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Throw the Book at Him
June 13, 2013 | 196 comments
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Testimonial to a Great American
June 6, 2013 | 39 comments
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A Close Call at the Newseum
May 30, 2013 | 7 comments
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Obama’s Imbroglios
May 23, 2013 | 45 comments
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My Rahm Reunion
May 16, 2013 | 16 comments
The Current Crisis
The Election… The Election of 2014
Stupid or not, it’s still going to be the economy.
WASHINGTON — Jimmy Carter is redeemed! The grinning dunce of yesteryear, who grew into the anile doddering figure of today lecturing the civilized on all manner of statecraft, has been replaced by the saturnine gaunt prophet, Barack Obama. His sorry performance these past four years he lays to the administration of George W. Bush. The next four years will be a replay of the last four years, and an even graver crisis will confront us then with the domestic economy in a funk and foreign potentates all laughing at us.
The Prophet Obama has demonstrated that you can preside over a wobbly economy and be reelected. Apparently it is not “the economy, stupid,” as James Carville told us. You can suffer a foreign policy disaster (and in the midst of a campaign) and it will be ignored. Jimmy could have been reelected in 1980 if it were not for the miracle of Ronald Reagan. Had the Republicans nominated a perfectly nice man, say a successful businessman who earned a fortune as large as John F. Kennedy or Franklin D. Roosevelt inherited, Jimmy would have won reelection and the economy would have continued to founder in stagflation and he would have been sending helicopters out into the desert to be destroyed; possibly he would be sending the fleet to be destroyed.
Our President has offered us nothing during this election that is different from the past four years. That is amazing. He sees trillion-dollar debt for as far as the eye can see. The debt will be 20 trillion dollars when he leaves office and still climbing. Then it will be someone else’s problem. Yet President Obama will not be inert. He will raise taxes and other costs on the rich. It will not affect the deficits much. It will slow growth. Yet he will be delivering on his message to the embittered in his coalition that he has made the rich pay more, the rich that already pay 59 percent of the income tax. Withal he will institutionalize the portion of the GDP that the federal government accounts for at some 25 percent. The norm prior to his arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had been closer to 18 percent. He is bringing the efficiencies of the post office to mainstream American life.
Michael Barone, writing in the Washington Examiner, says America is now “two countries, not on speaking terms.” He writes, “One America tends to be traditionally religious, personally charitable, appreciative of entrepreneurs and suspicious of government. The other tends to be secular or only mildly religious, less charitable on average, skeptical of business and supportive of government as an instrument to advance liberal causes.” This was an election that pitted these two cultures against one another.
There is another element that I would factor into Barone’s calculation. The second America is rampant with hypocrisy. Its components have given me something to laugh at for years. For instance, there are the delusional women (usually single) who apparently see themselves as luscious targets of libidinous ecstasy from the male of the species and occasionally from the female of the species. They must have, as a matter of rights (thitherto overlooked in the Bill of Rights), free contraception devices of all kinds. It is a very serious matter. In fact, it is a matter of national security. Then there are the cultural liberals. What enthusiasm they are advancing today is a matter of no particular blueprint or scheme of any kind. They are sometimes for freedom, say, legalization of marijuana or, who knows, heroin. They are at other times for government coercion, say, cap and trade, the sale of pop in 32 oz. containers. They follow only one unvarying value with regard to their ongoing projects, disturbing their neighbors, disturbing the peace. In most criminal codes that is a misdemeanor.
There are others in this coalition that Obama brought together in this election. One is the union member, not the can-do kind of American blue-collar worker but the congenitally angry covetous type, at times the thug. Another is the college-age student. The student is among my favorite seekers of more government. All of them are going to be paying for Obama’s excesses for years to come and living in an economy with slow growth. Frankly the older grayer Americans have lived prosperous lives, but these stupid youths are just setting out in life. They will pay the older citizens’ Social Security and healthcare for years. It will not be very good healthcare but it will be better healthcare than stupid youths will eventually see.
That is unless in 2016 or preferably 2014 the conservative wave that we saw at the Republican convention can come in and save the economy. We have seen one of their kind on the campaign trail in 2012, Congressman Paul Ryan. Along with him will come Senator Kelly Ayotte, senator-elect Ted Cruz, Congressman Sean Duffy, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Bobby Jindal, Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Tim Scott, and Governor Scott Walker. Doubtless, there are others. The talent of the oncoming Republicans is inspiring. Against them I have read that Joe Biden is in the running and Hillary Clinton. Apparently there is not much competition from the Democrats. Already the Republicans can count on 30 governorships. They have not lost a sitting governorship in five years.
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (338) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.8.12 @ 6:37AM
There was no Teutonic shift. Only in the media are the theories pouring forth that the right wing needs to cave to higher taxes and climate change.
They don't. The Republicans should distance themselves from those plans because those plans are soon to become poison to the economy.
Sooner than you believe the Democrat plans will start to crumble. Obama's plan to raise the capital gain tax to 24% is already causing capital flight as investors cash in their assets for a sure thing now against who knows what in the future.
Obamacare will soon ensure that millions of Americans join the biggest club in the world, that of the unemployed and that club threatens to grow ever bigger.
Millions of more jobs may be lost in the health care insurance industry as that industry can't make the margins work under Obamacare.
This is one train wreck that the media will not be able to hide and they won't be able to cover it up. The Obamacare effects have already started and by 2014 millions of voters who voted for Obama will discover, elections have consequences. Sometimes they are personal.
Appleby| 11.8.12 @ 7:31AM
Teutonic shift? Are the Germans on the march again? Didn't you mean Tectonic shift?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:42PM
No, Appleby, I think he might actually have meant "Teutonic shift."
LMAO.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:10PM
http://content.usatoday.com/co.....dle-east/1
Here's your man!
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:33PM
That's a good one, I have to admit, Archie.
LOL
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 8:50PM
You know, when people use "LOL" one time in missives, I allow that it's a momentary lapse of intelligence.
When they rely upon this hoary trope as a matter of course, I find it highly revealing of the quality of their collective mind.
Congratulations. You're a moron.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:43PM
"hoary trope"?
"Missives"?
LOL
LMAO
LMFAO
FU
&
PO
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:46PM
"Allow" that way up in your ass, Gremlindick.
Do you understand English well enough to understand "Shut up until you know something"?
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 2:46PM
I think that Mr. R.E.Tyrell is forgetting one Undeniable Fact - Come 2014, King Obama the 1st, will have already torn down any semblance of a Southern Border, and by Decree of his Omnipotence, will Unilatterally Grant Amnesty to everyone Above, and Below the Rio Grande, to Full Citizenship and everything that entails.
And, why wouldn't he?
He has gotten away with Forging Documents to a Federal Judge. Implementing an Illegal Drilling Moratorium. Refusing to Uphold the Laws of the land. Making Recess Appointments, by Unilaterelly giving himself the Power to Determine when the Senate is in Recess. Running High Powered Automatic Weapons to Mexican Drug Lords. An Waging an Illegal War against Libya.
For 4 long years he has been acting out with a "Stop me before I do something Illegal again" sign around his neck, and NOBODY has stopped him.
Does anyone believe that there's ANYONE in this Republican Leadership who will Stop Him, now?
Cause, I don't.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:23PM
1. Please refresh your knowledge about how literate English writers use capitalization.
2. Stop being paranoid and gullible.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:55PM
I'll Write The Way I Want To, Dicklick.
And you write your stupid shit, the way you want to.
Okay, Dumbass?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:19PM
Hey. If you WANT to write in Albanian, I won't object.
Al Adab| 11.8.12 @ 4:42PM
Ny po Russki?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:13PM
No, unfortunately.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 5:58PM
God, if only he would write in Albanian.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:05PM
Maybe I will.
Obviously, you don't understand English.
RCV| 11.9.12 @ 6:54PM
First you have to learn all the swear words, TLP, or you'll have nothing to say.
Jacobite| 11.9.12 @ 2:25PM
There are two Americas all right, but Barone ought to know better what they are. I believe he comes from the Detroit area (white people don't come from south of 8-Mile Road) and he's seen the two Detroits, which mirror the two Americas: white America and non-white America.
Jack in Wi| 11.8.12 @ 7:31AM
The Republicans ran a turkey and he got ate for Thanksgiving. The party needs to rebuilt on the priciples it used to stand for. That is small government, peace, low taxes, no more foreign entanglements, personal responsibilty, an end to most Federal government programs for corporate and union welfare and equality for all with no preferences for anybody.
Jack in Wi| 11.8.12 @ 7:32AM
I also don't see why a picture of Ryan is up there. He added nothing to the ticket and his days as big player for a national ticket appear to be over.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:25PM
One might hope so.
But I'm not taking my eyes off the ball.
He's still in the House and will still wield influence.
I'm watchin' you, Ryan!
LOL
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:49PM
Please refresh your knowledge about how literate English writers use paragraph breaks.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:21PM
That's the best you could come up with, son?
Lacking.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:27PM
It was as good as your post. You should have just let it be. Son.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:35PM
Or else WHAT, Daddy-O?
You'll cry?
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 6:03PM
Ralphie..........this is not 4th grade give it a break.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 6:14PM
Or what, assistant-principal Subvet?
Gonna tell my mom?
"Ralphie" is not appreciated and tells me quite a bit about YOU.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:06PM
No.
He's gonna Pork your Mom.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:15PM
Bingo!
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 8:51PM
"Daddy-O?"
Please. You're trying to force the cool, sport.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:48PM
You have no clue, do you, Grzmlyk?
Figures.
Par for the course here.
Brad| 11.9.12 @ 6:40AM
Par for the course for historic, economic and social illiterates like yourself who post here, moron.
philippic| 11.9.12 @ 8:06AM
eh....novice
we're gonna play this out to end state. hint: the C in the grand Keynesian equation is gonna have to carry the nation....and that aint going to happen for a whole slew of reasons. Ryan will do fine. when you're in a war.....you man up with a a wide range of talent.
Ron Ackenberry| 11.10.12 @ 7:01PM
Re: " added nothing to the ticket"...
True!
He didn'tvbring Wisconsin with him either. Meanwhile, he hedged by running for his old seat.
I will be interested in an explanations of why he was chosen from those who read the entrails of matters like this.
If anything, Ryan scared people away, especially women and anyone with a drop of compassion in their blood.
GobBluthe| 11.8.12 @ 9:10AM
Romney was a good candidate. Probably the best losing candidate since 1960 in either party. Problem is right in front of your eyes. Romney got 59% of the White vote and still lost. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 10:14AM
BUT... Obama got 90% of the black vote (maybe 95%). That's because Obama and the Dems promise special privileges and race benefits at the expense of... guess who! In the meantime, Romney goes through "binders full of women" to help lesbians and man hating feminists. Obama is being a reverse Jim Crow Santa Clause. Ho Ho Ho!
The Republicans need to shut that down and make it an election issue. Otherwise, you'll lose in 2016. NOTHING is better than a big bag full of reverse Jim Crow entitlements.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:07PM
No.
That's because Blacks are the Most Racist Group in this Country.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:47PM
"Romney was a good candidate."
Reminds me of an exchange on the old Bob Newhart Show, between Bob and his father, after his father had separated from Bob's mother and taken shelter in some fleabag hotel:
Bob: Well, this is homey.
Father: Yeah, if your home's in hell.
Understand the analogy?
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:08PM
Yeah.
It means you're a Dumbass.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:17PM
How sophisticated and erudite, TLP.
Ever thought about becoming a "special agent" for some "special agency"?
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 2:56PM
Too many whites are still suffering from the "white guilt" label pinned on them by the demoRATS. 50 years later blacks are still cashing in.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:27PM
You know, djn, that's about as "racist" as it gets these days in forums like this.
Shame on you. Unless you're 6 years old, you should know better.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:58PM
Don't spend much time at huff post or msnbc, right?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:23PM
To the contrary, Archie.
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 6:05PM
Hey....Ralphie don't you have a job to go to... Oh I see your part of the 47%......how many weeks left on the 99 deal.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 6:16PM
Too many hours in a submerged tube with horny guys, I think, Subvet.
Surface and shower!
Brad| 11.9.12 @ 6:41AM
Project you much, buttboy?
GobBluthe| 11.8.12 @ 9:12AM
Youre right, Obama's plans will crumble. But in a country dominated by identity politics, it wont matter. Failure wont result in the left losing. Do they lose in CA, IL and NY? Do they lose in Detroit?
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.8.12 @ 10:25AM
I think you are right. As much as we want people to suffer for voting for Obama, no amount of suffering on their part is going to change their political views. Only a change of heart can do that. That's why the job of education is never done, and why we need to nominate real conservatives (polished and charimatic ones to be sure), but ones who are true to their principles. Even if we lose a time or two, the education of the electorate must continue.
That's why we can't have anymore RET or National Review or Ann Coulter endorsements of moderates. If that continues, we might as well forget about changing the hearts of the people who need it the most.
Ron Ackenberry| 11.10.12 @ 7:08PM
For one thing, most so-called conservatives are fake conservatives. Guys like Pat Buchanan wouldn't recognize them at all.
