The Momentum of History
posted at 12:04 am on October 27, 2009 by Doctor Zero
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The hotly-contested 2009 races, especially the three-way congressional special election in New York, are the distant thunder of the storm approaching in 2010. The 2010 elections are not merely about gaining temporary political advantage for the Republican Party. The task ahead for American voters is nothing less than reversing the momentum of history. This will not be an easy task… and it will not be simple.
There is no question that the momentum of history has swung to the left, ever since the days of Wilson and Roosevelt. The New Deal promise of modest taxation, to pay crucial benefits to the most desperate among the poor, became first a lie, then a joke. No one on the Left even bothers pretending their agenda consists of selfless dedication to the poor any longer. It’s all about desperate grabs for gigantic amounts of power over an increasingly impoverished and dominated middle class.
The madness of launching new trillion-dollar programs on top of a madly inflating deficit has become accepted as reasonable discourse. When Nancy Pelosi made her infamous comment that the constitutionality of individual health insurance mandates was not a “serious” question, she was committing a horrible offense against her office, but also providing an accurate description of the current atmosphere in Washington. We’re twenty years past the point where such an outrageous statement could even shift the tracks beneath the Crazy Train of her political career.
Many factors combined to bring us to this moment. One of the most important is the blend of pragmatism and romanticism which characterizes the moderate American voter. They are easily excited by heady talk of “change” and “new ideas,” but they don’t want to be swept up into ideological crusades, or suffer any of that “change” within their own lives. They don’t want to take risks with their jobs, or the financial future of their families, but they want to be told they’re part of a bold new initiative that’s changing the world.
The allure of New Deal liberalism does not lie in collective economics – most voters are not eager to view themselves as living off the government dole. The allure lies within collective morality. People love the idea of buying a slice of high-flying, big-spending government virtue for the low, low price of one little vote. After they cast that vote, they can go home and relax in front of the TV, while the latest out-of-control progressive spending program is quietly extracted from their paycheck… and their employers’ bank account. For many voters, the punitive class warfare of liberal politics is one of its benefits, not part of its cost.
The leftward drift of American politics has continued through decades of prosperity, and the occasional sour little puddle of Carter malaise, because it has been possible for the Left to play its game without causing sudden or radical damage to the middle class it hates. The quality of American life continued to improve, even as a few more freedoms were clipped away, or another gigantic spending program was broken into millions of pieces, and piled carefully on our shoulders. It’s no wonder that Barack Obama was able to sell people on “hope and change,” even though he’s never had an original thought in his life, and his domestic agenda is shrouded in dusty liberal cobwebs. His constituency loves to buy the same scratchy old record, year after year, as long as it comes with a flashy new album cover.
A truly transformational moment is upon us. The old game is over. The mad spending spree of 2009 has left America mortgaged to the hilt. The money is all gone. There are no more ways to pinch a few billion more out of the upper class, without destroying the middle class lifestyle. The Right has always been correct in its belief that tax-and-spend liberalism would not work. Every available dollar has been taxed and spent, and not one single problem the Left demanded the sacrifice of our wealth and freedom to address has been resolved. Not one of their programs has worked, and none of their cost estimates have been accurate, to within an order of magnitude. Tax-and-spend is over. The new coin of the realm will be control. A swarm of czars is already hard at work, minting these coins… and behind them, the momentum of history pushes a pendulum that has become a wrecking ball.
How do we reverse that terrible motion? We certainly won’t do it by slipping Dede Scozzafava into a district that was Doug Hoffman’s to win. We don’t have time for twenty-year “big-tent” strategies that promise a 60% chance of reversing 70% of the damage Barack Obama has done in nine months. We also cannot afford to let any more socialists walk away with elections, just to teach the clueless GOP, and errant American voters, another painful lesson. We don’t have enough blood left to endure those kinds of lessons.
I don’t think the answer lies in confronting Republican candidates with non-negotiable lists of positions they must vow to uphold. The problem with this approach is that it focuses too much energy on compelling politicians, instead of persuading voters. There are places where the GOP falls down so badly that a third-party candidate makes sense, but we should also keep in mind that the Republican Party has money and influence that can be very useful to the conservative cause, and we won’t get it by scowling at them and making throat-slitting gestures. The promising young conservative politicians of the moment combine a wonderful degree of confidence and determination with an affable, welcoming style. Doug Hoffman doesn’t seem interested in burning the Republican house to the ground, despite the party’s many offenses against him. The energetic captain of the Millennium Palin doesn’t waste a lot of time talking about who she’d like to shove out the airlock.
