VDH:
We have had about a half-century of racial preferences and often unspoken but real quotas for hiring and admission based on racial identity. If the original intent was to level the playing field for African-Americans and Latinos, who had been subject to systematic and often gratuitously mean discrimination throughout much of the American South and Southwest, nonetheless the current rationale for sustaining affirmative action has become a veritable nightmare of contradictions, biases, and incoherence that is now well beyond reform. Conservatives mostly believe this; an increasing number of liberals quietly think it.
[my emphases]
Even as Europe recognizes the failures of the “multiculturalist” project and, increasingly, Keynesian economics, our own dalliance with both socialism and egalitarian identity politics continues apace — though largely through the whims of the ruling class, who themselves either represent (or, in the case of some in the GOP, believe in the necessity of pandering to) the “social justice” crowd, whose numbers the progressives and the media work to inflate, leading to corresponding overdetermination of influence.
Back when I first posited OUTLAWism, I spoke of a return to founding principles rooted in the rule of law, individual autonomy, the primacy of the individual, and the relentless protection of liberty — including and especially liberty from the tyranny of any government that seeks to overthrow the Constitution and the Declaration and declare itself the font of our rights. These classical liberal principles, I argued, did not break sharply along established party lines, but rather separated along the ideological lines of the New Left (who had taken control of the Democratic party under the guise of “progressives”) and everyone else to the right of them.
Despite making up only about 20% of the country, the left, by insinuating itself into the Democrat party, has learned over the years to massage its policy prescriptions, couching them in pro-capitalist, pro-liberty terms even while those policies actively worked to deconstruct the very foundational principles of the United States laid out by the framers and fathers. As a result, we find ourselves governed by a small minority and not knowing exactly how we got here.
Which is why I believed, back in 2008, that an OUTLAW movement (or what soon became known as the TEA Party movement) would cross party lines, bringing those who may once have voted Democrat into the ranks of the constitutional conservatives/classical liberals, largely because the left was letting the mask drop, and pushing equality of outcome — coupled with inequities in law, disparities in speech protections, and the clear foregrounding of grievance politics — at the expense of the equality of opportunity that has always animated the American dream.
So when VDH notes that current thinking on the follies of race-based affirmative action increasingly cross party lines, I tend to agree with him; and if he is right, as I hope I have been, our “historic” brush with socialism and the new-normality of 10% unemployment, shared misery, and crony capitalism (complete with ruling elite) in exchange for a powerful centralized nanny-state promising base-level cradle-to-crave security provided by the labyrinthian bureaucratic state may well finally have awakened the American electorate to the needs of doing away with the political status quo, and working to return the country to its founding mission.
The admission — even by many self-styled liberals — that affirmative action is itself a perversion of the ostensible end-game of societal color-blindness before the law, is just one data point that could signal what we can hope will be a great classical liberal awakening.
Either that or further proof to future historians that “they knew the problems but lacked the will to solve them…”
Blech.
…just one data point that could signal what we can hope will be a great classical liberal awakening.
I truly hope that VDH’s essay helps make some ‘unspeakable’ truths more speakable in polite company. I’m heartily sick of being painted as a racist, a paranoiac, and an ignorant rube for committing the sin of putting words to observations that anyone can see. I’m equally sick of the go-along-to-get-along Beltway crowd shying away from making similar observations.
I never cared for Trump, but Cilizza made a good point in his article yesterday: Trump showed that confrontation can be effective. It’s time for more of that.
The Left understands that their arguments don’t hold up under scrutiny. They know that their useful idiots haven’t given matters much thought, and are driven primarily by what they’re told should make them feel good. This is why they’ve spent so much effort subverting the media and the academy. It’s why they’re so desperate to marginalize talk radio and “Faux Newz.” It’s why they promote Establicans who reinforce their rules, and why they go to such lengths to excommunicate any OUTLAW who dares question their fundamental assertions.