For example, when did conservatives become war mongers who demand ever larger defense expenditures and constant world war?
How did conservatives come to beg for government intrusions such as abortion law, voter ID cards, roadblocks, cameras on every street corner?
In any case, the rant for "more conservatism" is dead for sure because so-called conservatives could NOT deliver a win.
Demographics suggest "immigration reform" i.e. which party can deliver the best Amnesty package are the next big thing...
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 9:25AM
With a lack of MSM honesty and objective analysis, the coming failures will be portrayed and loudly amplified as Republican obstructionism.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:59PM
My version: "With a lack of MSM honesty and objective analysis, the coming failures will largely not be attributed to Republican obstructionism."
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 11:00AM
Worried about the huge federal debt? Here’s the good news; first the millionaires and billionaires believing they could buy the election, and the funny part with the money these millionaires and billionaires were expecting to get back through a 20% tax cut, learnt otherwise. Side note: not one of Crossroads GPS backed candidate won election. Karl spent over $300 million of some very disappointed peoples money so don’t be surprised if we find Karl laying facedown with a bullet in the back of his head. Second, Boehner said “we are not going to raise taxes on those earning $250 thousands a year.” News flash; the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire next month savings about $3.5 trillion over ten years along with across the board spending cuts including the Republican’s sacred cow the defense budget. A balanced approach, increase taxes and spending cuts.
Anthony| 11.8.12 @ 12:36PM
Well vtwin you fool, your chickens will come home to roost before ours do!!
You morons in California just voted to increase your taxes to pay for an even bigger welfare state.
Yes moron, the wave of entitlement knows no ideological barrier, they are coming for YOUR MONEY as well.
When they realize they can vote themselves other people's money, all is lost. I think Thomas Jefferson said something along these lines!! Welcome to the club vtwin. Enjoy the fruits of your misbegotten ideology as they come for you along with the rest of us!!
The beast must be fed!!!!
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 1:41PM
This man is worth 250 million dollars but because this man believes he is “entitled” to pay only 9% of his $20 million in earnings, "harvesting" the fruits produced by his fellow citizens, in taxes his country is forced to borrow money from communists in another country to pay its debts. It is time for this man to shoulder some of the responsibility of the nation his professes to love.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 1:44PM
oops, responsibilities.
sixgun98| 11.8.12 @ 2:14PM
vtwin.... it is not the taxpayer who claims they are entitled to pay smaller taxes that is the problem. The problem is the government who thinks they are "entitled" to as much of our money as they want. The Creator only asks for 10% of the fruits of our labor, our government wants to steal as much as 60% in total from the so-called "evil rich". Even if you took 100% of the earnings of the top 40% of productive citizens, you could only fund the government for a couple of months. We are not "forced" to borrow money from communists, our government chooses to borrow money because they cannot live within their means. Simply going back to federal government spending levels of the year 2000 would completely erase the annual deficit. the Feds take in about $2.3 trillion every year and the total spending in 2000 was $2.1 trillion. Best I can remember we had clean air and water in 2000 and kids with autism were not dying. We don't have a revenue problem in Washington, we have a spending problem.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 2:56PM
Shitfferbrains has obviously forgotten that: With Great Wealth, comes Great Mobility.
Just ask that Google Billionaire who Beat Feet to Singapore, when his Ship Came In. Ask The Muslim's Favourite Buttboy - GE's Jefferey Immelt - who can't send all of GE's Manufacturing Jobs over to CHINA, fast enough. Ask all of the other American Companies that have been sitting on TRILLION$, waiting to see how this Election played out.
"Sooner or Later you run out of Other People's Money."
If they LEAVE?
It'll happen OVERNIGHT.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 4:33PM
TLP, you make my point; these wealthy “Americans” like Romney are unpatriotic, they ship jobs and money overseas.
philippic| 11.9.12 @ 8:51AM
yawn.....and weak at that. it's the equivalent of "patriotic" Liberals/progressives exiting North of the border (or, reality, not serving in the military) as a matter of "conscience". folks who do not agree with the agenda and have the opportunity to park those resources elsewhere are going to to do so - they are acting on THEIR values.
Ron Ackenberry| 11.10.12 @ 7:11PM
Good riddance.
The IRS will track them down no matter where they go and at least they won't be around here stinking up the neighborhood.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:34PM
Put down that glass of "Austerity Kool-Aid," sixgun.
NOW!
Don't be simplistic. We have both spending AND revenue problems. They're complex. The current tax code exacerbates that complexity. The goal should be to strike the appropriate balances in spending/revenue -- as Clinton fairly well did. If you try to oversimplify the problem and then oversimplify the solution, disaster will follow.
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 6:14PM
Ralphie....clinton had help think Newt and others. Clinton the POS rapist is part of the same club that wants to take my freedom from me......you know..... the other POS...bojangles.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 6:19PM
"Ralphie....clinton had help think Newt and others."
If you need help learning English and thinking, please do contact me:
ralphnovy@netscape.net
No charge.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 8:53PM
Ah yes, the enlightened mind speaks. Disaster is the consequence of simplicity.
Very good. Do go on.
Ralph Novy| 11.9.12 @ 12:05AM
Distrustful of them-there "knowledge people" are you, Grzmlyk?
LMFAO!!!!!!!
philippic| 11.9.12 @ 8:57AM
almost there with you...except the part of the stratagem you are masking. the budget itself reflects all sorts of value laden decisions that millions - 57 to be exact - take issue with. the game is not going to be approval over what has already been decided. the fight will continue - legislatively and in the courts - over these fundamental issues. so...we'll sit back and see what's actually put on the table. I have read all your fairness rhetoric....a concept bereft of any quantifiable content - which is why you employ it. it is perfectly malleable to the short-term power/income redistribution ploy of the moment.
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 12:36AM
Hmm. I see. Because "fairness" isn't quantifiable it's bogus.
What philosophical tradition, perchance, does THAT come from? None that I've ever heard of.
The next time you catch your neighbor sexually abusing your children, I'm sure you'll ask yourself how "morally quantifiable" that situation is, right?
Uh-huh.
grassroot| 11.9.12 @ 9:53AM
Exactly,,
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:58PM
Stepped in your own mess! Too funny!
Anthony| 11.8.12 @ 2:58PM
Classic vtwin, you truly are just classic. You sound like a junkie complaining that he/she has to borrow money from a pal in order to support his/her crack addiction.
Are you truly this stupid vtwin? Your idea of "debt" i.e. an obscene monster of a welfare state is killing America.
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 3:01PM
How much do you chip in? I would bet ZERO, about as much as obama has chipped in. Get of yourbut and shoulder some of the responsibilty for yourself instead of having others care for you. So he is worth $250 million, if he earned he deserves it. Any person deserves to keep what he earned. Did you know every person on welfare costs the US taxpayer $50,000? I would say they are getting more than their fair share. They get more services than Romney gets for his money he pays in taxes.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 3:35PM
“I would bet ZERO.” Like Rush Limbaugh, offering an opinion on something you know nothing about.
Brad| 11.9.12 @ 6:42AM
Like Chris Matthews...
FIFY
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:37PM
Yeah, the pickpocket "earned" $50,000 last year through skill and diligence.
HE ought to be able to keep that, right?
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:18PM
Work to change the tax law if you don't like the fact he paid his fair share. Your use of the word "entitled" as if he thinks he's above the law, is insulting and you know it. But that's how you people (oops, can I say that) roll.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 3:39PM
I did, I voted for Obama.
Brad| 11.9.12 @ 6:43AM
And like all Odumbo voters, you will pay, and dearly.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:27PM
No, Archie. I don't like the fact that s/he did NOT pay his/her fair share.
Duh.
Oh ... and "they" DO think they're "above the law" and, unfortunately, they're all too right about that.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:30PM
OK, you're clearly out to lunch. Romney paid the amount that the tax law requires. It's as simple as that. If you don't like the fact that the law doesn't jive with your sense of what fair is....then run for Congress. That's where the laws are made.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:41PM
You don't "know" any of that.
Why?
Because Romney refused to release his returns.
No-one knows for certain what he paid except Romney himself and his accountants/attorneys, presumably.
Don't pretend to knowledge you don't have, Archie. You'll invariably be tripped up.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 5:07PM
Ralph, give it up. Next, you'll be telling me that the IRS doesn't target rich people for audits.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:02PM
Believe me, we will work to change the tax laws.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 6:10PM
What exactly are YOU going to do? Or maybe you have a mouse in your pocket.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 6:33PM
Hmm. "Mouse in my pocket."
Don't really know what that means.
A distraction? A "magic trick"?
Brushing that aside for the moment, what I'm going to do is my utmost to keep pressure on the Obama administration to do what it has promised to do -- with respect to a number of issues.
The old FDR thing: "Yes, I agree that what you say should be done should be done. Now make me do it!"
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:03PM
Yes, please do wield your considerable imagined influence with the boys in DC. No doubt they're all waiting to hear what Ralphie boy has to say - you've certainly proven to have a real "go-get-'em" drive in the bromide-spouting department; you'll fit right in with the Obamunists.
Do do your utmost, Ralphie boy, and do update us on your progress frequently, won't you? There's a good boy.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:58PM
It hasn't occurred to you, Grzmylk, that calling me "Ralphie" is a "cheap shot"? -- a cowardly way of avoiding the criticisms I've lodged?
I suspect I'm older than you, boy-o. So you trying to use such "diminutives" is pretty pathetic.
Stop being pathetic. Read and think more. Be more intellectually responsible and kind.
In other words, don't be a punk.
I actually -- believe it or not -- wish you well. I hope you become a smarter, nicer person.
Please don't disappoint me -- and your children.
Brad| 11.9.12 @ 6:45AM
You've already disappointed your children, ralphie. When they see the bill come due, they WILL take it out of your and your fellow progtard's asses..
Roscoe| 11.8.12 @ 2:02PM
vtwin's identity is exposed; it's debbie wasserman-shultz.
sixgun98| 11.8.12 @ 2:14PM
I don't think so.... she is not this smart.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:18PM
Your grammar and sentence construction is atrocious. I don't even know how someone could respond to this.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:38PM
...are atrocious. Glad I fixed that before anyone noticed.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 3:40PM
Stepped in your own shit, too funny.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:52PM
No sense of humor. Shocking.
Al Adab| 11.8.12 @ 4:45PM
The Left has none Archie. How are Betty and Veronica?
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 5:10PM
I don't know. I miss them.
philippic| 11.9.12 @ 8:48AM
news flash: I'm withholding two dollars for every dollar my taxes increase. we're going to play this out to end state. your rhetoric is all based on notions of fairness (an entirely flexible concept - conveniently so) without any grounding in economic sense. it hasn't worked and it won't work. this one is easy to protect. the sad fact is that ideologues like you are truculent enough to ignore the hugely disproportionate impact on precisely the segments of society you claim to "champion".
philippic| 11.9.12 @ 8:42AM
Obama won for main two reasons: handouts.....a strategy based on greed; the Repubs run candidates who do not bridge to changing demographics. Several African-American friends passed they know Obama's first term was a failure; many of the values he espouses are anathema to long-run responsibility, accountability, stability and growth. but they also noted that Obama essentially won the day because he "relates" across the demographic/class spectrum. There is understanding that Obama has been a failure - what hasn't evolved is belief/trust in millionaires who cannot project the human traits of affability, connection, believability, etc.
fair, unfair. doesn't matter. I suspect many conservative principles would sell better more so than many might imagine (especially after 8 years of 2% or less growth, sustained high unemployment, deteriorating security posture, no job prospects for college grads, crushing deficits, etc., sink in). Like as not....Repubs need candidates who can connect on a personal level - what, afterall, has been the PRIMARY marketing mechanism for Obama these past 2-3 years? all the Letterman, View, etc., appearances? they were selling likability, "connection", believability. The Repubs have traded on ideas and facts...to their credit. they need to play the game as the rules are now set and field candidates who are not only superior by intellect, experience and ability....but who project the personal traits that inspire allegiance and trust.
Appleby| 11.8.12 @ 6:54AM
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great....
By 2014 the Republic of Kalifornia and Babylon on the Hudson will be screaming for bailouts, and since their population returned their Messiah into power, they will get it. That's when the bottom will drop out.
There is a country song titled "When You Think You're At The Bottom, Look Down."
chuck| 11.8.12 @ 8:22AM
My favorite country tune is, "Liberals can Eat Sh*t and Die".
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:33PM
dang, I wish there was a thumbs-up button to click; I'd hit it several times for that posting (just practicing up to be a new liberal voter)
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 2:58PM
That was chuck, and his Brother - chuck.
We are expecting chuck's other Brother - chuck, any minute now.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:05PM
Liberals just won big, you moron.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:30PM
Now, now, RCV. I don't think "liberals won big."
At the most, frankly, I think they vindicated their basic policy positions.
... which is a big thing.
But, mind you, there's still that huge population of Americans out there -- reflected in the vote -- that is anything but "liberal."
Sorry, but I just can't help facing that goddamned thing known as "reality."
lol
btims86| 11.8.12 @ 7:00AM
Ultimately, all the matters is race/ethnicity. Read it and weap. Then tell me again that mass immigration is good.