If the Right can get the voters on board, most of the squishier politicians will begin sliding to starboard. The voters can be reached. A review of recent polls, the soaring ratings of Fox News, and the popularity of outspoken critics of the Left, such as Glenn Beck, tells us that people know something is terribly wrong. They don’t see the Democrats’ diagnoses as accurate, or their solutions as effective. They’re waiting to hear a coherent explanation from the political leadership of the opposition. It’s not enough to give Americans someone to applaud… they need someone to vote for.
How do you reverse the momentum of history? You can’t do it by eking out a narrow win in a few congressional races, or even the presidency. You need the help of the American people, who have the power to correct much that is wrong with their country, very quickly… if they choose to use it. They should understand that inertia will guarantee the destruction of their lifestyle, as the economic doomsday machines cranked into high gear by Barack Obama complete terrible programs written seventy years ago. The days of purchasing easy grace, by supporting an avalanche of clever little spending programs funded by invisible taxes and antiseptic deficit spending, are over. The people who brought our country to this perilous hour must be stripped of the authority to decide what options are unthinkable, and which beliefs are mandatory.
The leader who emerges from the crucible of 2010, and begins the race for 2012, will be someone who relishes a job that is neither easy, nor simple.
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Doctor, thanks for making a late night working worth it. Can’t wait to dive in to read!
publiuspen on October 27, 2009 at 12:17 AM
Sure they do. Their position is that they’re taking money from the super rich and giving it to the people the super rich screw over – also, protecting those exploited folks by government regs. That’s what they tell us. All the time.
Had an interesting moment occur with a leftie friend and coworker. We tease each other with gaffes during election cycles. So of course, when the Plumber in All But License asked his question, I made a crack about wealth redistribution. He turns around, and with a look of anger on his face sneers “Yeah, like the current system of wealth distribution is working so well.”
Well. I touched a chord there. They really DO believe they’re crusading for the poor. I bet some of their pols still do.
Regardless, that’s the argument they make. Not hard to illustrate how wrong that is.
TheUnrepentantGeek on October 27, 2009 at 12:17 AM
That paragraph was the most astute observation of human behavior I’ve ever read in my lifetime…and the following was just as insightful.
.. amazing stuff..
Skandia Recluse on October 27, 2009 at 12:35 AM
Another home run. But how do we reach people?
Rosmerta on October 27, 2009 at 12:49 AM
Classic Dr. Zero!
Sharke on October 27, 2009 at 1:15 AM
There are several things needed. People, actually.
A Leader. Strategist. Icon. Visionary. Your callout of Gingrich as tactician was spot on. Someone with the true political charisma. Like Churchill, Thatcher, Kennedy(s), and the Gingrich of old.
I don’t see Romney as being electable. He’s competent, qualified, experienced, and he comes across as an automaton. If he would get roaring drunk in a tavern, get in a fight, and win, I think it would actually help him. Neither Huckabee, Pawlenty, Jindal, or anyone else I can see on the horizon with one exception. The captain of the Millenium Palin has most of the requisite qualities in bucketsful. Witness the ongoing effort to destroy her.
Media. In terms of market share, conservatives own the airwaves. In terms of distributing information effectively, we’re losing badly. It would be good to see some of the leading voices devote a little time per week to unreported stories. The actual taxation numbers for instance, or the correlation between section 8 housing and crime rates. There are volumes of disproof of progressive policies, and none of it makes the Terminal Media. With a very small shift in emphasis, Fox can make a very large difference. The leftwits are going to scream anyway, so let them.
Cohesion. The ongoing effort by the RNC to be acceptable to the Democrats has got to stop. Political cross-dressing is insulting and demeaning to all within eyeshot. All that it’s done is cause an outbreak of Tea Parties. The GOP needs the Tea Parties, and the RNC chair may have to break a few heads before people realize this. Franklin’s comment about hanging applies, and it applies right now. This lunatic effort to “purge” the GOP of it’s conservative wing does nothing but progressives’ work for them. Some members of the former McCain team should be gibbeted.