We need more people to question their premises. We need more people to challenge their arguments, and stop worrying about getting invites to Meet The Press or Beltway cocktail parties. To the extent that VDH is helping to make such questions acceptable, I applaud his efforts. Now, if we could just get some candidates to force the issue…
Outlawism to the Tea Party. Like the mountain men were to the pioneers.
TRUTH TO POWER!
Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
“because the left was letting the mask drop,”
Your Tax Dollars at Work: GM Sponsors & Applauds Propaganda Movie on Creation of Chi-Com Party
Which seems to be Rush’s biggest criticism of Daniels. Why if he is such a conservative that he does not run as a conservative?
Newt is far worse. Not only does he dodge conservatism, he actively speaks against it.
From y’all’s lips to God’s ears…
‘Cuz we need to roll back the last 80 years of statist initiatives, and get back to good ol’ personal liberty, a truly free market, and prosperity for all courtesy of that archetypal rising tide that lifts all boats.
And we can start by sticking to our guns in the primaries.
No flim-flam. No compromise. No sell out!
Sorta OT: Listening to Hannity on the radio and he has Bachmann on. Sounds like she’s running. Talking up her Iowa roots. Interesting soundbite, roughly, “I’ll only vote to raise the debt ceiling if they agree to defund Obamacare.”
Great essay, Jeff.
I’m beginning to wonder if many of the Tea Party folk have lost a step; if enough of ’em have been browbeaten by the din from MSM and ‘social pressure’s from neighbors, co-workers, clergy and all the rest who are comfortable with a touch of socialism.
Perhaps as we get closer to the election, we’ll get the groundswell we’re looking for.
Damned Droid dispensing extra esses.
the frank luntz spun his wheels tonite for mitchy. oh my the mitchy says nice things sometimes. mostly he’s a gwb drone that karltherover can work with.
Would it kill you to make a case rather than just imply shit?
Guy is wrong on the judiciary, has ethanol problems, and seems unable to get in phase with the grassroots. There’s shit to work with there if you want to twist a knife.
Yet, all you keep going with is this vague nonsense. Which is simply wrong anyways. One of GW’s fundamental problems was his profligacy and his desire to spend money through compassionate conservatism. That ain’t Mitch. In fact, that’s his first, second and third selling point.
“Would it kill you to make a case rather than just imply shit?”
but bh my comments rile you so where’s the fun in toning down my mitchy diatribe? any who after the mccain i’m not liking the opinions of the hughhewitts,karltherover,chuckyK, et al of the opinion world. i’m sorry the short dude ain’t going to win the race for precedent.
oh bh: fight fire with fire? : fight the 1st black precedent with the 2nd black precedent. kinda tribal but that be the left.
Want to know why it riles me? Because we’re at pw. We’re not at Hot Air. We’re not anyplace else.
I suppose I could give you the discussions I had with happyfeet over Palin. Make your case. Pissing off people you disagree with doesn’t actually mean that you made your case. I just means you pissed someone off. Want to convince me that Daniels is a GWB clone? Say how their records are similar. Say how their rhetoric has distinct philosophical agreement.
You’re just griefing me otherwise.
Look, I’ve said months ago that I don’t think Mitch has a sense of the moment and I think there is little chance he can win. We both like the same guy given who’s in the race now.
With all that agreement, I still just fundamentally dislike bullshit.
(But, if you’re admitting that you’re simply griefing me, I suppose I should just ignore you when you’re playing this game.)
“if you’re admitting that you’re simply griefing me”
no i think all these political folks are losers (including cain).
i just don’t understand your tenacious defense of mitchy? the dude’s in a conservative state yet he says nothing when the ‘rats run to the border? way to weak cup of tea for me.
Save it, bh. It ain’t worth the effort.
Cain’s too political for you?
Who, or what, would you like to see running?
There you go.
I probably went a step too far smacking him around on something he said about that, but, yeah, I agree. I would have liked it if a) he realized it was his fight as soon as the legislature decided it was on the table and b) realized the import of the moment from Wisco to Indiana to Ohio to Florida. I know he had his predetermined goals but a bit of nimbleness would be appreciated.
