The American Spectator : The Obama-Stockholm Syndrome

Text Size

The Obama-Stockholm Syndrome

By George Neumayr on 12.9.10 @ 6:09AM

He hopes the American people will identify with its political captor.

Early in the week, the press spoke of Barack Obama's willingness to extend "an olive branch" to Republicans. By the middle of the week, his "olive branch" looked more like a thorn bush.

A politician who promised a glorious new era of civility and concord was referring to his Republican opponents as hostake takers on the issue of tax cuts. "It's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed," he said. It doesn't occur to him that he qualifies more as the captor in the analogy. After all, he is the one who was threatening to take action against the people by raising tax rates on job-creating business owners.

Obama can only hope that the American people will be seduced by a political version of the Stockholm Syndrome, a term that was popularized after Swedish robbers took hostages at a bank in 1973. During the five-day ordeal, the hostages, instead of resenting their captors, grew emotionally attached to them and made excuses for them after it ended.

Obama thinks the American people should feel gratitude to him for offering to release them from a tax-hike crisis into which he had thrown them. He casts himself as the passive negotiator in the struggle, but he is one who has been controlling Washington for two years.

His stance as a proponent of tax cuts for the middle class is as plausible as his stance during the healthcare debate as a champion of the Hyde Amendment. Had Obama been in Congress during the Reagan era, he would never have voted for middle-class tax cuts or a ban on government funding of abortion. But whenever a conservative policy drifts to the middle of a debate, he acts like he came up with it. He suddenly becomes an "angry" advocate for a policy he doesn't like but has to take, or appear to take, out of political necessity.

The Democratic Party counts on a political version of the Stockholm Syndrome on most issues, for almost all of the debates in Washington revolve around "saving" the people from crises Democratic policies exposed them to in the first place. The way it usually works is that the Democrats create a program the federal government shouldn't have established at all, the program inevitably fails, and then they rush in to "reform" it. Obama has talked about "education reform" in this way, as if his party had nothing to do with the failed policies and programs under discussion, as if he favors releasing children from unionized public schools with vouchers in hand.

Obama could put on a smile back in 2008 when he spoke of moving to "the middle," because he didn't think he would actually have to do so. But now that political pressures force him to the middle on a few issues, his smile has turned into a snarl. Real moves to the middle tax his ego badly. He regards the left's lack of docility and the right's resistance as a personal affront, and to build himself back up he has to play the victim and tear America down. "This country was founded on compromise. I couldn't go through the front door in this country's founding. And if we were really thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn't have a union," he spouted bitterly at Tuesday's press conference.

The media was very impressed by his "passion." But it was more like pouting that he had to give up yet another cheap, ill-considered campaign promise. That he knew his liberal base would be reading his stitched-up lips and hearing "no new taxes" on job creators made him feel very uncomfortable and defensive. So while ostensibly rebuking liberals he promised to practice class warfare at a more opportune time in the coming years.

In his post-defeat November press conference, he said that the American people failed to view his socialism as only temporary. But as his promise of class warfare at a later date shows, it's only his minor suspensions of socialism that are temporary. It pains him to let the productive keep their own money, and he expects his spared victims to feel grateful for not having been mistreated more.

About the Author

George Neumayr is a contributing editor to The American Spectator.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (135) | Leave a comment

beebop| 12.9.10 @ 6:56AM

From Wikipedia:

'In Freudian psychology, Psychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person unconsciously denies their own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, such as to the weather, or to other people. Thus, it involves imagining or projecting that others have those feelings.[1]

Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted unconscious impulses or desires without letting the conscious mind recognize them.

An example of this behavior might be blaming another for self failure. The mind may avoid the discomfort of consciously admitting personal faults by keeping those feelings unconscious, and redirect their libidinal satisfaction by attaching, or "projecting," those same faults onto another.'

I think we are entering the two year experience of "0bama projection syndrome. " It will be remembered for "and so's your old man," "hey, it was the best I could get," and "your GOP mother wears combat boots" or something similar.

Whiner. Poser. Abject failure. God, why weren't people paying better attention? Did they think that ANYTHING was better than Bush?

MoeBlotz| 12.9.10 @ 7:12AM

Actually the voters decided anyONE was better than W. Have you not been reading conservative publications or listening to conservative talk radio during the past four years?

Petronius| 12.9.10 @ 8:31AM

b
So this is why Hugo Chavez blames lousy weather on "Capitalism"? But then, neither he nor Barry would ever admit there is a God. Hence the joke: Obama dies and gets to Heaven. He walks up to the Celestial throne and yells at the Almighty; "Get out of My chair cracker!"

Clinton Lovell| 12.9.10 @ 2:33PM

What a buffoon. Capitalism isn't to blame for bad weather, George Bush is. Where have you been?

watchdog| 12.10.10 @ 11:56AM

Where have you been? Pull your head into the daylight.

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 9:43AM

Bee Bop; Haven't seen you for a bit. Hope you're well. Now to my thought: you're right; people were not paying attention. Unfortunately, we are getting what we deserve collectively, albeit through the efforts, and 'non-efforts' of a distinct minority who just managed to fall into a 'cosmic occurrance' and saddle us with the single worst president in our history.

It's not that he's just stupid, although his ego IS terribly inflated for no real reason. The worst of the many bad puppy traits this idiot displays is his angry, vindictive, visceral hatred for America and ANYTHING American. (Including us!)

How more than 60 million fools could have actually voted for this mental midget with enough neuroses to keep a batallion of psychiatrists busy for years is beyond me. About the only explanation that does make sense is an uber stockholm syndrome... in advance. Another wild endorsement for liberals and their mental state. They'd have to have been crazy to vote for this very deadly dangerous clown.

IndependentThinker| 12.9.10 @ 3:14PM

"How more than 60 million fools could have actually voted for this mental midget with enough neuroses to keep a batallion of psychiatrists busy for years is beyond me."

The short answer is: White liberal guilt. After all, anyone who votes for a "black" candidate can't possibly be racist...right??? It didn't matter that the candidate wasn't qualified (and that he refused to disclose many important facts about his background)...the only thing that mattered was the color of his skin. Next time perhaps they'll find a qualified person of color if they want to assuage their "historical guilt."

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 4:52PM

Independent Thinker: Boy, did YOU hit the nail on the head! Just another small indication that liberalism is a mental disorder; that these cretins would unthinkingly begin the process of self destruction just to sooth their twisted consciences is beyond me. It goes back to the liberal raison'etre': The rich sooth THEIR social consciences with other people's money; the 'average' by compromising their own self interest. My beloved daughter is a perfect example. She actually thought that George Bush was responsible for all the problems of the 'poor' in Chicago. She actually had no idea that the dems were in charge in Chicago for the past thousand years. THAT'S the kind of intellect we're up against. The fight is just beginning. We have two generations of indoctrination to overcome.

JCfromDC| 12.12.10 @ 10:21AM

I've always had a somewhat different theory. Hillary was bumped out of her party's nomination because she would never be able to beat McCain in a Policy duel. So they had this sexed up, youngish, star quality mulatto in the wings with a silky voice, who they could "market" like a new model car. Hence, everybody had to be the first kid on the block to get one. The fact that neither Obama nor McCain had much different to say was not the point. McCain was "old establishment" as was Hillary and really no choice, so let's give the "young guy" a shot.
Shrewd marketing, that's the nut of it, for my two cents worth.
That in addition to liberal white guilt, which I think is grossly overblown. If only 20% of the electorate consider themselves "liberals", I doubt seriously that Indies, and undecided fell for the whole "guilt" trip.
I would refer to Bill Whittle's blurb on YouTube or PJTV about "the Power and Danger of Iconography". A first rate listen. This guy should run for office. he could skewer ANYONE in a REAL debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....ature=fvst

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:15PM

I just imagine Obama is a traitor, albeit a soft kind. He wants to bring America down and make it less uppity. Anything that interferes with this makes him angry.

beebop| 12.11.10 @ 5:25AM

.... while maintaining his own level of self contented uppitiness? That's the kind of inconsistency that tells you the guy is a fraud.

