Quotes of the day
posted at 9:26 pm on March 6, 2010 by Allahpundit
“Mr. Axelrod said he accepts some blame for what he called ‘communication failures,’ though he acknowledges bafflement that the administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy in a crisis, overhaul health care and prosecute two wars have been so routinely framed by opponents as the handiwork of a big-government, soft-on-terrorism, politics-of-the-past ideologue.
“‘For me, the question is, why haven’t we broken through more than we have?’ Mr. Axelrod said. ‘Why haven’t we broken through?’…
“In a lengthy interview in his office on Wednesday, Mr. Axelrod was often defiant, saying he did not give a ‘flying’ expletive ‘about what the peanut gallery thinks’ and did not live for the approval ‘of the political community.’ He denounced the ‘rampant lack of responsibility’ of people in Washington who refuse to solve problems, and cited the difficulty of trying to communicate through what he calls ‘the dirty filter’ of a city suffused with the ‘every day is Election Day sort of mentality.’
“When asked how he would assess his performance, Mr. Axelrod shrugged. ‘I’m not going to judge myself on that score,’ he said. But then he shot back: ‘Have I succeeded in reversing a 30-year trend of skepticism and cynicism about government? I confess that I have not. Maybe next year.’”
***
“A little humility would be nice. So would a sense that he answers to the public rather than to some self-proclaimed (and self-determined) imperative of history and/or call of destiny. What Obama seems to fail to understand is that his own, overblown self-assurance and self-mythologizing is actually hampering his own goals. One need not stretch too far to observe that one of the factors adding to public opposition to Obamacare is a growing public disquietude about the lack of responsiveness, the authoritarian certitude, and the zealous near-fanaticism of the government that would run the new health-rationing system — all character traits as embodied by the president himself…
“And it’s not just on health care. They work against public opinion on matters of criminal justice, terrorist treatment, race preferences, bank bailouts and corporate takeovers, overall spending, domestic welfare requirements, fossil fuel development, missile defenses, advocacy of American interests (and pride!) abroad, and on the whole panoply of oft-unstated attitudes that cohere as American exceptionalism.
“This is not the way the system is supposed to work. This is not the American government we grew up with. This is not the national ethos that we love.”
***
“Republicans seem to have difficulty grasping this basic dynamic. Less than three months ago, they were stunned at the way the Democrats managed to get 60 senators to vote for the health bill. Then Scott Brown took them back down to 59, and Republicans were again stunned to find the Dems talking about ramming this thing into law through the parliamentary device of ‘reconciliation.’ And, when polls showed an ever larger number of Americans ever more opposed to Obamacare (by margins approaching three-to-one), Republicans were further stunned to discover that, in order to advance ‘reconciliation,’ Democrat reconsiglieres had apparently been offering (illegally) various cosy Big Government sinecures to swing-state congressmen in order to induce them to climb into the cockpit for the kamikaze raid to push the bill through. The Democrats understand that politics is not just about Tuesday evenings every other November, but about everything else, too…
“Look at it from the Dems’ point of view. You pass Obamacare. You lose the 2010 election, which gives the GOP co-ownership of an awkward couple of years. And you come back in 2012 to find your health care apparatus is still in place, a fetid behemoth of toxic pustules oozing all over the basement, and, simply through the natural processes of government, already bigger and more expensive and more bureaucratic than it was when you passed it two years earlier. That’s a huge prize, and well worth a midterm timeout…
“[G]overnment health care is not about health care, it’s about government. Once you look at it that way, what the Dems are doing makes perfect sense. For them.”
Blowback
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Considering Rush gets his news from GWP along with HA, FOX and millions upon millions of blog addicts… it depends on your definition of light of day.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM
I’ll pay for the popcorn.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 10:36 PM
katy: Obama hasn’t delivered,to his own supporters,he’s
running out of time!!
Remember this!!
=======================
Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lXEY8O0tQ
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Don’t states do that?
atheling on March 6, 2010 at 11:18 PM
That Pajamas article was written on March 3rd. I don’t think it saw the light of day here.
Knucklehead on March 6, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Wow
Just Wow
I wonder how Gibbsy will spin it
…if someone asks him about it ?
macncheez on March 6, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Given that a majority of americans a) voted for Barack Obama and b) consistently poll in ways that make HA commenters heads spin, are we not a ‘peanut gallery’? We’ve elected every representative in congress, and the president. They are only there, mucking things up, because we as a populace put them there. ‘peanut gallery’ is almost a rather nice way of putting it ;-)
ernesto on March 6, 2010 at 11:22 PM
This refers to payment of debt to the Feds. It does not refer to a state having its own tender for it’s own instate commerce.