A galaxy’s worth of luck.
I don’t think it’s too late, actually. Much of our trouble is simply ‘politics as usual’ with a lot of help from the Terminal Media.
If we must have a third party, then it needs to be called the Constitutionalist Party.
Dark Horse on October 27, 2009 at 1:41 AM
If the country is to be saved, then good people, people with a gift for elegant and insightful speech… LIKE YOU, DOCTOR… need to step forward and run for office.
Myno on October 27, 2009 at 3:21 AM
This New Republic article seems relevant to the point of program failure: Democrats Taking from the Poor. Seems that in trimming costs off their healthcare bill, they’re increasing premiums at the bottom to keep the middle engaged. Jonathan Cohn says,
“Just spend more money!” Right.
Quisp on October 27, 2009 at 5:47 AM
Allah and Ed, just a suggestion, Doc should permanently be promoted to the main page.
javamartini on October 27, 2009 at 6:47 AM
As Dark Horse mentioned, the media needs to spend a little more time on unreported stories. Not scare stories, with all the emotional “look at poor little Tiny Tim” squish-peddling. Well put paragraph, DH.
If two youngsters can throw ACORN for a terrible media loop, Fox, or like, should be able, with their substantial resources, to make a cognitive and strategically sound effort to dismantle the entire structure of liberal bias and spending in Washington without losing a single Neilson point. That they would be foolish to choose a candidate in any elective race is obvious. That they could get away with encouraging the Silent Majority to make a prudent effort to get to the voting booth in a timely fashion would be heroic. This, without statistics at hand, seems to be the end game of the lack of leadership. Malaise.
Doc, the fine line is that without that mystical combination of charisma, brains, a desire to serve , and a talent for finding talented folks to fill the posted seats of power in Washington, what we collectively call leadership, a unifying candidate will be tough to find. This is what often changes the Momentum of History. Certainly you’ve said it well enough. But that only a few hundred people will read it, understand it, and share it with others is not enough. Got any friends at FOX?
Robert17 on October 27, 2009 at 6:47 AM
Another great post Dr.
Somehow, Democrats like Obama get away with playing to the middle class while the Democratic Party is made up largely of people from the lowest and highest income levels. They rail against “separation of wealth”, and an ongoing “dependent class”, but the popularity of their party is dependent upon it.
A larger, healthier middle class would be doom for the Democrats. More people in the middle need to figure this out, but I’m afraid this lesson is going to be learnt the hard way.
forest on October 27, 2009 at 7:00 AM
pot, kettle, etc.
sesquipedalian on October 27, 2009 at 7:00 AM
Yes Doc the peasants are learning to read and don’t like what the politicians have done. Spent us nearly into oblivion. One of the best bits on the tube yesterday was Art Laffer on Beck who said that he could fix all this take over stuff in a long weekend and that he had done some similar fixes around the world. Now we just need to keep the “American Re-Awakening” on track.
tim c on October 27, 2009 at 7:03 AM
I agree. I look forward to Doc’s posts, they’re the best part of HA anymore.
beachgirlusa on October 27, 2009 at 7:09 AM
Beautifully written. Thanks.
piglet on October 27, 2009 at 8:43 AM
It’s a difficult task to get people to think. When people are willing to rationalize theft for a new car, how much harder will it be for them to acknowledge the grand theft of Social Security?
Exactly. But to acknowledge the allure of collective morality is to acknowledge a need for morality. And that is very difficult. But, I agree, all is not lost. There is always hope for liberty! But liberty is hard. It requires endurance. It requires constant defense. It requires sacrifice. Now that I’m a parent, I’m much more willing to make that sacrifice so my child may be free.
There seems to be an obvious correlation between the destruction/dilution of the family and the rise of new deal liberalism. The state cannot coexist with the family. The family can support its members. But when you separate and spread out the family, the state must step in.
j_galt on October 27, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Doc, to quote Billy Joel’s Piano Man, “Man, what are you doing here?”
Count to 10 on October 27, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Excellent – and I second the motion to promote Dr. Zero to page 1 permanently. Every post is a must read.
True indeed that the luxuries of the past have hit an expiration date – we now must fight for our way of life or see it lost forever.