As to my tenacious defense? I was just reading in the WSJ the other day that Wisco just move from 41 to 24 on a CEO poll of where to do business. Thought it was awesome.
Indy moved from 16 to 6. It’s almost that simple.
Everything I like about Walker and some of the others are following his playbook. It’s an important endeavor if we’re not to just wilt away and die as a country.
I want the guy there along with some others to push this stuff in the primary debates and then into the general. Our numbers are bad enough that growth has to be a large part of the solution. There’s no slow recovery option.
It’s a lot like asking me why I’d tenaciously defend Cain.
19 was for 16.
At times I think so, JD. At other times I have this weird sense of optimism entirely at odds with my ability to convince anyone of anything.
In a word? Drano…
Might have been a confusing referent there. Walker and some of the others are following Daniels’ playbook.
It’s why they have such respect for the guy. Not because of some establishment love. It’s the fact that he’s done all the radically right stuff he has and won. He’s given the blueprint. Do this and win. Now they know.
Ask Walker who he likes for president. Ask him why he decided to kill the unions first thing, before the rest of the battle. Answer goes back the same guy.
So who would you like to see as the chief executive? In Congress representing your interests?
I thought you liked Cain.
(In case you guys were wondering, yeah, I do notice my typos afterwards. The proof reading of comments would make this seem too much like work though. Alternately… brain lesion.)
“I thought you liked Cain.”
the hermanator is my choice. but they are humans no. i don’t expect much. the mccain thing left me thinking that bill ayers idea of offin’ his side of the aisle is … shall we say that these folks we oppose need to be defeated. soundly at the polls.
Methinks a noun is missing between the bolded words.
The word “years” is easily inserted by the reader.
VDH’s article is an interesting follow-up to months of Glenn Reynolds postings on the rapidly declining value of a college education. College was supposed to be an institution of “higher learning”, where the kids that worked hard would earn degrees, opening up a world of opportunity. Colleges have been dumbed down to accommodate the learning curve for every student and many academic institutions worry more about “diversity” then the value of the degree. People see college as a right, rather than a right of passage.
Lurves me some Herman.
Do you guys think it’s possible, that Herman can just look into those cameras and microphones and take his case directly pass the media and straight to that fat slob (Me) sitting in his leather chair wondering “what’s in it for me nigger?”.
I think he can. I believe he can walk right into that shit storm and win.
And just for good measure, it sure would be great to have Allen West right by his side.
I’m a racist. I said nigger.
I will now for the first time ever denounce myself.
Post script: My droid will not let me type the Sarah Palin’s last name. It auto corrects to lapnia. It also autocorrects Barack Obama to spell his name.
There’s your conspiracy.
@27: So, where can I get your mind-reading device?
Even though my mind reader thought that it was merely a noun missing, it could just have easily been the phrase “battles for public opinion” or “many wonderful meals and discussions concerning future strategy and tactics”.
I just appealed to authorial intent, re-read the mistyped passage above, and noted that Jeff corrected it to insert “years”, Richard.
Or may I call you Dick?
Game on, says Donna B in an Op-Ed in USA Today.
Donna B. can go perform anatomical impossibilities on herself for all I care.
The phrase in question was critical to the point of the article. It matters not where or over what period of time the proggs have learned to couch their policies in terms that appear acceptable to mainstream America. What matters is that they have learned it, and have used it relentlessly to steer this nation away from the Founders’ vision.
One can’t help but despair, when a reader of such sophistication as Mr. Cranium fails to recognize the de minimus nature of his criticism, nor the valueless distraction that it represents, nor the propriety of offering editorial corrections in private. It is to weep.
Donna’s making a good show of complaining, but anybody in the know already understands that photo ID and/or proof of residence requirements are easily circumvented by having the “right people” behind the table checking those documents.
Does anyone really believe that DNC/ACORN is going to spend millions on multiple fake IDs for their cattle, when they could much more easily put their sympathizers among the election judges?
Shtup Donna B