Don’t ask me how that would work, but I think I’m reading that correct.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:22 PM
You understate your case as a health care takeover is much worse. With social security one can spend that money, if/when one gets it, on pretty much anything one wants, when one wants, but if health care is taken over, partially now, fully later, you can only get medical procedures/drugs/etc that Big Brother says you can and when you can.
MB4 on March 6, 2010 at 11:24 PM
Well then let’s get crackin’ and get this thing out there !!
This is butt ugly and I’d love to see Jake pop one to Gibbs about it huh… macncheez on March 6, 2010 at 11:21 PM
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:25 PM
Speaking of Unemployment numbers,
its at 21.6%!
==============
http://www.shadowstats.com/
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:26 PM
I think that Kalifornia did, but many say it’s illegal.
MB4 on March 6, 2010 at 11:26 PM
Let’s get Ed out of bed for this one.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:27 PM
CA issued IOUs last year as payment; not only that, but the IOUs could NOT be used to pay bills or debts owed to CA.
GnuBreed on March 6, 2010 at 11:27 PM
It’s up on my Facebook page for what it’s worth.
Knucklehead on March 6, 2010 at 11:28 PM
Oh some people may be angry, but where do you direct it and how? People already sumbit to property tax (renting their own houses from the government, which can lead to forclosure after all of your other taxes and fines. People already submit to having their income taken from them even before they get it. People already submit to double taxation capital gains. People are already resigned to the idea that they won’t get back what they paid in social security. People alredy tolerate inflation which halves your money every 20 years. People alredy submit to byzantine Medicare rules. People pull over when the police car lights are behind them. Singly the government can knock on your door, submit a warrent, burst in, toss the place, take your guns on a pretext promising to give them back, and put you on a list that causes you all sorts of aggrivation and stonewall you at every turn rendering you impotent.
Whom do you strike? The police ‘just doing their job’? Or the politician you can never get close to? How? Will you premptively shout through your closed door, “If you break in you will die?” Or is your vote, some contributions, and volontiering enough to overcome the other side with it’s useful idiots doing the same thing? Can you educate or reason with said useful idiot to get them to change sides? And do that hundreds of times?
In this great mass of people, you can get trampled. Maybe, just maybe the politicians are actualy scared of our roar, but given the talk lately I’m not yet convinced of that. So beyond words coming from both sides, will you run for office yourself and stay true to your principles overcoming the entrenched pol from the other side and succeding in a hostile media sound bite world? And will you be joined by a majority of uncorupted?
Is your hope in states alredy mismanaged and smacked down in the last civil war? Ready to loose all of your assets across state lines and to start new with a ‘confederate dollar’? Ready for a blockade?
I don’t know how it can actualy get better, maybe you can describe your civil war.
AnotherOpinion on March 6, 2010 at 11:28 PM
Word on the shtreet is, this poor sucka is still workin’.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:30 PM
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM
—————————————
Word on the shtreet is, this poor sucka is still workin’.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:30 PM
katy:Yup! Smells like betrayal!!:)
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:34 PM
It’s not him per se, as much as his ilk. And its not his ilk per se, as it is giving them credibility when smart people like you start acting like a kook.
Saltysam on March 6, 2010 at 11:35 PM
After this is stopped…
… Those responsible for the ‘propaganda’ must face a public flogging to send the message that we will not tolerate this corruption of our “Free and Independent Press” ever again!
Seven Percent Solution on March 6, 2010 at 11:36 PM
Oh boy,now the comics are snapping!!!
Former Comic Smashes Car Into Oregon Ferrari Dealership
http://www.breitbart.tv/former-comic-smashes-car-into-oregon-ferrari-dealership/
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:37 PM
There won’t be a ‘war’. If push ever comes to shove, I’m sure few if any New Yorkers would actually put blood on the line to keep any other state from leaving. You’re all a black hole for our money anyway! :-P
Remember, we get less than $1 for every $1 in federal taxes we pay out. Its states in the south that wind up getting more than $1.
ernesto on March 6, 2010 at 11:39 PM
A year ago I didn’t think a million people would/could show up in DC and stand on the mall protesting the “change”. A year ago I didn’t think we would be have stopped cap and trade or had the Obama administration questioning their abilities to deliver their filth to the American people. A year ago I didn’t think ABC and CNN would be starting to turn on the idiocy coming out of the WH (albeit baby steps). A year ago I didn’t think the socialist agenda would be public conversation across the country.
