We’ve seen some of this before, most depressingly among many in the GOP ruling class who despise Sarah Palin for her (to their way of thinking) surprising successes. She doesn’t play by their rules — she isn’t, as David Brooks mewled, a “team player” (leave aside the fact that when she was, she was attacked in just the same way by the very same people, those who tend to be fooled into conflating faculty lounge argot and creased designer trousers with intelligence and gravitas) — and so her celebrity and accomplishments are, in a word, unfair. Which attitude, incidentally, is is precisely how you can identify those on the right who harbor at least some degree of leftwing sensibilities.
Then there are those who claim to be disinterested, non-partisan election analysts who every once in a while let slip their public masks and play to their real constituencies, the class-baiting social justice crowd, would-be betters whose intellectual curiosity tends to run its course at 22 and henceforth rely solely on the occasional bit of maintenance, which amounts to memorizing the “right” buzz words and holding firm to the hivemind’s official narrative, with a few “bold” dissenting opinions pinned to the margins like little colored ribbons, completing the contrived outfit of “complexity.”
Witness, for instance, National Journal’s Charlie Cook, who runs the Cook Report. Charlie, you see, is angry. But he can’t express that anger as the envy that engenders it — at least, not brazenly or openly (that would be untoward!) — so he’s forced to attack the object of his envy, diminishing it, belittling it, even as in so doing his own envy grows.
It’s only partially about “left” and “right.” The real problem with the political climate in this country is that we have those with a ruling class mentality, and then everyone else. It just so happens that one of the two major parties is operating entirely on that platform just now. Which doesn’t mean that “our” side — or even those “independents” or “moderates” we’re supposed to be chasing — isn’t chock full of the same types.
The trick now is to realign political affiliation along the lines of those who would presume to be our rulers, and those who don’t wish to be subjects, and so gravitate toward individual freedom, autonomy, and the tenets of classical liberalism that act as this nation’s foundation.
The Tea Party, it seems to me, is about that. And it can’t happen fast enough.
Lest I be lumped into the commentariat, who are in spasms in one fashion or another over her presumptive candidacy, I merely want someone who embraces the series of positions that in one form or another may be said to constitute “Goldsteinism.”
THAT person would see the many discreet, non-partisan (or, more accurately, joint GOP-Dem) failings that led us to the Credit Crisis. Palin doesn’t.
To the point, I’d vote for Jeff. I think the US is ready for a POTUS who confesses to having had a nipple ring, and a girlfriend who tugged at it while going down on him.
Roddy, in rebuttal: http://www.nysun.com/editorials/sarah-palin-for-the-fed/87317/
Palin isn’t a complete financial rube.
Moreover, the Palin administration based their economic forecast for AK on $75 a barrel oil. At the time, that forecast was derided as being optimistically on the high.
Crap, my editing sucks.
Should read “…optimistically high.”
Hey, I worked there for awhile!
Seth is a good guy, a really good guy. I’m going to dissent from him on this one though.
Roddy, if your skepticism meter isn’t pegged at this point in the election cycle, you’re not paying attention.
It’s way too early to be favorably disposed toward any single candidate.
However, it’s not too early to be unfavorably disposed toward a candidate. Like Romney. Or Gingrich.
I’m interested to know which of those failings in particular she demonstrably doesn’t see.
Exactly why the “Tea Party” (so called) is universally defamed by the powers-that-be – “violent”, “racist” “*-phobic”, any clod they can fling is in the air.
They be scared.
She hasn’t gone at at great length about them, McGehee, so it’s obvious she can’t see them, let alone comprehend them.
Stupid snowbilly.
McGehee,
Well, for starters, doing something about Wall Street in a structural way, such as reinstituting Glass Steagall. Then, on to the importance of a robust and well-defined institutional Securities regulatory apparatus…An SEC that has real power and a real budget and funding for plenty of white-collar corporate and securities investigation at the FBI and DoJ for another.
Palin is plenty right to bash Fannie and Freddie, but they are a very modest piece of the equation. Also, since I’m in wish fulfillment mode, eliminating the mortgage interest deduction makes a lot of sense. Why the US Govt is subsidizing homebuilding and real estate is a mystery to me.
She’d reverse her image in a flash, be correct and be truly provactive in a meaningful way. Give the old girl props though: She’s getting all the press and pixels she can handle and hasn’t had to commit to, or wrestle with, a single idea that would DO something to prevent 2008 from happening again.
I didn’t highlight this before since snark is my usual thing.
This is key to understanding the Tea Party and Outlaw mentality. This is the divide between “us” and “them.” A good portion of the GOP is on the same side as the progressives are, and John Boner (I refuse to spell his name correctly until he stops acting like a wuss) is one of many of them. They all see themselves as better than we are, and more able to make decisions. The only difference is that the GOP establishment pays lip service to individual responsibility and personal decisions, but are more than willing to give that up in the spirit of compromise.
As one establishment GOP type said (I cannot remember who), “We get it. You want government to grow more slowly.” That just proves he didn’t get it, and neither did the rest of them. They still don’t.
So basically, Roddy, only someone from New York with an MBA qualifies?
With respect, Roddy, “we need more/better regulation” is not the theme to go with this year.
Roddy, umm, I’m sure the SEC has more than enough money. After all, people at the SEC had time to download porn onto government computers.
I tend to think if SEC employees have time to download porn, more than likely, they’re not doing their job.