East Side Kid| 12.9.10 @ 3:57PM

MikeD,
Yes, you raise a good question about how more than 60 million fools could have actually voted for Obama.
In my judgement, there are several considerations.

o The propaganda against Bush was so great, that these 60 million would have voted for Lou Cifer, himself. thinking it would bring about change;
o FDR said that the political mentality of the average American is equal to a seven year-old. This election is proof of that and the fact that most Americans are not truly informed (those of us who try to be are not surprised by any of Obama's inept and socialistic actions);
o The propaganda against Bush was so effective that the "60 million" saw McCain as another Bush; and,
o The Republican candidates left much to be desired. McCain looked like an angry old man and the choice of a political lightweight like Palin spelled absolute disaster.

Let's hope and pray to God that the Republican Party keeps its wits and conducts itself in a manner that will keep the independents and Tea Party acutely aware of its positive actions. And, most of all, the presidential candidate choice will be one of the most critical in a long time. At this juncture, I'm not excited about the front runners and pray God again that Palin is not the selection because she will be a candidate that Obama can defeat.

A lot can happen over the next two years . . .

East Side Kid

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 4:54PM

Our best hope is either somebody that pops out of the woodwork or a guy like Bobby Jindal. We'll see...

Margie| 12.10.10 @ 11:23AM

I agree. Bobby Jindal is like a breath of fresh air to listen to, I like him a lot.

stephanie| 12.10.10 @ 3:13PM

Me too! He is indeed a breath of fresh air~

old white guy| 12.10.10 @ 5:56PM

too bad you have such a poor view of palin. she is far superior to the commie buffon potus currently in office. it would be nice to have an intelligent woman staring down muslim jihadis.

kaytb| 12.9.10 @ 8:09PM

I don't deserve Obama - MOST of America is grassroots, working class and didn't want or deserve him, either. The Dems have been working since Woodrow Wilson to create a one-party sys - make them dependent and there's your vote. Johnson cracked when his "Great Society" was passed - "this will keep us in power". That's why Obama won - and thru fraud, deceit, and heavy-handedness, oh yeah, and a guaranteed electorate of 48% of the pop who don't pay taxes.

Eric Cartman| 12.9.10 @ 10:02AM

Unfortunately, W left little to be proud of. He did the bait and switch with conservatives and we were pissed. W told us over and over how conservative he was, then went driving around with Teddy *hic* Kennedy. The we got McCain as our choice (granted, better by light years than Obummer) and a lot of us stayed home. We may miss W comparatively, but I really miss Reagan . . . always.

Loshooligan| 12.9.10 @ 2:04PM

Damn it Cartman!!! Why did you have to say anything about Reagan? These comment sections have been Vtwit free for a while now. You have to spell it out so he can't hear you.

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:16PM

Very true, Eric.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 2:06PM

If Obama can prevent another Bush-type from being elected, then it is all worth it.

Oldefarte| 12.9.10 @ 3:23PM

At least Bush had common sense and WAS NOT a domestic terrorist!!!!!!

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 3:28PM

"At least Bush had common sense"

That's not what the Derb says-- and the Derb is wiser than you, Oldefart; his opinion carries more weight than yours not only in my mind but in the minds of a million or two. Who listens to you: your wife and your grandkids?

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 10:18AM

...and who listen to me? My partner and the little boys he teaches the facts of life to? Butt I digress...

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:33AM

I don't want YOU listening to me [so I won't get the same Nigerian SOCIAL DISEASE that now resides at 1600]!!!!!!!!!!!

George Field| 12.9.10 @ 3:42PM

No matter what Bush was or wasn't, it was NOT worth it unless you count the fact that Obama woke up a lot of people. That was good.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 3:47PM

Then we are in agreement: Obama must be re-elected. Will you please put it in writing, George?:
"I, George Field, do solemnly attest that Obama must be re-elected so the GOP does not persist in electing Bushclones and related spores."

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:38AM

Okay, we've heard from Larry and Curly, so where's MOE!!!!!!

Jeff Perren| 12.9.10 @ 4:34PM

Despite trying his damndest, Obama probably will prevent another Bush-type (whom he closely resembles) from being elected. He's much more likely to up the odds of a Paul Ryan-type getting elected.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 7:39PM

There you go.
More's the reason I will vote for Obama is '12

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:37AM

As Forrest Gump said, STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!!!!!!!!

old white guy| 12.10.10 @ 5:58PM

that would be the dumbest statement of the year.

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:36AM

Yeah, let's all get some Obama types re-elected so we can kneel down on our prayer mats and praise Allah!!!!!!!!

Jacobite| 12.10.10 @ 12:19PM

I don't think projection by Leftists is Freudian or unconscious. I believe it is another form of obfuscation. Maybe an additional tweak in accusing your enemies of actions you are guilty of yourself. I don't understand it completely, I'll admit. I'm beginning to believe that the Right has to accept that the Left has captured the organs of communication and persuasion, and concentrate on defeating the Left on pure power. The current tax-hike compromise is a good example. Right now, the GOP is hemmed in by the fact that their leaders have made a deal with O'bwana. But if the Dems refuse to go along, the GOP must drop the whole thing and let taxes increase -- the Dems will be seen to be responsible for it. They have to stop compromising and defeat every Leftist proposal. They can hope to come back and reduce tax rates later, but the funding of any Leftist programs raises the baseline forever. Not Reagan, not the Bushes, have yet eliminated even one of the smallest, most insignificant government programs or agencies. Their establishment or enlargement has got to be stopped dead from this moment on -- period.

Clint| 12.9.10 @ 7:02AM

"The influential conservative senator from South Carolina who bucked party elders by backing Tea Party candidates is taking up the contrarian mantle once more. Republican Jim DeMint announced on Tuesday that he would not back the tax-cut compromise negotiated by the White House and the GOP"

"Most of us who ran this election said we were not going to vote for anything that increased the deficit. This does," DeMint told conservative radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, referring to the $900 billion the deal will add to the national debt. "I don't want to second-guess my leadership, but frankly, I think we need to come away with a lot better than this," said DeMint, who suggested waiting to vote on the deal until next year. DeMint also faulted the bill for failing to "encourage people to go back to work" by extending unemployment benefits and for reinstating the "death tax."

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 2:16PM

And Obama is our best shot against another Bush-type adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we have a chance.

Clinton Lovell| 12.9.10 @ 2:34PM

Yeah, those record receipts to the treasury, 52 straight months of job creation, $100 billion deficits and 5% unemployment rates were all pure hell compared to the panacea we live in now.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 2:54PM

You would rather elect Bushes than Reagans??

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:19PM

Mr. Brooks:

I didn't love either Bush, although W was much better than Dad, by lightyears.

But forgettable mediocrities are better than atrocities. Antoninus Pius was better than Commodus.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 3:34PM

"Antoninus Pius was better than Commodus."

If you draw a parallel between ancient Rome and today's America, is that Obama's doing? the decline began in the late '50s, before Obama was born. The riots of the '60s when cities burned, happened before Obama was a teenager. The Vietnam War was instigated by Ike, before Obama was born. Obama was too young to have voted for Carter, he didn't turn 18 until a few years after '76.

kaytb| 12.9.10 @ 8:21PM

Obama was INFLUENCED by the revoluntionaries of the 60's. I was 18 then, i heard in the news about the SDS, The Weather Underground, etc. Very calamitous times - said revolutionaries (instead of being being indicted for treason went on to indoctrinate Americans in our universities). Obama and his cabinet hate America, the Constitution and the American Dream. Read "Rules for Revolutionaries" by David Horowitz. You gotta understand the way this man (and all in his admin thinks).

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 3:30PM

What a dumb post I just farted above! I hate myself for being so dumb. Pro Israel AND pro Hussein. Go figure...

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 4:58PM

Mr. Brooks. In any metric, Bush was so much better than the clown currently fouling the White House I'd even vote for you against the messiah. You don't come across as very bright, but you don't seem hell-bent on destroying America like the evil obama. Nobody could be as stupid as his and pelosi's and reid's actions seem to indicate. Ergo, it's intentional. Since you don't seem interested in facts, maybe you wouldn't be better than obama...

