The American Spectator : Rolling Back the Socialist Tide

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Rolling Back the Socialist Tide

By Andrew B. Wilson from the May 2010 issue

Where Maggie succeeded and Winston failed -- lessons for today.

Talk about a swift reversal in fortune. Consider how quickly British Prime Minister Winston Churchill went from winning a war to losing the peace. On V-E Day -- May 8, 1945, the day after the surrender of Nazi Germany -- Churchill stood on a balcony overlooking London's Parliament Square and addressed a great, cheering sea of humanity. When he told the people, "This is your victory," they roared back: "No, it's yours!" A little less than two months later, the British people went to the polls...and voted him out of office.

Just like that, the British prime minister went from basking in the glow of public adulation to staring at election results that showed an overwhelming lack of support for his continued leadership.

For the record: Clement Attlee and the Labour Party won 48 percent of the popular vote, compared to 40 percent for Churchill and the Conservatives and 9 percent for the Liberals. That gave the Labour Party an almost two to one advantage over the Conservatives in the House of Commons (393 seats to 213). This was, and still is, the biggest onetime swing ever in a British general election, with Labour adding a grand total of 239 seats to the 154 that it held in the previous election. Many lifelong Tories voted Labour. So too did most of Britain's returning soldiers.

Almost all the pundits expected Churchill to coast to victory. So did Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and other world leaders. Stalin suspended all activities at the Potsdam Conference in July in the wake of the news and V. M. Molotov, his foreign secretary, was seen wandering around, muttering, "How could this be? How did we not know in advance?"

With characteristic humor, Churchill described what transpired in the 1945 election with these words:

On the night of 10 May 1940, at the outset of the mighty Battle of Britain, I acquired the chief power in the State, which henceforth I wielded in ever-growing measure for five years and three months of world war, at the end of which time, all our enemies having surrendered unconditionally or being about to do so, I was immediately dismissed by the British electorate from all further conduct in their affairs.

More than a stunning defeat for Churchill, however, this was an extraordinary victory for the Labour Party -- and then current progressive notions of change.

Labour had two key messages in the 1945 election. First, it promised to build an all-embracing, cradle-to-grave welfare state. And second, it campaigned on the idea that it would do a better job than the Conservatives not just in spreading wealth, but in raising it up out of the ashes of war...and putting the country on a path of uninterrupted growth.

Labour called for the outright nationalization of roughly 20 percent of British industry, including coal, steel, gas, and electric utilities, and all airline, rail, and bus services. It called for a high degree of central planning and control over the remaining 80 percent of industry under private ownership. And it promised to organize production more efficiently, to override "market failure," and to guarantee high wages and full employment.

But where was the evidence that a centrally planned socialist state could pull off such miracles?

Short answer: There was none.

To the contrary, if what had happened in communist Russia was any guide, socialism in its most extreme form -- with the total abolition of private property -- had been a complete disaster. Through the forced collectivization of agriculture, Stalin had caused millions of peasants to starve to death.

Even so, progressives in Britain and the United States refused to think ill of the murderous Stalin and hailed communist Russia as the coming of "a New Civilization." "All I know," the British socialist Beatrice Webb confided in her diary in 1932 as she and her husband, Sidney, were writing a voluminous and what purported to be a comprehensive study of conditions in Soviet Russia, "is that I wish Russian Communism to succeed." The playwright George Bernard Shaw, a close friend of the Webbs, flatly stated after a visit to Russia, "There was not, and could not be, a food shortage in the USSR." Walter Duranty, the New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning Moscow bureau chief, took that falsehood and raised it to a still more preposterous height, telling his American readers that Russian granaries "were overflowing with grain" and that the cows were "plump and contented."

CLOSER TO HOME, progressives on both sides of the Atlantic missed, or chose to ignore, another obvious discrepancy between their rhetoric and economic reality: while all the pump-priming and interventionist policies pursued by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in the United States had done nothing to arrest, let alone reverse, the deepest and most prolonged economic downturn in the nation's history, British governments that kept a tight lid on government spending, over these same years, quietly achieved far better results than the free-spending American presidents. Britain had an average annual growth rate of 4.5 percent from 1933 to 1936, and it easily exceeded pre-Depression levels of prosperity by the end of that period. Through the thirties Britain sustained much lower rates of unemployment than the U.S.

When I spoke with him recently, the eminent English historian Richard Overy discussed how the "failure of capitalism" became an article of faith among the intellectual elite in both Britain and the United States during the interwar years. He observed, "Intellectuals in the 1930s assumed that capitalism was economically inefficient and morally repulsive."

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About the Author

Andrew B. Wilson is a freelance writer living in St. Louis.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (114) | Leave a comment

DatsunMark| 5.15.10 @ 5:56PM

Great Article. To add a point about Britain, during this same time they were lurching leftwing at home, British Governors were allowing free market capitalism take it's full effect in Hong Kong. Hong Kong recovered much better than Britain did post WW2.

The Narrator| 5.28.10 @ 9:15AM

When we last left The Dumberiffic Duo they were in their lair, the Bat Cave -at least that's what the fellas at the local leather bar call that specific act- and they were fretting over the contemptuous contempt their nemesis had delivered unto them.

Let's listen, and remember always buy and use genuine Lux soap!

Pupleboy| 5.28.10 @ 9:17AM

Holy suffering of insults, Bwooksman! How are we ever going to overcome the indignities of yesterday; it's as if the Nemesis has us in some sort of Contempt Ray! Hold me!

Awan Bwooks| 5.28.10 @ 9:19AM

Not to worry, my special, special young supple friend. We shall yet show these sinister simpletons the errors -oh, the many errors- of their ways!

Quick! To the Bwooks Miata!

Purplebaoy| 5.28.10 @ 10:13AM

Sweet Swerving Swishers, Bwooksman! Slow down!

Awan Bwooks| 5.28.10 @ 10:13AM

We musn’t tarry my young Homoerotic Hero in Heels! We’re off to meet an ally in our war against retrograde traditional values, Miss FauxAlabama!

Purpleboy| 5.28.10 @ 10:14AM

You mean a… a … woman?

Awan Bwooks| 5.28.10 @ 10:15AM

Quell your quaking cookies, my smooth-bodied balletic boy-wonder! This isn’t just any woman; she’s a Puff Ho!

The Narrator| 5.28.10 @ 10:22AM

Meanwhile, outside the home of the High-Finance Banker...