Whatever takes shape, it will happen exactly the way it should.
This country may go down in flames for a time, but it is God’s country and it’s all up to Him and how much faith we put in Him to guide and save us.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:41 PM
I think Weber’s Politics as a Vocation would be of great interest to you.
ernesto on March 6, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Seven Percent Solution on March 6, 2010 at 11:36 PM
+7%
Saltysam on March 6, 2010 at 11:42 PM
This is the second time you have told me how smart I am and them completed it with what a kook I am.
You need to get on one program and stay with it…
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:43 PM
I’ll read it.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/politics_vocation.html
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:47 PM
She might be ELF..those people are known to do such stuff
macncheez on March 6, 2010 at 11:47 PM
Killer Clowns.
Shy Guy on March 6, 2010 at 11:49 PM
Me too.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 11:52 PM
D e s p a r a t i o n
petefrt on March 6, 2010 at 11:54 PM
After this is stopped…
… Those responsible for the ‘propaganda’ must face a public flogging to send the message that we will not tolerate this corruption of our “Free and Independent Press” ever again!
Seven Percent Solution on March 6, 2010 at 11:36 PM
Seven Percent Solution: Agreed,they are at the top of
The Grand Purge List!!:)
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:54 PM
Oh boy,now the comics are snapping!!!
Former Comic Smashes Car Into Oregon Ferrari Dealership
http://www.breitbart.tv/former-comic-smashes-car-into-oregon-ferrari-dealership/
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:37 PM
——————-
Killer Clowns.
Shy Guy on March 6, 2010 at 11:49 PM
Shy Guy:Yup!:)
===================
From Prom Queen to Meth Queen
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?175499-From-Prom-Queen-to-Meth-Queen&p=4802619&viewfull=1
canopfor on March 6, 2010 at 11:57 PM
That is the program.
Toughen up, sweetheart.
Saltysam on March 6, 2010 at 11:58 PM
It’s pretty heavy german philosophy, but I respect his thinking a great deal. There is a passage, quoted below, of which your previous commented reminded me.
“We must be clear about the fact that all ethically oriented conduct may be guided by one of two fundamentally differing and irreconcilably opposed maxims: conduct can be oriented to an ‘ethic of ultimate ends’ or to an ‘ethic of responsibility.’ This is not to say that an ethic of ultimate ends is identical with irresponsibility, or that an ethic of responsibility is identical with unprincipled opportunism. Naturally nobody says that. However, there is an abysmal contrast between conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of ultimate ends–that is, in religious terms, ‘The Christian does rightly and leaves the results with the Lord’–and conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of responsibility, in which case one has to give an account of the foreseeable results of one’s action. ”
While I respect where you were coming from with your last post, I can’t help but generally frown upon political calculation that would trust God to sort things out…rather than take full responsibility for working things out.
ernesto on March 6, 2010 at 11:59 PM
She might be ELF..those people are known to do such stuff
macncheez on March 6, 2010 at 11:47 PM
macncheez: Could be,she studied at UC Berkley!!:)
canopfor on March 7, 2010 at 12:00 AM
OK… I’ll work on that big guy…
katy on March 7, 2010 at 12:02 AM
She looks like she’s metamorphosing into Krusty. Creepy!
Shy Guy on March 7, 2010 at 12:05 AM
I would gladly let NY and other states like it keep every dollar if they would quit electing jacka$$es to the congress. In fact, if they would quit electing those people they probably could keep their money.
boomer on March 7, 2010 at 12:09 AM
My thoughts come from the view that man is flawed. He does his best to follow the natural and spiritual laws of God to the best of his understanding (according to what is written). That is our responsibility you speak of. How things unfold can be managed to a point but the outcome is beyond our power at some point in the process.
katy on March 7, 2010 at 12:10 AM
It takes a stubborn denial to see this,
and how much faith we put in Him to guide and save us.
katy
as incongruous with your point.
Saltysam on March 7, 2010 at 12:12 AM
Of course, but the idea is that the more willing someone is to dismiss possible solutions or evidence of failure in the interest of overarching ideology, the more prone they are to failure. Weber goes on to explain using Bolshevik revolutionaries as another example (he’s giving this talk 1919, shortly after the revolution is Russia), but either way the point is clear…politics is violence; we have very real power and wielding it has very real consequences. we are, or must consider ourselves, entirely responsible for those consequences, lest we or our representatives behave irresponsibly.
ernesto on March 7, 2010 at 12:17 AM
We know the gutter and we know the stink of the street
For not much longer will we press through this festering heat
All those tyrants who tower above us
Those who give us the smack of their rod
Soon now we will give them the gutter
We will give you the judgment of God!
