Here’s the really galling part of the takeaway: socialism (or, if you prefer, liberal fascism, or Marxism, or New Leftism, etc.) is the new “moderate,” while moderate is the new “severely conservative.” Give yourselves a round of applause, boys! Well played!
I don’t know how many times I’ve written this, but with each attempt to play Dem lite by the GOP establishment, the left is able to move more left, and the result, always, is that the latest attempt at pragmatic centrism (“compassionate conservatism”, Romney’s technocratic campaign) becomes the new marker for “right wing extremism.”
If we’re going to lose as “extremists,” then why not actually run a constitutional conservative / classical liberal? Or are we content to eventually win as moderate, JFK Democrats?
Hell, JFK was way to the right of Mittens.
Anyway, spot on. I’m on beer #4 right now, and will be hitting the Bushmills soon.
I hope you don’t get so discouraged that you quit. The message is still a good one, and now, more than ever, needs to be heard. There are going to be a lot more people ready to hear it soon.
If we’re going to lose as “extremists,” then why not actually run a constitutional conservative / classical liberal?
WOT? WOT?
You’re talking about running a candidate in a presidential election? In this country? Under this political system? With this populace? The populace that includes NYC and California and MSNBC?
Day-um. I thought you’d reject that whole premise, son. There ain’t nuthin’ we can do now, things as they are.
We’re gonna have to hunker down and wait for an opening.
Yup. That opening will appear real soon. We can do it, folks!
“…besides, we’d love to take on entitlements, or get back to a limited federal government, but hey, the 2014 midterms are just 24 months away — we don’t want to scare off the moderates!”
BTW, for any other Whittle fans: he’s doing a special, spur-of-the-moment Stratosphere Lounge tonight at 1am EST.
Haha!
Just wait until the next election, guys. I’m sure more government is the answer!
Ah, yikes.
“We’ll grow our way out of our problems.”
“The problem is that the Fed. Govt. is too large already!”
“Well, we’re going have to create a Dept. of Governmental Downsizing — that’ll fix it right up.”
You’re cracking me up, John.
“Do we have enough committees to form an official subcommittees for the creation of the Dept. of Government Downsizing?”
“I still have a cousin that needs a golden pension. Better open one more.”
My advice is to think locally and act locally. Make the place you live a better place for you and yours to live in.
And if you don’t like where you’re living. GET THE FUCK OUT while you still can.
When the reckoning comes functional communities stand a better chance than dysfunctional ones.
And no political party or political movement is a substitute for community. Right now, they’re probably a distraction.
No comment.
It’s okay to comment, Abe.
Moderate Mitt nearly pulled it off. Next time, I think if we run Obama as a Republican, we’ve got a really good shot at this thing!
Excellent advice, Ernst.
If you find all of your friends are excitedly planning to go back to college for more Sociology degrees, issa time to pack.
Abe, you weathered the storm! All is well?
My advice is to think locally and act locally.
Plus, stand at the perimeter and tell any federales to git, whether they be coming at us with grant money or their Department of Agriculture AK-47s
The storm wasn’t too bad for moi, Leigh. I scurried to my parents house like a little bitch and endured a week without electricity, but there wasn’t much physical damage in the area.
Glad to hear it. I was worried about you trapped in your spacious penthouse in the dark.
Those stairs are a killer.
Hey everybody, we’re all gonna get
laidscrewed.I don’t think Hurricane Sandy is what pulled Obama across the finish line. It was Candy Crowley.
On the bright side, Reagan isn’t alive to see what the Bush family and their minions did to his shining city on a hill.
I don’t live in a penthouse, though I do have rooftop access via the fire escape.
I honestly don’t know just what the hell happened. This is the political equivalent of the Fall of France to my way of thinking.
Which way to Dunkirke?
“Plus, stand at the perimeter and tell any federales to git, whether they be coming at us with grant money or their Department of Agriculture AK-47s”
The federales might “git” but the bands of “young war veterans” probably won’t. We are all Zimbabwe now. Sort of. On he road anyway.
“I don’t think Hurricane Sandy is what pulled Obama across the finish line. It was Candy Crowley.”