Mimi| 5.28.10 @ 10:31AM

BOYS....KIDS... Did you wake up late? LAZY,LAZY......Folks: HAPPY SCROLLING!

Alan Brooks| 5.28.10 @ 4:54PM

You didn't chase me away with your COMMENTS, it is the identity theft involved; you wouldn't like it if someone pretended to be Ken (Old Mexican).
Main point is: if Andrew Wilson can write long grown- up articles, can't you boys 'n' girls write short grown-up comments?
And use YOUR REAL NAMES.

Alan Brooks| 5.28.10 @ 5:00PM

"BOYS....KIDS... Did you wake up late? LAZY,LAZY......Folks: HAPPY SCROLLING!"

"Dumberiffic duo"? the guy can't do better'n that?

The Narrator| 5.28.10 @ 5:58PM

Return with us Monday, kids, for the further adventures of... The Dumberiffic Duo!

Alan Brooks| 5.28.10 @ 7:07PM

You (whomever or whatever you are) are an Adult;
write as an ADULT.

And use your real name.

Alan Brooks| 5.28.10 @ 7:10PM

"The Narrator"?

What are you narrating? how Big Bird kicked you in the shin?

Awan Fan| 5.30.10 @ 12:23PM

Don't be angry Awan. With regard to writing as an adult maybe you should set an example. No more drinking before you write.

Awan Fan| 5.30.10 @ 6:10PM

You are a wuss, Alan, as you revealed on another blog. You and Purplegay have less hair on your chests than Old Mexican's wife has on her's.

Awan Bwooks| 5.30.10 @ 6:30PM

And don't forget: turnabout is fair play.
Big fags like Bwooks deserve to humiliated-
just as a certain guy's wife likes to be a doorknob-- she gives EVERYBODY a turn.

Christopher Holland| 5.31.10 @ 9:15PM

How about 'my dad can lick your dad' or 'liar, liar, pants on fire!'

Ret. Marine| 5.15.10 @ 6:41PM

I knew I saw this motion picture before. The "won" will be handed his ass in 2012, and along with the libs, they too will have but no choice to ever mention their disgrace to humanity, ever and for good reason. Like I said this is an old picture and everyone needs to see it twice to reinforce the hatred for tryanny.

Tom| 5.28.10 @ 8:00AM

While I hope and agree that Obama is toast in 2012 I doubt he will go away so quietly. Remember, Carter was disgraced after his whupping by Reagan and now he is some sort of Ambassador without portfolio free to zoom around the world spewing anti-American rhetoric.

Mike D.| 5.28.10 @ 8:29AM

Propping up failed leftists like Carter is the medias specialty. When the marxist "one" now in power crashes and burns(and he will), he'll be praised as "ahead" of his time, a far seeing genius that we were too stupid to embrace. As far as Carter? Always admired Carter's ability to never find a world tyrant's @ss he couldn't kiss. Just a bitter old man who never could come to grips that he got punted by the nation he lived in.

coal carrier| 5.28.10 @ 9:09AM

"I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets."
In his own words. Where he has been, where he is now and where he wants to take us. Let's hope the gail winds of November, 2012 come early.

Tom| 5.28.10 @ 9:39AM

I do not begrudge him his college aged friends; hell, I was a punk rock perfomance poet. What bothers me is he never grew up, a life sheltered by academia is a life not really lived. He has no conception of unintended consequences or how markets actually works.

JCfromDC| 5.29.10 @ 11:44AM

TOM:
I think you are dead on. But isn't Barry O Jimmy's grandson? What else would you expect but to follow in grandpa's footslips?

Alan Brooks| 5.28.10 @ 7:16PM

"Did you wake up late?"

Mimi, these guys (women would be so imbecilic) woke up on time, they just never GREW UP.
However it's not what they are writing at all-- it is the immature manner in which they are writing.

Robert Pinkerton| 5.29.10 @ 10:17AM

Mr. Brooks, as much as I dislike concurring with you, here I must. I became a (lowercase-"c") conservative in part because, when I was chronologically younger, I recognized it as the way of the adult, recognizing -- if not reconciled to -- the world as it is; also recognizing that humor simply is not an unconditional virtue.

Both of us aim at changing that real world, only in different directions and pursuant to different agendas.

Brian Mc| 5.28.10 @ 7:22AM

I believe that this article is too good to be left within the confines of the American Spectator's site. We should all make an attempt at attaching it today, to ten others who might not otherwise see it with their own eyes. At the very least, inform others to come here and read it for themselves.

Food for thought of the highest order! Socialism is good for only one thing...misery, and we must ensure that this fact is left out in the open under a glaring sun to rot.

Melvin| 5.28.10 @ 7:33AM

But Brian, "The Misery of Socialism," is fair and equal, or so we are told by the Socialist intelligentsia.

JCfromDC| 5.29.10 @ 11:48AM

Mel:
Fairly and equally miserable, you mean, except of course, those elites who foist it upon us for"our own good"

Jim Woodward| 5.29.10 @ 12:58PM

Already sent it to more than ten and I know they will forward it.
Truly excellant economic and political history.

JP| 5.28.10 @ 8:06AM

I can still remember my grandfather telling me stories how he shipped blankets and clothes to Germany after the war, as he had many relatives who were starving in Hamburg. He also told me that his church parish also collected canned goods that were sent to the UK. This continued for 2 years after the war ended. I always thought this was strange, as the UK was a victor and relatively unscathed when compared to France and Germany.

As the article said, the UK was so debt ridden, and its economy performed so poorly that the people had very little money. American churches and relief agencies much of Europe fed until thier economies recovered.

Deborah D| 5.28.10 @ 8:32AM

Do you think European churches will feed us when we're starving? Oh, that's right -- their churches are dying, if not already dead.

Why is it liberals refuse to learn from history? Or maybe it's that they refuse to learn history. "Social studies" -- now, that's different thing entirely!!

Robert Pinkerton| 5.29.10 @ 10:20AM

For poor old Mother England, the Second Workd War was a Pyrrhic "victory:" They participated in the victory, but at cost equal to, if differently placed and in different terms, defeat.

Rebecca| 5.28.10 @ 9:01AM

GH Bush's approval ratings were sky high during the first Gulf War, and he lost re election.

George W's domestic policies seem to mirror Churchill's after the war. He was a half hearted conservative. I do think more average, ordinary Americans are alarmed by the massive socialist tendencies, but don't know if it will be enough to create a November transfer of power.