Way to ignore the question, Roddy. You claimed to know what Palin does and doesn’t understand, but when called on that by McGehee, you ducked (or perhaps missed) the point. Unless you have interviewed her about this topic, you have no idea what she knows and doesn’t know. She might agree with all the things you mention–she simply isn’t talking about economic details right now. For reasons that make plenty of tactical sense.
To me, the President is not the one to be in the weeds with all the details of every policy, knowing more than everyone else in the room about everything. That omniscient, god-like figure is the progressive’s dream of the nation’s ruler.
The President must set a direction, have a vision of what America is and should be and the election is where they must “sell” it to the voting public. [S]he then has to have the ability to pick good, honest experts who will advise on the means, the policies that will lead to the fulfillment of the vision.
They should have enough intelligence and experience to be able to quickly grasp what the experts are talking about. Be quick studies in other words, with a good general overview of the entire enterprise.
Failed Presidents can be failures because the have fraudulently sold a vision that they do not have any intention of implementing but only used as a cover for the one they will do and which would be rejected soundly in and election. And/or they can have a failure to be able to truly judge the character of those they hire and trust to advise them and be deceived by them.
That’s my favorite bit from Boehner’s “Pledge to America”. On page 21 they pledge to “put common sense limits on the growth of government”. We can’t afford the government we’ve got now but by golly they’ll limit its future growth!
You’re right, they really, really don’t get it.
whoa.
Sarah, She has had a few years to make a footprint, as it were, on the policy front. She strikes the correct emotive chords but so, in many ways, did Obama (at least for many independants and GOP-leaners.) I’m not terribly interested in anyone who makes me feel good; I want someone who does well, or at least avoids doing harm. Think about it: She is the most tech savvy candidate in the history of electoral politics and her contribution to the economic debate is middle weight GOP talking points. Fair enough if those are truly her views but that is no kind of change or out of the envelope thinking. I suspect that she’ll be holding off from any detailed interviews on these matters. It’s a lot easier to tweet about the Lame Stream Media, as lame as they are, than take a position on an issue of crucial national importance. I give her credit and that’s not snark. After all, we are talking about her and she has two years experience as a governor. That’s being a player.
Geoffb, you are correct. I would argue, however, that any POTUS in the ’12-’16 frame needs to do something about Wall Street or risk being Obama version 2.0, save for an even more bank-friendly approach. Not good.
Blake, I will not defend the SEC but simply note that someone has to try and keep law and order. They suck because they have a crappy culture–all lawyers means all procedure–and because they dont have enough money to do anything other than ensure the boxes are checked. If there is a better regulatory model, I’m all ears. The Bush/Clinton model sucked and brought us to this moment. In terms of pr0n, I take your point and concur. But then, well, a lot of people in this world aren’t doing their jobs using that criteria.
Squid, the focus should be on results, and their absence, rather than trusting that “this time, the banks and brokers have religion.” Law and order works in an economy as well as it does a city. I’m for a little negative reinforcement.
McGehee, the opposite. Someone from bank/broker land with an MBA is definitely inclined to pull for Palin’s election, at least on these grounds. If she has nearly four years to come up with a plan to prevent Credit Crisis 2.0 that involves insulting Fannie and Freddie they are positively giddy. I think a real, ummm, OUTLAW would be for a healthy dose of preventative restructuring. It takes balls to piss people and companies with money off, at least on the right.
Roddy, your ideal President sounds a lot like my ideal SecTreas. You know if Alexander Hamilton had been eligible under the Constitution, and not dead after 1804, he still wouldn’t have been a very good president.
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!
Sarah. Do something about that voice! PLEASE!
I love Sarah, but SCREECHING ain’t gonna cut it.
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!
Just get some help with your presentation. It sucks.
And I would vote for Sarah in a mili-second. There IS no one else who acts like they even have a clue what America has always been about, why we are what we are, or that the constitution actually exists.
Freedom is dying. We are living in a ruling class make believe world, and once they take our last penny, it will be OUR fault, and the ruling class will slither away to enjoy the money that they have stolen from us stupid proles, while we starve, and have to shoot people who think that we owe them a life! Palin, despite sounding somewhat like a Yeti, understands this.
The republicans are on the verge of being laughed off of the stage.
Sarah. PLEASE! Get that screeching under control. It is WAY negative, but the message is right on.
(Being a white male, I expect to be Is-slammed by those who think that God produces all of the money and white men stole it. Insah-Allah)
We’re now living with the consequences of electing a progressive’s dream, as part of Obama’s manifest incompetence is his need to be the smartest guy in the room. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and thus doesn’t know how to weigh conflicting policy options, so he can’t make a decision in a timely manner.
That covers the failings of the current occupant of the office as well as those of his predecessor, respectively. There’s a third way in which Presidents can fail: by micromanaging. Witness the examples of Carter and Johnson.
Micro managing comes about when you know you can’t judge anyone properly or trust them enough to allow them to do a job so you do all of it yourself. It also has the stench of the progressive god complex about it too.
And to some extent Clinton. It was said that he loved beating the crap out of his staff’s ears bouncing all the wonky stuff off of em. Stayed up all night with policy wonk sessions and just loved debating the weeds. He, at least, had better political instincts than those currently at 1600 Penn Ave and knew when to actually pull the cord. I believe we have Lanny Davis (blech) and the toe sucker to thank for that. Rahm, too, which might be why he baled on the current occupant. Counseling Pres. Drebin is sure to be fraught with ulcers. Probably where he picked up that affectation of “As I have said.” How many times could you handle explaining the same point over and over only to have it misunderstood (profits are overhead)? Policy meetings with this Pres Drebin have to be a real head bangers ball.