitive Days coming out that he will plug and plug and plug. We may not know definitively what Barack thinks of Ayers but we cerainly know that Ayers saw in Obama a vessel for his own politics to prosper as they have. The knock on Ayers is not, contrary to your assertion, that he is a boring old git. Totalitarian revolution is not boring. Staving it off perpetually apparently is. Ayers chose Obama not for tea and krumpets occassionally but as a close political ally; the face man we can fairly call him. I hope Barack has the stones and intention to betray that confidence but again, the early returns are as cruel to that hope as experience is to Barack's aspiration to put half the country on the dole.
Hooey| 11.10.08 @ 3:53PM
Criticism of criticism is just criticism.
Jim C| 11.10.08 @ 4:00PM
There are no "rightie" conspiracies. No elections were stole. Senator Government preyed on the fears of many and convinced them that they will be better off with higher taxes and larger government. After 8 "failed years" of Bush policy, he could have sold them a bridge to nowhere and they would have gone along with it.
McCain never tied down the collapse of the economy over the past 2 years to the issuing of bad motgages. This is the reason we're not in a real Recession (yet). It hasn't effected all parts of the economy yet. Slowly it's spreading and it will soon become as bad as they were saying it was.
What ever happens on Obama's watch is his problem. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into and promised Americans he would fix it. Now it's all on him, and he deserves no less than the same treatment given to George W.
And when the racist charges come out, it's up to Rebuplicans to stand up and defend themselves. This election was never about race, and the next 4 years won't be either.
BizarroWorld| 11.10.08 @ 4:05PM
Preying on fears? Like the McCain ads tried to do? Afraid Obama is too inexperienced? Afraid we will be attacked if we vote our conscience? I think Americans voted bravely and rejected those thoughts. The fear merchants were on the right and the people didn't buy anything. It's on layaway at Kmart.
saleboter| 11.10.08 @ 4:46PM
"1) Obama seems to have extremely thin skin and (2) any criticism directed at him will be viewed as racism in action."
The race card won't play well from a sitting president
Rocco| 11.10.08 @ 4:53PM
What goes around comes around. One must realize that the madness of the lefties, call it BDS today, really began during the Nixon years, then continued through the Reagan administration - remember the so-called "sleaze factor" and the persecution of Reagan cabinet officers? Not much during Bush 41, but it returned with a vengeance when Dubya came into town. Unfortunately, I don't look to Republicans to stand up, look them in the eye and defend their beliefs. They'd just as soon act like the beta males they are, roll over like poodles and wet their pants. (I am a small-government, constitutionalist conservative independent.) Time to stand up to these red (as in Marxist) bullies and give them 10-fold what they like to dish out. At heart, they are all cowards, and when confronted by superior physical force, turn and run away. Yes, the last 40 years have been instructive as to how to be a "loyal opposition." Lastly, calling me names, like a racist, rolls off my back, but may win you a trip to a dental surgeon.
Farley| 11.10.08 @ 4:56PM
Rocco, have I seen your films?
dave| 11.10.08 @ 5:25PM
You know, bubbleheaded leftists carping about "fear merchants" cracks me up. Sometimes the salesman really does have a product you can't live without. Unfortunately, the realistic 57 million voters will now be just as endangered as the 63 million American-Idol cult members.
Thomas| 11.10.08 @ 7:20PM
I just got back. I miss Tom Paine. He is seemingly intelligent and educated, if misguided by my standards. But his comments are not limited to the "oh, yeh?" comments that most of the later liberal posters made. I always enjoy a good intellectual sparring match. And Mr. Paine can take it as well as dish it out. With people like him, there may be hope for this country after all. If he comes to see the light, that is.
Oh, by the way. Obama sold himself as a tax-cutter. I hope he can deliver. No one is as vicious as a disgruntled buyer who discovers they just bought a lemon.
navyairvet| 11.10.08 @ 8:16PM
Just to set one (and there were many more) thing straight for Tom Paine.
The so-called Ayers ("minor") connection:
I did a lot of research and the description he gave of the Ayers association is simply wrong. Mainly because it is not an Ayers association. It is an SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)/Weather Underground association comprising many more people and even with Ayers has been describe superficially even by Sean Hannity and even most of the right-leaning talk radio hosts.
Obama probably met Ayers long before his work with him on "the boards". Michelle Obama worked with Bernadine Dohrn in her first law office (in which Barack met her while he was an "intern".