Milt Freidman was not a proponent of kicking the bums out, but making the bums behave. He also stated something to the effect of having an alternate ready for the time the existing ideas fail. Obama was the alternate to capitalism in 2008. Thatcher was the alternate to socialism in 1979.

Obama and company really need to cook the books to make the voters secure their 06 and 08 gains. More importantly people like Paul Ryan need to be supported and encouraged, because it will be someone like him that voters will want to turn to when the time is right.

The naturally occuring ups and downs of the free market make the downs vulnerable to socialist attack, whereas socialism never really has good ups, so the downs are less noticeable.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.28.10 @ 9:57AM

Great article, long, very long, but great!! It sounds like Churchill, in his rush to win the War in Europe, took his eye off the ball on the Domestic front back home. His focus on winning the War, opened the door to Labour’s long held, economy destroying policies. And since then, England has never recaptured its former standing in the World because of the road they took immediately after WW-II (despite the great things that Thatcher did in the 1980’s). In 1976, America in its recovery from the Vietnam War, elected that peanut farmer from Georgia, to move in a new direction too, and that turned out to be the wrong road for us (but thank God for Reagan in 1980). And here we are once again, in the middle of a War, and we’ve elected another peanut farmer, but this time, it’s a peanut farmer who can’t stand the peanut industry, and the outrageous profits they make (but he wants to Unionize the Peanut Workers despite the fact that it’ll destroy the Peanut Industry in the end). I paraphrase an old quote here, those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it, again, and again, and again!! Will we ever learn that Socialism doesn't work? Not until we stop voting for anyone with a “D” next to their name, who’s unqualified to hold office, who hates Capitalism, the American Constitution, and the American People in general. “My friends, I must tell you that a Socialist policy is abhorrent to the American ideas of freedom”, no truer words were ever said (even if the original quote from Churchill said the British ideas of freedom, it still works). We need to find our American “Maggie”, and destroy this infantile steps we've taken towards socialism, and away from Capitalism, and we need to find her fast!!

Don't vote for anybody with a "D" next to their name, because the "D" stands for Socialism.

Deborah D| 5.28.10 @ 11:49AM

Your post reminded me of this quote: "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” C.S. Lewis

Capitalism = progress. Socialism = regress. Why is that so hard for Democrats to learn? If they haven't learned it, then they're too stupid to govern. If they have learned it, but still go in that direction, they are too evil to govern.

Howard| 5.28.10 @ 3:24PM

This article expertly points out the differences and results of a free market vs. a centrally planned system. Thatchers backbone extended to the U.S.. I believe she encouraged Reagan during his low points. She was one of the most influential people of the 20th Century.

Purpleguy| 5.28.10 @ 6:41PM

Yep, central planning doesn't work, and? Your assumption is that Obama and the Democrats want that. Really? Are you serious?

The financial regulations from the FDR era kept this country safe from another Depression for 80 years, and you think that a bad thing?

What is Socialism? The state controls the means of production - does the US Government control the means of production? NO! It does not.

Caring for the people is not socialistic, it makes sense and is morally right. No one is advocating a free ride, but there are parts of our society that need a helping hand now and then.

And, there are industries that simply wouldn't exist without some incubation period with Government or Venture capital seed money. Nothing wrong with both avenues to capital.

If you're really honest about it, the Healthcare Reform Bill simply put restraints on private industry and provides a framework for more people to participate in the free enterprise insurance market. There is nothing for free, so, of course, you might pay something for that... so what?

Nothing wrong with Social Security and Medicare either, if we had elected officials over the last 60 years that had the balls to pay for what they knew they should. NOW you want to blame the people that use those programs? Elect people that will fund the programs, painful as that might be, so we can all use those programs when we need them.

If you want to go it alone, I hear there's no taxes in Somalia .. by all means go. You can be the rugged individualistic survivalist you claim you wanna be... with no government interference or assistance. Be sure to take your guns ... Have a nice day.

Tim*| 5.28.10 @ 9:27PM

" Socialists, however, see capitalism as a possible part of the ideal state and believe that socialism can exist in a capitalist society. In fact, one of the ideas of socialism is that everyone within the society will benefit from capitalism as much as possible as long as the capitalism is controlled somehow by a centralized planning system. "

Tim*| 5.28.10 @ 9:37PM

On the other hand , We,Tea Party Rebels advocate Free Market Capitalism .

The Tea Party Escalates .

November 2nd Is Just 5 Months Away.

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 1:13AM

So, who's a Socialist? I'm just not a radical ultra right wing Libertarian like y'all are.

Unbridled capitalism has shown itself to be damaging to an economy, the people and the country.

Tim*| 5.30.10 @ 11:36AM

Apparently ,Y'ALL Is A Socialist , Purplepuss ,Y'ALL ,Y'All .

JimE| 5.31.10 @ 5:38PM

Purpletard,
You are a fellow traveler and useful idiot. The only time you appear here is to defend the magic negro's socialist program. You can't even come up with your own ideas, everything is cut and paste.

Deborah D| 5.29.10 @ 9:55AM

Yeah, it's all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows in Europe right now, isn't it? You and your ilk are running the American ship of state aground -- look how your wonderful government is screwing up the cleanup of the Gulf oil spill. If you're not a bit wary of "government" after that, nothing will ever make you see reality.

"Caring for people is not socialistic" -- is that what the Dems are doing? No, they're screwing people -- and that is socialistic. I thought "we are all socialists now" -- according to Newsweek (as it goes up for sale).

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 1:16AM

Sorry, dear, but it was your Republican friends that ran the ship of state aground. Check out who created the majority of our deficits and the "borrow and spend" mentality - * clue - it wasn't Democrats!
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html ---- if you bother to look, you'll see you've been lied to all these years honey.

Who's Socialist anyway ? I'm just not an ultra right wing Libertarian bat-shit crazy loon like y'all are apparently.

Brian Mc| 5.30.10 @ 7:16AM

PG,

To steal a phrase: "You cannot legislate compassion."

In other words, caring, on a personal level and when acted upon, is charity. Caring, on a government level (when acted upon) is socialism.