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 3:31PM

Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!
Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite aSome idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!! while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!
Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite aSome idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!! while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!Some idiot has been stealing my cyber ID for quite a while now and keeps posting outlandish drivel. I'm going to report this to the FBI and you'll be very sorry and quit calling me "lozel®", that drives me crazy!!!

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:27AM

Someone would have to be an idiot as to be so desperate to steal your moniker, and DON'T CALL PEOPLE NAMES, SHIRLEY!!!!

idalily| 12.9.10 @ 5:26PM

No, but I'd rather elect Bush than Gore or Kerry, and that is the choice I got. I'd make it again, but let's try to do better next round. I just pray a Reagan shows up soon.

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:29AM

No, we'd rather elect Obama and therefore ACT STUPIDLY!!!!!!!!!!

Oldefarte| 12.9.10 @ 3:29PM

The only maneuvering you liberal morons can do is to follow your El Chosen One off the political cliff in 2012 [after THE SEXUAL SLUR THAT nEWT'S MOMMA ONCE REFERRED TO takes the nomination from him], or to possibly help him find his non-father's dream somewhere else!!!!

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 3:44PM

"The only maneuvering you liberal morons can do is to follow your El Chosen One off the political cliff in 2012."

So Romney can begin his Mormon Revolution?

kaytb| 12.9.10 @ 8:38PM

woooo - afraid of those Mormons are ya?!

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:05PM

So you admit Romney is the front-running Republican?

Oldefarte| 12.12.10 @ 10:24AM

Castro, Chavez etc [or a dog in heat] would be superior and could beat El Chosen in 2012, idiot. The sad thing is that we taxpayers have to wait the decades long two years in order to rid outselves of this abortion now running our government into the ground!!!!!!

Alan Brooks| 12.10.10 @ 10:21AM

The Derb got it Just So:
"I wish George W. Bush would shut up and go away. He keeps reminding me what a fool I was ever to think that the man has a conservative bone in his body...
But, hey, Gtype adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we have a chance.type adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we have a chance.
have a chance.type adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we have a chance. have a chance.type adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we have a chance.

shitshitshit
eorge W. Bush feels real good about himself. What could be more imptype adminisration; if Obama can somehow maneuver against that possibility, we
ortant than that?"

And Obama is our best shot against another Bush-

Jeremiah| 12.10.10 @ 10:24AM

The trash you just farted out of your dirty liberal butt makes a little more sense. I even recognize a few english words! Drank the Kool Aid again, Lozel sucker?

Ken (Old Texican)| 12.9.10 @ 7:14AM

Hang on, Folks,

The human masks have slipped, and The communists, (pardon the shorthand), are angry and resentful.
Be alert...and be prepared.
Meet at your local County Courthouse lawns...3rd Saturdays of each month if the internet goes down.

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 9:44AM

I'm sure you all know what to bring with you on those third Saturdays...

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 2:57PM

"Clinton Lovell| 12.9.10 @ 2:34PM
Yeah, those record receipts to the treasury, 52 straight months of job creation, $100 billion deficits and 5% unemployment rates were all pure hell compared to the panacea we live in now."

Clint, if you voted for Bush, then whose problem is that? if you voted for a guy who wasted eight years (he beat out his Dad, who only wasted four) the culpability is yours and not mine.

Oldefarte| 12.9.10 @ 3:37PM

Try understanding that the economy was robustly superior in all respects under W to what it now is [oh, and it wan't Bush's fault that same tanked, but Barney Fudd & Co welfare legislation's]. Of course, we didn't have welfarecare; the non-stimulus of maintaining incompetent teachers etc on the state/local governments' payroll ledgers; the prospects of wholesale illegal immigrants becoming Democrat voters; homosexuals ruining our military; etc to worry about under W either!!!!

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 4:16PM

If you think I "believe" in social progress, you are mistaken, there is only scientific progress remaining-- if that.
We live longer, but our substrate is degraded, morally more than environmentally. why do think Codevilla writes overpriced books on the 'Ruling Class Has Corrupted Us And Buy My Book Please Because You Wouldn't Know About Corruption If It Weren't For Academics Such As My Self'?

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 5:13PM

Mr. Brooks. You state you are an academic, and so was I; among other things. The difference is that you must be the single stupidest human being in the country because you fail to understand the simplest facts. You are either a cretin or in denial. I, for one, have no more patience with you. I guess you hang around this site just to pretend you're as smart as the rest of us.

I swore I would never bring this up, but your abject stupidity has caused me to do so. I have a terminal disease and obama's murderous healthcare plan will result in my being given just painkillers as I waste away to die. How does THAT affect your 'academic' discourse, you lying, miserable fraud? I'd love to see your smirking face just once when you encounter somebody with REAL issues, you piece of scum. Go back to Move on.org with the rest of the slithering reptiules. You make me sick.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 7:47PM

You possibly have a terminal disease because you are irresponsible, Mike. If you don't take care of yourself, you can only blame yourself for dying early or living in a nursing home until you die. Or, if the disease is genetic, that is not anyone's fault.
Either way, Obama is not responsible for your terminal disease.
Also, your disease may very well be affecting your disposition, you are taking your health problems out on others; again: that is not Obama's fault.

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 8:28PM

You are not only stupid and completely unable to string any coherent thoughts together, but you also prove constantly that you have the intellect of a toad and the personality of a typical liberal: so convinced that you know something that you'd never permit the existence of facts to get in the way of your infantile opinions. No wonder obama and your fellow libs are so thoroughly wrong and universally despised. If you thought the repudiation in November was complete, just wait until 2012; unless you manage to do yourself in in the meantime by your personality and lack of intelligence. Your vile comments validate every stereotype of the self righteous, incompetent, clueless academic.

I shall not give you the honor of any replies because it is not useful to wrestle with a pig; you both get dirty, but the pig loves it; as do you.

skip| 12.9.10 @ 8:58PM

MikeD

Joy and Peace to you this Christmas and Always.

The Vast Majority here know Brooks is an Idiot.
He gives it away in most Posts.

He just claimed he is an Academic.
And claims Science is the Guide.
While claiming Reagan and Bushes are Wasted Years.

Academic? Science? He Repeatedly Displays his Ignorance on Basic Economic Principles. What can he possibly Know about Science. The Party of Choice of Brooks Presidential candidates:
1980 - Carter
1984 - Mondale
1988 - Dukakis
1992 - Clinton
1996 - Clinton
2000 - Gore
2004 - Kerry
2008 - Obama

Brooks is an Idiot worthy of this List. Just hope the Troll doesn't really Influence in any Way any American Students. And is really making Mommy Mad Down in her Basement.

Ruffslitch| 12.9.10 @ 9:48PM

Mr. Brooks,

This is probably the single most sanctimonius comment I have ever read in any forum. You basically say " Tough s**t." If BO is not responsible for MikeD's terminal disease then why did he force Obamacare down our throats? Do not misunderstand me; I did not want Obamacare in spite of being a Teamster ( a fact of which I am almost ashamed except for the fact that I do a really hard job driving trucks for one of the last union lines standing and am proud to be tough enough to take it-I just got in from a 14-hour LEGAL day but that's another story. Not all union members are rabid demorats. ) BO may not be responsible for Mike's disease but he insisted on assuming responsibility for Mike's care and it sounds to me like his care is sucking pretty badly.

And that last paragraph? You really shouldn't drink and post. Go and write at somebody your own size.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:11PM

Militant gays blamed Reagan for AIDS in the '80s, when their being HIV-infected was not Reagan's fault, anymore than MikeD's disease is Obama's fault.
The connections are too REMOTE.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:19PM

...Say liberace had blamed Reagan for AIDS.. if Liberace had written in an open letter:
"Mr. Reagan, your apparent lack of concern for gays has affected the healthcare of gays in general and me in particular."
That would be bunk, because innovations in healthcare are expensive and take decades to
R & D.