No, his name is Chief Justice “tax-recognizer” Roberts. Unless you want to blame Stupak for EVER letting the shit out of committee.
Well, what happened is that we’ve finally been swamped by an adversarial media and popular culture. They’ve always been obstacles, but as cable and the internet slowly homogenize the country, there’s less and less margin for error.
I was just kidding, Abe. I’m glad you’re okay.
You’re right, Abe.
I knew in my gut it was stupid to try to win back this Country without at least getting back 30% of the culture.
I tried to ignore it because Obama was so bad, but…
Bohica, is all i have to say
We all mistah Kurtz now.
Change of the Guard – Steely Dan
Agree about the media thing, but not so sure about the pop-culture thing. It seems right, but then why is the media always bitching about cultural fragmentation and “people who only get their news from Fox and Rush Limbaugh? I get that they lament the loss of their monopoly,* but if they’re so culturally dominant, why are they so damn insecure?
Thanks for your opinion Abe. Something to ponder.
a href=” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqVtM1hax7Y&feature=fvwrel “>Steely Dan – Only A Fool Would Say That
* (forgot to add) although tonight they’ve got some of their swagger back, and I think Tucker Carlson looks foolish (alright, more foolish).
a href=” http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/157220/ “>OBAMA VICTORY COMES WITH NO MANDATE
only a fool says that
Two things. Look at how close the popular vote is and consider what forces are at play with focus groups and ad agencies to achieve splits like that.
Second, has this big of a fuck up ever been re-elected in the history of this country?
Bill Whittle’s newest stratosphere lounge just ended. I really like it. I recommend you watch it.
At this point, I’m starting to believe that the GOP should pack it in. If it were a business, it would be time to shut down operations and liquidate assets.
As to a replacement, might I suggest the Greens? That seems more appropriate, given the apparent leftward tilt this country has taken…
Yeah, definitely watch StratLounge #19 when he sticks it up on YouTube. Rather than bemoaning our situation, and “arguing over who killed who”, Whittle has some very positive (and lawfully ‘OUTLAW’) ideas on how to move forward at this point.
Go Galt. Take care of your own. Prepare. Wait.
Agree about the media thing, but not so sure about the pop-culture thing. It seems right, but then why is the media always bitching about cultural fragmentation and “people who only get their news from Fox and Rush Limbaugh? I get that they lament the loss of their monopoly,* but if they’re so culturally dominant, why are they so damn insecure?
I’m a bit lost because you said you agree about the media, but then discussed the media to presumably make a point about pop culture.
They’re two different – though related – matters, obviously.
The thing is, people who watch cable news or listen to Rush or NPR are not the people who determine electoral outcomes. The two parties are competing for morons who watch The View, Glee, Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, and reruns of Law & Order SVU. People who’d grab a newspaper if it’s half-crumpled on a table in their company’s kitchen, but who’d be more inclined to buy an US Weekly if they ever saw the inside of a newsstand.
shit. first graph was supposed to be in a block … which I still haven’t figured out how to do.
I would rather see Hillary than Jeb in 2016. As for Christie, he will probably take himself out with a stroke.
“Look at how close the popular vote is and consider what forces are at play with focus groups and ad agencies to achieve splits like that.”
I’ve thought about that a lot since Bush 2000, but I think it gives ad agencies and focus grouping too much credit for competence when it’s an overwhelmingly bullshit-driven business.
I have an idea for a cartoon.
A confused looking elephant walks off a cliff while the Donkey photographer says ” a little further to the left. A little further… perfect! ”
I posted it on Ace of Spades. The idea, not the cartoon.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/26770607
And a modern political campaign isn’t?
Here’s a random OUTLAWsy thought. I think we’re going to see a number of “other shoes dropping” in the near future; people and entities who were willing to put future plans on hold to see if we were willing to take baby-steps away from the cliff (by electing Romney) are now free to say “oh, so this is how it’s going to be… well, gotta do what needs doing.”