White 59% Romney
Black 93% Obama
Arab/Muslim 8% Obama
Latino 71% Obama
Asian 73% Obama
chuck| 11.8.12 @ 8:37AM
It's actually urban vs. suburban and rural. Look at the election map broken into counties. All the large urban areas are overwhelmingly blue. The rest of the country is red. The minorities in the country tend to populate the cities, as do liberal whites. They are more reliant on government services. Rural residents have less government services, therefore we are far less dependent on the government, and we do for ourselves. Hence the different responses to Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi. New Orleans sat there and cried for help, the Miss. coast just started cleaning up and rebuilding.
As for the people in the Northeast suffering from Sandy, y'all can freeze. I took the money I would have donated to the Red Cross, and gave to The Wounded Warriors Project. I rather help out those people who are fighting for our freedoms, rather than help people who consistently vote for those who want to lessen our freedoms.
I invite all my friends at AS to join me. www.woundedwarriorproject.org
For our AS friends from the affected areas: I am truly sorry that I feel this way. I will keep you in my prayers. For the rest of the sorry bunch up there, screw 'em.
cowgirl| 11.8.12 @ 9:03AM
I hate to agree with you as Fellow Americans are suffering. But you are ringing the truth bell.
JmsA| 11.8.12 @ 12:31PM
Nice post, chuck.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:36PM
" New Orleans sat there and cried for help, the Miss. coast just started cleaning up and rebuilding."
Liar. Idiot.
Haley Barbour begged for -- and got -- tons of federal help. And he was aided by his corrupt "anti-government" pals in government.
Jeez.
Do you think water is wet? Or do you need to ask Newt Gingrich first?
Nightwinger| 11.10.12 @ 8:41PM
"fighting for our freedoms...."
Yeah, sure. How strange that neither Willard nor his father George nor ANY of his 5 sons ever wore the uniform, but they are going to lecture us on patriotism and public service.
The mendacity of p*ssy patriots is amazing.
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 12:40AM
"Amazing" is a euphemism, but yeah, you're right.
Nightwinger| 11.11.12 @ 5:44AM
Willard's national convention address marked the first time in modern history that a party's nominee failed to even mention, much less recognize, the contribution of America's active military or veterans.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 12:38PM
Blacks, immigrates? Blacks are the descendants of slaves brought to this country against their wishes by greedy plantation owners, Asians and Muslim are the refugees of failed conservative foreign policies, and Latinos are the children of illegal aliens, illegal aliens hired by greedy Republican business owners. Reaping what we sow Proverbs 23:1-35
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:01PM
Actually, most of them are the result of The Immigration Act of 1965.
The beginning of the End, of this great Country.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:31PM
You need to read Cowgirl's posts from yesterday on the subject of slavery, and then follow that up with your own research. "Greedy plantation owners'"were simply the customers of the "business owners" of slavery, all of whom were dark skinned in Africa and the middle east.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:43PM
Huh?
Think you need to rethink and reword.
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 3:03PM
Don't forget only whites are racists, for everyone else its called "pride"
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:41PM
No, it's also called "racism" -- by anyone with any brains.
btims86| 11.8.12 @ 7:01AM
Typo! Arab/Muslim 83% for Obama......
Ultimately, all the matters is race/ethnicity. Read it and weap. Then tell me again that mass immigration is good.
White 59% Romney
Black 93% Obama
Arab/Muslim 83% Obama
Latino 71% Obama
Asian 73% Obama
GobBluthe| 11.8.12 @ 9:06AM
Most frightening is that most minorities dont see the principals upon which America was founded as applying to them. They see capitalism and freedom and liberty as racist and in need of replacement.
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 10:17AM
They look back at the slave owning era and think: "I like that model! Whites are guilty and therefore in need of being slaves for a while. We can all have a big party with them as second class citizens. If they are against it, it's because they're a bunch of racists and sexists."
That's how their minds WORK people! And the feminists are even worse since they cry about how oppressed they were but the second the lifeboats are lowered or a dinner check arrives, they want to turn back to the clock to 1900.
That's what this election was about. If there's a positive thing to come out of this is that we can't deny it anymore. The Republicans MIGHT win in 2016 if the stars line up, but it's 50:50. Is that good enough?
If the left starts coming for wealthy white guys heads (and their families) while they're going through "binders full of women and minorities" to hire, don't expect me to get in their way. If they won't take care of me, don't expect me to take care of them!!! That's the message white voters sent in Pennsylvania and Ohio!!!!!
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:02PM
REVENGE.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:44PM
Who the hell are the "theys" and "wes" here, PolishKnight?
Them?
LOL
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 3:04PM
And most of the muslims are peaceful terrorists
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:42PM
"Weap"?
What's that?
RJ| 11.8.12 @ 7:29AM
Tuesday's election results are evidence that America is becoming California. May God help us. Michael Barone is right; we have two cultures in America. The traditional one is based on personal freedom, self-reliance and limited government. The new one is highly dependent and seeks to use government as a means to live off of others in the name of "social justice" and "fairness." Their plans cannot succeed by means of voluntary cooperation. They require government force and compulsion because their goals are exploitation of the traditional culture. Discussion and logic will not change the minds of these people because their goal is to take your liberty and property away from you. They are following a road that leads to poverty and despotism. Unfortunately, they are determined to take the rest of us along with them.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:05PM
I disagree.
America IS California, and Detroit, and Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and Cleveland, and Oakland, and Camden, and Newark, and Milwaukee, and Gary, and Flint, and every other Minority Majority Third World Hellhole that you can think of.
What a Country.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:07PM
When you're finished running down our country, please leave accept our best wishes on your way out.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:14PM
Yeah.
Me pointing out THE FACTS, is running down the Country.
How old are you?
5?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:39PM
Wow.
I haven't heard such a devastating put-down since the third grade.
Thanks so much for your profound, constructive contributions, TLP.
RCV| 11.9.12 @ 6:58PM
TLP got beat up by some black kid on a basketball court in Detroit growing up and he's never gotten over it.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:48PM
Yeah. "Social justice" and "fairness" are somehow code words for despotism nowadays, eh?
Think about that.
Then tell Glenn Beck to go to the circle of Hell reserved for hypocrites and torturers of language.
Rhoetus| 11.8.12 @ 7:49AM
Since 1965 the "Great Society" [sic] of LBJ began to transform America into one of dependence upon government largess. Except for deceit ObaMao wouldn't be president. The Democrat's victory is shallow and its margin is small.
Stick| 11.8.12 @ 11:32AM
I agree. Now would be the time to assert fundamental tax changes while dangling Obama's legacy before him. Leaving office with higher unemployment is really not in his, or his party's best interest. I think we have him in a box and we are not really aware of it. Even the MSM can't portray Harry Reid as honest and principled. So it comes down to Obama and the pubbies to cut a deal. The pubbies hold the ace in the hole called Congress.
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:38PM
ordinarily you would be correct, but this is now the People's Republic of America and we will be outvoted by the kleptocracy from here on out. The LSM will continue to cover for Obysmal all the way to 2016. It'll all be the fault of those bad nasty rethuglicans for the next four years.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:51PM
How clever with words you are, Chuck.
Don't quit your day-job.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 3:54PM
Ralph, if you're going to play this game, get it right. There is no dash between day and job.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:46PM
It's called a "hyphen," and it does belong there.
Jeez. Look shit up before you talk. OK?
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:19PM
Don't quit yours, counselor.
The picture on your facebook page isn't Clifton Webb. It's George Arliss.
Moron.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:21PM
Or, so that you can understand it more clearly, I should say:
Mor0n.
LOL
Ralph Novy| 11.10.12 @ 2:15AM
Duh.
But thanks for pointing out that there was a statement still there that referred to my previous avatar -- which WAS Clifton Webb.
CrackerHound| 11.8.12 @ 12:41PM
The Democrat's victory margins may have been small but under the circumstances, it should not have happened at all.
Let's see....Obama was trounced like no other in the first debate, didn't even bother to offer a second term agenda, presided over a horrible economy including an unprecedented downgrade of our credit rating, and the only thing he promises is to raise taxes...AND STILL WINS RE-ELECTION!!
We have this guy as president and 3/4's of the population thinks it's the republicans who are too extreme.....yea, we are completely screwed
grassroot| 11.9.12 @ 9:51AM
And it was the people who want " stuff" and
whose vote wasn't suppressed by the unheard of
requirement of producing a valid I.D.
Which without which you cannot do most any
other business. Okay, lets see how long this
country lasts with no jobs for this gov. to glean
the taxes required to pay for all the gimmes the
electorate of obama. This, with the debt level
we have and spending gone through the roof, will
collapse the system. Humm, wonder where we
heard this phrase from? Oh, yeah, geo, soros.
lurking in the shadows.
vtwin| 11.8.12 @ 12:52PM
Forget Nixon and Ford (eight years), the Reagan Revolution (twelve years), and little Bush (eight years). Damn it, this is LBJ’s fault!!!!!!!
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 3:18PM
The so-called "great society" allowing minorities to breed unchecked without any responsibility for taking care of their kids or allowing uneducated mexicans to cross border unchecked has doomed this country. Now we are a nation populated by lower class, uneducated people, that are a drain on our resources. The trend is irreversible, there just aren't enough responsible, hard working people to pay the tab. No other country has such leadership that allows anyone to enter their country without proper legal status. Even Mexico has stricter immigration laws than us. Canada requires understanding of English or French language, residency requirements before formal citizenship, a working skill so you can take care of yourself and family, understanding of their laws, culture, and history, and a requirement to pass a citizenship test. If you are caught in Canada as an illegal you are jailed and deported. SMART! We could learn a lot from them, but our leaders are cowards and don't care about the sovereignty of this nation. They all should be executed for not honoring their vow to serve and defend this nation.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:49PM
That's not how you use "[sic]," pal/gal.
Learn.
Von Mises Jr| 11.8.12 @ 8:35AM
While Bloomberg is policing your soda bottle, and after Christie hugs and squeezes Obama on his two hour visit, nothing has changed much in NY and NJ one week after the storm. Obama is partying with Hollywood.
There are 8M in NYC and another 8M in NJ that pay the highest taxes in the country. Yet the state and federal governments are virtually nowhere to be found.
Since US MSM will not report, you have to find it in the British Press:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-over.html
chuck| 11.8.12 @ 8:39AM
Screw 'em.
You reap what you sow.
chuck| 11.8.12 @ 8:49AM
They voted for government to take care of them, so let them stew in their own sh*t!
I think they will find out that what they thought was hot sh*t on a stick, is really cold diarrhea in a Dixie cup.
Von Mises Jr| 11.8.12 @ 9:01AM
I concur. If you wish to live on the beach, you should pay your own freight.
Life is a cruel teacher. But liberals are so stupid they often fail to learn.
My point in referencing these pictures from the UK Daily today is also that our governments and MSM will not report this. So not only do they lie, but they are abandoning them just like Obama did with Chris Stevens and the rest of the Americans in Benghazi.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 9:32AM
It has been said often, but bears repeating; imagine if a Republican was President.
Stick| 11.8.12 @ 11:35AM
I think Candy Crowley is fact checking news of Sandy's destruction and misery before allowing it to be shown. This is what an Ivy League journalist is supposed to do. Forward.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:58PM
von Mises:
I would say: Conservatives are so ignorant and rutted that they do not realize life needn't always be a cruel teacher.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:16PM
He didn't say "always." Of course, if you're ever going to grow up, there are some cruel (harsh if that suits you better) lessons to be learned. How can you possibly dispute that? No need to respond. I've read enough of your posts.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:50PM
Thank you so much for informing me that life can be harsh, Archie. I didn't know that.
And thanks for pointing out that I added "always" on purpose. I had no idea that I was doing what I intended to do.
CrackerHound| 11.8.12 @ 12:52PM
You don't seem to understand how this is all going to go down Chuck. You will eat that sh*t while they party on. Free healthcare, tuition, housing, contraception, etc. really are free if it comes from the sweat of the working man.
Your pursuit of happiness is sacrificed so that they can have happiness without lifting a finger.
In fact, more of those seekers of happiness at your expense are ready for import just south of the border....and they come as a built in voter for the Democrat Party. See how this works?
chuck| 11.8.12 @ 1:14PM
Not at my expense. My house is paid for, and both my cars. I'm self-employed, and get paid cash sometimes. I'm going to start offering a discount for cash sales. I'll be working enough to live on, but not enough to pay taxes.
These leeches and moochers will be living off of money borrowed from the Chinese, or printed by "Helicopter Ben". Not my dime.
I'm taking any extra money and buying gold coins. QE4-QE infinity will wipe out the dollar.
Save yourself, your family, and your loved ones.
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:39PM
dittos
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:54PM
Your link refutes your point, von Mises.
NE-Conservative| 11.8.12 @ 8:55AM
The contempt that the Demos have for their constituents is only exceeded by the weak minds of their followers. These followers CHEERED Clintoon asking them if they would vote for a LIAR to lead them - they neither understood the insult nor the irony of that challenge. Such stupidity is hard to find outside of the liberal mind.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 8:58AM
Keep digging through that pile of manure, Emmett: there's bound to be a pony in there somewhere.