And I never said I was an academic, re-read the comment: I said Codevilla, the anti-ruling class corruption guy was.

Ken Roberts| 12.10.10 @ 6:01AM

You Wouldn't Know About Corruption If It Weren't For Academics Such As My Self'? oopsie.

Clint| 12.9.10 @ 7:46AM

Tea Party Kingmaker & Point Man Jim DeMint can take down The AlinskyBoy for the presidency, in 2012.

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 11:49PM

I'm really flabbergasted MikeD would think Obama is responsible for Mike's illness- esp. since Obama has only been president for two years.
Is Mike saying that if Obama had not been president during the last two years, he would be cured?

beebop| 12.10.10 @ 4:54PM

Please google the following words:

Silence
Idiot
Thought
Fool

martin j smith| 12.9.10 @ 8:02AM

THE REASON Obama and the Socvialist Deomcrat Marxist Nazi Party took a beating in the last election is very simple: The goofbal so called moderates, and these are people who live well--not poor-not "middle class" saw the handwriting on the wall. After the filthy rich, THEY were next in line to be targeted in the class warfare style of the Dzzzzzzzz. They saw their handle on their nice lifestyle begin to slip away-so they"slipped away from their former benefactors.
The, there were other Rzzzzzz who while fed up with GWBzzzz, got pissed at BHO as a GWB on steroids ( who needs that !!!!!!!!!!!! )and then there were those that stayed home in 06 and 08 and decided uh oh--its now or never, bite the bullet full steam ahead and VOTE AGAINST. Unless the unemployment levels reach below %8 and even more 5% + or- these folks will see red ( literally ) and vote AGAINST the Dzzzzzzzz. So ,the Dzzzz have a choice: grow the economy with positive employment,energy etc and win or---play the race card,play games, drive us in the tank and lose.

Louis Jenkins| 12.9.10 @ 8:08AM

"release them from a tax-hike crisis into which he had thrown them."

Unfortunately, it is true. The Democrats get us into the programs, then they come galloping to the rescue because the programs don't work, and presto chango, we're deeper in the mire. Notice I said we're deeper in the mire because the (insert name here)-cracy makes sure they're exempt. It's time to repeal much of what makes this Big GovCo tick, if you can call it that. Mostly, we're jaded and fed up with the Federales. "Out damned spot."

Ret. Marine| 12.9.10 @ 9:10AM

What I saw on the day mentioned was a supposed CnC pissed off at the entire Country and with his coniving mindset and in his ungrateful son of a goat herder mentality is yet again plotting for the demise of all. Don't kid yourselves he's mad as hell. Catching flack on both sides does a narracist mind real good like-not. We shall pay for our ungratefullness, mark my words. P.S. watch the other hand, he's up to something once again.

mickeymoussaoui| 12.9.10 @ 9:43AM

We only have to look into O's eyes to see he has a dark soul. There is no "Grace of God" within him, anywhere. This is a angry man on a dangerous agenda. We will all be tested. Be true.

MikeD| 12.9.10 @ 9:57AM

All REAL americans OF EITHER PARTY. There was a time when members of both parties agreed on most issues, especially if a foreign threat loomed or something terrible happened to the whole country that forced us to work together. No more. This crop of DEMONCRAPS are traitors. You 'old time dems' who served your country in time of need; cheered for the same teams, and stuck together on 911 had better realize that you, too, are now the enemy of this gaggle of clowns that has hijacked YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY. It is gone, dead, vanished, kaput! In is place is a communistic, socialistic group of thieving thugs who not only want everything you, and us HAVE, but, if you're over 40 and haven't received their particular brand of indoctrination in our schools since about 1975; they want you DEAD. Think about that and get your butts to the polls in two years and get rid of every one of them. These people are NOT your friends, and, when the hellfires are unleashed, you will not be spared just because you USED to be a democrat. If you're not a wild eyed far left nutcase like obama and his gang of thieves, you're as good as dead, just like every other perceived enemy. Think about it and get your kids to understand. This is not their father's democratic party.

If you doubt a single word I wrote, just look at the evil clown in the White House. Look at his eyes, his posture, and the sneer on his lips. Then, listen to what he is REALLY saying. It should terrify you down to your toes. This is a "Hitler-wannabee" in training.

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:21PM

I remember when "Liberal Democrat" meant LBJ. He screwed up Vietnam through his lack of delegation, but at least he fought it with heart.

Oldefarte| 12.9.10 @ 3:43PM

LBJ was equally inept as El Chosen One, and his controlled/manipulated Vietnam War could have been won in several months if he would have let the military run same. Additionally, LBJ placed a tax surcharge upon taxpayers in order to fund his war and the Great Society welfare agenda of the socialists Democrats in congress during his term. The only difference between him and CHOSEN was that LBJ was semi-intelligent and political proficient [nonetheless, he still was a crook]!!!!

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:23PM

"It should terrify you down to your toes. This is a 'Hitler-wannabee' in training."

Your disease has unquestionably spread to your mind.

Margie| 12.10.10 @ 11:19AM

Brooks:

You're backwards on this one. The disease is the mental disorder known as Liberalism. You've got it. It is the cause of the type of death from which when you do finally pass on, takes you to the Dark side. Why? Because if in this life you subscribe to it, it causes you to call good evil, and evil good, and that is what you are doing in your last comment to Mike D., a fellow conservative.

Disease that kills the body alone does not cause one to go to the Dark side for eternity after one falls asleep (dies physically), but the true disease of Liberalism is to be feared most definitely because that is the disease that kills spiritually and it is indeed the same one that infected Hitler.. just in its advanced form of Communism.

May you truly repent of the Liberalism that's infected you, dear sir, before it's too late.

A friendly reminder:
Remember Scrooge!

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Is. 5:20.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Is. 1:18.

vtwin| 12.10.10 @ 3:59PM

Mike D, I'm vtwin. Yes the vtwin that used to post weird stuff. Last week end, I opened my heart by accident because of a dumb and insensitive post by the AlanBrookenstein himself about Joe Sobran. Afterwards, because I'm in very bad condition too, Skip (yes, the great Skip) came to my help and I swore I would never bother you guys anymore although I'll keep calling you "teabaggers" out of sincere affection;+) Mister Mike, I'm really sad about what's happening to you and I value your courage and strength and I respect that as I respect gallentry under fire.
You see, I'm a limey that moved to San Fran after a stint in the military and 2 years at Standhurst. I did a lot of questionable stuff in my life and it' s payback time so I can somehow relate to what is happening to you. Keep fighting, Sir and do not let Sid Vicious Brooks torment you with his dirty and ugly sorry excuse for a neural tube and enjoy reading decent people like most of the ones you'll read on TAS.
vtwin is gone, this time.
Rule Brittania, teabaggers!
for you guys, for anybody who suffers, Christ is there, always was, always be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxCcr4KkPJc

ps: If by any chance some arsehole posts trash under my signature, it won't be me, OK?

skip| 12.11.10 @ 8:50PM

"the great skip"?

You really are hurting.

Anyone who posts "for anybody who suffers, Christ is there, always was, always (will) be" can't be all bad.

Remember your own words about Christ.

Merry Christmas and Joy and Peace to you.

martin j smith| 12.9.10 @ 10:01AM

For those concerned about being fooled by BHO or whoever--In my case, not to worry. I am not one of those. Its beyond "trust but verify" Its stay alert and be prepared. On a practical level, let your congress critters know you are watching especially those on probation of either party.

YeloStalyn| 12.9.10 @ 11:59AM

Our reaction to government should have never been "trust buy verify" but should have been and should always be "distrust until verified"

Anthony| 12.9.10 @ 10:17AM

Our post partisan leader has, by extension, called over 1/2 of all Americans hostage takers, as we are the ones who created the new R majority in the House. He called our bluff prior to the election with the threat of "hand to hand combat", and got his ass kicked big time in return.
Apparently, getting his ass kicked in November was too nuinaced for our Ivy League wunderkind. He & his ilk still haven't gotten the message.
I'm happy to be called a hostage taker for America, and I can only hope that GITMO will still be there for us to use when we can apply some water boarding "torture", (that gives the Amnesty International crowd the vapors) on our America hating hostages.
Let's see, who's first in line?

