Gee. I can remember a time not too long ago where saying such things was unhelpful, its utterers “extremists” and “purists” who were hurting the GOP’s cause by alienating “moderates” and “independents”. Comity — that’s what was needed. A willingness to recognize the basic goodness and decency of Good Men like Barack Obama, whose disagreements with us weren’t at all personal, but were instead merely a matter of policy differences as filtered and distilled through his own moderate pragmatism. Protesting forcefully against such an historic, symbolic president — who would lower the oceans and such — would turn the grand old party into a regional curio; conservative “idealists” were wrecking the electoral chances for Republicans, what with their unwillingness to do what the American people clearly want: compromise, move leftward, join in the expansion of government and the furtherance of an ever-increasing deficit spending, over-regulated nanny state. The holdouts — these far right purists who shouldn’t presume to speak for conservatism — were crazed and paranoid, suffering from an imagined “persecution complex”.
Funny how times have changed.
Katherine Lopez interviews Stanley Kurtz on his new book, Radical-in-Chief; as does Hugh Hewitt — who not too long ago would hang up on all the unserious rightwing “nutters” who intimated that Obama was a Marxist or socialist, in between shilling for whatever candidate the GOP establishment put forward.
Turns out that the evidence, largely circumstantial, but compelling nonetheless, suggests that Obama is a candidate trained in stealth socialism, both a product of — and culmination to — the New Left’s long march through the institutions. Of course, today the “New Left” self-identifies as “liberal” or “progressive,” to hide their socialist/Marxist roots. Their governing style is “pragmatic,” “forward thinking,” and “transformative”; and their message is one of economic populism, class warfare, and identity politics — all couched in the Orwellian inversions of protected groups, set-asides, government-approved speech, and the nannystate tentacles of a growing liberal fascism, into the (ironic) buzzwords “fairness” and “tolerance” and “security.”
And it turns out that those who refused to recognize all this early on — and who openly went to war against conservatives / classical liberals over such (rather obvious) observations, diminishing them as extremists or “purists” who were looking to “purge” the party of solid intellectual Republicans — however late to the party they are, are nonetheless now joining in the wave.
But what will happen when (as is inevitable, given the ups and downs of politics) the Tea Party falls short? How long before these very same nuanced “pragmatists” on the right go back to beating up on idealist conservatives / classical liberals in an effort to set themselves aside as some of the good ones, the thinkers willing to work with left — at the expense of conservative / classical liberal principles?
The left, as they’ve made quite clear, doesn’t like you. To them, you are stupid, frightened nativist homophobes who simply don’t understand “the facts or science.” You are bitter-clingers — though likely this is as much the fault of some sort of genetic pathology as it is right wing talk radio and FOXNews. Best you be shunned entirely.
But make no mistake: what we’ve now seen is that many on the “right” don’t like you either. To them, you are a necessary component for acquiring and controlling power, but your primary election decisions — if not made in accordance with their wishes — marks you, too, as “extremists,” deserving of scorn. And the candidates you selected as best representative of your interests will be openly shunned, actively and publicly disparaged, with no GOP money ushered in to support them in their election battles.
You are outsiders, and yet you are legion.
You are. OUTLAW!
Just because you’re not wrong doesn’t mean that I’m not right, Goldstein. You’d know that if you weren’t so déclassé. You think you’re so smart. I bet you went to a State University. And I know you’ve never been invited to the right soirées.
He’s a home-grown Manchurian Candidate, our Dude is.
Outlaw is right! I believe ‘turnout’ will be key in this election, and the ‘wave’ will be much bigger than predicted. Big enough to overcome the standard Dem cheating routines. I believe voters that haven’t voted for decades will once again cast ballots because, in this election, there is a clear difference in ‘parties’. The establishment GOP (Democrap light) can join the ‘party’ (Tea), become Democrap, or become unemployed the next election. The Tea Party ‘movement’ will not go away next month. We have at least a 10-year mission. The freedom of the planet depends upon it!
Obama, a radical? What kind of nutter are you? Can’t you tell a good man when you see one?
This is all so unhelpful…
Forgetting that Obama’s plans for transforming the US are the epitome of unhelpful.
This is something that folks can’t be allowed to “forget” or “paper over”. Every time they make a pronouncement, preface all responses with, “Yeah, well you thought Obama was a good man, and that anyone who felt different should just stop being unhelpful and ’embrace the suck’…”
Might take a few of ’em aback.
This WSJ piece by Shelby Steele on Obama and his association with the “Bad faith in America” crew is pretty darn good
http://tiny.cc/gg2k9kahug
It’s worth looking at.
I’d like to hear Jeff’s take on this since he’s in Colorado.