He also worked for the Gamaliel Foundation which funded far-left groups.
When he came back from Harvard, he worked for Alice Palmer (as Socialist who attended the 7th Soviet Congress and came back raving about the great Soviet economic/social plans. When Ayers got the grant from Annenberg
he chose Barack to chair the Annenberg Challenge that resulted. Through that and the Woods fund and the Joyce Fund Obama funded education programs of the type Ayers designed for the "Challenge" which concentrated on giving
very young children the same kind of "community
feeling that is exhibited by the Jeremiah Wright sermons. During that time one of the programs funded was Mike Kolsky's "Small Schools Project." Mike Kolsky was once Naional Secretary or President of the SDS. During that 3 year period Obama, Ayers and Kolsky had offices at the same address. For all intents and purposes, Obama was the the figure head for Ayers and was funding the programs that Ayers suggested.
When Obama ran for the Illinois State Senate, he sought and got the support of the Chicago New Party which was definitely Socialist and there is a significant overlap of the personnel in that party and the early ACORN organization.
Carl Davidson (a friend of Ayers) organized the "Progressives for Obama" with the help of
Tom Hayden (Hanoi Jane's ex), and members included Mark Rudd (who formed the Weather Underground). Klonsky, Hayden, Carl Davidson and Todd Gitlin
Davidson, Klonsky, Hayden, Rudd & Gitlin were all at one time presidents of the SDS. Furtheer, Rudd formed the Weather Underground. Other members were: Paul Buhle (a radical professor who in more recent years tried to ressurect the SDS, Bob Pardun who was "Education Secretary"
of the SDS (1966-67) and Mickey and Richard Flacks who helped craft the Port Huron statement -- the SDS "manifesto."
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/huron.html
Klonsky, incidentally, ran a blog on the Obama Campaign website until it became "embarrassing.'
Another association with SDS was on the the Obama Campaign Finance Committee - Marilyn Katz who was "Head of Security" for the SDS in the 60's. She was also a major "bundler" for contributions - commited to raising $50K-100K.
Another SDS "comrade" was Wade Rathke, who organized ACORN and the Service Employees International Union local 100 and who was on the National board of SEIU. ACORN & SEIU have significant overlap in personnel and both were important in the campaign.
"Just a (one?) guy who lives on my block???
mike kolsky| 10.15.10 @ 4:18PM
you may to check your facts. my name is kolsky not the klonsky you enjoy mentioning, and its obvious your bullshit comments your educational level
navyairvet| 11.10.08 @ 8:32PM
This blog had some interesting posts on a subject that's been bothering me.
Especially Mr. Cole, John M., Stu B. Con and Anthony at the beginning. The constant reference by the Left of Bush as a "Divisive President" has bothered me considering the eight years of vituperation about Bush by Reid, Pelosi, other
Dems from "Foggy Bottom" and the absolutely childish and vicious letters, jokes and cartoons forward to me by a Democrat acquaintance.
I've tried to figure out what the heck divisive statements they refer to as being made by Bush.
I think he left Rumsfeld in way too long and Gonazalez too - and thus the "after-war" planning
caused a real disaster, but I think Bush deserves a lot more credit on the Security side than he gets.
-- The Economic side is another question, yet no one seems to remember that he spoke up about Fannie and Freddy as did other Republicans. They just didn't fight hard enough against Dodds
and Schumer's resistance and Barney Frank's fairy stories.
Mac| 11.10.08 @ 9:13PM
Very impressive work, Navyairvet. Wheels within wheels within wheels.
You have the one leg of the stool nailed pretty well. The organizational leg. There are two others. One is muscle. The other is financial. Look for who benefits in the long run. No one spends money without expecting a return. Keep digging, it gets even scarier.
Don't get sidetracked by the fellow travelers and the puppets. If you can see their faces, they probably aren't that important.
Tom Paine| 11.11.08 @ 12:59AM
I know many of you have been urging me to go away, and tonight you get your wish.
I've enjoyed a good debate with Mr. Bishop and the poster named Thomas.
But for the most part, there's too much paranoia, bad feeling, and bigotry on this site.
Many of you aren't conservative in any traditional sense of that word. You don't have the cautious or skeptical minds of true conservatives. To compare Obama to Hitler, to accuse me of being a Marxist because I voted for him -- it's all pretty stupid stuff, and in the end, not very interesting.