MacDaddy| 12.9.10 @ 10:30AM

memo to self...must buy more ammo, more water, more canned and freeze-dried food, more batteries, and more diesel for the generator. Oh...and more barbed wire.

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:22PM

I have found gold from the US Treasury to be much cheaper than places like GoldLine, with much higher quality coins.

Ruffslitch| 12.9.10 @ 9:54PM

Never mind gold. Stockpile something REALLY useful like cigarettes, liquor, and toilet paper. When people start having nicotine fits they'll do anything for a smoke! :)

Alan Brooks| 12.9.10 @ 10:25PM

memo to self...must buy more ammo, more water, "more canned and freeze-dried food, more batteries, and more diesel for the generator. Oh...and more barbed wire."

Buy some tinfoil and make a hat.

beebop| 12.10.10 @ 4:58PM

Why not EAT the tinfoil so that the CRAP you post emerges self contained and odor free?

RCV| 12.10.10 @ 7:22PM

...and don't forget to meet on the courthouse lawn on the third Saturday of the month if the internet goes down.

skip| 12.11.10 @ 12:55AM

...and don't forget when asked about the petition signed by 31,487 scientists thoroughly debunking manmade global warming you said...

"I don't sign silly petitions on science matters".

RCV| 12.11.10 @ 4:31PM

I'm glad you found a new obsession, Skippie. The three-letter word games were getting tiresome. I've addressed the climate change issue, but you still haven't addressed the Genesis/science questions.

skip| 12.11.10 @ 8:27PM

R(idicuously)
C(onvoluted)
V(ersion of reality)

No surprise your post is lacking in intelligence and in honesty.

- I stated I believed the earth is 4.6 billion years old and the universe 13.7 billion.
- I stated science has never contradicted the Bible.
- I asked for your opinion on macroevolutionary theory and microevolutionary theory.

Any random chosen reader here could make any number of deductions as to my opinion on your insipid little Genesis 'conundrum'.

Except you.

And while we're posting about 'science matters', when I asked your opinion on the petition at www.petitionproject.com, where 31,487 physics scientists debunked manmade global warming, your response was

"I don't sign silly petitions about science matters"

R(eality)
C(an't)
V(ery well slow down my unintelligence and dishonesty)

VBMax| 12.9.10 @ 10:34AM

One thing that worries me is the unlevel playing field. The Leftists don't feel constrained in using any means to reach their goals. On the other hand, the rest of us do have a conscience that prevents us from really doing what is necessary.

Frisbee| 12.9.10 @ 5:13PM

Yes, VBMax. Also, conservatives spend a lot of time raising their own families.

Bob Miller| 12.9.10 @ 11:52AM

The word "no" sends this poor baby Obama into orbit.

John II| 12.9.10 @ 1:17PM

Well, Mr. Neumayr's post amid this holy Christmas season has sent me into a quietly reflective chewing of the cud. It is transparently obvious that the Professor's Gramscian feints toward compromise are not only politically clumsy but also characteristically calculating (although some of my liberal friends would use the term "pragmatic").

With apologies to such as George Weigel in a column he wrote about three months ago, I ask my fellow TAS cranks to wax academic with me and ponder the following questions regarding the direction of the American experiment and the general disposition of a small minority of lefty activists:

1. Does the state have the inherent capacity to change the definition of marriage as a stable union of man and woman?

2. Does the state have the moral right to stagger future generations with debt?

3. Should entitlement programs be phased back gradually over the next generation rather than expanded ever more to create a mob-like voting bloc shackled to a culture of economic dependency?

4. Can health care reform happen only through the colossal concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a sprawling state apparatus, with neither competence in medicine nor connectedness to individual patients?

5. Does "religious freedom" include the conscience-rights of those health care providers who regard abortion as a moral abomination destructive of the very foundations of legitimate government?

6. Does the state do anything immoral as well as stupid when it manipulates markets to produce social change driven by ignorant ideology (read: mortgage crisis)?

7. Should the state play p0litics with its proper function of securing borders and protecting citizens against foreign invasion?

8. Should indisputably proper state functions such as national defense and the protection of innocent life be relegated to a lower priority than very disputable functions such as the forced redistribution of income ?

9. Should news and opinion outlets be censored by a thin-skinned and self-protective state apparatus?

10. Should disputable policies that cannot pass muster through the persuasion of an electorate be imposed by executive or bureaucratic fiat?

I was going to make it an even dozen, but in deference to the season and to the Decalogue, let's keep it at ten.

And let's not forget that the Professor's smug answers to all those questions are now, always have been, and almost certainly always will be disastrously wrong.

And now back to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), in which the lifelong conservative Jimmy Stewart anticipates the Tea Party movement. (Which reminds me: it's time again for another viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" [1946], but I should probably wait for the grandkids at Christmastime to watch that one: they need to be morally fortified against the long-term consequences of the Obamanation. A careful viewing of Laurel and Hardy in "March of the Wooden Soldiers" [1933] would help too.)

nickoury| 12.9.10 @ 3:13PM

WOW!
You are obviously among the unfortunately small handful of people who regard Laurel and Hardy's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" [1933] as a Great piece of Classic Film. Kudos to you for the reference.

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:24PM

March of the Wooden Soldiers---got it. Thanks, John II.

Sorry about Fredo---he inadvertantly set Michael up, not Sonny. I stand corrected.

Anthony| 12.9.10 @ 1:36PM

The Stockholm Syndrome clearly exists. Since Nov 2nd, Obozo has been taken hostage by us, the American hostage takers.
As a result, Obozo is now telling his foaming at the mouth lefty base, that extension of the Bush tax rates will stimulate the economy and, conversely, failure to pass this extension will trigger a double dip recession.
All of this suffering by the American people during the past 2 years, all for Obozo's and the left's demented thinking. Can we now, finally, put the ENTIRE lie of liberalism to rest once and for all? Everything they say and believe is a LIE.
The entire left needs to be taken hostage and held at a larger version of GITMO, where they can no longer do damage to America and the world.

Deane Waldman, MD MBA| 12.9.10 @ 2:50PM

One generally encourages people to visit one's own web site (www.thesystemmd.com) and I do. However, in the context of this article, I would also recommend the blogtalkradio show by Tessler titled "Socialism Is Not An Option."
You and I know what he really means by that title but technically, socialism IS an option, certainly one the President and his appointees advocate by their actions, even though they deny it by their words.
I urge people – all people – to look up two words: liberalism and socialism. The former started as an ideology based on individual freedom and personal responsibility. Unfortunately, it has been coopted by the left to become a 'Big Gov Will Take Care of You' approach instead of you will take care of you and Gov will take care only of those things that the individuals and the States cannot.
Socialism by definition includes government control of resources and central redistribution (does that word sound familiar?) of wealth. Consider Obamacare and government ownership of GM as two examples proving that the Obama administration and the Democrat Party are socialist, whatever they claim publicly.
What I truly do not understand is this. We watch on a daily basis the repeated failures of a socialist approach/philosophy in Europe. From Greece's new austerity program to Great Britain cutting back on health services to banking failures in Ireland to the elimination of the entire Italian pharmaceutical industry, socialism is continuously showing that it won't work. Yet, President Obama, Larry Summers, and new Director of Medicare Dr. Don Berwick want to replicate these mistakes here. Somebody please tell my why?

Occam's Tool| 12.9.10 @ 3:25PM

Make an assumption of soft Treason regarding the One, Dr. Waldman. Then re-evaluate his actions in that light, and things will clarify.

Stephen Chudej| 12.9.10 @ 2:56PM

Somebody please screw this nut already!

Mrs. du Toit| 12.9.10 @ 3:37PM

I don't think it's the Stockholm Syndrome at all. Obama is attempting to play a Democrat version of The Teflon Man. Obama had no real expectation of getting the tax cuts passed, or he'd have consulted with Democrats in Congress before he made the announcement, and wouldn't have made it appear to be a pact made with the devil (ie, Republicans) with his hostage analogy.