In particular, I’d expect:
a) businesses to get serious about firing people, cutting their hours, and outsourcing/offshoring where possible — as there’s no reprieve from O’care to be had.
b) Gold to skyrocket, and the stock market to tank. You’ve probably seen the idle rumors that Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney now to avoid higher taxes next year. If cap-gains is going from 15% to 39% next year (?), seems like an excellent time to cash-out a whole slew of investiments.
c) State-level pushback. Texas, AZ, WV, and lots of other states were probably hoping for Romney to get in and walk-back at least a few of the overreaches of the EPA, or the ICE, or what-have-you. Faced with the reality of at least 4 more years of ever-increasing Fed interference in state affairs (particularly in red state affairs), I’d think some of them are going to start calling the Feds ‘bluff’: “we no longer recognize the Fed. Govt. as having a valid interest in how we use our internal resources”.
… and a whole host of other possibilities. They’ve effectively removed the ballot-box as a remedy for any of our problems, and we all know what that means.
Yeah. Of course politics is bullshit-driven. But implicit in attributing the closeness of these elections to marketing (for lack of a better word) is that there’s a lot of science involved. Which there isn’t, no matter how hard Frank Luntz and his hairpiece like to create the opposite impression.
Random thoughts: Alan West lost. Remember how he was “up by 10pts” just a few weeks ago? Also Mia Love lost in her bid for a Congressional seat. To a Democrat. In Utah.
So, if we take things on their face, and don’t presume there were out-of-the-ordinary levels of fraudulent hanky-panky going on (*), you have to wonder: “Did 2010 even happen, or did we just imagine it? And if it did happen, what the hell changed between now and then?”
—-
* Just for argument’s sake. I think there’s a good possibility there was some extraordinary shenanigans going on, but can’t prove it, so…
F*ck. I just woke up to see if it was a dream. I’m in shock. I suspect I may not be commenting much more, though I’ll still be reading. Sorry I couldn’t deliver NH.
I got about 2/3 the way through the Whittle piece. My biggest problem iw that he assumes that Behemoth will LET us create our parallel society.
Need to rent a place for your alternate school? Watch it get tied up in court until your money runs out. Wanna set up the monthly payments on your credit card for the alternate NASA? SUDDENLY ILLEGAL! Wanna use your cell phone to network with your alternate society? The big NSA data center in Bluffdale, UT will store it all, then they’ll use their data harvesters to find dirt on you. Dirt which they make up as they go along.
Besides, the econopalypse will destroy what wealth we have, so there won’t be anything to build WITH.
Nice try, Bill, but you’re assuming that everything will plod along as before. Me? I see a sudden collapse. Dunno when, but it’ll wipe out enough wealth that the communications we have will cease to function along with everything else.
Or, there’s always SMOD. But that’s a best-case scenario.
New Hampshire is now home to too many ghastly Massholes who can’t seem to remember why they moved.
I listened to ten minutes of that Whittleogue, and between feeling like I was listening to a bedtime story for small children and his inability to get to a point, my patience died. He’s a sharp guy, but he needs a teleprompter.
Screw Whittle too: In October he went on and on about not voting your conscience and how a Romney vote was your duty.
I didn’t listen, Bill, and I’m not listening to you in the future, least of all election eve. I loved your stuff once but don’t you ever even think about telling the rest of us to do anything but form a third Party.
Now that it really, truly is too late.
Word.
Obama: “…and continue to fight for new jobs…”
Fight who, you fucking imbecile? Sounds lovely, doesn’t mean a goddamned thing. King Zero, the Inane.
You’re awake, too, Pablo. Just read the WSJ editorial. Blah blah blah.
Time to abandon the GOP.
Yeah, this whole “no mandate” thing seems to be so much whistling past the graveyard.
So now this guy isn’t going to move ahead with his EPA carbon regulation scheme necessarily causing energy prices to sky rocket? Now he’s going to get on board the building of the Keystone Pipeline? Rescind the moratorium against drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (which, BTW, was already found to be illegal by a federal judge)?
He’s now not going to require Catholic organizations to pay for contraceptives? He’s going to rescind his EO eliminating “work to welfare” requirements? I could be wrong about it, but I’m fairly certain the guy has no problem with “continuing resolutions” and the trillion dollar deficits that go with them, in the absence of a real budget. There will be no “moderating affect” of Republicans maintaining the House.
