Search






Jeff's Amazon.com Wish List

Archive Calendar

November 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

Archives

From here to eternally

Jonah Goldberg, anti-communist:

Here’s one useful tip: Whenever the substance of the Occupy Wall Street movement troubles Democratic politicians their response is to hide behind platitudes about free speech. “It’s about their right to express themselves!” Well, no it’s not. Free speech is important, but it’s really not the issue. It certainly wasn’t even much of a concern when it was the Tea Party expressing itself — which it managed to do without inviting mass arrests. Back then, leading Democrats considered dissent racist or un-American. Now they celebrate free speech so they can hide from dealing with the issues at hand honestly. Democratic politicians think that this gives them cover. It doesn’t. It just shows that they’re afraid to disagree with the protesters either because they agree with them or because they know the protests are popular among their own supporters. Either way, it’s proof that that the much ballyhooed wall between mainstream radicalism and mainstream liberalism is more like a speed bump.

It’s one thing to have suspicions. It’s another thing to have them confirmed. And for that, I’m grateful for Occupy Wall Street.

See? Clarity. And clarification.

— Just what I’ve been calling for for years now. Sadly, the GOP frontrunner sees an opportunity to show that he, too, cares about the complaints of what is an orchestrated anarchist/communist movement — and in so doing, once again pulls the “center” ever more incrementally leftward.

23 Replies to “From here to eternally”

  1. dicentra says:

    “tatterdemalions”

    New word!

    wØØt!

  2. sdferr says:

    a) Uniter? The country is divided, perhaps more so than in 2006 — except to the extent of gradually unifying around opposition to Obama, who now polls around 40% approval and is heading to Bush levels in three rather than seven years. “Get in their faces”transmogrified into “punish our enemies,” a lawsuit against Arizona, “stop the smears”/ JournoList/AttackWatch.com, and a shellacking in 2010 that led the president to abandon any pretense of “bipartisanship” in favor of revving up the base with them/us rhetoric. Let me juxtapose these two quotes that sum up the current weird Obama atmosphere:

    “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic.” — Hillary Clinton in 2003 objecting to the Bush administration.

    “These are not patriots, people who love this country want to see jobs created. They don’t love this country. … I don’t think they love this country. They’re not concerned about the economic well being of the country as a whole.” — Rep. Linda Sanchez, in 2011, in response to congressional opposition to President Obama’s job’s bill.

    Could now-Secretary Clinton address Rep. Sanchez’s charges?

  3. Joe says:

    The only candidate confronting OWS seems to be Herman Cain. Hmmmm.

  4. Madsci says:

    Yet again the 1st Amendment serves its greater purpose: it lets everyone know who the real idiots are.

  5. Mikey NTH says:

    Confront OWS? No, no. I want OWS to continue onward, to continue to be drawn out of their little shells, to continue to say whatever “thoughts” passes through their “minds” without the slightest fear of any confrontation.

    I want candidates to say “Thank you for sharing that with us, though to quote ‘I think it sounded better in the original German’.” I want the little precious snowflakes to go forth without any fear and continue showing everyone exactly who they are.

    I want them to share that with us.

  6. newrouter says:

    According to the P/oed Patriot, Farrar, seen in the white C.P. USA shirt, is not only a Young Communist League leader, but he is also a member of Barack Obama’s Organizing for America and he organized a rally in 2009 for OFA to support President Obama’s health care bill. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) was featured guest at Farrar’s event as well.

    Notice the host name on the screenshot of the event invitation.

    Jordan is a self-described “militant anti-racist anti-fascist Marxist-Leninist skinhead.”

    Link

  7. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Sadly, the GOP frontrunner sees an opportunity to show that he, too, cares about the complaints of what is an orchestrated anarchist/communist movement — and in so doing, once again pulls the “center” ever more incrementally leftward.

    Winning!

  8. dicentra says:

    Funny:

    #IfObamahadapizzarestaurant

    Great tweets, but couldn’t they have shortened the hashtag to #IfObamaSoldPizza?

  9. mojo says:

    Ans howzabout that Huntsman guy, huh? Could he pose for a picture of J. Wellington Fauntleroy IV, or what?