Troll Watch| 5.30.10 @ 11:34AM

The Somalia stuff is funny. They are just a little further down the corporatist road of shake downs and schemes. This is where purpleboy is headed and he doesn't seem to know it. This reminds me of the joke, what is the difference between a Democrat and a Communist? The Communist knows what he is doing. Democrats are not sustainable. We will be forced into recognizing this. It is just a matter of how much damage they do.

Young Whippersnapper| 5.31.10 @ 3:54AM

Hitler knew that he could nationalize [socialize] industry simply by controlling "the use and disposal of private property" --- using the interventionist model now employed by every level of American government today. Overthrow them and destroy them.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.28.10 @ 10:06AM

LLL,
You pretty much put a bow on it.
Thanks

Margie| 5.28.10 @ 1:34PM

Yes, he did. LLL's always tells it like it truly is!

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.28.10 @ 4:09PM

Ken: Why thank you kind Sir, for the nice review!! But you know what I'm really happy to see here? Is my old Buddy Margie's back and ready to tackle the Liberal Losers among us. Hi Margie!!

Margie| 5.29.10 @ 11:14AM

Hearty greetings to you too, Sgt. LLL!

Nick, thanks and hello and hubby says Sic Semper Tyrannis. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Let us keep that in mind as we march toward November.

Nick| 5.28.10 @ 4:34PM

Hi Margie!

Glad you're back. Say hi to Victor.
God Bless!

Campy| 5.28.10 @ 4:40PM

Hey Nick,
Sent you a brief reply the other night, but it got deleted. Anyway, thanks for your kind words the other day and have a good weekend with your family.

Nick| 5.28.10 @ 6:04PM

Thanks Campy!

May you and your family, also, have a great Memorial Day weekend.

blarset| 5.28.10 @ 11:09AM

Most people recognize America has a chance to be true to our principles of freedome and strength thru power. Both Economic and Millitarily. We voted a Black American as our president- He governed different from the way he campaigned.
We will right that wrong-we are educated enough to know that what we have is so unique and original it must be protected and used soloely for the benefit of us.AMERICA RISING 2010 electorate revolution by Renewing hope thru our strength and growing our ideas to the world.

FakeEagle| 5.28.10 @ 12:51PM

Wow, Mr. Wilson. Eye-wateringly good piece. Thank you.

Cuffs| 5.28.10 @ 2:46PM

Great article.
God Bless Lady Thatcher!
There has never been anyone like her and
never will be again. Just like Bush betrayed
the Reagan legacy, Major betrayed Thatcher.
So we got Clinton and England got Blair.
Merciful God, will we ever learn.

Purpleguy| 5.28.10 @ 5:58PM

As usual, this site distorts the facts ... if you're interested in the facts, read on.... "while all the pump-priming and interventionist policies pursued by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in the United States had done nothing to arrest, let alone reverse, the deepest and most prolonged economic downturn in the nation's history" - In Hoover's case, yes, what with Smoot-Hawley Trade protectionism, but FDR's policies brought unemployment down from 25% ni 1933 to 11% by 1936. Then, in an attempt to balance the budget, FDR raised taxes and unemployment rose to 15% by 1938. Rearmament and WWII wiped out the Great Depression with unemployment at a meer 2%.

Nick| 5.28.10 @ 6:03PM

The Polio Prince took what was another depression and made it GRRRREAT!

Tim*| 5.28.10 @ 9:21PM

" Cole and Ohanian calculate that NIRA and its aftermath account for 60 percent of the weak recovery. Without the policies, they contend that the Depression would have ended in 1936 instead of the year when they believe the slump actually ended: 1943.
" Unemployment persisted. By 1939 the U.S. unemployment rate was 17.2 percent, down somewhat from its 1933 peak of 24.9 percent but still remarkably high. By comparison, in May 2003, the unemployment rate of 6.1 percent was the highest in nine years.

Recovery came only after the Department of Justice dramatically stepped enforcement of antitrust cases nearly four-fold and organized labor suffered a string of setbacks, the economists found.

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 1:10AM

"Can neoclassical theory account for the Great Depression in the United States—
both the downturn in output between 1929 and 1933 and the recovery between
1934 and 1939?" - In Cole and Ohanian's own words - Recovery before 1943? Hmmm, so why are you making shit up? Read it yourself:
http://docs.google.com/viewer?.....Eu2H4DSZNQ

Tim*| 5.30.10 @ 10:14AM

Do your homework , Economic DUH Boy !

" Even in 1939, Ohanian says, the increase in hours worked was too small to declare the Depression over. With 17 percent unemployment, about 8 million workers had no work and little hope of finding jobs."

Nick| 5.30.10 @ 1:26PM

PurpleJackass,

Why don't you read more than the first sentence, Einstein?

"[...] theory predicts an extremely rapid recovery that returns output to trend around 1936. In sharp contrast, real output remained between 25 and 30 percent below trend through the late 1930s. We conclude that a new shock is needed to account for the Depression’s weak recovery. A likely culprit is New Deal policies toward monopoly and the distribution of income."
-Cole & Ohanion, "The Great Depression in the United StatesFrom A Neoclassical Perspective"

It was the Polio Prince's Raw Deal policies that made an ordinary depression, GRRRRRREAT! And prolonged it for over a decade.

Purpleguy| 5.28.10 @ 6:22PM

Interesting history of Great Britain, but what's the point? We aren't a Socialist country, despite all the rantings and ravings here, and we haven't Nationalized our Industries ... The Government gave some support to banks through TARP, but that has been mostly paid back and the Government actually made some money on that deal. The Auto Companies were helped, but are not out of the woods yet - hardly Nationalized, they have paid back some of what they owed, too.

Being Progressive or Liberal, in this country, does not mean Socialist or Marxist or Communist.

Capitalism is our system, but it needs to be tempered by some Government oversight to contain abuse and to not allow Capitalism to run amok. We have ample examples what happens when the Government pulls back it's regulation - The unmitigated Greed on Wall Street, the near collapse of the banking system, real and shadow, over leveraged and under funded, the Great Gulf Oil Spill not or poorly regulated by the MMS, the Madoff scandal, the list goes on and on.

The danger is too much regulation, we need just the right amount of regulation not to discourage innovation and entrepreneurship, but not NO regulations.

After WWII, the US was the only large industrial country that wasn't bombed and had it's industries destroyed. We were the industry of the world - that was a fact, not a conservative policy that provided the greatest growth in this country .. and it was the Progressive GI Bill that provided an education to millions of Veterans coming back from war to enter the middle class and create the "baby boom" generation - not conservative policies. A conservative President, Dwight Eisenhower started the Interstate Highway system, which was in violation of the Constitution, but he provided the framework for a continuation of expansion of Intrastate trade.