Carolina Kat on October 27, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Fantastic, fantastic.
So how long until I don’t have to click Green Room to read Doc’s page?
DrRansom on October 27, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Consensus: We need our Doctor Zero fix.
Get thee to the front page.
publiuspen on October 27, 2009 at 2:31 PM
ALWAYS a pleasure to read the Doctor! I’m printing this one out to share.
Wine_N_Dine on October 27, 2009 at 6:54 PM
We don’t have enough blood because we spent it all on supporting RINOs rather than candidates that might make a difference. All of the big spending liberalism you speak of, has been joined by the GOP for that is where the votes are. There are more votes to be bought by spending, than there are votes to be bought by thrift. Thus, the GOP raids the public coffers, too. The biggest giveaway in raw dollars in America’s history was Bush’s prescription drug bill. Remember compassionate conservatism? That was Orwell speak for big government socialist from Texas.
This is not about Dem vs GOP. That is a battle from 50 years ago. Today it is about the tax payer vs the socialist. And there are just as many big spending socialists in the GOP as in the other party, so party affiliation is meaningless now. Spilling our blood to support another socialist is pointless.
keep the change on October 27, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Brilliant.
Venusian Visitor on October 27, 2009 at 7:02 PM
The media cordon saintaire has been breached through expansion of bandwidth and building of networks.
Now we must focus on the indoctrination system…without this, short term gains are phyrric victories. We need to take advantage of the massive disrepute the Left is going to come into in Europe in the next decade or two and focus on putting the Left out to pasture in the K-12 ciricula and in Academia at Uni.
EscapeVelocity on October 27, 2009 at 7:03 PM
And we arent gonna do that with Scozzofava-like RINOs.
EscapeVelocity on October 27, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Amazing post as usual, Doctor.
OneGyT on October 27, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Money line!
Nailed it!
katy on October 27, 2009 at 7:13 PM
You’re right, of course, but there are so many people now who see government as a cash register / ATM. Gov-mint is the Gift that Keeps on Giving; these people don’t pay income taxes–they GET other people’s money via gov-mint.
What are you or I or anyone going to tell them? We can talk good and write good, but what’s going to overcome a vicious Double-shot of self-interest and indifference?
We HAVE the message–and several messengers–but too many people ain’t listening.
Janos Hunyadi on October 27, 2009 at 7:32 PM
In light of how you change momentum: My family and I just got back from picking up yard signs for a Tea Party gathering. The organization holding the meeting was at a local IHOP. There were about twenty Tea Party organizers there brainstorming how to reach the county, talking big picture stuff, and handing out signs and flyers and stuff. That’s just one Tea Party organization in one county in one state. Not only that, but Tea Party signs are popping up all over the place down here. We can push back. We can push back. We can push it all the way back. Liberty!
Weight of Glory on October 27, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Outstanding.
But I’d add that it has never been about the poor, it’s always been about grabbing more and more power. The “helping the poor” thing is just a marketing ploy designed to get more votes.
The left doesn’t understand reason, and they don’t know how to deal with reality in a rational manner. The result is a vast junkyard of failed leftist projects. That junkyard keeps expanding because, again, the irrational left thinks “We’ll make it work this time! We just need more power!“.
ZenDraken on October 27, 2009 at 7:48 PM
Who is Doctor Zero?
Why haven’t I found him before?
He writes like Dr. Thomas Sowell (frankly) used to, always getting to the heart of the matter with a unique eloquence and an economy of words.
JeffWeimer on October 27, 2009 at 7:48 PM
The best thing that could happen, for the American people this year, is for Hoffman to win in NY23. I will force Republicans to pick the best candidates, not just some liberal they think might beat the Democrat. We can do better than that. Republicans are better than that. We don’t have to settle.
It was liberal Republicans and wayward Conservatives who spent like drunken sailors during the Bush Administration. Is it possible that the tea parties will make them think? I doubt it so, the districts where the big spenders live, should vote them out also. I think some of them are gone already and the remainder should be called out.