  10. motionview says:

    dicentra that hash tag led to iowahawk who is absolutely on fire – #YouMightBeAFleabagger , #AndThenIWokeUp , #OccupyChants, even a #FF to jeffg.

  11. Has any president since Lincoln taken actions or used rhetoric that actually divided the country so bitterly?

    At least Lincoln had a good reason beyond a self serving desire to get reelected. In fact, he was pretty sure his actions to do the right thing (as he saw it) were going to get him defeated in 1864. And he was ok with that if that is what the people wanted as he sought to push the war to a successful conclusion, if possible, before the election. He failed at that, but the Copperheads lost and Lincoln is widely praisednow as our best, or second best, president depending on who you ask. I’d also note that he was unfailingly gracious towards his political opponents in his speech while unyieldingly brutal against their efforts.

    Can you picture The Won being as gracious towards a reconciliation with his opponents if he should win reelection?

  12. newrouter says:

    just keep ronpaul away from foriegn affairs

    GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul will unveil his economic plan Monday afternoon, calling for a lower corporate tax rate, cutting spending by $1 trillion during his first year in office and eliminating five cabinet-level agencies, including the Education Department, according to excerpts released to Washington Wire.

    Mr. Paul’s “Restore America” plan calls for a drastically reduced federal government to help spur American business — a familiar theme for the Texas Republican and many of the GOP White House hopefuls. But unlike some of his Republican rivals who have released economic plans, the libertarian congressman mostly avoids the weeds of tax and trade policy, according to excerpts.

    But Mr. Paul does get specific when he calls for a 10% reduction in the federal work force, while pledging to limit his presidential salary to $39,336, which his campaign says is “approximately equal to the median personal income of the American worker.” The current pay rate for commander in chief is $400,000 a year.

    The Paul plan would also lower the corporate tax rate to 15% from 35%, though it is silent on personal income tax rates, which Mr. Paul would like to abolish. The congressman would end taxes on personal savings and extend “all Bush tax cuts.”

    He would also allow U.S. firms to repatriate capital without additional taxes. Some lawmakers have recently proposed such legislation as a way to spur job growth. Its critics argue that a tax holiday for companies with money abroad has not historically led to domestic investment.

    But the plan, at its heart, is libertarian. While promising to cut $1 trillion in spending during his first year, Mr. Paul would eliminate the Departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, Interior and Housing and Urban Development. When former Massachusetts Gov. MItt Romney unveiled his economic plan last month, he said he would submit legislation to reduce nonsecurity, discretionary spending by $20 billion.

    Mr. Paul would also push for the repeal of the new health-care law, last year’s Wall Street regulations law and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the 2002 corporate governance law passed in response to a number of corporate scandals, including Enron.

    Link

  13. Jeff G. says:

    Heh. Posted this on Twitter about 20 minutes ago: “Re: Ron Paul’s economic plan, I’ll wait for Rand Paul’s economic plan. Hopefully his father’s McGovern foreign policy skips a generation.”

  14. Ella says:

    charlesaustin — you know that Lincoln threw ministers in jail for not praying for him from the pulpit, shut down opposition newspapers in the north, and likely cheated in the 1864 election, right? Oh, and he is single-handedly responsible for the wars with the Sioux for promising to buy their lands, agreeing to a treaty, and then letting his cabinet secretary and some officials embezzle the money and calling out the army to suppress any Sioux response and to enforce his 100% legit treaty.

    That’s the kind of leader I want to emulate. Obama, too!

  15. geoffb says:

    From the July 29th 2011 “Workers World

    Organizers of the three-week-long Bloombergville encampment in New York during June and July are calling for a General Assembly on Wall Street Aug. 2 to launch a campaign against the debt ceiling deal due that day.

    In their call for the General Assembly, New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts said: “National politicians are using the Aug. 2 deadline on raising the debt ceiling as an excuse to attack social programs we are entitled to by law — Social Security, food stamps, Medicare/Medicaid, and so on. In the midst of massive and growing joblessness, and increased homelessness, the president and Congress are hatching an agreement to swap massive cuts to such social programs for meager new tax revenues.”

    NYABC asks, “Is this really necessary? We say stop the wars and cut the war budget! Tax the rich and close the corporate tax loopholes! Make the bankers pay!”