He's put himself in a position where moderates can support the idea (the majority of the country), and can then label both Parties as "out of touch" with the American people for not getting onboard... the Left can maintain their base by putting on something akin to a show-trial, and the Right will be putting on a circus act with elephants and RINOs fighting in the center ring. It further validates the Democratic Talking Points that the Right is too Right. This is an end run on the Tea Party candidates more than anything.

Obama comes off as being the guy who wanted to compromise and it was "them" who refused. It is the surreal version of "The Music Man," with Obama singing the theme of "we got trouble, right here in River City. It rhymes with Tea and that problem is Taxes."

The guy is a consummate con artist and he'll manage to fool too many of the people, too much of the time.

Republicans are not going to have enough votes to get the perfect deal next year, because they won't have enough votes to deal with a Presidential veto. But, by all means, let's hold out for the perfect now, instead of the good, and then only end up with good or nothing. After all, the delay in restoring some sort of tax cut only threatens people's homes, businesses, and jobs. All the unearned revenue that won't be available to be taxed at he lower rate won't put us more in debt, and all the good folks who've seen their lives crash and burn will be able to put it all back into the bottle afterward, right?

But we'll be able to maintain our valued Conservative Principles!

martin j smith| 12.9.10 @ 3:45PM

Look at great Britian-rioting over college tuition hikes. Look at the new cyber war going on nw. There is in Eureope a prelude to the kind of instability which we can have here. It does noit sound as if the Brits had a clue. We should not allow ourselves to be in their position. The message should be: rioting will not be tolerated.
I recall the protests in NYC during the Republican National Convention. The groups involved in that episode will be on the front lines of street battle. Marxists,Anarchists, Maoists,Jihadists and even pacifists ( a real oxymoron ), Trotskyites,Stainists etc etc. There needs to be a heads up on this scenario.

bptr| 12.9.10 @ 3:49PM

I don't even know where to begin wth the complete lies, and bs stupidity in this article! George Neumayr is either a complete moron or a completely deluded moron. First of all, Obama is NOT trying to raise taxes on anyone. This tax cut for the rich is an artificial insanity that completely squandered our then surplus started by your Bozo The Clown Resident who did everything he was told by D-head Cheney and big business to benefit themselves. The same idiot who severely messed up the world and collapsed the economy in 8 years. Obama's whole job is to fix what this idiot did. You Rebuke lying A-holes keep calling the end to this ridiculous cut "raising taxes". That is simply a LIE ! A few months back, you all were whining about the defecit (which you never did in 8 years with Bush), now suddenly trillions of unpaid for continued tax cuts don't matter to the deficit? And how exactly is it a Democrat program? You seem to be nuts. By the way, the phrase "no new taxes" was a Bush Sr. phrase - one which he reneged on. I can't believe you even used that. Obama has not lied about any campaing promises and has been trying hard to do what he said he would do, Gee, I wonder why this is difficult. Could it be because the Asshole Obstructionist Propaganda Party resists every single bit of progress? "class warfare"? Is that what you call helping this country dig out of the gigantic Bush hole?
"In his post-defeat November press conference, he said that the American people failed to view his socialism as only temporary." He never said that at all. It is only you Right-wing MORONS who keepbabbling about Socialism (a term that none of you understand). "It pains him to let the productive keep their own money.." The "productive"? What a joke! The corporate theives are the productive ones? I have news for you: Middle-class people who do actual work are the productive ones. Rich people who sit around conning the public with bs like yours to keep your money-making machine going, counting their millions and billions, and dreaming up new scams to rob the middle class are the UNPRODUCTIVE scumbags of the earth.
Stop writing this lying crap to deceive the stupid public. You are a complete pice of crap and this website is complete propaganda bs run by corporate crooks.

allan guida| 12.9.10 @ 3:49PM

Hi Everyone...I read all of the interesting rhetoric above. Unfortunately, I did not see one message about a plan to fix America. Hurling invective won't solve anything. Mostly, I see a willingness to throw the less capable people under the bus. Not many of you want to help those who can't help themselves. No one noted that the disparity between the rich and the poor continues to get bigger. Is this important or irrelevant? Is the Republican plan for America to make the rich/poor disparity just grow and grow? Think about what kind of country that will lead to? I think it will bring on more "real" battles between the rich and the poor. Eventually, this place will look like some third world country where even the rich won't want to live. We have to find a better way. Think about it....

Ralph Novy| 12.9.10 @ 4:11PM

Allan:

"No one noted that the disparity between the rich and the poor continues to get bigger."

And don't hold your breath while you're waiting for most of these folks to.

"Is the Republican plan for America to make the rich/poor disparity just grow and grow?"

Yes.

"Think about what kind of country that will lead to?"

Yes.

The brand of "conservatism" you'll find in "these here parts," Allan amounts to "I intend to conserve all the wealth and privilege I've accumulated, by whatever means. Fuck everybody else."

In short, around here they're long on wind and short on truth and heart. Good luck, if you stick around. I poke my nose in this padded room every once in a while just to remind myself of what our society might devolve into if we don't push hard for progressive reforms -- particularly in education.

idalily| 12.9.10 @ 5:34PM

I, and most conservatives I know, willingly help those less fortunate. We do it through this thing called charity, privately, on our own, without being forced. The US Government is not a giant charity, and it is not their job to make me give. Sorry. And is is not conservative principles, but liberal ones, that widen the gap between rich and poor. Liberals invented trickle up poverty via burdensome taxes, crippling public debt and chasing pipe dreams like "social justice."

Drew| 12.9.10 @ 9:17PM

The gap between rich and poor is utterly meaningless as long as both are rising, which is the case. If the rich are rising faster, so what? It should give everyone more motivation seeing what's possible and when's the last time a poor man made a job for another poor man? Only mediocrities are commie class warriors suffering corrosive envy. Most so-called poor in America are temporarily so and rise into middle class and beyond once they break into the job market. The career poor with three generations or more on the dole usually suffer from learned dependence, the drug Democrat pimps push. The world poverty gap is the same. In fact, huge gains have been made with more people rising out of poverty wherever the economy moves toward free markets. It's a good news story that gets purposely misreported by lefties and their media cronies who start harping about the gap between rich and poor. Margaret Thatcher once made this idiotic argument of the Left clear with hand gestures. She said her socialist opponents wanted the poor to be poorer as long as the rich were dragged down as well (hands held low down with a smaller gap between them) whereas conservatives want everyone to be richer (both poor and rich hands held higher but with a bigger gap between them). We haven't even gotten into the fact that overweight American poor with their color TV sets etc. are rich relative to much of the world. Libs are economic illiterates. They should read Thomas Sowell.

Ralph Novy| 12.9.10 @ 3:54PM

Stunning example of projection and turning the truth on its head. Ironic -- and thoroughly apt -- that the first commenter here discusses projection so pedantically, albeit with the wrong target.

For the "right side up" view of Obama and the Stockholm Syndrome (in other words, reality), see http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12......html?_r=1

George S| 12.9.10 @ 6:19PM

A hostage is a person who is illegally imprisoned. How does this apply to Obama... is he illegally imprisoned by Republicans? Maybe it means, to him, that he is not free to do whatever he wants. Well, yes, that is how our Republic works -- the people send their representatives to speak for them, including contradicting an Executive who abuses his authority.

Tax rates are not hostages -- they are fiscal policies, rooted in legislation, governed by the Constitution. Tax bills are revenue raising bill that must originate in the House, be concurred in the Senate and signed into law by the President. Only a NYT idiot cannot discern the difference.

Speaking of House and Senate... did not the Democrats once have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a 50 seat advantage over and above the 218 votes needed to muster a majority in the House? Maybe that is the underlying problem here -- Democrats have held the country hostage with this majority and have not been able to do a thing about letting the tax cut expire. So who's doing the projecting here?

NJK| 12.9.10 @ 3:56PM

Democratic Kool Aid
Obama supporters have all of the symptoms of cultists.

Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler To The Point News he once worked for Ronald Reagan
Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Georgetown, Guyana. You may think you've never heard of this place but you have.