Nick| 5.28.10 @ 6:35PM

"Being Progressive or Liberal, in this country, does not mean Socialist or Marxist or Communist." - PurpleJackass

Yes it does.

You also wrote, in another thread, that you hope that O'Bama is 1/2 the man FDR was.

Why do you hope President Dither has one useless leg, PurpleJackass?

Tim*| 5.28.10 @ 9:59PM

From the gitgo , Free Marketeers argued that GM & Chrysler should have been placed into Chapter 11 , to restructure their debt .
Long after , Chrysler filed on April 30 th ,2009.
Then , GM filed on June 1st ,2009 .

Purpleguy| 5.29.10 @ 2:43PM

Yeah, and free marketeers ruled the day in the Hoover administration ... and got us a Depression - no thanks. By supporting the car companies, the government allowed thousands kept their jobs ... and you think that was bad?

Tim*| 5.29.10 @ 10:27PM

DUUUUHHH ! They went into Chapter11 anyhow , you Buffoon.

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 1:06AM

And- the people kept their jobs ... the problem was the country was afraid and something had to be done to restore confidence. Only the Federal Government was big enough to do that. Did you not curtail your spending when y'all thought a Depression was coming? What do you think happens when all of us do that same curtailing?

Don't be stupid. Even Bushbaby could see the writing on the wall and signed the TARP 700 Billion Bill. By the time the auto companies did declare bankruptcy, Ford excluded I might add, the financial armageddon had passed, and confidence had returned so that the impact of the bankruptcies was much less than it would have been at the height of the financial breakdown and the crisis of confidence would have pushed millions more out of work ....

But y'all know that, dontcha - or maybe Fixed News never explained that to you. Why don't you ask Rush Loudmouth - maybe he can explain it to ya.

I keep trying to help y'all to understand some things that are just facts, not right, not left. But just as you don't lose a chance to point out a problem on the left, I can't lose a chance to point out a problem on the right - can you say "Rand Paul"? If you noticed lately, Republicans have gone from a possible pick up of 8 Senate seats to now they are down to 5 possibles. Just thought you ought not miss that ... from RealClearPolitics.com.

Tim*| 5.30.10 @ 9:36AM

DUUUHHHH Y'ALL !
"(Alexandria, VA) -- The American taxpayer has put up $12,200 for every General Motors vehicle sold through the beginning of 2011, and $7,600 for every Chrysler vehicle sold as well, according to a new report issued by the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU).
Every time someone in your neighborhood drives home in a shiny new Chevy Silverado, remember that it cost American taxpayers more than $12,000," said Pete Sepp, NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications.
Between this and GM's plan to payback their bailout debt "with other taxpayer funds" , I wonder if all those Americans without work right now could think of any better ways to spend that money. This is a play out of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme playbook, and would be the equivalent of paying your Master Card bill with your Visa."

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.28.10 @ 7:50PM

Nick,
Purpleguy has been "influenced " by our bad attitudes.
have you noticed?

One of these days he will think back and realize... "Duh...they got me."
Should we get him a cap and gown?

...one more child grows up.

A pretty cool process when one thinks about it.

Purpleguy, most everyone here respects government leveling the playing field. We appreciate government. We truly do.

We just don't like THIS government of children/rapists.

Buddy, obviously you are a youngster. We certainly can forgive your idealism. But guy, government jerks are NO different than corporate pukes we all know......
Except government jerks can kill us, or put us in prison.
Have you heard the old song? "Take this Job and shove it".....I ain't working here no more!

Buddy, the US is the LAST place for us to "work". There ain't no options.

Personally, I shall die before this government puts me on my knees.
(Just stupid that way)
smile.

Nick| 5.28.10 @ 8:37PM

Ken,

Yes, all we can do is plant the seeds.
And hope and pray they reach fruition.

If my parents hadn't constantly hit me with the truth when I was in my early twenties, and I would come up with some asinine thought, who knows where I would be today!

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.28.10 @ 10:04PM

Nick, thanks.

A looooong weekend here. I am working feverishly on my next #1 bestseller. It is fiction...but not really.
Over the weekend...go enjoy "The Last Centurian" by Ringo. (paperback now)
Ken

Margie| 5.29.10 @ 12:02PM

Hi Ken,
In reading your post, at first I thought you were telling us that you are the best selling author, Ringo! Then I looked him up and saw his picture and realized I read your post wrong. LOL.

:^)

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.29.10 @ 4:08PM

Ken and Margie: My two favorites!! Did you check out the little ass whopping I did on Purp below? I swear I know that guy, from back in my drinking days? And if I remember correctly, I kicked his ass back then too!! Twerp!!

Margie| 5.29.10 @ 8:20PM

I think we all had some friends like that, and some of us were like that ourselves.
Some of us grew up, and some of us.... are in the White House.

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 12:57AM

Ass-whooping, if you can spell, you call it? Name calling is the weapon of the weak-minded. Are you weak-minded? Perhaps you lost a few too many brain cells from "your drinking days"? Still haven't seen anyone, including you, defend Reagan and try and refute the facts... but I guess you can't refute the facts, can ya? Hahaha. Reagan was a little better idiot than was Bush, that did a good job of acting, but what could we expect from Hollywood type?

Nick| 5.30.10 @ 1:01PM

Are you correcting people for spelling, again, PurpleJackass?

You, who misspelled "hypocrite" in the same post in which you were berating someone for misspelling "hypocrisy?"

Why do you continuously embarrass yourself, PurpleJackass?

Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of the 20th century. Second was Calvin Coolidge.

Your hero, the Polio Prince (FDR), is down at the bottom with Bubba the pervert, LBJ, and Nixon.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.30.10 @ 1:43PM

Purple Plaster Saint: Well excuse me, for spelling a word wrong from time to time!! I'm sure that never happens to you? But saying that name calling is for the weak-minded as you said, only to be followed a few sentences later, that Reagan was a little better "idiot" than Bush, kind of makes you weak-minded too. Don't you think? Or how about referring to Reagan as the "Alzheimer-in-Chief", now that's not name calling now is it?