I’ve noticed that the gubernatorial race in Colorado should’ve been an easy walk through for team GOP, but thanks to Tancredo they may end up handing it to a democrat. My question is this- has the social conservative right highjacked the Tea Party message of limiting government through economic conservatism first, social issues secondary? Or is this all on Tancredo because Republicans didn’t nominate him?
From the interview, for consideration from a strategic point of view:
For one thing (and working against Obama’s hypothesized apparent goals) people befriend, indeed, love one another cutting right across posited class lines. On the other hand, rending garments is generally an easier thing than stitching them up.
It seems incumbent on Obama’s opposition, from a strategic vantage, to find a means to foil his divisive class-making as such, to consciously resist any temptation to accede to and us-them construct.
ain’t no “d” in “an us-them”, apologies.
Too bad nobody was writing on this before the 2008 election. Oh, wait, right.
Tancredo would tell you that the Republican should back out, given his troubles. Coloradans are, it seems, more likely to vote for third party candidates than we are told is possible, and the buzz here is that should Maes drop out (he has declined repeatedly, despite nearing single-digit support), Tancredo would win. Maes and (before him) McInnis were both embroiled in scandals. Tancredo, running on the American Constitution Party platform, is for fiscal restraint, and is strongly in favor of border security. Lots of people believe he’s the best GOP candidate left standing, which is why Republican support has moved to him.
Here’s some recent info.
[H]as the social conservative right highjacked the Tea Party message of limiting government through economic conservatism first, social issues secondary?
Social conservatism and fiscal conservatism go together like scotch and soda. To quote Mark Steyn:
It’s not just about balancing the books, but about something more basic and profound.
It wasn’t called “The Protestant Work Ethic” for nothing.
Why, thanks for that, Darleen!
My own miserable state (Illinois, formerly “Land of Lincoln”, now “Will the Defendant please rise”) may even give the boot to a few “D” folks. Of course, we need our own version of the NJ governor, as we are flat broke…
So Jeff, it sounds like I have the two mixed up- Maes is the one who’s abandoning Tea Party principles, and Tancredo is the one who is fiscal conservative first? I admit I wasn’t sure and obviously I can’t expect the MSM to tell me correctly.
I always think of Colorado as a natural stomping ground for independents.
“A rabble we were, but a rabble in arms.”
Well, Maes was the Tea Party choice initially, but when he was hit by several scandals, most of the conservatives here saw the writing on the wall and were willing to switch to Tancredo.
That Maes is refusing to drop out now suggests to some that he was more interested in power than he is in principles.
“A rabble we were, but a rabble in arms.”
Yes, but does it have any legs?
I pray that on Wednesday the adjective to describe the election departs from “wave,” skips right over “tsunami” and is forced to coin an entirely new concept.
#19 – Wavepocalypse? Ultratsunami? 10.0 Richeterwipeout?
#20 Noachian Deluge?
Progg-pacalypse…
I caught a few minutes of Braveheart the other night on TV. This scene struck me. It is after Wallace is knighted for chasing the English out of Scotland.
Craig: Sir William, where are you going?
William: We have beaten the English, but they’ll come back because you won’t stand together.
Craig: Well what will you do?
William: I will invade England and defeat the English on their own ground.
Craig: Invade? That’s impossible.
William: Why? Why is that impossible? You’re so concerned with squabbling for the scraps from Longshank’s table that you’ve missed your God given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with FREEDOM. And I go to make sure that they have it.
Maybe “Trans-Chicxulubian Event.”
…not that you’d want to say it three times fast…
Obamaggedon
I’ve always thought cataclysm was a really cool word. If it’s capitalized, even better.
Okay, I’m-a thumbs-up Ernst’s suggestion in #26.
Demluge?
Heh. If Obama ever thought, “Apres moi, le deluge,” he was off by a couple of years.
Great line, McG.
Wisco has a gubernatorial race, three House races and a Senate race. Of those five, we’ll win 4 and are just as likely to get a clean sweep.
Obama won the state by 14 points in 2008. 14 points.
Even if you think the Dems have the slight edge in your state’s elections, work for it this weekend. Even if it’s simply making sure that one extra person votes. Never in our lifetimes have we had a better chance for pleasant surprises. 4 days left.
/ booster off.
(But seriously, let’s do the work.)
Halloween morning links…
Body paint Halloween pics via Tiger The killjoys come out on Halloween. Has Boxer ever done anything useful? The Looming Congressional Investigations I want the truth out about how Fannie and Freddie – government agencies – cau…
[…] “Chicxulub” or […]
[…] PROTEIN WISDOM– “A Referendum on the Redeemer”; and “Radical in the White House”; also “The Incumbent Protection Racket”; plus “The Democrats’ personal piggy bank: […]