I just read that there’s going to be a “contentious negotiation” coming up over the debt level increase. There isn’t going to be any negotiation. This administration will no longer be taking calls from the orange guy. Here’s how that relationship will now go:
The House wants answers for another alternative energy company that went tits up? Fuck you
My Attorney General has been found in Contempt of Congress over an investigation into Fast and Furious? Fuck you
Benghazi? Fuck you
Apologies for the long comment, but anyone who thinks “no mandate” is going to “moderate” this administration hasn’t been paying attention.
It seems all the adults who self-describe as morons and who were so looking forward to dunking their balls in their pudding cups over at that major rebel Republican blog have been stunned into one word comments.
Comment counts in those six foot-long threads haven’t diminished at all mind you, just the stupid locker room comradery and smug satisfaction thereof have. But the community, the community remains strong and resolute!
TWENTY-SIXTEEN! For the moron courage!
Spit.
Today I so look forward to all the forward-looking strategizing soon to litter “conservative” press and bloggery in endless streams of two year efforts and new election plans and threats to just buy more powdered milk and go all anti-establishment.
Oh, no I won’t. I won’t read one idiotic word of it, although a rude, abrupt end to all that bullshit about not having a voice if you don’t vote will be appreciated.
Fuck off, you PragProgg GOPpers, you mewling radio talkers, you poll wargamers, you professional bloggers. My liberal “friends” I expect ridicule from, such is their clinical denial and various other pathologies, dysfunctions, and crimes. But you make me ill. You’ve been deceiving yourself and destroying your own perspective since before Reagan. He warned you and you ignored it.
How about we don’t assign JHoward to lead our new coalition?
Honestly – we’re so fucked, Jesse Jackson Jr won re-election as he sits in rehab, and hasn’t campaigned in months and months.
you can’t have a sleeping giant if everybody is all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all the time
I think today is a “Listen-to-Tool-all-day-long” kind of day.
Longer post than for comments, really. Basically: American principles have to be learned, because they don’t come natural. “Free candy! Who wants free candy?” comes natural.
And if we want to sit back in the comfort of our own homes, we don’t get to watch tv that shows hard working Americans trying to raise their families. It’s pointless Dads, business sucks, America the killer (run by evil white dudes), etc.
The preference cascade went the wrong way.
It took 236 years but America has finally managed to devolve into a banana republic.
Welcome to the Third World, the water’s contaminated and the food is rotten, but at least you can help the people in Staten Island by suffering the exact same privation as they are.
The machine is back. Long live the machine. Vote for slogans silently.
When you walk out of the saloon and look to the hitching post, do you recognise the horse you rode in on? Evidently, many Americans do not. There is no cure for stupid. Never was, never will be.
but don’t you ever even think about telling the rest of us to do anything but form a third Party.
No party—third or otherwise—is going to help us now (as if it ever was). Why is anyone assuming that the ship of state can be steered anymore? Obviously, it can’t: not through the ballot box, not through melting the switchboards, not with the Tea Party, not at all.
We’ve already hit the iceberg. The water is spilling over the bulwarks. Those giant screws are just about to break the surface, preparatory to the ship breaking in two.
Get aboard a damned lifeboat and pray you don’t freeze to death.
Geez louise, people. Paradigm shift!
Paradigm!
Shift!
The preference cascade went the wrong way.
You are, of course, assuming that the voting was clean.
Even if every single win was fixed, the result is the same: we’re utterly corrupt. Voter fraud is not prosecuted nor even investigated anymore.
And that’s the way we like it. Nice, quiet life; free candy.
We are no longer the silent majority. And if we don’t become comfortable being the heard minority, we are fucked.
With enough WD-40 on the tracks and frame, isn’t it amazing how much easier it is to get that Overton Window to slide?
[…] -Jeff Goldstein again [worth quoting in full]: Here’s the really galling part of the takeaway: socialism (or, if you prefer, liberal fascism, or Marxism, or New Leftism, etc.) is the new “moderate,” while moderate is the new “severely conservative.” Give yourselves a round of applause, boys! Well played! […]