Every Administration has had its faults (some more than others), that when looking back and cherry picking those certain facts, anyone can use those facts to build a case to discredit them, or to make them look like they were hypocrites. But since I lived through the Carter & Reagan years, I can tell you one thing, there was a very big change in America in a very short time, from the first Administration to the next. We went from hanging our heads as a Nation with Carter, to feeling very optimistic and confident about the future with Reagan. So hand pick the "bad" things about Reagan all you want too, you won't change anybody's opinion here about him. He was the "Greatest" President in my lifetime hands down (and I go all the way back to LBJ, although I don't really remember him at all because I was just a baby then).

And about me being weak-minded? You try going 10 years without a drop of alcohol, participating in hundreds of Ruck Marches (with at least 35LBS on your back), even more Company runs than I care to remember, three tours to Iraq since 2003, being an NCO in the United States Army, making every deadline that goes along with that type of job, and then you get back to me about being weak-minded, okay? Never mind, I wouldn't wish all of that on you (nor do I think you could handle it). Or did you really mean stupid when you said weak-minded? Nah!! I'm sure you meant weak-minded!! Who am I to question your disparage?

And yes I did lose too many brain cells during my drinking days, but I'm not asking the Government today to solve any of my problems because of it. I'm rebuilding the bridges that I destroyed on my own (and my bank account). And I've borrowed Nancy Reagan's motto from back in the 80's, and turned it into my own for today, "just say NO to Drugs". And I'm saying it to you today Purple, just say NO to drugs, okay? Now I'm not accusing you of anything Purple!! I'm just giving you some heartfelt advice, that you might want to keep in the back of your mind. So take it for what it is!! And if you ever want to go on a Ruck March, just let me know!! It'll test your internal fortitude!!

Nick: Thanks for watching my 6!!

Nick| 5.30.10 @ 1:52PM

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies,

No problem!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Brad Nelson| 5.28.10 @ 10:46PM

What an interesting and informative article. Thank you, Mr. Wilson.

And how tragically ironic that Britain secured her freedom at the successful conclusion of WWII and then the electorate threw that hard-won freedom into the trash by trying to wrap themselves in the safety net of socialism – just after they had fought and won a war against National Socialism. D'oh!

You would think a people who had endured tremendous hardships would not turn so sissy so quickly. Very odd. When faced with the Nazis, the British people (under the leadership of the dogged Winston Churchill) did not blink. But when faced with the empty promises of Karl Marx, they caved. They buckled and bent. The article does an outstanding job of explaining how this occurred. But it is no less odd that it occurred.

Wes in MT| 5.29.10 @ 10:22AM

"The lure of easy money, it's got a very strong appeal. . . ." that's what seduced England after the hardship of war, the socialists pushing all the something for nothing ( for you anyway, the rich man will pay for it). I think I know where our Thatcher is and I heard that she knows how to build a fence pretty dang fast too.

chester arthur| 5.29.10 @ 11:07AM

Why do we still call the morons 'progressives'?They like that a lot better than 'liberal',but the most descriptive term would be 'regressives'.

Purpleguy| 5.29.10 @ 2:34PM

Conservative = Reactionary = Fascist = Resistant to Progress ... feel better?

Troll Watch| 5.31.10 @ 1:42PM

Progress as defined by liberals: Giving kick backs to their friends.

Friends as defined by liberals: the unproductive

Reactionary as defined by liberals: somebody who calls attention to their theft

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.29.10 @ 1:04PM

On this Saturday beginning Memorial Day weekend
I needed some encouragement.
I went to youtube and began watching Ronald Reagan speeches.
Lord have mercy, people. His words are just as appropriate today as they ever were.
Here is a good one to begin your own journey this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

Margie| 5.29.10 @ 1:31PM

Prophetic. The Liberals are still doing as Liberals do. Making things worse and worse for hard working Americans. Still taxing us to death and we're still fighting them to the death. We the people will never quit fighting these power mongering fools.
Onward conservative soldiers!

Purpleguy| 5.29.10 @ 2:32PM

Reagan's actions didn't match his words. He started the deficit borrowing spree, saddled America with 3 Million illegals with his amnesty program, killed 225 brave Marines in his ill-advised adventure in Beirut, sanction selling arms for hostages to Iran/Contra, and let the AIDS epidemic go unchecked for years.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.29.10 @ 4:01PM

You know what Purp? Besides being a total dick, you're a complete ass too!! Why don't you go ____ yourself!! Or are you too worried that you might catch the AIDS from yourself, that Reagan first invented? Seriously, do you have any friends at all? If you do, have you ever noticed, that when you start talking, that everybody's eyes start rolling into the back of their heads? They're trying to tell you something, but their just too nice to say it. But I'll say it for them, you're a Dick-Ass Purp!! A total Dick-Ass!!

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 12:53AM

Waa, waa ... Good defense of Ronald Reagan... but since these are facts, there is no defense of the Alzheimer-in-Chief is there? He's not oh so great as you've been told. A few more sugar plums to make you happy - The Government actually grew in size under him, not smaller, and much of the deregulation under Reagan was started in the last years of Carter - not to mention Paul Volcker being appointed to Fed Chairman by Carter. He only finished the job of collapsing the Soviet Union Communism that was started by Harry Truman and continued by every President in between. Oops, there goes that pedestal...

Troll Watch | 5.30.10 @ 11:45AM

Purpleboy leaves out the best stuff as usual. After 1968 the Democrat Party for the most part was in the business of trying to surrender to the Soviet Union. Fortunately they just had four years of the executive which was with a nobody that even the left wing didn't like. He was an incompetent President with respect to foreign policy much like our current President but a small group of Democrats in congress and Republicans kept this from being a disaster. We don't have that luxury today. Obama's weakness is doing far more damage than Carter's weakness. Purpleboy has sold out his country for his party and that won't be forgotten. He should go to Somalia before its too late.

Purpleguy| 5.30.10 @ 1:50PM

This is filled with so many 1/2 truths, opinion and downright lies it's funny. But altho not a Democrat, the further y'all go to the right, the more I feel like a Democrat. I voted for Reagan 2x by the way - did you? Sold out my country because I disagree with you? How Un-American can you be?

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.30.10 @ 3:01PM

Purp: I believe you spelled "although" wrong, or maybe you were trying to spell "althorn". Although that wouldn't make any sense, because an althorn means a musical instrument in the saxhorn family. Or maybe you just missed a letter or two on the keyboard, because you were typing too fast, could that be? Or are you just weak-minded like me? Oh yeah and Purp? One more thing: Reagan Lover, Reagan Lover, Reagan Lover!!