The world may be ugly, but each man must do what he must
The reign of the overreaching tyrants will end and they will be dust
Soon now our Lady of Justice will possess them
In her breathtaking, hair-raising bed
She will tingle each spine as she captures each head!
PercyB on March 7, 2010 at 12:17 AM
Holger on March 7, 2010 at 12:26 AM
AssLrod should wakeup his trolls
We need them
HERE
RIGHT NOW
to tell us that she is a rightwing teabagging gunloving homophobic stupid uneducated nascar watching loudmouth from flyover country !!!
macncheez on March 7, 2010 at 12:26 AM
I agree with this. A good example of this is our current leadership. We, as a people who were gifted by God to live in a country so rich in God’s providence, abdicated our responsibilities to preserve the gift. Hence we are now suffering the consequences.
katy on March 7, 2010 at 12:26 AM
+1
katy on March 7, 2010 at 12:27 AM
macncheez on March 7, 2010 at 12:26 AM
Heh.
I laughed and then suddenly was dumbstruck at the possibility.
Saltysam on March 7, 2010 at 12:33 AM
The 66,882,000 that voted for Obama is not the majority of Americans.
We are not a peanut gallery. We are the voters of the United States of America. The Gov’t works for us. It’s quite simple.
The fact that the President’s closet adviser doesn’t “give a flying ****” about what the America public thinks is pathetic, even worse is that you are trying to rationalize it.
uknowmorethanme on March 7, 2010 at 12:53 AM
Ernesto, your line of thinking, collective over individual, is exactly how liberals have taken control.
This country was founded on the individual’s ability to prosper WITHOUT government interference.
uknowmorethanme on March 7, 2010 at 12:57 AM
Which Republicans were stunned? Actually, they seem to be stunningly unified against this power grab and seem to have the dems pegged pretty well every step of the way.
Ronnie on March 7, 2010 at 1:00 AM
Allahpundit is an intellectually dishonest person. I have begged him, along with many others, to acknowledge what is going on here and because he’s afraid to look “kooky” or be embarrassed in front of his progressive friends, he refuses to even talk about what’s going on. So many of us point out that it’s insane to believe that Obama and his merry band of Marxists are just “stupid/wrong”, but Allahpundit’s only reply is “okay, run on your radical principles”…
But we aren’t running on or for anything, are we? We are simply talking about what is clearly going on. Why is it that AP refuses to actually talk substance? Is it because Atheism doesn’t recognize good vs. evil? I don’t know. I really can’t understand what his problem is. But if you look at who this POTUS has surrounds himself with, and has spent his life surrounded by… if you look at the fact that the Communist Andy Stern practically lives at the White House, you must see what is going on. Either AllahPundit is in some weird state of denial, retarded, or a paid progressive posing as a conservative. I tend to believe it is the former. Despite the fact that he claims to be a pessimist, he really can’t believe what is happening, even though it’s not being hidden.
I’m not going to waste my time, because you never reply to substance, but AllahPundit, if you really want to present yourself as an honest person, why not dig back to recent comment threads and answer very simple questions.
Again, I don’t want to waste my time repeating questions you’re afraid to answer… But why would so many educated people advice B. Hussein to adopt policies that have never worked? Why would the SEIU guy be in the WH multiple times per week, and now be appointed to deficit council, while Union promises are failing as quickly as SS and medicare? Why would he appoint GE failure Immelt as an ecomonic adviser?
BTW, are you aware that Stern is wildly excited about the fact that we’re on the verge of destroying prosperity so that we can make everyone poor because at least then we’ll all be “equal”?
I’m just so sad about all of this, I’m not even going to waste my time going on. I just can’t believe that we still come back to this site. As I’ve said recently, I come here mainly for headlines and humorous videos. Even humorous videos have been lacking lately.
I suggest people head to biggovernment.com etc. because this place is really becoming worthless.
RightWinged on March 7, 2010 at 1:12 AM
Obama has had more support from congress than any president since Jimmy Carter. Obama has a press that has fawned over him and supported his every action for 3+ years. Obama implemented the largest spending program in the history of the US. And yet, Obama has failed miserably as a president.
Look for Obama to blame everyone for HIS failure as president!
Freddy on March 7, 2010 at 1:18 AM
Barry will implode just like his father. Just a matter of time….