Finally, the Republicans have to recognize that we do have problems with our health care system and they need to be fixed. They’ve been shown the path to governing by the Democrats and perhaps our illustrious press just might be willing to call out a few of the wayward Democrats that are constantly stopping Republican contributions to the debate. Anyway, the Republicans need to play the game the way the Democrats do, call them out when they filibuster a drilling bill, so we can become more energy independent. Call them out, when we come up with a health care bill that allows the employee to get his own insurance and get a tax break for it. Call them out, when you propose fixes for Social Security and they stop it. IF the press doesn’t help, enlist Fox News, who will become more powerful because of the lamestream medias perceived love fest with the Democrats. Let 2009 become the beginning of the end of liberal democrats (who can’t even call themselves liberal and have to change the name to “progressive”).
bflat879 on October 27, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Truthfully, how many more sterling posts must Dr. Zero write in order to be automatically placed on the front page? He has graduated from the Green Room Summa cum laude and first in class!
Dr. Zero you absolutely dissect the socialist mind so well. I love this quote
” it has been possible for the Left to play its game without causing sudden or radical damage to the middle class it hates ”
The Left indeed hates the middle class and has hijacked the Democratic party that once stood for middle class prosperity. These people are all out for power and want everyone not in their class to be their subjects. We rejected this type of thinking at our founding. As Beck has advocated, we need a refounding of this Country. A return to the conservative ideals that founded this country. Limited national government, local control, strong defense, and energy independence. What is at stake is our prosperity, our superpower status, our currency, and our values. We need to address the very structure of government from a conservatives point of view and lock in a mechanism that ensures conservative government, much as the New Deal entitlements currently ensure liberal ascendent governance. Doc, ponder about a permanent fund devoted to paying off our national debt, along the lines of the fund in Alaska. Let’s make the cause of energy independence, where we build nuclear power plants and open up our oil and natural gas reserves for production, the very source of our financial independence. A permanent fund would ensure good government finances as it would work to pay our debt off, as well as pay back dividends to the people out of the revenue from the resources we produce to bring us energy independence. Add to this private accounts for social security and we can begin to take back our financial desting. We need to start saving and stop borrowing.
milemarker2020 on October 27, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Dr. Zero, once again, is spot on in his (her?) observations. Well written and cogent.
But I think we have to address a major problem that I think lies at the heart of this.
We must take back the schools and the family. The former have been co-opted by communists/socialists for nearly 50 years. Just look at your childrens’ textbooks. William Ayers and his minions dropped their molotov cocktails and picked up the chalk and erasers years ago. Several generations of children have been taught to hate America, our values and our history.
Then there are the minorities and the poor – how many of them have been used as tools of the Democrats and liberals to advance their hidden commie agenda?
We can take back parties and we can even win elections and majorities. But until we re-establish the family and the rights of the individual, and the exceptional nature that is our country’s proud history and what we stand for, then we will have to keep fighting this battle ever decade or so.
G-d help us and G-d bless America!
J.J. Sefton on October 27, 2009 at 8:20 PM
*I meant destiny, not desting.
milemarker2020 on October 27, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Absolutely brilliant! This is exactly what wwe all must be saying today and tomorrow and until we wake up and storm the gates of hell team -1 wants us to believe hopelessly erected before us. Those in hell abandon hope. We can choose something else if we will.
Drusilla on October 27, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Let that sink in for a while…
Great post Doc, time for the front page!
Seven Percent Solution on October 27, 2009 at 8:58 PM
This Doc guy or gal is excellent.
justltl on October 27, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Id like to read the David Frum link up top here, but Ive been banned at NewMajority. Can someone tell me the title of the New Majority article? So maybe I could google it and pick it up at some other site.
Thanks!
EscapeVelocity on October 27, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Dear Doctor Zero,
When you say
I fear that you are correct. “Fear” because the last time a large body of squishies jumped on that bandwagon we got to see Newt & Co. revert to form quicker’n a beloved rattlesnake goin’ for your ankles. We don’t need moderates passing themselves off as conservatives, we need worried, stalked, and abused for their beliefs conservatives who yet stand up and say, “I’m a conservative. I live it, I believe it.”
Few reformed squishies in office, none at all in leadership, or the revolution will last every bit as long as the 1994 one did.
fronclynne on October 27, 2009 at 11:19 PM
Nicely written. very coherent and to the point!.
Will say tho, that it has become very difficult in not lashing out on the RNC for the behavior that they are practicing.