So -- I was your true liberal guest. I never pretended to be otherwise. I was no troll. Tom Paine is always true. I wish you the best. Conservatives will certainly play a crucial role in the rebuilding of our country that must happen in the years ahead. And I know that good conservative people far out number the ones that seem so full of hate and violence.
Keep up the good work, comrades.
woofie| 11.11.08 @ 3:41AM
new laws needed:
1.Unpopular wars shall be outlawed ...only poular wars shall be fought .
2.All wars must end in a timely manner ...
(3/4 years?)
3 Elections won by Republicans that are close need to be invalidated.
If Democrats win there can be no voter fraud.
4 Post Partisan President Elects can make fun of old First Ladies in their fist news conferences.
5 Republican Presidents shall be declared stupid if you disagree with them
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Impeach Obama !
Thomas| 11.11.08 @ 8:40AM
I am sorry to see Tom Paine go, though I suspect that he will return. After all, where can he find such stimulating company? Just in case he peeks in one last time, I wanted to make something clear to him.
Many people who read this site have a sense, and knowledge, of history, coupled with personal experience in the world beyond our shores. They do not view the proposed implementation of Barack Obama's espoused agenda as a "grand experiment" that this country can afford at this time. The world is no longer broken up into separate continents and countries. In milliseconds you can be in contact with a person halfway around the world. A man can routinely travel the same distance in seventeen hours. And there are atavistic wolves out there that wish to disrupt the peace and tranquility of the planet for their own short term gains.
There is a world economy that is in freefall at the moment. It is a world economy based solely upon capitalism, not socialism. The reason for that is because there is no economy under socialism. It is going to take restraint in government circles to allow the economy to recover. The Great Depression only dissipated as a result of a global war, WWII, not because of the actions of FDR or government intervention in the economy.
The problem with Barack Obama, as President, is that he is untried, untested, and makes all of the same noises as every totalitarian socialist in history. In a democracy, it begins with people being "smart" enough to elect the man, then being too "stupid" to run their own lives. We do not want to be taken care off. We want to be allowed to take care of ourselves. We do not elect politicians to rule us, but rather to protect us from those who would rule us.
And never believe the words of politicians. They will promise anything to get elected. That is the nature of the beast. Look at who a man is and what he has done to judge him. Do not place your faith in someone because of his rhetoric. Words are empty things without actions.
Mr. Paine was fond of '60's and '70's music. Here is something appropriate from Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer (1970):
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.
Good night, comrade.
TCM| 11.11.08 @ 3:01PM
I've not witnessed the kind of depravity and bile exercised by the American Left as I've witnessed over the past 8 years.
Does anyone who isn't wearing blue-colored glasses seriously expect Conservatives to 'play nice' in light of what their side has practiced?
After Democrats won the House and Senate in 2006, did they show any bi-partisanship? The vision of Senator Jim Webb showing up during recesses to keep President Bush from conducting any recess nominations (a practice used often by cheif executives of both parties) showed me just how childish and ugly the Left has become.
Well my friends, two can play that game.
I'm emailing and calling my Senators, both Republicans, and advising them to filibusters every single nominee that President Obama sends up. It's just the way things are done, right?
You lefties can take your pleas for 'unity' and shove it. President Bush reached out his hand to your side time and time again, only to get it mangled.
Get ready to swallow some of your own medicine, children. It will be bitter, but it's a concoction that your side brewed up. Open wide!
Ms. Know| 11.15.08 @ 7:50PM
Everyone will have to listen to the left-wing illuminati, we have no control, they're in power. But it will not stop us from wanting other leadership.
Interloper| 1.7.09 @ 4:50PM
"Shunned" is gross understatement. Fully 79 percent of Americans wish George W. Bush was no longer in office. Two thirds hope he plays no further role in politics. The fact he has fans here confirms how out of touch a reclusive minority of Americans are.
Meanwhile, an equally overwhelming majority supports President-elect Obama.
Interloper| 1.7.09 @ 4:51PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28163452/
liberal american | 2.25.11 @ 2:32PM
Ryan Cole is also a plagiarist! The name Era of Bad Feelings was coined by me and published in a copyrighted book in 2006.
I just became aware of this article and would appreciate it if you would remove it or change the title.
Thanks you!