BHO Jonestown on March 7, 2010 at 1:19 AM
Yeah, I love Steyn and this is a good article, but I took issue with that part, too. I don’t think Republicans have been all that surprised by Dem maneuvers. It’s more that there’s only so much you can do with a minority.
Missy on March 7, 2010 at 3:44 AM
I hate the phrase made popular by none other than the comical and tragic figure we know as Dan Rather, but this article is a classic “reality check.”
The dems don’t operate according to rules, truth, or moral codes -winning by any means is the sole goal. Any one who viciously advocates for the destruction of babies outside the womb is capable of any evil -they believe it is cool and people of good will remain surprised that they also play dirty? Duh!
Don L on March 7, 2010 at 6:08 AM
Rightwinged writes well and has a good grounding in conservative thought.
I have no direct information about, or dealing with, this White House but I have picked up straws in the wind that there are some radical people walking around. And Beck has barely scratched the surface. And some really antidemocratic attitudes.
But as for being overly concerned about it — WHY?
Every WH has nuts in the mix. Every one. And the confluence of liberal academics, civil rights folk, Chi town Dem thugs and all the rest probably make for some very interesting characters running around.
Review Morris or the Secret Service agent’s book about the Clintons.
Oliver North in a conservatives’ dream WH.
Your worry reminds me of a remark made about Alex Haig during the Nixon meltdown. The left believed that the General was there to put tanks in the streets to destroy our democracy to save President Nixon.
One of the group of about six people who have imput on this post ID (sometimes 12) were just fighting about that. I asked whether the tanks could have prevented President Carter. See? You can joke after the fact. (Although I had a high ranking military guy tell me that Jimmy was the last great chance for the Evil Empire and they just missed having it work out better for themselves!)
Sometimes deal with the superficial and ignore the indication and fuzz.
A cigar is sometimes just a cigar, brother.
IlikedAUH2O on March 7, 2010 at 6:44 AM
They still don’t get it, do they? These freaks are not capable of humility.
We have not seen such narcissism ever in an administration. Nor have we seen lying used as a daily tool.
drjohn on March 7, 2010 at 7:18 AM
A tad O/T.
============
This might be thread worthy!
===========================
Homeland Security: More ‘Lone Wolves’ Circulating in U.S.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/homeland-security-lone-wolves-circulating-us/story?id=10030050
——————————–
Bedell, according to family and friends, was mentally ill and a marijuana user. But he also had extreme views about the government, and he laid out those feelings in audio postings on the Internet.
============================
So,this guy might of been a loony,however,
HLS and the MSM are in a hurry to label
him as a MoonBat,and therefore,if you don’t
agree with the current Hopey/Changey Admin-
istration,then you’ll be right near the top,
just below,war veterans,as a threat to Am
erica!!
========================================
“When governments are able to confiscate the resources of their citizens to fund schemes that only need to be justified by lies and deception, enormous disasters can result,” he said in one post.
==========================================================
canopfor on March 7, 2010 at 7:33 AM
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/03/18040/
wow, i just checked this link regarding green jobs and FOIA coverup on their cost. thanks for linking.
ted c on March 7, 2010 at 7:44 AM
I don’t believe there will be a violent revolution in America at this time.. The revolution will come at the ballot box. Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have shown the American people what the Democrat Party is in this era. The people now know they screwed up big time giving these creatures power. The people also know that Hollywood and the entire MSM apparatus pulled a giant scam on them. The people also know that Conservatism is the closest ideology to freedom and liberty, the closest we will ever come to “of the people, by the people, for the people.” The people now know they had better keep a very close watch on all politicians. The people will now demand accountability for all who brought us to this place. We, with the help of Beck, Breitbart, and Limbaugh will expose every element of corruption that has led to this nightmare. Progressives will be forced into hiding very much like gays had to live in a closet 40 years ago. Soros will get out of this country before facing trial. Gore will be shamed for his participation in the biggest scam ever to be attempted on the people of our world. The lawyers guild will finally get the attention they so richly deserve; I’m not talking about the kind of attention they had hoped for.
The revolution is upon us…
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 7:53 AM
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 7:53 AM
Keemo, are you closer on your recall numbers for Baucus?
yoda on March 7, 2010 at 8:00 AM
I tend to think like you do on this point, but it does seem to me that the comments on this (and some other) blog are often more conservative and realistic about the nature of the danger we face than the article we’re commenting on. So in an odd way, I wonder if it matters much anymore what their take on it is. I mean David Brooks gets us all fired up, and surely that’s not his intention.
