The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Rubin Says: NOT Obama

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Jennifer Rubin has a brilliant column at Pajamas Media, arguing that being "not Obama" is a very good political strategy for down-and-out Republicans. From a conservative standpoint (which is of course different than a Republican standpoint), I now find myself in agreement -- especially after being persuaded by Rubin's very well-argued column. I've always been of the "you can't beat something with nothing" school, and while I have never refrained from criticizing that which I disagree with, I've always thought of the criticism as a secondary duty rather than a primary occupation. But I've just recently noticed what seemed an odd thing: Every week for months now I've told myself that it's time to start highlighting the good conservative alternatives to Obama's Mussolinism. Yet every week, day after day, I find myself utterly engaged in criticism and opposition. It's just that Obama is doing so many things so fast in so many ways to undermine so many of the basic foundations of our republic, and is doing so much to undermine the basic equations of ordered liberty, that I feel it necessary to try to fight off all the awful changes (or, rather, add my tiny voice to those trying to fight them off) and haven't had time for my planned magnum opus showing all the good, forward-looking, effective solutions that conservatives offer.

What's more, I think the fighting back, the criticism and opposition, are working better than would any focus on the many legitimate positive offerings available. Not working WELL yet, mind you, but at least keeping conservatives in the game and motivated.

But while I had sort of begun to notice my own months-long bent towards opposition, I had not figured out in a coherent way why this was happening. Now Jennifer explains it, and explains it superbly.

I'll put it in military terms: Sometimes you just have to dig in, defensively, and endure the barrage while sending frequent guerilla sorties out to do damage. Or, to cite an athlete I absolutely abhorred, sometimes Muhammah Ali's rope-a-dope tactics are the only way to win: Cover up, let the other guy punch himself into exhaustion, all the while throwing fewer punches in return but making those punches really count. I just watched, a few weeks ago, a replay of the entire Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle. I was surprised to see that Ali DID throw a number of punches from his defensive crouch -- he did not JUST cover up while Foreman exhausted himself -- but he only punched when a clear opening was there and he could at least nick the younger man. Well, that seems to be the best option for conservatives right now: Defending that which we hold dear, and counterpunching at every GOOD opportunity.

Until we gain actual ground back (now back in military-analogy mode) in an election, going on the offensive doesn't make much sense. Conservatives are "not Obama," as Jennifer says -- and for now, that's plenty good enough, even though we know we have lots of positive things to offer.

View all comments (13) | Leave a comment

mijattarab| 6.20.09 @ 1:34PM

Since the election, I've been throwing verbal grenades at the Obamatrons and watching the hate wash over me like a cool spring rain. I just smile and laugh and go on with my day....

Jumpin' Jellybeans| 6.20.09 @ 1:58PM

This "not Obama" seems fairly self evident. Latest example is the "not Bush" ran by Obama.

CS Lewis| 6.20.09 @ 2:04PM

Same here mijattarab.... doing the same thing, don't care who is listening. Let remarks about Obmanation fly wherever I am with what is coming from the jerk they voted for.

Old Texican| 6.20.09 @ 2:25PM

Quinn
I'm sorry sir, but I must ask you to re-think that.
This crew wants to destroy our faith in our free society as fast as they can.

I'm thinking marches in the streets, and sit down on the job, and let the beggars eat only the cake they can produce themselves.
Any thoughts on how we can just become refuseniks?
Sir, the difference between us and the "not Bush" people...is that we finance this whole country.

Not only that, we haul the food, produce the food, produce the energy, and supply all the other things Americans have earned and want.

What if we just say "NO" ?

Oldefarte| 6.20.09 @ 3:36PM

Quin, my friend, I'm going to have to disagree with you [and Jennifer] SLIGHTLY [and always with respect, of course]. I think conservatives should use both offense and defense in battling the Messiah and his lemmings, because to simply employ an Ali-style ROPE-A-DOPE defense will render all of us into the sad physical/mental state that Ali now finds himself [due to being needlessly punched in the head by various boxing opponents]. Conservatives [writers, ie Quin] need to accurately point out Obama's numerous daily political errors; and to also offer counter-measures [attack] his absurd policies. I'm of the opinion that his upcoming necessary TAX INCREASES to pay for his deficit destroying policies is going to become the WAKE-UP CALL that finally shocks Americans into realizing what/who he really is; and that conservatives should simply educate themselves concerning alternatives to his agenda and then to attack/vote in the upcoming elections. I think conservatives plus moderates are going to, after their rude awakening concerning taxes, go to the polls in mass to drum him and his liberal Democrats out of office beginning in 2010!!!!