The former British Guiana (one of the three Guianas - the other two being former Dutch Guiana, now Surinam, and French Guiana, all on the northeast shoulder of South America) - is these days visited by folks into eco-tourism. This place has one of the most untouched rainforests on earth with an astonishing variety of bird and wildlife.

But Guyana doesn't ring a bell with you because of harpy eagles and howler monkeys. How about Jim Jones and Jonestown? Yes, that Guyana, where, on November 18, 1978, over 900 Americans committed mass suicide on orders of their cult leader.

It remains one of the most bizarre events of modern times - from which the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" originates, meaning blind unthinking acceptance of a suicidally idiotic set of beliefs.

Yet almost no one knows just what, exactly, were the beliefs of the "Peoples Temple" cult created by Jim Jones. Some sort of weird religion, right?

Nope. Jim Jones calling his Peoples Temple a "church" was a tax-avoidance scam as it was purely secular. He admitted in a taped interview, "I'm an atheist." He was not a religious leader. He was a Stalin-admiring far left San Francisco Democrat.

Born in Indiana in 1931, Jones joined the Communist Party USA at age 21, then formed his Peoples Temple Church preaching "apostolic socialism," which he claimed was the only path to salvation from "capitalist America, racist America, fascist America." He denounced Christianity as "the white man's oppression of women and people of color." Jones was white, Welsh-Irish. Most all of his followers were black.

In 1975, Jones established the headquarters of the Peoples Temple in San Francisco, where his followers were instrumental (as in voting multiple times) in electing Dem George Moscone Mayor. Moscone often took Jones with him to meetings with Governor Jerry Brown and Vice-President Walter Mondale. Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk often delivered speeches at the Temple and wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter praising Jones as "a man of the highest character."

(The 2008 movie Milk, in which Sean Penn won a Best Actor Oscar for portraying Harvey Milk as a homosexual hero, makes no mention whatever of Jones and Jonestown, even though Milk and Moscone were killed just 9 days after the Jonestown Massacre.)

In 1976, after newspaper interviews of defectors from Jones' Temple describing Jones' bisexual abuses of his followers, Jones established Jonestown on 3,000 acres in remote northern Guyana as a "benevolent communist community," and ordered 1,000 of his followers to move there. Once living in Jonestown, his followers were not allowed to leave. Any attempt to do so was prevented by Jones' armed "Red Brigade" security guard.

Guyana had been ruled since independence from Britain in 1966 by a Marxist dictator, Forbes Burnham, who established strong relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union (upon his death in 1985, his body was mummified by the laboratory of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow). The Soviet Embassy in Georgetown provided aid to the community. The only films followers were allowed to watch were Soviet propaganda movies. Jones declared that "the Soviet Union is our spiritual motherland."

Horror stories from defectors and escapees from Jonestown aroused the concern of California Congressman Leo Ryan, who flew with a press entourage to Georgetown and on to the Jonestown dirt airstrip to bring back those who wanted to leave. They arrived on November 18, 1978. Several Temple members asked for asylum. Returning to airstrip, as they were boarding the plane, a truckload of Red Brigade guards appeared and gunned them down. Ryan, along with five others, was killed, the first and only murder of a US Congressman in the line of duty in US history.

After the murders which he had ordered, Jones declared that US forces would arrive to "convert the children to Fascism," and that the only acceptable alternative was "revolutionary suicide." He had a vat prepared of Kool-Aid and another similar powdered drink mix Flavor Aid, heavily laced with potassium cyanide.

908 Temple followers drank the Kool-Aid, the mothers squirting the poison in their infant babies' mouths. Jones blew his brains out after they were all dead.

The entire suicide episode was audio-taped. You can hear Jones telling his followers that "as socialistic Communists... we must die with dignity." You can hear the crowd cheering and clapping, and the babies screaming and crying. Near the end, a woman says it is a "loving thing" they are doing, that she is glad to "give my life for Socialism, Communism," and she thanks "Dad" (what they called Jones) for enabling her to do so.

Here is the FBI transcript of the tape.

All of this, including the transcript, is a matter of public record. Have you ever, in 32 years, heard that Jim Jones was a fanatic of the Left, ever heard the Left taking any responsibility for Jonestown in any way? Of course not.

And you never will - because the Left today, the Democrat Party, the liberal media, blogosphere, and academia - has become itself a cult of revolutionary suicide. They've all drunk the Kool-Aid. Which means the aftermath of November 2nd is likely to get violently ugly.

Particularly so in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Vermont - 26 states in all.

What do they have in common? A Democrat Secretary of State, the state's chief elections officer responsible for certifying the results of state elections. Let me tell you about one, Nevada's Ross Miller.

He's a stooge of Harry Reid. Last January, Reid put up a huckster named Scott Ashjian to register a political party named Tea Party of Nevada (TPN), and under it register as a candidate for the US Senate. Nevada law states that for a party's candidates to get on the ballot, a petition must be filed with the Secretary of State with a minimum of 9,000 signatures. The filing deadline is June and Ashjian never filed any petition at all, much less one with the requisite signatures.

Miller then ruled that somehow the law did not apply to this fictional Tea Party as it did for others such as the Libertarian or Green parties. The Angle campaign sued, as it was an obvious underhanded Reid ploy to fool voters who would otherwise vote for Angle. Miller ruled that the suit was filed too late as it was past the June deadline!

Then the Dem majority Nevada Supreme Court upheld Miller's ruling.

The ballot identifies each candidate's party by abbreviation such as DEM or REP. Ashjian demanded his make-believe party's abbreviation be changed from TPN to TEA. The ballot printing office said it was too late to do that. So last week, Miller ordered that all polling booths in the state must prominently place a notice saying that TPN stands for Tea Party of Nevada. No notice is required for any other party, just Ashjian's fraud.

So, if the Angle-Reid vote is close and Angle wins by less than 1%, how high do you think the odds are that Miller will Franken-ize the election, with serial counts and recounts until Reid wins? High as Everest.

This may happen in every tight Congressional and Senate race in all the 26 states above. Gore v. Bush 2000 on steroids. Dems will cheat wherever possible - preventing soldiers overseas from getting their ballots, rigging absentee and "provisional" votes, rigging vote machines, cemetery and multiple votes on election day - then challenge the results wherever they barely lose and do serial recounts. It doesn't matter how they win - the ends justify the means, the basis of Marxist morality - just so they do.

Dems have to win - or they don't eat. If Republicans lose, they go back to their regular lives and careers. Living off the government is the career of Dems, and they starve if they can't.

The particular flavor of Kool-Aid all the Dems - again, the entire Left, from Dem politicians to the leftie media, blogosphere, and academia - are drinking right now is their conviction that all those who vote Republican are racist haters who hate Zero because he's black. The only reason that the racist haters will defeat Dems on November 2nd is the foreign money illegally pouring in to Rep campaigns.

Point out to them that Rep-supporting outfits like the US Chamber of Commerce must by law (and do) disclose their foreign donations (which turn out to be miniscule), while Leftie outfits like MoveOn and SEIU do not (and don't), and they do the schoolyard act: put their fingers in their ears and yell, "I can't hear you!"

You can see the Lefties going deranged everywhere. Look at the Leftie Internet media such as YouTube, which is now filled with videos smearing Republican candidates as rapists, wife-beaters, criminals, total wackos, etc.

This is going to explode into an absolute apoplexy of Leftie derangement after November 2nd. A myth entrenched in Leftie brains is that Bush cheated Gore out of the presidency in 2000. After November 2nd, they will convince themselves that Republican racist haters cheated Dems out of their House Majority and will look upon the Reps who "won" just as illegitimate as Bush. They will no more accept a Republican House Majority (and possibly in the Senate) as legit than they did W.

This is real Jim Jones Kool-Aid they are drinking. They would rather the entire country and the entire economy commit revolutionary suicide than they be out of power. There is a two-part solution to this.