So if AP or Ed are too civil with who we would consider the enemy, or lack fire, I’m not so sure people are treating them as opinion leaders. I think what they write is used mostly as a springboard for others to say how they feel on the issue. I have learned to pay far less attention to the point of view in the written article, and much more to how the subject fits with my own already-conceived thoughts about it, and of course to other commenters whose opinions we’ve come to respect.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 8:03 AM
Have you seen the cover of the current Weekly Standard?
http://weeklystandard.com/default.asp
ted c on March 7, 2010 at 8:10 AM
The contempt Axelrod has for this Republic and its citizens (a.k.a. “the peanut gallery”) does not even come close to the contempt and loathing I have for Obama and his arrogant administration, and their shameful and dangerous strategy of “managed decline“.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 8:12 AM
yoda on March 7, 2010 at 8:00 AM
Yes, we only need 1.500 more sigs…
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 8:18 AM
ted c on March 7, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Thanks for posting that link.. Laughing my ass off!
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 8:20 AM
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 8:12 AM
Glad to see you reference our nation as a Republic; which it is. I have a brother (liberal) who got into it with me a couple years ago, telling me that our nation is a Democracy rather than a Republic. I eventually won the argument by stuffing the facts down his throat. Scary thing is this; he attended six years of college and additional years of advanced education on his way to becoming a lawyer. But yet he didn’t know what I (the plumber) stuffed down his throat by way of the internet.
And to the Republic, for which it stands…
This is why liberals have removed the pledge from our schools.
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Good luck to you!! Nebraska can’t recall Nelson, but we can sling pizza and rent billboard space close to his new office until 2012.
yoda on March 7, 2010 at 8:26 AM
I hadn’t realized that Dr. Zero had written about managed decline. This is perfect:
The entire Obama enterprise is suffused with a gloomy aura of despair, contrasting strongly with the “hope and change” rhetoric of the campaign. The primary theme of his presidency is government’s lack of faith in its citizens. Free people cannot be trusted to handle anything important without tight government controls. This attitude of condescension is coupled with a simply staggering degree of incompetence, as billions of dollars are stolen and wasted, to little effect. Anyone still trying to tune in the signal from this administration is hearing the most depressing funereal dirge: your lives are futile without the command and control of a government that cannot even handle the guest list of a White House state dinner. No wonder anyone taking those signals seriously is feeling enervated, and at least a little bit crazy…
…Every moment of the “historic” Obama presidency has been wrapped in the rhetoric of failure and decline. A nation slipping into endless debt, to buy off the social concerns of the moment, cannot help but feel helpless and doomed… because it wouldn’t be so quick to mortgage a future it believed in. To accept the leadership of Barack Obama, either in Afghanistan or at home, is to accept that triumph is a fantasy, and achievement is a relic of the past, so the only rational course is carefully managed decline.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 8:27 AM
To you readers under age 30, note this article well, as it is a most reliable sign of a liberal administration gasping for air.
The diseased mind of the leftist, being unable to recognize its own wretched failure, puts on the appearance of serious introspection — e.g., why are we failing, is it because we are wretched and wrong? — but right away the theory is dismissed: no, we aren’t wretched, we aren’t bad Americans, it’s our communication technique that is bad. Our message is good, the people want to love us without hesitation, they want to devote their lives to us, but our message isn’t getting out properly.
So now, you young folks, don’t go falling for this. Don’t feel sorry for them. If anything, you have to view this internal chatter in the administration as the grunting of a wild animal with rabies. He is sick, and he is deadly, and he’s crouching all the better to lash out at you.
There is nothing sweet about it, nothing lovable. It is sick, and it wants to kill you.
jeff_from_mpls on March 7, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Very well stated Jeff… Bravo!
Keemo on March 7, 2010 at 8:53 AM
Sweet. “Managed Decline” joins the multitude of ways in which Obama threatens America. For those who like smorgasbord, anti-Obamism is getting interesting.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 8:57 AM
This is the one that gets me. The whole problem with the federal government starts with the income tax and it’s enabled by paycheck withholding. Get rid of both of those – or at least withholding taxes – and you strip a tremendous amount of power out of the hands of the feds. Everything else flows from that.
johnmackeygreene on March 7, 2010 at 9:09 AM
Oooh! I know this one!
How about… Socialism has never worked, does not work now, nor will it ever work? Or maybe… Americans are generally not easily duped serfs willing to have their liberties stripped to appease maniacal leftists?
Am I close yet, Mr. Axelrod?
mankai on March 7, 2010 at 9:09 AM
That’s brilliant, thanks! Inspired by “Pants on the Ground”, my teenage son came up this homage to Manbearpig the other day: Snow on the ground, snow on the ground, Al gore you’re looking like a fool with that snow on the ground.