Troll Watch| 5.30.10 @ 4:30PM

The concern troll shows himself. Now he is a Reagan supporter gone bad. He sold out his country by trying to ruin his country by supporting the incompetent Obama at all costs. Instead of reforming the ponzi like Social Security and Medicare he adds to it. Obama is like Bernie Madoff on steroids. There will be nobody to bail us out. We are at the end of the line with the Chinese. Obama has played weak to anyone who will listen except for people who attend tea parties. This is quite a compliment since he is the nicest to the most evil. His weak offensive is having bad effects all the way around the world. Only fools ever believed in it. On the energy front he has tried to force us to subsidize wind and solar. This gives nice kick backs to his friends but is a job killer. At the same he sells free passes to BP on safety reviews for campaign donations. His supporters are the only thing more pathetic than him. They are all unsustainable. They live in a 1930's fantasy with a 2010 reality. They should go to Somalia before it is too late. They can skip all the intermediate stages of the kleptocracy they have forced on the rest of us and see what a failed state looks like first hand.

tollen| 5.29.10 @ 1:08PM

A most encouraging article, shows that all is not lost, we will be able to take a right turn and repair the past year's damages.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.29.10 @ 3:06PM

We Texans will Never bow to tyranny! Y'all come on down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL62m5umP4g

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.29.10 @ 3:55PM

For all of you folks that don't join us, remember the "Reluctant Patriot".

You wait until the opressors kill your own children...one regulation at a time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 5.30.10 @ 3:55PM

I have got to watch that movie again!! Thanks Ken.

JJ| 5.30.10 @ 7:03PM

That's a nice history lesson but it means nothing right now.

Throwing out the Democrats and Obama in elections would also mean nothing.

We had 8 years of Bush -- and the media won that round.

We could have McCain right now -- and the media would be winning still.

Obama is a failure of epic proportions (killing us) and the media is keeping him alive.

The left-wing liberal media controls America. To save America from disaster we must take back this country from our toxic desctructive off-course media. Do that and the Obamas of the world will never present themselves.

The Interior Department executive who gave BP the green light to drill without a worst-case scenario plan would have been TRASHED by the media if Bush was in charge. In this case, the story was brushed off by the media not wanting to give Obama a hard time.

If Bush or Cheney were behind the scenes wheeling and dealing in a McCain administration like Clinton is doing in the Obama administration (the Sestak affair)-- the media would be BLOWING UP. Instead, because Clinton is involved its no big deal.

If the Director of Intelligence had suddenly walked out in a spat with the Bush White House the media would have called it CHAOS. But in an Obama administration the guy quits and the media moves on.

We are losing now. The media is killing us now. Winning back Congress and the White House won't mean anything.

The media must be stopped before they drown us in their stupidity and we are dirty-bombed and bankrupt.

Osamas Pajamas| 5.31.10 @ 3:31AM

If you concede and surrender morality to the statists --- to the communists, socialists, Nazis, and fascists --- then you will never beat them conclusively. The conservative [and some libertarian] defenders of free-market capitalism have shot a bunch of smokin’ holes in their feet over the past decades with their morality of self-sacrifice --- and mostly because they are unwilling to adopt the drop-dead best argument against statism and in favor of liberty --- the moral philosophy of Ayn Rand. This coalition of the unwilling is a hotbed of cold feet --- they are afraid that they will be accused of being selfish and greedy and uncaring by a bunch of moral gangsters who would steal your eyes if they weren’t screwed into your head. Start with Rand’s “the Fountainhead,” then “We The Living,” and then “Anthem,” and finally, “Atlas Shrugged.”

John Locke| 5.31.10 @ 3:43AM

What this country needs is a truly LIBERAL president and congress! And I forgive the reader for suspecting that this must be some kind of bad joke!

But the Democrats believe in "statism" --- not "liberalism."

They benefit from the imprecise American political terminology ---- we say "the government" here in the USA ---- rather than "the state." And that's a dangerous problem. Famous brands of statism in recent centuries have been Nazism, socialism, fascism, communism, and welfare statism ---- this last is sort of a mix of fascism and socialism.

Liberalism, on the other hand, is a political philosophy of small, cheap government ---- it is a constabulary ---- and the job of a liberal government is to enforce human rights within its own jurisdiction. I speak of the inalienable and perfectly-natural and universally-valid human rights of life, liberty, private property, and the pursuit of personal happiness.

The first article of private property is "the self" and all other rights are derivatives of and flow from these cardinal rights. These rights ----The Rights of Man ---- are the gift of nature or of nature's god ---- and they belong to all human beings, everywhere.

Show me a Democrat who subscribes to all of the above, without qualifications or weasel words. The words "liberal" and "liberalism" were hijacked by the Democrats and socialists and fascists long ago ---- and it was the mistake of conservatives and libertarians to let them get away with it.

It is long past time that liberalism be reclaimed, defined, and explained by its rightful owners ---- by the champions of freedom, i.e.: not by Democrats.

Well, how about "progressivism?" Whuzzat?! “Cancer” is “progressive,” too. Isn't “progressivism” just another statist cancer? It chews you up, piece by piece, in the name of Da Peepul? Eat Da Rich? Moral cannibalism, anyone?

Friends of freedom! Friends of peace-through-strength! And friends of prosperity! Declare yourselves to be "liberals," then ---- and kick over the bloody coffee tables --- and overthrow and trounce the Democrats in 2010 and 2012!

Alamitos Bay| 5.31.10 @ 3:44AM

OhBummer is a boob and a fool for attacking the American Tea Partiers. He is annoyed that they’re not grateful to him for hijacking the American healthcare system --- the greatest act of vandalism perpetrated upon the American people since a gang of jihadi frootloops and loonytoons hijacked some planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers.

And --- now widely seen for what he is --- the president presents a problem for the Democrat-captured media. They pump out his propaganda for him --- and, like the opinion monitors in Ayn Rand’s novel, “Atlas Shrugged” --- they are dodging brickbats and rotten vegetables.

He’s pompous, pampered, and pretentious --- a pseudo-intellectual fop. He’s a glorified, smooth-lyin’ dandy, and slicker than Sick Willie Clinton. He’s a dictator-on-the-make, a bloodsxcking, predatory humanitarian thug, and a low-down skunk.