First, any violence they commit, such as by SEIU thugs, should be dealt with by a hammer. Zero tolerance by Republican governors, who should call out the National Guard in their states if necessary. States stupid enough to have a Dem governor will just have to suck it up. If "inner cities" get torched, that's their problem - just don't ask taxpayers to pay to rebuild what taxtakers burned down.

Second is a be-my-guest policy. No more Leftie whining. Shut up or kill yourselves. We don't care any more. We are going to make America prosperous and free again, and if you don't like it, too bad. Either deal with it, come to your senses, and become Americans again - or go away. Move to some jungle someplace and drink your Kool-Aid by yourselves and leave us and our country which you hate alone. Goodbye.

Folks, one week from today, November 2nd, begins the demolition of the Left in America. It begins with zero tolerance of their cheating and their threats. We do that, and it's morning in America once more.

Bilwick1| 12.9.10 @ 4:16PM

I suggested to the leaders of the Coffee Party (the State-fellators' short-lived attempt to form a counter Tea Party), as well as to people who attended the Jon Stewart "Return to Authority" rally, that they adopt as their slogan: "Because not all people with the Stockholm Syndrome are Swedish." They could also carry flags with a snake being crushed by the Iron Heel, and the slogan, "Please, please--tread on me. Tread on me HARD!" Surprisingly, none of them took me up on it. You just can't help some people.

Ralph Novy| 12.9.10 @ 4:18PM

My, my. All those words to make a simplistic point.

My simplistic counterpoint:

Don't drink fascist Kool-Aid.

Drew| 12.9.10 @ 9:36PM

Apparently Mr. Novy can't read with comprehension. As the NJK post just two above his documents, the words "Koolaid drinkers" should be avoided by all lefties because the suicidal cultists of Jonestown were following a full fledged communist who found refuge in the communist state of Guyana. And by leftist rules, what do we call a white communist who caused the deaths of almost a thousand mostly black followers including women and children? Gee, wasn't that a bit, you know, racist?

Bilwick| 12.9.10 @ 4:22PM

With that lack of originalitycommon to the Hive's lockstep party-line regurgitators, Novy writes: "The brand of 'conservatism' you'll find in "these here parts," Allan amounts to "I intend to conserve all the wealth and privilege I've accumulated, by whatever means. Fuck everybody else.'"

Translation: "My gang of State-humpers I want to relieve you of more of your money, and we're steamed because you won't submit quietly like good little tax serfs."

(Source: Websters' State-Fellator Jargon to Plain English Dictionary, now available online.)

Bilwick| 12.9.10 @ 4:25PM

"Don't drink fascist Kool-Aid."

Brilliant riposte, Novy. You're obviously the Dorothy Parker of the Stockholm Syndrome set. But isn't that a case of "physician, purge thyself"? I mean, if one did drink fascist Kool-Aid, wouldn't it make one want an ever-more-powerful State? Sounds like to need an emetic, pronto.

Ruffslitch| 12.9.10 @ 10:15PM

I thought Dorothy Parker wrote " Brevity is the soul of lingerie." :)

Bilwick| 12.9.10 @ 4:27PM

"Unfortunately, I did not see one message about a plan to fix America." I have a plan to fix America: it's called liberty. That's "liberty." Look it up sometime.

Jeff Perren| 12.9.10 @ 4:36PM

P.S. Barack Obama doesn't prevent (or enable) anyone to get elected (or not). The American voters do that.

stevor| 12.9.10 @ 5:04PM

Is somebody at American Spectator reading my online comments and using them? Some while ago, I pointed out in several places that they only explanation for Democrats still liking Obummer was due to Stockholm Syndrome.

That's okay, though. I guess it's a compliment.

Janice Fortin | 12.9.10 @ 6:07PM

Do you actually believe those were 60 million legal votes after all that has been proven against
Acorn? Nothing against obama will be heard in any court. That's how sewed up he has this country. White Guilt?! Know what the word was?
Free at last. Free At last. Thank God Almighty, whites are free at last! So USA was offerred up to he who displays to all of the world, his obsession to destroy it.

George S| 12.9.10 @ 6:34PM

Our learned President claims our country was "founded on compromise". This inspired me to reread our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, and I could not find a single one. Not one. But Obama is a constitutional law professor, so I guess it must be me.

RCV| 12.11.10 @ 2:27PM

I can only guess, George, that you never studied American history and the process that led to the drafting of the Constitution. Things like the "Great Compromise" on how large and small states would share power, how slaves would be counted for representative purposes, how the checks and balances were designed to foster compromise in the legislative process, among other things. The President was exactly right.

Alan| 12.10.10 @ 9:54AM

I think we are not seeing a Stockholm Syndrome as much as we are seeing acquiescence, surrender or resignation. Too many people do not participate as they have long reasoned their vote does matter. Or they do not participate in the acceptance they will just have to figure a way to navigate through the new system. Worse though, a lot of people just wait out the process with the aim they will figure a way to game the system and profit from parasitic behavior rather than contributing as producers.

cenzo| 12.10.10 @ 10:20AM

I'll say it again: "Obama is what you get when you allow imbeciles to vote."

Paul in Colorado| 12.10.10 @ 11:34AM

In their view of Progress, the Left's initiatives can never be reversed. Suggesting that this program or that isn't working out as intended, or isn't working at all, is tantamount to advocating a reinstitution of slavery. Think of it as a domestic iteration of the Brezhnev Doctrine.

Colleen Franzese| 12.10.10 @ 1:27PM

Here's a thought I hope all patriotic Americans consider: DO NOT reply to ANY post allan brooks writes. And maybe he will go away. Why stoop to his level by acknowledging ANYTHING he writes? He is not worth not even a second of your time!

ranging rangefinder| 12.10.10 @ 2:13PM

The entire left needs to be taken hostage and held at a larger version of GITMO, where they can no longer do damage to America and the world.

JCfromDC| 12.12.10 @ 10:38AM

Naaah, we need them to keep us on our toes, lest the rest of us get as smug as Republicans did while W was in office. We've had '94 in'10, so we need to keep sharp. It keeps the debate alive. Besides, they're good for a laugh now and then.

Elaine P| 12.10.10 @ 4:08PM

I come to American Spectator everyday to read the articles and posts. I have one question that I have everyday when I read the articles and posts. Why does anyone respond to Alan Brooks? His post today (12.10.10) at 12:18 was disgusting. He is repulsive on most days but out did himself today with his pedophyle B.S. How about commentors ignoring him so he goes away? Why should we have to read his trash talk? This isn't a left wing website where that is the norm.....ignore him.

Tim*| 12.11.10 @ 9:48AM

Elaine, do not pay attention to Sid Vicious Brooks, he is a hopeless bozo full of bs and full of himself (which makes sense). The guy is a provocateur, an insensitive and twisted troll who claims to be pro Israel while admitting to have voted for Hussein! Go figure... do not mind him or just insult him by posting pro Palin and pro Sobran stuff with his cyber ID. That drives him mad as hell.

Yosemeti Sam| 12.11.10 @ 2:24PM

Um, is BHOs' wife still proud of America?

Now that BHO asserts himself forced to be a mother hen for perceived hostages - regardless of creed, color or credibility.

JCfromDC| 12.12.10 @ 10:32AM

I posted this accidentally as a reply, but it should have been here, so again:
I've always had a somewhat different theory. Hillary was bumped out of her party's nomination because she would never be able to beat McCain in a Policy duel. So they had this sexed up, youngish, star quality mulatto in the wings with a silky voice, who they could "market" like a new model car. Hence, everybody had to be the first kid on the block to get one. The fact that neither Obama nor McCain had much different to say was not the point. McCain was "old establishment" as was Hillary and really no choice, so let's give the "young guy" a shot.
Shrewd marketing, that's the nut of it, for my two cents worth.
That, in addition to liberal white guilt, which I think is grossly overblown. If only 20% of the electorate consider themselves "liberals", I doubt seriously that Indies, and undecideds fell for the whole "guilt" trip.
I would refer to Bill Whittle's blurb on YouTube or PJTV about "the Power and Danger of Iconography". A first rate listen. This guy should run for office. he could skewer ANYONE in a REAL debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....ature=fvst