I had never heard the phrase “managed decline” until Rush talked about it on Friday. He relayed a story about friends from the Club for Growth who had broken bread with some Pentagon officials who happily revealed that this is the ‘smart power’ strategy they are embracing. I Googled it and found that it is quite the catchphrase/buzzword. It all makes perfect sense – look at how appallingly they have treated our allies – from betraying them on missile defense, to refusing to support the U.K. vis a vis the Falkland Islands, not to mention the endless apology tours.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 9:13 AM
I have to thank Obama and his pals for helping me “get in touch with my feelings.” I’m finding my hatred is a powerful motivator to keep fighting him–politically, and it appears to be getting stronger.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 9:33 AM
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 9:13 AM
Also in my mind, he is Mr. Obama, President of the United States, not President Obama, or Mr. President. He’s a man and a citizen who temporarily occupies a respected and powerful office. But he isn’t the office and his actions repeatedly disrespect it.
A similar distinction was made by the Brits in regard to Diana. Technically, she wasn’t Princess Diana, but Diana,Princess of Wales, in recognition of her unsuitability for the office.
Maybe it’s a minor difference, but it helps me keep respect for our country without having to respect Obama personally.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 9:39 AM
I don’t like to use the word “hate”. That’s why I prefer to talk about my contempt for these despicable narcissists. Hopefully this will be the last time in our nation’s history where we have people at the highest seats of power who loathe this country and actively work to hasten, er, manage its decline.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Do you see Rightwinged? We’re not alone.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 9:49 AM
A poor analogy which reads like a Hollywood script, and which is based on assumptions about us and our grandparents you can’t possibly make. Let’s avoid this unbecoming class warfare populism, please.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 9:50 AM
yeah, you’re not alone. That’s one of the reasons why I use it. To indicate, imo, the next level we need to go to to win. And it won’t be the last time we’ll have to face this foe unless we get to that level.
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 9:51 AM
My mom’s parents came here in 1912 in third class from Italy, with six children. No Hollywood for them, or in my history. In my family’s case, I wasn’t being euphemistic.
Liam on March 7, 2010 at 9:53 AM
Now, you said something about ‘assumptions [I] can’t possibly make’?
Liam on March 7, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Dear David A,
We heard you LOUD and CLEAR. We now understand fully how you want to make this country a communist dream come true. You will NOT wear us down, we want to wear you and your communist comrades down. We don’t like you or your boss, you are really getting on our last nerve. You will NOT get away with transforming our country. Now off with you and your ilk, I hear Castro will be needing a replacement soon.
Love,
The Peanut Gallery
margretto on March 7, 2010 at 10:18 AM
You said “our grandparents” not “my grandparents”. Our grandparents implies that all of us experienced the same thing. I also doubt the details of your story and tend to think it has been mythologized over time, as it is unlikely that the two groups had opportunities to mingle. The wealthy wouldn’t need other passengers to “fetch them a glass of water” as they’d have plenty of people who were employed on the cruise ship to attend to their needs.
In any case, my point remains the same. unless you want to sound like a page out of Barack Obama’s book, conservatives should not disparage wealth (unless it is in the context of corruption, like, Bernie Madoff) :
“It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!”
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 10:28 AM
JiangxiDad at 9:55
I agree with your concern about the risk of playing nice at this point. Many thought that the democratic action of getting Scott Brown elected would have a significant effect on what our government is doing. Instead, Obama and his crew come up with a plan to thwart the public’s clear will, using devious procedures and all the while clearly lying to the public repeatedly.
The same could happen with the November elections. That is our playing nice plan to get things changed, but the left does not seem too concerned about it. Will we find out, again, that the public can speak loudly and clearly in November, and then have Obama continue to ignore us? I think that is likely, and that may be the time something other than “playing nice” happens. In what form I don’t know.
GaltBlvnAtty on March 7, 2010 at 10:33 AM
Not to have an argument, but I was speaking in generalities that did happen in some cases, like immigrants coming here in steerage class. Precision wasn’t necessary to make the point at which I aimed. I wrote plainly, not literally or applicable in all cases. It was to a point–your mileage may vary. That’s it.
If you know me well enough by my posts, you’ll find I want everyone wealthy. But I confess I can’t see a baseball player with a .223 batting average (not literal but for purpose of concept)making $30 million a year. But, hey! That’s the free market so I’m all for it.