Roy| 6.20.09 @ 4:36PM

I dunno. On some areas(health care, the economic "crisis") not offering ideas of our own will allow Obama and company to enact their most rabid liberal fantasies, because the public seems to be convinced we can't "do nothing".

Angel| 6.20.09 @ 5:19PM

DO IT ALL!! Just keep hurling your body and soul at Obama's fascist actions and policies.

Speak up with keen wit, snark and go for the Liberal jugular every damn time.

It's the least we can do for our country when we look at the images of young Iranians being beaten to a bloody pulp by Iranian Secret Police.

God bless those brave Iranians struggling for freedom.

MattSwartz| 6.21.09 @ 12:21AM

I halfway agree with this post's sentiment. The fact is, national politics should not be the focus of any conservative's life. It isn't healthy. Conservatism is about not losing your grip on reality just because your opponents do.

2008 was an election year, and 2010 will be too. This, however is 2009, and it's a good time for all of us who don't do national politics professionally to shift our focus away from Obama and back onto our families, churches, jobs, schools (hopefully private) and communities.

Raging against Obama is counterproductive. It hardens the opposition and prevents them from seeing his foolish side. Here we have a man whose ideas don't stand up to scrutiny, but none of his followers are scrutinizing him because they're too busy uniting against us.

G. A. Kevis| 6.21.09 @ 11:06AM

Gentle Folk,

Let the spotlight be vigorously upon the
self-infatuated icons - disciplined via liberal
collegiate bastions - in the LMSM who
'obediently' purvey liberal medicine-man
phony baloney, say BHO-ism,
demonstrably historically debunked dogma,
upon the great designated unwashed in America.

Have they - the LMSM - no decency?

Is it a all-consuming self-preening effete
intellectualism at play?

GAK

Daisy| 6.21.09 @ 8:55PM

It's precisely because we Conservatives focus on our families, churches, schools, jobs and communities that our freedom is in peril.

We'd better start paying attention to what the Democrats are doing and we best keep our eye on the privilege that is our liberty or we surely could lose it.

And what would our families, churches, schools, jobs and communities be without freedom? Ignorance is a luxury we Conservatives most certainly CANNOT afford.

SMatthewStolte| 6.22.09 @ 1:06AM

Well, Jennifer Rubin's column does contain a lot of negatively phrased opinions, but they aren't really privative concepts, as far as I can tell.

The whole question between being the party of 'no' and being the party of ideas seems a lot like nonsense to me, though, so maybe I'm missing something. As soon as you define your criticism well, you've already put forward a positive perspective. A good old fashioned Communist and a dyed-in-the-wool Republican can dislike some of the same Obama policies, and as long as that dislike is expressed crudely and without definition, the Communist and the Republican can sit drinking tea together each thinking that they are united in a common negativity. But of course, this is just an illusion (for those who would call Obama a Communist, you can either substitute the term for any other abhorrent doctrine that would vehemently oppose this administration; let's not get caught up on a hypothetical).

What I think frequently happens with moderates Republicans, though, is that they wind up accepting a picture of the world (unthought) that would otherwise be inconsistent with their more basic beliefs. For instance, a moderate Republican might well know that the 'free market' is a very good thing but might still accept the classical history on the Great Depression. And therefore he has to contend with facts which have been run through the lens of Keynesian economics, but which are presented as brute facts. When, therefore, he attempts to criticize policies every bone in his body is telling him are badly conceived, he has no clear concepts with which to criticize them. He can only say 'no' because he hasn't yet had the time to suss out exactly why his bones so insistently say what they say. He hasn't, so to speak, been able to flesh out his thoughts.

Since this is not good matter for leadership, a party that cannot move beyond this is imprecisely dubbed the party of 'no.' But neither Rubin nor Hillyer would advocate that sort of criticism.

MattSwartz| 6.22.09 @ 1:48AM

Daisy,
If every American were as wrong-headed in their thinking about freedom as you are, we wouldn't have any left.

Almost all politicians are eager, or at least willing, to sell the public out for various reasons, and they don't much mind that this usually involves a curtailment of freedom.

What gets in the way is organized groups of people outside the government: Churches, community groups, private schools, etc.

The more fascistic elements of the government want a monopoly on human organization. When you organize and do things outside of their reach, you keep them from having it, and that does a lot more good than a strict focus on voting for candidates does.

Daisy| 6.22.09 @ 4:52AM

I disagree, Matt--you're the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand. Of course we should stay engaged in our private lives, but only fools would avert their eyes from Obama & Co. now.

We must be proactive in order to prevail--backpedaling is the worst mistake we could make right now.

You're no leader; your instincts are ass-backwards.