    NYABC will assemble in the triangle near the bull sculpture on Broadway just south of Wall Street. A short rally will give those affected by cuts in Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, food stamps and other federally — funded programs a chance to speak their minds. The group will deliver notice to Wall Street of plans for a large-scale occupation beginning Sept. 17.

    Organizers emphasize that the Aug. 2 action is just the beginning of a citywide campaign-part of a national effort-to resist and defeat the brutal assault on people’s needs and legal rights the Washington deal signifies. Members of New York public-sector unions plan to contact active and retired members, emphasizing that the threats to Social Security amount to theft of lifetimes of workers’ wages. As the call says, “cutting Medicare for seniors and Medicaid for the poorest people would only further impoverish people and add to deteriorating health conditions for all.”

    In the emails of OWS was the hint.

    It’s a great article, but I do take issue with the idea that the entire left has ignored OccupyWallStreet (OWS): New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts (NYABC), the International Socialist Organization, the Organization for a Free Society and Workers World have been involved with it since the planning stages. In fact, it was NYABC (a coalition that includes the ISO, OFS and WW, among others) that called the first General Assembly to start planning for OWS (although after this first meeting the GAs became an independent entity not tied to NYABC).

  16. happyfeet says:

    I’m kind of pacing myself as far as getting all that interested in the protest muppets. I marched with them in chicago there were several dozen of them muppeting about and I walked right up to the black guy with the bullhorn and marched and we chanted “fight fight fight housing is a human right” for like two blocks but I was on my way back to nordies cause they had given me v-neck undershirts and I needed crew and my muppet friends were heading towards grant park I think.

    And so we parted ways. They were scary stupid, but these ones reeked of harmlessness.

    The only other story I have is like maybe 10 days ago or so NG asked me hey what’s up with all these protests? I said mostly they’re just unemployed losers who want us to pay off their student loans I think. Then we found that 99% tumblr site and giggled all afternoon. But the next day we’d forgotten about it.

    But it keeps coming up mostly cause NPR and other obamawhore media keep saying that the movement continues to grow… the movement is gaining strength attention and money … the movement has become impossible to ignore blah blah blah.

    But it needs a second act already i’m bored.

  17. newrouter says:

    “But it needs a second act already i’m bored.”

    time for the hermanator to show up and sing about “imagining pizza you can do it if you try”

  18. guinspen says:

    Fuck McGovernment !

    Up against the wall Ronald McBama !!

  19. O% says:

    *thwwwwwp*

    *pwaaaaah*

    Supersize me !!!

  20. McGehee says:

    you know that Lincoln threw ministers in jail for not praying for him from the pulpit, … and likely cheated in the 1864 election

    I’d sure like to see links to support these.

  21. O% says:

    l’ésupersize c’est moi

  22. Ernst Schreiber says:

    [Lincoln] is single-handedly responsible for the wars with the Sioux for promising to buy their lands, agreeing to a treaty, and then letting his cabinet secretary and some officials embezzle the money and calling out the army to suppress any Sioux response and to enforce his 100% legit treaty.

    How’s Lincoln responsible for the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux, or Fort Laramie, both signed in 1851? How is Lincoln responsible for Congress failing to appropriate the funds to buy the foodstuffs or pay the annuities owed to the Eastern Dakota according to the terms of the Traverse des Sioux Treaty? How’s Lincoln responsible for the custom of paying those annuities to Indian Agents and traders who had previously sold their goods on credit?* And most especially, how is Lincoln responsible for four angry (and likely drunk) young men goading each other into murder in order to prove to themselves what brave warriors they were?

    *n.b. this is not to deny that Agents and Traders dealt dishonestly with the Santee Sioux.

  23. ella, as others have noted I’m not sure you have all your facts straight, but I think you missed my point entirely and went off an a bizzare tangent about other supposed issues that Honest Abe may (or may not) have had.

    The issue which divided the country in 1860 was much bigger than Lincoln and if anything he went out of his way to try and lessen the problem rather than to exacerbate it. We now have a sitting president (note – not a candidate) who is going out of his way to divide the country and foment class warfare in a way we’ve never seen before. I find this asotunding and extremely troublesome.

Comments are closed.