He’s a fraud and a swindler. He lies when he inhales and he lies when he exhales; his oxygen is the falsification of reality. He lies, placidly and laconically, as if deception were a soporific drug.

He’s a friend of the poor and the downtrodden --- indeed, you can hear the milk of human kindness sloshing around inside of him when he walks.

He declares himself the post-racial leader --- “Let me be clear!” he intones --- and he hides behind his race, daring his critics to put their reputation for fairness at risk.

He pauses to ponder the portent of his propaganda --- and it is fakery; he smiles and his mendacity comes shining through. Shake hands with Barak Hushpuppy OhBummer --- “The Mistake of ‘08” --- the illegal alien squatter in the White House --- and America’s first and last Arab president. Now count your fingers.

Al Nock| 5.31.10 @ 3:45AM

The Democrats have this "enemies list" --- denominated in epithets aimed at the people whose wallets they wish to hijack and take up residence inside. You can be a ‘Racist!’ and you can be a ‘Homophobe!’ and you can be a ‘Teabagger!’ --- a homosexual man taking his partner's testicles into his mouth. You can be ‘Selfish!’ and you can be a ‘Hick!’ and you can be a ‘Rube!’ You can be a ‘Right-wing-nut!’ and you can be "Unenlightened!" and you can be a ‘Fascist!’ --- although no one more closely approaches the precise description of ‘Fascist!’ than the usual Demo propagandist --- either official, or self-appointed.

So all you have to do to occupy multiple epithets on the Demos' enemies list is to insist that they take their hands off yourself, off your wallet, off your property, off your kids, off your diet, off your healthcare, off your household appliances, off your car, off your weapons of self-defense, off your liberty, and off your freedom of speech. Insist on all these good things - and that qualifies you to be spat upon by nasty, mean-spirited scum --- by The Friends of All Mankind --- by a gang of lying, thieving, sticky-fingered, bloodsxcking, predatory humanitarian thugs --- by the Democrat party, in other words. No political party in the history of America more profoundly deserves absolute and outright destruction.

Hal G. P. Colebatch| 5.31.10 @ 6:10AM

It would be interesting to compare the ercomonies of post-war Britain and Germany, once Germany was allowed to mae a bonfire of government controls.

Petronius| 5.31.10 @ 8:14PM

To All and Singular
Be it Known : that upon the day HRM George VI
opened the Labour Parlaiment of A.D. 1945 The Right Honourable Winston S. Churchill became leader of HM loyal Opposition. Half an hour before the formalities were to begin Winston was in the Commons washroom up against the wall. The incoming Prime Minister, Major Atlee came in and sidled up to his opposite number, where upon Churchill moved away from him. Atlee was nonplussed at what he thought was an uncalled for snub, excalaiming, "Winston; aren't you being overly modest?"
Churchill replied with the choicest of invective:
"No. It's just that every time you see something that is large, privately owned, and working properly, you try to nationalize it."

Elmer57| 5.31.10 @ 9:50PM

The illusion of caring is very profitable for the elites and for the Government workers, and/or professional politicians. However, the basic concepts around "You get what you deserve, based on your own efforts" always has and always will rule the world. Yes, there is a free lunch, at the expense of everyone's ability to eat. Those who argue that Unions create Fairness in addition to providing all that extra "caring" people claim they deserve / based on theory are not seeing the enormous corruption. Corruption can just as easily exist by taking a few of everyone's dollars as it can by profit motivated people refusing to pay you tens of thousands more than you would like to have. If we separate the Government from the BUSINESS of earning what we deserve, based on effort we may or many NOT put forth, suddenly a small and generally Un-involved government becomes a true luxury.

Petronius| 6.1.10 @ 2:08AM

Sorry E57
You're as guilty of excessive expectation as the slackers who vote for liberals to plunder our incomes. Holding to their beliefs in material and social equality means that they have the right to be at the top of the food chain and when that is not given them, to haul their betters down to their level. The thing we share which they will never have is our concept of Value. Real life is an arena. They live in a nursery school sandbox. They have made emotional investments in government to redress this imbalance. We are forced to pay the dividends subsidizing their deficiencies.
Of unions, the purpose they serve is the obstruction of innovation, and the economic and social advancement of honest people which both political parties despise out of hand. The liberals exercise control of the labor market among hourly wage earners and the Rino republicans get a docile workforce possessing little personal ambition. The upshot is their iron clad control through the Internal Revenue Code which is tailored expressly to prevent people without post graduate degrees from accumulating wealth. Do not look for the ascent of dispassionate uninvolved government in this life.

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Louis Vttion handbags| 12.9.10 @ 2:10AM

Nick - Fascinating post. The space-time postulate is absolutely fascinating, though I admit I'm no Einstein and find it hard to get my brain around the concepts. I don't take the 6 days account literally so don't feel the need to search for a way to reconcile it with what we have come to know from science.

On evolution, my readings convince me of the soundness of the concept. Though I reject utterly his atheism, Richard Dawkins' books on evolution as a process are utterly persuasive. They're worth a read.

There are many leading scientists who are believers on a rational basis. One of my favorite is a fellow named Francis Collins, who headed the Human Genome Project. He has written two wonderful books, The Mind of God and The Language of God. In the first, he marvels at how the human brain developed the abstract mathematical reasoning capacity, which really serves no purpose --- except to understand the mathematical way God constructed the universe.
I believe that as God's creation unfolds, He provides humans the capacity and the means to understand more profoundly the wonder of what He has created. He is the author of the evolutionary process that made us into the creatures we have become.

Louis Vttion handbags| 12.9.10 @ 2:16AM

OhBummer's Healthcare Hijacking is nothing more than an atrocious act of vandalism, in the wake of which he struts around like the cxck-o-the-walk, arrogantly crowing that he has gotten away with this crime. He challenges those who would repeal this mess, daring them to lose votes in that enterprise, but one must remember that those who favor the Healthcare Hijacking would have voted for OhBummer and the OhBummer Wrecking Crew in any case. Perhaps OhBummer had better find a country with which we do not have an extradition treaty and start transferring his millions of dollars there now, as insurance against justice.

weddingdress| 7.1.11 @ 1:10AM

he thing we share which they will never have is our concept of Value. Real life is an arena. They live in a nursery school sandbox. They have made emotional investments in government to redress this imbalance. We are forced to pay the dividends subsidizing their deficiencies.