Gee, you describe a pretty intractably-divided America. What happened to the "death of liberalism?" You were so sure - when was it, just a year ago? - that liberalism was about to go the way of the dodo bird, just as Francis Fukuyama was sure that, once the USSR collapsed, the end of history had been achieved.
Such claptrap may sell books over the short term and line the pockets of its authors - may even make them feel good about themselves - but this hogwash has nothing whatsoever to do with something I like to call REALITY.
The America you thought would come roaring back is what went the way of the dodo bird. Liberalism/socialism/progressivism has WON. Capiche? We are not the same country that elected Reagan. We are NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT a center-right country as you and so many conservative pundits continue vapidly to assert. Say it with me: We are a LEFT WING country. The critical mass of this country is LEFT of Center. There is no other way to explain this miscreant’s reelection. Yes, it was something of a squeaker, the trajectory of America has been obvious for 100 years; Reagan is simply an outlying, anomalous statistical blip. Look at our culture. Look at how our entire entertainment spectrum has been infantilized and sexualized further and further with each and every passing year. Doesn’t that tell you something?
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:49PM
(sadly) dittos
The Baby Boomers brought us this with their infantile focus on 'me, me, me' and "don't judge me". They then raised a generation of citizens who have no knowledge of original America. The schools then fail to teach why we created this country and instead crap on our history at every turn while chasing unicorns and rainbows.
The cities will continue to degenerate. The blacks will continue to devolve in their "Escape From New York" style ghettos. We'll continue to bring in millions of non-white, low education, foreigners and encourage them to vote for "stuff" and working white folks and a very small minority of non-whites will be expected to pay the freight. I cry for my son and my granddaughters. Their lives will not be pretty.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:00PM
"The blacks" says it all, Chuck.
You're a racist imbecile.
Get help.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:22PM
It's short hand for African Americans who hate America. Just makes it easier to communicate. Kind of like European Caucasian Americans who loves America can be short handed to crackers.or honkies. See how that works?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:53PM
Oh, yeah, I see how it "works."
I just despise it.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:00AM
(cont'd)
We are Western Europe now. We are “social democrats,” which term, of course, is simply a semantic velvet glove slipped over the thuggish fist of out-and-out socialists. This is what Americans WANT (and of course I include the 20 million illegal aliens that Obama tells us are actually MORE American than real Americans). This is not an aberration. This is not the typical back-and-forth of politics. This is REALITY.
Will we enjoy schadenfreude when liberals wake up to the malevolent, vengeance-seeking flim-flam putz that is the Obama agenda? Clue: If they reelected this black hole of humanity after seeing him in action for 4 years, they ain’t GONNA wake up.
Because the bulk of Americans share this agenda. They WANT to pay more for fuel. They WANT food prices to rise. They WANT the producers in this country driven out. And why not? Government will always come to the rescue and pick up the tab for their moral profligacy. THIS IS AMERICA today. It is not the handful of conservatives who agree with the content of this site or who watch Fox News. The demographics and psychographics of America circa 2012 in no way resemble those from 1980. We are foreigners in this new land, Emmett.
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:56PM
Tyrrell and all the other "conservative" pundits failed us all, and failed us spectacularly. Politics and culture are their profession and yet they did not see this coming? Malfeasance.
They are not alone, however. The Republican Party is dead to me now. Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.
Of course one has to give a hat tip (and a metaphorical bullet) to the LSM. They have been crusading for a Euroweenie version of America for decades. They sold themselves on the Euroweenie propaganda that somehow Europe was "better" than the US. Morons.
A pox on all their houses.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:14PM
We're Europe, now?
I wish.
We're Venezuela, now, heading towards Zimbawe, soon after to become North Korea.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:09PM
Why not move to brighter shores, TLP?
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 7:17PM
Why don't you grow up?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:02PM
Yes, Grzmlyk, reality is ever so much more "real" when you all-cap it.
I.e., "REALITY" is realer than mere "reality."
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:00AM
(cont'd)
Go ahead and embrace this utterly ridiculous canard that a conservative wave in 2014 or 2016 is going to save us. Keep telling yourself that – maybe you can sell a few more books on the resurgence of conservatism to some suckers. But the truth is that we are in for the long socialist slide into oblivion, and virtually every "new American" - the young who've been thoroughly propagandized by a corrupt education edifice, a corrupt mass media complex and a mendacious and tumescent political class will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER turn toward conservatism.
There is but one end to liberalism in America, and it’s not the laughable post-mortem comments I heard coming from every quarter of the pundit class yesterday: We need a better nominee. We need a better argument. We need to be more inclusive. What this really means is that we have to become Democrats. The only end to liberalism is the utter collapse of America and the West. Period.
That is reality. My new philosophy? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I'm going to try to milk the government for every goddamn thing I can get. Who knows? Maybe we can turn Cloward Piven on the cretins who have destroyed this country.
All the kings horses and all the kings men, Emmett, will never put America back together again. It is OVER.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 9:35AM
As if I wasn't distressed enough!
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 10:08AM
Sorry - but I hear all of these talk show hosts and pundits talking droning on about how we just have to do better next time, we just have to have a better message, maybe be more inclusive. That's like saying you need a better umbrella in a tsunami.
WE ARE A SOCIALIST COUNTRY NOW, and that's what the citizenry wants. End of story.
As for our "message," we belong to a party (the GOP) that would rather lose than get its uniform dirty, would rather reach across the aisle than stand and fight, would rather not delve into distasteful things (like Obama's non-existent birth records and/or his academic and professional history), would rather go along to get along than actually, god forbid, win.
Liberalism is the triumph of negative emotions over rationaliy: Envy, greed and vanity.
Once you open the pandora's box of goodies from government, it's just a matter of time before this happens. And people like Romney and Ryan, despised though they were, actually wanted to preserve the government gravy train. But Republicans will never promise as many goodies as Democrats and that, in a nutshell, is why the Republican party is extraneous in today's America, and why it is over for this country.
When you have GOP presidents like Nixon and both Bushes in the last 40 years, can anyone doubt that liberalism has won?
Anthony| 11.8.12 @ 11:15AM
Well Emmett, our pal Grzmlyk has exquisitely taken you to the woodshed these past 2 days, and rightfully so.
Liberalism did not die, it morphed into socialism, right before our eyes, with the help of the R establishment. Grzmlyk is exactly right.
And Barone is right, unfortunaely not about the election, but we are now two Americas, and not as John Edwards saw it.
Contrary to the R elite PsOS like Steve Schmidt and Colin Powell, we need to go more Right, not more left.
America chose to commit suicide on Tuesday, we must be ready to offer up the bromide of pure conservatism IF America regains consciousness from its suicide attempt.
JmsA| 11.8.12 @ 12:35PM
And socialist will morph into communism. Believe, I've seen it happen.
JmsA| 11.8.12 @ 12:39PM
Oops: meant to write, And socialism will morph into communism...
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 1:04PM
Of course there are many somewhat conflicting definitions of "socialism" and "communism." I basically believe that socialism is where a government owns the means of production (and this includes through corporate proxies like GM, which is fascism).
Communism - and I could be wrong - I believe is generally defined as the rise of the proletariat class world-wide such that nation-states no longer exist - it as communal ownership of the means of production across borders by the proletariat through his running of a one-world government.
In any case, as I say, socialism is a socio-economic unicorn: it exists in theory, but has never and will never happen in reality because it always devolves instantaneously, as after the Russian Revolution, when what was supposed to be socialism morphed upon the formation of the provisional government immediately into an elaborate spoils scheme that rewarded cronies and punished enemies; there never was any actual "from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs." Didn't exist for a single second there or anywhere else.
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 11:48AM
Grzmlyk........It's never about party it's about the end game........CONTROL.
THEY.....play the game of party......one time it's one side and then it's the other side...and all the while control is their game.
Lets face it we are headed for "The Master Plan to Rule the World" like it or not.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 12:20PM
I believe that is the problem with the GOP ultimately; true conservatives don't believe in government solving people's problems. So the best and brightest conservatives steer clear of public office. Those who feel the pull tend to be less staunch in their anti-government philosophy; they think that, well, maybe at some level government ought to be part of our everyday lives. And once they obtain office they are generally done for. They simply become tools of liberals.
Democrats, on the other hand, believe government is not only a great tool for reshaping society; it is the ONLY tool for reshaping society - always by coercion, of course. We're going to put a gun to your head and make you conform to our definition of "nice" until such time as you conform to our definition of "nice" on your own volition. And so the vast majority of people who seek employment or elected office in this country are Democrats – and there are no conservative or moderate Democrats anymore.
When you're a Democrat, it is almost always about control - except when it's about getting your "fair share" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) from other people's wallets.
To quote Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it."
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 12:24PM
Oops - sorry for the diarrhea of the keyboard - this line should finish off this post:
And to quote myself, there are four, and only four, kinds of liberals: Fools, crooks, pawns and vandals.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:48PM
How profound, Gremlindick.
I, Grzmlyk, the Magnificent and Omniscient, hereby decree that there are but four categories of "liberal" ..... blah, blah, blah.
All bow to Grzmlyk the Magnificent!
Pay no attention to his nakedness!
And especially pay no attention to his claims that he's wearing magnificent robes.
If anything, praise him for claiming to wear magnificent robes whilst he's standing there before you, naked and pitiable.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 12:22PM
(cont'd)
Those who believe Utopia can be achieved at the point of a gun, those who make money off of the fools, those who get stuff from government and those who want to tear down those they envy (Obama falls into the last category, FYI).
The irony is that there is no "master plan;" Socialism is its own death sentence; socialism has never existed for one moment on this planet. Those governments that claim to be socialist are in fact corrupt kleptocracies who reward friends and punish enemies.
There is no egalitarian utopia in which we all live from each according to our abilities to each according to his needs. Just look at how large Democrats and socialists live - they're not exactly scimping on their own lifestyles.
The whole thing is a puerile canard, and we deserve our demise for believing in something that makes the tooth fairy look plausible.
sixgun98| 11.8.12 @ 2:38PM
Alexander Tyler has stated that "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship". In addition his theory was that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"
We have just transitioned into Phase 7. I don't think it will be long before we enter Phase 8. May God have mercy on us.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:15PM
Exactly.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:58PM
Yup. Exactly wrong.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:20PM
One of my favorite quotes. True.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:00PM
This may well become one of my "favorite" quotes too, because it's so utterly UNtrue.
Right up there with light-colored skin = greater intelligence.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 4:56PM
Who the hell is/was Alexander Tyler?
And -- more to the point -- who the hell does/did Alexander Tyler THINK he is/was?
God's gift to social/political philosophy?
Methinks an arrogant, ignorant twerp like Hegel.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:15PM
Alexander Tyler was an 18th century Scottish historian and a monarchist. More importantly, the quotation above is bogus. No evidence he ever wrote it. Apparently cobbled together in the 1970s from two columns by conservative writers. Like much of the "facts" conservatives quote on the internet, it isn't true.
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 12:47AM
Ah. Thanks, RCV.
But, btw, it's "Tytler," apparently.
LOL
Same points apply, though.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:57PM
"socialism has never existed for one moment on this planet."
That makes as much sense as saying "Great White sharks are vegetarian."
"Socialism," in one form or another, has been the rule, for the past 500,000 years or so. It's "capitalism" that's the newcomer, the experiment.
Where the hell have you been son? Have you read ANY history? Does the "rise of the bourgeoisie" in the context of medieval/renaissance history ring any bells?
How old are you?
CrackerHound| 11.8.12 @ 1:31PM
So when does revolution become necessary? Never? Just roll over and die?
Live free or die becomes live free...or not.
daboss | 11.8.12 @ 2:44PM
Grzmlyk - I have been thinking this for sometime now. We have lost the war - we lost it long ago. I think we are just realizing it now. We are surrounded by progressives - and have been for the past 100 years - excluding a little respite with Reagan - BHO is an international progressive ... while Romney was most likely a national progressive like GWB - but progressives just the same.
I believe we have just seen the caboose of the "long train of abuses" pass us by.
So what is next?
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:27PM
I think that interests are going to have to rise and then the people will howl like stug pigs. When that happens, inflation is inevitable.
I have no idea if we'll experience hyperinflation, but it'll be cripling enough - 25-50% somewhere in there. And then there will be unrest. The government will continue to print money.
Some folks say the dollar will remain the world's reserve currency; I don't see how, debauched as it'll be - as it already is.
Once that occurs, there will be a severe drop in the standard of living. I think there might be riots and unrest along the lines of Greece, but worse and more prolonged. After that, Obama (or his liberal successor) will declare martial law and impose draconian measures.
After that, I don't know; I don't know if the implosion will mean revolution or if we just kind of fade away like parts of the Roman empire did.
But the good days are behind us; eventually, as the entire West atrophies, I can only assume that Islam will become ascendant as their demographics grow and ours continue to dwindle.
It can't happen here, right? I'm guessing they said that in Rome, too.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:04PM
And pigs will fly and dogs will cohabitate with cats and Newt Gingrich will marry Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee officiating.