Patience is truly a virtue
hawkman on October 28, 2009 at 12:32 AM
I appreciate your mention of the little taxes Doc. Every time I pay our phone/cable bill, our family pays for Al Gore’s everyone must have access to the Internet tax.
I seriously doubt that everyone has been “given” access to the Internet by Al Gore’s tax. Herein lies the rub: the liberal left wants, in theory, everyone in the US to have access to everything. In and of its idealism, that notion is something.
Please follow the money trail: Jackson’s sons hijacked a distributorship in Chicago, Andy Stern’s personal coffers (how very nice for him) are large and he meets with the President once a week, Rangel’s ridiculous mpnetary/tax situation, Sharpton again getting behind another false rape charge, Barney Frank’s crusade to shore up Freddie and Fannie, and Dodd’s wink and a nudge as a friend of Countrywide.
Then, show me, how the actions of the above, have ever benefitted one homeless, destitute, or struggling family. I mean, really, prove it.
They may talk a great game – but what they have actually delivered is criminal. Listen to the radio interview of a lovely woman in Detroit who stood in line to get a free money check from either the city of Detroit or from President Obama.
The elected who claim to advance the causes of the poor have not improved the poor’s lives. Instead, they maintain their office by oppressing their constituents and then promise them wealth redistribution with a wink of hope and a nod of change.
Finally, Republican office holders must recognize that they will be held accountable for all of their actions and votes. This is no longer a them versus us situation. Party, egos, and elections, will be met at the polling place beginning next week. I expect that principle will win over party affiliation.
bbh on October 28, 2009 at 12:44 AM
Step 1: Accept there will never be another Reagan, he was one of a kind. A human being is not reproducible in exact likeness.
Step 2: Accept that there WILL be pain, and it will be borne by US – the hard working, educated (still paying off student loans), productive citizen. Why will we pay? Because the leech will continue to live as he or she always has. Only WE, the actual working class, will suffer. Why do we have to suffer? Because it was the middle class that voted for the One. And only in PAIN can stupid people be educated. And WE, the non-stupid, will suffer along with them.
Step 3: And I’ve been posting this for years on this site: We must GET INVOLVED. We cannot sit on our collective a$$es and type comments in blogs and expect ANYTHING to change. THE LIBERALS HAVE THE SCHOOLS AND THE MEDIA. Fox is doing its part in the media, we HAVE to take back the schools. How? Start by going to the PTA meeting, being elected to the school board, finding out who is running in YOUR district for state and local offices and get involved.
This all takes time and effort, and we freaking work, unlike the leeches that just want “Obama money” but the pain we will endure for continued apathy is just starting to hit home…and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
It’s worth the time to go to a tea party protest, go to the school baord, find out who’s running and campaign for them. Get involved if you care about your child or grandchild’s future.
ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL. Get out there.
JustTruth101 on October 28, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Why is it that people can’t spell out GOD? Why the dash? I’ve seen this several times and wonder, do you think its offensive? If its that you don’t believe in God, I don’t think you should mention him at all.
Great point there. I’m a self employed independent contractor and don’t have income taxes withheld – have to pay quarterly SE taxes. I think if most tax paying citizens had to do it like me, they’d soon come to understand just how much they are being milked — it kind of hurts to write that big fat check each quarter.
I’m an Australian citizen living here in the US so I can’t vote. Have lived here 30+ years. Always abhorred politics, I’m ashamed to say kind of asleep/in denial. My fiance has never voted. Since waking up last year, I’m working on becoming a citizen so I can vote and my fiancee has told me he will be voting in any upcoming elections. So, take heart, people are waking up – we are angry about the way things are and we want change; just not the kind of change that was promised in 2008.
The Republican party needs to seriously be shaken up. I cannot take them seriously, havent seen too many people I’d want to vote for. They are a disgrace really. They just seem like more of the same. I hope that Hoffman guy wins his election.
I’m not as smart about politics as many posters here are. Just my 2 cents worth.
fullogas on October 28, 2009 at 1:01 AM
You pose the question, ‘How do you reverse the momentum of history?’ but furnish no straightforward answers. You seem to be saying the American people need to know the truth and then–once people do understand what’s going on–we must vote the power away from those who got us in this mess. Okay. We’ll get right on it, I guess.