I read your posts all the time, and you’re not usually picky like this. Are you in as bad a mood as I am this morning? LOL
Liam on March 7, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Yes, and this is exactly what the Left fears. For too long they’ve counted on the decency and quiescance of conservatives, on our collegial assumption of discourse and politics. They’ve tried to preempt, disarm and stifle proper outrage over their own outrages by a determined strategy of redirected slander, that is, using fearful public libels of “right-wing extremism” etc. Note their desperation to twist and conflate the cause of all recent violence in America. And they’ve hidden behind the false front of “compassion,” debasing the meaning of the word with cruelly dehumanizing policies that enslave people in dependency, just as they’ve used the word as a bludgeon against “heartless” conservatives and Republicans who, they tell us, live only to take away the gifts of liberal compassion. And they’e cowed an entire generation of conservative politicians, and continue to try to do the same with the tea partiers.
As their hate ratchets up, they need to project the cause of hate at their adversaries. And they count on us shrinking.
No more. I don’t fear my own “hate” of the Left. I understand its origin and its purpose, just as I understand the Left and what is require to defeat them.
rrpjr on March 7, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Nope, not in a bad mood. I just recoil at stories which paint the wealthy as evil oppressors of the poor, and your story reminded me of the fictions perpetrated by James Cameron’s Titanic.
I don’t see Obama and Axelrod as the Tuxedo’d men you described at all. They are fellow travelers who have an elitist/paternalistic mentality which they believe gives them the moral authority to impose their agenda by any means necessary. As such they have scorn for the little people, however it is not based on class (which would be difficult feat for the boorish Axelrod to pull off!) but on their narcissistic belief in the superiority of their intellect and progressive hearts.
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 10:53 AM
Your totally correct, and I’m on your side.
The most telling thing I find is how the Left spews hate unlike we on the Right, yet finds all those horrible things ‘justifiable’. It’s okay for them to say someone should die of rectal cancer, or a pretty woman is just a bag of meat with lipstick. But offer a salutation to a man 100 years old…
Liam on March 7, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Okay, we have each other’s point of reference. It’s all good!
Liam on March 7, 2010 at 10:56 AM
To lighten the mood, a lovely pic of the Pres. and VP
http://twitpic.com/173r0f
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 11:03 AM
sorry, wrong link. try this one:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/20751
JiangxiDad on March 7, 2010 at 11:05 AM
I know it’s hard to say these days as things seem so grim, but…Cheers!
Buy Danish on March 7, 2010 at 11:11 AM
Very astute. And you’ll notice all these things are very characteristic of the progressive movement. It’s the perfect illustration of the liberal fascism that many in this country still don’t want to accept the existence of.
Obama is such a liar and compromiser that it’s easy to assume he has no principle. He does. And they’re all baaad! (channeling Arnold Schwarzenegerr in True Lies).
Obama is a thorough liberal fascist and ideologue. People may assume that he doesn’t really want the destruction of the country, but of course he does want to destroy much of the country so he can rebuild it in his mind’s image.
There Goes The Neighborhood on March 7, 2010 at 12:22 PM
That man is fantastic. I pray he gets more airtime. If only our Reps in congress had that kind of chutzpah.
Unless we do what he is doing and soon… there will be awful things coming.
katy on March 6, 2010 at 9:57 PM
I agree. I live in NJ and for the first time since I became aware of politics, I am hopeful something may change for the better in NJ
Willie on March 7, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Willie at 12:46
NJ seems to be blessed by having the right person and a legal framework that allows him to get things done. I hope he continues to lead by example and that the people of NJ respect him for what he is doing. There are many others around the country who do.
GaltBlvnAtty on March 7, 2010 at 1:04 PM
Even though Rush is using it, the term “managed decline” to describe what obama and his global government puppetmasters are doing to this nation is far too polite and doesn’t even begin to describe the carnage that will ensue.
I think the term “intentional destruction” fills the bill for now, after that term becomes commonplace, we can move onto the the hard truth: “treasonous betrayal” and “socialist tyranny”.
P.S. The rage and hate manifested in Axelrod as he calls American citizens a “peanut gallery” that he couldn’t give a “flying f@(* about” (because we are watching what they do instead of listening to their constant tsunami of lies) is truly disgusting.
Look at the hateful-empty-eyed-sneering-scowling expression often seen on berri’s face, that is, when he isn’t (as President of the United States!!) giving someone the high-school freshman-style finger. We don’t have three more years, people. IMO, we need to start calling for impeachment/resignation, now.
tigerlily on March 7, 2010 at 1:31 PM
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