Uh-huh.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:31PM
The only riots that have occured were University of Mississippi frat boys rioting after Obama's election. They stoned some cars downtown. I think in their dunkenness that they thought James Meredith was coming to re-enroll again.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:02PM
I haven't heard a definitive explanation of what happened on that campus, but if what I've "heard" is true, it's pretty goddamned shameful.
I'll reserve further comment until I know more.
But I respect your suspicions, RCV.
MadMaxx| 11.8.12 @ 12:56PM
Grzmlyk - I wish I could disagree with your critical analysis, but I cannot. Your plan going forward makes eminent sense. It seems that the misguided ideas of liberalism need to be tried. Conservatives must step aside and let all liberal programs be adopted, the Bush tax cuts allowed to expire and sequestration applied, and then hope and pray that we don't get caught up in the wreckage.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 1:06PM
In any case, we won't have a choice. And with such stalwart reeds in the wind like John Boehner, I have no doubt that any conservative principle will disappear without so much as a wimper.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:08PM
You know, Grzmlyk, "no new taxes, ever, for anything" is NOT a "conservative principle."
It's just a cheer for greedy, selfish jerks.
True "conservatives" want to "conserve" certain things -- yes, their personal wealth, but also the environment, their social milieu, certain social mores and customs, etc. -- in short, a certain "societal decency."
Today's "conservatives," on the other hand, are obsessed with keeping every last penny they could possibly spend. Pathetically selfish and greedy.
GobBluthe| 11.8.12 @ 9:05AM
Obviously the economy doesnt matter to 50% or more of the electorate.
SteelerJim| 11.8.12 @ 9:25AM
Any democracy that allows Ms. "Obamaphone" from Cleveland the right to vote cannot survive.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 9:46AM
Most of America's glittering intellectuals, those Big Thinkers before whom we must all genuflect (98% of whom are liberals) exactly share her opinions.
What is wrong with this picture?
We do NOT deserve to survive. A civilization that it too stupid to stop taking poison is begging to become extinct.
This is the wages of human nature. The supreme irony here is that, in its preening posturing about overcoming human nature to create a world where everybody cares about everybody else first and foremost, liberals are falling prey to the most human of flaws of all: Hubris.
And in this pursuit it's ok for them to lie in the service of a "larger" truth, to steal in the service of a "larger" justice; to be bigoted in the service of a "larger" social justice, to kill in the service of a "larger" human right, to hate in the service of a "larger" love.
You need look no further than Chris Matthews (but take your pick - they're all alike) to see this in action.
Somehow, though, the irony of liberalism and its proof that human nature cannot be overcome will be lost on those responsible for the destruction of this country. And as long as the moral hazard of government bailouts - governmental, corporate and personal - exist through the use of the printing press, these people will bask in their perceived superiority.
And when it does all eventually collapse on all of us, they'll never, ever figure out that it was their hubris that brought it down - they'll STILL blame us.
Al Adab| 11.8.12 @ 10:45AM
Grz:
We will not survive at least as a society. This was the defining election for the next generation. We have opted for the Social-Welfare State at the expense of our liberty. Only as individuals might we find paths to oppose and survive the imposition of this tyranny. We have become Rome.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 11:09AM
No argument from me.
We've become Rome for the same reason Rome became Rome - essentially, human nature imposes entropy on man-made institutions. Just as a delicious meal will eventually decay into putrescense if it is left to physical nature's rotting influence, our Republic has decayed into putrescence because it has been subject to human nature's rotting influence.
And anyone who has even cursorily studed physics knows, entropy is a one way street.
I have many liberal acquaintances who really believe a vote for Obama means they are GOOD people. What the hell kind of idiocy is this?
Evil that knows it's evil does its work in furtive bursts in the dark of night. Evil that THINKS it's good does its work relentlessly, in the bright sunshine of popular opinion.
Therefore, evil that is done in the name of humanitarianism is far, far worse than evil that knows what it is.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:13PM
"human nature's rotting influence"
Go live with chimps, then, Grzmlyk.
Jeez.
How old are you, again?
MadMaxx| 11.8.12 @ 1:00PM
Grzmlyk - You have your finger on the pulse of the problem, and you are absolutely right that even if Conservatives step aside they will be blamed for the ensuing chaos. In fact, it will all come back to George W. Bush....
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 1:08PM
Yes - every ideological movement needs an enemy, and George Bush will be blamed 100 years from now for spoiling Utopia.
Good thing we have such an honest media to keep Democrats honest. Hardy har har.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:05PM
"We do NOT deserve to survive."
Fine.
Set an example.
Kwan| 11.8.12 @ 9:34AM
Survival ultimately comes down to the ability to discern danger. Those that voted for Obama obviously do not have this ability of discernment. Due to their inability to sense the danger that Obama and the Democrat-Communist Party represent, they have endangered the United States chances of surviving as a free and prosperous nation. Ultimately ObamaCare harbors within itself the seeds of the destruction of the Democrat-Communist Party. Once the electorate gets a taste of this Orwellian abomination Democrat-Communist Party politicians will be hard-pressed to win elections. Obama's economic policies will only increase unemployment, -no matter what that little blue pamphlet he was waving around said- create a zero-growth economy, Weimar Republic-like hyperinflation, and a debt climbing into the stratosphere. So eventually the left's own policies will bring about their extinction, as is already happening in Europe.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 9:39AM
It doesn't matter. Obama will be ready to step in providing unemployment and all other give aways with our tax dollars-while those dollars last. Then they will print more until they are worthless. At that point there will be nothing left to save..
mlindroo| 11.8.12 @ 9:41AM
Wow...Tyrrell hereby receives my "Unrepentant Wingnut of 2012" award! Here is a guy who has spent the past four year confidently and fleefully predicting Obama's imminent and inevitable demise in the 2012 elections. You would expect to detect at least a hint of embarrassment in Emmett's post-election analysis following his Nov.1 "Au Revoir, Mr President" missive.
Why does the GOP keep losing presidential elections? It's because it is full of male,pale geezers like him who do not understand America A.D. 2012. At least Michael Barone & co. are smart enough to admit they were wrong, dead wrong while trying to figure out why. Emmett? If this article is any indication he'll happily keep spouting the same stuff without the slightest hint of introspection or self-examination.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 9:51AM
Are you so dim to ask why does the GOP lose elections? The answer is simple. A majority of this country is happy to live off the work of the minority. They have discovered a lifestyle that works for them. The majority does not have the motivation to vote for smaller government to create a more favorable environment for economic expansion which will create jobs and require them to work.
No matter, as this country continues to decline economically, there will be diminishing resources. Their gravy train will end.
mlindroo| 11.8.12 @ 11:01AM
> A majority of this country is happy to live off
> the work of the minority.
In other words, you believe the "47 % comment" too ... that the rich "makers" are Republicans and the poor parasitic "takers" are Democrats.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 12:16PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ojd13kZlCA
I don't think these people voted for Romney. Do you?
mlindroo| 11.8.12 @ 12:40PM
This is a total red herring! Please look up the number of rich, middle class and poor people who vote R and D in elections. You will notice that many of the "makers" in fact do vote for Democrats while many of of the poor "takers" are in fact Republicans. If you look at income, the Democratic and Republican coalitions are in fact largely similar. Many, many Republicans do not in fact pay federal income taxes.
http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/.....47-percent
Although Romney probably was just pandering to a prejudiced audience as usual, his comment highlights a frequent GOP problem in this century. They just don't know the facts about most things, and make bad "faith based" decisions nonetheless. The reaction to the state polls in this election is a typical example: conservatives like Tyrrell did not like the predictions so they chose to completely ignore them focusing instead on irrelevant stuff such as number of Romney/Ryan yard signs, "gut feel" about the American electorate and the size of Romney rallies in Pennsylvania. Little wonder these folks believed the election would be a conservative landslide.
squalis| 11.8.12 @ 1:52PM
I would view anything TNR says with suspicion given its clear political agenda. I don't have the resources or time to verify. I applaud the "takers" that vote R. They are standing up for personal responsibility. Your dismissal of the 2 you tube videos is a clear denial that there are a significant number of people sharing those sentiments. Common sense tells me, and should tell you, there are multitudes of them. I guess we will just have to wait for TNR's exhaustive and objective investigation into that aspect of society (you see, there is enormous bias in choosing what to investigate and what not to investigate).
I could go into a litany of economic stats showing much worse conditions today as compared to when O took office, but you would just revert to bad faith-based assertions, as you put it, that it was all GWB's fault, conveniently forgetting the Dem's controlled Congress since 2007, before the economic fall. There is plenty of liberal blame to go around for our current situation dating back 100 years.
Your party may have had political success, but not much else.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:09PM
I have no idea what your point is, squalis.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:08PM
You're right on the mark, mlindroo.
Cheers.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 10:25AM
Unfortunately, in this culture, our vaunted "pundit class" is never held to task for its outlandishly stupid and insipid predictions. Did you see Dick Morris last night? The author of "Condi vs. Hillary" in 2008 admitted he was wrong about 2012 also, but still considers himself an elite prognosticator. I guess just as the designated hitter who's average has always hovered around .120 is still a "clutch hitter" when contract negotiation time comes around.
Like Tyrrell, Morris has money to make. Like most liberals, if these people see that reality does not comport with their brilliant "findings," it is reality that is messed up. God forbid they come clean and admit the reasons for their inability to be realistic.
Tyrrell ought to do a very public and prolonged mea culpa. But he won't. He'll start blithely blabbering about a conservative comeback in 2014 and 2016 and never look at the intellectual sewage he deposited - why bother? It's in his rear-view mirror.
Hey, Lucy! Tee up that football again! Charlie Brown wants another try at kicking it! And THIS time, she PROMISES she won't pull the ball away at the last minute.
I can hardly wait for Emmett's next book; I have a table that's not level, and it'll be about the right thickness.
loulou| 11.8.12 @ 11:21AM
Quite right, Grzmlyk.
I quit buying Tyrell books and I cancelled my subscription to TAS long ago.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 11:33AM
Well, as long as their friends at "the club" are impressed by their witty musings and the sandcastles in air they so painstakingly construct, they're happy; the reality of the consequences of what happened yesterday is miles away from their Establishment cocoons and manicured lawns - for now.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:13PM
Did you actually read what you wrote, Grzmlyk?
Referring to Tyrrell, you said "Like most liberals ....."
WTF?
Are you just THAT incapable of facing the fact that it's "conservatives" who can't face reality?
Wow. That was a stunning tacit admission.
Ask your shrink.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:33PM
Believe it or not, Ralph, to nutcases like loulou and Gryzmlyk, Tyrrell IS a liberal. Such is strange world they inhabit ...
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 10:25AM
You have a point in that the male, pale geezers don't "understand" the Trayvon Martins of the Democrat party. They're not just bringing a gun to a knife fight metaphorically, they're doing it for real. They vote Democrat because it promises reverse Jim Crow spoils and the the white males of Pennsylvania and Ohio are unsure whether to bother showing up or not because the right isn't doing anything about it.
Tell the Democrat electorate that they might have to earn their jobs and university positions based upon merit, then we'll see some action.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:35PM
It wasn't Trayvon Martin with the gun.
Cato the Younger| 11.8.12 @ 10:31AM
Here's the reason he's doing it and the reason so many of us were wrong about this election: because we could not bear to contemplate defeat. Grzmlyk (see above) writes of a dystopian trajectory for the nation that none of us could bear to contemplate. So yes, we grasped at straws hoping against hope that the horror would not transpire and once again America would find a path to success, which we fervently believed was our destiny because it is our entire history.
This election is a sharp rebuke to those who believed in that and in American exceptionalism. We now must face, with bottomless sorrow and dread, the alternative explanation: past performance is no guarantee of future results. We are now in on a path to Third World decline as Mark Steyn has argued. This election is a complete disaster with no redeeming aspects whatsoever.
Sure, we can fight a rearguard action and resist. But we are still losing year by year demographically and culturally. One has to really wonder how bad things would need to get before enough people in 2016 or 2020 or beyond would re-adopt the principles of individual liberty and limited government. My guess is that the country could become a hopeless cesspool and that would still not bring an electoral victory. The worse things get, the more people will turn toward paternalistic government.
In short, we're dinosaurs. Tyranny is ascendant. If America was a stock, this would be the moment to short it.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 10:44AM
Thank you, Cato, for admitting what is obvious. That takes courage among not only Alice-in-Wonderland liberals, but also Alice-in-Wonderland conservatives.
I listened to Jim Quinn (radio talk show host out of Pittsburgh) this morning, and he was chipper, happy even. Why? He can't wait till liberals get the entree they've just ordered. He'll bask in schadenfreude! He was positively giddy.
What an ass. No. There is no silver lining in this cloud, schadenfreude does NOT await us. EVERY bad thing that happens in this country will, until we collapse, be blamed on conservatism (even though it will be liberalism that is directly responsible). Hence it is OVER for this country. We WANT tyranny. We WANT serfdom. The toxic envy - and the attempt to avoid being the object of it - demands that, instead of lifting everybody up, we drag the achievers down. That is the influence of envy in every person and every culture, and it is now running unbridled and rabid through the china shop of rationality.
Cato the Younger| 11.8.12 @ 1:25PM
When things look like they can't possibly get worse...they do.
Behind every dark cloud...there's a lot of rain.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 10:44AM
(cont'd)
And I'd point out that we've been on this road since Woodrow Wilson almost without surcease except the ray of hope that was the Reagan/Thatcher era. Those days are GONE. When you have a GOP candidate talking, as Romney did, about 1) keeping college loans flowing; 2) making accommodation for illegal aliens; 3) preserving the welfare state; 4) "replacing" obamacare with some other government program - and this is found to be TOO CONSERVATIVE for the electorate, what the hell do we expect?
The Santa Claus with the bottomless sack of toys will always be more popular than the Santa Claus who hints that there might be a limited number of goodies.
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 12:16PM
Grzmlyk.......it started long before Wilson.
Novus Ordo Seclorum.....was birthed in Bavaria by Adam Weisaupt in 1776.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 12:44PM
I guess that's true - in fact, you can go back further than that - you can go back to Aristotle in ancient Greece, the bread and circuses in Rome, you can go back to Bismark in 1871, etc. You can even go to Lincoln denying the states' rights to secede.
But in America, once Wilson was at the helm as the U.S. became a modern world power, and the federal income tax was enacted into law, that's what sealed our fate as the United States of America, in my opinion.
I'm talking about the U.S.
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 1:17PM
yes and no
IMHO it took FDR to really get the ball rolling. In addition, intellectuals (what an oxymoron that his) pimped for his agenda for decades afterwards and even now. In point of fact, his programs set the recovery back just like Obysmal's did.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:33PM
Yes, and some say it was LBJ's Great Society.
But there has been a contimuum here in America since Wilson, IMHO. He also is the fost-father of the U.N., that execrable organization (having given stillborn birth after WW1 to the League of Nations).
Yes, FDR added to that legacy and LBJ's stated intent ws to add to FDR's legacy. It's difficult to identify the exact moment we decided to become a statist leviathan; it's really the "boiled frog" scenario - but the point is that, eventually the frog winds up dead.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 5:41PM
Grzmlyk:
I share your fear of "creeping totalitarianism."
But I would submit that it is self-described "conservatives" who abet that path far more than self-described liberals.
Who, after all, most champions the Bill of Rights?
Is there truly a conservative counterpart to the ACLU?
James Baker| 11.9.12 @ 3:33AM
ACLJ, America Center for Law and Justice
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 12:53AM
Uh-huh.
Yeah, I've heard of them.
And yes, I suppose they are the conservative counterpart to the ACLU.
And that well highlights the difference between the two.
The ACLJ defends the liberties of the powerful. The ACLU, the opposite.
I'll throw my lot in with the latter, thank you. I think that's a "cleaner" sense of "liberty." Don't you?
Nightwinger| 11.11.12 @ 5:57AM
The ACLU lost big bucks investing with Bernie Madoff, so it seems they too must have judgement issues once in awhile.
But yeah, I agree with you that they mostly defend the defenseless against the powerful.
SUBVET| 11.8.12 @ 6:33PM
Grz.........Yes in 1910 6 men met on a island in Georgia....and in 1913 the Fereral Reserve was created......not federal and there are no reserves.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:36PM
Your therapist is calling, Subvet.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:17PM
And that has to do with the price of Mongolian aardvarks because .... ?
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 11:10AM
Here's the hope: Come up with a strategy to win elections and THEN run conservatism, however you define it, up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes. At the current time, it doesn't have a chance due to the left's buying votes via race and gender entitlements and the right going along for the ride either out of apathy (they don't care about it so much as gay marriage or keeping tax rates low for the wealthy) _OR_ they even like it since illegal immigrants and H1B's work cheaply.
If you play a chess game in the hopes of capturing your opponent's king and just give up all the pieces: Your electorate, the media, education, government, etc. then you're going to lose. You can't beat a full board with just a king and the big pieces. You need the pawns.
The Republicans have thrown away their pawns. I hate to use this analogy, but Hitler did the same throwing lots of men into combat until he ran out of men. In the end, he tried to get boys to fight them. You run out of men and those willing to fight your battles and you lose by default. You need people. Socialists are good at winning battles. Don't buy into their ideology but do buy into WINNING!
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 11:24AM
People in America will never, en masse, salute conservatism again. And we haven't since World War II (again, with the slight exception of Reagan). We have bought hook, line and sinker into an utterly false consciousness, and we are now religious zealots sitting in the front pew in the church of Progressivism. We have the blind faith of the idolator.
Most ostensible conservatives we send to DC - and even to local governments - do the opposite: they start out as conservatives and become liberals. Because you have to buy votes to stay in office, and once you're in office, you have to keep the gravy train running or you're out on your ear.
And with an ever-growing percentage of the population working for or being subsidized by government, that trend will only accelerate. Socialism is the end of all modern nation states. Which is ironic because socialism can only survive by digesting capitalism's nutrients. Once the nutrients are gone - and they always run out - socialism goes belly up. Hence Greece, Spain, etc.
And we will see riots in America what will dwarf those in Western Europe. Wah! Wah! I don't care where you get the money, I WANT MINE!
There is only massive inflation ahead, followed by collapse, followed by the rise of Islam.
I suppose the likes of Christ Matthews and Rachel Maddow can be proud that, 100 years hence, they will be the stepping stones by which medieval tyranny gained ascendance.
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 12:24PM
I don't think it's undemocratic to take care of your electorate's interests. That isn't the same as the left pandering to them via special entitlements. Look at it this way: Is it warlike or "socialist" to protect a country's basic interests and take care of it's borders? Oh, wait, to the left it is. :-) But of course, that's because the left decided to destroy it's citizenry from within in order to gain power. If it was the opposite, such as in national socialism, they'd think differently.
Politics, and war, are ugly but if the right can understand the necessity of war then why not the necessity of taking care of their electorate? And it's not even necessarily in conflict with shared national goals or ethics. Eliminating the marriage penalty and fighting for civil rights for white males are as noble and proper goals as defending tax cuts for the wealthy and drilling for natural gas. The right simply takes its electorate for granted.
And that has caught up with it.
Let's all sit around waiting for capitalism, the free market, and the Holy Constitution to save us. Howz that working out?
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 1:22PM
your premise is false - the electorate does not need to be taken care of by anyone. Couching it in those terms is giving credence to the other side. Now, in your terms, it's merely who gets the "stuff".
The true argument is that the government needs to just get out of the way. Let citizens take care of themselves and voluntarily help those who really may need it. The only good that government CAN do is to create a level playing field via law.
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 3:00PM
Chuck, I'm not suggesting that the right necessarily make their white and/or male electorate into a welfare state but merely protect their interests similar to how they protect the interests of the pro-lifers and anti-gay marriage crowd. Politics is about addressing the issues of your electorate.
But hey, keep on praying to that Constitution and waiting for the free market. Oh, and maybe just open up the borders too and put up a sign: "welfare and race entitlements for all! Just vote!" See how it works out.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 1:28PM
I don't understand your post.
First of all, the obvious hole in your argument about an electorate's interests is how you define that.
Here in VT, Pat Leahy took millions in federal taxpayer money to build the Echo Center here, a very modest aquarium and green-propaganda center. Sure, he was bringing home the bacon and looking after his constitutents' interest, but what about the taxypayer in Oklahoma who was forced to contribute money to it through taxes?
Looking after the electorate's interest always means pork, and almost everyone agrees that pork is out of control in Washington. So yes, I think it's bad to look out for the electorate's interest if you're talking about stealing from taxpayers and delivering booty to buy votes.
Second, when you say let's sit around waiting for capitalism, the free market and the Holy Constitution to save us, I don't know what you mean. If those things were allowed to be the law of the land, this would be a far wealther, healthier country. But they're not, which is why the goose that laid the golden egg has been asphyxiated, its oxygen supply cut off by taxation, regulation, redistribution and the welfare mentality.
If we lifted the ligature of socialist, redistributionist, punitive laws in this country, we would immediately prosper once again.
It sounds like you're saying capitalism et al are mythic beasts; they have been rendered so by liberalism, not by reality.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:37PM
Of course PolishKnight's comments didn't make sense.
No more sense than why s/he repeatedly used "it's" instead of "its."
If you can't master the simple things ....
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 3:05PM
Ralph, I'm aware of it's versus its. It's a typo. (Ok, that was proper!) But yeah, go ahead and turn up your nose and ignore me. Yeah, like white working and middle class males, we're not good enough for the "binders full of" elite women that Romney pandered to. How did that work out? That's SO smart!
Grzmlyk, I agree with you philosophically but the fact is that race and gender preferences are driving Democratic supporters to the polls and the Republican's refusal to address them doesn't inspire whites and males to go to the polls. In addition, in the long run, it reduces your electorate as non-whites flood into the USA with a big sign up saying: "If you're non-white, come and get privileges at the expense of white males! George Soros will pass out the eviction notices to them!"
So sure, ignore it. Pray to the Holy Constitution to get the working and middle class OH and PA voters to the polls. It isn't working. The power of the Constitution compels you! The power of the Constitution compels you!
I'm sorry, but Roberts has made it so that the Constitution is bupkiss. On the bright side, we could tax abortions by $1000 each. That should solve the problem! :-)
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:19PM
He's a Lib Punk.
Ignore him.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:20PM
Grzmlyk:
Obey TLP.
Ignore me.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:37PM
I can't argue with you too much; but it's not just non-whites; a great swath of middle class whites are Democrat automatons as well. You've got your entire union bloc, your academic bloc, your government employee block - many of those folks are white. And it has already become lore about single women and their predilection for All Things Liberal.
It's a systemic problem and, regardless of the individual nature of all the tributaries, they're all running into the ocean that is liberalism.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:41PM
Oh, "it" was indeed "run up the flagpole," PolishKnight.
And a whole bunch of us indeed "saluted" it -- with one finger.
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 3:07PM
Agreed. It's hard to care about rape abortions and gay marriage when the left is getting away with handing out race and gender entitlements to their electorates and Romney is helping out with "binders".
I could give a rat's *** about the abortion and gay marriage at this point. I would like to not have to register my race and gender before getting a job or going to school while Senator Pocahantas gets to argue in front of the Supreme Court without a license to practice law...
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 6:09PM
Now, see, there you go. Whatever rationality and decency I might have been willing to accord you goes out the window when you say stupid shit like "Senator Pocahantas."
Exhale and do some reading/thinking, my friend.
Food for thought: If modern-day anthropologists are correct that "modern" humans (Homo Sapiens/Cro-Magnon) evolved in Africa, ALL Americans are "African-Americans"; ALL Europeans are "African-Europeans"; ALL Asians are "African-Asians"; etc.
So when "they" ask you what "race" you are .....
(The Wisconsin DMV demands that. You're required to check one of five choices. And there's no "other" option. So, over the years, I've been "African-American," "Asian," "Native American" and "Samoan." Fuck 'em! What are they going to do? Call down the "race experts" from Rhinelander? I think you get my point.)
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:42PM
Is this your idea of "wit," or do you perceive yourself as slumming among those you ostensibly think are so far beneath your towering intellect that they deserve nothing but to watch you preen?
Typical liberal - all for egalitarianism, but always the first mediocrities to shout, "look at how much better than you I am!"
I've got news for you, sport: Most well-adjusted, intelligent people who aren't losers don't exactly spend their days trolling Web sites commiting second-rate literary vandalism.
Just food for thought.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:37PM
Hmm.
"Slumming."
Loaded term.
On reflection -- yes, I'd have to say that I'm confident enough in my philosophical knowledge and beliefs to say I'm intellectually "slumming" when I interact with a whole lot of commenters at TAS.
Not ALL others, mind you. There have been a few individuals here who, although describing themselves as "conservatives," have nonetheless shown that they are rational and open to education and persuasion.
But so many folks here merely "vent." They spew whatever words that come to hand to try to express their personal frustrations.
... which would be OK, except that they also, in the process, make outrageously false claims and unjustifiably villify well-meaning individuals.
Bittersweet.
MadMaxx| 11.8.12 @ 1:14PM
Cato, you and Grzmlyk, unfortunately, are likely correct. I do not see any silver lining in the re-election of Obama. Liberalism/statism is on the ascendency for as far as the eye can see. Even if there is a crash, the socialists will emerge from the wreckage to seize control of the masses and society will slowly rebuild on a social democratic model like Western Europe. The ideas of the founders upon which this nation was built will never return at least in our lifetimes.
Cato the Younger| 11.8.12 @ 1:30PM
I agree, but there is a chance that an unlikely confluence of events could come together simultaneously: a catastrophic crisis credibly attributable to someone other than Bush and the GOP, a charismatic conservative candidate, a weak Democratic candidate. Get those planets aligned and we could be resurgent--maybe.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 1:42PM
I believe the only event that will stop the liberal juggernaut is what is going to happen: Massive inflation and a collapse of the dollar.
In the meantime, interest rates are going to have to rise, and the people will squeal like stuck pigs, markets will seize and the government will oblige by printing money, which will lead to the aforementioned collapse.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:28PM
I think the word you were searching for is "regurgitant," not "resurgent."
lol
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:34PM
I think you're confusing "liberalism" with "neoliberalism," Maxx.
I consider myself a "liberal," but certainly not a "statist." That Bill of Rights -- trying hard to preserve individual liberty -- is precious to me. And I even take the Ninth Amendment seriously, unlike so many current jurists. For me, the state exists for the sake of the well-being of the individuals it comprises -- NOT the other way around.
I'd like to know who came up with that "neoliberal" bullshit. Rove? Luntz?
Just FYI.
Al Adab| 11.8.12 @ 4:53PM
Sorry Ralph:
Government exists to protect the rights of the citizens not to mitigate them. When a government becomes destructive of those ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.
It was just altered by a vote. Perhaps it will be abolished as well.
Al Adab| 11.8.12 @ 4:56PM
Cont:
The well being of the people is not measured by their material condition but rather by the Liberty they enjoy.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:41PM
Look up "mitigate," Adab.
I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean what you think it means.
As to your assertions involving "alter" and "abolish" ... I agree.
Commander Kelly | 11.8.12 @ 10:29AM
For my take on the election see "Full Reverse" and "A More Dangerous World" only here...http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.co.uk/
Mike Rogers | 11.8.12 @ 11:10AM
I hope the heck you're right.
As Vigierie says, the time has come for all good men to come and take over the party. If we don't get the GOP to sober up and fly straight, we will have to submit it to the IPAB and start a new conservative party.
I prefer taking over the GOP, but if we have to form a new party, now is the time- I have no patience with those who watch the selection train wreck play out, and then throw a hissy fit and stay home because the good doctor didn't make it. The time for rEvolution is right after a defeat, not right before a major election.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 11:43AM
We are pigs going happily to slaughter, my friend. There will be no reform of the GOP, and there will be no third party to speak of.
We have made the decision to abandon reality, hold hands and go over the cliff together, gazing into the mirror of our own vanity, or scratching the itch of envy or contemplating what's in it for us. That is the critical mass of the electorate.
There is one party in America today: Democrat and its wholly-owned subsidieary, Republican.
The Republicans are to the Democrats what the Washington Generals are to the Harlem Globetrotters: they are simply foils there for show.
loulou| 11.8.12 @ 11:18AM
Kelly Ayotte is nothing but a Karl Rove Republican. RET, Jr. should know better.
Furthermore, Rubio and Jindal (attractive as they are) are not Natural Born US Citizens according to the Constitution.
JayDick| 11.8.12 @ 12:43PM
The people who count don't agree with you on the citizenship question, so your opinion is moot.
loulou| 11.8.12 @ 1:37PM
It's not my opinion, it is fact.
TLP| 11.8.12 @ 3:20PM
He's a Dick.
Stick| 11.8.12 @ 11:43AM
I think folks here are missing a real big reason Romney lost - Yankee white guilt and an opportunity to punish the south. You put those two motivations together and they will sacrifice their first born sons on the nearest altar of pious projection. True fact.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 12:00PM
No self-reflection, Mr. Tyrell, on the nonsense you peddled before the election? I'd expect that of Jeffrey Lord, but not of you.
chuck in st paul| 11.8.12 @ 12:29PM
lots of luck with that. Your article is a pipedream of the most euphorian alterverse.
America has reached the tipping point of leeches and infantiles. Those of us raised as traditional Americans are truly outnumbered and outvoted from here on in. It won't matter how terrible the economy gets - they'll just throw more money down more ratholes because it's "fair". We are going to fast become Greece.
From there, in many decades, we'll either become Zimbabwe or 1776. I prefer the latter and I would prefer it sooner.
don| 11.8.12 @ 12:56PM
Some of those states who have Republican govenors voted for Obama. What happened there?
soldiermom11| 11.8.12 @ 1:00PM
I am very sad. I really feel beaten up. I volunteered for Romney. I talked to friends and church. I did everything I could. It is now clear to me that you can no longer win without the media. The media is controlling the message. That was actually who Romney was running against. I guess republicans just have to get better at putting out a message that catches their attention. I agree that obama voters are just too stupid or dependent to have a clue. So we need to go after everyone else. Looks like we are going to have to get meaner, tougher, and sneakier to fight off the black panthers and the union thugs. But not today. We are all just too worn out and tired to fight.
MadMaxx| 11.8.12 @ 1:19PM
Soldiermom11 - You are correct. Romney was up against the media, which never honestly assessed Obama, and covered up the Benghazi debacle. This is not going to change anytime soon. The only hope is that Biden and/or Hillary run in 2016, against a rock star on our side.. Perhaps Rubio...
PolishKnight| 11.8.12 @ 1:23PM
Soldiermom, your post is highly relevant because I think the tea party movement, while admirable, is wearing out. The SC is packed with justices who largely allow congress to pass whatever they like and the left's vote buying via welfare and race/gender entitlements is unbeatable in its current form. All the volunteers in the world couldn't have won for Romney. Many of them went out for McCain. With the left during the Bush years, they at least were focused on the back end building up support via immigration and more entitlements. The right is using up its resources, it's as simple as that.
They need to become more proactive about winning future elections via taking care of their electorate or plan to lose in 2016 and beyond.
MadMaxx| 11.8.12 @ 1:27PM
PolishKnight - Good points.. However, what do you mean "The right is using up its resources"?
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 2:08PM
Soldiermom, I don't think it's a matter of getting our message out - the message IS out. It has been rejected. And, despite what hopeful conservatives never tire of saying, the mainstream media isn't going anywhere (sure Newsweek is out of print and the NYTimes continues to hemmorhage money, but they will continue online).
Along with our Marxist educational institutions, entertainment industry and science, the mainstream media will continue to promulgate a false reality forever.
There are two messages: The GOP (ideally, at least) says, "we believe in individual responsibility, self-reliance, morality and law and order. We hold people accountable for their actions."
The Demorcrats say: "You can force other people to give you their money and that makes you good. You have a right to anything you want for free. Morality is relative, so do whatever you want. The government will always be there to pick you up and give you stuff."
Now if you were a typical fool, crook, pawn or vandal, which of those messages would resonate with you?
It's over, soldiermom. It's over.
Bloopville| 11.8.12 @ 1:33PM
The answer is right in front of you, gloom and doom losers. America would have embraced a fiscally conservative, practical and pragmatic party. However, clowns like Akin and Mourdoch easily confirmed the liberal narrative that the Republicans are anti-science knuckle draggers, who believe that dinosaurs walked with humans. Jettison the 19th century clowns, and Republicans win.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 2:14PM
WRONG. Neither Akin nor Mourdoch were running for president. You honestly think there is a swirling mass of people out there who were saying, yeah, I like Romney's message and his direction, but that Mourdoch and Akin are knuckledraggers, so I'm voting for Obama!
America has REJECTED conservatism. That is reality.
And what you are really saying - without having the courage to say it - is that Republicans have to embrace abortion - in other words, you are yet another of the growing number who say Republicans can win just as soon as they become Democrats.
Please, buy a clue.
Nightwinger| 11.11.12 @ 6:14AM
So.....the defining characteristic between Republicans and Democrats is....Control of the Uterus?
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 1:49PM
Tyrell, the following is a short list of why we have lost, not just this election but perhaps everything.
Because many of you refuse to unite, big talk about a big tent but not really. You would rather fight and tear each other to pieces and do this for everyone to see including repeating liberal narratives ( the primary season as evidence)
Because you accept the double standards set by the Left in everything from elections, political correctness, speech, voter suppression, false polling, media shenanigans, lies, accusations, etc.
Because you place all your faith in the supposed people's intelligence. It is about perception not reality. You refuse to manage those perceptions.
Because you refuse to find ways to control your message to the vast fourty percent who do not vote and the reaming independent voting block.
Because you think you somehow have to persuade liberal voting blocks to win and become more liberal.
Nomadc| 11.8.12 @ 2:35PM
"Because you place all your faith in the supposed people's intelligence. It is about perception not reality. You refuse to manage those perceptions."
No, Simon. To the contrary, it's because conservatives underestimated (and continue to underestimate) the electorate's intelligence and worship at the altar of political spin rather than drinking from the fountain of fact. The problem is not that the GOP couldn't sell the right perception; it's that the perception the GOP was selling had no basis in reality and the majority of voters understood that clearly.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 9:26PM
Well said, Nomad.
And spot on.
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 1:57PM
Because you cut and run on your candidates and bow down to every accusation your opponents throw.
Because you spend more time preaching to the choir than reaching that 40 percent who do not vote and the vast independent voting block.
Because you refuse to see politics is local and you do not run very good ground games.
Because you turn the cheek on every outrageous lie, slander, and insult thrown your way by the left.
Because you do not get your base out and encourage empowerment and toughness, you spend a great deal of time acting like a minority movement rather than the relaity that you are the actual majority.
Because you are so starving for originality and leadership that you will kneejerkingly accept the likes of fat ass opportunist with big mouths and big egos spouting a few cliches in east coast states and hold them up without critical thinking or objectivity.
Because you do nothing to control your media, education, and entertainment institutions that daily and minute by minute destroy your message, your image, and your cherished values.
Bruce Mamont| 11.8.12 @ 2:04PM
A thought that frustrates me is that successful leadership of Republican governors and performance of sections of the private economy (energy, despite federal obstruction) improved conditions in some states enough to mitigate opposition to Obama, contributing to his re-election. Could continued Republican success at state level similarly offset Obama's governance that it works against Republicans in '14 and '16?
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 2:05PM
Because you allow Libertarians to undermine and destroy your chances in every instance and area of politics. You invite them in to usurp and create chaos and do not hold them accountable. You allow them to claim to be true conservatives and make alliances with the Left without vigorous reproach.
Because you allow the like of Bohner boy to lead you and do very little to hold these turncoat corrupt DC political hacks accountable and allow them to run you party.
Because you refuse to acknowledge that these party system were corrupted long ago and their is only one progressive elite that actually runs the show.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:12PM
So now you're answering questions that haven't even been asked, Templar?
Or are you hearing voices we can't?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:14PM
And that was a SHORT list?
LMAO
How about THIS for a "short list":
You lost because you lie -- to yourselves and others.
Archie| 11.8.12 @ 4:49PM
You responded to your own post! Right after slamming Simon. Who's hearing voices now? Funny. I think I'm LMAO.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:43PM
The bell is ringing, Archie.
Recess time!
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 2:08PM
Tyrrell:
As I said I would, I'm reposting what I said with respect to your article, "Au Revoir, Mr. President":
"Tyrrell, you're delusional.
You've been drinking too much of your own Kool-Aid.
And I'll repeat this post in a week, whilst you're wondering what happened and thrashing around looking for nefarious forces to blame for it."
And now -- lo and behold -- you re-emerge from the shadows of your disgraceful idiocy with THIS piece of even-more-delusional nonsense, apparently having learned nothing from the events of the past week.
"The second America is rampant with hypocrisy."
Yeah. But you get your target exactly wrong, because you're apparently incapable of self-reflection.
"The next four years will be a replay of the last four years ...."
I'm pretty sure that's laughably right up there, in accuracy, with your 2012 presidential prognostications.
And ... oh, this is precious ... "They [(single women)] must have, as a matter of rights (thitherto overlooked in the Bill of Rights), free contraception devices of all kinds."
Not only are you lamely trying to whip up the trope that single women are some sort of "special interest group" to be generally distrusted and specifically blamed for Obama's re-election, but also, in the midst of your apoplectic rant you utterly misuse the word "thitherto" so as to render the sentence quoted above ultimately nonsensical.
It's time for you to quit. Take some time off and do some serious reading, thinking and soul-searching.
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 2:46PM
Gaia knows I'm no defender of Tyrrell, but if you think liberals aren't making a special interest group out of women, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. Uh, in case you haven't noticed, the Democrat party's entire constituency comprises special interest groups who perceive themselves to be aggrieved.
Who's the liar again?
You've got no credibility - just a lot of wind from a vain duck's ass.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:02PM
Hmm. You know, I'd respond, but I have no idea what a "vain duck's fart" is.
LOL
Grzmlyk| 11.8.12 @ 3:10PM
Read the self-aggrandizing, posturing drivel you write; you'll get the idea - that is, you would if only your misplaced narcissism and pedestrian mind didn't preclude it.
I'll be happy to conduct some redmedial training for you, but you couldn't afford me.
LOL.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:47PM
"Posturing drivel"
"Misplaced narcissism"
"Pedestrian mind"
Can't wait for your "redmedial training."
... "professor."
grassroot| 11.9.12 @ 9:41AM
Liberal drivel. Self righteous and judgemental.
It is " useful idiots" like this that lenin was
referring to. Making it possible for radicals to
take over and " transform" this nation.
Nightwinger| 11.11.12 @ 6:38AM
@Novy: Well done. It may be that Tyrrell's use of "thitherto" is a lame attempt to appear erudite....in a Buckleyesque sense of course...while soothing his wounded fantasies as a fallen mountebank.
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 2:10PM
Because you are resistant to new ideas and new techniques and strategies by people like Andrew Breitbart and others, you do the same things over and over and expect a different result. You do not face the obstacles and think of ways to overcome them like Andrew.
Because you are unwilling to strike preemptively and you are always in the position of defense, not offense.
Because you make sweeping statements and conclusions that are often incorrect. Like your own columns, predictions, and explanations as an example.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:58PM
"new techniques and strategies by people like Andrew Breitbart and others"
Nothing "new" about that crap.
Lying through your teeth for personal gain is as old as dirt -- or at least as old as men have been courting women.
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 2:17PM
Because you jettison everyone that falls victim to media slander and manipulation and hold simple sophomoric ideas that if you just become more liberal you would always win. True idiocy.
Because you refuse to see the BIG picture and bald facts. My god, too numerous to even begin giving examples of this...Like the FACT that nearly half the nation that voted shouted no to this Fraud and socialism, but that does not seem to register in anyone's mind as something positive. Or the fact that this was a zero sum game, they have no mandate, half the nation is practically calling for revolution, and knows they cheated and committed wide scale fraud. Nothing has changed since last week. It is a draw as the liberals often say when we win.
Nomadc| 11.8.12 @ 2:25PM
If they weren't so pathetically myopic, Emmett's rantings and those of most posters here would be laughable. Has it not yet dawned on conservatives that a perfectly winnable election was lost because the majority of TODAY'S AMERICANS find the GOP's policies archaic and its message offensive?
You nominated a moderate who had the credentials to win this election but you shackled him to a platform that belonged back in Eisennhower's 1952 campaign. And then you compounded the problem by delivering a message based upon one single premise: that anyone who deviated from your world view was, by default, a slacker, a criminal, a pervert, morally corrupt or a word that begins with "sl" and ends in "ut" and anyone who disagreed with you was ignorant or even unpatriotic.
Change is never easy or neat. The electorate in this country has changed and it's going to continue to change. Having forfeited its opportunity to lead that change from the front, the only question is whether the GOP can suck it up and find a way to be relevant or continue to stick its head in the sand and blame the rest of the world for evolving.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:07PM
Generally agree with the tenor of your post, Nomad.
One tweak I'd make: I think a lot of today's Americans find both the policies and message of today's GOP both archaic and offensive.
Cato the Younger| 11.8.12 @ 5:45PM
You're right, those 1952 nostrums in the platform were obnoxious. I would have much preferred Coolidge's 1924 platform. Ever read his 1925 inaugural address? How far we've come down the wrong path.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:50PM
I'll "Google" it, but what, in the meantime, Cato, would you say is the gist of that inaugural address?
What caught your attention/struck you as true?
Cheers.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:51PM
Please tell me it's not "The business of America is business."
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 2:25PM
Because out of silly notions you allow idiot trolls to invade your web sites and deluge them with misinformation, lies, name calling, illogical fallacy and argumentation and provide them with just another platform. You do not even enforce your own stated rules.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:19PM
Love that "illogical fallacy" stuff, Simon.
Keep it coming.
Simon Templar| 11.8.12 @ 2:35PM
Comrade Ralphy, no one here at this web magazine or its readership give a rats ass what you say, think, or do. You are here as a troll and an agitator. Try to remember that while you write your useful idiot commentary.Take a day off and go pay worship and homage to your messiah.
Other than this response, which is more than you deserve, there will be no other, you are a waste of time. Do not expect me to address a liberal idiot who gets his kicks trolling conservative web sites, do something "useful", go have an abortion, marry your boyfriend and put it where you both like it, smoke a joint, pick up your welfare check and health insurance card, and be sure to give every frigin dollar you make to your messiah.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 3:09PM
What I would have expected from a self-styled "crusader."
LMFAO.
RCV| 11.9.12 @ 7:09PM
Simon wishes he lived in a world that wasn't so "messy". One where he could read only comments by people with whom he already agrees. One where people like Nate Silver don't disturb his self-constructed reality with actual facts. One where Bob Tyrrell has to run Tyrrell's media website the way Simon wants it run. In a country with Democrats; or immigrants; or nonwhites. Only people who look and think exactly like him, and speak the same opinions.
You know, a society with Liberty.
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 2:53PM
As incompetent and dumb as obama has been for four years, the prize goes to the bigger dummies, those that bent over and voted for him.
Thom| 11.8.12 @ 3:26PM
"Our President has offered us nothing during this election that is different from the past four years. That is amazing"
Not really. Why should he offer something different when what he offered (5 trillion in free stuff for his supporters) worked quite well for him? He promised the Moon in 2008; he delivered 5 trillion to groups he received the most support from.
Sometime after I leave this place I suspect there will be a greater appreciation in some quarters why the Founders of what was a republic had such contempt for "democracy". That is took them a decade to hammer out a working draft of what they thought would restrain the historical tendencies of "democracies" to commit suicide via "promising the most benefits from the public treasury" is what is amazing. Those people had thousands of years of failure of self rule in their "education" to reference. Today, no one of their caliber can be found in our national politics.
A Nation of unbridled ignorance and childish fantasies is what we have become. The Ash Heap awaits.
djn1313| 11.8.12 @ 3:33PM
Obama has lied for four straight years, unemployment is 8%, gas prices have more than doubled, the housing market is a disaster, he has amassed more debt than all the other presidents combined, he has refused to work with Congress, both democrats and republicans, has ignored the laws and Constitution to pass his socialist agenda without Congressional vote, Fast and Furious, the Libyan massacre of four Americans while he watched and did nothing, and the Ft.Hood muslim murderer sits protected and unpunished by his administration.
If all these things couldn't get many Americans to vote for Romney and give him a chance, there is no hope for the future of this nation. These people are as bad as the non-leader they re-elected.
PatInPitt| 11.8.12 @ 4:28PM
If it had been all about the economy, Stupid, Romney would have won. The economy is no longer relevant to the millions who live off of the government and who have no interest in getting a job or any concern about taxes, debt, or growth.
HopeChangeInAZ| 11.8.12 @ 4:45PM
It all sounds good but one thing I have learned after this election is that there are no shortages of talking heads who think they have all the answers. Unfortunately, at the end of the day they are just talking heads and not much more. If there was ever an election that Republicans could win, I would have bet my bottom dollar this was the one but instead the Republicans were soundly defeated. I have a hard time blaming Romney mainly because I like Romney and thought a good moderate had the best chance to beat Obama and his loony side-kick Biden. I don’t think the far-right has a snowball’s chance in Hades as the saying goes because they even scare a good portion of their own party so I guess we go on listening to the talking heads and hope for the best. I for one am starting to lose hope.
joemack| 11.8.12 @ 5:21PM
You Americans are doomed. I am now independent and looking to leave your Sodom and Abortionstan behind.
RCV| 11.8.12 @ 6:17PM
Bye!
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:21PM
Have you too been "spammed"?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 7:54PM
Sorry. I misunderstood.
Ron Ackenberry| 11.8.12 @ 7:56PM
Mr. Tyrrell.
Miss!
Huge!
You boldly predicted a change in government a short while ago. You were wrong. Now you scatter random excuses against the wall in a way that is...well..undisciplined to say the least.
If it was all about the economy, Romney would be getting fitted for the Crown today, not making plans to slink off to the Caymans to sip cold soda and count his tax free fortunes.
The factors in play were:
1. Demographics. The one deeply feared, (now that it's too late): Minorities especially Latino can swing a national election. Indeed, I have read within four years Texas will become a blue state.
2. People understood the economy is and was Bush's fault despite conservative protest to the contrary.
3. Conservative obstructionism was recognized and punished.
4. No one, including most Republicans, liked Romney. They still don't.
The bottom line is the best man, of the choices given, won.
I predict six months from now we all will have forgotten the officious, rich snob who felt entitled to be king or whatever.
Mitt who?
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 8:07PM
Well, Ron, I pretty much agree with your analysis of why Romney lost the election -- except that I don't think it was ALL about the economy. There were myriad other, important issues also in play -- which I would describe as a posture of "fundamental fairness."
Feel me?
Paul McGrath| 11.8.12 @ 11:38PM
The Demon, by Pushkin
When those days when to me were new
all the impressions of existence--
and eyes of maids, and sough of grove,
and in the night the singing of the nightingale;
when elevated feelings,
freedom, glory, love,
and inspired arts,
so strongly roused my blood,
the hours of hopes and of delights,
with sudden heartache having shaded, . . .
Paul McGrath| 11.8.12 @ 11:42PM
. . . then did a certain wicked genius
begin to visit me in secret.
Sad were our meetings;
his smile, his wondrous glance,
his galling speech,
cold venom poured into my soul.
With inexhaustible detraction
he tempted Providence;
he called the beautiful a dream,
held inspiration in contempt,
did not believe in love, in freedom,
looked mockingly on life,
and nothing in all nature
did he desire to bless.
Jimbobogie| 11.8.12 @ 11:49PM
Like a lot of you, I was drawn to this site at the bequest of Ben Stein, but looking at a lot of these comments, it's little wonder that the "liberal" media likes to make fun of the right...you're supposed to be on the same side, yet the insults are disgusting. If Colbert or Stewart read some of your attacks AGAINST EACH OTHER, they'd laugh out loud. Folks, the demographics of North America have changed and wishing/deportation won't change things. The society of Reagan was almost a quarter century ago-the Communists (remember them?) were the enemy and (most importantly), there was NO GLOBAL FREE TRADE. North American goods were produced in North America-not by child labour in Asia. Remember these words: FARMING, FISHING, HUNTING, MINING, DRILLING and PERIOD!
grassroot| 11.9.12 @ 9:38AM
Yes, the domination of sheeple who want 'stuff"
and " gimmees" have overwhelmed the voters who
want limited gov. and freedom to " work" for our
stuff. And, those who want a benevolent uncle,
who is there for more handouts over don't care what our foreign policies are and our standing in
the world. Just like the populus of ancient Rome.
Goodies and circus's and don't bother me
about the details. Socialism works until " You
run out of other peoples money." By then the
dictators take over to create a " new world order."
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 1:02AM
grassroot:
The "goodies and circuses of Rome" weren't occurring in a "socialist" political environment. They were occurring in a plutocratic environment.
Check your history.
skeptic| 11.10.12 @ 7:53AM
With all due repect, a week or so ago, RET wrote about how Obama was going bye-bye. I'd say his predictions on politics are about as meaningful as Ben Stein's on economics.
Here is what is going to happen: the Federal Reserve will continue "quantitative easing" and get away with it for four more years because the rest of the world is having troubles too. However, prices will start to climb, while employment stagnates. Obama will impose wage and price controls, and try to "save money" by starving the military. We will sit back while we lose geopolitical power. Obama merely applies standard liberal nostrums to deal with it, making it worse in the process.
Conservatives lose, and the Tea Party facilitates this, because the "conservative message" is larded with snark but very little in the way of a positive program, and nothing at all in terms of why the conservative concerns should be shared by liberals or independents.
Guys like RET fan the flames of discontent, as do Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck , Coulter, and O'Reilly. They just don't get it! Nobody but the True Believers listen to their rants. And the True Believers just can't seem to win elections. The reason is simple: They never have a positive proposal.
Drake Exploration,Inc| 11.10.12 @ 2:55PM
Emmett...
Romney had some campaigning gaffs and a
largely tactless staff of knob twiddlers..BUT
the GOP and Conservatives were beaten by stolen
votes,vote fraud and a criminal ground game by
the Obongo forces. The Demo-rats have been pros
for years at this !
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 1:04AM
Explore your own asshole, Drake -- which is where that nonsense came from.
Nightwinger| 11.11.12 @ 7:00AM
Drake is just pissed because there wasn't a VIP parking spot for his BMW at the polling place.
Politics Debunked | 11.10.12 @ 3:01PM
A major reason Obama won: People didn't realize how much he lied. Many liberal newspapers reported his claim he will "pay down our debt".. and never printed anything questioning it. He constantly repeated the lie, contradicted by his own budget document. The anti-Obama media likely didn't bother pointing out his lie because they thought it was obvious.. but it wasn't to many people it appears.
Obama claimed at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 6th, 2012: "I'll use the money we're no longer spending on war to pay down our debt".
Yet the White House site contains his 2013 budget proposal with a table showing his planned national debt at the end of each year through 2022. It adds at least $900 billion to the debt every year, $9.6 trillion over a decade.
If a CEO lied about his company's finances to get people to buy stock, the public would cry "fraud! send him to jail!". Should we trust someone to run our government that we wouldn't trust to run a company? This isn't a one time gaffe, he has repeated it from the State of the Union in January, through dozens of speeches into October and a campaign commercial.
For details about this, or to see the issue described in an amusing cartoon&video; mashup of Obama's own words, see the new site: http://PoliticsDebunked.com
Ralph Novy| 11.11.12 @ 1:10AM
Check out the sources.
Romney flat-out lied at least 50 times more than Obama.
As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single clear-cut lie that Obama told. On the other hand, I can easily think of 10 whoppers that Romney told.