I always love reading your pieces, Doc, but it isn’t enough to state the problem, no matter how eloquently or creatively. It’s like an officer firing up the troops. We need to take a seemingly impregnable fortress, sure. The what isn’t at issue here. It’s always the how that makes things problematic.
The problem you state is the problem of communication: how do we initiate the Great Awakening you describe when the Left has a stranglehold on most major means of mass communication? Sarah Palin’s use of Facebook as a political messaging device was an innovative start, I think, but not nearly enough to beat the pervasive access to public consciousness and culture commanded by the opposition.
The answer? Money. Lots and lots of money devoted solely to countering the influence of the MSM. An amount of money so vast it makes what Soros spends look like pocket change. So where would this mountain of gold come from? I don’t know. That’s another problem.
troyriser_gopftw on October 28, 2009 at 1:23 AM
You’re dead right Troy.. Money? Hmm. How about if we all only paid STATE taxes and not our Federal taxes? Starve the beast, so to speak. Well, I guess thats impracticable, being that most folks have it taken out of their pay check. And I know we still have to pay the military, plus I could probably get in trouble suggesting things like it. But, since I’ve become aware of our political situation, that’s been my major question – how do we do it?
Is it time to form a new political party? You know, with lawyers who represent anyone who stands up and gets slammed/skewered/smeared by the democrats. I think a lot of people might like to stand up and represent the conservatives, but they have families and jobs and responsiblities and they don’t want to put all that on the line. I mean, look what happened to Joe the Plummer, just for asking one question.
Its late and I’m tired and probably making no sense at all, so forgive me. But dammit you have a good point here… blogging back and forth won’t get this show on the road. Here at HA, there are a lot of really intelligent, knowledgeable people – a huge talent pool, but it all goes nowhere at the end of the day – its simply shuffled down in order to give way to the next day’s news and issues.
fullogas on October 28, 2009 at 1:49 AM
Good stuff Doc, as usual.
Good points too, Dark Horse.
LegendHasIt on October 28, 2009 at 2:03 AM
Just look at the violent reactions you get from social security recipients.
MarkTheGreat on October 28, 2009 at 7:02 AM
RE: Hesistancy by some to spell out “God” in posts. I’ve wondered that also. It may be a case of reverence for surely it is not a non-believer who states, “God Bless America.”
publiuspen on October 28, 2009 at 7:17 AM
What a powerful statement! It made me catch my breath and reread…
I always have to sit down and reread your words, like a good meal–I have to make myself slow down and savor them.
Then I have to shake my head at how you put the feeings of most of us, into your words.
I totally agree that we need to stick to our “core” values, and allow for some deviation of other viewpoints. We need to learn to pick our battles, and to consider the effects. We need to stop being the proverbial frog, swimming around in the slowly heating water…
You really need to be Sarah’s speech writer…
lovingmyUSA on October 28, 2009 at 7:42 AM
Social Security recipients most emphatically do not believe they are living off the government dole. They paid into the program for those benefits. I live in an area with a high population of retirees, and I can say from experience they become very angry at the suggestion Social Security is some kind of welfare program. Whether it actually is one is a separate question. Its beneficiaries don’t see it that way.
Doctor Zero on October 28, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Is it a time for choosing?
This is our Rendezvous With Destiny!
Blacksmith8 on October 28, 2009 at 8:03 AM
I simply must take issue with this statement.
The charade of ‘caring for the poor’* is still a gigantic asset in passing all manner of freedom-destroying and money-wasting programs even today.
*(in liberal terminology, that means ‘blindly throwing taxpayer monies at anyone with their hand out and making the right noises, while requiring nothing in return besides their bought-and-paid-for vote.’)
Dark-Star on October 28, 2009 at 9:35 AM
Lately I have been thinking that maybe Obambi was right, that he actually was going to fundamentally change the country. Not by pushing us much further left much faster, but by awakening a huge backlash in the populace, a backlash that could bring us back to what this country is supposed to be. A backlash that might even drive the size and reach of government smaller. A backlash that maybe never would have happened if the ‘rats wouldn’t have tried too much, too fast, at a bad time.
And another splendid essay, Doctor Zero.
2ipa on October 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM